The Author's POV

"Lead us toward the exit."

Ryan issued the command to the demons, his voice calm and collected despite the chaos that surrounded them.

It was an unusual situation, to say the least. The demons, previously doing everything in their power to resist him, were moving in unison as they followed his orders to the word. They were no different than puppets at the moment.

Bang—!

The muffled sound of explosions rang in the distance as screams echoed everywhere.

In the midst of the madness that had overtaken the underground system, it seemed that no one was paying them any attention.

This was good…

'Everything is moving smoothly.'

Their current situation was rather delicate, and just one single mistake would cost them their lives. Having exhausted all of his means, Ryan could only hope that everything flowed smoothly.

'Yeah… it's going to work… I should have already accounted for everything.'

As they moved forward, Ryan found himself growing increasingly confident in his plan.

He had expected the demons to be suspicious of their group, but it seemed that his strategy was working even better than he had hoped.

Emma's presence was proving to be an unexpected boon.

The demons seemed to be more focused on the chaos around them than on the group of humans that were following them.

It wasn't long before they found themselves moving through a labyrinth of tunnels.

Ryan couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the underground system.

He had always known that it was vast, but seeing it firsthand was a different experience altogether.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Over here!"

"Move!"

As they moved through the tunnels, they saw demons rushing past them, heading toward the areas that they had previously been in. But the demons paid them little attention; their gaze was focused solely on the task at hand.

'It seems like the prisoners are making things difficult for them... good.'

The group continued on for what felt like hours.

Ryan had lost track of time, and he wasn't sure how much longer they could keep up the pace. But then, in the distance, he saw a faint glimmer of light.

His heart skipped a beat as he realized that they were nearing their destination.

As they approached the opening, the demons in front of them came to a sudden stop. Ryan hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then he understood. The area ahead was where he needed to go.

He turned to the demons and spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The exit is over there, isn't it?"

The demons didn't reply, but their nodding heads confirmed what he had suspected.

made it. When he turned his head,

when going there. We might never know if there are

Emma and Leopold

might not necessarily be the exit, so it's

Click! Click!

their weapons to them. At the same time, he handed them a

rather fast, and they soon turned to face the glimmering light in the distance. There

though they were strong, they knew that they were far from being

"Let's go."

hand and crushing the cores of the two demons that had brought

closer they got to the opening,

fine... I've been through

heart beat out of his chest at the moment, and

"What the…"

everyone was shocked by what they

cavernous space with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch up into the darkness. The walls were rough and jagged, and the floor was littered

intricately set up in the center of the room. It was massive, stretching for several meters in every direction, and it glowed with an eerie, pulsating

of them could vividly see the mana in their bodies get sucked dry out of

was gruesome,

'Sh..shit..'

felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had stumbled upon something

step back, his mind racing with questions

shocked, their eyes wide with shock as they looked upon the scene. They had to cover their mouths in order not to make any

as they arrived, Ryan and Emma realized that they had underestimated the demons that lay beneath

detected by the numerous demons that lurked in the shadows. Countless pairs of glowing eyes stared

"Shit."

his breath as his body tensed up

had been in vain. All the tools they had used to conceal themselves had

"So be it."

her sword and

"Emma!?"

out for her, but it was already

Swoosh!

her blade flashed in the dim light, and Ryan watched as she jumped down and began hacking at the runes beneath them, with each blow releasing a burst of

BOOM—!

"Arkgh!"

"Argh.. catch her!"

fell to her blade, but it wasn't long before she was surrounded on all

Spurt—!

might as

as she continued to slash at the

needed to help her, but he also knew that he wasn't strong enough. He watched in horror as several powerful demons approached her, realizing that she

need

as he watched Emma struggle against the demons. She fought valiantly, but it was

was easily overpowered and eventually

BANG—!

"Ugh!"

nails out of nervousness and rummaged through his dimensional

"I... I..."

"That's enough."

he could do anything, he felt a hand press against his

true for the demons below, who stopped

caused quite