The Author's POV

[Ashton city, Earth.]

Whiiish—!

Coming out of the pocket dimension, Liam and Han Yufei were rather disoriented. The sudden change in environment confused them for a moment, and the fact that they hadn't been back on earth for over five years didn't help with the situation.

"Are we back?"

"It looks like it."

The familiar city streets, the pillars in the faraway distance, the serene blue sky… they were truly back.

Not that they had seen the Pillars before...

Liam sighed in relief, but he didn't get to enjoy the relief for very long. All of a sudden, the ground trembled, and one of the skyscrapers near them collapsed.

BOOOM—! Something crashed against several of the buildings as they collapsed.

They were taken aback when, after turning their heads to look at the structures, they noticed a familiar figure off in the distance.

Liam was able to identify them in an instant, as evidenced by the sudden yellow glow that emanated from his eyes, and he quickly disappeared from the spot.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Appearing right above the skyscraper, Liam could hear Han Yufei's voice in the far distance, but he didn't particularly care and cocked his head.

"Do you need help?"

Bang—!

Crashing against the wall, Emma looked up and glared at Liam.

"What do you t—Akh!"

KWAAANG—! Crossing her daggers, she barely managed to block the demon's claw. Groaning, she nudged her head several times. As if trying to tell Liam to get on with it.

Cracka! Cracka!

Good thing that Liam got the message, and lightning crackled around him.

The demon that was on top of Emma immediately froze on the spot, and Liam appeared behind it. He slashed his hand across the demon's thigh as his eyes took on a yellowish tinge and began to shine even more brightly than before.

That's where he felt the core was.

"Huek!"

That was about it for the demon. Just one move from Liam was all it took, and its entire body turned to dust.

"Thank… haaa.. you."

Catching her breath, Emma sighed in relief.

Upon closer observation, Liam realized that Emma's complexion was rather bad. Her face was pale, and her head was covered in sweat.

Thinking about the demon that he had just defeated, his expression turned strange.

"You were struggling with just that?"

Actually, now that he took a closer look at her, she seemed different from how she normally was. He hadn't spent much time with her, so he wasn't too sure, but… she seemed a little wilder.

If that made any sense.

"Do… hhaaa… do you really think that's the only… haaa.. demon that I was up against?"

Catching her breath, she pointed toward the distance, and that was when Liam finally noticed. A street littered with demon corpses.

It was a sight to behold, and his mouth instantly shut.

"That's fair enough."

"No shit…. Haa… I'm fucking tired."

Well, he could tell. The fact that speaking made her this tired was a great testament to that.

"Want a potion?"

He offered her a potion as an apology, but she rejected him right away.

"I'm good."

"Well, suit yourself."

Putting the potion away, Han Yufei suddenly appeared beside them. With his broadsword on his back, he gazed at the streets hidden behind the skyscraper and put up a thumbs up.

"Wow, impressive."

"Thank you."

her own potions and gulping it down. Her chest started to

she was about to speak, Liam's expression suddenly changed, and his head snapped

"What's wrong?"

Liam's expression, Han Yufei and Emma

a good couple of seconds before his eyes suddenly shone

"Liam?"

of them, but his subsequent words startled them

any way to contact

seemed lazy and lethargic, had an unusual seriousness to it that

nonetheless thought about his words, and Han

he knows of a way to

"Okay."

Liam nodded his head.

him

"He?"

"Yeah… he."

***

WOOOM—!

"…"

of the dimensional pocket. Be it Angelica, Hein, Ava,

at the world around them without saying a

wittinesses inside of the

"Are you…"

to face Angelica. She was quietly staring

attention toward Angelica, following her words, and sensing

"I'm fine."

what she tried to make herself

was that she

scene she witnessed… it wasn't something she

had to be done and she

Someone she looked up to despite hating

you sure

soft voice reached her ears, and when she turned, she saw a face she hadn't seen for quite a

"I'm fine."

She smiled at Smallsnake.

I'll believe

through her, but it was good that he let the topic go and shifted his attention toward

"What are we sup—"

Hein? I can feel your communication; are

was stopped by a familiar voice that echoed from Ava's

froze the moment he heard

"Ryan?"

raised her watch and brought it to

"Ryan, is that you?"

ah, no never mind. That's not important. I was just about to say

"Ryan?

It was there that

"…"

"Ryan?"

out once more, hoping that he could hear

"…"

response. Just as he was about to try again,

joke? What are you guys trying to pull? No, never mind; I don't have time to deal

his voice as he

still remembers

him smile even more, and his head moved closer

appeared in front of him. Turning the camera on, Smallsnake waved, a soft smile on his

seeing him again, he had a lot of things he wanted to say to him... He had changed a lot in appearance since the last time he saw him;

grown up a

that came out of his mouth when

but his appearance was what reminded him of how times had changed and that he

"…"

Ryan's expression froze, and when his gaze met Smallsnake's, his eyes

face and continued to wipe at whatever was

"Huuu."

face with his

well, as of the time that you left, I am approximately the same age as you

"Ah… I see…"

lips trembling a

age, huh… I, sure missed

"Yeah… yeah you did."

***

an unknown

was a mess. Buildings crumbled, ecosystems

wielded his daggers like they were an extension of his body, slicing at the enemies with such utter precision that they didn't even have the time to react. The accuracy of his attacks completely shattered their cores in one go,

Thump—!

between his foot and the ground, shooting

years, and he was now at a level where only Prince ranked demons could pose a threat to