The Author's POV

"Hurry up Kevin, don't waste any more time."

The firm voice of Amanda echoed throughout the surrounding area as Melissa and Kevin stared at her, baffled.

'When was she ever like this?'

Simultaneously, they thought.

Ignoring their looks, Amanda urged.

"So?"

"Eh...ehm..."

In a state of shock, Kevin had no idea how to respond to Amanda's abrupt attitude shift.

He really had no idea...

"No."

When Kevin was about to say anything, Melissa covered her forehead with her hand and extended her other hand to cover his mouth.

In the distance, she glanced at the large pyramid and sighed.

"Going now would do more harm than good."

"What do you mean?"

Kevin and Amanda simultaneously looked at Melissa. They were both wondering what her words meant.

A second sigh escaped Melissa's lips as she stared at them both.

Bringing her arms towards the leaves and pulling them away, she glanced at the pyramid in the distance and asked.

"Kevin, you said that Ren and the others are currently inside of the mana compressor, right?"

"That's right."

Kevin nodded his head.

Bringing his arm out to push some leaves away, he also gazed at the nearby pyramid.

Beside him, Amanda leaned forward a bit to get a better look. In the meantime, Melissa continued to speak.

"Currently, my best guess is that Ren and the others are inside the building not because they infiltrated it, but rather because they are imprisoned there."

"But if it's Re—"

"Shut up."

Melissa extended her hand and stopped Kevin from interrupting her. Her glare and her stern voice were enough to stop Kevin from speaking as he nodded his head.

Massaging her chin, Melissa pondered for a bit before continuing.

"…Let me finish before you say some of your usual nonsense."

She brushed the side of her hair behind her ear.

"According to how mana compressors work, especially ones of this size, I would guess they are currently somewhere beneath the pyramid, trying to fuel the device."

As with any large machine, it consumed a lot of fuel when it was running, and Melissa estimated that the pyramid in the distance consumed a lot of energy.

Large enough that it needed a lot of cores and ores in order to fuel.

Her conclusion was that if Ren and the others were truly in the compressor, they would have gone into labor to fuel the compressor.

"We would not only bring trouble to ourselves, but we would also bring trouble to them if we left now."

Melissa shook her head, letting go of the leaves that soon returned to their usual position, blocking her view of the pyramid.

"I was only half joking when I previously said that they should be sacrificed. I mean, Emma and Jin are pretty important people. Their death would bring me quite a lot of trouble…"

Biting her nail, Melissa looked at Kevin and Amanda.

"In any case, you two have heard my analysis. You should now know better than to act rashly and teleport yourselves there."

Her stern words prompted Amanda and Kevin to nod their heads in understanding.

"Good."

Melissa patted her hands in satisfaction. Her face was adorned with a half smile.

Rustle—! Rustle—!

A rustling sound was heard at that moment, and Melissa noticed Amanda let go of Kevin's shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"The obvious."

Amanda replied, prompting a frown to appear on Melissa's face.

"Sounds annoying."

"It's the only way."

She then disappeared from Kevin's and Melissa's sight.

Dumbly staring in Amanda's direction, Kevin turned to look at Melissa and asked.

"…Where is she going?"

"To get some information."

Melissa replied while she crossed her arms and sat down.

Turning around to look at Kevin, she shook her head.

"In order to gain a better understanding of the building's infrastructure and Ren's and the others' conditions, she'll probably abduct a demon."

It only took a simple glance from Melissa to understand Amanda's next set of actions.

Although she had let emotions get the best of her not too long ago, now that she had calmed down, she understood exactly what she needed to do.

Melissa was happy with that.

There couldn't be more than two idiots at the same time.

"Alright."

Finally understanding Melissa's point, Kevin turned back to look at the structure in the distance.

"I'll keep watch of the pyramid while Amanda takes care of the information gathering. This is so that I can react if anything outside my expectations happens."

"Alright."

Finally having sorted the situation out, Melissa took out a set of equipment from his dimensional space and carefully placed them in front of her.

Clasping her hands together, she smiled.

"Let's continue what we were doing."

***

"Earth?"

As Liam scratched his head, he looked at the large black miasmic pyramid in the distance. He could feel the thick demonic energy emanating from the large light above the structure from where he stood.

Standing on top of a peak overlooking the distance, he caught a glimpse of several demons guarding the pyramid's entrances.

"Demons…"

Taking note of the horns on their heads, Liam was able to instantly guess what the creatures were. They were demons.

"Where am I?"

He had previously thought that he was on earth, but as he stared at the demons and structure in the distance, Liam was starting to have second doubts.

Was he perhaps still in the demon world? But how could that be?

He remembered leaving with Renzzx

"How strange."

His yellow pupils lit with a yellow hue as the world around him zoomed, and the world around him shifted.

"The demons guarding the door appear to be Viscount ranked demons, and…"

Blinking a couple of times, a frown emerged on Liam's face.

"I can also feel the presence of a couple of Marquis ranked demons inside..a Duke too, but his aura feels strange…"

It looked rather lethargic in his eyes. Perhaps the demon was old?

Liam couldn't exactly tell, but from what he was seeing, it looked to be the case.

"How troublesome…how troublesome…"

Covering his face with his hand, a sword sheath materialized in his other hand.

"Attacking them now would truly be a stupid idea…a very stupid one…but…"

A glimmer of light appeared in his eyes and lightning cracked around him at that moment.

Crack—! Crackle—!

As he stepped forward, his body zoomed all the way to the pyramid's entrance.

"Who's there!?"

"Intruder!"

His sudden appearance startled the two demons guarding the place.

"Hey, hey, there's no need to be this panicked."

He raised both hands in the air as he muttered. However, his words did not seem to reach the demons' ears as demonic energy erupted from them.

When Liam saw this, his eyes twinkled with excitement.

"…Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

Click—!

In the air, a subtle clicking sound resounded as the heads of the two demons fell to the ground without him moving from the spot.

Thud. Thud.

Rolling towards Liam's feet, he kicked the head to the side and strolled into the gates of the building where a long and dark corridor met his sight.

"…Although it's not the same, this will do for now."

Liam muttered as he walked through the corridor and his bright yellow pupils shined in the midst of the darkness.

"It'll take a couple of tweaks, and might be different from what he showed me, but it'll get there eventually."

Humming to himself, Liam's figure soon disappeared into the building.

***

In the dense foliage, Amanda pondered.

'I was being too emotional.'

Amanda realized just how flawed her previous thinking was after hearing Melissa's comments.

She had let her emotions get the best of her. Even now, she wasn't exactly in the best state of mind.

She wanted nothing more than to rush in and help Ren and the others out, but as she thought back at Melissa's words, she could only force her emotions down.

'Now is not the time.'

Catching a glimpse of something in the distance, a bow materialized in her hand.

Immediately after that, she raised it and pulled its string.

Kacha!

Suddenly, a thin blue arrow shot towards the distance at incredible speeds before disappearing from sight.

The piercing sound in the air was just as if a sharp knife was running across a glass pane.

'Around <B> rank.'

She had felt something coming from that direction.

Rustle—! Rustle—!

Pushing aside the leaves coming from the trees, Amanda's feet soon came to a pause.

"Strange…"

She muttered as her eyes squinted.

Bending down on the ground and taking note of the ground that was burned due to her arrow, Amanda's delicate brows knit.

'My arrow definitely hit something.'

She was sure of this.

It wasn't well known, but Amanda had a special talent that enabled her to tell when her arrow had hit something.

Therefore, she was sure that she had hit something. The fact that it didn't leave anything behind could only mana one thing…

Rustle—!

Her head snapped back and her feet pressed against the ground lightly, enabling her to distance herself from the direction of where the sound came from.

Swooosh—!

It was at that moment that she felt a fierce wind blow against her, sending her hair scattering away as a sharp tip aimed for her face.

Amanda was quick to react. With her keen eyes that were honed to see the tiniest of details, she carefully avoided the sharp tips and raised her bow.

Rippling waves visible to the naked eye congealed in the air, as if light itself was twisting.

After that, three thick arrows formed on her bow.

Bang—!

A fierce blast suddenly shot out from one of the bushes as Amanda spotted a bright white light headed in her direction.

"Hein!"

"Ah fuck!"

After the blast, a bulky man emerged from one of the bushes holding a large shield hidden beneath a thin white cloth.

Not only that but following after him was another girl holding onto a flute in her right hand. She was currently sitting atop what seemed to be a large black wolf.

One that was the size of half an elephant.

"Awoooooo!"

The wolf's cry echoed throughout the forest.

'…They look familiar.'

Amanda took a step to the side and narrowly avoided the blast coming from her. The mana in her body slowly fluctuated as she got an even better look at the people surrounding them.

It was then…

"Wait!"

A crisp and pleasant voice echoed out loud as a stunning beauty with long black hair and two horns stepped out.

Instantly, Amanda's face changed as she recognized who the demon was.

"It's you…"