The Author's POV

Time seemed to pass in seconds.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom By the time it took for everyone to emerge from the portal, the battle had already begun, and both sides clashed with incredible brutality. Mana pulsated in the air, and all sorts of colors flashed across the room.

WOOOM―! 

The clear winner was clear to see from the very beginning. 

While the demons were indeed numerous, their numbers were far smaller than those of the humans that had emerged out of thin air. They had more Duke ranked demons, but when put against over a thousand <S> ranks… They were nothing.

Boom―!

The hall shook, and screams of agony echoed throughout. Blood splattered everywhere, and the tower began to tremble uncontrollably shortly thereafter.

Rumble―! Rumble―!

"Oh no."

"This is bad…"

Demons were the first to notice the condition of the tower, and their complexions changed instantly upon noticing the change that was happening. 

Prince Plintus was among them, but I pressed my hand against his shoulder before he could even move.

"Let's stay here and have a look, shall we?"

His head turned to face me, and I returned it with a smile. It was nice to see such a strong demon look so panicked. 

"…Let the others settle the matters. How about the two of us have a nice long cha―"

Swoosh!

A fist hurled my way before I could finish my sentence. The air around it twisted, and my hair blew back a little.

Staring at the approaching fist, my brows furrowed.

'How rude.'

I didn't even get the chance to finish my sentence…

Smack!

Before the fist could reach me, I smacked his forearm, redirecting the fist away from me, at which point he flapped his wings once, vanished from the location he was in, and reappeared at the opposite end of the hall.

"Uh? Where is he going?" 

The most surprising thing was the fact that he vanished yet again, making me think that he had just run away from the fight, and the sight made my frown even deeper.

'Ah, right. He must be going there.' 

But as soon as I looked around and realized the circumstances, my frown lines began to smooth out again.

'It's not hard to see that we're winning.'

With each second passing, a demon would fall. The situation was dire for them, and with the overwhelming numbers we had, the battle was as good as over.

…What really mattered, however, was suffering the least amount of losses possible.

The human domain simply could not afford to lose any of its forces in light of the impending Third Cataclysm. In particular, because the demons that were approaching were in a category that was far superior to the demons we were currently up against. 

"It's good that they're being careful."

Tearing my gaze away from them, I returned my gaze to where the Prince ranked demon had disappeared.

If there was one threat, it was him. 

So long as I was successful in eliminating him, the war would be considered officially won.

"Alright then."

I stretched my limbs and pursed my lips.

"Let's see exactly what you're up to." 

***

Prince Plintus was in a state of panic as he made his way through the corridors.

"Haaa.... akh.. haa..." 

Sweat streamed down his face, and his breathing grew increasingly labored.

The more he walked, the heavier his legs felt, and the corridor before him seemed to stretch endlessly.

'Damn it.' 

He cursed under his breath, moving as fast as he could while flapping his wings to propel himself forward, his figure blurring and reappearing in the far distance.

A black halo surrounded his body, completely masking his entire presence so that no one could follow him. The Prince was confident in his cloaking skills. Even someone of the same level as him would be unable to find him.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

'How has this happened?' 

It only dawned on him at this moment that he had fallen for a trap. 

He initially thought that he was leading the way into the trap, but things had taken a turn for the worst.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

'That power... how is it possible?

But what was most shocking about the situation was the human's ability.

The one to create portals…

That... it shouldn't be something that he could wield.

Even he, a Prince ranked demon, was unable to achieve such a feat, and as far as he knew, there was no skill that could grant one such ability.

…So, how?

How was it possible?

"Huff... huff..." 

Despite being caught off-guard, the Prince had not given up.

He had prepared for this scenario, a scenario he never thought he would have to put into action. He had no choice but to resort to this method.

The repercussions of using such a method were grave. The city he had built with so much effort would crumble before his very eyes.

He didn't want that. Especially since he had put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into building it into what it was today.

He constructed it with His majesty in mind... for when the time came that he would, at last, arrive on Earth.

But, because of one single occurrence, despite the fact that he had done everything in his power to make the city one of the best there was, he had to force himself to watch it fall apart right in front of his eyes.

The thought tore his heart to pieces, but he took comfort in the fact that he would finally be able to kill the human, and everything would make itself up.

'Yes... so long as I can kill him... this price is fine...' 

The Prince repeated this thought in his mind, convincing himself that the price was worth it.

He passed through a corridor and came to an abrupt halt before a large beacon.

A bright light flooded out from it and shot toward a narrow hole atop the ceiling. The demonic energy around the beacon was incredibly dense, and Prince Plintus felt reinvigorated.

He knew that the sudden increase in mana density had taken a toll on him and all the other demons in the city.

If not for it, they wouldn't have been suffering so much.

Prince Plintus gazed at the beacon with complicated eyes, knowing that he had no choice.

He closed his eyes and extended his hand.

WOOOM―! Demonic energy burst out from his hand and enveloped the entire beacon.

Suddenly, the demonic energy that lingered in the air twisted dangerously and shot toward the beacon at incredible speeds.

Within the span of a couple of seconds, more and more demonic energy started to enter the beacon, and before long, the beacon started to shake, leaving behind several creaking sounds.

Claka! Claka! Claka! 

The Prince took a deep breath, staring at the unstable beacon.

His eyes trembled at the energy contained within it, and his complexion paled.

"Ukh... this will definitely do..." 

He clenched his teeth and poured more demonic energy into the beacon. 

"It's almost ready."

Prince Plintus spat through his clenched teeth. Seeing just how unstable the mana compressor in front of him was, he knew that he was close to destabilizing it.

Claka! Claka! Claka! 

The beacon started to tremble even more, its sides smacking against the left and right side. The Prince knew that he was close to destabilizing it.

So long as he destabilized it, he would be able to create a Dungeon that would soon desync. By then, a connection with the demon world would be created, and monsters would pour in.

Their situation would quickly reverse.

It was a bold move, one that would bring disastrous consequences to his city, but he had no choice.

It was the only way.

"Ah, so that's where it is." 

Suddenly, a gentle whisper made its way toward the Prince's ear, and his entire body stiffened.

He wasn't even sure when it had happened, but he soon felt a hand press against the side of his shoulder, and the Prince's head robotically turned. 

"H... how!?" 

To his horror, the one person he absolutely did not want to see was standing right next to him, staring at the mana compressor with a look of interest. 

Without so much as a glance, Ren's mouth parted open. His voice reaching his ears despite the chaos that was happening before them. 

"This is the second time."

He slowly turned his head to face him, and their gazes intersected with one another. 

"…Why are you so predictable?" 

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