The ominous presence drew closer, and their emerald expression paled.
Nox hurriedly looked outside the window, his gaze falling on a shadowy existence that emitted an oppressive aura.
"Who is that?" Nox gasped when he saw the bold red text hovering above the shadowy being’s head.
This was the first time he was coming across a level 200. Their presence... it was enough to shake the entire Floor 20 without even trying.
With a pale look on her face, Emerald pointed out, "That’s Krelin the Dread Reaper, the second born of the emperor. He must’ve heard what’s been happening on the floors and came personally to investigate."
"If he’s here, that means..." At that moment, Nox suddenly thought about Jared and the demon lord battling the demons on the outskirts.
Without hesitation, he contacted the demon lord through the mental link and gave a series of commands.
Meanwhile, in the outskirts—
The demon lord suddenly turned to Jared and said, "Master said we need to get out of here as soon as possible and close the portal behind us."
Jared looked into the distance, feeling the powerful presence. He could easily tell it was because of that.
Although he didn’t want to leave Nox behind, he was wise enough to know that sticking around would only hold him back. So, without hesitation, they rushed to the teleportation circle.
It wasn’t too far from where they had been fighting. Upon stepping onto the teleportation circle, they appeared on the 19th floor.
Jared’s memory wasn’t the best, but with the demon lord’s help, they were easily able to navigate through the floors.
Of course, the demons from the 20th floor didn’t stand idly by—they gave chase.
Finally, almost out of breath, Jared arrived back at the first floor, where everything had started.
Seeing that Jared was beginning to slow down, the demon lord yanked him by the shoulder and dashed toward the portal.
They passed through, and just behind them, a demon tried to follow. But Dreadfiend, who had been standing guard, sent that demon flying back inside with a powerful punch.
"Quickly, close the portal!" Jared shouted.
The demon lord fired a miasma blast at the device powering the portal. It flickered before snapping shut.
"Phew... that was close." Jared fell on his butt, panting as if he’d run a marathon.
Soon, Jack and Akira appeared on the scene.
"Hey, what happened to you—" Jack wasn’t able to finish his words when he saw the demon lord standing close to Jared.
"Shit, these things are still here!" he cursed under his breath as he summoned his odachi.
Even Akira prepared to engage the beast when Jared shouted, "Stop! Don’t attack him!"
"Why?" Jack frowned. "Why are you taking the demon’s side? Don’t tell me you’ve been possessed?"
A red vein bulged in Jared’s head.
"No, I’m not possessed!" he retorted. "And this guy here isn’t our enemy. Nox tamed him."
"Oh." When they heard this, both Akira and Jack slowly lowered their weapons.
But a small frown appeared on Akira’s beautiful face. "But where is he?"
"About that..." Jared hesitated, scratching his head.
Akira’s brows furrowed deeper. "Jared. Where is he?"
Finally, Jared sighed. "He’s in the Demonic Empire."
Both Akira and Jack exclaimed at once in shock. They had all come to rescue the citizens of the Armstrong Duchy—how did Nox end up in the Demonic Empire of all places?
It was at that moment Jared began to explain everything—how they had stumbled across the portal, cleared the floors, and destroyed the portals.
"Whatever that presence was, he didn’t want them to come to the human realm," Jared said. "I didn’t want to leave, but I figured if I stayed behind, I’d only be holding him back."
Soon, they returned to where everyone else was, and Jared told them what had happened during their short time away.
When they heard of their feat, they were both impressed and worried at the same time.
"So, you’re telling me he’s stuck in the Demon Realm?" Prince Adrian frowned. He had come all this way to strike a deal, and now the one he sought was stuck in the Demon Realm—with no way of knowing whether he was alive or not.
"He’s not dead, that I’m very certain of," the demon lord spoke. "Our connection is still strong."
"But will it be safe?" Ria frowned. "From your description, whatever showed up must be very powerful."
"My stupid brother is very slippery," Nyx said, her voice filled with confidence and pride. "I’m very certain he’ll return."
"How sure are you?" Adrian asked, clearly in doubt.
"100 percent!" everyone from the Cromwell Barony echoed in sync, shocking those from the Vermilion Kingdom.
Prince Adrian blinked. "You guys really have that much faith in him?"
Wendy crossed her arms. "It’s not faith. It’s facts. He’s always come through whenever we needed him most."
They hadn’t even seen him before, yet their impression of him increased with each passing second. They were all looking forward to seeing the one who defied the empire’s odds.
Akira stayed quiet for a moment, staring at the sealed portal. Her fingers twitched.
’...Still. We can’t afford to be careless,’ she finally said. ’Even if he’s alive, we have no way to reach him or any idea how long he might take to return.’
"But he might have a way to reach us," the demon lord replied.
Everyone turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked warily.
The demon lord touched his chest. "Master has a skill that could allow him to swap places with his pets."
After the connection between them was forged, such a method became possible.
Right on cue, just as the demon lord finished speaking, the air around him warped.
Everyone became alert, pointing their weapons at the direction of the distortion.
But contrary to their expectations, a portal vomiting demons didn’t appear.
Rather, it was a handsome youth—one they were all very familiar with.