The Author's POV

As Kevin and I gazed at the portal, a homing sound reverberated throughout the room.

Kevin turned to look at me.

"Should we go?"

"Wait."

I shook my head as I deeply gazed at the portal in front of me.

"…Let's just wait a little bit."

There was something about the situation that did not sit well with me at the moment.

After covering my mouth with my hand and slipping into deep thought, I turned my gaze to Kevin.

"Are you noticing anything strange with the system?"

"Nope."

Kevin replied as he gazed at the air in front of him.

The frown on my face deepened.

'Am I overthinking things?'

Perhaps I was, but considering what Kevin told me before, I thought there was something amiss.

'If Jezebeth is truly responsible for Kevin's system malfunctioning, might he be waiting for something? ...or was the last time just a fluke, and he couldn't do anything at the time?'

My mind was filled with so many questions.

Unfortunately, in light of the limited amount of information I had at the moment, I was unable to discern the truth.

"Ugh, this is frustrating."

I muttered to myself while ruffling my hair into a mess.

'This sucks.'

I was really frustrated by the idea of not knowing what was happening. Besides that, I also felt a little apprehensive about the whole trip.

Kevin's whole speech about the system not working had raised alarm bells inside my mind.

"...So?"

Kevin's voice echoed from beside me.

Patting Jin's back, I turned to look at him before gazing at the portal again.

Observing the portal once more, I once again inquired.

"...Are you sure that there is nothing wrong with the system?"

"Doesn't look like it."

Kevin shook his head in response.

"...Alright."

In the end, I relented after a few seconds of observation and seeing that he was being completely honest.

"It might seem overly cautious of me, but we should both take some precautions just in case something goes wrong."

"As in?"

"As in we should wear this."

Taking out a couple of small devices from my dimensional space, I passed one to Kevin. It was a small black pin. One with golden engravings in it.

As he stared at the same device, Kevin wondered.

"What's this?"

Looking at Kevin, I placed the device on the right side of my shirt and did the same for Jin who was passed out on my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Once I was done putting on the device, my face twisted slightly.

"...It's a one-time use <S> rank artifact."

"Huh?"

Surprise flashed across Kevin's face as he looked at me.

His face changed once more as he lowered his head to look at the device.

"Where did you get this?"

"I bought it."

I replied while trying my best to stop myself from making a weird face.

"Where else do you think I can find three <S> rank artifacts like these?"

"Dunno, a dungeon?"

"As if I have time for that."

The device that I gave Kevin and Jin was an <S> rank one-time use defensive artifact. In line with its name, it would stop working after a single activation.

Nevertheless, just because it was a one-time use device didn't mean that it was bad. After all, with it, I doubted even an <S> rank could one-shot me with it.

As a whole, I spent most of my magic card money on them. At the moment, my bank account was almost empty and my heart bled at the thought.

Regardless, I didn't regret it.

Especially after hearing about the problem with the system.

Better safe than sorry.

"Wear it for now. In case nothing happens on the trip, you can give it back to me."

"...Alright."

Kevin slowly nodded his head before leaving the device on his shirt.

Inhaling deeply, he turned to look at me before taking a step toward the portal.

"Then I will go first."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

From behind, I carefully observed him with squinted eyes.

It wasn't my intention to enter the portal just yet. I wanted to wait and see if anything happened to Kevin first before anything else.

"Alright."

Without further ado, Kevin took a step into the portal and the mana in the air danced wildly. Observing him throughout the entire time, and seeing half of his body slowly entered the portal, I was pleasantly surprised to see his body disappear without any trouble.

'Good.'

I secretly sighed in relief when I saw this. The same could be said for Kevin who waved his hand in my direction.

"Looks like everything is good. I'll be going first. I'll meet you on the other side."

"Sure."

I nodded as Kevin's figure disappeared into the portal.

As he left, a gentle homing sound echoed throughout the room.

"Huuu…"

After taking a deep breath, I carefully studied the portal in front of me for a few more seconds. As soon as I confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it, I decided to move forward.

"It looks like the coast is clear."

Glancing at Jim who was slumped on my shoulders, I took a step forward and entered the portal.

"Here goes nothi—huh!?"

***

With his hand extended in a certain direction, Jezebeth slowly opened his eyes.

"It's time."

Locking onto the energy in the distance, Jezebeth slowly clenched his fist. Immediately after clenching his fist, he felt the portal in the distance begin to destabilize.

A powerful hue sprung out from his body as the space around him shattered completely and his hair blew back.

"...As if I'm going to let such an opportunity slip."

Following the five extended threads that were connecting with the Akashic laws, even more, power sprung out of Jezebeth's body as his face started to twist and his armor started to crack.

Cra..Crack—!

Immediately after his actions, Jezebeth outstretched his arms before joining them together.

Clenching his teeth tightly, he glared toward the distance.

"Since you can teleport back to earth thanks to the links you created, how about bringing them with you?"

As he uttered those words, the space around him collapsed, and waves of energy spread from his hands. Seconds later, the waves joined up together before shooting toward the earth.

As the waves reached Earth, they slowly reached out for the five connecting points and everything around Jezebeth calmed down.

"Khh..."

Letting out a short groan, Jezebeth's knees buckled as he stared toward the distant earth.

"Hm?"

Jezebeth touched his cheeks as he felt a moist sensation. A look at his finger revealed that it had become bloody.

Paying no mind to it, he turned his focus back on earth and a satisfied smile soon spread across his face.

"This will do for now..."

***

*Puff*

While Leopold held on to a large cigar, a wave of smoke diffused in the air. With both feet on the tea table in front of him, he turned to look at Smallsnake.

"Hey Smallsnake, what exactly is Ren planning on doing?"

"No idea."

Lifting his glasses up, Smallsnake placed a piece of paper on top of a large stack. A slight twitch appeared on his face as he lifted his glasses up.

As a result of all the time he spent working, Smallsnake now wore glasses, and he wasn't used to them yet.

"It's likely he's doing something crazy again. Just ignore him. You'll find your mental health will improve when you realize this."

"I see..."

*Puff*

Leopold took another puff of the cigar.

"Can you stop?"

Waving her hand over her nose, Ava glared in Leopold's direction as she entered the room. In addition to growing a few centimeters, her previously long hair was now cut to reach her shoulders.

"Why is it that every time I see you, you're smoking?"

*Puff*

"You wouldn't understand."

Leopold extended his hand which was holding onto the cigar.

"How about you try it yourself?"

"I'm good."

Ava snappily replied before turning to look at Smallsnake.

Walking up to him, she placed both hands on the desk and leaned her body forward.

"Anyways Smallsnake, we've got a problem."

"A problem?"

Taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, Smallsnake looked at Ava.

"What's the problem?"

"It's He—"

Halfway through her sentence, Ava's eyes snapped open widely as her head jerked toward the faraway distance. Towards a certain room.

She wasn't the only one to react like this as Leopold dropped the cigar in his hand and stood up.

Taking note of their sudden reactions, Smallsnake grew alarmed.

"Hey, what's going on you tw—"

But before he could even finish his sentence, the room in the distance suddenly burst apart.

The last thing he heard was Ava's panicked voice as his vision soon turned dark.

"Run!

***

—Keeping up with the news. The stock of the Demon Hunters guild rose significantly over the past few days following Edward Stern's return. It has increased to a point where the overall value of the guild has more than doubled over the past few days. This is an unprecedented event...

Click—!

Turning off the radio, Han Yufei focused on the road in front of him.

[We will reach the destination in the next two minutes]

A sweet voice echoed throughout the car. Turning to glance at his GPS, Han Yufei tapped on the car screen and turned off the music that was playing in the background.

"Haaa..."

Focusing his attention back toward the road he let out a long sigh.

"Now that I've finally received my end of the deal, I have to uphold mine and sign the contract."

To be honest, Han Yufei's feelings were rather complicated at the moment.

He was excited about the upcoming future. After all, he did just acquire a new five-star sword art. The Gravar style at that. One of the most famous sword arts in the human domain.

...But it was exactly because of this that he felt his emotions become complicated.

While tapping onto the steering wheel of the car, he silently muttered to himself.

"...It is rumored that the Gravar style requires an inhuman level of pain to master. Only through such pain can they reshape their bodies and fully learn the sword art. However, through such a method, there is a very real possibility of death."

It was those words that gave rise to the complex feelings in Han Yufei's mind. And with the fate of his clan on his shoulders, Han Yufei felt a great deal of burden.

Even then, Han Yufei was prepared.

For whatever would allow him to grow stronger and faster, he was prepared for anything.

[You have arrived at your destination.]

Pressing onto the brake the car soon came to a stop.

Clank—!

Getting out of the car, Han Yufei gazed toward the building in the distance. Covering his face with his hand to block the sunlight, he silently muttered to himself.

"I still can't get used to the sight."

It truly was really ugly on the outside. Thankfully, having been inside, he knew that it was only like this on the exterior.

The exterior was much nicer.

"Hm?"

A slight fluctuation of the mana in the air caused Han Yufei's brows to knit as he approached the warehouse.

While it was only subtle, it instantly raised alarm bells inside Han Yufei's head as he became more cautious as a result.

'Is someone planning on attacking this place?'

The thought made him even more apprehensive as his eyes sharpened.

But just as he had taken a pose, another mana pulse shook the air. This time, it was a lot more powerful and fierce than before.

Han Yufei's head quickly snapped toward the source of the pulse, the warehouse, and his eyes immediately grew wide.

"What's going on—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, his world grew dark.