The Author's POV

"Haaa… Haa…"

Within the confines of a large forest, the echo of two rough breaths could be heard. They belonged to none other than Hein and Ava, and they had been running for what seemed like an eternity at that point.

Their lungs burned, their legs ached, and their hearts pounded so loudly that it was a wonder the creatures chasing them hadn't heard.

"Over here!"

They found themselves in the middle of a thick forest, with the trees towering high above them and their leaves obscuring the majority of the sunlight. They had a hard time seeing where they were going, but they dared not slow down.

"This wa-no, shit! This way!"

The intense fight that they had only moments before evaded left visible damage on Hein's armor in the form of cracks and dents.

Ava's clothes were torn and bloodied, her hair a tangled mess. They were both exhausted, but they knew they couldn't stop yet.

"Shit... there's too many..."

Hein muttered, his breath coming out in ragged gasps.

"Where the fuck are we?"

Ava cursed under her breath, her legs feeling like they were made of lead.

Rustle! Rustle!

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind froze them in their tracks. They turned to see more than a dozen creatures emerging from the underbrush, their eyes blazing with an insatiable hunger. Ava and Hein's expressions crumbled at that moment.

"Shit, they're already here. Hurry and run; I'll hold back their first attack!"

Hein shouted, his voice laced with desperation.

Clank―! Clank―! Clank―!

In spite of his anxiety, he took a step forward, and as he did so, his shield broke up into nine separate pieces and floated in front of him.

A translucent green field connected each individual section of the shield, and the result was the formation of a rectangular barrier that covered a large portion of the land in front of him.

Boom―! Boom―!

"Urkghh!"

When the creatures first began their assault, the shield shook violently. Hein could taste something sweet at the very back of his throat, but he gritted his teeth and retracted his shield away.

The pieces found their way back to him and pieced themselves together again.

"Let's go."

Hein immediately changed course and made a beeline for the woods without wasting a single second of time. Although Ava was already quite a ways ahead, he was able to catch up to her in no time at all.

"Rooar!"

"Huarrr!"

"Khiek!"

The creatures chased after them, their snarls and roars echoing through the forest. It was a relentless pursuit, and despite their best efforts, Ava and Hein were struggling to keep ahead.

"Haa... haaa... This is too much."

Ava complained, running forward with all of her might.

They had been at it for several hours, and despite the fact that they had a number of potions available to them, she found that her strength was waning rather rapidly.

Ava was beginning to worry about whether or not they'd be able to emerge from the forest alive. The creatures did not show any sign of stopping their pursuit.

Hein, too, was starting to feel the weight of their situation.

They had managed to fend off the first wave of attacks, but they knew that more creatures were lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

That wasn't all... What truly made the situation difficult for them was the strange scent that lingered in the air.

For some reason, they found their breaths become heavier and heavier because of it.

"We have to keep going."

Hein said, his voice low so as not to attract any attention.

"We have to get out of the forest. Whatever is here, we have to get away from it. We're fucked if we don't get out of here."

Ava nodded, determination written all over her face. Together, they pushed on through the dense forest, their feet pounding against the ground as they ran for their lives.

"Ava…haaa… can you not use your flute at all?"

"You think I'd here r―"

Ava halted herself in the middle of her sentence, and her feet began to gradually slow down until they came to a complete stop.

"Uh? Why are yo―"

The same was true for Hein, who looked ahead and found that his already pale face had become even paler.

Licking his lips, which had gone dry, he turned to look at Ava.

"We're fucked, aren't we?"

Ava smiled and nodded her head as she looked up ahead, where there were at least a dozen and possibly even more demons. She then covertly swallowed her saliva.

"Yeah…"

She agreed, her eyes wandering over the beasts that the demons were sitting on.

They looked like large wolves, but unlike them, they looked far more menacing and were a lot larger. They had sharp, long teeth and claws, and their fur was a dark, matted gray or black. Their eyes were yellow and glowing, making them intimidating to look at.

They weren't exactly the best looking wolves, but… they sure as hell looked menacing to her.

"…We're totally fucked."

"You're fine."

Just then, a soft voice reached their ears, and the two of them froze on the spot. Upon recognizing to whom the voice belonged, both of their heads jerked abruptly to the side, and their eyes widened in surprise.

The color returned to their previously pale faces, and the expressions on their faces became brighter.

"Angelica!"

"Angelica!"

"It looks like the two of you have improved a lot."

Standing behind them with a thin smile on her face, Angelica gazed at the two of them. It had been a while since she had last seen them, and the two of them looked stronger than the last time she'd seen them.

"…We had a lot of time to improve."

Hein scratched the back of his head, finally letting his breath out as he did so. He wasn't quite able to sense Angelica's strength, but he could tell that she was stronger than the last time he had seen her.

Most importantly, she was unquestionably more powerful than the demons that were pursuing them.

"Young Matriarch?"

The demons that had surrounded them came to an abrupt halt and looked at Angelica with bewildered expressions on their faces.

"Young Matriarch?"

Ava and Hein exchanged looks with one another after hearing Angelica's title. They had a lot of questions in their minds at the moment, but they decided to voice them out later.

They were in no condition to talk.

"Stay back, you two."

But just as the two were getting ready to fight, Angelica quickly intervened and stopped them in their tracks by stepping forward. She stared at the demons that were in front of her, and a perplexed expression briefly crossed her face.

"Haa…"

Letting out a sigh, she extended her hand forward.

Almost instantly, demonic energy erupted from her entire body and engulfed the space that they were in.

"Young Matriarch?"

"What are you doing, Young Matriarch!?"

The demons were left in a state of shock as a result of Angelica's actions, and just as they were beginning to understand what had just taken place, Angelica bowed her head and apologized.

"I'm sorry, but I gave up on that title long ago."

Cr..Crack!

The space around the demons fractured, and before the demons even had a chance to defend themselves, the space swallowed them whole, and their figures vanished entirely.

"…"

The moment they disappeared, the area fell into a hush, and when Angelica turned her head to look around, she saw Hein and Ava staring at her in disbelief.

"You…"

Hein was the first one to speak, and as he did so, his gaze kept alternating back and forth between her hand and the location where the demons had previously been standing.

"…When did you get so strong?"

The power that she displayed to them at that moment shocked them to the core.

After spending five years in Immorra, they had originally believed that they would be closer to Angelica's power, but that didn't appear to be the case at all.

In fact, it seems as though she had surpassed them in every possible way in just a few short years.

Just what had happened?

"You're thinking too much. I've not improved as much as you think. In fact, your progress is a lot greater than mine."

Angelica smiled, taking in their reactions. When she reached out her hand, two floating contracts appeared in front of her, and she gave one to Ava and the other to Hein.

"Here, take them."

"What's this?"

"Devil Contracts."

Angelica replied, her tone clear and direct. Before Hein and Ava could voice their shock, she continued.

"I'm sure you're already aware of it, but the place in which you currently find yourself places limitations on your abilities."

The world contained within the Pillars was almost entirely devoid of mana and entirely brimming with demonic energy. As a result, it was extremely difficult for beings that couldn't control demonic energy to restore their mana after it had been depleted.

"It's rather surprising to me that the two of you have been able to hold out this long, but it's obvious from the way the two of you are looking at the moment that you're struggling to keep it together."

Their faces and breaths said it all.

Had she not arrived in the time that she did, she was afraid the two of them would not have made it, and perhaps even…

She didn't dare think of such a scenario.

It was fortunate that, due to her position, she was able to observe what was taking place inside the tower, and as a result, she was able to find them rather quickly.

"You're inside of what is called the Pillar of Lust, and inside of it, our powers are enhanced. The reason why it seems like I've improved so much is because of the properties of the pillars, and if you two sign the contract, you will no longer be held back by the constraints of the pillar."

She lowered her head and stared at the two contracts, a smile forming on her cold face.

"As a matter of fact, the two of you will find your strength increasing once you sign the contract, so…"

Angelica handed the two of them the contract.

"…Sign them."