The Author's POV

"We will be taking our leave, human."

Randur spoke out while Jomnuk stood by his side as they both stood behind the mana chamber.

It had been almost twenty days since the two of them had arrived on this planet, and unfortunately for them, it was now time for them to depart.

This news did not make them happy.

They would have remained on the planet had it not been for the situation in Henlour. However, their high positions made it impossible for them to stay, which was regrettable.

"Jomnuk and I will be the only individuals departing. As promised, the other dwarves will be staying here with you, and as previously mentioned, we will deactivate the portal and only reactivate it when we return."

"This is just a little precaution that we will take in order to ensure that the planet remains hidden. Of course, if you want to open it again, you can simply ask Ryan as he has the key to activate the portal."

Even though the dwarves who had come here were people whom both of them had put their full faith in, it was never a bad idea to be on the side of caution. It was always the person that you trusted the most that betrayed you.

As a result, Jomnuk and Randur arrived at the realization that it would be wise to close the portal upon coming out of the portal.

"In any case, even without Ryan, you did mention that you had another way out, so I won't say anything further."

Randur tapped on the large metallic door that separated him from Ren, who was still inside.

"I wish you luck with your breakthrough."

"Thank you."

Ren's voice could finally be heard from the other side of the door.

Randur returned a smile.

"Don't mention it."

He turned around after that.

Jomnuk followed him close from behind.

"We'll come back in at most a month...human time, which is around a year here? Ten months?"

Randur's brows furrowed, and he murmured to himself.

"Well, it shouldn't be a war that lasts too long. In any case, by the time we get back, everything should have been taken care of. Hopefully, the foundation of the city will already be built by then."

"...I honestly doubt Ren will need any more than half a year to completely finish the demons."

Jomnuk commented from the side.

He, too, was engaged in serious reflection regarding the issue with the demons. Due to the fact that this planet presented the dwarves with a wealth of opportunities, he was understandably anxious about the matter.

"Don't worry about it. If he manages to break through, the war should be a breeze."

"I guess you have a point."

Jomnuk finally nodded his head.

Even though he wasn't as strong as Randur and he wasn't a specialist in combat, he had certain artifacts that could help him gauge just how strong Ren was, and after briefly using them to measure Ren's strength, he knew that Randur's words contained some truth in them.

That being said…

"I have a feeling that things are a bit more complicated than what they seem to be on the surface."

It wasn't just a feeling because his artifact picked up a powerful fluctuation coming from a distance; however, because it was so far away, Jomnuk couldn't be certain about the validity of his assumption.

Upon hearing his words, Randur's expression changed to one of grave concern.

"How sure are you about this?"

"Not very."

Jomnuk shook his head before giving him a rough rundown of what he had found.

"...I see, that makes sense."

"So what should we do?"

"Nothing, we have to go back for the time being. It is up to the human to figure out what the next step in the process is. We have finished our part, and it is now time for us to go."

"Well, alright..."

Jomnuk bowed his head and then indicated his understanding with a nod.

"I guess you have a point. It ought not to be too much for him to handle. Especially considering the large number of fresh faces he had brought in. Their strength wasn't half bad, that's for sure."

"Yes."

Randur gave a subdued nod before turning his attention toward a specific corridor. Jomnuk followed him quietly from behind. It wasn't long before the two returned back to earth.

***

"The demons are coming, I can feel their presence."

Silug opened his eyes and began walking off into the distance. As he rose from his seat, he wore an expression of unparalleled gravity.

He had never before in his life felt the same level of dread as he did at the moment. Not even when he was standing at the frontlines of the war that had occurred a few days back.

He had the distinct impression that death itself was drawing nearer to him in the distance at the moment.

Wherever it passed, it would only leave desolation behind.

"Are you ready?"

Omgolung stepped beside him and asked.

Silug spared him a glance.

"No."

He shook his head.

He then grimly and candidly shared his viewpoint on the matter with Omgolung, who at the time had his thick arms crossed over each other and was staring off into the distance.

"If my estimates are correct, we won't last longer than a single day. We are at that much of a disadvantage in this war. Excluding the food supplies, the sheer numbers of our enemies are what worries me..."

A sudden thought occurred to Omgolung as he turned to look at Silug.

"What about the human, can't he help? If it's him..."

"That's with the human included."

Silug poured cold water on Omgolung as he cut him off.

In spite of the fact that he was aware that Ren was a capable individual, at the end of the day, based on what he observed, he was stronger than him, but not significantly stronger than him. At least not to the point where Silug felt completely hopeless.

Although he did completely subdue him and display a great deal of strength during the first war, Silug believed that this was not sufficient.

He was aware that the foe that was approaching might not be significantly more powerful than Ren...but that was irrelevant to the discussion at hand. What difference would it make if he were the strongest individual in the battlefield if he were facing off against millions of demons? Even an elephant would die at the hands of millions of ants.

"Get ready for battle."

After taking one final look in the direction of the horizon, Silug turned around and entered the castle once more.

Just as he was about to enter, he didn't forget to say a few more words to Omgolung who was still quietly staring into the horizon.

"This may be our last war...but we should at least make it count. Don't die in vain."

His presence gradually faded away into the background of the castle.

***

"Ukh..."

A groan escaped from my mouth as I felt a sweet sensation rise from the back of my throat.

'Fuck, this is much harder than I originally thought.'

Breaking through to <SS-> rank was a harder task than I had originally anticipated. Despite the plentiful mana that was around me, for some unknown reason, my body refused to rank up.

Typically, there would be this weird tingling feeling running through my body when I felt that I was about to break through. At least, the natural way.

Wasn't so much so this way when someone took a herb to increase their rank. In any case, I currently didn't feel anything at all which was strange.

'I swear I felt the sensation not too long ago. What's going on?'

Ten minutes...

Twenty minutes...

One hour...

Two hours...

No matter how much time passed, the sensation that I was expecting never came.

'What is wrong?'

I knew that I was close to breaking through to <SS-> rank. The fact that I could already agglomerate man in solid form was a testament to that.

Yet...there was something that I was still missing.

'But what exactly am I missing?'

No matter how much I wracked my brain over the matte, I just couldn't seem to come up with a solution to the problem.

Boom!

Suddenly, the room began to shake, and I could hear an explosion going off in the distance. Instantaneously, I was aware that the war had already begun, and the sense of urgency that I had previously been experiencing only intensified.

'Fuck...this can't go on.'

The longer I procrastinated, the worse the circumstances were going to become when I finally went back outside.

Despite the fact that I had faith that Hein and the others would deal a significant amount of damage to the demons, I couldn't help but feel that it might just not be enough.

The demons were simply too numerous, and...

'What if there is a demon that is much stronger than is known? ...One that could even cause problems for Liam?'

Realistically speaking, with Liam around, there shouldn't be any problems in the war.

He was strong.

As a matter of fact, he was most likely just as strong as I was. His presence provided me with a sense of comfort and safety; however, what if, in the unlikeliest of scenarios, the demon that was watching over the other demons was something that not even he was able to hand?

'That would be really bad.'

As I worked harder to collect the mana that was all around me, the sense of urgency that had been building up inside of me intensified a further notch.

"Ugh."

I could feel my head starting to spin as my heart started to beat at a faster and faster rate, and before I knew it, sweat started running down the side of my face.

"Fuck it."

When I swept my hand in front of me, a variety of medicinal plants and potions materialized before my eyes.

'I can't let that happen...I must break through, no matter what.'

I reached out and grabbed one of the herbs, and then I chewed on it.

'Since I can't break through naturally, I might as well force it...'

As soon as I took a bite of the herb, I felt a surge of energy throughout my body, and the throbbing in my veins intensified. I clenched my teeth and braced myself for the inevitable agony that was about to befall me.

...This was not going to be a smooth breakthrough.

In fact, it was most likely going to be a very painful one.