While the expanding flames and dust blocked their vision, the noise of falling rocks and the trembling ground let them know what was happening.

Emeric squinted and fell to the ground on one knee.

“I… I think I did-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence before Red picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. He looked over at Leon.

“Go!”

His companion turned around and ran, focusing on maintaining the barrier.

“H-Hey, you don’t need to actually carry me!” Emeric said, as he was carried off like a sack of potatoes.

Red ignored his complaints and focused on running. His crimson sense could tell the situation of the nobleman’s better than the individual itself, and he was certain that Emeric was in an extremely weakened state. Even if he could run, it would never be fast enough.

‘Although, his friend doesn’t look much better.’

Leon also had a strained frown on his face. The mental focus required to keep the barrier up while also trying to escape was weighing down on his speed.

Of the entire group, only Red remained in mostly top condition, but he couldn’t rush ahead even if he wanted to.

‘We’re too slow.’

As if to emphasize his worries, the rumbling behind them picked up in strength once again, and the ground trembled underneath their feet.

“T-The tunnel is collapsing!” Emeric warned them.

Red took a quick glance behind him and saw a path of dust and falling rocks racing after them, burying the toxic fumes under the debris. It quickly catching up.

He looked over at Leon.

“You need to move faster!”

“I… I can’t,” The young noble said between ragged breaths. “I need to keep the barrier up!”

Red frowned. The path ahead was still filled with the corroding gas, and his wind spells wouldn’t be able to clear it all away.

He arrived at a quick decision.

“We need to- Ugh!”

Leon’s words were interrupted as Red hoisted him by the cuff of his shirt and threw him over his other shoulder.

“Master Viran, what are you-”

“Focus on keeping the barrier up,” Red cut him off and sped up.

To a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, the weight of two human adults was negligible, so his speed didn’t diminish at all. He focused his Spiritual Energy around his feet, and with a hop, rode the turbulent winds of the collapsing tunnel with his Gale Drift art.

This proved to be far harder than he expected, as his balance was off while carrying two people on his shoulders, which caused him to stumble.

“You’re going to drop me!” Emeric gripped Red’s robe in panic.

“Stop moving.”

With another step, he rode another current of air, and this time, he landed with more grace. To his luck, this tunnel was a straight path, so this made his Gale Drift simpler to use.

He continued riding the winds for a while longer, until the rumbling behind them ceased.

“It’s stopped collapsing…” Emeric said in a weak voice.

“So it seems,” Red nodded, still running.

“Then you can drop us off-”

“Not until we’re out of the mist.”

Emeric groaned in annoyance, but seemed too tired to complain. Leon was also having an easier time maintaining the barrier, even though the constant shaking seemed to have made him dizzy, and he had closed his eyes to keep focus.

Red maintained his pace until they were out of the toxic gas, and only then did he drop his companions down.

As soon as Leon recognized they were safe, he let the barrier dissipate. He sat up against a wall, taking deep breaths and massaging his temples with a pained frown. Emeric, on the other hand, kept laying on the spot he was dropped, looking up at the ceiling with a dazed expression. For Red, other than his Spiritual Energy reserves running low, this quick sprint didn’t tire him at all. His demonically improved endurance was always the strongest aspect of his body, and it had only improved with his advancement into the Lesser Ring Realm.

He looked at his companions.

“We need to move. This isn’t a proper place to rest.”

“Huh?” Emeric stared up at him in confusion. “Are you not tired at all?”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“It doesn’t matter. We’re still not safe.”

“He’s right,” Leon nodded, getting to his feet. “We need to warn my father and the others before-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the ground trembled again. It was a short rumble, yet it kept repeating like a drum, and it was coming from the direction they had just escaped from.

“The demon is probably emerging,” Red said. “It won’t be long before it surfaces.”

“Then we need to hurry and warn my father!” Leon said and pulled out a slip of paper from his pouch.

Red recognized it as a communication talisman.

“You had this all along?”

“I do, but my father warned me not to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. There are ways to intercept these kinds of messages if you know where they are coming from or where they are going.”

“Is that true?” He frowned.

“Yes,” Leon nodded. “They are rare, but they exist. It’s very likely our house is being targeted by these kinds of espionage, and if they can intercept my message, then…”

“They can figure out your house’s involvement in this matter.”

These were dire news for Red, as this might implicate him as well, and Leon seemed to guess at his concerns.

“I know what you are worried about, but if we don’t do this, then how many people will-”

Before he could finish speaking, the talisman in his hand glowed, and a man’s authoritative voice echoed in the tunnel.

“What is your location?”

After this question, the talisman’s glow disappeared again. Leon’s face lit up as he heard this question, and one could guess it was his father’s voice. He was about to activate the talisman to respond, but hesitated and looked over at Red.

All he got back was a silent gaze. Red couldn’t possibly give him his consent to respond, knowing this could lead someone else to figuring out his involvement. The young noble seemed to understand this too, and he looked conflicted.

Yet, after some thought, he sighed.

“I won’t do it, Master Viran. Not after everything you have done to help us,” Leon shook his head. “But in this case, we need to get out of here and hurry so we can-”

“If you are still alive, retreat immediately,” The talisman shone again and the same voice came out. “A demon is about to emerge and I will be engaging it.”

The slip of paper dimmed, and a heavy silence settled around the group.

“The Duke’s already here?!”

Emeric was the one to break it.

“But, how did he…” Leon looked down at the talisman in confusion.

Red was also surprised. The capital was a truly enormous place, such that even a cultivator would take a while to traverse it from one end to the other. Greater Ring Realm cultivators could fly to some degree, but even then, the Northvale mansion was very far. How could the Duke have arrived here and already assessed the situation when it had barely been minutes since the demon first started to emerge?

The answer was evident.

“He was already in the area,” Red said.

“No, that shouldn’t be!” Leon shook his head. “He said he would trust me with this mission and would wait back at the mansion.“

“Whatever the case, the reason doesn’t matter. Since he’s here, won’t he be able to stop a tragedy from happening?”

“That’s… That’s right.” The young noble nodded, though from his expression, there was something still troubling him. “We should hurry and leave the sewers then.”

Red was happy to agree, and they were about to set out, when a sudden groan of pain came from the ground next to him. When he looked over, he saw Emeric holding onto the hem of his robe and looking up at him with a pleading gaze.

“I… I changed my mind. You can keep carrying me.”

…

There were many entrances to the sewer spread throughout the city, so it didn’t take long before they found an exit leading to the surface. While they were leaving, the rumbling sound grew stronger, seemingly reaching a crescendo.

Red and the others left through a manhole and found themselves in the middle of a road. Even on the surface, though, they could still feel the ground tremble. As they looked around, they saw quite a few people had already emerged from their houses in confusion, perhaps from the earlier collapse the trio had caused or the current rumbling.

They threw them strange glances as they saw the group surface from the sewers, but their attention shifted when they heard a powerful explosion from afar. This was accompanied by a stronger quake that sent the gathered peasants into a panic.

Leon looked in the direction of the sound with a fearful expression.

“Has my father engaged it?”

Red didn’t respond, frowning beneath his mask as he tried to discern the distant sounds. What followed this explosion, though, was a silence that lasted for a few seconds.

Then came a guttural howl.

It was a horrifying shriek, shaking windows, and furniture as it echoed through the neighborhood. It didn’t resemble the roar of a beast, but the cry of pain of hundreds of voices, combined and amplified by a powerful and unholy creature.

The birth of a demon.

Even Red, so used to these matters, felt his body react in fear at this sound. The sound seemed to have sent a weakened Emeric, still being carried by Red, over the edge as he fell unconscious, while Leon was also struggling with keeping his composure.

If even the three cultivators were struggling with the sudden roar, the peasants were faring much worse. A lot of them fell unconscious, and the ones that didn’t seemed to enter a dazed state, staring in front of them with strange expressions. Even when the roar stopped, they didn’t recover immediately, stumbling around like fools.

“This… There’s something wrong!” Leon said as he recovered. “How can the demon’s roar affect us from that far?!”

Red understood his meaning. The only other Greater Ring monster he saw in the past was much weaker than this, which led him to believe that his crimson sense hadn’t seen the full transformation of the demon before they escaped.

“It’s approaching the peak of the Greater Ring Realm,” Aurelia’s voice reached his ears. “It shouldn’t have been able to do that with just that much lifeforce, though. Someone, or something, might have intervened.”

He didn’t understand what she meant by that, but he understood this demon was much stronger than expected.

“It’s probably at the peak of the Greater Ring Realm,” Red said. “Can your father still deal with it?”

Leon looked uncertain.

“I don’t know. He’s also at the peak of the Greater Ring Realm, but…”

He trailed off. None of them made to retreat, though, Red out of curiosity and Leon out of concern.

Some moments later, they saw a serpentine shape rise against the starlit sky. It was an enormous creature, this one could tell even from afar, and its entire body was covered in jagged green scales that barely seemed to reflect light. It resembled a snake in almost every manner, with slitted bright green eyes, its open maw revealing a pair of fangs and a forked tongue. Yet, setting it apart were two curving white horns that jutted out from the side of its head, with lines of dark green demonic energy travelling along their length.

The creature stood there in the air, open mouth dripping with pitch-black venom, and its enormous head shifted around as if looking for something. For a second, Red thought it was searching for them, but soon enough its attention fixed in a different direction.

Then, in the same direction the demon was staring at, multiple white crystal rings materialized in the air.

‘No, not crystal.’

They were ice rings.

Before either he or the demon could process the information, dozens of ice spears materialized and shot out from the center of these rings aimed at the monster. They crashed into its body like a barrage before it could react, shattering into a mist of ice that seemed to cling to its scales.

The demon roared in pain, and from behind the rings of ice, Red saw a figure emerge.

“Father!”

Leon cried out.