Emmet and Jasper were on their way to save Tierra.

  Emmet's voice dropped to a low murmur. "When was the last time you went down to a deeper floor? And how many floors are there, exactly?"

  Jasper answered, "Lenka said there are ten floors; that’s the lowest she could reach. She warned us not to go there, as she thought she saw something like a demon."

  Emmet recalled Jeniah’s journal. Jeniah had written that this forgotten hideout was once a site for their darkest work: experimenting with demons. He voiced his thought, "But how can a demon survive here without a vessel? Now that her sight's been upgraded, she probably sees what’s truly down there."

  Since the demon couldn't get out, it must have been sealed here for who knows how long. And it's still alive now, Emmet mused. This demon must have some kind of ability to abduct Tierra and make her disappear out of nowhere. Did it consume Tierra? If so, maybe we are too late to save her, but I promise I will avenge her. Besides, I can't pass on this opportunity—finally, a demon to hunt. My stores of rend were almost depleted; this was an unexpected windfall. He shook off the thought. That's a secondary objective. Tierra is the priority. Hang in there, Tierra; I don’t think she is so weak she'd be consumed easily.

  "Jasper, we need to accelerate our pace," Emmet said, his tone resolute. "I’m going to punch our way down."

  Jasper, gripping the sturdy, oil-burning lamp he was carrying, said, "Well, that would be incredibly dangerous." Tierra, we might be running out of time, he thought, a cold knot tightening in his chest. Then he nodded to Emmet. "Do it, Emmet."

  With a low grunt, Emmet unleashed a powerful, precise punch that shattered the stone floor. He didn't just dig a hole; he obliterated a path downward, carefully directing the force to avoid collapsing the entire underground hideout. Floor by floor, he repeated the devastating action until they reached the lowest level.

  "What is this vast place?" Emmet said, scanning the darkness. This level was bigger than expected, its size unsettling.

  "Well, it's my first time here, too," Jasper said, holding the lamp higher, its flickering light failing to penetrate the gloom. "Jeniah forbade us to come here; even she didn’t venture this deep. She said it was too dangerous even for her abilities."

  "Well, she certainly didn’t put any details about this level in her journals, which is unlike her," Emmet noted, his attention already elsewhere.

  Emmet concentrated, pouring a searing stream of rend into his vision—more than he usually dared. The surrounding shadows recoiled as his eyes flared, lighting up with a dangerous, intense purple. Jasper noticed the fierce, unnatural radiance. So that is the true, untainted color of rend?

  In the pitch dark, Emmet could see through everything, making the lamp almost useless to him. Jasper followed cautiously, his path lit solely by the lamp. Emmet then instructed Jasper to wait near a shadowed recess. He saw a crumbling armory and noted rusted spears and swords. Jasper, prepared with his broadsword, didn’t take any.

  "These are all useless weapons for me," Emmet said, knowing they wouldn't hold up to his strength, but he took a spear anyway, feeling its solid weight. He said to Jasper, "I will rely on you to deliver the damage, Jasper. I don’t have any more totem ability, but I want you to keep your distance while I study the demon’s behavior. It must have some kind of ability or trait that made Lenka unable to see how Tierra disappeared." He then said, "I’ll tell you when to strike. When I do, give it absolutely all you’ve got. Got it?"

  "Ok, I got it," Jasper confirmed, gripping his sword tighter.

  They kept running towards where Emmet’s sight located the demon. With his Unwoven Sight fully powered, he had finally got a lock on the demon's distinct energy signature. "Got you."

  This underground place was vast, and it took them several minutes of hard running to get there. Emmet, now focused entirely on his target, said to Jasper, "I’m speeding up now. Just catch up and observe from a safe distance—enough for you to be able to launch your attack and deal the finishing blow."

  "Alright," Jasper said. Emmet surged forward, his movement an instantaneous blur, almost like he was flying. Jasper tightened his grip on the broadsword, a fierce, protective pride rising in him. Emmet has become frighteningly faster, he thought, like a proud older brother.

  Emmet, meanwhile, was already close to the demon, but he remained utterly cautious, unwilling to alert the demon prematurely. He moved with barely any sound, employing his Unwoven Breathing Control, and silently appeared right in front of the demon. Despite the lingering darkness, Emmet’s eyes glowed with an intense, pulsing purple, almost making him look like a demon himself.

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  The demon before him was a disturbing sight: terrifyingly slim, almost a skeletal silhouette, looking severely malnourished, with four arms in total, though two hands were bound by heavy chains. Its surroundings were crowded with ancient totems, and below it was a massive, inscribed sigil that seemed to have trapped and preserved its life force.

  Emmet scrutinized all the sigils, totems, and intricate runes. So this complex sealing magic is how the demon has been preserved all this time? He then examined the creature's grotesque shape. No, he realized with a jolt. Its malformed features showed it had some distinct human parts. It has already successfully taken on a vessel.

  The demon finally noticed Emmet, and its sickly eyes glowed, but it couldn’t see Emmet clearly, not compared to how Emmet saw through the darkness itself.

  I could destroy all these seals; this must be what’s keeping this demon alive, Emmet thought, flexing his fingers. But I have to see if Tierra is anywhere. The demon looks too thin and weak; it doesn’t seem to have eaten Tierra, so how did it get her? I can’t destroy it just yet.

  The demon started to attack Emmet with its available hands, which could surprisingly stretch, snapping out like whips and easily reaching him, but Emmet was far too fast to be caught. Determined to find if the demon had any other deadly traits, Emmet decided to prolong the battle and move strategically slower to let the demon think it had a genuine chance.

  I should give it some motivation to use its full power, Emmet thought, a dangerous smile touching his lips. He stopped suddenly and threw the spear directly at the demon’s eye. The spear was thrown so fast the demon couldn't react quickly enough to catch it. The spear struck its eye, piercing the sickly flesh, and the demon let out a guttural growl of agony, becoming instantly furious. It slammed its free hands against the ground while ripping the spear from its bulging, damaged eyes.

  Emmet taunted, his voice echoing slightly, "Now, did I make you sufficiently mad? Come on, show me what else you’ve got, demon."

  The demon raised a hand as if summoning or channeling something vast. Emmet observed it and noticed a dark-colored circular energy forming on the ground directly below him. Emmet was fast enough to react and vaulted sideways, only to stop and notice another sinister circular energy forming beneath his new position. Emmet wondered aloud, "What is it? It doesn't seem to have any damaging effect...yet."

  He deliberately moved slower again and picked up a heavy rock from the ground. Another circular energy formed below him. He jumped straight up and threw the rock directly into the center of the circle. With his Unwoven Sight, he clearly saw it: the rock just went through it, vanishing like a perfect hole in the ground. Still not completely convinced, he picked up another rock and confirmed the observation. It’s a dimensional space? He theorized that this demon had the innate ability to create this kind of localized dimensional rift. Ah, I see the trick now.

  He picked up another rock and threw it at the demon, aiming for its good eye, but this time he threw it slowly enough for the demon to easily dodge or catch it. He threw a few more to test its limits. The demon then created a large dimensional hole that shimmered open in its chest and swallowed all the incoming rocks. Emmet noted, "So it can do that, too. It needs a solid surface to activate that dimensional hole: the ground or its own body. So, originally, it couldn't conjure it out of thin air."

  Then came a true surprise: many dimensional holes popped into existence out of thin air from several unexpected directions. All the rocks he had thrown moments ago came hurtling out of them, being thrown back at him with force. Emmet was quick to evade them all, though he knew not evading them wouldn't deal him any lasting damage. Ahh, so it can conjure it from thin air after all, Emmet thought, impressed despite himself. Amazing, this is the first time I’ve seen a demon with an active ability. Do all demons have abilities, or are there some kind of inherent hierarchy or distinct categories? Well, if it’s a dimensional space, then Tierra must have been stored in there.

  Theoretically, it must be some kind of storage-only space, a temporary pocket dimension. So there is no time to waste. I have seen enough; it doesn’t seem to possess any other powerful abilities, and it is weak enough to be dealt with quickly. It taunted Lenka like it was actively luring her to come, so this demon possesses some high-level intelligence; it must have thought more people would come and used Tierra as bait. The possibility of Tierra still being alive is high.

  Now I don’t have to waste any more time. I must put an end to this. A demonic language scraped from the demon's throat—a sound like crumbling stone—finally reached Emmet's ears. To his surprise, he understood a fragment. He recognized the syntax from Eanne’s compiled book. So Eanne’s language is the same as that of that demon? Wait, Eanne is an ancient being, so does that mean it’s not a demon language; it means it is an ancient language. He tried to listen and comprehend the murmurs the demon was uttering. It was more like a low, starving sound, and the words he grasped were "hungry," "consume," or "eat you." Emmet hadn’t mastered the language, but he somehow grasped the core message. I’m glad I studied some of it, but I regret I couldn’t memorize or practice it more. Let’s end this now.

  Emmet planned to distract the demon and focus its entire attention on him by making it think he was about to launch a final, devastating attack. Then, using his Unwoven Breathe to amplify his voice, he shouted at Jasper, "DO IT NOW!"

  Jasper smiled, having been ready all this time. He summoned all his corrupted divine energy, letting it surge through his body. His broadsword was instantly covered with bone and a searing red divine warrior energy. Jasper leapt, launching himself to deliver a devastating blow. A giant red energy sword formed in the air and was set to slash the demon in half. In just one hit, Jasper managed to slay the weakened demon and sliced it clean in half.

  Immediately, several circles of dimensional space appeared below the slain demon, violently unleashing all the stored things inside it. A pile of many full human skeletons, rusted weapons, random discarded items, tables, and chairs spilled onto the ground. Then, Tierra appeared, tumbling out and violently gasping for air. "Tierra," Jasper breathed, his voice thick with relief.

  Emmet immediately instructed Jasper, "Jasper, tend to Tierra and get her far away from the remains of that demon." Jasper complied instantly, lifting Tierra and moving them as far away as possible from the slain creature.