Chapter 63: Did you just hurt Lucien?

Slar raised an eyebrow after hearing Lucien’s exclamation. His lips curled.

"Oh? You know what I am?"

He rubbed his chin with his pale fingers, revealing sharp nails stained with blood. It seemed he had already killed a few Espers.

"How amusing. I was beginning to find the Awakened here far too weak and pathetic."

Hearing Slar’s words, Lucien trembled. He instinctively grabbed Zephyr, who seemed somewhat confused about the situation.

No one noticed, but Zephyr hadn’t been affected by the pressure carried in Slar’s voice at all. Not even Slar—the powerful Demon Servant—had noticed this strange anomaly. His head was in too much pain for him to worry about anything else. Still, Zephyr had heard Lucien shout earlier.

A demon?

The thought briefly flashed through his mind. But then it completely slipped away.

The noise around him was beginning to irritate him. His conversation with Erick earlier had already worn down his patience, and now this newcomer had an incredibly unpleasant, scratchy voice. Zephyr almost wanted to seal the person’s mouth shut!

If only Slar could hear his thoughts...

He would have coughed up blood in anger. Fortunately—or unfortunately—he couldn’t.

Slar’s crimson eyes remained fixed on Lucien, a hint of interest flickering within them. There was something about this human that had caught his attention.

He slowly reached out a pale hand toward Lucien, who was practically being hugged by Zephyr. However, before he could get any closer, Erick shoved Nana aside and sent a razor-sharp wind blade slicing toward him.

Slar’s blood-red eyes crinkled slightly.

He raised one hand. The wind blade struck his palm and shattered instantly, dispersing into harmless currents of air. He glanced at Erick, his smiling expression unchanged.

"I have to say, you are powerful, but..."

He let out a disdainful chuckle.

"...too bad. You haven’t even scratched the surface of what you are truly capable of."

Suddenly, he frowned slightly.

"I wonder how you all even managed to trigger and also clear the first Demonic Dungeon so quickly. Was it an accident?"

Lucien’s grip on Zephyr tightened.

Damn it!

So this was why this Demon Servant had appeared earlier than in the original novel!

The first Demonic Dungeon was actually the first Disaster-Level Dungeon. Zephyr had unknowingly cleared it too quickly, and that must have caught the Fallen Realm’s attention. Slar had come early to find out how they had done it—and, more importantly, what had allowed them to clear it so quickly!

Erick’s expression hardened.

Without wasting another second, he attacked the smiling demon again.

But this time, he wasn’t alone.

Jake and Nox moved with him, unleashing their strongest skills from either side, while Olivia quickly stepped behind, shielding the two guides and also Zephyr from the clash.

The air immediately exploded with power as their combined attacks tore through the classroom, converging on a single person from three different directions. The force of the attacks even cracked the room’s walls.

Yet Slar didn’t even move.

As the attacks closed in, he merely muttered something under his breath.

His dark wings unfurled and flapped.

Then—

A strange, eerie, deep crimson energy suddenly erupted from his entire body.

In an instant, it expanded outward like a tide, swallowing everything in its path. The powerful attacks disappeared the moment they came into contact with it, completely consumed by the power. And then the red hue surged forward. Like a monstrous tsunami, it swept across the classroom.

The moment it enveloped everyone inside the classroom, an overwhelming pressure crashed down. It felt as though an invisible mountain had suddenly been dropped onto their shoulders. Nana was the first to drop to her knees, her face twisting with pain.

"Ah!"

After Nana, Lucien was the next to buckle. He pushed Zephyr away from him before dropping to his knees, unable to withstand the pressure. A soft groan escaped his lips.

One after another, Olivia, Nox, and Jake followed suit, each of them forced to their knees beneath the overwhelming pressure.

The classroom trembled violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor and walls as debris began to fall from the ceiling. Even the entire school building was affected!

In the end, only three people remained standing.

The first was Slar, completely calm. He even laughed as if watching a show.

The second was Erick, his expression grim as he fought against the heavy pressure. It was indeed quite powerful, he admitted, but it was not enough to force him to his knees.

And the third was Zephyr.

He stood there in anger after he sensed Lucien fall down. Unlike everyone else, he didn’t seem to feel the terrifying pressure bearing down on the room at all. Instead, Zephyr looked completely unfazed. But right now, his eyes were very terrifying.

Unfortunately, no one saw it.

Slar was about to kick Erick, eager to force the man who was looking at him so coldly and angrily down to his knees. Just before he could move, he caught sight of another tall figure standing in his peripheral vision.

Only then did he notice the silver-haired figure standing behind Erick—the one he had completely ignored until now. Slar’s blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously.

How had he overlooked him?

It was almost as if he hadn’t been able to sense him. But that was impossible. The man was clearly very weak, so how could he have remained completely undetected?

Moreover, everyone else in the room had already been forced to their knees by the pressure, yet this person, who clearly gave off such a weak aura, was still standing as though nothing had happened. And what was even more shocking was that there wasn’t even a hint of strain on his face!

For the first time, a flicker of unease crossed Slar’s amused eyes. Something about the silver-haired man felt deeply wrong. Even his smile disappeared.

"Why are you still standing too?"

The moment he finished speaking, Zephyr turned his gaze toward him, his expression dark. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold enough to send a chill through the air.

"You should really learn to shut your mouth if your voice is going to be that unpleasant!"

Slar froze for a moment.

Then his blood-red eyes blazed with fury.

How dare this mere human—

Before he could even finish his thought, Zephyr suddenly stepped forward.

Just one step.

In the blink of an eye, he was already standing directly in front of Slar.

Slar’s eyes widened in disbelief.

How could this human be so fast?!

He instinctively wanted to flee. But before he could even react, Zephyr reached out and grabbed him tightly by the shoulder.

Zephyr’s hoarse voice was low, carrying a terrifying sense of menace.

"Also, did you just hurt Lucien?"