Death... and me

Red wasn't wrong about that. Usually, demon beasts at such a level wouldn't be a problem for either Frin or Duran. However, in a battle where they were already at their limits, even a small tipping point would prove to be fatal.

Fortunately for them, the demon beasts that stayed around the Blood Lake were the weak ones. Nevertheless, there were definitely demon beasts at Stage Five or Six leading them. There was even a Stage Seven Demon Beast that Gulan selected as his primary target, shouting, "It's do or die!"

"Hey guys, need some company?" Suddenly, a white and black bird appeared by their side.

"Kentucky?!" Gulan and Red were surprised to see him.

"Hahaha!" Kentucky laughed in response to their answer. "Seems like you really did. Don't worry since the great Kentucky will lend you a hand in fending off the demon beasts." Kentucky was told to watch outside and only leave if he saw that it was necessary. Well, when he noticed Gulan and Red rushing alone at the demon beasts, he thought that his help would be a lot more useful there than protecting the hole. First of all, the number of demon beasts that could pass through such a tiny hole where a human was the limit was too small. At the very least, demon beasts at a level where they can bother Rean and Roan anyway.

"Still, I thought you would attack that creepy guy straight away, Gulan. I'm happy to see that you know how to hold back," Kentucky could not help but say.

"Hmph!" Gulan didn't feel bad at all. "That guy is looking for an opening. Stopping these demon beasts is what he definitely doesn't want to happen. Of course, if I see a chance where I can get back at him for what he did to grandfather, I won't hesitate either."

Red and Kentucky nodded. "That's good enough for us."

The three Divine Demon Beasts then threw themselves at the opponents, the flying demon beasts. Their fight for gaining time continued.

The being saw how Gulan's group stopped the low-level demon beasts from approaching and snorted, thinking to itself, 'Hmph! Delaying the inevitable.' Nevertheless, his confidence was sky-high. If not because he didn't want to use too much energy, he would have released all his power to get rid of everyone already. He could still use the remaining energy and their souls to make a few extra Soul Submission Orbs later. Or at least that was his plan anyway.

Nonetheless, he noticed that the twins disappeared completely even though the black and white bird was back. 'Where did they go?' Without Spiritual Sense, it was simply impossible to keep track of everything, so he still kept his guard up, just in case they had some trump card to use against him. After all, he saw how good their concealing abilities were. Unfortunately, Rean and Roan were nowhere near his battlefield against Duran and Frin.

Inside the building where the core was, Rean and Roan broke through the fourth level. However, the level that led to the core was a lot more sturdy than they expected. Their attacks simply didn't work against the ground. "What do we do? Should we simply attack all the formations in the area?"

Rean shook his head, saying, "If I was the person who created this, I would definitely leave a backup plan. Doing that would simply alert the red-eyed being outside." Rean then looked around before smiling. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

Rean approached one of the controlling formations and took a few materials from his Spatial Ring. Soon after, he began to build a formation of his own above that formation. Seeing that, Roan couldn't help but ask, "Why are you making a formation right now? We don't have much time, you know?"

Rean shook his head as he said in response, "If you want, you can go look for another entrance to the core room. I don't think there's any other entrance, though. If not, just stay silent and let me do my thing. It shouldn't take long."

Rean's hands worked at great speeds as many runes, both normal and circuitry appeared above the main formation nonstop. Roan didn't know anything about formations, so he couldn't tell what Rean was trying to do. However, Sister Orb was different.

[Oh! So that's what you're doing. That's some ingenuity. Hahaha!] Sister Orb seemed quite confident in Rean's work.

Of course, that only made Roan more confused.

Outside, the battle against the flying demon beasts continued while Frin and Duran did their best to fight their opponent. Escape was already not an option anymore, so they didn't hold back. Frin used his Silver Fenrir Bloodline to increase his strength as Duran took out one treasure after another.

*Roar!*

Unfortunately, they heard a sound they didn't want to. Kentucky's group was already holding the flying demon beasts that were close. There was no way they could stop the newcomers, the land demon beasts, which were more plentiful.

Duran and Frin weren't from flying races, and neither was the red-eyed being. Their battle had been on the ground so far. If the intervention of flying demon beasts was bad, the land ones were several times worse. Duran and Frin even began to retreat as they fought, trying to gain more time before the inevitable.

However, it was at this moment that a certain absent tree showed its presence. Many roots of several sizes began to sprout out of the ground and attach themselves to the demon beasts' legs. Those demon beasts also didn't have any sentience, so they only knew how to force their way through by contorting, biting, and so on. Unfortunately, Celis's roots would only attach to them even harder the more they moved. Their actions had a completely different effect from what they were trying to do.

"Celis!"

Kentucky couldn't help but call his name in happiness.

"Hmph! Did you forget who I am?" Celis seemed rather confident.  "I knew from the start that the flying demon beasts were of the least concern. Just keep what you're doing in the air, and I'll hold these guys down." However, that was just a facade. In fact, Celis prepared for this exact moment since he entered this realm. Nevertheless, holding the demon beasts off was making him spend a huge amount of energy. He wouldn't be able to do it for long either.

Back inside the building with the core, Rean's hands finally stopped moving as he could not help but say with a grin, "Hehe! Who's the best?!"