"Stop!"
When Kilian's tent came into view, Shien, who was running at the front, suddenly shouted.
"!?"
Everyone following Shien toward this place was startled. At Shien's shout, they all instinctively came to a stop.
And at that very moment—
"Boom!"
The tent where Kilian was being held exploded without any warning, erupting with a deafening roar.
Flames shot into the sky at once, burning fiercely.
Everyone on Shien's side cried out in spite of themselves. Some even screamed, clearly frightened out of their wits.
Only Shien stared intently at the heart of the explosion, a mocking emotion surfacing in his eyes for some reason.
At the same time, people from all around began rushing over.
"This...!?"
Beren appeared to have broken free from the Old Demon Faction's attackers. He led a unit of knights here from another direction and witnessed the scene.
The other knights and adventurers also seemed to be converging on this place. Their expressions kept changing as they watched the tent engulfed in flames.
No one knew how long this scene lasted.
Then, everyone saw it.
They saw figures emerge one after another from the center of the flames.
They were demons clad in black robes.
As though entering an empty place, they slowly walked out of the flames, ignoring the surrounding fire and heat. Bringing someone with them, they appeared before everyone.
That person was Kilian.
Kilian had been successfully rescued by the Old Demon Faction.
"!"
Beren could not simply stand by and watch. He stepped forward, seemingly intending to do something.
But Beren did not succeed.
Because before he could, an incomparably terrifying pressure descended upon the area.
"Have you rescued him?"
A sinister, aged voice appeared alongside that terrifying pressure.
Only then did everyone notice that an old man had appeared before