Chapter 62: Extraction

The view was glorious—two beings with horns rising from their shoulders, catching and reflecting the sun’s light. They wore radiant golden robes, the kind mythic gods wore in old folktales, standing high in the sky with open portals burning behind their backs like wings.

Below them stood Jamie Noter in his demon form, face to face with the scythe-wielding goddess. Far beneath, the forest stretched endlessly—trees swallowing the land, their shadows hiding the participants of the third game among branches and roots.

It was a crucial moment. The choice pressed down on everyone present, the same words echoing in their hearts again and again, growing heavier each time they returned.

They had to decide: remain under the regulations of the Midword system—or join the demon rebellion.

If they entered Midword uninvited, like a hacker slipping into a company database, there was a way out—a backdoor that let them escape without enduring the brutal games that followed. A shortcut. But it was easier said than done. If they were caught—or worse, defeated—there would be nothing waiting for them but eternal suffering.

“What are you doing here, and how did you get in?” the goddess demanded, her voice cutting through the sky as she stared at the newcomers who floated above her like gods themselves.

“There’s our person inside your little world,” the female demon replied calmly. “All he had to do was send us the coordinates. After that, coming here was as easy as walking through a park.” She smirked. “For a goddess of nature, you’re pretty bad at fortifying the worlds you create. Makes me wonder if you actually care about any of them.”

She spoke with effortless confidence, not the slightest hint of intimidation in her tone.

By then, everyone could see it—the intruders weren’t just ordinary demons. They knew the goddess inside and out. More than her own overseers did. That alone sent a chill through the onlookers, forcing them to hesitate.

“As for why we’re here,” she continued lightly, “it’s just a good old extraction.” She lifted a finger and pointed straight at demon Jamie. “We’re taking our friend back home. You don’t mind, do you?”

Sparks crackled through the sky. Every gaze locked onto another, each side weighing the other like prey—like enemies holding hidden trump cards.

Silence fell, thick and suffocating.

The goddess of nature hesitated, her mind racing. Below her, her underlings waited, tense and alert, eyes fixed on their leader. One nod would unleash an all-out assault. The urge to strike itched beneath their skin—but until she spoke, none dared move.

Demon Jamie remained still as well—at least on the outside.

Inside his mind, the battle was raging.

After Greg’s devastating attack, it felt as though the last threads anchoring him to himself had been severed. Darkness overwhelmed the light, dragging him back into the white room he had seen before.

An empty square chamber. One chair at its center.

He was bound to it, chains wrapped tightly around his body, a prisoner inside his own consciousness.

Everything that followed—the overwhelming technique, the snap of Greg’s neck—played out before him like a movie. No matter how he struggled, the chains wouldn’t break. Each attempt only drained him further, until the fire inside him dimmed and finally stalled.

Acceptance followed.

But now… something was changing.

Strength seeped back into him. The form’s power flooded his body, exploiting a small crack in the system—a flaw that gave him a chance to escape.

Snap.

The demon commander snapped her fingers.

In an instant, Jamie appeared beside her. His armor and mask shattered into fragments, clattering away into nothingness and revealing human eyes beneath.

Whether it was his own struggle or the commander’s intervention, Jamie’s senses returned.

His vision cleared.

And then he noticed the height.

“What am I doing this high up?!” he shouted, panic surging as he leaped backward in midair.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of heights,” the lieutenant said, a trace of mockery slipping into his voice.

“It just shocked me, okay?” Jamie snapped. “Being this high up—and the flying—it’s all weird!” He replied, looking at his hands and legs in wonder.

The lieutenant adjusted his glasses and muttered, “Great. A demon lord afraid of heights. What a joke.”

“Demon lord?” Jamie froze. “Wait… you mean me?”

“That’s a story for another day,” the commander said, slamming her hand onto Jamie’s shoulder. She smiled, but the blow made his eyes twitch with pain. “We need to get going. Now.”

Jamie’s eyes flared with sudden rage, bloodlust igniting instantly. His gaze snapped to the goddess standing in the distance.

“We’re not leaving until I kick her ass!”

He pointed at the stunned goddess.

The commander smirked, clearly impressed. “I like the fire in you,” she said. “But I’ve got a schedule to keep.” She rested her arms on his shoulders like an older sister steering away an unruly child.

“I’m not leaving until she pays,” Jamie growled. “For everything. For killing my friends.”

“Your time will come,” she replied calmly.

“No. I want it now.”

Like adetermined child he pressed on.

Her expression hardened. Boredom creased her brow as power erupted from her presence—so dense it felt like it could shatter bone.

“I said,” she repeated coldly, “I have a schedule.”

The threat was unmistakable, turning off the very fire that burned inside of his soul into nothingness.

“Let’s just go Jamie!”

The lieutenant stepped into the portal first.

Jamie followed, he hesitated for a second, his eyes darting all over ground to get a chance to see Alexander for the last time. But it was all useless the trees had hidden him out of sight.

“Damn this, am going in!”

He entered into the ziplike portal.

The commander entered last, smiling as darkness swallowed her.

“Extraction complete,” she called back cheerfully. “Thank you for having us.”

The portal screeched—Kwiiiih—before snapping shut. The wind died. Reality settled.

The goddess of nature remained behind, smiling maniacally.

“Don’t disappoint me, demons,” she whispered. “I gave you a head start in this war. Make it worth my time.”

The world echoed her thoughts.

One truth stood clear above all else—

A battle was coming.

And somehow, Jamie and Alexander were at its center.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep