It was also why Yaroth had stated so confidently that a human couldn’t operate the pocket dimension under normal circumstances.

The device wasn’t merely a mechanical interface that required a simple input of raw power.

Even if a human somehow learned how to read the complex, twisting scripts of the demonic language, they would still absolutely need nether to activate and use the pocket dimension’s spatial pathways.

Traditional human mana lacked the specific, corrupted density required to catalyze the device’s core matrices, rendering it completely useless to any human magus who might try to steal it.

With his finger coated in a thin, shimmering film of purple nether, Yaroth clicked the exact middle of the holographic triangle.

Instantly, the stable atmospheric pressure within the frozen laboratory collapsed.

The air around them wobbled strongly, rippling and distorting like oil on water as the spatial boundaries of the hidden facility began to violently unwrap.

Noah was a bit confused about whatever was going to happen next, his eyes scanning the rapidly warping environment.

He looked around cautiously, his hand instinctively resting beneath his traveling cloak as the reality around them blurred.

Sensing that their departure from the isolated space was imminent, Kael silently retreated, his form melting fluidly back into Noah’s shadow.

The ancient dragon couldn’t risk showing himself to the outside world, or else news about Mr. White owning a legendary dragon would spread like wildfire through the kingdoms, instantly destroying their absolute secrecy.

Before Noah could fully brace himself, he suddenly felt a strong, irresistible suction force pull his entire body into a spatial vacuum.

The world spun into a chaotic blur of dark lines, and the chilling scent of the underground laboratory vanished entirely.

The next thing he knew, the heavy spatial pressure snapped back to normal.

The blinding glare of natural light hit his mask, and he found himself standing firmly back on the solid, dusty streets of Ter.

The familiar sounds and ambient air of the human town rushed back into his senses.

Noah thought to himself, his breath hitching slightly behind the absolute concealment of his matte-black cat mask, ’so that’s how it works...’

The seamless, instantaneous transit from an entirely separate dimension directly onto a public street was a terrifyingly efficient method of travel.

He turned his head slightly to the side, his gaze locking onto the figure that had materialized right beside him.

Standing there was Yaroth, his seven-foot, three-horned frame hunched over and his head bowed down in profound shame.

The demon supervisor offered no resistance, completely paralyzed by the lingering residual commands of the dragon.

"S-Sir White!"

Noah suddenly heard Yuan calling his name from across the cobblestones, his voice laced with frantic desperation.

The adventurer’s eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock the moment his gaze registered Noah’s sudden appearance out of thin air.

Panting heavily, Yuan rushed frantically towards Noah, his boots skidding on the dirt as he reached out, anxiously checking him over from head to toe to see if the powerful arch magus was hurt anywhere after vanishing so mysteriously.

Varis was standing right behind him, exhaling a long, heavy breath as he repeatedly rubbed his smooth, bald head in immense, unadulterated relief.

The sheer volume of sweat glistening on his scalp spoke volumes of the sheer terror that had gripped the man during the entire time Noah had vanished into thin air.

They truly couldn’t imagine what would have happened if they lost Mr. White.

In the current fragile political climate of the region, the mysterious masked arch magus was no longer seen as just a temporary contractor or a powerful ally.

He was currently recognized by the higher-ups as one of the guild’s most powerful assets—if not the absolute most powerful powerhouse they had at their disposal to protect the borders.

Losing someone of his staggering caliber would have been a catastrophic, fatal blow that the local infrastructure simply could not survive.

Noah nodded at them casually beneath his matte-black cat mask, acknowledging their frantic worry with a slight, composed dip of his chin.

His eyes, however, remained sharp and calculating behind the eye slits, shifting focus toward the third person standing with them.

Yuan and Varis, on the other hand, quickly shifted their attention away from Noah’s well-being as their gazes naturally drifted to his side.

They were instantly frozen in a state of deep shock, their breath catching in their throats at the impossible sight before them.

Yaroth, the terrifying leader of the underground facility who had just been overwhelming them with malicious pressure a short while ago, was simply standing idly beside Noah.

He wasn’t casting spells, he wasn’t chanting dark incantations, and he wasn’t making a single move to escape or resist.

He just stood there like a completely hollowed-out shell, his posture completely broken and submissive.

He was currently clad in a thick, tattered black cloak, which draped heavily over his massive seven-foot frame to completely cover his three jagged horns, as well as his porcelain-white face and bleeding skin.

Noah had decided to have him put that on just as they appeared in Ter, knowing that walking onto a common human street with a glaring, undisguised demonic appearance would instantly spook the citizens, disrupt the peace, and trigger a massive, chaotic panic that would hinder their movement to the guild house.

Despite the physical camouflage of the fabric, the disguise could only do so much to mask the intrinsic nature of a high-ranking monster.

The two seasoned adventurers instantly jumped back several paces the very moment they truly noticed him, their combat instincts screaming at them at a primal level.

Their muscles coiled, and their hands flew straight to the hilts of their weapons, their hearts hammering against their ribs as they felt like the creature would attack them at any second.

They had firsthand experience with this creature’s terrifying capabilities during the initial infiltration of the laboratory; they had seen exactly how powerful he was, and they knew with absolute certainty that even the two of them combined weren’t a match for his raw, destructive nether.

They fully expected a devastating explosion of dark magic to tear through the cobblestones.

As the tense seconds ticked by, however, the street remained completely quiet.

The two adventurers stared in utter confusion, their defensive stances wavering slightly as they looked at the bizarre, contradictory scene before them.

Their minds simply couldn’t process the reality of the situation.

They were entirely confused about how a high-ranking, bloodthirsty demon supervisor was simply standing there peacefully with Noah, his head bowed toward the dirt, not even trying to raise a single finger to attack them or defend himself.

Noah pointed a gloved finger at the towering, cloaked figure beside him, his voice cutting through the tense silence of the cobblestone street with absolute calmness.

"Don’t worry... he’s not going to attack," Noah said, his tone entirely casual beneath the absolute concealment of his matte-black cat mask.

He didn’t want his companions wasting their remaining energy on a false alarm, nor did he want them drawing unnecessary attention from any passing townspeople.

To put their racing minds completely at ease, he offered a brief, flat explanation for the monster’s eerie compliance.

"I already fried his brain with lightning," Noah stated smoothly, gesturing faintly toward the silent, trembling demon. "He’s nothing more than a puppet now."

Yuan and Varis glanced at themselves, their eyes meeting in a silent, wide-eyed look of absolute disbelief.

A heavy, stunned silence settled between the two adventurers as they processed the casual statement, internally wondering whether there was just anything this Mr. White couldn’t do.

Every single time they thought they had finally witnessed the absolute limit of the masked magus’s abilities, he shattered their expectations entirely.

To them, the feat was nothing short of miraculous. He had successfully managed to subdue such a powerful opponent—a high-ranking, three-horned demon supervisor whose raw nether pressure had terrified them—without killing him.

Not only had he kept the creature breathing for interrogation, but he had even turned him into a completely compliant puppet that followed him onto a public street like a trained hound.

The sheer level of precise, high-tier magical control required to selectively burn away a master-level entity’s free will while keeping their motor functions intact was a terrifying display of power.

Unbeknownst to them, however, that impressive explanation was only a lie Noah had quickly come up with on the spot to protect his secrets.

He for sure couldn’t tell them about Kael or the absolute authority of his Dragon’s command.

Revealing the existence of an ancient dragon who lived inside his very shadow and possessed primordial mental shackles would cause a catastrophic uproar that he simply didn’t want to deal with.

To avoid the inevitable, complicated questions that would follow the truth, he had simply lied that Yaroth’s current submissive state was merely a direct result of his own lightning spell.

Before Yuan or Varis could voice their lingering amazement, the heavy thud of approaching footsteps echoed from the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

The man behind them suddenly came closer, emerging into the sunlight while slowly clapping his hands together in a rhythmic, deliberate applause.

"Wow... very impressive," the stranger said, his voice carrying a smooth, modulated cadence that instantly drew the group’s attention.

He stopped just a few paces away, his sharp gaze locking directly onto Noah’s cat mask. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about you lately, Mr. White, but seeing you in person, you’re even more powerful than the stories suggest. The guild really is incredibly lucky to have someone like you on our side."