The Author's POV

-Tap!

Ren's footsteps halted as he stood ten meters away from the Matriarch. He indifferently gazed at her who coldly stared back at him. A stifling atmosphere prevailed in the sorroundings. Breaking the silence, the Matriarch spoke

"So you're him..."

...the youth from the picture.

Staring at Ren standing on the opposite side of her, the Matriarch frowned. According to the report she got, her target was only an ranked kid.

Someone that was far beneath her notice.

...in fact, she didn't believe that it was him that killed Elijah. How could an rank kill a rank? that was impossible. But, even if he didn't kill Elijah, he at least must know something. After all, what would Everblood gain from giving her such information?

The only reason why she didn't attack Ren already was because of her wariness towards Kevin who was slowly recovering. Moreover, she wanted answers...

Staring at Ren, the Matriarch coldly said

"Tell me, are you responsible for killing Elijah"

"..."

Staring at the Matriarch before him, Ren didn't respond. He just stood there looking at her with no emotions.

"Answer me!"

Seeing Ren being unresponsive, the Matriarch screamed in anger as a red hue expanded out of her body creating a gust of wind that swept everything near her away.

...even so, Ren stood rooted where he was. Completely unfazed by the Matriarch's outburst.

Seeing that Ren remained unfazed despite her show of might, the Matriarch venomously spat

"...if you refuse to speak, then I'll make you speak!"

"Ren watch out!"

Noticing that the Matriarch was about to move, Kevin couldn't help shout as he tried to warn Ren about the incoming danger.

Having gone against her before, Kevin knew how fast and powerful she was...she was on another level compared to the people he had fought before.

Although he didn't believe Ren was any weaker than him, if caught off-guard, the situation could get serious. Moreover, even if she was injured, he didn't see any possibility of Ren being able to beat her.

"Answer me!"

Appearing right before Ren, the Matriarch extended her hand forward and reached for his neck.

"Ren!"

However, contrary to Kevin's expectations, Ren didn't show any apprehension towards the Matriarch and merely raised his left hand in the air. Thereafter, with his right hand on the grip of his sword, Ren snapped his fingers.

-Snap!

"khhh'”!"

Just as the Matriarch's hand was about to reach for his neck, her hand suddenly froze. In fact, not just her hand froze, but her whole body.

The first movement of the [Keiki style] : Quick flash

Thereafter, the world around the Matriarch turned white as the last thing she heard what a subtle clicking sensation before she felt something pierce the scalp of her head.

-Click!

prevailed in the

"Wh-at happened"

eyes wide, similarly to before when he was fighting the demon leader,

-Thud

color, what

her forehead, the Matriarch's body slowly fell onto the pavement as a large thud resounded across the

help but point

"Y-ou, how?"

glancing at Kevin, Ren didn't answer. Pointing towards the distance, he

and break the dimensional

something, Kevin

"B-u"

Ren's indifferent voice rang out

it, I'll deal

Kevin nodded his head. Since the fight against the demons started, Ren had become a completely different person. He seemed completely emotionless, almost as if anything in his eyes didn't

had gotten to know these past few days...just what happened during

*Sigh*

the end, an extended sigh escaped from Kevin's

that any type of conversation at the moment was

be equivalent to talking

Pointless.

"...alright"

look for the device responsible for

where it was located, it shouldn't be hidden too far from them. Thus, glancing at Ren one more time, Kevin's eyes soon paused on the Matriarch on the floor. Deeply staring at Ren for a couple of seconds, he eventually turned his head and went

"hm"

Ren subtly glanced towards the distance where a statue with two ruby-red

ranked artifact twin

that the reason he managed to win was because of the artifact

statue's eyes were staring right where the Matriarch's

caught a glimpse of the future thanks to the book,

reason why he was absent when Kevin was fighting was because he was busy setting the pieces in motion...Because he knew that he couldn't beat the Matriarch one on one even if Kevin went all out or worked together with him, using the book, Ren managed to devise a plan in which he

exhaust the Matriarch beforehand, Ren took advantage of the

Ren managed to pinpoint the exact location at which the Matriarch would move and carefully placed the

Kevin was on the verge of losing, calculating the distance, Ren slowly approached the Matriarch and stopped right before the gargoyle's

area where he stopped was also perfectly set up to lure the Matriarch to him. Like this,

for a split second,

right before the Matriarch froze due to the statues, Ren already activated the first movement

as the Matriarch was wide open due to her body freezing, Ren's sword directly pierced her in

was within Ren's

"Stop pretending...wake up"

at the Matriarch on the ground, Ren's indifferent voice rang out. Raising his sword

-Spurt!

"Gyyyyaaaa'”!"

a pained scream, the Matriarch's white eyes soon regained some clarity as she glared

"Yo-u!"

the fact that she was still alive despite

that you higher-ranked demons only die when

"Ghh..."

at him as she tried to retaliate. However, her body refused to

dead, her injuries were

her stomach currently pierced by Ren's sword, she could only helplessly lay down on the floor. Gritting her

you want from

with his sword imbued on her stomach,

-Spurt!

horror,