The Author's POV

Voooom—

"Haaa...haaa..."

Stumbling out of the portal, before I could even catch my breath, I forcibly raised my hand and pointed at the portal disc underneath the ground.

"...Quickly change the coordinates of the portal before they get here."

If we could enter the portal, so could they.

"On it."

Being the last one that stepped out of the portal, Waylan immediately bent down and twisted the bottom-half of the portal, changing its coordinates.

Click! Click! Click!

After twisting the bottom half of the portal three times, the mana in the air finally stopped gathering towards the portal. Only then did we relax.

"Shit..."

Waylan cursed as he slumped down on the ground. His already pale face paled even more, and his body trembled.

"You okay?"

I asked, leaning by the side of the wall.

"khhh..."

A groan suddenly escaped my mouth as a head-splitting pain coursed through my brain.

'W-What the-?!'

The pain was so strong that my mind blanked for a brief moment.

"Hey, Ren, are you okay?"

Waylan worriedly asked as he moved towards me, reaching his hand out in support.

"Don't touch me."

"Wha-?!"

Smacking Waylan's hand away, I weakly stood up.

'...It...hurts!'

"Khhh..."

A throbbing, constant, and unrelenting pain coursed through every area of my head as I had difficulty breathing.

The pain was so unbearable that for a split second I had thoughts of ending myself. Flashbacks of what happened back at the Monolith replayed inside of my head repeatedly, threatening to eat away at my sanity.

But before things got to that point, using the last shred of sanity within my body, I activated Monarch's Indifference.

Instantly, the moment I activated Monarch's Indifference, my emotions dulled. Although the pain remained, most of the negative thoughts disappeared from my mind.

***

"Ren...?"

Waylan carefully called out as he looked at Ren who was standing opposite of him.

Ever since reappearing from the portal, he had been acting weird. He looked to be in extreme pain, but that did not last for long, as he soon calmed down.

"Ren, are you okay?" Waylan carefully asked once more, his concern only increasing.

"I'm fine." Ren emotionlessly replied as he turned to face his direction.

"I see, I'm glad."

'He must be tired.'

Waylan didn't think too much of Ren's sudden switch in behavior.

They had just been through a lot. They had almost died, and Ultruk had lost his life...

about Ultruk, Waylan

him for long, but he still felt a little bit down about his death.

sure what his death meant for the

and looking at Ren, Waylan asked in a somber tone, "What do we do now, Ren? Now that

"Him?"

Waylan from the corner of his eyes,

already served his uses.

"...What?"

inside of Waylan's ears as he

only after he realized what he said that Waylan stood up

"What do you—"

"Stop."

before he could vent his anger, a delicate white hand touched him on the

knew

his head and glaring in her direction, Waylan coldly spoke, his voice forming

you mean,

by Waylan's unfriendly look, Angelica pointed at Ren and calmly explained, "The demonic energy in his body has started corroding his brain... I can

his brows

was only then that he noticed fine threads of demonic energy lingering around his

with a troubled look, his

'What do I do?'

was not in the right condition, the next and last part of the plan would be even

no need to worry too

hand away from Waylan's

baffled. He

the effects of the

demonic energy lingering outside of Ren's

not exactly sure about what skill he's using, but, at least

"I see."

words eased some of Waylan's worries. His

brain suddenly started to get affected by the demonic energy? It has only been a week since you and he had signed a

threads of demonic energy continued to extend towards her

while, Angelica opened her mouth

energy feeds on the negative thoughts a person has inside of their mind. The darker someone's thoughts, the

don't mean...?" Waylan muttered in a stunned

wasn't stupid. Waylan knew exactly

"Is Ren perhaps..."

of demonic energy revolving around Ren's body had diminished

then waved her hand and collected all

to the point

black hue sprang forth from Angelica as the small threads of demonic energy

mind is unstable. Prior to coming here, Ren suffered

Angelica turned her head.

short, Ren's head is not

Waylan

out a small communication device from his pocket, Ren powered it on and quickly got

Vrrr—! Vrrr—!

the communication device stopped vibrating and a familiar voice rang out

you guys

send you the

We'll

the communication device sounded relieved as

way, is everything alright? No one

Di—! Di—!

before Douglas could even finish his sentence,

uncalled for,"

knew that Ren was currently in the right state of mind, Douglas was asking an

let them know that Ultruk had

is detrimental." Ren spoke while staring into Waylan's eyes, not a hint of remorse or emotion

reply, Ren turned around and headed out of

Clank—!

behind him, Ren left

be harder than

Angelica's previous words, Waylan would've been unable to

was making it very hard for

***

Di—! Di—!

communication device in his hand with an

off before he could finish speaking. Especially not when he was