The Author's POV

Caissa headquarters.

"Everything is going as Ren has predicted."

Ryan mumbled something under his breath as he bit his nails and studied the monitors that were situated in front of him. Ava was standing next to him at the time, and she gave a slight nod as a bird perched on her arm.

"In approximately one week, the forces of the Monolith will make their way to Ashton city. As Ren had predicted, they began their assault on us by first destroying the four cities at the edge of the human domain. They will almost certainly make a brief stop on the outskirts of the city before attempting to breach the city's defenses."

"I agree…"

Ryan kept gnawing on his fingernails as he moved the pointer of his mouse around the screen and gazed at the deserted streets of Ashton city. In particular, his gaze was drawn toward a few distinct buildings, and he turned his head to inquire about something.

"Have you already set everything up?"

"Yes. Everything has been arranged. All we have to do is wait for Ren to give us the go ahead before moving."

"How long do you think that will take?"

"Probably two more months."

Ava truthfully answered.

"He did mention in advance that he would be extremely busy over the course of the next three months. One month has already passed, and there are still two more months to go. Because Angelica is not here with us either, we are unable to proceed with our plans just yet."

"So are we just going to stay here and do nothing while the Monolith attacks next week?"

Leopold's voice could be heard as he walked into the monitor room with his daughter Sophia following closely behind.

She waved her hand lightly at the two, who waved back at her.

All of the members' families were escorted to the headquarters in order to ensure their own personal safety.

Hein's parents and siblings, Ava's family, Ryan's mom, Leopold's daughter, and so on…

This place had basically become the home of all the members' families. Fortunately, the warehouse was big enough to house everyone without any problems.

"Yes, for now, that is."

Ryan replied to Leopold without looking at him. He had already seen him coming a few seconds ago so he wasn't exactly surprised.

we supposed to do in the

comfortable on one of the sofas at the back of the room. Ava, staring at him, turned to Sophia

with your family. Ren did say that after he finishes whatever he's doing, we won't have time to spend with our families for quite some time, so make the most of the time you have with

Leopold's face subtly shifted as he leaned his head down to gaze at his daughter. In the end, he gave a respectful nod of his head and

way, then I will do my best to enjoy

***

Within a dark void.

Swoosh—! Swooosh—!

sword moves as his sword danced through space, leaving a faint

Swooosh—! Swoooosh—!

set of moves he would perform,

was. The figure was restrained by a number of chains, and it just stood there and stared expressionlessly at Ren as he worked on the sequence of moves

eerie silence enveloped

considerable amount of time until finally, Ren stopped what he was doing and looked at the other Ren. Sweat dripped from

you think? This is what

"…"

to stare at Ren without

ground and dropped the

hand, a green book appeared in his

executes, the more precise and potent their attacks become. It is said that a person's body would sustain so much damage during the final movements that they would die

uttered the words out loud while his eyes continued to move slowly over the pages of the book he was holding in his

the following few passages, he discarded the book and picked up a new one to continue

colored book

perfecting the human body in order to release the latent and raw power that is within the muscles of the human body. The harsher the conditions that their bodies undertake, the more powerful they will become. It is said that upon reaching the

had finished reading the description of the two sword arts, he eventually set that book

"The Keiki style…"

book before he burst out laughing and tossed it to the side of the room. He cocked his head back and looked up at the pitch-black abyss that loomed over him as he leaned back in

that there would be such

to the side and looked

It's been about a month since I decided to practice

in chains. His feet eventually came to a stop in front of him, and

here, instead of outside? It's very obvious that training outside of here would be more efficient given all of the equipment that is available to me, but

emotionlessly at the space. His face looked completely dead,

to mind this as

decide to train here is because

forward and

I be able to create a new