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.

supposed to do in the meantime,

on one of the sofas at the back of

won't have time to spend with our

gaze at his daughter. In the end, he gave

put it that way, then I will do

***

Within a dark void.

Swoosh—! Swooosh—!

a series of sword moves as his sword danced through space,

Swooosh—! Swoooosh—!

quality to them, and with each new set of moves he would perform, his moves would become increasingly precise and

chains, and it just stood there and stared expressionlessly at Ren as he worked on

eerie silence

time until finally, Ren stopped what he was doing and looked at the

you think? This is what I've

"…"

Ren without uttering a word,

as he sat down on the ground and dropped the sword beside him,

a green

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

slowly over the pages

the book and

his hand, a new colored

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

Ren had finished reading the description of the two sword arts,

"The Keiki style…"

of the room. He cocked his head back and looked up at the pitch-black abyss that loomed over him as he leaned

there would be such a

head to the side and

about a month since I decided to practice over here, and yet, not once did I ever hear you speak during the

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

here would be more efficient given all of the equipment

completely dead, and Ren's

didn't seem to mind this as

decide to train here is

forward

will I be able to create a new