The Author's POV

The tension in the room was palpable, thick enough to cut through with a knife. Waylan's smile vanished in an instant, leaving behind a stoic expression devoid of any emotion.

His clear eyes began to cloud over, and in just a matter of seconds, they turned pitch black. But upon closer inspection, they were much more than just a dark void.

As I gazed into his eyes, I could see the reflection of the entire cosmos staring back at me.

The swirling galaxies, the shining stars, and the infinite expanse of space were all contained within Waylan's eyes.

"Is this your answer?"

Waylan's voice boomed across the room, carrying with it an ancient quality that made the powers within my body tremble.

I felt a sudden pressure crash onto me, and I struggled to keep my footing. Despite the weight bearing down on me, I refused to falter and stood my ground.

"Even after I conceded and allowed you to work with us, you still choose to work against us?"

Waylan's gaze was cold and unforgiving, and I knew that I was in deep trouble.

"Arrogant."

He spat, and the cosmos within his eyes began to expand, slowly creeping up the walls of the room.

I watched in seriousness as the stars and galaxies began to envelop everything around me, slowly but surely.

Even in the face of such overwhelming power, I remained composed/

"Arrogant, huh?"

I managed to gasp out, struggling against the immense pressure that threatened to crush me.

"Would knowing that I'd get disposed of after serving my usefulness count as me being arrogant? …Rather, instead of arrogant, shouldn't you be saying something along the lines of self-aware?"

I was no fool.

The information that Ryan had sent me coincided with everything that I had managed to figure out myself, and I knew that Waylan wasn't someone who'd spare someone that had lived up to their usefulness.

He couldn't fool me, and I knew that he needed to die, regardless of whether he'd eliminate me after.

'He needs to die regardless.'

I thought to myself, my resolve hardening with each passing second. His existence was something that needed to be eliminated to have any chance at the third cataclysm that was soon going to come.

"Self-Aware?"

Waylan looked at me with a calm expression, musing over my words very carefully. It wasn't long before he shook his head.

"You're the last thing from self-aware. If you were self-aware, you'd know which side to join."

suddenly, I found myself in a cosmic background

nothing at all. It was

"Are you surprised?"

to reality. I turned

I'm surprised. Where have

I had seen how he had managed to send me here, I never felt a thing, unlike when I

surprised that you can't tell where we are considering that you have 'his' power,

the white glow that emanated from

important is

slowly reached his

you join

***

Boom―!

and the mountains were pushed down to the ground. The entire area was

were scattered across the cloudless azure sky, and hordes of dark humanoid creatures rushed

spare

"Arkhh!"

thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of

the demons that were rushing their way, but that

were cut down or impaled, a significant number of them regenerated in the blink of an eye and continued to charge at the humans.

screams that were heard throughout the area gradually became higher pitched, and it wasn't long before the

In the distance.

"What a pitiful sight."

indifference that was plastered across Jezebeth's face was not consistent with the compassionate words that came out of

have to die today… A

his

elven figures. An elderly one and a younger one, both

stared at

his gaze and smiled at

over there don't appear to be having much of an effect on the two of you at all. Is this how

were met with silence, but Jezebeth was unconcerned by this development.

for a very long time, and although he had seen this scene many times in the past... He knew...

this reason that he was

thinking that the five other Protectors will come to

cocked his head to the side and peered off into the distance. His expression remained one

mind five…

in the distance, but he eventually shook his head and tore his gaze away

still

While he had both hands behind his back, his hair was blowing in front of him, and his eyes, which

Swoosh!

blend in with the surrounding area. They vanished for a moment and then reappeared right in

his rapier drawn and pointed toward his neck, showed no sign of holding back as the slash shattered the area that it

everything in the far distance appear to be of insignificant size, and at the same time, the carefree

staff. A