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."

me began to distort and warp, and suddenly, I found myself in a cosmic background filled with stars and planets in

beauty and grandeur of it all. I felt weightless as if I was standing on nothing at all. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before, and I couldn't

"Are you surprised?"

reality. I turned to

I'm surprised. Where have

how he had managed to send me here, I never felt

are considering that you have 'his' power, but that isn't

white glow that

important is your

his hand toward

join me,

***

Boom―!

reverberations of the explosions could be felt all over the world. The ground began to shake, and the mountains were pushed down to the ground. The entire area was filled with the sound of screams of agony,

were scattered across the cloudless azure sky, and hordes of

spare

"Arkhh!"

flew toward the tens of thousands, if

impaling many of the demons that

and continued to charge at the humans. Even if they succeeded in killing themselves, new demons would appear from behind and take the place of the ones that had been

throughout the area gradually became higher pitched, and it wasn't long before the

In the distance.

"What a pitiful sight."

across Jezebeth's face was not consistent with the compassionate words

such a shame that so many have to

shook his head

so far from him were two elven figures. An elderly one and a younger one, both wearing shiny

at Jezebeth

gaze, Jezebeth turned his gaze and

to be having much of an effect on the two of you at all. Is this

silence, but Jezebeth was unconcerned by this development.

he had seen this scene many times in the

was for this reason that he was

the two of you are waiting for reinforcements… thinking that the five other Protectors will come

his head to the side and peered off into the distance. His expression remained one of contentment as his eyes became fixated on a particular scene off

never mind five…

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

It's still a bit

both hands behind his back, his hair was blowing in front of him, and his eyes,

Swoosh!

two Guardians started to move, and their silhouettes began to blend in with the surrounding area. They vanished for a moment and then reappeared right in front of

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

to be of insignificant size, and at the same time, the carefree expression that had been on Jezebeth's face

a large magic circle―the size of a car―appearing above her staff. A terrifying fluctuation burst forth from