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."

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

beauty and grandeur of it all. I felt weightless as if I was standing on nothing

"Are you surprised?"

pulling me back to reality. I turned

Where

he had managed to send me here, I never felt a thing, unlike when I was with portals. It was somewhat

can't tell where we are considering that you have

glow that emanated

is

reached his

join me,

***

Boom―!

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, and there was a constant flow of

hordes of dark humanoid creatures

them! Don't spare any of

"Arkhh!"

thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of elves who were standing on the ground behind the

and arrows flew in the air, impaling many of the demons that were

a significant number of them regenerated in the blink of an eye and continued to charge at the humans. Even if they succeeded in killing themselves, new

higher pitched, and it wasn't long before the elves began

In the distance.

"What a pitiful sight."

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

shame that so many have to

his

An elderly one and a younger

stared at Jezebeth without

turned his gaze

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

Jezebeth was unconcerned by this development. He was

day for a very long time, and although he had seen this scene many times in the past... He knew... that this was the very last time he'd see this scene ever

reason that he

reinforcements… thinking that the five other Protectors will come to your aid soon

peered off into the distance. His expression remained one of contentment as

mind five…

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

still a

his attention back to the other two Protectors. While he had both hands behind his back, his hair was blowing in

Swoosh!

to move, and their silhouettes began to blend in with the surrounding

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

be of insignificant size, and at the

her staff.