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."

to distort and warp, and suddenly, I found myself in a cosmic background

nothing at all. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before, and I couldn't help but be

"Are you surprised?"

pulling me back to reality. I

Where have you

managed to send me here, I never felt a thing, unlike when I was with

are considering that you have 'his'

pierced through me, and the white glow that emanated from

important is your

reached his

you join me, or

***

Boom―!

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

and hordes of

Don't spare

"Arkhh!"

crazed and bloodthirsty look on their faces as they flew toward the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of elves who were standing on the ground behind the trees with their bows drawn and

arrows flew in the air, impaling many of the

of an eye and continued to charge at the humans. Even

pitched, and it wasn't long before the elves

In the distance.

"What a pitiful sight."

not consistent with the compassionate words that

shame that so many have to die

shook his

elven figures. An elderly one and

stared at Jezebeth without

their gaze, Jezebeth turned his gaze

of an effect on the two of you at all. Is this how things normally work with you Protectors?... Do you only care about maintaining balance and disregard those

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

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

was for this reason that he was rather chatty

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

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

mind five…

something as he kept looking at the scene in the distance, but he eventually shook his head and tore his

yet… It's still a

hands behind his back, his hair was blowing in front of him, and his eyes, which had a purplish-red tint

Swoosh!

in with the surrounding area.

neck, showed no sign of holding back

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

all, the elderly elf appeared behind Jezebeth with a large magic circle―the size of a car―appearing above her staff. A terrifying fluctuation burst