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

felt weightless as if I was standing on nothing at all. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before, and I couldn't help but be

"Are you surprised?"

voice cut through my reverie, pulling me back to reality. I turned to face him, nodding

surprised. Where

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

considering that you have 'his' power,

me, and the white glow

important is

reached his

join me,

***

Boom―!

felt all over the world. The ground began to shake, and the mountains were pushed down to the ground. The

and hordes of dark humanoid

Don't spare

"Arkhh!"

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

flew in the air, impaling many of the demons that were rushing their way,

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

pitched, and it wasn't long before the

In the distance.

"What a pitiful sight."

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

a shame that so many have

shook his head

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

stared at Jezebeth

Jezebeth turned his gaze and smiled at

you at all. Is this how things normally work

silence, but Jezebeth was unconcerned by

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

for this reason that he was rather

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

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

never mind five… Four,

lit up with something as he kept looking at the scene in the distance, but he eventually shook his head and tore his gaze away from the

still a

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

Swoosh!

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

neck, showed no sign of holding back as the slash shattered the area

of insignificant size, and at the same time, the carefree expression that

elderly elf appeared behind Jezebeth with a large magic circle―the size of a car―appearing above her staff. A terrifying fluctuation burst forth from the magic circle, spreading across the nearby areas and shattering everything