The Author's POV

"You're Ren?"

Waylan's eyes appeared to be squinting.

He examined Ren very carefully from top to bottom, and he had doubts about what he was saying. Even though he did look like Ren, the energy he was putting off was completely different... not to mention the fact that he appeared to be significantly stronger than he was before.

There was definitely something off about him. He just couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"I find that hard to believe."

"That's not something that I care about."

In response to Waylan's display of skepticism, Ren did not show any interest in defending himself.

In fact, he had no real interest in anything.

…He just wanted to get this done with already.

"What an annoying response."

The anger that was building up on Waylan's face manifested itself in the form of a rigid expression, and he rushed over to Ren. To protect himself, Ren quickly drew his sword from its sheath. At the same time, he directed the laws toward the body of the sword, covering it with them.

Only that…

The moment Waylan's hand came into contact with the sword, the laws shattered.

'This?'

Waylan smiled at it.

"Did you think you'd be able to control the laws better than me? Someone who's wielded them for centuries?"

Ren's brows furrowed slightly. This was proving to be more troublesome than he had anticipated.

Bang―!

Ren's body flew several meters back. When his body stabilized, Waylan appeared right behind him and pushed his only hand toward Ren's back. The space where his hand traveled fractured into several pieces.

"Whatever change you've gone through, it's far from enough."

As soon as the palm made contact with Ren's back, his body shot off into the distance once more.

While Ren's body was flailing about like a rag doll, there was no discernible expression on his face; however, there was noticeable blood streaking down the side of his mouth.

'Predictable.'

While in mid-air, Ren suddenly twisted his body and slashed behind him.

Clank―!

Waylan's body appeared as he blocked the attack, and Ren finally stabilized himself.

Extending his finger forward, the space around Waylan cracked apart, and golden streaks of tangible sword energy pierced at him like a porcupine.

They came at him in all directions and at speeds that left one unable to react.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

However, just as they were about to pierce his body, they came to an abrupt halt.

Waylan broke into a grin as he took a closer look at the sword energies that surrounded him.

"How int―"

a stone-like expression as his head shot up, and

they were in, shattering the space

extent that one could actually

Cr― Crack!

it could, the space made several attempts to fix itself, but as soon as the large sword appeared above Ren's head, it was unable to do anything other than continue to

'It's that move again.'

that was no longer on his body. His internal laws surged to the surface in the form of golden runes, and a massive shield materialized in

same time, Ren's cold gaze paused

been a while since I've fought someone of this level. It seems

massive sword that was behind him continued to take shape and grow both more

Shhhh―!

its sheath as the

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

each other. The blade that Ren held in his hand

his main sword, a sudden thought

risky… If all goes

seconds, and he put them

'Sounds good.'

died? Wasn't that his goal to begin

sword was obscured by a dark film

It was demonic energy.

making its appearance, the white film began to wiggle, and a destructive power that was on par with the enormous

'I,impossible!'

watched everything that was taking place with a horrified

building up took only a few

original strategy was to defend the attack and then launch a counterattack shortly after when he was exhausted; however,

can't wait for him to

was an

body suddenly materialized in front of Ren, and the barrier that had been forming in front

he arched his back, he did not withhold anything. He clenched his fist tightly, gathered all the strength he could

"Don't push your luck."

Crack. Crack.

Everything shattered.

as he released his grip on his fist, the space around him began to shatter, and the background of his office became

pictures that were hung on the wall began to tremble, even

was aimed directly at Ren's face, and held nothing back. The sword behind him had only formed halfway, and he seemed to still be struggling to control his main sword,

this, Waylan held his breath

I knew

fixated on the sword, moved away from it as he changed his

that precise moment, the area around him began to warp, and the vacant gray pupils in his eyes concentrated on the punch that was drawing near. His expression remained unchanged

"Move."

one word in

muttered it, golden runes appeared from the area around the fist and clamped onto it like a rope that pulled

just as he was about to take control of the laws, he felt something touch his forehead, and when he looked up

everything

"A... ah... how?"

spread from the point of contact, which

"You fell for it."

and so did the two energies

'H,how.'

And in that brief moment, time seemed to have stopped. Locking his eyes against the emotionless looking Ren, Waylan watched as

"Boom."

reemerged far

BANG―

"Huak."

let out a

the buildings in the distance, the surrounding area began to flicker, and

"Fool."

of the building. Both his hair and the Akashic Laws on his body were a mess, and his face was extremely