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―"

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

spread across the area they

that one could actually make

Cr― Crack!

large sword appeared above Ren's head, it was unable to do anything other than continue to

'It's that move again.'

as his eyes moved toward the hand that was no longer on his body. His internal laws surged to the surface in the form of golden runes, and a massive

time, Ren's cold gaze

fought someone of this level. It seems like I'm still a

shape and grow both more distinct and more

Shhhh―!

primary sword from its sheath as the

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

meters from each other. The blade that Ren held in his hand grew in size as a thin layer of white film connected the shards of the broken sword from piece

staring at the white film covering his main sword, a sudden thought crossed Ren's

goes

seconds, and he put

'Sounds good.'

he died? Wasn't that his

sword was obscured by a dark film that emerged from within

It was demonic energy.

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

'I,impossible!'

that was taking place with a horrified

up took only a few

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

can't wait for him

was an

of Ren, and the barrier that had been forming in front of him vanished. His eyes gave off a dazzling white

withhold anything. He clenched his fist tightly, gathered all

"Don't push your luck."

Crack. Crack.

Everything shattered.

on his fist, the space around him began to shatter, and the

were hung on the wall began to tremble, even if only very

The sword behind him had only formed halfway, and he seemed to still be struggling to control his main sword, which was

this, Waylan held

I knew

which had been fixated on the sword, moved away from it as he

to warp, and the vacant gray pupils in his eyes concentrated on the punch that was drawing near. His expression remained unchanged despite the fact

"Move."

one word

fist and clamped onto it like a rope

to take control of the laws, he felt something touch his forehead,

of a sudden, everything came to a sudden

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

right on Waylan's forehead, a ripple spread from the

"You fell for it."

him disappeared, and so did the two energies around

'H,how.'

that Waylan wasn't even able to react. And in that brief moment, time seemed to have stopped. Locking his eyes against the emotionless looking Ren, Waylan

"Boom."

reemerged far off in the distance, slamming

BANG―

"Huak."

let out a

surrounding area

"Fool."

materialized directly in front of Waylan, who was pinned up against the wall of the building. Both his hair and the Akashic Laws on his body were a mess, and his face was extremely