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―"

his

the area they

space had deteriorated to such an extent that one could actually

Cr― Crack!

made several attempts to fix itself, but as soon as the large sword appeared

'It's that move again.'

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 shield materialized in front of

same time, Ren's cold gaze paused

this level.

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

Shhhh―!

its sheath as the second

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

one another as they rose up a few 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 to piece, creating

at the white film covering his

all goes bad, I might

and he put them into

'Sounds good.'

he died? Wasn't that his goal

of the sword was obscured by a

It was demonic energy.

to wiggle, and a destructive power that was on par

'I,impossible!'

taking place

building up took only a few seconds in

attack and then launch a counterattack shortly after when he was exhausted; however, he immediately abandoned that

for

was an

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

his back, he did not withhold anything. He clenched his fist tightly, gathered all the strength he could muster, and then punched

"Don't push your luck."

Crack. Crack.

Everything shattered.

soon as he released his grip on his fist, the space around him began to shatter, and the

the wall began to tremble, even if only very slightly, and the entire office

held nothing back. The sword behind him had only formed halfway, and he seemed to still be struggling to control his main sword, which was alternating between white and

this, Waylan held his breath

knew this

fixated on the sword, moved away from it as he

began 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 that

"Move."

word in

the fist and clamped onto it like a rope that

his eyes widened, and just as he was about to take control of the laws, he

everything came

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

right on Waylan's forehead, a ripple spread from the point of contact, which expanded

"You fell for it."

him disappeared, and so did the two energies around

'H,how.'

that brief moment, time seemed to have stopped. Locking his eyes against the emotionless looking Ren, Waylan watched as Ren's mouth parted open, and

"Boom."

vanished from view and then reemerged far off in

BANG―

"Huak."

let out a pained

into the buildings in the distance, the surrounding area began to flicker, and the background of the

"Fool."

was pinned up against the wall of the building. Both his hair and the