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―"

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

area they were in, shattering the space

to such an extent that one could

Cr― Crack!

large sword

'It's that move again.'

as his eyes moved toward the hand that was no longer on his body. His internal

the same time, Ren's cold gaze paused

of this level. It seems like I'm still

him continued to take shape and

Shhhh―!

its sheath as the second sword began to

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

all of which became completely detached from 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

the white film covering his main

all goes bad, I

thoughts lasted seconds, and he put them into

'Sounds good.'

died? Wasn't

outer white layer of the sword was obscured by a dark film that emerged from within

It was demonic energy.

to wiggle, and a destructive power that was on par with the enormous sword

'I,impossible!'

taking place

up took only

and then launch a counterattack shortly

can't wait for

was an obvious

barrier that had been forming in front of him

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

"Don't push your luck."

Crack. Crack.

Everything shattered.

he released his grip on his fist, the space around him began to

on the wall began to tremble, even if only very slightly,

sword behind him had only formed halfway, and he seemed to still be struggling to control

of this, Waylan held his

I knew this

had been fixated on the sword, moved away from it

gray pupils in his eyes concentrated on the punch that was drawing near. His expression

"Move."

word in

golden runes appeared from the area around the fist and clamped onto it like a rope that pulled to the left, and the trajectory of the punch altered if ever

Waylan saw this, his eyes widened, and just as he was about to take control of the laws, he felt something touch his forehead, and when he looked up he saw two dull gray pupils

of a sudden, everything

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

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

"You fell for it."

so did the two energies around

'H,how.'

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

"Boom."

far off in the distance, slamming into one of the

BANG―

"Huak."

out a

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

"Fool."

up against the wall of the building. Both his hair and the Akashic Laws on his body were a mess, and his