The Author's POV

The memories swept through her consciousness like a tsunami, penetrating every nook and cranny of her mind and taking control of everything that was contained therein.

Amanda felt as though her world was spinning as a series of images began to pop into her head.

She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there, but when she came to, she noticed that the sun had already started to set.

"You've finally digested the memories?"

It was from behind her that she heard a voice that she knew all too well.

She sat herself down on his chair without even bothering to look at him and tried to digest everything that had been thrown at her.

She propped her elbows against the table and massaged her forehead.

"The memories…"

Her head throbbed.

"…Are they real?"

"Why wouldn't they be?"

Ren appeared right in front of her.

He looked at her with a smug expression on his face, and the corners of his lips were slightly upturned.

The expression on his face...

She was genuinely irritated by it, but as she thought back on the memories that were flooding her mind, she found that she couldn't bring herself to complain about it.

She…

Was that really her?

"Hehehe."

Ren laughed in the most irritating manner and sat down on the desk.

"What do you think?"

He moved his body in closer proximity to her, and his eyes narrowed as he did so. At the same time, the smile that had been partially visible on his face gradually vanished, and what replaced it was an extremely serious expression.

"Squid-like person?"

His voice was calm, but Amanda could feel the hidden anger within it.

His ego had been hurt.

"I didn't know you thought of me like that, Amanda… I'm honestly quite hurt."

He continued on.

There was a look of expectation in his eyes as if he wanted her to correct what her other self had said, but Amanda didn't give him that benefit.

When she raised her head, she purposely squinted her eyes and cocked her head.

"I guess you…"

She stopped herself mid-sentence and shook her head.

"…No, never mind. You don't look like a squid."

"Wait, hold on. You think I'm deaf? You clearly were about to say something."

Ren's expression changed for the worse, and he leaned his body forward. He seemed rather desperate at the moment, and Amanda's lips trembled.

She was having a hard time keeping herself composed.

'It's too easy.'

As impressive as Ren was, he was the simplest person to read.

She knew him like the back of her hand, and pressing his buttons wasn't something that she found difficult.

With that said…

'Was that really me?'

Amanda tried to conceal her expression by covering her face with her hands.

Despite not being able to view her own memories, she had seen enough from Ren's perspective to find herself secretly squealing at her own behavior.

Would that really be how she would've turned out if the Demon King had never existed?

It made her shiver.

Amanda. Why aren't you

she leaned her body forward and pressed her lips against Rens. He stopped

Amanda sat back down on

"You've worked hard."

***

got six orbs with me, and there's seven of you

were standing right in front of

any other, and their expressions contained nothing but reverence for

the

we will accept

Murdock, the

you are giving them to us, they must be of

words reflected the thoughts of

you can say

around Jezebeth

much so that

the moment those words escaped from his

learned that receiving the

and almost everyone was stuck in the same rank for a

fact that the orbs

palm, intense greed flashed across the eyes of all seven

'As expected .'

sight made

words would elicit such a

reacting like this, it must mean that all of you want the orbs, don't

nodded their heads at once, and Jezebeth

don't want to pick favorites, I'll do a little

flashed in the air, enveloping the entire room in a

glow agglomerated toward the tip of his finger, forming a small white orb that was of similar size to the yellow

"This should be enough."

the orb formed, Jezebeth looked at the seven demons and waved

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

directly at the seven demons, and before they could react,

***

[Human Domain, Ashton City.]

we will

for their turn to

the air as people whispered amongst themselves, unsure of what awaited them on the

this were the start of a grand adventure, while others wore

hadn't forgotten anything. The promise of a new life was too great to

promised us shelter,

woman asked her husband,

he replied, trying to hide his own uncertainty. "They said that they would

there any pictures

man asked, his voice laced

sent it to

pulling out his

It pulsed with a soft, blue light

hum of the portal's energy was almost deafening,

"Your ID, please."

everyone back to

each group as they came forward, checked their identification, and provided them with instructions for

"Here you go, officer."

said, handing over his identification papers. The officer scrutinized the documents, checking and

checks out. You can

officer finally said,

anticipation and nervousness in the

knew exactly what to expect on the other side of the portal. Some had seen the pictures of a lush, verdant world that seemed unlike any other, while others whispered

to

and there was barely anything they knew about the planet. The only thing they knew for certain was that this was their only chance for

Woom!

portal activated, and the first group

disappeared from sight, and there was a moment of tense silence as everyone waited to see if the portal

Woom!

hum, the portal activated again, and another group stepped forward to take

"Next!"

and the

more and more people began to move forward, and the crowd of people that numbered in the thousands slowly started to dwindle. The sun, which had previously hung in the sky, started to fall, and

were still people lining up behind the portal, and amongst

have to

"Okay, Mom."

phone away and

the line in front of them, and they

Ren coming with

"Ren?"