The Author's POV

"I,is that Ren?"

Overhearing Donna's shocked mutter, Amanda turned her head and stared at the fight that was happening above them.

BOOM—!

Dunes shattered, and the very air the two were in showed signs of cracking. It was clear as day that the two of them were on a completely different level than anybody else present.

"Since when did he become so strong?"

Amanda couldn't blame them for looking so shocked.

She, too, was shocked by Ren's power. She had originally thought she had a grasp of what his power was, but it seemed like she had underestimated him severely.

'…and here I thought I could catch up to him in the past five years.'

She had trained hard.

Extremely hard in the past few years.

It was all with the goal of getting closer to him in strength. She thought that she had somewhat bridged the gap that existed between the two of them, but she had grossly underestimated just how monstrous Ren was.

'But why does he look like that?'

There was something odd about Ren's appearance… he was completely black, and his expression was somewhat dull.

She couldn't quite understand what was going on with him, but seeing how he was handling that monster of a demon, she assumed that he was using some sort of skill.

One that she wasn't aware of.

Boom—!

"Ren!"

Amanda was startled by the sight of him crashing against a nearby dune. With sand spilling in the air, her vision of him became obscured.

She immediately became worried, and just as she was about to rush up to him, she stopped herself and bit her lips.

"No... I can't."

'If I go now, I'll only make things more difficult for him.'

Staring at Donna and Monica, who were about to stop her, she calmed herself down and lowered her head.

"I know; you don't have to stop me. I'm not going."

It quickly became apparent that this was the extent of her powers.

At the moment, she could only watch Ren getting beat up by that monstrous demon, who seemed to have suddenly gotten a lot stronger.

Boom—! Boom—!

The fight continued, and the situation started to deteriorate quickly.

If Amanda had to describe the fight in a few words, it'd be 'one-sided'. Ren… He was getting manhandled by the Prince, who seemed to be toying with him.

'He was just doing fine before... Why did things suddenly change?'

She had witnessed Ren have the upper hand in the beginning, but out of nowhere, things started to turn for the worst suddenly.

It soon became clear to her and everyone else that the Prince was becoming stronger with each moment the two of them fought.

"Hup."

to cover her mouth with

his arms disappear out of

but to her

he do during the

attracted Amanda's attention, and her head subconsciously

Indeed…

time when they

"Hey, look!"

reverberated in the air once more, but Amanda didn't need to be told why she spoke; she understood

Ren's hand against the demon's head, a sudden

***

"Uhhhh."

Prince's head. I

that power, and slowly, I started to feel an increase in the laws within

and

to feel reinvigorated, and everything became clear

"Argh!"

laws in his body, and his expression was filled

"H.. how..."

as I continued to absorb the laws within

that, the flames that were revolving around the Prince's body started

brows creased, but I endured the pain and

"Stay put."

my own body, the space around the Prince warped and distorted,

chance to increase my grip on his

I touched his head with my hand, the laws began to flow into me more easily than they ever had before, and within a few seconds of making contact, I had taken

just about

anymore, I quickly let go, and the Prince's body disappeared

"Ha…haa… You…"

at me, both startled and incensed. Touching his body

you

"Nothing much."

covered in murky white light. As compared to

all was well. Staring at my hands,

was a consequence of obtaining and

from using the laws as much

use them, there was a high chance the skill would deactivate, and

allow that to

control the same power

words, I raised my head and looked up at him. Seeing the

to explain it to you, it would

eyes, I brought my sword forward and pointed it

"Let's finish this."

Boom—!

shattered as a sword projection, double the size of what it usually was, appeared from within the space

"Arkgh!"

cope with it and displayed a defensive posture by

BANG—!

the sword, his entire

"Not bad."

mumbled, staring at the sword

my attack had increased, and

whose body crashed against one of the distant dunes, I brought my sword forward and pointed it once again in his direction. The space around him shattered,

"Crumble."

my sword down, the projections quickly impaled the area where the Prince was, and I

"Uakh!"