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."

many occasions, Amanda had to cover her mouth with

when she witnessed his arms disappear out

after that, but to her surprise,

he do during the

words attracted Amanda's attention, and her head

Indeed…

the time when they

"Hey, look!"

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

demon's head, a sudden change happened in the

***

"Uhhhh."

the moment my hand came into contact with the Prince's head. I felt the pores on my body open up as an

as I absorbed all of that power, and slowly, I started to feel

my connections with the laws grew stronger, and a sensation

started to feel reinvigorated, and

"Argh!"

moment I started to absorb the laws

"H.. how..."

sentence as I continued

the Prince's body started to increase as

endured the pain and continued to

"Stay put."

of the laws into my own body, the space around the Prince warped and

that chance to increase my grip on his head further and further

flow into me more easily than they ever had before, and within a few seconds of making contact, I had taken in the majority

just about

I couldn't contain his body anymore, I quickly let go, and the Prince's body disappeared from my vision,

"Ha…haa… You…"

me, both startled and incensed. Touching his body

you done to

"Nothing much."

head to stare at my hands, which were covered in murky white light. As compared to before, the laws within

at my hands, which were flickering, I knew that the skill [Dark

a consequence of obtaining

using

I continued to use them, there was a high chance the skill would deactivate, and all

couldn't allow that to

how are you able to control the same

at

it to you, it would take too long,

my eyes, I brought my sword forward and pointed

"Let's finish this."

Boom—!

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

"Arkgh!"

Prince, unlike in the past, was no longer able to cope with it and displayed a

BANG—!

contact with the sword, his entire

"Not bad."

at the sword

had increased, and now I

at the Prince, whose body crashed against one of the distant dunes, I brought my sword forward and pointed it once again

"Crumble."

the area where the

"Uakh!"