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."

cover her mouth with

she witnessed his arms disappear

was over after that, but to her surprise, he

did he do during the time

words attracted Amanda's attention, and her head

Indeed…

during the time when they hadn't

"Hey, look!"

but Amanda didn't need to be

the demon's head, a sudden change happened in

***

"Uhhhh."

contact with the Prince's head. I felt the pores on my body open up as an indescribable power started to filter into my

relaxed at that moment as I absorbed all of that power, and slowly, I

the laws grew stronger, and a sensation that was all too familiar washed over

to feel reinvigorated, and everything became clear once

"Argh!"

contorted the moment I started to absorb the laws in his

"H.. how..."

sentence as I continued to absorb the

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

heat radiating from his body, my brows creased, but I endured the pain and continued to absorb the akashic laws within his

"Stay put."

into my own body, the space around the

increase my grip on his head further and further push the laws

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 in the majority of

should just about

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

"Ha…haa… You…"

startled and incensed. Touching his body all over, he

have you

"Nothing much."

light. As compared to before, the laws within my body were thicker, and I could control

but not all was well. Staring at my hands, which were flickering, I knew that the skill [Dark Servant] had become more

was a consequence of obtaining and using such

to refrain from using the laws as

high chance the

couldn't allow that

control the same power as his

the demon's words, I raised my head and looked up at him. Seeing the confused look on his face, I

I were to explain it to you, it would take too

brought my sword forward

"Let's finish this."

Boom—!

size of what it usually was, appeared from within the

"Arkgh!"

longer able to cope with it and displayed a defensive

BANG—!

with the sword, his entire

"Not bad."

mumbled, staring at the

had

at the Prince, 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, and several similar-sized

"Crumble."

the Prince was, and I heard

"Uakh!"