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

she witnessed his arms disappear out of

the battle was over after that, but to her surprise,

world did he do

attention, and her head subconsciously

Indeed…

had happened during the time when they hadn't seen

"Hey, look!"

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

head, a sudden change happened in

***

"Uhhhh."

into contact with the Prince's head. I felt the pores on

that power, and

and a sensation

to feel reinvigorated, and everything became clear once

"Argh!"

contorted the moment I started to absorb the laws in his body, and his expression was

"H.. how..."

sentence as I continued to absorb the laws

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

creased, but I endured the

"Stay put."

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

his head further and further push

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

should just about

and the Prince's body disappeared from my vision,

"Ha…haa… You…"

Touching his body

you

"Nothing much."

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

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

was a consequence of obtaining and using such

need to refrain from using the

chance the skill would deactivate, and all would

allow that to

control the

up at him. Seeing the confused

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

sword forward and pointed it at

"Let's finish this."

Boom—!

space around the Prince shattered as a sword projection, double the size of what it

"Arkgh!"

no longer able to cope with it and displayed a defensive posture by

BANG—!

into contact with the sword, his entire body took

"Not bad."

mumbled, staring at the

was clear that the power of my attack had increased, and now I

and pointed it once again in his direction. The space around him shattered, and several

"Crumble."

area where the Prince was, and I heard a muffled

"Uakh!"