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 the brutality of

his

over after that, but to her surprise, he regrew his arms and

did he do during the time

attention, and her head

Indeed…

happened during the time when they hadn't seen

"Hey, look!"

but Amanda didn't need to be told why she spoke;

demon's head, a sudden change happened in

***

"Uhhhh."

familiar sensation washed over me the moment my hand came into contact with the Prince's head. I felt the pores on my body

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

stronger, and

feel reinvigorated, and everything

"Argh!"

the laws in

"H.. how..."

as I continued to absorb the laws

around the Prince's body started to increase

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 Prince warped and distorted, and his body

his head further and

and within a few seconds of making contact, I

should just about

his body anymore, I quickly let go, and the Prince's body disappeared from my vision, reappearing a

"Ha…haa… You…"

me, both startled and incensed. Touching his body all over, he

have you done

"Nothing much."

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

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

of obtaining and

need to refrain from using

there was a high chance the skill would deactivate,

couldn't allow

able to control the

words, I raised my head and looked up at

I were to explain it to you,

I brought my sword forward and pointed it

"Let's finish this."

Boom—!

sword projection, double the size of what it usually was, appeared from within the space itself, hurling at the demon at

"Arkgh!"

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

BANG—!

the sword, his entire

"Not bad."

staring at the sword

power of my attack had increased, and now

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

"Crumble."

my sword down, the projections quickly impaled the area where the Prince was, and I heard a muffled cry in

"Uakh!"