The Author's POV

'You're in my domain. So long as we're in here, I'll keep getting stronger and stronger. Whatever you do, it's futile.'

The clues were always there.

It was just that such an option wasn't really feasible. If the pillar crumbled, what would happen to those who were within the pillar?

It was a question that had plagued my mind since the very beginning and stopped me from doing the obvious.

That… however, only crossed my mind at the very beginning.

Reminding myself of what had happened to my family because of my indecisiveness and realizing that I had no other option, I realized what I needed to do.

It was as if something had snapped within me, and such questions stopped bothering me.

All I cared about at the moment was winning.

I wanted nothing more than to kill and satiate the numbness I was feeling.

'That's right. Who cares about what happens next… I'll solve nothing if I keep pondering over these matters... I can always deal with the aftermath of my actions later.'

Thus, I didn't think twice before channeling the laws within my body.

Boom—!

Crashing against the dunes beneath, I injected the laws beneath the ground as golden runes and words sank into the sand beneath before moving to another dune and repeating the process.

"Stop dodging."

A hand came and grasped at my throat.

When I looked up, I saw the Prince of Wrath staring menacingly at me with his crimson pupils.

His power was a lot higher than it was before, and it only kept increasing as the fight went on. I was no longer his match, but that was of no concern to me.

'I think that's enough.'

Cr...Crack!

Raising both of my hands, I twisted my neck, and my vision grew dark.

A sharp pain spread across my neck, sizzling down my back like a web of electricity.

My mana, along with the laws, depleted rapidly, and the tightness that I felt in my throat disappeared.

I wasn't exactly sure what had happened next. I couldn't really see or feel anything. It was just… dark and silent.

Eerily silent.

I wasn't sure how long it had been like that, but the sensation didn't last very long at all. My vision quickly returned, and I found that I was standing in the clouds.

The normal sky.

The one that belonged to Earth.

What remained of the pillar and the surrounding debris were scattered beneath me. They dispersed themselves across the land, wreaking havoc on the echo systems that were buried below.

It wasn't a pretty sight, but that was of no concern to me at the moment. Raising my head, my gaze paused on the Prince of Wrath.

Finally, I smiled.

seems like you can

been enveloping his body had completely

was a far cry from what

no longer appeared as menacing as he once did. In fact, without the constraints of the Pillar weighing me down, I

"Y.. you… you maniac."

said, his words

really risk the lives of all those that were within

finishing what you

right in front of my eyes. Sword in hand, I pointed it straight at his

Clank—!

or unsurprisingly, he was able to react to my movements. But it

the pillar supporting him, he was still considered to be one of

Still…

need to come

pain engulfed every

"Stop."

my mind

and the space around him shattered, revealing over a dozen sword projections that shot in his direction

This time…

they

"Argh!"

materialized all over his body as he let out an agonized scream, spraying black

aimed them precisely so that they would all become lodged in his

I arrived before the Prince

was dripping down the side of

as I reached out

What are you

speak, but I wasn't interested in anything that he had

out with my hand, I grasped onto his head, and through the gap

to him at

for such nonsense. I needed to

And so I did.

"Goodbye."

Swoosh—!

wind, revealing a small core that levitated in the air. Alongside it was a pitch-black orb that materialized as a consequence of the ambers in the Prince's body coming together to form a

doing, and it had its uses as I brought it to my mouth and ingested

that, I reached out for the core with my hand

a faint demonic energy that twisted the air around it, and the demonic blood that was within my body pulsed and writhed in response to the

the laws, I put the core away and finally took a

like I've

observed my body and saw that a lot of the wounds I sustained weren't healing, I knew that I had

laws with this body was simply…

put, this body was not fit to

did I have? I was

"Ren."

when I turned

like they've made it out alive

the Pillar was

the laws within my body, I

inside was still alive. I could only

alright?

to come was obviously

on her face as she scanned my body from top to bottom, and on any normal occasion, I would've smiled at her, but I found myself

"I'm alright."