The Author's POV

It all happened so quickly, but when she felt 'his' gaze fall on her for just a split second, time seemed to come to an abrupt halt, and so did her world.

His expression was the same as usual—a little aged. Perhaps a little different, but it wasn't so different from how it had always been.

Yet, for some reason, in that moment, it felt as though that simple gaze told her a thousand words.

He nodded at her and said something.

She couldn't quite make out what those words were.

That was because she knew exactly what he was going to do, and in that moment, her mind blanked.

Her usually brilliant mind blanked, and she dully stood on the ground, staring up toward the sky, which was soon enveloped by a brilliant white light that came directly from her father's body. It enveloped the sky in its entirety.

BOOOM—!

That was the last thing she saw before a terrifying explosion covered the sky, and she was hurled a great distance away from the scene.

BANG—!

She collided with a tree, and if it weren't for the protective shield that materialized around her just as she was about to make contact with the tree, she likely would have sustained significant injuries.

"Ugh."

With a groan, she forced herself to look up, and that was when she realized that the mist that had blanketed the sky previously had completely disappeared.

Her mind, which seemed stained with something moments prior, seemed to clear up.

But none of that concerned her at the moment. What she was concerned about was something else, and she hastily looked around in the sky for any signs of 'him'.

But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find him. In fact, she couldn't see anything, and her legs started to go numb.

That was until a hand pressed against her shoulder and a familiar voice reached her ear.

"…He's gone."

"W..what?"

When she turned her head, she caught sight of a hazy, almost transparent figure.

"Who are you?"

She thought he sounded familiar, but the way he looked… was that really who she thought he was?

"It's me."

His voice was hoarse, almost feeble, but when he turned his head and their eyes met, Melissa understood that it was really him.

you doing here? How did you

"No."

head and stared into the distance. Toward

"Are you really fine?"

"…"

was a question she didn't know the answer to. Was she fine? She didn't feel

She just felt… empty.

she didn't know

and found everything hard

"I… I don't know."

vision started to blur,

honesty, she could've had her eyesight fixed

a potion or surgery, she could've. She was rich and was smart enough to produce a potion

didn't want

from feeling people's gazes on her and

one around her at the moment apart from Ren, but even so, she didn't

see what was above her

***

'She's surprisingly calm.'

thought crossed my mind when I stared at Melissa beside me. At least, that was what I was able to perceive from

truly calm, I wasn't too sure, but I

was permeating every part of me was making it difficult for me to maintain

he made things

looked up and stared at the area above me, I knew that things weren't over yet. Still, the situation was very advantageous for me at

since I was in no state to

something that I had to do before coming here, and that took almost everything from me. But

Swoosh—!

drawn to

waste a second and

like I've

my hand against the blob, and the moment I made contact with it, I felt a soothing energy spread throughout my entire body from

disappearing and then reappearing, started to take shape again, and the excruciating pain that had been pulsating through every part

I had experienced a couple of times already, and my

I was able to comprehend, the more I found myself able to use Kevin's

Pillar without destroying it from the outside. It still took

"You… who are you?"

I heard a certain voice, and when I looked down, I saw that the blob had transformed into

anything but friendly, and the power that radiated from his body

you really be talking to me when you're

runes whirled all around the area where the Prince and I were standing and wrapped themselves tightly around

struggling to keep my composure. In spite of this, I

blue light headed our way and enveloped the entirety of my vision. A powerful force soon enveloped the area that the demon and

my sight returned, I found myself standing in the middle of the air

unlike anything I'd ever felt before started to cover