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.

here? How did you get here?

"No."

his head and stared into the distance. Toward a spot where she couldn't

"Are you really fine?"

"…"

didn't know the answer to. Was she fine? She didn't

She just felt… empty.

didn't know

just did, and found everything hard

"I… I don't know."

words. Taking out her glasses, her vision started to blur, and she found herself unable to see what was ahead

she could've had her eyesight fixed a

she could've. She was rich and was smart

just didn't want

vision would stop her from feeling people's

from Ren, but even

Didn't want to see what

***

'She's surprisingly calm.'

me. At least, that was what I was able to perceive from her on

I wasn't too sure, but I

writhing, and the pain that was permeating every part of me was making it difficult for me to maintain

that he made things easier

things weren't over yet. Still, the situation was very advantageous for

since I was in no state to properly

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

Swoosh—!

sudden blurring of my vision, I appeared before a certain area in the sky and looked around me. That was until my attention was eventually drawn to a dark spot in the sky. It was writhing in the air, and the skeleton of a figure was

waste a second and

I've arrived

the moment I made contact with it, I felt a soothing energy spread throughout my entire body from head to

take shape again, and the excruciating pain that had

a scene that I had experienced a couple of times already, and my comprehension of the laws started to increase at the

was able to comprehend, the more I found myself

was also thanks to that that I was able to get into the Pillar without destroying it from the outside. It still took a little toll on me,

"You… who are you?"

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

radiated from his body was also nothing to scoff

be talking to me when

in place. Golden runes whirled all around the area where

composure. In spite of this, I cast my gaze off into

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

sure for how long things were like that, but when my sight returned, I found myself standing in the middle of the air

to sink in, but pain unlike anything I'd ever felt before started to cover