The Author's POV

Ren lay on the ground, his body bruised and battered, unable to move. He felt weak and with the chains sucking the mana out of his, his breath came in ragged gasps. Then, a soft voice echoed throughout, piercing through the haze of pain.

"You're strong, Ren, but you've gravely miscalculated the amount of time it would take for him to gather toward all seven pillars..."

The voice said, and he strained to listen, turning his head towards the source.

There, standing before the sun, was a figure that cast a brilliant glow. Ren squinted against the blinding light, trying to make out Jezebeth's figure that was hidden behind the glowing light of the sun.

He looked powerful at this moment…

More powerful than he had ever seen him in the past.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Ren strained with every last ounce of his strength, extending his hand towards Jezebeth and tearing at the chains in his way.

As he covered his figure with his hand, his vision darkened, and he no longer needed to squint. Simultaneously, he sensed an immense power gathering above him, the air trembling with its intensity.

Ren was prepared for it.

He gazed at the chains binding him, briefly closing his eyes, and then slowly clenched his hand.

Chains... he wasn't unfamiliar with them. He had been bound by them for a very long time, especially ones that had been imbued with the laws.

They were like an extension of his body by this point, and they didn't bother him very much.

When he opened his eyes again, sunlight filtered through his fingers as his extended hand, which was aimed above his face, came to a close.

Cr...Crack!

With a resounding crack, the space around Jezebeth shattered like a broken mirror, revealing his figure, frozen, and standing behind the fractured barrier.

"If someone has miscalculated, it's you... Jezebeth."

Ren muttered in a low tone, his eyes fixed on the chains still clinging to his hand. He clenched both fists, and the chains disintegrated into tiny particles, followed by the chains that bound his feet.

Ren reached for a potion, slowly rising to his feet and patting down his clothes.

"As I said before..."

His vision suddenly blurred, and he reappeared in front of Jezebeth, who was trapped behind the shattered glass, seemingly frozen.

"...You only got a fraction of your deductions correct."

Ren pressed his hand forward, shattering the space around Jezebeth, and his figure vanished into nothingness.

Crash—! What followed was utter and complete silence as a gentle breeze blew past, scattering Ren's hair slightly.

"..."

Ren stood motionless, staring at the spot where Jezebeth used to be before suddenly bringing his hand over to his mouth.

"Pftt."

A dark red substance filtered past the narrow gaps of his fingers as his face became incomparably pale. Although his expression had no change, his entire figure was trembling.

Clearly, what he had just done had taken a huge toll on his body.

A testament to this was the fact that he soon felt his body plummet to the streets beneath, crashing down on them and breaking a few cars along the way.

BANG—!

"Haaa… haaa…"

Ren stared at the distant

The extent of his injuries

knew that it'd be of no use to

is… the extent of this

been able to last a lot longer. In fact, he

situation was

wasn't at his

the pillars, collecting the

ensure that he could fight against them, Ren had to restrict the amount of mana he could use. It put him at a severe disadvantage

But that was fine…

was the path that he had

"Haaaa…"

deep breath, Ren stared at

For now…

he could do was

He had done enough.

Cr— Crash!

around

***

WOOOM—!

couple of steps forward until he fell to his

he looked up at

familiar sight. When he looked around him and saw the crumbled buildings, his eyes started to clear

"Finally… we're back."

complicated at the moment. He wasn't

that he was back, but as the images of what had happened before continued to flash in his mind, he found himself struggling

"D-damn it."

if only he was more

close to him, and yet all he could do was watch as he died right before his

couldn't even do a

same was

If only…

not the

one big breath, Ryan forced himself to calm down. He was no longer a teenager. He could no longer dwell on such

to keep himself focused on the goal

Mourning came later.

Rumble—! Rumble—!

he was reminded of what he needed to do, and he

"Nothing's changed."

only thing that changed was the location

to get into contact with

just about to send a message to the others and verify who was there, when, all

WOOOM—!

Thump—! Thump—!

Ryan turned his head to see Emma appear from the dimensional crack. She had awakened not too long after the Pillar had collapsed, and despite his offer

her was Leopold's

"H..help me."

as she heavily gulped for air, her face extremely

"Ah… yes."

up, Ryan moved toward Emma and offered her a couple

should

the potions, he didn't even bother

body, and he didn't want to be

Not again.

have

give

at Emma. At a glance, she seemed to have recovered somewhat, and she

you

"Not me, idiot."