"Surprised? Just gotten started?"
Jezebeth mumbled Ren's words over and over again while covering his mouth with his hand. As his whole body shook, his posture became increasingly hunched over.
"Kh…khh…k.."
The words were so unexpected that he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
His laughter started out as a series of muffled cries, but it quickly grew into something more. It wasn't a boisterous laugh, but it had a depth to it that reverberated throughout the world.
By the time he was done laughing, tears had formed in the corners of his eyes.
"Now this…"
He wiped the tears from his eyes, fixing his gaze on Ren.
"This is the way things ought to play out. And here I was getting concerned that everything was going a little too smoothly for me."
Jezebeth felt genuinely relieved.
The scariest thing was the unknown. Something that Ren specialized in.
What wasn't scary was the known, and now that he knew what Ren's plan was, he no longer felt as wary as before.
Having said that, he didn't let his guard down.
Turning his head to stare at the projections, Jezebeth smiled.
"So this is your plan?"
Within one of the projections, the only thing he could see was the color white, and although he couldn't exactly tell what was going on inside, he already had an idea.
"Hmm."
He smiled while pondering.
"It isn't a bad plan, but…"
Turning his head to look at Ren, he shook his head.
"Never mind, I'm sure you've already worked everything out in your head. Your years of experience should have prepared you to recognize certain facts by now. I suppose the only thing I can do is try to move things along more quickly."
Clenching his fist, the air around Jezebeth trembled. Staring directly at Ren, he punched out.
WOOOM―!
It didn't matter where his fist went; the space around it would shatter, and a whole new world would reflect in the broken pieces of space. This time, it was a snow-covered plain with rocky outcrops.
***
Drizzle. Drizzle.
Water drizzled down from the sky once the whiteness of the world faded. An utter silence encompassed the world, only broken by the muffled drizzle from above.
"Still alive?"
A certain voice broke the silence. Slowly descending from the sky, Ren's gaze paused on a small figure laying beneath the ocean floor. Over half of his body was torn, and his eyes were completely white.
Stepping onto the surface of the water, he bent his body slightly. He calmly studied the demon beneath, his gaze fixed on his white eyes.
He was still alive, but his condition wasn't good.
He was barely holding onto his own life.
'So this is how strong the sixth movement is…'
Ren inwardly muttered, staring at his hands, which had become transparent. For the first time he could remember, he had finally used the sixth movement, and the power contained within it was something that was well beyond his expectations.
No…
To say this was beyond his expectations was a lie.
He had seen what it could do against the Protector and thus could tell exactly how powerful it was.
Splash―!
Submerging himself into the water, Ren sank down until he stood right above Prince Murdock. He was just about to end things when, all of a sudden, Prince Murdock's gaze cleared, and his hand sharply reached for his neck.
Swoosh―!
"Hm?"
Ren was able to take a step back just in time to avoid the unexpected attack.
"You're still fine?"
Ren was taken aback the most by the sight of Prince Murdock standing before him with his entire body completely restored to health.
He felt his heart sink.
Swoosh―!
What surprised him the most was the fact that Prince Murdock seemed completely unresponsive. As though something had taken over his body.
"Uh…?!"
Just as Ren was beginning to wonder what it was, his entire body suddenly froze in place, and golden runes and words began to form around him and then wrap themselves around his body, immobilizing him.
When he looked up, he was astounded to see a fine white film covering the body of the Prince.
"Wait… this…"
The power of the laws.
He recognized the runes and the golden words the very instant that they made their appearance.
"How is this…?"
Ren fell into a state of utter shock.
Many questions flooded his mind at the moment, but he had no time to dwell on them as two sharp claws made their way toward him.
Swoosh―!
The water tore apart, and in its place was a long trail of bubbles.
Clamped by the laws, Ren had a hard time moving his body, and just as the claws were about to reach his face, he clenched his teeth and cursed.
"Fuck it."
A white glow that was eerily similar to the Prince's emanated from his entire body, and at the same time, golden runes materialized on the arm of the Prince, holding it in place.
The golden runes that were encircling Ren's body shattered, and his body, which was already transparent, became even more see-through.
Gritting his teeth, Ren felt something inside of him tear apart and felt the connection between him and Dark Servant wane.
As a result, his movements froze for a fraction of a second, but he was able to maintain his composure and press his palm against the Prince's abdomen.
As soon as his palm touched the Prince's abdomen, golden runes appeared all over his body, and he vanished from the spot, careening off into the distance and crashing into a number of distant rocks.
Thump!
Ren was just about to follow him when he suddenly noticed that he couldn't move.
When he looked down, he was stunned to discover that his legs had completely vanished, and he fell face first against the sand beneath him.
Supporting himself with his hands, Ren was just able to support himself.
"Not… yet…"
He could tell that the connection between him and his other self had significantly weakened as a result of his actions, and he came perilously close to actually passing away, but he was powerless to stop himself.
There was something inside of him that had snapped completely, and within his vision, the only thing that existed was the Prince.
He needed to die.
"Ukh."
He pushed himself up by pressing his hand against the sand, and his legs slowly began to reappear.
As he stumbled forward, he eventually arrived before the Prince.
Smack―!
Bending down on one knee, he slapped him on the face a couple of times.
That didn't do much, as the Prince didn't seem to wake up.
'He's completely out of it.'
Ren mused, distancing himself from the demon.
That was…
"Ukah."
Until Prince Murdock's eyes finally gained clarity, and he audibly gasped while submerged in water.
Ren's head turned to face him, and their gazes met.
"Y…y,you…"
He was immediately met with the terrified gaze of the demon. With his hands behind him, the Prince tried to back away from him.
It was a futile attempt as his back touched the rock behind him.
Seeing such a powerful demon, who was once hailed as one of the strongest existences beneath Jezebeth and the Protectors, cowering right in front of his eyes, Ren found an inexplicable feeling in that expression.
Taking a step toward him, he caught up to him rather quickly, and his hand grasped at his throat.
"Y,you… what are you doing?! You had the chance to kill me, so why didn't you? Are you trying to play with me?"
The demon was in a state of panic. Long gone was his calm and collected gaze from before. What replaced it was one of utter fear and indignation.
"What are you trying to ach―"
"Quiet."
Ren's words cut through his, and Prince Murdock found himself unable to utter a single word. Grasping tightly at his neck, Ren brought his face near his, and he softly whispered.
"There's only one reason I'm still keeping you alive."
He muttered silently, his eyes hazy.
"…It's because you don't deserve to die so easily. You need to suffer a bit."
Bang―!
He smashed the Prince's head against the bedrock beneath. With the same haze in his eyes, he brought his head up and…
Bang―!
He smashed it against the ground once more.
Bang―!
And again.
Bang―!
And again.
Bang―!
He smashed relentlessly.
The surface of the water shook with each smash, and like a machine, he continued for what seemed like an eternity.
Only stopping when the Prince's face was completely mangled, and he let out soft, pleading whispers.
"Huu."
Letting out a breath, bubbles flew out of Ren's mouth. Closing his eyes, he gazed upwards toward the surface of the water and then looked back down at Prince Murdock.
'I've wasted too much time already.'
He clenched his fist hard. So hard that veins protrude from them. Nonetheless, it served no purpose in calming his current mind.
He needed more…
He needed to vent even more.
Thus.
He reached out for the Prince's core.
Spurt―!
Black blood spilled out into the ocean the moment he removed the core, and after calmly observing it for a good couple of minutes, he clenched his hand.
Cr..Crack!
The orb shattered into thousands of pieces, scattering into the water. In that brief moment, Ren caught his own reflection on one of the shards that belonged to the core.
He wasn't able to look at himself for very long as the water he was in started to rumble.
Rumble―! Rumble―!
No, the structure as a whole was trembling, not just the water. Initially, the trembling was faint, but it grew stronger with each passing second. A couple of seconds later, the entire structure was violently swaying.
Ren didn't need to look outside to know what was currently happening.
"Hm?"
He was just about to leave when he caught sight of a certain yellow orb levitating over the Prince's disappearing body.
Feeling the power contained within it, he reached out for it. At the same time, the Prince's body crumbled and turned into a black orb that Ren put away.
WOOOM―!
Almost immediately after he reached for the yellow orb, his entire body began to tremble, his previously transparent form began to solidify, and power began to surge within him.
His mastery of the Laws began to advance at an alarming rate, and golden runes began to encircle his body.
The transformation lasted only a few seconds, and when it was complete, Ren's entire demeanor changed. He seemed to have blended in with the world completely.
Waving his hand forward, he appeared in front of a small house and entered it.
In there, he could see what remained of his family, and he closed his eyes.
"Let's go."
His voice drifted into the room, and he felt two sets of eyes focus on him. Without looking at them, he waved his hand, and the scenery before them changed.
They materialized above the island. There, they could see tens of thousands of demons fleeing in terror, as well as members of the four races.
Ren's gaze was fixed on the demons and monsters that were squirming on the island, and after a few seconds of staring at them, he swept his hand through the air, causing a significant portion of them to vanish.
Most of the ones that died were just about Baron rank, if not lower. He didn't even need to move to kill them.
The same couldn't be said for the more powerful demons who were able to survive the attack. Of course, Ren didn't care.
He only killed the weaker ones in order to make things easier for those of the Alliance.
Rumble―! Rumble―!
The entire structure of the pillar continued to shake. The shaking became progressively worse, and within a minute of it starting, the land started to shake even more violently, and the island soon started to split apart.
The island was gradually submerged as water began to make its way onto it in a slow but steady process.
The waves carried any debris that was left over from the buildings that had been destroyed due to the battles that had taken place above.
Cr…Crack!
Soon after, cracks began to appear in the sky, and just as the water was about to reach those that had managed to survive, the sky completely shattered into fragments.
Crash―!
Almost immediately, everyone's vision changed, and when Ren's vision returned to normal, he found himself outside of the Pillar.
He then watched as the structure cracked and crumbled downward in a rapid manner.
Boom―!
A wave of dust flew into the air at that moment as Ren slowly closed his eyes.
"…That's one."
He muttered silently.
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