The Author's POV

-Slash!

-Spurt!

"huuff...hufff...hufff..."

Breathing heavily, with his sword imbued on one of the demons that was stacked on top of five other demons, Kevin glanced at his surroundings. Craters and deep marks appeared on the cobblestone streets of Rowa.

Everything was destroyed.

Though the demons Kevin was fighting were a lot weaker compared to the demon leader, because they were many, he had no choice but to move around a lot. Because he didn't have any skill that allowed him to fight multiple opponents at once, Kevin had no other choice but to kill them one at a time.

...Hence why he was currently tired.

Wiping the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead, Kevin looked up and searched for Ren's figure.

After directly leaving him behind to fend off against the remaining demons, Ren just disappeared from his view. He had no idea why...

Frowning as he looked for him in the distance, Kevin couldn't help but mumble out loud

"Just where did he g'”hm?"

However just as he was about to directly look for him, snapping his head to the right, Kevin sensed something in the distance. In the opposite direction of where Ren left.

Squinting his eyes, Kevin managed to spot something approaching his location from the distance.

At a closer inspection, it was a grown woman in red. The woman's body was slender and fair and her gaze was calm and stoic. Slowly, she made her way towards Kevin.

When Kevin's gaze met her own, an indescribable feeling of numbness spread across his scalp. Thereafter he soon noticed two horns protruding from the top of her head, causing Kevin's heart to sink.

"...demon"

Although the former did not give off a terrifying aura, a pressuring feeling had emerged across the surroundings, causing the entire streets of Rowa to become deathly silent.

This time Kevin knew he was in trouble...

-Tap! -Tap!

Slowly, stopping a fair bit of distance from Kevin, the woman looked towards her surroundings. Her indifferent face briefly glanced at the demons on the floor. However, it was only for a brief moment as they soon paused on a particular demon in the distance.

Looking at a particular demon with a small hole on his forehead, the woman softly said with a trace of pity in her voice

"...so he died too"

Thereafter, frowning slightly, the Matriarch looked towards Kevin. Staring at him for what felt an eternity, the Matriarch slowly spoke

"...You must be Kevin Voss"

"..."

Increasing the grip of his sword, Kevin didn't respond. Right now his mind was racing as he thought of solutions to get out of this situation.

...The person before him was on another level compared to the demon leader he had just fought. He even felt that even if he used overdrive, he wouldn't be able to win.

Things were serious.

"huuuu..."

Kevin's heart palpitated as he couldn't help but take a deep breath to try to calm himself down.

"I see...you're a mute. How unfortunate"

Deeply staring at Kevin who refused to speak, the Matriarch looked around and asked

"Where is he?"

Frowning, Kevin slowly said

"Who?"

Raising her brow and glancing at Kevin, the Matriarch lightly smiled as she said

"...the boy named Ren"

Hearing Ren's name being mention, Kevin couldn't help but frown.

Him again.

It seems like everything that had happened today was somehow related to Ren. Just what did he do to earn the ire of the demons?

After this was over, Kevin was definitely going to get answers from him.

...staring at the matriarch before him, Kevin slowly asked as he tried to buy time.Â

"What do you want from him?"

Still looking around for any sign of Ren, the Matriarch slowly said

"I'm here to finish business..."

Smiling, Kevin helplessly said

"Sorry I can't help you there...you see, I'm also looking for him"

Soon after Kevin finished speaking, a tense and stifling atmosphere enveloped the area where Kevin and the Matriarch were.

"I see..."

-Fwuam!

Nodding her head, the Matriarch's figure disappeared and reappeared right before Kevin.

"...then die!"

-Bang!

Thereafter, opening the palm of her hand, she gently moved her palm in his direction. With barely enough time for Kevin to react, crossing his arms, Kevin felt a gentle yet overbearing force pushing his body away.

"khhha'”!"

Taking ten steps back, Kevin felt his arms become numb as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Taking a couple of seconds to recover, staring at the Matriarch in shock, the frown on his face deepened.

"Not bad..."

Staring at Kevin, and noticing that he was still alright after her attack, Angelica started to understand why a lot of the higher-ups were paying close attention to him.

He was definitely a talent to drool over.

...However, right now she didn't care about that. She only had one goal at the moment...kill the one that ruined her life.

"Again"

Once again, the Matriarch's figure disappeared as she once again attacked Kevin.

As she attacked, although she was considerably weakened by the series of events that had happened to her, with a bit of effort, Angelica was able to overwhelm Kevin.

-Bang! -Bang!

In the span of a couple of minutes, Kevin was pushed back more than fifty meters as the Matriarch kept attacking him. Kevin barely had any breathing space as her attacks were fast and relentless.

"Damn it!"Â

Cursing out loud, Kevin tried his best to get out of the situation. However, no matter what he tried, she would reappear right before him and attack him once again.

Moreover, Kevil felt that the reason why she was able to overwhelm him was mostly due to the fact that he was tired. If he wasn't tired, Kevin knew that he would've been able to fight back.

However, that was only wishful thinking on Kevin's end. There were no what-ifs in the world, and thus he could only fight against her in his current condition.

In fact, the Matriarch was also not in optimal condition. If the Matriarch wasn't injured, Kevin would've long died by her first strike.

Right now, he should've been rejoicing at the fact that he was still alive.

"Khhh..."

Sliding backward, Kevin couldn't feel his arms anymore. It felt as if a truck had rammed onto them causing him to lose the sensation of both of his arms.

Quickly glancing around and seeing no one, Kevin couldn't help but curse inwardly

'Damn it Ren...where are you!'

He could barely hold on. If Ren didn't come in ten minutes, Kevin felt that he could very well be dying soon.

-Fwua!

Moving backward, Kevin managed to narrowly avoid the Matriarch's palm, thereafter, glancing at her, Kevin grit his teeth.

"Overdrive..."

He had no choice.

He couldn't afford to hold back. He had to go all out in the beginning.

He needed to buy enough time for Ren to come back...if there was one person who could help him it was him.

...as long as he was here.

Feeling every fiber of his muscles suddenly fill with tremendous energy, Kevin glared at the Matriarch as he retaliated.

-Bam!

"Haa-?"

Just as the Matriarch's plan was about to hit Kevin one more time, to her surprise, she suddenly felt a tremendous force hit her palm causing her to flinch slightly.

Thereafter, she took one step back. Looking upwards towards Kevin in shock, it took a couple of seconds for her to realize what had finally happened.

"You!"

Opening her eyes wide, the Matriarch glared at Kevin as her demenour turned serious.

"Die!"

Thereafter, a red hue enveloped her body as she subsequently pushed her palm towards Kevin. This time, she exerted all of her force into the palm. She was planning on ending this in one move.

"Huuup!"

Staring at the Matriarch's palm that was headed in his direction, a similar red hue enveloped Kevin's body. Thereafter, using his sword, Kevin hacked with every single bit of his energy.

He knew he couldn't hold back.

He could tell that the Matriarch before him was planning on ending things quickly by using her strongest move early.

Thus, without holding back, Kevin put everything he had in this one strike. His muscles bulged dramatically as the veins on his body became even more prominent.

"Guuuuah'”!"

Screaming out loud, he slashed forward as an overbearing sword energy shot out from the tip of his sword.

-Baaam!

As the palm and sword connected, a huge shockwave swept the surroundings as the houses in the distance crumbled. The windows shattered and dust and debris flew everywhere.

Shortly after, as the dust and debris disappeared, two figures could be seen standing a couple of meters from each other. Silence swept the surroundings as a tense atmosphere enveloped the area.

-Thud

After a short silence, one of the figures knelt down on one knee.

"Khhh...damn it"

Glaring at the Matriarch that still stood a couple of meters away from him, Kevin cursed out loud.

Subsequently after, as if a jolt of electricity coursed through his body, blue veins wiggled all over his body as his muscled started spasming.

"Khhhhh..."

Gritting his teeth and trying his best to endure the pain, Kevin couldn't help curse at his own weakness.

...He was still too weak.

Even though he had just acquired a five-star sword manual, because he had only just learned it, he could barely exert any power from it.

...if only he could use it. Damn it!

Staring at the Matriarch who was still standing, Kevin couldn't help but try his best to stand up. He wasn't going to die today!

Not to a demon.

He will not die!

Staring at Kevin's rising figure, the Matriarch couldn't help but be shocked by his power and determination.

Although it looked as if she had come out on top, in reality, she still suffered a few internal injuries from the clash. But...they weren't as serious as Kevin's who seemed to be on his last leg. Thus, indifferently glancing at Kevin, the Matriarch prepared to attack one more time.

"...I appreciate your determination, but this is the end for-"

However, just as the Matriarch was about to finish speaking, the soft sound of footsteps echoed in the distance.

-Tap -Tap

Slowly walking forward, Ren's indifferent face appeared in the distance.

Snapping her head towards where the sound of the footsteps reverberated, the Matriarch's eyes shot wide open as she venomously spat.

"It's you!"

The image of the youth that was walking in her direction directly overlapped with the photo that was given to her...

Unbothered by the Matriarch, Ren stared at Kevin who was weakly standing in the distance. Nodding his head towards him, Ren slowly said

"Good enough..."

Staring at Ren who was indifferently walking forward, Kevin smiled slightly as he supported his body with his sword.

"Took you long enough..."

Looking away from Kevin, Ren directly looked at the matriarch before him as he leisurely walked in her direction.

As he did so, from the corner of his eyes, he slowly calculated each and every step he took.

'....the pieces have been set, it was time to end this'