The Author's POV

Ren's body… it was a complete mess. There were far too many distinct powers, and the demonic laws and Akashic laws were exhibiting signs of repulsion toward one another.

Ren was unfamiliar, yet familiar, with the Akashic Laws.

They… they were the laws that had been binding at this body for the past few centuries. He never wielded them before, but the moment he used them, it felt as though it was second nature to him.

Not to mention the golden runes and words that were circling around his body...

With just one look, it seemed as though he could decipher their meaning with just a look, and as he stared at his hands, which were coated in a white substance, he turned his attention back toward Waylan and pressed his palm forward.

Boom―!

"Futile."

Waylan dislodged the palm with a swift whack, causing it to splinter and fly off into the horizon. Following that, he launched a counterattack by pressing his own palm down.

A gigantic hand suddenly materialized above Ren's head and made an attempt to squish him from on high. Ren took a measured look at the situation before removing his sword from its sheath.

He merely pressed the tip of his sword up, and the palm came to rest directly above him.

WOOOONG―! From the intersection of the two forces, where they met in the middle, a tremendous wind erupted. It was powerful enough to push the two back a few meters in response.

Waylan's eyes shone.

'He's different from before.'

Waylan thought, regaining his footing.

The degree of control over the power that he displayed wasn't the same as the one he showed before. There was something completely different about him for some unexplained reason, and the manner in which he carried himself was even more unsettling.

"Are you really the same, Ren?"

The surprised Waylan asked.

The more he examined him, the more convinced he became that there was something peculiar about him. It appeared as though he was going up against a completely different entity than before.

But how was that possible?

"You give off a different feeling from before…"

Waylan squinted his eyes.

"I'm not sure what it is, but it now explains to me why you were so confident a little earlier. Was this power of yours what gave you the confidence to challenge me?"

Swoosh―!

A splintering occurred in the space around Ren, and an invisible shot toward his leg.

Ren, who was taken aback by the sudden attack, attempted to evade it but was just a fraction of a second too late.

Spurt―! The blow went all the way through his leg, causing a massive amount of bleeding.

Staring at his leg, Ren showed no change in expression.

'I couldn't even feel it.'

Darkness seeped into Ren's eyes, and the demonic energy that had been building up inside of his body suddenly erupted, covering his entire leg and erupting from his body in the form of scales that covered the wound completely.

Once the wound was covered, he flapped his wings once and appeared right before Waylan.

He made a single thrust with his sword.

"Better."

Waylan was able to avoid the slashing attack. He then countered with a blow from his own fist, which caused the air around it to twist and turn like a whirlwind.

'Dangerous.'

Ren thought at the sight of the approaching fist.

The power that was hidden behind that punch was not something that he could take lightly at any point. He was able to sense that Waylan had packed a lot of power into that seemingly simple fist aimed directly at his chest.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and…

Boom―!

A deafening roar filled the area as though an explosion had occurred. As a result of the impact, Ren rolled away like a ball and flew for several hundred meters in the air.

As the initial target of the attack, Ren's crossed wrists were severely trembling as a result of the blow. He had done this to prevent the punch from reaching his main body, and while he did indeed succeed, it came with a lot of pain.

Feeling the pain in his body, his eyes turned somewhat serious.

'He's not that much weaker than Jezebeth…'

He had never faced off against a Protector before, and he didn't know very much about them at all. At this point, all he was doing was testing the waters with them.

In a way, since he knew so little about them, he deemed the current fight just as troublesome as the ones he had with Jezebeth in the past.

In any case, Waylan's fist did not appear to be a typical fist to him, based on what he was able to observe. It was endowed with the laws, and his control and influence over them were astounding, to say the least.

It had been a very long time since Ren had perceived a threat from a person or entity that was not the Demon King.

Crack! Crack!

His shattered wrist began to mend as a shadowy glow began to form around his entire body.

Even though Ren's body was a chaotic mess because of all of the powers that his body possessed, if one had proper control over the powers within it, they'd be an unstoppable force.

It took his wrist no more than a couple of seconds to return to its normal state, but by the time it did, Waylan had already moved ahead of him.

"Healed enough?"

Waylan aimed his kick at his neck. During the kick, the wind seemed to be tearing itself apart, and it left a trail of white in its wake.

After Ren tapped his sword, there was a faint clicking sound that emanated from it.

Click―!

Waylan's body twisted just before Ren felt his sword make contact with it, as if he could sense Ren's intentions.

Much to Ren's surprise, he felt his sword make contact with nothing.

'I missed?'

This was such an unfamiliar feeling—only Jezebeth had ever done this before.

Before Ren even had a chance to respond, Waylan aimed a kick toward his stomach.

Swooosh―! Ren was able to avoid it by a narrow margin as his body similarly twisted and an opening appeared. He tried to capitalize on the opportunity to launch his own attack and counterattack. Reaching down with his hand, he tried to reach the hilt of his sword with his hand.

At the same time, looking up, Ren's gaze fixed on Waylan's temple.

That was his target.

Bang—!

Waylan's foot redirected itself into the air and kicked down. It was right at the moment when Ren's hand was about to press the hilt of the sword, and after the kick hit his hand in just the right spot, Ren's hand redirected itself away from the sword.

Waylan disappeared from Ren's view shortly after that and reappeared a couple of meters away.

He then made a fist with his free hand and extended it in front of him.

WIIIIIIIING—! At that moment, the area around Ren began to warp. A gigantic projection of a hand materialized right beneath where he was standing, and it gripped him in the middle of its palm.

The projection began to gradually contract with him in the center as golden runes adhered to his legs, pinning him to the spot and securing him there.

At the same time he did that, he appeared right beneath Ren and punched him out.

"Whatever you've done, the results are the same. You are far too weak to fight against a Protector."

Waylan had the distinct impression that victory was within his reach. About a quarter of the laws he had left in his body was consumed by these series of attacks he had just performed, and he was confident that not even the Demon King would be able to defend against such an attack without taking damage... let alone someone who wasn't even close to his level.

"I've heard that line many times before."

Contrary to his belief, Ren didn't seem to be in any distress after being subjected to the two attacks. He stared at his hand, where a white glow formed and golden runes floated out. As the runes moved in his hand in a fluid manner, he redirected his gaze toward his sword.

He slowly unsheathed it.

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

The moment he did so, the sword shattered into thousands of fragments, which then formed a ring around him and began to revolve around him. The white glow in his hand moved towards the fragments, and then they all shot out away from him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fragments shattered through the air and slammed into the two opposing forces that were moving toward Ren. The moment that the two forces came into contact with one another, the air would twist and the projection would turn fainter.

The process was reasonably quick, and in a matter of seconds, the hand that was closing in on Ren from beneath vanished entirely. The same could be said for the fist as it similarly vanished.

All that came to Ren was a strong wind that blew his hair up.

"Come back."

The shattered pieces suddenly flew in his direction and reassembled themselves onto his sword, restoring it to its original complete state.

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

"This is…"

Waylan's expression turned grim at the sight of his two attacks getting blocked. He had not expected such an outcome. Especially since he had gone quite seriously in that attack.

BANG—! The two clashed once more. Waylan's fist met Ren's sword, and the two bounced back. The more Waylan fought, the more he felt his pride hurt.

Looking at Ren, his mouth parted open.

"You're definitely not Ren."

He wasn't exactly sure of it before, but he was sure of it now.

…The man that was standing before him was a completely different entity from the Ren that he knew.

"That's where you're wrong."

Ren shook his head and fixed his gaze on Waylan as he did so. After opening his mouth, his icy words rained down on the area around them.

"I… am indeed Ren."