[Pillar of Envy]

WOOOM―!

The moment the gigantic sword appeared in the air, the structure of the Pillar shook. The waters crashed against each other, and waves the size of skyscrapers started to form.

Kracka! Kracka!

Lightning came pouring down from the sky, and the rain stopped moving.

"What's this?!"

Prince Murdock's expression changed dramatically at the sight of the sword, and his entire body started to morph at that moment. His wings expanded, his skin changed―scales forming on top of it, and his entire body became larger.

Long gone was the elegant demon from before as what replaced it was a hulking figure whose presence towered just like the sword in the sky.

Kracka.

A lightning came down, and Ren and Prince Murdock gazed at each other. The world was quiet at that moment, and just as everything seemed peaceful, Ren's mouth parted open.

"Fall."

.

.

.

"What's that!?"

It started with a distant rumble, barely noticeable at first.

But as it grew louder, those within the island realized that something was terribly wrong.

They looked out to sea and saw an enormous wall of water rising higher and higher, heading straight towards them.

At that moment, silence swept over the entire world. All of those within the pillar were unable to stop themselves from looking at the commotion, and their gazes paused on the large wall of water that surrounded the entire island.

They also noticed the two that were responsible for all of this, and their body stiffened right then.

WOOOM―!

Suddenly, a massive sword projection materialized in the sky, glowing with an eerie, pulsating light. It hung there, suspended for a few moments, before starting to descend towards the earth with terrifying speed.

The sword was enormous, easily as long as a city block, and it blazed with an otherworldly energy that made the air around it crackle with electricity.

As it fell, it sliced through clouds and stars alike, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Everyone halted their breaths as they looked at the sky, which had become empty almost instantly. Prince Murdock had not attacked yet, but his aura had already pressed on everyone's heart like a mountain.

Rumble! Rumble!

When the sword started to fall, the entire Pillar shook, and the waves came hurling toward the land like enormous tsunamis.

Panic set in as the realization of what was about to happen hit them.

Many backed away from the shore, but there was nowhere to go. The wave was too large, too powerful.

SPLASH―! Within moments, it crashed onto the shore, sending water and debris flying in all directions.

Wherever the water swept, only disaster was left behind as the house and trees disappeared quickly.

"Move back!"

"Retreat, quickly!"

Letting go of whatever they were doing, everyone retreated further into the island. Those who could, flew in the sky, but such individuals numbered far less than those that couldn't, and the water continued to flood the entire island, slowly submerging it.

Drip. Drip.

Rain continued to pour down from the sky, and anguished cries reverberated through the air.

"Is this your trump card?"

Prince Murdock shouted, turning his gaze away from the island. He could hear the anguished screams of his soldiers and those from the three races.

While he wasn't one to sympathize with the death of his soldiers, he was shocked to find out that the human in front of him was even more ruthless than him…

In order to defeat him, he spared nothing and even put his own people in danger.

That…

Even the Prince found himself impressed by such ruthlessness. Not that he had very long to be impressed as the sword slowly started to make its way toward him.

WOOOM―! The space around the sword distorted, and so did Prince Murdock's expression. Glaring at the large sword that was headed his way, a wave of demonic energy burst forth from his body, enveloping half of the island.

The waves which were crashing on the people came to a sudden stop, and the demons beneath suddenly stopped moving.

It all happened within an instant, but the demons that stopped moving suddenly started to shrivel up like mummies before falling down to the ground lifeless.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Such scenes happened throughout the entire island, and before long, thousands of demons fell to the ground, lifeless. In the meantime, the power that surrounded Prince Murdock increased, and his body bulged even further.

Clenching his teeth tightly, Prince Murdock glared at the approaching sword and concentrated all of his power on his right hand.

All of this happened within the span of a few seconds, and just as the sword was about a few inches away from his face, he brought his hand forward, and his hand reached for the sword.

Wooom!

Coming into contact with the sword, the entire space around him shattered, and the sword hummed with a deadly light.

"Uakh!"

Blood leaked out from the Prince's orifices, and his body was pushed back onto the ground. He let out several agonized shouts as his right hand continued to grasp onto the sword.

His complexion paled by the second, and it became progressively worse by the second. But despite the change in his complexion, the sword did slow down quite a lot.

Even more shocking was that with each passing second, it slowed down even further, and it wasn't long before it completely stopped.

"Haaa…haaa…"

Sword in hand, Prince Murdock let out several gasps, but his face was unable to hide the hint of glee he felt as he raised his head weakly to stare at Ren.

"I,is this your st―"

"Boom."

A soft voice drifted into his ears and his expression froze.

Before he could understand the meaning of those words, the world around him turned white, and a defeating explosion reverberated throughout the world.

***

Boom―!

Jezebeth hurled back, his feet planted against the volcanic ground. Lowering his head, he looked up at Ren and smiled.

At the same time, he moved his hands behind his back. He was trying to hide the fact that they were currently trembling.

"Are you finally taking things seriously?"

In contrast to before, when he was just beating Ren up, he had finally started to throw attacks of his own. While they had no major effect on him, they still did hurt quite a bit.

Even so…

Jezebeth didn't think for one second this was the full extent of his powers.

Swoosh―!

Taking a step forward, he caught sight of Ren's back, and he thrust his palm toward it. It was a quick and precise attack that left Ren with no room to dodge, but just as he thought the attack had landed, he was disappointed to see that it had hit nothing but air.

Swoosh―!

His figure disappeared like the drift of the wind.

Turning his head, he caught sight of Ren standing a few meters away from him, and he smiled in annoyance.

"You sure know how to avoid me."

There had been a lot of dodging from Ren in this fight of theirs.

'You're definitely planning something, aren't you? Stalling for time? Just what is that you're trying to do...?'

His intentions became obvious to Jezebeth, who was used to fighting against him. In their many fights, never had their fights been this one-sided.

He knew himself and Ren too well to understand that there was something up about the situation.

"I don't know wha―"

"Pfttt."

It was an unexpected turn of events that caught Jezebeth off-guard. In a big way as his expression loosened for a moment.

A moment prior, the tension in the air was thick as Jezebeth readied himself for another attack from Ren. But as he moved to strike, Ren's complexion suddenly changed, and he clutched his hand to his mouth.

Jezebeth watched in shock as blood trickled from Ren's fingers, staining the ground beneath them.

It was a strange sight, one that he had only seen on a couple of occasions.

"Since when did you become so weak?"

This was strange…

Ren was usually strong and composed, always one step ahead of him. But now, he seemed to be barely holding on.

If not for the fact that he knew him well, he would've thought that this was the result of his attacks.

'Just what sort of game are you playing?'

Was this some sort of ploy from him again? ...or was there something more to the sudden situation?

Jezebeth squinted his eyes, unable to hide his expression.

Perhaps he had grown paranoid due to the many times he had fallen under his schemes, but Jezebeth couldn't quite brush off the feeling that something was wrong.

Rumble―! Rumble―!

It was then that it happened.

A faint tremor hit the ground, and Jezebeth blinked his eyes a couple of times.

"Hm?"

He closed his eyes and tried to feel for the source of the tremor.

'Strange... why do I f―?!'

Hastily raising his head, hundreds of projections depicting the happenings of the pillars appeared before his eyes, and his gaze fell on a gigantic sword that appeared in one of those very projections.

It was long and stretched all the way up in the sky, its tip aimed at a certain demon within the projection.

The moment Jezebeth gazed at the sword, his head snapped downwards, and his eyes met with Rens.

"How can he..."

The power that he felt from that sword. How was it possible for a clone to be able to do that?

"Don't look so surprised…

For the very first time in a while, Ren's lips curled, and Jezebeth's stomach churned.

Pointing his sword right at Jezebeth, he mumbled.

"...We've only just gotten started."