The Author's POV

Chapter 131: New piece [5]

-Tap!

Ren's footsteps halted as he stood ten meters away from the Matriarch. He indifferently gazed at her who coldly stared back at him. A stifling atmosphere prevailed in the sorroundings. Breaking the silence, the Matriarch spoke

"So you're him…"

…the youth from the picture.

Staring at Ren standing on the opposite side of her, the Matriarch frowned. According to the report she got, her target was only an ranked kid.

Someone that was far beneath her notice.

…in fact, she didn't believe that it was him that killed Elijah. How could an rank kill a rank? that was impossible. But, even if he didn't kill Elijah, he at least must know something. After all, what would Everblood gain from giving her such information?

The only reason why she didn't attack Ren already was because of her wariness towards Kevin who was slowly recovering. Moreover, she wanted answers…

Staring at Ren, the Matriarch coldly said

"Tell me, are you responsible for killing Elijah"

"…"

Staring at the Matriarch before him, Ren didn't respond. He just stood there looking at her with no emotions.

"Answer me!"

Seeing Ren being unresponsive, the Matriarch screamed in anger as a rud hue expanded out of her body creating a gust of wind that swept everything near her away.

…even so, Ren stood rooted where he was. Completely unfazed by the Matriarch's outburst.

Seeing that Ren remained unfazed despite her show of might, the Matriarch venomously spat

"…if you refuse to speak, then I'll make you speak!"

"Ren watch out!"

Noticing that the Matriarch was about to move, Kevin couldn't help shout as he tried to warn Ren about the incoming danger.

Having gone against her before, Kevin knew how fast and powerful she was…she was on another level compared to the people he had fought before.

Although he didn't believe Ren was any weaker than him, if caught off-guard, the situation could get serious. Moreover, even if she was injured, he didn't see any possibility of Ren being able to beat her.

"Answer me!"

Appearing right before Ren, the Matriarch extended her hand forward and reached for his neck.

"Ren!"

However, contrary to Kevin's expectations, Ren didn't show any apprehension towards the Matriarch and merely raised his left hand in the air. Thereafter, with his right hand on the grip of his sword, Ren snapped his fingers.

-Snap!

"khhh—!"

Just as the Matriarch's hand was about to reach for his neck, her hand suddenly froze. In fact, not just her hand froze, but her whole body.

The first movement of the [Keiki style] : Quick flash

Thereafter, the world around them Matriarch turned white as the last thing she heard what a subtle clicking sensation before she felt something pierce the scalp of her head.

-Click!

Soon silence prevailed in the surroundings.

"Wh-at happened"

Just as Kevin saw the Matriarch's hand reaching for his neck, opening his eyes wide, similarly to before when he was fighting the demon leader, the world around him turned white.

-Thud

Thereafter, as the world regained its color, what Kevin saw next made his blood freeze.

With a large gaping hole on her forehead, the Matriarch's body slowly fell onto the pavement as a large thud resounded across the place. The look on her face was that of utter shock…

Staring at Ren who remained indifferent, Kevin couldn't help but point towards him as his voice shook.

"Y-ou, how?"

Turning his head around and glancing at Kevin, Ren didn't answer. Pointing towards the distance, he slowly said

"Kevin, go and break the dimensional space"

Trying to say something, Kevin pointed towards the Matriarch.

"B-u"

Stopping Kevin midsentence, Ren's indifferent voice rang out again

"Take care of it, I'll deal with her"

After a couple of seconds, calming himself down, Kevin nodded his head. Since the fight against the demons started, Ren had become a completely different person. He seemed completely emotionless, almost as if anything in his eyes didn't matter.

A stark difference compared to the Ren he had gotten to know these past few days…just what happened during that short period of time since the fight started?

*Sigh*

In the end, an extended sigh escaped from Kevin's mouth.

…Although he had many things to ask, he knew that any type of conversation at the moment was useless.

Talking to him now would be equivalent to talking to a wall.

Pointless.

"…alright"

Thus, Kevin eventually nodded his head and prepared to look for the device responsible for creating the dimensional space.

Although he didn't know where it was located, it shouldn't be hidden too far from them. Thus, glancing at Ren one more time, Kevin's eyes soon paused on the Matriarch on the floor. Deeply staring at Ren for a couple of seconds, he eventually turned his head and went to look for the device.

"hm"

Watching Kevin's figure disappear in the distance, Ren subtly glanced towards the distance where a statue with two ruby-red eyes quietly sat on top of a building.

[E ranked artifact twin gargoyle]

Staring at the statue from below, Ren knew that the reason he managed to win was because of the artifact that he had picked up not long ago.

Currently, the statue's eyes were staring right where the Matriarch's body was laying down.

Having caught a glimpse of the future thanks to the book, Ren had set everything up beforehand.

The reason why he was absent when Kevin was fighting was because he was busy setting the pieces in motion…Because he knew that he couldn't beat the Matriarch one on one even if Kevin went all out or worked together with him, using the book, Ren managed to devise a plan in which he could beat the Matriarch.

By having Kevin exhaust the Matriarch beforehand, Ren took advantage of the time Kevin bought him to set everything up.

Cross-referencing with the book, Ren managed to pinpoint the exact location at which the Matriarch would move and carefully placed the artifact there.

Right after he was done setting up the artifacts, right after Kevin was on the verge of losing, calculating the distance, Ren slowly approached the Matriarch and stopped right before the gargoyle's statue operating area.

…the area where he stopped was also perfectly set up to lure the Matriarch to him. Like this, when the Matriarch attacked, all Ren did was snap his finger.

Although it only stopped the Matriarch for a split second, that was enough for Ren.

Having calculated the timing, right before the Matriarch froze due to the statues, Ren already activated the first movement of the Keiki style.

Subsequently, as the Matriarch was wide open due to her body freezing, Ren's sword directly pierced her in the head.

…Everything that happened was within Ren's calculation. Nothing escaped his perception.

"Stop pretending…wake up"

Staring at the Matriarch on the ground, Ren's indifferent voice rang out. Raising his sword in the air, he directly pierced her in the stomach.

-Spurt!

"Gyyyyaaaa—!"

Letting out a pained scream, the Matriarch's white eyes soon regained some clarity as she glared at Ren.

"Yo-u!"

Staring at the Matriarch, unfazed by the fact that she was still alive despite the hole in her forehead, Ren slowly said

"You think I forgot about the fact that you higher-ranked demons only die when your core is destroyed?"

"Ghh…"

Hearing Ren's words, the Matriarch glared at him as she tried to retaliate. However, her body refused to budge.

Although she wasn't dead, her injuries were serious.

Moreover, with her stomach currently pierced by Ren's sword, she could only helplessly lay down on the floor. Gritting her teeth she angrily spat

"Ghhh…what do you want from me?"

Staring at the Matriarch on the ground, with his sword imbued on her stomach, Ren slowly extended his hand towards her.

-Spurt!

Thereafter, reaching out with his hand, to the Matriarch's horror, his hand pierced her right where her heart was.

"Khhhhaaaa—!"

Screaming at the top of her lungs, the Matriarch's eyes turned scarlet red as she looked at Ren's indifferent figure with absolute hatred.

"Yo-u!!"

Unbothered by this, taking his hand out from the Matriarch's body, a red orb-like object appeared in Ren's hand.

Staring at the orb, the Matriarch's face turned crazed as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Don't you dare!"

Glancing at the Matriarch whose body was flaying manically, observing the orb in his hand, Ren slowly said

"…according to the books in the academy, they say that upon ingesting a demon core, a human can take control of a demon"

Pausing there, Ren played with the core on his hand.

"Once a demon reaches a noble rank they develop a core…from there, the only way they can die is through directly breaking the core into pieces…"

"khhh…aa!"

Squeezing the orb lightly, Ren's grip relaxed right after he saw the Matriarch's face became pale.

"Because a demon can only die when their core is destroyed…humans found a way to control demons…"

"By directly swallowing the core of a noble-ranked demon, we found out that by simply channeling the mana inside of our bodies, humans can directly break the core with a simple thought resulting in the immediate death of the demon…"

"…moreover the demons can't even think of committing suicide as they can't die since their core isn't with them"

Glancing at the Matriarch whose face was incomparably dark, Ren slowly said

"After years of fighting against the demons…this was what the humans came up with in order to fight against them…am I wrong?"

Listening to Ren speaking, the look of terror in the Matriarch's eyes became more and more apparent.

…being controlled by a human was considered taboo by the demons. Their worst possible nightmare.

How could the proud demons stand being controlled by an inferior race like them?

Impossible!

To make things worse, once they were under the control of a human, even if they managed to get their core back, they would no longer be eligible for any important positions nor would they be able to live like before as they would be scorned daily by their fellow tribesman.

It was the worst possible outcome for any demon.

Thus, staring at Ren, the Matriarch pleaded.

"Don't do it! I'll give you all my belongings! Treasures!"

Indifferently glancing at the Matriarch, Ren took the orb and slowly placed it in his mouth. Thereafter he swallowed it.

-Gulp!

"Noooooooo!"

Watching Ren swallowing her core, the Matriarch's bloodcurdling scream resounded across the area.

-Fuuuuuuuuaam!

Ingesting the orb, a gust of wind expanded from Ren's body as everything within the vicinity flew away. As this happened the Matriarch found herself looking at Ren with a look of despair plastered on her face.

Stopping all signs of protests, the Matriarch's eyes became hollow as she laid down on the ground and repeatedly mumbled

"it's over, my life is over…"

Unbothered by her expression, Ren extended his hand towards her and coldly said

"Be my piece…"