The Author's POV

"Ren, stay back."

Extending his hand towards my direction, Waylan pushed me back. His piercing, ice-cold gaze indifferently scanned Durara who was standing opposite him.

Holding onto a wooden staff double her size, a red orb deeply embedded at the very top of it. A soft, misty red hue shrouded the area around the staff, creating a mysterious feeling.

A heavy tension enshrouded the hall as both sides were locked in an intense stare-off.

WIIIIING—!

In a smooth motion, Waylan took out his broadsword and pointed it in Durara's direction.

Comparing the pressure he was giving off to Durara's, I could tell that he was weaker than her. In fact, it wasn't even a close match as his aura was swiftly getting suppressed by her.

Waylan also seemed to know this fact as a never-before-seen look of seriousness marred his face.

Without wasting any time, he channeled what little bit of mana he had recovered in his body towards the tip of the broadsword.

'…His psyon control is leagues above mine.'

I thought to myself as I observed him from the side.

From how he managed to freely control the psions to reach a certain point of the broadsword unimpeded, I could understand just how capable Waylan was.

But as Waylan was getting ready to fight, contrary to his expectations, Durara's attention wasn't directed toward him or Ultruk, who had still not made a move and was quietly observing Durara.

Her attention was in fact directed towards me. Durara mouthed slowly, in a tone I couldn't quite place my finger on.

"This familiar aura…"

Her chilly voice traveled through the ears of everyone present as my face couldn't help but change slightly.

Durara's expression turned from ice-cold to gloomy as her eyes that contained a faint black light shone even more fiercely. Her mind was slowly processing everything happening before her.

Seeing that she was slowly figuring things out, raising my hand, I waved in her direction, in an almost mocking manner.

"Hi."

Having been paying close attention to me for the past week or so, she was already familiar with my aura. Although I could hide it, I didn't feel the need to do so anymore.

She had already figured out what had happened so there was no longer a need.

Karl's role was done. He was no longer needed.

Might as well piss her off to disrupt her mentality.

"…It can't be. N-No, it cannot be possible…!"

Upon seeing me wave my hand in her direction, it finally dawned on her. A look of absolute shock and betrayal appeared on Durara's face as she tightened the grip on her staff.

But it didn't take long for her to calm her emotions down. Her face returned to its usual cold and indifferent one. However, everyone in the room could feel the tangible bloodlust exuding from her body.

She was angry.

'What a bummer…'

Seeing that my taunt did not work, I felt that it was a bit of a pity.

If I had managed to provoke her into doing something stupid out of anger, we could've used that chance and capitalized on it.

Too bad no such thing happened.

"I get it. I finally get what you guys did. Clever little trick…"

Every single one of her words chilled the very air as a palpitating and almost suffocating feeling blanketed the hall.

VUAM—!

It was then that a murderous aura suddenly sprang out from behind her small body, in the form of an illusory red skull.

Tightening her grip on the staff, even more, Durara glared in my direction, directing the murderous aura revolving around her body towards where I was standing.

"…You will pay for what you've done!"

She cried out loud, her aura bursting forth in my direction like an unstoppable tsunami. Opening its mouth, the illusory skull shot in my direction at a terrifying speed.

"Stay back, Ren."

Pushing me further back, Waylan stepped forward and threw a regular palm in the direction of the skull. Though the palm looked just like an ordinary attack, it was anything but.

Moments before it came into contact with the red skull, which was a tangible reflection of Durara's bloodlust, a small white glow enveloped Waylan's palm as the aura encircled his hand in a soothing, calm manner.

Once the skull was only a few meters away from me, chopping his hand down, a large gap formed and the skull split apart as though it was made out of water. What followed after was a strong gale that messed up my hair and clothes, but other than that, I was completely fine.

"Hmph."

Seeing that her small attack had not worked, Durara snorted. She then proceeded to tap her staff on the ground once.

Crack! Crack!

Suddenly, the moment her staff touched the floor, everything beneath her feet completely shattered apart, revealing the rough ground underneath it.

The broken tiles of the floor slowly rose in the air around her, encircling her very body.

Thin threads of mana suddenly materialized around Durara, surrounding her completely. She raised her staff in the air, releasing a blood-curdling scream.

"I'll kill you, traitor!"

Her enraged shout reverberated throughout the whole building as a frightening power surfaced from above the top of the staff. Within seconds, a powerful ball of energy materialized in front of Durara as she pointed the staff in my direction. The ball then proceeded to levitate in front of her.

"Hieaak!"

But she wasn't done.

With another high-pitched scream, the mana around Durara suddenly froze. Then, in unison, it agglomerated towards the ruby placed on top of the staff.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds. By the time the mana had completely converged on top of the staff, a second had passed and one more ball appeared in front of her.

While this was happening, the dozen or so duergars weren't standing still. Aiming their weapons in our direction, they were also getting ready to fire at the same time.

Soon, both sides were ready as a threatening energy expanded from their direction.

With a grave look, Waylan looked to his side.

"Ultruk, can you handle her attack?"

"Leave it to me," Ultruk reassured.

Being an <SS> rank himself, Ultruk was confident in defending against Durara's attack. Although he could feel just how powerful her attack was, he wasn't scared.

Or, at least, that's how it looked to me.

But as the seconds ticked by, the energy gathered at the top of her staff became more threatening and powerful.

At this point, I could no longer quantify the power radiating from her attack.

"Huuuuarg!"

Responding to her, Ultruk let out a deep shout. His voice resembled the furious cry of thunder as it reverberated throughout the hall, strongly shaking the surroundings. A devastating energy rooted deep within his body sprang out, enveloping him whole, like a thin veil.

Taking a step forward, the floor beneath him cracked apart as fine, miniature crevices expanded from the area around his foot. His calf muscles tensed, revealing thick veins that threatened to pop out of his skin at any second. Ultruk painted a menacing visage.

Noticing what Ultruk was doing, Durara's eyes became even colder. The enormous energy lingering atop her staff halted.

Without saying anything, she lowered the staff at a forty-five degree angle, the two spheres of energy revolving around her merged together to form an even larger, inconceivable mass of destructive mana that quickly shot it in our direction. A wild and violent energy swept the wind apart, forcefully tearing down anything in the hall.

Durara's frightening attack caused Ultruk and Waylan's gazes to harden. However, Ultruk, who was standing at the front, did not dodge. Releasing the built-up energy in his calves, his body tore through the air at an extremely terrifying speed. Holding onto the large axe with both hands, he appeared right in front of the energy blast as though he had teleported.

Because Ultruk moved faster than ever before, the axe was positioned lower, its head angled right below his waist. But this was no problem for him. Intensifying his grip on the axe, Ultruk's muscles bulged and he swung diagonally in an upwards manner.

A thick red light surged from the tip of the axe and ruthlessly smashed against Durara's attack. The space around Ultruk exploded.

BANG—!

A great force emerged from the head-on collision, causing Ultruk to get forced backward. A bright light shot outwards, and everything close to the epicenter of the collision disintegrated.

The others around Durara and Ultruk were pushed even further back as a result of the aftermath.

Fortunately for me, I had Waylan for support. A thin shield enveloped the two of us.

"Ugh…!"

Although we were not too close to the attack, I could see Waylan struggling to diffuse the aftershocks of the collision.

Staring at the ensuing battle, Waylan's face couldn't be any more serious.

"This is not a fight I can interfere with…" he silently muttered.

Having witnessed the exchange that just took place, Waylan realized that the fight was far beyond his league.

'The gap between each rank grows as one gets closer to the top.' I thought to myself.

"Compared to the previous elder we encountered before, she's in a different league. He, I could handle. She, I can't."

"What rank was the previous elder?" I asked out of curiosity.

Since I wasn't there, I had not witnessed the fight.

Glancing at me from the corner of his eyes, Waylan softly replied, "<S+>, borderline <SS->."

"Ah, I see…"

I guess I now understood why Waylan could take care of him.

"We can only hope that Ultruk can handle her…"

Waylan's expression was cold and indifferent as he stared at the duergars standing behind Durara.

Stabilizing their bodies from the aftermath of the explosion, they turned their attention towards us.

Raising their weapons, they aimed them at us without hesitation.

Taking a step forward, Waylan forcefully pushed me behind him.

"Stand back, Ren. You're too weak to be of any use. You're just a burden at the moment."

"Got it."

Nodding in understanding, I heeded Waylan's words. Although he was a bit harsh, Waylan was correct.

I didn't need to deny the truth. At my current level, I was just a burden.

I had already finished my role. The rest was up to them.

BANG— BANG—

Before I knew it, Waylan and the other duergars had started fighting, multi-coloured lights surging in the air.

'I don't like this…'

Even though I knew that I had already completed my role, staring at the ensuing battles, a weird feeling bubbled up from inside me.

I couldn't quite explain what I was feeling. Annoyance? Frustration? Helplessness?…Or a mix of all those?

Just staring at the two of them battle and treating me as a burden did not sit right with me. I was long past my passive phase.

I wanted to help. I wanted to ease their burdens, if even a little bit.

This was obviously not because I felt compassion for them or any other emotions similar to it. I wanted to help them because I didn't want them to tire out and eventually lose later on in the operation.

I also didn't like the feeling of being a burden.

'…Just how can I help them without causing them more trouble?'

Crossing my arms and biting the nail of my thumb, the chip inside of my head started processing at full power.

The last thing I wanted to do was try to help and end up making the situation worse. If I was planning on helping them, it had to be in a way that would actually help, not hinder.

I needed to take into account all the variables and factors around me.

'…But, just what can I do?'

Staring at the ensuing battle, and glancing at everything that was happening around me, my brows started to knit together.

It wasn't long before something finally struck me as my eyes opened slightly.

'What if…'