The Author's POV

"Hey, why did you st--"

Appearing behind Kevin, Emma entered the living room, and just when she was about to speak, she stopped halfway through her sentence and gasped in shock.

Following Emma, Amanda entered the room, and similarly to Emma, she gasped in shock.

Three sets of eyes all focused on one individual.

Standing in the middle of the room, holding Jin by the throat, Ren's figure could be seen.

"Jin!"

Screaming, Emma took out her short swords and circulated her mana, following which a strong yellow hue started emanating from her body.

"Get away from J--"

Just when Emma was about to lunge at Ren, Amanda put her hand on her shoulder and stopped her

"Don't..."

"W-hat!?"

Angrily turning around, pointing towards Ren, Emma glared at Amanda and shouted

"You're just gonna stand here and let him do that to Jin! what is wrong with you!"

Shaking her head, Amanda looked at Ren with a complicated expression.

...Those eyes.

Those were the same eyes that he had when he killed Elijah.

Though she may come across as heartless in Emma's eyes, in reality, this was all for her sake.

She could still vividly remember those eyes...the same eyes that killed Elijah back in the after-party.

...If Emma fought against him, she stood no chance.

Glancing at Kevin from the side, Amanda thought

'Who is stronger...?'

-Thud!

Dropping Jin's body on the ground, Ren raised his hands and said

"...He's still alive"

Looking at Jin's passed out figure on the ground, warily glancing in Ren's direction, Kevin spoke

"What did you do to him?"

Looking back at Kevin, with his hands still in the air, Ren coldly said

"I merely did what needed to be done"

Frowning at Ren's words, Kevin looked at Ren in the eyes and said

"...and by that do you mean almost killing him?"

Shaking his head, Ren looked down at Jin.

"If I really wanted him dead, he'd already be dead"

Following Ren's cold words, the room became quiet. Not even a pin drop could be heard as Kevin and Ren stared at each other.

"Emma..."

Breaking the silence was Kevin's voice as he glanced at Emma who was behind him.

"Okay"

Understanding his motive, Emma put her shortswords back into her dimensional space and quickly moved to where Jin's body was.

Seeing Emma move, Kevin took out his sword and pointed it in Ren's direction. Without taking his eyes off of him, he said

"If you try anything funny...I won't hesitate to kill you"

"..."

Indifferently glancing at Kevin, Ren didn't respond and just looked at Emma who was slowly moving closer.

Arriving before Jin's body, Emma warily glanced in Ren's direction.

Looking back at Kevin, and after making sure Ren wasn't going to make any moves, she placed her finger on Jin's neck and measured his pulse.

After a couple of seconds, turning around, Emma sighed in relief and said

"He's still alive..."

Nodding his head, Kevin asked

"How's his condition?"

Glancing back at Jin, Emma carefully looked at his body before saying

"...Not so good, he's heavily injured and has exhausted all of his mana"

Frowning, Kevin looked at Jin's body before looking back at Ren

"Now, tell us why y-"

Booom—!

Cutting Kevin midsentence, just as the tension in the room was about to reach an all-time high, a loud explosion resounded across the room.

The whole place shook.

"Wh-at?"

Staggering a couple of steps, Kevin, Emma, and Amanda all turned their heads in the direction of where the sound came from.

-Step -Step -Step

Appearing from the other side of the door, holding a huge axe that was about the size of two people, a black-clad individual entered the room.

Behind him, a huge hole appeared on the wall as dust and debris flew everywhere.

"Another one?!"

Staring at the black-clad individual, Kevin, Emma and Amanda immediately got into battle positions as they warily glanced at him.

From his demenour and aura, they instantly knew that he was different from the other people they fought before.

If the others were like soldiers fighting a war, this man felt like a general that stood above his soldiers.

He was definitely on a league of his own...

'...so the boss has finally come'

Looking at the black-clad individual who had entered the room, Ren instantly recognized who he was.

He was the 'boss' that Kevin and his party were supposed to fight to end the Hollber arc.

He was a <D+> borderline <C> ranked individual, and only after bitterly fighting with their life on the line did Kevin and the rest defeat him.

"Things couldn't have become more troublesome..."

Staring the black-clad individual before him, Kevin couldn't help but complain.

From the people that attacked him in his room to Jin and now this. Things were starting to becoming more troublesome with each passing moment.

Looking at Emma and Amanda, Kevin nodded

Nodding back, Emma took out her shortswords and Amanda took out her bow.

Suddenly, a red hue shrouded Kevin's sword. Slowly, the more Kevin held onto the sword, the more intense the hue around the sword became.

Sneaking a glance at Kevin's imposing figure, Emma spoke

"Can you tone it down a notch?"

Looking at Emma, Kevin smirked and said

"Not a chance."

Watching Kevin, Emma, and Amanda getting into fighting positions, Ren slowly backed off into the corner of the room and just stared at the black-clad individual that had entered the room.

Fixing his grip on the sword, Kevin spoke.

"Support me."

"Support? Please, that's Amanda's job..."

Rebutting playfully, Emma winked at Amanda and dashed towards the black-clad individual.

"My job is to beat him..."

Vuuaam—!

However, as soon as Emma moved, a strong bloodlust suddenly expanded from the black-clad individual. Following the bloodlust, a humongous pressure came crashing down on everyone. A jet-black hue expanded from the black-clad individual's body and hurled towards them like a tsunami.

Crossing her arms, Emma shielded herself from the pressure.

Taking a few steps back, Emma looked back at Kevin and Amanda.

Both their faces became extremely grim.

"This is much more serious than I thought..."

Stepping forward, Kevin fully released his <D-> ranked pressure.

"Let me"

Feeling Kevin's pressure, Emma couldn't help but look at Kevin in shock. Amanda too was shocked as her brows couldn't help but jump.

"y-ou broke through?"

"...yes, not so long ago"

-Baaam!

Tensing his calves, the ground below Kevin cracked and his body shot like a cannon towards the black-clad individual.

"Khhh..."

Appearing in front of the black-clad individual, Kevin cut down diagonally with his sword.

-Clank!

But right before his sword could connect with the black-clad individual, as though standing under a cascading waterfall, Kevin felt a tremendous force hitting his sword as his body was swept away.

He didn't even have the chance to scream before finding himself flung in the air.

-Bam!

Flying across the room Kevin struck a wall

"Kuuuaahhh...!"

Spitting saliva, for a split second, Kevin lost consciousness due to the tremendous force of the impact.

"Kevin!"

Looking at Kevin, Emma and Amanda worriedly shouted

Fortunately, after a couple of seconds, Kevin managed to get up...but he didn't seem to be in a good state as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Wiping off the blood in the corner of his mouth, Kevin nodded his head

"I'm fine… Kuhh."

Staring at the black-clad individual before him, Kevin's grip on the sword increased.

"...He's strong"

Solemnly looking at the black-clad individual that did not move an inch from his position since flinging Kevin away, Emma asked

"How strong?"

"At least D+ or C- rank...I'm not sure"

"That strong?"

Nodding his head, Kevin held his sword with one hand as he painfully held the side of his chest.

'I probably fractured a couple of ribs, damn it'

Gritting his teeth, Kevin looked at Amanda.

Nodding her head, Amanda extended the string of her bow.

-Woosh! -Woosh! -Woosh!

Releasing the bow, three arrows shot in the direction of the black-clad individual. As each arrow shot, the air split apart creating a whistling sound.

At the tip of each arrow, mana was carefully concentrated to increase its destructive power.

As the three streaks of light made their way towards the black-clad individual, Kevin looked at Emma who looked back at him.

As if they read each other's minds, they dashed towards the black-clad individual from both the left and right flank.

-Clank!

Raising his axe, the black-clad individual blocked Amanda's arrows and hacked it towards the ground.

Booom—!

As soon as the axe met the ground, the whole place shook. The ground split apart and debris fell everywhere.

Jumping up, Kevin swung his sword towards the black-clad individual's head, whilst Emma went for his feet.

"Block this!"

-Baam!

Stomping his foot on the ground, the ground below the black-clad individual's feet cracked.

"khhaaaa..."

Halting her movements, Emma crossed her arms and blocked the debris that was shooting towards her.

-Clank!

"huaaaaa!"

Blocking Kevin's sword from above, the black-clad individual screamed and flung Kevin away.

-crrrrrr

"Huff...hufff...damn it!"

Sliding across the ground, Kevin heavily panted for air. Due to his previous fights, signs of exhaustion were already starting to show on his face.

Looking beside him, Kevin saw Emma in a similar situation to his.

Despite the fact that the fight had only just started, they were both already too exhausted to continue...

The situation was starting to become dire.

Gritting her teeth and turning her attention towards the corner of the room where Ren's indifferent figure stood, Emma couldn't help but glare at him and shout

"hey you! Why aren't you doing anything!?"

"..."

Ignoring Emma, Ren's eyes remained fixed on the black-clad individual.

Seeing Ren ignore her, just as Emma was about to curse at him, Kevin's voice stopped her

"Leave him be"

"But..."

"There's a much more pressing matter than worrying about him, moreover..."

Looking back at Ren, Kevin said

"...the fact that he's not interfering is much better than him attacking us from behind"

Gritting her teeth, Emma nodded her head.

-Woosh! -Woosh!- Woosh!

Once again, from behind, Amanda shot arrows, signalling for Emma and Kevin to continue

"Let's go"

Dashing once again towards the black-clad individual, Emma and Kevin once again tried to split their attacks.

This time, Kevin aimed for his heart whilst Emma aimed for his sides.

"Huuuuuuuua!"

-Clank! -Clank! -Clank!

Holding onto his giant axe with both hands, the black-clad individual spun around blocking Amanda's arrows.

As if a cyclone had entered the room, the black-clad individual spun madly. As he spun, everything near the black-clad individual, like a magnet, started getting sucked in his direction.

"khhhh..."

"aahhhhhh! he's using a skill!"

Halting their steps, Emma and Kevin tried to stop their attacks, but it was to no avail as they found their body getting sucked towards the black-clad individual.

"Kevin I can't hold on!"

Looking at Emma struggling figure. Kevin turned back and looked back at Amanda who kept shooting arrows like there was no tomorrow.

Both of their faces were incomparably pale.

It was evident that they were too fatigued. Any longer and they would no longer be able to hold one...

"Do I have no other choice?"

Gritting his teeth, Kevin hesitated for a second before activating [Overdrive]

Activating [Overdrive], Kevin felt every fiber of his body exploding with energy. His muscles bulged, and his veins became more apparent.

Power coursed through his body.

"Khhh..."

Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, Kevin glared at the black-clad individual and propelled his body forward.

"haaaaa!"

Noticing the change in Kevin, the black-clad individual stopped spinning and confronted Kevin head on

-Clank! -Clank! -Clank!

Sword and axe matched!

As they clashed, after a few seconds, Kevin and the black-clad individual had already exchanged no fewer than three hundred strikes

Kevin's strikes were fluent and fast, whilst the black-clad individuals were slow and heavy.

As they fought, neither budged an inch. They were currently in a complete stalemate.

Cuts and bruises appeared on both bodies as they continued to clash.

Blood spilt everywhere.

Neither had the edge, but it was only a matter of time...

Looking at Kevin, Ren knew that he wouldn't last long.

The more Kevin fought, the more his veins became more prominent. His muscles twitched and spasmed with each passing second that they fought.

It was evident that Kevin was suppressing tremendous pain to retain his current state.

As Ren continued watching the fight like a spectator, his eyes slightly paused on Jin's body.

In the novel, Jin was supposed to be fighting with Kevin, Emma, and Amanda. With his help, they managed to defeat the boss and become heroes of the academy.

...However, Jin was no longer here.

Jin's absence was showing. Kevin, Amanda and Emma weren't enough to fight the black-clad individual.

From the way things were going, Kevin and the rest would soon die.

...Ren knew he had to step in.

However, currently, he needed to look for an opening.

He knew that with his current strength, the only thing he could do was find an opening.

That's why he waited.

Like a predator. Ren was waiting for the right moment to strike...and that moment had finally come.

...

Feeling the effects of [Overdrive] wearing out, Kevin's body suddenly gave out and was helplessly flung all the way towards the other side of the room.

-Baaam!

Crashing against a wall, Kevin fell to the floor.

"Khhh..."

-Step -Step

Laying on the ground, Kevin looked up towards the black-clad individual who was heading in his direction

Arriving before Kevin, the black-clad individual raised his axe casting a large shadow over him.

Staring at the giant axe above him, Kevin couldn't help but think

"Is this how I die?"

-Wooooooosh!

However, just as the black-clad individual's axe was about to hit Kevin, a tremendous whistling sound could be heard from behind him as a silver streak of light quickly headed in his direction.

"Kevin!"

Following Amanda's last-ditch attack, Emma appeared from behind the black-clad individual as both her daggers were dyed in a tremendous yellow hue.

"Die!"

"Huuuuuuu!"

Noticing the tremendous power coming from the arrow and Emma's shortswords, the black-clad individual screamed and a black sphere surrounded his body.

-BOOOM!

An enormous explosion shook the whole room, and debris flew everywhere.

After a couple of seconds, once the debris and dust cleared up, Kevin, Amanda's and Emma's figures could be seen passed out on the ground.

Next to them, the black-clad individual, with the aid of the axe, stood with one knee on the ground.

His clothes were all torn, and his figure was soaked in blood. No longer did he look as imposing as before...

Though he was alive, he sustained heavy injuries.

"Huuuuuaa"

With the aid of his axe, the black-clad individual tried to stand up.

-Click!

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

However, before he could do so, hearing a clicking sound coming from behind him, his vision first became dyed in white before darkness overtook it.

-Thud!

With a large thud, the black-clad individual's figure fell face-first on the ground. Appearing from behind him, holding onto his sword, Ren's indifferent figure appeared.

Turning towards Kevin, Emma and Amanda who were still alive but passed out on the ground, Ren said

"Thanks"