The Author's POV

If one were to use a word to describe how the situation beneath the tower was, it'd be 'slaughter'. The large hall of the tower was filled with blood, and the agonized screams of the demons could be heard continuously ringing out from within the space.

"Akh!" 

"Aurgkh!" 

What was supposed to be a trap in which they would find their way to slay the current leader of humanity instead turned out to be a slaughter for the demons.

Things weren't supposed to be this way.

Spurt―!

"Akh! No!" 

Cracka! Cracka! 

Sparks of electricity were seen flying through the air, and blood was seen accompanying each spark. The next thing that appeared after the sparks were a couple of yellow streaks.

They came forth immediately from Liam's eyes as they surveyed the entirety of the battlefield in front of him. There was something distinctively different about him today...

Whenever his gaze settled, a number of demons would fall from the sky and, not long after, turn into powder. It seemed as though his form was constantly fading into and reappearing in front of a demon before reverting back to a blurry state.

When he moved through an area, blood would spatter, and a demon would be killed.

…He was like a god of death, and he garnered the attention of those around him.

"Who is he?"

"…Have you seen him somewhere before?"

"Since when did we have someone this strong and yet not know anything about them?"

Within the hall, conversations began to take place as everyone's attention was drawn to Liam, who was sneaking his way through the demons and dispatching them in a matter of moments.

Because of the uproar his actions caused, even Octavious and the highest-ranking officers of what was formerly the Union took notice of what was going on.

"Why have I never heard of him?"

Even Octavious was taken aback by the scene that unfolded in front of his very eyes. At first glance, he was able to tell that the man before him was not an ordinary person but rather someone whose rank had reached the <SS> rank.

…Having just recovered his feelings and retained most of his memories, Octavious was shocked to know that he had no clue as to who the young man was.

"Where did such a monster appear from?"

Even though everyone else was talking about him, the individual in question, Liam, seemed to be thinking about something entirely different.

'I can see it.'

Sparks flew all around the area that he was in as his eyes performed a low scan of the area that he was in. His vision began to blur, and he suddenly found himself standing in front of another demon.

He brandished his sword and swept his eyes across the demon's body before settling on a specific location, which he then stabbed directly in the middle of. 

"Arkgh!" 

Spurt―!

The speed with which he moved was so great that the demon did not even have the opportunity to respond before it was immediately reduced to powder. 

However, the thing that surprised everyone the most about the scenario was that right after Liam defeated one demon, his body twisted, and he suddenly found himself standing in front of another demon.

The same thing repeated itself, and his body turned into dust.

'This…'

Liam just stood there, staring into space, as the demon in front of him disintegrated into powder. The unexpected turn of events completely caught him off guard, and everything appeared strange to him. 

…This was the first time he had ever felt this way, and he couldn't quite explain it. 

Whenever he raised his head, he'd see the demons… but what especially took most of his attention were the thin blue projections that would appear beside them.

The projections were an exact copy of them; the only difference was in where they were placed. 

When a demon ran, their projection would appear just a little bit ahead of them, and when they flew, their projection would appear just a little bit ahead of where they were going.

That was fine… but what was most shocking were the projections that were in a completely different position from where the demons were headed.

Liam was initially confused about it, but once he saw the demons turn their bodies and move directly into the same position as where the projection was, he finally understood what was going on.

'…I can predict their movements.'

It was a rather simple conclusion. One that seemed to be the most logical given the situation, and yet… Liam found himself unable to process it properly.

It baffled him.

When he turned his head to look around, he noticed that time had slowed down and blue projections had appeared in front of everyone. 

The world started to turn gray, and he noticed that the mana in his body was quickly depleting. Because of how quickly it happened, by the time a couple of seconds had passed, more than half of his mana had been depleted.

But that didn't matter to him.

The only thing that mattered to him was whether or not what he was seeing was true, and as soon as he stopped channeling his mana and saw everyone move in the direction of their respective projection, his mind blanked.

'It…It's true…'

He wasn't imagining things... It turned out that he could accurately predict everyone's movements, and the revelation stunned him. At that precise moment, more than a dozen questions popped into his head.

'How is this possible? Since when did I gain such an ability? Is this something that belongs to my art? Is this because I suddenly gained my memories again? Is this my true potential?' 

"Ugh."

Liam groaned, massaging his head. 

He felt his head throb, but at the same time, he felt his heart palpitate with an unusual form of excitement... one that he'd only felt a couple of times in the recent past. 

The most recent one occurred when he was facing off against Ren in the Demon Realm.

He was absolutely ecstatic, and the sparks that were already flying around his body began to crackle and pop with even greater intensity as he relished on the sensation that he hadn't anticipated he would feel again so soon. 

Cracka. Cracka. Cracka.

As he gradually removed his sword from its sheath, a powerful force emanated from it, and everyone's attention turned toward him once more.

He grinned.

"Come."

***

"What's up with Liam?"

Hein looked into the distance in shock. Even though he had always been aware for a very long time that Liam was powerful, the events that were taking place right now puzzled him to a much greater degree.

'Has he been holding back in training?'

He, who had trained with him over the past few years, was baffled by what Liam was currently showing. He had originally thought he knew his strength, but looking at him now, dancing around the demons, he felt his whole world collapse.

Bang―!

Right at that moment, something incredibly heavy slammed into his shield. The force of the impact caused his entire body to shake, but he did not move even an inch from where he was standing.

"Focus."

Han Yufei's voice rang from behind him. Following this, Hein heard a whistling sound, and a fist hurled past his ear.

"Hey, watch it!"

Hein hastily moved his head to the side and covered his right ear. 

"Fuck, that hurts."

"Stop being a crybaby."

Ava's voice echoed just a few meters ahead, and Heins' face turned bitter. When he turned his head to look at her, he noticed that she was surrounded by more than a dozen distinct animals. All of which were displaying a rather threatening aura. 

These beasts ranged in size from large elephants with multiple tusks to lions and tigers that were only half the size of those elephants.

If there was someone else who was attracting just as much attention as Liam, it'd be her. She alone was managing over a dozen different demons, and not only was she not getting pushed back, but she was even killing them.

BANG―!

"Ugh"

As yet another strong force struck his shield, Hein let out a brief groan as the force caused the shield to vibrate violently. He cocked his head to the side and glared angrily in the direction of the aggressor. 

It originated from a demoness who ranked in the Marquiss range and sported a massive broadsword in her hands. 

Heins' face turned a bit strange at the sight.

How should he say this? She and the sword looked completely incompatible. Not only was it twice as big as she was, but it also looked like it was too heavy for her.

…Or so it seemed.

BANG―! Raising the broadsword again, it smacked once more against his shield. The trembling spread throughout Hein's entire body, and he came dangerously close to retreating. 

It was a relief that, as a result of all of his training, he was now able to stop himself from moving, and despite the fact that his entire body hurt, he was able to persevere despite the discomfort.

"I think it's enough. I can go all out now."

When Hein looked around and saw that there was no one else behind him, he sighed in relief. Now that everyone was gone and he no longer needed to tank, he decided to launch an all-out attack, but just as he was about to do so, the entire room shook violently.

Rumble―!  Rumble―!

"Hm? What's going on?"

While Hein was able to keep his balance, a great number of other people were unable to do so, and as a result, several people fell. 

Hein instinctively raised his head and looked upward after sensing a particular kind of energy emanating from above him. 

He wasn't the only one, as many of the stronger people did the same. 

"What's goi―"

BOOOM―! 

He never got to finish that sentence.