I'm

He seemed unable to comprehend what had just taken place, but I didn't bother to explain it to him because I quickly retrieved his core.

Thump! His body began to sag, and the soles of his feet began to char and smoke before turning into black ambers that rose in the air.

He was in terrible shape.

While his eyes continued to be fixed on me, I fidgeted with the core in my hand.

"There's something that you seem to have completely misunderstood about the matter."

I looked back at the Prince, who seemed to be struggling to understand what I was trying to say.

'He at most has a minute left before he disappears.'

Even though his core had not been damaged, now that it was outside of his body, it would quickly disintegrate, and he would not regain consciousness until a new body had been formed.

This was something that Angelica had mentioned to me a while ago, and I decided to put this information to use by heading in the direction of the portal that was gradually growing larger right in front of my eyes.

The Prince's eyes tracked my every move as I moved around.

"Woooh!"

"Huaaagh!"

After casting a single glance, all of the monsters that had been materializing in front of the gate vanished, and I came to a stop in front of the dungeon.

As I slowly extended my hand in front of me, a bright white glow began to appear on it.

The white glow suddenly erupted into a shower of golden runes and scribbles, which then began to descend like chains in front of me and head toward the portal.

WOOOM―! The gate, which only seconds before had appeared to be reasonably stable, began to shake uncontrollably almost immediately.

Right when yet another monster was about to appear, the gate disintegrated into dust, and the opening began to contract.

"You see this?"

I turned my head to stare at Prince Plintus, whose gaze was fixed on me with a look of utter disbelief.

His already pale face turned a shade paler, and his entire body trembled.

As he struggled to comprehend what had transpired, the ambers that were rising from beneath his body and consuming what was there grew even more numerous, almost covering his entire body.

"I… I…"

His mouth opened a couple of times, seemingly trying to say something, but he seemed to be struggling to do so as nothing came out of his mouth.

Even so, I knew exactly what he wanted to say, and I smiled as a result.

"Impossible?"

I almost laughed, turning my gaze toward the laws that were moving around my palm.

It was moving a lot more smoothly than it had in the past, and I had significantly improved my control over it compared to the first time that I had used them.

"Dungeons… Gates… Skills… Everything originates from one source."

There were many types of forces in the world, but only one trumped all of them.

The Akashic Laws.

They were the origin of all power and the driving force behind everything.

Everything, including Mana and Demonic Energy, originated from the Laws, and despite the fact that Demonic Energy was antagonistic toward the Laws, it was still a force that originated from them.

The only reason Demonic Energy was so rejected was most likely due to Jezebeth and his actions.

…It was the only thing I could think of to explain the situation.

Glancing at the Prince, I continued to speak.

"…Not many can wield this power. It's not something that's meant to be wielded by anyone and probably shouldn't… Even so."

I brought my hand toward the portal and slowly clenched it.

SHOOOM―! The golden runes that were encircling the portal started to shrink, and the portal quickly shrank down and transformed into a small ball of energy.

As the air around it became chaotically twisted from the mana that was erupting from it, I beckoned it with my hand and brought it to my mouth.

Gulp!

I swallowed the orb and muttered.

"…To those that wield it, they can do anything."