The Author's POV

'My goal is one minute and twenty-eight seconds...'

Setting a goal in his mind, Ren watched as the world around him lost color and his emotions disappeared alongside it.

Fear, nervousness, confidence, any and all emotions just disappeared.

In his mind, there was only one goal.

Reach one minute and twenty-eight seconds.

Regardless of the costs.

'”Beep!

Following the beeping sound, Ren closed his eyes.

Ta.Ta.Ta. Fiddling with a small ring on his finger, Ren calmly stood rooted in his spot. Within seconds the dummies were already upon him.

Lifting his head slightly, Ren opened his eyes and placed his hand on the sheat of his sword.

A second passed and over thirty dummies appeared within inches of his body.

'”Shuaa! '”Shuaa! '”Shuaa!

The sound of the air splitting reverberated across the space as each dummy swung their dulled weapon in Ren's direction.

To those that were spectating, it looked as though Ren had just given up.

Even as all of the dummies were attacking him at the same time, Ren stood still.

Some of the spectators couldn't watch anymore and turned their eyes away.

Although they knew that the contestants were going to be safe, just the visual impact of Ren getting attacked from all sides caused them to turn their heads away.

"Move!"

"What are you doing!"

"Gyaaaa'”!"

Screams echoed across the stands as some spectators stood up and shouted at the large monitor above.

The screams intensified even more once everyone could no longer see Ren's figure displayed on the screen.

All they could see at the moment were a pile of dummies on the same spot he was standing before.

'It's over.'

Everyone thought.

It was then that something shocking happened...

'”Click!

Following a subtle clicking sound, the volume of the arena grounds decreased.

The spectators who were watching Ren's match couldn't find any words to say as their mouth's hung wide open. Some even started stuttering as they pointed at the monitor above

"W-what just happened?"

"How is...this possible?"

"My god..."

Murmurs and discussions echoed across the arena grounds as everyone stared at the large monitor above.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Standing in the middle of the room was Ren's apathetic figure. His calm and indifferent eyes were displayed for the whole world to see.

From his demenour, it looked as though this was nothing to him.

Most shockingly, around him, over half of the dummies present in the room had turned red as they formed a small circle around him.

This scene was deeply etched in the spectator's eyes as they all stood up and cheered.

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

The spectator's blood was boiling. How could it not?

Watching as Ren singlehandedly dispatched over half of the dummies in a single move caused almost everyone to be shocked.

Furthermore, no one knew how he did it as the cameras were blocked by the dummies.

The battle was still not over though.

Ren had only gotten rid of half of the dummies. Everyone also noticed this as they quickly stopped cheering and kept their eyes glued on the large screen.

They didn't want to miss a single second of what was about to come.

...and they were glad they didn't.

Without even letting Ren take a breather, the remaining dummies attacked him from all sides.

Click. Click. Click. Subtle clicking sound resounded across the arena grounds as more and more dummies fell on the ground.

No one could see Ren's movements, but his cold and indifferent image was deeply imprinted in their minds.

He looked like an awe-inspiring general that reaped through the lives of all of the enemies that got in his path.

Every second a dummy turned red. Such a shocking scene repeated over and over again as the dummies around Ren turned red without him even moving.

It was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, even though Ren had taken down half of the dummies, there were still a lot of dummies left that relentlessly attacked him from all sides.

Most of the time there would be rings around Ren to block their attacks, but sometimes an attack would make it past his defense and hit him directly.

At first, they thought it was because Ren's defense wasn't that great.

But it was then that people began to realize...

Ren was doing it on purpose.

He was purposely using his body to absorb the impact coming from some of the attacks so that he could make a quick counterattack.

sacrificing his body

stand. Just how could anyone put their body

Everyone wanted to know.

passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the second as his left hand drooped a

was either

...yet.

completely unfazed throughout the whole

couldn't remove their eyes off of

'”Beep!

was the sonorous beep coming from the speaker

who was indifferently looking at the last dummy on the floor,

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the arena

Dover; Time

was deeply

***

finals ended. Inside of a

don't use

wall, I repeatedly coughed as I felt my lungs burning. They felt like they were on

could barely keep my eyes focused as

I roamed around the

I finished my game, once

it, I

I was under the influence of Monarch's indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly control what I was

its own to achieve the goal that I had set

fact that under Monarch's indifference, I wasn't the same

goal, I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in me getting

feeling my body getting battered all over by the dummies as I stood motionless

rid of about half of the

resulted

game once the contestant was too severely injured,

fact that I only sacrificed the areas

body continued to aim for the goal, my internal injuries

game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being

my body completely ignored

fruit of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies in the fastest and

how much damage I was

end, after everything was over, my overall time ended up being one minute and

seconds slower than my

but once I got out and

one

I had gotten

doubt, the difficulty was much higher than it was supposed

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted out from my

"Ah, shit..."

at blood-stained hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon darkened and I

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

hand, Aerin returned to her academy's waiting room. Standing before her brother, Aerin's

that I

as her

that she could win the match. She really did

of one minute and forty-eight

Yet...

out that her opponent's time

margin. A whopping

crushed her

I'm not

the head, Nicholas comforted

You're both the same rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious

head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

opponent put

"What do you mean?"

head to the

TV screen displaying

avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren chose

"More reckless approach?"

Aerin's voice as she wondered what her brother

not avoid the dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield. Take a look at the

her head

of the attacks coming from the

some of the attacks. Though it could've gone wrong as he could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the

for a

he's got for victory explains

"I see..."

on Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights

'Brother's right.'

of how frustrated she was at her loss,

was because she put it her

now, Aerin found a whole new level of respect for her opponent. If he was willing to go that far to win the game, then she could only accept

next to Aerin, Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

that would even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's

"Understood"

as her mood improved

right, nothing's

didn't mean that everything was over. There were still the battle

redeem

as her fists

show them what we are really made of

as he looked at Aerin who seemed

forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at

No.

her best when she was working with her

one could

***

"Ah..."

left my

alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids

what the hell