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.

was sacrificing his body to

how could anyone put their

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

was either broken or

...yet.

didn't seem to care. He remained completely unfazed throughout the whole time. Dodge,

off of the screen. They watched the fight as though they were

'”Beep!

the sonorous beep coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the end of

last dummy on the floor,

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

cheers resounded across the arena

Ren Dover; Time ➤

name was

***

Massacre finals ended. Inside of a narrow and secluded

why I don't

coughed as I felt my lungs

keep my eyes

drunken person, I roamed around the corridor of

best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived at a secluded space, away

I

throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly control what

the goal that I had set in my mind beforehand. Beating one minute and

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

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

I stood motionless waiting for them to completely

movement, I managed to get rid of about half of the dummies. It was the most

what resulted in me sustaining

would stop a game once the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough to stop

the fact that I only sacrificed

my body continued to aim for the

I felt immeasurable amounts of pain

my body

my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the

of how much

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

slower than

thought that I had failed, but once I got out and

around and saw Aerin's score, one minute and forty-eight

information that I had gotten from

doubt, the difficulty was much higher than

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

myself from speaking, I felt something sweet going up my throat. Not long after, blood spurted out from

"Ah, shit..."

at blood-stained hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

to her academy's waiting room. Standing before

that I

muttered as her

she could win

she saw her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the best score

Yet...

hopes were completely crushed once she found out that her opponent's time was even

not even by a close margin. A whopping seventeen

completely crushed her

I'm not

the head, Nicholas comforted

and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple opponents at once.

head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were the highlights

"Aerin."

"Yes"

as she lifted her

your opponent put his body on the

"What do you mean?"

tilted her head to the

TV screen displaying

replay of the match, compared to you where you directly avoided

"More reckless approach?"

of confusion in Aerin's

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

her brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her attention towards

his body to defend some of the attacks coming from the dummies. By her side,

could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've

paused for a second

willingness to give it everything he's got for victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your loss

"I see..."

look appeared on Aerin's face as she looked at the highlights

'Brother's right.'

she was at her loss, Aerin

she lost. It was

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

satisfyingly nodded his head as he

even risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit. Let's redeem ourselves in

"Understood"

replied as her mood improved

right, nothing's lost

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

redeem myself

as

show them what we are really made

seemed to have regained some of

forgotten because of Aerin's amazing performances, but Aerin was not at her best when she was

No.

best when she was working with her

no one

***

"Ah..."

groan left my mouth. My

my nostril as

the hell