The Author's POV

Minutes before the explosion, outside of the dome.

"Jin, you're here."

Kevin approached Jin.

Looking left and right, he asked.

"Have perhaps you seen Ren anywhere?"

Staring at the large translucent barrier covering the dome, Jin shook his head.

"No."

"Strange..." Kevin murmured. "I thought he'd be here already since he left earlier than me."

Having left before him, Kevin assumed that Ren had already left the dome.

'Perhaps he's already left the area?'

Though Plausible, Kevin shook his head.

Even if he chose to go back, he wouldn't have gotten far. Especially since Ren only left a minute before him.

Most likely, he was still roaming around here somewhere or was with a professor.

"Hey, you two! Help out over here!"

"..uh?"

Snapping Kevin out of his thoughts was a rough voice. Turning his head, Kevin spotted a professor in the distance.

With one hand touching the blue barrier, using his right hand, the professor motioned him and Jin to go to him.

Kevin immediately rushed to the professor. Jin silently followed from behind.

"How may I help you?"

"How is your mana reserve?"

The professor asked.

"Half."

"Good...you?"

The professor turned his attention to Jin.

Squinting his eyes for a second, Jin eventually responded.

"...About the same."

"Hm, that's perfect, I need you both to channel your mana inside of the barrier."

"Channel our mana inside of the barrier?"

"Mhm, we need as many helping hands as possible. This is the only way we can contain the large explosion from affecting the civilians that have come today."

The instructor's voice became serious.

"You understand how serious the situation is, right?"

If the explosion was not contained, many of the people that had come to attend the tournament would die. Especially since the majority couldn't defend themselves. Not everyone was a powerful hero.

"Understood."

Kevin's back straightened.

Convinced by the instructor's words, Kevin immediately placed his hand on the barrier and injected his mana into it. Jin did as well.

By the side, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, the instructor thought for a moment before asking.

"Want some?"

"No, thank you"

Taken aback for a second, Kevin refused.

Even though smoking was not something that would affect his health as it did in the past, Kevin hated the smell.

had a different way to deal with anxieties. Although the instructor next to Kevin was trying to put on a brave front, Kevin knew that deep down he was

cigarette was the only way he could deal with the

"You?"

turned

"..."

also don't want some...sucks

instructor. Flicking his

Puff.

slowly rose in the

a nice

"Hm?...what the"

in the air, Kevin's brows suddenly knit. Turning his attention back to the instructor he

haven't they shut down the broadcast

to him was a large

see the images of some of the

could also see some professors rushing towards the entrance of

"I'm also not su—"

"...Hm? Isn't that Ren?"

the instructor mid-sentence. This anger the instructor a bit, but Kevin did

displayed on the screen in the distance, Kevin

of times to comprehend

"W-what."

a goldfish, Kevin's jaw moved up and down repeatedly.

supposed to already be here? Didn't he

was only after that he realized what was

"REE——!"

—BOOOOOOOM!

was quickly drowned out by the large explosion that erupted within the dome. Taking his hand off the barrier, Kevin watched in despair as Ren's figure slowly disappeared within the

Jin was also staring at the monitor's in the distance. Because his face never changed, no one knew

if someone looked

clenched tightly. So tightly that they

***

time, inside of the

Ren doing over

suddenly cried out in

Ren's figure staring into the camera. Falling on his knees, he mumbled

his face.

Then.

—BOOOOOOOM!

of the explosion were so strong

one cared. That was because their eyes were glued

as Ren's body was enveloped by the thick

"...kh"

short second, Melissa grit her teeth and

her head was usually always clear, at this moment her mind

'Did Ren just die?'

her ability to comprehend the most complex problems in the world, for the first time in her life, Melissa found

"...just w-hat?"

her head sideways,

she tried to supress her screams. Even then, as if

"..."

the other two, Amanda's eyes never left the screen. Out of the three, she was the only one that watched the whole thing

television screen. Amanda's mind

comprehend, process, grasp, what was happening. What had she just

couldn't be dead

laborious for Amanda, and before she knew it, tears had already started falling

mouth, in an almost inaudible voice, Amanda

"...Liar. "

***

"Noooooo!"

of a relatively large apartment, a high-pitched

"Ren!"

in front of her, like a crazed person, Samantha Dover, Ren's mother grabbed the

not my son! Anyone but my son! Give me my son back!

falling by the side of her

"Mama?"

only two years old, Nola couldn't comprehend a lot. But even then, seeing the state her mother was in, Nola understood that something

she too started to

"Maama...whaaa!"

Ren, was Ronald Dover, his father. He wasn't a many

No.

was still working at a run-down guild that