The Author's POV

'What did I just see?'

Kevin felt his heart grow cold.

'T...that can't be real, right? Re..n would never do that...'

He was in a state of complete denial. But, it was at this moment that he suddenly recalled his past flashbacks of what Ren had done with Emma, and it was from there that he was able to calm himself down.

'That's not the Ren I know. It's a different Ren.'

He repeatedly told himself. Recalling the conversation he had with Ren in the past and connecting everything with his visions, things were slowly starting to make sense.

'Why is it dark?'

Following his death, the scene once again shifted. This time, the world was dark. However, upon paying close attention, he could hear the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

'Birds? What's going on?'

Kevin could faintly feel the warm, gentle sunshine enveloping his whole body.

It was then that Ren opened his eyes and Kevin found himself inside a one-bedroom apartment.

Rubbing his eyes, he blinked a couple of times and once more looked at my strange surroundings.

'This place...'

It looked familiar. Kevin couldn't just quite remember where he had seen this room before.

The room was furnished with the basic necessities that comprised a clean white bed, an old wooden spacious desk, a tall wardrobe, and a small bathroom. It was neither too big nor too small, but it seemed to have all the necessary facilities one might need when living.

'...Just why is this so familiar to me?'

Kevin thought to himself as he continued to stare at the room. It was strange, but Kevin knew for sure that he had seen this room before.

...But no matter how much he tried to think about it, he couldn't exactly remember where he had seen it.

'How odd.'

Shifting his body, Kevin's head turned to face the nearby window.

Reflected on it was a familiar face.

Jet black hair

Pale white skin

Blue ocean-like eyes

It was Ren's face...but younger. A lot younger.

'What memory is this?'

Kevin wondered as Ren's body shifted and he pressed his foot on the ground to help his body up.

"...Another failure."

Ren muttered while he stood up, and headed for the nearby desk where he sat down.

Opening the drawer beside the desk, he took out a small notebook alongside a small pen.

Grasping the pen beside him, Ren's body froze for a small second. With his eyes locked onto the pen, he slowly brought it next to his neck.

Click—!

Pressing onto the top end of the pen, the sharp tip came out.

Ren gently pressed it against his neck. Slowly, he began to put more pressure.

'What is he doing?'

Kevin wondered as he felt the sharp tip of the pen press against Ren's neck. His actions didn't make sense to Kevin at all.

'Don't tell me that he's...'

"Haaa..."

Before Kevin could come up with an assumption, Ren let out a long sigh and lowered the hand that held onto the pen. The pressure on his neck disappeared.

Casually tossing the pen on the desk, Ren reclined on the chair and emptily stared at the white ceiling of the room.

Grasping his chest with his hand, he mumbled.

"...What's the point? It's not like anything will change."

Though his words were casual, they were enough to alarm Kevin who was watching everything.

At this point, no matter how much he tried to feel the emotions Ren was experiencing, he couldn't feel anything. He basically felt like an empty shell whose sole reason for living was something that Kevin was still unsure of...but from his earlier actions, Kevin had an inkling that perhaps, just maybe, Ren didn't really want to be alive.

It was as if something was stopping him from dying. Or maybe he was just overthinking.

...but as he thought back at the moment he pressed the pen against his neck, Kevin was left uncertain about his theory.

Leaning his body forward, Ren grasped the pen he had thrown on the table and opened the book.

He then began to write something.

of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility of him defeating the Demon King was

through

'I..it can't be, right?'

state of denial, but...he knew that everything

was no point in his denying anything. He had already figured everything out after connecting the

it was only wishful thinking

may not be the Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen, Ren continued to write more

that Kevin was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes for my family. It's

as the last words etched into the paper, the world started to shift, and a

and debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all over the

silence enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

found himself standing on top of a broken building, as the sound of

'Where am I?'

around him. It was also then that he noticed that his right

scene. It looks

Kevin suddenly had

eyes laid

blood seeping down from his mouth, and his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a cruel smile

won't

rang throughout the world

demonic energy gathered towards the palm of his hand,

"Stay put."

orb could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise before he motioned

Crack. Crack.

red-eyed figure, cracks formed as the ground crushed against his body, resulting

impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely

figure's smile only deepened as their gazes met. Opening his mouth, he

your useless struggle. I've already

"Shut up."

into bits. The gravity around him started to warp,

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and it was right there that

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

of his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check while

that his power wasn't enough to contain the other

you waiting for? End

he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice sounded a little bit

back at him, the other Kevin's lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed

outcome that

are you talking

tightly, and his

teeth, the other Kevin

destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet,

the other Kevin's fists clenched tightly,

of humanity! What's the point

his mouth to say something.

'Because I don't care.'

"...Because I don't care."

at this point that Kevin finally understood why felt

the same scene that he saw in his vision. He could clearly remember each

"You don't care?"

hue suddenly erupted from Kevin's body. While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint and almost invisible, the pressure it released

care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is on the verge

"What are you doing?"

dull voice

other Kevin pressed his palm to the

should've done the

Clank.

black chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt them clasp

a long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he looked at the other Kevin who was looking back at

do you think you're

much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed

how much of a predicament he was, his

you do

other Kevin turned to look at the other white figure who was watching the scene with an amused look on his face. Although he was also

it's going to

his teeth, the other Kevin proceeded to ignore the

"khh..."

the hue around the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade

his sudden actions, for the first time in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel

know full well that you're the only one that can

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt

always the

to a pause

Clank. Clank. Clank.

around his body become more

Ren had

head and glaring in the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt his mouth

think this will be enough to

"I don't know."

Kevin shook

for now, you