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 trial 209 : Upon killing everyone that Kevin held dear, he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided

was writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through

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

denial, but...he knew that everything he was seeing was

in his denying anything. He had already figured everything out after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small part of

was only wishful thinking on

Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to quickly spread across

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen, Ren continued to write

in contact with them in this

as the last words etched into the paper, the world

appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all over the

enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

building, as the sound of his rough breathing broke

'Where am I?'

to himself as he looked around him. It was also then that he noticed that his right hand was missing and

It looks

was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a

and his eyes laid

his mouth, and his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a

you won't be able to kill

rang throughout the world

the world seemed to have come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the

"Stay put."

orb could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed against his body, resulting in a crater to

the impact was, the red-eyed figure

as their gazes met. Opening his

your useless struggle.

"Shut up."

into bits. The gravity around him started to warp, and

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

his body turn, he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

the other figure in check while

to contain the other figure for long as he felt his

are you waiting for? End

as he urged his other self who was standing in the distance.

lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed figure and then looking at the

outcome

you talking

brows furrowed tightly, and his voice

his teeth, the other Kevin pointed towards

of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet, you

tightly, his

What's

the other Kevin's words, Ren slowly opened his mouth to say something. Matching his

'Because I don't care.'

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

point that Kevin finally understood why felt a

saw in his vision. He could clearly remember each word that was about

"You don't care?"

his body was very faint and almost

because of your actions humanity is on the

"What are you doing?"

voice

to the space next to him and

done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank. Clank.

suddenly sprung up from the ground and

first time in a long time, Kevin felt Ren's face crack when he looked at the other

do you think

felt his body try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he

much of a predicament he was, his

did you do to

watching the scene with an amused look on his face. Although he was also on the verge of death, there was a triumphant look on his face as he looked at

it's going

teeth, the other Kevin

"khh..."

the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade

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

now, end this now! End it!!!! You know full well that you're the

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his

always the same with

came to a pause a couple

Clank. Clank. Clank.

body become more and more numerous, before

that his words couldn't reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that were erupting from within him

other Kevin's direction, Kevin

think this will be enough to stop

"I don't know."

Kevin shook

soon. At least for now, you won't be able