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.

into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided

freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard time processing what

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

wanted to remain in a state of denial, but...he knew that everything he was seeing was

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

knew that it was

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

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

pen, Ren continued to write more

before he comes in contact with them in this

paper, the world started to shift, and a red sky enshrouded

debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs

enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

of a broken building, as the sound of his rough breathing broke

'Where am I?'

wondered to himself as he looked around him. It was also then that he noticed

scene. It

Kevin suddenly had

began to lift his head and his eyes laid on a figure who had white hair and red

broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as

you won't be able to

rang throughout the world as he proceeded to raise his

standstill as demonic energy gathered

"Stay put."

could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise before he

Crack. Crack.

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

didn't matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed figure was

smile only deepened as their gazes met. Opening his

with your useless struggle.

"Shut up."

The gravity around him started

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

felt his body turn, he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and it was right there that it finally

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

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

enough to contain the other figure

are you waiting for?

once again as he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice

after glancing at the red-eyed figure and then

outcome that you

are you

back. His brows furrowed tightly, and his voice became even

teeth, the other Kevin

a look at the world. It's completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet, you don't seem to

Kevin's fists clenched tightly,

to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's the point of killing him when there's no one left? What's

his mouth to say something. Matching his mouth, Kevin

'Because I don't care.'

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

was at this point that Kevin finally understood why felt a

that he saw in his vision.

"You don't care?"

hue suddenly erupted from Kevin's body. While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint

that because of your

"What are you doing?"

voice

his palm to the space next to

that I should've done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank. Clank.

black chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt

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

you

but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed

just how much of a predicament he was,

did you do

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

it's going to

Kevin proceeded to ignore

"khh..."

Kevin's body slowly

in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel emotions spring out inside of Ren's body

full well that you're the only one

'Desperation.'

he

the same

other Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from Ren.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

he walked, Kevin felt the chains wrapping around his body become

that his words couldn't reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that

the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt his

this will be enough

"I don't know."

Kevin shook

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