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.

held dear, he fell into a state 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 beneath

felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard time

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

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

after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small part of him still wished

that it was only

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

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

pen, Ren continued to write

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 red sky enshrouded the

everywhere as corpses

silence enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

a broken building, as the sound of his rough breathing broke the silence that was enshrouding

'Where am I?'

was also then that he noticed that his right hand was missing and a long scar was

It

Kevin suddenly had a feeling of Deja

began to lift his head and his eyes laid on a figure

on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a cruel smile sprung

use, you won't be able to kill

world as he proceeded to

demonic energy gathered towards the palm

"Stay put."

black orb could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise

Crack. Crack.

figure, cracks formed as the ground crushed

matter how powerful the impact was, the red-eyed

as their gazes met.

useless struggle.

"Shut up."

area around him pulverized into bits. The gravity around him started to warp, and the buildings in

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

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."

kept the other figure in check while he looked toward the

enough to contain the other figure for long as he felt his hand

you waiting for? End

felt Ren's mouth open once again as he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice sounded a little bit more rushed this

after glancing at the red-eyed

this the outcome that you

you talking

brows furrowed tightly, and

the other Kevin pointed towards

world. It's completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and

clenched tightly, his voice rang throughout

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

slowly opened his mouth

'Because I don't care.'

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

this point that Kevin finally understood why felt a

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

"You don't care?"

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

that because of your actions humanity is on the

"What are you doing?"

voice

pressed his palm to the space next to him

I should've done the moment I

Clank. Clank. Clank.

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

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

you think

hand and felt his body try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed around his body's

a predicament he was,

you

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

it's going to be another

his teeth, the other Kevin proceeded to ignore the

"khh..."

around the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade as his

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

full well that you're the only one that can stop him! What are you waiting

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth open

always the

came to a pause a couple

Clank. Clank. Clank.

chains wrapping around his body become more and

that his words couldn't reach the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had

and glaring in the other Kevin's

this will be enough to stop

"I don't know."

Kevin shook his

least for now, you won't be able to