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.

everyone that Kevin held dear, he fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the

through what Ren was writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a hard time processing

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

remain in a state of denial, but...he knew that everything

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

he knew that it was

he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

with his pen, Ren continued to write more

he comes in contact with them

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

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

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

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

scene. It

was seeing, Kevin suddenly

his head and his eyes laid on

black blood seeping down from his mouth, and his body laying down on a broken building,

you won't be

throughout the world as he proceeded to raise

hand, the world seemed to have come to a standstill as demonic

"Stay put."

form, Kevin felt his hand rise before he motioned downward

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed against his body, resulting in a crater

impact was, the red-eyed figure was

deepened as their

useless

"Shut up."

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

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing in

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

kept the other figure in check while

Kevin that his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long

are you waiting

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

lips trembled after glancing at the red-eyed figure and

outcome that

you talking

brows furrowed tightly, and

teeth, the other Kevin pointed towards

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

fists clenched tightly, his

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? What's the

words, Ren slowly opened his mouth to say something. Matching his mouth, Kevin spoke inside of his

'Because I don't care.'

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

finally understood why felt a sense

he saw in his vision. He

"You don't care?"

the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint and almost invisible, the pressure it released was nothing to

the fact that because of your actions

"What are you doing?"

voice

to the space next to him and

done

Clank. Clank.

chains suddenly sprung up from the ground and Kevin felt them

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

you think

felt his body try to move, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had

much of a predicament he was, his

you do to

the 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 on the

going

Kevin

"khh..."

body

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

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

'Desperation.'

felt as he felt

always the

other Kevin's feet came to a pause a

Clank. Clank. Clank.

the chains wrapping around his body

Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that were erupting from within him completely

and glaring in the other Kevin's direction,

think this will be enough to

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook

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