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.

Assessing the situation, I decided to terminate the loop. Based on my calculations, the possibility of him defeating the Demon King was beneath 1%.

was writing, Kevin felt his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he had a

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

denial,

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

it was only wishful thinking

knew, but he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen, Ren continued to write

loop before he comes in contact with

etched into the paper, the world started to

debris appeared everywhere as corpses and

enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

top of a broken building, as the sound

'Where am I?'

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 feeling

his head and his eyes laid

his body laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky as a cruel smile sprung

no use, you won't be

world as he proceeded

the world seemed to have come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the palm of his hand, forming a small ball the size

"Stay put."

the black orb could fully form, Kevin felt his hand rise before

Crack. Crack.

cracks formed as the ground crushed against his

the impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely unfazed

their gazes met. Opening his

useless struggle. I've already

"Shut up."

into bits. The gravity around him started to warp,

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

Kevin suddenly felt his body turn, he was once again shocked to see a figure resembling himself standing

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

the palm of his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check while he looked toward the other

contain

are you waiting for? End

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

at the red-eyed figure and then looking at the world around

this the outcome that

are you talking

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

the other Kevin pointed towards the

destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because

the other Kevin's fists clenched tightly, his voice rang throughout

the sake of killing him! You decided to sacrifice the whole of humanity! What's

Ren slowly opened his mouth to

'Because I don't care.'

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

Kevin finally understood why felt a sense of Deja vu'

that he saw in his vision. He could clearly

"You don't care?"

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

care about the fact that because of your actions humanity

"What are you doing?"

voice

pressed his palm to the space next to him

I should've done

Clank.

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

felt Ren's face crack

you think you're

raised his 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

much of a predicament he was,

you do to

scene with an amused look on his

it's going to be

the other Kevin proceeded to ignore the

"khh..."

forward, the hue around the other Kevin's body slowly started to fade as his figure

his sudden actions, for the first time in a while, Kevin suddenly started to feel emotions spring out inside of Ren's body as he opened his mouth

end this now! End it!!!! You know full well that you're the only one that can stop him! What are

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth

the same with

a pause a couple of meters away

Clank. Clank. Clank.

felt the chains wrapping around his body become more and

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

and glaring in the other Kevin's direction,

will be enough to

"I don't know."

other Kevin

find out soon. At least for