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.

Kevin 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 1%.

ran through his

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

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

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

was only wishful thinking on his

he was still nonetheless Ren. A stinging pain started to

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

pen, Ren continued to write more

was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes for my family. It's better if they die

the last words etched into the paper, the world started to shift, and a

as corpses

silence enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

the sound of his rough breathing broke the silence that was

'Where am I?'

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

It looks

Kevin suddenly had a feeling of

lift his head and his eyes laid on a figure who had

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

use, you won't be able to

world as he proceeded to raise

a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards

"Stay put."

Kevin felt his hand rise before he

Crack. Crack.

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

was, the red-eyed figure was completely unfazed

smile only deepened as their gazes met. Opening his mouth, he

your useless struggle. I've already

"Shut up."

The gravity around him started to

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

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

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

his hand motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure in check

obvious to Kevin that his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as he felt his

you waiting

his other self who was standing

at the red-eyed figure and then looking

outcome that you

are you

brows furrowed tightly, and his voice became

teeth, the other Kevin

of humanity has been destroyed

Kevin's fists clenched tightly, his voice rang

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

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

'Because I don't care.'

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

that Kevin finally understood why felt a sense

that he saw in his vision. He could clearly remember

"You don't care?"

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

care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is on

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

palm to the

done the moment I remembered

Clank.

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

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

you think you're

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

just how much of a predicament he was, his voice

did you do to

amused look on his face. Although he

it's going

his teeth, the other Kevin proceeded to ignore

"khh..."

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

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

that you're the only one that can stop him! What

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth open

the same with

feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from Ren. Their two

Clank. Clank. Clank.

walked, Kevin felt the chains wrapping around his body become more and more numerous,

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

in the other Kevin's direction,

think this will be enough

"I don't know."

Kevin shook his

will find out soon. At least for