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.

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

his blood freeze. Chills ran through his body as he

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

state of denial, but...he knew that

figured everything out after connecting the dots from his vision...yet, a small part of him still wished that this was not

knew that it was only

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

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen, Ren continued to write

: Kill anyone that Kevin was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this loop. Same goes for my family. It's

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

debris appeared everywhere as corpses and limbs sprawled all

enshrouded the

"Haa...haa..."

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

'Where am I?'

him. It was also then that he noticed that his right hand was missing

It

what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a feeling

Ren began to lift his head and his eyes laid on a figure who had

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

won't be able to

the world as he proceeded to raise his

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."

form, Kevin felt

Crack. Crack.

formed as the ground crushed against his body, resulting in a

red-eyed figure was completely unfazed

their gazes met. Opening his mouth, he

your useless struggle. I've

"Shut up."

pulverized into bits. The gravity

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

he was once again shocked to see a figure

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

motioned downwardly, Ren kept the other figure

it was painfully obvious to Kevin that his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure

you waiting for? End

was standing in the distance. His voice sounded

glancing at

outcome that you

you

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

other Kevin pointed towards the

a look at the world. It's completely destroyed! Almost all of humanity has been destroyed because of your actions, and yet, you

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

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

his mouth to say something. Matching his

'Because I don't care.'

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

this point that Kevin finally understood why felt a sense of

same scene that he saw in his vision. He could

"You don't care?"

of his

don't care about the fact that because of your actions

"What are you doing?"

dull voice echoed

his palm to the

done the moment I remembered

Clank. Clank.

suddenly sprung up from the ground

crack when he looked at the other

do you think you're

matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete seal had been placed around

much of a predicament he was, his

did you do to

words, 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 verge

it's going to

his teeth, the other Kevin

"khh..."

the other Kevin's body

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

it!!!! You know full well that you're

'Desperation.'

was what Kevin felt as he felt his mouth

the same

one more step forward, the other Kevin's feet came to a pause a couple of meters away from

Clank. Clank. Clank.

felt the chains wrapping around his body become more and more numerous, before they

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

head and glaring in the other Kevin's direction, Kevin felt his

think this will be enough to stop

"I don't know."

other Kevin shook his

least for now,