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.

: Upon killing everyone that 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%.

through his body

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

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

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

knew that it was only wishful

Ren he knew, but he was still nonetheless

'...Why? Just why?'

[Trial 210]

those words with his pen, Ren continued to

was close to in the previous loop before he comes in contact with them in this

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

debris appeared everywhere as corpses

silence enshrouded

"Haa...haa..."

the sound of his rough breathing broke the silence that

'Where am I?'

noticed that his right

scene. It

note of what he was seeing, Kevin suddenly had a feeling of Deja

lift his head and his eyes laid

laying down on a broken building, the figure blankly stared toward the sky

use, you won't be

rang throughout the world as he proceeded to

hand, the world seemed to have come to a standstill as demonic energy gathered towards the palm

"Stay put."

Kevin felt his hand rise

Crack. Crack.

ground crushed

impact was, the red-eyed figure was completely unfazed as he gazed

only deepened as their gazes met. Opening his mouth,

your useless struggle. I've already

"Shut up."

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

Rumble. Rumble.

His power was overwhelming.

figure resembling himself standing in the distance, and it was right there that

'This scene...'

"Your turn."

the other figure in check while he looked toward

his power wasn't enough to contain the other figure for long as he felt his hand start to

you waiting for?

he urged his other self who was standing in the distance. His voice

glancing at the red-eyed figure and then looking at

outcome that

are you

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

the other Kevin

has

fists clenched tightly, his voice

whole of humanity! What's the point of killing him when there's no one

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

'Because I don't care.'

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

Kevin finally understood

that he saw in his vision. He

"You don't care?"

While the hue that sprang out of his body was very faint

don't care about the fact that because of your actions humanity is on the verge

"What are you doing?"

dull voice

other Kevin pressed his palm to the space next

I should've done

Clank. Clank. Clank.

black chains suddenly sprung up from the

felt Ren's face crack when he looked at the other Kevin

you think

matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move. A complete

of a predicament he was, his

did you do

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 of death, there was a triumphant look on his face as

looks like it's going to

his teeth, the other Kevin proceeded to ignore the

"khh..."

body slowly

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

You know full well that you're the only

'Desperation.'

felt as he felt his mouth open

always the same

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

Clank. Clank. Clank.

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

the other Kevin, Kevin realized that Ren had stopped shouting and the previous emotions that were erupting from within

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

be enough to stop

"I don't know."

Kevin

for now, you won't be able