The Author's POV

'He's changed a lot since the last time I saw him.'

Donna quietly thought to herself as her gaze fixed on Ren who was seated a few tables ahead of her.

Even she felt pressured at the time he revealed his strength in front of everyone.

The power he displayed...

It was frightening.

'I knew he was talented, but I didn't think it was to this point.'

One could not come close to describing the rate of his progress. It was simply, frightening. To the point where both Monica and Kevin were left behind.

She was more shocked to find that not much time had elapsed since she had taught him at the Lock.

About six years.

In about that period of time, he had transformed from a typical ranking student to someone whose strength had surpassed hers.

'How monstrous.'

She mumbled to herself once more.

In the past, she thought that Monica was the most talented human she knew, but it was clear to her that there was someone else that was above her.

It was none other than Ren.

'His strength isn't the only thing that changed about him, his demenour also seemed to have changed.'

When Donna looked at him more closely, she saw that he was different from how he had been in the past.

Around him, there was a somewhat melancholy vibe. One that left Donna feeling uneasy. It was sufficient to make her face turn grave.

'...Just what happened during the few years that I haven't seen him?'

He wasn't exactly cheerful, but he sure as heck wasn't like how he was now.

It kind of worried her a little.

'I should probably talk to him after this is over.'

Thus, she made her mind up to talk to him after the meeting was over. It had been a couple of years since they had come to contact with each other, might as well catch up a little.

***

Bang—!

My fist smashed against the side of the bathroom wall, and fine miniature crevices extended all the way toward the ceiling of the bathroom.

The meeting had ended a couple of minutes ago. As expected, Octavious ranked first, and Maximus who was previously ranked third was now ranked second.

But that wasn't what resulted in my rage.

"Rank 18? Seriously?! ...After all that hard work?"

I gritted my teeth as a burst of rage erupted from deep within my body.

I was upset with my slow improvement rather than my poor ranking. I had been working hard for the past two years. Really hard.

During that period, I went through a phase of relative strength increase, helped by the air's increasing mana density and the merging with the strength of my former self.

My efforts paid off, and I was able to advance to level in just two years. I was just a little shy of reaching rank.

But...

"Too slow!"

I muttered through my clenched teeth.

Two years.

That was how much time I had left before my other self would take over or the curse that was in me would activate.

Two fucking years. That was how long I had to live.

The rate at which I was progressing was slow. Too fucking slow.

"...I miscalculated."

my strength on a whim. Rather, I did it with a goal

was important to me for a certain

the following month, and I would only have

already be rank by the time the meeting started, however, I had severely underestimated

ended up ranking 18th, which was far

Bang—!

"Damn it."

me into

nose. I saw a noticeable red stain on my hand when I wiped the

'Blood...'

a little and my vision blurred. This lasted for

"Not again..."

my head and stared at my

"Fuck."

while more blood dropped down from my

with my arm, I raised my head to stare at

"What's wrong, nervous?"

up a recognizable voice as my reflection

Slowly, my face sank.

"Huuuu…"

breath I was able to calm myself

as a result of his personality

starting to be increasingly difficult for

not going to

on my face while water dripped down toward the sink. Slowly raising my head, I glared at the mirror,

Our eyes met.

years have

anything. Only

expect me to give you my body

"Oh?"

eyebrows of my reflection

have to wait a few more years? The seal Jezebeth placed on you will put an end to things even if I don't take control of your body and do it myself. You've lost

"Right..."

gripped the side of the sink with all my

Cra..crack…

slowly started to form on

makes you so sure that I was the one behind it? It could just

my head slowly

"You think I'm stupid?"

asked while calmly staring

I

did have a fault in his death, but do you seriously think that I wouldn't know this was something you devised? I may be stupid at times, but I'm

sink as I recalled the

time...Jezebeth sustained damage. He may have not been a clone, but he wasn't

the core. Even if he didn't show it, I could tell. I may have not been able to defeat him, but I sure as heck would have been able to delay him...Enough to buy Smallsnake some time, had you lent

now, the events that transpired back then

could've done to prevent such a situation from happening felt

Jezebeth's unexpected appearance. You aren't this negligent. His appearance was unquestionably something you wanted

safety because you also knew that he was hurt. This shows that you had something

not have known that this was the last loop, but I sure as heck knew that he had enough power to confront

his memories stopped playing, I knew that he wasn't planning to end the loop

raised my head to glare at

on Smallsnake in particular, but without a

he just looked

a little bit

avoided his death. In

tightened when

'I knew it.'

first place, there is no use in lying about it now. Jezebeth's imminent

anticipate what will happen, major factors like that are indeed something that can be predicted, and from there, changing little things to make them go your way isn't exactly too hard. Why do you think you were able to see the memories for as long as you did? ...and why do you think you were

know exactly why I did what

I ground my teeth.

Nonetheless, he continued speaking.

you to defeat Jezebeth. Quite plainly, the likelihood that you would succeed in fighting him was dwindling as you began to stand still. My decisions were driven by need. Smallsnake

Bam—!

punched the mirror with all my force. The glass shattered and shards fell on

reflection in the mirror

around the room my breath felt

have time