The Author's POV

'What is he planning?'

When Jezebeth looked at Ren, his eyes narrowed as he tried to comprehend the motivation behind Ren's continued opposition to him.

As opposed to before, the very air around him changed, and the world around him started to collapse.

It was only thanks to Jezebeth that it remained intact.

The tension in the air was palpable, and Jezebeth's crimson eyes flickered dangerously.

"Is this really your decision?"

He asked, his voice low and dangerous.

Ren's expression remained unchanged, and Jezebeth's frustration grew.

"Do you understand the consequences of your actions?"

He threatened, gesturing toward the projections that surrounded them. Each frame held a different individual, and Jezebeth could see humans and members of the three races.

Their situation…

It wasn't good. In fact, it was terrible, and each second, hundreds if not thousands of individuals died at the hands of the demons.

It was a slaughter.

"If you choose to fight me, by the time our fight is over, everyone will be dead. Your friends, your lover... your family. Everyone will die! Do you really wish for that to happen?"

Jezebeth expected Ren to flinch, to hesitate, to show some sort of emotion. But Ren just continued to stare at him with that same unnerving gaze.

"Even now, as we speak, people are dying!?"

Jezebeth continued, his voice rising with his frustration.

"You don't seem to care about their lives, but what's the point of all of this? If you don't care about them, why do you even bother fighting against me?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered, and Jezebeth's anger simmered. Why was Ren doing this? Was it to spite him? For what reason? Were all of his preparations for nothing!?

"Why!?"

SWOOOSH―! He bellowed, the sound echoing through the room and causing the projections to flicker.

"…Why?"

but it carried an air of finality that made Jezebeth's face

"The reason is simple."

his gaze shifting toward

kill

space around one of the projections distorted, and Jezebeth realized too late what was happening. Smallsnake, who was only a few meters away from him, disappeared,

job

across the space, and Jezebeth felt his entire

"You..."

off as he looked at

from leaving, but he decided that it wasn't worth it. He could tell from Ren's eyes that he really didn't care whether he lived or died,

same was true for the people who were dying within

tell at a glance that they were

"You really..."

clenched his teeth, his lips

"Piss me off."

***

Drip. Drip. Drip.

against the deserted streets, collecting into small pools along the streets. They reflected the dim light that filtered through

overcast, casting a gloomy and eerie

"Where is this place?"

wondered, looking around me and finding a tiny deserted town nestled on the coastline of what seemed to be

Splash! Splash!

against the rocks and sending sprays of salty water into the

As each wave approached the

"Hmm."

frowned at the sight in

and it looked abandoned and forgotten, with overgrown weeds and moss covering

a place on earth… where

I took a step forward, my foot splashing against one of the puddles, ripples forming outwardly on the surface of the

looked down at the puddle, I gazed at my reflection. My entire body was dark, almost shadow-like, and while I could see

appeared in front of me, and I looked at it with

this skill.

to summon a shadow servant for an extended period of time. There will be 50% resemblance between the shadow servant and the user in terms of

status window. Indeed, just before Jezebeth appeared, I switched my body with the other me and became what

felt rather uncomfortable moving in this body, but at the same time, I didn't feel any strangeness from it. I practiced fighting with this body several times, and there was no problem with

as without this body, and in fact, I was a bit

That was just how big the difference between the other me and me was. Just 50% of his strength was about the