The Author's POV

"Why are you still struggling?"

A soft voice echoed, and a fist appeared before Ren. Cocking his head, he just barely dodged the fist and pressed his finger against Jezebeth's abdomen.

It only touched him, but the moment it did so, it sent Jezebeth hurling back and plummeting against the sea beneath.

Splash—!

Calmness returned to the world, and Ren looked around him. He was in the middle of the ocean, and the sun hung in the cloudless blue sky.

He could feel the sunlight gently envelope his body and bathe it in a warm light. He could smell a rather stale, sulfurous smell coming from the sea.

Such vivid sensation made him wonder if he was back on earth or if this was a separate space.

The answer was very hard to find. He couldn't quite tell anymore.

Everything just seemed so realistic, and if not for the fact that he couldn't see any pillars near him, he'd be inclined to believe that he was back on Earth.

"Have you seen enough?"

A soft voice whispered behind him, and Ren turned his head.

There he saw Jezebeth standing not far from him, his gaze focused on a small projection that appeared before him.

His expression was anything but good at the moment.

"You really…"

As a matter of fact, it was getting worse with each second that he spent staring at the projection, and tearing his gaze away from it, he looked at Ren while sweeping his hand through the air.

His gaze was a mix of complicated emotions.

"…didn't hold back, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't pretend like you don't understand."

Frowning, Jezebeth clenched his fist. The water beneath him broke apart, and a significant wave rose high into the air.

"I bet… Everything that has happened to him is not a coincidence. The death of his-no, your dad, was on purpose… it was, wasn't it?"

The water that was surrounding Jezebeth began to wriggle and move around his body as if it were a serpent with its own independent will. A strange power fluctuated inside of the water, and Ren couldn't help but look at it.

At the same time, his mouth parted open, and he spoke.

"What makes you think that I would purposely kill my own father? What reason would I have for doing that?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

hand, hundreds of projections appeared in the

Jezebeth pointed at them.

him. He's been going on a rampage ever since, and even now, as broken as his body

had to pause mid-sentence and tear his gaze away

that only two of his seven patriarchs were alive. In fact, the realization hit him more than he had anticipated as his fist slowly came to

"Haa..."

was all that was necessary for him to rid himself of any of the unfavorable emotions

turned expressionless, and the very air around him

indeed felt sad at the thought of his comrades dying, he was quick to cut such

was sure of it this

happened was within Ren's

to anything to achieve his

that the fight between the two of

he had gotten an idea before, but

planning? What was

order to achieve your goals… but looking at you, I can see that you don't particularly

the projections for the two of them to see, Ren never showed any

again and

you're driving him to his death, no…" Jezebeth corrected himself, "You are driving him

met at that moment,

Jezebeth continued.

it, you chose to sacrifice one of the people he

It had to be.

make his goal clearer and rid of

thought about it, the more Jezebeth

the other version

someone who tended

happened, it's likely that he would have started fighting against one of the Patriarchs after getting a better idea of their power and attempting to stabilize the situation over the entirety of the world

was indeed good, but it consumed a lot

most, however, was the fact that Ren could absorb the laws that

and it was at that moment that everything clicked

for him to kill all of the Seven Patriarchs unless he was this way… Your goal is to absorb everything that he managed to collect? You drove him into a corner

"That's enough."

off in

gaze fixed on him, Ren quietly stared at him for a good couple of seconds and

for?

"Partially."

Ren didn't deny it.

things that Jezebeth had pointed out were indeed true. That being said, not all of them were true, and he didn't bother correcting

was no point in

conclusion after a while. I'm a bit disappointed that you figured it out a bit

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

me off a lot in the past. Funny thing

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

smile, Jezebeth raised his hand and pointed at Ren. After that, the water snake that had been winding itself around his body suddenly twisted and launched itself in Ren's direction at an incredible rate