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?"

his hand, hundreds of

Jezebeth pointed at them.

himself or those around him. He's been going on a rampage ever since, and even now, as broken as his body is, he's still trying to kill the last two… It's as if in his mind, the

mid-sentence and tear his gaze away from the

that only two of his seven patriarchs were alive. In fact, the realization hit

"Haa..."

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

face turned expressionless, and the very air around him started to change to a more tranquil

at the thought of his comrades dying, he was quick to cut such emotions off and regain

sure of

happened was within Ren's

to achieve his goal. I'm sure what's happening to him

of them started, Jezebeth

gotten an idea before, but the more he

he planning? What

to drive your other self to this point in order to achieve your goals… but looking at you, I can see that you don't particularly care about what happens

for the two of them to see, Ren never showed any care or concern for

watched again and

Jezebeth corrected himself, "You are

met at that moment, and Ren's expression

Jezebeth continued.

mindset was still not quite there yet… and in order to perfect it, you chose to sacrifice one of the people he was close with. I don't know how, but I have a feeling that his death was

It had to be.

make his goal clearer and rid of all the unecessary

he thought about it, the

the other

someone who tended to

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

was indeed good, but it consumed a lot of time,

the fact that Ren

was at that

Your

"That's enough."

spoke, cutting Jezebeth off in

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

for? Are my words

"Partially."

Ren didn't deny it.

some of the things that Jezebeth had pointed out were indeed true. That being said, not all of them

no point

you figured it out a bit

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

used to piss me off a lot in the past.

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

been winding itself