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

Jezebeth pointed at them.

and even now, as broken as his body is, he's still trying to kill the last two… It's

pause mid-sentence and tear his

fact,

"Haa..."

for him to rid himself of any of

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

his comrades dying, he was quick to cut such emotions off and

was sure of

happened

his goal. I'm sure what's

of them started, Jezebeth had this unsettling feeling wash over

before, but the more he

planning? What

that you're willing to drive your other self to this point in order to

projections for the two of them to see, Ren never showed any care or concern for what was happening

something… and when Jezebeth watched again and saw the current state of Ren's other

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

two met at that moment, and Ren's

Jezebeth continued.

very beginning that his 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,

It had to be.

to make his goal clearer and rid of all the unecessary thoughts that

thought about it, the more Jezebeth

the other

was someone who tended to overcomplicate

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

good, but it consumed a lot of time, which they

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

the Protectors, and it was

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."

Jezebeth off in the middle

him for a good couple of

are you nodding for? Are my

"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 were

no point

that you figured it out a bit later than I thought you would,

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

me off a lot in the

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

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 of