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 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

mid-sentence and tear his gaze away from

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

"Haa..."

for him to rid himself of any of the

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

comrades dying, he was quick to cut

sure of it this

that had happened was

achieve his goal. I'm sure what's happening to him is all part of

fight between the two of them

before, but the more he watched, the more confused

what was he planning?

this point in order to achieve your goals… but looking at you,

see, Ren never showed any care or concern for what was happening in the

he was waiting for something… and when Jezebeth watched again and saw the current state of Ren's other self, he couldn't

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

of the two met at that moment, and

Jezebeth continued.

not quite there yet… and in order to perfect it, you chose to

It had to be.

and rid of all the unecessary thoughts that were clouding his

it, the more Jezebeth felt that he was

other version of

someone who tended to overcomplicate

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 within the

was indeed good, but it consumed a

fact that Ren could absorb the laws that he

it was at that moment that everything clicked

was this way… Your goal is to absorb everything that he managed to collect? You drove him into a corner so that he'd reach this point,

"That's enough."

off in the

at him for a good couple of

for? Are my words

"Partially."

Ren didn't deny it.

true. That being said, not

was no point in

to this conclusion after a while. I'm a bit disappointed that you figured it out a bit later than I thought you would, but you didn't let me down in

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

a lot in the past. Funny

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

water snake that had been winding itself around his body suddenly twisted and launched itself in Ren's