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?"

hundreds of projections appeared in the

Jezebeth pointed at them.

the moment your father died, he no longer seemed to care about 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 only thing that

mid-sentence and tear his

fact, the realization hit him more than he had

"Haa..."

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

head, his face turned expressionless, and the very air around him started

comrades dying, he was quick

of it this

had happened was within

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

the fight between the two of them started,

he had gotten an idea before, but

he planning?

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

to see, Ren never showed any care or

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

him to his death, no…" Jezebeth

the two met at that moment, and Ren's expression

Jezebeth continued.

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

It had to be.

something you did in order to make his goal clearer and rid of all the

more he thought about it, the more Jezebeth felt that he

other

who

Patriarchs after getting a better idea of their power and attempting to stabilize the situation over the entirety of the

good, but it consumed a lot

was the fact that Ren could

Protectors, and it was at that moment that

was impossible 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 so that he'd reach

"That's enough."

in the middle

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

nodding for? Are my words

"Partially."

Ren didn't deny it.

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

was no point in

you'd come 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

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

of yours… It used to piss me off a lot in the past.

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

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