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?"

Swiping his hand, hundreds of projections appeared in the air.

Jezebeth pointed at them.

"From 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 matters is their death…"

Jezebeth had to pause mid-sentence and tear his gaze away from the projections.

He didn't particularly feel happy, realizing 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 a close.

"Haa..."

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

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

While he indeed felt sad at the thought of his comrades dying, he was quick to cut such emotions off and regain control of his mind.

He was sure of it this time.

Everything that had happened was within Ren's anticipation.

"You are the type of person who would stoop to anything to achieve his goal. I'm sure what's happening to him is all part of your intricate plan."

From the very moment that the fight between the two of them started, Jezebeth had this unsettling feeling wash over him.

He thought he had gotten an idea before, but the more he watched, the more confused he became.

eαglesn?νel Just what was he planning? What was he waiting for…?

"I'm still surprised at the fact that you're willing 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 to him."

Whenever he displayed the projections for the two of them to see, Ren never showed any care or concern for what was happening in the other Pillars.

It was 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 help but think that…

"…It's as if you're driving him to his death, no…" Jezebeth corrected himself, "You are driving him to his death, aren't you?"

The eyes of the two met at that moment, and Ren's expression remained unchanged.

Jezebeth continued.

"You... You were aware from the 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, but I have a feeling that his death was something you planned."

It had to be.

"It's something you did in order to make his goal clearer and rid of all the unecessary thoughts that were clouding his mind."

The more he thought about it, the more Jezebeth felt that he was right.

Ren… the other version of him.

He was someone who tended to overcomplicate things.

If the incident with his father hadn't 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 Pillar.

Such method was indeed good, but it consumed a lot of time, which they didn't have.

What surprised Jezebeth the most, however, was the fact that Ren could absorb the laws that he had given to his subordinates.

The one that belonged to the Protectors, and it was at that moment that everything clicked in his mind.

"It's clear that you knew that it 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 this point, and—"

"That's enough."

Ren spoke, cutting Jezebeth off in the middle of his sentence.

With his gaze fixed on him, Ren quietly stared at him for a good couple of seconds and eventually nodded his head.

"What are you nodding for? Are my words correct?"

"Partially."

Ren didn't deny it.

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

There was no point in correcting him.

"I figured 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 in the end."

"Haha."

Jezebeth laughed lightly.

"That attitude of yours… It used to piss me off a lot in the past. Funny thing is… it still does."

"That's a pity."

"Mhm. Indeed…"

With a light 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 of speed.

Staring at the incoming attack, Ren extended his hand and prepared to defend against it. But just as he had started to channel his mana, the space around him cracked.

Cr… Crack!

Four identical cracks appeared on his right and left sides.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Chains burst out of the cracks and immediately clamped against his wrist, completely incapacitating him.

Because of how quickly everything transpired, Ren did not even have enough time to react; however, even if he had, he still would not have been able to easily shatter the chains as he could see the laws that were imbued in them.

BOOOM—! As the water serpent slammed into his chest, his figure was catapulted into the water below.

Splash!

His vision was clouded with bubbles, and just as his back touched the ocean floor, a hand grabbed him around the neck.

It glowed in white, and the chains that were binding his body tightened all of a sudden. Pain coursed through every part of Ren's body as they pulled at his limbs from all sides.

Despite that, there was not much of a change in Ren's expression. Such pain was trivial to him. Let alone losing his arms and legs, he wouldn't have even cared if his entire body was burned to a crisp.

"Still holding on—Argh!"

Ren took a bite out of Jezebeth's hand, and as he did so, a sweet flavor that seemed vaguely familiar entered his mouth.

'I guess I can learn a thing or two from him...'

Thinking of how his other self had dealt with the Prince of Envy, Ren imitated him and bit into Jezebeth's hand.

He was doubtful at first, but it seemed to work out better than he had imagined.

Crunch—!

He could feel Jezebeth's bones shattering upon closing his mouth, and by channeling the laws inside of his body, he was able to somewhat loosen the chains that were binding his body.

Bang—!

Ren was finally able to move his body in the appropriate manner, and he punched Jezebeth in the stomach area. This was despite the fact that the chains were still clamped on his body.

Unfortunately, his attack was blocked by Jezebeth, who raised his knee and counterattacked with a fist of his own.

Boom—!

The attack landed directly on Ren's face, and his body was sent crashing down to the ocean floor, where it collided with a glass film that shattered when he touched it.

Crash—!

At this point, the environment around Ren underwent yet another transformation.

BANG—! Crashing against the ground, Ren felt almost all of his bones break, and he lay on the ground, unable to move. The chains clamping on him tightened once more, making it impossible for him to move.

When he looked up, his gaze paused on the azure blue sky and sun that hung above. On the side of his vision, he could see towering buildings, and when he looked around, he realized he was in the middle of a city.

Yet again, the scenery had changed.