"It's not your fault, Ren."

My mother's words echoed in my mind as I surveyed my surroundings. I had returned to Ashton City, and I wasn't alone.

All those who had been in the tower with me were also brought out, along with others.

"Ren, it's not—"

My mother began to say once more. As if I hadn't heard her the first time.

"I know."

I interrupted her, my mind numb and thoughts scattered.

Despite everything that had happened, I remained rational and surprisingly calm, unlike what I expected.

Everything became clear to me: what I had to do and what I had to achieve.

"I know it's not my fault."

I said calmly, looking at my mother. From behind her, I glanced at Nola, who averted her gaze from me. I could tell that she was no longer mad at me and had calmed down considerably.

Still, in light of what happened, the mood between the two of us was rather awkward, and she seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say to me.

Her attempts didn't escape my eyes. But I chose to ignore them. For now.

I closed my eyes, then opened them again and directed my focus toward the nearest pillar.

Until this moment, I hadn't had the chance to really take in the tower's details. It was majestic, its intricate patterns and designs radiating a sense of mystery and wonder.

It made me wonder just how exactly Jezebeth had been able to build such a structure, but the thoughts disappeared as fast as they came.

'It's a pity I can't teleport directly into them.'

There was something blocking me from using Soul Linkage. I tried teleporting inside the pillars, but it proved to be a fruitless endeavor.

It seemed as though I was still not adept enough in my control over the laws to surpass whatever was blocking me from entering the pillars.

"If you know it's not your fault, then..."

My thoughts were interrupted by my mother's words.

"I'm going to make those responsible pay."

I declared calmly, maintaining eye contact with her. Before she even had the chance to say any more words, I waved my hand, and they both disappeared from my sight, along with my father's body.

It became quiet again.

"Now then."

I blinked, and the scenery before me changed.

I now stood in front of the pillar.

I clenched my fist tightly, focusing my energy and channeling the laws within my body.

Booom—!

A deafening boom resounded as my fist connected with the tower, sending ripples of energy throughout the world.

***

Crash—!

The space shattered, and Jezebeth appeared in front of Ren, his fist hurling right at his face.

Ren was able to avoid the attack by cocking his head to the side, and then he immediately launched a counterattack of his own.

Boom—!

The atmosphere would shake whenever the two of them engaged in combat, and at the moment, in the snowy plain they were in, the snow beneath them tore apart, exposing a patch of dark rock.

Boom—!

Ren's feet came crashing against the rock, creating a small crater beneath.

"You can try to hide it, but you can't fool me."

Suddenly, Jezebeth's voice resounded through the atmosphere, and his figure materialized directly above Ren.

With a gentle flutter, his hair scattered forward.

"Your decision to split yourself will prove costly for you. I can tell that your mana is rapidly depleting by the second. You don't have much time left…"

"That's fine."

Ren replied in a calm voice, his head raised and his eyes gazing deeply at Jezebeth.

There wasn't much of a change in his expression, but there was something about it that left Jezebeth restless.

It felt as if everything was under his control…

'Is there more to what he's already shown me?'

He wouldn't be surprised if he did, and just as he was about to say something, his entire body stiffened, and a small projection appeared in front of his eyes, depicting the happenings of one of the pillars.

"You… this…"

As he turned his head to look at Ren, the expression on his face changed into one of complete and utter shock.

Finally, Ren's lips curled.

"Surprised?"

Ren murmured as he cleaned his tattered and torn clothes.

"You didn't think for a second that he was capable enough of getting rid of your little babies? Let alone absorb the power that you tried giving them?"

Ren's words pierced Jezebeth's mind, and he secretly clenched his fist.

Rumble—! Rumble—!

The entire world started to tremble at that moment, and Jezebeth's gaze started to twist.

This response amused Ren as he suddenly materialized in front of him.

"What was it again?"

He asked, his calm voice echoing throughout the space.

"You called him soft hearted, but looking at you… you're not that different from him, aren't you?"

Boom—!

Jezebeth's entire body jerked backward when Ren's fist connected with his chest.

"You pose yourself as this ultimate ruler, but in reality, you're nothing but a soft hearted demon that wants an answer to some philosophical question that would probably go along the lines of… you were a mistake that was never meant to happen. You shouldn't have ever been born. You're like cancer that has grown too powerful to control…"

Each and every one of Ren's words echoed loudly within Jezebeth's head as he clenched his fist more tightly.

While he wanted to refute Ren's words, for some reason, he couldn't. It was as if… deep down, he knew that he was right.

That perhaps… his existence and his entire race's existence were one mistake that was never meant to happen.

Swoosh—!

Ren appeared directly behind Jezebeth and punched him in the back with the same force as before, causing Jezebeth's back to bend in the opposite direction.

Jezebeth was unable to react due to the rapidity of the events, and his body soon collided with the ground.

Boom—!

Snow was hurled into the air, and Ren appeared directly above the area where Jezebeth had been thrown.

"To think that someone like you, who has lived even longer than me, still feels something at the death of their subordinates. Honestly…"

Ren paused; his eyes wandered off into the distance, and he slowly turned his body. There, he spotted Jezebeth's outline.

Somehow, he was able to move all the way there without him noticing.

"…It's pathetic."

Swoosh—!!

A breeze blew past, and Jezebeth quietly remained where he was, his gaze fixed on Ren.

"Are you finished?"

Jezebeth asked, his voice sounding awfully calm.

Something about his words brought a sudden chill to the already chilly weather, and everything around them stopped still.

"Why do you… haaa…"

Jezebeth covered his face halfway through his sentence as he let out a short sigh.

"Why do you always…"

He was unable to finish his sentence again. This time, he let out a small laugh as his face slowly started to twist.

"Why do you always get in my way?"

Finally, he was able to complete his sentence, and by then, his expression had distorted beyond recognition. In contrast to his usual serenity, his expression was unusually twisted, and the world trembled before his power.

Rumble—! Rumble—!

"Why do you… resist me? I put everything, and I mean everything, into this, and yet… you, who doesn't even care about whether you live or die, still try to block my way?"

Jezebeth cocked his head.

"Why?"

He clenched his teeth.

"I am so close… Every time I'm so close to achieving my objective, someone is there to thwart me... why? Why is it this way?"

Raising his head, he frigidly glared at Ren and shouted.

"Why!?"

WOOOOM—!

At that instant, his power erupted from out of his body, and the mountains in the distance shook. Avalanches formed, and a white mist covered the entire plain.

"I just want answers… I'm not asking for much. I spent millions of years just for this one moment, and yet, when I'm closer than I have ever been in my life, it suddenly happens that it wasn't as close as I previously thought."

Jezebeth could see the end of the long tunnel he had walked through.

It was within arm's reach, but when he extended his hand to reach the tunnel, he discovered that the tunnel suddenly grew longer and the distance, which he had previously believed to be insignificant, became infinitely longer.

The feeling…

It left an awful taste in his mouth, and he couldn't stomach it.

His long repressed emotions burst out at that moment, and he let everything out.

"You say that I'm soft hearted… Maybe so, but it's because I'm not a coward."

He raised his head to stare directly at Ren.

"I don't run from the pain… from failure, and from everything that is against me because, trust me, what you've been through, I've been through it as well!"

His words echoed loudly throughout the entire plain.

He had to scratch and claw his way to where he was right now. The power he had, and everything that he had achieved…

He didn't magically become powerful out of nowhere.

No, he had to put up a fight to get where he was, and the price he paid for it wasn't a simple one.

He had lost everything.

Everything that he had ever cared for in the process of getting to where he was.

Ren may have gone through a lot, but so had he!

His race had been on the verge of extinction, and if not for him, they would've long since been erased.

He watched his parents die in front of his very eyes, and instead of mourning their loss or simply erasing his pain by removing his own emotions like a certain someone, he carried that weight to fuel himself forward.

"The difference between the two of us, Ren… is that I don't run away from pain. I embrace it and let it fuel me. I'm no coward like you!"

Rumble—! Rumble—!

The world quaked even more fiercely at his words as Jezebeth stared at Ren, who was quietly looking back at him.

Soon, Ren's mouth parted open, and a few words echoed quietly through the space.

"Tell me something that I don't know. I've long since known that I'm a coward, a failure… and funnily enough, it has never made my nights worse. There were other things keeping me from sleeping, and as you say, I may be a coward, but…"

Pressing his finger onto the space in front of him, a ripple formed in the air in front of him.

"…I'm a very strong one."

Boom—!