Minutes before the explosion, outside of the dome.
"Jin, you're here."
Kevin approached Jin.
Looking left and right, he asked.
"Have perhaps you seen Ren anywhere?"
Staring at the large translucent barrier covering the dome, Jin shook his head.
"No."
"Strange..." Kevin murmured. "I thought he'd be here already since he left earlier than me."
Having left before him, Kevin assumed that Ren had already left the dome.
'Perhaps he's already left the area?'
Though Plausible, Kevin shook his head.
Even if he chose to go back, he wouldn't have gotten far. Especially since Ren only left a minute before him.
Most likely, he was still roaming around here somewhere or was with a professor.
"Hey, you two! Help out over here!"
"..uh?"
Snapping Kevin out of his thoughts was a rough voice. Turning his head, Kevin spotted a professor in the distance.
With one hand touching the blue barrier, using his right hand, the professor motioned him and Jin to go to him.
Kevin immediately rushed to the professor. Jin silently followed from behind.
"How may I help you?"
"How is your mana reserve?"
The professor asked.
"Half."
"Good...you?"
The professor turned his attention to Jin.
Squinting his eyes for a second, Jin eventually responded.
"...About the same."
"Hm, that's perfect, I need you both to channel your mana inside of the barrier."
"Channel our mana inside of the barrier?"
"Mhm, we need as many helping hands as possible. This is the only way we can contain the large explosion from affecting the civilians that have come today."
The instructor's voice became serious.
"You understand how serious the situation is, right?"
If the explosion was not contained, many of the people that had come to attend the tournament would die. Especially since the majority couldn't defend themselves. Not everyone was a powerful hero.
"Understood."
Kevin's back straightened.
Convinced by the instructor's words, Kevin immediately placed his hand on the barrier and injected his mana into it. Jin did as well.
By the side, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, the instructor thought for a moment before asking.
"Want some?"
"No, thank you"
Taken aback for a second, Kevin refused.
Even though smoking was not something that would affect his health as it did in the past, Kevin hated the smell.
Many people had a different way to deal with anxieties. Although the instructor next to Kevin was trying to put on a brave front, Kevin knew that deep down he was scared.
Perhaps the cigarette was the only way he could deal with the anxiety.
"You?"
He then turned to Jin.
"..."
"Guess you also don't want some...sucks for you."
Grumbled the instructor. Flicking his fingers, the cigarette lit up.
Puff.
Smoke slowly rose in the air.
"Haaa...nothing beats a nice cigarette"
"Hm?...what the"
Staring at the smoke that was floating in the air, Kevin's brows suddenly knit. Turning his attention back to the instructor he asked.
"...Why haven't they shut down the broadcast yet?"
Displayed on the opposite building to him was a large monitor.
On it, Kevin could see the images of some of the students desperately running away for their life.
With a couple of students in their arms, Kevin could also see some professors rushing towards the entrance of the dome.
"I'm also not su—"
"...Hm? Isn't that Ren?"
Murmured Kevin, cutting off the instructor mid-sentence. This anger the instructor a bit, but Kevin did not seem to care.
Staring at the scene displayed on the screen in the distance, Kevin all of a sudden noticed something odd.
Blinking a couple of times to comprehend the situation, his body suddenly froze.
"W-what."
Opening his mouth, like a goldfish, Kevin's jaw moved up and down repeatedly. But no sound escaped from his mouth.
'What is he doing there? Wasn't he supposed to already be here? Didn't he already arrive? This must be an illusion. What is going on?!"
For a short second, millions of thoughts ran through his mind. It was only after that he realized what was happening that he opened his mouth and screamed.
"REE——!"
—BOOOOOOOM!
Kevin's desperate voice was quickly drowned out by the large explosion that erupted within the dome. Taking his hand off the barrier, Kevin watched in despair as Ren's figure slowly disappeared within the flames.
Next to him, Jin was also staring at the monitor's in the distance. Because his face never changed, no one knew what he was feeling.
...but if someone looked closely.
They'd see his fists clenched tightly. So tightly that they were shaking.
***
At the same time, inside of the Lock private waiting room.
"W-what's Ren doing over there!"
Emma suddenly cried out in shock.
On the screen opposite to her was Ren's figure staring into the camera. Falling on his knees, he mumbled something to the camera.
Everyone in the room could see his face. It was without question Ren.
Then.
—BOOOOOOOM!
A defeating explosion rang, and the whole room shook. Because they were quite far from the dome, the aftershockes of the explosion were so strong that the windows trembled unctrontrollably. It was as though they were in the middle of an earthquake.
Even so, no one cared. That was because their eyes were glued on the TV screen in front of them.
Slowly, everyone in the room watched as Ren's body was enveloped by the thick and raging flames coming from the explosion.
"...kh"
Staring at the scene for a short second, Melissa grit her teeth and turned her head to the side.
She couldn't watch the scene any longer. Though her head was usually always clear, at this moment her mind was a mess. Many thoughts crossed her mind as she wondered...
'Did Ren just die?'
Despite her ability to comprehend the most complex problems in the world, for the first time in her life, Melissa found something she couldn't comprehend.
"...just w-hat?"
Emma too showed a similar reaction. Turning her head sideways, she also stopped herself from watching the TV screen.
Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to supress her screams. Even then, as if her throat was dry, no words escaped from her mouth.
"..."
On the other hand, unlike the other two, Amanda's eyes never left the screen. Out of the three, she was the only one that watched the whole thing from the beginning.
Like a statue, her eyes remained fixed on the television screen. Amanda's mind was completely numb at this point.
She couldn't comprehend, process, grasp, what was happening. What had she just witnessed?
Ren couldn't be dead right?
Breathing started to become more laborious for Amanda, and before she knew it, tears had already started falling by the side of her cheeks.
Opening her mouth, in an almost inaudible voice, Amanda hoarsely muttered.
"...Liar. "
***
"Noooooo!"
Inside of a relatively large apartment, a high-pitched scream rang out.
"Ren!"
Staring at the TV screen in front of her, like a crazed person, Samantha Dover, Ren's mother grabbed the TV screen and shouted.
"No, not my son! Anyone but my son! Give me my son back! Give him back to me!"
Screaming, tears had already started falling by the side of her face.
"Mama?"
Being only two years old, Nola couldn't comprehend a lot. But even then, seeing the state her mother was in, Nola understood that something wasn't right.
Slowly she too started to cry.
"Maama...whaaa!"
Blankly sitting on a sofa opposite to them, bearing a striking resemblance to Ren, was Ronald Dover, his father. He wasn't a many of many words, but that didn't mean that he didn't love his family.
No.
In fact he loved his family tremendously. The only reason he was still working at a run-down guild that was filled with debt was because of his family.
But.
"...Ren."
Staring at his wife and daughter crying in front of the TV screen before him, tears started streaming down his cheeks.
Immense guilt washed over him. He had so many regrets.
'If only I had been a better father...'
He only had one wish.
'Son… my son… I'm so sorry, I hope you have a better father in your next life….'
***
...14 hours later.
Clank!
Donna barged into the room by flinging the door open.
Inside of a room filled with monitors, she met a familiar face.
"...Good morning, Donna"
Surveillance department head, Johnattan Morrison.
They were reunited after last seeing each other during their academy days.
"..."
Without saying any greetings, Donna approached one of the monitors. Displayed on it were Ren's last moments.
When she saw Ren getting engulfed by the flames, she clenched her teeth.
The one student that she had been privately training for the past few months, and had gotten close with.
"Do you have any ideas how he got into such situation?"
Donna asked.
She was trying to maintain her composure throughout the entire time.
"Not yet. There's a lot of angles that we have to look through."
The dome was large.
There were over a thousand students as well. It would take a couple of days to understand what had happened. Especially since the camera's tended to switch.
"This was the Monolith wasn't it?"
"...most likely."
Donna apathetically responded.
Having caputered eight of the people involved, Donna was prepared to get an answer. Although all signs pointed towards the Monolith, there were no clear indications that it was them.
...that was because all of the parties involved that were caught had no trace of demonic energy within their system.
Even so.
That did not apply to the four of the eight students she had caught. Though faint, there were traces of demonic energy in their bodies.
What she was wondering was now, how were they able to get in? Typically if any sign of demonic energy was detected, the security system would quickly find it and alert them.
This time, it didn't work.
Was it a flaw of the system or was there something new at play?
"Is he someone you know?"
Snapping Donna out of her thoughts was Johnattan's voice.
Having observed Donna for the past minute, he could Donna's eyes repeatedly moving towards a certain screen.
"...He was my student."
Donna said after struggling to find the right words. Her eyes reddened slightly.
"I see, I'll try my best to let you know in a couple of days."
Johnattan sighed softly.
Never had he seen Donna, who used to shine so brightly in this state before. He must've been an exceptional student.
"I'll let you know if I can find anything."
"...Thank you."
