Ren: The Destroyer

I hastily ran back toward the battlefield, stumbling as my view of Ren unblurred.

Yet as I reached the edge of the arena, my face crashed into something I couldn’t see. I was thrust back amidst the sudden attack on my nose.

An uncanny warmth rushed through my head, as it felt like a flood of blood surged from my nose.

My vision began to fade, while my eyes started to roll back.

What happened? There wasn’t anything in front of me. Had I been beaten even outside of the arena? By what?

How worthless.

“Khrom’s magnificent, isn’t he?”

Izumi’s remark brought me back to life. I pushed against my armour and the pain that weighed me down, staggering back onto both legs. I was breathing hard, each grasp sharp and shaky, like I’d just surfaced from almost drowning.

I knew I would have normally quit right there, but Ren was in trouble and needed my help.

“Ren! Hold off a little long–”

SMASH!

Whatever it was, it harshly struck me again. Harder this time. Pushing me closer to a state of unconsciousness.

“Izumi!” I bellowed with what gasps of air I had left in me.

“What are you doing here? How come you aren’t still with Ren?”

“Khrom’s magnificent, isn’t he?”

Izumi appeared unphased by my shouting. She remained frozen, arms crossed and looking overly calm. She didn’t even look my way. Her eyes were fixated only on Ren – well, Khrom. Her gaze never left him, not once.

“Khrom’s magnificent, isn’t he?” she said again, as if nothing was wrong. Nothing but her mouth moved as she spoke. Her eyes didn’t even blink once.

If she wasn’t going to do anything, I had to find a way to overcome this unforeseen force that viciously stalked me by myself.

“Taro, stop it. It’s pointless!” Ren roared as he disgustingly mutilated a goblin in two.

“What do you mean, Ren?”

“You’re not fighting anyone. It’s obviously an invisible wall.” Ren briefly stopped talking as he brutalised more goblins with his bare hands.

Although he needed to stay focused, I couldn’t understand what he meant by that. I needed to know what he meant. If he knew what was happening, he must’ve known how I could get through.

“How can I get through it?”

I could see Ren chuckling to himself. I couldn’t tell whether he was laughing at me or the ugly faces of the goblins that surrounded him. He glanced at me, half-turned and looking strangely optimistic.

“You can’t, idiot. Once you reach the end, that’s it – you’ve completed the level, you can’t come back.”

Despite having seen Ren impressively take down several more goblins, I couldn't rid myself of the thought that he was still vulnerable. If he died here, he wouldn't return to either world.

“Well…hurry up and get here so you’re safe.”

“No,” Ren declared dismissively.

Before I could respond with yet another emotive cry, he explained why, justifying his decision and trying to reassure me that he was going to be okay.

“Don’t worry about me, Taro. I’ve already levelled up enough for these goblins to pose absolutely no threat to me. I’m going to spend some more time here so I can level up more. If I maximise levelling up here, it’ll ensure that the next mission is easier for us.”

Although I didn’t really understand much about video games, his logic made perfect sense. If he said this was going to make our journey easier, then I was going to trust him.

So I sat and watched.

Ren tore through the goblins like a man possessed. Blood sprayed in chaotic arcs as his fists crashed into their skulls, his movements barbaric and unrelenting. Each blow echoed with a sickening crack.

Piles of goblin waste began to grow more rapidly as time went on. He tried new methods every now and then as well. Sometimes he tore off their limbs, other times he destroyed them with just one punch.

The scene was more gory than anything I’d ever witnessed.

Yet his face never flinched. If anything, it lit up with something far worse than rage. His eyes were wide, almost glowing, and there was a twisted grin curling on his lips.

I watched, frozen, taken aback by his smile.

He looked…angry. Angrier than I’d ever seen him before. But there was something else there too – something darker. It wasn’t just fury driving him. He was enjoying it.

I knew Ren. I knew he loved playing games with gore and action. But this? This didn’t feel like him.

In that moment…he scared me.

I must have been sitting there for almost an hour. Ren didn’t stop. The smile on his face never faded once. I began to feel uncomfortable and tired as my ears grew used to the cries of the goblins who stood no chance against Ren’s fists.

“Ren!” I yelled to get his attention for the first time in however long.

“I’m going to rest over there, okay? Please wake me up once you are finished here.”

“Okay.”

Ren didn’t even look at me this time. His eyes remained wide with a crazed satisfaction, fixated on his prey.

As I walked away I suddenly remembered what led me out of that arena in the first place. Shouldn’t my left foot have been hurting as well?

Having inspected my leg and foot armour, I realised there were no bite marks. No holes, no blood…nothing.

I let out a nervous laugh and dragged my hand down my face in frustration, pressing hard as if I could rub the discomfort away. I must’ve been so scared that I pre-emptively screamed, lying to myself that I was hurt so I could bolt away from the goblins.

I then turned to Izumi who was still standing in the same position.

“Izumi, shouldn’t you get some–Never mind.”

I lowered my gaze and ambled off by myself, away from the arena.

I found it strange that even in this world I needed sleep. I thought that, given the concept, we wouldn’t have to sleep.

But who am I to question the mechanical logic of this game? We have already defied everything considered normal just by coming here, so there isn’t anything I can really question. Whatever happens, happens, I guess.

I finally reached an adequate distance away from Ren’s blaring playground.

With a tired sigh, I curled up near a jagged rock. My armour, which, for some reason I couldn’t take off, clinked faintly as I wrestled myself to the floor, squirming and shifting in awkward jerks until I found a position just comfortable enough.

It was far too warm. I didn’t feel very safe. But it was the best I could find.

Eventually, faster than I had in a long time, I fell asleep.