Damion was the first to react. His eyes blown wide, his pupils needle-pricks of panic, he attempted to trigger his signature teleportation. The space around him began to warp, the air shimmering like a heat mirage. But the mana didn't obey. The surrounding energy was no longer a free resource; it was a loyal subject returning to its true King. Ren didn't even look at him; he simply closed his fist in the air, and the fabric of space snapped back into place with the sound of breaking glass.
"Going somewhere, Damion?" Ren's voice was a low, vibrating growl that shook the marrow in their bones.
Before Seth or Argo could even draw a breath to plead, Ren's hands shot out. His fingers, still gaunt and grey, clamped onto their throats with the finality of iron manacles.
"Father, please!" Seth choked out, his hands clawing uselessly at Ren's wrists.
"Why run?" Ren asked, his head tilting with a predatory curiosity. "You've spent a thousand years acting in my name. You've gorged yourselves on the fear of the weak. Surely you understood that eventually, the bill would come due. You aren't more powerful than me. You are merely... extensions of my shadow."
Ren didn't just kill them; he unmade them. A low, haunting hum filled the chamber as a thick, swirling grey mist began to leak from Seth and Argo's eyes, nostrils, and mouths. This was their life essence, the stolen mana, the centuries of refined power, the very fabric of their souls. Their skin began to pucker and shrivel in real-time, turning into the color of wet ash.
Kenji watched, paralyzed, as the two Adjons beings who could level cities withered into hollowed-out husks of leather and bone. When Ren finally let go, they didn't fall like bodies; they drifted to the floor like empty cocoons, weightless and discarded.
Ren didn't wait for the others to mourn. He didn't need to walk. He stepped into the shadows of the temple and simply ceased to be there.
Across the world, the remaining brothers felt the reaper's breath. In the high spires of their frozen palaces and the dark depths of their hidden fortresses, the "Wolves" were hunted.
Ren moved like a flicker of moonlight across a blade. One brother was found in the middle of a desert, his mastery over the sands rendered useless as Ren turned the very molecules of the earth into a tomb.
"What is the meaning of this, Father?!" the brother shrieked, his voice cracking as he saw the same grey mist begin to leak from his pores. "We did everything for you! We kept your legacy alive!"
Ren appeared behind him, his body now visibly fuller, the youthful muscle weaving itself back together over his frame. He leaned into the brother's ear, his breath cold as a winter grave.
"What? Is it only okay when you do it to others because you're the 'big bad wolf'?" Ren mocked, his laughter a dry, rattling sound. He gripped the back of his son's head, his fingers sinking into the skull. "You played the wolf for too long, little one. You forgot that in the hierarchy of monsters, wolves meet a dragon today."
With a sudden, violent surge of light, the brother's entire existence was vacuumed into Ren's palm. The dragon was no longer hungry. He was becoming whole.
Ren has consumed his legacy, and now he stands ready to consume the world.
Kenji, barely clinging to life in the ruins of the temple, looked at the sky. "If there is such a thing as a god... how is this fair?"
Ren returned to the center of his former prison, preparing to consume the life of every living soul on Earth. But suddenly, time stopped. The screaming wind died. The world turned a blinding, perfect white.
A figure appeared, a being of absolute perfection.
"You think you're a god, huh?" the figure asked. "If you are a god... what does that make me?"
Ren didn't flinch. He prepared to strike. "Your illusion magic won't work on me! Who are you!?"
The figure laughed, a sound like a thousand bells. "How many times have I killed you and brought you back? Oh, my mistake, you, a so-called god, wouldn't know."
The figure reached out and touched Ren's forehead. Ren's vision was placed somewhere else. He saw his own body being destroyed and mended, over and over, through an eternity of loops he could never remember.
"I AM THE GOD," the figure declared. "First, you impersonate me. Second, you try to reset my world? The God scrutinized Ren. When you found that ancient scroll that gave you this power, who do you think gave it to you? You were the main character of this story until you strayed away from my plans for you and started killing people.
I gave you centuries to change, but you chose this. I was waiting for this moment because I cannot judge until the action is done."
Ren fell to his knees, trembling.
"Listen, Ren. You had a good run, but I've found a new character I like."
"You're... replacing me?" Ren stammered. "I beg for your forgiveness!"
The God smirked. "Ren Adjon, begging? Ha! Well, you had one great idea: this place should be reset because you and your kids ruined it. But you won't be the lead. I'm changing the setting, too. Something different. Let's try... a 2010 style."
The God tapped his chin. "And here's a fun idea: in the next world, no matter what you do, you will be seen as the scum of the earth. You'll have to work ten times harder than anyone else just to survive. And don't worry, you'll keep your memories of who you used to be."
"Wait! That's unfair! Don't do this to me!" Ren screamed as his form began to dissolve.
"But for now," the God ignored him, turning to the broken boy on the floor. "Kenji needs a better life."
With a snap of his fingers, Ren vanished into the void. Kenji's broken body disappeared, replaced by a soft warmth.
"Kenji, my new Main Character. I will give you a life of happiness and joy. Go and enjoy yourself. I'll take these heavy memories from you."
The God snapped his fingers.
A boy woke up in a soft bed.
He was six years old. He looked at his small hands, squished his cheeks, and laughed for a reason he couldn't quite name. He tumbled out of bed and ran into the living room, where the smell of breakfast filled the air. His parents and his older brother were waiting.
"Thomas! Come and eat your food," his mother called.
The boy suddenly burst into tears. He didn't know why, but his heart felt so full it was almost painful.
"What's wrong, Thomas?" His family rushed over, faces full of genuine concern.
"I'm just... I'm just happy," he sobbed, throwing his arms around his mother's neck.
"Aww, sweetheart, you're so cute," she whispered, squeezing him tight while his father and brother laughed.
"Now come on, eat up! Your favorite show is about to start."
Thomas sat down, a radiant smile on his face. He felt joy, uncomplicated joy as if he were meeting the world for the very first time.