Chapter 5-Too Little too Late

Ren was racing against the clock, desperate to get to his mansion in Paradise City before it was too late. As he made his way to the mansion, fear and anxiety gripped him. The thought of losing his family, of losing his only sources of comfort and support, was too much for Ren to bear. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he quickly wiped them away. His mission was too important to let his emotions get the better of him now. With renewed determination, Ren pushed on towards Paradise City, resolute in fulfilling his mission and protecting his loved ones. With every step he took, Ren's fears and anxieties continued to grow. He was running out of time, and the odds seemed stacked against him. But he refused to give in to despair or give up. No matter what, he had to make it to his mansion in Paradise City, and he would do whatever it took to protect his family. His legs hurt from running so fast, his heart was racing, but he kept going, ignoring his pain and exhaustion, pushing himself to his limits. He was getting closer and closer to his destination, but time was of the essence. As Ren neared the mana powered tram, his thoughts grew more and more chaotic. He felt a mix of emotions, from desperation and fear to determination and hope. He knew he was on the cusp of accomplishing his mission, but he was afraid that he might be too late. Every second felt like an eternity, and Ren was filled with a sense of urgency and tension. He felt like he was about to burst, but he had to keep himself together. He had to make it to his house, he had to protect his family, no matter what.

While running Ren gets a call from Kiyoshi and picks it up. "Hey Ren, I'm guessing you saw the news, right?", "Yea I did I'm on my way home right now, I've almost made it to the tram station", "but the tram takes 1 hour!?, I can send a help request for some heroes, they would get there before you", "NO, NO HEROES, AT THIS POINT ANYTHING BUT THEM". There is a short awkward silence between them, but Kiyoshi doesn't push, "I don't know why you don't want me to call heroes, but I promise I won't, I'll try make it to your house myself, see you there", "Goodbye Ren", "yea bye." After a long journey, Ren finally arrives at the tram stop closest to his family's house. He waits for the tram to arrive and boards it, knowing that it will take him an hour to reach his destination. He is tense and anxious, constantly checking his watch and counting down the minutes until he arrives at his house. The wait feels like an eternity, but Ren stays focused on the task at hand. He cannot afford to make any mistakes or waste any time. As the minutes pass and the tram slowly makes its way to his family's house, Ren's nerves grow tighter and his unease increases. Finally, he reaches his stop and is in Paradise City.

As Ren bursts into the mansion, he is met with a horrifying sight. There are screams coming from inside, but they are not the screams of his family, but instead that of some servants. Ren is both relieved and disgusted by this fact. He had been so worried about losing his family, but now he knows that they are still alive, at least for now. He is also disgusted by the fact that servants, had been killed, and even though they were not his family, he felt guilty and responsible for the death of the innocent people. Ren took a few, hesitant steps into the mansion, unsure of what to do or where to go. He felt conflicted, both grateful that his family was still alive and heartbroken by the death of those innocent people. Despite his mixed emotions, he knew that he couldn't afford to be consumed by grief or guilt at this crucial moment. He must push forward, to find his family and to try to find a way to save them from their impending fate. He cannot let his feelings get in the way of his mission. As Ren processes the situation in front of him, he begins to feel less guilty and more relieved for the death of the servant. It is not that he does not feel any guilt or remorse for their death, but he feels that the situation could have been worse. If it had been one of his family members who had been killed, that would have been much worse than the death of the servant. In fact, he is somewhat relieved that it was the servant who had been killed and not one of his family members. He knows that this is not a good way to look at the situation, but he cannot help feeling this way. As Ren processes the situation in front of him, he begins to feel less guilty and more relieved for the death of the servant. It is not that he does not feel any guilt or remorse for their death, but he feels that the situation could have been worse. If it had been one of his family members who had been killed, that would have been much worse than the death of the servant. In fact, he is somewhat relieved that it was the servant who had been killed and not one of his family members. He knows that this is not a good way to look at the situation, but he cannot help feeling this way.

These feelings of relief and gladness over the death of the servant continue to grow and consume Ren's thinking. It is no longer a terrible thing, but rather something good that has happened. It is not that he thinks the death of anyone, including the servant, is a good thing, but the survival of his family takes priority in his mind. He sees the death of the servant as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good, and he does not feel bad about it. In fact, Ren has become so focused on rescuing his family, that he has completely lost sight of his moral compass and basic decency. Despite the relief he feels over the death of the servant, Ren tries to snap out of it. He knows that this way of thinking is not right and not who he really is. He tries to remind himself that the death of any person, whether they are a servant or not, is a tragedy and something that should never be taken lightly. But it is difficult, as the anxiety of losing his family is overwhelming and he cannot escape this twisted line of thinking. He keeps trying to bring himself back to his moral compass and basic sense of decency, but it is difficult when the fate of his family hangs in the balance. Despite trying to snap out of it, Ren continues to feel relieved and even glad about the death of the servant. He reminds himself that this way of thinking is not right, and it is not who he really is. However, the anxiety of losing his family is overwhelming, and he cannot escape this twisted line of thinking. He continues to try to bring himself back to his moral compass and basic sense of decency, but it is difficult when the fate of his family hangs in the balance and he just wants to save them no matter what.

After struggling to escape his twisted thoughts, Ren eventually snaps out of it. He realizes how wrong and twisted his thinking has become and rejects those thoughts and feelings that he has had about the death of the servant. He realizes that his morals and basic decency are more important than the fate of his family, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect them, but not at the cost of losing himself and his humanity. In that moment, he regains control over his mind and his actions, and he is ready to try and save his family. Ren is shocked by the scene he is confronted with. He has never seen anything like this before, and he fears for the worst. The blood stains and lifeless servants, all this is too much for Ren to handle. He races throughout the mansion, searching every room, checking every corner, looking for his father or brother. But as the moments tick by, Ren's hope begins to fade. He doesn't want to believe the worst-case scenario, but as he is unable to find any sign of his family, his worst fears begin to swell.

As Ren explores the mansion, he is greeted with a horrific sight. The entire house is covered in blood, splatters and smears of red coating the walls and floors. As he looks closer, he notices that the blood is not just anywhere, but rather it is concentrated around certain areas of the house, as if there had been some sort of struggle or fight. The sight is gruesome and unsettling, and it is clear that something terrible has happened in the mansion. Ren is stunned and speechless as he takes in the horrific scene in front of him. With a sense of shock and dread, Ren takes in the gruesome scene in front of him. He is speechless and stunned as he tries to make sense of the terrible scene in front of him. The blood and splattered red are not just anywhere but in certain areas of the house, as if there had been some sort of struggle or fight. What happened here? Who was responsible? These questions and more race through Ren's mind as he tries to make sense of the situation. He is desperate to know and needs to find out quickly if he has any hope of saving his family. As Ren surveys the blood covered scene, he can feel his heart beating faster. His sense of urgency and desperation grow as he tries to make sense of what happened here. The sight of so much blood and violence are unsettling, and Ren cannot help but fear the worst. Who could have done this? Why is there so much blood? What happened here? These questions and more dance through Ren's mind as he tries to piece together the truth and uncover the full extent of the carnage.

Ren's heart is racing as he tries to make sense of the carnage and violence in front of him. He has never seen anything like this before, and the sight is terrifying. He can feel himself begin to panic as he looks around for any sign of life, any sign that his family is still alive. But there is no movement, just pools of blood and smears of red on the walls and floor. Ren begins to fear the worst. He has to find his family, and he has to do it now. As Ren continues to walk through his house, the sight becomes even more gruesome than before. Among the smears of blood and spatters of red on the walls and floors, he begins to see bodies. These are not the bodies of his family, but rather servants who once lived in the mansion. They are lifeless, their faces frozen in death, their eyes closed in peace. Some have been more heavily mutilated than others, with various marks and injuries on their bodies. Ren takes in the horrific scene in front of him, his fears and doubts growing with every new gruesome sight. As Ren walks through the house with the bodies of the servants lying motionless on the floor, he can feel the weight of their loss and the guilt of his inaction. He may have been relieved that it was only a servant who had died at first, but that feeling has long since faded. He is just as horrified as he would be if his family had been killed, and he feels deeply guilty for feeling this way in the first place. He cannot afford to fall into despair or allow his feelings to overcome him now, he must press on and find his family before it is too late.

As Ren reaches the top floor of the house, he is greeted with a horrendous sight. On the floor in front of him are the corpses of his mother as well as his older brother Toji. His father is nearby, bleeding out and dying. Ren freezes in shock and grief with uncontrollable tears running down his face, unable to believe what he is seeing. Seeing Toji and his mother's corpses was already enough for him to feel more pain than he has ever experienced before, but he also saw the tiny...innocent corpse... Of his 8-year-old brother Kazuto, unable to handle the scene Infront of him, Ren looks away. Ren ran up to his father whose death was inevitable. Ren's eyes were blurry and now swollen due to the fountain of tears running down his face, "dad... I'm sorry... I'm sorry dad... I'm so sorry...Please forgive me... I should have listened to you... I'm sorry dad", Ren's voice now hoarse and croaking, could do nothing but make inaudible noises. "Son... Don't cry... I'm sorry I couldn't save our family...I was focused so much on saving the world that I forgot the to protect the things I cherished most please forgive me son... for I have met you down", both of the brave warriors started tearing up as Ryuji Kuzure, one of the greatest heroes the world had ever seen, Aswell as Ren's one and only father, was losing his life. Ren's father took something out of his pokey and gave it to Ren, it was a necklace/pendant, "this was your mother's, inside is a picture of our entire family, cherish it, and Ren...", he paused thinking if he should say it to Ren or not. "The job of the Rogue Syndicate remains unfinished, please Ren... Don't let our family's death be in vain...expose the bastards who did this to us... And save the world...before it's too late...that is mine as well as Toji's last wish, but please son, don't lose yourself in the process", "I promise dad...I will exact vengeance on the" heroes", and avenge our family... I will make them rue the day they decided to mess with our family... I'll do whatever it takes...goodbye dad... And tell everyone I love them alright?", Ryuji nods, and with that, he takes his last breath.

Ren walks up to his younger brother's corpse, holding his little body in his arms..."I'm sorry I was never there for you Kazuto, you all ways had the brightest smile, I'm sorry for not helping you with your magic, I'm sorry for only visiting once term, I'm sorry..., I'm sorry for everything"..., Ren sits there, laying his head on Kazuto chest and crying... Crying like he never had before. However, ... There seemed to be at least one hope left In the massacre before Ren's eyes... "thump, thump, thump", Ren's eyes widened in shock, "Kazuto... KAZUTO!?", his heart was beating...albeit slowly, but he was alive at least for now... Ren was never really a religious person, but in this moment, he was praying to every God he knew of, in hopes that Kazuto could somehow survive this horrific calamity which has befallen their family. Ren picked up his little brother's body and ran, he ran faster than he ever has before, he ran so fast that his legs were bleeding, he ran so fast... That he couldn't run anymore... Infront of him was the hospital... And he couldn't walk. He crawled...and crawled...and crawled... Until he reached the doors and entered... "PLEASE. ANYONE... HELP...MY BROTHER...MY BELOVED BROTHER IS DYING", with tears continuing to run down his face, he Continued screaming, until he couldn't anymore, eventually the fatigue of this catastrophic day had caught up to him...and he was knocked unconscious. Just as he did, Lisa, Aswell as Kiyoshi appeared behind him, as if they were like his guardian angels, Kiyoshi picked up Kazuto and took him to get help, he had never met Lisa, but somehow, he felt that he could leave Ren in her hands... Both brothers were admitted to the hospital... Whether both survived? That's for you to find out yourself dear reader.