Ren looked at the Volcanic Knuckle Dusters, then lifted his head with silent resolve. Power began to gather from the surroundings, building into a growing pressure that expanded outward, with Ren at its center.
The bandana-clad lackeys of Base Leader Tess felt the pressure, and their minds shut down instinctively to protect themselves. One after another, they fainted and collapsed like sacks of potatoes.
Seeing this, Ren reined in the pressure and felt the remaining five pearls burn up faster. It seemed the base spirit had sensed his aura and begun searching for his exact location.
As if on cue, a message from the pearls appeared:
[Planetary-level consciousness sweeping the area. Time deducted. Remaining time: 2 minutes.]
Suddenly, the remaining five pearls burst apart and formed a protective layer of coating over Ren.
Wasting no time, Ren moved directly into the inner room of the town hall where Tess and the woman were located, without checking anything else inside the building.
At the center of the room stood a bed, placed like a display. Five naked women lay atop it, twitching as residual electrical currents crackled through their bodies. It was impossible to tell whether they were alive or dead. Ren glanced at them without emotion, then focused on the back of Tess's head.
He pulled his fist all the way back to build momentum and punched without any technique.
The expected impact never came.
As the aura from the Volcanic Knuckle Dusters reached the back of Tess's head, his body began turning to ash before the blow could land. The fist passed through empty air. The aura continued and reduced the naked woman beneath Tess to ash as well, releasing her from the torture.
The punch carried on and struck the bed. Instead of turning to ash immediately, the bed ignited, engulfed in white-hot flames that swallowed it and the women lying on it.
Before any of the women who might still have been alive could scream, they were burned into oblivion, leaving not even ash behind.
The fist continued downward, smashing through the burning bed and finally striking the floor. The floor dented, shaped exactly like Ren's fist and the Knuckle Dusters, as cracks spread outward, forming a growing web of fissures.
A light flashed from the center of the impact, attempting to repair and suppress the damage. However, the fissures continued to spread, extending beyond the city hall and forming an oval-shaped rupture.
As the cracks widened, lava surged upward from within, burning everything it touched. The city was lifted from its stagnant despair as chaos erupted across the affected area.
People began evacuating toward safer zones, and amid the disorder, some took advantage of the chaos to push bandana-clad enforcers into the lava-filled fissures.
The death toll among civilians rose sharply. Each death added points to Ren's Unlucky Roulette.
Ren, however, paid no attention. His focus was on escaping. As the fissures near the fist imprint began repairing themselves, and the consciousness of the base spirit felt dangerously close to locating him.
The protective layers around Ren started to crack and burst like fireworks in a countdown. The first layer broke after thirty seconds. The second shattered twenty seconds after that. The third at fifteen. Then ten. Then five.
Ren did not stay still after the punch he had landed on the ground of the inner room. He dashed out of the city hall, planning to fly out.
He crouched and launched himself upward. Midair, the first layer shattered. Just as he was about to touch the invisible dome marking the city's boundary, something seized his ankle and yanked him downward. His other leg was immediately bound by the same unseen force.
Ren looked down but saw nothing. It felt like invisible, telekinetic tentacles, yet there was also a disturbing sense that whatever held him was alive—beyond what he could perceive.
Clenching his fists, he bent forward, trying to tear free or shake his legs loose. He punched at the air around his ankles, but his fists passed through as if nothing was there.
The second layer shattered.
Only three layers remained.
Ren struggled midair against the unseen restraint while citizens fled across the ground below.
The tentacles began wrapping around his remaining limbs.
As the grip tightened and pulled outward, Ren screamed in agony, "AAAAAGGGGHHHHH". His suit muted the sound, offering no protection from the pain or from whatever was restraining him.
Then came four wet popping sounds of his joints that were freed, followed by a tearing sound of his skin, and layers of muscles.
His third layer shattered.
Ren fell free—at the cost of his limbs. Only his torso and head remained. Still conscious, he watched the ground rush toward him.
Gritting his teeth, Ren forced himself to fly. His movement was unstable, swaying up and down as if drunk, but it worked in his favor, preventing the invisible tentacles from binding him again.
He could feel his power leaking from his open wounds, which had begun closing and regenerating at a microscopic level.
The fourth layer shattered.
A sudden unseen strike carved into his back, forcing the air from his lungs. His face tightened as he fought to stay conscious, his skin turning pale as he strained to breathe.
Ren did not give in.
Using the last burst of energy remaining in his body, he hurled himself headfirst into the light marking City 05—and his form shattered into motes of light.