After dropping Hikari at the gates of the school, Renji turned toward the guild district. The city felt different today.
He stopped in front of a monolith of glass and steel. A green logo, aggressive and sharp, loomed over the entrance: [Raging Dragon Guild].
Renji hesitated. His skin prickled, a low, persistent vibration in the back of his skull. It wasn't just the dungeon. Something else was moving in the city shadows.
"Right on time, Mr. Kurozawa."
Takayama appeared from the lobby, his smile too wide, too practiced. He reached out for a handshake that Renji barely returned. "They're heading out now."
Renji looked past him. Six men were approaching. They walked with the heavy, rhythmic stride of veterans who had seen too many gates. At the front was Kenzo. He was a wall of a man, an oversized slab of steel resting on his shoulder and a cigarette clamped between his teeth.
"Who are they?" Renji asked.
"Your team."
"Six?" Renji looked at the small group.
"That's it?"
Takayama patted his shoulder, a gesture that felt like a shove. "Relax. They're professionals. Quality over quantity, right?"
"Hey, new guy!" Kenzo's voice was a gravelly roar. He pointed a thick finger at Renji. "Get over here."
Renji sighed and moved toward them.
"The E-rank?" Kenzo asked, exhaling a cloud of grey smoke.
"That's me," Renji said. He kept his expression flat, a secret, jagged smile tucked away.
"Then grab the gear." Kenzo jerked his chin toward a pile of heavy crates. "This is a smash-and-grab. There's a crystal in there worth a million. We get the haul and we get out."
Renji hoisted the weight onto his back. He looked at Takayama's retreating back. A crystal run. They weren't there to clear the gate; they were there to loot it. Takayama just needed a body to carry the weight.
Fine. Renji needed souls. If the world was going to burn, he needed to be the one holding the torch.
Hunter Administration Council (H.A.C.)
"Sir, the Special Forces are approaching Tsushima Island."
A pillar of blue light was visible even from the coast, a bridge between worlds. Beasts were pouring out, a tide of high-level mana signatures. Twenty of Japan's best were already on the ground.
"Is Fireborn with them? We can't afford a mistake here."
"Checking now, sir."
Fushimi-ku Street: C-Rank Gate
The blue vortex hummed as the team gathered.
"Listen," Kenzo warned, his hand on the hilt of his greatsword. "We aren't clearing. We hit the Boss Territory, grab the crystal, and move. Kill what you have to, but don't waste the tank."
As they stepped through, the world turned into a nightmare of damp stone and freezing air. Renji trailed behind, the crates on his back silent. The Boss Territory. He watched the shadows. If he woke the Boss, he could claim its soul while the others scrambled.
Suddenly, a wave of pressure hit. It wasn't a sound, but a vibration that rattled their teeth.
"What is that?" Kenzo gasped, dropping to one knee.
A second pulse followed. It felt like a giant's heartbeat, slow and suffocating. The hunters collapsed, clutching their chests as their hearts tried to match the violent rhythm of the dungeon.
[System: High-Rank Beast detected. Projection of cardiac intimidation. C-Rank or Low B-Rank signature.]
Renji knelt, pretending to struggle, but his mind was sharp. He released a sliver of his own aura, a needle of cold dark to pop the bubble of pressure around him.
[Behind you, Renji!]
Renji spun.
A man in a black suit stood there, hands in his pockets. He wore sunglasses in the dark, a cruel, familiar grin stretching across his face.
"Hey, Renji Kurozawa."
The aura coming off the man was A-rank—a crushing, physical weight. Renji stared, his mind racing through faces from a life he thought he'd burned. The realization hit him like a punch to the gut.
"Darius," Renji whispered.
The man—Hoshino now—laughed. He began to walk a slow, leisurely circle around Renji. The six hunters were still on the floor, paralyzed by the sheer rank difference.
"Why the long faces?" Hoshino mocked, glancing at the frozen hunters.
Kenzo forced himself up, his legs shaking.
"Who... who the hell are you?"
Hoshino's smile turned razor-thin. He pressed his hand toward the floor. In a spray of stone and ice, jagged blue spikes erupted from the ground. They moved faster than the eye could follow, skewering the hunters where they knelt. Kenzo was first—the ice punched through his chest, freezing him solid before he could even scream.
Renji's fists tightened, but he didn't move. A Multi-Elementalist. A-Rank.
Hoshino turned back to Renji, stepping over the frozen corpses. "You've changed."
Renji let the supply bag slide off his shoulders. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
"How did you get here, Darius?"
"Oh, it was easy." Hoshino chuckled. "I killed them. The students, the elders... once I hit one hundred percent of my elements, they were just clutter. I came to Japan as a B-rank. Everyone trusts the hero. Soon, the President dies, and this country is my playground."
Renji felt the bile rise in his throat. This wasn't the boy he remembered. This was a monster.
"Kerry Fireborn. Renji Kurozawa. Pathetic."
Hoshino pulled a pair of black gloves from his pocket. "Everyone thinks you're dead. Elder Kael told your mother you died in the hunt."
Renji's breath hitched. "Mom..."
"Yeah. Your mom. She died three years ago. And your father? He's here in Japan."
Renji's vision blurred. The grief was a physical weight, crushing his ribs.
"She died three years ago," Hoshino repeated, savoring the words. "And your dad... he's a big-shot Special Hunter now. He's at Tsushima Island. None of them are coming back."
Renji's aura exploded. A dark, chaotic plume of power rippled through the air. "Enough."
Hoshino pulled his gloves on. He drew two sleek, black pistols. "Let's keep it simple. I won't use my elements. Just the lead and the fist." He leveled the guns. "These are poisonous. Faster than the wind, too."
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Renji was a blur. He dodged the first three rounds, the bullets hissing past his ears. He closed the distance in a heartbeat, appearing behind Hoshino. He snapped a kick toward the man's neck.
Hoshino didn't even turn. He caught the leg with a gloved fist and swung Renji backward, launching him into the air. He leapt, meeting Renji at the apex and driving a brutal punch into his stomach.
Renji slammed into the stone floor. The impact shattered the rock.
[Vitality: 65%. Severe internal trauma.]
Renji coughed, a spray of red hitting the dirt. He couldn't move. Hoshino walked over and knelt, pressing the cold barrel of the gun against Renji's forehead.
"Your mom was a brave lady," Hoshino whispered. "She tried to stop me when I went after those orphans who bullied me."
Renji gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with a helpless, jagged rage.
"I had to stab her," Hoshino laughed. "She didn't die fast enough, so I took her hands. She was screaming for you, Renji. I wish you could have heard it."
Renji's eyes shook, the grief turning into a cold, murderous vacuum. Hoshino slapped him, then pressed the barrel harder against his skin.
"Then I opened her throat. She's waiting for you."
PAW!