Chapter: 19
It was as if the night itself held its breath.
The crickets had gone silent. The faint winds that had rustled through the trees ceased entirely. Even the moon above seemed swallowed by heavy clouds, leaving the alley where Renji, Choji, Lily, and Tang Shi stood draped in an oppressive darkness.
But none of that mattered now.
Because the source of terror was not the night. It was the boy who stood in the center of it—Renji.
Tang Shi staggered backward, clutching at his chest as if his very soul was on fire. His face, usually sharp with arrogance and mockery, was twisted into sheer horror. Beads of sweat cascaded down his pale cheeks, his breath ragged, his lips trembling.
In his mind, he had already died—thousands upon thousands of deaths.
Each death was worse than the last.
Each scream was his own.
Each blade that pierced him carried with it not just pain, but despair.
And the worst part...the part that shattered him—was that none of it was real. Renji hadn't moved. He hadn't spoken more than a few words. The torment was all in his mind, yet it felt more vivid, more unbearable, than reality itself.
Tang Shi collapsed to one knee, his dagger slipping from his grasp, clattering uselessly against the stone street. His body shook violently, his voice a broken whisper.
"W-What… what are you…?"
His eyes locked onto Renji—those eyes that now glowed with molten gold, burning with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the veil of mortality itself.
Renji's expression was unreadable, his presence suffocating. He tilted his head ever so slightly, his voice low, reverberating with a power that did not belong to him alone.
"What am I…?"
A pause. A stillness. The world seemed to bend toward that single moment.
"I am Januza."
The name dropped like a blade into Tang Shi's chest.
His pupils dilated in disbelief. His mouth opened, but no sound came out for a moment. When his voice finally broke free, it was a strangled cry of shock
A year ago tang shii suspicion over the SSS ranked dungeon... He recalled the dungeon boss calling Renji januza it didn't add up - NO! who is this januza ? it didn't make sense and so .. he did his research searching books upon books until he came across a book called the battle of the Gods
A story where a single being took on 6 gods and then.. vanished from all existence
No!! No !!
"N-No… it can't be… That name…"
His hands trembled violently as he pointed at Renji, as though naming him would banish the reality before him.
"Januza… that name should not exist anymore! He was erased—erased from existence from every history! No one knew that name except from the high profile hunters He—he was a myth, a curse whispered among hunters…"
His voice faltered, his arrogance gone. His body shook as if weighed down by chains.
"No… no! It's impossible! Januza was… was—"
Before Tang Shi could finish, Renji moved.
It was not movement that the human eye could comprehend. It was something faster, sharper—a ripple in space itself, a flash that carved through reality.
One moment Renji stood across the broken cobblestones, his golden gaze fixed on Tang Shi. The next, he was in front of him, so close that Tang Shi could see his reflection in those infernal eyes.
Tang Shi barely had time to gasp before agony flooded his body.
Renji's hand, glowing with golden mana, had pierced through his chest. Blood sprayed into the air, crimson against the black night.
Choji and Lily froze in horror. Lily's trembling voice cut through the silence.
"O-Oni-chan…"
Her knees buckled, tears streaming down her face as she clutched Choji's arm for support.
Choji's jaw was clenched, his eyes wide. He had seen hunters fight, seen blood spill, but this—this was different. What Renji was doing was not a fight. It was judgment.
Tang Shi's scream tore through the night. His entire body convulsed as golden flames spread from Renji's arm, consuming him from within.
But even as his flesh burned, even as his vision blurred, he realized something more terrifying than death.
Renji's lips weren't moving.
He wasn't chanting.
He wasn't even exerting effort.
This power was absolute. Effortless.
Tang Shi's voice cracked. His pride was gone. His arrogance shattered. His plea was desperate, primal.
"What are you?! WHAT ARE YOU?!"
The words echoed, desperate, as though by screaming them he could make sense of the nightmare before him.
Renji lifted his gaze, his golden eyes burning brighter than the stars above. His voice came forth—not entirely his own, but something deeper, resonant, ancient.
It was layered, as though countless voices spoke through him at once. Male, female, old, young—an eternal chorus bound to one truth.
"I am Januza."
The name thundered across the alley. The cobblestones cracked beneath Renji's feet. The air itself vibrated, trembling at the sheer force of the word.
And for the first time in centuries, the cursed name returned to the world.
Far away, Takeda raced across the rooftops, his cloak billowing behind him. The overwhelming aura guided him, a beacon of impossible strength pulling him forward.
He landed on the edge of a rooftop overlooking the alley just in time to hear it.
"I am Januza."
Takeda froze. His eyes widened, disbelief flooding his face.
"...Januza?!"
His voice was a whisper, but it carried the weight of dread.
"Impossible… Januza was erased from existence Not even the Bureau holds records of him anymore. And yet…"
His gaze locked on Renji, who stood in the alley with golden flames radiating from his body, his aura so dense, so crushing, that even Takeda—the strongest among SSS rankers—felt his knees weaken.
There was no denying it.
This aura.
This overwhelming, suffocating presence.
It was beyond SSS-rank. Beyond human comprehension.
Takeda's heart raced. His fists trembled.
"It can't be… Januza. The one erased from history. The one even the gods feared. The harbinger of despair…"
He swallowed hard, sweat trickling down his temple.
"And he's… in the body of that boy?"
Back in the alley, Tang Shi's body collapsed to the ground, writhing as Renji stepped over him. The golden light around Renji's eyes flared even brighter, his presence so heavy that every breath Choji and Lily took felt like inhaling fire.
Renji didn't strike again. He didn't need to.
Tang Shi's own mind was tearing itself apart. Visions of his death—again and again and again looped endlessly. His screams grew weaker, his body twitching violently as if every nerve was aflame.
Renji's voice boomed once more, every word dripping with authority, with inevitability.
"You will feel despair."
The ground cracked beneath him. Shadows curled at his feet. The night itself seemed to bow.
Choji pulled Lily closer, shielding her with his body, though he knew it was futile. His voice was shaky, nearly breaking.
"Renji… what… what have you become?"
Lily's tearful whisper followed.
"Oni-chan…"
Her heart ached, torn between relief that he was alive and terror at the being he had become.
From the rooftop, Takeda clenched his jaw, his body trembling despite himself.
The aura pouring from Renji was suffocating, undeniable. Stronger than any hunter he had ever known. Stronger than the greatest calamities humanity had faced.
There was no denying it.
There was no escaping it.
"This is no boy," Takeda whispered, his voice heavy with dread.
Januza Impossible!