Chapter:20
The alley was silent, save for Tang Shi's ragged breaths. His body trembled as if each second spent under Renji's golden gaze tore away another piece of his sanity.
Renji hadn't moved since declaring the name. He hadn't so much as flexed a muscle. And yet, the world seemed to bend around him. His eyes—those molten golden eyes—held a weight too great, a pressure too absolute, for anything mortal to endure.
Tang Shi's voice cracked, broken by despair.
"S-Stop… stop looking at me…!"
The air thickened. A massive, invisible force pressed down from all sides. The cobblestones beneath Tang Shi's knees cracked, splintering like brittle glass. His arms buckled as he tried to resist, pressing his palms against the ground, but the pressure only grew heavier.
It was not physical force. It was not mana. It was something greater, something that felt like the authority of the universe itself had been weaponized against him.
Tang Shi's bones creaked audibly. His skin tore in small rivulets of blood. His veins bulged as if they were about to burst. His screams filled the night, shrill and pitiful, echoing through every corner of the alley.
"HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!"
But no one came.
No one could.
Renji's gaze pinned him there, as if reality itself had conspired to crush him into nothing.
Lily clutched at Choji's arm, her tiny body trembling uncontrollably. Tears blurred her vision, but she couldn't look away. Her brother—her oni-chan—wasn't the same.
"Oni-chan… please… stop…" she whispered, her voice shaking like a fragile leaf in the wind.
Choji's teeth clenched, sweat dripping down his temple. He wanted to move, to stop this madness, but his body wouldn't obey. Every instinct screamed at him that to approach Renji now would mean death.
"This isn't human…" Choji muttered under his breath. "This… this isn't even something of our world anymore…"
From the rooftop above, Takeda's fists tightened. He had seen death before. He had seen calamities that tore through cities, monsters that blotted out the sun, hunters who wielded powers that shattered mountains.
But never—never—had he seen something like this.
A boy who didn't move a muscle.
A boy who simply looked—and in doing so, unmade another human being.
Takeda's throat was dry. His heart pounded as he whispered, almost in disbelief:
"He's killing him… with his gaze alone."
Tang Shi screamed, his body flattening against the ground as though an entire mountain range pressed onto him. The weight shattered his ribs, his bones snapping like brittle twigs. His vision blurred, blood rushing from his nose, ears, and eyes.
"N-NO! I—PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
The words came out as desperate sobs. All of Tang Shi's arrogance, his pride, his cruelty—all stripped away in the face of absolute despair.
Renji's eyes narrowed, glowing brighter, golden flames flickering like the judgment of a god.
The invisible pressure reached its peak. Tang Shi's body trembled violently, his blood painting the broken cobblestones beneath him. His scream rose one last time—
NO PLEASE I ....
The words were cut off.
With a soundless eruption, Tang Shi's body was obliterated.
Not by fire.
Not by blade.
Not by spell.
But by pure force of will.
His body exploded outward in a spray of blood and ash, fragments scattering into the night, his scream cut short in an instant. What remained was nothing more than a crimson stain upon the alley stones, dissipating under the glow of Renji's golden gaze.
The air itself shuddered, the ground groaned, and silence returned.
Lily collapsed to her knees, covering her mouth as a scream of horror tore from her throat.
"Oni-chan… what have you done…"
Choji froze, sweat dripping down his chin, his heart hammering so violently he thought it would burst from his chest. He couldn't bring himself to speak.
And above them, Takeda's eyes widened in unfiltered dread.
"I… I just witnessed it. Januza."
His voice cracked, a mix of awe and horror.
"The power to kill without lifting a finger. The power to erase existence with a gaze. This is not the power of a hunter. This is the power of something greater. Something that should never have returned.
Renji's Stillness
Renji hadn't moved.
He hadn't flinched.
He hadn't blinked.
His golden eyes, dimming now to a simmering glow, remained fixed on the spot where Tang Shi once was.
He hadn't raised a hand. He hadn't spoken. He hadn't even shifted his weight.
And yet, with his gaze alone, he had judged and destroyed Tang Shi in body, mind, and soul.
Finally, his lips parted. His voice was calm, low, reverberating with the same alien resonance as before.
"Fear not. That was only the beginning."
The words rolled like thunder, promising despair not only for Tang Shi, but for anyone who dared stand against him.
Takeda's fists trembled as he whispered the truth none of them wanted to accept;
"after a thousand years Januza has returned."