Chapter 104
Now the rain wouldn't stop.
It poured endlessly, swallowing the city in a storm of chaos and blood.
Thunder cracked. Sirens wailed. Screams echoed through Tokyo's dying streets.
Bodies...hundreds of them lay scattered across the ruins, torn, burned, split clean in half.
The scent of iron filled the air.
Japan was screaming again.
And through it all… one voice cut through the storm.
Huh
Cho..
Ooi..
"Ooi… Choji… open your eyes… please…"
Renji's voice shook as he knelt in the mud, his trembling hands gripping his friend's blood-soaked uniform.
Choji's eyes were closed, his chest still, rain washing crimson from his lifeless face.
"ooi choji..Come on, man… it's me… Renji…"
Please..
The wind howled. There was no answer.
"Please…" Renji's voice cracked. "Choji, please!"
He shook him harder, desperate. "Chojiii—! Please open your eyes!"
Hiroto's boots splashed through the puddles as he approached from behind, face dark with grief.
"Renji…" he said quietly, his throat tight. "Enough. It's too late."
Renji froze, breath shallow. Slowly, he turned his head, his eyes shadowed beneath the falling rain.
"…What did you say?"
"I said—he's gone." Hiroto's jaw clenched. "There's nothing you can do."
Renji's teeth ground together, the sound almost audible.
"Tch…"
Then..
BOOM!
A burst of pressure exploded from Renji's body, knocking Hiroto backward. The shockwave shattered nearby glass.
"SHUT UP!!!"
The scream was raw, filled with pain and horror and murderous intent..
Hiroto's heart stopped. His body froze—no, it refused to move.
For the first time, he felt it.
Fear.
Dracan stepped forward, his dragon-blooded senses prickling as he felt Renji's aura flaring uncontrollably. His face was smeared with blood, his long coat torn and burned.
"Renji-sama…" Dracan's voice was low but steady. "It's… too late. He's gone."
Renji's fingers dug into Choji's shirt, knuckles white. His head bowed until his forehead pressed against Choji's chest. The tears came silently at first—then, he broke.
"Choji…" his voice was barely a whisper, shaking. "Why'd you have to go…"
Then..
A whisper echoed inside his mind.
"Are you stupid, Renji? He's coming back. Eyes forward. Now."
Renji's head snapped up. His pupils widened.
"...What?"
Before anyone could react...
GBIM!!!
A thunderous crash split the air.
A figure shot past them like a meteor, smashing through a building. The structure collapsed, smoke and dust erupting skyward.
Hiroto shielded his face. "What the hell—?!"
As the dust cleared, Dracan's eyes widened in horror.
"Takeda…?"
The legendary hunter lay crumpled in the debris, blood pouring from his mouth.
Dracan's heart dropped. Takeda… not you too…
Then the ground itself trembled.
The air thickened.
Darkness swept across the city like ink spilling over water.
Dracan's instincts screamed something was coming.
He drew his sword, its edge reflecting the flashes of lightning above.
He glanced at Renji still kneeling, trembling, clutching Choji's body.
"Renji-sama !" Dracan barked. "Get up! We need you—!"
Renji didn't move.
"Tch…" Dracan gritted his teeth.
Hiroto stepped forward, step! Step! Step!. Scars fresh across his face, one arm barely holding steady.
Let's go Dracan.
"We're hunters…" he said through ragged breaths. "We die fighting—for the greater good."
Then—
A voice echoed from the sky. Deep. Cold. Absolute.
"So this… is humanity?"
The three looked up.
Through the falling rain, a figure hovered above the city—calm, unhurried. His entire body was cloaked in black, his eyes glowing gold with slit pupils.
Dracan froze. His dragon instincts screamed..
" How !! How is a dragonkin this strong..."
The figure smiled faintly.
"I am the King of the Generals. The one your champion—Takeda—dared to oppose."
He gestured lazily toward Takeda's broken form. "He lasted… a minute longer than expected."
Renji's fist twitched.
The King continued, his tone sharp as thunder.
"Is this all you offer, humans? If you can't even scratch me, how will you face the gods who are a thousand times stronger?"
If this is all what you humans call power ...
Dark mana surged from his hands, condensing into dozens of black spheres, each the size of a house, floating around him like satellites.
Hiroto's eyes went wide.
"Oh… shit… I'm going to...."
The King's voice echoed across the city.
"DIE."
He dropped his hand.
The daggers fell.
The black spheres rained down like meteors.
Then
WHOOOOOSH!
A golden explosion erupted from the ground, swallowing the darkness whole.
Winds tore through the streets, and the black spheres dissolved into ash.
At the center of it all stood Renji—his body cloaked in golden light.
Dracan's jaw dropped. "Renji-sama… he—he repelled it?!"
The King's expression twisted. "He deflected it… all of it?"
Renji didn't speak. His head was bowed, white hair drenched, golden aura roaring to life around him.
"Renji…" Hiroto whispered.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Renji began walking forward. Each step echoed louder than thunder.
"Why…" his voice was calm, low. "…do you kill?"
Step.
"Why do you trample on the blood of the innocent?"
Step.
"Why do you take lives so easily?"
He walked past Dracan and Hiroto. The air around him shimmered from raw mana.
The King sneered.
"Why? Because I can."
He raised a clawed hand toward Choji's corpse. "Just like I killed your friend."
Renji's body trembled. His teeth clenched. The air exploded with energy.
"Then…" he growled, raising his head. His eyes snapped open blazing gold, a pattern forming slowly across the iris. "…you'll die by my hands."
The winds howled. Lightning split the sky.
Dracan gasped. "Those eyes… that's… one of the Twelve Patterns!"
The King recoiled. "Impossible…"
Renji's aura erupted, ripping through the storm. His voice roared like thunder.
"Come. Let me show you what true resolve is!"
Flashback — Seven Days Earlier
The gentle warmth of Takeda's home felt a world away. Rain pattered against the window as Dracan stepped beside Renji, who sat silently, staring at his hands.
Dracan spoke softly.
"Don't worry, Renji. I know you need answers—we all do."
He placed a hand on Renji's shoulder.
"But for now… you need to get stronger, my king."
Huh king... Noo noo noo I'm no king..
Renji said jokingly but I think I understand now ..