Chapter 114
PRESENT DAY
Now the rain wouldn't stop.
It poured endlessly, swallowing the city in a storm of chaos and blood like the heavens themselves were weeping for Tokyo.
Thunder cracked, ripping the sky apart. Sirens wailed through the ruins.
And somewhere in the flooding streets, screams raw, broken, desperate echoed.
Tokyo was dying.
Bodies… hundreds of them lay scattered across the ruins, torn, burned, crushed, split clean in half.
Steam rose from blood pooling in the mud. The scent of iron was heavy so thick it drowned the air itself.
Japan was screaming again. Another great calamity has happened in less than two months
The hunters bearu was shocked by the events that unfolded
And through that nightmare… one single voice cut through the storm.
"Huh… Cho… Ooi…"
A trembling whisper. A plea. A denial of reality itself.
"Ooi… Choji… open your eyes… please…"
Renji's voice cracked violently as he knelt in the mud. His hands shaking, drenched, desperate gripped his friend's blood-soaked uniform like a lifeline he refused to release.
Choji's eyes were closed.
His chest didn't rise.
The rain washed crimson down his still face like tears.
"ooi choji… Come on, man… it's me… Renji…"
"Please…"
The wind howled in answer.
The skies roared.
But Choji said nothing.
"Please…" Renji's voice broke entirely. "Choji, please!"
He shook him harder hard enough to bruise, hard enough that his own fingers tore open desperation bleeding through every motion.
"Chojiii—! Please open your eyes!"
Nothing.
Only rain.
Only silence.
Which only meant one thing
DEATH!
Footsteps splashed behind him slow, heavy, carrying the weight of grief.
Hiroto emerged through the sheets of rain. His boots sank into bloodied ground, his face bruised and exhausted, his arm barely holding steady at his side.
"Renji …" he whispered, voice tight with pain. We need to fight, you can't bring him back he's dead renji It's too late.
Renji stopped moving.
His breath hitched, shallow, almost silent.
Slowly very slowly he turned his head.
His eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of his drenched bangs.
"…What did you say?"
"I said he's gone." Hiroto swallowed hard. "There's nothing you can do."
Renji's teeth clenched. Loudly. Like bones grinding.
"Tch…"
Then—
BOOM!!!
A burst of pressure ignited from Renji's body like a bomb going off.
Hiroto was thrown backward, skidding across the flooded road.
He pushed me back with his mana, he shouldn't be able to use magic.
Windows shattered in every direction, glass raining down like glittering shards.
"SHUT UP!!!"
The voice wasn't human.
It was grief.
It was agony.
It was murder.
Hiroto's heart seized.
His body froze the instinctive terror of prey before a predator.
For the first time, he felt it.
Fear from his comrade. This wasn't the Renji he knew.
Dracan stepped forward with difficulty, his dragon-blood burning, instincts screaming as Renji's aura spiraled out of control. His clothes were torn, stained with blood, his long coat flapping violently in the storm winds.
"Renji-sama…" Dracan said quietly, though even he trembled. "It's… too late. He's gone."
We can't use mana to boost our strength we can't use our skills only our physical strength please we need you Renji-sama
Renji's fingers dug deeper into Choji's uniform, knuckles turning white. His forehead pressed against his friend's chest.
He tried to hold back the tears.
He failed.
"Choji…" the whisper escaped him, fragile, broken. "Why'd you have to go…"
And then
A whisper echoed inside his mind.
"Are you stupid, Renji? He's coming back. Eyes forward. Now."
Renji's head snapped upward.
"…What?"
Before anyone could process
GBIM!!!
A thunderous crash ripped through the city.
A body hurled past them like a meteor, smashing through a half-destroyed building.
Concrete collapsed, smoke and dust spiraling upward like a dying volcano.
Hiroto shielded his eyes. "What the hell?!"
As the dust cleared, Dracan's eyes widened.
"Takeda…?"
The legendary hunter lay crumpled in the rubble, blood streaming from his mouth.
Barely breathing.
Dracan's heart twisted painfully.
Takeda… not you too…
Then
The ground trembled.
The air grew heavy, thickening like a suffocating fog.
Darkness—not shadows, but something alive spread across the city like ink spilling over water.
Dracan's instincts went berserk.
He was coming back
And he feels more catastrophic and stronger than before
He drew his sword instantly, lightning reflecting across its blade.
He glanced at Renji still kneeling, still trembling, still holding Choji's body.
"Renji-sama!" Dracan shouted. "Get up! We need you—!"
Renji didn't move.
"Tch…" Dracan looked away, jaw tight.
Hiroto limp-stepped forward.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Scars fresh across his face, throat raw from breathing.
He forced out:
"Let's go… Dracan."
He tightened his grip on his broken arm.
"We're hunters… We die fighting for the greater good."
Then
A voice cut through heaven and earth.
Deep.
Cold.
Absolute.
"So this… is humanity?"
Pathetic!!!!
All three looked up.
The dragon like humanoid beast hovered above Tokyo.untouched by rain, untouched by fear.
Cloaked entirely in black, only his eyes shone gold and slit like a predator's.
Dracan's blood ran cold.
His dragon instincts shrieked in terror. Then he screamed..
"Enough! I know you are my brother!!, Whyy whyy side with gods who destroyed our homeland I saw you die fighting against the gods
Sooo how are you alive, why are you alive!!!
"How!! How is a dragonkin this strong…"
The figure smiled softly.
Shut up!!!
The brother you knew is gone a long time ago!!
He the laughed sarcastically then he spoke with a smirk" HOW DO YOU THINK THE GODS GOT TO VELTORAX PLANE IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN IT COULDN'T BE FOUND BY ANYONE OR EVEN THE GODS THEMSELVES !"
Dracan eyes widen yo..you!!
The humanoid beats laughed hard again!!!!
" The big brother you knew died thousands of years ago now, I am the King of the Generals. The one your champion Takeda dared to oppose."
He gestured casually toward Takeda's broken body.
"He lasted… a minute longer than expected considering he can't use magical skills ."
Renji's fist twitched.
The King continued, voice as sharp as thunder:
"Is this all you offer? If you can't even scratch me, how will you face the gods who are a thousand times stronger who now worship my glorious king.
If this is all what you humans call power…"
Dark mana radiated from his palms.
Dozens of black spares condensed massive, humming, alive floating around him like an army of miniature suns.
Hiroto's face drained of color. His body was to weak to move
"Oh… shit… not again we're going to…"
The King raised a hand.
"DIE."
He released them.
The spares fell.
Black meteors rained downward, each one large enough to erase a block.
And then
WHOOOOOOOOSH!!!
A golden explosion burst upward.
Light swallowed the darkness.
Winds roared through Tokyo.
The spheres dissolved into ash like burnt paper.
At the epicenter
Renji stood.
Golden aura blazing.
Head bowed.
White hair glowing.
Dracan's jaw dropped.
"Renji-sama… he—he repelled it?!"
The King's eyes narrowed.
"He deflected it… all of it?" how he shouldn't even be able to use magic!
Renji said nothing.
Rain hissed against his aura.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Renji walked forward.
Each step shook the air.
"Why…" his voice low, calm, terrifyingly steady, "do you kill?"
Step.
"Why do you trample on the blood of the innocent?"
Step.
"Why do you take lives so easily?"
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 flickered with rage.
The air vibrated. Lightning crackled.
"Then…" he lifted his head.
His eyes snapped open
Glowing gold.
A pattern forming slowly within the iris.
"…you'll die by my hands."
Thunder split the sky.
Dracan choked on his breath.
"Those eyes… that's… one of the Twelve Patterns!"
The King stepped back.
"Impossible"
Renji's aura stormed upward, swirling like a golden hurricane.
His voice roared across the city:
"Come. Let me show you what true resolve is!"
The king said to himself:
what is this aura… even with the pattern eye awakening he's still not stronger than me…. so what is this overwhelming aura I'm feeling it feels like...?
A cold drop of rain slid down the King's cheek.
For the first time, his expression twisted confusion, irritation… and the slightest hint of fear.
Then he spoke out loud, voice cracking with anger to hide the unease in his chest:
" Resolve you are joking am I supposed to be frightened by a mere flicker of that power…?"
But his voice… trembled.
Far behind them, the rubble shifted.
Takeda slowly emerged from the broken building blood dripping from his chin, vision blurry from the blow that had nearly erased him earlier.
He gasped with each step, his knees wobbling, but
His eyes…
Were fixed on Renji.
He rose.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Every movement a battle.
"Re… Renji…" he croaked, voice fading, collapsing to his knees almost immediately.
He spat blood into the mud.
"Shit!!! Without my magical power… is this what I can do…?"
His fist slammed weakly into the ground.
"I couldn't even protect anyone…"
The shame in his voice cut sharper than any blade.
But Renji no the one they thought was Renji never turned toward Takeda.
His eyes were locked on the general, burning with a divine, merciless glow.
Then
soft, quiet, calm
He spoke:
"I told you… let me show you what true resolve is."
The King barked a laugh sarcastic, venomous, trembling.
"Resolve? You've got to be kidding me!!!"
Rain exploded around him as he flared his corrupted mana.
"I have received the blessings of Corruption from my glorious king!"
His voice thundered like a warped chorus.
"You can't use your magic power none of you can! Even with that eye awakening, you're still no match for me!"
But Renji continued rising.
Higher.
Higher.
Golden light trailing behind him like wings of fire.
His eyes glowing with power, he whispered:
"Didn't I tell you…?"
He raised his hands slowly.
Then
HUMMMMMMMMMMM
A humming sound shook the entire city.
Windows rattled.
Debris lifted from the ground.
Lightning curved unnaturally.
The clouds above spiraled as if the sky itself was responding to Renji's call.
From shimmering particles like dust made of starlight
two golden rings began forming behind his back.
Slowly at first like something sacred awakening after centuries of sleep.
Then faster , vibrating , spinning
Dracan's eyes widened so violently he almost staggered back.
"That's!!!!"
His voice cracked in pure shock.
Pure fear.
The King's aura twisted instantly, violently.
He recognized the rings.
His pupils shrank.
"That's impossible… That's two of the Nine Rings of Creation!"
Rain froze mid-air as his power flared.
"Only wielded by Arin and her decendanats impossible even my king hasn't wielded it yet
Lightning flashed revealing the terror on his face.
Then he screamed, voice breaking:
"HOWWWW can you wield it?! You only have one eye pattern that's impossible!!!"
The rings spun faster.
And faster.
Their glow intensified until the rain evaporated before touching them.
Wind whipped around Renji like a raging celestial storm.
Hiroto couldn't breathe.
Takeda's mouth hung open.
The two rings radiated a divinity none of them had ever felt.
Dracan's voice finally emerged quiet, trembling, horrified.
"He was never Renji from the start…"
Hiroto snapped his head toward him.
"What do you mean?!"
Dracan swallowed, claws trembling.
"Not even a vessel should be able to manifest those rings… Only Arin's descendants could manipulate them."
He met Hiroto's eyes.
"It means… he was never Renji. He was always Januza from the start."
Silence.
Only the storm answered.
Immediately, Takeda remembered
The thing Renji no, Januza had said before the battle began.
(Light fades.)
"Takeda-sama… we got it wrong. We were always wrong."
(Light flashes back.)
Takeda's eyes trembled.
"Impossible!!"
He choked on the word, but the truth was already here.
The golden rings spun faster, merging, fusing with a sound like divine thunder.
The two rings collided
merged
and formed
A staff.
A golden staff engraved with ancient celestial patterns, radiating creation energy so pure it split the storm clouds above.
Renji no, Januza—held it with one hand, as if it had always belonged to him.
He slowly faced the humanoid dragon beast the King of the Generals.
Lightning flashed behind him, illuminating the staff like a weapon of the gods.
The rings finished merging.
The humming reached its peak.
And Januza spoke voice deep, cold, absolute:
"You'll die by my hands."