Chapter 115
The king's mind raced.
How can he use magic? How… how can he wield that ring? Not even my master could ever handle it. And why… why did it transform into a staff? What are those strange patterns? This is bad… my body… my body feels… fear. How… how am I afraid?
He stared at Renji's face, searching for weakness, for hesitation.
But there was none.
Renji's expression was unyielding, as if every drop of doubt and fear had been burned away, leaving only calm resolve.
This is bad… I need to bait him… but corruption… corruption has always been my trump card… how… how will I…?
The King gritted his teeth, forcing a grin.
"Tch…" he muttered through clenched teeth.
Then, louder, deliberately mocking, cruel, confident:
"Kill… me?? Don't make me laugh. Do you think you can kill me and save your friends at the same time?"
He raised his hands toward Takeda, Dracan, and Hiroto.
"Look."
The three hunters were barely standing, battered, bloodied, exhausted. Each of them teetered on the edge of collapse.
"Do you think you can kill me and save them… together?"
Renji's voice was low, unwavering.
"I already told you… I will kill you , come let me show you what true resolve is.a"
A smile crossed the King's face a terrifying, predatory grin.
"Kill me?" he echoed mockingly. Then, his grin widened, eyes burning with malice.
"Then… how will you do it against… ten of me?"
Before anyone could react, the King split himself into ten identical fragments, each one radiating the same dark, terrifying aura, each one an equally formidable copy.
Hiroto's jaw dropped.
"Ooi… ooi… you've got to be kidding me…"
Dracan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the battlefield. His claws flexed, instinct screaming.
"Big brother… you've really sold yourself to the darkness."
The King's fragmented selves hovered in perfect formation, each one poised for attack, eyes burning with cruelty and anticipation.
"Now," the King said coldly, addressing Renji, "what will you do? Do you think you can kill me?"
Renji smiled.
The King's expression shifted immediately.
What… he's smiling…?
His mind raced, panic threatening to bubble to the surface.
"—What's so funny?" he demanded, his voice sharper now, cracking with unease.
Renji laughed a loud, unrestrained sound that echoed across the storm-torn city.
"You think this is supposed to scare me?" he said.
His eyes shifted, glowing with golden light.
"I have faced hundreds of my brother at once!"
The King froze. His fragments faltered, their synchronization cracking.
"Impossible!!" he whispered, fear creeping into his tone.
Renji continued, calm, precise:
"But I must thank you. You've just proven a theory my subconscious told me."
He began removing his coat.
"This body… this power… this pain… these memories… I remember."
As he spoke, markings began appearing on the staff he wielded–golden, celestial lines stretching up his arm.
Then, he raised both hands, palms facing upward, fingers slightly curled as if holding a flame. The markings extended from his staff directly to his palms and fingers, connecting him to the weapon in a web of raw, radiant power.
The King's eyes widened, horror flickering across his features.
What is he doing…?
Renji spoke one word, commanding, resolute:
"Soul Bound Rebirth Phoenix… RELEASE!"
Light erupted.
Particles shimmered, swirling in a cyclone of brilliance, forming a figure within the storm of golden energy.
Hiroto froze. His eyes were wide.
"What… what is this magical energy?" he whispered.
Dracan and Takeda stared, mouths agape, hearts pounding. Even they were amazed, awed by Renji's strength and the raw divine force radiating from him.
Back at the Hunters Bureau, monitors showed the unfolding scene in stunned silence.
Arisa's voice trembled as she watched.
"Renji… is that really you?"
The figure formed fully – a woman, cloaked in a flowing white robe. Her long purple hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes glimmered with star-like patterns, as if holding the cosmos itself.
She yawned slowly..." Finally I'm finally free", stretching, and looked to her side.
"Eiiiii… Januza-sama…" Her eyes glowed with affection, a soft light that radiated pure warmth and love.
Renji blinked, startled for a moment.
"Ehh… ehh… wait—"
But the woman [Sakura] ignored him. She flew through the storm like a comet, arms opening wide, and hugged him tightly.
"You finally remembered! I thought it would take forever. I'm glad… I'm glad you finally remembered!"
The King, observing from his fragment-riddled perch on the ruined building, scowled in confusion and frustration.
What is happening…?
He sought an opening a moment of weakness but none came.
This was his chance…
He moved in unison with his ten fragments, racing toward Renji like meteors. Speed, malice, and dark mana converged in a terrifying display.
But Sakura sensed him.
Her eyes flared with starlight.
"You are… in the way."
With a flick of her wrist, she released a beam of magical energy so powerful it obliterated the King's other fragments instantly, sending him crashing into a building with a deafening roar.
Sparks, debris, and a shockwave tore through the ruins, yet Sakura remained calm, serene—her energy radiating protective warmth as she turned and hugged Renji again.
"Januza-sama… finally…" she said, playful tears glimmering in her star-patterned eyes.
"I'm so happy you remembered me."
Hiroto staggered back, dumbfounded.
"What… what are these people?! What was that energy? Mana wasn't supposed to work against him… but why can they…?"
Renji raised his hand toward Sakura, voice commanding, yet gentle:
"Sakura… please… can you save him?"
He pointed to Choji's bloodied body.
"Please… you can bring back the dead… as the Witch of Andor. Please… save him. I'll deal with that other one."
Sakura's eyes glimmered with unwavering devotion.
"Anything for my King."
She vanished in a swirl of light and reappeared beside Choji's limp form.
The King, still reeling in the building wreckage, screamed in rage and pain.
What was that attack?! My body… it isn't healing fast enough…!
He clenched his fists as cracks of fury and fear danced across his fragmented, corrupted form.
The King gritted his teeth so hard the sound cracked through the ruined building.
"Why… whyy… whyy can't I…?" he shook, voice trembling between rage and disbelief. "Tch…"
Dust rained from the crushed ceiling as he tried and failed to rise. His hands shook. His legs buckled beneath him.
Something was wrong... terribly wrong.
Renji's eyes slowly shifted toward the collapsed building where the King had landed.
His gaze was calm. Cold. Razor‑sharp.
He closed his eyes, and the air around him distorted.
Special Awareness — Activate.
A wave of invisible mana burst outward like ripples through water.
Renji felt everything.
The crushed stone.
The falling rain.
Takeda's faint heartbeat.
Sakura's divine energy.
Hiroto's fear.
And deeper within the rubble.....
The King's trembling breath.
His fractured regeneration.
His fear.
Renji's eyes snapped open.
"You won't run away."
WHOOSH!
He disappeared.
No—he moved, but so fast that even sound struggled to keep up.
Inside the wreckage, the King's instincts shrieked—
He's coming!
—but Renji had already arrived.
Renji appeared before him like a golden flash, grabbed the King's head with one hand—
—and slammed it into the ground.
BOOOOM!
Stone shattered. Shockwaves tore through the building.
The King spat blood, choking on his own breath.
Renji lifted him by the throat, one hand squeezing effortlessly.
The King coughed out more blood, his voice a broken rasp.
And Renji spoke, voice low and lethal:
"I told you… I will kill you."
He released him.
The King began to fall ....but Renji twisted midair and delivered a spinning kick directly to the King's skull.
CRAAAAASH!
The King flew like a ragdoll, spinning violently before smashing into the ground outside, skidding through what remained of Tokyo's shattered streets.
He spat more blood.
"Urghhh… what… is that power…?"
He trembled, eyes shaking.
"He's on a different level than before…"
But before he could speak another word—
Renji appeared in front of him again.
The King's mind couldn't even process it.
How—?! Faster… he's even faster than my eyes can—
Renji seized his head and slammed it into the pavement.
BAAAAM!
The impact shook the street. Lightning cracked above them.
Sakura watched from afar, her eyes sparkling with joy, almost glowing with tears.
"Januza‑sama…" she whispered, overwhelmed. "You're amazing… you're truly… Januza‑sama…"
But her expression hardened slightly as she turned toward Choji's body.
Choji's soul flickered weakly—corrupted, tangled, resisting resurrection.
Her brows furrowed.
A challenge… but one worthy of the Witch of Andor.
Back on the battlefield...
Renji lifted the King again and delivered a punch so powerful it erased the darkness cloak covering the King's body entirely...
The attack sent him spiraling through the air, smashing into cars, concrete, and metal before crashing onto the main street.
Takeda watched, stunned.
"Is… is this really Renji…?"
Hiroto's voice shook.
"How is he so fast…? It's almost… it's almost as if he's teleporting…"
The King staggered to his feet, barely able to stand.
He coughed violently, blood dripping down his chin.
"Urghh… cough… cough…"
"Why… why am I being overwhelmed…? In terms of strength… I should be winning… This isn't even his full… or half of his strength…"
His hands shook violently.
"How… how can he be this strong despite not fully awakening even a quarter of his true power…?"
Another cough. More blood.
"This is bad… I… I can't regenerate anymore… my corruption is gone…"
Renji walked toward him casually through the broken city , fires burning everywhere!
Step.
Step.
Step.
The pattern in his eyes pulsed—powerful, divine, unwavering.
"I knew it," Renji said, voice calm. "Your corruption isn't infinite. It has a time limit… doesn't it? One hour, perhaps?"
The King froze.
That was right—exactly right.
"And when you used that form," Renji continued, "you drastically depleted the remaining time. That's why I was able to erase it from you."
Each step echoed like a death sentence.
"You thought you could kill me in one hour."
The King's teeth ground together in fear and disbelief.
"Tch…!"
He coughed more blood.
"H‑how… how are you so fast…?"
Renji raised his head slightly.
"Because of my eyes."
The pattern flared brilliantly, golden light pulsing outward.
"It allows me to send my magical energy at a specific length, allowing me to teleport instantly to any location of my choice within that radius."
The King's eyes widened, horror carving itself across his expression.
Renji's face darkened, deadly calm.
"No matter how fast you move…
No matter where you run…
I'll always be faster."
His aura flared, glowing like a newborn sun.
"Thank you," Renji said quietly.
"I fell into despair… and found another portion of myself."
The King's entire body trembled.
Those words—those eyes—
They didn't belong to Renji.
They belonged to something older.
Something divine.
Something terrifying.
Suddenly, Renji vanished—
—and reappeared in front of the King, grabbing him by the throat, lifting him effortlessly.
He leaned in, locking eyes with the trembling king.
"I know you're listening," he said.
"And seeing, Brother."
"Know this.. you have caused destruction and pain, you have taken the lives of the innocent but thanks to you I remember who I am... Remember this words carefully I deliver judgement to my enemies without mercy and when I get my full powers back, I will come for you".
Far away, in a plane of pure darkness and chaos, a figure shrouded in shadows smiled.
Azerin watched the scene through a thousand eyes of corruption.
Back on Earth, Renji continued:
"Fool ! You were just a pawn," he said coldly. "A pawn in his game of survival you thought your glorious king was the Apex predator. "
He released the King's throat.
The King collapsed, gasping, trembling.
Renji pointed his staff at him.
"I told you," he said softly.
"You will die by my hands."
He lowered the staff tip to the King's forehead.
"Now, without regeneration… and without corruption…"
His voice went cold as winter steel.
"…even a simple knife could end your life."
And when you venture into the Authodox plane,tell them who ended your life!
The King dropped to his knees.
"W‑wait—wait—WAIT—PLEASE—WAIT—!"
But there was no mercy.
SHNK!
Renji drove the staff straight into the King's skull.
The corrupted monarch froze.
Then collapsed, lifeless.
Silent.