Renji came awake with a jolt, head pounding like a war drum. His vision swam, the ceiling above him a blur of iron beams and pale light. For a moment he thought he was still in the fight against the Yurekiba—then the hum of energy suppressors bled into his awareness, low and constant, like an invisible noose tightening around his ribs.
He groaned. "Argh… feels like my skull's a beehive."
A sharp voice cut through the haze. "You should be grateful they were the ones who hit you, Renji. Just wait until we get out of here—then you'll see what I'll do to you."
Hikari.
Renji turned his head toward the opposite cell. She sat on the bench, arms crossed, her expression flickering between anger and unease. The faint blue glow of the suppressors washed over her face, hollowing out her eyes.
"Hikari? What are you doing here?"
"Well, since you decided to be a total bozo," she snapped, "you managed to lead them right to me. Congratulations."
Renji winced, trying to piece things together. "I couldn't just let that demon tear through the city. Someone would've died."
"And now we might die," Hikari shot back, her voice hard. "I told you—no unauthorized hunting here. The Kokuryūkai can't afford the fallout. If we look reckless on another guild's turf, everything we've built burns with us."
Renji bit back a retort. He hated the quiet truth in her words.
Before he could answer, the heavy clang of boots echoed down the corridor. The prison door swung open with a metallic shriek that felt like it split the silence in half. Two wardens strode in, their armor marked with the crimson emblem of the Hono no Senshi.
Their eyes flicked toward Renji with open disdain—like he was vermin barely worth the energy to guard. But when they looked at Hikari, the shift was immediate; her Kokuryūkai insignia earned a grudging nod of respect.
"Our leader demands your presence," one barked. Chains clattered as Renji was yanked to his feet.
---
The Hono no Senshi's base was nothing like the Kokuryūkai's quiet sanctum. This place reeked of discipline and buried fire. They were marched through tiled halls lit by artificial skylights—flat screens that mimicked windows, projecting a blue sky Renji knew was a lie. Ventilators whispered overhead, pumping recycled air through a place built deep beneath an abandoned nuclear test site.
Renji's demon eye flickered as he glanced around. No detail spared. No weakness allowed. This wasn't just a guild—it was a fortress carved into the bones of the earth. He thought back to the days he'd dreamed of joining them, back before they vanished underground. Now he was here in chains.
They entered a vast chamber. Soldiers stood in two rigid lines, weapons gleaming with faint traces of fire-etched seals. At the far end waited a man whose presence seemed to burn the very air around him. His hair was iron-gray, his posture a blade honed to perfection.
Master Arashi, guild leader of the Hono no Senshi.
Renji's chains were fastened to a lock bolted to the floor, the weight dragging at his wrists. He forced his chin up, his smirk long gone.
"Greetings, Kokuryūkai," Arashi said, his voice steady as molten steel. "Explain to me why you were caught by my daughter, operating within Akakaze."
Renji froze. Daughter? His eyes darted sideways—straight to the officer standing near the dais. The same young woman who had arrested him, her sword burning with living flame. Her resemblance to Arashi was unmistakable.
Hikari bowed low, her tone careful. "Master Arashi, I intended to announce our arrival properly this morning. Unfortunately, my associate acted recklessly. I assure you—"
"There are rules," Arashi cut her off, his gaze never leaving Renji. "Ancient rules that stand even above presidents and governments. You know this."
"I apologize, Master," Hikari said quickly. "It will not happen again."
Arashi's frown deepened, but his words carried a flicker of concession. "I allow it only because I was forewarned of your coming."
Hikari's brow creased. She shot Renji a questioning look. Renji only mouthed, Takashi sent word. Just in case.
Relief flickered briefly in her eyes—but then Arashi's next words crushed the air from the room.
"Tell me," he said slowly, voice curling with suspicion, "what is the Kokuryūkai doing with a carrier of the abyss?"
The soldiers' weapons tightened in their grips. The flame-haired daughter's gaze sharpened, her hand sliding to her sword hilt.
Renji's heart kicked against his ribs, chains rattling as the shadows at his feet writhed restlessly. He felt every eye in the chamber bearing down on him like a judgment, waiting to see if he was a man to be tried… or a monster to be put down.
And somewhere, beneath it all, the faint rumble of the earth whispered that this interrogation wouldn't end quietly.
Then suddenly their scout shot forward. " Sir! There's a demon spotted in the city as we speak!"
That had everyone's attention. " In broad daylight!" " Yes sir it is an Enzura that inhibited a person within the city. Other scouts are trying to evacuate the civilians now"
" I could be of help" Renji started and got silenced with an icy glare. " Get the men there now!!" Arashi ordered.
The chamber still buzzed with tension when Ayaka bowed, "I'll lead the squad, Father."
"Go, Ayaka," Arashi said, his tone clipped, final.
She turned sharply and strode from the hall, her squad falling into step behind her. Renji watched her go, the faint glow of firelight flickering across her blade as though the weapon itself hungered.
---
The streets of Akakaze erupted in chaos long before the squad arrived. Screams tore the air apart, glass shattered from abandoned shopfronts, and smoke curled from a toppled food stall. At the heart of it all, the Enzura revealed itself—its host body peeling away like cracked porcelain, shadows bleeding from its limbs until the creature towered twice the height of a man. Its eyes burned molten red, its maw stretched into a jagged crescent of teeth.
"Form ranks!" Ayaka barked, sword flashing as she drew fire across its edge. Her soldiers snapped into formation, sigils glowing on their weapons.
The demon shrieked. It lunged.
Steel met shadow, the clash ringing through the plaza like thunder. The first soldier was ripped apart in an instant, flung against a wall with a sickening crunch. Another screamed as tendrils coiled around his neck, yanking him into the maw. Blood sprayed across the tiles, steam rising as it sizzled against infernal heat.
"Hold the line!" Ayaka's voice cut through the panic, sharp as her blade. Fire roared to life along her sword, arcs of flame cleaving through the writhing limbs. For a heartbeat, she carved an opening, forcing the Enzura back.
But it only laughed. The shadows thickened, swallowing the flames as though the abyss itself smothered light.
One by one, her squad fell. Blades shattered, bodies crumpled, their cries dissolving into the demon's screeching roar.
Ayaka fought on, sweat and blood streaking her face. Her blade burned brighter, her stance unyielding, even as the Enzura's tendrils carved gashes across her arms.
---
Back in the underground chamber, the calm shattered.
A scout stumbled in, breathless, armor smeared with ash. He dropped to one knee, voice trembling. "Master Arashi—the Enzura… Ayaka's squad—"
Arashi's gaze snapped to him, sharp enough to cut stone. "Speak."
"They're being slaughtered, sir. The Enzura's power—it's unlike anything we've faced. Your daughter… she's still holding it back, but…" His voice broke, words dying in his throat.
A silence fell over the hall, heavy and suffocating. Soldiers shifted uneasily, eyes darting between their master and the chained figure in the center.
Renji's heart kicked against his ribs. The shadows at his feet stirred, restless, as if the abyss itself was listening, waiting.
Arashi's face was stone, but his fists clenched, the faintest tremor betraying him. For the first time, the fire around him seemed to flicker—not from weakness, but from the storm gathering behind his eyes.
"My daughter…" he whispered, barely audible, before his gaze slammed back to Renji like a hammer then dropped to the golden amulet on his arm.
The abyss inside Renji surged, hungering for release. He swallowed hard, knowing this was the moment.
If Arashi let him out, it wouldn't just be freedom. It would be trial by fire.