Chapter 8: Three-Minute Massacre
The yellow-fringed bandit, Monka, crumpled to the ground, a look of utter disbelief frozen on his face as the lifeblood drained from the hole in his chest.
For a second, the courtyard was dead silent. The remaining twelve members of the Phantom Bandit Gang stared, dumbfounded, at their fallen comrade. The man with the explosive afro, who had been laughing just moments before, felt a cold dread crawl up his spine.
"You bastard!" he roared, his voice cracking with a mix of rage and fear. "How dare you kill Monka! Go to hell!"
He, along with the others, immediately raised his hands. The air crackled with a dozen different magic signatures.
"Great Flame Bomb!!"
The explosive-haired Mage was the first to attack, launching a massive, swirling fireball the size of a carriage straight at Ren.
Ren's cold, green eyes simply watched it approach. He raised his right index finger.
"Cero."
The green, crackling energy of the Hollow Flash was insignificant compared to the massive fireball... at first. But the moment Ren's attack was launched, it shot forward with a high-pitched scream. Though the fireball was launched first, Ren's Cero arrived first, striking the fireball dead center.
Boom—!
There was no contest. The Cero didn't just stop the fireball; it consumed it. The crimson flames were instantly snuffed out, and the green beam of energy continued, undeterred, striking the explosive-haired Mage in the chest.
"Ugh ah ah ah!!"
The man was directly blown off his feet, his body sent tumbling backward until he slammed into the mansion's outer wall, unmoving.
Ren said calmly, his voice carrying over the ringing silence, "Eleven more."
'Thirty seconds gone,' he thought, his mind a cold calculator. 'Two minutes and thirty seconds remaining. This is taking too long.'
"Bastard!!!"
At this moment, the rest of the Phantom Bandit Gang were all enraged. They had initially underestimated Ren due to his youth, never expecting him to eliminate two of their members in the blink of an eye. Most importantly, he had done it with such ease, with such terrifying, inhuman power. A sense of danger that made their hair stand on end finally settled in.
"Don't let him breathe! Kill him! Wind Blade!!"
One Mage raised his hand and unleashed a torrent of scything green wind blades that shrieked through the air, cutting shallow gashes in the stone courtyard.
"Sonído!"
Ren's body instantly vanished again, the wind blades harmlessly slicing through the afterimage he left behind. In the next moment, he reappeared directly in front of the stunned Wind Mage.
Pfft—!
"Wah ah ah ah!!"
Before the Mage could even register the cold, pale face in front of him, his body was sliced vertically by Ren's blade. Blood gushed from his chest as he collapsed to the ground.
"Ten remaining."
'This is faster.' Ren thought. 'One minute gone.'
He immediately turned, pointing his index finger at the largest cluster of remaining Mages. A verdant green light continuously gathered in front of his index finger, forming a small, emerald energy sphere.
The Mages, seeing that now-familiar, terrifying light, panicked.
"I'll block it!!" a large, burly man roared, slamming his palms on the ground.
"Earth Molding: Wall!!"
Rumble!!
The ground quickly rose, and a massive, thick earthen wall erupted from the courtyard, standing between Ren and the Mages.
"Hollow Flash."
"Ohm~~~! Whoosh—!!"
A beam of verdant green energy shot from Ren's index finger, rapidly expanding. It struck the earthen wall.
Boom—!!
The wall, which could have stopped a cannonball, was instantly shattered the moment it encountered the Cero. It didn't just break; it vaporized. The green beam of death tore through the rock and the men hiding behind it.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah!"
"Wah ah ah ah ah!"
Four members of the Phantom Bandit Gang were eliminated by this single strike, their bodies tossed aside like broken dolls. The Cero continued, carving a huge, smoking chasm into the ground of the courtyard.
"Six remaining."
"Go to hell!"
A member dressed in a tight-fitting black suit, resembling a ninja, silently appeared behind Ren. His movements were completely silent, his magic dedicated to erasing his presence. His blade, coated in a dark purple poison, thrust straight towards Ren's heart.
"Ren, watch out!!" Elfman roared from the window, his heart leaping into his throat.
It was already too late.
The assassin's blade pierced Ren's back... and stopped.
Crack—!
Ren was unharmed, but the assassin's high-quality steel blade snapped in two.
"What?!"
The assassin was greatly shocked, his eyes wide with disbelief. His magic was nullified? His blade broke? He immediately tried to use his own high-speed magic to pull back.
Slap!
A pale hand, impossibly fast, clamped directly onto his face. The assassin felt an irresistible, monstrous strength halt his retreat, and then, his entire world was flipped as his head was pressed towards the ground.
Boom—!!
The ground was instantly smashed into a large crater. Ren released his hand, and the assassin was now unconscious, eyes rolled back, his body twitching in the dirt.
"Five remaining."
"Mon... Monster!"
The remaining few Mages couldn't help but feel a chill. Magic couldn't kill him. Swords couldn't pierce him. What else could this guy be but a monster? How could they defeat such a monster?
"Keep attacking! Don't let him rest!" one of them screamed, his voice high with terror. "If one strike is ineffective, then attack ten times, a hundred times! I refuse to believe this monster can't be killed!"
The five remaining Mages, including their leader, immediately scattered. The four grunts began to circle Ren, launching a desperate, chaotic barrage of magic.
"Futility!"
Ren's figure flickered. 'Sonído.'
He appeared before the first, his sword slicing through his neck.
'Sonído.'
He appeared behind the second, a Cero at point-blank range disintegrating his torso.
'Sonído. Sonído.'
A blur of white and black, and the final two Mages fell to the ground, their bodies bisected.
A Mage capable of easily eliminating a squad of Rune Knights is undoubtedly powerful, an elite among elites in any Mage Guild. But in front of Ren, they didn't even have room to resist. Speed, strength, attack power, defense—Ren had a generational lead in all attributes, which meant no one could even last a single round.
"One person left."
Ren stood in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by the fallen, his white uniform pristine and untouched. He flicked the blood from his Zanpakutō and slowly sheathed it, his cold, green eyes settling on the last man standing.
"Clap. Clap. Clap."
Camille, the leader, who had been observing the battle from the sidelines, now clapped his hands.
"Excellent! Truly excellent!" His masked face was unreadable, but his voice was filled with genuine admiration.
"Kid, to have such strength at such a young age is truly remarkable. That speed. That defense. That power. You are not a regular Mage."
Ren looked at Camille. "All your companions have been eliminated. Are you really that happy?"
"Companions?" Camille scoffed. "Only the strong can be my companions. They weren't my initial companions either; they merely eliminated my former companions and then became my new ones. Trash that is so easily disposed of is not a companion. It is a tool."
He took a step forward, his hands spread wide. "Kid, you possess such powerful abilities, yet you still have to toil away at work for a guild. Don't you think it's a waste?"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What should I do then?"
"Join me, of course!"
"What's the benefit of joining you?"
"Benefit?! Hahahaha!" Camille laughed. "There are so many benefits! As long as you join me, we'll overthrow the Magic Council together! We'll create a world where only we are the masters, and then the entire world will be ours! You can freely do whatever you want—money, status, fame, power, women! Whatever you desire, you shall have!"
Ren said flatly, "Enough."
"What? Have you already decided to join me?" Camille asked, his voice eager.
"Of course... I refuse."
"What?!"
Ren said disdainfully, "I thought you'd say something incredible, but this is it? You've wasted two minutes of my time. You talk a big game, but you're just a lone commander trying to trick me into working for you? Do you think you're the male protagonist? Overthrowing the Magic Council? Dominating the world? You truly don't know your place. You are just trash."
'Two minutes gone,' Ren thought. 'One minute left. This ends now.'
Camille's face darkened. "Kid, I invited you because I value talent. If you don't agree, then your only fate is death!"
Ren said calmly, "Sorry! I'm in a hurry, so please, just die!"
"Sonído!"
Whoosh—!
Ren appeared beside Camille, his blade drawn and slashing towards his neck in an instant.
Just as the blade was about to strike Camille, it suddenly twisted in mid-air. The metal warped, the edge curving and changing direction, as if it had hit a spatial distortion. Ren, sensing the change, quickly tried to dodge.
Pfft!
Even with his quick dodge, his own sword, now bent at an impossible angle, pierced his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
Ren was slightly surprised. This situation was clearly beyond his expectations. He quickly retreated, pointing his right index finger at Camille as verdant green energy continuously gathered.
"Cero!"
Ohm~~~! Whoosh—!!
A verdant green energy beam shot directly towards Camille. Camille, however, stood still, a mocking chuckle coming from behind his mask.
Just as the Cero was about to strike Camille...
Suddenly, the Cero turned around, bending 180 degrees in mid-air, and shot back towards Ren's position.
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
The Cero, his own attack, tore through the space he had just occupied. It destroyed all the houses on the street behind him, carving out a massive, smoking pathway.
Ren's figure appeared not far away, a small trail of blood running down his arm. The moment the Cero turned, he had been forced to use Sonído to evade his own attack.
Camille said, "What a pity. If your reaction had been a little slower just now, it wouldn't have been your arm that was pierced, but your head. My Spatial Magic, 'Refract,' can bend anything in my vicinity. Your attacks, your sword... even light itself."
"Ren, are you alright! You bastard!" Elfman's right arm transformed into a full, furred Beast Arm, and he made to jump from the window.
"Don't come over!" Ren raised his hand to stop Elfman. "Protect the client. I'm fine."
'One minute left... no, less. Maybe thirty seconds,' Ren thought, his magic power draining like water from a bucket.
Camille sneered, "Fine? Kid, your right arm is already useless from your own attack. I'll give you one more chance. Join me. Become my subordinate. Otherwise, not only will you die, but your companion will die too."
Ren ignored Camille's words. He gripped the blade still embedded in his shoulder with his left hand and slowly pulled the long sword out.
Almost as soon as the sword was withdrawn, the wound on Ren's shoulder began to steam. The flesh bubbled and reformed, and the hole began to close. In a blink of an eye, the wound was gone, as if he had never been injured at all.
Ulquiorra's High-Speed Regeneration.
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