Chapter 476: Thoughts on Freedom
"——Probably, whenever I want to go, any time is fine."
"Whether it's right now, this evening, or tomorrow when I have a free hour, any
of it works for me."
Ren stood up, stretching his arms overhead with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Haha, does that sound way too casual?"
"Hmm—!"
Gensai Kuroki sat cross-legged on the dirt, a heavy bottle of mineral water
clutched in his thick, calloused palm.
The old master's expression remained as stern and impassive as ever as he shook
his head. "No, on the contrary, I believe that is an answer born of deep,
thorough deliberation."
"You wish to face the freedom of the [Unchained], and so you are actively
attempting to make yourself more free as well."
"Such a thing is plain for Gensai Kuroki to see."
Kuroki's deep voice rumbled. "Indeed... you intend to act entirely on your own
whims, because you believe that is the only way you can truly brush against
Oliva's freedom."
"If your goal is to reach the pinnacle of 'strength,' then you have to go to
those lengths, regardless of who your opponent is!"
"..."
Ren arched an eyebrow, drawing in a crisp, refreshing lungful of air. "Hearing
you put it like that... treating you as an opponent right now doesn't sound like
a bad idea either?"
Kuroki closed his eyes in noncommittal silence.
Ren: "————"
Ren: "————Somehow, I feel like if the two of us don't say something right this
second, a fight is gonna break out."
Shifting gears smoothly, Ren chuckled, "Uncle Kuroki, you got one thing wrong,
though."
"Oh?"
Kuroki was willing to hear him out.
Ren bounced on the balls of his feet, loosening up his legs.
"I want to pursue strength, and I want to face strength, but my goal isn't to
become 'the strongest'."
"Words like 'the strongest' sound terrifying—they represent the absolute end of
a road, a final destination."
"It's just that my passion for the pursuit of strength and the actions it
demands are what captivate me. I want to see what lies after the journey... so
I'm forced to keep moving forward——"
"..."
"..."
Kuroki's expression softened into understanding. "I see. That is the angle from
which you view combat..."
"Be that as it may, young man, I have no doubt that we will cross paths again at
some point—somewhere along the 'journey'."
"Perhaps in the near future, or perhaps right now. Do as your heart desires;
that is your freedom!"
With those words, Kuroki closed his eyes to resume his meditation.
The autumn breeze blew cool and crisp.
Ren finished his warm-up routines, coaxing his muscles into a state of active
heat before stepping over to a patch of open ground. Stripping off his outer
shirt, he began throwing punches and kicks into the empty air.
Whish—whish-swish!
The crisp, sharp snaps of his striking sequence were unpretentious, yet from any
conceivable angle, they possessed an undeniable, mesmerizing aesthetic.
"..."
The residents of the Six Spiders District trickled over to watch from a
distance, whispering amongst themselves in curiosity. "Is that a kata
demonstration? Or just a boxing shadow-drill?"
"..."
"It is combat."
Kuroki answered without opening his eyes. "With an intensely burning fighting
spirit, he is projecting the opponent of his imagination into the empty air, and
fighting them right before our eyes."
"Watch closely, and do not doubt your own eyes. That is a realm comparable to
the 'Demon Child' Baki Hanma."
With that, Kuroki pushed himself to his feet.
Slinging his traveling pack over his shoulder, he strode toward the exit
corridor of the Six Spiders District, leaving behind a casual wave of farewell
as he departed.
[The Devil Lance] Gensai Kuroki had officially completed his contract and was
leaving The Inside for good.
"Alright————"
"..."
Sweat beaded across Ren's forehead as his focus locked entirely onto the space
before him.
His hyper-accelerated consciousness flared. Faint, inky lines materialized and
writhed across his vision, rapidly sketching out the massive, towering physique
of a Roman gladiator locked in a Pankration stance—
—Marisa.
[Hmph! Looking to show off a few moves, are you?]
The colossal female fighter clenched her ten fingers tight, lifting her fists
level with her brows. Her eyes blazed with light, every movement radiating an
overwhelming, commanding presence.
[If you want results, you gotta crank the intensity straight up to max.]
[Push yourself to the breaking point!]
With that, Marisa stepped aggressively forward. The exact microsecond her
striking range grazed Ren's, their respective "air-control zones" overlapped.
[Aha——!]
Marisa surged forward with a massive lunging stride, unloading a [Roman Gladius]
straight punch followed by an unrelenting sequence of pressure steps.
Thump-thump-thump!
Ren's frame wasn't slight by any stretch of the imagination, but compared to
Marisa's towering 203cm, 122kg frame, he was thoroughly out-massed.
In other words, even when executing the exact same Pankration techniques,
Marisa's frontal pressure carried an entirely heavier tier of authority!
—That's exactly what I want!
Thud!
Ren exploded upward off the floor, launching into a flying aerial kick.
Marisa countered instantly, throwing up a watertight [Roman Tower Shield] guard
before wrapping her arms around in a brutal, double-hammer swing that batted Ren
out of the air.
[THUNDER]!
Bang!
Ren crashed backward onto the dirt, his left eye and nose blooming a mottled
red, yet he bounced back up with a feral grin, signaling his virtual master to
run it back.
[Not bad! Keep that momentum going!]
Marisa accepted the challenge with a grin of her own, initiating another
high-intensity round.
"..."
In the distance, a group of onlookers from the Six Spiders District continued to
observe.
Even with the departure of Gensai Kuroki, not a single person dared to interrupt
Ren's training.
They watched as Ren took hits to the face, watched him bleed, and watched him
lose himself entirely in the flow of the spar, driven by a raw, unadulterated
joy.
Wanting to leave when he pleased, fighting when he felt like it, stopping when
he wanted, and training whenever the mood struck him—
From that perspective, Ren's lifestyle genuinely embodied "freedom." He was
acting like an absolute Unchained—untethered and unconstrained by anyone or
anything.
"..."
After several punishing rounds of sparring, Ren collapsed flat onto his back,
sprawling out star-fish style as he stared up at the sky, gasping for air and
dripping with sweat.
"Hiss————Huu————"
He dragged in heavy, ragged lunges of hot air, wearing an expression of
absolute, unadulterated satisfaction. This feels just right.
Maybe he'd stay "free" for a little longer today, and make that [Unchained]
Biscuit Oliva wait just a bit.
By the time he made his way back to the Tokita Niko District camp, evening had
already descended.
With order restored across The Inside, the black-market bazaars in each sector
had roared back to life, especially as dusk fell, turning the streets into a
bustling maze of makeshift stalls and vendors.
Fusui Kure had managed to rope Ren into accompanying her on a late-afternoon
stroll through the night market.
The two of them walked side-by-side, chatting and laughing easily.
Truth be told, the black market's inventory suited Fusui down to the ground; it
was a veritable paradise of contraband stalls where one could unearth all sorts
of bizarre, hard-to-find mechanical components and weapon parts.
As a resident weapons expert of the Kure clan, the young girl was clearly in her
element.
Ren maintained a leisurely demeanor, wearing his dark sunglasses while walking
with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, keeping a quiet eye on Fusui as she
haggled with vendors over esoteric gear components.
——Though, admittedly, he didn't understand the first thing about firearms.
"..."
Fusui tucked a massive bag of parts into her tactical backpack, turning to Ren.
"Wanna go check out some accessories? We could use some decorations for the
dojo."
Ren smiled and agreed.
Just as they turned a corner, a familiar figure came sprinting past at a dead
sprint, cutting right through the middle of the market street before vanishing
frantically into the deeper alleys.
Ren and Fusui blinked in unison as they tracked the retreating back.
——?!
What kind of emergency made him run like his life depended on it...?
When the two of them turned their heads to look in the opposite direction, the
mystery was instantly solved—trailing closely behind was none other than Wu
Karla.
The long-haired Kure clan girl was jogging at a steady, relentless pace behind
Ohma, chanting happily about making babies, clearly having zero intention of
letting the man escape.
Ren: "————"
Come to think of it, today must have been a weekend, meaning Koyo Academy was
out of session, giving Karla a free afternoon to hunt down Tokita Niko.
"Oh, it's Big Brother Ren and Fusui-nee!"
Karla trotted over to join them, her feet stepping in an alternating, jittery
rhythm as she maintained a half-jog preparation posture. "Have you guys seen
Ohma? He ran off this way."
Ren pointed wordlessly in the direction Ohma had bolted, and Karla flashed a
bright, appreciative smile.
"Oh, right! There's one more thing."
"Come winter, Koyo Academy is teaming up with a few other schools to host a
joint 'Winter Festival'."
Karla chattered casually. "You guys missed the school festival earlier, but you
should definitely come out and play for the Winter Festival!"
"Mm, sure thing."
Ren nodded readily, flashing a wide grin. "Even though the school festival
wasn't that long ago, Koyo really loves throwing events!"
"Well, it builds character, and the school board is super supportive. It's
actually a ton of fun, I promise!"
Karla waved a quick goodbye, preparing to resume her pursuit of Ohma. "Anyway, I
gotta go catch up with Ohma—I'm sure he'd love to come too!"
Right at that moment, Tokita Niko came sprinting back from the opposite
direction. Catching sight of Ren acting as an informer, he yelled out in panic,
"I am not going to an all-girls high school!!"
Before the echo of his voice had even faded, a rapid pat-pat-pat of footsteps
stirred up a fresh plume of dust.
Ohma dove back into the crowd, vanishing down a completely different alleyway.
"..."
Karla looked momentarily disoriented, while Fusui stood by with a knowing,
well-prepared smirk.
She nudged Ren, who smoothly flashed an okay sign.
"Ren-chin slipped a GPS tracker onto Ohma-chin earlier. He shouldn't be able to
shake her off anytime soon."
Fusui pulled a sleek tactical monitor from her pocket, handing it over to Karla.
"If he keeps hiding inside The Inside, just use this to track him."
"Oh, sweet! Thanks a million!"
Thrilled out of her mind, Karla thanked the pair profusely before sprinting off
in the direction indicated by the screen.
"..."
Fusui raised her fist in a gentle bumping gesture toward Ren, who grinned and
met her halfway with his own.
Thump ♡~!
And then, their hands naturally slid together, fingers intertwining as they
strolled hand-in-hand down the bustling street.
☆☆☆
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