The battlefield, a fractured expanse of alien rock, had become a maelstrom of shadow, fire, and bone. The fight was a blur of high-rank combat, fierce and unforgiving.
Renji and his father stood back-to-back, the Monarch and the Draconic Soul Master, covering each other's blind spots.
Kaelith, his purple Dragon Scale Armor shimmering, roared as he delivered a devastating, palm-first strike into the chest of the Flesh Shaper.
' I spent years training, honing the soul-fire to protect the world. I failed to protect her. I won't fail him.'
The Flesh Shaper, already badly damaged, shrieked as Kaelith's Draconic fire consumed its grotesque form, leaving nothing behind but ash and a sickening, ethereal stench.
Meanwhile, Renji spun to face the Whispering Shade, which was still trying to maintain distance.
The Iron Carapace was locked in a brutal exchange with the massive Shadow Gashadokuro, its metallic carapace beginning to fracture under the sheer, brute force of the colossal shadow.
The Venerated Knight was a silent, unyielding defender, protecting Renji's flank from the surviving Zephyr Striker, who was now weaponless and relying purely on speed.
Renji knew the Shade, being a spiritual entity, was the hardest target for physical attack. He needed to strike its source of power.
He drew his Obsidian Greatsword and channeled the darkness of the System into the blade. The Greatsword didn't merely glow; it seemed to drink the light, becoming a pure, negative void.
"Shadow Flare," Renji whispered.
He vanished.
The Whispering Shade suddenly turned, its tendrils whipping wildly, sensing the catastrophic danger. It tried to retreat into the shadows, but Renji was already there, faster than its own element. He didn't slash; he plunged the Obsidian Greatsword straight through the Shade's spectral core.
A deafening, soul-shattering shriek tore through the air. The Shade's form expanded like an overpressurized balloon, then violently collapsed into a cloud of dispersing black smoke, never to reform.
With the two most elusive enemies destroyed, the remaining B-Rank entities lost all cohesion.
The Zephyr Striker, seeing the death of its two comrades, turned to flee. It was instantly intercepted by Kaelith, who moved with lightning speed, enveloping the warrior in a cage of intense purple dragon fire. The Striker's screams were brief but absolute.
Finally, the Iron Carapace, battered, fractured, and losing all hope was met with a final, overwhelming strike from the Shadow Gashadokuro. The colossal shadow servant brought its immense axe down, cleaving the armored entity completely in half. It landed with a sound like dropping a mountain of gravel.
Silence fell across the alien landscape.
Renji leaned on his sword, breathing heavily, the remnants of his green aura flickering weakly. The fight was won, but the cost had been physical and spiritual exhaustion.
Kaelith walked over, his purple armor receding back into his skin. He placed a heavy, reassuring hand on Renji's shoulder.
"That was a hell of a fight, Kerry," Kaelith said, his voice raw with pride. "You're everything the prophecy said, and more."
Renji gave a sharp, definitive nod. He had no time for celebration or deep conversation. His mission was complete.
He extended his arm once more, the Authority absolute.
"Return!"
In perfect unison, the colossal form of the Shadow Gashadokuro and the silent bulk of the Venerated Knight instantly collapsed back into the shadowy mana pool beneath Renji's feet, disappearing completely.
Renji and Kaelith stood side by side, looking out over the smoking, desolate ground, where the fragmented remains of the four B-Rank invaders lay scattered.
Renji sprinted past the meditating Mage who had opened the Portal. As he flashed by, the sheer force of his passing speed decapitated the Mage, the head flying cleanly from the neck with a soundless snap, eliminating the source of the dimensional tear.
"Are you alright, son?" Kaelith asked Renji, his voice full of proud, relieved warmth. A genuine smile softened his pale, handsome face.
"Yes, I'm—"
Before Renji could finish, a warm, blood began to drip from Kaelith's mouth. Renji's gaze instantly dropped, freezing on a single, horrifying point: a jagged, dark spear had pierced straight through his father's abdomen.
Kaelith's smile instantly sharpened, becoming an expression of profound finality. All he had wanted was to see his son strong, to see him once more before he finally succumbed.
The attacker was the Zephyr Striker. The lightning-fast entity, which Renji thought had been destroyed by Kaelith's fire, had managed to survive and reconstitute itself, standing now, barely with its spectral body visibly weak and flickering. It was this desperate, broken entity that had driven the spear into Kaelith's core.
Renji reacted instantly, catching his father and gently lowering him to the hard, alien ground.
"Dad—Dad. Please—" Renji was suddenly mute, the words locking in his throat as his trembling hands pressed desperately against the grievous wound, trying futilely to staunch the gushing blood. "I can't lose you. I just lost my mother. Please stay with me—"
Kaelith's hand gently rested on Renji's hand, his warmth quickly fading but his smile holding steady.
"It's alright, son. It's okay. All I ever wanted was to see my son strong and brave like this. I dreamt of seeing you one last time before I had to leave, and finally, it has happened." Kaelith coughed, the movement bringing up more blood, yet he kept speaking. "This isn't over yet, my son. I know you can save the world from the chaos ahead. Your mother and I will be with you, always. Be strong, and destroy all the devils."
Kaelith's eyes closed the moment he finished his message. Renji clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut with brutal force, tears immediately streaming down his face.
Forgive me, Mom. I couldn't protect my own father. But...
He stood, his aura immediately surging to a terrifying, uncontrolled peak. He turned slowly, the full, lethal intensity of him focused on the weak figure of the Zephyr Striker.
"I will take vengeance for your death!" he snarled.
Faster than the eye could follow, Renji attacked. The Obsidian Greatsword pierced the Striker's skull from the back, appeared briefly through its vacant eye socket, only to be yanked back and immediately driven through the entity's throat. He continued the savage pattern down the torso. Even after this flurry of devastating strikes, the Zephyr Striker managed to stand for a final, agonizing second.
That was the last second it would ever have.
Renji's hands moved in a three-second, incomprehensible blur. He didn't use the sword; he used his Strength and Speed. His hands delivered a thousand micro-slashes, cutting every single remaining part of the entity spectral sinew, muscle, and bone into tiny, insignificant pieces. The Zephyr Striker simply dissolved into a rain of fading sparks.
The Portal behind them, now lacking the Mage maintaining its structure, began to violently contract. With no time to waste, Renji carefully lifted his father's limp body, placing him respectfully over his shoulder, and flew out of the collapsing dimension and back onto Earth.
The Portal snapped shut behind him. Dozens of lower-rank beasts remained, locked in combat with the struggling Special Hunters on the Island.
"The Portal is closed! We can eliminate all remaining threats from our plane now!" Minami, a capable female Hunter coordinating the defense, alerted the others through their comms.
Renji drew his sword, Kaelith's dead weight resting on his shoulder. He did not speak or pause. He sprinted through the remaining beast horde, an unstoppable blur of green and black, killing thousands of the creatures in a fraction of a second before vanishing completely from the island, leaving the rest of the cleanup easier for the overwhelmed Hunters.