The heat inside the underground sanctum pressed against Ajin's skin like the breath of a slumbering forge. The basalt gate groaned wider, releasing another wave of furnace-hot air that carried a metallic stench—blood, iron, and something older than either of them.
Jarot adjusted his grip on his crude axe, his massive frame trembling from the residual grief over the elder's death. Ajin stepped forward.
Then— A voice rose from the darkness ahead.
"Until death… I guard the scroll…"
It was low. Gravelly. Worn down by years of agony until the words didn't sound human anymore. A colossal silhouette pulled itself into the light.
The first thing they saw was the hammer—a massive slab of obsidian metal, as tall as Ajin, its surface dripping thick streams of blackened blood that steamed when they hit the floor.
Then the figure stepped fully into view. A giant man. Almost Jarot's size, but heavier, bulkier—his flesh fused with broken armor plates. His skin was cracked like sun-baked clay, glowing faintly with ember-red fissures. Black veins pulsed across his body like worms of molten tar.
But nothing was more horrifying than his eyes. Black. Total. No whites, no pupils—only the void.
Jarot froze. "N-no… that's impossible…" His voice cracked. "Senior Kunto?"
The giant's head creaked upward, as though every motion cost him agony. He didn't recognize Jarot. Or Ajin. Or anything else. There was only duty.
"Guardian… must… guard…"
Then came a roar—deep, broken, monstrous. He charged. Fast. Much too fast for something that heavy.
"JAROT!" Ajin shouted.
But Kunto was already swinging. The hammer carved through the air in a massive horizontal arc, the force splitting the heat like a scream.
Jarot barely managed to lift his axe to block— BBAAAAAAAAAAM!
The impact detonated like thunder. Jarot's axe split down the middle. Jarot himself was launched across the chamber, bones cracking as he smashed into a wall. His leg buckled beneath him at a grotesque angle.
Ajin didn't breathe. Didn't think. He moved.
Just as Kunto lifted the hammer for the killing blow— Ajin slid under the massive weapon and drove his fist into Kunto's knee.
KRRRRRNNNG!
The sound was like striking iron, not flesh. Kunto staggered—but only slightly. He turned toward Ajin, the black void of his eyes widening.
He swung. Ajin crossed his arms to block.
BUKKKK!
The blow flung him into the opposite wall. Blood burst from his mouth. Several ribs cracked—again—but his skin hardened instinctively.
He slid down the wall, coughing blood, lips curling upward. "…Strong…" he whispered.
Kunto hesitated—confused by the insane creature that laughed after taking a hit that should've snapped a horse in half.
Ajin pushed himself off the wall. "Jarot!" he snapped. "Your leg is broken!" Jarot growled in agony, forcing himself upright. "I can fight!"
"You will," Ajin said coldly. "Hit him from the side. I'll hold him."
This was their first true moment of synergy. Ajin charged. Kunto brought the hammer down with a roar— —but Ajin veered aside at the last second, letting the weapon crater the stone floor. Before Kunto could pull it free, Ajin struck the giant's elbow.
KRAK! Not enough to break it. But enough to destabilize him.
"NOW!" Ajin roared.
Jarot let out a guttural battle cry and limped forward with all the rage he possessed. He dragged the shattered remains of his axe and slammed it into Kunto's back.
BUK! Kunto grunted and stumbled. Ajin appeared on his other side.
"Angkara Retak."
His fist slammed into Kunto's armored forearm—the one holding the hammer. This time— KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!
The arm shattered. Fragments of bone and molten blood sprayed out like embers. Kunto's howl tore through the chamber. Raw. Agonized. Human.
He dropped the hammer. His massive form shook violently as he looked at the ruin of his arm. His eyes flickered—black becoming red, red becoming painfully human for the first time.
"Scroll…" he rasped. "Must not… leave… or the world… will burn…"
Then he saw Jarot. Recognition pierced the haze. Slowly, painfully… Kunto reached toward him.
"J-Jarot… little one…"
Jarot's expression shattered. He stepped forward—not as a warrior—but as the boy who once followed this giant around the training grounds.
"Senior…" Jarot whispered, voice trembling. "I'm here."
Kunto's cracked lips twitched. A smile—heartbreaking in its frailty. His remaining hand trembled as it found Jarot's chest.
"You… survived…" he rasped. "Good. Good…"
Jarot's tears came like a flood. And then— Kunto's colossal body finally gave out. He collapsed forward. Jarot caught him as best he could, lowering him gently to the floor.
The last defender of Dahana… was no more.
Silence hung over the chamber—heavy, suffocating. Ajin straightened, wiping blood from his chin. He looked past the corpse.
Beyond Kunto's fallen body… the sanctum glowed. A pedestal of volcanic stone stood at the center. And atop it—hovering just an inch above the surface—was a scroll.
Not black like Rogo's forbidden scroll. This one burned. A crimson aura pulsed around it like a heartbeat made of pure fury.
Jarot turned, eyes still red and wet. "Ajin… what is that?"
Ajin stepped forward, his shadow stretching across the polished stone. "The heart of Dahana," he whispered. "Their core technique." "Their final will."
The scroll pulsed brighter—responding to his presence. Inviting him. Calling him.
Jarot swallowed, voice hoarse. "You… you're going to take it?"
Ajin's hand hovered inches above the fiery parchment. He spoke without turning.
"I'm not taking it."
He wrapped his fingers around the burning scroll.
"I'm claiming it."
The chamber shook. The flames around the scroll erupted into a whirlwind of red-gold fury, swirling around Ajin's arm like an angry dragon preparing to devour its vessel— —and Ajin did not flinch.
His voice came out low. Steady. Cold as forged steel.
"This world took everything from me." His eyes burned crimson. "Now I will take everything back."