_____
BOOM!
The detonation tore through the district like a god's hammer, shockwaves rippling outward as nearby buildings buckled and ruptured. Concrete slabs sheared apart, windows exploded into glittering shrapnel, and twisted steel screamed as it was torn from its foundations.
At the heart of the devastation stood the tree, an unnatural colossus of platinum-veined bark and radiant leaves, its trunk wider than a city street, its branches stretching high into the storm-choked sky.
Light poured from it in blinding cascades, brilliant enough to warp the rain into steaming mist as it struck.
Ren stood his ground before it, coat snapping violently in the wind. He felt the light bite at his skin, crawling across his senses like needles. Light, one of his Quirk's weaknesses.
The glow gnawed at his concentration, threatened to peel away the darkness he commanded. He didn't care, though. He had already experienced this, so it doesn't hinder him.
Right now, there was only the man in front of him. Only the truth he would carve out with his own hands.
Somewhere behind Raxfer Sinclair, his parents' killer was hiding, and this son stood in the way of his revenge.
The battlefield around them was reduced to ruin.
Dust clouds rolled low across the ground, mixing with rain and ash, while chunks of collapsed buildings lay half-buried like corpses. Yet even amidst the destruction, life forced its way through.
Petals unfurled beneath Ren's boots, pale yellow flowers blooming in rapid succession, their stems splitting cracked asphalt as if it were soft soil.
The scent of rain-soaked earth clashed violently with smoke and ozone. Above him, Raxfer smirked.
He stood effortlessly atop the colossal tree, boots resting on a branch as wide as a bridge, his posture relaxed, almost bored. One hand lifted in a casual, dismissive gesture, as though conducting an orchestra.
"Let's see how you handle this."
[Platinum Verdancy – Platinum Waterfall.]
The tree responded instantly. Dozens, no, hundreds, of floral spears formed in midair, petals folding inward as their stems hardened into gleaming platinum shafts. They shimmered once, then plunged downward in a roaring deluge.
The spears screamed through the air, embedding themselves into the ground around Ren, detonating stone and earth on impact. Some came dangerously close, grazing past his shoulders, slicing clean grooves through nearby rubble.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue, annoyance flickering across his face as he snapped his hand downward.
[Hell – Samghata.]
The ground split beneath him.
Two massive halves of stone surged upward, slamming together just in time to encase him. The spears struck the barrier in a relentless barrage, explosions of light and debris shaking the makeshift shelter.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone, fragments splintering away as the last spear embedded itself and shattered.
Silence followed. It was brief, yet fragile silence. Then the stone exploded outward as Ren burst free, fragments scattering like shrapnel as shadows coiled around his form.
In his hands was the dark-blue executioner's broadsword, the same massive blade he had wielded against Kirishima and Sato, but now it felt different.
He held it lower, tighter. There was no restraint in his grip this time. He descended onto the yellow-grassed field Raxfer had created, his boots sinking slightly into soil that hadn't existed minutes prior. The moment his feet touched the ground, he drove the sword down.
[Hell – Sañjīva.]
The earth convulsed.
Behind him, the ground ruptured violently as something colossal forced its way upward. A giant harvestman-like creature emerged, its exoskeleton small and compact compared to its sheer reach.
Twelve enormous legs unfurled, each ending in a razor-edged blade that glistened with shadow. The creature let out a soundless vibration, legs embedding themselves into the earth, claiming territory.
Raxfer merely laughed.
"Do you really think your techniques can stop mine?" He raised his hand again, fingers spreading wide.
[Platinum Verdancy – Platinum Paradise.]
The air filled with golden motes.
Seeds, or pollen, poured outward in massive quantities, saturating the battlefield in radiant light. The glow intensified, bathing everything in a warm, almost holy brilliance. Wherever the motes settled, plants responded instantly.
Trees erupted from the soil, twisting skyward in seconds, their leaves glowing faintly as roots tangled and spread. The flora pulsed in unison, as though breathing.
It was Raxfer's own domain. By embedding the seeds into the land and fusing them with the central tree, he gained control, access to an entire arsenal of techniques waiting to be unleashed.
Ren remained composed. He raised his sword, pointing the tip directly at Raxfer, darkness licking along the blade's edge, pushing back against the overwhelming light.
"Why don't you get down here," he said evenly, voice cutting through the storm, "and fight me yourself, Raxfer?"
Raxfer sighed, almost disappointed. Then he stepped off the branch. The fall should've killed him.
Instead, he landed lightly on the grassy field, rain splashing around his boots as the wind howled between them. The storm raged overhead, thunder rolling distantly as the two fighters locked eyes.
Raxfer's right arm began to change. Vines wrapped tightly around it, layering and hardening until they formed a massive spear-armored gauntlet, its surface etched with glowing veins.
"This is my version of my father's root gauntlet," he said, flexing it slowly. "I hope you're worth the effort."
His smile was cruel. Although, Ren's response was silent. Darkness surged as he enhanced his sword with EST, the blade humming with restrained power. His stance lowered, oozing the intent to kill the man in front of him.
"I've been training for this day," he said coldly, his eyes never leaving Raxfer's. "Just not against him."
FWOOSH!
Steel screamed as the two blades collided, the impact shuddering up Ren's arms and rattling through his bones.
Sparks burst outward in a violent spray, briefly illuminating the rain-soaked battlefield in harsh white flashes. The force of Raxfer's strike was heavier than expected, and it drove Ren back a half step.
He let the momentum take him, boots skidding across the slick yellow grass as he twisted his wrist and slid his blade along Raxfer's root-forged gauntlet, sparks carving glowing scars into the bark-like surface.
The friction burned, but he leaned into it, using the recoil to pivot his body and redirect the clash rather than resist it outright.
Raxfer reacted instantly. Rather than overcommit, he flowed with the motion, dropping low as his body blurred beneath the sliding steel. His counter came like a viper, silent, precise.
A thorned blade of living wood thrust upward, aimed straight for Ren's abdomen. Reflex took over before thought could catch up.
Ren snapped his sword down, metal ringing as he caught the stab mere inches from his body.
The force sent a jolt through his shoulders, but he held, teeth bared, eyes locked onto Raxfer's calm, almost amused expression.
Using this distraction, Ren ordered the gigantic exo-skeleton to swing down one of its blades on Raxfer.
The towering construct responded with a groan of tortured metal and bone, its massive silhouette eclipsing the storm clouds above.
A blade the size of a guillotine descended, cleaving through rain and air alike, carrying enough force to flatten buildings. The ground trembled beneath its shadow.
Raxfer noticed this and leapt backward, making a gesture.
[Platinum Verdancy - Divine Garden Shear]
The world seemed to inhale. Every vine, every blade of grass, every twisted root birthed by Platinum Paradise shuddered violently.
Color drained from them in an instant, greens bleaching to ashen gray as their vitality was torn free and pulled toward a single point in midair.
The stolen life converged, spiraling together with a deafening roar, compressing and refining itself until it formed a colossal garden shear, elegant, bladed, and impossibly sharp, glowing faintly with divine verdancy even as it radiated death.
The exo-skeleton was immediately cut down by the massive garden shear.
The descending construct never stood a chance. The shear passed through it as though it were mist, severing metal, bone, and shadow in one flawless arc.
The remains crashed to the ground in burning fragments, steam and dust erupting skyward. Without hesitation, Ren extended his will into the wreckage.
The remains of Sañjīva stirred, blackened sinew knitting together with the shattered remnants of Samghata.
Flesh reformed where none should exist, bone cracking and reshaping, until a monstrous, undead woman rose from the carnage, towering, skeletal, yet horrifyingly whole, her hollow eyes blazing with borrowed malice.
The huge undead woman swung its arm on Raxfer, making another gesture.
[Platinum Verdancy - Platinum Waterfall]
From the heavens above, Raxfer's tree answered. Spears of hardened wood rained down in a merciless deluge, slamming into the earth around the undead giant with explosive force.
The spears struck, rooted, and then unraveled mid-impact, bursting into writhing masses of vines.
They lashed outward like living chains, binding the undead woman's limbs, torso, and neck, tightening relentlessly until her movements slowed, then halted entirely, her roar muffled beneath the crushing green web.
Ren appeared behind of Raxfer, swinging his blade.
Rain blurred the world as he moved, darkness swallowing distance itself. His blade arced toward Raxfer's neck in a clean, lethal sweep.
As it was about to connect to his neck, he simply ducked down before kicking him away. The kick landed square in Ren's chest, knocking the breath from his lungs and sending him flying.
Ren rolled against the yellow grassy fields before using his blade to stab into the ground, stopping the momemtum.
Mud and water sprayed as steel bit deep into the earth. He coughed, dragging himself upright, chest heaving. Pain flared everywhere, arms numb, legs screaming, but he forced himself to stand.
'It's all or nothing.'
Ren expanded his darkness around him, emerging two large hands that would gather a huge amount of EST.
Shadows thickened, coiling like living tar, the air vibrating as power condensed between the massive spectral palms. The rain evaporated on contact, hissing into steam.
He didn't care anymore. This opponent was too strong for him, and he had to evolve, otherwise he might die here. Across the field, Raxfer simply smirked, raising his arm.
[Platinum Verdancy - Divine Garden Shear, Divinity]
By using one part of the Divine Garden Shear's blade, he lowered his hand, throwing the half-shear downward and...
...BOOM!
After the dust had settled from the explosion. "Why won't you just give it up already?"
Raxfer's voice rolled across the ruined battlefield, echoing through shattered stone and scorched earth.
Dust still drifted lazily through the air, illuminated by pale light filtering down from the torn sky above. The ground bore deep scars from their final clash, craters, splintered rock, and warped terrain radiating outward from the impact point.
Yet at the center of it all, impossibly untouched, the massive tree still stood, its platinum-tinted branches swaying faintly as if nothing had happened at all.
Raxfer stood tall beneath it, unscathed. Ren knelt several meters away, one knee pressed into the rubble, the other barely holding his weight. His breath came out in ragged pulls.
Bruises darkened his skin, burns traced along his arms, and deep cuff-like marks wrapped around his wrists where energy had torn through muscle and bone alike.
Every last fragment of EST he had possessed had been poured into that final attack. Sadly, it hadn't been enough.
"You know," Raxfer continued casually, rolling his shoulder as if he was loosening his stiff muscles, "I really don't understand this obsession of yours. Avenge your dead parents, avenge this, avenge that."
He sighed, spreading his hands. "They're gone."
Ren's fingers twitched against the broken ground. He tried to push himself upright, teeth clenched, but his arms buckled instantly, sending him back down with a dull thud.
"Just accept it," Raxfer said, stepping closer, his boots crunching against the debris. "Move on. At this rate, you're not honoring them, you're just killing yourself."
A smirk curved across his face as he stopped directly in front of Ren, looking down at him like a disappointed spectator.
"Never..." Ren rasped. His voice was weak, frayed, but the glare he forced upward burned with stubborn defiance. Even kneeling, even broken, his eyes refused to yield.
Raxfer paused. For a brief moment, something unreadable flickered across his expression.
"...What a shame," he murmured at last. He shook his head slowly, clicking his tongue in mock disappointment. "Truly, a shame."
He turned slightly, already dismissing the fight as finished.
"You're coming with me. Father will make good use of you. After all, you will be the seed that will commence Project Yggdrasil."
Just as he reached out, a faint disturbance rippled through the air. Raxfer suddenly stopped before turning his head, scanning the battlefield.
For a moment there, nothing seemed to move, there was only silence and drifting dust. His brow lifted in mild curiosity.
"...Hm." His gaze sharpened. "I sense two presences. It seems a bit small, but it's close. from here." A thin smile returned. "Your classmates, I presume."
He straightened, hands slipping into his pockets with casual confidence. "Kurogiri must have sent them here. How thoughtful of him."
Raxfer glanced back down at Ren, eyes gleaming. "Looks like the audience arrived just in time."
[To Be Continued.]