The moment Ren's feet slid back across the rooftop everything changed
Not the world
Not the sky
Him
For the first time in a long time something pushed him
It was small
Barely anything
But it was real
And that alone was enough
A faint breath escaped his lips almost like a laugh but quieter
The man in the black suit stood still again watching him without blinking
No emotion
No reaction
Just observation
Ren straightened up slowly rolling his shoulder once like he was checking something inside his own body
"…you actually moved me"
His voice was low calm but there was something new inside it
Not boredom
Something closer to interest
The man replied instantly
"Adjustment successful"
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly
"Adjustment"
The man stepped forward again
Each step cracked the rooftop beneath him not from weight but from something deeper like the space itself couldn't handle his presence properly
"You are adapting to resistance"
Ren tilted his head
"…so you talk a lot for something that wants to kill me"
"I am not here to converse"
"Yeah you're doing a bad job at that"
For a second nothing happened
Then the man vanished again
This time Ren didn't wait
His body moved on its own
He turned before the attack even landed
A sharp strike aimed at his side
Ren blocked it again
But this time
The impact actually hurt
Not much
Just enough
A small crack sound echoed not from the building but from the air itself
Ren's hand tightened around the man's wrist
"…good"
The word slipped out naturally
The man twisted instantly breaking free with unnatural precision then followed with another strike aimed higher faster sharper
Ren dodged this one
Barely
The attack sliced past his face cutting a few strands of his hair
For a moment everything slowed down
Ren touched his cheek
There was a thin line
A cut
A drop of blood formed
He stared at it
Quiet
Still
Then he smiled
Not wide
Not crazy
Just real
"…I can actually feel this"
The man didn't respond
But the pressure around him increased again
The rooftop began to crack further spreading outward like spiderweb fractures
The air grew heavy almost suffocating
Below them people had already started noticing
Some stopped in the street looking up
Others backed away instinctively
Hunters nearby felt it immediately
One of them grabbed his communicator
"Unknown energy spike detected rooftop sector seven this isn't a normal breach"
Another voice came through
"Is it the same anomaly from earlier"
"No idea but it feels worse"
Back on the rooftop Ren stepped forward this time
Slowly
No hesitation
"…you said you're a correction right"
"Yes"
"Then try correcting this"
He disappeared
Not like the man
Not like teleportation
More like he simply wasn't there anymore
The next second
He was already in front of him
His fist moved
Not fast
Not flashy
Just direct
The man reacted instantly raising his arm to block
Contact
The moment their fists met
The entire space around them shattered
Not physically
Something deeper
The sky above flickered violently like a broken screen
Buildings below trembled
Windows cracked across multiple blocks
A shockwave spread outward but there was no explosion
Just pressure
Pure pressure
The man slid back this time
Not far
But enough
Ren didn't move after the punch
He looked at his own hand again slowly opening and closing it
"…still holding back without trying"
The man's voice came again unchanged
"Output level increasing"
A faint glow appeared around his body now not bright not flashy but dense like compressed data wrapping around him
Ren noticed immediately
"…there it is"
The man stepped forward again
Faster than before
Stronger than before
This time Ren didn't block
He let the hit come
It slammed into his chest
The rooftop beneath him exploded outward
Dust filled the air
Chunks of concrete fell off the building
From below it looked like the entire rooftop had collapsed
Hunters started moving toward the location immediately
"Move now whatever is up there is beyond S rank"
Back in the dust
Silence
Then footsteps
Ren walked out of it casually brushing some dust off his coat
"…not bad"
There was a faint mark on his shirt
Nothing else
No injury
No damage
But his eyes
They were different now
The silver glow was faintly visible
The man stood still again
For the first time
He didn't attack immediately
"…data inconsistency increasing"
Ren laughed softly
"Yeah you're starting to understand"
He took another step forward
The ground didn't crack this time
It sank
Like reality itself was bending under him
"…I think I get it now"
He looked directly at the man
"You're not here to fight me"
A pause
"You're here to test me"
No answer came
But the silence itself felt like confirmation
Ren's smile faded slightly
"…that's disappointing"
He raised his hand again
The air around his fingers began to distort more clearly now visible cracks forming like thin lines of broken glass floating in place
"I thought you might actually be enough"
The man moved again
Faster than before
Faster than anything so far
Multiple strikes in an instant each one aimed perfectly
Ren moved through them
Not dodging fully
Not blocking fully
Just adjusting
Each movement small efficient effortless
Like he was learning mid fight
Adapting
Growing
One strike finally connected
Another cut appeared on his arm
Ren looked at it briefly
"…again"
But this time
It healed instantly
Not slowly
Not gradually
Just gone
The man stopped
"…regeneration detected"
"Not really" Ren replied
"I just stopped it from happening"
The silence that followed felt heavier than any attack
The man stepped back
For the first time creating real distance
"…new directive received"
Ren's expression didn't change
But something in the air did
"…yeah I felt that"
Far above them
The sky cracked again
Bigger than before
Deeper
Darker
Something was coming
More than one
Ren looked up
His eyes focused for once
"…so you're calling backup already"
The man spoke one last time
"You are no longer within acceptable parameters"
Ren exhaled slowly
"…I never was"
Another presence appeared
Then another
Multiple distortions forming in the sky
Each one similar
Each one wrong
Ren lowered his gaze back to the man in front of him
"…good"
For the first time
There was no boredom in his voice
Only quiet anticipation
The kind that had been missing for too long
"…let's see how far this goes