The night had collapsed into ruin. The courtyard was a graveyard of broken stone, burning torches, and the stench of demon blood thick enough to choke. At its center stood two titans—the abyss-born Kurogami and the corrupted vessel Hanzo.
The air itself shivered between them.
Hanzo struck first. His blade screamed through the air, a streak of shadow fire that split stone and left molten cracks in its wake. Kurogami pivoted, cleaver raised, catching the blow with a sound like thunder cracking the heavens. Sparks exploded, shadows scattering like frightened crows.
"Still fighting like a soldier," Kurogami's layered voice rumbled. His cleaver surged outward, hurling Hanzo back through a wall of shattered masonry. "But all I see is a puppet dancing for Shura."
Hanzo rose from the rubble, green eyes blazing. "And all I see is a monster finally admitting what he is."
He vanished. One blink, and he was upon Kurogami, blade lashing with impossible speed. But the horned demon moved faster. Each strike of Hanzo's was met with the cleaver, the collisions sending shockwaves through the courtyard that toppled demons and warriors alike.
Their fight became a storm. Hanzo's blade carved arcs of emerald fire, each swing promising to sever worlds. Kurogami's cleaver answered with raw brutality, each strike heavy enough to warp the air. Stone split, towers cracked, and the battlefield became an echo chamber of ruin.
Yet amid the carnage, Kurogami's movements held restraint. His swings were wide, his parries late by fractions of a second. He was fighting like a predator holding back—like a man still clinging to mercy.
Every time Hanzo came within reach, the cleaver could have ended him. Instead, it swept just enough to force a retreat, just enough to wound, never to kill.
Takashi, still bleeding against a fallen wall, saw it through blurred vision. "He's… holding back," he muttered. "The idiot's holding back…"
Hanzo noticed too. His grin widened with every clash. "You pity me?" His strikes grew more vicious, blade cutting through air with savage hunger. "You think I need saving?"
Kurogami caught the blade, shadows wrapping around the cleaver as his voice thundered back:
"You don't need saving—you need remembering!"
He slammed his forehead into Hanzo's helm, cracking it. For a heartbeat, Hanzo's human face showed beneath the green blaze. His expression twisted, torn between rage and something that looked like pain.
Kurogami grit his teeth, shadows swirling around him like a hurricane. Each tendril was severed in a single stroke, his movements explosive, beautiful, terrifying—every attack meant to end the fight in a single blow. He carved trenches into the battlefield, unleashed a wall of blades that rained like meteors, and still, Hanzo danced through them with mocking ease.
Then he screamed, channeling Shura's power, and both warriors erupted.
The next exchange tore the battlefield apart. Hanzo unleashed a slash that split the courtyard in two, a wave of green fire carving through demons and Kokuryūkai alike. Kurogami answered immediately "Eclipse Fang: Shadowquake!" His cleaver slammed into the earth, releasing a black shockwave that flattened the horde, demons exploding into mist as the ground itself shattered beneath the force.
When the dust cleared, bodies lay everywhere—demon and human alike, all felled by the overwhelming clash of the two giants.
Kurogami stood tall, cleaver dripping with darkness. Hanzo knelt, his chest heaving, a wound cut deep across his torso. For the first time, he bled—not green fire, but red, human blood.
Kurogami lowered his weapon, stepping closer, his voice heavy with something almost broken.
"Hanzo… come back. This doesn't have to be you."
The cleaver sank into the ground. Kurogami extended his clawed hand.
For a moment—just a moment—the battlefield held its breath. Hanzo's hand twitched, his corrupted eyes flickering with that faint spark of recognition. The sound of his breath rasped, uneven, as though he wanted to answer.
But then his smirk returned.
"Too late."
His blade flared with sudden fire, and with a desperate, final strike, he slashed the earth at Kurogami's feet. The ground exploded, swallowing both of them in a choking cloud of dust and shadow.
When the haze cleared, Kurogami stood alone, chest seared with a deep cut, his cleaver buried in the stone beside him. Hanzo was gone, the night swallowing his presence like a bad memory.
Hikari stumbled forward, bloodied but alive, her voice raw. "Where… where is he?"
Kurogami's monstrous form tilted his head, shadows dripping from his horns. His abyssal eyes burned with fury—and grief.
"Gone," his voice rumbled, equal parts growl and sigh. "But he'll be back. Stronger. Hungrier."
He turned to face the battered remnants of Kokuryūkai. The battlefield lay in ruin, the guild's master slain, their numbers shredded. But enough still stood, weapons shaking in exhausted hands.
" Where's the seal, master?" Kurogami asked. " Gone, Hanzo took it with him" Takashi managed with a weak cough.
The demon slowly morphed back into Renji while shadows shredded off it like old skin. When he spoke he's voice still remained that of the demon but lowered, rough and bitter.
"This war isn't over. It's only begun."
***
The following day had the Kokuryūkai gathering their dead. A lot had been killed so it was backbreaking work.
Out of guilt, Renji did most of the work gathering and cremating all hundred men who died in the attack. A tear escaped his human left eye when he got round to cremating Master Kazuki while the rest of the soldiers were either resting or down in the infirmary.
He thought back to the grandmaster's words in the Land of shadows: " Without mastery, you are a storm without anchor. A beast pretending at man."
He suddenly noticed the reassuring faint gold glint of the amulet on his right arm " I will master all seven currents and when I do I shall be the nightmare that will haunt nightmares" He vowed then turned on impulse to see Hikari and Takashi making their way towards him.
" Hey don't be too hard on yourself, everyone knew that the time dilation of the Land of shadows to reality was long. A whole day here is like a minute there, I was here and I couldn't save master" Takashi intoned.
" Renji you need to unburden your mind of you're gonna learn all seven currents" Hikari added.
" Master…" Renji began. " Takashi… just call me Takashi you've attained the rank of a grandmaster so I should call you master instead but don't even think about it" Takashi smirked.
" I won't have it any other way Takashi" Renji said. " you can call me Hikari too contrary to popular belief I'm not exactly old enough to be called a Master anyway." Hikari stated.
" Me neither" Takashi agreed. "Master Kazuki's last order was for me to ensure that you learn all seven currents which means I'm going with you. I have a map of the other guilds locations we live in thirty minutes so better get some food" Hikari said calmly.
" I'll handle the Kokuryūkai till you get back Hikari" Takashi muttered. " Where are we going?" Renji asked curious.
" Akakaze State we will be meeting with the Hono no Senshi" Hikari said with a air of anticipation in respect to the hurdles to be overcome.