Chapter 5
The night sky rippled.
Winds howled across the broken cityscape, carrying with them the lingering scent of ash and mana that still hung in the air from the earlier destruction.
High above that ruined world, two streaks of light tore through the heavens one gold, one silver moving with impossible speed.
Renji flew ahead, his cloak fluttering behind him like a torn banner.
Beside him, Sakura matched his pace effortlessly, her long hair flowing wildly in the wind like a trail of purple starlight.
Their shadows sliced across the moonlit clouds as if the sky itself were splitting in two.
"Renji-sama… why? Why is he back?"
Sakura's voice quivered with the wind, but not with fear. With restrained fury.
Renji exhaled, a slow, heavy breath that condensed into mist as it left his lips.
"I don't know," he replied.
His tone was low… troubled.
Too troubled.
"But knowing my brother…"
He clenched his fist.
The air cracked around it.
"He always has a plan. Always. He's never made a move without being five steps ahead."
Sakura narrowed her eyes, glancing at Renji as their bodies cut through the night sky like arrows.
"Then…"
Her voice sharpened.
Determined.
"Then we counter his plan. Before he completes whatever he started."
Renji didn't answer.
No something's off Something isn't right.
His thoughts whispered inside him like a second voice.
He destroyed half the city just two months ago.
He knows the moment he appears, I'll come for him.
So why reveal himself now? Why appear openly… under the moon of all nights?
Renji's eyes narrowed, catching the faint distortion in the distance...
A ripple of mana.
"Januza-sama!!" Sakura suddenly shouted.
Her pupils expanded with light.
"I can sense him!"
Renji felt it too.
A presence so heavy it bent the air.
He's close. Too close.
Both of them accelerated.
Their bodies blurred as wind cracked behind them like thunder.
They surged forward
And then
They saw him.
A lone figure towering in the sky.
The moon hovered directly behind him, illuminating him like a deity descending upon the world.
Choji.
Towering over the ruined skyline, robes fluttering, silver hair drifting with the wind as if it, too, feared touching him.
The embodiment of corruption.
The herald of destruction.
Renji and Sakura slowed as they approached, landing on the air itself mana forming invisible footholds beneath their feet.
Sakura whispered, voice dropping to breathless tension:
"…There he is."
Finally..
their eyes met.
Destruction and Corruption.
Renji and Choji.
The brothers who once swore to protect the world…
now destined to destroy each other.
Choji lifted a hand casually, as though greeting a drinking buddy.
"Oooi, Renji…"
But Renji cut him off immediately... what are you doing here?
Choji smirked, lowering his hand with a chuckle.
"Always straight to the point."
His voice dropped, the smile fading, replaced by something colder.
Sharper.
"Why am I here, you ask?"
He tilted his head, grin returning but twisted now.
"C'mon… don't play games."
His expression darkened.
His voice thickened.
"I'm not here to fight you… unless you want millions more to die."
The air trembled at his words.
Sakura's eyes narrowed.
Then she laughed.
Short. Sharp. Mocking.
Her tone shifted..mpure authority.
"I wasn't there that day, remember? If I was…"
Her eyes glowed fiercely you wouldn't have left that battlefield alive, Choji."
Then her voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"But this time I will kill you."
Choji burst into laughter, genuine and amused.
" Interesting a witch challenging a god?"
He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
"Cute."
"tch...Shut up."
Renji's voice cracked like a whip and before Choji could blink...
Renji vanished. A sonic boom exploded behind him.
Fast. Faster than before.
Choji lifted his eyes just in time to see a golden blur appear in front of him
Boom!!!
Renji's fist collided with Choji's face, sending shockwaves rolling across the sky.
Clouds split apart.
The air screamed.
Choji caught his fist barely...but Renji didn't stop.
"Oooi, oooi don't be in a haste I wasn't done speaking"
Another punch hammered into Choji's torso.
Guh—!
He gasped, the air leaving his lungs.
But Renji was relentless.
A third punch, this time to the jaw
BOOOOM!!
Choji careened backwards, skidding across the air itself before regaining balance a dozen meters away.
He winced, rubbing his cheek.
"Owww… That hurts, you know!"
He cracked his neck, eyes closed.
"I told you, Renji… I didn't come to fight..."
But!!!
He opened his eyes.
The world froze.
In Choji's pupils, a ring glowed .....
a ring marked by two pulsing lines, beating like a living heart.
Renji's eyes widened.
"Impossible…"
He stepped forward unconsciously.
"…How?"
Choji smirked, raising his palm as particles of corruption gathered.
They twisted
Darkened
Condensed
Forming a massive black rod, forged from pure corruption, radiating with three patterns.
"If you want a fight that badly…"
Choji spread his arms.
"…then come at me."
Renji's entire body trembled.
"How… How can a mortal awaken three patterns of the Eyes of Alcaraz?!"
Sakura hissed
"That's impossible… How are you merging this fast?!"
Choji shrugged casually.
"Because I have already tapped into the Authodox Plane remember??"
The sky trembled.
The moon flickered.
"And I consumed its darkness." choji spread his arms in a twisted display of pride.
"My master has chosen me as the vessel. My body
He placed a hand on his chest.
My body will host him fully."
He closed his eyes, speaking as if reciting scripture.
"I told you… I didn't come here to fight."
His tone grew darker and colder.
"But millions and millions more will die. My master will rule this world, this universe through me."
And then
Eight streaks of light pierced the sky.
Boom!!
The Pillars arrived.
Choji glanced casually.
"Ahh… more guests." Renji's teeth gritted.
Damn it… they shouldn't be here.
Elena Warwick's voice trembled as she stared at Choji.
"Oi… are you kidding me? The aura he's releasing
She swallowed..... Are we supposed to fight that!!
"It's stronger than Renji Kurogane."
Fear spread through the Pillars.
But not one stepped back.
Sakura spoke januza-sama! If we don't stop him now, he'll grow stronger and stronger until he fully merges!"
Renji nodded.
Slowly.
Particles of light swirled around him as two of the Nine Rings of Creation manifested, forming his golden staff.
"Choji…"
His voice was steel.
"You won't escape today."
His eyes opened....
Two Patterns of the Eye of Alcaraz blazed.
Choji chuckled.
"Renji, Renji… which matters more to you?"
He motioned toward the Pillars.
"Me? Or those millions about to die?" he flicked his wrist....
WHOOSH!!
Dozens of dimensional gates burst open.
Monsters the size of towers poured out, screaming, roaring, tearing the air apart.
Choji laughed.
"Do you really care about humans dying?"
Sakura stepped forward, smiling coldly "Who said anything about fighting you here?"
Her eyes became stars literally glowing with cosmic light.
She formed the tiger hand sign.
Wind howled.
The world dimmed.
Choji's expression sharpened.
"Oh?"
Sakura inhaled.
And then....
**"APEX OF TRANSCENDANCE !
AUTHODOX DOMINION!!"**
The world died.
Everything light, space, sound
was swallowed by an all-devouring darkness.
A consuming void.
A darkness that ate the dimensional gates ate the monsters it ate the corrupted mana and ate the sky itself.
The monsters screamed as they were erased.
Their cries echoed like fading ghosts..
Gyaaaaaaah!!—
Wind spiraled.
And everything vanished in it's sight
Choji's hair whipped violently as the void consumed everything around him.
The Pillars gasped.
Marcus Steel choked ooii "Are you kidding me…? That's Apex of Transcendance…"
Sakura pointed at Choji "I told you. I'll kill you today."
Choji laughed hysterically.
"YES YES YES YES! INTERESTING!!"
His eyes shone with unhinged joy.
"But if that's all you have… you'll need much more to KILL ME!"
Sakura stepped forward.
"Let's go, Januza-sama!"
Renji raised a hand sharply.
"Wait." but sakura froze ...."Huh?! What do you mean wait?!"
"We have to act NOW..!"
But Renji's voice dropped and it was not a request it was a commandment.
"Don't. Move." Even the Pillars stiffened.
Renji stared at Choji then sighed...
"I won't waste my strength… on a clone."
Choji tilted his head, impressed. "Ooooh? So you figured it out."
Sakura blinked.
"Clone?"
Renji nodded.
"Yes. He's not the original body."
Choji smiled widely.
Renji stepped forward, explaining:
"I asked myself: why would you return now? You know I would stop you even if I had to kill you."
"It didn't make sense."
He tightened his grip on his staff.
"Azerin is always five steps ahead. Even a thousand years ago, in our first battle."
"You were the reason I chose reincarnation."
Choji's eyes glittered with anticipation.
"…Go on."
"You sent a clone with more mana than usual to fool us. To test our strength."
Renji spat the words I know azerin my brother never takes risks… especially not against me."
Choji clapped slowly.
"Very, very good, Renji."
"But if you can't even defeat a clo....."
SLICK...
Choji froze.
A warm liquid dripped down his lips.
"…G–gh…?"
He looked down...
Renji's arm was THROUGH his chest.
Through his heart.
Crushing it.
The movement had been instantaneous...
Choji never even saw him move.
Blood spilled down Renji's arm like crimson rain.
Choji coughed.
"H...how…?"
He wheezed, eyes trembling.
Renji's gaze was emotionless.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
"Azerin."
He spoke into the sky.
"I know you're watching." choji's body twitched.
"You sent a clone because you thought I wouldn't kill my best friend."
Renji's voice deepened.
Darkened.
"But I told you… a year ago."
He leaned closer, eyes glowing with pure wrath.
"When I regain my full power ..He tightened his grip inside Choji's chest.
"I'm coming for you."
Renji pulled his arm out and without hesitation
drove his hand straight into Choji's skull crushing his entire face
CRACK!!
Choji's head shattered like glass.
The clone dissolved into black dust.
Choji's bloodied gasp was the last sound that echoed before silence claimed the battlefield.
Renji hovered in the air, the glow from his rings of creation flickering before slowly fading. Sakura rose beside him, her starlike eyes dimming as the Authodox Dominion withdrew back into her body like a tide pulling away from the shore.
Below them, the eight Pillars gathered—tiny figures beneath two overwhelming giants.
Renji didn't speak. His gaze was unreadable, carved from stone and sharpened by a thousand years of battle. Sakura glanced at him, her voice quiet but steady.
"Should we speak to them?"
Renji didn't break his stare. "No.!
The single word cut through the air more sharply than any blade.
"They'll need to find their own path."
Sakura nodded, understanding the weight of his words. These were the chosen protectors of the human world at least that's what the world believed. But the gulf between what they were and what they needed to become had never been clearer.
Renji turned away from the Pillars, his aura flickering with impatience. "Let's go."
They began to rise, ready to burst into the sky...
"RENJI!!"
Takeda's voice cracked through the air, a desperate call from below.
Renji stopped mid‑ascent. Slowly, he looked down.
His eyes…
Cold.
Brutal.
Devoid of warmth or the slightest recognition.
That gaze alone made Takeda flinch.
Renji held Takeda's stare for a long, agonizing moment long enough for Takeda to hope he might say something.
He didn't.
Without a single word, Renji turned away.
And just like that…
He was gone.
A burst of air exploded below them as Renji and Sakura shot upward, their silhouettes streaking across the night sky like golden and silver comets. Within seconds, they vanished into the horizon, leaving the eight Pillars standing in stunned silence.
Takeda's hands trembled at his sides.
He couldn't even wait… he thought bitterly. He didn't even give us a chance to ask anything…
Marcus Steel exhaled slowly, his voice trembling with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
"…Is that really the power we need to acquire?"
Elena swallowed hard. "A power that even devours dimensions… Is that even possible for a human?"
The question hung in the air like a curse.
"It must be," Takeda whispered. "Otherwise we're already dead."
One by one, the Pillars voiced their thoughts, their fears, their doubts.
"If Renji wasn't exaggerating… That thing wasn't even Choji. That was just a clone…"
"And even the clone alone—would have annihilated us."
"Not one of us could've stood against it."
A heavy, suffocating silence followed.
Then Marcus Steel stepped forward.
He lifted his chin.
A thin, fierce grin carved onto his face.
"Then we get stronger," he declared.
The others looked at him.
Marcus continued, voice rising with conviction, "Even a clone has more power than us! A clone! That means we're nothing right now. Absolutely nothing."
A fire lit in his eyes.
A dangerous, unyielding fire.
"But we're still human. And humans don't break so easily."
Takeda clenched his fist. "We must… acquire it. The Apex of Transcendance."
Elena nodded. "If we don't, we'll never stand beside them. We'll never protect anyone."
"This isn't just a battle anymore," Marcus said, his voice firm, steady, certain. "This is a war between humans and gods."
He turned toward the sky toward the place where Renji and Sakura had vanished.
"And if the gods want to look down on us…"
He raised his hand, clenching it tight.
"Then we'll show the gods how humans defy fate."