Chapter 18
Renji exhaled slowly.
The noise of the training hall seemed to fade as he lifted his gaze and looked directly at Hiroto. There was no arrogance in his eyes only calm certainty.
"…Alright," Renji said at last.
"Come at me."
The moment the words left his mouth, the air changed.
It felt heavier. Tighter. As if the room itself was holding its breath.
They began, hiroto moved first
Whoosh!!
He exploded forward, pouring everything he had into that single charge. The floor cracked beneath his feet as he closed the distance in an instant, twin daggers flashing like silver fangs as he aimed straight for Renji's centerline.
But it didn't actually matter.
Because Renji was on a completely different level.
Before Hiroto could even process what was happening, Renji vanished from his sight...
and reappeared behind him.
BOOM.
A crushing impact slammed into Hiroto's back. His body was launched through the air like a broken projectile, smashing into the wall with enough force to send cracks spiderwebbing across the surface. The echo thundered through the hall.
Before he could even fall...
Renji was already there.... Giving up already!?
He seized Hiroto by the collar and, without effort, hurled him across the training hall like a discarded doll.
CRASH—!
Another wall shattered on impact, debris exploding outward as Hiroto's body tore straight through it.
Takeda's eyes went wide, his breath catching in his throat.
"This is…" he muttered, frozen in place.
"This isn't a spar anymore."
Renji didn't slow down.
He blurred again.
Hiroto barely managed to raise his arms before..
BAM.
A fist buried itself into his torso.
His eyes bulged.
The air was ripped from his lungs.
"G...hah!!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth as his body folded forward, pain detonating through his core.
"C'mon," Renji said calmly...almost casually.
"You can do better than that, Hiroto."
He grabbed him again and slammed him into the wall.
This time, it didn't just crack ,It collapsed.
Stone and concrete rained down as Hiroto crashed through and hit the ground hard, his body skidding across the shattered floor.
Renji still wasn't even trying.
No techniques,no aura or visible power.
Just speed and strength and complete dominance Again and again and again.
Renji's movements were too clean..too fast. Hiroto couldn't follow them. Couldn't react. Couldn't even catch his breath before the next impact arrived.
Is this… really Renji's power now…? Hiroto thought hazily.
Even while holding back…?
Is this really the strength of a pillar is this the height i must attain ?
Blood streamed down his face, dripping onto the broken floor beneath him.
In an instant, Renji was standing in front of him.
SLAM.
He drove Hiroto straight into the ground.
The floor cratered on impact, fractures spreading outward as dust and debris burst into the air. Hiroto coughed violently, gulping blood as his vision blurred and pain screamed through his body.
Renji stood over him, silent.
"…It seems you still have a long way to go," Renji said at last.
His voice softened slightly.
"My friend.", he turned away hands in his pocket Take a rest, Hiroto!! If you really want to beat me at my level then I will teach you the power to do so
Hiroto's fingers twitched.
"…No."
He forced his trembling arms beneath him, dragging himself upright. His legs shook violently, barely supporting his weight, but he stood anyway.
"I'm… not done…"
C'mon you know you can't beat me ?
With a broken shout, he charged forward once more.
Renji sighed what a pain, he looked at him and that was all.
Their eyes met.
And the world collapsed.
An overwhelming pressure descended like the judgment of a god.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
Mana crashed down on Hiroto, slamming him into the ground with merciless force. The floor shattered further, the training hall groaning as cracks spread in every direction. The pressure pinned him completely.
He couldn't move and couldn't breathe.
You see I could have ended this in an instant Renji said jokingly
Takeda stared in horror.
"…That move."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"That's the same one," he said slowly.
"The one he used against the other eight pillars… back at the Hunter's Bureau headquarters."
Renji released the pressure.
The crushing weight vanished instantly.
Hiroto collapsed flat on the ground, gasping desperately for air, his body trembling.
"…You've used that move before," Hiroto wheezed.
"What… what is it?"
Renji looked down at him, hands tucked casually into his pockets, his expression relaxed—almost amused.
"It's more like telekinesis and also not like telekinesis," Renji said with a light chuckle.
"Just applied differently."
He turned away, already walking back toward the center of the hall.
"You still have a long way to go, my friend."
Takeda watched Renji's back in silence.
And Hiroto despite the pain, despite the crushing defeat smiled.
Because now, he understood.
The gap between them wasn't hatred.
It wasn't effort it was class
While the sounds of the sparring match still clung to Takeda's training hall, something else stirred far beyond its broken walls unseen, unfelt by those who laughed, bled, and breathed beneath the same roof Takeda or Renji couldn't feel this But Renji could
Renji stood near the shattered wall, hands still tucked into his pockets, his breathing calm and unstrained. Dust drifted lazily around him. Behind him, Takeda hovered over Hiroto, muttering half-hearted scoldings while carefully checking for broken bones, pretending his concern was purely professional.
That was when Renji stopped. An unknown presence engolved him
His expression tightened.
"…Hm."
Takeda glanced over his shoulder. "What now?" he said dryly. "Don't tell me you broke something else."
Renji didn't answer.
For less than a heartbeat, he felt it.
A ripple.
It wasn't mana or hostility but it felt wrong.
Like a string woven into reality itself had been plucked softly, deliberately...and then released.
Renji slowly lifted his head, his gaze drifting toward the open sky beyond the training hall's ruined wall.
"…Strange," he murmured.
Hiroto groaned from the floor. "You gonna… finish me off or something?"
Renji glanced down and smirked faintly. "Relax. If you were dead, you'd know."
Takeda's humor vanished. He straightened. "Renji. What did you feel?"
Renji exhaled and shook his head. "Not sure. Just… a disturbance. Like something shifted where it shouldn't have."
Takeda's expression darkened. "That's not something you say casually."
I know
Elsewhere.....
A thin veil of light parted.
A woman stepped through.
The space she entered was neither the Pantheon Void nor any known world. It was a narrow seam between layers where reality thinned to transparency and time flowed unevenly, stretching, folding, and overlapping itself. A domain of her father's creation
Around her drifted fractured remnants of existence: half-formed cities frozen mid-collapse, broken skies bleeding color into nothingness, echoes of places that once existed or never should have.
She wore a long coat the color of ash, its edges unmoving despite the unstable space. A hood concealed her face.
She stopped. Then knelt.
Her fingers brushed against the surface of the space itself, as if touching water that refused to ripple.
"…So it's true," she whispered. "He's active again."
Behind her, the air twisted.
A distorted figure emerged....tall, blurred, impossible to focus on for more than a moment. Its outline shimmered, refusing to settle into a single form.
"You felt it too," the figure said.
Its voice came layered, several tones overlapping as though multiple speakers were sharing the same words.
The woman rose slowly. "So he's alive . Not fully....but enough."
A pause followed.
"…Does he know?" the figure asked.
"Not yet," she replied. "But he will."
She turned her head slightly, as though peering through countless layers at once, her attention stretching far beyond the fragile seam they stood upon.
"And when he does," she continued softly, "he'll realize Azerin isn't the only problem."
The distorted figure stiffened. "You mean them?"
Beneath the hood, the woman's lips curved into a faint, humorless smile.
"Yes! the echoes," she said, the ones born from abandoned power and abomination."
She took a step forward her eyes began to flow
And the space around her shuddered violently.
If he keeps walking this path...she went on, "he won't just face his brother."
She lifted her head, unseen eyes sharp and unwavering.
"He'll face the consequences of becoming a protector in the first place."
Back at the Training Hall
Renji suddenly clenched his fist.
Whatever he had felt was gone.
The ripple had vanished without a trace but the unease it left behind lingered like a shadow beneath his skin.
"…Tch," he clicked his tongue. " That feeling?? What was that ? .. now it's gone
Takeda helped Hiroto into a seated position, steadying him. "You're not about to tell me that was nothing."
Renji looked at them both, his expression unreadable.
It's nothing I can act on yet,.he said at last. "But it felt something was moving.
He paused.
"Something old." hiroto laughed weakly, wincing as he did. "Man… you say that like it's normal."
Renji allowed himself a faint smile.
In the world we live in ?" he replied. It usually is.