Chapter 33
President Nakamura did not sit back down, he remained standing at the head of the table, hands resting lightly on the polished surface. His expression was calm but there was something else beneath it.
"You want to know about the war," he said.
"Then listen carefully."
No one interrupted.
"The forces that have appeared in recent months or years dating back to the first attack with the coordinated army," Nakamura continued, "the ones we couldn't classify…
He paused.
"They are not random."
A man near the center frowned. "You're saying they're connected?"
"They are organized," Nakamura replied. "They are soldiers."
The room stirred.
"Soldiers of who?" someone asked.
Nakamura's gaze hardened.
"A powerful being known as Azerin."
The name felt wrong in the air. Like a sound that didn't belong in a human mouth.
Several officials exchanged looks.
"One enemy?" a woman asked. "So this is a single hostile entity?"
"No," Nakamura said quietly. "It is an empire a legion of armies under his belt a being who easily destroy the universe at one go
That word landed hard.
Silence followed.
A man finally laughed short and disbelieving. "wait...with all due respect, Mr. President, that sounds like mythology."
Nakamura looked at him. "I wish it were."
He tapped the table. The screen behind him changed.
Images appeared. Distorted. Incomplete. Creatures caught accidentally on satellite footage in outer space moving into another dimension
energy readings that spiked and vanished. Entire regions going dark for seconds at a time.
"These forces, Nakamura said, are advance units. Scouts. Testers.
Testers? someone echoed."
"Yes. They are probing our defenses."
A woman leaned forward. "And the hunters?"
Nakamura nodded once.
"They are the only reason those probes failed."
That drew attention.
"So you're saying—" a man began.
"I am saying," Nakamura cut in, "that only Renji Kurogane and the Pillars currently possess the power to face this threat."
The room erupted not loudly, but in overlapping voices.
"wait that's impossible "
"Only a handful of people against that many?"
"Then we're already lost"
"Contingencies?" someone demanded. "You mentioned contingencies Mr president."
Nakamura raised a hand. Silence returned, slow and uneasy.
"Plans are in motion," he said. "Evacuation protocols more underground shelters are being created and emergency relocation for key zones."
"A civilian plan," a man said sharply. "What about a counterattack?"
Nakamura's eyes narrowed.
"We don't counter a god with missiles."
A chill ran through the room.
A woman swallowed. "You said Azerin's forces are appearing now. Why Japan?"
"They aren't," Nakamura replied. "They can appear anywhere and everywhere. Across countless points."
He paused, then added, "But Japan is… visible."
"Visible?" someone asked.
"Because of our hunters," Nakamura said. "Because of Renji Kurogane and also Because of the other Pillars."
A man clenched his jaw. "So you're telling us our strongest assets are also targets."
"Yes."
Another official spoke up, voice tight. "Then restricting hunters is madness."
"That's what I've been saying," Nakamura replied.
"But" the same man hesitated, " Mr president if we leave them unregulated, and something goes wrong...
"
"Something will go wrong," Nakamura said flatly. "War guarantees that any time azerin might come himself and wipe out the face of the universe
He has the power to do so whyy he hasn't we don't understand
Any day any time he could come down and wipe us out from existence
The room fell quiet again.
A younger official finally asked, "What exactly is this Azerin?"
How could someone posses such power
Nakamura did not answer immediately.
That I cannot say or tell Nakamura said, " but we do know that he commands armies that do not belong to life or death."
Several people stiffened.
"You're saying they don't die?" a woman asked.
"They can be destroyed," Nakamura replied. "But they do not fear death."
That was worse.
A man slammed his hand softly on the table. "Then how do we win?"
Nakamura looked at him.
"We endure," he said. "We protect. We buy time."
"That's not winning," someone snapped.
"No," Nakamura agreed. "It's surviving."
The word hung there.
Another voice spoke, slower. "You said only Renji and the Pillars can fight this threat."
"Yes."
"So what happens if they fall?"
Nakamura didn't answer right away.
When he did, his voice was quiet.
"Then humanity follows I don't think you understand the level of power he posses, and more so I know that fights holding back
Easily he has the power to wipe out the entire planet
The room felt smaller after that.
A woman shook her head. "This is exactly why we need oversight. If they're our last line, we need to ensure they act within limits."
"And who sets those limits?" Nakamura asked.
No one answered.
"You?" he continued. "Me? A committee?"
He gestured around the table.
"You want to leash the only weapons capable of stopping extinction."
A man bristled. "Weapons?
"Yes," Nakamura said firmly. "That is how Azerin sees them. That is how war sees them."
A threat that must be eliminated
Another official spoke, voice trembling slightly. "Then why tell us this now?"
Nakamura finally sat.
"Because you are preparing laws for peace," he said. "And we are not in peace."
He looked around the table.
"Every restriction you try and place on the hunters weakens us. Every delay costs lives later."
A man leaned back, exhaling sharply. "You're asking us to trust people who can level cities even a planet."
"I am asking you," Nakamura replied, "to trust the people who have not abandoned us."
Silence.
Then someone spoke softly.
"What about public fear?"
Nakamura closed his eyes briefly.
"Fear is inevitable," he said. but panic is optional
A woman pressed her lips together "and if the hunters break?"
"Then we adapt," Nakamura answered. but we do not bind them before the battle begins.
A long pause followed.
Finally, the same man who had challenged Nakamura earlier spoke again—more carefully this time.
"Mr. President… if this is true… if this war is real…"
He hesitated.
"Then the hunters are no longer just protectors."
Nakamura met his gaze.
"No," he said. "They are the front line."
A man near the far end of the table leaned forward, fingers interlocked. His voice was steady, but strained.
"Mr. President," he said, "you've told us what the threat is. You've told us how close it is."
He paused.
"But you haven't told us how it will be neutralized."
Several heads turned toward Nakamura.
"That," another board member added, "is the only question that matters."
Nakamura exhaled slowly.
I just said it or didn't hear me
Renji Kurogane.
"Our greatest weapon," Nakamura continued. "The only individual capable of countering Azerin directly."
A general stiffened. "One man?"
"One powerful hunter, Nakamura corrected. "The generals, the armies, the large-scale engagements that is the Pillars' responsibility he made that clear
The hunters that you discriminate are the same hunters who risks their lives knowing they could die
He looked around the table.
"But this azerin sounds terryfing
That fight belongs to Renji Kurogane alone.
On man erupted.
"but Mr president tat's insanity "
"i know you are saying he's powerful but you're betting the fate of the world on one person?"
"What happens if he fails? Even the strongest dies we just saw it happen with hunter Lucio
Nakamura didn't raise his voice.
"If he fails," he said calmly, "then nothing else matters."
Silence followed...thick, choking.
Then a woman spoke, suspicion creeping into her tone.
"Mr. President… how do you know all of this?"
All eyes snapped back to Nakamura.
"These details," she continued. "This war, Azerin. Renji's role. You speak as if this isn't new information."
Nakamura didn't look away "Because it isn't."
A murmur rippled through the room.
"I've known," he said, "for a year."
The reaction was instant.
"A year?!"
Mr president!!
"You're saying you sat on this?"
"Do you understand what you're admitting?"
A man slammed his palm on the table. "Mr. President sir , how can you know something like this and not say a word?"
Nakamura's jaw tightened.
"How would you react," he shot back, "if you learned the world could end in the blink of an eye?"
The room froze.
"And worse," he continued, voice rising now, "that the only people capable of stopping it are the same people you want to shackle with laws and restrictions."
He leaned forward.
"You speak endlessly about civilians," Nakamura said. "So let me ask you something."
His eyes burned.
"What about the hunters?"
No one answered.
"In the past three years," he said, "two hundred and twenty hunters have died, from protecting your asses
A few people shifted uncomfortably.
"Do they not have families?" Nakamura pressed.
"Friends? Parents? Children?"
His voice hardened.
"They are casualties too. Lives lost. But you don't count them, because their deaths are acceptable to you."
A man tried to interrupt. "Mr. President—"
"Shut up," Nakamura snapped. "You listen."
He stood.
"I am the fucking President of Japan," he said, each word sharp and I make the fucking law."
The profanity stunned the room.
"I have seen what's coming," Nakamura continued. "And no law, no regulation and no piece of paper will save us.
He straightened.
"Only power. Only strength."
His gaze swept the table.
And Renji Kurogane is our greatest asset. Not just to Japan, he paused but to the entire world."
A general finally spoke, quieter now. "Perhaps… we've been approaching this wrong."
Another nodded. "If we divide now, we lose."
A third exhaled. "We need a united front."
Nakamura said nothing, but his expression didn't soften.
"Then it's decided," a board member said. "By the end of tomorrow, Mr. President, you must address the nation."
Murmurs of agreement followed.
"But carefully sir ," another added. "The citizens of Japan won't survive the full truth."
"Which is why, a woman said, you must address their concerns without revealing everything."
She hesitated.
"And before that… gather the hunters."
Nakamura's eyes narrowed slightly.
"There's another matter," she continued. "That woman. The one involved in the recent incident."
The room stilled again.
"We need to know who she was, is she an ally or a friend we need to know
Nakamura nodded once.
"I know," he said.
"And there's only one person we call for this...
He turned toward the window, the city stretching endlessly beyond it.
"Renji Kurogane."