Extermination order

The moment Malakai lunged, his instincts screamed.

Not in warning. Not in preparation.

In pure, primal terror.

It was as if his very existence had suddenly been placed in a realm of death—as if, for the briefest second, reality itself had decided that he should no longer be alive.

A slight, almost imperceptible shift in Rengoku's stance was all it took. A small movement—hardly a breath, hardly a flex of muscle—but to Malakai, it was as if the world had tilted on its axis, and he was standing on the edge of a razor-thin abyss.

His body reacted before his mind did.

With an instinctive snarl, he threw himself backward, retreating so fast that the ground beneath his feet cracked from the sheer force of his movement.

He landed a few meters away, his monstrous claws digging into the earth to steady himself. His breathing was heavy—not from exhaustion, but from something worse. Uncertainty.

His eyes widened slightly as a thought forced its way into his mind.

"Did I just... retreat?"

His clawed fingers twitched. His heart pounded, not from exertion but from the aftershock of something he had never truly experienced before.

Fear.

For the first time in centuries, he questioned himself.

"Was it my instincts... or was it my own fear?"

His thoughts were cut off as Rengoku slowly turned his gaze toward him.

A single glance.

"You have great instincts."

The Grandmaster's voice was calm. Absolute. As if he was speaking fact, not opinion.

"If you had attacked just now... you'd already be dead."

Malakai froze.

That wasn't a threat. That wasn't arrogance. That was truth.

Then, Rengoku moved—not forward, not to attack, but to simply stretch.

He rolled his neck lazily, a soft crack echoing through the ruined battlefield. Then he rotated his right shoulder—the same one holding his katana.

Malakai barely blinked.

And in that single moment—the world behind Rengoku fell apart.

A dozen trees collapsed in silence. Thick, ancient trunks, cut through so cleanly that they didn't even realize they had been severed until gravity pulled them down.

Malakai's eyes widened, watching the massive forms topple one by one, crashing into the forest floor behind the Grandmaster.

"When did he cut them?"

"I didn't even see him swing his blade."

"Was it when he rolled his shoulder?"

The sheer casualness of it. The effortlessness. It sent a deep, bone-chilling realization through Malakai's very core.

He had never fought something like this before.

Rengoku exhaled slightly and locked eyes with him once more.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Let's try this again."

A single shiver ran down Malakai's spine.

There was no escape. No fleeing. No waiting for another day.

If he wished to survive, there was only one option.

He had to defeat Rengoku.

Malakai's body tensed, his muscles swelling as his full, monstrous power surged forth. Dark, malevolent Essence energy exploded from his body, corrupting the air around him, twisting it with eldritch force. The ground trembled under his sheer presence, black mist rising from beneath his feet.

His veins pulsed, his Essence boiling. He let out a deep, guttural roar, sending shockwaves through the ruined battlefield as his monstrous frame reached its full output.

The wind howled. The air grew heavy.

Malakai had never been stronger than he was at this moment.

He looked at Rengoku with burning, hate-filled eyes.

But the Grandmaster...

He simply watched.

No panic. No concern. No urgency.

After a long, agonizing few seconds, Rengoku finally spoke.

"You are a threat."

Malakai grinned viciously.

"But not to me."

The grin vanished.

Rengoku vanished.

And in that split second, Malakai realized—he was already too late.

The battlefield lay in ruins. The once-standing trees were nothing but fallen husks, their trunks sliced cleanly as if the wind itself had been sharpened into a blade. The earth was fractured, cracked under the immense pressure of two forces that should never have met.

Malakai moved first.

His monstrous form surged forward, his talons extending like jagged spears as he lunged. He moved faster than sound—too fast for most to react—his malevolent Essence rippling through the air like an infectious storm.

But before his claws could even graze flesh—

CLANG.

A single flash of silver steel.

Malakai's entire body jerked backward, an invisible force stopping his momentum mid-air. He landed, confused, until his eyes flicked downward.

His claws were gone.

They lay on the ground, severed. So cleanly cut that he hadn't even felt them being removed.

His head snapped up. Rengoku was standing exactly where he had been before. His katana still rested at his side, untouched, unstained. He had not moved.

Malakai's instincts screamed at him.

"I never even saw him swing."

But there was no time for fear now. He had to attack.

Malakai roared, Essence energy erupting from his body like a tidal wave. He vanished, moving in unpredictable, chaotic patterns, striking from every angle—claws, fangs, tendrils of black energy—all aimed at Rengoku.

Each blow, each attempt to land a strike, was met with nothing but air.

Rengoku didn't dodge in the way most warriors would. There was no unnecessary movement, no wasted effort. A tilt of the head. A single step back. A shift of his wrist.

Precision.

No excess. No wasted Essence. Every micro-adjustment kept him just beyond the reach of Malakai's attacks, while his katana moved with the exact amount of energy needed.

A counter-slash—Malakai's left arm was severed at the elbow.

Another step—a gaping wound tore across Malakai's ribs.

A flick of the wrist—his right leg nearly buckled as Essence burned through it.

Malakai was losing.

And the worst part?

Rengoku was not even trying.

For the first time, Malakai understood the gap between them.

"This isn't a warrior. This isn't even a man."

"This is something beyond human."

And standing in the distance, Kaito watched—eyes wide, breath caught in his throat.

He couldn't look away. He had never seen anything like this before.

Rengoku was not simply strong.

He was untouchable.

"This isn't normal… this isn't even human."

Kaito's admiration mixed with the deep pain still lodged in his chest. The loss of his parents, the anguish that refused to leave. But for now, in this moment, he could only watch as the battle unfolded.

Malakai refused to accept defeat.

Blood dripped from his wounds, his body barely holding itself together, but his mind was still sharp. His eyes flicked toward Kaito.

There. A chance.

He was losing, but he wasn't dead. Not yet.

And there was still one way to turn this battle in his favor.

He smiled, his fanged maw stretching wide as he spoke.

"So, Kaito… tell me…"

Kaito flinched as his name was spoken by the monster.

Malakai's voice was like poison, laced with a cruel, knowing amusement.

"How does it feel…?"

Rengoku's eyes narrowed, already seeing where this was going.

"How does it feel to be such a disappointment?" Malakai continued, his voice mocking, full of venom.

Kaito's breath hitched.

"Your mother died screaming because of you."

Rengoku's fingers tightened around his katana.

"Your father died like a fool, trying to protect someone who didn't deserve it."

Kaito's hands clenched into fists.

"And you? You ran."

Rengoku stepped forward. "Do not listen to this thing."

But Malakai wasn't done. His slit-pupiled eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he watched Kaito's body tremble.

"You let them die. You are weak. You are worthless."

And then—

Kaito snapped.

A scream tore from his throat, raw and filled with rage and grief, his body moving before his mind could stop him.

He ran straight toward the battlefield.

Straight toward Malakai.

Rengoku's eyes widened, and his voice thundered through the clearing.

"STOP! DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER!"

But Kaito wasn't thinking. He was feeling.

And Malakai smiled.

The second Kaito crossed the threshold—

Malakai's body pulsed.

"You're within my range."

A wave of darkness exploded outward in a perfect 15-meter radius.

From the earth, from the shadows, from the very air—hundreds of lesser Eldritch Beasts appeared in an instant.

They surrounded Kaito.

Before he could react, one struck.

A single, monstrous claw slammed into him—sending him flying.

His vision blurred. Pain exploded through his body. And before he could even comprehend what was happening—

Darkness.

Kaito was knocked out cold.

Rengoku moved.

With lightning speed, he appeared beside Kaito, catching him before his broken body could hit the ground. His eyes burned with fury as he turned back toward Malakai—

But Malakai was gone.

The battlefield lay in silence.

The only thing left was the hundreds of Eldritch Beasts still standing around them.

Rengoku narrowed his eyes. His thoughts raced.

"He escaped."

"Lowered his energy signature and disappeared among the beasts."

"This creature is smart."

Rengoku exhaled.

Then—

Power.

His Essence surged.

The sheer pressure of it collapsed the space around him.

And the hundreds of Eldritch Beasts?

They were erased.

Gone.

With nothing but the force of his energy.

The battlefield was silent once more.

As the dust settled, Rengoku looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms.

He sighed.

"What now, old friend?"

His mind drifted to a man long gone.

"I know this goes against your wishes. You left this life behind so that he wouldn't have to know this cruel world."

"But the cruel world came to his doorstep."

He looked down at Kaito's face. Peaceful, despite everything.

"Should I leave him be? Let him forge his own path?"

A long pause.

"Or should I assist him?"

His eyes hardened.

"I'll let him decide when he wakes up."

But even as he made this decision, his mind returned to Malakai.

This creature was a first.

It learned during battle.

It would get stronger.

And worse?

It was smart.

Rengoku exhaled, turning his gaze toward the ruins of the village.

"This is far from over."

As the dust settled and the battlefield lay in eerie silence, Rengoku lifted Kaito onto his back. His mind was still replaying the fight—Malakai was different, dangerous, and, worst of all, he had escaped. That alone was enough to trouble him.

But something else was off.

From the treetops, deep within the veil of the night, a pair of eyes gleamed faintly, watching. The figure stood perfectly still, unfazed by the devastation below. A whisper of Essence energy—so faint it was nearly undetectable—lingered in the air around them.

Rengoku's gaze snapped upward, but by the time his eyes locked onto the spot, there was nothing there.

His fingers gripped the hilt of his katana slightly tighter.

How long had they been watching?

A cold breeze rustled through the broken branches, carrying away the last remnants of battle. Somewhere in the darkness, unseen and unknown, the shadow disappeared into the night.