Chapter 1: No Escape
"Is that it?"
"From the way you couldn't seem to avoid courting death earlier, I'd figured you'd last a bit longer."
"Huff... huff... huff." Shallow and pained breaths escaped the swollen lips of the young man being held tightly upside down by his ankle, several feet above the blood-soaked ground below him.
His crimson hair and torn Renegade uniform were drenched in his own blood.
His face was battered, and his chest sliced open in several places. Numerous life-threatening wounds filled the young man's broken body. He stirred slowly, his emerald green eyes fluttering open as he glanced up at his tormentor.
"You're still alive? How admirable. Maybe I spoke too soon. You are truly a worthy toy!" the floating figure roared as he threw his head back with a boisterous laugh. His long raven-dark hair danced in the wind as his amusement filled the quiet battlefield.
Then, his cold blue eyes once again landed on the last Renegade on this planet.
He looked past him for a moment, taking in the gruesome slaughter and carnage he had caused below them.
Hundreds of bodies were crudely piled together like heaps of trash filled with broken dolls.
The ground was bathed in blood and viscera from his fallen foes. The fragrant air of the planet now reeked endlessly of copper.
A wide smile slowly spread across his face.
The man, Ronin, had been sent to this planet with a single mission: kill every sentient living being on it. He had succeeded, and admirably so.
Men, women, children. It made no difference to him. He had slaughtered them all and enjoyed doing so.
As of now, the only living creatures left on the planet capable of thought were him, and his Renegade captive seemingly on death's doorstep.
It was an exhilarating feeling he could never get enough of.
Ronin was a Reincarnator.
One of the many souls with unfathomable powers that had been reincarnated into this universe at the lowest point of his life.
He was once a simple office worker from a planet called Earth that had died forgetfully in a truck accident.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a white void, coming face to face with something he had never imagined was possible.
A supreme existence, known as the Primordial.
That being had then granted him his abilities—or golden fingers, as he liked to call them—and sent him here, into a universe referred to as Rendes.
When Ronin arrived, he was taken in by Reincarnators like him and taught various things about his new reality.
He had been given everything he had ever craved, and everything he had ever desired, in exchange for simply helping his fellow Reincarnators carry out the Primordial's goal.
Wealth, women, power, even a family of sorts, all at his beck and call. It was unbelievable to him for a time, until he finally embraced his new life.
His past life as a bullied nobody that no one cared about paled in comparison.
Eventually, Ronin let out an audible breath in disappointment.
In his previous life, when he wasn't drowning in monotonous work, he would spend all day reading about murim martial art battles that shook the heavens and lasted all day and all night.
He had finally experienced his first life-and-death battle similar to that with the Commander stationed here, and was still riding on that high—despite how thoroughly it had drained him.
His soul essence had already been greatly depleted from traveling across vast stretches of space while sneaking past a Warden to get to this region.
Still, Ronin had no regrets about coming here.
He'd enjoyed the sensation of ripping apart the disgusting inhabitants of this planet, like he often did in the RPG games he used to play. He had quickly become addicted to the feeling after the first massacre he'd been sent on.
He just wished it lasted longer.
His hanfu—resembling those often seen in murim manhwas—rustled gently in the copper-filled air as he studied his final victim with contempt and intrigue.
A human like him, who was a Renegade.
"Your existence still astonishes me. Tell me, which human fathered a bastard like you with the creatures of this world?" Ronin said, finding the circumstances amusing. That was the reason he had kept the Renegade alive for so long, although barely.
No answer came for several long moments, causing him to wonder if the half-human was already dead.
He sighed.
"What a shame. It seems you've finally succumbed to your fate like the others," he muttered as he glanced upward, preparing to drop the corpse. "I suppose I'm already done her—"
"...St... p"
"Oh, you're still alive?" Ronin exclaimed in joy as he stopped himself. He jostled the Renegade, bringing him closer to listen to his final words.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you well, bastard. Louder," he snorted.
Naturally, he understood it was almost impossible for the Renegade to speak coherently considering the state of his loose jaw and severely damaged throat.
Still, Ronin enjoyed whenever his prey groveled like a worm and begged for mercy from the man that had just slaughtered their loved ones.
"An... ed"
"Hmm... One last time, what was that?" Ronin asked, enjoying the moment more than he should have.
.....
"I said shut up... you deranged idiot," the Renegade whispered directly into his ear as he shot up in a sudden flash, his previously broken arm lashing out and seizing Ronin's arm in an iron-clad hold.
Ronin blinked in shock and confusion.
"...What?"
SLAM!
Ronin's eyes widened a moment later as the Renegade's right boot crashed into his jaw with enough force to nearly shatter it.
He screamed as they plummeted from the sky.
BOOM!
The earth trembled violently as they crashed into the blood-soaked ground, rubble blasting outward in all directions. He grunted as he struggled to stand, having been slammed face-first into the ground by the Renegade who had twisted mid-fall and used him to absorb the impact.
He struggled to push himself up, then froze suddenly.
Standing before him was the Renegade, his hand still clamped around Ronin's wrist while his legs seemed to have been driven deep into the shattered ground beneath them.
"Finally," the Renegade muttered with a raspy and cold voice. "I caught you."
For some reason, the Renegade's bloodied figure seemed far more menacing than it had been before.
His crimson hair hung in clumps, framing his emerald eyes that burned with fierce and unrelenting hatred.
Ronin's surprise and shock deepened when he noticed the chest wound of the Renegade throb, the torn flesh slowly knitting itself back together.
He stared in disbelief as all of the Renegade's injuries disappeared one by one, as if they had never been there in the first place. The blood left behind was the only sign that he had even been injured.
"How is that... How are you still alive?!" Ronin yelled in rage. His speech was slightly slurred due to his damaged jaw.
At this point, Ronin had tormented the Renegade the longest out of anyone at this station. And yet here he stood, now unharmed.
He had been certain that the Renegade did not possess a Heart Shard like his Commander.
Which was why he had never expected such a sudden reversal.
The Renegade's sharp eyes met his, a scornful expression crossing his pale features.
"Not your concern," he replied.
Ronin's expression darkened as he finally recovered from his stupor, his composure and haughty attitude returning in full.
His eyes briefly glanced at the Renegade's hand still holding onto his own as he rose slowly, dusting off the dirt from his favorite hanfu.
"So, you must be a Reincarnator as well then," he grumbled, certain of his assertion. "No wonder you were so hard to kill."
"Zenith did warn me about a few humans that foolishly operated separately from the Second Chance. Living secretly amongst the filth of this universe," he continued, his tone suddenly more conversational. "I'd simply mistaken you for a half-human child another Reincarnator had sired."
Ronin couldn't help but glance at the faint red markings running from below the Renegade's ears, down the side of his face in a curved shape. It was the reason he had assumed he was a half-breed this entire time.
The Renegade said nothing in response as he continued to glare at Ronin.
Ronin's brows twitched anxiously.
"Well, I suppose the misunderstanding isn't important now. I'm sure you've had your fun pretending here. You can head somewhere else now that I've wiped out the planet," Ronin said with a forced smile.
"Don't worry, me and the rest of the Second Chance group will forgive you for interfering with my mission. So just..." he grunted as he tried to draw his arm back, only to find the Renegade's grip still unshakable.
A lump rose in his throat as he spoke. "Do you need anything else? Or.... don't tell me you want to fight? Let me just tell you now, that won't end well for you," Ronin snarled as his other hand gestured around them. "You've already seen what I'm capable of."
Silence stretched between the two of them as seconds seemed to crawl by.
"Why don't you cut out the act already," the Renegade said finally. "We both know there's nothing you can do. Not anymore."
"Not when your ability can't help you."
A cold shiver ran all the way down Ronin's spine as he tensed.
"That's right. I know you're out of juice," the Renegade sneered.
"Your fight with the Commander must have been really draining for you, huh? The fact you're still in my grip is all I need to confirm that."
Ronin's face twisted into a frown as he glared at the Renegade.
"What are you—"
"You were fast," the Renegade interrupted.
"Extremely fast. Honestly, superspeed is truly such a broken ability."
"It boosts your physical strength as well whenever you run, right? That's what allowed you to outclass the Commander who was having trouble keeping up with your speed."
"It seems you're really about as strong as a normal blue Mornan without it," the Renegade continued, his grip tightening around Ronin's hand.
Ronin said nothing in response as he stared at the Renegade in front of him wide-eyed, fear worming its way into his heart.
Ronin felt the Renegade's hand tremble against his own a second later.
"I've... been waiting. Waiting for this moment," the Renegade spat as his gaze fell slightly. "For hours upon hours as I let you torture me as you saw fit."
"And now. It's finally here," the Renegade said as his head rose, his eyes locked onto Ronin's.
Panic flared in Ronin's eyes as his expression shifted to one of fear.
He reacted instantly upon sensing the killing intent emanating from the Renegade.
He shot upward, desperately trying to lift off the ground and into the air with his flight ability that could still work with minuscule amounts of soul essence. He planned to return when he had recovered fully, to make the Renegade pay for the humiliation he had suffered.
But the Renegade wasn't going to let that happen.
Ronin found himself unable to ascend any higher as the Renegade pulled him back down by his arm.
He tried pulling the Renegade up with him, but failed as he realised the vengeful Renegade had dug his feet deep into the loose ground and rubble to anchor himself.
Ronin struggled frantically, trying to wrench his arm free. "L-let go of me! Let GO!"
"Not... happening!" the Renegade snarled as he viciously slammed Ronin back into the blood-soaked ground.
His free hand curled into a ball as his fist dug into Ronin's gut a second later, almost folding him in half.
"Ahhh!!" Ronin screamed in agony as he lifted off the ground, trying to fly off again, to no avail.
He felt as if he was trying to move a mountain.
Each time he attempted to escape skyward, he was brutally yanked back to earth by the Renegade and slammed into debris of the destroyed base and rubble from the shattered and blood-soaked floor.
After a while, Ronin gritted his teeth as he decided to force his ability's activation, despite having almost no soul essence left at the moment.
He remembered the warnings Zenith had given him about that, but saw no other choice.
A blood-curdling scream rang out from him a second later.
"It hurts!! It fucking hurts!!" Ronin roared as his resistance crumbled, allowing the Renegade to get the upper hand in their struggle once again.
Ronin didn't even feel when the Renegade slammed him down again and jumped on him to stop him from ascending.
When he had tried forcing his ability, he felt as if his very soul had begun burning. It had only lasted a second, and yet it had been enough to almost cause him to lose consciousness.
A sardonic smile appeared on the Renegade's face for a moment. "So, you tried 'that'. How foolish."
Then, it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, as he began slamming his fist down on Ronin like a hammer.
He made sure to keep a leg planted into the ground, just in case Ronin tried escaping again.
At the same time, he drove his other knee into Ronin's ribs—grinding them to powder.
"Stop... stop it please!" Ronin begged as he came to his senses through the pain.
The Renegade did not stop for even a second—his eyes burning with fury.
"What's wrong!? Is this no longer amusing for you!?" he screamed as he pounded Ronin's head deeper into the surface.
Over, and over, and over again.
"Tell me, you monster!!" he bellowed.
After several long minutes of this, the Renegade slowly stood. Ronin was nothing but a mangled mess now.
His appearance was far worse than what he had done to the Commander.
Then, the Renegade knelt beside him, his breath steady. His emerald eyes were cold and unblinking. Blood still streaked his face.
His hand slowly wrapped around Ronin's throat as he lifted him up like a broken toy. Ronin's head lolled, his blue eyes dimming, as he pleaded through the haze.
Ronin's words were even more inscrutable now.
"Wait! Please," Ronin cried as he returned to doing what he had been best known for in his previous life.
He begged.
"We're... both humans, right?... You're just like me... Please forgive me," he pleaded. "What do you want from me... MoNey? Information... on second chance?... TransPortation? I can give you everything!, anything! Just don't kill me... please!"
The Renegade looked down on him with contempt and disgust filling his eyes. That was fine with Ronin. He didn't care about what others thought of him as long as he got out of the situation. That was how he had survived for most of his previous life.
"You humans... Truly are despicable," the Renegade growled finally.
"There's nothing you can offer me."
"Nothing besides your life!"
The Renegade's fist drew back once more.
Ronin couldn't comprehend what was happening to him. He was supposed to be the chosen one. Blessed by a Primordial entity. A man that would be an invincible existence, in time. Yet, here he was, about to die.
'How... did this happen?' Ronin thought, twitching desperately.
Then, the blow fell.
Bone cracked as Ronin's skull caved in, his brain matter bursting out in a spray. His body finally went limp. In an instant, Ronin's life had ended for the second time.
Then, the Renegade let the corpse drop. Ronin's body hit the ground with a dull thud, settling among the very corpses he had created.
The Renegade stood silently for a long time. His gaze swept over the carnage, taking in the broken and beaten forms of his comrades.
"Ble—!!" Suddenly, his hand flew toward his mouth as he tried to stop himself from throwing up.
"Blargh! Blargh!!" He failed, kneeling over, his eyes watering as he retched.
Several moments passed as he remained there, his eyes lowered, seemingly unwilling to stare at the gore a moment more. Then, he stood slowly, the faint sounds of his boots crunching against the sand as he moved toward what was left of the destroyed outpost.