Renji's knuckles cracked as he stepped into the next street, his Viper Aura Armor shimmering faintly like heat haze. His boots crunched over bones and shattered glass as he moved deeper into the F-Rank (Silver) ruins.
The barking grew louder.
Not one dog.
Dozens.
He found them near a fallen supermarket. Mutated canines with exposed muscle, sharp bone ridges, and glowing yellow eyes were tearing apart a small group of students who had taken shelter behind a flipped van. Their energy barriers were flickering, almost gone.
One girl screamed, shielding a younger boy with her own body.
Renji didn't waste time.
He flicked a vial toward them — a flash grenade he'd crafted the night before.
Bang!
A surge of light blinded the pack. The students flinched — but Renji moved.
Boom. One punch.
Crack. Another.
His fists moved like steel whips, each blow backed by monstrous precision. A dog lunged — Renji ducked, grabbed its jaw midair, and snapped it sideways with brutal force.
The Aura Armor wrapped around him in waves, absorbing minor scratches and amplifying his agility. He became a blur — every movement calculated, vicious.
Ten. Fifteen. Twenty-three...
By the time the last dog yelped and fell, twitching, Renji stood in a circle of silence. Thirty-three bodies littered the ground.
Blood dripped from his hands. Not his.
The students watched, stunned. No one said a word. The girl who had screamed before stood up shakily.
"Y-you saved us..."
Renji turned without a word, eyes scanning the horizon.
Then he felt it.
The pressure.
Something massive moved beyond the buildings. Heavy footsteps shook the cracked pavement. Dogs. Bigger. Fiercer
The Alpha.
It emerged from the shadows like a monster from a nightmare — a mutated hound nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, black fur bristling with bone spikes, a jaw wide enough to snap a car door in half. Its eyes glowed red.
But what made Renji pause wasn't the size.
It was the collar.
A metal device, blinking faintly, with the academy insignia etched into the side.
This one was once a guardian beast... now corrupted.
The Alpha growled low, then howled — a pulse of dark energy rippling from its body.
Renji didn't flinch. He tightened his fists, Aura pulsing.
"Perfect," he whispered, stepping forward.
His blue eyes glowed — faint, but rising.
He was no longer hunting.
He was being challenged.