Chapter 9
Tang Shi's boots slammed against the ground as he sprinted, lungs burning, his guild members trailing behind in battered silence. Choji still lay unconscious on his back, slung like baggage. None of them dared to look back at the gate.
Tang Shi's face was pale, his usual arrogance gone, replaced with sheer dread.
"This… this is not work for a mere S-rank," he spat, voice trembling. "That thing… that mana… It's an existence beyond us. Only an SSS-rank could stand against it."
One of the A-rank hunters finally spoke, his voice hoarse.
"Then we'll call them. We'll tell the Bureau. That thing… it cannot be allowed to remain."
Tang Shi's jaw tightened, his pride cutting deep. He had led his team into slaughter, abandoned a man to the jaws of a monster. But in his heart, he told himself the same words again and again: If one dies for the many, then it was necessary.
Yet his hands wouldn't stop shaking
Hours later, Choji's eyes snapped open. He was outside the gate, the moon hanging pale above him. His chest rose and fell in a panic as memories came flooding back—the monsters, the boss, Renji screaming, Renji resisting.
"...Renji?"
When he saw Tang Shi and the others alive, breathing, unscathed compared to what he rememberedhis blood froze.
"You… you left him! You left renji in there!"
Tang Shi turned away, unable to meet his gaze.
"You don't understand. If we stayed, we'd all be dead. That thing was beyond us. We needed to return and bring reinforcements. Renji …" he hesitated, voice cold, "...was the price."
Choji's fists shook violently.
"No. Don't you dare say that. He's my friend. My brother!"
His voice cracked, tears burning his eyes. The others shifted uncomfortably, none daring to reply.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the dungeon, Renji's suffering continued.
The boss dragged him across the marble floor, claws digging into his flesh. His body was broken a hundred times already, only to be stitched back together by the monster's cursed skill, Replenish.
Every time he healed, the torment began anew. Limbs torn. Bones shattered. Skin flayed.
Renji screamed until his throat was raw, his voice a hoarse rasp. Yet he never stopped fighting to rise, no matter how many times he was cut down.
The boss lifted him high by the throat, crimson eyes burning into his very soul.
"Do you remember me?" the creature hissed, its voice a chorus of madness. "Do you remember my name, Januza?"
Renji's eyes widened through the haze of pain.
"...Ja…nuza?"
He didn't know why that name struck him like a blade, why it echoed in his chest as if carved there long before.
The boss's grin stretched wider.
"Yes. You!!!! You !!! You were the one. You were the thorn that scarred me. A thousand years have passed, but your stench… your defiance… I would never forget."
Growing bored of his games, the dungeon boss hurled Renji like a ragdoll, his body smashing into another chamber deeper within the dungeon. His bones shattered, his vision swam, and every breath was agony.
But Renji's mind didn't cling to the pain. It clung to her.
Lily…
He saw her face, her smile, her dream. He heard her voice whispering in the dark: "Onii-chan, don't give up. Promise me you'll never give up."
Tears welled in his eyes as the dungeon boss loomed above him, shadow blotting out the faint glow of the dungeon crystals.
"She'll… she'll be alone," Renji whispered, his voice faint as a candle's last flicker. "She can't lose me too…"
The boss crouched, his claws sinking into Renji's chest. With one savage pull, he tore out his heart, holding it aloft as blood poured across the stone.
Renji's vision blurred, the world fading to black. His last breath trembled from his lips.
I'm sorry, Lily…
His lifeless body crumpled, empty eyes staring into nothing.
And for a moment—the world went silent.
Suddenly Renji opened his eyes and found himself standing in a narrow pathway that stretched into infinity. No light. No walls. No air. Nothing but a suffocating darkness.
His feet echoed faintly on the unseen floor as he took a step.
"…Eh?" His voice trembled. "…I… I'm in hell."
The word lingered in the endless void—
And then another voice answered."HELL."
The echo wasn't just sound; it was weight. Pressure. It crashed down on Renji's chest like a mountain, mana surging in currents so heavy he thought his body might shatter apart.
Renji gasped. This… this mana… it's even greater than that monster in the dungeon…!
His breath froze as a figure took shape before him.
A man stood there, cloaked in shadow—yet unmistakable. The same height. The same body. The same scars. The same eyes.
It was him.
Michael's lips trembled.
"…I… I died. Is this me?"
The figure's crimson eyes burned in the dark. His lips curled into a cold, knowing smile.
"You are me."
Michael shook his head violently, his voice cracking.
"No…! No, no, no… Lily…! I can't—"
No !! No!!! I'm dead who are you!!! What are you!!! what is this place Renji trembled with fear in his eyes
The figure's voice cut through his cries, deeper than thunder, older than time.
" I AM YOU AND YOU ARE ME"
I AM JANUZA
Meanwhile, in the dungeon, the monstrous boss stood triumphantly above Michael's lifeless body. His claws dripped with blood, the heart of the young man still twitching in his grip.
"At last," he hissed, shadows quivering around him. "The torment is repaid. Januza, scourge of my existence—you are no more."
But then—
STOMP! STOMP!
The sound echoed across the chamber. Once. Twice.
The boss froze. Slowly, his gaze turned.
Renji's body, once limp and drained of life, stirred. The gaping wound in his chest sealed itself, flesh knitting, veins pulsing, until a new heart throbbed inside him. Mana surged from his core in colossal waves, bursting like a storm across the dungeon.
The boss's crimson pupils dilated in shock. A shiver raced down his spine—fear, raw and undeniable.
"Impossible….. " NO ! NO ! YOU ARE DEAD !! his voice broke, trembling. "No… it can't be… Januza."
Renji's hair shifted under the violent pressure of mana. His eyes, once soft with despair, glowed with an unholy crimson light that pierced the gloom.
The dungeon shook. Walls cracked. The air itself quivered under the monstrous weight of his aura.
Renji clenched his fists, his lips curling into a grim smile.
And then, with a voice that thundered across the entire dungeon, he spoke:
"Hello, Helga."