Nation of Hoshinari thrummed with restless energy. Cars roared down rain-slick streets, neon lights pulsed from high-rise billboards, and crowds surged like tides between train stations and office towers. To the ordinary eye, this was life: busy, relentless, and perfectly mundane.
But Renji Kurogane knew better.
Every flash of neon could be hiding something grotesque. Every alleyway could whisper with wings that weren't supposed to exist. Hoshimari was a living organism, but in its bloodstream slithered parasites only the brave—or the foolish—dared to face.
All seven states: Akakaze State (赤風州 – Red Wind State), Shirokawa State (白川州 – White River State), Aokaze State (青風州 – Blue Wind State), Kurogane State (黒鋼州 – Black Steel State), Ketsuro State (血楼州 – Blood Tower State), Raijin State (雷神州 – Thunder God State) and Tsukigakure State (月隠州 – Hidden Moon State) all had guilds sworn to protect them.
The seven currents.
The Kokuryūkai based in Tsukigakure was his organization. His prison. His only chance.
Renji adjusted his trainee's jacket, the insignia of Gamma division stitched over his chest like a reminder of his insignificance. Gamma teams were the bottom rung, barely trusted with cleanup work. The real action, the real hunts, were reserved for Alpha and Beta—warriors who bent fire, shattered stone, or moved like living lightning.
Renji had none of that. No fire. No lightning. No gift at all.
He watched them spar across the compound's courtyard, powers lighting up the night like a festival of destruction. Shadows rained down as two trainees clashed, one with darkened fists, the other with skin hardening into jagged armor. Cheers rose from the spectators.
Renji didn't cheer. He only clenched his fists tighter.
"Empty Vessel," someone muttered as they passed behind him. The nickname clung to him like mildew. It was what the others called him, a husk with no powers, nothing but brains. Brains didn't bleed demons. Brains didn't stop a monster's claws from tearing you in half.
But Renji stayed. He studied. He memorized every demon's taxonomy, every weakness, every formation the Kokuryūkai had ever used. He drilled strategy until he could see battles unfold before they even began. He told himself that one day, somehow, that knowledge would matter.
"Renji Kurogane," barked a voice.
He turned. Captain Hayashi, a scarred veteran of Beta Division, loomed over him. His single eye gleamed like a knife.
"The Guild Leaders have summoned all Gamma trainees to the briefing hall. Move."
Renji's stomach tightened. Briefings were common. Summons from the Guild Leaders were not.
The hall was dim, lit only by a great lantern suspended from the ceiling. Around the long obsidian table sat the Guild Leaders— two young masters one in his early twenties and the other in her late teens then one Master whose power warped the air around him. Alpha captains, ancient strategists, survivors of battles Renji could only imagine. Each presence pressed down on him like gravity.
He stood in line with the other Gamma trainees, trying not to fidget. Whispers bounced along the row: rumors of another surge in demon sightings near the city's outskirts, a nest too large for Gamma to handle.
One of the leaders, a young woman with silver hair, spoke first. "We intercepted an incursion outside Shibuya. Class-C at minimum, with potential escalation. Beta Division will engage. Gamma will provide auxiliary support."
Murmurs spread. Auxiliary support meant exposure—real combat, not drills.
Another leader leaned forward, his voice heavy. "The nest is unusual. We've detected distortions in the Veil itself. Something is tearing at the boundary between realms."
A ripple of unease passed through the hall. Renji felt it in his bones. A Veil breach wasn't routine. It was catastrophic.
Hayashi stepped out from the shadows. "We will assign four Gamma trainees to accompany the mission. Consider this a test. Those who fail will be dismissed from service."
Renji's pulse spiked. Dismissed. For the others, that meant shame. For him, it meant nothing left. No purpose. No chance to prove he wasn't just an Empty Vessel.
The leaders began scanning the line. Eyes like searchlights. Powers like storms hidden in human skin.
Renji lowered his gaze, not wanting to seem defiant, but not wanting to look weak either. His thoughts churned: They won't pick me. Why would they? I have nothing.
But then the silver-haired woman's eyes locked onto him.
"Kurogane," she said.
His breath caught. He raised his head slowly.
"Step forward."
He obeyed, each step echoing through the silence. He felt the stares of his peers burning holes into his back.
"Renji Kurogane," the woman repeated, as if tasting the name. "The Empty Vessel. You have no power, no gift. And yet, your instructors report… persistence. Insight. Discipline."
A leader to her left scoffed. "Discipline won't stop a demon's claws."
"But recklessness will get us all killed," she snapped back. Then, to Renji: "Tell me, Why should you walk into the jaws of the abyss with those who can fight, when you cannot?"
Renji's mouth was dry. He could hear the whispers, the stifled laughter of other trainees behind him. He should have crumbled under their scorn.
But something deeper stirred.
"Because I understand the abyss," he said, forcing his voice steady. "I know how demons think. I know their patterns, their weaknesses, their hunger. I may not have power… but I have preparation. And preparation is what keeps survivors alive."
A hush fell. His words echoed longer than they should have, lingering like smoke.
The silver-haired leader studied him, her expression unreadable. Finally, she leaned back. "Bold. Perhaps foolish. But the abyss swallows the arrogant just as easily as the timid. Let us see which you are."
She turned to Hayashi. "Include him."
Renji's chest tightened. The hall seemed to tilt. Include him? Was she serious?
Another leader growled in protest. "He'll drag them down."
"Or rise," she countered. "And if he cannot, the abyss will decide for us."
Decision made. The meeting adjourned with a wave of her hand.
Renji staggered out into the courtyard with the others. He could feel their eyes, their scorn. Empty Vessel, chosen out of pity, out of curiosity. He clenched his fists, trying to still their trembling.
Hayashi stopped him at the gate. "You should know something, boy."
Renji looked up.
"No one walks into a Veil breach unchanged. If you return… you won't be the same."
The words carved themselves into Renji's mind. He couldn't tell if it was a warning or a promise.
Above them, the neon lights of Hoshimari flickered. The city hummed, oblivious to the decision made in its shadows.
Renji Kurogane, the Empty Vessel, was going to war.
And somewhere in the darkness, the abyss was waiting to claim him.