The power surge was enough to have the demon clenching Reno's throat let go, visibly reeling from the shock of it.
Meanwhile the translucent interface in front of Reno hummed and changed to another.
🔹 STATUS
Name: Reno Enma
Race: Half-Human / Sealed Demon
Title: Last Heir of the Fallen King
Level: 1
Rank: Unawakened
HP: 240 / 1200
CE: 342/ 342
Stamina: 30/ 90
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Endurance: 7
Perception: 11
Willpower: 14
Corruption: 0%
Sanity: Stable
'Am I dying?'. Reno wondered when he saw the interface.
[Heir taking damage, initialising Infernal wrath 0%... 25… 75… 100%].
Then another source of power surged through Reno's body like molten magma and he cried out in pain. The demon he was up against was already backpedaling, its eyes never leaving Reno's shifting form.
Kuroda's breath caught in his throat while he watched the transformation. All of Reno's injuries healed and his broken bones snapped into place. Then his muscles bulged, stretching the shirt he wore as the already abused fabric tried to compensate for its wearer's new muscles.
The right sleeve of the shirt burned off to reveal his lean right hand only momentarily before the limb got enclosed by a sudden metallic liquid that materialised and coated the right arm like a second skin.
Another roar erupted from Reno again and this time it was gravelly and multilayered. When Reno opened his eyes again they were pitch black with no sclera.
He tore off his shirt like it was paper and exposed his lithe torso filled with multiple dark sigils to the moonlight, meanwhile people were already scampering from the scene.
" How is this possible?" Kuroda whispered. Reno scanned his prey now with renewed vigor and slowly two tonfas cloaked in dark mist materialised in his grip, both long ends tapered to a sharp tip.
The demon's face twisted and murderous intent surged from it like waves of heat, from its hands emerged vicious talons. Reno grinned, the world blurred and he appeared in the demon's face already registering his fist supported by the tonfa on its face.
Something snapped and unlike last time, it was the demon's jaw. Its head tilted, slowly lifting its body and shot back from the impact.
'What the hell' Kuroda thought. The fight ensued with the demon receiving hits to the face, chest and shoulders. The sounds of broken bones filled the air while Reno danced round his prey.
Strikes came from impossible angles, left right and centre seemingly bent on torturing the demon as best as he could. Black blood splashed across the pavement like ink with each guaranteed hit. Demon blood.
Until the demon tried something crazy, it stopped going on defensive and lunged in a desperate last attempt at killing its unexpectedly stronger prey. It never got a chance to regret that decision.
Reno seemingly disappeared from where he stood mere moments away from being clawed in the face and rematerialised behind the demon. It stood no chance when Reno unceremoniously flipped the tonfas in his grip around and ram both into the demon's head. Their pointed ends easily tore through like a knife through butter before poking out through its maw.
"Get back to the trench you crawled out of, you fucking hell spawn" Reno growled and pulled out both tonfas when the demon went completely still.
Kuroda's eyes went wide as soon as the demon crumbled wordlessly to the ground in a shower of black mist. 'He exorcised it?'
'But he isn't human, or not fully anyway but even a being at the level of power he emanated should put him near a demon of the B rank. I'm just a lower grade C rank sorcerer, will I still be able to take him alone?'
Kuroda looked from the slowly dissipating corpse of the demon to Reno standing over it. ' Should I just call master Hanzo or…? No! That demon was a D grade it's so obvious and this hybrid is mostly untrained. I picked out a dozen holes in his fight with demon already. I should be able to take him out based on my technique alone'
Slowly Kuroda rose to his feet and leaped off the building, landing noiselessly onto the pavement.
Reno immediately turned, his eyes still pitch black and from up close Kuroda noticed that the sigils actually formed a tattoo of some serpent that wrapped itself around his opponent's torso and left arm before its head stopped at the underside of his wrist.
Kuroda clapped. Once. Twice. " That was impressive… a little heavy handed but formidable"
" Who are you?" Reno growled. " Kuroda Rei, grade C sorcerer and hopefully your exorcist," Kuroda smirked, assuming a battle stance.
" Like hell you are" Reno snorted while his tonfas slipped into his grip. Kuroda meanwhile remained unarmed, tension crackled like live wire before they clashed.
Kuroda's expertise in hand combat immediately became evident during the fight, Reno received multiple strikes to specific nerves in his body while his health kept dropping eventually he got down to only five percent of his actual health.
" Too easy" Kuroda murmured, finishing his nerve attack with a soft finger jab to the neck that totally immobilised his target. It was then he produced a vicious dagger and opened some distance between them.
"Blood judgement." Kuroda chanted, sliding the dagger blade along his palm and letting his blood flow onto it. The blade flashed crimson in response before Kuroda threw it.
The blood enhanced dagger shot towards Reno like a bullet trailing a residue of crimson mist and began its fiery journey aimed for the heart before…
Ping! A man caught the dagger between his thumb and index finger by the tip inches away from Reno's chest. " Phew that was close" The man had long blonde hair. He sported a dark uniform much similar to Kuroda's but that was where similarities ended.
The epaulet on his uniform showed his much more superior rank and his
handsome face had one eye in an eye patch giving him a hint of savagery which sharply contrasted his refined persona.
Obviously this was the only human who could catch that attack as easily as drawing his next breath. Kuroda took a step back, eyes squinting. " Master Hanzo?"
Hanzo gave a cheerful smile. " Hey my stubborn protege, how many times do I have to tell you not to out right kill anything you don't understand until you do?"
" Huh?" Kuroda muttered in confusion. Hanzo then walked towards him and whacked the back of his head. " You would have actually killed him dimwit." Hanzo grinned.
Meanwhile Reno, still wrapped by the Infernal wrath, managed to break his immobility and charged at Hanzo in a blur. " Master! Behind you!" Kuroda yelled.
The world slowed and then struggled to catch up with the flow of time thereafter Hanzo blinked out of existence. In that split second a voice floated into Reno's befuddled hearing. " On your six"
Reno turned around and got waylaid by a 540 degree tornado kick to the neck just below the base of his skull. His body slammed into the pavement from the high velocity impact and carved a crater that formed the outline of his body. Hanzo walked up to Reno's unconscious form and saw th
e sigils and right arm gauntlet fade away from his body leaving it pristine but far from normal.