Ch 15 : The Forsaken Pact

Renji stood at the center of the underground chamber, surrounded by the Forgotten. Their presence pressed against him like an unseen force, heavy with expectation.

They were like him—part human, part something else. Their shifting forms flickered between reality and nightmare, proof that they had embraced the path he was still resisting.

The leader, the same shadowed figure who had guided him here, stepped forward.

"You have glimpsed what lies ahead," they said, their voice like wind passing through hollow bones. "Now, you must decide."

Renji crossed his arms, feeling the lingering effects of his transformation—the sharper claws, the faint obsidian texture of his skin. He wasn't blind to the truth. Every fight, every evolution pulled him further from his humanity.

He met the leader's gaze. "And what exactly am I deciding?"

A chuckle rippled through the gathered figures.

"To join us," the leader answered. "Or to remain alone… until your inevitable fall."

The air grew colder.

Renji exhaled, weighing his options.

Joining them meant resources, knowledge—answers he couldn't find on his own. It meant surviving long enough to understand what he was becoming.

But it also meant surrendering control.

Becoming what they were.

His grip tightened.

"I don't take orders," he said flatly.

The leader's head tilted. "Neither do we. We exist outside the chains of humanity. Outside the reach of the organization. We are not a faction. We are not a cult. We are those who have seen the truth and refused to bow."

Their hand gestured toward the symbols on the walls.

"The world fears us. The organization hunts us. We survive because we embrace the change, not resist it."

Renji remained silent.

He had spent every moment fighting against the corruption inside him. Struggling to remain himself.

But now, standing before those who had already crossed that threshold, he wondered—

How long before he had no choice?

---

"You hesitate," the leader noted. "That is natural. But we do not accept the weak."

A shift in the air.

Renji caught the movement a second before it happened—one of the Forgotten lunging at him.

Fast.

Too fast.

His instincts screamed, and he twisted just in time to avoid the strike. Clawed fingers sliced past his face, cutting deep into the stone behind him.

No warning. No hesitation.

They weren't testing him anymore.

They were trying to kill him.

Renji's grin was sharp.

"Fine," he muttered. "I was getting bored anyway."

He moved.

The one who attacked him struck again, but Renji was faster now. His new form moved with an unnatural ease, every muscle responding with precision.

A clawed swipe. He ducked. A second strike. He caught their wrist.

Their eyes widened.

Renji twisted—hard.

A sharp crack echoed through the chamber as he broke their arm, sending them staggering back.

Another came from behind.

Renji didn't turn.

Instead, he let his instincts take over.

Dark energy surged through his body, and without thinking, he lashed out—his own shadow stretching unnaturally, catching his attacker mid-motion and slamming them into the ground.

The chamber fell silent.

The leader watched. The other Forgotten studied him.

Renji exhaled, shaking off the lingering sensation of his evolving power.

"...Are we done?" he asked.

The leader chuckled. "Not yet."

They stepped forward, raising a single hand.

And the chamber shifted.

The symbols on the walls pulsed, and suddenly, the air felt wrong—as if reality itself was bending.

Renji's breath hitched.

The Forgotten weren't just mutated.

They understood dungeon energy.

They could manipulate it.

The leader's voice was calm.

"You want strength, Renji Kuroya? Then prove you can wield it."

The ground cracked.

And something rose from the abyss below.

---

The creature that emerged wasn't like the Forgotten.

It was pure darkness—its form shifting, writhing, unfinished.

A monster that should not exist outside the dungeons.

An Abyssborn.

Renji tensed. He had fought many things since his infection, but this was different.

It wasn't just a beast.

It was alive in ways the others weren't.

It had intelligence.

And it was staring right at him.

The leader's voice echoed.

"Survive, or be consumed."

The Abyssborn moved.

Renji reacted instantly, dodging the first strike—barely.

It was fast.

Faster than the others. Faster than him.

Its form blurred as it lashed out again, its elongated claws ripping through the space where he had just been.

Renji cursed, barely keeping up.

Think.

He wasn't stronger than it. Not yet.

But he didn't need to be.

He just needed to adapt faster than it could kill him.

His eyes flickered, analyzing its movements. The way it shifted between solid and shadow.

It had a pattern.

A rhythm.

Renji exhaled.

Then—he stopped dodging.

The next strike came—aimed straight at his heart.

He stepped into it.

The Forgotten murmured in surprise.

The Abyssborn's claws drove forward—

And Renji let them pierce his skin.

For a brief moment, its form solidified completely.

And in that instant—

Renji moved.

His clawed hand shot forward, tearing through the Abyssborn's core in one decisive strike.

The monster froze.

Then, with a final, wretched scream—

It dissolved into nothing.

Silence filled the chamber.

Renji exhaled, feeling the fresh wounds on his body. The pain was there, but so was something else.

The energy.

The knowledge.

The evolution.

His form pulsed, just for a second. His shadows grew darker. His senses sharper.

He had taken another step forward.

The leader watched.

Then, slowly, they nodded.

"You learn quickly."

Renji wiped the blood from his mouth. "Yeah," he muttered. "I get that a lot."

The Forgotten shifted, their interest in him intensifying.

For the first time, he saw it.

They weren't disappointed.

They were excited.

And that was more unsettling than anything else.

The leader took another step forward.

"You have earned the right to stand among us, Renji Kuroya."

They extended a hand.

"But the question remains—will you walk this path?"

Renji looked at the hand.

At the figures surrounding him.

At what he had just become.

Then, he grinned.

"Not yet."

The leader chuckled. "Good. That means there's still more of you to break."

Renji exhaled.

For now, he had bought himself time.

But deep inside, he knew—

The next time he stood before them, he wouldn't be given a choice.

---

Renji left the underground chamber with a weight pressing against his chest—not just from his wounds, but from something deeper. The energy he had absorbed from the Abyssborn still lingered inside him, coiling like a restless beast.

As he walked through the ruined tunnels, the Forgotten's whispers still echoed in his mind.

"You learn quickly."

"There's still more of you to break."

He clicked his tongue.

The last thing he needed was more voices in his head.

He glanced down at his hands. His fingers twitched involuntarily, his nails still elongated and faintly blackened. His body felt… different. Not just stronger, but sharper—like something was watching the world through his eyes, something hungry.

He clenched his fist, suppressing the instinct crawling up his spine.

Then, a scent hit him.

Blood.

Fresh. Close.

His senses sharpened before he could stop them, locking onto the source—a small group of hunters aboveground, moving cautiously through the ruined cityscape.

Renji's jaw tightened.

He shouldn't be able to smell them from this far.

And worse—he could hear their heartbeats.

Fast. Rhythmic. Alive.

For the first time since his infection, his body reacted before his mind could.

His vision flickered. His breath slowed.

And for a fleeting second—

—he wanted to hunt them.

A sharp stab of pain shot through his skull.

Renji staggered, grabbing his head as the visions struck.

The Forgotten. Their shifting forms. Their whispered promises.

"You resist, but for how long?"

"The hunger is inevitable."

No.

Renji exhaled through clenched teeth, forcing the thoughts back, gripping onto his humanity like a lifeline. He wasn't a monster. He wouldn't be a monster.

Not yet.

The scent of blood faded as he turned away.

He needed to get as far from those hunters as possible.

Before the hunger decided for him.

---

The city was quieter than before.

After the last dungeon break, most survivors had either fled or been evacuated. The only ones left were those who still had business here—hunters, scavengers, and things far worse.

Renji moved through the skeletal remains of old buildings, keeping to the shadows, his steps unnaturally silent.

His mind was still on the Forgotten.

They weren't just mutated. They had control—over their abilities, over dungeon energy, over themselves.

And yet, they had all embraced their inhumanity.

Renji clicked his tongue. That wasn't going to be him.

But then again…

He had absorbed the Abyssborn.

And it was changing him, even now.

His grip tightened around the hilt of his dagger. If the organization found out what he had become, they wouldn't hesitate.

No negotiations. No warnings.

They would erase him.

And judging by his new hunger, maybe they'd be right to try.

He exhaled, suppressing the thought.

Survival first. Everything else later.

---

A sound.

Renji froze.

Not footsteps. Not a heartbeat.

Something heavier.

Something breathing.

He turned his head slightly, his vision adjusting to the dark—too fast, too unnatural. His senses flared, picking up the scent of something foul.

Not human.

Not Forgotten.

Something else.

A presence loomed above him.

Slow. Watching.

Renji didn't move.

Then—

A massive form lunged from the broken rafters above.

Renji twisted, barely avoiding the impact as the concrete shattered beneath the creature's landing.

Dust filled the air. A deep, guttural growl reverberated through the ruins.

As the dust settled, Renji got his first clear look.

A mutated beast. Wolf-like, but wrong. Its flesh twisted, bones jutting at unnatural angles. Its eyes glowed with a deep, abyssal hunger—one Renji recognized all too well.

It was like him.

Or rather—what he could become.

The beast sniffed the air, then locked onto him.

A flicker of recognition.

Renji's breath slowed.

It knows what I am.

And worse—

It sees me as competition.

The beast charged.

---

Renji moved.

The beast was fast, but he was faster. His body reacted on instinct, his form twisting as he dodged a swipe that shattered a nearby column.

Debris flew, but Renji didn't wait.

He countered—his own clawed hand slashing out, catching the beast across its ribs.

Blackened blood sprayed, sizzling against the concrete.

The monster shrieked, recoiling—but not in pain.

In rage.

Renji barely had time to react before it lashed out again, its unnatural limbs twisting mid-air, aiming for his throat.

He ducked.

Too slow.

The claws grazed his shoulder, tearing through flesh like paper.

Renji hit the ground, rolling to regain distance. Pain flared, but his body was already adjusting. The wound was closing—too fast.

Damn it.

He didn't have time to process before the beast rushed him again.

No hesitation. No fear.

Just pure, animalistic hunger.

Renji gritted his teeth.

Fine.

If that was how it wanted to play—

Then he'd show it why he was still alive.

His form blurred as he met the charge head-on.

Flesh and shadow collide

The fight was brutal. Fast.

Each time the beast struck, Renji adapted. Each time he countered, the creature adjusted.

They were too alike.

Two predators.

Two monsters fighting for dominance.

But then—

The moment shifted.

Renji's claws sank deep into the creature's chest.

And for the first time—he felt it.

A pull.

The hunger surged.

His vision darkened.

And before he could stop himself—

—he absorbed it.

The beast screamed as its form collapsed into him, its essence flooding into his own.

Renji staggered.

His breath came in sharp, uneven gasps. His skin burned, his veins pulsing with something new.

More than strength. More than instincts.

This time, it was something worse.

Something familiar.

His hands trembled.

The hunger had taken another step forward.

And this time—

He wasn't sure if he could push it back.