Ch 32 : The Forsaken Truth

Renji's fingers curled around the black shard, its eerie glow pulsing in sync with his heartbeat. His vision still blurred, the whispers of the ancient entity gnawing at his mind.

Shirogane's voice cut through the haze. "Renji, what the hell just happened?"

Renji exhaled slowly. The weight of what he had just seen lingered in his mind. The vision—a glimpse of a forgotten past.

The dungeons weren't just prisons.

They were barriers.

Warnings left behind by something… or someone.

Renji clenched the shard tighter. "This thing…" His voice was hoarse, roughened by exhaustion. "…it holds a piece of the truth."

Shirogane scowled. "And? What truth?"

Renji hesitated. Could he even explain it? Could he trust Shirogane with this knowledge?

Before he could answer, the ground quivered beneath them again.

The battle might have been over, but the labyrinth itself was still alive.

And it wasn't letting them leave so easily.

---

A sharp crack echoed through the chamber. The walls, once reinforced by unnatural dungeon energy, began to fracture.

Shirogane's eyes flickered around the collapsing chamber. "We need to move. Now."

Renji didn't argue. The dungeon had lost its guardian.

And now, it was unraveling.

They sprinted toward the nearest exit, dodging falling debris and unstable dungeon energy surges.

But something was off.

Renji's senses screamed at him. The air itself had changed.

The dungeon wasn't just collapsing—it was being absorbed.

By something else.

A shadow flickered in the distance.

And then, Renji saw them.

A squad of black-clad hunters emerged from the darkened corridor, their weapons drawn.

The Organization had arrived.

Renji's pulse spiked.

Their leader, a tall man with cold steel-gray eyes, stepped forward.

Commander Seijuro Hoshinomiya.

Renji had never met him in person, but he had heard enough whispers to know that the man was ruthless.

Seijuro's gaze landed on Renji.

Then, on the black shard in his hand.

"Hand it over."

The words were calm. But the killing intent was clear.

---

Renji's grip on the shard tightened. He could feel its energy thrumming against his palm, reacting to the presence of the Organization's forces.

Shirogane stepped forward, his sword still stained with the ichor of the ancient beast they had just slain. "So this is how it is, huh? You let us do the dirty work, then swoop in to clean up."**

Seijuro remained unfazed. "You should know your place, Shirogane."

Renji's eyes narrowed. The tension in the room thickened, the air crackling with unspoken hostility.

Then—

A shot rang out.

Renji twisted instinctively. A bullet grazed past his cheek.

One of the Organization's snipers had fired a warning shot.

Seijuro sighed. "You're outnumbered. I won't ask again."

Renji wiped the blood off his cheek.

He had no intention of handing anything over.

---

Shirogane tensed beside him. Even he knew that fighting the Organization head-on wasn't the best move.

But Renji had come too far to just walk away.

This shard—it wasn't just a fragment of dungeon energy.

It was a key.

To what, he wasn't sure yet.

But he wasn't about to let the Organization get their hands on it.

Renji smirked. "You really think I'll just give it up?"

Seijuro's expression didn't change. But Renji saw it.

The faintest flicker of annoyance.

Then, the Commander exhaled. "So be it."

He raised a hand.

"Kill them."

---

The first attacker moved like lightning, a high-ranked hunter appearing behind Renji in an instant.

But Renji was faster.

His instincts—honed by his mutation—took over.

He dodged, twisted, and countered in a single motion.

His claws ripped through the hunter's side, sending them crashing into the wall.

Shirogane was already engaged in his own fight, his sword clashing against three hunters at once.

But then—

Seijuro moved.

Faster than Renji expected.

The Commander closed the distance in a blink, his blade slicing through the air.

Renji barely had time to block.

CLANG!

The force sent him skidding back.

Renji's arms shook.

Seijuro was stronger than anyone he had fought before.

And he wasn't even serious yet.

Renji gritted his teeth. His body was already at its limit from the previous battle.

If this dragged on—he'd lose.

Seijuro didn't give him time to recover.

He attacked again, faster, sharper.

Renji dodged left—barely.

A second strike came—he blocked, but the force numbed his arm.

Seijuro was relentless. Precise. A predator hunting its prey.

Renji needed a way out.

Fast.

His eyes darted around, searching for an opening.

Then, he saw it.

A weak point in the dungeon's crumbling structure.

It was risky. But it was the only way.

Renji lunged back, dodging another of Seijuro's strikes.

Then—he struck.

Not at Seijuro.

At the ceiling above them.

BOOM!

The weakened structure collapsed, sending debris crashing down.

Dust exploded into the air, blinding everyone.

Renji didn't hesitate. He grabbed Shirogane and ran.

Through the dust, through the chaos—deeper into the dungeon.

Seijuro's voice echoed behind him, sharp and cold.

"Run all you want. You won't escape forever."

Renji ignored him.

He had bigger problems.

Because as they ran, the shard in his hand began to glow brighter.

And Renji realized—

It was leading him somewhere.

Somewhere far worse.

---

Renji and Shirogane finally came to a stop in a dark corridor, the battle behind them fading.

Shirogane caught his breath. "What the hell is that thing in your hand?"

Renji looked down at the shard.

It hummed. Pulsed.

Like it was alive.

Like it was calling to something.

Renji's jaw tightened. "I don't know yet."

But what he did know—

This was only the beginning.

The deeper he went, the more truths he uncovered.

And the closer he got…

To becoming something he could never turn back from.

---

Renji's breathing was ragged as he and Shirogane sprinted through the collapsing tunnels. Behind them, the distant echoes of battle still rang—the Organization's forces regrouping, their orders clear.

Eliminate them.

But Renji wasn't just running from them.

The black shard in his palm pulsed like a living heart, tugging at his very soul. A whisper slithered into his mind.

"Go deeper."

He didn't want to listen. He didn't trust the ancient entity. But instinct told him—if he ignored the pull, he would regret it.

Shirogane gritted his teeth. "Where the hell are we going? The exit was behind us!"

Renji didn't look back. "There's something else here."

Shirogane let out a curse but didn't stop following. He knew better than to argue with Renji when he had that look in his eyes.

The path before them was unfamiliar.

And then—suddenly, the ground vanished beneath them.

---

The fall should have killed them.

But instead, Renji felt the dungeon itself catch him.

A strange force slowed his descent, as if unseen hands were guiding him.

They landed in a vast, open chamber bathed in an eerie, silver glow.

Shirogane groaned, pushing himself up. "Damn it, I'm getting tired of these death drops."

Renji ignored him, eyes scanning their surroundings.

The walls here were different. Ancient carvings, etched into the stone, depicting something… something horrifying.

A massive, writhing being, its form shifting between countless monstrous shapes.

Eyes. Wings. Claws.

Renji's stomach twisted. It was the same figure from his visions.

And at the center of the chamber—a massive obsidian monolith.

The black shard in his hand burned hot.

This was where it wanted him to go.

Renji took a cautious step forward. The monolith trembled.

A pulse of pure darkness erupted from it, forcing both him and Shirogane back.

Then, the whispers came.

No—not whispers.

A voice.

Deep, endless, filled with ancient knowledge.

"You finally hear me."

Renji's eyes widened. The voice was inside his head, yet it felt as if it came from everywhere.

"You have reached the threshold, child of evolution."

Shirogane looked around, gripping his blade. "Who the hell is talking?"

Renji swallowed hard. He knew.

The ancient entity.

The one that had been lurking in his mind since his first mutation.

But this time—it wasn't just a presence.

It was awake.

---

The monolith shuddered, and suddenly, the air grew heavy.

A shape began to form—a towering shadow, shifting and writhing, its form impossible to define.

Eyes opened within the darkness, locking onto Renji.

"I have been waiting for you, Renji Kuroya."

Renji's jaw clenched. "What do you want?"

A low, rumbling chuckle. "I could ask you the same."

Shirogane took a step back. "Renji… this thing…"

The ancient entity ignored him, its focus solely on Renji.

"You seek power. Survival. The truth."

"I can give you all of it."

Renji's fingers twitched. He didn't trust it.

But he needed answers.

And the Organization wasn't going to give him any.

"What's the catch?" he asked.

The entity laughed softly.

"Become what you were meant to be."

---

Renji felt it then—a surge of power.

The shard in his hand disintegrated into mist, merging into his body.

A flood of visions hit him.

The origin of dungeons. The war before humanity. The truth about the Organization.

And the entity's true nature.

Renji staggered back, panting.

It wasn't just a parasite.

It was something far older.

Far worse.

And it needed him.

"Do not fight it, child."

Renji's mind screamed at him to resist.

But a deeper part of him—the part that had been changing since the day he first mutated—hungered for what the entity offered.

And he knew.

Once he accepted… there would be no going back.

---

Before Renji could decide, the walls exploded.

A rush of black-clad hunters swarmed in, their weapons aimed at him.

Seijuro Hoshinomiya stepped forward, unscathed, unshaken.

"There you are."

Renji's pulse spiked.

The Organization had found them.

And they weren't leaving without a fight.

---

Shirogane barely had time to react before the first hunter lunged.

Renji dropped low, dodging a bullet aimed for his head.

His claws extended instinctively, slashing through the nearest enemy.

Shirogane's sword clashed against two hunters at once, sparks flying.

But then—Seijuro moved.

Faster than anyone else.

A blur of motion—and suddenly, Renji was on the defensive.

Seijuro's blade sliced through the air, each strike aimed to kill.

Renji barely dodged in time, the force of the attacks sending shockwaves through the chamber.

Seijuro's eyes remained calm, calculating.

"You're stronger than before."

Renji wiped the blood from his lip. "You haven't seen anything yet."

The ancient entity's voice whispered in Renji's mind.

"Let me in."

Renji hesitated.

Seijuro lunged.

Renji reacted on instinct.

He let go.

Power erupted from within him.

Dark tendrils wrapped around his arms, his body shifting—becoming something more.

Seijuro's blade clashed against his transformed flesh.

And this time—Renji didn't just block it.

He broke the blade in half.

Seijuro's eyes widened for the first time.

Renji grinned.

The hunt was on.

---

The fight became a blur.

Renji moved faster, hit harder.

One by one, the Organization's elite fell.

But something was wrong.

His body burned. His mind twisted.

The entity's whispers grew louder.

"You are almost there."

"Just a little more."

Renji gritted his teeth.

He needed to stop.

But could he?

Did he even want to?

---

Seijuro regrouped, blood dripping from a wound on his shoulder.

Renji advanced, his monstrous form looming over the battlefield.

Seijuro raised his broken blade.

"I won't let you leave here alive, Kuroya."

Renji smirked.

"Then you'd better kill me now."

Because after this… there would be no stopping him.

Not Seijuro. Not the Organization. Not even himself.

The final battle had begun.