The battle changed in an instant.
Kito moved.
Without a word—
he lunged forward.
The floor beneath his feet cracked from the force.
His eyes, once cold and silent, now glowed with a deep unnatural purple.
Dark veins spread from his neck across his face like creeping shadows.
Shina froze.
Alex's eyes widened.
"Kito—?!"
But Kito did not hear them.
Or perhaps...
he no longer cared.
He slammed one foot against the broken wall, then kicked off toward the ceiling.
Using the collapsing stone above for momentum, he twisted his body midair like a beast hunting prey.
Ronan's expression changed.
His hand shot upward.
"Strings."
Dozens—
then hundreds—
of black strings erupted around him.
They lashed through the air like blades, crossing from every direction.
Their goal was simple.
To tear Kito into pieces before he could get close.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The strings sliced through stone pillars.
They shredded the walls.
The corridor exploded under Ronan's assault.
Yet through the storm of death—
Kito slipped.
He dodged.
He twisted between each thread by impossible inches.
His movements were no longer human.
Every second, his speed was increasing.
Every heartbeat, his strength was rising.
The dark power inside him was feeding wildly.
Ronan's eyes widened.
"What—?"
Before the thought could finish—
Kito appeared in front of him.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Kito's lips slowly curled upward.
A smile.
Not his usual calm smile.
A broken—
mad—
inhuman smile.
His glowing purple eyes stared directly into Ronan's soul.
Then—
BOOM!
Kito's fist crashed into Ronan's stomach.
The impact was monstrous.
Ronan's body bent violently as all the air left his lungs.
The floor beneath him shattered.
His body was blasted downward like a cannonball, smashing through layers of stone.
Dust and debris erupted everywhere.
Silence followed for half a second.
Shina and Alex stood frozen.
Neither could believe what they had just seen.
Ronan...
had been hit.
For the first time in this battle—
Ronan had been overwhelmed.
Kito landed lightly amid the falling rubble.
His shoulders trembled.
A low chuckle escaped his lips.
"Heh..."
Then another.
"Heh... heh..."
Soon the chuckle became laughter.
Kito lifted his face.
A wide, terrifying grin stretched across it.
The darkness around him pulsed violently.
Purple light flickered from his eyes like cursed flames.
The power was no longer simply enhancing him.
It was eating at his mind.
And Kito...
was beginning to enjoy it.
Ronan lay collapsed in the rubble.
Blood poured from his mouth.
His body twitched with every broken breath.
In front of him stood Kito—
covered in wounds,
bathed in purple darkness,
smiling like a mad beast.
Kito slowly walked forward.
Each footstep sounded like an execution bell.
Ronan tried to move his fingers.
Tried to summon strings.
But nothing obeyed him anymore.
His body had reached its limit.
Kito stopped directly before him.
His fist tightened.
Dark power spiraled around his arm.
One final hit.
One final blow to end everything.
Ronan looked up.
And for the first time—
he felt true despair.
Kito swung.
BOOOOM!!
The punch crashed into Ronan's chest and sent him skidding across the floor.
A sickening crack echoed.
Ronan's ribs caved inward.
He coughed out a massive mouthful of blood.
His vision blurred.
His heartbeat weakened.
Death was near.
Very near.
And then—
something inside Ronan answered.
Thump.
A strange pulse echoed from within his chest.
Kito stopped.
Ronan's body twitched.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A dark bulge moved beneath Ronan's skin.
As if something alive was crawling inside him.
Shina's face turned pale.
"What... is that?"
Alex instinctively stepped back.
Ronan opened his eyes.
They were no longer human.
Pure black.
The Void Seed inside him had awakened.
Because its host was dying.
Because survival demanded evolution.
Ronan let out an inhuman scream.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
His back tore open.
SHHK!!
A giant black tentacle burst outward.
Then another from his ribs.
Another from his shoulder.
Another from his spine.
Blood exploded across the corridor.
His flesh twisted.
Bones cracked and reformed.
The black strings around him dissolved completely—
replaced by massive Void tendrils covered in eyes and mouths.
Kito's grin faded.
For the first time, even his corrupted instincts sensed danger.
Ronan slowly rose.
No—
the thing that had once been Ronan rose.
Tentacles writhed around him like living nightmares.
Void aura flooded every inch of the hall.
His broken wounds healed instantly.
His crushed chest reformed.
His smile returned—
but now it was monstrous.
"Hehehe..."
A distorted laugh escaped from every moving mouth on the tentacles.
Shina stumbled backward.
"This can't be real..."
Alex whispered,
"The Void Seed... fully matured..."
Without warning—
three tentacles shot forward.
Kito reacted instantly.
He dodged two.
The third smashed into his stomach.
BOOOOOOM!!
Kito was launched through the wall.
Stone exploded.
Before he could recover—
ten more tendrils followed.
They wrapped around his arms, legs, neck.
Kito roared and tried to break free.
His purple aura exploded.
He tore apart several tentacles.
He lunged again—
punching directly toward Ronan's head.
But Ronan caught his fist.
Easily.
Kito's eyes widened.
Ronan's monstrous smile spread wider.
"Now... it is my turn."
A forest of black tentacles erupted from behind Ronan.
They pierced into Kito's shoulders.
His side.
His thigh.
His back.
Blood sprayed violently.
Kito screamed.
Ronan lifted him into the air like prey.
Then slammed him into the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The floor shattered into a crater.
Kito's purple aura flickered.
His madness smile disappeared.
He coughed blood.
His body no longer responded.
Ronan's awakened Void form...
was on an entirely different level.
One final tentacle strike smashed Kito across the corridor.
Kito rolled lifelessly beside a broken pillar.
Shina screamed.
"Kitoooo"
Merciless.
Death itself.
Far from that chamber,
Ryzan moved swiftly through the passageways with the Violet Swordsmen behind him.
Their boots echoed against the stone.
The deeper they went, the more blood stains they found.
Signs of battle were everywhere.
Yet no people.
No scouts.
No messages.
Nothing.
Ryzan's eyes narrowed.
He had sent several subordinates ahead to search the nearby routes.
Not one had returned.
One of the Violet Swordsmen spoke under his breath,
"Captain... should we move toward the noise?"
As if on cue—
BOOOOOOM!!
A violent tremor shook the tunnel.
Dust rained from above.
Then another crashing sound followed.
Somewhere deeper inside.
Ronan's direction.
Ryzan immediately turned.
"We head there now."
The Violet Swordsmen gripped their swords and began to move.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A slow footstep echoed behind them.
Everyone stopped.
The sound was calm.
Almost lazy.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Ryzan turned.
The swordsmen drew their blades.
Then—
something rolled from the darkness.
Tok.
Tok.
Tok.
It spun across the floor and came to a stop.
At Ryzan's feet.
One of the Violet Swordsmen looked down.
His breath caught.
It was a severed head.
One of the scouts.
Eyes still open.
Blood dripping fresh from the neck.
For a second, all of them froze.
Then they slowly looked ahead.
A bloody figure stood at the far end of the corridor.
Clothes torn.
Body soaked in blood.
One hand hanging loosely at his side.
A smile resting on his lips.
Ryzan's pupils contracted.
"...Rin?"
The Violet Swordsmen instinctively stepped backward.
Because the pressure coming from the boy before them was wrong.
Too heavy.
Too cold.
Too unfamiliar.
Rin lifted his head.
His eyes gleamed crimson in the darkness.
He smiled wider.
Then spoke softly,
"Time to fulfill the promise."