"Honestly, I'm only interested in your strength and your bloodline. As for your personality, I couldn't care less. Even if you're a total pervert, it doesn't bother me."
"…Wow, thanks for that. But I'm really not a pervert, damn it! I was just trying to take the item she's carrying, that's all."
Even though the girl known as Zesshi—now better rendered as Shiramine Zetsuka—clearly didn't mind whether Ren Kuroda was a degenerate or not, the rest of the Black Scripture members were looking at him with unconcealed disgust.
Especially the other woman in the group, Astrologer Thousand Miles—renamed Hoshimi Senri—who had already been trembling from fear of Ren's overwhelming power. Now she hugged herself tightly, her legs shaking nonstop.
"The space is sealed. High-tier teleportation shouldn't be possible… and yet we couldn't even see his movements just now. That kind of absurd speed—was that really just his physical ability?"
The captain of the Black Scripture—a handsome black-haired young man in his early twenties who arrogantly called himself the Black Scripture incarnate—was completely shaken.
He used to be the epitome of arrogance, convinced he alone embodied the strength of the entire unit. That changed after getting thoroughly beaten down by Shiramine Zetsuka. Since then, he'd come to believe there was no one in the world who could defeat her.
But now, that worldview had shattered again.
Ren Kuroda had captured Sacred Hymn—now Seika Utahime—right from under their noses… without any of them noticing. Even Zetsuka herself hadn't been able to stop him.
"He's not an opponent you can handle. You'll only get in the way," Zetsuka said coldly. "Spellcasters, support me with magic. The rest of you—stay put."
For an elite unit like the Black Scripture—where every member was vastly stronger than the Kingdom's Warrior Captain—to be told they were nothing but a hindrance was humiliating.
But coming from Zetsuka, there was no arguing.
She was a half-elf, and though she resented that heritage, it undeniably granted her immense advantages. Elves were natural-born magic casters with far greater mana reserves than humans, along with heightened senses perfect for combat awareness.
On top of that, Zetsuka had awakened the so-called divine bloodline—making her a true "godkin." Despite her slender frame, her physical strength rivaled that of a dragon.
Her cross-shaped scythe tore through the air, colliding with Ren's blade—Divine Blessing—in a shower of sparks.
With multiple enhancement spells boosting her, she could finally keep up with Ren's speed. The two clashed in a high-speed melee so fast that no ordinary eye could follow.
"Sixth-Tier Magic—Maximized… Holy Spear Judgment!"
The moment their battle began, both the Black Scripture and the elite strike unit realized something terrifying:
Even if Zetsuka hadn't warned them, they still couldn't interfere.
This fight existed on an entirely different level. Their speed alone made it impossible to track, and even the aftershocks of a single exchange could kill them instantly.
The Black Scripture captain, both a master spearman and a sixth-tier caster, seized the moment Ren landed—and cast his strongest spell.
A magic circle flared beneath Ren's feet.
The next instant, a massive holy spear burst forth from the ground, thrusting straight toward his abdomen.
The captain's face lit up with triumph.
He hadn't dodged—this was it!
But then—
The spear shattered.
Not pierced. Not deflected.
Shattered.
Like glass colliding with something unbreakable.
"How ridiculous," came a cold, mocking voice from the side.
It was Aizawa Aria—formerly Albedo—watching with a sneer.
"A mere sixth-tier spell, and you think you can harm Lord Ren? He possesses a racial trait that grants complete immunity to all magic below the eighth tier. Even tenth-tier holy magic barely affects him. Something like this… wouldn't even scratch his HP."
"…Immunity to anything below the eighth tier? That's insane…!"
"Stop using offensive spells," Zetsuka snapped mid-battle. "Use binding magic. Just restrict his movement!"
Her voice snapped the stunned captain back to reality.
If she could, she would've preferred to defeat Ren alone.
But reality had proven otherwise.
Even after unleashing her divine bloodline and drawing on her full power, she couldn't win. In fact, she had never imagined someone this strong could even exist.
In terms of raw mana and physical ability, she wasn't inferior to Ren—perhaps even slightly superior.
But Ren's true strength wasn't just his stats.
It was his technique.
It was his mastery.
It was the terrifying fact that this man, who now dominated her in close combat, had previously incapacitated over two hundred thousand soldiers with magic alone.
"Eighth-Tier Magic—Twin Maximization… Divine Seal Binding!"
With no room left for restraint, the captain activated his own divine bloodline and cast the strongest spell he could muster.
Golden arms erupted from empty space on either side of Ren, clasping together and trapping him in their grip.
This time, the strategy worked.
Ren could negate magical damage—but not binding effects.
For the first time, Zetsuka gained a brief opening.
She tightened her grip on her scythe, pouring vast amounts of mana into it before swinging downward through empty space.
"Martial Art—Oblivion Black Scythe!"
The blade carved through the air—
And a crescent of pure black energy exploded outward.
Ren's eyes narrowed.
This was different.
Very different.
Unlike her previous attacks, this one carried a suffocating sense of danger.
This… could kill him.
The black crescent expanded as it flew, warping space itself. The ground it passed over didn't shatter—it simply vanished, as if swallowed by the void.
This wasn't just an attack.
It was annihilation.
Zetsuka, the Church's ultimate trump card, had never once revealed her full strength—not even against the Black Scripture's captain.
And now, for the first time, she did.
Because the weapon in her hands—
That cross-shaped scythe—
Was a World-Class Item.
A blade that could cut and devour space itself.
Its attacks ignored level.
Ignored defense.
Even someone like Aria—whose defenses ranked among the highest in Nazarick—would be as vulnerable as if she were completely unarmored.
And now, with Ren immobilized, Zetsuka struck.
She hadn't aimed for his neck.
She didn't want to kill him.
After all—
After searching for centuries, she had finally found someone worthy of bearing her child.
"…I underestimated you," Ren muttered, eyes fixed on the incoming strike. "Didn't think your weapon would be a World-Class Item too."
He exhaled slowly.
"In that case… I guess I'll get a little serious."
At that moment—
Power erupted from his body.
His form began to change.
The bindings around him hissed, white smoke rising as his aura intensified.
"—Half-Oni Transformation."
His human appearance melted away, replaced by something far more primal.
Something far more terrifying.
The golden arms restraining him trembled—
Then were torn apart.
Eighth-tier holy magic should have been even more effective against a demonic being.
And yet—
Before absolute power, even divine constructs meant nothing.
Ren crouched slightly, gripping the hilt of his blade.
"Fūrinkazan Style—Secret Art…"
His aura surged.
"Ultimate Strike—Bukkyoku!"
A flash of white cleaved the air.
His blade didn't possess the ability to cut space.
And yet—
Through sheer technique…
Through overwhelming power…
He forced reality itself to yield.
The black crescent and radiant slash collided.
There was no explosion.
No sound.
Because everything at the point of impact—
Light.
Sound.
Matter.
—was devoured by a vacuum-like singularity that swallowed it all.
Space itself cracked like glass, fractures spreading outward before collapsing inward.
For several seconds, the battlefield was consumed by a silent, devouring void.
Then—
It vanished.
And reality slowly stitched itself back together.
Silence fell.
And as the Black Scripture stared at Ren's transformed figure…
Recognition dawned.
This form—
They had seen it before.
In that forest.
The being who had nearly wiped them out.
"…So it was you…!"
Their expressions twisted in shock and horror.
The famed Imperial Knight Commander…
Wasn't human at all.
And worse—
He was connected.
The vampire.
The demon lord.
All of them…
Part of the same faction.
A single, monstrous force.
Ren sighed, scratching his cheek with a wry smile.
"…Yeah. Probably should've thought that through before transforming in front of you."
His gaze hardened.
"But since you've seen it…"
His voice dropped, cold and absolute.
"I can't exactly let you leave now, can I?"