What looked like nothing more than an ordinary smoking pipe…
Felt, to Ren, like striking a chunk of meteorite.
The instant his fist collided with it, a sharp, numbing pain shot through his arm—his bones practically crying out in protest.
At the moment of impact—
The black earth beneath them caved in, forming a massive crater over a hundred meters in radius.
They remained locked in that clash for several breaths—
Before both Ren and Enma were blasted backward at the same time.
But even in retreat, the difference between them was obvious.
Ren was sent flying hundreds of meters, crashing straight through a rocky outcrop and punching a hole clean through it before finally coming to a stop.
Enma, on the other hand, was only pushed back a few dozen meters.
Her heels dragged against the ground, carving two deep grooves as she absorbed the force.
And as she glanced toward Ren's landing point—
A captivating smile curved across her lips.
Taking another slow draw from her pipe, she exhaled lazily.
"Looks like I have the upper hand in the first exchange," she said lightly. "If that's all you've got, you won't be saving your friends.
In fact… you might not even survive this place yourself."
Hearing her calm, almost playful tone, Ren flexed his slightly numb arm—
Then smiled back, a glint of battle intent in his eyes.
"Yeah… I was worried you might be completely out of my league," he admitted. "But now that I've seen it for myself…
It looks like I do have a chance.
It might take a little longer than I hoped, though.
Guess I'll just have to trust my friends to hold out a bit longer."
The oni clan specialized in raw power.
And yet—even after activating Kairiki Ranshin—Ren had gained no advantage in that exchange.
In fact, he had been suppressed.
But through that very clash—
He had finally grasped the nature of Enma's previously elusive aura.
Her true level…
Lay beyond the transcendent tier.
A so-called planet-breaking class.
Of course, it didn't seem excessively high within that realm.
Otherwise, even if she had held back, that earlier clash would have left his arm completely shattered.
Which meant—
Enma was likely a being of that higher tier…
But not overwhelmingly above him.
She might still have hidden strength or trump cards—
But when it came to trump cards…
Ren Kuroda had never feared anyone.
—
"Still putting on a brave face?" Enma said, arching a brow. "I'll admit, your strength is impressive. I've never seen an unknown yokai grow to this level.
But let me tell you something—
What I excel at… isn't the same as your oni kind.
I'm not a power-type fighter."
After their first clash, Enma had expected to see shock—or even fear—on Ren's face.
She had deliberately chosen to meet him head-on in raw strength, just to make the gap between them unmistakably clear.
And yet—
Instead of being shaken—
This half-yokai had become even more confident?
—
"It's true—oni are known for their strength," Ren said calmly. "And yes, part of my bloodline comes from them.
But what makes you think that's all I'm good at?
And what gave you the impression…
That I was fighting at full power?"
He didn't elaborate further.
Because in the very next moment—
A terrifying surge of demonic energy erupted from his body.
"The thing about half-yokai," Ren continued, his voice steady, "is that while neither side of their blood is pure…
They can enter a temporary transformation.
And this—
Is the form where they fight best."
Pure yokai lacked the clarity and composure of human thought.
Pure humans lacked the overwhelming physical prowess of yokai.
But a half-yokai who had transformed—
If they could overcome the loss of reason—
Could possess the strengths of both.
A calm, calculating mind.
A wild, instinctive edge.
And a body forged for battle.
—
Ren entered Half-Oni Transformation.
His power surged.
From the upper tier of the transcendent class—
He broke through the limit entirely—
Reaching the planet-breaking tier.
At the same time, he pulled out the Endless Sake Gourd from his spatial storage—
Tilting his head back, he took a long, unrestrained drink.
His demonic energy spiked again.
Explosively.
The aura radiating from him thickened—
Almost becoming tangible.
Fragments of rock around him began to rise into the air, defying gravity under the sheer pressure of his power.
A faint smile, sharp and battle-hungry, appeared on his now slightly inhuman face—marked with eerie demonic patterns.
The next instant—
The floating debris crashed back down.
And at the same time—
Ren's feet slammed into the ground, blasting out a crater like a meteor impact.
The distance of several hundred meters—
Vanished in less than half a breath.
His claws tore through the air—
Ripping even the space before him apart.
—
Enma was still processing the sudden surge in his power—
When a sharp sense of danger snapped her back to reality.
She raised her pipe in haste to block.
Ren's claws carved through the air, leaving behind five crimson streaks.
When they collided with the pipe—
Sparks exploded outward—
And faint claw marks were etched into its surface.
This time—
The outcome was completely different.
The moment their attacks met—
Enma was blasted backward at high speed.
She crashed through three layers of rock walls—
Sliding hundreds of meters before finally coming to a halt.
Her back had taken the brunt of the impact.
And when she stopped—
A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of her lips.
She had suffered internal damage.
—
When strength was evenly matched—
Oni rarely lost in a contest of raw power.
And as Enma herself had admitted—
She was not a strength-focused fighter.
Earlier, Ren had been at a disadvantage simply because his level was lower.
But now—
With the boosts from Half-Oni Transformation and his sake-enhanced state—
That gap had vanished.
And in this form—
Fully embodying the power of an oni—
His use of Kairiki Ranshin was far stronger than before.
—
"To think your power would surge to the level of a mid-tier god in an instant…" Enma murmured, wiping the blood from her lip.
"A being like you among the oni…
Could you be some kind of reincarnation of Ōtakemaru?
Even figures like Shuten-dōji or Ibaraki-dōji, at their peak, shouldn't have reached this level."
The classifications like transcendent tier, planet-breaking tier, and beyond—
Seemed to be Ren's own system-based measurements.
But among the gods—
Strength was typically divided into three ranks:
Lower gods.
Middle gods.
And higher gods.