Morning in Tokyo arrived with a cold, grey drizzle. Ren Hanshin stood at the side of the windows of his Roppongi penthouse, looking down at the endless sea of umbrellas on the street below. He had not slept. After packing the severed remains of the Azure Dragon assassins into the black trash bag, he had spent the rest of the night sitting on the couch, staring at the wall, while the Omni-View camera stared at him.
"System," Ren said, breaking the quiet hum of the rain hitting the glass. "Status window."
A blue holographic screen appeared in the air in front of him.
[Name: Ren Hanshin]
[Age: 21]
[Class: Sovereign's Executioner (Mythic)]
[Title: S-Rank Anomaly Slayer]
[Level: 50]
[Stats]
Strength: 185
Agility: 210
Vitality: 155
Mana: 800
Perception: 110
[Unassigned Stat Points: 25]
[Exclusive Skills]
- Severance of Destiny (Lv. 2)
- Void Step (Lv. 2)
[Sponsor: The God of Fate]
[Karma Points: 38,500,000]
Ren looked at the unassigned stat points he had gained from leveling up in the fight of assassins. He tapped the blue screen, dumping all twenty-five points into Vitality. He was already fast enough and strong enough to cut an S-Rank boss in half. What he needed now was the endurance to handle prolonged fights without his muscles tearing apart from his own speed.
[Vitality has increased to 180.]
A warm, soothing wave of energy washed over his body. His muscles grew denser, his bones harder. He felt refreshed, the fatigue of the long night fading away instantly. The blue screen was suddenly shoved aside. The room flashed with a familiar crimson light.
[The God of Fate is wishing you a good morning.]
[God of Fate]: You look so handsome when you focus on your growth. Are you ready to go outside?
[God of Fate]: Do not look at anyone on the street. Keep your eyes forward. If any of those filthy normal people bump into you, I will break their legs.
Ren closed his eyes, taking a slow breath. "I'm just delivering a package," he muttered, picking up the black trash bag from the floor. It made a sickening, wet squelching sound. The blood inside had begun to coagulate. "I won't be long."
He walked to the private elevator. The doors slid open, and the Omni-View camera hovered smoothly right behind his shoulder.
****
The Azure Dragon Guild headquarters was located in the wealthy Shinjuku district. It was a seventy story skyscraper made of dark blue glass and polished steel. It was a monument to arrogance and money. Outside the main entrance, holographic banners displayed the faces of their top hunters, including Ryuichi, smiling like heroes to the public.
Ren walked through the sliding front doors, holding the black trash bag in his left hand.
The lobby was huge. The floors were white marble, and an expensive chandelier hung from the ceiling. Dozens of low level guild members and administrative staff walked around, holding datapads and chatting loudly.
Ren walked straight toward the VIP elevator banks at the back of the lobby. He didn't bother hiding his aura this time. He let a tiny fraction of his A-Rank mana leak out. The temperature in the lobby dropped. The chatter died immediately. People stopped in their tracks, turning to look at the young man in the dark grey clothes carrying a dripping black bag. The air grew so heavy that several unawakened staff members fell to their knees, gasping for breath.
Two armored C-Rank security guards stepped in front of the VIP elevators, crossing their spears to block his path.
"H-Halt!" the guard on the left stammered, his knees shaking beneath his armor. "This elevator is strictly for the guild Master and A-Rank executives! State your business!"
Ren didn't stop walking. He didn't even look at the guards.
"Move," Ren said. His voice was quiet, but it carried a cold authority that shook in the chests of everyone in the room.
"I said halt!" the guard yelled, trying to mask his terror with anger. He thrust the blunt end of his spear toward Ren's chest.
Ren didn't dodge. He just kept walking. When the metal shaft of the spear touched Ren's chest, it didn't push him back. Instead, the steel simply bent and snapped in half like a dry twig.
The guard's eyes widened in horror. Before he could react, Ren raised his free right hand and casually backhanded the man across the chest.
CRACK!!
The guard flew backward as if he had been hit by a truck. He crashed into the marble wall twenty feet away, the stone cracking in a spiderweb pattern around his body. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
The second guard dropped his weapon and scrambled backward, pressing himself against the wall in panic. Ren stepped into the open VIP elevator and pressed the button for the seventieth floor. The gold doors slid shut, leaving a lobby full of terrified, silent people behind him.
The crimson chat box hovered next to the floor display inside the elevator.
[The God of Fate is laughing.]
[God of Fate]: They fall like paper toys. You are too gentle with them, Ren. You should have ripped his head off.
[God of Fate]: The Guild Master is upstairs. I can feel the dirty mana of the God of Wealth leaking from him. Humiliate him for me.
[The God of Fate has donated 2,000,000 Karma Points!]
DING!!
The elevator doors opened. The seventieth floor was one massive luxurious office. The windows offered a panoramic view of the city. In the center of the room sat a desk made of dark mahogany.
Guild Master Kaito sat behind the desk. He was looking at a shining holographic monitor, his brow furrowed in anger.
Standing nervously in front of the desk, there was Ryuichi. The Golden Boy's face was bandaged from where Kaito had kicked him the day before.
"I don't care what the Association says," Kaito growled, slamming his fist on the desk. "Delay the reporters. Tell them we are doing an internal review. If the media finds out our elite team used a porter as bait and ran away, our stock will crash!"
"Y-Yes, Master," Ryuichi whimpered. "But what about Ren? He has the S-Rank core. If he goes to the media..."
"He won't go to the media," Kaito said, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "The shadows should have finished their job by now. Ren Hanshin is probably bleeding out on his expensive new floor as we speak. I will retrieve the core myself this afternoon."
"You shouldn't wait until this afternoon." The cold, calm voice echoed across the office.
Kaito's head snapped up. Ryuichi spun around, his eyes widening in horror. Ren Hanshin stepped out of the elevator. His boots left faint, bloody footprints on the pristine white carpet, dripping from the black bag in his hand.
"Ren!" Ryuichi shrieked, backing away until his back hit Kaito's desk. "How did you get up here?! The guards..."
Kaito slowly stood up. He was a giant of a man, an S-Rank Berserker. His aura flared to life, a suffocating, golden pressure that smelled like burning copper. The air in the room grew dense, making it hard to breathe.
"You have a lot of nerve walking into my building, rat," Kaito snarled, his eyes darting onto Ren. He noticed the lack of a visible weapon. He noticed Ren's relaxed posture. "Where are my shadows? If you think you can negotiate with me, you are dead wrong."
Ren stopped ten feet away from the desk. He looked Kaito up and down, unimpressed by the S-Rank aura. To someone who was sponsored by a Sovereign Goddess, Kaito's pressure felt like a light breeze.
"I'm not here to negotiate," Ren said smoothly. "I'm here to make a delivery."
Ren lifted the black trash bag and tossed it forward. The bag landed squarely on the center of Kaito's mahogany desk with a wet thud. The plastic knot at the top came loose from the impact.
THUD! CLATTER!
A severed arm, still wearing a black combat glove, slid out of the bag, smearing dark blood across Kaito's expensive digital paperwork. Two shattered black masks and a jagged, poisoned dagger clattered onto the wood next to it.
Ryuichi let out a pathetic scream, covering his mouth as the smell of blood filled the room. Kaito stared at the severed arm. His face went pale. His S-Rank aura flickered and died for a split second in shock. Those were his elite assassins. Three highly trained killers, wiped out in a single night, and returned to him in a garbage bag.
"What... what are you?" Kaito whispered, looking up at Ren.
Ren's eyes shone with a crimson light. He didn't summon his scythe, but he didn't need to. He unleashed his own mana. The room froze, petrified. The blast proof windows groaned under the sudden shift in air pressure. The golden halo of the God of Wealth hovering faintly above Kaito's head flickered, overwhelmed by the sheer killing intent of the God of Fate radiating from Ren's body.
Kaito's knees actually buckled slightly. He grabbed the edge of his desk to stop himself from falling over. Ryuichi wasn't so lucky; the swordsman collapsed to the floor, weeping in instinctual terror.
"Listen to me carefully, Kaito," Ren said, his voice was level, but every single word felt like a physical blow. "You threw me to a boss monster. I survived. You sent assassins to my home. They died. You are bad at this game."
Ren took a slow step forward. "I am keeping the S-Rank core. I am keeping my life, and if you ever look in my direction again, if you ever send another rat to my door, I won't just kill the rat."
Ren leaned forward, resting his hands on the edge of the blood-stained desk, staring into Kaito's eyes. "I will come back here. I will tear down this skyscraper floor by floor, and I will bury you under the rubble. Do you understand me?"
Kaito, a man who had terrorized the Awakened world for a decade, could not speak. His throat was wholly dry. He looked into Ren's glittering red eyes and saw nothing but an endless, bloody abyss. He nodded slowly, his hands trembling.
"Good," Ren said, standing up straight. He turned around and began walking back to the elevator.
[The God of Fate is screaming in ecstasy.]
[God of Fate]: YES! Look at the pig tremble! Look at him bow to my King!
[God of Fate]: I love you! I want to burn the city down just to celebrate with you!]
[The God of Fate has donated 10,000,000 Karma Points!]
Ren ignored the red text. He didn't look back as the elevator doors opened. He stepped inside, turning around to face the ruined office one last time. Ryuichi was still sobbing on the floor. Kaito was staring at the severed arm on his desk, broken.
The golden doors slid shut. The delivery was complete. The Azure Dragon Guild had been humiliated, and Ren Hanshin had just declared war on anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. He leaned against the wall of the elevator, closing his eyes as it descended. He had handled the mortal enemies. Now, he just had to figure out how to survive the psychotic, loving gaze of the goddess watching his every move.