The darkness surged into Renji like a tidal wave.
It wasn't just energy—it was something alive. It clawed at his mind, trying to burrow deeper, trying to change him. His instincts screamed in protest, but his body… his body welcomed it.
Power.
It flooded his veins, sinking into his bones, igniting something primal. His breath hitched as his muscles twitched, his heartbeat hammering against his ribs.
He saw flashes of something—memories that weren't his own.
Fire. Screams. A battlefield drenched in blood.
A massive figure, wreathed in shadows, tearing through countless foes with claws as black as the abyss. A hunger that could never be satisfied.
Then—
A prison.
Chains of light. A seal carved into reality itself.
They locked it away because they feared it.
And now, that presence was inside him.
Renji gritted his teeth, forcing the visions back. Not yet. He couldn't lose himself—not here, not now.
But his body was already changing.
A rush of strength unlike anything before. His senses sharpened, his muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike. His nails lengthened, turning black for a moment before fading. His heartbeat slowed—controlled, calculated.
And the hunger…
It was unbearable.
His fingers clenched into fists. He needed something to kill. Something to devour.
"Renji?"
Hikaru's voice snapped him back to reality.
He lifted his gaze, meeting his.
He had drawn his sword, stance tight, his muscles tense. He felt it too.
"…What the hell did you just do?" he muttered.
Renji exhaled slowly.
"Survived."
His voice sounded… different. Deeper.
Hikaru didn't lower his sword.
"That thing in the monolith—it's inside you now, isn't it?"
Renji didn't answer. He didn't need to.
The air had changed.
The dungeon knew.
The moment the monolith cracked, something had awakened. Not just within Renji—but in the depths of the cavern itself.
The shadows twisted.
The stone trembled.
Then, from the darkness, they came.
The Swarm
A guttural snarl echoed through the chamber.
One.
Then two.
Then dozens.
The walls split open like wounds, releasing a flood of creatures—hunched figures with jagged spines, their eyes glowing red, their claws scraping against the stone.
Hikaru hissed. "Shit—shadowspawn."
Renji knew them.
Somehow, the knowledge was just… there.
Born from dungeons. Formless nightmares that adapted to whatever they hunted. And right now, they were hunting him.
The hunger inside him howled.
Kill.
Rip.
Consume.
Renji grinned.
"Perfect."
Then he moved.
---
The first shadowspawn lunged—claws flashing, its mouth stretching impossibly wide.
Renji barely thought. His body reacted.
His foot twisted, his stance shifting—instincts sharpened by the thing now lurking inside him. He ducked low, letting the creature sail over him, then spun faster than he should have been able to.
His knife lashed out—cleaving through the monster's throat.
Blood-black mist erupted.
The body dissolved before it hit the ground.
But Renji wasn't done.
The hunger surged through him like wildfire. He lunged into the next beast, his movements terrifyingly precise. His knife buried deep into its skull, but his other hand moved as well—clawing, ripping, tearing.
Another.
Another.
Each kill sent a pulse of power through him.
And with each pulse—
The change spread.
---
Hikaru fought beside him—fast, brutal, his blade carving through shadows like a silver streak. But he wasn't focused on the monsters anymore.
He was watching him.
Renji could feel his gaze, the shift in his stance.
The moment he realized—
He wasn't just fighting.
He was enjoying it.
His strikes became more ruthless. His movements more inhuman. At one point, he didn't even need his knife—his fingers plunged into a creature's chest, tearing it apart as if it were made of paper.
The mist rose around him, curling like smoke.
Hikaru took a step back.
"…Renji," he called. "What the hell are you?"
Renji exhaled, shaking off the lingering haze of violence. He looked down at his hands—blackened veins pulsed beneath his skin before fading back to normal.
For now.
He turned to him.
"You said you were hired to kill whatever was inside this dungeon," he said, voice low. "Is your job done?"
Hikaru swallowed.
He wasn't a coward. He had fought monsters before, hunted horrors that normal people would never believe existed.
But right now—Renji scared him.
Not because of what he'd done.
But because he had no idea what he was going to do next.
"…I don't think the real fight has even started," he muttered.
Renji smirked. "Then let's keep going."
---
The swarm was dead. But the dungeon still pulsed with something deeper. Something waiting below.
Renji could feel it. Calling to him.
And this time, he didn't want to resist.
He turned toward the tunnel leading deeper.
Hikaru hesitated.
He could walk away now. Leave him here, let whatever was inside this dungeon take care of him.
But he didn't.
"…Fine," he muttered. "I'm already in too deep."
Renji chuckled.
Then, without another word, they stepped forward—descending into the abyss.
And the dungeon welcomed them.
---
The descent was silent.
Renji and Hikaru moved through the tunnel, their steps echoing in the cavernous dark. The deeper they went, the more the air changed—thicker, colder, saturated with something unseen yet undeniably alive.
Renji felt it clawing at his skin, whispering in his bones.
The dungeon was watching.
Or rather—something inside it was.
"Smell that?" Hikaru murmured.
Renji inhaled.
Blood.
Old, rotting, but still fresh enough that something had died recently.
And not from natural causes.
Hikaru's grip on his sword tightened. "We're not alone down here."
Renji smirked. "Figured."
Then the tunnel ended.
---
They stepped into an open chamber, and the sight before them sent a ripple of tension through even Renji's newly hardened instincts.
Corpses.
Not human—hunters.
Scattered across the cavern floor, twisted in unnatural angles, their bodies torn open, their weapons shattered.
Renji crouched beside one, pressing his fingers against the bloodied wound.
Something ripped through them from the inside.
Hikaru knelt beside him, grimacing. "These guys were skilled. Whoever—or whatever—did this wasn't just strong. It was fast."
He pointed at one of the corpses. "No defensive wounds. They didn't even get a chance to react."
Renji's fingers traced the wounds, his senses sharpening. He felt something.
A lingering presence.
The echoes of a predator.
A pulse of hunger stirred within him.
Prey was nearby.
Then—
The shadows moved.
---
Renji barely had time to react before the air shifted—a blur of movement, something massive bursting from the ceiling, descending upon them like a reaper from the dark.
Renji moved.
Instinct, honed by the curse now running through his veins. His body twisted, shoving Hikaru aside just as the creature slammed down where they stood.
The impact shattered the stone.
Renji landed in a crouch, his gaze locking onto the beast that had ambushed them.
It was… wrong.
Massive, spider-like, but with too many limbs—each one serrated, ending in jagged claws that pulsed with a sickly glow. Its body was sleek, obsidian-black, covered in shifting, chitinous plates that moved as if alive.
And its head—
A grotesque, human-like face, stretched into an unnatural grin, eyes glowing with endless hunger.
Hikaru cursed. "That's not a normal dungeon monster."
Renji bared his teeth. "No kidding."
The monster clicked its mandibles. It was studying them.
Then it struck.
---
Renji met its charge head-on.
His blade lashed out, clashing against the monster's serrated limbs. Sparks flew. The force behind the blow nearly sent him flying, but his new strength held firm.
Still, the monster was fast.
It weaved through the air with unnatural fluidity, limbs whipping toward him from impossible angles.
But Renji…
Renji was learning.
With every strike, every clash, his body adapted. His movements became sharper, his instincts keener. He wasn't just reacting—he was predicting.
And then—
He let go.
For a split second, he stopped thinking, letting the hunger inside him guide his body.
Everything slowed.
The monster lunged—its blade-like limbs aiming for his throat.
Renji's foot twisted. He leaned back, just enough for the strike to miss by inches. His knife flashed up—not at the limb, but at the joint.
Crack.
The monster screeched as its arm was severed at the base.
The scent of its blood hit Renji's nose.
Something inside him howled.
More.
Rip.
Tear.
Consume.
Renji barely restrained the urge to sink his fingers into the wound.
Not yet.
He had to end this first.
---
The monster stumbled, its movements faltering for the first time.
Hikaru saw his opening.
He surged forward, his sword gleaming with an unnatural glow. "Stay down, freak."
His blade pierced through its skull.
The monster spasmed—then collapsed, its body twisting in on itself before turning into black mist.
Hikaru exhaled, stepping back. "That was… unpleasant."
Renji wasn't listening.
His body was burning.
The hunger was clawing at him, more violent than before. His veins pulsed, his skin shifting. His vision blurred.
The monster's essence was there.
He could take it.
Absorb it.
Become stronger.
His hand reached forward before he could stop it.
Then—
A voice.
Low. Cold. Ancient.
"You understand now, don't you?"
Renji froze.
It wasn't his own thoughts.
It was the thing inside him.
---
Hikaru watched as Renji staggered, his expression twisted in something between agony and… desire.
Then his body jerked as if something unseen had grabbed hold of him.
His vision went dark.
He was no longer in the dungeon.
Instead, he stood in a vast, endless void.
And in the center of that void—it waited.
A towering shadow, humanoid but wrong, its form shifting constantly as if reality itself struggled to contain it. Countless eyes opened across its form, watching him with an unsettling patience.
"You have tasted true power."
Its voice wasn't sound. It was inside him, threading through his thoughts like a whisper he couldn't block out.
Renji clenched his jaw. "You again."
The entity chuckled. "I have always been here."
Renji glared at it. "What do you want?"
"To guide you."
A pause.
Then it moved—not with motion, but with intent, suddenly looming before him. Its endless eyes bore into him, and Renji felt something sink deep into his soul.
"Consume. Grow. Become more."
Renji's hands curled into fists. "And what happens when I do?"
The entity's voice softened, almost amused.
"Then you will know the truth."
The void shattered.
Renji's consciousness slammed back into his body.
---
He gasped, his vision snapping into focus. The hunger was still there, but… dulled. Controlled.
Hikaru was staring at him, his sword raised slightly.
"…What just happened to you?"
Renji exhaled, steadying himself.
"Nothing."
A lie.
But one he didn't press—not yet.
Instead, he turned toward the deeper tunnels.
"This dungeon isn't normal," he muttered. "Whatever that thing was—it wasn't the real threat."
Renji glanced at his hands. The faintest trace of blackened veins remained before fading.
He looked ahead, where the darkness beckoned.
His next prey was waiting.
And this time, he wasn't sure if he could resist.