As Henji struggled beneath the rising ocean, the pressure of the swirling water dragging him deeper, panic painted across his face, limbs flailing helplessly—his one remaining arm not enough to keep him afloat.
Above, Haru floated calmly, eyes scanning below through the churning current. Then, without hesitation, he dove in—body slicing through the water like a blade. His movements were sharp, deliberate.
He reached Henji just as the boy's strength gave way. Wrapping his left arm tightly around Henji's waist, Haru began the slow, relentless swim upward. Each stroke of his free arm was steady, pulling against the weight of two bodies and the force of the water.
The void rumbled around them. The level was climbing fast, licking the edges of the wooden entrance.
Haru's eyes didn't flinch. He pressed on.
Suddenly, the water shifted—an enormous wave surged through the void, crashing downward with violent force. It tore through the debris around them slowly through the liquid, splitting wooden beams and broken tiles apart. But it missed Haru and Henji—barely. The pressure hissed past, close enough to sting.
Haru paused mid-stroke, his eyes scanning the water below. A flicker of movement—then a figure burst through the current.
Tanzegtsu.
His body cut through the water like a shark, eyes locked onto Haru, sword gripped in both hands. The blade glowed with a fierce purple hue, illuminating the dark water like lightning under the sea.
Haru gritted his teeth. "Tch..." He tightened his grip on Henji and swam faster.
But Tanzegtsu was relentless. He closed the distance in a flash.
SWOOSH.
A powerful underwater slash tore toward them. Haru let go of Henji in an instant, splitting away from him just as the wave of energy passed through the space between them, missing by inches.
Henji tumbled backward, coughing bubbles, spinning helplessly in the swirl.
Tanzegtsu didn't stop.
Another slash.
Then another.
A barrage of purple arcs sliced through the water like rips in reality. Haru's eyes narrowed—he couldn't block, not here. Instead, he allowed himself to sink deeper, letting the momentum pull him down. The slashes passed overhead, ripping the void apart.
Still calm. Still calculating.
The deeper he sank, the more the storm above raged.
Then he snapped.
Haru gripped his Kurugisama tightly and hurled it forward. The weighted kunai spun through the water, its rope trailing like a serpent.
Tanzegtsu responded fast—sending another wave directly at Haru, a slicing torrent meant to crush anything in its path. But Haru didn't move. He didn't swim. He just sank—deeper, but straight. Calm.
The Kurugisama crept toward Tanzegtsu, slow and steady, almost harmless.
Tanzegtsu narrowed his eyes. He raised his sword, aiming to slice the weapon mid-path, to destroy it completely. But what he didn't realize was—
Haru was right there. Waiting. Sinking. Watching.
And he was sinking for three reasons:
First,To quickly reach out for the drowning Henji who was now choking slowly.
Secondly, to completely fool Tanzegtsu, thinking there was no other option than to swing effortlessly towards him.
…and lastly, because Haru wanted the final strike to come from below — where Tanzegtsu's defense was weakest.
Underwater silence swallowed the chaos. The glowing kurugisama floated like a spirit's fang, drifting toward its prey. Tanzegtsu, sword raised, smirked with confidence — until he saw Haru's eyes. Cold. Calculated. Unshaken.
In that split second, Haru twisted his wrist.
There was one thing Tanzegtsu found out about the kurugisama that he wanted to avoid at all cost. It was a total overkill. A weapon capable of killing anything that existed, the undead, immortals and even demons like him would die if severely hit by this weapon, this was the absolute counter.
The rope of the kurugisama obeyed like a living thing — snapping sideways, spiraling around Tanzegtsu's blade, then bending toward his exposed chest.
A single tear in the water.
A blur of silver.
And then—
Crimson.
The blade tore through Tanzegtsu's heart, slicing down to his abdomen. His eyes widened. Breath left him in bubbles. His sword slipped from numb hands.
That final strike was brutal and poetic—Haru using the laws of the kurugisama with such precision made it feel inevitable. The delayed, strategic approach in the water built up serious tension, and the moment Tanzegtsu went all in with both arms, it was game over.
Haru immediately turned toward the drowning Henji, launching into a full swing through the water. But Tanzegtsu's final attack struck him regardless—corroding every cell from his right wrist down to his fingertips.
His hand went numb. Useless.
Still, Haru didn't stop. He pushed through the pain, swimming with one arm, grabbing Henji by the collar and pulling him upward.
Below them, Tanzegtsu sank like a broken statue—his wide eyes frozen, limbs outstretched, as if something deep in the void had reached up to drag him into the abyss.
As they both sank, Henji clenched his teeth and ignited the Eternal Flames within his palm—forcing the burst through his own stomach. The heat propelled him upward like a rocket, breaking through the heavy water and sending him toward the surface.
But the force dragged him back down just as quickly.
Haru caught up just in time. Without hesitation, he threw his arm around Henji's waist. Henji, half-conscious, gripped Haru's back tightly.
Despite the burning numbness in his right arm, Haru forced both arms to move—dragging them upward. The light from the entrance above finally met the dark waters below.
And he kept swimming, through it all.
As Tanzegtsu sank into the depths, Qisa, Endo, and Ejin held their ground at the bottom, gripping the debris to prevent the collapsing wreckage from falling further. The water around them was thick and heavy with tension.
Qisa was the first to notice, his fingers stilling on the harp strings. A few loose fragments tumbled into the void below, echoing softly in the heavy silence.
Ejin's eyes widened in shock, unable to utter a sound as Tanzegtsu's body descended slowly, finally landing on a piece of debris beneath them.
The weight of the moment hit hard—Ejin's body went numb, breaking under the strain. Endo's grip slackened; his chains fell silent as he ceased his hold.
Tanzegtsu lay motionless, eyes wide open and face drained of color, a ghostly figure swallowed by the darkness around him.