The sky over the ruined city was stained red and violet, not from sunset, but from mana leaking through invisible cracks above the skyline. Towers stood broken like snapped bones, and rivers of glowing energy flowed through the streets where people once lived.
Hiko felt the cursed flame in his hands twitch.
"Something is wrong," Hiko said quietly.
Goru looked around. "You feel it too?"
"It feels… violent. Like the air itself wants to explode."
Jaze Azenzo and Rougen Ray both stopped walking at the same time.
"That presence," Rougen said, eyes narrowing. "I recognize it."
Jaze's jaw tightened. "Kenzuko."
The name alone made several of the Holy Landers tense. Kaiser clenched his fists. Even Hiko felt his heart begin to pound faster.
A massive shockwave erupted in the distance.
Buildings collapsed like paper, and a column of black and purple energy shot into the sky.
"Looks like he found another city to ruin," Jaze said grimly.
They moved.
The group raced through the shattered streets, jumping over rubble and broken highways, the sound of destruction growing louder with every second. When they finally reached the center of the devastation, the sight made even the veterans freeze.
The entire district was gone.
Where skyscrapers once stood, there was only a massive crater glowing with raw mana. In the center of it stood a single figure, his clothes torn, his body covered in black scars that glowed faintly like veins of light.
Kenzuko Forami.
He was standing over the corpse of a Calamity Level beast. It was enormous, a twisted monster of bone and crystal with wings like broken blades. Its body was slowly dissolving into mana, being absorbed into the air.
Kenzuko looked down at his own hands as that energy flowed into him.
He laughed.
Not a normal laugh.
It was shaky, broken, and full of pure insanity.
"So this is what it feels like," Kenzuko whispered. "A blessing from killing something that strong."
The air around him began to roar.
Mana swirled around his body, entering through his skin, his eyes, his mouth. His injuries healed in seconds. His muscles thickened. His presence grew so heavy it felt like gravity itself was bending around him.
Hiko swallowed. "He's getting stronger…"
Rougen nodded slowly. "Calamity Level beasts leave behind more than just mana when they die. Sometimes… they leave a blessing."
Jaze stared at Kenzuko. "And that blessing made him something far worse."
Kenzuko lifted his head and saw them.
His smile widened.
"Oh," he said softly. "You came."
He stepped forward, and the ground cracked under his feet.
"Good. I was getting bored."
Without warning, he vanished.
Hiko barely had time to raise his arms before Kenzuko slammed into him like a cannonball. Hiko was thrown through three buildings before crashing into the street, blood running from his mouth.
"Hiko!" Goru shouted.
Jaze moved in an instant, his Density Magic increasing the weight of the air around Kenzuko, trying to pin him down.
Kenzuko stopped mid air, floating, then slowly forced himself forward anyway.
"Your pressure feels nice," Kenzuko said. "Like a massage."
He punched.
The compressed air exploded, blasting Jaze back dozens of meters.
Rougen appeared behind Kenzuko and struck with void coated fists, tearing through space itself.
Kenzuko twisted and took the hit directly. His body was ripped apart.
For a moment, everyone thought it was over.
Then Kenzuko's broken form dissolved into glowing particles.
The mana in the air suddenly rushed inward.
It rebuilt him.
Muscle, bone, skin, everything formed again in seconds.
Kenzuko stood there, whole once more.
"I told you," he said, flexing his fingers. "I do not stay dead anymore."
Hiko pushed himself up, his cursed flames flaring violently. "You are not immortal."
"Maybe not," Kenzuko replied. "But right now, I am close enough."
He slammed his foot down.
A wave of force shot outward, flattening what remained of the city. Streets were erased. Buildings crumbled into dust. Even the Holy Landers were thrown back.
Kenzuko had destroyed an entire district in seconds.
"This city is done," Jaze said grimly.
Kenzuko laughed wildly. "Yes. And you are next."
Goru rushed forward, dimensional claws cutting into Kenzuko's body again and again, slicing through layers of reinforced mana.
Hiko followed, cursed flames burning through Kenzuko's regeneration.
Rougen and Jaze attacked from both sides, crushing space and erasing reality around him.
For the first time, Kenzuko screamed.
His arms were blown apart. His legs were shredded. His body was barely holding together.
"This is fun," Kenzuko laughed even through the pain. "But not today."
He exploded into a burst of mana and darkness.
When the light faded, he was gone.
Only the ruined city remained.
Hiko collapsed to one knee, exhausted. "He ran…"
Rougen nodded. "But not because he wanted to. Because he had to."
Jaze stared at the empty sky. "Next time, he will be even stronger."
And that terrified everyone.