"Don't go!"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi shouted sharply, his voice cracking with urgency rarely seen from him.
Before him, Nemu Kurotsuchi had already launched herself forward, her expression calm, resolute.
"This… is my responsibility."
She extended her right hand, her Reiatsu condensing into a dense sphere of unstable energy.
"Reducing my soul composition by six percent… converting it into destructive output…"
Her voice remained steady.
"Jinkō Konpaku Jūrin-hō."
A concentrated blast of spiritual matter erupted from her palm, piercing directly into the body of Pernida Parnkgjas.
BOOM!
Pernida's grotesque form exploded violently, its mass scattering into fragments across the battlefield.
Nemu descended slowly, her body weakening, but a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"…It's done."
But in the next instant
The severed fragments moved.
Black nerve-like tendrils burst outward from every piece of Pernida's body, writhing and extending toward Nemu at terrifying speed.
"…Nemu!"
Mayuri's voice broke.
For the first time
True fear surfaced in his eyes.
Nemu was not merely a creation.
She was the only being he had ever truly perfected… and, though he would never admit it, the only one he had come to value.
He had observed her growth, her behavior, her evolution
Yet always maintained emotional distance.
Now, watching her about to be devoured
That illusion shattered.
Despair gripped him.
But just before the nerves reached her
A figure appeared.
In a single motion, he pulled Nemu into his arms and threw her safely toward Mayuri.
"…?"
Mayuri caught her instinctively.
He looked up
"Kurotsuki… Renya."
Suspended mid-air, Kurotsuki Renya smiled faintly.
"You value her, don't you? Then don't let her die."
The next moment
The black nerves engulfed him completely.
"Idiot!" Mayuri shouted. "You can't resist that ability!"
The tendrils wrapped around Renya's body, penetrating, twisting, rewriting.
Pernida's power activated fully.
Anything it touched
It could control, distort, and evolve.
Renya's body began to collapse, distort, and rupture under the invasive force.
Mayuri narrowed his eyes sharply.
"…Damn it."
If Pernida absorbed Renya's structure
Its evolution would reach an uncontrollable level.
Even he would not be able to counter it.
But then
Something changed.
Renya's body… stabilized.
Destroyed flesh reformed.
Broken structures restored themselves instantly.
Again
His body collapsed.
Again
It regenerated.
Over and over.
Mayuri stared, fascinated.
"…What is this?"
After several cycles, the nerves stopped advancing.
They writhed on the surface
Unable to penetrate further.
"…Enough."
Renya raised his arm.
Lightning erupted violently, incinerating the surrounding nerve clusters.
With a second motion
A massive bolt of condensed Reiatsu struck Pernida's core.
BOOM!
Its body shattered once more, fragments scattering again.
Renya descended calmly beside Mayuri.
Mayuri's eyes gleamed with manic curiosity.
"What did you just do? Your body was being overwritten yet you regenerated instantly."
Renya smiled.
"I fused with the Hōgyoku."
Mayuri's pupils shrank.
"…So that's its function."
"But then," he continued quickly, "why did its nerves fail afterward?"
Renya answered calmly.
"I let them in."
Mayuri froze.
"…What?"
"I allowed Pernida's nerves to invade my body… so the Hōgyoku could analyze them."
His tone remained steady.
"It adapted me in response. My nervous system evolved to surpass Pernida's."
Mayuri's expression twisted.
"…You fool."
Renya tilted his head slightly.
"Why?"
Mayuri's voice dropped.
"You've misunderstood its true ability."
He pointed toward the scattered remains
"It doesn't just control. It learns. It synchronizes with whatever it touches. It copies. It evolves."
His eyes sharpened.
"If it accessed your immortality… then it can replicate it."
At that moment
A massive arm rose from the battlefield.
An eye opened in its palm.
"I have reached your level," Pernida's voice echoed.
Its form reassembled rapidly.
"I now possess your regeneration… your structure… your strength."
It moved instantly
A massive strike descended.
Renya raised his hand and blocked it.
BOOM!
The collision generated a shockwave that rippled across the battlefield, distorting the air itself.
But then
Pernida's movement halted.
Blue nerve-like structures wrapped around its body
Restraining it.
"…What is this?"
Renya spoke calmly.
"You have two core abilities. Enforcement… and adaptive evolution."
He stepped forward slightly.
"I used your invasion to evolve my own structure. But that wasn't my goal."
Pernida's eye narrowed.
"…Then what was?"
Renya smiled faintly.
"The Hōgyoku evolves in two ways. It reacts to danger… and it responds to desire."
His left arm began to change.
"I didn't just survive your ability."
"I reproduced it."
His arm transformed
Becoming smooth, refined…
Identical in nature to Pernida's structure.
"The left arm of the Soul King…"
Mayuri whispered.
Renya nodded slightly.
"I've recreated it."
Pernida roared.
"I will surpass you again!"
Its power surged
But Renya shook his head.
"You misunderstand."
He raised his right hand.
"My left arm mirrors the Soul King's power."
Electricity surged violently.
"My right arm… is my own."
"Destruction."
Lightning obliterated Pernida completely.
Not a fragment remained.
Silence fell.
Mayuri stared at Renya, realization dawning.
"…I see now."
Renya glanced at him.
"See what?"
Mayuri's voice lowered.
"You're not just evolving."
"You're replacing him."
His gaze shifted into the distance
Toward Gerard Valkyrie.
"The heart… remains."
Renya did not deny it.
"The Soul King maintains balance… yet does nothing to protect it."
His voice hardened slightly.
"A king who does nothing is unnecessary."
Mayuri smiled faintly.
"I have no loyalty to gods."
His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"I want to see what you become."
Renya turned.
Lightning flickered
And he vanished.
In the distance
A massive figure stood unshaken.
Gerard Valkyrie.
The Miracle.
Behind the scenes, Kisuke Urahara watched silently.
"…Life has value because it can end," he murmured.
His gaze sharpened.
"I've been watching you for a long time, Renya."
"You removed every safeguard I placed."
He exhaled slowly.
"You've become too confident."
A faint smile appeared.
"So I'll use something simple."
"Something you've overlooked."
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