Chapter 79
The first rays of dawn had yet to reach the deserted island, but Renji's eyes were already wide with awe.
From above, he could see it. Not a gate, not a portal, but a devouring sphere of darkness consuming the entire island. The edges of the void bent and fractured reality; even the moonlight, now trying to pierce through the horizon, struggled to reach its surface. It was impossible, breathtaking, terrifying.
He gripped the edge of the helicopter, aura flaring around him, coiling like a serpent ready to strike. Every instinct told him danger was absolute, yet he felt a calm certainty within. This was his target, his challenge, his trial.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"She's pulling us down ....!"
The pilot's voice came through the comms, strained.
"Renji-san..… we're almost at the coordinates. I… I can't get any closer. I can feel it… the darkness. Even from several meters above, it's pulling the helicopter toward it. If we go any closer… I don't think we can get out."
Red warning lights flared, and the shrill sound of the helicopter's sirens screamed. The rotors vibrated violently, a mechanical echo of the void below.
Renji's eyes met the pilot's, calm yet determined. "Understood. Thank you… for bringing me this far."
The pilot shook his head, exhaling shakily.
"W...Wait… don't jump yet. Be careful… please."
Renji turned slightly, noting the concern etched across the pilot's face. He gave a faint, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Thank you."
A nod passed between them, a silent agreement heavy with the weight of fate.
Then, without hesitation, Renji leapt.
The world blurred around him as he glided down, aura surrounding his body in a protective cocoon. Every fiber of his being was focused. Precision. Speed. Adaptation. Every step, every motion had been drilled into him over the past year of relentless training with Takeda.
The darkness beneath him thrashed and twisted, as though alive, testing him, pressing against his senses. Yet Renji remained calm, analyzing, calculating, moving with absolute purpose. One goal, one aim: conquer the darkness before him. Conquer the Gate of Gealgilmesh.
From above, the pilot's voice cracked again, softer this time.
"Be safe… hero."
Renji's feet crashed into the shadowed ground. The aura flared one final time, illuminating the void. He whispered under his breath, steady, resolute:
"The hunt begins."
Back at the BEARU headquarters, the atmosphere was tense. Takeda and Hiroto stood with President Nakamura and Wang Chi, the regional commander. The once-bustling office now seemed muted, almost sterile, the hum of activity replaced with a heavy weight of anticipation.
"Bad news... the international guild summit is now scheduled two days from now," Nakamura said, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "Everything must proceed without a hitch. The events in Japan… no one can know the truth. They cannot know about the Gate, the upcoming war, or Renji's mission."
Hiroto frowned, crossing his arms. " Wait..Two days? That's barely any time. The summit will involve the top two guilds from every nation, every SS-rank hunter, and the pillars... I know you are a powerful man Mr president but still.. what If the plan doesn't work?.."
Takeda's expression remained calm, unyielding. "It's okay I will handle the coordination. Our priority is ensuring Renji survives inside the Gate. The summit is secondary. The real battle… the war beyond comprehension… is what we prepare for."
Nakamura exhaled, tension visible in the set of his shoulders. "If what takeda-san is true ..if he really can become stronger and he truly comes to become as strong as a pillar..… then we may have a chance at winning this war. And for the first time Japan will have two pillars it might not be enough to stop the upcoming threat, but with 9 pillars we can hold them or win the first part of this war..."
Takeda's eyes glowed faintly in the dimmed office. "He will return stronger. I have no doubt. When he comes back, he will be ready for what comes next. And I know… when he returns, his power will rival mine."
Wang Chi leaned forward, gaze unflinching. "You're confident in this?"
Takeda's voice was calm, unwavering. "I trained him. I know his limits. He's already far beyond any ordinary S-rank. Or even as ss ranked He adapts in battle faster than anyone else. The Gate of Gealgilmesh will not break him. It will refine him."
Nakamura nodded. "Very well. Then we proceed with the summit. And we ensure Renji survives the Gate."
Meanwhile, on the island, Renji's eyes scanned the darkness, measuring the impossible scale of what lay before him. The entire island was submerged in this void, a living sphere of shadow that seemed to pulse with hunger. His aura flared, illuminating faint shapes: twisted trees, blackened rocks, and movement that suggested predatory life lurking just out of perception.
He exhaled slowly. "I can do this. I will do this."
Renji took a calculated step forward, letting the momentum of his descent guide him deeper into the darkness. Every sense was stretched to its limit, every movement deliberate. Light and sound were meaningless here; only instinct and training would guide him.
The voice of the pilot still echoed faintly in his mind: Be safe… hero.
Renji allowed himself a brief smile before it disappeared into total focus. This was more than a gate. This was a trial by shadow, a battlefield that would test every skill, every ounce of power he had honed over the past years. And he would not fail.
At the BEARU, Takeda's gaze darkened, his aura flickering faintly as he considered the coming days.
"The summit must proceed as if nothing happened," he said softly. "Whatever occurred in Japan… no one can know. The world cannot be aware of the war approaching."
Hiroto nodded slowly. "Renji is our last line. And the Gate of Gealgilmesh… it's no ordinary threat. The world would collapse if even the pillars entered unprepared."
Nakamura leaned back, a hand resting over his mouth. "If he returns… and he does….."
Takeda's eyes glowed faintly. Cutting Nakamura words "He will return. And when he does, he will be ready. Stronger than we've ever seen. And I believe… he may even surpass me."
Wang Chi's voice was steady...
Surpass you!! Are you sure.. takeda this isn't just some simple feat u believe he can surpass you And you rust him fully to that?"
Takeda's expression was serene. "I've trained him. I know him. He will adapt. He will overcome. The Gate will not defeat him ... it will forge him." So yes I believe he can surpass me maybe in this conquest
Nakamura's hands clenched his chin then into fists. "Hmmmm....Very well. Then we prepare for the summit, and for what comes after. The fate of the world depends on it."
Now on the blackened island, Renji's boots touched the shadowed ground. The entire sphere of darkness pulsed around him, almost breathing, aware of his presence. A faint movement flickered at the edge of perception shadowy forms lurking, watching, calculating.
What the hell?
Renji exhaled, aura flaring brighter. Every step, every motion, was precise. He had been ready for this moment for years, every trial, every dungeon, every battle .. all led to this.
He whispered, barely audible over the oppressive silence:
"Watch over me Mother .. Father "
The sphere of darkness had swallowed the island whole.
From above, it looked like a wound in the world .. an immense, pulsating blot of black that devoured even the moonlight. The edges shimmered faintly, like heat haze, warping the air around it. The ocean that once surrounded the island no longer reflected the stars; it only mirrored that devouring void.
Renji stood near its edge, the cold wind whipping against his face, his coat fluttering violently in the gusts that the darkness seemed to exhale. Even from a few meters away, he could feel it a suffocating pressure pressing against his chest, a weight not of gravity but of presence.
It was as if reality itself resisted this place.
And now, standing within its void, Renji understood the warnings. The dread in Takeda's eyes, the fear hidden behind the calmness of the Bureau officers, the legends of those who vanished the moment they stepped inside… none of it had been exaggeration. This was no ordinary Gate.
This was a wound carved into existence itself.
Renji took a deep breath, his gloved fingers twitching slightly as he reached out. The air was thick, suffused with something that wasn't just mana .. it was alive. A dense current that pulsed and writhed like the heartbeat of a monster.
When his palm met the unseen surface, a cold shiver ran through his body.
It wasn't solid. It wasn't liquid either. It was like touching a veil that rejected him ... an invisible wall that rippled violently at his contact, sending a shock of icy pain through his fingertips. He jerked his hand back, grimacing. The air itself seemed to hum in response, as though the Gate was aware of him now.
Not just a gate…
His eyes narrowed, pure darkness flickering in their depths.
"This isn't a passage," he muttered. "It's a dungeon."
The realization hit like a punch.
A living, breathing construct of darkness ... not merely containing monsters but becoming one itself. A prison that consumed everything: light, sound, and even hope. No ordinary S-rank team could survive here. No human should even be here.
A chill crawled down Renji's spine, the kind that came not from cold, but from the instinctive recognition of predation. His aura flared automatically, golden arcs of energy wrapping around him like a mantle, reacting to the overwhelming pressure. The ground beneath him cracked slightly from the sheer force of his release.
But even then… it wasn't enough to push the darkness back.
The mana density here was absurd. It didn't just saturate the air; it moved through it — slow, deliberate, almost as if it were thinking. The oppressive energy was unlike anything he had ever encountered. Not even Takeda's overwhelming power, that crushing weight of command and divinity, compared to this.
Now he understood.
He understood why Takeda's expression had turned grim when he chose to come into this place.. and why the Bureau's highest alarms were always triggered...
If this was a dungeon, then it had to have a core… and if it had a core, it had a boss.
But I didn't think a dungeon could be alive and to swallow a whole island.....?
That thought rang in Renji's mind ... but unlike his usual inner monologue, this one didn't fade. It echoed, bouncing around the darkness like a whisper carried by unseen mouths.
Then, to his horror, the echo spoke back.
It twisted, layered, and warped until the sound became something else entirely ... alive, hungry. The dungeon was listening. And it had heard him.
Suddenly, Renji's breath hitched.
What the hell? My mana .....
He noticed it his magic power his lifeblood was being siphoned out of him.
Rapidly.
Alarmingly fast.
He clenched his fists, feeling the energy leaving his body as if pulled through invisible threads. His heart pounded faster, his body instinctively trying to restore what was being stolen. Years of training, the stamina of countless battles, all of it meant nothing ... his mana was being drained like sand slipping through his fingers.
"This isn't right…" he muttered under his breath, eyes darting around. "The dungeon itself… it's feeding."
And then....
He heard them.
GROWL! GROWL! GROWL!
At first, it was faint. Like whispers beneath the wind. But slowly, the sounds grew louder, distorting into something far more sinister. Voices ... dozens, hundreds whispering and snarling through the dark. They overlapped, some high-pitched and broken, others guttural and ancient.
He couldn't make out words. But the meaning was clear.
Hunger. Malice. Death.
Renji's pulse spiked. His instincts screamed at him to move. His body lowered automatically into a fighting stance, daggers drawn in a smooth, practiced motion.
Then something moved.
From the edge of the darkness, a figure lunged ...
a shapeless mass of shadow with elongated claws that shimmered faintly with a dark violet hue. Its movements were jerky yet impossibly fast, as if reality lagged behind it.
Renji barely saw the blur before it reached him.
SWISH!
He ducked instinctively, feeling the wind tear past his ear as the claws sliced through the air where his head had been a heartbeat ago. He twisted away, flipping backward and landing with his daggers drawn.
"It's fast…" he breathed, eyes sharp. "Just a second slower and..,."
The creature dissolved back into the darkness, gone as if it never existed. But he knew better.
He could feel them now... dozens of them. Watching. Waiting.
The faint glow of red eyes emerged one after another, surrounding him in a predatory circle. Their guttural growls reverberated through the ground, through his bones. The air itself vibrated with malice.
Then, in a single heartbeat, they moved.
Dozens of monstrous forms surged toward him.
They were hideous bodies half-formed, like shadows wearing the shape of beasts. Long limbs, stretched spines, claws that gleamed like blades. Their skin seemed liquid, constantly shifting, devouring the light around them.
Their combined aura hit like a shockwave.
Renji staggered for half a second, gritting his teeth. "Tch… S-class monsters… no… higher."
His grip tightened around his blades.
He wasn't afraid.
He was ready.
"Special Awareness."
The words slipped through his lips like a spell.
The air shimmered. The world shifted.
In an instant, Renji's perception expanded ...
[Special awareness]... A copied skill that he already made his own
His consciousness stretched across the battlefield, marking every presence, every vibration, every heartbeat. Even the darkness couldn't hide from him now.
He felt them all of them ... closing in.
"Come."
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he moved.
Renji blurred into motion, his daggers flashing in golden arcs.
SLASH!
SLASH!
CLANG!
Each strike was precise. Efficient. Surgical. His movements were fluid, a perfect balance between strength and speed. One monster fell, its body dissolving into mist before it hit the ground. Another lunged from behind, but he spun on his heel, slicing upward, bisecting it in one motion.
One… two… three… ten.
His blades gleamed like starlight in the darkness, each strike leaving a faint afterimage. The shadows screamed, their cries swallowed instantly by the void.
And then…
His rhythm faltered.
A weight, subtle at first, began to build in his limbs. His breathing grew heavier, his vision slightly delayed.
He frowned. "My… movement—"
His voice trembled.
" Huh, I'm… slow."
The realization came too late.
One of the shadows larger than the rest emerged from the blackness, its outline solidifying into a massive humanoid beast with claws like steel beams. It roared, the sound shaking the entire space.
BOOM!
The monster swung.
Renji barely raised his daggers in time. The impact rattled through his bones. He felt his arms shudder violently as claws scraped metal, sparks flying. The force sent him sliding backward across the unseen ground.
Pain flared through his palms — a burning sting. When he looked, his gloves were torn, deep gashes bleeding freely.
The creature didn't relent.
Another came from the side leaping midair ... forcing him to pivot, slash upward, and deflect just in time. Its weight still threw him off-balance.
"Too… fast," he hissed, staggering.
He could barely keep up now. His body felt heavier with every passing second, as if the air itself resisted him.
Then....
A growl behind him.
He turned....too slow.
THUD!
A massive kick struck his chest, sending him flying across the darkness
The impact was explosive ... a rush of air burst from his lungs as pain seared through his ribs. Blood splattered from his mouth mid-flight before he crashed onto the unseen floor, sliding several meters before stopping.
Gasp!
Gasp!
Gasp!
"Damn it" shit my body !
His whole body screamed in agony.
He lay there for a heartbeat, gasping, his hand pressed against his chest. The taste of iron filled his mouth, warm and bitter.
"Damn it…" he whispered hoarsely.
But when he looked up
They were gone.
The monsters. The whispers. Even the shifting red eyes.
Only the silence remained.
The kind of silence that listened back.
Renji slowly pushed himself to his knees, breathing hard. His vision blurred, darkness creeping at the edges. His aura flickered weakly, the golden light around him dimming to a faint shimmer.
His blood dripped onto the ground or what passed for ground ..vanishing the moment it touched.
He could feel it again. The dungeon feeding. Learning. Adapting.
"This…" His voice cracked, trembling between exhaustion and disbelief. "This isn't just reacting… it's evolving."
Gasp! Gasp!
How can it evolve!
He clenched his fists, trembling.
"I thought I could adapt…" He looked around at the endless black. "…but it's the other way around."
His movements, his aura, his rhythm all of it was being mimicked, studied, countered.
The Gate wasn't a battlefield. It was a living organism. A sentient nightmare.
The silence deepened, pressing down on him like the weight of the ocean. It was heavy, suffocating, aware.
Renji's heart pounded once twice echoing like a drum in the void.
He swallowed, his lips barely moving as he whispered:
"The true challenge…"
His eyes gleamed faintly, the golden light burning through the dark.
"…has only just begun."