Renzo stumbled as he tried to keep up with Sukuna. His chest wound still felt hot, his skin was slowly starting to knit back together. It felt like a thousand tiny needles were sewing his flesh from the inside.
It was itchy and uncomfortable, but it was better than bleeding out on a dirt road.
Sukuna did not look back. He walked with a lazy, confident stride that covered more ground than it seemed to.
"Your cursed energy is pouring out of you like water from a cracked jar. It is annoying." Sukuna said. He did not stop or turn.
Renzo looked down at himself. He could not see the energy with his human eyes, but his new red ones picked up a faint flickering blue mist coming off his skin.
It was frantic and disorganized.
"How do I stop it?" Renzo asked.
Sukuna stopped and finally turned. He looked Renzo up and down, narrowing his four eyes. "Stop trying to hold it. You are tensing your muscles like you are carrying a heavy rock. Cursed energy is not a physical weight. It is a flow. Pull it into your gut. Keep it there until you need it to explode."
Renzo took a deep breath. He tried to ignore the pain in his chest and focused on that abyss he felt earlier. He imagined the blue mist pulling back into his center. It was difficult. It felt like trying to grab smoke with his bare hands.
"Concentrate," Sukuna barked. "If you cannot manage your own body, you will never survive."
Renzo shut his eyes. He stopped worrying about the road or the blood on his shirt. He searched for the spark of his Devourer core. When he found it, he gave it a mental tug.
The mist began to swirl, spiraling inward toward his solar plexus. The pressure in his head eased. The air around him stopped vibrating.
"Better," Sukuna said, his voice dropping back to a bored tone. "Keep it like that. We have a few miles left."
The landscape changed as they moved. The wild forests gave way to cleared land and rice paddies. In the distance, the flickering lights of a major settlement appeared.
This was a fortified town, the seat of a minor sorcerer clan that had grown bold enough to think they could challenge the King.
"The Abe clan," Sukuna muttered, his grin returning. "They have been sending their little 'exorcists' after me for weeks. They think their paper charms and barrier techniques can contain me."
Renzo looked at the tall wooden gates and the watchtowers. He saw men in traditional robes pacing the walls. They carried staves and swords.
He could feel their energy from a distance. It was sharp and disciplined.
"What's the plan?" Renzo asked.
Sukuna laughed, a sharp, barking sound. "The plan? We walk through the front door. I will take the main hall. You handle the perimeter. Kill everyone."
They walked right up the main path. A guard on the tower shouted a warning, his voice cracking with terror. Seconds later, a volley of arrows tipped with cursed talons whistled through the air.
Sukuna did not even raise a hand. He just kept walking. The arrows hit an invisible barrier a foot away from him and snapped into splinters.
"My turn," Renzo said.
He sprinted toward the gate. His Agility made him feel like he was skating on ice. He reached the heavy timber doors before the guards could reload.
"Dungeon Collapse Field!"
He slammed his fist against the wood. The gravity field crumpled. The massive gates groaned as the wood fibers turned to pulp. The hinges snapped with the sound of a gunshot.
The entire structure collapsed inward, crushing a group of spear-wielding guards who were standing on the other side.
Renzo stepped over the wreckage. One man was still alive, pinned under a beam. He was young, maybe nineteen. He was crying, his face covered in dust and blood.
Renzo stopped for a second. In his old life, he would have felt sick. He would have called for an ambulance. But as he looked at the dying man, he felt a strange, hollow coldness.
'I should feel bad,' he thought. 'This is a human being!'
The young guard reached for a charm on his belt. His hand was shaking. Before he could move, Renzo's Primordial Devouring triggered.
The dark ribbons of energy lashed out automatically, wrapping around the guard's throat.
In a heartbeat, the man's energy was gone. His body shriveled, turning into a dry husk. Renzo felt a surge of warmth hit his core.
It felt good. It felt like eating a warm meal after a long day in the rain.
The guilt never came. There was only a quiet sense of merit. He had done his job.
The next hour was a blur of motion and screams. Renzo moved through the outer buildings like a shadow. Every time a sorcerer tried to cast a spell, he used his gravity field to pin them to the ground. He moved fast, struck hard, and let his devouring aura clean up the rest.
The smell of copper and smoke filled the air. Blood pooled in the stone gutters of the estate. Renzo's red eyes were wide, taking in everything through his hybrid form.
The extra eyes on his shoulders watched his back, catching every hidden blade and stray arrow.
He found himself in the central courtyard. Sukuna was standing in the middle of a pile of bodies that used to be the clan's elite.
The main hall was a ruin, sliced into perfect geometric chunks by Sukuna's "Cleave."
Sukuna was cleaning a splash of blood off his cheek, looking satisfied. He looked at Renzo, who was standing there covered in the dust of the outer wall, his hands-stained of blood.
"You did not hesitate," Sukuna noted. "I thought you might have some of that human stench left on you. The kind that makes men pause before they finish a kill."
Renzo wiped his brow, leaving a streak of blood behind. "I thought I would too. But honestly? It just normal."
Sukuna walked over. He did not say anything at first. He just looked at the carnage they had caused. The Abe clan was gone.
A centuries-old lineage erased in a single night.
"You are a fast learner, Renzo," Sukuna said. He held out his hand. It was the firm, grounded grip of an equal.
Renzo reached out and grabbed Sukuna's hand. Their palms met with a solid smack. The strength in Sukuna's grip was immense.
"That felt pretty cool," Renzo admitted, a small, genuine smile tugging at his lips.
Sukuna grinned back, his four eyes gleaming in the firelight of the burning estate.
"Do not get used to the praise. Tomorrow, we find someone bigger to kill."
Renzo nodded. He looked back at the ruins one last time.