The moment stretched in electric tension as Renji squared off against the S-Class Suppressors. Unlike the soldiers he had torn through moments ago, these were not mere foot soldiers—these were specialists, enhanced through a controlled process of dungeon mutation, wielding weapons designed to neutralize beings like him.
Suppressor Alpha, clad in reinforced black armor with glowing energy circuits running along the seams, took a step forward. His stance was that of a seasoned fighter, completely unfazed by the devastation Renji had left behind. The remaining four members of his unit fanned out, each wielding their specialized weaponry—two carried plasma blades humming with raw energy, another had a heavy gauntlet crackling with destabilizing pulses, and the last one carried a sleek, rifle-like weapon, its barrel glowing with an ominous blue hue.
Alpha's voice came cold and clipped through his helmet's modulator. "We'll give you one last chance, Kuroya. Surrender."
Renji's grin widened, though his muscles remained coiled, ready to explode into motion. "Surrender?" he repeated, as if the word was foreign to him. "I think you've got it backwards."
No more words were needed.
---
Renji moved first, a blur of motion as he shot toward the nearest Suppressor. His claws slashed out, aiming to tear through the armor at the soldier's throat, but the Suppressor's reaction was almost instantaneous. A plasma blade intercepted his strike, the heat singing his fingertips as their energies clashed.
Suppressor Delta, the wielder of the plasma sword, twisted his weapon in a smooth arc, forcing Renji to disengage and leap back. But before Renji could reposition, Suppressor Beta raised his gauntlet and fired a pulse of destabilizing energy. The wave hit Renji mid-air, sending an unnatural ripple through his mutated body. Pain flared through his limbs as his energy fluctuated violently.
Renji gritted his teeth, forcing himself to recover before he crashed into the metal floor. So, that was their game. Their weapons weren't just meant to kill him—they were meant to disrupt his control over his own mutations.
Suppressor Gamma, the rifleman, took advantage of Renji's momentary stagger, lining up his shot. A concentrated energy round tore through the air toward Renji's skull.
But Renji wasn't done yet.
---
His instincts flared. In the fraction of a second before the energy round connected, his body moved on its own. He twisted, using his inhuman speed to dodge the blast by mere millimeters. The shot slammed into the ground behind him, leaving a scorched crater where his head had been.
Renji landed, his body crouched low. His eyes glowed with a predatory sheen as he let more of his dungeon energy surge through him. His muscles flexed unnaturally, his form shifting ever so slightly—his nails elongated into full claws, his limbs bulking with the raw, volatile power surging through his veins.
Alpha noticed the shift immediately. "He's adapting," he muttered. "Do not engage recklessly."
But it was too late. Renji had already made his move.
---
Renji disappeared from sight, his speed overwhelming human perception. He reappeared behind Gamma, his claws sinking into the soldier's back before the Suppressor could react. The armor absorbed most of the impact, but Renji wasn't aiming to kill outright—he was aiming to disrupt their formation.
With a monstrous heave, he flung Gamma into Beta, sending both crashing against the metal walls with a deafening impact. Sparks and debris scattered from the sheer force.
Delta and Epsilon lunged forward, plasma blades cutting through the air. Renji dodged, barely avoiding the searing edges as he countered with a brutal swipe. Epsilon was fast, twisting away just in time, but Delta wasn't so lucky—Renji's claws raked across his side, carving through armor and drawing blood.
A cry of pain erupted from Delta, but he didn't fall. Instead, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward, slamming his blade downward. Renji rolled away just as the plasma blade melted into the floor where he had stood.
Alpha seized the opportunity. He activated the thrusters on his boots, launching himself forward in a blur of motion. His fist connected with Renji's gut like a freight train, sending him hurtling through the air. The impact tore through layers of reinforced walls before Renji's body finally came to a stop, buried in debris.
---
The pain was already fading.
Buried beneath the wreckage, Renji exhaled slowly. His body ached, but the sharp agony of Alpha's strike was already dulling. He had taken worse. He had survived worse.
But something was different this time.
As he pulled himself free from the debris, his vision sharpened unnaturally. He could see every tiny crack in the walls, every particle of dust suspended in the air. His ears twitched, catching the subtle hum of the Suppressors' armor systems recalibrating.
Then came the most unsettling change—he could feel them.
Not just hear them, not just see them, but feel them.
The residual energy from his attack on Gamma and Beta still clung to his fingertips. The moment he had torn through their armor, something had latched onto him—a current of energy, subtle yet potent, like an echo of their abilities trying to seep into his veins.
For a fleeting second, a realization struck him: Is this what the monsters feel when they consume one another?
A grim smile crossed his lips. He had suspected before that his mutations weren't just strengthening his body—they were changing his nature.
Now, he had proof.
---
Renji flexed his fingers, allowing the tingling sensation to flow through him. The energy wasn't just residual—it was responding, reacting, integrating. His instincts screamed for more, urging him to take what he had already touched.
"Fascinating," he muttered under his breath.
But he didn't have time to ponder further. The Suppressors were already advancing.
Suppressor Alpha motioned to his team, his voice steady through the modulator. "Stay in formation. Kuroya is still adapting."
He has no idea.
Renji took a breath and tapped into the energy he had just absorbed.
Immediately, his body moved—not under his conscious thought, but through instinct. His muscles remembered how Gamma had reacted, how Beta had struck. His body was mimicking them without hesitation, adjusting his stance with a level of precision he had never possessed before.
And then he felt it.
A new surge of strength.
The air around him shimmered for a brief moment as the energy stabilizing gauntlet's effect—the same one Beta had used against him—sputtered through his arm in erratic pulses.
His grin widened. I can use it.
---
The Suppressors charged.
Delta and Epsilon struck first, their plasma blades slicing toward him in perfect sync. Renji didn't dodge.
Instead, he reacted exactly as Beta would have.
His arm flickered with a surge of destabilizing energy, and in the blink of an eye, an identical energy pulse erupted from his palm.
The force smashed into Epsilon first, cutting off his momentum mid-swing. His body convulsed as the pulse disrupted his neural link with his armor, sending him skidding backward.
Delta barely had time to register the change before Renji capitalized.
In a blur, he spun behind Delta and grabbed him by the wrist—just as the plasma blade flickered dangerously close to his throat.
The weapon sizzled, but Renji's grip was unwavering. He felt the energy, traced its flow through the hilt of the blade, understood how it worked.
And then, in an unnatural shift, the energy bent to his will.
For a moment, Delta's plasma blade flickered—and then it deactivated, as if Renji had short-circuited its power supply simply by touching it.
Delta's eyes widened behind his visor. "What the hell—?!"
Renji didn't give him time to finish.
With monstrous strength, he drove a clawed fist into Delta's chest, sending him crumpling to the floor.
---
Suppressor Alpha watched in growing unease. The way Kuroya was moving wasn't natural. It was beyond adaptation—it was assimilation.
His mind raced, analyzing. Was he learning their techniques? No... He's replicating their very abilities.
Alpha's grip on his weapon tightened. "Gamma, status?"
Gamma, still recovering from the earlier attack, gasped through his helmet's modulator. "His energy signature—it's fluctuating. He's...absorbing something."
Alpha cursed under his breath. "Fall back and regroup."
Renji tilted his head, his glowing eyes locked onto the leader of the unit. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the newfound power surging through him, stabilizing with each passing second.
He was beginning to understand now.
Every battle, every strike, every enemy—it was all fuel.
His body wasn't just mutating.
It was evolving.
---
Alpha's voice hardened. "Kuroya. Stop now. If you continue down this path—"
Renji took a slow step forward, his grin sharp, his gaze predatory. "Or what? You'll send stronger soldiers? More enhanced mutants? More toys for me to dismantle?"
Alpha didn't flinch. "You don't understand the consequences of what's happening to you."
Renji's expression darkened. "I understand perfectly."
The energy in the air pulsed around him, his body already adjusting to the next phase of his power.
And for the first time, Task Force 1 wasn't facing a fugitive.
They were facing something far more terrifying.
A predator with no limits.
---