The forest changed before Ren could name the feeling.

  It wasn’t sound or sight that warned him—it was pressure. A slow, suffocating weight pressing down on his chest, on his cursed mark, on the very air itself. The deeper Ren and Moriya traveled, the more distorted the forest became. Trees bent inward unnaturally, their roots clawing out of the soil like grasping hands. Leaves no longer rustled in the wind; they trembled, as if afraid.

  Moriya stopped.

  His eyes narrowed, one hand rising instinctively. The vines around his legs stiffened, reacting before he did.

  “…We’re not alone,” Moriya said quietly.

  Ren didn’t turn. The mark at the back of his neck burned—faint, steady, alert. Ever since his clash with Emma no Kage, the world felt louder. Aura pulsed visibly now, like heat waves bending reality.

  “I know,” Ren replied. “They’ve been following us for a while.”

  The forest exploded.

  Shadow tore through the trees first—thick, violent, alive. Trunks shattered as darkness surged forward, followed instantly by a crimson tide that ripped through the undergrowth like a living blade.

  Two figures stepped out from the chaos.

  Kuro.

  Saiquen.

  They looked familiar—and yet entirely different.

  Kuro’s body was wrapped in dense shadow, darker than night, clinging to him like armor grown from his own flesh. His eyes burned violet, sharp with confidence. Saiquen stood beside him, blood floating around his body in slow, deliberate spirals, veins glowing crimson beneath his skin as if his heart pumped liquid death instead of life.

  They were stronger.

  Far stronger than before.

  “So the rumors were true,” Kuro said, his voice echoing unnaturally through the forest. “You didn’t die, Ren Kurogane.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Saiquen licked the blood from his fingers and smiled. “Good. That would’ve been disappointing.”

  Moriya moved instantly. The ground trembled as massive vines burst upward, wrapping around trees, rocks, even the air itself, forming a living fortress around Ren.

  “You’ll go no further,” Moriya growled. “This forest answers to me.”

  Ren stepped past him.

  “No,” Ren said calmly. “You hold the forest.”

  He looked directly at Kuro and Saiquen.

  “I’ll handle them.”

  The cursed mark ignited.

  Blue-white lightning surged through Ren’s body as **Haraka** activated.

  The world slowed.

  Every falling leaf froze midair. Every shift of muscle, every fluctuation of aura, every intention became clear. Ren didn’t feel faster—everything else simply became slower.

  Kuro attacked first.

  Shadow spears erupted from the ground, tearing upward with murderous precision. Ren vanished. A thunderclap echoed as he reappeared above Kuro, blade already descending.

  Shadow met steel.

  The impact detonated, sending a shockwave through the forest. Trees shattered. The ground cracked outward in a massive ring.

  Saiquen moved.

  Blood snapped forward like chains, slicing through the space Ren had occupied a fraction of a second earlier. Ren twisted midair, lightning arcing around him as he flipped backward, barely avoiding decapitation.

  The forest screamed.

  Moriya roared, slamming his staff into the ground. Vines erupted everywhere, wrapping around Saiquen’s limbs, crushing inward with terrifying force.

  Saiquen laughed.

  The blood around him exploded outward, tearing the vines apart from the inside. “Your forest bleeds just like anything else!”

  Ren reappeared behind Kuro.

  One strike.

  Then another.

  Then another.

  Haraka pushed his body beyond limits—Ren struck from every direction, lightning cracking with each movement, his blade slamming into shadow again and again until Kuro’s armor fractured.

  Kuro was sent skidding across the ground, coughing, shadows peeling away from his body.

  “You shouldn’t be this strong!” Kuro snarled.

  Ren didn’t respond.

  He vanished again.

  Saiquen raised both hands, blood rising into the air like a tidal wave—but Ren was already there.

  A single, devastating slash.

  Ren’s aura tore straight through the blood wave, detonating it in a crimson explosion. Saiquen was hurled backward, crashing into a tree with enough force to snap it in half.

  Silence fell.

  Then—

  Something descended.

  Ren’s instincts screamed.

  A presence appeared behind him—cold, sharp, perfectly controlled.

  Too fast.

  Too close.

  A blade swung toward Ren’s spine.

  Moriya shouted—

  —but the strike never landed.

  Ren’s aura exploded outward violently, a shockwave of pure power blasting the attacker through multiple trees. The forest floor cratered beneath the force.

  Ren turned slowly.

  The man rose from the rubble, laughing.

  “Well,” the masked figure said, brushing debris from his cloak, “so it’s true.”

  Ren felt it.

  A surge.

  Not hostile.

  Familiar.

  Deep within him, **Emma no Kage stirred**.

  *That aura…* the demon murmured, amused.

  *I recognize it.*

  The masked man removed his mask.

  Sharp eyes. Calm smile. Aura pulsing like a storm barely restrained.

  Ren tightened his grip on his blade. “Who are you?”

  The man spread his arms slightly, power flaring outward in response to Ren’s own.

  “I am **Kifo**,” he said. “And you were supposed to die.”

  Emma no Kage laughed inside Ren’s mind.

  *So… you’re still alive,* the demon said, almost pleased.

  Kifo’s eyes widened slightly. “You remember me.”

  “Oh, very well,” Emma no Kage replied through Ren. *And I see you’ve grown bold.*

  Kuro and Saiquen struggled to stand behind him, rage burning in their eyes—but Kifo raised a hand, stopping them without looking.

  “This isn’t your fight anymore,” Kifo said.

  He turned his gaze fully to Ren.

  “This battle,” Kifo continued, aura erupting violently, colliding with Ren’s power in a deafening shockwave, “has only just begun.”

  Ren lifted his blade.

  Lightning surged.

  The forest split beneath their combined pressure, the sky trembling as two overwhelming forces collided.

  And somewhere deep inside the Black Blade—

  **Emma no Kage smiled.**