December 6th, 2024 — Osaka Streets — Evening

  The tension between Rei and Varkas was electric, charging the air with an almost tangible threat. Rei's senses snapped into high alert, his body instinctively shifting into a defensive stance as he evaluated the mountain of muscle blocking his path. Every nerve ending screamed danger, his fingertips tingling with adrenaline, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

  Inside Rei's mind, Leonis paced frantically behind the red door, his spectral mane bristling as he sensed the looming threat. "Young master, you need to leave immediately!" he shouted, voice laced with genuine fear—an emotion Rei had never heard from the proud beast before.

  "Oi, I feel it in my bones. The pressure... this man is no slouch," Rei responded internally, eyes never leaving Varkas's hulking form. The air around the giant seemed to shimmer with suppressed violence, like heat rising from asphalt on a summer day.

  "Run fast and far," Leonis urged, his voice uncharacteristically grave. "This man is about as dangerous as Ryuu, but without the restraint. He is pure destruction."

  The comparison to Ryuu sent ice through Rei's veins. Without a word, he pivoted and bolted, weaving through startled pedestrians and darting between buildings. The streets of Osaka blurred around him as he pushed his body to its limits, the bone fragment from Takao still heavy in his pocket, knocking against his thigh with each stride.

  But Varkas vanished in a burst of speed that belied his massive size, keeping pace with alarming ease. Each footfall sent tremors through the pavement, concrete cracking under the raw force of his pursuit. The sound was like distant thunder growing closer with each step—a predator closing in on its prey.

  "You must know this monster, I'm assuming?" Rei asked Leonis as he ducked into a narrow alley, hoping to use his smaller frame to advantage, the stench of garbage and damp stone filling his nostrils.

  "Varkas the Wrathful," Leonis confirmed with a heavy sigh, a name that carried weight even in the beast's spiritual realm. "The Underworld must have started their move for you, Rei. He's one of the Seven Deadly."

  'The Seven Deadly?' Rei thought, shock momentarily disrupting his concentration. He'd heard whispers about them—elite agents of the Underworld, each embodying a cardinal sin, each terrifyingly powerful in their own right. The sudden realization that he was being hunted by such a figure made his mouth go dry, the taste of fear metallic on his tongue.

  As Rei emerged onto a busier street, hoping the crowd might slow his pursuer, Varkas lunged, massive hand reaching for Rei's ankle. Rei leapt, twisting mid-air to narrowly avoid the grasp, the rush of wind from Varkas's fingers brushing against his skin. Using the momentum of his jump, he brought his leg down in a devastating kick aimed directly at Varkas's face, the impact sending shockwaves up Rei's leg and into his hip.

  Blood sprayed from Varkas's mouth upon impact, spattering the pavement in crimson droplets. But instead of showing pain, the giant's face split into a disturbing grin, teeth stained red. "Don't tempt me with a good time, Vessel!" he roared, completely unfazed by what should have been a crippling blow.

  The air around Varkas began to shimmer with heat as his bloodlust intensified. Veins bulged impossibly beneath his skin, muscles swelling as if responding to his escalating rage. The transformation was grotesque yet mesmerizing—a physical manifestation of wrath given human form. The sound of stretching fabric accompanied each expansion, his clothes straining to contain his growing mass.

  Rei landed smoothly and immediately tapped deeper into Leonis's power, his legs pumping faster as he zigzagged through traffic, desperately trying to outmaneuver Varkas's relentless pursuit. The world became a blur of lights and motion, pedestrians scattering with screams as the chase tore through their evening routines.

  "If you're going to hit him, you need to kill him, young master," Leonis warned, memories of ancient battles flickering through his consciousness. "The longer he fights, the stronger he gets. It's as if his rage fuels him. Each blow only feeds his wrath—anger made flesh."

  Before Rei could process this information, a massive hand closed around his face, fingers gripping with bone-crushing force. The world vanished behind Varkas's palm, replaced by darkness and the smell of blood and sweat.

  "Finally got you!" Varkas laughed, the sound manic and unhinged, his breath hot against Rei's ear. "I hope that kick was worth it, bastard!"

  With casual brutality, Varkas hurled Rei like a ragdoll into a nearby building. Glass shattered with a musical crash, concrete crumbled with a deep bass rumble, and Rei's body carved a crater in the wall before collapsing amidst the rubble. Pain exploded across his body, each nerve ending screaming in protest. Terrified civilians scrambled to escape, their screams creating a chaotic backdrop to the violence, feet pounding against pavement in blind panic.

  Varkas stalked toward the destruction, each step cracking the pavement beneath his feet, leaving footprints embedded in solid concrete. "You're coming with m—"

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  His sentence cut short as Rei exploded from the debris, driving a vicious punch into Varkas's kidney. The giant staggered, momentarily stunned by the precision strike, a grunt of genuine surprise escaping his lips.

  Rei seized the opening, bolting past Varkas and tearing down the street. Behind him, Varkas's enraged roar shook the air like a physical force, rattling windows and setting off car alarms. When Rei chanced a glance back, what he saw froze his blood—Varkas was growing larger, his form becoming more bestial, more primal with each passing second. The man's skin had taken on a reddish hue, as if his blood was about to burst through his veins.

  'Oh fuck, this is bad,' Rei thought, genuine fear coursing through him, the taste of his own blood sharp in his mouth.

  Something massive flew over Rei's head—a car, he realized with horror as the shadow passed over him. The vehicle crashed into the ground directly in front of him with a deafening impact, blocking his escape route and sending chunks of asphalt flying in all directions. Metal twisted and glass exploded outward in a deadly spray.

  'This guy is a fucking maniac!' The thought barely had time to form before he felt Varkas's presence behind him.

  Before Rei could change direction, Varkas's hand clamped around his head from behind. With sickening force, Varkas slammed Rei's face into the wrecked car, metal crumpling further under the impact with a sound like thunder. Rei's vision exploded with stars, blood filling his mouth as teeth cut into his cheek.

  "You're fucking pissing me off, Vessel!" Varkas snarled, foam flecking the corners of his mouth, his eyes wide with demented joy. "The boss told me to grab you unharmed..." The sentence hung unfinished, the implied threat clear as Varkas's grip tightened to a near-crushing pressure.

  'Boss?' Leonis thought inside Rei's mind, alarm spreading through his consciousness like wildfire. 'This can't be...'

  'Akuma?' Rei mentally questioned, the name surfacing from conversations with Kage, but pain overwhelmed his ability to focus on Leonis's response. The pressure on his skull was becoming unbearable, bones creaking on the verge of fracture.

  Varkas began running, dragging Rei along like a toy, smashing him into everything they passed—cars crumpled like paper, lamp posts bent and fell, the sides of buildings cracked and shed debris. Each impact sent fresh waves of agony through Rei's body. Bones fractured with audible snaps, organs ruptured with wet tearing sounds, and blood vessels burst beneath his skin, leaving trails of purple bruising.

  The casualties mounted as Varkas's rampage continued—innocent bystanders caught in his path, screaming as they tried to escape, some not fast enough. Vehicles were destroyed, their alarms wailing in electronic agony. Storefronts collapsed, glass and concrete mixing in a deadly hail. The collateral damage weighed on Rei's conscience even through the haze of his own suffering. These were the people he had sworn to protect as a hero—and he was bringing chaos to their doorstep instead.

  "Young master, let me take over and heal," Leonis pleaded, his voice echoing with growing desperation. "If this continues, you'll—"

  Leonis's warning was cut short as Varkas slammed Rei repeatedly into the ground, each impact creating a deeper crater than the last. The concrete shattered beneath them, cracks spiderwebbing outward with each devastating blow. Varkas's laughter grew more unhinged with each impact, his enjoyment of the destruction plain on his twisted face as spittle flew from his lips with each cackle.

  Terrified civilians had formed a wide perimeter around the one-sided battle. Some fled in panic, sobbing as they ran; others stood transfixed by the horror unfolding before them, unable to look away from the violence. A few held phones, recording shaky footage of the nightmare, the blue light of their screens ghostly in the gathering dusk.

  Something changed in Rei. Whether triggered by the pain, the danger to innocent lives, or the simple need to survive, a switch flipped within him. A new feeling welled up—not just the need to survive, but the burning desire to dominate, to prove his worth against this monster.

  His eyes flooded with crimson, pupils elongating into slits reminiscent of a lion focusing on prey. The transformation caught Varkas's attention immediately, the giant's eyebrows raising as he sensed the shift in his victim.

  "Oh? Has the Devil finally made his return?" Varkas inquired, intrigue momentarily dampening his wrath. He released his grip, stepping back to observe the change overtaking his quarry, head tilted like a scientist observing an experiment.

  Steam rose from Rei's body as his mana surged, accelerating his healing process. Bones realigned with grating sounds, lacerations closed with soft hisses, and crushed tissue regenerated in visible waves passing over his form. The sensation was simultaneously painful and exhilarating—destruction and creation balanced on a knife's edge.

  Varkas's momentary scientific curiosity gave way to pure battle lust. His warrior spirit overrode his mission parameters—he needed to test this vessel, to measure its strength against his own. The hunt had become something more primal, more personal.

  "Yes, Vessel, show me why I should be interested in you!" he bellowed, his own transformation accelerating in response to Rei's. Varkas's muscles expanded further, veins bulging like ropes beneath his skin. His sideburns and body hair grew wilder, matching the feral nature of his opponent. The air around him shimmered with heat haze, the raw energy of his wrath made visible.

  Inside Rei's mind, Leonis was frantic. 'Young master, we need to run now! This will continue to get dangerous if we don't...'

  'No,' Rei interrupted, his mental voice harder than Leonis had ever heard it. His mental projection was changing, eyes glowing with the same blood-red intensity as his physical body. A new emotion had awakened within him—pride. Not just confidence, but something deeper, something connected to his newfound identity as a Tachibana. The warrior blood in his veins sang with ancient memory, demanding he stand his ground. The same burning pride that had made Rei fight Kage despite the assassin's overwhelming power. The same pride that refused to yield before Ryuu's might.

  'I'll teach this fucker about testing me!' His thoughts had an edge of savagery that shocked even Leonis.

  Fangs extended in Rei's mouth, both in his mental projection and his physical form. The power was no longer Leonis's alone—Rei was making it his own, drawing it into himself, wielding it with growing confidence. His heritage, his training, his destiny—all converged in this moment of transformation.

  'Oh no,' Leonis thought, watching helplessly as Rei embraced the bestial rage. 'This will be a bloodbath.'