The scent of iron clung to the walls of the labyrinth—thick, stale, and unrelenting. Down here, time felt like it had stopped long ago. No wind. No sky. Just stone, silence, and memory.
Two figures moved through that silence.
Hajime Nagumo was a blur against the grim gray backdrop. His body, once battered and broken, had been reforged through agony and resolve. Supersonic Step carried him from wall to ceiling to ground, weaving between shadows, a wraith of precision and wrath. In one fluid motion, he chambered a round into Donner, the revolver gleaming like a predator's eye beneath the flicker of his Lightning Field.
Beside him moved another—Renji Aikawa. No longer the boy who once screamed beneath the claws of a monster. That past self had died in this very labyrinth. What stood now was forged in fire and fury. His ribs still bore the phantom ache from the Claw Bear's savage mauling. Scars lined his torso like reminders carved in flesh. But he stood tall, the matte-black Chrono Trigger gripped in his gloved hand. It pulsed faintly with chronomagic—his own creation, his answer to helplessness.
In his hand was Chrono Trigger—a matte black semi-automatic pistol inspired by the Colt 1911, rebuilt and refined in the forge of the Labyrinth. Its slide gleamed faintly, etched with mana-conductive filaments. At its heart was a custom-built chamber designed to resonate with Chrono Rounds—bullets infused with green glowstone and mana-reactive steel, capable of manipulating momentum and temporal delay in brief, calculated pulses.
Where Hajime danced like lightning, Renji strode like fate.
They had returned to this level not to explore, not to escape—but to hunt.
And their prey was waiting.
The Claw Bear emerged from the far tunnel like a nightmare half-remembered but never forgotten. Its breath steamed in the cold, rancid air. A behemoth of muscle, matted fur, and bone-crushing claws, it loomed like a scar given form. One crimson eye burned with a savage intelligence; the other was missing—lost to a gunshot that hadn't killed it the first time.
But this wasn't the first time.
This was the reckoning.
Renji didn't flinch.
The beast charged. The ground shook beneath its mass.
Hajime vanished in a blink, Supersonic Step launching him across the battlefield. A burst of lightning crackled behind him as he repositioned near the cavern wall, Donner already raised.
Renji held his ground.
He raised Chrono Trigger. The slide clicked back, green etchings pulsing to life.
He fired.
The bullet struck the bear's shoulder—and froze.
A delay spell activated mid-flight, displacing the kinetic force for a half-second, then releasing it all at once. The shoulder joint crumpled under the abrupt, reinforced impact. The Claw Bear roared in shock, its charge faltering. One foot buckled. Just enough.
Hajime struck.
Donner's rail-charged shot tore into the beast's ribcage, blood spraying in a burst of mist and gore. The monster staggered—but it didn't fall.
It turned, lashing out.
Renji rolled under the swing, coming up with practiced calm. He fired twice—one shot into the knee, another into its lower jaw. The temporal distortion delayed the pain, but when it hit, the Claw Bear screamed and reeled back.
Still not enough.
"Left flank!" Hajime shouted, vaulting off the stone wall like a bullet. His prosthetic arm sparked against his coat, readying another round.
Renji moved in perfect tandem. He didn't need to shout. They understood each other now—in steps, in shots, in blood.
The Claw Bear went wild, swiping with its remaining good arm, bashing stone and dust into the air. Its body trembled under the wounds, but rage drove it harder.
And then—
It lunged.
Straight at Renji.
The world slowed.
Renji pulled the trigger once more, point-blank.
The bullet hung in the air for a breath. The green glow flared.
CRACK.
Time snapped back.
The shot tore through the monster's open mouth and up into its skull.
But still—it didn't die.
It slammed Renji with a battered forearm, hurling him across the floor in a burst of blood and grit. He landed hard, groaning, armor cracked, vision swimming.
"Renji!" Hajime landed between them, eyes blazing.
He grabbed Donner, fired again—this time at the already-damaged leg. The round detonated the limb on impact, bone and tendon shredded by railgun velocity.
The beast collapsed on its side, wheezing.
The Claw Bear heaved forward on shattered limbs, breath ragged and bubbling in its chest. Blood streamed from its open mouth, pouring from torn flesh and fractured bone. Its one remaining eye flicked between them—still burning, still aware.
But its body couldn't follow. It was broken. Crippled.
The Claw Bear's lone, bloodshot eye locked onto Hajime, burning with raw, seething hatred. Its breaths were ragged, and its body shook with the residual pain from the wounds it had taken. But what was more evident now than the fury in its eye—what Hajime recognized almost immediately—was the creeping fear.
Hajime grinned, his teeth sharp in the dim light of the labyrinth, and lifted the severed left arm of the Claw Bear, holding it in front of him like some macabre feast. His jaw flexed as his teeth dug into the tough, sinewy flesh. He tore through the muscle effortlessly, blood splattering across his face as he chewed with brutal satisfaction. The meat was bitter, tough, and rancid, but it wasn't the taste that mattered. It was the power, the raw energy surging into his body with every bite.
Renji stood a few steps back, watching with a cold, unblinking gaze. The stench of fresh blood in the air only seemed to make his resolve harden. He stepped forward, his boots crunching on the cavern floor, the sound a stark contrast to the chaos. Reaching down, he grabbed the Claw Bear's right arm and tore a hunk of it free. Blood dripped from his hands as he brought the raw flesh to his lips, biting into it without hesitation.
There was no reverence, no hesitation. Just a brutal hunger that matched the savagery of their situation.
"...God, this stuff's vile," Renji muttered, his voice low, but laced with an edge of satisfaction as he chewed. "But I guess that's what makes it worthwhile, huh?"
The beast could feel its strength slipping away. It had seen its own flesh torn before its very eyes. And now, it watched as the human—a creature it had once thought beneath its notice—was doing the same thing to it.
The Claw Bear's remaining eye twitched violently. The rage was still there—its body was still trembling with the desire to charge—but it was something else now. Something deeper. The shock of seeing its own arm disappear into the human's mouth—the shock of seeing its flesh consumed before its very eyes—had shaken it. Its breath quickened, nostrils flaring as it let out a low, guttural growl. It watched them warily, but the fear was unmistakable.
Hajime's grin didn't falter as he chewed, his gaze never leaving the Claw Bear. His voice came out between bites, raw and mocking.
"Not so fun now, is it? Watching your flesh disappear like this..." He took another bite, savoring the tension. "The great Claw Bear, reduced to this."
Renji stepped closer, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes flicking between Hajime and the beast. "You were the one to rip his arm off. Now look at you," he added, his tone low, venomous. "Tastes like shit, doesn't it?"
The Claw Bear's legs trembled, its fear finally making it stumble back a step, its body twitching from the wounds and the terror seeping into its very bones. Its gaze flickered between them both—first Hajime, then Renji—and it seemed to struggle with the simple fact: it was no longer the predator.
It was prey.
Renji's voice was like ice as he stepped forward, his face dark and emotionless. "You're nothing but a carcass now. All this strength, all this power—" He gestured at the beast, his tone carrying a cruel finality. "It's ours now. No more running. No more hunting."
Hajime finished chewing, his lips curling into a sadistic grin. "That's right. You thought you could take us down, huh? Thought you could make us your meal?" His hand reached down for the vial of Ambrosia, popping the top with a click. The familiar warmth of the elixir flowed into him, steadying his body, sharpening his mind. The pain from eating the beast's meat was still there, still gnawing at him, but it was manageable now.
He gripped Donner's handle tightly, his fingers wrapping around it like a lifeline. With the Ambrosia coursing through him, his body surged with power, and the lightning crackling around him flared brighter.
And then, just as quickly, his hand shot out, grabbing the Claw Bear by the skull. His fingers dug into its fur as he stared into its trembling, wide eye. "You're not going anywhere," he hissed, his voice like gravel. "We're taking everything from you."
Renji, now standing beside him, watched the beast carefully, his jaw set. His fingers tightened around the arm he had torn from the creature, as though holding its power within his grasp. The weight of the Claw Bear's remaining strength didn't faze him. No, he was thinking of something much more satisfying. His hand went to his side, where his prized weapon rested—Chrono Trigger, his semi-automatic pistol, forged from high-grade steel with mana-reactive alloys. The gun was sleek, its precision barrel gleaming coldly in the dim light. The weapon's time-impulse mechanism hummed, ready to distort time itself with a pull of the trigger.
"You're gonna wish you hadn't crossed us," Renji added, his voice dark with a quiet promise, as he slid Chrono Trigger from its holster with practiced ease.
The Claw Bear, shaking and bloodied, let out one final, guttural roar—a desperate attempt at defiance—but it was futile. It was nothing more than a dying animal, crushed under the weight of its own arrogance.
Without another word, Hajime thrust Donner against the Claw Bear's skull, his hand steady as the lightning crackled. Renji stepped forward, adjusting his grip on Chrono Trigger as time seemed to stretch and bend around him. The gun's recoil dampening mechanism kicked in as he fired.
Using his ability to manipulate time with the Chrono Trigger, he slowed the world for just a moment, making sure his shot would land exactly where it needed to. The bullet tore through the air, propelled by the power of the time-impulse mechanism, striking the Claw Bear's skull at the same instant Hajime pulled the trigger of his own weapon.
The taur bullet from Hajime's Donner struck with a force that shattered bone, turning the beast's brain to pulp. At the same time, Renji's bullet, empowered by the Chrono Trigger's precision, pierced through the beast's skull with brutal finality.
The Claw Bear's body went limp, crumpling to the ground with a sickening thud.
The Claw Bear's massive form crumpled to the ground, its lifeless body thumping heavily against the earth. Blood pooled beneath it, soaking into the soil, the stench of death thick in the air. The battle had been intense, the struggle fierce. But now, it was over. And yet, neither Renji nor Hajime felt the triumph they had anticipated.
Renji Aikawa stood silently beside Hajime, his expression unreadable. His fingers flexed around the handle of Chrono Trigger, feeling the cold steel, the pulse of mana within the weapon. The rush of victory that should have flooded his veins didn't come. Instead, there was just... emptiness. The fight was over, but there was no relief.
Hajime, too, stared at the fallen beast, his grip on Donner unshaken. The exhilaration he had expected after such a brutal battle was strangely absent. A quiet, deep frustration gnawed at him. He had expected a sense of satisfaction. Instead, there was nothing but the grim realization that this was just another necessary step.
"I thought... killing it would feel different," Hajime muttered, his voice low, almost to himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking, reflecting.
Renji didn't say anything immediately. He was silent, his gaze locked on the dead creature in front of them, but his thoughts were already far away. Like Hajime, he had hoped for something. For some kind of release or catharsis after the bloodshed. But there was none. Just the coldness of survival.
"You ever wonder if it's all worth it?" Hajime continued, his voice rough, the weight of the question lingering in the air between them.
Renji's hand tightened around the grip of his gun, his thoughts sharp and clear. He had no intention of letting the emptiness swallow him. He had walked this path alongside Hajime, seen the same horrors, fought the same battles, and though it was grueling, it had forged something in him. Something stronger than any doubt.
"It's not about worth," Renji replied, his voice steady and filled with the same hardened resolve that had carried him through their trials. "It's about surviving. About living to see the next day, no matter what stands in our way."
Hajime turned his gaze to Renji, seeing the same unwavering resolve reflected in his eyes. It was then that Hajime realized—Renji had made the same choice. The choice to survive. Just like him.
Hajime's expression hardened, his resolve crystallizing once again. "You're right. I don't care about anything else. I don't care about being a hero, or fighting for some greater cause. I just want to go home. That's the only thing that matters now."
Renji nodded slowly, the weight of his own decision pressing down on him. He didn't want to be a hero either. He didn't want to be remembered for the blood he had spilled. He just wanted to see it through. To make it home.
His grip on Chrono Trigger tightened even more, the mana-reactive alloys seeming to hum in resonance with his own burning determination. "And I'll make sure you do, Hajime. I don't care what it takes. I'll see this through with you. Anyone who tries to stop us…"
Renji's smile, sharp and cold, mirrored Hajime's. It was the smile of someone who had accepted that the path they walked could only end one way—through the bodies of those who would try to stop them. "They will die by these hands," Renji finished, his voice low, but unmistakably resolute.
Hajime met Renji's gaze, a silent understanding passing between them. They were in this together, both with the same goal, both carrying the same weight. Their fates were bound by the choice to survive. And they would let nothing stand in their way.
The Claw Bear's blood-soaked carcass was a grim reminder of the cost of survival, but neither of them felt anything but the certainty of their resolve. They had made their decision. They would fight. And they would survive. And anyone who dared to stand against them would fall.
Neither of them knew it yet. The weight of their determination, the depth of the promises they had made to themselves, was not something either could fully grasp in that moment. They were two warriors, bound by the raw necessity of survival, focused only on the immediate fight, unaware that the very choices they had made would one day echo far beyond their understanding.
The goals they had forged today, the vows they made, were simple but resolute. Their survival, their fight against fate, and their desperate desire to return home—these wishes, so deeply personal and seemingly insignificant in the grand tapestry of the world, would eventually ignite a spark that could not be contained.
Like a single stone cast into the abyss of time, their actions would create ripples—ripples that would spread across the lands of Tortus with an intensity neither could yet comprehend. These ripples would grow into waves, crashing against the foundations of kingdoms, shaking the very hearts of nations, and even altering the destinies of gods themselves. What began as a struggle for survival would evolve into a battle that threatened to reshape the world itself.
The desires they carried, born from necessity and the hope of returning to their homes, would soon become the catalyst for a storm of change, a force powerful enough to leave a permanent mark on the fabric of existence. And one day, the world would tremble in the wake of what they had set in motion, as the consequences of their choices reverberated through the lives of all who walked in their wake.