The battlefield was silent.
Where once the heavens had been torn asunder and the ground reshaped by gods, now only dust lingered, drifting lazily through the golden rays of the setting sun.
Ren stood still, the wind tugging at his tattered clothes. His chest rose and fell slowly. The adrenaline had faded, leaving behind exhaustion—and satisfaction.
Vali lay on the ground some distance away, unconscious but stable. His armor was shattered, hair singed, body twitching with residual energy.
Footsteps crunched over cracked earth.
Azazel approached first, eyes narrowed, arms crossed. His usual smirk was gone—replaced by something deeper. Respect? Concern?
"…You knew," he finally said. "From the beginning. You weren't fighting seriously."
Ren tilted his head slightly, not denying it.
Azazel sighed. "You're a monster, kid. A freak among freaks. I don't know whether to be terrified or intrigued."
"I vote intrigued," Ren replied with a lazy grin, wiping blood from his mouth. "Terrified is boring."
Behind them, the Gremory peerage landed.
Rias ran forward, her expression a mix of shock and awe. "Ren… are you okay?"
Ren turned toward her with a smile. "Still handsome, still standing. So yeah, I'd say I'm good."
Akeno chuckled behind her, despite the tension. "You really gave Vali a beating. I didn't know it was possible to look cool after being punched into the atmosphere."
Even Kiba looked impressed. "You fought like a demon."
"No," Xenovia corrected, eyes still locked on Ren. "He fought like something beyond a devil or a god."
—
[System Notification][Cosmic Garou Template Adaptation: 64%][New Trait Unlocked: Pressure Null – Immune to spiritual, psychological, and divine suppression effects][Devour Energy: 2% Juggernaut Drive Essence absorbed]
Ren's grin deepened.
'Slowly but surely… I'm evolving.'
As the group talked, a low hum vibrated in the air.
A spatial rift formed just beyond the battlefield, swirling with distorted light. Cracks spiderwebbed through reality like broken glass.
Everyone froze.
Even Azazel took a step back. "That's not me."
From the rift… stepped a man in dark robes, face obscured by a mask of black bone, radiating an aura unlike anything the others had ever felt.
It wasn't divine.
It wasn't demonic.
It was… other.
"Who the hell?" Ren muttered, already taking a step forward, body instinctively tensing.
The masked figure looked directly at him.
"Found you," the man said, voice echoing like a thousand whispers in Ren's skull. "You don't belong here, traveler."
The air grew cold. A sense of wrongness spread across the field like a plague.
[System Alert: Detected Interdimensional Interference][WARNING: Another Transmigrator has made contact with this realm]
Ren's eyes narrowed.
So it begins.
Another like him.
Another outsider.
But this one didn't feel like an ally.
This one felt like a hunter.