Chapter 2.5: What Remains of a Human

—GRRRRRRRR!

Those piercing screams shook the very foundations of that hell.

Even the flames were consumed by the fire of his pain.

The ground cracked beneath his every step.

And yet, the man with golden eyes remained perfectly calm.

…

SLASH!

A devastating charge erupted without warning.

The creature’s deformed claws closed in on Shun’s face, almost as though time had slowed to a crawl.

But with overwhelming composure, Shun effortlessly evaded them.

CRACK!

The mountain behind him shattered into thousands of fragments beneath the monster’s tremendous strength.

“He’s an uncontrollable monster…” Tenzak thought, his eyes wide with disbelief.

The creature’s twisted groans were enough to freeze even a demon’s blood.

But Shun kept his unwavering gaze fixed upon him.

No words were necessary.

It was a direct challenge.

BOOM!

The demon’s grotesquely disproportionate body appeared before Shun.

The difference in their height was painfully obvious—

Almost humiliating.

The demon exhaled its putrid breath directly into Shun’s unmoving face.

—You filthy demon… —Shun spat in disgust.

—I don’t know which is worse—your appearance or your breath.

—GRRRRRR!

The roar shook the very depths of Tartarus, but Shun did not take a single step back.

—Shun, stop playing around!

—That thing is seriously dangerous! You need to finish it off right now!

But Shun ignored him and declared with a smile:

—I hope you can entertain me, you filthy demon.

SLASH—BAM!

With a devastating backhand punch, Shun sent the beast flying with astonishing ease.

WHOOSH!

Without giving it a moment to recover, Shun pursued it through the air and unleashed one strike after another.

His movements were as powerful as they were fast.

The demon could not even see where the attacks were coming from.

BAM—CRACK!

With a ferocious downward blow, Shun drove the beast into a mountain, obliterating it as the creature crashed straight through.

Still bound by the chains, Tenzak stared in disbelief.

Even though he already knew how powerful Shun was, the level he had just displayed was impossible to comprehend.

“It’s not only his strength… His speed as well…”

“He’s twice as powerful as before… No, five times…”

“Does he ever stop evolving?”

Shun’s footsteps echoed through the darkness.

Slowly, the cloud of dust began to clear, revealing that terrifying figure beneath the dim light.

—Is that all you have, demon? —he asked contemptuously.

—I told you to entertain me, yet you weren’t even capable of touching me.

—You truly are disappointing…

The curtain of dust lifted completely, revealing a sea of blood so corrosive that it devoured the infernal rocks around it.

Amid the rubble lay the gigantic, deformed demon.

Upon seeing it, Shun lowered his head.

Then, with a mixture of frustration and helplessness, he murmured:

—At this rate, you’ll never be able to save him…

CRACK!

Black tentacles suddenly burst through the ground at tremendous speed.

Shun managed to evade them through pure instinct.

“That was close…”

He immediately returned to his fighting stance.

But at that very moment, something left him bewildered.

—You have to be kidding me…

The thick, viscous mass began to dissolve before his eyes.

Within its remains, Edén’s body lay completely unharmed.

Yet crimson tears streamed down his face—

A reflection of the pain buried within him.

Shun turned his back on them and, with a snap of his fingers, shattered the chains restraining Tenzak.

—He’s all yours, Tenzak —he said dismissively—. Don’t let him die.

—Y-yes.

While Tenzak tended to the unconscious Edén, Shun walked away, lost in thought.

“As long as you remain human, you will remain weak.”

“What will rule within you?”

“Will it become a power meant to reign over all others…?”

“Or will your humanity prevail?”

A peculiar smile appeared on Shun’s face, one he attempted to conceal behind his hand.

“I can hardly wait to find out, Edén Yomi.”

As he disappeared into the shadows, a single drop of blood ran down his face.

The untouchable warrior…

Had been wounded.