Extermination order

Shinzo stood, his breathing slow, steady. He had nothing left to hold back.

"This is it."

A technique he had only used once in his entire career and once again he had to call on forth this power. A technique so absolute, so final, that it left him with nothing afterward.

Shinzo flexed his fingers, the golden hue of his aura darkening, shifting into an abyssal black. The energy compressed around him, warping the very air, distorting the battlefield as if space itself was fracturing.

Kaito could feel it.

The overwhelming weight of his father's Essence Energy, concentrated into a single devastating slash.

A suffocating pressure spread across the battlefield. The air itself distorted, warping like shattered glass, as if reality itself was being cut apart.

For the first time, Malakai hesitated.

Reika felt it too.

She didn't need to see what was coming—she knew. She could feel the quiet, unspoken farewell from her husband.

"Kaito!" she cried, grabbing their son's wrist. "We have to go!"

"What? No! Father—"

"We don't have time! MOVE!"

Kaito resisted, but Reika's grip was firm, and she pulled him into a full sprint. Tears blurred her vision, but she didn't stop.

"Dark Blade."

Malakai's eyes widened.

"How do I block an unblockable attack?" he thought. "I can't dodge it. I can't deflect it. So—"

A slow grin spread across Malakai's face.

Shinzo swung.

Complete silence.....Then,

BOOM.

A cataclysmic shockwave erupted from the battlefield, sending a wave of destruction tearing through the forest.

Rengoku sprinted through the trees.

He could feel Shinzo's Essence energy, a maelstrom of power building to its peak.

His heart clenched.

"Shinzo… what are you planning?"

Then—he felt it.

Something… unnatural.

A wrongness in the air.

Rengoku's eyes widened in horror.

"No, Shinzo—DON'T!"

Shinzo exhaled, lowering his blade. It was over.

Malakai was gone.

Evaporated.

Nothing remained of him.

Or so he thought.

A slow clap echoed behind him.

Shinzo's breath hitched.

"No…"

He turned—

Malakai stood there, unharmed.

"That was impressive," Malakai mused, examining his claws. "But…"

Then he moved.

Faster than lightning—

A claw pierced straight through Shinzo's chest.

Splurt.

Blood sprayed.

Kaito's world collapsed.

"FATHER—!"

His legs buckled, but Reika held firm.

"DON'T LOOK BACK! RUN!"

She was sobbing, but she refused to stop.

Shinzo gasped, blood dripping from his mouth, but instead of fear—

He smiled.

His vision blurred, but in his mind, he saw—

Reika. Laughing, happy.

Kaito. Older, graduating, standing proudly.

His family. His life.

A life that was enough.

He smiled wider.

"I lived a happy life."

His gaze fell on Kaito, running, heartbroken—

"Don't cry, Kaito… because you were blessed to be my son."

Then—Shinzo moved.

Despite the mortal wound, despite his failing body—

He grabbed Malakai's arms.

Malakai's eyes widened.

"What the hell is this guy?!"

Shinzo's grip was iron. His body was breaking, his Essence gone—

But his will remained.

"GO, KAITO!" Shinzo roared. "LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!"

Two minutes.

For two full minutes, he held Malakai in place, refusing to fall.

Malakai growled, trying to break free.

But Shinzo just grinned.

"Heh…" he chuckled weakly. "Got you… didn't I?"

Malakai sighed.

Then, with one swift motion—

He decapitated Shinzo.

The grin remained on Shinzo's lifeless face.

Malakai took a breath, then turned—

And vanished.

Kaito and Reika ran.

Tears fell freely, but Reika refused to stop—

Until—

A shadow loomed over them.

A chilling voice whispered—

"Did you think you could escape?"

Malakai was there.

And he was smiling.

Kaito's legs trembled as Malakai loomed over them. His eyes burned with fury, his body still stained with his father's blood.

Reika stepped forward, standing between Malakai and Kaito.

"Kaito…" she spoke softly, her voice filled with love.

"Run."

Kaito's breath hitched.

"But… Mother—"

She turned to him, cupping his face gently.

"My son… You must survive." Her voice was tender yet firm. "Your father and I… we have always loved you. No matter what happens, no matter where you go, know that we are always with you."

Tears fell down Kaito's cheeks.

Reika smiled, even as her own tears formed. "Run straight ahead, don't stop. Don't look back. Just keep running."

Kaito clenched his fists, his body shaking.

"But what about you—?"

She pressed her forehead against his.

"Go, Kaito."

His lip trembled. His whole body screamed to fight, to stay, to protect her—

But his feet moved on their own.

He ran.

Malakai scoffed. "A mother's sacrifice. How touching."

Then, he moved.

His claw lashed out toward Kaito—

But Reika raised her hands.

A wave of Essence energy erupted, forming barriers of pure light. They weren't strong—certainly not enough to hold back Malakai forever—

But they were enough to buy Kaito a few seconds.

Malakai growled in annoyance. "You think you can hold me back?"

Reika closed her eyes, exhaling.

"No," she admitted.

Then, she whispered, "But I must."

Malakai's patience snapped.

"Enough of this."

He lifted a hand.

Three dark sigils formed in the air behind him, pulsing with a grotesque light.

Then—

Three monstrous Eldritch Beasts emerged.

They were hulking, with twisting limbs, jagged fangs, and glowing red eyes filled with endless hunger.

Reika's breath faltered.

Malakai smirked. "Kill her."

Before she could even react—

They tore into her.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the air.

Kaito's heart stopped.

He turned his head—

His mother was gone.

Only blood remained.

The three Beasts turned toward their true target.

Kaito.

They moved.

Faster than he could react.

Kaito barely managed to dodge the first attack, twisting his body as a clawed limb slashed past him, cutting through the trees behind him like paper.

The second Beast lunged.

Kaito rolled, barely escaping its bite, but he stumbled—

The third one struck downward—

No escape.

Until—

A flash of steel.

A single slash.

The third Beast's head fell to the ground.

Kaito gasped.

A man stood before him.

Long white hair. A powerful yet calm presence.

Rengoku Itsuya.

His blade dripped with blood, his golden eyes glowing in the night.

He looked down at Kaito.

"Are you okay?"

Kaito's chest heaved.

But for the first time since the nightmare began—

He felt safe.

Rengoku smiled. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine now."

And for some reason…

Kaito believed him.

Kaito sniffled, trying to hold back his tears.

But then—he saw Rengoku looking forward.

Toward where Malakai stood.

"Wait!" Kaito gasped. "You can't go that way! That monster—!"

Rengoku glanced back at him.

Then, he smiled.

"I know."

He turned forward again—

And his smile vanished.

In an instant—

Rengoku disappeared.

Malakai felt it.

A sudden, overwhelming presence.

Before he could even react—

A voice whispered from behind him.

"So you're the cause of this chaos?"

Malakai's blood ran cold.

"What?!"

He felt Rengoku's presence coming from the front.

But somehow—

Somehow—

He was behind him.

Malakai's hands trembled.

His mind screamed.

"This… this must be…!"

He barely turned his head—

And Rengoku stood there, blade raised.

Malakai's breath hitched.

A single thought echoed through his mind—

"This must be the Grandmaster Exterminator."

The weight of death hung in the air. The cold night carried the scent of burning wood and blood, but none of it compared to the overwhelming pressure that now filled the battlefield.

Malakai thought to himself "A Grandmaster... here? That means... that brat is alone"

"Your pets have already been exterminated."

The words were spoken calmly, as if they were an afterthought. Malakai's glowing eyes flickered for a moment as he stretched his senses outward, searching for the lingering presence of his Eldritch Beasts.

Nothing.

A hollow silence answered him.

Malakai stood still, his monstrous frame tense as he processed what he had just heard.

Malakai's sharp teeth clenched, his mind racing.

"Impossible… I only saw him take down one. I only felt one being extinguished. So then... when did the others—"

His gaze locked onto the Grandmaster standing before him, his pristine black-and-gold uniform untouched, his katana held lazily at his side. The man hadn't moved since speaking.

A creeping realization set in, and Malakai's voice dropped into a growl.

"When?"

Rengoku's golden eyes flicked toward him, impassive. He tilted his head slightly, his grip on the katana unmoving.

"I didn't exterminate one." His voice was like steel, absolute in its certainty. "I exterminated all three. At once."

Malakai's stomach twisted. His monstrous claws flexed instinctively as his mind scrambled for an answer.

"Three? At once?"

His mind replayed the moment Rengoku arrived—the casual way he had stood in front of Kaito, as if he had all the time in the world.

Had he already eliminated them before even speaking?

Had Malakai been so distracted by the sheer weight of his Essence Energy that he hadn't even realized?

Rengoku took a single step forward. It was small—almost insignificant—but the ground beneath him cracked, and a pulse of pure energy rippled through the air.

Malakai instinctively took a step back.

Rengoku studied him, golden eyes sharp.

"So it speaks," he thought, his mind calculating every detail. "It coordinates its attacks. It learns during battle. And to top it all off, it wields an immense amount of malevolent Essence energy…"

A moment passed in silence, thick with anticipation.

Rengoku slowly raised his katana, the golden glow around the blade intensifying. The air itself seemed to bend around it, as if space was straining against his mere presence.

His voice was final.

"It will get stronger."

The blade hummed, the Essence energy around it sharpening into something lethal.

"So I will exterminate it now."

Malakai tensed, his monstrous muscles coiling like a predator about to lunge—but for the first time in centuries, a single emotion surged through him.

Fear.