Chapter 1: No Escape
"Is this it?"
"Y'know, from the way you couldn't stop courting death, I'd figured you'd be a bit... tougher."
"Huff... huff... huff." Shallow and ragged breaths escaped the swollen lips of a young man who was being held upside down by his ankle, several feet above the blood-soaked ground below him.
His crimson bright hair was drenched in his own blood, just like his severely torn Renegade uniform.
His face was terribly battered, and his chest had been torn wide open. He could feel several life-threatening wounds marring his broken form. His emerald green eyes fluttered open as he struggled to retain consciousness.
After a bit, the voice he had grown tired of hearing in the past few hours reached his ears once again.
"Oh, you're still alive? How valiant," the floating figure said with a slight chuckle as he looked over at his captive.
He was a young man with dark, flowing hair and cold blue eyes. He was currently hovering several feet above the gruesome slaughter he had caused, with the young Renegade's leg in his hand. Below them was what could only be considered a wasteland of death.
Bodies upon bodies were piled together like broken dolls as pools of blood bathed the landscape.
The planet's previously ever-fragrant air now reeked endlessly of copper.
The Renegade was a sentry – the lowest rank in his organization – who had been stationed on this planet for almost a year now. The day had begun like usual for him, his fellow Sentries relentlessly making life far more difficult than it had to be.
That was until a few hours ago when Ronin had appeared in front of them without warning. He had come to this planet with a single mission: to kill every living thing on it.
Unfortunately, he had succeeded, and admirably so.
There was no life left on this planet besides Ronin himself, and the Renegade seemingly on death's doorstep.
Ronin was a Reincarnator.
One of the many souls with unfathomable powers that had come from an unknown world beyond this universe by tearing through rifts in reality.
At least, that's what most people thought. But the Renegade knew the truth. Ronin was simply a normal human from a planet called Earth that had died unexpectedly.
After that, he had met a being known as the Primordial.
That being had then granted him incomprehensible abilities unique to him.
Then it sent him here, into the Rendes universe.
Ronin had been told by the Primordial that the people of this universe were corrupted souls who could not be saved. His fellow Reincarnators had also echoed the same sentiment.
Ronin didn't really care either way. In this new life, he'd gotten everything he had ever craved, and everything he had ever desired. Power beyond his wildest dreams, an endless supply of women from different species to toy with, and most of all, he was crucial to the cause of his fellow Reincarnators. His past life as a bullied nobody who was beaten to death paled in comparison.
The only problem with this new world was the nuisances known as the Renegades. Decrepit souls who hunted Reincarnators like him and had fought against them for thousands of years.
Ronin sighed in disappointment.
He had been hoping for an interesting fight.
In his previous life – when he wasn't getting beaten to a pulp – he'd spend all day reading about murim martial arts battles that shook the heavens and lasted all day and all night.
He had hoped to experience something like that upon arriving here, as a way to push himself past the bottleneck he had been stuck in.
Unfortunately, his soul's energy had almost been depleted from his long travels here and his activities after arriving. He had wasted too much time enjoying the feeling of ripping apart the disgusting inhabitants of this planet. He could not afford to prolong the slaughter more than he already had.
The commander of the planet had been extremely powerful, which is why Ronin had been given such a hard time.
His murim-like hanfu rustled gently in the wind as he studied his final victim.
A Renegade who was also human. He surmised that he was most likely a child fathered by one of his fellow Reincarnators. He had found the situation particularly hilarious, which is why he had kept him alive for so long.
"Tsk, what a shame. It seems like I'm already done here."
"Now... die with your fellow Renegades, you traitorous trash."
He cursed as he moved to toss the half-dead Renegade aside with a flick of his wrist.
"...St... p"
"Hmm?" Ronin stopped, as he heard the Renegade mutter something even his powerful senses couldn't hear.
"What did you say, trash? Go ahead and speak up a bit louder," he ordered in amusement.
Naturally, it was almost impossible for the Renegade to speak coherently considering the state of his loose jaw and severely damaged throat.
Quite frankly, Ronin was stunned that the Renegade was still alive despite everything.
It seemed like the Renegade had quite the endurance and pain tolerance.
"Tup... id"
He brought the Renegade closer to himself with a smile.
"Hmm... One last time, what was that?"
.....
"I said shut up... you idiot," the Renegade muttered into his ear as his previously broken arm latched out and seized the Reincarnator's arm in an ironclad hold.
Ronin blinked.
"What?"
SLAM!
Ronin's eyes widened as the Renegade's right boot crashed into his jaw with enough force to nearly shatter it.
He screamed as he plummeted from the sky a moment later.
BOOM!
The earth trembled violently as they crashed into the ground, rubble blasting outward in all directions. He grunted as he struggled to stand, having been slammed face-first into the ground by the Renegade who had twisted mid-fall, using him to absorb the impact.
He struggled to push himself up, then froze suddenly.
Standing before him was the Renegade, his hand still clamped around Ronin's wrist while his legs were driven deep into the shattered ground beneath them.
"Finally," the Renegade muttered with a rasp, his voice cold. "I caught you."
The Renegade's bloodied figure seemed far more menacing than it had been before. His crimson hair hung in clumps, framing his emerald eyes that burned with fierce and unrelenting hatred.
Suddenly, his chest wound throbbed as the torn flesh began knitting itself back together. Slow at first, then faster, until the skin sealed shut as if the wound had never been there.
Ronin stared in disbelief as all of the Renegade's injuries disappeared one by one. The blood left behind was the only sign that he had even been injured in the first place.
"Hohw... Hohw arhe yohu stihll alive?!" he yelled in confusion. His speech almost incoherent due to his damaged jaw.
Ronin was certain that this Renegade did not possess a Heart shard like his Commander.
He had tormented the Renegade the longest out of anyone on the planet. He'd driven his fist through the Renegade's chest, broken all his limbs, and shattered his skull against stone.
A faint smile appeared on the Renegade's pale features.
"Not your concern," he replied simply.
Then the smile faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.
"Now then. Let's get on with this."
Ronin stared at the Renegade in disbelief for a few more moments before a scornful expression spread across his face.
His eyes briefly glanced at the Renegade's hand still holding onto his own.
Then, he straightened casually as he spoke despite his wound.
"You're a Reincarnator as well.... No wonder you were so hard to kill. I simply thought you were one of the counthless half-human childhren another Reincarnator had sired." He said, his tone suddenly conversational.
The Renegade said nothing in response as he stared at Ronin with a blank expression.
Ronin's brows twitched slightly.
"Doeshn't matter though, I'm still going to have to kill you for joining this decrhypt organhisathion and betraying your fellow Reincarnators!."
"Not only that... you also dared to disrespect me so casually!. Even now, you're still holding onto me like a lost child searching for its parents!" he said as he tried to draw his arm back, only to find the Renegade's grip still unshakable.
He gulped slightly.
"That is... unless you get on your knees right now and beg for forgiveness."
Silence stretched between the two humans for several moments.
Then, the Renegade laughed loudly.
"You really are quite hilarious, I'll give you that. I suppose that makes up somewhat for your annoying talkative nature."
The Renegade's cheerful expression vanished in an instant.
"We both know there's nothing you can do now."
"Not when your ability can't help you anymore."
Ronin's eyes widened slightly.
"Yeah, that's right. I know you're out of juice," the Renegade muttered with a slight grin.
"You're fast, extremely fast. Honestly, it's easy to assume your blessing is some kind of superspeed ability at first," the Renegade mused.
"But that's not it. Although you make no attempts to avoid that assumption from others," the Renegade added.
"It's more like a field, right? Something that makes time feel paused for you as you move," the Renegade asked curiously.
Ronin said nothing in response as he stared at the Renegade in front of him intently.
His damaged jaw clenched slightly as he wondered how a nobody like this had caught on to his real soul ability.
"I'll take that as a yes then."
"I noticed it glimmering on and off when you ran about, butchering my colleagues for your amusement with a smile on your face."
"I could especially tell when it was off after watching you struggle to keep it active against the commander – which had almost cost you your head."
"...Honestly, it's an extremely broken ability – being able to move at near instantaneous speeds."
"Which is why it must be really costly for you to keep it on at all times," the Renegade growled as he grinned viciously.
"The truth is you're not very fast without the field activated. But you convince others you are – to avoid anyone attacking you when it's turned off."
"It boosts your physical strength as well right? allowing you to outclass the Commander in strength. I wasn't sure about that at first, but now that you can't escape my grip – it's basically confirmed.
It seems you're really about as strong as a Red Mornan without the field."
"Compared to the commander's strength, you're nothing worth mentioning."
The Renegade's expression darkened.
"The only reason you're still alive is because he'd made a mistake and overestimated your capabilities."
Rage twisted in Ronin's gut as he stared at the Renegade in hatred.
Fear gripped his heart as he found himself unable to pull away from the traitorous Reincarnator's grasp.
"Naturally, not being able to keep up the field for too long isn't really that bad of a weakness. It certainly hasn't given you much difficulty so far."
"But what happens when someone manages to see through your act and get you while you were too exhausted to use it."
The Renegade's grip tightened ever so slightly.
"You'd be a sitting duck, no?"
Panic flared in Ronin's eyes as he finally reacted, desperately trying to lift off the ground.
The Renegade was right.
He had already exhausted his soul's current energy by traveling across vast stretches of space while sneaking past a Warden to get here.
After that he had traveled across the planet's different terrains to fulfill his mission and wipe out every sentient soul living here.
As of right now he had nothing left.
He hadn't even considered the possibility of needing his ability again since the only one left on the planet besides him was a half-dead Renegade.
Now he understood that the Renegade had planned to attack in a situation like this – from the very start.
He tried flying off into space to escape for a while – planning to return when he had recovered his energy.
The Renegade grunted loudly as he pulled Ronin back by his ironclad grip.
His feet dug deeper into the ground to anchor him.
Ronin began struggling frantically, trying to wrench his arm free. "L-let go! Let GO!"
"Not... happening!" the Renegade snarled as he finally slammed Ronin back into the blood-soaked ground.
A fist slammed into Ronin's gut a second later, folding him in half.
Ronin gritted his teeth through the pain as he floated above the ground again.
He swung his free hand and legs wildly, aiming to break away from the Renegade's iron grip. The Renegade effortlessly avoided his amateurish attacks and pulled Ronin closer by the arm – headbutting his skull.
"Ahhh!!" Ronin screamed in agony.
Each time he attempted to escape skyward, he was brutally yanked back to earth by the Renegade and slammed into debris of the destroyed base and rubble from the shattered and blood-soaked floor.
His physical strength, unaided by the field, was not that significant. Especially when compared with a half-Tarokian.
Ronin's field flickered weakly as he tried to reactivate his ability to no avail.
Finally, after Ronin had been worn down enough, the Renegade jumped on top of him as he slammed his fists down relentlessly like a hammer.
He made sure to plant one of his legs into the ground, just in case Ronin tried escaping again.
At the same time, he drove his other knee into Ronin's ribs – grinding them to powder.
"Stohp... stohp it plehase!" Ronin begged, his voice growing weaker.
The Renegade didn't stop for even a second – his eyes burned with fury.
"What's wrong!? Is this still too disappointing for you!?" he screamed as he pounded Ronin's head deeper into the surface.
He kept pounding over and over and over again.
After several long minutes had passed, the Renegade stood up slowly.
Ronin was nothing but a mangled mess now.
His appearance was far worse than what he had done to the Commander's deceased body after he had successfully killed him.
Then, the Renegade knelt beside him, his breath steady. His emerald eyes were cold and unblinking. Blood still streaked his face, but he didn't seem to care.
His hand wrapped around Ronin's throat, lifting him up with ease, like a broken toy. Ronin's head lolled, his blue eyes dimming, as he pleaded through the haze.
The Renegade studied him, his expression unreadable.
Ronin's words were even more inscrutable.
"Whait... phlease. Wne're... bhoth humhans, righht?... Yohu're juhst likhe mhe... Plehase forgihve me... Forhgive mhe for whhat I dihd to yohu... We dohn't hahve to be enehmies."
The Renegade's expression remained blank as his fist drew back once more.
Ronin couldn't comprehend what was happening to him. He was the chosen one. Blessed. Invincible.
How had this happened?
How could he lose to evil like this?
How could he have made such a stupid mistake?
Surely, he'd survive... right?
Surely, there'd be some divine intervention... right?
Ronin twitched desperately, his last feeble jerks before the blow fell.
Bone cracked as Ronin's skull caved in, his brain matter bursting out in a spray.
His body finally went limp.
In an instant, Ronin's life had ended for the second time.
Then, the Renegade let the corpse drop.
Ronin's body hit the ground with a dull thud, settling among the very corpses he had created.
The Renegade stood still for a few moments, shaking blood off his knuckles.
His gaze swept over the carnage as he observed the broken forms of his comrades.
Finally, his gaze landed on the blue Mornan Commander of this planet — Mitz, who had done his very best to save him and everyone at the outpost.
The Renegade clenched his jaw in frustration.
"Damn it!"
He cast one last glance at Ronin's lifeless form, then spat on it.
His boots crunched over rubble and organs as he strode off to try the communication systems again.