The alarm cut through headquarters like a blade.

  “Emergency deployment. Sector breach confirmed. Rishuuki horde approaching Unit Ten’s defensive line.”

  Ren Yamashiro was already moving.

  “Show me,” she said.

  A tactical display flared to life—dozens of hostile signatures flooding across the perimeter. Too many. Too fast. Unit Ten’s formation was already compressing under the pressure.

  Ren didn’t hesitate.

  “Prepare immediate transport,” she ordered. Then she turned.

  “Obirin.”

  Kei straightened instantly. “Yes!”

  “You’re deploying with me.”

  Several officers looked up in surprise.

  Ren ignored them.

  “You will follow every command I give,” she continued. “You will not act unless instructed. If I tell you to stop, you stop. Understood?”

  Kei swallowed. “Yes, Supreme Commander.”

  The battlefield was already burning when they arrived.

  Dust and heat rolled across shattered terrain as Unit Ten fought desperately to hold their line. Rishuuki poured forward in distorted waves—twisted bodies, unstable movements, shrill cries cutting through the chaos.

  Ren stepped forward.

  The pressure of her presence alone caused the front line of monsters to recoil.

  “Hold formation,” she commanded.

  Unit Ten obeyed instantly.

  Ren moved like a blade through the first wave—precise, devastating. Each strike erased a Rishuuki completely, space opening wherever she passed. Kei followed behind her, striking only where she cleared the path.

  It worked.

  For a moment.

  Then the horde surged again.

  Flanks collapsed. More poured in from behind ruined structures. Unit Ten began to falter.

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  Ren assessed the battlefield in a single breath.

  Then she made her decision.

  “Obirin,” she said.

  Kei turned to her immediately. “Yes!”

  “Kneel.”

  His heart slammed against his ribs.

  “Yes.”

  Kei dropped to his knees in front of her without hesitation.

  The noise of battle faded from his awareness as Ren extended her hand.

  “Do not lose yourself,” she said.

  “I won’t,” he answered, voice shaking.

  Ren said nothing more.

  Kei leaned back—and took her hand in both of his.

  He pressed his lips to her knuckles.

  The world snapped.

  Power surged violently through his body, far more intense than anything he had felt in training. His spine arched as something primal answered the command. His breath left him in a harsh gasp as his muscles expanded, bones shifting beneath his skin.

  Armor-like patterns formed along his arms. His silhouette warped—larger, heavier, more monstrous. His eyes burned with feral intensity as his transformation completed.

  He rose slowly.

  Not human anymore.

  Not fully beast.

  Something forged purely for destruction.

  The Rishuuki rushed him.

  He tore into them.

  Bodies shattered under his blows, limbs torn apart as he moved with terrifying speed. Each strike sent shockwaves through the ground. He crushed, ripped, obliterated everything in his path.

  Unit Ten stared in stunned silence as the horde was annihilated.

  But Ren saw it.

  The change.

  Kei didn’t stop.

  He kept moving—faster, wilder, his strikes losing precision as fury replaced control. His breathing became ragged, snarling, power spiraling beyond containment.

  “Obirin,” Ren called sharply.

  He didn’t hear her.

  The last Rishuuki fell.

  And then—

  He turned.

  Toward her.

  For a heartbeat, the battlefield froze.

  Then he lunged.

  Ren barely dodged as the ground exploded where she had been standing. Kei’s attack was wild, uncontrolled, raw power tearing through the air as he roared.

  He swung again.

  Ren was forced back.

  Her eyes hardened.

  “Enough,” she said.

  Kei didn’t stop.

  He struck again—this time catching her shoulder, sending her skidding across the ruined ground.

  The watching soldiers froze in horror.

  Ren stood.

  Slowly.

  The air changed.

  True power surged outward, crushing pressure slamming into everything nearby. The ground fractured beneath her feet as Ren Yamashiro stopped holding back.

  “Return,” she commanded.

  Kei roared and charged again.

  Ren met him head-on.

  Her strike didn’t look impressive.

  It didn’t need to be.

  It ended him.

  The blow shattered the berserk state instantly, power collapsing inward as Kei was slammed into the ground, transformation ripping itself apart violently. He crashed hard, body skidding before coming to rest in the dirt.

  Silence fell.

  The battlefield was empty.

  Ren stood over him, chest rising slowly as her power settled back into control.

  Kei lay motionless.

  For a moment—

  Just a moment—

  Ren’s composure cracked.

  She knelt.

  Checked his breathing.

  Her fingers trembled.

  He was alive.

  Relief hit her like a blow.

  She stood instantly, face cold again as Unit Ten rushed forward.

  “Secure the area,” she ordered. “Medical support. Now.”

  “Yes, Commander!”

  Ren turned away.

  No one saw the way her jaw tightened.

  Or how long she stood there before leaving his side.

  Later, in the transport back to headquarters, Kei sat slumped, wrapped in emergency bandages, barely conscious.

  Ren stood across from him.

  She didn’t speak.

  But she watched.

  And for the first time since taking command—

  She wondered whether giving that order had been a mistake.