Shun Kaien's body trembled under the weight of the Seventh Gate—Gate of Shock.
System Notification:Gate of Shock activated.Stamina burn rate: Critical.Remaining Tokens: 5.Remaining Duration: 55 minutes.
His blood turned to boiling steam, leaking from every pore as his body strained against its own limits.
Across from him, Shiryu of the Rain lunged forward without hesitation, his blade a streak of killing intent.
Shun sidestepped—barely.
The sword's arc split the stone floor, the cut precise, devastating.
Shun's breathing slowed.
This was no brawl.This was execution chess.One mistake—and he'd die.
He moved.
Daytime Tiger.
His fist compressed the air around it, the sheer force igniting the oxygen into a howling, tiger-shaped shockwave.
It struck Shiryu dead-on.
BOOM.
The force blasted Shiryu backward, sending him tumbling into the far wall.The shockwave rippled through the dungeon, cracking ancient stone and shoving even Domino, watching from the shadows, back into the wall.
Blood trickled from her lips—not from a direct hit, but from the sheer force washing over her lungs.
Shun clenched his jaw.
Even after opening the Seventh Gate, he knew the risk.
System Notification:Target severely injured.Reputation Points awarded: 40,000.
He blinked as another notification appeared.
System Notification:Secondary Target eliminated: Vasco Shot.Reputation Points awarded: 30,000.
Shun's eyes flicked to the side.
Vasco Shot's corpse lay crumpled in his cell, his shattered body bleeding into the stone.Shiryu's earlier slash, combined with the residual shockwave, had finished him.
Shun didn't celebrate.
He calculated.
System Status:Total Reputation Points: 103,500.Remaining Tokens: 5.Synchronization Duration Remaining: 54 minutes.
He steadied his breath, feeling the toll gnawing at his muscles.
The Gate of Shock burned fast.He couldn't stay in this state for long.
Around him, the remaining prisoners watched in stunned silence.
Predators.
Hunters.
Eyes gleaming from the dark.
Shun ignored them.
He stalked toward Domino, his steps heavy, precise.
She flinched.
Not from fear of him.
But from the crushing realization that Impel Down was no longer under their control.
From the shadows, the voices began to stir.
"Avalo Pizarro.Set me free... and I'll show you what a real monster can do," a voice growled from the darkness.
Shun's gaze swept over the cells.
Predators.
They didn't look at him like a leader.
They looked at him like a rival.
They were waiting.
Watching.
Calculating.
Shun understood.He had become the spark.They were the wildfire waiting to consume everything.
But for now... they stayed in their cages.
For now.
Shun turned back toward the dying Shiryu.
The man staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth, his blade trembling in his hand.
But his eyes... still sharp.
Still hungry.
This wasn't over.
Shun clenched his fists.
He wouldn't celebrate yet.
Not until the predator was dead.
And the clock was still ticking.