GOLDEN EYES

He woke standing.

Ren'ō did not remember rising. One moment he was a child among stars; the next he stood in the ruins with his chest heaving and his uniform hanging from him in scorched rags.

Wind rushed through the open skeleton of the laboratory. Cloth snapped behind him. Golden light burned from his eyes.

Laana lay several meters away, one hand pressed to her wound.

The War God looked at Ren'ō with something new.

Interest.

"It seems he managed to survive," he said. "But-"

Ren'ō disappeared.

There was no technique. No plan. His body crossed the distance before thought could catch it.

His fist drove into the War God's abdomen.

The impact folded the air.

For the first time since entering La-Sol 7, the man's feet left the ground. His eyes widened. Ren'ō stepped with him, turned his hips, and backhanded him across the face.

The War God became a black streak through three ruined towers.

A delayed thunderclap flattened the fires around Ren'ō.

He stared at his own hand.

"That," he breathed, "was new."

The skyline erupted as the War God stopped himself in midair.

Ren'ō moved again.

They collided above the city. Gold and red tore through the cloud layer. Ren'ō's instincts remained human: guard the chin, control distance, read shoulders, break rhythm. His body no longer obeyed human limits. Each punch crossed kilometers. Each missed strike split buildings beneath them.

The War God blocked a kick and examined Ren'ō's glowing eyes.

"You do not understand what she placed inside you."

"Neither did you."

Ren'ō twisted free and drove both palms into the man's chest. A sphere of golden force detonated between them.

For a moment, hope rose across the city. Survivors looked up and saw their destroyer driven backward by a soldier wearing torn black armor.

Then the Divine Remnant convulsed.

Ren'ō's vision fractured. His heart stopped, restarted, and beat with enough force to crack his ribs. Golden energy burst through his skin.

The War God caught him by the throat.

"A mortal vessel," he said, "pretending it can contain a sun."

Ren'ō clawed at the hand. The world below blurred.

The War God looked toward the laboratory.

Laana had dragged herself to the central console. Her fingers moved over emergency controls.

"No," Ren'ō said.

She looked up at him.

Even from the sky, he saw her mouth form his name.

Then she activated the planetary Remnant lattice.

Every power station on La-Sol 7 discharged at once. Golden lines spread across the continents, feeding the Divine Remnant inside Ren'ō. His body ignited.

He tore free.

The War God smiled.

"Better."

Ren'ō hit him hard enough to bend the horizon.