The sky above the Kuoh forest felt heavier than usual.
In the air hovered a middle-aged man with ears pointed upward— the distinct trait of a Fallen Angel. Eight black wings spread wide across his back, each pulsing faintly with a dark light that made the air tremble. He didn't need to display anything else.
His presence alone was enough to crush the breath of anyone below.
Kokabiel.
Beneath his shadow, devils from two great clans—Gremory and Sitri—stood in defensive formation, mixed with humans who had been dragged far too deep into this conflict. The forest ground cracked subtly under the pressure of his aura, leaves falling even though there was no wind.
At the center of it all, Irina Shidou lay on the ground.
Her body was covered in wounds. Blood had dried on her nun's clothing, her breathing was shallow, and every breath came with a faint groan. Rias knelt beside her, one hand supporting her shoulder, her usually warm expression now frozen cold.
"Xenovia and Kiba…" Rias murmured softly.
No answer.
The whereabouts of the two were unknown. Their auras couldn't be detected. There was no sign whether they had been captured, injured, or—worst of all—deliberately separated.
Sona stood at Rias's side, her face tense. As the heir of the Sitri clan, she quickly reached the same conclusion they both felt.
This situation was… very bad.
At Kokabiel's side, two figures stood casually, as if this were nothing more than an ordinary afternoon meeting.
Freed Selzen wore a crooked smile, his body still bearing wounds that had yet to fully heal. Meanwhile, Valper Galilei looked far too excited, his eyes gleaming like a child who had finally been handed a dangerous toy.
Kokabiel looked down, assessing the faces before him one by one. Then he smiled broadly.
Issei grit his teeth. "Bastard…"
"Oh, relax," Kokabiel continued, raising one hand. "I'm not killing you right away."
He then descended slightly, his eight wings vibrating slowly.
"Look at you all," he said, his tone shifting—lower, heavier.
Rias stood, meeting his gaze head-on. "If you came only to provoke us, then you've succeeded. Leave this territory, Kokabiel."
Kokabiel chuckled softly. "Territory?" He raised an eyebrow. "Ah yes, Kuoh Academy. An interesting point, isn't it? Stable ley lines, high energy concentration, and—"
He snapped his fingers.
"—the perfect location for large-scale magic."
The forest fell instantly silent.
Those words hung in the air, heavy and lethal.
"We intend to flatten a city," Kokabiel continued in an almost casual tone, as if talking about the weather. "And the turning point… lies at that academy."
Issei froze. "What…?"
"You're insane," Sona hissed.
"Maybe," Kokabiel shrugged. "Or maybe I'm just bored. This world has been peaceful for far too long."
He glanced at the sun, now beginning to tilt westward. "But don't worry. I won't do it today."
Rias narrowed her eyes. "Then what is all of this for?"
Kokabiel's smile widened.
"To play."
He spread both arms, as if welcoming a beautiful afternoon.
"Consider this… a warm-up before the real festival begins. I'll give you time. Prepare yourselves. Gather your allies. Devise your heroic plans."
His eight black wings flapped slowly.
"Because when I get serious," he continued lightly, "you'll wish this afternoon had never happened."
His gaze dropped to the injured Irina.
"And this little girl? Consider her a bonus."
The pressure of his aura surged briefly—just enough to remind everyone that the difference in power between them was not merely theoretical.
The barrier vanished along with Kokabiel's group, and everyone left behind found their gaze drawn to a single place—
Kuoh Academy.
...
Elsewhere—far from the turmoil of Kuoh, far from the oppressive aura of a Fallen Angel and the mad plan to erase a city—Jun sat cross-legged beneath a rocky hill.
The place was quiet. Too quiet, even by supernatural standards.
Massive stones rose irregularly, forming a kind of natural basin. A gentle wind blew, carrying the scent of dry earth and moss. There were no major ley lines, no striking aura. Precisely because of that, this place was suitable.
I slowly opened my eyes, then let out a long breath.
"Alright… let's start from the basics."
The Red Core floated before me, held in place by the system so it wouldn't come into direct contact with my body. Up close, the object looked even more abnormal. Its surface pulsed faintly, as if it had its own rhythm—not like a heart, but more like a compressed dimensional rift.
Its energy was too coarse. Too wild.
If I recklessly absorbed it without preparation, the result wouldn't be increased power—my body would explode from the inside. And I had no interest in dying stupidly after finally reaching floor 40.
First step: protection.
I activated a simple formation around myself. Nothing complex—just a triple-layered safeguard: a barrier to restrain wild energy, a stabilizer for the flow, and a final layer for… just in case everything failed.
"If this still breaks through," I muttered, "then it's just fate."
Only after that did I summon the book that had long been waiting its turn.
[Heavenly Demon Cult Martial Arts Manual Vol. 3 – Rank A]
My luck was truly strange. I gacha'd four times—three were trash, and the last one gave me exactly what I needed, perfectly suited to my situation and desire.
The book appeared in the air, then dissolved into blackish-red light that flowed directly into my head. There was no pain—only a cold sensation behind my eyes, like information being forced in without permission.
I closed my eyes.
And the world seemed to flip upside down.
Inside my mind, the pages of the manual opened one by one. Strange energy flow diagrams. Meridian paths that contradicted conventional martial logic. Every theory written there felt… wrong.
Yet precisely because of that—effective.
"Ah… so that's it," I murmured softly.
Among all the techniques in volume three, one method immediately caught my attention.
Reverse Cultivation.
A mad method that ignored the safe routes of conventional cultivation. Instead of absorbing energy from outside and slowly refining it, this technique pulls energy directly into the core first, forces it to rotate in reverse, then refines it through internal pressure.
In short?
It forces the body to adapt… or be destroyed.
"Typical Heavenly Demon," I chuckled quietly. "No safe path."
However, there was a reason this technique was written in volume three—not in the earlier volumes.
Because this method was extremely suitable for foreign energy—energy not originating from this world, but from a dimensional rift.
Like the Red Core.
I opened my eyes and looked at the red sphere once more. In the silence of this rocky hill, its pulse felt even clearer, as if the object itself was also… evaluating me.
"This will become my cultivation medium," I murmured softly. "I'll absorb its insane energy, then force it to synchronize with me."
The words sounded calm. Too calm—even to myself.
I slowly extended my hand. The Red Core trembled, then floated down until it hovered right in front of my chest. The protective formation around me glowed faintly—a sign that it was fully on standby.
I sat cross-legged on a stone, placing the core atop my abdomen while my hands clasped together to hold it in place.
Inhale.
I reversed my internal energy, following the pattern of Reverse Cultivation from Heavenly Demon Vol. 3. The direction of qi flow that had always felt natural now felt wrong—like walking against the current of a raging river. My body protested once more, but this time, I was ready.
The Red Core cracked subtly.
Not shattered—but opened.
Instantly, dimensional energy burst out. Coarse. Wild. Chaotic. It felt like a storm compressed and then released right in front of me.
"Calm down…" I whispered, whether to myself or to the energy, I didn't know.
I pulled it in.
Not into the outer meridians—but straight to the core. My chest felt compressed from the inside, my breath catching for a moment. Heat and cold mixed together, creating a sensation that could only be described with one word: dangerous.
The protective formation trembled violently.
The first layer nearly collapsed, but the second layer immediately locked the flow in place. The Reverse Cultivation technique kicked in, forcing the foreign energy to rotate according to my rhythm—or at least, to approach it.
"Damn… this is really brutal," I muttered, pouring all of my focus into it.
Every second felt long. The energy slammed against the walls of my inner self, trying to escape, trying to break free. But slowly—very slowly—it began to change. Not fully tamed, but aligned.
It wasn't me who adapted completely.
Rather… we were pressing against each other.
Sweat poured down. My muscles tightened, but did not collapse. I endured.
And at that moment, I realized something.
This energy didn't just increase the amount of my power. It changed its quality. Making my foundation denser, deeper—as if my body was being prepared to face something far greater than just high-class devils.
"Heh…" I let out a small laugh, my breathing still heavy. "No wonder this is called reverse cultivation."
Out there, Kokabiel was still playing around. Time continued to move toward the breaking point. The canon world kept moving, whether I was ready or not.
//--//
If you need more, please visit my Patr3on via the link below:
https://www.patr*eon.com/cw/Mr_Wan
Remove the quotation marks and there are around 30+ chapters available.