I really have to be fast.
It's already too close—the night. I can feel it, like the hands of a clock moving far too quickly while I'm still sitting in place. Because of that, I have no choice but to accelerate the process.
And that's where everything started to… fall apart.
'Damn—there's too much energy.'
The flow from the Red Core surged beyond my calculations. At first it was still manageable, forced to rotate along the rhythm of Reverse Cultivation. But now? It felt like trying to hold back a flooding river with nothing but my bare hands.
My chest felt tight. My bones trembled faintly, not from direct pain, but because they couldn't withstand the pressure.
'This is bad… my body isn't strong enough.'
My consciousness remained clear, and that was exactly what made the situation even more terrifying. I understood perfectly what was happening.
To accept all of this energy, my foundation wasn't sufficient yet. It wasn't a matter of technique—it was the vessel.
This body… wasn't ready.
If I forced full absorption right now, that dimensional energy would spread into the wrong pathways. Meridians would tear. The core would collapse. And the final result—
I would explode from the inside.
'Damn… the leakage is getting worse!'
The protective formation around me began to shake violently. The ground cracked, pebbles floated without gravity, and the air trembled as if an invisible pressure were being forced outward.
If this continued, the surroundings would be utterly destroyed, and the damage would be like an atomic explosion.
The problem was… I didn't even know how far that destruction would spread.
However, right in the middle of that chaos—
something inside me moved.
Part of the leaking energy… didn't explode. Didn't destroy. Instead, it was absorbed.
I knew who was responsible even before fully realizing it.
My Sacred Gear.
The Avatar Independent type.
Under extreme pressure and the torrent of chaotic energy, my Sacred Gear reacted in its own way—a way that was very characteristic… and slightly annoying.
Plop.
A small slime appeared right in front of me.
Its body was tiny, transparent with a faint shimmer of dark red-black energy inside. It slowly crawled up, then—with a confidence completely inappropriate for such a critical situation—sat down on my lap.
Maw.
The slime looked at me… then closed its "eyes."
And began to imitate.
Its breathing—or more precisely, its energy rhythm—followed the Reverse Cultivation flow I was using. Part of the leaking dimensional energy was drawn into it, rotated in a simple yet… stable manner.
It wasn't just helping.
It understood what I was doing.
In a situation that should have made me panic, a thin smile appeared on my face instead. Even with my eyes still closed, I could feel it clearly.
'…Thank you, Maw.'
The pressure in my chest eased slightly. Not much, but enough to breathe.
'Now… let's do this together.'
I adjusted my cultivation rhythm, deliberately allowing part of the energy to flow into Maw. Two absorption centers. Two stabilization paths. The burden was still heavy—but now it was shared.
...
The surroundings around Jun could no longer be called a rocky hill.
The ground cracked and collapsed, stones shattered into fine dust, while all nearby vegetation vanished without a trace—as if poisoned by something that should not exist in this world. A dark red-black aura spread wildly from the center of destruction, hissing softly like living poison devouring anything it touched.
In the midst of it all, Jun sat cross-legged.
His body was floating, several meters above ground that had turned into a crater. Energy surged violently around him, forming an irregular vortex. On his lap, Maw—the small slime—trembled intensely, its transparent body now colored with a dark red glow mixed with black.
Both of them were working desperately.
There was no room for error. No option to retreat.
The fully cracked Red Core was now nearly gone, its energy squeezed dry—forced into two vessels that were clearly never designed for something of this magnitude. The aura surged, pressing against the final limits of Jun's body and the structure of his Sacred Gear.
Then—
Jun's eyes opened.
So did Maw's "eyes."
Light flared sharply.
And in the next instant—
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion shook the area.
The shockwave swept outward mercilessly, obliterating what remained of rock and soil, tearing through the air, and pushing the thick dust cloud away—like a stage curtain being violently pulled aside to reveal something that should not exist.
From behind the smoke and destruction…
a figure emerged.
It descended slowly from the darkness, its body stepping on the air as if the laws of space were mere suggestions, not rules. Its entire body was clad in jet-black armor, dense and alive, with glowing red lines that looked like open wounds—pulsing softly, moving with each breath, as if the armor itself were alive.
The helmet covering its head formed the face of a savage beast. Sharp jawlines, aggressive angles, and behind it a pair of blazing red eyes gleaming ferociously—the gaze of a predator that made no effort to hide its intent.
On its forehead, a red symbol glowed faintly.
Its pressure seeped outward, making the surrounding air feel heavy, oppressive, alien—enough to send chills through any supernatural being without knowing why.
One hand extended forward. Its fingers had transformed into sharp black claws, reflecting light with a dangerous gleam. The other hand gripped bluish-white lightning that twisted wildly, crackled loudly, then compressed into an unstable core of energy—ready to be unleashed at any moment.
On its back, a tattered red cloth fluttered in the remaining energy currents, resembling a bloodied shadow that refused to submit to the world.
And surrounding that figure—
a web of golden light spread wide.
Layered dimensional seals appeared one by one, slowly rotating, glowing faintly. They seemed uncertain—whether to restrain this existence… or instead record it as something legitimate.
That pressure was not unfamiliar to the supernatural world.
It was the sign of a Sacred Gear.
More precisely—
a Balance Breaker.
That black armor was not another entity.
It was Jun.
Jun, now completely enveloped in the manifestation of his Avatar Independent-type Sacred Gear—Maw—which had entered a state of perfect synchronization. A forced balance between human, dimensional energy, and Sacred Gear that had never been recorded in the systems of the Church, the devils, or the Fallen Angels.
The birth of a being with Maou-class potential.
...
I was filled with energy.
Not just filled—but overflowing, as if my body were a vessel on the verge of cracking. It felt like I was wrapped in something foreign yet… strangely familiar. Like a second skin that had finally found its shape.
I lowered my gaze to my hands.
They were not human hands.
My fingers had elongated, forming black claws with glowing red lines that pulsed softly, following the beat of my heart. Every small movement felt light… too light, as if this power had no clear limits.
'Could it be…' my thoughts trembled.
'…that Maw and I are in a Balance Breaker state…?'
A pool of water had formed on the ground from the earlier explosion. I stepped closer and looked at my reflection on its surface.
The figure staring back—
was not a face I knew. Not human.
That savage helmet stared back at me with glowing red eyes. A violent aura flowed without restraint, yet behind it… there was awareness. There was me.
"…Hah."
I let out a small laugh, the sound muffled by the helmet.
"If that's the case," I murmured softly, "no wonder the supernatural world is going to go wild."
Inside me, Maw trembled happily.
And for the first time since I arrived in this world—
I felt… ready.
//--//
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