The transition from the Academy's sterile corridors to the Grey Zone felt like stepping through a pane of glass into a freezing ocean. As the portal behind them flickered and died, Kaito felt the immediate, violent surge of his SSS-Rank System reacting to the unstable environment.
[System Notification: Entering Neutral Zone — The Shattered Expanse]
[Status: SSS-Rank Authority Active — Environmental Dampeners Nullified][Warning: Mana Density is 400% above safety limits. All skills are overcharged.]
Kaito gasped, his knees buckling for a second as the raw, unfiltered mana of the borderlands flooded his pathways.
Beside him, Seraphina moved with the practiced ease of a war goddess, her emerald eyes scanning the jagged crystal horizon. She was dressed in midnight-blue tactical plating, her crimson hair a defiant flame against the bruised, violet sky of the zone."Don't try to breathe the mana, Kaito," she warned, her hand steadying his shoulder. "Circulate it. Use your [Monarch's Domain] to filter the static, or your core will overheat before we find a place to camp."Kaito gritted his teeth, activating his passive SSS-Rank skill. A golden ripple expanded from his feet, pushing back the oppressive purple mist and creating a ten-meter pocket of stabilized space."Better," he wheezed, his [Intelligence: 740] finally categorizing the sensory chaos.
They began their trek across the glass sands. The Grey Zones were where the "System" became a wild thing. Gravity shifted without warning, and the laws of physics were merely suggestions. For Kaito, however, this was the ultimate training ground.
Without the Academy's sensors watching his every move, he could finally let his SSS-Rank abilities breathe."Why here, Seraphina?" Kaito asked, his hand resting on the hilt of the Void-Slayer Katana."Because the Eclipse Order operates in the shadows of the Rifts," she replied, her gaze sharp. "And because your Void-Slayer needs to eat. Back at the Academy, the seal was starving. Here, the leakage from the Void is thick enough to let you draw the blade without it consuming your soul.
"Suddenly, the ground trembled. From beneath the crystalline dunes, a pack of Mana-Glass Ravagers erupted. These were Level 35 Gold-Rank predators, their bodies made of translucent blue glass and their eyes glowing with a predatory, cold intelligence."Six of them," Seraphina noted, her hand dropping to her rapier. "I'll take the flank. You handle the lead. Show me that SSS-Rank logic I know you're hiding.
"Kaito didn't hesitate. He summoned Luna, and the Celestial Fox materialized in a flash of starlight, her five tails fanning out like a crown."Luna, Dimensional Warp!"Instead of a simple blink, Kaito used his SSS-rank synergy to expand Luna's space-manipulation.
The air around the Ravagers fractured.[Skill Activated: Spatial Displacement]Kaito didn't just move himself; he swapped the positions of the two lead Ravagers mid-lunge. They collided with one another, their glass bodies shattering into thousands of razor-sharp shards."My turn," Kaito growled.
He pulled the Void-Slayer Katana.The obsidian blade hummed with a deep, hungry vibration. In the high-density mana of the Grey Zone, the golden runes on the blade didn't just glow; they bled a dark, violet light.[Void-Slayer Katana: Partial Sync (10%)][Skill Activated: Gravity Rend]Kaito swung. He didn't use a physical strike. He swung at the space between him and the remaining monsters.
A localized black hole erupted at the tip of the blade, dragging the Ravagers into its center before crushing them into dust.
[Experience Gained: 85,000][Level Progress: 18,000 / 50,000 (To Level 31)]
As the last of the Ravagers fell, their energy cores didn't dissipate. They were drawn toward Kaito's rucksack, sucked into the
Unidentified Egg like iron filings to a magnet.
[Synchronization: 45%][Status: Maturation Phase 1 Complete — Form Solidifying]
Kaito sheathed the blade, his chest heaving. The sheer power of the SSS-Rank skills combined with the Star Rank 5 weapon was intoxicating, but the drain on his stamina was still immense.Seraphina walked over to him, her expression a mix of awe and a deepening, silent worry. She reached out, her fingers brushing the sweat-soaked hair from his forehead."You're a monster, Kaito Yamada," she whispered, her emerald eyes reflecting the violet sky. "I've seen A-Rank veterans struggle with half that much mana output. If the Order sees what you just did... they won't send assassins. They'll send an army.""Then let them come," Kaito said, his voice dropping an octave, the golden light of his [Monarch's Domain] reflecting in his eyes.
The distance between them closed. The cold wind of the Grey Zone seemed to vanish, replaced by the heat radiating from their proximity. Seraphina's professional mask was crumbling; she wasn't just his instructor anymore. She was a woman looking at the only person who could truly stand beside her in the void."Kaito..." she started, her hand lingering on his cheek.
But the moment was shattered by a thunderous crack from the horizon. A massive pillar of black light erupted into the sky, miles away, yet the shockwave knocked them both back a step."A Void-Rupture," Seraphina said, her voice turning back to steel. She grabbed Kaito's hand, her grip tight and urgent. "The Order is forcing the zone to collapse. They're trying to drown us in the Void."Kaito gripped her hand back, his resolve hardening.
He could feel the Unidentified Egg vibrating against his spine, screaming for the energy at the center of that light."We don't run from it," Kaito said, looking at the black pillar. "We go to the center. That rupture is the only thing that can hatch this egg."Seraphina looked at him, a fierce, proud smile finally breaking through. "Then we move. No more lessons, Kaito. Let's go show them why they should have left the Anomaly alone."Together, they sprinted toward the heart of the calamity, two streaks of light—one crimson, one gold—racing against the darkness.