Ascension of the Grand Aura Master
I sat cross-legged with my eyes closed, circulating Yeongcheon-gigong. In this world I had barely trained the Heavenly Demon Divine Art at all. I could still use it if I had to, but it would never deliver the effect or power I wanted. The familiar Yeongcheon-gigong was far superior.
The Dragon Lord's energy is hard to control.
Even so, I could not give up. I had to make this power completely my own.
Focus… Focus…
A deep rumble of thunder rolled through the air.
Another crash followed.
I had no idea how many hours had passed. With my eyes shut I could not see the sky, but the weather outside might well have been at its worst. Fortunately, no rain fell.
Thunder pealed again, louder this time.
Something felt wrong. I had thought the sound was coming from outside, yet the thunder was booming inside me.
The moment I recognized it, its true nature became clear.
It was the Dragon Lord's energy.
Dragon qi had turned into lightning and was racing freely through my body.
Crash after crash of thunder. Each time the lightning tore through me, my meridians felt as though they were being scraped raw. Pain was a warning that something was dangerously wrong.
I seized the lightning with the hand of my will. Again and again it slipped free and fled. The only mercy was that it still raged only inside my body. I had to catch it and plant it at my center before it could escape.
Damn it… In the other worlds I never had to go through this kind of hassle.
My real-world self was weaker than I was now. Perhaps one day I would face this same process there as well.
In God's Atlantis I had grown without obstruction—partly because I had not clung to Yeongcheon-ryu alone, and partly because the Atlantis system had helped me.
In The Path of Radiant Ascension I had possessed talent. Even if that talent had been granted by the Heavenly River Star system rather than being truly mine, the fact that I held it did not change.
In The Academy's Savior I had never valued Yeongcheon-ryu all that highly. There were other ways to wield power; if necessary I could simply fall back on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. That version of me had felt freer in many respects.
Should I use Time of the Genius? No. Something on this level I should handle with my own strength.
It did not feel especially difficult. A few more attempts and I would succeed.
Around the fortieth try, I caught the lightning.
It thrashed, trying to break free of my will. I focused harder, pouring strength into my intent, and dragged the lightning toward my center. After a brief struggle it submitted and let itself be pulled.
I brought it to my core. Left alone it would certainly start moving again, so I drove it straight into the center—almost as if commanding it to be absorbed.
Part of the lightning sank into me. The rest refused to be absorbed, yet neither did it leave the center. The lightning had come completely under my control.
My eyes snapped open.
The mana around me surged wildly. I soothed it, and to my surprise it obeyed at once.
…I've reached the rank of Master.
The same realm Yuria had attained years ago, the same realm Kyle had reached—I had now stepped into it as well.
I started to rise from the lotus position and only then noticed I was completely naked. Shreds of clothing, flakes of skin, and traces of filth lay scattered around me. I recognized them for what they were: proof of physical rebirth.
My skin feels silky smooth.
My body was light and overflowing with strength. My mood lifted along with it.
I stood and looked straight ahead.
Yuria was still seated in the lotus position. Shadows whirled and surged around her.
How many hours have passed?
I checked my smartphone. Three full days had gone by.
I toyed with the phone while I waited for her. Yuria was ascending to the rank of Grand Aura Master. I could not miss that great and historic moment.
She sat at the heart of the shadows. The writhing darkness wrapped around her like a living guard.
A short while later a message appeared before my eyes.
Summon duration has ended.
Elena Valdert is being reverse-summoned.
God's Atlantis is now activating.
Elena had returned to her original world.
Until ninety days of real-world time had passed, I would not be able to summon her again.
A little disappointing, but once I entered the world of God's Atlantis I would meet her once more.
The change in Yuria came on the tenth day.
Her body rose gently into the air, floating about a meter above the ground. In that state the shadows surrounding her poured into her.
The ferocious Dragon Lord energy I had felt earlier was gone. Everything had fallen silent.
Yet I stared with my mouth open in shock. Having reached the rank of Aura Master myself, I could now sense even a fragment of the immense power radiating from her.
Yuria had transcended humanity.
No—she was still transcending. Even now she continued to grow stronger.
Golden light gathered behind her back. From the earth, shadows surged upward to meet that radiance. The golden glow was a halo like the sun itself—and then the sun was swallowed by shadow.
A solar eclipse.
A shadow that had devoured the sun.
Awe filled me. This woman was mine. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I wanted her to open her eyes as soon as possible.
Something else happened—this time a change that struck Yuria directly. First her maid uniform could no longer withstand the energy and crumbled away. I knew that uniform had been magically treated to be tougher than most armor.
I thought it wouldn't even burn in ordinary fire… and it just disintegrated like that?
Astonished, I kept watching.
Moments later cracks spider-webbed across her skin, like a mirror on the verge of shattering. No blood appeared.
It's finally beginning. This is exactly as it was in the original.
Just as original Kyle had done, she was undergoing the final physical rebirth.
White flames ignited on her skin. The pale fire consumed the cracked surface until nothing remained.
The skin beneath was pure white, almost luminous. White flames also caught in her silver hair, making it more vibrant even as the strands lengthened. What had once reached near her hips now trailed all the way to the ground.
Yuria's face itself had not changed much. She was still beautiful.
If I look closely she seems a little more sacred… and her breasts might have grown about two centimeters.
Her nails and pubic hair had also grown considerably. The nails were more than five centimeters long, and the hair between her legs was thick and lush. It would need tending later.
After a little more time the halo behind her faded. Her body, which had floated a meter high, slowly descended to the ground.
Yuria opened her eyes. I stared into those blue irises. A mysterious light seemed to shine within them, and I found myself captivated.
"Master."
She rose and walked toward me. Her lengthened silver hair dragged along the floor. When she reached me I pulled her into my arms. Her warm, soft body pressed against mine. For the record, I was just as naked as she was.
"Yuria. Congratulations on reaching the rank of Grand Master."
"Thank you, Master. You have also ascended to Master. My congratulations to you as well."
I felt her hands rest against my back.
We stayed like that for a long while, simply holding each other.
"Yuria."
"Yes."
"Marry me."
"…Yes!"
Our lips met naturally, then parted.
Yuria set about putting herself in order. It took her less than ten minutes to transform back into the perfect maid she always was. She trimmed the overgrown hair and nails. As for the pubic hair, I handled that myself. I briefly considered shaping it into a heart or a star, then simply shaved everything clean. While I was at it I slipped a finger inside her. Her pussy clenched around it eagerly, as if it had been waiting.
Even the shape of her pussy looks prettier, and the inner walls move more vigorously than before… Calling this a five-star Pussychelin rating wouldn't be an exaggeration! This is a divine pussy!
Truly five-star quality.
Even Artemis, who had actually been a goddess, had not possessed a pussy quite like this.
I wanted to take her right there on the spot, but the sudden appearance of a demonic beast prevented it. Sensing that Yuria's energy had weakened, it had come to attack.
Of course her power had not weakened at all. She had simply drawn it inward and concealed it.
Yuria drew a dagger and brought it down in a single vertical slash toward the winged, ox-like beast.
The demonic beast—and the mountain behind it—were split cleanly in two.
My jaw dropped.
Even the original Grand Master Kyle… I don't think he was ever this strong…
One downward stroke of a dagger had cleaved a mountain. What terrifying power.
Well, she isn't an ordinary Grand Aura Master.
Yuria was both a Grand Aura Master and a Grand Archmage. No being in this world could stand against her—not even a dragon. The Demon King might be another story, but that was all.
"Yuria. Could you cut the sky itself if you wanted?"
"I'm not sure. From the way I feel right now… it might actually be possible."
Instead of returning to the mansion we headed for the place where the Demon's Gate stood. It was time to deal with it.
Previously we had left it alone because we lacked a proper method of disposal. That was no longer the case. The Demon's Gate was better destroyed. Leaving it intact only meant more demonic beasts and the gradual corruption of the world into the Demon World. Nothing good would come of it.
"Yuria. Destroy it."
"Understood."
"It won't cause any problems if we just erase it like this, right?"
"The sooner it is gone, the better. It does not appear to hold any research value worth taking with us."
Yuria cast a spell. Shadows erupted from beneath the Demon's Gate, rising like a tidal wave that swallowed the structure whole and crushed it to pieces. That was all. It was over so easily that the whole affair felt almost anticlimactic.
"You could handle it that easily? I thought even the dragon Priscilla had a hard time dealing with one of these."
"The reason the Demon's Gate was difficult to destroy was a matter of rank. The gate itself possessed a high rank. The previous me would have struggled considerably."
"So the current you outranks the Demon's Gate."
"Yes."
Yuria smiled softly.
I stared at her blankly. How should I put it? She had grown so strong that something felt off—almost awkward. She stood right in front of me, yet at the same time she seemed farther away.
"Master. The power I hold is formidable, yet compared to the power you possess it is nothing. The strength you wield could rightly be called the power of a god."
She took my hand in both of hers and pressed it against her chest. Softness met my palm.
"My power, my body, my soul and my heart—all of them belong to Master. If you wish it, I can remove my clothes this very instant."
"…Mm."
Not a single fragment of falsehood. Pure sincerity.
I let my gaze travel slowly down her body. Lust and curiosity rose together.
Yuria was, without question, the strongest being in this world. And that strongest being was mine—to do with as I pleased. I reached out and stroked her cheek. She did not pull away.
"Before we return to the mansion, let's check right here how your body has changed."
With a soft rustle, Yuria's maid uniform slid downward.
"Yes, Master. Please examine every corner of my body. And once again… imprint upon me who the true owner of this body is."
In the empty mountain forest we spent half a day tangled together before finally returning to the mansion.