Chapter 6 – The Core That Shouldn't Break
1 year into the Dimension | Internal time: Year 4
---
The world didn't move.
The wind had stopped.
Only the pulse of Yuu's own heart remained. Steady. Slow. Defiant.
Standing in the shattered ruins of the training arena, his body was whole—but barely.
His sixth resurrection had come with a delay.
For the first time… the Goddess had hesitated.
And now, Yuu stood at the edge of something different. A test not of technique… but of limit.
He exhaled.
A jagged crack had appeared across his mana core—deep inside his chest, where energy circulated.
It wasn't physical. But it was real.
One more overload might destroy it permanently.
But he didn't care.
Across from him, the twin monsters had regenerated.
The Abyssal Warden's blades were ablaze once more.
The Titan Gorebeast's cracked tusk had regrown—this time coated in obsidian and glowing red veins.
Together, they stepped forward.
Each one radiating pressure so dense, the arena's floating stone tiles started to crumble around them.
Dust swirled.
And Yuu whispered.
Let's begin.
---
Opening Frame: First Movement
The Gorebeast charged.
Its tusks ripped through the air like battering rams, forming pressure walls ahead of the impact.
Yuu didn't dodge. He crouched.
Air warped around his feet.
He whispered.
Gravity Veil. Phantom Step. Sky Sever.
He exploded forward.
Boom.
The sound barrier cracked behind him.
He slashed across the Gorebeast's flank.
Blood sprayed. The beast howled.
The Warden jumped from behind—its twin blades spinning like saws.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Three strikes.
Yuu blocked the first. Parried the second.
The third cleaved into his shoulder.
Blood burst from the wound, trailing across the air like a comet.
He spun through it. Twisted beneath the follow-up. Slashed into the Warden's ribs with glowing energy.
The arena trembled.
Mana cracked from the walls like lightning veins.
He was faster now. Sharper.
But the pain was deeper too.
His core pulsed once.
Twice.
Then… shivered.
---
Scene Two: Collapse
They didn't stop.
The Gorebeast stomped with its front legs, causing a shockwave that split the floor in two.
Yuu fell into the drop.
Below—darkness.
The Warden leapt after him, spinning midair.
He kicked off the falling debris.
They clashed mid-descent.
Steel. Bone. Flesh. Flame.
Clang. Crash. Boom.
A blade cut through his leg.
Another grazed his jaw.
The impact of the Warden's aura crushed his lungs.
He retaliated.
Sky Sever. A diagonal slash of wind, upward from below.
The Warden's arm was severed.
But the price…
Yuu landed hard.
His leg snapped.
Crack.
He gasped, biting his tongue to stay awake.
The Gorebeast landed next to him—its entire body descending in a thunderous drop.
Boom.
Debris flew.
Yuu was buried.
---
Death #7
A claw pierced through the stone and into his back.
He jerked forward, coughing blood.
Then the Warden followed. Blades extended.
No strength left to dodge.
The blades passed through his chest.
And that was it.
---
You died – 7
---
Void Sequence – Fragmented Soul
Yuu floated in darkness again.
But this time, it was… unstable.
His body wasn't re-forming.
He tried to speak, but his voice echoed wrong.
The Goddess appeared slower than usual. Her robe was disheveled, hair loose. Her breath was uneven.
"You're close to losing it," she said.
"My core," Yuu rasped.
"It's cracking."
He didn't ask what would happen if it shattered. He already knew.
"Let it break," he said.
Her eyes widened.
"If it breaks," she whispered, "you'll stop being human."
He stared at her calmly.
"Good."
She stepped closer.
"There's another method," she said. "But it's forbidden."
"Why?"
"Because it merges divine flow into a mortal frame. Your body can't handle it. You'll either ascend—or disintegrate."
"Then teach me."
She narrowed her gaze.
"Why do you keep walking forward when everything screams at you to stop?"
He met her eyes.
"Because this path is mine. And I won't let anything else shape it."
---
Resurrection – Divine Flow Initiated
Yuu awoke with new veins of mana running beneath his skin.
Silver threads moved under his flesh like tiny rivers.
His eyes were colder now. Sharper.
The monsters stood waiting.
Even they sensed something had changed.
Yuu took one step.
The floor shattered under his foot.
Boom.
The Goddess watched from high above.
"He's forcing divine flow through a broken core," she said aloud.
"No one's ever done that."
---
Final Phase – Divine Resonance Combat
The monsters charged simultaneously.
Yuu moved between them.
Faster than before.
He left afterimages—six, nine, twelve frames of motion behind him.
Phantom Step expanded.
Gravity Veil hardened.
Sky Sever became something else—longer, sharper, layered in divine edge.
The blade slashed through the Warden's defenses.
Its left blade arm severed completely. Black fire gushed from the stump.
The Gorebeast roared and dove, attempting to slam him into the wall.
Yuu extended his hand.
Gravity pulse.
The monster's leap slowed midair.
He appeared above it.
Slashed downward—vertical, clean.
Blood and bone erupted as the tusk shattered again.
He landed, knees bent, and looked upward.
Both monsters came again.
And again.
And again.
Every time, Yuu countered.
He was bleeding. One eye shut. Ribs broken again.
But he didn't fall.
He only moved forward.
Every slash cracked the arena deeper.
The walls began to fall apart.
The sky flickered—mana field destabilizing.
And Yuu smiled.
---
Final Death – Voluntary
He looked at the Goddess, far above.
She was watching.
He nodded.
Then turned.
And let both monsters strike.
Blades and tusks tore through him.
He didn't resist.
Didn't scream.
He died on his own terms.
---
You died – 8
---
Aftermath – Goddess Conversation
He floated again.
But this time, his soul was intact.
No fragmentation. No flickering.
The Goddess stood in front of him.
"…You let it happen."
He nodded.
"I needed to reset before it broke completely."
She walked toward him. Her voice quieter now.
"You're becoming something else."
He looked up at her.
"Why are you helping me?"
She paused.
Then smiled softly.
"Because you're the only mortal who ever asked the right question."
"…Which was?"
"Why."
She turned her back to him.
"And I'll keep helping you… because the thing that's coming can't be stopped by gods alone."
Yuu stared at her. "Then train me to do what gods can't."
The light returned.
---
Chapter End