Chapter 639: Six-Fold Kaio-ken!
If one were to look down from a satellite weather map, they would see the cloud layers over Antarctica vanish in an instantaneous flash. The terrifying lightning storm was so violent that its resplendent glow could be clearly detected even when peering down from the upper atmosphere of the planet.
The frenzied electrical currents sparked and died continuously in the sky. Strands of lightning slithered through the air like a massive nest of colossal serpents.
This was a [Shocking Heaven Thunder Roar] of unprecedented magnitude. Standing in this unique polar region of Antarctica, Kaito Shirogane felt his structural mastery over the magnetic field amplify to a level he had never experienced before.
This was practically the very first time he had forcefully manipulated a planetary magnetic field of this scale. No longer relying entirely on his personal internal energy reserves as a foundation, he directly catalyzed and twisted the magnetic field of the Antarctic continent, pairing it with the terrifying electrical output stored within his own heart and acupuncture points.
Together, they unleashed an unimaginably cataclysmic lightning storm.
Under the violent stimulation of this high-intensity electrical current and localized lightning field, the pitch-black symbiote biomass practically lost all its cellular activity, desperately attempting to tear itself free and strip away from Kaito's body.
Kaito looked up, watching the massive draconic maw roiling with thick columns of black smoke directly above his head. Shaking unsteadily for a fraction of a second, the beast was on the verge of plummeting back into the deep.
He formed a hollow grip with his left hand. His mastery over the Cloud-Dispersing Palm had long since reached the realm of absolute perfection; a violent wave of vacuum-like kinetic suction force erupted instantly, forcefully drawing the colossal dragon head right back to his palm.
As the absolute pinnacle among symbiote dragons, Grendel possessed a tier of immortality that could be classified as top-tier. Rooted firmly in the unique properties of the Living Abyss, it remained impossible to truly kill even after being thoroughly routed by an All-Father God of Thunder in ancient times.
It could execute regeneration an infinite number of number of times.
But now, having endured millions of years of prehistoric isolation beneath the ice, completely severed from the collective link and sensory guidance of Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, it had been weakened down to its absolute, miserable baseline.
At this exact moment, its ravenous internal absorption force had virtually ceased to exist.
Kaito Shirogane clamped his hand around the colossal draconic maw, the smile splitting his face twisting into a manic, near-deformed grin. He had thoroughly, intensely savored that sensation of primordial chaos from moments ago. He had a profound premonition that this specific void of absolute chaos was the exact path of power his soul was truly meant to pursue.
That was a pristine, untouched frontier of absolute, unpolluted domain!
Subsequently, Kaito slightly flexed and arched his frame. His current three-meter-tall physique bulged violently as blocks of hyper-dense musculature punched through his skin, while the internal Ki and Satsui no Hadou within his energy core began to aggressively and simultaneously skyrocket.
In a single, fractions-of-a-second flash, golden Ki and a dense shroud of blood-red Satsui no Hadou violently breached the boundaries of his flesh, erupting upward into the atmosphere like a colossal geyser.
The structural limits of his power were instantaneously shattered. Physical body tempering, energetic capacity, and spiritual focus transcended their absolute thresholds in perfect unison.
[Kaio-ken], activate!
Kaito's long black hair, which had been whipping wildly around him like a nest of black serpents, frozen for a microsecond before violently blasting straight upward against gravity.
In the very next instant, the symbiote tissue parasitizing the exterior surface of his Qilin Scales was the first to fracture and disintegrate. A monumental physical load—one that completely eclipsed the pressure of any standard biological infestation—slammed into his system.
It was as if any foreign material that dared to form a structural connection with this body was currently trapped inside a colossal furnace, being systematically roasted and reduced to mere fuel to feed the flames.
Kaito Shirogane's entire frame trembled violently. He was going to forcefully push the Kaio-ken into an entirely unmapped boundary of power, using the sheer internal pressure to completely forge the biomass of the Symbiote Dragon Grendel into an absolute part of his own biological framework.
Under the crushing duress of this monumental load, he intended to systematically fuse the hyper-intense cellular vitality forged from his Flesh Furnace together with the anti-life primordial matter born from the Living Abyss.
"Ugh... Ah...!"
An involuntary, guttural roar tore from Kaito's throat, steadily growing in volume until it echoed like thunder across the ice. The musculature and meridian pathways across his body began to visibly split and fracture under the stress.
A dense mist of blood sprayed from his pores, rapidly staining the sky-tearing column of golden Ki into a brilliant, golden-crimson hue.
Six-Fold Kaio-ken!
During his previous regression and contemplation within the [Root], Kaito had meticulously trained his mastery over the Kaio-ken. Currently sitting at a proficiency tier of Lv4 Kaio-ken, he could theoretically scale the technique up to an absolute maximum output of eight-fold—however, his physical vessel simply lacked the capacity to withstand the stress.
Even with the liberation of the Limiter's first threshold active, it remained entirely insufficient to support the structural load of an eight-fold Kaio-ken.
At this precise moment, he was triggering a six-fold output for the very first time in active combat. The apocalyptic internal load and concussive pressure were simply not something a standard mortal flesh-and-blood frame could hope to endure.
The hyper-activated, chaotic Ki rampaged through Kaito's internal pathways like a localized nuclear detonation, battering his internal structure from every conceivable angle. His vital organs were reduced to a ruined state in a single fraction of a second, his skin flushed an absolute, incandescent red, and his capillary network completely fractured under the pressure.
Yet, Kaito Shirogane—possessing the cheat-like attribute of instantaneous self-regeneration—paid the catastrophic damage absolutely zero mind. His consciousness stood entirely detached from his flesh, observing the physical collapse as if the body did not belong to him at all. As long as a path allowed him to forcefully step into a grander boundary of existence, touching the absolute apex of raw power...
He didn't care a single shred about the agonizing parameters of the pain!
"Ha!"
He threw his arms wide. His entire being looked as if it were being completely impaled and anchored by the columns of Ki erupting from within his core. The energy classification known as [Ki] simultaneously paired an exaggerated capacity for long-range external destruction together with a absolute, brute-force reinforcement effect when channeled inward.
However, when forced to compress and act directly upon the user's own physical vessel, it generated a punishing, crushing load. If one were to describe the sensation, it felt exactly as if a heavy industrial steamroller were methodically and relentlessly compacting his flesh down to a hyper-dense layer.
The moment the foundational density of the flesh failed to meet the structural requirements of the output, the entire vessel would violently detonate into a spray of gore.
Bang!
Kaito tilted his head slightly, calmly observing his right arm violently detonate into a cloud of red mist as his flawless, absolute kinetic control experienced a micro-second of chaotic disruption. A fraction of a second later, dense columns of blood mist began to erupt from multiple vectors across his entire frame.
He refused to delay another second. The smile splitting his face grew into an even wider, monstrously distorted mask of pure ecstasy. He unhinged his jaw completely, forcing his mouth open to an impossible, unnatural width that defied human anatomy.
Roar!
Grendel instantly captured the terrifying, predatory intent of its prey. Yet, in its severely weakened state, it could only unleash a vacant, instinctual roar. In the very next fraction of a second, a massive bite slammed cleanly through its neck!
Splat!
Kaito Shirogane bit straight into the pitch-black symbiote tissue. The substance possessed a structural flavor that was practically indistinguishable from raw, processed clay, though its physical texture was exceptionally, piercingly cold.
If it hadn't been for the fact that Grendel's unique baseline properties rendered it completely impossible to kill—which systematically prevented him from treating its symbiote biomass as a valid cooking ingredient to apply the effects of his [Cook] skill—he would have gladly wasted a few minutes of operational time to manipulate Grendel's material into something profoundly delicious.
This specific, bizarre calculation rippled casually through Kaito's mind. In truth, while the developmental ceiling of the [Cook] skill was astronomically high, Kaito had rarely shown any interest in allocating resources toward expanding his capabilities along those non-combat paths.
Virtually every single scrap of resource and Singularity he amassed was systematically converted into raw, unadulterated nourishment to fuel the development of this monstrous physical vessel and its terrifying capacity for destruction.
Squelch!
Kaito aggressively chewed and swallowed the high-tier biological tissue of Grendel. The colossal dragon head that he had just violently yanked out from his own chest cavities was now being forcefully and systematically eaten right back down his throat!
The parasitic structures that had erupted across his skin following the initial infestation were continuously dying off and shedding away due to the catastrophic, sub-atomic load of the active six-fold Kaio-ken. Yet now, through this grotesque, predatory inversion, his cells were beginning to absorb a massive wave of fresh biological reinforcement.
Splat! Squelch!
Kaito swallowed the biomass with monstrous, unrestrained force. Rather than resembling a human being, his current three-meter-tall frame looked identical to a primeval, high-tier aberration.
The colossal draconic maw of Grendel was finally completely anchored beneath Kaito's hands. At this exact moment, his ruptured right arm completed its absolute, structural regeneration. Likely due to the integration of the fresh cosmic material, Kaito's newly forged right hand presented an absolute, pitch-black coloration.
Having previously divested himself of the entire [Haki] developmental system to forcefully seed it into the soul of young Parker, the flesh of his limb had once again returned to a dense, obsidian hue.
This high-tier symbiote biomass had achieved a total, seamless molecular fusion with his underlying musculature, revealing a brand-new threshold of structural density.
It was exactly as if a layer of living cosmic bio-alloy had been systematically injected directly into his muscle fibers.
Kaito could distinctly feel that this newly forged right arm, whether examined through the metrics of absolute structural hardness or pure kinetic tensile strength, completely eclipsed anything his body had possessed prior to this descent.
Boom!
The total, unmitigated majesty of the Six-Fold Kaio-ken exploded outward at full capacity. The column of pure Ki shot into the exosphere, completely and flawlessly dispersing the cloud layers over the entire Antarctic continent.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A massive, rhythmic sound resembling the concussive beat of a titanic war drum began to echo across the frozen skies of Antarctica.
Kaito Shirogane threw his arms wide, tilting his head back slightly into the freezing gale. Sensing the absolute, unmatched torrent of pure, unadulterated violence roaring through his veins, his entire being settled into a state of profound, unprecedented satisfaction.
"This is what it means to possess... power~"
Subsequently, a brilliant crimson shard of shifting light manifested within Kaito's hand. It was the exceptionally precious Sephiroth known as the [Crimson Choirs].
It was a foundational material that structurally represented a literal cornerstone of reality across the Infinite Dimension Space.
Merely holding the artifact within his palm, his soul could distinctly capture that raw, absolute authority designed to systematically purge and redefine all creation.
[Warning, Special Reincarnator EX051. You have ingested an unmapped, hyper-active primordial substance. This operation will inflict an irreversible, structural alteration upon your physical framework.]
[Do you wish to deploy Special Creation · Sephiroth · Crimson Choirs to systematically repair and ascend your damaged developmental stairway: Stairway of Life?]
[Warning! After deploying Sephiroth · Crimson Choirs, your soul coordinates will be permanently and explicitly marked by The Primordial Dragon Court and The Living Tribunal. This action is irreversible.]
Kaito let out a low, deeply amused sneer. The Space truly was desperate to reclaim a resource as high-tier as a Sephiroth; it systematically tacked on a massive wall of catastrophic warnings every single time he brought the item into play.
"Deploy."
(End of Chapter)
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter