Chapter 16: Throughout Heaven and Earth

[Third Person's Point of View]

The artificial sun was like a fiery orb, hovering over the house as it reached its peak in the sky. Its bright rays illuminated the small plumes of smoke that rose gracefully from the chimney, blending with the blue sky. The two-storied house stood tall and proud, surrounded by lush greenery on all sides. Beyond the trees, a shimmering pond could be seen at the back of the house.

The kitchen was alive with the aroma of sizzling food, and a dashing man with dark locks stood at the stove, cooking his breakfast. The melodic hum of his voice filled the air as he expertly prepared his meal.

"....inside out, yeah, I'm floating around in ecstasy...So Don't Stop Me....", he sang softly as he sprinkled some pepper into the pan sizzling with eggs, sausages and cherry tomatoes.

As he sang along to the song's lyrics, he felt invincible. While Augustus was aware that his influence was still limited in the grand scheme of things, he also understood the true impact of the power he had obtained just two nights before.

He served himself a plate of breakfast, later than usual for his standards. As he made his way to the dining table, his hands were empty, and the plates floated behind him as if they had a mind of their own, neatly landing on the table in front of him.

"Hmm...no problem with the control", He couldn't help but smile as he sat down and dug into his meal. Ever since he received his promotion and upgrades to his powers, sleep had been the last thing on his mind. Instead, he spent the entire last day like a child with a new toy, testing out his new abilities and powers.

By the time he stopped, the sun had already set and he was too exhausted to do anything else. He drifted off to sleep immediately and didn't wake up until late the next morning, which explained why he was having a late breakfast today.

"Need to test out how far my physicals have improved', Augustus reminded himself having missed out on the opportunity to do so yesterday.

He was so excited about his innate technique, that he neglected to try out his other improvement. 

As he finally finished his breakfast, the clock showed that it was already halfway through the day. Stepping into his backyard, he gazed at his reflection in the still pond before him.

He pulled up his shirt and immediately noticed that his body had become more sculpted and defined.

His physique was like a masterfully sculpted glass sculpture, every muscle precisely contoured. Broad shoulders tapered into a narrow waist, where a six-pack rippled like wind-swept water. His strong arms spoke of hours in the pool, honing his speed and endurance. It was a functional powerhouse, every fibre and sinew honed for speed, endurance, and agility.

[Multi-Lightning Arrow]

Seven powerful arrows formed from crackling bolts of lightning appeared above his head, arranged in a neat inverted U-shape.

He couldn't help but shiver every time he witnessed the speed at which his magic manifested. It was like watching a movie on fast-forward, as instead of taking the usual amount of time to form, his magic simply appeared in an instant. There were no signs or signals before it happened, no recitation of spells or drawing of magic circles, and no gradual buildup of lights. It was almost too easy and instantaneous to believe.

It seemed as though it had been there all along, just concealed by a powerful invisibility spell.

Snap

He anapped his fingers, and the lightning bolts shot off into the distance at such a speed that even his enhanced Keen Instincts could barely keep track.

A cold sweat ran down his spine as he knew what it meant. His medium-grade Keen Instincts, which was at this point full-blown sixth-sense on steroids were warning him that there was a 30% chance that he would get hit by those same arrows if he was at the receiving end of it.

The same Keen Instincts whose 'low' version let him emerge unscathed in all of his fights ever since he got it. 

Augustus had a harsh realization after the last battle - his strength was not as great as he believed it to be. Though he could hold his own against a high-class devil in hand-to-hand combat, that same devil could easily destroy the entire gang Augustus fought with, in less than 5 minutes. He was nowhere near close to matching it.

His matching a High class in close quarters would only be possible against the weaker, mage-type ones, even then he would have lost comfortably before his promotion. Why?

Magic.

With his Innate Technique, he could easily discern the gap between those who were skilled in magic and those who were not. The difference was significant, to say the least.

[Wood Release: Kanzeon Lotus King]

In the blink of an eye, a massive wooden sculpture of the hundred-armed bodhisattva Kannon appeared before him, its head adorned with miniature faces in a ring.

The gigantic wooden statue, standing at over 100 meters tall, would have grabbed the attention of the entire city. However, a powerful barrier shrouded the estate and kept it hidden from view.

The statue of the bodhisattva came to life with an eerie creak, its wooden appendages extending from its back and honing in on Augustus at a surprisingly quick speed. Its eyes opened as it moved towards him, seemingly targeting him with its gaze.

Augustus bolstered himself with Demonic energy and launched off the ground, his bat-like wings unfurling from his back.

With a significant boost to all of his physical abilities, his Strong body and Keen Instincts allowed him to perceive his surroundings with heightened awareness. He effortlessly swatted away the first few hands like they were mere balloons, while simultaneously making his way towards the massive statue in front of him.

From an outsider's point of view, it might look comical, like a tabby cat charging towards a mighty elephant, but in this case, it was the tabby cat who was more dangerous.

The miniature faces on the head opened up, each casting spells of different spells for a total of five elements.

A purple-white shield encircled Augustus as the spells crashed against it, but failed to delay him even for a moment.

The other hundreds of hands joined in as they locked onto his figure, but he deftly evaded them, making his way towards the statue's face, with his right hand balled up into a tight fist and swung it with all his might.

Boom

A powerful blast erupted from the statue, sending debris flying in all directions. The once solid structure shattered into countless fragments, raining down like sharp wooden projectiles.

The shockwave from the explosion shattered every window in his house, and it would have done the same for neighbouring homes if there hadn't been a barrier blocking its path.

"At least an Island-Level", He mentally calculated the extent of destruction, surveying the aftermath with a clenched fist. The once serene surroundings were now ravaged, marked by deep craters, uprooted trees, an expanded pond, and his home in ruins.

[Rewind- 10 minutes]

Sighing, he extended his arms forward, as the scenery in front of him transformed before his eyes. The tiles, bricks, and wooden furniture all seemed to have a life of their own as they shifted and rearranged. Water droplets magically returned to the pond and the fish swam back into their rightful place. The soil filled in any craters or holes, and even the house repaired itself as if it had never been damaged.

In less than thirty seconds, the area returned to its previous state before the brief exchange. It was almost magical, as though time had reversed itself. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

What the magic spell rewinded was not time, but instead it rearranged the matter to its previous position. Since matter could not be destroyed, just fragments that broke away due to the blast.

His magic just put them back in their original position, as they were 10 minutes ago. However, this magic required a significant amount of demonic energy, increasing exponentially as the desired timeframe for rewinding extended.

Today, he had performed magic that should have been impossible for him to do, especially without a magic circle. But in moments like these, he was reminded of just how powerful and game-breaking his new innate technique truly was, considering that he was only a devil with magic reserves at the higher end of the middle-class.

Both the spell Wood Style: Kanzeon Lotus King and Rewind- 10 minutes took the demonic energy equivalent of one Fireball each, cast without utilising his Innate Technique. Before obtaining the system, he could only manage to cast about twenty-four [Fireball] spells before becoming exhausted. Now, he could easily cast a couple hundred of such magic without the usage of Eikyū Mugen Sōzō

Now with his technique, such out-of-the-world spells could be cast at a meagre energy expenditure that would leave every mage-type supernatural being in the world looking at him in extreme envy.

He couldn't determine what was more frightening: his ability to flawlessly cast spells on the first try, the minimal cost of these spells, or the fact that he could regenerate the demonic energy he expended till now in a mere 8 seconds. This meant that by the time he finished reversing everything, he was back to full tank.

"The Six Eyes have a new competitor ahaha--huh?", he intended the statement as a light-hearted joke, but stopped short as a sudden realization hit him like a wave. He was too caught up in his newfound abilities that he had completely ignored the nagging feeling at the back

Innate Technique

The word was too familiar to him to not be disturbed by its likeness.

With a quick use of [Teleport], he materialized in his bedroom, hastily making his way to the Personal Computer on the other side of his bed.

The rise of computers in the underworld had been a recent trend, with his town being so isolated that many residents were still without one.

However, his father purchased one for him during their trip to the capital.

He powered on the computer and opened his internet browser, navigating to a search engine where he typed a single name.

'Gojo Satoru'

His eyes darted across the screen, widening with surprise as he came across images of a blindfolded man with white hair.

In contrast to his previous world, these images were not flat and two-dimensional. They depicted a living, breathing sorcerer, existing in the real world.

'The Strongest Human Alive' read the headline of one of the articles.

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Author-san here.

Well, you guys did complete the Powerstone goal, but by the time it happened, it was already Thursday over here so....

I'll throw in something extra at the weekend to compensate. Don't worry.

Let's get to 110 stones for this chapter, making it our first centurion week!

So, please do VOTE.

And leave a comment and review if you like the chapter and the story so far. Deal?

See you guys tomorrow.