"You don't need to think too much about it."
Yamazaki Kudo spoke casually, as if no matter how big a problem was, it would eventually just pass like dust. He crossed his arms over his chest, standing with the calm demeanor of a teacher who had seen far too much in life.
Kazuma shook his head slightly.
"I'm not really thinking about it… it's just that I still remember what she said earlier."
Yamazaki tilted his head a little.
"What?"
Kazuma answered without changing his expression.
"She wanted me to be her dog."
For a few seconds, Yamazaki did not react.
"…Huh?"
His tone sounded flat, as if he thought he had misheard.
Kazuma gave a small shrug.
"You didn't hear it wrong," he said casually. "Her dog."
Silence immediately filled the dojo.
The television in the corner was still broadcasting news about MDF, the announcer's voice faintly echoing in the background. But inside the dojo, the atmosphere suddenly felt much heavier.
Yamazaki stared at Kazuma for a moment.
Then slowly, he raised his hand and covered his face.
"…Kid," he muttered at last.
His voice sounded like someone who had just realized his student had accidentally stepped on a very large landmine.
"Do you realize," he continued quietly, "that the person who said that is Ren Yamashiro?"
Kazuma simply shrugged again.
"Of course I know."
Yamazaki lowered his hand and looked at his student with an expression mixed with admiration… and slight disbelief.
"And you rejected her?"
"Yeah."
Silence fell between them once again.
A few seconds later, Yamazaki let out a long sigh, then chuckled softly while shaking his head.
"Kid… kid…" he said under his breath.
His gaze sharpened.
"It seems you've just made the most dangerous woman in Japan interested in you."
Then he gave two thumbs up.
"But I'm proud of you! Her pride must've taken a hit! Hahaha!"
Kazuma sighed.
"…I just hope she doesn't come after me."
"Yeah, yeah…"
---
After finishing his training at the dojo, Kazuma did not go home right away.
He parked his motorcycle by the roadside and walked casually along the quiet sidewalk. Near a small bus stop stood a vending machine, its bright light glowing in the dimming afternoon. He inserted a coin, pressed the button for a canned drink, and took it when a click sound came from inside the machine.
Kazuma opened the can and took a slow sip.
The evening breeze blew gently along the street.
'Now… the first task is done. Next is controlling my ability.'
His thoughts moved calmly as he looked at his own palm. His fingers slowly opened, as if trying to feel something invisible to others.
He had already mastered Mind Control.
That technique allowed him to control his emotions with precision—suppressing anger, restraining excitement, or calming his mind whenever he wanted. With that, he no longer needed to worry about losing control in a crowd.
But that was only the first stage.
His Ability was still not fully under his control.
To master it, Kazuma needed a place that was truly safe—a place where no one would know that he had an Ability.
One place immediately came to mind.
Mato.
In that dimension roamed Shuuki, creatures that appeared endlessly. For most people, it was a nightmare—but for Kazuma… it was the perfect training ground.
There was only one problem.
MDF.
That force routinely patrolled Mato to ensure that no new gates manifested into the human world. Some locations in Japan even had permanent Mato gates heavily guarded by the government.
Which meant entering that place without permission was almost impossible.
Kazuma let out a soft sigh.
'Haah… I wish a Mato accident would happen to me.'
He finished his drink while thinking about that possibility.
A Mato Accident was a phenomenon that often occurred during the manifestation of a Mato gate—a situation where someone was suddenly dragged into Mato without passing through an existing gate. It usually began with the appearance of a strange mist that swallowed the victim, and in an instant, the person disappeared from the human world.
When the mist vanished… the victim was already in Mato.
That dimension was roughly the size of Kyoto. Its land was barren, filled with Shuuki, and dotted with strange cone-shaped trees that produced the Mato Peach, the source of power that had changed the balance of the world.
Kazuma looked ahead.
"Unfortunately… something like that doesn't happen that often."
He threw the empty can into a trash bin beside the vending machine.
Unbeknownst to him, a thin mist had begun to creep slowly a few meters behind him, weaving between the streetlights that were starting to turn on.
As Kazuma walked back toward his motorcycle, his steps gradually slowed.
The faint mist that had barely been visible earlier had now spread across the entire street. Within seconds, the sidewalk, streetlights, and even nearby buildings began to be swallowed by an increasingly thick white layer.
Kazuma stopped.
His eyes scanned the surroundings calmly.
'Well… what a coincidence,' he thought flatly. 'I was just talking about this.'
The mist moved strangely—not like ordinary fog. It swirled slowly, as if it had a will of its own.
Kazuma took a deep breath and prepared himself.
If this was truly a Mato Accident, then once the mist disappeared, there was only one place waiting for him.
A few seconds later, his vision changed.
The mist vanished.
And so did the world around him.
The ground beneath his feet was now dry and cracked. The air felt heavier and drier. Above him stretched a deep purple sky, while in the distance stood massive cone-shaped trees rising like unnatural towers.
Kazuma looked around.
"Mato."
The place that had changed the balance of the world in recent decades.
He glanced behind him as if still expecting to see his motorcycle—but there was nothing there.
'My bike didn't come with me…' he thought, letting out a light sigh. 'So only living things get dragged in.'
Before he could take another step—
Grrrk!
The ground beneath him suddenly shook violently.
Kazuma immediately focused his gaze on the cracking earth. From within those fractures, something began to emerge.
A humanoid figure.
Nearly twice the height of an adult man. Its skin was pale like a corpse, its face expressionless, and its body filled with unnaturally bulging muscle mass.
Shuuki.
One.
Then two.
Then more.
The ground kept splitting open in multiple directions, and within seconds, Kazuma was surrounded by more than a dozen Shuuki emerging from all sides.
The creatures stared at him with empty eyes.
'Ganging up on me?' Kazuma muttered inwardly.
Yet there was not a hint of panic on his face.
Instead, the corner of his lips lifted slightly.
Kazuma raised both hands.
At that moment, an unusual heat began to spread across his palms. His skin slowly changed color, turning red like metal heated from within. Something inside his body reacted, emitting increasing heat.
The air around him trembled faintly.
Kazuma clenched his fists.
"Alright…"
He took a step forward.
"Let's begin the field test."
As if understanding the challenge, the Shuuki moved at once.
They lunged from all directions, their massive bodies rushing forward with brutal force capable of crushing an ordinary human.
One Shuuki arrived first.
Its massive fist struck straight toward Kazuma.
BAM!
But what happened was not what should have happened.
Kazuma did not move an inch.
Instead—
KRAK!
The sound of bone cracking came clearly—from the Shuuki's own hand.
It was as if the creature had just punched a steel wall.
Kazuma looked at it with a sharp, emotionless gaze. His hand moved quickly, grabbing the Shuuki's wrist before it could pull back.
With a smooth yet powerful motion, Kazuma rotated his body.
The movement looked simple.
But the force behind it was immense.
He swung the Shuuki's body over his shoulder, using the creature's own momentum.
The massive body was thrown backward.
BOOM!
The Shuuki crashed into several of its companions at once, breaking their formation and knocking others down together.
Dust scattered across Mato's barren ground.
Fighting Shuuki with bare hands was not common—even among Ability users. Most people relied on weapons or long-range abilities.
But Kazuma was different.
His Ability, Solar Genesis, allowed him to generate energy resembling the core of a star—concentrated radioactive heat converted into immense kinetic force. When that energy flowed through his body, every strike he delivered carried destructive power far beyond that of an ordinary human.
A simple punch could become a devastating attack.
Not to mention his combat training.
For months, Yamazaki Kudo had not only taught him Aikido.
The old man forced him to learn various martial arts: Karate, Kyudo, Kendo, and even foreign disciplines like boxing, Muay Thai, and Taekwondo.
Yamazaki once told him something.
He was not training Kazuma as a student.
He was training him as a successor.
Finding someone like Kazuma was rare. Especially after Yamazaki realized something that few humans possessed.
The Extraordinary Body.
A body that naturally surpassed normal human limits.
Muscle strength, endurance, and physical capacity far exceeded the average—about twice as strong even before undergoing extreme training.
After being forged through months of brutal training… that potential had only grown sharper.
On top of that, Solar Genesis further enhanced his physical strength and the destructive power of his attacks.
Kazuma had, in essence, become something else.
A living weapon.
In the middle of the circle of Shuuki that were beginning to rise again, Kazuma slowly raised his hand.
A faint heat began to radiate from his skin.
The air around him trembled slightly, as if space itself could feel something abnormal forming. The dry ground beneath his feet let out a faint hiss as the heat from his body increased.
Kazuma took a short breath.
"Fire Fist."
It was the first time he had spoken the name of that technique out loud.
His body rotated half a step, then he threw a single straight punch into the empty air in front of him.
The movement was simple—not excessive, not dramatic.
But the moment the punch reached its end—
BOOOM!
An explosion of heat burst from the path of his fist.
A burning trail of energy formed in the air, like an invisible wave that suddenly condensed into a raging current of heat. The energy shot straight forward, striking dozens of Shuuki in its path.
The ground in front of Kazuma cracked open.
The air shrieked loudly.
The Shuuki caught in the line of attack didn't even have time to react. Their massive bodies were blown backward like dolls—some slammed into the ground while others were swept away, rolling across the barren surface of Mato.
Dust and heat swept through the area.
When the wave of energy finally disappeared, a path of destruction stretched out before Kazuma.
The ground along its path was blackened, as if scorched by extreme heat.
Some Shuuki still twitched weakly on the ground.
Kazuma slowly lowered his hand.
He observed the result of his attack with a calm expression.
"Hmm…"
He rolled his shoulder slightly, feeling the heat still pulsing through his arm.
"Not bad."
But from the distance—
GRRRRRR…
Another growl began to echo.
Dust in the distance stirred once more.
More Shuuki started emerging from the cracked ground, drawn by the energy and commotion that had just occurred.
Kazuma looked toward them.
Instead of irritation, his expression showed a hint of excitement.
"Good."
He clenched his fist once more.
On a barren cliff overlooking the battlefield, someone was watching everything calmly.
A woman stood there.
A beautiful young woman with a well-proportioned figure and a naturally confident demeanor. Her eyes were bright blue, sharp yet filled with curiosity. Her short blonde hair fluttered in the wind, with a striking white section at the top.
She wore the Demon Defense Force uniform.
A neat dark-blue military tunic, a cap with red accents, white gloves, tactical shorts, and thigh-high boots that gave off both a firm and elegant impression. Two types of earrings adorned her ears—one with a feather on her right ear, and another blue pendant that glimmered faintly under the purple sky of Mato.
Her coat fluttered gently in the wind of that dimension.
From that elevated position, she could see the entire scene clearly.
Dozens perhaps even hundreds—of Shuuki had fallen across the barren ground below.
And at the center of that destruction stood a young man.
Kazuma.
The woman watched him with keen interest as the heat energy began to gather once again in his hands.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Waah…"
Her tone sounded light, almost like someone who had just found unexpected entertainment.
"This is truly unexpected."
That woman was Tenka Izumo.
Chief of Unit 6 of the MDF.