Dean's victory over Sairaorg had consequences he hadn't fully anticipated.
The established factions couldn't ignore him anymore. A human without a Sacred Gear who'd defeated a high-class devil had to be dealt with, one way or another. Some wanted to recruit him. Others wanted to eliminate him. And a few began to see him as something more: a threat to the entire system of supernatural politics.
The first real threat came from the fallen angels.
A faction leader named Kokabiel decided that Dean's rise was destabilizing the balance of power. If humans could become this strong without Sacred Gears, then the entire foundation of the three factions' power structure was in jeopardy. So Kokabiel sent his best warriors to eliminate Dean.
The attack came at night, while Dean was meditating in Takeshi's cabin. A dozen fallen angels, all of them powerful, all of them trained in combat. They surrounded the cabin and attacked simultaneously.
Dean fought them off, but it was close. One of the fallen angels managed to wound him seriously, a blade of light cutting across his shoulder. If Takeshi hadn't intervened, Dean might have lost the fight.
"They're escalating," Takeshi said as he helped Dean bandage his wound. "The moment you became too powerful to ignore, you became too dangerous to tolerate. This is the way of the supernatural world. Power attracts attention, and attention attracts enemies."
"What do I do?" Dean asked.
"You become even stronger," Takeshi said. "And you build alliances. You can't fight the entire supernatural world alone."
Dean took the advice to heart. He reached out to Rias, to Sairaorg, to other supernatural beings who'd come to respect his strength. He didn't ask them to join the Unbound, but he asked them to acknowledge his existence as an independent faction. Slowly, a network of allies formed around him.
More attacks came. Demons sent assassins. Angels tried to capture him. Fallen angels launched coordinated strikes. But each time, Dean grew stronger, his runes more powerful, his soul more refined. And each time, his allies helped him survive.
The supernatural world was changing. The old order of three factions controlling everything was being challenged by a new force: the Unbound, a faction of misfits and outcasts who'd found strength through understanding rather than divine gifts.
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Chapter 12: Mentor Revealed
Six months after his battle with Sairaorg, Dean received a visitor at Takeshi's cabin. It was a woman he'd never seen before, but her presence radiated immense power. She was beautiful in an otherworldly way, with silver hair and eyes that seemed to contain infinite depth.
"Dean Hyoudou," she said. "I've been watching your progress with great interest."
"Who are you?" Dean asked, immediately on guard.
"My name is Ophis," the woman replied. "I am the Infinite Dragon God, one of the two beings who exist outside the normal power structure of this world."
Dean's blood ran cold. He'd read about Ophis in the Gremory archive. She was one of the most powerful beings in existence, capable of destroying the world with a thought. What did she want with him?
"I've come to make you an offer," Ophis continued. "You've shown remarkable talent in creating a new path to power. But you're still limited by your human origins and your lack of understanding of the deeper cosmic forces. I can teach you things that will make everything you've learned so far seem like child's play."
"In exchange for what?" Dean asked warily.
"Nothing," Ophis said with a slight smile. "I don't need anything from you. I'm simply interested in seeing how far you can go. Consider it... entertainment."
Dean wanted to refuse. He didn't trust gods, even ones who claimed to want nothing in return. But he also recognized an opportunity when he saw one. If Ophis was willing to teach him, then his growth would accelerate exponentially.
"What would you teach me?" he asked.
"The nature of infinity," Ophis replied. "The way power flows through the dimensions, the way to access the Dimensional Gap itself. With this knowledge, you could become something truly unprecedented. Not a devil, not an angel, not a fallen angel, but something entirely new."
Dean made his decision. "I'll accept your offer."
What followed was the most intense period of training in Dean's life. Ophis taught him to perceive the world not as a single reality, but as part of a vast network of dimensions and realities. She showed him how to access power from the Dimensional Gap itself, the space between worlds where raw magical energy flowed in infinite quantities.
With this knowledge, Dean's runes evolved. They could now draw power not just from his own soul, but from the dimensional fabric itself. His strength increased exponentially, and his understanding of magic reached a level he'd never thought possible.
"You're ready," Ophis said one day, after three months of intense training. "Ready for what comes next."
"Which is?" Dean asked.
"The final test," Ophis replied. "The confrontation with those who would challenge your right to exist as an independent power."