Chapter 156: S Rank
Inside the barrier, Ethan’s fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
The world beyond the thin, translucent walls had devolved into something unrecognisable - no longer an arena, not even a battlefield, but a collapsing zone of pure destruction.
"This is insane..." the Pink Flash muttered beside him, and for once, her voice lacked its usual speed and confidence.
Even she was shaken.
Beside them, Liora trembled, both arms outstretched as she struggled to maintain the barrier. Sweat poured down her temples, her breathing uneven, the glass-like structure around them flickering faintly with every impact.
Another shockwave hit, harder than the last.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier before stabilising, barely holding together.
"I... can’t keep this up forever..." she warned through gritted teeth, her voice strained, almost breaking.
Ethan didn’t respond.
He couldn’t.
His eyes were locked onto the fight between beings that didn’t even feel human...
-
Kaela charged again.
She was somehow even faster and stronger than before, constantly unleashing more and more violet energy.
But something had changed.
Her body wasn’t keeping up anymore.
Where before her injuries healed instantly, seamlessly feeding into her strength, now there was resistance - delays, fractures that lingered just a fraction too long. It was subtle at first, but now it was becoming unmistakable.
Her aura still burned violently, still surging with every ounce of damage she took, but it had reached a threshold.
A limit.
She would grow stronger with every blow, every broken bone, every drop of blood, until she couldn’t.
It was a double-edged sword.
Her power was still rising, but her body was beginning to fail beneath it.
Titan saw it instantly, exhaling slowly.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "I guess you aren’t some crazy immortal; you’re just a crazy half-immortal."
Kaela roared, launching herself at him with everything she had left.
She was desperately pushing past her limits, and it seemed as though even as her body was breaking down, she wasn’t going to back down.
Her fist tore through the air encased in violent mana, but Titan stepped in close.
He slipped her punch with ease, as it shot past him and grazed the side of his cheek. It even drew blood, which surprised him momentarily before his hand snapped out and grabbed her by the throat.
"I guess there’s only one way to deal with you."
Zoom!
The ascent was immediate and violent, the ground vanishing beneath them in seconds as they shot into the sky, the stadium shrinking below. Kaela thrashed in his grip, her fists slamming into his arm, his chest, his face, but her strength was fading.
The higher they went, the thinner the air became and the tighter his grip was around her neck.
Her movements slowed, her aura flickered, and her body, which had already been pushed beyond its limits, couldn’t hold out. She stopped thrashing violently, her eyes rolling back and her body slackening.
Gone was the so-called Riot Valkyrie, and all that was left was its unconscious vessel.
Titan studied her for a moment, so high up in the sky that he was practically in space.
"I should make sure she doesn’t wake up for a while," he murmured to himself casually.
With that, he didn’t hesitate, turning mid-air and diving back down.
BOOOOOM!
The impact was catastrophic.
The ground shattered as Kaela’s body was driven into what remained of the stadium, the force erupting outward in a massive shockwave that rippled through the entire city.
Concrete disintegrated, steel twisted, and the crater was so large it was like that of a literal meteor.
Even inside the barrier, Ethan, Pink Flash, and Liora were thrown backwards, the barrier groaning violently under the strain.
"-!"
Liora gasped, barely holding it together.
Ethan steadied himself, eyes wide.
"She’ll live... I think," he murmured as the dust settled. "She’s a Valkyrie, so she should be able to heal."
He knew how strong she was, and in his current state, he couldn’t afford to hold back.
But he had no way of being sure she wouldn’t die.
It was a miracle her body remained in one piece and didn’t explode into a pile of mush. Even the most durable Titled would have had their spines shattered and organs muddled by the impact.
Kaela was no different.
The only thing keeping her alive was the flickering energy she had left inside her that was desperately fighting to mend her body. But as intended, she definitely wasn’t getting up anytime soon, nor would she pose a threat even if she somehow did.
Which left Elara...
-
Titan floated back up into the air slowly, hovering above the ruined crater.
He was calm and unbothered despite embedding someone metres deep into the ground and leaving them inches away from death.
"Miss," he called out, almost politely, as if addressing someone in a conversation rather than a battlefield. "Just give up, please."
Elara didn’t respond, but her crimson energy spoke for her as it flared unnaturally.
Titan scratched the back of his neck, sighing.
"Don’t you know... you can’t do anything to an S Rank?"
"Is that so?" the Blood Demon responded in its hoarse voice.
It clearly didn’t take kindly to being underestimated like that, and anyone’s pride would be hurt after being dominated as they had been.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
It became heavier and darker as the crimson aura deepened, thickening into something far more sinister, far more oppressive.
"Impressive," Titan commented genuinely.
Inside the barrier, Ethan could feel a cold, suffocating chill in his bones.
’That’s even more power than she unleashed in the gate. More than any A Rank could be able to wield.’
Even at his level, he could feel it.
Elara raised her hand.
Crimson energy spiralled violently, condensing into a dense, unstable mass that warped the surrounding air. The ground beneath her cracked, and space itself seemed to distort.
For the first time, Titan’s expression changed.
It wasn’t fear exactly, more like caution, but for an S Rank, that spoke volumes.
"Huh," he murmured quietly.
Instinctively, he could feel that whatever attack Elara was producing could hurt him. In her current form, and while he was weakened, she might even be a moderate threat.
He couldn’t afford to take it lightly.
As Ethan had observed, he was also nearing his own limit, both from his fight and everything he had endured before it.
"I’ll just finish you off too," he decided.
It had already been a surprise that Kaela had managed to wound him, if a cut on his cheek could even be called that. He didn’t want to get damaged any more than that, and whatever attacks Elara was producing could definitely do so.
That was until she suddenly stopped.
All the crimson mana she had been drawing out of its seemingly endless supply and gathering fizzled out and dispersed like a weak flame in the wind.
"Tch."
The demon’s voice cracked.
"This damned host."
After Elara had been training with borrowed energy, her body had been able to endure more of its power. But it seemed as though Sir Demon had overestimated just how much she could.
So much so that it even caused her body to give out.
Her aura destabilised violently before shrinking back, then her eyes cleared, the overwhelming crimson receding.
"Shit!"
Ethan moved instantly.
"Get this barrier down. Now."
Liora blinked, stunned.
"What do you-?"
He grabbed her shoulder tightly.
His eyes, piercing blue, changed into the sharp, predatory eyes of a hawk locking onto its prey.
"Now!"
Something in him at that moment made her obey without question.
The barrier dropped, then...
Swoosh!
Ethan burst forward, cutting through the ruined arena at speeds that felt lacklustre in comparison to what they had just witnessed.
But thankfully, it was still fast enough to catch Elara before she collapsed.
Titan blinked, genuinely surprised.
"Who are you?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Ethan adjusted his grip, holding Elara close, steady despite the surrounding chaos.
"I’m just an E Rank," he answered deadpan.
There was a brief, almost absurd pause as Titan just stared at him.
"Right..."
Ethan met his gaze firmly.
Everything inside him screamed to run or kneel and submit, while his legs felt like jelly and his heart hammered violently in his chest. Every instinct told him that this was something far beyond him.
It was a being he shouldn’t even be standing in front of.
And yet, he stood his ground.
"That’s enough," Ethan said, his voice steady through sheer will. "They can’t fight anymore."
Titan watched him curiously.
He had still intended to continue and ensure Elara couldn’t cause any more death and destruction, especially after the last power she had revealed.
But then he shrugged lazily.
"You’re right. And the black suits can clean the rest of this mess up."
Just like that, it was over.
Titan bent his knees slightly, then shot into the sky like a missile, gone in an instant.
Meanwhile, Ethan stood there frozen in place while holding Elara.
He was overcome with relief, even more so when the system error meant he was still alive and received the Title despite failing the trial. But that quickly turned into something heavier and colder...
Fear.
’I-I couldn’t do anything.’
Just standing there and speaking had taken everything he had.
And if Titan felt like it, he likely could have killed him with a mere flick to the forehead, then crushed Elara as he pleased.
He looked down at her momentarily, then at the surrounding aftermath.
His eyes hardened.
’I definitely need to become a fucking S Rank.’
