E-Rank or SSS-Rank: I Awakened a Skill That Shouldn’t Exist

Aiden couldn't stop the grin tearing across his lips. He had done it.

From the jump, not only had he awakened the Yellow Tail, but now the Green Tail too. Speed raw, terrifying speed surged into his veins, the wind's blessing coursing through him. But it wasn't just speed. He could feel it, every cell screaming with new strength. If the Yellow Tail doubled his might before, then this time it was a fourfold surge. Strength, speed, defense, every stat had been shoved to a terrifying peak.

"Hah… guess I shouldn't waste time feeling proud," Aiden muttered, and then he was gone.

His foot slammed off the ground, his figure blurring, wind spears spiraling around him as he shot forward like a meteor crashing back into the fight.

Elexa was barely hanging on, lightning flaring, her body strained under Striker's overwhelming pressure. The Dark Emissary's red lightning was brutal relentless even, maybe even too strong for her alone.

But not anymore.

Aiden crashed into the battlefield, his dual tails whipping out..... Yellow Tail slamming like a boulder, Green Tail slicing winds bursting in gales, shredding everything nearby. The battlefield warped under the chaos of his strikes, every blow tearing through air and flesh alike.

The clash turned savage. Striker snarled, red lightning crackling as he weathered the storm. He adapted fast, of course he did. He was Striker. A battle master, the kind who bent wars to his will. Yet, even he had to admit it, the golden-haired boy before him was unpredictable, fighting with a raw, wild edge that refused to follow any script.

Earth and wind roared together. And then Elexa surged back, Volt Avatar blazing to its peak, her lightning cutting alongside Aiden's fury.

Together, they weren't just surviving anymore. They were holding their ground.

The fight became a storm of raw precision and reckless chaos, impossible to follow, impossible to predict. Blades of wind, surges of earth, lightning spears crashing like divine wrath. The clash raged until finally, both sides broke off..... bodies slamming to the dirt.

Aiden rolled, gasping for breath. Elexa too, chest heaving, sweat and blood slicking her skin.

Striker stood across from them. He wasn't untouched, his body bore cuts, blood smeared his chest. The red lightning crackled weakly now, flickering, unstable, his breath rising and falling in ragged bursts. He looked like he was on his last leg.

Or at least, that's how it seemed.

Aiden didn't trust it. Neither did Elexa. Their guards stayed high. They knew better. If Striker had taught them anything, it was that his power was dangerous, unpredictable and he was never out of tricks.

The Dark Emissary's gaze burned, his eyes reddening from rage and pain. He stepped forward, one, two then froze.

His body buckled. He collapsed to his knees, a violent cough tearing through him, and blood spilled from his mouth, thick and dark. Lightning sparked through it..... red lightning, hissing as it splattered across the ground.

Damn it, Striker thought. Why must he always be so playful? But that was just how he was. Getting serious right from the start wasn't his style. And it's not every day he meets opponents strong enough to actually hold their own against him.

But these two… these two were different. Special. Maybe even extremely so.

So he had no choice, this time he was going all out.

Striker rose, eyes locked on the two battered heroes.

"Hey. You two are strong, maybe super strong by hero standards. But don't fool yourselves." His lips curled into a grin as his eyes began to crackle with violent red lightning. "I didn't become the backbone of the Cursed by luck."

The air trembled. The low, guttural rumble of lightning filled the arena but it didn't sound like lightning. It sounded deeper, heavier. More like the voice of thunder itself. A divine roar.

The red lightning around him surged, multiplying, swelling, peaking until it seemed the world couldn't contain it.

Aiden's chest tightened with dread. A horrible premonition stabbed through him.

"Attack him with everything you've got! NOW!" he roared, already charging.

His yellow and green tails flared to life, radiant light bursting around him. At the same time, Elexa's own lightning gathered, sparking with furious brilliance. Together, their combined power crashed toward Striker like a tidal wave.

But Striker's eyes snapped open.

And then the storm was unleashed.

The red lightning detonated outward in a blinding flash. Aiden and Elexa's attacks never stood a chance....disintegrated, erased from existence. What came next was worse: the remainder of that hellish lightning slammed into them with devastating force.

Agony. Pure, merciless agony. Their blood boiled. Their skin seared. Their nerves screamed as if their bodies were being fried alive.

Aiden and Elexa hit the ground with a bone-cracking crash, clawing helplessly at the scorched earth in vain attempts to ease the unbearable pain.

Aiden's earth tail dulled the damage just enough to keep him conscious. Elexa wasn't so lucky. She felt her body collapsing in on itself, every breath a war.

They were ruined. Broken. Fighting again was almost impossible. But they knew one truth: they had to rise. Because Striker wasn't done.

The slow, deliberate sound of footsteps echoed.

Striker approached, calm, unhurried. The smile was back on his face, but Aiden wasn't fooled. That smile wasn't mercy. It was the smile of an executioner.

"You fought well… for someone so young," Striker said casually, his palm crackling with restrained lightning. "But I told you invading this island was the worst mistake of your life. Now… die."

The lightning bolt formed, pure death in his hand.

Aiden's heart hammered. He couldn't even raise an arm. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't block. It was impossible. This is it, he thought.

The bolt fired.

And then, several blue lightnings intercepted it.

The red lightning dimmed, weakened, but not fully stopped. The remains still tore into Aiden's chest, and he screamed as his health bar plummeted. The pain was indescribable, fire and knives ripping through him.

But he was alive. Barely.

If not for Elexa's last-second strike… that red lightning would have ended him for good.

Striker looked down at Elexa. She was flat on the ground, eyes fluttering, hanging on by sheer will. He let out a dark, ugly chuckle. "Well, well. If you do not want the golden boy to die before you, I will grant your wish. I will kill you first."

Red lightning gathered in his hands, alive and hungry. He aimed straight for Elexa.

A pillar of earth tore up between them and slammed into the bolt. The red lightning splintered the wall, but the remainder did nothing fatal. Elexa coughed, grimacing, but she was still breathing.

Striker's face twisted. He turned to Aiden, who was smiling through the pain like a fool daring the world. "So you want to die before her as well?" Striker said.

Aiden only grinned and shook his head. "No. You are wrong. I do not want to die."

Striker's smile thinned. "Then who should die first?"

Aiden forced his body upright and pointed a trembling finger at Striker. "You. You should die first."

Striker raised a brow. "What do you mean? Who is going to kill me?"

Aiden's grin hardened into something colder. "Exactly. Since we are both too weak to kill you, why not save everyone the trouble and kill yourself? Faster. Less messy."

Striker stared at him as if assessing a new flavor of insult. Then the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Funny," he said. "If I had a choice, I might spare you. But you are annoying. So I will probably kill you. Either way, you die."

He lifted both hands. Red lightning braided between his fingers and condensed into two roaring bolts. "Since you cannot decide who dies first, I will kill you both at once."

Aiden's heart slammed. He had been buying time, feigning banter while his body tried to crawl back from the brink. It had not recovered. If those bolts hit, this was the end.

Striker poised, the world tightening to the moment of release.

Then he stopped.

Everything went weirdly quiet. Striker turned away and walked. He passed the two heroes as though they were dust in his path, leaving Aiden and Elexa stunned on the ground.

"Why did he just leave?" Aiden whispered, eyes wide. It made no sense. It felt… deliberate. Like a mercy with teeth.

"Be grateful," Elexa rasped, trying to push herself up. Her voice was thin, but alive. "We are alive."

A few dozen paces later, away from the half collapsed room Striker's calm cracked. A violent painshot through him and he doubled over, clutching his chest. He collapsed to his knees and coughed up blood. In the blood, the red lightning crawled like molten metal.

His face contorted. He dragged his fingers across the dirt and clawed forward. This was why he always held back. The full use of his power gifted him godlike destruction and took the same from his body in return. The limit was not caution. It was survival.

He forced himself away, praying he would not run into another hero. In that wounded state, he would not last.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR'S NOTE

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– Ultra