Reborn as a Useless Noble with my SSS-Class Innate Talent

The halls of the divine palace shook with each proclamation made by the system.

The voices of the heavens boomed across the corridors, reaching every contender racing through the labyrinth toward their destined cores.

Grand Duchess Amana, her gown torn and armor scratched from earlier clashes with divine entities, gritted her teeth as she pushed forward.

Sweat dripped down her temple, her heart pounding in rhythm with the pulsing lights guiding her steps.

Then, it came—an announcement so sharp it pierced through her bones:

[The Fifth God of the New Age has been chosen. Designation: Gifts. Chosen: Crystal.]

Amana froze mid-stride, her breath hitching.

"Crystal…?"

She whispered aloud, bewildered. The name was foreign, utterly unknown to her.

She had memorized the names of every noble, every commander, every rival of note—but this? This was someone outside her calculations.

Her wrist device—the fragment of the system she had bonded with—flashed furiously. The guiding lights along the corridor shifted directions, rerouting her path.

The system's mechanical tone followed immediately:

[Current path is no longer viable. Adjusting trajectory.]

Amana clenched her jaw, fury surging through her veins.

"Damn it! All this time… wasted."

She slammed her fist against the marble wall, cracks spiderwebbing outward.

She turned on her heel, ready to sprint toward the next nearest core, when her instincts screamed. Mana surged behind her.

Without hesitation, Amana twisted and leapt aside just as a streak of radiant energy tore through the air where she had been standing.

The blast struck the wall, exploding into shards of divine marble, shaking the entire passage.

Amana skidded across the floor, boots screeching against stone, and spun to face her attacker.

There she stood.

Crystal.

A young woman with flowing hair that shimmered like starlight, her form wrapped in a divine glow that bent the air around her.

Her eyes, luminous and cold, were fixated entirely on Amana, devoid of hesitation or doubt. The system's voice chimed in her ear at once, laced with urgency:

[Warning. Engaging with God Crystal is inadvisable. Retreat immediately.]

But Amana didn't need the warning to understand.

The sheer weight pressing down on her chest, the suffocating pressure radiating from Crystal—it was the difference between mortal and god. The gulf was immeasurable.

Yet Crystal's lips curved, her tone ringing sharp and absolute.

"For the sake of my goal, you must die here, intruder."

The words, so calmly delivered, chilled Amana more than the attack itself.

Her hand instinctively reached for her blade, but doubt gnawed at her.

She knew the truth: one strike from Crystal carried enough force to erase her existence. Still, she squared her shoulders, refusing to cower.

"Do you think I'll roll over and let you? If you want me dead, Goddess, you'll have to earn it."

Amana snapped, raising her blade. Her aura flared, the hardened mana of a seasoned warrior crackling around her form.

Crystal tilted her head, almost pitying.

"You're strong for a mortal, I'll grant you that. But you're standing in the way of a future only I can create. I will not allow hesitation. I will not allow delay."

Her hand flicked outward. Another volley of divine light burst forth, scorching the air with its radiance.

Amana gritted her teeth and darted aside, barely evading as the beam scorched the floor into molten stone.

She lunged forward, swinging her blade with all her might, her mana compressing into a sharp edge. Steel clashed with a barrier of divine light, sparks raining across the chamber.

The recoil nearly shattered her arm.

Crystal didn't budge. Not even a step.

"Pathetic. But necessary."

Crystal said softly, her voice almost mournful.

The goddess raised her palm, mana spiraling into a sphere of destructive brilliance. The sheer power behind it dwarfed Amana's existence, like the sun compared to a candle.

Amana's heart hammered, fear clawing at her. Her system beeped frantically again, the mechanical voice cutting through her mind:

[Survivability: 0%. Disengage immediately.]

But the Grand Duchess laughed bitterly, blood trickling from her lip.

"Disengage? When the enemy already has me in her sights? Don't mock me."

She steadied her stance, gripping her sword tighter. She could feel the trembling of her limbs, the weight of despair pressing in.

Yet her pride roared louder. She was Amana, Grand Duchess of the Armstrong Domain. She would not die crawling.

"I'll drag you down with me if I have to."

She hissed, her aura bursting as she prepared to meet the goddess head-on.

Crystal's expression hardened. "Then you've chosen death."

The sphere in her palm swelled, the chamber flooding with unbearable light. The sheer force made Amana's bones rattle, the pressure threatening to crush her into nothingness.

For the first time in her life, Amana felt the gap between her will and her limits. It wasn't skill, strategy, or bravery that defined this moment—it was the undeniable fact that she was human, and Crystal was not.

But even so, she refused to bow.

She let out a battle cry, swinging her blade upward, throwing her entire being into one final strike. The mana around her blazed, defiant even against the weight of divinity.

And as their powers collided, the entire corridor shattered, swallowed by the clash of mortal defiance and godly might.

The two forces crashed against each other, divine light against mortal steel, shaking the chamber with each collision.

The pressure made Amana's lungs burn, yet she refused to give ground until Crystal's voice, calm yet cutting, slipped into the chaos.

"What are you doing? You know this battle is unwinnable. You risk your life for nothing. Why throw yourself into a fight you cannot survive?"

Crystal asked, her silver hair glimmering in the storm of mana.

Amana spat blood onto the shattered floor, tightening her grip on her blade. Her legs trembled, but her eyes blazed with defiance.

"You think I'd come here to die for nothing? I won't lose this fight. Not because of strength, not because of fate—but because of love. That is why I am here."

She steadied herself, her voice low but unyielding.

For the first time, Crystal's expression faltered. Surprise flickered in her divine gaze.

"Love…?" she murmured.

"Yes. Love that anchors me, drives me forward, and will not let me yield to you."

Amana growled, pushing forward against the radiant force pressing her down.

Crystal's lips parted, hesitation breaking her divine composure. Then, slowly, she spoke, her voice trembling with something raw.

"You're not the only one fighting for love."

Amana's eyes narrowed, but Crystal continued, her tone fierce now.

"My sister—my little sister—will die if I do not claim this divinity. Everything I've done, every step I've taken, has been for her. Without me becoming a goddess, she has no chance."

Her aura surged violently, the light brighter, heavier, pressing Amana further into the broken stone.

"So no. I cannot allow you to win. Not while her life depends on me."

The chamber quaked as the goddess's power swelled, and Amana staggered back under the unbearable pressure.

Each clash of her blade against Crystal's light left her arms numb, her body screaming with pain.

Still, Amana gritted her teeth, forcing herself upright again and again.

"Then it seems that our loves will decide which of us walks away."

She panted, her eyes narrowing with grim determination.

The clash continued, Crystal's relentless radiance pressing Amana back step by step, the gulf between mortal and god widening with each strike.

Yet Amana's fire refused to go out.