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

For the first time, the system uncurled itself to show it's inner workings and mana saperated to show souls inside.

The hall was drowned in silence, every warrior, priest, and mage straining against invisible chains that bound their bodies in place inside the system.

Their lips moved in futile whispers, their mana flared only to be crushed back into stillness by the overwhelming grip of the system.

Despair thickened in the air. For the first time since the battle began, the hope of resistance seemed utterly extinguished.

The souls of the people sacrificed to create the first ever system looked back at their creator and screamed.

Arkenas stood at the center, his figure illuminated by the radiant lattice of divine runes spiraling around him.

His laughter echoed, proud and triumphant, as he raised his hand toward the immobilized mortals.

"Do you feel it now? The futility of your existence? Your wills bend to me, your strength belongs to me, and even your souls answer only to the system I command. Struggle all you want—none of you can escape my grasp."

He sneered.

A few grunts echoed from warriors straining to move, but their knees buckled under invisible weight. He basked in their helplessness, convinced victory was already secured.

But before his mocking words could linger, a sharp whistle cut through the silence—a condensed spear of mana shot straight for his head.

Arkenas snapped his arm up, deflecting it with a shield of divine energy, though the sheer force cracked his barrier. His eyes widened.

Another strike followed, and then another—blades of mana, crashing like a storm.

Arkenas retreated a step, his voice booming.

"Who dares—?!"

From the smoke of his deflected spells, a lone figure strode forward, his cloak torn, eyes sharp as steel.

His sword gleamed faintly, humming with restrained mana that felt utterly foreign to the divine system.

"Kyle…"

Arkenas's tone dropped to disbelief.

Kyle raised his blade in silence, stepping between the immobilized mortals and the false god. His presence was calm, but the killing intent behind his gaze was suffocating.

"You—Impossible. You should be bound as they are. No one escapes the system's hold.

Arkenas's voice shook with incredulity before he forced himself to scowl.

Kyle's lips curved into a faint, cold smirk.

"That's where you're wrong."

Arkenas narrowed his eyes.

"Explain yourself. How can you resist when even gods are enslaved by the system's chains?"

The young man twirled his sword once, sparks of mana glinting in the air.

"Because I was never under its influence to begin with."

A silence heavier than stone pressed down. The trapped mortals widened their eyes, their frozen bodies trembling faintly as they processed his words.

Even the system's glow flickered, as though uncertain.

"You lie. The system governs all. Every god, every mortal—it is the sole path to ascension, to power beyond mortality. Without it, you cannot kill me."

Arkenas hissed.

Kyle scoffed.

"Did you really think everyone was as desperate as you? That they'd sell their freedom, their soul, for borrowed strength?"

His voice sharpened, cutting through the hall like a blade.

"I've seen what you are, Arkenas. A parasite feeding off a cage you call divinity. Unfortunately for you, I don't need that cage."

Arkenas's composure wavered, disbelief clawing at his features. For the first time, his arrogance cracked, replaced by an edge of fear.

"You—what are you?"

Kyle stepped forward, his mana pulsing, resonating with something beyond divine energy. His strikes came swift and unrelenting, forcing Arkenas onto the defensive.

The chief god deflected, parried, countered—but each exchange sent tremors down his arms.

The young man's attacks weren't just mana-infused—they carried a rejection of the system itself, like blades that cut deeper than flesh, striking at the very foundation of Arkenas's dominion.

Arkenas gritted his teeth, sparks flying as their clash shook the hall.

"Enough of this nonsense! You think independence makes you strong? You are still bound by mortality!"

Kyle's smirk widened as he forced Arkenas back another step.

"Mortality is what makes me strong. It's what lets me grow, adapt, and surpass limits your system could never understand."

The words pierced deeper than his blade, and Arkenas's composure finally cracked. His attacks faltered for a moment, driven by uncertainty.

Kyle seized that instant, striking with brutal precision, tearing through layers of divine energy until his blade grazed Arkenas's chest.

The god staggered, eyes wide, fury and disbelief colliding in his mind.

"This can't be…Without the system—without me—you shouldn't exist!"

Arkenas muttered, his voice trembling.

Kyle's expression hardened.

"I'm not here to exist under you. I'm here to end you."

With that, he surged forward again, his blade carving arcs of mana that forced Arkenas to retreat rapidly, his once-smug grin replaced with clenched teeth and desperation.

Blow after blow landed, and for the first time, the great Arkenas looked cornered.

But just as Kyle's sword descended for a decisive strike, Arkenas's eyes blazed with renewed clarity. The hesitation vanished, replaced with cold resolve.

He roared, summoning a surge of divine energy that repelled Kyle's blade with explosive force, the shockwave rattling the hall's very foundations.

Both combatants skidded back, sparks dancing in the air between them. Arkenas straightened, his ragged breath steadying into a sinister calm.

"I see now. You're not bound by the system, because you managed to make your own… but that only makes you more dangerous."

He said, his tone deadly quiet.

His lips curled into a cruel smile.

"And I no longer need to humor you. The time for games is over."

Divine runes flared brighter than ever, the system's power pouring into his frame as his shadow stretched monstrously across the walls.

The frozen mortals could do nothing but watch, their hearts pounding with both dread and awe.

Kyle planted his sword firmly in front of him, unshaken. His gaze burned unwavering, even as Arkenas's godly aura swelled to crush everything in its path.

The battle had only just begun.

Arkenas's laughter rang like thunder as he gathered his mana, twisting it unnaturally. The very air rippled, the floor beneath them cracking as though unable to withstand his presence.

With a single motion of his hand, the fabric of space itself tore apart, revealing a gaping rift that bled darkness and light in equal measure.

"Kyle Armstrong, you've forced my hand far enough. But now, the rules of this game change."

Arkenas drawled, his voice sharp with arrogance.

His eyes glinted with cruel amusement as the rift expanded behind him, its edges crackling with unstable energy.

"From this point on, it will be a game of cat and mouse. Will you be fast enough to catch me before I find your precious companions? Or will you fail, and watch them crumble before your eyes?"

Kyle's expression darkened, his grip on his blade tightening.

"Running away already? Afraid you can't win face to face?"

Arkenas smirked, utterly unbothered.

"Afraid? No. I simply have better prey to hunt."

He raised his hand, and the system's symbols flickered around his body like a halo of divine command.

"Your friends are scattered, vulnerable. Let's see if your vaunted will can protect them from me."

Before Kyle could strike again, Arkenas stepped into the rift. His form dissolved into the warped space, his voice echoing one last time through the chamber.

"Catch me if you can… or lose everything."

The rift snapped shut, leaving only silence and the weight of his threat behind.