SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!

As it moved, I could feel the madness burning within its hollow, black eyes. It... It bordered on insanity.

Crack--!

With a single stomp of its feet, the ground beneath it shattered as it shot for the crimson haired lady. Appearing before Mia, a long crimson sword materialized in its hand, and it cleaved downwards with tremendous force.

As though it were making use of a certain insidious trait, its body radiated a fiendish, bloody energy. In that moment, its muscles tensed, and its muscle tissues became more durable, the flow of blood and oxygen within it rising to nightmarish heights.

The cracked grin on its face grew even wider, its eyes gleaming with pure darkness as it roared:

"More!!! More!! More!!!"

BAANG!!!

Both he and the crimson haired lady clashed.

In a flash of blinding light and drowning darkness, the crimson and golden sword clashed relentlessly, the violent collisions sending shockwaves rolling through the space. The force from the sudden explosion —save for the fact that this explosion was a mix of dark crimson and immolating white— threw the two figures into the air.

Landing on its feet, the dark entity’s unsettling smile grew even wider, and in that moment, I felt it clearer than ever.

Its emotions.

They were so vivid.

From the thrill, to the excitement.

They were all overflowing from him, and all came together to form a single emotion. One which I was finding it hard, if not impossible, to come to terms with.

They all came together to form... Joy.

It was happy, thrilled, and... excited.

’But Why...?’

I thought with a solemn expression.

’...Perhaps, just perhaps, if I could find out why, maybe we’d stand a chance against it.’

BANG!

The loud sound brought me out of my reverie. Glancing forward, I saw the ground beneath the nightmarish entity develop numerous spider web cracks. The suffocating pressure emanating from it was only growing stronger with each passing second.

A-Almost as though something was feeding it with a vast, boundless energy.

Crack.

...Before I could do so much as to blink, it was already before the crimson haired lady. Both figures flickered and materialized across the nightmarish landscape at breathneck speed. freёweɓnovel.com

Mia grimaced with each strike deflected, a terrifying intimidating aura emanating from the nightmarish entity. However, even with all that, even as her face paled with each passing second, Mia held her ground. She refused to back down.

...S-She had no other choice.

Grimacing, she cleaved forward with the sword. A burning, immolating light rose from her sword, striking the crimson sword at its weakest spot.

’Due to her combat ingenuity as though she could execute various flawless battle techniques with but a thought, Mia was able to hold her ground against the dark entity.’

...But how long would that last for exactly?

The thought darkened my features.

In an instant, the figure wreathed in light and that drowning in shadows were pushed back, leaving deep gorges along their paths of retreat. But, almost instantly, they were back at it.

Crack--!

The two figures fought with everything they had, blood rolling down their pale skin. And as the battle raged on, I noticed something that didn’t quite sit well with me.

The nightmarish entity. It... It was getting stronger. And at that, at a very rapid pace. As if to make matters worse, the increase in strength as the battle prolonged, was unlike Mia’s solemn, grueling one.

It was fast, swift... and most importantly, it seemed to come at no cost whatsoever.

CLAANG!

With each clash, its battle prowess steadily increased, and the crimson haired lady was finding it hard to keep up with it.

Creak.

With a fluid, almost inhuman motion, she managed to avoid a strike that aimed for her throat. The next second, she ducked left, barely avoiding another strike that aimed to cut her into two. Almost instantly, she skidded back.

However, just as the nightmarish aberration attempted to press on, two arrows suddenly pierced through the air, rapidly approaching it at a terrifying pace. With a flick of its hand, a crimson barrier materialized around it.

The arrows struck fiercely as terrifying shockwaves rolled through the dark space.

Crack! Crack...!

The barrier eventually shattered into pieces. However, that was after it had done its work.

The arrows had been stopped in their harrowing tracks.

Seeing such an opportunity, Mia’s eyes shone with a bright, incandescent light. A bright, immolating flame rapidly covered her sword, and in the next second, it shot out of the sword at an astonishing pace.

In the form of a streaking ray of light in the world of nightmares, it was abnormally fast. Before the nightmarish entity could take a step further, the blinding ray had already arrived before it. In that moment, I thought it would try to avoid it.

However, it simply smiled. And then,

"..."

Its eyes suddenly turned hollow. Devoid of any sign of life or warmth.

A stifling silence suddenly crept in, an eerie quiet following suit. In that moment, I felt a surge of uncontrollably dread, a-as though an otherworldly entity had descended.

My eyes widened at the chilling realization.

This stifling aura...

I... I had only felt it from those ancient supernatural entities.

***

...Far ahead, a profane aura radiated from the nightmarish entity’s grotesque body as the madness in its eyes continued to spill out tremendously.

"Kekekeke."

Gripping tighter the long crimson sword, a sharp cut ran through its hand. Just as the cohort wondered what it was doing,

"....!!"

Blood surged from its hand, coating the crimson sword an endless dark crimson. Facing the incoming light ray, it had no look of fear on its face. Instead, all I could see, all I could feel, was... burning excitement.

"Ha-ha-haha."

Added to its blood empowerment, its adrenaline surged to greater heights, and then...

RIIP!!

It slashed forward with every ounce of its strength: a stunning overhead slash.

A dark, fiendish aura rose from the crimson sword, pain and agony flooding its senses. However, despite the agonizing pain that rippled through every fiber of its being, it simply smiled. A cracked and unsettling smile.

The bright incandescent flame had already descended upon it with obliterating force. However, its grin —one made of flesh and shadows— only widened.

From where I stood, I could feel its excitement.

The pain. The agony.

I-... It seemed to enjoy it.

"AAAAH!"

With a loud roar, muscles bulged beneath its dark skin. Cleaving downward with even greater ferocity, the crimson sword cut through the starlight ray, sending a blinding burst of energy into the surroundings.

For a split second, it felt as though the lightless void had been illuminated by a blinding, holy sun. The dark entity groaned from the pain, its body bent at an inhuman angle as its breath came out in short ragged gasps.

"Hu, hah..."

The pain was searing hot, and terrifyingly so. But pain it could handle. Pain... it was no stranger to.

In that moment, it closed its eyes as it relished in the pain, the source of agony becoming a source of joy in the monotone gray world of its.

’...W-What the..!’

I stared at the scene in shock, my mind failing to comprehend the sight before me.

I wasn’t the only one who had such a reaction. Everyone had a grim expression on their faces. Especially Aezel.

He seemed resigned to do something.

’But what could that be?’ I couldn’t help but wonder.

It was then that dust clouded everyone’s vision just as a loud cracking sound rolled through the silence. In that moment, Aezel felt a terrifying surge of energy rise from behind him.

Every hair at the back of his neck stood on end as he shifted his body. Gritting his teeth, he raised his hand to cover his chest. However....

Puchi!!

He was a second late.

...A long crimson sword pierced right through his chest...