I Awakened as an SSS-Rank System Maker!-Chapter 55 - The Limit

Chapter 55 - The Limit

The announcer’s voice boomed across the massive arena:

"The time has come! The third-round draw begins now!"

The crowd jumped to their feet. Eyes wide. Mouths silenced. Every breath held hostage by the majesty of what was about to unfold.

Above the arena, the great orb spun, glowing with a faint cosmic light. Inside, only four names remained:

Solar. Venus. Tian. Terrata.

The orb slowed. Its light dimmed to a faint pulse.

"The first name is... Tian!"

A murmur rippled through the rows. Then silence. Then

"The second name is... Terrata!!"

The silence shattered.

"Impossible...!"

"Are you kidding?!"

"They’re playing against Terrata?!"

"A planet that hasn’t shown its hand... against ones who’ve bled to get this far?!"

In the stands, whispers turned to tremors. Even the most seasoned spectators blinked in disbelief. In the healing wing, Lucas stood—his face a storm of stone and fire.

"Terrata," he muttered, voice low, eyes narrowing. "So we’re the ones who’ll uncover them."

Moments later, the remaining names emerged from the orb:

"Solar versus Venus."

The arena ignited with uproar.

On the upper balcony, the ruler of Venus laughed, her beauty radiant, her poison fatal her voice soft as perfumed venom:

"I’ll make their flames dance with us," she whispered, her gem-studded fingers waving lightly toward the blazing warriors of Solar.

The ruler of Solar didn’t even blink. His gaze molten, unflinching remained locked on the arena. Then he turned to the announcer.

"Ready."

One word...

The announcer’s voice echoed once more:

"The third round begins... tomorrow at dawn. Tian versus Terrata. Solar versus Venus. Two shall rise, two shall fall. Prepare yourselves... for blood is coming."

The Next Day — At Dawn

The sky above the coliseum turned a deep violet. Shadows twisted along its curve like ancient omens. The crowd countless, immeasurable filled every tower, every seat.

The ground trembled as the gates creaked open.

"Fighters! To your positions!"

All eyes turned to one side. The gate of Planet Tian opened.

Lucas and Darleen emerged together.

Lucas’s armor glimmered with restored threads of energy, but his expression was darker than the sky above. Darleen’s cloak fluttered, stained with yesterday’s blood, yet she stood firm. Proud.

They walked in silence.

Then... the opposing gate opened.

No one emerged.

A wave of stunned breath rippled through the stands.

"Where’s Terrata’s team?"

"Are they mocking the tournament?"

"Is their plan to forfeit?"

Suddenly, the arena’s light dimmed. The illumination bent, as if retreating from something.

Then he appeared.

One person only. Barefoot. A young man. Wearing armor that looked carved from bone—elegant and pulsing with life. Upon his back: a strange staff, twisted as if grown rather than forged.

He didn’t even glance at his opponents.

He stepped into the arena with dead calm, and struck his staff against the ground.

The sound rang out

One strike.

And from beneath his feet... the earth opened.

It didn’t break. It opened.

Circular black gates bloomed like dark flowers, and from them came

Hell.

Demonic beasts poured out in droves. Dogs with eyeless skulls, serpents with wings, giants with six limbs—things that screamed not with sound, but with

Memory.

Creatures that did not belong under sunlight.

"A- and S-rank demonic beasts!" the announcer choked. "How how is he controlling this many?!"

The air itself choked with their roars.

Lucas’s voice was tight, focused.

"Darleen."

She didn’t nod. Didn’t speak. She moved.

Lucas activated Tyrant’s Presence, and

The air collapsed.

The pressure fell like a hammer, forcing weaker beasts to stumble back. The stronger ones snarled and advanced.

The Blood Sovereignty within Darleen ignited, glowing crimson in her veins. With every step, her control deepened. The battlefield began to tilt, just slightly, in their favor.

They weren’t fighting to survive.

The first wave hit like a storm. Lucas leapt into a hurricane of claws and bone, his Hand-Switcher blades shredding limbs in bursts of darkness. For every one that fell, another took its place.

Darleen moved through them, weaving bloodwebs that ensnared mid-lunge and tore from within.

Still, the waves did not stop.

After ten minutes, Lucas felt the weight.

Not exhaustion. Not fear.

"They’re not trying to beat us," he muttered aloud. "They’re testing how long we can last."

Darleen parried a strike, drove a blood-spear through a chimera’s throat, then fell back beside him.

—

Blood sprayed into the air as her crimson webs shredded beasts three times her size. Screams rose and died with the tearing of sinew or the whisper of her venom slipping into flesh. She didn’t fight blindly—she hunted. Elegant, ruthless, without mercy.

Lucas stood beside her, covered in filth, breathing ragged and uneven. His body drenched in sweat and blood his and theirs and battlefield dust. His Hand-Switcher shaping into blades to tear flesh, then shields, spears, axes anything he needed, instantly. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

The monsters came without end.

The priest of Terrata.

His robe was clean. His staff shimmered with strange purple hues. He hadn’t moved since the battle began.

Then he spoke. Softly. Calmly. So quiet it was barely audible.

"You are strong... but there are only two of you. How long can you endure?"

Lucas, panting heavily, wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his wrist. His lips curved in a bloody grin.

In the stands, tension crackled like thunder.

The judges watched in silence until the ruler of Solar broke it with a voice steeped in restrained admiration.

"Tian’s fighters are rare... not in number, but in depth."

The ruler of Venus tilted her head, fingers tapping rhythmically on her silver scepter.

"That boy... Lucas. His energy doesn’t just shift it... adapts. Dangerous. Beautifully dangerous."

On the battlefield, the priest finally moved.

He slit his palm, letting blood drip onto his staff. The earth shuddered. A black-and-crimson symbol widened beneath him, pulsing like a heartbeat...

The ground split open.

From its depths emerged something ancient and horrifying:

A colossal demonic dragon, its body wreathed in black flame, its eyes glowing with hollow hunger. The arena froze—the crowd, the air itself.

Every living being felt it.

Terror.

True, primal terror.

The announcer gasped, jaw hanging. "That’s... that’s not a summoning. That’s a "

"Ritual binding."

"That creature is alive."

Lucas stepped back. For the first time in the battle, doubt flickered in his eyes.

Darleen.

She stood firm, blood spattered across her arms, her presence still regal. A crimson queen.

She activated Blood Sovereignty her veins glowing red, mana surging from within in thick, choking waves.

Lucas clenched his fists.

His voice tightened. His vision sharpened.

Bloodlust Addiction: Activated.

Every nerve screamed to fight, to kill, to bring

An end

to anything that stood before him. He stopped thinking. He moved.

"Let’s end this," he said in a low voice, saturated with bloodthirsty power.

Darleen unleashed her crimson webs six of them, laced with paralyzing venom and tied to her life force. They wrapped around the dragon’s wings and limbs, slowing it as it shrieked.

"Hand-Switcher: MAX LIMIT!"

Lucas summoned a spear of shadow and blood a weapon pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. He leapt into the air, a trail of red energy behind him.

The dragon roared, black flame pouring outward.

Darleen screamed as the heat scorched her skin but she held her webs. She didn’t let go.

Lucas hurled the spear.

The net spun, slicing through the air like a meteor.

Impact.

Straight into the beast’s heart.

Time stopped.

Then explosion.

A massive blast of mana and black fire erupted from the dragon’s chest. The arena shook. Barrier lights flickered...

The dragon roared one final cry then collapsed.

The priest fell to his knees. His staff shattered.

The referee raised his hand.

"[Winner: Planet Tian.]"

Dead silence swept the arena.

Then it exploded.

A tidal wave of noise and screams surged through the stands. People stood. They cheered. Some wept. Others just stared in awe.

In the royal balconies, Seaman stood and clapped slowly...

—

On the battlefield, Lucas dropped to his knees. His vision blurred. He felt warmth trickle from his ear.