I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 65: A Single Arrow

The creature crashed down where the group had stood just moments earlier, shattering the icy ground beneath it. Shards of frozen earth launched into the air like glass.

Vale gritted his teeth, rolling across the frozen floor as he hurled himself out of harm’s way.

"Too fast!"

Despite its massive size, the creature moved with terrifying speed. It lunged again—this time toward Dain, who now stood alone after narrowly dodging the first attack.

Two silver gauntlets clashed with a thunderous boom. A jolt of pain shot up Dain’s arm from the impact. His usual cocky grin vanished, replaced by a look of raw focus as the brutal force of the strike flipped a switch in his brain—his mind changed to survival mode.

Dain fought with everything he had. His silver gauntlet met the creature’s menacing strikes, each blow a test of endurance. The speed, the weight, the sheer violence of the creature’s assault—it was superior in every way.

Klein cast a debuff just as Vale joined the fray. Vale’s blade sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. His blade clashed against an identical weapon.

The clash of metal echoed through the chamber.

The human-like creature grinned menacingly, amused, as though the arrival of reinforcements only promised more entertainment.

But Vale didn’t care for its expression. He struck again, syncing his attacks with Dain. Together, they drove the beast back, forcing it onto the defensive—or so they thought.

With a burst of orange flames, the creature’s blade and gauntlet ignited. Both weapons struck like hammers, crashing into the students’ armours and sending them skidding across the icy floor in a wash of searing pain.

Ayla, still not fully recovered, had joined the chaos of battle. Her dagger sliced through the air at blistering speed. The creature twisted, faster than ever—but not just fast enough. The blade sank deep into its leg, shards of ice scattering from the wound.

It raised its silver gauntlet to retaliate, but Ayla was already gone. She dashed away in a blur, leaving the dagger embedded in its limb. With a flick of her thought, she activated her ability once more. The creature stumbled, its leg dragging as though chained by an invisible force.

At the same moment, Dain and Vale rejoined the fray. Their weapons struck in unison, hammering the creature’s body with renewed fury.

But the monster’s grin only widened.

It swung its silver gauntlet with brutal force, forcing the students to leap back, barely avoiding the blow. Then, with a slow stretch of its arm, it tossed a glinting metal coin into the air.

The students’ eyes widened.

Their suspicions were true.

The creature possessed each of their abilities—and their strengths.

Vale’s mind raced. Trying to piece together what common weakness the students might share. If he could pinpoint and exploit it, they might stand a chance. They had to.

But there was no time.

The monster’s mana essence surged, fully replenished. Its wounds were sealed before their eyes, and without hesitation, it lunged forward again.

A rain of arrows streaked through the air, hitting the massive target—but the barrage barely slowed the creature’s charge.

Vale and Dain fought tooth and nail, clashing steel against its fury. Their movements grew sluggish. Cuts and bruises painted their skin, blood soaking into cloth and armour.

In a fleeting pause between exchanges, Dain tossed his own coin into the air, mana flaring around him. Reinvigorated, he leapt back into the fight with renewed vigour.

The same couldn’t be said about Vale.

His mana was running low. Desperate, he summoned his spirit—the Dark Knight—to force openings, to buy time and perhaps somehow turn the tide of the battle.

But it wasn’t enough.

His strikes glanced off the creature’s body, scoring only shallow cuts, brief flickers of damage against the towering force.

Ayla hung back, darting in only when a clear window opened. Her movements were careful, her aim precise—but her body couldn’t endure another prolonged clash, her wounds hindering any slight movement.

Everyone was fighting with everything they had.

But it wasn’t enough. The group was losing badly.

And through it all, the creature kept grinning.

Then, a flicker of an idea struck Vale’s mind like lightning in the dark sky.

He commanded the knight to move toward Klein.

"Pass the bow to the knight!" he shouted toward the student, his voice sharp and urgent.

Though confused, Klein obeyed without hesitation. He tossed the bow over, eyes locked on the armoured knight, sensing something significant was about to happen—and moments later, it did. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As the knight’s gauntleted hand closed around the weapon, Vale reached deep within himself, summoning the last vestiges of his strength to reach his unique ability. This time, he didn’t direct the ravenous flame to his palm, but to the knight’s.

A crushing strain gripped his core. Chills rippled through his body as he barely fended off the creature’s attacks. His mana essence was low—dangerously low.

But before it was completely depleted, the black flame surged into existence, blooming in the knight’s palm and crawling along the bowstring toward the nocked arrow.

Without hesitation, the knight drew the bow and let the arrow fly.

A streak of darkness ripped through the air with blistering speed. The chamber seemed to tense—the air thickened, heavy with dread—but there was no time to register any of it.

The arrow slammed into the monster’s back, embedding deep. A burst of black flame erupted across its surface, crawling and gnawing into its flesh.

The creature roared in fury, attempting to fight on. But its movements grew sluggish and strained. The students seized the moment—Vale, Dain, and Ayla’s coordinated strikes landed again and again, carving chunks of ice from its massive frame.

Then, as the black flame wormed its way inward, the creature froze mid-motion—its body stiffening—before shattering into a thousand pieces of jagged shards of ice.

The sound of the familiar voice broke through the heavy silence, echoing in Vale’s mind.

[ You have slain an S-Rank, Awakened Monster, Chimera of Snowveil ]

[ You have received an Artifact, Mirroring Shard ]

Almost in unison, the group collapsed, falling to the frost-covered ground as exhaustion dragged their bodies down. Vale’s chest rose and fell heavily just as his thoughts flickered toward the new artifact, curiosity rising—but the moment passed quickly, overtaken by the pull of overwhelming fatigue.

Despite every instinct, despite the lingering cold and danger, they fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, their bodies demanding what their minds could no longer resist.