I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 87: No Time to Rest

"Identify yourself!" one of the soldiers shouted, his voice sharp and commanding.

Vale raised his hands slowly to show he was unarmed. "My name is Vale. I just returned from my Second Trial."

"The Second Trial?" The soldier’s eyes widened in disbelief. Around him, the others exchanged glances. A low murmur passed through the group before one of them stepped forward.

This soldier was lean, with short-cropped dark hair and a few days’ worth of stubble along his jawline. Though worn, his armour was neatly kept, and the sword at his side was polished to a shine. His sharp eyes studied Vale with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

"You’re lucky we found you," he said. "Travelling through these parts alone is a death sentence."

Vale raised an eyebrow. "These parts? Where exactly am I?"

The soldier gave him a puzzled look, then answered slowly, as if weighing each word. "You’re in the Fourth Zone—or what’s left of it. The fourth barrier has fallen. The third’s been damaged."

"What?" Vale’s eyes widened at the words.

The fall of the fourth barrier wasn’t all that shocking—it had been weakened for a long time. But the third? Damaged? That was something else entirely. What in the world had happened while he was away?

Before he could ask more, the soldier continued, his voice grim.

"A horde of Corrupted monsters appeared out of nowhere. They tore through everything in their path. We managed to lure them away from the barrier, but they’re still out there."

Corrupted monsters? Vale’s mind raced. How many would it take to damage a barrier, let alone two? The barriers were meant to hold back unimaginable forces. For them to fail... something terrible must’ve happened.

He shook off the thoughts and refocused. "How do I get to the third barrier?"

"We’re heading to our outpost just outside it," the soldier replied. "You can come with us if you want."

Vale hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Sure."

The soldier gave a slight nod. "I’m Theodore."

Without another word, Vale fell in step with the group, his thoughts swirling like a storm as they made their way toward the outpost—and whatever answers might be waiting there.

The journey was uneventful.

There were no monsters, no people, just vast, windswept plains of scorched grass and cracked earth stretching endlessly in every direction. The land felt abandoned, like a place the world had quietly given up on.

Fortunately, the soldiers’ constant chatter helped pass the time, though Vale found it more of a background hum than anything useful. Tales of past skirmishes, jokes shared to ward off fear, whispered rumours about what might’ve broken the barrier. It was noise, but it was human.

At last—after what felt like hours of trudging—they reached it: a small settlement in the distance, made up of just a handful of large, weathered tents huddled together against the cold wind. Smoke curled from a firepit at the center, and guards patrolled the perimeter with tired eyes and ready weapons.

As they arrived, a soldier stationed at the entrance approached briskly. "Report to the General," he said without ceremony.

Vale turned instinctively to leave, eager to get to the third barrier as soon as possible, but Theodore stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"We need to check in with the General first," he said firmly.

With a reluctant sigh, Vale followed the group into the largest tent.

Inside stood a tall man with broad shoulders and an imposing presence. He wore gleaming silver armour, polished to perfection, with intricate engravings that marked him as someone of high rank—and higher expectations. His face was clean-shaven, sharp-jawed, and lined with the kind of stress that only came from years of command.

His piercing gaze landed on Vale, and his expression immediately soured.

"Who the hell is this?" he asked coldly, as if Vale were a stain on the floor.

"He just returned from the Second Trial," Theodore replied, "We found him a few hours ago."

"The Second Trial?" The General paused. Then a faint smile curved his lips, though it didn’t reach his eyes. "How fortunate. We were short-handed for our next mission—but with another Awakened among us, everything should go smoothly."

"Wait... what?" The realisation hit Vale like a hammer to the chest.

"No, I just want to get to the third barrier. I’m—"

"Listen, kid," the General cut in, voice firm and authoritative. "If you go there, they’ll just draft you anyway and stick you on barrier watch. At least this way, you’ll be doing something useful—something important."

Vale hesitated. A mission sounded far better than standing around guarding a wall—but still. He had just gotten back. And now they wanted him to dive straight into another fight?

He exhaled sharply, then gave a reluctant nod. "Fine."

"That’s more like it." The General clapped his hands once. "Very well. Let me bring you up to speed."

Over the next hour, General Astor outlined the mission in detail. A swarm of Awakened monsters had been spotted to the east of the barrier. Their task was simple: locate and eliminate them. A straightforward assignment—on paper.

Which only made Vale more uneasy. Nothing ever that simple turned out well.

When the briefing ended, the General gestured to a nearby soldier. "Show him to an empty tent. He’ll need rest. The squad moves out at dawn."

The tent was small, cold, and barely insulated. The cot creaked under Vale’s weight, and the thin blanket did little to keep out the chill. He stared up at the canvas ceiling, cursing his luck and longing for the comfort of his dorm, the warmth of his own bed, and a single day without life-threatening surprises.

Eventually, exhaustion took hold. His eyes drifted shut, and he slipped into a restless sleep, one filled with flickering flames, broken barriers, and the distant screams of monsters hunting in the dark.

The sleep wasn’t great.

Vale had been woken up more times than he could count—first by the echo of distant clashes, then by the loud chatter of soldiers passing too close to his tent. Even when silence fell, the cold crept into his bones, making it impossible to fully rest.

Now, the pale light of early dawn spilt across the camp, and it was time to get up. Time to meet with the General and face whatever came next.

As he entered the large command tent, he found General Astor already waiting inside, standing beside a simple table marked with maps and battle markers. Around him stood four others.

Vale hesitated near the entrance, questioning—for the hundredth time—why he was even here. But the moment the General noticed him, he launched straight into the debrief.

"This will be quick," Astor said, voice firm and steady. "You’ve already heard the overview, but I want every single one of you to know your role before we move."

He gestured to the map as he spoke, tracing the planned route, the expected encounter zone, and fallback points if things went wrong. It was thorough, but not overcomplicated.

There were five of them in total.

Theodore, the soldier Vale had met when he first stumbled back into the world. Two more men he didn’t recognise. And a girl with sharp eyes and amber-brown hair who stood apart from the others, her arms crossed casually.

As soon as the briefing ended, the girl turned her attention to Vale.

"What’s your speciality?" she asked, her voice brisk but not unfriendly.

Vale straightened. "Close combat."

"I see." She nodded, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "That gives us three close combat fighters, one healer, and one archer."

Vale’s eyes swept across the group.

He’d seen Theodore with a sword the day before. One of the unfamiliar soldiers now stood with a massive longsword strapped to his back—it looked far too heavy to wield comfortably, yet he carried it like it was an extension of himself. Vale wasn’t sure why he hadn’t dismissed the weapon into storage, but that wasn’t the focus right now.

That left the girl and one remaining soldier.

"I’m the archer," the girl said, catching him scanning the group. "Name’s Kael. Try not to stand in front of me unless you want an arrow between your shoulders."

Vale smirked slightly and gave a short nod. "Noted."

"And I’m our healer," the last man added. He was older than the rest—perhaps in his mid-thirties—with a calm demeanour and soft features that made him look more like a priest than a fighter. "Name’s Elias. Try not to make my job too hard" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Vale gave a faint chuckle. "I’ll do my best."

With roles clear and the mission looming, the group began to move out of the tent.

Vale lingered for a moment, casting one last glance at the map. They’d be heading straight into danger again, only hours after he’d returned from a Trial that nearly killed him.

"I guess there truly is no rest for the Awakened," he thought bitterly, then turned and followed the others into the dawn.