My SSS-Rank Grim Reaper System-Chapter 60: The Trap

**[APARTMENT – NEXT DAY – 3 PM]**

Twenty-four hours had passed since the system’s alert.

And nothing had happened.

Alex sat on the sofa, staring at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time. *Tick. Tick. Tick.*

Every second that passed without an attack made him more anxious, not less.

"Maybe," said Emily from the kitchen where she was preparing tea, "the hunter changed his mind. Maybe he moved on to an easier target."

Alex didn’t answer. He wanted to believe it—he really did.

But his instincts said otherwise.

Raven was at the window, watching the street below. "It’s been exactly twenty-four hours since the last alert. Maybe the system was wrong."

"The system doesn’t get things wrong," Alex muttered. "It’s just... maybe the hunter is waiting for the perfect moment. Damn it—I decided to leave the lower city for some peace, and now this is what I’ve got."

Grim (80cm form) patrolled the living room constantly, restless.

**"Master. Is. Right. Something. Coming. I. Feel. It."**

But hour after hour passed.

4 PM. Nothing.

5 PM. Nothing.

6 PM. Still nothing.

By the time 7 PM arrived, even Alex was starting to doubt himself.

"Maybe you were right, Emily," he admitted at last. "Maybe he really did leave."

Then—an urgent knock at the door.

Everyone tensed.

Alex approached carefully, Grim growing to 1.5m form behind him.

"Who’s there?"

"Messenger from the Guild!" A young voice, breathless. "Urgent! Please open up!"

Alex opened the door a crack, leaving the chain on.

A boy of maybe sixteen, wearing Guild uniform, sweating heavily.

"What’s happened?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Accident at the East Docks! A timber shipment collapsed! Multiple people badly injured! Captain Sera sent a message specifically requesting healer Emily Chen! She says it’s urgent!"

Emily appeared behind Alex. "How many injured?"

"At least eight! Some are trapped under beams! Please, we need help now!"

Emily looked at Alex. "I should—"

"It’s a trap," Alex said immediately.

"How do you know?"

"Perfect timing. Right when we start to let our guard down."

The messenger looked genuinely bewildered. "A trap? No! It’s real! People are dying!"

Emily bit her lip. Alex could see the conflict in her eyes—her healer’s instinct against every ounce of caution she had.

"If it’s real," she said quietly, "and I don’t go... people will die because of my cowardice."

"And if it’s a trap and you go," Alex countered, "they take you."

"Then I go with protection." Emily turned to Raven. "You come with me. If it is a trap, Fragment 3 can handle most threats."

Raven didn’t look convinced. "I don’t like splitting up."

"Neither do I. But if it’s real..." Emily glanced at the messenger, who was waiting anxiously. "...I can’t ignore injured people."

Alex weighed the options. If he sent them both, he and Grim would be alone. But if it was real and he kept the healer back...

"Fine," he decided. "Raven goes with you. Grim and I stay here. Communication crystals active at all times. If anything—*anything*—feels wrong, you contact me immediately and come back."

"Agreed."

Five minutes later, Raven and Emily were out the door.

Alex watched them from the window until they disappeared around the corner.

Then he closed the door and threw every bolt.

He turned to face Grim.

"Now we wait. And we stay sharp."

**"Yes. Master."**

---

**[EAST DOCKS – 7:30 PM]**

Raven and Emily arrived at the docks at a run.

And found... nothing.

No collapsed cargo. No injured. No chaos.

Just ordinary dock workers loading ships, looking at them in confusion.

"Excuse me," Emily said to a nearby worker, "was there an accident here? A cargo collapse?"

The man scratched his head. "Accident? No. Quiet day all around."

Raven and Emily exchanged a look.

"We were played," said Raven, voice flat.

"Alex." Emily pulled out her communication crystal. "Alex! It’s a trap! There’s no accident! We’re coming back now!"

Silence from the crystal.

"Alex?" Emily shook it. "ALEX!"

Nothing.

Raven pulled out hers. "Grim! Answer!"

Absolute silence.

"Damn," Raven muttered. "They’re blocking communications. Or..."

She didn’t finish the thought.

Both of them started running—back toward the apartment.

Fifteen minutes away.

Far too far.

---

**[APARTMENT – 7:25 PM – 5 MINUTES EARLIER]**

Alex was at the window, watching the street.

Everything normal. People coming home from work. Vendors closing up their stalls. Port Coral’s nightlife beginning to stir.

Too normal.

Grim patrolled, restless.

**"Master. Something. Definitely. Wrong."**

"I know. I feel it too."

**[SYSTEM – URGENT ALERT]**

**[CRITICAL IMMINENT DANGER!]**

**[ENEMY WITHIN ATTACK RANGE]**

**[DISTANCE: <50 METERS]**

**[RECOMMENDATION: EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY]**

"Grim! Get back!"

Alex’s bedroom window *EXPLODED* inward.

Glass flying like projectiles. The wooden frame splintering apart.

And through the opening—

The black Wyvern.

Massive. Level 56. Black scales gleaming, yellow eyes burning, jaws spread wide to reveal rows of teeth like blades.

**[Black Wyvern – Level 56]**

**[HP: 12,000/12,000]**

The Wyvern shrieked—a sound that shook the entire apartment—and launched itself directly at Alex.

Alex rolled sideways—the Wyvern’s claws shredded the sofa where he had been standing a second before.

**CRASH.**

Grim (80cm) leaped—shifting to 1.5m mid-air—intercepting the Wyvern’s follow-up strike.

His small scythe caught the massive jaws.

**CLANG.**

The impact sent Grim flying backward, slamming into the wall.

**[Grim HP: 2,200 → 1,950/2,200]**

The Wyvern didn’t stop—its tail sweeping through the room, destroying the table, the chairs, the bookshelf.

The entire apartment becoming a warzone.

Alex drew his sword, knowing it was useless against a level 56 Wyvern but needing *something*.

Then—a figure appeared in the shattered window.

A silhouette against moonlight.

Kael Darkwind.

Twin blades in his hands. Dark cloak rippling. Cold eyes studying Alex.

"Alex Carter," said a calm, controlled voice. "Finally. Face to face."

He stepped through with a veteran’s effortless grace.

**[Kael Darkwind – Level 54]**

**[HP: 6,800/6,800]**

**[WARNING: EXTREME LEVEL DIFFERENCE]**

**[PROBABILITY OF VICTORY: 8%]**

Eight percent.

Essentially zero.

"Grim," Alex shouted, "handle the Wyvern! I’ll manage Kael!"

A lie. He couldn’t manage Kael.

But he had to try.

Kael didn’t waste words—he simply attacked.

Superhuman speed—twin blades cutting in a complex pattern.

Alex blocked the first—the impact nearly tore his sword from his grip.

The second blade sliced toward his side—Alex twisted his body, steel cutting fabric but not flesh.

He counterattacked—a strike toward Kael’s neck.

Kael didn’t even bother to block. He simply tilted his head slightly.

Alex’s blade passed millimeters above his shoulder.

Then Kael’s knee drove into Alex’s stomach.

**WHAM.**

Alex flew backward, air blasting from his lungs.

**[Alex HP: 1,020 → 870/1,020]**

Thirty seconds. He had lasted thirty seconds.

Kael advanced, expression unchanged. As if this were routine work.

Because for him, it probably was.

Meanwhile, Grim and the Wyvern were dismantling what remained of the apartment.

**CRASH. BANG. ROAR.**

The balcony door destroyed. A wall cracking. The ceiling shaking.

"Master!" Grim tried to break away and help—

The Wyvern caught him in its jaws and hurled him through the wall into Raven’s room.

**CRASH.**

**[Grim HP: 1,950 → 1,600/2,200]**

Alex understood—they couldn’t fight here.

The space was too confined. The neighbors were in danger (he could hear Mrs. Thorne shouting from the apartment next door, her voice sharp with alarm).

He had to move the battle out of the building.

"Grim! Outside! Now!"

He used **[Shadow Step]**—teleporting ten meters, appearing at the edge of the shattered window.

He jumped.

Three floors down.

He landed in the street—a roll, absorbing the impact.

**[Alex HP: 870 → 820/1,020]**

Fall damage, but manageable.

Grim followed—full Awakening Form now, 2.5 meters, launching through the window.

The Wyvern shrieked and flew out after them.

And from above—

Kael jumped. Three floors. Landed like it was nothing.

He smiled—the first expression Alex had seen on his face.

It was not a pleasant one.

"Running is pointless, Carter. But..." He rolled his blades. "...it does make things more interesting."

---

**[PORT CORAL STREETS]**

Alex ran like there was no tomorrow.

Not toward populated buildings—he couldn’t risk civilians.

Toward rooftops. The commercial district, closed for the night. Somewhere his battle wouldn’t hurt innocent people.

Kael pursued—never running, always moving at a rapid walk.

But closing the distance anyway.

Because level 54 versus level 40 meant that even Kael’s brisk walk was faster than Alex’s full sprint.

"You won’t escape!" Kael called out. Not angry. Simply stating a fact.

Alex jumped—grabbed a rooftop ledge, hauled himself up.

The battle moved to Port Coral’s rooftops.

Moonlight. Ocean wind. Tiles slick with the night’s moisture.

Grim running on all fours behind Alex, Awakening Form giving him speed.

The Wyvern flying overhead, cutting off any aerial escape, occasionally diving to attack.

Alex leaped from rooftop to rooftop—five meters, six meters, eight meters between buildings.

Hard landings, rolls, keep moving.

Kael followed—every jump perfectly calculated, no wasted effort.

Behind him, he could hear the communication crystals chiming—Raven and Emily trying to reach him.

But he had no time to answer.

Just run.

Just survive.

Finally—a rooftop with no buildings ahead.

A dead end.

Ocean behind. Kael in front. Wyvern above.

No escape.

Alex turned, sword raised, breathing hard.

Kael landed on the same rooftop and walked slowly forward.

"End of the road," he said simply.

Grim stepped between them, scythe ready.

**"You will not. Touch. Master."**

Kael looked at Grim with something approaching respect.

"Fragment 1. The Harvester’s Core. Impressive." Then his eyes moved to Alex. "But not enough."

He raised his blades.

"Last chance, Carter. Surrender. Come quietly. Or..." He gestured downward, where the Wyvern was landing on the rooftop as well. "...I take you unconscious and badly hurt."

Alex tightened his grip on his sword.

He knew he couldn’t win.

Kael, level 54. Wyvern, level 56.

Him, level 40. Grim, damaged.

Simple arithmetic.

But surrendering meant the Temple. Interrogation. Probably execution eventually.

"You know what?" Alex said, voice steady despite everything. "I’m done being told what to do. I came to this city looking for peace—*my* peace—and you followed me here to ruin it. So no. You can turn around and leave, or you can find out what happens when someone who has nothing to lose stops holding back."

Kael studied him for a moment. Not with anger. With something closer to clinical curiosity—like a hunter encountering an animal that refused to behave as expected.

Then he sighed.

"So be it. The hard way it is."

He attacked.

And this time—he didn’t hold back.