SSS Awakening: All My Clones Have Divine Bloodlines!-Chapter 37: A One-Sided Slaughter

With the arrival of mana and the emergence of the awakened, people began expanding their understanding of how it works, what the limits of each rank are, and so on.

It became evident that there were stages between the ranks, separating the higher from the lower by a margin that was far from negligible.

After careful examination and years of study, these stages were divided as follows:

Awakened (E–F): Those who have only just begun to grasp mana and the concepts it allows one to use, such as elements, laws of nature, and so on.

Ascendant (C–D): A step above the awakened, both in strength and in their understanding and manipulation of concepts. If the awakened are like newborns who have just learned to move their limbs, then the ascendants have begun to walk, already preparing to run.

They no longer merely follow the flow of mana, they actively attempt to manipulate it and convert it into something more useful and efficient for themselves, whether in battle or otherwise. This allows them to create stronger and entirely new abilities and techniques, which require a deeper understanding of their core concept as well as better control over the energy within their bodies.

Elite (A–B): Yet another step above the ascendants, to the point where their understanding of concepts begins to reach limits the previous stages cannot even imagine. This allows them to use those concepts in completely new ways and at entirely different levels, manipulating them so far beyond what ascendants can achieve that, in comparison, the latter would seem like children just learning to run, while they themselves are already flying. Both literally and metaphorically.

And finally, there are the rulers of the world:

Overlords (S): Beings who have transcended the mortal limits of the concepts upon which they built their path of evolution. They have obtained such control over their concept that they can reach levels of power an Elite could never achieve, not because their theoretical or practical understanding is inferior, but because they operate on a completely different level altogether.

These are the beings who currently rule the human kingdoms, as well as those rulles by beasts.

Rumors say that an even higher level may exist, but that is not something Evan has any way of confirming with his current resources, nor does it particularly matter to him. For someone who is only E-Rank, in other words still at the lowest stage, those higher levels are far too distant to concern himself with for now.

That said, this was the reason why, no matter how much he had prepared, he still had a small uncertainty about the success of their plans. If that presence were to turn out to be an Elite, then he didn’t know how things would unfold, or at the very least, whether they would be able to make it out of this mess alive.

’Let’s really hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t think I’d be able to fully manage the situation if it did,’ he thought, running through the contingencies he had put in place in case an Elite actually showed up on the battlefield.

His own safety was still manageable, but the same could not be said for Luna. It wasn’t like she had a clone she could withdraw from the battlefield at any moment.

He pushed that thought aside and focused on his objective.

With the city in chaos and the manor in turmoil, security had collapsed, and so had surveillance. The slave mark on him had weakened to the point where it was barely more than a faint irritation in his mind, something he would be able to completely erase with a little more time.

Traceable? Yes. But by the time they calmed down and noticed his absence, he would already be far away, and the mark would be gone as well.

The battlefield in the forest, already overturned by Edmund’s last attack, was now being reshaped once again by the ongoing fight.

On one side was Luna, facing the commander of the city guards along with five advanced-stage E-Ranks.

On the other side was Shadow, going up against around ten armed, Unawakened soldiers, several F-Ranks, and a few E-Ranks, one at early stage and one at mid stage.

Despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, neither of them seemed particularly concerned, deflecting attacks from left and right as if they were sparring rather than fighting for their lives.

Worse still, they were winning.

With every attack they repelled, the opposing side wasn’t just pushed back but wounded, and often severely. Luna alone had already mutilated three of the five E-Ranks and had even forced the commander himself into a bad state.

Earlier, he had maintained a composed, battle ready expression when facing the woman who had killed Edmund, someone stronger than himself. But now, that composure had since collapsed into something closer to pure terror, as he tried to understand what exactly he was fighting.

From her aura he could tell she was D-Rank, Mid-Stage, possibly Advanced-Stage. But the strength she was displaying wasn’t that of a D-Rank. Not even remotely.

The same was true on the other side of the battlefield, where her companion was fighting.

He too was winning without visibly exerting himself. Already half the non-awakened had been killed, and everyone else, including the awakened among them, had taken wounds, some light, others severe.

It didn’t take a genius to realize they were losing badly. This was no longer a battle between two sides, it was a one-sided slaughter, and they were on the losing end.

"Damn it, Edmund," Darius muttered under his breath. "I told you to keep your son on a leash. And now look at the situation we’re in because of him."

At the moment, the city was far from being at full strength. With the baron away on business and Edmund already dead, only he and the city guard remained, and his strongest men were here, fighting a battle they were already losing.

’Damn it... I really wanted to avoid relying on him, but it’s either that or the barony’s reputation collapses, along with my head,’ he thought, quickly weighing his options before reaching a conclusion.

Keeping a careful distance from Luna, he reached into his coat and produced a rectangular object. Its surface was smooth and black, and something about it gave the immediate impression that it was not an ordinary item. He channeled a small amount of mana into it.

Runes lit up across its surface. He brought it close to his mouth and spoke.

"Envoy Selric, this is Commander Darius speaking. I am requesting your assistance in dealing with this threat."

Silence followed for a few seconds, seconds that felt considerably longer than they were.

Then a voice came from the black object in his hand.

"Understood. I’ll be there in a few seconds."