SSS Ranked Talent: I Can Upgrade My Skills Infinitely-Chapter 166: The Golden Tyrant, A Heart of Steel

The interior of the Eternal Arena was a scene of golden madness.

The stands were filled with stone statues of spectators, frozen in eternal applause. The magical recording of cheers looped endlessly, a maddening background noise to the slaughter happening on the sands below.

In the center of the pit, surrounded by mountains of broken, golden parts, was Valeria.

She was unrecognizable. Her silver armor was gone, replaced by a shell of hardened, golden mana—the ultimate manifestation of her [Titan’s Bloodline]. She stood fifteen feet tall, a giantess of pure rage. Her hair floated around her as if she were underwater, turning from blonde to blinding white. She held no weapon; her claymore lay shattered in the corner. She used her fists.

And she was fighting an army.

Golden Golems, endless waves of them, poured from the gates around the arena. They rushed her, mindless and relentless.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Valeria screamed, her voice hoarse, broken.

She swung a massive fist.

"BOOM!"

Three golems were pulverized instantly, turning into gold dust. But five more took their place. She didn’t dodge. She didn’t block. She tanked every hit, her golden skin chipping and reforming with every impact.

[Target: Valeria (The Golden Tyrant)]

[Status: Berserk / Time Dilation Psychosis]

[Duration in Combat: 3 Weeks (Relative Time)]

Alvian stopped at the edge of the pit. Three weeks. She had been fighting non-stop for three weeks while only hours had passed for him.

"Valeria!" Seraphina shouted, her voice filled with horror.

Valeria spun around. She didn’t see friends. She didn’t see allies. Her eyes were blank white orbs, devoid of recognition. She saw movement. She saw targets.

"MORE!" Valeria roared. "SEND MORE!"

She picked up the torso of a destroyed golem and threw it at Alvian. It flew like a cannonball.

Alvian didn’t flinch. He raised his hand, catching the debris with a dull thud. His [Chaos Body] absorbed the impact effortlessly.

"She doesn’t know us," Alvian said, his voice quiet. "Her mind has retreated into the combat loop. Survival instinct is the only thing driving her."

"We have to stop her," Seraphina said, drawing her daggers. "Should I aim for the legs?"

"No," Alvian ordered. "If we attack her, her Titan reflexes will treat us as high-priority threats. She will crush you."

He handed his lance to Seraphina.

"Hold this."

"What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to walk," Alvian said.

He stepped into the arena.

The golems ignored him, focused entirely on the golden giantess in the center. Alvian walked through the melee. A golem swung a sword at him; he sidestepped with a micro-movement, not even breaking stride. Another tried to stomp him; he used [Void Step] to blink through the leg.

He walked calmly, efficiently, toward the center of the storm.

Valeria saw him approaching. A small, dark figure amidst the gold. A new challenger.

"YOU!" Valeria bellowed.

She charged. The ground shook. She raised both fists for a smash that could level a fortress.

"Shield Wall," Alvian whispered.

He didn’t cast a shield. He didn’t use a skill. He simply stood there, his arms open, his chest exposed.

Valeria’s fists came down.

"ALVIAN!" Seraphina screamed from the sidelines.

At the last microsecond, Valeria’s fists stopped. They hovered inches from Alvian’s face. The wind pressure from the stop blew his hair back. The heat radiating from her body was intense enough to melt lead.

Her breathing was ragged, like a bellows. She stared at him, her white eyes twitching. Something deep inside her, buried under weeks of adrenaline and violence, recognized the shape. Not the enemy. The Anchor.

"Strike me," Alvian said softly. "If you are lost, strike me."

Valeria trembled. The golden light flared, fighting against her hesitation. The programming of the Titan demanded violence. The heart of the girl demanded pause.

"Enemy..." she rasped. "Target..."

"No," Alvian said. He took a step forward. He reached up. He placed his hands on her massive, burning fists.

[Passive Triggered: Thermal Nullification.]

His cool touch leached the heat from her skin.

"I am not a target," Alvian said. "I am the Spear."

Valeria flinched. The white in her eyes flickered, revealing the terrified grey beneath.

"Spear..." she whispered.

"And you are the Shield," Alvian continued, moving closer. He stepped inside her guard. He wrapped his arms around her massive, armored waist. He rested his head against her burning chest plate.

"Rest, Titan. The shift is over."

He released a pulse of his mana. Not [Frost Heart]. Not [Void]. He used the [Sanctified Soul Vessel] energy lingering in his system—pure, calming white light.

The effect was instant. The golden aura shattered. Valeria’s form shrank rapidly, the Titan muscle mass dissolving back into human proportions. She collapsed.

Alvian caught her. She was burning up, feverish, her skin red and raw from the strain. She looked small in his arms.

"Alvian?" she croaked, her eyes finally focusing. "How long...?"

"Too long," Alvian said, brushing wet hair from her forehead. "But you held the line."

Valeria let out a sob, burying her face in his coat. "I was so tired. I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, they would get past me..."

"No one gets past you," Alvian assured her. "Sleep now."

She went limp, unconscious. Alvian held her for a moment, his face unreadable. Then, he looked up.

The golems had stopped moving. The crowd noise stopped.

At the top of the arena, in the Emperor’s Box, a figure materialized. It was a man made entirely of gold coins and diamond dust.

[Boss Detected: Echo Jinsha (The Eternal Banker)]

[Level: 58]

[Status: Displeased] 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"A touching reunion," the Echo sneered, its voice the sound of jingling change. "But you interrupted the show. The entry fee for the arena is life. She has not paid."

Alvian stood up, holding Valeria with one arm. He looked at the Echo.

"She paid with three weeks of blood," Alvian said, his voice dropping to a temperature that made the desert air freeze. "And now, I’m here to collect the refund."

"Refund?" The Echo laughed. "There are no refunds in the Golden Shard! Guards! Kill the interlopers!"

The golems reanimated. Thousands of them turned toward Alvian.

Alvian didn’t equip his lance. He didn’t need it.

"System. [Void Step]."

He blinked. He didn’t blink to the exit. He blinked to the Emperor’s Box.

He appeared directly in front of the Echo. He was still holding Valeria.

"What—" The Echo started.

"Inefficient management," Alvian said.

He kicked the Echo in the chest.

"BOOM!"

The kick, powered by [Chaos Body] strength, shattered the gold construct instantly. Coins sprayed everywhere.

The Echo reformed, laughing. "I am money! I am eternal! You cannot destroy an idea!"

"I can destroy the bank," Alvian said.

He looked at the floor of the box. Embedded in the gold was a gem. A [Reality Anchor]. It was the core of the arena.

Alvian stomped.

"CRACK."

He crushed the gem under his boot.

The arena flickered. The golems vanished. The gold turned to grey dust. The Echo shrieked as his reality dissolved, sucked into the void.

[Shard Conquered: Gold.]

[Reality Anchor: 2/5 Acquired.]

The world around them faded back to the grey mist of the Dimensional Gap.

"Two down," Alvian whispered, holding Valeria tight. "Let’s find the next one."

The transition from the Golden Shard was violent. The ground simply vanished, dropping Alvian, Valeria, and Seraphina back into the void.

Alvian reacted instantly. He used [Runic Aegis +2] to form a platform, catching his team before they drifted apart. He laid the unconscious Valeria in the center, checking her vitals. She was stable, but her mana channels were burnt out. She needed real rest, not just a mana potion.

"She’s out cold," Seraphina said, kneeling beside her. "Three weeks... Alvian, if we take too long in the next shard, she might not wake up."

"She’ll wake up," Alvian said, looking out at the swirling grey clouds. "She’s stubborn."

He held up the [Metal Anchor] he had retrieved. It pulsed, pulling them toward a new direction. Down.

"The next one is heavy," Alvian noted. "Earth."

They descended through the mist. The gravity began to fluctuate. One moment they were falling; the next, they were being pulled sideways. Rocks—massive asteroids the size of islands—floated in the gloom, crashing into each other with slow, thunderous impacts.

[Zone Identified: The Earth Shard]

[Environmental Hazard: [Gravitational Shear]. Gravity direction changes randomly every 60 seconds.]

[Warning: Falling debris.]

"This place is a mess," Seraphina said, gripping the edge of the rune platform as the gravity shifted, trying to throw them off.

"It’s a puzzle," Alvian corrected. "We need to reach the center."

In the distance, a massive mountain floated upside down. On its peak—which was pointing down—sat a temple. That was the target.

But the path was blocked.

Between them and the temple was a field of floating rocks. And standing on those rocks were monks. Stone-skinned, bald monks wearing orange robes that didn’t flutter in the wind because there was no wind. They stood perfectly still, anchored to the rocks by their own gravity manipulation.

[Target: Gravity Disciple]

[Level: 56]