SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!
Chapter 52: The Fragment.

Chapter 52: The Fragment.

Eventually, curiosity took over me, and I peered at the source of the harrowing sense of danger. And when I did—

’Curses!’

I couldn’t help but take in a cold, deep breath. My expression darkened.

The creature was otherworldly, a nightmarish creature that defied all sense of reason. Its towering menacing form was reminiscent of a nightmarish scavenger, but if only grotesquely amplified.

Its stone-like armor was bright crimson- not only that- but some parts of its towering form were a mixture of crimson and dark—a darkness that sent cold chills slithering down my spine.

The creature’s hands were dark-blue, their allure strangely mesmerizing—yet no one doubted that beneath that allure lay something hauntingly menacing.

...Something we would do well to steer clear of.

The stoneikz stood like a colossal sentinel, its presence casting the space before it into an endless darkness. Without a doubt, it was a nightmarish aberration crafted out of one’s worst nightmare.

And perhaps, something far worse.

"Hah..."

Digesting the grotesque image before me- and succeeding in satiating my stupid curiosity- I immediately hid behind the rock, chest heaving up and down as my hands trembled violently.

’Calm down, Dean. Calm down.’

At this point, I could only try to comfort myself. Not that I had any other choice. However,

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

It wasn’t working.

If anything, my heart only pounded faster, and the sonorous tremors running through my hands only continued to intensify.

Step–!

Fear.

Tak, Tak--!

Dread.

They were slowly crawling towards me. Slowly eating me from the inside.

Tak, Tak–!

Each step it took closer to us sent shivers running down my spine, dread and fear coiling and tightening around my chest like an iron vice.

The towering silhouette slowly drew nearer, casting a suffocating presence on the surrounding space.

’Curses!’ My face paled.

Tok-

It took one step.

Tok-

Then another.

Tok, Tok-!

Each step the nightmarish creature took brought it closer and closer to our hiding spot.

Grip-!

Our grip on our weapons tightened, a tense aura seeping into the atmosphere.

A pale look slowly crept onto my face, and just when it seemed as though all hell was not about to break loose, the nightmarish creature just a step away from passing by—

"....!"

It suddenly paused.

The breath of relief that almost escaped my lips got caught in my throat. In that moment, my heart started beating even faster.

Ba- dump, Ba-dump!

The sound was akin to deafening thunderclaps.

The creature lingered, almost as though it were taunting our patience.

’Just fucking move bastard!’ I cursed under my breath, my grip on the azure dagger now sweaty, as sweat drops dripped down the side of my face

Drip, Drip--!

Glancing at the rest of the cohort, apart from the unconscious Livia, everyone seemed to have a grim expression marring their features, their grips on their weapons tightening even further.

Tick, Tick–!

The seconds ticked by excruciatingly slowly. And although it seemed as if a long time had passed by, I knew only a few seconds had actually clocked by.

But still, every second in this state sent cold chills running down my spine, and the rate at which my heart thumped only grew even faster.

’Honestly, it was the worse state to be in.’ A deep scowl crept up on my features.

But just then-

Step–!

The nightmarish creature proceeded forward, moving past our hiding spot. With each step that it took, its suffocating presence moved farther and farther away from us.

Right about then, Aezel peered outward, taking a glimpse of the hulking stoneikz. He couldn’t help but suck in a cold deep breath at the sight before him.

Exhaling sharply, I also peered out once again.

"..."

The colossal creature seemed just like any other stoneikz, save for the fact that its form was more menacing, its crimson armor looked far sturdier, and its pair of arms glimmered in the endless darkness.

My brows arched upward. ’No, it wasn’t its arms that glimmered in the dark.’

My eyes widened as the realization settled in.

’Instead, it should be something else. But what?’

...Squinting my eyes further, I finally took note of the small object. In the stoneikz’s arm was a weird fragment of sorts.

"A soul shard?" I mused under my breath.

Indeed, it looked like a soul shard, except it was much more bigger, and radiated a much more savage energy.

Judging by how the nightmarish scavenger held it in its hand, it seemed to be of rather high importance to it. Based on that alone, it was safe to assume that the shard came from a very powerful nightmarish creature.

As for how powerful said creature was? That, I had no idea of.

"Oh, well... it has nothing to do with me," I muttered under my breath.

Heaving a sigh of relief, I finally rose to my feet, stretching my arms in the process. The crimson haired lady cautiously stood up and frowned.

"Is it gone?" she asked in a somewhat tense tone.

I turned to face her and nodded.

"Um, yeah. It’s gone."

Turning my face away from her, my eyes were drawn to the darkness stretching endlessly before me. My eyes pierced through the dark—almost as though it were some sort of innate ability of mine—and I could see a towering silhouette vanishing into the horizon.

Further solidifying the sense of ease within me.

It was then that I turned to face Mia and nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

The crimson haired lady frowned, seemingly lost in thought. Her expression in particular seemed weird, as opposed to her usual calm indifference.

’Weird.’

I tilted my head to the left, wondering what could be going on in that mind of hers.

But thinking about it, only one thing came to my mind. The only thing that could possibly be the cause:

The fragment.

Previously, I’d thought I was just seeing things, but Mia’s gaze had been drawn to the stoneikz. Or rather, the soul shard held in its hands.

But...

Right about then, a frown crept up on my features.

She can’t possibly absorb the essence contained within the soul shard. Or does she have a way to do so? If so...

"Can you see where it’s headed?"

I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts by Mia’s tense voice.

I turned to face the crimson haired lady and frowned. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

She was quiet for a while, and as the stifling silence grew more intense with the passage of time- a grim sense of foreboding slowly crawled towards me.

My heart started beating faster, louder even.

I scowled. ’Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?’

"I need you to..."

’To what?!’

’Speak up princess!’

Her silence was starting to unnerve me. But then, her lips slowly moved:

"Follow it."

"...."

My mouth drew open, eyes widening in disbelief.

’Follow t-that thing.’ My face paled at the thought.

I opened my mouth to say something, however, nothing came out. Though I eventually managed to speak, despite the sheer incredulity of what I had just heard.

"Come again please."

Mia raised her head up. She gritted her teeth and said:

"I need you to follow it and see where it’s headed for?"

She paused for a second, and added with a frown.

"I would have said we all go together. But none of us can see in the dark- as opposed to you. And most importantly, no one is better at..."

"...Sneaking up on others."

I completed the sentence, eliciting a subtle nod from her.

’Figures.’ I exhaled sharply, trying to the best of my ability to calm my rapidly beating heart.

"So...?" Mia’s voice reached my ears.

I clenched my hand tightly, mostly to stop the sonorous tremors running through them, than to appear weak. Gritting my teeth, I said:

"Fine."

Mia’s face seemed to pale a little, and I didn’t know if it was just some illusion my mind wanted to believe in, or if that were really the case.

"But..."

Mia’s gaze was drawn towards mine.

A light smile slowly crept up my face as I asked:

"I’m curious. If you do manage to get the shard, how do you plan on absorbing the raging essence contained within it?

Mia’s heart sank. ’How did he know?’

Although she was surprised by how he knew of her intentions, still, she didn’t let it show on her face.

...Her expressionless feature was still as flawless as ever, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I had been wrong.

’No,’ I shook my head. ’I’m not. She definitely wants it.’

I was very much certain of that when I finally saw the subtle, almost imperceptible crack, in her usual indifferent expression.

’Hah... There it’s!’ I smiled at the sight.

"Fool." With a derisive laugh that elicited a frown from me, Aezel said, "Have you forgotten about her flame?"

’Hmm,’ My brows arched upward. ’If I were to consider what I knew about Mia’s flame, having such a wondrous ability wasn’t really out of the question.’

"I guess that explains it then," I muttered under my breath.

"Yeah," Mia softly said.

Although I still had a few questions. Amongst many would be:

If absorbing it wouldn’t put her life in danger? And most importantly, why would the nightmarish scavenger foolishly highlight such a treasure for everyone to see?

’Isn’t that the same thing as courting death?’ The thought intensified the deep sense of unease within me.

I pondered on them, but alas, I knew now was not the time for questions.

I could keep them and ask later-on. For now, they were more important tasks to focus on.

Staring into the endless darkness, I felt a cold chill run down my spine, my heartbeat thundering in my ears.

Ba- thump, Ba- thump–!

The sound echoed through the silence.

Creak!

Clenching my hands together, I glanced at the rest of the cohort and steeled my mind. Right afterwards, I plunged into the endless darkness before me.