Ascension of the strongest God

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the grand halls of the academy, growing louder as they approached the dean's office.

The door burst open, and a flustered teacher stepped inside, his breathing ragged, his face twisted in disbelief.

He immediately told the Dean, the information that had just reached them.

"What?! You definitely can't be serious!" The dean's voice cut through the still air like a blade.

Laced with shock and frustration.

The news hit him like a sledgehammer, and for a moment, the weight of it made his body slump back into his chair.

He felt the urge to place his hands on his bald head, as if trying to process the absurdity of what he'd just heard.

His office, modest but dignified, seemed to close in around him.

A deep red carpet stretched across the floor, its intricate designs muffled beneath the weight of his thoughts.

Bookshelves lined the walls, crammed with ancient texts and artifacts of significant value, yet at this moment, none of them held any importance compared to the revelation before him.

The teacher hesitated for a moment before nodding firmly.

"Sir, I'm indeed serious... This year, we had ten SSS-ranked talent holders."

The words hung in the air like a thunderclap.

An SSS-rank talent was a rarity—something that only appeared once in millennia, and even then, only in the most exceptional of individuals.

To have ten appear in a single year was nothing short of absurd.

It defied logic, upended everything they knew about talent awakenings, and made the dean's skin crawl with unease.

It was as if fate had decided to stack the odds in favor of a single generation, disrupting the delicate equilibrium that had existed between the academies for decades.

It was like hitting a fifty-for-ten-million bet five times in a row—on each random try.

It was insanity.

The dean's fingers twitched against the surface of his desk as he struggled to maintain his composure.

He leaned forward, his voice dangerously low. "And the distribution?"

The teacher swallowed hard.

"According to the reports, Hilmond Academy holds the highest number among all the academies, boasting five SSS-ranked students."

"....They were seconded by the Ravenhearts, who had three. The other two were found in our academy and Keon High."

The dean's jaw clenched.

Hilmond Academy again.

That damn academy always found a way to tilt the scales in its favor. And now, they had five SSS-ranked students under their roof?

'What the hell is that man doing to those kids? How did he spawn five SSS-ranks?'

The balance that had been carefully maintained between the five academies was crumbling before his eyes.

For years, none had been able to truly surpass the others.

But this... this changed everything.

The tides were shifting, and his academy was dangerously close to being swallowed whole by the waves.

The teacher cleared his throat.

"Sir, there's... another issue."

The dean's already dark mood soured further.

"Spit it out."

The teacher hesitated before exhaling sharply.

"The rate of successful talent awakeners was also tabulated... and we had the lowest. Many of our students failed to awaken their talents."

A thick silence filled the room.

The dean stared at the teacher, his expression unreadable, yet the veins pulsing against his temple betrayed the storm brewing within him.

"I see... So that's how it is." His voice was eerily calm, but his fingers curled into a tight fist on the desk.

His mind was working, calculating, assessing the repercussions of this disaster.

If their academy was seen as weak, the high-ranking factions and influential families who supported them financially would begin to withdraw.

Without their backing, the institution would crumble.

The academy relied on these supporters to thrive, offering elite training, advanced resources, and cutting-edge facilities in return for grooming the next generation of top-tier hunters.

If they lost their standing, their future would be bleak.

"Have the factions requested student files yet?" the dean asked, his voice edged with tension.

"No, sir. But I believe they must have already seen the statistics. The news of the SSS-ranked students has likely spread."

The dean exhaled sharply, his hands gripping the desk so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Our supporters will pull out the moment they find out that our so-called SSS-ranked student has a hidden talent that requires an unknown condition to activate."

"A large number of our students failed to awaken abilities as well... We have to act fast. If our backers withdraw, this academy will be left to rot."

His frustration erupted as he slammed his hands on the desk, the impact sending a tremor through the wooden surface.

The teacher flinched, his body tensing as he watched the vein on the dean's forehead throb with anger.

The worst part? The only thing holding them together was a lie.

The entire academy was betting on the one SSS-ranked student they had—Kieran.

But his talent was "defected," incomplete, locked behind an unknown requirement.

And if word got out... it would be the end of them.

The dean let out a ragged breath, his face turning slightly red with contained fury.

"Find that boy. Make sure he figures out the conditions to unlock his talent. Do whatever it takes. We cannot afford to fall behind."

Everything now depended on Kieran.

---

Kieran sat frozen, staring at the figure before him, his mind struggling to keep up with reality.

The woman before him was breathtaking, her presence almost unreal.

Her perfectly sculpted body carried an air of regality, every curve accentuating her ethereal beauty.

She radiated an aura of dominance, her crimson eyes burning like twin flames.

Her mouth moved, words spilling from her lips, but Kieran couldn't process a single one.

He was too entranced, too overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he was seeing.

A chime sounded in his mind, yanking him back to reality.

[Summon complete!]

[Host has summoned an immortal beast! The Phoenix of Rebirth!]

[Ding! A master must first earn the respect of his servant. The Phoenix's prideful spirit isn't one to bow easily. Earn the respect of the Phoenix and become accepted as a true master.]

[Ding! Host has taken his first step to godhood. Demigod bloodline has been unlocked!]

[Human: 25% God: 75%]

Kieran blinked. 'Huh?'

His thoughts spiraled in chaos.

A demigod bloodline? A phoenix? What the hell was happening?

He needed answers, but the system wasn't the type to offer explanations.

He let out a slow, controlled breath, gathering his thoughts.

His gaze shifted back to the woman before him.

'Was she the one who saved me?'

His mind screamed at him to focus, but his eyes kept betraying him, greedily drinking in the sight before him.

With a sharp cough, he forced himself to break the trance.

"Cough! Cough!"

The woman's gaze snapped to him, irritation flashing across her face as she ceased speaking.

Kieran gave her an innocent look.

"I'm sorry, miss. Thanks for helping me, but... do you realize you're naked?"

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then, the temperature in the room spiked dramatically.