E-Rank or SSS-Rank: I Awakened a Skill That Shouldn’t Exist

Aiden's hand shot forward, his claws wrapped tightly around the thrashing limb to keep it from slipping free. With a wicked grin splitting his face, he let the corrosive darkness flood into his claws.

The air itself trembled as the dark essence mode surged violently, then he raked his claws downward in a spiraling slash. The black tail split open under the corrosive force, and the scorpion beast let out a piercing screech, violently thrashing to throw him off.

The backlash sent Aiden flying, but he twisted midair and landed perfectly on his feet. His grin widened.

"Hey, bastard! Where do you think you're looking? I'm your opponent." He paused, then corrected himself, his eyes narrowing with murderous delight.

"No… not just your opponent. I'm your executioner. You die by my hands."

But the grin didn't last.

The beast's remaining four tails—red, green, icy-blue, and black—lashed forward at once. The first three blazed with elemental energy, while the black tail surged with raw oppressive force. Together, they descended like the wrath of a collapsing sky.

For a heartbeat, Aiden's smirk faltered. His expression hardened into a sharp, determined glare.

"…This won't be easy."

There was no time left to hold back.

The extensions of his skill—the gift he had wrenched from survival against the berserk Han—stirred awake. His body convulsed, curling inward as the sound of bones cracking echoed from deep within.

Pain twisted across his face, but he endured it. Four new limbs burst forth from his back, tearing flesh as they extended.

Unlike his natural arms, these were massive, their obsidian hue denser, darker, thicker than before.

Aiden could already feel the strain. Maintaining this many limb extensions alongside dark essence mode was draining his reserves rapidly.

But this was no moment for restraint. His life was hanging by a thread—and if he hesitated, that thread would snap.

Shaking off the pain, he lifted his head just as the four tails came crashing toward him. His newly-formed limbs shot forward with blistering speed.

The impact rang out like thunder as his extra claws deflected each tail in perfect precision. His movements were so fast they blurred beyond the eyes of mortals.

The clash forced him to leap back, the ground cracking where he landed. His limbs had absorbed much of the elemental damage, not because they were unscathed by nature, but because he had redirected the core of the beast's force mid-strike before pushing it away.

The scorpion beast reeled, visibly stunned by his performance.

Aiden's eyes grew cold. All four of his massive new claws stretched outward, their tips gleaming like onyx blades, curling with malice.

Aiden's grin widened, his voice laced with a mocking edge.

"What do you say? Fair now? You've got four tails, I've got four limbs. The equation balances."

The scorpion beast answered with a deep, guttural growl that shook the cavern walls.

Aiden wasted no time—he lunged forward, his four obsidian limbs slashing through the air with lethal speed.

The beast surged to meet him head-on. The clash was immediate, violent, and unrelenting.

The tails whipped at him in a deadly rhythm, each strike faster and sharper than the last. Aiden moved like a shadow, his footwork fluid, his motions sharp and economical.

His four limbs weaved between attack and defense, clashing against the monster's tails, redirecting some, intercepting others.

But balance didn't mean equality. The scorpion's tails were not only fast—they were terrifyingly precise, and every strike was infused with elemental fury.

One burned with crimson fire, another glistened with venomous wind strikes, the third radiated freezing cold, and the fourth pulsed with suffocating darkness.

Each attack wasn't just physical—it was destruction in elemental form.

And still, Aiden pressed forward. He slipped between the crushing blows, his limbs deflecting strikes at impossible angles, occasionally darting in to land precise counters that tore into the carapace.

Sparks of fire, frost, and corrosive poison lit the battlefield with every exchange.

Above, Clara hovered midair, her suit glowing brighter with each passing second. The light rippled around her, radiant and dangerous, as if it were building toward something catastrophic.

Quint's eyes narrowed. He had been watching her.

"She's preparing something…" he muttered, then barked a sharp order.

The scorpion beast roared in response, its attacks growing even more violent, driven by Quint's command. The tempo of the battle shifted—what had been barely manageable for Aiden suddenly turned into a storm of overwhelming strikes.

The tails blurred, attacking faster than ever, and the sheer force behind them made his bones creak under the pressure.

Every movement burned. Every parry left his muscles screaming. His body ached, his reserves bled dry, but still he fought. Until—

The icy-blue tail lashed across his guard. Frost erupted, spreading instantly across one of his extended limbs. In seconds, it was frozen solid.

Aiden's eyes narrowed, and with a snarl, he tore his own limb apart before the frost could creep further into his body. Flesh and shadow burst apart, scattering like shards of black glass.

The pain was excruciating. But he endured. And with a guttural roar, he forced another limb into existence—forcing his body past its limits. The process ripped through his nerves, far worse than any wound he had taken, but Aiden's glare never wavered.

The battle raged on, but his movements grew slower, heavier. He was being pushed closer and closer to his limit. Clara's words echoed in his mind.

Just hold on. Stall it. I'll handle the rest.

He had done as she asked. But he couldn't last much longer.

Then—her voice cut through the chaos, clear and commanding.

"Aiden—distance yourself!"

He didn't hesitate. His legs coiled and he shot backward in a burst of speed, retreating from the scorpion's immediate range. The beast roared in fury, its tails lashing forward to drag him back into its killing zone.

"Damn it," Aiden growled under his breath, planting his feet, ready to brace for another round.

But he didn't have to.

Clara raised one glowing hand. "Bind."

A disk of white light inscribed with golden orbs shot downward, exploding against the cavern floor.

Brilliant chains of light erupted upward, coiling around the scorpion's four tails and locking them together. The beast howled, thrashing violently, but the bindings tightened, forcing its limbs to the ground.

It tried to wrench free. It tried to crush the glowing chains. But before it could gather its strength, Clara clicked her fingers again, her eyes glowing.

"Electrocute."

The last white plate beneath the beast's carapace detonated. A surge of golden lightning roared upward, engulfing the scorpion in a storm of violent electricity.

The cavern shook with the sound of crackling power, the monster's shrieks echoing through the battlefield as arcs of lightning ripped across its frame.

The bindings glowed even brighter, forcing the beast to convulse, its entire body writhing under the torrent.

But Clara's mind was already three steps ahead. She knew the lightning wouldn't kill it—at best, it would stall the beast for a handful of seconds. Yet those precious seconds were all she needed.

Hovering in midair, Clara spread her arms wide. The radiant glow of her combat suit, which had been steadily building, suddenly dimmed—its light converging, funneled into her palms.

All the energy she had been gathering compressed further and further, until it formed into two massive, pulsating golden spheres. The sheer density of the energy made the cavern's air quake, sending vibrations through Aiden's bones.

Her visor flickered with light, revealing the glint of her determined eyes beneath the armor. With a sharp exhale, Clara thrust both hands forward.

"—Omega Beams!"

Twin lances of condensed golden energy roared from her palms, cutting through the cavern like divine judgment. The beams tore through the air with impossible speed, screaming toward the scorpion.

The monster, even bound and convulsing, sensed imminent destruction. Its body lurched desperately, attempting to twist aside.

But Clara had accounted for that.

The beams curved mid-flight, bending in an unnatural, almost predatory trajectory. They weren't just raw power—they were guided, locked onto their prey with flawless precision.

The beams slammed into the beast's lower body and limbs with devastating force.

BOOOOOOM!

The cavern erupted with a shattering explosion. The ground split, rocks cascaded from the ceiling, and the air was swallowed in blinding golden light.

The scorpion's shriek became a bone-rattling roar of agony as its armored frame was scorched and ripped apart, the bindings amplifying the destructive blast. For a moment, Aiden truly thought the entire cave might collapse around them.

But the walls held. Barely.

When the light finally dimmed, Aiden exhaled, his chest heaving. He stared at Clara in disbelief. Not only had she managed to bind the beast, but she had predicted its every counter-movement.

Her attack hadn't just been powerful—it had been surgical, calculated, merciless. The damage she dealt in one strike was beyond anything he could have hoped to accomplish in this fight.

Slowly, Clara descended, landing lightly on the scorched ground. Her helmeted face tilted slightly upward, the glowing plates shifting just enough to reveal her expression.

Sweat lined her forehead, her breathing uneven. She was exhausted—though she did her best to mask it.

Aiden grinned faintly despite his battered state and raised a thumb at her. "You did really well, Clara. Rest now… you've earned it."

But Clara didn't return the smile. Her eyes, sharp and unwavering, weren't the eyes of someone who believed she had just delivered a finishing blow. They were the eyes of someone bracing for what was still to come.

Aiden frowned, a chill running down his spine. Something about her silence unsettled him deeply.

And then he realized—Clara hadn't relaxed at all. She was still tense, still ready. Which could only mean one thing:

The scorpion wasn't done.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Whew… Clara really went all-out in this fight! The amount of planning and raw power she used here was no joke. Writing this chapter felt like a mix of strategy, chaos, and pure adrenaline.

Now I want to hear from YOU all:

If you were in Aiden's place, would you have trusted Clara's plan completely—or jumped back into the fight on your own?

Clara predicted the scorpion's movements almost perfectly. Do you think it was pure strategy, instinct… or something else? 👀

Big question: Do you think Clara's attack really finished the beast, or is something far worse waiting to happen?

Between Aiden's straightforward fighting style and Clara's tactical approach, whose method do you personally prefer—and why?

The "Omega Beams" are one of Clara's trump cards. If you had to name that move yourself, what would you call it?

Drop your thoughts in the comments—I read every single one. Your ideas and theories honestly give me so much motivation and sometimes even inspire twists in later chapters.