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

The battle on the Cursed Island was drawing to its bloody conclusion.

Most of the enemy had already been crushed, yet the true elites of the cursed still stood. They were the last obstacles—their defeat would mark the end of this nightmare.

But the fight raging now wasn't something any ordinary awakened could even think of joining.

The shockwaves alone—just the aftershocks of their clash—were enough to make even hardened warriors' spines tremble.

On a broken ridge overlooking the shore, three exhausted heroes sat slumped in the ruins. Their breathing was ragged, their skin pale, their clothes torn and stained.

Though Mia's healing had mended their bodies, their energy reserves remained utterly drained. They were, for now, nothing more than spectators.

All they could do was wait.

Rest.

And pray.

As silence fell for a brief moment between distant explosions, one of the heroes—Trevor—squinted toward the horizon. His body stiffened. His lips parted in disbelief.

"…Wait. Am I seeing things?" he muttered.

He rose to his feet, wobbling slightly. His voice was hoarse yet urgent. "Guys… hey! Look over there. Tell me I'm not losing my mind."

The other two groaned.

"Trevor, sit down. You're delirious."

But Trevor shook his head violently, pointing toward the glittering expanse of water beyond the battlefield. His face was pale, his eyes wide.

"No—you have to look. Just look!"

The two exchanged a glance, annoyed but humoring him. Then they turned their gazes seaward.

And froze.

Trevor swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "I think… I think someone is swimming. Swimming… through the Great Sea."

Their jaws slackened. For a moment, they thought it was some hallucination brought on by exhaustion. But no—the longer they stared, the clearer it became.

A figure was indeed cutting through the monstrous waves with terrifying speed, each stroke propelling him forward like a predator of the deep.

The three heroes felt their blood run cold.

"The Great Sea…" one whispered, almost choking on the words.

It wasn't just any body of water. It was the ocean that wrapped around the world like a serpent's coil, vast and endless. It was a graveyard of civilizations, cursed by countless dimensional rifts.

When portals broke beneath its waves, monstrosities spilled out unchecked, infesting its depths. Some swam with the force of natural disasters, leviathans that dwarfed ships.

There were abominations even at S-rank, horrors no sane soul would dare to challenge.

That was why ships had long been banned from crossing it.

That was why bridges and airships became humanity's lifelines.

The Great Sea was death itself.

And yet… someone was swimming through it.

"Impossible…" one of them muttered, stumbling backward in shock.

But denial could no longer protect them.

Because the figure was real. And he was fast. So fast that in mere minutes, he had crossed hundreds of meters, cutting through the waves as though they offered no resistance. His speed was not human—it was monstrous.

The three heroes' eyes widened further as the figure neared. He broke free of the waters, each step rising from the surf as though the sea itself yielded to him.

Sunlight shimmered on long black hair that clung to his shoulders. A faint scar ran diagonally across his cheek, his sharp gaze filled with quiet certainty.

He stepped onto the scarred shore, water dripping from his frame, and exhaled softly.

"...That was a daunting task," he muttered, his tone almost casual.

The three heroes could only gape. Their hearts pounded with a mixture of awe and terror.

Who in their right mind could survive such a journey? Who had the strength—or madness—to swim across the Great Sea as though it were a river?

Trevor swallowed hard, whispering the only thought that fit the moment.

"…What kind of monster is this guy?"

The stranger's eyes turned toward them for a brief moment, and something in his calm, steady presence told them everything.

This was no ordinary man.

This was a monster in human skin.

And if he was with the cursed, then the battlefield was about to change.

The heroes instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons, ready to fight if he turned out to be aligned with the cursed. But deep down, an uneasy truth gnawed at them.

Even if they wanted to resist…

Were they even strong enough to take him down?

The three battered heroes stood rooted to the spot, still trying to make sense of the figure before them. His presence felt solid, unshakable, like a mountain amidst a storm.

Then, as silence hung heavy, one of the younger men suddenly gasped as realization struck. His eyes widened, lighting up with a mix of awe and disbelief.

"W–wait! Are you… are you the winner of the Tournament of Power? M–Mr. Jay?" he stammered.

The name alone carried weight. Even across nations, the stories of the legendary tournament spread like wildfire—rumors of battles that shook arenas and toppled legends.

Jay turned his gaze toward the boy. A faint smirk tugged at his lips, and he gave a small shrug.

"I'm Jay, yes," he said casually. "But winner? Not quite. The finals never happened. So… let's just call it unfinished business."

The boy's jaw slackened further, but the awe in his eyes only grew. The other two heroes, hearing this exchange, visibly relaxed. Their fear eased slightly, replaced by an odd sense of reassurance.

If this man was that Jay… then maybe, just maybe, the tide of this battle would shift.

Jay's eyes drifted over the battlefield, his sharp gaze scanning the carnage. Piles upon piles of monstrous corpses littered the ground, black blood soaking the cursed soil. His brow twitched slightly, and he clicked his tongue.

"…Don't tell me the battle's already over," he muttered under his breath. "Did I really swim across half the damned sea just to miss the show?"

He turned back toward the three heroes, his expression hardening slightly.

"Oi. The cursed—they've already been wiped out?"

The trio exchanged nervous glances. Then one of them stepped forward, shaking his head.

"No… not yet. We've been fighting for hours, but the real battle has only just begun. The elites of the cursed have arrived… they're monsters in human skin, each rumored to rival S-rankers.

Right now, the strongest of our side are fighting them. The rest of us…" His voice trailed off, shame burning in his throat. "…The rest of us would only get in the way."

Jay listened quietly, arms folded, his eyes narrowing as he processed the explanation. He gave a single nod, then let out a soft sigh.

"Tch. So I did miss the opening party," he said with a faint smile. His voice was almost playful. Then, tilting his head slightly, he added, "But at least the main event hasn't started without me. Good. The true fun is just beginning."

And with that, he turned and began to walk toward the heart of the battlefield.

"Wait!"

The three heroes shouted in unison, panic flashing in their eyes.

Jay stopped, raising a brow as he glanced back.

"What is it?"

Their questions spilled out all at once.

The first, voice sharp with concern, asked:

"Where are you going?"

Jay blinked at him as though the answer should have been obvious. Then he chuckled.

"Where else? I'm going to join in on the fun." His smile was calm, almost mocking.

The second, a young woman, stepped forward, her voice shaking.

"Fun? This isn't fun—it's war! Those cursed elites… they're too strong! Going in there will only put you in unnecessary danger!" Her eyes were filled with genuine worry.

Jay's expression softened as he looked at her. For a moment, he almost seemed touched. Then he smiled, tilting his head slightly.

"Tell me," he asked, "have you ever actually seen me fight?"

The young woman blinked, caught off guard. She shook her head slowly.

Jay grinned, his voice calm but filled with quiet menace.

"Of course you haven't. But let me tell you something—you'll learn soon enough. When I fight… I can be a real menace."

The way he said it, so casually yet with such certainty, sent an involuntary shiver down their spines.

The third hero, still trembling, finally managed to ask the question all of them were too afraid to voice. His voice cracked as he spoke:

"Forgive me for asking this, Sir Jay, but… how? How did you even get here? We saw it with our own eyes, but we can't bring ourselves to believe it. Did you really… cross the Great Sea?"

Silence hung for a beat. The three heroes held their breath.

Then Jay shrugged, the corners of his lips curling into a faint, amused smile.

"Simple," he said. "I swam."

The three heroes froze, their minds unable to process the sheer absurdity.

He said it so simply, so matter-of-factly—like swimming through a sea filled with abominations, death, and storms was no more difficult than taking a stroll across a field.

To be continued….....

AUTHOR'S NOTE

That's the chapter, everyone!

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– Ultra