SSS-Ranked Lust System: Taming Beauties Is My Calling

The street disappeared.

Not faded.

Not blurred.

It was simply gone.

David couldn’t see the broken buildings anymore.

He couldn’t see Rliqs’ hand gripping his shoulder.

He couldn’t even feel the pavement beneath his knee.

Everything around him had been swallowed by darkness.

For one terrifying second, he thought he’d gone blind.

Then something moved.

A faint silver line appeared in the distance.

David stared at it.

The line stretched across the darkness, thin as a crack in glass.

Then another appeared.

And another.

Within seconds, dozens of silver lines spread through the blackness.

They formed a shape.

A circle.

Three lines crossed through it.

The same symbol from the fragment.

David’s breathing slowed.

’I’ve seen this before.’

He didn’t know where.

But something inside him recognized it.

The symbol pulsed.

THUMP.

Pain shot through his chest.

David grabbed it instinctively.

"Ah—"

His voice sounded wrong.

Distant.

Like someone else was speaking through him.

The silver circle expanded.

And suddenly—

He was somewhere else.

A corridor.

Stone walls stretched endlessly on either side of him.

There were no windows.

No doors.

Only torches burning with black flames.

David looked down.

His hands weren’t his.

They were larger.

Covered in dark armor.

A strange weapon rested against his hip.

He took a step.

The armored figure moved with him.

David tried to stop.

The body didn’t listen.

’What the hell is this?’

Footsteps echoed from ahead.

Someone was coming.

A man appeared at the end of the corridor.

Tall.

Thin.

Wrapped in a long black coat.

His face was hidden behind a silver mask.

David couldn’t see his eyes.

But he could feel them.

Watching.

Studying.

The man stopped several meters away.

"You’re early."

The armored figure said nothing.

The masked man tilted his head.

"Or perhaps I’m late."

Silence.

Then the figure finally spoke.

"You shouldn’t have come."

The voice made David’s stomach tighten.

He knew it.

Not the words.

The voice.

Rliqs.

David’s eyes widened.

’This is Rliqs.’

The vision shifted.

The masked man raised one hand.

Behind him, something moved.

A creature.

Smaller than the one David had just seen.

But unmistakably similar.

Black body.

Glowing eyes.

Claws.

It knelt beside the masked man.

"Your servant has already found the trail," the masked man said.

Rliqs looked at the creature.

"Then call it back."

"I can’t."

"Why?"

The masked man smiled.

"Because it has already found the vessel."

David’s heart stopped.

’Vessel?’

The word echoed.

The vision shook.

Rliqs stepped forward.

"You don’t know what you’re dealing with."

"I know exactly what I’m dealing with."

The masked man reached into his coat.

He pulled out something.

A fragment.

Black.

With silver moving through it.

The same fragment Rliqs had just picked up.

David stared.

The masked man held it between two fingers.

"The vessel is awake."

Rliqs’ posture changed.

Barely.

But David noticed.

"You should leave."

The masked man laughed.

"You still think this is about you."

The vision fractured.

For an instant, David saw something else.

A room.

A bed.

A younger version of himself.

Sleeping.

Someone stood beside him.

The masked man.

He placed a hand against David’s chest.

The silver symbol appeared.

THUMP.

David jerked backward.

"No."

The vision changed again.

Rliqs stood over the masked man.

Blood covered his coat.

The silver fragment lay between them.

The masked man was dying.

But he was smiling.

"You can kill me."

Rliqs said nothing.

"You can destroy my body."

Still nothing.

"But you can’t kill what has already awakened."

Rliqs’ eyes narrowed.

The masked man looked past him.

Toward something David couldn’t see.

"He’s coming."

Then the vision exploded.

David opened his eyes.

He sucked in a breath.

Air rushed into his lungs.

The street returned.

Broken buildings.

Dust.

Smoke.

Rliqs.

Everything came back at once.

David stumbled forward.

Rliqs caught him by the shoulder.

"Easy."

David shoved his hand away.

"What was that?"

Rliqs didn’t answer.

David looked around.

The creature’s remains were still lying several meters away.

The fragment was gone.

Rliqs was holding it.

David pointed at it.

"I saw that."

Rliqs’ expression remained unreadable.

"You saw a memory."

"Whose?"

Rliqs paused.

"That’s the wrong question."

David stared at him.

"Then give me the right one."

Rliqs looked at the fragment.

"What did you see?"

David hesitated.

He could still remember the corridor.

The black flames.

The masked man.

And the word.

Vessel.

"I saw you."

Rliqs’ eyes shifted toward him.

"Where?"

"Somewhere underground. You were talking to the man who owned that creature."

Rliqs’ expression hardened.

David continued.

"He had the same fragment."

Silence.

"And he called me a vessel."

Rliqs didn’t move.

That was enough.

David’s eyes narrowed.

"You knew."

"I suspected."

"You knew."

"I suspected."

"You killed him because of me."

Rliqs looked away.

David stepped closer.

"Answer me."

"I killed him because he was coming for you."

"That’s not an answer."

"It is."

"No, it isn’t."

David pointed at the remains.

"That thing came here because of him. He was looking for me three nights ago. You found him. You killed him."

Rliqs said nothing.

"And now this thing recognizes whatever is inside me."

David pressed a hand against his chest.

"How long have you known something was wrong with me?"

Rliqs finally looked at him.

"Since I met you."

David went still.

The answer was so simple that it was almost worse.

"Since we met?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

"Because you wouldn’t have believed me."

David gave a humorless laugh.

"You don’t know me well enough to decide that."

"I know enough."

"Apparently not."

Rliqs looked at him for a moment.

Then his gaze dropped to David’s chest.

"The pulse is stronger."

David frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means the fragment recognized you."

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

David stared at him.

Rliqs added, "Not yet."

David rubbed his face.

"You’re really good at that."

"At what?"

"Making everything sound worse."

Rliqs ignored him.

He crouched beside the creature’s remains.

Most of its body had already dissolved.

Only black fragments remained scattered across the pavement.

Rliqs picked one up.

David watched the silver thread inside it.

It moved.

Not randomly.

It was slowly curling toward David.

He took a step back.

"Don’t."

Rliqs stopped.

The fragment continued pulsing.

THUMP.

David’s chest answered.

THUMP.

The silver thread brightened.

David’s stomach tightened.

"Put it down."

Rliqs studied him.

"You feel it."

"Yes."

"What?"

David swallowed.

"Like something is pulling."

"Toward the fragment?"

"No."

He pressed a hand against his chest again.

"Toward me."

Rliqs stood.

For the first time since David had met him, something resembling concern crossed his face.

It disappeared almost immediately.

But David saw it.

"What?"

Rliqs looked toward the sky.

"Something is coming."

David followed his gaze.

Nothing.

Just dark clouds.

Broken towers.

Smoke drifting between buildings.

"From where?"

"I don’t know."

"Then how do you—"

A sound interrupted him.

Ding.

David froze.

It was faint.

Almost like a bell.

Ding.

Rliqs’ head turned.

The sound came again.

Ding.

This time, the air trembled.

David felt the pulse in his chest respond.

THUMP.

The fragment in Rliqs’ hand cracked.

A thin silver line escaped from it.

Rliqs immediately dropped it.

The fragment hit the pavement.

CRACK.

Silver light spread across the street.

David stepped backward.

"What is that?"

Rliqs didn’t answer.

The symbol appeared again.

Three lines through a circle.

But this time, it wasn’t on the fragment.

It was beneath David’s feet.

His blood ran cold.

"Rliqs."

"I see it."

The symbol brightened.

David felt pressure build behind his eyes.

Then a voice whispered.

Not through the air.

Inside his head.

Wake.

David’s breath caught.

"Did you hear that?"

Rliqs stared at him.

"Hear what?"

David’s heart hammered.

The voice came again.

Wake.

He stumbled.

Rliqs grabbed him.

"David."

"Something’s talking to me."

Rliqs’ grip tightened.

"What is it saying?"

David looked at him.

"Wake."

Rliqs’ expression changed.

"Again."

David swallowed.

"Wake."

Rliqs immediately released him.

He took two steps back.

David stared.

"What?"

Rliqs looked at the symbol.

"That’s not a voice."

"What is it?"

"A command."

David’s skin prickled.

"From who?"

"I don’t know."

The bell rang again.

Ding.

The symbol vanished.

The pressure disappeared.

Everything became still.

For several seconds, David simply stood there.

Then he noticed something.

The creature’s remains were gone.

Only a small patch of black ash remained on the pavement.

Rliqs walked toward it.

He crouched.

Between the ash was a tiny metal object.

A ring.

Silver.

David approached.

Rliqs picked it up.

There was a symbol engraved inside.

Three lines through a circle.

David stared at it.

"The same symbol."

Rliqs nodded.

He turned the ring over.

Something was written on the inside.

David leaned closer.

A single word.

Vessel.

His stomach dropped.

Rliqs closed his hand around the ring.

David looked at him.

"Give me that."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you’re not ready."

David almost laughed.

"You’re really going to use that excuse again?"

Rliqs’ gaze hardened.

"You don’t understand what that word means."

"Then explain it."

"I can’t."

"Can’t or won’t?"

Rliqs remained silent.

David stepped closer.

"You’ve been protecting me without telling me why. Someone came looking for me. You killed him. His creature came after me. Now I can see memories when I touch things connected to him."

He pointed at Rliqs’ closed fist.

"And every time something happens, you tell me I’m not ready."

David’s voice lowered.

"I’m done being kept in the dark."

Rliqs stared at him.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Rliqs opened his hand.

The ring sat in his palm.

"You want the truth?"

David nodded.

"Then understand something first."

Rliqs held the ring toward him.

"The man I killed wasn’t the first."

David’s expression changed.

"What?"

"There were others."

"How many?"

"I don’t know."

"How many?"

Rliqs’ eyes remained fixed on him.

"Enough."

David felt his stomach sink.

"They were all looking for me?"

"No."

Rliqs closed his hand again.

"They were looking for what is inside you."

David stared at him.

"What is inside me?"

Rliqs didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he looked at the sky.

The clouds above them were beginning to move.

Not with the wind.

They were rotating.

Slowly.

As if something above them was pulling them inward.

David followed his gaze.

A faint red glow appeared behind the clouds.

His chest pulsed.

THUMP.

Rliqs’ expression became serious.

"We need to leave."

David looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because the creature wasn’t the real threat."

The red glow intensified.

A distant rumble rolled across the city.

David’s weapon suddenly vibrated at his side.

He grabbed it.

"What is that?"

Rliqs stepped backward.

"The reason the creature was desperate."

Another rumble.

This one louder.

Buildings trembled.

Dust fell from the remaining walls.

David stared upward.

Something was descending through the clouds.

Not falling.

Descending.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

A massive shadow formed behind the red glow.

David’s mouth went dry.

Rliqs turned toward him.

"You need to understand something."

David looked at him.

"That thing?"

Rliqs shook his head.

"No."

He pointed toward David’s chest.

"That."

David froze.

The pulse came again.

THUMP.

But this time, it wasn’t coming from his heart.

It was coming from somewhere deeper.

Something beneath it.

Something that had been there long before he knew it existed.

THUMP.

The red light above them answered.

David’s eyes widened.

And then the voice returned.

Clearer than before.

Closer.

Almost familiar.

Finally.

David stopped breathing.

Rliqs’ face changed.

He heard something this time.

Not the voice.

The pulse.

The entire street seemed to hear it.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

The red light split open.

Something looked down through the clouds.

David couldn’t see its face.

But he knew one thing.

It was looking directly at him.

The voice whispered again.

My vessel has awakened.

David’s blood ran cold.

And somewhere inside his chest—

something smiled.

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