Starting With SSS-rank: I Get A New Skill Every Livestream

[Some time ago]

Ethan sat alone at the dining table, quietly eating breakfast in the house that had long since ceased to feel like a home.

He was alone because there was no one left to share his blood. Not even his mother.

He had killed the woman who had ruled his life as though he were nothing more than her slave. She had been cunning, ruthless, and undeniably capable. For years, she had kept their family afloat, clawing her way through every hardship and somehow maintaining her position amongst the other giants.

But none of that mattered to Ethan anymore.

Those qualities had served her well. They meant nothing to him.

Ethan had his own ambitions. He intended to carve a name for himself so great that, when the day finally came for him to marry the woman he loved, she would be treated with nothing but awe and respect.

He would give her everything the world had to offer.

And once he had reached that height, no one would ever dare raise their voice against him or question his worth again-

"...!"

Something suddenly caught his attention.

Ethan slowly lowered his glass.

A figure was sitting across from him.

It had not been there a moment ago.

No sound or warning. No indication that anyone had entered.

Yet somehow, someone was now seated opposite him, as though they had been there all along.

Ethan’s senses had given him no warning of the man’s presence, despite the voices in his head constantly urging him to remain wary of this singular existence.

That alone was alarming.

But Ethan was prepared.

"You may all leave now," he told his servants, who seemed completely oblivious to the uninvited guest.

They did not need to be told twice. Frightened by Ethan’s presence, they always seemed eager to find an excuse to remain as far from his sight as possible.

Ethan finished chewing before finally speaking.

"Here for some business, Kyle? I thought you were supposed to be at the academy by now."

The golden-eyed man did not move.

He simply stared at Ethan in silence.

Ethan hummed softly and rose to his feet, displaying not the slightest hint of urgency. "Have you changed your mind now that you have everything here in Montclair?"

He stepped forward, deliberately ignoring every instinctive warning....screaming at him to keep his distance.

"You have a loving brother. You have the support of such an admirable woman as the Commander. And who could forget your beloved girlfriend?"

Ethan stopped before Kyle and rested one hand against the table.

"Did you know that, at one point, my mother wanted me to marry her?"

A faint smile touched his lips.

"I mean, our families were compatible, and Amanda was, quite honestly, heartbroken back then."

He leaned slightly closer and whispered, "And I wouldn’t happen to have any part in that sad tale of hers, would I?"

Kyle did not even turn to look at him, let alone react to his words.

That intrigued Ethan.

He and his nose were acutely aware of how short-tempered the man could be, especially whenever the subject involved his girlfriend.

Yet this silence was different.

It was unfamiliar.

And somehow, deeply unsettling.

Ethan’s senses remained on high alert. His tentacles were invisible to the naked eye, but they were already there, slowly creeping toward Kyle beneath the table.

If necessary, he could transform the entire mansion into Genesis Bane within moments and trap Kyle inside it. He could corner him and overwhelm him with everything he had.

Kyle might be strong.

He might be unpredictable.

But in the end...

"You are just a human-huh!"

Ethan’s eyes widened.

His body moved before his mind could even process what was happening, throwing him backward in an instinctive retreat.

The reason was nothing more than a single glance.

A single movement of the eyes.

Yet that alone caused his instincts to erupt with a terror more primal than anything death had ever inspired.

For a fleeting moment, Ethan felt as though he had escaped years of hellish torment, only to discover that he had not truly escaped the grasp of Satan.

The sensation was maddening.

Repulsive to himself.

But the need to retreat was more vivid than his own heartbeat.

"You... you aren’t Kyle," Ethan breathed.

His voice had lost its earlier confidence.

"Who are you?"

His eyes remained fixed on the figure before him.

"And why are you here?"

Kyle slowly rose to his feet.

Ethan wanted to move.

Every instinct screamed at him to move.

Yet he could not bring himself to take even a single step, let alone attack.

The plan to annihilate Kyle had already been formed. It had been set into motion long before this moment. And yet, Ethan now found himself standing before the very man he had once wished to destroy with every ounce of his being, completely immobilized.

Ethan was vulnerable.

So vulnerable that even a simple stab through the heart could have ended Ethan life.

But Kyle showed no intention of attacking him.

That somehow irritated Ethan more than anything.

A part of him even rejoiced at the realization.

Agh, he wasn’t being himself.

"I wish you know why you are going to be punished from here on," Kyle said.

He raised his right hand.

A faint golden radiance gathered around his fingers.

Shkaaaaah!

Ethan’s tentacles suddenly burst from his back, twisting violently as they stretched toward the ceiling. They writhed in a desperate frenzy, as though attempting to flee their host, to escape Ethan himself before whatever was about to happen could begin.

Ethan clenched his teeth.

The very entity that had empowered him had betrayed him.

Yet even that could not resist what came next.

Kyle’s finger finally touched Ethan’s forehead.

"Ah... aaaaaah... aaaaaahhhhhh!"

Ethan’s scream tore through the mansion, loud and very clear.

The servants and guards heard every agonized cry.

And yet...

Not a single one of them moved.

The walls of the mansion bore witness as the young master of the clan wailed in agony, forced to experience every consequence of what Ethan might have done in the near future.

Thud.

When Kyle finally stopped, Ethan collapsed onto his knees.

A small yellow pool formed beneath him. His eyes trembled, his face as pale as paper, every trace of confidence stripped away and replaced by pure dread.

But he wasn’t afraid of the memories.

No.

He had triumphed within them.

What terrified him was what came afterward.

Kyle had witnessed everything.

And then he had came back to stand before Ethan.

The pieces Ethan had carefully arranged were still in place, but those who were meant to become his targets were still alive and very much safe. His plans had yet to unfold.

But now, every single one of them lay bare before Kyle.

Worse still, Kyle possessed the power to erase Ethan’s greatest source of strength with almost no effort.

The ghoul within him had died from nothing more than the faintest touch of Kyle’s finger.

Ethan had been abandoned.

Once again, he had been reduced to the weak version of himself he had once despised, forced to watch others climb through battles and ranks while he remained behind, brooding in silence.

And the worst part was that the sudden change should have killed him.

The darkness Ethan had embraced had already damaged his Genesis core and ruptured every circuit within his body.

That alone should have been enough to drain the last remnants of life from him.

And yet...

He was still alive.

He could feel every part of his human body repairing itself.

His Genesis was being replenished.

And Kyle was the source of it.

Kyle was restoring his life.

Ethan knew exactly why.

Slowly, he raised his head. Tears gathered in his trembling eyes.

"Please... forgive me," he begged. "Please."

For the first time, Kyle reacted.

A faint gleam of amusement appeared in his eyes.

And somehow, that was enough to seal Ethan’s fate.

.....

"What do we do, sir?!" An agent rushed forward, his voice strained as he addressed the blond man stationed behind the barricade.

Beyond them stood the monument of every nightmare known to mankind.

The Temple.

It had stood there for ages, untouched by the passage of time. The beings guarding it never strayed from their posts, nor had they ever shown any interest in attacking civilization. Their sole purpose seemed to be guarding the Temple.

Yet neither the Temple nor its guardians were the reason Arthur, along with nearly every high-ranking officer from headquarters, had gathered there.

"Shouldn’t we stop them?" the agent asked again, his gaze fixed on the green-haired young man dragging an unconscious blond boy behind him as he steadily approached the Temple.

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"If he’s that eager to die, who are we to stop him?"

The twenty-foot-tall knights standing on either side of the entrance were not there for decoration.

They were the strongest warriors Arthur had ever faced.

And lost to.

They were the Sentinels, the living nightmares of countless high-ranking Nightwalkers.

For as long as anyone could remember, the Sentinels had never reacted to the changes unfolding beyond the Temple. Wars, disasters, the rise and fall of civilizations, none of it had ever drawn their attention.

But there was one rule they never broke.

Anyone who dared approach the place they guarded would be met with the cruelest death known to mankind.

The officers could only watch in silence.

A few had already tried to stop the cadet.

None had succeeded.

They collapsed unconscious long before they could even reach him.

"Kyle... no!"

Arthur heard the voice from his left and turned to find Veronica standing there, completely frozen.

But it was already too late.

Kyle had crossed the threshold.

The moment his foot stepped into the Sentinels’ domain, the watchers awakened.

Their eyes ignited simultaneously.

A golden brilliance illuminated the darkness, and every Nightwalker present instinctively held their breath.

Even Arthur felt a chill crawl down his spine beneath the weight of those dreadful eyes.

The Sentinels reached for their swords.

Veronica took a hesitant step forward, her face drained of color, horror written plainly across her features.

Then it happened.

"Huh?"

"What... fuck?!"

"I must be dreaming... It has to be."

Arthur was among the countless officers left utterly speechless. His lips parted, his eyes widening as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.

The knights who were supposed to eradicate the very existence known as Kyle...

Were kneeling before him.

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