My SSS-Rank Grim Reaper System-Chapter 80: Beyond %
[PARTIAL AWAKENING – 30% OUTPUT – ACTIVATED!]
Energy exploded.
Not like before.
Uncontrolled. Unmeasured.
Absolute.
Alex’s body arched, his spine bending impossibly.
His skin glowing with black veins.
His eyes... completely crimson now.
No white. No pupil.
Just deep red.
The white streak expanded—spreading like inverted fire.
Covering more hair.
The Fragment mark on his chest BURNED through his robe.
Visible. Pulsing. Alive.
[ALEX – PARTIAL AWAKENING 30%]
HP: 120/1,110 → 120/1,720 (Max HP +55%)
Strength: 120 → 186
Agility: 127 → 197
Intelligence: 77 → 119
[CORRUPTION: 77.5% → 80.5%]
[WARNING! LOSS OF CONTROL IN PROGRESS]
But it wasn’t just his physical power.
It was his... presence.
The air around Alex changed.
Dense. Suffocating. Dark.
As if death itself had entered the world.
Matthias, still kneeling beside him, froze.
His hand still on the Fragment mark.
But the extraction process... stopped.
"What...?" he began.
Alex grabbed his wrist.
CRACK.
Bones breaking.
[Matthias HP: 18,500 → 17,800/32,000]
"AGH!" Matthias recoiled—real pain for the first time.
Alex stood up.
Slow. Deliberate.
Movements not fully human.
Too fluid. Too precise.
Like a predator.
His crimson eyes looked at Matthias.
Then at the team.
Raven trying to rise.
Emily unconscious.
Kira bleeding.
Grim broken.
Vulnerable.
And the Fragment whispered, not as before.
Not distant.
Directly into Alex’s mind.
As if it was Alex.
Protect them. Get them to safety. Then... destroy the insect.
Alex nodded.
No debate. No resistance.
Just agreement.
He moved.
[Shadow Step – Enhanced]
He didn’t appear.
He blinked out of existence.
One moment in front of Matthias.
The next beside Raven.
"Alex?" she said, her voice uncertain.
He didn’t answer.
He grabbed her arm and waist.
"Wait, what—!"
[Shadow Step]
Gone.
Reappeared beside Kira.
Grabbed her too.
"Alex, your voice...!" Kira began.
Ignored.
[Shadow Step]
Beside Emily.
He lifted her, careful despite everything.
Unconscious. Critical.
Needs protection.
Then... final [Shadow Step] .
Not five meters.
Not ten.
Five hundred meters.
In a single leap.
Impossible.
But he did it.
---
[NATURAL CAVE – 500M AWAY]
They reappeared in a rock formation.
A small cave with a low ceiling, hidden entrance.
Defensible.
Away from the battle.
Alex set Emily down gently.
Then Kira and Raven.
He pulled all the potions from his inventory.
Ten HP potions. Three MP. Two antidotes.
He placed them before them.
"Use. Stay. Here."
His voice... distorted.
Like two voices speaking simultaneously.
One human. One unnatural.
Raven looked at him, her eyes widening.
"Alex, your eyes... they’re completely red."
"I know."
"Are you... you?"
A pause.
"For now."
"What does that mean?"
"It means..." Alex turned, looking directly at her.
Crimson eyes glowing in the darkness.
"...the Fragment and I have an agreement. Save them. Then destroy Matthias."
"And after?"
"After..." He hesitated. "...I hope to regain full control."
"Hope?"
"It’s all I have."
Raven grabbed his arm.
"Then let me fight with you. I can still—"
"No."
"Alex—!"
"Stay. Or you will die. "
The voice was completely distorted now.
A deep echo. Authoritative. Absolute.
It was not a request.
It was an order.
Raven recoiled—survival instinct kicking in.
This was not Alex.
Not completely.
It was something... more.
Something terrifying.
Kira, more pragmatic, nodded.
"Understood. We’ll stay. Heal Emily. Wait."
Alex nodded, satisfied.
He looked at Raven one last time.
His expression softening momentarily.
A flash of the real Alex.
"I’ll come back. Promise."
He kissed her forehead.
Then he was gone.
[Shadow Step]
Back to the battle.
Leaving the three alone.
Raven collapsed, her hands trembling.
"What the hell was that?" she whispered.
"Corruption," Kira replied, already administering potions to Emily. "Looks like at 80%, the Fragment has more control."
"But is it still him?"
"...I don’t know."
---
Alex reappeared.
Matthias had used the time to prepare.
His robe billowing. Green energy exploding.
His broken hand already healed with magic.
[Matthias – Holy Regeneration]
[HP: 17,800 → 20,500/32,000]
"Impressive," he said, his voice tense but controlled. "80% corruption. Partial Awakening. And still functional."
He paused.
"But functional doesn’t mean victorious."
He raised both hands.
Green energy gathering, far more than before.
"Level 78, Alex. Against your level 43. Even boosted... the gap is too wide."
Alex didn’t reply.
He just walked forward.
Step by step.
Slow. Inexorable.
A predator closing in on its prey.
Then—
"MASTER!"
Grim appeared.
Awakened form activated.
But... different.
His skeletal body glowing.
Not green as usual.
Crimson.
Like Alex’s eyes.
[SYSTEM – SPECIAL ALERT]
[GRIM – REACTION DETECTED]
[FRAGMENT 1 (CORE) – 80.5% ACTIVE]
[CORE CONNECTION RESTORED]
[GRIM – CORE RESONANCE – ACTIVATED!]
Energy exploded from Grim.
His form expanding.
2.5 meters → 3 meters → 3.5 meters.
Bone armor thickening.
His scythe transforming into a blade now the size of a person.
Eyes glowing crimson-green mixed.
[GRIM – STATS BOOST: +40%]
[HP: 900/2,400 → 900/3,360]
[Strength, Agility, Endurance: ALL +40%]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: DEATH’S SYNERGY]
[Effect: When fighting alongside Fragment 1 bearer, both receive +20% to all attacks]
Grim roared—a sound like a thousand screaming souls.
He positioned himself beside Alex.
"Master. Not. Alone. I. Fight. Too."
Alex looked at Grim.
Nodded.
"Together."
"Together."
Matthias observed, assessing.
Two against one.
Both empowered by the Fragment.
Level 43 + level 60 entity (boosted).
Against his level 78.
The math...
Still in his favor.
But no longer guaranteed.
"Very well," he said finally. "If you insist on dying together..."
His green energy exploded at maximum output.
[HOLY CORRUPTION – MAXIMUM OUTPUT]
"...I SHALL OBLIGE!"
He lunged.
Alex and Grim lunged.
Clash.
---
BOOM.
The first exchange shook the ground.
Alex with his sword wrapped in black energy.
Matthias with his fist wrapped in brilliant green.
CLANG.
Powers colliding.
A shockwave expanding.
Rocks exploding. Sand flying.
Both pushed back, sliding five meters.
A technical draw.
Matthias raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting. Your strength rivals mine now."
Alex didn’t answer verbally.
He simply attacked again.
[Shadow Strike] + [Blood Weapon] combined.
Impossible speed.
He appeared beside Matthias, his sword cutting toward his neck.
Matthias blocked with a forearm glowing green.
CLANG.
But Grim was already there.
His scythe descending from above.
[Death’s Harvest – Enhanced]
Matthias was forced to dodge, rolling to the side.
The scythe struck the ground where he had been.
CRASH.
A ten‑meter crack exploded.
Matthias rose, evaluating.
Perfect coordination. They fight as a unit.
He had no time to think further.
Alex was already attacking again.
A brutal combination of cuts, thrusts, kicks.
Matthias blocked but was forced back.
Then Grim attacked from the flank.
[Reaper’s Wrath – ACTIVATED]
[Grim HP: 900/3,360 → 765/3,360] (cost per second)
Form expanding to 4 meters temporarily.
Scythe glowing intense crimson.
Cutting horizontally.
Matthias jumped, missing by centimeters.
But Alex was waiting.
Above.
He had anticipated the leap.
[Necrotic Burst] channeled through his sword.
Black energy exploding.
BOOM.
It struck Matthias mid‑air.
[Matthias HP: 20,500 → 18,200/32,000]
Throwing him to the ground.
CRASH.
A crater formed.
Dust exploding.
Grim didn’t wait.
He lunged, scythe ready to execute.
But Matthias wasn’t defenseless.
From the crater, an explosion of green energy.
[HOLY CORRUPTION – BURST]
BOOOOM.
A massive shockwave.
Grim pushed back.
[Grim HP: 765 → 620/3,360]
Alex was too, but he activated [Shadow Step] .
He appeared behind the explosion.
Unharmed.
Matthias emerged from the crater.
Robe torn. Blood dripping from a cut on his cheek.
But smiling.
"THAT’S IT! THAT’S WHAT I WANTED!"
Green energy intensifying.
"Finally... worthy opponents!"
He raised both hands.
Energy forming spheres in each palm.
[CORRUPTED SMITE]
He hurled them.
Green energy projectiles the size of boulders.
Supersonic speed.
Alex dodged one with [Shadow Step] .
Grim blocked the other with his scythe.
CLANG.
Massive force—he was pushed fifty meters back.
Deep furrows in the ground where he slid.
Matthias teleported, appearing in front of Alex.
An exchange of blows.
Fist versus sword. Kick versus block. Elbow versus counter.
Speed increasing.
Five exchanges per second.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Invisible to a normal eye.
Only flashes of green versus black light.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
Then Matthias found an opening.
A knee to Alex’s stomach.
WHAM.
[Alex HP: 120/1,720 → 420/1,720] (Partial Awakening regeneration + damage)
Alex spat blood but didn’t retreat.
Instead, he grabbed Matthias’s leg.
Held it.
"What—?"
"Now."
Grim appeared.
[Reaper’s Wrath] still active.
Scythe cutting straight for Matthias’s head.
Matthias had to sacrifice.
He released a burst of energy at point‑blank.
Blasting his own leg to escape.
[Matthias HP: 18,200 → 15,800/32,000]
He teleported twenty meters back.
Limping, his right leg severely wounded.
But already healing.
[Holy Regeneration – Active]
[HP: 15,800 → 16,500/32,000] (gradual healing)
Alex and Grim regrouped.
Both watching Matthias.
Waiting for his next move.
The exorcist laughed... despite the pain.
"Level 43. And you’re hurting me."
He paused.
"Impressive. Truly impressive."
Then his expression changed.
His smile vanished.
Replaced by absolute seriousness.
"But I’ve played enough."
He raised both hands to the sky.
His green energy exploding not toward them.
But outward.
In all directions.
Like a pulse.
[HOLY CORRUPTION – CORRUPTED DOMINION]
The energy expanded for hundreds of meters.
Touching the mountains. Touching caves. Touching nests.
And where it touched—
Control.
---
[2 KM AWAY – WYVERN NEST]
Two Ice Wyverns slept.
A territorial pair.
Level 105 each.
The green energy reached them.
Penetrated their minds.
[Corrupted Dominion – Control established]
Eyes opening.
Not crystalline blue.
Bright green.
They roared simultaneously.
Took flight.
Flying toward the source of energy.
Toward Matthias.
Obeying.
---
[NEARBY CANYON – 1 KM]
Three Sand Scorpions rested.
Level 115, 118, 120.
Apex predators.
The green energy arrived.
[Control established]
Compound eyes glowing green.
They began to move.
Toward Matthias.
---
[MULTIPLE LOCATIONS]
Desert Wyrms. Frost Serpents. Mountain Bears. Cave Trolls.
Dozens of creatures.
Level 70-120.
All touched by [Corrupted Dominion] .
All controlled.
All converging.
Toward the battlefield.
---
[BACK AT THE BATTLEFIELD]
They felt the vibrations.
The ground shaking.
Distant roars.
Closing in.
Alex looked at Matthias.
The exorcist smiled widely.
"You thought we’d fight fair?"
He gestured around.
"This is my territory now. And everything in it..."
His eyes glowed intense green.
"...obeys me."
The first roar arrived.
Close.
Very close.
Two massive shadows blocked the rising sun.
Ice Wyverns.
Descending.
Landing behind Matthias.
[Ice Wyvern Alpha – Level 105]
[HP: 85,000/85,000]
[Ice Wyvern Mate – Level 105]
[HP: 82,000/82,000]
Then the ground shook harder.
Three massive forms emerged from the canyon.
Sand Scorpions.
Surrounding the position.
[Sand Scorpion Elder – Level 120]
[HP: 95,000/95,000]
[Sand Scorpion Hunter – Level 118]
[HP: 88,000/88,000]
[Sand Scorpion Warrior – Level 115]
[HP: 82,000/82,000]
And more creatures arrived.
Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.
Levels ranging 70-100.
All with eyes glowing green.
All controlled.
All ready to kill.
Matthias spread his arms—dramatically.
"Welcome... to my army."
He looked at Alex and Grim.
"Level 43. Against level 78. And forty creatures."
He smiled.
"Still think you can win?"
Alex and Grim exchanged looks.
Then both looked at Matthias.
Alex spoke, his voice distorted, dual.
"We don’t need to win."
He paused.
"We just need to kill you."
Black energy exploded from Alex.
Crimson energy from Grim.
Fusing.
[DEATH’S SYNERGY – ACTIVATED]
[+20% to all attacks for both]
Matthias laughed.
"Then try!"
He snapped his fingers.
The army attacked.
