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

Chapter 208: Some things never change

[That night]

Hannah’s blade cut through another Majin’s arm, but two more closed in from her blind side. "Shit!"

Clara dropped low, sweeping her leg out to knock one off balance, but the vines were already creeping along the ground, curling toward their ankles like dark veins searching for purchase.

"They’re herding us," Clara shouted, slicing through a vine before it could wrap her leg. "The Ghoul wants us boxed in!"

Hannah backed against her, blade raised. "I know. I just don’t see a way out of this circle."

They were quite exhausted after fighting for so long. First berserk Nightmares and now this.

Hannah was already quite spent, and Clara’s lack of magical attacks dictated the same.

A Majin lunged. Hannah’s sword met it, but the impact sent pain shooting up her arm. The thing was stronger than the last batch.

Whatever the Ghoul was feeding it, it had pumped these things full of something nasty.

"Guh...my arms...they could barely move." She complained after kicking the Majin away.

Hannah shared the thought. She was standing parallel to her, and watched the Majins getting back on their feet. And the ghoul has yet to be touched.

Fuck.

"Let’s-" she paused.

Then the air changed.

Heat rolled through the clearing in a wave, the kind that made the hair on Hannah’s arms stand up.

A column of flame tore through three Majins at once, reducing them to ash before they even registered the attack.

Ethan landed in a crouch between Hannah and Clara, scanning the battlefield in the half second before he moved again.

His eyes tracked the vine network spreading from the Ghoul’s position, then the remaining Majins, then back to the girls.

"You two hurt?" he asked, voice steady.

"No, just trapped," Hannah said, breathing hard. "There’s like eight more of them and the vines keep multiplying."

"Eight." Ethan’s gaze swept the clearing again, faster this time. "The vines are slowing your movement but they’re not the priority. The Majins are. Cut them down fast enough and the Ghoul loses its meat shields, then it has to either retreat or fight us directly."

He moved before he finished speaking. Flame wrapped around his forearm, not wild and uncontrolled like it used to be, but focused, almost surgical.

He drove it into the nearest Majin’s chest, then pivoted immediately, reading the angle of the next attacker before it even fully turned toward him.

"Clara, left flank," he called out. "Hannah, with me. We push through the middle and split their formation."

Clara blinked, but didn’t argue. She peeled off toward the three Majins converging on the left, slicing through the vines in her path with clean, economical strikes.

Using Genesis, she sped herself up. Can’t allow herself to appear pathetic!

Hannah fell in beside Ethan, matching his rhythm. He fought differently now. No wasted movement, no burning through his reserves just to look impressive.

Every strike served a purpose, clearing space, opening lines, herding the Majins into positions where Hannah could finish them off with minimal effort.

"You’re doing the herding now," she said between breaths, ducking under a clawed swipe.

"Learned from watching you two get herded," he said, a brief flicker of something almost like a smile crossing his face before he turned serious again. "Stay close. The vines are thickest near the center, don’t let them wrap your legs."

A Majin came at Hannah’s exposed side. Before she could turn, a thin line of flame snapped out and caught it across the throat, dropping it instantly.

Ethan hadn’t even looked in her direction, his attention still on the Ghoul’s position, but he’d felt the threat coming.

"Got your back," he said simply.

The remaining Majins fell in quick succession, Ethan’s flames precise enough to take them down without scorching the ground Clara and Hannah stood on.

Within minutes, the only thing left moving was the Ghoul itself, its vines retreating in confusion as its puppets turned to ash one by one.

That’s when the air shifted again, sharper this time, edged with domination. Three figures dropped into the clearing from above, robes marking them as high ranking officers from the Central Authority.

The lead officer, a tall woman with grey hair tied back tight, took in the scene in an instant. Dead Majins. A retreating Ghoul. Two exhausted and one unharmed fighter.

"We’ll handle the Ghoul from here," she said, already moving past them. "Good work clearing its support."

Ethan nodded once, stepping back to let them through. He didn’t relax until the officers had the Ghoul surrounded, vines withering under some kind of suppression field they threw up around it.

Only then did he turn to Hannah and Clara, really looking at them for the first time since he arrived.

"You’re both okay?" he asked again, and this time there was something gentler in it, less battlefield commander, more just Ethan.

Hannah lowered her sword, finally letting her shoulders drop. "Yeah. Better, now."

Clara walked up to him with a bright smile.

"That was so cool, Ethan. Honestly, I felt like you could’ve taken down that ghoul by yourself too."

Ironically, she now found herself resenting the very backup she had desperately searched for before Ethan’s arrival.

"Ahaha, just because I defeated a ghoul once doesn’t mean I can do it over and over again."

Clara pouted.

"What’s with that? Don’t be so modest."

"I agree with her, Ethan. You defeated a ghoul under far worse circumstances, and you were completely alone." Hannah added.

Ethan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You guys..."

Letting out a sigh, he changed the subject.

"Well, forget about that. Have you heard anything about Kyle? How is he doing?"

Clara and Hannah exchanged surprised glances.

In the past, it had been obvious that Ethan hated even the sight of Kyle. The hostility in his eyes had never been difficult to notice.

But now...

"Well, he should be discharged soon," Hannah replied. "Do you want to go see him?"

Ethan gave a wry smile.

"Ahaha... that would be awkward. Why don’t you two go instead? Send him my best wishes, though."

Just as Hannah had expected, not everything had changed.

With a faint smile, she nodded.

"Okay."

...

Back at the hospital, Amanda was feeding Kyle porridge while Layena sat nearby, reading through several reports with her brows slightly furrowed.

Corella has left just a few moments ago with Blake. She needed to head back to her home because of some reason. But she promised to be there when he gets discharged.

The atmosphere in the room was peaceful, and after finally waking from his long slumber, Kyle felt remarkably refreshed.

Just then, the door opened.

Blake stepped into the room.

"Kyle."

The three of them turned to look at the man.

Blake wore a serious expression as he informed, "People...from central authority are here. They are here to question you about the incident."

If Kyle could, he would have instantly clicked his tongue in annoyance.

But he didn’t get the time as several people stepped into the room very soon

Ah, let the patient rest...

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A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been reading the story so far, please drop a comment.