Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 588: Battle of the Alpha ranked 2

Angel’s transformation completed, her body radiating heat that made the air shimmer in visible waves. Steam rose from her skin where blood flowed in hyperoxygenated patterns, her cardiovascular system operating at levels that would cause a normal human’s heart to explode.

’Ten times,’ Angel thought, feeling power surge through enhanced muscle fibers. ’Strength amplified tenfold, speed pushed beyond what should be physically possible, reaction time shortened to process stimuli that most awakened can’t even perceive.’

Her blood was circulating at rates that created audible pressure in her veins. The crystallized armor coating her skin shifted continuously, flowing from one location to another based on predicted threat vectors. Her brain was processing visual information fast enough that individual frames of movement became visible, letting her track objects moving at velocities that would appear as blurs to anyone else.

This was her trump card. The form she’d only achieved after years in Ark Division, after countless near-death experiences had pushed her body past normal S-rank limitations. In this state, she’d fought two-horn Harbingers solo and won. Had eliminated threats that required entire platoons to handle.

And Noah was still smiling.

That smile bothered her more than it should have. Like he knew something she didn’t. Like this whole fight was just warm-up.

Noah moved first this time.

BOOM!

The sound barrier broke as he accelerated, his body crossing the distance between them faster than Angel’s enhanced perception could fully track. Not teleporting—actually moving, his legs propelling him forward at velocities that created a visible shockwave in his wake.

’That’s not possible,’ Angel thought, her blood armor solidifying where his fist was about to connect. ’Without equipment, base human locomotion caps at—’

Noah’s fist hit her guard.

KRAAAA!

The crystallized blood shattered completely. The force didn’t stop there—it traveled through her arm, made her entire skeletal structure vibrate, drove her backward across the crater floor while her feet carved twin trenches through scorched earth.

She’d moved thirty feet before arresting her momentum, her blood immediately working to repair the shattered guard, and Noah was already there.

His knee came up toward her ribs. Angel twisted, took the blow on her hip instead, felt the impact rattle her pelvis despite the armor. She retaliated with an elbow strike aimed at his temple, crystallized blood extending the reach, adding cutting edge to the attack.

Noah’s head tilted, the strike missing by millimeters. His hand caught her extended arm, used it as leverage to spin her around, drove his other fist toward her kidney.

Angel’s blood armor flowed, concentrated at the impact point. The punch connected anyway.

THOOM!

The armor held but the force transferred through it. Angel felt her kidney actually shift position from the impact, her enhanced biology immediately flooding the area with accelerated healing factors to prevent internal bleeding.

She dropped low, swept Noah’s legs. He jumped, cleared the sweep by maybe six inches, came down with both feet aimed at her head.

Angel rolled sideways, the double stomp cratering the ground where she’d been. Stone pulverized, creating a circular depression three feet deep.

’He’s hitting harder than before,’ Angel realized, coming up in a defensive stance. ’His physical abilities are higher than mine even with soul form active. SSS ranked or not, how is that possible without—’

Noah closed distance again. This time Angel was ready, her blood forming into whips that lashed out from multiple angles while she advanced to meet him.

The whips moved faster than sound, each one capable of cutting through reinforced steel. Noah didn’t dodge—he caught two of them, his hands wrapping around crystallized blood that was sharp enough to flay skin from bone.

KRSSSH! KRSSSH!

The whips shattered in his grip. Purple energy flickered around his hands where he’d touched them, void energy corrupting the blood’s structure, making it unable to maintain cohesion.

Angel abandoned the whips, went in for direct engagement. Her fist came around in a hook aimed at Noah’s jaw, blood armor adding mass and cutting edge. Noah blocked with his forearm, the impact creating visible shockwaves that radiated outward.

BOOM!

The shockwave hit Eclipse members at the crater’s edge, forced several of them to brace against equipment to avoid being knocked over. The camera drones adjusted their positions, stabilizing algorithms working overtime to keep footage steady.

"Did you see that?" Marcus shouted over the noise. "That shockwave traveled three hundred meters before dissipating! The force required to—"

"Shut up and watch!" Reyna interrupted, her eyes glued to the tablet.

In the live stream chat:

[HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE THAT SPEED]

[Angel’s transformed and she’s STILL being pushed back???]

[Noah’s not even using his void sword thing]

[The smile on his face lmaooo he’s having FUN]

[My sensors are reading impacts in the kilojoule range, that’s anti-vehicle weapon territory]

[Third gen awakened at peak output maybe hit 800 joules sustained. These two are operating at levels that shouldn’t be biologically possible]

Angel’s combination continued—left jab, right cross, spinning elbow, knee strike. Noah blocked the first two, slipped inside the elbow, caught her knee before it connected. His grip closed around her thigh, and he threw her.

Not pushed. Threw. Angel’s body went horizontal, traveling through the air at velocities that created vacuum trails.

She recovered mid-flight, blood forming into steps beneath her feet. She planted one, used it to change trajectory, came back at Noah from a different angle.

Her fist drove toward his face with everything her soul form could generate. Noah’s head moved, the strike missing, his own counter already in motion.

His palm strike caught her in the sternum.

BOOM!

Angel felt her ribcage flex, the crystallized blood armor absorbing most of the impact but not all. Her breath left her in a rush, and she was airborne again, tumbling backward through space.

’He’s not using his erasure abilities,’ Angel realized, blood forming beneath her to cushion the landing. ’No void blades, no techniques that would delete matter on contact. Everything’s been physical strikes or those purple projectiles that he uses for defence rather than attack.’

She landed, immediately launched herself back into the fight. Her blood manipulation went into overdrive—dozens of projectiles forming, launching from every angle, filling the space between them with attacks that moved faster than most people could perceive.

Noah’s response was almost lazy. His hands extended, purple energy erupting from his gun shaped finger.

He pulled the imaginary trigger and —

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

His void projectiles intercepted hers, each collision creating small explosions of force. But one of Angel’s attacks got through, angled toward where Task Force members were watching.

Noah saw it peripherally. His left hand swept sideways while his right fist drove forward toward Angel.

Purple energy caught the stray blood projectile, void corruption spreading through it instantly. The attack dissolved completely, erased from existence, while Noah’s right fist connected with Angel’s jaw.

CRACK!

Angel’s head snapped sideways. Her vision blurred for a microsecond before her enhanced biology compensated, flooding her brain with oxygen to prevent unconsciousness. She tasted copper, realized her dentition had actually cracked from the impact.

’That would have killed a normal person,’ Angel thought, her body already repairing the damage. ’Would have broken a regular S-rank’s neck. I know this for two reasons. I’m alive which means I’m not regular. And yet... yet, he did it while simultaneously defending bystanders from my attack.’

She spat blood, watched it rise immediately to rejoin the mass she was controlling. "You’re still holding back."

"Testing myself," Noah replied, already moving again. "Remember?"

"Bullshit." Angel’s blood formed into a massive hammer, easily six feet across the head. She swung it with enhanced strength amplified by soul form, the weapon moving fast enough to create whooshing sound.

BOOOOM!

Noah caught it. Both hands on the hammer’s face, his feet digging furrows as the force drove him backward. He had to give it to Angel, she was deadly strong. But unfortunately for her, he was stronger.

The hammer stopped completely, held in place by someone who shouldn’t be able to arrest that much momentum.

Angel pushed harder, pouring more blood into the construct, increasing its mass and therefore its force. Noah’s boots continued carving through stone, but he wasn’t giving ground beyond that initial push.

’His base strength exceeds mine,’ Angel realized with something approaching shock. ’Even in soul form, with my muscles operating at ten times normal capacity, with crystallized blood adding leverage, he’s still stronger.’

Noah’s grip tightened. The blood hammer began cracking, purple energy seeping into the crystallized structure.

KRAAAA!

The weapon shattered completely. Noah stepped forward through the debris field, his fist already coming around toward Angel’s ribs.

She got her guard up, both arms reinforced with layered blood armor. The punch connected anyway.

THOOM!

The impact lifted her off her feet. Her guard held but the force transferred through it, made her entire ribcage sing with stress fractures that immediately began healing.

’I can’t win this,’ Angel thought, landing twenty feet away. ’Not with conventional attacks. He’s faster, stronger, more durable. My soul form is operating at maximum capacity and it’s not enough.’

But she was smiling anyway. Actually grinning despite being outmatched, despite the growing realization that she’d never actually had a chance.

’Because this is what peak looks like,’ Angel thought, watching Noah close distance again with that same relaxed smile. ’This is what SSS-rank actually means. Not just power, but the gap between S and SSS being wider than the gap between civilian and S-rank.’

She’d fought alongside him on that planet, had seen him erase Harbingers with touches that made matter cease existing. Had watched him on stream carve through category on fives like they were paper.

He hadn’t used any of that here. Just his body, his speed, his combat instincts honed through months of fighting things that would kill her despite her soul form.

And he was still smiling.

Angel’s blood manipulation reached its limit. Every drop she could safely lose was in play, forming armor and weapons and defenses simultaneously. Her body temperature had peaked, cardiovascular system operating at maximum sustainable output.

She charged one more time, because giving up wasn’t in her vocabulary.

Her fist drove forward with everything—enhanced muscle, crystallized blood armor, soul form amplification, years of Ark Division combat experience compressed into a single strike aimed at Noah’s face.

Noah’s counter was already in motion before her fist fully extended.

His palm caught her strike, redirected it past his head. His other hand came around in a punch that was somehow faster than everything before it, backed by stats that exceeded what S-rank biology could match.

The punch connected with Angel’s jaw at an upward angle.

CRACK!

Angel’s head snapped back violently. Her vision went white, her enhanced biology struggling to compensate for trauma that exceeded what even soul form could immediately repair. Her body went limp, momentum carrying her backward, consciousness flickering.

She hit the ground, rolled twice, came to rest face-down in scorched earth.

The crater went silent except for the sound of wind and distant camera drones.

Angel’s soul form began deactivating automatically, her body recognizing that maintaining it while unconscious would kill her. The reddish-purple skin faded back to normal. The black marks disappeared. Her veins stopped jumping, blood flow returning to sustainable levels.

She was breathing, clearly alive, just unconscious.

Noah walked over, his boots making soft sounds against stone. He crouched beside her, rolled her onto her back gently, checked her pulse.

Steady. Strong. Her enhanced biology was already working on repairs, flooding damaged tissue with healing factors that would have her functional within minutes.

"Angel," Noah said quietly. "Come on. Can’t have you sleeping on the job."

He wasn’t scared at all seeing her like this. He knew the hit he dished out wasn’t enough to do permanent damage.

He used the appropriate force he knew would potentially end the fight. Because half way through, after her transformation, he realized something that made him sad.

’She isn’t strong enough to push me,’

So he ended the fight.

Her eyes fluttered open after several seconds. Unfocused at first, then gradually sharpening. When they found Noah’s face, something changed in her expression.

Her cheeks flushed red. Not from exertion or soul form activation, but from something else entirely. She was looking at him differently now, her eyes carrying an intensity that had nothing to do with combat assessment.

"I lost," Angel said, and she was smiling. Actually happy about it, her expression carrying satisfaction despite the outcome. "You weren’t even trying, were you?"

"I was trying," Noah replied, offering his hand. "Just not trying to kill you."

Angel took his hand, let him pull her upright. She swayed slightly, her equilibrium still recovering, and Noah steadied her with a hand on her shoulder.

"That was..." Angel paused, searching for words. "I’ve never fought someone who made soul form feel inadequate before. You’re operating at levels that shouldn’t be possible without equipment."

"You’re not exactly normal yourself," Noah pointed out. "Soul form is insane. The power amplification, the speed, the way your blood manipulation integrates with physical enhancement. That’s why you were my first choice for this."

Angel’s flush deepened. She looked away, trying to compose herself, but the smile remained. "Did you figure out what you needed?"

"Yeah," Noah said. "I think so."

Around them, the crater was beginning to fill with people. Eclipse members approaching cautiously, Task Force personnel checking on their commander, camera drones circling to capture aftermath footage.

The live stream chat was going absolutely insane:

[NOAH JUST BODIED AN S-RANK IN SOUL FORM]

[Angel’s blushing LMAOOO]

[Did anyone else see him block that stray attack while simultaneously punching her?? THE MULTITASKING]

[The speed difference is actually ridiculous, my combat analysis software can’t even track half those movements]

[Angel put up a hell of a fight though, respect]

[New ship unlocked: Noah x Angel???]

[That smile on her face when she lost though...]

Marcus and Reyna arrived, both of them looking appropriately awed by what they’d just witnessed.

"That was..." Marcus started, then stopped. "I don’t even have words."

"We got everything on camera," Reyna said, her tablet showing multiple angles of the fight. "This footage is going to break viewing records. The whole eastern quadrant just watched their Eclipse leader demolish an S-rank."

Angel was still standing close to Noah, her balance recovered but seemingly reluctant to move away. When she finally stepped back, her expression carried something Noah couldn’t quite identify—respect, definitely, but mixed with something that looked almost like admiration.

"Thank you," Angel said quietly. "For pushing me. For showing me what the next level actually looks like."

"Thank you for not holding back," Noah replied. "That’s exactly what I needed."

The crowd was growing larger, people wanting to see the aftermath, wanting to ask questions, wanting to understand what they’d just witnessed.

But Noah’s mind was already moving forward, processing what he’d learned, already thinking about his next steps.

The forging decision. The equipment choice. Oracle’s Veil, Monarch’s Seal, or Reaper’s Grip.

He knew what he needed now. Knew where his actual gaps were, what kind of enhancement would complement his existing capabilities rather than just adding redundant power.

But that was a problem for later. Right now, he had an audience to deal with, a crowd to navigate, and apparently a viral video that was spreading across the eastern quadrant.

Noah glanced at Angel one more time, noticed she was still watching him with that same intensity, and decided that maybe this sparring session had accomplished more than he’d originally intended.