Soul system:Return Of The SSS-Ranked Troublemaker-Chapter 58: Game Of Fate (14) AWAKEN.

His face was already swollen. Bruises bloomed across his skin. His eyes burned—wild with frustration and fury.

And still, he charged.

Another clash.

Another loss.

Again and again, like a maddened bull, he rushed in.

And each time, he was met by a fist that delivered one clear message:

You are not ready.

Leon growled, baring his teeth. "What the hell are you saying, you little shit?!"

He couldn’t understand the boy’s Japanese. But that didn’t stop him.

He kept coming—reckless, blind, desperate.

And he kept getting thrown back, sent flying with each blow.

The nameless boy sighed under his breath. "Tch. Keep charging in like that and you’ll never grow..."

He adjusted his stance slightly, lowering his center of gravity.

"You may have been blessed with power... but a man’s strength comes from his mind."

Dark energy gathered subtly around his left hand, the aura coiling like a shadowed serpent.

"Gyakumei-Ryuu: Underhand Strike."

The words left his lips like a whisper of death.

In a blur, his fist struck Leon square in the gut.

CRACK.

"GAAHK—!" Leon’s eyes widened as the air was knocked clean from his lungs. The force sent him hurtling backward, smashing into a thick tree.

BOOM.

The trunk split slightly, bark shattering. Leaves fluttered down like rain.

Birds scattered in the distance.

Leon slumped forward, unconscious—defeated.

The nameless boy didn’t even glance back. He turned away, his voice calm and quiet.

"...What a shame."

---

Meanwhile—

"Damn it, she’s strong!" Celestia gritted her teeth, her arms trembling.

Again, her barriers shattered—one after another—under the sheer pressure of Andrea’s energy field.

Celestia pushed herself, summoning more Mystic Art constructs, but it was like trying to stop a boulder with paper.

As the pressure closed in, her thoughts drifted...

...To her childhood.

A towering woman stood above her, dressed in a lavish red gown adorned with gemstones, rings, and elegance.

At her side, a much younger Celestia sobbed.

"Wahhhh!"

"Ugh, pathetic!" the woman snapped. "You can’t even master a single Mystic Art?! And you call yourself a Vaelthorne?"

Her voice was venom.

"If only you hadn’t been born with such a useless ability... maybe then you’d actually be worthy of our noble name!"

"You waste your time reading books, studying techniques from other worlds... but the basics will get you nowhere. You’ll never amount to anything."

"My mom used to lecture about my ability being defected as it needs something to work... Even though i was called a vaelthorne i was never acknowledge as one."

Back to the Present

Barrier after barrier shattered around Andrea. Each one dissolved like fragile glass under the pressure.

"Damn it... If only my ability wasn’t defective... No—" her eyes darted across the battlefield. "I just need something to anchor it!"

Then she spotted it—a dead boar lying nearby.

"Perfect."

She dashed toward the carcass, both palms glowing faintly as she knelt and placed her hands on it.

But before she could activate anything—

A shadow loomed beside her.

Andrea looked up, eyes widening.

Somi stood over her, her face calm and unreadable. That usual, distant expression hadn’t changed—but something about her aura was... colder.

Somi raised one hand. Opened her fingers.

Boom.

The boar’s body exploded violently, spraying blood in every direction. Chunks of flesh disintegrated before they even hit the ground. Nothing remained—not even organs. Just a pool of steaming crimson.

Andrea stared, speechless.

Somi turned her other hand slowly in a counter-clockwise motion.

Boom.

Celestia dropped mid-step, collapsing like a puppet with cut strings. Out cold.

"What did you just do...?" Andrea whispered, standing up, tension rising.

"I made her fall asleep," Somi replied flatly. "That’s all."

But Andrea could feel it.

The air around Somi had shifted. This wasn’t the same girl from earlier. Her aura now pulsed with a quiet intensity—calm, but suffocating.

A few meters away, Elay stepped forward, wind brushing through his rainbow hair, making it ripple with unnatural grace. He rolled his neck, bones cracking in rapid succession.

"Hmph... Guess I can finally go all out," he muttered with a sharp grin.

Across from him, Soohyung raised an eyebrow, still cocky.

"I didn’t expect you to be a dad already~" he teased, voice laced with smugness.

But Elay didn’t take the bait.

He launched forward like a beast, dropping to all fours mid-run. His movement was wild—feral—but his body remained entirely human. Speed surged through his limbs as he closed the gap.

Then he leapt.

Soohyung barely had time to react.

Elay’s claw-like hand grazed his shirt—shhhk!—ripping it clean across the chest, just missing flesh.

"!?"

Soohyung’s eyes widened.

That wasn’t a bluff.

Soohyung quickly leapt back, widening the distance between himself and Elay. His eyes narrowed slightly, but his tone stayed teasing.

"What’s that? Some kind of new technique or something~?" he asked, smirking.

Elay raised both hands, his fingers curled like claws. The air around him shifted, his body taut with tension.

"No," Elay replied, his voice serious. "This is my whole life."

His words hung in the air—and then, a memory surged to the surface.

He was standing opposite a tall, muscular man with a wild grin—Tom, the Monarch of Primal. They were both shirtless, barefoot, standing deep within a forest clearing. Raw. Unfiltered. Like beasts.

"What was that technique you tried on me earlier?" Tom asked, cracking his neck.

"...It’s something I’ve used for years. I call it ’Beast Strike,’" Elay admitted, pink creeping across his face.

Tom burst into laughter. "WAHAHAHA! Beast Strike, huh?"

He grinned.

"Let me guess—like this?"

Tom’s hand morphed, not into claws or fangs, but into something more primal. His fingertips remained human—bare, rough, and calloused—but they radiated an aura that screamed danger. Power condensed into simplicity.

Then, with one smooth motion—

CRACK!

He swiped his fingers across a thick tree trunk.

The tree split cleanly in half.

Elay’s eyes widened in disbelief. "W-What the hell..."

Without thinking, he dropped to his knees.

"Please... tell me how to use that properly!" he begged. "I’ve trained my whole life—relied on my werewolf ability but it’s still not enough!"

Tom looked down at him, his grin fading.

"Stand up," he said calmly. "I’ll teach you. But first—do you know what your problem is?"

Elay looked up.

"You rely too much on your transformation. You think power means fangs and claws—but you’re missing the essence of what it means to be a beast."

Tom took a step forward, placing a hand on Elay’s shoulder.

"I don’t need to transform to tear things apart," he said. "My body carries the DNA of a thousand creatures—I can become a tiger, a wolf, or even a hawk... not by turning into one, but by understanding them. Feeling them."

He tapped his chest.

"If you want to perfect your Beast Strike... stop hiding behind your bloodline. Learn to fight like a man who earns it."

Elay clenched his fists.

"I’ll teach you," Tom said with a smirk. "But only if you’re ready to walk the path of primal instinct... no transformations. No shortcuts. Just raw strength."

"I’m ready," Elay whispered.

Tom laughed again. "Then I’ll show you the Realm of the Beast."

Back to the Present.

Elay exhaled slowly, tightening his stance. With each bare-fingered swipe, he sliced the falling leaves midair—clean, precise, deadly.

Soohyung’s eyes narrowed, impressed.

"I see... that’s pretty dangerous, huh?" he muttered with a crooked grin. "Alright, to make it fair—"

He cracked his neck, aura slowly building around him.

"I’ll let you see a glimpse of my awakening."

His body loosened into a feral stance as a deep crimson aura erupted from his core. It wrapped around him like smoke, boiling, twisting. His face was shrouded beneath a demonic outline of red—a Dokkaebi, with snarling teeth and horns. His hands morphed into claw-like silhouettes of raw aura.

"Don’t worry," Soohyung grinned, his voice suddenly distorted by power. "I’ll hold back~"

Then—BOOM.

They clashed.

One blow after another—blurs of red and steel flashing across the forest.

The ground shook as their fight tore through trees, smashing through roots, sending shockwaves through the earth.

"Back off!" Callix shouted, dragging Cid and Celestia further away.

The others could only watch in awe and fear.

This wasn’t a battle anymore.

It was chaos.

"A beast versus a demon..." Callix muttered, beads of sweat forming on his temple. "No... it’s worse. This is primal."

He turned his gaze toward Leon—still sprawled against the tree from earlier.

Leon’s eyes snapped open. Blood dripped from his brow.

"Shit... did I just get knocked out?" he muttered, shaking. "I... I can’t—accept defeat!"

He punched the ground, eyes filled with frustration, rage, and something else...

A pressure began to rise from his body.

Something instinctual. Ancient. Dormant.

Like a locked door inside him had finally burst open.

His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin. His breath turned sharp. Controlled.

He wasn’t just angry anymore.

He was awakening.

[Author here if you liked the story so far considering give us a vote stone i appreciate very much thank you."