SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 106: The Turning Tide II

The sounds of the battle were different.

The monsters’ screeches were shorter. The explosions of magic sounded closer to victory than desperation. The explorers were shouting not in fear, but in confidence.

A young boy peeked over the rubble his mother was hiding behind. He saw a vine beast collapse into ash under a burst of flame.

"Mom... they’re winning," he whispered.

His mother didn’t answer at first. She was too afraid to believe it. But when she looked up and saw explorers advancing instead of retreating, something tight in her chest loosened.

Hope.

It crept in slowly, cautious and fragile, but real.

Captain Veylor let out a loud laugh as he cut through another thick vine.

"This is it!" he roared. "It’s wearing down! Don’t give it space to breathe!"

His voice carried across the battlefield, bold and steady. The explorers rallied around it.

"Push forward!"

"Burn it!"

"Cut the core!"

They didn’t know what had caused the mutation, and they didn’t know why it was weakening, but they knew opportunity when they saw one. Veylor raised his blade high.

"Whatever twisted this thing is fading. This is our chance! Ironroot stands today!"

A cheer answered him.

Morale surged. The massive vine monster thrashed wildly, but its movements were no longer clean. It felt desperate.

Captain Ryn, however, did not smile.

He cut down a spider monster that lunged at him and stepped back, eyes narrowing as he studied the battlefield. Yes, the monster was weakening. Yes, the pressure had reduced.

But that wasn’t all.

He could feel something else.

A pressure in the distance.

His gaze shifted toward the direction Arthur had gone earlier. Far beyond the stronghold walls, deeper into the forest.

The air there felt heavy.

And it was rising.

Ryn’s grip tightened around his weapon.

Arthur...

He had suspected from the beginning that Arthur had gone after the source. The timing was too precise. The weakening had started shortly after Arthur disappeared.

Now the massive vine monster faltered again, and at the same time, that distant pressure spiked.

Ryn exhaled slowly.

"At least hold on," he muttered under his breath. "Hold on until we finish here."

"Captain Ryn!"

Veylor’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Ryn turned, slicing through an incoming vine in one clean motion.

"Don’t drift off on me!" Veylor shouted with a grin. "It’s finally getting interesting!"

Ryn gave a faint smile, though his eyes remained sharp.

"Finish it quickly," he replied. "We may have another problem."

Then he threw himself back into the fight, more focused than ever.

Not far away, Arthur pushed himself off the ground.

The impact from earlier still lingered in his bones, but his body responded without complaint. He rolled his shoulders once and lifted his gaze.

The man before him was no longer fully human.

Corrupted mana swirled around him in thick waves. Veins bulged under his skin, glowing faintly with a sickly light. His breathing was ragged, uneven, and his scream had long lost any trace of reason.

What remained in his eyes was not strategy.

Only aggression.

He roared and charged.

The first attack was massive. Vines erupted from the ground, thicker than before and far faster. They tore through trees as they advanced, splitting trunks like dry wood.

Arthur didn’t move.

Instead, he let his Sovereign’s Domain expand.

The space around him trembled as invisible authority pressed outward. The air felt heavier, charged with intent. The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly as the force settled.

The vines shot toward him, surrounding him in an instant. Every route of escape sealed.

Arthur exhaled.

Then waves of fire intent burst from him.

Not wild. Not uncontrolled.

Suppression.

The flames didn’t simply burn. They pushed. They crushed. The vines around him blackened and shriveled as the heat devoured them from the inside.

The world inside his domain felt different.

Clearer.

He could feel the fire respond without resistance. He didn’t need to overthink it. The intent flowed naturally, almost eagerly.

I can do more, he realized.

The man roared again and launched another storm of vines.

Arthur stepped forward with intent step, his body blurring. His dagger, coated in fire, sliced through the first wave cleanly. The flames lingered on the cuts, preventing immediate regeneration.

A second wave came from the side.

Arthur tilted his body just enough for it to miss, though one vine grazed his shoulder and tore through cloth and skin. Pain flared, sharp and real.

He smiled faintly.

"It still hurts," he muttered.

Three fireballs hovered behind him, spinning slowly. As the man lunged, Arthur flicked his fingers.

One fireball stretched and sharpened mid-air, forming a spear. It shot forward and pierced through the man’s side, drawing a distorted scream.

Before the wound could close, the second fireball detonated against his chest, blasting him backward in a wave of heat.

Arthur didn’t stop.

He closed the distance instantly, his movement unpredictable. A vine shot toward his leg. He twisted mid-step and let it pass inches from his knee.

That would have taken it clean off.

The third fireball unraveled into a chain of fire, wrapping briefly around the man’s arm and slowing his movement just enough for Arthur’s dagger to carve another burning line across his torso.

The corrupted mana surged violently in response.

The man slammed both hands into the ground, and dozens of thick vines erupted in every direction. One caught Arthur mid-air and flung him sideways.

He crashed through a tree, bark splintering under the impact.

Arthur coughed once, tasting iron.

Danger was still there.

One wrong step and those vines would pierce through him.

But as he stood again, his eyes were bright.

The thrill of battle rushed through him. Not reckless excitement, but sharp awareness. Every exchange taught him something. Every clash showed him another way to shape his fire.

"You’re losing control," Arthur called out, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Is this all that power gets you?"

As the man roared in fury and attacked even more wildly.