SSS Awakening: Conquering Worlds with My Cupid System

Graham McGregor had fought monsters before.

He had fought B-Ranks. He had fought creatures faster than him, stronger than him, and even monsters whose abilities had forced him to rethink how he approached a battlefield.

But none of them had fought like the Werefang King.

The creature stood in the middle of the ruined Saintfall Expanse, breathing heavily.

Blood dripped from its muzzle. One of its ears had been torn almost completely off. Several of its ribs were broken, and its left arm hung at an unnatural angle.

Yet it remained standing.

Graham wasn’t in much better condition.

His armor was shredded across his chest and shoulder. Blood ran down his forehead, while his right leg trembled beneath him.

The space around him flickered intermittently. His ability was reaching its limit. The Werefang King slowly raised its head.

Its crimson eyes locked onto Graham.

”Human...” Its voice was deep and guttural. ”You are... troublesome.”

Graham wiped the blood from his mouth.

”I’ve been called worse.”

The Werefang King suddenly vanished. Graham’s pupils contracted.

”Spatial Shift.”

The world distorted, and he disappeared. The Werefang King’s claws tore through empty air.

Graham reappeared several meters away and immediately thrust his hand forward.

”Spatial Compression.”

The space surrounding the Werefang King collapsed inward.

BOOOOOOM!

The monster’s enormous body was crushed against an invisible force. The ground beneath its feet cracked. For a moment, Graham thought he’d caught it.

Then- the Werefang King forced one arm upward, and the compressed space fractured.

”You’re kidding.” Graham’s expression changed.

The monster roared. Its muscles expanded, and the veins beneath its dark fur bulged as its aura erupted.

ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!

The shockwave blasted Graham backward. He twisted in midair and opened a spatial rift beneath himself. Instead of crashing into the ground, he disappeared through it. He emerged several meters above the Werefang King.

His eyes sharpened.

”Spatial Severance.”

His hand swept downward, and a razor-thin distortion appeared. It wasn’t light or energy. It was space itself being cut. The invisible blade struck the Werefang King’s shoulder.

SHRAAAK!

Blood sprayed, causing the monster to stagger. Graham didn’t give it time. He opened three portals around the creature.

One above, one behind, and one directly beneath.

”Spatial Barrage.”

Three compressed blasts fired simultaneously.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOOOOOM!

The Werefang King was hurled through the forest. Trees collapsed as its body tore through them.

Graham landed heavily, and his knees nearly buckled. He breathed deeply. His chest burned, his vision blurred, but then he heard something- footsteps. They were slow and heavy.

The Werefang King emerged from the ruined trees. It was bleeding, but it was smiling.

Graham stared.

”You really are annoying.”

The King wiped blood from its mouth.

”And you...” Its crimson eyes narrowed. ”...are the first human I have encountered who has made me bleed this much.”

Graham’s expression remained calm.

”Glad to make history.”

The Werefang King lowered itself. Graham immediately realized what was happening.

”Wait...”

The monster vanished- pure speed. Graham barely raised his arm.

WHAAAAAAAAAM!

The Werefang King’s fist struck him, and his body flew backward. He passed through one tree, then another, and another.

Graham crashed into the ground and rolled several meters. Pain exploded through his ribs. He coughed- blood stained the dirt.

The Werefang King was already there. It raised its claws. Graham’s eyes widened.

”Not yet.”

A portal opened beneath him and swallowed him just before the claws descended. The ground exploded.

Graham reappeared behind the King and grabbed its shoulder.

”Spatial Anchor.”

The Werefang King froze. Graham’s eyes glowed.

”You’ve been moving too much.”

He opened a portal directly above them. Then another beneath the monster. The two portals connected. The Werefang King suddenly found itself falling upward- then downward- then upward again.

Graham manipulated the portals repeatedly. The monster was thrown through space like a projectile. Up. Down. Sideways. Up again.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Each transition slammed the creature against the environment. Finally, Graham released it, and the Werefang King crashed onto the ground.

Silence enveloped the battlefield.

Graham stood several meters away. His breathing was ragged. His spatial distortions were becoming unstable. He knew he was reaching his limit.

But then the Werefang King moved slowly. Its claws dug into the earth, and it stood. Graham’s eyes narrowed.

The monster looked worse than before.

But its aura... had become stronger. The King raised its head.

”Enough.” Its voice shook the forest. ”I have tolerated your tricks long enough.”

Its body suddenly changed. The fur around its neck expanded, its muscles grew- claws lengthened, and the crimson glow in its eyes intensified.

The remaining Werefangs scattered throughout Saintfall Expanse suddenly stopped fighting.

Every single one turned toward their king, and they lowered their heads. Graham’s expression changed.

”You’re absorbing their strength?”

The Werefang King smiled.

”The pack belongs to me.”

A wave of energy surged toward it. One, then dozens. The surrounding Werefangs collapsed as their strength was drained.

The King’s wounds began closing. Broken bones snapped back into place, its missing ear regenerated, and its aura became overwhelming.

Graham stared.

”So that’s your final ability.”

The King grinned.

”No.”

It vanished.

Graham’s instincts screamed. He immediately opened a portal. The Werefang King’s fist entered the portal.

Graham barely shifted his body as the fist passed beside his head. He opened another portal. The King’s attack emerged behind it, but the monster anticipated the trick. Its claws suddenly changed direction.

Graham’s eyes widened.

SHRAAAK!

Four claws ripped across his chest, and blood sprayed. Graham staggered backward. The King appeared before him.

”You’re too slow.”

Its fist struck his abdomen.

BOOOOOOM!

Graham’s body folded, and he was launched into the sky. He couldn’t breathe. His vision went white.

The King leapt after him, its claws raised. Graham stared upward. He had no strength left. His ability was almost exhausted, and he was failing, but his mind remained calm.

He remembered something his instructor had told him.

Spatial abilities aren’t about moving faster. They’re about deciding where something is allowed to exist.

Graham’s eyes sharpened.

The Werefang King descended; its claws were inches away.

Graham raised one trembling hand.

”You’re right.” A tiny smile appeared. ”I’m too slow.”

A portal opened around the Werefang King. The monster froze.

”What-?”

Graham clenched his fist.

”Spatial Prison.”

The entire region around the Werefang King folded inward. The monster’s body was trapped inside a distorted cube of space. It struggled.

CRACK!

The prison fractured, causing Graham to cough blood.

”Again.”

Another layer appeared. Then another. Then another.

The Werefang King roared, and the prison began collapsing. Graham’s body shook. His nose started bleeding, and his vision blurred, but he kept his hand raised.

”You’re not...” The space compressed further. ”...getting out.”

The Werefang King screamed. Its claws tore through the first layer. Then the second. Then the third.

Graham’s eyes became colder.

”Then I’ll put everything I have into the last one.”

He snapped his fingers, and the spatial prison collapsed. There was no explosion. For one brief instant, the world simply folded.

Then...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Saintfall Expanse shook.

Dust and debris erupted into the sky. The remaining Werefangs were thrown backward, the observation drones struggled to maintain their positions, and when the dust finally settled... Graham stood alone, barely.

His body was covered in blood, and his breathing was shallow, but several meters before him lay the Werefang King. Its enormous body was motionless, while the crimson light in its eyes slowly faded.

Graham walked toward it, and stopped.The King opened its eyes one final time. It looked at him and laughed weakly.

”You... human...”

Graham stared down at it.

”Yeah?”

”You were worthy.”

Its eyes closed and its body went still. Graham remained silent for several seconds, and exhaled.

”Finally.”

The Werefang King was dead.

Around him, the remaining Werefangs slowly began retreating into the depths of Saintfall Expanse.

Graham didn’t chase them. He didn’t have the strength. Instead, he looked toward the distant battlefield where Sun’s Peak Academy was regrouping.

He raised one hand, and a small spatial rift appeared. He stepped through, and disappeared.