Chapter Eight: The SSS-Rank Entity Awakens
For a moment, everything was still.
Then the hospital floor split open.
Concrete fractured like eggshells. Tiles shattered upward. A cold, ancient wind blasted out of the widening fissure.
Aiden shielded his face as dust swirled violently around him.
THUMP.
The trembling grew deeper.
More rhythmic.
Like a heartbeat older than the world.
THUMP.
A monstrous hand clawed its way into the first floor — pale, scarred, and covered in glowing runic brands that pulsed with dark blue light.
Aiden felt his lungs tighten.
This was nothing like the Stalker.
Nothing like the variants.
This… thing… wasn't mutated.
It was sealed.
Purposefully.
Deliberately.
For a reason.
The System's voice glitched in panic.
A cold sweat slid down Aiden's back.
"...SSS-Rank already…? I'm only Level 5!"
He stumbled backward as the creature's massive arm dragged up more of its body.
A shoulder the size of a truck emerged.
Skin cracked like stone.
Veins glowing an eerie sapphire.
Runes carved directly into its flesh — ancient symbols Aiden couldn't read, but instinctively understood:
This creature wasn't born. It was imprisoned.
The fissure widened.
And then—its head rose from the pit.
A monstrous skull-like face with six eyes arranged in two vertical rows, each one glowing like molten suns. Its mouth was a jagged tear rather than a jaw, stretching too wide as it inhaled deeply.
As if smelling Heaven's scent on Aiden.
Its eyes locked onto him.
A chilling rumble escaped its maw.
"...CELES… TIAL…"
Aiden staggered.
It could speak.
"No way… you're intelligent too?"
The creature's six eyes narrowed.
And it spoke again — its voice echoing like a thousand whispers layered over a thunderclap.
"YOU… CARRY… HIS… LIGHT."
The runes across its body glowed brighter.
Aiden clenched his fists.
"I don't know who 'he' is… but you're not touching my sister."
The creature tilted its massive head.
"THE SMALL ONE… THE GIRL…"
Its fingers twitched, cracking the floor further.
"HER LIGHT… RESEMBLES… THE FIRST STAR…"
Aiden's blood froze.
Maya?
The first star?
"What are you talking about?!" he yelled.
But the creature didn't respond.
Because something else changed.
The hospital's walls shimmered — then locked into place with glowing chains of blue energy.
The System flashed urgently.
"…City-level…?"
Aiden's heart hammered.
Even with Heavenly Ascent, he wouldn't survive that. Nobody would.
The creature placed its hand on the floor — and began to pull the rest of its body upward.
The hospital foundation buckled.
Pipes burst.
Glass collapsed.
The building tilted.
Aiden barely kept his footing.
He had no choice.
He had to stall it.
If it fully broke the seal — Neo-Lagos was gone.
He stepped forward despite the fear crushing his chest.
"You're not coming out!"
The creature's six eyes widened — amused.
"SMALL CELESTIAL…"
It lifted one titanic arm.
"YOU CANNOT STOP ME."
Aiden's golden aura flared.
"I don't need to stop you."
Light ignited from his fists.
"I just need to slow you down."
He fired Starbreak with everything he had—
BOOOOOOM—!!
The blast slammed into the entity's face—
Its head snapped sideways—
—but it barely flinched.
When it turned back, its six eyes glowed brighter.
"INTERESTING."
Its massive hand rose.
Aiden braced—
WHOOOOM—!!!
The backhand strike hit like a meteor.
Aiden was sent flying—
through two walls—
through a row of medical cabinets—
and crashed into the far hallway, rolling to a painful stop.
He gasped, coughing blood.
His ribs screamed.
His vision darkened.
"…Too… strong…"
He pushed himself up.
He couldn't die here.
Not with Maya waiting outside.
Not with Dara counting on him.
Not with an SSS-Rank monster awakening beneath a city of millions.
The System flickered weakly in front of him.
Aiden wiped blood from his mouth.
"No…"
His knees trembled.
His fists glowed faintly.
"I'm not running."
He stepped forward—
But collapsed again.
His body wouldn't move.
He was too injured.
Too drained.
He couldn't stop this alone.
A shadow fell across him.
Stone fingers burst through the floor just meters away, clawing their way up.
The creature's voice rumbled:
"THE SKY WILL BOW."
Aiden looked up in horror—
as the seal finally cracked.
And then—
A brilliant explosion of white light ripped through the hallway from behind him.
Aiden blinked.
"...What…?"
A small figure stood at the far end.
Shaking.
Eyes glowing white.
Maya.
Her voice trembled:
"Big brother… move."
A shockwave of pure celestial energy burst from her—
and the monster roared in pain for the first time.