SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will

Chapter 143: The Gamble

The boss suddenly twisted its body in a strange way.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

That movement didn’t match the attack.

The ogre’s fist changed direction mid swing.

And instead of aiming at Arthur...

It aimed behind him.

Arthur felt a cold chill run through his spine.

Behind him...

The explorers.

They were still pinned to the ground by the gravity field.

They couldn’t move.

Arthur turned his head just enough to see them.

The captain.

Ryn.

The rest of the squad.

Still trapped.

Still helpless.

The boss lifted both fists together.

Mana gathered around its arms in thick waves.

Arthur recognized the pattern immediately.

Gravity Slam.

But this time it was different.

The mana gathering around the monster was far denser than before.

It was pouring everything it had left into this one attack.

Arthur’s eyes widened.

"Damn it."

The ogre had baited him.

It had spent the entire fight pretending to lose control just to push Arthur closer to the explorers.

Now if Arthur dodged...

The attack would land on them.

And with that much power...

They wouldn’t survive.

Arthur cursed under his breath.

"Smart bastard."

The boss had figured out something important.

Arthur was human.

He wouldn’t abandon his team.

The monster didn’t care if it died afterward.

This was its last gamble.

And below them also, the explorers understood what was happening.

The captain’s fists trembled as he struggled against the crushing gravity.

"Move..." he growled.

But his body wouldn’t obey.

Ryn tried to push himself up.

His arms shook violently.

"Arthur... don’t..."

But even he knew it was pointless.

They were bait.

The captain’s chest tightened.

Everything seemed to slow down around him.

Arthur wasn’t supposed to die here.

The kid had talent the stronghold hadn’t seen in years.

He should have had time to grow.

To become something great.

And instead he had followed them into this mission.

The captain clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt.

"If only..."

If only he had been stronger.

If only he could stand up right now.

If only he could push Arthur away from that attack.

Ryn felt the same helpless rage burning in his chest.

The commander had trusted him to protect Arthur.

Yet somehow the boy had been protecting all of them instead.

And now he was about to die for it.

Ryn forced his head up.

He refused to look away.

None of them turned their eyes.

They would watch until the end.

Above them the boss raised its fists high into the air.

Mana twisted violently around its arms.

Arthur took a step forward.

His face had lost its playful grin.

For the first time since the fight began, he looked completely serious.

Then he moved.

Intent Step.

Arthur vanished.

And reappeared directly in front of the trapped explorers.

The captain’s eyes widened.

"No—!"

The ogre’s fists came down.

BOOOOOOOM.

The impact shook the entire dungeon.

Stone shattered.

Dust and debris blasted into the air.

Cracks tore across the battlefield as the ground sank deeper under the monstrous force.

The explorers felt the shockwave slam into them.

The air filled with thick clouds of dust.

They couldn’t see anything.

But their voices rose at the same time.

"ARTHUR!"

"ARTHUR!!"

Dust swallowed the battlefield.

The explosion from the slam had shaken the entire chamber and for a moment no one could hear anything but the ringing in their ears.

The explorers lay where the gravity had pinned them. Some were still coughing, some barely managed to lift their heads.

The dust slowly began to settle.

Shapes started forming in the haze.

The first figure they saw was the boss.

It still stood.

Tall.

Massive.

Its front faced them while the cracks in the ground spread from where its fists had landed. The stone floor looked like it had been smashed by a falling mountain.

For a brief moment no one spoke.

Then the realization hit.

"Arthur..."

Ryn’s voice broke.

One of the explorers slammed a fist against the ground.

"No...!"

The captain lowered his head.

That kind of attack... no one could have survived it.

Not even someone like Arthur.

Anger burned in his chest.

The boy had stepped in front of them.

Taken the hit meant for all of them.

And now—

"Arthur!" someone screamed again.

Their voices echoed through the cavern.

But the boss didn’t move.

The massive body swayed slightly.

Then something changed.

As the dust settled, below the monster... another shape slowly appeared through the dust.

A human figure.

Standing.

Still.

Unaffected.

Arthur.

For a second no one understood what they were seeing.

Arthur stood right where the slam had landed. His clothes were torn in a few places and dust covered his shoulders but his posture remained straight.

He looked... calm.

The explorers froze.

Even the captain blinked.

And then..

THUD.

The boss fell.

The huge body collapsed forward like a mountain finally giving up its balance. The impact shook the floor again as the monster crashed into the ground.

Silence filled the chamber.

The explorers stared.

Arthur was still standing.

But the boss monster was the one on the ground.

For several seconds nobody said a word.

Then someone whispered slowly,

"...what?"

The scene replayed itself in their minds.

The boss had slammed both fists down with everything it had.

Arthur had stepped into the attack.

Yet somehow...

He was the one left standing.

Ryn pushed himself up slightly, his eyes wide.

"...he turned it back."

The captain understood also.

Arthur had not blocked that attack.

He had returned it.

And the realization hit the explorers like a second shockwave.

Arthur rolled his shoulders slightly and stretched his neck.

"Man..." he muttered.

"That was close."

What they hadn’t seen happened in less than a second.

The moment the fists came down, Arthur had expanded his Sovereign’s Domain.

The invisible field around him compressed instantly.

The space itself tightened.

That alone gave him just enough resistance to survive the initial pressure.

But that wasn’t the real trick.

At the same time Arthur’s fingers moved.

Intent Weave Activated

A/N:

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