✨ HEAVENLY ASCENT: RISE OF THE SSS-RANK SYSTEM ✨
Chapter Seven: Something Beneath the Basement
The entire hospital shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling. Plastic signs fell from their hinges. Sirens malfunctioned and looped into warped, glitching alarms.
Aiden and the Stalker Prime clashed again—
BOOM!
Blue and gold energy blasted outward, warping the hallway floor into molten waves of tile.
The creature flickered around him, moving in sharp, angular motions like a glitching animation.
"…Celestial… you are slowing…"
Aiden grit his teeth.
He wasn't slowing.
The monster was getting faster.
The Stalker Prime lunged—
SWISH!
Aiden barely ducked as a claw sliced past his cheek. It cut the wall behind him like butter, leaving a glowing scar of bio-energy.
He countered with a Heavenly Strike—
The creature caught his arm mid-swing.
Aiden's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
The Stalker Prime's pupils constricted.
"…I have learned your patterns…"
Its claws tightened around his wrist—
CRACK—!
Pain shot up Aiden's arm. The force hurled him across the hallway.
He rolled, gasped, then forced himself upright.
His vision blurred.
His heartbeat thundered.
But he still lit his fist again.
"You don't get my sister."
The Stalker Prime didn't lash out immediately.
It observed him.
Its voice lowered to a chilling whisper.
"…You glow like a child version of what sleeps below us…"
Aiden froze.
"What?"
The creature's head twisted unnaturally, eyes staring through the floors beneath them.
"…Something older than your System… something the rift awakened… something we variants instinctively kneel to…"
A deep rumble echoed from the basement—
No… deeper than the basement.
Something alive.
Something rising.
Aiden took a step back.
The System suddenly chimed—panicked.
Designation: ???
Threat Level: SSS-Rank (Dormant)
Aiden's blood ran cold.
"S… SSS-Rank?"
The Stalker Prime leaned forward, grinning with cracked teeth.
"…Your System fears it. We… worship it."
The floor trembled again—this time violently.
A deep pulse rippled under Aiden's feet. Like a heartbeat.
Thump…
Thump…
The walls bulged slightly, as if something huge pushed against them from the other side.
Aiden swallowed hard.
Something was trying to wake up.
From beneath the hospital.
He didn't have time.
He had to end the Stalker Prime—now.
Aiden roared and activated Celestial Step, vanishing.
He reappeared behind the creature, arm glowing blinding-gold—
"STARBREAK!"
He drove his fist toward the Prime's core—
But the creature twisted—
SHLKKK—!!
A claw impaled Aiden's shoulder.
His breath ripped out of him in a sharp gasp.
Blood dripped down his arm.
The Prime leaned close, whispering into his ear.
"…You bleed… beautifully…"
Aiden clenched his teeth and slammed a Radiant Burst point-blank.
KRAAASH!!
The blast sent both of them flying apart.
The creature tumbled across the hallway, crashing into an overturned gurney.
Aiden staggered up, gripping his bleeding shoulder.
His head spun.
He was losing too much blood.
Too much energy.
But he couldn't stop.
He wouldn't stop.
Not while Maya was still in danger.
Then—
Something new appeared in the corner of his vision.
A new System prompt.
Not one he activated.
One automatically triggered by his injuries and emotional state.
Aiden froze.
"…Heavenly… Ascent?"
Light flickered beneath his skin.
His injuries glowed gold.
His heartbeat synced with a distant celestial rhythm.
The Stalker Prime hesitated.
"…Impossible… you are too young… too early…"
Aiden lifted his head.
His eyes weren't glowing gold anymore.
They were burning white.
The System continued:
Aiden whispered,
"…I only need ten."
The Stalker Prime lunged.
Aiden vanished.
Not with Celestial Step.
With something faster.
Something divine.
He reappeared above the creature, glowing like a falling star.
"HEAVENLY ASCENT—FIRST FORM!"
His fist descended.
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!
The explosion ruptured the entire hallway.
Ceiling tiles disintegrated.
Pipes burst.
Windows shattered.
The Stalker Prime was driven into the floor, its core cracking, blue energy leaking out like shattered glass.
Its body writhed, screeching.
"…Y-you… cannot… kill… me… not while HE wakes…!"
Aiden didn't answer.
He lifted his glowing hand—
And struck the core a final time.
CRAAACK—!!
The Prime's chest shattered.
Its energy evaporated into mist.
Silence.
Aiden collapsed to one knee, panting as the light faded from his body.
His 12 seconds were up.
But he'd won.
The System chimed—
Reward: +120 XP
New Item: Prime Core (Epic)
Level Up: Lvl 3 → Lvl 4 → Lvl 5
New Heavenly Art Unlocked
Aiden exhaled in relief.
Then—
THUMP.
The floor shook again.
Much harder.
Aiden's eyes widened.
"…No… please don't…"
The hospital foundation cracked.
A bone-like hand the size of a car pushed up through the basement floor.
Something enormous was rising.
Something ancient.
Something sealed.