I Awakened as an SSS-Rank System Maker!-Chapter 57 - Planet

Chapter 57 - Planet

The arena shook.

It wasn’t just the ground beneath their feet that trembled no, even the air quaked. Lucas’s aura pulsed with such intensity, so explosively, that every spectator in the stadium felt it. Even the composed warriors of Venus staggered. Just for a moment, they faltered, their calm shattered beneath the weight of his presence. But a moment... was all Lucas needed.

The crowd fell silent, waiting, holding their breath, the tension wound tight. Then, in a single instant, Darleen moved.

She summoned the Beast’s Venom, a deep dark blue liquid, as dark as the void itself. It wasn’t aimed at any one opponent no, that would’ve been far too simple. Instead, the venom spread across the entire arena, seeping into every crack, every crevice, until the ground became an invisible web of deadly peril. One misstep, one miscalculation, could lead to death.

The warriors of Venus had anticipated this.

They didn’t hesitate. Instead, they launched into a coordinated assault, their movements a perfect dance of deadly precision. One vanished completely, swallowed by shadows, while the other extended her arms, her fingers turning into toxic petals. A cloud of pure poison spread, the air thickening with its lethal presence a venom designed to pierce skin, invade flesh and bone like a silent death.

But Lucas didn’t flinch. His lips curled into a mocking smile that same familiar smirk that made those who had seen it before shudder.

"Tyrant Aura – Environmental Reshaping" he murmured.

The change was instantaneous. The arena, once a chaotic swirl of shifting shadows and poisonous clouds, transformed entirely. The ground shifted, the air warped. It became like a mirror reflecting every light, every shadow, in twisted, distorted ways. The visual manipulation was perfect absolute so much so that the illusions the Venus warriors relied upon turned against them. The shadows they once hid behind became their greatest weakness. Every step they took, every move they made, was exposed in warped reflections, like scattered ghosts.

It was chaos. And it was beautiful.

Then, in the midst of it all, Darleen emerged. She wasn’t fleeing, she wasn’t hiding. She floated graceful... lethal, surrounded by her crimson threads. Her eyes, glowing with the power of Sovereign Blood, locked onto her targets with terrifying clarity.

"Sovereign Bind," she whispered.

The effect was immediate and irreversible.

The two Venus warriors froze mid-motion, instantly. Their bodies refused to obey, movements halted under an invisible pressure, limbs paralyzed, unwilling to move. They couldn’t budge. They couldn’t escape.

Lucas didn’t wait. He was already there.

In a sudden burst of motion, he appeared before the cloaked fighter. His gaze met hers, his eyes filled with a disturbing calm.

"Learning from my enemy... is an unstoppable weapon," Lucas said, his voice low and dangerous.

At that same moment, the pink-haired fighter made her final move. She thrust a hidden needle toward Darleen, hoping for a fatal strike. But it was already too late.

Darleen’s crimson threads moved faster than the eye could follow, coiling around the needle, intercepting it mid-air. The poison within meant to kill was redirected in a swift motion, sent straight back to its source. A flawless reversal, a perfect counterattack, showcasing Darleen’s mastery.

The pink-haired warrior’s eyes widened in shock, but it was far too late.

A burst of light exploded, flooding the arena with blinding brilliance. A deafening silence followed, as the arena held its breath.

Then

The impact.

The sound was sharp, so sudden it felt like the scream of death. Two bodies fell, both fighters collapsing to the ground at the exact same moment, crumpling like discarded dolls. The arena stood in an eerie silence as the dust settled, revealing the aftermath of their fall.

The announcer’s voice rang out, trembling with conviction.

"The victors... Planet Tian!"

His voice boomed like thunder, the weight of his words shaking the galactic stadium. A brief moment of silence no cheers, no screams, just the heavy weight of the moment. Then, as if a dam had burst, the arena erupted into a thunderous roar that echoed across the stars. The crowds surged forward, their voices crashing in waves of awe and triumph.

But Lucas and Darleen didn’t move. They stood at the center of the arena, their eyes fixed on the fallen bodies of their enemies. Their breathing was steady, their hearts calm...

––

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"Tian! Tian! Tian!"

Black flags edged in silver fluttered in the air, their movement swallowing the horizon, painting the sky in the colors of victory. The air was thick with the scent of sweat and blood, and the overwhelming presence of triumph.

In the center of the arena, Lucas stood, his body still trembling from the aftermath of battle, his blood boiling from the heat of combat. His chest rose and fell, calming itself, but his heart beat rapidly. His eyes, ablaze with the fire of championship, scanned the thousands of faces in the stands their gazes wide with admiration.

Beside him, Darleen wiped a mixture of sweat and her opponent’s blood from her brow. Her expression was still cold and calculating as always, her eyes piercing through the sea of faces in the stands.

Above them, in the judges’ balcony, Siman Father stood in full official regalia, his careless laughter echoing through space. It shook the arena walls and resonated in the bones of all who heard it. His joy was undeniable, a raw and uncontained force.

"HAHAHA! Siman! Didn’t I tell you?!" he shouted, slapping his son’s shoulder with unrestrained force. His eyes gleamed with excitement, pride radiating from him.

Siman, ever composed, only gave a calm smile as he watched the victorious duo below. His gaze lingered on Lucas and Darleen, his thoughts unreadable.

Suddenly, the announcer spoke again, his voice calm, his words echoing across the arena as if a force in themselves.

"Congratulations," the announcer pronounced, his words amplified through the speakers, magnified by the gravity of the moment. "Planet Tian has officially secured first place in the Grand Interplanetary Tournament... SS-ranked Division."

"The formal coronation ceremony will take place tomorrow at sunrise in the Central System," he added, before pausing for dramatic effect. The next words hit like a thunderclap.

"All winners must report to the Star Palace to claim their reward." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The crowd seemed to hold its breath again, the moment suspended in time.

But the announcer’s voice, heavy with emotion, rose to a new crescendo.

"Yes, my friends... this time, the prize is not symbolic!" he shouted.

"It’s a planet!"

A second-class subsidiary planet. A world of their own.

"A second-class subsidiary planet!" he repeated, his voice ringing like a bell across the heavens. "Small, yes but entirely yours!"

The words hit Lucas like a tidal wave, the reality struggling to sink in. For a moment, he felt like he was caught in a dream, his mind failing to grasp what had just been said. His body froze. His eyes locked onto the announcer, wide with disbelief.

"...A planet?" Lucas whispered, his voice barely audible over the roaring crowd.

Siman, standing beside his father, couldn’t hide a faint smile, his lips curling slightly as he turned to him.

"A second-class subsidiary planet?" Siman repeated, his tone dry, almost teasing.

Lord Siman’s laughter filled the air again, shaking the stadium walls.

"HAHAHA! Now this is a real prize!" he laughed, his voice ringing with delight. "Lucas earned it!! Flipped the whole table, didn’t he?!"

Siman didn’t respond immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched Lucas, who still stood frozen in shock. His fingers twitched slightly, and for a moment, the mask of indifference he always wore slipped, and something else flickered in his expression perhaps curiosity, or maybe... admiration.

"But..." Siman began, his voice low and thoughtful. He sounded like he was speaking to himself, but his words hung heavy in the air.

Lord Siman cut him off, his tone once again bursting with uncontainable joy.

"Are you kidding me?" his voice echoed across the stadium. "We’re now number one among all SS-ranked planets! This is a massive win! We’re at the top now can you feel it?!"

But Siman remained silent. His eyes, still locked onto Lucas, revealed nothing of what he was thinking.

Lucas closed his eyes, trying to absorb what had just happened. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest, the weight of the announcer’s words crashing over him.

A planet.

He looked to Darleen, whose expression betrayed nothing but her eyes were locked on his, and they said everything. She knew. She understood.

"Darleen..." Lucas began softly, the words finally beginning to flow. "A planet... is this really happening?"

Darleen’s eyes shimmered. For the briefest moment, something subtle shifted in her gaze. Then she stepped forward, her voice calm.

"Don’t think too much about it," she said, her words steady and reassuring. "We earned it. Now... we’ll make it ours."

A second-class subsidiary planet. And now it belonged to them.