I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 95: Government Officials

Vale staggered, clutching his chest as he gasped for air, only to find none. The atmosphere itself seemed to rebel against him, thickening with every heartbeat, pressing in like an invisible vice.

A cruel smirk curled across his opponent’s face as he advanced, each step slow and heavy, like thunder rolling over a war-torn sky.

"You really thought you could walk into our house and cause carnage?" the man sneered, his voice laced with contempt.

But Vale didn’t respond. He couldn’t.

Instead, in a blink, he vanished.

He activated Voidstep and reappeared behind the man in a ripple of shadows. His blade was already embedded deep in the man’s arm by the time he twisted around, eyes wide with shock.

The man roared and swung wildly in retaliation—but Vale was already gone, dissolving into nothingness once more.

At that exact moment, two soldiers emerged from behind a heap of rubble, somehow forcing their way through the maze of shattered stone and frozen barricades that had sealed off the battlefield.

But the instant their boots hit the ground, a streak of darkness carved through the air.

Vale had seen them coming.

He activated Voidstep once more.

Then, he cut them down in two fluid, consecutive strikes, his blade a blur of merciless precision.

A wave of wind screamed toward him, furious and fast—but not fast enough.

With a third activation of Voidstep, he vanished again—only to reappear directly in front of his opponent.

The man’s eyes widened in panic just as Vale’s blade plunged deep into his chest.

He stumbled backwards and collapsed, choking on his breath. But before he could lift a hand in defence, Vale’s blade struck once more.

This time, the weapon was cloaked in black flames.

It tore through the air like a streak of ink slashed across a canvas, searing through flesh and bone. The force behind it ended the man’s life before the swing had even finished.

The black flames surged outward, slithering over the corpse and sinking into the mana crystal embedded in his chest. As the fire died down, Vale felt a faint pulse—a fragment of his lost essence returning.

Vale stood motionless amid the ruins, his chest rising and falling as he surveyed the aftermath. Blood stained the frozen earth. Ash swirled through the air like falling snow. Ice crackled in the broken remains of the battlefield. Silence hung heavy over it all.

At least at first.

Then, a sudden chorus of muffled voices cut through the stillness, followed by the echo of approaching footsteps.

Vale narrowed his gaze, peering through his relic’s enhanced vision. Sir Tyne—his treacherous uncle’s son—was gone.

But someone else had arrived.

Three figures entered the shattered mansion, moving swiftly through the carnage. Behind them trailed an old man, barely clothed, trembling at the sight of what had become of his once-proud estate.

"Found you," Vale thought as his eyes locked onto his uncle. But something about the three strangers held his attention.

Their attire. The sigils on their uniforms.

It finally clicked.

Those were Government officials.

Vale spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground and patiently waited.

Luckily, or not, he didn’t have to wait long.

The first to approach was a young woman. Silver hair, piercing blue eyes, and an emotionless expression that chilled more than the ice around them. She looked only a few years older than Vale, but something about her felt... wrong. Very wrong.

Behind her walked two men, both of similar age. One had a messy crown of red hair, the other was bald. Both their expressions were unreadable.

They stopped the moment they saw him.

"Are you the one responsible for this atrocity?" the silver-haired woman asked, her voice flat, utterly devoid of emotion.

"It’s him! He’s the one—" Vale’s uncle screamed from behind, pointing a shaky hand.

But a single glance from the woman silenced him. The fear on his face was unmistakable.

Vale lingered in silence, then spoke in an even tone. "What if I am?"

"Then you will be taken into custody and prosecuted for your crimes," the woman replied, her tone still cold, clinical.

"In that case... it wasn’t me," Vale said, his grin sharp and humourless, a smirk that never quite reached his eyes.

But before the final syllable left his lips, six dark green vines erupted from the ground. They coiled around him with unnatural speed, locking his limbs in place. In the same breath, the air turned heavy. Oppressive.

Power surged from the silver-haired girl like a tidal wave.

Her blue eyes shimmered, then turned a vivid emerald green.

Vale’s eyes widened. He struggled, but the vines held firm.

This presence... it was nothing like he’d faced before. It wasn’t just strength—it was control, command. She wasn’t a simple Awakened. She was something beyond that.

"I’ll ask you one last time," she said, her gaze sharp as a blade. "Was it you?"

Vale said nothing.

But his silence was enough of an answer.

The woman turned to her companions. "Take him."

Then, without another word, she walked away toward a caravan waiting just beyond the rubble.

"What?! You can’t take him alive! YOU NEED TO KILL HIM FOR—" Sir Tyne began to shriek, but was cut off mid-sentence by a loud smack.

The bald official had moved without hesitation, backhanding the man so hard he stumbled sideways.

"Know your place, fool," the man muttered before turning his back on Tyne and striding toward Vale, where his red-haired companion was already kneeling beside him.

From his coat, the bald man pulled out a small glass ampule. Without a word, he cracked it open and splashed the liquid across Vale’s face.

"What the hell—" Vale began, but the words died in his throat.

His vision blurred, and the world spun before him.

It felt as if the ground had been ripped out from beneath him. A sudden, crushing fatigue flooded his limbs. His knees buckled, and the breath caught in his lungs.

Darkness swallowed him whole.