Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner

Blood and broken bodies painted the clearing as Noah charged forward, the eclipse blade thrumming with dark energy in his grip. Through the carnage, he watched Lucas Grey gather himself for another assault. The number one's body crackled with lightning, illuminating the countless wounds that should have dropped him long ago.

'This is it. His attack will give me the opening I need.'

Lightning erupted as Lucas launched himself at the Harbinger, raw power turning the air itself into plasma. For a brief moment, Noah thought it might actually connect - but the monster moved like liquid mercury. Its claws found Lucas's chest with surgical precision, and Earth's Eastern sector's academy's strongest student went bouncing across the blood-soaked ground like a discarded toy.

Noah's window of opportunity vanished, but momentum had already carried him too far forward. His heart nearly stopped as that familiar white line suddenly materialized in his vision - the same precursor to death he'd seen in his fight with the Raven. The Harbinger's tail was already moving, a perfect arc of destruction aimed at where he would be, not where he was.

'It knew. Without looking, it already knew I was coming.'

Time compressed into heartbeats. The white line burned itself into Noah's vision, showing him exactly where death would strike. There was only one chance - time the void blink perfectly or die like the others.

'Now!'

Reality twisted as void blink activated, but even as space warped around him, Noah saw the impossible. The Harbinger's tail adjusted its trajectory mid-swing, moving faster than anything that size had any right to move. Pain exploded through his shoulder as the edge caught him during teleportation.

His world became a blur of green and red as he tumbled violently across the clearing, finally crashing into something soft. A dead classmate's empty eyes stared back at him, face frozen in its final moment of terror.

The Harbinger turned with terrible grace, its singular horn catching the filtered sunlight. Then it looked down at its armored thigh, where dark fluid seeped from a deep gash that showed no signs of closing. For the first time, genuine interest crossed its alien features.

'Got you,' Noah thought through waves of pain. His left arm hung wrong, the socket stretched to its limit from that single grazing hit. 'But gods, the speed. Just a touch and it nearly took my arm off.'

"The wound," the Harbinger observed, studying its leg with academic curiosity. "It resists our enhanced regeneration. Most... interesting."

Before it could advance, lightning crashed down like heaven's judgment. Lucas Grey emerged from the smoke, somehow still standing, somehow still fighting. The Harbinger skidded back several meters, more surprised than hurt by the elite student's relentless assault.

Lucas spat blood but kept his feet, his eyes finding Noah's blade and the pulsing purple energy that was already fading from its edge. "Kid," he managed between ragged breaths, "whatever that weapon is, it's the first thing that's actually hurt this monster."

The Harbinger's casual demeanor had vanished, replaced by predatory focus. Noah could almost feel its full attention settling on him like a physical weight.

'Forty seconds until void edge recharges. Lucas is still drawing its focus. I might have one more chance at this...'

But first, he had to survive long enough to take it.

Noah pushed himself up, his system silently counting down the cooldowns of both void blink and void edge. The white lines kept appearing, showing him attacks before they happened - a ability he hadn't known he possessed until the Raven fight. Something completely separate from his system.

'Could end this with null strike,' he thought, watching Lucas exchange thunderous blows with the Harbinger. 'But getting that close... one mistake and I'm paste. And then there's the questions. Perfect echo suddenly becoming deletion? Not yet. Not unless there's no choice.'

"Listen up!" Lucas called out between lightning strikes. "We flank it on both sides. Your blade can hurt it, so wait for my signal and—"

Noah was already moving, but not to Lucas's position. 'Sorry, number one. Better plans than suicide charges.'

The Harbinger's tail whipped through the air, forcing Lucas to dodge rather than attack. Noah counted the seconds, watching those impossibly fast movements. His first void blink had taught him something crucial - this monster could react faster than he could teleport.@@novelbin@@

'Fifteen seconds until void blink. Thirty-five until void edge. Need both or this is pointless.'

"What are you doing?" Lucas shouted as Noah circled wide instead of moving in. "I said flank left!"

The Harbinger's head tracked Noah's movement with terrible precision. "The wounded prey," it observed, "shows tactical awareness. Fascinating."

More white lines appeared, showing Noah three different killing strikes. He rolled under one, barely avoided another, but the third—

Lightning crashed down like a hammer, forcing the Harbinger to adjust its attack. Lucas stood panting, blood streaming from fresh wounds. "Kid, whatever you're planning, do it fast. I can't..."

'Not yet. Need ten more seconds. Come on, you lightning-spewing tank, keep it busy.'

The clearing had become a graveyard of broken bodies and shattered trees. Noah's left arm still hung useless, but his grip on the eclipse blade remained steady. The purple energy began building again as void edge's cooldown neared its end.

"Your coordination is improving," the Harbinger noted, batting aside another of Lucas's attacks. "But your species' inability to follow simple commands... fascinating."

It moved like liquid death, its attacks leaving afterimages in the air. Lucas took another hit that would have killed anyone else, his lightning becoming more desperate with each exchange.

'Now. Both abilities ready. Just need the right...'

There. Noah saw it - the same microscopic opening that appeared when the Harbinger had to redistribute its mass after an attack. The white lines showed him exactly where the monster would move next.

"Your blade," Lucas gasped, somehow still standing. "It's the only thing... only thing that works..."

'Thanks for the obvious, number one. Now just stay alive for three more seconds.'

The Harbinger launched another devastating combination at Lucas. Just before impact, Noah activated void blink. This time he didn't aim for a killing blow - he'd learned that lesson. Instead, he appeared exactly where the white lines weren't, void edge already humming through his blade.

Steel met bio-mechanical armor. The wound wasn't deep - the Harbinger had started moving the instant Noah teleported - but dark fluid still sprayed across the ground. The monster's retaliatory strike missed by millimeters as Noah threw himself backward.

"Insufficient," the Harbinger stated, though its movements had become more guarded. "But educational."

Lucas stared at Noah with dawning realization. "You're not following any of my commands. You're..." Understanding flashed across his bloodied face. "So this is Eclipse. The one Micah said survived Category 3 beasts without combat abilities."

'Great timing for that revelation, genius. Now how about less talking and more lightning?'

Blood dripped from Noah's useless arm, but his mind raced with calculations. He'd wounded it twice now. Each time would make the next harder. The Harbinger was learning, adapting, its movements becoming more precise.

'Can't keep this up forever. Null strike would end it, but...' He watched another white line form. 'No. Too risky. One mistake at that range and I'm dead. Keep working the edges. Keep looking for openings.'

Lucas gathered himself for another assault, electricity turning the air around him into plasma. Most of the top 25 lay broken across the clearing, but somehow the number one kept fighting.

The Harbinger's horn caught the filtered sunlight as it assessed them both. "Survivors," it said, almost appreciatively. "You will make excellent research specimens."

White lines began forming again, promising death from every angle. Noah tightened his grip on the eclipse blade, counting seconds until his next opportunity.

'Time to stop playing survivor.' Noah watched Lucas take another devastating hit, his own system silently counting down cooldowns. The white lines had become a constant dance of death around them. 'Time to be the predator.'

Each time the Harbinger moved, Noah deliberately positioned himself to force its attacks toward Lucas. Not obvious enough to reveal his strategy, just subtle manipulations of distance and timing. The number one student was a magnificent shield - too focused on the fight to realize he was being used.

The clearing had become their arena, scorched by lightning and painted with blood. Lucas's attacks grew more desperate with each exchange, while Noah waited. Calculated. The monster's horrible precision meant every opening had to be earned with flesh.

"We need to coordinate!" Lucas shouted between thunderous attacks. Sweat and blood painted his face, his uniform in tatters. "Work together or we're both—"

"Then keep it busy," Noah cut him off, finally seeing the pattern he needed. 'Sorry, number one. You're not my partner. You're my tool.'

The Harbinger's movements had become almost musical in their rhythm. Strike, shift, counter. Strike, shift, counter. Each time Lucas's lightning forced it to redistribute its mass, there was a microscopic delay. Noah had counted them all.

Lucas must have seen something in Noah's stance, some tell of what was coming. "Whatever you're planning," he gasped out, "make it count. I can't... much longer..."

The Harbinger's tail whipped out, finally catching Lucas by the throat. Instead of breaking his neck, it held him there, studying his struggles with clinical interest. "Fascinating. Even now, your species refuses to submit."

Lucas's response was primal, desperate. Lightning erupted from his entire body, each blast weaker than the last but forcing the monster to maintain its grip. The ground beneath them turned to molten glass, the air itself seeming to burn.

'Perfect.'

Noah had been waiting for this exact moment. The Harbinger, anchored in place by its own grip on Lucas. Its attention divided between the lightning and its captive. Most importantly - its mass fully committed to its current form.

No void edge. No void blink. None of his system's abilities would serve him now. Just the null strike, the technique he'd hidden even from his allies. The power that had let him survive when raw strength wasn't enough.

He crossed the distance in a heartbeat, his useless left arm trailing blood. The Harbinger's head turned with terrible speed, but too late. Noah's right fist, wreathed in absolute darkness, struck true.

*KRAK-THOOM!*

The Harbinger's head simply... ceased. Not destroyed, not shattered - erased. Its body collapsed, dropping Lucas to the scorched ground. For a long moment, the only sound was their ragged breathing.

Then came the laughter. It started as a weak chuckle from Lucas, building into something almost hysterical. Noah found himself joining in, the sound echoing across their battlefield.

Around them, the pretend-dead began to stir. Broken students too stubborn to die, finally daring to hope. The clearing looked like a war zone - shattered trees, cracked earth, and far too much blood.

The laughter slowly faded into wheezing breaths. They lay there side by side, staring up at the filtered sunlight through the canopy, the Harbinger's headless corpse cooling beside them.

"You know," Lucas managed between gasps, "you're a real bastard, Eclipse."

"Oh?" Noah didn't bother turning his head.

"Using me as bait. As a shield." Lucas coughed, a wet sound that probably meant internal bleeding. "Saw through it... halfway through. Decided to play along."

Noah's laugh was more of a pained grunt. "Figured the almighty number one could handle it."

"Wouldn't have worked... if I couldn't." A weak crackle of electricity sparked between Lucas's fingers. "But next time... try asking first. Might surprise you."

"Next time?" Noah's useless arm throbbed. "Planning on making this a habit?"

They shared another moment of exhausted laughter, this one gentler than before. Around them, the sounds of stirring survivors grew stronger.

"That last attack though..." Lucas whistled low. "No wonder you survived those Category 3s. Been holding out on everyone, haven't you?"

Noah stayed silent, watching a leaf spiral down from the shattered canopy above.

"Don't worry," Lucas added after a moment. "Your secret's safe. Consider it... professional courtesy. One survivor to another."

Meanwhile far off to the side stood Micah, gauntlets in hand.

'Look at him. Little Noah from 1B playing hero with Lucas. Fighting a Harbinger while I... while I just...'

'They assigned me to his team. Me. Number five. Like some kind of glorified babysitter for a low-ranked nobody. And now he's out there, trading blows with a monster that I couldn't...'

'Should be me down there. Should be my moment. My chance to prove myself to Lucas. Instead I'm hiding here, watching some first-year upstart steal all the...'

'Whatever that power is he's been hiding... That impossible technique... No wonder the teachers kept you in 1B. No wonder they...'

'And Lucas. The mighty number one, actually working with him. Actually treating him like an equal while the rest of us just...'

'How dare you, Eclipse. How dare you make me look like a cow-'

His bitter thoughts cut short as his eyes caught movement in the sky. A black shape, falling fast. His blood ran cold as recognition hit.

'No. No no no. Not another one. They can't possibly be-'