SSS Investment: Legendary Rewards From My Wife

The Central Combat Arena was packed. Every seat had been filled, with Awakener Authority officials occupying the lower sections while professional teams, sponsors, registered organizations, and media representatives filled the rest.

Large screens surrounded the arena, displaying Emily’s information from every angle.

[Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Classification: D-Rank.]

The title beneath her name drew almost as much attention as the name itself. Some of the older Awakeners remembered exactly what Emily had once been, while others were too young to remember her personally and only knew her from old tournament recordings and historical rankings.

The nickname Young Devil King was being passed around the arena.

”She really came back?”

”After her Gnosis shattered?”

”She’s D-Rank now?”

”I heard she can barely use her old abilities.”

”That doesn’t make sense. If she really recovered her Gnosis, why is she still D-Rank?”

Reinhard sat with Maki, Yuna, and Lily in one of the spectator sections. Lily looked around at the enormous crowd. ”That’s a lot of people.”

”She used to draw crowds like this all the time,” Maki said.

Yuna watched Emily standing on the arena floor. ”This is different, though.”

”How?” Lily asked.

”This is the first time she’s standing in front of the Awakener world since her Gnosis shattered.”

Reinhard smiled as he watched Emily. ”She’ll be fine.”

”You’re not nervous at all?” Maki asked.

”Why would I be?”

”She could fail.”

”She could,” he said, leaning back comfortably. Maki looked at him in surprise, and he kept his eyes on Emily. ”But I don’t think she will.”

An Awakener Authority official stepped onto the arena floor. ”Today’s evaluation will determine Emily Ashcroft’s current combat classification and ability stability.”

The large screens changed, displaying the categories of the examination.

Mana Capacity, Mana Control, Physical Ability, Combat Ability, Gnosis Characteristics, Ability Stability, and Combat Potential.

He continued. ”Historical achievements will be recorded but will not directly determine the candidate’s current classification. Emily Ashcroft will be evaluated according to her present abilities.”

Emily listened quietly. ”Do you have any questions before the combat evaluation begins?” the official asked.

She thought for a moment. ”Yes.” He waited. ”How many C-Rank opponents can I fight?”

The arena went quiet. ”One,” the official said, blinking.

Emily looked at him. ”Four.”

The silence lasted another second before the arena erupted. ”Four?” ”Is she serious?” ”She wants four C-Ranks?” ”She’s D-Rank!” Even some of the professionals looked surprised.

The official raised his hand to calm the crowd. ”Emily Ashcroft, the evaluation does not require you to fight multiple C-Rank opponents.”

”I know.”

”Then why request four?”

She glanced toward the four professional Awakeners preparing on the other side of the arena. ”Because one won’t tell you enough.”

The four C-Ranks exchanged looks.

They were not amateurs — each had years of professional combat experience, and none of them seemed interested in underestimating Emily just because her current classification was D-Rank. Their lead fighter stepped forward. ”If that’s what you want, we’ll take it seriously.”

”I’d prefer that,” Emily said.

”Are you prepared?” the official asked the fighters. They all confirmed. He turned back to Emily. ”How long do you expect this to take?”

She looked at the timer above the arena. ”Less than two minutes.”

The crowd exploded again. Lily covered her face. ”She really said it.”

”She wouldn’t say it if she didn’t believe it,” Yuna said, smiling.

”That’s my wife,” Reinhard laughed.

The countdown appeared. On three, Emily raised Aeon. On two, the four C-Ranks lowered their stances. On one, the bell rang.

The four C-Ranks moved together without hesitation.

The first created pressure from the front while the second moved around Emily’s left side.

The third stayed farther back, preparing a ranged attack, while the fourth watched for any opening. They weren’t fighting four separate battles — they were fighting as one unit, and Emily understood the difference immediately.

She stepped backward as the first attack came toward her, and space distorted as the strike passed through where she’d been standing a moment earlier. A second attack followed, and she shifted again.

The third fighter released a concentrated Mana projectile, and Emily raised a spatial barrier that absorbed the hit — but the explosion still pushed her several meters backward.

The crowd reacted immediately. ”She can’t handle them!” ”Four C-Ranks is too much!” ”She overestimated herself!”

Emily steadied herself because she wasn’t worried.

She was learning.

The four fighters had excellent coordination, and their formation wasn’t built around overwhelming strength, it was designed to remove her escape routes. Every time she moved away from one opponent, another was already waiting.

So she adjusted.

Instead of moving backward, she stepped forward, and space bent around her until the distance between herself and the nearest C-Rank disappeared. His eyes widened as Emily swung Aeon. He barely blocked it, but the impact forced him backward.

Before she could follow up, another fighter attacked from behind. She sensed it and slowed the strike for a fraction of a second, enough to turn and bring Aeon to a stop just short of his throat.

She didn’t finish the motion.

She stepped away instead.

The four C-Ranks immediately changed formation, and the crowd grew quieter. Emily had understood their pattern, and now she was adapting.

The timer read 00:41.

”Don’t let her separate us!” the lead fighter shouted, and the other three moved at once.

Emily smiled. She had been waiting for that. Space folded around the first opponent until the distance between them became almost nothing, and she appeared beside him.

Time slowed, not for the whole arena, just the space around his body, and his movement turned sluggish for a fraction of a second. That was enough. She struck with Aeon, and he was sent outside the designated combat zone.

The official raised his hand. ”First opponent eliminated!”

The crowd erupted.

Emily didn’t stop.

Three remained, and they abandoned their previous formation the moment they realized she had figured them out, attacking together instead.

She blocked one strike with Aeon and used Space to redirect another, but a third slipped through. She reinforced her body with Mana and took the impact on her shoulder, pain spreading through her, and ignored it.

Emily disappeared, and the arena gasped. She reappeared behind the second fighter and struck with Aeon; he blocked but was forced down to one knee. She used a short temporal distortion to slow his reaction, and Aeon stopped against his chest.

”Second opponent eliminated.”

The remaining two attacked together.

One of them built a wall of compressed Mana while the other attacked through it. She moved between the strikes, used Space to change the angle, and slowed a single blow with Time while reinforcing her legs with Mana.

Emily moved as Aeon flashed.

The third opponent fell.

The arena erupted.

Only one remained: the strongest of the four, who had barely spoken during the fight. Now he stepped forward, and Emily looked at him.

”You’re learning quickly,” he said.

”So are you,” she replied, smiling.

The timer read 01:21.

The final C-Rank attacked, his movements faster than before. Emily blocked, and the impact pushed her backward. She countered, he avoided it, and they exchanged attacks across the arena.

Her new abilities gave her an advantage, but his experience kept him from losing instantly. She changed the pattern. He adapted. She changed it again.

For the first time, the audience could see the terrifying legend of Emily again. She wasn’t simply overpowering her opponent. She was learning during the fight, and every exchange gave her more information.

Her old combat experience was returning, but her new Gnosis gave her possibilities her former self had never had. Space, Time, Mana, and Aeon were slowly becoming one fighting style.

Then Emily pushed harder. Space twisted, Time followed, and the two forces began moving together. And her Gnosis reacted violently. Her expression changed as the purple and black currents inside it began pulling against each other, and the arena’s spatial field trembled.

A crack spread across the protective barrier.

The officials stood immediately. ”Stop the evaluation!”

The warning echoed through the arena.

Reinhard stood too. ”Reinhard?”

Lily looked toward him, and Maki and Yuna turned as well. His expression had gone serious as he saw Emily’s Gnosis was destabilizing, and he was already prepared to move.

Then Emily looked toward the spectator section.

Their eyes met, and she raised one hand. ”Don’t.”

And then they communicated without talking.

Your Gnosis is destabilizing.

I know.

Then stop.

She looked toward the final C-Rank, then back at Reinhard. You wanted me to stand beside you. Let me stand on my own.”

Reinhard stared at her for a moment, then slowly sat back down. Alright.

”Reinhard?” Lily blinked when she saw him sit back down.

”Your going to leave it?” Maki asked.

”We have to believe in her.” Reinhard said with a smile.

”Thank you,” Emily whispered when she read his lips, and then turned back toward her opponent.

The unstable energy around her Gnosis slowly settled as she stopped trying to force Space and Time together. This time she separated them instead. Space first, then Time, then Mana, then Aeon.

Her movements grew smoother.

The final C-Rank attacked.

Emily stepped aside as space shifted, and his attack missed. Time slowed his movement for the smallest possible moment, and she stepped into the opening as Mana surged through her body. Aeon moved.

The blade stopped against his chest.

”Final opponent eliminated!”

The timer stopped at 01:48.

For a moment, the entire arena was silent.

Then the crowd exploded. The large screens changed:

[D-RANK EMILY ASHCROFT. 4 C-RANK OPPONENTS DEFEATED. TIME: 1 MINUTE 48 SECONDS.]

Emily stood in the center of the arena, breathing heavily. Her Gnosis remained stable. She hadn’t needed Reinhard to save her, hadn’t needed anyone to carry her through the fight. She had done it herself.

The Authority processed the results, and people in the stands were already expecting her classification to change. The final result appeared:

[Current Official Rank: D-Rank.]

[Combat Evaluation: C-Rank.]

[Promotion Status: Pending.]

The arena erupted into discussion again.

”She’s still D-Rank?”

”Her combat evaluation reached C-Rank.”

”Then why isn’t she promoted?”

”Official promotion requires additional processing.”

”But she defeated four C-Ranks!”

An Authority official raised his hand. ”Her current classification remains D-Rank until the complete evaluation is processed. Today’s combat result confirms that her demonstrated combat ability is currently within the C-Rank range.”

Emily looked at the display. D-Rank.

She wasn’t disappointed and just smiled. It was only the beginning.

The next evaluation involved destructive output. A large holographic reconstruction appeared inside the arena, and Emily recognized it instantly: her old record.

The Authority had preserved a reconstruction of the test she’d completed years ago, the same result that had helped establish the reputation of the Young Devil King.

A building appeared within the testing field.

”Historical data has been preserved,” the official explained. ”Your current output will be compared against your previous result.”

Emily looked at the reconstruction and, for a moment, remembered herself standing here years ago. The person she’d been, the Gnosis she’d possessed, the confidence, the crowds, everything before it had all shattered.

She raised her hand.

Space distorted, Mana gathered, and the measurement began. The number climbed as the audience watched. It passed her old result, then climbed higher, and the officials began exchanging looks as the measurement continued.

Finally, it stopped.

[HISTORICAL RECORD SURPASSED.]

The arena erupted.

Emily stared at the result before laughing. She was still far off from her S-rank strength. But she was able to surpass one of her old records that started everything.

”That seems promising,” Maki smiled from the stands.

”She beat herself!” Lily grinned.

”That might be the most appropriate result possible,” Yuna said, nodding.

And then a screen appeared in front of Emily, making her blinked. ”What is this?”

An official approached her. ”That’s the new function we have. Instead of having us do it for you, the arena will have you do it. All you need to do like before is leave a name and a message.”

”Ahh, okay.”

Emily considered it and smiled. She wrote her name and then the best fitting words for the record message.

The arena screens changed:

[NEW RECORD ESTABLISHED.]

[RECORD HOLDER: EMILY ASHCROFT]

[RECORD MESSAGE: I’M BACK.]

For a moment, the arena was silent and then the crowd erupted again.

Emily looked at the message and smiled. That was all she needed to say.

Then another record announcement appeared. The arena screens changed, and the crowd went quiet.

This wasn’t Emily’s record.

Instead, the display read:

[NEW RECORD ESTABLISHED.]

[RECORD HOLDER: HUSBAND OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD]

Lily stared at the screen.

Maki froze.

Yuna covered her mouth.

Emily slowly looked up as the message appeared beneath it:

[RECORD MESSAGE: AS EXPECTED OF MY WIFE! STILL THE BEST!]

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then Lily burst out laughing. ”I knew it had to be him with those crappy names!”

”He actually did that?” Maki said, covering her face.

Yuna was trying desperately not to laugh.

Emily’s face slowly turned red, her eyebrow twitching. Somewhere else in the evaluation facility, Reinhard was apparently having an evaluation of his own.