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

The coordinated assault began with Sienna’s ice storm - a blizzard of crystalline spears that turned the jungle air arctic. Kane Wilson followed through the frost, his scarred face illuminated by crackling energy as he unleashed a barrage of strikes that would have pulverized a level 3 beast, easy.

The Harbinger moved like liquid mercury through their attacks. Its tail whipped out, catching Kane mid-combination. There was a wet crack, and Kane’s body ragdolled through the air, armor splitting open like paper. He hit the ground thirty meters away, limbs bent at impossible angles.

”Cover fire!” Xavier Chen’s voice carried over the chaos. His red scarf billowed as he channeled power through his ravager, modifying each shot with his ability. A second generation technopath.

The enhanced rounds carved glowing trails through the air - and bounced harmlessly off the Harbinger’s scales.

”Your weapons,” the creature observed, almost disappointed. ”Still so... primitive.”

Its counter-attack was ruthlessly efficient. One moment it stood assessing them, the next it was among their ranks. A casual backhand caught a girl with fire ability who had created a fire wall- her barrier crumpled like tissue paper, and her head simply... ceased to exist. The body stood for a moment, a red fountain where a face should be, before collapsing.

”Elena!” someone screamed. ”Oh fuck, Elena!”

Sienna’s katanas became a blur of steel and ice, each strike precise enough to bisect tanks. The Harbinger caught both blades between two fingers. ”Acceptable technique,” it noted, before snapping both weapons. The same movement continued into Sienna’s chest, punching through her reinforced armor like it wasn’t there. She looked down at the hole where her heart should be, managed a soft ”oh,” and slid off its arm.

Lucas Grey had recovered enough to rejoin the fight, his lightning-wreathed form leaving ionized trails through the air. He and three other elite students - a shadow manipulator, a force field generator, and a girl who could harden air into weapons - coordinated their assault with practiced precision.

The Harbinger’s tail took the shadow manipulator’s legs at the knee. As he fell screaming, its claws opened the force field generator from throat to groin, steaming entrails spilling across the jungle floor. The air-weapon user’s barrage actually drew blood - a single drop that sizzled where it hit the ground.

”Recognition,” the Harbinger said, studying its minor wound. ”You have earned a quick death.”

Its next movement defied physics. One instant it stood ten meters away, the next its arm had punched clean through her chest, emerged from her back holding her spine. The body convulsed once and went still.

More students arrived, drawn by the sounds of battle. Some fled immediately. Others unleashed their abilities in desperate fury. None of it mattered. The Harbinger moved through their ranks like death incarnate, each gesture ending another life. A boy with sonic powers had his own soundwaves turned back on him with a single clap from the Harbinger, liquefying his organs.

Twins who could generate plasma spheres were literally torn in half.

”Why...” Lucas gasped, clutching his broken ribs. ”Why isn’t the base responding? Where’s our fucking backup?”

Noah watched in horror as a girl tried to flee, stumbling over Sienna’s corpse. The Harbinger’s tail removed her head with surgical precision. Blood painted the undergrowth in abstract patterns, joining the growing lake of red that had once been their classmates.

”Your arrogance,” the Harbinger stated, batting aside another coordinated attack with contemptuous ease, ”is thinking backup would make a difference.”

An elite student - Noah thought it was number seven or eight - unleashed his ultimate technique. Reality itself seemed to warp as he manifested a singularity. The Harbinger appeared mildly interested as space began to fold around it.

Then it stepped forward, through the distortion, and removed the boy’s arms. His screams joined the symphony of death that filled the clearing.

”Micah!” Lila was still trying to reach their leader, who hadn’t moved from his knees. ”Micah, please! We need to-”

The Harbinger’s tail struck like a whip. Jasmine, another elite student who had been racing to help a year one student, was caught mid-stride. Her body fell one way, her legs another. She died staring at the sky, confusion written across her features.

Xavier Chen made his last stand beside Lucas, his red scarf now crimson with blood. ”If we’re dying here,” he snarled, ”we’re taking this fucker with us!”

The Harbinger’s head tilted. ”Your species always says that. The sentiment remains... incorrect.”

Its next attack shattered reality. Noah’s enhanced perception could barely track the sequence - Xavier’s barrier breaking, his armor crumpling, bones splintering through skin. The elite student hit the ground in pieces, his red scarf settling over what remained of his face like a shroud.

Lucas Grey, their number one, stood alone among the carnage. Blood ran from his mouth, but his eyes burned with defiance. ”That all you got?” he managed through broken teeth.

”No,” the Harbinger replied simply. ”This is approximately four percent of my combat capacity.”

The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Around them, the jungle had become a graveyard. Elite students, the pride of humanity’s next generation, lay scattered like broken dolls. Some still moved, making sounds no human should make. Others had ceased to be recognizably human at all.

Noah’s system flashed urgent warnings:

[CATASTROPHIC CASUALTIES DETECTED]

[CONVENTIONAL COMBAT APPROACHES: FUTILE]

”Someone,” a dying voice called out. ”Someone call the base... please...”

But there was no response. No backup. No rescue.

Just the Harbinger, standing amid the slaughter, studying them like specimens in a lab. And Noah, watching his system calculate their chances of survival, knew with crushing certainty: They were fucked!

And that was when Noah felt something and turned to his side to see a tear streaked Lila. Blonde hair disheveled because of stress.

Lila’s fingers dug into Noah’s arm as they watched another elite student get torn apart. Through her grip, he could feel her trembling, but her voice remained steady. ”We can’t... we can’t leave Cora out there like that. She’s still breathing, Noah. She’s still—”

The words snapped something in Noah’s mind. The system interface continued flashing its warnings, calculating probabilities, suggesting escape routes. For the first time, he wanted to tell it to shut up.

[RECOMMENDED ACTION: IMMEDIATE RETREAT]

[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY DECREASING]