SSS Class Awakening: I Can Forge My Beast Soul Avatars
Chapter 31: The Edge of Madness

Chapter 31: The Edge of Madness

’Tch. I need to find a way out of this trap while locking down the win,’ Atlas thought, his jaw clenched as he met Gregory’s unsettling, fixed grin. ’This guy isn’t just aggressive — he’s completely lost his mind.’

Gregory took a slow, deliberate step forward, the horrific smile gleaming clearly from beneath the shadow of his navy hood.

Overhead, the roaring crowd remained entirely absorbed by the violent clash between the beasts, their attention drifting completely away from the two tamers standing near the boundary.

"You must be wondering why I’m doing this — what I possibly stand to gain from breaking you," Gregory began.

His raspy voice dropped an octave, peeling away every last trace of human emotion until only a hollow, dead tone remained. "The truth is, there isn’t a grand motive. I’m doing it purely for the thrill."

He tilted his head, his eyes widening beneath the shadows.

"You see, I’m the kind of person who lives for the slaughter. I love the chaos. I love the surge of adrenaline flooding my veins when a life hangs in the balance. As you can see, I awakened a beast that mirrors my precise nature. But nobody wants to stand in the ring with me. They look at me and call me a monster. A unstable lunatic. But that’s not who I am!" he suddenly barked, his face snapping forward, inches from Atlas’s nose.

Atlas flinched, taking a sharp, instinctive step back. His right hand tightened around the concealed weapon inside his coat pocket, his heart hammering against his ribs.

’I can’t draw this weapon,’ Atlas warned himself, forcing his breathing to stay steady.

’If I pull an unregistered weapon out here, I’ll be disqualified instantly for breaching duel regulations. Just stay composed. He can’t strike me directly—there are hundreds of witnesses watching...’

"Isn’t that exact behavior what you’re proving right now?" Atlas countered, trying to force a wedge of cold logic into Gregory’s warped mind before the situation spiraled completely out of control.

"Look around us. Your beast is actively trying to mutilate mine, and you’re standing here threatening to assault me the moment it’s over. Doesn’t that prove everyone’s claim that you’re out of your head?"

The wide smile vanished from Gregory’s face as his eyes darted across the blood-stained flagstones. The plain truth hung naked between them.

Instead of processing the logic, Gregory snapped. His hands flew to his head, his nails digging into his scalp as he began frantically scratching at his hair.

"What? No — I’m not insane! I am not a lunatic!" he muttered hysterically, his voice rising into a sharp, grating panic.

"Stop saying that! This is just a test of dominance! The weak are supposed to be crushed by the strong! I’m only executing the directive I was given, so I’m not crazy! He told me I wasn’t insane — stop calling me a lunatic!"

He screamed the last words, slamming his palms over his ears and screwing his eyes shut in agony.

The sudden outburst caught the referee’s eye. The official flicked a brief, suspicious glance toward the pair from across the floor, but seeing no physical contact or active spell-casting between the tamers, he quickly shifted his attention back to the primary clash of beasts.

’Tch. The referee isn’t going to step in unless blood is spilled,’ Atlas realized, his eyes scanning the perimeter frantically. ’I can’t call for a forfeit now. I pulled Class 5E into this challenge. If my defeat sinks our standing, my classmates will never trust me again.’

Atlas’s gaze darted around the ring, searching for any wild variable he could leverage to flip the momentum.

Behind him, Skull was locked in a brutal defensive exchange, barely parrying the gray beast’s relentless iron strikes.

In front of him, Gregory remained trapped in a violent psychological breakdown, chanting feverishly to reassure himself.

"He said I wasn’t crazy, so you’re wrong!" Gregory snarled, suddenly tearing his hands away from his ears. His dark eyes locked back onto Atlas with manic intensity.

"I am not the lunatic here — you are! You dragged your entire class into an absolute slaughter on your very first day! You didn’t investigate your opponents’ traits, you didn’t analyze our strengths, and now you’re going to be the sole reason your team fails!"

Gregory began to laugh — a sharp, unnatural sound that burst from his throat as his fingers dug into his own cheeks, dragging the skin down into a grotesque mask.

"You’re going to lose everything!" Gregory cackled louder, the sound echoing unnaturally.

"Physical agony, psychological ruin, and the absolute humiliation of knowing you destroyed your class’s future! You will be the sole reason they are banned from the departmental tournament for the whole year!"

’This absolute psychopath...’ Atlas thought, his teeth grinding together as he absorbed the verbal poison.

He spun around to check on his beast. The tide of the battle had shifted drastically. Skull was no longer holding his ground; the gray beast’s sheer density and weight were driving the shadow wolf back step by step, fracturing the skeletal armor on his forelegs.

’Skull can’t hold out much longer in a straight contest of strength,’ Atlas calculated, his mind working rapidly under the intense pressure.

’My only play is to force Skull’s shadow adaptability to evolve mid-combat. He has to refine his spatial movement, and he has to do it now.’

Gregory’s laughter abruptly stopped. His eyes narrowed as he caught the sudden shift in Atlas’s eyes.

"I know that look!" Gregory whispered gleefully, his voice dripping with malice. "You think you’ve parsed its weakness, don’t you? You think you’ve found a trick! Well, too bad for you — I’m ending this farce before you get the chance to test it."

’Tch! I didn’t budget for fighting an unhinged fanatic today!’ Atlas cursed inwardly. ’Think! How do I stall him?!’

"Now, let’s bring down the curtain," Gregory purred with a sickening, blood-stained grin. His iris bled into a horrific crimson, droplets of dark blood leaking past his teeth as his mana spiked violently.

"Black... Go Berserk."

Behind Atlas, an ear-splitting, metallic shriek shattered the silence of the arena. The shockwave radiated outward, blowing spiderweb cracks through the solid stone floor.

"Oh no!" Atlas screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the stadium. "Skull! Fall back! NOW!"