The Rejected Mate's SSS-Class Awakening

"No matter what, I must get this crystal back, Kaelen is waiting for me!" Lyra roared in the depths of her heart.

She pushed her frail body against the howling ion storm, her military boots sinking deep into the toxic mud of the Vanguard Base perimeter.

The radiation felt like ten thousand venomous needles, mercilessly tearing at her exposed skin, the severe pain wandering wildly through her veins like a raging fire.

But she bit her pale lips hard, her blood-stained hand death-gripping the rare soothing crystal in her pocket.

As long as she thought of her mate-the noble S-class Commander Kaelen-suffering through the agonizing torment of his beastly berserk heat right now, this almost humble obsession became the sole driving force supporting her broken body.

A massive piece of metallic debris, torn by the gale, shrieked past her scalp. She fell heavily into the corrosive dirt, coughing up a mouthful of rust-tasting blood.

But she scrambled back to her feet, her violet eyes fixed dead on the faintly glowing command center in the distance.

"Kaelen..." she whispered tremblingly, like a believer chanting her only spell, dragging her broken legs toward those heavy airlock doors.

Using her frozen, bloody hands, she fumbled out the silver emergency key that symbolized Kaelen's trust, using every last ounce of her strength to twist it in the slot.

The heavy doors let out an agonizing groan, slowly parting to the sides.

However, what greeted her was not a beast struggling in the pain of a berserk period, but a wave of nauseating moans and explicit flirtation. The warm luxury inside and the hell outside seemed like two entirely different worlds.

"Oh... Baby Kaelen, you're so much better at serving me than Lyra, that dead fish. She's just a completely boring woman."

Lyra felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Covered in mud and blood, she froze stiffly at the door.

Looking past the entryway, she saw on the massive leather sofa, Sylvia, the A-class healer, her clothes wide open, wrapping herself around Kaelen's strong chest like a water snake in heat, using every trick in the book to seduce him.

"Since that zero-defense E-class trash is so boring, why don't you hurry up and kick her out?"

And Kaelen, the man Lyra was willing to sacrifice her life for, was panting heavily. The mouth that had once sworn eternal vows to Lyra was now spewing nothing but vulgar obscenities:

"She can't even do a basic spirit soothing, she's literally like a block of wood. Nothing like how exquisite you are, you're driving me crazy."

Lyra felt a loud buzz in her brain as if a thunderbolt had struck her, and bone-chilling heartbreak instantly swallowed her whole. An uncontrollable cry of grief escaped her throat.

Hearing the noise at the door, Kaelen whipped his head around, those ice-blue eyes originally filled with lust instantly replaced by sheer terror: "Ly-Lyra?! How did you get in here!"

The extreme fright caused him to lose his erection instantly. In a massive panic, the arrogant S-class Commander violently shoved Sylvia away and scrambled toward the nearby table to grab his pants.

Because he was so nervous, his legs got hopelessly tangled together. As he stumbled forward, the sheer shock actually caused him to lose his beastly control, and he pathetically ejaculated right then and there.

The cloudy fluids dripped down, dirtying his thighs and the expensive carpet, as he fell flat on his face in an incredibly comical, miserable sprawl, looking exactly like a stray dog.

Realizing he had made a colossal fool of himself, Kaelen flew into a humiliated rage. Dropping the act entirely, he haphazardly pulled up his pants, shielded the disheveled Sylvia behind him, and cursed loudly at Lyra:

"Since you saw it all, I won't bother acting anymore! Look at your disgusting, muddy ghost of an appearance right now! You, a good-for-nothing E-class piece of trash, can't even compare to one of Sylvia's toes! I've been sick of you, you trouble-making parasite, for a long time! Sylvia is the only woman fit to stand by my side!"

Sylvia hid behind Kaelen's broad back, affectedly pulling her collar together. Those seemingly innocent large brown eyes flashed with victorious mockery:

"Oh, Sister Lyra, don't blame Kaelen. You can't even protect yourself, you only drag him down. You really should know your own place."

Just then, a half-wolf little girl poked her head out from the inner suite. It was Mya, the biological daughter for whom Lyra had secretly drained her own life force to stabilize her genes. Mya covered her nose and yelled at Lyra on the floor with a face full of disgust:

"Daddy is right! You're just a useless loser! Auntie Sylvia also said that only a noble A-class healer deserves to be my mom. Not only are you useless, but you also tracked mud onto Daddy's carpet! I hate you, get out of here right now!"

The child's uninhibited words acted like the sharpest of knives, completely slicing open how this scumbag and his mistress had brainwashed and manipulated her daughter.

Lyra's breathing stopped. She opened her stiff hand, and the soothing crystal she had risked her life and bled to bring back rolled onto the floor.

With eyes full of contempt, Kaelen ruthlessly stomped on it, crushing the precious crystal into a floor full of glowing dust: "Take your garbage and roll back to the rear quarters immediately, stop embarrassing yourself here!"

Looking at the dust on the floor, Lyra didn't cry, nor did she beg humbly as she had for the past three years.

The burning agony of the radiation vanished in an instant, replaced by an absolute, freezing clarity. She slowly stood up straight, her spine-previously hunched from exhaustion-instantly straightening like a sword.

"Three years of my heart and blood fed to a dog. Fortunately, the dog has finally shown its true colors today." Lyra's lips curled into a sneer of utter contempt. With no warmth left in her violet eyes, she looked like a god looking down at the maggots in a sewer.

"Kaelen, take your white lotus and your ungrateful wolf cub, and lock yourselves in the trash heap together. You don't deserve me."

Without casting another glance at the comical, pathetic couple, Lyra turned around, facing the howling ion storm, and left them with an incredibly badass silhouette.

As the heavy doors slowly closed behind her, Lyra's blood-stained finger hovered over her Star Network terminal and, without hesitation, swiped open the highly classified legal document: The Mate Contract Termination Form.

Lyra walked down the freezing white hallway of the central command tower, her soaked military boots squeaking harshly against the metal grating.

Passing a floor-to-ceiling window, she caught sight of her miserable reflection-covered in mud, her skin blistering and ulcerated from radiation burns.

A massive holographic news projection flickered on the wall, broadcasting the latest Star Network gossip from a few hours ago: "Vanguard Commander & Imperial Chief Healer: A Match Made in the Stars?"

In the footage, Kaelen was gently helping Sylvia out of a luxury hover-car, shielding her as if she were the most precious treasure in the universe.

Lyra's fingertips twitched. A faint, barely visible spark of purple flame danced on her fingertip before dying out weakly.

Once, her mentor had held her hands in absolute awe, saying, "Lyra, you possess unparalleled talent! With rigorous training, you could absolutely become an S-class powerhouse who commands the stars!"

But to be Kaelen's "good wife," she gave up her star-energy cultivation. She exhausted all her energy brewing foul-smelling genetic stabilizers for him, staying up all night smoothing out his berserk beast-energy channels, and managing the tedious, heavy logistics of the entire Vanguard Clan like a lowly servant.

She had forcefully drained herself into a useless E-class piece of trash who couldn't even withstand basic radiation!

"I gave up the sea of stars for him, and he despises me for being a puddle of mud." Lyra bit her lip so hard it bled, her heart aching as if a piece of her flesh had been brutally carved out. She was an absolute fool.

Facing no obstacles, she walked directly into the dimly lit central terminal room. The defense algorithms running here were all created by her anonymous sweat and blood.

Lyra walked to the master console, her hands flying across the virtual keyboard. Using a supreme hacker backdoor she had personally implanted years ago, she effortlessly sliced into the security monitoring system of Kaelen's private lounge.

The holographic screen instantly popped up with the image of that despicable pair.

Sylvia was leaning against Kaelen's chest, saying coquettishly, "Kaelen, you yelled at Lyra so harshly just now, won't she get hurt? After all, you're all she has in this world."

Kaelen's cold and disgusted voice replied, "She brought it on herself. She always uses that weak, dying look to morally kidnap everyone. Sylvia, stop wasting your empathy on a worthless parasite."

Parasite.

That single word was like the most vicious curse, completely shattering the last pitiful trace of hope in Lyra's heart. The temperature completely vanished from her beautiful violet eyes, leaving only a terrifying, deathly stillness.

Without hesitation, Lyra pulled up the deep-level registry of the Imperial Marriage Bureau. The golden chain representing their Beast Mark contract pulsed mockingly in mid-air.

She directly swiped out the supreme-clearance, locked document: The Mate Contract Termination form.

The system flashed frantically with a blood-red warning: "WARNING! A low-class female unilaterally and forcibly severing an S-class Beast Mark will face fatal trauma of soul tearing and genetic collapse! Do you wish to proceed?"

Lyra didn't blink. She pressed "YES" heavily with her bloody finger.

The moment she gripped the electronic stylus and signed the last stroke of her name, a catastrophic, nuclear-like agony exploded in her left shoulder-the exact spot scarred with Kaelen's exclusive mark!

"Argh-!" Lyra screamed, crashing heavily onto the glass floor.

For a body currently at the E-class level, forcibly cutting an S-class soul bond was like a gruesome execution by a thousand cuts! She felt an invisible giant hand forcefully crushing her spine inch by inch, tearing her mental landscape into countless shreds.

Blood poured madly from her mouth and nose, staining the pristine white floor red.

Pain! It hurt so much her internal organs were churning, hurt so much she wished to die immediately!

But in this near-death torture, Lyra was laughing manically, tears mixing with blood smashing onto the floor. This agonizing pain of being skinned alive was the price of her rebirth! It's broken, it's finally broken! She would never be that lowly parasite again!

Accompanied by a blinding white light, the termination decree officially took effect.

Trembling, Lyra used every ounce of her strength to crawl out of the pool of blood. She placed the physical decree, stamped with the seal of the Imperial Supreme Court, squarely in the dead center of the master console.

Then, she took off the heavy silver ring symbolizing her status as the Vanguard Clan's matriarch, tossing it onto the decree with a casual "clink", as if throwing away a bag of nauseating garbage.

Without a shred of lingering attachment, Lyra turned around, dragging a long trail of blood, and walked toward the private elevator leading to the subterranean hangar.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard lounge, Kaelen suddenly clutched his chest in agony. A fatal spasm, as if a piece of his heart had been forcefully gouged out, made him drop hard to his knees.

"What's wrong?!" Sylvia cried out in alarm.

Kaelen gasped heavily for air, looking blankly at his empty palms. An unprecedented, terrifyingly deep sense of loss instantly engulfed his arrogant soul.

The elevator doors slowly parted, and a blast of cold wind, mixed with the scent of engine grease and ionizing radiation, swept in from the gloomy subterranean hangar.

Lyra took a single step forward, and the fatal backlash of forcibly severing an S-class soul contract swallowed her whole like a tsunami. Her vision went black, and she collapsed heavily onto the freezing metal grating like a puddle of mud, completely unable to move even a single finger.

The unfiltered cosmic radiation from the open hangar bay doors poured relentlessly onto her defenseless, broken body. Her once-fair skin instantly erupted in massive, horrifying, charred blisters.

Two passing Vanguard mechanics cast a look of sheer disgust at her. Instead of offering help, they mocked her and stepped right over her body.

"Isn't this the Commander's famously useless wife? Why is she dying in the hangar?"

"Ignore her, she's definitely playing the victim again to get the Commander's sympathy. With her trash E-class body that has zero star-energy, ten minutes in this radiation and not even her bones will be left. What a jinx."

The mocking laughter faded away. Lyra lay alone on the freezing ground, feeling her life force draining away rapidly. She was really going to die.

Her internal organs felt as if they had been thrown into a meat grinder, and the agony of her soul being torn apart plunged her mind into the absolute chaos of imminent death.

However, in the very last second when she thought she was about to be reduced to ashes, an unprecedented, terrifyingly colossal energy suddenly erupted from the deepest depths of her soul!

This power, which had been deathly sealed away merely to cater to Kaelen, finally let out a roar that shattered its chains now that the parasitic exploitation was gone. Pure, blinding violet-gold light burst from her battered cells.

At a miraculous speed visible to the naked eye, it madly devoured the lethal radiation, instantly reconstructing her ulcerated skin to flawless perfection, even radiating a faint, god-like luster!

Lyra snapped her eyes open. There was no longer a trace of pain or subservience in those violet eyes; instead, they shot forth a soul-crushing, supreme dominance.

"So... the mentor was telling the truth." She slowly clenched her fists, feeling the S-class "Ultimate Adapter" power within her-a power capable of tearing stars apart. A highly dangerous, icy smirk curled her lips.

She realized that there was indeed a different potential within her body-whenever facing life-or-death situations, she would unleash tremendous power. This time, she was no longer an E-rank nobody, but a true S-rank power queen!

And currently, this S-class power is merely a tiny fraction of her full potential.

"An E-class piece of trash? A parasite needing pity?" Lyra slowly stood up straight, looking like a Queen returning from the bloody abyss of hell, arrogantly glaring down at the military base she had once dedicated everything to.

"Kaelen, Sylvia. Since you trampled me under your feet and mocked me wantonly, from today onward, I will show you what a true dimensional strike looks like. When I am crowned at the pinnacle of the galaxy, you pieces of garbage won't even have the right to kneel and lick my boots!"

She transformed into an afterimage undetectable to the naked eye, instantly flashing beneath the most advanced "Phantom" stealth ship in the entire galaxy, docked in the corner.

Without a shred of hesitation, her slender fingers flew across the external maintenance keypad like a phantom. The security protocols that the Vanguard Clan viewed as an absolute fortress were nothing but paper toys before her, their anonymous creator. The hatch opened silently, welcoming its true master.

Meanwhile, the storm outside the central command room had ceased. Kaelen strode through the doors with arrogant steps, Sylvia clinging tightly to his side like a dutiful, gentle accessory.

Kaelen walked straight to the master console, his eyes instantly stung by the thick parchment and the family silver ring pressing down on it in the center.

He snatched up the ring, his knuckles turning white from rage. When he clearly saw the bold header "Mate Contract Termination" on the document, an incredibly grating, arrogant sneer squeezed through his teeth.

Sylvia peeked over, faking a gasp of horror, while her eyes gleamed with extremely vicious ecstasy. "Oh my god, Kaelen! Sister Lyra actually forged a supreme court legal document to threaten you just to fight for your favor! Her cheap tricks are simply insulting the intelligence of an S-class Commander like you!"

"What else can a parasite with zero survival skills do besides play these grandstanding parlor tricks?" Kaelen coldly swept the official termination document-the very thing that could have changed his life-onto the floor, as if brushing a speck of dust off his clothes.

Adjutant Vance hurried in at that moment carrying a stack of damage reports, stepping right onto the document.

"Clean up this pile of trash," Kaelen ordered with extreme disgust. "If that woman comes crying back begging me later, lock her in solitary confinement and starve her for three days! I am completely sick of her cheap little games!"

"Yes, Commander!" Vance immediately pressed the cleaning directive.

A cleaning drone swiftly glided over, mercilessly sweeping the termination decree-stamped with the Imperial Supreme Seal-into its incinerator, burning it to absolute ashes.

With his own hands, Kaelen incinerated his only chance to learn the truth and salvage everything.

Inside the subterranean hangar, Lyra was already seated firmly in the Phantom's pilot seat. As the engines ignited, the suppressed, frenzied low-frequency roar made the entire hangar tremble.

She opened the encrypted channel connected directly to the base's main server, her eyes watching the cascading code with cold indifference. She located the hidden folder named "Aegis_Protocol_Zero"-the ultimate defense system she had painstakingly built in secret over three years to protect Kaelen's life.

There was not a single trace of old affection or nostalgia in Lyra's eyes, only the coldness of a god looking down on ants. Her finger heavily struck the "DELETE" key without the slightest hesitation.

A confirmation prompt popped up. She entered the master password. That priceless main defense code, capable of withstanding a galactic-level fleet, was completely wiped from existence in an instant, reduced to dust.

The Phantom's stealth thrusters erupted violently. This pitch-black interstellar beast completely bypassed all of the base's sensors. Like a black blade tearing through the heavens, it smashed through the hangar's roof doors with a deafening roar.

Lyra pushed the throttle to the absolute limit. The ship, like an ascending dark meteor, instantly pierced the thick ion clouds and shot toward the deep cosmos, far beyond Kaelen's sphere of influence.

The vast galaxy unfolded before her, the stars turning into brilliant streaks of light outside the window. Lyra leaned back in the pilot's seat. Her terrifying S-class aura resonated perfectly with the ship's energy field, causing the surrounding space to warp visibly.

There were no weak tears on her breathtakingly beautiful face-only the absolute, freezing coldness of total control and the supreme, domineering aura of looking down upon the stars.

The chains were broken; the throne was empty.

This sea of stars that rightfully belonged to her had finally welcomed its true sovereign.