BRANDED BEFORE THE FALL He was poor. That was his crime. Aiden Kross worked two jobs to survive university life, enduring humiliation from elites who believed money determined worth. When his girlfriend left him for a wealthy heir, he became the campus joke — the boy who didn’t know his place. Three days later, the sky split open. Crimson rifts tore across the world, and glowing sigils branded humanity with power. Strength was ranked. Survival became law. F-ranks begged. A-ranks ruled. S-ranks dominated cities. And Aiden? The strange birthmark he had carried since childhood ignited. SS-Rank: Abyssal Dominion Dragon. The only SS-level sigil revealed at the dawn of the apocalypse. Unlike others who struggled to synchronize with their new abilities, Aiden’s power felt… natural. Complete. As if it had been waiting. Within his Dominion Field, weaker ranks tremble. With every fallen enemy, his dragon grows stronger. And in a world rebuilding itself on hierarchy and fear, power decides morality. The rich heir who mocked him awakens an A-rank Golden Lion. His ex-girlfriend gains a radiant Seraph sigil. Military factions rise. Warlords seize territory. Cities burn. But none of them understand one truth: Aiden was branded long before the world fell. As global rankings emerge and Sovereign-level sigils begin to awaken across continents, a terrifying possibility surfaces — his dragon is not just rare. It is incomplete. And when it fully awakens, the hierarchy of this new world may shatter entirely. They laughed at the poor boy. Now they kneel to the Dragon.