A Bug In Fate

Inside the VIP room, where the rulers of the five cities sat, all eyes remained fixed on the monsters below. They were among the few who didn’t believe a single word of what Alice was saying.

"She’s good at controlling a crowd," Elara’s mother said, her gaze lingering on Alice.

The others in the room nodded, unable to deny her skill at swaying the audience.

"She’s good at controlling her expression too, unlike her friends," the ruler of Grayhaven City said, glancing toward the four students of Nebulon Academy.

"Haha, not everyone is trained like us, having to hide their emotions all the time," another voice joined in. It was the ruler of Ravenhold.

"But I’m curious about one thing," he said, turning to the only woman in the room.

"Why didn’t you stop the tournament if you knew something was wrong?"

Silence settled over the room as every eye turned toward the woman. She smiled before answering.

"Something is definitely wrong with the monsters, but what that girl said also makes sense. Not every enemy announces itself before striking," she said, pausing as her gaze shifted to her daughter, who was casting spells down below.

"I thought this would be good experience for them. They still have their bracelets, so even if something’s wrong with the monsters, at worst they’ll be teleported out. Besides, I’m here too. I can stop this at any moment I choose."

She spoke with the confidence of someone who had every right to it. The monsters were only at the Rupture realm, while she stood at the Sovereign realm. The gap between them wasn’t just a matter of strength. It was a difference in fundamentals.

In truth, not just her, but anyone in that room could have wiped out every monster in the arena without so much as leaving their seat. Even without any special abilities, they possessed absurd levels of control over their mana and affinity, and their physical strength was nothing to scoff at either.

The others nodded at her explanation, and soon the conversation drifted to another matter.

Below on the battlefield, the five of them were killing monsters one after another, their teamwork growing sharper with every passing minute.

"Left!" Elara shouted, already loosing a mana-coated arrow before Liam even turned. The shaft buried itself in the eye of a charging boar-like monster just as his spear swept in to finish it off.

"Got it, thanks!" Liam called back, ripping his spear free and pivoting toward the next threat.

Beside them, Lucas moved like a shadow, weaving between two monsters with his daggers, cutting tendons and joints to slow them down rather than trying to kill outright. "Rain, behind you!"

Rain spun just in time, casting up a barrier of stone that deflected a stream of acid aimed at his back. "I see it! Lady Elara, can you clear the one on the ridge? It’s got a ranged attack charging!"

None of them had trained together before today. There had been no strategy meetings, no drills, no time to build trust. And yet, somehow, they were covering each other’s blind spots, calling out threats before they became fatal, adjusting to each other’s rhythm through instinct alone.

While they fought shoulder to shoulder, a completely different scene was playing out just ahead of them.

Alden walked forward at an unhurried pace, as if taking a stroll through a garden rather than crossing a battlefield crawling with monsters.

Every few steps, he raised a hand lazily toward whatever beast came too close.

"White Room."

Multiple ice spikes formed midair, piercing straight through a wolf-like monster’s skull before it could even lunge. It dropped mid-stride, frozen solid before it hit the ground.

He didn’t stop walking.

Another monster, a hulking creature with obsidian claws, leapt at him from the side. Alden barely turned his head.

Just as the monster prepared to strike, it suddenly froze in place, the ground beneath its feet locked in ice. Before it could even try to break free, several ice projectiles shot forward, piercing its skull and dropping it instantly.

High above, the crowd’s mood had shifted entirely.

What had started as horror and disbelief had, over the last several minutes, twisted into something closer to excitement.

"Did you see that?! He just froze three of them without even looking!"

"Look at the other four, they’re actually working together! That timing was perfect!"

Cheers began rippling through the stands, scattered at first, then building into something louder and more unified. People who had been clutching the edges of their seats in fear were now leaning forward, eyes wide with a different kind of intensity.

"GO! FINISH IT!"

"Liam!"

"Elara!"

"Rain, you can do it, haha!"

"Lucas!"

No one was chanting their city’s name anymore. Watching the four of them fight as a team, the crowd had started cheering for the group itself, as if that alone were the best way to lift their spirits.

Alice, still floating above the arena, allowed herself a small, genuine smile for the first time since the round began.

*Well, at least something is going right,* she thought.

Fifteen minutes had passed since the fight began without any formal announcement, but that no longer mattered. Half the monsters were already dead.

High above the arena, the scoreboard screen flickered again as new numbers formed beside each participant’s name.

**Amon: 330 points**

**Liam: 80 points**

**Elara: 75 points**

**Lucas: 75 points**

**Rain: 65 points**

All points earned so far came from killed monsters, and if Alden’s earlier guess was correct, that each monster was worth 5 points, then by that math, he had killed 66, Liam 16, Elara 15, Lucas also 15, and Rain 13 monsters in total.

The round had started with 150 monsters. Do the math, and it’s easy to see that 125 had already fallen, leaving only 25 still alive, and that number kept shrinking by the second.

The number kept decreasing as the pressure on the four eased somewhat, while what looked almost like a machine moved across the battlefield, freezing monsters here and there without pause.

*At this rate, Amon is going to win. I doubt the four of them could beat him even if they worked together,* Alice thought, still floating in the air.

She wasn’t the only one to reach that conclusion. Some of the rulers, and a few hidden experts scattered through the crowd, were thinking the exact same thing.

They didn’t know the full extent of his ability, but what he’d shown so far was more than enough to convince them he’d already won.

Everything was going smoothly. Only 10 monsters remained on the ground, and seven minutes were still left before the round ended, plenty of time to finish them off before the participants had to turn on each other.

They leaned forward as the number hit 5, eyes shining with anticipation.

The audience could feel it. Tension rose as the monster count kept dropping, excitement and anticipation building in their eyes as they waited for the inevitable clash between participants.

But it seemed the surprises weren’t over yet, because just as everyone’s attention was locked on the ground, a voice rang out from nowhere.

"THE CITY IS UNDER ATTACK!"

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