A Bug In Fate

Everything seemed to be going well, at least on the surface.

Everywhere one looked, chaos reigned, spells, techniques, and weapons colliding in a blur of motion. The monsters were slowly being pushed back now, thanks to the presence of two Ascendant realm fighters on the field.

Metamorphosis realm cultivators fought monsters of their own caliber, holding the line so the others could push forward more easily. Spark and Rupture realm cultivators showed their own resilience, driving the horde back little by little.

By this point, nearly every cultivator in the city had joined the fight, taking turns as their mana and stamina ran low.

Just when it seemed like the tide had finally turned, something changed. A heavy pressure descended over the battlefield without warning.

Cultivators instinctively looked up, their expressions turning grim.

"Another Ascendant realm?" Alden muttered, narrowing his eyes. He was mid-battle, kicking a monster aside just to get a clear view.

Here’s the corrected version, kept in your style.

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Ahead at the horizon, where one couldn’t even see properly due to the darkness, Alden wasn’t just anyone. His eyes were sharper than most, and he could make out the shape of a massive creature moving through the dark, its body cracked with faint orange light, like glowing coals hidden beneath stone.

With every step it took, small bursts of flame flickered along its spine, lighting up the night for just a second before fading again.

"That’s not the same one as before," Alden muttered, watching as the creature let out a low growl that shook the ground even from this distance.

He could already tell this one was different from the Titan Hilton was fighting. No strange rifts in the air, no bending of space. Just raw, burning power.

"Fire, huh," Alden said quietly, a small smile forming on his lips. "I wonder who’d win in a fight between fire and ice, hehe." He chuckled, sidestepping an attack from a nearby monster without even looking.

"But that pressure is no joke, though. Can I even match him?" He watched as the creature drew closer to the ongoing battle between Hilton and the Titan.

*I guess it’s trying to join the fun too, huh,* he thought, a glint of excitement flickering through his eyes. *Why not join in myself, hehe.*

While Alden was busy thinking something crazy, the two old men on the wall narrowed their eyes. They had sensed the new monster before it even revealed itself, but neither of them moved from their spot, as if waiting for something.

"Will that brat be enough to handle this?" the dwarf said, following the new monster’s movements as it closed in on the battle Hilton was still caught up in. "The one he’s fighting now is a rare species, and while this new one isn’t as dangerous as the Titan, it’s still an Ascendant realm monster."

"He’s an experienced cultivator, so he should manage. Though I imagine he’ll come back injured," the librarian said calmly.

The two of them kept their gazes fixed on the battlefield ahead.

One might wonder, if both old men were this powerful, why weren’t they jumping in to help instead of just standing there?

The reason was simple, if a little absurd. Both of them were at the Worldheart realm, a stage where one could form their own domain. If either of them stepped onto the battlefield, the fight would be over in seconds.

But there was another reason too, growth. If the strongest stepped in to solve every battle, how would the younger cultivators ever gain real experience?

So it had become an unspoken rule among high-ranking cultivators to stay out of the fight unless it was absolutely necessary.

As the two of them stood watching everything unfold, something on the battlefield suddenly caught their attention.

"What’s he up to now?"

As the two of them stood watching everything unfold, something on the battlefield suddenly caught their attention.

"What’s he up to now?" the librarian said, a puzzled look crossing his face.

Beside him, the dwarf narrowed his eyes as well, watching Alden move toward the clash between the two Ascendant realm monsters.

"I have a guess, but I don’t want to believe it," the dwarf said. "Shouldn’t we stop him? He’s talented, but..."

The librarian remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"I want to. But something tells me I’m going to regret this either way, so let’s just see what happens." He paused briefly. "We can always step in if things go wrong."

The dwarf nodded at his decision, and the two of them fell silent once more, eyes fixed on the battlefield below.

Meanwhile, Alden moved at full speed, closing the distance toward the Ascendant realm monster, which had also been advancing before it suddenly stopped, sensing something ahead.

Alden could feel the pressure radiating off it, and if not for his physical stats and physique, he wasn’t sure he’d even be able to stand his ground against it.

*Damn, this is the real deal,* he thought, his eyes narrowing.

He had been hunting Metamorphosis realm monsters because anything lower simply wasn’t a real match for him, which was exactly why he’d looked so bored throughout the tournament.

But standing before him now was an Ascendant realm existence, a realm where cultivators had ascended beyond what was considered normal.

Even though the monster before him was only at the Initial Ascendant realm, meaning it had only recently broken through, that didn’t mean Alden was going to take it lightly.

"Glacier Technique: Snowfall."

Snowflakes began to fall, the surrounding air turning bitterly cold. But Alden didn’t stop there. He muttered, voice low.

"Glacier Series: Absolute Zero."

Ice crystals began forming across an area of 400 meters, spreading outward in jagged, crawling patterns over the scorched earth. Alden wasn’t holding anything back.

The monster glanced down at its feet, where the ice crystals had already begun creeping up its legs, faint cracks of frost spreading with every passing second. Its attention shifted back to Alden, who now had multiple ice spikes hovering in the air around him, each one gleaming faintly under the dim, smoke-choked sky.

Tension built between them as the two stared into each other’s eyes, silently sizing up their opponent, even though the monster’s expression had twisted into something closer to irritation than fear.

Just as Alden’s spikes surged forward, cutting through the cold air with a sharp whistle, the newly ascended monster reacted, faster than its size should have allowed.

What followed was both expected, and completely unexpected.

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