A Bug In Fate

The moment Alden’s ice spikes charged ahead at the monster, it was gone.

Suddenly his vision filled with a massive pillar, the monster’s leg. The attack came at impressive speed, even though the monster wasn’t built for agility.

A thick wall of ice formed in front of Alden as defense, but it was futile. The moment the leg made impact, the wall shattered instantly, offering no resistance at all.

*Damn, I thought the snowflakes would’ve slowed it down at least a little, but...*

His strategy had been simple. Let the snowflakes seep into the monster to slow it down, then overwhelm it with another technique.

But the strategy failed. The snowflakes did seep into the monster’s body, but it changed nothing, they were vaporized instantly by the sheer heat radiating from within.

Before Alden could even process what had happened, he was sent hurtling across the open field. Even after seven hundred meters, he still hadn’t stopped.

"D-damn..." Alden’s voice came out hoarse as he clutched his stomach.

The pain was intense, but it wasn’t the strongest thing he felt. A glint of excitement flickered through his eyes as he forced himself upright on trembling legs.

"This isn’t what I expected, but... all good."

Alden muttered, pain coursing through his body with every breath. He exhaled slowly, determination settling over his face.

For those wondering why the Cinderhide Behemoth hadn’t attacked again, why it had given him enough time to even stand back up, the answer was simple.

As far as it was concerned, Alden was already dead. The monster never expected someone at the Rupture realm to survive that hit, even though it hadn’t been at full strength.

The monster had begun turning away, ready to continue on toward the battle it had originally been heading for, but its steps halted mid-turn, its eyes widening slightly.

Alden stood before it once more, expression calm despite the excitement brimming in his eyes.

"Let’s go all out."

He said, and something materialized in his hands, a katana. Its blade was a deep, layered black, almost absorbing the dim light around it, yet along the edge ran a faint reddish sheen, like embers glowing beneath ash. A thin, pulsing aura radiated off the steel, faint but unmistakable, curling around the blade like smoke caught in a windless room.

His weapon seemed to have changed once again, first a saber, then a sword, and now a katana.

At this point, his weapons were shifting like the forms of a shapeshifter, never settling on one identity for long.

Back to the fight, Alden moved first, his katana sweeping toward the monster’s legs. But a massive fireball burst from the Behemoth’s mouth without warning, heat rolling off it in waves even from a distance, forcing him to change direction mid-motion.

He darted to the side, circling around the monster as flame scorched the ground where he’d just been. Then, without hesitation, he leapt straight at it, katana raised. The air split with a sharp whistle as the blade swept forward, aimed true.

The Behemoth reacted fast for something its size, raising a massive leg to stomp him flat. Alden twisted midair instead, dodging clear, and a cluster of ice spikes formed around him before launching straight at its eyes.

Two of them struck true, hissing violently as they melted against the Behemoth’s searing hide, doing little more than making it flinch and roar in irritation.

That flinch was all he needed.

Alden landed hard on the monster’s back mid-turn, driving his katana straight down with both hands. The blade sank deep, cutting clean through hide that should have been far too tough for someone still at the Rupture realm.

Maybe it wasn’t so impossible. Not with a blade glowing faintly with reddish aura.

Suddenly, intense heat surged out from the Behemoth’s entire body, forcing Alden to step back.

"That was hot," Alden muttered, but his feet were already moving as the monster appeared directly above him, legs raised.

The attack came from multiple directions at once, fire breath combined with a wave of raw heat radiating from its body.

He dodged by a hair’s breadth, but the shockwave still slammed into him. A shield of ice formed around him instantly, cooling the air and blocking most of the heat that followed the Behemoth’s attack.

Alden barely had a moment to recover before the monster came at him again, and this time, it was even angrier. How could it not be?

After all, a "Rupture realm pest" had survived attack after attack, and this time, the Behemoth wasn’t holding back.

Between a cockroach and Alden, at this point, only the appearance was different.

The fight resumed, the Behemoth clearly not planning to let the pest live any longer.

Maybe even monsters had their ego.

Alden moved again, katana sweeping forward. The monster met the strike with its own leg, fire flaring around them both as its breath continued to spill out with every motion.

They clashed again, and again, each strike carrying force and pure intent to end the other.

Anyone watching closely could tell Alden was falling short in raw physical strength. His hands trembled with every impact, and his speed lagged noticeably behind the Behemoth’s.

That wasn’t surprising, given the gap between their realms. What was surprising was how he was still keeping up despite it.

The monster moved faster, but Alden reacted just in time, deflecting some strikes, dodging others entirely before they could land.

As the exchange dragged on, time seemed to lose meaning. The battlefield around them had become unrecognizable, deep craters scarred the earth, fire still smoldering within them, even as the surrounding air remained bitterly cold from Alden’s own techniques.

Alden could tell that the longer this fight lasted, the worse it would be for him.

*My mana’s already down to half,* he thought, already forming another ice technique.

He avoided the fire wave, leaping into the air and forming a platform of ice beneath his feet. Landing on it, he pushed off again immediately, his blade crashing against the monster’s skull as a shockwave rippled across the arena.

But this time, something felt different. Something that could change everything.

*Well, at least my physique is holding up,* he thought.

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