A Bug In Fate

The battlefield had become so chaotic that a normal person wouldn’t be able to make sense of it at a single glance.

A young man stood at the center of it all. Two arrows flew toward him, one aiming for his forehead and the other for his heart, while a blazing fireball closed in from behind.

Anyone watching would think there was no way out.

Alden, who stood at the center of it all, was anything but calm. Even he couldn’t say with certainty that he would get out of this without a scratch.

At that moment, he couldn’t help but question his life. Maybe he had really done something terrible in his previous life. As if dying to an injured snake wasn’t ridiculous enough.

Shaking away those self-deprecating thoughts, he prepared for the worst. He took a stance and steadied his breathing. A resolute look appeared on his face. If he had to die, he didn’t want to die with regrets.

Mana Sense was already active. He sensed every incoming attack and quickly calculated his next move.

The fireball, the arrows, and the rushing presences were all closing in at incredible speed. It only took a few seconds, but to Alden it felt like waiting for the result of an exam.

Soon they entered the range of his Mana Sense.

Adrenaline rushed through his body.

The fireball was the fastest. Before one could even blink, it had already closed to fifty meters.

Forty-five...

Forty...

Thirty-five...

Alden was ready. He stepped to the side, preparing to avoid the fireball, although he wasn’t sure he could escape the explosion completely.

But the attack never came.

Just before it entered the thirty-meter range, the fireball suddenly stopped in midair as though it had struck an invisible mountain.

Before Alden—or the bandits—could understand what was happening, the blazing fireball began to flicker violently. It swelled for a brief moment, then rapidly shrank before disappearing completely.

No one had time to question what had happened.

A terrifying pressure suddenly spread across the battlefield.

Everyone except Alden was slammed to the ground as if an invisible mountain had fallen on their backs. Even gravity itself seemed to have changed. The air grew heavy, and the space around them almost looked as though it were cracking under the pressure.

Henry and the others didn’t even have time to scream. They struggled with all their strength, yet none of them could lift their bodies from the ground.

Alden blinked as he looked around, trying to understand what was happening. A ridiculous thought suddenly crossed his mind.

’Damn... is this the so-called plot armor where the main character awakens some hidden power at death’s door?’

He quickly shook his head. He was certain this wasn’t his doing.

He looked around the battlefield once again, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

Then he felt something.

Something familiar.

A strong sense of déjà vu washed over him.

A memory flashed through his mind as he remembered how, not long ago, he had been crushed to the ground by the very same pressure.

"What the hell..."

Alden immediately turned toward the place where the source of all this should have been.

The boulder was empty.

"I already told you... no one will interfere in your fight."

At that moment, a calm voice echoed across the battlefield, drawing everyone’s attention.

Vish was walking toward Alden with steady steps.

Alden’s eyes widened as he remembered what she had said before the fight.

Realization finally dawned on him.

He had been so immersed in the battle—and later in the killing—that he had completely forgotten about it.

And Alden wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

Henry and the others remembered those words as well.

They had thought it was nothing more than a bluff.

But how could they have known that the woman standing before them actually possessed the strength to back up her claim?

Alden waited as Vish walked toward him. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to interact with her after being reminded of her overwhelming power.

Vish noticed it but chose to ignore it. Alden waited to see what she would do next. Would she spare them? Or was she about to do something unexpected again? He wouldn’t have been surprised if she simply killed them and walked away. It was exactly what he expected from her.

An awkward silence settled between them, broken only by the occasional struggling sounds of the bandits trying to withstand the pressure.

"So, what will you do?"

Vish finally broke the silence.

"Huh?"

"What do you intend to do with them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to kill them?"

Vish asked again, as she didn’t like where this was going.

"No."

Alden answered, though even he wasn’t sure about his own answer.

"I mean... they aren’t my problem."

He glanced toward Henry and his subordinates.

Henry and the other bandits, who had been listening with hopeful eyes, turned pale the moment they heard him.

"W-wa-wait..."

Henry said, his voice barely audible. He was clearly doing everything he could to stop where this conversation was heading.

"So, you don’t mind if I kill them?"

Vish asked.

A moment later, a popping sound echoed through the battlefield.

The bandits standing near Henry turned deathly pale as they watched his head explode.

"I didn’t say that."

Alden said, trying his best to ignore the horrifying scene before him.

He gripped his saber and began walking away. He headed straight toward the last of the five bandits. The moment he reached him, his saber flashed.

A thin line appeared across the man’s neck.

A second later, his head fell to the ground.

"I am done. I don’t care what you do with the other bandits."

Alden said, flicking the blood from his saber.

Without waiting for a response, he walked toward the five bandits he had killed.

One by one, he searched their bodies.

"Sorry, but I need these more than you do."

Most of them carried only a few personal belongings, but each had a small coin pouch tied around their waist.

After collecting everything, Alden counted the money.

"Seventeen gold coins.. and some useless paper "

He weighed the pouches in his hand before storing them away.

He had no idea how much money that actually was, but considering they were bandits, he doubted they’d have been carrying pocket change.

"I see. It seems I might have been wrong about you all along."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Yes and no."

"....."

"This was really your first time killing someone, wasn’t it?"

Vish asked as she observed Alden from head to toe.

"Why do you think so?"

Alden replied with another question.

"Why don’t you look at yourself?"

Vish said with a faint smile.

Alden frowned but did as she said after realizing she wasn’t going to explain.

He looked down at himself.

His clothes were covered in blood.

At first, he didn’t understand what she meant. Then his gaze slowly shifted toward the saber in his hand.

More precisely...

...toward his hand.

It was trembling.

"Oh."

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