A Bug In Fate

It had been four hours since they began traveling. It was now evening, and darkness had begun to fall upon the road ahead. The three continued along the wide road at a slower pace.

They weren’t foolish enough to exhaust themselves only to end up in an unexpected ambush or surrounded by monsters. After all, monsters weren’t the only danger they had to be careful of.

It had been four hours since they began traveling.

Mina seemed frustrated about something as she kept muttering curse words under her breath.

Liam, on the other hand, was completely exhausted at this point from trying to balance things between the two. He had already given up and now simply seemed to be enjoying their strange dynamic.

They had been continuously running. Whenever they slowed down, it was only for a short while before one of them sped up again. Between Mina and Alden, neither wanted to be the one left behind.

By now, both of them were sweating heavily.

Even though they were in the Rupture Realm, every cultivator had their limits.

Meanwhile, Alden looked to be in much better condition than the two of them. He was sweating as well, but not to the point where someone would think he had been running for hours.

"This bastard is clearly high on something."

Mina muttered in an annoyed tone, subtly hinting at Liam.

Liam could only shake his head helplessly.

"Are you saying I drank some kind of stamina-enhancing potion?"

Alden asked calmly from ahead.

His senses were sharp enough that whispering near him was almost pointless.

"Whatever."

Mina turned her head away.

By this point, the open fields had long disappeared, and they were now surrounded by tall trees.

It wasn’t a crime to consume potions, but low-quality ones could damage a cultivator’s foundation. Because of that, most cultivators in the early realms avoided relying on such short-term solutions.

"Can you two please stop arguing with each other?"

Liam said helplessly.

"Wait."

Suddenly, Alden raised his hand, signaling them to stop.

"Prepare for a fight."

Alden said as he pulled out his sword.

Behind him, Liam and Mina also drew their weapons and took battle stances.

Even though they hadn’t sensed anything, it was better to be careful than regret it later.

Only a few seconds later, their surroundings changed.

More than ten monsters could be seen sitting on the trees around them.

They looked somewhat like monkeys, but each of them had a long tail with a sharp hook at the tip that looked capable of piercing through flesh.

"What the hell..."

Mina cursed under her breath.

She wasn’t afraid of the monsters. She was simply shocked that Alden had sensed them before the two of them.

Keep in mind, both she and Liam were a whole realm above him.

"Be careful of those four."

Liam said as he raised his spear and pointed it toward the center of the group.

Unlike the other monsters, which were in the Awakened and Spark Realms, four of them were in the Rupture Realm.

"Let’s get this over with."

Alden said as he began walking forward with his sword in hand.

"I don’t like how arrogant he’s acting."

Mina muttered from behind.

It wasn’t their first time fighting monsters, nor were they afraid of them.

But staying relaxed wasn’t a luxury they could afford.

"Let’s see what he can do first."

Liam said as he also started walking toward the monsters.

Whether Alden could handle himself was his own responsibility.

"Wait for me!"

Mina shouted.

Left behind by the other two, she let out a frustrated sigh before rushing toward the battlefield as well.

Back to Alden, he stood before the four Rupture Realm monsters.

One moment, he was beneath them.

The next, he had already appeared above one of the monsters.

The monsters were surprised for a brief moment, but they reacted with impressive speed.

Alden’s sword swept toward the incoming monsters.

It could have struck all four of them if it weren’t for a fireball flying toward their direction.

Mina had cast a fire spell.

The monsters quickly scattered in different directions.

One of them covered its tail with mana and sliced the fireball into two halves.

Mina didn’t get angry like she usually did.

Instead, she gripped her double-edged sword and charged at one of the monsters.

The moment their weapons clashed, sparks flew in every direction as the two fought for their lives.

Liam also joined the battle.

He ran up the trunk of a tree with impressive speed, as if the wind itself was helping him.

His spear shot forward toward a monster.

The monster quickly jumped to another tree, narrowly avoiding the attack.

In just a few moments, the quiet road had turned into a battlefield.

Alden, meanwhile, was facing two monsters by himself.

A relaxed smile remained on his face.

The two monsters lunged at him with their mana-covered arms.

Suddenly, Alden used his newly learned movement technique.

His speed increased instantly, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared on another branch of the tree.

The lower-ranked monsters, who had been unable to keep up with the battle, finally reacted as well.

Soon, all the monsters charged toward the trio, as if they had stolen something from their home.

Four more attacks came at Alden this time, but he wasn’t going to be overwhelmed by something like that.

He used Flash Step and disappeared from his spot, jumping onto another branch before appearing in front of a Spark Realm monster. If not for his ridiculous control over his body, he would’ve already crashed to the ground. He was still getting used to his new movement technique.

His blade swept toward the monster. The monster tried to block it with its tail, but it couldn’t keep up with Alden’s speed. Its legs were cut apart, and before the pain could even register, its head was already flying through the air.

Alden immediately appeared before another group of lower-ranked monsters. It was a good chance to get used to his movement technique, and these monsters were perfect for practice.

Liam and Mina were also fighting multiple monsters, but they ignored the weaker ones since a single spell was enough to deal with them.

Soon, Alden was left facing the last two Rupture Realm monsters. He had already cleared all the weaker monsters around him. He wasn’t planning to interfere with Liam’s fight, and as for Mina... he believed it was better to solve his own problem first. Besides, who knew what she would complain about afterward?

The two monsters attacked at the same time. The first strike came from Alden’s left, and he casually sidestepped it. The second came from above, forcing him to cut the branch beneath his feet before using Flash Step to move aside.

The monster was caught off guard. The branch it was supposed to land on was no longer there, and as it began falling, Alden’s blade quietly swept across its neck. A thin red line appeared, and a moment later blood burst into the air.

Without wasting another second, Alden appeared before the last Rupture Realm monster. By now, Liam and Mina had already defeated their opponents, leaving Alden as the only one still fighting.

"Even though I had heard about his swordsmanship... his battle sense is impressive as well."

Liam wiped the sweat from his forehead with a small smile. His breathing was steady, but that didn’t mean the fight had been effortless.

"If he were any weaker, I would’ve beaten him up a long time ago."

Mina crossed her arms. Even she couldn’t deny that the person fighting before her was the real deal.

"Hey, do you need help?"

She called out, though it was obvious she only wanted to annoy him.

"Don’t bother. It won’t take long."

Alden replied with a calm smile.

His blade flashed forward. The monster immediately raised its tail to block the strike, but at the last moment Alden changed the direction of his sword and slashed downward instead. Before the monster could react, he stepped in again and cut off its tail from the base, where its defense was weakest.

The monster roared and swung both arms at him, but Alden simply twisted his sword deeper before pulling it upward. The blade split the monster’s body in two, ending the fight in a single motion.

"His fighting style is just as strange as he is."

Liam said with a nervous smile.

"His clothes are almost spotless, but the way he fights is... a bit messy."

Most people with aggressive fighting styles ended up covered in blood because they often got injured themselves or by their opponents blood . Alden, however, looked perfectly clean. Only the monster corpses scattered around him told a completely different story.

"He’s just barbaric."

Mina muttered as Alden jumped down from the tree and walked toward them with a relaxed smile.

"That was refreshing."

Alden said casually.

Both Liam and Mina’s mouths twitched, but they chose to ignore him.

"We should get going."

Liam took one last look at the battlefield, where monster corpses hung from broken branches and fresh blood stained the ground. Without another word, the trio continued their journey toward the Noctis Ruins.

As for what awaited them there...

Only time would tell.

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