A Bug In Fate

The world seemed to freeze for a brief moment as Alden stood there in confusion. Then, realization slowly dawned on him.

Alden didn’t need to ask what Vish meant anymore. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he had been holding back from the very beginning. If he had treated this fight the same way he treated his battles against monsters, he could have killed them already.

"Can’t I just knock them out?"

Alden asked, despite already knowing the answer himself.

He didn’t have a PhD in human anatomy. It wasn’t like he knew how to press a few pressure points and make someone lose consciousness.

"If you can, go ahead."

Vish replied calmly. She had been observing him for a while now, just like one other person.

Alden wasn’t delusional enough to think that he could simply defeat them, spare their lives, and expect them to surrender.

Every living being carried some amount of ego, and men were no different.

When it came to men, ego was a dangerous thing. It wouldn’t be surprising if Marco stabbed him in the back the moment Alden lowered his guard.

Men would be men. Even back on Earth, there were people who climbed Mount Everest wearing casual clothes as if they were just going to a convenience store. Others travelled around the world on nothing but a bicycle.

It wasn’t written anywhere that ego was a bad thing. There are different kinds of ego, some can change a person for better whille other...it’s a story for another time.

Alden didn’t have the luxury of getting lost in his thoughts. Mana Sense suddenly warned him as a sword swept toward his left side. This wasn’t some offline game where he could pause and let someone else take over.

He stopped overthinking and slashed his saber in response.

Clang!

The bandit was forced back a step, and before he could regain his balance, Alden drove a kick into his right knee.

An arrow shot toward Alden’s blind spot, but with Mana Sense active, he detected it instantly and deflected it toward a nearby stone.

The exchange continued, neither side managing to land a decisive blow.

If someone had been paying close attention to the battle, like Vish and Henry, they would have noticed that although Alden seemed to have the upper hand, none of his attacks were aimed to kill.

His only goal was to survive.

"Haha, I might be wrong, but it seems he hasn’t killed a human before."

Henry, who had been observing the battle with keen attention, said to his teammates before laughing.

The situation before him was ridiculous. He had been suspicious for a while, but after hearing Alden’s words, he was sure.

The boy had never killed a human in his life.

The bandits, who had been watching everything with shocked expressions, heard their leader’s words. A moment later, the entire group burst into laughter.

"This bastard was so arrogant earlier, haha. He’s just a child... no, not even a child. He’s just a chicken."

The dwarf laughed out loud, his voice starting another round of insults that Alden had never heard before.

"Marco, kill that bastard already. He’s just a chicken! Hahaha!"

The dwarf continued before wiping away his imaginary tears.

But they had forgotten one thing in the middle of their laughter.

Just because Alden wasn’t aiming to kill them didn’t mean he was easy to kill.

The situation was truly ridiculous. One side was doing everything they could to kill, while the other was doing everything he could just to survive without killing.

Vish, who was standing alone some distance away, also seemed to be enjoying the situation.

Everyone was waiting to see how the battle would end.

Would Alden exhaust himself and eventually collapse...

Or would he take a drastic step that could change his view of the world itself?

Marco also heard the other bandits and burst out laughing, only to wince in pain as the wound on his stomach throbbed again. Even so, he couldn’t stop himself.

"Bastard, you were acting all high and mighty before. Haha... you can’t even kill us."

Marco grinned and he charged at Alden once again, while the other three closed in from different directions, trying to overwhelm him.

Alden jumped into the air, avoiding an incoming arrow. Before he could even land, Marco’s axe swept toward his side.

Alden simply stepped forward, narrowly avoiding the strike before slashing his saber across Marco’s chest.

Without stopping, Alden changed direction and rushed toward another bandit. His saber flashed once. This time, the slash went much deeper. A moment later, the bandit’s dominant arm fell to the ground, still clutching his weapon.

"You bastard! You’ll pay for this! I swear I’m going to torture you before you die!"

Marco roared in rage. It wasn’t just him anymore. One of his teammates had also suffered a serious injury, and the frustration was slowly clouding his judgment.

"You’re nothing but a chicken! Haha! So what if you can injure us? It doesn’t change anything. You’ll still die! If you’re so scared to kill us, then why don’t you just die instead?"

Then Marco did something no one expected.

He stopped in the middle of the road and spread both his arms wide open.

"Enough! If you’re really a man, then kill me! Haha! What happened, you bastard?"

His teammates stared at him in disbelief. Even the battle seemed to pause for a brief moment.

"Marco, what are you doing? Get yourself together before—"

Henry shouted, but Marco interrupted him before he could finish.

"Boss, don’t worry. He can’t kill me. He’s just a chicken. Haha!"

Then he turned back toward Alden, who had also stopped moving.

"What happened now? Why aren’t you moving? Haha!"

To everyone’s surprise, Alden actually started walking toward him. His saber remained in his hand, the blade stained red with blood.

"Oh, come on. What will you cut this time? My leg? My hand? My arm? Haha. Bastard, that’s all you can do."

Henry frowned

.

"Boss, this idiot is beyond saving."

The dwarf said to Henry with a sigh.

Nobody spoke after that.

Everyone silently watched as Alden continued walking toward Marco without the slightest hurry.

Unknown to the others, Marco had already made his plan. He wanted Alden to come close enough so he could grab both of his arms and call the others to finish him.

Even though everyone thought Marco had gone insane...

...they weren’t entirely wrong.

"Haha, bastard. You really came to me like a dog."

Marco laughed as Alden stopped only a few steps away. He waited for the perfect moment, ready to catch Alden off guard.

"What is it? Choose for yourself. My arm? My leg? Just don’t accidentally kill me... even though you can’t. Haha."

Still wearing the same calm expression, Alden slowly raised his saber until it was level with his shoulder.

"Oh, is it my arm? Or maybe my—"

He never finished his sentence.

His head left his shoulders.

For a brief moment, it hung in the air before falling onto the mountain road.

"..."

Silence settled over the road once again.

This time, however, it felt completely different.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

They simply stared at Marco’s head lying on the ground, unable to understand what had just happened.

"Even a dull blade will cut paper if you keep testing its edge."

Alden calmly flicked the blood from his saber before raising his eyes toward the next bandit.