Adam's body staggered, blood dripping from his shoulder and chest, his breaths ragged, and his eyes barely open.The massive S-class monster roared with a sound that made the ground tremble, its fangs drenched in blood glinting in the darkness.
One more step, and it would end Adam.
But a sudden spark tore through the air, carving its path into the monster's body. The giant recoiled, and from the shadows emerged Romal Anderson, one of the sixteen participants in the tournament, his presence composed, his steps calm yet carrying the majesty of a seasoned hunter.
He raised his long spear with one hand and said in a quiet voice, sharp as a blade:— "To fight in such a state, boy… this is not courage. It's suicide."
Adam did not reply. He had no energy for words, and words didn't matter anyway. What escaped his mouth was a single broken sound, more like a shattered syllable:— "…h."
Romal wasn't sure if Adam meant something or if it was just the remnants of a voice from a chest heavy with wounds. But he didn't give him time.
With violent force, Romal charged the monster. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he unleashed his first strike. The spear ripped through the air like metallic lightning, colliding with the monster's body, which shuddered but did not fall.
Adam, sprawled on the ground, did not move to seize the chance to breathe or tend to his wounds. Instead, he remained seated, eyes pale, staring at the battle.As if refusing to close his eyes for even a moment.
"Is this the difference…? Between me and them?"A cold question passed through his mind.
Romal attacked relentlessly, the monster striking back with devastating blows. An entire tree collapsed under the whip of its tail, rocks scattering in every direction, the forest turning into chaos.
But Adam did not rise.He did not tend to his wounds.He didn't even try to crawl away.
It was as if he wanted to etch this moment into memory:— The difference between one who fights with his body until the last breath, and one who swallows defeat even while still alive.
The forest shook again, not from the monster's roar this time, but from sharp footsteps approaching from the other side.A metallic sound followed, the slow unsheathing of a sword.
From within the rising smoke appeared Adia Finger, a stern-faced woman, her violet hair tied back, her eyes gleaming with the steadiness of a veteran warrior. Her slender frame did not hide its toughness, and she carried a double-edged sword that glowed faintly.Adia Finger, thirty-four years old, one of the sixteen participants.
Her gaze lifted toward the monster still locked on Romal, then caught sight of Adam lying on the ground, his body drenched in blood, unmoving, making no effort to escape.
She advanced coldly, saying:— "You really are insane, boy… facing an S-class monster alone?"
Romal smiled lightly as he parried a massive strike with his spear:— "I needed some entertainment. But it seems I've received unexpected support."
Adia growled:— "Don't count me as support. I'll cut this thing down before it tears us apart."
Then she surged forward, her steps swift, her sword slicing the air with deadly precision. One stroke alone drew thick black blood from the monster's hide.
Adam, despite his bleeding, widened his eyes, watching intently.He recalled the words Neil once told him:"Don't look at defeat as a stain… but as a window. Every move, every mistake, every weakness you see… will return to you another day."
Now… as he watched Romal block with his powerful arms, and Adia weave like a dancer of death among the shadows, he felt his mind picking up small details:— Romal's way of lunging forward then retreating,— Adia's angle when cutting to evade the tail strikes,— The way the monster roared before each attack.
But his body?His body would not obey.
The monster roared, its claws rising, then smashed down a tree trunk that collapsed directly before Adam. Dust filled the air, and the iron scent of blood invaded his nose.
Adia shouted:— "Move, boy!"
But Adam did not move. He did not respond.He sat there like a stone of silence, his eyes tracing every detail, his lips shut… except for a faint moan barely audible.
He watched… and he thought."These are my opponents in the tournament… These are the ones I must surpass…"
Romal's spear sliced through the air with steadiness, his strikes weighted and measured, neither excessive nor hesitant. In every thrust he left a small gap for the next movement, as if calculating the battle two steps ahead.
Adia, on the other hand, moved in complete contrast. Her steps rapid, her strikes swift, attacking from angles his spear could not reach. Between them there was no agreement, but their movements seemed woven into one thread.
The monster bellowed fiercely, slamming its tail to the ground, soil erupting and rocks flung into the air. Yet neither retreated. They advanced together.A spear piercing the chest, a sword cutting from the side.
Adam felt something creeping into his chest. Not jealousy, not even fear… but a bitter realization:"I am outside this equation now… Just a spectator to those who will become my rivals tomorrow."
He pressed his wounded hand, blood streaming between his fingers, but his eyes stayed fixed on the scene. He wasn't merely witnessing a fight against a beast… but a harsh lesson:— How a professional behaves when facing true death.— How strangers share a battle as if they'd known each other for years.— And how he, Adam, remained on the ground, waiting for another moment to rise.
Adia snarled sternly, wrenching her sword free from the beast's bones:— "This is no time to fall… Either you stand, or the next will devour you."
But Adam did not answer.Only one hoarse sound escaped him, like an inner echo only she could hear:— "…h."
Romal did not glance at him, did not care. To him, anyone who didn't fight didn't deserve to be counted in the battle.
But the monster was far from done. Its blazing eyes suddenly deepened, its body swelling as though its true strength had only now been released.
Adam lifted his head slightly, watching as the real fight began only now."So… even this monster hadn't revealed its cards yet… What awaits us in the tournament then?"
The beast convulsed violently, its massive body trembling, then expanding further. Its skin cracked, and from within surged glowing red lines, as though its energy had been hidden deep inside. Its roar this time wasn't just rage, but a declaration of full transformation.
It raised its claws to the sky, then struck the ground with such force the earth split open, sending out a shockwave that pushed Romal and Adia back half a step, while Adam collapsed again, gasping helplessly.
Romal gripped his spear, smiling briefly but without mockery:— "Now the real game begins."
Adia clenched her teeth, raising her sword:— "Game? This isn't a game… If we don't finish it quickly, no one leaves alive."
The monster lunged with speed defying its size, its strikes now fiercer, its breath like fire, each blow leaving a crater in the ground.Romal's spear snapped in half blocking one strike, and Adia's sword filled with deep scratches from repeated clashes.
Adam, amidst the rubble, watched, his eyes half-closed, but his mind sharp:"Even as strangers… they exchange roles in combat perfectly. One attacks, the other covers. This is what I cannot do… my solitude devours my strength."
But suddenly the beast did not charge them.It shifted its course.Its claws turned toward the weakest body in the field… toward Adam.
Adia screamed:— "Move!!!"
And Romal shouted angrily:— "You fool, stand up!!"
But Adam did not move.His eyes widened slightly as death rushed closer than he ever imagined. He had no time to raise a hand, no time even to think.
In that instant, Romal hurled himself forward to intercept, while Adia leapt from the side, her broken sword aimed at the monster's weak spot.
The collision was violent:— Blood, metallic sparks, and the echo of an explosion that filled the entire forest.
Adam found himself covered in dust and blood, his heart pounding madly, but he remained silent."I survived… again… but not by my own hand."
The dust slowly cleared, revealing a grim scene:Romal stood barely upright, his left shoulder gushing blood where one of the monster's claws had pierced him, while Adia staggered back, breathing harshly, her sword fractured in half.
But the monster… did not retreat.On the contrary, its skin tore further, sprouting shadowy appendages that moved independently like separate beings. Its eyes blazed a corrupted red, its breath heavier and darker, as though the very air melted around it.
Adia gasped:— "This… is not just an S-class monster. It's something else."
Romal spat blood onto the ground and said:— "Whatever it is, if we don't bring it down now… we all die."
The beast charged at them with doubled speed, four shadowy limbs striking from different angles, its main claws ripping the ground in a straight line.Adia spun around sharply, trying to draw its focus, but one appendage slammed her hard, throwing her down on her knees as she stifled a cry of pain.Romal met the frontal blow, but his body was forced back a full meter, the spear trembling in his hands as if ready to shatter.
And Adam… remained where he was, his chest heaving, eyes calmly following the scene with chilling stillness."Power of this magnitude… Even Neil would struggle to face it alone. And me?"
He paused, then clenched his bloody fist into the dirt:"If I used the ability I gained from the Transparent World… maybe I could save them. But… no. That power isn't mine. It's a thread from the Masked One's traps. I won't use it."
As he thought, the monster suddenly shifted course again, abandoning Romal and Adia to rush straight at Adam, as if its instincts told it the weakest prey was the true target.
Romal shouted hoarsely:— "Aaaadam!!! Move!!!"
But Adam did not move.He smiled faintly, coldly, even as death closed in:— "…"
(A single syllable slipped from his mouth, with no clear meaning, more like a mocking whisper, as though facing his end with a smile.)
In the next moment, Romal once again threw himself forward to block, while Adia, her body battered, leapt with her broken sword, aiming to stab the beast at its weak point.
The clash created an explosion greater than ever before, the very ground splitting beneath them.
Adam closed his eyes briefly, as one question echoed within him:"How long will I keep burdening others with the weight of my survival?"