"…This is about to get ugly."
Max's voice was low. Serious. Heavy with determination.
Mira, standing beside him, tilted her head slightly, as if trying to "look" at him with those eyes that were always closed.
"Oh?" she asked with curiosity. "So what are we going to do?"
Max clenched his fists. The distant echoes of approaching monsters reverberated through the tunnels of Floor 20. The air was thick, saturated with hostile mana. The system screen flickered ominously, as if waiting for the perfect moment to interfere.
Max took half a step forward.
"Get behind me," he said firmly. "No matter what happens, don't separate from me."
Mira nodded obediently.
"Alright. I'll—"
She didn't finish the sentence.
Because Max suddenly turned, grabbed her by the wrist… and lifted her into his arms as if she weighed nothing.
"W–WHAT?!" she yelped.
"Plan B!" Max shouted.
And he ran.
"WAIT, MAX! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT—"
The ground vanished beneath them.
Max leapt into a vertical opening without looking back, using a natural fissure in the dungeon that dropped like a stone slide.
Floor 19.
The moment they hit the ground, Max pushed off again.
"IS THIS RUNNING AWAY?!" Mira yelled, clinging tightly to his neck.
"IT'S A STRATEGIC RETREAT!"
A group of bipedal lizard monsters appeared ahead.
Max spun mid-run, reflexively activating Statistical Denial for just an instant, and kicked them into the wall like rag dolls.
"SORRY!" he added as he kept running.
Another jump.
Floor 18.
"MAX, THERE'S A—"
"I SEE IT!"
A swarm of carnivorous bats descended from the ceiling. Max didn't stop; he activated Embodied Lie for barely a second.
I can't dodge this.
His body reacted instantly.
He twisted midair, piercing through the swarm like a human bullet, leaving behind a trail of impossible strikes.
They hit the ground rolling… and kept falling.
Floor 17.
Finally, Max slammed his feet into the ground and stopped. The tunnel was wide and circular, its walls covered in cracks and mineral roots.
But they weren't alone.
The monsters had followed them.
Too many.
Insectoid beasts, amorphous shadows, armored creatures… blocking every exit.
Max gently set Mira down.
He took a deep breath.
The system appeared immediately.
---
Warning:
Multiple enemies detected.
Survival probability: 0.0001%
---
Max smiled.
"Ah… you're back."
Mira turned her face toward him.
"Why did you stop?" she asked. "Weren't we going to keep running?"
Max slowly turned his head toward her.
"Because now it's different."
The creatures advanced, tightening the circle.
"Different… how?"
Max looked at her closed eyes. Even so, he could feel her full attention on him.
"Now destiny thinks it has us cornered."
The system screen vibrated.
"And when destiny thinks that…"
Max clenched his teeth and smiled wider.
"…it picked the wrong prey."
Mira blinked, surprised… then smiled.
"Then," she said excitedly, "I'll do my best."
She quickly crouched and placed the bag of adenites into a deep crack in the wall, sealing it with compacted earth as if it were butter.
"That should be safe."
The ground trembled.
The monsters attacked.
"THEY'RE COMING!" Mira shouted.
"Perfect."
Max stepped forward.
"Statistical Denial."
Pain slammed into him like a hammer. His muscles burned. His bones creaked.
But his body responded.
The first monster—a six-legged beast with saw-like mandibles—was pulverized by a single punch.
"WOOO!" Mira exclaimed. "That was amazing!"
"FOCUS!" Max shouted, spinning to block an attack from behind.
A shadow tried to pass through him.
Max activated Result Forgery.
The "lethal" strike became a glancing blow.
The shadow exploded against the wall.
"THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED EITHER!" Mira said, thrilled.
"DON'T DISTRACT ME!" he yelled back, gasping.
Mira didn't stay idle.
She stomped the ground.
The earth answered.
The floor rose like a solid wave, impaling several enemies and launching them into the air. The walls closed in, crushing others.
"I'm a deep-earth excavator!" she said proudly. "This is my territory!"
The monsters changed tactics.
They attacked all at once.
Max felt the system trying to interfere.
---
Partial Rewrite activating…
---
"NO!" Max roared.
He pushed Embodied Lie to its limit.
This is impossible.
We can't win.
Two against dozens.
His power exploded.
The air warped around him. Every movement was unnatural, every strike a direct denial of logic.
Mira advanced beside him, shaping the terrain, sealing tunnels, creating traps, raising walls.
"MAX, TO YOUR LEFT!"
Max didn't look.
He struck.
An armored monster split clean in two.
"TO YOUR RIGHT!"
Mira raised a wall just in time, deflecting an attack that would've been fatal.
"BEHIND YOU!"
Max spun and leapt, crashing down onto the creature with devastating force.
The battle lasted minutes… that felt like hours.
The system screamed errors.
The monsters fell.
Max dropped to one knee once… and stood back up.
"HEY!" Mira shouted. "DON'T DIE YET!"
"IT'S NOT IN THE PLAN!" he yelled back, spitting blood.
The last group hesitated.
And that was enough.
Max advanced.
"Result Forgery."
An impossible attack.
An absolute ending.
Silence.
Only bodies… and ragged breathing remained.
Max collapsed into a seated position, utterly exhausted.
Mira walked up to him, grinning.
"Hey," she said. "Do you always fight like that?"
Max laughed weakly.
"Only when everything says I shouldn't."
The system screen appeared one last time… and shut down.
For now.
On Floor 17, two anomalies breathed.
And destiny…
had just lost another bet.