Who Falls First
The blizzard broke, and a brilliant light spilled across the world.
Yet no one spoke. Everyone stood frozen, watching the yeti as it revealed its new form.
In the silence, Gero murmured so softly it was barely audible.
"It put on armor…"
A creature already built like a fortress had now clad itself in plate.
Monsters possessed all manner of mysterious powers — but seeing one deployed in a situation this hopeless made it feel less wondrous than terrifying.
Hssssss—.
Pure white cold bled from the seams of the armor.
Neveterde was still pouring its frost from within, keeping the ice shell from collapsing. Neveumano condensed that cold and held the armor together.
All that remained was for Neveumano to crush its enemy.
Alice tightened her grip on the greatsword's hilt.
The armored pattern, every time she saw it, was nothing short of savage. She forced a calm smile onto her face.
The ice-clad yeti loosed a piercing shriek.
It raised a fist. Thinking it was merely slow would cost you dearly.
Cold erupted from the gap at its elbow, adding thrust and accelerating the punch.
The gauntleted fist was a threat you could read at a glance — large enough to crush a person in one hand with room to spare.
Alice threw herself clear of the blow.
KRAAAAAASH—!
A single punch shattered the earth with a grinding roar; the ground heaved and debris sprayed in every direction. It was hard to believe the hillside had been flat only a moment before.
The fist was faster than she had expected.
"…"
Alice rubbed her tingling arm.
Using Flowing Water against an attack like that would pulverize her entire body — that much was obvious.
Even borrowing a monster's power had its limits.
This was not a problem reinforcement could solve.
A few seconds later the yeti lifted its fist, and dirt rained down in clods.
The ice gauntlet had taken a colossal impact without so much as a scratch.
Which meant the edge of a greatsword would never find purchase.
Unless she aimed for the gaps at the joints, the armor would never expose living flesh.
It was, quite literally, an invincible fortress.
But even that form would not last forever.
Neveterde could not maintain Neveumano's armor indefinitely. It was burning its own body like fuel for the sole purpose of killing her.
And in this situation, those two were not the only ones running on empty.
Her vision blurred for the briefest instant. She steadied her breathing at once and forced her chest to settle.
Lacrima's most infuriating feature had caught her by the ankle.
She had tanked Neveumano and Neveterde's tag-team alone.
Alice muttered irritably under her breath.
"Fine. Keep going."
Neveumano would never hear her — this was a vow aimed at herself.
"Let's see who falls first."
Whoever dropped first lost.
Saying so, Alice lowered her greatsword and released the tension from her whole body. She exhaled as evenly as she could, quieting the hammering of her heart.
She ignored the screaming of her muscles. This was the decisive moment that cut across the line between life and death. She had to push past the limits of flesh.
When she had taken down Disastro, she had received help from every side. Not this time.
Here there was no cannon to systematically break its armor, no ballista to pin its movements, no Dragon Bane to punch clean through that thick torso in a single shot.
No soldiers, no knights, no hunters, no Master Hunters — she stood alone against a Supreme-grade monster.
In the game she could have soloed it with room to spare. Reality was different. This was a cruel and fragile reality.
Alice was not certain she could win.
But she was certain she would leave this place alive. She would return to the outpost with everyone. That was Lacrima's final operation.
Neveumano threw three punches in rapid succession.
BANG. BANG. BANG!!
The fists, accelerating on staggered timing, had a subtle tracking quality. But if she dodged on the exact beat, even catching the flying debris was manageable.
Ting— ting—!
This was exactly why she was wearing armor.
Wondering whether the Famine Blade might land a hit, Alice found a gap in the extended arm and swung.
KRACK—!
She only shattered ice. No damage reached what lay beneath.
"Tch!"
Alice clicked her tongue and wrenched the sword free of the ice with everything she had. Using the rebound, she fell back and kept Neveumano in her sights.
It splayed its fingers and swept its arm through the air.
At the same moment, icicles streaked down from the sky, locking onto Alice.
She caught the ice shards meant to pierce head and body on the flat of her greatsword. The impact drove her backward; her soles carved long furrows through the dirt.
Nothing about this fight was ordinary. Anything that connected was a one-hit kill. Neveumano was flaunting every ability it had used to protect Neveterde all this time.
Then Neveumano clasped both hands and raised them overhead.
Hssssss—!
And, boosted by that thrust, brought them down like a hammer.
When Neveumano used that move, the recoil left it briefly immobile — but it also triggered an earthquake that locked its enemies in place the same way.
From there, catastrophic debris sprayed outward and a vortex of ice rose to swallow anything that could not move. Extremely dangerous.
Hiding behind its legs would have been fine, but her footing was poor, and with the ice armor on there was no space to grab and climb.
Alice threw herself sideways, drove her greatsword into the ground, and sheltered behind it.
KRAAAAAAASH—!!
A sound like a bomb detonating rolled across the field.
The earth screamed and shook. Where the hammer-hands had struck, an ice storm erupted skyward.
Alice's legs lost their center as the ground bucked beneath her. Barely hidden behind her blade, she simply caught her breath.
Thunk. Thunk!
She could feel rock shards and boulders slamming into her cover.
Fortunately, Disastro's carapace was protecting her. Any ordinary weapon would have lost its edge or shattered under pressure this severe.
Alice thought hard.
How to flip this one-sided situation.
Simply taking the beating did not sit well with her. If she kept dodging long enough the ice armor would eventually fail — but her pride would not allow it.
Even in a moment like this, you had to land one solid hit.
"Huu…"
Rrrumble—.
The ground's vibration would not stop; her legs trembled.
Alice quickly pulled a pouch from her secondary pack.
Inside was Thermal Powder that still held its heat.
If this was reality, then there was no reason she could not use it this way.
Sssssss—!
The moment the Thermal Powder touched the cold surface of the Famine Blade, pure white steam billowed up.
Figuring she had nothing to lose, Alice did not spare the powder — she plastered it thick across the blade and shook the pouch empty.
The grit caught between the serrated teeth she left alone.
Ordinarily, Thermal Powder had to be applied in moderation.
Dump too much at once and the heat spiked so fast it could start a fire — dangerous.
That was exactly what Alice wanted.
Heat high enough to melt ice in a single stroke — would that not work?
But Neveumano was constantly venting cold, so the effect would not last long.
Alice herself could not afford to drag this fight out either.
One misstep and she could collapse and die. But fleeing to fight another day was something she forbade herself. She needed to end it here, or she would never feel clean.
The earthquake stopped.
Alice raised her greatsword. Heat radiated all the way through her gloved hands — scorching.
The powder's heat spread through the entire blade, belching white steam in thick clouds.
Even Neveumano, rising free of the recoil, hesitated for a moment at the ominous white smoke.
Then it locked eyes on Alice and ground its teeth with a snarl.
Still not dead.
Neveumano felt the danger. Through that unidentifiable smoke, a searing heat rode the wind. That heat was the very bastion meant to shatter the ice armor.
Alice crossed the ground toward Neveumano at a measured pace. Snow that touched the Famine Blade melted without a trace and soaked the earth.
She did not run. She did not rush.
The enemy would come to her first — that much was certain.
———AAAaaaa!!
Neveumano roared and brought its hands together.
This time it did not condense a mass of cold the way it had before. Instead it gathered hardened ice.
The shards were ground sharp as icicles and flew at Alice in volleys.
She could have swatted them with the greatsword, but she moved her body instead, trying to minimize heat loss however she could.
With her frame already creaking from Flowing Water, sprinting through a barrage while carrying a blazing greatsword was no easy task — but she moved as fast as she could.
Slash—!
An icicle grazed her cheek.
Alice felt blood run down her face and only pushed harder.
Clear of the barrage, she had closed to a reasonable distance from Neveumano.
It raised a fist.
The fact that it was not using its footwork patterns suggested it had taken a hard lesson from Flowing Water and was deliberately restraining its own legs. Clever, in its way.
Not that she could use Flowing Water again anyway.
That suited Alice fine. Footwork was a hassle in more ways than one.
She stared straight at the incoming fist and refused to close her eyes.
CRACK—!
The noise of the ground being struck rolled out. By a hair's breadth Alice slipped past the fist, so close it nearly brushed her, and clamped down on her greatsword.
She could not return the impact — but dodging an attack and landing a counter was well within reach.
This time was different from before.
Alice swung the greatsword with everything she had.
At last the ice armor and the Famine Blade met again.
The clean ring of a blade biting into ice was about to sound — and then water sluiced down the armor and splashed across her face.
Sssssss—!!
But it was not enough. This much force was still insufficient.
"HAAAAAH!!"
Alice poured a battle cry into the blade and drove more strength through it. A crimson current surged up from her Essence and flooded power into her arms.
Reinforcement.
The Famine Blade shoved through melting ice and pressed deeper.
At last the edge scored Neveumano's wrist.
SLASH!!
Whether the sword had fully pierced the ice armor and severed an artery, blood erupted from Neveumano's wrist.
After the meltwater of the ice armor, Neveumano's blood painted Alice as well.
Its arm went slack.
Neveumano screamed at a pain it had never felt in its life — but Alice did not stop there.
"Hah… hah…"
Her head began to spin. A signal that oxygen was running short.
Even so, Alice dove for Neveumano's leg and drove the greatsword — still holding its heat — all the way in.
KRNNNK—!
The blade melted through armor, reached the ankle, carved through hide, and sank deep enough to sever the tendon.
Neveumano's leg buckled. Alice slung the greatsword across her back and ran again, getting clear of the trajectory of its fall.
———KRRRuuuu!!!
No time to rest.
Her breath was that ragged, and her head was still spinning.
Only after running a fair distance did Alice stop and turn.
And she watched Neveumano go down.
The armor crumbled.
Through the wreckage, the forms of Neveterde and Neveumano became visible.
If Neveumano had fallen, Neveterde was no real problem.
Alice drew her greatsword — then immediately drove it into the ground and broke out in a cold sweat.
Vertigo wrapped her body.
Through the ringing haze she felt a deep, clean relief. In the end, she had won.
You picked the wrong side, Neveterde.
The joy of victory lasted only a moment. Far off, Alice observed a distortion in the sky.
The blizzard had cleared, and in a sky clearer than any other, ripples spread as if someone had cast a stone into a still pond.
A dragon thrust its face into the world.
Two blood-red eyes fixed precisely on Alice.
Crystal carapace of unknown origin. Needles sharp as clock hands jutted from its back like wings.
It drifted through the sky with lofty grace, then landed with elegant precision before Neveumano.
Of all times.
To appear now, of all times.
Alice stared at it with bloodshot eyes.
"Mite… raos…"
The Crossing Dragon. The Time Dragon. The instant she saw it, every emotion in Alice's head surged into a storm.
"I-I'll kill you. I have to kill you…"
Alice clawed at her own throat with a gloved hand.
She was so worked up her breathing turned ragged, and her mind grew steadily more distant. It felt as if she were sinking underwater.
Miteraos spoke.
Finished speaking, Miteraos lifted its head and roared.
The world flashed; her entire field of vision washed white — and the dragon was gone.
"Ah…"
Alice could no longer hold against the dizziness. She staggered and collapsed.
No one remained standing on the battlefield.