Tactical Embarrassment

The forest had gone eerily quiet.

Not the peaceful quiet of an ordinary evening, but the weighted silence that precedes a storm. No birds called. No insects buzzed. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, leaves suspended in mid-tremble as though nature itself sensed what was coming.

I stood before our sanctuary entrance, Rurielle's dagger in hand, its umbranium surface drinking in what little light remained of the day. My Presence Detection pinged, a single human signature approaching from the eastern perimeter. The signature felt... wrong somehow, like multiple energies layered atop one another, pulsing with a discordant rhythm that made my skin crawl.

My HUD flashed a warning through my Arcane Interface Lenses:
[HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED]

I didn't need the system's confirmation. Every instinct screamed danger. My hand tightened around the dagger's hilt as I activated Enemy Tracking. Immediately, a faint crimson trail appeared in my vision, leading from me into the forest where the entity moved. The trail pulsed with each of the entity's heartbeats, growing more vivid as it approached.

Despite everything, a strange calm settled over me. The jocks were safely on their way to Crossroads. Miyako and the others were far from here. Whatever happened next, I'd face it alone, exactly how my Lone Wolf job preferred it anyway.

[LONE WOLF ACTIVATED: +110% TO ALL STATS WHILE ALONE]

The familiar power surge flowed through me, sharpening my senses, strengthening my muscles. Every sound became crisp, every scent distinct. I could almost taste the ozone in the air, like the atmosphere itself was charged with impending violence. My vision sharpened until I could count the veins in each leaf, my hearing so acute I could detect the minute scrape of boots on forest floor nearly a hundred metres away.

The branches parted, and he stepped into the clearing.

Shinji Kato.

He looked nothing like the timid, bullied boy I remembered. Gone was the perpetual slouch, the downcast eyes, the nervous fidgeting. This Shinji stood tall, eyes gleaming with unnatural confidence. Dark energy seemed to writhe around him like living shadow, and his school uniform had been transformed into something resembling battle attire, black and silver, with pulsing runes along the sleeves that shifted and changed as if alive.

"Shinji," I called out, keeping my voice steady. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

He tilted his head, studying me with a predator's dispassionate curiosity. "Andie Ryuu. How disappointing. I was hoping the jocks would lead me to where the others are hiding." His voice had changed too, deeper, with a resonant quality that seemed to echo unnaturally. "Instead, I get the class reject with the trash selections."

I forced a smile. "Sorry to disappoint. The others are safely in Crossroads by now."

Something dark flashed across his face, a momentary crack in his confident façade. "Is that so? A pity. I suppose I'll just have to pay the town a visit after I'm done here."

"Everything that's happened to our class, that was you, wasn't it?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. "Akira, Daiki, Kaito, Shota... you killed them all."

A smile spread across Shinji's face, cold and triumphant. "Of course it was me. Who else could it have been?" He spread his arms wide, the gesture theatrically grand. "No one helped me in the old world, Andie. No one stopped Kenji and his gang when they tormented me daily. Not the teachers, not our classmates, not even you."

His eyes burned with hatred so intense I could almost feel the heat radiating from them. "But then came divine intervention. Voluptaria. A chance to right every wrong. To level the playing field." His voice rose, taking on an almost religious fervour, hands clenching into fists. "Finally, there is fairness. Finally, there is justice."

"You call murdering our classmates 'justice'?"

"I call it evolution," Shinji replied, beginning to pace in a slow semicircle. I shifted to maintain distance, my Perfect Balance allowing me to move silently across the uneven ground. "I planned everything, you know. When we arrived in the white room, I manipulated who chose what. I whispered to Kenji and Ryo, convinced them to jump the queue. They ended up selecting 8th and 9th while the rest of their gang got thrown to the back."

He chuckled darkly. "The studious boys were even easier. I just had to tell them they knew better than those nerds and girls, that they should choose what they thought was powerful, and ignore anyone trying to advise them. 'They're trying to undermine your true power,' I told them. And they believed me, the fools."

"And the delinquents?"

Shinji laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Useful idiots. I let them think they were in control. After I secured my own selections, the remaining powerful ones, I guided the populars and remaining delinquents toward what looked impressive but would ultimately serve my purpose. Encouraged their petty rebellion at the camp. All so they could fragment the class, make everyone vulnerable." His smile widened, showing teeth that seemed unnaturally sharp. "And when the time was right, I took what was theirs."

"Their selections," I said, the pieces falling into place. "You're absorbing them somehow."

"Not somehow. Through victory. Through dominance." Shinji raised his hand, and shadows danced between his fingers, coiling like living serpents. "Every life I take, every selection I claim, I grow stronger. The delinquents, the populars, the studious boys... all part of me now. Their skills, their knowledge."

My Arcane Interface Lenses flickered, trying to process what I was seeing. I couldn't believe what Shinji was claiming, stealing selections from those he killed? It seemed impossible, yet the evidence was right in front of me.

Shinji regarded me with contemptuous boredom. "You're not even worth my time, Andie. Your pathetic selections, what were they again? Perfect Kiss? Bubble Creation?" He sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "I don't have time for small fry like you. I have more important prey to hunt."

He turned as if to leave, and I found myself stepping forward. "You're not going anywhere near them."

Shinji paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "Are you actually trying to stop me now? How quaint."

"I promised Miyako that I'd return to her," I said, feeling the half-heart charm warm against my chest like a tiny ember. "I intend to fulfil that promise. That's why I couldn't let you see them before you met me. Even so, I can't let you keep hurting people. Even loners have people to protect."

Shinji turned fully to face me, his expression darkening. "You have no idea what I'm capable of now, Andie. I'm not just stronger, I'm invincible. And you? You'll die terribly. And after I'm done with you..." His lips curled into a smile that made my blood run cold. "I'll find your precious Miyako first."

He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper. "I'll take my time with her. Break her body and mind piece by piece. I'll use Mesmerize to make her believe she's with you at first, that it's your hands touching her, your lips on hers. I'll make her feel safe, loved, protected." His eyes gleamed with malice. "Then I'll peel away the illusion slowly, letting her see the truth in fragments until she realises she's been defiled by the man who killed you. I'll watch the hope die in her eyes, watch her spirit break as I take everything from her. And when she finally begs for death, I'll deny her even that mercy."

My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth might shatter, a white-hot rage building behind my eyes.

"The Kimochi sisters will be next," he continued, watching my reaction with cold fascination. "They've been so damaged already, haven't they? So afraid of men. I'll give them reason to fear again. I'll use Time Bubble to make every second last an eternity for them. Every scream, every plea stretched into hours of agony. I'll make them relive every trauma, every fear, multiplied a thousandfold until their minds shatter completely."

Something murderous stirred in my chest, a killing intent so pure it felt like ice in my veins.

"Hitomi and Hina too," Shinji added, smiling wider. "I have special plans for every single one of them. Sweet Hitomi with her athletic grace, I'll break each limb slowly, joint by joint. And Hina, so proud of her leadership, I'll make her watch as I destroy everyone she tried to protect. I'll work through the entire class, making each death more creative than the last. And I'll make sure they know exactly who failed to protect them."

I took a slow, deliberate breath, feeling my Samurai job class respond to my focused killing intent, a cold clarity settling over me. "The thing about villains is..." I said, shifting my stance subtly, "...they either don't fucking talk, or talk too fucking much."

Rage contorted Shinji's face, the shadows around him writhing violently. "IF YOU WANT TO WASTE YOUR LIFE THEN COME, LET'S FIGHT!"

The world exploded into motion.

Shinji's hand thrust forward, and a wall of force slammed into me, invisible but crushing, like being hit by a speeding truck. I barely managed to activate Perfect Balance, riding the impact rather than resisting it, letting my body flow with the momentum until I could plant my feet again, skidding backward but remaining upright.

"Like that?" Shinji laughed. "That was Mind Over Matter, courtesy of poor, pathetic Shota. He screamed so nicely when I took it from him."

No time to process the horror of his words. I charged, Rurielle's dagger leading. The umbranium blade seemed to drink in the surrounding light, leaving a dark trail as I slashed toward Shinji's chest, the weapon humming with a hungry energy in my hand.

He dodged with inhuman speed, but my Enemy Tracking highlighted his movement pattern, allowing me to adjust mid-strike. The tip of the dagger caught his arm, slicing through fabric to draw first blood. The wound sizzled faintly, the umbranium reacting with his flesh.

"First hit to me," I taunted, spinning away from his counter.

Shinji snarled, examining the cut on his arm with genuine surprise. "Lucky shot."

"We'll see about luck." I circled him, noting how his body had begun to shimmer with a faint metallic gleam, some kind of armour materialising over his skin, flowing like liquid mercury before solidifying into plates of protection.

I feinted left, then drove in hard from the right, putting the full weight of my Iaijutsu Strike behind the blow.

[IAIJUTSU STRIKE ACTIVATED]

The dagger blurred, moving faster than normal sight could track, aiming straight for Shinji's heart. The world seemed to slow, my focus narrowing to a single point as the umbranium blade drove toward its target. For a split second, I thought I had him.

Then his hand snapped up, catching my wrist in a grip like iron. "Predictable," he hissed, twisting savagely.

Pain lanced up my arm, the bones grinding together under his inhuman strength, but my Pain Resistance kicked in immediately, dulling the agony to a manageable throb. I leveraged his grip, using it as a pivot point to drive my knee toward his stomach.

He blocked with his free arm, but the impact still forced him to release me. I disengaged, putting distance between us again, shaking out my wrist as feeling slowly returned to my fingers.

"Is that all?" Shinji taunted, his strange armour now visibly thickening around his forearms and chest, forming interlocking plates that pulsed with dark energy. "Pathetic."

I didn't waste breath responding. Instead, I analysed what I'd learned from that exchange. His armour was adapting, but it hadn't fully countered the umbranium yet. I still had a chance, but I needed to be faster, smarter, more unpredictable.

Shinji's fingers twitched, and suddenly the ground beneath me lurched; the earth itself warping and twisting, trying to swallow my feet. Reality seemed to bend and fold, the very fabric of the world becoming malleable under his command. I jumped, using Perfect Balance to find purchase on the buckling terrain, each footstep landing with impossible precision despite the shifting ground.

"Surprised?" Shinji called. "Reality Manipulation, Kaito's final gift to me. He didn't want to part with it, but I can be very persuasive."

Fire erupted from his palms, the flames roaring toward me in a concentrated inferno, so hot that the air shimmered and distorted around the blaze.

[COUNTERSPELL MASTERY ACTIVATED]

I thrust my hand forward, feeling the spell structure through my detection abilities, seeing the intricate magical lattice that powered the flames. I found its weak points, the junctions where the energy flowed most precariously, and injected counter-energy at precisely the right moment. The flames dissipated just before reaching me, breaking apart into harmless sparks, but the heat was still intense enough to singe my eyebrows and leave my skin feeling tight and raw.

"Not bad," Shinji acknowledged, his expression darkening. "But can you counter this?"

He vanished into his own shadow, his body melting into the darkness like ink spreading through water. I spun, Presence Detection straining to locate him, but he was moving too fast, jumping from shadow to shadow around the clearing, each one connecting to the next in a web of darkness.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Shadow Melding," his voice echoed from everywhere at once. "Taro was particularly attached to this one. Almost escaped me with it. Almost."

A blade flashed from darkness, a curved short sword that gleamed with unnatural light, materialising from a shadow to my left. I parried desperately with Rurielle's dagger, the metals screeching against each other, sending sparks flying as umbranium met steel.

"Too slow!" Shinji materialised fully behind me, his blade slicing toward my back in a vicious arc.

I dropped and rolled, feeling the wind of his blade as it passed over me, but I wasn't fast enough. Pain blazed across my shoulder as the edge found flesh, cutting through muscle with terrifying ease. Warm wetness soaked into my shirt, spreading rapidly down my back.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 92%]
[PAIN RESISTANCE ACTIVE: DAMAGE FEELING REDUCED BY 90%]

I scrambled to my feet, switching the dagger to my uninjured arm. "First blood to you, then," I acknowledged, feeling the wound already beginning to close slightly, my system's natural regeneration kicking in, the edges of the cut tingling as cells multiplied at accelerated rates.

Shinji's eyes narrowed, assessing my condition with unnatural precision. "You should be in more pain than that."

"Disappointed?" I smirked, circling again, forcing myself not to favour my injured side.

This time I waited for his move, watching his footwork, the subtle tells in his shoulders and eyes that betrayed his intentions. When he struck, a lightning-fast thrust aimed at my throat, blade whistling through the air, I was ready.

I sidestepped, letting his blade slice air, and countered with a direct stab to his side. The umbranium dagger slipped past his still-adapting armour, sinking deep into flesh with a satisfying resistance. I felt it pierce muscle, scrape against bone, and Shinji's shocked gasp told me I'd found a vital spot.

Shinji's eyes widened in genuine shock. He staggered back, looking down at the dark wound, black ichor spilling between his fingers as he clutched it. The edges of the wound smoked faintly, the umbranium's shadow properties reacting with his energies.

"That... that shouldn't be possible," he gasped. "My armour..."

"Umbranium," I explained, advancing as he retreated, pressing my advantage. "Shadow-aligned metal. Special properties. Gift from a friend."

Rage replaced shock on his face, his features contorting into something barely human. "Tricks and trinkets won't save you!"

He slammed his palm against the ground, and reality itself seemed to tear, the air between us distorting, folding like paper being crumpled. Trees bent at impossible angles, rocks floated upward, defying gravity, and the very air became thick and resistant, like trying to move through syrup.

[NULLIFICATION FIELD ACTIVATED]

I pushed back with my anti-magic zone, feeling the strain as our opposing forces clashed. A sphere of normality formed around me, pushing against Shinji's reality distortion. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I maintained the field, my muscles trembling with the effort, slowly forcing back Shinji's warping influence inch by painful inch.

For a moment, we were locked in stalemate, neither able to overcome the other, the boundary between our powers shimmering visibly in the air. Then I saw an opening and lunged, driving Rurielle's dagger toward his chest once more, putting my entire weight behind the thrust.

This time, the blade struck something solid. Shinji's strange armour had thickened, adapting to the umbranium's properties, forming a dark, crystalline barrier over his vital areas. The dagger still penetrated, but barely, only the tip breaking through to draw a thin line of the black ichor.

"Nice try," Shinji snarled, grabbing my extended arm and flinging me bodily across the clearing with inhuman strength.

I crashed into a tree, the impact rattling my bones despite my Pain Resistance. Bark splintered, branches cracked, and my vision blurred momentarily as I slid to the ground, leaving a smear of blood on the trunk behind me.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 81%]

"You see it now, don't you?" Shinji called, stalking toward me, each step measured and predatory. "I adapt. I evolve. Each attack teaches my armour how to counter it. Morphic Armor, poor Daiki's most prized selection."

He was right. Already the umbranium dagger was becoming less effective, each strike meeting more resistance than the last. I needed to change tactics, find a new angle of attack before his armour became impenetrable.

I sprang up, feinting with the dagger before dropping low and sweeping his legs. He jumped over the sweep easily, his body arcing through the air with unnatural grace, but that's what I wanted. While he was airborne, I activated Transform, channelling my will into the ground beneath him, instantly reshaping the earth into jagged stone spikes that shot upward like the teeth of some enormous beast.

Shinji twisted in mid-air with inhuman agility, contorting his body in ways that should have been impossible, but couldn't completely avoid the trap. One spike grazed his leg, tearing through fabric to leave another bleeding wound, the stone coming away black with the black ichor.

A red aura erupted around him as he landed, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. His wounds seemed to fuel him, the bleeding cuts glowing with malevolent energy, making him stronger with each drop of ichor shed.

"Blood Fury," he announced, the aura intensifying around him like a crimson flame. "Taro fought harder than most, but in the end, they all break."

"Is that all you've got?" he roared, the aura intensifying until it cast bloody shadows across the clearing. "I'm just getting started!"

He clapped his hands together, and the sound, amplified a hundredfold, hit me like a physical blow, a concussive wave that threatened to rupture my eardrums. I staggered, ears ringing, momentarily disoriented as the world tilted and swam around me.

"Sonic Projection, Hiroshi's parting gift," Shinji's voice penetrated the ringing in my ears, sounding distant and distorted.

Shinji seized the advantage, closing the distance in an eyeblink. His fist connected with my jaw, enhanced by Blood Fury, sending me sprawling across the ground, tasting copper as my mouth filled with blood.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 73%]

I rolled with the impact, using the momentum to regain my feet, but Shinji was there again, moving with impossible speed. His sword flashed, a gleaming arc of death, and only a desperate parry with Rurielle's dagger saved me from being gutted, the blades meeting with a sound like thunder.

The clash of our blades sent vibrations up my arm, numbing my fingers momentarily. I disengaged, trying to create space, but Shinji pressed his advantage relentlessly. Each strike came faster than the last, forcing me on the defensive, each parry a little slower, each dodge a little narrower.

[BLADE HARMONY ACTIVATED]

My Samurai job responded to the pressure, the ability synchronising me perfectly with my weapon. A calm certainty flowed through me, and suddenly I could move faster, anticipating Shinji's attacks a fraction of a second before they landed. For thirty precious seconds, I matched him blow for blow, our weapons becoming blurs of motion, the clearing filled with the ringing sound of metal on metal.

"Impressive," Shinji growled, frustration evident as his attacks failed to land. "But futile."

The air around us shimmered, reality warping as if viewed through heat haze, and suddenly everything outside a ten-metre radius slowed to a crawl. Leaves hung suspended in mid-air, a startled bird froze mid-flight, and even the dust motes drifting in the rays of moonlight became motionless. Inside the bubble, however, Shinji moved even faster, each movement leaving faint afterimages in the air.

"Time Bubble," he explained, seeing my confusion. "My original gift. Convenient, isn't it?"

He was accelerating, his movements becoming almost too quick to track, a blur of motion that my eyes struggled to follow. My Blade Harmony was still active, but even it couldn't completely compensate for his time-manipulated speed.

His blade slipped past my guard, opening a cut along my ribs, blood immediately soaking through my tattered shirt.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 68%]

I hissed, pivoting away from his follow-up strike. My Arcane Interface Lenses struggled to keep up, warning indicators flashing across my vision as Shinji's attacks came from multiple angles, each one predicted and displayed a fraction of a second before it landed.

He was testing me, I realised. Probing for weaknesses, analysing my responses with unnatural precision. Each exchange taught him more about my fighting style, making his next attack more precise, more difficult to counter.

I needed to be even more unpredictable.

When he next lunged, instead of parrying, I activated Wooden Puppet Skill, channelling my will into the fallen branches from the forest floor. They sprang up between us, animated by my power, forming a crude barrier that momentarily blocked his vision, twisting and writhing like living things.

It was just enough. I rolled past him, slashing at the back of his knee as I went. The dagger connected, but the wound was shallow, his Morphic Armor had thickened there, adapting to protect vulnerable points, the umbranium blade barely penetrating before it was repelled.

"Clever," Shinji acknowledged, spinning to face me again. "But insufficient."

He thrust his hand toward me, and invisible force slammed into my chest, Mind Over Matter again, but stronger this time, fuelled by Blood Fury. I flew backward, crashing through the animated branches and skidding across the ground, leaving a furrow in the earth.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 61%]

The impact knocked Rurielle's dagger from my grip. It clattered away, spinning across the clearing, coming to rest several metres away.

Shinji saw the opportunity and took it. He raised his hand, and the earth beneath the dagger liquefied, swallowing the weapon completely, Reality Manipulation erasing my most effective tool.

"Now what, Andie?" he taunted, advancing slowly. "No more shadow tricks."

I scrambled to my feet, blood trickling from a cut on my forehead, momentarily obscuring my vision. Without the dagger, my options were severely limited.

"I still have a few surprises," I bluffed, backing away while frantically calculating my next move.

Shinji's laugh was cold. "I doubt that."

He raised both hands, and the elements answered his call, fire in his right palm, lightning in his left, the energies crackling and roaring as they built in intensity. "Elemental Mastery, Akira's final contribution to my collection."

The combined attack surged toward me, a devastating fusion of flame and electricity, lighting up the clearing with its destructive brilliance.

[COUNTERSPELL MASTERY ACTIVATED]

I pushed everything I had into countering the spell, feeling the magical structure strain against my nullification attempt. For a moment I thought I'd succeeded, the elements wavered, distorting in mid-air, the flames flickering and the lightning dimming.

Then they erupted with redoubled force, overwhelming my counter. I managed to dodge the worst of it, throwing myself sideways, but the edge of the blast caught me, sending me tumbling across the clearing, my skin blistering where the flames had touched.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 52%]

Pain lanced through my body despite my resistance. My shirt was in tatters, skin blistered and bleeding in multiple places. I struggled to my knees, vision swimming, the world tilting alarmingly around me.

Across the clearing, I spotted Rurielle's dagger, partially exposed where the liquefied earth had solidified again. If I could reach it...

[PATHFINDER'S INTUITION ACTIVATED]

A golden thread appeared in my vision, showing the optimal route to the weapon, weaving through obstacles and danger zones. I gathered myself, preparing to sprint.

Shinji saw my intent. "I don't think so."

The world outside our immediate area slowed to a crawl as he activated Time Bubble again. But this time, Shinji used it differently. He moved with deliberate slowness, stalking toward me while I scrambled toward the dagger, each step a study in predatory confidence.

It was like running through molasses. Every step took immense effort, the time-distorted space working against me, slowing my movements to an agonising crawl. Shinji, meanwhile, appeared perfectly comfortable, his mastery of the Time Bubble complete, allowing him to move normally while I struggled.

"Struggling?" he asked conversationally, easily keeping pace with my desperate crawl. "That's what happens when you face a superior opponent, Andie. You lose."

I reached for the dagger, fingers straining toward the hilt, every muscle burning with effort. Just a little further...

Shinji's boot came down on my outstretched hand, grinding bones against the ground with deliberate cruelty. I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry out despite the pain lancing up my arm, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 48%]

"Pathetic," he spat, kicking the dagger away, sending it spinning across the clearing. "All that effort for nothing."

He lifted his foot, allowing me to withdraw my crushed hand. I cradled it against my chest, feeling bones shift in ways they shouldn't, each movement sending fresh waves of agony up my arm.

"Get up," Shinji demanded. "I want you on your feet when I end this."

Somehow, I managed to stand, swaying slightly as waves of pain washed over me. Blood matted my hair, trickled down my face, soaked through what remained of my clothing. My body was failing, but my will remained unbroken.

But I wasn't done.

As Shinji prepared another spell, gathering energy between his hands, I lunged unexpectedly, ignoring the pain, driving my shoulder into his stomach. The sudden move caught him off guard, interrupting his casting and knocking him back a step.

I pressed the advantage, landing a solid punch with my good hand. It connected with his jaw, snapping his head back, my knuckles splitting on impact.

For a moment, hope flared in my chest, a small victory in a losing battle. Then his eyes met mine, and there wasn't even a mark where I'd struck him, his Morphic Armor having already adapted to my physical attacks.

"My turn," he said quietly.

"Flow State Combat," he announced as his movements became perfectly efficient, every action optimised for maximum effect. "Rio didn't understand how precious it was until I took it from her."

His counterattack was a blur, fists and feet striking with surgical precision, each blow targeting a weakness, a pressure point, a vulnerable joint.

I blocked what I could, but it wasn't nearly enough. Blows rained down, finding every vulnerability, exploiting every weakness, each impact jarring bones and rupturing blood vessels.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 39%]
[HEALTH REDUCED: 32%]
[HEALTH REDUCED: 27%]

I staggered back, blood filling my mouth, the metallic taste overwhelming. Only Pain Resistance kept me conscious, dulling the agony to a manageable roar, allowing me to remain standing despite injuries that should have been crippling.

Through blurred vision, I spotted Rurielle's dagger again, lying several metres away. With a desperate surge of energy, I dove for it, fingers closing around the familiar hilt just as Shinji's boot came down, barely missing my hand.

"Still fighting?" Shinji sounded almost impressed. "You're more resilient than I expected."

I struggled to my feet, the dagger clutched in my right hand. "I made a promise," I managed through blood-stained teeth.

"Ah yes, to Miyako." His smile was cruel. "Don't worry. I'll tell her how bravely you died before I take her for myself."

Something cold and deadly crystallised inside me. With a wordless cry, I charged, putting everything I had into one final attack, channelling every ounce of remaining strength into the blade.

[VOID STRIKE ACTIVATED]

The dagger blurred, infused with spiritual energy that could penetrate defences. For a heartbeat, I thought it would work, the blade was on a perfect trajectory for Shinji's heart, moving too fast for even his enhanced reflexes to track, trailing darkness like a comet's tail.

At the last possible instant, Shinji shifted infinitesimally, a movement so subtle it was barely perceptible. The dagger's tip slid past his vital organs, leaving only a shallow cut across his ribs.

"Probability Nudge," he hissed in my ear. "Mei's final contribution. Luck always favours me now."

His counterattack was immediate and devastating. His sword flashed, opening a deep gash across my chest. At the same moment, his other hand thrust forward, Mind Over Matter slamming me backward with bone-crushing force.

[HEALTH REDUCED: 19%]
[SURVIVAL INSTINCT ACTIVATED: +100% EVASION AND MOVEMENT SPEED FOR 20 SECONDS]

I hit the ground hard, rolling several times before coming to a stop. The dagger spun from my grasp, landing point-down in the earth a few metres away. Blood pooled beneath me, spreading in a dark circle, my vision narrowing to a dark tunnel.

Somehow, I pushed myself up to my knees, then to my feet. Survival Instinct gave me a temporary boost, but I was running on fumes now. My body was failing, wounds too numerous and severe to continue much longer. Each breath was a struggle, each heartbeat a painful reminder of my mortality.

Across the clearing, Shinji watched with cold amusement. His Morphic Armor had fully adapted to the umbranium, its surface now rippling with dark energy that mimicked the dagger's properties, turning my own weapon's strength against me.

"I have to admit, you've impressed me, Andie," he said, casually wiping blood from his blade. "Most opponents don't last this long. But it's over now."

He was right. The dagger could no longer penetrate his armour. My magic couldn't overcome his Reality Manipulation. Every exchange was tipped in his favour by Probability Nudge. And each move I made, he seemed to anticipate before I even thought of it, Battle Omniscience revealing my strategies before I could execute them.

I was outmatched. Outpowered. Outplayed.

Shinji approached slowly, savouring the moment. "Any last words? A message for Miyako perhaps?"

I said nothing, my breath coming in ragged gasps as blood continued to seep from my wounds. My mind raced desperately for some solution, some way out of this impossible situation.

"No? How disappointing." Shinji raised his blade, preparing for the killing blow. "I expected more from you, Andie. Some final defiance. Some heroic speech."

He shook his head in mock sadness. "But I suppose that's the difference between us. You're just an ordinary boy with trash selections who got lucky. And I..." his eyes glowed with malevolent power, the combined strength of all his stolen selections radiating from him in palpable waves, "...I am becoming a god."

As Shinji continued his self-congratulatory monologue, something stirred in the back of my mind. A realisation. A pattern I'd seen in countless games and stories.

The thing about video game bosses is... they always have a second phase.