Awakening: I Ascend Alone-Chapter 40: Inevitable Clash

Death was right in front of Melvin.

In that brief, fragile moment, his mind raced desperately, searching for a way out. Any way at all.

He tried to calculate what the situation could give, to break it down like he always did. If he ducked, the talons were right beneath his face and were going to tear through his face. If he also decided to sidestep, it wouldn’t matter still.

The way the Lycan angled its attack, both of his sides were already covered. There was no gap, no opening, or even a possible means of escape.

A bitter thought slipped through Melvin’s mind as a result.

’If only my affinity had granted me a Time Reversal or Time Stop ability, then maybe... just maybe this wouldn’t have to be my end.’

His lips parted slightly as a quiet curse escaped under his breath. And then, with nothing left to try, Melvin did the only thing possible he could.

He closed his eyes and waited for the pain. He waited for the tearing. For the moment his head would hit the snow. Unfortunately... or rather, fortunately enough, that moment never came.

Instead, there was silence. A strange kind of silence that didn’t feel natural.

All around him, the wind had stopped. The snow, too, stopped drifting. Even the air itself felt like it had gone still.

For a brief second, it was as though the world had paused but not entirely. It was something Melvin could understand, at least not in that moment. But he knew something was wrong.

Or perhaps somehow... something interfered to save him.

Meanwhile, Keth had moved.

The moment she shouted for Melvin not to kill the creature, she hadn’t remained standing where she was. She had already started moving, her body cutting through the snow with a speed that didn’t match her earlier state at all. Shocking Aurex more, who could only gape with mouth ajar as everything unfolded.

But even that speed alone shouldn’t have been enough.

And yet... somehow, she made it.

Under her watchful eye as an onlooker, she had witnessed time had slowed around Melvin and the Lycan – as though both of them were caught in a suspended instant, frozen just before death or victory could do them part.

She hadn’t been the only one who noticed this sudden phenomenon that seemed to have established a certain force field around Melvin and the Lycan. From where he stood, Aurex watched the event, his mouth even turning ajar the more.

It was, however, all thanks to this strange phenomenon, which didn’t affect Keth, that Melvin was still able to live this day.

The force field it created had allowed her to move through it naturally, as though the moment itself had bent to let her pass.

In her hands was a rapier.

It was slender and elegant. Its blade was thin and impossibly straight, gleaming faintly even in the dull light of the snow-covered world. The guard curved protectively around her grip, simple in design but refined, and the tip looked sharp enough to pierce through anything.

It simply was made for thrusting.

But Keth didn’t just only thrust in that moment. With both hands firm on the hilt, she stepped in and pierced the space directly beneath the Lycan’s wings, then did what was unimaginable in the same motion.

She had swung the blade upward, cutting across the creature’s wings in one smooth, practiced motion. The blade passed through flesh and bone as though they were nothing.

And inevitably, the wings separated.

And only then did the world around Melvin and the Lycan resume. Everything returned to normal. Well, not absolutely normal... but as things should have been so far.

The Lycan roared as its massive body crashed into the snow, its severed wings falling beside it in heavy thuds. Blood stained the white ground almost instantly, spreading beneath it like ink.

But it didn’t guarantee the fall of the Lycan. Instead, the massive creature staggered for a moment... then steadied itself. Further thinking it was best to retreat for a while, it performed a thunderous leap backward at the same time.

However, its attention now had shifted from Melvin... to Keth. Hence, once it was ready again, it lunged at her.

The girl, too, reciprocated the attack.

***

"Melvin!"

Aurex’s voice broke through everything.

"Melvin! Open your eyes!"

Melvin blinked, his lashes fluttering as he slowly opened his eyes.

He was... alive.

For a moment, he just stayed there, trying to process it. Trying to process what had happened in the fleeting moment that passed.

"How did you do that?" Aurex asked, already moving closer, his voice filled with disbelief. "That was your ability, right?"

Melvin frowned, still dazed. ’What does he mean by asking me how I did it? How is it even that I’m still alive?’

It wasn’t like the purple-eyed boy was not grateful and always wished to be alive among the living. It was just that, whatever had happened... wait.

"What are you talking about? What happened?"

Whatever explanation Aurex was hoping for died immediately. And also, whatever details Melvin needed to know also didn’t matter now. All because Melvin’s attention had already been drawn to her. To Keth.

She had slid to a stop not too far away, her rapier still in hand, her posture steady despite everything. Across from her, the Lycan crouched low, its body tense, ready to lunge again despite its injuries.

Melvin’s expression instantly darkened.

Without another word, he dashed forward and summoned his weapon. Aftertick left the neck of the Lycan, where it had been dangling, and snapped back into his hand, the whip coiling loosely as he stepped forward.

Soon, speed materialized in him as he stepped past Keth, who, once again, pleaded with that sweet voice of hers.

"Please... don’t kill it," she said again.

However, something about that voice no longer sounded sweet in Melvin’s ears... but instead annoyed him.

No. More than that, it irritated him the most.

After everything that had just happened... after nearly dying at the hands of that merciless Lycan, she was still begging for its life? Just what was the Lycan to her? Why does its life matter?

Well, despite the unanswered questions, none of that seemed to matter to him anymore. He had a momentary goal, and that was to end the creature’s life.

His eyes flickered with a sharp purple glow, something colder settling behind them. He paid no attention to Keth’s plea and, instead, used his [Fixed Point] to close the distance instantly, appearing at the Lycan’s side as the whip lashed out toward its neck.

Either Melvin had miscalculated this attack, or the creature had reacted just as fast. Whatever the case may be, the Lycan leaped high into the air, avoiding the strike completely.

Melvin didn’t stop, however. He planted his foot on the snow and adjusted immediately. Dashing almost at the same time toward the Lycan, he then slid across the snow, his body lowering as he positioned himself beneath it.

Then the whip shortened in his hand and snapped.

The strike tore clean through the Lycan’s front legs midair, severing them in a single motion.

The beast crashed down, losing its balance as it unknowingly turned its back toward Melvin, who had now halted behind it. But had also moved again.

Taking the current position of the Lycan to his advantage, Melvin dashed forward before the Lycan could move, his whip cutting through its back limbs just as effortlessly.

Now crippled, the creature collapsed fully into the snow.

"Die, bastard!"

The boy leaped, front-somersaulting into a forward spin as his whip elongated, and he snapped it for that one final strike. That strike that should inevitably end the Lycan’s life by severing its neck.

But just as the whip came down, a rapier blade intercepted.

The rapier collided with Aftertick, forcing it downward and disrupting his motion completely. The impact threw off his balance midair, sending him crashing face-first into the snow.

For a moment, he remained static on the snow, unmoving.

Then slowly... he pushed himself up.

Anger burned through him now. In his mind, he continuously questioned the audacity of whoever had dared to interrupt his victory.

Aftertick snapped back into his left hand as he lifted his head.

And saw her.

"I like your ability," Keth said, standing as calm as ever, her sword now in hand. "It was cool back there."

"You... again?" he muttered, his voice low.

The girl remained silent for a while and then responded with a simple but calm tone.

"I said not to kill it."

As she made this reply, she created a significant distance between her and Melvin. Because as it turned out, something inevitable was bound to happen.

Yes, that was right.

Whatever restraint the boy had left... was gone. Melvin didn’t even need to formulate an argument with her like he could have done under normal circumstances.

It was all because [Hollow] had, for some reason, taken over him completely.

Hence, he lunged decisively, his movement so far on the snowy land.

"If that’s what you want..." Keth murmured, adjusting her grip as she stepped forward to meet him. "...then so be it."

It seemed, indeed, that there was going to be an inevitable clash between Keth and Melvin.