Chronicles of Forgotten Extra-Chapter 309: Alden vs Skullcrusher.

Isn’t she... Skullcrusher?

The realization struck Alden in an instant.

So that was it.

The mysterious girl in front of him was the same one he had fought in the black market, the one he had defeated back then for money. She had been only at Apprentice Rank at the time and now she stood at Intermediate Adept Rank.

Strong... but not strong enough.

What made it ironic was that back then, Alden had been weaker than her and now, he had already grown far beyond her level.

Even without knowing anything else about her, Alden was sure of one thing, she wasn’t his age which meant she had cheated her way into the first year and that also explained Ryou.

Maybe... a third-year level, or even higher.

Alden’s eyes narrowed.

To directly enter the first year with such power... She definitely has a powerful family backing her.

As Alden was lost in his thoughts, Skullcrusher moved. She lunged forward without hesitation, her daggers flashing as her body ignited in explosive flames.

One strike came straight for his face.

Alden didn’t even need to activate his Spirit Domain to sense such an obvious attack as he merely tilted his head slightly, letting the attack pass by harmlessly.

To him, the movement was slow and predictable.

He could see countless openings he could exploit and countless ways to end it instantly... but he didn’t as ending it too soon would be boring.

"Still as slimy as ever, huh?" Anna muttered. "But that’s exactly why you are so charming."

Despite her playful tone, a frown appeared onto her face when she saw how effortlessly he had dodged.

She jumped back immediately and hurled two daggers toward him.

The daggers cut through the air, blazing toward his face as Alden simply raised his sheathed sword and tapped them aside with ease.

Clang.

He had no intention of actually drawing his sword for such a battle.

The world already wanted to see his strength, so why should he bother hiding it?

And it wasn’t like his enemies would magically decrease just because he decided to hold back.

Anna bit her lips in frustration and Alden’s slight smirk only made it worse.

"What happened?" He taunted calmly. "Didn’t get time to plant your traps like last time?"

He could still remember how she had tried using those hidden explosives and a charm skill when she fought him back in black market.

Even now she was using deception.

She thought her irritated expression was fooling him and that he hadn’t noticed but Alden had already sensed the daggers he had deflected earlier were moving through the air again, aiming straight for the back of his head as if pulled by an invisible thread.

He simply tapped the ground lightly with his foot as his shadow rose unnaturally, stretching upward and catching the dagger mid-air before it could even draw a single drop of blood.

"Woah... did you see that...?"

"How is he bullying that poor girl?"

"He is so cruel."

"I even saw him beating a guy earlier in a café. I was sitting right behind their table... and the reason? He said the guy’s face was annoying."

"I heard he is a playboy too who plays with the hearts of maidens and that’s why the Draven family disowned him."

Alden’s platform was close enough to the audience’s stands that the hushed whispers of distorted rumors mixed with exaggerated truths and outright lies reached his ears. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

...Seriously.

He let out a quiet sigh.

To them, it never mattered whether he was winning or losing. Whether he was right or wrong. They just wanted something entertaining to talk about. Not that Alden cared about the opinions of nobodies like them...

But still, his eyes shifted toward the direction where the whispers were the loudest. A group of boys were huddled together, clearly the source.

He shot them a single cold glare and that was enough as they immediately shut their mouths and turned their heads away, pretending like they hadn’t been talking at all.

"Tsk."

But just as he was looking toward those boys, a particular man caught his eye. Alden could feel the gaze even before he fully saw him.

There was an unnaturally creepy mask on the man’s face, a wide smile permanently carved into it and something about it sent a chill straight down Alden’s spine.

Their gazes met and then the man waved at him in childish excitement.

Alden’s brows twitched.

Who the fuck is that guy...?

The unease crawled under his skin for reasons he couldn’t explain. That wasn’t the gaze of a spectator, it was the gaze of something watching prey but before he could focus any further, Anna attacked again.

Another explosive strike rushed toward him as Alden’s eyes snapped away for just a moment as he dodged the attack smoothly and when he looked back toward the audience stands, the man was gone without a trace as if he had never been there at all.

Was he one of the subordinates of Jeremy...?

Or was he someone else entirely?

In any case, Alden was sure, this wasn’t going to be the last time he was going to meet him.

With that, he also decided to end the battle.

Anna came lunging toward him and at the same time, twenty different daggers shot toward him from every direction, their trajectories perfectly layered as her body followed behind them, wrapped in explosive flames.

Alden quickly moved his eyes in all directions as a trajectory was formed in his mind. He moved swiftly dodging what could be dodged while deflecting what couldn’t with minimal movement.

By the time, Anna was already in front of him with her dagger but as her strike connected with Alden’s body, it vanished like mist as he had used Flickering steps to create an afterimage.

"Give up."

Anna’s eyes widened as before she could even turn, Alden was already behind her, his sheath resting against her neck as a clear warning.

She froze and then let out a bitter laugh.

She had always been alone except for Ryou, who had followed her like a shadow since childhood. She was never allowed to attend school or an academy.

Never even allowed freedom under the name of protection until one night, she sneaked into the black market... and discovered the thrill of battle.

She returned again and again just to experience the same thrill again.

But even that became pointless when she defeated countless of her ranks and stood undefeated...

... until a boy younger than her and weaker in rank... defeated her.

She had wanted to defeat him not out of hatred but because for the first time, she had found someone close to her age who could stand against her.... Someone whose strength didn’t feel like an unreachable monster like Ryou’s.

But now... even that hope felt fragile because the boy in front of her might have been a real monster all along.

"I trained hard, you know." She muttered quietly. "Thinking that when I meet you again... I could defeat you."

She clenched her fists.

"But it seems the gap has only widened even more."

She hung her head low before raising her hands in resignation.

"I give up." She declared in a flat tone.

The referee responded immediately.

"Student Anna has resigned, the winner is Alden."

The crowd erupted into screams and cheers but Anna remained still.

All the noise felt distant, meaningless because what weighed on her was the realization of how pointless and one-sided her desire to battle him had been.

Alden sheathed his weapon calmly.

"It was a good battle, Skullcrusher."

His voice was calm.

With those words, he turned around and walked out of the arena, leaving behind the roaring crowd and a girl who finally understood how far the sky really was.