thief of fate-Chapter 76: Stage Two

"Go."

It was the only word spoken by the official in charge of the second stage of the tournament, and suddenly a wave of rapid motion surged among the competitors. The ground beneath their feet was nothing but a rocky ledge overlooking a dense forest, and in the far distance, the Arenval Mountains appeared... the destination.

Valerian set off with swift steps, but he did not run; instead, he deliberately slowed down.

"I shouldn’t go too far ahead," he muttered to himself before turning his head back, casting a glance at some competitors who rushed forward recklessly.

To his left, he heard a heavy exhale... Zenith. As usual, he said nothing, only fixed his eyes forward and moved with calm steps.

"Zenith!" Valerian called, offering a half-smile, "You don’t mind if I tag along, do you?"

Zenith didn’t reply, but he didn’t object either. That was enough.

Suddenly, Alistair appeared beside them, breathing heavily, with a serious expression on his face. "I’m with you two, and so is Leonard. If you don’t mind."

Behind him, Leonard stepped forward quickly, his eyes constantly scanning the forest edges: "We should veer slightly northeast; the humidity is lower there, which means... fewer creatures born from marshy environments."

Valerian laughed, softly. "You talk like we’re in a classroom, genius."

Leonard ignored the remark, and Zenith simply gazed silently at the trees.

From atop a branch, they spotted her for a moment... Selina, running alone at an incredible speed, not looking back.

"She’s extremely fast," Valerian murmured, more to himself.

But before he could complete his thought, a system screen suddenly appeared in front of him, translucent with a pale blue hue.

[How long do you intend to survive? Honestly, you’re annoyingly boring.]

He pressed his lips together and turned his eyes away from the screen. "That fool again..."

[Do you think your presence here has meaning? The time is near, Valerian, very near.]

He closed the screen firmly, though it wasn’t physical. A heavy feeling washed over him, as if his heart had turned to stone.

"Did you see that?" Alistair asked suddenly.

"See what?"

"Your face... it changed for a moment."

"Nothing. Just nerves."

"You’re always nervous," Leonard muttered. "But you’re not supposed to show those feelings. Not here."

At that moment, the sound of an explosion echoed from the forest ahead.

The four of them looked toward the rising smoke... then heard a scream.

Elsewhere, Rain was running like he was racing the wind.

He laughed loudly, "Is this the tournament? I expected something harder!"

He dodged a stray arrow with a simple lean, then leapt over a cluster of thorns, continuing his rapid advance.

He was racing himself no one beside him, no one watching.

"Let them see my name at the top... Rain Lockard, the first, the only, the star."

Ahead, a massive creature burst from the ground, its body covered in mud and red eyes glowing, but he didn’t stop.

He leapt onto it, drove his sword into its neck, then spun around laughing.

"Too easy!"

But he didn’t see the people behind him, nor did he hear the sharp whistling until it was too late.

Elsewhere, Claire had vanished from sight entirely.

No one saw where she went, no one heard her voice.

But she was there, moving through the trees, so light she left no trace.

"Chaos distracts everyone... perfect," she thought.

From the beginning, her plan was to remain unseen. No obstacles. Just progress.

She passed by a group of competitors fighting a serpent-like creature with three heads. She didn’t intervene.

"It’s not my job to be the savior."

Valerian’s Group

The creature that appeared was of a kind they hadn’t expected: its body like a deformed corpse, half-ghoul head, and long mismatched limbs.

"A hybrid... made of several beings," Leonard said.

Alistair drew his spear, narrowing his eyes.

Zenith didn’t wait. He lunged like an arrow, struck the creature with a force that broke its bones, then drew his sword and plunged it into its torso.

But the creature didn’t die—it screamed with a blast that echoed around them.

Valerian turned immediately, stabbed it in its remaining eye from behind, and shouted: "Back off!"

Alistair pulled Leonard, and the ground exploded beneath them, throwing them backward.

Valerian crashed into a tree trunk, and the screen appeared again.

[Ah... look at you, lying there like a puppet. Is this your competition or a delayed funeral?]

"Shut up..."

[You won’t live long.]

"I said shut up!" he screamed internally, but the entity laughed.

He closed the screen again and stood up, groaning.

"Are you all okay?" he asked the others.

Alistair got up first, then helped Leonard, whose glasses were cracked.

"Creatures like this aren’t random," Leonard said. "There’s a trap..."

"I think we know that," Valerian replied, looking around. "Where did Zenith go?"

But there was no trace.

"Gone, as always."

Elsewhere, Zenith had made his way into a darker part of the forest,

He knelt, looking at a faint energy trace on the ground.

"They’re here..." he whispered softly.

Then he drew his sword again, preparing for what was coming.

In another area, Selina ran through a deadly silence.

Each time she faced a monster, she crushed it instantly and kept running.

But her mind wasn’t clear.

"Why did I do this to myself? Why alone?"

Though she chose solitude, the voice of loneliness began creeping in.

She saw a wolf moving nearby, turned quickly, but nothing was there.

"Hallucinations? Or is someone following me?"

She kept running... but she began to feel something watching her, something cold and invisible.

...

Valerian and the others decided to pause for a moment. They sat near a small stream, trying to catch their breath.

"What the hell is this place?" Alistair muttered.

Valerian looked at the flowing water, his blurred reflection on its surface.

"Maybe this will lead us somewhere."

"And are we staying?" Leonard asked, his tone not sarcastic for once.

"I don’t know," Valerian replied, then lifted his eyes to the sky, wondering:

"How many of us will actually reach Arenval?"

But before anyone could answer, they heard a scream in the distance... a scream they recognized.

"What was that!" Alistair said.

"Oh no..." Valerian muttered, standing up.

The four ran without saying a word. The scream had been loud, filled with pain.

They made their way through hanging branches, beneath leaves wilting from a strange heat, until they reached the edge of a small hill... and stopped.

The scene before them was a nightmare. An entire section of the forest had vanished no trees, no life, just dark ash covering the ground like a flame-born hurricane had passed through. Some distant trees still glowed with faint flames twisting along their trunks.

Amidst the destruction... stood Rain.

His back to them, head slightly tilted, shoulders trembling.

"Is he... crying?" Alistair asked in a low voice.

But as soon as they stepped closer, Rain slowly turned around, with a wide smile on his face... and laughed.

A long, almost mad laugh.

"Oh, it’s you," he said after calming down, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "You’re late."

Valerian stepped forward, cautiously: "What happened here?"

"What do you mean?" Rain replied, raising his arms as if displaying his artwork. "I was just having fun. And... maybe I overdid it a little."

Alistair looked around, jaw dropped: "All this... because of you?"

"Don’t be dramatic," Rain said casually. "They were a bunch of annoyances. I didn’t like the way they looked at me."

Leonard muttered: "But... there’s no trace... no bodies, no remains..."

"Exactly." Rain said with a broader smile. "That’s why I love this kind of attack. Clean, effective, and no one complains afterward."

Valerian clenched his fist but said nothing.

Rain turned to him, eyes glinting with something unfamiliar.

"You’re looking at me like you don’t know who I am. Valerian... we’re not the type to show mercy to anyone."

Valerian didn’t respond, only stared at him, unmoving.

Rain took a step closer, then leaned slightly as if to whisper, but said loud enough for everyone to hear:

"But since you’re with them... I’ll be nice today. I won’t do anything to you."

He turned his back and added with a hint of mockery in his voice: "Consider it a gift from the heart."

Then he dashed off, so fast he almost left a trail of sparks behind him.

The four remained standing, surrounded by ash, silent.

Alistair said after a moment, "He’s... dangerous."

Leonard nodded. "Yeah. More than we thought."

The ash was still hanging in the air when the four finally moved away from the scorched arena. No one spoke for several steps, until Alistair suddenly said, his voice tense:

"I know he has a bad reputation... but was it really necessary to do that?"

Leonard added, placing a hand on his nose as if the smell still haunted him: "He could’ve beaten them easily. Why... complete annihilation?"

Zenith didn’t speak, as usual, but his sideways glance at Valerian said enough.

Valerian didn’t look at them. He stared into the horizon, where Raine had disappeared, then said in a quiet but firm voice:

"You don’t know him like I do."

Alistair muttered, "But... he’s your brother, isn’t he?"

Valerian shook his head and mumbled, "Yeah. My brother... is incredibly strong."

He paused for a moment, then continued without looking at them:

"But between me and him... there are family matters. None of your concern."

His tone was calm, but held a delicate harshness, as if a glass wall had risen between him and the others.

And no one asked anything further.