The shot didn't vanish into distortion this time.
Aarav felt the recoil travel up his arm as the bullet cut through the Rift Walker's shifting form and struck its raised hand. The impact echoed sharply, a clean, physical sound that didn't belong to something that had been phasing moments ago.
The glitching around that limb collapsed.
Not completely but just the hand.
It became real. Solid.
The creature's arm jerked backward under the force, and a fractured, unnatural screech tore through the air as if something fundamental had been disrupted.
For a brief moment, the battlefield changed.
"It hit! Fuck, It actually hit it.!" Someone said it in disbelief.
Voices rose, sharp with disbelief and relief. Even Rohan let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh as he tightened his grip on his shield.
"Finally… something that works." Rohan said it with a faint smile.
Aarav didn't share the relief. His gaze stayed fixed on the monster, on the hand that no longer flickered like the rest of its body.
That part is real now.
Which meant it could be hit again.
Which meant....?
The Rift Walker moved.
The shift was immediate and violent. Its body no longer followed the broken rhythm Aarav had been tracking. The delayed overlaps, the predictable distortion before each strike and everything collapsed into something far more erratic.
The creature didn't hesitate.
It didn't repeat.
It didn't follow anything.
Aarav felt the realization settle heavily in his chest as his thoughts tried to catch up.
The pattern… it's gone.
The Rift Walker turned towards him with unnatural precision, its fractured form aligning just enough for its intent to become clear.
It had chosen him.
Aarav reacted a fraction too late.
The creature closed the distance in an instant, its solid hand tearing through the space where he had been standing. Aarav threw himself sideways, his shoulder hitting the ground hard as the impact behind him shattered concrete into jagged fragments.
Dust filled the air, scraping against his throat as he pushed himself back up.
"It's targeting Aarav!"
"Keep it away from him!", Rohan screamed and his voice echoed through the battlefield.
The second attack came faster than the first, and this time Aarav felt the difference clearly. There was no delay to read, no distortion to predict. The strike came with immediate intent, forcing him to step back blindly rather than strategically.
His mind searched for the pattern it had relied on until now.
There was nothing to find.
For the first time since the game began, Aarav didn't have an answer.
The Rift Walker lunged again, its movements breaking every expectation his instincts tried to form. Aarav shifted his weight, trying to anticipate something...anything...but the attack came from an angle that hadn't existed a moment ago.
He couldn't read it.
He couldn't predict it.
He couldn't win like this.
Then something collided with the attack before it could reach him.
Rohan.
The impact slammed into him instead, forcing him back as his shield absorbed the worst of it. The sound rang out like metal cracking under pressure, his boots grinding against the concrete as he struggled to hold his ground.
"Stay behind me!" Rohan shouted, his voice rough but steady despite the strain. "Don't try to play smart with something that doesn't follow rules!"
He didn't turn around, didn't check if Aarav listened. He just planted himself there, between the monster and the only person who could actually damage it.
"Everyone else!" Rohan barked, raising his voice over the chaos. "Protect Aarav! If he goes down, we're done!"
The remaining players moved without hesitation this time. Fear still lingered in their movements, but it no longer froze them. They repositioned, forming a loose barrier, buying Aarav space even as they knew how fragile it was.
"Archers," Aarav called out, forcing control back into his voice, "focus on the arm. Don't waste shots anywhere else."
Arrows flew in response, slicing through the air in quick succession. A few found their mark, striking the creature's distorted body, but the effect was minimal. The damage didn't hold the same weight as the bullet. The glitching swallowed most of the impact, leaving the Rift Walker largely unaffected.
Only the injured arm remained stable.
Only that part mattered.
"That's not enough…" Aarav muttered under his breath, frustration tightening his grip on the gun.
The Rift Walker surged forward again, tearing through the frontline with increasing aggression. One player tried to intercept and was thrown aside before he could even react. Another attempted to block and failed completely, his weapon snapping under the force.
Rohan absorbed the next hit.
Then another.
Each impact drove him back a step further, his stance lowering, his shield dipping slightly more every time he raised it again. His breathing grew heavier, each inhale sharper than the last, but he refused to give ground completely.
"Come on," Rohan muttered through clenched teeth, forcing his arms to hold steady. "You're not getting through us easily."
The Rift Walker answered with a strike that broke his balance entirely.
Rohan's body lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall behind him. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs, pain spreading through his back as he dropped to one knee.
Dust scattered around him.
His grip tightened.
Mana…
The number was there, faint but undeniable.
2.
That was all he had left.
One activation.
One chance to hold everything together.
Across the battlefield, Aarav stepped back again, his breathing uneven now. The gun in his hand felt heavier than before, not because of its weight, but because of what it demanded from him.
His mana was nearly gone.
Every shot now wasn't just a decision, it was a risk.
The Rift Walker advanced.
No one stood in its way this time.
It moved directly toward Aarav, its distorted body tearing through space without resistance.
Aarav froze for a fraction of a second. Not out of fear, but because there was nothing left to calculate.
No pattern.
No timing.
No opening.
Just inevitability.
The creature raised its injured hand, the only part of it that had become fully real, and brought it down toward his chest.
The motion was clean.
Direct. Final.
The hand halted inches from Aarav's chest.
Not out of mercy. Not due to interruption.
But because its attention had been forcibly redirected.
Aarav's breath caught as the space between them held, tension snapping tight in that single moment.
A voice broke through it.
Strained.
Unsteady.
But still standing.
"Hey… don't ignore me."
Rohan.
He had pushed himself up again, his body barely responding as he forced it to move. Blood ran down his face, his vision already starting to blur, but his eyes remained locked on the Rift Walker.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
ACTIVE SKILL ACTIVATED: BAIT
The effect took hold instantly.
The Rift Walker's focus snapped away from Aarav and redirected toward Rohan, its aggression locking onto him once more.
The injured arm is now real. So, it responded to the pull.
Rohan let out a weak, breathless laugh as he steadied himself.
"Yeah… that's right."
The boost surged through his body, just enough to keep him standing, just enough to hold the line one last time. But the strain was immediate, pressing down on him from the inside.
His vision darkened at the edges.
His breathing faltered.
Mana critical.
He stepped forward anyway.
The Rift Walker lunged.
Rohan raised his shield, bracing for impact as the force crashed into him with overwhelming intensity. His arms shook violently under the pressure, his legs nearly giving out, but he held for that one moment longer.
"Don't just stand there…" he forced out, his voice breaking as he struggled to stay conscious. "Give him… a chance…"
Another hit followed.
This one drove him down completely.
He tried to rise again, his body responding slower than before, his strength fading faster than he could recover it.
The battlefield blurred.
Sound dulled.
Everything felt distant.
Through it all, he caught one last glimpse of Aarav.
Still standing.
Still thinking.
Still searching for a way.
A faint smile formed on his lips.
"Don't miss… I'm leaving it to you..."
His body finally gave in.
The strength left his limbs.
And the world faded to black.
Rohan body reached the ground. THUD...
Aarav stood alone again.
The Rift Walker turned back toward him, its form unstable, its movements unpredictable, its intent unchanged.
There was still no pattern.
No structure.
No way to approach it the way he always had.
But this time, Aarav didn't look for one.
His grip tightened around the gun as he forced his breathing to steady.
If patterns didn't exist, then he would have to create the moment himself.
And this time, he couldn't afford to fail.