"Stepping out of Fate's scope?"
Kaito muttered, staring at his golden screen that was still flashing red. He blinked a few times, wiped his face with his hand, and sighed audibly, as if dealing with an annoying bug that simply refused to die.
"Well, this is annoying. It seems the virus you carry is more complex than what the Administration told me," Kaito said in a cold tone, slipping his hand back into his pocket. "But don't get full of yourself. If direct commands won't work because of this ridiculous 'leak', I'll just have to destroy you the traditional way."
Above Kaito's head, the words on the golden screen changed:
[Activating Divine Tool: Blade of Inevitability.]
Out of the void, a long, slender sword formed in Kaito's hand. It wasn't a metallic blade, but one made entirely of condensed golden light. The sword emitted neither heat nor mana; instead, it radiated an eerie feeling of "The End".
"This sword cuts the 'result', not the 'cause'," Kaito said, lazily waving the blade. "A single, tiny scratch from it means your death becomes written fact. Let's see if your void can erase that."
Akira didn't wait for any more explanations.
The ground exploded beneath his feet. Thanks to his physical stats, which exceeded human limits by 1200%, and supported by the "Void Raiment", Akira wasn't just running; he was erasing the distance between them.
Kaito coldly raised his golden sword, and the moment Akira closed in, he swung it towards the young man's neck.
It was an incredibly fast strike, but for Akira—who was used to dodging Shion's attacks under ten times normal gravity—it was as clear as daylight.
Akira tilted his body a few millimeters to the left, evading the golden blade, and thrust his black dagger straight at Kaito's heart.
But...
Clang!
Akira's dagger collided with an invisible barrier just an inch away from Kaito's chest. The golden screen flashed:
[Fate Command: Inevitable Defense. Probability: 100%.]
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Kaito laughed mockingly, aiming a swift kick at Akira's knee. "You can't touch me!"
But Akira didn't back down.
Instead, he widened his left eye (the Void Perception Eye) to its absolute limit. The gray world around him began to shift. He was no longer just seeing a battlefield; he was beginning to see the world the way Kaito did.
He saw "threads."
Countless fine, golden threads descended from the golden screen, connecting to Kaito's body and sword. Other threads extended towards Akira's body, attempting to restrict his movements or impose "Fate" upon him, but the black aura leaking from Akira melted those threads the moment they touched him.
"So this is your secret..." Akira whispered, his voice carrying a lethal chill. "You don't have a real defense. Your system weaves a thread of 'probabilities' at the last possible second to block the attack."
"What are you babbling about—?"
Before Kaito could finish his sentence, Akira made a suicidal move.
Instead of retreating to get away from the golden sword Kaito was preparing to swing again, Akira lunged straight forward.
The golden blade pierced Akira's right shoulder.
"I touched you!" Kaito shouted in triumph. "You're done! The result is now—!"
But Kaito froze.
Akira didn't die. He didn't fall.
The shattered blue system in Akira's mind released one final flash:
[Passive Activation: Memory of Pain. Absorbing energy of inevitability... Merging with dark leak...]
[Fate Resistance +1]
Akira endured the pain that was tearing at his soul, using the golden blade lodged in his shoulder as an anchor to pull himself closer to Kaito's shocked face.
With his left eye blazing blue, Akira pinpointed the thick golden thread linking Kaito's invisible barrier to the golden screen above his head.
Akira raised his black dagger, which was now completely enveloped in the black aura leaking from the 'Throne of the Void'.
"The Void..." Akira roared. "...does not recognize written endings!"
He brought the dagger down, not at Kaito's body, but at the empty space above his shoulder.
Srrrippp!
The sound of something immaterial tearing echoed through the valley. Akira had cut the "Thread of Fate".
The invisible barrier around Kaito shattered like fragile glass.
Seizing the moment, Akira unleashed a left punch charged with all the brute strength he had gained in the Labyrinth, aiming straight for Kaito's face.
BAM!
Kaito flew through the air, the golden sword vanishing from his hand. He tumbled across the rocky ground multiple times before coming to a halt—stunned, shocked, and covered in dust.
In the sky, Diablo placed a hand over his face, his shoulders shaking as he let out a silent, demonic laugh, his eyes gleaming with indescribable amusement.
"Kufufufu... He severed causality with a punch. What a fascinating boy!"
On the ground, Kaito slowly got up. He was breathing heavily.
He raised a trembling hand and pressed it to his left cheek. When he looked at his fingers... he saw blood.
His own blood.
Kaito's eyes widened, and the golden screen above his head began to flash with frantic red warnings.
[Warning: Physical Damage Detected!]
[Warning: Target Entity Violating System Laws!]
"You..." Kaito whispered. His arrogant voice suddenly shifted into a tone saturated with terrifying rage and dark malice. "You... made me bleed? I, the chosen of the Administration... trash like you made me bleed?!"
Akira pulled the phantom golden blade from his shoulder and let it fade into thin air. He stood his ground, his black dagger dripping with the darkness of the void.
"Fate bleeds just like humans do, Kaito. And now... let's see which one of us will erase the other from this story."