Price of winning, the price of losing

The knight saw.

The knight felt.

The knight knew.

Within Alden's hand was something resembling a blade that had been made from energy. This took the knight by surprise. As far as he knew, it was impossible to do such with energy, at least without being a grandmaster...

However, the knight was not bothered. The boy would do nothing.

Isaac swung the blade, and it seemed sure to hit its target. He felt sure.

But then he felt something. A sharp pain in his abdomen.

Isaac immediately flew back a distance, before holding a hand over where he had been wounded. This was proving to be too difficult.

"My surprise attack failed..." Alden felt himself wheeze with exhaustion. He would soon lose the cheat code. He had to win.

"You have no strength, and you have no honor!" The knight said, as he leisurely walked towards Alden.

"What makes you believe that?" Alden muttered, trying to put time until he thought up something.

"You humans... Such a disgusting race. You kill, steal, and betray one another. You err and err, yet every time you do not hesitate to take the moral high ground! This is right. That is right... I dislike what the vampire king stands for, but if there is one thing I agree with him about, it is taking the world from your creatures. "

Alden's eyes widened. He let out a sigh.

" I agree. "

" What?"

" I agree. It's true the world would be a better place without us but... "

Alden smiled, his teeth showing.

" Frankly I don't care. The earth wasn't made to be preserved. It was made to be used. What is used, grows inferior with time. Take an armor, it might be brand new at the time of purchase but after excessive use, it'll grow old. So, can we decide that the armor be taken away from all the knights so that they stay new? Of course not you fool!"

The knight furrowed his brow. It looked like he had gotten a little upset. However, the expression disappeared just as soon as it appeared. Not saying a word, the knight sped toward Alden.

Instead of worrying, Alden smiled.

[SKILL GENERATE (lv??) ACTIVATED]

[WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF THE SKILL BEING GENERATED]

"It multiplies one's power."

~~~

Prince could do nothing but stand by and watch anxiously as Alden fought this amazingly powerful foe. He watched Alden struggle against the knight, and he was filled with awe.

"If this is how Alden is struggling, then what about Sarah Foster? She should be going to the boss? Did she even reach the boss?"

Prince did not have the time to ponder this because, in the next second, he heard the sound of a large impact behind him.

BOOM!

The ground before his feet cracked. Prince spun around, his daggers already equipped. When he saw the opponent before him, he knew he was in trouble.

He could never defeat an A-class.

~~~

[SKILL: POWER AMPLIFIER GENERATED!]

[USER HAS USED UP CONSUMABLE SKILL]

[POWER AMPLIFIER ACTIVATED]

Again, Alden felt the sweet taste of power. It was intoxicating. With every tiny movement, he could feel the energy course through his veins like fish through the sea.

Alden watched the elf approach. Then he realized, he could see. The elf was not too fast for his eyes. The elf knight swung his sword, and Alden ducked. Alden immediately aimed a punch at the monster's abdomen, but the knight was fast to jump away.

Alden dashed forward. He began throwing punch after punch, but the Elf avoided every one of them. Alden grew frustrated as time passed. It was clear he was still not strong enough. The elf was still ahead of him even though he had CHEAT CODE and POWER AIMPLIFIER.

Alden grew more impatient with each passing second. This was dragging on for far too long. How could he win? How could he beat this... this genius of a monster? Every punch, every kick, each attack left an unanswered question. A question that gnawed at Alden's mind until he made a mistake. He had thrown a single punch, which was too careless. He left behind a huge opening, and he paid dearly.

With a practiced grace, the knight thrust his sword forward. It pierced through Alden's skin, about to pierce his heart too.

Alden glitched away.

He panted and wondered how he could outsmart the elf and win. He found no way. He had tried to gauge the elf's fighting style to search for openings, but there was nothing. His sword skills were unreal, and only Alden's unique abilities could help him stay alive until now. Alden continued to think, until...

He heard the Prince's shout, it was a shout full of pain and agony. Alden's eyes widened, he realized that though he hadn't noticed. His dragon had been killed.

"That doesn't look good..." Immediately, Alden activated a glitch. he found himself back to where he had killed the serpent, and a good distance away from the elf.

Then he saw it.

Prince's mangled, destroyed corpse. It was a pitiful state, blood poured out from his arm sockets, which had no arms. A single leg remained, the other seemed to have been torn off. Gruesome wounds covered his body, each one more ugly than the last one. Alden was frozen into place, as he took in the scenes.

He felt numb. Empty. It was like his body had switched off all his emotions, it was like it knew that his anger, shock, and horror would make him explode. It would be too much.

He heard a fierce war cry, and his eyes landed on a tall creature. It looked like a wolf but with a humanoid body. Its eyes were pitch black, and its hands had claws that were smeared with blood.

"You..."

It began to leak through. A drop at first.

"You..."

Then it began to break through, and the pressure built.

"How dare you..."

It all exploded.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO HIM!"

Alden's pupils disappeared. A fearsome, raging energy exploded forth from his body. A loud thunder-like sound filled the atmosphere, and powerful gusts of wind blew from the sheer force of his power.

Alden's muscles bulged, and his veins showed. His armor cracked. His hair flew in the sky, and it would switch to red with every occasional second. Alden was letting out a long, piercing shout. It was a shout that let loose all of his emotions. His rage, his anger and fury.

He didn't know why he felt that way. He barely knew Prince. He only knew that he didn't care. Maybe he was tired of losing. Maybe he was tired of weakness. Maybe he was tired of everything.

The energy around him grew, and with the increase in size, intensity did the same. The energy around him grew into a large dome, and at the center was him. Finally, the energy cleared.

The wolf seemed cautious, afraid even.

The dust cleared, and at the center was Alden. His face was stoic like he felt no energy at all. His energy too, was now calm. The moon energy that always seemed to whirl around him like a glowing cloak was calm.

Thuk.

Alden took a step toward the wolf.

The wolf flinched back in fear.

Thuk.

Alden took another step.

The wolf began to shiver, like a child in the dark.

Thuk.

Thuk.

Thuk.

Every step shook the wolf's very soul. It trembled as it tried to move, but it was motionless.

Soon, Alden stood before the creature. He was far smaller than it. He looked like a child before it. But he did not seem to care. Alden pulled back his hand, he swung it.

Blood flew into the air. The sound of bones breaking apart was heard. The wolf looked down, to see a hole in its abdomen. It fell to the ground. It was dead.

Alden turned to see the knight watching him.

Like a phantom, Alden was a blur as he moved. A few seconds later he was before the knight. Alden swung his fist, and the knight's eyes widened as he saw the attack far too late.

BOOM!

The elf's face was whipped to the side by the force of the punch. He flew into a giant rock, before rolling through the dirt. Alden sped to him, immediately throwing another punch. Alden swung his fist, and the monster dodged. He swung its blade at him. 

Alden stepped back, avoiding it. Blue flames danced around Alden's hand, and he pushed them forth at the knight.

Whoosh.

They washed over the knight. The knight was visibly hurt, but he ignored the pain and attacked. Alden avoided the next few attacks, but a single attack managed to scratch his face. Alden ignored it and began pounding the knight's face.

BOOM!

Every strike drew cracks into the ground. Blood flew, and the elf grew more and more hurt with every attack. Soon, he was a picture of his former self. He was visibly wounded, unable to move. Alden placed a hand on his neck and lifted him.

"Knight. This honor." He said.

Alden could kill him. He wondered if he should. It wasn't for any righteous reason, no. It was because Bizarro had lost his Ascension ability when he became a moon soldier. What if this knight lost his powers too? Alden knew what he had to do, to control the knight without having to kill him.

"Sign a contract with me," Alden demanded.

"What? Just kill me." The Elf grits his teeth, his eyes filled with anger.

"Your people are prisoners. You are their hope. If you die, then you would have died without saving them from their plight. If it were some other normal elf, it would be fine but... Aren't you their hero? Didn't those who risked their life trust you? Are you allowed to die?" A tiny smile came over Alden's face. "You have no choice."

The knight seemed to understand what Alden said. His face twitched until he gave in.

"As you wish."

~~~

Sarah Foster let out a heavy breath, as she hovered in the air, a distance away from the boss of the dungeon. Bruises covered both her and him. The throne room was a mess, but it had not collapsed. It was large enough to accommodate the two.

Sarah Foster was choosing to keep her distance since the vampire was a close combat type but she realized this was proving ineffective.

The beast disappeared, and Sarah Foster already held her hands up to block the punch. She was sent flying back, but she stopped herself. She tried to attack with an energy ball, but the minister easily avoided her before getting close. Its next attack broke through her defense, and it dealt damage.

Sarah Foster bit her lips at the pain but ignored it. She kept trying to keep her distance, but in some way or another, the monster kept closing the distance. It was landing more attacks than she did, and unlike her attacks, Its every attack dealt significant damage.

In short, she was losing.

Sarah Foster realized this, and she felt pressure build up as she realized what all this meant. She could have given up if it was herself but if she lost then her entire party would die. In fact, what if some of her colleagues were dying now?

With that in mind, Sarah Foster realized that she couldn't lose. She could not.

Her loss meant their loss. The loss meant death. Their death.

Sarah Foster realized she realized what it meant. She was aware of the cost. She was not ready to pay.

"I need to go all out. I need to win!" Power began to whirl around her body. The blue energy was like a cyclone as it swept around her. Her eyes were glowing blue, and a fierce expression sat on her face.

Sarah Foster tore through the air, and her speed was twice as fast as before. She was like a comet as she tore through the sky. The vampire did not expect the attack, and Sarah Foster had swung her hand. She used gravity to reinforce the punch, increasing its power.

BOOM!

The punch snapped the beast's head backward. It lifted into the air, before crashing a couple of meters away. Its sprawling figure left a wide opening. Sarah Foster did not intend to waste it.

Zoom!

She was soon before the vampire, and she began to rain attacks on him. Every attack shook the room, sending vibrations in all directions.

BOOM!

BOOM!

It was like a thundercrack, her attacks. They were fierce. Unrelentless.

Soon, she stopped. The monster lay down, its bloody, broken body limb. It was dead.

Sarah Foster turned away, before stumbling toward the exit. She had done her job.

~~~

"So... She's done it?" Alden had instructed Shadow to guard the spot where the gate had been, and that's how he knew. But he couldn't leave through there, not just yet.

Alden's gaze dropped to Prince. Prince was still alive, but he was close to death. Being awakened, he could weather most attacks unless they hit his vital organs.

"Would it work?" To do so, he'd need Mar Kirr's book of knowledge. To save Prince, that was.

Alden picked the prince's destroyed body.

"Comn buddy," he mumbled. He would save his companion.