Chapter 39: AARON VS ALICE

"What a monster," Draken muttered, stepping back into the examination center of the Sanctuary. His breath left him in a slow, shaky sigh as the holographic screen replayed the final moment of Aaron’s last attack. He watched the scene over and over, as if doing so would help him understand it. But it didn’t. It was beyond comprehension—the efficiency, the power, the pure unpredictability. He shook his head, disbelief spreading across his face like a stain. "That last move... there was no defending against it. Not for me. Not for anyone—except maybe her," he whispered. His gaze slowly shifted back to the live screen where two figures now stood face to face—Aaron and Alice. The final battle had begun. A subtle tension filled the air around Draken as his breath quickened. He moved to a nearby bench and sat down, not wanting to miss a single moment of what was to come. He wasn’t alone in his curiosity. The entire room—the eliminated participants, instructors, spectators, everyone—were glued to the display. Their earlier competitive tension had turned to a shared sense of awe and suspense. Everyone watched out of intrigue... Everyone except one man. Principal Endrick sat stiffly in his chair, having long since bitten off all his nails. The stress had left him visibly shaken, his jaw tight and face pale. That brat. That useless, ’talentless’ trash. How? How had Aaron climbed to the top with such a massive lead? Endrick’s eyes twitched as he glanced at the scores. Aaron’s performance so far had earned him more points than anyone else—and unless he lost this final fight, he’d win. And if he won... Endrick was done for. He gripped the edge of his seat, silently praying for a miracle. --- Back on the battlefield, the wind rustled Aaron’s cloak as he squared up against Alice. "Let’s get this over with, shall we?" Aaron said with a confident smile, lowering his stance. In an instant, he bolted forward—his hand drawn back in preparation to deliver a devastating blow directly to her abdomen. Just before the strike landed, however, his expression changed. In a split second, Aaron jerked back, aborting the attack. He skidded across the ground, staring at his hand in stunned disbelief. His knuckles were frozen. Crystallized. Utterly numb and unusable. His breath caught. --- Alice Frost Strength: D- Agility: C+ Vitality: C- Stamina: D+ Mana: B+ Luck: SS+ Talent: SS++ Rank — Ice Age God Rank Blessing: Snow Queen [God Rank Blessing – Snow Queen]: Blessed and favoured by the universe. The path to godhood is assured with minimal effort. Possibility of surpassing godhood if she chooses to train diligently. Abilities: Amplification: All ice-related skills, talents, and items used by her are amplified to god-tier potency. Protection of the Universe: A ten centimetres radius around her becomes a divine ice domain. Any entity that breaches it is immediately frozen. Ice Apocalypse: Based on her emotional state, she can unleash a devastating ice-based attack capable of freezing entire planets regardless of her actual strength. A defense mechanism of the universe itself. --- Aaron blinked at the stats. "Well, would you look at that. I’ve finally found the universe’s favorite child." He chuckled, but the laughter was tight—forced. [Host is aware he has no reason to be jealous, correct? You possess an SSS-rank lucky talent, after all,] his system said, a tinge of smugness in its voice. "What nonsense are you spouting? I earned mine! I fought for it. I nearly died a dozen times for it. That talent? That strength? I crawled my way up for every bit of it," Aaron growled inwardly. "But she... she’s just cruising on first class, sponsored by the damn universe." The system paused, caught off guard by his bitterness. [...Well, I wasn’t expecting that.] Aaron clenched his fists, eyes burning. "I’ve decided. If the universe wants to treat her like some precious egg, then I’m going to snatch the egg and keep it for myself!" he declared boldly. [I’ve been bound to the worst host alive...] the system whimpered, but Aaron ignored it completely. His eyes locked back on Alice. He had to win. There was no going back. "This is going to hurt a bit," he muttered to himself. With a calmness that defied logic, Aaron cut both his wrists, the sharp lines slicing cleanly through skin and flesh. Blood gushed freely, soaking the ground beneath his feet. He suppressed his regeneration on purpose, allowing the blood to pool and gather unnaturally fast. His vitality stat ensured he wouldn’t die from it—at least not anytime soon. Alice stood still, saying nothing. Her gaze was calm. Empty. Not cold in an angry way—just emotionless, unreadable. Like a statue that could blink. "If you’re going to be mine," Aaron said aloud, addressing her like he was setting the terms of a deal, "then you’re going to need to learn how to make other facial expressions besides that blank one!" He thrust both hands down. The blood on the ground swirled violently, condensing into dozens of razor-sharp blood bullets. In one coordinated movement, he fired them all at a single point—right in front of Alice. His goal was simple: overload the domain by applying concentrated pressure to a single spot. The result? Frozen failure. The moment the bullets neared her, just one meter away—they froze solid midair, turning brittle and useless before shattering and falling to the ground like crimson snowflakes. Aaron gritted his teeth. "That’s the most fraudulent ability I’ve ever seen. Who’s the main character here, her or me?!" he shouted. Still, he didn’t give up. He kept firing more blood bullets, his expression increasingly annoyed with each failed attempt. Alice simply stared, unfazed, her pale eyes now glowing faintly white. Above them, dark clouds churned. A sharp, icy wind cut through the battlefield. The temperature plummeted. Aaron squinted up, and just then, he heard it—a soft, almost sweet whisper. "Hail," Alice said. What followed wasn’t sweet. --- Boom! Boom! Boom! Huge hailstones the size of cannonballs plummeted from the sky. "That’s not hail!" Aaron yelped, throwing up a blood barrier just in time to block the first impact. Each stone landed with the force of a warhead, cratering the ground. Trees splintered. The earth shook. Aaron knew getting hit even once might not kill him, but the pain alone would make him wish he was dead. And then she said two more words. "Frozen Earth." The ground beneath them crackled. In a matter of seconds, a one-kilometer radius transformed into a frozen wasteland. Trees, rocks, grass—everything was encased in ice. The lush training valley became a silent, frozen grave. Aaron’s movements slowed. The ground was too slick, the air too cold. His blood was struggling to stay fluid. Dodging the hail now was ten times harder. And every second he spent evading, she wasn’t even moving. "I definitely didn’t sign up for this," Aaron muttered through clenched teeth. One misstep. He slipped—barely managing to roll aside as an ice spike shot up from a frozen tree beside him. It grazed his leg, drawing blood. His heart pounded in his ears. "Crazy," he breathed, sweat dripping despite the cold. He had just barely escaped with his life. At this moment, his impression of his own luck talent improved drastically—from a -5 to maybe a generous -1. Still, the reality began to set in. Aaron was completely outmatched. He couldn’t breach her domain. He couldn’t even get close to her. And now he couldn’t move freely without slipping or being impaled by her ridiculous environment-based attacks. This was no longer a duel. It was a slow, crushing war of attrition—and she had absolute defense, absolute offense, and the universe itself on her side. His battle with Liam, in retrospect, looked like a sparring match. Against Alice? This was a fight against a force of nature.