Chapter 40: FINAL BLOW

Endrick slowly found hope flickering once again. Seeing Aaron finally forced into a corner, beads of relief began forming on his wrinkled forehead. His heart, once seized with anxiety, now beat with a tempo of cautious optimism. The tide was turning—at least, he prayed it was. "Do this for me, Frost Princess," he muttered under his breath, voice laced with desperation. His eyes remained glued to the screen more intently than anyone else. After all, it wasn’t just a battle for supremacy—for him, his entire future was on the line. --- Aaron was growing weary. Dodging. Defending. Surviving. It was all he could do. If not for the limit he had subtly lifted on his stamina, he would have long since succumbed to the cold grasp of defeat. His body was drenched in sweat despite the freezing battlefield. Breaths short. Muscles screaming. "Hah... I hate to lose," Aaron growled under his breath. "And I can’t lose." This wasn’t just about winning anymore. This was about pride. About proving himself. About fighting against a world that wanted nothing more than to see him fail. With a slow, deep breath, his crimson eyes shimmered—then glowed. A golden hue replaced the blood-red in his irises as he tapped into the forbidden side of his hybrid nature—the werewolf bloodline. His muscles bulged unnaturally beneath his shirt, threatening to tear it apart. Coarse hairs crept across his body, arms swelling with power. A new presence surrounded him—bestial, primal, and undeniably fierce. But to the outside world, none of that was visible. His phantom mask concealed everything, hiding the physical changes behind an unassuming façade. The only giveaway? His expression. Playfulness had vanished, replaced with a cold, calculated seriousness that struck unease into even the most confident of spectators. CRACK! The ice beneath his feet shattered violently as Aaron vanished in a blur, his enhanced speed now three times faster than before. He rocketed toward Alice like a bolt of divine fury. "Ice Mirror," Alice said calmly, conjuring a towering mirror of translucent blue ice before her. Aaron didn’t slow. Like a predator hunting prey, he sidestepped the mirror with effortless agility, twisting around it mid-sprint and launching a punch toward Alice. Boom! She was sent flying—not damaged, but lifted off her feet and hurled backwards from the sheer force of the impact. "Tch," Aaron clicked his tongue. His arm—frozen solid. He didn’t hesitate. With the same coldness as a soldier on the battlefield, he ripped off the frostbitten limb. A new arm began growing almost immediately, his regeneration working overtime. Alice, meanwhile, landed gracefully—caught mid-air by a guardian of ice she had summoned behind her. She was untouched. Not a scratch. "She’s a monster," Aaron whispered, lips curling into an amused grin despite the pain. His entire gamble had done nothing. Still, he wasn’t done. "This is going to hurt," he muttered again, almost making peace with the pain he was about to inflict on himself. An Otaku MC never gives up. "System, draw!" Aaron called out confidently, heart thudding with reckless hope. > [Don’t be stupid, host. You already used your draw and got a dud, remember?] The system’s deadpan voice cut through his excitement like a blade. "Tsk... where’s the luck talent when I actually need it?" Aaron muttered, ungrateful as always. The system wisely said nothing, biting back the urge to curse its foolish host into oblivion. Alice was already on her feet. No hesitation. No wasted movement. Just perfect, emotionless efficiency. Aaron shook his head, pushing all distractions aside. He lunged again—this time with a kick. But Alice, already adapting, braced herself and remained rooted to the ice beneath her. His leg froze on contact. He ripped it off. Again. Without flinching. Still no damage to Alice. Aaron didn’t pause. He switched legs—kicked with the other. Frozen again. Torn again. And again. And again. "Doesn’t hurt?" Alice finally asked, her soft, pale lips parting in surprise. Her voice, though quiet, rang clear and curious. Aaron managed a smile. "Of course it does." He didn’t slow down. Punch. Kick. Tear. Regrow. Punch. Kick. A hundred times—maybe more. His regeneration pushed to the absolute edge. His vitality the only thing keeping him from collapsing. From the outside, it looked insane. He wasn’t fighting anymore. He was sacrificing himself in hopes of breaking through a defense that bordered on divine. It was no longer a battle of strength, but of attrition and willpower. Would Aaron collapse from exhaustion? Would his body finally give out from the repeated self-mutilation? Or... Would he make the impossible happen? --- The crowd was split. Those who knew Alice’s unbeatable domain had already given up on Aaron. But the ignorant? The hopeful? The underdogs watching from their screens? They were with him now. Seeing him suffer. Seeing him bleed. Seeing him fight with everything and still get nowhere... Their hearts broke. Even if they didn’t know who he really was. Even if they didn’t understand how much of his success was built on equally unfair advantages... To them, he was the struggling hero. And they cheered. If only they knew that he was the one who’d been given everything. --- Aaron’s patience was fraying. He could feel his mind boiling with frustration. Rage. Desperation. He wanted to scream. To claw at his face. He resisted. His only hope now... was his talent. > [Shameless host. Didn’t you say you didn’t need your talent before?] "Not the time to argue," Aaron grunted mentally, panting. "We’re in this together, System. It’s us against the universe!" --- Alice, for the first time in the fight, went on the offensive. A spike of ice formed behind her and lunged toward Aaron’s face. He wasn’t fast enough. He saw it too late. He lifted his arms on instinct, crossing them to block— But the spike stopped. Everyone froze. Aaron. The spectators. The other students. Even the screen commentators fell into stunned silence. The spike—stopped just inches from Aaron’s face. By Alice’s own will. "Huh?" she whispered, mouth parting slightly in surprise. She didn’t know why she’d stopped it. She hadn’t meant to. Yet... In that moment, something deep inside her—something illogical and emotional—made her stop. Her gaze fell to Aaron’s face. For the first time, she really looked at him. "He’s... handsome," she thought absently, her mind falling into unfamiliar territory. Confused. Dazed. Entranced. Her guard dropped. That was Aaron’s moment. His opening. "My chance!" he grinned. He surged forward. Crack! BOOM! A punch connected—clean and solid. Ting! The shrill metallic chime echoed. Alice’s watch vibrated. She had been disqualified.