Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 29: Fiend (2)

The ground didn’t crack.

It exploded.

They’d had exactly two seconds of warning from the ground shaking before a massive hand burst through.

Rocks scattered to the side before the hand smashed down on the ground. Then the ground beneath instantly turns a blackish-grey color.

Then black smoke began to rush out of the cracks around the hand. It swirled around as the hand began moving up until a figure finally climbed out.

Reinhard’s eyes widened, way taller than him. Its body looked human-shaped but had no details. No face, eyes, or even mouth. Just darkness where a head should be. And then, like a curious bird, it tilted its head and stepped forward silently.

The Unlooked stood before them.

Suddenly, an arrow cut through the air.

It hit the creature exactly where a temple would be on a normal head, sinking deep into the shadow. Purple light blazed from Rika’s bow as she ran toward them, her eyes glowing the same bright color.

"Reinhard! Yor! Get back!" Sirin’s voice echoed out.

From the opposite direction came Sirin with her crimson spear spinning in her hands. While Alice charged beside her with the bronze sledgehammer, and both of them closed the distance in seconds. Their magic flared to life around their bodies in visible auras that crackled and pulsed with power.

The team grouped together in the center of the plaza while facing the Unlooked that pulled the arrow from its head. Without any sign that the attack had hurt it at all, it tossed the broken shaft aside like discarding trash.

Sirin sighed while her spear came to rest across her shoulders. "I didn’t think we would piss off such a strong Fiend today."

Reinhard chuckled, and his own magic wrapped around him in blue-purple flames that danced across his coat and gauntlets. "It’s still at the Initiate rank, so we should be fine."

Alice nodded while her aura burned bright bronze around her massive frame. "Here it comes, guys!"

The Unlooked roared.

A shriek filled the plaza, though the creature had no mouth. The sound made their bones ache, and their teeth hurt. It reached into thin air and pulled out a massive sword—the blade twice as tall as Sirin herself.

The monster charged, crossing the distance in three impossibly fast strides.

Alice stepped forward to meet it.

Her sledgehammer swung upward, catching the giant sword mid-strike. The clash sent visible shockwaves outward as her Crush ability fought against the Unlooked’s magic. The creature’s weapon held firm, forcing Alice backward across the stone. Her muscles strained and teeth clenched with effort.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Sirin rushed in from the side. Her magic let her phase through a sweeping backhand that should have hit her chest. Her spear struck deep into the shadowy body.

But nothing happened.

The weapon went in clean and came out without leaving any mark.

Yor flowed around the creature’s next swing, her black sword slicing three perfect lines through the air. Each cut connected with the Unlooked’s arm, body, and neck. Yet her blade met no resistance, causing no damage, drawing nothing from whatever was inside the monster.

Seeing an opening, Reinhard attacked low. His sword swept at the creature’s legs in a strike meant to cut. But like the others, his blade passed through like it was cutting smoke, leaving only frustration behind.

The Unlooked swung its greatsword in a wide horizontal sweep that forced everyone to scatter while Rika’s voice called out from her position at the plaza’s edge.

"Jump back three steps! Now!"

They jumped back instantly. The creature’s sword whistled through empty air, missing them by inches. Rika’s warnings had saved them again.

Alice rushed forward before swinging her hammer, but the Unlooked blocked with its massive blade. An ear-splitting sound rang out, but Alice let go of her weapon and lashed out with a kick.

It crashed into the Unlooked, but her leg simply passed through it. Making her grit her teeth before she quickly rushed back after grabbing her hammer.

Meanwhile, Sirin circled the battle, jabbing her spear at any opening she spotted. Her Phase ability let her pass through the monster’s counterattacks like they weren’t real.

She fought with playful grace, even waving mockingly at the creature before slipping through its downward slash to strike its back.

Her spear connected, but nothing happened.

Behind the Unlooked, Yor moved with perfect economy, seeming to float across the stone. Her black sword swept upward in a clean diagonal that should have split the creature open. Instead, the blade passed through without resistance, causing no damage at all.

She tried again with a horizontal cut at neck height. But her blade passed through the shadow like cutting fog with the black smoke trailing off. She then side-stepped the blade that clashed from above. And then she chopped down with her blade, but similar to before, it slashed through with no damage.

Reinhard attacked from the front while his sword moved in combinations. It flowed from one strike to the next without pause, and his precognition let him see the Unlooked’s attacks. He saw five seconds into the future to see the perfect place to be.

But every hit connected with empty air and accomplished absolutely nothing.

The Unlooked’s greatsword began to glow with purple light that coated the blade from hilt to tip.

And then it swung its sword.

An energy wave rushed out, tearing across the plaza in a crescent of destructive force. Everyone scattered in different directions while the wave passed between them and carved a deep gouge into the stone behind where they’d been standing.

"Why isn’t anything working?!" Alice shouted while rolling back to her feet.

Rika’s eyes blazed brighter purple, and she looked at the Unlooked. Then looked away and then looked again while her precognition showed her the futures branching while she tried different actions. "Wait... I see it!"

"See what?!" Sirin called back while phasing through another energy wave.

"We can’t hurt it while we’re looking at it!" Rika’s voice carried across the plaza, clear and certain. "The attacks phase through because we’re observing them hit! We have to strike without looking!"

Reinhard closed his eyes and activated his own precognition while focusing on the future five seconds ahead. Then he saw himself turning away from the Unlooked and swinging his sword at where the creature would be. The blade connects and cuts, and actually does damage for the first time in this fight.

He opened his eyes and grinned.

"She’s right!" He turned his back to the Unlooked completely while trusting his precognition to guide his movements. And swung his sword in an arc aimed at where he knew the creature’s chest would be.

The blade connected.

This time, it didn’t pass through.

The Unlooked staggered backward while its roar changed pitch from threatening to pained, and a line of something darker than shadow leaked from the wound Reinhard had carved into its torso.

"Don’t look at it when you attack!" Reinhard shouted. "Trust your senses!"

Alice began spinning away from the Unlooked and bringing her hammer around in a backward swing that she couldn’t see. But felt through the weight of her weapon and the pull of her magic.

And the impact sent the creature stumbling while her Crush ability finally had something solid to work against.

Sirin went still and closed her eyes while her breathing steadied and her grip on her spear relaxed into perfect form. And she struck forward with her eyes shut and felt more than saw when her weapon pierced the Unlooked side.

The Unlooked roared before sweeping its hand, forcing them back as black blood dropped down on the floor.

But Yor arrived near it.

Her eyes focused on the ground instead of her target while her sword slashed out. Her first slash connected and left a thin cut across the Unlooked’s arm.

Then her second slash followed instantly in a flowing combination that carved another line perpendicular to the first.

And then her third slash came from a different angle.

Each cut left behind those razor-thin afterimages that hung in the air for a second before fading.

The Unlooked swung its greatsword in desperation. But did this do nothing to stop blood from splashing out from it every second.

Rika called out movements from her position. "Alice, three steps left! Sirin, duck! Reinhard, jump!"

They moved on her words and struck without looking, and the Unlooked’s roars grew weaker with each wound they carved into its impossible form.

Yor moved forward with her eyes half-closed, tracking the creature by sound and air movement.

Her sword flashed—faster than thought.

One moment she stood five steps away, the next her blade was sliding back into its sheath. Three cuts appeared across the Unlooked’s chest, too quick to see.

The creature dropped to one knee with a hiss.

Without looking back, Yor turned away. Her hand rested lightly on her sword hilt. She drew in a single breath, then pulled her weapon free in one swift motion. The blade left a streak of light behind it as it cut through the air, finding its mark through instinct rather than sight.

The Unlooked’s head fell from its body.

As it hit the ground, both pieces crumbled into dark dust that scattered across the plaza and faded away. The creature’s massive sword broke apart, the fragments disappearing before they touched the stone floor.

Silence. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The purple glow faded from the cracked array beneath their feet, and the hum dropped to barely audible levels. Even the oppressive atmosphere lifted like a weight removed from their shoulders.

Everyone stood panting while their magic auras flickered and dimmed.

The silence lasted several seconds before Alice broke it.

"That," Alice said between breaths, "was annoying." She looked at Rika. "If you hadn’t figured it out when you did, I don’t know what we would have done."

Rika’s cheeks went pink immediately. "It was nothing, I just-

"Rika." Reinhard chimed in with a chuckle

"Yes?"

"Take the compliment."

A longer pause. "...Okay."

Alice laughed while holding her stomach.

Sirin laughed. "Is everyone okay?"

Nods all around.

Yor sheathed her sword with a quiet click and looked at where the Unlooked had fallen. "We should leave soon."

"Agreed," Sirin said. "I found some things, so we should be good."