Chapter 345: Let's Just Call It Fate
Having already decided the Collapsal's "future career path," Steven no longer saw any reason to hold back.
Compared to the stray Collapsal he'd fought before, this one was clearly weaker. Aside from that, however—its attack methods, its strange abilities—they were more or less the same.
Its main threat lay in the black miasma that poured from its body, polluting everything it touched. For most, that would be a deadly trump card. But for him? It was useless.
No matter how far that darkness spread, it could not cross the rift he had carved into space itself. All of it was cut off, locked outside, unable to so much as brush against his body—let alone infect him.
The Collapsal seemed to realize this. With a furious roar, it gave up on pressing from the front and instead slipped around the fractured space, striking from Steven's flank.
But Steven had no intention of letting it attack again. He knew well enough that the best defense was offense.
In the blink of an eye, his figure blurred. A faint trail of violet particles shimmered where he had stood, and then—he was gone.
An instant later, he was behind the monster. One second passed, and the roles had reversed.
Yamato swept through the air in a silver arc. The sound of reality tearing itself apart rang out—then the Collapsal was split cleanly in half, from top to bottom.
Foul ichor burst from the severed body, a stench so toxic it could kill lesser creatures outright. But even bisected, the thing didn't stop. Its countless tendrils lashed out at Steven, as though it had simply split into two monsters attacking at once.
Steven wasn't surprised by this. He had never expected a single cut to finish it.
Instead of dodging, he stepped forward into the oncoming tentacles. With a sharp twist of his wrist, the hilt of Yamato struck upward—lifting both halves of the beast's body into the air with brutal force.
Suspended and robbed of its footing, the Collapsal was nothing more than meat laid across Steven's cutting board.
His blade flashed again and again, so fast the arcs blurred into countless overlapping circles of silver.
And with each strike, the creature was diced finer and finer, until at last it was shredded apart—reduced to mince.
Yes, if "cutting into slivers" was ever to be demonstrated in reality, this was it.
Steven's HUD flickered—the blade-draw rating in the top-right corner remained locked at a glorious 3SSS. All that was left now… was to decide on the perfect stylish finish.
"Traditionally, this is where I'd wrap it up with a demonization sequence. Wouldn't want to waste such a grand battle without it. But… downloading that mod on short notice would be a little tricky."
Even in the middle of the fight, Steven was still muttering to himself, weighing which route to take. But soon enough, he found his answer.
With one final gleam of swordlight, the creature that had been hurled skyward was no longer recognizable—its body minced to pulp, a lump of grotesque flesh suspended midair.
And as gravity claimed it, dragging the meat down toward the frozen ground, Steven made his move.
In the same instant he slid Yamato back into its sheath, Kamen Rider armour shimmered across his form, locking into place. The mass of flesh plummeted—only to meet the heel of his armored boot.
A black hole rippled outward from the point of impact, engulfing the monster's remains in a heartbeat. The warped space swallowed it whole… and then vanished without a trace.
Steven didn't even look back. He merely flexed his fingers and brushed off his hand as though nothing had happened.
No one had witnessed the battle. No one would ever know how flawlessly he had choreographed his own finale. But that didn't bother him in the slightest.
After all, satisfying his own chuuni spirit was reward enough. Not every pose was meant to impress others—most of the time, people indulged in theatrics for themselves. And honestly, it was easier to let go when no one was watching.
Wasn't there something beautiful about looking cool for your own sake?
Demonization might have been the more dramatic choice, sure. But ending it in Kamen Rider form? That, he decided, was a mark of respect to the Collapsal he'd just slain.
Only then did the system chime in, fashionably late:
Ding!
[You have slain a Collapsal, World Acknowledgement Point +2000]
With the notification confirming its true demise, loot materialized from thin air, clattering onto the ground before him.
"…Crap. I forgot that using the black hole usually means no corpse left behind. How am I supposed to brew liquor with that now?"
Scratching his head awkwardly, Steven scooped up the pitiful scraps of experience points.
Because it wasn't a boss-class unit—or maybe because it had been erased by the black hole—the drops were miserable. Barely any experience, and not a single worthwhile item.
Worse still, his grand plan of soaking the thing in alcohol had been completely ruined.
Unless he deliberately held back, anything swallowed by a black hole was… well, anyone's guess what came out the other side.
And he wasn't about to experiment on himself to find out.
"Tch. Well, there are still two more. If this one's gone, I'll just head for the others."
Canceling his Evol transformation, he let the Kamen Rider armor dissolve away. For now, he had no intention of revealing the infamous identity that had already earned him such notoriety in Kazimierz.
When it came to masks, the more the merrier. And in different places? Well… naturally, a different mask for each stage made things far more entertaining.
With the Collapsal slain, silence once again returned to the snowy plains.
That was the beauty of the black hole—an ability unmatched by any other. Anything it swallowed was erased utterly, clean and pure. Even the foul miasma that clung to the Collapsal was dragged inside, vanishing without a trace.
Perhaps only someone like him could deal with such things so easily.
After all, he was fairly certain these Collapsals weren't simple creatures. Their black pollution in particular… didn't seem like something that could be cleansed so readily.
Dusting off his hands, Steven climbed out of the massive pit he had dug for the ambush. He was already considering how to handle the remaining two Collapsals as he set off toward their location.
With Patriot and the Emperor's Blade keeping them busy, there shouldn't be much trouble. So there's no need for him to rush.
But as he reached the rim of the pit, he froze.
Someone was waiting for him there.
An uninvited guest.
—Though, it's one that he happened to know.
The fiery red hair like a blazing torch, the massive sword that demanded the eye's attention—Steven recognized her instantly.
The girl stood at the pit's edge, watching with bright interest, as though she had been there for some time.
"Well, well~ what a coincidence. We meet again… Surtr?"
Digging up her name from memory, Steven waved cheerfully at the girl, flashing a grin.
They'd only crossed paths once before. Like him, she was a traveler wandering this frozen land. Unlike him, however, she seemed to have been stranded here in Ursus's snowfields for quite some time.
"It really is a coincidence. You were fighting something just now, weren't you? You looked pretty amazing."
Surtr returned his smile, her tone warm.
She had seen the entire battle. She didn't know exactly what kind of monster this man had faced, but judging from its speed and power, it wasn't the kind of opponent anyone could casually handle.
And yet… in front of him, it hadn't been able to resist at all.
The boy she'd once thought was just an easygoing, ordinary traveler clearly wasn't so simple after all.
"Ah, it was just some monster," Steven said, scratching his head. "What I'm curious about is—what are you doing here? Did you sniff out the scent of ice cream on me?"
This place wasn't exactly a landmark. For Surtr to appear here so coincidentally felt far too deliberate. If it was coincidence… well, calling it fate might not be exaggeration.
She laughed softly, shaking her head. "No, it wasn't that. Laevatain told me there was a dangerous presence nearby, so I came to check it out. But it seems you've already taken care of it."
She had been camping near the mobile city not far from here, when Laevatain's agitation had led her to this spot. And in doing so, she'd witnessed Steven's battle from start to finish.
And she had to admit… he had looked pretty cool fighting like that.
"Then maybe this really is fate?" Steven teased.
"No," Surtr sighed with a wry smile. "Honestly, I just got lost after you left. I've been wandering this snowfield ever since… If that's fate, I'd rather not have it."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
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