Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The situation did not allow Aleph to stand still.

Bam-!

Boom-!

The black shadow's strikes did not end with one attack. Several sword strikes, each lacking the exquisiteness of a sword technique, brutally separated the ocean in five different directions. It caused the seabed on the oceanic crust to appear in their bare eyes.

Amidst it all, Aleph remained unharmed. The ten strikes all intersected at one point, aiming to destroy him in one go.

Wordlessly, he summoned a longsword in his hand. It was none other than Durandal, the unbreakable Noble Phantasm.

'That's how this works..!'

Zoom-!

The sound of piercing air resounded with a considerable delay. It didn't take a second until Aleph's Durandal struck the red blade's seventh line division.

Clang-!

Bam-!

The water around them was dispersed by the impact. The coral embedded deeply into the seabed was exposed before being destroyed.

"...tch."

Sparks flew between the two blades. Aleph looked at the still-intact Naught clashing with Durandal's blade.

'My cursed technique worked. I'm sure of it.'

For the first time, his Ratio Technique that was invincible was broken.

He wasn't down for long. His sharp eyesight saw the tiny bit of scratch present on Naught's blood-red blade.

Sou-!

Aleph's figure separated from the black figure's. The dazzling white light formed in his radius disappeared. In its stead, an eight-pointed wheel appeared atop his head.

'No Second Strike, Ratio...'

His cursed energy began converging on a single spot. 

Ratio lines appeared one by one on the black figure's right arm. It didn't stop there. More ratio lines overlapped with the previous one. The overlapping of ratio lines required enough cursed energy to spam the technique, plus the mental strain it generated.

It wasn't a problem for Aleph since half a year ago.

Hum-!

Zoom-!

The black figure crept closer to his vicinity as he readied his means. Aleph dodged its attacks thanks to Great Sage's calculations.

{Result: Three consecutive attacks, angled 71°, 55°, 23° due east….}

With these predictions, he could focus completely on his attack preparations.

'...destruction, and then, this…'

A golden light was emitted from Durandal. Its original effect was to imbue the unbreakable concept into a condensed energy attack, much like Excalibur's and Balmung. It was a Noble Phantasm deserving of its rank amongst the Holy Swords.

Now, it served to enhance the attack Aleph prepared with three-fold enhancement—No Second Strike, Ratio, and Albion's passive Destruction.

It didn't end there.

While he was dodging the attacks, Aleph underwent drastic changes.

Crack-!

Tchk-!

Lustrous black scales emerged from his skin. A bony black wing with sharp edges appeared on his back. Vibrant red lines decorated it.

The black scales spread all over his body. It formed an armor, revealing only his body above his neck. In the exposed white skin, dark red lines crawled up until his face.

Sou-!

Aleph's figure disappeared out of thin air. The black figure moved so fast the sound took a few seconds to reach his prior location.

Bam-!

Swoosh-!

The next moment, Naught's red blade was greeted by an indescribable impact. The black figure wielding it was pushed towards the ocean. The impact between the two created a "crater" in the middle of the sea, dispersing the water and revealing the seabed for the nth time.

Bam-!

Rumble-!

From the oceanic crust, a cloud of smoke rose up. The black figure was then sent flying further. 

Clang-!

Clang-!

Clang-!

…

Every time he attacked, the black figure could only defend. His overwhelming physical prowess was bar none. Several head-on clashes and the black figure found itself a few hundred kilometers deep into the oceanic crust.

Just when it was about to use its abilities made of complex information, Aleph let out a mutter.

"Ryouiki Tenkai." (Domain Expansion.)

Cursed energy enveloped the surroundings. It stopped extending after three kilometers. Instantly, the space around them was covered by a black film. It stopped the water from surging into the deep hole dug by the two.

Inside, Aleph regained his footing. The black figure, on the other hand, crashed into the ground.

Dotted stars decorated the night sky. Comets streaked through every now and then.

'My domain…no, it's the domain made of three cursed techniques.'

He did not hesitate much.

First, hundreds of ratio lines appeared on the black figure's body. It then overlapped with one another until these ratio lines reached thousands.

With the help of the Domain Expansion, the Ratio Technique was 'liberated' from its constraints. All ten divisions could be attacked to deal fatal damage to the enemy.

It was Nanami Kento's representation of his ideal life—one freed from the restraints imposed by oneself.

Life being made difficult by itself, or by factors such as society, was nothing but a misconception.

The one who made Nanami's life hard was none other than himself. He could not bring himself to move from the past, and as such, he remained stuck in the past until his destined end.

That was what would have happened had Aleph not intervened on the instance space.

Hum.

The sword in his hand changed. It was a familiar eastern sword sheathed in a black case. 

Looking at the thousands of ratio lines added to the black figure, Aleph made a move.

Clink-!

Tchk-!

The sword in his hand danced gracefully. For every one swipe, it sent out an invisible arc destined to cut through even the hardest substances. Conceptual targets were no exception. The fact it could separate two realms was a testament of its sheer power.

'Destruction.'

Albion's strength flowed to his fingertips. It was more potent and noticeable this time.

With the combination of these three things, plus Yamato's cutting power…

Click-!

Shatter-!

With the added effects on Yamato, space was visually broken like glass. Silver lines decorated the space as it marked the places in which it struck Aleph's enemy. They were distorted and slid against each other, only to return moments later.

Just as the blade was sheathed, the black figure turned into a black liquid puddle. Only the red blade in its hands, Naught, survived the onslaught. It 'died' in an instant. The thousands of ratio lines as well as the thousands of strikes hitting every weak point it created caused an instant death.

'...No.'

A sense of foreboding crept on Aleph's neck. He was more than certain that the being he fought was deader than dead.

[Achievement Unlocked: The True Fraud]

[The True Fraud: End the fight without the opponent being able to react.]

His Achievement Hunter told him as such.

Yet…

Things proceeded to happen without zero clues.

Bam-!

Shatter-!

First was the destruction of his domain. It caused a certain amount of mental strain in his brain.

It did not end there.

His surroundings had completely changed.

'It died… but complex information beings couldn't be completely affected by it.'

A familiar black figure emerged from the black water. Unlike before, she gained facial features. She wore a familiar outfit. The red blade, Naught, was now sheathed on her waist.

The backdrop consisting of a black hole and pure darkness reminded Aleph of something. The achievement that appeared on the corner of his eyes supported it.

[Achievement Unlocked: Outfrauded]

'Am I going to be zero cycled now..?'