~~~~~
Tsuki had bought tickets to every single PvP tournament thus far. There had been two, making the one she was currently in the third tournament. This one was special. All the other tournaments had been team tournaments, but this tournament was a one vs. one challenge. One could only rely on their own skills here. Of course it favored some classes over others. An Enchanter, for example, would have no chance in this solo battleground. But that mattered not; this tournament was created for duelists to show off their prowess.
To Tsuki, it was much more than that. This would decide everything. After this tournament she would either meet Dusk face to face, or give up on him entirely. Dusk’s class, the Phantom, was among the best dueling classes this game had to offer. As such, her prospect had no excuse for losing here. As she looked on upon her potential Phoenix, the emotions that she felt within were a mixed bag.
On one hand, she noticed he was very adept at dual wielding blades, and he seemed to have a great mind for planning and counters. Armed with these qualities, he had dispatched every single foe in the tournament with ease, even in the final match.
On the other hand, she had never once seen him smile; nor did she detect any joy or happiness from him. In fact all she could sense within him was an infinite spiral of hatred. The negative pressure nearly seeped into her lungs and suffocated her. Even now as he received his congratulatory applause and cheers from the crowd, she still sensed it.
Why is he so miserable? What brought his consciousness so low as to be locked within this state? No, his negativity has grown exponentially since the first tournament. Just what happened? Can I really make a Phoenix out of someone with such qualities? On top of that, he is extremely arrogant. He needs to be humbled for sure. Perhaps if I can humble him, I can guide him. Change him into something better...
I can’t just leave him alone. There is no denying his level of skill. Besides us in Phoenix, I have not seen someone at his level since Kevlar.
Tsuki weighed out the options on her mental scale. There was still another facet to this she had to consider—those pulsating waves—that inexplicable feeling that spiked through her veins. She couldn’t shake the thought that there was something different about this man. That settled it. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy at night unless she at least met this man face to face. She would decide what to do after that.
~~~~~
Dusk’s undefeated streak, combined with his black garb, earned him the nickname “The Black Death”. The Hand of Blood tried to hunt him down in both tournaments, but Dusk, being a Phantom and having
That is, until that day—the day everything he knew was turned upside down.
Chapter 7
November 14, 2018
Dusk had reached the Hana Bridge, which connected the Tranquil Springs area to the Boreal Tundra; the area he had been seeking to continue his mission of vengeance. Before he could cross that bridge, however, a woman appeared at the other end, blocking his path.
No, a woman was not quite an accurate description, as she more resembled an angel— nearly pure white from head to toe. Her straight hair was pristine silver that flowed down to the small of her back. Her soft skin glowed pale with the noon sun’s favor. That fair skin was draped with a pure white dress that went down to her shins, coupled with ivory knee high boots. A rapier was holstered on her right hip that housed a silver blade with diamonds encrusted on the guard. The hilt glittered with a white glare. Her beautiful figure stood tall atop a bed of snow—nature’s frozen tears. Behind her, pine trees were covered in a sparkling blanket of the white powder. The only thing that was not white on her was her bluish green eyes which sparkled in the sunlight. Those endless spheres were transfixed upon him. Her soft red lips seemed to be smiling gently at him, as if they were good friends.
This woman... he had seen her once before. “Ugh.” Dusk grimaced as a shattering pain crashed through his brain. That image from before came back—the woman with long golden hair staring into his core. He had never met that woman before, so why did the image of her keep flashing through his consciousness? The trauma in his head settled down, allowing him to open his eyes to bask in the beauty of silver standing before him, the woman who stood in front of him blocking his passage, this woman he remembered. Her beauty was beyond belief. The entire scene seemed like something out of a painting, and she a goddess. As he remained staring into her eyes, her mouth began to move, as if uttering something.
“Duel me,” she demanded.
“Huh?” He was in such a daze taking in her appearance that he didn’t even hear what she had said.
She knew the reason he did not hear her. She could tell that he too, was captivated by her beauty. I suppose even the famous Black Death is just the same as the rest of them in that regard. Still, who knew that man I briefly met in passing would become someone of renown in this world, she giggled to herself.
“I said duel me. You’re the one they call the Black Death, aren’t you? I wish to duel you and experience your abilities for myself,” she declared confidently. This was it. After watching him in three tournaments she would finally get to cross blades with him. Yet she once again felt it—just as she did over a month ago. Now that she was closer to him, her soul was exploding. What was it about this person that stirred up this feeling deep inside her?
He couldn’t believe the words that flowed out of her mouth. If she knew who he was, why would she want to duel him? He had humiliated every opponent who had dared to challenge him. The duels were never close. The nearest someone had gotten to beating him was taking a third of his life force.
“Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to duel right now. I have things to do. Now please step aside.”
“No, I’m not moving until you duel me.”
Dusk sighed to himself. Why was she wasting his time? He grew tired of all the people who challenged him to duels, only to bore him with their lackluster skills.
“I guess there’s no helping it then, huh; I’m going to have to make you move.”
He sorted through the menus and selected the request duel option. At this moment Tsuki’s expression changed. Her eyebrows dipped downward, swiftly morphing her gentle visage into a confident smirk, as if she had just caught a squirrel in a trap. Her face now wore the expression of a fierce lioness. But there was something else, his new opponent showed no hesitation or fear within those oceanic eyes, merely a complete calm that was almost Zen like.
Could it be that she thinks she can win? There’s no way that could ever happen.
The timer began the ultimate countdown. In ten seconds, two stars which had twinkled brightly on opposite ends of the universe would cross paths in a dazzling splendor, creating a cosmic explosion of universal proportions.
10… He used this time to examine her class, gear, and level.
9… She was a Sword Mage; this class was an extremely complex one capable of many things.
8…Their primary method of fighting was to imbue their sword with one of six elements: earth, water, fire, lightning, ice, and wind.
7…They could also inflict a debuff on their enemy which consisted of one of the same six elements. Inflicting the debuff on their enemy would make the enemy weak to the opposing element. For example, the ice debuff would root an enemy in place for six seconds, while making them weak to fire enhanced swords.
6… Earth and wind, water and lightning, fire and ice... these were the opposing elements. If they came in contact with each other, the damage a Sword Mage could inflict increased twofold. Therefore, if he became afflicted with the ice debuff,
the way to maximize her damage would be to saturate her sword with fire.
5… He checked her character profile. Her level was fogged beneath a pall of darkness. She had enabled the feature which hid your level from others.
4… Since he could not see her level he would check the level on her gear. Rapier of Elemental Mastery, level 40, huh. So at the very least, she is the same level as me, he thought.
3… No matter, she’d need to be ten levels higher than me to beat me, he concluded with arrogance. I’ve fought many Sword Mages, and they all lost miserably. He was planning over her possible moves, formulating a counter strategy for every possible scenario.
2… He glanced up at her character name. Tsuki is her name, huh? He mulled to himself.
“Please entertain me better than the others have, Tsuki.”
His words were mingled with condescension. A common technique to rile her up a little right before the fight, but it had no effect. Her mind was as clear as a mountain stream.
1…”All right, I suppose it’s time I took this seriously too, just in case.”
FIGHT! The time for talk had passed; they would now speak with their blades.
He immediately went into stealth mode and stalked his prey. He moved around her carefully like a jungle cat, preparing to strike; but she did not move.
What kind of a fool is she?
This victory was in the bag for him. His opening salvo of this duel was a swift slash from behind, drawing her blood like all the rest.
That’s what happens when you don’t move. This ends now. I won’t let you recover or counter.
Dusk’s plan was to blunt her in the back of the head with the pommel of his blade, incapacitating her long enough to steal the majority of her life force away from her. Before he could connect, she pivoted a complete circle, sending a crack of lightning in his direction. The blast surged through his body, knocking him backwards as vision faded into shadow for a brief moment. Before he could boomerang back to her, she rooted him in place with an absolute chill. The unrelenting hold of ice froze him to the ground. Flames danced around her weapon as she prepared to strike.
She blazed towards him with her sword still filling the air with scorching heat.
This is not altogether unexpected. You are very predictable, Tsuki, Dusk grinned. He would parry that straightforward strike and then send his blade shattering through her jugular, ending it in one slice.
No more time to think. She was coming right at him. He readied his charcoal blade to counter the attack. But just then... her arm moved away in blinding speed. It was a feint! Her sword struck Dusk in the left hip, where the flames singed his flesh. This sizzling pain... it felt like he had splashed a pot of boiling water into the affected area, as if on some childish high school dare that he couldn’t refuse. Noticing Dusk wincing in pain, Tsuki intended to capitalize on his loss of concentration, to send her sword on a line drive course through his gut.
Even with the scorching agony afflicting him, Dusk noticed this stabbing motion. He parried her sword to the left as he tore a deep cut into her leg, returning the brutal favor. She reflexively grunted in pain for a moment, quickly recovering as her blood drizzled down onto the snow below.
Her knockback and roots were on cool down at this point; what would she do now? She would capitalize on the range and send another spell shock through this man’s system. Deciding thusly, she began charging the spell, mini bolts of electricity forming into a sphere in her hand—like one of those static electric balls at a science museum. The charge raised her silver hair slightly. Fearlessly, Dusk charged the electric swordswoman, driving a hard kick into her stomach, interrupting her spell as she coughed. He swirled into a follow-up swipe, drawing more of her blood as he carved out a chunk of her hip. Dusk smirked sadistically at her agony, thinking he now had her backed into a corner. He was going to finish this duel right there and then. He swung both of his swords with lightning speed, abandoning all notions of defense. The entire scene seemed to move in slow motion, as if a network were showing a replay of a sports game. His blade, which seemed to travel like a snail, was now a mere inch from her shoulder… This duel was Dusk’s victory, or so he thought. At that moment, her entire body started to glow.
“Shit!” he cursed to himself. Her entire body glowing like that must mean she used her defensive ability. As Dusk thought, both his swords had hit her, but the damage was miniscule.
She predicted my move completely; this clearly isn’t her first duel, Dusk realized. I need to take this seriously.
Out of options, his avatar became transparent; hiding him from Tsuki’s piercing eyes. He skulked around to her rear side, intending to get her from behind and end this. The worried Phantom noticed her right hand was pointed at him, tucked under her left arm. What’s more, it was charging more of that detestable lightning energy and about to fire in his direction. His eyes shot open as he recoiled backwards, narrowly dodging the blast. She instantly turned and drove her sword towards the cold ground, where Dusk’s invisible body resided. He blocked the blade with his sword of ash while he was still pressed on the ground. He was at a disadvantage in this position; she had all the leverage.
How did she even know where I was? Is she just making lucky guesses?
Just after he finished that thought, he noticed Tsuki was using her free hand to charge up another lightning spell. He quickly rolled away, narrowly avoiding the burst of lightning which scorched the snow. She scored a minor hit on his shoulder as he rolled away, but it was nothing major. He rose to his feet in time to notice her blade swinging at him yet again. He blocked with his blue sword just in time, parrying her attack and sending her staggering a few steps to the side. He took full advantage of this opportunity, running behind her and marking another cut into her back, causing her to cry out.
They exchanged blows for a few moments. Tsuki’s arm was moving rapidly, but gracefully. It was almost as if the arm belonged to a perfectly crafted machine.
I’m impressed that she can block both of my swords with just one.
Dusk praised his opponent silently. Finally, after trading many blows, he had broken through her stalwart defense, ready to deliver the finishing blow. Before he could do this, Tsuki activated a defensive ability, sending him flying backwards. A translucent blue dome surrounded the white figure, making her invincible for five seconds, though she could not attack him with the barrier up.
She’s just delaying the inevitable, he scoffed. When that barrier goes down, I will end this duel with my
Tsuki’s took a moment to drench her sword, completely submerging it in the water which now orbited around the blade. She would use this to increase the voltage even further, burning him to a crisp. She slashed him twice, sending him into a lightning imbued hell. The pain of being a human lightning rod was indescribable. The normally cocksure Phantom was starting to lose his confidence and descend into a rare panic. No one had ever had him on the ropes like this without cheating. Who is she?! He cursed fate as he suffered under the rule of his cruel electrical mistress.
With his anger now driving him, he had hoped this punch he was throwing in Tsuki’s direction would break her beautiful face beyond repair. However, she was not content to receive the knuckle sandwich Dusk had in store for her, instantly vanishing as though she were never there. Just when he wondered wh
ere she went, he felt the piercing torture of cold silver through his stomach. The silver swordstress had used her
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