The Virtual Realm

by Daniel Perusko

  “Whoa there, Princess, you’re getting into some deep shit now. What makes you think I even want to clear this world and go back to the real world?”

  “You can’t be serious. There’s no way you’re serious.”

  Ace’s teeth mashed against one another in a giant crazy grin, the fire in his voice burning to scalding temperatures as he carried on.

  “Oh, but I am. Life was always a game to me. That goes for people as well. Everything is just a challenge for me to inevitably overcome. So as far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed. If I were to say one difference, it would be that I have a greater potential to do what I want here than in the real world. How many people have I killed directly or indirectly? Yet nothing’s happened to me. In this world, I can’t be stopped. What the hell is there in the real world anyway? It’s all the same. We can’t do these sick combat moves in the real world though, can we? Honestly, I just love it here. The real world can go fuck itself!”

  Tsuki’s container overflowed with disgust and disillusionment.

  “The real world has many beautiful things within it that people take for granted all the time. Did you never take the time to stop and look? You really think so lowly of people’s lives? You... there’s nothing more I can say to you.”

  Tsuki lifted her ivory blade into the air, no longer having any use for words at this point. Ace responded in kind, readying his glowing dusky yellow scythe for battle.

  “Finally you shut up! You’ve really had nothing of value to say anyways. But you have been good for a laugh or two. I will admit, this game I’m locked in with you right now has been more difficult than most, but that just makes it all the more entertaining.”

  Tsuki narrowed her eyes in vexation, biting her lip hard.

  There is no saving this man.

  The exasperated swordswoman flew forward in a gust of white wind, her silver hair blowing backwards. She intended to catch her golden foe in her tempestuous fury. Ace, keeping his eye on her movements, drew his scythe back, readying for a powerful leveled slash, intending to drive his deadly weapon into Tsuki’s left hip.

  Tsuki on her part noticed his change in stance right away. She planted her foot in the ground, stopping her charge cold and instead leaping into the air and doing a high frontal flip, soaring over Ace’s head. In the middle of her flip, while her body inverted, she fired a burst of lightning. This surge of electricity was blocked when Ace looked overhead, noticing the platinum clad angel flying above him. Before any harm could befall him, he lifted up his mustard colored scythe, blocking the stream of lightning with the flat end, and putting his left hand towards the end of the weapon in order to block with it more effectively. Using the flaxen scythe in this manner, he managed to make a normally offensive weapon into a defensive one, shielding his face from danger.

  As soon as she landed, Ace attempted a lethal swing at her right hip. Much like how he defended, Tsuki used the flat end of her glowing moon blade to stop a blow that would’ve plunged into her side. She sprung backwards with great speed, intending to temporarily increase the distance between her and Ace.

  Ace, having none of this, relentlessly chased her. He cocked his right arm back, releasing it like a slingshot a moment later—the scythe whipping around in an arc at breakneck speed, aiming to slice through the pristine fighter.

  Tsuki deftly ducked this attack while dashing forward, the severing motion being so close to her head that several locks of her silver hair had been cut off. Right now, that did not concern her, however, as she thrust her snowy blade forward with all of the acceleration she put into her charge.

  Ace’s combat instinct kicked in as the adrenaline switched his senses into full gear. He immediately sidestepped her attempt to impale him, the heavenly blade scratching against the very fringe of his right hip. He had two matching cuts on each hip now.

  Tsuki, failing to do more than minor damage, slammed her left hand into the carpet, putting all of her strength into it. Using all of her power, she vaulted off the ground using only her left hand, doing a front flip and landing on her feet. She quickly turned around to notice Ace’s sharp scythe merely an inch from her face.

  It seemed like the entire universe had been frozen solid. Her heart ceased to beat as her eyes took in every detail of the fatal yet unmoving scythe which was practically stroking her face with its razor touch. As the river of time began to move normally again, she activated her barrier. Ace’s attempt to perform a macabre surgery to her face was utterly repelled, as was his body. He was pushed backwards with a great pressure, as if he was a fly being swatted away. He gazed curiously at the translucent blue barrier before him—smirking sadistically—knowing that once her little haven shattered, she would be vulnerable to whatever attack he could dish out.

  Tsuki ended the barrier merely three seconds in, disappearing completely from sight. Ace’s mind thought of the different possibilities in this split second. She wasn’t a Phantom, so this wasn’t stealth of any sort. Though she did have a move called , which meant she would likely appear behind him. Just then, he felt it. He felt her presence near his back. Practically instantaneously, he moved his flaxen scythe to his rear area, blocking the stab from behind with the flat end of his death-dealing weapon. Tsuki’s eyes expanded immediately. She was unable to believe he blocked that with such a weapon. His skill with the scythe was unbelievable.

  In the next split second, he turned his body around, leveling another curve at her. She sprung backwards right away, avoiding the murderous reaper. Ace wasn’t done, however. He kept up a relentless storm of swipes, drawing several arcs of golden and scarlet brilliance across the room. It was all Tsuki could do to stay on the defensive. He kept pushing her back until she was practically against the wall. Noticing her predicament, she had an idea to create some much needed space between Ace and herself.

  She leapt up, planting her boots firmly on the wall. Certain telepaths could walk on water, walls, and ceilings. Tsuki was one of them. If she was up here, maybe she could wear Ace down with magic attacks while being out of his range. But much like many of her strategies against this man, Ace had crushed this idea swiftly when he hopped upwards, joining her on the wall.

  He waved at her as if they were close friends.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

  Tsuki gritted her teeth in vexation at having this plan foiled. Immediately coming up with another idea, she started sprinting along the wall at full speed, fleeing from Ace. He naturally pursued her.

  “Hey, hey, don’t run away from me! I just wanna talk.”

  He carved out several lines in the cocoa wood in his numerous attempts to cut Tsuki into pieces. Suddenly, Tsuki jabbed her sword into the wooden wall. Placing both hands firmly on the grip, she jumped upwards, doing a frontal flip while holding onto the handle of the sword. She used the handle of the sword as a handhold to swing from it in a way similar to how gymnasts swing themselves all the way around on a bar.

  Ace continued running forward past her, unable to stop himself. Tsuki had swung her body around her blade entirely by this point, doing a complete flip. Ace received a vicious kick from behind as both of Tsuki’s ivory boots dug into the small of his back. This unexpected attack sent Ace flying as he lost his hold. The force sent him rolling on his face.

  The scythe wielder quickly rolled over again, sensing unrivaled danger. He was correct in this assumption. He couldn’t see it, but Tsuki had kicked off the wall with all of the acceleration she could muster as she dove towards him with gravity on her side. He rolled over, narrowly avoiding this fatal thrust. When he looked up, he saw Tsuki standing above him, preparing for another carpet bound stab. He rolled over again, barely dodging the straightforward motion as Tsuki’s angelic blade drove its narrow point into the carmine carpet. The Sword Mage shot a ball of lightning simultaneously that hit him squarely in the chest, sending lightning crackling painfully throughout his body. Ace was in a horrible spot right now. He was pinned. If he tried
to get up in this situation, he would be skewered by Tsuki’s blade for sure. But he couldn’t keep spinning around on the carpet either. There had to be something he could do. Something... anything. Ace sighed inwardly. There was only one way. He didn’t want to show his full power yet, but he had no choice. Gazing intently at one of the great swords attached to the wall, he began to focus his mental energies in this desperate situation.

  C’mon sword, move. Cut this bitch in two!

  As if heeding his call, the large silver great sword flew off the wall at blinding speed, the tip of its blade flying at Tsuki like the head of a venomous snake. Sensing the great disturbance behind her, the silver swordswoman immediately did a back flip—narrowly avoiding being impaled to the wall. The lethal metal behemoth ran into the wall with a loud crash. Several splinters were bursting outward from the area of impact.

  Tsuki’s body shook from her close encounter with Death. Even as she tried to calm herself she was gasping in deep breaths. Her body trembled like a scared child, disobeying her will.

  Ace sprung up to his feet, seemingly disappointed in himself.

  “Awww man, I was sure that would get you.”

  “Well excuse me for not getting impaled.”

  Ace shrugged his shoulders, his lips turning into a relaxed smirk.

  “I really didn’t wanna show you that you know. But... I can’t remember the last time I played a game this challenging. If I hadn’t done that just now, I actually might’ve lost.”

  “You’re still going to lose. But honestly, I’m surprised you can use telekinesis like that. It’s really such a shame that you choose to use your powers this way. They could be used for good. You could help others.”

  “Yuck. You’re going to make me sick with that garbage. Peace is so boring.”

  Tsuki released a pity filled sigh from deep inside. Hearing these kinds of misguided things from him was nothing new to her.

  “Anyway, you’re not the only one who can use telekinesis.”

  Ace raised his eyebrows in curiosity as his excitement ramped up.

  “Oh, are you saying you can use it?”

  As if to answer his question, Tsuki sent a large axe flying from his left side. He arched himself backwards, avoiding the flying death trap as it breezed past him, swaying his golden locks.

  “Well, shit. This game is actually a little tougher than I wanted.”

  The ongoing battle was not one you would witness between even expert fighters. These two had transcended beyond the realm of what the common man could achieve in a fight, even if they trained their bodies and practiced techniques for their whole lives. These two warriors had clearly evolved.

  The two fighters were executing movements that were so swift, they were leaving an afterimage of themselves after their strike. A gale of razor sharp projectiles flew throughout the room as the two combatants attempted to use their telekinesis against one another. A multitude of weapons had their sharp ends stuck inside the wooden wall. The room looked like an army had just fought inside it. The sparks continued to soar as the two godly fighters crossed weapons with one another.

  Finally, one of the warriors gained a definitive advantage. Ace had hatched an elaborate plan to turn the tide of this battle in his favor. He threw a one handed blade at Tsuki’s right side using telekinesis. She parried the flying spike with her snowy blade, sending it falling to the ground. A split second later, a substantial silver fang launched at her from the left side, causing her to reactively jump backward to avoid the deadly airborne thrust.

  As she was leaping backwards, Ace grinned ruthlessly.

  “Checkmate.”

  Tsuki did not notice that the sharp end of Ace’s scythe, imbued with a bloody red aura, emerged behind her left arm. With not a moment of hesitation, the conceited Dark Knight leapt backward, his blood imbued scythe tearing through all of the flesh and bone on Tsuki’s left arm—slicing it clean off at the shoulder. A shriek of pure anguish echoed throughout the halls as the swords-woman cried out in misery. The level of pain that shot through her shoulder climbed into the unbearable, blurring her focus into red splotches of agony. She stood there with tears practically running down her face, still releasing intermittent moans as she wheezed frenetically in suffering. The blood wasn’t just dripping from her arm; it was practically flowing out in a flood.

  Ace laughed sadistically, taunting his tortured opponent.

  “Well now, you don’t look so kingly now, do you?”

  “I would lose an arm for my country,” Tsuki hissed, puffing out her words. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

  “How very noble of you, even if it is just plain retarded. That’s why you’re going to lose, right here and now.”

  “I... haven’t lost yet. It’s not over.”

  Ace couldn’t help but be stunned by such a response. Couldn’t she see the situation she was in?

  “Hey, you really are stupid aren’t you? How do you intend to beat me with one arm?”

  Tsuki managed to bring a tough smile to her lips.

  “One arm is all that a king needs to defeat a common thug.”

  Ace couldn’t control the savage laughter that emanated from his every pore.

  “Hahaha! You kill me, you really do. You really are one tough princess, I’ll give you that. Too bad though. As fun as this game has been, it’s game over for you now. You lose.”

  The wounds on his body were closing, skin gradually being created to cover the wounds. Steam rose from the healing cuts and holes that were afflicting Ace’s body. Tsuki looked on in horrified confusion.

  “Oh yeah, by the way, as a Dark Knight, if my scythe is glowing red it means any attack I hit you with, I’ll restore myself for half that amount of health. So you see, when I cut off your arm, it gave me most of my health back. Sucks for you.”

  Ace lifted his dark scythe behind his head, preparing to deal the deathblow to Tsuki.

  I wanted to save some of my strength to help Drake if he needed it, but I can’t afford to hold back. If I don’t give it everything I have, I will die. Calm down. Let go of everything. All thoughts, all emotions. Just let go.

  Tsuki held the pommel of her blade level with her midsection, holding it vertically; the tip of the blade in between her eyes. She closed them, breathing slowly and methodically, attempting to forget about the immense pain in her arm as she forcefully slowed her own heartbeat.

  Has she given up? Ace wondered upon seeing this new stance that she took.

  In fact, she had done quite the opposite.

  The blade is me. I am the blade. The blade and I are one. Nothing else exists. There is no thought, no sound, no sight, no smell, no taste, and no touch. There is only the blade and I, merged together as one.

  The master swordswoman opened her eyes, releasing the power she had kept locked away. Her valor filled scream shook the royal room.

  Her new speed defied the imagination. By the time her afterimage vanished, she had already stabbed her enemy two times from behind. Ace, extremely confused by this point, turned around attempting to slash the one-armed woman at his back, hitting nothing but an optical illusion. A whooshing sound could be heard upon his whiffed slice. Before the scythe wielder could do anything more, he took two more jabs from behind, followed by three thrusts from the front of his torso. The fresh blood splashing out from most of his newly opened wounds hadn’t even touched the floor yet. His health pool had been taken down from 95% to 10% by the milky colored blade seven times within the span of a second. The princess’s blade was now covered in the king’s blood.

  Unable to stand, he fell straight onto his behind, his eyes shutting tightly from the unrivaled pain of being poked full of several bloody leaks. By the time he reopened those eyes, the tip of Tsuki’s pure blade was touching his throat. The princess stared down at him with disciplined victory.

  “Don’t move,” she ordered.

  Ace’s mouth was agape, his eyes bulging in their sockets. He couldn’t believe what had just ha
ppened. No matter how he tried to wrap his mind around it, he simply could not comprehend it. It defied his imagination. Not only had he lost for the first time, but to a one-armed princess? A naive bitch who knew nothing of ruling? He lost to someone like that? Not only that—in those final moments, he couldn’t keep track of her movements at all. How could there be someone that powerful? Ace, not wanting to appear weak for even a moment, pushed a cocky expression back onto his face.

  “Don’t move or you’ll do what? Will you kill me, Princess? You don’t have the stomach for it.”

  “I will kill you only if it is necessary. Don’t make it necessary for me to do that, please.”

  “I shouldn’t call you Princess anymore. I think monster is a more fitting title for you. To actually beat the great me who’s never lost a fight, you truly must be a monster.”

  “I am human just like you.”

  “No no no, that won’t do at all. We are gods compared to normal people!”

  “Gods are humans. They are kings of wisdom; humans who have amassed a great deal of knowledge. Even gods have things they still need to learn, however.”

  Ace spat towards Tsuki in absolute disdain, the repulsive liquid landing on her right boot. The demon within him had reemerged.

  “You sicken me, you monster. That humility and sacrificial nature of yours disgusts me to the core.”