92 Chapter 91 - Spear + Swords vs Claw + Scythe (Second Half)

27 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

POV: Rakuno

The first thing I noticed about Zena that caught my eye was....his eyes.

I was sure that they were grey before. The guy has a pretty boring colour scheme if you'd look at him from top to bottom. Those eyes were now purple, but in a shade of purple that was neither too dark, nor too light. It was a shade of purple that you could instantly recognise as the colour purple even from a distance.

And that was after he'd blinked for a bit. Was that supposed to happen?

But never mind that. It was the other thing that I noticed about him that gave me quite the surprise.

It was the fact that he was smiling, and his smile looked awfully genuine.

It was like.....he was starting to enjoy the situation that he was in.

A strangely strong gut feeling told me that I shouldn't interfere in his fight, even if I was free to help him.

Zena went at his opponent again, swinging his spear confidently. His opponent, with the name of Acher, swung his scythe pretty carelessly, but the size of its blade made sure that he was still blocking Zena's attacks anyway.

His face was filled with blind rage, torn between desperation and the will to focus on the fight.

On the other hand, Zena looked like he was having the time of his life. It wasn't like he could settle victory over Acher right now, but he was immersed in the action of the combat of the fight.

Wasn't he also like that when I declared a duel with him that time? Apart from the fact that he had lost that duel, he never showed any fear of losing when he was struggling against me.

Well, it was a mock fight, after all. But the fight now wasn't. It's a strict matter of life and death, and yet.....I couldn't explain his feeling of enjoyment in exchanging blows with a seasoned player, who also uses a weapon that he probably had no experience fighting against.

Scratch that.....I didn't think anyone's seen any scythe users often enough to be able to have any edge over them, let alone even having a fight with them before.

But yet, Zena's still on it. He's still faring well against Acher, his purple eyes focused on the scythe's iconic curved blade intently as he made his next move, attempting to score a hit on the Council member.

I wanted to stop him--or at least caution him from being too confident against an enemy with unknown tactics and fighting style.

"He's quite the lad to be able to last this long against Acher."

I turned to Puma, who started to comment on the duel. It didn't seem like she wanted to interfere, neither did she look like she wanted to catch me off guard and break free from my grasp.

It was probably because of the debuffs that she still had. How long do those debuffs last, anyway?

She turned her head just enough to glance at me. "Except for a select few, no one's been able to be his match in combat without surrendering or dying early. A careless move would cost you a quick death, even if he doesn't mean to kill."

"Well, the same can be said for all those lads using scythes as their weapons. They've always looked pretty lethal the moment you spot them."

I renewed my grip on my katana and raised it a little higher to Puma's chin. "Then it must've been lucky for you to make friends with one."

"It was luck," she agreed. "For me to have met a fellow lad using a scythe. In fact, he's a guy who I can count on."

"What do you mean?" I asked. The battle between the 2 male players continued with the sounds of blades clashing and footsteps.

I took notice of Acher and his unruly method of exchanging blows with Zena. Acher's his eyes shone with more determination than when he first came at his opponent blindly. His mouth opened wide every time he swung in an attack, as Zena struggled a little to block the incredibly curved blade with his spear.

It seemed like he was making war cries. But no matter how wide his mouth was, I couldn't hear anything.

Then, it hit me. The realization that I never did hear Acher say anything before.

"So, you've noticed, huh, witch," Puma made a smile. "Acher's actually mute. Or rather, he became mute in this world."

" 'This world'.....which means....."

"A malfunction in his NerveGear, which prevents him from making vocal speech. Kinda like having a broken microphone, but with no way of fixing it."

"That's....."

"Spare him the sympathy. We're your enemies, anyway."

My arm holding my katana shook a little. "I wish you'd stop this. I don't want to face you in this way."

Puma gave a short laugh. "There's no turning back for Acher and me now. The Council also fights without surrender, no matter what happens to us."

For a moment, I noticed a little tear streak slowly from Puma's left eye, before dripping from her face discreetly.

The tone of her voice suddenly changed. "But, at the very least, if Acher can get out of this duel alive, I'd be happy enough."

I turned back to the duel. Neither guy has made a clean hit on each other. Both of them were now staring off at each other, waiting for their opponent's move.

".....Who is Acher to you?" I asked the restrained Council member, curious of her choice of words.

"..."

It was clear to me now, though, that Puma and Acher definitely had a relationship together. I didn't think Zena had realized that at all, and neither did I, until now.

"One day, when you finally find the person that you'd want to spend your life with together....." Puma reached her hand to the blade of my katana and merely touched it. "You'll feel the urge to go wherever he goes, even if it's without any condition."

Zena was now trying to attack Acher from different angles, swinging his spear conveniently around him in order to avoid being struck by the scythe.

I couldn't hide my surprise that Zena would be a match for a seasoned scythe user.

To be fair, he was struggling to make sure that the scythe didn't have a chance to cut into him, using as much random footwork as possible to confuse his opponent.

His opponent, however, didn't move much. He must be relying on the big swings that he could make with the large, curved blade, which Zena couldn't really dodge properly. They were too big to dodge, especially from up close, as he blocked another lethal swing that could've shaved his HP by around 30% if hit directly.

But he wasn't backing down, backing off to try again against the scythe user, and using all sorts of tactics while staying clear of the scythe itself.

".....It's been a good 15 minutes since you kept me here," Puma tapped onto the blade of my katana. "I wonder why I haven't been slit on the throat already."

She turned back to me with a confident smile. I stared back with a serious look on my face.

"I could do that."

"You couldn't. You never could. And you never will. I dare you to try doing it, if you think you can."

She touched the blade of my katana, pulling it gently right under her chin.

"Either you push the blade into my neck, or I pull the blade into it myself."

She tried to pull the blade into herself, but it wouldn't budge. She turned to me again, maintaining her smile.

On the other hand, I could feel myself breathing harder than normal. My conscience was clear: I wasn't going to kill anyone. That was it.

Dealing with a deranged person who wanted to die definitely wasn't on my agenda.

"I'll give you one last chance to stop all of this," I declared firmly. "Get Acher to surrender. Now."

Why was I still wishing for the impossible? It wasn't like Puma's going to do that, would she? Was I doing all I can just so that I didn't need to see a death happen in front of me?

KRRSHK...!

I spun my head back to the fight. Something had finally been hit. Blood--red crystals had finally been spilled. Zena was striking a very awkward pose with his spear.

Behind him, Acher was also looking like he had swung through with his scythe. Both of their HP gauges weren't full anymore.

The second after they both froze up felt like the fastest one. Zena acted first, striking deep into Acher's stomach. The Council member coughed out red crystals upon impalement.

I didn't understand how Zena could act faster than Acher in the spur of the moment, but a look at Acher's HP gauge had the answer. On top of it was the speed debuff that Puma was having, and to make matters worse for him, the defense debuff just popped up beside it.

"Zena....." I blurted out, suddenly fearing the worse case scenario that I could imagine. Acher still wasn't backing down, taking the opportunity to strike down at Zena's back with a clean hit.

An eye for an eye. The scythe's pointed tip dug the red crystals out of Zena's back, prompting his coughing of red crystals.....

...as he faced Acher with those purple eyes, using whatever breath he had to sound out a war-cry.

"HRRRAGHHH!!!"

The blade at the back of Zena's spear glowed dark blue, as Zena rotated his body, along with the blade that was inside Acher's body. The blade sliced half out of it, revealing that it was glowing the same colour.

That was all I clearly saw, with what followed was a series of blue flashes and blurs. It was too fast. Just too fast.

My eyes couldn't follow the last few swings at all. Dust riffled around the both of them, concealing the aftermath of that attack.

I watched without a word as Zena's HP gauge kept draining gradually without stopping.

When the dust had settled, Zena still had Acher's scythe dug into his back. Acher himself had deep slice marks all over his body, shakily trying to take a step.

His HP gauge had just been drained to nothing. As soon as his foot touched the ground, the scythe user collapsed.

I turned slowly towards Puma. Her smile had become a sobbing frown. I watched, speechless, as the Puma with the cool demeanor that I knew before her betrayal kneeling and breaking down before my eyes.

Turning back to the fallen player, I noticed that his face, although planted onto the ground, was facing our way. He was stretching his hand out to Puma, trying to form a smile.

He didn't get to form one. His body glowed and shattered with the all-too familiar sound effect of death.

The scythe on Zena's back didn't shatter, but vanished. His HP gauge finally stopped draining at the yellow zone.

I felt a tug from the handle of my katana, and turned back to Puma again. She was gripping hard onto its blade, her hand leaking red crystals, as she reached her neck over its sharp edge.

"WHAT THE FU--"

I instantly knew what she was planning to do. The instinct to pull my katana away struck through my mind as my katana slid off her fingers pretty swiftly.

Just when I thought I had prevented it from happening.....

SHRKKKK.....!

I found myself staring in shock, as the blade of Zena's spear ran through Puma's body.

I turned to the man who did the deed. I could feel my mouth hanging out, but I couldn't close it.

Puma's HP gauge emptied itself, as she looked up at him with a grief-stricken face. She managed one last smile, as if she was feeling triumphant despite her broken voice.

"N-nice save.....Nice save, Xana."

The spear user reached down to face her close up. His purple eyes were devoid of any emotion, but he smiled back at her.

".....It was a good match...Well played."

Puma simply kept smiling, as she embraced her glowing body. The shattering of her body reverberated through my head, as I helplessly watched another death before my eyes.

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