Chapter 26- Black vs Dusk

April 19th, 2057

Kazuto was leaning on the fence on the school rooftop. He seemed to be waiting for someone. He really should be at the school rally, but this was the only chance he had to talk to his best friend without the others around.

"Sorry I'm late," Frank said as he appeared and went over to his friend. "It was tricky giving my teacher the slip. What do you want to talk about?"

The Black Swordsman looked his partner in the eye and said, "You know what it is. Are you sure you're okay with fighting Seiji? If you're not careful, he could steal Sky Raker's Enhanced Armament from you."

Frank put his hands in the pockets of his pants and eyed the floor. "I know, but this might be the only way to find out what Seiji's fully capable of." He then lifted his gaze to his male Driver. "Don't worry, Kazuto. I've got no intention of letting Seiji steal Gale Thruster from me. If I didn't, it would be like stabbing Sky Raker in the back after she went out of her way to help us."

Kazuto could tell that the Blade Eater would not back down with challenging Seiji, so he let out a reluctant sigh. "Alright, just be careful okay."

Frank cracked a light smirk. "Don't worry. I'll be fine," he said casually. "Besides, all I'm gonna do is prolong the duel to get a sense of Seiji's powers. Once that's done, he's all yours."

This time Kazuto was smirking as he smacked his right fist into his other palm. "I like the sound of that. Speaking of which, I think I'm getting close to remembering that spell I need to take back Sugu's wings. After I get her wings back, I won't have any reason to hold back against Seiji."

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "Now let's find a way to break through that protection he has so we can challenge him."

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

Later

Kazuto, Frank and Kuroba were walking to the kendo dojo as the kendo team was in the middle of practice. The Darkness Duo had spent the majority of their remaining class time to create a backdoor program to circumvent whatever Seiji was using to keep his avatar's name from the matching list. However, even then they still needed to use Brain Burst in order to put the finishing touches on the program. Thankfully Kuroba had given the duo her blessing to use Brain Burst because of the circumstances.

"So how are you going to install the backdoor program onto Seiji's Neurolinker?" Kuroba questioned.

"With some difficulty," Kazuto explained. "The fastest way to put the program on Seiji's Neurolinker is through cable link, but there's no way he'll agree to that. But, we might have found a way to access his Neurolinker remotely. During school hours and clubs, all students are required to be connected to Umesato's local network via their Neurolinkers. Naturally both the school's network and our Neurolinkers have firewalls for viruses and malware, but if you're skilled enough at programming, you can circumvent both."

"Right now, the only connection we have to Seiji's Neurolinker is the school's local network," Frank took over. "Unfortunately, because Kazuto and I threatened him, Seiji's always on guard and probably added some extra firewall protection to his Neurolinker. However, if we manage to distract him for a period of time, Kazuto can break through Seiji's defenses to install the backdoor program."

Kuroba gripped her left arm with her other hand. "Now I'm really glad we aren't enemies," she said in a serious tone. "If you two were in a different Legion, you might have found a way to find me before I revealed myself to the Accelerated World."

Kazuto simply chuckled. "I think you're giving us too much credit, Kuroba. It would be way harder to locate you than installing the backdoor program on Seiji's Neurolinker. We'd have to know what you looked like in real life and name, plus which school you attended to find you. The only way we can possibly find out your real name and appearance would be questioning the original members of Nega Nebulus and I highly doubt any of them would've sold you out."

The Black King relaxed before cracking a light smile. "I see," she replied. "So how do you two plan on distracting Seiji?"

Frank tossed his girlfriend a confident smirk. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to challenge him to a kendo match."

Kuroba's eyes widened in disbelief. "But how? You're not part of the kendo team anymore, plus you're completely blacklisted from sports because of your abilities."

"True, but today just so happens to be quite unique. Once a semester, the kendo coaches allow other students to challenge any member of the kendo team to a match, as long as the member agrees to it. And something tells me Seiji won't turn this opportunity down."

"I see," Kuroba mused. "Good luck to both of you then."

The male duo told their Legion Master their thanks before the three of them continued to the dojo. When they arrived, they saw a number of students were watching some of the kendo team wrapping up their practice matches. Kazuto could also spot Meg in the crowd.

"Of course, she'd be here," he thought to himself. "Meg must have figured out that Frank would challenge Seiji to a kendo match before the duel."

Kazuto's thoughts were soon interrupted as the kendo teacher stepped up and said, "We will now begin the student request duels. Who would like to go first?"

"I would," Frank spoke up immediately as he took a step forward, catching almost everyone off-guard, including the teacher.

"It's the freak," one student whispered. "What's he doing here?"

The teacher looked very reluctant as he stared at the Blade Eater. "Frank Storm, as I recall, you are banned from participating in any official sporting events because of your…unnatural abilities."

"Hmph," Frank scoffed before confidently saying, "Except last I checked, this isn't an official sporting event. This is just a casual event for students to have fun." His eyes became deadly serious, causing the teacher to flinch. "Besides, I am still a student here at Umesato, so I have the same right to join like everyone else."

The teacher was silent for a few moments before sighing in defeat. "Very well," he said slowly. "I'll allow it. Now choose your opponent."

Frank instantly turned his gaze to a certain freshman. "Seiji Nomi," he said firmly.

Kazuto heard quite a few students muttering amongst themselves about the "prodigy" of the kendo team against the "Freak of Umesato High School". Some were even thinking that Seiji had this match in the bag.

"They wish," Kazuto pondered. "Frank's the one who will win."

The teacher asked Seiji if he accepted the challenge, which the student replied that he will. Frank then went over and grabbed one shinai from one of the racks before joining his opponent in the kendo ring.

"Not gonna wear any protection?" Seiji goaded as he got in a traditional kendo stance. "That's pretty risky."

"I don't need it," the Blade Eater replied firmly.

Frank moved his feet apart while holding his shinai out to his side and kept his left hand close to his chest. His stance looked pretty strange to most people, but Kazuto and the other members of Nega Nebulus knew that this was one of the Dark Swordsman's main fighting stances.

Kazuto figured that Seiji will first attempt to strike Frank's head, especially since the latter wasn't wearing a helmet. However, because Seiji also knew about the Physical Burst command, which could allow the Dusk Taker player to change attack patterns mid-swing, means that it will be difficult to come up with ways to counter his attacks. The Physical Burst command was what allowed him to defeat all of the more experienced kendo members, including Suguha.

"However," Kazuto thought as he readied his virtual keyboard via his Neurolinker. "Frank isn't an ordinary opponent. This will be an interesting match."

The teacher soon gave the go-ahead to start. Seiji moved first and began swinging his shinai down at Frank's head. Meg, who was watching from the crowd with bated breath, could see the confident smirk on Seiji's face. Frank's face looked impassive and made no attempt to block, which made his sister nervous.

"Come on, Brother," she muttered to herself. "You've got to move."

Seiji's shinai immediately changed directions and began heading towards Frank's left side. It was a feint! Seiji's attack was too close to the Blade Eater's body and his shinai was too far away to block. It looked to everyone that the first point would go to the brown-haired freshman.

Suddenly a loud clang echoed in the air and everyone who was watching found themselves in shock. With inhuman reflexes, Frank had managed to block Seiji's attack with his shinai, then repel him back a few feet. Seiji was also shocked, but he quickly collected himself.

"How did you…?" Seiji questioned. He quickly stopped himself to block a diagonal slash from the Blade Eater, which was difficult since the attack was very fast and strong. It took everything he had to not get thrown out of the ring.

"You know how I blocked you," Frank said coldly. "It was your mistake for agreeing to this match. Let's see just how your 'skills' compare against me."

Seiji gritted his teeth and immediately moved to the right to get away, only for him to feel a strike in his left shoulder.

"First point to Storm!" the teacher declared.

Most of the students were still frozen with shock, but Meg looked very relieved.

"Thank goodness," the younger Storm-Furuta sibling muttered after releasing the breath she had been holding. "Looks like Frank will be okay."

"Looks that way," Kuroba said as she approached the brunette. The two girls proceeded to watch Frank and Seiji begin rapidly clashing their shinais together. "Marth's not gonna let someone like Seiji beat him. Even in his civilian form, his strength and speed are greater than an average teenager. Just imagine if he combined Brain Burst's acceleration with his SAO form."

Meg let out a chuckle as her brother scored yet another point without getting hit. "He'd be unstoppable if that happened." She then turned over to Kazuto, who was hard at work with installing his program onto Seiji's Neurolinker. "I hope this works. Sugu's been really depressed ever since Seiji stole her wings."

Kuroba draped her arm over Emerald Fencer's shoulders to comfort her. "Don't worry," the Black King said soothingly. "Frank and Kazuto won't let us down."

Meg simply smiled. "Yeah, you're right, Kuroba. Nothing can stop the Darkness Duo."

Frank had gotten Seiji into a stalemate, their shinais locked as they tried to overpower each other. Unbeknownst to the Dusk Taker player, the Blade Eater was actually holding back when it came to physical strength. Seiji, on the other hand, had beads of sweat trailing down his face even though he'd been using the Physical Burst command during the entire match.

Soon Frank got a message from Kazuto saying that he was finished. Seeing that there was no reason to continue this match, the Black Wolf player quickly repelled Seiji's shinai before striking his opponent in the right shoulder, making him the winner.

"Good match, for a cheater," Frank said quietly.

Seiji could only clench his jaws in frustration. "Not like you're any better, Aegis," he bitterly retorted. "That enhanced speed of yours is very unfair. No wonder you were banned from sports."

The Blade Eater simply scoffed before handing his shinai to the kendo teacher. He then went over to his friends, who were standing outside of the dojo.

"Nice match, Frank," Kazuto praised. "You really put Seiji in his place."

"It was nothing," Frank replied casually. "Now it's time to continue this in the Accelerated World."

"Be careful, Brother," Meg said in worry. "Seiji's no pushover."

The Black Wolf player gave his sister a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, sis. I'll be just fine." He then turned to the Dusk Taker player, who was sitting by his kendo teammates, perfectly oblivious to what's about to happen. "Burst Link!"

Kazuto found himself enveloped with light as he transformed into his graphite Duel Avatar. But he wasn't the person being challenged to a duel. He had registered himself to watch any matches that Frank was participating in, so he had been automatically accelerated and invited to a stage as part of the Gallery.

By his side, Graphite could see Kuroba, Meg, and Suguha, all of whom were in their Duel Avatars, beside him. About ten feet in front of him was Marth as Black Wolf.

The school had transformed into something organic, shining with a slimy metallic luster. The windows were all replaced with convex, glass-like black eyes, and innumerable protrusions resembling fins or gill-like pleats lined the walls. The sky was colored an abnormal green and the ground was covered in pipes like blood vessels or wriggling metallic tentacles.

"The Hell stage," Black Lotus spoke up. "How fitting for who our enemy is."

Graphite could only nod as tiny metal insects skittered around his feet. Soon Dusk Taker burst out of one of the eyeball windows, causing buckets of viscous fluid to ooze out of the hole, and landed right in front of his opponent.

"Huh. And here I thought you were the cautious one, Marth," the blackish-purple avatar remarked in his clear boy's voice. "So tell me, how did you manage to challenge me to a duel?"

"Since we don't know how you're hiding yourself from the matching list, Kirito and I uploaded a backdoor program into your Neurolinker that allows us to challenge you directly to circumvent it," Black Wolf explained. "But good luck trying to find it. We made it nearly impossible to detect, even with the best anti-virus programs. Now there's nothing stopping us from battling you."

Black Wolf drew his swords and took a confident step forward. "Seiji Nomi. You are a disgrace to all Burst Linkers. Not only do you use your acceleration powers to cheat in sports and tests, you also extort points from other Burst Linkers by blackmailing them. That ends now."

Dusk Taker's shoulders shook as he burst out laughing. "You make that sound like a bad thing," he said with remarkable self-control. "If anything, I'm one of the few who actually takes full advantage of Brain Burst's abilities. Most players only use their Burst points for duels. But if that's all you're going to do, why do you even need Brain Burst? There's plenty of other more brutal, violent, and more importantly, pain-free games out there. Admit it, Marth. Deep down, you also think that you're part of a privileged class." He then sneered. "Actually, you're already different from everyone else, even among other Burst Linkers. You're not even human. You cause destruction everywhere you go, so what makes you different from the monsters you fought thirty years ago."

Graphite saw his male partner tighten his grip on his swords. "Marth," he said in concern.

Black Wolf let out a deep breath before looking his opponent in the eye. "You're right, Seiji," he said slowly. "There's not much of a difference between me and the monsters I had fought in the Demon War. However," he cracked a smirk, "unlike them, I never took pleasure from the damage I inflicted. I may not be a human anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't have any humanity in me."

"Tch," Dusk Taker grunted before saying, "Whatever. As for me, I like taking things and I can't stand losing things or having things taken from me. Right now, you're trying to take a maximum of one point eight seconds of my time. Time that I can be using to wipe the floor with my fellow kendo teammates. It's absolutely unforgivable. Naturally, you'll need to compensate me for it. With your Burst Points, and those swords of yours. With them, I'll be unstoppable!"

Suddenly Black Wolf and Graphite Edge burst out laughing while the girl avatars simply chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"You, of course," Emerald Fencer said firmly. "Lunara and Solaris are bound to my brother. They won't let a creep like you even touch them."

"She's right," Black Wolf added. He moved his black sword to his side and held his gold sword in front. "Of course…you're more than welcome to try. However, you'll most likely lose a limb or two in the process."

"Uh, Kuroba, I think part of your personality has rubbed off on Marth," Graphite Edge whispered to his other partner, as he remembered her saying a similar line to the Yellow Legion.

Lotus simply smirked. "Really? What would ever give you that impression?" she said smugly.

Graphite sighed in response before he and the others turned to watch the fight.

The first to move was Wolf, as he ran at the blackish-purple avatar at high-speed. He slashed his left sword at Dusk's shoulder, which the latter blocked with his bolt cutter arm, sparks dancing in the air, however he let out a grunt in pain as Solaris bit into his arm. Dusk Taker then tried to wrap the tentacles of his left arm around the black avatar, only for Wolf to sever them off with Lunara.

The black blade gained a blue light effect before Black Wolf unleashed the four-hit sword skill, Vertical Square, landing all four slashes on Seiji's chest, reducing his HP by 10 percent.

Dusk Taker was knocked back a few feet but quickly caught himself as his three tentacles regrew. Suddenly his tentacles grabbed something from the ground and flung it straight at Wolf. Metal insects, one of the Hell stage's many terrain effects, shot through the air, thin legs kicking frantically. While they were harmless, and pretty creepy, but the ones in the flashy shells released different kinds of poison when crushed.

The three that Dusk had thrown were all vivid red or green. He had to have fairly good eyesight to be able to grab hold of only the poisonous bugs, especially since he hadn't taken his eyes away from Black Wolf closing the distance between them.

"Seiji seems quite used to fighting," Black Lotus commented.

Verdant Fairy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. And so far he hasn't used anything different than when he fought me. Just what is he hiding up his sleeve?"

Before Graphite could even think of a response as Black Wolf instinctively slashed at the metal insects out of the air. Together with a squelching crack, like an egg being broken, insect carapaces shattered, and an even more loathsome-looking sludge flew out. Wolf's body was showered in the splatter, and white plumes of smoke rose up immediately after.

"Ngh!" The black avatar's HP bar only dropped by a small amount, but he reeled at the unanticipated attack.

Not letting the brief opening pass him by, Dusk Taker plunged forward like a bolt of black lightning, howling, and in the blink of an eye, his extended tentacles around Black Wolf's arms. Then he thrusted his bolt cutters towards Wolf's throat.

However, Wolf managed to move his right arm enough to catch the cutter blades with Lunara before the cutters were near his head. The next few moments were him and Dusk struggling to overpower each other.

"Tell me, Marth, how's it feel to meet your match?" Dusk Taker asked smugly.

Purple sparks began shooting off of Wolf's body, catching Dusk by surprise. "You're not my equal," he said coldly. "Not even close. Bolt Strike!"

The sparks became an aura of purple lightning which traveled to Dusk Taker's body by his tentacles and Solaris like conductors. He then cried out in pain as he was electrocuted, his HP slowly draining away. The tentacles quickly retracted from Wolf's arm while Seiji backed away in retreat.

Black Wolf's electric aura faded away before he pulled Lunara back, activating Vorpal Strike. He let out a howl as he thrusted the black sword forward, stabbing his opponent right in the chest, smashing Dusk Taker into the school building, ending up half buried in the metal wall.

"Aaah!"

The black avatar morphed into his wolf form and charged at the fallen avatar. He tackled his opponent, smashing through the weakened wall and landed right on top of his opponent. The black wolf then grabbed Dusk Taker's tentacles with his jaws and began dragging him deeper into the building. Graphite and the others ran after them, entering the school through the hole Wolf made.

"Wow, Marth's not holding back at all," Emerald Fencer said as they hurried through the darkened hallways.

"Of course, he wouldn't," Black Lotus replied. "He's trying to force Seiji into using his trump card. Marth can't do that without pulling any punches."

"If Seiji does reveal his trump card, would Marth be forced to use the Incarnate System?" Graphite Edge wondered to himself. "Come to think of it, what is Seiji's trump card? Is it a special move, an Enhanced Armament, or is it something else?"

Graphite suddenly found himself feeling a sense of dread, like this fight was about to get a lot worse. They soon caught up to the two combatants as Wolf flung Dusk into the wall, the latter wheezing in pain from the impact. Black Wolf's HP bar was over 80 percent while Dusk Taker's was down to 50 percent. The hall they were in also had no other passageways, meaning the blackish-purple avatar was now trapped.

"It's over, Seiji," Black Wolf declared as he changed back into his human form. "You just lost."

"What?" Dusk Taker questioned as he slowly picked himself up. "Have I?"

"You have. You can't destroy the walls of the Hell stage with your power. The exit is right behind me. And in a small space like this, a speed type like you is powerless."

It did seem like Wolf was right, however, Graphite knew that his partner was also a speed type as well, so a confined space like this was just as much of a hinderance to him as well, but Wolf also had high attack power and defense abilities so it shouldn't be that big a deal. Plus, his special-attack gauge was almost fully charged.

Dusk's narrowed reddish-purple eyes glittered, and the slim avatar lunged forward with no warning. He grabbed onto a wall pillar with the tentacles of his left hand and contracting them before flinging his body forward. Unwilling to admit defeat, he was now trying to go around Black Wolf and escape.

However, Wolf had other ideas, his special-attack gauge went down by 40 percent. "Stormveil!" Black wind surrounded his swords before he swung them to his sides, creating a wind barrier right behind him. His hair and tail ends of his outfit flapped in the strong gale.

"Gah!" Dusk Taker cried out as he slammed into the barrier and was knocked right back to where he started.

Having fulfilled its purpose, the black wind barrier dissipated soon after.

"It's hopeless," Black Wolf said firmly. "You're not getting past me. Surrender now and return Verdant Fairy's wings to her. If you do that, we might be merciful to you."

Graphite Edge really had to hand it to the Blade Eater. Wolf really knew how to pressure someone like Seiji into doing what he wanted. Graphite knew that Seiji would never give up, his arrogance just wouldn't allow it.

"Be careful, Marth," he muttered under his breath. "Something tells me Seiji's about to step up his game."

Dusk Taker let out a long sigh. "Marth," he said, shaking his head from side to side. "You'll do whatever it takes to keep your ridiculous promises to your friends, won't you? It's really pathetic…"

He then spread his hands almost exasperatedly and murmured a short, unfamiliar command: "Total Disarmament."

Instantly, the tentacles of his left hand and the bolt cutter of his right disappeared, as if melting into thin air. The arming and disarming of Enhanced Armament could be done through a voice command the player registered in advance on the Install menu. Those two words must have been the command Seiji had chosen.

"Is he actually giving up or something?" Emerald Fencer questioned.

"No, I'm not," Dusk Taker said quietly as he dropped his small, empty-handed into a very low stance. "I just need my hands empty to use my trump card."

Graphite Edge let out a gasp. "Trump…card?"

"Watch out, Marth!" Verdant Fairy shouted.

Black Wolf didn't respond. Instead he closed his eyes and brought his swords close to his chest in an x-form.

"Goodness me," Dusk Taker said even quieter, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "I don't like this at all. I really hate saying the name of my special attack…But, well, given the situation, I suppose I have no choice."

Dusk Taker used both hands to make a small triangle in front of his body. He then began muttering under his breath words that sounded like a spell, or maybe it would be more accurate to call it a curse.

"Steal. Get. Grab. Remove. Take. Take. Take. Ta. Ke."

Soon the Black Legion members began hearing the low whir of vibration, which soon turned into a metallic, high-pitched hum. Graphite let out a gasp as he saw Seiji's hands being enveloped by a dull, midnight-purple pulse of energy.

The air in the hallway shuddered, and sparks snapped and raced everywhere. If this special attack was generating these kinds of effects, then Dusk Taker's special-attack gauge should begin to drop before the attack begins. However, the blackish-purple avatar's gauge didn't even go down a little. Instead it stayed at its half-charged state.

Black Lotus suddenly gasped in realization. "It can't be," she said in disbelief. "He couldn't possibly know about that system."

Graphite Edge's eyes widened as he realized what his other partner was referring to. He had actually come to the same conclusion. Dusk Taker had to be using the Incarnate System, overwriting reality with his imagination.

"Hurry, Marth!" he shouted quickly, catching Lotus's attention. "Take him down now! Don't let him use that!"

But Black Wolf wasn't moving at all. His breathing was steady, and his body language looked calm. In fact, Graphite could barely see a black aura surround the Blade Eater and his hair and tail ends of his armored longcoat whipping around in the nonexistent breeze.

"No way," Graphite Edge thought. "Is Marth planning on using the Incarnate System too?"

Dusk Taker lifted his face slightly and looked up at the motionless Black Wolf. This looked like a moment where he would sneer and say something contemptuous with a disparaging laugh.

But Dusk Taker stayed silent as he bent the fingers of both his hands into claws and kicked at the ground. He generated an even stronger purple aura, this time of ripples, before launching himself into a dash that was so fast, his legs were blurs. In less time than it took to blink, Dusk closed the ten-meter distance between him and Wolf, and as he closed in, he drew his hand through the air in a large arc, from bottom to top.

Finally, as the purple claw got ever closer, Wolf's eyes opened. They were no longer blue and were now a bright yellow. His left sword flared with a very faint red light, which was actually increasing in brightness by the second, before crying out, "Sharp Nail!"

The first slash rose from the lower right, striking the purple claw and slowing it down. The second swipe from left to right dug right into the claw before the third slice from the upper right stopped it in its tracks. Both the claw and Solaris screeched in protest as they were locked in a stalemate.

Dusk Taker tried to retaliate with his other claw, but Black Wolf somehow blocked it with Lunara, which should have been impossible since Sharp Nail was still in effect.

Everyone else was rendered speechless, especially Seiji.

"Impossible," he said, his voice full of shock. "No one should be able to block this attack. Your swords should have been deleted from the duel the moment they came in contact."

So it is an Incarnate attack. The images Seiji produced were supposed to negotiate with the system and make any object he grabbed with his hands to disappear. However, something was keeping the twin blades from vanishing.

Black Wolf simply smirked as the black aura around him intensified. "I guess my willpower is stronger than yours."

Suddenly his armor morphed into a dark leather long coat and slim-fitting pants. His visor disappeared and his bangs became slightly longer while his gauntlets changed into black fingerless gloves.

"No way," Seiji said with a gasp. "You know about the Incarnate System too?!"

"You got that right," Marth confirmed as he began to slowly push back against the void-like claws. "Took me about a day in the Accelerated World to get this far with the system. Worth every second to see the shocked look on your face."

Marth let out a bellow as he summoned all his strength and pushed the purple claws away. Dusk Taker was also knocked back a little. Seiji let out a frustrated grunt before he ran at the Dark Swordsman so quick it looked like short teleportation. He slid to the right and nimbly dodged a horizontal slash from Lunara, but Marth took advantage of his motion to spin around, striking the blackish-purple avatar across the chest with Solaris, cutting through the armor like butter.

"Gah!" Dusk Taker cried out in pain as he took a few steps backward before catching himself.

"This can't be happening," he said to himself. "How can I be losing to a weakling like you? I thought this attack would give me the edge over you, but you just countered with your own Incarnate attack. Only the seven kings, their close associates, and my group should know about it." His gaze turned to Black Lotus. "Did she teach you how to use Incarnation just to beat me?"

"No," Marth said casually before unleashing Stormveil once more, this time around him and Seiji to keep the latter from escaping. "I didn't learn about the Incarnate System from Lotus. That honor goes to someone else. And what I just did wasn't an Incarnate attack." He lifted Lunara to the level of his shoulder and pulled it back. "This…is an Incarnate attack!"

Suddenly the Shadow Blade began glowing a bloodred, it was the one-hit Vorpal Strike. Lunara started to unleash a metallic roar as Marth became surrounded by a crimson light like a flame while the hem and tail ends of his coat flapped behind him like wings.

"Seiji's ten feet away," Marth thought to himself. "That distance is child's play compared to what I pulled off back at Sky Raker's house."

"Raaahh!" he bellowed fiercely.

Dusk Taker took a step back in fear and realized that the wind barrier around him and his opponent was very narrow, meaning it was practically impossible to evade this attack.

Marth then lunged his black sword forward, the crimson light shooting towards the blackish-purple avatar, striking him in the chest before he could even blink. The light actually pierced the wind barrier and the metal wall behind Dusk Taker before finally disappearing. The wind barrier also dissipated soon after.

"Aaaah!" Dusk Taker cried out in pain as a hole was made in his left breast from the attack. His Incarnate claws dissipated before he collapsed on his back. His HP bar was barely at 5 percent.

Seiji tried to pull himself up, but he soon found a black sword pointed at his throat. The Dark Swordsman was standing by his right side and his eyes were their usual blue again.

"Looks like I win," Marth declared as his friends hurried over to him.

Dusk Taker looked at the swordsman in desperation. He tried to lift his right arm to try and grab Marth's ankle, but he just couldn't find the strength. He just couldn't believe it. Did he really just lose, to a freak of all things? It can't be true. The organization he was a part of promised to make him unstoppable. He should be unstoppable.

Suddenly Marth moved his sword away and reverted back to Black Wolf before turning away.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Dusk Taker asked in confusion.

"It's not my place to take you down," Black Wolf answered simply as he glanced at the downed avatar with narrowed eyes. "That right belongs to my best friend. He'll be your next opponent. And trust me, you won't like that fight one bit."

Graphite Edge smacked his right fist into his palm as he smirked. "Oh, but I think I'll enjoy every second of it. That's when I'll be taking back my sister's wings from you. Anyway, the timer's about to run out. I could challenge you immediately after, but where's the fun in that? I'll give you one day to prepare yourself for our duel. Hell, I'll even let you decide the meeting place. However," his eyes became cold as ice, sending a chill down Seiji's spine, "if you lead us into a trap, then you'll have to deal with the full might of Nega Nebulus, so I suggest you plan carefully for tomorrow."

Dusk Taker clenched his teeth before shouting, "You—"

But he was cut off as the duel timer reached zero, causing everyone to return to the real world.

Immediately afterward, Kazuto and Frank shared a high-five in victory.

"Nice going, Frank," Kazuto praised. "Now that we know what Seiji's trump card is, we can finally bring this to an end and Sugu will be able to fly again."

"Yes, this conflict is finally drawing to an end," Kuroba agreed before narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend. "However, just how did you manage to learn about the Incarnate System, Frank? I never even gave hints about its existence."

"Incarnate System?" Meg questioned.

Frank, however, simply smirked and tossed his female Driver a wink. "Sorry, that's a secret," he said teasingly. "I might tell you tomorrow though."

"Are you seriously doing that again?!" Kuroba protested.

"I like to think of it as payback for you not telling me what Brain Burst really was the day you gave it to me," Frank said with a laugh.

The Black King growled in frustration before she replaced it with concern. "Just promise me you'll be careful with the Incarnate System. There's a reason why I never told you about it." Kuroba brought her hands to her chest. "The Incarnate System is dangerous. If you use it selfishly, it'll corrupt your soul and you'll end up like Seiji. How did he manage to learn of its existence?"

Suddenly she felt two gentle hands touch her shoulders and looked up at a pair of kind blue eyes. "Don't worry about it," Frank said reassuringly. "I had a feeling you kept this a secret for a reason. Now I know why. I promise that I'll only use Incarnation when it's necessary." He then gave her a quick kiss on the lips before parting.

"Me too," Kazuto spoke up, causing Kuroba's eyes to widen again. "Yeah, I know how to use the Incarnate System too. Anyway, we should start preparing for our final battle with Seiji. Something tells me that he's gonna get some extra help in attempt to defeat us."

Kuroba quickly collected herself and nodded. "Yes, we should. We may know Seiji's trump card, but we also know that he does have allies. And if my assumption is correct, his allies would be that organization that Sulfur Pot is part of. We'll need to take extra precautions since we don't know anything about what this organization is capable of."

"Then let's meet with the others and come up with a plan," Frank suggested.

"Great," Kazuto agreed. "Let's do it at Dicey's. That way we won't have to worry about being overheard."

The trio then began walking away before a confused Meg followed after them.

"Can someone please tell me what this Incarnate System is?!" she nearly shouted.

To be continued

And so the final battle with Seiji draws near. I actually had quite a bit of trouble finding a way to adapt this arc because Marth is very different from Haruyuki. So far I think I'm doing a good job. Anyway, next chapter might be the final chapter of the Seiji arc. After that, updates might be slow since I need to get more of the Accel World light novels so I can read the other arcs. However, I probably won't adapt the entire Accel World story, and instead I might branch off at a certain point to tell my own story. Anyway, see you guys next time!