I stood frozen in bewilderment. My sword was still in its sheath, while my opponent was already armed and ready. Thoughts and doubts still overwhelmed me. Who is this girl? How does she know me? And which style should I choose? Should I take a second sword? Will I be able to defeat her? Is it worth fighting seriously?
It has been a long time since I fought like this, seriously. It's been since ALO, when I tried my best, honestly and seriously, to break through all those guards and reach Asuna. On one hand, it was a relief. There were no events that would make me put human lives at stake again. On the other hand, it was a bit... unsettling? No, that's not the right word. Uncomfortable, that's it.
"Get your sword out, Kazu-san. I can't wait to cross blades with you," the girl urged me, hopping from one foot to another, presumably warming up, and then waving her sword from side to side.
By the way, about the sword... being in close proximity to the object of my interest, I scrutinized the details. Black, just like mine, but without the white stripes. No guard, instead there was a strange roundness adorned with precious stones. The hilt, as far as I could see, was wrapped with thread, just like a katana. The blade itself was not curved. It looked like a very unbalanced weapon that I would never pick up. Maybe just to look at. But detailed information was definitely out of reach. Perhaps I could ask her? Unlikely to get an answer. Well then, let's taste it for ourselves.
I drew my blade, a replica of the Elucidator, a demonic-class weapon that I obtained from a nightmarishly difficult boss and that had served me almost until the end of the game. I was immensely grateful for its durability, as it never broke down on me.
Well then, it was time to assume a stance that signified my readiness for battle, and the system would signal the start of the fight. With my right hand holding the black, night-like blade pointed backwards, my left hand extended forward as if grasping another sword ready to block an opponent's attack. My left foot slightly forward, and my right foot positioned behind, ready to push off to deliver a strike. Alright, let's go.
"I can't wait any longer," I admitted, gripping the sword's hilt tightly and taking a deep breath.
"Begin the fight!" announced the mechanical voice loudly, and we charged towards each other.
I didn't have high hopes for the sword strike from below, but it seemed like a good place to start. Of course, the girl blocked it effortlessly, twirling around her axis and delivering a powerful strike to my sword, causing a loud and jarring screech that made the front rows cover their ears.
At that moment, a vivid memory struck me, a moment from the past where I had witnessed Asuna using this skill with my own eyes.
Meanwhile, the imp twirled once again, and while I dodged, it seemed to accelerate exponentially, delivering a heavy blow to my solar plexus, pushing me back slightly.
"Ah, yes!" the brunette chimed in with a bell-like voice. "Tomoko was right. This combo really works like a charm!"
That was interesting. The girl mentioned another character, someone who knows not only my skills but also Asuna's skills by heart. Could it be...?
"Did you decide to use the same skills that Asuna-nee-san used?" I ventured to guess the identity of this person. I saw the Zekken's death with my own eyes, but looking at the image that remained in the system from Kayaba, I couldn't be sure of anything anymore.
My opponent comically tilted her head in surprise as she looked at me. It seems I didn't guess correctly. Or maybe I hit the mark.
"Why did you think I'm Konno Yuuki, Kazu-san?"
She froze a few steps away from me, hesitating to attack. If she's directly copying me or using this blend of skills, then I can predict her movements. However, the main problem is that she fights just as unpredictably as I do.
"Why did you assume I was talking about her?" I replied to her question with a question.
"Well, who else could it be?" she responded with a wide smile. "And you were just making an assumption, right?"
"You guessed it. Your stance closely mirrors mine, and you're using a strange blend of Asuna's and my skills. At the same time, you're also trying to be as fast and unpredictable as Zekken, someone you're surely familiar with. Why can't you be her?"
"Well, maybe because these two women are my idols in the game, and I've tried to become as similar to them as possible?"
Wait, is she some kind of stalker?.. No, I don't even want to think about these crazy stalkers taking surveillance and imitation to a whole new level with their chosen ones. However, I don't see anything wrong, well, not just wrong, but really, really awful. How could someone fully copy skills that are only available through "skill transfer"? It's either a virus or some game feature that I wasn't aware of. I'd prefer it to be the first option, as it would then be removed.
"You don't seem like a stalker," I shook my head skeptically and, without waiting for an answer, swiftly attacked with a standard four-hit combo. She blocked three of my strikes, and the fourth missed its target as the imp leaped high in the air and now came at me, pointing her sword downward.
Dodging back, I swiftly moved forward again, deflecting the strike aimed at my head, and then spinning around my axis just like she did, delivering multiple consecutive strikes to different parts of her body. And, of course, all of them were effortlessly deflected, while in return, I was bombarded with such a deadly combination that I couldn't even react to some of the strikes, let alone block them. As a final touch in this not-so-powerful attack, she kicked me hard in the chest, sending me flying back.
Landing on my feet, I lifted my head and encountered a look of surprise.
"Why aren't you fighting at full strength, Kazu-san? I am..." The girl tightened her grip on the handle of her anthracite blade. It seemed like she was barely holding herself back, judging by the trembling excitement in her hands. And yet, I would even say she was angry. But what the hell could it be? But there was something else. Another emotion she finally showed. She was... "disappointed. Take out your second sword."
But without listening to her, I dashed forward and collided with a strong block. The strikes to the right, down, and back, as well as the upward strike, were all blocked. In the heat of the moment, I almost shouldered her, but I was met with a sword strike that took a considerable chunk of my health points. Naturally, my skill was interrupted, and for a fraction of a second, I froze. That was my mistake.
My opponent unleashed an unusual combo that nearly depleted my health bar into the red zone. I had to endure four strikes in those few seconds, but then I managed to independently deflect the next three without using any skills. However, the girl's movements didn't stop there. She twisted, feigned a false attack that theoretically should have decapitated me, but she only grazed my skin, causing just a few spots to break, and then she struck the hilt of my hand, catching me off guard and causing me to drop my sword, which she immediately caught. Swinging the two swords, the imp turned around and delivered a powerful blow to my head, sending me flying back and tumbling on the ground.
With a forceful punch to the ground, I stood back up. The brunette stared at me with anger and genuine bewilderment.
"So, you've cooled down?" she hissed through her teeth.
"What are you talking about?" I continued to wonder. Strange and inexplicable guesses, one after another, formed in my mind, but none of them were correct because they required tangible confirmation. Well, or they simply couldn't come true in reality.
"You've become accustomed to not fighting seriously, huh? Living day after day like a puppet, swinging your sword in both the game and reality without noticing anything happening around you. Forgetting the lesson that was once taught to you…" the girl grew more heated, and meanwhile, a strange guess flickered in my consciousness, demanding urgent confirmation. "You've forgotten about your pride as a swordsman, Kazu-san. And I am disappointed… No, not just disappointed, I am enraged!"
And with those words, she forcefully threw my sword at me. Dodging to the side, I twisted and caught it by the hilt. It was clear what she was hinting at, as well as what she had outright stated. Taking away a swordsman's weapon was a sign of disrespect. They had slammed my pride, quite literally, into the ground and trampled on it, while laughing brazenly. And this was serious, unacceptable among followers of Kendo. Even though I had not chosen that path, it still made me uncomfortable. But whose fault was it, if not mine? SAO, Alfheim, GGO, Alicization, which I only remembered fragments of...
To fight seriously, giving it your all, exerting all your strength, igniting that spark of life's thirst. Few could boast of having ignited that fire within me. And now this girl was demanding something similar from me? Half of me would immediately respond fiercely, "Never!" But the other, more quietly, would simply point towards the button in the menu that would equip the second blade in my left hand, which had grown unfamiliar with its weight.
"Equip the second sword. I'll wait. Otherwise, I'll destroy you with the next strike, even without using a sword," the girl calmly and menacingly spoke, bringing so many events into this otherwise uneventful day.
For some reason, I immediately believed her. It felt as if she truly had the capability to kill me if she wanted to.
A sudden realization struck my mind. Why was she playing with me then? To test me? But why?
Equipping the second swird took a few seconds, and I stood in my familiar stance, this time with the golden Excalibur in my other hand, facing my opponent, whose nickname I still hadn't know yet.
"Excalibur? I'm glad to see it in your hands again," the girl said joyfully. I looked at her again, and on a whim, my gaze shifted slightly higher... And then I wanted to slap myself across the face. Because her name was hovering above her. So, in the game, my formidable opponent was named Mayumi. Simple, and dare I say, "tasteful," but I won't say that. For some reason, it occurred to me that this might be her real name, once again connecting her to Asuna and Yuuki, who also based their in-game names on their real ones.
Ignoring her comment, I charged forward and attacked with a double-handed horizontal slash.
"Yes... Yes! That's it!" Mayumi beamed with joy, but still managed to fend off my strikes with her impenetrably black sword, glowing with various colors. Continuously assaulting her without giving her a chance to recover, I gradually increased my pace. From the outside, it probably seemed like I wasn't using different skills with different swords, but rather one skill with two swords.
Noticing the expression on my opponent's face, I was surprised to see that she was no longer smiling, but rather focused on defending against my attacks. After all the fervent speeches that had ignited me, did she really think she could just lose so easily? No way! Right sword strike from above to below, left sword strike horizontally from left to right, then again from right to left with the same left sword, followed by a right sword strike to the right and upwards, and a cross strike downwards with both swords... and finally, I managed to hit her for the first time.
Thrown back by the force of my attacks, the girl breathed heavily. It seemed I had made her sweat so much that... Before me were only eyes filled with joy and a genuine thirst for battle. The same spark that was in me. The same thirst for life and victory that was shining in my eyes now, along with the same smile. A smile with which she instantly materialized another blade in her hands, one that was black like mine but adorned with red runes.
"Oh, this is Morgan. But don't pay attention to it," Mayumi said, winking at me. "I have to offer some resistance against the striking power of your Excalibur, right, Kazu-san?" She didn't wait for my answer before rushing towards me with her sparkling blades. Judging by how brightly and uniquely they shimmered, she wanted to use an original swordsman skill that likely intended to deplete my entire health bar.
But for some reason, my opponent's entire demeanor, which, by the way, was all that was left of her, suggested that I should respond to this skill with something unusual. A bright spark of suspicion flickered in my mind, along with a crazy idea that theoretically should not end well. But I felt that regardless, I had to bring this player's hit points down to zero, or at least get them closer to that point of no return, where my victory would be determined.
My hands began to move as if independent from signals from my brain. I saw before me only blazing flames, Mayumi's gray eyes that appeared yellow from a distance, and the red and black radiance of her blades, which could only rival mine. My Dual Blades.
I had lost track of time, unable to determine whether it had been a few seconds or perhaps several minutes as the imp girl and I exchanged blows. My consecutive attacks, which I could no longer keep up with, and hers. They neutralized each other, dealing damage to both of us.
This could have gone on for a very long time until finally, the decisive moment arrived. A mistake by one of the two players. Sooner or later, one of us had to slip up, fail to catch the movement of our opponent, miss a hit, or... I didn't have time to answer the sound signaling the end of the battle, and just before it, Excalibur's strike, almost killing the girl, stirred my fighting instincts once again.
The system announced the winner's nickname. The stands erupted in deafening screams that merged into an unstoppable roar, behind which I heard a voice, delicate yet slightly saddened and filled with joy.
"You just used that Reinforced Eclipse' that I always lost to, didn't you, dad?"
The noise around me instantly faded, replaced by thoughts, suspicions, and comparisons that now made sense. Dropping my blades from my hands, barely in control of myself, I turned shockingly towards Mayumi.
"What did you just say...?"