[Alfheim Online, New Aincrad, Floor One Coliseum]
[Malzeno's POV]
The table for the Quarter Finals was updated during a brief break for lunch.
Kirito versus a man named Railaan. The guy looked like he came straight from the mountains, dressed in ice-blue armour with a thick wolf coat for a cloak, carrying a large two-handed greataxe with a single blade. Suffice to say, Kirito actually had quite the tight match.
The Black Swordsman collided in the middle with Railaan, a brittle conflict as both triggered polar-opposite skills, cold blue and furious orange clanged off the other, neither quite landing a defining blow, sparks flying with Kirito pushing Railaan backward with his flurry of blows against the heavy swings from the greataxe.
Railaan swung down for the final draw, but Kirito moved faster, cleaning through the man's waist with a horizontal finisher, a streak of blue dissipating in the air, dropping the mountain warrior to his knees.
~AND THE GIANT'S DOOOOWN!~ Cliffheart boomed, clearly shaking the mic in her haze of excitement.
~Kirito advances to the Semi-Finals, excellent battle, both of you~ Thinker actually did his job while Cliffheart continued on her commentators spree.
Pushed close to the edge of the arena, Asuna parried Klein's unrelenting strikes, despite his goofy demeanour, he happens to be one of the top katana players from SAO, and that skill still holds up, plus, being a guild leader meant he needed to work harder than the others. His attacks were hard and fast, fitting of a samurai, breaking Asuna's posture several times, leaving her open to a follow-up attack.
However, the Lightning Flash saw her opening before Klein could, he lunged with Ripple Thrust, his blade sunk into the wall, Asuna's blue hair swept behind her, diving overhead, tracing her glowing sky-blue rapier beside her as the blade ran perpendicular with her cheek. In a blinding flurry of thrusts, Klein's back was punctured, a final, powerful thrust to the center of his back slamming him into the wall.
I winced, seeing him lunge from the dust, blade cast in gold when the timer blared, saving Asuna's neck, her own rapier's tip poised for his chest. They panted, clearly exhausting their stamina when the crowd went ballistic, even Yuuki was going crazy, shaking me side to side.
~With the most HP left, after that stunning display of skill, Asuna wins and moves on to the Semi-Finals!~ Cliffheart settled, and both combatants dropped their arms, laughing a bit while Klein shrugged at her and held up his fist for the fans he had, Asuna blushed a little, giving a sweet, gentle smile as well.
"Woohoo~! You're the best, Asuna~!" Yuuki cupped her hands around her lips, hollering the bluette's name.
"Everything's spinning..." I groaned, shaking off the daze from Yuuki's thrashing. Stumbling to my feet, I gave my friends a farewell. "Now, off I go to steal more riches from the fools. Seems some have come to their senses and betting on me, I'm so happy my encouragement paid off,"
"By 'encouragement' you mean 'hellishly annoying'?" The flat stare and sardonic smirk from Nori didn't diminishes my stride, laughing all the way to the exit.
"I'm already hundreds-of-thousands richer than when I logged on today, I'm livin' the high life, baby!" Greedily rubbing my hands together, I just couldn't wait for more to line my pockets, dancing away as many glared around me. "Thieves and beggars, never shall we die~!"
"I really do worry about your mental health, dude," Jun deadpanned, and that only increased my cackling, much to their dismay.
"Bets are in, right?" I kept my tone hushed as I stopped at the entrance to the arena. To my right was my ever-so-generous boss.
"Yep, got quite the catch too, bunch have swallowed their pride in order to win biG," Argo smirked under her hood, her visible left eye glowing in the dark with greedy delight. "Yer quite the bettin' horsE,"
"Ah, what I can I say? When it's been hell or go to hell, you just have to pick the sin you can live with," So what if they wanna switch sides now, I've already made more money than I ever did trading intel. Argo's the go-to-gal for that kind of payroll, but me? I'm more into social engineering, it's why Argo's actually paying me bi-weekly.
"Nyahaha, well, go and make big sis Argo prouD!" She gave my back a sharp slap, making me jump as I laughed nervously, heading out to see my adoring fans.
Back into the light moments later, the crowd's roars a mixture of excitement and potential scorn was almost overwhelming. This player I was up against me and Kirito had made a few comments of, Kuro. They weren't a slouch, and in fact, used dual blades and even dressed strikingly similar to what Blackie wore in SAO. Meaning I'm up against a survivor, I'm actually more pensive about this fight than with Eugene.
~The second-to-last match of the Quarter Finals, and we've got quite the match-up in store!~ Taking the lead, Cliffheart's excitement was palpable as we drew closer to the finals. ~On one side, we have the infamous Malzeno of the Sleeping Knights!~
Giving a curt bow towards my team with a smug wink to boot, I eyed my enemy just a few meters ahead of me. Kuro the Spriggan. They resembled Kirito but with slightly long black hair and a delicate, feminine face with long elf ears. 'She' also wore a black leather coat with a black shirt underneath and matching black gloves, pants and boots. Both blades on her back appeared to share the original colours of Kirito's old blades, Dark Repulsur and Elucidator, but were far more plain.
~And his opponent, a mystery solo player that's been dominating the tournament as one of the very few that can handle dual swords. Kuro!~ I noticed, despite the cool air around the girl, she got a little flustered by the praise and the crowd's approval. ~Ten seconds on the clock, good luck you guys!~
~Fight well~ Thinker chimed in politely.
"The Black Swordsman," My comment made Kuro flinch, eyeing me fully now as I displayed a sharp smile with a sly gaze. "Someone's filling some big boots, can't say you disappoint,"
"You... know the Black Swordsman?" She spoke softly at first, eyes growing wide. "You're from SAO... no, that makes sense, I-I saw you and him speaking, you two must be really good friends," For a moment, Kuro looked disheartened, though I may just be seeing things. "I guess questions have to wait, time's almost up,"
I shrugged, "Fair enough," Drawing No Turning Back, I smirked daringly. "Show me you've earned that moniker," Can't have just anyone running around as some Black Swordsman wannabe, now can I?
My words seemed to bring her spirits back, smiling as she withdrew her twin blades of contrasting shades. "I'm not sure about trying to uphold his moniker. I admire Kirito's strength. That's why I look like this, out of respect. I doubt my skills could ever come close to the real Black Swordsman from SAO, but I want to give it my best shot. To be as strong as Kirito someday. So please, in return, don't hold anything back."
Well, credit where it due, she's not trying to take advantage of his title or fulfil some self-absorbed motive, she finds Kirito's legacy as an inspiration. Smiling, the timer had all but passed, but I felt I should let her finish her sentence. Now that I had a good perspective of Kuro, I didn't hesitate to fire the first shot.
Blast Scale dug into the ground ahead of me, engulfing Kuro in dust for a split second as a gleam of blue swept away the smog. Having dived overhead, I drew back three arrows, Buckshot crackled gold two piercing her shoulders while her light-blue blade brandished to deflect the last.
Kuro pivoted and lunged at me, right blade cast in green as it swept the air around me in horizontal strokes, etching Horizontal Square while I dove backward, releasing another arrow that deflecting off that second blade, leading into a diagonal cut across my right forearm. Gradually, her right blade hummed a deep blue, arcing her body in a wide, horizontal streak, the overhead slam breaking up the ground beneath him, narrowly missing my chin.
"She's really good. Sword skills from the right, and parrying from the left," I could tell by how she fights, she's using a sword like a shield, however, that presented an opportunity for me. Kuro continued her onslaught of slashes, striking the air as I was forced back by both blades. "I need an opening first..."
Reeling back her arm, Kuro's right sword cast in red as a flourish of power erupted from the tip of the blade. I dug my heels in, Vorpal Strike barrelling toward me-
-as my right foot rose and slammed down on her sword, cutting off her momentum instantly. A Martial Arts skills, Uchikesu, able to counter thrust attacks, including some thrust skills. Surprised by this turn of events, Kuro raised her left arm, blocking two more arrows in rapid succession as I dove off her shoulders, suspending myself with my wings to plant two coated arrows into her back.
A combination of a Defence Down and Blast coating had a satisfying result, seeing her recoil from the small explosion over her back. Undeterred, a pair of onyx wings fanned out, and I narrowly evaded the thrust of her weapon, blade skimming over my cheek as her right leg hooked my side with a solid kick, throwing me sideways in the air.
Purple light glared in my eyes, Kuro delivering five deadly thrusts, the start to Howling Octave. I felt my muscles tense, then, I took the first downward slash to my chest, getting up in her face as I saw her own fearless expression contort as I dug my boot into her stomach with Flash Blow. I twirled myself overhead, evading the last of her slashes to hook my left leg around her neck, reeling back to fling her into the dirt.
When Kuro flew forward to close the distance, her eyes widened, seeing my charged, orange shot. Fail-Not fired, and she crossed her swords to defend against the deadly blow, however, I wasn't aiming for her head nor her chest. Rather, a satisfying 'ting' rang out over the crowd's chorus of cheers.
Twirling through the air, Kuro's left hand was disarmed, blade sunk into the arena floor a good distance away. She spared it a glance and winced when I plunged two more arrows into her torso, the third and fourth split mid-air. However, now she was given another affliction of Def Down and Weakness.
Soon, my pupils dilated, her health was steadily declining, but her eyes remained fixed to mine, brow furrowed when a cascade of sky-blue light erupted from her remaining sword, holding it over one shoulder to sharpen the shadows around her face. Phantom Rave, crap.
Flying back, she was already pursuing me, so I grabbed a fist-full of arrows, all glowing a contrasting crimson. Deluge collided with her twirling blade, splitting through each arrow with the confidence and finesse of two other amazing swordsmen I knew, none of my attacks were going to land and she was inches away from taking my head off.
...
...
Maybe... just this once. I lowered my bow as it vanished briefly in a flash of blue particles. Utilizing the Quick-Change skill, in my hand, I clasp the handle of a simple one-handed sword, taking Kuro by surprise when I swung upright from the right, dragging its edge along her final downward swing, the pressure behind her skill causing my blade to shatter into several pieces, but that one parry caused the rest of the skill to fizzle out in the air, the force slamming my back into the ground as I tumbled.
Catching myself, I quickly switched back to NTB, feeling a cold stabbing in my chest but I didn't hurt Kuro, that's good, can't say the same for what comes next though. She wasn't paralyzed by the post-motion for long, swooping down to sprint towards me, already brandishing a new, teal skill.
I too ran straight for her sword, seeing her angle it for a vertical strike first, so I dropped to my knees, feeling the heat from her blade sail overhead as I plunged an arrow into her thigh with my bare hand, spinning around to roll right, evading the next slash, then left again for the third before I blocked the last of Vertical Square with my forearm, feeling the blade nearly cleave my forearm off.
Between my teeth, I pulled back the bow string as far as possible, grunting from the strain while her eyes watched me in disbelief, the arrowhead turning forest green as my aim was shaky. At this distance, I didn't need perfect aim. Releasing the string caused the arrow to miss her head and pierce her chest, the arrow splitting through the ground behind her, Threaded Needle dealing a large amount of damage as my health steadily declined due to her blade residing in my arm.
-{WINNER MALZENO!}-
Finally, the breath I had held onto for dear life could leave my tattered body, "Okay, that was really uncomfortable..." I rubbed my jaw, feeling like my teeth were about to be pulled out doing that as Kuro removed her blade from my arm, panting herself.
"Are you okay?" She asked worryingly so I put my hand up, even as red marks covered my body.
"All part of the job, haha..." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.
~That sure was a close-neck battle, I was on the edge of my seat! Did you see that quick-change skill too! Using a sword to act as bait for the last move of Phantom Rave! Love it~!~ Cliffheart cheered with a hysterical laugh.
~Both had been pushed to their limits, but ultimately, Malzeno moves on to the semi-finals, well done~ Thinker congratulated.
"Guess that's as far as I can go now..." Kuro murmured, looking around at the arena's audience until I tapped her shoulder, hand on my hip.
"Don't downplay yourself, you sure nearly had me there for a moment, but if you want some golden advice for free, don't tell Argo I beg of you, there's a way to chain sword skills, at the end of each skill, there's a very narrow window before post-motion that if you can time it right, you're able to chain into another skill," I advised her, knowing only one player capable of such a feat. "It'll be an extremely difficult skill to master, but if you can, I have no doubts you'll get stronger,"
"You really mean it? Thank you so much!" She had a hand to her heart, smiling bright with her eyes closed. "I-I'll repay you for this after the tournament, promise! Oh a-and I won't say a word to anyone!"
All I could do was laugh and offer my hand. "Deal, good game, Kuro the Black Swordswoman," I gave a wink, seeing her blush from the tweaked title before she giggled and smiled wider, shaking hands with me.
"Good game! And good luck in the semi-finals!
Given who I'm up against, luck's about all I have left.
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
Okay, this was a fun one to write. Kuro, for those that don't know, is a significant character from the Girls' Ops manga, so I thought, 'why not add her to the list?'. But now this arc's starting to come to a close, the semi-finals are up next after Yuuki's match, and I'm losing the will to live writing so many fights back-to-back.
That is all, I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support; see ya in the next chapter!