kscans

Chapter 695 - Flashing Cross, Biting Darkness

One was a crown fashioned from countless blades. One, a crown that seemed to be cast from wavering shadow. One, a crown of green and red leaves woven into a circlet. One, a shapeless crown of billowing white clouds.

The four who stood at the summit, heralding the start of battle with their brilliance, had, in that instant, already cast aside such trivial concerns as the gazes and hearts of the audience.

Capturing their hearts was a foregone conclusion, a mere prerequisite for their actions.

""—Vanguard, on you!""

""—Leave it to us!""

With a nod to the words of the two rearguards, Undying and Poet, who both considered themselves supporters, the warriors kicked off the ground in unison.

In the hands of Auerin the Adamant was a greatsword, like a cursed object sealed in ominous black cloth. And in the hands of Ricky the Cloud-Hidden was—an extremely rare weapon in Arcadia, a curiosity among game armaments.

These weapons, the two men, swept up in the heat of battle,

""Let's go!!!""

Threw at each other with all their might, without a shred of hesitation.

On one side, a greatsword. A throw from Auerin, one of the foremost muscleheads, or rather, strength-focused builds in the virtual world, was like a cannonball that surely packed explosive power.

On the other side, a curiosity. A throw from Ricky, a balanced strength-and-agility type who often complained about his style being “plain” or “unflashy”—a style that no one else would dare call plain or unflashy—was like a flash of light that tore through the air, leaving sound itself behind.

And so, the two opposing weapons, “great mass” and “light mass,” spectacularly collided head-on in mid-air. The one to win the momentary struggle was—the latter.

It was a future that not just they, but everyone, knew was an anomaly. The greatsword, rivaling the warrior’s own height, was struck by a mere palm-sized “weight,” however fast it was, with a light clink and sent flying through the air like a pebble… and no one even spared its trajectory a glance.

Neither was an agility-focused build, but their steps were superhuman compared to reality. With a speed that would blur their forms to a normal person not paying close attention, the two shadows closed the distance in mere seconds.

And at the moment of their crossing, the one who struck first was,

"Floating Cloud Style, Fourth Form!"

The curiosity, a chain-weight with two weights at either end. The wielder, a master of the fine chain that was far from a long weapon, dangled it from the sleeve of his wanderer-like attire—the founder of the Floating Cloud Style.

"Ignorant Strike!!!"

In an instant, the tips of the weights extending from both sleeves vanished.

The super-acceleration unique to the “end” of a swinging arc. With a momentum that left not just sound but even image behind, the sweeping Arts, which not only struck but tore, crossed at the neck of the approaching enemy—

"—Still sharp as ever, aren't ya!"

"Wouldn’t look cool if you dodged it, though…!"

A combination of instinct and experience. Perfectly reading the movement of the twin strikes, which boasted a speed that was difficult to see, he leaned back, letting the lethal blow pass before his eyes with a cool expression.

Exchanging praise for his junior and a bashful retort for his senior,

"—"

One, using the momentum of leaning back, swung his right leg high into the air.

"—"

One, having his opening feint dodged as expected, immediately switched his footing.

And in the next instant.

"Hraaaaaaaaah!!!"

The martial artist who casually carried a greatsword on his back.

The full-powered heel drop from Auerin, the “Top Melee DPS,” landed on the field. As it struck the indestructible floor with a great crash,

"You should know this already,"

He called out to the “cloud” that had ridden the blast wave of his impromptu evasion amidst the raging, extraordinary shockwave.

"But the aftershock is part of the attack."

The special effect of the unique title, “Adamant”—Zel-Ex Destra, Body of Severance. One of its hidden powers was to grant a slashing attribute to attacks made with his own limbs.

For example, even the wind pressure created by his punches and kicks. As long as it was considered an “attack” that had some effect on the opponent, it would apply without exception.

Therefore,

"—Ow, that hurts…!"

A shockwave strong enough to push a body back was more than enough to become a blade. And as the roaring wind enveloped Ricky’s avatar, damage effects burst from all over…

"Ouch…—Well, you should know this too,"

The red phosphorescence of the effects did not appear.

Staggering, but landing safely, the Cloud-Hidden, with thin white smoke—no, literal “clouds”—trailing from his body,

"Physical attacks don't work on me, senpai."

"Almost don't, junior. Don't exaggerate, you idiot."

He grinned, and the exasperated, teasing retort came instantly.

Both had shown off “skill” and “power” befitting their status as “summits,” and had exchanged their opening greetings. Naturally, what came next was,

"—I’m not very good at doing things the proper way, you know."

"—It’s the children who feign such things that are the scariest to face."

As the vanguards charged ahead, the two rearguards, who had taken in the rhythm and immediately constructed the flow of battle in their minds, playfully exchanged words through the system assist, which carried even their whispers to their opponents…

Both were attended by the color black.

"Yorukami, Night Shadow-Sewing."

As the boy caught the shadow that rose and fell from his feet, a short bow of the night sky materialized in his left hand.

"Bardenhorde, Dreaming Storyteller."

In the poet’s right hand, held to the heavens, fell a lute of black wood that had seeped down from the void above.

Clad in black, commanding black. As the two who shared this trait summoned their soul-bound weapons… everyone watching knew what color would stain the scene that followed.

And that is why,

"Here I come."

"Yes—I shall be in your care, Lord of Darkness."

Without fear, they unleashed a dark, murky torrent of darkness from their hands.