NOVEL WEB I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!
Chapter 36: 2 vs 1 is unfair? Heroes fights are always fair!
We all imagine ourselves as the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise? Or when we fall? Or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand? Does science point our way? Or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe?
If someone asked Elizabeth that, then she would answer 'gods are merely people that watch down and entertain themselves with our problems'.
She had the advantage of knowing that they cared not for them since one had left her alone after rejecting the deal that got her in this place.
Even if the other side didn't fulfill its part and stuck her in a family with a heritage of heroes.
If Akira was asked that. Then he would answer that 'gods are those that seek to protect and send their vessels to fight for the good of all'. He would claim to be such a vessel under a glorious mission and that anyone that opposed his will was evil.
He, after all, had accepted one of such deals and lived (And almost died) following it through, even if he decided to ditch his job and run away. He still thought of himself as one blessed by the gods.
Not that he was...
On the other hand, if you asked Rena or Rossie...They would answer mostly the same 'Who cares?'
The first one only cared about those that she deemed dangerous to Akira... And the second...Well... She was another can of worms entirely.
But Elizabeth was thinking of these meaningless things because she didn't know how to deal with this situation.
"This might get...Tricky." Said the armored girl while raising once again her shadowy wings and materializing a second obsidian sword in her other hand.
"Justice will prevail you craven [Villain]!" Claimed Akira, he raised his sword once again pointing at yer. "Let's go, Rena!" And so he dashed after calling his companion.
For her part, the red-haired girl just shrugged and dashed right behind him.
Hiding in his shadow, the armored girl felt the urge to use a few of the shadow motes still clinging to the dark coat of Akira.
But decided to restrain herself, she didn't want to tip her hand this early in the fight.
So for now she focused on dealing with Akira first.
He came down bearing all his might into one downward attack. How did she know?
"[Justice] Downguard Slash!" Screamed the black-haired kid, she was tempted to try and parry the attack. But since she felt...Something odd in how he called the attack and his sword was starting to shine. She decided to dodge to one side instead.
The armored girl used the shadows to propel herself to the right while leaving a choice of shadowy spears ready to impale the black-haired kid.
She didn't get a chance to see how Akira dealt with her surprise though.
Since the red-haired girl was waiting to see how she would dodge and came bearing down on her once again with her ominous red sword.
And she could swear there was an ominous red glint in her eyes...
" [Armor Penetration]." And there it was again, somehow she had a feeling that they were doing something different, but couldn't get an inkling of what.
But if she was being kind enough to call her attack she would use that information too!
She wasn't sure how that slashing motion was meant to be an armor penetration attack though. She could understand it if it was something like a stab...
But that was a normal downward slash...?
So she placed her swords in an X fashion and braced herself for the attack, she was planning on parrying the attack and redirecting it, after that Rena would be open for an attack from her shadowy wings.
So when the attack hit her swords and she prepared to redirect the might of the red-haired girl she was caught in a surprise by the result.
"AAAAND THE [Demon Slaying Sword] drew blood once again!" Said the announcer.
The armored girl was left wondering how that worked though?
First, she tried to block an attack that didn't hit as hard as she expected. Then her armor was hit with several slashes that came from within the armor...?
She could feel using her shadows and after searching inside she found nothing inside... So where did that attack come from?
Magic?
She was thinking about that but another attack from the red-haired girl brought her back from her musings.
Mostly because the bitch attacked at her face cracking half of her mask and revealing her face for a few seconds.
She quickly covered herself in shadows and jumped back while the shadows crafted a new face covering for herself. Even if these didn't have the same durability as her normal face plate.
"AAAAAND WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?" Said the crazy old man announcer creating a natural stop for a few seconds, Elizabeth used that to center herself and use shadows as impromptu bandages on the wounds all over her body.
Rena used that chance to release Akira who now was dangling downwards from shadowy chains.
"Miss [Demon Slaying Sword] has awakened a subset skill!" Said the announcer. Revealing the trick for Elizabeth.
So she didn't intone the name of the attack but the name of a skill?
A quick [Identify] brought her the answer she wished for.
| Armor Penetration: |
|
Allows the caster to imbue his weapon with similar types of attacks that are then realized directly in the body of the target and outwards.
It enables the user to pierce through thick armor, shields, or magical barriers, increasing the damage dealt to the enemy. This skill is particularly valuable against heavily armored opponents or those with strong defensive capabilities, as it allows the user to overcome their protection and inflict significant damage.
It only works if the caster has the ability to pierce said defenses and has a somewhat long cooldown.
|
"AAAAND DON'T THINK WE DIDN'T NOTICE IT [Warden Of Justice] ALSO AWAKENED A SUBSET SKILL!" Said after that the crazy old man. "EVEN IF HE DIDN'T MANAGE TO LAND HIS ATTACK!" And at that, the crowd laughed while cheering for Akira.
But she had more important things to worry about. Such as...
Excuse me what?
| Infuse: |
|
With this skill, the user can infuse their weapons, and fists with additional power, amplifying the impact of their strikes.
It allows the user to channel his [Holy] affinity into their attacks, imbuing them with forms of elemental force.
The user's blows become more devastating, capable of breaking through defenses and dealing greater damage to their opponents.
This skill also enables the user to temporarily enhance their own physical or magical attributes, boosting their speed, strength, or regenerative abilities to a heightened level.
It is a versatile skill that adds an extra layer of strength and impact to the user's offensive capabilities.
Note: The extra power from this skill comes from sacrificing status points and funneling temporarily into the [Holy] element. The boost into the user comes from swapping status temporarily from one side to another, if no input from the user is received it will prioritize taking from extra stats then from Constitution, intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. |
The reaction of the armored girl was understandable.
" I call Bullshit on this development." Said the girl after finishing giving some form of repairs to her wrecked armor and face plate.
"You..." Started saying Rena "...Aren't the blonde girl?" What?
"I told you she wasn't Elizabeth but you wouldn't believe me, Rena." Added the black-haired kid.
"First of all she isn't blonde, her hair is black like mine, and second of all her eyes are red, Elizabeth's are blue." Finished sagely the black-haired kid.
The red-haired girl was still looking at her suspiciously.
"And finally..." Started saying in a serious tone. "Elizabeth is there." And pointed at a blonde girl in the crowd.
She was standing stoic and composed, her blonde hair was long and silky, and she was dressed in a white almost silver with some blue accents here and there.
She had a sky blue skirt and shirt under the white coat and a pair of leathery boots.
If nothing else, she had the posture and glare well enough, she only raised an eyebrow when Akira called her 'Elizabeth' as if he was a mere bug growling at his betters.
Elizabeth already liked her.
You could feel the air of self-assurance and unwavering belief in her abilities. As an answer, she only grabbed a can of soda and with a flick of her hand threw it in the direction of Akira.
This harmless can of soda was hit with a blue lighting that was shot from the blonde girl and in a sudden was accelerated beyond the normal speeds possible.
For his part, Akira hastily raised his sword to defend himself only to find the soda can stopped by the barrier of the arena.
"PLEASE DON'T INTERFERE WITH THE FIGHT AND WAIT YOUR TURN IN AN ORDERLY MANNER!" Said the crazy old man.
You could see a few cracks here and there in the arena, a testament to the power of the skill used by this mysterious blonde girl.
" Hah!" Spat the armored girl. " Wish you had said that before that red-haired psycho came into the arena!" Said the armored girl.
The announcer for his part didn't deem that worth his attention since he only answered "CONTINUE THE FIGHT!" as if she hadn't said a thing.
But now she somehow understood why they were made to fight. They wanted them to awaken skills, or to be more precise, subset skills.
She thought of this as something dangerous, since... Wouldn't they awaken random skills made just against specific scenarios?
She didn't think Rena's skill would be useful besides against armored enemies like herself. And since she wasn't looking that good that skill looked like it consumed not only her mana but stamina too.
Powered weren't that good at managing their mana after all.
Well besides those like Akira that had experience using these resources, since that brat didn't seem that fazed even though his skill looked to be of a higher order than the one Rena awoke.
His skill also seemed more useful since it could be used as a self-buff if she was reading it read well.
Dammed people blessed by fate(Tropes) and their power(Cheats)!
"So... Who are you then?" Asked Rena once again focusing her red-eyed glare on her.
" Didn't you read? I'm [Shadow Empress] a student of the MPI" Said in a mocking tone the armored girl.
She of course didn't wait for the obvious retort Akira was planning.
And in one instant sent her shadows from across the arena floor. Soon enough all the arena floor was covered by her shadows.
" And you two, really shouldn't fight someone you don't know the limits of their power." And after that Elizabeth focus inwards.
'Use remaining stats on Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity and send them all to 30'
And just like that she now was faster than both Akira and Rena.
She was still behind Rena in strength, but in exchange, she could tank better the damage than before.
The sudden rise in Constitution helped to accelerate the healing of her several wounds too.
But she didn't pay too much attention to that, she only gave herself a few seconds to bask in the feeling of a rush of power coursing throw her body and then refocused once again on the fight.
" So now you are stuck in this situation." And so she dramatically threw her sword towards them.
Not as an arrow or spear, not even in the form of attack, she just threw it and it made an arc in the air before sinking a few meters in front of both hero wannabes.
"HAH! If you think some shadows can scare us you are wrong!" Said Akira while once again he started shining and then he sent all that towards the floor.
Making himself a patch of clean dirt for himself and Rena, even if it only was that of a few meters.
"..." The red-haired girl didn't answer and only leveled her sword against her.
Raising her guard and watching closely at her.
" A valiant effort. I applaud your bravery, even if misguided it almost looks adorable how you play as a [Hero]. " Answered in a mocking tone the armored girl.
"You thought you were special, didn't you?" Said the armored girl.
She didn't make a motion of an attack, she only threw her other sword like the first one.
They both looked at it while being on guard.
The sword made an arc similar to the other one, the only difference was that when it was at the apex of its fly...
From the ground, several spears of shadow suddenly rose!
Seeking to impale both fighters while they were guarding themselves against the armored girl and the swords she had thrown.
" I hope you enjoyed your little play because it ends here, kneeling against your [Empress] ." Continued taunting the armored girl, while Akira and Rena fought off the shadow spears.
All the while she covered herself in shadows and stuck close to the arena floor, hiding herself among the shadows.
"[Justice] SLASH!" screamed Akira while trying to destroy the shadow spears that kept going for him.
At this point he was full of wounds, none too deadly, but plenty to wonder how much he could keep going.
For her part Rena wasn't wounded, since she specialized in speed. But a single wound was all that was needed to get her out of combat.
And while she guarded Akira's back with almost zealous effort.
Akira...didn't.
" See...So...vulnerable..."Said the armored girl while jumping from the back of Rena striking her with her fist in the back and sending her flying against one of the arena walls.
"RENA!" Screamed Akira, trying to go after the girl.
Of course, he couldn't since he was dealing with plenty of shadowy spears.
" If only your partner guarded your back as you did his..." Said the armored girl, she was liking the act of a [Villain]...
Maybe a little too much?
"You will not defeat Akira..." Said the red-haired girl while breathing hard, she even attempted to take off her plate mask.
" Oooh no, nothing of that... A [Hero] Must guard his secret identity!" Said the armored girl who dashed forwards while sending more shadow tendrils toward Rena.
She quickly raised her sword to deflect them, but since she couldn't deflect and dodge she couldn't get out of the way before the armored girl was in front of her.
" So keep the face plate on...Some of us don't have a complete one after all." Said while pointing to her own face plate that was half made of shadows.
And then they both started fighting.
A swordsman and a brawler.
Since the armored girl wasn't wielding any weapon, since contact with the sword was dangerous if the red-haired girl invoked her skills.
The armored girl choose to fight using her hands and redirecting the attacks of Rena.
Maybe before when their stats were closer it would be impossible to do this.
But since now she was a third faster than Rena...
It was easy enough to redirect her attacks.
And so she did.
One by one she kept redirecting the sword with her hands.
And second by second the eyes of Rena started showing more dread.
"You are toying with me." Said with anger the red-haired girl.
" Yes." Was the only answer she got. "Making a point right now. Fuck around and you will find out." Said the armored girl before striking at the stomach of the red-haired girl.
Emptying her lungs of that pesky oxygen she was using to stay conscious.
In one move she had taken out the red-haired girl.
"AAAAND WE HAVE A KNOCK OUT BY the [Shadow Empress]!" Said the announcer.
She just glared at him to shut him out.
At least he had the grace to shut himself even if by a few seconds.
"AND AS YOU CAN SEE THE OTHER CONTESTANT CAN'T DEAL WITH THE [Skill] OF THE [EMPRESS]!" Continued saying after thinking what to say.
"PERHAPS ITS TIME TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT MATCH?" Added the announcer.
That crazy old man was thinking of ending this?
Akira looked somewhat torn since there was both relief and frustration at that statement.
" No." Both got surprised by the answer of the girl though.
"Wha..?" Said Akira flabergasted.
"BEG YOU PARDON?" Added the crazy old man.
"You both wanted this fighting. And I haven't broken any ruling..." Said the armored girl. "Not yet anyway...Wouldn't want to finish this prematurely would you?" And then she snapped her fingers like one of the teachers of this goddammed academy.
Soon enough Rena rose from below the shadows, her mask was spotless.
Even if you could see a trail of blood from below it. Her clothes were also intact even after such an intense brawl.
But she was unconscious.
"YOU [VILLAIN]!" Screamed Akira who started shining more brightly than before.
The shadows now were almost banished from the arena too.
Not by his effort, but more by the control of Elizabeth, she was a good girl. She could read the room so she made it look like Akira was the reason the shadows were backing off.
After all...
If the [Hero] Shines brightly moved by the power of friendship the [Villain]'s power would reduce in effectiveness... Right?
"Amm...Miss [Shadow Empress]...That...Isn't... A fair [Hero] fight." Added the crazy old-man announcer.
To that the armored girl couldn't help but laugh, she even went through the five stages of a villain laugh.
She started slowly laughing while slowly and gradually increasing the volume and intensity of her laugh. Her pleasure and confidence are obvious to everyone watching the fight.
Akira of course took this opportunity to materialize more silver armor in his body granted by his skill.
At that point, the laugh of Elizabeth achieved its peak in malicious joy, after which it slowly started subsiding into small chuckles for a grand finale. Where she observed the crowd, the [Hero] in front of her, and the announcer.
"Heroes' fights are always fair," She said in a mocking tone " After all ' A [Hero] must fight and find the way to deal with any problems that come their way. ' " And finished quoting the words of the announcer.
The very same words he had said when she complained about going in a 2 vs 1.
He now looked like he had bitten a very bitter bug.
Wonder why?
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