Ascension: Online

My opponent this time around was once again, another familiar face.

"First your brother, and now you…?" I sighed.

"Haha… looks like my luck is really bad," my opponent laughed awkwardly.

Indeed - my adversary this time around was the Golden Wolf, Hiaki Gabriel. Yesterday, I had faced off with his brother for the second time now, and once again, utterly crushed him - though, I did give him some face and didn't beat him up this time.

"Well, let's get this over with…" I took out Dokujin and prepared to fight.

"Before that, I just want to say… thank you. For sparing my brother."

He bowed deeply, his large stature making him seem formal and sincere.

I gave him a little shooing gesture. "Don't bother. The only reason I didn't kill him was I didn't see a need to. It's not like he's going to try anything again."

"Yes, I will educate him well."

I looked at him, then smirked. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're acting all polite to me right now."

He shook his head slowly. "That was not my intention. In fact, I hope you fight me with your fullest."

"Sorry, but…" I cackled.

"Three… two… one… begin!"

The drums were struck, signaling the beginning of the battle.

"… I don't need my fullest to defeat you."

'Replica: Shadow.'

An identical clone of myself split from my body as I sprinted towards Gabriel. I took the right side, while my clone took the left. I was far too fast for him to dodge, and since he only had one weapon, he could only choose one side to guard against.

In a panic, he raised his broadsword to block against his left side - in other words, my right. He had chosen correctly, it seemed.

Or has he?

'Replica: Switch.'

My real body instantly switched positions with my shadow clone as I grinned deviously. Gabriel cut down on what he thought to be the real me, only to see the illusion dissipate in front of him. By the time he realized he had been wrong… it was too late.

My blade was already at his throat.

Sweat poured down his face as he gulped nervously, not daring to budge an inch.

"I declare the victor of this match to be - number 15!" the mayor announced.

Slowly, I moved Dokujin away from his neck and turned around, walking away. Gabriel didn't say anything, but I did notice him clenching his fists and wearing a look of determination in his eyes. They held no hostile intent - he was dedicated to improving himself rather than being jealous of those stronger than him. I respected that mindset.

Still… these two skills - or rather, arts - of the Replica skill family in the Assassin path were certainly powerful. Replica: Shadow was the base art and had cost 1 AP, while Replica: Switch had cost 2 AP and was a secondary art on the skill tree that required Replica: Shadow first. Still, it was worth the buy.

With this, the other contestants now knew I had a cloning skill. But what they didn't know was that I could switch positions with my clone instantly - on the outside, it just seemed like I had taken the left path all along. Gabriel was the only one who knew the truth, but I doubted he would reveal my weaknesses. Maybe Leo would, but Gabriel was a dignified warrior.

As I headed back to where Hina-nee and Aisa were, I felt the eyes of a girl looking at me with interest. I pretended to not have noticed, however, even though I already knew who she was.

No, it was not Furuwa. But this girl could prove to be even more troublesome.

*****

Hina-nee was called up soon after. She managed to defeat her opponent with ease, as usual.

"Good job, Hina-nee," I said as she returned to where Aisa and I were standing, leaning against the wall of a building a short distance away from the stage.

"Mm!" she nodded happily and spread her arms wide. "Now, can I get a hug as a reward?"

"Uh…" I looked down at Aisa and gestured towards Hina-nee's open arms. She stared back at me blankly, then sighed and hugged Hina-nee. I smirked.

Hina-nee opened her eyes, realizing the height difference, and pouted a bit. "Mou~ Kaze-kun, I was asking for a hug from you."

"Sorry, it's too embarrassing for me in public…" I scratched my cheek apologetically as the two of them embraced. The truth was, I was still feeling a bit awkward about her 'indirect' confession when we were eating lunch today, mostly because it was so sudden and unexpected.

It's not like I don't love Hina-nee, but… whether that love is familial or romantic, I couldn't be sure just yet. I needed some time to think about this matter - but for now, the tournament was more important. I was only 14 - this was too early.

"Next up - 69 and 94!" the mayor announced, and I immediately turned my attention to the stage.

"It's her…" I muttered under my breath. I had remembered her 'number' from yesterday - 69. This girl was a potential enemy who I considered my equivalent in terms of strength if not stronger. She was also the one who had followed me with her gaze after I completed my fight earlier.

The girl stepped onto the stage. She was quite eye-catching. Yes, she was gorgeous in terms of appearance, but that wasn't the main reason why she attracted so much attention. No… it was something else - the first thing one would see when they looked at her would not be her body, but her weapon. She wielded a massive black and pink scythe that was practically the size of her entire body, yet she could use handle it with ease, as if it weighed no more than a flower.

Her expression seemed to be bored right now, but that would change the moment the battle began. She spun the scythe around in her hand skillfully, as if unamused with all this waiting. On the other hand, her opponent, a young man who looked to be quite rich, seemed to be sizing her up with a lecherous grin on his face.

"Without further ado.." The mayor said at last, raising his hand into the air. "Three… two… one…"

He sliced the air with his palm.

"Go!"

The girl immediately stopped spinning the scythe and smiled. It wasn't a beautiful smile - no, it was a crazed, bloodthirsty smile that seemed to have an eternal lust for killing.

In an instant, she dashed forward, scythe in one hand. The young man's eyes widened as he brought his metal gauntlets to protect himself from the incoming strike from above.

Metal clashed with metal, and the young man lived to see another day… not.

The girl dashed back, laughing like a maniac before jumping in again, this time from a different angle.

"Ngh-!" the young man gritted his teeth as he attempted to block every one of the girl's attacks, but slowly, he was getting overwhelmed.

"Hahaha! You managed to block one attack of mine! Good! But what about two?! Three?!" the girl cackled like a psychopath as she continued attacking the poor man relentlessly. The sound of metal clanging against metal rang out again and again in the air.

But despite her wild and seemingly-crazy nature, each and every one of her attacks were in fact incredibly precise and tactical. She purposely switched up her target every time she swung her scythe, aiming for a different part of the young man's body. However, sometimes, she would go for the same spot twice, thus making it impossible for her opponent to predict where she would strike next.

To the untrained eye, it may seem like this girl was just aimlessly swinging her weapon around, hoping to land a lethal hit. However, to anyone who has actually fought against other people before, this girl was like a demon, slaughtering anyone who got in her way.

"S-Screw this!" the young man yelled after a mere few minutes of defending. Clearly, he was already getting annoyed and exhausted. However, the battle demoness still seemed full of energy, as if she could continue doing this for hours.

At this rate, even if he managed to defending against every one of the girl's attacks perfectly, he would eventually lose in terms of stamina, blocking until he just could not block anymore.

The man himself realized this as well, so we decided to take a gamble and risk it, going on the offensive.

The girl's scythe swung towards him from his left, but instead of deflecting it this time, he narrowly avoided it by sliding downwards towards the girl. Once he was within range, he smirked triumphantly.

"You're done for, damn girl!"

He swung upwards with all his might in an uppercut motion, a smug grin on his face. He had expected to sink his metal gauntlets into the girl's chin…

… But all he hit was blank air.

He heard a faint voice coming from behind him, whispering death itself into his ear.

"Too slow."

His eyes widened in fear as he slowly turned his head around to see the crazed, bloodthirsty expression of the girl, mouth curved wide into a maniacal smile.

"N-No… I surrende-"

SLASH.

The young man's head was cleanly severed from his body, rolling a short distance before coming to a stop. The rest of his body fell over, collapsing on the stage in a pool of blood.

The girl sighed upon seeing this gruesome scene, apparently frustrated with something.

"Weak… all too weak…" she muttered in anguish as she opened her System and tapped a few times. Her scythe disappeared in a shimmer of light as she walked off the stage, the gaze of the whole audience following her.

No one was brave enough to say anything after witnessing just how horribly that man had been slaughtered first-hand.

"R-Remove the body and clean the stage…" the mayor said to his subordinate standing beside him. Once again, he had forgotten to turn off his megaphone, so his words were broadcast to all of us.

As I watched the girl walk away, she seemed to notice my gaze and paused for a brief moment. Then, slowly, she turned her head and our eyes met. She smirked tauntingly, then made a seductive 'come here' gesture with her finger.

"…" I looked away, not wanting to have anything to do with that psychopath.

Unfortunately, like I've said before… life does not always go the way you want it to.