Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 22: Blood vs Sword

Syèl jumped back to increase the space between him and his assailant. He glared at the swordswoman and jokingly complained, "If you're going to attack me, the least you could do is introduce yourself."

"I have no obligation to give my name to scum." Blondie got into a basic kendo stance, sword held in front of her.

Syèl's gaze turned serious. That was a perfect sword stance. He could not see any openings to attack her.

As if annoyed they had been ignored, two cockatrices ceased their attack on the other Blondie and bore down on Syèl and the duplicate.

Syèl noticed the approaching creatures from the corner of his eyes, but he did not dare take his eyes off the swordswoman in front of him. A lapse in concentration might spell death for him. 'Wait a minute! I'm a Mage.' Syèl chuckled as he recalled this mundane fact. The woman's strong aura had caused him to forget he was in a game.

The halben cynically grinned as he shot two fireballs in quick succession at the swordswoman, then dashed toward her, using the fireballs as cover. He intended to use the chance when she dodged the projectiles to launch a swift follow-up attack.

Unfortunately, the swordswoman had no intention of following the halben's script.

Blondie swung her sword and cut through the fireballs with chilling precision. She proceeded to swiftly slash down at the stunned halben that had unwittingly entered her strike range.

Unfortunately, the cockatrices did not dance to either's fiddle. The cockatrices stabbed at Blondie and Syèl with their beaks just as her sword sliced down to cut the halben in half.

Syèl, besieged by the cockatrices at one end and Blondie at the other, manipulated his blood to form a shield in his left hand, which he raised above his head.

Blondie was left unguarded from the beasts' attack and would have suffered a critical hit, were it not for her magnificent swordsmanship. The swordswoman grit her teeth and pooled her strength to guide her sword upwards in a smooth arc. The maneuver successfully blocked the cockatrice's beak and pushed the birds back to the other Blondie while she was sent sliding backward, sword arm high in the air.

Syèl was not the kind of person to let this opportunity slip away. Mana exploded beneath his feet, and he burst toward the swordswoman with blinding speed. Syèl grinned as he closed the distance and stabbed at her with his sword. He gleefully awaited her pouring blood, but unfortunately, reality was not so welcoming.

The swordswoman kicked against the earth, taking advantage of the inertia from the initial blow to propel herself off the ground and several meters away from the range of Syèl's sword.

Syèl snarled, and a cold, white stream shot out from his hand and iced the ground where the swordswoman's trajectory would take her to throw her off balance.

Unfortunately, Blondie once again saw through his play. She somersaulted and stabbed her sword through the ice, then landed on the hilt of the weapon.

Syèl snorted. Regrettably, he could tell he would not be able to defeat the swordswoman in a swordfight. She was obviously different than most Summoned in this game. She'd undergone meticulous training. Far more than he had - not that he'd ever had any formal sword training.

Syèl grinned, and two fireballs formed on his palms as he teased the princely figure, "You going to tell me your name now?"

"I suppose I could," the swordswoman assented as she hopped down from her sword and drew her sword from the frozen ground. "You have proved yourself to be slightly above scum. You can call me Shokō, worm."