The Rogue Reaper (Sword Art Online)

Part 7: Madness

"I dare you to try!" Noct shouted, raising his sword parallel to the ground once again, assuming his battle stance, as did Mortem, who took a fencer's stance. The black rapier that reflected light like obsidian extended Mortem's arm as it pointed, ready to duel.

"Kick his jerk ass, Noct!" Lashette cried from the sideline.

"Go Noct! You got this!" Zephyr cheered, while Kael started a chant of "Noct! Noct! Noct!" in the crowd that quickly caught, partly in thanks to Mortem's recent vulgar string of expletives towards them.

"Send him to jail!" shouted a voice. "Kill the PK!" screamed another.

"Hey, catch!" came from somewhere in the crowd, and a healing potion flew through the air, which Noct caught with his free hand, and raised it in thanks. He popped the lid open and downed it, the refreshing effect of the potion energizing him to full strength and restoring his HP to its maximum.He flicked the bottle towards Mortem, and it promptly disintegrated into light upon hitting the ground.

Noct brandished his sword and returned to his battle stance. "Alright, let's dance..." he muttered under his breath.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... «DUEL START»

Noct opened with a dash forward and a glowing sword. «Slant»! Mortem quickly side-stepped and dodged the attack with swift footwork, having anticipated a quick offense.

Mortem's blade came at him a split second after, and Noct dodged, the air quiet now except for the sound of swords clashing and slicing the air, the pounding of boots on the pavement, and the rain that still fell endlessly from the black sky. The crowd had fallen silent for the final duel; this wasn't a contest, it was a struggle between two people out for the others' blood.

Noct and Mortem danced around each other, swinging with their basic, faster Sword Skills, trying to feel out the other's fighting style. They fought to get some sort of edge or advantage over their opponent, but their speed-based styles made it difficult to land a proper hit on each other. If Noct pushed Mortem back a metre, Mortem simply pushed back a moment after, and when Noct backstepped they would be at a neutral position again. After several minutes, neither fighter's HP had even fallen into the middle of the yellow yet.

He's fast, Noct thought as they faced off, catching their breaths just after Noct narrowly dodged a thrust to the head.And he's got duelling experience. But I'm still stronger, and my life here has been dedicated to fighting killers. I'll show him what happens to my prey!

Noct ran at Mortem, activating a running «Horizontal», which Mortem parried and followed with a smooth thrust from the blocking position. Noct's vision flashed red as the rapier's point stabbed through his armour, but then he smirked and pulled his sword to his side.

«Serration Wave»! The wide-area skill slowed the movement of any enemy hit by it, but was frequently overlooked in battles against monsters due to its low damage output. The saw-like energy wave from the quick-draw swing launched outward from Noct and tore through Mortem's lower half.

You're mine now! Noct thought as he dashed to Mortem's left side and activated «Howling Octave», raining down a series of high speed thrusts onto him, followed by a slash that went down before coming back up, then finally a heavy uppercut slash using all of Noct's strength. Mortem took the full force of the combo, and was sent sprawling to the street covered in gashes and cuts.

"You're lucky this isn't my real weapon," Noct said, standing over his opponent. "You might not have survived that otherwise."

"Hah... ahahah... You're talking like you've already won. Smug piece of shit!" Mortem roared, lunging suddenly and piercing Noct's chest with a straight «Linear».