Second World

Red Death then turned to Blackjack, who had come to this place together with Death Associatesʼ group. ”Watch him! Kill him if he did anything funny. And Blackjack, the same warning goes for you as well.”

With those warnings, she left them and moved towards Jack. The crowd which was lively with their own talks a moment before suddenly turned quiet.

”Quite a crowd, eh?” Jack tried to open a conversation.

”You are worried my guild use petty tricks. It is understandable. I donʼt mind,” Red Death uttered.

”You have misunderstood. It really was not my intention for this many people to show up,” Jack told her. ”How about this? Letʼs ditch these people and we go find someplace else where we can be alone.”

The others who heard his words were scratching their heads. Why did his talk sound more like two lovers on an interrupted date than two enemies who were about to have a deathmatch?

”That is not necessary. Whether there are people watching or not, it does not matter to me,” Red Death maintained her cold expression. ”Whatʼs important is that you take this seriously. Are you ready?”

She took out her weapons. It was twin large daggers. She held them one on each hand. The two daggers looked identical. Jack surmised they might be set weapons. In an RPG game, there were set equipment where if you equipped them together, it would give extra buff.

Jack Inspected her and found her to be at level 21 already, she was one level higher than him. As expected, slowly these true experts would surpass him in terms of level. His Warrior class was close to level 21 as well, if he continued grinding or questing today, he should be able to become level 21 as well. Still, he did not know how long ago Red Death had achieved that level. He felt the urge to work harder.

As the two got ready for the duel, the spectators had their own discussions.

”Who do you think will win?” an independent player who just arrived after receiving the message of his friend asked.

”Is there any need to ask? For certain itʼs going to be Red Death,” his friend answered.

”Really? But I heard this Demon of Crestfall Plain is very strong.”

”What demon? It is just propaganda created to undermine the coalition guild. Itʼs a make-believe fairy tale, no such person exists. Only a three-year-old will believe such nonsense.”

The guy was getting annoyed. Did his friend just call him a three-year-old? ”I have a friend who went and fight with this Demon of Crestfall Plain. He told me the rumor is real. The guy really is strong, and he also does possess both warriorʼs and mageʼs skills.”

”Is that friend of yours a well-known expert?”

”No…”

”Then how can he judge how strong his opponent is? A strong person seen by rubbish, will still be rubbish when said person met with a true expert.”

”Are you calling my friend rubbish?”

”Is he not?”

”If he is rubbish, then you are more of rubbish. He is at least a better player than you!”

”Are you looking for a fight?”

”Come then! Do you think Iʼm afraid?”

”Can you people please be quiet!” A thunderous voice boomed out. The two squabbling players felt offended by the scolding and were about to scold back, but they stopped themselves when they saw who had scolded them.

It was Goliath from Warriors of Solidarity. His name was enough to intimate these common players, not to mention his towering frame lording over these two players.

”You got a problem?” He said to the two.

”No… No, sir…” The two replied in unison. They were as docile as kittens.

”Then still your tongue! Or I will cut them out for you!”

The two held their mouths with their two hands and nodded fiercely.

”Are you ready?” Red Death asked Jack again.

”Is there any rule for this match?” Jack asked back.

”Do you want it to have a rule?” Red Death returned the question.

Jack shrugged, ”I mean, was there supposed to be a restriction or something like that? For example, are we allowed to use magic scrolls or tools?”

Instead of Red Death, it was the leaders of the coalition who stood behind Red Death who answered, ”No! No tools!”

Red Death turned to look at them. Even Scarface had shouted out the objection just now. If those in attendant here were there during the battle of Crestfall Plain, they would not think those coalition leadersʼ reactions to being exaggerated. After all, a large portion of the reasons that Jack had survived the battle with the coalition army was due to his usages of tools.

After the coalition leaders regrouped, they had given their members priority in searching for information of where to acquire those disruptive bombs and the summoning tool that Jack had shown during the fight. But even till now, they still had no idea where to get those tools.

Red Death had read the reports regarding the battle, so she somewhat understood their reactions. She turned back to Jack and said, ”no tools or magic scrolls.”

”Okay,” Jack said. ”Any other things to note? Can we use potions? What about time limit? Or condition for winning?”

”No potions. No time limit. We fight until one of us died,” she replied.

”Does it have to be that excessive?” Jack said.

”I heard you killed every player that had come to challenge you. Was that excessive?”

”Well… I guess you got me there. Letʼs start then. Oh, wait! Your members behind there wonʼt interfere, right?”

”They wonʼt,” Red Death said.

”Donʼt worry, we will be the referee,” Kill Order from Black Cloak exclaimed. ”If anyone interfering the match, we will deal with them.”

Since Black Cloak had stayed neutral all this time, everyone agreed that they had the qualification to be the overseer of this match. Red Death did not comment. Jack nodded to them and said, ”we will trouble you then.”

Kill Order then yelled out, ”all right, everybody. Step back and give them more space!”

Everyone had spared the central part of the clearing devoid, but they still stepped back several steps after Kill Orderʼs words, giving the two in the middle of the clearing more space.

After everyone moved back, Kill Order lifted his hand. ”On my mark… Begin!”

Once Kill Order declared the start of the match, Storm Breaker and Red Dawn staff appeared on Jackʼs right and left hand respectively. He swiftly pointed his magic staff forward ready to cast Mana Bullet, but was startled to find a dagger was flying at him. Rather than shooting Mana Bullet, his staff generated a magic shield instead. The dagger hit the shield with a clang.

Red Death had also read the reports about Jackʼs dual-class. Though it was hard to believe, she knew there was no reason for her guildmates to falsify the reports. Hence, she had treated Jack as any other magic user, she used her Weapon Throw skill to disrupt him from casting a spell. At the same time, she rushed towards Jack. The dagger that she had thrown magically reappeared on her hand.

She was fast! Jack exclaimed in his mind. Red Death had appeared before him once he deflected her dagger. For a level 21 Rogue, her Dexterity stat was still higher than Jack despite Jackʼs combine Dexterity from Warrior and Mage class, because Rogue received a rise of 5 Dexterity for every increase in level. And she was like Jack, who had managed to directly change to the advanced class when he was level 15. Unlike other average players who had made the change at later levels.

Red Deathʼs dagger shot out with extreme speed, a combination of her already high dexterity added with her Swift Stab skill. The dagger plunged into Jackʼs belly. Yet, Red Death frowned. She did not feel any resistance to the successful hit.

She then recalled another report regardingʼs the Crestfall Plain battle. She executed roll without hesitation as a Swing swept from behind her. Jack had used Flash Step to move instantly to her back before her dagger struck him.

Jack was impressed by her reaction. He lifted his magic staff, attempting to use range attack again, but he suddenly saw Red Death stopped her Roll midway and jumped back at him. She had canceled her skill once she was out of danger, she did not want the skill to take her far away as Jack had more options in fighting from long range compared to her. Thus, she needed to keep him nearby.

For the second time, Jack adjusted again from intending to use long-range spells, back to using Magic Shield instead. The dagger struck the shield, but Red Death held two daggers, the other dagger coming at Jack from a different angle. Jack parried the other dagger with his sword. Before he could feel safe, another stab came again. Jack was forced to block again with his shield.

😉