Surviving Elegance - Valar Morghulis

Moraine could sense a threat to her life, better than anyone of her caliber.

If it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have degraded herself to confine a Contestant in the Mirror Dimension, who was doing nothing but look at Mullroy and Murtogg.

With time, and as Kai brought out his Items and the blood flames, this feeling of death only multiplied. She had potent reasons to believe that this Blood Demon's bounty was outdated, and he was at least a top-level 5th-floor Contestant.

And now, as the sword's tip almost entered the slit in front of her eye, this dreadful feeling of death became absolute.

There was no more guessing that Blood Demon possessed the power to kill her.

This sword itself meant death.

"Haa!" Moraine let out a powerful shout, and the circular area on her chest exploded with a powerful blue flash. From her palms and shoes, a monstrous pillar of energy burst out, sending her flying in reverse.

Kai grinned.

As Moraine flew back, a speck of blood point chased her, and Murasame thrummed in pleasure, almost kissing her eye.

Suddenly, the shoulder pads of her armor opened and fired tiny missiles. Two of the missiles homed on Murasame, and another two rushed toward Kai.

Kai's hazel pupil narrowed and the two incoming missiles stopped midair before exploding as if they couldn't bear the pressure.

Yet, Murasame too got blasted off because of this momentary distraction.

Moraine instantly took herself to the air and came to rest dozens of feet over Kai, her eyes planted on the levitating sword and then moving to Kai.

"A Named Sword?!" her mechanical voice exclaimed. "Who are you?!"

Named Items weren't something that just anyone could afford or obtain. And Moraine hadn't heard of a Contestant named Blood Demon from the 2nd Set who had risen to the ranks of powerful people recently, either.

Kai lifted his right hand and grabbed Murasame's hilt. "No one."

Silence.

"I must say, you caught me off-guard with Telekinesis, or whatever that was," Moraine said, regaining her breath. "It won't work twice, though."

"You talk too much," Kai spat in reply.

"Hmm?" Moraine sensed something wrong. Suddenly, something happened that made her gasp.

Kai, who was just standing on the dock, vanished, his figure blurring as if it was just a mirage.

'Such speed!' Moraine gasped, powering up the blast of the EMP.

But how could Kai fall for the same Skill twice? If he had, then he wouldn't remain Blood Demon anymore.

It was true that an EMP blast would render his Telekinesis useless, but only if the user could see and lock onto him, or if he was within the blast's area.

Kai dropped from the sky like a red meteor, his eyes murderous.

Moraine's Iron Man armor sent out an EMP, blasting the space of 3 meters around her. It wasn't the specialty of this armor, to begin with.

Yet, just when it seemed the EMP had hit Kai, he again vanished.

'This?!' Moraine couldn't make sense of it. 'How's he changing direction in midair? I am sure he can't fly.'

Kai indeed couldn't fly. Not without becoming Dementor-Kai, at least. He again threw himself toward Moraine like a bullet, leaving a red meteoric tail in his wake.

Once more, an EMP got fired.

Everything seemed to slow down for Kai at this moment, and he breathed, the blood flames roaring along with him. Before he could fall into the EMP's area, Afro's Tachi appeared in front of him.

Kai's feet landed on the sword, and he kicked it to change direction, bringing the sword with him using Telekinesis again. His speed was such that only a red blur got left behind, preventing others from seeing him.

"Two should be your limit," Kai's sneering voice echoed all over the dock. "What else can you do, Moraine?"

"Humph!" Moraine let out a cold snort. The entire Iron Man armor shuddered, then, and with a pulsating blast, the Protector fired herself toward Kai.

Kai was about to change direction by kicking a sword when the absurd firepower coming off the armor's shoes lessened abruptly.

A stupendous amount of dangerous feelings rose in Kai's heart. Not good.

The only thing Kai got the time to do was to snap his fingers, creating a magical shield in front of him.

It was then Moraine raised her palms and fired a high-density energy beam at Kai.

The shield couldn't even last for a moment and shattered instantaneously. Then the beam headed toward Kai, got slowed down because of the Energy Field of the Coridite armor, and struck his chest.

With a boom, Kai got sent flying, the armor on his chest caving in, reducing the damage by 10 points.

"Cough!" Kai coughed, forcing himself to regain his footing as the water under him splashed everywhere.

Moraine threw herself toward him in no time. Once again, she fired the energy beam, but this time in short bursts.

Kai took a deep breath and hissed out a powerful breath. The blood flames around him crackled with a mind-boggling roar, making Kai shudder with the power.

He held his swords in a tight grip and kept slithering in and out of the energy beam blasts.

Just as Moraine took the tiniest moment to catch her breath, Kai lunged at her with a never-seen ferocity.

This was a pure display of power. Nothing more.

Moraine raised her arms in defense, and both Afro's Tachi and Murasame hacked down at her like the red gaze of a primal beast.

Boom!

Kai got thrown several dozen meters toward the sandy beach. But Moraine hadn't come out of this exchange unscathed, either.

Wood splintered where she fell, and one could see metal sliced through and through where Murasame had hit her.

Death… was just short of a tiny nick from the Protector.

Both Contestants huffed and puffed, gauging each other leftover capabilities.

Kai crawled back up to his feet and eyed Moraine, who was also looking back at him. 'I refuse to believe that she only has the Iron Man armor,' he thought, sneering. 'I haven't even sensed her using any Ability, either.'

'A bounty of 13,000,000 berries?' Moraine licked the blood on her lips, recalling the Wanted poster she had seen. 'Bounty my foot!'

"You aren't half-bad, Blood Demon," Moraine told Kai, metal screeching around her as she straightened her spine. "If you can block my next move without losing a single point of HP, then I will admit defeat in our little game."

A deadly feeling took over Kai's instincts.

Even before it appeared in the real world, Kai felt its presence, and Murasame trembled in response.

Moraine swept her hand to her left, and a greatsword materialized in her grasp.

It was Claymore, with a red handle, and a blade length 9 inches short of Moraine's height. The double-edged sword pulsated with raw power, and even the very space within the mirror dimension seemed to be sliced open, as it appeared in the world. [Image 1]

"I am Moraine the Elegant!" the Protector declared, raising her Claymore against her chest. "And today… I will stand true to my name."

'Fuck!' Kai cursed, the tips of his fingers throbbing like never before. At this moment, the danger he was sensing from Moraine had already surpassed the one he had felt from Akaza in the VF Random World.

Kai called out Golduck blood essence, hoping to dive into the sea to dodge the attack, for he knew there was no blocking it without losing HP. It was a wishful task.

Too late.

The Iron Man armor on Moraine roared, metal striking on metal with a piercing screech, and the entire world became gray.

Kai had just thought of calling out blood essence when a blinding flash erupted from Moraine's armor's soles and she vanished. A hundred meters' worth of distance melted away, and in the next moment, Moraine passed by Kai, walking with noble elegance.

The Claymore in her hand swept up, aimed at Kai's back.

Crack!

Everything snapped in Kai's mind, then. Ethereal bolts of yellow lightning cracked in his surroundings, letting Kai regain the sense of time. Blood flames let out a magnificent roar, and three heads and six arms appeared on Kai.

And his bloodlust was such that the very air cackled demonically around him.

First Transformation: Three-headed Vritra!

It was the most powerful strike in Kai's arsenal if he were to ignore complementing it with Little War Horn and Titan's buff.

With a bang, Kai charged ahead, becoming a speckle of blood point, destroying everything around him.

And the Claymore cut nothing but air.

When Kai paused, his transformation disappeared and the blood flames flickered like a candle about to go out.

Only then did the world gain colors.

Kai turned around, panting hard, and eyed the stunned Protector. "Haha!" his laugh sounded demonic, and his hazel pupils glinted like that of a beast. "I won, Moraine the Elegant."

Moraine couldn't speak.

Blocking and surviving was one thing, but not even brushing him with the sword was something altogether.

Elegance was her nature. Elegance was her Ability.

And Blood Demon seemed to have survived both.

Moraine took out a many-colored pearl from her Inventory and threw it toward Kai. "If something happened to Mullroy, then consider yourself dead."

Kai caught the Item, and put it in his Inventory without even a glance, along with his swords.

Moraine flew up and swept her hand to collect the Mirror Dimension, which still had some time left in its usage.

However, just as she called back the Item, a snapping and cracking sound reverberated throughout the entire world.

From the sea, a crack slithered up, reaching the highest point of the Mirror Dimension.

And then, with a massive boom, the entire dimension shattered.

'What?!' Moraine's outstretched hand shook inadvertently. After a moment, she looked down, recalling the burst of blood flames she had seen moments ago.

But the Blood Demon had already disappeared.

*

*

Kai, still covered in the lightest blood flames, eyed Murtogg as the character took a piss, standing on the edge of the rampart. Moraine had given him a headway, but he didn't want to show her what he was about to, either.

That's why, despite being extremely tired, Kai hadn't stopped Selfless Breathing, arriving here at the fastest speed he could muster.

The wind danced, and the distant sailors sang as he rushed at the marine's back like a phantom.

"Who?" Murtogg gasped, feeling an apparition's presence and the cold steel running through him.

Murasame had already pierced his heart.

Kai caressed the character's cheek from behind, breathing down his neck. And suddenly, a powerful urge welled up in his heart.

This urge surpassed even his bloodlust like a hiccup that couldn't be stopped.

This urge was nothing but two words.

And as Kai saw the life disappearing from Murtogg's eyes, these words seeped out from his mouth, just like the trail of black and blue blood dripping down from the corner of Murtogg's mouth.

"Valar… Morghulis!"