201. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (3)
201. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (3)
***
After checking the notification, Serin looked at the Crescent-Moon Weight that had suddenly appeared in her hand.
It was white through and through.
The Crescent-Moon Weight, extending from a cord like pure white silk, was white to its very core—even the killing edge honed along its blade was utterly white.
*
————
One of Daji's exclusive weapons, "Moonlight," has been temporarily changed to an equippable state at her request.
————
*
A notification about the situation soon appeared.
At the hologram indicating she could equip it, Serin turned her head to look at Daji.
Under Serin's gaze, which seemed to demand an explanation, Daji slowly parted her lips.
"I am not ordinarily so generous. And in a situation like this, where I must face you in a decisive duel, showing consideration for an opponent is utterly meaningless."
As she spoke, Daji suddenly furrowed her elegant brow.
She turned her head as if looking at something Serin could not see, then let out a sigh and shook her head.
As if there were something she did not wish to see.
Watching Daji, Serin parted her lips as if to speak, but Daji suddenly closed her mouth.
Then she met Serin's gaze.
Her red eyes gleamed bewitchingly as she looked at Serin, and her lips moved.
"But considering your position as Rin and my own, I simply could not refrain from handing over Moonlight."
Her tone was strange, as though she were speaking to Serin and yet not.
"So you're extending this kindness because our equipment isn't balanced?"
When Serin asked, Daji twisted the corner of her lips.
Immediately after, Daji turned her head and looked at the pure white Crescent-Moon Weight in Serin's hand.
Under her gaze, which seemed to say "equip it," Serin did not bother to refuse.
Soon Red Moon was released, dissolving into a cluster of light and vanishing, and a cord like pure white silk began to wind its way up Serin's right hand, settling into place as if tying itself there. At the end, a Crescent-Moon Weight that seemed to embody a pure white moon—true to the name "Crescent Moon"—was gripped in her right hand.
The options she confirmed upon equipping it were unusual.
*
————
Moonlight
Grade: Mythic.
Attack Power: 1756.
Additional Effect: Vital-Point Attack Damage +100%, ???.
- Description: ???
(Daji's exclusive armament. Attack Power is increased due to sealed abilities.)
————
*
Compared to the Red Moon she had been wearing, its Attack Power was nearly double.
It boasted Attack Power befitting a Mythic-Grade Item.
At the sight of Serin equipping Moonlight, Daji smiled faintly.
"A Crescent-Moon Weight of pure white. Does it not suit you rather well, Rin?"
With those words, Daji slowly raised her hand. As she clenched the empty air once more, this time a black Crescent-Moon Weight appeared in her hand.
The appearance of the black Crescent-Moon Weight, connected by a luxurious golden cord, seemed to hold deep darkness within itself.
A Crescent-Moon Weight shaped as if representing a moon shrouded in darkness.
Swoosh.
Daji ran her hand over the golden cord as if caressing it, then grasped a section of it and let the Crescent-Moon Weight hang downward.
And with just that light gesture, Daji had completed a flawless stance.
A stance from which she could extend the Crescent-Moon Weight at any moment, and yet one that was equally perfect for transitioning into defense.
Watching Daji assume the distinctive Crescent-Moon Weight stance, Serin let out an involuntary breath of admiration.
'Grandmaster.'
She was holding a dancer's stance so perfect that the name of the trait suddenly surfaced in Serin's mind.
Watching her natural, gap-free form, Serin also slowly let her Crescent-Moon Weight hang downward.
Swoosh.
The Crescent-Moon Weight connected to the pure white cord descended until the tip of its sharp blade was just short of touching the ground before stopping.
Daji, who had been observing Serin just as Serin had been observing her, noticed that Serin's Crescent-Moon Weight hung closer to the ground.
'She has a certain air about her.'
That meant extending the range of her Crescent-Moon Weight while simultaneously signaling her intent to take the offensive. It was a disadvantageous stance for defense—it even felt like she was asking for the first strike.
A small smile played over Daji's sealed, bewitching lips.
When Daji gave a small nod, Serin's legs immediately became suffused with a blood-red aura.
—Swift - Bloodstained Step.
The moment a red haze rose from her entire body, Serin had already kicked off the ground.
......
In an instant, Serin's form, which had been illuminated by the dim light of the full moon, vanished.
Yet Daji remained composed, sweeping her hair aside as she shifted her gaze upward.
Serin's body, already positioned in the air, could be seen spinning rapidly as she extended her leg toward the space.
—Swift - Single Kick.
Even while chaining techniques with Swift active, there was not a moment's hesitation or awkwardness in her movements.
'She would have had no proper teacher in this world.'
No matter how much assistance the system provided, using techniques while employing Swift was an art that an ordinary dancer could never achieve.
As if satisfied by Serin's display, Daji raised the corner of her lips.
—Jeolyeon.
Following the Crescent-Moon Weight as it drew a white line through the air, as if severing space itself, a blood-red line could be clearly seen overlaying it, settling into place on a grand scale.
A combination of techniques that added the destructive power and speed of Swift - Bloodstained Step and Single Kick.
And in response, Daji lightly flicked her own Crescent-Moon Weight upward as if brushing something away.
—Jeolyeon.
As the golden cord embroidered the air, a golden light shot forth and deflected the surging white Crescent-Moon Weight outright. The black line lightly swallowed the blood-red line.
The reality was that Serin's technique, manifested through numerous combinations, had been broken by a single technique Daji had manifested while simply standing in place.
"..."
Serin, who had been hovering in the air from the shockwave of her technique bursting apart, extended her Crescent-Moon Weight once more with sunken, subdued eyes.
Following Serin's Crescent-Moon Weight as it drew another white line, the white cord began to expand rapidly.
—Dark Moon Weight.
The white Crescent-Moon Weight, dropping as if in a vertical descent, suddenly twisted its trajectory bizarrely, took on a blood-red tinge, and shot forward like a viper.
Daji, watching with interest, extended her hand only after Serin had finished casting the technique—once again, belatedly.
—Dark Moon Weight.
As Daji's pure white hand beautifully embroidered the space, the golden cord likewise expanded rapidly, and the black Crescent-Moon Weight shot downward as if falling.
The black Crescent-Moon Weight, twisting sharply at the end of its arc to shoot forward rapidly, was aimed at the blood-tinged Crescent-Moon Weight that had been launched first.
Whoosh!
As it drew a black line and bore down on the blood-red viper-like Crescent-Moon Weight, the clusters of blood-red and black light seemed to intertwine fiercely.
Screeeeech!
Serin, who had been twisting her right hand sharply to adjust the angle of her surging Dark Moon Weight, caught sight of a single scene.
Daji, leisurely twisting her right hand as if imitating Serin's own movements.
Clang!!
At last, their techniques collided at the end of their arcs, and a tremendous sound rang out.
The result was not merely the white Crescent-Moon Weight being pathetically deflected—the technique itself was completely shattered.
As the blood-red aura that had gathered at the tip of the Crescent-Moon Weight scattered brilliantly, the black-tinged Crescent-Moon Weight surged forward, its destructive power fully intact.
"...!"
—Single Kick.
Boom!
Serin urgently spun her body and unleashed Single Kick, her form hurtling toward the ground, as the massive black Crescent-Moon Weight swept past her side, painting a vast darkness across the air.
Whirr!
The long golden cord vanished in an instant, and the black Crescent-Moon Weight was swiftly reeled back into Daji's hand.
Just two exchanges.
In the reality of this stark contrast between light and dark, the battlefield fell momentarily silent.
Daji, her expression relaxed, broke the silence as she toyed with her Crescent-Moon Weight, caressing it.
"Rin, do you have someone who serves as your teacher?"
As Daji parted her lips with a curious expression, Serin simply let out a hollow laugh.
"Do you think I would?"
At Serin's retort, as if asking whether such a thing were even possible, Daji twisted the corner of her lips into a captivating smile.
"I thought as much. For someone of your caliber, there could be no one worthy of being your teacher."
Daji, acting as though granting Serin a moment to catch her breath, only let her Crescent-Moon Weight hang downward again after a brief pause.
Watching her, Serin likewise lowered her Crescent-Moon Weight, but strength unconsciously entered her grip.
Screeeeech.
She had certainly expected this to be difficult. But after just two exchanges, she could not help but feel that the situation was far more disadvantageous than she had imagined.
Same class.
Same techniques.
She had even used Swift in her opening move, chaining techniques together.
She had attacked by combining three techniques at a speed almost no one could react to, yet her opponent had received it calmly.
As if employing the principle of Counteroffensive, Daji's belatedly extended Crescent-Moon Weight was responding at a speed similar to Serin's own first strike.
Moreover, the most crucial point was that even though their techniques clearly shared the exact same origin, the difference in destructive power was stark.
Serin reasoned that the gap in destructive power must have come from multiple stacked traits, but her chest still felt tight.
"...Hah."
—Swift.
Serin activated Swift again, slowly shifting her mindset as she twisted her lips.
How long had it been since she had felt this kind of tension and disadvantage?
It felt as though she were rediscovering a sense of danger she had not felt since reaching her current level.
Even though she would have no choice but to make dangerously reckless moves from here on, a laugh escaped her.
****
Viewers: 31,254.
Watching the viewer count, which was now approaching thirty thousand, Sua was staring at Serin's stream with rapt attention, as if spellbound.
"...Ah. I should have watched from the beginning."
She glanced at the time and saw that more than three hours had passed since the stream began.
She had missed the beginning because of work she needed to handle, and it felt deeply regrettable. Serin's stream, which she had tuned into late, was more than enough to instantly seize every bit of her attention.
—Rin, do you have someone who serves as your teacher?
Sua felt her own curiosity stir at the sight of the woman who had spoken—a woman of such breathtaking beauty.
From the hologram she had examined, this being belonged to the Great Hero category and held an insane grade of "S+."
—Do you think I would?
When Serin answered, the being called Daji smiled a captivating smile.
"How could a character like this not be famous?"
—I thought as much. For someone of your caliber, there could be no one worthy of being your teacher.
Daji, who delivered lines that sounded like something out of a movie, possessed an unrealistically stunning appearance along with an indescribable, mysterious aura.
Decadent, yet with a strange feeling as if one were gazing at a noble flower.
And above all, the skill this being possessed was on another level entirely.
The exchange she had just witnessed with Serin was enough to feel the difference, even though they were clearly both Dancer Class.
A vast gap in destructive power—one that could not be overcome through technique alone—plainly existed between the two.
[Wow...]
[I'm speechless]
[They're clearly using the same skills but she's just getting pushed back?]
[First time seeing Daji, who is she and why is she so pretty?]
[The difficulty is absolutely insane]
[Who's Daji??]
[The options were ridiculous from the start]
[The reward is such a waste]
Even as she glanced at the chat streaming upward in real time, Sua could not tear her eyes away from the screen.
"...Her stance changed."
She could not easily imagine how Serin would overcome this crisis, but she could not help focusing on the sight of her sister taking up a new stance.