206. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (8)
206. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (8)
***
The full moon was faintly illuminating the earth at dawn.
As the great light that had brightly lit the world faded, the moonlight of the full moon began to dimly illuminate the space once more.
The space, tinted by the faint moonlight, was met with an untimely stillness.
Serin and Daji, their gazes fixed on each other, exchanged no further words.
As if sensing each other's presence, they only held each other's gaze, neither making any particular move.
And watching the massive screen that captured them was Sua.
"Divine Blood?"
Sua was staring at one side of the screen as if she couldn't believe it.
*
————
Divine Blood.
Time remaining: 1 minute 14 seconds.
————
*
Even as she stared at the hologram, Sua spoke in a voice that made it clear she simply couldn't believe it.
"She had Divine Blood...?"
It was something she had truly never imagined.
—Divine Blood (神血).
As the name suggested—the blood of a god—it was something an ordinary user could not obtain no matter how much they wanted it.
Along with the hidden classes that existed in Another World, it belonged to a category of extreme rarity, and even compared to hidden classes, only a very small number of users possessed it.
That was why some people said it was even more broken than a hidden class.
Even the methods of obtaining Divine Blood varied from person to person, so it could not be obtained through any ordinary means.
From the known cases, it could only be obtained by accomplishing a special feat.
The difficulty of that feat typically surpassed that of a hidden class. It was to the point that Jeanne d'Arc, who had succeeded in a solo raid, could be cited as a representative example of someone who had obtained Divine Blood.
Only a handful of users who had accomplished what everyone deemed impossible had been revealed to have awakened Divine Blood.
The true value of Divine Blood lay in its special traits, which varied wildly from user to user.
Because of its broad special nature, the use of Divine Blood was completely banned in PVP, but it ranked high among the abilities everyone wanted to obtain.
The Serin now visible on the screen also possessed that distinctive mysterious aura once she used Divine Blood.
Her pure white skin, her impossibly clear blue eyes, and the strange light dwelling in her body made her look as if she had transcended humanity.
"It looks like she awakened an ability related to skill transformation."
The skills she had just witnessed were familiar yet clearly different in destructive power. After that, the moment Daji, who had maintained her composure the entire time, stiffened her expression, Sua had unconsciously clenched her hands.
[Divine Blood??]
[Rin had Divine Blood too?]
[After I finish watching this I'm deleting my main for real]
[I'm going to raise a Dancer too!]
[Are the skills Daji uses also Dancer skills?]
[The Cave of Trials will definitely be uploaded to RinTube too, right?]
[The World Tree fragment effect is permanent, that's insane;]
[If she got the World Tree fragment effect, hasn't she already received a mythic-grade reward?]
Even as she checked the chaotic chat, Sua let out an excited breath.
"..."
The desire to play Another World swelled up as if it would burst, filling her until it was hard to suppress. But even so, she held that feeling down and kept watching the stream.
'How could I not watch this.'
The few famous heroes who appeared throughout the long, long main story—even they could not be treated lightly by users.
Depending on their whims, quest rewards could change, and the difficulty of an ongoing quest could shift drastically.
So how much more so the being now on the screen—Daji, the Legendary Dancer, who belonged to the category of 'Great Hero.'
And the person facing that Great Hero was her sister, who had never once been imagined losing.
"Still, I hope... she wins."
The moment Sua, muttering her true feelings with a dazed face, had her gaze fixed on the screen. The stillness within the screen was slowly beginning to show signs of breaking.
Until now, the one who had always acted first and gone on the offensive was Rin, and the one who had always faced her while maintaining a lofty bearing was Daji.
And now, the one who moved first to break the quiet stillness that filled the space was—
Daji herself.
***
As she silently exchanged gazes with Serin, Daji gradually erased the radiant smile she had worn.
She stared intently at Serin, then parted her crimson lips.
"From this moment, I shall regard you as an existence equal to myself."
To regard her as equal meant, in other words, that her opponent was worthy of her showing her true strength.
She could no longer look down upon her as before, as if she herself stood in a higher place.
Step.
Unlike before, when she had always received Serin's attacks while maintaining her lofty position, Daji stepped forward first and deployed a skill.
—Moon Princess's Step.
The moment her legs held a pure white light, Daji's form vanished.
Afterward, Daji appeared throughout the grand banquet hall, leaving afterimages as she carved moonlight into the floor and rushed toward Serin like light itself.
Serin, watching Daji's movements, likewise deployed a skill without hesitation.
—Bloodstained Step - Shrink.
The moment she took a single step, Serin's form moved as if erasing the space in an instant.
Clang!
As a light like moonlight was drawn across the empty air, a line of blood was drawn in response, causing a fierce repulsion.
Immediately after, the space of the grand banquet hall began to fill with countless lines of moonlight and blood, soon erupting into innumerable bursts of light.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
Crescent-Moon Weight clashed against Crescent-Moon Weight countless times, each collision bursting with light, and the moment one light flared brightly, the other light also flashed brilliantly, announcing its color.
Whoosh!
Serin dodged the pure white moonlight Crescent-Moon Weight that narrowly grazed her face, then immediately counterattacked, carving a great line of blood. In response, Daji's form vanished and let the blood-red line pass her by.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
In the storm-like onslaught of attacks where neither gave the other any room to deploy a skill,
Serin began to feel something.
Daji's movements kept giving her a strange sensation, as if they were just within her grasp yet impossible to catch.
'Just once.'
She felt a sense of crisis, as if her heart would be pierced the moment she stopped Bloodstained Step even briefly, but even so, Serin continued to watch for an opportunity.
In this fierce exchange, if she could just land one big deflection, she felt she could create an opening.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
In the midst of the exchange that felt like walking on the edge of a sharp blade, Serin's eyes suddenly flashed as she swung her Crescent-Moon Weight.
Clang!
Immediately after, Daji's Crescent-Moon Weight was knocked away with great force.
Even though it clearly had not been a parry-like deflection, a situation unfolded as if a parry had been successfully executed.
As Daji blankly watched her Crescent-Moon Weight fly away,
"...!"
She revealed an opening for the first time. As if determined not to miss this moment, Serin immediately deployed a skill.
—Heavy Spike - Swift.
The blade of the Crescent-Moon Weight, steeped in deep blood, drove a single massive spike of blood toward Daji's heart.
Heavy Spike, which by nature was slow because it carried immense power, now possessed the nature of Swift and came crashing down quickly. Daji let out an involuntary exclamation of admiration, yet calmly deployed a skill.
—Moon-Shadow Spike.
Daji's Crescent-Moon Weight, which had been knocked far away, vanished, and through the shadow created by moonlight, it reappeared before Daji's hand.
Daji grabbed the Crescent-Moon Weight and desperately met Serin's blood-red Crescent-Moon Weight.
SCREEEECH!!
The Crescent-Moon Weight tinged with pure white light and the Crescent-Moon Weight tinged with blood clashed fiercely, and a massive burst of light erupted.
Daji's pure white Crescent-Moon Weight, unable to deploy a skill, was ultimately forced back by the Crescent-Moon Weight thickly clotted with blood.
Slash!
The blood-red Crescent-Moon Weight, its trajectory knocked off course, carved deeply into Daji's shoulder before exploding its clotted energy into the empty air.
Boom!!!
Daji's form was sent flying back by the explosion, widening the distance.
And even as she watched Daji's form, Serin could not launch herself after her.
She had deflected Daji's Crescent-Moon Weight as if with a parry, creating a perfect opening, and had immediately followed up with a skill combo.
'Even that didn't work.'
At the reality that even that had failed to land a proper direct hit, Serin's lips trembled faintly.
On top of that, even her Divine Blood awakening state now had less than 30 seconds remaining.
Whoosh!
Unlike Serin's mood, which had sunk into gloom from the just-concluded exchange, Daji rotated her body as she was sent flying and landed lightly on the ground.
Then she looked at her wounded shoulder.
The blood seeping from the wound, which looked deeply cut, was staining her silk robes red. If her reaction had been even slightly slower, it would not have been strange for it to have ended right there.
Daji let out a small breath and parted her lips.
"...You truly do wish for my end."
From then on, Daji's eyes no longer held goodwill as she looked at Serin.
Her red eyes, having settled her heart, held unmistakable killing intent even as they took in Serin, and she was finally able to make up her mind.
To release the true power of the Moon Dancer. Having made her decision, she deployed the skill immediately.
—True Moon Princess.
Daji's form began to emit a brilliant light.
Golden thread appeared as if embroidered upon her silk robes, which had turned pure white, and even her Crescent-Moon Weight began to change form as golden thread was engraved upon it.
Her hair, which had reached her waist, grew down to her legs, and her red eyes took on a complete crimson hue. Her pure white skin emitted a mysterious light, as if it held moonlight itself.
Rustle.
With the sound of luxurious silk robes brushing together, Daji slowly took in Serin with her transformed appearance.
"..."
As Serin's eyes recognized her and sank deeper, ever deeper into stillness, Daji slowly parted her lips.
"This shall be a trial that has befallen you, and also a great opportunity."
Daji's mysterious voice, transcending the constraints of space, rang out with incomparable clarity in Serin's ears.