419 Chapter 419: Samurai (1/2)
I watched as Kufa Van Peer climbed up the stage and took his position opposite me. Looked like he was going to be my opponent this time.
\”Before we begin, do you mind if I ask a question?\”
Kufa watched me with narrowed eyes for a moment before he shrugged and nodded. \”Go ahead.\”
\”Did you watch Assassins Pride?\”
\”Come again?\” Kufa stared at me blankly for a few seconds before he scowled. \”What the hell are you talking about?!\”
\”An anime…well, it's based off a light novel, and also have a manga adaptation. Did you watch the anime adaptation of Assassins Pride, or read the light novel or manga version? It's about a young girl who supposedly can't use mana, and she gets a Samurai teacher who also happens to be a vampire and an assassin…\”
\”I've no idea what you're talking about,\” Kufa cut me off, annoyed. He glanced at the commentator. \”Let's not waste time and begin right away.\”
\”Lies,\” I accused. \”You're clearly a rip-off from the anime Assassins Pride…or should I say the light novel? Even your names are almost the same…\”
\”Can we please begin?\” Kufa growled impatiently. The commentator fumbled with his microphone and cleared his throat.
\”The fourth match between Jing Tian Academy and Saint Teresa Academy! Right now, Jing Tian Academy is leading 3-0, and they have chosen to stick with Richard Huang, who is taking part in his fourth consecutive match. Is he intending to pull a team-kill? Or will Saint Teresa Academy finally be able to turn things around?\”
There were excited murmurs from the crowd as the spectators discussed amongst themselves the most likely outcome of the match. There were quite a few avid fans of Kufa screaming his name and waving handmade banners and flags to demonstrate their passionate support. Kufa ignored them pointedly, but I could see why he was so popular. He was extremely handsome, had a very cool and aloof appearance, and wore a black jacket over his blue and silver uniform. For some reason, he reminded me of a dual-wielding black swordsman who was trapped in a virtual reality massive multiplayer online role-playing game about swords, a guy who at first got together with the most beautiful girl who was trapped in the game with him and ten thousand other players, and then the writer milked the series by writing a bunch of sequels that granted him an ever expanding harem…
Okay, I digress, but the point was that such cliché swordsmen in black were enormously popular with the masses, especially when they acted cool and emo and all that. I was sort of similar, except that I was plain and not handsome at all, and I wore glasses, which ruined everyone's image of me (just look at the number of comments at the side from readers demanding that I \”heal\” my eyes and get rid of my glasses, ugh, what a pain). And when I didn't turn out to be the splitting image or Kirito clone, some readers threw a tantrum.
Well, screw them.
\”We'll find out!\” the commentator had been going off on a tangent, describing several of Kufa's most recent victories an achievements, while leaving mine out. Not because he was biased against me, but because he already introduced me and mentioned my feats earlier when I first stepped onto the stage against Lute Dragoon. What, did you think this was another one of those stories where the whole world hated the main character, treated him as trash and found every sort of way to deride, insult or look down on him or something? \”Match begin!\”
\”Let's go ahead!\” someone screamed from the crowd. I swear, if I hear Japlish one more time, I'll seriously kick somebody.
Kufa didn't waste any time, however. He was alreay springing forward with a vengeance, his sword lashing out at incredible speed. I quickly drew both of my swords and parried his strike, but only just barely. The ground split beneath my feet from the sheer impact and my knees buckled.
However, Kufa wasn't going to let me off with just that. He mercilessly whirled around and delivered another strike that swung toward my neck. I parried that with Bai Ri, having adjusted and acclimatized to his speed. He then followed up with a kick from below that almost caught me in the crotch, but thankfully I evaded that, his foot skimming several millimeters away from my fron. The guy certainly had no qualms against playing dirty.
\”Why, you…!\”
Fortunately, I already had my chibi Green Dragon in play. Razor leaves and sharp petals trailed my blades as I launched my counterattack, each of them slicing toward Kufa like a deadly blade. The Samurai nimbly evaded my spells, his long, curved blade cutting a swathe through my scattered leaves and petals.
\”!!!\”
A silver flash almost cleaved deeply into my neck, but I fended it off with Bai Ri. I countered with Hei Yue and another storm of lethal petals, but Kufa moved far too quickly for me to get a read on his movements. He was always staying one step ahead, his blade streaking here and there to poke holes in my defense. I managed to survive without a scratch for now, but I knew my luck would eventually run out. With his relentless pace, it wouldn't be long before I slipped up and made a mistake. That was all it required, and I would sustain a wound.
Once the first injury appeared, it would mark the start of an avalanche of cuts and wounds that slowly wore me down. Even if each individual cut or seemingly minor injury was not, by themselves fatal, I would eventually weaken from the incessant bleeding and massive loss of blood, and the damage would accumulate past the breaking point.
Death by a thousand cuts. Not exactly a very pelasant scenario to imagine.
Huffing, I did my best to avoid getting injured. Taking a step back here and there, I withdrew to harden my defenses, and found myself getting pushed back. Kufa appeared to be accelerating, and his barrage of cuts cornered me. His blade was increasingly finding more purchase, seeking out the chinks in my armor and slowly getting past my swords and delving deeper with each stroke. There were a few times when the razor edge of his katana came dangerously close to tearing my skin open, but I always managed to fend it off by a hair's breadth.
Yup, I was doomed.
Spinning around, Kufa kicked me in the gut and threw me off balance. Even as I grunted, my opponent mercilessly brought his katana down from above, as if intending to cleave me in half. I crossed both of my swords to block his deadly stroke, but he twisted in midair and kicked me in the chest, sending me sprawling on my back. I rolled away before he could stab my face to the ground, and then lashed out with both of my swords, but a sweeping riposte knocked them aside.
\”?!\”
A blue-black energy blast leaped out from Kufa's sword and slammed into me, lifting me from the ground and hurling me bodily across the air. I crashed several meters away, rolling in a desperate and undignified manner – but my action was borne more out of shock and reflex than any conscious will on my part.
\”Ugh…\”