The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 99 - The Witch's Worth

"Sounds like you two have dueled before." Misuko said.

"He held back his strength at that time," Raku pouted. "Didn't even use his spear."

The guild leader turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I returned a side eye at her. She sighed and turned back to Raku.

"I'll gladly make sure that he'll use his spear this time."

She turned to me with daggers in her eyes. I could do nothing but comply at this point.

"Sure, sure. I'll duel you with my spear. But you shouldn't hold back as well."

Raku instantly knew what I meant. It was obvious to her that I wanted to test my strength against her 'magic'.

"Then it's a deal," She got up from the sofa. "Let's settle this now."

"Let's settle this in the afternoon." Misuko got up as well, as she declared. "This duel decides the leadership of Damage Squad, so at the very least, the whole guild should watch it."

Hmm, I guess this means I should take a nap before then.

"So, what's the timing?" I asked.

"1pm should be good enough for everyone," Misuko decided. "I'll announce it now."

She placed a hand onto Raku's shoulder as she headed for the giant doors.

"Good luck."

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The training grounds were located just in between the dorms and the mini smithy that Tekion uses to work in.

The guild base was a safe zone itself; unless one initiates a duel, no one can harm each other in terms of HP. Members would just train by having what was called 'purple window duels', where the number of times you were hit (which creates the purple window that said 'Immortal Object') was used to decide the winners of these kinds of duels.

A real duel happening in the guild base was undoubtedly a big thing. It looked like everyone in the guild was here to watch the match, making the atmosphere pretty bustling.

Raku and I entered through opposite ends of a space surrounded by the members. Misuko was standing in the middle, probably being the host of this event, which I honestly think is quite dull.

But then again, Raku needed to prove herself to the guild that she's worth more than just her personality.

"Are you both ready?" Misuko asked.

Both of us nodded.

"The duel will commence in Half-life mode," Misuko announced. "Whoever can deplete half of their opponent's HP will be the winner."

She stepped out of our line of sight and walked away to the sidelines. Raku brought down her system menu. In a few seconds, the duel invite window popped out in front of me.

The crowd became silent, as I pressed the accept button. A timer window appeared above our heads and started to tick down 15 seconds.

I brought out my spear. Raku reached for her one-handed sword from her back, and drew it out. It seemed like she was only going to face me with Picturesque Brancher on her left hand, but I knew that it wouldn't be true soon enough.

The timer counted down to 5 seconds. Both of us were silently staring at each other. I didn't really had much of a gameplan for trying to win this duel, since I wanted Raku to be leader of Damage Squad. If only I wasn't cornered into not holding back my strength.

3, 2, 1.

I exhaled a sigh at the moment the timer hit '0'. Raku rushed forth, ever straightforward in her combat style. I brought myself forward as well, but unlike her, it wasn't to create a frontal attack.