Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 22: Blood vs Sword

"Shokō?" Syèl questioned with piqued interest. Shokō, in Japanese, was a gender-neutral term that could either mean Prince or Princess. The halben chuckled as he gave the swordswoman a once-over. "That name. That outfit. Could it be? Are you having a gender-identity crisis?"

Boom!

Shokō suddenly appeared next to Syèl with her sword placed squarely next to his neck. "Do you wish to lose your head, elf?"

The sword slightly pierced Syèl's throat and drew blood.

Down the moonlit blade, a pair of blue eyes burned fiercely. "It would do you good to watch your tongue, trash," Shokō spat, then withdrew her blade and sheathed it in a single, swift motion. "I like men, thank you very much. I simply find male clothing to be more comfortable and befitting of my tastes."

A loud cry rang out, interrupting the duo's conversation.

Shokō and Syèl looked in the direction of the shout and saw the cockatrices that had been attacking the other Shokō disperse, revealing the petrified victim.

"Damn. I was distracted for too long," Shokō cursed then turned to Syèl. "You. Assist me. I'll fight with you once these beasts are dealt with."

"Sure, why not," Syèl agreed with a light shrug. "I've got some new spells I want to test out anyway." The halben lips parted to reveal a dangerous grin as he shot massive fireballs at the oversized dinner entrees.

The cockatrices charged through the flames, seemingly unfazed by the attack. "Ho... Then how about this?!" Syèl challenged and shot out a stream of electricity from his hands. The electric arc shocked the closest beast and then, using it as a conduit, chained to four other cockatrices around it.

Other cockatrices rushed around their electrified kin and spat green venom at the halben.

In response, Syèl raised an ice shield from the ground, which the poison struck with the force of a 100mph baseball. Syèl's brows furrowed as he called out, "Anytime now, ."

Shokō crouched low with her right hand hovering over the hilt of her sheathed sword. "Shokō Style: Second Form..." Her sword's scabbard glowed with a blue light as she instantly drew then sheathed her sword in a blink of an eye. "[Splitting Sky]."

Boom!

A massive shockwave burst out from Shokō's draw and struck the approaching cockatrices with the force of a pissed-off hurricane. The beasts suffered the impact and were sent tumbling back the way they came. "Your move," she said to Syèl.

"Nice," Syèl praised then dashed to the center of the disgruntled cockatrices. Blood seeped out of his body and gathered above him to form a meter-wide sphere. Spikes of blood slowly formed on the surface of the sphere. "[Blood Shower]." On the halben's signal, spikes shot out of the sphere and stabbed through the cockatrices, who cried out in pain.

The enraged birds rolled into balls, spun in place to gather momentum, and then launched themselves at Syèl with frightening speed.

Syèl cursed as he struggled to dodge the irritatingly quick monsters. He barely avoided their charges but then realized too late it was a trap. While in the middle of evading three simultaneous attacks, a fourth came up from his blind spot.

Syèl coughed up blood as the cockatrice struck him with the momentum of a speeding truck. The impact sent the halben hurtling across the field. He crashed to the ground a dozen meters from the impact point and then rolled to a painful stop.

The cockatrices turned out to be vengeful creatures as they didn't even give Syèl a chance to recover before resuming their attack. While Syèl struggled to get to his feet, a mass of blue and gold blurred to the front of his vision.