The Unyielding Rapier

[Backstep]!

Desperately, Nan Shi executed a [Backstep], widening the gap between himself and An Ruina. He retreated ten yards, his boots skidding to a halt precariously at the very edge of the forty-yard arena. (A Backstep’s maximum displacement was twenty yards, though players could freely choose a distance between five and twenty.) Mercifully, this twelve-hit combo, [Window of Drizzle], lacked any crowd control effects, granting him a much-needed reprieve.

It became evident that An Ruina commanded a unique rapier skill system, one whose hallmark was an incredibly rapid attack frequency, designed to utterly suppress her opponent’s movements.

Was this the true essence of the Western rapier?

Confronted by An Ruina’s sharp, swift assault, Nan Shi felt a crushing weight of pressure. He stood grim-faced at the arena’s perimeter, his gaze heavy as he fixed it upon her.

‘A foe specializing in rapid combos?’

‘Their combat styles are truly incompatible.’

Nan Shi furrowed his brow, recalling how his previous victories had hinged entirely on his companion skill, [Double Strike], which allowed him to unleash multiple flashes and decisively burst down opponents.

His strength lay in high single-target skill damage, not in chaining combos like Yan.

Yet, against An Ruina’s blistering attack rhythm, he found himself overwhelmed merely trying to parry her onslaught; how could he possibly find an opening to counter?

‘Perhaps I should simply abandon my defense, endure An Ruina’s attacks, and then unleash a high-damage Tier 4 skill to finish her in one blow?’

Nan Shi gnawed at his lower lip, torn by indecision.

Just then, An Ruina closed the distance.

“Rose Thrust!”

Her rapier lunged forward, and with another graceful slide step, the keen blade was before Nan Shi’s eyes in the blink of an eye.

‘A displacement skill with no cooldown!?’

Nan Shi’s face paled. With no time for contemplation, he hastily crossed his twin swords.

“Sword Flash!”

Nan Shi’s form shimmered; in an untargetable state, he phased through An Ruina’s body, pulling away from the arena’s edge. Their positions had, as if by magic, reversed.

Nan Shi’s panicked use of Sword Flash to reposition himself stemmed from a genuine fear that An Ruina possessed some form of knockback skill, one that could send him tumbling off the platform. Standing so precariously on the very edge, even a minor push would have spelled his immediate defeat.

Now, however, it was An Ruina who found herself in that very predicament!

“Cleave!”

A wicked smirk played on Nan Shi’s lips as he swung his right blade, unleashing the swordsman’s knockback skill.

‘If only this strike lands!’

He could almost visualize An Ruina being knocked clean off the platform, and a thrill of excitement coursed through him.

“Window of Drizzle!”

An Ruina, unperturbed, caused her rapier to flash with emerald light once more. It transformed into a blur of sharp, rapid thrusts, colliding head-on with Nan Shi’s swinging blade. In the blink of an eye, his [Cleave] skill was shattered!

‘A counter mechanism! This one is a true master!’

Nan Shi’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Tch, it’s not that simple after all, huh?”

He clicked his tongue softly, his twin swords now shimmering with a faint blue luminescence.

“Falling Moon Slash!”

He swung his right blade once more, unleashing another knockback skill, a defiant glint in his eyes.

The preceding [Cleave] had been a Tier 1 swordsman skill, its damage relatively low, so An Ruina’s ability to counter it was hardly surprising. [Falling Moon Slash], however, was a different matter entirely.

Nan Shi, whose build heavily prioritized Strength, unleashed a Tier 3 [Falling Moon Slash] capable of inflicting significant damage. And what’s more…

A smirk touched Nan Shi’s lips as the blade in his left hand mirrored the dance of his right, following the motion of [Falling Moon Slash]!

[Double Strike]!

He unleashed two swift [Falling Moon Slashes] in rapid succession!

Indeed, he had deliberately refrained from using [Double Strike]’s effect to cast [Cleave] twice earlier, his intention being to deceive An Ruina, to lull her into complacency for this very [Falling Moon Slash]!

This time, even if she could employ a high-damage Tier 4 skill to parry one [Falling Moon Slash], she would assuredly be unable to withstand the second!

For the essence of the counter mechanism lay in the direct collision and nullification of individual skill damages!

Just as Nan Shi was convinced An Ruina had no escape, that she would be summarily knocked from the ring, he caught a glimpse of her subtly curved red lips and the frantic, sparkling glints of her rapier.

“Hmph!”

With a soft exclamation, her rapier moved so swiftly it seemed to vanish, its blade a mere blur.

A tap!

First, she executed a swift swing, the rapier’s tip deftly tapping Nan Shi’s twin blades. Instantly, the slender, sharp rapier shimmered with an emerald glow as she unleashed another skill.

“Window of Drizzle!”

Without the slightest pause after casting the skill, she brutally drove the final thrust of [Window of Drizzle] even deeper forward!

A thrust!

“Kiss of Night!”

With a graceful pirouette, her rapier slipped past Nan Shi’s crossed twin blades, breached his defenses, and settled its sharp edge across his throat, swiftly drawing back.

She had effortlessly countered Nan Shi’s dual [Falling Moon Slashes] with a lightning-fast combo, seamlessly weaving normal attacks between her skills!

Furthermore, her final strike, [Kiss of Night], appeared to be a high-damage Tier 4 skill. Even after shattering Nan Shi’s second [Falling Moon Slash], it retained substantial power, landing a devastating blow upon him!

With a sharp ‘Pshh!’ Nan Shi’s neck was sliced open by the rapier in An Ruina’s hand.

“It actually comes with a weak point attack!?”

Nan Shi, his heart pounding, watched his health bar plummet by a full quarter, his astonished words escaping through gritted teeth.

“And what’s with your attacks? How are they so fast? And can repeated attacks also counter skills? Isn’t that cheating!?”

Upon hearing his outburst, An Ruina gracefully crossed her feet, straightening her tall frame as she stood elegantly in place.

She flicked away the dark crimson ‘signal fragments’ clinging to her slender rapier, and the blade once more shone with a keen, cold light. These were the simulated ‘blood’ remnants from ‘Companion God’s Realm,’ signifying a successful weak point attack.

“Absolute Divine Speed.”

She spoke with an air of calm, her rapier once again poised before her, her cascade of golden hair billowing softly behind her in the breeze.

“What?”

Nan Shi frowned, failing to grasp her meaning.

“Companion Skill: Absolute Divine Speed.”

An Ruina’s emerald eyes, visible through the narrow slits of her helmet, regarded Nan Shi with an unwavering calm.

“Provides extremely high attack speed, movement speed, action speed, and skill casting speed bonuses.”

“Instant death upon being attacked.”

‘So that’s it,’ he thought. ‘A companion skill that boosts all speeds.’

And this opponent, he realized, must be specialized in attack speed. Nan Shi recalled An Ruina’s two lightning-fast normal attacks, seamlessly woven between her skills, and understood the source of her incredible swiftness.

He finally comprehended the true nature of An Ruina’s bewilderingly rapid and relentless assault.

‘But what did ‘instant death upon being attacked’ mean? Wasn’t I still perfectly fine?’

‘Could it mean that An Ruina would perish from even the slightest hit? Was this the balancing factor for a seemingly bugged companion skill like [Absolute Divine Speed]? Similar to a vulnerability attribute, perhaps? Would any damage she sustained be amplified?’

A bitter twitch pulled at Nan Shi’s lips.

Truth be told, from the moment the match began, he hadn’t landed a single blow on An Ruina. No wonder he hadn’t detected any peculiar effects.

‘But…’

‘If that were the case, then the immense damage from [Kiss of Night] made no sense. An Ruina’s specialization was attack speed, and [Absolute Divine Speed] offered no attack power bonus…’

‘Could a Tier 4 skill from a player so singularly focused on speed truly deplete a quarter of my health, even after countering my [Falling Moon Slash]? Even with the amplified damage of a weak point hit, it felt wrong!’

As if discerning Nan Shi’s unspoken questions, An Ruina gave her rapier a slight flick, her red lips parting ever so slightly.

“Companion-grade equipment: Phantasmagoric Rapier.”

She calmly divulged her secret.

“Phantasmagoric Rapier: ATK+10% Attack Speed+1000 Stability+20%

Inherent ability: Attack speed bonus applied to Strength, meaning the faster the attack speed, the higher the damage.

Can use multi-hit normal attacks and skills to counter melee physical skills of equal damage.

Unlocks rapier-type skills.”

‘The faster the attack speed, the higher the damage!?’

‘Multi-hit attacks can also counter skills!?’

‘Damn, she’s formidable!’

Nan Shi stared, utterly disbelieving, at An Ruina, who stood with an almost ethereal elegance just a short distance away.

Both the companion-grade equipment, [Phantasmagoric Rapier], and the companion skill, [Absolute Divine Speed], seemed to have been forged solely for this woman.

A perfect synergy of companion-grade equipment and skills had manifested within her. Nan Shi had no frame of reference to gauge just how astronomically rare such an occurrence was.

He only knew this: the elegant rapier player before him, An Ruina, possessed a strength that rivaled Yan’s.

“By the way, you just revealed your information like that. Aren’t you afraid I’ll find a way to counter you?”

Nan Shi forced a bitter smile, his words a mere bluster, though in truth, he was utterly at a loss, his heart seized by panic.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Beneath An Ruina’s silver helmet, her vibrant red lips parted slightly as she spoke, her tone calm and imbued with an undeniable arrogance.

“You cannot defeat me now.”

It was as if this conclusion had been firmly established in her mind long before she ever set foot in the arena.

Indeed, Nan Shi, a master of burst damage, found himself with virtually no opportunity to retaliate under her relentless assault. The [Phantasmagoric Rapier]’s inherent multi-hit attack mechanism, capable of canceling opposing attacks, could effortlessly nullify Nan Shi’s burst damage.

Empowered by [Absolute Divine Speed], Nan Shi found it almost impossible to land a blow on An Ruina, forced instead to awkwardly endure her sharp, rapid blade.

“Heh.”

Even though he knew her words were true, a surge of irritation still welled up within Nan Shi.

“You truly are…”

“…an arrogant, self-important queen!”

The twin swords in Nan Shi’s hands flared with a bright, pure white light. He swung them wildly, unleashing a torrent of [Flashes]!

He had begun his final, desperate struggle.

****

Activity Map, Spectator Area

Yan watched Nan Shi frantically unleash [Flashes] on the arena, sighing helplessly.

Though he couldn’t hear their conversation or understand An Ruina’s skill effects, he could clearly see that Nan Shi’s advantage had completely dissipated.

Poor Nan Shi, to have encountered such a formidable opponent.

Yan rubbed his forehead in resignation. Just as Nan Shi had predicted, Yan also felt that, even equipped with his [Weakening Spear], he wouldn’t fare well against this rapier player.

‘Well, that’s assuming we’re confined to a forty-yard arena, of course.’