The massive axe barely missed me, swinging past as I landed a few feet back.
At this point, It became clear to me that I needed more distance to regain my balance and my bearings. And so, before Damon could recover from the momentum of his swing, I grimaced and, using every ounce of my energy, spun into a desperate counter-attack. Both blades swept out in a wide arc, forcing Damon to scramble back to avoid the dual slash.
"Not bad, Cedric." Damon shrugged with a dangerous smile while also hefting the massive axe to his shoulder. "You are actually doing better than I thought you would, I'll give you that. Who would have thought that…"
He kept rambling nonsense, but his voice instantly faded out, drowned by a series of glowing notifications that violently seized my focus.
[The exclusive attribute Gamer Privileges has detected a distraction from immersion in the Gamer.]
[Cause of distraction: Pain]
[Gamer Privileges has activated a Non-diegetic barrier.]
[Due to the effects of the Non-diegetic barrier, the Gamer has been granted Pain mitigation for the duration of combat.]
'Huh? What is this?'
At that moment, I could feel the pain in my right shoulder suddenly dull to a manageable throb, as if a volume dial had been turned down, just enough to let me think clearly again.
'Gamer privileges can do this? Just how insane is this attribute?'
While I was still processing this, Aika's voice suddenly rang out:
'Ced dodge!'~~
I looked up to see Damon lunge at me. Following the tutorial directions, I pivoted right and the axe swept past my chest.
Using the opening, I immediately spun into a counter. But Damon was faster. He snapped the axe back in a tight, short arc, catching my descending blades with a deafening clang of steel on steel. The shock of the impact jolted up my arms, and despite the pain mitigation, my grip nearly failed.
'Damn it! This guy…'
Damon used that brief stall to regain his footing and immediately lunged for another strike. Fortunately, I had also managed to regain mine, and so we continued our desperate dance of strike and dodge. Every time his massive axe came straight down, I pivoted, barely dodging its crushing weight. And every time he swept the weapon in a horizontal arc, I would bend impossibly low, narrowly avoiding its edge over my head.
Although my movements weren't awkward and were a bit fluid due to my experience in the Korean mandatory service, Damon was still far faster than me, and so I ended up being late to dodge some of his attacks resulting in cuts and bruises.
"You fuckin bastard. I swear if I catch you, I'm going to kill you."
It seemed Damon had begun to grow frustrated after a series of failed attempts to land a solid blow, due to my slippery nature, which was a result of my attribute telling me where to move.
'Didn't this guy hear that we are not allowed to kill?'
Landing a few meters from him, I yelled back. "I'd like to see you try, you bloody son of a bitch!"
Hearing that, Damon spread out his arms and let out a thunderous battle cry, making me flinch. Instantly, the air around him changed and his eyes darkened into a deep crimson color.
Then a notification popped up for me:
[The character Damon Kaiser has activated the exclusive attribute Beast of War.]
[Due to the effect of Beast of War, the strength, agility and durability of the character Damon Kaiser has increased twofold.]
'Increased twofold?! Are you kidding me?!'
I took a cautious step back. 'Shit, I'm screwed.'
Just then, Aika's voice rang out in my head:
'Focus Ced! We are not screwed yet. Throw the wakizashi at him! Hurry!'~~
'What?'~
'Just do it! The moment that bastard moves, then it would be over for us!'~~
Even though I had no idea what Aika planned, I heeded her words and immediately hurled the wakizashi at Damon.
Unsurprisingly, Damon swung his axe effortlessly, batting the wakizashi away and sending it flying. The sword buried itself in the ground behind him.
Seeing that expected outcome, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly Aika planned.
"Enough of these games, Cedric! Let's end this!" Damon yelled as he got into position to lunge.
...But right as he was about to move, a foot crashed into the back of his head in a brutally vicious kick.
Damon let out a strangled groan as the air was knocked out of him, and his eyes rolled back. He staggered a few steps forward before crashing onto one knee, the massive axe scraping against the floor from the sheer force of the impact.
It was at this point that I finally understood Aika's plan. Dominants whose bonds manifested dual weapons had a massive advantage in battle, because their bond, by using one of the weapons, could manifest their human form and join the fight.
Looking at what just happened, it became perfectly clear that Aika had planned to join the duel. After all, this was allowed as it would simply be considered a combat strategy.
However…
Damon was too strong and such a blow was not enough to put him out of the fight. And so, in the next second, his eyes rolled back to normal, and he instantly spun his axe around, aiming to cleave whoever had dared kick him from behind.
That was his mistake.
Because now there was no longer one person he needed to watch out for, but two.
The moment he spun, Aika had already leapt back, sending me the signal simultaneously: 'Now!'~~
I lunged with my katana and since Damon was completely facing away from me, he didn't notice my attack in time. Not until I slashed a deep cut in his thigh, causing him to yell out in pain and collapse onto one knee again. Then before he could even register what had happened, Aika, who was now directly in front of him, leapt and crashed her knee into his face… hard!
The vicious impact knocked his head back and sent him crashing heavily onto the ring floor. He lay sprawled, blood gushing from his nose and mouth. He looked defeated, groaning and trembling, likely from the raw agony in his wounded thigh.
Breathing heavily from exhaustion, I walked up to him side-by-side with Aika. We stopped in front of him, and I pointed my sword down at his chest. Then I said hoarsely: "Surrender. The duel is over."
Damon gritted his teeth and spat a mouthful of blood and phlegm onto the ring. "Never. I'll never surrender to the likes of you!"
"This duel can't officially end until you yield. Just give up now."
Damon forced a ragged chuckle. "You'll have to kill me first!"
"Fine."
"What?!" Damon's eyes widened as I raised the katana high. "Wh-what are you doing? You know yo-you can't kill me, right?" His voice was now a nervous, pathetic screech.
Of course, I wasn't going to kill him. We weren't allowed to. And even if we were, I wasn't sure I had the guts to kill somebody. However, I couldn't forgive him for his arrogant behavior, including calling Aika a trash bond. I also needed to prove to the other cadets that I wasn't the same bondless bastard who could easily be pushed around by everyone.
But most importantly, I needed Karma points.
And so, ignoring the stares and loud, bewildered murmurs of the cadets, and Damon's words which quickly turned to screams, I brought down my katana, and his blood erupted onto the training ring.