VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

INSTINCTS VS TECHNIQUE

A gigantic crystal dome buried beneath a massive oceanic layer was the chosen ground generated by the Bermuda System Server for this occasion.

On the inside, solid rock formed the ground, welcoming the challengers. And while the inside of the dome remained untouched by the darkening water, the incoming sunlight from above reflecting brightly on the crystal glass brought about a total illumination of the ocean floor, unveiling to the naked eye the resting grounds of what once had been an ancient city.

Buildings, courtyards, roads, temples, and statues of the old gods, all covered in green moss, were some of the impressive structures revealed by this light. Serving as the audience for the duel that was about to happen were thousands of cetaceans and gill-bearing aquatic animals that had made this forsaken underwater city their home. But there was also something else. Living alongside these species in harmony was another creature found only in fantasy tales, until now, merfolk. With their lower half fish and upper half-human and tridents in hand, they surveyed the dome from a distance, watching silently as the two men faced each other. The stare-off between both species ended briefly when one curious mermaid left the watery shadows to approach the dome, where she stretched out her arm to touch the glistening glass, boldly taking a quick peek at what lay within.

“Wow…” Angelo was the first to react to this spectacular fantasy unfolding around him. “Now, this is what I call a game arena!”

However, the spectacle wasn’t enough to distract Rui in the slightest. Wanting nothing other than throw the rebel into the dirt, he quickly put a stop to his opponent’s stunning admiration by shouting, “Face me now, mongrel!” which made the peeping mermaid wince in fear and swim away.

Not even the sight of the mystical Atlantis moves him one bit. Angelo focused his mind before turning around to face Rui, who had already chosen his starting equipment and waited in the center of the dome. “Swords it is then.”

Agreeing to this beforehand, Rui had picked a two-handed sword to do battle, a sharp-pointed blade ideal for piercing plated armor. A weapon that looked like a needle due to its sliminess, an estoc.

Fortunately for Angelo, who relied heavily on offense rather than defense, all the armor he was carrying with him was a small breastplate made out of brown coffee leather that only covered his heart. Not wanting to be dragged by the weight of armor too much, he was gambling everything on his speed; only by being as light as a feather could he perform his quick dual-wielding combinations to its fullest. As for armament, two bronze age Chinese Jian swords, which had a history of over two thousand years, were materialized from the vast menu, his personal favorite.

“It’s your funeral.” Rui’s menacing voice set the mood in place.

A countdown started high above the two men, each taking a unique stance. Before the numbers hit zero, the physiologic battle between these two was already well underway.

With Rui taking a passive stance meant to draw Angelo in and observe his technique with considerable safety, the advantage reigned on his side. Like his opponent, Rui had spent some effort in learning whatever he could about Angelo, but having spent most of his life training with a sword and attaining the level of fencing championship two years in a row, he was more than confident that he could deal with Angelo even if he did activate his AWP. What remained a mystery to Rui was the effectiveness of Angelo’s research on him. Therefore, taking this into account, he planned to play it safe until he could gauge Angelo’s real strengths, after which he would end it all.

"!"

At last, when the timer hit zero, Angelo, the ever-unpredictable, did the predictable—quickly launching himself at Rui like a missile leaving the silo, dealing with rapid strikes that lacked any order or technique. Immensely helped by his passive stance, the numerous lethal blows were avoided with no room for error, but at the same time, lack of foresight in his opponent’s attacks delayed Rui’s analytic reading of their trajectory. Blood and flesh were torn from his cheek and left shoulder; minor injuries, but a wake-up call to the underrated danger.

Ten seconds into the duel, and the first blood had already been spilled.

Regardless of this, the national champion quickly adapted his position to a more proactive approach, striking at Angelo whenever he left himself open to counters after one of his self-taught combinations.

As the timer went on to reach the one minute mark, blood from both men stained the rocks as each tried to anticipate their next move. To Rui, the biggest problem he had was dealing with Angelo’s agility; whenever he unleashed a combination with both swords, he quickly adjusted his footing, stopping his attack mid-way only to strike from a different angle. This led to a chain of broken attacks that lacked any discipline but made up for it with speed that threatened to overwhelm Rui’s defense. In turn, the latter’s counter techniques dealt damage to Angelo whenever the occasion presented itself, hence the stalemate on both sides.

It was only after the estoc user pierced one of Angelo’s legs that his obnoxious speed finally came to an end. Then, what happened next could only be described as something completely unforeseen.

In the face of this critical injury and with victory looming in front of his eyes, Rui abandoned his uncompromising and well-trained stance to deal a final blow. The light in his eyes lit up when tracing his downwards strike, brimming the mischievous expression he held with overflowing emotions.

Everyone roared at the sight of Coimbra’s leader about to strike down the Angel of Death, except the UAT members; these waited in silence, unfazed; they believed in their commander's ability to turn any situation around. However grave it might be.

“It’s not over yet!” Ricardo heedfully pronounced, his rough voice echoing amidst every wall, almost silencing the crowd. You got this, man.

So it was then, when Rui’s estoc was about to pierce Angelo’s chest, that the UAT commander unveiled his sadistic grim that would make even the bravest flinch, all of which for one reason alone.

At long last, after almost two excruciating minutes of playing it safe, Rui had come out of his spider hole to deal the killing blow, betraying his strategy of defense and counter to give Angelo an opening of his own.

“This is Angie-boy’s victory,” Katherine reassured everyone, following Angelo’s movements with her exotic shiny purple eyes.

Faster than a blink of an eye, the critically injured Angelo stepped forward and hit Rui’s open stomach with his injured leg bleeding viciously, a move that left one staggering from the blow and the other struggling to regain his balance. Lacking the reaction time of his opponent, Rui found his composure one second too late. Angelo, putting all of his weight on his one good leg, jumped as far as possible to deliver a last-ditch effort. Doing the impossible, while hovering in mid-air, he delivered a staggering four-hit combo attack with both blades, slashing Rui’s chest wide open and cutting off his sword arm without even needing to activate the awakening mode.

Everyone excitedly watching the live feed in the heat of the moment stood in awe at what had just happened, while the UAT’s officers mentally rejoiced; their commander’s victory was absolute.

The moment he had so patiently waited for had presented itself in a silver plater. Now Rui, succumbed to his knees dripping in blood, struggling to get back up on his feet.

“Damn…That gave me some serious chills…” Rafa scratched his shoulder, the only one of the bunch to react to the duel's conclusion. “Did you see that, you bastards?!! Even a national champion can’t stand on his own against the boss-man!” he mocked, turning his attention to the speechless audience that still could not believe their eyes. The comment's effect shamelessly reverberated not just to the prodigy bystanders on the other side; it also provoked the remaining Elites in the UAT, still resenting Angelo, namely one.

“…Boss-man?? I thought you didn’t like him…?”

“Huh…He’s– I mean…Oh, come on! Didn't you see what he just did??! He’s a pretty amazing guy, Vera…We got to give him that at least.”

“No, I really don’t.”

Finally, after suffering considerable blood loss and having most of his body paralyzed, Rui succumbed to his wounds, and the victor was announced. Unsurprisingly, most of the students instantly broke out in protest, even cursing and discrediting the result by stating that Angelo would have bled to death if the match had lasted any longer. Though at this time, and to everyone’s surprise, it was Rui who silenced all voices in the opposition by welcoming his defeat and congratulating his opponent on his performance. An act of modesty and sportsmanship that worked in his favor, earning him an even bigger boost in prestige among his peers and a distrusting look from Angelo, who could read this dishonest side of Rui better than anyone else.

It was only a few hours later, when things had died down, and Pedro came to have a private conversation with his colleague, that the fallen revealed his true colors. Safely behind the walls of their private room, Rui began to lash out against whatever he could get his hands on, as his friend desperately tried to calm him down while trying to avoid all the flying rubble that broke apart and came his way.

“That f*****g son of a w***e!!” He screamed, almost muffling the sound of the chair that exploded against the wall. “Did you see what he did?!! f*****g humiliated me!!”

Watching his tantrum grow worse by the second, Pedro, having given up on the idea of appeasing things, sat down on the only chair left intact to clear his thoughts.

Racing through his memories of the duel, he wondered why things had turned as they did. Simply put, Rui’s professional technique stood well above Angelo’s, and yet, without even using his awakening mode, that same man had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. In terms of combat power, Angelo is definitely a ball of natural instincts…against an opponent like him, Rui doesn’t stand a chance. Those perfect techniques drilled into him since a child will grant him victory over most fluent in swordsmanship, but when facing a speed type that can read the flow of his enemy's movement, those very same techniques become too inflexible. All of Angelo’s quick combinations and stances, none of them were a waste. It was all to draw out Rui from his defensive stance– He…! …No…it can’t be…He had you before the duel even started, Rui.

In the middle of his thorough analysis, the sound of a ringing text message coming through his phone suddenly put a halt to Pedro’s examination.

“…”

The arriving message was directly followed by another message, this one coming from the other side of the room, where a depleted Rui now rested, “Yeah, I got it too…what the hell is this?!.”

It’s content…