Chapter 32

"Mysterious"

The girl in the Gothic dress, with a calm voice, drew her rapier and gazed at her weapon with a look of wonder. "Mysterious," she said.

Before I knew it, she closed the distance in an instant and lunged for my neck, which I intercepted with the middle of my golden staff. The weapons clashed with a metallic sound, and the rapier was deflected. Just as I thought it was over, she retracted it and thrust again in a flash.

Using the golden staff as a shield, I dodged by crouching and sweeping her legs, but she floated back with a graceful elegance, as if she were weightless.

"I didn't think you couldn't be killed. Even though I caught you completely off guard. Mysterious. Do you have good eyes? Or is it your intuition? Mysterious."

The girl who had just helped me tilted her head and placed a finger on her red lips. She was a small girl, dressed in a Gothic dress, smaller than me. She was probably around 150 cm tall. Upon closer inspection, her flowing golden hair and red eyes complemented her non-Japanese features, making her look like an avatar. Of course, in this game, you can customize your character to a great extent, but the Gothic dress was clearly a production item.

"So, what was the point of suddenly attacking me?"

"Rou. Sixteen years old. Let's be friends."

"I have no interest in being friends with someone who tries to kill me on sight."

"Sad. I want to be friends with you."

"Let's start by not trying to kill me, okay?"

I continued to block her continuous thrusts with the golden staff, which I held in both hands. The sound of metal clashing was like the cry of some creature, and suddenly, the girl's lips curved into a smile. Just as I had a bad feeling, a gap appeared in her relentless thrusts.

"**Destruction**"

The rapier, which had been pulled back, was enveloped in a poisonous purple aura and thrust at me with twice the speed.

"Whoa, no way!"

I dodged the thrust with a side step, using sheer force. I felt my ankle creak from the sudden movement, but I took advantage of her post-attack stiffness and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to her stomach.

"Ugh!?"

The kick, which made a squishing sound, sent the girl flying several meters. However, she supported herself with one hand just before hitting the ground and landed gracefully.

"Cough, cough... That was mean."

"No, you were clearly using a dangerous skill just now, right?"

"Yes, it would have been a powerful poison if it had hit."

"See! It's not my fault!"

The girl, who was coughing but still smiling, seemed unbothered. I couldn't tell the power dynamic between us, but my attacks, powered by my boosted strength, seemed to have done some damage, as my HP was reduced by about 10%. However, the girl's smile never faded, and she seemed to have enough composure to make light remarks.

"What's your name?"

"...Sukuna."

"Got it. Sukuna. Let's introduce ourselves again. I'm Rou. I'm also known as the 'Murder Princess,' but I'd like you to call me Rou."

"Murder... Red Name, huh. It's a disadvantage with no benefits, yet you do it."

The penalty for a Red Name is minimal, with only a slight restriction on status and experience points, and in WLO, where the city is a safe zone, player killing is a behavior with no real benefits.

Moreover, PK players can't enter the city, and if they cause trouble near the city, they will be captured by guard NPCs and lose all their money and items. Even if they are killed by monsters and respawn, they will be captured by guard NPCs and face the same consequences. If they are PKed by another player, they will lose all their money and items, and their level will be halved. There is no benefit to PKing in this game.

"There are benefits. You can kill people as you like. That's an irreplaceable benefit for me."

The girl—Rou—played with her rapier in her hand, saying it as naturally as breathing. Her eyes were incredibly pure, as if there was no trace of deceit.

"I'll go a bit more seriously. I don't think Sukuna will die. Try to survive, okay?"

With those words, Rou readied her rapier, and I understood that I needed to take her seriously.

My consciousness shifted. What Rou wanted was a fight to the death. If I didn't kill her, I would be killed. Even though it was a game, I felt it deeply. Rou's pure killing intent was cold and transparent, sending shivers down my spine.

In an instant, I blocked Rou's upward slash with my golden staff. I could see it and react, but it was much faster than her previous movements.

Perhaps she had anticipated that I would block it, and before I knew it, she swung a dagger she had in her other hand, spinning her body to slash at me. I tried to backstep to dodge, but a chill ran down my spine, and I instinctively grabbed her wrist.

The dagger was a feint. The real attack was to thrust the rapier, hidden behind her back, into the opening created by my backstep or sweep. We ended up in a stalemate, both in half-stance. Rou broke the deadlock by trying to decapitate me with her rapier, but I let go of her arm, and she jumped back.

"I thought I could skewer you."

Rou, who muttered with genuine disappointment, had a bright sparkle in her eyes. The tip of her rapier, which swayed with her emotions, radiated a burning excitement.

"It's not that easy."

"Ah, it wouldn't be fun if it were. I'll step it up a notch, follow me."

With that, Rou charged at me, choosing a flurry of attacks.

Although the rapier is specialized for thrusting, it is a double-edged sword. Therefore, it can be used to slash, and Rou was indeed choosing to slash more often than thrust.

However, that was only possible because it could be used that way. The slender blade was not designed for such combat, and in a game where durability is a factor, a thicker weapon would be more durable in such exchanges.

Despite this, her rapier, which should not have been able to withstand such a flurry of attacks, showed no signs of wear. She didn't show any signs of frustration, even after blocking dozens of sword strikes in less than a minute.

"Your rapier is quite durable, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's my favorite. You could tell. It's the same as your armor, Sukuna."

Rou said this with a hint of joy. My armor was made from the materials of a named boss monster, boasting the highest possible stats. From the hair accessory to the armor, it was all crafted using the ultra-rare drop, "Soul," making it a truly broken piece of equipment.

There were only three others in the game, according to Koneko-maru, excluding me.

That meant...

"A named weapon?"

"Yes, it's called 'Vladia, the Luring Serpent.' I made it by killing a party-named boss. I had some help from friends, but it was a wonderful battle."

Rou, who stopped her attacks to caress her blade, spoke about the origin of her weapon with great satisfaction.

Speaking of which, she has friends. Having friends who are Red Names would be a nightmare. Even without that, it was surprising that she had at least one friend who could fight named bosses on equal terms.

"The 'Seductive Rapier.' That's the name of this weapon. It has the effect of 'lowering the target's resistance to status ailments with each strike.'"

"Interesting."

It was indeed a powerful effect. Just lowering the resistance to poison, paralysis, and sleep would have a significant impact.

However, considering that this was a named weapon created by using a "Soul," the effect seemed a bit weak.

"Does it seem like it's not very effective on its own? Hehe, if you've killed a named boss, you should know. Defeating a named boss grants a rare skill. The skill I got from Vladia is called 'Viper's Droplet.' Its effect is 'to imbue the weapon with poison by consuming MP.' It's powerful on its own, but combined with the Seductive Rapier... you see?"

Rou wrapped her rapier in a purple aura, demonstrating the effect of the "Viper's Droplet" skill. This meant that the "Destruction" thrust she tried to use on me earlier did not have a poison attribute on its own.

It was a terrifying combination. The skill could be activated at will, the weapon's effect synergized perfectly with the skill, and the durability of the named equipment made weapon destruction unlikely. And the one wielding it was a Red Name player with higher stats than me.

My situation was dire, to the point where I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it.

"So, was it okay to reveal all that?"

"I'm somewhat famous, so there's no need to hide it anymore. Besides, this is only useful for toying with monsters and slaughtering mobs. It usually doesn't work on players like Sukuna, and mobs will die regardless of whether they know or not."

"You're confident... I guess that's because you have the skills to back it up."

Fighting this girl, I realized something. Her fighting style was meticulous, both good and bad, with a mix of calculated rationality and unexpected surprises. It wasn't easy, but attacks didn't come from impossible angles, and if I could see them, they weren't as hard to dodge as they looked.

However, the problem was that these attacks came from someone with very high stats. She had far higher physical stats than me, even with the boost from my Red Wolf Armor, which was already high for a human.

She was probably a higher-level player than Rin.

Even if her attacks were easy to dodge, enduring her attacks for a long time would be exhausting. Rushing in with the stat difference would likely result in her easily dodging my attacks. Even with the SP reduction from "Moon Azalea's Solo," it was a close call whether I could gain the upper hand.

I had to commit.

I had nothing to lose, and I should fight to the best of my ability.

"Hey, Rou."

"Hehe, what is it? You called me by my name for the first time."

"In exchange for revealing your secret, I'll show you mine."

"Really? I'm so happy."

Looking at Rou's delighted face, I felt a sigh coming on. I hadn't expected to use my trump card so early. But fortunately, I wasn't streaming right now. There was no better time to use it than now, as it would remain a trump card.

I didn't want to lose to her without using my full potential.

The key to activation was just one word. I declared it loudly.

"**Devour the Hunger, Fangs of the Wolf King**"

Instantly, a red aura enveloped my body. The rare skill "Fang of the Wolf King," received from the Red Wolf Aria, boosted my strength and agility to the maximum for up to five minutes, at the cost of my HP.

The exhilaration that enveloped my body clearly conveyed the change in my stats.

"So, this is Sukuna's trump card."

"Truly, it is."

"It's really beautiful. It makes my heart flutter."

Rou said this with a dreamy expression.

No more words were needed. Or rather, there was no time for words. We locked eyes, and the fight to the death began.