Evening Game
Chapter 38

Chione kneeled down and hid herself beneath the seats, while Ethan moved forward, approaching the green field. Ethan looked around, searching for Kennard, knowing well that this must be an ambush of sorts. He examined Fiona’s gear, her dark green cloak covering her head. She wore a set of dark green clothing and shorts, visible from the opening on the center, with black tights extending from her feet. Black boots complemented her look, covering her feet.

Based on the colors alone, Ethan predicted that she wore something with assault-boosting stats. It couldn’t be the main stat, however, as the color didn’t seem to change. It stood out in the brightly lit, green field. Visually, it looked rather simple and thin, meaning an agility build.

However, he couldn’t tell its level and stats as the cloak helped hide most of the things she wore. He, meanwhile, wore something opposite to her. While they both currently wore agility armor, Ethan wore a simple red shirt and red shorts that replaced the previous skirts. Above that he only had his body armor, exposing everything he wore to Fiona.

She must have noticed this, as she pulled her sword out, pointing it straight toward him. The body armor he currently wore resembled more modern body armor. While these kinds of armor could stop bullets and reduce their impact, they couldn’t do much against swords, especially energy swords. He basically wore the wrong type of defense into this match.

Ethan couldn’t replace any other armor with the same or higher level as the one he wore now, either. Even if he did, his best defense was his agility. He was used to it, his main concern coming from the fact that he was facing Fiona, another agility player.

“Is it a duel?”

He asked as he jumped past the fence and into the field. He checked the map, looking at the time. The sun shone through the opened roof above them, shining both of them in its warm gaze.

“No.”

She answered calmly.

Kennard is still alive.

He glanced around, but he failed to replace him. Like Chione, he probably hid somewhere deep in this jungle of chairs, all looking at those who stood in the center. There were no other players as well, making him wonder if their two teams were truly the last standing.

“Shall we begin our dance?”

Fiona asked, her lips curled up into a smile.

Just like the last event.

When he both faced each other head-on like this.

“Bring it on.”

•••

Chione watched as the two siblings went at each other, brandishing their swords and swapping blows. Two blades struck, letting out loud metallic screams as they hit each other.

Chione found it weird how despite looking entirely different from metal swords, they had similar properties, or similar sounds, at least.

It looked like a dance, a waltz, as the two both gained and lost momentum, moving both forward and backward, left and right, attacking and defending. Their movements were fast, fast enough to make them look blurry in her eyes, making her struggle to keep up. Strike answered with strike, each strike producing a sound that echoed throughout the empty stadium.

The stadium remained empty, making it seem that she was the only spectator to this duel. She questioned if they were truly the last two teams standing. She continued her search for Kennard, most likely hidden in between the row of seats.

She couldn’t replace him, however, and she assumed that he wore some kind of assault build. He didn’t look to be participating in the battle located within the stadium’s center, either.

Unable to replace Kennard, she tried aiming her sniper rifle straight at their dance, her scope on Fiona’s head. Chione put her index finger on the trigger, her gun ready to fire. She tried keeping her crosshair on Fiona, but their movements were too rapid for her to keep a clear shot.

Had she shot now, her slow-moving bullet would surely either miss or hit Ethan, and their movements were hectic enough that she couldn’t predict where they would be next, as if a dance for just the two of them.

Realizing she couldn’t help at the moment, she brought her attention toward the row of seats surrounding them, once again back in her quest to replace Fiona’s ally that hid somewhere in there.

The sword song sung by Ethan and his sister constantly called her attention, asking her to come and watch. They slice, cut, and stab, painting wide arcs in front of each other, constantly throwing the other on edge. It was a mesmerizing performance, showing her how two high-level players fought.

Their feet move across the grass surface in a constant tempo, as if singing to a musical note. The game didn’t simulate fatigue, not in the same way as the real world, allowing them to continue their attacks, without a moment of rest.

By default, the in-game voice communication allowed the players to hear every single thing their partner said, even when communicating with someone else, yet she didn’t hear him utter a single word. She couldn’t see from this far, but it didn’t look like either of them had said a word yet, the two engrossed in their little bubble.

She thought of asking him to perform those moves sometime, but she reminded herself that they were here to fight. No matter how beautiful their fight was, the intent stayed the same, to slay their enemy and send them back to the starting point.

As she watched, she knew that Ethan’s mind focused on survival.

“Chione! Your left!”

She heard his yell, screaming at the top of his lungs. Chione ducked, a bullet passed her head, hitting the chair behind her. She brought her eyes toward where she predicted the bullet came from.

She lifted her sniper and aimed. She saw a shadow moving left and adjusted her aim. It took her less than three seconds to fire a bullet, sending a single round straight into the air. It went through a gap between the orange plastic chair, drilling into the concrete.

It didn’t hit anything, and the shadow continued moving left from its previous position near the southern gate. Below her, meanwhile, the two continued their duel. Chione knew that if she wanted any chance of winning this game, she needed to take out Kennard. She trusted Ethan to handle Fiona and got up, her eyes predicting Kennard’s current position.

Based on his attack, she predicted that like her, Kennard probably carried a bolt action sniper rifle with him. She couldn’t predict what other equipment he used, so she needed to remain on guard.

She looked at the east gate, where Kennard was previously moving toward, and started running.

•••

He dashed toward her, his feet moving at breakneck feet as he traveled toward the center of the field. He pulled his sword above his head and brought it down toward his sister. Fiona pulled hers in a sideward motion, tilting it slightly and letting the flat part of the blade take the brunt of his attack. The two swords let out a metallic-sounding scream as Ethan hammered down on her, despite its blade not being made out of metal. His attacks didn’t do much, her posture remained strong as she stood her ground.

They resumed their dance, unbothered by the bullets flying over their heads. One attack was blocked by the other, another strike deflected to the side. A repeated motion of striking forward and pulling back, balancing both attacking and defending. Fiona hadn’t shown him any opening, her pose as composed as ever.

He then saw from the corner of his eye, around the southeastern section of the stadium, the reflection of a bullet moving toward in the air, Chione moving straight toward it. He noticed that she had been moving left all while dodging Kennard’s attack, but this time, she wasn’t as lucky. The bullet hit her in her left hand, throwing her back.

“Chione!”

He yelled in concern, but a blade came down on his face, forcing him to bring his attention back toward Fiona. She let out a mocking smile as she pushed her sword down toward him.

She moved her entire body weight to her sword, locking herself in a stalemate with Ethan. She even turned the sword’s blade so its flat area faced him, and used her left hand to push it further down.

He struggled to keep his sword in front of him, his mind searching for a way to rapidly change the situation. He had been caught off guard, his body now in a disadvantageous position, Fiona’s sword locking his in place and preventing him from moving it. Her sword felt heavy, the strength behind her push indescribable.

“How are-”

With Fiona’s body right above him, he could see the parts of her clothes hidden underneath her cloak. Through the opening running vertically on the center of his body, he saw thin lines stretching from and to her limbs, a wide network of cables spreading underneath. It was only then he realized that what she wore wasn’t an agility/assault armor. It also explained why despite being colored green, it felt like she stood out so much on the field.

The armor she truly wore, was in fact, a combination of agility and strength.

“Oh, I didn’t say that this was a duel, did I?”

He widened his eyes at her words, and turned them toward the spectator’s seat, toward the southeastern corner where he previously saw Kennard’s bullet fly from. Fiona used the distraction to further corner him, pushing him down onto the grass.

From one of the gaps in seating, he saw a momentary flash, coupled with something heading toward his head. He wriggled his body in an attempt to escape, but Fiona used her own body to keep him in place.

The bullet pierced into his head, immediately reducing his health to just nine percent.

“Yer done for!”

Ethan wanted to scream, but a second bullet ended him before he could.