Story by: Rhenhwa.
Virtual God's Online
Chapter 10: Second Fall
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, organizations, and settings depicted are entirely fictional and created for storytelling purposes.
***
"Not that I'm underestimating you or anything, but this was the closest star… so I dropped here first."
Alcor spoke calmly, trying to keep composed, though the fluster on his face said otherwise.
He glanced at the broken sword in his hand. The tip was gone, shattered—leaving behind a weapon that had lost its edge.
'Lute said it wouldn't last long… but still, I didn't expect it to break now.'
His eyes shifted back to the Verdiant deity before him.
'That was Force… even with my own layered over, my attacks just bounced off. How troublesome.'
He came to that conclusion quickly.
After all, who said simulated deities ranked lower couldn't be stronger than original rank deities?
Certainly not Akasha. She was living proof of that contradiction.
As he thought that—
The shadow tilted her head slightly, a look of mild confusion forming.
["How odd. What manner of deity are you…? No, beyond that…"]
["You came from above, didn't you? That shouldn't be possible."]
Narberal's head remained tilted, her greenish-yellow eyes shifting toward the horizon.
A beat passed.
["I see… You brought down the Desert Star."]
["Most deities abide by the system's rules. Even most deities in games like this tend to… enjoy themselves while following the rules. No one has tried such a thing before."]
["Not because they can't… but because they didn't see the point. I'll give you credit for that, Blackstar."]
Alcor didn't know the exact workings of the simulated deities, but one thing was clear:
These shadows weren't just simulations.
They were more like virtual avatars—projected copies of the real deity. Just like how virtual descent worked.
And perhaps…
Controlled directly by the original themselves.
No, if they were indeed avatars of the original deities, then he was one hundred percent sure that was the case.
["You… What are you thinking? Regardless, I'd advise you not to try bringing this star down."]
Narberal raised her arm and extended her hand forward.
"…!"
CRACK—!
Vines burst from the ground again—long, whip-like, and faster than before.
Now, with no weapon in hand—
"Hn…"
Alcor reinforced his limbs with Force, weaving through the attacks and intercepting the ones he couldn't dodge.
Getting entangled even once would spell trouble.
SHCK—!
["Heh."]
Narberal let out a smirk.
A small, thorny spike zipped by which was barely noticeable, until it made a gash on his cheek as it passed.
With that, a red shimmer of corrupted particles scattered across the air released from the part of his cheek the gash had appeared.
"Huh…?"
It wasn't the entropy status that caught his attention. It was the fact that it landed.
She had pierced through his defenses.
'How…'
He leapt back, gaining distance midair, using compressed Force to form platforms beneath his feet.
Still, he wasn't safe, he knew that not even in the sky was he safe, as from what he'd observed, she could attack from anywhere.
Regardless if he was in the ground or sky.
Then—
["That's what I should be asking."]
Narberal's shadow narrowed her gaze, a low mutter slipping out.
["Why aren't you dead?"]
["Just what manner of deity are you…?"]
It was just then,
"Hey, you talk too much."
Alcor interrupted, doing mid-air stretches, his hands raised high as he tilted his body to the sides.
"We are in the middle of a fight, no…?"
He dropped his arms, eyes closed, saying that nonchalantly, and then as he did.
—Here I come.
ZYUN-!
Alcor vanished.
["Hmgh."]
Narberal's eyes twitched, her computation unit pinged a warning. A rear attack was most probable.
She quickly adjusted her left arm behind in response, however,
THUD–!
["Front?"]
A low thud resounded in front of her instead, something hitting against her force.
Yes. Rather than ambushing from the back, which was a pretty much expected move.
Rather, he attacked from front.
And slowly, he threw his fists toward her; however, perhaps Alcor had thought better of it.
BAM–! BAM–!
BAM–! BAM–!
Narberal was suddenly attacked from four sides, which were blocked by her force and ultimately repelled.
["Stop scurrying around."]
SHAAA—!
WHOOSH!
She swept her hand through the air, and from a full 360-degree range, a violent gust of wind exploded outward—
Blowing everything within a 20-tekel radius into chaos.
["I didn't feel any hit connect."]
Narberal muttered, flexing her fingers, opening and closing her fists, but that's when she noticed it…
["Up?"]
Alcor had already descended, his right hand coated in a black force, then in a slashing motion, cut down her force.
["Ehhh?"]
It came as a shock, as she tried to extend her left arm towards him, however—
SMACK—!
Rescinding the force on his right arm, he used that one instead to swat her outstretched arm away.
Then, transferring the energy to his left, Alcor formed his hand into a sword-like shape and swung horizontally.
SCHLUCK–!
["N-no way… you…"]
She staggered back slightly, clutching her stomach, where a thin red line had appeared, tracing from right to left.
"If you hadn't released that wide-ranged attack, then I wouldn't have had the chance."
It was back when he disappeared and reappeared to strike. That was an avatar.
A decoy.
Creating an avatar was standard practice, but typically only used when descending into lower worlds.
Or so they thought.
It wasn't that avatars lacked utility, but in a head-on battle against a deity of higher standing, they were often seen as a waste.
Still, when used tactically, their value was unquestionable.
"Thank you for the fight. I still have a long way to go, don't I?"
Narberal stared, wide-eyed and silent. That wasn't something she expected to hear from him.
He was undeniably weaker than his true self, but powerful for his current level.
After studying him carefully, she parted her lips.
["I see now… No wonder it failed. You're that person's… Ahh, what a troublesome thing I have come to know."]
So that's why her ability failed.
Forget Transcendants.
When it came to Ageha, the wielder of the Authority of Perfection, her powers made a mockery of Narberal's abilities.
And Alcor… bore a similar nature.
Their Authorities resonated in parallel, if not in type, then in effect.
This shouldn't come as a surprise how she knew.
Every virtual deity possesses, for lack of a better term, a means of observation by which they can comprehend much.
It is like asking the world a question, and the world replies with an answer; it then depends on the power of their observational authority.
Quite similar to clairvoyance or all of creation.
But rather, theirs is in the form of asking the world, or rather, Akasha, which can be said to be the world.
["But… I've learned something too."]
Watching how he adapted throughout the battle gave her something as well.
She was satisfied with this battle too.
["Hurry up and finish this game. Grow stronger. Then, come find me again."]
She would definitely get an earful from the others in her rank, but that was fine.
"Got it. If that's what you want."
Narberal smiled before exiting the simulation, leaving behind a golden orb that drifted toward Alcor.
He caught it.
"Three more to go."
He looked up toward the next star.
●『Channel2: Live Feed』
— [Bwahahahaha! She lost! Narberal lost! Bwahahahaha!]
— [There's only one person that can make a mockery of Narberal like that…]
— [Blonde-chaos, huh?]
— [Guess Narberal was too confident that he couldn't have outmaneuvered her like that. In the first place, not too many deities use avatars. They only use them for distractions at best..]
— [Eeeh? It's not as easy as you make it sound.]
— [Be that as it may. At the very least, we know Blackstar is not all that.]
— [Hahahaha, an Eathern-ranked deity who has the power of a Medio-class deity. I'm sure I don't need to explain the difference between ranked and class, eh?]
— [Guys! Let's talk about Narberal, XD]
— [You're the only one who takes pleasure in doing that.]