I like crossing the most

Chapter 590: Being strong in the game is the real strength

(The chapter name is wrong, it should be chapter 589)
"what happened?"

"This match must be a fake match!"

"Fuck it, give me your money back!"

The audience in the arena shouted loudly, and some radical audience members even took out sundries from the prop column and threw them at Kirito in the arena.

"That guy must have done something to Miss Asuna!"

"Maybe it was coercion!"

"Yes, that must be the case!"

It was obvious that these people were the audience who bet on Asuna and thought she would win, and now that Asuna lost, they naturally couldn't accept it.

No wonder the audience was outraged.

The fight between the two was really inexplicable. The fight was obviously becoming intense, but Asuna suddenly admitted defeat when she was suppressing Kirito. It was as if the plot was about to reach its climax but it suddenly stopped, telling you that it was over. What's even worse is that the protagonist was about to kill the BOSS, but you were told that the protagonist admitted defeat and surrendered. Who can stand this?
But in fact, these are just the shouting of outsiders. Insiders can see at a glance that Asuna’s situation is hopeless. She has no time and no way to gather her own momentum again. She has no choice but to admit defeat gracefully to avoid embarrassment.

Sato Kazuma also knew this.

But it doesn’t matter if other people don’t know, as long as there are people who know.

He decisively went to the judges' seat, ignored Aqua who was excited and wanted to say that it had nothing to do with the battle, and came to Diabel who was proficient in the game, and asked him to comment on the battle just now.

Diabel did not refuse, after all, this was his job.

"To put it simply, Miss Asuna no longer has the energy to attack.

The audience may have just seen that Miss Asuna used many kinds of gorgeous sword skills, but all of them were blocked by Mr. Kirito.

We should also be thankful that there are no endurance or stamina bars in SAO, otherwise Miss Asuna would not have been able to hold on for so long.

Of course, I'm not saying that Miss Asuna isn't strong. On the contrary, she is much stronger than me... and the vast majority of players. But unfortunately, Mr. Kirito, who easily blocked the dazzlingly fast rapier skills, is even stronger. That's all."

His review was fair.

Diabel has a good reputation. Although he has the blemish of being a secret first-level closed beta tester, what he has done in the past year or so has made everyone trust him again, and what he says is more easily accepted by the audience.

This is also the reason why Sato Kazuma asked him to come.

Diabel continued to comment: "In fact, these are all very common. I predicted that Miss Yasuna would lose long before the duel between the two of them, but she still showed a side that surprised me."

"Oh, what aspect is that?" Sato Kazuma cleverly gave an excuse.

Diabel gave him an approving look and said, "——Original sword technique."

There is such a thing as original sword skills in SAO.

The way to distinguish between masters and top masters is to see how strong the player's original sword skills are, such as Asuna's Stardust Tears, Kirito's Seven Deadly Sins... and so on. These top players who stand above the masters all have their own unique moves, instead of relying solely on the system's sword skills.

In addition, original sword skills are not something that can be created casually.

First, it must pass the system's judgment and be deemed qualified to become a sword skill. Only then will the system increase the power of the sword skill based on its own proficiency.

Then see if it matches itself.

Taking Asuna's Stardust Tears as an example, it is obviously just a five-hit combo of a rapier skill, which is not as good as Stardust Splash, an eight-hit piercing-type advanced sword skill. So why does Asuna still use this move as her killer move?
The reason is simple.

Asuna's Stardust Tears are stronger, causing more damage, faster speed, and more tricky moves that are difficult to resist, which is why they are recognized by the system.

Although the conditions for use are somewhat troublesome and demanding, it allows Kirito, who is almost the best in Aincrad in terms of equipment and level, to lose almost half of his health after dodging two swords. The effect can be imagined.

"So, fellow SAO players, if you want to become stronger, please study the system more and develop your own sword skills."

Diabel encouraged the players present.

There were enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, some expressing approval for Diabel's unabashed speech, and some expressing appreciation for Asuna and Kirito for presenting a wonderful duel for the audience.

"Okay, thank you for the explanation, President Diabel. Although he doesn't have his own original sword skills yet, his knowledge is so much that it's speechless."

Sato Kazuma dissed Diabel as usual, making the other party angry and amused, and then returned to the arena again.

"Dear audience members, I believe you have figured out the situation. Let's cheer for them again, okay?"

"Oh oh oh————!"
The audience also cooperated with him quite well.

Sato Kazuma pressed his hands down, signaling that the restless atmosphere should be calmed down.

"Alright, alright, I've received your enthusiasm, let's move on to the next round!"

A huge blue light screen appeared, and the names of six people kept scrolling.

Soon, the name slowly stopped.

——Alice VS Kureya

What are you doing? Ouch~
I didn't expect it to be these two people. Isn't this still a civil war? You said there are only outsiders and the rest are civil wars? Then it's okay.

“Alice and Claire…”

Sato Kazuma didn't expect that the two would meet in the quarterfinals.

But there was no way, the rules were the rules, and he couldn't cheat in front of everyone. He could only wait for the two people to arrive in the arena.

Alice and Claire walked out from the left and right exits respectively, and walked onto the arena amid the cheers of the audience.

"Hey, you two..."

"Kureya, please don't show mercy."

Alice predicted what Sato Kazuma was going to say, and then she gave her own thoughts.

"I will, Princess."

Kureya nodded seriously.

The next second, he started panting like a pervert.

"Fighting with Her Highness Alice, and in front of so many people... That's awesome!"

Why do you act like you're witnessing a wedding?
Sato Kazuma was speechless.

At first, he wanted the two to hold back a little, but suddenly he remembered that this was a game, and in the half-loss win-lose mode there was no chance of death, so he just let the two of them go.

Kobayashi on the stage was also speechless.

Alice and Kureya are both teachers and friends. I thought we wouldn't meet before the semi-finals, but I didn't expect to meet them in the quarter-finals.

Then he suddenly realized something.

Kirito and Asuna can be considered as both teacher and friend. After all, Asuna's dueling style was taught by Kirito, so could Alice and Claire be the same... No, no, no, Heathcliff doesn't know their true relationship, so how could he arrange such a coincidence.

In the arena, Alice and Claire stared at each other.

At first, Kobayashi wanted Alice to use the rapier style because Alice had the advantage of being small and agile, but Alice chose the one-handed sword because that was what she was best at.

Although it was a one-handed sword, he held the hilt with both hands, his feet were in a half-bow stance, the sword was placed horizontally in front of his chest, and his body was slightly leaning forward.

Alice and Claire's postures were exactly the same.

3, 2, 1——

Start!

The light curtain disappeared, and the two men stepped on the ground and ran towards each other at the same time, and then arrived at the center point at the same time. The two swords collided with each other, and after a brief vacuum, they collided with each other at a high speed, making a chaotic clanging sound.

"So, so strong!"

The strength of these two people is different from that of Asuna and Kirito.

Asuna used her sword skills to the fullest, using the agility inherent in the game to perform actions that were inconsistent with her ability. Coupled with her gorgeous sword skills and extremely high damage, Kirito almost lost.

The strength of Alice and Kureya is simple and unpretentious.

It seems like nothing, but it gives people a very strong feeling, an indescribable sense of weirdness.

"Those two guys are very strong."

As Kirito stared at Alice and Claire, a familiar female voice came from behind him. Turning his head, he saw red and white armor and long, smooth brown hair.

"Asuna."

"I hope you win the game... although I'm the winner."

"Feel sorry."

"Don't say sorry, I asked you to use all your strength."

"But I have to say, Asuna, you have become stronger. Unlike when you were just learning how to duel on the fifth floor, you can now combine sword skills and techniques very well, and even have original skills."

"But I still lost to you in the end."

Asuna pouted, but for some reason a smile appeared on her face involuntarily, and her ears felt slightly hot.

"Ahem, let's not talk about that. Did you see the two of them?"

"Ah, very strong, terrifyingly strong."

Kirito looked back at the arena, his expression becoming extremely serious.

“Is that so?” Asuna said as she watched the plain duel between the two. “I can understand that they are strong, but to be honest, I don’t understand why they are strong. This feeling is really weird.”

"Of course, because these two are different from us. They are also very strong in reality."

Kirito revealed the answer to the riddle.

That’s right, this is the fundamental reason, and it’s also the reason why Asuna and the others know that they are strong, but still feel something is weird about them.

"You know, games are different from reality. Many actions in games can't be done in reality. For example, the rapier skill you just used, Asuna, is an advanced sword skill of eight consecutive strikes. No one can use eight consecutive strikes in a split second in reality, but it's easy in the game. But Cailis and Claire...the moves they used can be completely replicated in reality."

"Doesn't that mean...!"

"Yes, this means that the two of them are just as powerful in reality!"

Kirito's body trembled slightly.

Nervous? Fearful? Excited?
he does not know.

The relative Kirito was staying with ran a dojo, so he had some knowledge of swordsmanship—to the extent that he gave up after two years of study. That was why he was able to quickly become stronger in Aincrad, and he also understood what this strange feeling was.

Although some people say "No matter how powerful you are in the game, it is fake, and only being strong in reality is truly strong", but unfortunately, the situation is completely the opposite now, and being strong in the game is what determines life and death.

Kirito couldn't wait to duel with one of them.

In the arena.

Alice and Claire are still fighting.

Although she doesn't have Asuna's lightning-fast and colorful sword skills, the essence of swordsmanship condensed over hundreds of years in the kingdom is enough to shock the audience and immerse them in the battle between the two for a long time.

Soon the battle between the two entered a white-hot stage.

Alice kept looking for Kureya's flaws, trying to sneak in and force Kureya's health down to less than half.

However, all her knowledge was taught by Kureya, whether it was the battle ideas or sword skills, all were mastered by Kureya.

"Your Highness Alice, if this were real, you could definitely use your super strong physique to forcefully defeat me, but unfortunately this is a game. Whether it's level or equipment, when the values ​​are almost equal, you can't defeat me with just skills."

Kureya was right.

If she could use her real body, no one present would be a match for Alice - Kobayashi might be included.

"But Kureya, you can't be so sure."

"Ok?"

"Have you forgotten that I am not just accepting your training?"

"what?!"

Kureya's eyes widened.

The left hand was placed on the sword, the right hand gently stroked the hilt, at the same time the left foot and the right foot were half a step apart, his eyes were as sharp as someone's shadow.

The female guard suddenly turned around and looked at Kobayashi on the platform.

Oh, it turns out to be this.

But in the game, is this move useful?
Xiaolin was also very curious.

Claire said, "It's useless, Your Highness Alice. I've learned your trick before, but it's about using your body to focus all your strength and then releasing it. It's definitely possible in real life, but it's completely useless in the game."

Alice said like a little devil: "Could it be that Kureya forgot that Miss Asuna just used a skill that was not a system skill?"

"Could it be that--"

It's an original sword technique!

Claire's heart wavered, and the sword trembled slightly, causing it to tilt slightly.

flaw!

Alice seized the opportunity and used the sonic speed of her one-handed sword to quickly close the distance, then used three consecutive attacks of her sharp claws to forcibly deflect Kureya's sword, leaving her wide open.

"Ruined!"

Only then did Kureya realize that she had been fooled.

But it was too late. Alice turned around and used the faster Kingdom Sword Technique to spin, combined with the one-handed sword Snake Bite and horizontal four-way slash. In an instant, eight swords fell on Kureya's body, reducing her health to less than half in an instant.

You Win!

At the same time, a light screen appeared above Alice's head, indicating that she had won.

"How, how could it be... Princess Alice, Princess Alice is actually... actually so cunning... Great! As expected of Princess Alice, I really like you more and more!"

Claire rushed towards Alice with a red face.

This female guard is completely hopeless.

Sato Kazuma pushed her off the stage in disgust, and then congratulated Alice for winning the duel with her own little trick.

After the game.

In the match between Rinko and Agil, Rinko won with ease.

Although Agil lost the duel, he was already satisfied with being able to make it to the quarterfinals. Just as Sato Kazuma said, a lot of luck was involved in his journey to the competition.

Darkness competed with Smailu, and the winner was Smailu.

It’s not that Smaillu has superb marksmanship, nor does he have any powerful equipment and skills, nor does he use any tricks.

It was purely Darkness's own fault.

She forgot that her defense was not as strong as it was in reality. She kept provoking Smailu with words, which caused her carelessness and caused the durability of her shield to be exhausted and destroyed. In a counterattack, her health points dropped to less than half and she was defeated regretfully.

No one expected this game to be so dramatic.

So the top four were announced.

Kirito, Alice, Rinko, and Smail.

(End of this chapter)