Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

"Aha-ha-ha! You're a slippery one, arentcha? No worries, I like a game of tag!" Dae-Mon laughed happily.

Still in disbelief, he watched as the pink-haired player killer lifted his machine-morphed arms as the engines of the chainsaws were still revving, producing a light layer of smoke around him, laughing all the same.

What kind of ability is this? Is it a spell? Turning your arms into chainsaws is just…He thought.

Before he could properly decipher what was going on, his attention shifted as he witnessed the target of Dae-Mon shift from himself to his hazel-haired companion who was still standing to the right, several meters away.

Just the same as he was, Sol was in shock from the unorthodox way that their opponent chose to attack–leaving him wide open as Dae-Mon rushed towards him, laughing like a child at a playground with the gravelly engines humming with malicious intent.

"Sol–!!!" He yelled out desperately.

Crap, I won't make it in time…! He realized.

As Dae-Mon laughed out, swinging his massive chainsaw arms downward towards the red bandana-wearing adolescent, the jagged saws were halted by a miraculous blockage using his silver spear as a stopgap.

"Aha-ha! You're pretty scared, aren't you? Aw, don't be afraid! I'll make it quick–let's pinky promise on that one!" Dae-Mon laughed jovially, pressing down harder against the spear held in Sol's shaky grip.

"Ngh…!" Sol struggled to hold him back.

It was clear that in the department of strength, Dae-Mon was the clear winner as Sol was being pushed back easily without the taller, pink-haired foe having to exude much effort in doing so.

"Aha-ha-ha! You're not much of a fighter, are you? I wonder how you lived this long! That's really impressive that a coward like you held out–good job!"

Dae-Mon's words were spoken so genuinely and with a cheerful voice, yet they were scalding for the young man on the receiving end, who could only grit his teeth as he desperately held back the dual chainsaws that actively sought to tear away at his flesh.

From the meeting of his silver spear and the revving chainsaws, sparks flew around them, continuing to leave Sol being pressed back as his grip on his lifeline of a weapon began to falter.

"Ngh–!!"

I'm…I can't–! Sol thought.

–Before such a result could occur, the red-haired assassin made his move, appearing behind Dae-Mon, who seemed to register his presence immediately as he pulled away from the clash with Sol, facing him swiftly.

"--You want to play some more, too?!" Dae-Mon grinned wide.

He didn't respond, pushing towards the pink-haired fiend with his daggers gripped tightly, making sure the abnormal man had his full focus on himself.

Sage Period! He activated through intent.

Just as Dae-Mon laughed in excitement, raising one of his revving, malicious arms to go for an attack–he disappeared from the pink-haired man's perception.

"Huh–?" Dae-Mon let out confusedly.

[Blink Step]

Using the uninterrupted bloodlust displayed by Dae-Mon, who thought about killing and nothing else, he used that tunnel-vision to take the player killer by surprise, flipping his daggers between his fingers before gripping the handles tightly.

Twilight Cutter! He thought.

Manifesting the visceral, violet energy from his daggers, he swiped them downward, unleashing a potent, extending slash that cut into the debris around them–as well as cutting straight through Dae-Mon's arms.

The unseen strike sliced the man's arms off, separating them from the shoulder as he made sure to get rid of those lethal weapons he had in place of limbs.

–Got it! He thought.

From the brutal amputation, Dae-Mon's expression contorted in agony as he tightened his featured before–he grinned:

"Just kidding~"

"Huh–?"

Before the chainsaw-morphed limbs could even reach the ground, black tendrils stretched out from Dae-Mon's abhorrent wounds, reconnecting his parted limbs as they reattached seamlessly in an instant.

With such an unexpected turn, he was caught off-guard as Dae-Mon continued immediately into his own counterattack, dashing forward with blinding agility as he attempted slamming both of his chainsaw limbs at him from either side.

"Ghh–!"

He managed to block each of the jagged weapons with his daggers, but the unorthodox position he was in made it difficult to maintain his strength against Dae-Mon's superior physicality.

"Aha-ha-ha! I've got you now, nimble one!" Dae-Mon smiled cheerfully.

"Get away—!"

–Coming to his rescue, though he yelled out as if even more scared than the one caught in the assault, Sol yelled out frantically as he came from behind Dae-Mon with his silver spear in hand.

"Sol?!" He let out in surprise.

Sol didn't respond, instead attempting to thrust his sharp-pointed weapon through the back of the pink-haired fiend, only for Dae-Mon to use an acrobatic maneuver to spin to the side, avoiding it with an unseen flexibility.

"Uhh—!" Sol let out.

After missing his target, Sol's spear was now heading straight for his red-haired friend, who luckily managed to evade its end with a sidestep himself.

"Careful…!" He reprimanded his friend.

"Sorry!" Sol apologized quickly.

Before they could exchange any further words, the chainsaw-armed menace was already back on the assault, rushing towards them with his carefree laugh echoing throughout the shattered halls.

"This guy is a problem, Jeong-Hui–!" Sol said while running alongside him.

They were being chased now by the maniacal player killer, who seemed to enjoy it as if it were truly a life-or-death game of tag.

"You're telling me! I'm just about out of spirit–!" He replied.

"You are…? Oh crap…this is worse than I thought!" Sol whined out, almost crying at the sounds of the chainsaws revving up with greater intensity from behind.

Though as they ran down the halls, finding the end of the corridor reaching closer, he looked to his companion, "--I've got a plan. Just follow my lead."

Sol gulped, nodding quietly as they sprinted with all of their might while being hunted by the dual chainsaw maniac, who laughed and skipped down the corridors after them.

"Coming for you, coming for you, I'm coming for you~!" Dae-Mon sang happily.

–Suddenly, he spun around in a seamless movement, breaking off in a dash that converted into a [Blink Step] as he launched directly towards the pink-haired lunatic.

"Ah–?" Dae-Mon smiled in surprise.

It was his best shot in getting around those visceral weapons the man wielded as his arms–using a burst of unexpected speed to turnover the assault.

But, Dae-Mon accepted this challenge with a grin that could only be described as "shit-eating" by the red-haired assassin dashing towards him.

The chainsaw arms that the pink-haired adolescent wielded suddenly morphed, releasing into lively strands of pure-black flesh that reformed itself into a different shape in an instant–clang.

A set of chains now took the place of Dae-Mon's arms, pulling rearing back and swung around the approaching assassin from all angles.

He morphed his arms again–? Is it some sort of unique ability, then?! He questioned.

It wasn't until one of the edges was close to him that he realized the black chains weren't just ropes of metal utilized to whip him, but instead wielded sickles at their ends.

"Gh–!"

One of the curved, cruel sickles stabbed into his back, sinking into his flesh with a sudden burst of pain as he could see Dae-Mon sneering in utter delight, but he pressed on.

[Health: -300 | 2450/3250]

It seemed his willingness to push forward took the jovial player killer by surprise as he managed to bring himself within the man's personal space, not wasting any time to stab his left dagger straight into his abdomen.

"Oh–!" Dae-Mon let out, more surprised than in pain from being stabbed.

Next, with his right-held weapon, he attempted to cut the cheerful man's throat, but Dae-Mon laughed as he leaned back, bending back to an unnatural degree to evade the blade's edge.

Just as he missed, his instincts fired off as he looked around in the augmented time perceived by his heightened reflexes–realizing he walked right into a trap laid by the crazed man.

Huh–? Did he expect this? He questioned.

It was surprising, and terrifying that the jovial figure actually was of a sound mind, at least in the department of fighting as he looked around to find the chains closing in on him, wielding at such an angle that a half-dozen sickles were now aimed towards his body.

Coming to his reprieve at the last moment, the familiar spear of silver material came swooping in on its own, bouncing multiple times in the air to deflect the hostile chain-sickles from reaching his body.

Nice save, Sol! He thought, glancing back to see the spear return to the hazel-haired man's grasp.

"Oh–!!! That was so cool!" Dae-Mon smiled.

He didn't have any words or mercy for the pink-haired man, using the very moment he spoke jovially to step forward, swiftly swiping his dagger across his neck the second he was standing straight again.

"Ghh–!"

It took a moment for the slice to appear, but once it did, Dae-Mon's throat was split open; the cut itself was launched so viscerally that it was half way to beheading the bright, cheery killer.

The pink-haired adolescent gargled on his own black blood as it poured from his mouth, beginning to stumble back as the frizzy-haired assassin watched, swiping the fresh blood from his dagger.

And once again, just as Dae-Mon was stumbling back, on one foot as he moved his arms for balance–he grinned with blood-stained teeth:

"...Just kidding~! Gotcha again!"