Black Online-Chapter 209: Acceptance

’Father is slow but skillful, which is why I’ll use transparent chainmail armor for increased speed.’

Fang Raon thought.

He put his shield away, as that would also hinder his speed, and therefore, he only wielded the King’s Shortsword.

"You will fall today... Father!"

Fang Raon gritted his teeth and sprang forward like a coil, running like the wind towards his father.

’He is going after Father? Has he lost his goddamn mind?’

Meanwhile, Rizzen had disappeared as his personality had returned back to Raizen, and he couldn’t believe his eyes seeing Raon go after Aizen.

While barely paying any attention to Della, he was still able to block all of her attacks and even pushed her back a few steps.

"...Idiotic son."

Aizen stood up, and he pulled out his thin-bladed sword from his cane and clashed swords with his son.

The sparks flew in every direction.

"Maxima!"

He swung the sword, and Fang Raon got pushed back, his feet sliding across the stone tiles of the temple.

’That’s insane...’

Fang Raon thought with a frown.

It was obvious that Aizen didn’t have the physique to physically overpower someone younger like Fang Raon.

Yet.

Whenever they clashed with swords, Fang Raon was always pushed back by the sudden strange boost of strength.

’That’s Maxima... I don’t really know what that is, but if that technique is this strong... I must learn it for the future!’

In that moment, Aizen slid his sandals across the ground, and with two hands on the sword’s hilt, he swung the sword.

Fang Raon blocked the first strike. Aizen shifted and struck with more force. His son’s blade shuddered under the impact.

"I’ll cut your cheek now."

Aizen said coldly, and the thin blade grazed across Fang Raon’s cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

Even though Fang Raon knew that it was coming, there was nothing that he was able to do to stop it.

"Basic Slash!"

Fang Raon quickly swung the sword at him, but Aizen ducked slightly, and the blade narrowly went over his head.

"Read..."

Aizen whispered, and then he thrust the blade into Fang Raon’s waist, pushing it straight through until it came out the other side, splattering blood everywhere.

"Argh!"

Fang Raon coughed blood.

"If this was real life, you would already be dead."

Aizen said coldly.

In that moment, Fang Raon looked his father directly in the eye and saw nothing but apathy and boredom.

’...Arrogance.’

He thought, and at that moment, with his left hand, he grabbed the sword’s blade that was stuck inside his body.

"Argh!"

And then, Fang Raon pulled his head back and went for the headbutt, but Aizen anticipated it, and he let go of the sword.

He stepped back, and the headbutt couldn’t reach him.

"As long as I have Read, you cannot hit me. Your attacks are futile."

Aizen said.

With a scoff, Fang Raon pulled out the thin blade from his body and tossed it away from Aizen’s reach.

"Heal!"

At that moment, Elena healed his bleeding wound.

She also looked like she was struggling to cast any more spells, as she was only level 2 because she rarely played and never really tried to level up.

"And for a moment I thought that you planned to fight me one-versus-one, but just like I thought, you always need help."

Aizen said coldly.

In his tone, there was clear disappointment and disdain.

"...Elena, stay away from this."

Fang Raon said.

"B-But..."

Elena frowned as she didn’t think that was a good idea, as it was obvious that he was outmatched, and the only way he could win was with her help.

"Pick up the sword, Father."

Fang Raon said coldly.

’Foolish son.’

Aizen smirked, and he walked towards his thin-bladed sword and picked it up from the ground.

"Hah, Aurel’s Blade Dance!"

Fang Raon twirled like a ballerina, and his sword strikes came from odd and strange angles, but Aizen parried each one with ease.

He tried bending his body and attacking from those odd angles, but nothing seemed to be able to penetrate Aizen’s defenses.

"Throwing Sword!"

He then hurled his sword, and Aizen just smacked it out of the air.

"Never throw your sword away, dumbass!"

Aizen screamed angrily as if he felt genuinely insulted at this point that his son did something so idiotic.

"This is not real life, Father!"

Fang Raon screamed, and at that moment, with the help of the Return Weapon Ring, the sword came back to his hand.

He swung the sword immediately, going for Aizen’s throat, but he stepped away just in time to avoid the fatal blow.

Fang Raon shifted into a reverse grip and swung the sword around to try and catch Aizen off guard. The shoulder barely rotated, and the swing was all about the elbow.

Yet.

It wasn’t Aizen’s first time fighting against a user of a reverse grip, and with apathy, he just blocked it all.

"I barely use the skills of the game. So they work with the help of the activation words, correct? Let me try one...

"Heart Stab!"

Aizen jabbed the thin-bladed sword towards Fang Raon’s chest, and it was one of the quickest skills he’d seen.

However.

It wasn’t the fastest because he remembered facing Lock Manchester, and he was much faster than his father.

"Dodge Roll!"

Fang Raon rolled out of the way, and while being in the middle of rolling, he swung the sword blindly.

He didn’t expect it to hit anyone, but it actually grazed Aizen’s waist, leaving a thin cut on his side.

"..."

Aizen dropped his gaze to his bleeding waist, and even though it barely bled, it was still immensely humiliating.

’A lucky hit...’

Fang Raon thought as he stood back up, and he wasn’t being gleeful about finally landing a hit on his father.

’He has been talking something about Read... That seems to help him anticipate my moves... But he couldn’t dodge that one. Why?’

He wondered.

In that moment, he formed a theory inside his mind.

’Read... The clue is behind that technique name... With Read, you can read a person’s thoughts and intentions... Allowing him to understand my next move before I even make it.

’Whenever I attack, I think about where I will be attacking, and with Read, he can read that thought process.

’Because I swung the sword blindly, he couldn’t predict my intentions about where that attack would go since even I didn’t know.’

Fang Raon thought.

He noticed that his father was trying to patch the slash wound on his waist with his hand.

"If this were real life, that would’ve hurt, wouldn’t it?"

He jabbed back at his father’s previous words, and when he heard that, he turned his angry gaze on him.

"...You don’t know pain, cough... cough... cough..."

Aizen said coldly, but then he suddenly had a coughing fit that sounded really serious.

With a pained gaze, he turned around and sat back down on the steps of the temple altar.

It looked like he didn’t plan to fight anymore, as if he were done for today.

’You think you can just rest? No, this fight will only end once one of us is dead!’

Fang Raon jumped towards his father, his sword already coming down, but Aizen wasn’t even looking at him.

Swoosh~ And at that moment, a couple figures jumped down from the trees and kicked Fang Raon away.

"Argh!"

Fang Raon was caught off guard, and he crashed into an old-looking wall that was painted red, but was strong enough to withstand the impact.

When he got back up, he saw that his father, Aizen, was surrounded by three men wearing black cloaks.

"Have you already forgotten, son? I am never going anywhere without my bodyguards, so why do you think I would be without them now?"

Aizen asked.

"Raon!"

Rock shouted and wanted to go help him, but Raikou was being a pain in the ass and stopped him from going anywhere.

"I’ve gotten understanding of your weird summoning powers now, old man. You better pay attention or I’ll kill you, haha!"

Raikou laughed ugly.

"Hmph."

Rock scoffed.

’I had no idea that there were other people nearby beside these three. I used Read to sense the surrounding area, but they somehow managed to evade detection.

’They’re definitely Assassins... High Rankers.’

With some struggle, Fang Raon got back to his feet and looked at the three bodyguards with a dark look.

"I have bodyguards in the real world, but I also have... bodyguards for here. These ones are specially trained just for Black Online.

"They’re Assassins of very high caliber with extremely high-leveled Stealth, so high that even I can’t sense them with my Read.

"I think there is less than a handful of people that would’ve been able to detect their presence here. They are the perfect bodyguard squad."

Aizen said.

’Father barely plays Black Online, but still... he got out of his way to create his very own bodyguard squad for here. I have to give credit, he is a very careful man.’

Fang Raon thought.

"Ah!"

In that moment, he heard a scream and turned to look and saw Della on her knees with Raizen holding the spear to her throat.

She had lost the fight!

"Della!"

Fang Raon wanted to go help her, but Raizen shook his head, as if he were saying, "Take one more step and I will kill her."

He then turned to Rock to see if he could help, but no, he was struggling against Raikou.

’It’s over...’

Fang Raon lowered his weapon, and he didn’t show any frustration or defeat on his face. It was just total acceptance.