A vortex formed in front of Zoe, who was stunned by the spear that came at her at full speed. It sucked the spear in like a vacuum and disappeared.

 

The young man smiled mischievously, “Oh! I was wondering when the SorCyber would appear! So you found one of the cards I threw in here. Isn't that a Thank You For The Spell card?”

 

Zoe was first surprised that she hadn't been hit by the spear, and now at what the other man had said. She was stunned that the man had stopped attacking and was waiting for an answer. And she felt the need to open her CyberDeck and check the card.

 

 

Although Zoe was a little surprised to see that the man was right, her anger still did not subside. “Well? What if you tossed this card here? What does this change? You slaughtered the whole city. You hurt Flo!” Zoe was growing more and more furious again. She was getting closer and closer to her opponent with every word.

 

"Oh sorry, I didn't introduce myself!" said the young man. He spoke very politely and sincerely as if he had not murdered the whole city and dozens of people. “I'm Roman Godfrey. It would be a shame if you died when you were thrown here… Zoe The Noble Slayer.”

 

"Do you know me?" said Zoe in surprise. "And what the hell is The Noble Slayer?"

 

"Hey! You didn't spend that much time here. Did you forget your own nickname too?" asked Roman with a confused expression.

 

Zoe paused a bit and tried to remember. Yet, nothing came to mind. She wondered if this guy was lying, but it was clear that the man knew her. Now is not the time to think about this, Zoe thought. I'll fight first and talk later, as I did with Hadrian.

 

Zoe gazed at the man who was still a fair distance away, and the man exudes a strong air of confidence. It was as if the man had no intention of attacking anymore. Zoe decided to seize this opportunity.

 

She summoned [A Lightning Spear] from the Arsenal of her new card. Lightning began to flash slightly above her right wrist, and a spear was formed. Zoe took the spear and stretched backward.

 

"Hey! Calm down!" cried Roman. “We don't need to fight, I threw the spear to greet you!”

 

Zoe was tensed. She found even more strength in her arm when she looked at the corpses and burning houses around her. “Greetings to you too!” she exclaimed. Suddenly, she threw her right arm forward with her whole body and hurled the spear at Roman. The spear was hurtling towards Roman with increasing speed.

 

Roman created a kite shield in front of him using a card from his deck without losing his composure. This shield, which was quite long, was transparent. It was inscribed with arcane runes in white and blue. He parried the spear that came with the shield on his left arm. The spear bounced off the shield and changed direction. It crashed into one of the surrounding houses.

 

“Are you going to calm down now?” asked Roman, ignoring what had just happened. Confident that no more spears would come, as he knew Zoe's card, he canceled the shield spell.

 

Zoe was now running toward Roman with her katana in hand. Even though she thought that the man who threw those spears and created a shield might have had other of cards, her desire to save Lucy and Flo was predominant.

 

She lifted the katana she was holding on her right arm to her left shoulder and ran toward her opponent. She suddenly launched an attack, lowering her katana. But her opponent leaped a step back. What she saw next took Zoe by surprise.

 

Pulling two wings out of his back, Roman jumped into the air and flapped his wings as he levitated. Staring down from the sky with his pitch-black wings, Roman really looked like he had stepped out of a painting. "I guess I'll have to calm you down a bit before we can talk," he said.

 

Zoe was shocked by her opponent's new spell, but she quickly recovered. Looking up, she thought, I guess I really don't like being looked down upon. Then, turning to Lucy, Zoe spoke quickly. "Quickly take Flo and get out of town. I'll take care of this," she pointed at the air with her finger.

 

No matter how hard Lucy tried to answer, Zoe didn't listen. She pushed Lucy away with her hands, forcing her to take Flo away. Zoe kept an eye on Roman as Lucy and Flo slowly walked away. She planned to protect her friends immediately if he tried to do anything.

 

Yet, Roman let Lucy and Flo go. Zoe's passion made him want to fight, too. Using a new card, Roman formed a large bow in his hand. The green-colored bow looked like a very skillfully crafted weapon. But, the glow from the weapon showed that it was a magical weapon.

 

"I say let's get this over with quickly," said Roman, already stretching his bow. As he drew the bow, an arrow immediately appeared in his hand. It must be a feature of the card, Zoe thought. She was relieved that Lucy and Flo were gone. She smiled fiercely and lifted her katana, pointing the sharp end at Roman. "Yes. I will learn everything you know about me,” she said.

 

Roman let go of his bow. Although Zoe was prepared for an attack, she couldn't even react. Almost as soon as Roman released his bow, the arrow that was shot out kissed Zoe's hair and sunk into the ground. In fact, Zoe looked back for a moment. The arrow had pierced the ground and went quite deep.

 

“You really don't think you're going to beat me the way you are, do you, Zoe?” said Roman. There was an intonation in the way he toned Zoe that suggested he knew her very well. “In the past, I would have been afraid to face you, too, but the state that you are in…” Retreading the bow, Roman abruptly let it go and continued, "...it's pathetic."

 

This time, familiar with the arrow's velocity, Zoe tumbled sideways and dodged the attack. Yet, she also understood that if she hesitated even for a second, this attack would cause her great trouble. Zoe was planning to keep Roman busy by throwing her katana up, but the distance between them was more than 10 meters. In fact, all of Zoe's plans could have come to naught if Roman flew back just a little bit. So, she had to approach her opponent no matter what.

 

Realizing that Zoe was trying to get close to him, Roman quickly drew his bow and fired two arrows in rapid succession. Zoe dodged both attacks thanks to her above-average agility. But she, too, now knew how big of a gamble she was playing. One misstep and Roman could really calm her down.

 

“It's good to see you're still so passionate,” Roman said from above. "If you've calmed down a bit, can we talk?"

 

But Zoe's response was to grab her katana by the hilt and throw it at Roman. She used her dominance of Pinky to speed up the katana. Yet, the speed of the katana was too slow for Roman. He pulled away from the weapon with a single wing flap.

 

“What were you trying to do? You are throwing the only weapon you have?" Roman suddenly had an epiphany. Thinking it might be a magical katana, he tried to turn away. But it was too late now. Zoe's goal from the start was Roman's wings. And she tore off one of the wings with her katana.

 

With a cry of pain, Roman began to fall to the ground. He tried to slow his fall with one wing. Zoe, on the other hand, preyed on this and ran towards Roman. She had sent Pinky to attack after Roman as well.

 

Torn between the two, Roman quickly thought of a solution. He threw his bow from his hand, used the kite shield magic again, and took the shield in his right hand. With his left hand, he quickly formed another spear. He accelerated, using the shield to deflect the incoming katana behind him. Adding a wingbeat to this acceleration, he turned around. He threw the spear he had formed at Zoe, who was running towards him.

 

Zoe barely scrambled to the side, dodging the spear. But no matter what, her opponent was now in a place where she could attack him. That's okay, Zoe thought. She activated and rubbed her Mantis Blades together. She called Pinky, whom Roman pushed away with his shield, and began to fly it beside her.

 

Roman, who managed to land lightly on the ground, looked annoyed. It was clear from the expression on his face that he thought he was underestimating Zoe. "So that's what the blank card turned into, huh?" His attention now shifted to Zoe's 4-fingered left hand. “I only wanted to hurt you a little, but it seems like I'll need to do more than that,” he said in a clear voice. Roman also took Mantis Blades out of his arms and started walking slowly toward Zoe.

 

Zoe was following Roman's every move. She thought to herself, I should be on the alert as I don't know what other cards he has. Thinking about the spells Roman used, she realized how dangerous SorCybers could be.

 

Weighing Zoe's movements, Roman suddenly accelerated and started running towards her. Holding one of his hands down, he activated a new card. With this new spell, he started surfing on the rocky ground. When he was right in front of Zoe, he made a ramp from the stones and jumped over her.

 

Looking impressed by Roman's new card, Zoe still kept her attention on her rival. Jumping on him, she countered Roman's attacks with her Mantis Blades. Each of Roman's attacks came faster than the last. But Zoe hadn't had any trouble meeting them so far.

 

Zoe took advantage of the melee fight and decided to involve Pinky. Roman, who had been the dominant side until now, was now the side that was taken to the defense with the joint attacks of Pinky and Zoe. In Araf, only the clash of weapons and the crackling of the surrounding fire could be heard now.

 

Despite Roman fighting against three weapons, he still wasn't giving an opening. He even liked that Zoe attacked with such ardor. He had also lost the anger of having just been injured. He was enjoying the fight.

 

Zoe was startled to see this attitude of her opponent. Is this guy crazy? Thinking that she was not being taken seriously made her angry. Focusing on her AGI, she sent Pinky to attack her opponent from behind.

 

Now being attacked from both sides, Roman began to show incredible agility. He quickly countered Zoe's Mantis Blades while also easily dodging Pinky's every attack. Continuing to play with Zoe like this for a while, Roman must have gotten tired of this show of power. He dodged all Zoe's attacks and kicked her stomach.

 

Falling back with the impact of the kick, Zoe found herself on the ground. From this show of power, she understood that her rival could kill her anytime he wanted. Even though this realization made her skin crawl, she still wasn't going to give up. She hastily got up from where she had fallen and took her guard.

 

Roman laughed out loud. “If you can be as rich as me, your AGI will be this high. I'm tired of fighting. Have you calmed down enough to talk?"

 

Zoe looked around at the burning city and the corpses. If I give up, Lucy, Flo, and Brad's lives could be in danger too, she thought. She stood tall thinking, I can't give up yet. She started running towards her opponent with a fire burning in her eyes.

 

"Looks like you haven't calmed down yet," said Roman, tossing his red hair. He gave Zoe a stern look, ready to strike.