When Rush challenged Black, it wasn't a surprise to Black — he always took every possibility into account. Rush's challenge was, to some degree, something Black actually wanted: a chance to see how strong the other players were, whether they could contribute any progress to his research, and to test how far his own progress had come.
When Black accepted the duel request, Rush assumed he was still being underestimated, and said boastfully:
"I hope you didn't accept this challenge thinking I'm an easy opponent. I am — without arrogance — one of the best players in this game. I've defeated so many strong opponents that they call me the 'Ghost of the Blade.'"
Black replied:
"Alright, I want you to show me how strong you are. So, how do you want this duel to go?"
Rush answered:
"If you don't mind, let's make it in a hundred-meter space, and… let's use everything we've got."
Black had no objection to the terms, and Rush then sent a request to the system, saying:
"Requesting the system initiate a duel."
The system's voice replied:
[Does the other party agree?]
Black answered:
"Yes."
[Let the duel begin]
An invisible spherical barrier formed around the dueling ground.
At that moment, both Rush and Black drew their weapons; Black had only a sword, while Rush had a sword similar to Black's, along with a gun.
The two opponents stood face to face for just one second. Then the fight began when Rush opened fire with his energy pistol, which he held in his left hand, while his other hand stayed ready, gripping his sword down at his side.
In the game Rebirth, carrying ranged weapons like Rush's gun wasn't common, and the reason was quite clear.
Every player had two features available from the start of the game: the first was the external energy system, which most players used as a shield to protect themselves. The other feature was increased body speed for players, along with high durability. Because of this, it was easy to defend against or dodge bullets unless the weapon was exceptional or the user was highly skilled.
Rush wasn't especially skilled, but he had strong instincts and was somewhat fond of gambling, so he used the gun to wear down his opponent and throw him off balance.
Once the bullets arrived, Black skillfully dodged them, but those bullets weren't alone — another volley followed right after. This time, Black couldn't dodge all of them; some struck his energy shield, and worse, one pierced through it, leaving a visible mark of damage on his shoulder, accompanied by pain.
The pain didn't shake Black's composure. On the contrary, he began dodging the bullets randomly and quickly, closing the distance toward Rush to strike him with his sword.
But seconds before Black reached him, Rush suddenly stopped firing and lunged to strike Black with his sword. The blow was aimed at the center of Black's chest — the spot considered the character's "heart" — and had it landed, it would have finished him instantly. Even so, Black managed to block the strike at extremely close range. When Rush's sword bounced back after being blocked, it left a long gash running from the right side of Black's chest to the edge of his right shoulder. And of course, it didn't stop there — it took Rush no time at all to resume his attack on Black.
Rush kept up his assault on Black, using both his sword and his gun — which he had partially transformed into a dagger — to exploit the opening created by his surprise strike. But Black kept blocking or dodging. Even so, he took a few shallow cuts, though it was Black himself who allowed those cuts, using them as openings to strike back at Rush.
When Rush realized he was the one about to start taking hits, he blocked Black's sword with his own and fired his gun. Black responded by pulling back, dodging the bullets. Rush also retreated while still firing, gambling on the fact that he was faster than Black. He turned his back and leapt to climb the giant rock formation. He needed seven more jumps to reach the top, but he never finished them — because if he hadn't turned around right then to block the attack aimed at his back, using his gun, dagger, and sword together, he would have been eliminated. Even so, he had achieved his goal: reaching higher ground than his opponent and gaining the advantage.
After Rush blocked Black's attack, the force of the strike pushed Black downward, while Rush continued climbing, still firing, a mocking smile on his face.
Before Black fell too far, in less than a second, he drove his sword into the rock to regain his balance, then focused his energy shield to block the bullets. He continued climbing toward Rush's weak point to strike him again — but Rush managed to block it, with difficulty, using his sword.
Rush was stunned by the massive increase in Black's speed, but he still believed his plan would succeed.
When Rush reached what looked like the top of the rock, where the ground sloped slightly, he stopped firing and swung his sword at Black's head, aiming for the finishing blow that would eliminate him. But Black dodged the strike in a way that seemed impossible. Rush followed through with a dagger strike aimed at his opponent's energy core. Even so, Black used his external energy in a way no other player had ever used before.
External energy was difficult to control; it was like clay that was hard to shape, so most players settled for turning it into a shield of uniform density covering their bodies. But Black, in that moment, was controlling it as though it were water — manipulating it with ease to accelerate his body's movement and pull off maneuvers that would otherwise be nearly impossible.
In this way, Black dodged the strike and created a perfect opening to hit Rush's core, so he quickly swung his sword and lunged in for the finishing blow.
The sword reached Rush's body and struck his heart-position, which should have eliminated him and had the system announce the end of the match… but that's not what happened.
What happened was that Rush activated his "Phantom" skill, causing Black's sword to pass right through him without doing any harm. Rush surged forward, passing through Black, and reappeared a few meters behind him, aiming his gun at Black's back and firing.
At that moment, both Rush's and Black's energy were nearly depleted; Rush had enough left for three more shots, while Black barely had enough to block two. Even if he blocked two and dodged the third, the level of damage he had already taken was so high that any further damage — even a small amount — would finish him off. But he kept his composure and moved quickly to execute what he had planned since the very start of the confrontation.
He had no way of dodging the first bullet at all, so he used his shield to block it. Then he used half of his remaining energy to dodge the second shot, adjusting his body's position to turn around and swing his sword at Rush.
Black channeled what remained of his energy into his sword to launch a flying strike aimed at Rush's energy core. As he swung his sword, Rush was split in two and eliminated from the match.
But at that very moment, the third bullet struck Black in the leg, and he too was eliminated from the match.
[Match Ended]
[Both players eliminated]
[Result: Draw]