The chamber was circular in shape and the walls extended nearly 100 feet upwards till they met with archways and formed a dome. The torches in the room flickered and crackled as the chilly wind blew through. The floor was made of blocks of stone – clean and polished. However with each passing crack, they retained the stories of battles of the past.

Sora stood quietly as he faced the woman. If women could be classified into categories, there would be cute, hot and beautiful (See Note#1). While, cute and hot, tingled the imagination of the lustful; beauty touched emotions far deeper – admiration. It would be hard to believe but Sora had not one perverted thought seeing this woman. He was simply enamoured by her beauty – completely taken in.

She was tall – taller than the average Japanese; maybe touching six feet. Her body was not too thin but had the curves in the right places. But the most important was the face. Words would fail to paint the true beauty that she was. She appeared like a character from some josei smut manga but sketched by the classic artists like Rafael or Gentileschi. The sharp jaw bones, the long eyelashes, jade coloured eyes and dark brown-golden hair; like flowing silk.

Even the scowl she was wearing on her face while staring at Sora added to her beauty. Her beautiful medieval red dress only added to her charm. She could be called a gift from the heavens. Not an angel nor the devil but a human who appeared within reach yet stood above all – if her beauty were to be described in petty words.

In three words; Sora was stunned. Beauties may come and go – but this one was peerless. Sculpted by the hand of God? Like the perfect evening sunset – this woman too was perfect in every manner. Too perfect to be human?

Sadly, all good things come to an end. The time Sora could spend staring at her reduced as she began emitting a pale green aura. There was something stifling about that ‘aura’ something very different from the one Gladus used. When compared with Gladus’ aura. This woman’s aura had a very ill intent – best described with the word venomous.

Poison? Sora’s instincts guided him. He didn’t know why but by simply seeing the aura she was releasing, he knew the attack would deliver low damage but the poison damage that flowed in later would be great.

Sora waited; there was no killing intent – yet.

“Tell me…did you…kill him?” The woman whispered.

It was inaudible. As if the woman was mad and speaking to herself.

“Pardon me?”

“Did you kill him?” She was louder; her voice was shrill and brimming with grief.

Sora had an inclination – he knew where this was heading. How many people had he killed till now? There was the vampire…and maybe some Empire soldiers…but in all fairness those Empire soldiers were ‘killed by accident’ (‘KBA’?).

Sora let out a sigh – why was fate so cruel?

All he ever wanted was one woman. One kind, sweet…hot or beautiful woman – was that too much to ask for? Even in a virtual reality game?

“Tell me…did you…kill him?” The voice was quivering – her body was shivering. It was grief beyond doubt.

“Killed who?” Sora asked feinting ignorance.

“My…my master…” Tears, uncontrollably, began rolling down the woman’s cheeks.

“Nope.” Sora replied casually – he actually felt guilty and terrible for lying. No, he felt worse for breaking this woman’s heart. However, it was either his life or the vampire’s – a no brainer.

“Liar…” The woman whispered with a crazed smile on her face.

She was losing it.

“Pardon me?” Sora was really pushing her to the brink of her sanity.

“LIAR!” She screamed out. The pale green aura that stuck to her skin, dulled into a deep shade of jade.

To engage in combat or not to engage in combat? - The dilemma Sora faced. It would be truly regretful to hurt someone so beautiful.

Unfortunately or fortunately, that was a decision Sora did not have to make. In the blink of an eye, the woman was only two feet away from Sora. She had rapidly covered the distance of 25 feet in a split second. Her speed could be considered astonishing given the level of strength of monsters on this floor. However, for Sora this was slow. If this woman had encountered Sora previously, then this level of speed would have easily overwhelmed him. The Sora now was very different from the old Sora who had low (no) stats. In addition, there was his martial arts experience which he could also leverage upon. All in all, this woman’s speed was nothing Sora had to be afraid of…

Afraid of that is till she was two feet away from him…at the moment Sora decided to move, this woman also displayed her true speed. In an instant, her body burst forth with a dark venomous aura, sharply increasing her speed. In all truthfulness, the speed was great however it was still not at a level to be considered a sufficient threat to Sora. However, because the woman timed the use of her speed boost so well, it came as a complete surprise to Sora. In nine of ten occasions Sora would have dodged…but only and only if he wasn’t held back by restrictions.

The open palmed strike connected and Sora went flying back.

Sora let out a groan as he hit the ground, twenty feet back. Her attack power was below par – but the aura that shrouded her was destructive. That pale green aura hid her true strength. It was only for an instant but Sora saw that when the strike connected, the aura had been concentrated on her palm – creating a destructive force enough to get Sora serious.

In a single strike Sora lost 10% of his HP. Sora could no longer dilly dally. 10% HP may not seem much. However, 9 more strikes like that and he would be dead. In Sora’s mind, it wasn’t 90% HP remaining that was swirling but rather 9 more hits.

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Author's note:

1. Now it would be wrong, if I didn't try to make up for the lost time - even though no internet was not my fault. Happy reading. :)