The Grand Duelist

Everyone raised their head and discovered that the voice came from a nearby speaker. 

"Elizabeth..."

Ray faintly whispered.

Joseph stepped forward and approached the glass. 

"What do you think, master? I'm pretty ugly, right?" 

Elizabeth's voice rang out once again.

Joseph shook his head.

Staring at the bare skin and bones image of the little girl whose mental age was even older than himself.

Joseph didn't know what to say.

But there was one thing that he knew for sure.

Elizabeth wasn't ugly at all.

"No, you aren't..."

Mar, Ray, and his Secretary, Miss Elizabeth turned to look at Joseph.

Joseph felt their gazes, but he didn't pay any heed to their attention as he continued, "You're beautiful... I'm not lying..."

"Trust me on this."

Joseph's expression was indiscernible, but his tone was firm.

"I see..."

"Thank you..."

Elizabeth promptly replied.

Silence descended, no one spoke among the group.

But it was shattered by Elizabeth's small request, "Kuya Ray... Can I meet... Master?"

Joseph's pupils constricted, "I can go inside?" He turned to look at Ray and asked.

Ray shook his head and said, "No, her room is a carefully made sterile environment. Entering it would mean contaminating everything. With my sister's compromised immune system, something as simple as stepping inside without being sterilized can mean her death."

"Then, what did she mean about meeting me?" Joseph asked in confusion.

Ray stared at him for a moment before replying, "There's a method that's increasingly growing in popularity. With that method, we could temporarily transfer Elizabeth's consciousness from her original body to that body, but the only problem is..."

"You don't feel comfortable to it, right?" Mar took the words out of Ray's mouth.

Ray faintly nodded.

Joseph's eyes brightened, "If a method like that really exists, then why not use it?"

"Well..." Awkwardness flashed across Mar's face for a moment, but Ray suddenly stretched his hand out and stopped Mar from answering.

"Ray..."

"I'll do it, I'll answer." Ray nodded his head to him and Mar kept his silence.

He then turned to look at Joseph and explained, "It's because that method involves silicone sex dolls. Only those kind of dolls manufactured in such a way could possibly give anyone's consciousness a certain degree of freedom..."

"Not only that, but that person to speak, the doll must have a really good replicated voice box which is quite complicated to make."

"We do have one of those dolls, but I don't really like to use it..." Ray explained and a faint blush could be seen on his face, possibly out of embarrassment or maybe even something else.

Joseph revealed an astonished look, but his astonishment quickly turned into awkwardness as he scratched his head.

"In that case... I now understand why you're so hesitant about using such a method."

'I mean, who would like to have their little sister use a body made for sex? That's just...'

Joseph didn't continue his train of thought anymore as he let out a cough and stared at Ray. His staring made it clear to everyone that Ray must be the one that should decide. If he didn't want her little sister to meet Ray in the real world using such a body...

No one would force him.

After all, Joseph and Elizabeth would still be able to meet in the world of Victory someday in the future.

He really didn't mind waiting.

Ray stared at her little sister from beyond the glass panels.

His thoughts, unknown.

But after a few seconds, he let out a sigh and made his decision known to everyone.

"Fine, let's do it..." 

A single sentence was all it took for him to utilize the entire resources of P.H Works into temporarily transferring Elizabeth's consciousness from her body into another body.

Even though such a method would only last for about thirty minutes at most since this method was still in its early phase of discovery. It was still quite useful.

Joseph was finally able to meet and talk with Elizabeth in the real world. He learned a lot about the pitiful little girl and throughout their conversation. He discovered that Elizabeth really did love her big brother, Ray Gabriel. Furthermore, she also said that she felt quite guilty towards her brother

If not for her existence, her brother wouldn't be shackled and stay devoted to her for so long. 

Joseph could only sigh in lamentation upon hearing her words. Within the next thirty minutes, she became Elizabeth's emotional punching bag, but he didn't mind. Elizabeth accompanied her for more than twenty years in the world of the King's Trial, so she deserved this treatment at the least.

"Goodbye, master... My time is almost up. I have to return to my body."

Joseph faintly nodded.

A bitter smile plastered across his face.

He still wanted to talk with Elizabeth, but unfortunately. Time was up.

Elizabeth had to return or her original body wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

Consciousness transfer placed a certain amount of burden on one's body. Ray and Mar purposely hid this fact from him so that he wouldn't worry about Elizabeth. But after today's events, Elizabeth would probably be unable to enter the world of virtual reality for a few weeks. 

Joseph returned to the room where he first met Ray and there he found Lily watching television.

Her eyes were focused on the screen which was currently displaying some news about the current affairs of Victory.

- Good evening, everyone! You are watching, GMA News! -

- Good evening! -

- We have here a very special guest, can you guess it? - 

- Shockingly, our guest for today is Kristian! The very first Legendary Class Player, the Absolute Monarch! -

Joseph who was about to lay down on the couch in exhaustion suddenly sprung up. 

He turned to look at the television.

Lily glanced at him and asked, "Look at the headlines. It seems like you have already fought against him." 

Joseph faintly nodded and directed his gaze towards the headlines on the bottom of the television.

It said...

- Shocking Revelation! The first Mythical Class Player is more powerful than expectations! -

The headline sounded like a clickbait, but the two knew that a Mythical Class was indeed extremely powerful. From the fact that it's a class that's a tier higher than Legendary made it obvious how potentially powerful the class was. These words were unnecessary and shouldn't even be said.

But...

Joseph sat down on the couch and patiently waited until the start of the interview.

If Kristian himself, the number one player within the Universal Ranking said that a Mythical Class was something even more powerful than he expected. Then, it was something else. The words of nobles were far valuable than the words of the commoners after all.

- We received word from our honorable visitor Kristian that he and his guild, Guild Strongest Under Heaven had fought against the very first Mythical Class player. From what we heard, the Mythical Class was far powerful, even within Kristian's imaginations. -

- But I bet that the question everyone has right now in their minds is just how truly powerful a Mythical class is? -

- Is his or her might that strong that he or she can easily topple the balance within the world of Victory? -

- Or is there something more to this mystery? -

- Let's find out! - 

With the commentator's cue, some upbeat music played and after a few seconds.

The interview finally started. 

- Sir Kristian, you told us that you and your guild fought against the Mythical Class player just recently. Any impressions that you can tell us regarding his or her class? -

- He's a man, so I'll use the proper pronoun. I don't want to risk offending him if he identifies differently, so I'll just use the pronoun which I think closely describes him. -

Kristian spoke in an accent that made it clear that he wasn't a person from any of the countries within South East Asia. 

- As for impressions, hmmm... His weapon is extremely long. It's also really thin. -

- An extremely thin and long weapon? Wouldn't that easily break? -

- No... It's impossible to break that weapon that he's using. I even speculate that it's made by that Legendary Blacksmith Krid before he died. - 

- I see... Ah, the tragic death of the Legendary Blacksmith, Krid... What a pity. - 

The commentator let out a sigh and everyone kept their silence for a second as a sign of respect for the deceased.

- Then, in other words, that weapon of his should be the number one weapon right now within the Universal Rankings, the Nameless Rapier? - 

- Yes, it should be that Nameless Rapier. Being at the number one within the Universal Rankings. It's a weapon that should have Infinite Durability, similar to my weapon. -

- But the fact that it overtook your weapon in the rankings, sir Kristian... Does that mean that his weapon is at the same tier as him? - 

The commentator suddenly said something which made Kristian freeze. A bitter smile appeared on Kristian's face as he shook his head and replied in a clearly hesitant voice.

- I don't know... Everything that we will say when it comes to his weapon would all be speculations until he himself confirms and gives us the truth. - 

- That's right... It seems like I became too hasty at that part. -

The commentator scratched his head and laughed. 

Kristian also gave a light chuckle.

Lily turned to look at Joseph and asked, "Is your weapon a Mythical Tiered one?"

Joseph thought for a moment. Since everything would still be revealed in the future, then what's the bother of hiding?

"Yes, that's right." 

Lily's pupils constricted in shock.

"What's its market value?" She suddenly asked.

"Market value? What do you mean? I won't sell it!" Joseph protested.

Lily revealed a look of confusion, but when she saw how serious he was on saying that he didn't plan on selling his weapon...

She smacked him on the shoulder and said, "You stupid! Of course, I'm not saying that you should sell it! You can still check the market value of any item without selling them..."

"Try checking your weapon's market value in the virtual market place of Victory."

"Really?" Joseph turned to look at her and asked for confirmation.

"Of course! Why would I be lying?" Lily sweetly smiled. 

"Then, okay. I'll go now and check." Joseph stood up. He walked towards the nearby gaming capsule. He really was curious about the market value of his Nameless Rapier. 

"Wait!"

"What's wrong?" Joseph stopped and turned to look at Lily.

"Wait for me! I'll be going with you." 

"You're going with me? I'm in the Kingdom of Nether though."

"I'm also in the Kingdom of Nether! And since we're quite near to each other we can just use the synchronized log-in function. As long as the two of us are within twenty kilometers from each other..."

"I will be able to teleport to your location through the use of that function!" Lily suddenly said a lot of words, astonishing Joseph.

"Really? That's actually quite convenient."

"Yeah! So, how about it? Can I go with you?"

"Of course! I also have some people to introduce to you." 

Turning off the television and after getting some permission from Ray to stay in this room for the night. The two borrowed the gaming capsules in the room and entered the world of Victory.

Through the use of synchronized log-in. Lily and her character, Lilium appeared right beside Joseph.

"Boss! You're finally back! Take a look at the loots that we gathered here! I bet this will rake us a lot of money!" Kayn's voice rang out nearby.

"Joseph! You're back! We're done with arranging these items in their own categories."

"Master, welcome back." 

Alice and Ezreal's voice followed suit.

When Joseph and Lilium's body fully materialized in the world of Victory.

Alice's cold voice suddenly rang out.

"You..." 

"You're that person who tried to kill me back in Reinhardt!"

Alice abruptly disappeared from where she was standing and reappeared in front of Lilium.

"Wha...?" Joseph whispered in shock and he raised his hand to try and block Alice's attack, but it was already too late.

Alice's sword had already arrived in front of Lily.

"Why are you here and why are you with Joseph?!"