Magus of the Arena is the second chapter of Accel World/dural: Magisa Garden.
Summary[]
An old rival appears to the Enbuken as they are introduced to Aluminum Valkyrie. They are the members of the Seioh Academy student council, who refer to themselves as a "tribe" - and they have a new, fourth member with them. They vigorously offer their newcomer, Zircon Paladin, to challenge Valkyrie. Chiaki has no idea how the game works, but she's more than ready to battle him.
She realizes her Duel Avatar is very light, while Paladin's is heavy and tough, and she also realizes that she feels pain when hit. She tries to get in behind Paladin, but the Seioh Academy group leader yells at him to run, and he manages to escape the attack. This provokes Orange Raptor, who goes off on him about cheating, especially when they've barely explained the game to Valkyrie yet. He shouts at Paladin to move to "Plan B."
Zircon Paladin moves up the stairs of the castle and turns to confront Valkyrie, now having both a height advantage and a range advantage. He hits Valkyrie with a barrage of lance thrusts, at which point his leader says that he could just run away for the remaining time and win by default. However, he instead uses his ability, Fear Devote, to increase his armor; his leader explains exactly what it does, too.
Aluminum Valkyrie, however, looks at him, then points and announces that he's boring. She demands to know if his strategy would have held a candle to Black Lotus, surprising Orange Raptor. Lotus would simply destroy the whole building, removing his terrain advantage. This is all a little overwhelming for the newbie Paladin, and as he moves into a defensive stance, Valkyrie runs at him and jumps clear over him. She lands a flying kick on Paladin that sends him tumbling towards the ground. The damage he takes from that causes her to win.
After the match, Yuuko raves about how cool she was, but Chiaki demands to know where Black Lotus is. After she explains her motives, they explain to her how the Parent and Child system works, noting that her older brother was, in fact, her Parent. Chiaki has been training this whole time to meet Black Lotus. Yuuko briefly describes her as the "demon king" type boss you might see in an RPG, and Kurumi Kuruma explains that she is the leader of a Legion called Nega Nebulus and one of only seven to have ever reached level 9.
When Chiaki asks eagerly where she is, Yuuko tells her she's right next door, in Suginami. She offers to take her to Lotus, but Chiaki declines – she wants to get stronger first. She guesses she would get herself to level 9 and then she'd be good to meet her. This greatly amuses Yuuko and Kurumi, but Chiaki thinks she can become the eighth. In the end, they finally extend a formal invitation to join the club, and she accepts. Yuuko and Kurumi announce that they will be her Parents.
Important Events[]
- New Duel Avatars: Zircon Paladin
- Aluminum Valkyrie defeats Zircon Paladin in her first Duel
- Chiaki joins the Enbuken