Hello, reader! Thanks for checking out my story! But before you get started, you should know that this is actually a sequel to one of my previous stories. If you want to know what happened before this, just click on my name, Nahnashi, in the top left corner, and find the story Sword Art Online: Overture of a Silent Night. Without further adieu, please enjoy…
Sword Art Online:
Encore of a Holy Night
It never got old, seeing the Floating City of Ryne like this. Ryne, which was the main city and central hub for Svart Alfheim, had been affected more than most areas by the Erosion.
The Erosion is what we decided to call the series of changes that had affected every continent in the Svart Alfheim expansion area, including Ryne. The meadow island Woglinde, for example, wound up having ruined, modern buildings, like skyscrapers, floating around its sky. In Ryne's case, though, the Erosion had caused the fantasy-style city to take on a sort of sci-fi, cyberpunk appearance, and many of the new buildings could actually be found in real life. In fact, Agil's bar, the Dicey Cafe, had appeared in Ryne and now served as a sort of headquarters for my party as we explored Svart Alfheim. The cafe, though, looked quite different than it did back in the real world. There were all sorts of neon lights lining the walls and tables, and the bar stools were hovering just above the floor.
The rest of the city was like that, too. Neon lights, and lots of floating platforms and walkways—floating by means of anti-gravity technology, though. Not magic. The Erosion clashed with the fantasy theme that ALfheim Online was supposed to have, but I kind of liked it.
One addition to the Floating City of Ryne, though, was more recent. Right at the center of town, hovering about twenty meters above the Teleport Gate and between the floating walkways, was a massive, metal structure. The structure was green, cone-shaped, and covered in neon lights of various colors. At the top of the conical construct sat a huge, glowing, golden star. I had to admit, if it wasn't for that star, I might not have realized that this construct was supposed to resemble a Christmas tree.
Directly under this "tree" and about ten meters to the south I stood with my arms crossed, leaning up against a lamp post, waiting.
"Yo, Kiribro!" a familiar voice called out to me. I looked up at the Teleport Gate to see a red-clad samurai-looking Salamander player with an ugly yellow bandana waving to me and heading my way.
"Hey, Klein," I said, returning his wave. "Right on time."
"Dude!" Klein pumped his fists and grinned from ear to ear. "Are you freakin' psyched for guys' night or what?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"You 'guess so'? The heck is that attitude about, man!? We not good enough for ya or somethin'?"
"N-No! It's not like that, and you know it."
"I see how it is, K-dawg." Klein stroked the scruff on his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Can't be happy unless you're surrounded by that harem of yours, right?"
"Hey, I do not have a harem! I'm just saying, with it being Christmas Eve and all, it would be nice if we could all be together."
Klein smirked. "You mean if you and Asuna could be together, right?"
"Give me a break, already," I said, scratching my cheek.
He wasn't wrong. Of course I wanted to spend tonight with Asuna—and the others, too. I wanted to tell her that, but this whole thing was her idea. Yesterday, Asuna had come up with a plan that entailed the guys and girls of our expanded party splitting up for the duration of Christmas Eve. When I asked her why, she only responded with "just wait and see!" So the other guys and I figured this would be a good opportunity to get gifts for everyone. Thus, this Christmas Eve was to be "Guys' Night."
"Hey, don't sweat it, man," Klein said, reaching out to pat my shoulder. "It's just for the day. We'll see everyone later tonight. Besides…aren't you just the least bit curious what they're cookin' up?"
"…What do you mean?"
"C'mon, K-dawg! Use your noggin! The girls are all gettin' together on Christmas Eve, and they don't want anyone to see them until tonight." Klein leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You wanna know what I think?"
"Wh…What…?"
"Santa outfits."
"S…Santa outfits!?" I part whispered, part yelled as I reeled back.
"Hell yeah, man!"
I cleared my throat and shook my head. "No. There's no way. Just off the top of my head I can think of a few people who would never be caught dead dressed like that. I mean, can you imagine Sinon in a Santa outfit?"
"Sure can," Klein said without any hesitation or regret.
"I'm sorry I asked… At any rate, I think that theory is out."
"Hey, you never know! Dare to dream, and you might be surprised when fortune smiles on you!" Klein stood with his hand on his hip, flashed me a thumbs up, and winked. Standing like that and talking about dreams and whatnot, he probably looked kind of cool to the passersby who had no idea what he was talking about. If they knew, though, they'd groan, cover their face, and shake their heads—just like I was doing. "But we'll worry about that later," Klein said, returning to his natural state. "For now, let's focus on guys' night, man!"
As if on cue, the Teleport Gate flashed white. When the light died down, it left behind a large, muscular, bronze-skinned Gnome player with a bald head, stylish goatee, and a giant two-handed axe. "Yo," the Gnome player said as he approached us. "Sorry to keep you fellas waiting."
"Agil, my man!" Klein held his hand up above his head and Agil slapped it with vigor. "Youch… What took you so long, dude? I could've grown a beard in the time we've been waiting!"
"Sorry about that," Agil said. "Had to close up shop IRL before I could log in."
"Don't listen to him," I said, waving my hand in front of my face. "He just got here a few seconds before you did."
"That so?" Agil folded his arms across his chest. "Remind me to charge this fool double next time he comes to my place for drinks."
"Whoa, man—harsh! Ease up, will ya?" Klein clapped his hands together and lowered his head. "From one working man to another, go easy on me."
"Alright. But just because it's the holidays."
"You're a saint, man! I'll buy you a drink later."
"I'll hold you to that. At any rate…" Agil turned to me. "Those other guys gonna be along soon?"
"I hope so…"
Normally, a party consisting of all the men in the group would mean just myself, Agil, and Klein. But the Erosion had done more to ALO than just change the setting…
Again, as if on cue, the Teleport Gate flashed. When the light evaporated, it left behind a tall, slender, metallic avatar with a green glass visor. No one could be blamed if they mistook this silver avatar for a robot. This avatar wasn't a Fairy like Klein, Agil and I, but something entirely different.
The robot avatar looked around, scanning its surroundings. The way its head panned like that, it looked like a killer android sent from the future. Then, it spotted its target—us.
"Hey! Kirito!" The silver avatar broke into a sprint, headed in our direction. I wondered if the player inside that robot avatar realized how dopey they looked, waving and running like that. I didn't say that, though. I just waved back. "The black cloud was still hanging in the sky, and we were able to fly through it, no problem! I'm so glad! It's good to—bwagh!?" From where I was standing, I couldn't see anything at all that the metal avatar could have tripped over. Nonetheless, the avatar's silver frame toppled over, landed on its face, and skidded to a halt at my feet. "Ouch…" said a robotic, staticky voice.
"Haruyuki…" said a huge, blue avatar as it approached us after the silver one. This avatar was metal, too. "Get up, would you? You're embarrassing us…"
The player with the silver avtar sprang to their feet. "Ah-haha… Sorry about that, Takkun."
"It's good to see you again, Kirito. You, too, Klein, Agil." The blue robot avatar bowed and lowered its head.
"There's really no need to be so formal, you know," I said.
"R-Right, sorry. It's just a habit, with you being our elders and all."
"Hey," the silver avatar scratched its metal head and looked around. "Where's—"
A flash and a loud screeching sound cut him off. "Yeeeeeeagh! You losers are giga lucky I had time to ride with you!"
"Yo! Skull Bro!" Klein stepped forward to meet the smoke-colored metal avatar with a skull for a head who was exiting the Teleport Gate.
"Klein, my man! My fiery bro! You ready to turn up the heat!?" The smoky avatar lowered its stance and raised its fists expectantly.
"Damn right I am!"
"Yeeeeeeah! Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's tear this world a new one!"
Klein and the skull avatar put their arms around each other's shoulders and started for the Teleport Gate, strutting and howling as they went.
"Hold on!" I called after them.
"Yo, what's the holdup, fairy boy?" the smoke-colored avatar shouted at me over its shoulder. "We're all here, so why wait?"
"We haven't even formed a party or chosen a quest yet. And, actually, we're not all here yet."
"Oh?" Agil said, raising his brow. "I guess you invited him along, too, eh?"
"Yeah. I hope that's alright. I just sent him a message, so he'll be here any second."
And with that, the final member of our guys only party arrived on cue, just as the others had. This person didn't come through the Teleport Gate, though. Instead, we all turned around to face the front door to the inn as it clicked open. A boy stepped out into the street. He wore a blue formal uniform which matched his eyes, and he had blonde hair about the same length as mine. At his hip hung a beautiful, ornate sword with rose motifs on the hilt.
"Kirito!" The blonde-haired boy called out and waved to us. "Everything is so beautiful and festive! Isn't it wonderful?"
"Yeah, it sure is."
"This huge green thing at the center of town… I've been so curious as to its purpose. What is it?"
"Well, I think it's supposed to be a Christmas tree…" I shrugged. "But it doesn't look quite right."
"Really? Well, it's beautiful, nonetheless. The whole town is! I just can't get enough of these lights!"
"Yeah, things are always brighter around this time of year. I guess you don't really have anything like Christmas where you come from, right, Eugeo?"
The blonde-haired swordsman shook his head. "No, this is all new to me."
"WHAT!?" The player with the smoke-colored robot avatar shoved their face in the swordsman's. "No Christmas!? Just what kinda sorry place do you come from, bucko!?"
"Easy there, Skull Bro," Klein said, patting his "Skull Bro" on the shoulder. "He's not from around here. That's why we're gonna show him what Christmas is all about! Right, Kiribro?"
"Exactly," I said, flashing Klein a smile. I hadn't checked with anyone before inviting an extra, but I knew I didn't have to. The fact that I was surrounded by so many kind people wasn't lost on me, but it always made me proud whenever they acted so selflessly. Eugeo hadn't been in this world for very long, but Klein, Agil, and all of the others treated him like he was one of us. "On that note, why don't we get this party started? I mean that in two ways, of course."
"Heck yeah!" The silver robot avatar pumped its fist. "It'll be nice to take a break from Brain Burst and just enjoy questing with friends for the holidays. Man, I am totally psyched!"
"Here, here," said Agil.
"Hell yeah!" the smoke-colored avatar shrieked. "It's gonna be a reeeeeed Christmas, motherf—"
"Woohoo!" Klein hooted. "Send out those party invites, K-dawg! I'm itchin' to get my quest on!"
"Sure thing." I opened my menu and started sending out party invitations, deciding to go in order of arrival. In that case, the Salamander and muscular Gnome were first. I sent their invites, and soon the names "Klein" and "Agil" appeared beneath my own name in the top left corner of my vision, along with two more HP bars. After that, I sent invites to the slender, silver avatar, the large, blue one, and the smoke-colored avatar with the skull for a head, and the names "Silver Crow," "Cyan Pile," and "Ash Roller" appeared under Klein's and Agil's. Finally, I sent a party invitation to the blonde-haired, blue-clad swordsman. He accepted, and his name appeared last on the list: "Eugeo."
"Thank you all for having me!" Eugeo bowed deeply—almost ninety degrees.
"Sweet," I mused. "Seven players. In ALO, that's a full party."
"At this rate, we're unstoppable!" Silver Crow bent his knees and pumped both fists. "We could take on any quest we wanted to!"
"Calm down, Haru," said Cyan Pile. "Kirito and his friends invited us, so they should be the ones to choose the quest."
"R-Right! You're right, Takkun." Silver Crow turned to face me. "Did you have something in mind already, Kirito?"
"Actually, I'm open to suggestions," I offered.
"Why don't we all take a look at the quest board and talk it over?" Agil said, gesturing to the holographic bulletin board behind him. "Not like we're in any kind of rush."
"That's a fine idea." Cyan Pile nodded. "But there are so many quests to choose from… It'll be hard to narrow it down."
"Why don't you little kiddies step aside?" Ash Roller brushed past us and stepped up to the quest board. "Let old Ash Roller handle the hard stuff."
"Yeah! You've got this, Skull Bro!" Klein cheered.
"Let's see…" Ash Roller rubbed his chin—or jawbone—and stared at the quest board. "Hmmm… Uhmmm…?" After about fifteen seconds of scrutinizing the quest board, Ash Roller bent backwards and clawed at his skull. "There are too freakin' many!"
"This is quite the dilemma," Eugeo sighed. "How are we ever supposed to choose?"
Agil scratched his head and furrowed his brow. "This might take a while…"
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" We turned around to face the source of a nasally voice that was all too familiar to about half of us. "Couple o' guppies lost in the big ol' ocean, eh?" The voice belonged to a small Cait Sith player who had three whiskers painted on each cheek. "I thought I might run inta you hooligans 'round here."
"Argo," I sighed, relieved to see her. "Your timing couldn't have been better."
"Nya-ha, sounds that way, Ki-boy." Argo's ears twitched and she made a circle with her thumb and forefinger. "Fer the right price, you fellas could have the quest that's right fer you!"
"Phew…" Silver Crow made a gesture of wiping sweat from his brow that could only have been a force of habit, given that his metal Duel Avatar couldn't sweat. "Miss Argo is a lifesaver!"
"That's right, kiddo, and ya better remember it. But Big Sis's info don't come cheap, ya dig?"
"Ah-haha… Couldn't we have a holiday discount?"
"Don't worry." I gestured for Silver Crow to stand down. "I'll cover the fee. What'll it be, Argo?"
"Ya lucked out, Ki-boy. This time ya get off scot-free in terms o' cash costs."
My ears pricked up at the word "cash." Of course, if Argo the Rat was offering free info, there was always a catch. In other words, "free" wasn't part of her vocabulary. "We've sort of got plans, so we don't really have time to spare for favors."
"No need ta worry about that, kiddo. What I've got in mind is the standard affair fer quests I don't have all the dirt on. I fill you in, you do the quest, and any info ya bring back is plenty o' compensation fer the tip. Fair enough?"
Now she had my attention. Argo the Rat was, by trade, an information broker. If there was anything you wanted to know in-game, anything at all, whether it was quest details, item drop info, or even another player's secrets—hell, she'd sell her own grandmother for the right price—you could bet your bottom Yuld that Argo knew it. If there was a quest that Argo didn't know about, that meant it was just recently implemented. And at this time of year, that could only mean one thing.
"So you managed to sniff out a holiday event quest already, huh, Argo?"
"Nya-hahaha! Nothin' gets past you, eh, Ki-boy?"
"I'd be impressed, but I'd be lying if I said I was surprised."
"Yer kind words flatter me, good sir." Argo crossed her ankles, put her hand over her midsection, and bowed at the waist. "But what say we cut ta the chase, hm?"
"Works for me. What've you got for us?"
"Gather 'round, kids. This info is on a need ta know basis, and no one but you needs ta know, ya dig?" The seven of us gathered around Argo and leaned in so that our heads were touching. "Ki-boy—'member that quest you and yer whacko friends dragged me along on last year? Word on the street is there's a follow up ta that quest."
"Seriously…?" I gasped and my eyes bulged a bit. I knew exactly what she was referring to. I mean, it would be difficult to forget helping Santa Claus—or Nicholas, as he was called in Alfheim—deliver presents. I never did find out what the main reward was. It would have gone to Seven or Silica, and I had never bothered asking. What I did remember, though, was the huge pile of Yuld I found in my inventory later that night. If this follow-up quest offered anywhere near that, all of us would be able to buy presents for everyone we knew. There was just one problem, though.
"…As much as I'd love to go on that quest, it just wouldn't be right to go without the others. Especially Silica, since she found the quest in the first place."
"Agreed," said Agil. "There's no way we could leave anyone out, especially not Silica or Seven."
"Damn!" Klein hissed through his teeth. "I really want to go on the quest! But…you guys are right. There's no way we could go on a quest like that without everyone."
"I thought you softies might say somethin' like that." Argo lifted her left whiskers in a smirk. "That's why I already went 'n' asked Asu if you could go. She ran it by everyone else, 'n' they gave ya the green light."
"Really…?" I asked. "They'd be OK with sitting out a quest like this…?"
"Yep. They're all busy with their own stuff, and once I told 'em this quest would be mostly combat, they said they'd leave it to you muscle heads 'n' get the details later."
"So it's mostly combat, then?" I rubbed my chin and furrowed my brow. "That's strange for a Christmas event…"
"Now we're talkin'!" Ash Roller screeched. "Sounds like my kind of Christmas!"
"Seriously, Ash?" Cyan Pile shook his metal head.
"Well," Agil started, "at least after all of the fighting we'll be looking forward to relaxing later tonight."
"I guess you've got a point…" Cyan Pile lifted his head and nodded. "I'm up for anything you guys want to do."
"I am, too, but…" Silver Crow scratched his head. "I'm not sure I follow what's happening…"
I turned to face the Burst Linkers, the robot avatars who were visitors in ALfheim, as well as Eugeo who had only arrived recently. "Last year, Silica found a quest that had us helping Santa Claus deliver presents around Swilvane."
"Seriously!? That sounds like so much fun!" Silver Crow shouted.
"But…" Eugeo breathed. "Who is 'Santa Claus'?"
"Hmmm… That's a good point." Agil crossed his arms and faced me. "The Burst Linkers, as well as Eugeo, here, missed out on last year's event. It could be fun for the Burst Linkers, and it might help Eugeo learn a little more about Christmas. All the more reason to take this quest, I guess."
"Really!?" Eugeo's face lit up so that it was nearly as bright as the metal Christmas tree in the center of the city. "If that's the case, I would very much like to embark on this quest! If that's alright with you, Kirito. I want to learn all that I can about this holiday!"
"It's fine with me, and as long as everyone here is down for it…" I paused for a moment, thinking about Asuna, Silica, Seven, and the others. Honestly, I didn't really feel right doing this without them. But Argo said they didn't mind, and she wasn't the type to lie to get her way. "What the heck? Let's go for it!"
The Fairies, Burst Linkers, and the swordsman from another world all shouted "yeah!" in tandem. Well, all except Ash Roller, who shouted "hell yeah!"
Eugeo leaned close to me and whispered something.
"Kirito…I want to go on this quest as much as anyone. But are you sure we can trust this 'Argo' character? She seems rather shady to me."
I had to stifle a laugh at that. In all honesty, he wasn't totally wrong.
"What'd you say, newbie?" Argo jabbed a finger at Eugeo, and he held his hands up in surrender. "My info's as good as my claws are sharp, and it'd serve ya well ta remember that. Got it?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Eugeo blurted.
"Come ta think of it… Folks've been askin' around about the fair-haired stranger without any wings. What was yer name again, kiddo?"
"Th-That's…uhm…"
"An' why don'tcha go ahead 'n' gimme the specs on that sword o' yers, too?"
"My… N-no, I couldn't—"
"Oh, and yer measurements! I need those, too."
"M-My…My what!? Whatever for!?"
"Yer a decent lookin' fella. Never know who might be lookin' ta buy that sorta info."
"To do what with!?" Eugeo shrieked.
"Alright," I said, deciding to give poor Eugeo a break. "We'd better be going. Mind giving us the quest details, Argo?"
"Just head for Flosshilde. I'll send ya the rest in a message." Argo waved as we turned and headed for the Teleport Gate, then called out, "hey, blondie! Don't be a stranger! I pay good fer personal info, y'know!"
With that, our party moved to the Teleport Gate and headed to Flosshilde, the Ring of Ice.
I opened my menu and scrolled through my list of contacts to find Argo. Clicking her name brought up a list of messages, and I clicked on the most recent one. "OK," I said, reading it over. "Our old friend Nick should be flying around here somewhere in his sleigh. Oh, flying…"
I looked at the Burst Linkers. For one of them, flying wouldn't be an issue. Silver Crow was one of very few Duel Avatars with the ability to fly. Cyan Pile and Ash Roller, on the other hand, were permanently grounded. Then there was Eugeo, too, who seemed to have a human avatar unlike the Fairies that made up the entirety of ALO's playerbase. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. Duel Avatars move relatively fast as a rule, and Ash Roller could always carry an extra on his motorcycle. But with the quest NPC being in the air, the non-flying avatars would be an issue.
"Guess we'll just have to carry Eugeo and the Burst Linkers," Agil suggested.
"Yeah. I guess we don't have much of a choice."
"Later, losers!" Ash Roller waved down at us as Klein carried him off into the sky.
"Guess I'll carry Takkun," Silver Crow said. He turned to Cyan Pile and rubbed the back of his metal head. "But you're really heavy!"
"You'll just have to put up with it, Haruyuki. We don't want to hold Kirito and the others back."
"Actually, why don't you let me take over?" Agil stepped up to Cyan Pile. "My strength stat is probably higher than that skinny tin can's."
"A-Are you sure…?" the huge blue robot responded. "I'd hate to be a bother…"
"Don't sweat it, kid." Agil stood behind Cyan Pile and looped his arms under the metal avatar's shoulders. As they took off, the sight reminded me of a helicopter carrying a mecha in an anime or something.
"I'll carry Eugeo," I said. "Guess that leaves you as the forward scout, Crow. Keep an eye out for flying reindeer, alright?"
"Leave it to me, bro!" Silver Crow's avatar sprouted a pair of silver, metallic, feathered wings and leaped into the air.
"Alright—all aboard!" I said, turning around.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Eugeo said as he climbed onto my back, piggyback style. "I hope it isn't too much trouble."
"No worries. I'm no tank, but my strength stat is plenty high. I won't even break a sweat."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better…"
"Well—is it working?"
Eugeo chuckled. "It is."
"In that case…" I bent my knees and prepared for lift off. "Hold on tight. I don't want to get left behind.
"R-Right, but not too—wahah!" Eugeo tightened his grip around my neck as I took off at top speed and raced to catch up with the others.
I fell into formation between Klein and Agil, carrying Ash Roller and Cyan Pile, with Silver Crow leading the pack.
"I admit, flying is thrilling…" Eugeo started, "but it's awfully cold in this place!" I felt him shudder as a flurry of snow blew past us.
"You're telling me!" Klein whined. "Pa…choo!"
"Yo!" Ash Roller cried. "Watch where you're spraying that!"
"Quit squirming, Skull Bro—you're gonna make me drop you!"
"It is a little cold," I admitted. "But the snowy setting of Flosshilde sort of fits the mood for christmas, right?"
"I see…" I could practically hear Eugeo's brow furrowing. "So Christmas is about cold and snow. Is that right…?"
"Not exactly. But I've never known anyone who's said 'no' to a white Christmas."
"Kirito!" Silver Crow called back from the front. "I think I see him!" Sure enough, I could make out the shape of a sleigh being pulled along by eight reindeer in the distance. Silver Crow broke off from the pack and raced to catch up with the sleigh, but after a few minutes, he came back. "It's no use—he won't answer me! What gives!?"
"It's cool," I answered. "Let me give it a shot." The wind got a little louder as I sped up. After a few moments, I was beside the sleigh. "Yo, Nick! Long time, no see!"
"Oh!" Nicholas said as he peered over at us. "It's you! Thank goodness I ran into you, young Spriggan."
Eugeo cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hello, sir! It's nice to meet you!"
Of course, being an NPC, Nicholas wasn't programmed to respond to Eugeo's greeting, so he ignored him. "Follow me down, if you could," Nicholas said, pointing to a small, floating island just ahead. "I have something urgent to discuss with you."
Nicholas guided his sleigh down and landed on the island. I followed suit and let Eugeo climb down from my back, and the others joined us soon after. Nicholas, in his red fur coat and iconic hat, clambered out of his sleigh and bowed to me, wasting no time in starting his request. "Young Spriggan…though I am ashamed to ask anything of you after all that you and your friends did for me last Yuletide, I beg for your assistance." The golden ! above Nicholas's head became a ? to mark the quest as "In Progress."
"Whatever it is you need, we're happy to help," I said without hesitating.
"K…Kirito…" Eugeo stared at me in awe. He was probably thinking, in that moment, that I was a very kind person, the way I offered this man my help without giving it a second thought. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Nicholas was just an NPC and I was only trying to speed along his quest dialogue.
"It fills my heart with joy to hear that," Nicholas said. "Since you surely have your own business to attend to on a day like this, I'll get right to it. As you know, I have a very important task to fulfill this eve."
"An important task?" Eugeo furrowed his brow and cocked his head. "What does he mean by that?"
"I'll explain later," I hushed him.
"However, unfortunately, there is a problem. The changes that have recently plagued Svart Alfheim have caused more chaos than you could know. The shifting lands have broken the seal and allowed my ancient enemy to roam free once again."
"Ancient…enemy?" I muttered. "What sort of ancient enemy could Santa Claus have?"
"Maybe it's some Norse mythology thing," Klein offered.
"You see," Nicholas continued, "while it is my sacred duty to deliver gifts to the good-hearted people of the world, there is another who sees fit to punish those who he deems wicked instead. And in his eyes, all are wicked."
"So it's like some sort of evil Santa Claus?" Silver Crow wondered aloud.
At the mention of an "evil Santa Claus," I couldn't help but think back on my second Christmas in the floating castle Aincrad. Back then, I'd had to fight a boss mob that looked like a twisted version of Santa Claus called "Nicholas the Renegade." I wondered if this quest, like many things in ALO, used recycled assets from SAO and would pit us up against Nicholas the Renegade again.
"I can administer the seal again, but before that can be done, he must be defeated. And I do not have the power…" Nicholas bowed his head again. "Please, kind Fairies…" In my head, I filled in "and Burst Linkers" for him. "It isn't right of me to ask you to fight my battle, but I'm afraid I must."
I turned to face the rest of my party. As my head panned, Klein, Agil, Silver Crow, Ash Roller, Cyan Pile, and Eugeo all nodded in turn. "Don't worry, Nick," I said. "We're happy to help."
"Words cannot express my relief…" Nicholas pulled at his white beard—a habit that probably formed when he found out his nemesis was running amok. "Look to the ruins of the strange civilization beneath the ice. It is there that he has taken refuge. I wish you good luck, Fairies, and pray that you are victorious." Nicholas climbed back into his sleigh and cracked the reins, and the reindeer leaped into the air and took off, disappearing past the horizon shortly after.
"So by 'strange civilization,'" Klein said, "he meant the modern city buildings that appeared in the ice beneath Flosshilde because of the Erosion, right?"
"What is this 'Erosion'?" Eugeo asked.
I pointed to the three metal avatars. "You see those guys? Like you, they're from another world…sort of. Anyway, the Erosion is the result of their world clashing and fusing with Svart Alfheim."
"Oh… How interesting! That does explain a lot, actually."
"Quit your yammering, blondie!" Ash Roller turned and broke into a sprint, headed for the edge of the floating island. "Santa's little helpers have work to do!" With that, Ash Roller flung himself off the island, plummeting toward the ground. "Yeeeeee haaaaaaw!"
"Ash!" cried Silver Crow. "What about falling damage!?"
"I've got him." Klein dove off the island. When he reached Ash Roller, he attached himself to the smoky avatar's back and deployed his wings like a parachute.
Agil flew down with Cyan Pile. I flew above Eugeo and he reached up, grabbing my hands, and I lowered him to the ground. Silver Crow followed us down, and all of us who had wings stowed them.
We made our way to the massive sheet of ice at the center of Flosshilde and stared down at the ruined city beneath our feet.
"So," siad Silver Crow. "The evil Santa is down there in the area that's been affected by Brain Burst, right?"
"It sounds that way," I answered.
"We'd better get down there and find him," Cyan Pile said. "We can't let this guy stop Santa from doing his job."
"About that…" Eugeo started. "Who is this 'Santa' character, and what does he have to do that's so important?"
I stepped forward to answer. "That NP—I mean, that man we met in the sky, Nicholas, is known to some as Santa Claus. On Christmas, he flies around on his sleigh and delivers presents to kids who've been good."
"I see!" Eugeo pounded his fist into his palm. "Christmas is about presents, then? That's why we're helping Santa, right?"
"N-No…but also yes. Christmas is a little more complicated than that, but you'll get it."
"I'm not sure…" Eugeo scratched his cheek. "This Christmas stuff is actually rather confusing."
"Don't sweat the details, man!" Klein slapped Eugeo on the back. "Right now, Christmas is about us guys kickin' the crap outta anyone who would try to ruin it! That's enough to worry about for now, right?"
"You're right. My apologies, Sir Klein. I need to focus on the task at hand." Eugeo put on a stern, serious face and drew his Blue Rose Sword. "Let us find and smite those who would ruin Christmas!"
"Here!" we all shouted, raising our fists into the air.
"Just one thing, though," I said. "Even though it's a small portion of Flosshilde, searching the city will take forever if we all look together. I think we should split up."
"I agree." Cyan Pile nodded. "We can cover more ground that way."
"We'll go in three groups. Two pairs, and one group of three, if that's cool with everyone else."
Then, the deafening sound of an engine reverberated off of the surrounding ice. "So long, suckers!" Ash Roller shouted at us over his shoulder as the tires of his Enhanced Armament squealed.
From the back of the motorcycle, Klein yelled, "we'll send you a signal when we find Evil Claus! Later!" And with that, the motorcycle peeled off and dropped down the massive crack in the ice.
"…I guess that's one of the pairs," I said.
Agil turned to Cyan Pile. "In that case, why don't we go ahead and pair up? Keep things easy."
"If you're sure you don't mind, I'd be glad to join you."
The two of them nodded to each other, then headed for the hole in the ice that granted access to the city.
"Guess that makes us the team of three!" Silver Crow said with his hands on his hips.
"Yup. I'll be counting on you guys."
"Don't worry, Kirito. I won't let you down!"
"Nor will I," Eugeo said, placing his right hand over his heart. "Let's work hard together!"
Silver Crow and I lowered Eugeo down to the cavern beneath the ice. It was dark, the only source of light being whatever sunlight was able to pierce the thick sheet of ice above. There were buildings all around us. Not the sort of fantasy buildings that were commonplace in ALO, though. Lining the cavern floor and jutting out of the icy walls were ruined skyscrapers, just like the ones you might see in Tokyo. There was practically an entire city down here.
"This place looks so strange…" Eugeo said. "What sort of civilization is this?"
"The human kind," I answered, "but not from any world you're familiar with."
"This place is huge…" Silver Crow's head was on a swivel as he scanned the city. "How are we supposed to find our enemy like this? Is there a quest marker or something?"
"Nope." I shook my head. "We're just going to have to do this the old fashioned way."
There's something to be said for completing a search quest in a good RPG without any quest markers or hand-holding from the system. But when doing so meant spending hours walking aimlessly around a massive city, it could get annoying when the devs couldn't be bothered to drop a single hint. To say that finding a mob whose name we didn't even know in a ruined city that I swore was as big as Shibuya was like looking for a needle in a haystack would be a gross understatement.
"Ugh, this is taking forever!" Silver Crow groaned. "Come out already, evil Santa!"
"Shhh!" Eugeo hissed. "If you alert our quarry, they'll never come out of hiding!"
"Actually…" I furrowed my brow and rubbed my chin. "Maybe Crow has the right idea."
"I…I do?"
"Yeah. Think about it. We've been searching this city for hours, and we haven't gotten so much as a hint. Maybe the enemy is scripted to appear if we say a certain phrase or keyword."
If ALO was the type of game to exaggerate an avatar's reactions to the degree that some VRMMOs did, Eugeo's eyes would have been reduced to those spirals you see when an anime character gets confused. I could practically see the gears turning in his head and subsequently getting caught on each other and grinding to a halt.
"Wh-What I mean is…" I said, clearing my throat. "Maybe we can lure the enemy out by taunting it or something."
"Oh…" Eugeo said. "That might work! But what could we say?"
"Let's try something like this…" I raised my voice as high as I could. "Man, I just love Christmas! Don't you, Haru?"
"Yeah!" Silver Crow tilted his head back to shout more at the sky than at me. "It's the best time of the year, after all! All the lights and decorations, and everyone is so nice!"
"That's right." Something occurred to me then. It was like divine intervention, like someone had inserted the knowledge into me from a higher plane. Or maybe it was just that common sense kicked in and I remembered what Nicholas had said about this particular enemy. "I wonder what Santa Claus will bring us this year!?" Now I was screaming at the sky, too.
"That old codger will bring you nothing, little Fairy."
At that moment, Eugeo made a sound that could only be phoneticized as "bwuh-gwahah!?" and he jumped about a meter to his left. Beside him, there was a small…something. The top half looked like a stereotypical red demon with horns that you'd come across in any fantasy-themed RPG, but the bottom half was more goat than demon.
The little red creature scratched its rear end as it glared at the three of us. "None of the children of Alfheim will be receiving gifts from that wrinkled old do-gooder. I'll see to that!"
Admittedly, I was caught off guard. This small demon was the last thing I would have expected. I was almost positive we would have to fight Nicholas the Renegade from Sword Art Online. But in the end, this thing was Santa Claus's mortal enemy?
I clamped my jaw shut, which had been hanging open in both shock from the creature's sudden appearance and disbelief at its stature, and cleared my throat. "So you're the one who's keeping Nicholas from performing his sacred duty, I take it?" I focused my eyes on the small red creature, prompting the system to display a yellow cursor, the cursor of an NPC, along with a nametag that read "Krampus the Yuletide Devil."
"That's right," Krampus responded. "And there's not a thing you or anyone else can do about it."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," I said. I opened my menu and began typing a message to Klein and Agil telling them to bring their partners to my location.
"Hey…Kirito?" Silver Crow leaned toward me and whispered, covering the spot where his mouth would be with his metal hand. "What the heck is a 'Krampus' anyway? What is this guy?"
"Honestly…I have no idea. Maybe it's related to Norse mythology or something?"
"It startled me at first," Eugeo whispered, sliding to my other side to join the conversation. "But this little creature is actually sort of funny, isn't it?" I noticed then that Eugeo was covering his mouth not only to hide his whispering but also to hold back the laughter that was building up.
"Yeah… It sort of is," I whispered back. "I thought the mortal enemy of Santa Claus would be a little…taller."
Krampus the Yuletide Devil scratched itself once again as it waited patiently for our conversation to conclude. It pulled out a small, twisted wooden cane, drove it into the ground in front of it, and leaned on it.
Somewhere behind me, I heard the distant sound of a motorcycle engine. It was getting closer, and I heard a shout come from the same direction. "K-dawg!" the voice said over the growl of the motorcycle. "We came as soon as we got your message!" The motorcycle appeared from behind a broken skyscraper, sped to our position, then screeched to a halt. Klein jumped of the motorcycle and tore his katana out of its scabbard. "We're ready! …Wait—where's the boss?" Klein turned his head to the left, then right, then left again, then looked at me, scratching his head.
"It's right there," I said, pointing to Krampus the Yuletide Devil.
"That thing!?" Klein gawked at the little demon. "You gotta be kiddin' me!"
"Kirito!" said a booming, baritone voice from behind me. "We came as fast as we could…" Agil's face was covered in sweat. His party didn't have a motorcycle like Klein and Ash Roller, and his partner couldn't fly, so he had likely run to my position.
"Sorry!" Cyan Pile doubled over and panted. I wondered if the Burst Linkers' Duel Avatars could feel fatigue or if he was just panting out of habit. "Agil could have gotten here faster if I wasn't holding him back…" Cyan Pile stood up and turned his head the same way Klein had. "…Did we already miss the battle?"
"Nope," I said. I pointed to the red goat-demon, still patiently waiting while leaning on its cane. "Nick's enemy is right there."
"That's the boss?" Agil said. "It's not exactly what I had pictured."
"You said it, man!" Klein blurted. "Talk about a letdown!"
"This is tera lame! Who's down for picking a new quest?"
"Not so fast, Ash." Cyan Pile shook his head. "Kirito and his friends chose this quest, and we're their guests. We aren't just going to abandon it."
"Besides," Silver Crow chimed. "We took this quest to help Santa, and I want to see it through!"
"Crow is right," I said, nodding to the silver avatar. "Nick is counting on us. It wouldn't be right to walk away after we agreed to help him."
"I agree," Eugeo said. He held his fist over his heart like a knight making an oath. "We gave that kind old man our word. I want to do everything in my power to help him!"
I smiled at the swordsman. "That's right, Eugeo. Let's fulfill our promise and make sure that Santa can deliver gifts to Alfheim's children!"
"Yeah!" the others shouted in unison.
"Looking at the 'boss,' it probably won't take too long, anyway," Klein snickered.
I turned to face Krampus the Yuletide Devil. "Did you hear us? We're not going to let you get in Nicholas's way." I reached over my right shoulder and drew my sword, Vox Unitas. "We'll stop you!"
"You and your meddlesome friends should go home and wait your turn," the little demon said, stroking its scraggly gray beard. "But if you're that eager to receive your Yuletide punishment, I suppose I can make an exception for you. Come on, then!" Krampus lifted its cane like a weapon and took a stance that resembled that of a fencer. Its cursor turned from yellow to red and four HP bars appeared beneath it.
"Alright, guys…" I said, lowering myself into my own stance. "I don't think it would be smart to underestimate this guy. I'll hit him as hard as I can to throw him off balance, then you all rush in and deal some damage. Cool?"
"You got this, Kiribro!"
I nodded a silent "thank you" to Klein, then kicked off the ground and lunged forward. In its current stance, Krampus the Yuletide Devil was prepared to defend against thrusting attacks. With that in mind, I queued up the seven-hit slashing skill Deadly Sins. "Haaaaah!" I roared as I tore into the demon with my first cut. Krampus moved its cane to defend, but as I expected it wasn't able to block my slashing attack in time. I followed up that cut with another, using the momentum of the first to carry me into a spin, before slashing again in the opposite direction with a backflip. I dashed in again to deliver the last four attacks, which were a series of high-speed blows, and succeeded in knocking Krampus off balance as I'd planned. The little red demon flew back several meters and sprawled out on the snow-covered ground. Its cane rolled away sadly.
"Uhm…" Klein mumbled. "Are you serious…?"
When I looked at the demon's HP bars, three out of the four were already completely drained. The last bar was just a pathetic sliver of red, and I assumed that the boss only had that much left because it was scripted not to die before delivering a few last lines of dialogue.
Krampus the Yuletide Devil picked itself up off the ground and shakily dusted the snow off of its furry legs before retrieving its cane. "That wasn't bad, kid," it said. "But if you hadn't caught me off guard like that, it would have been a different story!"
"I feel kind of bad, actually," I said over my shoulder to the others while scratching my cheek.
"I understand," Eugeo said, frowning. "I was determined to defeat this beast before, but now I just feel sorry for it…"
"What a chump!" Ash Roller screeched. "Just finish that thing off already so we can find a monster that's worth our time!"
"I guess you're right…" I approached Krampus and raised my sword over my head. I hesitated for a moment. It didn't feel right striking down what was, at this point, a defenseless creature. But Nicholas had told us that he couldn't finish his sacred task as long as this creature was on the loose. At that rate, I didn't have much of a choice. "Sorry about this…" I said to the small red demon.
"Oh, it's too late for that," the thing said.
"What…?" I blinked at it.
"If you had finished me off before instead of flapping your gums, that would have been that. But now, it's ready. And you don't stand a chance."
"'It'…?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, thanks to your metal friends over there…" The devil pointed at Silver Crow, Cyan Pile, and Ash Roller.
"!?" I gasped. Nicholas hadn't so much as acknowledged the Burst Linkers' presence. If Krampus was addressing them now, it could mean only one thing: that the Erosion was now overwriting the quest details.
"…I have a new toy," the demon continued. "And it'll see to it that every sentient thing in Alfheim gets what it deserves."
Not good.
I swung my sword downward, aiming for the creature's head, hoping to finish it off before things got ugly. But before my blade made contact, Krampus the Yuletide Devil snapped its fingers. There was a flash of blinding white light, and wind roared and pushed me back from the demon's position.
"Rrk!" I grunted, shielding my face from the icy blast. I drove my sword into the ground to hold myself in place.
When the light faded and the breeze died down, Krampus was gone. In his place, directly where he had been standing, was a large, circular construct made of metal and gears. The space within the circle was waving and rippling, almost like water.
"Is that an Otherworld Gate?" Silver Crow asked.
"Sure looks that way," I said, sheathing my sword.
"I wonder what stage it leads to…"
"There's only one way to find out, Haru." Cyan Pile nodded to Silver Crow, who nodded back.
"In that case, let's—"
"See you later, loooosers!"
The sound of motorcycle tires screeching filled the air, and Ash Roller's Enhanced Armament sped past us, hurtling toward the Otherworld Gate.
"We'll save you some action!" Klein jeered from the back of the motorcycle.
"What is wrong with that guy!?" Cyan Pile shouted.
"Those two were made for each other…" Agil shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"In any case, we'd better get in there. We don't know what they might have gotten themselves into."
"Kirito is right!" Silver Crow clenched his fist in front of his visor. "Let's not waste any more time!"
With that, Silver Crow, Cyan Pile, Agil, Eugeo and I stepped through the Otherworld Gate in turn.
Once on the other side of the Otherworld Gate, any trace of ALfheim Online's fantasy theme was gone. We stood at the center of an intersection in what looked more like something out of a post-apocalypse video game than a fantasy RPG, with tall, crumbling buildings all around us. There were broken, derelict automobiles scattered throughout the cracked streets, and above us hung an unwelcoming red sky.
"So it's the World's End stage," Cyan Pile noted.
"This is weird…not very Christmas-y at all!"
"Quiet, Haru…" Cyan Pile bent his knees and looked side to side. "Do you hear something?"
"Hear something? I feel something…"
Just as Silver Crow said, I could feel something in the ground. Vibrations.
"I think something is approaching!" Eugeo put his hand on the hilt of his Blue Rose Sword.
"Something big," I agreed, opening my menu and dragging Divination, another one-handed longsword, to the left-hand slot on my equipment mannequin.
As we stood in place, waiting for the source of the tremors to show itself, we heard a thunderous, metallic voice. It echoed throughout the city streets, causing what was left of the glass on the ruined buildings to shake. "That old man's seal drained me of my strength," the voice said. "Normally, it would have taken me decades to regain my power after breaking it. But thanks to this place, that won't be necessary." A massive, metal hand appeared from behind a building a ways in front of us. It grasped the corner of the building, leaving a huge handprint and sending glass and debris falling to the street below. A giant, goat-like foot, metal, just like the hand, stepped out into the street from behind the building. Then, the owner of the metal limbs was visible in full. It was a huge creature, humanoid on the top half and goat on the bottom. It had huge, metal horns coming from the back of its head. The monster was metal all over, with steam and smoke rising from the gaps in the plating and huge wires and cords visible around the neck and joints. "With this," the metallic voice continued. I could tell now that the voice was coming from this mechanical monster. "I'll see to it that all nine realms receive what they're due this Yuletide!"
"It's Mecha Krampus!" Silver Crow reeled back and pointed up at the giant metal monster. Sure enough, when I focused my gaze on the thing, the system displayed a dark red cursor and a nametag reading "The Metal Krampus."
"Alright, you guys!" I said, drawing my swords from my back. "Let's go!"
I spread my wings and took to the sky. Silver Crow and Agil followed me up while Cyan Pile and Eugeo broke into a sprint, running down the street toward The Metal Krampus. I swerved midair to avoid the mech's giant hand as it tried to swat me. Agil, with his huge, two-handed axe, struck The Metal Krampus's iron skull and the mech teetered backwards.
"Kirito! Crow!" Agil called. "You're up!"
"Right!" Silver Crow and I shouted back together.
Silver Crow and I attacked simultaneously. He used his Dive Kick technique while I used the one-handed charging Sword Skill Vorpal Strike, and our attacks hit The Metal Krampus square in the chest. The force of the attacks, after Agil had already knocked it off balance, caused the mech to fall backwards, shaking the ground as it fell onto its back.
"Eugeo!" I shouted. "Go for the wires hanging out of its neck! Try to freeze them!"
"Leave it to me, Kirito!" Eugeo darted toward the fallen mech's head. He drove his Blue Rose Sword into the ground and shards of ice shot up from the concrete, reaching toward the wires protruding from The Metal Krampus's neck. "Release Recollection!"
"Takkun!" Silver Crow cupped his metal hands in front of his visor, despite not actually having a mouth to make the gesture useful. "Hit its joints!"
"Got it!" Cyan Pile drove the Pile Driver on his right arm into the joint behind the Metal Krampus's left knee, resulting in a satisfying crunch.
"Hey!" the loud, metallic voice screeched. "Stop that! Stop breaking my battle mech!"
"Seriously…?" Agil sighed. "I guess it's gonna be one of those bosses."
The Metal Krampus sat itself up and began pushing itself off the ground, and its metal joints creaked and groaned. "Damn you, Fairies!" Krampus shrieked from somewhere within the mech. "It'll take me forever to repair that damage!" The Metal Krampus's chest clicked and the armor plating began to shift, sliding downward and outward.
"Are those…missile bays!?" Silver Crow gasped.
"Die, you bugs!" Krampus screamed as the missile bays in the mech's chest lit up in turn. Smoke trails shot out of the bays, marking the trajectory of countless missiles careening through the air at random.
"Evasive maneuvers!" I shouted.
Agil, Silver Crow and I weaved through the air while Eugeo and Cyan Pile ran for cover behind building debris. The missiles exploded either in midair or against the buildings and streets.
"Let's hit him again!" Agil shouted. He flew toward The Metal Krampus with his axe raised over his head. But the mech swatted him away as easily as I would swat a mosquito. Agil grunted with the impact, and the force sent him flying into a nearby building. "Ouch…" Agil groaned.
"Mr. Agil…" Cyan Pile said. "You're a genius!"
"What…?" Agil asked as he pulled himself out of the rubble and dusted himself off.
"Haru! Start breaking the rubble!"
"Huh?" Silver Crow looked down at Cyan Pile. "Oh! You mean so we can fill up our Special Gauge! Good thinking, Agil!"
"R…Right…" Agil scratched the back of his bald head. "Glad I could help."
"Agil! Eugeo!" I called out. "It's up to us to keep it busy in the meantime!"
"Roger that!" Agil said.
"I'll do what I can!" Eugeo nodded to me and raised his sword.
I flew toward The Metal Krampus, dodging its efforts to swat me away, and stopped at the core of its torso. I pulled my swords back by my left side to queue up a Sword Skill. Once the blades were glowing, I called out the name of my OSS—Original Sword Skill—for good measure. "Starburst Stream!" I shouted as I tore into The Metal Krampus's iron flesh with sixteen rapid cuts.
"Haaaagh!" Agil roared as he slammed his axe into the mech's head with a glowing green visual effect.
"Take this!" Eugeo slashed at the joint in The Metal Krampus's right foot four times, leaving a square-shaped graphic hovering in midair which expanded before disappearing.
"Haru! Are you guys ready yet!?" I shouted.
"Just a little more, big bro!"
"Damn…" I was still caught in my post-motion delay, and Eugeo and Agil were in dangerous spots, which meant they weren't able to attack again just yet.
"What's wrong, little Fairies?" Krampus's metallic voice asked while the mech's missile bays slid open again. "Out of fight already? Pity."
"Dammit—Everyone! Get clear!" I shouted. At this rate, I was going to take the brunt of the attack. There was no way I'd be able to get out of the way in time. But at least it would limit the amount of missiles the others had to worry about.
"Yeeeeee haaaaaaw!"
"Wha!?" I turned my head toward the source of the battle cry. I could hear the sound of an engine coming from the same direction.
"Ash Roller!" cried Silver Crow. "It took you guys long enough!"
"Yo! Sorry we're late!" a Salamander player called from the back of a motorcycle that was screaming toward us down the street.
"Klein! Never thought I'd be so happy to see you!"
"That hurts, K-dawg!" Klein hit The Metal Krampus's left leg with a Sword Skill as the motorcycle passed underneath it, and the giant mech leaned back, its joints groaning, and fell to the ground. The missiles sprayed out of its torso and exploded harmlessly in the sky.
"Hahahaha!" Ash Roller cackled madly. "This big bastard turned out to be the real boss? But it's still kila-boooring!"
Silver Crow smashed a bit of rubble, then called up to me. "Kirito! We're ready!"
"Right, then! Let him have it!"
"Right!" As The Metal Krampus pushed itself up to a sitting position, Silver Crow flew high into the air. A few plates in his armor shifted near his neck. "Headbutt!" he cried out. Silver Crow soared downward and slammed into The Metal Krampus's skull, leaving a crack in the mech's visor.
"No!" Krampus shrieked from within the mech. "I swear you'll pay for that!"
"Your turn, Takkun!"
"Roger, Haru!" Cyan Pile dug his feet into the ground and leveled his right arm at The Metal Krampus. "Lightning Cyan Spike!" The Pile Driver on the blue Duel Avatar's right arm shot forward an incredible distance and pierced the mech's torso. The metal armor shattered, sending bits of the mech flying to the ground. "Switch!" he called out after his Special Move finished.
"Leave it to me!" Eugeo charged toward the mech's torso with Vorpal Strike. When the Blue Rose Sword pierced The Metal Krampus's armor, shards of ice erupted from the metal plating.
"Damn you…" The Metal Krampus's voice grew even more staticky and distorted. "You've ruined everything!"
"Kirito!" Agil called. "It's almost out of HP!"
"Roger. Crow! Let's finish it together!"
"Right behind you, Kirito!"
I nodded to Silver Crow and he nodded back, seeming to understand what I had in mind.
"Incarnate Skill…Laser Sword!" Silver Crow's hand glowed. Soon, it was completely enveloped in a bright blue light. The light expanded a few meters and ended in a point. Silver Crow flew toward The Metal Krampus at an impossible speed and slashed at the mech several times with his blade of light. The movements looked familiar, actually. Almost like a Sword Skill. "Kirito!" Silver Crow called back to me over his shoulder. "You're turn! Finish it!"
"Right!" Now I prepared my own Incarnate Skill—a technique I figured out during a duel I had a while back with Silver Crow.
"Crow Combo!"
I flew toward The Metal Krampus with my swords spread like wings. I stopped just before I reached the mech, then kicked upward with a backflip, striking its chin and flying upward. I hovered for a moment, allowing the power to build up, then kicked downward, imitating Silver Crow's Dive Kick technique.
The attack connected, and a few bright beams of light shot out of The Metal Krampus's frame before the whole thing exploded. It wasn't the sort of explosion I was used to, though, in which the monster took on a white glow before bursting into countless polygonal shards. Instead, a fiery, smokey explosion sent debris hurtling toward us. The chunks of glass and metal crashed to the ground, leaving craters in the street and dents in the surrounding buildings.
"Woo!" Klein hooted. "Looks like that's a wrap! Way to go, Kiribro!"
"It's not like it was all me," I said as I floated to the ground and sheathed my swords. "I couldn't have done it without you guys."
"No way, big bro!" Silver Crow said, slapping me on the back. "You were awesome! Just like always!"
"Ugh…" A groan from somewhere in the wreckage of The Metal Krampus interrupted us.
"What the heck was that!?" Klein blurted.
"I don't know," I said as I stepped into the wreck. "But I have a pretty good idea." I moved a few bits of the giant mech aside to reveal the small, crumpled frame of Krampus the Yuletide Devil.
"You'll…pay…" Krampus uttered.
"I don't think so," I snapped. "We're taking you back to Nicholas so he can seal you up again!"
"Hell yeah!" Klein pumped his fist and jabbed a finger in Krampus's direction. "That's what you get, demon! You tried to ruin Christmas!"
"And I would have gotten away with it, too," Krampus coughed. "If it weren't for you meddling Fairies…and your stupid robots, too!"
"Who're you callin' robot, shorty!?" Ash Roller cried.
"Easy, Ash," Cyan Pile said. "In our Duel Avatar's, it's not like that isn't true."
"I know. I just wanna mess with him some more!"
"No, we shouldn't waste any more time! We need to hurry and get him to that old man so he can apply the seal and get back to his sacred duty!"
"Eugeo is right." I bent down, picked Krampus up, and tossed him over my shoulder. "Let's hurry and finish this quest. We still have a lot to do before we meet the others tonight."
"Yeah, you've got a point, K-dawg. Let's head back."
The seven of us headed for the Otherworld Gate that appeared the moment The Metal Krampus exploded and stepped through. With the demon Krampus in tow, we took to the skies in search of Nicholas. Since my hands were full, Silver Crow carried Eugeo this time. It wasn't long before we spotted Nicholas, and the old man gestured for us to follow him down to another floating island. We did so, and relief was visible on the NPCs face as he clambered out of his sleigh.
"Well done, my friends! I knew I could count on you!"
"It was no big deal," I said, dropping Krampus at Nicholas's feet. "We were happy to help."
"Your words bring me joy, young Spriggan. And although I know in my heart that you performed this task for goodness's sake and nothing more, I cannot allow you and your friends to go unrewarded. Thank you, kind Fairies. I am forever in your debt."
Once our EXP and cash rewards were safely in our inventories, we waved goodbye to Nicholas as he took off into the sky, then took off ourselves and headed for the Teleport Gate and returned to the Floating City of Ryne. Once back in town, we all went our separate ways to do some Christmas shopping with the cash reward we'd gotten from helping Nick out.
Argo was easy enough to please. I gave her all the details we gathered, then promised I'd help her gather info on another quest in the future, free of charge. After that, I took to the shops. It wasn't easy getting something that I thought everyone would like. After all, our usual group had nearly doubled when the Burst Linkers arrived in ALfheim. Even so, I managed—but it took a while. By the time I was finished, the sun had set. But the Floating City of Ryne, covered almost entirely in holiday lights, was anything but dark. I let out a soft sigh and folded my arms behind my head as I walked through the city to the Dicey Cafe. Once inside, I was greeted by an unexpected tackle.
"Daddy!" a small girl with long, black hair sang. "We've been waiting for you!"
"Sorry, Yui." I looked around the cafe, which was already full to bursting with familiar faces. "I guess I'm always the last one to show up to these things, huh?"
"Yes, you are." A beautiful Undine player with long, flowing blue hair jabbed her finger at my chest. "Would it kill you to be on time for once?"
"S-Sorry, Asuna…"
"Don't worry about it." Asuna smiled warmly. "We're all just glad you're finally here."
"Wait…Asuna!?" I took a step backward. "Shocked" wasn't a strong enough word to describe my reaction. My eyes bugged out of my head as they scanned the undine up and down. "Is that…?"
Asuna giggled. "Do you like it? It took me forever to make one for all of us." The Undine twirled in place and the fur-lined skirt of her red Santa outfit flared out just a bit.
"Y-Yeah… It looks great!"
"What about mine?"
I looked back down at Yui, who I noticed was also wearing a Santa outfit. In fact, all of the girls in the cafe—even Sinon—had one on. I looked at Klein who shot me a snide look that said "I told you so."
"You, too, Yui. You all look great."
"I'm glad you like them," Asuna said. "Now hurry and come in! We were about to have a toast."
"Big bro!" I peeked around Asuna, looking for the source of the voice. It came from a tiny, pink avatar shaped like a pig who was sitting in the lap of a slender, pale girl with black hair and beautiful wings shaped like a butterfly's. "Over here! I saved you a seat!"
"Thanks, Haruyuki!" I stepped into the Dicey Cafe and Asuna and Yui followed. I reached a huge table that I guessed Agil had made by pushing all of the tables in the cafe together, then took the empty seat between Haruyuki's pig avatar and Takumu in his Tin Man avatar. For the most part, when the Burst Linkers unequipped their Duel Avatar's they looked like ordinary humans with a few non-human features, like Chiyuri's cat ears and paws or Kuroyukihime's wings. I never did figure out why Haruyuki's avatar was a pig.
"Haruyuki tells me you boys had quite the adventure today, Kirito," the girl with the butterfly wings said.
"Well, he's not wrong, Kuroyukihime."
"I told you you could call me Lotta. Isn't that much easier to say?"
"Right. Sorry, Lotta. In any case, we definitely had a busy day. We had to help Santa Claus defeat his arch nemesis."
"Sounds like quite the adventure indeed."
"Oh, man! I'm so jealous!"
"Now, now, Chiyuri," said Lotta. "Please behave yourself. Try to remember that we're guests here."
"Yeah, yeah… But next time you're definitely taking me with you. You hear me, Haru!?" Chiyuri jabbed a clawed finger at Haruyuki's chest and her ears twitched.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Haruyuki blurted.
"That goes for you, too, Taku!" Chiyuri puffed out her cheeks. "I can't believe you two left me out of a quest involving Santa Claus!"
"Sorry, Chiyu," Takumu rubbed the back of his head and cast his eyes downward.
"You should be! Hmph!"
"Actually, that one's on me," I said. "Going on the quest without everyone else was my call. Sorry about that, Chiyuri."
"Oh… Y-You don't have to apologize, Kirito!" Chiyuri waved her feline hands in front of her. "I'm sure you had a good reason!"
"Enough with all that!" said a small girl with red hair bound in twin tails. "Be quiet already so we can do the toast!"
"A-Alright, Yuniko…" Haruyuki said. "We're shutting up!"
"Snrk…" A small, fairy-like being, not unlike Yui in her pixie form, hovered above Haruyuki, snickering.
"Metatron…sssh!" Haruyuki hushed her. "We're about to start the toast!"
"You dare speak to me that way!?" Metatron shrieked.
"Everyone!" Asuna tapped a spoon against an empty glass to get our attention. "I want to thank you all for coming!" She turned her head slowly to smile at each attendee, Fairy and Burst Linker alike, in turn. "Please join me in a toast. To friends, new and old, and a special 'thank you' to the Burst Linkers for joining us this Christmas Eve. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone said—well, everyone except Klein and Ash Roller, who screamed "Yeaaaaaagh!" We all raised our glasses and tapped them together.
After that, we all exchanged gifts. At the end of the day, affected by the Erosion or not, ALO was a combat-based RPG, so most of the gifts were weapons. Mine consisted mostly of one-handed longswords—and, of course, I was happy to receive each one of them. Strea had even used her Tailoring skill to make me a new coat. It was…rough, but its stats were high enough. I was sure I'd get plenty of use out of it. The Burst Linkers were a little harder to shop for. They couldn't use weapons or armor, so options were limited. Girls like Chiyuri and Utai got clothing items and jewelry, but I thought that Yuniko and Mihaya, even though they couldn't really use them in battle, would prefer weapons instead. Turned out I was right. Yuniko spent most of the rest of the party chasing Haruyuki around and shouting that she would turn him into a stuck pig while Mihaya pulled out her sword to chat with Lisbeth about the finer details of weapon craftsmanship.
Once I'd given gifts to all of my usual friends and the Burst Linkers, that just left one person.
"Hey, Asuna?" I whispered. "Have you seen Eugeo?"
"He was here at first, but I haven't seen him in a little while. Maybe he's outside?"
"Yeah, maybe. I'm gonna go look for him."
Asuna nodded and I turned around and left the Dicey Cafe.
It was a staple of most online games that if it didn't snow in the worldspace right at the start of December it would at least be snowing on Christmas Eve. That was the case tonight, and it made the Floating City of Ryne seem just a little quieter than usual.
I looked around, hoping to spot Eugeo. It didn't take long to find him. He was standing on the circular walkway surrounding the metal Christmas tree above the Teleport Gate, leaning against the railing and looking out over the city.
"Hey," I called over to him as I climbed up the steps to the walkway. "What're you doing out here? Isn't it cold?"
"Oh, Kirito…" Eugeo didn't turn to face me as I leaned on the railing next to him. "Sorry to wander off like that. I didn't mean to be rude."
"No, it's OK. Is…something on your mind?"
"Yes, actually. I've been giving it a lot of thought—Christmas, I mean. I've been trying to determine what, exactly, this holiday is all about."
"Yeah? What'd you come up with?"
"Well, we spent the start of it battling that small demon. Could it be that that's what Christmas is about? Punishing evil?"
"Well, if you ask that Krampus guy, he'd say you were right. But if you ask me, that's not it at all."
"I see…" Eugeo frowned and looked down at the ground beneath us. "Then it's about gift giving, just like what that Santa Claus person does?"
"That's not quite it, either, but that's closer. Christmas is about appreciating the people you love and being grateful for them. That's why we're having this party. So we can all be together and enjoy each other's company."
"So it's about…protecting the ones you care about, and spending time in their presence. Is that it?" Eugeo's shoulders slumped and his eyes seemed to reflect the Christmas lights around us a little more clearly than before.
"You're thinking about her, right?" I asked. Eugeo hadn't been in Alfheim for very long, but he only ever talked about one thing.
"Right now, I wonder if she's surrounded by people that she cares about…"
"I'm sure she is, Eugeo. And I bet she's thinking about you, too, wishing she could see you."
"Really…!?" Eugeo pushed himself off the railing and turned to me, his eyes wide. "Do you really think that, Kirito?"
"I do. You're an incredible person, Eugeo. You're kind, you have a big heart, and you're at least as strong a swordsman as I am."
Eugeo smiled. "That's only because you taught me everything I know…"
"Regardless, you're an amazing friend, Eugeo. I'm really glad I got to meet you, and I'm glad to have you as a friend. This person you're searching for…I know she's out there, and I bet she's looking for you, too."
For a moment, Eugeo looked like he might burst into tears. But he clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut for a few moments, and when he looked at me again, any trace of sadness was gone. "Coming from you, that means so much, Kirito. You've always been so kind and gentle… It's the greatest gift I could ask for. Even if you're not the Kirito that I remember, it's true. I'm so glad that I met you. When I arrived in this world, I didn't know what to do. I felt so lost… But you were there for me. Even though you didn't remember me, you took me in and treated me as though we had been friends for a lifetime…" Eugeo closed his eyes and held his hand over his heart. "I am grateful, Kirito. Truly. Words cannot express how dear you are to me…"
"I feel the same way, Eugeo." I smiled and nodded at the swordsman from another world. I knew he couldn't be a player. He had no knowledge of the real world outside ALO or whatever virtual world he had come from. Even so, these moments always made me wonder if it was really possible for him to be an NPC.
"Tonight, you've given me something more precious than anything. You've given me hope…" Eugeo turned away from me to lean against the railing again. "I know that I'll find you someday. We'll be reunited, and things will go back to the way they used to be…Alice."
. . .