Blade of Return : Chapter 1
Under the cover of the trees, three hooded assassins lay wait for their prey. One of the pack belonged to a newly formed assassins guild where initiation called for the death of any high ranking guild officer. This ensured survival of the fittest. The assassins were deadly, and anyone who underestimated their abilities usually suffered a painful death.
"Target approaching, party, seven guards" whispered the assassin girl on reconnaissance. "Our objective is mass paralysis"
Her two companions nodded silently and began preparing their poison tipped daggers. Under the mission parameters, killing was forbidden and doing so would result in an outrageous pay cut. One of the assassins clicked his tongue grudgingly at the thought of not being able to kill the helpless players as they lay before him.
Up above, the sun was setting a blood red. The light was slowly disappearing, and the trees that surrounded the main road soon seemed ominous. At night time, they served as a reminder of the many who had lost their lives in the months before. This was the city of Elisham, located on Floor 57 in Arnheim in the virtual reality world of Sword Art Online. Due to some circumstances, if you died, there would be no return to your real body.
"Approaching" announced the girl quietly. Her hands were steady, gripping her own poisoned dagger. There would only be a small window of opportunity. Heavily armored knights soon began to walk into view. They proudly held the emblem of the Fire Fortress, a clan that prided itself on producing members with elite combat skills. Equipped with thick, steel-plated armor, the soldiers knew that would easily deflect projectiles from a modest range and marched onwards at a bold pace. The assassins knew that their toughest job had arrived - one blunder would cost them their own lives.
Inside the formation of guards was a hooded man, who stood out due to his priest-like appearance, clothed in a brown robe from head to toe. He had no intention of fighting and appeared to be unarmed. This was to be their target.
The guards soon were marching directly in front of the band of assassins. Tensions rose as the tongue-clicking assassin grew impatient with the lack of action.
"Not yet, Sylvan" hissed the girl. She was correct in saying so - the signal to attack had not been given. The guards were rapidly moving out of sight.
"WHAT is that idiot doing" she screamed angrily once out of earshot of the guards, furious that the plan had not been properly executed by her counterpart. After a few moments of critical thinking, Relia took command. "The plan has failed, but the mission will continue. Sylvan, Arkus, follow me. We're engaging in close quarter combat. The armor has a weak-point below the neck, and one stab should be enough, melee or projectile. Aim for the element of surprise"
Sylvan and Arkus looked at each other dubiously. For the first time, Relia saw a glimmer of fear in their eyes. As trained assassins for a secret organization, it was their duty to carry out a mission at any cost. Command usually fell to the most experienced party member - in this case Relia, whose responsibility was to ensure that the operation succeeded. Failure meant death.
Acknowledging that they had no other choice, the two black hoods followed their leader, and ran swiftly through the edges of the forest. In quick succession, they relocated to formation positions front, center and back parallel with the Fortress knights.
"Attack!" Relia ordered. Sylvan was the first to spring out of the woods. His feet were light, and made little sound. However, the battle-hardened warriors of the Fire Fortress reacted quickly - they immediately drew their weapons and held a defensive circle around their escort.
Sylvan dived underneath a swing of a sword from one of the guards who had broken formation to engage him, and rolled forward to regain his balance. As he landed, his hand swiftly released a poisoned dagger at the exposed chainmail below the neck of his foe, the only weakness in their armor. The knight fell, dropping his mighty sword and instantly became numb to the paralysis.
"All units, ENGAGE" roared the Fortress commander, realizing that holding formation would be the equivalent of target practice for such a skilled assassin. In perfect harmony, Arkus raced out from hiding and let fly a volley of daggers at the knights who had been momentarily distracted. Another two knights fell instantly, but one knight had been quick enough to clasp his palm around his throat and protect himself from the dagger. It bounced uselessly off the thickest part of his gauntlet.
"They're aiming for the neck" he cried out to alert his comrades. Immediately, everyone drew their weapons to their necks as a shield, and closed forward on the two exposed assassins. Arkus clicked his tongue disapprovingly, as he did when annoyed. The mission would now require a lot more effort.
Suddenly, a large pillar of fire erupted from the near distance and shot high into the sky, illuminating the now dark surroundings. The signal had come for the attack, and Relia knew that the greatest operation that her organization had ever undertaken had officially begun. Unfortunately for her, they were a step too late. Relia rushed out to assist her fellow assassins , and moved straight for the commander.
"There's another o-" he yelled, but was cut off when three fast flying daggers aimed at his face and neck forced the man to deflect with his sword. He grabbed the priest to protect him from harm and let out a cry of fury - the man was used to fighting valiantly, not playing a game of cat and mouse.
Relia jumped over a low swing from a halberd, and proceeded to quickly strike the back of the knee of a knight with all her force. Driving a dagger deep into his tendon, the man cried out in pain, but the resistance of the armor had absorbed most of the paralysis. Side-stepping a subsequent thrust from a spear, she performed a full round house kick to the injured knight to throw him off balance and gracefully released another poisoned dagger from her hip at the end of her rotation. The dagger struck the knight in the eye and he fell twitching uselessly on the ground. His HP bar displayed small lighting icon indicating paralysis. Four down, but the poison was wearing out. Time was of the essence.
"You fool" exclaimed the captain "Only an amateur would leave their visor up. Fall back in formation, NOW". The two remaining knights rallied, backs turned towards each other forming a three man circle around the priest. The Fire Fortress officer was no fool - he knew that they were not attacking with killing intent. Having discerned their intentions, he was content on staying on the defensive until the paralysis wore out and his unit regained strength in numbers.
"We have to finish this now" Sylvan said through gritted teeth. A message popped up in Relia's command menu. It read: 'Reinforcements approaching. 12 knights and a Legion Commander. ETA 5 minutes' Relia read the message quickly, and her heart raced. A Legion Commander was one of the elite who was in direct command under the Fire Fortress guild leader. There were only five of such individuals.
"Deploy smokebombs" she whispered to her subordinates, who now stood side by side, advancing forward in perfect synchronization with one another. "Now"
Three smokebombs flew out quickly from behind the assassins' belts and covered the area with fatigue draining smoke. This would cost the party greatly - these devices were rare, and incredibly expensive, even in the world of SAO. Activating night vision skills and holding their breath, the assassins split left, right and center, remaining daggers held firmly in hand. Relia leaped and landed with two feet onto the chest of the disorientated captain and knocked him forward into the priest. They both fell onto the ground, wheezing for air. Even in his confusion, he swung his sword wildly which caught Relia by surprise and sliced her side. She immediately saw her HP gauge drop to critical red - these knights were insanely strong. Reacting on instinct, Relia took out her most potent dagger that was to be saved for the priest and plunged it into his armor with all her might. Although barely penetrating the surface, the poison took effect immediately as a purple aura shot up around his body. The man froze.
Relia limped towards the priest and stabbed him with a remaining dagger. He fell immobile with no resistance, but now a serious problem had arisen: She was out of paralysis, and the rendezvous was at least a days ride. The man would not be sedated - she had to think of a way to restrain him without killing him.
Out of breath, Relia threw herself out of the smoke, carrying the limp body of the priest on her shoulders. Unable to gather the strength to land properly, she fell forward and the two rolled a short distance before coming to a stop. Regaining her composure, she once again hauled the priest on her back, running as fast as she could through the forest. For an agility focused warrior, her strength was also considerably high. This came at the cost of reduced health, which had nearly resulted in her death just moments before. Sylvan and Arkus would have to fight on their own - as per contingency, they should have scattered by now in different directions.
A black horse was waiting for her by a grove inside the forest. She placed the immobile priest on top and swung around behind, taking the reins and holding her prisoner in place with the side of her arms.
Relia let out a "Hyah" and the powerfully built horse galloped into the distance. She had succeeded in abducting one of the most powerful warriors on the server, in his defenselessness while on a faith pilgrimage.
The Blades of Return would rise again.
END CHAPTER 1
TO BE CONTINUED