Sorry about how long it took me to post this chapter, I'm having a lot of work to do with school so the updates won't be as regularly.
Asuna had no idea how long she had been trekking through this winding maze of caves, but by that point that was the least of her worries. The Laughing Coffin thugs were pretty much dragging her along by this point and she felt sapped of energy. Finally they stopped. Asuna looked up. In front of her was a giant set of metal gates emblazoned with the Laughing Coffin crest. One of the thugs tapped knocked one the door twice with resonating booms. Then slowly the massive doors swung open. They shoved Asuna through the doors, and onto the floor in what appeared to be a throne room. The walls were made of black obsidian and lined with burning torches. Tapestries with the Laughing Coffin crest hung from the ceiling and at the far end of the room was a white marble throne. On it sat a man of great stature. He had his head resting on his hand and wore a black cloak. Half his face was obscured by a hood and the cloak hid the rest of his body. Asuna saw a massive double sided axe strapped to its back. The axe handle had several metal pendants dangling from it. The Laughing Coffin thug Marco walked up to the man on the throne and knelt down. "Shido-sama, we have taken Vice Commander Asuna as hostage as per your request."
"Good." Shido said getting up from his throne, "You and your party have done well Marco."
"Thank you my lord." Marco thanked.
"Now leave us." Shido said, dismissing Marco and his party with a wave of his hand.
"Yes my lord." Marco got up and walked down a separate hallway with the rest of his group leaving Asuna alone in the room with the man known as Shido. Shido stepped forward towards Asuna and knelt down in front of her. He pulled back his hood to reveal a brutish looking face. He had a blocky mouth and crew cut white hair. One of his eyes had a thick scar running from it to his chin. He had an evil grin on his face as if he were inspecting his fallen prey. Asuna looked away from him in disgust.
"You've given us a lot of trouble lately Vice Commander." He started.
"You deserve it." Asuna retorted still looking away.
" ." Shido chuckled, "You seem to don't understand your situation right now, do you?" He sneered pulling Asuna's face towards his. "Well allow me to introduce myself then. I am third Vice Commander Shido. I work directly under PoH. And I happen to be called the Headtaker for a reason." He said indicating to the massive axe on his back. Asuna's eyes widened as she realized what those pendants were. Each of them bore the crest of a guild that was destroyed by Laughin Coffin. Shido noticed Asuna looking at the pendants. "Ah these?" he said with a grin, "They are trophies to some of my most glorious campaigns and battles."
"You disgust me." Asuna spat.
"Hmph." Shido said as he got up, "Looks like you need to learn some manners." He picked Asuna up by her hair. "It's time that I make an example out of you, to let all players understand what happens when they mess with Laughing Coffin." He said sneering.
Floor 55 Ganzham:
"We need to act swiftly and forcefully in order to get our Vice Commander back." One KOBD knight said slamming his fist down on the table.
"But they might be expecting that and they may end up using her as a deterrent to get us to leave them alone. She's a powerful bargaining chip." Another one added. Meanwhile Kirito watched the scene unfold very unamused. They have been at this for a solid hour and have not reached a solution. Heathcliff was also sitting there with a similar stolid expression. Then the doors to the conference room burst open.
"Heathcliff-sama!" cried a Knight who came dashing into the hall.
"What is it?" Heathcliff asked, "Why are you interrupting this meeting?" The knight held up a flyer he had in his hand.
"That's the thing, Commander." He said handing over the flyer, "It pertains to this situation and it's not good." Heathcliff looked at the flier and he immediately put it down.
"Leave us." He said to the knight.
"Yes sir." The knight said as he left the room.
"This notice is most grave." Heathcliff said as he slid the flyer to the middle of the table. The people sitting down got up to get a closer look, Kirito leaned forward to read the lines of text on the paper. It read: "This is a notice to the Knights of the Blood Oath. Your Vice Commander Asuna will be executed at the Blackrock Hills tomorrow at noon if our demands are not met. In exchange for her life, you will pay us 1 million mega col and immediately disband your guild. We await your response." The bottom was stamped with the Laughing Coffin crest. After reading it, a stunned silence swept the room. Kirito was shocked along with many others.
"Well then what the hell do we do now?" One of the knights asked, "We don't do anything she dies, if we agree to their terms, we destroy the only chance of taking down Laughing Coffin."
"I say we ambush them now." Another knight proposed, "KOBD does not negotiate with terrorists and murderers."
"You're crazy." The previous knight spat back, "Vice Commander's life is on the line and you want to pull a stunt like that?" This back and forth went on for a while around the table before finally Heathcliff cleared his throat. The entire room went quiet. He sighed,
"Prepare the money." Heathcliff announced with an air of finality. "And inform all members that effective tomorrow at noon, the KOBD shall be no more."
"No way." Kirito said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "You're just going to give in like that?" Heathcliff turned to face Kirito.
"KOBD's first priority is protecting everyone." Heathcliff said with a stolid face, "And that will be our overriding goal, no matter the cost."
"That's bullshit." Kirito said, now getting mad. "You just want to admit defeat when the enemy gets a slight upper hand?"
"We won't be able to save Asuna if we choose to fight." Heathcliff said, "I'm sorry but a person's life is worth more than any money here."
"Well I won't stand for this." Kirito said getting up. "If you guys are too scared to do anything, I will." He turned his back towards Heathcliff and walked out the door.