7th of December 2022
On the third floor of Aincrad, a fledgling guild, now known as the Knights of the Blood Oath, claimed to have found a dungeon which could possibly give out great loot. The guild then announced for all willing players to join its ranks to be able to defeat the dungeon and its boss, promising that all guild members who fight in the dungeon will not have to fight the floor boss which will take place in two weeks. The guild known as the Golden Dawn is willing to join in the dungeon raid, and the group to meet with leader of the Knights of the Blood oath, Commander Heathcliff, to negotiate terms of alliance and discuss the battle plan for the raid.
As the four members of the Golden Dawn walked into the room in an inn that they had decided would be where the meeting would take place, they noticed Heathcliff was wearing a full red suit of armor with a white cape and a red and white shield in the shape of a holy cross. He had long steel-grey hair and brown eyes with a long strand of hair going down his forehead.
"Greetings, I presume you are the members of the Golden Dawn." Heathcliff stated calmly.
"Nice to meet you too." Zak replied.
"I haven't really had the chance to thank you. While we haven't formally met, you all have provided massive help in clearing all of the floor bosses and I hope you will aid us in the current floor boss fight as well."
"Yeah, that's assuming we live through the week." Mark muttered.
The four guild members stood in front of Heathcliff, who stood up from the bed fully face them. "I'm incredibly grateful for your could join us on our raid tomorrow." he spoke. "Though I must ask, what are the names of my new allies?"
They all sat there quietly for a moment but then Zak spoke first "My name is Aurus," he said.
The other three looked at him in surprise, but then nodded.
"Mortio," Ted added.
"Mine is Leo," Mark followed
As eyes fell on Asuna, she shrunk back slightly. "Just, Asuna," she replied, a confused look appearing on her face.
"Okay then, now with all the pleasantries out of the way we can get started." Heathcliff said. "Perhaps we should begin with your guild membership-"
"Wait one minute," Ted stepped forward as he talked. "What if we don't want to join your guild?"
"Oh?" Heathcliff asked.
Mark and Zak looked at each other nervously. "We have our own guild, and we have a pretty good thing going. Your guild isn't that much bigger than ours right now! Why should we start taking orders from you?"
"Why it's the most beneficial for you." Heathcliff explained. "The more people there are in a guild, the more protection you have."
"Prove it then," Ted challenged. "Duel me, if you present enough of a challenge then I'll consider joining, but otherwise, no way!" He glared at Heathcliff with a determined, almost deranged stare.
The commander stayed calm. "If a duel is what you wish for, then I have no problem giving you one." Heathcliff said. "If you win, I'll accept your terms."
"Follow me," Ted commanded. He spun around, leaving the room with Heathcliff. The rest of the Golden Dawn guild following suit.
"Was that part of the plan?" Mark asked.
"Um, kind of? The duel was definitely not." Zak replied, massaging the bridge of his nose.
The group exited the inn. Heathcliff and Ted faced each other in the middle of the path while the other three members of the Golden Dawn stood in front of the door to the inn. Before the rest of the group knew what was happening, the duel began. Ted charged at Heathcliff his sword glowing a crimson red. Heathcliff quickly blocked Mortio's attack with a parry, followed with him charging forward, knocking Ted back with his shield. The aggressor fell to the ground but quickly gets back up and licks his lips.
"Have you had enough?" Heathcliff asked.
"Not even close." Ted growled. He charged again but this time, when he is mere inches away from Heathcliff, instead of striking he jumped up, landing behind Heathcliff. He then struck, leaving a deep gash in Heathcliff's back taking a large chunk out of his health bar. Heathcliff quickly turned around, blocking the second attack with his shield. He then takes out his sword and charges at Ted. He blocked Heathcliff's blade with his own but was once again hit in the face with Heathcliff's shield, knocking him on his back. Both men were breathing heavily and were sweating. Ted charged a third time but this time is blocked by Zak. This intervention canceled the duel.
"What did you do that for?" Ted moans "I just about had him!"
"Don't kid yourself." Zak said sternly "That was a stale mate and you know it, and when it was over you would have become sulky and told him he wasn't good enough out of spite. That's not how we roll." he continued. Ted lived up to the prediction, storming back inside the inn. Zak sighed, turning to face the commander. "Anyway, commander, we will be joining you in your raid but we will not join your guild. Mortio is right, end of discussion."
"But," Heathcliff retorted. "Won't we need to discuss strategy? Tactics? Also coordination of our attacks? This is essential if we're to even stand a chance."
"Nope," Aurus replied firmly. "All we have to do is show up and kill the boss while your guild kills the minions. You yourself might want to help fight the boss, but that's up to you."
Heathcliff was shocked at the arrogance of these players. He sighed. "You're digging your own graves." he muttered solemnly.
"Asuna, go get Mortio, we're going," Zak said in a stern commanding voice that contrasted greatly with his typical laid-back attitude.
While they were walking the streets Asuna asked "Why did you change your names?"
"Because," Zak sighed. "The names we had been using up until now were our real ones, and we decided that giving out our real names wasn't the best idea, you should start calling us by those names too."
"Oh," Asuna said "Is that right?"
"Have you thought about changing your name too?"
Asuna shrugged. "Why would I?"
The next day the group arrived at the dungeon early wanting to get a head start on Heathcliff. They walked through the small stone corridors that were filled with spiders' webs. Every so often they would run into a large spider which Leo would proceed to crush under his club. It wasn't long until they entered the boss room. It was a large, square room, filled with spiders' webs. In the center of the room was the boss a half spider half human. Its name was the Spider Queen Sycorax. She had the abdomen and legs of a gigantic spider but had the upper body of an over-sized human she was wearing black gloves with matching black lipstick. Her eyes were a venomous green that glowed intently. Surrounding her were her minions, large black spiders with red marks on their abdomen. They were large, but lacked the gargantuan nature of their queen.
"Asuna and Leo, get the minions! Mortio and I will take out the queen!" Aurus shouted.
But just as they were about to split up, a barrage of spider webs swirled around them, tying the group up into a cocoon. The group fell to the ground. The four struggled to escape the cocoon of white web but their attempts were in. As the minions closed in, they heard a loud thud as the knights of the blood oath rushed in with Heathcliff leading them in. Heathcliff rushed over to them and cut them free with his sword. The group stood up and watched the members of the Knights of the Blood Oath let out a mighty cry as they battled with the spiders.
"So, you thought you could beat the boss and its minions all on your own did you," Heathcliff stated, a hint of smugness in his voice as he helped Asuna to her feet.
"The thought did cross our minds." Mortio replied with a grin.
"Perhaps, a new strategy is in order." Heathcliff ordered. "Shall we have a go at the boss then since the minions are dealt with?" he asked.
"Don't mind if we do," Mortio replied.
The group of five charge forwards with Mortio and Aurus charging in front of everyone else. Mortio sliced of all of the spider queens' right legs while Aurus severed all her left legs. The boss tumbled to the floor. Asuna and Heathcliff swiftly and repeatedly stabbed the exposed stomach of the beast while Leo jumped and smashed the beast's skull with his club. Heathcliff quickly ran away to avoid the falling body. The corpse collapsed on its side, kicking up dust and debris.
"Ha! Take that!" Mortio exclaimed.
The group of five stared at the corpse of the boss but then looked to its life total. At the start it had 2 heath bars but now it had one. "It's not dead!" Aurus yelled, raising his weapon.
Suddenly, the body of the Sycorax burst into flames although these flames were a fluorescent green instead of the glowing orange that we normally expect. Then the boss's limbs began to grow back and after a few seconds the boss stood up again. Then it started hurling balls of green fire at us that exploded on impact. The respective guild members dodged or defended against the explosive blasts. Heathcliff blocked a projectile with his shield, but the rest of the group had to dodge the barrage of fireballs, retreating slightly.
"We can't get close!" Asuna yelled. "What do we do?"
A loud noise echoed behind them. They turned to see a cloaked figure rush through the door and released volley after volley of arrows each of the arrows glowing a neon orange as it flew through the air. The glow of the arrows died away as soon as they had found its target with perfect accuracy. Within a few minutes the flames that engulfed the boss had died away and its body was covered in arrows. Its HP had finally hit zero, and it shattered into glass shards, floating into the air.
"I'll take it!" Leo cried out gratefully.
As the fighters cheered But when the Aurus turned around to thank the mysterious figure, they were gone. The webs that had once plagued the walls dissipated, and gold began pouring from the holes etched into the cave. Once the boss was defeated, the members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, led by their commander, began to leave the cleared dungeon with experience, treasure, and renewed determination. The Golden Dawn walked out of that room with similar rewards, but a single question lingered with them in their minds. Who was that player?
thank you guys for reading the latest chapter of my sword art online fan fiction and i hope that you enjoyed it. the next chapter will be released on the 20th of April so see you guys then.