The people on the Eleventh Floor looked in surprise at the group that walked down the street. One walked in front and the others fell in a step behind. Everyone knew who they were. They had just made the front page.
Typically, only the leader of a guild or party attended the meeting as the representative for their group. There were so many groups attending that the numbers had to be cut down in order for everyone to fit, and most everyone was wearing clanky armor. This group however, did not bother to do that.
The other Clearers looked at them in surprise. There were KoB and Divine Dragon, Klein was present with his group and there were solo players and other small guilds. Asuna walked out to greet them. She stopped in surprise.
"That looks fitting for your guild," Kirito complimented.
Lyra dipped her head in acknowledgment. The other four members of the Red Hunters stood at something similar to attention. The color of their clothes was as red as blood and black as night. Their Beta symbol was worn in the open.
"Red Hunter Guild reporting in to aid in the defeat of The Wild Whistler," Lyra introduced.
"You are, you are Beta's!" A Divine Dragon said. It was the same one that had started trouble last time.
"Truly?" Lyra feigned surprise. "I never would have guessed."
Klein couldn't help but snicker as he looked at the new guild. The system realized he was focusing on Lyra, so her HP bar came up. Under it was the word Commander. To the left of it was the symbol of her guild. It was shaped like a shield, red with a black border and Beta symbol in the middle. Above the symbol was the number 20.
"Oi, what's the number for?" Klein called out. "I only see five members."
"That's how many red players we have killed," Lyra responded. "All of our totals put together. That number will continue to increase. I would rather it not, but many players have had their cursors painted orange."
"20 kills? For a group of five players?" The Dragon leader whispered. The girl who had the word Commander under her HP bar seemed far too much of a lightweight, and none of her members were even in armor.
Lyra nodded. "Players we can handle. As for monsters… seven died while Merrik and I were here. Nine died when we left. Fighting players is a lot harder than fighting monsters whose movements are already set by the system. With the five of us we should be able to put a dent in the boss."
"We need more than a dent," another called.
"That's what the rest of you are for!" Lyra smiled. "Besides, you get to see our Sword Styles in action. That should help even the odds." Her expression turned serious. She drew her saber, equipped with the red and black color scheme. "Unless you think we can't fight. I'll duel anyone that wants a fight."
No one responded. If what Lyra said was true, then her specialty was in fighting players.
"Asuna, may I come in? I shall stand as the speaker for my guild," Lyra looked at her. Still think I can't wear a uniform?
"Fine," Asuna admitted. "Let's just begin our meeting. We're burning time."
One of the KoB ran between a lightning bolt and its target letting his shield take the damage so it wouldn't hit the attacking player. Lyra didn't let herself slack on the attack but she thanked the player mentally for jumping in. The trick for the lightning is for a group with high attack to attack, and another squad with high defense run interception on the lightning so the attackers can fight in peace. So Raiku's information said. Two bars of The Wild Whistler's HP were left. It had its swords out, whistling all the while.
She fell in step with Jan and Raiku. "Eclipse Style," she shouted to them, saber turning white. They obliged, pausing in their attack for the Skill to charge. "Back up," she shouted a warning to the other attackers. They quickly did so.
Her four fell in step with her. Kirito had already told them that he was one of the about half of Beta's that hadn't figured out how to do Styles in the Beta Test and so couldn't do them now.
They paused for a moment as the Skill charged and then jumped as The Wild Whistler swung all his blades at them. They danced away from them with ease, barely varying their course from the Boss. The four of the Red Hunters with blades engaged The Wild Whistler's four scimitars while Aden went for the boss himself.
The Combo had eleven moves and Aden attacked in unison, his power of one multiplying from the other four using it. Red pixels flew. The Boss's swords were too busy to defend. While one group engages the boss directly, another needs to attack the boss from the back while the Style attacks him from the front.
Their combo ended and the Red Hunters fell back. The KoB that had been attacking his back spun away to. He will put his back against the wall after getting blindsided and use the swords to send out energy waves. So long as you do not attempt to flee, he will not use the big energy wave that he did where the swords were in the diamond pattern.
All four of the Boss's swords glowed white-red and he swung them at varying intervals towards the players. You can't block them, you have to dodge them. The best way to do that is to jump over them or go flat on the ground to duck it. Crescents flew, trailing white and all of the heavy shield bearers went low. Everyone else went high.
They ran towards the crescents, precisely timing their jumps to dodge it. Once he turns to the energy crescents alone he will not create any more lightning so all players can focus on attacking him.
The energy crescents only affect a certain part of the Lair at a time so we should be able to stagger out attacks so one group attacks while the others dodge. Kirito took Squad A, Lyra Squad B, Asuna Squad C, and Klein Squad D. One squad attacked while the others dodged energy waves and moved closer for a strike of their own. Their tactic was not perfect, players were getting hit and heal crystals were being used. If anyone went for the door or teleported out the Boss would unleash its most deadly attack with the swords in a diamond shape so everyone was stuck here.
Its tactic will not change anymore once it switches to this attack pattern. We just have to kill it then.
Merrik jumped in front of Lyra as she ducked low on her strike and raised his sword above his head. The blade turned red. He came down stupendously and the Boss stopped attacking. It shrieked like a banshee and shattered.
All of the players stopped, some midstrike. A moment later, a screen appeared saying "Floor 11 Cleared!" Screens appeared in front of everyone detailing their wins. The assembled players relaxed as they realized they had won.
Merrik had gotten the Last Attack drop. He looked at the item he gained. "Shadow Scimitar," he whispered and tapped equip, curious.
His sword disappeared from his hand and a new one materialized. "Whoa." It was a broadsword, its blade black. Black shadows seemed to swirl just beneath the surface of the metal. A lightning bolt was etched into the blade that seemed to glitter depending on the angle of light. He grinned and raised the blade. "Nice."
Lyra smiled and sat down, saber by her side.
The Divine Dragon Commander that had caused all the problems walked over and kneeled next to her. "Can all Beta's use those Styles?"
"No," Lyra shook her head, fingers near the hilt of her saber in case he tried anything. "Only some of us figured out how to do it on the Beta Test. Only those that did can do it now. There were so few Beta's in the test that we never made guilds. The only parties we had were for fighting Bosses or scouting dungeons. Working solo, most never learned how to do Styles which are only effective in large groups."
"Rin," the Commander finally introduced. "A lot of Beta's are bad but you guys aren't. You're good, in more ways than one. If you Red Hunters ever need help, my Dragons will be there."
"Thank you," Lyra smiled.
Merrik had somehow found the energy to try out a few Sword Skills with his new blade and he enjoyed himself. Everyone else watched, amazed that he could move.
There was a creaking noise, and Merrik paused his attack. Everyone looked at the door to the next level as it opened. Floor 12 was open.
Merrik finally put his new sword onto his back, and crossed his arms curiously as he looked at the doorway of white light that led to Floor 12.
"Hey," he called back to his scattered teammates. "Come on, let's see what's next."
"Merrik…" Raiku sighed.
"Come on, just a quick look."
Lyra shook her head and stood. The other Red Hunters helped each other to their feet and walked to him. Ahead was the new Floor. They walked through it, ready to continue their fight for freedom.
The End
To Be Continued In...
Once a Red Always a Red
Again i'm sorry for the general shortness of the chapters and stories. The next story should be longer. I didn't mention this, but i have a lot more stories then just Sword Art Online. If you like this story you can check out my others.
The diamond pattern mentioned was the same one used at the end of chapter 3 if there's any confusion on that.
I actually don't have a whole lot to say... If you have any questions PM me or leave a review with a question as part of the review. Please leave reviews. If i'm making a continual mistake or something tell me. If i never get reviews from my readers then i don't know how to make my work better. Just don't leave a Flame review. I don't need to be burned because i'm not perfect.
Thank You and keep reading!