I are back with Chapter 9 of FFO. Damn, how come my inspiration only sparks on Thursdays? Not like I had the time during the week. Seriously school! I've been here two weeks and already you're throwing term tests on me?! WHAT THE HELL!

KirisunaSAO: Great to have you back. I share your feeling, I've been scraping time off the sidewalk. The burden I/we carry as a high schooler(s). My discouragement though can only go so far. So far it was 40%. But I have no intention of dropping the story.

2-2Distracted: Lily is a…complicated character. i know you would have read Ch7 to see this and I'll explain what happened to her. Kizuna's is based off Ace from Final Fantasy Type 0. My favourite from Type 0. Anyway thanks for your support.

Disclaimer: Every night, I cry myself to sleep knowing and asking why Japan did this. They Sword Art Online, Final Fantasy. What will they think of next?

Chapter 9: A Team United

Year 2023 January 2:30pm

Location: Floor 5 – Floor Entrance

{Final Fantasy XV: The Niflheim Empire}

Watching the hundreds of airships flying above them in the rain was…haunting. The same feeling of dread loomed among them when they heard they were trapped in FFO. The fear of dying. It was terrifying.

The 8 just stood on the fields of floor 5. It seemed like they stood there forever, just watching the empire above. Finally, Yami looked forward and started to move. This got the party to look at the raid leader. "Yami, where are you going?" Lumino asked.

"Isn't it obvious? The main settlement of this floor. If we leave now, we'll be able to make it before nightfall."

"Right. Kizuna, do you remember the fastest route to Spriggan."

"Yeah, it's the path through the ruins. We should leave now."

"How do you already know a path if nobody has been on this floor?" Yami asked. The two froze up at the question. The only person who knew about their status was Tsukino and Raiden. And this was a…touchy subject for other players.

Lumino sighed. He knew this day would come. "Well, as much as we hate this status, we're beta testers," Lumino answered.

"I don't see why you would hate it. That just means you're lucky to me," Yami said.

"Yeah, if you can consider half of the population in FFO wanting you to suffer."

3:00pm

Location: Eastern Valley

The eight survivors continued their trek to Spriggan until a trademark question was asked, "Yami, do you want to join our party?" Lumino asked.

"I don't know. The boat seems full," she replied.

"It can hold one more."

"I'll think about it. I'll give you my answer when we reach Spriggan,"

"I see."

"Lumino! The Nifs!" Kizuna called. An imperial dropship hovered above them. The wind it produce made the party colder. The hatch doors opened to reveal a squad of imperial riflemen.

{Final Fantasy XV: Veiled in Black 1}

"I've had enough of these assholes," Lumino muttered. The party was still angry at the imperials, attacking with as much brutality.

But the most brutal had been Yami.

She sliced a rifleman twice across the chest, stabbed it through the forehead and swung her sword down ripping it in half. She used the skill [Lions Roar] slicing the air horizontally letting a wave of wind destroy the soldiers.

Another ship holding the soldiers didn't get the chance to land and deploy the troops as Lily cast Tricast: Thunder on it out of rage. The airship cashed down in flames and blew up.

{End of Soundtrack}

[Exp: 130/ Gil: 5000]

"Alright, let's keep going," Ronen said.

"Right, the sooner we reach Spriggan, the sooner this ends," Tsukino replied. The party proceeded to move forward through the valley. The stone walls around them made them a bit claustrophobic, mainly the red headed spearwoman.

The eight reached a spilt in the valley. Apparently this place never existed in the beta, making Kizuna unsure of which path to take. He tried to use his track skill but it didn't work. "This is bad," Kizuna said.

"Scarlet, how fast are you with Shin carrying you?" Tsukino asked. This was news to the boys and Yami.

"Really fast. I think I know what you want me to do Tsuki and I'm on it." Scarlet said removing the azure crystal. She summoned the baby dragon and told him what was going to happen. The small flying lizard grabbed onto the red head's back and shot down the right path.

"Now we just wait for her to come back," Lumino said. "By the way how come, after all this time, we didn't know about the dragon?"

"It kinda slipped our minds," Tsukino said rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"How does something as cool as that 'slip your mind'?" Raiden asked nobody still looking to the path the spearwoman flew down.

3:45pm

Scarlet descended from the sky back from the scout. "I'm back!" she announced

"What took you?" Ronen asked.

"I followed both the paths," she said landing. She pointed to the right path. "This way leads to another village and a clearing." She pointed to the left way, "This leads to some busted ruins."

"Then we head left," Yami deduced.

"Although something was wrong," Scarlet said.

"What?" Raiden asked.

"I couldn't see Spriggan. A few small villages but not a floor's main settlement."

"Of course you can't see it. Spriggan is underground," Lumino said like it was the most normal thing in the world. The rest of the party, except for Kizuna, looked shocked.

Out of nowhere, Scarlet was holding a shovel while Raiden had a pickaxe and a miner's hat. "Then we dig!" Scarlet cheered.

"Right!" Raiden cheered as the two started digging on the spot causing the whole team to sweatdrop.

"Hold it, I mean Spriggan is right in here," Lumino said knocking on the valley wall which divided the path. Their eyes turned to stars as they went to dig up the walls. Tsukino and Ronen had to hold them back since if they dug the walls, they would have destroyed the hidden city.

4:15pm

Location: Sprigga Ruins

{Final Fantasy XV: Encroaching Fear}

The team made it to the ruins they were looking for. Lumino and Kizuna were on high alert. This made the rest of the team on high alert. Kizuna's eyes turned green activating his tracker vision. He saw about 65 red outlines.

"Yep, we got a Nif infestation," the card user said.

"What's our plan?" Lumino asked.

"Fastest go in first and we follow up."

"Just perfect," Raiden complained.

"Don't get killed Rairai," Scarlet said with a smile.

"That doesn't really help." Lumino and Raiden stepped up.

{Final Fantasy XV: Veiled in Black 2}

Raiden threw one dagger into a soldier's head. Both he and Lumino jumped from their perch beginning their assault. Lumino sliced a soldier in half allowing Raiden to vault over him and stab another in the head.

When Lumino recovered from the surprise vault, he saw a solider about to stab him with the blade on his rifle. A spear was driven through the head of the soldier. "Don't let your guard down, Light!" Scarlet grinned.

"I know," Lumino answered. He charged to the other areas with the soldiers. The snipers were quickly eliminated with the magic from Kizuna and Lily. Tsukino even helped to keep them at bay switching from gun to sword. "Yami!" Tsukino called.
"I understand!" she yelled back using Lions Roar to cut through 3 soldiers. They fell as Raiden blitzed past getting his second dagger and linking with Ronen. The greatsword user followed his attack with Tempest to destroy the gunners.

All of them died. But it wasn't over yet. A ship hovered over them dropping soldiers with razor sharp swords. Their hands opened a part of their wrists to shoot a harpoon of some sorts. Kizuna put up a wall as everyone regrouped behind it.

"What are those? Not your regular soldiers,"

"Magitek Troopers, or MTs for short. Kizuna, got a plan?" Lumino asked. The card user fired a Jackpot shot interrupting the attack and answering, "Attack! That's the plan!"

"If you say so. Ronen, launch me!" Ronen did so as Lumino got on the greatsword and was launch high in the air. Ronen then swung his sword like a baseball bat, but on the flat side, as the raven came down and was hit in the direction of the MTs at high speeds.

He summoned his sword stabbing one in the face while throwing the Thundara flask on the floor, electrocuting the surrounding MTs. Everyone took this as an opportunity to attack.

Tsukino slice horizontally twice and kicked an MT high into the air. She leaped following after it and used Smite to destroy it.

Kizuna used his cards to juggle one of the MTs launched by Tsukino. He then used burst sending it crashing down and following with a Jackpot Shot piercing 3 of them.

Ronen used a new skill [Dawnhammer] to crush the MTs and followed with a Tempest and finished with a 360° spin slicing up a number of MTs.

Scarlet knocked a number of MTs into a pile by swinging her spear around. She then launched into the air and brought her spear down on the MTs causing a number to explode.

Raiden sliced a number of MTs around him leaving numerous cuts on them. Afterwards he threw his daggers to each of their heads knocking them off.

Yami used Lions Roar to cut the numerous MTs around her. Seeing as five of them were in a straight line, she charged her sword using Severing Strike. She blitzed past them with a single cut as all 5 were severed in half.

"Everyone! Step back!" Lily called. She had been focused for a while now. Four magical orbs glowed around her sceptre. They all shot to the field of MTs. First the spell had a quake followed with a gust of wind, next slashing a small wave of water. The water froze in to a sharp iceberg. Lightning struck the area and it finally burst into flames. All that was left was a floor of ash.

{End of Soundtrack}

[Exp: 5110/ Gil: 20000]

"Woah," Raiden muttered in awe.

"What was that?" Scarlet asked.

"A spell called [Element]," Lily managed to say before losing her balance. The blond card user managed to catch her in time. "Sorry…element…takes a…lot out of me."

"Don't worry about it," Kizuna said. He got out a few cards with a yellow glow to them. The cards became a yellow magic fusing with Lily. The girl got a bit more energy than before. But she was still dizzy. Kizuna offered to help her until she could walk straight.

5:00pm

Location: Spriggan Gate

The 8 had finally reached the gate, however it was locked. And not easily locked, it was sealed like a barricade. There didn't seem to be any other way in. This was another little change from the beta.

{Final Fantasy XV: Invidia}

A Niflheim airship was above them, "You did well to get this far," a voice over a loud speaker said. The doors opened to reveal a red armour wearing brunette standing next to a magitek armour.

[The MA-X Cuirass]

The unknown general climbed into the MA and leaped down. "It was all in vain. Prepare to die at the hands of the crimson general of Niflheim, Loqi Tummelt!" the new enemy yelled landing in the clearing to kill the 8.

The eight summoned their weapons. The robot started firing missiles at the team. Kizuna summoned a wall to keep everyone safe. The robot started to fire lasers at the wall. "Everyone, scatter!" Kizuna called.

Everyone ran into their different directions as they watched the wall shatter. Lumino and Tsukino ran up to the mech and leapt up, crossing each other's direction, moon slashing the MA's top. "Useless," the general taunted.

A grey magic shot to the robot stopping its movements. Scarlet dropped onto the robot stabbing its head. "Down you go!" she yelled pulling the mech down with her spear. Ronen was just in time as he used Tempest to break off the missile launcher.

"Raiden!" Yami called charging up her severing strike.

"Keep up, Yami!" the spikey blond taunted. Both he and Yami shot off at blinding speeds. Yami using Severing Strike while Raiden slashed outward with both his daggers. Suddenly, thunder struck down when Lily fired her spell.

The MA got up from the brutal assault. However only half of its heal was gone. 4 turrets emerged in every direction, firing a hailstorm of bullets.

The fastest members of the team attracted the attention of the mech while Ronen and Yami could slice the turrets off. With ¾ of the health gone, the MA was on its last legs.

Raiden used a few slashes cutting up the robot and ducked allowing Scarlet to vault and attack from above. Ronen used dawnhammer and ducked allowing Yami to use Lions roar. Kizuna used a giga burst enhanced with enthunder, curtesy of Lily, casting Thundara. Lumino and Tsukino both used [Blitz] and stabbed the robot. While their blades were inside, the forced another blitz ripping the robot apart.

{End of Soundtrack}

The mecha's HP hit zero. The betas fought magitek armour before and knew exactly how they died. Lumino warned the entire team to take cover. The MA erupted in a big flashy explosion.

[Exp: 709/ Gil: 5500]

"Alright, we did it!" Lumino cheered. The 8 survivors went and opened the sealed blockade, preventing their way to Spriggan. "Lumino," Yami called.

"What's wrong," Lumino asked.

"I believe I've found my answer."

"To what?"

"Your earlier request. It's never boring around you people. It allows me to forget my worries and fight my hardest. So I accept. I'll join you," Yami said stretching out her hand.

"Thanks," Lumino said shaking her hand. He sent the party request. When Yami accepted, Lumino cheered, "We got eight members! Raiden, let's grab a picture of this."

"Alright!" Raiden cheered excited. He set up the stand and put on the time. "Ready or not," he called sprinting to the group. They all got their photo taken on that sunset after a battle.

An eternal group of friends, ready to take on divine challenges.

That is done. Yikes, my back hurts. Now, I will work on the next chapter. And pray to get 500 bucks to get FFX remastered and pray Square Enix announces the release date for FF7 Remake. May the Crystal Guide you. And me to find time Nd a way out of this hell.( You guys know exactly what I'm talking about)