Chapter 14- The Demon King
The group had finally reached the final floor of Temporal Tower, with the spire being a stone's throw away, standing in front of the stairs leading up. The fights had become much harder the higher they went. Not only did the group have to battle monsters, but the Tower's guardians as well. Klaus explained that the guardians were meant to keep monsters out of the tower, but after the fall of Arc Sophia, the guardians were corrupted by the darkness and joined the monsters.
Both Frank and Marth felt very uneasy about being so close to the spire.
Meg noticed this and asked, "Brother, Marth, are you feeling alright? We can take a break if you need to."
They both shook their heads. "I'm okay. It's just," Frank said while holding his right arm with his left, "I feel a dark presence above us, and it's super powerful."
"You sense it too?" Zeke questioned.
"I do too," Marth added. "Do you have any idea what it could be?"
The masked Torna leader nodded. "I have a hunch on who it is but pray that I am mistaken. If I'm not, then none of us will probably get out of here alive."
"Great," Ethan said in mock excitement. "I just love going to my own death."
Poppi slapped her Driver upside the head. "That is not helping morale, Ethan. Try to keep those comments to yourself."
Ethan winced from the pain. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry! It slipped."
The corridor went silent. "Let's go," Frank said finally.
The group proceeded up the staircase. Soon they found themselves on Temporal Spire. Ruined stone columns made of the same stone were scattered everywhere. In the center of the spire was an altar. Above the group was a colossal black vortex swirling around a purple crack in the sky, emitting lightning of the same color.
Suddenly Marth tensed up as he sensed a dark presence. "Someone's here!" he growled.
"Finally," a voice boomed. "You have arrived at last, Marth, Mythra."
"Who said that?!" Thorrnn shouted as she scanned the area. "Show yourself!"
A man in a black cloak appeared in front of the altar. He had a hood over his face and appeared to be unarmed, but he also had a threatening aura around him.
"Who are you?!" Malos demanded as he drew his sword.
The man chuckled. "I am Jarrod, the Demon King, and the second in command of Zeta, the God of Darkness. I have been waiting a long time for this moment."
Marth gasped in shock while Frank's eyes widened. "Did you just say 'Jarrod'?" the Aegis Driver questioned. "Are you the same Jarrod who bullied me and my friends back on Earth?"
"Oh, goodness no. That boy isn't related to me in the slightest! I am much worse than some school bully." Jarrod removed his hood, revealing his midnight-black hair and glowing red eyes.
"What do you want?!" Kirito exclaimed.
"It's a long story. Long ago, when there was only one world, my master wished to plunge it in shadow," Jarrod explained. "He succeeded and laid the land to ruin. However, the mortals were too stubborn to accept defeat and tried desperately to defeat the Army of Shadow. Eventually a young man, a girl, and their friends climbed up this very tower in an attempt to destroy my master, and free their world from the darkness. The young man carried a sword of light and shadow, and with the help of the girl, landed the final blow to kill Zeta. However, Zeta was cunning. In his final moments, Zeta used what little remained of his power and split his soul into fragments, scattering them across time, allowing him to go into slumber and conquer multiple worlds when he regained his strength.
"I was there watching as he learned of my master's intent. The boy refused to have other worlds suffer the same fate as his, so he used his power to split his own soul into fragments, allowing him to be reborn in many worlds to fight against Zeta when he awakened. His name…was Zane, now known only as the Twilight Hero. And those two," Jarrod gestured to Marth and Frank, "are two of his reincarnations."
"What?!" the group shouted in shock.
"We're…Zane's…reincarnations?" Marth stuttered.
"The girl, also known as Celine, the Dawn Priestess, then split her soul as well. She cared deeply for Zane and refused to let him face my master alone. Two of her reincarnations are here as well." He gestured to Mythra and Yuuki. "Though they go by different names and look very different, they are two of Celine's reincarnations."
Once more, the group was shocked.
"That can't be?!" Mythra retorted. "I'm not a human! I'm a Blade! Blades aren't born the same way as humans!"
Jarrod laughed cynically. "When it comes to magic, anything is possible. It matters not what you are, the soul remains the same. However, before Zane split his soul, he discovered me watching and sealed me in the Sword of Light and Shadow, so I couldn't help my master. For millennia, I was trapped in the Lunaris. But in the World of SAO… something unexpected happened. The sword split in two, becoming the Lunara and Solaris."
"What?!" Marth exclaimed in disbelief. "How is that possible?"
"The Lunaris is bound to its champion," Jarrod explained. "It will always alter itself to match the champion's fighting style in that world so that he can use it. The reason the sword split in your world, Marth, is because of your Dual-Wielding skill. In fact, I should thank you for that. The seal keeping me trapped in the sword was weakened when it became the Lunara, and when you came to retrieve it…"
The Dark Swordsman's eyes widened in realization. "You were let out. So it is you after all. I remember that me, Kirito, Asuna, Klein, and Yuuki fought you at the Temple of Twilight. But you should be dead. I killed you myself!"
"True, you did kill my physical form, or should I say my virtual form, but my spirit survived and found it's way here. It was then that I found out that remnants of Lord Zeta's power remain in the spire. It allowed me to regenerate my body, and I could begin preparations for my master's return."
"What are you talking about?!" Jin demanded. "I thought you said your master was gone."
"But remember, I said that Lord Zeta was not slain. He currently sleeps, slowly regaining his strength so that he can bring destruction once more. By sacrificing certain souls, I can use the power remaining in Temporal Tower to hasten Zeta's return, so he can destroy this world."
Marth gritted his teeth. "And what souls do you need to sacrifice?" he asked, already guessing the answer.
"The soul remnants of the Twilight Hero and the Dawn Priestess would do nicely," Jarrod explained. "However, though their spirits are powerful, not all remnants are equal in power. You see, when Zane and Celine split their spirits, they unintentionally weakened themselves. This also caused an imbalance of power between their soul fragments. Here's an example: while Mythra, Celine's Alrestian Remnant, is exceptionally powerful, Yuuki is much weaker than her. Another is that Frank is not as powerful as Mythra, despite being from the same world as her. That power difference is what kept me from capturing the both of them, since it wasn't enough to awaken my master. To make up for this, I used Temporal Tower, which is connected to all worlds, to search the dimensions, looking for any other Twilight Remnants of the hero who is equal in power to the Aegis. When I found the Remnant you know as Marth, who met such requirements, I used the tower to create a rift between his world and this one to bring him here, though it also brought his friends here as well."
"You're the one who created the spacial rift!?" Frank shouted in anger.
"But of course. I knew that once Gleam Eyes was slain, that Marth had arrived. However, instead of trying to capture him and Mythra, I chose to let them come to me. Once I offer up your souls, I can unite Zeta's Remnants that dwell within the two worlds, allowing him to awaken once more."
"You're insane if you think we'll help you with your crazy plan!" Mythra retorted.
"Yeah!" Yuuki added. "I won't let you sacrifice my boyfriend or Mythra!"
Jarrod smirked. "Who said I was giving you a choice?"
Suddenly a magic circle appeared below the group. Marth and Mythra, out of pure instinct, back flipped away from the circle, while everyone else was consumed by an explosion of black energy. The Dark Swordsman and the Aegis watched in horror as the dust cleared and revealed the others on laying on the ground, unable to move.
"No!" Marth and Mythra shouted.
Jarrod laughed cynically. "Very impressive, Marth, Mythra. I should've expected as much since you are equal in power. That gives me more of a challenge trying to capture you both. I do love a good challenge."
Marth gritted his teeth as he faced the Aegis. "You up for a fight?"
Mythra simply smirked as her Aegis Sword appeared in her right hand. "Of course. We can't let him get away with this."
Marth drew his swords and charged at the demon, with Mythra close behind. Jarrod quickly summoned a large two-handed sword, as well as covered himself in crimson red armor, and quickly parried the duo's attacks. Marth then fired a blast of lightning from Lunara, but Jarrod easily dodged it.
"This'll be tough," Marth said.
"Well, what did you expect?" Mythra replied. "He did incapacitate our friends with a single attack."
Suddenly Jarrod fired a barrage of dark magic missiles at the duo, but Mythra protected them with her defense barrier. Unfortunately, she missed one, and when she lowered the barrier, the missile hit her right in the chest, forcing her to her knees.
"Mythra!" Frank exclaimed in worry before he felt the injury reflect onto him.
"One down," Jarrod remarked. "Now for you, Dark Swordsman!" Jarrod fired another barrage of dark magic missiles at the duo.
Suddenly Marth got in front of Mythra and readied Lunara while also putting Solaris back in its scabbard.
"What are you doing?" Mythra questioned.
Marth simply smirked. "Just watch." Marth swung Lunara around a few times before resting it on his shoulders, prompting the blade to glow blue, as he activated Deadly Sins. When the nearest projectile was in range, Marth swung Lunara down at it, cutting through the base of the spell. He then spun before slashing through several more projectiles. He concluded the Sword Skill by performing a backflip and cutting through the remaining projectiles with Lunara.
Everyone, minus Kirito, who grinned, was shocked at the sight as smoke enveloped the Dark Swordsman, who retained his confident smirk.
"He cut through spells," Asuna said in disbelief.
"How is that possible?" Ethan asked.
Even Jarrod was stunned. "How did you do that?"
"Easy," Marth replied confidently. "Compared to a bullet from a high-powered rifle, knocking down high-speed spells is nothing." He turned around and offered his free hand to Mythra. "This isn't over yet. Let's put this guy in his place."
The Aegis smirked before taking Marth's hand, allowing the Spriggan to help her to her feet. "You read my mind."
The others were still in recovery from Jarrod's spell, so all they could do was watch.
"Jarrod is powerful, as well as his defenses," Mythra said as Marth redrew Solaris. "But if we can land a strong enough blow that can pierce through his armor, that should be the end of him."
"Sounds good to me. Let's go!"
Marth and Mythra charged at the Demon King, but he forced them back with magical explosions. One of the explosions caused the stone floor underneath Marth to crumble, causing him to fall in.
"Marth!" Yuuki shouted in worry.
Suddenly Marth flew out of the hole, black Spriggan wings on his back.
"You can fly?!" Mythra exclaimed in shock as the Spriggan landed next to her.
Marth looked over his shoulders and noticed his wings. "Yeah, in ALO, everyone can fly. I didn't think it would work here though, not that I'm complaining." An idea then appeared in Marth's head. However, before he could share it with the Aegis, they had to hide behind a stone pillar to avoid a dark energy beam from Jarrod.
"I just realized something. If I can access my ALO powers, maybe I can access my avatars from other games."
"Well what are you waiting for? Give it a try!"
Marth closed his eyes as he focused his thoughts of his time in GGO. Suddenly the Dark Swordsman was surrounded by silver light. His hair turned silver and grew to waist length, while his face became more feminine. His trench coat gained a silver chestplate while its colors inverted. Lunara morphed into a silver deactivated photon sword while Solaris disappeared. An FN-97 then appeared in a holster that was strapped to Marth's waist. Marth then opened his eyes, revealing them to be a sapphire-b;ue.
"Uh," Mythra said. "Did you just switch genders?"
Marth examined himself before answering. "No," his voice was a little higher pitched too. "I'm still a guy. This is my avatar from GGO. It just looks very feminine."
"I bet that was fun," Mythra said with a mischievous smirk.
Marth groaned. "More like a pain. Guys constantly kept hitting on me. It got super annoying real quick. Anyway," he activated his photon sword, revealing a silver energy blade while drawing his firearm with his other hand, "we have a fight to finish."
The duo then charged at Jarrod, who was shocked at Marth's appearance change. "You're stronger than I thought, Marth. You've learned how to access your different abilities in the heat of battle. Most impressive."
Jarrod then unleashed a barrage of dark spells at the duo. Marth smirked as he saw red pathlines for each of the spells. He proceeded to cut through the spells with his photon sword while Mythra used Foresight to avoid the spells. They soon closed the distance between them and the Demon King.
Jarrod attempted to raise his sword in defense, but Marth fired a round from his gun, hitting the demon's shoulder and allowing Mythra to strike the demon with Lightning Buster, which was a downward slash followed by a spin attack.
"I won't lose here!" Jarrod proclaimed. "Not when I'm so close!"
Mythra then fired a particle beam from her Artifice down on the demon, stunning him, as well as knocking his sword away. The Demon King's armor was covered with cracks.
"Too bad," Marth said as he switched to his SAO avatar. Lunara reappeared and his gun was replaced by Light Repulser. "But that's exactly what's going to happen. Starburst Stream!"
Marth then unleashed the devastating 21-hit Sword Skill on the demon, making deep gashes in the demon's chest and destroying what remained of his armor.
Jarrod promptly fell to his knees as he struggled to breathe. "Impossible. H-how could I lose?"
"You made the mistake of underestimating us," Mythra remarked as Marth returned to his ALO avatar, regaining Solaris.
Their comrades soon rose to their feet. They all praised the duo for defeating the Demon King on their own. In their relief to see their friends' alright, Marth and Mythra failed to see Jarrod slowly approach the altar.
"How?" Jarrod said as he clutched his wounded side. "This was not supposed to happen. I was to use Marth and Mythra to revive my master and plunge this world into despair."
Marth overheard this and scoffed. "Don't you know anything?" he said. "The future isn't set in stone. We make our own destiny, not let someone else choose it for us."
The Demon King growled in frustration. "It seems I have no choice. If I cannot offer up you and the Aegis, then I will use a substitute instead!"
"What do you mean?" Zeke questioned fiercely.
Suddenly a barrier surrounded the altar, preventing the group from attacking the demon. They could only watch as Jarrod was being consumed in dark fire.
"What's he doing?" Silica asked in fear.
"No," Klaus said, horror etched in his voice. "Jarrod's offering his own soul to revive his master. He must be stopped now!?"
Despite their best efforts, no one in the group could break through the barrier, not even Marth and Mythra, who were both using their full power. A pillar of dark light shot out of the altar, straight to the vortex's core. The group had to shield their eyes to avoid from being blinded by the intense light.
"Lord Zeta," Jarrod chanted. "Accept my offering and be free to wreak havoc on this world. Plunge it into despair and crush anyone who resists."
The Demon King's body then disappeared, as did the pillar of light. However, the vortex grew stronger as the rift began to open. The sky grew dark as two orbs of dark red light descended to the altar, before the orbs merged into one. A man in black armor, which seemed to be made of hardened darkness, then emerged from the shadows of the altar. His eyes were pure black with not a single trace of light in them. Draped on his back was a crimson red cape. Strapped to his waist was a large black sword.
"At last," the man boomed. "After thousands of years, I am finally free!"
Marth gripped his swords tightly. "He's here," the Spriggan said, fear on the edge of his voice. "Zeta, the God of Darkness."
Zeta let out a cynical laugh as he looked directly at Marth and the other Remnants. "Well, well. Long time no see, Zane, Celine. Now then…prepare to die!?" Zeta prepared to unleash a large beam of dark energy on the four.
To be continued