Floor 75
Collinia
October 20, 2024
Malia sat next to Kirito underground the arena; it wouldn't be long until the duel started and the young woman could feel the excitement in the air and hear it as well. Kirito was holding onto her hand not looking very nervous while Asuna was pacing in front of the couple. "When I saw your dual-wielding the other day, I thought your strength was on another level," Asuna spoke with worry heavy in her voice, "But the commander has a unique skill too…"
"We know," Malia spoke softly, "We've seen it several times during boss fights."
Kirito nodded, "Divine Blade," Kirito spoke with a sigh, "It maximizes attack and defense power. The attack is strong, but that defense is incredible." Kirito felt Malia squeeze his hand in silent reassurance; Kirito wasn't worried at all because he wasn't losing anything in this duel, well, perhaps some of his reputation would take a hit but he wasn't particularly concern with that. Kirito just wanted to take Malia and go somewhere far away.
"No one has really ever seen his HP bar fall into the yellow zone." Asuna added while fidgeting with her fingers.
Malia huffed, "His skill is vastly overpowered." And completely unfair in duels but when battling powerful bosses, it probably saved lives.
"Why aren't you very concern if you lose, Kirito?" Asuna asked with a frown; she felt like she was the only one really freaking out about this duel.
Kirito and Malia exchanged glances and shrugged in unison, "The only thing I can lose is my reputation but I don't really care about that so," Kirito explained to Asuna, "Heathcliff cares more for show than I do and he already approved your request to leave the Guild."
Asuna nodded with understanding, "I…I just can't help but to feel like Heathcliff has some other motive for dueling you." Asuna mumbled.
"He probably has," Malia sniffed indifferently, "But imagine the uproar when Heathcliff beats Kirito—the Black Swordsman—in duel even against Kirito's duel blades? Players would flock to join the Knights." Malia found it was the only other logical reason why Heathcliff was so intent on fighting Kirito…perhaps that and to test out Kirito's strength.
"Malia, don't you have a unique skill, too? Asuna questioned with furrowed eyebrows.
"Yeah," Malia replied somewhat gloomily; the memory of Rowan giving up his NPC life replaying in her mind, "I rarely use it." Asuna noticed her best friend's sudden change of emotion but it was Kirito who spoke next.
"You never use it," It was his turn to squeeze her soft hand, "Because it brings back memories about Rowan, right?"
Malia gave a curt nod and grumbled crankily, "It's called Dragon Aspect," Asuna and Kirito did not fail to notice the scowl and sourness on Malia's face, "From what the description says I can only use it once per day and I take on the aspects of dragon meaning I gain the strength of a dragon by delivering colossal blows and I basically receive their armored hide for defense."
Asuna asked with soft curiosity, "Why didn't you use it—"
"I didn't think about using it and besides, everything happened so fast and none of us were expecting that stupid snake tail to strike back." Malia replied with some ice in her voice but Asuna didn't take her tone to heart. "But as we get higher and higher into more dangerous boss fights, I will have no choice but to use my unique skill." Malia had long ago made peace with the fact that Kayaba had given her the unique skill for some reason and made a quest specifically designed for her…Malia couldn't know why unless she asked the jackass himself but that was impossible due to her situation.
Perhaps one day, she would know why.
"Well, I don't plan on loosing easily," Kirito changed the subject; since he didn't like Malia's gloomy and forlorn expression, "I don't have anything to lose but I'm a rather sore loser." Kirito smirked at Malia and Asuna.
Asuna rolled her eyes and muttered, "Idiot."
Malia giggled and kissed Kirito on the cheek, "I guess it'll be my job to cheer you up if you lose, eh?" Kirito's eyes brightened at the prospect while Asuna gagged and started whining that the Malia needed to calm down and keep her raging hormones in check.
"Maybe I will lose." Kirito mused.
Asuna, whom had a blush on her face, muttered again, "Idiots."
Malia wore a bored expression on her face as Heathcliff and Kirito stood in the middle of the arena. The stone underneath her feet shook with the roaring cheers from all the excited players waiting to see a legendary duel happen. She and her guild sat nearest to the ground, unlike other players who had to pay to get good seats, Malia simply used her intimidating reputation to get the best seats possible.
Other players feared her for whatever reason and although it annoyed Malia because she was anything but a cold-hearted dragon girl, sometimes the reputation came in handy. Unlike Malia, her friends were all excited to see the duel, which they all expressed apologizes to their leader in respect, before cheering and placing bets. Malia couldn't blame them because some part of her was a little bit curious on how this duel would turn out.
"This is even better than when Malia and Kirito dueled at the ball." Jordan giggled like a school girl as he stuffed his face with popcorn.
"Nothing will ever be top that duel." Elaina snorted as she grabbed stuffed her face too. Malia didn't fail to take notice how close Elaina and Jordan were growing as of recently. Agil sat next to her and nudged at the dragon girl to gain her attention.
Malia looked at him and he whispered in her ear, "I told you."
Malia scowled at him but there was a smile on her face; Agil had told her that Jordan and Elaina were getting rather cozy with each other one day very long ago when Agil and Malia had gone off to do quests together. Malia had laughed at the idea when it was first brought up but ever since then the leader has noticed the subtlety between the two tanks.
The idea has struck Malia as impossible—Elaina was often severely blunt and aggressive while Jordan was laid-back and often times quiet. To Malia, they were the definition of polar opposites but as time went on and Malia kept a close eye on the tanks, the idea started to become less impossible and more possible. In this moment, Malia found that if they were together that it was basically a perfect match because they both balanced each other out and it made Malia happy.
She was happy whenever she saw her friends', basically her family, were genuinely happy despite the horrendous situation they were in. Agil chuckled and offered her some dried meat he snuck in because Agil was cheap and wasn't going to pay for expensive arena snacks. It was one of the things that made Agil and Malia such good friends despite the difference in age was that both players loved being cheap.
Malia turned back to her husband and Heathcliff—words were calmly exchanged between the two but the distance and the roar of the crowds made it hard for Malia to hear even with her high-leveled hearing. A few seconds later, Heathcliff sent the duel and the message popped up in front of Kirito. Malia felt herself leaning into Agil's shoulder with anticipation and nerves and Agil patted the top of her head with a chuckle.
"You doubt his skills?" Agil asked.
"No," Malia's answer was firm and without hesitation, "But I'd be a fool to doubt Heathcliff skills."
Agil hummed in agreement.
Kirito accepted the duel and a timer popped up between the two players. The crowd had now gone quiet; all watching and waiting anxiously to see the two possibly top players in SAO locked in a duel. Kirito unsheathed his dual blades and Heathcliff followed suit as the counter reached thirty seconds. Heathcliff had a passive expression on his face while Kirito kept his almost unreadable. For those who didn't know Kirito, it was a hell of a good poker face but for Malia and Asuna and Agil who knew the beta player best, it was easy to tell that he nervous because losing wasn't in Kirito's nature.
When the counter hit zero, Kirito attacked first. His figure darting insanely fast towards Heathcliff who was quick enough to block Kirito's attack. Kirito unleashed a series of well-placed jabs but Heathcliff's shield took most of the blows without stagger; Heathcliff placed a well-timed push of his shield towards Kirito and sent the Black Swordsman flying back.
This time, Heathcliff attacked and charged at Kirito.
It took a lot of people by surprise when Heathcliff attacked with his shield and slammed his shield into Kirito's side. "He attacks with his shield?" Jordan gasped.
"His strength and endurance must be severely high to able to attack so fluently." Sachi flinched as Kirito was hit with that large and powerful shield. Asuna sat next to Malia fidgeting with her fingers because she felt like she should have told Kirito that Heathcliff liked to attack with his shield, though it was rare when her former commander did so.
Kirito slid back and looked up to see Heathcliff charging again and his shield in front. Malia almost wanted to jump in and wipe the smirk off of Heathcliff's face. Heathcliff and Kirito exchanged blows for a spilt second before both players staggered back slightly. Kirito changed a powerful attack and jammed his blades right into Heathcliff's shield but Heathcliff brushed the attack off with a swipe of his shield.
Kirito and Heathcliff faced each other; since the arena was shrouded in silence now Malia was able to hear Heathcliff when he said to Kirito, "Splendid reaction time." The smirk was ever present on Heathcliff's face.
Kirito swirled his blades with an eager, almost feral expression, "And your defense is impregnable."
The crowd began screaming in excitement as both players began attacking one another; their bodies' blurs of movement as they sped around the arena exchanging blow after blow. You could hear them grunting whenever the other placed a particularly heavy blow. Kirito was gaining momentum and Malia knew he was waiting for the perfect movement before he unleashed the full extent of his unique skill.
Heathcliff had managed to seen an opening between Kirito's rapid attack and managed to slice Kirito's cheek but the wound had only spurred Kirito on because he got faster in his attacks and managed to retaliate the wound by giving one to Heathcliff on his cheek. Heathcliff looked stunned as if blown away that Kirito managed to strike him and then had a steely expression of anger on his face.
Kirito unleashed a barrage of powerful strikes that finally managed to stagger Heathcliff's defense and the shield aside; it paved a clear opening for Kirito to potentially end the duel by delivering a devastating blow to Heathcliff's skull. Malia jumped forward with excitement as Kirito's eyes narrowed and saw the opening and he plunged his sword forward.
And while it looked like Kirito was about to win, Heathcliff somehow managed to bring his shield up and block the attack. Malia's mouth dropped open in complete disbelief as Kirito hit the shield and stumbled forward. Heathcliff, with that stupid smirk on his face, stabbed Kirito in the back during his stumble. Kirito's health bar fell into the yellow zone and he fell onto the ground.
Heathcliff had won but Malia had a feeling it was because somehow he had cheated. There was no way that Heathcliff could have deflected that attack when his shield had been staggered and somehow in less than a spilt second had recovered to block the attack; no, it was impossible and it couldn't have been Heathcliff's unique skill.
Kirito was in slight shock over what happened and when looked over to Malia; the Dragon girl was already in the arena with fury in her eyes. Kirito knew she must have seen what happened though it was obvious that others did not. Heathcliff was about to leave but Malia's words shocked the Commander.
"I want a duel."
Kirito wanted to smirk at the expression that placed over Heathcliff's face. Whatever Heathcliff did…Malia had seen and it set Heathcliff off. The crowd went into a frenzy of excitement now cheering for a duel between Heathcliff and The Mother of Dragons. Heathcliff wasn't in a position to even refuse.
Malia smirked when the Commander swallowed uneasily but steeled his expression, "Fine, it'll be another notch under my belt beating both the Black Swordsman and the Mother of Dragons." Heathcliff snorted as Kirito moved towards the sidelines and Heathcliff drank a health potion to get his health up to par.
Malia had something under her sleeve as she sent a request for a duel to Heathcliff. He accepted and the timer started counting down as Malia switched into her usual armor set and equipped a new weapon she and Shen have been developing for some time now. The weapon was long as a spear but with dual ends—the front blade longer then the back blade. The body was slim but sturdy since it was reinforced with dragon bones. It was meant to propel her body into the air to attack from the air and attack with stunning and continuous attacks from both blades.
Heathcliff's eyebrows furrowed at the sight of the weapon; never seeing such a weapon before or even seeing it in the guidebooks. The counter struck zero and Malia attacked first with simple but strong attacks towards Heathcliff's shield. The Commander blocked the attacks watching with keen eyes as Malia worked with this new weapon fluently suggesting she had been training with it for quiet some time. The crowd went wild as Malia kept up her attacks and Heathcliff was deflecting most of them and with a charged attack with his shield, he sent the dragon girl flying.
But to his utter amazement, the dragon girl used then her weapon to propel back into the air and towards him. Her hands spinning her weapon in a barrage of attacks that struck his shield and caused him to stagger back. Malia dropped onto the ground, propelled herself back into the air before Heathcliff could even recover, and attack in a series of aerial attacks.
Heathcliff, taken back by this new weapon and the sheer strength of combos, was having a hard time finding openings to stagger this girl back. But as Malia was dropping towards the ground; Heathcliff saw his opening. He charged towards her weapon and knocked it out of her hands and causing Malia to slide across the ground.
The crowd roared in response.
Heathcliff smirked and charged another attack with his shield but Malia swiftly slide of his shield, kicked him in the face, and flew past him towards her weapon. Heathcliff growled angrily and swiped at the sweat forming on his face. Kirito had been a challenge but Malia…Malia was a lot more unpredictable.
Malia clutched her weapon and breathed in because she knew she was about to show the entire crowd her unique skill. Heathcliff charged at her and Malia felt a caress of fiery warmth cover her body and she felt as if she had another layer of armor over her now. Heathcliff's eyes widened as Malia managed to deflect the attack and set out an onslaught of attacks onto Heathcliff.
Kirito had rejoined his guild and was watching Heathcliff very closely wondering how and what he did to deflect Kirito's attack. He had hoped that Heathcliff would use it again as Malia slaughtered his defense and health with her unique skill but no, Heathcliff didn't.
It took three blows to practically shatter Heathcliff's shield and as the commander staggered back and stared at Malia with wide, shocked eyes. Malia spun her staff-like weapon in the air before repeatedly striking Heathcliff in the chest sending the player into the yellow zone.
The crowds were in stunned silence.
Malia held her weapon and narrowed her gaze at Heathcliff with suspicion. He hadn't done what he did to Kirito during their duel. Malia should've known that whatever Heathcliff had done…he wouldn't do again because it would raise suspicion on his part. Malia had won because Heathcliff was smart enough not to do whatever he did again.
But…the shocked look on Heathcliff's face made Malia feel very uneasy; and she wasn't sure why. This victory felt sour and bitter in her mouth but it only served to make the dragon girl suspicious of Heathcliff—something was off about this man. She wouldn't say a word about it to anyone else but Kirito but she was sure Kirito was the only one who noticed what happened during their duel.
A few hours later, when Kirito and Malia were alone in their room and making sure they had everything before they left for their overdue honey moon, Kirito brought the subject up. "I don't know what happened exactly but it seemed like his shield reacted way too fast and just in time to deflect your attack." Malia murmured standing on their balcony.
Kraytor and Solantir were wrestling in the air; unaware of the tension between Kirito and Malia. Kirito sauntered up to Malia from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Something is off about Heathcliff…I think we should keep a close eye on him. Somehow, I feel like he might be cheating." Kirito murmured into her ear, "But let's not think about that. We have a wonderful day planned tomorrow and I don't want to ruin the mood." Kirito advised.
Malia sighed knowing it was useless mulling over about the duel now; she showed her strength and sent a clear message to Heathcliff that they knew that somehow he had cheated. Heathcliff would leave them alone for the time being and Malia was thankful for that.
Kirito kissed her neck sweetly and it made her giggle in response, "I can't wait to finally have some time to just be lazy and take naps without Asuna barging in and demanding we do something." Malia groaned with excitement.
"We'll have some time to ourselves for once, too." Kirito sighed softly not wanting to count how many times someone has always interrupted his moments with Malia.
It wasn't long before the newlyweds made their way to the portal; their friends bidding them goodbyes and hoping they had a relaxing and rejuvenating time away. "We'll keep your kids in check!" Nami giggled as she hugged Malia.
Malia saw her children sulking in the corner and smiled fondly, "I've talked to them already and they shouldn't be any trouble. Though, I do think they'll throw a tantrum after I leave." Malia laughed and her friends' cringed with the idea of having to deal with Malia's dragons without her.
"L-Let's hope not." Sachi mumbled.
"Have fun!" Her friends' waved at them before the newlyweds' teleported to Floor 22. Malia had never felt so alive until she reached the serene beauty of the forests and lakes of the twenty-second floor. They teleported right into their new home and it made Malia feel giddy with excitement. There was a delicious breeze that lazily went through the house since most of their windows were open; Kirito had come here earlier to make sure everything was to his liking when they arrived.
Malia eagerly rushed to their room and threw herself onto the bed with a laugh, "It's perfect, isn't it? I wish I could have a house like this one in the real world when I'm older." Malia sighed wistfully as Kirito crawled over her, making sure to keep most of his weight off of her, and pressed tender and loving kisses all over her face.
Malia giggled and peppered his face with kisses, too. "Do you think…when we get out of here…you'll still have these feelings for me?" Kirito asked in a soft and husky voice.
Malia gazed at him curiously, "Of course I would, Kirito, why would you think that?" Malia questioned with a frown.
Kirito shrugged lightly and pressed his warm lips against her exposed collar-bone, "Sometimes I get scared that if we beat this game, we'll wake up and never see each other again." His voice trembled and Malia wrapped her arms around Kirito and pulled his body flushed against her. "I've never felt so strongly towards anyone before in my life…I guess that made me fearless but ever since meeting you and eventually being with you has made me fearful." Kirito admitted as he buried his face into the crook of her neck.
She shivered when his breath ghosted over her skin and murmured gently, "I love you, Kazuto," Kirito jerked back and stared at her astonished now, "I love you so much that it actually hurts my heart sometimes," She sniffled as she started to get emotional because she held the same fears he did, "And those feelings will never fade…here or in the real world."
Kirito and Malia spent the rest of the afternoon curled into one another; reassured and at peace for the first time…in a long time.
Okay, so, I kinda hate this chapter and I'm not sure why. I don't know if I want to change the middle part of this chapter to where Malia doesn't challenge Heathcliff to another duel because I don't want my OC to seem like some God, lol. She is a badass but she's certainly not immune to things. But for now, this is the chapter and when things hit the fan later on in the series, I will explain some things that happened in this chapter regarding Malia and Kayaba. I kinda have a small plot twist thrown between the two, so, heh.
Anyway, the duel between Heathcliff and Malia even without her new staff would have been won by Malia. Heathcliff wasn't stupid enough to use it again especially with how smart Kirito and Malia are, so, yup. Malia winning was a done deal. Because, there was no way Heathcliff would withstand the attacks of a dragon, hehe. Anyway, like, I said if you are confused or are groaning about how her unique skill is OP and God-like...I will explain further in the series.
I hope you all enjoyed! Sorry for any errors and I do apologize for making Malia seem like a god complex or whatever because even I was cringing a bit reading back on it, haha. I just had to do it because we all know Malia, she wouldn't have let Kirito lose without having a go at Heathcliff to really test his strength.
Anyway, see you all soon! Can't wait for the next chapter!