A/N: Wow it's been a long time since I've updated this story. Sorry about that guys. Schoolwork and upcoming finals have used up most of my time. Luckily though I will be on summer break soon and I'll have much more time to write. I want to get a chance to update my other stories however so this one will have to be put on hold until I do. Don't worry, I should have the next chapter of this story up in a month, give or take.
As for this current chapter, I decided to try something new. I got an idea from another SAO fic called Mother's Reconciliation by Kirito IRL (awesome story. I highly recommend checking it out). Anyway, in the fic, Kirito IRL has points where he sets up OSTs from the SAO anime. I've given it a shot when reading it and I found it does a really good job of increasing the mood. So after getting his permission, I decided to try the same thing for a certain part of this chapter. Feel free to try listening to it while you read it.
"Alright everyone. I'd like to get this meeting underway."
After Heathcliff spoke, he stood up to address the group. It was time for the boss raid meeting for Floor 67. The ones in attendance besides Heathcliff were Ren and the other front line tacticians, as well as the leaders from most of the top guilds in the assault team. They were all gathered in the meeting room at the Knights of the Blood Oath's guild headquarters.
"The recon team returned from the boss room a few hours ago." Heathcliff began. "According to them, the boss this time is very… unique."
"Unique how?" one of the other guild leaders asked. "Exactly what kind of boss are we dealing with?"
"It's movements are very unorganized. It stumbles around like a person that's drunk."
"Seriously? Is this boss supposed to be some sort of joke?"
Heathcliff turned towards Ren and the other tacticians. "What's your opinion on the matter?"
Ren stood up to share his opinion. "Based on what you're describing, it's supposed to seem like the boss is designed to appear unpredictable. But in the end, it's still a program. It's designed to move and fight in a specific way. Figure out its attack patterns and it's as good as finished."
"You sure sound confident" the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance spoke. "Are you that sure you can handle this?"
"I've been doing this for a long time, in case you've forgotten. We've managed to defeat the past twenty floor bosses without a single casualty." Ren reminded him. "I'm not saying it'll be easy, but as long as we stick to the game plan, we'll be fine."
The other lead tacticians nodded in agreement with Ren. The five of them, consisting of Ren and four other players known as Asami, Eve, Mako, and Shino, had been designing floor boss strategies ever since the group was formed by Heathcliff. They took pride in the fact that they had avoided any deaths for such a long time.
"Very well then. We'll leave the five of you to deliberate over our strategy." Heathcliff said, getting out of his seat. He walked out of the meeting room, followed by the other guild leaders. Now it was just the five tacticians all alone.
"Alright then." Ren said as he looked at the others. "Let's get down to business."
Alice stood outside the Knights of the Blood Oath's headquarters along with the rest of Wyvern's Inferno. It had seemed like forever since Ren had gone into the meeting room. Why did planning out strategies always have to take so long?
Dagger noticed Alice impatiently pacing around. "Alice, relax. I'm sure Ren will be out any minute."
"I know." Alice sighed. "I just hate how long these meetings take."
"And I hate how everyone's staring at us." Helios said as he glanced around and noticed several players that were standing around and looking at the guild. "It's like we're Aincrad's most wanted or something."
"They're not staring at us, they're staring at you." Mai pointed out. "No one knows what to expect with your psychotic ass around."
Helios showed a prideful grin. "That's because I'm unpredictable. It's what makes me such a great fighter compared to you mortals."
The guild groaned at Helios's inflating ego, while Dagger simply giggled. "That's my Helios. You tell em."
Alice sighed as she gradually tuned out the rest of her guild. She was completely and thoroughly bored. Usually she'd spend this time going shopping or selling her drops to Agil, but if she left Helios and Dagger standing around here with only Mai and Riku to give them company there was no telling what might happen.
A message window popped up in front of Alice and snapped her out of her thoughts. She saw that the sender was Ren and opened it. The message said the meeting had just ended and that he would be outside soon. Alice breathed a sigh of relief that the meeting was finally done.
Just as he had said, Ren walked out of the building a few minutes later. On the outside he seemed fine, but Alice could tell he was mentally exhausted.
"Took you long enough man." Helios said. "So what's the boss this time?"
"According to the recon team, it's supposed to be a weird looking monster that moves unpredictably." Ren explained. "Shouldn't be a problem. All we have to do is carefully analyze its movements in the beginning and we should be fine. The raid's tomorrow afternoon."
Helios grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "Alright then. Same routine as usual. We go in and kick some ass!"
Riku rolled his eyes at Helios. "Try and use your head for once. Brute force won't work against this type of boss. If you go charging in headfirst, you won't be able to read the boss's movements."
"Please. Like that would stop him." Mai pointed out. "We're dealing with the biggest idiot in all of Aincrad."
Helios gave Mai a condescending pat on the head. "Oh sweet innocent little Mai. So naïve as to underestimate my superior abilities."
Before long, Mai and Helios were bickering as usual. Their argument could be heard by the other players walking around so Ren and the others decided to leave them be and walk away.
"You sure it's alright to leave Mai alone with him?" Riku asked.
Alice simply cracked her knuckles in response. "I wouldn't worry. Helios knows what'll happen if he gets physical."
After parting ways with the rest of his guild, Ren headed home to rest up for the raid tomorrow. When he walked into his room, he planted himself on his bed and closed his eyes.
Heathcliff sat alone in the meeting room at his guild's headquarters. He leaned back and thought about what tomorrow would bring. Ren and the other tacticians seemed to have a good plan for dealing with the boss for Floor 67. Unfortunately, Heathcliff knew the truth about the boss.
'Perhaps it's time I tested the players of the assault group.' Heathcliff thought. 'The time will come where they won't have my assistance for the boss raids. They should experience how difficult some of the bosses I designed can be.'
Suddenly a knock was heard at the door. Heathcliff closed his menu and turned towards the door. "Come in." The doors opened and Asuna walked in. "Ah hello Asuna. What can I help you with?"
"Commander" Asuna greeted with a bow. "The parties for the boss raid have been set up. I wanted to confirm them with you."
"Thank you." Heathcliff nodded. "There is one thing I'm afraid you'll have to change though."
"What would that be?" Asuna asked.
"I won't be able to participate in tomorrow's raid." Heathcliff explained. "I'm afraid something urgent came up."
"C-Commander?! Are you sure about this?!" Asuna gasped. "Without you, who will be in charge of the raid?!"
"I'm sure you will do fine." Heathcliff assured her. "Besides, it's not like I'm the only strong player the assault team has."
"That may be true, but-"
"Asuna, I'm afraid my decision is final. As much as I wish I could participate in the raid, I won't be able to. Please find a replacement for me to fill in the last raid member."
"… Understood Commander." Asuna said. She gave a bow and then walked out of the room. After she closed the door, she could help but wonder what could be so urgent that the Commander would skip out on a boss raid.
The large group of players stood in the square of the town on Floor 67. Everyone seemed rested up and ready to fight. Floor boss raids had become a common thing by now among the front lines so it had become almost a routine for them.
Finally a flash of light came from the teleport altar and the party from the Knights of the Blood Oath appeared, led by Asuna. When players noticed that Heathcliff was absent from the group, whispers of gossip flew around the crowd.
Asuna decided to quickly get rid of any rumors spreading around. "Can I have everyone's attention? Something has recently come up so the Commander will not be able to participate in today's raid. In his place, I will be taking command."
Gasps of shock were heard throughout the crowd. It was extremely rare for a head figure such as Heathcliff to pass on a Floor boss raid. In fact, it was almost unheard of.
Alice looked at Ren curiously. "Heathcliff isn't coming? What could be so important for him to skip out on this?"
"Who cares?" Helios shrugged. "I'm tired of that guy always taking the glory. I can tank just as well as him."
Ren could hear small bits and pieces of conversation going around the crowd. The group was starting to worry simply because Heathcliff was absent. They needed to calm everyone down now before they started to panic unnecessarily. He knew just what to do.
"Alright then. Let's get moving." Ren said as he walked forward. His words caused everyone to look at him. He stood next to Asuna. "It's just another boss raid. As long as we keep our cool and work together, we can handle this no problem."
Murmurs and nods of agreement could be heard amongst the crowd of players. Ren breathed a small sigh of relief that they had managed to keep up morale. They would need it if they were going to defeat the boss.
Asuna walked forward and brought out the corridor crystal that had been set to the boss room. She held it up and activated it. "Corridor, open."
The portal opened up in front of Asuna and the raid group collectively walked in. Once they were on the other side, a pair of large doors were standing in front to greet them. They were standing in front of the boss room.
The tense air filled the group. Things always felt this way right before a boss fight. But they had gotten through plenty of tough fights before and Ren was certain they could do it again.
Asuna stood in front and faced the raid group they had assembled. "Alright everyone. Let's do this. Our mission is the same as always. Win and make it back alive." She turned her gaze towards Ren. "Ren, I want you to stay in back in the beginning and command the raid group. Analyze the boss's attack patterns and direct us accordingly."
Ren nodded his head. Usually Heathcliff was the one to stay back and lead, but without him here it was up to Ren to step in.
"Let's win everyone." Asuna said. "Today we get one step closer to freedom!"
Cheers and roars erupted from the players as they all prepared to attack. Asuna opened the doors, revealing a pitch black room. She drew her rapier and pointed it forward.
"Attack!"
At Asuna's command, the raid group charged into the room with an echoing war cry. They stood in the center of the room, with nothing around them.
"Where's the boss?" someone asked.
"Don't let your guard down." Ren warned everyone. "It's here somewhere. It could come from any direction."
As Ren said this, a low cackle was heard throughout the room. Everyone tensed up as they glanced around, trying to figure out where the sound came from.
"Wehehehehehehe!"
The sudden erupting laugh surprised Ren for a moment, but he quickly reacted and saw the piercing eyes of the boss staring at them in the distance. "Everyone move back!"
The group did as instructed just as the boss leaped at them. The loud boom that came as it hit the floor from its hiding spot shook the ground for a moment, making everyone struggle to keep their balance. The second the boss landed on the floor, the room became veiled in light, making everything clear. The group all gasped as they stared at the boss.
It was a humanoid-type monster, but it was down on all fours, with its body stretching out at least six meters long. It wore a raggy and torn jester costume, with the classic jester hat sitting on top of its head. Two extra arms sprang out from its back, each holding a large curved sword. A sadistic looking smile was painted on the boss's face as it stared creepily at the players. Three health bars hovered above its head with its name clear to read.
The Dark Prankster
(Play OST: Critical Phase)
Asuna looked over at Ren. "Alright Ren. You're in charge."
"Got it." Ren nodded. He quickly issued out commands. "Stick to the plan everyone! Party A will keep the boss's agro on them while Parties B and C will flank from the sides! Everyone else, fall back and watch the boss's movements! Focus on avoiding its attacks and getting a feel for its attack patterns for now! We can work on bringing its health down afterwards!"
Everyone quickly followed Ren's orders. The first three parties charged at the boss in the formation that was discussed while the others jumped back away from the boss. As the two parties flanked the boss from left and right simultaneously, the boss took the two swords in its extra hands and swung them at the players. Luckily they had managed to dodge them and get in closer to attack. The boss cried out in pain as it felt a collection of blades slash at its sides all at once. Everyone avoided using sword skills to avoid being wide open to any surprise attacks the boss had. Just as Ren had said, right now they needed to get a feel for the boss's attack patterns.
Ren carefully watched each of the boss's attacks. They were a bit odd-looking with it wobbling around, but from what he could tell the boss's main attacks seemed to consist of swinging its two swords in various styles of slashes and stomping around with its hands and feet. He also noticed the party keeping the boss's agro on them beginning to get tired. He needed to make sure everyone kept their stamina up or the raid group would be in trouble.
"Party A, fall back and regroup. Party F, switch in with them."
Party A followed Ren's orders and ran back to the group for a much needed break. Party F, which consisted of Asuna and the Knights of the Blood Oath members, charged in as the boss tried to chase after the retreating players. A row of three tanks blocked the boss as it swung its two swords at them simultaneously. The swords were big, but based on the fact that they didn't knock the tanks back Ren assumed they weren't too powerful. As long as they didn't take a direct hit from them at least.
Asuna sped towards the boss as it stumbled around to regain its balance. Her rapier lit up as she delivered a series of consecutive thrusts to the boss's face, followed up by two others from her party attacking the boss with their weapons. They all jumped back just as the boss recovered and swung its two swords down at them. The blades slammed into the ground with a powerful display of strength.
The raid group kept its plan of switching out parties for the next ten minutes. Finally Ren felt he had seen enough of the boss's attacks to fully analyze its fighting style. "Now everyone! Charge!" A loud roar erupted throughout the group as everyone rushed at the boss, including Ren himself. He turned his attention to Party E, which consisted of his guild. "Alice and Helios, go for its front right leg. Try and see if you can get it off balance."
The two members of Wyvern's Inferno silently nodded as they sped on ahead. Their weapons lit up with a bright light as they slashed at one of the boss's hands that it was standing on. Their combined attack seemed to damage the boss slightly, but it still wobbled around just as before. Alice and Helios jumped out of the way as its hand came crashing down, nearly flattening them.
Ren looked at Dagger. "Go for the boss's face. That seems to be the area where it takes the largest amount of damage."
"Leave it to me." Dagger said. She held her trusty blade Rip-off in a tight grip as she ran towards the boss. "Helios, give me a boost!"
Helios saw Dagger running towards him and knew exactly what she meant. He got down on one knee as Dagger used him as a springboard and launched herself up above the boss's head. Her blade lit up in an orange glow as she slashed the boss's face, twirling her body as she did so. As her sword skill ended, Ren charged in and attacked with a sword skill of his own. Before he could get out of the way, he saw the boss's face staring directly at him.
'Crap!'
Ren watched as the boss inhaled and then fired a powerful breath attack down at him. The attack felt like a weight crushing down on him as he was forced to go down on one knee. His HP gradually fell down as the breath attack kept up. When it finally subsided, Ren also noticed a poison icon next to his HUD. The more concerning thing at the moment however was the boss's hand hovering above him.
"Look out Ren!" Alice called out as she ran in a tackled him away before the boss could flatten him. She helped Ren get to his feet and helped get him away from the boss. Once she knew they were safe, Alice quickly pulled out an antidote crystal and shattered it in front of Ren, healing his poison status. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Thanks Alice." Ren said as he got to his feet. He pulled brought out a potion from his menu and quickly guzzled it down, recovering some of his lost HP. "That breath attack came out of nowhere though. I wasn't expecting that."
"Well at least now we know to watch out for it." Alice pointed out.
"True." Ren nodded. He looked at the rest of the raid group fighting the boss right now. They had brought it down to its second health bar. If things kept up, they could do this no problem. 'Looks like we didn't need Heathcliff for this fight after all. Things are progressing smoothly.'
"I'll get the boss's attention." Ren told Alice. "When its distracted, I want you and everyone else to hit it from behind with everything you've got."
"I'm on it." Alice replied with a thumbs up.
Ren and Alice ran back to the raid group. Ren wasted no time giving out orders. "Party A, get the boss's attention on you. When it swings in, parry the attack and knock it off balance. Everyone else, get back and regroup."
The players all followed Ren's lead and did as they were told. The boss watched the horde of players running away and moved into strike, but a collective attack from Party A's members made it stumble back a bit. Ren took the opportunity and ran towards the boss. "Mai, you're with me!"
"Got it." Mai replied, running after him. The two of them quickly attacked the boss as it tried to regain its balance. Their attacks managed to get the boss's agro on them.
Ren and Mai dodged the slashes and stomps that came from the boss. The two of them evaded the attacks and slowly moved to the side, making the boss turn with them to keep an eye on its current targets. After an extended time of dodging the boss's attacks, Ren and Mai had finally managed to get the back of the boss facing the rest of the raid group. The two of them back flipped away as the boss stomped it two front hands were they had just been standing.
"Now!" Ren shouted. "Everyone attack!"
The large mass of players behind the boss let out a war cry as they all charged at the boss. Out of nowhere, the boss felt a relentless assault of sharp blades cutting into its body from behind. It let out a sharp cry of pain as its health was slowly sapped away, nearing the halfway point of its second health bar. Ren and Mai decided to keep up the pressure as they ran around the side of the boss and attacked its exposed rear legs along with the others.
'Nice. It's almost down to its last health bar.' Ren thought as a smirk came to his face. 'We've got this.'
Suddenly, the cries of pain from the boss stopped and were replaced by a loud and powerful shriek. Everyone paused their attack and covered their ears as the high pitched screech echoed throughout the room. It was then that Ren noticed the boss prepare to spin its body around.
'Not good!' Ren thought. "Everyone move!"
Nobody could hear Ren over the boss's screeching. By the time they all realized, it was too late. The boss twirled its body around, creating a huge gust that blew back most of the players. As they landed painfully on the ground, they saw the creepy stare of the boss once again. It let out a sadistic laugh as it charged towards the raid group.
"Wehehehehehe!"
The tanks that hadn't been blown away were barely able to avoid being trampled by the boss as it ran past them. Ren and the others managed to put up their weapons in a defensive stance, but they were all knocked aside as the boss continuously swung its blades to the side like a chef using a knife to push away chopped vegetables to be used later. As Ren was knocked to the side, he saw the boss reel back its arm and knock another wave of players away, this time sending them flying midair. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw the boss stare at them and prepare to swing its blade.
"NO!" Ren shouted.
Ren's plea fell on deaf ears as the boss mercilessly swung one of its blades, ripping through the avatars of three players. They all shattered as they cried out in pain before they could reach the ground.
The raid group all stared in horror of what had just occurred. After all their careful planning and coordination. Despite the fact that they had an absolute rule to never let another player die, and making sure that rule had been followed for so many boss raids in a row. They had just failed in that mission.
'Damnit!' Ren screamed in his mind as he slammed his fist into the ground beneath him. 'How could this happen! How could we let them die like that?!'
(Play OST: We Have to Defeat It)
But unfortunately, their troubles had only just started. They realized that as the boss lifted its head up and let out a powerful roar. The raid group stared in both shock and horror as the Dark Prankster stood up. It was no longer on all fours. Now it stood on two feet with all four hands free. It grabbed the jester hat it was wearing and threw it up into the air. Out from the hat came a pair of battle axes which it grabbed with its two free hands. The hat fell perfectly back on the boss's head as the players all gazed at its new form in horror.
"This thing has a different form?!" one of the players exclaimed in disbelief.
Ren felt his body shiver in fear. This was bad. This was VERY bad. They had only managed to take out half of the Dark Prankster's total health and exhaustion was starting to take its toll on them. And to top it all off, there was this new form of the boss to deal with.
"Ren, any ideas?" Asuna asked from his side.
"Umm… umm…" Ren desperately racked his brain for a new strategy. The sudden change had him rattled. "Party A- no wait, I mean Party D. Flank the boss from its sides!"
"But Party D doesn't have any tanks!" Asuna pointed out. "If they go in without someone distracting the boss, they'll get wiped out."
Ren widened his eyes, realizing his error in judgement. "Party E, get the boss's agro on you and give the others an opening. Go for a straight- no wait! Split up and attack from two directions."
Alice and the rest of Wyvern's Inferno looked at each other. Ren was second guessing himself on his orders. He had never done that before. Now wasn't the time to stand around thinking about such things though. They all charged in towards the boss with weapons in hand. They dodged the two strikes that came from the boss's swords and slashed at its legs. With the boss focused on them, the others ran around from the right to attack it while it was distracted. Suddenly the boss took an odd stance as it curved its arms around its body in a circular fashion.
'An AoE attack?!' Ren gasped. "Everyone run! Get away from it!"
It was too late unfortunately. The boss spun around like a tornado, blowing the two parties into the air. As they all flailed around helplessly midair, the boss raised its two axes up to strike down two players. Ren widened his eyes in horror when he realized one of them was Alice.
"Alice, look out!" Ren yelled at the top of his lungs.
Ren's warning brought Alice's attention to the axe coming for her. She put up a last ditch defense by positioning her scythe in front of her. The boss's axe slammed against the handle and sent her crashing into the ground.
"ALICE!"
Alice groaned in pain as she managed to lift herself up off the ground. Her HP was in a deadly shade of red. She needed to fall back right away. That was going to be difficult though with the boss's attention still focused on her. Suddenly she saw Mai rush past her and towards the boss. She thrusted her rapier forward and stabbed the boss in the knee.
Mai called out to her sister. "Run Alice! I'll keep this thing distracted!"
The last thing Alice wanted was for Mai to be anywhere near the boss right now but she was in no position to argue with her current health. She reluctantly nodded and jumped back to a safe distance.
Ren breathed a sigh of relief that Alice was safe as she ran back over to him. "Are you alright?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Alice told him as she drank one of her health potions.
Ren silently cursed himself out. What was wrong with him? He was making mistakes with his strategy. Everything was happening too quickly. Ren took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He needed to calm down and analyze the situation.
"What's the boss doing now?!" someone gasped.
Ren opened his eyes and saw the boss take another odd stance. With one swift motion, it spun around a full 360 degrees with a sweep kick. The attack knocked Mai and another player off their feet and made their backs slam into the cold hard ground. Before anyone could go in to help them, a powerful breath attack came from the boss's mouth, blowing away the rest of the nearby players. Mai and the other player stared helplessly as the boss raised its two swords to strike. Ren didn't think twice when he ran towards them at full speed.
"Ren?! What are you doing?!" Asuna exclaimed.
The swords slowly came down towards the two players. One was headed towards Mai and the other was moving down towards the other player. Even with the speed of his Crimson Flash, Ren knew he'd only have time to save one. He silently prayed for the other player to forgive him as he rushed towards Mai and tackled her away as the boss's sword struck the ground where she had been standing a moment ago. Looking at where the other sword had struck, he saw the shattering remains that had been the other player's avatar. A tear fell from his eyes as he mourned the player's death. The cry of pain and horror coming from the raid group told Ren the dead player was probably someone's dear friend, maybe more.
The boss wasn't planning on giving Ren and Mai any free time to recover. It lifted its two swords up from the ground and swung one of them down at the two players. Ren quickly blocked the attack with his sword as the massive blade threatened to cut through him and Mai.
"Ren!" Mai gasped.
"Mai, get moving!" Ren told her as he struggled to hold the blade back. It was a miracle his defense hadn't broken already.
"But-"
"Move!"
Hearing the seriousness in Ren's voice, Mai nodded and fell back to the others. Ren struggled as he tried to find a way to get out of this. The second he tried to make a move to escape, his defense would be broken through instantly. He felt relieved when he finally felt the boss lift its sword up, but that feeling was quickly replaced by fear as he saw the blade of the boss's axe come from the side. Ren barely managed to put his sword up in time to prevent the weapon from cutting him in half, but it didn't save him from being blown back. He landed on the ground painfully and looked at his HP bar, seeing it in the red zone.
Alice helped Ren to his feet and shattered a healing crystal in front of him, restoring his HP. Asuna looked at Ren. "What's the plan now?"
Ren could see everyone staring at him pleadingly. He thought about what to do. There had to be a chance at them winning, right? Some possible way for them to defeat this thing.
"Party B and C… no wait, umm… Party F go and…"
The raid group watched as Ren struggled to come up with a plan. They didn't have the leisure to sit back and think forever. The boss was already moving in towards them.
Asuna didn't want to admit it, but it was probably best to cut their losses right now. "Ren…"
Ren looked at Asuna and knew what she was thinking. He didn't want to. He really didn't want to. But in this situation, there was no other choice.
"Give the order, Asuna." Ren said, swallowing a bitter pill. "We're retreating."
A/N: So what did you guys think? I noticed the anime mentions the 67th Floor boss fight as being extremely difficult, but they never went into more detail than that. So I decided to make up my own version of the boss fight, and part of it was inspired by a scene in another anime. Props for anyone who spots it. Also, for those of you that played the OSTs while you read, what did you think? Did it help the story at all? Review and give me your opinions. Also be sure to check out Mother's Reconciliation. It's a really good story and I think you'll enjoy it.
Also for those of you wondering from last chapter's Author's Note, Castle Point Anime Convention was AWESOME!