Chapter 25- The Flame King
The Alfheim Warriors had made it to the third floor of the dungeon and were fighting its boss, which was a giant red wyvern. Agil, Lisbeth and Celina were busy holding the boss's attention while Kirito, Klein, Yuuki, and Silica attacked its sides. Marth, Asuna, Thorrnn and Leafa, on the other hand, were blasting the wyvern with spells while Sinon fired a barrage of arrows at it.
Marth had just unleashed a Raging Bolt spell, which temporarily stunned the wyvern, allowing Kirito and Yuuki to slash at its neck.
"This is taking too long," Sinon said as she fired a lightning arrow from her bow, striking the boss's right eye. "Marth, can't you speed this up by using Dragon Soul?"
"Probably," the Spriggan replied. "But even though I can control Dragon Soul now, I'd still rather use it only for emergencies. I just don't want to rely on it constantly."
The Cait Sith sighed. "I guess that makes sense. Things would get pretty boring if you used Dragon Soul for every fight," Sinon admitted.
Marth cracked a light smile as Kirito landed the final blow on the wyvern, taking out the remainder of its HP.
"Finally," Kirito said slowly. "I was beginning to think we would never beat that thing."
Yuuki simply giggled. "Lighten up, Kirito," the Absolute Sword replied. "If this quest was easy, then someone else would've gotten the Kagutsuchi already."
"True," the Black Swordsman said before facing his guildmates. "Alright, everyone. We've only got a little further to go before we clear this dungeon. Drink up your potions to max out your HP and MP. Once you're done, we'll head out."
The Alfheim Warriors acknowledged and began restoring their HP and MP. They also took the opportunity to rest after all the constant fighting they did up until now. Marth was sitting by Kirito, Asuna and Yuuki and could see the others chatting amongst themselves. Yui, on the other hand, was currently sleeping in her father's coat pocket.
"Hey Marth, wasn't there something you wanted to tell me earlier today?" Kirito spoke up, prompting the Dark Swordsman to face him.
"Yeah," Marth admitted. "Last night, I had a weird dream that I was in Alrest again."
Kirito, Asuna, and Yuuki were surprised by the news.
"Really? Are you sure?" Asuna questioned.
"I am." Marth then stared at his open palm. "The thing is, it felt too real to be a dream. It was weird though. I was stuck in my wolf form and couldn't move. Instead, I could only watch as Frank and the others fought Zeke and lost. Pyra even got captured by him."
Yuuki's eyes widened in shock. "Oh no. Are Frank and the others alright?"
Marth nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. After Pyra was taken, that's when I found I could move again and shadowed them as they made their way back to town. After that, I found out that Frank has been comparing himself to me, which I guess makes sense since we do look alike."
"But just because you and the other Frank look alike, that doesn't mean you're the same people," Kirito argued. "I mean, you two went through completely different things to get to where you are now."
"That's what I told him. I said that the source of his power came from working with his friends, while I mostly fought alone, save for the times I teamed up with you and the others. To be honest, I still have problems shaking off my solo player habits."
The Black Swordsman patted his partner on the back and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay," Kirito replied. "I'm going through the same thing. Luckily, we've got Asuna, Yuuki, Yui and everyone else here to help us."
"That you do," the Undine said with a light smile. She then noticed the others wrapping up their conversations. "Well then, shall we get moving?"
The Darkness Duo locked eyes and nodded in silent agreement.
"Yeah, let's go," Marth said.
Later
The Alfheim Warriors were on the final floor of the dungeon and were nearing the boss room. They were currently engaged with four stone golems and were winning. Marth managed to deflect one of the golem's arms using a Sword Skill, leaving it wide open for Kirito to finish it off with Horizontal Square. Another golem then tried to strike the Black Swordsman during his motion delay, but Marth quickly blocked it with his swords.
Klein and Yuuki then tag-teamed to kill the monster with their Sword Skills while the others finished off the remaining two.
As the party continued onward, Lisbeth whispered, "It's weird how Marth and Kirito can fight without communicating to each other."
Celina simply nodded. "It just shows how close they are," the Leprechaun muttered. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen them seriously argue with each other either."
"Because Daddy and Uncle Marth are awesome!" Yui praised as she landed on the brown-haired blacksmith's right shoulder. "Nothing will ever get between them!"
Celina and Lisbeth couldn't help but smile from the pixie's cheerfulness. "Can't really deny that," Lisbeth mused.
Kirito then glanced over his shoulder and eyed the Leprechauns. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing," the blacksmiths replied.
The Spriggan simply shrugged and went back to his conversation with Marth.
Eventually, the guild finally reached the boss room, which opened when they got close, causing a wave of heat to brush past them. Asuna and Leafa then reset the guild's buffs.
"Damn, that's hot!" Marth exclaimed.
Klein simply smirked. "It's your fault for wearing black while inside a volcano!" the samurai joked before getting a death glare from the Spriggans.
"Bad jokes aside," Marth said as he faced his guildmates. "This boss fight will be more difficult than the last ones here. Just like Thrymr, he'll most likely have multiple HP bars and his attack patterns will probably change when his HP hits certain levels."
"We'll be on the defensive starting out until we figure out his attack patterns," Kirito took over. "Yui, we'll be counting on you to warn us about the boss's attacks."
"You can count on me, Daddy!" Yui said proudly.
Marth then cracked a confident smirk. "All right, guys. Let's show this boss what the Alfheim Warriors are made of."
"Yeah!" the others exclaimed.
The Alfheim Warriors then went into the boss room, where they saw that it had tons of gold and stolen items. At the other side of the room was a makeshift throne with a large red giant wearing fancy red and black armor was sitting in.
The giant turned his head towards the fairies and sneered.
"Well, well, it seems that more flies have come to claim my treasure," the giant said arrogantly. "You have done well to make this far, but I shall feed you all to the flames!"
The giant then drew an axe that matched his size as three HP bars and the name "Flame King Surtr" appeared above his head.
"Here we go, guys!" Marth shouted as the fairies drew their weapons. "Let's take him down!"
"Yeah!" the others cried out.
Surtr charged at the Alfheim Warriors before he slammed his axe on the floor, sending a wave of flames at the party. Marth quickly unleashed the wind spell, «Arctic Storm», which was a blast of strong frigid winds at the flames, canceling each other out. The melee fighters, except Marth, Asuna, Leafa and Thorrnn, then charged at the boss and began their attacks. Kirito and Yuuki struck Surtr in the back with «Vorpal Strike» while Klein and Silica slashed at the giant's shins with their Sword Skills in an x-manner. Agil then jumped in the air and used a Sword Skill to strike Surtr's left arm, leaving a red gash behind. Lisbeth and Celina worked as one as they used lightning Sword Skills to strike the giant's face. Sinon then joined the fray by firing a barrage of ice arrows, striking the weak points in Surtr's armor. Their combined attacks managed to take a chunk of the boss's first HP bar.
"He's about to unleash a fire breath!" Yui shouted.
Surtr then unleashed a fire breath attack at the fairies, who were able to dodge it, except Klein, who got burned on his right leg. Luckily the samurai wasn't injured too badly thanks to his race's natural resistance to fire as well as Asuna's heat-resistant buff. Surtr then held his axe with both hands as the weapon began glowing red.
"Next is a shockwave attack!" Yui warned.
The Flame Giant then slammed his axe against the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that knocked the fairies off their feet and reduced the melee fighters' HP by half. Surtr wasn't done, however as he raised his axe and prepared to strike Kirito and Yuuki as they were down.
"Look out!" Leafa shouted.
The Black Swordsman and Absolute Sword could only watch as the Flame King prepared to finish them off, only for a bolt of purple lightning to strike the giant in the side. Surtr turned towards Marth, who had lightning surrounding him, and growled in anger.
"You little maggot!" Surtr growled. "You'll pay for that!"
Surtr then charged at the Dark Swordsman with his axe raised to strike.
"Marth! Keep him busy for a second!" Asuna exclaimed before she and the Sylphs began chanting a healing spell to heal their comrades.
"You got it!" Marth replied as he drew his dual swords.
The boss swung his axe down on the Spriggan, who simply evaded by jumping high in the air and slashed at his cheeks with his swords. Surtr got even more frustrated and swatted Marth with his other hand, sending him flying into the wall. However, Marth quickly recovered and kicked off the wall before switching to his wolf form. Using his increased agility, Marth managed to avoid Surtr's boot and proceeded to bite his ankles.
"Why you stupid little runt!" the giant exclaimed.
Kirito and the others then rejoined the fight once their HP was restored and began attacking the boss once more. Kirito and Yuuki teamed up with Marth, who had switched back to his Spriggan form, and began attacking the boss's chest. Klein and Silica slashed at the giant's shoulders, while Agil, Lisbeth and Celina struck his feet. Their combined attacks managed to reduce Surtr's first HP bar to zero, prompting the giant to roar in rage.
"Now the hard part begins," Yuuki said.
Surtr then took a deep breath as he prepared his Fire Breath attack. Once he was done, he unleashed an enormous stream of flames upon the fairies that was impossible to dodge. Marth tried to counter with «Arctic Storm», but it was quickly overpowered, causing the giant's attack to reach the group.
"Hothothothot!" Klein shouted as Asuna's buff was broken from the intense heat and their HP slowly decreased.
"Now what should we do?!" Celina cried out as she and Lisbeth tried protecting themselves with their shields.
"Just try to hold it out!" Kirito shouted as Marth switched to his wolf form to minimize the damage done to him. "It has to stop eventually!"
As if on que, the breath attack ended, but all the melee fairies' HP was in the red zone while Marth's was barely reduced by thirty percent.
"Not good," Asuna said in worry as she, Leafa and Thorrnn readied healing spells to heal their friends while Marth returned to his Spriggan form.
"Perish in my flames!" Surtr declared as a fiery aura erupted from his body.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Agil shouted in fear.
"Rage of Muspell!" Surtr shouted at the top of his lungs. Suddenly an explosion of crimson flames burst out of the giant and made its way towards the Alfheim Warriors.
"If that attack hits us, we're toast!" Silica cried out.
Yuuki then eyed her boyfriend. "You know what to do, Marth!" the Imp said.
The Dark Swordsman nodded in acknowledgement and summoned a dark aura around him. "Time to go all out!" Marth declared as he morphed into his dragon form. "Everyone, get behind me now!"
All the fairies acknowledged and got behind the black dragon, who folded his wings against his chest and took the brunt of the attack. Marth groaned in pain as he tried to hold his ground.
Surtr simply laughed cynically. "No being can survive my «Rage of Muspell», not even a dragon! Struggle all you want, but in the end you will become fuel for my flames!"
"Don't… count… on it," Marth said slowly. "I… will never… yield! Mirror Barrier!" Suddenly Marth's wings began radiating a dark light and began to absorb Surtr's flames.
The Flame Giant's confidence quickly turned to fear. "Impossible. Who are you?!" Surtr bellowed.
Marth let out an earth-shattering roar as his wings completely absorbed Surtr's spell, causing them to be surrounded by flames. The black dragon then opened his wings and stretched them to their full length as the flames changed from red to black. With a single flap of his wings, Marth sent Surtr's spell right back at him. The Flame King howled in pain as the black flames took out his second HP bar before falling to his knees while using his axe for support.
"Way to go, babe!" Yuuki cheered.
"Time to end this!" Kirito shouted. "Everyone, attack!"
Everyone, including Asuna, Leafa and Thorrnn, charged at the boss and began unleashing various Sword Skills on him. The Sylphs struck at the giant's head while the Leprechauns struck his shoulders. Klein and Agil attacked Surtr's arms while Silica and Sinon attacked his chest. Asuna and Yuuki then unleashed «Mother's Rosario» simultaneously and struck the boss in the chest, leaving him with only a small amount of HP left.
"Finish him off, Darkness Duo!" Asuna shouted.
"You can do it, Daddy and Uncle Marth!" Yui cheered.
Kirito then eyed the black dragon and smirked. "Ready, partner?" the Black Swordsman questioned.
"You bet."
Kirito jumped high in the air as he got in front of Marth's face and ran his swords to be parallel with his arms in a cross-like manner.
"Twilight Stream!" the Darkness Duo shouted in sync as they activated the Dragon Soul's «Union Attack».
Marth unleashed a stream of black fire at the Spriggan, however Kirito's swords absorbed the flames as they began glowing purple. Wings of black fire then sprung from the Spriggan's back as flames shot out of his swords. With a mighty howl, Kirito swung his swords, firing a blast of black fire at the giant, piercing right through his chest and taking out the rest of his HP.
"Impossible," Surtr said in shock. "How could I lose to insects like you?"
Kirito landed back on the ground as his fiery wings dissipated while Marth returned to his Spriggan form.
"You made the mistake of underestimating us," Marth replied. "Mess with a dragon, you get fanged."
"But you didn't even bite him in your dragon form," Kirito remarked with a smug expression, prompting Marth to glare at him.
"Not the point," the Dark Swordsman said in annoyance.
Surtr's body then shattered into polygons, prompting a "Congratulations" notification to appear before the guild, prompting them all to cheer.
"That was awesome!" Yuuki exclaimed in joy.
"We finally finished this dungeon!" Silica said in relief.
Marth and Kirito high-fived each other. "We bad," the Dark Swordsman remarked.
"Totally," Kirito agreed.
The Alfheim Warriors made their way to the other side of the room, where they found a fancy chest hiding behind the throne. Marth and Kirito chanted a few spells to check for any traps, and when they didn't find any, they opened the chest and found a fancy looking katana in a red scabbard.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sinon questioned.
"The Soul Blade Kagutsuchi," Marth said slowly before facing Klein, who was shaking with anticipation. "Go on. It's all yours."
Klein cracked a wicked smile and eagerly took the katana from the chest. He immediately drew it from its scabbard and swung it around a few times in excitement.
"Man, this rocks!" the Salamander exclaimed. "I finally have a legendary weapon of my own!"
Kirito simply chuckled in amusement. "Congrats, Klein," the Black Swordsman said as he placed his hand on the samurai's shoulder. "You deserve it. Now then, let's go turn in the quest and head back to Yggdrasil City to celebrate."
"Yeah!" the others cheered.
Later
The Alfheim Warriors had finally made it back to their headquarters in Yggdrasil City. Klein had Kagutsuchi equipped and strapped to his waist.
"Man, I'm so happy right now!" Klein said with a big grin on his face. "I don't think anything can bring me down right now."
Asuna giggled at the Salamander's statement. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before, Klein," the Undine said. "I'll try to make the best meal to celebrate."
"I'll help out too," Yuuki added.
"You girls rock!" Klein said.
Marth was about to unlock the door to their headquarters but found the door already open. "That's weird," the Dark Swordsman said. "I could've sworn I left this locked."
"Could someone have broken in?" Silica asked nervously as she clutched Pina close to her chest.
"I don't know, but we should be on guard, just in case," Sinon said.
The Alfheim Warriors went inside and found none other than Klaus sitting by their table.
"Klaus!" Marth shouted in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"That's not important right now," Klaus said. "Frank and his friends are about to face a threat bigger than they can handle. They need your help to overcome it."
"We'd love to help, but how would we even get to Alrest?" Yuuki questioned. "We can't travel between alternate worlds at will."
"Most of you here can't," Klaus confirmed. "But there is someone here who can."
"And who might that be?" Marth asked.
Klaus then pointed directly at the Dark Swordsman. "It's you, Marth. You are the third Aegis, the one I've been looking for years."
To be continued