Chapter Twenty-Five:
The Twenty-Fifth Floor
Part One: Kibaou's Folly
1
In a makeshift planning room within the East Tower of the Black Iron Palace, an optimistic Commander Marigan discussed the upcoming boss raid with Argo, the young Information Broker whom she had handpicked to lead the Legion's elite-level force.
Twelve hours ago, the strongest players in Akihiko Kayaba's game of death had orchestrated a raiding party to finally confront the boss of the dreaded twenty-fifth floor, a giant known as 'The Storm King'.
In Marigan's opinion, the initial raid had gone quite well, even if Argo still had reservations.
"If it becomes too dangerous, everyone will teleport out, Argo… Just like we did yesterday… We've already seen that final 'Rock Fall' attack of 'The Storm King', we just weren't prepared for it."
'The Storm King' was a massive storm giant who used electrical-based attacks and brought down huge stalactites from the roof of his enormous cave to come crashing down upon the unexpected players when his health dropped to one bar.
The players who formed the clearing parties last evening had performed exceedingly well for a first encounter. There had been injuries of course, but no fatalities. Still, the brooding Argo had her forbidding doubts. What concerned her the most was that she had failed in her appointed task of stabbing the giant with her information-stealing dagger...
"I couldn't even pierce his leather boots with Eulogy!… We don't have a full read on him… Yes, we know his attack patterns and the 'Rock Fall' event, but that was way too easy."
Marigan couldn't blame Argo for not being able to get a clear shot. The lack of cooperation between the two foremost clearing guilds, the Aincrad Liberation Squad and the Divine Dragon Alliance, had made it difficult for anyone to get near the boss as both guilds had swarmed around the roaring giant like angry bees competing to inflict the most damage.
Which was why the 'Rock Fall' event had been so devastating.
It had sent dozens of man-sized rocks plummeting from the cave's high ceiling when the boss-level monster had been forced into its last health bar, injuring over half of the raid party who couldn't get out of the way in time.
And yet, certain players had wanted to continue...
But with over half the party now in the yellow and healing crystals running low, reason had eventually prevailed and a strategic retreat was quickly ordered. It was a fact-finding mission after all, not a final raid.
And the frustrated Marigan hadn't minced words with her analysis of the boss battle afterwards, specifically with the lack of coordination between both major clearing guilds.
"Today will be better, Argo. We've laid out a good plan and both Lind and Kibaou have agreed to stick to it this time."
The younger woman folded her arms.
"I hope so… The twenty-fifth floor has been difficult enough already."
Both Argo and Marigan knew of three separate parties who'd already lost their lives on this deadly floor filled with ambushes, traps and tough new monsters. Even Lind of the Divine Dragon Alliance was said to have lost a few of his men to this fatal floor, although Argo had a difficult time validating that information thanks to that guild's policy of tight secrecy.
Michi Aoi drew a sorrowful breath.
"The twenty-fifth floor was meant to be my father's signature work… His final floor… All four designers made their last floor incredibly challenging, something for them to be remembered by… But I know my father planned on using a two-headed giant for this final battle, not some overgrown storm giant."
"You can't blame your father for the tragedy that's happened here, Michi… When Aoi-san designed this floor, it was only meant to be a game, not a battle for our lives… Besides, we already know that Kayaba has altered other boss battles, why wouldn't he change this one?"
The brooding Argo remained unconvinced.
"I know… But yesterday still seemed wrong to me… Since the twentieth floor, the last four boss battles have been a cakewalk, almost like Kayaba was trying to build us up with a false sense of confidence before yanking the rug out from underneath us... It just feels like a trap, that's all."
"I trust your instincts… The meeting before the next raid is in an hour, I'll bring up your concerns to the other players… If there are any more nasty surprises, I'll strongly encourage that we teleport out again immediately and regroup… Alright?"
Argo was about to agree with Marigan when the two women were suddenly surprised by the tower's doors bursting wide open as an out-of-breath boy draped in a shimmering cloak suddenly crashed through the barrier and skilfully rolled into the room with a dozen Legion guards in close pursuit.
Both women knew this unexpected guest.
"Dami-chan?!"
As Argo rushed to the young player whom she hadn't seen since the second floor, Marigan held up her hand and ordered the advancing guards to stand-down before questioning their surprise visitor.
"Damian… What's wrong?"
While Marigan had never completely forgiven the boy for his unprovoked attack on Argo, she had long-ago accepted Argo's explanation that he'd never truly intended to endanger her life and that they'd later made amends.
The young player frantically slashed his finger across his vocal cords, indicating a condition which Argo was familiar with.
"He can't talk… You need to tell us something though, don't you?"
The eleven-year-old nodded his head up-and-down and then made a writing motion with his hand while staring expectantly at Argo. As she was continually working on her Player's Guide, the Information Broker always had a quill and parchment in her inventory.
As she materialized these items and handed them to Damian, she watched as he wrote something in English on its pages, the Japanese student unable to decipher any of his foreign words except for one…
'Kibaou'.
Glancing up at Marigan, the girl watched nervously as the leader of the Legion guild slowly went pale as she read Damian's note.
"That damned idiot!... He's taken the Aincrad Liberation Squad in ahead of us to try and finish off the boss alone!"
It was Argo's worst fears suddenly realized…
For months now, the heated rivalry between the game's two top clearing guilds - the Divine Dragon Alliance which was led by a player named Lind and the Aincrad Liberation Squad which was driven relentlessly by the brash Kibaou - had been building to a fevered pitch.
They were locked in a constant battle to become the most powerful guild in Aincrad, desperately seeking any advantage they could in obtaining rare items and experience points.
But this floor had brought their competitive natures to a boiling point…
With the twenty-fifth floor's incredible level of difficulty, Argo had felt that there was a sense among the players that the last attack bonus from this boss would exceed anything they'd received so far.
And both the DDA and the ALS guilds were prepared to do anything - except cooperate - to obtain it.
It was Kibaou who'd passionately argued with them about remaining to finish off the boss yesterday, only reluctantly withdrawing his guild when it had become painfully apparent no other guild was willing to support them and the chance for a fatality was almost assured.
But now it seemed the frustrated Kibaou had taken matters into his own hands, bolstering his core group with enough reserve members to form a raiding party and go it alone.
And the ashen-faced Argo knew these reserve members were far from ready to face a monster like 'The Storm King', even without anymore nasty surprises.
As the girl recovered from her shock, she watched Marigan frantically messaging players from her contact list, attempting to gather the rest of the raiding party and rescue the reckless Kibaou and his group before they met with disastrous consequences.
Argo attempted to console herself with the fact that if the 'Rock Fall' event was truly the only special attack 'The Storm King' possessed, then there was a chance the Aincrad Liberation Squad could actually pull it off. They just needed to clear the battle area when it triggered and then go back on the attack.
But if 'The Storm King' had more tricks up his gigantic sleeves than the 'Rock Fall' event, Kibaou was leading his party to certain death.
Within ten minutes, Marigan had managed to convince the rest of the clearers to teleport to the Black Iron Palace for an emergency meeting. Crammed within the East Tower, Argo recognized all eighteen members of the Divine Dragon Alliance, the Fuurinkazan guild led by a red-faced Klein, the massive Agil the axe-wielder, Kirito and Asuna, and Heathcliff the Paladin who stood with the bearded Godfree.
Argo's own 'elite' team rounded out the party. An elite teams which would have never engaged in a boss battle under normal circumstances.
Over the last six weeks, Michi had been able to suitably equip her group of twelve and maximize their builds to the point where they were formidable, but she knew the Legion's elite team was still far from a dominant force in the game. Out of the twelve players she'd trained, Argo believed that perhaps only half of them were capable of assisting the rescue party.
Those six included herself, Hisako, Yulier, Thinker, Crusher Joe and Kobatz. The other six players simply weren't ready for a boss yet. With as much diplomacy as she could muster, Argo instructed those remaining six to transfer their crystals to the rest of them who'd be joining the Commander on this mission.
It was obvious that thanks to Kibaou's idiocy, they weren't going to have the time to shop for provisions.
When Commander Marigan began addressing the gathered crowd, Argo quietly slid beside Damian who was skulking in the shadows at the back of the room…
"Are you sure you're up for this, Dami-chan?... This boss battle will be dangerous… You don't have to risk your life because of Kibaou's stupidity."
Damian shot her a smug look and then nodded his head up-and-down with a smirk that practically exuded confidence. Her concerned eyes silently asked Damian if he knew what he was signing up for. They both knew the boy had never been in a boss battle so there was no reason to be that confident.
Still, in a worst case scenario, there were plenty of shadowy places for him to disappear into and use a Teleportation Crystal. As a solo player, no one would blame him. As she turned her attention back to the commanding Marigan, Argo decided to keep an eye out for the boy, but the thirteen-year-old now had her own party to look out for as well.
2
Along with thirty-five other players, Damian teleported to a location outside the massive closed doors which led to the boss of the twenty-fifth floor…
'The Storm King'.
The young player put his hand on the hilt of his new dagger, a recent replacement for Argo's precious gift after the faithful Backbiter's Durability had finally been reduced to zero on the eighteenth floor.
Even with regular maintenance, Damian had learned that weapons were only meant to last so long in this game.
'Blood-Bound' was the name of his new stigmatic dagger, its monstrous +16 blade far more powerful than Backbiter, requiring Damian to boost his Strength stat just to wield it. But with every successful strike, 'Blood-Bound' stole 15 percent of his remaining Hit Points and converted them into crimson-fuelled damage.
He'd been damned lucky to find it actually.
His 'Backstabbing' skill was now at a six-times modifier. And with all the health buffs he had spent a fortune acquiring, Damian could now deliver a walloping 1,500 points of damage with a successful backstab attack.
That was his entire health score in just one attack…
He was pretty sure no other player could do that.
Still, while backstabbing had proved incredibly effective, the encounter with the Goblin Chief had taught him a painful lesson in survival. Damian couldn't always depend on the element of surprise and had to be able to hold his own in a straight fight.
That hole in his game had been addressed with the addition of the 'Martial Arts' skill.
The former child assassin could now use his own fighting style, with each strike draining his health but also translating into stigmatic damage. Without engaging the system, he found he could easily score up to ten hits on monsters within a matter of seconds, racking up over 1,200 points of damage from a quick succession of strikes without incurring lag effects, but only at the cost of pushing his own health bar deep into the red to just below 300 HP.
And this was before even being struck by an opponent.
Because of his sacrificial style, the newest Robin kept a lot of Healing Crystals continually stocked in his inventory and more in his item belt. When Damian fought, he was literally putting his life on the line in more ways than one. The blades of a stigmatic weapon pointed both ways, by far the cruellest weapons in the game.
As a solo player, he had learned he needed to choose his enemies carefully and stay away from those weak creature mobs which the other adventure parties enjoyed. He'd purposely limited himself to tough opponents in groups of three or less so that the rewards would justify the cost of the Healing Crystal he was bound to waste.
The unique opportunity to face a single boss monster was almost custom-built for his high-risk style of play. Damian could quickly deliver devastating amounts of damage and then let the other players 'Switch' while he used a Healing Crystal before doing it all over again.
Without the worry of being struck down in his weakened state, he was just as effective as any other player here...
Probably more so.
But what excited him the most was the chance to watch some of the game's strongest players firsthand. Since his first meeting with Cardinal, Damian had become convinced that Akihiko Kayaba was in this game somewhere, likely as a player.
And like all good game designers, Kayaba must be curious about boss battles, especially one on such a climactic level. Damian suspected the game's creator could be a member of the Divine Dragon Alliance or the Aincrad Liberation Squad. It was the perfect cover.
He watched with anticipation as Marigan and Lind opened the massive doors to reveal an enormous cavern, easily the size of three football fields and at least a hundred feet high.
It was even larger than the main portion of the Bat Cave, but the ceiling wasn't lined with the sleeping bats he'd grown accustomed to over the past year. Rather, rows-upon-rows of razor-sharp stalactites which would surely crush any player hung patiently above them.
In a strange way, they reminded Damian of monstrous teeth.
In the center of the room, the boy's attention was drawn to the ongoing battle, the distant yells of perhaps two dozen players from the Aincrad Liberation Squad attacking 'The Storm King' while another dozen players hung back, cautiously eyeing the ominous stalactites dangling precariously from the ceiling while healing themselves.
Squinting across the cavern, he realized the colossal storm giant was almost at its last health bar which would trigger the 'Rock Fall' event, which explained why more members of the ALS were continually retreating.
As the thirty-six new players cautiously stepped into the room and spread out, they heard the far-away warnings among Kibaou's squad that they had finally brought the giant down to its last health bar, triggering the special attack. As they all retreated, 'The Storm King' roared, producing a massive shockwave that loosened dozens of these pointed rocks above and sent them mercilessly hurtling down to the battlefield.
However, Kibaou and his core group were already running. Those players clad in green soon scurried to the outer edges, quickly placing themselves outside of the of the worst of the crashing stalactites which stuck into the stone floor upon impact.
It was then that the spiky-haired young man who led the ALS finally spotted the recently arrived rescue party and stood his ground…
"Back off, you scabs! This is our fight!"
Damian immediately decided that this loud-mouthed guy couldn't be Akihiko Kayaba. After the dust from the falling stalactites had settled, 'The Storm King' retreated to the back of the huge cavern with the rest Aincrad Liberation Squad in hot pursuit, as though the huge giant was attempting to escape his doom.
All eyes went to Marigan and Lind, but it was the Legion Commander who spoke first.
"We'll follow, but don't engage… Not yet."
As the rescue party moved forward to monitor the battle, Damian blended into the shadows at the edge of the cavern. By the time they'd made it to the rubble-strewn center of the cavern, he saw Kibaou's group was once again engaged with the sword-wielding giant near the exit to obtain access to the 26th floor.
Although the boss was enormous in stature and dressed in leathers and furs, it seemed the leg strikes from Kibaou and his party were quickly chopping the giant down to size. As they got closer, Damian could tell the impact of the King's looping sword strikes would knock nearby players down, but they were easily avoidable if you paid attention to his attack pattern.
The competitive part of Damian now yearned to get behind the faltering giant and land the killing blow which would grant him the Last Attack bonus, the giant so tantalizingly close to being defeated…
But instead, the young assassin gritted his teeth and held himself in check. The politics of this situation were already ugly enough. There was no need to throw himself into that mix and create even more hostility.
Besides, he wanted to watch the behaviour of the other players.
By the time the rescue party was within sixty feet of the battle, they immediately stopped as 'The Storm King' suddenly bellowed and raised his massive arms, bursting into a spreading nova of electrical energy after the last blow had reduced his health to zero. That nova shocked all surrounding players as the boss departed Sword Art Online in tiny sparkling crystals.
Sparks of the King's final attack made it all the way to Damian's feet, but luckily, they only came within inches of touching him. As the boy looked up, he noticed that none of the attacking players seemed to have been killed by that unexpected final attack, only injured or stunned.
The Aincrad Liberation Squad was soon cheering loudly, inspired by their rousing victory. They had defeated 'The Storm King' without a single fatality.
Damian watched as the cocky Kibaou strutted up to Lind of the Divine Dragon Alliance.
"That's how you do it! If you gutless cowards weren't so quick to take off yesterday, you could've shared in this victory, but now this day belongs to the Aincrad Liberation Squad! So why don't you clowns go back to town and just wait for us to open up the 26th floor!"
Lind stared back defiantly at the stocky leader of the ALS.
"You know damned well the raid was scheduled for 9:00 AM... That was what we all agreed on last night... Instead, you lied and then betrayed us!"
"Nah, we just don't need amateurs slowing us down."
This was suddenly getting tense.
Members of the Divine Dragon were already drawing their weapons to defend their guild leader while the Aincrad Liberation Squad were rallying behind Kibaou with their weapons drawn as well.
As the imposing Marigan stepped forward to establish order, the sudden crack of thunder ended the heated conversation and drew all of their attention back to the center of the cavern…
There, electricity seemed to be drawing itself from within the floor, arcing into a massive pattern between the bickering players at the back of the massive cavern and its far-off entrance. Damian silently watched as this chaotic energy swirled and then transformed itself into a massive body, even taller than 'The Storm King' before finally taking form…
The resulting monstrosity was easily sixty feet tall, its tanned skin as thick as a cinderblock wall and etched with glowing magical runes. Around its belt were what appeared to be a chain of dragon skulls, nothing more than mere trinkets dwarfed by the giant's enormous girth. In each of its huge hands, this colossus held a war hammer whose shafts were easily twenty feet long, topped with stone mallets the size of armoured vans.
But most disturbing of all was that it had two heads.
And the name above those heads read 'The Two-Headed Giant'…
This was the true boss of the twenty-fifth floor with five HP bars.
As the players looked on in terror at the imposing creature over a hundred yards in front of them, they all cringed in fear as five more bolts of lightning suddenly struck the ground simultaneously, the resulting booms of thunder almost deafening Damian as he clapped his hands over his ears.
When the dust (and the ringing in his ears) finally settled, he saw five other giants now surrounding 'The Two-Headed Giant', each of them a boss in their own right with four health bars…
Each wide-eyed player was suddenly gripped with fear as they realized 'The Storm King' had been nothing more than a decoy to lure the players to the back of the cavern, a ploy designed to cut off their escape route. Now, they either had to fight six boss-level giants or teleport out of here and start over again.
Damian got the distinct impression that the players were definitely more comfortable with that second option. He watched as their appointed leaders quickly came to a similar conclusion while staring wide-eyed at the titanic creatures now moving towards them…
"Alright everyone, teleport back to town!"
But it didn't work.
Despite repeated attempts, none of their Teleportation Crystals had any effect. Meanwhile, the giants were steadily moving towards them, causing tiny tremors with each monstrous advancing step as they moved to squash the tiny bugs who'd awoken them.
Stalactites crashed down meaninglessly around them with each stride the lead giant took.
"Heal the wounded! We'll have to try and get past them and make a break for it!"
The panicked cries from the players of the Aincrad Liberation Squad let them all know the Healing Crystals had no effect either. Damian felt his heart go suddenly tense as he tried his own. If he intended on fighting these things head-on with a stigmatic dagger, not being able to use his Healing Crystals was basically suicide…
Over the yells and panic, Damian steadied his nerves and carefully examined the advancing enemy which was now less than eighty yards away, each of their massive strides covering nearly thirty feet. From the shadows, he saw that the two giants flanking the boss were called 'Ice Giant Warriors', each carrying an enormous battle axe the size of a telephone pole covered in frost.
Even their breath came out as frost.
Behind the three giants were something the boy had never seen before…
Female giants.
Each of the giantesses bringing up the rear wielded staffs which must have been carved from ancient oaks, their weapons easily as tall as 'The Two-Headed Giant'. They had long flowing hair of pure white and blue skin the colour of a clear sky. Compared to the hideous beasts in front of them, Damian might even call them attractive.
But what intrigued the Boy Wonder most were the swirling runes which constantly surrounded these female giants, encasing them within a mystical column. He knew there was no magic in Sword Art Online, but these floating runes and their names seemed to indicate otherwise…
'Cloud Giant Sorceress'.
Apparently the giants hadn't lost all their magic.
The colour of the spinning runes were blue for the first sorceress, yellow for the second and red for the third. Damian watched these female giants get within fifty yards of the crowd of players and simply stop, each planting her staff firmly into the stone floor and remain still as though deciding to act as an observer.
His concentration was broken as the three male giants in the lead suddenly picked up their pace and charged, shaking the floor itself as their war hammers and battle axes were raised, ready to flatten the more than seventy tiny players who dared to stand in front of them.
"Aincrad Liberation Squad, take out the boss!"
With most of his party still wounded from the 'The Storm King', Kibaou was now diving headfirst into disaster. Not to be outdone though, Lind ordered the Divine Dragon Alliance to attack the left 'Ice Giant Warrior', prompting the rest of the rescue party to tackle the right.
Battle lines had been quickly drawn with no time to think, but both Damian and Argo had a sudden uneasy feeling about those three giant sorceresses standing motionless behind the main battle…
No one had expected magic in Sword Art Online.
Author's Notes:
Most viewers of the Sword Art Online anime will be familiar with the term "Aincrad Liberation Front" instead of "Aincrad Liberation Squad". However, in the source material, it wasn't until after the ALS merged with the mutual aid organization "MMO Today" that the combined groups eventually adopted the identity of the Aincrad Liberation Front.