Mystic Knight Online

Chapter 25: A Broken Hand for a Titan

January 15, 2024 - Aincrad 50th Floor, Algade

"So, what happened after Silica dragged you off?" Klein asked as he sat down next to Harry. "Also, where is she?"

"Oh nothing," Harry said as he handed the Bro a full tankard of the local beer. "And where do you think? She's taking a bath." He then looked around. "When she dragged me off like that, she knew it would fire up the rumor mill something fierce." He shrugged. "It's been awhile since one of us added fuel to that particular fire, intentionally at any rate. We were tempted to play it up even further to pour some petrol on it, but we both agreed that it would be a bad idea to do so."

"How would you have played it up, and why would it have been a bad idea?" Klein asked.

"Let's just say that she knows the location of a lingerie shop that's more appropriate for getting things for… bedroom games," Harry said with a slight flush. "We found it accidentally a little over a week ago."

"And you two had an idea of getting something from there?" Klein asked slyly.

Harry's flush deepened. "There was this blue number…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Let's just say that she's aware that some of those items were something that I imagined her wearing."

"Nice ones I hope."

"In my mind?" Harry asked. "Yes. Though if I thought you were the type to be imagining her in those things, I think you and I will need to have a talk."

Klein snorted. "Don't I know it, kid?" He said. "I'd be right there with you if I thought an asshole was- hell, I have been. She's too young for me."

"I know you that well, I'd think," Harry admitted.

"That aside, even if she were my age... I like my girls to be a bit more developed. Nothing wrong with petite, but I like my girls to be a bit bigger. Now, if it was Rain on the other hand..."

Harry thought about that for a second and nodded. "I can see that, though it would have to be red then; that's Rain's color." He said, taking a pull from his tankard. "Anyway, Silica and I realized that playing the entire thing up, might not be the best idea."

"Because it would give people the wrong impression?"

Harry shook his head. "I think it's a bit late for that," he said drily. "No, we don't care if it would have given the wrong impression, you know how the rumors are. It was more that we might have found ourselves going a bit farther than we intended. Tempting rather than teasing, if you get me."

Klein nodded and took a drink of his beer. "Man, you found a decent beer again," he observed idly before coming back to the subject at hand. "So it was more the risk of you two… well, you know what I mean. It was about that then?"

Harry nodded.

"Good." Klein said. "For all that we joke about the relationship between you two, for all that we have some bets out there, and for all that many of us want things to work between you two, it's your relationship. You two should take things at your own pace and not rush it. If you two don't think you're ready for it, then you're not. Besides the two of you are what, fourteen?"

"Fourteen, and going on forty it sometimes seems." Harry replied. "But yeah, you're right about that. Besides, what we have is good enough for now."

"You two basically live together." Klein observed. "The only thing you're missing is your own house or apartment. Well, that and being married."

Harry thought about it and gave a small smile. "That would be nice, and it's something to keep in mind," he admitted. "But us two being married? That's… something I wouldn't be opposed to, but to be honest, we're not ready for that." He looked around the pub. "So, where's the rest of your group?"

Klein gestured over to a spot off to the side, near one of the walls. "They're over there, talking with some other guys who were at the fight." He finished off his beer. "So, before I head on over there, want to buy me another beer? Hell, why don't you join us? We can get a couple of friendly games going."

"No problem, Klein," Harry said and gestured to the barkeeper. "Barkeep! Two more!" He then looked at Klein. "And by games, you mean cards, right?" At Klein's nod, he shrugged. "Eh, what the hell, why not? You guys'll clean me out of whatever I put in as the stake, and then I'll talk you idiots into rolling the dice and return the favor."

Klein raised his tankard to Harry. "It'll all be in good fun, Harry," he said and the two knocked their tankards together in a toast.

##

Keiko walked out of the bath in a green chemise, which was her normal sleepwear, to see Harry sitting in a chair and reading something he pulled up from his menu. She saw Pina in his lap and that his left hand was idly scratching her behind the tufts of feathers that indicated where her ears were.

She gave a small smile as she padded over to him, her bare feet making little noise until she was right behind him. Taking a look over his shoulder, she noted that he was going over the information they had on Rosalia and the Reds who were probably connected to her.

"Just refreshing my memory on what we already know, Keiko." He said, closing the window and glancing back at her. "Nothing new, and I haven't noticed anything I missed the last time I looked at it."

"It doesn't hurt to take another look over information, just to be sure." She said as she walked around the chair and took a seat across from him. "Anyway, you have an idea how we're going to go about this?"

Harry nodded. "We can go down there, posing as some young Middies." He said. "We'll need to use different armor, our stuff for up here is too recognizable. I wouldn't put it past her, or one of those Reds to make the connection, even if they otherwise wouldn't recognize us. The weapons shouldn't stand out, though. Most players can't tell the difference between a front line sword or dagger and one that would be used by Middies anyway."

"The armor… oh, the colors and how our gear looks." Keiko said, making the connection. "Much like those times where players who didn't recognize our faces recognized us from what we were wearing."

"And we did so for a reason," he said.

"To make it easier for us to see and find each other in a fight." Keiko observed. "Well, that and to look good while kicking ass. So, we'll need armor that doesn't stand out as much then. I think I still have that one set. You know, the one that had the long brown jacket?"

Harry nodded. "And I can switch out to one of the older sets I still have, and ditch the green." He added. "We still have those skills which allow us to switch gear out quickly, so we can keep our main gear in reserve."

"And what about the others?"

Harry grew thoughtful "I'll work on something with Asuna in the morning," he replied.

January 23, 2024 - Aincrad 35th Floor, Mishe

Rosalia scowled as she went over everything that had happened over the ten days. Lind had been making his group's presence more obvious due to recently emerged Laughing Coffin's activities, but it was an annoyance for her and her guild. Officially, it was for the protection of the players, and she had no doubt that Lind's decision was partly due to that. However, she also considered that it was also a means of showing the flag and demonstrating the he and the DDA were doing something.

She found it rather pathetic of them, really. Instead of taking the initiative and hunting down Laughing Coffin, they were content with just making a big show and a lot of noise.

It still forced her to call off several shakedowns, denying her several chances to get all that loot that players got. It forced her own guild to be more circumspect in its movements. And the lost opportunities frustrated her to no end.

Still, it had ended, and the DDA had gone back to its normal routine. Now, she just needed to find a group with an opening that was going somewhere that would have the potential for some lucrative drops, and simply insert herself into it or follow it.

A couple of hours later, she was observing players in the Teleport Gate plaza from a small cafe near it, scanning the crowd of entering and leaving players for potential marks while enjoying some of its wares. She had a clear criteria for those she picked. They needed to have good gear, but not of too high a quality. In other words, average or slightly above average quality players for here, they were more likely to have enough to make a good profit when her men shook them down.

It would be a bonus if they were going after a rare item or two, but-

Wait, did she just hear...

She turned her attention toward the voices that had got her interest. She started scanning the crowd nearby, letting her ears lead her eyes. Such a useful talent, and brilliant of her to train it to refinement.

She eventually spied a trio of young players. The oldest of them, a girl, was perhaps fifteen at the most. The other two, a boy and a girl, were clearly at around the minimum age for SAO when it launched. She guessed that they safely into their fourteenth year by now.

She idly wondered what they were doing up here. There were few higher level players at that age. Most of them were barely known except for being young, and few had memorable names. In fact, she could think of only two. Hadrian and Silica. The Young Knight and... she forgot the girl's generally used titles. And none of the girls or the boy could be them; Hadrian and Silica were so well known because they were the youngest members of the Assault Team. They operated on the front lines. They wouldn't come down here. That would be slumming it for them.

She carefully got up and made her way in their direction, making sure to keep her movements casual and non-threatening. It always amazed her how easy it was to avoid grabbing attention if you simply didn't act in a way to call attention to yourself.

##

"Harry," Silica said quietly. "Looks like we got Rosalia's attention. She's keeping her distance right now, but slowly approaching."

"I see her." Harry replied as he discreetly watched the player approach out of the corner of his eye. "Not bad, she knows a bit on how to blend in, but we're used to playing 'Spot the Rat' with Argo. Cautious too, she knows not to simply rush in and basically force herself on people. It would be smart tactics, if we actually fit her marks."

"Got experience with that?" Lux asked.

"A little," he replied. "Now, remember your aliases. I'm Henry, you're Kei, and Lux is Aura." When he judged that Rosalia was near enough, he raised his voice. "Anyway, I heard that there's some good stuff we can find on the thirty-sixth floor, enough that we can replace our gear, or at least make enough col to do so."

"You sure about that?" Silica asked him, a note of doubt in her voice. "You were certain that the information you got from that one guy back on the twenty-eighth floor last month was completely reliable, and look where that got us."

"Oh come on, Kei," he protested. "That was only the one time, and I made sure to double check with the Argo network this time."

"We ended up going broke from replacing our gear and healing items, Henry." Lux observed. "That and I had to put up with your snoring and Kei's kicking me in her sleep for a week because we only had enough for one room."

"Aura, that won't happen this time," Harry said and then sighed. "Ok, I screwed up with that, but I made sure this time. So, can we just let it rest?"

"No," both girls said in unison.

"At least I used what I was able to make enough to get us back in the black," he retorted. "Hadrian really is that bad at cards."

Silica glared at him. "In a card game," she said. "If it wasn't for the fact that Hadrian's as bad at cards as the rumors said they were, you would have been cleaned out. I've seen your luck with gambling. Just be glad he didn't talk you into a dice game, the rumors point out that he wins those, even when someone is using loaded dice against him."

"Hey, it worked," Harry protested. "And I made sure to win enough so that when I left, it was without hard feelings on his part."

"You mean when Aura came in and dragged you out of that bar," came the retort.

"I still don't know how you two have remained friends, with how much you argue," Lux observed drily.

##

Rosalia listened with interest as the trio continued to talk. It sounded like they weren't exactly hurting on col, now at least, but they had been recently, and they were interested in getting some good stuff to make some more money, or replace their gear. She gave what they were wearing a once over and noted that while it wasn't bad, it could have been better.

That the boy had run afoul of a scam and got burned by it was amusing to her, and it spoke of a general gullibility that she could exploit. Well, if it wasn't for the two girls. Those two might be a harder sell, but she could always trail them and bump into them at some point as well. In fact, that might be better, and would give her time to watch and listen in on them.

She held back a bit before once again discreetly following them. With it being late afternoon, they would probably wait until morning. Plenty of time for her to set things up, but she would make sure to keep an eye on them, just in case they decided to leave early.

##

"She seems to be backing off," Silica murmured quietly.

"You think she realized something?" Lux asked.

"No," Harry said. "She's still following, she might be waiting to see where we're going."

"So how will we do this?" Lux asked.

"Well, we should top off on healing items," Silica said, pitching her voice so that Rosalia could hear them. "Aura, ask around so we know where the shops are. Henry, ask for the location of an inexpensive inn while we're at it. I'll find a cheap place for us to eat."

##

Excellent! She thought. While it didn't look like they were splitting up, their lack of knowledge would make it easier for her to find them later. Once she knew where they would stay, it would be child's play for her to sneak in and listen to any plans they had and decide where to go from there.

She didn't know if she could integrate herself into their group, at least not here, but coming across them in the field? Well, she did that before, and it often worked. For some reason, players had an altruistic streak when in the field. Something about getting a reputation for not helping people who needed it outside possibly coming back to haunt them, or whatever.

All it meant was that players out in the field tended to be more willing to work with someone or help them.

She saw it as more fools for the taking. Besides, worst comes to worst, someone got killed in game, though she and her group had been careful to avoid that. Doing so grabbed attention, which meant that the DDA would be on the warpath, regardless of the fact that this new group, Laughing Coffin, was getting people's attention.

As far as she was concerned, there was no reason to believe that Kayaba had been telling the truth, that the deaths here were real. Those news feeds at the beginning? For all everyone knew, they could be fake. Proof of dying being real? The only thing that they knew conclusively was that a player killed in game didn't come back.

Considering that they had all been in here for a year, that could be for a number of reasons. Being glad to be back in the real world, families taking the Nerve Gear and getting rid of it, being in the hospital, any reason really.

It was not what Kayaba claimed. It couldn't be. But players believed it, the fools, so she and her group had held back from killing.

##

It was fairly late in the evening when their tail had finally decided to go and do her own thing, finally leaving them with some privacy. Lux looked at Harry and Silica, who were glancing at the door to the room before Harry stood up and walked over to it. Opening it, he took a brief look outside it before closing it.

"She's gone," he said. "She's either not taking the bait, or she's more patient than I gave her credit for. Maybe a mix between the two, as she can always approach us later."

"From the info we got from Argo and Klein, I'm surprised," Lux admitted. "But Lind applying the pressure on her might have made her a bit more wary, even if she doesn't think that she's the target."

"That, and with Harry and I, she may be taking into account that we might be, well, us." Silica commented.

Harry shook his head. "I doubt that," he said. "If she suspected, she would have backed off. For all that she might be the front for a group of Reds, I'm not assuming she's careless or stupid." He opened his menu and set the message function. "Well, I'm letting the others know what we're up to, and where we'll be."

Silica snorted. "Also, ask how Pina's been behaving," she said. "She wasn't happy about being left behind, though Rain seemed to have her in hand with a lot of food."

Aincrad, 50th Floor - Algade

Rain shot a glare at Pina, who was weighed down by a distended stomach she could just see shrinking, and chirping contentedly. When she volunteered to keep the feathered dragon from flying off so Silica could do her little thing, she didn't expect that doing so by using food as a bribe, one of the few ways to get Pina to not follow Silica like a puppy, would be a combination of simple and difficult.

Simple in the fact that Pina was easily kept in one place with food. Difficult for the same reason, as she was finding out. Pina would eat just about anything that was edible, and be hungry again in short order.

Where the hell does she put it all? She thought. And now I understand why Harry forwarded me all that col. I'm going to owe him big for this, and now I understand why Kirito and Asuna wanted nothing to do with it; they knew better.

Aincrad 35th Floor - Mishe

"I forwarded her some col to ensure that Pina stays bribed with food." Harry commented. "Maybe we'll find out how much that flying bottomless pit eats before she's full."

Lux snorted. "Is there enough food in Aincrad for that?"

"Hey!" Silica protested. "She's not that bad. I could pack away more than what she normally eats back in the real world, and as you can see..." She gestured at her body.

"I'd love to know your secret," Lux grumbled.

"Family genetics, a lot of exercise, and so on." Silica said. "Not that I wouldn't have complained about some expansion in some areas." She muttered.

"And I should probably take that as a cue to start running," Harry said.

"You don't have to, we already know that it's her hips and butt that gets your attention and turns you into a drooling idiot." Lux said offhandedly.

"Hips, arse, and legs, get it right." Harry corrected and blinked. "Wait a minute, did I just…?"

Silica burst out laughing. "You got him to walk right into that," she said between giggles. "Not bad."

Lux shrugged and smiled. "Well, he does make it rather obvious what he likes." She said.

"Can we get back to discussing what we're going to do from here?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "If she tries to integrate in, good. If not, she'll probably follow us anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if she suspects that people are getting suspicious of her, and the fact that we're a trio might indicate a tightly knit group."

"So what do we do?" Lux asked.

"We play the hand we're dealt, but if she does do something…" He smiled. "Well, how good are you girls at psychological warfare?"

January 24, 2024 - Aincrad 36th Floor - Virsten Trail

Rosalia kept her distance from the trio while she followed them. She had tabled the idea of joining up with them, some instinct told her that might be ill advised, so she contented herself to following them and watching. And now, she was glad she did.

With how well those three worked together, their own awareness of their surroundings, her usual habit of standing back and watching might not have worked. It wouldn't have been the first time a group noticed, but something told her that these three would be less tolerant of it than most.

Still, she saw them fight several mobs which showed that they were a solid trio, including one which often dropped a rare item. Rare, in the sense that the mob was the only known one to drop it, and while not difficult, was difficult enough that only teams which thoroughly knew what each member was doing would bother to take it on.

And these three did it with little problem.

Not bad, she thought. Not bad at all. Less like a bunch of kids who are out of their depth, and more a team which had a run of bad luck, or judgment. Much like what I overheard. And…

True, she didn't integrate herself into their group like she would have preferred, but something about what she saw implied that it wouldn't work. There was this feeling that they weren't the most trusting of outsiders, and her simply luring them into a shakedown would simply have them be suspicious of her.

That didn't mean that she couldn't shake them down, though. She would just have to be more direct about it. A pity that she would have to leave no witnesses about it though, she didn't want word of what she did getting out. That would be inconvenient for her to deal with.

So, she watched and made note of the route they were planning on taking, the three of them not being cautious about being overheard one bit.

Idiots, she thought.

##

Harry stopped and looked around before he let out a sigh. "All right, you've been tailing us all day, come on out." He said.

Silica looked at a tree, while Lux looked around a bit, trying to see what he noticed.

"You're more observant than I thought, kid," came a woman's voice. "You must have a high searching skill to have noticed me."

"More like you're more obvious than you think," Harry replied. "I'll give you credit, you're not bad at it, but when The Rat decides that it's fun to sneak up on you and startle you, you get good, or you resign yourself to being her personal chew toy."

Rosalia walked out from where she was hiding. "I'm surprised that you got noticed by her, you all don't look like anyone high profile enough." She then smirked. "More like a couple of kids playing at being adventurers, really."

Harry raised an eyebrow before looking at his companions. "Playing at it?" He asked them. "Kei, Aura, do we really look like that?"

Silica shrugged, while Lux looked thoughtful. "I guess we kind of do, Henry." She admitted.

Harry nodded and turned back to Rosalia. "Ok, point," he said. "So, what brings you all the way out here?"

"Oh, I was just walking around when I saw you three," Rosalia said casually, leaning on her spear. "Seeing you, Henry, and your two friends, Kei and Aura wasn't it? Well, seeing you three work so well together on that one mob, well done."

"Thanks," Harry said. "But I have a gut feeling that's not why you're here. So, why don't we stop dancing around and cut to the chase." He looked at the tree line behind her. "And why don't your friends come out and play as well."

Rosalia smiled. "Much more observant." She complimented. "And you didn't even wonder how I knew your names, either. Very interesting. Looks like my decision to not try and integrate in with you was the right one. I doesn't matter, anyway. I watched you fight. I watched you win against those mobs," Rosalia said. "And I watched you get all that loot. That sweet, sweet loot… why don't you just do the good thing and let someone who would put it to better use have it?"

"I know a merchant who will ensure it goes to the deserving," Harry countered. "Maybe you should see him?"

Rosalia wanted to glare, but refrained from doing so. Instead, she shifted her body a bit, the armor and clothing moving to reveal some more skin. It had taken some work to find something that would do so, and many hours of practice to make it seem natural, but flashing a little skin could do wonders.

Silica snorted at what Rosalia was doing. "Oh come on, it's not as if he'd fall for that." She said.

"Not a bad attempt though," Harry noted, giving what he saw an appreciative look. "Ah well, I can look. If I did more, like turn into a drooling idiot, you'd beat me to death with my own balls."

"Damn straight."

"You girl," Rosalia said. "Yes, you, the one I heard him call Kei. Why don't you wait until you're done with puberty and see how well it works?"

"I don't have to," came the response. "Unlike you, I know what he likes, and it's not a girl's tits." She smirked. "He doesn't mind them, he's a boy after all, but they're not his main thing. Now, if you were to expose some leg and wiggle that oversized ass of yours, I might have to worry."

"Broadcast my preferences all over the floor why don't you?" Harry asked with an aggrieved sigh.

"Oversized?" Rosalia asked. "I worked hard for this figure little girl. And you, what do you have? Nothing. No chest, a boyish figure, and those pigtails? What are you, a schoolgirl? You're just compensating for your deficient growth with attitude."

"And yet, I have a boy who notices me for who I am," Silica countered hotly. "So what about you? You get boys to fawn over you because you show some skin? You just wave your tits about and expect them to fall over you? That says more about you, than it does about them."

Harry put his fingers into his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. "As entertaining as this is," he said drily. "We're wasting time. Now Miss… I don't think I got your name, ah no matter. Now Miss, I think we all have places to be."

"Oh, but I'm exactly where I need to be, boy." Rosalia said. "After all, you still haven't done the right thing and handed over your goods."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And I already said what I intend to do with them." He noted. "And it seems you don't like that. The question is… why?"

"Oh, you know. You have good stuff, and I'm someone who will make the best use of it," Rosalia said with a shrug. "Nothing more than that."

"Oh, really?"

Rosalia chuckled. "Why don't you drop the act, little boy," she said. "You're out of your depth here, and while I saw that you could fight, things only get more dangerous the higher you climb. How long would it last? How long would you last?"

Harry shrugged. "What's life without a bit of danger?" He asked. "Boring, that's what it is. Also, I've lasted this long, so I doubt things will go badly for me as long as I'm careful. I know the dangers and make sure to not take stupid risks."

"And yet you lost almost everything not too long ago, from what I heard." Rosalia countered.

"So you were the one following us yesterday?" Harry asked. "Good to know." He spied Lux opening up a window.

"Now, now, you don't need to do anything." Rosalia said, smirking. "We don't want things to get… unpleasant now."

Lux closed the window, but gave Harry a small nod.

"Unpleasant?" He asked with apparent curiosity. As if I didn't already know, he thought snidely. The woman was more transparently up to something than Draco could be. "And how would you make things unpleasant? I don't care about any rumors that you could spread, so how would you go about it?"

##

Rosalia smirked at the question the kid asked and raised her hand, still casually leaning against her spear. "I have my ways, little boy." She said as she snapped her fingers. She saw their expressions become nonplussed as her men, all of whom had orange cursors, came from where they had concealed themselves, and her smirk widened.

"And now, the reality of it is starting to sink in," she said. "I'm not usually this direct, but it was clear that I might have to be so eventually. Still, I'm not heartless, so I will give you one last chance. Hand over your loot."

The boy looked at her and shook his head. "And if I were to tell you to take your offer and sodomize yourself with it?" He asked.

She only just kept herself from blinking in shock. Stick to the script, she thought. He'll fold soon enough.

"There's no need for you to be crass," Rosalia said. "And drop the tough guy act. I can tell from here that you're intimidated. The act is only because you don't want to look bad in front of your girlfriends. But with you outnumbered like this, that act just breaks apart, doesn't it?

"You act all tough, but you're like so many of the kids here. Scared out of your mind, and you can't hide it no matter how hard you try. So you put on a front of confidence and arrogance for others to see. You own little shell and security blanket. And like all those who do so, you persuade yourself that the act is the real you. But now, right here, it's all breaking down, showing the real you. Showing the scared little boy that you've tried so hard to hide."

She smirked as she saw him shake, as her words cut through his own delusions and showed him what he really was. And….

Wait. Was he laughing?

##

Harry couldn't help it. "You… you think that I'm some scared little boy?" He asked incredulously. "And your words, all psychoanalytical… you get that from a book or something? I've heard better bullshit come from kids who were eleven years old. I mean, are you even trying?" Even Dudley could come up with something better than that, he thought sarcastically.

Rosalia blinked and then scowled. "And you just keep up the act," she said snidely. "Acting all big and tough, but here's a hint, it would work better if your balls dropped, kid."

Silica snorted. "Oh his have," she said with a smirk. "Compared to your little friends there… I would say he measures up as being the bigger man. Those guys? I don't know where you found them, or how you got to follow them, well, I know how you got them to follow you. You shook your tits in their faces, or maybe you offered some services to them." She sneered at the men and Rosalia, not even bothering to pretend at being intimidated. "Not that they have anything to boast about, so you probably needed your right hand to finish the job anyway. Unless that's what you use your spear for."

Ouch, that's a hell of a burn, Harry thought with a wince. Rosalia managed to piss Silica off if she's going for the throat like that.

Lux giggled. "And you've seen him when he was exposed," she said. "How does he measure up in comparison?"

Silica smirked. "Them?" she asked, gesturing at the Red players. She put the tip of her index finger about three centimeters from the tip of her thumb. "Once you take off the codpieces, probably about that." She then gestured to Harry. "He's about… hmm." The gap widened to about fifteen centimeters.

"And you staked your claim already," Lux said, giving an appreciative whistle. "Good idea."

Harry stared at the two of them and shook his head. They're comparing me in that way to those guys? He thought incredulously. He noticed that the men behind Rosalia glare at Silica.

"Not a very inspirational comparison," He said drily.

"You're not finding it inspiring?" Silica asked. "I'll try harder in the future, dear."

"They're not finding it inspiring, m'lady." Harry replied, pointing at the red players. Well, orange, but he wasn't giving them that bit of leeway. "What you said does wonders for my self-image, not that it needs any help, mind you. I do have to ask, though, just what do you girls talk about behind my back?"

"Girl things," Lux replied. "You know, those things."

"Ah, never mind then." He said hastily before looking back at Rosalia and her men. "So, while the girls are busy with something more important, girl talk and all that, you all mind telling me who you all are? Not that I really care."

Rosalia glared at him and huffed. "Well, if you want to know who we are, we're Titan's Hand." She said. "And we're becoming something of a feared group on the mid-levels."

Harry snorted. "Titan's Hand?" He asked. Then he had to laugh. Wait until I tell Hagrid, Flitwick and McGonagall this one. He turned around. "Girls you heard anything about a group calling itself Titan's Hand?"

"Not that I can recall, good sir," Silica said.

Lux made a face as if in deep thought (or constipation, the two were so close, really) then shook her head in denial.

"Not even from Lind?" He asked.

"Nope," said Silica.

Lux frowned. "No."

"What about Argo?"

"We haven't heard anything about a Titan's Hand from anyone." Silica said. "Still, they introduced themselves, so…"

Harry nodded. "Good point." He opened his menu. "I think we can first let our gear do the talking, they might get the hint." Of just how royally fucked they are, he thought viciously.

##

Kuril was beginning to get nervous as he watched the trio act completely unconcerned about the presence of him and the others. Unlike what Rosalia claimed, he doubted that it was an act, there was too much clear confidence in their bearing.

And when Rosalia introduced their group, the only thing the kid did was ask his companions if they heard anything. From their denials, it was clear that, if anything, any intimidation factor was now gone. Instead all three simply opened their menus and…

Oh hell.

"Boss," he said. "I think we might have a problem here."

"And what would that be?" Rosalia asked sharply.

Kuril indicated the trio that just suddenly changed their gear to something that was clearly superior to what they had been wearing earlier. "Look at the colors, look at the gear, and then look at the colors again." He said.

Rosalia did so and turned back to him. "And?" She asked archly.

He had to suppress a growl- Rosie liked to think she was the smartest in the room to match her looks. "Boss, I think that's Hadrian and Silica, with one of their newest tagalongs," he said. "Lux, if I remember."

"Tagalong?!" The newly identified Lux protested. "Hey!"

"Oh, we got it when we first joined up with Kirito and Asuna," the one that he was betting was the Dragon Princess said. "Take your medicine."

"But it tastes bad, Auntie Sil," Lux whined. Mainly for show, was his guess.

Rosalia snorted. "If it was Hadrian and Silica, there would be a feathered dragon with them," she observed. "Which there isn't. And why would members of the Assault Team be down here?"

"I don't know," Kuril shrugged. "But they fit the-"

"They're not members of the Assault Team you idiot!" Rosalia shouted. "They're just looking like them, copycats! They're pretending to be them to throw us all off our game."

"Ah, no, not quite." The boy said... and fuck, when he stood up straight and glared he had to be the Hadrian, the Red Killer. "The fact is, Rosalia, people noticed your little gig." The scorn he heaped on Rosalia's name when he said it could fill a player's inventory.

"What?" She asked. And her sudden puzzled tone only added to the sinking feeling in Kuril's gut.

"Oh yes, they noticed." Hadrian said. "Hell, Lind noticed and tried to see if that was the case, but you always broke off from this lot early enough for them to hide." He smirked. "Not bad,"

"... but fucking Lind noticed..." Kuril moaned.

"I could say many unflattering things about Lind," Hadrian said. "But once he's looking for something, he can spot it. He noticed you a while ago anyway." His expression became cold. "And while he could never get the proof to act preemptively, he kept an eye open, and he made a nuisance of himself to disrupt you. Still took us a week to track you down, but that happens. Anyway, he wanted it stopped before you crossed the line."

"And what line would that be?" Rosalia asked.

"Killing someone, Rosalia." Came the chilly reply.

Kuril started. "But we haven't killed anyone!" He protested. "We've been careful not to!"

"And how close have you all cut it?" Hadrian asked, the ice in his voice becoming razor sharp. "How many were left with only a sliver of health after your little shakedowns? How many could have died as they made their ways back to a safe zone to recover? No, it's only a matter of time before you cross that line."

Rosalia growled. "You criticize me on pulling psychological bullshit, and you do the same thing," she hissed out. "It's not like the deaths are real. We have no proof that they are, none whatsoever! Kayaba was bluffing!"

"We have no proof that Kayaba was bluffing, either." Hadrian replied, his voice getting impossibly colder.

"Boss, he has a point." One of the others said.

"Enough!" Rosalia shouted. "These three are not who you all are afraid they are! Even if they were, they're outnumbered! Just attack them and when they've been beaten to within an inch of their lives, we'll take what we want!"

Kuril gave Hadrian a nervous look, while the boy waved his companions back and stepped forward. He looked at his fellows, who themselves looked a bit uncertain, but gripped their weapons more tightly.

"Just do it!" Rosalia commanded in a tone that brooked no argument.

This is not going to end well, Kuril thought as he charged forward with the rest.

##

Harry just stood there, idly keeping an eye on his health as Rosalia's men flailed away at him.

He was keeping note on how much damage they were doing, at least until his battle healing took effect and undid some of the damage. While not as good as Kirito's, which could recover close to six hundred health per ten seconds, being able to recover four hundred and fifty health was still a respectable amount.

Then again, he was far less willing to spend an extended period of time with his health in the red to really work on increasing his 'in battle' regeneration. Kirito, the lunatic, was willing to, if only so that when he actually needed such an ability, it was up to the task.

Risk versus reward, with the reward being increased survivability.

Still, it was seven attackers, and they were doing a fairly respectable job of whittling his health down. It exceeded his regeneration... but not by much. Not enough to count.

Huh, not too bad, he thought. If they could do more damage, they'd be an actual threat, rather than a bloody nuisance. Still, better not get too overconfident, or next time this happens, and with Laughing Coffin out there, there will be a next time, I'll be in trouble. Keiko will figure out how to resurrect me from the dead so she could kill me herself if I get killed because I was overconfident. Oh, wait, Rain still has that one item. One step less for her, really can't risk it now... hm?

His thoughts trailed off as he noticed them stop and catch their breath and decided to up the psychological warfare. "So, you guys can start whenever you're ready." He said idly, while his health ticked upwards and was back to full in short order.

"What are you idiots doing?!" He heard Rosalia shout. "He's just standing there!"

"Boss, we just hit him with everything we had!" One of them shouted.

"What the hell is this guy made of?" Another asked.

"How the hell is he…?"

"Wait, you guys did?" Harry asked in mock incredulity. "So that's what that breeze was. Huh." He then looked at them and sighed at their confusion. "Okay, I will put this simply. While the gear I have is awesome and all, it can be summed up this way. Levels, they matter." He then looked at them.

"You see, I'm level seventy-two, Silica is the same, and Lux is level sixty-nine."

"And that means that for you, we're a bit, just a bit, out of your league." Silica said. "While there aren't any gods around, think of us as their representatives to you."

"What would the Christians call us?" Lux mused. "Ah, yes. Prophets."

"So, there you have it," Harry said cheerfully. "We're the prophets of whatever gods you worship. I suggest you start praying."

"Would you settle for us groveling and begging for mercy?" One asked, the one who was trying to talk Rosalia out of this, if Harry recalled.

"Hmm, mercy, mercy…" Harry muttered thoughtfully before looking at Silica. "Silica, you have any of this 'Mercy' in your inventory?"

"Nope, all out. Lux?"

Lux opened her inventory and made a show of browsing through it. "It seems I'm fresh out as well," she said sadly. "Also, I think it was your turn to get some Harry."

"Oh, it was?" Harry asked idly. "Damn, I knew I forgot to get something in town."

"Wait!" Lux shouted. "I forgot, Lind gave us a corridor crystal in case we ran into these guys. If I remember correctly, he told us it leads to the Black Iron Palace."

Harry nodded. "So we do have some 'Mercy' in stock." He said the cheer re-entering his voice as he looked at the Reds surrounding him. "Well, you're all in luck boys, Lind came through for you." He then heard a growl coming from Rosalia's direction and turned to face her.

"Have something to say?" He asked.

"You… you… Lind sent you children to stop me?" She asked. "He didn't even have the balls to do it himself?"

Harry shrugged. "More like he doesn't have the time to bother with you, not with Laughing Coffin out and about." He said. Well, if she was going to hold out her ego as a target, he'd oblige. "So, he asked us to do him a favor. And to be honest, from what I did learn, it's not a big one for him. I was going to make him owe me big for this, but… you're not making it worth that. Hell, you're not even worth his time, which is probably why the bastard asked us to do this."

Rosalia looked at him, then at his companions, and tried to smirk, though it was lacking in confidence in Harry's opinion. More like someone trying to rally their previous confidence, than anything else. "And how well can you do it?" She asked. "There are three of you, and while you're stronger than expected kid, does that apply to your friends? What if I were to tell my men to go after them and have some… fun with them."

Harry's expression went blank. "Rosalia, I'm warning you right now, don't go there." He said with a calm voice that was frighteningly cold. "You might have a green cursor, but that will not stop me from killing you if you do."

"Harry," Silica said sharply. "That bitch is mine. You just deal with those idiots. Lux, back him up if he needs it, not that he should." Harry turned back to see her draw her dagger. Lux followed suit shortly after with her sword, though her expression showed that she was less than thrilled by what was likely to be happening soon.

##

Kirito cursed as he had to kill another mob. Lux had sent the message and he, Asuna, and Rain had made their way to the Virsten Trail to back Harry and the others up. However, the distance they had to cover, being close to a kilometer, to the area, and the mobs in the way, had slowed them all down.

Of course, he thought acidly. Why wouldn't we be slowed down? It's not like our friends need backup or anything!

He gazed at his map, where his friends' locations were marked, thankful that the system had a way of tracking people on a player's Friends List. Well, so long as they were on the same floor. They were close, it should only be any second…

He stopped as his group reached a clearing and paused at what he was seeing. Harry was in the midst of a group of Reds, all of whom seemed to have surrendered, though seeing as a few were missing limbs, it was clear that his friend had to be a bit forceful about it.

Silica had her dagger to the throat of another Red, the sole female of the group, and he caught only the edges of what she was saying. Something about that Red now being a Red and if she wanted to test some theory or other. That her hand was impaled on a spear was worrying, but she seemed to be fine for now. Especially since the woman dropped her weapon. It slowly slid out of Silica's hand, but the puncture wound seemed to be taken care of by her regen before it could be affected by any debuffs or stat effects that might be inherent to the weapon.

And Lux… he stopped and stared. He was fairly sure that Asuna and Rain were as well. Lux was pale faced and holding a severed arm and looking at it curiously, as if wondering how it got there. She then looked at the Red it probably belonged to, considering he was missing an arm, and then back to the arm. Looking back at the player, she held it out.

"Um… is this yours?" She asked as the arm then shattered. "Oh… it's... broken. I'm sorry about that, but don't worry. You should get a new one when you heal up. And would you please surrender? I don't want to cut off any more of your limbs." Those last few sentences came out in a babbling rush, but the fact that she disarmed a Red player and was handing him back his own arm...

Needless to say, the Red surrendered, to Lux's clear relief.

He then heard Pina give out a call and the sounds of Rain struggling a bit to keep the feathered dragon restrained. Everyone's attention turned to them and Harry simply raised an eyebrow.

"Rain, just let Pina go, it's done with," he said.

The woman Silica was bearing down on... Kirito swore that if SAO's mechanics allowed for it, she would have died of shock as Pina settled on the Princess' shoulders. "You, you- oh fuck no, what the fuck..."

"Good to see she's remained articulate," Harry said, eyeing the woman coldly. Then, the warmth was back as he looked at the Black Swordsman. "Also, what took you guys?"

Kirito shrugged. "We ran into a bit of traffic on the way," he said simply. "You know how it is. Need to be somewhere? There's a line at the Teleport Gate. If it's not that, it's rush hour for the mobs." He looked around the area. "So, everything fine here?"

Harry looked at the ruined Reds surrounding him and back to Kirito. "I'd say so," he said as if he hadn't just gotten done fighting several players who had been trying to kill him. "But if you could be a good sport and get that corridor crystal from Lux and send these chaps on through, that would be nice. I think that Lux could use some pampering, and I think there's a spa somewhere on this floor that the girls can take her to. If not, Argo will know where a good one is."

"You paying?" Asuna asked.

Harry gave her a mock offended look. "I'm the one who got her into this mess," he said. "Of course I'm paying."

"You... did pay for Pina's food," Kirito noted.

Harry shifted slightly into a thoughtful pose. "There is that-"

"Harry!" Silica barked, not moving from where she held Rosalia at dagger's edge.

"- but for our girls, only the best!"

"Oh, yes," Kirito hurriedly agreed. "In fact, let's get these folks on their way so the ladies needn't bother!"

"Brilliant!" Harry agreed.

They both ignored the smiles the females of the guild gave them... though they savored the small one they coaxed from Lux. If she could still smile after the shock of fighting someone trying to kill her, then she would be just fine after the rest of the girls talked to her.