Kirito's POV
"W-what is all this?" I uttered as my body froze in shock. Asuna, Alice and I had reached the inner core of the End Mountains, the Ice Cave of the Northern White Dragon. The place was fully enveloped by a thick layer of ice and the air inside was so cold that the ice particles had crystallized, forming icicles and ice crystals all over the place. There were also severed bones that belonged to the Northern White Dragon scattered all over the icy floor. The place was just the same as how I remembered. This place had left me with the impression of it being nothing but a place filled with misfortune. A young Alice was taken away because of the incident that happened when we came here for ice gathering. The first time I felt the blood-curling pain when the Lizard Killer, Ugachi, slashed my upper left arm. And...and...
I shook my head to shake of the bad memories, suppressing them. I don't want to remember them. Besides, now was not the time to dwell on the past. We had bigger problems, an anomaly that wasn't there before in the ice cave that I once knew. Before us were the people we once knew and cared about in Underworld, trapped in ice crystals in stasis. They were aligned around the perimeter of the cave surrounding a single enormous ice crystal wrapped in icy tendrils and blue rosebuds. The ice was extremely thick on the middle crystal that I was unable to tell what it was holding captive. However, I quickly figured out the origin of those tendrils and unbloom roses when I saw the Blue Rose Sword stood still before the ice crystal.
Ignoring the sword for a moment, we went around the perimeter to examine the ice crystals. Alice was instantly overcome with emotions when she recognized the Integrity Knights from her time inside the ice. "Oji-sama!" She cried and ran towards the crystal that was holding a middle-aged blue-haired man inside. Tears ran down her face as she cried with mixed feelings of joy, relief and sadness. Alice looked to her side and slowly named the other knights she saw. "Fanatio-dono, the Four Whirling Blades, Renly-dono, Sheyta-dono, even the twins and-" Her teary sapphire orbs glimmered with hope when she saw a knight in pale purple hair with a stunningly beautiful yet rugged face. She immediately ran over to the said knight, placing both hands onto the crystal to confirm her doubts. "E-Eldrie?!" I watched her cried knowing that she was glad to be able to see her disciple once more. It was shocking news to me when I had found out that he had sacrificed himself to save the other knights and the Human Empire Defense Army during the war, dying a devastating death.
Giving her some personal space, Asuna and I went and inspect other crystals. We saw some familiar and unfamiliar faces of the dwellers of Dark Territory that had become our ally after the war ended. Though I didn't have many memories of them, I could recognize Iskahn, the Champion of the Pugilists and the supreme leader of the Dark Territory, as well as the Orc Chief, Rirupirin. Beside them were a couple of ice crystals with two dark-skinned humans encased in them. They were the commander of the Dark Knights, Vixur Ul Shasta and his precious subordinate, Lipia Zancale. I do not know them personally but I felt as if I had heard of them from Iskahn, and remembered their names somewhere from my suppressed memory. Moreover, I remembered seeing images of them appearing before me during my final battle with Gabriel Miller, encouraging me to win. Just from that, I was sure that they are good people who truly seek for peace in the Dark Realm.
"Kirito-kun! Come over here, quick!" I heard Asuna called while I was lost in my own thoughts. I ran over to her and saw her pointing at the crystals in front of her. "Look." My eyes soon mimicked her distraught ones when I saw the figures encased in ice.
"Liena-senpai! Golgorosso-senpai!" I touched the freezing surface, peering into the thick layers to verify the said figures in purple and green uniforms.
"There's Ronye-san and Tiese-san too..." Asuna said and I turned towards the crystals before her. They were indeed the trainee pages I knew from my days in the Swordcraft Academy. The two girls seemed to be in the same Deep Freeze mode as the others, in their Integrity Knight Apprentice uniforms. "There's one more crystal over there!" Asuna pointed out.
"It's Selka! Alice! Selka's here too!" I yelled, beckoning the golden-haired knight over. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tumbled over to her precious little sister.
"Selka! Can you hear me? Selka!" Alice cried while banging her fists on the thick ice. "Why is she here like this?!" She crouched down onto the cold floor, sobbing. I kneeled beside her patting her back to comfort her.
"A-Alice, calm down. We'll find a way to free them." I tried my best to reassure her despite having no clue to any of this that was happening. "Asuna, do you know anything about this?" I asked my girlfriend, hoping that she would have some answers.
"No, I don't." She shook her head in denial. She then told me about how Higa-san was planning to revive artificial fluctlights, placing them inside ALO by gathering their memory fragments and using the same concept of reviving Yuna in the Ordinal Scale incident. I was shocked at first but Asuna assured me that no one was harmed in the process of all this, though she did avoid my gaze when she said that. I knew she was keeping quiet about something else but I decided to let it go for now. "I knew they were planning to revive some of the people we knew in Underworld, but I didn't know it was going to turn out this way. I'm sorry, Kirito-kun." Her undine blue eyes bore signs of guilt.
"No, it's not your fault." Taking her hands into mine, I stepped closer to her, hugging her trembling frame to my chest. "You did what you thought was best for me and I'm glad you did." I spoke softly in her ears, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. Cupping her face, I gazed into her bright eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure they are just unconscious. Let's search for a way to wake them up." I stroke her hair and she nodded. We then grabbed onto Alice's hands and pulled her up.
"What do you suppose we do now?" Alice asked, wiping her tears away.
"I'm not sure but for starters, let's check out that huge crystal over there." I suggested, nodding towards the towering crystal in the middle. For some reason, it feels as if an invisible force was constantly trying to drag me towards the crystal. 'Was it the because of the Blue Rose Sword? Or was it because of what's inside of it?' Seeing all the people in the crystals were people whom I had met before, I wanted to believe that inside this gigantic crystal is someone who was precious to me. 'Could...could it possibly be 'him'? Is it okay for me to believe that?' I thought and placed my hand onto the ice.
A faint glow came from inside the ice, flickering upon my touch. The neglected orange butterfly from before flew over to the glowing crystal, circling it before landing onto one of the blue rosebud. I stared at the flower for a moment and an idea finally popped up in my mind. 'If those roses originated from the power of the Blue Rose Sword, they need to absorb Life Resources to bloom. Those people inside the ice are probably similar to NPCs in ALO, so they should be Immortal Objects. Since there's no actual Life Resources, magic is the closest thing we had. We could try charging the flowers with magic attacks to see the reaction.' I concluded in my mind and turned to the Undine mage standing beside me.
"Alright. There's something I wanna try, so hear me out." I said to the girls and they nodded, paying attention to my words. "Asuna, I need you to shoot those rose buds with magic attacks. I think it would be best if you used spells with ice attributes. If my theory is correct, the roses might start absorbing magic power with a similar trait, in this case, the ice crystal barrier." I explained.
"I see, it does make sense. The Blue Rose Sword had the power to absorb durability. It might weaken the barrier, it's worth a try." Alice said, agreeing with me.
"Okay, I'll give it a shot." Asuna agreed, equipping her wand and recited the commands for an ice spell. Securing her aim on one of the rosebuds, Asuna cast the ice magic attack perfectly, hitting right on its target.
Instead of being destroyed, the rosebud gradually bloomed after absorbing the magic power just as I had predicted. The tendrils began to stretch their way across the perimeter of the cave, wrapping themselves around the smaller ice crystals. Eventually, the other rosebuds started blooming as well while the ice barrier began to melt. Once the barriers were thin enough, they shattered away, losing their lustre and fell to the ground in the form of ice rocks.
Being released from captive, the people from Underworld's eyes twitched and slowly opened, regaining consciousness. Looking around in confusion, they were perplexed of their surroundings, their existence and the companions that were with them. However, they did not seem to bear any resentment towards each other. Even Bercouli, Eldrie and Dakira who lost their lives in the dreaded battle were brought back to life. They had both shocked and confused expressions on their faces, staring into their palms in disbelief. Fanatio, who was formerly second-in-command after Bercouli, had tears in her eyes as she saw her beloved commander alive and well. The blue-haired man gave her a comforting smile before pulling her into his chest.
Renly ran to Tiese and helped her stand before helping Ronye. Liena-senpai and Golgorosso-senpai also met up with them after being released. Sheyta walked towards Iskahn, extending her hand out to help the fiery-haired pugilist up on his two feet. He gave her a smirk while her lips curved into a small smile. The Dark Knight couple, Shasta and Lipia, we both reunited were in the middle of a warm tearful embrace. The man in dark armour was soon greeted by Bercouli. Instead of showing any signs of aggression, the two seemed to have a deep understanding of one another and shook their hands as a symbol of respect.
Selka, who awakened beside Alice quickly recognized her golden-haired sister, leapt into Alice's arms in happiness. "Nee-sama! It's so good to see you." She buried her face into Alice's amour cladded chest for a short while and looked up to her face with a grin. She then looked around her and her expression changed into a puzzled one. "Alice nee-sama, are we in the End Mountain's Cave? Although, it feels like it's also not the same place. And why do you have ears similar to a cat's?" She played with Alice's fully cat ears, eyes bearing the curiosity of a child.
"This is...another world. This place was made to resemble our world." Alice briefly explained. "Selka, do you still have your memories?" Alice cupped the young girl's cheeks, studying her face. I could tell that she was afraid of Selka's memories being reset. We didn't know how their revival would affect them as this experiment itself was a risk. However, unlike the others, Selka was still very much alive and she was most likely just being transferred over to ALO from Underworld. There were no memory fragments required in the process so she would still be the same Selka we know.
"Nee-sama what's wrong? You seemed distressed, you were just fine two weeks ago when you visited. Did something bad happen?" Selka asked innocently, her words made Alice breathe a sigh of relief, confirming my speculations. Alice hugged her sister tightly as Selka raised an eyebrow at her before noticing me and Asuna. "Asuna-sama? And...K-Kirito?!" The girl in braided light brown hair came forward to me, grabbing both my hands in her tiny ones. "That day, Nee-sama left because you were in trouble. You're unharmed? You look different as well..." She said while noticing the slight difference in my eyes, my slightly spikey hair and my pointed elf ears. I gave her a wry smile and patted her head.
"I'm alright, Selka. Sorry for worrying you." I replied and she nodded with a smile. "And yeah, our appearances were made to blend in with the beings living in this world. Though, that's a different case for you guys." I pointed out, seeing that the people of Underworld did not have their appearance changed at all.
"I see. So, are we in the Real World right now?" A middle-aged man in blue robe with blue hair interrupted our conversation with his deep voice. It was the Integrity Knight Commander, Bercouli. He and the rest of the Underworldians have regrouped and were walking towards us. Stopping a few steps away from us, the man brought up his hand and greeted us.
"Oji-sama!" Alice released Selka and ran towards Bercouli, leaping onto his chest, bawling her eyes out. After finding out that Bercouli had sacrificed himself in the battle with Vector to save her, Alice had grieved for the loss of someone who was the closest thing to a father figure to her.
"Yo, Little Miss, Little Asuna and..." He looked at me with a smile. "You, the black-haired boy. You're...Kirito, is that right?" He asked and I nodded. Before I could greet him back and answer his question, a feminine voice reached my ears and stopped me.
"Kirito-senpai! Asuna-sama!" It was Ronye who had called out to us. She and Tiese rushed over with beads of tears in their eyes. Both Asuna and I wrapped our arms around their trembling forms, feeling glad to see them.
"I see you're as close with your pages as always, Kirito." A young lady with long brown ponytail spoke from behind them with an extremely buff man approached us, standing beside her.
"Liena-senpai! Golgorosso-senpai! I'm glad to see the both of you too." Patting the younger girls' head, I turned to greet my seniors.
As we had small talks with my valets and seniors, Alice was reunited with the other Integrity Knights and tearfully hugged her supposedly deceased disciple, Eldrie, who was embarrassed by it. We had also exchanged some words with Iskahn, Rirupirin and the Dark Knights. From over conversation, I realized that most of them had their memories stopped at the point where Asuna and I had stayed in Underworld for about two years. (A/N: After Moon Cradle side story ends) Those who had died in battle had their memories until the point of their deaths. Asuna and I only had our memories of Underworld until roughly a month or two after the war, where we were still busy forming a peace treaty with the Dark Territory.
After a few moments, Bercouli cleared his throat and turned towards me. "It's good to see you all but I was hoping you could explain more about the situation to us." He said.
"Right. That was my intention." I replied him. "But before that, I wish to complete the remaining task at hand first. After that, we'll have a lot of time to properly explain everything to you guys." I said while turning my attention back to the enormous ice crystal from before. The tendrils and roses had shattered away along with its thick layer of ice. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to destroy the barrier completely as a huge ice boulder still remained with something still glowing inside of it. The orange butterfly returned and stoop atop the ice boulder and a feminine voice echoed through the cave.
"Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. No matter how much suffering you went through, never let go of them." The voice came from the butterfly sounded nostalgic. It reminded me of a certain tiny spider who used to hide inside my hair, secretly guiding me and protecting me. "Memories are linked. Awaken them with the essence you have carved deep inside your heart and they shall guide them to you. Pray, as hard as you can. Only a strong prayer can change your fate." Once the voice stopped, I returned my gaze to the glowing ice boulder.
"If this quest was made for me, I couldn't think of anyone else inside this boulder but you, partner. So, I'll have to face my memories of you, huh?" I chuckled weakly, my hands quivering without me noticing and a pair of warm hands grabbed my shaking ones.
"Kirito-kun?" Asuna worriedly looked into my eyes. I could tell she wanted me to give it a try but was also worried about my panic attacks. "I'm with you, so don't be afraid."
"I know, Asuna. I guess I'm not allowed to run for this any longer, am I? I did promise you that I would do my best to recover." I gripped onto her hands for comfort, smoothing over the skin with my thumbs. "Now then, let's do this." She nodded and released my hands.
I stepped closer the boulder, taking a deep breath to calm nerves. Placing both palms and leaning my forehead onto the cold rough surface, I closed my eyes and picture the face of a certain flaxen-haired boy, trying to form a link with the person I believe to be trapped inside the boulder. Soon, a rush of memories began flowing into me, from how I met him till the moment he met his end. The pain surged through my entire being, my heartfelt as if it was about to shatter.
Normal POV
Kirito's eyes were shut tightly as he faced his past in Underworld. Asuna and Alice looked on anxiously as they noticed his pained expression. The Underworldians only stood in silence as they were in the dark of the situation. Those who were close to Kirito bore a worried expression and decided to question the two ladies before them. Both Asuna and Alice exchanged their gazes and agreed on telling the others of the black-haired boy's condition. And so, they told them about how he was assaulted, drugged and now forced into a weakened state.
"Kirito was badly injured a week ago. Even after he returned to the Real World from Underworld, he was still watching over Underworld, protecting it from harm. Someone came and endangered our world. He saw Kirito as a threat to his plans and took captive of him. We spent days searching for him and during that time, that man poisoned him with a certain drug." Alice tried to explain but she was still unfamiliar with the Real World, so she looked towards Asuna.
"It was a dangerous drug that affects a person's mind, causing terrifying hallucinations that could drive a person crazy. As I've said before, the Real World is a place much uglier than the Underworld. In the Real World, those who are still young are powerless against adults. That man, he wanted to mentally destroy Kirito-kun so that he wouldn't be able to sound his thoughts even if he did somehow survive. Kirito-kun was constantly tortured and fed with the drug." As Asuna spoke, the others were shocked and gasps could be heard coming from the two young pages and Selka.
"Why would someone do such a thing?!" Liena was furious, hearing her precious trainee page had suffered so much pain.
"Someone like that bastard Vector messing with our people again?! If only I was there, I would have crushed him to pieces!" Iskahn gritted his teeth while punching both fists together as Sheyta stood by his side nodding, emotionless as usual.
"Fortunately, Kirito-kun did not give up and managed to escape him. In his pursuit, the man nearly killed him but we managed to arrive on time to save him." Asuna's voice quivered as she remembered how weak Kirito sounded at that moment and almost died. Wiping away the tears that were threatening to fall, she continued. "Although he was saved, the damage was already done to his mind to a certain extent."
"Exactly what was the damage? Could it be something similar to the coma he had from before?" Fanatio asked. Asuna shook her head.
"It wasn't like that. Kirito-kun had a rough past which he had burdened all kinds of horrible memories as well as the pain he experienced in Underworld. He always bottled it up inside, keeping everything to himself so that he wouldn't worry others. But after that incident, his state of mind was weakened to the point where he could no longer keep his fears in check and would even lost control of himself if something were to trigger his trauma. With our world's medication and care, his physical wounds healed and his conditions did improve over the week. But he would still suffer from the panic attacks from time to time and requires medication to keep it under control." The chestnut-haired said with downcasted eyes.
"That's horrible. Isn't there a cure for him? Surely constantly relying on medication wouldn't do his health any good." Ronye raised her worries, earning a sad smile from Asuna.
"That's why we're here. That's why all of you are here right now. We came here hoping that Kirito-kun would finally be able to find closure to the memories that kept on haunting him. We wanted him to forgive himself." Asuna said.
"Forgive? For wha-" Before Bercouli could say anymore, a scream interrupted them. Asuna instantly recognized the scream and rush towards the black-haired Spriggan, who was already on the ground clutching his head in agony.
"Another panic attack?! This is bad." Alice uttered.
"What should we do?" Tiese asked in worry and looked towards the seniors and Renly, who was standing right next to her.
"Kirito-senpai seemed like he is hurting so much. We have to help him." Ronye said and was about to rush forward when a large hand was extended in front of her.
"Wait. I think we should let Little Asuna handle this, right Little Miss?" Bercouli said and smirk at Alice.
"Indeed. Right now, Kirito is in a panic state and he might not be able to recognize or hear us. It would be bad for us to crowd him and startling him. Asuna would be able to soothe him, being used to her presence as she was the one taking care of him all this time." Alice said despite wanting to go to him as well.
"Kirito-kun! What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Asuna kneeled beside her lover, gently bring his head up to face her. Kirito's eyes remained shut, gasping for air. His hands gripping onto his hair go hard as if he was pulling on them.
"B-blood...his...so much blood...his blood...no...no...no, no, no..." He was trembling violently.
"Kirito-kun. It's already in the past. Please, look at me. Open your eyes." Asuna cupped his face, stroking them with care. Thumbing over his close eyelids that were scrunched together tightly, she hoped that her touch would be able to ease some of his pain and loosen those tensed muscles. Too her dismay, he could not hear or feel her at all. She felt guilty for putting him through this. It wasn't how she had expected for it to play out. The dark memories inside of him were stronger than she had expected and was now causing him to suffer even more from the torrential haunting memories. Letting out another painful cry, Kirito shook Asuna off him.
"Stop...stop it...please...stop it...I don't want to see them anymore...please stop it...I'm begging you!" The poor boy begged as tears flowed down his closed eyes endlessly. Asuna had her hands over her mouth, also crying at the sight of her boyfriend's suffering. "I SAID STOP IT!!!" With another yell, Kirito struggled to stand, holding his head and charged towards the glowing boulder head first. He hit his head hard onto the surface, startling everyone.
Asuna and Alice could see his HP dropped at the impact, immediately acted on it before he could bang his head once more onto the boulder. He was so eager to stop the pain that he had tried to hurt himself to end the pain. Alice and the people who were close to Kirito quickly approached the couple in worry. Being closer to him, Asuna tried restraining him, forcefully hugging his body against hers. Kirito writhed in pain in her arms as he tried to break free. His hands fisting the clothes around his chest and Asuna took it as a sign of increase heart rate. At this rate, he would be automatically logged out from ALO is he reached critical level.
"Kirito-kun, please stop! Don't hurt yourself anymore! You promised me, didn't you?" Asuna cried as Kirito continued screaming. "PLEASE STOP IT, KIRITO-KUN!" Asuna cried at the top of her lungs and her voice finally reached the boy. Kirito abruptly stopped his struggling, snapping out from his trance. Asuna cupped his face, wiping away his tears as she stared into his dazed expression.
"A...suna...so-sorry...I'm sorry." He croaked weakly and she shook her head tearfully, pulling his head into her chest.
"No, it's okay. Please just calm down now. Listen to my heartbeat." She gently cooed at him, stroking his hair with one hand and patting his back with another. "I'm sorry...sorry for putting you through all of this." She softly whispered to him. Kirito only shook his head against her chest while shutting his eyes seeking her warmth. He slowly regained his breathing but his face still bearing a sorrowful look while resting against Asuna.
"That's not true, Asuna. You did everything you could, thinking what was best for Kirito and he never once blamed you for any of it. This is just one of the hurdles he would have to cross." Alice comforted her as she kneeled down beside Asuna, stroking Kirito's head. The boy's body felt limp against Asuna's hold, probably exerted himself from all of the mental stress he had just gone through.
"Alice." Asuna looked at the blonde-haired knight with tearful eyes, thanking her for her kind words.
"So then, what should we do now? Kirito doesn't seem like he is in the condition to continue this." Liena pointed out, worrying about her page. Both Ronye and Tiese beside her were nodding their heads in agreement. Asuna was about to reply them when Kirito moved in her arms.
"I-I'm fine. We should...keep going...I have to get everyone out of here." The weakened Spriggan said with exhaustion, struggling to stand up.
"Kirito-kun, you shouldn't force yourself too much." Asuna supported him as he stood. The rest of the Underworldians finally approached them.
"Asuna...I can't stop now...not when we're so close." Kirito insisted. "Just now, I think I saw a vision. I think the Blue Rose Sword is the key to break that boulder. If we could-" As he was about to explain, a yell from the tunnel cut him off, causing everyone to turn their heads towards the source of the voice.
"I told you not to lose them!"
"How would I know? They were suddenly flying so fast! You weren't paying attention either!"
"You're blaming me?! We wasted so much time looking for them because of your stupidity!"
"Cut it out! You guys are noisy as hell!"
"Why are even a team?"
"Hey, I'm just here for the special items they're offering."
"Same here. Hey leader, are they really gonna be in this cave?"
"Enough! Stop causing a scene! We might bump into them so keep your guard up!" As the leader yelled at his teammate they stepped into the ice cave and was shocked to see a large group of people staring at them.
"Holy crap! It's them! So much for stealth." One of the members whined.
"Shut the hell up! Now they're gonna know that we were tailing them." The other member scolded him, hitting his head with a fist.
Alice stepped forward, confronting the intruders. "From what you've said, you were following us. What business do you have with us?" She said, shooting a sharp glare at them.
"Looks like the cat's out of the bag. Alright, fine. We heard that this quest will have an incredibly rare item as a reward. We were sure that Blackie-sensei over there would definitely lead us to it as he was the one who managed to get the Holy Sword Excalibur. And it looks like my guess was on the money after all." The leader in red armour smirked as he pointed towards the Blue Rose Sword next to them.
"There's no way, I'm going to let you take that!" Kirito growled. The Blue Rose Sword was a precious memento to him, there was no way he would let anyone get their hands on it.
"Why so stingy, Blackie-sensei? Just because you're a top player doesn't mean you should get all the good stuff." The leader unsheathed his two-handed sword and the other members follow suit, bringing out their respective weapons. "Now that we've been exposed, I guess we'll just have to fight our way to it then." Surveying the people in the cave, the leader noticed strange-looking people behind the trio. He then smirked and issued an order to his teammates. "Those people in the back are most likely quest NPCs, even if they attack, they shouldn't be much of a threat. Only three of them are the main threats. Initiate Plan B! Team A, B and C into your positions!"
The members who were bickering moments ago suddenly cooperated in perfect sync. Two mages stood behind preparing spells, two in the middle with shields standing by as their tanks and the remaining two members holding a mace and a spear stood beside their leader up front.
"I won't let you have your way!" Kirito brought out his newly equipped Night Sky Sword, taking his stance. A piercing pain shot through his head, making him nearly lost his balance.
Noticing his wobbly stance, the leader smirked and charged at Kirito. "Kirito-kun!" Asuna and Alice were about to head towards Kirito when the other two members engaged them. "Move!" Asuna threatened them but they only laughed. The black-haired Spriggan sloppily blocked the incoming attack, obviously being pushed back by the force. His eyes twitching at both the pain in his head and the heavy weight of the sword.
"Hey, hey. Is that all you've got, Blackie-sensei? Could it be the Black Swordsman, the savior of SAO I heard so much about was actually a weakling all this time? Or have you gotten rusty? I heard rumours that you were gone from ALO for quite some time." The leader smirked at the distressed boy. Ever since the grand summit they had in the huge dome at the roots of the World Tree, the city of Arun, to conclude the events of the war in Underworld and to personally thank the volunteer army, Kirito and the rest of his gang were exposed as SAO Survivors and had become famous in ALO. People would often crowd Kirito when they had the chance to duel with him or to question him about his past in SAO. Although, the Spriggan would often flee at every opportunity as he hated being the center of attention.
The Salamander leader then looked behind Kirito to see the Underworldians were about to come to the trio's aid despite unarmed. "Mages, don't let them get close!" He shouted to his teammates and the mages at back shot fireballs at the Underworldians, stopping them in their tracks. They then chanted another magic spell, shooting fire spears towards them. Being unfamiliar with the workings of ALO, the Underworldians were vulnerable to the attacks and some of them were unable to dodge them in time. Ronye and Tiese tried countering with Sacred Arts but nothing happened when they finished reciting the commands. All Sacred Arts, Perfect Weapon Control Arts and weapon abilities were nullified for reasons unbeknownst to them, making their attacks weaker.
As one mage continued with the assault, the other mage casted Thunder web spells to restrain most of the Underworldians, rendering them unable to move. Most of the stronger knights, Iskahn and Shasta were able to dodge the attacks but were unable to get closer to the mages as the tankers had jumped in to block their way.
"Oji-sama! Selka!" Alice called out to them. "Get out of my way!" She slashed her sword at her attacker but he was agile and was able to attack Alice with the longer range of a spear.
"Little Miss, forget about us! Just deal with them first! We'll be fine!" Bercouli yelled.
"Nee-sama, be careful!" Selka cried, immobilized on the ground, worrying more about her sister rather than herself.
"You cowards! Release us this instant!" "We'll chop your heads off after this!" Both Linel and Fizel yelled at the mages as they tried moving their body to no avail, being affected by the stun effect.
Kirito, Asuna and Alice, despite being top players, were having a tough time with their attackers' well-organized coordination. They weren't stronger than the trio but were taking advantage of the situation to distract them. Kirito was in his weakened state, Asuna was constantly worrying about Kirito to focus on her own fight, and Alice was worried about the Underworldians.
Being slowly overpowered by the Salamander leader, Kirito fell to his knees while fending off the barrage of attacks that were being thrown at him. As he was being held down by the weight of the attacks, he was too late to notice the incoming fireballs directed at him. With the Underworldians being occupied by a single mage and two tankers, The boy took a direct hit of those attacks and was thrown across the cave away from the group.
"Kirito-kun! Kirito!" The two girls yelled in panic. Out of pure rage, Asuna finally snapped and fiercely repelled all attacks that were thrown at her. Watching her lover being harmed had pushed her to the edge, bringing out the fearless warrior living inside of her, living up to her reputation as the Berserker Healer. Her attacker was taken by surprised and she took the opening to finish him off with her inherited original sword skill, Mother's Rosario, immediately ending the HP of the attacker mercilessly.
The tankers then charged at her and Alice rushed in to intercept them. "Go to him, Asuna! I'll take over from here!" She ushered Asuna while fending off the enemies. The rest of the unrestrained Underworldians regrouped with her, eventually pushing back the enemies.
Instead of attacking the Salamander leader, Asuna went for Kirito first to ensure his safety. The Spriggan was still in pain as he tried to stand back up to fight with his sword wedged onto the ground for support. Asuna reached him in mere seconds, propping his body up against her and casted a healing spell to restore his halved HP.
"Kirito-kun? What's wrong?" She held his head in her hands.
"I-I'm fine, Asuna. Don't worry about me." Kirito grunted while standing up, watching the leader closing in on the majestic sword. "Asuna, stop him! We can't let him touch that sword!" Asuna had a lot of questions but she complied to his request immediately, shooting ice arrows at the man in red. However, he saw it coming and narrowly dodged the attack.
"Are you so desperate for this sword that you had your girl fight for you?" He laughed mockingly.
"You don't get it! Only the quest taker can take that sword! The vision I saw just now told me that something bad's gonna happen if the sword fall into the wrong hands!" Kirito tried to reason with the Salamander leader but he just shrugged him off.
"Like I'm that stupid to take your word for it!" He snorted and grabbed the hilt of the Blue Rose Sword.
"NO!!!" Kirito yelled as the sword began glowing. The man tried pulling on the blade but it wouldn't budge. Tremors could be felt under their feet and the man released his grip on the sword in terror. Everyone in the cave stopped their fighting when they felt the shaking as well.
The scattered dragon bones on the icy ground glowed and were levitated off the ground, attached together to form a skeleton of a dragon. White flesh and shining dragon scales grew and enveloped the bones, and a dragon was brought back from the dead. A name appeared above its head labelling it as the Nothern White Dragon.
"Damn it!" Kirito cursed as the dragon flapped its wings atop of everyone in the cave, releasing a thundering roar.
Here's another chapter! Though, I'm not entirely satisfied by how this was written. I wanted to bring back a lot of characters but it was hard to not neglect them. By the way, I'm not good at writing fight scenes so I hope they don't bore you too much. Let me know what you guys think.