Chapter Twenty-Five

Since I was no longer trying to hide my identity, I changed back into my signature blue armor and blue sword. The only thing I kept was the flowery kite shield. I had grown fond of it during my short battle with Yggdrasil, and I wanted to continue using it. The pointed end of the shield made for a great weapon. Maybe it would be my new luck charm, if I was the superstitious type. Which I'm not. Mostly. Also, it needed a makeover. Ew flowers and girly stuff.

During my incapacitation, Yggdrasil managed to call forth another five tree minions. This was a first for us, as no other floor boss had ever called more minions to fight after the first set was defeated. Luckily, Asuna made a great general and handled the unexpected situation with ease. She ordered some of her KBO guild members to take on the small fry, which I was shocked to see when I was, finally, ready to rejoin the battle.

Back to full health and raring to go, my party and I looked towards Agil on the front lines. He had done well on his own, but the point of having a party was to fight together. His health must have been getting low as he was spending more time defending than attacking. The poor guy, he had all his teammates ditch him, and at a time like this. I'd have to remember to yell at the guys later for abandoning a party member, we need to watch all of each other's backs. One of them should have stayed with the man to help him. I think a Gibbs' smack was in each of their futures.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I had spent enough time in my mind during this fight. I needed to get my head in the game, pun intended. I started running for the small crowd that was still formed around the giant tree's feet. I immediately noticed that Yggdrasil's health was down to the last bar. Thank goodness, that meant this fight was almost over.

Yggdrasil let out a moaning groan. Another new sound, meaning another new attack. And boy was I right, regretfully.

We had barely reached the fighting crowd when the leaves started falling from Yggdrasil's branches. When they came in contact with a player or the ground, they exploded like bombs. But that wasn't all. With each explosion, a cloud of spores was also released. Some players were paralyzed, some were poisoned, and some were even put to sleep. Stun spore, poison powder, and sleep powder. All this monster needed was will-o-wisp and it would have all the status ailments covered. Thankfully it didn't.

"Those who are able, cover the players who need status recovery items! Move it!" Asuna called from the foot of the boss, a purplish hue to her skin. "Anyone with high strength, grab a sleeping player and move them to a safe location!"

Like a well oiled machine, KBO guild members and players alike followed Asuna's instructions. Kirito and I each grabbed a player and dragged them far enough from the fighting that they wouldn't get stepped on or tripped over. I briefly wondered how many players died during this fight… But I couldn't keep that train of thought. It would do me no good to focus on the dead in the heat of battle. Best to wait until after Yggdrasil was defeated to mourn.

"Shit." Kirito mumbled from my left. I looked over at him quizzically before he answered my unasked question, "Yggdrasil already regrew his leaves and is slowly absorbing them to regain his health. He is already back up half a bar." Kazuto pointed to where the now one and a half yellow bars glowed near Yggdrasil's branches.

"We gotta get back in there, and fast, before he heals more." I unceremoniously dropped the player I had been carrying and rushed back into the fray. They were still asleep so they would never know.

Kirito and I weren't the only ones back in action. Asuna, along with a quarter of her guildmates, and my party minus Agil, had rejoined the battle. Hopefully the sleep spell would wear off of those other players soon. I needed this fight over, badly. I was starting to grow mentally exhausted from all the stress. This battle had been the longest one so far. Even when taking on multiple opponents, like floor two with the three bulls, it hadn't felt this long. And we, easily, have three times the amount of people fighting.

I looked for Kirito, hoping to swing back into the branches again. He was too close to Yggdrasil for that to actually work, though. But if Stark used his shield to give me a boost, I should be able to reach the lowest branches… What a brilliant idea!

"Stark! Hold your shield out at shoulder level, I'm gonna use it to get into Yggdrasil's branches!" I yelled out to the blond haired boy. Without question, Stark did exactly as I needed. He bent his knees slightly and held his arm out as if calling a bird to roost, in a way I guess he was.

I wasn't expecting Charr to use his superior strength to give me more lift into the branches. He had grabbed Stark's shield and used it to fling me as high up as he could. It worked better than I could have expected. Instead of reaching the lower branches, I was midway through the leafy crown.

Slicing and slashing with my sword worked so much faster at lowering Yggdrasil's health than my warhammer could. Even though there was no chance to burn the tree monster, I did more damage by severing the branches from the trunk, with fewer swings. I hopped down from the branches before Yggdrasil could release another poison cloud, and saw that I had cut out that half bar it had regenerated earlier. I even managed to avoid getting punched into a wall, again.

After the poison spores dissipated, we were expecting the leaf bombs. Avoiding those was much easier when you knew they were coming. The shield wielders came in real handy by blocking the leaves from hitting the players, making it possible for them to continue the assault. And now that we were at a distance, Kirito could swing me back into the branches to take out more health points before he could regenerate his health again. Finally, this battle could end.

"You all saw what the Azure Knight did earlier! Shield users, help as many as you can into the branches! Let's take this thing down!" Asuna called from the front lines. She quickly climbed a white armored KBO member and used their shoulders to jump into the branches. Many other players were quick to follow her lead, with the help of those that fought with shields, and soon it looked like Yggdrasil's branches were laden with fruit. If those fruits were actually people.

In less than a minute, Yggdrasil gave one last mighty cry. The loudest one yet. A death roar for all to hear. If the great beast hadn't been trying to kill us all earlier, I might have felt a little bad for it. But since it was a creature of this death game and I was a real-life human, I couldn't feel guilt. Better my life than that of something that wasn't even real.

When the tinkling shards finally twinkled out, the crowd went nuts in celebration. We had finally beaten the tree monster of floor fifty-two. One step closer to freedom. One step closer to home.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! Here is another chapter! I apologize for its shortness! I could NOT figure out how to write this battle. So as an apology, I have the next chapter done for you. Enjoy! Also, reference to Leroy Jethro Gibbs from NCIS, the notorious Gibbs' smack.