The Centipede

by FireMonkeyDragon

As the Clearers wage their war against the myriad of foul monsters created by Kayaba Akihiko. An entirely different battle is being fought underneath their noses, unseen by their eyes and unheard by their ears, but hidden within their shadows.

3. The Kobold Lord

The Centipede

Chapter 2: The Kobold Lord

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December 3, 2022

One month had passed since the start of the Death Game, and already two thousand people had died. Some due to suicide either from the grief being too heavy, or because they truly believed that death was the secret way back to the real world. Others had been killed by the Floor's monsters, but there were several rumors of players killing other players.

To make things worse, the Floor Boss still hadn't been defeated yet, and it didn't help that the Labyrinth's interior had significantly changed since the beta test. This fact discouraged many of the players who were venturing out in the fields, and they started to flock back to the safety of the Starting City.

But when all hoped seemed to be lost, the sudden news about the Boss Room being very recently discovered, had rekindled that flame. A player-written note was posted onto each town's message board that very same day. It was an invitation for all of the game's currently highest level players to gather in the town of [ Tolbana ] in order to hold a meeting on strategies to defeat the first boss.

Hei was among one of those players. Being a part of the small handful of players that left the Town of Beginnings on the first day had its advantages, from near-personal hunting grounds to accepting all the quests that gave the best rewards. On top of that, the boy was also a solo player which although dangerous, granted him more XP and Col from selling the drops.

His appearance hadn't changed much in the last month. Aside from enhancing the defensive stats of his beginner-level armor, strapped to his back was a new sword. The [ Wolf's Tooth ], a weapon obtained from an agonizingly long collect quest, where one had to collect one hundred and fifty-one [ Dire Wolf Fangs ] and the drop-rate for a fang was less than ten percent a kill. On the other hand, Hei had acquired a decent amount of Col for selling over three hundred [ Dire Wolf Pelts ]. It was a simple-looking sword, with the handle being gray and the blade an ivory white.

The meeting was later in the afternoon so the red-eyed boy had some time to kill before heading to the town. He still had one more quest to complete, so he decided to quickly deal with that and was currently within a small portion of woodland on the edge of the Floor.

With his weapon drawn out, Hei nimbly ducked under a fast vine whip from a monster known as the [ Little Nepenthes ]. A human-sized, plant creature with a body that resembled a pitcher plant. They had different skin patterns, some having red polka dots on white skin while others were purely green. But their most notable feature was the large, frighteningly realistic, human mouths at the top of their body.

With a sharp flick of his wrist, the teen spun the sword around to hold it in a reverse-grip as the blade started to shine a neon red. Not wasting another second, Hei sped forward and sliced, ripping a perfect diagonal line across the plant monster's body. The [ Little Nepenthes ] released a loud gurgle before splitting in half and bursting into blue fragments.

As a small white window popped up in front of him, Hei playfully twirled his sword before sheathing it on his back.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on," he murmured while checking the drops.

The second he saw [ Nepenthes Tonsils ] on the list he let out a bright cheer, pumping both fists into the air and allowed his body to fall back onto the grassy forest floor.

"YES! ...Finally...the one-hundredth Tonsil," he slightly pushed off the ground into a relaxed seated position and dismissed the menu, "I've been killing these things for six hours, maybe I should party up next time to increase the drop rate,"

Hei stood up and began his trek out of the small woodland patch, the meeting would be starting in roughly an hour so the boy decided to head back to Tolbana now. It also helped that the NPC who assigned him that [ Collect Quest ] resided there as well.

At the edge of the treeline, the red-eyed teen hopped over a fallen mossy log and re-entered the vibrant green fields. There weren't many players on this side of the Floor so it was rather quiet aside from the soft whistles of the wind and the rustling of the grass.

After taking in a deep breath of virtual air, Hei strolled across the grassland towards the settlement on a distant hill. A yawn escaped his lips during his peaceful walk but that tranquility was soon broken as the sounds of battle reached his ears, it piqued his interest and he looked to his left. He came to a halt to peer down a valley and saw a young female player with her back towards him, wielding a short sword fending off a pack of ten [ Dire Wolves ].

From the higher ground, Hei noticed that the girl had long, chocolate-brown, colored hair that flowed down to the small of her back and that she was wearing the default gear given to all players on day one. A long-sleeved, off-shoulder, red tunic with a small leather breastplate, and a short, black combat skirt along with leather boots. She also had several glowing red lies across her body with the majority of them resembling bite marks.

The girl managed to weave under the lunge of one wolf but was caught in the jaws of another, who had waited for her to mistakenly come towards it. A shriek of surprise was heard but she quickly lifted her short-sword to stab the wolf clinging to her arm, but as soon as her blade pierced the Canidae's fur, its comrade sunk its teeth into her ankle and pulled her to the ground. The girl struggled as the wolf shook violently, and any more damage would result in her foot being torn off. However, she quickly collected whatever sense she had left and with two hands on the handle, pierced the sword into the skull of the wolf, killing it instantly. Unbeknownst to her, two more were behind her preparing to pounce on the weakened girl.

On the hill, Hei had noticed and quickly took action. He drew his sword and immediately kicked off the grass into the air.

The moment the girl looked back, Hei had already landed on top of one wolf with his blade plunged through the animal's spinal cord. The wolf's shattered fragments floated around his feet, and without wasting another second he slashed the second wolf across its flank inflicting a deep long wound. The canid howled in agony and retreated several steps back as its snarling brethren formed a small barrier around it.

Using this brief moment of a cease-fire, the black-haired teen held out his hand to the fallen girl.

"You okay?".

"T-Thank you, I'm fine," She took it and Hei pulled her back onto her feet.

"How much health do you have left?" the boy asked, readying his weapon as he eyed the wolves who were now beginning to circle the duo.

"I just entered the red," the girl replied breathing heavily with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. She also lifted her sword towards their growling enemies.

"Do you have any potions left?"

The brown-haired girl shook her head, "I ran out several minutes ago,"

Hei clicked his tongue and his scarlet-red eyes flicked from one canid to the next, watching their movements carefully, "I would give you one but I don't think opening the menu is a good idea right now,"

A wolf charged forward but ended up retreating with a pained bark, as Hei had swiftly stepped forward and cut open its snout. The idea of killing the remaining eight wolves had crossed his mind, but it would likely risk the girl next to him to suffer a fatal attack. So he decided to go with the next best plan.

"There's a safe zone not too far from here, beyond that hill marked by a single oak tree," the boy told her, "I'll break open a small path and when I do, run to it as fast as you can,"

"What about you?"

"I'm at full health so I'll be able to hold them off for a bit," he explained and at the same time, spotted his chance. As he widened his stance a bit, he placed his sword on his shoulder and it glowed a light blue, "Ready?"

The girl nodded nervously, "Yeah,".

"Go!" he yelled as he shot forward, using the [ Sonic Leap ] skill to slash and pin down one of the circling wolves.

In the corner of his eye, he saw the girl dash by and up the hill. He spotted another wolf chasing after her and after quickly finishing off the animal trapped under him with a swift stab into the chest, he pursued them.

Hei took a glance over his shoulder and saw that the other six members of the pack were following suit.

One had even caught up to him and as they ran side by side, the wolf pounced with saliva dripping from its snapping jaws. Hei activated another skill and beheaded the aggressive creature only for its packmate to suddenly appear on the other side. The red-eyed teen turned his heels and came to a skidding stop, readying his weapon to hold his ground. To run and fight against so many at the same time would be a pain, especially if his back was towards them. The wolf leaped into the air but received a well-aimed stab through the bottom of its skull and it shattered instantly.

The remaining five were quickly catching up and Hei used this second to look back to see if the brown-haired girl had made it to the safe zone yet. She was closing in on the oak tree and the wolf chasing her wasn't too far behind. But if she kept at her current pace she would be able to get inside without any problems.

A deep bark brought Hei's attention back to the pack who were now in a mutual attacking range. The black-haired teen had expected the first one to jump for his head like all the rest, but instead, it ducked and weaved to aim for the boy's legs. Acting quickly, Hei delivered a swift low kick to the wolf's head and it staggered to the side, dazed. He then sliced an incoming Canidae in half using a [ Vertical ] and followed up by impaling his blade down the throat of another.

As the blue shards of death floated around him, he sped forward and ran his sword through the stomach of a leaping wolf. As it died, the second-last wolf charged at him but the teen jumped over it and repeatedly slashed at its flank until its health was depleted.

The wolf that he had kicked a minute earlier had recovered from its state of shock and was back in action. It zig-zagged its way towards Hei who was also sprinting towards it. The two kicked off the ground at the same time, the wolf's jaws were stretched to the limit and its angry red eyes glowed. As Hei leaped into the air, he quickly twisted his body around with his weapon trailing behind him and brought it down in a large slicing motion as he landed on one knee. The wolf hit the ground and there was a neon red line running from its cranium down through to its throat. It exploded into polygons a second later. Looking around he saw no more threats close by and let out a quick exhale of relief as he sheathed his sword.

The sound of breaking glass in the distance reached his ears, his eyes widened and his body stiffened. Fearing the worst he quickly whirled around, but his posture relaxed slightly when he saw that the girl was still alive. She was standing on the edge of the safe zone with her short sword out and the last fragments of a dead dire wolf scattering into the wind. As she stepped into the safe zone, the girl looked over at Hei and gave him a short wave, confirming that she was now okay.

When the black-haired teen entered the shade of the safe zone's large oak tree, he opened his menu to pull out a basic health potion and handed it to the chocolate-haired girl, who was seated with her back against the tree trunk.

"Here,"

"Thank you," she said and speedily consumed the red liquid, bringing her health back into the green.

Adjacent to the girl, Hei was resting his back against the oak tree with his arms loosely crossed over his chest, when he suddenly asked, "So why were you fighting a whole pack of Dire Wolves all by yourself? You know that's dangerous especially if you're still using the Starter Gear,"

The girl brought her knees to her chest and fiddled with the laces on her boots as a crestfallen expression spread across her face, "Yeah, I know… It's just that...,"

Hei looked at her in silence.

"It's just that after seeing the announcement of the First Boss's discovery on the notice board this morning. I realized that since this whole thing began, I had been doing nothing but sitting in a room...in some inn...somewhere in the Starting City, wasting away my time hoping that other people will stand up to clear this game for me. But when I saw the note, inviting all the highest leveled players to gather together to fight the boss, something clicked inside, and I knew that I couldn't stay idle anymore… So I thought, 'If I want to get out of this game I have to play my part'...and that's why I've been out in the fields all day, grinding up my level...in hopes that it'll be just enough to attend the battle, or at least be welcomed to the meeting today… But I guess I'm still not strong enough, huh,"

…

…

…

"Sorry about that, you probably didn't want to hear a monologue when you just wanted a simple answer right?" she said as she continued looking down at her shoes with a sad smile.

"No no, it's fine," the boy immediately replied, before a few seconds of silence passed through them.

"Hey what level are you anyway?" Hei asked in an attempt to break the silence.

"Six,"

"In one day?!" the boy's head snapped towards her in astonishment.

"I-Is that bad?" the girl asked, gazing up at him with worry evident in her bright purple eyes.

"Of course not, in fact, it's the opposite," Hei exclaimed, "I've never heard of anyone leveling up so much on the first day they're out in the fields. You must've worked really hard in just eight hours,"

"But it's still not enough," she sighed and averted her eyes back to her feet.

"Still, it's impressive," Hei admitted, "I only got to Level 3 on my first day,"

"So what are you saying? Am I a berserk grinder or something?"

"Hey if you want to refer to yourself as that, then I won't stop you," Hei playfully smirked, looking down at her, "As far as I know, that title is very vacant at the moment,"

Her purple eyes locked with his red, and after a few seconds, she cracked a smile and began to laugh, "Pfft...Hahahahahaha!"

The boy found her laugh a little contagious and soon the two players' laughter rang around the oak tree.

The girl wiped some tears from her eyes as she was attempting to stable her breathing. Once she did she stood up and dusted off the grass stuck on her skirt.

"Thank you, I needed that," she said, turning towards the black-haired boy.

"Glad I could help then," he said as his chuckling came to a stop.

"I'm Yua," the girl introduced herself with a smile.

"Hei," the boy greeted.

"Hey?" Yua raised an eyebrow, confused as to why he was saying hello at this moment and in a foreign language at that.

"Oh it's not 'Hey' like the English word we hear in the movies," he clarified, then opened the menu to bring up the profile window and pointed at the top where his username was written just above his level, "It's spelled like this,"

"So it's H-E-I, now I see why it could get confusing," Yua mused, peering at the profile window, then her eyes widened when she saw the boy's level.

"You're Level 13!" she gasped, bewildered.

"Y-Yeah," Hei slightly flinched from her sudden loudening voice and dismissed his menu, "I mean I've been out doing quests and grinding for XP ever since day one so…,"

"No wonder you took out that pack of wolves so quickly,"

"I-It's really not that big of a deal," Hei said quietly and rubbed the back of his head bashfully. But it seemed that Yua ignored it and continued.

"Then that means you must be going to that Boss Meeting in Tolbana today, right?" she asked, taking a step towards Hei.

"Yeah, I am," he nodded.

"Then can I come with you? I know I'm not strong enough to participate but I at least want to see the ones who are risking their lives for the people who are still holed up in the Town of Beginnings," She shifted her gaze down to her feet, "… and for people like me,"

"...Well," the boy scratched his cheek, not knowing how to respond.

"I know we just met and are complete strangers but...I promise I won't get in the way or anything, I'll just sit on the side and be quiet, and when it's done we can even go our separate ways," she looked back at him and urged him on for an answer.

Hei pondered on her request for what felt like hours when finally he gave in and said with a small sigh.

"...I guess it wouldn't do any harm...alright then, you can come,"

"Really?," the girl's eyes glimmered as she clasped her hands together, "Thank you so much,"

While walking towards Tolbana, the duo encountered several small monsters crossing their path and all of them were swiftly cut down by Hei. Yua had offered her help to fight the low-level creatures, but he politely turned her down as he didn't want to waste more time than necessary.

Soon they passed through the gates of Tolbana, and Hei headed straight to the center of town, for a specific Quest Informant standing by a fresh produce stall, close to the town's fountain. The NPC happily greeted him but Hei responded by spawning all one hundred [ Nepenthes Tonsils ] in his arms and dumped them onto the stall in a messy pile.

"That's perfect, thank you so much, young man, this will cure my wife's sore throat for sure," the NPC grinned and pulled out a small brown sack of coins, "Here's your payment,"

Hei retrieved the sack of coins and entered his inventory. On the top of his HUD, two words in white writing appeared and flashed three times before disappearing, [ Quest Complete ].

The scarlet-eyed boy dusted off his hands and turned around, "Right...now...the meeting,"

Truthfully, he had no idea where inside Tolbana it was going to take place, he had only quickly skimmed through the contents of the notice posted in the morning. He started strolling around the town looking for any signs of the mentioned meeting with Yua tagging along behind him.

Hei then noticed a couple of armed players by the center of the town, trotting through a small arched tunnel, and assumed that they were also headed towards the first boss meeting. It wouldn't hurt to check so he followed them while keeping his distance, and it turns out, he was correct.

Exiting the tunnel, he was greeted by a small Greco-Roman-styled amphitheater with dozens of players already sitting in the stands, waiting for the meeting to start. He looked around for a seat but most of them were already taken by several large groups, and as he didn't want to intrude, he decided on a spot in the second-highest row of the theatre. True to her word, Yua found a good position at the very top corner of the amphitheater. It was completely separated from everyone else, and it was also at an angle where unless one did a full one-eighty turn, they wouldn't be able to catch a glimpse of her

As Hei took a seat he noticed that he was in between two others who were sitting by themselves. The one to his right was a teenage boy that looked to be the same age as himself with the same hair color, but different eyes, Hei's being red, and the other sword-wielding boy's being black. He was also wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath a light metal chest plate. The one on his left obscured their appearance with a crimson cloak, but Hei noticed the thin, aqua handle of a rapier sticking out and the white leggings the person wore.

'I think that's a girl,' Hei deduced, 'I wonder why she's covering her appearance? Is it because she doesn't want to draw any attention,'

A few more minutes of waiting went by and a short-haired male player with two long strands framing the sides of his face hopped onto the stage. Everyone's attention was immediately focused on him. He had equipped heavy bronze armor for his torso, along with a shield strapped to his back and a longsword on his belt. Everything from his waist up was colored blue, from eyes to hair to the under-armor clothing. Only his pants and boots were a different shade which was white and black respectively,

"Okay people, let's get this started! Thank you all for coming today. My name is Diavel," the man introduced himself with a clear, confident voice and lightly hit his chest with a fist, "I like to consider myself as a knight,"

This resulted in him receiving a roar of laughter along with a wave of mocks and teases from the audience.

"There's no job system in this game!"

"A knight? Really? Then is this meeting a joke too?"

"Hey come on, take this seriously!"

Diavel just smiled as he let the words slide by.

"Anyways, let's get this meeting going,"

Suddenly his body language shifted and his face took a stern expression as an authoritative aura oozed out of his body. This abrupt change caused the amphitheater to quiet down.

"I'll cut to the chase. Last night our party found the boss room in the Labyrinth," Diavel's information drew every players' focus onto him, and caused them to sit on the edge of their seats, "We need to defeat the boss and reach the second floor, and to prove everyone! Waiting back in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to clear this game! And as the game's most skilled and strongest players, it is our responsibility to do so! Do you not agree!?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement floated around the crowd, the players exchanged glances with one another before looking back at the blue-haired player and exploded into a fury of applause and whistles. Diavel grazed over the audience and waited for the cheering to die down before he continued.

"Okay, now, I'd like to begin discussing our battle strategy, for starters we're going to split up into parties of five to six, at most seven,"

Almost immediately, all the players seated in the populated lower rowers huddled together, chatting as they sorted out which parties they wanted to join, and who would work well with them.

Hei glanced around and realized not only that the two players he was between were the closest ones, but the three of them were also the only players seated in the higher rows, separated from the main group. But as long as he could participate in the boss battle, the red-eyed boy didn't care about the party size.

It was then he caught the other black-haired teen looking at him and the cloaked girl on the other side. The distance between the three players was a bit too spacious and it seemed that none of them wanted to speak loudly to gain each other's attention. So Hei pointed at the blue-clad swordsman, then quickly turned the finger to his own chest, and then shifted the angle slightly to point behind him. The other swordsman instantly understood the gestures and nodded at him. Simultaneously, the two shuffled towards each other rather speedily and they met in the middle.

"Hi,"

"Hey,"

"So you wanna party up?" the obsidian-eyed boy asked.

"Sure," Hei replied, and as the black-haired swordsman opened his menu to send an invite, he decided to introduce himself, "I'm Hei, it's nice to meet you,"

"Likewise, I'm Kirito," he said.

At the same time, both their HUDs were updated with the names of their newly gained team member, just underneath their own health bar.

"Now that just leaves that person over there," said Hei, looking back over to the rapier-user.

"Yeah," Kirito nodded and the two of them quickly shuffled across the seat to the other side, closing the gap between them and the cloaked player within a couple of seconds.

"So…," Hei racked his brain for a good way to start a conversation, "You get left out as well?"

It wasn't the best one up there but it worked.

"I wasn't left out," the girl answered in a quiet voice, "Everyone seemed to already know each other so I stayed out of it,"

"You're a solo player too?" Kirito asked, poking his head out from behind Hei.

The girl nodded.

"Then how about partying with us for this fight? Safety in numbers right?" continued Kirito and even though he couldn't see her eyes, he could feel her looking at them with reluctance.

"It'll just be for the boss fight. We'll all be going our separate ways afterward," Hei clarified.

The girl stared at them for a moment before giving them a small nod and said in a hushed tone, "Okay,"

The swordsman nodded and once again, Kirito opened his menu. With a swipe and a couple of taps, a new name was added underneath their health bars.

'Asuna,' Hei read out the name in his mind.

"Alright, have you all formed your parties?" Diavel began, the crowd along with the newly formed trio had their attention redirected back towards the blue-haired knight, "Now then…"

"Hold it right there!" yelled a new voice coming from the top of the bleachers. The crowd's attention bounced off of Diavel and they turned towards the source of the voice.

It was a man looking to be in his mid to late twenties, with light-brown hair in the shape that was a mix between a garden cactus and a mace. His hairstyle was accentuated by his round head, and he also had a stubby goatee.

The eyes of the audience followed his short figure as he bounded down the stairs, stopping at the foot of the stage.

"My name is Kibaou," he stated while pointing to himself with his thumb, "I gotta say somethin' before we take on the boss,"

Kibaou angrily stabbed a finger towards the crowd and shouted, "Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand dead players!"

Diavel narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, "Kibaou, are you referring to the beta-testers?"

"Of course I am!" he spat and continued, his voice laced with venom, "Those assholes ditched all us beginners when this game started and disappeared! They took all the good hunting spots! Took all the easy quests just so they can get stronger, and ignored the rest of us! In fact, I bet that some of them are here right now! So get down here and apologize and give us all the money and items you've hoarded! Otherwise, we won't trust you to be in the same party with us!"

A wave of silence washed over the audience, none of them dared to speak up in fear of being falsely branded as a beta-tester.

Hei stared at the empty seats in front of him. It was true what Kibaou had said, he did indeed hog over a small patch of land towards the Eastern end of the Floor, where the monsters had slightly high EXP rewards, but it was because rarely anyone went there. In this first month, within a span of two and a half weeks, he had seen just two small parties in that area, and it was only because they were passing through. As for quests, the red-eyed boy wasn't very picky and had accepted every single one he came across until the limit of six active quests was reached. Perhaps in Kibaou's eyes, the only redeeming thing a former tester like himself did, was rescuing Yua from the pack of wolves earlier.

In the corner of his eyes, Hei saw Kirito gripping the edge of his seat tightly with shaking hands, and nervous sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Can I speak?"

Suddenly, a firm, deep voice rose from the crowd and broke the silence as well as Hei's line of thought. From the middle of the bleachers a massive, bulky player stood up and stepped down to the stage. He had dark skin, a bald head with a chiseled face, and a sharp goatee. He was equipped with a large chest plate over a black and white sleeveless shirt with matching pants. Strapped to his back was a battleaxe.

'How did I not notice him before?' Hei wondered as his eyes followed the giant player down the stairs until he stopped in front of Kibaou.

The mace-haired player gulped nervously and took a step back as the dark-skinned man easily towered over him. In fact, he was most likely the largest person in the entire town.

"The name's Agil," he greeted, staring down at the shorter player, "Kibaou right? Let me see if I got it straight, you saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died and that they should take responsibility, apologize and provide compensation, by giving away everything in their inventory, correct?"

The intimidated Kibaou nodded, "Y-Yeah,"

Agil hummed, then pulled out a small book with a brown cover, "You got this Guidebook didn't you? It was provided for free at every item store,"

"Y-Yeah I got one,"

"This was written from the information gathered by the beta-testers,"

This statement shocked most of the players sitting in the amphitheater, and the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves about the guidebook. The ones that had acquired one agreed with Agil as the information it possessed was incredibly accurate and at times it was practically a cheat sheet, however, the ones who didn't get a book or didn't know about it were questioning the authenticity of it.

"Listen," Agil turned towards the crowd and raised the guidebook in the air, "Everyone had equal access to this information, but even so, two thousand players died. I thought that we were here to learn from their deaths, and how that can assist us in defeating the First Boss,"

A ripple of murmuring agreement spread through the audience. After hearing his words, Kirito let out a sigh of relief as Hei relaxed his body and leaned back on the seat. A defeated Kibaou snorted irritatedly down on the stage and slumped onto the bottom row with Agil sitting calmly beside him.

Diavel, who was standing on the side during the whole ordeal, walked forward and once again took center stage.

"All right, can we resume?" Diavel pulled out the same guidebook and turned to the correct page, "The guidebook that Agil just mentioned and showed everyone, contains the information on the boss. According to the book, the boss's name is [ Illfang the Kobold Lord ], he uses an axe and a buckler and is guarded by three [ Ruin Kobold Sentinels ]. He has four health bars and will summon a new wave of Sentinels when each health bar is depleted, meaning that we will be facing a total of twelve Sentinels, including the first three. When the last one enters the red, his weapons will be switched out for a sword called a [ Talwar ] and changes his attack pattern along with it,"

The knight slipped the guidebook back into his inventory and continued, "Lastly, items will be automatically distributed, EXP goes to the party that defeats the boss, and anyone that acquires an item keeps it. Any objections?"

No one spoke up, seeing this, Diavel concluded the meeting, "Very well then. We'll gather at the front gates and move out at exactly ten AM. You are all dismissed,"

The players in the audience soon dispersed, some of them remained seated on the bleachers and began chatting among themselves, a group went down to talk to Diavel, while others simply left the amphitheater.

"So, what do you two wanna do?" Hei asked and looked at his party-mates. Only to find that Asuna was already halfway across the Town, but at least Kirito was still sitting beside him.

"Not really a team player is she?" the red-eyed player watched her turn a corner and out of view.

"I think she's just shy because she's the only female player participating in this boss raid," said Kirito.

"You think so?" Hei turned to face his fellow black-haired teen.

"Most likely," Kirito nodded, "There's a pretty imbalanced gender ratio in favor of the male over the female players in SAO,"

"Well, she must be pretty strong if she's here,"

"That's true," Kirito then pushed himself off the seat, "Anyway, I got a couple of quests to hand in. It was nice to meeting you Hei, I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow,"

With that Kirito left the amphitheater. After several seconds, Hei hopped off his seat and walked up the stairs, he didn't have anything else to do now except wait until the next morning. All the one-time quests had been completed, and the recurring quests were on their cooldown period. He could always go back into the fields to grind a bit more, but the monsters on the First Floor that didn't reside in the Labyrinth, no longer provided significant amounts of EXP to level up, besides, Hei wanted to reserve energy for the Boss Fight.

The boy was stretching his arms when he spotted Yua approaching him.

"So, was it everything you imagined?" Hei asked, with a tint of playfulness in his voice, and let his arms drop to his side.

"Pretty much, though I thought there would be more people," she replied, "I counted and there's only forty-five participating in the battle, including you,"

"Forty-five should be enough, I heard that Illfang was beaten with only twenty players in the beta," said Hei, "But considering our situation, forty-five is a much safer number,"

"That's true, but I still feel like it's not enough," said Yua, "So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," the boy shrugged, "I might go to a blacksmith to make sure that my gear is in shape to take on the boss. The last thing I want is my sword to shatter in the middle of the fight,"

"Oh! That reminds me," the purple-eyed girl drew her weapon from her hip and held it both hands. Her basic short sword had several fractures running down the blade, signifying its current low durability, "Do you know where I can get this fixed?"

Hei nodded, "Yeah, at any blacksmith store, player or NPC owned. Since I'm headed to one now, you can tag along if you want, then we can go our separate ways like you said,"

Yua smiled brightly, "Sounds like a plan,"

---

A couple of hours later the sun had set, and a blanket of virtual stars took over the sky. The town of Tolbana was illuminated by lamps and candles that gave of a warm, golden, glow. It was now more lively than usual as a morale-boosting, pre-battle party was being held in the center of town by the fountain. Long tables of food were lined up on the side and NPC bards were playing soothing tunes close by. Nearly all of the forty-five players were present at the party, and the sounds of clinking glasses, soft music, idle chatter, and laughter echoed throughout the town.

Never the one to deny the offer of free food, Hei had quickly slipped in, grabbing several bread rolls before slipping out. He didn't mind the bustling atmosphere and would've stayed for another hour but he had something else to do.

As he paced away from the center of town, he noticed Kirito at an NPC stall located in a quieter corner, buying some health potions.

"Stocking up?" said the red-eyed player as he redirected his course over to his teammate.

Kirito looked up slightly surprised to see him but then recomposed himself and answered, "Yeah, you can't be too careful in this game, it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared,"

As the purchase window appeared in front of the swordsman, Hei suddenly remembered Kirito's nervous reaction to Kibaou's accusation earlier, and unconsciously let his thoughts slip.

"Hey, are you a beta-tester?"

Kirito froze, then hastily accepted the purchase and turned towards Hei. His eyes darted around as he stuttered, "W-What makes you think that?"

"When Kibaou talked about the beta testers, I saw you shaking and sweating, and it looked like you were having some sort of breakdown," Hei answered, "If you were a 'normal' player you wouldn't have reacted like that,"

The black-haired swordsman remained silent for a time, contemplating on how to reply and in the end, decided to go with the truth.

"Yeah," he slowly nodded with his dark eyes directed to the cobblestone ground, "I am or was...a beta-tester,"

Hei's lips curved up into a smile, "Well, then I'm glad that I won't be the only one,"

Kirito looked up with shock visible on his face, "Wha-? Wait… Does that mean you're a beta-tester too?!"

"Only for nine hours though," Hei replied as he scratched his cheek.

The swordsman sighed with relief.

"Two solo playing beta-testers in the same party, what are the chances?" said the red-eyed player, "Anyway, I'm sure there are more people like Kibaou out there, so let's watch each other's back, alright?"

Kirito's expression softened and twitched out a small grin, "Right,"

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No," Kirito shook his head, "I was planning to go grab some pieces of bread at the party and then leave,"

"Well then, I might've saved you a bit of time,"

"What do you mean?" Kirito raised an eyebrow.

Hei opened his inventory, pulling out two rolls of bread wrapped in paper, and handed them to his teammate, "I happened to...liberate...an entire plate,"

"How brave of you," chuckled Kirito as he accepted the two rolls of bread, "Thanks,"

"It's no problem, like I said, us beta-testers should look out for each other, and aside from that, you're also my party member," Hei waved his hand nonchalantly and smiled, "Anyway, I have some things to do so I'll see you tomorrow morning,"

"Of course, see you tomorrow, and I mean it this time," the swordsman said jokingly, and waved goodbye to his red-eyed teammate, with a bread roll clutched in his hand.

After bidding his farewell to Kirito, Hei weaved through the streets and headed down a dimly lit alleyway towards the edge of the town. Once he exited the alley, he was greeted by a small garden tucked away from the eyes of most players by the tall, clay, NPC houses surrounding it. The garden was very basic, it had a thin concrete border, the grass within was a healthy green, and it had a few shrubs in each corner. A young birch tree was planted by the cobblestone fence that separated the town from the fields nearby. The boy leaned against the stone fence as he consumed his bland, dry, piece of bread. Its flavor could have been improved vastly if he had applied the [ Cream ] he was rewarded from a quest he finished a week earlier, but Hei had decided to sell the item for a good amount of Col.

He shivered as he swallowed the last bits of the tasteless bread roll, and then pushed himself off the fence once he recollected himself.

Hei opened his menu and pulled out a woven rope and a small, ovular, rock. He had picked it up in the fields some time ago, but as for the rope, he found it mysteriously in his item storage at the end of the game's first week. It was strange as he never bought the item and didn't remember it being a quest reward either, even stranger was the fact that it wasn't sellable at all. It bothered him for a few days, but now he had found a usage for it.

As he was fastening the two items together, he gazed down at them with dejected eyes, and the last words he had heard from his martial arts instructor, from the day he entered this game, flashed by in his mind.

"Hey, Kyouhei!"

"Yes, instructor?"

"Remember to start training with the rope dart, you'll be performing it at the next New Year's Stage!"

"Got it!"

Once finished, he began to lightly twirl the end of the rope around in a circle to test if the rock was tied on tight enough.

"Yeah, this works," he nodded and started to increase the speed of the twirling.

Hei began drawing fast, figure-eights in the air in front of him before snapping out his arm, shooting the tied rock forward. Then he jerked the same arm back, he tilted his head to one side as the rock came speeding for his face and the rock flew by. But unexpectedly, his ducking motion had pulled the rope slightly and this slight change caused the rock to change course. It swung around and the rope wrapped several times around Hei's neck before the rock smacked him on the side of his face.

"Agh!" he started to unwrap the makeshift rope dart from his neck then he murmured "Right let's try that again,"

Once again he twirled the rope around in circles and figure-eights, starting slow before building up speed. He attempted the same combo over and over and over again, but each time he was ruthlessly hit by the rock. Over ten times to the head, seven times to the ribs, five times on his neck, twice on both knees, and once in the sternum. He almost hit his groin once too but had luckily avoided it by quickly catching the roped rock between his thighs.

As the night continued, and for the hundredth time, he sent the tied rock out and pulled back, however this time he managed to avoid the unintended constrictions and collisions by grabbing the other end of the rope and twisting his body around. The rope fastened itself around his waist, and he once flicked the rock forward. It ricocheted off the cobblestone fence and nailed Hei in the nose, the speed at which it came back, caught the red-eyed boy off guard and he fell onto his back.

"Oww," he groaned as he sat up, eyelids fluttering to blink the daze away while holding onto his nose with one hand. He looked down at the makeshift rope dart in his other hand and sighed, a little frustrated, "This is really going to take getting used to,"

Rubbing his face he flopped back on the soft grass and stared up at the starry sky. The soft twinkling of the virtual celestial orbs calmed his mind and body.

"Is that going to help in the boss fight tomorrow?" a familiar feminine voice called out to him.

"Huh?" he turned his head towards the voice.

It was Yua leaning out of an open window from a surrounding building.

"Ah, this? It's...nothing, just playing around to calm my nerves," he said as he pushed himself into a seated position, with his legs out in front, and his arms behind him supporting his body up.

"Really? It didn't look very nerve-calming," she stated with a raised eyebrow.

"What did it look like then?"

Yua playfully smirked, "It looked like you got thrashed around by a little pebble,"

"O-Oh...you saw that," Hei averted his embarrassed eyes towards the cobblestone fence.

"Every second of it," she giggled, "Don't worry, I'll keep what I saw tonight to myself, you must not have wanted to be seen if you're hiding out in the corner of town,"

"Thanks," the black-haired teen replied, then a thought popped up in his head, "Speaking of which, what are you doing in 'the corner of town', I thought you left a few hours ago,"

"That was my plan, but I accepted a few quests here, and thought that it might be better to just stay for the night and do them tomorrow,"

"That makes sense," said Hei as he untied the rope and rock before placing them back into his inventory.

"Well...I gotta go and get some rest so I won't be half-asleep during the boss fight," he told her and waved goodbye as he started to walk off, "Until we meet again, Yua,"

The chocolate-haired girl waved back, "Bye Hei… and good luck tomorrow!"

"Thank you!," he called out as his figure started to disappear behind a wall, "You too!"

…

…

…

"Until we meet again," Yua murmured before closing the window and turning back into her room.

---

December 4, 2022

Two dark, giant iron doors stood in their path. Separating the group of forty-five from Illfang and his Kobold minions. Everyone was standing with their parties, unsurprisingly, Diavel's party was leading the raid, with Kibaou and Agil's respective teams following closely. Hei, Kirito, and Asuna were among the ones at the tail end.

This formation was due to the strategy Diavel had come up with. With six groups of seven and one group of three, the blue knight had given each party a role to play. Groups A and B were the Tanks, their job was simple, distract the boss and endure the attacks. Groups C and D's only job was to damage the boss and nothing else, as Group E was assigned to dealing with the minions. Groups F and G were the two support parties who would either parry attacks to set up openings for proper strikes or be substituted in if one of the other parties were wiped out.

The trio was placed in Group F and would be the main supporters of the Minion Killing party.

Before opening the doors to the Boss Room, Diavel turned around and gave one last morale-boosting sentence, with resolve clear in his voice.

"I only have one thing to say to all of you… Let's win!"

With that, he pushed open the iron doors, and the forty-five players walked in with weapons drawn as the heavy doors swung open. It was a long, dark, room, and Hei could make out the shapes of many pillars lining up on the sides, along with what looked to be some sort of platform on the other end. Something big was seated on top of that platform.

Two large, red, blood-thirsty, and pupilless eyes appeared in the darkness. The creature on the platform stood up and pounced high into the air. It landed in front of the raid group with a loud thud and kicking up waves of dust. It was a large monster with a resemblance to both a dog and a kangaroo. It had a fat but muscular body shape, and its body was mostly covered with dark red fur aside from a blue-gray diamond in the middle of its belly. It had no clothing except for a blue and purple loincloth around its waist, iron gauntlets, knee guards, and the top half of a helmet on its head

Just like the guidebook said, it pulled out a giant buckler and metal axe. It released a loud, monstrous, roar as four health bars appeared by its shoulder and its name manifesting above its head, just underneath the boss's red cursor.

[ Illfang the Kobold Lord ]

By its feet three, smaller almost human-sized, heavily-armored, kangaroo-looking creatures, carrying large, rocky, maces, spawned in. They were the [ Ruin Kobold Sentinels ].

At the same time, the Boss Room was suddenly illuminated by an unknown source of multi-colored light.

The stage was finally set.

Diavel pointed his sword towards Illfang and yelled with determination. "Commence the attack!"

There was an immediate, combined battle-cry, and the battle began.

Just like the plan, the four groups focusing on the Illfang himself moved in swiftly, and the Kobold Lord was focused on dealing with them. Two of the Sentinels had teamed up to take on Group E and G. The third armored Kobold, had separated from its brethren and targeted the trio.

It swung its mace down, aiming to crush the skull of Kirito, but he had jumped back just in time. Asuna went in, striking it twice with her rapier, followed up by Hei who delivered a singular, upward slash on the Sentinel's exposed inner thigh. Hei switched out as Kirito had activated a skill and lunged forward, slicing diagonally across the Sentinel's chest plate, leaving a long red line in the process. With these hits, the Sentinel stumbled back as its health easily fell into the yellow.

The creature's anger reached the peak and it charged forward in frustration. It leaped and brought its mace high into the air. Kirito launched forward to clash with the Sentinels mace using his [ Anneal Blade ]. As they tried to overpower one another, Asuna came in from the side and thrust her rapier, [ Wind Fleuret ] several times into the armpit of the creature. The Sentinel reared back, separating itself from the black-haired swordsman. Hei immediately rushed towards it and cut a vertical red line straight down the middle of its body. His attack was followed up by Kirito dashing past him, and dealing a horizontal slash to the Sentinel's body, however his attack was parried with the handle of the Kobold's mace.

"Hei, Switch!" he yelled.

Like a shadow, the red-eyed swordsman was already directly behind Kirito with a charged-up Sword Skill. Kirito saw a blur of orange flash by the corner of his eyes, and he hadn't fully ducked out of the way yet as Hei shot forward with his blade glowing blue. The blade passed through the middle of the helmet's eye slits, plunging into the Sentinel's head with a squelch as the tip of the blade pierced through its skull and out the back of its head, with the neon red blood spurting into the air. The Kobold Sentinel burst into polygons before it even hit the ground.

Hei twirled his sword twice and flicked the virtual blood off his weapon.

Upon seeing the death of the creature, Kirito turned to the still battling raid group, and yelled, "One Sentinel Down!"

Another shatter was heard, but barely audible over the clinking of steel on steel and cries of battle.

"A minion is dead!" shouted a player from Group E.

A third shatter soon reached their ears along with the yell of an axe user, "The third Sentinel is down!"

"Great!" Diavel yelled back after he jumped back to avoid the swing of Illfang's large axe, "Support Parties and Group E! Heal up and prepare for the second wave!"

"Got it!" the parties simultaneously replied.

The battle continued smoothly for another half hour. The trio of Hei, Kirito, and Asuna continued to deal with the Sentinels with quickness and efficiency. They rarely needed to pull out potions to heal up which was a good sign that the constant Switching tactic being employed was working very well, and they hoped that it would stay that way. As they and the other two groups tasked with Sentinel duty were busy with that, the main attacking force had finally chipped Illfang's boss down to its last bar.

The trio had finished off the twelfth and last Sentinel, with Hei parrying its mace attacks as Kirito came in from the side to stab his sword into its torso, then both switched out for Asuna to comfortably move in to kill the armored creature, using her needle-like weapon to pierce into its throat.

"Good job," Hei complemented as it shattered, "Looks like we're done here,"

Asuna gave a short nod from under her cloak.

"And just in time too, look," Kirito added in and he gestured to the Boss's health bar.

At last, it had fallen into the red zone.

"Here it comes!" Agil yelled as he and his party moved back.

Illfang released a rumbling, primal snarl and jumped high into the air, back towards its throne. It roared furiously and flung the axe and buckler to the side. The two large weapons crashing and embedding into the walls with a thundering clang. Illfang then suddenly quietened down to a low growl, one hand reached behind its back and slowly gripped onto the handle of the Talwar wrapped in ragged bandages, sheathed to Illfang's lower back.

The forty-five strong raid group readied their weapons, each of them on high alert for any sudden moves. Although the guidebook was filled with information, unfortunately, didn't contain anything on the Boss's last resort attack pattern. The remainder of this fight would have to be completely improvised.

Suddenly Diavel charged forward with his sword shining a bright yellow, "Stay back! I'll handle this!"

A look of confusion instantly washed over the parties as he dashed forward. For a second, the blue-haired knight glanced in the direction of the trio with a faint smirk on his face.

Illfang snorted, and the bandages burst apart as the red-furred beast drew his massive bladed weapon. The tip of the blade glinted as the entire length of the weapon was revealed to everyone. It was a giant katana with a long handle.

Kirito's eyes grew wide the moment he caught a glimpse of it, recognizing the weapon from the beta as being something available on Floor 10, and he screamed, "Wait! Diavel! Stay back! That's not a Talwar!"

Kirito dashed forward in an attempt to somehow get Diavel out of the immensely dangerous situation. Illfang kicked off the ground and started to circle his blue-haired prey by ricocheting off the pillars around him.

"I thought I told you to stay back!" shouted Diavel as he desperately tried to follow the frighteningly fast creature with his eyes.

"Kirito!" Seeing their black-eyed teammate sprinting towards the knight, Hei and Asuna rushed after him to assist him in his rescue.

Unfortunately for them, Illfang had decided to use this time to strike. It launched itself off a pillar and landed heavily behind Diavel, cutting off the trio's path as they came to a stop with a dust-kicking skid.

Diavel didn't even get a chance to look back and was sent flying like a ragdoll into the air, a long diagonal red line decorated his body. The knight bounced off a pillar, sending him right back into the path of the boss's glowing pink blade. Diavel was cut deeply into the side of his abdomen, Illfang twisted his large body and swung the Nodachi around, dragging the blue knight along and flinging him into a pillar on the opposite side of the room. Diavel's spine collided into the stone pillar with a sickening crunch, and he dropped to the ground with an audible thud.

"DIAVEL!" The players of the raid group screamed in helplessness and horror, as they watched their leader being beaten and sliced to death by the boss.

Illfang wasn't done. It roared and pounced into the air, winding its Nodachi above his head, intending to finish the knight off by cleaving him in two with his virtual guts exploding out.

Diavel watched in sheer terror as the beast neared, his health had already dropped into the red and the next hit would instantly kill him. He clenched his eyes shut as the red-furred monster dropped down like a meteor.

Except the finishing blow never came. Instead a loud *CLANG* echoed throughout the Boss Room.

Diavel opened his blue eyes and his mouth parted in shock as he saw an orange-clad player standing in front of him, holding Illfang's weapon back by the tip of the curved blade.

With one hand on the handle and the other clutching tightly on the sword's point. Hei grit his teeth as he struggled to hold the monster and his weapon back. His feet were wide and rooted to the ground while his knees were bent at a right angle. His left hand was seeping out light red particles from gripping the blade too hard. Numerous cracks and fractures were running down the blade from the force of the impact it had to take, and the sword's durability dropped drastically straight away.

"Go!" he roared as he desperately pushed back against Illfang's attempts to break through his guard.

But as Diavel was in a state of shock, and combined with the wounds he had sustained only seconds earlier, he wasn't able to move his limbs. The knight simply stared at the scene before him.

"Kirito! Asuna!" Hei yelled as Illfang began using both hands to press down on the handle of his Nodachi, applying even more pressure to the struggle.

"On it!"

The young swordsman rushed towards the knight and pulled him away to a safer corner of the room with equal haste. Asuna dashed in at an incredible speed and leaped into the air, striking Illfang dead in the center of his wrist. Causing the red-furred monster to step back, loosening his grip just enough for Hei to parry the blade to the side and jump back to the safety of the crowd. The cloaked girl had also retreated to his side a split second later.

With the sight of their leader harmed but safe, the players pulled together whatever resolve they had left, repairing their morale, and headed into the fight once more with Agil, Kibaou, and a player named Lind leading the charge. The only ones who stayed back were Kirito, Asuna, Hei, and the downed Diavel. The rapier-wielder and red-eyed swordsman stood guard as Kirito was busy tending to the blue knight.

"What were you thinking, running in there? Here, drink this," Kirito pulled out a health potion and handed it to Diavel who was leaning against a pillar by the door. He tried to reach out for it but the blue-haired knight was still immobilized.

"I can't," he sighed frustratingly, "I've been [ Stunned ],"

"For how long?" the black-haired swordsman asked.

"Five minutes," Diavel revealed, then started to chuckle pitifully, "And they don't sell Antidote Potions until the next floor,"

Kirito froze and stared at him for a moment before realizing the implied meaning in his words, "...Diavel...you…,"

"Yeah, like yourself, I'm a beta-tester," the knight admitted and leaned his head back on the pillar with a slight turn as he looked at Kirito, "...Before you say it...I did try to go for the [ Last Hit Bonus ]. And my greed got the better of me...and now I pay for it. If it wasn't for you and your team's quick actions...I'd be dead, for that I thank you but perhaps it would've been better to leave me,"

"...Diavel…," Kirito couldn't find the right words to respond and simply stared at the knight.

"Look at them, Kirito," said Diavel, pointing to the raid group with a tilt of his chin, "All of them are fighting to get out of here, they believed in me, trusted in my leadership, and I took advantage of that for my own gains…... I cannot lead them anymore… I don't deserve it,"

The knight's hand suddenly latched onto Kirito's shoulder, and Diavel stared into the teen's eyes. He begged, "Go...leave me here...take your squad...and defeat the boss...for them,"

Kirito looked in the direction of the battle, and it wasn't going as well as they had thought. Without Diavel's commands, the majority of the players were breaking formation, creating openings for Illfang to strike. Their movements also became uncoordinated and sluggish, while also regularly missing hits and nearly being hit by slam attacks. The only reason why no one had died yet was that the two Tank Squads, currently being led by Agil, were still relatively organized, due to them trusting in their high defense stats. But if action wasn't taken soon, the raid group will start taking casualties.

Turning back, the black-haired swordsman gave the knight a slow nod. Diavel shot him a thankful glance. Kirito placed the health potion by the blue knight's side, and without another word stood up. He turned and faced Hei and Asuna with a look of determination on his face.

"You guys heard him right?"

"Yeah / Yes," Hei and Asuna replied at the same time.

"Then let's finish what we started," said Kirito, then glanced down at the web of cracks over the blade in Hei's hand, "How's your sword?"

"I estimate three more hits and it's done," Hei looked towards the boss and noticed that its health had only a small chunk remaining, "But it should be enough,"

"Good, let's go," said Kirito and he began to march towards Illfang with his two companions by his side, "We'll do it just like with the Sentinels, I'll parry its attacks and you two strike it with all you've got!"

"Got it!"

Their march broke into a fast sprint as they charged at Illfang. The red-furred monster had just finished crushing the defenses of a party and sent them flying back into a wall with a swing of its giant katana. Its eyes glowed as it went for the kill but then noticed the incoming threat on its left, with a snort of hot air it changed targets and launched its heavy body towards the trio.

Illfang and the trio met in the middle and Its blade glowed purple as it swung down in a vertical slice. Kirito activated a [ Slant ] and his shining Anneal Blade clashed with the Nodachi. As he held the boss in place Asuna leaped out from behind him and dealt a speedy, four-hit skill to its chest. The monster roared and was about to separate from the blade clash to strike the cloaked girl when Hei shot forward as Kirito jumped back. The red-eyed player stuck close to the ground and thrust his near-broken sword, which was glowing yellow, into the center of the diamond pattern on Illfang's belly. The beast stumbled back with a rumbling snarl.

"Again!" Kirito yelled.

The three of them rushed the boss, as Illfang did the same to them. But as Kirito got close, Illfang jumped over him and landed in front of Asuna. It drew its Nodachi back and let it loose in an aggressive horizontal slash, aimed to behead or bisect the girl.

"Asuna!" the two black-haired males yelled.

They had expected her to freeze up and be hit dead-on by the large blade, but instead, she seemed to speed up even more with her rapier giving off a green shine. Illfang unleashed his attack and Asuna tilted her body to the side just in time for the massive weapon to brush past her. Unfortunately, her crimson cloak wasn't as lucky as its wearer and was ripped off in the attack. Nevertheless, Asuna struck Illfang with an uppercut-like strike to the chin and the boss flew back a couple of paces. She stood there with her rapier pointed forward, glaring at the boss with her bright hazel eyes, and her long, waist-length, light chestnut-colored hair fluttering down.

Kirito stared at her, mesmerized before recollecting his senses. He and Hei quickly made their way to her side.

"You okay?" Hei asked.

"I'm fine," Asuna replied.

"Good because he's coming back," the red-eyed player pointed out and the trio readied themselves.

Once again, Illfang was upon them.

Kirito led the charge and parried away three of Illfang's regular attacks. The monster prepared a Sword Skill and the swordsman responded by activating his own. Their blades were inches away from touching, when Illfang slightly shifted his footing and changed the trajectory of his attack, from a downward swing to a sudden upper slash.

"W-What!?" Kirito sputtered with a shocked expression as he was hit in the chest by the giant katana.

The black-haired player was sent flying back and collided with Asuna, both of them crashed to the ground on top of each other.

"Kirito! Asuna!" Hei shouted. He glanced at the top left of his sight and watched as their health dropped to the yellow.

The boy wasn't even given a chance to check on his teammates as Illfang chose him as the next target and his focus was immediately back on the boss.

It stomped rapidly at him and its Nodachi sparked a blinding yellow. As it sliced, Hei darted to the side with his blade glowing orange, intending on slashing open its flank. But his plan was thwarted as Illfang suddenly snapped his body around and slammed his thick tail into Hei. The red-eyed teen was launched into the air and right into Illfang's sharp, black, claws. Illfang caught Hei and flung him into the air, causing him to rapidly soar towards the ceiling. Its eyes glowed an even bright red, then it bent its legs, preparing to leap, and brought the Nodachi to its waist, charging it up for a Skill.

'Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!'

With all his strength, Hei tightened his core and twisted his body around in the air to regain control during his ascent. As he neared the ceiling he flipped and placed two feet on the ceiling as he stared directly below at Illfang, who was glaring back up at him with his bloodthirsty eyes.

'Please work,' Hei thought as he pulled his sword back to his waist and it began to spark an orange light.

Illfang sprung up with an ear-splitting roar, and Hei kicked off the ceiling at the same time. Mid-descent, he jabbed his sword forward and held onto the handle tightly with two hands as he sped down like a bullet. Time seemed to slow around him as he closed in on his opponent. At this second, his fate would be determined by speed. Too fast and he would miss his target, and plummet down into another tail strike. Too slow, and he would simply be split in half. Even with the System Assisted boost of the Sword SKill, everything relied on how hard he had kicked off the ceiling.

Before Illfang had a chance to use his skill, a glowing orange blade was stabbed deep in his right eye, splashing virtual red blood everywhere, including Hei's clothes and face. With only the hilt still visible to the outside, the remainder of the cracked blade was sunk deep into its eye socket.

It roared with pain and sheer frustration and reached up to tear the orange-clad player off its head. Illfang snatched onto Hei and slammed him against the floor several times before hurling him across the room. Hei watched as his health dropped into the red. The boy bounced and rolled across the ground as he landed. He looked up and saw an enraged Illfang in the air high above him, bringing his Nodachi down to finish him off.

'Shit...I'm so dead!'

A flash of green suddenly crossed his vision, and it clashed with Illfang's weapon. It was Agil, who had parried and deflected the Nodachi to the side.

"Get healed up!" he told him, "We'll hold him off until you guys are ready!"

With that, he and his party rushed forward to engage the boss.

Hei picked himself up off the ground and quickly downed a health potion. The glass bottle dissolved in his hand as Kirito and Asuna appeared by his side.

"Are you okay?" Kirito asked.

He looked down at his weapon and saw that bits of metal were already starting to shed away, then Hei responded with a nod as his health climbed back to green, "Yeah. Let's finish this,"

At the same time, Agil's part was dispersed as Illfang used an AOE attack. Now, like an empty corridor, there was nothing in its path separating it from the trio. It let out one final ear-piercing roar, with its eye still spurting out neon-red polygons, and glared at the three players with intense hatred. Without another wasted second, it lunged, as did the trio.

Asuna dashed forward, her rapier drenched in pink light as she pulled it back, and struck with a [ Linear ]. Illfang stumbled back from the combined force of the Sword Skill and Asuna's speed.

Hei flipped his sword around to hold it in a reverse grip as it was cloaked in bright red light. He stuck close to the ground and as he closed into Illfang's legs, he attacked. Swinging his sword in an arc and slashed open Illfang's left ankle with the [ Reverse Crescent ] skill. The monster lost balance and fell forward. Hei jumped back next to Asuna, and as his [ Dire Fang Blade ] finally shattered, Kirito rushed forward for the last strike.

Illfang hadn't even touched the ground yet and Kirito had already attacked. With a battle-cry, the black-haired swordsman leaped into the air, with the side of his glowing blue sword embedded into Ilflang's throat. The players watched as the monster's neck started to split open until it was completely decapitated from Kirito's slice.

As the blue-clad player landed back on the ground, Illfang was still in the air and his body started to give off a blinding, light-blue shine before it exploded into particles that rained down upon the raid group

For a moment no one moved. Each one was too shocked to do anything and their minds were still processing the fact that after one month, the first floor had officially been cleared.

Above them, [ CONGRATULATIONS ] written in giant white letters suddenly materialized, and windows appeared in front of every player showing them their rewards for the boss fight.

"...W-We did it," a player murmured, and his lips curved up into a large grin, "WE WON!"

This triggered a chain reaction and joyous cheering was instantly echoing throughout the boss room. Players were hugging each other, while others were crying tears of joy. In the corner Diavel gave a relieved smile at the sight of their victory, as his [ Stun ] wore off, he reached to the side and picked up the potion Kirito left for him before gulping down its contents.

On the other side of the boss room, Kirito was crouched on his knees looking at his drop window while panting from exhaustion with sweat rolling down his cheeks. Asuna and Hei walked towards him.

Kirito suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder as Hei rested his arm on it when he crouched down beside him, taking a peek at his drop list.

The red-eyed teen was grinning from ear to ear as he asked, "So what'd you get for the [ Last Hit Bonus ]? Is it something cool?"

The fellow beta tester cracked a smile and showed him the item, "I got this,"

"The [ Coat of Midnight ]? Sounds pretty lit,"

Kirito smirked, "Probably looks lit too, well for a Floor 1 item anyway,"

"Maybe you should put it on," suggested Asuna, smoothing out her combat skirt to also crouch down next to them, with her arms hugging her legs together.

"I will," nodded Kirtio, "Once we enter the next floor… So what about you guys? What'd you get?"

"I got a [ Crimson Kobold Pelt ]," replied Asuna, then she sighed, "But I don't know what to do with it. It has three stars next to it so is it good or bad?"

"It's good," said Kirito, "You can use that as material to craft gear or outfits, and three-star items are exceptionally rare on the first few floors so I'd say you're very lucky,"

"Or you can sell it for an extremely high price," Hei added in, "Something like that will easily be at least 5000 Col,"

"Hmm, I'll have to think about it," Asuna mused.

Kirito turned his head towards Hei, "And what about you?"

"Oh, um," Hei chuckled sheepishly and scratched his temple.

"What's up?" the blue-clad swordsman raised his eyebrows, "Lemme guess, you got absolutely nothing,"

"Well...you know how I stabbed Illfang's eye?"

Kirito and Asuna nodded at the same time.

"...It's better that I show you," Hei said and he opened his menu to spawn in his drop.

Something round and the size of a volleyball began to materialize in his hand. A few seconds later Kirito's jaw dropped slightly in disbelief as Asuna gagged and looked away when they saw the object being held in their teammate's hand. It was a giant eyeball with a red pupil, with web-like veins taking up most of the white of the eyes. It would've been fine if that was all but the eyeball still had strands of nerve, connective tissue, and flesh clinging to one end of it.

"...Hei?" Kirito began slowly.

"Yes?"

"What the hell is that?!" Asuna finished and covered her mouth as she looked over at the optical organ.

"It's the [ Eye of the Kobold ], " Hei revealed while he fiddled with it by slowly spinning the eyeball around in his hands.

"And what is it for, exactly?" Kirito questioned, starting to be intrigued by the eyeball.

"It's a food item,"

"What? No way?"

"Ew," Asuna shuddered and she looked away, but for some reason, she couldn't help taking glances back at it.

"Hey, I got an idea. Why don't the three of us go cook and eat this thing as a celebration for clearing the First Floor later," proposed Hei as he now started to spin the eyeball on his finger like a basketball.

"Are you serious?! That's absolutely revolting," Asuna whisper-shouted in disgust.

"It looks unappetizing, but who knows, it might taste good," Kirito admitted.

"Definitely better than that bland bread and cream we've eaten for the last month," said Hei.

"Hey! Don't compare bread and cream to that," Asuna retorted, defending the best meal she had eaten in the one month they've been trapped.

Kirito's head snapped towards the chestnut-haired girl, "So you do like the bread and cream after all,"

"...I-I!" Asuna tried to reply but couldn't find any words, and whipped her head to the side as her cheeks turned pink.

"Besides, you know what they say," Hei said, stopping the spinning of the eyeball, "The weirder it looks, the better tasting it is and probably more nutritious for you,"

"Exactly," nodded Kirito.

"And while we're here in Aincrad, we might as well eat all the weird stuff before returning to the real world," Hei passed the eyeball to Kirito so he could thoroughly inspect it, much to the horror of the girl beside him, "I mean, when and where else are you gonna eat fresh Kobold Lord eyes,"

Kirito passed the eyeball back, "I agree with you Hei, and I humbly accept your invitation to cook and eat it,"

Hei took the eyeball and put it back into his inventory, "Great, and what about you Asuna? We fought to the death together and it won't be the same if all three of us aren't there,"

"And if it weren't for you, we might not have won today, or at the very least, would've taken multiple casualties," said Kirito, "Just think of it as a small celebration exclusive to our party,"

Asuna's light-brown eyes flicked from Kirito to Hei several times as she considered their request, finally she let out a huff, "Fine I'll go...But only if I get to eat my bread and cream, I am not touching that thing!"

"Fine with us," the two black-haired players replied simultaneously.

As Kirito and Hei were discussing ways to cook the eyeball, Agil approached them from behind and his deep voice cut through their conversation.

"That was great swordsmanship from the three of you. Congratulations," he said as he applauded, "If I had known earlier that you three could fight like that, I would've told to Diavel to put you guys in the main attacking squads,"

"N-Nah, that's not…," Kirito started.

"He's right, if I had known earlier I would've definitely put the three of you at the front as the main damage dealers," Diavel agreed, echoing Agil's words as he walked over to them, "That was quite the battle...but I guess I had no place in it,"

"Diavel, you…,"

Before Kirito could respond, an abrupt shout pierced through all the sounds of celebration and caused the entire room to quieten down. All but one cactus-haired man.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?"

Everyone turned their head towards a fuming Kibaou, who stood in the middle of the room and was stomping towards the trio, more accurately, towards Kirito. The three of them got up onto their feet as he approached.

"Tell me! Explain to me why you lied to us all, and to Diavel!" Kibaou demanded, "If had just told us 'bout all that from the start, Diavel wouldn't have been in danger! None of us would have!".

"Is he talking about the Talwar being changed into a Nodachi?" Hei muttered as he narrowed his eyes at the angry man.

Agil stepped forward and faced the spikey-headed player for the second time, "Kibaou, you saw Kirito, Hei, and Asuna out there fighting to save Diavel. How can you say that to them in that tone of voice?"

"I'm not talkin' results here, I'm talkin' methods!" Kibaou growled and jabbed his finger towards Kirito, "This guy put Diavel in danger and then steps in to take all the glory!"

The atmosphere inside the boss room suddenly shifted as each player, one-by-one began to turn their attention on the accused black-haired player.

"You don't think… Did he use Diavel as bait to avoid the boss's attacks?"

"He's one of 'em testers! He knew exactly how the boss would attack and made sure only he knew how to get the last hit!"

"Whoever wrote that guidebook must've had some deal with him to change the information!"

Anger erupted from the crowd, shouts bounced off the walls as forty pairs of eyes glared at the swordsman

"Hold on…," Hei moved forward, ready to defend his teammate from the accusations.

Asuna looked back at Kirito with a worried glance then did the same, "You guys…,"

Even Diavel attempted to step in, to calm everyone down, and to clear up the situation, "Everyone, please! The truth is…,"

"Hehehehehe...Hahahahahaha!" A forced maniacal laugh was released from Kirito's mouth and filled the boss room. Slicing through the uproaring argument like a blade through paper, and the room immediately went silent.

"All you do is cry beta this and beta that, but you know what? Don't even think about lumping me with those failures!" The shadow of his bangs hovered over his eyes as he grinned evilly.

"W-What?" Kibaou stuttered.

"Most of the one thousand testers were idiots who couldn't even figure out how to level up. They were even worse than all of you!"

Kirito started to slowly stride towards the platform leading towards the second floor, "But me? I'm still superior to you all. During the beta, I got further than anyone else. I know all about katana attacks and I recognized that weapon because I've fought katana-wielding mobs on the higher Floors. I never thought I'd see it on this Floor, but thanks to our happy-go-lucky knight of a leader here, I was lucky enough to get by without too many problems,"

"Kirito…," Diavel stared at the black-haired player in disbelief, as he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I know things our good knight here never dreamed of. All sorts of things that not even the best info brokers would know!" Kirito stopped in front of the platform.

"What are you saying!" a player yelled.

"What kind of tester are you!" another cried.

"T-That's worse than being a beta tester...you...you're a cheater!" Kibaou roared as he tried to storm forward and Agil blocked his path to hold him back. But it didn't stop the cactus-haired man from flailing his limbs, pointing accusingly at Kirito and he exclaimed with rage, "You're a beta tester and a cheater! A beta cheater! You're a Beater! That's what you are!"

Kirito didn't turn back, he only tilted his head slightly so only the side of his face was visible to the audience of players behind him, "Beater huh? Sounds good. Fine, I'll take it. I am a Beater, and you all better remember it. Now never compare me to those failures again!"

Without anyone noticing, he opened his menu and equipped his [ Last Hit Bonus ]. A pure black trench coat was summoned over his current attire, and the tail of the coat fluttered from the materialization before setting into place. He didn't utter another word as he walked up the platform, and into the room where the Teleport Gate to Floor 2 was waiting. As he disappeared through the iron doors, his name disappeared from the top left of Hei and Asuna's HUD, as he left the party

"That little piece of sh-," Kibaou started to growl.

"That's enough!" Diavel marched forward and dragged Kibaou off to the side, as he did, he turned to look at the raid group and announced, "The First Floor has been cleared, we won and that's all that matters! Now go back, rest up, and tell the world the good news! As for you Kibaou, we need to talk,"

A wave of twenty players happily flowed out of the boss room and back to the towns, excited to tell the remaining eight thousand players that the second floor has now been opened. The remaining half decided to linger for a while, curious to what the knight had to say to the spikey-headed man.

Hei's scarlet gaze was locked onto the last position of his former teammate.

"...Kirito," he muttered, "If you didn't use yourself as a scapegoat, then other testers would keep getting singled out by everyone, and since we're stuck in this deadly game, suffering that kind of hatred…,"

"...It could get you killed," Asuna had overheard his whispers and decided to add in with a solemn tone, "So he decided to take that burden all on himself,"

"I don't know if I should call him brave or crazy," commented Agil, who had made his way over to the duo.

…

…

…

"When I passed out in a dungeon, he came in and rescued me," began Asuna as she stared at the iron doors on the platform.

"Why?" Hei asked, his sight flicked to the chestnut-haired girl.

"I was in there for three days straight with zero sleep. I know it was stupid of me, but it was something I needed,"

"In order to beat the game?" the orange-clad teen questioned.

"In order for me to be me," Asuna revealed to him, "If my only other choice was to lock myself up in a room and waste away, then I'd rather go out as the me I know. Losing to a monster is one thing, but I couldn't bear losing out to the world itself, and the thought of it was too much. And so before I knew it, I was fighting away hoping to go out with a bang,"

"That's where Kirito came in?"

Asuna nodded, "He was different from any other player I had seen at the time. He was ready to spend years to beat this game,"

Agil folded his arms, "And now we have the three of you to thank for getting us through Floor 1,"

The girl's frown curved up into a light smile, "I'm gonna head up after him. I never got the chance to thank him for that time,"

"I'll go with you, I have a few things to say to him as well," Hei decided.

"Then give him a message for me will ya," Agil asked, "Tell him I said, "I look forward to battling our next boss together","

"Of course," nodded the red-eyed player.

"We'll be sure to let him know… I guess we'll be seeing you around then," said Asuna, and the party of two started to walk up the stairs.

"Take care," Agil responded with a short wave.

"WHAT!?"

When the duo reached the top of the platform, a loud scream caught their attention, and they turned back to see what was going on. It was Kibaou and Diavel, with the former being the source of the scream. Diavel simply looked at him with a calm but at the same time, remorseful. The cactus-haired man's voice caused the remaining group of players to form a loose circle around them as they also wanted to know what was happening.

"You wanna just up and quit?! But why, Diavel?!" Kibaou exclaimed in anger and disbelief.

"I'm sorry...I'm just not cut out to be the leader," Diavel admitted with a slow shake of his head.

"Why? Things only fell apart 'cause of that good for nothing Beater! That ain't on your shoulders!" Kibaou rasped.

"Kibaou, I'm sure you know very well that we would've suffered without him," stated Diavel.

"But that's just cause-!"

"If I had just kept my head, I should have noticed the difference in weapons. But I was so focused on landing the last strike that I dropped everything and rushed in...after telling everyone else not to do exactly that," Diavel replied with irritation hidden in his voice.

"B-But Diavel, I mean, you weren't out to get it for yourself, yeah? You just wanted it for everyone's sake, yeah? You ain't like that good for nothin' Beater. You're better than that, see?"

Diavel silently snorted and continued, "Compare me to him all you want. It is of little matter now. I still rushed in to satisfy my own urges, and I put everyone in danger because of it. In my eyes, I'm worse than Kirito,"

"Diavel, man…," Kibaou slumped his shoulders, "Come on man, what are we supposed to do? If you ain't around to lead, who can keep us all together?"

The blue-haired knight placed a hand on his shoulder and told him, "I want to ask my comrade Lind, and you to take the lead, Kibaou. Look, no matter what you might think about Kirito, he's a powerful ally to have, and one you should always keep,"

"I can't…,"

Diavel shot him a small smile and his hand slipped off his shoulder before he turned to face Hei, who was still on top of the platform.

The knight suddenly bowed, and when he came back up, he raised his voice so the red-eyed boy on the other side of the room could hear his words.

"Hei, I have an unpayable debt to both you and Kirito. I'll pay you back one day, this I promise," Diavel then addressed everyone in the room, "For now, this is farewell,"

With that, the blue knight turned and walked towards the exit. As he passed Kibaou, the spikey-headed man said one last thing without meeting his gaze.

"I'll be waitin' for ya to come back. But I'll play the leader until then, you'll see… Sound like a plan?"

"Indeed. Then I leave everyone in your hands,"

The remaining members of the raid group watched as Diavel's figure disappeared down the tunnel of the Labyrinth. A moment later, and the rest of them started to disperse. Party by party, the boss room was slowly being emptied.

"Where do you think Diavel is heading? You think he's gonna be okay?" asked Asuna.

"I think so, I guess we just let him be and wait for him to come back one day," Hei replied.

"But will he?"

Hei shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. He must be feeling very guilty right now, for both trying to take the last hit and subsequently forcing all the beta hate onto Kirito...who accepted it, sacrificing himself to keep the other testers safe. In the end, they both made their choices, and at this point, only time will tell,"

Asuna pursed her lips and looked back at the now deserted boss room, then she sighed.

"You're right...," as she shook out the thoughts, she switched to an enthusiastic tone with a small grin, "Now come on, let's go and check up on the guy,"

The chestnut-haired girl pushed open the iron doors to the Teleport Gate and entered. Hei's gaze swept over the boss room one last time before he followed her through the closing doors.

As they climbed the staircase to reach the Teleport Gate, the red-eyed teen called out to the girl in front of him.

"Hey, Asuna," his voice echoing through the quiet space.

"Hm?" as Asuna turned her head to look back, she could hear the tapping of the menu, and for the second time that day, she gagged at the sight of the raw, round object held in her teammate's hand.

Hei lifted the [ Eye of the Kobold ] in the air, and with a playful smile on his face, he asked.

"Are the three of us still eating this together?"

---

The Centipede - The Kobold Lord

Thank you for Reading.