So, here's the next chapter.
Ugh, now I've done it. This chapter is more than 12k words long... I couldn't really divide it into different parts without disrupting the flow of the story, though, since it's all one big battle, and I didn't really find a good opportunity for a "break".
At first, I had actually thought that this chapter would be rather short, but that was before I've decided to put in a lot more details. To be fair, some of these details will be somewhat important later on, and I don't get to write a boss battle every day, so I wanted to do this one "properly".
Anyway, here it is: the battle against the boss of the 89th floor.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
During the next few days, the Assault Team was preparing for the next floor boss battle.
The elite squad of the KoB and two parties of the DDA were fixed members of the raid party. This also applied to Kirito and Asuna, who were, technically speaking, a different party.
The other parties were chosen individually for the respective battles. First, the smaller guilds discussed the topic among themselves and chose their "candidates". After that, the Council picked the participants from the list of candidates.
The system was supposed to give every guild a chance to join boss battles (rather than choosing the same participants over and over again) while also making sure that the resulting raid parties were suited to take on the bosses.
For the boss battle on the 89th floor, the Council had already decided beforehand to give the newcomers of the Assault Team a chance to join. As a result, about twenty per cent of the raid party for this boss battle consisted of new members of the Assault Team.
Aside from Akinym and Sinon (and others), there were also Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa. They had also invited Philia to join them. Philia basically had Kirito's stamp of approval to join the Assault Team, and Asuna had arranged for her to join a party of KoB members for a little test. In the end, Philia was seen as a suitable member for the Assault Team, but she didn't feel ready to join yet, so she wasn't there.
In the early afternoon of the day of the boss battle, a teleport corridor opened right in front of the door to the boss room. One after another, the members of the raid party stepped through the portal, beginning with the KoB and the elite squad of the DDA. They sent a message that the area around the boss room was clear, and the others followed, starting with Kirito and Asuna.
When Sinon entered the portal on Arc Sophia's end, she wasn't sure what to expect. In the end, it was just another teleport, but the mechanism of Corridor Crystals sounded as if it was more than a mere teleport. She had thought that there might be an actual corridor to cross, but in the end, it was more like stepping through a wall of light, but she came out in a dark, gloomy place instead of the opposite side of said wall.
A dark, gloomy place – a fitting description for the labyrinth of the 89th floor. This labyrinth was also a tomb for the royal family on this floor, and the place gave off exactly that kind of vibe: a place fitting only for the dead.
The former guards were buried here with the ancestors of the royal family as a reward, but now, they had come to live again, guarding the place once more as undead monsters. Alongside slimes for some reason…
The culprit behind that as well as other attacks by monsters on this floor was – according to the lore – the floor boss, the Foul Emperor. A former ruler of the floor who didn't want to give up rulership, not even after death, so he had performed a necromantic ritual right before his death, which would resurrect him at a later time. Said later time had come, and now he had taken control over the monsters of this floor to conquer it.
Shortly after Sinon, Lisbeth came through the portal, followed by Silica and Leafa.
Lisbeth [slightly happily]: Ah, that's a nice way to travel! I've never used a Corridor Crystal before, but now I wish I could go everywhere that way.
Silica [slightly upset]: Liz-san, try to stay focused! You almost sound as if you're on vacation! We're here for a boss battle! [looks around, timidly] This… isn't really the place you'd go to for having fun…
Leafa: Yeah… Who made this so creepy?! It's giving me goosebumps…
Agil [casually]: Well, what did you expect? It's a labyrinth after all.
The three girls turned around and saw Agil, who had just come through the teleport corridor. He was basically their chaperon for this fight since he and other members of the Two-Handed Builders had agreed to split up and help teams with new recruits. It was their task to make sure that the inexperienced raid party members would be safe if things took a turn for the worse.
Agil: So… Anyone worried about the battle?
Silica [timidly, slightly hesitantly]: Well, I mean… I guess so.
Leafa: We're taking on one of the strongest enemies, right? I knew that all along, but now that I'm here… It feels so… real.
Lisbeth [teasingly, slightly annoyed]: Will you stop the cliched lines, Leafa? You sound like an actor who suffers from sudden stage fright! [slightly nervously] I mean, I'm a bit afraid myself, but we've all encountered dangerous foes so far, right? [slightly reassuringly] And this time, we even have lots of tough backup.
Lisbeth took a look around, observing the other parties. There were many familiar faces: the KoB party including Kirito and Asuna, some famous members of the DDA she knew, Klein and Fuurinkazan, some of Akinym's former students and, on a related note, Akinym himself and Sinon.
Speaking of Sinon, she was also taking a look at the other raid party members. In her case, however, it was supposed to keep her occupied until the boss battle started. She wondered what the others did to spent this time on something other than worrying about what could possibly go wrong.
As it turned out, most party leaders gave their comrades some last minute words of encouragement.
The DDA stood out a bit. Their leader, Lind, had joined them for this boss battle and was currently reminding them of their "duty as members of the Assault Team". These days, he usually left the boss battles to the other leading figures of the DDA, especially Schmitt, who would command the DDA's elite in the battle while Lind was in charge of the second party. He only joined the boss battles that were considered "exceptionally important", and since this one was about reaching the 90th floor, the last major milestone before reaching the Ruby Palace, Lind had decided to join in.
Akinym: Hey, everything okay?
Sinon turned to her partner, who was looking at her with an overall calm expression, although there was a faint glint of worry.
Sinon: Well, I guess I am a little bit nervous. Does it really show that much?
Akinym: It was more of an educated guess than anything else. [slightly reassuringly] And don't worry so much about it! You'll be fine. [seriously] And it's okay to be a bit afraid. These floor bosses are dangerous. You just mustn't let fear get the better of you.
Sinon [determinedly, slightly sternly]: If I let such a simple fear get the better of me, what would I even do here? No, that's not going to happen! [slightly curiously] Although… If you say it's okay to be nervous or afraid, what about you? This may not be your first boss battle, but it's been a while since your last one, so…
Akinym: There are things that you don't forget about these battles. One of these things is the feeling of dread and how to handle it. That said, it doesn't even matter if it's the first battle or not. You only feel this fear much more clearly the first time because you're absolutely not used to it.
Well, if it was a matter of being used to fear, Sinon figured that she wouldn't have too much to worry about…
Frankly, she was well aware that floor boss battles would be dangerous, and she already knew what facing deadly threats felt like. Comparing her current feeling with the fear she had felt in other situations, Sinon actually thought that the fear of the floor boss was almost underwhelming.
Akinym: Anyway, you'll be fine, I mean it. And you better believe in that, too, because we're about to start.
Sinon wondered what Akinym was getting at for a second. Checking what he was looking at, however, Sinon noticed that Asuna took position in front of the door to the boss room.
Asuna [determinedly]: Alright, everyone! Let's get this meeting under way!
Everyone went silent, and the raid party gathered around the entrance to the boss room in a semicircle.
Asuna stood in front of the door, facing the raid party with a determined, stern expression. Kirito waited to her right for her to finish her usual speech. Some DDA officials were waiting to her left.
Asuna: Today, we will defeat the boss of this floor, the Foul Emperor, to make it to the ninetieth floor, one step closer to our return to the real world! I know that a lot of people – and a lot of you – see this as an important milestone, so let's give it our all so that we reach this milestone!
Asuna's declaration was met with an affirmative outcry from the raid party members.
Asuna: In order to do that, we have drawn up a strategy at yesterday's meeting. I'm sure that you already know what to do, but just to make sure that everyone here knows exactly what to expect, I'll go over everything we know once more.
At this point, Asuna began to explain the information they had on the boss.
For starters, the boss would "wield a giant broadsword with tremendous strength". Defense against these strong attacks would probably be crucial, so the KoB and DDA elite parties were supposed to tank these sword strikes.
Furthermore, the Foul Emperor was said to be "a ruthless ruler who wouldn't hesitate to let his subjects fight his battles". Judging from experience, this meant that adds would spawn during the battle, maybe right from the start. Depending on their number, Asuna would dispatch one or two parties to deal with them.
Moreover, according to the lore, a necklace had been enchanted to revive the Foul Emperor. The boss would wear this necklace, and damaging it would "drain its life force". At the strategy meeting, they had come to the conclusion that this necklace would be the boss' weak spot.
They had yet to figure out how to hit it, though. Depending on the boss' size, the necklace would probably be out of reach for most party members, although weapons with longer range such as spears might be able to reach it. The only party member who would be able to hit it for sure was Sinon. The plan was to observe the boss' exact movements anyway, and during that time, Asuna intended to figure out the best opportunity to hit the Foul Emperor's weak spot.
To be fair, for the most part, it would probably be better to avoid hitting the necklace. According to their information, the boss would "relentlessly defend the necklace", which probably hinted at it having Critical Defense Aggro, so hitting its weak spot would probably only cause chaos. However, it was also something they might use to deal with the next mechanic.
The Foul Emperor would use "a rotting curse" whenever "its assailants proved to be a threat to its life". According to everything they knew, the boss would fly into a frenzy from time to time – judging from experience, this would probably happen whenever an HP bar was depleted. During that frenzy, the boss would receive a buff, which would give its attacks a special effect. Each attack would decrease the Durability of any equipment it hit.
Figuring out how to deal with this had been one of the most difficult questions at the strategy meeting. Tanking the boss' attacks would require high-quality defensive gear, but due to this special buff, there was an insanely high risk of losing very valuable equipment if they took on the boss "the normal way" during that phase.
In the end, they had come to the conclusion that the best way to defend against the boss' attacks while it had this buff was to avoid them completely. In order to do that, they would need someone who was exceptionally good at dodging. Well, there was someone who was basically an expert on this, wasn't there? Akinym was chosen to handle this.
There was one last twist, and the Assault Team would've almost missed that piece of information. It was only thanks to Argo's "diligent research of all kinds of quests" that they had discovered a quest that revealed "the emperor's last, desperate move". When it was down to one HP bar, the boss would fly into another frenzy, but this time, it would completely reset its aggro parameters and lock onto a random target.
This part would be particularly tricky since the chosen target would have to survive an onslaught of attacks for half a minute. The best tactic they had come up with was to let the raid party's tanks parry the attacks. After all, the attacks couldn't hurt the target if they didn't reach it. Whether this would work so well was another question, but Asuna didn't mention that, of course. There was no need to subvert the morale.
Asuna: That would be everything! We're ready, so we will win! We veterans know that we can trust each other in the coming battle, so let's show our newest members that they can as well! So let's win! And make it back alive!
Asuna's "let's win and make it back alive" had become some sort of mantra of the Assault Team. She said that at the end of each address before a boss battle, and every time – just as that time – it was met with a decisive, affirmative outcry from the raid party.
After that, Asuna turned around and put her hand on the left wing of the door. At the same time, Lind stepped forward to do the same with the right wing of the door. Ever since the foundation of the Council, it had been tradition that Asuna and a representative of the DDA opened the boss room together. It was a symbol of clearing the game as equals. Depending on who was present, this task was taken by Lind, Shivata or Schmitt.
Anyway, they pushed the door open. Once it had opened completely, the KoB party and the DDA elite party entered first.
Asuna: Let's go!
With that, Asuna entered the boss room herself, followed closely by Kirito. At the same time, Lind and the rest of the DDA entered. After that, the remaining parties hurried inside before the door would be closed again.
Akinym and Sinon were the last ones to enter the room. Both of them would be part of the "rear guard". Akinym because he had to observe the boss' attack patterns, Sinon because she was a ranged attacker anyway.
The door closed directly behind them. Sinon watched the entrance being sealed. So it was true… Once they had stepped into the boss room, there was no backing out. Not that she had major problems with that.
The boss room itself truly resembled a burial chamber. It was dusty, gloomy and dimly lit, and it came complete with a faint smell of decay. On top of that, there was a large sarcophagus on the opposite side of the room.
Frankly, there was nothing else inside the room, at least nothing that was noteworthy. The parties of the KoB and the DDA had already proceeded to the middle of the room, yet there was no sign of the boss. The members of the other parties became a bit uneasy while searching for it. Silica even let out a remark about wishing it would finally show up.
Max: Schmitt-san, let's approach the sarcophagus! Given the lore and the state of the room, it will probably trigger the boss to spawn.
Schmitt: You're probably right.
Max looked over his shoulder, waiting for Asuna's approval. She had guessed Max' intention, and she gave him a nod. After that, Max and Schmitt gave their parties their respective orders, and the two vanguard parties moved closer to the sarcophagus.
When they were almost at the sarcophagus, Kirito noticed something on the floor. With the dim light, it was extremely hard to make out, but there was a dark spot on the ground, and it was spreading towards the center of the room. It was as if a shadow emerged from the sarcophagus and crept through the room.
Kirito: Wait! There's something on the floor! Get back, everyone!
The rest of the raid party directed their attention to the phenomenon Kirito was referring to just in time to see some kind of black fog ascending from the floor at the center of the boss room.
Asuna: Here it comes! Everyone, stay on guard!
Slowly but steadily, a figure in a noble, purple robe emerged from the ground. The horrible stench inside the room became worse for a moment. If this hadn't been a game, it probably would've been because of the rotting meat that covered the Foul Emperor's body. It didn't even look like human flesh, but rather like some kind of blue or dark grey matter – it was hard to tell inside this dimly lit room.
Max actually considered quickly moving around the appearing boss to make it back to the rest of the raid party, but he figured that this would take too long. It was better to stay in formation and to draw the boss' aggro once the battle began.
Meanwhile, the newcomers among the raid party were overwhelmed by the Foul Emperor's presence.
While the Foul Emperor was ascending from the shadows, Silica wondered how much bigger this monstrosity would get. She knew what it was like to feel small (and even insignificant), but she hadn't been so overwhelmed since the moment Kayaba Akihiko had announced that SAO was a death game. They had told her that floor bosses could easily be as big as a house… Had houses always been that big?
At the same time, Lisbeth questioned her own expectations. She had expected this to be similar to the time she had been to the 55th floor with Kirito to get the Crystallite Ingot for the Dark Repulser. However, the dragon from back then had been nothing compared to the abomination in front of her.
She didn't even know where to start… Like, what was with this gigantic sword? Sure, their sources had mentioned that it would be a "giant broadsword", but this thing was easily twice as big as her! It was almost rectangular, just slightly rounded at the tip, and as far as Lisbeth could tell, purely golden. Well, a fitting weapon for a monarch…
Although… Some of the people who were present at this battle might've argued that the creature in front of them wasn't actually a monarch. Well, a monarch of the dead, perhaps. However, there had to be a more fitting description for the Foul Emperor. Leafa had actually a pretty good idea in that regard.
She had seen a variety of fantasy monsters in ALO, and she had heard players talk about boss monsters that had resembled gods and whatnot, but none of these had come close to the Foul Emperor in terms of intimidation and dreadful presence. The only thing she could see in this boss was a personification of death itself.
Leafa: W-what is this? What is… this thing? It's like the Grim Reaper. It has to be, right? The Grim Reaper couldn't be even more terrifying…
Lisbeth: I… I don't know. Maybe if it grew tired of the scythe and went to the blacksmith from hell to get a sword instead.
Agil, who stood in front of the three girls, looked over his shoulder and smiled at them. The smile seemed confident at first glance, but in their state, the girls failed to notice the faint nervousness beneath it.
Agil: Sorry, girls, but we had the Grim Reaper a few floors prior. This one is just a floating corpse.
Now they were approached by Klein and his guild from behind.
Klein [slightly determinedly and playfully]: Well, yeah, but I get where you're coming from, ladies! [looks at the boss] Man, this has to be the most disgusting and vile thing we've had in a while. I'd say it's the worst since that flying eye thing on the seventy-sixth floor.
A few of his guildmates tried to argue that "the crystal bug" and "the skeleton guy" they had fought "recently" had been quite bad as well, but it only turned into a weird discussion about how abominable certain floor bosses had been. Frankly, the girls didn't know what to think about it.
Meanwhile, Sinon was also almost paralysed by the aura of terror that the Foul Emperor emitted. She had also had expectations based on previous encounters with strong monsters, but this one was in a class of its own.
One thing that irked her in particular was the fact that the boss didn't have actual eyes. She couldn't tell where it was actually looking at, and she had the feeling that its gaze was directed at her. Sinon thought that the boss would lunge at her at any second.
She instinctively raised her bow and got ready to shoot an arrow at the boss. However, her body moved mostly on its own, and she didn't even realise what she was doing before Akinym put a hand on her bow and pushed it down again.
Akinym [slightly sternly]: Keep calm! It's not time yet. You'll get your signal. I've told you: Don't worry so much about being afraid and whatnot! Focus and what you know about fighting and you'll be fine.
Sinon didn't know if it was Akinym's overall calm voice or his determined expression, but she calmed down to the extent that she could think clearly again.
Meanwhile, beneath all that exterior, Akinym used his reminder for Sinon also for himself. He wasn't looking forward to taking the brunt of the Foul Emperor's attacks several times throughout the battle. Hopefully, his battle skills weren't rusty after all this time…
Regardless, he had a beginner (as far as floor boss battles were concerned) at his side, so Akinym figured that he couldn't afford showing his own concerns. Thankfully, since Sinon was occupied with her own worries, it worked relatively well. Under other circumstances, she might've caught on to the way Akinym's hand had been shaking slightly while he had been gripping her bow.
The Foul Emperor let out a loud, deep growl, and five HP bars appeared next to it. It was the starting signal of the battle.
The Foul Emperor readied its sword, preparing to swing the giant blade at the main force of the raid party in front of it. However, it paused when something struck it in the back.
Two of the faster players in the DDA party in the vanguard had attacked it on Schmitt's command to draw its aggro. The boss turned around now while taking a swing at the attacking players.
The rest of the DDA elite squad closed up to them in time to block the blow with a small shield wall. Three shield users tried their best to fend off the attack, but it was still strong enough to push all of them back.
Schmitt: Everyone, support the defense line and push the boss back!
The remaining members of the DDA party aimed there attacks at the boss' weapon, and the additional force was enough to bring it to a standstill. However, they still didn't manage to overpower the boss, despite trying to for a few seconds.
Schmitt [strained]: Not… enough… New plan: Deflect it upwards! Bend… shields!
The shield users bent their shields backwards at an angle of 45 degrees. At the same time, the other members aimed new attacks at the underside of the blade. The plan worked, and the Foul Emperor's sword strike went over their heads.
However, the boss twirled its blade around and used the momentum it still had for another attack, this time coming from the opposite direction. The DDA party couldn't regroup fast enough, and it was only thanks to the KoB party forming a shield wall in front of them that they weren't hit.
Since the KoB party had seen how to deal best with the diagonal sword swings the boss used right now, they had a much easier time fending the blow off.
Max [yells]: Let's take a V formation or something similar to have a shield wall on both sides! We have to be a bit flexible with our defense!
Schmitt agreed, although Max' remark was only partially a suggestion to him. He also wanted to inform the raid commander, Asuna, on the other side of the boss room of their tactic.
Next up, the boss tried a simple vertical sword strike. The shield users in the vanguard raised their shields to parry the blow. The attack was significantly weaker than the previous one, and while they staggered a bit, the players could defend themselves against it without real problems.
Max: We could use more shield users! With more backup, we could use a testudo formation!
Asuna: Got it! Squad D, join the vanguard! The observers follow me to the boss' left flank to get a better view of its attacks! The rest of the raid party remains here and prepares to attack the boss from behind!
With that, several members of raid party circled around the Foul Emperor, including a party with four shield users in it, which went straight to the vanguard group and helped the two parties there to set up a testudo formation.
For a few minutes, the raid party just observed the Foul Emperor's attack movements. There were just a few patterns, and they didn't have much trouble to come up with a defense against them.
The most troublesome attack was a downward thrust of the blade into their shield wall. The attack was far too strong to parry it completely, and it temporarily threw their formation into disarray. Thankfully, the boss needed a moment to recover and draw its blade back after that attack before it could strike again, which gave the vanguard enough time to take their formation again.
After a while, the vanguard started to test attacks. They opened a small gap in their formation for players to slip through. While the shield users remained in testudo formation, the other players went through the gap and attacked the boss with short Sword Skills. After that, they quickly returned behind the shield wall before the boss started attacking them. After a few attempts, they were confident that they knew how to time their attacks.
At this point, Asuna's biggest concern was how they could give the players in the defense line time to heal between strikes. The boss' attacks were a bit too strong to parry them completely, so the defending players still took some damage. Even if it wasn't that much, their HP would be whittled down eventually.
From the looks of it, the Foul Emperor wouldn't give them the opportunity to leave the formation for a moment. When she mentioned her concerns, Kirito suggested the straightforward solution of having other tanks switch places with them for a moment so that they could drink a potion.
Asuna took it into consideration, but frankly, she wasn't too keen to go with the idea. If they went with it, they would have to take a close formation, only attacking from the front. For the time being, she wanted to keep the option of flank attacks open.
Well, sure, they could split up into groups of tanks and damage dealers, but aside from the fact that this wouldn't fit the party structures, it would cause trouble if someone attacking from the flank accidentally drew the aggro. The boss' counterattacks could cause a huge problem.
Now that she thought about it, it might be a good time to try such a flank attack.
Asuna: Vanguard, keep up the defense! Everyone else, we close in for an attack! Make sure to coordinate your attacks between the different parties!
A few players here and there confirmed that they understood the order, but most of them just readied there weapons before charging at the boss with a battle cry.
In some rare cases, it took a moment before they fully grasped the command, though. This was the case for Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa, who were all so occupied with the question what exactly they should do when it was their turn that they almost missed their turn. In the end, Agil had to give them a little "reminder".
Agil: What are you waiting for?! Let's go!
He successfully made them snap out of their trance. To be fair, they were still a little bit disoriented for a second. Leafa was the first one to fully comprehend what was happening, closely followed by the other two girls.
Leafa: A-ah, right!
Due to the little delay, they were almost the last ones to attack the boss. Frankly, they were mostly not looking forward to it, and the waiting time didn't help either.
Lisbeth was particularly worried. She watched a few other players attack the Foul Emperor as it levitated above the ground. This resolve, this vigour… How could they attack this monstrosity as if it was nothing? She had no idea how she was supposed to do the same.
Everything about the Foul Emperor seemed as if raising one's weapon against it was like challenging a higher power. For starters, why did it have to levitate?! Would it have been too much of a demand for it to have legs?
It wasn't even just the veterans. Lisbeth couldn't believe how determinedly Leafa attacked the boss. To be honest, in her worried state and with her focus on the Foul Emperor, she had just missed how Leafa had mustered all her courage in order to bring herself to get close to the boss.
Leafa: Switch!
While Leafa was distancing herself from the Foul Emperor again, Lisbeth realised that it was her turn. Great… Well, here went nothing… She charged at the boss.
Another attack hit it from the side, while Lisbeth, who was approaching it from the back, didn't notice that. What she noticed was the fact that the boss swayed a bit, and she instinctively thought that it was reacting to the attacks – and that it would strike back now.
Lisbeth stopped in her tracks, and she even backed away a bit. At this very moment, she just didn't have it in herself to get any closer.
And in that moment, Agil took position next to her.
Agil [sternly, slightly determinedly]: What's the matter? It's your turn! Why am I here to back you up when you don't do your part?!
It took a brief moment to sink in, but once it did, Lisbeth nodded, took a deep breath and continued her attack, knowing that Agil would jump in if something happened. Nevertheless, Lisbeth had to force her legs to take the last five steps, and she used an extremely short and simple Sword Skill before retreating again.
While the raid party was attacking the boss, admittedly causing significant damage, it prepared its counterstrike without anyone noticing. The vanguard even noticed the incoming attack, but they didn't realise that the way the Foul Emperor held its sword was different from any stance they had seen so far.
The next thing they knew, the boss swung its sword around in a circle at incredible speed and with great force.
It hit the vanguard first, and they weren't prepared for the sudden strike at an unusual angle. So far, all sword strikes had been vertical or diagonal, but this one was horizontal, and frankly, it was stronger than any other attack so far. The blow knocked the entire vanguard over. To be honest, they probably wouldn't have been able to fend that blow off even if they had known that it was coming.
Some of the players that were attacking from the side noticed the coming attack, but even those that were relatively fast to react couldn't really do anything about it. It was a bit too sudden to dodge completely, and it was too strong to parry it. No matter what they tried, this group wasn't doing much better than the vanguard.
By the time the attack reached the group behind the boss, the tanks there had taken some kind of defense formation, and they tried to block or deflect the attack. Frankly, it didn't really work, but they bought a second or two for some of the others to throw themselves on the floor, and they slightly destabilised the trajectory of the attack. In the end, this group was also knocked over, but most of them didn't take the brunt of the blow.
Lisbeth was actually one of the first people to regain her composure to some extent and to get up after the attack. Looking around, she saw almost the entire raid party being in disarray – and in a pitiful state in general. The only one who was still standing was Sinon because she had been out of the boss' attack range.
Was this the true horror of a floor boss? An entire raid party brought to its knees with a single attack?
Lisbeth hurriedly checked the state of her party members. Frankly, the blow had taken a considerable chunk out of their HP bars… Leafa seemed to be in a particularly bad condition since she hadn't even tried to dodge after seeing her brother being knocked down out of the corner of her eye. Her HP bar was near the red zone.
To be perfectly honest, Agil had actually taken the worst beating. It was just that he had higher HP and Defense, so it wasn't obvious.
Silica [dazed]: Pina… Heal on L-leafa-san!
At least Silica's familiar was still up and about. Although… On second sight, even Pina had lost a considerable amount of HP.
Leafa [groans]: Th-thanks… Silica-san.
Now that she had seen that her teammates weren't exactly doing well but still halfway okay, Lisbeth started to wonder how much damage she had taken. Apparently, she had lost a comparatively low amount of HP. Well, her HP bar was still almost in the yellow zone.
A "visual check-up" revealed a deep cut on the left side of her belly. Hm… And here she had thought that this sword would just cut her in half as if it was nothing…
Asuna was also among the people who recovered relatively quickly. She took in her surroundings first, too. For starters, she checked her HP and Kirito's. Next up, she took a look at the boss to see what it was doing.
The Foul Emperor had to recover after that attack, too, albeit just for a moment. Now, it was launching its next attack, a strong thrust of its sword, which was aimed at the overall defenseless vanguard. The strike caught them off-guard, and it made taking their defensive formation again even harder.
Asuna: The vanguard needs help! All tanks… No, anyone who can help them go over there and support them! Everybody else draws back and heals!
One after another, the members of the raid party got up again and followed Asuna's command. To be honest, it wasn't really in an orderly fashion, but there was no panic or anything.
Witnessing this scene, some of the newest members of the Assault Team could only wonder… How could all these people be so incredibly tough?!
It wasn't exactly easy, but the raid party managed to regroup.
The AOE attack the boss had used hadn't been mentioned by any of the intel quests, so it was considered a "nasty surprise". Judging by the fact that the boss had only used it when the raid party had attacked it from different directions, they figured that this particular attack was a defense mechanism against such attacks. Okay, flank attacks were out of the question now.
With that in mind, Asuna quickly decided to use an alternative formation for the raid party. The previous vanguard party remained on a defensive position, taking the testudo formation again. All the tanks were supposed to support them if necessary. The rest of the raid party gathered behind them.
This formation took a lot of space, and they had to move around a bit before they had taken a position for this formation to work. Manoeuvring while defending against the boss' attacks was quite tricky, but it worked in the end.
Once everything was set, the raid party launched attacks as it had been tested before. The vanguard left a small gap in their formation, and the remaining parties took turns in charging at the boss through that gap before retreating behind the defense line again.
It didn't take long for the next obstacle to pop up. When the boss' first HP bar was at fifty per cent, five Servant Knights spawned. These were undead-themed monsters with large shields and scimitars. They spawned around the raid party, and the fact that they suddenly attacked them from different directions was a bit troublesome.
Kirito and Asuna as well as Akinym and Sinon got caught up in the attack. Two of the Servant Knights attacked the rest of the raid party, and Agil and his party took them on before they could cause trouble.
While their attacks weren't particularly dangerous, their defensive abilities were exceptional. Neither Akinym's judo throws, Sinon's ranged attacks nor Leafa's agile, flexible, duel-oriented style could throw them off balance. Kirito even tried using The Eclipse in order to see if the monsters could be overpowered with sheer force. Not that it worked, though…
Nevertheless, they managed to defeat the Servant Knights in the end, even though it took them a few minutes. After that, they contemplated how they should deal with the adds from now on.
Their current theory was that the adds would spawn whenever an HP bar was at fifty per cent, and it would prove to be spot-on.
Agil offered to take care of the adds with his party, and the three girls who were with him were quite willing to take that task. Asuna decided that Akinym would help them, and she assigned this task to another party, too. She and Kirito would also give them a hand if necessary, and with that, they had organised their defense against the adds.
As a side effect, Fuurinkazan and the second DDA party were the only permanent attackers that were left, though. Well, aside from Sinon, that is. By the way, she kept shooting arrows at the boss' arms or stomach, carefully avoiding the necklace.
Speaking of the necklace, they had made an important observation by the time the first HP bar was almost depleted. During most of the attacks, the boss bent forward, and in these moments, the necklace was definitely in reach for a spear wielder. The best opportunity seemed to be after the Foul Emperor's sword thrusts.
The raid party waited for said opportunity, and when it was time, Akinym dashed forward and attacked the boss' weak spot to deplete its first HP and to draw the aggro.
Just as expected, the boss used its special ability, the "rotting curse". This effect visually manifested itself in the Foul Emperor's blade beginning to glow while the boss was engulfed in some kind of thin, yellowish mist.
Akinym quickly moved to the boss' side to make sure that it wasn't facing the rest of the raid party. This was supposed to prevent other players from accidentally getting caught up in its attacks while it used its special buff.
For twenty seconds, Akinym had to dodge several attacks. He managed to avoid direct hits, although the blade grazed him every now and then, causing a few shallow cuts and a massive decrease in his equipment's Durability.
Fortunately, Akinym didn't have to worry too much about this gear. He used a spare set of equipment. He had got all these pieces of equipment while he had been getting his current "main gear". They had decent stats, but lacked resistances against status ailments.
Once the twenty seconds were over, the boss' buff expired, and the vanguard quickly drew the aggro of the boss again. Fortunately, it didn't use its AOE attack again, which was something Asuna and a few others had feared. Apparently, the boss only used that attack when it was attacked from different sides simultaneously.
The raid party continued to fight the boss using the same tactics. The battle proceeded slowly but steadily.
Akinym did a fairly good job at his part. He sustained some minor hits and damage, but it was nothing that a potion afterwards wouldn't fix. Speaking of potions, the rest of the raid party used the time Akinym dealt with the boss during these frenzies to heal themselves.
The Durability of Akinym's equipment could become a bit of a problem, though. He also had to parry or deflect a few blows in dire situations to avoid a direct hit. It was so bad that his spear broke during the third frenzy, and Akinym had to take out a second spare weapon.
One problem he had to face was the fact that he couldn't move around that much in order to avoid luring the boss away from the main force of the raid party. To be honest, this was one reason why he sustained relatively many hits. There were times when he had to remind himself not to move away from them and to use his evasive manoeuvres accordingly, and he ended up reacting too late to the Foul Emperor's attacks.
Aside from such issues, everything went smoothly, and the raid party whittled down the Foul Emperor's HP. The second bar went down, the third bar went down… and the fourth one was also almost down after a while.
It was a tense moment since everyone knew that the most dangerous part of the battle was about to begin.
Asuna: Okay, everyone, we're almost at the last stage! Stay focused and prepare yourselves! For now, form your defense groups and scatter! We'll bring its fourth HP bar down with a ranged attack!
Following Asuna's command, the members of the raid party formed groups of two or three parties, which took position at different spots inside the boss room. This wasn't preparation for a coordinated attack or anything like that, though.
Once the boss would fly into its next frenzy, the players around the "unfortunate soul" that would be picked as the target were supposed to defend their comrade as good as possible. While they couldn't draw the aggro, they could still parry blows for them.
At the same time, the players who would inevitably be too far away to defend the target wouldn't get caught up in the attacks accidentally.
Once everyone was ready, Asuna gave Sinon a signal. Sinon generated an arrow and prepared Milion Howling to aim at the Foul Emperor's necklace. This time, she wouldn't have to worry about drawing its aggro with the attack.
The arrow flew directly into the boss' weak spot, and another HP bar was depleted.
At this point, the boss seemed to freeze for a moment. It began to ooze some kind of black mist, and its eyes started to glow in a red light.
Everyone was curious who would be picked as a target. At the same time, pretty much everybody basically chanted inside their heads, "Please not me!"
When the boss started to move again, it faced the vanguard, which was still holding its position. A lot of people breathed a sigh of relief. Asuna even wondered if they would seriously be that lucky. It would be perfect if their defensive unit would be targeted.
All these thoughts vanished in an instant, though, as the boss suddenly soared over their heads. Asuna looked after it in surprise, but that quickly turned into shock when she saw that the boss was flying directly towards Sinon while taking a big swing with its sword.
When Sinon saw the boss coming at her, her first instinct was to attack it first. Well, technically speaking, her first "action" was to freeze in fear and shock, but once she recovered from that, she nocked another arrow.
However, she quickly realised that this wouldn't get her anywhere, so she tried to jump out of the way of the attack. By the time she started moving, however, it was already too late for her to dodge the blow completely. She tried to shield herself with her arms and her bow, but neither of these two things was a particularly suitable shield.
The blade cut through her arms and shoulder, and the impact knocked her down while flinging her bow away. Not that the weapon would've helped her in any way.
The Foul Emperor kept swinging its sword until it crashed into the wall. When Sinon tried to sit up and looked at the boss, it turned its head to look down at her with its glowing, red eyes. The sight was almost enough to paralyse her, and she snapped out of her trance just in time to roll to the side, narrowly dodging the next blow. The blade still grazed her arm, and the shock wave blew her away as if her body was a leaf in the wind.
Seeing the scene from afar, the other raid party members couldn't believe that this was really happening. Sinon was the only player without anyone else around her to defend her in this situation. She had needed a free field of fire, so she couldn't have joined any of them. Frankly, nobody had thought that it would really turn out to be a mistake. There were more than forty people in the boss room. Why did the boss have to pick her of all people?!
Asuna: S-sinon-on…
Asuna wasn't sure what to do or to think given that one of her friends might die right there in front of her eyes during her first floor boss battle.
At that moment, she saw Kirito passing by her, dashing at the boss as fast as possible.
Kirito [desperately]: Sinon! [sternly] You damn bastard, if you want to pick a fight, you better choose me, not her!
Regardless of what others might've thought of his actions, they made Asuna snap out of her desperate state. Right, they needed to do something to help Sinon, so she followed Kirito as fast as possible. The KoB party followed her right away, and the rest of the vanguard did the same after a moment.
As if it was sensing the incoming "nuisances", the Foul Emperor circled around Sinon to get between her and the players that charged at it.
This didn't stop the "rescue party", though. Rather than that, Kirito prepared to attack the boss. He knew that he couldn't draw its aggro, but he still hoped to interfere with its movements.
What he didn't see coming was the boss using its AOE Sword Skill again. They had no idea if the rules for the Foul Emperor to use this attack had changed during its frenzy or if it was anything else. The sudden strike only showed them clearly that the boss had no intention of letting any of them come to Sinon's aid. It was almost as if the Foul Emperor had turned into a sentient being that truly was after Sinon's life.
The AOE attack easily knocked the entire vanguard group over before they even fully realised what was happening. Sinon tried to dodge it by throwing herself on the ground. Fortunately, she avoided getting hit in the head or any other critical area, but the attack still hit her shoulder, and the damage sent her HP bar down into the red zone.
Sinon quickly fetched a Healing Crystal from her pouch, and upon using the item, it restored her HP. However, she didn't have another crystal, and drinking a potion would take too long, so she only had one more chance. At the same time, Sinon estimated that she would have to survive the onslaught of sword strikes at least for another twenty seconds before the Foul Emperor's frenzy would be over.
The other groups that were scattered throughout the boss room also came closer. Akinym was particularly eager to help, although the sight of the vanguard being repelled made him doubt that there was much he could do.
Ordinary ideas such as rushing in to defend her wouldn't work, yet he didn't have any time to come up with a more elaborate idea. Akinym figured that he needed something simple yet reliable. Frankly, only one strategy came to his mind. This called for the "usual solution". With that in mind, he ran straight towards an open spot between some groups of raid party members, where Sinon would see him easily.
At the same time, Sinon desperately tried to dodge the Foul Emperor's attacks. Right now, she tried to get out of the way of an attack coming from the top left by running to the right. However, she quickly realised that she couldn't outrun the sword strike, so she stopped and jumped to the left instead. The sword still slit through her arm, and she watched her HP decrease. At this rate, she certainly wouldn't survive this.
In her desperate state, Sinon took a look around to see if anyone was coming to help her. Pretty much the entire raid party was on the opposite side of the boss, probably trying to figure out a way to help her without ending up like the vanguard. Frankly, if any attempt to get to her would trigger the boss' crazy AOE attack, there wasn't anything they could to, was there?
Sinon spotted Akinym among the crowd. She hoped that her partner would have an idea. So far, no matter how dire her situation had been, he had found a way to get her out of it. At this point, she was willing to trust him with whatever he'd come up with as long as there was something.
And what he did… was to perform a sideflip? The movement seemed to be completely random… At the same time, given that Akinym was facing her while doing this, Sinon thought that this was supposed to be some kind of hint. But for what?
In that moment, a thought occurred to her. Akinym's way of helping her was to let her find the solution through experience, to let her see it "with her own eyes". Frankly, it was just an educated guess, but it was also her only guess, and she decided to put her trust in him in that moment.
Sinon imitated Akinym's movement as good as she could, and she saw the blade of the Foul Emperor pass by right under her when she was in the air. If she hadn't jumped up this way, the sword would've cut right through her.
There was no time to think about it, though. As soon as Sinon landed on the ground – or crashed into it, to be more precise – Sinon looked towards Akinym again. Now he was quickly rolling to the side, so she did the same. That way, she narrowly dodge another vertical sword strike.
Asuna still observed Sinon's situation, trying to think of a way to help her, when Max suddenly directed her attention at something else.
Max [surprised]: Hm? What is he doing?!
Turning into the direction Max was looking at, Asuna saw Akinym performing what looked like random stunts. Some of the players around him even asked him what he was doing or if he was out of his mind or something.
Asuna had a certain hunch. She looked back and forth between Akinym and Sinon, and she realised what was going on.
Asuna: Everyone, make sure that Sinon has a clear view at Akinym! You heard that?! Get out of the way for now! Vanguard, prepare to attack the boss as soon as its frenzy stops!
The other raid party members heeded the command, although most of them needed a moment to understand what was actually going on.
Meanwhile, Sinon followed Akinym's movements as well as possible. Because of his own job during the boss battle, Akinym had observed the boss' movement patterns very carefully, and he had determined good ways to dodge pretty much all of its attacks. To be honest, there were still several problems, though.
For starters, Akinym couldn't see the Foul Emperor as clearly as when he had fought it himself. He could see the way it moved its arms, which was mostly enough. Keeping an eye on both the Foul Emperor and Sinon didn't make this any easier.
A much more severe issue was their difference in stats and skill. Sinon lacked Akinym's experience with these movements. She also had significantly lower Agility, so she couldn't move as fast as Akinym. Furthermore, Sinon didn't have Akinym's Acrobatics skill, and without the help of the system assistant, she couldn't pull off most of the movements that it supported.
In the heat of the moment, Akinym sometimes forgot about these issues for a second, and Sinon wasn't able to copy his movements well enough. She sustained several hits throughout this fight, and her HP were decreasing more and more…
At some point, the Foul Emperor thrust its sword at her, and due to Akinym's "guidance", Sinon tried to dodge it with a dive. The attack still hit her legs, and besides bringing her HP bar down into the red zone, it also caused a Lost Limb debuff.
Sinon looked behind herself and saw the boss drawing its weapon back. After a second, it raised the enormous weapon, preparing another blow. This time, she wouldn't be able to dodge.
However, at that moment, the red glow in the Foul Emperor's eyes vanished. Sinon hardly noticed that, though, and she wouldn't have even had time to think about it. Before she could grasp the situation, even before anyone else could really do anything, Asuna rushed at the boss and hit it with Spica Caliber.
Frankly, Asuna was among the first people to react, and she was the fastest player in the raid party. She had simply attacked head-on, using an overall random strong Sword Skill to draw the boss' aggro before it had another chance to attack. The Foul Emperor swayed slightly to the side and stopped its attack, so the plan worked overall.
It came at a price, though. The boss directed its attention to Asuna, and it immediately prepared a sword thrust. Asuna was overall defenseless due to the post-motion delay.
Fortunately, Kirito caught up to her and used Cross Block to parry the upcoming attack while shielding Asuna. It worked to some extent. He took the brunt of the attack, but the impact was so strong that the Foul Emperor basically shoved Kirito across the floor with its sword. Meanwhile, the attack knocked Asuna down, too, and she sustained a cut on the stomach, but she was overall okay.
Whether the same could be said about Kirito… It remained to be seen. While the sword didn't break through his parry completely, the pressure it put on him was extreme. Kirito had the feeling that this attack would've shattered any bones in his arms if his virtual arms had had any bones in them. He could see his HP bar going down into the yellow zone and getting dangerously close to the red zone.
Things took a turn for the better when the KoB party jumped in to help him parry the blow. Together, they managed to stop the sword thrust.
More help arrived from the flank. Klein led his guild back to the battlefield.
Klein: Seriously, Kirito, don't go crazy like that! Guys, let's help them out!
Fuurinkazan aimed attacks at the Foul Emperor's sword. The boss already applied less force to its weapon since the programmed attack was almost finished, so they managed to push the blade to the side, and with the help of Kirito and the KoB party, the boss' sword was deflected and crashed into the ground.
Meanwhile, Lind and Schmitt led an attack on the boss with their respective parties. Their goal was to draw the aggro and to set up a proper defense again.
While they were doing that, Kirito and the KoB party went over to Asuna, who was currently getting up again.
Kirito: Asuna, are you okay?
Asuna: I'm fine. What about everyone else? What about…
Asuna was looking over at Sinon, who was currently more or less carried away by Silica and Lisbeth while Agil and Leafa basically stood guard. Asuna couldn't discern it from her position, but they were all really worried… and relieved that Sinon had survived that onslaught of attacks. So was Asuna, by the way.
Max: Everyone is okay right now. [sternly] Which gives me the opportunity to tell you that this was crazy! How can you jump into danger like that?!
Kirito and Asuna apologised as if they were school kids who were scolded by a teacher.
Max [slightly determinedly]: Anyway, my party will join the vanguard again! We have to set up our formation again. You two heal up for now!
Asuna: You're right. [yells] Everyone, prepare to take the formation from before again! As soon as the defense line is up again, get into position!
With that, the battle continued.
Agil and the girls brought Sinon to a safe spot where she could drink a potion and wait for the Lost Limb debuff to expire.
Agil's party basically acted as her bodyguards for the time being. When the boss spawned the last wave of Servant Knights, they had to fight one of them, but apart from that, their "guard duty" was remarkably uneventful.
After a while, the last HP bar of the Foul Emperor was somewhere between ten and twenty per cent, and Asuna figured that one all-out attack should be enough to finish it off.
Asuna: Alright, everyone! Prepare for the final attack! Once the boss enters the recovery phase after its next strong attack, we start! Remember: Whoever gets the last attack gets the Last Attack Bonus as well! As the Council has decided, everyone is free to try, but I don't want to see anyone get into the way of someone else to secure the rare item, you got that?!
Agil looked over at the main force of the raid party for a moment. They eagerly got ready. He turned back to the girls around him with an encouraging smile.
Agil: What about you? Wanna make the best out of it and go for that Last Attack Bonus?
Silica [insecurely]: I don't know. I'd rather want it to be over already…
Lisbeth [mutters, slightly exasperatedly]: Same here, actually. [says aloud, slightly worriedly] Besides, what about you, Sinon? Is it even okay to leave you here so… legless?
Lisbeth pointed at Sinon's legs awkwardly. Well, that is, at what was left of them. This Lost Limb effect was both weird and nasty… and in this case, it had already lasted for at least ten minutes, so it should expire any minute now.
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: It's okay, really. For the umpteenth time, I'm fine! [slightly reassuringly] Really, you can go!
Leafa [slightly insecurely]: Well, if you say so… I really don't like the idea, though. I mean, there shouldn't be any surprises anymore, but if there are…
Akinym: So, how about I take over here?
The group turned to Akinym, who was approaching them calmly. He held Ullr, Sinon's bow, in one hand. They had completely forgotten to retrieve the weapon… Well, Akinym had taken care of that now.
Leafa: Well, I guess that would be okay…
Agil: Thanks. [nods towards the boss] But are you sure you don't wanna give it a go yourself?
Akinym: Don't mention it! Helping Sinon-san should be my task to begin with. Besides, [slightly exasperatedly] I pass on the madness of all these maniacs going for the Last Attack Bonus!
Agil [casually]: Heh, I get you! [slightly determinedly] Okay, let's go!
With that, Agil and the other girls left, and only Akinym and Sinon remained behind.
Akinym gave Sinon her bow back, and she took it without saying anything, at least at first. She didn't really know what to say, yet she felt that she should say something.
Sinon: Thanks.
It took only a second for Sinon to wonder if that was really everything that she could come up with. She even said that in such a meek manner…
Sinon: I mean for your help with the boss. I… don't think I would've made it without your hints at how to dodge the attacks.
Akinym: Don't mention it. I think I've mentioned it already in one way or another, but as your partner, it's my job to look out for you here. [sighs tiredly] I'm just glad it worked…
Sinon: Well, I remembered what had happened when I had been on that quest with… What was their name again? Ascending Moon? When you helped me figure out how to use these rockfall traps… That was almost the same as here, wasn't it? You… showed me how to get out of that tight spot.
Akinym: Well, pretty much. [slightly casually] Somehow, it seems to be the best way to support you.
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: You really don't have any problem with blurting out these lines, do you?
Akinym [exasperatedly]: Listen, I know that most people don't say that so openly, but I do. [flatly] I'm just honest.
Thinking about it for a moment, Akinym sighed tiredly.
Akinym: And if I really have to be honest, it's mostly that I don't have any better ideas as to how to act as your partner. I don't really know anything about working with someone like that, at least not when your life depends on it. [slightly contemplatively] I've only thought about what it would take, and in the end, all I can say for sure is that if I agree to do the job, I want to do it properly, meaning as well as I can. For starters, I try to be as supportive as possible, because I think that's what I should do. And sometimes, that means to support someone mentally. Especially if they need encouragement and the feeling that someone backs them up, and these boss battles usually call for that.
Sinon thought about it for a moment.
She remembered what impression Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa had made. She hadn't had an easy time during this battle, but neither had any of them. It had been particularly obvious in Silica's case as far as she could see, but Sinon had the feeling that Lisbeth and Leafa were just slightly better at hiding it, which said more about Silica than it said about them.
In that situation, Agil had always tried to encourage them and to give them the feeling that there was someone they could rely on during this life-threatening encounter with a floor boss. Sinon wondered if that was also a reason why nobody was allowed to enter these boss battles alone.
At first, Sinon had thought that the reason for that was to have diversified groups with good teamwork, and if someone was in serious trouble, the rest of their party would notice it quickly and jump in to help. Now, however, she realised how important the psychological component was. The feeling not to face this enormous threat alone helped, even if it was just a little.
Sinon's thought process was disrupted when she felt her legs being restored. Finally… That annoying debuff had expired. She got up again.
Sinon: Great, I can walk again! [slightly annoyed] It was really getting on my nerves! Ugh…
Sinon stood next to Akinym, and they observed the rest of the raid party as they attacked the boss. The Foul Emperor had only a shred of HP left at this point.
Sinon: This thing really got on my nerves… You know, I think I want this battle to end on a better note for me. If you don't want that Last Attack Bonus, fine. I, however, wouldn't mind leaving my first boss battle with a nice extra reward after all the trouble!
Sinon generated an arrow and nocked it.
Sinon [slightly angrily]: Besides, I owe this guy some payback for almost killing me!
She took the starting stance for Milion Howling and aimed at the Foul Emperor's necklace.
Meanwhile, the boss battle came to a close.
Asuna was basically right in front of the boss, and Kirito had just finished an attack with Starburst Stream. The boss had backed away to dodge as many strikes as possible. Now that Kirito had to wait for the post-motion delay to be over, Asuna figured that it was her turn.
She dashed at the boss and prepared to attack it with Star Splash. The KoB party backed her up, and when the Foul Emperor swung its sword at her, they blocked the blow for her.
Asuna started the attack, and the first few thrusts hit without problems. When she started the low slashes, however, it quickly moved forward, slipping past her and the KoB (or over them, to be more precise).
Kirito recovered from the delay in the meantime, and since the boss was basically coming straight at him, he figured that he'd take the opportunity for another attack. The boss had hardly any HP left, so one more attack should finish it.
At the same time, Lind and his party closed in.
Lind: Alright, everyone! In the name of the DDA, let's take out what stands in the way of our freedom for the sake of all players! Follow me!
Lind's party agreed with a decisive battle cry, but the boss had different plans. The Foul Emperor rapidly swung its sword at the DDA party. Only Kirito reacted quick enough to dodge to the side. To be fair, he had it a bit easier because the attack wasn't aimed directly at him.
Before the Foul Emperor could draw its sword back, Kirito had… an unconventional idea. He jumped onto the large blade and used it like a ramp, running up on it to get closer to the boss.
Once he was close enough, Kirito jumped off the blade and took the starting stance of Blackhowling Assault. He had got this Sword Skill in the Hollow Area not too long ago, and he was eager to test it in a battle against a floor boss. This seemed to be a good opportunity.
As he flew towards the boss with a determined battle cry and his swords being ready, Kirito saw an arrow soaring past him and crashing right into the boss' weak spot, its necklace. The hit took out its remaining HP.
Kirito's shout turned from one of determination into one of surprise and disbelief as the death animation set in. He was flying right through a whirlwind of polygons when he realised that he was falling to the ground, and his outcry turned into one of panic.
Once the polygons in his path cleared, he saw that he would crash straight into Asuna. She saw him, but since she hadn't expected a person coming her way from above, so she only backed away a bit, which wasn't enough to avoid a "collision". Kirito was sure that he'd crash right into her…
…or so he thought. Max jumped in and put his shield in front of Asuna. Kirito crashed face-first into it. After the shield had "broken his fall", Kirito unceremoniously flopped onto the ground.
Max [slightly worriedly]: Vice-commander, are you okay?
Asuna [taken aback, insecurely]: Y-ye… I am. Um, thanks?
Max was a bit puzzled, and he drew his shield back to see "what" had fallen to the ground. He was quite surprised to see that it was Kirito. Frankly, Max had feared that there would've been some kind of nasty trap that would've dropped a dangerous object onto the raid party after the boss had died. He wasn't taking chances, so he had protected Asuna from whatever it was.
Now that he saw that it wasn't a trap but only Asuna's ingame husband, he actually felt a bit bad for Kirito. Well, for a few seconds, that is. Once he realised that he would've done the same if he had known that it had only been Kirito, Max didn't have any regrets.
The rest of the raid party gathered around them while Kirito was getting up with a groan and rubbing his face. Klein used the rare opportunity to put on a smirk and be gleeful.
Klein: Hehe, no fanservice event for you, Kirinoji, eh?
For once, Klein made almost everyone around him laugh without it being at his expense.
Kirito [annoyed, slightly embarrassed]: Shut up!
Now that Kirito thought about it, maybe it was actually better that Max had stopped his fall before he would've crashed into Asuna. Keeping aside that it was better for Asuna, who could guess what embarrassing situation this would've resulted in…
Meanwhile, all the way at the back with Akinym and Sinon, Sinon took a look at the system window which informed her that she had got the Last Attack Bonus.
She took a look at the item, and it turned out to be a shield. It had good Defense, gave a bonus on Vitality and even increased the Parry success rate. Frankly, it was a very good shield, just as you'd expect from a Last Attack Bonus.
Sinon [sighs, slightly dejectedly]: A shield, huh? Seems like I won't get to use it myself. Well, I guess I'll sell it. Not that I know what to do with the money. Or who would buy it...
Akinym: Well, I guess that happens often enough. You never know what you'll get, and since you'd need only special equipment, I'd even say it was to be expected. [slightly exasperatedly] The only problem is that these Last Attack Bonuses usually spark a lot of envy among the players. If you sell it, try not to play favourites. That would only cause problems.
Sinon: You gotta be kidding me. They even nag people about that? I start to see why you didn't bother trying to get this yourself. [slightly happily] Well, I guess the feeling of accomplishment is still nice.
They spent a moment in silence, watching the rest of the raid party. The players over there seemed to laugh about something.
Akinym: You know, you did a good job today. I mean, for your first boss battle, and given everything that happened, it was a great job.
Sinon glanced over at Akinym for a moment. He had said that quite calmly, and under other circumstances, she might've thought that he had said it out of obligation. However, Sinon could tell that it was sincere, and she gladly accepted the compliment.
Sinon: Thanks. Right back at you!
Sinon playfully slapped Akinym's arm with her bow. Doing that felt strangely appropriate.
However, there was something she hadn't expected. Due to the hits Akinym had sustained during the battle while the Foul Emperor had been buffed, the Durability of his equipment had been decreased to the point that this simple slap was enough to destroy his jacket. As a consequence, it shattered into polygons, and Akinym was standing in the middle of the boss room in his undershirt.
Sinon backed away, being startled by the unexpected turn of events… and a bit embarrassed by the situation they were in now.
At the same time, Akinym tried his best to remain calm, although it would be more fitting to say he forced himself to stay calm.
Akinym: Ugh… Great…
Thankfully, it had only been a spare piece of equipment, and the rest of the raid party paid its attention to something else. He never would've heard the end of it if they had noticed this.
Akinym wondered if this day could become even more aggravating…
Well, little did he know that it can get worse, but that will be shown in the next chapter.
I've mixed the mechanics of the battle against the Foul Emperor in HF and original mechanics here. Some stuff is taken directly from the game, others have been changed a bit, and some are completely original.
The usual imaginary cookie goes to anyone who recognises all the bosses Agil, Klein and his guild talk about before the battle begins.
I didn't really notice this at first, but when I was researching how long boss battles took in canon, I saw that the battle against the Skull Reaper was fought by a raid party of about thirty people (according to SAO Wikia), and if I remember correctly, Heathcliff mentioned that there had never been more people in a raid party. Now, however, I've mentioned that this raid party consisted of around forty players. I think I've read something about a member limit for raid parties once, but I couldn't find that piece of information anymore. Anyway, I think I've accidentally raised the member limit here... Well, I had a certain mechanic in mind for that anyway, and it will be explained in a future chapter, so I'll leave it at that for now.
Also, I know that the boss rooms starting at the one on the 74th floors were supposed to be anti-crystal areas, yet Sinon used a Healing Crystal. I've decided to change that mechanic a little. Turning boss rooms into anti-crystal areas seemed a bit extreme to me, so as far as this story is concerned, only means of teleportation will be blocked, meaning that Teleport Crystals (or anything similar) won't work, but crystals for healing or removing debuffs will.
At least I managed to include another element from canon SAO, namely Sinon's "tendency" to lose legs. I mean, to my knowledge, she lost at least three legs so far... which is kind of weird when you think about it...
I think the end of the boss battle might be a bit more chaotic than it should've been, at least given the overall orderly fashion before. Well, what should I say, I kind of liked that scene when I came up with it, and I couldn't bring myself to abandon it, so here we are.
In HF, the Last Attack Bonus of the Foul Emperor was called "Elucidator", and while I couldn't find out what kind of item it is, it sounds as if they reward the player with one of Kirito's canon swords... which would be strange if you asked me. Therefore, I've changed it into a random shield.
Little Preview: Great deeds deserve to be celebrated, and reaching the 90th floor is certainly such a deed. Who knows what crazy events the party will entail.