Chapter Five - The Mammals Behind the Masks
—
Thud, thud. Thud. THUD...
Hard stamps along the road behind us shook the earth beneath our feet. They grew violent, louder, and faster with each quake. Keisan didn't react to the danger. I could only see him out of the corner of my eye. I'm not sure if he noticed.
To the left and right of us were open fields. We could not hide beyond the occasional decayed wooden fence along the road, the pastures around free of any prominent source of cover. Based on sound alone, the threat was dangerously close. Fleeing was also impossible.
"Dammit," I muttered.
A sharp inhale summoned the stores of energy I had left. With no other option but to fight, taking the initiative was paramount.
I shoved an unsuspecting Keisan further along and attempted to ready my sword. I turned to the owner of what I'd confirmed was hoofsteps—a bulky, tall, warthog-like creature known as a Frenzy Boar, this one, in particular, a second-level monster—was somehow faster.
The boar introduced me to its ferocious strength, throwing me rightward from the path with a backhanded swing of its wooden club. Bracing didn't help. A sharp and coarse vulpanic cry bellowed deep within my throat. My vision became spotty. The pressure alone threatened to pop my eyes out of their sockets. I flew like a silver bullet.
When I came to rest at the foot of the hill, perceiving my surroundings became a challenge. I'd ended up landing on my right side. An uncomfortable wave of static encroached on the left. Absent from all of this, however, was pain.
Under normal circumstances, getting hit by the equivalent of a small car at a low rate of speed would result in soreness, bruises, contusions, broken bones, a concussion maybe, or death in the worst case. Sword Art Online was merciful enough to negate those notions entirely. Instead, I laid on the ground, doing everything in my power not to writhe in my nonexistent suffering.
Glancing down to my exposed side, I could see the bright orange glow shone on my torso where the club had made contact. The top left of my heads-up-display confirmed the devastation:
Just under half of my total health points were missing, disintegrated by one attack.
Nearly half of my life.
We could not under any circumstance get hit by that boar's attack.
By the time I recovered from my daze to be mildly coherent, the boar had begun queuing up another attack. The red panda stared helplessly in front of the beast, wide-eyed. Terrified and filled with rage, I grit my teeth.
"Keisan," I panted, ire interlaced within the tension strained in my vocal cords. "Pay attention! Block!"
Keisan didn't react to my order. The panda's eyes locked onto the threat looming overhead, ears low. I swore under my breath. From my position, I was useless. I was his last line of defense. There wasn't any time for debate. I had to do something. Fast.
But...
"...!"
I tried my legs. Nothing. My arms. Stagnant. My fingers. Not even a twitch.
Move. I commanded my husk. Move!
Like an unstable drunkard or a sunken heavyweight swimmer, I sunk deeper into the grassy foothill. Panic set in.
Why won't my body listen to me?!
The foe's club shone a terrifying crimson shade, rendering whatever potential movements null. A breath hitched in my throat. With Yasu's blade comfortably in its sheath, there was nothing to stop the onslaught.
"Squeal!" roared the boar, the wooden weapon swiping from right to left across the red panda's torso, making contact against the right side of his body.
"Keisan!" the scream ripped from my throat.
The ailuridae launched like a rocket, careening to the opposite side of the path beyond its crest's sightline. Hearing the impact was horrendous to witness, the grotesque crunching of digital flesh and bone sending shivers down my spine. It might not have hurt, but I could imagine the horrendous pain.
The crazed boar eyed the small soaring figure, grinning a toothy smirk. They were enjoying their handiwork. Rage consumed me. It felt entirely personal.
When the rattling of armor some distance away confirmed the small soaring mammal's landing, the digital being broke into a confident stride, marching down the other side of the hill and beyond sight to finish its job.
An icon—one I hadn't noticed or bothered to discern before or after the attack—disappeared from the bottom right of my vision. Simultaneously, the mysterious weight tethering my avatar to the ground lifted. I didn't waste time. I disregarded the numbing static on my left hip and wobbled upright. Regardless of the shakiness in my step, so long as Keisan was still alive, I had to fight. Survival was paramount.
Besides, I didn't know what I would do if he didn't.
A vicious canid growl ripped at my throat, right paw clasping the hilt of my blade. With voracious indignation, I unsheathed the sword from its scabbard and pulled the cowl back over my head.
Move.
My avatar—my body—obeyed forthrightly, footclaws propelling the soft earth behind me as I sprinted back towards the fight.
I cleared the small hill's crest in a pawful of seconds, stopping at the opposite edge of the footpath. The gap between the two figures closed quicker than I had anticipated. Luckily, the boar's arrogance showed no interest in doubling back to finish me off, paying no regard to their rear flank. How dare I waste such a perfect opportunity? I sprinted over.
Taking the weapon over my shoulder felt strangely natural. Breathing slowed. My eyes locked onto their target. I could feel my digital heart pounding in my ears.
The blade shone a brilliant royal blue as the game recognized the set pre-motion. Mere meters were between the boar and me. The growl pent up in my throat transformed into a vile roar as I entered the attack's point-of-no-return.
Then, I swung.
"Grrrrrah!"
Steel dug into the boar's flesh. A streak of bright digitized orange left-to-right indicated the inflicted damage.
"Reeeeek!" The enemy writhed.
They knelt to clasp the gash using the club as makeshift support. What a pity that the NPCs still felt physical pain in that world.
With the attack's cooldown period ended, I sprinted in front of Keisan and assumed a defensive position, the weapon in my paw pointed at the fallen foe and ready for another bout. Primalic chitters popped in my mouth. Somewhere in my mammalian mind, I'd convinced myself that the display of dominance was our best option. It was a ruse, of course.
The adrenaline of the attack subsided as quickly as it came, mellowing out alongside the self-built stoicism. The weapon in my paw felt like a dumbbell, the tip of the sharpened steel shaking in the air. After only one attack, ragged pants struggled to take in some fresh air while the stress of battle waned heavily on my scrawny body. I was scared. I questioned if my blade alone would be enough to slay the massive beast.
A deep, shaken breath helped retain my focus somewhat. I wasn't going to let this NPC kill us. No matter the risks, I had to stay calm and think logically.
Looking back to our wounded threat, I found that around seventy percent of its health bar remained. Based on the Slant I'd landed, two or three more well-timed attacks would finish the boar off for good. If we managed to get that far, that is.
Behind me, I could hear Keisan's stifled sobbing. Much like how I'd succumb to it in the alley, fear had him locked in a stranglehold. It was the reason I didn't bother to look back. Speaking anything was fruitless. He'd never been in an actual fight before.
The Frenzy Boar let out a whine and a huff, shaking the pain away. Its deep crimson eyes stared me down. Recovery was imminent.
Time was up. I couldn't—didn't—spare sympathy for Keisan. Indecision meant death, and I couldn't let that happen. Fight or flight, he had to decide.
"Yasu," my tone demanded with a vocal crack, whites of my fangs bared. His whimpering went silent. Assuming I had his attention, my venomous glare shot back to the monster and continued. "Get up. Take out your sword, and fight."
"B-but, Idu—"
"We don't have time to argue," I snapped. "If you're going to fight back, fight back! If not, we need to leave. Now."
Through my peripheral, I witnessed the mental laps he took to come to terms with either scenario. Under normal circumstances, I would have stayed and fought. A minor nuisance in our first big fight inside an MMO with our characters under half health? Big deal. But, Sword Art Online was far from ordinary. And after being deadset on overcoming whatever challenge Aincrad presented to us, was retreat our only option?
I glanced to the top-left of the HUD. Not to the current non-optimal condition that we were in, but to the third health bar that made up the last member of our party—the absent Shacho. Feigned jealousy masked my disposition. Seeing his health maxed out angered me in a way. I imagined him sitting in some back alley somewhere, observing each depletion of our very life.
Can't he see how much we're struggling? I pondered. Yasu is his best friend. If not me, wouldn't the thought of saving him cross his mind? Just let me d—
"Alright."
After a few seconds, a concession came that snapped me back to the fight. "You win. Let's get out of here."
Unphased, I softened my snarl, turned to the red panda, then gave a reassuring nod. If we weren't ready to combat our new reality, then so be it. Retreating was logical—in my opinion, the correct line of play.
I lent a paw to Keisan and hoisted him to his feet. He stumbled backward a step and let out a breath while I attempted to prepare ourselves for a swift exit.
"Draw your sword and be prepared..."
Tearing my gaze from the ailuridae and back to where our foe had fallen, I found the space void and vacant.
"...for anything."
I pulled my cowl back to increase my field of vision, training my eyes and ears toward the distant plains. Nothing but luscious greens and the ruffling of grass and fauna from the light winds. Our enemy had vanished.
"Where'd they—"
My ears flicked at a subtle sound towards my rear flank. Chills shot down my spine. Time froze. With bated breath, my body became stone.
Someone snuck up onto our battle. Worse yet, based on the moist, warm, rhythmic breaths that blew up against the back of my neck, they were directly behind me. The sensation of the rise and fall of my fur felt surreal. I was petrified.
It was useless to question "how" they'd done it. The fact of the matter was that we'd become the prey of a soon-to-be fruitful hunt, and (twice) I was caught blissfully unaware in a trap.
Desperation crept in. Check. Sudden movements or reactions would give the monster no choice in forcing their advantage, putting me in checkmate, thus killing me. The solution:
Spring the trap.
I sucked in a breath, prayed, and dropped to the ground with a squat, pulling my head into my body. An audible clack of teeth snapped where my neck would have been.
I'd lived but hadn't escaped the woods yet.
Keisan shouted a curse with a start and stumbled back a few steps to my right, a paw gripped at the hilt of his weapon. I pounced into a roll to gain much-needed distance. Sounds of scraping metal from the ailuridae's sheath filled the air before I landed—less gracefully than I'd intended—a pawful of meters away.
Strengthening the grasp on my weapon and arming myself, I turned to face whoever scared off the Frenzy Boar head-on. Though, after giving the beast a twice-over, I wasn't thrilled with our odds. We were intimately familiar with who this monster was.
"Oh, gods…" Keisan trembled.
Tattered clothing revealed many of the scars riddled throughout the warrior's body—not to mention their built physique—and stood tall on the balls of their feet, their height nearly quadruple that of the red panda and triple mine. Despite the sword tethered to their hip and darkened brown eyes that left us intimidated, there was no mistaking them.
A second-level Dire Wolf had joined the battle, and they looked hungry for a fresh meal.
The lupine snarled, eyes darting back and forth between the both of us, and let loose a deafeningly primal howl.
"Awrrrrrrrr!"
Their call traveled for miles. Quieter echoes beyond the fields joined the chorus. The whole floor could have known that some unlucky mammals were in the midst of taking this world head-on. No one else was either brave—or stupid—enough to venture outside of the town's walls, not after the player meeting. At sixty and fifty-five percent health between us, Keisan and I were lumped amongst the idiots.
While I grimaced at the odds of our survival, a vivid image pricked my brain: the newbie wolf and veteran rabbit. An epiphany began to form.
"Keisan," I called out as the lupine pulled out the longsword from its leather holster, "buy me a few seconds."
"What? Why?!"
"I'm calling for help. Get in front of me."
Disengaging from the fight, I swiped downward with my middle and index fingers, the drop-down menu fading into existence. The ailuridae I'd placed my faith in dragged himself over against his better judgment.
Half-laced with tears, he questioned, "H-how do you expect me to win against something like this?"
"Stall," I said, hunkered into the depths of the menu. "Block its attacks, don't take any risks. The goal here isn't winning; it's surviving."
My player-model let out a breath. Focus. I needed focus. I'd been blessed with the knowledge of sending a message prior to the player meeting. I just needed to retrace my steps. I looked at the options…
"Fuck."
…and sunk further into my distraught stupor.
Reading the list of options available on the menu, I recalled that I'd answered through an icon rather than through the menu itself. I couldn't discern where to navigate. To be fair, I was panicking. Seconds wasted on pointless steps could have turned the tide. Prodding around with a general census of what I needed was the best I could do, and the developers weren't taking it easy on the average user by any means.
Gods, what a shitty, dysfunctional MMO SAO was.
Locating the messaging mechanic took two attempts.
The first was fiddling with the Communications tab, insinuating the section's title included instant messaging between users. Unless my goal was to either trade, duel, or marry, then I had spectacularly missed the mark. Why wouldn't the mechanic be there?
The second—which became the only logical option beyond frolicking through the Inventory and Settings screens—brought me to the Friends/Guild tab. Tapping on Keisan's name from my lackluster friends list confirmed I'd been in the right place, the message icon appearing on the row's far-right.
Relief. Something about the small victory found me able to let out the breath I hadn't known I was holding.
"Found it—"
CLANG!
...
...
A sharp crash exploded mere inches from the right side of my head. I blinked at the two mammals as my ear rang. When my eyes opened, I watched as swords ground against each other, creaking and moaning their displeasure at their wielders, the growling lupine and grunting ailuridae, neither of which daring to back down. The daunting difference in size made their bout awkward and uncomfortable to watch.
And yet, there I was, watching Keisan's health points begin their slow decline like some helpless bystander. I should have been doing my job.
But, between Keisan's wavering feats of what I deemed super-mammal strength and my beats of nerve-wracking silence, I could hear his voice break over the clattering.
"Idu," his cry gritted, "send the message!"
My body reacted faster than my mind could process the order. Fingers tapped at the menu's options and eventually finished writing my simple single-pawed message twice over, following a request to join our preexisting party.
—
help.
—
Short, sweet, and to the point. It wasn't like I had time to send anything grandiose.
A leftward wave shooed the menu away, leaving our fate in the paws of the messaging system and the two players. I thought up a prayer to the gods, wishing for both minimal delay in the message's delivery and that their willingness to come to our rescue wouldn't waiver.
I eyed the occupied canine. At a glance, they were struggling to maintain their form. The opportunity couldn't have been more perfect. Keisan had kept them at bay long enough. It was my turn to pick up the slack.
Grazing the ground by a hair, I tucked the weapon just under the pit of my arm, then swung the glowing cobalt steel up and through the wolf's pectorals whilst on the balls of my feet, Vertical missing the side of their head by an inch. Following the loss of nearly half of its health bar, a whimper escaped the enemy canidae.
The ailuridae capitalized on the wolf's stunned reaction while my cooldown was in effect. He began with a shove with his blade, then transitioned into another diagonal swipe to the chest—bar the use of the sword skill Slant, minimizing the damage dealt to a mere fraction of what the attack could have done. Nevertheless, we gave the wolf no other choice but to fall back some-odd steps away. They growled with menacing resolve while we caught our breath.
"Attacking without utilizing a sword skill is useless," I panted. "We'll scar them up, sure. But, not a point of damage will reflect."
"R-right…" the panda muttered skeptically.
"We'll do the same thing. Wait for the wolf to attack. I'll block. You jump in and strike. The opening will be on my right. Can you do that?"
The silence between us hung thick in the air. The wolf had nearly recovered. Urgency swelled into a panic. Reinforcements meant nothing if we were dead or close to it.
"Can you do that, Keisan?" I repeated irritably.
"Where did Shacho's name go?"
I blinked. "What?"
"His name," he whimpered, pointing up to the direction the list of party members would have been on his HUD. "It's gone."
Reservation seeded beneath the truth. The question of Nagaharu's resolution resurfaced. Our friend wouldn't—couldn't have—left us. He couldn't have.
Regrettably, in search of finality, I peered at the top left. Yasu was correct. Nagaharu's username had vanished from our party.
"Reinvite him," my order barked, seeing my friend teetering closer to a breakdown. Off in the distance, the lupine crept forward a step. I did the same and took a defensive position, claiming dominance. That space was ours. "Get him back."
I needn't ask. The ailuridae had already begun. "I'm trying!"
I waited, holding the ground between the wolf and us, the hunk of steel grasped in my paw at the ready. Now recovered from our onslaught, the canidae growled to us with fangs bared.
"What's going on over there? Have you sent him the request or not?"
"It's sent! He's not accepting it!"
"What about messaging him? Have you tried that?"
Sounds from the menu rang as he tapped away at the icons—a pause. "I can't," his anguish muttered. "He… blocked me?"
I don't know why I was so shocked.
Shacho drew the line. So long as we relied on the aid of the testers that could have saved Cashi's life, he would have nothing to do with either of us. Being tethered to me became a plague. Yasu was paying the price for it.
"Yasu," I called, sword transfixed towards the wolf, "Don't worry about Shacho. There's nothing that we can do for him. You said it yourself, 'you'll meet up, talk it out, and you two will be inseparable again.' And you will. But, right now, the only way that's going to happen is if we defeat this monster—"
"What's the point? We're never going to forgive each other for what happened, nor forget. To side with him would breed toxicity. How could I live with myself knowing you'd be utterly alone after how badly he treated you?" Devastation seeped throughout his tone. A hollow laugh slipped out. "Besides, what difference would it make? We're only college students, not fighters, Izuki. You saw how that other wolf killed Kashi. We're hopeless."
The ailuridae sniffled, a pause of reflection grounding whatever drive he had.
"We're… we're going to die here, aren't we?"
Regrettably, I said nothing.
"Why? Why did it have to be us? Why would someone do something like this?"
I had no answer.
"We should have never left the Town of Beginnings or let Kashi die. We should have never dived into this game. We never should have touched the NerveGear. This…, all of this, was a mistake. I want to see my parents; my sisters; my family again. I want to play jazz, go to the arcade, and eat some ramen with my friends. I… I want…
"I want to go home."
Keisan allowed himself to yet another moment of quiet sobs. Seeing him hurt so much pained me. I wanted to do something or say something to reassure him. I was in a different league. There was nothing I could have said to help him.
But, that didn't stop me from trying. I went to turn my head, my form weakening as I donned a more caring murmur, "Yas—"
Ears flicked at the deep rhythmic footfalls. Fur stood on its ends. The golden opportunity the wolf waited for came to pass.
Peeling my eyes away from Yasu revealed the distance between us and the lupine cut in half. In a matter of seconds, the Dire Wolf would unleash another attack. My response, albeit delayed, involved no critical thinking. Instinct took over.
The foe's sword drove down hard to the right midsection of their target—me. Steel blared, the incoming sword clashing brilliantly onto my blade's fuller. My joints buckled at the shockwave, my body stumbling with a backstep to reclaim balance before both weaponed pressed against my forearm. Mustering enough strength to push both weapons back was strenuous. It took the full weight of my body to force them into a stable position.
Deep growling rattled in the air, rumbling through the blades and into my wrists. Confidence bolstered the Dire Wolf's blinding resolve. Daring to look them in the eye felt like a death sentence. Though, I should have been paying attention.
Their paws pressed forward with a sudden surge of power and delivered a hard shunt straight into the top of my chest and clipped my muzzle, forcing me to break the block. I stumbled backward with a gasp, now bestowed with the 'stun' effect. My vision blurred.
Before I could regain my bearings enough for coherence, the length of their sword plunged deep into my abdomen. A scream bellowed behind me. I couldn't counter.
A whine escaped my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my health plummet into the red and continue to decay. Regardless of the lack of pain, my body jolted, the static feeling of numbness surrounding the wound. I needn't worry about the loss of my will to stand, though. Even with the size difference, his sword holding me up like a skewer was enough—I struggled to touch the ground with the tips of my toes.
The grip of my sword lessened, then failed as the hunk of metal hit the earth with a dull thud. My paws clasped the wrist of the wolf, eyes locked into the hilt of their weapon. Petrified breaths exhumed themselves from my lungs. I felt it; death's cold clutches. It latched onto my subconscious, injecting doubt and fear into every thought and idea, so much so that focusing through the haze was unbearable. Tears welled. My avatar felt weak, heavy even. As my health dipped below seven percent, there was this insatiable need to close my eyes. I needed rest.
No, I demanded, No, please. I can't close my eyes. I can't give up. Not yet. Yasu still needs me. I need to keep fighting. I can't give up. He needs to escape. He needs to live. I'll use every point of health I have until he does. I have to.
"Keisan," I groaned, sucking in a sharp breath. "RUN."
With what little vigor I had left, I latched onto their fur, attempting to push myself off of the length of their sword. Slowly, I slid backward, half expecting blood to come gushing out of the orange digitized ring.
I trained my ears toward my rear flank in hopes of hearing the sounds of Yasu's scurrying. Alas, no luck. The only sounds in the immediate area were of my struggling. Though I couldn't see him, his scent lingered.
Six percent.
The lupine shot a glare straight into the whites of my eyes. I didn't pay any heed. Both paws, one by one, clasped both ends of the handguards and slid my torso further along. There were sickening, squelching noises coming from the wound. Strenuous breaths panted in my maw while I fought through the fear of passing out, each one wildfire in my lungs.
"You have to get out of here, Keisan," the hoarse scream repeated. "Run! Don't worry about me. Put as much distance between us as you can and get back to the town!"
Five percent.
Behind me came what I thought to be the ruffling of grass and the scraping of dirt. I prayed to Inari that it was him running away.
The Dire Wolf muttered something in some mythical language I couldn't comprehend. Whether it be directed at myself, themself, or further along, I wasn't sure. Before they had the chance to lose much more of their focus, I gripped at the fur on their wrist and pulled as hard as I could.
Their pained harmonious yipe wrought a weak smile to my face, staring them down as I goaded them in English, "How'd you like that, you son of a bitch?!"
I enjoyed saying that far more than I should have. Unfortunately for me, they seemed to infer the gist of the bombastic remark and weren't amused by my unorthodox antics.
Four percent.
The canide wrenched the blade from my diaphragm, digitized orange shards spraying out from the wound in one swift motion. Both legs buckled when the balls of my feet took on the total weight of my avatar. A breeze alone could have knocked me to the ground. Regardless, their exploitation turned into overkill, delivering a solid and ruthless left hook to my right snout. Teeth clattered, and both ears violently rang. The world spun as I collapsed to the ground.
One percent.
When I came too, the first thing I felt was the wind. Cool November air combed through my fur and foliage around, the leaves and grass commencing their quiet symphony. The white noise was tranquil.
For a time, I laid there on the ground, thoughtless, devoid of strength or energy, the drive that served to further Keisan's advance absent from my mind. There wasn't more that I could do. I couldn't move. It could have been seconds or minutes. From that point onward, time felt meaningless to quantify. He escaped. I was certain.
Both eyes slowly took in the world.
Resting atop the grass was my longsword. Regret touched my consciousness briefly, knowing that I would never utilize the weapon ever again. Worse yet, to leave that piece of me behind in such a dismal world left me feeling apologetic for it.
Below my head was the stitched edges of the cowl Cashi had purchased for me. Its use as a makeshift pillow put me at ease. One could consider that they were with me, their paw shielding my head from the horror of that world. There was comfort in that.
Beyond that was the serene landscape that made up the floor—I can still picture it. The rolling hills, the towering platformed cities in the distance, the patches of forests dotted around. A sight like that brought me solace. I shut my eyes, relaxed, and took a full breath.
That was it. I felt at peace, ready for whatever was to come next.
The lupine's paw brushed against the fur on my back as their claws latched onto the lip of my armor's backplate. Hoisting me up to chest level was laughably effortless. No amount of struggle contested my situation either. I let my feet and paws dangle lifelessly to their sides. They should have held me by the scruff, for redundancy's sake. If there was a chance for me to capitalize, that moment would have been it. Though, what point would it serve to combat destiny?
At least I still had a dazzling otherworldly view and the knowledge that no one else could witness my suffering.
Itching for one final look at the confines of the world that would become my tomb, my gaze reopened. A critical mistake. Instead of serenity, I was met with total anguish.
At the end of two swords either side of his throat—owned by a pair of similar-looking Dire Wolves on his left and right—was Yasu, who sat uncomfortably on his knees, captured, and at the will of the two bulkier mammals. New wounds marked his chest and face; his health points reflected the damage, the total just under an uncomfortable twenty percent. The way he looked at me, there was only devastation in his eyes.
"Yasu," the crestfallen murmur eventually choked.
"I'm sorry," he could barely get out. His words were scarcely a broken whisper, caught at the points of where the blades touched. The two wolves sneered and snickered, proud and steadfast in their hunt.
Heavy rage-fueled breaths huffed through my nose, and tears clouded my vision. It couldn't end this way. How could it end with our capture? 'There had to be a way,' the madness decreed. Without recourse, I struggled, kicked, screamed, but to no avail. Coupled with the exhaustion riddled in my bones, their firm grip at the back of my backplate made these pitiful attempts useless. Though, they couldn't control my mouth.
"Don't you hurt him!" I demanded, still squirming in the canid's grasp. "Don't you dare take one more hit point from him! I'll kill you. I'll kill all of you!"
"Izuki," the ailuridae's voice called out to me. When he had my attention, he put on a brave face. "It'll be okay. You've done enough." He stole some looks behind me, transfixed on a specific point, then relaxed. Me, none the wiser, wondered how he could look so calm in the face of death. He asked me, "If you manage to make it out of here and manage to escape this game, can you tell my family how much they meant to me, that I thought of them every second after the meeting, that I'm sorry I couldn't amount to more? Please, can you do that for me?"
"You'll tell them yourself," I countered, tear-laced. How could he be so calm? "Don't give up. You can't!"
"I don't think that's in the cards for me anymore, Izu."
Truth marred my ideal scenario to our harsh new reality. Further analysis revealed his sword completely absent while mine was still on the ground some meters away. Knowing I couldn't help him, knowing full well what was about to transpire hurt far worse than what Dennis could have ever done to me.
The wolf behind me huffed a few vague words to their lackeys, the lupine on the left affirming their comprehension with a nod. They shuffled to the back of Yasu's avatar while the rightward mammal maintained their defensive post. Their sword dug deeper into the panda's throat, coaxing him to make a move he'd never make.
The captured swordsmammal flashed a sad smile to me, then said, "We all love you so much, Izuki. Don't forget that. I'm so happy I got to know you."
Shaken breaths hyperventilated. His smile didn't waver.
"Live, and conquer this world. Because you deserve so much more out of this life."
Behind me came another huff of that same mythical language. On the maw of the canid on my friend's rear flank, a malicious curl grew on the ends of their lips, exposing their large yellowed fangs.
The length of their blade shone a bright shade of crimson, then disappeared as it plunged deep into Yasu's right shoulder and down through the height of his body. His suppressed bellow ingrained itself onto my hippocampus, while the rapid expulsion of his hit points withered away to nothing.
From that moment on, that scene would become what I heard and what I saw for every night to follow. Every night.
When his bar finally disappeared from the top left, and his body radiated a hue of sky blue, he glanced up at me, still grinning through petrification and lack of physical pain. At the same time, tears continued to embed themselves into his fur. Taking in one last full breath, he shut his eyes, and in a near whisper, spoke his final word.
"Goodbye."
His form exploded into a cascade of brilliantly beautiful blue shards. Each glass-like particle floated away into the dark of night, slowly burning out to a final nothingness.
Apathetic to the circumstance of their kill, the lupine that detained me released my light form onto the grass with a toss.
Unconcerned with the ongoing situation and unable to discern the truth, I crawled to where I saw the allied swordsmammal once occupied, eyeing the flattened greens that laid beneath his avatar. Hesitantly, I brushed the blades of grass with my paw, latching to the hope he'd be tangible. When nothing connected, there was no use fighting fate.
The mammal known as Keisan would never be seen or heard from again in that world.
Yasu was dead.
Past the tears, my sickened screams, and sharp ringing in my ears drowned the world out. Without the anchor that Yasu was able to provide, there was an inconceivably stark disconnect from reality. That disconnect compounded into isolation; the isolation spiraled into sheer pain, which forced me into repetitive trauma. It felt as if my head and heart were splitting.
Shaken, and the internal noise silenced, deep footfalls beckoned my focus. Concession to fearful compliance allowed the mobility of a slow, whole-body turn to reveal what awaited me—my captor, their blade poised for swift execution.
Dennis's spitting image relapsed and encompassed the tall canid form of the wolf, his abusive haunting darkness twisting my demise into a horrific descent into hell. I can remember the words that echoed his malicious intent plainly, the same as the first time they were uttered:
Stay still.
Despite the digital heart that pounded loud in my ear and the nerves that begged me to flee, I obeyed the order, then clamped my averted eyes shut. Time slowed to a crawl.
In those final moments, I thought of home. I thought of mom, and how blessed I was to have someone as loving and supportive as her. "How would she react to my death," I wondered. She was the only mammal that I had left and vice versa. If I died, she'd be alone managing a company with the tattered remains of a relationship with her parents. I couldn't imagine the guilt, the strife, and the sheer pressure she'd be under.
The whirr of their sword's skill rang…
After home came my regrets. There was so much I had yet to do. I hadn't found anyone to share my life with, nor had I partitioned time to do so. I would never see my family again, nor the smiling faces of my friends. The memories of our time at the arcade flashed. The reflection hadn't brought me closer to solace, however, just the solemn realization of how alone I truly was.
Yasu, Kashi, and Nagaharu were the only friends I had in my nineteen years of life. With the latter being the last one standing, I was confident that he'd sooner take my life rather than welcome me back with open arms. How sad was it that I'd thrown it all away with a single conversation?
If the opening day of Sword Art taught me anything, it was that I would forever be a burden, destined to be alone; to die alone. Nothing could change that.
Even with my reservations, dying wasn't as hard to accept. I would take Nagaharu's spite to the grave. That's what he wanted. It felt only right considering how much I fucked up his life.
At the peak of their weapon's power-up, a snarl growled, followed by a bellowing war cry before the execution of their killing blow.
My body tensed.
Squelch!
…
…
Seconds passed, nothing happened.
'Had the sword made contact?' The thought came as I stole a glance to the top left of my HUD—still visible even with my shut eyes.
There hadn't been reflection or change in my health points.
I feared a fake-out.
It took the tattered remains of my courage to peel my eyes back open to comprehend what had transpired. Trust me, the sight didn't disappoint.
Before me was the wolf, weapon grasped in their paw, the tip inches from impaling my skull. However, skewered through their midsection was another blade, shining a bright pale blue, its wielder obscured by the sizeable foeish mass. The resulting aftermath of the completed sword skill dropped the remaining health of the wolf to zero, freezing the being at an unnatural angle before exploding into their own mass of glass-like shards.
Slowly, the figure behind them came into focus.
Such as myself, they were a fox, the first distinguishable feature being their bushy tail. Their sand-colored fur came second, closely resembling the pattern of a fennec. Though, they didn't share the discrepancy in height. They were tall, almost taller than me at first glance. More interestingly were their red-orange irises, the emphasis on their red hue appearing more demonic than expected, and could have been their most defining feature.
But it wasn't.
When the bright remains of my enemy had all but vanished, the light of the night sky had revealed the tragic remnants of melted flesh scattered throughout both the right side of their face, their right paw, and parts of their leg, patches of fur missing where the skin had healed over from what I could see. The NerveGear rendered their avatar in such stunning realistic detail, the mammal looked as if they had crawled straight out of hell.
But, regardless of the scars, based on their familiar outfit—the dark blue and black skirt, leather baldric, and pure white long sleeve tunic—I should have known who this was.
Above their head, coupled with a small green crystal, was the name "Kara," and they did not look pleased.
Behind them was another player—a slightly taller, skinnier-looking brown-eyed red deer with thin antlers that branched out up and outward a head and a half taller, wearing basic leather armor, dark black trousers, green shirt, and a large axe in their hooves. They brandished the name "Shuten."
"Looks like we made it in the nick of time," the buck's low-tenor, sultry-sounding voice sighed, no attempt made to mask his disappointment, "but we still weren't quick enough."