Hey everyone, Naintarlow checking in with a new chapter.
Sorry for the late chapter, I had a bit of trouble with my computer last week. But I learned from my lesson and from now making sure to keep a copy of almost completed chapters on drive.
Moving on, we are finally done with Ken's little sidequest and the next chapter will start the fight against Laughing Coffin in earnest.
Reviews:
Esmeralda: Well, you are not wrong. It will be funny to see how the Sun Arcobaleno will handle the ragtag group that Tsuna gathers around himself.
Thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. It means a really lot to me, to see that you guys are enjoying my story.
I wish all of you happy holidays, happy new year and I will try to post the next chapter as soon as I can in 2021
Level 14 Fight!
"So let me get this straight." Buzz began with a blank expression, staring down Ken who remarkably showed no sign of nervousness at the grizzly older player's mood."You ran into a bunch of orange players attacking one orange and a green player, jumped in without any plan or tactic and when you learned that they were former members of the very group we are after, you decided to stick your neck out and trust them?" he asked, his voice never rising despite how agitated he became as he talked.
"That's right!" the black-haired teen agreed, acting completely obvious.
"I see." he responded calmly. "I don't know why am I even surprised?" before anyone could react he lashed out, his hand an ear and tugging on it painfully eliciting a painful cry in response.
Those who knew Buzz weren't surprised by the action itself but at who he turned his ire toward. Because instead of Ken, he grabbed the ear of Natsu, catching the unsuspecting teen off guard.
"Ow ow ow! It hurts! Why am I the one being punished?" the rather short leader of KotSR cried out in pain as he rose to his toes to alleviate some of the hurt.
Of course, despite how it looked, he did not lose any hp or was in any semi a pain, more in discomfort than anything. They were in a safe zone, meaning without a duel he could not lose a single health point. Also, if it could cause any serious damage, a panel declaring a safe zone would appear between them, cutting off any action. But in this case, it did not happen.
Of course, despite his attitude and actions, Buzz was always careful. His cry of pain was more because of the initial surprise than because of any pain.
"Because it appears that your recklessness is contagious." the older player explained, not looking like he would let go of the ear anytime soon."If I want to put a stop to it before it spreads too far, I have to treat the root of it, meaning you."
"That doesn't make any sense." protested the fabled Orange Blaze as he flailed in the older man's grip fruitlessly.
Ken sagely nodded, seemingly agreeing with Buzz's point, not showing any shame at throwing his friend under the bus. A moment later he felt his cheeks pinched and a slight pressure exerted on them, causing him to wince as Argo stood next to him with a devilish smile that never failed to send a shiver down his spine.
"Don't think that makes you free of any punishment." she whispered in his ear, causing cold sweat to break out on his virtual skin. Argo was scary like that.
"Shouldn't we continue the story?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away and at the very least postpone his punishment. He didn't have much hope for getting away scot-free.
"Yeah, yeah get on with it." Buzz grunted as he finally realized Natsu who began to massage his ear.
-0-
"You regret standing on our way!" roared the Laughing Coffin member in front of Ken as he brandished his Saber, before charging at Ken with a battle cry that tried to put to shame even a floor boss' cry. Safe to say it failed, miserably.
Ken frowned as he easily moved his blade into a parry, the attack was clumsily executed and almost painfully slow to his senses, who was used to much faster and stronger attacks on a daily basis. He easily caught it, pushing back with his admittedly not so impressive strength, unleashing a simple horizontal swipe almost lazily.
It was avoided without any problem by his opponent jumping back but it wasn't meant to hit in the first place. It only served to cause his opponent to back off, breaking his attack and allowing Ken to launch his counterstrike.
He lowered the sword next to his hips, gripping the handle with two hands, and concentrated on his breathing, something he was sure others would find odd since he was in a virtual body but it helped him concentrate. A moment later his sword shone in a faint green glow as he stepped forward, sending an upward cut against the cloaked man which easily broke through his weak attempt of a parry.
His body moving no longer under his command, but the system's, Ken immediately followed up by turning his blade and sending a diagonal cut across his opponent's chest, from the upper right to the bottom left. The hit landed cleanly, drawing a red line in its wake and causing a pained cry to rang through the room.
Instead of pressing the attack like he would have done in an ordinary situation, Ken retreated into the little triangle he formed with Byakuran and Bell, keeping an eye on their respective enemies in order not to be caught off-guard.
Not to mention, despite holding their own, the two players he charged into rescue were undoubtedly fatigued, their hp points in the yellow and gear visibly damaged. He had no idea how long they may have been chased and how long since they began to fight a losing battle but it meant they were far from one hundred percent right now, which meant it was his job to look after them.
A quick check on his opponent's health bar showed it dipped into the red, making Ken dismiss him in his mind and turn his attention away from him to the other enemies around them. It was common sense, after all. HP going into the red meant you were a hair's breadth away from game over, from death. If you had the option, it was only the sensible thing to retreat, away from the fighting, either to drink a potion or use a healing crystal to heal yourself or running straight away if the difference was too much.
And that was why he was caught completely off-guard as with another roar, the enemy he dismissed charged at him, his weapon raised over his head, all thoughts of defense or caution forgotten.
"Die! Die!" his cloaked opponent yelled at him as he repeatedly slashed at him, Ken only able to parry them with his hastily raised katana.
It wasn't anything he faced before, that sheer disregard for life, that fanatical drive. He faced monsters before, even when he was close to dying but it was different. At the end of the day, they were computer programs, not real people. Sure, they looked intimidating and it took a while for people to get over the realistic expression they made but they still weren't people. When they died, they didn't die and they weren't' prone to illogical and unexpected moves as much as a player who got desperate or panicked.
It was not something he ever prepared himself for, not even when he thought of facing the members of Laughing Coffin. In his mind, he figured they would simply give up when driven into the corner, defeated, their will to live overriding their bloodlust. He simply couldn't imagine this mindless rage, this overwhelming desire to kill and hurt, not even in his worst nightmares.
Despite his much higher level, experience, and the fact that his enemy was barely even standing he still took a few steps back, numbly parrying the attacks sent at him. He felt he didn't even control his body as he answered with a few weak attacks of his own, without any power in them, causing nothing more than a few small red lines to appear on his opponent's body who didn't even try to defend, only press his attacks.
The attacks would otherwise do nothing to another player but with the complete lack of defense and the already small amount of health his opponent still had, even those small cuts cut away at his life force, soon leaving him with only a sliver remaining as both of them stopped for a moment, breathing heavily.
Ken was virtually untouched, none of the attacks went through his defense, even in his distracted state but he was clearly unnerved, his hand shaking slightly, his grip on his sword tense. His fingers would have turned to white by now, he was holding onto it with so much force, if it were not a virtual body. His attacker on the hand was leaning on his sword, glaring at him with a fanatic rage. There was no fear in his eyes, no hesitation, only the desire to hurt, to kill. Something told Ken that he would not back down, no matter what but that didn't mean he couldn't try.
"Please, step down." he pleaded, slightly lowering his sword. His voice was lost in the canopy of the sounds of battle around him but the renewed glare he got showed that his voice was carried far enough. "You don't have a chance, please leave, there's no point to all of this." he pleaded him, not wanting this senseless fight to continue. His opponent didn't even have a chance in the first place, it would be the wisest choice to retreat, to live another day.
Instead of doing as advised, his adversary raised his blade, yelling in either or exertion. From what little he saw of his face, he seemed to froth at his mouth as he snarled at Ken. It looked like he was more like an animal than a human being, which didn't fail to make the katana user even more unnerved.
"For PoH!" the raving fanatic yelled as he ran at him, all thoughts forgotten from his head. He didn't even bother launching a sword skill, instead of using a basic, uncoordinated slash, leaving himself completely open.
It was painfully easy to counter, Ken was very much aware. He didn't even have to do much, only raise his sword a little and trust forward, directly into the chest of his opponent. He would be stopped before his blade could come down, with what little health he had, the victory was guaranteed. He had done it multiple times on mobs, always coming up on top. But there lied the problem, his opponent wasn't a monster generated by the system.
Uncertainty gripped his heart as he realized the situation he was in. His opponent would not give up, would not retreat as any sane person would do. His choice was either kill him, a living person, or let him land a hit and retreat further. The attack was weak, he doubted it could take away much health but the problem was that even a graze was more than enough. From what they knew of their tactics, the Laughing Coffin preferred the use of poisons to paralyze and incapacitate players, making it easy pickings for them. Not to mention if he continued to retreat, he would endanger his allies, all of whom had their enemies to deal with at the moment.
It would be the logical thing to do. To just end this battle, since there was no other way out. He knew this but he still hesitated. He saw people killed, of course, he had, it was a hazard of being on the frontline, he was met with this grim reality on the 25th floor especially. But seeing someone die because he wasn't quick enough and having to kill them himself was very, very different.
In the end, he simply couldn't do it. Ken, much to his inner shame, admitted defeat as his blade lowered without him noticing, leaving himself open to the oncoming attack as his opponent closed the distance within them, sword aimed to slash him into two.
Just before the attack could land blue hair obscured his vision, before a cry of pain hit his ears and he finally caught his opponent clutching his throat where a long red visible, backing up slowly.
He met the eyes of his would-be killer as he continued to glare at him. There was no fear of the inevitable, there was no acceptance, only blind rage, even as his hp reached zero and dreaded game over words must have appeared in front of his eyes. A part of Ken was sad that the man before him felt nothing about his death, probably only regret not killing Ken before dying.
"What are you doing, falling asleep like a complete idiot?" angry blue eyes stared into his own as Ken belatedly realized that Bell, the orange player he rushed in to help stood in front of him, dagger brandished in front of her.
It took him another dumbfounded blink for reality to catch up to him. She saved him, more importantly, she killed one of her former allies without at least evidence of remorse or moral conflict on her part. Indeed, she deemed angrily lecturing him while waving her dagger around, which she just used to kill someone as if to taunt him for his hesitation.
A part of him couldn't understand how she could act so careless, even if logically he knew that as a former member of the very guild they were currently fighting and an orange player to boot, she must have killed before and apparently wasn't bothered by doing it again, no matter her deflection. Another part, that he didn't want to acknowledge was relieved that he didn't have to choose who to stay alive, him or his opponent.
His hands were shaking, no his whole body was shaking, either from fear or just the adrenaline, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, to force himself to calm down, to get into the game, as he used to do before baseball matches. Thankfully almost immediately his virtual body obeyed the command and he opened his eyes to see Bell glaring at him but looking like she was done with her tirade.
"Awake yet, dipshit?" she cursed and Ken silently had to reconsider his opinion, she wasn't finished at all."If you want to die so much then go ahead and jump down from the edge of the floor but don't you dare hold me back or I will stab you myself."
Meanwhile, the sounds of battle hadn't ceased, making him realize that his friends were still fighting despite him freezing in place. Thankfully, it didn't seem like he was 'out' for more than a few seconds but in the middle of a battle, it could mean the difference between life and death.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw the blue-haired girl's previous opponent charge at her with their spear held in front of them, remarkably silently for fanatical player killers. Without even thinking about it, he ran past the still fuming girl and as his katana shone with a brilliant blue hue, he released a simple vertical, aimed at the shaft of the spear.
The attack, aided by gravity, caught the weapon just where the wood met metal, where it was one of the weakest it could be, at least according to Buzz who made sure to hammer the basics of fighting enemies with longer reach into him and Natsu. With an audible sound, the spear broke into two, forcing the spear user whose gender he simply couldn't tell to grunt in either pain or surprise and halt their charge, quickly retreating from Ken.
"So you're still not dead, after all." Bell commented from behind him, though he wasn't sure if she was talking to him or the Laughing Coffin member who was eying them warily, one hand blindly trying to scroll their menu down to get a new weapon out but it ultimately didn't matter.
He ignored her, instead brought up his katana in a ready position, his mind working furiously even if he stood still. As much as he disliked her general disregard for human life and the way she talked, Bell was right in a way. In the middle of a battle, there was no time for him to freeze up like that, it could not only end in his death but his hesitation could cost one of his friends their lives and it would make him the cause of their death even if it wasn't done by his hand directly.
He thought of what his death could mean. He thought of how his guildmates would take the news from Klein. Natsu would be guilt-ridden for not being there with him, same with Basil. Agil would be devastated, and Buzz angry beyond belief. He would call him all sorts of idiot, only to move every rock in this virtual world to hunt down those responsible. Biggs, Wedge, Liz, Asuna, and his other friends would be no doubt devastated. He also thought about the world waiting outside this game, the real world. He didn't want his father to go through this, to lose his only son, not like this.
As if the world suddenly burst into focus, he found himself able to breathe properly, his frantic mind calming down. If he saw himself, he would have been surprised by the suddenly cold expression that took over his face, or the blue light that emitted from his eyes. He didn't want to kill but he wanted to die a lot less. He should have realized long before that these fanatics wouldn't easily surrender but naively he thought they would simply surrender if they neared the red zone of their health and everyone would go home, living happily ever after. Not any longer.
Using the slight breathing room that he had available he looked around, trying to see how the others were faring. Maybe because of his experience in baseball but he was able to accurately survey the field so to speak, something that was helpful in several boss fights where the prearranged groups were broken up by unexpected attack patterns or other reasons and they needed to reorganize.
Byakuran was keeping back his own opponent, with Bell deciding to chip in and slowly but surely chipping away at the surprisingly resilient opponent. A little away from them, Monroe and Syrukko didn't look like they were having much trouble, the two of them working together really well despite their vastly different fighting styles, their two opponents simply couldn't react in time to their tandem attacks. Dale was facing a similar problem to Ken, his opponent barely seemed to have any health left, yet continued to attack with abandon. For the moment, the rotund man chose to simply defend, probably trying to think of a solution.
Ken looked over Klein and was shocked to see the red-haired samurai struggling against his opponent. While not the strongest, despite his laid-back attitude Klein was without a doubt part of the upper echelons of the frontline, and seeing him slowly driven back was alarming. Not that he doubted that Klein would come out victorious, he was tenacious like that but it showed that his opponent, the apparent leader, was in a different category than the rest of the attacking orange players.
It was obvious for anyone given a little more time, the Laughing Coffin group would eventually lose. There was too much difference in levels, stats, and experience. Even their equipment, which was crappy by their standards, seemed more powerful than their enemies had. Yet, there was not even an inkling of fear in their eyes, no hesitation, no calls for retreat. That was honestly frightening, that simple-minded devotion.
It still didn't mean that their victory was guaranteed. One of the first things they had to learn in this world, that numbers, levels weren't everything. They put a significant portion into deciding a fight, true but a slight hesitation, like the one he suffered just now, simply over or underestimating an effect of an attack, these little things could decide between life and death. Not to mention, it was entirely possible for their enemies to have some reinforcement on the way while the same couldn't be said for their group. In the end, there were too many unknown variables.
Looking over the state of his friends, Ken made his decision.
"Retreat!" he yelled, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, friend and foe alike. "There's no point fighting here anymore, let's retreat the way we came." he declared before swiftly dodging to the side, avoiding the spear thrust at his back when he looked distracted. From sheer instinct he threw a half-hearted attack back at the cloaked attacker, hitting and this time earning a feminine cry of pain.
"What are you talking about you coward?" Almost predictably Bell objected, which didn't surprise him, she looked like a typical hothead. "We are kicking their asses without any trouble. Run if you want but I'm not running." honestly Ken was impressed how she could still go on when her appearance showed she and Byakuran were fighting for a while.
"Time to get going Bell-chan." the white-haired teen interrupted her with a sharp smile, grabbing her wrist, and began running, the foul-mouthed girl hurrying after him with a shell-shocked expression.
The opponent they fought tried to use their distraction to their own end and land a sneak attack but Ken who was quick to follow them got close and struck them on the face with the end of his handle. It was a low-level skill, pommel bash, a fairly useless skill since it dealt with almost no damage but had its uses as it applied the stun buff on a successful hit and had almost no cooldown. It came in handy in needs for retreats for example.
Klein hesitated for only a moment before a resolute expression came over his face. Feinting to the right, he caught his opponent unaware with a vertical cut that stunned him long enough for the samurai to turn away and retreat toward Monroe and Syrukko, his long time friend joining a moment later.
"You heard the man! There's no shame in running." he hollered to his guildmates who with wry grins on their faces followed his lead, a moment later in an impressive display of speed leaving the room altogether, along with Byakuran, Bell, and Ken, leaving their former opponents to gape after them, dumbfounded.
"What are you idiots doing? After them!" roared the leader after he got over his shock, prompting his subordinates into motion but by the time they did that Ken and his group raised a considerable distance between them.
"Not that I'm against it but why are we running?" Monroe asked, giving the duo they rescued a wary glance while Dave bought out a map to provide them with directions as they ran past various monsters that were thankfully too slow to try anything to slow them down.
"These guys are fanatical, nothing sort of death would stop them, which I doubt you would condone." it was Byakuran who explained, sending a nod to Ken's direction about what happened with his first opponent. The katana-user had a grim expression on his face but couldn't refute it. "Without a doubt, there is a backup on the way, that group's purpose was to slow us down and maybe trap us in one place since they weren't the strongest in the guild by a longshot. Thanks for the save, by the way, appreciate it." he ended it with a large smile, eyes closed for a moment. He looked honest enough but there was no doubt that he was dangerous, Ken reasoned, catching the serious look in his eyes a moment later.
"I could have taken them." Bell muttered with indignation but it was more like token protest as she let herself led by Byakuran. Ken had a little hard time figuring how the dynamic worked between them but soon returned his attention to more important matters.
"There was no reason for us to continue fighting." he decided to add his reasons as they made a sharp left turn after Dave ordered them to. "We went there to rescue these two, now the best thing to do is get back to safety, the Laughing Coffin won't risk attacking once we are too close to the city." he reasoned and his thoughts were confirmed by Byakuran who simply voiced his agreement with the sentiment.
Dave hummed, though if it was an agreement or to show he was listening was hard to decide since the man was focusing on the map in front of him and directing them through the maze. Behind them, they could hear their pursuers' angry yells but thankfully all of them had fairly decent agility compared to their enemies, even Dave and Syrukko who were much more focused on strength in general.
Monroe and Syrukko looked unconvinced, though they refrained from saying anything. Ken could understand. While retreating when it was needed was a lesson that was hammered into all of their heads after seeing comrades die because they refused to give ground but it still left a bitter taste in their mouth. In his too. They were supposed to be the top players, their entire existence hinged on walking forward, braving dangers, and coming out on top in the end.
In the end, it was Klein who was able to break the mood, even in the middle of ducking below a large insect's limb that tried unsuccessfully to take his head off.
"Well, I for one, more than ready to be lazy and avoid a fight if I can." he responded in a light-hearted tone and at that moment Ken really appreciated the samurai's generally easy-going attitude."Though I don't know if we can if those guys catch up to us."
"Allow me to offer you a solution for that." the white-haired teen responded with a cheeky grin before pulling out a couple of black orbs from his inventory and dropping them in the direction they came from.
A moment later the orbs exploded into black smoke, shrouding the hallway behind them in darkness as evidenced by the surprised and even angrier yells coming from their pursuers. As Bell began to cackle, Ken could only shake his head, feeling oddly exasperated. So that's how Buzz feels most of the time, he thought to himself.
Smoke bombs, a fairly easy to get item, mostly used in distractions or a quick retreat. He was slightly surprised that it was used by the rapier user instead of the dagger user. Despite not liking stereotypes, usually dagger users would use items like that, this style of fighting complimenting them more than a straightforward rapier user.
But it was not the time to think about that. They were far from being safe, their pursuers on their heels, and the exit of the dungeon was quite a distance again. With a frown on his face, a dangerous idea began to form in his mind, one that usually only Natsu would come up with.
-0-
"Far be it for me to complain but do we even know where we are running?" the white-haired teen, Byakuran, Ken reminded himself, asked with a wide smile on his face. Looking at him, showing no nervousness, running without a care in the world, one wouldn't think they were running for their lives. Or that he was pursued by the sole guild in Aincrad that was made up of killer players.
"I don't have such reservations. Where are you idiots leading us? If all we are doing is running around like idiots, I would rather stop and fight." demanded the blue-haired Bluebell, whose full name was revealed after she got mad at being called simply Bell, surprising none of them with her kind of predictable temper.
They were in the middle of their impromptu formation as Klein took lead, with Ken and Dave running just behind him on the lookout. Syrukko and Monroe were in the back, behind the two former Laughing Coffin members as the seven of them ran through the oddly deserted dungeon.
"If you haven't forgotten about it, they are after us because of you. So quit yelling and run." Monroe yelled at her, a dark tone in his voice as he kept a hand on his dagger even as they ran, the sounds of their pursuers following behind them.
Bluebell was about to retort when a warning look from Byakuran shut her up. It didn't take a genius to see that the two members of fuurinkazan were in the back, partially to defend the rear if their pursuers finally catch up but mostly to strike the two of them down if they tried anything suspicious. Their group may consist of idiotic bleeding souls as Bluebell mockingly called them but they were not idiots, even if some of their actions may say otherwise. They didn't loan them too much trust, former members of the very guild they set out to find. Even if they were currently hunted by them.
To be honest, the whole thing smelt of a setup, at least to the cynical part of Ken that was influenced by Buzz, now that he had time to think things through, making them even more alert than they would be. After all, what were the odds of them finding a couple of former members of Laughing Coffin, hounded by that very same group, in a seemingly empty lower-level floor's dungeon?
But this did not matter because he was an idiotic bleeding soul and he was completely fine with it. Or at least that will be his excuse if Buzz will question him and he definitely will.
"Byakuran." he called out to the white-haired teen as they turned to the right, avoiding a pair of mantis-like monsters that thankfully ignored them because of their high level and the fact they were out of their range a moment later since they couldn't afford to slow down even a little bit with their pursuers still not have given up.
"What is it?" the teen asked back as they ran forward in a serious voice that contradicted his smiling personal he showed up until now.
Ken supposed it wasn't so hard to understand. Who knows how long he and Bluebell were running from and fending off their attackers, and even with the reinforcement they provided in the end they had to retreat, their pursuers hot on their heels. It would wear down in anybody, to the point few could keep up their good mood even remotely. That also made him worry if what he showed until now was an act or the real deal.
"What can you tell us about those unique items we saw members of Laughing Coffin use? The item that could block the map feature and that strange potion that creates a portal or something." he asked, deciding that there were more pressing matters than doubting these two."We have almost no knowledge of them or their capabilities, so if you could tell us about them we wouldn't be caught off-guard if they tried to use it against us."
"You mean the items that Natsu and his group encountered? That would be certainly useful if we knew about that." Dave commented with a frown, giving Ken a look from the corner of his eyes."No other player encountered similar items, not even the beta testers. Right now we have no idea what we are facing."
The white-haired gave a thoughtful hum, contemplating for a moment. Bluebell, on the other hand, stayed silent with a grumpy look on her face, apparently not willing to talk to them more than necessary. It was fine with them, it was quite plain to see for all the hot air the girl blew out, out of the two of them Byakuran was the one who led and she followed without question.
"Unfortunately I don't know much about them since only the 'elite' of the guild has access to them, which we were not." Byakuran began to explain but had to stop for a moment as Dave called out to Klein to turn right at the next intercession."Nobody even knows where they came from, the leader simply brought them out one day and gave them to a select few to test them out."
"So does that mean you know nothing?" Monroe asked with a gruff voice. He was easily the most distrustful of the two people they ended up rescuing, though Ken couldn't honestly blame him. It wasn't a situation they know how to handle.
The blue-haired girl let out an angry sound before Byakuran simply silenced her with a simple look, something Ken was thankful for. Right now, himself included was suspicious and paranoid enough to make things complicated, they didn't Bluebell to give those thoughts even more ground by acting unreasonably.
"I don't know everything." the teen clarified, sending a large smile to Monroe which seemed to piss off the man more than anything."But I can tell you what I know and what I figured out. The first is the map blocker, a real original name I know, and does what the name says. It blocks the map function but it has a fairly small range where it works and simply exiting the range, its effect would disappear." he explained.
"So by the time they could use it, we would have other worries than not being able to see the map." Klein reasoned with a serious face. Despite his usual behavior, the man was indeed a capable and calm leader when it was required.
"That's right." Byakuran agreed with a simple nod."The other item, that black liquid, I don't know its name but I know it can create a portal that people can use to escape through, supposedly even in places where teleportation is forbidden." Ken felt a shiver run down his spine at the news and he figured he wasn't alone. That was a terrifying thought."Fortunately, the place it leads to has to be marked before, and as far as I know, each one that the leader gave out leads back to the base."
"So it's commonly used for escaping." Syrukko concluded with a nod and a notable sigh of relief."That means they couldn't just pop out of nowhere and ambush us."
"Just who is that leader of yours? Access to items, the likes we never heard of before, not even the beta testers, and somehow gather a bunch of killers and crazies under our very noses." Monroe asked, for once his angry face was not directed at the two teens.
Ken was pretty sure what went through his comrade's head. Who would have access to items that didn't appear normally in the game, other than its creator and only game master, Kayaba Akihiko? But it also didn't make sense, what use would it be for that man, to organize a player-killing guild of all things? Though imprisoning ten thousand people in a video game also didn't make much sense, so maybe he was looking into this in the wrong direction.
"Ex-leader." Bell corrected Monroe, sending him a glare but this time at least there was no need for Byakuran to calm her down. "His name is PoH and he is...strong." she added uncertainty, and her voice trembled a little.
"More importantly." Byakuran cut her off with a serious tone, prompting Ken to look back and met the grim look on the white-haired teen's face."Have you guys noticed it, yet?"
The katana-user opened his mouth to question him but just then he finally noticed the same thing as Byakuran did. It was too quiet around them, save for the sounds they made. The monsters didn't give out much sound when they were not in a battle so it was nothing but a hardly noticeable noise. But what really stood out the absence of the angry yells and other sounds made by their up until now relentless pursuers.
Without any conscious thought, all of them stopped, wordlessly arranging themselves into a circle, facing outward suddenly wary of an ambush coming out of nowhere. There was absolutely no evidence of their pursuers or anyone else other than game generated monsters in their vicinity but it only made them more nervous, since it could mean anything from managing to lose their enemies, about to walk into a carefully crafted ambush, or even get completely lost without intending to.
"Is it too much to hope that they simply gave up and let us go on our way?" Klein had to ask, though his tone made it evident how little he believed in this possibility. Unfortunately, while Ken wouldn't have minded that outcome, he was pretty sure it was not the case.
"No chance." Bluebell was quick to dash their hopes but even she looked nervous as she tightened her grip on her dagger and looked around wildly. "If there is one rule in Laughing Coffin, there is no safe place for a traitor. If you betray PoH you will be hunted down without mercy, no matter where you try to run." she explained with a grim tone.
"And here I was hoping we finally caught a break." Monroe complained with a huff, though he soon lost his joviality as they strained their senses, trying to find evidence of their pursuers still lurking about.
"Just what is their plan? If they are so intent on catching us, why stop going after us directly?" Ken asked his senses on high alert.
He remembered Natsu mentioning that the Laughing Coffin members he encountered were very good at stealth and also very fast so he wouldn't discard them trying a hit and run tactic, like a single assassin rushing them from their blind spots and retreating soon after. It was not a bad tactic at all, which put him even more on edge since the darkened halls of this dungeon only gave them an advantage.
"If you think about it, in a dungeon there is usually only one place where you can enter and exit." Byakuran said the teen looked much more relaxed than all of them."I reckon they are planning to set a trap, a large ambush at the entrance of the dungeon. Teleport crystals are very rare and expensive so it's almost impossible for you to have enough around for us to exit that way." Dave confirmed it with a mute nod, in response Byakuran let a sardonic smile appear on his face."And since you are the good guys, it's not really your style to just save yourselves and leave anyone who doesn't have a teleport crystal. Hate to admit it but it is a very good plan."
The others looked at each other, hoping that someone could come up with something to refute this claim but as much as they disliked it, Byakuran's thought process would probably be the correct one. That meant, it was all but guaranteed that they would run into an ambush where their enemies would have every possible advantage. And no matter the level difference, they could be still overwhelmed.
"Byakuran, the other members of your guild, how strong are they?" Klein asked quietly, a calculative look on his face that Ken catches from the corner of his eyes."Are they around the level of those we faced just before? Or they are stronger?"
"Wait, you don't plan to face them head-on?" Syrukko finally spoke up, his quiet voice full of nervousness, and looked like he was a moment away from questioning the sanity of his leader. Next to him, Bell sent the samurai a similar look, silently asking if he was an idiot.
The green former member of the laughing coffin didn't answer right away, his eyes narrowed in thought. All the while, the only sounds around them were the faint sounds of monsters, making all of them tense and nervous.
"Most of them more or less at around the same level as those who we encountered, if not a little stronger. The real problems are PoH's elite, six players who put crazy and fanatical at a whole new point.'' At his words, Bell snorted but didn't say anything to refute the claim."The Chosen as they are called sometimes, jokingly or more in terrified awe, are the real deal. They are easily on the level of most frontline players with a ruthlessness that would leave most people unsuspecting of the attack that will take their lives. If they are involved in this...I don't like our chances." the white-haired teen admitted with a small frown.
The others looked at each other, feeling their chances drop by the minute as they heard more about their enemies. In hindsight, Ken supposed it was very foolish of them to simply wander around, hoping to find their opponents, excepting an easy fight and be back home by the time for dinner. It seemed they bit more than they could chew.
But right now, it was not the time for lamenting the situation but the time to think of a solution that had most of them leaving with their lives intact. And he even had one, even if it was idiotically dangerous and reckless. In his defense, Natsu was not always the best example to follow.
"You guys seem to forget one thing." he spoke up and couldn't help but smirk at the questioning looks sent his way."This is not the frontline. There are actually two exits in this dungeon."
At first, everyone looked at him blankly but as if a proverbial light bulb coming to life, realization dawned on their faces, most prominently on Klein's face.
"You want to go through the boss?" he asked in disbelief, speaking all of his comrades' thoughts at the ridiculous idea.
"That's insane." Dave said, instantly rejecting the idea. Byakuran on the other hand had an amused smile on his face, as if he wasn't in a potentially deadly situation but watching some kind of show on TV while Bell simply looked at him as if he was an idiot.
Despite their reactions, Ken's smile only grew as he became more and more sure of his admittedly insane plan. If his friends, who were very much experienced thought it wasn't even an idea worth considering, it probably meant that their pursuers thought the same, meaning there would be no ambush waiting for them at the boss room.
"It's...plausible." Syrukko spoke up, silencing the others' objections, receiving similar looks as Ken did. The older man's face reddened a little at the attention and he shrank into himself but continued to speak out."The boss on this floor was already defeated, so the way to the next floor is open, and with our levels simply running past the boss wouldn't be too hard.
"Not to mention, according to Kirito, the floor boss unlike other bosses, won't reappear after a few days after its defeat." Ken told them, deciding to put the final nail into the coffin."It's not public knowledge, because people tend to stay clear of the boss rooms, since, without the need to get past it, it's easier to simply farm on weaker, more accessible monsters."
It wouldn't make sense for a normal MMO but it was completely understandable for the Aincrad that Kayaba Akihiko created. The floor boss' last attack bonus was the target of a lot of players for a reason. If it was possible to farm these LA items, especially on floors like the 25th where the LA item was leagues above most currently available items, it would make beating the game much easier.
Somehow Kayaba or rather the system controlling the game was able to make the path onward neither impossible nor easy but just challenging enough to make it a struggle. if it wasn't a fight for their life, it would have been a wonderful game. But it was neither here nor there.
"Alright. Let's head to the boss room." Klein stated out of nowhere, surprising everyone, even Ken who thought it would take a lot more to convince his friends.
"Klein! What are you thinking? It's an outrageous idea." Dave immediately protested, Monroe, nodding along with him, while Syrukko simply shrugged, happy to leave the decision-making to others.
Meanwhile, Byakuran and Bluebell silently watched on, the first looking very amused by the whole situation while the latter was visibly bored and itching for a fight.
"Why?" the red-haired samurai asked back with a shrug."Think about it. We have two ways to get out of here and one is definitely an ambush, while the second only a maybe. Even if we send someone away with a teleport crystal to get reinforcements, the longer we stay in here and do nothing, the more chance that those chosen guys will get involved and things will get dicey. It's the best course of action."
Everyone looked at him for a long moment, surprised by the well thought out reasons that for some reason made sense. The silence was broken when Monroe groaned and pinched his nose, giving out an aggravated sigh.
"Great, as if today wasn't strange enough, Klein suddenly starts thinking logically. The world must be ending."
"Hey." the leader shouted in objection but all of his guildmates looked at him with deadpan looks, making him hang his back in depression.
"Let's get going on then, no sense standing around." Dave spoke up, earning a cheer from his immature friend and a small smile from Ken. "You are right that we can't waste too much time but if anything bad happens I will hold you responsible." he told Ken and Klein who looked at each other in question.
"But I'm not even in your guild." the teen felt he had to object, for the sake of objecting.
"I will tell Buzz." was the retaliation, causing Ken to drop his head, already feeling the incoming lecture coming.
"These guys are total idiots." Bluebell grumbled to herself, feeling unimpressed as they finally started moving, this time in the opposite direction. At her side, Byakuran chuckled heartily, more than a little entertained.
"They may very well be but you can't say they aren't amusing." he told her with a large smile."Way better than those dull fools back at Laughing Coffin."
"Alright people, we are burning daylight here." Klein declared with a toothy grin. "Go to the boss room, to the next floor, and civilization. It will be smooth sailing from here." his words were followed by a couple of groans.
"He just jinxed us, didn't he?" asked Monroe but no one felt like answering the obvious question.
-0-
"Here it is." Dave said quietly as the seven of them stood in front of a large, rusty-looking gate that loomed over them. They arrived at the boss room.
The way here was relatively peaceful. They kept their eyes opened but found no trace of their pursuers, nor any traps waiting for them to trap. They encountered a few monsters but without the fast pace, they had compared to before they chose to fight them, though thanks to their numbers and levels it was less of a fight than simply exercise.
Without hardly any opposition, they reached the boss room but suddenly found themselves hesitating. Even Ken, who knew from Kirito there was no boss monster beyond the gate, felt a monument of uncertainty. After all, they were used to facing almost impossible to beat monsters beyond doors like this but even then they had a full raid party to fall back on, not seven people. If the info turned out to be wrong, they would be in a lot of trouble.
"So far so good." Klein mumbled to himself before speaking up louder."Does anyone remember what the boss was for this floor? The mid ten floors kind of blurred together for me."
"If I remember right, it was some kind of fox samurai?" Ken said, asked with a hand on his chin."It wasn't much trouble and didn't give any significant last attack bonus either, though hopefully, we won't have to face it again."
The others nodded, accepting his words but no one moved to open the gates and see what was on the other side. After a full minute, Bluebell finally lost her admittedly short patience and stormed forward, cursing them all the way.
"Oh, for the love of all that holy, grow some freaking balls and let's get going." she said as she began to push open the gates without any hesitation much to the others' chagrin.
"Language, Bell-chan." Byakuran scolded her with an easy smile as he strolled after her with his hand behind his head.
Ken and Klein met each other's eyes and let out a sigh in unison at the antics of the two they rescued. Putting on a smile, that would have Natsu scold him for being fake, the teenager he indicated they should move as well. As the gates of the boss room finally opened, the members of fuurinkazan and Ken finally caught up with the two former laughing coffin members.
What awaited them behind the door was anticlimactic much to their relief. A large, empty room greeted them, with torches blazing on the walls and most importantly there was no boss monster standing between them and the stairs leading to the next floor.
"Looks like Kirito's info was correct." Dave commented with a relieved smile as they cautiously walked forward. Ken understood the hesitance, even though he felt a little skeptical about the info when he first heard it, despite his trust in the black swordsman."Guess all that's left is to go to the next floor."
"We shouldn't relax just yet. We are not out of the woods." Monroe commented as he kept a grip on his weapon.
Thankfully the boss room was open without pillars creating possible hiding spots and thanks to the torches the whole area was very well lit. It would be almost impossible for anyone to hide in here but Ken and his friends didn't survive this long on the frontline by underestimating their enemies and were not about to start that now. Still, it looked like they would reach the stairs without any problem.
They walked past the middle of the room, Klein taking the lead once again, with Ken choosing the trail behind them for once when suddenly his senses screamed danger at him. He didn't see nor hear anything yet a part of him felt if he didn't move at that exact moment he would die. And since that sense of danger saved his life many times he followed it without question.
He turned around, his body moved in a practiced, smooth way, and drew his sword in front of his body, parrying the knife thrown at him just in time to avoid it injuring him. With a loud clatter, the weapon landed on the floor a few feet away, alerting the others to turn around in surprise, hands going to their weapons.
"Wow, you are a sharp one." an amused voice rang through the large room."Not many can react so quickly, and precisely. You, you will be a great playmate."
Standing in front of Ken a little distance away was a cloaked person. He was around Ken's height, his cloak parted showing off some kind of leather armor he wore. He had a massive grin on his face as he watched them, his right hand twirling a dagger around without a care in the world. As Ken focused on it, he noticed the dagger had a serrated edge and looked very high quality, much better than what their earlier opponents had.
Ken had a slight inkling of who they were facing but it was all but confirmed when out of the corner of his eye he saw Bluebell, the snappy, stubborn Bluebell paled as if she saw a ghost and almost dropped to her knees as she started to tremble.
"Jo-Johny Black." she stuttered out, completely terrified. Next to her Byakuran remained much more composed, but he lost his smile as his knuckles grew white as he gripped his rapier.
The reactions and the orange cursor above their newest adversary's head was all the confirmation Ken needed. They were facing one of the elites of the player killing guide, one of the so-called Chosen. It was not good, not at all.
"Oh, so you are the two traitors who get away?" Johny curiously turned to the two of them, looking at them for a moment, before sending them a wave with his free hand."Nice to meetcha."
"Is this guy for real?" Monroe asked from behind Ken, his large frame tensed, to be able to move in a second if anything happened but couldn't mask how unnerved he felt by their enemy's nonchalant attitude. Truth to be told, Ken felt the same way.
"Don't underestimate him, it could be all an act to lower our guards" surprisingly it was Klein who proved to be able to remain the most level-headed, his stern eyes glaring down at the young murderer standing in front of them, the point of his sword aimed at his chest."And keep your eyes peeled around for any sudden movement, I doubt he is alone."
His words had a prominent effect on the frontlines group. His calm, confident demeanor helped them see through the unease that assaulted them with the sudden appearance of Johnny. With practice, born from spending countless days around each other his guildmates straightened and took up positions around him. Dave and Monroe flanked their leader while Syrukko stayed behind them, ready to assist whoever needed it. Even Ken relaxed his stance, turning it from a rigid fighting stance to a more fluid, more natural one, assured that he was not facing this newest threat alone.
Byakuran and Bluebell were much slower to follow their example but they did, probably figuring out that their chances of survival were much larger if they helped out the group that didn't want to kill them, and readied themselves to the seemingly unavoidable fight.
Yet, seeing the group and alert and ready to fight, the smiling Johnny Black didn't seem the least bit threatened by them, continuing to play idly with his weapon, not even giving a feeling as if he was about to attack at any moment.
"Nah, I'm more of a solo act, I hate having losers slow me down. It's much better this way, I can hog all the fun." the clearly deranged teen told them with a large, eager grin on his face.
"So you're that confident that you can take all of us?" Dave asked, a little disbelieving. Not to toot their own horns, but all of them were fairly competent, as far as the best of the game was concerned, though admittedly Klein and Ken were the best out of the seven of them without question. They were by no means pushover one-on-one, let alone in a seven-to-one fight.
What disturbed him was that their opponent instead of acting unnerved or uncertain began to practically vibrate on the spot, his large grin threatening to split his face in two at the thought of facing all of them at the same time. There was something wrong in the kid's head.
Which meant it was even more strange when suddenly the teen stopped, slumping forward with a pout of all things on his face as he sheathed his weapon and turned away from them.
"While I would love nothing more to chop you into itty little bits," Monroe turned into an interesting shade of green at the wishful looking player's words. "Unfortunately I wasn't even supposed to be here, so I guess I have to let you go. So unfair." he whined as he childishly kicked the air as he took a step away from them.
"You are just...letting us go?" Bluebell couldn't help but blurt out her question, still pale but at least her trembling looked to be under control. The white-haired teen next to her was watching Johnny with narrowed eyes, similarly doubting his words.
"Don't worry, you guys will die soon enough." he responded nonchalantly, turning back to them as he threw off his hood, showing them his face. he looked barely older than Ken, with wild, spiky brown hair and black eyes that danced with glee."If you are lucky it will even be by my hand."
None of them said anything, only subtly drawing a little closer around the two escapees, not at all reassured by his words of not wanting to fight. Johnny chuckled to himself, before looking directly at Ken, the swordsman raising his sword in front of him as if trying to ward him off despite the distance between them.
"You are Natsu-kun's friend right?" he asked, even as Ken frowned."Please give him a message from me, will ya? We had such a wonderful time together the last time we met, I don't want him to think I forgot about him. Tell him, we will finish it and I will value the memory of life fading from his eyes when our time will end." he told him with a dark, demented grin on his face.
If it wasn't for the quick thinking of Klein and Monroe grabbing him, Ken would have charged right then and there at Johnny, an uncharacteristic snarl on his face which served to further entertain the elite of Laughing Coffin. Threaten him all you want, Ken could deal with that but threaten his friends, especially his best friend and leader, you signed your death warrant. It was only a question of time when the black-haired swordsman caught up to you.
"Easy there, buddy. Don't charge into your death just yet." Klein whispered to him, trying to stop him from doing something reckless that he no doubt will regret.
Entertained by their reactions, Johnny gave them one last jaunty wave before turning around and walking away. Their eyes widened as instead of walking out of the room, the very air seemed to distort around him and a moment later, the member of Laughing Coffin was nowhere to see.
"Monroe." Klein called out to his friend, who nodded before narrowing his eyes and looking around.
Staying stealthy relied on your stealth skill scoring better than your opponent's perception, or you would be found out. As a dagger user, Monroe had the highest perception out of the seven of them, which was needed to be able to spot openings in the enemy's defenses or traps, since dagger users worked generally as scouts.
After a long moment, the large man shook his head, signaling that he found no trace of Johnny or anyone else hiding around them. At that, all of them let out sighs of relief and relaxed slightly, save for Ken who was still quite angry.
"We shouldn't linger around. Let's get out of here while we can." Syrukko murmured softly, none of them feeling like raising their voices would be a good idea right now.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Bell said with a frown as she turned around and marched toward the stairs, Byakuran following her with an apologetic smile.
The others sighed at her attitude before following too, save for Ken and Klein who remained in place for a moment. The red-haired man placed a hand on the younger teen's shoulder, to reassure and snap him out of his funk.
"Klein?" he asked, his head tilted as if only noticing the man was next to him.
"You okay there?"
"I," he hesitated for a moment, frowning at the direction Johnny disappeared."No, I have a really bad feeling about all of this.
"Me too, buddy. Me too." Klein murmured as they turned around and left the dungeon.
There will be a mess of epic proportions, he just knew it. He just hoped he and his friends would get out of it in one piece.
-0-
"Wait, that's it?" Argo asked, blinking owlishly as the black-haired teen finished his tale by telling them that they arrived into the town and sent word to them, while Syrukko and Monroe went back to their guild to inform the others. "That's way too anticlimactic for all that hype." she said, pouting as she went to sit next to Bluebell who grumbled something about personal pace.
"Well, sorry for not entertaining you. I, on the other hand, feel like I aged ten years just this day." Klein said as he crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. Natsu and the others noticed how tired he looked, despite trying his best not to show it.
"Ken, how are you holding up?" Natsu asked worriedly from his friend as he finally escaped Buzz's grip and stood next to him.
"I'll be alright, I'm mostly tired." was his answer, accompanied by a weak but genuine smile.
"Just what's with you kids and getting into trouble?" Buz groaned as he ran a hand down on his face, letting out a frustrated groan. "Well, at least everybody got away, so there's that. Now we only had to decide what to do with these two." he added, pointing to Bluebell and Byakuran, the former looking more annoyed by the minute, while the latter still smiling pleasantly.
"It's not like they are innocent since at least that one was a genuine follower at some point." Argo said, pointing at Bluebell who if anything seemed to get even more pissed off."They also have probably useful information so letting them go off on their own is a no-go. Not to mention, I doubt their former guild will stop trying to kill them so soon. Maybe we should Asuna if she could have her men guard them as well until we have the prison situation figured out?"
"Should we treat them as prisoners?" Natsu asked, though even he couldn't deny he didn't feel exactly relaxed around Bluebell and there was something about Byakuran that had him on edge.
"Well it's not like they didn't do anything wrong, seeing as both of them were members of the player killing guild and at least one of them has the orange cursor to show for it." Buzz replied with a frown as he gave the two of them a side glance before turning to Argo. "Contacting Asuna would be the best for the time being, though I would like to see how much they are willing to tell us before rounding up the whole cleaners." he added.
"We are still here you know!" Finally having enough of being ignored, the blue-haired girl loudly slapped her hands down on the table as she stood up, yelling at them with a positively furious expression."Stop talking about us as if we weren't here."
From the corner of his eyes, Natsu saw her friend's smile widening, as if he found this whole situation immensely hilarious. It did nothing to help lessen the uncomfortable feeling he got from him, especially when he seemed to sense the eyes on him, looking up and meeting his eyes.
Embarrassed at being caught, the leader of the keepers of the seven rings looked away, fiddling with the strap tying his sword to his side.
"I'm not going to pretend we are innocent or that we are the good guys'' the white-haired teen spoke up, garnering the others' attention. He sat in his seat without visible care in the world, smirking at them in a really infuriating way." but we, unlike the rest of the laughing coffin, are open to negotiations."
"What kind of negotiations?" Buzz asked with a barely held back glower, not liking this situation at all.
"I have two pieces of very important information that you would no doubt would like to get your hands on." Argo visibly perked up at the mention of information. "The location of the guild and their next attack. All we need in return to be protected by retaliation and treated as guests instead of prisoners. It's a very good deal for you if I do say so." he told them with that scheming grin of his widening as none of them could hold back their surprised reactions at the offer.
Natsu met Buzz's eyes, indecision brewing inside of him. If they could stop this whole Laughing Coffin debacle without it ever really being drawn out, they could save themselves a lot of possible headaches. On the other hand, they didn't really have much assurance that the information would be correct and that did not mention the strange, not exactly bad vibes he gets from Byakuran.
He was sure that something else was going on, something none of them was aware but aside from that vague feeling he had nothing concrete.
From the look on his face, Buzz was thinking on a similar line of thought. In the end, he seemed to have resigned to whatever decision he came to because he let out a heavy sigh and turned to the patiently waiting Byakuran, whose smile didn't lose its edge.
"Alright, what can you tell us?" at his words, Dave's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the spear user in surprise.
"Wait, you actually want to make a deal with them?" he asked, disbelieving. In response Buzz only shrugged, in the end, it was Argo.
"We have little choice. We know too little about their guild and they are making more trouble than the frontliners could deal with, especially if we want to get through the hurdle that was the loss of the 25th floor." she turned to Byakuran, her narrowed eyes boring into his amused ones."We will provide you with safety, provided you follow our rules, and even keep you guys' names out of the other guilds, in return for the information. Deal?"
"Well, I can't say no to such a good deal, can I?" Byakuran asked back in an infuriating way, though he quickly turned serious as he leaned forward."Alright, I tell you what is the next move planned by the player killing guild, Laughing Coffin."
"Quit showboating and just tell us already." Buzz, already at the end of his patience snapped at him.
"Have it your way. There is at least one member of one of your guilds that secretly works for PoH and informs him of your movements. He plans to use the next boss battle to cripple your efforts and stall the progression of the cleaners indefinitely." no one said anything as they could scarcely believe what the white-haired teen was saying."Either during or after the 27th floor's boss battle, Laughing Coffin will attack and plan to wipe out most of the frontline players."