Hey guys, Naintarlow checking in.
It was very close but it seems I was barely able to keep my one month update quota. Yay.
The assault on the Laughing Coffin base starts and boy this and the next few chapters will be a rollercoaster of emotions for one spiky-haired cinnamon roll. The trap had been sprung but who was the target of it in the first place?
Thank you all of you for all the support you have given this story so far, please tell me what you think of this chapter, I appreciate every and all feedback.
GreenEyes89:Glad you liked it. I won't stay much on the matter but be prepared to the feels.
Seems like you have been catching onto a few of my hints, not that I was ever accused of being subtle. But still nothing set in stone, if you want to know what will happen, you have to read the story yourselves.
Please enjoy
Level 17 Assault
We didn't have the time to plan, we only had the time to race into the caverns and hope we would make it in time. The raid team had needed us but it shouldn't have gone like this...
-0-
Soundless wind swept through the small, empty clearing on the 17th floor. No monster was in sight, the midday sun or at least it's virtual equivalent, shining above gave the place a peaceful, warm atmosphere.
The silence was broken as a single rabbit, with midnight black fur and green eyes hopped into the clearing, his long ears perked up, listening to the slightest noise by a possible predator. When it found nothing, the rabbit slightly claimed down, finding the sunniest spot in the clearing and setting down, closing its eyes in the hopes of a quick nap.
Just as it was finally able to relax, a large, tearing sound rang out in the clearing. In the middle of it, a large rectangular shaped light appeared that began growing until it became large enough to fit in several people standing side by side. The frightened rabbit stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do but the moment the large object stopped growing, it took the most natural course of action and bolted away from the clearing, never looking back.
A moment later, a streak of light launched itself from the gate, like a comet, sailing through the clearing before it condensed itself to a person, particles of light falling from their form as they continued to run, uncaring of their surroundings. Following after them in a slightly more reserved pace were several other figures, trying to keep up with the first figure. Over all, there was around ten of the figures who suddenly appeared on this nameless clearing,, leaving behind a slowly fading portal.
"Asuna, wait!" Klein called back as he, along with Dynamn, tried to chase after the chestnut haired girl who was slowly leaving them behind. "It will serve no one if you charge straight into an ambush. Just slow down woman and let's go together." he shouted but his pleas went to deaf ears, causing him to grumble as he pushed his stats to the limit to keep up with the lightning fast fencer.
Both members of Fuurinkazan looked ragged and their gear obviously went through a lot. Next to them, Ken and Basil ran with a similarly tired appearance, worry clear on their faces. Biggs and Wedge were on their heels and at the back of the group, three relatively fresh-looking armored warriors from the Divine Dragon Alliance were following.
Asuna grit her teeth, not wanting to slow down for any reason but as the opening of a large cavern appeared in front of her as she exited the forest, she had to stop and wait for the others, her body tense like a coiled spring, ready to run at the slightest hint of an enemy.
The cavern before her was wide enough that around 10 people could stand next to each other and still able to enter with ease. The inside of the cavern was dark and gave off a foreboding feeling. It was the entrance to a cave-system that served as the hidden headquarters of Laughing Coffin.
Earlier today, a force of 40 frontliners were sent into here to raid this dungeon, capture any members of the red guild they encountered, with their final goal being the capture of PoH, the leader. Meanwhile, a larger force of cleaners tackled the 27th boss room, with a secondary group lying in wait to reinforce them when the attack they learned Laughing Coffin planned to launch on the exhausted raid party finally came.
In the end, they were able to defeat the skeleton replica of the 25th boss, and repel the attack made by the PKers with a lot of them ending up in their custody. But no words came from the team that was sent to their base. From the team that Natsu and a few of their other friends were part of.
She was so worried that she quickly gathered a group of the more rested members of their team, who weren't tasked with looking after the prisoners or activating the new floor's teleport gate and set out, using the emergency teleport crystal that Ken had on him.
In a minute that felt far too long for her, the others caught up, panting heavily.
"Isn't Argo supposed to stay outside to keep a lookout?" Wedge asked with a frown as he looked around, finding no sign on the elusive information broker.
"She was. I don't like the looks of it." Dylan commented with a frown, while Ken and Basil barely seemed to stop themselves from changing forward.
"That's all the more reason for us to hurry. Has there been any word from those who were dispatched to check the monument of life?" Asuna asked, turning to one of the members from DDA, who shook his head.
She was about to harshly snap back when Klein put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her glare at him but for once, the red-haired man didn't back down, instead just stared her down.
"You have to keep a cool head. Out of all of us, you are one of our best combatants, that means we are all counting on you." he told her with a stern voice before his expression softened."All of us are worried about them but we will accomplish nothing by charging in half-cocked. We would be no help to anyone dead."
The fencer wanted to argue, thinking of her friends who she didn't hear back hours ago but then she knew if Natsu was there he would look at her with those pleading eyes, asking her to calm down. And if Kirito were here, she would be too busy keeping him under control to have any space for anger. Her shoulders slumping, she gave a small nod and even smaller smile to the samurai.
Seeing her agreement, Klein turned to the others, especially the members of the Keepers of the Seven Rings, who seemed as ready to charge in blindly for their guildmates and friends like Asuna.
"As much as I hate to say it, we have to move slowly and carefully. No splitting up, no rushing forward if you spot anything, we have to move as a group. Understood?" he received a round of nods, some more reluctant that others."Then let's go. Basil, Biggs, you take the front, Wedge and Asuna behind. Dylan and I will take a rear, while everyone else will be in the center."
"We are ready." Ken answered for the group, his otherwise happy go lucky attitude nowhere to be seen. The others quietly agreed and they took their first step into the darkness.
The cavern they entered was large, dark and most importantly empty. They encountered no sign of either monsters, red players or anyone from the assault squad sent in as they ventured deeper. There was hardly any light around them, only provided by strange glowing moss that grew on the walls, making it hard to navigate at the uneven ground in front of them.
To make matters worse, water was dripping from somewhere, creating a constant, echoing drip sound around them that made everyone on edge. It didn't help that there were no other sounds around them, save for their own steps and breathing. There were no sounds of fighting, which could mean anything, either the others were victorious and were recovering or they were annihilated and the battle was lost long ago.
For all they knew, they could walk into an ambush and there was nothing they could do about that.
The walls around them were getting closer as the cave narrowed into a tunnel. The labyrinth was basically a cave system, with narrow tunnels connecting the larger rooms. a literal maze with deadends and interlocking paths. The cave they entered was the only entrance into it, which was good, less of a chance of an enemy getting behind them.
"Careful, it seems like there is something ahead."Basil called out as a bright light came from the end of the tunnel, signalling they were close to the next room.
"According to the maps we've got, the next room ahead is a large circular cave with three different openings leading deeper into the labyrinth." Wedge informed them, his eye trained on the map opened in front of him.
The others nervously looked at each other, their grip on their weapons strengthening as they got closer and closer to the end of the tunnel. They heard voices from the other side but they were low enough and far away enough that they could make out nothing concrete, making them unsure if what awaited them were friends, or foes. The only thing they knew that the voices were definitely human.
Asuna gulped, her entire body trembling with nervousness as they stepped out of the tunnel, the shield users, raising their shields in front of them, prepared for any sudden attack. They were momentarily blinded by the much stronger light source coming from the cave, forcing them to stop and blink rapidly.
As their vision returned properly, they looked around and some of them let out quiet sounds of amazement at what awaited them. The cave they stepped into was easily twice of the one they were in previously, its size easily rivaling most boss rooms. The ceiling was so high up that it seemed to go on forever with strange glowing crystal formations sticking out of it, and covering it almost entirely. The crystals glowed with a large enough light to illuminate the whole cave, their pale glow making it look as if above them wasn't a stone ceiling but the clear sky. It was beautiful in a tranquil way, and if the situation wasn't what it was, they could have spent some time being mesmerized by it.
The cave itself looked more like a large antechamber in a castle than anything made by nature, with smooth floors made by some kind of marble. In a sharp contrast, the walls themselves retained their natural, uneven look with moss growing over it.
"We are not alone." Biggs' quiet voice shook them out of their inspection of their surroundings, all of them turning in the direction the large teen was looking, raising their weapons just in case.
Opposite of them, on the other hand of the room there were three other tunnel openings, leading further into the labyrinth. What caught their attention were the gathering of people they spied next to the tunnels, most of them seemed to be sitting with a few of them standing around. From this distance they couldn't tell who those people were, only that there was no one and nothing else in this large room aside from that.
Keeping close to each other, they started marching toward them, despite more than one of them wanting nothing more than to run ahead and check for their friends, but they all knew that it could be a trap made by Laughing Coffin as much as it could be the assault ground that they lost contact with.
As they neared them, Asuna and the others were relieved to see instead of full-body cloaks that the laughing coffin members wore, they saw people wearing high-level gear, with a few wearing the distinct armor styles of the guilds, KoB and DDA. But what caused them to feel disheartened was how few of them were there.
Two or three people were sitting or standing close to each other, some recovering, some simply keeping the lookout but what made Asuna and the others worry there were several who were simply grieving and the others were trying to console them.
There were two groups of players, huddled together with ropes restricting their movements sitting on the ground, and a couple of guards around them. One group consisted of players with orange cursors while the others had green. It didn't take a genius to understand they were members of Laughing Coffin, the green players probably collaborators or soon to be members. They were around twenty in all.
Aside from those who were obviously prisoners, Asuna could only count a frighteningly small number of 14 players, though there was a possibility of more of them being deeper in the dungeon, but something told her that was not the case. This fact made tht pit in her stomach deepen.
"Asuna-sama?" a disbelieving voice called out ahead of them and she was surprised to find Climb, her assigned bodyguard looking at her direction with two other members of the guild standing next to him.
He looked worn and tired, just like most of the players in the little camp. His once white, pristine heavy plate armor looked more like grey, thanks to the dust and various little dents covering it, caused by some intense face looked similarly worn, and looked much older than this morning when she saw him head out of their headquarters.
What surprised Asuna and her companions, that instead of being relieved by the backup arriving, Climb and the other two with him, stepped back with wary and alert expressions, going so far as to draw their weapons and point at them as they neared them.
"Stop right there." one member in the white and red armor of the Knights of the Blood oath shouted at them, raising their two-handed axe threateningly."One more step and we will attack.!"
The other players reacted to the shouts with grabbing their weapons and quickly standing up, looking warily at them. Unfortunately for them, instead of cooler heads prevailing, everyone seemed ready for a fight, despite clearly looking like friendlies.
Asuna and Klein shared a look, and with a quick nod, quietly ordered the others to slow down and lower their weapons, the last thing they needed is for them to fight among themselves, for whatever reason.
"Chill out, it's just us." Wedge said after sheathing his rapier, stepping out from behind his brother, holding his hands up as an universal sign of surrender."Our teams repelled Laughing Coffin at the boss room but we were sent as backup when no words came from your team." he tried to sound as non-confronting and soothing as possible, taking a small step toward them.
Unfortunately his actions didn't have the desired effect. The other players only started to get agitated, several of them keeping their weapons pointed at Wedge and looking like they were a moment away from attacking the unarmed player. Even Climb, who looked the most reluctant to attack, his eyes shifting from Asuna to Wedge, he was filled with indecision and had his weapon raised in front of him.
"Okay something seriously wrong here:" Klein said in a low voice, as he looked around trying to spot anyone familiar, someone who could be reasoned with but no success."I mean I knew most of us aren't their favorite even at the best of times, but it's a bit excessive. Just what's going on here?" Ken, who was next to him and looked like he would charge at the group in front of him and beat them up until they tell him what happened to his leader and friend, only shrugged.
"I said one more step and we attack." the KoB member that spoke up before, threatened again as instead of backing down Wedge tried to reason with them. "Those tricks won't work anymore on us and if you know what's good for you, you ran while you can or I can cu-" he took a step forward, axe raised in a typical position of trying to initiate a sword skill when he was cut off as a single black blade was put in front of him, a familiar figure stepping into view.
"Kirito." Asuna sighed in relief at seeing her not so secret crush show up, relatively unharmed. The smile that started to blossom on her face was quickly wiped out as she took a proper look at him.
The black-haired swordsman looked ragged and tired just like the rest of them, even if he didn't have a visible injury on him. His eyes were the most telling though. The look in his eyes was weary, tired but most prominent was a look of guilt. They already had a feeling they lost more than one person in this raid but that look confirmed it.
"Kirito? Buddy?" Klein called out to his friend when the teen made no move to greet them, only watching them with a calculating expression. He appeared less hostile than the others, who for the time being, looked at the solo player to make a decision but he looked similarly untrusting.
In the end, he seemed to decide what to do, because he raised his head and looked straight into Klein's eyes, his own searching for something in the slightly older man's eyes.
"Klein, on the first floor, on the first day of the game. What did you tell me just before we discovered that the logout button wasn't working?" he asked in a firm, clear voice.
Said man, furrowed his brows, confused by the strange question. The time spent before the game was announced to be a death game seemed to be just as much of a taboo among players as talking about the beta or the outside world for that matter.
"What kind of question is that?" he wondered but when the black-haired teen only stared him down, he scratched his jaw as he tried to remember an event that seemed to happen so long ago. "It was just after you taught me the basics of sword skills, right? Ah, I was telling you about the pizza and ginger ale that I ordered for myself and I prepared to log off."
As soon as he said it, Kirito's tense form visibly relaxed as he lowered his sword and let out a tired but relieved sigh as he holstered his weapon, turning toward the other players.
"They are real. It's not a trick." he informed the players around him, his shoulders dropping."It's alright, go back what you were doing."
The others seemed reluctant at first but most seemed to believe Kirito, sheepishly lowering their weapons and refusing to look in the direction of the still confused backup. Eventually even the most aggressive looking players accepted Kirito's word and after a brief nod to them, went back to their previous positions. Climb offered an apologetic bow before running to the other end of their makeshift camp.
Seeing that dealt with Kirito, raised his hand, waving them over. Asuna was in the lead, her patience at the end of its rope and prepared to force someone to finally answer her.
"What was that now? You were just about ready to attack us! What happened, we received no word from anyone? And where is Argo, she should have been the first to contact us." she demanded in a furious voice, not leaving a chance for Kirito to explain himself as he looked completely taken aback."For that matter where are Buzz and Natsu? Just, what happened." as soon as her temper flared, it was gone, replaced by uncertainty and a fear that all of them shared.
"The easiest way to say it, we were basically massacred." he let out a dry chuckle as he looked like a stronger wind could send him the ground. They never saw the normally unflappable player like this before."We weren't prepared for what awaited us. Somehow, I don't know how but that PoH, he could make some kind of illusions. Monsters appearing out of nowhere, but not having a cursor or anything that showed them part of the system, our comrades appearing in front of, that would either end up them being Laughing Coffin members or simply illusions that served to separate us. Sorry for the attitude but we needed to make sure you were who you say you were." he said with a shrug as he led them closer to the three diverging pathways.
There, two people stood guarding each of the openings, while the rest either guarded the prisoners who thanks to the ropes were unable to do anything, or just rested silently.
"What about Natsu? And Buzz? Where are they?" unable to contain himself, Ken asked as he looked around, trying to spot the spiky brown hair of his friend, Basil looking similarly agitated.
The black-haired swordsman seemed to debate with himself before pointing toward a large rock pillar where a couple of players were recovering, softly talking to each other, in the case of a few silently grieving.
"Natsu's back there but he is not in a good shape." he told them in a quiet voice.
Ken and Basil immediately looked at each other, resolute looks exchanged before turning to Wedge and Biggs. A quick, silent conversation went between them, before the rapier user sighed and nodded in Natsu's direction, the two taking off without waiting for a moment.
Meanwhile Klein and Dynamn were conversing in low voices. In the end, with a frown on his face, the large man took the three members from DDA with him and went to relieve some of the more tired guards from their post and talk to them quietly, gathering information of what happened.
This done, Asuna, Klein, Biggs and Wedge turned back to Kirito with expectant faces.
"How bad is it?" Wedge asked, his face a blank mask, though his eyes still showed all the worry he was trying to hide.
"We were caught completely off-guard and separated. We have at least 10 confirmed deaths and from the rest is still no word. Thankfully the rest of the Laughing Coffin already disappeared but we were stretched too thin to do anything other than set up a camp and were just about to try and send a group in when you appeared." the teen sighed, visibly slouching at the weight placed on him."I don't suppose..." he trailer off as he looked at them.
Looking at him sympathetically, Asuna stepped next to Kirito, gently placing her hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze, that the teen returning it with the barest hint of a smile.
"We got your back Kirito. We are still pretty fresh, so you can count on us. The rest of my guild is on the way too, as soon as they finish transporting our prisoners into the Black Iron Palace." Klein said confidently, giving him a smile, trying to cheer up the black swordsman.
"I'm surprised you got so many prisoners, despite the chaos." Biggs, who preferred staying silent and only watching others converse spoke up in a soft voice, as he looked toward the group of orange players who were tied up. While some tried fruitlessly to get out of their bindings with no success, most seemed to accept their fate.
"We got lucky. Most of the green players actually weren't really part by choice and got coerced with threats to their lives or the lives of their friends. They were pretty happy to see us but we tied them up to be on the safe side, since we have no way to tell for sure who is really a victim and who is acting." Kirito answered them, stepping away from Asuna, but he stood a little straighter."Most Laughing Coffin escaped when PoH gave a signal to retreat. It seems we played into his hands perfectly." he added bitterly while he began to walk in the direction Ken and Basil went, signaling to the others to follow.
"You mean, he knew about the raid?" Asuna asked in disbelief, eyes wide as she hurried after him."But why? What did he hope to achieve by doing this?"
Kirito didn't answer at first, only walking forward. Just when the fencer's patience reached its limit, they finally caught sight of the brown-haired leader of the KotSR and what they saw had them stop in their tracks.
Natus was sitting by the base of the pillar, Ken and Basil at his sides, worriedly talking to him but received no response. The teen seemed to be missing his almost iconic sword, he was staring at his hands with a blank, dead look in his eyes. It was honestly a starting contrast to the usually smiling and lively young boy.
"Natsu?" Asuna called out to him, her face full of worry but like his best friends she received no response.
"I don't know for what reason but PoH seemed especially focused on Natsu." Kirito told them in a soft voice."And whatever he was after, he seemed to get it."
"Kirito, where is Buzz? And Argo? They would never leave Natsu alone if they could help it. Are they...?" Klein began to ask but couldn't finish the sentence, the others' face growing even more somber at the implications.
The black swordsman offered no answer, only looked away with a frown.
-0-
A few hours earlier
"Die!" A member of the Laughing Coffin armed with a dagger and the signature cloak of the red guild cackled as he thrust his weapon forward, the blade shining in an ominous red color, signaling the use of a sword skill.
Natsu gritted his teeth as he waited until the last moment, slapping the attack away with his blade. His attacker stumbled and tried to attack again but he never got the chance.
Using the opening he created he reached down with his off-hand, grabbed one of the throwing picks and literally stabbed his opponent m's hand with it, who a moment later went limp, the paralysis appearing next to his cursor.
Natsu let out a quick sigh of relief. The paralysis should work for a few more minutes since he didn't really have time to secure him with ropes. His fight was far from over, since the others around him were fighting with their own opponents and their enemies weren't the type to give up easily.
The initial plan was already off the table and they barely even started. It didn't look good for them at all.
As they entered the cave system that housed the headquarters of Laughing Coffin they didn't run into any obstacle. The first room, and even the one after that was empty, no signs of traps or enemy combatant even as they carefully moved inside. The trouble began after the second chamber.
Three paths laid before them and it was quickly agreed to send two groups into each tunnel, with the rest remaining behind to hold their escape route as well be in the best position to send reinforcements to any of the advancing groups if needed.
Maybe the first mistake they made was to split up, or simply they weren't prepared for the tricks their enemies had up their sleeve. But, it didn't matter in the end, they were caught by surprise either way.
After splitting up they didn't venture very far into the tunnel, each step was taken varily, all of them waiting for the attack that never seemed to come.
It was not a bad tactic, he had to admit it to himself. All of them were high alert, exhausting themselves without their opponents having to lift even a finger. It would have been ingenious if it wasn't used against them.
Still, even with that little piece of respect he had to give to them, the lack of anything was getting too much, making their members more and more antsy which wasn't a good thing for anybody.
"Just where are they? Shouldn't we have encountered them by now?" an anxious voice from behind him spoke up in a whisper, unknowingly proving Natsu's earlier thoughts.
"Calm down. They are obviously waiting for us to make a mistake. Keep the formation and get ready for anything." Buzz's voice came from in front of him where the spear user walked just behind their designated tanks. His voice was much calmer than Natsu thought it would be possible in a situation like this.
The group consisting members of their guild was accompanied by a group of Divine Dragon Alliance members. It was Diavel's group, two other shield users along with the blue-haired knight, two agility-based dagger users and an axe-user with a similar build to Agil.
They had topnotch gear, but none of them was someone who Natsu was familiar with, even their names didn't ring a bell. And since you couldn't see the stats or level of other players, he could only assume they were competent.
Because they didn't want to get in each other's way, Natsu and his group took the front while Diavel and his men took the rest as they slowly advanced further inside the tunnel.
Still, despite whatever reasons they told themselves, all of them were left uneasy as they neither seen nor heard any evidence of their enemies. They were obviously planning something, they must have noticed them by now.
Out of the group, Natsu felt he was definitely the most racked up with nerves, after all most of their plans for today's raid came from him, so in a way, whatever happened, the responsibility was his. Did they learn of their plan ahead of schedule? Was an ever larger group waiting to ambush the raid team or did they abandon the whole idea to avoid facing almost the entire Assault Team? Was this dungeon empty, left behind or a trap, filled with the strongest, most bloodthirsty members of the red guild.
Unfortunately he got no answers and he could only grip the handle of his sword nervously. If it was the real world he would have been sweating like crazy and even in this virtual body he could feel his heart beating fast, like a train that went out of control.
"Ah!" a panicked cry shook him out of his thoughts, along with the others."Something just moved in the shadows."
One of Diavel's group, a large man in heavy armor and a large two-handed sword was the one who cried out, alarming the rest of them, everyone instinctively drawing their weapons. The man's face couldn't be seen because of the closed helmet he wore but he was pointing his massive weapon toward the nearest wall, the tip of his sword slightly trembling, probably from nerves.
Everyone turned toward that direction but they saw nothing, no evidence of a player. The corridor they were in was small, though only dimly lit thanks to a few torches and there were no hiding places where a player could hide, not anywhere close to them.
After a nervous movement, most of the players lowered their weapons looking at the player who cried out with a minor annoyance, shaking their heads.
"There is nothing there. Didn't you just imagine?" one of his comrades asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
"I swear I saw something move in there and it was too big to be anything but a person." the first player insisted, even as he nervously fidgeted, eyes moving from shadow to shadow. His comrades appeared to be
"Man that scared the heck out of me. I think even my heart stopped for a second." a player next to Natsu complained as he leaned on his weapon.
"For sure, I think I could have disconnected by the shock alone."
"Don't be so easy to lower your guard." Buzz lectured them with a hard stare before turning back to the first player."Are you sure you saw something?"
Unlike others he didn't dismiss the idea of the enemy lurking around so fast, despite no sign of them. Tsuna agreed with him , knowing how effective Laughing Coffin could be when ambushing from the shadows.
"Could it be the hiding skill?" he asked quietly, looking at Buzz.
"No, no matter how high your skill is, this place is fairly lit with no obvious hiding places, there is almost no chance of anyone able to successfully hide themselves. At least not to the point that we would not notice when actually looking for it." he explained but otherwise remained alert as he scanned their surroundings. "They couldn't have snuck past us, the corridor is too thin for that, and no reason for that either. If they could get close to us without us noticing, we would be dead already." he mused, apparently not aware of what his words could cause.
The others nervously looked around, their grips on their weapons tense and most of them seemed ready to attack at the next thing that tried to make a suspicious move, without bothering to ask questions. If this went on without check, they would be at a huge disadvantage.
"You are not helping." he hissed to his friend but ultimately he had nothing else to add. He had no idea how he could help them calm down, when he was just as much on edge as they were.
Thankfully before anything drastic could happen Diavel stepped forward, a charismatic smile on his face as everyone turned to him.
"Please calm down, everyone." he raised his voice to be hard over the various mutters and as one everyone stopped and listened. It was a testament of the respect he held among them, despite not participating in boss fights for a long while."If we are jumping at shadows all we are doing is make our enemies work easier for them. We need to be alert too, but we also have to remain calm, or we would let down the players who put their trust into us." he told them with a passionate voice that resonated with everyone.
The others looked at each other, before one by one lowering then sheathing their weapons, Diavel's words having an almost miraculous effect on that. It shouldn't have been such a huge surprise, most of the players here were veterans of the first floor battle who had first-person experience of the charisma of the blue-haired knight.
No matter who said what at the end of that fight, about the change from the beta, Diavel almost dying or Kirito being branded a beater, one thing all could agree with. Diavel was the one who stepped up when uncertainity ruled the players when no one was brave or sure enough to take the first real step toward their freedom.
For that act alone, Diavel's name, whether he knew or not, was immortalized among the players of Aincrad.
The only one who seemed reluctant to relax was Natsu who felt his whole body go rigid at that strange, almost familiar sense of danger. His eyes darted around, determined to find the source of that feeling but just like a moment ago nothing seemed out of place. No shimmer of someone trying to blend into their surrounding moving, no sound of feet moving, absolutely nothing. Yet for the life of him he couldn't shake off that feeling.
"Natsu, everything alright?" Buzz noticed his tense posture asked, in response he himself tensed slightly. His close friends already knew to listen to his instincts even when the teen himself had no idea what was causing it.
"I have a bad feeling about this." he muttered, his brows furrowed as he felt something or someone was just at the edge of his senses, and this was driving up the wall. But he was also aware acting paranoid and all that just after Diavel's words won't achieve much good so reluctantly he began to force his body to relax, lowering his sword.
At that precise moment, he felt as if his head exploded as his sense of danger skyrocketed and he found his body moving on sheer autopilot. He didn't see nor heard anything. His attacker didn't give themselves away with anything yet just the same, Natsu was sure of the attack coming his way.
Spinning around, catching Buzz who stood next to him, raising his sword to eye level, blocking the knife thrown at him just a moment before it could have sunk into his forehead.
Everything around them seemed to freeze for a moment as everyone tried to understand what was happening. As the implications dawned on them, the knife reached the ground and chaos erupted around them.
From the shadows themselves, players literally poured out, wearing the familier cloak of the PK guild, demented, insane grin on their faces. The frontliners were caught off-guard by the sudden and impossible ambush, scrambled to pull out their weapons and defend themselves before they could be overwhelmed.
Both Natsu and Buzz tried to issue orders but soon they had to fend off attackers of their own and during the ensuring chaos lost sight of each other, their formation breaking up. After that, it turned to invidual battles, which brought him back to the present, just ash e incapacitated his opponent.
Taking a deep breath Natsu tried to calm him racing heart, also making sure his opponent was truly paralysed and had no other tricks up his sleeve. After he confirmed that, his attention was seized by a pained scream and without thinking about it charged in that direction, sword poised to strike.
He gave a short look to the battle around him, noting the chaos and lack of organization as both his comrades and Diavel's men were busy fending off the attack, the short space available in the corridor working against them, preventing players with larger players to use them effectively as well making any kind of coordination all but impossible.
But he couldn't dwell on it any longer, it was no time to plan or strategize. All he could do was follow his instincts and do what he can.
He turned back toward the direction he was rushing and as soon as he realized what he was seeing something broke in him. On the ground was one of his guildmates, a sword and shield user he didn't know the name of, his weapons lying next to him, out of reach, furtively trying to ward off the red player straddling him and repeatedly slashing him with their curved sword. His panicked screams merged with his attacker's manic laughs and Natsu saw his comrade's health bar lower with each slash.
Pushing his Agility to the limit, Natsu wished he could arrive and intercept in time but the player's health already entered the red zone and barely any was left. Eyes widening in horror, he could do nothing but witness the man's arms finally give out, and his body bursting into nothingness in the time it took to blink once.
His killer stumbled on the ground, finding their previous support absent but soon rose up and turned to him who had yet to stop his hopeless charge, sending him a large grin, as if proud of what he did and expected praise for it.
Seeing it, something snapped inside the young teen.
He heard someone let out a large warcry and only belatedly did he realize that it was him who was crying to the heavens as he charged at the red player.
A moment later he was on him, sword raised to eye-level, shining an ominous orange light as he activated one of his most used sword skills, the movement so instinctual that he never even noticed where he stopped moving consciously and when the system assist took over.
The cloaked players seemed to lose their smile as they raised their weapon to block but it was for naught. With a final cry Natsu thrust his sword forward, launching the Sharp Nail skill.
The first of the three-hit combo went through their curved sword with practically no resistance. Maybe the item had already a low durability, was a very low-level weapon, maybe he struck it at a weaker point or maybe he just got lucky at all. It may have been all of the above, maybe neither.
As the weapon shattered into polygons, Natsu's attack continued, the next two attacks landing clearly on his intended target, the last move of the combo taking away the last of the PKer's health.
The enemy player was already on the lower end of the yellow zone, their cloak and light armor offering barely any resistance against the rage-fuelled sword skill. As the last slash sent him stumbling away, Natsu met the eyes of the players he just killed, catching the disbelief in them before they shattered into polygons.
It was eerily similar to how that teammate of his died a few moments ago.
As he stared down at the empty spot where a living being used to be,. he felt several things at one. He wanted to vomit, yell at the injustice of all of this, cursing Kayaba and Laughing Coffin in equal measure. He wanted to curl up and cry, to be back home, in the real world, in his mother's embrace. But he knew he could do none of those.
If he wanted the honor the death of his comrade, to make it at least mean something, he needed to keep his head in the game, he needed to go forward. He didn't want to lose anyone else, not another death that he could prevent.
He placed both hands on his sword's handle, hoping that he could stop the slight trembling of his hands but he didn't let himself stay idle for long. He raised his head, eyes hardened and immediately took off toward the nearest Laughing Coffin member who was incidentally squared off against Buzz.
He didn't notice Diavel, who was defending against his own assailant with a cocky grin look over, grin widening as he saw that instead of his usual brown, Tsuna's eyes were orange.
-0-
Still no word.
Argo sighed as she once again checked if she got any new messages but had to admit she should have expected this. Checking her incoming folder every two minutes didn't make either raid finish up sooner or one of her agents to discover some relevant information. She, more than anyone knew the importance of patience.
Didn't make the wait any easier though.
Her eyes strayed to the side, checking out the Hide rate at the bottom of her vision. It stayed at a decent 87, making her all but invisible to other players. Add to that, her hiding place was well out of view in the first place, she was good to go for the time being.
She was perched on a tree branch just outside the entrance to the dungeon Natsu and the others just entered less than half an hour ago, waiting patiently either for word from the raid team on the 27th floor or catch if anyone tried to escape through the only known entrance, or worse a bunch of red players trying to sneak on the attacking force. Because she was a non-combatant and the best at the use of the hiding skill among their members, it was left to her to keep watch.
With people in dungeons unable to receive or send messages, it was a hassle to think up a system to get word to either group but there was no arguing that given the short time they had, it was the best they could get. It had the added bonus to keep her out of combat for the most part.
With another sigh she turned back to watching the entrance. Biting down on her lip in worry, she waited, the only thing she could do until something happened that reached her. And that left her with one thing to do, to think.
She wasn't like a certain beater with a solo wolf complex or that naive teenage guildmaster, to simply charge forward with an ironclad resolution to beat whoever or whatever stood in her way. She was constantly thinking, keeping ahead of others so she could never be caught off-guard and that she never loses her advantage.
It wasn't like her reasons for becoming the number one information broker of Aincrad were very altruistic to begin with. Sure, she wanted to do her part in getting out of the game and the newer players needed every help they could get, not to mention the age old motto of Knowledge is Power. She may have felt a little responsible since she was a former beta tester and she felt she should do something when most other betas went off on their own to get killed or simply leave others behind.
But she knew the real reason why she did what she did. She was good at it, it was simply like that. It had the added benefit of giving her an excuse to keep out of active combat and most boss fights but in the end, the real benefit of her job was the feeling of power.
Everyone needed information, on new quests, on where to farm for certain materials, the newly opened floors, other player's equipment or even more obscure things like who xy was dating. Heck, she would never admit it to Natsu or anyone else but she even had a few jobs where she was asked to take screenshots of a few players in a more exposed manner. The pay was very good at the very least.
Sure she did her best to help other players, with a little bit of compensation for her too but in the end she wasn't so selfless to stick out her neck for random strangers all the time. As long as the few she held dear in her heart would be alright, that was enough for her, even if they were idealistic idiots who would have died without her constant help.
That was why she wasn't investigating personally and putting a stop to any and all problems that threatened random players. Of course she would still look into it, her pride as an information broker accepted nothing less.
But large, over-encompassing threats that threatened the lives of her loved ones? Those were fair game and if anyone thought they could stand in her way, they were about to learn that this Rat had claws.
That's why she was so onboard on ending this whole Laughing Coffin situation as soon as possible. Part of it was her wounded pride, they were a blind spot in her vast network, unlike many things, she didn't have much on them by the time they became a serious problem. But more than that, they attacked her friends. And that was unforgivable.
They would learn that the reach of her information network was much bigger than anything they could imagine. And it was never a good thing to have her as an enemy.
"Stil, they are taking too long." she muttered with a frown as she once again dismissed the message window in front of her."I should have heard back from one of those groups by now."
It didn't help with her uneasy feeling that Natsu and Buzz were in that dungeon, completely cut-off from messaging her and unless someone ran out to call for help, she wouldn't know what was going on there.
Not like she would have been much help if she was inside, she could admit this much. She wasn't the best fighter in the beta, even then she was working on her fledgling network but since the death game began she focused more on that side of the game. She only occasionally fought, mostly to level up and keep her skills at the point she could easily get away from any kind of fighting. Even then, she mostly hired players who fought the damn thing. She only needed to be in the same party and maybe occasionally landing an attack to still get a decent amount of XP.
She was shaken out of her rather self-deprecating thoughts as an icon fleshed out of her, showing the arrival of a private message. Her heart speeding up, dread filled her as she forced herself to open up the message, already feeling the worst. Only for her to sigh when she realized the message didn't come from the raid group but rather one of her agents she asked to check out something for her, following Natsu's bad feelings.
Chiding herself, she opened the message anyway, curious what the results were of a rather quick check.
Only for her eyes to widen in horror at the information that stared back at her. She didn't want to believe at first, it should have been impossible but the agent in question was one of her most trustworthy, they would have made sure to check the information thoroughly.
So admitting that the impossible is possible, it came with a chilling realization. Natsu and the other members of the attack group were in grave danger.
If she had time to think she would have sent an alert to their reverse forces, waited for reinforcements before storming inside a dungeon filled with enemies. But for once, even the greatest information broker made a mistake in the heat of a moment.
She jumped down from her spot and charged into the dungeon, heedless of the danger she was putting herself into, only one thought remaining in her head.
Please don't let me be late.
-0-
The last of their ambushers went down with paralysis inflicted by the small throwing pick stabbed into his tight, a moment later he was secured by the Ropes of binding one of the players brought out and placed next to the wall, along with their other prisoners.
As the fighting stopped and it dawned on all of them, Natsu faintly heard Buzz bark out instructions to them but he heard none of it. He was too busy trying not to break down right there.
His sword never felt heavier in his hands and he was unable to hold it up, stabbing the tip into the earth to lean on it. He caught sight of his reflection on it and he recoiled when he didn't recognize the eyes that stared back at him. Weary, angry, all these emotions flashed in those eyes that shouldn't belong to a teenager not even 13 yet.
Yet here he was. Trapped in the game, skirting death every day. And now he had blood on his hands.
He couldn't even remember the face of the person he just killed in blind rage, he never got the chance to look under the hood. He knew neither their name or gender, nothing about them. Does it make it mean any less? Because they attacked him and it was in the middle of a heated moment?
He didn't think so. He didn't want to think so little of human life.
The PKers shouldn't have attacked them, they were outnumbered and outgunned just as the reports from Byakuran stated, they had no real chance after the surprise of the ambush faded and they were able to dig their feet in so to speak. They should have retreated, instead making a fanatic last stand. Better yet, they shouldn't even try to kill other players.
Ten players ambushed them, though how they managed to jump out of shadows, he had no idea. It definitely wasn't the hiding skill, he couldn't even detect a hint of their defense until the last moment, when they made their move. Even then, it was an instant change in the air, as if there was something behind him that wasn't there a moment ago.
They knew that there was a chance that Laughing Coffin might have items, tricks up their sleeve they didn't know about, even with insider information but they were caught off-guard. And that did not bode well for them, not at all.
After the initial attack and confusion, it was only a matter of minutes to turn the tide and completely overwhelm the opposition but it did not made it feel any better. Who knows how many lied in wait, how long before they would be overwhelmed? It's not like they made it out without suffering any damage.
A quick look around made the pit in his stomach all the deeper. One other player, a member of Diavel's group, perished, raking their loss count up to two. Also a few of their members were also caught by paralysis, the others using their antidote and healing crystals to get them up on their feet but it won't work for long. Crystals were a finite resource after all, rare even a quarter into the game. Sooner or later it will run out and they will be in deep trouble.
A headcount of their prisoners showed that three of them also perished during the fight, and Natsu simply didn't know how to feel that.
Did it make him a bad person that he wasn't as sad about their deaths, even the one he killed himself, as the deaths on their side? He didn't know. Part of him wanted to be horrified, thinking that a life wasn't, shouldn't be worth more than the other, yet another simply wanted to wake up from this bad dream.
He felt a heavy yet familiar hand on his shoulder, making him raise his head questioningly at Buzz. The older man was clearly worried, for him, for their entire group, it was anybody's guess, yet still tried to keep all of that behind an impassive mask.
"Natsu, are you alright?" he asked softly, as if speaking any louder would make things worse.
He wanted to laugh at the notion, the dead wouldn't be bothered by the noise and their enemies doubtless were aware of their position and were readying their next trap for them. Speaking loudly should have been their last worries. Despite those morbid thoughts, he did his best to offer a weak, shaky smile to his mentor figure.
"No." he thought it would be best to stick to honesty in this case. Any lie would be easy to see through with his horrible poker face. "But we can't afford to worry about me, we have to go on, before getting caught in another ambush." Buzz's face mirrored the uncertainity he felt deep down but he couldn't let it keep him down. Not now. "I'm good to go, I promise."
The older man opened his mouth, clearly wanting to see something but whatever he saw in his eyes must have made him reconsider because a moment later he gave a single nod before turning away looking at the others.
Natsu mirrored his actions looking over their remaining group. Injuries were healed, those suffering paralysis were helped up, with the debuffs cured. The prisoners were roughly tossed next to the wall of the corridor, players spread out with a few of them watching over them, others keeping watch on the two ends of the corridor in case of a second wave.
"What should we do?" one player standing not far from them asked, but to Natsu's shock the question was aimed at him.
Him. Not Buzz, the one who trained him both in the art of fighting and leading people in a fight, not Diavel, the self-proclaimed Knight who was the first one to take charge among frontliners but him. Scrawny, little, lost Natsu who barely knew what he was doing.
The player who asked him was easily twice if not thrice his age, could be easily the same age as his mother yet he looked at him waiting for his input. Not just him. The others around him looked at him, with different emotions in each of their eyes. Frustration, rage, wariness, sadness, hope. All of these and for some reason or another they all looked at him, expecting him to lead.
He wasn't a leader, at least he never, not even in his guild did he feel like one. He didn't order people around, he just spoke his mind and usually told others what Buzz, Agil and Argo told him to say. He was never more than a figurehead or at least that's what he thought.
But in the end, it didn't look like it mattered what he thought. He may not see himself as a leader but the others clearly viewed him as such. It was no time for his personal hang ups, someone needed to lead them and it looked like the decision was already made.
He took a deep breath before looking at each and every one of the players in the eye, trying to instill as much authority in his stance as he could. Judging by the way some of them stiffened and straightened out, he succeeded.
"We can't stay here, less another ambush catches us unawares. Let's grab the prisoners and regroup with the others. It's clear that there are more surprises the Laughing Coffin has for us than we anticipated. Our best bet is to retreat for now." he told them and was pleased to say that while someone looked bloodthirsty enough to object, the majority seemed to support his decision.
"About that." Diavel raised his voice as he stepped toward them, pointing at the other hand of the corridor."It may be easier said than done."
Buzz and Natsu followed his hand, at first seeing nothing wrong with the picture. The corridor went on for a few meters, lit up by the torches left by game design before abruptly running into a wall. A wall that wasn't there before and right now blocked their route back to the main room, where the designated back-up was waiting.
Natsu felt a cold shiver run through his spine as he looked at the impossible scene in front of him, the situation worsening when the other players caught sight of the same phenomenon, panic immediately breaking out among them.
"Wh-What's going on?"
"Where did that wall come from?"
"What kind of fucked up nightmare is this?"
"We're all going to die!"
"Shut up!" roared Buzz, so loud that even Natsu who saw the signs of the older man's patience running thin, flinched in surprise."Act your age instead of scared eleven years old. Hell, our eleven years old is handling it better than you sorry lot." the players looked chastised in the dressing down.
"I'm twelve though." Natsu found himself saying an uncertain, small smile on his face. Buzz rolled his eyes, while a few players chuckled tentatively.
"Not the point." he told him before addressing the others."Don't break formation, keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If anything moves that doesn't belong here, you stab it and ask questions later. Understood." he received nods in response, some more nervous than others.
Natsu watched him command their remaining members with the ease of a military sergeant. He certainly acted the part most of the time, making him wonder if he was ever in the military.
Come to think of it, they didn't know much about each other outside of the game. Maybe it was a way to cope with their prison or just because they always had things to do. He silently resolved to get to know his friends more.
Shaking his head, he joined Diavel and Buzz as they walked up to the brand new wall that sprung up out of nothing to block their way back, watching it warily.
It was remarkable. If they didn't know that there was a path that led back to a large chamber, they wouldn't be able to tell for sure that there wasn't a wall there a few minutes ago. It fitted into its surroundings so perfectly, as if it was a deadend from the start. Reaching out a hand, he touched it and much to his surprise it was firm, not an illusion but firm stone. It felt real, or as real as a wall in this virtual world can feel, which thanks to the Cardinal system's what's-its-name engine was as close to real as you can get.
Kirito would know more about this topic than him. To Natsu, the moody teenager seemed to know more about the game than the devs, excluding Kayaba himself, who programmed the game in the first place.
But all of those thoughts didn't matter right now because they didn't have a way through that wall, could go only one way and they were in the middle of enemy territory. And if they run into problems like that, probably the other two groups suffered similar fate. Or worse but he tried not to think of it.
"What's going on? How can they do something like that? For PoH or anyone to do something like that, it's way beyond the capabilities of any player character. No, even above a game master's, that would need something like developer privilege. But if they can do something like that, why use cheap tricks, ambushes and low-level players." Buzz pondered as he stared at the wall, his mind running furiously.
"It doesn't matter right now." Natsu said in a low voice, catching both former beta testers' attention.
"What do you mean?" the blue-haired knight asked with an eyebrow raised, looking a little dubious.
"We could spend here the next day, trying to guess what happened, but it doesn't make our current situation easier. All we can do is move forward, less we got completely caught in their trap." Natsu explained in a calm tone, gesturing towards the wall. "Even if we knew how this could cause this, I doubt we would be able to undo it soon, so no sense of staying here.
"That...unfortunately makes sense." Buzz admitted with a sigh, his shoulders dropping as he stepped away from the wall. "You are right, we have more important matters to handle. Let's figure out what to do with the prisoners that move on."
Diavel nodded silently and followed the spear user, Natsu a step behind them but he soon stopped, giving the wall one last look.
The feeling of wrongness that clashed with the feeling of deception was so strong that it almost overwhelmed him to the point where it hurt to look at it. It hurt to look at it, and somehow he knew that it didn't belong to the game in any sense of the word. It was the work of something else, of someone else.
It reminded him of the feeling Diavel gave him.
Still, he needed to focus, not ponder on mysterious he didn' even have any idea where to start. They will make it out alive, nothing else will happen, a large part of him believed, wanted to believe. But that other part had much different feelings on the matter.
The other part wondered if the feeling he felt was how the fly felt in the web of the spider.