Kirito, 1 minute after leaving the others
"My lord, I wish to enter!"
Kirito waits in silence for what seems like forever as he stands in front of the great door to the viscount's office. He had told Jaymes to give him five minutes and had spent one of them running from the front gate to the fifth floor. So for the moment, he wishes the viscount would be more...prompt in his response.
"Come in." Kirito, with equal respect and force, pushes open the door and crosses the spacious, dark office, allowing muscle memory to carry him to the dimly lit desk. He runs until he reaches a suitable spot close to the desk, then tries to find the words to say to the viscount. Since his AI is not like KIzmel's, so he cannot speak freely. Yet, before Kirito mouths a word, the viscount speaks. "It seems the battle is going poorly."
"Y-yes, my lord. Four of our ships have been sunk, including the flagship, and the enemy forces are on the castle pier."
"I see... Then it is only a matter of time until the enemy reaches this point."
Kirito wants to say otherwise, but as much confidence he has in his friends, he knows Jaymes will not allow them to risk the girls' lives under any condition. And he won't give his life for the sake of the elves. "...At this rare, it could be twenty...no, fifteen minutes."
"Then I shall wait for them here. Warrior of humankind, your assistance is appreciated. Take your companions and leave this castle."
Kirito clenches his fists. Two minutes have passed, and he hasn't executed his plan yet. He has two minutes to do just that. "From the very start, the Dark Elven morale has been inferior to the Forest Elves'. I believe this stems from the lack of their true battle commander."
"Ahh. And who would their true commander be?"
"You, my lord."
Viscount Yofilis' right hand extends to the candlelight and taps the desk twice. "...I'm afraid that is not possible. It might be hard for a young human like you to understand, but if you fight eternally, defeat is guaranteed to arrive eventually. If Yofel Castle is fated to fall today, and I to the enemy's blades, then such is the guidance of the Holy Tree. The people of Lyusula must accept that fate."
"My lord, your soldiers are still fighting now! They must be waiting to hear the voice of their liege. Kizmel explained your illness to me. If you are going to wait for death in the darkness, why not venture outside so that you can deliver a final message to your guards?!"
At this point, Kirito expected nothing from the viscount. His prior statement was full of resignation that it was unbelievable Yofilis' line was not premade. Kirito believed the presence of the viscount, even if the battle was to be lost, would be a boon at the expense of exposing him to light. Better him around than that commander.
But three minutes have passed, and Yofolis has remained quiet. With that, Kirito starts to turn on his feet.
"Young human. Answer just one question." Kirito looks back to see a golden question mark above where Yofilis' hidden body is. A quest has begun with appalling timing. From the darkness, Kirito can feel the viscount's unseen eyes aimed at him. "Why do you lend your aid to the people of Lyusula and not Kales'Oh?"
Kirito has no immediate answer. The player's answer of "I simply chose this faction" will not work. They-and by they, he means Asuna and Koharu-chose to aid Kizmel at the beginning because a woman was fighting a man. Kirito went along because he previously sided with the Dark Elves in the beta. Jaymes did not-and probably still maintains that stance-care much for Kizmel, but as Koharu will follow him, he'll follow her. Mito is simply tagging along.
"At first…I didn't have a real reason, But that's not true anymore. Koharu, Asuna, and I love Kizmel. He may not care much for her, but Jaymes will fight with her. So I want to help her protect her people and her nation."
As the four-minute mark comes, the question mark vanishes without a sound. Kirito stands silent and nervous until the viscount speaks in the most robust tone he's ever had. "I shall take your words for truth. Therefore, I will answer you with truth. Young swordsman, the tale about my illness that you heard from Kizmel...is a lie."
Kirito was focused on the fact the viscount had gotten out of his chair (still hidden by the dark) that it took a moment for him to process the viscount's words. And when he does, all he can say is, "Huh?"
"Follow me." The footsteps slip away from the desk, and there's a mysterious thunking sound along the northern wall. Eventually, light enters the room, illuminating a slender figure with long hair. That figure disappears from the opening in the wall, and Kirito races to it to see that the opening leads to a descending makeshift staircase of window frames. Yofilis was jumping from ledge to ledge, and the ledges made a pathway down to the front of the castle.
A glance at his party's health bars told him to hurry. They were fine, no more than a loss of twenty percent loss of health, but in case someone is keeping time... "I can do this."
Moments later, Kirito's back in the front garden of the castle. Ahead of him is Yofilis, adorn in noble clothing and a thin rapier hanging at his waist. He raises a white-gloved hand and brushes the left side of his face, revealing a scar that runs vertically down the left side of his slightly lighter than normal (for a Dark Elf) face, hairline to chin. His right green0gray eye fixes on Kirito. "This scar is the greatest shame in a long life of regrets. I have hidden in the darkness for many years, hoping to spare my children from inheriting its disgrace...but it seems the time has come to expose it to humankind."
"Uh...s-sorry."
"No need to apologize. Perhaps I made a fool of myself by trying so hard to hide my shame. Let us go to where my soldiers and your friends are fighting." He begins to stride towards the closed front gate and raises his hand in approach. "Open!"
As the gate opens, Kirito gets a glimpse of the current situation. Of the eighteen Forest Elves, twelve remain, including the commander and his aide, and the Dark Elves are reduced from six to three. Jaymes, Koharu, Mito, Asuna, and Kizmel compensate for the difference. The remaining four Dark Elf boats are still there on the lake, but their forces are reduced.
Kirito rushes to the line, dispatching a Forest Elf who broke through, siding up with Asuna and Kizmel. "Sorry, it took a little longer!"
"We're fine here! But the ships... How'd it go with you, Kirito?"
He need not answer, for a powerful voice sweeps the pier. "I am a knight of Lyusula and master of Castle Yofel, Leyshren Zed Yofilis! Warriors of Lyusula! I apologize for my long absence and beseech your strength! The future of our kingdom rests on this battle! For the sake of our queen, friend, and family, stand strong and fight with me!"
Kizmel and the other Dark Elves are stunned by their lords' appearance, and the battlefield grows silent as a whole. Then all at once, the Dark Elf soldiers on the dock and the boats raise their swords and fists with a bellowing yell. In Kirito's ears, a sound effect hits, and he looks up to the left of his HUD and sees four new icons over the party's HP bars. Two of them have an upward green arrow, one a sword, the other a shield, meaning increased offense and defense. The explosion effect indicates increased knock-back; the last is a four-leaf clover, indicating increased luck.
These four buffs came from Yofilis presence, and if Kizmel received them, that means every Dark Elf did too.
"Yeah!" Kirito cheers and initiates the Horizontal sword skill against the Forest Elf in front of him. Due to the knock-back buff, the enemy flies out to the water. Jaymes, slightly ahead of Kirito, slams his shield into an enemy's chest, and Asuna dispatches another. That leaves six remaining warriors, excluding the two Forest Elves at the rear.
"Have no fear!" the Forest Elf commander shouts. "The addition of one measly castle lord does not affect our advantage!" The remaining six warriors line up and mimic each other by raising their swords high. Kirito notices it is a sword skill as the swords take on a faint blue glow. It looks to be Vertical, a basic sword skill, but deadly with the number and timing of the skill. Even if they could counter with their sword skills, Jaymes and Kirito are the only ones who can match the timing of the enemy elves. Koharu's dagger, Kizmel's saber, Mito's scythe, and the guards' spears may not match.
"Evade to the sides!" a command from behind bellows, and the Dark Elf faction splits immediately. Despite this, the Forest Elves proceed to attack...and are interrupted by a spear made of light. It shoots past the ranks like a comet and collides with the swinging enemy. All six are sent to the water after a powerful flash of light and a shockwave. When the light vanishes, it is revealed to be Viscount Yofilis, his body leaning forward with the rapier extended.
"Wh-What the hell?" Jaymes stammers.
"Was that...a sword skill?" Asuna questions.
"Damn, that was wicked," Mito says, impressed.
Kirito only nods in response. He recognizes the skill from SAO's official sight and a demo video of the skill: the powerful rapier thrusting skill, Flashing Penetrator. But there was no time to stay in awe. Yofilis is immobile, and the remaining Forest Elves on the dock are beginning to move.
"Jaymes!"
"You take the commander!" Kirito nods and focuses on the white knight while the two boys pass the kneeling viscount. Kirito intercepts the longsword of the commander, feeling the vibration reverberate through his avatar's body. The Forest Elven Inferior Knight's commander is not that much more brutal to be considered elite like a miniboss (certainly not like the Fallen Elven General). Still, by the speed and strength of his opening attack, Kirito figures this duel fight won't be easy.
"Out of my way, human!"
"I cannot let you pass!" Kirito swings for the commander's right side, where the armor seems weakest, but the crossguard of the enemy sword blocks his attack. The commander counters with a series of swings that Kirito parries or sidesteps, and the enemy's defenses repelled any counterattacks. Nearby, Jaymes and the heavily-armored adjutant, a Forest Elven Heavy Warrior, fight alone to a different kind of standstill as if they're evenly matched. From behind, the girls and the elves watch without interference, as do the warriors on the boats.
Kirito and the commander lock swords and press against each other. As he tries to contest the commander while thinking of other things (such as why the Elf Quest is as padded with background information if the possible outcomes are unlikely to come true) and becomes alarmed by a cracking sound at the point of the intersecting blades, the commander poises Kirito a question. "Boy...Why does a human fight for the sake of the Dark Elves?"
When Yofilis asked the question, Kirito drew on the affection he, Asuna, and Koharu have for Kizmel. But that doesn't matter to the Forest Elf. The answer now has to be beyond that...except, in general, there's no real reason for Kirito to side with the Dark Elves. It's not a requirement for the goal of beating SAO, which is why DKB and ALS were convinced to disregard it for the time being. The col and experience rewards were better off being gained hunting or doing other, less time-consuming quests.
Hypothetically, if the results of the campaigns were to pass, then the logical choice of the side would be to join the Dark Elves to prevent the fall of Aincrad. If the Forest Elves win, everyone on Aincrad, including the remaining eight thousand players, will die.
"Because we have to stop this war." That stern, strong declaration doesn't come from Kirito but Jaymes. He strains against the weight of the armored swordsman, but he keeps an eye on the commander.
"Nonsense!" the commander barks back. "Since ancient times, the people of Kales'Oh have shed unending blood in our battle against the Dark Elves! All to release the lives trapped in this empty, meaningless prison! And our sacred duty will not be stopped by the likes of a foolish child such as you!"
Kirito's body is hit with a shockwave as the commander knocks his sword back. As he stumbles, he glances at his HP bar, seeing the four indicators blinking. The buffs are running out. "Gah... Jaymes..."
"Yeah, I know..."
Ahead of Kirito, the commander gets in position for the three-hit skill Sharp Nail. Too late to intercept, Kirito plants his feet and horizontally positions his sword flat side out, supporting the tip of his blade with his left hand for a two-handed block. It's all he can do as Sharp Nail is activated, the first strike hitting the sword tip. Kirito winces at the cracking sword of the Anneal Blade again, praying for the four out of eight points in durability to hold out against the enemy sword skill.
"Jaymes!" Koharu's shriek following the sound of metal breaking catches Kirito's attention. Jaymes' Shining Buckler, the strongest shield buyable on the first floor, has protected its master for the last time. But the red and black warrior doesn't seem phased in the slightest.
The second and third strikes against the Anneal Blade come, resulting in some chipping of the sword. At the same time, Kirito receives a message from the system: his One-Handed sword skill proficiency is at 150. And if they are truly at the same levels as they were at 100, Jaymes should receive the same one already or immediately soon. No, his partner had done so.
As the commander enters the skill delay along with the adjutant, Kirito and Jaymes position one foot forward, blade level. The Anneal Sword Plus and the Azure Sky Sword Plus Eight take on a sky-blue glow, initiating the four-part skill Horizontal Square. Kirito is launched forward, the first strike cutting right to left through the commander's breastplate. The next goes left to right, slashing shallower towards the left shoulder of the commander and knocking him back. The third strike comes after a clockwise spin, shattering the breastplate and cutting through flesh. The final slash comes from the right that would complete a glowing square, but Kirito adjusts the course of his sword to hit the kite shield the commander holds.
As the commander is knocked backward again, Kirito hears the sound of cracking again from the Anneal Blade. It was disintegrating, a farewell to the swordsman who has used it faithfully for four floors. Around Kirito, the enemy commander had been launched into the water, while at the other duel, Jaymes sunk his blade into the armored elven knight's left shoulder.
He pushes the armored knight, still alive, into the water, along with the snapping blade of the Azure Sky Sword.
With the defeat of the commander and the adjutant, the battle was over then and there.
The Forest Elves who remained in naval combat abandoned ship and followed the ones who swam in the lake in a linear, organized swim out of the canyon. The Dark Elves returned to the castle. taking formation. Jaymes and Kirito quietly stand on the dock, watching all of it with the girls behind them. The red warrior holds his head high, while the swordsman in black hangs his low.
"It's over."
"It is..."
"That was brilliant fighting, Kirito and Jaymes." That comes from Kizmel, who joins the group with a smile.
"Do you think...this was the right choice?" Kirito murmurs.
"Hold your head high. You were the one who warned us of a Forest Elf attack, helped even the scales, and defeated the enemy commander in one-on-one battle, Kirito. Most important of all, you safely protected the two keys in the castle. What more could we ask for?"
Kirito nods in response, and afterward, the quest log updates. The party completed the "Lake-top Fortress" quest, gaining a huge amount of experience in the process. Kirito, with mixed feelings on the matter, closes the window.
"I'm going to leave the lake for a bit and check for messages from Argo," Asuna says.
"I'll come too," Koharu chimes in, and Mito stands with them.
"Oh...thanks, do that." Being on an instance map, they couldn't send or receive messages from the outside world, so they relied on Argo for information about the progression of the front lines. Asuna, Koharu, and Mito hop into the white gondola, the scythe wielder manning the oars.
Jaymes remains quiet beside Kirito, still staring out at the lake. Figuring that talking would help him conquer his feelings, Kirito asks Jaymes, "Should we have sought more Forest Elf fatalities in case of another attack?"
"If it were up to me, I would have killed them all just because. But fearing another attack is unlikely...for our group, that is. We've completed everything here. And we won't be affected by the next players to come here."
"I see... What did you mean by stopping this war? I know you don't particularly care for either side...and the outcomes don't matter."
"...I'm trying to see Kizmel as you do. And Mito asked Koharu and me a question days ago whether the people of this world should be regarded the same as us. I denied it...but that logical rationale conflicts with us as gamers. A casual like Asuna and Koharu see a game as simply that, but me, you, Mito, we see the world we play in RPGs as alive and dynamic with our choices." He looks to his right hand, where the hilt of the Azure Sky Sword remains. He gives it a sad look and says, "As a gamer, I have to see the story to the very end and protect my companions, both player and NPC."
"As a gamer... I understand."
"It is a shame what happened to your sword."
That comes from the viscount, who approaches the pair. Kirito turns and shakes his head. "N-no, I put it through too much..."
"It is good that you do not blame your weapon. With most of the blade remaining, the castle's blacksmith should be able to repair it."
"Mmm... No, I'll melt this one down and have it turned into a new weapon or piece of armor."
"I see. In that case..." Yofilis raises his hand, and two soldiers carrying an enormous chest come from the gate. It's so larger than Kirito believes Jaymes could fit almost comfortably in the chest if he laid down in it. It's lowered next to Yofilis, who pulled out a golden key from his pocket and unlocked the chest. With a brilliant shine, the chest is opened to reveal various weapons, armor, and accessories of pristine condition. Dialog windows appear in front of the boys, offering them a choice of rewards.
"These are the treasured heirlooms of the Yofilis family. Human warriors, please accept any one of them as a personal gift and another as a reward for your valor in combat."
"Huh? Er, but..."
"Wait, we get two? Two rewards"
"Of course?"
"For me and everyone? Two each?"
"Naturally."
Jaymes and Kirito, still in belief, look at each other with bright eyes and salute the viscount. "Thank you, my lord!" Kizmel, standing nearby, smiles and rolls her eyes, but she doesn't understand the boys' excitement. Picking more than one reward is not common, and Kirito has often wished for that. As they tap through the rewards, seeing the associated properties, Kirito silently wishes he could pick three.
It was a long five minutes of agonizing about what to pick when the all-female crew of the Tilnel returned to the dock. Without allowing them to get a word in, Kirito beckons them over. "Hey, Asuna, Koharu, Mito, check it out! We get two this time-two!"
"TWO?" Mito shouts with shock. Asuna and Koharu don't seem to share the same excitement but saunter over anyway.
Jaymes nods. "Yes! We get two rewards for each of us!"
"Ahhhhhhh! Lemme check this out!"
"Enough about tutus!" Asuna yells as she grabs the males' shoulders. "This is important! They just left already!"
"Who did?"
"Who do you think? The floor boss raid!"
"...Wha...Whaaaaat? B-but...this morning's info said that the boss battle would be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."
Koharu nods. "Yes, but they found the boss chamber this morning and scouted it. So they took a break at the nearby village and decided to 'git on with the battle already' for this afternoon."
Jaymes clenches his teeth. "I find that cactus to be very annoying?"
Kirito mentally maps out the floor. "Let's see...we're at the southeast part of the floor; the tower's at the southernmost tip. The nearest village is not too far away, and if they already mapped the way to the chamber, it should take them no more than an hour and a half to get there. Do you know the exact time the raid left?"
"Fifty-five minutes ago," Asuna replies while looking at her message again.
"Then they're already in the tower now... Hmm, I guess we have no choice but to leave it to them this time."
"Yeah...maybe you're right."
"They should be fine, right?"
"It would make me feel a little good to see Lind and Kibaou stumble a bit, but not at the cost of casualties."
"Kirito, Asuna, everyone, will you be challenging the guardian of the Pillar of the Heavens?"
Kirito looks to the approaching Kizmel. "Uh, yeah, but it seems that our other companions have already begun climbing the tower."
Kizmel's features darken. "I see. if you trust them, then there is no reason to worry...but from what I understand, the beast of this floor..."
"We only know based on the legend," the viscount picks up from where Kizmel trails off, "but it is said that the guardian beast who lurks in the tower of this floor wields some eerie power."
"Eerie power?" Kirito wonders.
"The boss of floor four was a hippogriff in the beta. That's a half-eagle, half-horse creature," Mito informs. "Its beak is very strong, and its wings could cause a powerful gale. But 'eerie power'..."
Jaymes frowns. "Assuming the hippogriff you described is back, we know beta knowledge is useful to a certain degree. If what the viscount says is true... My lord, what is the beast of the tower like?"
"The guardian beast of this floor is called a hippocampus—a cross between horse and fish. It causes water to spring from even the driest earth and can flood one's feet from beneath him. Any who fights the beast will need a charm to float in water, it is said."
"...Damn."
"If that's the case...oh no."
"W-we need to send them a message!" Asuna shouts while heading back to the gondola, only to be stopped by Kirito.
"No, the message won't reach the players inside the labyrinth!"
"What should we do, then?"
"We have to go ourselves. If we're lucky, at least half of the raid members will still have their inner-tube fruit from the trip to the main city. As long as they can hold out with those, we'll have time to reach the chamber and open the door from outside!"
"Let's go." Jaymes closes the reward dialog box and leads the charge to the Tilnel. Asuna follows behind him, Mito, and Koharu and glances at Kizmel.
"I'm sorry, Kizmel-we need to go. But we'll be back, I swear!"
Kizmel, however, shrugs. "What do you humans call this? 'Being distant'? I will join you, of course."
Five "What?" are spoken simultaneously, but it doesn't come close to what comes next.
"And so shall I," announces Viscount Leyshren Zed Yofilis, master of Yofel Castle.
Kirito's party of six was joined by Yofilis and two more Dark Elves and headed out on one of the ten-seater gondolas. It took them a while to reach the foot of the tower, where they met with Argo. She was somewhat fearful of the Dark Elves, given the color of their indicators, but kept her cool as she joined them in ascending the tower.
After a mad, clear dash to the top, they reach the granite doors that separate the labyrinth from the boss chamber. It's been forty-five minutes since they left the lake, an hour and forty since the ALS and DKB started their trip up, so the battle has been going on for ten minutes now. The doors are closed tight, but just through the space where the doors meet is a minute stream of water.
"Kirito, let's get these doors opened!" Jaymes and Kirito grabbed the door handles and pulled with all their strength, but it was no need to as the doors swung open easily against the pressure of the water inside.
"Whoaaa?" Along with the flood comes a large man wielding a battle axe-Agil. He slides on his belly and looks up with a smile. "Hey, you showed up!"
"S-so you did get flooded!"
Agil nods as Kirito helps him to his feet against the flowing current. More players are flushed out but are caught by the fence surrounding the hall outside the chamber while the water passes through to parts unknown. "Yeah, I told 'em it might be trouble since the boss looked different than the strategy guide said."
"Agil, are there victims?" Asuna asks.
"Don't worry; no one's died. Someone greedy picked all the little floaty-tube fruits they could back at the staircase…so thanks to those, nobody's drowned, at the very least. We've just been trying to avoid the boss's attacks and get this door open, but it was made so that it couldn't be opened from inside."
"Y-yeah, I see…"
"Oh, look at that..." Mito peers into the boss chamber, a rectangular room fifty yards deep and filled with granite gray walls and flooring. Blue flames from the tops of pillars provide light in the room. At the room's core, the beast is as Yofilis described it. The front half is that of a horse, except for the hooves being clawed flippers and the mane being tentacles instead of hair. The back half is entirely that of a fish.
Six HP bars, one nearly empty, hover over its head. Its name: Wythege the Hippocampus.
"So...you four have a plan?" Mito spurts out weakly, but before anyone in the party can say anything, a crude voice emits from the mass of players behind them.
"Well, if you were gonna show up, ya might as well have done it on time!"
"Get these people off of me, Kibaou! Everyone off the pile, start taking potions!"
"Y-you don't mean ta keep goin', Lind!"
"Of course I do! We know its attack patterns, and we've already taken down one gauge; no use wasting that hard work!"
"Don't act like yer in charge! If it weren't for my inner-tube fruit, y'all would be drowned by now!"
"You were simply hogging community resources for yourself! Don't act like you were being generous!"
Koharu sighs. "I knew things wouldn't be alright." Kirito nods and begins to call out to Lind and Kibaou to get them on the same page, but (and maybe for the best) Yofilis, Kizmel, and the Dark Elves make their presence known. And recounting how DKB was shaken by Kizmel's cursor when she showed up with Jaymes and Asuna outside the Forest Elf base camp on the third floor if hers was black, Yofilis' is the color of darkness. The raid party is silent as the viscount takes his place in front of the group.
"Warriors of humankind, if you intend to fight, then stand at once. If not, be quiet. In either case, through my pact with Kirito, Jaymes, Mito, Koharu, and Asuna, I will dispatch the summon beast. In my name, Yofilis, knight of Lyusula, I command all who can stand to follow my lead!"
With his rapier drawn, an aura emerges from the tip and spreads across the area, granting everyone the four buffs Yofilis inflicted earlier. And with restored morale, forty-six raiders follow Yofilis into Wythege's chamber.
On Tuesday, December 27th, 2022, at 2:32 PM, fifty-one days after SAO began, the fourth floor was cleared.