Floor 13 Boss - Alaz the Flame Shooter
For Koharu, walking through the caverns again was not a welcome return. It had only been a day, and they'd not had enough time to process just how unbearably hot it was in the labyrinthine tunnels under that volcano; a feeling made even worse by the ever rising heat in them. Perhaps it was just the body heat of seven people in close formation mixing with the ambient heat in the air, but it felt so much more unpleasant today, and she may have been imagining it, but it looked as if the volcano was more active too - lava rushing through veins around them, even ones that had been almost still the day before.
''This is unbearable...'' Asuna muttered beside her. She found herself nodding in agreement, this was horrible! In the brief moment where she didn't think about the heat, she noticed just how much her tunic had become saturated with sweat, almost bonding with her in places...
Idly, she wondered how Jet and Rain were coping in this heat, those big coats of theirs would not be much fun in this heat...
''It is a bit warm, yeah.'' The other big coat wearer, Kirito agreed from up front. She couldn't see much in this cavern, the orange hue and heat distorting her vision as she looked in any direction. The distortion was getting to a point where it was genuinely disorientating for her, stopping behind the group momentarily.
''Koharu?''
''Just my eyesight going fuzzy. I'm okay, don't worry!'' She assured, though no one seemed particularly reassured by it. Kirito was always particularly hard to read, but the way he was whispering to Argo seemed to show he was concerned for her, whilst Asuna had stopped to make sure she wasn't on her own in here.
''Toodle pip!'' A distinctly male voice bellowed through the caves, and with the choice of words... yeah, there was only one person who'd yell that! They were getting close!
''They're up there!'' Mito shouted back, as she sprinted off through the caves and towards the voice.
''We're coming!'' She yelled back after the lilac haired scythe wielder, who had already disappeared from view, headed deeper into the caves. With no hesitation, everyone was now sprinting after her, the heat in the air be damned!
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Less than a minute of running later, and the two groups had reunited. Koharu, with everything having happened over the past two days, charged at the trio and with an almost superhuman degree of strength, pulled all of them in a group hug. ''I knew you'd be okay!'' She almost sobbed into either Phillia's shoulder or Jet's torso, where her head had wound up, in the tangle that was the group hug...
''Yeah...'' Jet spoke quietly, before his head shot up, and he started shaking his head slightly. ''Can we, uhh, do this later? We kind of have a problem...'' He asked, as she shook her head. Damn it, they'd made her worry this much, and they were going to stay like this for more than a few seconds!
''What's the problem?'' Asuna asked, as Koharu let the group hug dissolve. The way she'd asked though, she certainly sounded a bit apprehensive at Jet's words.
''Well, we found the floor boss.''
''Wait, what about th' labyrinth-oh.'' Argo realised, being followed in realisation by Kirito, Mito and Nautilus. ''We're in it, ent we?''
Jet, Rain and Phillia replied wordlessly, nodding their heads, almost in unison. From behind them, Sanya walked out from behind, a look of pure rage on her face. With no hesitation or warning, he had positioned himself so everyone else was in her path...
''Do not think that I have forgotten or forgiven you for pinning me to the wall... pervert.'' She spat. For the briefest moment though, he could've sworn he saw a flash of smugness come across her face, almost as if this was some kind of game to her. That little bitch...
On the other hand, the look on Koharu's face was one of complete calm. Not an inkling of anger, nor anything else for that matter. Jet had faced down a boss, and been far more confident than he now was... mainly as an angry Koharu was an incredibly dangerous Koharu. The looks of trepidation on even Asuna's face sealed that idea for him...
''Oh, sweetheart, we are going to talk about this later, okay?'' She smiled ominously, as she walked past the knight. Even Kirito, the social dunce he could be knew better than to stand in her way as she walked over to Sanya... and carried on walking, passing her by and heading deeper into the caves, before turning back to everyone. ''Anyway, should we get going back to the rest of the assault team?'' She asked, a deceptive smile on her face...
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Today hadn't been much fun for Koharu, really. From everything that went on earlier, to believing she'd gotten her friends hurt... or worse, she had really had enough of the day that was. Sanya deciding to be spiteful, for an unknown reason was the straw that broke the camel's back, in terms of her temper.
She didn't really have a temper, per se, not like Jet or Asuna, who could both shout the house down when enraged, nor like Rain who could absolutely demolish a person's ego. Rather, she had what her boyfriend had labelled ''a mom temper''. The type of temper that was eerily calm, when the person told you that they weren't angry, but rather disappointed - the type of temper that hurt to be on the receiving end of so much more. Especially for her, as it bought back unpleasant memories, her father whenever she'd not performed as well as he believed she could.
''Koharu?'' The voice of her boyfriend approached through the caverns, with a much quieter tone than usual. She might have been livid, and especially with him, but even she could tell there was a sense of discomfort just from being here...
''Yeah?''
''Are you... I don't want to ask if you're okay, because even I'm not that inept, but well...?'' He asked, the question making absolutely no sense whatsoever.
''Whatever your asking, I am fine. Just, I guess I'm tired... that's all.'' It wasn't a lie, per se, but neither was it the complete truth.
''Sanya got to you, huh?'' He asked, pulling no punches in his questioning.
''It's just... I'm not jealous.'' There was only one interpretation for the look he was giving her right now.
''Okay, I wasn't about to say you were...'' He stated, slightly confused.
''It's just that, well... you're my boyfriend, not hers, and...'' His eyes went wide as he realised exactly what she was talking about.
''Koharu, you know I pushed her out the way of an attack, right? I really don't have any feelings like that for her.'' Most people, when accused of potentially having feelings for someone else that wasn't their significant other would usually have defended themselves. Jet, on the other hand, looked positively offended - not even at the implied impropriety, but at who that implied impropriety was apparently towards...
''Oh.'' She looked to the ground, and thought back through everything. Maybe she was being a bit presumptive, but she had seen Sanya give him a strange look, one that she really couldn't pinpoint, other than it resembling the same look she occasionally had when she was rather proud of a joke she'd... oh. That was what it was. ''So... she was just joking?''
''You'd have to ask her on that one, Ko. Anyway, we should get going, the guild leaders are holding a meeting, and... we're gonna have to explain everything to Pinky and Perky again, aren't we?'' Jet sighed, his smile fading into a look of resignation.
''You do know what's going on...'' Koharu walked on, standing a little taller as her boyfriend slumped into his shoulders, mumbling something about being the actual child being the adult in the room sometimes...
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Back on the Tenth Floor, the assault team had met up to discuss the upcoming battle. Briefly, Jet had a sinking feeling this would turn out exactly like the meeting they'd first had on that floor...
Unlike the Tenth Floor however, the meeting had gone relatively smoothly, with the three representative leaders being able to set aside their egos momentarily, and actually listen to what was being said.
Granted, having Rain there had helped, with both Lind and Kibaou already painfully aware at just how much dismantling their egos would be in for, were they not to do that. Heathcliff hadn't been present on the Seventh Floor, but Jet had figured that he was at least aware, given how both Lind and Kibaou could still not look even towards her without a look of guilt on their faces, even when she only smiled towards them.
Walking back out of the meeting, and into Senja Town, the first thing that struck Jet was just how beautiful the town itself was. The fading light of spring, combined with the cherry blossoms in the air truly made for an amazing atmosphere, especially with the old Japanese aesthetic of the town. The other thing he noticed was the smile on Koharu's face as they walked through the town, and along with her hand slightly extended out to one side, her fingers wiggling, he decided to take hold of her hand.
After everything that had happened, he really did owe her a date, he thought to himself. But first though, the group had to say goodbye to Nautilus and Yuna, who had, probably wisely, decided against fighting the floor boss. He'd remembered that he said he and Rain would help Yuna in her mission for her instrument, and told her that they'd come back after defeating the boss, before settling down for a proper meal for the first time in nearly three days...
It had been delicious, probably made even better by its absence for nearly three days, at least by his reasoning.
The rest of the evening had been a relatively sedate affair, Rain having returned to the orphanage to help out, and if he knew her well enough, give Sanya a talking to, assuming she hadn't done so already, whilst Phillia had heard rumours of a quest to find a key somewhere in the town, so she was otherwise occupied too.
All of that left just Jet and Koharu, alone with each other for the first time in a while. Whilst Koharu was content to just sit back and relax, especially considering the few days they'd had, he was thinking of things to do.
''You want to go and get food?''
''We had food earlier?'' Koharu looked up from the sofa.
''Rephrasing that. You want to go and get dessert?'' He asked, as his girlfriend's face lit up, answering the question conclusively with absolutely nothing by way of words. It wasn't much, but just watching her smile...
Well, sometimes that more than made up for the shit that Aincrad itself pulled.
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The next morning, the pair had woken up nice and early, and having met up with Rain, and removed Phillia from the sofa - Jet seriously had to wonder why the girl didn't just get her own room, there was no way that sleeping sprawled across a sofa was comfortable! - the group had gone for breakfast, and considered what they knew about the boss, and how they could go about it.
From their first encounter, they could expect the boss to rain down meteorites on them, which would need to be evaded, and they expected that the boss would use some kind of swinging attacks from its four armed form, but really, that was all they knew.
''Guess its the same plan as always?'' Phillia asked, finishing off her toast.
''Make it up as we go along?'' Jet half answered, and half stated.
''You'd have thought by now we'd be certain on this...'' Rain joked, as she put her bowl in the sink... not that washing up was even a thing in Aincrad.
Laughing at the atmosphere of the table, Koharu checked her HUD, and realised the time, her eyes going wide as she almost jumped out of her seat. Briefly confused, the rest of the group looked at their HUDs too - 09:54, and they were supposed to meet at the Village at 10am...
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With quite a bit of running, and a healthy does of luck, the group made it to the Village by just after 10 - well, 10:09 was ''just after 10''... in a universal sense, anyway - and to their relief, the assault team were still there, continuing to check their gear over.
Upon their arrival though, the force began to move into the caves, ready for any mobs that came their way...
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An hour had passed, and the force had reached the deepest point of the labyrinth, not far from the marker that had been put down for the boss room. Heathcliff, who'd been designated as the leader for the raid, began to reiterate what was already known - the boss, Alaz the Flame Shooter, was a lava demon of some kind, that had created a body of rock above the orb that held its consciousness. That orb was to be their primary target once they were in the fight, and that, should anyone be hit by a fire attack, to call for an Extinguishing Crystal.
With that formality done, the assault team headed into the chamber, whilst Jet, Rain and Phillia felt a small degree of Deja vu...
Inside the chamber though, the first thing that struck the trio who'd been there before was that the floor of the stage had changed. What had once been rivers of lava around them, had instead morphed into almost static ponds of a oily substance, with the texture of tar and a smell that could bring an army to its knees.
''The hell even is that smell!'' Kibaou could be heard yelling, as he made the mistake of stepping in some of the substance. Murmurs of confusion came from around the force, and even the unflappable Heathcliff looked somewhat baffled by the substance.
Before anyone really had chance to answer the question though, the same floating orb descended from above them, and that deep booming voice echoed throughout the chamber... ''INTRUDERS! MY REIGN SHALL BEGIN ONCE MORE!''
''Yeah, no.'' Jet muttered, drawing Hope out. ''That isn't happening!''
''INSOLENT HUMANS, I SHALL END YOUR PITIFUL SPECIES! YOUR ASHES WILL BE SCATTERED AMONGST THE WINDS OF MY NEW WORLD!''
''It... really likes to hear its own voice, doesn't it?'' Mito asked no one in particular, although her question was answered by a smattering of nods from the group.
''Should've seen it earlier, it and Jet were having a full blown conversation...'' Phillia answered, her response earning a raised eyebrow and a small degree of grumbling from Mito about the knight having found his own people...
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Alaz was no pushover, it had soon been discovered. Jet wondered just how badly the fight would've gone had it just been the four of them as it had been earlier, instead of the entire assault team, and soon reached an answer - catastrophically badly, apparently.
Whilst the boss certainly wasn't quite the force of nature he'd been led to believe by its bragging and threatening position, it certainly wasn't the easiest of fights either. Its attacks consisted of approximately three styles: Punches, flames and meteors.
The punches were the easiest to counter, as he and Rain had discovered the day previously. A well timed sword skill would parry the attack, and send it careening. Unlike the fight with the Pyrovile though, the fist would be redirected on a ballistic trajectory... back towards Alaz, doing tremendous damage when it inevitably impacted the lava beast/
The meteors however, were a different story. Even the best shield in the world could only take one hit, before being rendered completely unusable, beaten into oblivion by the force of a half ton flaming boulder slamming against it from altitude, as well as set alight by the same rock. Needless to say, defence was by far and above the best strategy here.
The flames though, they were proving the biggest challenge for the assault team. Each attack gave a new challenge, as it constantly changed up how the attacks would come - in one moment, it may be a wall of flames, acting as an area denial tool, whilst another was a laser fired from the avatar's single angry red eye.
That laser was a complete nuisance, the attack itself doing little damage, but inflicting massive debuffs on any poor sod hit, the worst of which was setting them on fire, which when combined with the defective pain limiter, was an almost unimaginably unpleasant experience...
Still though, Jet noticed they were actually prevailing, despite the long and drawn out fight. The beast's health had been whittled down to only two bars of health, and the concentration of attacks on the orb were doing their job - its HP was constantly decreasing, and showed no signs of slowing down.
Naturally, when things were going well, the game decided to switch things up, and in the most violent way possible. The ground beneath them shook again, this time cracking near the walls, as the tar-like substance leaked into the stage, forcing players back towards the walls, if they didn't want to be stuck to the floor...
At the walls, two small torches held to the wall by a wax-like substance lit up the room momentarily. That was, until the two torches burnt through their wax and dropped into the pools of the substance below.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE
With absolutely no warning, a horrific screech filled the air, the screech violently disorientating the players and even damaging their HP with a status effect, showing a bell ringing. If Jet had to have guessed, it was some kind of deafening effect, as he could feel his eardrums ringing as if someone had put him right next to a church bell, and gone to town on it.
''ARGGHHHH!'' A horrified scream carried on the walls, breaking through the ringing of his eardrums.
''HELP ME!'' Another terrified scream came and went, with no response.
He turned back to the walls to see a number of players on fire, flailing frantically as they and their friends tried to put them out. No matter what was used, be they Extinguishing Crystals or Health Potions, the fire simply refused to go out until the players fell.
''They-they're dead...'' Kibaou stood there in complete shock. For once, Jet couldn't blame him - he'd just watched his guild members, and probably even friends, burn alive, that would take a toll on anyone's mental state...
In that moment, he realised what that substance was - it was Aincrad's equivalent of Napalm. His blood ran cold at that thought, that the boss could use a weapon banned outright in real life, because of how horrific it was.
''Everyone! That substance, DO NOT TOUCH IT!'' Jet yelled, as he checked he'd got none on him.
''The... the hell even was that?!''
''Napalm, or something similar.'' He answered, looking back towards the centre of the stage to an even more blood curdling revelation...
The boss was guarding its core with a wall of fire, the hissing generated by the reaction of the heat and the oil bellowing throughout the stage, and into the nightmares of those present. They could no longer reach the orb at all, and worse still, the group were badly bloodied with an unknown number dead.
No matter what happened next, this was going to be remembered for a long time... and not as a victory for the Assault Team.
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Every single attempt at reaching the orb was proving troublesome. Of the assault team, only two members had any form of ranged weapons - Mito, whose throwing picks were doing little more than causing a mild nuisance, and Nezha, whose chakrams were doing a little bit more damage, but also running out faster than Mito's picks.
They needed a solution to that wall, and they needed one fast!
Flanking around the boss, a small break in the flame wall became apparent. Barely big enough for one single attacker, but if they could continuously hit it, that was all they'd need. The problem was, that break would only become apparent when the boss was being engaged - if it wasn't, the wall spread around the entire perimeter, and they'd be incinerated.
In his mind, Jet had a plan. If they could hit the boss from the front, with absolutely everything they had, then perhaps that wall would be so focused on the incoming attacks, to leave a gaping hole at the back. ''I've got a plan!'' He shouted, as he and Koharu raced over towards the main group...
They'd need almost perfect co-ordination, timing and more than a little bit of luck for this plan...
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As the plan was explained, it hadn't escaped Heathcliff's attention that the boss was continuing its attacks on the others, and that realistically speaking, this meeting would have to be rather short. Still though, the plan was a sound one - a saturation attack, to keep the boss avatar's attention and deal damage to it whilst a small group struck the orb that made up the boss itself.
He may have had more than a number of misgivings about Jet, most notably his sometimes bombastic personality and the constant references... but he could understand why Diavel had been rather unhappy about his failure to recruit him. Even on a tactical level, he was certainly more capable than he appeared and on a physical level, he was indeed one of the stronger members of the attack force - the tale of him tanking a direct hit from Wythege the Hippocampus still remained a popular one in that troubadour's repertoire, after all.
Considering the plan their best - and only - possibility for a positive outcome, Heathcliff agreed to it with little hesitation, ordering the elements of the HOA to engage the boss on his command.
Kibaou was the next to agree, his options being even more limited given how few remaining members of the ALS were left in the fight - by his reckoning, less than ten, and they were all more than happy to bring their fighting spirit to bear on the monster that had brutally killed their allies and friends. He wondered whether this was perhaps the beginning of the end for the ALS though, their numbers dwindled by the hands of the boss and their leader almost shell-shocked...
By contrast, Lind was the most hesitant. He could tell that the blue haired leader was rather less than impressed at the idea of someone else taking the leadership role away from him, and if he was entirely honest, he had serious questions on how the man had ever risen to the role of leader, other than by the rule of ''might makes right'', considering his current display of bravado.
Eventually though, even Lind stepped down and agreed to the plan. With the DKB now joined up with the ALS and HOA group, the non-affiliated group - led by Jet - raced around the boss, its eye wandering as they did.
Now was the time to attack...
''All members of the force, prepare for the saturation attack!'' He shouted, drawing his blade.
The noise of the combined attacks roared throughout the entire labyrinth, as they tore into Alaz...
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As the screams of the myriad of sword skills unleashed on Alaz pierced the air around the stage, the group made their way through the gap in the fire wall. The heat around them was almost unbearable as it reached over boiling temperature and began to produce steam around them, evaporating what little water was in the air...
The area they had to work with was tiny, probably less than six feet from the boss itself to the all consuming flames, and there were seven of them. Mito needed the most room to work, her scythe being a considerably more effective weapon at slightly more than arms length, so it was decided that her, Asuna and Kirito would switch with each other, bringing up the front.
The rest of the group would attack around the rear two-thirds of the orb, releasing everything they could muster at it. A volley of strikes from Hope tore into the orb, leaving a small crack where his blade had pierced it.
''Koharu, switch!'' His partner raced in with a multiple hit strike on the orb, her rapier piercing the cracked area again, before falling back. The crack began to spread out considerably quicker now.
''Rain, switch!'' The redhead unleashed a flurry of strikes on Alaz, the orb beginning to fracture under the combined efforts of the group.
''Phillia, switch!'' The dagger wielder made the decision to focus her attacks on the damaged area, and made the fracture exponentially worse, with it now spreading almost completely around the orb, to join with the crack made on the other side by the other trio.
''I WILL NOT DIE! YOU WILL ALL BURN!'' Came the voice of Alaz, as the orb began to crack open, the two cracks joining together...
''This is for everyone!'' Jet pulled a war hammer from his inventory, and swung as hard as he could. From the other side, it looked like Mito had the same idea with her scythe, and the unlikely combination of scythe and war hammer obliterated the outer surface of the orb. Destroyed, the orb dropped to the floor, its glow gone as it shattered into pixels, and the usual banner came up above everyone's heads.
CONGRATULATIONS!
It was over. Alaz the Flame Shooter was dead, and the Thirteenth Floor, the floor that had seemingly taken the most out of everyone who'd stepped foot on the forgotten land, was over.
The fires around the groups died down, and although the group emerged victorious, the air around them was not one of victory. It was one of loss. The victory they'd fought for had taken such a toll that, by Kibaou's estimates, the ALS had lost ten of its best members, almost all of them to that damned napalm attack, whilst DKB had gotten lucky, at least in comparison - only two of their members had died, a fact which Lind seemed considerably less eaten up by, if Jet was being completely honest.
Kibaou, on the other hand - well, Jet would admit he didn't really get along with the man, but even he felt sorry for him. The spiky haired man was leaning against a wall, now safe by the destruction of the boss, a completely blank look on his face, as he looked over the group.
''We won, I guess.'' Even Phillia seemed less willing to crack a joke than usual. ''You reckon he's okay? I mean, he's a pain but...''
''He did just lose ten people, Ginge. I'd be surprised if he is.'' He replied, as the group reformed.
He turned to the other trio that had taken on the orb. Of them, Kirito seemed the least exhausted, but even he was showing signs of running on steam, as it were. The two girls looked completely exhausted, with even Asuna's perfectly kept hair looking like she'd walked backwards through a hedge, having become slightly frizzy in the humid temperatures below the volcano. ''So, what are you three going to do know? Head up to the next floor, or?''
''Possibly, you?''
''Our gear's trashed, so we need some new equipment, and truthfully, I need a lie in after the past few days.'' Jet laughed, although there was no mirth to be found in it.
Asuna shot him an understanding look, and looked towards the rest of the assault team. Lind and his guild were, not celebrating per se, but in higher spirits compared to everyone else - a stark contrast to the ALS members, who all looked heartbroken to a degree. Noticeably, Liten was not with them, but over in her own corner with a member of the DKB, the second in command, Shivata if he remembered rightly. He'd have said it was cute to see, but considering the circumstances... it was far from that. ''We're going to be remembering this, aren't we?'' She asked, already knowing the answer.
''Yeah. I wish I'd cottoned onto the flamethrowers earlier. Maybe we wouldn't have been in this mess then...'' Jet ran a hand through his singed hair in frustration.
''I can't say that any of us would have noticed that.'' The even tone of the vice-commander of the HOA joined the conversation. Jet wondered if that was his way of trying to reassure him that it hadn't been his fault. It hadn't done much, mind you, but it was the thought that counted, he supposed.
''Perhaps.'' Jet dodged answering the statement with anything definitive. His mind simply wouldn't let him avoid the blame he had for this mess, and he made no mistake on that, he knew it perfectly clearly.
''We're going to head up to the next floor then. Don't take too long, I'd hate to overtake you...'' Kirito stated sarcastically, earning a small chuckle from Jet.
''You wish, mate.'' Jet replied with the smirk of an older sibling, before becoming more serious. ''But seriously, stay safe, will you?''
''We will, don't worry.'' Kirito answered.
''Same goes to you four. Try not to get into too much trouble... again.'' The sly smirk on Mito's face was telling of how she thought of them, he thought. Still, it got a laugh out of him...
''Yeah, it'll be us bailing you out next time... bet on it.'' He grinned, knowing the reaction it would raise from the reaper. Wordlessly, she held out her arm...
''Alright, 50 Col, you're on!'' He shook her outstretched hand, making a binding agreement. Whatever chaos would happen, it was a dead cert that both groups wouldn't be too far away anyway... just the small matter of who was pulling who from the fire.
The reactions of the members were equally amusing: Kirito gave his male counterpart a knowing look, Asuna and Rain both had their hands over their faces, sighing to themselves, whilst Koharu and Phillia were too busy laughing at the sight of the bet over absolutely nothing...
''I think we should be off too... I could do with a new tunic.'' His girlfriend looked down sadly at her once crimson tunic - large sections were scorched, black as her hair, whilst sections had been ripped apart and torn away too. Thankfully for her dignity however, most of those sections were around her arms and the small section that overlapped with her skirt, whilst her leather breastplate had also taken a beating.
''Same... though I had been meaning to change my look up a bit too.''
''We're all in the same situation, right? Maybe we could all go and change our gear?'' Those words bought a greater fear into Jet's heart than even the Flame Shooter had. Two words that struck fear into most teenage males... ''Clothes shopping.''
With little hesitation, he typed out a message to the other male in the group. It simply read: ''Help me.''
The response that came back was not quite what he'd hoped for... just a smiley face. ''Well, shit...'' He thought to himself, as he followed behind the girls.
Was it too late to change groups for a bit?
{Author's Comments}
Apologies for being a bit late with this one - I'd focused my efforts on Through the Looking Glass at the weekend, to try and get it up by the 1st November, and left a rather close deadline with this. I'd appreciate anyone checking out Through the Looking Glass, which is a Doctor Who/SAO crossover, with the plot of Alicization, but a Dr Who spin on it...
Hopefully, next week's chapter won't be too late, and will probably be up on Wednesday if all goes well.
As always, if you've enjoyed this, leave a review or PM, and if you want to see more, follow and favourite!
Signing off,
Midland 2541