italics - Thoughts
Bold underlined - Spells/Sword Skills
[Bold] - Ddraig
[Ddraig] - Ddraig mental speech
{Bold} - Albion speech
[Issei] - Issei mental speech with Ddraig
[Issei] - Issei speaking with Ddraig
Underlined - Timeskips/Flashbacks
"Bold" - Rating Game Announcement
Disclaimer: I do not own Highchool Dxd, Sword Art Online, or any of its characters. All rights belong to their creators.
Chapter 15: Their battles for personal gains Pt.2
"…too weak." The Black Swordsman muttered under his breath, swinging his blade once to clear it off any blood that remained on its surface.
The moment the devil had turned invisible, Kazuto thought that this enemy was going to be formidable. After all, it was hard to fight what one could not see, nor could they defend effectively. Even if his reaction speed was higher than average(and that was when he was a human), would his body even be able to sense and defend properly against an invisible enemy?
Apparently, rather easily.
When the devil had lunger at him, the dust surrounding him, all accumulated from the years of no one cleaning the place, flew up into the air. This created a void in the area where the devil was. So, the devil was surprised to see Kazuto precisely loops off it's head with a quick swing.
"…h…ow…." It took a moment for the brain to perceive that it had been separated from its body. But, the moment it saw it's own headless body, dripping blood all over the floor, the realization it was dead caught up to it. "Im…possible…..to die….to a lowly….devil…."
"Like I said. Too weak." Kazuto sheathed his sword, allowing his coat and visor to fade out of the air. Without looking back, he walked towards the server room. Honestly, that devil is way too weak. It's laughable!
And really, he was too proud for his own gain. Kazuto felt his pride as not only a kendoka practitioner(former, but getting back into the game slowly through some competitions here and there), but a swordsman sting from the easy fight. Honestly. One would know better than to launch themselves as they are invisible in a enclosed area. Even more so when said area is so dusty, they would be easily identified when the dust shows their location.
..
..
"What took you so long?" Eiji stared at the boy that had just entered. "And is that…blood?"
"It's just some dried ketchup." Waving his hand, Kazuto pointed to the server, taking in it's appearance. Inside this large space was another room, entirely made of glass. In the middle of this room was a jet black mainframe that was far bigger than the average human.
Two front panels with sculpture-like figures, with numerous indicators flickering, like it was a restless beast. Running along the sides, where two blue lines glowed lightly. Attached next to it, on a panel to the right, where three, very familiar characters.
SAO
"Well, you asked for our help." Kazuto looked around, albeit restlessly. He was expecting more hidden devils to appear. "What now?"
"There should be an access point that is only available in this server room." Eiji took out an Amusphere from his pack. "No other signal should be able to reach here, so your VR machine should be able to pick it up automatically." Clearing some boxes, Eiji made a big enough space for them to sit. "Remember, if we get separated, meet me on floor 40."
"Right." Although Eiji had graciously cleared an area of Kazuto and Asuna to sit, he could not help but clear his own space, as well as Asuna's closer to the edge of the wall. His instincts were telling him sitting close to the glass partitions were a bad idea.
Silently, the three of them sat down, leaning their backs against the surface they were nearest: Eiji, the glass partitions. Asuna and Kazuto, some boxes and the wall. Exchanging glances, the three of them matched their timings. Taking a deep breath they shouted the keyword that would allow them to FullDive.
""Link Start!""
Their Augmas, whose FullDive function had been released and untouched for two months, was used once more. Feeling his conscious detach from his physical body, he felt himself soaring as he flew through the familiar rainbow space.
..
..
Quietly, from the corridor, two shadowy figure looked at the motionless bodies of the trio. "I want to kill them so badly… "
"Patience."One of the figures hit the other on the head. "They could lead us to him. We would not need to waste time searching for him."
"…okay then." With that, the two retreated from the room, leaving the three bodies alone. For now.
..
..
The first thing that Kazuto felt with his senses was the smell of blooming flowers. Then, shortly after, the sound of the wind, the cold air brushing his cheeks, and finally, the sound of flowing water.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a deep-red coloured sky due to a setting sun. It was a familiar scene, bringing Kazuto back to when Kayaba talked to him and Asuna before SAO's game data was deleted on the server they were on.
"Papa, Mama, please wake up!" A small tugging sensation could be felt on his arm, causing Kazuto to look down.
Fingerless gloves and a black leather coat covered his form, with a metal plate over his chest. Moving his hands to the back of his coat, he felt the cold hilts of his two beloved swords. This confirms it. This is my avatar.
Lowering his arms, Kazuto turned around, his eyes first meeting his daughter Yui, this time in her white-on-piece dress, instead of her usual pixie form in ALO, as well as Asuna, wearing her old KOB uniform. A paved pathway, made of white stone, extended straight ahead, leading directly to a crimson red palace.
Flower beds covered the pathway, each filled with various flowers. As he approached one of them, he could see a purple-blue one, not yet fully bloomed, sticking out of the box.
"Kirito-kun…" Asuna walked up to Kazuto, grasping his hand.
"Yeah…" He had nearly forgotten the view. Asuna would have definitely not known about this, not having been here before besides that one time, but Kazuto did. He had been here a total of three times now, including this time. "So, this is Aincard's hundredth floor…"
The first time he was here, it had been when he was led by White Yuna. At that time, he felt like he was hovering between fiction and reality, so his memories of this area were very hazy. The second time, he and his friends had slowly descended into the floor boss room, straight into the Ruby Palace Asuna, however, had shot towards the ground like a missile instead of a graceful petal, so she missed most of scenery on the way down. So, technically, this was his third time stepping foot on the hundredth floor of Aincard, while it was the first time he had seen the floor itself.
If I had not fought Heathcliff…Kayaba Akihiko back then on the seventy-fifth floor, then the game would have continued until a further two years. Kazuto gazed around, taking in the sights, while also mentally judging how long it would have taken for them to reach the very place they were standing on. Or perhaps…we would have been defeated on some floor without being able to accomplish the end goal we sought…
But first… "Yui, is the last boss still inside?"
In response, the adopted AI answered in a whisper. "No Papa. The server appears to be in a state where the last boss, the 'An Incarnation of the Radius', had been defeated by Mama, Papa and the others."
Makes sense….An MMO has no credit rolls or a second world usually, unless the creators wanted to do so… Kazuto looked around. "…Eiji is not here?"
"The only ones to appear at these coordinates are Papa, Mama and me, you know?" Yui looked at Kazuto, her eyes carrying a faint light of surprise.
Well, it is a possibility that Asuna brought up… Kazuto was thankful to his girlfriend for actually thinking about that possibility.
"So, we are at the top of Aincard?" Asuna looked around her, drinking in the sights around her. "Does this mean that the basics of MMORPGs of logging in at the same location where we logged out still applies here?"
"Guess so." Kazuto hurriedly lead Asuna towards the Teleport Gate, which he had spotted out of the corner of his eye. "But, why teleport us outside the dungeon? We logged out inside the dungeon, after we defeated the boss."
"Papa, Cardinal was programmed to teleport any players stuck in dungeons the moment they log out, should the dungeon or field boss be defeated." Yui walked alongside the couple, her bare feet making pitter-patter sounds as they hit the paved pathway. "Kayaba did this to make it easier for players to get to shops without a penalty, if they were forced to exit the game for some reason."
"That function would have been helpful if SAO had not been a death game." Kazuto could understand the reason for Kayaba's programming that way. After all, if one were to log in, only to find that the boss they had worked so hard to defeat had respawned and was about to clobber them, that would leave a bad taste in the gamer's mouth, and the programmer's too.
..
..
Run.
Eiji cared not for the fact that his equipment was exactly the same the day he was logged out of SAO.
Run.
Nor did Eiji care that the everywhere he went, the place was devoid of players, only filled with NPCs. Most of them followed his running figure, their eyes tracking his movements, before they moved away from him, the player having exited their range.
Have to get to Yuuna.
Stopping at the plaza in front of the Blackiron Palace, he immediately jumped into the Teleport Gate. Without a single shred of hesitation, he teleported to the main town of the fortieth floor; Jaileum.
Once again running through a town devoid of players, he ignored the familiar streets, before he arrived at the western gate. He was about to run out into the field, to where Yuuna had stood last, but an open café facing the plaza caught his frantic gaze.
Naturally, as there were only three players in SAO at the moment, it had no visitors, save for the random passing NPC. But, a singular table caught his eyes. Like a moth attracted to a flame, he found his body being gravitated towards that table.
As he continued to stare at that table, he blinked, and then, like a mirage, two players appeared.
There was nothing special about them. Their clothes were similar to the NPCs around them, save for the weapon at the boy's side. Then, he blinked, and suddenly, he was looking at an image completely different from before.
A white mantle, lined with red, was attached to a boy wearing a silver breastplate. On his opposite side, was a girl wearing a white hood, before that too changed into a vivid, royal blue dress, decorated with golden frills and a buckle. A mantle, going to her waist, covered the top half of her body. And atop her head, was a pure white feathered hat.
Both of them, looking like a knight and a troubadour respectively, were sitting down on the chairs, eating some pancakes and having a friendly chat.
Eiji could not hear the contents of their chat, but as he watched, the boy accidentally spilled some of the drink he held in his hand, the girl sitting before him laughing at the boy's clumsy nature. Taking a step, he tried to hear their non-existent conversation, only for them to be replaced by a new, different image. One that made him doubt his sanity for a moment.
The boy, this time, older, was wearing a white mantle, lined with red. But underneath was the familiar exosuit he had used before, during the Ordinal Scale event. Beside him was a girl, her hair a shade of milk-tea brown. It was long, going down to her knees, but the side had two, small braids, both of them tied with white and red ribbons. Both of them were looking at him, small smiles on their faces. When he blinked, they had disappeared.
What was that? Cautiously, he approached the café.
On the store's window glass, he saw a reflection of his own avatar. It would have been an exact replica of his hallucination(the second one), but compared to the illusionary boy he had seen earlier, it was shorter than Eiji in the real world, and his face was younger too.
The face of Nautilus, his other self. The coward he could not fight when it mattered.
Gritting his teeth, Eiji turned around once more and ran. This time, he stepped into the Outer Field without stopping, the apparitions gone from his mind
The field of steep boulders was a sight he had not seen for three years, yet it seemed to be fresh memory in his mind, like it was just yesterday he had stepped foot into the maze. Despite the fact that the route he was taking was one he had only taken once, every step he took was confident, sure that it would lead him to the destination he desired.
He had already discussed it with Kirito. That if Yuuna was asking for help from this world, she would only be at one place. The field dungeon at the western edge of the fortieth floor, where she had first died.
Kirito… As Eiji thought of the name, numerous emotions rushed to the surface. The first one, of course, was anger. That teen had thwarted their plans, the professor's and his, to bring back Yuuna as an AI.
True, the methods that had used were horrible. If it had been some other way, such as copying their memories, instead of forcibly scanning them, perhaps they would have taken that route instead. In this way, Yuuna would have been revived, 'brought' back from the dead, as a true AI with the personality of 'Yuuna Shigemura'.
Internally, Eiji groaned. Like such a method existed. The human brain was not one that many could understand. Even the greatest minds, who were regarded as geniuses, were unable to understand how they worked. So, the duo had decided to use a method they were familiar with, thanks to the SAO incident. Forcibly scanning one's memories, with the chance of severe spinal or brain damage.
Then, there was the second, main feeling.
Thankfulness.
Despite his hatred for thwarting his plans, a small part of him could understand why, and thanked Kirito, for stopping him. Even if Yuuna had been 'brought back', she would not have been happy that many were sacrificed, all for one person to live again. For her to live again.
That part of him grew slightly, when Kirito, the one man who had every right to hate and curse him, accepted his apology, and agreed to help him. Well, I can chalk the second bit to him having a hero syndrome.
..
Before long, a half-collapsed ruins-like structure appeared.
So far, he had been avoiding battles, not seeing the point of unnecessary fights, but now that he had reached the ruins, a field dungeon with confined paths, he could no longer employ the method he had been using so far.
Taking out the one-handed sword he had sheathed on the left side of his waist, Eiji allowed the familiar weight of the blade to calm him, giving him courage, before he dived into the dungeon, never stopping.
His level, and conversely, his stats, had not risen a single bit ever since Yuuna had perished. He was barely, just barely, able to fight on the fortieth floor. Yet, he did not allow that fact to stop him, nor did he want to stop. Yuuna!
The minute he stepped into the field dungeon, multiple cursors popped up in his path, showing the presence of mobs he had to fight against.
They were called 'Harsh Tormentors'. Typical small-fry mobs that appeared in every field dungeon. Despite being small-fry, however, they were always in groups, which meant that one could not let their guard down, lest they get overwhelmed by the group of mobs.
"Out of the way!" Yet Eiji showed no fear, executing the Sword Skills left and right against the group of mobs mercilessly.
In a few minutes, he had reached his destination.
A huge gate loomed over Eiji. A sturdy-looking portcullis made of iron bars was raised to the top, leaving the entrance clear for anyone to go through.
Or at least….that was how it was supposed to be.
"Damn it…Spells have no effect, and these…Sword Skills…only leave scratches! Even the sword that I had that blacksmith make me broke here!" A human-like being growled. Eiji would have thought that person to be a mob or player, except for two things.
The first, he had leathery bat wings protruding from his back. They were folded up, but it's edges were brushing against the cobbled floor of the field dungeon. And the second, was the cursor atop his head.
It was a mixture of blood-red black.
"What on earth..." Eiji muttered in a low voice. He only knew of three colours in SAO when it came to players and mobs" Green for the good players, amber yellow for those who had harmed players outside of duels, and bright red for harmful mobs and player killers. He had never seen a blood-red black coloured cursor before.
"…Hmm?" The monster-looking player turned towards Eiji. "So, there are others that have arrived…"
"Who are you?" Eiji levelled his sword at the…thing before him. This thing…he gives me shivers just looking at his face…
"Me?" The 'player' chuckled, before it opened its palms. Eiji could see that instead of fingers, he had claws at the tips of its hands. "I suppose you are one of those Survivors, judging by your attire. If that is the case…"
*swoosh*
Eh? Eiji felt himself lose his balance. What just…happened? When he looked up, he saw that his right hand was outstretched, as if he had used it to swing downwards. Seeing his gaze, Eiji followed it to his left side.
His eyes widened in shock at what he saw, for his left arm was dissolving into polygons in front of his very eyes.
"Mm…" The being frowned. "Too weak. You failed my test. So, perish here, young one." As he spoke, it's free hand manipulated it's menu, causing another weapon to pop out. This time, it was a halberd.
What is this? Eiji managed to catch himself from falling further. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tip of the weirdly shaped halberd being raised into the air. I have to dodge!
Eiji was wearing an Amusphere, so if he died in the game, there was no chance of him dying in real life–IRL–. That was part of the reason that allowed him to so boldly dive back into the game that only held the horrifying memories of the times when he could die with a single misstep. There was also the main reason he dived back in here: To save his childhood friend. So, that being the case, he should have been fine with allowing his character to perish right there and then. After all, without the NerveGear, this was just like any other game he played before.
Two things made him want to dodge.
The first was that Yuna was most likely on the verge of self-destruction at that very moment. From what he deduced on his own, as well as from what he heard from Kirito, AI's are unable to recognise copies of themselves. The longer they interact or realise the fact that there are more of 'themselves', errors would pile up internally, until finally, they self-destruct from being unable to handle all the errors.
The second one was him considering the worst case scenario, should he have to dive into the SAO servers alone, with no help.
In the beginning, SAO was a VR game meant to be played online, with 10,000 players in a single server. That was the premise. But, the Death Game incident happened, trapping these 10,000 players in a game which would have usually killed even a veteran player 10 times over, even with the best equipment and items, if they made a false move. So, that also meant there was no respawn item for him to use, either on himself, or for other to use on him.
This option…this fact, also gave rise to a very valid question for Eiji:
What if his player data is wiped?
Now, in other games, this would be easily resolved. First, they could ask the GMs to help retrieve their lost player data, or they could simply farm for materials and levels again from scratch.
But SAO was not like these other games.
In SAO, there was only one GM. And that was Kayaba Akihiko. And he was dead. Even if there were other GMs, they had to be online for them to help him. And, as far as they could see, only he, Asuna and Kirito were in the game at the moment, not including the being trying to kill him at the moment. This meant, essentially, he had but one life. Should his player data be wiped at that moment, he would be unable to find and meet Yuuna as Nautilus.
His second chance would be gone, like dust in the wind.
So, Eiji knew he had to move. He made the action to side-step the overhead attack…
…but his body did not budge.
What? Eiji thought that his body had been inflicted with a status effect, or if he had fallen into a trap, but his body, nor did his status, give any indication of such a thing had happened, even when he checked his avatar out of the corner of his eye.
Everything seemed to go by in slow motion. The halberd's edge slowly moved closer to his face, his feet, not budging an inch, and the final remaining polygons that once signified his hand dispersing slowly in the digital air.
.
Eiji knew the reason for why he was stuck in place. More specifically, why his avatar was going through the very same avatar stiffening phenomenon all those years ago.
FNC – Also known as FullDive Non-Conformity. It was a condition where there was an error in the transmission between the cerebrum, and the EF matrix panel, limiting his actions in the virtual world.
Everyone had different responds and triggers for FNC, should they have the unfortunate luck of getting the malfunction. It could vary between seeing a certain type of monster, to a specific action that triggered bad memories.
In Eiji's case, the trigger was his fear of death. When trying to evade danger, his base instincts would overwhelm his ability to reason. This caused both sides to clash and create conflicting actions, forcing his avatar to freeze in place. Professor Shigemura, who explained this logic to him, had said that this was a flaw on the side of the hardware, not him or the software. Thus, it was an issue that Eiji could not solve through his will and thoughts.
Move! Move! Move! Eiji desperately looked around him slow motion. That last attack had already shaven his health to the red. His other arm was slowly moving to clutch the non-existent pain of him losing his arm. Fear flooded his system-
Ah…
It as at that moment that Eiji realised something.
This was an emotion that Kirito had to combat every day, for two years, when he fought on the front lines as he clear SAO.
This fear was already there in all the Clearers when they were together, farming for levels or the Boss monster, as it could be very well the last monster they would face before they died. And, for Kirito, this fear was even more prominent in him, as he had to clear the floors on his own, solo, for nearly 80% of his time in SAO.
But he did not allow that fear to stop him from farming levels. To kill mobs and kill Bosses. If he were forced to say… …Kirito managed to do all of this, and more(when he fought and won against himself, who was assisted by software and hardware, as well as the final boss, which was supposed to be an absolute existence in the Cardinal system), it was because of his willpower. The mental strength he had used to overcome the primal emotion called fear.
Fear.
This emotion could be directly tied to him feeling scared.
Nothing could be done about feeling fear…about feeling scared. He had, all this time, averted his eyes to the harsh reality that he was weak in nature. He had refused to see that emotion.
In that case…I should overcome that weakness of mine! Look my fear and weakness in the face…and conquer…that…waaaall!
"…MOOOOOOOOOVVVEEEEEE!"
*bakin*
Eij thought he heard something break when he lunged backwards, rolling out of the halberd's reach at the last second.
"…oh?" the strange player/monster shouldered the halberd. "Maybe you are not a worm after all…perhaps, an ant?"
"Who are you?" Eiji took out the last healing potion he had, drinking it down quickly. As he watched, his health shot back into the green, if barely. Unfortunately, his lost arm did not come back, so he had to get used to his new sense of balance now.
"…very well then." The unknown thing sighed. "In honour of you dodging my attack, as well as being one of the species who had survived this hell for two years, let me share with you my name."
It straightened up, unfurling his wings to the very limit, allowing Eiji to see them in all of its glory. Small horn protruded from his temple as well. His equipment, which were some basic looking leather armour, morphed into a tie and suit in front of his very eyes, without manipulating the menu at all. What on earth?
"My name is Damon(*1*)." The now introduced Damon bowed his head slightly, placing it's halberd behind it's back. "And, I am a devil."
…what?
"Well, not that matters in the end." Damon, the self-proclaimed devil(In Eiji's eyes) sighed. "you can choose to think of me as a fraud, but I am a genuine devil. And, with this weapon of mine…you won't be able to live to see the next sunrise."
As soon as he finished talking…Damon appeared before Eiji, halberd raised.
"!" Eyes widening in surprise, Eiji attempted to move back, only to find his free arm in the clasp of the devil.
"Let us see if you are can be composed with the loss of both your arms, shall we?" Directing a dark smile at him, Damon brought down his halberd on his outstretched arm.
Shit! Eiji could not do anything. In fact, no matter how hard he struggled, he could not break free. Every time he tried to move his arm, it felt like he was trying to pull a brick wall! Is this it?
Just as Eiji resolved to lose Yuuna, even after he got that far-
*Ga-kin*
The sound of metal clashing against metal was the first thing that registered in his mind. This was followed by the silver shine of the weapon above him, as well as the blue gem embedded in its hilt. And finally, the flapping noises of the black coat, which belonged to the owner of the massive silver blade.
"Oi oi," Kirito grimaced he flicked the halberd upwards, forcing Damon to take a few steps back to regain his footing. "What on earth is this? Some sort of costumed player? Or is it a unique boss?"
When Asuna and Kazuto had arrived on the designated floor, Yui stiffened up, her body refusing to move for a split second.
"Yui?" Kazuto stopped, bending down to one knee to look as his daughter. "Is something wrong?"
"Papa…there is someone else in Aincard." Yui's words shocked Kazuto. What?
"Who is it?" Asuna asked, a frown on her face. "We did not see anyone else when we logged in. Is it perhaps…the remnants of Yuuna that you are sensing, Yui?"
"…not quite, Mama." Yui slowly shook her head. "There seems to be a different player…or rather, this appears to be a new player. Someone who was not among the ones who were trapped by Kayaba from the Supernatural side, or the human side three years ago."
"So…they could be using the underworld's version of a Nervegear to play?" Kazuto asked, eyes widening in surprise. "But, for what purpose would they do this?"
"I don't know Papa." Yui started to run ahead, pulling both her parent's hands as she did so. "But we have to hurry. Eiji is nearing the devil's location as we speak!"
"Yui, please lead the way!" Kazuto stopped allowing himself to be dragged along, using the full spectrum of his DEX and AGI stats to bring him to the area they had to go, Asuna and Yui leading the way.
..
When they arrived, they saw that the devil-looking avatar was about to cut off Eiji's remaining arm. Acting quickly, Kirito used one of the further player-launching skills that he knew, Rage Spike, to launch himself forwards, the silver blade he had obtained from defeating the last boss equipped in his hand.
*Ga-kin*
With the sound of ringing metal, the two wepaons collided in a shower of virtual sparks.
"Oi oi," Kazuto grimaced he flicked the halberd upwards, forcing Damon to take a few steps back to regain his footing. "What on earth is this? Some sort of costumed player? Or is it a unique boss?"
Feeling the familiar stiffening of his body, Kazuto use of the post-motion delay to slide himself in-front of Eiji, protecting him from further harm to his avatar.
"Oh ho?" The devil's voice sounded deep. "You look much different compared to the one behind you. Are you, perchance, another one of the survivors?"
"…and, if we are?" Kazuto took the time to glance at his bar. Surprisingly, when he had deflected the halberd's attack, his health had taken a large dip, the damage amounting to one tenth of his health bar.
But, even as he watched, it was shooting right back up. The sword he was holding at that moment, Relic's Soul, had multiple passive buffs when equipped. Including an increase in attack, regeneration of 1000 HP per sec, speed increase, defence increase, Sword Skill cooldown reduction, and nullification to abnormal status debuffs.
Honestly, why is such an overpowered item in the game? Kazuto still could not wrap his head around the absurd weapon drop. If anyone got their hands on this, especially a beginner, they could easily solo a few bosses, and get away with defeating them without any changes to their equipment for the next 10 floors!
But still…for me to take damage, even when I parried his weapon… Kazuto eyed the halberd warily. I don't remember seeing such a weapon in game before…nor do I think any player blacksmith could do this, since none of them would willingly approach SAO again. So, where did he get that weapon? And, how high of a level is he? "So, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, excuse me for my rudeness." The devil bowed his head slightly, halberd kept at the ready. "This one's name is Damon. I am a devil, and I am here looking for the half-devil Kayaba Akihiko."
Kayaba? Kazuto blinked in surprise. Does he know that Kayaba is alive?
"You show no surprise to the name, nor to my race." Damon noted.
"Everyone knows who is Kayaba Akihiko." Kazuto countered. "I don't know if what you are saying about you being a devil is true right now, but I would like to ask. Why are you here, Damon?"
"That is a simple question to answer, young one" Damon grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "Me and my group had been on the lookout for Kayaba Akihiko for a long time. Ever since the Death Gamed ended, in fact. At first, we were told that he had committed suicide. But, we did not believe that. Such a person willing to go so far as trap so many people would not do something as cowardly as killing himself once the game ended. So, we wanted to punish him for what he had done to out brethren, so we kept an ear to the ground for any hints of him."
"We did not get many hints of him during this past three years. Not until two months ago." Damon's grin became wider.
Two months ago…that's roughly the time Asuna and I got reincarnated as devils. Kazuto had a very good guess on who had turned them into devils now.
"We picked up a trail that smelled unmistakably of Kayaba Akihiko two months back. It was the closest we had ever been to finding him, so we followed it. And it lead us to here. I was sent to comb through this game world that was once a prison for you, and the ones behind you." Damon's eyes momentarily went towards the collapsed Eiji, before it went to Asuna and Yui, the former of which who was giving Eiji the healing items she had on hand, while the latter hid behind the twin players, her head peeking out from behind Asuna's form. "Eventually, I managed to corner him here."
"…I see." Kazuto now saw why the devil wads in SAO. But some things did not add up. Mainly, why would Kayaba have bothered to revive both him and Asuna, when her could have chosen to stay hidden. This did not add up. "And your weapon? I doubt that you could have gotten it from any of the NPC shops here. And, judging by your attire, I am guessing you are a mid-level player…probably around level 55."
"An astute observation and guess, young one." Damon tilted his head slightly. "But…that's not the only thing you have, right?"
"…"
"Such a disappointment." Damon shook his head. "You can tell that I am a devil. After all, you are one too, no? As are the ones behind you."
"…" Kazuto said nothing, only putting the massive blade back in his inventory, instead taking out his beloved twin blades once more. Silently, he drew the both of them out, settling into a familiar stance.
Kazuto thought he was ready, but the moment he blinked, Damon had disappeared.
"Boo." Damon's voice was the only warning he had before he sensed the killing intent that he emitted.
"!" Instinctively, Kazuto leapt forwards, twirling midair to face his opponent. Seeing the halberd fly towards him, Kazuto used the only defensive Skill he had in his arsenal. "Cross Block!"
"Gah!" Kazuto let out a groan as the halberd came into contact with his crossed blades, the health bar dipping down again out of the corner of his eyes.
"Too weak." Damon muttered, lowering his raised halberd. His eyes watched as Kazuto was sent flying into the portcullis. "How did you survive the incident? Even if you are a higher level than me, even if you have better equipment than me, you should be not as weak as this." Damon slowly walked towards Kazuto, still recovering from the stun effect of the Sword Skill the halberd had inflicted on him. "Tell me, how did you survive and progress as far as you did?"
"Haaa..." Kazuto breathed out a breath. So, this is what using one's devil abilities in the game means… "This is why you devils are so proud then? Because you are stronger? If so…that's naïve."
"…what?" Damon raised an eyebrow at Kazuto, stopping for a singular second.
And that second was all that they needed.
"…what?"
One moment, he was looking at the pitiful devil collapsed on the ground, holding the dual blades like a fool. The next, he was being forced forwards.
Straight into the raised blades of the pitiful devil before him.
"Impossi-" Damon could do nothing as he was forced onto the outstretched blades. In that moment, his health, which had remained full the entire time, dipped to less than three quarters.
What is this? Damon tried to pull himself free, but found his back blocked. When he looked behind him, he saw that the white-clothed devil had embedded her thin sword into his back. Her entire body was a literal meat shield that prevented him from advancing backwards. She circled behind me? I did not even see her…such speed….it is befitting that of the Knight piece.
At that moment, he felt himself being lifted into the air. Hurriedly, he turned to face the black-clothed devil.
The black one had recovered from the status effect his Sword Art(devil's name for Sword Skills) had done, raising his two long swords into the air. Because he was still pinned onto them, he was also raised into the air as well. What's more, the white one, who was still grasping her sword, was also holding onto her blade, so the black devil was lifting not only him.
He was also lifting his equipment, his ally, and her equipment as well.
"This is…" His next words were cut off by the black devil's next words.
"Double Circular!"
.
Damon had researched SAO before he dived in. The main reason for this being that he wanted to have as many advantages as possible before he faced Kayaba, imprisoned him, and made him into one of his Pawns.
All the devils in the underworld knew that Kayaba was a half-devil. They also knew that he was a brilliant mage-type devil, his intellect close to the Maou Beelzebub, which allowed him to get his own magic crest, as well as his own Evil Pieces.
But what many did not know was that Kayaba had a Sacred Gear. And that Sacred Gear was something that had infinite possibilities, and infinite uses, when used in the right hands. If used correctly, it had the ability to rival the Dragon Emperors in power!
This was the main purpose that he formed the group to find Kayaba. To make use of his power, and force him under his thumb.
So, he researched. What he could use, what he could. And most importantly, whether devils could use their abilities in the game.
This was what he found: There were numerous fighting styles and skills, as well as numerous weapon types. But they could be broken down into these categories: one-handed sword, two-handed sword, axe, mace, dagger, claw and polearms.
Each weapon was influenced by their stats. And a polearm was what Damon was most familiar with, followed closely by dual weapons.
He used his demonic energy reserves to forcibly increase his 'stats', and used large amounts of money to allow him to digitize his personal weapons, bringing them with him into the world of Sword Art Online. He power-levelled his character, using the increased stats he had to get himself to level 50 by clearing all the floors by himself. It took close to a month, but he did it.
And because of the armour and weapons he digitized, all he had to worry about was the health crystals and potions he had.
It was also because of this research that he knew that holding dual weapons did nothing to help you. Sure, it seemed practical, but using two weapons reduced the number of skills you could perform, as some of them need an open-hand to balance themselves, or to produce a certain action to unleash a Sword Art. If one was unlucky, the weapons would not activate their Sword Arts at all. There was also the skills needed to make sure they did not interfere with your own blades when fighting, but that was another story altogether.
.
For Damon, to see someone use dual blades was laughable at first. But when he saw the sword glow with the tell-tale sign of a Sword Art being activated, he knew that he was not prepared.
"Double Circular!"
Despite not having using this Sword Skill for a long time, Kazuto unleashed it, manipulated it, and used it like he had just used it yesterday. As he watched, the attack forced Damon away from him, while also dealing minimal damage to Asuna, who had rolled out of the way at the last moment, forcing her Lambient Light(*2*) out of his body. The health bar above Damon dipped down yet again, this time reaching the orange.
Taking a few steps forwards, Kazuto prepared the motions for the next skill he knew. One which had devastating effects. "End Revolver!"
"Gah!" Damon let out a sharp gasp of pain, despite the lack of pain from being inside SAO. Kazuto's last Sword Skill had destroyed his armour, racking four, bright red, cuts along his chest and arms.
"Urk!" Kazuto felt the large post-motion recovery from the dual Sword Skills he had used. He had managed to overwrite the first one by using Skill Connect, but there was no avoiding the one he was in right now. Pushing down the discomfort he felt, Kazuto spoke to Damon, as if nothing were wrong. "Switch!"
"Got it!" Asuna quickly leapt in, her rapier already glowing with a light effect. "Star Splash!"
"Tc-gah!" Damon made a sound that sounded like a cross between a clicking tongue and a groan of pain. Multiple points of red littered all over his body. The uniquely coloured health bar above his head further decreased, lowering to the orange zone quickly, before it stopped. To Kazuto, it looked like a single attack would push it into the red.
"Will you surrender?" Kazuto slowly recovered from his forced 'form lock', placing one sword before him, the other kept at the side. Not only did this stance allow him to initiate several Dual Blade Sword Skills, it also allowed him to use a few composite one-handed ones he had thought of, and parry possible attacks aimed at him, while leaving room for a counter attack in the next move he made.
"… …" Damon kept quiet, breathing heavily as he inspected his destroyed armour, as well as his health bar. "I see…so this is how you managed to win. As a team, with this sort of fighting style." Damon appraised the two. "Unfortunately for you…you are the ones who are acting arrogant."
*thoom*
Wh…at? Kazuto was unable to move. One moment, he was preparing to unleash the fastest skill, Rage Spike, to counter Damon's attack, the next, his arm was cut off, the dull shine of Elucidator flying off as his arm dissolved into polygons, having been separated from his body. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Asuna had a leg cut out from under her, and a status effect hovering over her name.
It was the effect of paralysis.
Shit! Kazuto did not know what the devil had done, but it was too fast for him to react.
Or rather…he could not react in time. His remaining arm was slightly raised, as was his feet. Looks like I was trying to forcefully stop my Sword Skill activation and use my Martial Arts Skills…
"You are devils. You should be able to move faster than that, hit stronger than that." Damon was standing before Kazuto. As he spoke, he tapped his halberd on his shoulder. "Yet you are moving at the pace of a human. Your actions, and more importantly, your demonic energy oozing from your body, showed that you were a devil, yet you had the arrogance to fight me with a human's abilities." Damon shook his head. "Absolutely laughable. You must like to mock your enemies."
"How did…you paralyze Asuna?" Kazuto slowly stood up. His arm would be able to regenerate, but with the current situation, he would not be able to use his arm any time soon. And, because of said dismemberment, his health bar was losing health over time. The Body Part Loss debuff? That means I was not paralyzed. At least it was not dismemberment(*3*).
….wait, there isn't such a debuff effect! Kazuto mentally shook his head. "We were not mocking you, Damon. We might have been arrogant by fighting you with some half-assed attacks, but we did not come here to mock you."
"Oho?" Damon looked the slightest bit intrigued by this admittance from the Black Swordsman. "If that is the case, then WHY are you here?"
"Two simple reasons, actually." Kazuto turned his eyes gold, shocking the devil before him, as he took a step back. "The first is that we came here to save White Yuna. As for the other…it has to deal with Kayaba."
"W-what is this?" Kazuto could practically smell the confusion and anger in Damon's voice. "You dare use parlour tricks to-"
"We aren't using tricks." When Kazuto looked down, a white glowing outline of his right hand was there. Experimentally, he tried to see if it would work as he willed it to. He was glad to see that it moved like he wanted. Unfortunately, I can't grasp anything with this hand. But it would be sufficient for what I want to do. "I am simply using my Sacred Gear."
"Sacred Ge-" That was all Damon managed to say before Kazuto acted.
It was the first time Kazuto had used this skill in combat, but it was something that he had worked on hard in ALO. So he knew that it's results would be impressive.
The devil had raised his halberd to protect him(or perhaps attempt to parry, but Kazuto could see that his poor attempt at guarding would instantly cause his weapon's destruction, as he had identified it's weak point), but it was destroyed by the downwards swing. The remains of the polearm were than knocked out of his hand when Kazuto reversed the attack, this time angling it slightly away from it's original path, before he used a horizontal slice, then a downward swing, and finally, an upwards one, before he punched and kicked Damon in the chest, the glowing outline of a pentagram traced on his chest.
Forcefully being propelled backwards, Damon could do nothing to protect himself as the sword was thrust downwards, straight into the centre of the glowing shape, before it was ripped out from him in a twirl, causing Damon to be flung to the side, and for Kazuto to face Damon once more, sword at the ready.
"Curs-" His health in the red, Damon attempted to grapple Kazuto, his rage at his peak.
But the pentagram on his chest exploding dealt the final blow, causing the last silver of health he had to rapidly drop down. Facing Kazuto, he let out a wordless scream before he dispersed into polygons.
"Rising Demons." Kazuto intoned, feeling the effects of his Sword Skill take a hold of his body, not minding the wide eyes of his wife/girlfriend, and Eiji. By the side, Yui was clapping her hands, excited to see her father perform such a technique. "Papa, that was so cool!"
.
Rising Demons. The newest OSS he had developed in ALO.
It was a small hassle for him to think of it, and a pain for him to make it but after the twentieth try, he managed to do it. It was still a pain in the ass for him to make though, regardless of it's ridiculous power.
Rising Demons was an 8-hit Sword skill. The first five strokes of his blade traced out the shape of a pentagram. The next two hits were the punch, and then the subsequent jump kick(well, it was more of a stepping stone to disorient the opponent, but the system registered it as a hit), aimed at the chest allowed Kazuto to get momentum and height at the same time. This was then followed up by the downward thrust that was aimed at the centre of the pentagram, which was finished up by the twisting and wrenching of the sword out of the chest of the enemy.
There was also a hidden gimmick to the last attack. Should the sword strike the centre of the pentagram perfectly, it would explode after a few seconds. Hence the 'pain in the ass to create' part, as it was ridiculously hard for him to centre the attack just right. The first few times, because of too much momentum, he had pierced the head of the pentagram instead. Then, the next few ones were closer, but it would always end up piercing the edge of the pentagram he had made, instead of one of the created shapes. It was only when he opened up his wings at the last second that he was able to properly aim and pierce the centre of the pentagram. The explosion was relatively easy to create. A simple request from a Salamander and a Slyph was all he needed to make a powerful finisher.(This gimmick also meant that the final part of the attack was a manual aim type of attack, while the first seven moves were autonomous. He had to nail the attack perfectly, otherwise he would end up losing nearly a seventh of the total damage from the attack.)
.
"Well then," Kazuto deactivated his Sacred Gear, the slightly unnerving feeling of his arm's senses disappearing along with his arm's white, spiderwebbed outline. "If you don't mind, I'm going to be stuck here for a while, so Eiji, you would have to do next part on your own while Asuna and I regain our limbs."
He promptly keeled over, sword clattering out of his hand, as multiple debuffs and buffs appeared next to his health bar.
(*1*) – Reference to one of the best SAO & DxD fics I have read with Argo fluff. A gamer's Guide to the Underworld.
(*2*) – Actually, it is Lambent Light, but Lambient light sounds better.
(*3*) –In canon, this does not exist. This dismemberment buff is homage to One Punch Gamer, a great SAO fic with elements of One Punch Man. Well, for this series, as homage, I would include a different debuff in ALO, and possibly, UW.
AN
Well, this is something, right?
To start off, we have a devil was the very personification of 'high on superiority' and 'weak as wet paper', all rolled into one. With the extra dose of stupidity to bind it together.
Then, we have the Supernatural being able to used magic and Sacred Gars in SAO. That is something I would touch on in the next chapter, so hold onto your horses!
And then finally, we got some foreshadowing! I added my own twist to the hallucinations Eiji had when he passed by that café. That scene reminded me of SAO's season 2 op, the Death Gun Arc. Actually, that scene in general reminded me of that op. I wonder, who can guess what comes next? A cookie for the one who guess's right! (::)
Remember to review, and Anime is Life!
