Okay, it may have been - once again - almost a month it'd taken this to write, but here's the next chapter... yet another one with over 12,000 words... and I didn't even reach the point where I'd actually wanted this chapter to end. Well, can't be helped.
I have to say, though: For all the scenes and ideas that have piled up within this chapter, I'd say myself that it's probably not particularly thrilling. It's more about strategising, leadership... and just generally an exploration of how big boss battles might play out in SAO. Granted, the fight against the Goblin General in the previous chapters was kind of like that, too. Be that as it may, for the given reasons, this chapter focuses quite a lot on Asuna's role/part.
Anyway, last time, the Assault Team had gathered a comparatively small force to defeat the field boss in front of the labyrinth on the 95th floor, the Desert Demon. They've even got rather unusual support this time. Now, it's time for some last-minute preparations and, of course, the start of the main event, the actual battle.
Now that the raid party for the next battle had assembled – at least to the greatest to be expected extent – they were… almost ready to go. The finishing touch to their preparations, so to speak, was – as usual – the strategy meeting. Asuna stood in front of the raid party, right at the edge of the area where the boss battle would take place, with her back to the labyrinth.
Asuna: Welcome, everyone! To all of you whom I couldn't speak with personally so far: Thank you for coming today! I know it must be hard on you to fight the next important battle right after we finished the war campaign, but in order to free ourselves and everyone else in Aincrad soon, we need to keep going, and each and every single one of you has my respect and my gratitude for answering my call!
The vast majority of the players just nodded to Asuna's preliminary speech of the day. While they subtly appreciated the acknowledgement of their efforts, there was a limit to how exciting such a simple motivational speech was after hearing dozens of similar ones before. Well, not that anyone had a problem with that.
Asuna: Now, let's go over what we know about the boss. As you've certainly already heard, it's called "the Desert Demon", and it's confined to the area behind me!
Asuna pointed to the area between herself and the labyrinth tower. In simple terms, it was a huge sandpit, which was more spacious than any boss room they'd ever seen. Well, to be fair, field boss battles usually took place in open areas, so that didn't come as a surprise.
Asuna: As you've certainly already noticed, the area is completely covered with sand. In fact, it's not just covered with sand – it's a regular sand desert.
That was indeed a unique environment on this floor, although there were numerous instances of it on others. Granted, the 95th floor was a wasteland, but for the most part, it was a rock desert… and that did indeed make a difference.
Asuna: This is tricky! As all of you know, sand is an extremely troublesome ground to fight on, maybe even the most difficult terrain. Fortunately, for that matter, we could secure special gear that should help. That equipment was handed out before, so I trust that everyone here has received it. If not, you should now…
Strea [yells]: Yes, I've got it just a moment ago! Thanks, Asuna!
It was a bit awkward to be interrupted by Strea like this. As the current "latecomer", Strea had to take care of all preparations last-minute, but she was somewhat lucky: Since some of the invited players couldn't take part in the boss battle, their "share" was redistributed – in Strea's favour, in this case. Now, she was waving the item in question around as if she was (weirdly) proud of it.
Mundane as it may appear, it was a pair of boots… with a certain history, so to speak. Once Akinym had learnt that the battle against the Desert Demon would take place in a "sand arena" of sorts, he'd started to look for any items that might be useful in that battle. To be more precise, he'd asked someone to look into it, and they'd indeed discovered something helpful.
A certain craftsman, who specialised in footwear, had found a quest on the 81st floor, which was a vast sand desert. Clearing that quest would unlock a crafting blueprint for boots with a special effect on sandy terrain. When fighting on such ground – like, for instance, the sandpit in front of the raid party right now – these boots would greatly increase friction. Normally, one could hardly walk (let alone run) around on sand: They'd slip easily or sink into the ground, which made it even harder to move, and pushing oneself off the ground for a jump was difficult… The list went on and on. When wearing this special footwear, however, the footing on sand became about as good as it normally was on slightly muddy, overall solid ground.
To be fair, there was a catch: The effect only applied to the shoe soles. If the wearer sunk into the sand so deeply that their feet were covered with sand, the boost in friction stopped working, and they'd be back to square one. That issue remained, and since the total weight of a player determined how deeply they'd sink in, there was a strict weight limit for the imminent boss battle. Hence why none of the usual heavy-armoured tanks such as Schmitt or Max were present.
Regardless, that discovery had allowed the Assault Team to prepare quite well for their battle against the Desert Demon, and it had certainly saved Asuna a headache… which Strea was now making up for. Asuna needed a moment to think of a way to deal with her unexpected, nonchalant yelling. She forced the best smile she could muster and turned towards their "troublemaker".
Asuna: That's good to hear, Strea-san! Now, you can put them down again – or even better, put them on!
Strea: Okay!
Asuna had to suppress a sigh. It didn't seem that Strea understood that there was a time and a place for such behaviour – and neither was "now" or "here". Alas, that's just how it was, and given that Strea did at least calm down, Asuna opted to focus on more important matters.
Asuna: To the rest of you: Make sure to equip these boots, too! You're going to need them! If anyone hasn't received that gear, please notify me now!
At that point, Asuna gave anyone who might've missed the distribution of this special equipment a moment to speak up. She used that time to get a window with her notes for the next part ready. Since nobody came forward during that moment, she figured that they were all set.
Asuna: Very well, in that case, let's go over what we've already learnt about the boss. On Friday, a scouting unit consisting of one party from each faction challenged the boss, and they found out some valuable information.
Thus, Asuna began explaining what they already knew. During said explanation, she kept looking straight at the raid party in front of her for the most part, mostly facing straight ahead while glancing towards the sides to keep an eye on the reactions of the players there. She may have kept her notes open, but she only threw a glance at them every now and then, when she needed to look up very specific details, which she'd highlighted so that she'd spot them instantly.
And as for what she told those who'd gathered…
Asuna: As you certainly already know, we're going to face the Desert Demon. This boss is a giant worm monster.
A murmur was about to go through the crowd. A worm monster? Really? To be fair, hardly anybody had had any idea as to what to expect, but they didn't think they'd fight a worm. As her audience's attentiveness began to dwindle abruptly, Asuna raised her voice, and she assumed a stricter, more forceful tone. That change startled the crowd a little, and it drew their attention again, allowing Asuna to point out the details to them.
Asuna: This boss moves underground – that is, [points behind her] it digs through the sand! Therefore, its movements proved to be difficult to predict during the scouting battle. After all, it only comes to the surface to attack. Speaking of which, the scouting party observed that it shoots out of the ground at great speed, lunging at its target head-on, before diving underground again.
Frankly, this sounded quite unsettling. For example, someone couldn't help but think of the movie Tremors when hearing about this.
Asuna: The good news, however, is that the boss' capability to attack is fairly limited. It will try to ram its target or to bite it with its fangs, which are located around the edge of its circular mouth. As far as the scouting party could find out, these are its only means of attack, so as long as we can dodge all frontal surprise attacks, we won't have any problems. Therefore, the first thing I want you to do is to focus completely on getting a feeling for the boss' attacks. There will be tremors before it launches its attacks, so use that as an indicator! Don't try to counterattack – just make sure to learn how to predict the next attack! We can still go on the offensive once we know how to deal with the boss' charges!
After that, Asuna paused briefly. What was next on her list again? She'd made a specific "presentation plan", but it still happened sometimes that she had to take a moment to remember it.
Asuna [thinks]: Ah, right… [says aloud] Speaking of our offense, we obviously can only reach the boss when it surfaces. Since, as already mentioned, it will only pop up for attacks, we'll have to attack then.
There were a few people who wanted to speak up, given that there was a certain problem with what Asuna had just said… in light of what she'd talked about before. However, Asuna cut that short.
Asuna: Naturally, you might be wondering how to do that if we'll also have to dodge those attacks. It may be true that the boss only shows up on the surface briefly, but according to the scouting party's estimation, it's roughly ten metres long, and as you can probably imagine, with that body length, even if the boss moves fast, it will take a moment for it to dig itself into the ground again. That exact moment will be our opportunity for a counterstrike! We'll figure out how to snatch that chance, and once we've done that, we'll not only know how to rob the boss of any chance to harm us, we'll also know how to turn the tables on it! With that, we can proceed the battle smoothly – and win!
This determined, fierce declaration put the mind of many players at ease – they figured that Asuna had a vague plan for that, which she'd finalise after observing the boss' attack patterns herself. Some of them, who had become a bit tense or fidgety, relaxed, and here and there, someone affirmed Asuna's words with a nod or a similar gesture.
Asuna: That said, keep in mind that the boss might have many tricks in store for us which we have yet to discover! The scouting party could only confirm its basic patterns, and we don't know how they'll evolve, so stay on your guard! Remember that the most important thing is not to win quickly, or in a grand, impressive way, but to survive! So let's do just that: Fight valiantly, but vigilantly, too! Fight, win – and make it back alive!
The "motto" of the Assault Team was answered with a loud, energetic battle cry by the players.
Now that everything that had to be said had been explained, Asuna got ready to give the starting signal. She drew her rapier and swiped away the window with her notes in one swift motion of her right arm. After that, she turned around to face the battlefield and pointed her weapon forward.
Asuna: Now then, to battle!
Another battle cry resounded, this time accompanying the raid party as they charged onto the sandpit – into their next big battle.
All the various parties gathered at the centre of the sizeable "boss room". Once that was done, the area fell silent… eerily silent. Everyone was expecting the boss' first move, but for at least a minute – or at least an hour, as it felt to some of them – nothing happened.
Asuna, who had remained on the solid ground at the edge of the sandy terrain, where she could observe the battle and give commands without worrying about getting caught up in the boss' attacks, was unsure what to do. The scouting party had reported that the boss didn't show up immediately, but how long had it taken? Could there be something they had to do in order to "summon" the boss?
Such worries proved to be needless when slight tremors began to shake the ground. Some of the players were startled quite a bit, and a few overreacted and became way too tense and jumpy.
Klein: Guys, keep your cool! You better remember what Asuna told you, because here it comes!
As if the Desert Demon had waited for Klein to "announce" its appearance, the boss broke through the surface of the sand at those words. Fortunately, the target of its first choice was Yamata, who'd remained quite calm. The leader of the DDA party reacted quickly when the sand in front of him was suddenly thrown into the air, and he instantly jumped to the side, just in time to see the massive body of a giant worm rushing through the air right where he had stood. At that sight, many others bolted, some needlessly, but at the very least, the Desert Demon's initial strike missed all of them.
Yamata: You better listen to that guy! Don't panic over something like that! See? It's easy to handle as long as you stay focused!
Yamata declared that with a confident grin as he landed on the ground steadily – those special boots really were worth their salt. To stick to the point, Yamata's words and the fact that he had dodged the first attack of the battle at apparent ease inspired some confidence among the other players. If nothing else, he'd just proven that this was indeed doable, so they opted to remember all the other battles they'd experienced – and to approach this one with the same care, but also with the same confidence. Everyone remained at least somewhat calm after that.
Asuna: He's right! But get ready! There's a gap of about ten to twenty seconds after each charge! That's the time you have to get ready after the boss vanished from sight!
That warning came just in time to remind the players to get ready for the next attack. The "victim" of said attack wasn't quite as lucky – or capable – as Yamata, though. The player in question did react fast enough to leap to the side, so that the Desert Demon couldn't catch him between its jaws, but the boss' body was quite wide – about two metres, in fact. It still grazed the side of the player's body, and its momentum was so strong that this was enough to hurl its target several metres away. The attack reduced his HP "only" by about twenty percent, but it looked much more devastating than the damage it dealt suggested.
Asuna: Don't panic and get ready for the next strike! Always remember to get a feeling for the signs of any incoming attacks! Do that, and you can improve your reaction time!
While the players kept focusing on the battle, Asuna contemplated something else about what had just happened. It was likely that most players would keep having trouble dodging the Desert Demon's attacks completely. She was confident that everyone would be able to avoid direct hits with a little practice, but the boss appeared so suddenly and moved so fast that it would still at least graze most of its targets – as it had happened mere seconds ago. They probably couldn't prevent that, so it was better to think of methods to at least limit the damage.
Asuna: Another thing: If the boss hits you with the side of its body, that will probably deal considerable Blunt damage, so if you have any equipment against that, try to use the pauses between its attacks to switch to that gear! Or do so when the boss attacks someone else! Choose the right time and don't get distracted during critical moments!
For a while, the battle went on without any noteworthy progress. Abiding by Asuna's plan, most players focused on figuring out how to anticipate the boss' attacks and how to dodge them. While they were doing that, they also gradually scattered across the area – gathering in one spot had been something they'd done out of habit (since they usually adopted some kind of battle formation), but it had soon proven to be disadvantageous.
Alas, there was – how else could it be – someone who fell out of line and didn't follow the plan. Unsurprisingly, it was Yamata. When the Desert Demon attacked one of his party members, Yamata took the chance to be the first one to deal damage to the boss. As the boss was swiftly diving back into the sand, he – instead of retreating as he was supposed to – charged at it and used the Sword Skill Dancing Hellraiser. Asuna told him to stop, but he didn't listen.
Attacking the boss from the flank was easy. Yamata had no trouble hitting the mark with all of the four strikes Dancing Hellraiser combined. He finished the Sword Skill just in time before the Desert Demon had returned underground.
However, he wasn't really happy about the outcome. Yamata stared at the blade of his sabre in disbelief.
Yamata: What was that? That Skill cut through tougher monsters like butter! Why the hell did it feel as if my sword slid off the damn thing without hurting it?!
They continued to make slow progress, even though they were still only getting used to the Desert Demon's attacks. Asuna had stressed that they were not supposed to counterattack just yet, addressing Yamata in particular (even if it might be futile), and the raid party had been heeding her words… so far.
That said, the battle wasn't really going anywhere at the moment. The majority of the players had a terribly hard time getting a feeling for the timing of the Desert Demon's attacks.
The only warning signal they'd discovered up to this point was the tremors before an attack. Said tremors were steadily getting stronger until the boss emerged from the ground. Furthermore, the tremors felt stronger to players the closer they stood to the point where the boss would show up.
The question was at which point/intensity that would happen and where. The players had tried communicating how intensely the ground had been shaking where they were in order to pinpoint whom the boss would target, but it was difficult to articulate the differences properly, so that hadn't led anywhere. Thus, their only hope was to learn how strong the tremors became immediately before the boss would lunge at them, and to tell when that would happen from these "warning signals". Some players actually did a decent job at that, but many struggled a lot.
Naturally, that didn't go unnoticed by Asuna. The whole time, she wondered if there was anything else that could help them get a hang of the boss' attack patterns, but nothing came to her mind from watching the battle. Kirito, who, as usual, stood by her side to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary that might slip Asuna's attention, was in the same boat.
He, however, had the feeling that this problem required a more… active search for a solution.
Kirito: Asuna, do you mind if I enter the battle myself? I need to experience the fight against this boss myself, or I won't be able to come up with anything. Maybe I'll notice something if it attacks me.
At first, that sounded a bit reckless to Asuna, but not unreasonable. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like the best call, so she nodded.
Asuna: Alright, but take care!
Kirito replied with a nod before drawing his swords and running onto the sandy battlefield.
He didn't have to wait long to get a better picture of what the battle actually was like for the raid party. Kirito and Asuna, too, had been feeling the ground beneath their feet shake before the boss' attacks, but those had been light tremors. It downright surprised Kirito how much stronger they felt when standing on the sand, and that was when the Desert Demon attacked others while Kirito stood relatively far away from them.
Before long, Kirito could feel the ground shaking considerably stronger than before, and he could tell right away that the boss was coming for him this time. It felt as if he was standing on billowing waves of sand, and Kirito couldn't shake off the feeling that the Desert Demon had to come crushing through the surface right beneath his feet at any second, yet it took a while for it to actually emerge roughly three metres away to his right. Fortunately, Kirito had been ready, and since he reacted right away, he could dodge by diving headlong forward.
After that, he watched the boss crash into the sandy ground again, where it wriggled into the sand at a remarkable pace.
Kirito: This… This is really something else… No wonder that they're having trouble.
Kirito got up again and looked around. There had to be something else that could serve as a better indicator for the boss' attacks.
His first guess was a sound. Aside from the shaking sand beneath their feet, maybe there was a characteristic noise that became louder when the boss was approaching them. Such a sound might warn them of the next attack, and it could potentially even tell them which direction the boss was coming from.
Thus, Kirito closed his eyes and listened closely to his surroundings. It took a few minutes before the Desert Demon targeted him again, and during that time, he couldn't make out anything that stood out. When he began to feel the tremors more clearly once more, however, Kirito could also hear a sound he hadn't noticed last time. It was a bit difficult to describe, but it reminded him of the sound of sand when you let it trickle through your fingers. Well, played on fast forward, that is. Anyway, Kirito reckoned that this was the sound the boss made when it dug through the ground.
That noise quickly came closer – and became indeed louder… but not really more distinct. The issue was that the increasing intensity of the tremors (and the volume of the accompanying sound effect) almost drowned out the sound Kirito was trying to focus on.
In the end, he could only take a guess as to when the Desert Demon would reach him and where it would surface. He leapt to the left just as the Desert Demon appeared behind him, and this time, the boss rammed Kirito's right shoulder – a blow pushed him down harshly… and two metres forward.
It'd become clear that he needed to come up with something else. Fortunately, the Desert Demon didn't attack him for a while, so he could ponder over his options. There was indeed something that came to his mind: a certain rumor that the air would literally "freeze" when a monster (or a player) was about to ambush you. While the credibility of that had always been questioned, Kirito had repeatedly noticed that there should be more to this. The air (or anything else, for that matter) would certainly not freeze, but at times, he had observed that the flow of a stream, falling leaves or swaying grass – or any constantly moving background objects – would slow down for just a second when a large group of monsters was about to show up, or when a hidden enemy was about to show itself… well, or anything like that. Some players had learnt to detect these changes and to use that to their advantage – if Kirito remembered it correctly, they called it an "outside-the-system skill".
Anyway, it made sense to Kirito. The phenomenon was comparable to a drop in the frame rate in other games when a lot of players or monsters suddenly used flashy skills. The same thing should happen in SAO, too, especially since this game had a very elaborate system to allocate system resources according to the current needs. Kirito doubted that the Desert Demon's body was rendered at all times, but rather only when it was required – in other words, when the boss showed itself above the ground. Therefore, the burden on the graphics system should dramatically spike whenever the Desert Demon broke through the surface of the sand, and the system would likely need a brief moment to adapt.
Now, it was time to put that to the test. Well, literally, because Kirito could feel the tremors around him getting stronger, so it was "his turn" again. He watched the sand that was stirred up by the wind around the area, and after a few seconds, the thin clouds of sand seemed to slow down, even almost coming to a halt, and at that very moment, Kirito dashed forward, just a split second before the Desert Demon shot out of the ground where he had stood. The boss moved from the right to the left, missing him just barely.
Kirito: Listen, you need to watch the sand around the area! When the…
As Kirito paused for a second to think about how he could describe the circumstances they had to wait for, Asuna tried to call out to him.
Asuna: Wait! It might be better not to…
Kirito: When the wind slows down, and you see the sand staying still in the air, that's when the boss is about to attack, so try to use that to time your dodging manoeuvres!
Asuna couldn't help but bite her lip. It'd been no use, he probably hadn't noticed her objection… and now the damage was done. All the other players had heard Kirito, and now, they were trying to figure out what he wanted them to do.
To be fair, it wasn't as if Kirito's idea was bad – by any means, he'd made an astute observation, from which he'd drawn a fairly helpful conclusion. For starters, Asuna had absolutely no doubts whatsoever that Kirito had just come up with a decent plan, which she, by the way, had guessed correctly right off the bat. However, that was actually a part of the problem: Kirito's reputation gave his suggestion considerable credibility, so everyone assumed that it was a good call.
The bad news was that less than half of them actually understood what he was getting at, and the percentage of people who could put his tactic to good use was even lower. With almost everyone lacking the reaction speed, observational skills or knowledge to follow Kirito's example, the bulk of the players ultimately got distracted and nothing else as they were staring at the sand that was whirling around them, looking for any kind of "epiphany".
The next time the Desert Demon attacked, it caught one of these players completely off-guard. The boss carried that guy with it as it hit him frontally, and it slammed him into the sand when its "head" crashed onto the ground again. That wasn't even the end of it: The Desert Demon didn't burrow into the sand again, but it pinned its target onto the sandy ground by pressing its enormous mass against the overwhelmed player. Furthermore, it closed its fangs around his shoulders, arms and legs, leaving him no way to escape…
...while it began to crush him between its jaws. The damage the player suffered was tremendous. Thankfully, his party and a few surrounding lizardmen wasted no time to help him. They attacked the area around the Desert Demon's mouth, and one lizardman managed to push its pike into the tiny gap between the body of the boss and its victim's. By using the polearm kind of like a lever, the NPC managed to pry the giant worm's jaws off the player at one spot, and two quick-thinking players seized the opportunity to pull their comrade out from underneath the boss.
The Desert Demon let out a deep, strangely screeching roar before swinging around its body. That way, it knocked down all surrounding people – players and NPCs alike – and it went underground again after that. Even so, everyone had made it out alive this time, although it had still been a shocking experience for those directly involved.
Asuna: Good job, everyone! Don't waste any time and drink a potion! To everyone else – no, to absolutely all of you: Keep that scene in mind and stay focused! Don't try too hard to follow Kirito-kun's advice! If you know what he meant, and if you can pull it off, go for it! Otherwise, however, do your best to dodge the attacks as you've done so far! That'll be better than fussing over any "Option B"!
Asuna hoped to get everyone back on track that way. Alas, it'd been a desperate attempt to do so, and she knew that it was most likely not going to go that smoothly. Even if she explicitly told them not to think about it, Kirito's words about using the wind and sand as an indicator for the boss' attacks remained firmly on their mind, and they simply couldn't help but wonder what he'd been talking about.
Even worse, some players tried to just abide by Kirito's suggestion without thinking it through. For example, about a minute later, one of them thought that he saw a gust of sand subside and fall to the ground again – which, to be fair, did happen, but that was just because the wind direction changed – while (judging from the tremors he felt) the Desert Demon was coming at his party, so he dove headlong forward in an attempt to dodge an attack… which did indeed come, but a few seconds later, and it was directed straight at his "landing spot". The blow threw him up into the air – fortunately, the boss couldn't get a firm grip on him as it had done to that one guy before – and in the end, he suffered noteworthy damage and an unpleasant landing.
Watching scenes like that unfold, Asuna couldn't help but think that this would be a difficult, arduous battle.
Over time, the situation got better, though. Well, at the very least, they reached the point where Asuna got the impression that the vast majority of the raid party had figured out how to defend themselves/how to dodge the surprise attacks. Given that they couldn't fight this battle like a game of tag – "reverse whack-o-mole edition", as one player had called it in annoyance – Asuna gave the command to start counterattacking.
That, of course, came with its own variety of issues. First and foremost, the boss' speed made the window for their attacks pretty narrow. When the Desert Demon broke through the surface, there was an initial moment of shock, not to mention that the nearby players had to dodge those attacks. It wasn't as if they could get ready to strike at the boss before it showed itself, yet those around the spot where the Desert Demon came to the surface were the only ones who had any realistic chance to strike at all, for the boss would bury itself into the sand again within five to ten seconds.
In practice, that was barely enough time to get a few hits of, at least for the majority of the players. The much more composed lizardmen and some of the most skilled members of the raid party such as Yamata could keep up with the Desert Demon to some degree, but for the most part, their offensive was going anything but smoothly.
Then, there was… a completely different problem. In order to understand that, let's take a look at Silica, Lisbeth, Leafa, Philia and Strea when they were targeted by the boss at some point.
For starters, the Desert Demon had set its eyes on Strea this time. When the gargantuan worm shot out of the ground to her right, Strea reacted instantaneously and turned to face it. At the same time, she whirled her enormous sword around with downright ridiculous ease – with only one hand, at that – and hit the lower side of the Desert Demon's mouth in an upward strike.
Strea's counter was supposed to direct the boss' massive body further upward so that it would pass over her head… but the Desert Demon was too strong, even for Strea. It pushed her backwards quite easily. The blade of her weapon was the only thing that kept the worm monster's jaws away from her, and the only thing to keep her from falling over as she was sliding across the sand was her excellent sense of balance.
In this situation, Strea had no choice but to actually use her two-handed sword as such, so she put her free left hand on the handle and used all of her strength to push the Desert Demon upward ever so slightly with the flat side of her blade. She still had to squat down, but that way, Strea finally managed to avert the boss' attack, and she could watch it pass overhead.
In the few seconds this had taken, the rest of her team had got ready to counterattack. The first one to take action was Leafa, who had already taken position where the Desert Demon emerged from the ground. With a quick, resolute downward strike, she cut through through the giant worm's skin… sort of. Despite Leafa's steady stance, even this expertly executed blow was diverted to the left – the direction the Desert Demon moved into – and it was enough to cause Leafa to stumble, so that she wasn't able to follow up with another strike, even though she had planned to.
And that wasn't the only thing that irked her.
Leafa: Urgh… This… didn't feel as if I cut through. Geez, what is this thing made of?!
The next in line to attack was Lisbeth, who, unlike Leafa, opted to use a Sword Skill, Thrice Blow, to be precise. Alas, it didn't turn out to be Thrice Blow, but rather "Single Blow", because the combo was immediately disrupted. When Lisbeth's mace hit the Desert Demon's hide, it bounced off… with such a force that it not only interrupted Lisbeth's Sword Skill, the rebound ripped her mace out of her hands, and she tumbled over.
Lisbeth: Argh… What the…? [tries to push herself up, inhales sharply, strained] Ugh, that stings… Gosh, that felt like hitting a giant pile of… jelly. Only that it was five times harder and ten times as rubbery…
Next up, Silica attacked the Desert Demon. She had needed a moment longer to react, so by the time she made a dash at the boss, it was about to disappear again in another three or four seconds. Silica tried to make up for that – and to reinforce her attack – by boosting her forward dash with Acrobatics. She didn't try anything fancy, but simply stabbed the Desert Demon with her dagger. Indeed, she managed to drive the blade of her weapon into the boss' flesh as deeply as possible…
...and it got stuck. That way, Silica was swept away by the Desert Demon's rapid movements before she realised what was going on as she instinctively clung to her weapon. The sound of the Desert Demon digging itself into the sand almost drowned Silica's surprised, panicked yelp.
Thankfully, her final teammate, Philia, showed quick reflexes: She jumped towards the spot where the Desert Demon was descending into its sandy "hideout" again, and she swiftly swung her sword at Silica's dagger. That manoeuvre required good timing, but Philia managed to get the other girl's weapon between the jags of her blade, and by yanking her weapon to the right while jamming the two blades against each other, she successfully dislodged Silica's dagger before it (and maybe Silica, too) would've been pulled underground along with the boss.
Naturally, the momentum still carried Silica forward, and Philia had to catch her. She couldn't just absorb that "impact", so Philia was knocked over, and the two girls rolled around a few times across the sand before coming to a halt… but they were alright.
Anyway, skirmishes like this allowed Asuna to draw some conclusions.
Asuna: Everyone, you have to rely on Thrust attacks! You've probably already noticed, but Blunt attacks are pointless, and Slash attacks aren't very effective, either! Also, make sure to use Sword Skills – fast Sword Skills, that is – and avoid any combos that don't include drawing your weapon back at the end! Piercing the boss' hide and dealing continuous damage may seem like a good option, but you can see how the boss will just overpower you, so don't even try it!
As Asuna had expected, the players had already figured that much – or rather most of what she'd just said. Her advice to rely completely on Sword Skills was welcome, though… and helpful, too. It was also good that she stressed to avoid Sword Skills without a drawing-back motion at the end (such as Linear or Vorpal Strike) since these combos were likely to backfire… and end ugly.
There was one more order Asuna wanted to give, but she had mixed feelings about this, so she hesitated… but issued said order anyway.
Asuna: Furthermore, all players with Blunt-based weapons shall retreat! If your weapons are ineffective, don't put yourselves at risk for nothing! Therefore, fall back and take a waiting position at the edge of the battlefield over here!
There were only three people this applied to – Lisbeth, for instance, was among them. Asuna worried that they might get discouraged – after all, who'd want to come to a boss battle only to end up being completely "useless"? Alas, it didn't change the fact that Blunt attacks in particular appeared to be without any noteworthy effect, so there was nothing these players could do… other than playing bait, perhaps, but Asuna had absolutely no intention whatsoever to use such a tactic. For a similar reason, she didn't want anyone to take risks futilely.
The battle continued for a while. Fortunately, there were quite a few players that used weapons with a focus on Thrust attacks such as spears or rapiers… albeit that there were just as many who didn't. The raid party could put their observations up until this point to good use, but the progress they were making was incredibly slow.
Other than lacking a focus on suitable weapon types, there was also the issue that their chances to go on the offensive only lasted for a few seconds at a time. The Desert Demon always vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
On top of that, the players would – in a rather panicked, desperate attempt to dodge the rapid attacks of the boss – immediately scatter wherever the Desert Demon appeared on the surface. It would take a precious few seconds for them to regain their composure and to get ready to counterattack, and it would take even longer for them to get into position, take the starting stance of any Sword Skill and then charge it.
All in all, there was simply not enough time for all of that, even for the fastest players among them. The boss' body was exposed only about ten seconds at a time. Every time, there were only two or three players who could deal an equal amount of hits each.
Naturally, Asuna kept contemplating strategies to solve this problem. Well, just figuring out which areas they could objectively improve in was already a difficult task.
For instance, using the most suitable Sword Skills was vital – for starters, she'd stressed to use Sword Skills because only system-assisted attacks seemed to be fast enough. Therefore, Asuna had instructed the raid party to rely on their simplest Sword Skills since the more elaborate ones would need too much time to prepare or to execute. No matter how much Asuna thought about this, there didn't seem to be anything else they could do about that.
A more realistic "optimisation" would be a calmer reaction to the boss' attacks. Currently, the players tended to huddle together – at least every individual party did that – as if they were trying to adopt some sort of battle formation, only to – as already mentioned – scatter the moment the Desert Demon attacked. Using a formation like a shield wall seemed futile against the boss' raw power, especially since their best tanks weren't with them for this battle, but Asuna had a particular formation in mind that might help.
Asuna: Alright, everyone, let's try something, but first, I need you to…
Asuna paused. She'd been about to tell everyone to "calm down", but now she was hesitating. Basically, the ideal scenario in her mind was that only the boss' target would move whenever the Desert Demon showed itself – instead of everyone around it starting to run off instinctively. That way, the surrounding players could save the time they needed to get ready, which would hopefully allow the raid party to increase their damage output significantly.
The main hurdle was to get everyone to stop panicking. Unless Asuna could get everyone to keep a cool head until the last second, when it became clear whom the Desert Demon was targeting, there was no way for this to work. Hence why Asuna simply wanted to tell everyone to stop running at the first sign of incoming trouble...
...but she hesitated once a thought occurred to her. Asuna looked at the ground – to be more precise, she eyed the solid ground beneath her feet. What would it sound like to everyone else if she – the person who commanded them from such a safe position – told them to "expose" themselves to such great potential danger? Dodging even the attacks that weren't actually aimed at them was certainly the safest way to go about this, it was just so ineffective that this battle might drag on until the players would get too tired to fight anymore.
Regardless, Asuna wondered if she could expect anyone to take risks she apparently wasn't willing to face. If nothing else, how would someone feel if she told them to stand in place as the earth around them began to shake, and as they knew that – at any moment – a giant worm that could swallow them whole might burst out of the ground right in front of them? Could an average human – no, even someone who'd made it this far in SAO – be expected to remain calm under such circumstances?
If it was at all possible, it would only work if the commander issuing that order was also leading by example. Thus, Asuna ran forward until she was definitely in the middle of the "danger zone".
Asuna: Okay, now, everyone, I know that this is an intense situation, but you must not lose your heads at any point! The boss will only attack one of you at a time, so don't panic, because as long you do that, you won't get any good chances to attack the boss!
Yamata [in the distance, yells]: That's what I've been saying!
Asuna: You've seen that there's not enough time, so…
Asuna stopped when she felt a tremor beneath her feet. Unlike Yamata's shouting, that actually warranted shifting her attention. However, it also provided a good opportunity for the aforementioned "leading by example".
Focusing on her surroundings, Asuna braced herself for the Desert Demon's attack. She was keeping an eye out for any "warning signals" – for instance, she considered following Kirito's hint from earlier, although she'd never tried to predict a sneak attack like that deliberately, and a battle against a powerful, fast boss didn't seem like a fitting "first time" for it…
That said, Asuna noticed something completely different as she was eyeing the sand around herself. Well, as expected, the thin "top layer" of this lake of sand was dancing up and down to the "rhythm" of the tremors, and the way the sand was thrown around looked completely random at first… because it was, but the important part was that the sand apparently began to flow towards her. That observation was… half-correct, to be perfectly honest.
Anyhow, it was true that there was a clear pattern in that movement, and Asuna instinctively guessed that the sand was drawn to something. Since the tremors had become extremely strong, she acted on her instincts: Asuna hastily dove forward – a movement that smoothly turned into a somersault with the help of her Acrobatics skill – just as the Desert Demon emerged from the sand right behind her. It soared straight through the space where here upper body had been a mere second ago, but the way it was, the boss missed Asuna completely.
That wasn't the end of it. As soon as she regained control over her body, Asuna kept her head down and rolled swiftly to the side – that is, as well as the sandy ground allowed it. Regardless, there was something she had yet to do: In order to set the right example, she had to attack the boss as well. To that end, she quickly got up, and her body slid into the starting stance for the easiest-to-use Sword Skill that came to her mind, namely the 3-hit combo Penetrate.
Unfortunately, Asuna had lost a lot of time while getting ready, so only the first two blows hit the boss, the second one just barely piercing its tail. Nevertheless, Asuna had achieved her objective… and now it was time for her to draw on that.
Asuna: See, everyone? It is possible! All we have to do is to stay calm and focused, and we can dodge the boss' attacks with minimal effort – which will allow us to put the extra energy into our counterattacks! And you can do that, too!
After that declaration, Asuna took a moment to gather her thoughts on another matter while the raid party was dealing with the Desert Demon's next attack. Once that was over, she addressed them again.
Asuna: Also, there's something I just noticed, and you might put that to use: When the boss is about to reach the surface, the sand around the spot where it will emerge from the ground will move towards that exact spot!
By the way, Asuna's theory was that sand from the "upper layers" was sinking into the hole the Desert Demon left behind while digging through the ground, thus creating some kind of "sand wake" around its body. If that was the case, the phenomenon she'd witnessed should occur every time.
Asuna: We can use that to predict the next attack! You've seen that it works, and you can pull that off, too! What I'm talking about is easy to see, so don't worry! But don't jump the gun, either! Not every random movement in the sand is crucial! I'm talking about a clear pattern, and you'll definitely see what I mean when it happens in front of you! So, stay strong and keep fighting with that in mind, and you'll have nothing to fear!
That said, Asuna could only hope that this hint would actually work – that it would help the players without making them overreact. Alas, what this battle held in store for them yet… only time would tell.
For the time being, however, things were starting to look brighter.
Needless to say, not all issues were solved instantaneously. Despite Asuna's best attempts to stop everyone from running away from "phantoms", quite a few players struggled with her hint to detect the approaching boss by observing the movement of the sand. At first, some of them imagined a "stream" in the sand even though there actually wasn't one, and they ended up diving onto the ground in an attempt to dodge attacks that didn't even happen.
However, as time went on, and more and more players could see what the "flow of sand" Asuna had talked about actually looked like whenever the boss attacked for real, the more observant members of the raid party quickly figured out the gimmick, and after giving their teammates some hints, the rest followed suit. Within minutes, the raid party had fully assimilated the new information, and they could finally adapt successfully to the Desert Demon's "tricks".
Just as Asuna had hoped, their counteroffensive improved greatly thanks to that. With a considerably larger number of players being able to strike at the boss every time it showed up, they were finally making some progress.
Things continued to get better when Asuna readjusted the raid party's formation. She directed the different parties to take position all over the battlefield, making sure that there were clear gaps between their respective areas, and she ordered every party to position themselves in clusters that appeared completely random at first, but served a very specific purpose.
In short, Asuna made sure that their forces were positioned in such a way that not more than two players stood on any straight line. Since the Desert Demon could only charge at them in such straight lines, only one or sometimes two players had to dodge. The rest of any party stood just far enough away from their comrades so that they wouldn't get caught up in an attack unless the boss was coming straight at them, making this the best position for them to counterattack without exposing themselves to any danger needlessly.
Naturally, this also limited the number of attackers on the raid party's side, but Asuna deemed this the most risk-to-result-efficient option. Sure enough, the battle progressed quite orderly and smoothly with this formation.
As to how exactly that went off… Well, for an example, let's take a look at how Kirito and Asuna got involved in the actual fighting.
At some point when the Desert Demon's first HP bar was at around fifty percent, the boss attacked Kirito. He reacted in time to jump out of the way, and as the gigantic worm was rushing past him, Kirito used the opportunity to slash it with both swords in a cross motion. That was about everything he could do, though, and it wasn't just because it was his turn to dodge. Keeping aside that his best Sword Skills would take way too long to finish, he didn't have any good Thrust-type Sword Skills to begin with.
No, in this battle, his and Asuna's usual roles as "support" and "main damage dealer" were reversed, and Asuna showcased this quite nicely by leaping to the Desert Demon's side as soon as it showed itself, where she promptly used the Sword Skill Crucifixion, which had proven quite reliable when fighting this field boss. Out of the six fast thrusts this combo consisted of, four usually hit the mark, and sometimes even five.
This time, however, she even got to finish the whole Sword Skill before the boss could slip out of her grasp… albeit that this was only possible due to someone else's "help". When Asuna had just started her own attack, something hit the Desert Demon right next to her with great force – such force that it caused even the massive, powerful, rapidly moving body of the field boss to sway to the side. In fact, its entire body began to wobble, and since this slowed the Desert Demon down, it needed more time than usual to retreat below the surface.
After finishing her Sword Skill, Asuna turned towards the edge of the battlefield – to be more precise, to a somewhat large rock that was situated there. Sinon, who had lent Asuna a hand (or rather an arrow), stood on top of that rock. She had taken up position there since it was downright perfect for her: She didn't have to worry about getting attacked (in fact, at this point, Sinon was the only player who hadn't been targeted by the boss even once), and the entire battlefield was within her shooting range.
She had just used Milion Howling, her favourite Sword Skill. Thinking about its effect on the boss, Asuna couldn't help but believe that Sinon might be their most valuable member as far as offense was considered. She could hit the boss everywhere and without worrying about her own safety…
...but there had also been limits to what she could do. Shooting without using a Sword Skill was too slow, not to mention that these shots lacked the power to penetrate the boss' skin and the gelatinous protective layer of fat underneath. Alas, most of Sinon's few Sword Skills weren't well-suited to fight the Desert Demon.
The AoE attacks Area Shot and Wide Area Shot entailed the risk of accidentally hitting the close-quarters combatants who fought the boss given how the fired arrows were spread. Other Sniping Sword Skills such as Triple Short or Quintuple Shot were better, although the fact that Sinon couldn't aim freely when using them still bothered her. Granted, Sinon had learnt how to predict where her Sword Skills would hit her target depending on her position, but there were still clear limits to her options to influence her system-assisted shots. All in all, Milion Howling, which actually allowed Sinon to aim, was her best means of attacking in this battle – too bad that her ability to use it was limited by the Sword Skill's cooldown period.
As Asuna pondered over all of this in order to find the best way to use Sinon's abilities in this battle, another thought occurred to her: There was something completely different they had yet to figure out, and Sinon could help her with a little experiment. Thus, Asuna jogged closer to Sinon's position.
Asuna: Sinon, I need you to try something! You'll have to attack the boss with any Sword Skill so that you hit its body on the outside, and then you'll have to hit it with the same Sword Skill inside its mouth! It doesn't matter in which order. Can you do that?
Sinon: Sure thing, Asuna!
Asuna: Great, thank you! [turns toward the rest of the raid party] Listen, everyone, we'll conduct a little experiment! For that, you'll have to leave the field to Sinon for a moment! During her next two shots, whenever they'll come, don't attack the boss! When it appears, retreat, and give Sinon a free field of fire to the best of your ability!
Some players were a little confused, others didn't like the idea of taking a backseat, but nobody questioned this order even for a second.
The next time the boss appeared, Sinon fired a Wide Area Shot at it, and the five arrows hit the Desert Demon pretty much all across its body. That was the easy part.
The hard part was the second strike – the attack aimed at the boss' intestines. Sure, Sinon could snipe at her target wherever it would show up… just not wherever she'd like to. Even if hitting the mark wasn't much of an issue for her, it wasn't as if she could fire arrows that would fly in a loop and hit the "destination" on the side that was facing away from her.
In order to aim another Wide Area Shot at the inside of the Desert Demon's mouth, Sinon had to wait until the boss attacked in such a way that it was facing her. To make this even worse, she had no means to tell when that would be the case – she could only see it after the Desert Demon would come to the surface, and she had to finish her Sword Skill by the time the Desert Demon crashed into the ground again. In other words, Sinon had to react to a hardly predictable event and use a Sword Skill within mere seconds.
As if that wasn't difficult enough already, her arrows were also driving her nuts. After generating arrows with her designated skill, Sinon had to use them within a certain time frame, or else they'd disappear again. Due to aforementioned issue of not knowing when her chance to strike would come, Sinon had to get ready to use Wide Area Shot every single time the boss attacked, and this included getting the necessary arrows ready.
Due to the cooldown of her Arrow Generation skill, Sinon couldn't prepare a new batch of arrows every time, but this led to the issue of the arrows she had at hand disappearing at the most unfortunate moments. In fact, the first time the Desert Demon attacked a player from the right angle, giving Sinon the opportunity to shoot at its mouth, her arrows expired just as she was about to start.
That way, several minutes passed – and just as many players became impatient – until the second chance presented itself. This time, Sinon could complete Asuna's "experiment" without hindrances. Four of the five arrows she fired entered the boss' mouth and penetrated its inside. The fifth one may have "missed" and only hit the worm monster's hide on the outside, but that wasn't an issue: Asuna was more than satisfied with this result – because she could make the observation she'd been out for.
Asuna [mutters]: As I thought… Its health bar certainly went down more this time. So that's its weak point… [slightly frustratedly] It's too bad, though…
It was a well-known, unwritten rule of SAO that every monster – whether it was the weakest of the weak or a floor boss – had spots where it was more vulnerable (or less) than it was at others. However, the Desert Demon's hide and the hardly penetrable layer underneath it seemed to be the same across its whole body. The only weak spot Asuna could think of was its unprotected inside. Asuna had kept a close eye on the boss' HP bar, and that way, she'd noticed that Sinon's second Sword Skill had dealt more damage, albeit hardly noticeably, which was no surprise given that it was only a single attack aimed at a field boss. Well, that confirmed her suspicion.
It was somewhat important to know this for strategising purposes, although there was (unfortunately) only one kind of advice she could give based on this information.
Asuna: Everyone, if you were wondering, the weak point of the boss is apparently the inside of its body! Unfortunately, attacking there is simply suicidal, so I implore you: Don't even try it! For this battle, simple attacks will have to do. We've already seen that it works, so just keep that up!
Frankly, she didn't even have to tell them, not even once. No one – not even Yamata – would've been crazy enough to stand in front of that gaping hole, threatening to swallow them as it charged at them, and actually risk attacking from that position just to deal more damage.
Well, Asuna had hoped for that, but according to the motto "hope for the best, plan for the worst", she'd long learnt to be better safe than sorry when it came to such things. A warning couldn't harm, after all.
Whether that warning mattered in the end or not, the Assault Team made progress in this battle little by little, but also without suffering any losses, so everything was fine. After a while, the Desert Demon's first HP bar was as good as gone.
The one to finish that job (well, that part of the job) was Yamata. Oddly enough, despite using a Slash-based weapon himself, Yamata was among the top scorers of the raid party. For example, while there were some polearm-users among the DDA contingent for this boss battle, who could focus on their Thrust-type Sword Skills, Yamata outdid all of them.
Well, in the end, Yamata could balance offense and defense in this battle in a way not many others could. He could put any intel on how to predict the boss' attacks to good use, be it Asuna's tip from earlier or even the trick Kirito had pointed out. There was also the fact that he was quick to attack and slow to flee, but when he was attacked directly, Yamata dodged quite skilfully and without any excessive movements, so that he could recover (and counter) right away.
There was that, and there was the fact that he never hesitated to spring into action – to the point that he frequently left his designated position in the clustered battle formation the raid party had adopted on Asuna's command. This time, too, Yamata charged ahead and left his own party behind in order to join a nearby other unit, which was attacked by the Desert Demon. As said party was about to start counterattacking while the boss was retreating, Yamata suddenly appeared by their side, and he immediately began slashing at the Desert Demon wildly with a Sword Skill.
When Yamata's attack, which had taken the other players by surprise so overwhelmingly that they'd taken a step back, completely forgetting about joining the fray, was finished, something odd happened, though. The Desert Demon abruptly stopped digging its way back into the sand. Instead, it lifted its "head" out of the ground again and erected its whole body so that it was basically pointing straight towards the sky.
The surrounding players were dumbfounded at first, and the first one to fully comprehend this development was actually…
Asuna: Watch out! That last attack depleted the first HP bar! It's likely that the boss is about to use a new attack or a special move, so retreat and brace yourselves!
She didn't have to say this twice. After all, even though many others may have not figured this out quite as quickly, those were still seasoned Assault Team members we're talking about. They could sense the impending danger, and they instinctively beat a hasty retreat…
...except for Yamata, who may have also recognised that the boss was probably about to unleash a dangerous, unknown ability, but who saw this more as a chance than as a risk, especially since the others were "running like rabbits". Could there be a better moment to "show his bravery"?
Yamata [casually]: Geez, what are you afraid of? We've been through these pesky bosses' "special moves" how many times again? Well, "How many loaves of bread have you eaten in your life?" goes that line, am I right? [determinedly] Anyway, this is how you do it!
Yamata thrust his sabre forward and rammed it as deeply into the Desert Demon's flesh as possible… which wasn't even enough to hurt its vulnerable innards. Be that as it may, the more important aspect of his actions was that he'd just inadvertently put himself into much, much bigger trouble, which became apparent when the Desert Demon suddenly pushed itself further out of the ground, raising its body higher towards the sky… and taking Yamata with it since he instinctively clung onto his weapon at first, only to realise the precarious situation this brought him into when he was already dangling in the air.
The rest of the raid party watched the peculiar scene with worry more about themselves than about Yamata. On a side note, this was the first time the players got a good look at the boss… as well as a chance to fully gauge just how huge it really was. The scouting party had estimated its length to be about ten metres, but judging just from the "height" the Desert Demon had gained without even coming out of the ground completely, it was at least twice as long in reality. Well, the boss' extreme speed had simply made it too difficult for the players to assess its size properly.
Anyway, its massive size was only one factor in the tension that had come over the raid party. Everyone down to the last man/Asuna was wondering what the boss was about to do and how to defend themselves… and that was when the Desert Demon started spinning around. It picked up amazing speed in no time, and within seconds, it'd become so fast that its body was blurring, at which point Yamata's loud protests were the only thing that fully convinced the players that the boss was really spinning like that – and not just glitching out.
That alone wouldn't have been all that concerning, though. It was Asuna, who, by frantically trying to predict the boss' next move, noticed that the sand at the bottom of the Desert Demon's body seemed to get sucked in towards it. More and more sand was blown up, swirling around the huge worm while ascending further and further, as if the boss was coiling up a stream of sand.
Asuna [panicking]: Everyone, keep running! Get away from it! FAST!
The players who'd stopped retreating away from the boss as if its unfamiliar actions had stunned them turned back to life after Asuna's warning had snapped them out of their stupor. Well, just in time, because the pull the boss was creating quickly spread out to its maximum area of effect, sucking in everything within a radius of ten metres around the sand tornado that was forming in the middle.
Roughly ten seconds after the Desert Demon had started this attack, it reached its full intensity. At that point, the boss' body had disappeared completely behind a giant twister of sand. One of the lizardmen, who couldn't get away in time, was lifted into the air and swiftly swallowed by that enormous whirlwind, only to be spat out again moments later… and high up in the air. Careful observers could see that its HP, which had been full before, had already gone down to a tenth of that, and when the lizardman landed on the ground again, its body immediately shattered.
An unfortunate player was at risk of sharing the same fate. While the others, in some cases by using means such as Acrobatics, had escaped the ten-metres-radius danger zone just in time, this particular guy got pulled back towards the twister just as he'd almost made it, too. Alas, the wind that reeled him in was just as strong as his attempts to run from it, and it grew even stronger.
Naturally, this didn't go unnoticed by Asuna.
Asuna: Someone's left behind! Help him!
However, it was no use. Asuna could shout all she wanted – the violent, roaring winds the boss was causing drowned all of it out. Nobody who stood farther than five metres away from her could hear anything she said – that was the silencing effect the boss' attack brought about.
Fortunately, there were those among the Assault Team who didn't have to be told to help. Just as the imperilled player was carried off his feet and into the air, a grappling hook came flying towards this player. It went above his right shoulder, and when the wind began pushing it around, it coiled around his upper body, attaching the hook luckily effectively to him.
That grappling hook… Well, it was a courtesy of yours truly…
Philia: Hold onto that rope! I'll pull you in!
Even if he couldn't understand her (due to the same issues Asuna was facing right now), the player didn't even have to be told that. He desperately held onto his literal lifeline. So did Philia, and she pulled on it with all her might, using every last ounce of strength she had in an attempt to reel her comrade-in-arms in…
...only to fail. The wind currents that were striking the other player were insanely strong – stronger than her, that was for sure – and her bad footing didn't make this any better. She may have had the special footwear to gain at least some friction on the sand, but it was still like standing on somewhat muddy ground, which was, let's say, still slippery enough. At this rate, Philia would be the one to be pulled in, and she'd simply suffer the same gruesome fate as the person she was trying to save, which she was keenly aware of.
In this dire situation, another pair of hands grabbed the rope. As Philia could see with just a quick glance, Leafa had hurried to her side. The other girl started to pull just as hard on the rope – and to even greater effect, given that Leafa's Strength was slightly higher than Philia's. Alas, the strain on Leafa's face was easy for Philia to see…
Leafa: Geez… Don't just… run off… and do that… by yourself!
Even with the two of them together mustering all of their strength in an attempt to win this tug-of-war against a tornado, they didn't really stand a chance. Lucky for them, Silica hesitated just as little to lend a hand (or rather two hands), and the three of them together did at least manage to hold the rope (and the player they were helping) halfway steadily in place.
In the end, their saviour was none other than Strea, who was the next person to come and support them. She grabbed the end of the rope and began to jerk it back, reeling it in with downright scary effectiveness. Sure, the other girls were helping, too, but Strea seemed to contribute more physical strength than those three combined.
They had the situation under control now… and aside from that, yet another player "got freed" from the sand vortex. That is, Yamata's sabre finally slipped out of the boss' body, and as a consequence, he got flung away with all the speed he had built up. To the average observer from the raid party, it looked as if an unidentifiable object shot out of the raging sand tornado, flew across the whole battlefield at what felt like Mach 4, and it crashed into some rocks that bordered the battle site. The impact was so incredibly strong that it created a large dust cloud. If the rock formation hadn't been literally indestructible, there probably would've been a gaping hole in it now.
Once the dust settled, it revealed Yamata, clinging to a random ledge he just happened to grab in order to keep himself from falling. Only a tiny sliver of his HP remained, and even a comparatively light fall from his current height would've killed him. This way, however, he got to live…
...and that was by no means a coincidence. The secret to Yamata's survival – as bizarre as it may sound – lay in his necklace, the "Blessing of the Gods of Life and Death". It was the Last Attack Bonus from the floor boss of the 90th floor. Being the most precious drop from the last major milestone boss before the end of the game, it had a special effect that truly was a divine blessing, a trump card that could save the user from certain death.
In short, the damage the wearer suffered from any single trigger, be it a direct hit, fall damage or anything else, was capped at half of their maximum HP. With this item, Yamata could've taken the full brunt of the strongest attack of any boss without any defense – he still would've been fine. Honestly, if it had been possible, he could've jumped from the rooftop of the Ruby Palace and all the way down to the plaza of the Town of Beginnings, and he would've survived it while losing merely half of his HP.
Well, it wasn't a perfect "You get out of death free" card. Keeping aside that this necklace provided no protection from "death by a thousand cuts", it also didn't help much against continuous damage, since the damage dealt at a time was low, but that damage was sustained over and over again at marginal intervals. For instance, damage from drowning, too, wasn't reduced at all. Furthermore, DoT effects such as Poison or the newly discovered Rot could be fatal since Blessing of the Gods of Life and Death may have limited the damage the wearer would suffer during each "turn", but that didn't apply to the total damage.
Regardless, this necklace could, in combination with Yamata's Battle Healing, save him from two attacks no matter how strong they were, and the fact that this had been exactly what had happened – after all, both the sandstorm that had almost been enough to kill a lizardman by itself and this extremely intense crash had to deal more damage than half of Yamata's max HP, not to mention that this also proved that the violent winds dealt all the damage at once, not continuously over time – actually confirmed what Asuna had been thinking: It was doubtful that every player in their raid party could've survived either the sandstorm or the fall after they were hurled into the air, and at the same time, it wasn't even a question if anyone (other than Yamata, of course) could've survived both. The answer to that was a decisive no.
About thirty seconds (according to Asuna's estimation) after the Desert Demon's special attack had begun and all hell had broken loose, the sand tornado died down. As the whirling sand was subsiding, it revealed the dormant figure of boss. For a second, the giant worm still stood tall like some kind of meaty tower, and then, that tower collapsed: The Desert Demon bent the upper half of its body and dove straight towards the ground, crashing and then sinking into it before anyone could do anything about it.
The whole raid party collectively let out the breath they'd been holding. This had been nerve-wracking… but it was over. What's more, thanks to their caution, some special "benefits" and the solidary actions of the likes of Silica, Philia, Leafa and Strea, nobody (read: no player) had died. And now they knew this special gimmick of the Desert Demon. If this was all they had to worry about, they were sure: They could do this.
Yes, they would've been absolutely fine if that had been everything…
...and these ominous words conclude this chapter.
Now that I think about it, my weird "essay" on "SAO footwear" from a few chapters ago might've fit better at the beginning of this one... Well, that's just how it is.
The "outside-the-system skill" Kirito mentions is actually taken from canon. If my memory serves me right, I came across this fact when I read something about the fight between Kirito and Death Gun in the Phantom Bullet arc - it seems he used this trick to predict Death Gun's first shot. Well, and now he used it to predict... worms, apparently.
If you're wondering where Lisbeth was during the final scene when all of her teammates were helping someone: Keep in mind that Asuna "put her on the bench".