Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except my OC and their story arcs. All things related to SAO belong to Reki Kawahara and every other reference belongs to their respective owners.
"Okay, here we go! Crawler, strike now!"
"Roger that Sensei!"
CLANG!
"Okay, now is the time! Formation, Clover Field!"
"Hai!" said four different voices as they began to charge in a pattern they had practiced many more times.
A few seconds later distinctive sword sounds were heard and the boss' health dropped to the red zone.
Boss was still standing still and was preparing for a ground-smashing strike.
"Okay, it is up to us then. Asemi?"
"Yes, Senpai!"
Another pair of swords, brighter than the ones before entered the scene, and they stood at the two sides of the boss. Then, with synchronization that results from a lot of practice, they began a fury of slices on the boss.
Still, Ilsamor grimaced a little. Attack was supposed to kill that boss, yet the boss was still standing. He glanced at Asemi who understood his intention right away and the duo took the position for two one-hit sword skills.
Yet, for Ilsamor's sake, simply sword skill would not be enough.
"Enhance Armament!"
His blade's red glow increased enough to cover the entire cavern and then, the duo released their skills. Just before their cooldown ended, the boss destroyed into pixels, and a congratulations notification appeared over their heads.
"Alright everyone, good job indeed. Will, you need to work on those new sword skills before the next dungeon. Crawler, keep up the good work, you have become a very talented party leader indeed."
"T-Thank you sensei." said a girl with blue hair with hints of red on her cheeks. Asemi sent her a knowing glance.
"So that concludes today's lesson. Please, rest well and enjoy your new loots. See you again at tomorrow's morning." said Ilsamor before his students waved their hands and entered the portal that will send them to the beginning of this dungeon.
"What's wrong senpai?"
Asemi had noticed the slightly nervous expression on Ilsamor's face. He smiled slightly, "It's nothing, just… It seems that the old girl's time is finally up. It cannot carry me more on higher levels."
He looked to Heaven's Grace, the sword that had accompanied him ever since he lost his equipment, a fruit of Lisbeth's hard work.
"Will you request something else from Lisbeth?" asked Asemi while sheathing her katana. For a second only the sound of the portal was heard inside the cavern.
"No, I think not. Not that I don't trust Lisbeth, it's just…"
"You want to search for the sword Mistress made for you," said Asemi with a playful gaze. Ilsamor conceded "Yeah, you know I am searching for it since she first mentioned it yet I could not find any sword stabbed into a stone. I am still at a loss-"
"I want you to at least forge a temporary sword though…" interrupted Asemi, her eyes were slightly narrowed. "You are the boss scout of the assault team, you train many people in dangerous territories and you are probably the most wanted people from all orange players. I don't want your defenses to become obsolete."
Ilsamor sighed, "You are right, I am sorry. I-I think there was a-"
"Ilsamor…"
Now the things were serious. Asemi rarely found the resolve to call him by his name without blushing.
"Okay, okay! I will talk with Lisbeth to figure something out tomorrow!"
"Why tomorrow?" asked Asemi, though her insistence showed Ilsamor that she was really caring for his safety. even enough to forget their plans.
"Cause tonight I have a dinner plan with a beautiful woman, you see," said Ilsamor while looking at her. She suddenly blushed "T-That's true…" Ilsamor laughed at her reaction and took her hand into his own.
"Now then, my queen, if you will…"
They used the portal to exit from the dungeon.
It was June and most things had stayed the same at Aincrad while some changes had changed.
In the following week of the attack, Ilsamor announced his temporary resignation from the guild's leadership position and instead took almost all of its training activities once more. Of course, it was not only limited to that, few days after his resignation, he once again appeared against the orange front, occasionally accompanied by other Sword members.
Under the leadership of Rider, the guild managed to heal most of its wounds and began working for its old charity events and free lessons once more, slowly getting rid of its isolationist policy.
"So, Senpai, what will we do tonight?"
Asemi slowly gathered her energy once more after they exited from the dungeon and began walking on the 64th floor, land of eternal sunset.
Ilsamor felt calm and relaxed despite still being inside a death game. His old conviction and talent returned back to him, and now he was doing what he must do from the very beginning.
He was thunder, a sword of the goddess.
"I don't know. What do you think, shall we try that restaurant on the 60th floor?"
"Only if you are making the dessert."
Ilsamor laughed "Of course, but which one?"
"That chocolate cake! Please?"
"Well, you know we will have to raid that dungeon again, right?"
Asemi's expression filled with resolve. "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You do know that I had used my weapon's property for three times in this dungeon, right? I need to repair my weapon!"
"Ilsamor…"
Oh no…
"I know that you carry at least one reserve weapon, and few other types of weapons, which you almost mastered all of them."
Ilsamor raised his hands like he surrendered and opened his inventory to check what kinds of weapons he had with him. To his luck…
"Oh, I only got a reserve dagger. Then we can later-"
"Ilsamor…"
T-Two times in a row!
"Come on Asemi, you know I hate fighting with daggers!"
"Senpai, you know what is at stake…"
Ilsamor sighed against the imminent threat. "Okay, okay, I get it."
It has been two long years for Lisbeth.
At the start of the game, Lisbeth also started her own blacksmith shop, and while it got never too famous, with suitable prices and quality craftsmanship, she gathered herself a solid and reliable customer base.
That was until Argo arranged a meeting with her and the leader of the Sword of Mercy.
It had started unofficially. She was still a freelancer, but her workload had increased with the ever-increasing number of the Sword members. Her level increased faster than before, and her choice of Gods' Blessed Hammer only increased her value, since she was one of the few blacksmiths to made that decision.
Then she, with a godly amount of patience, forged one of the most unique swords in this game.
Heaven's Grace.
Her fame soared to sky-high after this, and when she became the official blacksmith of the Swords, her status was regarded as one of the most powerful players in Aincrad, both as a blacksmith and fighting power.
And right now, she was looking at two people she felt indebted to.
"So, what do I owe the pleasure love birds?"
Ilsamor sighed, Asemi had really insisted about his weapon, so much so that he had come to Lisbeth's workshop as soon as she awoke.
"I am sorry to disturb you so early, but…"
"But you need a new sword, correct?"
Ilsamor nodded, his embarrassed stance managed to chuckle Lisbeth. "You don't need to apologize. I told you, did I not? That sword of yours could carry you around 60th floor. I am actually surprised that you are still managing to use it," she took a sip from her tea. "So, what material we will use this time?"
Ilsamor nervously scratched his neck. "Actually, Lisbeth, this is the main problem."
"Huh?"
"You see, ever since my equipment ban is revoked, I was more concentrated on finding the right items than to follow new materials, so I don't know what kinds of materials are good or bad right now. Can you lend me a hand?"
Lisbeth thought a little "Well, I can but there is another way." She stood up and filled her cup with more tea. "About last two to three weeks, scouts had found a farming mission, which gives you plenty of crafting material, type is determined by how fast you beat the boss."
Ilsamor frowned "That's strange. SAO usually does not allow players to farm anything, even the mob fields. Why haven't I heard this mission I wonder?" he said which caused Lisbeth to raise her brows "You don't know? Everyone is talking about it. Some days it is so busy that you need to wait in a line to do it!"
"Interesting… How does it work?"
"Well, according to what I heard, you enter the field alone, then a little girl asks for your help against a witch, which is, from what I heard, a pretty weak boss. Then a timer starts, and you got a crafting material according to how fast you beat the boss."
Ilsamor thought, could it be a favor from the Lady to players before things get pretty cruel? He shook his head, things could not be this simple, Administrator system still had more system privileges than the Cardinal system, clear evidence for this was the absence of his unique skill.
Bastion of Justice had been taken from him once more after the battle.
His logical side was refusing that he was the only one who found something weird about all this, which he voiced after a moment "Do you think it is not weird? I mean, am I the only one who thinks something is odd about this mission?"
"Well, no," said Lisbeth while scratching her neck. "To be honest Ilsamor, most of the players are suspecting about this, but no one wants to do something about it. I mean, look at it, free crafting materials! A low-risk mission, a weak boss. And everybody is using it!"
"Lisbeth, this is one of the biggest excuses politicians used for unethical acts. You know, I had watched an anime about it, 86 maybe? Anyway, if this mission is still there, this must mean a greater reward is present."
Lisbeth hummed "In a perspective it makes sense. You can hide real rewards by giving a reasonable reward for a half-finished mission. But then, the mission is pretty straightforward, what do you think the real mission can be?"
Ilsamor stood up and picked his repaired sword from the counter. "There is only one way to find out."
"Hey, wait for me!" said Lisbeth behind him. "There are not many orders for today, I might as well go out for a change. Are you coming too Asemi?"
And just like that, the trio headed towards the famed mission area on the 59th floor.
To say people had shown a clear interest in this mission would be an understatement. As Lisbeth said, there were many players both from the lower and upper floors to get some good crafting materials from the mission.
He saw Klein and Fuurinkazan, many knights from KoB, and even Kirito who was looking suspiciously to the mission area with one certain vice-commander near him.
"Yo, Ilsamor!"
"Hi Kirito, it's nice to see you."
They shook hands while smiling, then Ilsamor greeted Asuna too. "How is going Asuna?"
"Well, Ilsamor-kun, we couldn't extinguish the fire you have started. Some of the leaders are furious but…" she slowly leaned towards him. "Continue whatever you are doing. Many new and powerful players have joined the assault team."
"I am glad to hear that. Now, Kirito…" Ilsamor stood near him while girls behind them made a very cheerful noise for coming together again, and he too started to observe the next player who was about to start this mission. "I take it you too are suspicious about it?"
"Yeah. It is not the style of this game to leave any loopholes for farming purposes…" said Kirito while scratching his chin. "There is something hidden for this mission." Then he turned to him. "Do you think Lady is responsible?"
"I believe so, but it is not simply an act of kindness," answered Ilsamor while looking player's fight with a very ugly-looking witch. "I have an idea but…"
"I knew you would say it…" Kirito said while putting his right hand inside his pocket. Girls had long gone to entertain somewhere by then. "I think this mission is specifically created for choosing someone. Like, I don't know, owner of a powerful holy sword maybe?"
When Ilsamor looked, Kirito was mischievously grinning. He sighed "You too noticed it, huh?"
"Yep. That's why…"
He patted on his shoulder. "Go ahead and take it."
Ilsamor was surprised "Are you sure you don't want it? And I fear it can be counted as a cheat as I-"
"Ilsamor, Ilsamor…" Kirito shook his head. "I don't think that would be counting as cheating. First, while you and I both suspecting the real reward of this mission, like many other players, we have no idea to get it right now."
"Yes, that's true."
"Second, this mission is here for about two weeks! Hundreds of players were doing it, almost without pause. I think, since you have given them a fair amount of time, it is your right to claim that reward, if you can take it."
Ilsamor smiled. "Thank you, Kirito."
"Don't thank me, you know you will owe me a good sword if our guess comes true," said Kirito with a thumbs up. "I hope you can take it."
Ilsamor nodded and moved forward, towards the crowded area of the mission.
Inside was much like boasting competition, like in front of the punching bag machines in amusement parks. Players were boasting with their scores, male players were showing off to female players. Inside the crowd…
"Sensei!"
Ilsamor looked towards the voice and smiled. "Easy there, Nautilus. It hasn't been so long I was just with you on Wednesday."
"I know Si- I mean sensei, but, well, after spending almost every day with you know it seems so empty. I cannot say you are on a vacation because you work almost twice as hard as before, and yet…"
"Yet you seem more energized than usual sensei." finished Warblade with a soft smile of his. Ilsamor nodded "Yeah, I agree to that. After I made Rider the manager of the guild, I realized that the tiring part of being a guild's leader is the bureaucracy. Anyway, are you here about the mission too?"
"Yes, sensei…" Nautilus. "Highest score belongs to me, and Artemis got the third spot."
"What about the second?"
"Someone from the DDA, I don't remember his name. It paid off good," he said before unsheathing his sword, which was a beautiful one with pristine steel and golden ornamentations. "Called Knight's Honor. Lisbeth says it can get me around 85th floor!"
"Well, if you are here sensei…" said a sudden female voice "It means first place will belong to you soon enough." Ilsamor turned to his back. "It's good to see you Artemis. How is it going? You know what I mean."
"Well, he finally gathered the courage to ask me out, thank you very much," said Artemis while smiling proudly. "We cleared much of the labyrinth; I think you will be notified before the end of next week."
"Really? I hope something good comes out of this mission then," said Ilsamor then looked around. "Where does the line start by the way?"
"Forming lines ended three days ago. Now you can just enter and do the mission."
Ilsamor looked surprised for a moment, then he shook his head and slowly moved and passed the mission area borders.
"Hey, look at it!"
"It's the Silver Blade!"
"How many seconds will it take, you think?
"I bet on 10!"
His entrance had caused a scene, yet he slowly cleared all the distractions.
He was almost sure that this mission was the stone which his sword was stabbed into. Many players had tried to pull it from the stone, but in the end, they had settled with a consolation prize.
"K-Kind sir! Please save me from this witch!" screamed the little girl, while pointing at the witch.
"Don't get in my way, or I fight with you too!" said witch, like a villain would say.
Then time stopped for him.
It had started with a sense, something he developed over his fight with many orange players. Many times, Ilsamor caught and interrogated orange players for the location of their friends, planned assaults, and their hideouts.
In those interrogations, every little mimic, every little jest had meaning, Lady had made him work on those techniques for hours in his dreams.
Why this little girl had a subtle evil smile on her face?
His eyes narrowed further.
Why did the witch's voice come so desperate?
His mind went back to a time before SAO.
At times he and Daiki would watch movies, mostly for the moral choices or lessons, but Daiki would also show some of the other types of movies like comedy or fantasy to relieve him from his stress. At one of those times, they had watched a comedy movie called Jump Street 22, and there Daiki had pointed an important scene in the movie, which was the scene they learned "the embedding principle."
The embedding principle was basically embracing the facts that were given to someone from the beginning so hard that there is no other way around their thinking. Daiki pointed out that many situations became worse due to embedded ideas acquired from prejudice.
"Why?"
All cheers stopped at the moment Ilsamor asked this question to the witch rather than straight-up pulling his sword from its sheath. "Why do you chase that little girl?"
"Hey, w-what's going on?"
"Why is he not attacking?"
Ilsamor paid no attention to outside chatter and turned to the witch's slightly hopeful face. "S-Sir, she is not a small child! It's the witch! She- she stole my appearance!"
This was a hard lie to believe.
If it was a lie of course.
Ilsamor slowly started to understand what was going on, but still, he turned towards the little girl. "Is that true?"
"O-Of course not! Just stop with-"
"I asked you a question."
Ilsamor voice became colder, and everyone near the mission's vicinity completely focused their attention on the mission area.
The girl seemed nervous for a minute, then she slowly sighed and scolded him. His eyes were colder than endless wells. "You insolent mortal! You had a chance to prove yourself, but now, you will die here!"
Then she began to change, she grew and grew until she became around ten meters. Her skin color became gray, and her nails became long claws while her five health bars appeared near her with boss' name "The Witch".
The crowd erupted into chaos while Champions began pounding the invisible wall that surrounds the mission area.
"SHE HAS FIVE BARS!"
"Can't get through!"
"Senpai, please be careful!"
"Asuna, calm down!"
Ilsamor unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance while taking a look at the old witch,and new young girl. She looked at him and his sword then shook her head in sadness. "Sir, your sword cannot pass from her skin. It would only damage your sword."
Ilsamor clicked his tongue. "Then what will we do?"
"I am an amateur wizard. If you can cover me long enough though, I can prepare spells to pierce her skin and damage her. B-But I will need lots of time, her every layer is tougher than the previous ones!"
Ilsamor nodded, in the end, it was always his mission. "Understood, let's do this!"
To him, it would be no different than a floor boss scouting he was doing since 20th floor.
However…
Boss' claws shone in five different colors, all of which was too familiar to Ilsamor. His eyes widened in surprise, the system was accepting each and every nail as a sword, and worse, the boss could use one-hit sword skills.
Then, with the little girl started to concentrate, a timer started above from one minute and it was decreasing.
"Here we go…"
Boss suddenly rushed against them with a speed that was unexpected from someone with her size. Ilsamor moved to intercept and blocked her strike with his own, which drew the attention of boss.
"What, you want to die first?!"
Her fingers took forms for different sword skills and nails glowed. From the position of nails, Ilsamor could say not all of them are considered as longswords, for example, thumbnails were recognized as a greatsword and it was charging the Avalanche against him.
He gritted his teeth, Lady sure wasn't being nice.
He dodged from Avalanche, then use a chain of sword skills to parry Horizontal, Vertical and Zekku respectively, then barely managed a Shooting Star from her pinkie finger, but he was too late to notice her other hand.
"Ah!"
He was thrown backward while losing a portion of his HP.
"Insolent human! You think you can match with me!"
Ilsamor looked at the timer, "No, but I think she can."
Timer hit zero for the first time, and an energy surge occurred at girl's location. Soon after a massive fireball appeared and hit the Witch, taking the entirety of one health bar.
Then timer reset, indicating four minutes for the next impact.
The Witch seemed confused after the hit, and Ilsamor took this opportunity to take few items to boost his stats and gain regeneration. Just as he finished, the Witch turned towards the young girl and looked with utter hatred. "YOU!"
She shot forward and Ilsamor knew no ordinary power could stop her from reaching that girl.
He took a position. Even if he could not damage the Witch, this does not mean he cannot stop her either.
His sword glowed red, and he pulled the ace in his sleeve.
"Enhance Armament!"
Sword's glow increased for multiple folds and combined with the game-breaking power of Vorpal Strike to correct position, the Witch stumbled and fell to the ground without stopping.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Ilsamor prepared for another set of claw attacks as his brain was trying to develop a strategy to survive.
It was clear for him to he cannot dodge those claw attacks, he had to parry them. He had no choice especially now, because if he retreated one step back, then the life of the young girl would be in danger.
He silently chuckled "Order 227*, eh? Well, let's see what I can do…"
It was a problem. For now, he could only chain five consecutive sword skills, but it won't be enough.
"So, what about five sword skills with twelve hits in total?"
It was plausible. He could use Horizontal Square, Sharp Nail, and Beehive as a chain to acquire a total number of twelve hits.
"Okay, let's try!"
He took position for it and awaited while the Witch approached him.
"YYOOUUU!"
Ilsamor began the chain he decided, and it went surprising went as he deflected all of the attacks, yet his opinion changed when he saw his health bar.
It was declining, slowly but surely.
He scrapped the idea, he needed something stronger to counter her assault. The timer showed two more minutes.
"Okay… What about this one?"
He tried another combination consisting of Deadly Sins, Purge Strike and Horizontal.
Witch attacked and he began to maneuver, blades clashed and Ilsamor emerged unharmed this time. Unknown to him, the show he was putting was mesmerizing for the audience.
"Wow, he really earns the name Silver Blade…"
"That's the Boss Scout!"
"Kick her ass!"
Ilsamor dodged, parried, and finally managed to pull her away from the caster, but he was starting to become tired. He could not do this forever.
"Senpai, 20 more seconds, please hold on!"
"20 seconds? It was like an entire minute when I tried plank, let's see how much it becomes in a death match!"
He blocked and blocked, and suddenly realized that his back hit the border of the mission zone.
Then the timer hit zero once more.
This time a bolt of gigantic lightning hit the Witch from behind, stunning her and taking out another health bar.
Ilsamor quickly used his items before he checked something he feared.
And his fears were real.
Heaven's Grace was losing its durability in a fast manner and using its property did not help either. He grimaced because he had no backup weapon, it was careless of him, he usually had one or two in his inventory.
What could he…
His eyes widened with realization.
There they were. Ten weapons, ready for his use. In the end, the caster did not say his sword would not be effective against her nails.
While he was thinking, the boss shook her head and prepared for the third round, which according to the timer would take seven minutes.
This time, rather than taking a defensive stance, Ilsamor rushed at the boss, and by using the nearby house, he managed to leap at the boss' arm.
"Get off me, you bug!"
He had every intention to do so, but he had a job to do first. He barely dodged the claw coming to get him and run along her arm.
"What is he doing?"
"I don't know, but it looks super cool!"
He knew he had one chance and he would need a strong attack, so he prepared for a Vertical, one that was bolstered by enhancement.
Target? Ring finger.
"HYAAAA!"
In any normal game, this would not work. There were certain things to do for beating bosses, and the caster had already explained to him the rules.
Yet this was no normal game.
With a cry from the Witch, her nail broke and with a shine, it turned into a dark steel katana. Ilsamor grabbed it without losing time and sheathed his sword.
"H-HOW! HOW DARE YOU!"
"Wait, did he break her nail to take it as a weapon?"
"Man, how crazy he is?"
"Good one Ilsamor!"
Ilsamor took a breath and adopted a stance he and Asemi developed together after hundreds of practices.
"Senpai…"
Ilsamor looked into the boss' eyes. "Let's see whether your own nails can pass through your skin."
He charged, this time he was the aggressor side.
His combo started with Tsujikaze, which he combined with Zekku. After he closed on the boss, he continued with Washu and Shinonome before finishing his combo with Sanka.
"AAHHH!"
Boss screamed with pain, and Ilsamor noticed that her health bar dropped a little. He quickly checked the weapon's durability, it could still go on, but before that, he should start to create spare ones.
After all, there was a reason he chose katana for the test weapon.
Shinonome was one of the unique sword skills that this game offered. It would penetrate all of the defenses; therefore, the katana was the perfect weapon to disarm the boss and acquire the rest of the weapons.
"W-What are you doing you, filthy human! Get off me!"
Ilsamor quickly headed towards her right hand and this time acquired on longsword and one rapier.
"My nails! My precious nails! You will die! IN PAIN!"
Rather than gathering every one of them to point, Ilsamor quickly distributed those weapons to area, creating himself a variety of retreat points if his weapons would be suddenly destroyed.
"I am sorry, but I think they will be more useful for me."
While the Witch was busy catching him, the young wizard released another wave of energy, in the shape of holy light this time. Witch lost her third health bar completely and lost a portion of Ilsamor's damage to fourth.
The timer showed ten minutes this time.
As her health dropped to dangerous zones, the boss' attack patterns started to change and the durability of her skin increased. Ilsamor attacks were still doing damage, but the amount was less, and the weapon's durability was being depleted a lot faster.
That was why he wasn't surprised when his katana disappeared into pixels. He simply clicked his tongue and picked the greatsword from the ground.
"Alright, let's make Rider proud, shall we?"
He attacked again, targeting the joints as much as possible since it was clear that with the amount of damage he was doing, it was impossible for him to kill this boss on his own.
He only needed to slow it down.
Yet there was a question on Ilsamor's mind ever since the fight started.
Why a boss named "the Witch" was not doing any magical attacks?
Almost as if think this question is a cue, Witch raised her hands and massive dark energy started to gather.
"I don't need my claws to kill you!"
Ilsamor thought fast, he had no idea whether the weapons he was holding were magical or not which meant he cannot trust them to stop a magical attack. He had a few limited options.
The first and the most urgent way was disrupting the Witch before she completed her spell, as a rule of thumb strong spells usually required an amount of concentration and preparation, so if he disrupted her concentration, then he could have a chance to take more drastic measures.
The question was how to do this.
Her eyes…
Ilsamor slowly raised his head. Wizard had told him Witch's skin was impenetrable, but what about her eyes? Though reaching there would prove quite a challenge too, especially with a greatsword.
He needed something lighter, so he sheathed the greatsword and picked Heaven's Grace once again. There was only one skill he could use right now, and he had to sacrifice another portion of sword's durability.
He closed his eyes while taking the position of Sonic Leap.
One last trip, eh?
"Enhance Armament!"
A vibrant green light engulfed the area and Ilsamor jumped straight to her eyes, a maneuver even the Witch was not expecting.
"HAAAAA!"
Skill impacted and Witch screamed while losing the focus of her spell. Ilsamor briefly landed in her right shoulder but quickly made his way to the ground as the Witch went into a frenzy and began attacking random spots.
The timer was still showing five more minutes.
He took the second katana from the ground and positioned himself. All this time, he was designing a flawless combo, a combo that depended on the weapon's locations.
"My Lady, if you hear me…"
He took position for the first skill and smiled. He had no idea that the audience was watching with bated breath.
"…Well played."
Then his combo began.
He first approached the Witch and after a four-combo chain, his fifth skill brought him in front of the rapier, which he took without the slightest wait. Then he reinitiated his combo with Shooting Star, followed by Star Splash, Quadruple Pain, and Flashing Lance.
He ended near the longswords.
His stamina was dwindling, but he picked one of them and began a new combo, starting with Vorpal Strike and ending with Nova Ascension.
Her fourth health bar was in the red zone.
"NO, NO, NO! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!"
Witch then turned to wizard. "IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Then she rushed at her.
Time slowed.
Ilsamor knew whatever power that dark steel blades were carrying; they wouldn't be enough to stop her charge.
But using the property one more time means…
Losing his sword…
It was just a guess that this mission's real reward was the sword Lady prepared for him. What if their guess was wrong?
He had long since left…
He picked a longsword and threw it to his estimated falling point.
… and now, the sword will follow its master.
He jumped to air by using his high stats and took position for Vertical. Then, for the last time…
"ENHANCE ARMAMENT!"
Azure light engulfed the area and the boss stopped while screaming. At the same time, Heaven's Grace was destroyed and turned into pixels. Ilsamor had no time to bid a farewell to his old friend as he initiated a sword skill chain on the Achilles Heel of the boss.
As he cut down her fourth health bar, the timer hit zero once more.
This time, rather than throwing another massive energy wave, the wizard summoned a sword and made a perfect leap towards Witch's head.
"NNNNOOOOO!"
And cut her head.
The Witch stood right there for a few seconds, a headless giant before turning into a gray mist and scattering to the ground.
Ilsamor fell on his knees, he did not remember being this tired for a long time. He could not raise his head but from the music, he could say he had passed the mission.
"He… He did it?"
"What happens now?"
"Oi, who is that figure inside the mist?"
That last sentence forced Ilsamor to raise his head. Indeed, there was a female shadow inside the mist and the figure was slowly approaching him.
The moment she stepped outside, all of the Champions (Especially Nautilus) and Kirito took a sharp breath. Ilsamor just managed to weakly smile.
It was the Lady.
She was wearing a white chiton which confirmed Ilsamor's guess about her trying to role play Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend. Her brown hair was thrown from her right shoulder, and she was carrying a sword sheathed in a black scabbard, a black, like darkest space.
"You have done well, hero of justice."
Upon seeing her Nautilus wanted to kneel immediately, but a subtle look from the Lady stooped him. Then he understood, if this woman is indeed shown as the Lady, then other players would sully Ilsamor's hard-earned victory.
He just nodded back and let Lady continue her talk with Ilsamor.
"It is an important trait of a leader to see through deception, even the strongest ones. There are no words required for your proficiency with a variety of weapons, as even I, the designer of this challenge couldn't guess. Therefore, you have earned your reward."
She slowly held out the blade.
"This blade is forged from the people's beliefs and inside people's hearts. It owns the power that in turn forged the strongest holy swords in history. It is the sword of believed victory, forged to be wielded by someone with the strongest conviction."
Ilsamor held the blade and felt an immediate bond.
"Its name is Kalaiet."
A few windows popped up before Ilsamor, one of them was blade's history as Lady said and the other one was weapon's properties:
Enhance Armament: Ready for use
Release Recollection: Being Prepared
Well, she is really doing it, isn't she?
"I am honored by your gift." Ilsamor finally spoke. Lady smiled and pointed the nine weapons on the ground. "And as a bonus, I bless those weapons and leave their handling to you. Distribute them as you see fit. You broke one of them, yes? Then…" she recreated the katana "That made ten. I am trusting in your judgment."
Then she disappeared, leaving only ten weapons for him to distribute.
After she departed Ilsamor unsheathed the sword for the first time. His action was accompanied by a light release, which Ilsamor understood the reason later.
Entire sword was forged from the light. He thought Sword of The First Light was radiant, but this one was light itself. Though he could still feel the blade's weight, and he could touch the metal, metal was shining with a heavenly white light.
The Sword guard's terminals were bent towards the blade and the sword's hilt was from emerald while the guard itself and its pommel were from gold. At the point where blade and guard meet, two pentagonal metal plates were attached and each of them was adorned with elm trees.
He slowly turned towards the entranced crowd and smiled, his tiredness from before was long gone. "Alright, you heard the Lady. Ten durable, high-level weapons. Want one? Then come here and duel with me for it!"
He was not surprised when Kirito parted the crowd and moved towards him, Elucidator in his hand and a mischievous smile on his face.
"You were incredible senpai!"
Asemi and Ilsamor were walking on the 64th floor once more, their hands were intertwined, land of eternal sunset was providing them a feast for their eyes.
Ilsamor was truly on his form. Not only he did beat that horrendous boss, but he also dueled with Kirito and Asuna for weapon challenges. The audience was already intoxicated with seeing his boss fight, and on top of that, they had witnessed another legendary duel, Black Swordsman vs. Silver Blade.
Excitement was sky-high that no one thought about losing their material farm spot.
Ilsamor shook his head and pulled her closer. "You know, that technique is developed mostly by your contributions. I've just-"
"Senpai, I am sorry but unrequired modesty does not suit you." interrupted Asemi and stopped in front of him. Then she raised her head and looked at his eyes while caressing his cheek. "What you did was incredible. Seeing through such deception and showing incredible skill with four different weapons… Please, just accept my praise."
Ilsamor gulped then fondly smiled "Then, I was amazing, wasn't I?"
"Yes, you were."
They stood like that for a few seconds.
"Hey, I was thinking…"
Ilsamor began to speak, a tint of red on his cheeks, and his slightly nervous stature did not go undetected by Asemi.
"Yes?"
"You know, tomorrow is the boss fight for 65th floor and once we beat that floor, we arrive at floor 66. From Lady told me, that floor had a beautiful turquoise sea, with amazing views…"
Asemi's heart skipped a beat. "Y-Yes?"
"So I was thinking, that you had told me once that you were always dreaming to marry at a beach wedding…"
He slowly knelt down and Asemi's right hand closed her mouth, her eyes were teary.
"I know you were a bit sad about why I did not marry you right away after we started to date. I am sorry for this, the reason for that was…"
Ilsamor looked into her eyes "I… I did not want this to be just an in-game wedding. Truth is, I love you Asemi. I love you more than anything and anyone in this world, and in any world. I don't know how long I will live, but I know that I want to live my every moment with you. I don't want to be alone anymore, fight alone anymore…"
He opened his inventory and materialized a ring with a ruby.
"Queen of my heart, will you marry me?"
Order 227: Well, you might know this from the Call of Duty games, basically the order caused "Not one step back!" to become Red Army's motto.
A/N: Hello after a long break, sorry about that. I know I have long diverted from the main route, but we have just one more arc before we return to main events. After all, time for the ultimate showdown between Laughing Coffin and Sword of Mercy has come!
See you on "The Crusade" arc, please take care of yourselves, I wish you happy days.