A/N: Hello again, and welcome back. I hope you are all fine and well and thank you for accompanying Ilsamor's journey with me once more.
Without further ado, good readings!
Nocturn Strikes Back
As he saw the fires of war start to spread around Aincrad, Nocturn couldn't help but smile.
You are too easy Blade…
His hand on his black greatsword tightened, the grin on his face never disappeared while he slowly lost he was through his mind labyrinth. His expression changed slowly, his mouth curled upwards with all the wicked things he was thinking, all the bonds he would enjoy cutting down as Ilsamor would slowly fall into madness.
When will you become stronger, I wonder…? I miss our duels, you know.
He shook his head, trying to concentrate on the current objective, but he smiled once more, remembering how Asemi cried when she thought Ilsamor had died.
You had denied, again and again. But, it seems, he was right all along.
"What are doing, Nocturn?"
Nocturn turned to his back to see PoH standing near him. "Hello, boss… My hands are itching for a fight, you know. When will we set the fire?"
"Soon…" said PoH with a dark smile. "He should have got the news right now; I want to destroy everything right before he begins to try. Don't worry, before everything is over, you will have the Silver Blade while I get my hands on Black Swordsman."
Nocturn grinned as he turned his eyes back on Aincrad.
Your legend will end before it begins Blade. I swear on it.
Sword HQ was in complete disarray.
"Ilsamor, can you repeat that again, but slower," said Orochi while barely holding his anger. "How can these guilds get their hands on karma quests?!"
"It is entirely possible…" said Heathcliff in a calming manner. "During beta tests, beta testers only managed to climb until the tenth floor, and lore materials that have been distributed there would only take us so far. And considering the game spawning objectives in random locations, we would be missing a few karma quests in the end."
"But it is not just a few, Heathcliff!" yelled Orochi. "We may have a serious crisis in our hands with no real intel!" Then he pointed to Ilsamor "Your 'well-crafted plan' is failing from the beginning Blade!"
"No, it is not," said Ilsamor while frowning towards Orochi. "Which idiot leader puts all of his eggs in a single basket? Loki was not my only informant, neither we did only infiltrate Valeyard in the whole orange guild network…" he continued. "While we talk here, Rider and Eurard have already raided a few of other orange guilds depots. For now, spies in our ranks are our biggest threat, not the high-level equipment."
"And it is a big threat, indeed." said the leader of Paladin's Vengeance. "Do you have at least a name or number about this, Ilsamor-san?"
Ilsamor closed his eyes and took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. Then he opened and looked to the guild leader "We have a shortlist of names, which are already apprehended, but that's the problem. One of those spies was a player among the 9 commanders in the charge of reinforcements. Our chain of command may already have been compromised."
"What do you suggest then?"
Ilsamor thought this a little, then sighed. "Alright, until we get a solid lead about the spies' names, I suggest we combine all of our guild's informants to create some sort of an intelligence agency and make whatever background checks possible on new players…"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Orochi yelled. "What do you think, we are playing some sort of a sick military game Blade?! This—"
"Do you still think this is a game?!" Ilsamor yelled back, his anger surprising other players. "Just how many times are we going to make this discussion?! Please don't argue with me just because of the sake of arguing Orochi-san, if you have a better idea come and say it without dramatization! If not, then don't bar the way!"
Leaders stood silent; some bowed their heads in shame.
"Just how much more evidence do you need to see that this is no longer a game, but a world, a world designed to satisfy a madman's god complex? So yes, Orochi-san, if it means to win this game, if it means to keep many players alive, then I will use all of the possible techniques from the real world. You have a problem with that?"
Orochi took a deep breath; he knew his earlier outburst was real nonsense. "No, I am sorry. You are right, this has never been a game." Then he stood up "Time is of the essence here. I will send our informant here while—"
His answer was cut short with a message he received. His eyes widened as he read the message "Oh, no… We must go to the 18th floor, now!"
"What's the problem, Orochi-san?" asked Heathcliff, while standing up. "It's that information. Players are fighting between themselves; we need to act fast!"
Ilsamor stood up and headed towards the door "Fill me on the way."
"You suddenly came four days ago!"
"I am innocent, please!"
"Everyone, put down your weapons, now!"
"Stop talking!"
Commanders stood in the village square, listening to an increasing noise from the forward troops.
"Get off me you cowardly assassin!"
Orochi shook his head "This is bad. What will we do?"
Ilsamor stood silent, his gaze wandered on the faces of many Crusaders. It wasn't just one guild in here, several leading guilds were gathered, and all of their members were accusing each other of being a traitor.
"United we stand, divided we fall…" he whispered, still searching for an answer.
It was beyond the scope of his talents. Yes, he was a master swordsman and his talent for analyzing people was not something to be underestimated, but they didn't have the time to talk to each player personally.
They needed some way to weed all of them at once.
"…For this book is a safe haven, a place to rest for the souls of benevolent and an agonizing fire, sound of conscience for the souls of malevolent. Whenever it is read, all good and evil shall be separated. "
Ilsamor raised his head, with a surprised look on his face. Sure, he and Lady had spoken by using the statue thousands of times, but it had been a long time ever since she directly spoke to his mind.
Implications were not lost on him, and he knew what to do.
"SILENCE!"
His voice thanks to a small boost from the Lady, was heard by all Crusaders and suddenly all eyes turned on him.
"What do you think you are doing? Have you gone mad, are you really accusing the person that will stand next to you in battle without any evidence? If you have one, bring it here and we will do what is necessary."
No one talked back and he continued.
"You know, once I heard a story. You all know the famous Greek philosopher Socrates, right? One day before his execution, his wife came near him, she was crying and saying, "May gods curse them, they are killing my innocent husband!" Then Socrates said, "Why, would it be better if I was a criminal?"
The silence continued; all players were listening to him intently.
"You may say it is easy for me to talk like this, but it is not! Right now, fear is ruling your mind, but its reign is never a continuous one. What will happen to your relationship with your friend once it is over? How will you gonna ignore he called you a traitor and you called him a killer? Will you be able to do it?"
He slowly leaned to Orochi "Once I start to read from the Book, gather all of the players who show signs of regret or fear."
Orochi nodded and ordered his man to do as Ilsamor had said while Ilsamor took the Book in his hands. "I know most of you don't believe what I believe, but right now, I want you to consider this just as a philosophical view, not a religious one as this book carries many hidden gems about human behavior and life lessons."
He opened a passage with the Lady's directions "And finally, the day came for the warriors of humanity and heavens to stand together. Lady knew there was a lot of weak-willed people, or people with dark hearts were standing in the armies, and she looked right into their souls, for only she saw what they truly were under their shell…"
Under Orochi's surprised gaze several people's eyes widened in fear and some bowed their heads to not look at Ilsamor in the eyes contrary to many players looking at him with peace and contentment. Orochi quickly ordered their arrest while continuing to watch over the crowd.
"… Abused childhoods, souls that felt unworthy for love, or people using their excessive ego to hide their inadequacies. Lady looked at them and suddenly all of them felt like the Mercy itself was embracing them. Their souls found strength, their worth was justified, and their weak sides became one with their strong sides. Because in her eyes, she loved all of them, and even when they were thinking ill, they still had done nothing wrong in action…"
Ilsamor closed the book in here until that point Orochi had already taken around 8 to 14 people under custody. He knew that was not all of the spies but a large number of them had cleared from the ranks, and that was enough for now. Now though, he had to rekindle the fighting spirit in the souls of remaining soldiers.
"That is why we fight. Many of you lost friends or even family, your loved ones to the orange players. After all of the fighting with them, I finally understand not everyone can cope with their problem as well as we do. Still, this is no excuse to kill, rape, or murder fellow players, which is why I will give the last warning. Surrender and let us do our job about clearing the game. Because ideals tend to die in the face of emotions rather quickly."
He heard a teleportation sound and a sarcastic clap followed it.
"You are a natural, Silver Blade. It is no wonder you have so many followers."
Kirito's eyes widened and suddenly he unsheathed Elucidator and Silent Protector, the sword he had acquired after his duel with Ilsamor. "You dare to show your face, PoH? I will claim your life for all the friends we have lost!"
PoH smiled as he knew while they had larger numbers, they were still inside the city. No one could harm them.
"It is good that you finally shedding that pathetic side of yours Black Swordsman. But this does not mean you are my equal in a fight."
Ilsamor moved near Kirito, Kalaiet in his hand. "How about two then?"
"Very gracious of you, but another friend of mine is already on your tail, Blade." At that point, PoH viciously smiled then caressed his chin as thinking something. "Actually, that is why I am here. He has a message for you…"
Yeah, how can I help you… Oh—
Please, forgive me, revered mother…
"What did he say?" Ilsamor asked, a shiver passed from his spine.
I have committed many, many sins…
S-Stay away!
"He said…"
P-Please, let me go! PLEASE!
"Light will fade away."
Ilsamor thought this message for a while, then his eyes widened. "Y-You son of a bitch! You—"
"So, you understood on the first try, eh? Good, good… Then my job is over. Sorry Kirito, our rematch must wait for a further date. Be ready for it."
"PoH, you—!"
The orange leader laughed darkly before pulling his teleportation crystal and teleporting to another floor. Kirito punched a nearby wall "Damn that Venus and her stolen karma quests! He walked right in front of us, in the middle of the city!" He turned to Ilsamor, but Ilsamor's eyes were widened with terror.
"Ilsamor, what's wrong…"
Ilsamor raised his head from the menu. "I-I cannot reach Hikari. Rider said the temple is empty and some players heard screams were coming from there!"
Kirito understood at minute's notice. "Shit! Hikari's location, where is it?!"
"It says 68th floor! Let's go!"
"You go ahead Ilsamor-san, I will notify the remaining members of the response force," responded Orochi, while Ilsamor and Kirito started to rush towards the town square.
Ilsamor's heart was beating rapidly, there were only a few things in Aincrad that could make him nervous and during the past weeks, Nocturn managed to become one of them. It was a change that he could not wrap his head around; sure he was not a weakling before he abandoned the green front and joined at Laughing Coffin, but ever since their battle on the 4th floor, even during that battle, Nocturn was different.
It was not just an upstart bully anymore; it was more like a complete villain from the many movies he had watched and books he had read.
To be honest, this change was terrifying.
Soon after they disappeared into a shower of light, a familiar breeze that carried the scent of sea arrived at Ilsamor's nostrils, and soon after the duo was standing at the town square on the 68th floor.
Then they stopped and looked around, not knowing what to do. He knew Hikari and in extension, Nocturn was on this floor but there was no way to determine where…
"It took you long enough Blade!"
Someone had screamed to them just outside of the town, at the border of the aggression zone of NPC guards. A voice Ilsamor and Kirito knew all too well. They glanced at each other before unsheathing their weapons and dashing towards the source of the voice.
When they see Nocturn, the first thing Ilsamor noticed was the color of his cursor: it was green which meant he had done nothing to Hikari yet. This realization managed to calm Ilsamor even a little.
Once they got in each other's sight, Nocturn put a blade under the throat of Hikari and shouted "I think that's enough, don't you think so Blade? I can hear you, you can hear me, and if you try to do something stupid, I will have time to stab this cute priestess with a max-level poison coating my blade!"
They stopped as soon as they heard the threat, but even from the point they were standing, Ilsamor could see the sinister smile on Nocturn's lips.
He gritted his teeth and waited for Nocturn's next words.
"You know, if we were in the real world, I would kill you easily and save myself a lot of trouble. Buut, we are here and for some reason, I found myself ridiculously under-equipped, and this makes me sick!" Nocturn suddenly raised his voice. "You became victorious in all of our battles and that was only because you had higher level equipment than mine! Yet, this will end today, Blade, I have a mission for you."
Ilsamor balled his fists and glared at him. "What is this mission?"
"Why, you are going to do the missions needed for the equipment I need. But don't try to be smart, I will give you time for each of them and if you fail to bring them in time, then this lady will lose a portion of her health—"
"NO! Sensei, don't—"
"What a fierce woman you have Blade," said Nocturn before stabbing Hikari with a paralysis poison. Under Ilsamor's frightened gaze, Hikari's health bar dropped slightly and Nocturn's cursor turned yellow.
"Now, where were we? Oh yes, the items. First, I want a beautiful helmet, Visor of Cruel Arakhim. You can find the helmet on the 39th floor, at the Dungeon of Farror. You got 1 hour for doing the dungeon and bringing the helmet here. Your time has started!"
Ilsamor was about to go mad "Are you crazy?! You must think me an idiot to accept this!"
"You are an idiot Blade," said Nocturn before checking his menu. "An idiot whose friend has only 59 minutes to live. Best be hurry."
Ilsamor was still furious, but Kirito pulled him from his arm "Come on, hurry. We gotta move."
"Kirito, on your right!"
"I saw it!"
A sword was swung, and a shattering sound accompanied it.
"Now, Ilsamor! Switch!"
Ilsamor pulled a perfect parry, Kirito followed it through with the same perfection. Guardian standing in front of them had no chance before Kirito swiftly ended his life with Nightmare Rain.
The creature howled and soon shattered into pixels, giving both players a minute to breathe. Then Kirito asked, "How much time do we have left?"
"Around sixteen minutes…" said Ilsamor, his voice was giving away the concern he was feeling. "I swear I am going to kill that bastard!"
"Okay, calm down now, we don't have the luxury of waiting. We better take this boss fight as quickly as we can."
Ilsamor nodded and the duo slowly entered the boss room of the dungeon.
As soon as they entered, the chamber shook with the chorus of a crowd erupting into cheers.
Ilsamor raised his guard while Kirito took his stance behind him.
In just a few seconds, the chamber lit up and revealed an area that resembles a coliseum. People were cheering, booing, and screaming from their lungs. Kirito seemed surprised "Isn't that dungeon beneath the underground? Where all those people came from?"
"I suppose they were here all along, waiting for a match to get rid of their lungs." mused Ilsamor, still not understanding the logic of the Administrator system after all the time he had spent with Lady Cardinal.
Their small talk, however, suddenly ended when another challenger suddenly entered the stage: A black Dullahan, wielding a bronze battle-ax. He had three health bars and above them, its name was written as "Arakhim".
"Umm, Kirito?"
"Yes?"
"So… How can this drop a helmet?"
Dullahan roared like he heard him and raised his battle-ax. In another second, Ilsamor had deduced what to do.
"Go right, I will hold him off!"
Then Dullahan jumped towards them.
Ilsamor wished maybe for the millionth time for his unique skill, Adamant Believer. Skill was giving him a mental pain that was true, but also it was an unparalleled defense skill, a type of skill he could use right now.
Without much choice, he opted for a Horizontal to block the strike, and this decision cost him 17 percent of his health. He grimaced, the difference between their strength level was just too much.
"Okay… Let's put Lady's other lessons to good use."
He changed his stance, now rather than the unbreakable stance of a paladin he was wielding his sword with a stance more akin to eastern swordmasters style. He gripped it with both of his hands and gave his breath while the second strike was approaching.
This time, rather than confronting the strike head-on, he directed the sword skill of enemy with a correctly positioned Slant, allowing his huge ax to fall near him.
It was an opening.
"Kirito!"
Kirito suddenly shot forward with Blazing Spin, then masterfully connected it with Voltage Assault. Meanwhile, Ilsamor stroke at Dullahan's legs with Vorpal Strike which he later chained to Horizontal Square. Dullahan roared as he lost almost all of his first health bar in their first assault.
Duo stepped back while Dullahan managed to raise his ax from the dirt and pulled another ax. Kirito gulped "You gotta be kidding me!"
Both axes flashed with azure color as Dullahan charged at them.
"Must be a new unique skill for ax users…" said Ilsamor while gritting his teeth. Seeing no other choice, he raised Kalaiet, "Kirito, I will disarm him, but I don't know how long it will take or what will happen. Prepare yourself!"
"But how?"
Ilsamor looked at his sword.
"Enhance Armament!"
Kalaiet shone and turned into pure light. Coupled with the skill he was readying, Ilsamor seemed like he was holding a green lightsaber. Under the surprised gaze of his friend, Ilsamor rushed forward, and with two strikes, he managed to cut Dullahan's axes from their handles.
Dullahan seemed at a loss on what's happened.
"Kirito, now!"
Understanding the message, Kirito stood in front of the boss and unleashed a twenty-one-hit ultimate skill, The Eclipse. With each of his strikes, the boss' health bar melted, and this became faster once Ilsamor's cooldown finished and he unleashed his 10 hitting ultimate skill from 1H tree, Nova Ascension.
Dullahan's health dropped to the red zone, and he shouted a horrific scream. Kirito swallowed audibly "This does not look good."
Suddenly a head raised from Dullahan's neck and a dark horse with red eyes appeared in the area and came near the Dullahan. With a swift motion, old Dullahan, new Dark Knight saddled on his horse and pulled a lance from nowhere. Ilsamor couldn't help but groan "Is this a joke or what?!"
Of course, this wasn't enough because seconds later Knight began to charge at them. Ilsamor and Kirito jumped to opposite sides and managed to dodge just before being trampled.
"Okay Ilsamor, what are we gonna do now?!"
Ilsamor stood back and observed. "Kirito, horse's leg joints. You think…"
"Worth a shot. We don't have much time, let's go!"
They rushed at the horse while Knight was readjusting his attack line and began hitting its joints. As they stroked, Ilsamor noticed that each of the four joints have individual health bars, proving that they were on the right track.
Yet this method proved too slow.
"Ilsamor, I have an idea," said Kirito while they retreated for escaping another trample attempt. "I will try to scare the horse, forcing it to stand on its back legs while you cut those legs' joints."
"Good plan, but I will stop the horse," said Ilsamor. "Your area attack skill, Final Revolution, is a better choice Kirito."
Kirito seemed like wanting to argue but quickly nodded. "Okay then, on your mark."
The horse turned on them.
As Knight once again began its charge, Ilsamor jumped to air by using Sonic Leap, then chained it to Meteor Break martial arts skill. The resulting impact didn't do much damage to the horse, but it was enough for the horse to neigh and rear up.
At the edge of his vision, two blades shone green and with a dissipating effect, the horse tumbled backward with Knight under it. Seeing the advantage, Ilsamor initiated one of the rare, element-linked skills of the 1H tree under his sword's categorization.
Radiant Charge, a one-hit sword skill with holy damage.
And with that, Cruel Arakhim was no more. Ilsamor picked the damned helmet as a loot. "Come on, we only have four more minutes!"
Duo quickly pulled their teleportation crystal, but soon they realized that teleporting was prevented inside the boss rooms. Noting that mechanic in a corner of his mind, Ilsamor and Kirito quickly dashed out of the boss room, to a place they can use crystals.
When they finally arrived on the 68th floor, they ran towards the meeting location where Nocturn was waiting for them with a bored expression.
"It took you long enough Ilsamor. Are you losing your touch?"
Nocturn mocked them while they were approaching him, mere seconds ago the time limit.
He had an evil grin on his face, while a paralyzed Hikari was held in his arms like a rag doll.
"Send it to this beautiful lady. I will take it from her."
Ilsamor grudgingly did as he asked.
"Now, while you technically arrived on time to deliver the helmet, I think you still don't understand what will happen if you fail to deliver it within time limits. Watch…"
Then he pulled a black dagger coated with a sickly yellow fluid. As soon as that dagger touched Hikari, her health bar rapidly started to deteriorate.
"What are you doing?! I brought what you asked for! STOP!"
"Whoa, easy there Blade…" Nocturn laughed, pulling a small bottle with a blue liquid inside. When Hikari drank it, her poison status was immediately removed, and soon Nocturn refilled Hikari's life. "Ahh, I should have recorded it! Anyway, this was a demonstration, a warning of what will happen if you fail." He stopped talking there a minute to readjust his position, pulling that black blade once more and putting it on Hikari's throat in a threatful manner. "Now, as you have seen how things work out, I will give you a full list of items I want from you. You will have one hour and fifteen minutes for each of them, at the moment you pass the time limit, this poison will start to take your friend's life. And this time, I won't refill it."
Ilsamor gritted his teeth while receiving a list from Nocturn. "You better get going Blade. The clock is ticking…"
Ilsamor was about to rush at him when Kirito put his hand on Ilsamor's chest. "Come on, we better get moving. Let's go!"
They left as Nocturn put an evil grin on his face.
Considering the list Nocturn gave consisted of seven items, they had eight hours and 45 minutes total, yet Nocturn told him explicitly that he wanted an item at every one hour and fifteen minutes.
Around this time, he and Kirito contacted Asemi and Argo, who were worried about what happened to them in that one hour.
"Ilsamor, where are you? Is it true that Nocturn—"
"It's true Asemi," answered Ilsamor. "He's holding her hostage in exchange for items from the list he gave us. We have one seventy-five minutes to deliver each item."
"How did Nocturn manage to snatch one of the most protected individuals in Aincrad?" Argo asked, her voice was filled with worry. Kirito shook his head "I don't know, probably he used a karma quest, then used another technique to capture her without lowering her life, maybe he forced her to drink a paralysis potion. Otherwise, he could not leave 68th floor's town alive."
"That's not important right now!" Ilsamor shouted, trying to order his thoughts he clenched his eyes. "Every minute is a potential death sentence for Hikari!"
"Calm down Ilsamor…" Argo said, trying to calm him. "Can you send me the list?" then asked which Ilsamor quickly complied. Argo quickly scammed the list, then clicked her tongue. "That clever psychopath…"
"What's the problem?"
"Nothing Kii-boy, which is exactly the problem," said Argo. "Time frame he gave to you and locations of the items are a perfect match. That is if you acquire some help from a second group."
Ilsamor frowned. "Spit it out, which one is the trap?"
Argo pointed to the last item on the list. "Axe of the Vile King. Ilsamor, that dungeon is impossibly difficult, even you and Kirito can't clear it in one hour. You will need a full raid party."
"A-A full raid party?!" Kirito stuttered. "How strong is that ax?!"
"That's the second point Kirito…" said Argo, her mood was grim. "All of these items are top-notch. He is forcing you to pull him to your strength level, Ilsamor. In exchange for Hikari, we are equipping one of the most dangerous red players of Aincrad with the highest level equipment."
Asemi pursed her lips, then looked at Ilsamor. "Senpai… Are you sure you can defeat him in even ground?"
Ilsamor looked at Asemi with surprise and a little disappointment "Why did you ask such a question? Did I do something not worthy of your trust in my strength?"
"No, it's just…" Asemi said but she couldn't finish it. Nevertheless, Ilsamor sighed "It's not important right now. So, how are we doing it?"
"Leave the coordination to me," said Argo while opening her message window. "You and Kirito quickly head out to the Tower of Thousand Stings while Asemi and Artemis will take Tree of Sin. I will send two other teams to get another two, then these teams will combine such that another two teams with four members will raid two other places while I prepare a raid party for the last dungeon. Ilsamor, only you will send the items you possess near the time limit and—"
"We will use them to get a time extension, I get it," said Ilsamor, his eyes conveyed the appreciation he felt for Argo. "Then let's go Kirito, we have so little time!"
Hectic can be the best word to describe the next few hours.
Ilsamor and Kirito rushed to the target that was assigned to them by Argo while Argo formed and directed other teams to their respective targets. It was a race against the time, and as Ilsamor later learned, Nocturn couldn't have picked a better time for setting such a trap.
He and Kirito rushed the Tower of Thousand Stings in forty minutes, then lend a hand to Asemi and Artemis to finish their dungeon before moving to stage two dungeon of them: Labyrinth of Sul
It was a good thing they worked together a lot and knew their movements by heart, because no one was in a mood to speak during the whole ordeal. For Ilsamor's part, he almost robotically blocked and cut down enemies while occasionally defending his allies by reflex.
Asemi was watching all of these with a worried expression.
Ilsamor hadn't said this, but he was actually a little sad about Asemi's inquiry about his skills sufficiency. She was near him when he dueled with Kirito to put him out of his sorry state with nothing but starter equipment and lots of weak swords. Furthermore, he even went and came back from the Lady's reconditioning of his memories to his brain only a short while ago. He knew his skills were up to par.
Yet he couldn't forget the scared expression he had seen on the love of his life.
This, the danger looming over Hikari's head and the occasional instruction that Argo provided was keeping his head busy enough to not really care about the fights except the boss fights.
He very well knew that Nocturn can kill Hikari even if he brought every item he wanted. Yet the position Nocturn held, his high search skill, and his synthetic poison, all were forcing his hand to comply. He gritted his teeth while trying to calm down.
In the end, they finally met with a raid group at the gates of the last dungeon, the Castle of Paimon. Until then, they had lost an hour and forty-five minutes, meaning Ilsamor was forced to send one of the items they had found. Only five hours and thirty minutes remained.
"Okay, if everyone is ready, let's go in!"
Ilsamor raised his sword and walked to the gates of the castle while many players in the raiding party couldn't help but swallow audibly.
The castle that was rising before them had a sickly white color, like the paleness of a dead person. There had never been a green assault on this place before because Axe of the Vile King was a strictly orange player item, it was written in-game lore as "An ax only heeds the calls of those unjustly kills", and none of the orange parties' fates were known. However, according to some rumors doing this dungeon could easily take many hours if not for a few days.
But despite their subconscious fear, none of the players stepped back. Hikari was like an older sister for not only Sword members but almost every player who suffered a psychological breakdown due to the game. Her story of how she beat her suicidal tendencies and became a widely known healer despite the game lacking magic had inspired many people. Her understanding of the Book was second only to Ilsamor, and even he admitted there were some parts that Hikari understood better than him.
If it was for her, then there was no need to think.
Castle's ominous gates were opened with the sound of stones brushing against each other. Raid groups' eyes widened because before them was a courtyard, and the courtyard was filled with many ghosts and undead warriors.
Ilsamor took an attack stance while Kirito came near him and unsheathed his second sword. "Brace yourselves!"
Then they led the assault party inside the castle.