AN: I'm predicting that this fanfic's end is at Chapter 17. Two more chapters to go.
Also, I got this chapter done pretty quickly.
Chapter 15: Breaking Point
Kirito hit the stone floor, and watched the Corridor quickly disappear. .
"Is everyone okay?!"
"That depends. If it's on HP loss, I don't think we got any fall damage." Asuna stood up. Stone walls with columns made up the sides. Darkness was on both sides.
"Where are we?" Klein checked the maps.
"No map data here. It says we're in Floor 1 still."
"Everyone, put on equipment." Kirito commanded, and two swords formed a cross on his back. He raised a Teleport Crystal.
"Teleport: Algade!" he shouted. No effect.
"Crystals don't work. It's getting really common."
"Guys, some enemies are coming. Scavenger Toads, level 58. " Silica spotted. A group of green toads approached them.
"Dale,"
"On it." The man cut a swath through the creatures, clad in full gear.
"So the toads came this way," Issin pointed at Silica's direction. "So the entrance's in the opposite."
"That's pretty vague," Kunimittz commented.
"Come up with a better plan, then we'll talk."
"Maybe it's there," Kunimittz pointed at the direction the toads came from.
"That's ridiculous," Issin retorted.
"How do we know yours is right? For all we know, the frog-thingies were placed near the entrance, and turned around because we were placed smack-dab in the middle of this dungeon!"
"Hey! Can it." Klein interrupted. At that moment, a white light flashed right next to the guild, and Yui appeared, confusing the hell out of everybody.
"What are you doing here?!" Dale exclaimed, and Yui walked forward. "I came to see you guys! You were having trouble…"
"It's not like you can't help. Unless if you give us map data, there's really nothing you can do here."
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you that. And I'm staying." She finalized. Kirito groaned.
"Alright fine."
"Hey, Kirito, can you see that?" Asuna pointed to the blackness. A white speck. Where Kunimittz wanted to go.
"Sort of. Come on, let's go."
They set off, guided by this one hint.
"So, what do you think this is?" Kirito asked Klein.
"Dunno. Probably a field dungeon, something we almost never do, now that I think about it. But those toads Dale fought, Silica said they're level 58. So I have no idea where we are."
"Plus, anti-crystal." Asuna added.
"Yeah, exactly. It's really high-level for a field dungeon at Floor 1." The speck became bigger.
"Hopefully it's the entrance."
They can clearly see the end of their chosen path. A wall with a small white room.
"Okay, so that clearly is the end of the dungeon-"
"HELP!" The sound echoed through the large corridor.
"What was that?" Klein looked at the direction of the sound.
"Over there! A player! In that white room!"
Asuna sprinted there, followed by the rest, hoping on some answers.
"WATCH OUT!" The man called again. Asuna finally reached the room.
The man had wavy hair , sideburns, with a long coat.
"Watch out for the boss!" he repeated. "What boss?!" Asuna responded.
She looked around, and saw a grayed out enemy name.
[The Fatal Scythe]
"Look out!"
The guild was near the room, when the predicted boss appeared.
A large scythe blade appeared behind them, slashing all of them, pushing them to the direction of the safe area. Kirito landed at the foot of the room, health at critical.
The walls lit up, coloured with a starry graphic.
"Oh, crap," Kirito panted, and looked behind him.
The boss appeared from the shadows. A huge monster, with a huge black tattered cloak, and a scythe as big as the boss itself.
"Come in here, this is a safe area!" The mysterious man said, pulling some guild members in, including Yui.
"Heal yourselves!" Kirito studied the boss. Even with a almost maxed out identification skill, he can't see the boss data.
"I can't see info about it, not even how much health. Probably something at floor 90." Kirito started to drink multiple potions.
"There's still people out there.I have to distract the boss. Asuna, run around and heal them. The rest of you…" He looked at the remaining people inside the safe zone. "Teleport out of here in the safe area."
"How long have you been in here?" Issin asked to the mysterious man.
"3 days. And Kibaou took all my crystals."
"Okay, get out of here." He lended a teleport crystal.
"Kirito. I'm not leaving." Issin said. Kirito knew he wouldn't budge. The rest of the guild members here thought too.
"Fine, follow me!" They set out.
Yui saw the black box in the middle of the safe zone. She reached out, a hidden curiosity pulling her in. Her fingertips touched it, and a rush of information burst in her databases.
"How can we defeat it? We can't even tell how much health it has!" Harry Two shouted.
"Just try to distract it!" They charged, and hit as hard as they can. Kirito activated his most advanced Sword Skill, but that didn't do anything. Kirito saw the scythe blade go another swing. Harry Two raised his shield, and Kirito crossed his blades at the front. The combined defence wasn't enough, sending them backwards.
Asuna saw the injured guild members retreat to the safe zone, then discovered new ones.
Issin dodged the attack altogether, and Harry One's defensive capabilities were much better than Kirito's, but he took the brunt of the impact, flung away from Asuna's reach. That left Kirito, a lightly armoured player.
He tried standing up, but the damage was too much. He at least looked at the looming reaper's feet, coming closer with every second.
"Kirito!" She ran up to him. He groaned, trying to stand.
"Asuna, get out of here." She ignored him, and gave him a potion. "No, don't! Just go!" He repeated.
"I'm not leaving you!" She turned around, and unsheathed her rapier, and jumped, readying a Sword Skill. The reaper smashed her down with the blade, and she impacted a few feet away from Kirito.
"No!"
Yui realized that she's never catch up. Klein was right next to her, watching the battle, and extremely injured. She touched him with a glowing hand. Klein suddenly got a bevy of notifications.
"Yui? What are you doing?!"
"I'm altering your stats."
[Katana Skill Completed]
[Sprinting Skill Added]
"Klein, go!"
He nodded, and rushed towards the boss with mind blowing speed.
Asuna barely stood up. She was not going to let it cross her while she was still alive.
[11/19000 HP]
The scythe was coming again, fast. She held her rapier up, hopelessly trying to block it. Then she heard footsteps. In a total rush, Klein intercepted, swiftly pushing her aside, and parried the scythe completely, knocking it away. Yui was right beside him.
The tables have turned.
"Get back!"
"How did you-"
"Just do it!"
Asuna looked at him one more time, then retreated, tending to Kirito.
"Get up,"
Klein turned to the giant reaper, Karakurenai in hand. He can see the boss' information clearly.
[Level 100]
The giant being then launched an attack, quick swipes which were easily deflected.
The samurai charged, knocking away any kind of counterattack. He jumped extremely high, and activated a Sword Skill. He was a laser, going right through the defences, and landed safely at the ground, before launching again, in a storm of attacks, with no skill cool downs whatsoever, lighting the dungeon up even more, with yellow light.
The boss exploded in pixels and polygons , and Klein sheathed his weapon.
The scourge was defeated.
"What, was THAT?!"
Klein's level suddenly dropped, and returned to normal. Everyone rushed to him, amazed by the spectacle he unleashed moments ago.
"That was badass."
"You can do that?!"
"Is it a unique skill?"
Klein grinned tiredly and sat down.
"Everyone, do you want me to explain this , or not?"
"Hell YEAH I want an explanation!" Harry Two cried out.
"I'll explain it," the AI said solemnly. "I boosted his stats. I gave him no Sword Skill cooldowns, and I boosted his health and level."
"So you made Klein a god."
"You can do this?" Issin inquired. Yui nodded. "When I touched that console, the black box in the middle of the white room, everything about the game was downloaded to me. The system coding, the number of deaths... But Cardinal corrects everything."
Kirito suddenly ran to the safe area.
"Anyway, the system's going to delete me now. I'm not supposed to save you."
"Look, I have a question." Asuna said. "Why us?"
"I'm a Mental Counselling Program. Generated by Cardinal to boost morale. I came to you, because of your problems."
"Oh, right."
"I'm going to be deleted soon. Cardinal may delete data, but not your memories. You're afraid of death, and a lot of people died. I intervened to prevent more."
"Unless you can free us from this game, I don't think that monologue is helping." Kunimittz said before an elbow is jabbed to his gut.
"I can't free you. But Recon mentioned Akihiko Kayaba. Is he responsible for all those deaths?"
"Yes, pretty much."
"Then I can help you." Yui's skin is starting to flake away, the shreds diffusing to the air.
"Look, Kayaba's in the game. He's a player, a powerful one!"
"Who?!"
"Heathcliff." Yui faded away, and Kirito came back.
"I went to the console at the room, and I made it so that Yui's saved at my NerveGear."
"Kirito, Yui said something before she died." Asuna told him. "What?"
"Heathcliff's Kayaba."
He stayed silent, comprehending the fact.
"The Knights of the Blood Oath leader?"
"Well, yes."
They all looked at Kirito for the next move. The fatigued teen breathed out, too tired to think.
"Come on, we have to go back to the cabin."
"We've been through hell and back; yeah, let's go." Kunimittz agreed. Despite the epic spectacle they witnessed moments ago, everybody silently teleported.
Never was the claustrophobic cabin a welcoming sight. Dale collapsed on the couch, after their near-death at the Hidden Dungeon.
"Can we seriously, just take a break?"
"No, we have to stay focused; the two largest guilds are coming to get us." Kirito reinstated the guild. He kept a serious face, and the look quickly changed when he entered the bedroom. He flopped down on his bed, facing the ceiling, going limp. Asuna wordlessly followed him, set up a bedroll, and crawled into it.
A few silent moments passed.
"Hey, Asuna. I want to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest."
"Well, of course, what?" Asuna had an idea of what he was going to say.
"When I was hit by the boss, you came over to me. I told you to get away, but you stayed. Even when the reaper hit you, you still stayed."
"I was in your guild for two years, Kirito-"
"That was a very stupid move. There's more than that. I told you to go."
Asuna turned to her side.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Well, yes,"
"Do you remember the time I left the guild for Nicholas the Renegade?"
"And?"
"The DDA vanguard were chasing us, and the boss was coming. You chose to help me."
"You were going to take the bonus boss alone. Klein had everyone else to repel the DDA vanguard, but you still went by yourself." Kirito explained.
"It was a bonus boss to a floor that was several floors below the frontlines. My level was higher than yours, and you're a beta tester."
"I still have no idea how you did that, and even then, I couldn't really leave you alone."
"Exactly. You chose to help me even if I pushed you away. That's why I keep following you."
Kirito blushed, and pleased that Asuna wasn't looking at him.
"Thanks."
"I have to tell you something." Asuna said, a bit nervously.
"What is it?" Kirito answered.
"Can we switch beds?"
"So Kayaba. What the hell are we going to do?" They all look at Issin.
"What?" Issin shrugged.
"You're the smart one. You organized the guild to teams, and stuff."
"Well, I've been thinking. It really doesn't matter. We know that Heathcliff's Kayaba, but if we announce it, well, he can kill us all if he wants to. If he even cares."
"Of course he would care. If he wanted us to know, he'd friggin' announce it." Dynamm reasoned.
"Well, if we do, what's he going to do? End the game? He's probably just going to leave, and just watch over us again. And he's Heathcliff! He's helping us win the game!" Issin replied back loudly, pressing his head on the wall, his breaking point easily reached from the stress in the previous fight.
Dynamm wordlessly got a bedroll on the floor. "I'm taking a nap."
"It's not even-"
"We deserve a break! I deserve a break! We're chased by guilds, got the Black Cats in prison, got thrown in a dungeon and almost died, if it wasn't for Yui and Klein." He paused, and signalled Klein. "That was badass by the way, but we still almost died. I'm going to take a day." He snapped.
"Agreed."