Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online
My name is Tanaka Niten, and I am seventeen years old. I tell myself this every day, just to keep remembering. It's been over two years since I logged into a game called Sword Art Online and couldn't log back out. Two years I've been fighting digital monsters and leveling up, just to stay alive and maybe get out of this death trap. Two years since Kayaba told everyone we can't leave until we beat the last floor and that we can really die in this world.
It has only been two weeks since the Player War. Two weeks since the nightmare ended and hundreds of players died. And yet, we have never been stronger. It was just a little under three weeks since we defeated the last boss for Floor 94. But with all ten Unique Skills unlocked, we swept through the entirety of Floor 95 without a single casualty, and now we stand at the doors to the floor boss. The end is in sight. We can all taste it. We're so close to breaking out of this death game and going home.
"Is everyone ready?" Heathcliff's voice rumbles through the crowded hallway. Close to a hundred voices roar in unison, mine included. Following the Endless Night's rampage, the old system of guilds was pretty much shattered. I hate to give credit to the bastard, but PoH ended the infighting and rivalry that existed between the guilds. I guess almost dying really puts it into perspective. Now, we're all pretty much united under the leadership of Heathcliff.
"You all know the plan. Unique Skill users will lead, the rest of you follow when Urian gives the signal. The Unique Skill users will take on the boss individually, while Naitama transfers his healing ability to whoever is taking point. Switch as soon as your attack patterns end, so we can maximize the damage. Let's go!"
It's a strategy that we devised over time. During the fights to clear the 95th floor, the Unique Skill users came up with this method. Urian and I hang back while the other eight take point and attack, constantly switching as their attack sequences end. Urian directs everyone while I transfer my high regeneration to whoever is attacking at that moment. Let's hope it's enough to take down this boss.
The ten Unique Skill users rush through the doors as soon as they open, only to find an empty room. There is nothing save for a green cloud in the center of the room.
"What the hell?" Klein mutters as he cautiously walks toward the gaseous mass. Out of habit, or perhaps instinct, I transfer my regeneration to him. The Scarlet Samurai slashes at the cloud with Battoujutsu, and immediately a jet of green mist sprays into his face.
Several things happen at once. Klein staggers back, surprised, and his indicator turns purple. A paralysis indicator appears by his name tag as he falls to the floor. Five health bars and a name tag (Lethe) appear over the cloud, which remains motionless. Klein's health bar begins pulsing, meaning that he's taking damage, but it doesn't empty, thanks to my Unique Skill.
"Klein!" Kirito kneels beside Klein in alarm, but then immediately falls down beside him. The Black Swordsman's indicator turns the same purple as Klein's, and a paralysis indicator appears by his name as well.
"Everyone back away from them!" Heathcliff roars. "Whatever is affecting them, it can infect you!"
The remaining six Unique Skill users who have taken point back away in alarm. Klein and Kirito lie on the ground, motionless. The former is fine, and his paralysis even seems to be wearing off, but Kirito's health is rapidly draining.
"Klein!" I shout. "I'm going to transfer Eternal Life to Kirito!"
"Do it!" Klein's managed to stagger to his feet, and is using his Bladestaff to support himself.
Immediately, I concentrate, and Kirito's health, which was approaching yellow, begins to regenerate. To my horror however, Klein's begins to drop again. Without my healing, he'll die. Unfortunately, I can only give Eternal Life to one player at a time. Klein's health is deteriorating faster than Kirito's, maybe because he was first infected or perhaps because of lower regeneration stats. Either way, he's in trouble.
"Heathcliff!" I shout desperately. I don't know why. There's nothing he can do. "We're gonna lose one of them!"
Our leader opens his mouth to say something, but we never get to hear what exactly, for at that moment his sub-leader rushes forward. "Kirito!"
"Asuna, NO!" Kirito shouts desperately, but his wife doesn't listen, shoving aside Jaina and falling to her knees besides her husband.
As I watch in abject horror, Asuna's indicator turns purple as well, and the paralysis hits her as well. Her health begins to drain, though it seems slower than Klein's.
"Asuna, what have you done?!" Heathcliff roars as Kirito struggles to an upright position.
"Naitama, give her your Eternal Life!" Kirito screams.
"No." Heathcliff puts his hand on my shoulder. "Klein needs it more."
It's true. The Scarlet Samurai's health is turning a dark orange, almost at red. I transfer the Eternal Life to him, and breathe a sigh of relief as it returns to yellow within a minute. But it comes at a cost, as I am forced to watch Asuna's health deplete to half empty.
"Look!" Khai points suddenly, and we all gasp. The gas cloud Lethe's health is slowly draining. "I wonder..." To everyone's surprise, my friend walks forward toward Asuna and Kirito.
"Khai, what're you doing?!" Alina shouts.
"I have an idea!" he shouts back. "Watch the health bars!" Khai kneels next to Asuna and touches her hand. Immediately his indicator turns to that sickly shade of purple, and he falls as well.
"No!" I yell, but Rogers lets out a shout of elation.
"He's onto something! Look, their health is depleting slower!"
"And the boss's health is falling faster!"
The remaining seven of us all look at one another and nod in understanding, even cowardly Urian. We know what has to be done. Heathcliff walks to the players waiting for us to signal them, while the rest of us approach the infected. We link hands, and Kotona, at the end of the line, touches Klein. Immediately, a searing pain fills my body and I crash to the floor, paralyzed. My health is falling at an alarming rate, but not as quickly as Kirito's had when he was first infected.
"Players!" I hear Heathcliff shout. "I cannot promise that you will survive. But we face an enemy that can only be defeated with superior numbers and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. Who among you is willing to lay down his life so that we may live?" Of course, this is every last one of the Clearers, who all flood into the room to lay hands on us.
Soon, the gas cloud is surrounded by players with purple indicators. Our sacrifices were not in vain however, as we watch the cloud's HP dwindle into nothing. Just as my own health begins to dip into red, Lethe bursts into pixels, and everyone's indicators return to green. Health regeneration returns to normal, and we all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Oddly enough however, Heathcliff stands upright and begins clapping slowly. Even stranger, his health is already full once more. "Well done, comrades. Well done indeed. I am immensely proud that we have managed to come to this point together, but alas, this is where I leave you."
"What? Are you leaving the front lines?" I hear Rogers's voice. I try to lift my head, but suddenly I'm paralyzed again. What the hell? Lethe is dead, that effect should have worn off a long time ago.
"Yes, I am." Heathcliff bows his head. "I will be moving on without you, I'm afraid. It will be your job to catch up."
"What're you talking about?" A deep voice rings out. Agil, I think. "Why can't we move?"
"I put a paralysis effect on you all." Heathcliff's words chill me to the bone. He did this? "It pains me to confess this to you, my friends, but I have been keeping secrets from you."
"Why?" Asuna asks. "What secrets?"
"I am not," Heathcliff pauses. "One of you. I never was. All along, I was manipulating events, orchestrating everything from behind the scenes."
"What're you talking about, Heathcliff?" Kirito laughs, but it sounds forced. "Man, I think being on the front lines for so long finally made you crack, huh?"
"Heathcliff." Our leader smiles. "That was but one of my multiple names. Perhaps you know me better as Diavel?"
My heart seems to freeze in my chest as Heathcliff disappears behind a mass of pixels that fades to reveal a slightly shorter player with shoulder length blue hair and simple armor. Several voices cry out in surprise and horror, Kirito's among them.
"You know, Kirito, it's your fault I died." The blue-haired player smirks. "When I saw you fight Ilfang, I was sure that I had found the player who would lead his fellows through the hundred floors of Aincrad to defeat me. So I let this character pass on. But then you had to go and proclaim yourself a beater."
"No..." Kirito groans. "You... that's not-"
"Possible?" Diavel, or Heathcliff, or whoever it is sneers. "To God, nothing is impossible." He pixellates again, but this time, the blurriness fades to reveal a figure that haunts my nightmares sometimes.
"Of course, here I am both God and the Devil, it seems." PoH laughs.
"PoH!" I shout. "Wait, so that Player War... That was all a setup?!"
"Certainly." PoH replies almost cheerfully, and I bellow in rage.
"You bastard! People died for your games?! My friends died for your entertainment?!"
"I suppose you could say that." PoH dusts off his shoulder.
"Who do you think you are?!"
PoH laughs loudly at this. "Who am I? Do you really want to know?"
Once again, he disappears behind a mass of pixels, but when they fade, the player standing there has no armor or even weapons. He's just a guy with short hair and glasses wearing a white lab coat. Kayaba Akihiko, the man who engineered our hell.