The Captive Swordsman

Chapter 17— In the Heat of Battle

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Original Title: Sword Art Online(ソードアート・オンライン)

Original Concept by: Kawahara Reki

written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: Delays, delays & delays. Stuff happened.

Thank you, bowpurity for the beta!

'Mama, are you okay?'

Yui asked urgently as she poked her head out of the pocket to look at the battle that was commencing between the two Sylphs and the pursuing Salamanders who were trying to cut them down.

'I'm fine Yui, don't worry. Just sit tight okay?'

Asuna smiled at her daughter even as she leaped and rolled forward to dodge a rain of fireballs that slammed into the dirt right where she had been moments ago. She could feel the heat from where she was, and even if ALO was not a game which enabled pain, it still awoke a nasty memory of fighting against the Gleam Eyes.

Yui, bless her daughter, hadn't screamed at the sudden movement and shouted a warning instead that allowed Asuna precious seconds to side-step another Salamander player who was foolish enough to try and engage her in one-on-one combat.

'Stop twisting about like that!'

The Player complained even as Asuna raised an eyebrow, not quite believing that he was asking such an absurd request while stabbing him several times with her rapier. She has always been proud of her speed and in this instance, it helped her the most for she was able to react much faster than he was.

'You're trying to kill me, remember? This is just in self defence.'

Asuna replied calmly even as she dashed forward again while trying to keep up with Leafa. Her sister-in-law had been unstoppable earlier on when they first engaged the Salamander players. Just like how Leafa had expected it to be, the Salamanders were waiting for them at one of the choke-points that would lead them to the road straight to Lugru.

And it was only due to Leafa expecting them there did she come up with a daring plan that made Asuna applaud the younger girl for her bravery and recklessness.

..

There was no helping it, it was a plan that might backfire at any time, but thanks to her cooperation as well as a very large amount of luck, they had broken through the choke-point.

The plan was simple in it's idea but yet was also effective. In gist, Asuna would fire off her most powerful cutting wind spell at the enemy and the two of them would pursue after it and escape through the opening that was made by the spell.

It was reckless, stupid but was also foolproof as in ALO, offensive spells couldn't quite be countered directly by other spells, it wasn't for a lack of trying though. It was simply due to the amount of time needed to cast a spell in the first place, the number of lines of incantation that one required to use a spell.

It would normally be impossible for players to follow up an attack after casting a 'spell', but the two Sylphs weren't the usual run of the mill Sylphs. They were probably the strongest and the fastest of their race right now.

All it needed was spot on synchronization and the speed and reflexes required to track the spell even as it flew towards their enemies.

There was a bit of catch involved though, and it was a very important one for although Asuna was able to cast the spell, she would have to incur a penalty to cast it as her own MP values was not sufficient to support it and she took quite a significant hit on her HP to be able to cast the spell.

If their breakthrough attempt fail, Asuna might not have the opportunity to recover her HP and would be at a huge disadvantage in the middle of the crowd of Salamanders determined to take her down.

With the two of them timing their casting of the hurricane-esque spell down to the very last second, Asuna and Leafa had chased after their own spell, Asuna pulling Leafa with her before the younger girl could balance herself to keep up. Their spell was almost invisible in the dim light of the tunnel as it raced towards their waiting enemies. It helped that the spell was one that did not target, and was by design one to deal AoE (Area of Effect) damage.

The Salamanders themselves probably knew that they were aware of their ambush as well and was prepared for it.

What they did not expect was how their attacks were either deflected or dodged by the two Sylphs charging at them, getting closer and perhaps even quicker with their swords drawn and ready to do combat. They must be using some kind of powerful defensive spell to be able to let them shrug off their retaliatory attacks at a range.

The Salamanders had scattered as they expected another attack from the two Sylphs, only to see them continue running after breaking through their ranks.

It was all a feint and they had fallen for it!

..

Despite Leafa being slower on land than she was, Asuna agreed that it was for the best if Leafa led the way for she knew the route to Lugru while she stayed at the back to prevent anyone from from trying to keep them back or to ambush them from behind.

Time was of the essence now and despite her confidence that she could dispatch these guys easy, Asuna did not wish to be distracted or be taken out by accident due to a fluke.

That'll be quite disastrous to their plans! Besides, Asuna was sure that the Salamanders themselves had an ulterior motive in trying to get rid of the two of them. There was just too much manpower and effort sank in to try and kill two Sylph players like this. Although Asuna had tried to not get involved in any political drama or upheaval in ALO, it seems that her prayers were destined to be unanswered. She couldn't even blame Leafa for this as she had been the one who had challenged, humiliated and then dismissed Sigurd after their duel. It wouldn't be wrong for him to try and seek revenge, but Asuna had difficulty believing that the Sylph second-in-command could command Salamanders at all. The two races were enemies after all. So what was their motive for going after them like that? They were just too organized for this to be an accident? Was there a hit on them?

'Mama, to your left!'

Yui's warning came just in time again as Asuna lashed out with a vertical slash that caught the Salamander Player who had tried to ambush her by leaping into the air with his axe raised. The stinging from Asuna's attack was enough to allow her to slip away again, running faster than ever while seeing numerous other Salamanders in similar states either clutching their weapon in disbelief while she blew by past them without engaging.

Leafa had a great lead on her as she had maybe stopped for a moment to handle a few of her more persistent players. She was confident in being able to get away from them without a stretch as the bridge to Lugru was in sight. Asuna could also make out a player dressed in green dancing in fierce combat at the mouth of the bridge.

Looks like Leafa wasn't able to break through the final welcome party group to Lugru, this was bad... but it wasn't over yet, not just yet!

'I'm coming, Leafa-chan.'

Asuna promised even as she poured on the speed, pushing herself to go as fast as she could while aiming her rapier at the nearest player that was trying to encircle Leafa to trap her.

Leafa was in a pinch now, one that she wasn't sure she could get out of despite her skill and effort to do so. The last thing that Leafa wanted to say was that it was due to a lack of effort from her part.

She was trying hard, and was trying to treat this battle like it was a life-and-death battle just like how Asuna presumably saw her every battle in SAO or ALO.

It was something that she wasn't going to achieve with just mindset alone as at the back of her mind, she knew she was telling herself that it would still be okay if she died here as long as she tried her best.

But that wasn't enough and just knowing that fact was enough to make Leafa aware of how far she had to go to match up to Asuna and her style of fighting that was developed in SAO.

Thankfully however this was also about Leafa proving a point to Asuna, that even in ALO, there were still moments where ALO players could surpass their limits.

Leafa was primarily a close-ranged fighter as even though she was proficient with her spell-casting, she doesn't prefer to use it when she could cut through enemies with her sword.

Leafa was considered one of the best warriors in the Sylph race as she was an all-round fighter, one that was more than proficient in all areas which allowed her to fall back on other options if one particular method of attacking failed.

But surrounded, cornered and left with little room to manoeuvre meant that Leafa was in a very bad situation indeed as the Salamanders were all veterans in battles as well. They were hammering at her, not letting her break free and forcing her to engage in ways that negated her superior speed and accuracy pretty much useless.

'I won't fall, not when I'm so close to my goal.'

Leafa declared loudly even as her sword deflected a sword thrust directed at her head as she twitched quickly to the left to avoid a cleaving blow from the Salamander behind her. There were so many, a messy mass of limbs and weapons that got in each others way as they tried to attack her.

As for Leafa herself, as long as she wasn't stabbing herself, everything was fair game and she lashed out without mercy. It wasn't going to be enough though and she knew that she needed something else to help lower the numbers of opponents before Asuna arrived as her back up.

Following Asuna's example, the Sylph warrior gathered strength on her legs and knees before bending down to leap into the air suddenly, slashing in front of her wildly as she did so to try and break through the circle of warriors.

She was successful in doing so and she landed on her feet just as a rain of fireballs slammed to the earth just in front of her. The impact knocked her backwards again, sending her flying towards the mass of Salamander players and crashing into them.

'U-Ugh...'

Leafa fumbled around for her rapier only to discover it was lost and she could only find a small hand axe to defend herself with as the Salamander players gathered around her again, knowing that she was down the last few of her gambits. They were like sharks coming in for the kill and Leafa's face paled a little in exertion while getting to her feet. It was a minor miracle that she wasn't cut down when she was sprawled on the floor, and that gave her some hope.

The Salamanders were sure of victory, so they were not prepared for Leafa stubbornly trying to fight back. Glowing sigils appeared in front of her as she completed the spell she was muttering softly to herself by shouting out the last command, causing them to open their eyes wider before scattering, experience fighting with Sylphs telling them what was going to happen next.

'Gale Burst!'

A current of air was summoned in front of her like a wall, knocking the few of them that had not gotten clear and Leafa followed that up by throwing the hand-axe towards her right, where she planned on cutting through to at least get a breather and regroup while she scanned the surroundings before taking of. The sound of the axe impacting hard metal and the subsequently cursing that followed proved that at least she had hit something while she dashed forward, hoping to at least use her speed to get clear.

'Above!'

A shout of warning warned her of an attack and Leafa threw herself to the floor before rolling to the side. Not a moment too soon as an axe buried itself to where she was before.

Looking up, Leafa caught sight of Asuna jumping over her to deal another blow on the Salamander warrior that had tried to cut her down and the subsequent kick at his legs that felled him.

'We have to go now, Aunt Leafa!'

Yui's voice was audible even in the din and the Sylph nodded her head as she rolled to her feet to get her bearings right. The blockade had been more or less successful as although Leafa had scattered the greeting party, there was still a small group of Salamanders that were positioned at the head of the bridge. They were the ones that were standing between the two of them and safety right now

'We can't fly around the bridge, we have to use it. So we'll have to break through that group first before we get to Lugru!'

Leafa called out even as she casted another wind spell to attack a Salamander that had tried to attack her in the same way.

Asuna was moving faster than Leafa ever could on the ground, the older and more experienced player's movements were like lightning and she was landing strikes so fast while in the midst of targets that many of the Salamanders didn't know what to do.

'Leafa-chan, catch!'

Leafa's eyes widened even as she caught the rapier that Asuna threw her but since having a weapon was better than the alternative, Leafa tried rolling with it and dealt several blows on one of the recovering players even as they themselves tried desperately to regroup.

'You won't escape!'

Leafa heard Asuna's cry and she winced when she saw Asuna stopping with Yui resting on her shoulders. She was going to try to cast a spell now unprotected?! No, she was counting on Leafa to defend her and the sister of the Black Swordsman took the challenge just like how her brother would, head on.

Charging forward with her rapier drawn, Leafa slashed at the first Salamander that wanted to impede the spell-casting before driving it into the gut of the next one, almost breaking the rapier in the effort before sliding down to tackle the knees of the next one. All three of them fell like bowling pins while she rolled to the side.

A part of her mind was feeling extremely conflicted at how well it was going. The Salamanders outnumbered them and were all better organized than the rat-tag team that the two of them were! Well maybe it was bad to call the two of them a rag-tag team. They worked very well together, much better than her combination with Recon, that much was sure. And it was only their second day working together too!

But it was still difficult to imagine that they were easily clearing, or at least having many small victories against a well-disciplined group of experienced players by themselves.

Then again, perhaps the numbers and the discipline that the Salamanders had showed was ironically causing those problems as well. The Sylphs didn't really employ military strategies besides watching each other's back. They worked best in smaller teams instead of large platoons or squads that the Salamanders were. They were less disciplined as well, the Salamanders were used to playing in larger groups and had established formations like what was in their way in the head of the bridge. Sylphs just worked with what they have and were more adaptable in general.

The two races were like oil and water, so mutually exclusive and Leafa found herself very glad to have Asuna as a Sylph. Her brother's self-proclaimed 'wife' suited the mentality and the pride of being a Sylph. Or perhaps that was something that was common with all the survivors of SAO?

All those could be debated later on though as Yui called out a warning that told Leafa to dive to the side, hitting the dirt running even as Asuna unleashed the same wind spell that the two of them had cast together earlier on.

'Should we make a run for it?'

Asuna called out in question even as the spell decimated the ranks of the Salamanders still in their way, but there was still the last group Salamanders waiting for them at the bridge leading to Lugru.

'That spell won't be able to stop them... but if we wait any longer, they rest would catch up.'

Leafa bit her lip unhappily before nodding her head in resignation.

'Guess we don't have a choice... all we have to do is to get to Lugru, if we make it clear, ... then we'll be safe.'

Asuna huffed before saying that Leafa had been repeating that line for ages now.

'Well, getting there has always been easier said then done.'

Leafa muttered wryly while handing Asuna her weapon, the Salamanders that she had engaged earlier were either in retreat or were defeated. There were several plumes of fire that were scattered around the area that Asuna's spell had struck, meaning that at least they had taken out a few of them.

'Mm... If I knew that it'll be so hard... I'll ask for backup...'

Asuna murmured even as Leafa's eyes widened at her words.

'Wait a minute, Asuna-san, you have... back up?'

The Sylph's eyes widen as Asuna gave a sheepish smile while nodding her head.

'Well, I didn't want to show my hand that early... and it's a little hard to get them all to gather at Lugru... But I do have some.'

Asuna gave a cheerful smile even as she pulled Leafa to one side for her own safety.

G-Takusu knew she was powerful. That was to be expected when he was given command of a group of around forty other Salamander warriors and mages for a mission to take out two specific targets.

He had been confused at the mission parameters, to send fifty individuals against two specific Sylphs? It seemed like overkill to him, no matter how highly skilled the two Sylphs were. That was until it was revealed that the two Sylphs were probably the two strongest warriors that the Sylph races had to offer right now. One was the well-known Leafa, the fastest of the Sylphs and the other one was a new player that had transferred her data from another game to join ALO.

She had single-handedly taken out a squad of Salamanders by herself without even really trying.

Inside news indicated that the two of them were close to the Sylph lord and was close to joining her quest to ascend in Yggdrasil as well. With the addition of the two very skilled players and the current treaty being negotiated between the Sylphs and the Cait Siths... it might be difficult for the Salamander's to surmount the new level of strength the Sylphs would gain.

He was proud of his race, and the skills and the abilities of his fellow Salamanders were one to be depended on. And so it was sort of an insult for him to have so many strong warriors being ordered to take down two young girls.

'Listen up men, I need volunteers for this. I have faith in you guys, all of you are strong... and I know that each and every one of you have the ability to take these two girls out. You guys know what I mean?'

G-Takusu snorted in agreement to the warriors that were gathered under him. They were experienced, and there were some that he knew would question his right as the leader of this small team.

Time to show them what he was capable of then as a few of his detractors raised their hands to volunteer for the suicide mission that he had planned in order to get them out of his way.

He might have doubts that these two individuals were as good or as dangerous as they were claimed to be, but that did not mean that he should be overly confident or worried.

All he needed to do was to ensure that his mission was accomplished without any mishap to prove to them all that there were brains behind all the brawn that he packed. It was probably a double insult that to issue him with so many men, or they were just being overly cautious and hardly optimistic of his changes in stopping the two Sylphs.

Well he'll show them, he'll show them all!

'Good, now the few of you would wait for them here at the entrance of the corridor of Lugru...'

His plans were coming together just nicely, now all he needed was to sit back, relax and watch the show!

'No, no... what the hell are those guys doing?'

G-Takasu gave a frustrated growl as the group of players that were trying to ambush the two Sylphs had been forced to engage a group of Gnomes and Spriggans instead.

What's worse, the two Sylphs had joined in the battle and they had requested for backup without his approval or consent! He was supposed to be the leader, not them!

But on closer inspection, it might had worked in his favor. He might have lost quite a significant number of the men allocated to him but in one fell swoop he had gotten rid of all his detractors, had them be shamed in a disastrous confrontation and had gotten important intelligence on the skills of the two Sylphs.

He was very impressed, especially with the newbie by the name of Asuna. She was amazing, for a lack of better words and watching her fight was quite a sight to behold.

But her inexperience shows, she was really new to the game as she was very bad with spell-casting and tended to go for unorthodox attacking methods that although seemed effective, was quite awkward in their delivery.

'Listen up... we'll be taking up formation on the bridge of Lugru... Right here, and you, you'll be in charge of a group of ten men... here. You'll be the welcoming party while we support you with our spells from range. Your job is to keep them in the firing range and retreat when you are about to be overwhelmed. Your job is to harass them and not to defeat them. Leave that to us, you guys wouldn't want to be defeated like the other group, do you? Follow the plan, this is for the Salamanders!'

G-Takasu roared even as he shouted commands to the remaining group of players under his command. They had to get his plan in motion before the two could start advancing towards Lugru again.

The tracker that the commander had placed before was really helping out in his mission here!

'They're coming.'

G-Takasu gave a low growl of warning even as he informed his men to prepare themselves, to rain hellfire and brimstone on the two foolish Sylphs that up till now, had been outstanding in their performances so far. If he had the opportunity, he would like to congratulate them on their skills. They were attractive as well, so it doesn't hurt to actually do that. A good first impression would be good for further meetings, especially if they were willing to negotiate.

Not that he would ever think of sparing them of course, the two of them had to be stopped in their advance towards Lugru as they would no doubt interfere on the signing of the treaty that was going to take place soon.

'To your positions men. For the Salamanders!'

G-Takasu raised his own staff in the air as a rallying point and he gave a feral grin as the men behind him followed suit, they rallying behind him. Good, he had earned their respect and their attention.

Now what was needed was to finish the job once and for all!

..

'Wait till they are clear of the place men. No use killing our own after all.'

G-Takasu warned his formation of players to keep the causalities of the Salamanders to a minimum. Out of the fifty men that he had been given command of, there were less than twenty remaining and they were all set in the perfect artillery formation that the Salamanders had learnt was the best in striking their enemies down.

He might have lost the front row of armoured guards that would usually complement this formation due to the two Sylphs, but this ends, now.

'Ready? Fire!'

Author's Notes: And yet, not much happened. So sorry!