Chapter 27: Friends or Foes?
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.
Hozume's P.O.V
I regained my leadership as the leader of Scarlet Temptation but something was missing… It didn't feel like how it formerly felt… could it be that I got too used to being with them? No… I must not burden myself with such preposterous suggestions… I am the leader of them so I have to forget about all my previous experiences with Knights of Blood and focus on our true goal… I heard that my buddy, Koyero is still alive and so I decided to also send a search team for him… and make him part of us, his original family…
I changed my weapon to 'The Conqueror', it is a special katana which was forged by one of the event NPCs that I met after that battle with those players… The specialty of this blade is its brute force and slight heaviness… either way, it is a well-rounded blade with tons of uses. Its hilt is sufficient enough for me to use two of my hands and it is a blade with a curved edge slightly on the side for poisoning and the other side for bleeding… If I get to stab someone with this then they will experience both poison and bleeding…
Koyero would be a valuable ally to our cause and so I never give up in trying to bring him back to us… he was one of us back then in the real world and he will be one of us here in this game as well for we are sworn family… I know now that he is in the Floor of Exile so I have to go to his location before those Knights of Blood people do… Yumi was my right hand which means that she is my trusted companion and I mostly pick her as my partner while Rujikiho is my left hand and so I go with him too but not as much as going with Yumi.
Yumi's weapons were the same, sword and shield but she changed her weapons into 'Death and Life'. The sword can deal heavy damage now but in exchange, she will be vulnerable for an extra split second when she attacks but now her shield has grown more resilient and it can now even match to Zero's Shieldblade. My calculations state that he is somewhere in the deep parts of the Floor of Exile so I might as well go now…
I sent some of my other comrades to intercept anyone who tries to interfere with my plans… My goal is to get all my family in this guild back to the real world and deliver revenge to everyone for what happened in our childhood… They better be prepared to be disposed of… As the head of our family in those times, I shall reform my family… so I really must get him back… My looks have changed ever since my defection… My slight auburn-raven hair was now a tad longer and my eyes were officially back to its original color, red.
"Hozume-kun! Preparations are complete for our little field trip~" A slightly petite young girl with bluish-raven hair cheerfully approached me as her blue eyes gave a wink to me which made me chuckle to myself a bit. "We shall rendezvous at the entrance and go in at once when we do… Shall we go, Hozu-kun?" She stared at me eye-to-eye as she gave a bright smile, took hold of my hand and began skipping cheerfully… What has made Yumi-chan so cheerful today?
"Yumi-chan… let me tell you something… You have gotten quite lively ever since we defected back to our original guild… Is it because you were able to bury the hatchet with your old friend Tomomi?" I wiped away my trail of sweat from my cheek as I caressed her hair playfully. "We weren't supposed to do what we did but it was for the best of Scarlet Temptation… I didn't want to hurt the Knights of Blood members in the first place since all of them were actually innocent from that incident but we had to kill Muyumow just so that we can get a point across them…"
"Hehehe… Hozu-kun~ Don't worry about it. They'll most likely forgive and forget when we are done with our cause… Koyero will also be back with us right after so all we can do is wait and hope that they really do let it slide." Yumi's casual clothing was quickly changed to her armor due to her equipping them via menu. Her purple, butterfly decorated kimono became light armor with some hard hide from who knows where and a brown tunic. "I can get all serious once you command me Hozu-kun. Just say the word and I shall become serious.
Yumi-chan is a rather sadistic subordinate but at the same time, she's my girlfriend so I love her even if she may be quite creepy sometimes. When we are alone together in our dorm in Scarlet Temptation, we usually sleep together since the rooms are beginning to become limited so we are together. She does my bidding but I don't usually command her… Whenever we go together in a date, we intertwine our fingers and walk together. I'm not really the romance type but Yumi really does drive my patience sometimes… She actually always looks after me and so she received the title as my most trusted comrade.
The way to arrive at the Floor of Exile is to use a special crystal but I'm guessing Kirito used some other tactic in going in there… My way is to use my special crystal along with Yumi and Rujikiho so that we can all arrive there… the one problem was that if we do go in, we have to find another crystal inside so that we can return back to the original floors of Aincrad… My preparations seems to have been completed and so the three of us used the crystals and arrived.
When we arrived, I was kind of expecting the area to be lifeless where the grass doesn't even grow but it seems I was proven wrong as soon as I saw the amazing scenery when I finally noticed that the three of us were on top of a mountain. The mountain ranges lasted for about 2 miles as I decided to jump off the mountain which surprised my two comrades who tried holding out to me but I have already jumped. The altitude was very high when I jumped but that didn't scare me… I landed on a big stack of leaves and that ultimately broke my whole fall.
"Oi! What's taking you both so long? I'm already at the bottom of the mountain~" I cheerfully waved at them from the bottom, indicating that I was alive and well which seems to have made them sigh in relief. "I wouldn't do some kind of suicide you know! That's just crazy… Anyway let's go my comrades. Lend me both of your strengths so that we can save our sworn brother!" As I gave an encouragement speech, they both jumped to the same area as me and went by my sides.
"It's like what all people that are rescuing someone says… We will save him! We will save Koyero!" I sprinted along with Yumi and Rujikiho across the vast endless-looking plains.
Silica's P.O.V
I barely escaped his plans that time but I don't think I'll escape it twice… That Husharu guy wanted me to join his guild but I rejected because of the fact that I was already part of the Knights of Blood… I was currently riding on Pina who has already grown enough for me to ride… She was already big enough but I still worry about her… Anyway, before I escaped, that follower with him tagged me with some kind of symbol on my arm and they didn't give chase after that… I wonder why.
I'm planning to regroup with the others in the Knights of Blood and so Pina and I were already in front of the headquarters but weirdly, no one's there… where did everybody go?
"I see that you have finally uncovered the reason why I engraved that temporary symbol on your armor…" The same person who gave me this symbol suddenly approached me through the headquarters… What is going on?
"Beast Tamer Silica… how pleasing it is to meet you. My name is Kanami. Real or in the game, that is my name." She didn't seem to be hostile since she didn't even pull out that killer-looking weapon of hers…
A silence echoed throughout this quiet area until Kanami began walking forward… I did a cautious step backwards which made her just make a small smile… Does she really show peace or is she about to show an all-out war on me?
Her long, slightly uneven raven hair flowed down like a waterfall. Her amber eyes on the other hand has some sort of gaze that can make even the bravest of people, shiver in discouragement and doubt… why does she seem to make me feel a sting of doubt? Is this her doing or is it because I haven't gotten a conflict with a girl opponent yet?
"Do not be wary… all my master wants is that you would lend us your strength and join us… The Phantoms… We hid in the shadows but I'm guessing that you've heard of rumors which say something about players disappearing… We're the ones who do that exact rumor." She made my heart suddenly felt like it was being stabbed… Is this… fear?
"W-Why would I join your guild even if I know that you were the ones responsible for it then?" I protested against her offer.
"It's because—" She paused for a while before speaking then did a soft giggle. "We know how to get Koyero back so I think that you'll want to assist us in the extraction for him… I know that you are his girlfriend."
"Y-You know how to get him back?!" I jumped out of surprise as I stared at her somewhat creepy gaze as she gave a smile. "How do I know if this isn't some kind of trick that you're all planning?"
"Of course we do, that is why we're offering you to temporarily join our cause and rescue him. For reasons, Husharu-sama decided to rescue that guy… What a lucky player that guy is…" Kanami sighed like she didn't actually want to go all rescue team on someone like Koyero but once I heard about a chance of taking him back, there was no way I could refuse.
"Hai! I acc—" Right before I could react, some kind of needle was stabbed into my arm by Kanami and I felt lightheaded. "W-What… did… you do…" I felt myself drop on the ground.
I felt so numb that I couldn't even lift a finger… What kind of technique did she just use on me?! Pina couldn't help me either since Kanami did the same to Pina and she placed Pina on me as she prepared on of her teleportation crystals as I heard her speak words of delight to herself but I managed to get what she said but it wasn't even an important piece of information at a time like this…
"Husharu-sama is going to be so happy once he knows that I got the beast tamer to join us!" She was full of delight as we were about to teleport. "I wonder what kind of reward he'll give me… Oh Husharu-sama… I will do anything you want for I am your humble servant and comrade…" She was still speaking to herself which made me decide not to bother her since she may get all aggravated at me if I distract her from continuing… with her awkward fantasies about her master who talked to me not so long ago.
Nizuko's P.O.V
Our master, Husharu-sama has appointed various officers at his disposal like me and Yushika to gather comrades so that we can defeat this death game but his objectives seem to have changed as soon as he heard about that person who appeared in the Floor of Exile. No one among us knew what his relationship with that person is but as a loyal follower of Husharu, I swore to follow his orders with no hesitation…
My partner who is always assigned with me by him is my childhood friend, Yushika who plans to become a ninja-themed player in Sword Art Online which is completely relevant to mine as well. We both are ninja-themed players with katanas that have special abilities… yes, we have shurikens too so don't ask. Yushika and I were assigned to pacify the fighting Vukso and Figo so that we can make them join us. We need all the people that we can get.
We don't mean to slay any player but all we do is convince them to be part or our team. Yushika usually walks very near me which makes me questioned and at the same time confused on why she does so. The Phantom Guild focuses on gathering allies more than killing them unlike Scarlet Temptation who kills anyone who gets in their way… Our ways are secretive and have no sides… we can be either a friend or foe depending on what Husharu-sama says… As I said, we will follow him to whichever path he takes…
My partner goes behind me and glomps me from behind which makes me almost stumble but after that she smiled and spoke, "Are you finally prepared to go into our mission, Nizu-kun? I'm ready for anything as long as I'm assigned with you!"
"Ahh… Yuhi-chan… I think I'm ready for now. Let's go do what Husharu-sama instructed us already then. I know that he'll not be mad but I do know that it would be better to do it early so that we can approach this mission or retrieving this 'Koyero player' back to Aincrad…" I made myself remember my duties as Yushika went off my back which made the both of us wear our usual ninja-themed armor.
The armor in the outside was actually like what all old-school ninjas wear. It consists of black clothing armor but in the inside, an extra layer of very thin stainless steel armor is inside just so that if something that didn't go according to plan happens, my armor can still be sufficient enough to protect myself and Yushika. We both wear the same type of armor and we can depend on each other always in a pinch so we are a pair in a guild with the most trust and cooperation.
The orders showed that we had to go to Floor 58, the area where Vukso and Figo were battling so that we could stop their fight and make them on our side. Yushika was walking with me to the location as I began unsheathing my katana. We arrived to that floor after utilizing one of the teleportation areas… In there, we saw one of the greatest clashes I seen…
It was Vukso and Figo, head-to-head with neither one backing down… My research says that Vukso was just a few levels lower than him but that handicap didn't even seem to have an effect! Each clash makes me off-balance… W-What are these two?!
"I can feel the force from even here! Nizu-kun, they were stronger than we anticipated… that will make convincing them to become part of our team even more fun!" Yushika exclaimed as we were watching their clashes. "Their HPs are getting kind off low though… Should we shatter the crystal that Husharu told us to destroy when they getting into a pinch?" She pulled out a dark crystal which made me get it from her and sigh.
"Yes… this is the crystal which will return Figo's sanity… we might as well… use it!" I destroyed the crystal with a slice from my katana. "Figo… you are free… for now."
As soon as I destroyed the crystal, we saw Figo drop but Vukso caught him like what a good friend should. Yushika watched with me in delight as we both saw him help the smaller player up. Vukso carried him on his back and swore a few times since he has some injuries on his leg due to some of the dirty tactics from controlled Figo… It was time for our debut to them… As an order, we must subdue and capture them… or convince them to join without a hassle.
We jumped from our area and out of our ninja camouflage as we made Vukso back away slowly with Figo on his back as he growled in anger.
"Who are you people?! If you're planning to hurt Figo then I'll challenge you to get through me first! You people will never take another person…" He pulled out his Zweihander with his unused left hand as he panted out of exhaustion and in pain.
"We are not here to do harm… All we want is your assistance to thaw out Koyero from his trance in the Floor of Exile… On the other hand, as an exchange we already sent some of our followers into Floor 83 and it is currently being dominated by the Phantoms…" I assured them but that didn't stop him growling out of being pissed and protective.
"We also have Havuki-kyun so I hope you would reconsider, Vukso-kyun!" Yushika was trying to act cute to him, making me confused on why she did that… did she think that Vukso was a lolicon or something?
"Did you just say Havuki?! Why did he join you? I know that he really is protective of his friends but I never knew that he sees Koyero as a friend… Plus, why the hell did you say 'kyun'?!" Vukso twitched from the thought of her saying 'kyun', which made me confused.
"We will offer free drinks every Thursday, so please join just for this expedition, Vukso-kyun!" Yushika purred which made me feel uneasy in the inside.
"Ehehe… I-I just can't join like this…" Vukso's fetish was now obvious… he can't handle these kinds of women… Oh boy…
"We will let you go back to your respective guilds right after Koyero has been rescued so it's a win-win for the both of us. Even, Kirito-san is in the Floor of Exile already, training the sub-skill juggling with Kushimu. I hope you will fully cooperate for Havuki has a debt to our master Husharu for saving him from a mercenary mission 1 year ago…" I explained to him which made him curious.
"Save him how?" Vukso was still carrying him.
"We'll explain later, nya! Let's go!" Yushika pulled out a crystal and teleported the four of us to HQ.
While we left them so that they can explore the area, I spoke with Yushika in our room since we were roommates but she attempted to make me forget about what happened by changing the subject but I fully remembered what she did to persuade him into joining us… What a rare sight to see… I never knew that she could convince people like that… She tried to explain herself but I just smiled at her which made her slowdown in her speaking.
"Really, Yuhi-chan? Kyun?" I tried to hold my laughter from how she convinced him but she laughed before me.
"Hehe… I knew he was a lolicon, Nizu-kun!" She cuddled me which I did back.
"Let's go to Husharu-sama for further orders then. We still have so much work to do but after that we can relax for the time being Yuhi-chan and walk leisurely across those fields in Floor 83… too bad it is currently being completed though… We can't dominate Floor 84 for now… let's leave it to the others." I whispered to her the original plan of Husharu-sama as we went through the long hallway which leads to the room of him and also the room where we all plan out our next moves.
Extra Scene: The Jailbreak…
Tadaiku's P.O.V
My brother… he needs me to help him get out of this outrage. After a week of being contained in my cell, I memorized the shape and the way they open the lock… I managed to input the correct combination and pick the lock in my cell and so my escaped could be a silent one which will not be seen by anyone or it could be a terrible mistake where they will find me… I know that Sinon-san is at her house with nothing to do so I must get to her and convince her to save Koyero with me…
The problem is that my Feral Zweihander has been taken away since I'm a prisoner… seriously, who would leave a weapon of a prisoner in his/her cell? I stealthily sneaked through the guards as I carefully use Embracer on his gut and got his keys, yes he is knocked out. I didn't actually think that getting the keys of a guard would be this easy though… could this be some sort of trap made for me by that cunning Zero? He usually adds some traps for the prisoners but where could it possibly—
I felt a floor tile go down… great… just great.
After a moment of silence, the structure of the room seems to have become gloomier which made me observe the ground… I have to find my Zweihander, ASAP! I wall jumped so that I could reach the stairs quicker. I was currently in a hallway crossroad but I went right and saw the personal items room… How lucky of me to find it in such a hurry… I felt quite uncomfortable without wearing my armor and not wielding my signature weapon, The Feral Zweihander… I approached cautiously and went in the room.
The area around me seemed normal at first but I knew immediately that something was off… Before I went all analytic, I managed to get all my stuff in this personal belongings room and left. Now I needed to find a way out of this prison… Zero doesn't seem to be anywhere for the time being… where could he have gone? Anyway if I do get into conflict with Zero then I have to be extremely aggressive when I'm fighting since the Shieldblade can take punishing hits and still stay stainless… while that blade attached on it has the power to enhance strength of the next attack, the more the shield gets hit…
(I just know that there's a way out of this prison but I must ponder first for a plan and then run to Sinon's hideout located in Floor 40 which was in between some trees and a cave… I do hope that Sinon-san would still trust me even if I'm some sort of runaway prisoner who's plan is to save his brother and get redemption…)
My hair has gotten quite longer due to my stay in prison and now it has reached to my shoulders… I have brown slightly messy hair now and my cyan eyes can catch some sudden movements so I have to still be careful since Zero didn't become the leader of the Investigators Guild for nothing… Rumors say that he managed to defeat one of the glitch monsters that made its debut when we were still in Floor 81…
The glitch monsters are dangerous enemies that can even make a very high level player plummet to the ground when he or she is not careful. They have very unstable particles so that means that it can even dodge a move that was supposed to be impossible to dodge and make their hits give damage even if it is not meant to be long-range… My Feral Zweihander can change its sharpness and blade formation depending on my willpower which defeated most of my opponents…
Not so long later, before I could head to a corridor which looked a lot like the exit, Someone in a shrouded dark cloak and with a hood covering his face appeared… A mask could be seen under and so I couldn't tell who he was but my instincts told me that he was that Zero, the player that could even match up to me if he is that serious… His raven hair was covered by his hoodie but his crimson red eyes could still be seen like it was trying to pierce you with its gaze.
"I see you were planning to escape, Tadaiku-san… I thought that you were a good prisoner who would just stay in his cell and wait for judgement to cloud over but it seems I was incorrect in that hypothesis of mine as well… It's not one of my principles to fight a prisoner like this but I shall never let anyone escape justice… your crimes still have to pay…" Zero spread his right arm out and equipped his Shieldblade as he began walking closer.
"I see you've gotten the wrong idea again, my friend… You may be right that I am trying to escape from this horrid prison but I assure you that it is not for injustice nor is it for myself… It is to bring justice to myself and to my brother… I shall exceed my limits and gain new abilities that I've never known I had and rescue the brother that I have betrayed!" I unsheathed my Feral Zweihander as we gazed at each other.
"As always, I admire your determination and will but as the leader and maker of this prison, I swear upon my blade that I will not let you have your way… I know that you are just running away from the truth… You lied to yourself… Yanaihara Koyero is already dead!" He stepped on a switch and kicked a spear which popped out of nowhere and it began hurling towards my direction.
"I knew that you would put your knowledge of your prison traps to your advantage and I must say that you're not bad with this but you shall never make my spirit waver…" I sliced the spear in half with my Zweihander and charged towards him and attempted to perform a hard blunt move on his head but he countered by blocking with his shield and stabbing me with the blade attached on it.
"How careless of you, I expected more from a player with your caliber… I thought that I finally found someone to fight me head on and that we were both on par but alas… you still get tricked and manipulated..." He sounded disappointed as he kicked me away from him.
"Hehe… I was just checking if you were ready for my next move." I smirked as I held my hilt tight and pointed it at him.
"Nani? What are you talking about, Tadaiku-san? There is no way that—" He fell for one of his own traps which I changed the course of… The trap was supposed to make me restrained with rope once he steps on the panel but using my Feral Zweihander, I messed with the system which was directly below us and changed its effect that made him tied in rope instead of me…
"I have stabbed my Zweihander on the ground since I knew that the panels around here are controlled by some kind of machine under the flooring… By using the unique capabilities of my weapon, I managed to move the blades of my blade to tinker with the gears and ultimately change its course… I knew that you would rather subdue me than defeat me in battle since I know how noble of a man you are, Rozure…" I smiled as I pitied him since he is one of my most trusted friends in here and in real life…
"Tsk… Don't call me by my real name now, Okudaira Takanori! I thought that we could become allies but I never expected that you would kill your own brother… please my friend… release me so that I could put you back in your cell and pretend that nothing happened so that they wouldn't think you're like those PKs… My friend, I do not wish to hurt you… If you do this, you will become an enemy to almost all players of SAO since you are like a fugitive and I do not wish that…" Zero showed his true feelings, which is quite rare as he struggled, trying to get free from the rope.
"An enemy? If there are enemies, I know that there are friends… that will become the fuel that will drive me forward, Rozure-san… I have done something wrong and I thought that keeping my brother away from this death game with one of my skills would make him happy but I found deep in sympathy that I was wrong… all I did was make him alone but I am planning to change that. I will change him and I will rescue him… That is what a brother should do…" I sheathed my Zweihander as I walked past him.
"T-Takanori! Taka! Don't do this or I'll keep on blurting out all your nicknames until you leave!" Zero seems to have understood but I was pretty sure that he was hiding it from me since he didn't want me to get any wrong ideas about it.
"C'mon, Rozure-san… It's fine, I shall make things right and I assure you that Koyero, my brother will be back with me… Plus, I like being called Taka so it's fine if you keep calling me that name~" I waved happily and left his sights.
I heard a mutter before I left though… It went something like, "Tsk… That baka… always thinking of his brother ever since he disappeared… he never changed… that's what I like about him… He will never abandon anyone."
I went towards a teleportation area and used it to teleport to Floor 40 but for some reason I teleported to one of the local bars… Kuso… why is it so glitchy?
"Welcome back Master~!" One of the girl players hugged my arms which made me fluster but I instantly went out… WHAT… THE… HELL?! How did I even go to that area?!
I decided to forget about that incident which made me lose my cool and made my way to Sinon's hideout where I also live so technically I live with her but fortunately, separated rooms. I jumped into the camouflaged hole and flipped my way down which resulted to a surprised Sinon who aimed her bow at me but stopped as soon as she recognized that it was just me but she didn't show that face of worry and relief but I knew that it was there somewhere but she was probably hiding it.
"What are you doing here, Tadaiku? I thought you were taking your time—" I interrupted her which was against what I usually do with women since I usually make them talk first but this was more important…
"Sinon-san, I will be rescuing my brother in the Floor of Exile so that I could redeem myself as his true brother… You may decline for I know this is none of your business but I just wanted you to know that… I'll be gone for a while and that I—" I was about to give up since I thought she was going to decline and ask me why would she join me but she stopped my words and spoke back to me.
"Say no more, Tadaiku… I knew that you would stop moping around in that cell of yours and remember who you truly are and remove that sense of doubt… That is the Tadaiku I know from the first time I met him… The time was where you were so desperate to team up with me but I kept refusing. Now I know that my decision to finally accept made me have no regrets and so I will accompany you since when I'm not there, no one would get you out of a pinch." She instantly accepted which made me feel good in the inside but I'll save that for later…
"Arigato… Sinon-san… now we must scale the Floor of Exile and rescue him… I know that Floor more than anybody so I will guide us to the safest paths… I will not let your consideration go to vain. I thank you for trusting me, partner…" I acted so thankful that even Sinon herself made me stop since maybe I was acting a bit too overdramatic…
After that event, Sinon and I went out of the hideout. I pulled out a clear white crystal that came from my Feral Zweihander and used it which caused us to teleport to an area of vast plains with numerous monsters behind us… This is the checkpoint which I pinpointed to teleport whenever I go here… We will save my brother… I swear upon my life…
End of Extra Scene
End of Chapter 27
Next Chapter: It's Time to Juggle.
Next Extra Scene: Cooking Trouble.