As the battle began, Chrome began hearing a rock type battle music playing all around him. He felt adrenalin coursing through his body and found himself unconsciously tapping his foot to the drumbeat of the music. Everything except Muko, Nobunaga and the music disappeared to him and strangely enough, he felt oddly calm despite the adrenalin rush.
"This… this is a final boss fight!" Chrome called out with a grin, charging forward with Muko at his side. The two let out a battle cry as they raised their shields and readied their weapons. Nobunaga waved his free hand to the side and a pillar rose from the ground beneath him. He flipped from the top and landed behind his opponents, lashing his sword out at Chrome.
Chrome blocked the attack with his shield and retaliated with two fast swings of his own, both of which Nobunaga avoided. Muko came in with a jumping strike from her mace but once again Nobunaga stepped just out of reach of the weapon.
"So, you'll still manipulate the system to fight?" Chrome said, taking a few steps back.
"Why shouldn't I? I have the power at my disposal so I should use it. That is how a fight works correct?" Nobunaga replied.
"It doesn't matter, we can still beat you," Muko said with an air of confidence.
"We shall see," Nobunaga said, charging in. His sword moved with blinding speed, opening up three small wounds on Muko. The girl ignored the attack, swinging her mace out. Nobunaga stepped back from the attack and raised his sword to block a blow from Amethyst Edge.
Nobunaga leapt back and watched as his two opponents came forward. They were perfectly in sync, moving and attacking together without any need for verbal communication. This he knew was a result of their close bond and mutual understanding of each other. But it didn't matter. He had the system and he would not lose.
Chrome and Muko weaved around each other as they ran, Chrome's sword and Muko's shield glowing, ready to unleash the skills they had ready once they got close enough. Muko spun to face Chrome and crouched down, holding her shield out. Chrome ran to Muko and leapt upwards, placing one foot on her shield as she launched him into the air. Chrome spun several times as he fell towards Nobunaga before spinning towards his opponent with his sword out.
Nobunaga lifted his weapon and stopped Chrome's attack with no effort at all. He waved his arm and a pillar of data came diagonally from the ground and hit Chrome, throwing him away. He turned as Muko came in, swinging her mace high. He once again blocked with his sword and then kicked her away.
Chrome helped Muko to her feet and the two stood with their weapons ready. Neither of them had lost a significant amount of HP so they were still good to fight.
"Do we have a plan?" Muko asked, looking at her husband.
"I want to watch him a bit more. I'm going to keep using my skills, I want you to just attack normally. Make sure you fall back to heal if you need to," Chrome replied.
"Got it," Muko said, quickly glancing at her HP.
Nobunaga stood patiently waiting for the two as they came at him once more. As Chrome's sword began to glow, he watched his movements closely, something that Chrome himself noted. Chrome watched as Nobunaga's stance shifted ever so slightly and as Chrome unleashed his skill, Nobunaga was able to dodge it easily with a simple movement.
Chrome noted that he blocked Muko's combination of mace swings though instead of dodging them. The two exchanged blows with Nobunaga for a while and although both Chrome and Muko lost almost a quarter of their HP, they had yet to even hit Nobunaga.
Nobunaga lashed out with a series of thrusts that struck Chrome's shield, sending him sliding back and removing a little more of his HP. Nobunaga's sword began to glow to green and he unleashed a powerful slash that Chrome barely even saw before it connected with Muko. The slash was followed up by another and then a firm kick that sent the girl reeling.
"Muko!" Chrome called, running over to the girl.
"I'm okay," she panted, getting to her feet.
"I've realised something about him," Chrome whispered as Nobunaga slowly approached.
"He can see what skills we're triggering right? I saw it too."
"Yeah. We're better off fighting him without using them."
The two smiled at each other and readied their weapons. Muko's HP had gotten significantly lower after Nobunaga's attack so Chrome was the first to move. He ran in a wide arc, his sword out to the side as he turned sharply and charged straight at Nobunaga.
The two clashed blades repeatedly and Chrome could see that Nobunaga was putting effort into blocking the attacks. Chrome took two steps back and raised his shield, blocking an overhead strike from Nobunaga. Chrome swung out and his opponent jumped back, straight into the path of Muko's mace that collided with his mace.
"What… I was hit?" Nobunaga said, a look of shock on his face. His momentary stagger allowed Muko to follow up with a second strike before Chrome opened a gash on Nobunaga's chest. The AI threw his arm up and quickly ascended on a pillar that spurted from the ground.
"No you don't!" Chrome yelled, jumping and grabbing the edge of the pillar as it went skyward. He climbed on and swept his leg out, knocking Nobunaga off his feet and sending him falling back to the ground with a thud. Chrome leapt off the pillar, ramming his sword into the side and sliding down to prevent any fall damage.
"Heh… not bad for humans. I guess I underestimated you two," Nobunaga said. He undid the clasp on his cloak and threw it aside, revealing his muscled, shirtless form beneath.
Chrome and Muko charged in, jumping at Nobunaga with a random flurry of attacks, most of which the AI blocked or avoided. Even without being able to predict their skills, Nobunaga was still programmed to learn fighting styles and he was beginning to learn theirs.
As the battle drew on, Nobunaga took less hits and dealt more upon his opponent's, slowly depleting their HP. Their battle healing skills were replenishing some but it wasn't enough to keep up. Chrome staggered back, panting as he realised what was happening.
"This isn't good… he's learnt out moves," he said quietly.
"It doesn't matter. We can't give up," Muko said, taking a deep breath and standing up straight.
"I know, I just don't know how we're going to win this."
"The same way we do every battle. Together."
Muko smiled at Chrome and the swordsman returned the gesture with a nod. The two put their shields side-by-side and looked at each other one more time. With a final nod they charged with a battle cry. The two moved in unison, their shield held out ahead of them.
"Cute. But it's not going to help you," Nobunaga said, running at the two. Just as Nobunaga swung his sword down, the two split to each side and struck, their weapons hitting Nobunaga in his ribs. The AI grunted and jumped away, a little under half of his HP gone now.
He stepped away from a series of attack, lashing out at Chrome and striking his stomach. The young swordsman staggered back and Muko came in for an attack. "Enough!" Nobunaga roared, flinging his arm out. An invisible force struck Muko and threw her off the edge of the battlefield.
"Muko!" Chrome yelled, running to the edge. He looked over and could see Muko laying on the ground down below. She still had a little HP left, she was alive. "You'll pay for that!" Chrome yelled, charging at Nobunaga.
"Typical human response, letting anger take over your actions," Nobunaga said, dodging Chrome's attack and slashing him once. The process was repeated three more times before Nobunaga kicked his opponent away.
Chrome rolled across the wet ground and stopped face-down his body motionless. Nobunaga stood in the pouring rain, staring at the pitiful form of his fallen opponent. He shook his head and began to walk away.
"Don't you…," Chrome groaned, clenching his fist. Nobunaga stopped, hearing the quiet words but he chose not to turn around. "Don't you dare walk from me. This fight is far from over," Chrome said, getting to his feet. Nobunaga turned and could see the intense fire burning in the young man's eyes.
"You have lost this fight. You should be able to see now you cannot defeat me. Accept your fight and wait for your death in this world. I'm giving you the chance to leave with your level, take it," Nobunaga said in a low voice.
"I don't care if you kill me here and send me back to level one. It doesn't matter to me. I'm not fighting for myself. I'm fighting for my friends and everyone else you've trapped in this world. If I give up now I could never face them again. I made a promise to get the out of here!"
"A good speech. But look at yourself, a few more hits and you'll be defeated. Take this rare piece of mercy and walk away."
"Screw you and your damn mercy! I'm not walking away until one of us is defeated!"
With those words Chrome charged at Nobunaga once more. But it wasn't the same, desperate attack it had been before. Chrome's eyes were focused and they did not linger from their target once. The two clashed swords over and over again, the sound ringing out across the battlefield, their faces inches from one another each time their weapons came together.
"What the hell is this? You were on the verge of death a moment ago," Nobunaga said, splaying his palm. Chrome was lifted from the ground and thrown through the air. He spun several times in mid-air and landed on the other side of the field, sliding across the wet ground to the very edge.
"Nobunaga!" Chrome roared, running at full speed for his opponent. Nobunaga waved his arms, pillars appearing from the ground going in random directions to block Chrome's path. But the young swordsman vaulted over or ran along each one, not slowing for a second.
"What the hell is with you?!" Nobunaga asked, his face twisting in rage as he deleted the ground ahead of Chrome. The sword and shield user leapt the gap, barely reaching the other side before he came forward again. Nobunaga staggered back to the edge of the field, his arms flailing uselessly as he tried to think of something to do.
"You're mine!" Chrome yelled, thrusting his sword towards Nobunaga's heart. The blade pierced through and data leaked out around it as the taller man's HP fell to zero. A look of disbelief fell across the AI's face followed by a sad smile. He fell backwards, sliding off Chrome's sword and falling from the building. As he hit the ground below he shattered into pixels and Chrome fell to his knees.
"I guess you win," Nobunaga's voice said as he appeared behind Chrome. "It seems I picked the right hero for this. You overcame everything I could throw at you and defeated me. As promised I will release everyone from the game."
Nobunaga waved his hand and the rest of Azure Storm appeared on the building as the rain stopped. Everyone looked around, Vakross and Kotetsu still halfway through attacks as Chrome rose to his feet.
"Your leader here has bested me in combat along with his partner," Nobunaga said, looking at Muko. "I will now release the locks on the system and every player will be free to log out and return to the real world."
"What about you? You said you'd stay here and find a purpose," Muko said, moving to Chrome's side.
"I intend to keep my word. This battle has shown me that humans are not as weak as I had assumed. I will roam this world as a player and see where I end up. Perhaps one day we will meet again," Nobunaga said, turning his back. As he began to walk away he vanished into the air and everyone crowded around Chrome.
"You did it man! We totally knew you'd kick his ass!" Kotetsu said with a huge grin.
"Not bad going kid, you just saved the virtual world," Hakuya said.
"Could've done it a bit faster, we almost died down there keeping those guys off you," Vakross said with a slight smile.
"You're a student of mine, of course you pulled it off. I never doubted you," Arcadia said very matter-of-factly.
"I knew you wouldn't lose to him," Muko said, kissing Chrome on the cheek.
Chrome looked around at his friends and smiled. The trials they had endured had been difficult and long but in the end they had overcome each one by working together. He knew that he'd never have been able to do any of this without them by his side and he was thankful to each and every one of them.
"I guess all that's left is to log out," Chrome said, looking between his guild members. Everyone nodded and they summoned their menus at the same time. "I'll see you all on the other side." With that Chrome pressed the log out button and his vision went dark.
For the first time in what seemed like forever he moved fingers on a body that was really his. They shook with each tiny movement as the stiffness prevented any large ones. His eyes flickered open slowly, the light pouring through the window almost blinding as it engulfed him. He rolled his head to the side and could see out a large window, the view showing a large city with cars speeding down streets and people shuffling down the sidewalks in large mobs.
He looked to a mirror on a small desk next to him and a face that seemed almost alien to him now stared back. The face of Ren Hikari.