CHAPTER 5
JORMUNGAND
-:-
I may devour the 5 continents
And swallow the 3 seas
But a body with neither wings,
Nor Hands,
Nor Feet,
Is powerless against the sky.
I am the world serpent
My name is -
-:-
"This is a waste of time…" Czarina thought as she sat amongst the sub leaders of THE ARMY
The massive table is perfectly round, with the maximum sitting capacity of 30 people. It is located at the very back of their home base, THE BLACK IRON CASTLE. The room and the table are normally used for meetings, such as what they are having right now.
"Real world or not, politics is the same no matter where or when it is." She thought as she looks at the squabbling of her fellow sub leaders.
Today is January 3, 2023, more than 1 year since the beginning of SAO, and the players are clearing the floors at break neck speed. A week ago, the 48th floor was cleared, and without a pause, the exploration of the 49th floor began with gusto. Right now, the boss room is still nowhere to be found, but it is only a matter of time before someone will stumble on it.
Ofcourse, the progress is no thanks to THE ARMY.
Ever since the 25th floor, THE ARMY turned from one of the main groups of the front line, to a pathetic excuse of an organization. Aside from the founder Sinker and his second in command, Yuriel, majority of the sub leaders fights for what little control they have left.
"What happened to the OH SO NOBLE cause of clearing the game in an orderly manner? This really makes me regret being promoted to a sub leader"
During the 1st year, the rate of PK's took a sharp rise for no good reason. At one point, the players victimized by the PKs rose up and began fighting back, giving birth to the PKKs (Player Killer Killers). Though very very few in numbers, the rage driven PKKs grinded like there was no tomorrow, and eventually, most of them ended up as powerful front liners. There are rumors saying that they are as strong as the beaters.
One of them happens to be Faux.
"*sigh* I'm still weak….. I hope this stupid meeting ends quickly. I need to train"
During her deep thinking, she doesn't realize that the conversation has already focused on her.
"Hey! Czarina! Listen to me damn it!" said Kibaou
"Huh?!" Czarina replies arrogantly "Why should I listen to you?"
"You bitch... You're suppose to be the head of the PK suppression group. And yet, after 2 weeks on the job, you don't even have any info on our primary target! (FAUX)" Kibaou replies.
"Heh… says the retard who, for 2 months, station tons of troops in every teleporter in every floor. Even with all that man power, you didn't even get a look at Faux. Its no wonder that I replaced you." Said Czarina, as she enjoy watching Kibaou anger filled face.
Ever since Faux left the guild (and destroyed Kibaou's party), Kibaou has been determined to get revenge. After the death of Gawain, the news that Faux turned into a PKK, spread like wild fire. Using that opportunity, Kibaou was able garner support to create the PK suppression squad. Unfortunately, after 2 months in active duty, he not only failed to catch Faux, but also failed to capture any PKs and PKKs. He was voted off his position and was replaced by Czarina, and he has been trying to take back the position ever since.
"Well aren't you arrogant?! I haven't seen any proof that you're doing any better!" Kibaou roars.
After a second of silence, Czarina laughs arrogantly.
"Ho ho ho ho ho! That's what makes you so incompetent Kibaou. You failed to understand the PKs mindset, so its no surprise that you couldn't catch any of them!" Czarina retorts. The entire room was silent as they watch the two's heated exchange. "PKs have an ASSASSIN mindset. They are like shadows, they strike, then disappear without a trace. All they need to do is change their appearance, making your roadblocks useless."
Though silent, majority of the sub leaders nod in agreement. Kibaou is not happy, which makes Czarina very happy. She continues her gloating.
"On the other hand, if you gather info about the target before going after them, then you can take them down no matter what they do."
"Then prove it! Let's hear what info you got!" Kibaou replies hastily, and is met by a sadistic smile from Czarina.
Kibaou is really not happy.
"Lets talk about YOUR primary target then." Czarina calls down her inventory and takes out a small notebook. She flips to a certain page, clicks, drags and flicks it to the center of the table. A massive window appears at the center for everyone to see.
Faux AKA THE MURDERER
Ex Member of THE ARMY
Known Armaments:
Dagger, Shield, Throwing Knives
Known Home Base:
No set base of operations. Have been seen from the 2nd to the 48th floor. No pre set sleeping lounge.
Notes:
Very unorthodox fighter with guerilla warfare as preferred fighting style. Breaks the mold of typical dagger users, as he prefers a STR-AGI build over typical AGI-STR or pure AGI dagger builds. Though he prefers hit & run and guerilla tactics, fighting him in a straight up battle is ill advised.
For some reason, he controls a black mist that blocks all radar and visual functions.
Based on multiple information dealers, he possesses the highest kill count of 40-45 as of December 1, 2022
The room is silent. An understandable reaction, seeing how Czarina's info is disturbing, as it is accurate.
"Do you understand now Cactus head?" She says to Kibaou. "40-45 PKs by 1 individual is no joke. Any half baked attempt to catch him will only result in casualties on our side. That is the main reason my unit spends most of our time grinding like crazy. If we aren't as strong as the front liners, then he will turn us into floor mats, just like what he did to you and me a few months ago"
With the silent nod of approval by majority, the tense meeting ends.
After the meeting, Czarina heads for the empty plaza and sits on one of the benches.
Czarina drains a bottle of…..
"Just what in gods name did I just drink?"
It has the confusing taste of orange, grape, bubble gum, mint, pineapple, lemonade and apple all at the same time. Though one of her favorites, it is delicious and disgusting at the same time.
"Good work in there." A familiar female voice says, as she sits beside Czarina.
"Thanks Yulier."
"You seemed to enjoy putting Kibaou in his place."
"Beating down single celled organisms is one of the greatest pleasures in life. You should try it."
"I'll pass" Yulier replies with a smile. "Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you about something."
"Go ahead."
"You've been boasting that you'll catch Faux one of this days…. But when the time comes, can you really do it?"
The question catches Czarina off guard. Yulier is one of her closest friends, so it's no surprise she knows what Czarina truly feels about Faux. Never the less, Czarina steels her will and answers.
"Yes, I will. Even if I have to beat him within an inch of his life, I will capture Faux"
"I see…." Yulier smiles sadly. "I wish you good luck"
With a small wave, she stands and leaves.
"Yulier…. If you knew the truth… the real me.… would you hated me?"
-:-
Angelica Shiro Norton, or commonly known in SAO as Czarina The Empress, is not the most sociable person in the world, but she does have some deep ties with a select few. To maintain the most important of those ties (namely her family) she buried her darkest secret at the deepest corner of her heart.
"This secret, which not even my family and friends knows about, is better off sealed in a box and thrown out to sea." She said to herself
Of course, she originally never had such a secret, but past events leaves no other route for her.
Her entire childhood life was shaped by her condition, ALBINISM. With the lack of melanin in her body, she was forced to sit out the most enjoying activities to a child, such as soccer or swimming in the sea. And worse yet, she was also subjected to bullying when she entered school. The children called her a ghost, white lady, and Sadako just to name a few.
During those trying times, her brother Raph has always been there to protect her. Many times, he would go up against overwhelming numbers, and many times, he is beaten to a bloody pulp. Yet he keeps getting back up on his feat, and kept fighting.
At one point in middle school, Raph broke his leg when her bullies pushed him over the stairs. Instead of weakening Raph, the handicap made him much more ferocious as Ange's protector (crutches used as makeshift clubs are effective weapons)
To the young Ange, her brother was nothing short of a hero, her personal knight in shining armor. She exalted him to no end, constantly labeling him as the ideal older brother.
That should have been the limit of her affection, but a popular genre in Japan greatly twisted her admiration to something else. As a daughter of a closet otaku, Ange was exposed to the otaku culture at a very young age. Unlike her action/suspense/thriller/mecha/guns/sword loving father and brother, Ange is a fan of love stories. Her personal favorite (and the one that sent her over the deep edge) was the Yosuga No Sora anime. The idea of a sibling falling in love with her older brother shocked her, yet she cannot deny the similarities between her and the main heroine of the anime, Sora Kasugano. She initially dismissed the idea, but the seed has already been planted, and as the years went by, it grew into a large tree that can no longer be removed.Angelica Shiro Norton loves Raphael Arisato Norton, not as a sibling, but as a lover.
She knows that her desires are incestuous in nature, but her feelings have become too intense for her to go back.
Unfortunately, when she was able understand her feelings, their interest has already drifted them apart. As a naturally beautiful girl, she became interested in fashion while her brother entered the realm of MMORPGs.
In a desperate attempt to maintain a connection between them, Ange reluctantly agreed to her brothers please and became Gino's (fake) girlfriend. Even the decision to play SAO stemmed from the same desperation.
And then, there was the SAO incident and the death of Gino/Gawain.
She always thought very little of him, considering him as more of a hindrance to her plan. Yet his death made her realize how important and fragile the bonds they shared. She also realized how much agony it would cause if those bonds were forcefully torn apart. She mourned and cried for him, yet she also steeled her will.
"I must not lose Ani-sama! I WILL NOT lose him!"
That is why she must get stronger.
Once she captures Faux, she will leave the guild and drag him to a hidden, monsterless, anti crystal forest/prison she and a few others discovered on the 7th floor. It is a maze where the only way out is through a portal that requires one person pressing on the glyph at the 7th floor, and another person doing the same on another hidden dungeon in the 31st floor . There, she will lock both of them in, then they will be together… forever.
-:-
48th floor LINDEARTH
Czarina listens to the sound of flowing water as she stands before a fairly big watermill. The Japanese people always thought that the sound of water has some sort of calming effect, something which Americans normally cant understand. As a half American- half Japanese, she can sort of understand, while remaining completely confused on the sound of water.
"Seeing how the idea came from the land of seppuku, lolicons and otakus, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they are on the looney side"
Suddenly, a thought dawned on her. Technically speaking, she is half Japanese. Does that make her half as looney?
"Hm.. I cant really deny that, can I?" She ponders for a bit, then shrugs it off.
She enters the building connected to the watermill. The sight of thin and elegant weapons welcomed her, none of which suites her fighting style and taste. At the counter stands a girl with short pink hair, who was dealing with 3 men. At a glance, Czarina can tell that the men were trying to flirt with her, something the pink girl obviously did not like.
"*sigh* this again?" Czarina sighs. "I know customer service requires to her to deal with these lowlives…. But still…."
Czarina walks up behind the men and says
"Get lost. You're holding up the line"
The 1 of the 3 men turns and says
"HUH?! Don't you know who we are?" the one on the right says arrogantly.
"No. Do you ever keep track of the names of the roaches you step on?" Czarina replies with equal or greater arrogance.
"Oi Aniki! This cute little girl doesn't seem t know her place!"
On cue, the large one on the center turns around menacingly.
"Is this a low budget Yakuza film or something?" Czarina thought as she suppresses her laughter.
"Ho… you think you can just run your mouth on my boys, and expect to live?" He looks at Czarina menacingly.
"Why heavens no! I would never badmouth MEN. You, on the other hand, lack the testicles to be considered as such." Czarina replies with an arrogant smile.
With veins popping on their head, they draw their swords and display it menacingly. Unfortunately, the action was met by smile stating Aw…. They trying to be scary. How Precious
Czarina calls down her equipment menu, and a second later, the 3 jaws hit the floor. On her back rests a two handed sword….
No.
The sheer size and weight of the sword can no longer be considered as a two hand sword. The blade is 5 foot tall, 2 foot wide, half a foot thick, and is connected to a 3 foot long handle. It is so large, that the total height exceeds that of its owner.
All are silenced under the sword's commanding presence.
"ZWEIHANDER is 2 HANDED SWORD's bigger, badder cousin with a prison record." Czarina breaks the ice.
She lovingly strokes the sword, as if to show off its menacing appearance.
"Though it is easy to get, its weight and size makes it a very hard weapon to use, thus I'm probably the only one who uses it." Czarina twirls and removes the blade from her back, keeping the tip on the ground. "Its so heavy, that even a pure STR like myself becomes overweight just from equipping it. Not only that, its not possible to lift it more than 2 feet, straight up….. so….. I do this…."
She twirls, and by using the centrifugal force, the blade is slowly swung at 4 feet above the ground. With a red glow, the sword suddenly accelerates and connects with the ANIKI, blowing him into the wall. The entire shop shakes, as IMMORTAL OBJECT signs pop up all over the place.
"Aw…. I forgot… we're in town." Czarina says in a playful voice. "How about we step outside of town? There you will see just how much damage this thing can do."
The 3 pauses for a second, then bolts out the door.
"*sigh* Did you really need to do that?" The pink haired shopkeeper says.
"Fu fu fu. Of course it is, Lisbeth. The only way to train street rabble like them is to smack them a couple of times. " Czarina replies.
"…. You're a sadist, arent you"
"Yup! Im proud of it too!"
Czarina has been a regular customer of Lisbeth for 6 months, due to a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Lisbeth is a girl, thus she does not try to flirt with Czarina when she goes for her regular maintenance. Second, because they are both girls, they can engage in girly talks. Girls love their gossip, after all.
"So… Where's our defacto leader?" Czarina asks, while she watches Lisbeth performs maintenance on her zweihander, GRAY KNIGHT.
"Hmm…. I think she mentioned about an emergency meeting between the leaders of the front line guilds. Now that I think about it…. Shouldn't you be there as well?" Lisbeth replies without looking back.
"Though I'm one of the few from THE ARMY who is still active in the front lines, I don't have a unit to lead. In the front lines, I am only a regular foot soldier. They'll call me when they need me"
"Hm…. I see… Well then, lets talk about something more interesting." Lisbeth says, as she smacks the zweihander with a hammer." Hows that guy you're chasing? Any new development?"
"*sigh*….. no new development." Says the depressed Czarina
"ho ho ho! Do tell" Lisbeth replies with great interest.
The two began gossiping about things only girls would understand. The topic ranges from love, fashion, who is the biggest bitch in the front lines, etc, etc, etc.
An hour passes without them knowing it….. How they do it, is beyond a man's understanding.
Suddenly, the door swings open, and a girl with long chestnut hair rushes in.
"I'm so sorry for being late!" She said as she stops in front of Czarina.
"Ho… Asuna AKA The Flash. A person that led the frontlines with an iron fist…. Is tardy? What kind of sorcery is this?" Czarina flashes a sadistic smile.
Asuna bows low in reply.
"I'm truly sorry! Something unusual happened, so most of the leaders went out to investigate."
"Something unusual?" Lisbeth asks.
Czarina shares Lisbeth's curiosity, and awaits Asuna's next words.
"Yes…. This is a report from the scouts that we sent to find the boss room." Asuna takes out a short piece of paper and places it on the table.
Approximately 3:40 AM- Under the orders of the KNIGHTS OF THE BLOOD, the 5 man guild EXPLORERS conducted their routine mapping of the boss dungeon.
Approximately 4:20 AM- The EXLPORERS encountered an 18 man PK Party. The PKs debated amongst themselves, weather to kill off the EXPLORERS or not. From what their conversation, the PKs party was originally a 20 man party, tasked to hunt down a certain PKK.
At their first encounter, the PKK was able to kill 2 of them before running away.
The PKs decided to spare the EXPLORERS, simply because they wanted to be in the best condition when they face the PKK again.
After being released, the EXLPORERS made sure to avoid the PKs during their mapping.
Approximately 4:35 AM- The EXPLORERS stumbled on the boss room. They took a quick peek at the boss (CYCLOPES CHAMPION) and decided to head back to inform the KOB. To avoid the PK party, they used their teleport crystals.
Approximately 5:45 AM- They returned to the boss room along with 5 KOB members to scout out the boss. To their surprise, the boss can no longer be found, a clear sign that it was defeated.
"Until now, no one has claimed responsibility for killing the boss" Asuna said in a serious voice.
"I see….. Then why where you late?" Lisbeth asks
"About that….. Around 7:00 AM we waited in front of the Teleporter, hoping that the group who cleared the 49th would open the way to the next floor." Asuna sighs while rubbing her forehead. "Unfortunately, they didn't. So we had no choice but to climb up the dungeon and open the next floor ourselves, though I decided to skip out, seeing how I'm late for our party."
"hmmm….. this group doesn't want to be known huh?" Czarina says
"Yeah… the leaders think so too" Asuna replies.
"Eh? Why would they not want to get known? Floor clearing is a ticket to instant stardom, after all." Lisbeth asks
Czarina ponders for a bit then answers.
"I can think of a few reasons why. They might be PKs, thus keeping their location a secret is a must. They may want to monopolize the hunting spots, thus not activating the teleporter. Either way, they don't want anyone to know who they are."
"It could be one of the front liners, you know?" Lisbeth says. "They probably wanted the drops for themselves."
"That's true…. But the front line is a small and very tight knit community. Nearly everyone in the lead group has atleast one person per guild in his/her friendlist. An attempt like that wont go unnoticed. Besides, no one wants to die, that's why everyone in the lead group works together, to keep the casualty as close to zero as possible." Asuna answers
Silence reigns, as the girls theorize as to the identity of the floor clearer. After a few seconds, Czarina speaks up.
"Well…. We can go to an information dealer. They seem to know everything that's happening…. Though it might cost us."
"Hmm… we could do that." Asuna replies. "Though paying for the info kinda hurts my budget."
"Just so you know, Im not going to pay for that!" Lisbeth says with passion.
"Cant you ask your higher ups for some money?" Czarina asks Asuna
"I could…. But no promises. Besides…. Where can we find an info dealer who knows what happened?"
Czarina thinks for a bit, then replies
"I know one who might…. "
-:-
As the leader of the PK suppression group, Czarina has formed contacts with many of the info dealers in order to keep tabs on her targets. With financial backing from THE ARMY, she has access to all the info she needs. Unfortunately, her requests has to pass through Yulier's strict supervision, thus she can't get any financial support when it isn't related to PK hunting.
Asuna's guild also refused to finance them. But to their surprise, the leader of the KOB met them personally and handed 5 million gold for the info. He stated that, though the guild is not allowed to shell out cash for the info, Heathcliff himself is curious about the group that cleared the 49th floor. He is willing to use his own pocket money just to get the info. He wanted to meet the info dealer himself, but he had more pressing matters to deal with, thus he left as quickly as he came.
"Well… it worked out in the end." Czarina thought as she took a sip of her…. "I've been drinking this stuff for half a month now… and I still don't know what it's has called?"
The trio waits for Czarina's info dealer in a restaurant near Lisbeth's shop. They didn't wait long, as Czarina spots a petite hooded figure entering the restaurant. She waves at her and beacons her over.
"Well… this is an interesting combination." The hooded girl with whiskers says."THE ARMY's Czarina THE EMPRESS, KOB's Asuna THE FLASH, and Lisbeth, one of the top blacksmiths in SAO. All in one table…. Hmm… looks like I'm about to strike gold. Nihihihi"
The 2 of the 3 looks at the hooded figure in shock. Lisbeth breaks the silence first.
"Wait wait wait! I can understand that you know about Asuna, but how in gods name did you know about me?!"
"I'm an info dealer. Its my job to know. By the way, my name is Argo. Nice to meet ya" Argo takes a seat.
"Nice to meet you… THAT'S NOT IT!" Lisbeth exclaims. "HOW in gods name did you get those info about me?! And don't give me that Coz I'm an info dealer crap!"
"That's 10k gold" Argo replies while extending her hand to accept payment
"You….!" Lisbeth's face twists in annoyance
"Calm down Lis. She wont budge an inch, unless you pay in cash" Czarina grabs Lisbeth by the shoulder." Besides, pretty girls become famous regardless of their will. You're bound to have a stalker or two. You'll get used to it…. eventually"
"Tch… kill joy" says a displeased Argo replies.
On the other hand, Lisbeth is aching to smack Argo with her mace.
"A-anyways, let's get to the point" Asuna injects. She faces Argo seriously. "Argo-san, do you know anything about the group that cleared the 49th floor?"
Silence descends. After a few seconds, Argo speaks.
"4 million gold" Argo says in a serious voice.
"W-wow… isn't that a bit expensive? None of the info you sold me amounted to that much. The most expensive one was about 200K" Czarina replies
"This incident is a very sensitive matter. Besides, I doubt that anyone else has the info I have"
"Ho… how do we know that you're not gonna screw us over" Lisbeth says aggressively.
Argo meets her aggressiveness with a silent yet serious face, causing Lisbeth to falter. After a second of intense silence, Argo returns her attention back to Asuna.
"4 million gold. I refuse to say another word" Argo leans on her, clearly having no intention to talk.
Asuna opens a trade and enters 4 million gold, then clicks OK.
To their surprise, Argo cancels the trade.
"Good. You have the money. Take me to a place where no one, other than you 3, is present. Make sure that it's a place where no one can eavesdrop on our conversation. You can pay me there." Argo stands and begins to leave.
The realization finally hits the trio, as they watch Argo walk out the restaurant.
"This looks serious….. Just what happened on the 49th boss?"
-:-
Argo, Asuna and Czarina wait amongst the smith equipment, as Lisbeth closes her shop early. With the front door and the workshop door between them and the outside world, even a person with a mastery in LISTENING cant eavesdrop on them. A few moments later, the workshop door opens and Lisbeth descends the stairs.
"Lets begin." Argo says. "But first, 4 million please"
"*sigh* You're such a greedy little rat." Czarina says.
"But of course. Being a penny pincher is must if you want to survive in the info business" Argo replies.
Asuna trades the 4 million gold, making Argo a very happy rat.
"Alright, down to business." Argo clears her throat. "I assume you girls know the initial reports?"
The 3 nods.
"That makes things easier. Well then…. Hmm… I guess I'll just drop the biggest bomb first. There was never a boss clearing party." Argo says, which was met by silence.
"err…. I don't get it. Care to elaborate?" Czarina says.
Argo takes a deep breath, then closes her eyes. A second later, she opens them, as if steeling her will for something.
The action confuses the trio.
"Here it goes" Argo says to herself, then she speaks to the 3. "The 49th boss was killed by one person."
Once again, silence. A few seconds later, Czarina speaks up.
"Argo, do you take us for a bunch of retards?!" Czarina rubs her forehead in annoyance. "Beating a boss in a one on one battle is impossible! Why do you think all the frontline guilds have meetings every now and then?!"
"Calm down Ciz-chan" Asuna raises her hand to stop the conversation. "Argo, I assume that you have proof of your claims?"
"Ofcourse, but I need you to answer a few questions to prove my claims. Is that alright, Asuna?"
Asuna nods.
"Alright. First question. Aren't you suppose to be part of the group that went up to open the teleporter?"
"Yes, but I had a prior engagement with Lisbeth and Czarina, so I passed." Asuna replies. "They should probably be there by now."
"I see, I see. So that means that, aside from the group that went on ahead, no one has ever set foot on the new town. Correct?"
Asuna nods.
"Well then, Asuna. I want you to ask someone from the advance group. WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE TOWN?" Argo says
Asuna nods and sends a PM. A second later, an answer arrives.
"They are still about 5 minutes away from town." Asuna reports
"Then we will wait." Argo replies. "Oh, by the way…. The name of the new town is ALGADE"
True enough, the answer came a few minutes later.
"No way…. " Asuna looks at Argo in disbelief." But how?"
"Nihihihi. How did I know? I have to tell you a short story if you don't mind"
The 3 gestures her to go on.
Argo begins her fairly short story.
Around 6 AM, she decided to mail all of her clients on the status of the jobs they hired her to do. One of them, she calls him client A, is residing at an unfamiliar town of ALGADE. Just to be sure, Argo researched all the names of the towns in all floors, yet none of them were named ALGADE. She also checked the locations of all of her frontline clients, only to find that all of them were still in MYUGEN of the 49th floor.
A theory assembles itself on her mind, but seeing how her theory needed an impossible feat to be performed, she decides to shelf it.
But then, there was the KOB scout report. And all the pieces fell into place
Massive PK party just to hunt one PKK down….
The 49th floor was beaten before the lead group could organize….
Client A is in a town that no one has been to….
There are only a handful of PKK's that could warrant a full PK hunt. Probably 3 at most.
There was also only 1 PKK present during the SOB's report.
Absurd as it may… Argo cant help but accept her theory.
Client A, a powerful PKK, was targeted by a 20 man PK party. But no matter how good he is, Client A cannot face 20 men and expect to win, thus he ran while taking a couple of them in the process. In a desperate attempt to escape, Client A entered the boss room. The PK's that chased him did not pursue, thinking that the boss will surely do him in. Thus the PK's left.
Argo assumed that Client A would rather face a boss on a 1 vs 1 battle, rather than take 20 at the same time. Though she was able to guess the WHY, the HOW escapes her.
"The guy does a lot of crazy stuff anyways, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has some tricks up his sleeve." Argo shrugs. "Wish he would tell me though…. But no amount of gold can tempt the bastard."
"That cant be…." Asuna replies in disbelief
"But it is Asuna. But it is. I don't care if you believe it or not, just remember that all of my evidences are out in the open. What you do with this info is up to you." Argo rises and heads for the exit.
"Before you go, can I ask something?" Czarina says.
Argo stops and turns. "Sure, go ahead."
"What is CLIENT A's name?"
Argo ponders for a bit, then replies.
"Well… that is part of the info you paid for…. Oh well." Argo shrugs. "You should know him Ciz. He used to be a part of your guild"
Czarina gasps in shock. "No way…."
"Who is it Ciz?" Lisbeth asks, but she gets nothing as Czarina is still at a state of shock.
Argo snickers, then answers Lisbeth.
"He is a former member of THE ARMY, and is the current holder of the highest PK count. He is THE MURDERER, Faux"
-:-
45th Floor
Jungle of the Apes
-:-
The air is shook asunder as steel is driven into another. Normally, such scenes involve a player blocking a blow from a powerful monster, but Czarina was never the one who would comply, especially if she didn't want to.
The GORILLA MYRMIDON desperately keeps its balance after taking Czarina's blow. Unfortunately for it, Czarina has always had an exceedingly violent disposition in battle. She twirls faster, returning the GRAY KNIGHT to 4' above the ground. The blade glows red, then a second later, it quickly accelerates into a horizontal slash
"HA!"
Czaria roars as she executes her favorite sword skill RAVAGING HORIZONTAL, catching the monster in the midsection. The monster was able to block the sword, but the sheer amounts of weight and power takes little notice of the attempt, cleaving the monster in half.
This is a testament to the monstrous of the ZWEIHANDER class weapons. Ofcourse, the IRL version of the ZWEIHANDER is not as exaggerated as the ones in SAO, but it does share the length of the IRL versions. Closer to a POLEARM type weapon, the ZWEIHANDER can no longer placed inside a sheath, thus must be carried over the shoulder.
Despite being readily available to everyone that raises 2 HANDED SWORDS to a certain level, it remains unpopular due to its insane weight, thus dubbed by most as an impractical weapon. Like the genius as she is, Czarina was able to create a fighting style based on using her body as a fulcrum and the centrifugal force generated by twirling, thus allowing her to use the impractical weapon with ease.
As the only user of the ZWEIHANDER, she fully aware of the 2 advantages of the weapon.
1st, it has every advantage of a 2 HAND SWORD, though everything is pushed to ridiculous extremes.
2nd, much to her surprise, the large width of the sword actually works well as a shield. By positioning herself sideways while staying behind the sword, the sword turns into a half foot thick armor plating.
Like what Czarina stated earlier, the ZWEIHANDER truly is the 2 HANDED SWORD's bigger, badder cousin with a prison record.
Suddenly, she felt a blow to her back, causing her to stumble a bit, but as expected of a wielder of heavy armor, the damage was measly 2%. Behind her, another GORILLA MYRMIDON readies to take another shot at her.
"Not on my watch!"
Czarina moves forward, escaping the blow with 1% damage. She keeps low and pulls her sword over her, making sure that its in an angle, which blocks a rising strike from the monster.
"Gotcha!"
She performs one of Faux's very subtle, yet very efficient OSS, SLOPING ARMOR. The idea is surprisingly simple. By tilting a solid surface about 45 degrees or so, an incoming projectile will be forced to go through significantly more material compared to when it is standing up right. But more importantly, there is a chance that the incoming strike will simply slide right off, which is exactly what is happening right now.
Instead of a loud crash, the GORILA's sword slides harmlessly against her GRAY KNIGHT, which also makes the monster lose its balance. Czarina swings her sword in a similar fashion to a shoulder throw, hurling the massive sword at the monkey's unprotected back, killing it without using sword skills.
"phew…. That takes care of the 23rd monkey…"
Near her current location, Asuna is finishing her 26th monkey with a blinding array of sword thrusts.
"Wow… she truly is THE FLASH"
Despite being friends, the two of them represents the opposite extremes of the SAO players.
The near pure AGI Asuna uses an overwhelming barrage of weak yet precise strikes to take down an opponent (NOTE: In Czarina's point of view, Asuna's strikes are very weak). For defense, Asuna uses her speed to dodge any incoming strikes, which makes up for her lack of armor.
On the other hand, Czarina sacrifices attack speed for massive burst damage. For defense, she wears the toughest and heaviest plate armors to increase her damage reduction. Aside from her lack of shield, her equipment is nearly similar to a tank.
"Nice work you two. We make a pretty good team don't we?" Lisbeth says happily, as she pokes out of the corner where she has been hiding.
"*sigh* Says the girl who did nothing" Czarina replies sarcasticly
"Now now, don't be like that Ciz" Asuna playfully tells her off. "She does do a good job repairing our equipment"
"Yeah yeah." Czarina replies. She turns to Lisbeth. "We're sacrificing a day on the frontlines just so we can LEECH you. You better be grateful"
Lisbeth kneels on one knee and replies.
"Oh humble and kind Czarina, I am forever grateful to have you as a friend" Lisbeth sarcastically replies
"… For some reason, you piss me off…."
The 3 laughs as they decided to return home.
Once a week, Czarina and Asuna leaves the front line to LEECH Lisbeth. LEECH is similar to POWER LEVELING, where the 2 stronger players help the weaker one level up. The main difference is that 2 stronger players will do all the work, while the weaker one hides and hope that she isn't targeted by the monsters.
As a support player, Lisbeth lacks many skills that are essential for her survival, hampering her leveling capabilities. Never the less, leveling up is required to unlock the all important skill slots, thus she has no choice to risk it. As good friends and regular customers of Lisbeth, the 2 frontliners help her in a regular basis.
The 45th floor is perfect for their LEECHING party because of 1 thing. There are places where the respawn rate is abnormally high, thus instead of hunting high exp yet dangerous mobs, they went for low exp yet very easy mobs. Indeed, their exp gained is slower than the front line, but it is a good way for Lisbeth to get high exp without getting killed.
"Killing a boss all by yourself? Just how far ahead are you, ani-sama?" Czarina contemplates as they trek back to town.
A few minutes later
"Hey… can you hear that?" Lisbeth suddenly says, bringing Czarina back to reality.
The trio stops. Czarina strains her ears and after a second of silence. An unnatural ratting echoes throughout the forest.
"Chains?" Asuna says
Indeed, the rattling is similar to fast moving chains. There was also the occasional THUMP, as if something heavy was hitting the ground at full force. In the silent yet vibrant forest, the rattling of chains changes the mood into one normally finds in horror films.
And worse yet…
"I-is it just me, or is the sound getting closer…" Lisbeth says with a hint of fear.
Czarina equips her GRAY KNIGHT. "Ladies…. Better get ready… just in case.."
The two does the same. They stand with their backs to each other, making sure that they have no blind spots. After a few seconds of intense silence….
Two young male voices are heard from where Lisbeth is facing. The 3 faces shifts to that direction with arms at the ready. They see 2 boys, aging somewhere between 11- 14, running towards them as if their lives depended on it.
They also notice one important thing, both are orange players. But that doesn't really register to the 3. What registers to them was the boys face….. it was the face of pure fear.
"HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE! SAVE ME!"
The 3 lowers their guard a bit, until one of the 2 suddenly trips. Due to the thick vegetation, the 3 couldn't see it, but something was latched to the boy's leg.
"He got me! Cyle help me! Please!" The child reaches out for help.
The boy named Cyle scrambles to grab his partners hand, but without warning, his partner was pulled from behind.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screams as he disappears from sight.
There was silence. A second later, the chains began to rattle once again.
"Hiiii!" Cyle turns and runs toward the 3 and hugs Lisbeth by waist. "Please! Save me! I'll never do it again! I don't want die!"
"W-wait calm down kid" Lisbeth replies.
The chains rattle louder as the source of the sound gets closer. The three positions themselves to defend the boy, vigilantly looking for any signs of movement in their surroundings.
The chains suddenly stops rattling, and an oppressive silence follows.
The boy couldn't take it anymore. He abandons the girls and runs for his life.
"I'm scared! This is scary! This isn't fun! I don't want this anymore!" He screams hysterically.
"Damn it! Get back here you brat! Its not safe!" Czarina yells as she tries to give chase. Unfortunately, the GRAY KNIGHT was weighing her down, thus she is unable to catch the boy.
The boy seemed to be a pure AGI type based on how the distance widened between them.
"Asuna!" Czarina yells in desperation.
"Got it!" Asuna shoots past Czarina and slowly reduces the gap.
But it was too late.
From above, a white hooded player lands violently on Cyle, taking 20% of the boys HP in the process. He pins the boy to the ground and draws his dagger.
"Please! I'm sorry! I wont PK ever again! I promise!" Cyle begs.
The hooded figure raises his dagger, and in an emotionless voice, he replies.
"Yeah…. I'm sure you wont"
He stabs the boy in the head, then he cuts the boy from head to groin. The girls can only watch in horror as the boy disintegrates into a blue flame. The person that killed the boy rises and faces them.
He took of his hood and non-chalantly greets them. "Good afternoon. Glad to see you again Czarina. Thank you for looking out for her, KOB's Asuna and…. Well I don't know you, but thanks anyways. She has a bit of a foul mouth but she's a good person on the inside. Please continue to keep her safe."
"Ah… You're welcome" Asuna bows." THAT'S NOT IT!"
"Whats not it?" The man replies.
"You…. Don't you know what you have done?"
"I just killed 2 PKers. What about it?"
"THEY WERE CHILDREN!"
The PKK looks at Asuna in confusion. "….. So?"
"They didn't know what they were doing! You could have just told them off!"
"Yeah….When I first met them, I thought that would work too. Unfortunately, I just caught them performing their 3rd PK." The PKK shrugs." No matter what, kids just don't listen. Its better to reprimand them in a kind and precise manner"
"KIND?! You just killed them outright!"
"Trust me… The other PKKs torture their prey before they kill them. Compared to that, I'm probably the kindest PKK you'll ever meet"
"That doesn't justify anything! Nothing justifies taking a life!" Asuna roars, but the PKK smiles softly.
"Crimes are punished, one way or another. It matters not ones age, gender, nationality or reason. One way or another, all will pay for their trespasses. No exemptions."
"Arent you a hypocite?" Asuna replies. "Arent you performing the same crimes as the ones you kill?"
But once again, PKK smiles softly." I don't like repeating myself"
"ENOUGH!" Czarina suddenly yells. She readies her sword. "I don't give a damn what your reasons are! As the head of the PK Suppression group, I place you under arrest Faux!"
Asuna's face drains of color. "THAT Faux?! The PKK with the highest kill kill count?!"
"Are you sure about that Czarina?" Faux replies. He sheaths his dagger and places his empty right behind his round shield."I assume that you heard about the 49th floor right?"
Czarina shifts her weight uncomfortably.
Faux laughs heartily. "Man… new sure travel fast.. I need to properly reprimand Argo later. Anyways, heres a question. How do you beat down a boss single handedly?"
A tense silence follows. Then Asuna breaks the silence.
"A unique skill?"
"Hehehe. Bingo" Faux replies, while shifting his shield." But ofcourse, theres also strategy, tactics and a hell lot of uncertain factors mixed in there, but a unique skill does help tip the balance a bit."
The Asuna and Czarina become increasingly nervous. It's a natural reaction, seeing how they are in a presence of a true monster.
"Well then, heres a another question." Faux continues. "Which is harder to beat, 1 floor boss or….3 ordinary players"
Bloodlust fills the air.
Czarina instantly feels like there is a blade touching her neck, ready to slice her open. Besides her, it seems Asuna is also experiencing the same thing.
Unable to move, the 2 can only maintain an uneasy standoff.
But then, Lisbeth speaks."What you said earlier…. About criminal paying for their crimes… about having no exemptions"
"Yeah? What about it?" Faux asks
"Does that mean, you're not exempted? You don't expect to live through SAO… don't you?" Lisbeth says
Faux is taken by surprise, but then he smiles amusingly.
"TELEPORT: ALGADE"
Faux disappears within the blue visuals.
The 3 stares at the place where Faux once stood.
.
.
.
"HE PLAYED US!" Czarina screams in frustration. "OF ALL THE UNDERHANDED TRICKS! WE HAD TO FALL FOR THAT ONE?!"
"hehehe. He was probably accessing his inventory when we were having that debate" Asuna replies. "Well, lets be glad that we didn't have to fight him. I doubt we could take him anyway."
After a few seconds of kicking the ground in frustration, Czarina calms down.
"I'm sure that he'll be at the 50th floor boss raid. I'll get him there."