Chapter 17

Author's Note: Before we start, I want to address how much this story has grown. It started out in late 2014, simply as an idea. I pitched it to everyone who knew I wrote FanFiction, and most of them told me that the base idea was kinda crap. But, I'd written worse (*cough* Ice in the Flames *cough*), so I went at it. And, at the beginning, it was pretty obvious that it was just a base concept. But, thanks to your support, and my genius, talent, and humility, it's grown into my favorite story to tell. Seriously, I have just this wall of Word documents on my desktop to work on, and this is always the one I open first. Also! We're almost to the depressing stuff I promised a few chapters ago! Oh, boy! Trust me, I want to get to the good stuff as much, if not more, than you do.

October 17th, 2024

"There you go, brave heroes," said the NPC mayor. I got a message that some Col had entered my inventory, but more importantly that my cursor had returned to its natural green color. I glanced over at Kirito, who was looking at a similar screen, minus the color change message. "Your records have been wiped clean."

"Thank you, sir," I responded, and left the room, Kirito trailing behind. "Glad that's finally over," I said as we left the house.

"Yeah," he replied. "Who would've thought that something as simple as changing a cursor would be so time-consuming?" He wasn't wrong.

The quest we'd been on for the past several days was titled "Diplomatic Immunity". It provided the quest bearer with a modest amount of Col, but the better selling point was that it changed any yellow cursor back to green. But since the entire clearing group was made up of people who didn't usually commit crimes, it was largely looked over. Thankfully, Kirito had taken note of it during my absence, and led me to it the day after I got out of that dungeon. It took 4 days, one of which we spent breaking out of an NPC prison, but it was finally done.

"Ready to head back?" I asked.

"Yeah, but the nearest teleport gate is in the next town." I groaned, but we both started walking towards the woods.

(X)

"So how are you and Asuna doing? Done any questing together lately?" I asked.

"Not really," he replied. "Lately, she's been really busy with Guild work."

"Ah, the joys of teamwork and bureaucracy. In that case, mind showing me the Floor 74 dungeons? No one else is going to give me map data." I replied.

"Yeah, sure. Don't have anything better to do."

A nearby bush rustled, and we both instantly reached for our weapons. I caught his attention, and brought a finger to my lips, silently shushing him. I gestured to our surroundings, he caught my message, and we both scanned for enemies. I caught a signal behind the bush, but the cursor indicated a monster, and a small one at that.

"Got any ranged weapons?" I hissed quietly.

"Some throwing picks," he replied.

"I'll scare it right, you take it out?" I replied. He nodded, and I drew my scythe.

I leapt at the bush, slamming my scythe onto the ground next to it. The monster let out a cry I'd never heard before, and dashed in the opposite direction. All I could see was a blur of fur, but Kirito's pick landed straight in its neck, draining its health before the monster even landed. The reward screen popped up in front of him, since he's the one who technically got the kill. I wandered over, to take a look. A few measly experience points, and 5 col, along with an item. "Ragout Rabbit's Meat". Kirito looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Dude, this is an S-class ingredient," he muttered.

My eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? Dude, that's some serious coin!"

He turned and looked at me like I just stabbed his grandma. "You're kidding, right? We've gotta cook this! You put points into cooking, right?"

"Only a few. Hell, I'd probably burn the thing faster than you would!" His face fell, and I patted his shoulder. "C'mon. We'll sell the thing, split the cash, and I'll buy you a meal. How's that?"

"Yeah, I guess…" he replied, and we kept walking.

(X)

We arrived in Algade, and navigated through the streets to a friend of Kirito's shop. A tall, dark-skinned, muscular man named Agil ran it. I'd seen him before during boss fights. He was a hell of a tank, but I never knew he ran a shop. I got the feeling he was about to comment on me, but he completely forgot about that when he saw what we were selling.

"Wh-Whoa! Isn't this an S-class rare item?! I've never even seen this before. You're not that hard up for cash, are you Kirito? Trying to sell it… Haven't you thought about eating it?" I rolled my eyes.

"Of course," he replied. "It's not something I'm likely to find again, after all."

"Then why…" he interrupted.

"The thing is, finding someone with a high enough cooking level is…difficult."

"If any of us tried to cook it, it'd burn to a crisp, and then where would we be?" I said.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, tapping Kirito's shoulder. His eyes widened, and we both turned to see Asuna and another guy standing behind us. His eyes widened even further, and he grabbed her outstretched hand. "I've got a chef," he said.

"W-What?" she stuttered.

The stranger narrowed his eyes, and Kirito released her hands, waving slightly to the guy. "Fancy seeing you here, Asuna," Kirito said. "I didn't expect you to come to a dump like this."

"It's almost time for the next boss raid, so I came to see if you were still alive," she replied moodily.

"I'm on your friends list, aren't I?" he said, confused.

"Well, now I know for sure," she said, turning up her nose. "Now that that's done, what's up? Did I hear you mention a chef?"

"Oh, yeah. What's your cooking skill level right now?"

She gave a sly smile. "I maxed it out last week," she replied. That took a moment to sink in.

Skills in SAO…let's just say they're a challenge to level. Most people were only just now maxing out their skill level with their main weapon. (Not to toot my own horn, but I did it a month ago. Toot. Toot.) So, to devote that much time and effort into something as next to useless as cooking…it's a bit of a waste. She took the shock the wrong way, however.

"Impressed?" she asked.

"In that case, I've got a favor to ask you." He opened his menu, showing her the Ragout Rabbit's meat. She was understandably startled.

"Th-This is… Rabout Rabbit!?"

"I've got a proposition. If you cook this for me, I'll let you have a bite." I let out a chuckle as she grabbed his shirt, having none of his shit.

"I want half."

"F-Fine," he stammered timidly. She stepped back and cheered. He turned back to Agil. "That being said, it's not for sale anymore."

It didn't take more than a second for the begging to start.

"We're friends, right?" he pleaded. "Right? You could give me a bite too-!"

"I'll write you an 800-word essay on how good it was," he called over his shoulder.

"Y-You've got to be kidding me!" he called. I gave him a shrug as the four of us left the shop.

I walked behind the pair, next to bodyguard boy, as Kirito and Asuna discussed logistics. "So, where are we going to cook it?" he asked.

"Your room doesn't have proper appliances or utensils, does it?" she asked.

"Umm…" he muttered.

"Just this once, in respect for the ingredients, I wouldn't mind inviting you to my house." She turned back to the bodyguard. "You're dismissed for today. Thank you."

"Asuna, I don't approve of you inviting such a suspicious man into your house." I gave him a sideways glance, like What the fuck, man?

She took it in stride, aside from rolling her eyes. "Suspicious or not, I know his skill. He's probably ten levels higher than you, Kuradeel."

"I'm inferior to this guy?" he muttered. "I see! He's the beater..." He looked to the side, like he just noticed I was there. "And that's the Reaper!"

"Oh, great, the fourth wheel comes back into play," I said jokingly.

"Asuna, guys like these only care about themselves! You're just asking for trouble by getting involved with him."

The crowd started to take notice. "Isn't she Asuna, 'The Flash'?" "Whoa, you're right." I nearly lost it when I heard mutterings of "She's cute."

"I said, you're dismissed for today," Asuna repeated. "That's an order from your vice-commander." She turned and walked off, tugging Kirito by his coat. He gave me a look that said Help¸ and I gave him a You're on your own wave, and walked back towards the teleport gate.

(X)

"Hey," said Liz as I walked in the door. "I was about to close up shop. Did you and Kirito finish that mission?"

"Yep. I'm all green again," I replied, unequipping my gear.

"Well, that's good. The yellow clashed with your outfit." I laughed.

"Oh, and you'll never guess who we ran into on the way back."

"Asuna?"

"How'd you do that?"

"She messaged me." She grabbed a sword off the wall and pointed it at me. "You killed a Ragout Rabbit, and didn't save any for us?"

"Technically, Kirito killed it," I said, raising my hands in defense. "Put the sword down, and we'll go out to eat tonight." She grinned, then put the blade back onto the wall.

"Oooh! We could grab some food from that place on floor 17, and meet up with Kirito and Asuna!" I could tell she wanted to help get them together, but she really wanted some of that Ragout Rabbit.

"No, we can't make it a double date when they don't even realize they're having a date. C'mon, Liz, keep up," I joked. She looked slightly dejected, but perked up when I added, "But we will go to that place on 17."

October 18th, 2024

I was waiting by the teleport gate for about 5 minutes before Kirito came out. I called him over and prepared to head off, when he said we were waiting for someone else.

"Someone else? Who's coming?"

"I'll tell, but only if you don't tell Liz."

"Oh, you have zero chance in that department."

"Fine…Asuna partied with me last night." I laughed, and shrugged my scythe into a better position on my shoulder as I took a few steps towards the exit of town. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I am NOT getting stuck as a third wheel on a date with you two."

"IT'S NOT A DATE!"

"Whatever you say, Casanova. Have fun on your not-date." I was about to leave, when, as if on cue, Asuna came tumbling out of the teleport gate.

She must have been going fast when she entered, because she landed on Kirito hard. He'd been walking after me when she came out, so he landed on his hip, the hilt of his sword hitting the ground with his shoulder. She landed a little above his hip, and rolled off as soon as she realized she'd hit the ground. They both stood up.

"Uh, good morning…?" he tried to greet her, and she rolled her eyes in response. But that all disappeared when the teleport gate activated again, and she scrambled behind him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

The person teleporting in was the bodyguard from yesterday, Keyball or something. He glanced around and quickly sighted her. "Why are you behaving like this, Lady Asuna? I'm only following orders. Let's go back to the guild headquarters."

She shouted back from behind Kirito. "No! And what were you doing lurking around my house so early?!" I took a few steps forward, becoming another layer between the two white-clad figures.

"I thought something like this might happen, so for the past month I've been carrying out my mission of observing you in Selmburg."

"Th-That's not an order from the guild commander, is it?"

"My mission is to guard you. Needless to say, that includes your home."

"No, it doesn't, you idiot!"

"I wish, you would be a little more understanding about this," he said, stepping down from the gate and walking towards us. "Now, let's go back to guild headquarters." I took a step to the side to open up a new angle of attack if Kirito didn't act in time, but the asshead took that to mean I was okay with him taking Asuna. He reached across, dragging her wrist, and started walking back towards the gate. I was about to kick out one of his knees, when Kirito grabbed his wrist.

I think it was the shock alone that stopped him from walking away, and he turned back, as if we were some annoying flies he had to swat. "Sorry," said Kirito. "But I'll be borrowing your second-in-command for the day. I'll take responsibility for her security. It's not like we're going on a boss raid today. You can go back to headquarters alone."

"Insolent punk! I am a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood-Oath! A low-level player like you couldn't possibly protect her!"

"I can do a better job of it than you," he retorted.

"Hell, a dumpster could handle the job better," I said.

"Lady Asuna, you aren't really going into the dungeon with these beaters, are you?" he asked, spitting out the insult like it pained him to speak it. She straightened her back.

"Of course I am, Kuradeel." He grimaced.

"Fine then. I am lodging a formal complaint against your judgement." Everyone tensed slightly.

In guilds, if one of the underlings disapproves of the way the leaders run the guild, they can challenge them. The winner gets their way, even if their plan is a suicide call, but that's usually circumvented by the other leaders. If the leader was being challenged for their position itself, the underling could even win their role in the guild. This can apply to boss battle strategies, or something as small as this. The only way to resolve them? A duel. It was one of the reasons it didn't happen all that often, as the leaders were almost always massively stronger than those they led, keeping the experienced in leadership. It'd led to a few coups over the two years we'd been in this game, and was one of the many reasons I didn't join a guild.

She simply opened her menu, issuing him the standard "First Strike" duel challenge. "I accept." Kuradeel tapped the accept option, and they both drew their weapons and assumed their positions. A crowd gathered around, but gave Kirito and I a wide berth. We both glanced at each other, smirked, and turned our attention back to the fight as the timer ticked down.

Kuradeel charged her with a blue sword skill, swinging his massive sword down at her. She dashed forward with a green sword skill, and I expected her to unload one of her famous 'flurry skills'. However, I saw a single stab from her rapier, and she landed behind him, unharmed. He tried to turn and slam his sword down at her, but as he raised it, cracks spread rapidly, branching from the ornamented hilt. It shattered before he even finished the hit. When the game registered that he no longer had a weapon equipped, it automatically named Asuna the winner.

She turned towards a shocked Kuradeel, sheathing her rapier. "You are hereby released of your duty as my bodyguard. You will report back to the guild-master, immediately. He and I will find a suitable punishment for you later." She turned towards us, and began to walk off.

He spun, equipping another sword and raising it high above his head. He swung down, but Kirito was there, blocking the strike, and I was behind him, sweeping his legs with my scythe. I slammed my scythe next to his neck, and he placed his blade against the opposite collarbone. "No, no," he said. "You see, you want a fair fight, you go to Asuna."

"You wanna fight dirty?" I asked. "Well, that's what we beaters do best."

(X)

The dungeon entrance was carved into a cliff face near the maze tower. I took the front position, which meant that I mopped up all the weaker monsters that appeared. It was easy work, and I needed the XP, but it also meant that I was feeling extremely bored. A skeleton or something showed up, and I took it down in a couple of strikes. No challenge. Kirito and Asuna took care of all the stronger stuff that spawned, but that meant they had one or two battles, max. They were long ones, but still. On the other hand, that gave them time to talk. Another skeleton spawned in front of us, and its lower level meant I was supposed to handle it. I slipped my scythe from its sheath with a groan. 'Matchmaking is hard work.'

(X)

Kirito and I were both engrossed in our menus when Asuna noticed the door. I was exchanging my boots for some ones from a monster drop, and Kirito was staring at the map, when she pointed forward.

"Look," she said. "Is that what I think it is?" I glanced up, then dismissed my menu.

We'd found the boss door.

It was a dark purple, ornately carved skulls and ghostly patterns dotting it. It was also massive, maybe 20 feet tall. All the boss doors were programmed to look this way, so it wasn't anything foreign. But facing it with so few people made it look bigger. More intimidating.

"What do we do?" Asuna asked.

"I think we should look inside," I said. "Not go inside, just look. Give the scouting parties some heads-up."

"We did come all this way," Kirito agreed. "Besides, bosses can't leave their rooms. We'll be fine as long as we stay out here."

Even though we knew the chances were low, we all materialized a teleportation crystal. Just in case.

We shoved open the doors, and stood back. We stared in. The darkness stared back.

Suddenly, blue flames lit up around the room, forming a circle around the boss. And…let's just say he was inventive.

It looked like someone had given a goat steroids and a massive sword. His legs were furry, and the light made it hard to tell whether they were black or blue. His skin, however, was definitely blue, and his neck and shoulders were ornamented with golden jewelry. His horns matched the color, curving above his head, and the red cursor displayed above his head showed 4 health bars and a name.

"The Gleam Eyes".

Those eyes shot open, it raised its massive sword, and charged.

We shot out of there like bullets, someone screaming all the way.

(X)

We sat next to a column, all breathing heavily. "We're gonna have a tough time beating that," said Asuna.

"Understatement," I replied. "That sword is massive, but it looks like the only weapon."

"That menas it probably has some special abilities," said Kirito.

"Shields in the front, and switch?" I suggested.

"At least ten shield bearers," Kirito said.

"Shield bearers, huh?" said Asuna.

I raised an eyebrow, and Kirito asked "Huh?"

"You're hiding something, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, it's strange. The best part about using one-handed swords is being able to use a shield, right? But you never use one. I mean, a shield would just slow me down, and Seth has to use both hands for his scythe. I've even heard that some people don't use them because they don't like the look. And you haven't been using the sword Liz made either. It's…" There was a moment of pause, before she relented. "Whatever. Asking about other people's skills is really rude." Kirito breathed a sigh of relief. "Anyway, it's gotten pretty late, so let's have lunch." She opened her menu and materialized a basket. "Sorry, Seth, but someone didn't tell me you'd be coming, so I didn't make anything for you."

I waved off her apology, pulling a cup of soup from my inventory, and began sipping.

"Y-You made it?!" Kirito asked hastily.

"Of course," she said. "Don't forget to take your gloves off before eating."

"Y-Yeah, sure."

"Here, help yourself," she said, handing him a sandwich. He took a bite, then grinned.

"Delicious!" He started tearing into it. "But seriously, what's this flavor?"

"It's the result of a year of training and experimentation," she said, opening a vast stream of memos. "I made all this by measuring the interactions between the hundred or so flavorings in Aincrad, and analyzing their effects on the taste simulation engine's parameters."

"So…basically, trial and error," I commented. She pulled a vial from her pouch.

"This is a mix of Grogwa Seed, Shubul Leaf, and Carim Water." She gave it to Kirito, who had a taste.

"It's mayonnaise," he said.

"And this one's Abilpa Bean, Sag Leaf, and Oorafish Bones."

He tasted it, then his eyes widened and he jolted back. "Th-That's soy sauce!"

She laughed at his reaction. "I'm surprised you didn't taste it in the sandwich."

"Amazing! If you sold this, you could make a fortune!"

"You think so?" she asked.

"Actually, never mind. I need this all to myself."

"I believe the saying is 'Think with your heart', not your stomach, Kirito," I said.

Asuna chuckled, and nudged his arm, dragging him out of whatever selfish trance he was in. "If you really like it that much, I could make it for you again." They grinned at each other, and it hit me, for the gagillionth time how awkward I was.

Like a saving angel, the sound of someone entering the safe zone from behind us rang out. I grabbed the pole of my scythe just in case, and turned to face the intruder. False alarm, though. All that appeared was a group of tired looking samurai, led by a familiar red-head.

"Oh, man, I'm beat," said Klein, not noticing any of us sitting there. "Let's take a break ove- Oh, if it isn't Kirito! It's been a while, man!" He walked over, leaving the rest of his guild over by the entrance.

"So you're still alive Klein?" asked Kirito.

"So you're still rude-." He cut off when he saw Asuna and I. "What's going on? What's a solo player like you doing with two-." I think it was here that he recognized Asuna, and his words began catching in his throat.

"You remember Klein, don't you Asuna?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, I believe he was the one making ass jokes before the Laughing Coffin raid," I said, finishing my soup as the cup lost its durability and shattered. "I'm sure she would've given a lecture on professionalism if we hadn't had murderers to arrest." Klein hadn't moved during all of this, and Kirito waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey, say something. Are you lagging?" he asked.

Suddenly, he slammed his left hand into his hip, reaching out to Asuna with his right. "G-G-Good afternoon! I-I'm Klein, 24 years old, single, and looking for a girlfr-." He was cut off when Kirito slammed his fist into his abdomen, knocking him to the floor.

"Leader!" shouted the rest of his guild, and I almost drew my scythe, before they just started crowding around Asuna. Autographs or some shit.

Kirito and I walked over to Klein, still on the floor. "Not bad, kid," I said, admiring his apparent trouble catching breath. "But next time, if you want them to stay down, hit the solar plexus," I said, tapping his stomach, just below the sternum. I then grabbed his left hand, and Kirito grabbed his right, and we hauled him to his feet. Kirito set to work getting Klein's guild members to back off, and I just sat back, amused.

"They're not really bad people, so apart from their leader's face…" he was telling Asuna before Klein stamped on Kirito's foot.

"Call it payback," said the taller one.

"Klein…" Kirito seethed.

"What did you say about my face? You little…" I was mildly worried that a fight was about to break out, when Asuna started laughing. They paused, turning into the group to have a hushed discussion, before Asuna cheerfully broke in from the back.

"Good afternoon. I'm just partying with him for a while. Nice to meet you again."

"Kirito, you little…!" Klein shouted.

"Wait, let me explain!"

The sound of more footsteps broke the conversation, and we all turned to face the entrance. A platoon of armed soldiers were marching in formation. Their identical black and green uniforms…the Army? What were they doing up here? They hadn't left the first floor in months. Hell, it'd almost been a year. I drew my scythe. The Army and I had a bad relationship. This might get ugly.

The leader turned back to his men once they were all in the safe zone. "At ease!" he called out. The soldiers crumpled, falling to their knees or sitting down immediately. The leader then approached us. "I am Lt. Colonel Kovats of the Aincrad Liberation Army."

"Kirito," Kirito replied. "Solo."

"Have you all already cleared the area ahead?" Kovats asked.

"Yeah, we've mapped up to the boss room."

"Which means you lot can run back home to base, and shout victory like always," I said. Kovats regarded me with a grimace (better than my usual treatment), and turned back to Kirito.

"In that case, I'd like you to provide us with that map data." I spun my scythe, knocking away his outstretched hand.

"If you think you assholes are just going to wander in, and wave those cardboard cutouts you call weapons at the boss until it shits itself, you've got another thing coming. Your men are outnumbered, outgunned, and inexperienced. So why don't you leave the real work to the big boys, huh?"

He glared at me. "We distribute information and resources equally to all players and maintain order amongst the people. We fight unceasingly to free all the players of this game as soon as possible!"

"If by 'free the people', you mean 'taxing level 1 players so you can sit on your ass and still buy gear,' then yeah!"

"It is your duty to cooperate with us!" he shouted back. I silently spun my scythe into position in case a fight broke out, and Asuna and Klein muttered a few choice words.

"Calm down," Kirito said, holding a hand in front of me. "We were planning to distribute the data for free once we got back to town. It's fine."

"That's too soft, kid," I said, turning my head to face him. "At least let these brats wait with the rest."

"If they feel prepared for the boss, who are we to stop them?" They traded the info, and Kovats turned his back.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"You're really not prepared for what's behind that door," I said.

"I will be the one to decide that."

"We took a look inside," Kirito said. "You'll need at least twice that number. And your warriors are exhausted!"

"My men are not so weak that they'd give up so readily!" Kovats shouted. "All of you! On your feet at once!" The men in question got slowly to their feet, readied their gear, and walked slowly deeper into the dungeon.

"Are they gonna be okay?" asked one of Klein's men.

"No. Regardless, they're gonna head straight to the boss," I said. "They're not the brightest, but they're certainly the most stubborn."

"Should we at least keep an eye on them?" asked Klein, facing Kirito. Kirito turned to me, raising his eyebrows, but I shrugged.

"Up to you, kid." He rolled his eyes and sighed, then started following the Army grunts. I sheathed my blade, and followed him. "Let's get moving, people!" I said, raising my voice to address the rest of them.

(X)

Further into the dungeon, Klein checked the map data that we'd now shared with him.

"There isn't anything ahead except the boss, right? Maybe they went back using teleport crystals?" asked Klein.

Just then, we heard the boss roar again, and Kirito, Asuna and I dashed forward. Klein had to reorganize his guild, so they lagged behind. It didn't take long to reach the boss room, the door wide open. The scene…

The boss had its back to us, and the Army's numbers had been halved. The boss swung its massive sword, knocking a whole section of them off their feet.

"What are you doing?! Use your teleport crystals already!" shouted Kirito.

"We can't!" one of the remaining men responded. "The crystals won't work!"

"None of the other boss rooms ever trapped players like that…"

We were torn out of that particular contemplation when Kovats' voice rose over the din. "Those of us in the Liberation Army shall never retreat! Fight! With all your might!"

"That fucking idiot…" I muttered. I heard Klein running up behind us.

"Hey, what's happening?" He finally saw inside, and gasped.

"It's a null crystal zone," Kirito said. "If we get in there, they might be able to escape, but…"

"Isn't there something they can do?" asked Klein.

Kirito gritted his teeth, as Kovats shouted again. "All of you! Charge!" The platoon obeyed the order, and surged forward.

"Stop!" shouted Kirito. The boss slammed his sword down with an orange sword skill, scattering the Army forces. One was knocked up into the air, and the boss sliced at it. They were knocked back towards us, and skidded to a stop in front of the exit. The red banner on his arm identified him as Kovats. Kirito ran up to help, but Kovats' helmet lost its durability, revealing his terror-filled eyes. Just before his whole body shattered.

The boss raised its massive sword again, and prepared to slam down. Suddenly, Asuna was charging the boss.

"Asuna!" shouted Kirito, drawing his blade and following.

"Oh, fuck me," I said, drawing my scythe. "Klein! You and your guild get the Army out!" Then I charged forward, activating Disguise.

With the new height, I reached the boss in a couple of strides, just as Asuna unleashed a flurry of stabs on the boss' upper back. I slashed at its thighs, and blocked the strike it'd aimed at the both of us. The force of it drove me back, however, leaving Asuna unprepared for the follow-up punch.

She was launched back, and the boss tried to follow up with a slam, but Kirito was there, shifting the force of the attack. "Switch!" he shouted, and Asuna got the message, getting out of the attack range to aid Klein. The boss noticed its prey escaping, and prepared to attack, but was interrupted by two strikes. One at its neck, the other at its waist.

The boss turned, slamming it's blade down towards me. I raised my scythe to block it, and shifted it to the right, pulling it off balance. Kirito took advantage, jumping in and slashing at its stomach. It pulled its sword out of the ground, landing a strike on my leg, and I stepped back. Just that one strike had decimated my health. (Just to alleviate confusion, the textbook definition of decimate is to destroy by a factor of ten. The fact that decimate was the most convenient was of conveying that, but that most people don't know the real definition is purely coincidental. Learn something new every day.) At this rate we'd be dead in no time.

Kirito had blocked a slam, but was trapped under the weight. I used the leverage of my pole to throw the weight off him, and we both spun, slicing at the boss. The boss readjusted, slamming his sword down again, forcing us to dodge back. The boss aimed another stab at Kirito, which he deflected.

"Guys! Keep it occupied for just a few seconds!"

I dove forward, spinning my blade across its back. It tried to slash at me, but I blocked the strike, driving it back slightly. I took advantage, spinning again, and dropping the blade to pull its foot out from under it. It fell to the ground, and I tried to pounce on it, but its foot rose up into my chest, driving me back. It sprung to its feet, stabbing at me with its massive blade. I dodged right, driving my shoulder into its back, but it didn't do much good. It knocked me aside with a swipe, just as Kirito's shout rang out. "All right! I'm good!"

Asuna had leapt in to deflect a follow-up strike to me, and dodged back when he said "Switch!"

The boss slammed his sword down, and Kirito leapt in, keeping the giant sword at bay with the sword in his right hand. With his left, he reached back, dragging a second sword from its sheath as it materialized. He stabbed up, driving the boss' head back. The boss recovered, slamming the sword down again, and he blocked by putting his swords in an 'X', before forcing it back. His swords both glowed blue as he activated a sword skill, his blades little more than blurs as they opened up cut after cut.

I'd recovered by then, leaping at its rear. I activated sword skill after sword skill, recovering from one guided position just in time to let the system take hold again. It all felt like a dance after a bit. Kirito would force the boss back with a slice to the stomach, I'd send it reeling from a spinning blade at the upper back. The boss would try to focus on me, and Kirito would tear up its feet. It'd try to spin, driving its blade at Kirito, just for him to block it, and for me to attack from the other side.

I'd never felt more in sync, more fluid, or more shit-scared in my life.

I didn't even have time to question how Kirito had two swords.

I didn't notice whether or not the Army was clear.

I didn't care if I died in that battle.

I was just fighting, with every fiber in me.

After a while, Kirito tried to stab at its arm, and it grabbed the blade. I tried a flurry of attacks, attempting to get it to focus back on me, but it seemed determined to take him out. It stabbed down, and he managed to move not only to the side, but in, and stabbed deep into its leg.

It froze.

And then mercifully shattered.

Author's Note: Alright boys and girls, I'm gonna end it there because we all know what happens next. And if you don't, seriously, what are you doing here? You're looking for canon in FanFiction? WTF? Also, I'm extremely sorry this chapter took so long. I've no excuse this time, no trick up my sleeve. What am I saying? I don't have sleeves, I'm wearing a T-Shirt. Nevermind. Anyway, I'm going to try to get back onto my old 'Chapter a month' schedule, but I'm hesitant to make any promises.