I do not own Sword Art Online or any of the characters.
Range
Michael ducked under the spear and slashed at the creature again, missing horribly. It was too quick for him to hit with his sword. As had been true for most of the creatures in the dungeon. Finally, the creature stopped, raising its sword and an arrow hit it between the eyes, killing it. Michael stood, looking to Sinon who smiled.
"Come on," Michael grumbled.
They were trying to get Sinon her legendary bow since they had nothing better to do, but so far Michael had done little but get his rear handed to him. Finally they reached a massive chasm that couldn't be crossed. Michael looked to the far side, roughly a hundred meters away where there was a pull switch.
"All you, again," Michael stated.
"Oh don't be mad," Sinon smiled, pulling her arrow back and saying a spell. "This is an archer dungeon after all."
She released the arrow and it streaked through the air, hitting the switch which she used the spell to pull. A set of stairs appeared across the chasm and they began to walk, crossing the chasm quickly and finding themselves at a fork. To one side was a room filled with bows. The other side had statues lining the walls. Michael could easily imagine the statues coming to life and attacking them. Apparently, so could Sinon because she had an arrow aimed at the statues instantly.
Michael began down the path and Sinon followed. Sure enough, the moment they reached the first set of statues, the one to Michael's left stepped forward, raising its sword and slashing at him. Michael blocked thensword, shoving it away then slashing it across the chest, killing it. Then, he ducked as a morning star passed over his head from behind. He spun, sidestepping the thing again before an arrow hit the statue in the side of the head, exploding. Michael sighed and they began down the path again. This time, when the statues came to life, Sinon and Michael began to run. The statues began to flood after them, well over a hundred in total.
After a minute, they stopped as they reached the massive door that could only belong to the boss. They stopped, turning and Sinon spotted a switch a ways back. She pulled an arrow back, firing. The arrow hit the switch and the passage collapsed, crushing all of the statues except one, which Michael killed.
"Well, at least we're almost done with this place," Michael sighed turning to the door. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Sinon nodded.
Michael pushed the door open, walking into the room with Sinon following, an arrow already in place. Michaem began to walk further into the room but stopped when a glowing arrow like those fired by Yggdrasil's guardians stuck into the ground between his feet. Michael looked up and saw a person standing on thenopposite side of the room. He had dark grey skin, black hair in a long braid, black armor, a brown quiver level with his right shoulder, and a glowing golden recurve bow.
"Is that your bow?" Michael asked.
"Yes," Sinon nodded as the door closed behind them. "Apparently, if we beat him we get it."
"I can't reach him while he's up there," Michael stated. "I'll pull a Kirito and block the arrows with my sword."
"Can you?" Sinon asked.
"We'll find out," Michael smirked.
He raised his sword as Sinon drew back her arrow.
"Why do you come here?" The person asked.
"For that bow," Michael stated.
"Then come and claim it," the person invited, three health bars appearing.
The person fired three arrows faster than Michael could even realize he drew them. Michael moved to block the three but all three changed course at the last second, flying outward and hitting three switches. Michael blinked as the ground began to rumble.
"What is..." he looked around as the edges of the floor began to crumble, leaving them on.a circular platform with a raised walkway around it where the boss was.
Sinon fired at the boss and the boss spun his bow, the arrow shattering on it before the boss fired one of his own. Michael slashed the arrow, redirecting it into the floor then grinned. Sinnon fired three explosive arrows at once and the boss tried to block them only for them to blast him into the wall, taking a fifth of one health bar. The boss dusted himself off and sprinted around the path, soon becoming a blur. Michael groaned as arrows began to fly at them from all sides, seemingly at random. He began to dart around, slashing the arrows out of the air as Sinon pulled another arrow back, chanting a spell. She fired and amichael recognized the same rope spell she had used to retrieve Excaliber.
The arrow hit the wall and the boss hit it, flipping through the air and then crashing into the wall, rolling along it before slamming into the ground and stopping. Before he could stand, Sinnon fired a single arrow at him. When it hit, a massive dome kf wind appeared around him, wind scythes flying around inside, blasting the boss from all sides. Finally it faded and the boss stood, down to the second bar. He leapt off ot the walkway, landing on the cnter platform and sprinted forward. Michael laughed and rushed to meet him.
When he reached the boss, he slashed at him and the boss spun around him. Michael spun the other way, stabbing at the boss but the boss trapped the sword in the bow then spun it, flipping Michael into the air and throwing him. Michael landed on his feet, spinning and charging the boss again. The boss deflected a slash with his bow them slammed the bow into Michael's stomach before spinning, smashing the other end into his head, dropping him to the ground. Michael rolled out of the way of the boss's foot and flipped to his feet, activating an ability and ldunging at the boss, stabbing at him the boss trapped the sword again then pivoted, sending Michael flying one way and the sword the other.
Sinon fired an arrow at the boss and he dodged it, sprinting at her. At the last second, a fireball hit him in the side of the head, exploding and launching him away from Sinon. Michael sighed, lowering his arm as the boss kicked Michael's sword to him then sprinted at him. Michael met his charge, ducking under the bow only for the boss's free hand to drive a knife up at him. Michael blocked the knife with his sword and headbutted the boss, forcing him back. Then, he activated his OSS before the boss could recover. Three slashes tore through the boss before the boss's knife blocked the sword and the bow slammed into the side of Michael's head, flipping hdim aside just as an explosive arrow hit the boss in the ches, launching him to the edge of the central platform and depleting his second health bar.
Michael stood, cracking his neck and raising his sword. The boss charged and Michael moved to meet him. As they neared each other, the boss drew and fired an arrow. Michael blocked it as the boss cartwheeled around Michael, another arrow hitting him in the back and exploding. Michael flipped and spun through the air and Sinon began to rapid-fire arrows at the boss. The boss easily evaded them all, getting in close to Sinon and smashing her across the stomach with his bow. The impact lifted her into the air and th boss flipped, kicking her away. Then, he spun, leaning backward under a slash from Michael while shooting him at point blank range with an ice arrow. A mass of ice exploded out of Michael's back and shattered, launching Michael backward. He landed on his feet and deflected two arrows before spinning and ducking under a third, holding his sword out and rocketting forward.
His sword tore through the boss's side, splitting it open before Sinon's ice arrow hit him. The boss didn't go flying like Michael but he did stagger backward. When he did, Michael met him with his OSS, the blade tearing through the boss again and again. Then, suddenly, the boss spun, knocking the sword aside and smashing the bow into Michael's head. Before Michael even had time to move, the other end smashed into the other side of Michael's head and Michael spun, dropping to the ground. He rolled over to find the boss holding an arrow less than an inch above his eye.
"Oh boy," Michael groaned.
Before the boss could fire, Sinon's bow slammed into the boss's arm, knockingthe bow sideways and making the arrow stick into the ground before Sinon's bow smashed into the boss's face, knocking him backward. Then, Sinon fired an arrow and the impact point shone blindingly bright fo a moment before the light faded and the boss shattered. Michael groaned, puahing himself up as Sinon went into her inve tory and equipped her new legendary bow. She looked over at Michael and he smirked.
"Alright," Michael sighed. "Let me have it."
She smirked and sent him her old bow and he grinned.
"Thank God it's not a sniper rifle," Michael grinned.
Sinon laughed and nodded before they turned toward the door, which was still locked.
"So, how do we get out of here?" Michael asked.
Sinon looked around then up and grinned. He looked up and saw a ladder held in place by a rope that obviously had to be shot. The problem was that the rope was a hundred meters away and Sinon was leaning on her new bow watching Michael.
"Ugh, fine," Michael sighed, equipping his new bow and quiver, pulling an arrow back and aiming.
He released the arrow and it stuck into the ceiling beside the rope, having missed by an inch. Sinon laughed and pulled her bow back, a glowing arrow simply forming where she would usually have one. She let go and it hit the rope perfectly, severing it and dropping the ladder to the ground.
"You're a good shot," Sinon smiled. "Most people wouldn't even come that close their first shot."
Michael rolled his eyes and began to climb the ladder, slinging the bow across his back. When they reached the top, he reequipped his sword and helped Sinon up then looked around.
"So, now what?" Michael asked.
"Wanna help Klein get his sword?" Sinon asked.
"Yeah sure," Michael smirked. "I always did prefer the heat."
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