Ch4: Confrontation

*Que nervous laughing*

Heh, hah ha… Well, this has been a long time, eh? I don't really have an excuse, but the first part of this chapter was a pain to write, and the second took about a hundredfold longer to write as well… Um, ah, REVIEWS!

Only a Guest: Thank you for those kind words, and the comment on the pacing. It gave me a jolt and made me realise how badly I had actually done it. If it doesn't bother you to much, I will try do better from now on.

Not a Pineapple: The reason they went polygonal is because they are not actually on the ALO server anymore, so they cannot revive there, and respawn in Alné, at the base of the world tree.

Td03: Uh, thanks, I really am sorry for the wait… Please forgive me!

Invisible Target: Can't tell you yet :)… Or, I can, but it would ruin stuff… Never mind.

Vault 166: Oh, you WILL find out…

Kirinthor: My thoughts exactly.

AbyssAlyss1: I have no intention of giving up on the story. Thanks for those kind words!

furrballnerd: *bows* Thank you very much, I personally enjoyed writing both aspects, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as in this and the next I hope to further both of the two.

Have a nice, albeit long awaited, read!

Fundindar

The roars of dying monsters filled the hall.

Asuna, Cline, Leafa and Sinon were working to clear the current hall of the Black Shadow Dungeon. The monsters in this hall were only more of the low level canon fodder mobs, the Corrupted Skeleton. While they didn't have very high stats, they swarmed the players, attempting to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. The front liners worked in sync, Asuna and Cline at the front, as the most experienced players in the group. Sinon was set up at the back of the hall on her bipod, picking off the skeletons that managed to flank the group. When the hall was finally cleared, the party regrouped.

"I've had just about enough corrupted skeletons for a year. Seriously, can't the devs be more imaginative?" Griped Cline, panting. The rest of the group silently agreed with him, for the last three rooms there had been no enemies but the weak undead mob, and it was starting to get old and tiresome.

"Well, the only thing we can do is push on." Asuna replied standing up and sheathing her rapier. "Everyone ready? Let's move." There were grunts and complaints, but the group stood and began marching to the double doors at the end of the hall. When they reached the doors, Leafa leant forwards and touched the door lightly. It ground open outwards. Just as they were about to step in, a timer appeared above their heads.

3…

2…

1…

RUN

The doors slammed shut, then they disappeared, and monsters started to flow out of the space where they were. Instead of the slow Corrupted Skeletons, the clearer group was being chased by Chaos Hounds, black, massive armoured skeletal dogs, that howled and charged.

"Everybody RUN!" Asuna shouted pushing her friends forwards. Cline was in the lead, his lightweight armour and weapon allowing him a agility bonus. Asuna was the fastest of the group, but was practically dragging the heavy weapon laden Sinon. The small girl was barely staying on her feet, stumbling along after the rapier wielding girl.

"Quick, they're catching up!" Cline shouted, glancing over his shoulder. Asuna couldn't see Leafa. Suddenly, she heard strange words from above her.

"{Shmwalek, vraithra, inidrascil!}"

Asuna looked towards the speech and saw Leafa hovering about three metres off the ground with her hand outstretched and strange words floating around her. With the final syllable, a ball of green energy shot from her palm and rocketed into the hoard of hounds. There was a explosion and a shockwave that blew Sinon and Asuna forwards a couple metres.

"It's no use! We can't get away!"

"There isn't a chance we could face that many speed class!" Asuna shot back.

"You all run! I'll keep them off you!" Leafa shouted, already starting another spell sequence.

"{Shmadelli requié allō!}"

The ball of energy this time smashed into the ground behind them, creating a pool of green energy that spread out slowly. Several of the hounds stepped in it and immediately shied back, their bodies slowly disintegrating. The rest cleared it in a single jump. Asuna turned right ahead and activated the sprint skill, it had a large cooldown, and you couldn't turn or dodge, but with her back covered, it was imperative. With the whoosh of speed Sinon was swept off her feet, barely holding on to Asuna's hand as they sped through the room. At the end of the room, she could see Cline turn around and put his hands to his mouth.

"Come on! Just a bit more!" Asuna gritted her teeth and willed the system to let her move faster. With intense mental concentration her vision tunnelled and wind whipped past her face, her hair blowing back like a cape in the wind. She cannoned into Cline hard enough to take a quarter of his Hit Points, the three of them all tumbled down in a sprawl of limbs and weapons. With much pushing and shoving Asuna, Cline and Sinon rose to their feet, to watch as the Chaos Hounds continued to run at full pace towards them. Sinon stepped back slightly, but otherwise they didn't move.

The nearest hound seemed to hit an invisible wall, and it crumbled at the high speed collision, smashing to polygons. The rest of the pack continued to run into the wall, smashing to bits mindlessly.

"This is why I hate the devs of this game. Such thoughtless death." Leafa mumbled, Asuna silently agreeing with her.

"Well, shall we move on?" It wasn't really a question, and didn't need to be asked, but Cline spouted it anyway. Asuna nodded and turned towards the door. She walked forwards and pushed it slightly, causing the doors to swing smoothly open.

For once, the hall was revealed to have not a single enemy.

"Mama, be careful, there is a miniboss here." Yui pipped up from one of Asuna's pockets.

Asuna gulped and started walking into the room, her instincts screaming that it was a trap. The rest of the party shuffled in after her with their weapons drawn, sensing her nervousness. When they were all in, the doors closed with a resounding bang. The group didn't flinch. Eventually, shadows from the walls started to be drawn to the centre of the room, condensing into a point of darkness about a metre off the ground.

The ball grew from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a softball and kept going, until it exploded, black, viscous liquid slapping into the ground all around it. Where the shadows were was a ball of black smoke, and as the party watched the smoke dispersed until a creature in the foetal position was only hovering there. With a wet splat it fell to the ground and unfurled. What was lying there slowly stood on its hind legs, membrane like wings extending from shoulders, where a smaller pair of legs extended. A long reptilian body with a thick, long tail, all varying shades of black and grey stood up, its beady black eyes locked on the party, who still hadn't moved.

A curser and three health bars appeared above its head.

{Draconic Chaos Spawn}

It's mouth opened and it let loose a horrifying scream-like screech (A/N: Ringwraith Scream), extending its wings and reared back its head.

"Scatter!" Asuna yelled, dashing off to the right. And not a moment to soon, as the miniature dragon thrust it's head forwards and belched a beam of black fire that seemed to radiate dark energy. It smashed into the back wall, missing the players. "Sinon! Get away from it and set up at the back of the room! Leafa, get over its head, keep it distracted, Cline and myself will attack it's belly!" The group hastened to follow Asuna's commands.

Leafa hovered above it, swooping down and slashing every now and again, while Asuna and Cline danced around its legs, attacking when they could, but mostly evading the flailing of the dragon's limbs. Eventually, they took it down to the red zone of the last health bar.

The dragon swept its wings around it, creating a wind that blew away the nearby players. It began glowing purple and growing, flames flaring up around it every now and again. It roared.

Suddenly the dragon's head exploded in a cloud of flames and smoke. The roar of the Hécate joined that of the dragon, and the final health of the miniboss disappeared. Asuna sighed in relief. They regrouped in the middle, Cline was ecstatic.

"That was amazing! We should have tried that tactic in SAO! Why wait for the boss to transform, just finish it off with a crit!" Asuna let a smile break her face, and joined in rejoicing with the rest of the party. Finally, they turned to the next doorway. It was much larger and more ornate than that of the previous ones, and seemed to emit a aura of ominous power.

Asuna gulped and walked forwards until she reached it.

"I know this door." Cline stated quietly, staring at the depiction of dragons fighting that adorned the portal. "This was the one on MMO Stream earlier today… This is Kirito's door."

The silence that greeted those words was crushing.

No one moved.

Leafa finally shifted, walking towards the ominous portal. She placed her hand lightly on it, before slowly pushing. The massive black plates swung inwards silently, revealing the pitch black darkness that lay beyond. Cline looked at Asuna, as if looking for permission. She gulped, drew her rapier, and walked in, the party following. Once they had all crossed the threshold, they stopped, the tension seemed so tight it may snap at any moment.

The boss sequence began.

Keku Focus

Keku was sitting on the ground behind the throne, eyes closed, back resting against the sharp spiked crystals that adorned it, which were also digging into his back, causing pain to shoot through his body.

He didn't care.

He didn't even notice.

Nothing was like the pain that person had caused him.

He was jumpy, and sleep deprived, and desperately wanted something to ease his suffering. He was craving release, but he couldn't damage himself. His defense stat was to high to take fall damage, his shadow magic couldn't be used on himself, and his swords… His swords sent more pain through his body than he had ever before thought, and even then, they reduced his health by so little, it wasn't worth it. It was to painful a way to go.

Keku stood, in one of his rare moments of sanity, put his thumb and forefinger together. He held it in front of him, and hesitated. He brought the hand down, silently praying. Nothing happened. He lifted his other hand, and copied the motion. The soft sound of bells ringing greeted his ears, and a status window spawned.

He glanced down the stats and saw that each of his limbs, as well has his torso and head, had a health bar. He continued to look down and saw a skill list, which included one-handed and two-handed long swords, and the sub heading, Chaos Magic.

Before he could look further, the small jingling sound he had been craving sounded. He closed the window quickly and vaulted over his black crystal throne, which had begun to glow purple light. He squinted at the faerie group, and sighed. The gun wielding soldiers and the dragon riding cavalry were more fun to kill, as they were less accustomed to the piercing of swords and spears. The light flashed once, then twice, then in a crescendo until it lit the entire hall. He stood in front of his throne and slid his blades from their scabbards, before launching himself the length of the room, readying himself for the inevitable blood bath.

Asuna…

He realised it halfway to the group, and abruptly stopped, his clothes billowing around his small frame from the wind he had created in his jump/run. He stood stock still in the middle of the hall, before reeling back, a horrified look on his face. He retreated slightly, before staring at the group again.

"Ki… Kirito?"

Keku started hyperventilating. She was here.

She…

…Asuna…

He fell to one knee, head almost touching the ground, a scream building in his throat, swords abandoned on the ground next to him. Hesitant footsteps echoed through the hall.

"Kazuto?"

That acursed voice again, Keku just wanted to stop it. He hated it.

He hated it.

HE HATED IT

"STOP!" He screamed, snatching his swords from the ground and charging forwards again, murderous intent flooding the room. "STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP!"

Next Chapter: Chaos Magic

In the next chapter you have to look forwards to: Big reveals! And some other stuff! Including the big boss battle!

In case anyone was wondering, this is not the second last chapter. I have ideas yet!

Amendment; this story may continue on for several arcs. One more at least.

Fundindar