Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, nor do I own the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Chapter 9: The Clash Begins
The day of the Clash of Queens tournament arrived, and practically every player in ALO logged into the game so that they could watch the battles that were about to take place. Meanwhile, all those who were actually participating in the tournament had begun to gather at the city at the base of the World Tree. It was only a few minutes before the official start of the tournament when Asuna arrived with Silica at the place that was to be the starting point of the tournament, a small stadium on the outer edge of the city that was made of some kind of blue crystal. Only a second after Silica and Asuna arrived, they saw Leafa land on the ground right next to them.
"Hi Leafa!" Asuna spoke, getting the blonde's attention.
"Oh! Hi Asuna, Silica." A somewhat surprised Leafa responded. "Uh, good luck in the tournament."
"Yeah. You too." Asuna replied. "You know, Kirito and I were pretty surprised when we found out that you were a participant. I didn't even know you had entered."
"That makes two of us." A familiar voice interrupted. Asuna and the others looked to see Sinon approaching them with her mask on. "I knew Asuna was trying to get into the tournament, but I didn't expect you to enter, Leafa. Or you, Silica."
"Well what about you Sinon?" Leafa asked. "What's your reason for entering the tournament?"
"It just seemed like it might be a blast." Sinon answered. "An actual fight is a little better than hunting them down. By the way, I think I saw Liz go into the stadium just a minute ago. We should probably join her, huh?"
"Well, well. So you actually managed to make the cut, eh Asuna?" a familiar voice spoke. Asuna and the others turned around and saw Nytokris approaching them. "I guess miracles really do happen sometimes."
"It was more than a miracle that I got into this tournament, Nytokris!" Asuna told her. "In case you didn't notice, I made the number-two spot on the list of participants."
"Did you now? I guess I didn't notice." Nytokris replied with a rather bored expression. "I mean when I saw my name at the top of the list, I didn't bother to see who else made the cut. I will say though that there does seem to be some pretty good competition here. We have Sinon the Phantom Arrow, and my dear Leafa. How have you been since our last encounter?"
"Leafa, you know this… this woman?" a stunned Asuna asked.
"We went on a little quest together just a couple of days ago against one of the Great Old Ones." Nytokris revealed. "I'm a little surprised she never mentioned it to you. I guess this just means she's not as good a friend as you thought she was."
"That quest I went on with you was a mistake!" Leafa declared. "I mean what the hell was with that little 'after party' of yours?"
"It's truly a shame that you didn't stay for that, Leafa." Nytokris told her as she moved in and suddenly took hold of the blonde's chin. "I know that if you'd have just loosened up, you and I would've had an amazing time."
"I don't go in for that sort of thing!" Leafa told her as she pushed the silver-haired imp away. "Now get lost!"
Nytokris simply shrugged. "It seems like everyone's a bit touchy today. I guess we'll all just have to settle whatever little differences we have with each other in the ring. Later."
With that, Nytokris calmly walked off towards the stadium.
"That Nytokris woman really is bad news." Silica remarked.
"She seems kinda familiar somehow." Sinon noted.
"You've met her before too?" a surprised Asuna asked.
"Not in this game, but somewhere else." Sinon answered. "Maybe I met her once back in GGO. It's really impossible to tell."
"Well… whatever." Asuna replied. "Let's just get to the stadium."
Asuna and Silica immediately headed for the crystal building. Just as Sinon began to follow them, Leafa suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Sinon, there's something I think I should tell you about Nytokris." Leafa informed her. "Something big."
"What is it?" Sinon asked.
"Well you know how you said Nytokris seemed familiar to you just now?" Leafa began. "I think that's because she's actually your friend, Nakuru."
"Nakuru?" Sinon repeated with a quirked brow. "…Now that you mention it, they do seem to have the same voice."
"It's not just the voice." Leafa told her. "You remember when I met you and Nakuru IRL and she said that thing about how there's no point in living if you don't loosen up now and then? Well Nytokris said the exact same thing to me at the end of that quest we were on together!"
"Nakuru's used that line with me too." Sinon recalled. "Huh… maybe it is her then. It's kinda funny, since Nakuru never mentioned to me that she played VRMMOs. In fact when I mentioned that I played, she told me that it wasn't really her thing. I guess she could've changed her mind about them though."
"Yeah, well… if she did, I think you should know that she's into some pretty weird stuff in this game." Leafa declared. "You remember me mentioning an 'after party' that happened at the end of that quest Nytokris and I went on together, right? Well that party was an orgy!"
"Seriously?" a stunned Sinon asked.
"Yeah! I got the hell out of there as soon as it started, but before I left I saw Nytokris getting it on with these two other girls!" Leafa revealed. "And this one guy I met on the raid was going over to join them as I left. Maybe I'm wrong about your friend being Nytokris, but if I'm right, then your friend is pretty twisted."
"…You know, I almost bought this idea that Nakuru was Nytokris until you told me about this crap." Sinon told her. "I don't know what kind of person you think Nakuru is, but I know for a fact that she'd never take part in any kind of orgy. You obviously have no clue what you're talking about."
"Look! Maybe I am wrong, but then again maybe I'm not!" Leafa told her. "You know how some people take on different personalities when they're online. The Nakuru you know IRL could be a completely different person in this game!"
"Not that different!" Sinon argued, losing a bit of her normal composure. "Now unless you want me to just forget about the tournament and finish you off when a few arrows right here, you better just shut the hell up about this."
With that, Sinon turned on her heel and went off towards the stadium. Leafa let out a heavy sigh and followed after her. In moments the two had entered the crystal stadium and found Asuna and Silica a few feet from the main door. They also spotted Lisbeth in a corner of the large room by herself. All away across the large chamber, Asuna and the others spotted a couple of other very familiar faces talking to each other.
One of the two people in question was a tall young-looking woman with long straight dark hair, wearing a green and white kimono-like dress that showed off her ample cleavage. This woman was Sakuya, the current leader of the sylphs. The other person was a short girl with bronze skin and curly blonde hair with a pair of cat-like ears. This second girl was Alicia Rue, the current leader of the cait siths.
"Looks like all the competitors are here." Asuna observed.
"About time you showed up, Sinon!" a voice suddenly spoke.
Asuna and the others looked, and approaching them was a young woman who appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen and had a fairly impressive bust. She had long dark-purple hair that grew down to her waist and covered her right eye. The black breastplate she wore had a triangular opening at the top that showed off a bit of her cleavage, and on the armor over her stomach was the symbol of a crescent moon colored red. Pieces of black armor covered the woman's shoulders, and the shirt she wore under her armor had long purple sleeves. The rest of the young lady's outfit consisted of a short red skirt cut well above the knee, and a pair of skintight purple stockings with black armored boots. Sinon and Leafa both recognized this young woman quite well. Her name in ALO was Selene, and like Leafa and Sinon she was once a member of Donis's guild, the Order of Yig.
"I thought I saw your name on the list of tournament players, Selene." Sinon recalled.
"That's right, and the reason I entered was because I heard a rumor that said you were going to be in this tournament too." Selene revealed. "This seemed like the perfect chance to get back at you for our last battle in N'aki."
"You're welcome to try and take me down if you want, but I doubt you'll be able to take me." Sinon told her.
Before the conversation could get any further, a blue column of light suddenly shot up from the center of the circular chamber. A storm of pink flower petals appeared inside the beam for a moment before exploding to reveal the MC for the tournament, Lydia.
"Hello one and all!" Lydia spoke into a microphone she was holding as the light around her faded. "I'm pleased to welcome you to the first ever Clash of Queens tournament! Now before we reveal the matchups for the first battles, let me explain how this tournament is going to work. Naturally, all of the battles are going to be one-on-one duels. Each battle will have a time limit of twenty-five minutes, and the player who has the most HP remaining at the end of that time limit will be the winner. I don't think I have to say that players can also win by taking their opponent's HP to zero. Players also have the option of surrendering during the battle, but hopefully things won't come to that for anyone.
"Now as for the settings for these battles, each pair of fighters will be teleported to different dungeon and forest areas throughout ALO. But don't worry. There will be zero chance of a random monster encounter during the battle, and we won't be sending anyone into a boss room. I should also mention that none of the areas of New Aincrad are going to be used as a venue."
"So it's pretty much like the BoB tournaments in GGO." Sinon quietly remarked. "I'm starting to get a little bit more into this."
"Now that I've explained how the battles are going to work, it's time to reveal the matchups for the first round!" Lydia announced. "I should mention that the matchups for round one were made completely at random."
A giant black screen showing the brackets for the tournament appeared behind the blonde. Asuna spotted her name in the first bracket along with Leafa, Lisbeth, Sakuya and Selene. Meanwhile, Sinon, Silica and Nytokris had ended up in the second bracket along with Alicia Rue.
"For today, we'll be holding the first two rounds of the Bracket A players!" Lydia continued. "The first two rounds for the Bracket B players won't be held until tomorrow, though those players are more than welcome to stick around and watch. Now in the interest of time, all of the battles are going to be held at the same time. Those of you watching this broadcast either from a tavern in game or at home on their computer can stream can simply pick the specific battle that they wish to stream. Now then, if the Bracket A players will step onto the teleport pads provided, the tournament will now begin! Good luck to each and every one of you!"
Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth and Selene each stepped onto one of the large blue hexagonal pads by the wall behind them along with the other players in their bracket. In seconds, each of the pads lit up, and the players were enveloped in beams of white light that shot up through holes in the stadium ceiling.
The beam from the teleport pad ended up placing Asuna in a large circular underground chamber made of brown stone. There were round passageways in the walls to Asuna's left and right leading into other corridors, and growing from the ground and the walls were glowing lavender crystals that bathed everything in a pinkish light. Asuna recognized the place as part of an underground dungeon in leprechaun territory that had originally been an old mine. The blunette had traveled to this mine once before with Lisbeth and some of the others to help the blacksmith gather materials for making weapons. The memory of that quest couldn't help but remind Asuna about how she and the others had been drifting apart.
Asuna pushed those troubling thoughts from her mind and began to look around the chamber for her opponent. All the blunette knew about her opponent was that she went by the name, Lurga. The icon that had been next to Lurga's name on the tournament chart back in the stadium had told Asuna that her opponent played as a gnome, but beyond that, Asuna knew nothing about whom she was up against. All Asuna knew was that she would have to be ready for anything. After a few moments, Asuna saw a figure emerge from one of the corridors connecting to the chamber and walk towards her.
The figure in question was a woman who had a height of about nine feet. She had bronze skin and was extremely muscular for someone of her gender. This woman had straight dark hair that was tied in a braided ponytail that went down just past the end of her neck, and her eyes had a deep color like that of a pomegranate. The female giant had on a piece of dark-grey armor that covered her chest but also showed her midriff, and around her waist was a short skirt covered in dark-brown fur. She also had on a pair of dark-grey metal boots, along with two thick bands around her wrists made of the same metal. Covering her bulging left shoulder was a skull from what looked like a saber-toothed cat of some kind that had been fashioned into a piece of armor. Slung across this woman's back was a large metal hammer with a long thin black pole for a handle.
Asuna's would-be opponent immediately spotted the blunette and went over to face her. As Asuna looked over her opponent – or rather looked up at her – she couldn't help but take a big gulp as some of the color drained from her face. She couldn't believe that a player in ALO could have such an imposing avatar.
The woman giant, Lurga looked down at Asuna and scowled a bit. "Figures I'd be up against a little pipsqueak like you in the first round." She sighed and drew the hammer that was slung across her back. "Well, let's do this thing."
Asuna quickly took a fighting stance as a holographic screen appeared in the air above them. The digital clock ticked down from three seconds before hitting zero to start the twenty-five minute time limit to the battle. As soon as the timer beeped, Lurga raised her hammer and swung the head of it down into the ground, sending a wave of earth across the battlefield at the blunette. Asuna dashed away to the right before the attack could hit her and began to run across the walls. After getting to the entryway that led to the other corridor out of the chamber, Asuna jumped back to the ground, drew her sword and charged across the field to attack Lurga from the side.
Just as Asuna had gotten in striking range though, Lurga chanted a spell that caused the ground to explode in four spots around the giant. One of the explosions was right in the blunette's path. Asuna managed to stop before getting caught in the explosion, but before the smoke cleared, Lurga emerged and hit Asuna with he hammer. The impact flung Asuna back into the cave wall and knocked away about a quarter from her HP gauge. As Asuna got to her feet, Lurga slowly began to advance on her.
"You know what they call me in this game, pipsqueak?" Lurga asked. "They call me Iron Lurga! That's because hardly anyone has been able to take down my HP by even a single point. I'm like the ultimate tank! If you think a little twerp like you has even a slight chance, you're dreaming!"
"We'll see about that!" Asuna told her. "Now let's go!"
While Asuna's battle with Lurga was just getting started, Lisbeth had ended up in another vast underground cavern that was practically pitch-black except for a strange luminescent moss that was growing on the cavern walls, bathing the entire place in a dim light. All around the pinkette were small and dilapidated stone huts of a very ancient and primitive design, many of which had strange-looking vines clinging to their walls. Growing in spots all around the seemingly endless cavern were small patches of odd vegetation, sickly grey mushrooms of an abnormal size and unhealthy-looking grass of an off-white color. The entire place smelled like an ancient septic tank, and flowing along to Lisbeth's right was a river of black ooze.
Lisbeth recognized just what dungeon she had been placed in, for she had been to this dungeon only once before. The pinkette had landed in the vast underground kingdom of N'kai, the deepest and darkest dungeon hidden beneath the Mound.
"Ugh! Why the heck did this place get picked as the spot for my first battle?" a disgusted Lisbeth asked.
"I agree. This place is less than glamorous." A familiar voice remarked. Lisbeth turned to see Selene standing just a few feet away. "Then again, this venue is really just perfect for me."
"So it's you and me in the first round, huh?" Lisbeth observed as she took a fighting stance. "Looks like I'm finally gonna have my chance to really make you pay for what you did, you slut!"
"Are you still made about that fling I had with Donis?" Selene asked. "I guess that just proves what a little girl you still are."
A holographic timer appeared in the air above the two fighters. As soon as the clock beeped to signal the start of the fight, Lisbeth charged full speed towards Selene and struck her in the stomach with Mjolnir. The purple-haired imp woman was knocked back and lost almost half her HP from the attack.
"Not bad." Selene remarked. "Of course in my opinion, it's kind of a cheat to use a legendary weapon like Mjolnir in a tournament like this. Then again, you kind of need the handicap since I have the home field advantage in this dungeon."
Before Lisbeth could ask what she meant, Selene began chanting an odd spell and large globs started to rise from the river of black ooze that they were standing next to. In seconds, the six blobs that had formed turned into pitch-black copies of Selene, each with its own HP gauge.
"You remember this little power that I got from screwing Donis, right?" Selene reminded her. "It lets me summon these blob clones of myself whenever I'm down in N'kai. I decided to be nice and just summon six of them. Actually, summoning only a small group of these clones doesn't cost me as much MP as summoning a small army would."
"Oh crap!" Lisbeth cursed.
One of Selene's ooze clones charged at Lisbeth from behind and slashed her across the back with her sword, taking off a large chunk of her HP. The pinkette turned around and slammed her golden hammer into the clone's stomach, but the attack barely took off a quarter of the clone's HP. Two of the other Selene clones charged at Lisbeth, forcing her to fall back before all six of them had a chance to surround her.
"That hammer of the gods you have is only going to give you a slight edge in this fight." Selene told Lisbeth. "I can see that you aren't wearing your tok'l-metal armor, which means you're going to take a lot more damage from my lovely backup fighters here. And if you read the PM that all of the qualifying participants in this tournament got that lists the full rules before coming here, you know that it's not allowed for a player to change her equipment in mid-battle. Looks like you're toast, pinky."
"That's what you think!" Lisbeth told her. "You may have the edge of this battlefield, but there's no way in hell that I'm going to lose to a bitch like you!"
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