Grand Master...
The gondola made its way across the dimly lit Second World. Kirito and Fenrir could glimpse the crater in the ground where their destination was.
Fenrir: " we're getting closer."
Kirito: " we should be able to access the lost Area easily this way. All we need is to hack the system."
Fenrir: " hope nothing goes wrong."
Kirito: " you and me both."...
Arata: " Momona..."
The girl looked up from her LBX and at the red head in front of her.
Arata: " why did you choose to join this school?"
Her eyes sparkled in determination as she pointed up the screw like some weapon.
Momona: " I want to be a pro LBX player!"
Arata chuckled.
Arata: " same as me."
The girl fidget in her seat slightly.
Momona: " actually, as you see. I'm a klutz. There was nothing that I did which would end up right. But when I first started playing LBXs, it was the only thing I did right. It was like, I found myself in playing and battling against others. It was so fun. That's why, I decided to walk down the path of LBXs till its end. Because it's the only thing I can do."
Arata smiled softly at her.
Arata: " you somehow remind me of myself. Even I, I couldn't settle down on a hobby until I played LBXs. When I first held my Warrior, it felt like this is what I'm supposed to do."
Momona looked at him with sparkling eyes that Arata felt uneasy.
Momona: " senpai's story is touching."
Arata: " it's not really that touching..."
He said with a sweat drop.
Arata: " take care down there."
She held up her thumb.
Momona: " don't worry, senpai."
"War time will begin in 20 seconds. All players, prepare for battle."
Arata: " it's your cue. You should get going."
Momona: " right!"
She jumped to her feet and ran off, before she left, she turned back to Arata.
Momona: " Senpai, I will make sure to fight on your behalf as well."
And she ran off. Arata managed a small smile at that. He took out the head part of Achilles Deed and looked down at it.
" You can't bear not being able to go down, right?"
Arata snapped as he heard that familiar voice and he turned back.
Arata: " Muraku! Why are you still here?"
Muraku: " I figured I'd talk to you before we go."
Arata merely looked down.
Arata: " just the thought that everyone are there, fighting while I stand here unable to protect the thing that I love pisses me off."
Muraku: " I know what do you mean. But you can do nothing about it. Arata..."
He looked up as Muraku placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him softly.
Muraku: " as Momona said, we will make sure to fight on your behalf as well. The sacrifice you made to protect both Haruki and Hikaru's LBXs won't be in vain."
Arata's dark air dissipated slowly.
Arata: " thanks. Now get going before they leave you behind."
Muraku nodded as he ran off as well to the control pod room just as the Second World was activated...
Sakuya pulled the blueprints in front of him.
Sakuya: " I should finish it today."
The gage was still showing 97%.
Sakuya: " wait for me, Arata. I will finish it sooner for you."...
Hikaru : " where have you been?"
He asked as the red head sat next to both him and Haruki.
Arata: " I was seeing Muraku and Momona off."
Haruki: " they launched and they're heading towards the Grand Master."
Arata: " Kirito-san should be there by now."
Mikhail: " all he needs is to hack the system to open the portal. It won't be hard."
Kagetora: " if Kirito-san makes it quickly, then they should be all fine."
Hikaru: " I doubt so."
He pointed at an army of LBXs standing in their way.
Hikaru: " they will still have to fight all of them. Even if they delete the virus."
Suzune: " that..."
Kagetora: " what's wrong, Suzune?"
Suzune: " that white and pink Dot Phasor..."
Arata blinked as he focused on the screen before his blue eyes widened.
Arata: " Yuno!"...
Momona: " Yuno-san!"
Muraku: " not only her..."...
Haruki: " Tadashi! Nozomi!"
Hikaru: " Seiryuu! Taiga!"
Vanessa: " Catherine ! "...
Ran: " woah! They're a lot!"
Touko: " more even than yesterday!"
Ami: " how cruel!"
Minerva: " we won't forgive them for using those students!"
She zoomed forward, shooting at the LBXs.
Hiro: " Achilles!"
Achilles D9 started the attack as well, his bits flying round and thrusting at their enemies.
Takeru: " Kageto-kun! Let's drop them off!"
Kageto: " right! Are you ready to descend!"
Muraku: " descending now!"
All the LBXs fell down from the craft carriers and landed on the ground emerging into the fight almost immediately...
There was a strong shake that they both had to hold their balance.
Fenrir: " seems they started fighting."
Kirito: " we have to finish on our side and go help them."
They had already opened the gate of the Lost Area and descended with the gondola.
Fenrir: " but this place is pretty spacious and full with wires."
Kirito: " this is the main core of the Second World. It's were all data and information of the fights and battles out there glean."
The gondola was finally approaching a light at the end of the path.
Fenrir: " this is..."
Kirito: " the Grand Master."
He typed away on the hologram keyboard in front of him to speed up the gondola and they soon stopped as they reached a very spacious room with a huge monitor and a large board on the other side from them. The monitor was displaying many statics and graphics of multiple fights and battles. All of them seemed to be analyzed by some sort of program.
Fenrir: " this is the New Grand Master?"
Kirito: " just one huge laptop. It will be easy. Let's finish off quickly here?"
The man hopped off the gondola and walked a few steps before.
" I didn't think someone will beat me to reach here."
Kirito narrowed his eyes as he looked back, there was a boy with crimson eyes walking from another side door, he was looking back at him with a wide smirk. A lollipop is glued into his mouth and his black LBX sat on his shoulder. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt with short sleeves underneath a sleeveless green puffed jacket and dark blue trousers along with high black boots.
Kirito: " you're... Itan Kyuji..."
Itan: " surprisingly you know my name. Why? I don't care. I'm not letting you take one more step towards that computer!"
As Fenrir and Kirito were focusing on the boy in front of them, they didn't notice all the statics and graphs disappearing from the main monitor, leaving behind a familiar L mark.
The boy pulled his CCM.
Itan: " fight us!"
The black LBX, Gruxeon, jumped off the boy's shoulder and held up its scythe at Fenrir.
Gruxeon: " we're going to break you appart."
Fenrir: " a talking LBX!"
Kirito gritted his teeth.
Kirito: " guess we don't have a choice."
He took out a certain device and pressed on the red button before he threw it on the ground.
Kirito: " D-egg!"
The device spread a green energy field that captured both players. Both LBX were stationed on the Diorama.
Kirito: " we can't risk damaging the computer by mistake."
Itan: " agree."
" Battle Start! "...
Both Momona and Yuno's Dot Phasors clashed together.
Momona: " stop it! Yuno-san!"
Yuno: " Leviathan's orders are ultimate."
Kazu: " there is no use kid! She is under their control!"
Momona: " just! What horrible deeds!"
" Set up! Z Lance!"
She proceeded with a lance while Yuno came at her with a sword and they both clashed, each trying to push the other back.
Momona: " if I just manage to slash at it..."
Gregory : " you're annoying me!"
He said punching the LBX that jumped suddenly at him. His Dot-Blaze was on board of a green riding armor that had a hammer attached to it instead of the right hand.
Touko: " I like that huge thing! But I won't lose to you!"
Her Queen shot multiple blasts at the LBX in front of her making it break over.
Evangeline : " push through, Twilight!"
The unit flew swiftly through the enemies, and before they knew it, they had their torsos and joints slashed at and broke over.
Ami: " impressive, Eva!"
Evangeline : " still it's not enough!"...
Hikaru : " if they just can hold like that."
Arata: " still, they have difficulties with them."
Mikhail clicked his tongue.
Mikhail: " they're fighting a well trained army after all."
Haruki: " you've just put it way better than anyone of us could do."
Arata was feeling the tense rising up with every moment that passed. He knew he should be there, fighting with them, saving his friends. At a certain point, he stood up.
Hikaru : " Arata!"
Arata: " I will be off for a while."
He said and ran out of the observation room...
Itan: " come on! Come on! You've a talking LBX! You should be way stronger than this!"
Kirito gritted his teeth. He had to admit that the boy was strong.
Fenrir ducked under the scythe as it slashed again before pushing Grexon back using his shoulder.
Fenrir: " now I got the upped hand!"
Fenrir pressed forward as he swayed his sword non stop, pushing back the other LBX that merely dodged.
Gruxeon tried to attack again but Fenrir hopped up and landed on a nearby hill.
Itan: " you're not running away!"
Gruxeon followed after Fenrir while the other kept dodging. It ran back and hopped of the high hill.
Gruxeon: " got you!"
When he jumped down, he didn't find Fenrir. He kept wandering around.
Itan: " where is he?"
Kirito smirked.
Kirito: " right behind you! Hissatsu Function!"
" Attack Function: Dragon Infrino!"
The LBX ran from behind the hill and jumped up, ready to unleash his dragon shaped flame blast.
Itan: " Hissatsu Function!"
" Attack Function: Genocide Cross!"
The black LBX gathered the power of darkness within his scythe and slashed at the other robot in the form of a cross.
The two attack functions collided, causing a shake in the Diorama and reaping apart the energy field.
Kirito: " right! The D-egg isn't made for such intense power!"
His eyes widened when he saw two Killer Droids next to Itan.
Itan: " ho, so back up came. Thankfully."
He pulled back his LBX with a smirk.
Itan: " I will let you play with those two while I take the needed data."
Fenrir: " you won't-"
The Killer Droid shot him down and Fenrir struggled to stand up.
Itan already walked past Kirito.
Itan: " good luck."
He placed Gruxeon down on the board. The LBX placed down his hand as he started copying the files.
Gruxeon: " done."
Itan: " let's head back. We don't want to make Leviathan wait."
Kirito: " wait!"
The Killer Droid shot down under Kirito's foot, forcing him to back. Itan had already left.
Fenrir: " what should we do?"
Kirito: " what else expect fighting!"
He grasped his CCM tightly as his unit dashed forward, hitting the head of the first Killer Droid with his sword and backing in time to dodge the other one's blasts. He quickly ran around them while slashing at them from multiple angles, and dodging their attacks at the same time...
Their minds were alerted as they heard a roar. A certain dragon like black robot fell down from the nearby hill.
Hiro: " Killer Droid !"
Gregory: " Large Droid!"
Touko: " what's this monster!"
The dragon started shooting its blasts and they all had to back as they tried to defend themselves.
The infected LBXs saw it as a chance as they focused their attacks, aiming to destroy them.
Magna Orthus held up his shield as he tried to stand against Tadashi's shoots.
Magna Orthus: " I can't approach him!"
Momona backed and fell down, Yuno tried to use the chance and plunge her sword in the other unit but Momona stopped the coming attack using her shield.
Zenon held his hammer in defense as he was blocking the dragon's blasts.
Zenon: " where did it come from?"
Jin: " no answer!"
With the Killer Droids raining down its blasts on them, there was little to what they could do. Eventually a lot of them were heavily damaged.
Kazu: " damn it! Achilles! Demonic Mode!"
Achilles was wrapped in a red color as his power increased.
Kazu: " go forward, Achilles!"
The LBX engaged into a one to one battle against the Killer Droid. He was aiming at the wires at the back of its feet, which the dragon tried hardly to protect. It let one roar as it brought its wings up, spinning around itself while rushing through the whole army of LBXs.
Seekers' LBXs were pushed back. Thankfully they managed to dodge in time so the damage wasn't that much.
On the other hand, the Killer Droid actually broke over some of the infected LBXs.
Sendou: " should we be thankful?"
Queen: " it's coming again!"
It tried to make another approach.
" Attack Function: Stinger Missiles!"
The missiles forced it to change its course, saving the Seekers with that.
Kazu: " how? Who?"
They looked behind them to see a DC Offencer equiped with extra blue armor.
Sendou: " those parts, Dot Phoenix!"
Ran: " Arata!?"
The boy was there in his control pod, his overload activated as a ring of purple light manifested around his pupils.
Arata: " I'm not leaving my friends alone!"
Haruki: " Arata !"
Hikaru : " he is using his overload again!"
Takeru: " Arata-kun ! Stop! That DC Offencer isn't prepared to withstand your overload!"
Arata: " even though! I can't stand watching anymore!"
He said dashing forward, blocking the Killer Droid as it was about about to rush forward again.
As he was fighting, he didn't notice the weak blue light that the CCM emitted.
DC Offencer's joints started cracking under the pressure of the Killer Droid.
Arata: " I'm not letting you!"
He shoot his beams at it, pushing the droid back.
DC Offencer rushed forward and thrusted its lance in the dragon's wing. Its right arm broke as it attacked due to the great pressure.
Arata: " not yet!"
DC Offencer appeared suddenly behind the Killer Droid. It moved with a high speed no one managed to see it.
Arata: " Stinger Missiles!"
The Missiles hit the Killer Droid head on. Arata used the dust to get closer to the dragon and kick it, sending it flying with that, but at the same time, losing its right leg.
The LBX fell to the ground as it couldn't move anymore.
Ran: "Arata!?"
As Minerva was about to reach for the other unit, she was forced back by a shot from the rest of the survived enemies.
Minerva: " for God's sake!"
Evangeline : " enemy's coming from both sides!"
Kazu: " stand your ground!"
On the other hand, the dragon, though getting that much damage, was still able to fight.
Arata: " come on! Come on!"
The Killer Droid walked to the fallen LBX, bringing up its wing blade, ready to smack it down.
Arata: " I'm not losing yet! Move! DC Offencer!"
Suddenly energy blasts were shot at the Killer Droid, driving it away from the damaged LBX.
A familiar white and red LBX flew in front of Arata's DC Offencer and the red head had his eyes wide as he saw it.
Arata: " Dot Blastrizer..."
Sakuya: " I made it in time!"
Arata: " Sakuya! You...!"
Sakuya : " you're using the school's CCM, right!"
Arata: " ah..."
Sakuya: " stand by, I will reset it!"
The CCM's screen became black before it was filled with all kinds of data as something was being installed.
Sakuya: " Arata..."
The red head looked at his friend.
Sakuya: " this Dot Blastrizer has the power to change the outcome of your current fight. This is what I'm able to do to help all of you. I've put all of my heart and soul on its new system, that's why... Arata! Take my will and fight!"
Arata glanced at his serious air before the blue eyes narrowed in determination upon hearing his friend's words.
Arata: " ah! I promise you I will be fighting on your behalf, Sakuya!"
The green head smiled broadly on the video tab. As soon as the program finished installing, an owl logo appeared on the screen.
" Sena Arata, do you know when to give up?"
A 'yes' and 'no' buttons appeared to him. Arata managed a smile at that.
Arata: " if it was then I wouldn't have made it this far, right!"
He pressed the 'no' button with no second thoughts.
" Chosen one who chose to fight, you shall receive a great power. Please use it wisely."
Arata smiled widely as all of his attention now was focused on the Killer Droid.
Arata: " let's go! Dot Blastrizer !"
Dot Blastrizer's yellow eyes glimmered as he dashed forward.
" Set up! Dual blade!"
As he formed his weapon, Dot Blastrizer spin it around to block the energy blasts the dragon shot down at him.
Dot Blastrizer : " this is no much for me!"
Arata: " right! We still have more! Let's go!"
" Set up: Blast Sword!"
The dual blade shape shifted to two swords. Dot Blastrizer flew away, dodging all the Killer Droid's bullets before he came back at it and slicing at its chest with both swords on the form of an X.
The Killer Droid let one last roar before it exploded.
Arata: " good work!"
Dot Blastrizer : " we're not done yet!"
He turned back to the other LBXs that were still fighting.
Dot Blastrizer : "Let's assist them!"
Arata: " Roger!"...
Kirito hid behind the consol as Fenrir finished off the last of the Droids with X Blade.
Kirito: " let's fixe the Grand Master!"
He said stepping out finally when it was all safe.
Fenrir: " Roger that!"
The LBX jumped on the key board and placed his hand down.
Fenrir: " Vaccine Program! Install!"
His eyes shined in blue as the vaccine spread through the computer...
In the battlefield, before they could even notice it, their enemies stopped functionning.
Within all the pods, the CCMs let out one last spark before the players fainted.
Zenon: " this..."
Evangeline: " Kirito must have used the vaccine!"
Touko: " did he manage to get the data."
Kirito: " unfortunately not."
His face popped up though their pods, his lips pursed in fury.
Kirito : " Itan Kyuji got it."
Muraku : " what!"
Arata: " Itan Kyuji!?"
Fenrir: " leave the shock for this news. He has a talking LBX."
Jin: " a talking... LBX..."
Muraku: " that Itan ..."
Touko took a deep breath to keep herself calm, losing the data they worked so hard for was quite a bad news, let alone hearing about their enemy's player.
Touko: " that's what the old man meant by to be ready to fight the enemy's talking LBXs."
Queen: " LBXs like us, but working for the main villain."
Kazu: " this sounds bad."
Kirito: " seems we need to discuss our situation..."...
