Edit: I haven't been editing Review Responses, so fair warning because I was trying to get used to a tablet (as mentioned in the AN) a lot of Reviews Responses built up, and as a double edged sword, because I was trying to get used to writing, the chapter itself was also short, so just fair warning about that.
AN: Really sorry about the huge time between updates, but as you all probably know from previous AN's I do all my writing on my phone, or at least I did. As any of you who check my Tumblr for updates will know,my phone decided to stop working though, so I can't use it anymore. I got a tablet for Christmas, which is how I wrote this and the side stories I've uploaded, but it's a pain in the ass to use for writing, so while I got some practice to get used to it while writing the side stories (which was half the point) I'm still not really sure when the next update will be out, though I'll try my best. On another related note though, if you have ideas for side stories, feel free to send them to me, either through a review here, over on the side stories collection fic itself, or through PM.
Review Responses: (Due to how damn long its been since the last update and a comment or two from previous reviews about forgetting what exactly they'd reviewed that I was responding to I'll be including the review itself that I'm replying to between parentheses, but before my response, like this message.)
Slycutter- (I'm sorry if I didn't read it or get the info but did we get what Hanna's race is? Cause I have no clue and reading through more than a few times didn't give me the answer.)
That was honestly a mistake on my part. I thought I had mentioned what ALO race Hanna chose, but I looked it back over after your review and discovered that I had not, in fact, mentioned it. It might've been because I decided what race she choose ages ago so some subconscious part of my brain disregarded mentioning it, thinking it to be old news and failing to remember that only me and Merlenyn knew. I've addressed it in this chapter though. Sorry about that.
ShadowWolf223- (Love your story. Just found and finished it this week. It's in my top 5 SAO fanfiction list.
Your OC is really likable and realistic. She seems to be well balanced too. Not too weak and not too op. She and Kirito go well together.
The fact that it's a harry potter crossover make it's even more interesting in my opinion. I don't normally find a lot of good oc stories for those types if crossovers. It makes me excited to continue read it.
Are you planning on doing the Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale too?)
I'm glad you've enjoyed it! It's kind of an honor that anyone would consider my fic in their top 5 for such a large fandom.
Technically a fem!harry with a different dad and background, but I can understand why people keep calling her an OC given how far removed from canon Harry Marzanna is at this point, and I'm glad you like her! I've definitely struggled to try and keep her from being too OP, especially hard if your familiar with how crazy strong the Spardas are in Devil May Cry canon -I actually brought out my nerd side and put previous D'n'ding to use to write up something akin to character sheets for her, Mike, and Kazuto just to try and keep them in line-, but its seems to be mostly working. I joked in either a previous review response about calling the ship Kanna/Kazanna -depending on if its using avatar names or real names-, but honesty I've been writing/thinking about this fic for so long that it's getting to the point that seeing/reading Asuna/Kirito in the canon show/novels is weird.
As for Ordinal Scale -and the Alicization arc as you mentioned in your second review-, I'm not entirely certain to be honest. I've no idea how far down the SAO timeline I'll go. While it's not incredibly close, the end to this fic is in sight, sooo…
orion0905- (Now that was an exciting chapter, not surprised about the death eater attack but I am surprised she didn't send anyone before the attack to warn the dmle.
I like the reveal at the end with the floating city. And I look forward to the next one.)
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I doubt anyone was surprised about the attack. As for warning the DMLE, I thought I'd previously made Marzanna's opinions of the British magical government clear so It'd be obvious, but she had a mere 25 minutes and an exceedingly low opinion of the British magical law enforcement as a whole -Her and her family's respect for Madam Bones and a handful of other is absolutely against the norm-, in her opinion, calling them on such short notice likely would've lead to even more chaos an unnecessary deaths, not to mention it would've just given the agents she and her family absolutely know Voldemort has in the DMLE time to tell him that the plan to attack was learned of somehow. She chose to take control of the situation herself and utilize Voldemort's lack of knowing the plan was discovered to ambush the Death Eaters.
I know everyone knew what I was leading up to in that scene but I liked the build up and socialization between the lords and Kirito and Hanna too much to be blunt about it even if everyone undoubtedly knew where I was going with it. So I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed it!
Zoran Dawn-Eclipse- (Ch 38- Sorry I haven't reviewed in so long. I honestly haven't had time to read lately, so I haven't been able to review because of the lack of reading time.
So, to give you a review -while I finish reading the remaining chapters following this one-, here it goes.
I really like how you set up the Devil Trigger appearance for Anna (love the nickname, btw). Not many people would go for the extra wings and stick to the official design, and even fewer would accept the Nephilim as a Demon-hybrid thanks to most DMC fans rejecting the storyline of DmC Devil May Cry's gameplay. I am one of the few who see that game as a masterpiece, despite having the names retained from the Original versions. I simply rewrote the names as being "Different character, Same name" rather than "Redesigned character, same name", and it worked perfectly due to the fact that the personalities and races were in fact different between the two versions of each character.
Back to the review. I also love how you made the different weapon aspects have Sentient identities to go with them, and gave each one their own personality. Especially with how you incorporated that into a "problem" for Anna to solve with separating her thoughts from the communication link, and how the different aspects now can talk to her and give advice in various situations. I also like how she solved the "problem", and even expanded upon her mindscape afterwards to give her Nephilim weapon's various identities a place of their own to work with inside her mindscape.
The house adds a really wonderful touch to the whole story.
And I agree with most of what you put there. I also forgot about that comment up top on this chapter, simply because the story swept away any thoughts on anything being missing. I'm actually glad you didn't go into any historical law stuff or whatever, because it would make my brain take a vacation, which is rarely beneficial to my thought processing abilities... Joking aside, your story has yet to lose my attention, as it's simply too well-written for me to ever lose interest in it.
Hell, even if you put a "Sorry, but I can't get Muse to work with me on the story" notice, I'd still keep reading long after the story ends, just to enjoy it even more when it starts back up again. That's how much I enjoy this story so far. Not even the "Ending Chapter" will deter me from reading more of it.
That's all for this review. Next one will have to wait until I'm all caught up. Sorry I'm late on reviewing the story.)
It's quite all right. I totally understand just not having the time for fanfiction.
I really like the nickname Anna for her as well, though I'll undoubtedly continue to use Marzanna or Hanna depending on whether I'm talking about her in game or out -in ANs, Review Responses, or the story itself-, to avoid confusion. I wanted her Devil Trigger to at least partially resemble Dante's, as a visual tie to her being his daughter, but I also wanted it to be unique enough for there to be a noticeable difference, both to showcase the difference between male and female Devils, that's the details like her face and that strip from stomach to neck that continues down to her inner thighs and fans out over her hips lacking the natural plating we see on both Dante and Vergil in the games, and that while she's absolutely Dante's daughter, she's still her own person, which is where the difference between their wings comes from. I'll be perfectly honest, I originally found Devil May Cry from the reboot, which I loved, and then found the originals, which I also loved, so whenever I think of DMC it's kind of natural for me to think of both. So since Dante's hair starts out black and slowly turns white as the player uses Devil Trigger more and more, fic wise I've always thought of the reboot as the first to happen chronologically, even though I'm well aware they aren't actually totally the same series and there are discrepancies between the two because of that.
In my head the weapons had always been semi-sentient to some extent, the original idea was that while not sentient enough to have actual thoughts they were sentient enough to recognize if anyone other than Marzanna tried to pick them up, and would react violently to basically anyone other than Kazuto or Mike who they would begrudgingly allow to wield then in a pinch. Then I had an idea for an arc in the story, that hasn't actually happened yet, in which they were sentient and it caused…. problems, of which you shall learn of at a later date when that arc happens. So I chose to make them sentient, though that did leave the discrepancy of if they were sentient, why hadn't they played a bigger role than just being Marianna's weapons? Hence the plot point of Marzanna accidentally 'awakening' them in SAO. As for all that about the 'problem' of Marzanna needing to separate her actual thoughts from the communication she shares with them, I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I'll be honest, I didn't give anything except the solution about that much thought. It just seemed natural to me, you know? I mean they're literally part of her mind and soul that was separated from the rest -but not outright twisted, torn, and removed like a Horcrux- and allowed to develop into its own entities, but they're still part of her so of course they've got a natural access to her thoughts that needed to be worked around for the sake of privacy.
I thought the house added a nice touch too, though I mostly thought of it because I personally hate not having my own space to retreat to, like whenever I'm over at someone else's house, whether its my first time at a near strangers house because I've gone with my cousin to her friends' or its the hundred thousandth time at a relatives I always feel awkward like I'm just aimlessly wandering or misplaced, no matter what I'm doing at the time. And maybe that's natural, I honestly don't know, I'm antisocial with social anxiety issues, so I'm never entirely sure what's just me and what's something that's natural that everyone feels. The point is that I thought that even if they were extension's of Marzanna that were allowed to develop into their own entities, I thought it might be a bit like that for them in Marzanna's mind, so I gave them spaces to call their own. Plus, barring Kazuto's side of the bond in her head, there's not really anywhere in Marzanna's mind that's designed suitably for just relaxing around, so the house also serves that purpose, having the kitchen and living room and various other public areas for the weapon personalities -and Marzanna along with Kazuto and Mike if their paying a mental visit via their bonds to her- to relax and socialize with each other outside of their own rooms.
You know, as soon as I read this part of your review when you were catching up, I kinda wanted to laugh nervously, given that rather than cut that content out, I just cut the chapter and moved that content to the next chapter, and therefore did end up touching on historical law stuff a bit… I hope I didn't completely bore you to death? I mean, there was absolutely a reason I was mentioning it and I know at least one person caught on since they mentioned it in a review, though there were very like far more than just the one person who realized, that person was simply the only one who mentioned it.
Not so much my muse that's been the problem, but rather my technology, as I mentioned in the AN, but I'm glad you've been enjoying it so much and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.
Zoran Dawn-Eclipse: (Ch 40- Finally back into Alfheim again!
I've been looking forward to this part of the story, along with the part where Aincrad returns for everyone to play through the game under peaceful circumstances.
Don't really have much to put here, but I love how you handled all the events in this chapter and the previous one.
Have to summarize since I'm literally about to pass out from staying up too long. Wanted to at least finish reading this chapter before I went to bed for the night.)
Yep! Back to playing games with each other, this time without the reaper's scythe pressed against their throats.
Honestly, as much as I love Aincrad, minus the whole death game bit obviously, and was sad to see it go, so was I.
It's alright, I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway!
I understand the feeling perfectly, believe me, though I've honestly never thought my fic was good enough to suck people in to the point of neglecting sleep.
Arch Sariel- (1- I feel like you have a great concept, but you have odd detail quantities. Sometimes you throw in to long elaborate descriptions of relatively unimportant mechanics. Like the mechanics of Occlumency and the descriptions on her defences. But at other times they get largely skipped over.
2- the cast feels a little too big. I don't know much about DMC lore, but it seems like many of the characters like Sparda, Trish, Vergil, and even Nero are kind of pointless to the plot. Also mike. You have said before that mike will be important, but so far it hasn't happend. The whole twin-bond providing communication was kind of pointless.
3- Also, I'm curious as to what race the SAO survivors are. Kirito is a Spriggan, but the rest? Especially Marzanna.
4- the whole "dont kill because I'm inherently superior" is rather stupid. Marzanna essentially had the same conversation 4 times with 3 people. For no particular reason. At best she learned that sometimes you have to kill humans, which is something Vergil if not Dante would have taught her. Not to mention you spent Almost 3 chapters on it.
5- I would like to say that even with my complaints, this is still well above average for this site and I have enjoyed it. I really like world building you have done, even if it sometimes drags on for a while. Keep writing! You have my f/f.)
Sorry about that but there's not much I can do about how my mind works in regards to over-elaborating on things that might seem unnecessary to some. For instance, though I can see how the description of her defenses might seem unnecessary, I still think it's something worth describing. That said if there's anything you felt was lacking detail, you're more than welcome to tell me and I'll see what I can do.
Except for Mike, there hasn't been any major or semi-major OCs, those are all canon characters that are either actual blood family or close friend-pseudo family, so it would've felt wrong not to include them at least in brief mentions. They're mostly background characters though. And Mike will have an important role, as despite how clear some previous scenes may make things seem, I still haven't explicitly explained what's going on with the prophecy and chosen one stuff in this fic yet. Not everything is as it seems there, and I'm pretty confident that no one, not even my beta knows exactly what I'm doing with that, even after saying this. Either way, both Voldemort and Dumbledore still believe Mike to be the Chosen One regardless of whatever is actually going on one way or another, soooo….
As I told Slycutter up above, I thought I'd mentioned this before, but after they pointed it out I went back and realized I hadn't, but its covered in this chapter, at least in regards to Marzanna. All of the canon characters that were canonically alive at that point are still their canon race, but for clarity's sake I'll go over all of them here: Cait Sith- Silica, Argo, Sinon (later). Gnome- Agil. Imp- Marzanna. Leprechaun- Lizbeth. Pooka- Sachi, Sasha. Salamander- Klein, Tetsuo, Caynz, and the rest of the former Fuurinkazan. Spriggan- Ururirior (OC Spriggan Lord), Kirito, Ducker. Sylph- Leafa, Recon, Sasamaru, Yolko. Undine- Asuna, Thinker, Yulier, Keita.
She had the conversation multiple times because it wasn't getting through to her and her extreme reluctance to kill humans is somewhat part of her character as well as part of her background having been raised with the idea that because she was inherently stronger she had to be careful with her power and not abuse it. The subsequent guilt at having broken those rules in her family, and learning to accept what she'd had to do and learn to move on and live with herself is something of a rather large plot point. And considering they wouldn't have realized that there would be a time when she didn't have access to her powers, and be separated from them, who while they have occasionally had to deal with humans who have made deals with demons, have always shielded her from that part of the job until she's older and more capable of seeing the necessity in it -something they didn't bring up while trying to get through to her about the killing humans in Aincrad thing because she had enough to deal with at the moment without being presented with the possibility that she might have to kill humans again in the future-, neither Dante nor Vergil would've thought the 'sometimes it really is necessary to kill human' conversion needed to happen just yet, especially since she was only 14 when SAO started, therefore Marzanna grew up believing the 'don't kill humans' rule her family has was absolute.
Thank you! I'm sorry it feels like it drags sometimes -trust me I've felt like it took forever to write certain parts that weren't particularly enjoyable but I felt were necessary to some degree-, but I'm glad that overall you've enjoyed it!
BloomOutOfSeason- (This is totally worth the binge read I did! I don't care what my Dad says about it being unhealthy to stay up so late at night, Totally. Worth. It! I really like how you've written your story and how they've become how they are, especially when you describe how they deal with different situations throughout their journey. I really like Marzanna, and at first my eyes failed me a bit, because I read her name as Manzanna, which is almost the same as apple in Spanish (my mother language), and when I read the meaning I felt quite silly about it, when I checked what it said exactly, /always that one letter/. I'd love to review about every chapter, but I wouldn't like to spam you with messages, though I' might be temped to do it when later, since there's a lot covered here. The SAO days made me happy about how they turned up, you saved and gave some more screen time like Diabel and the Moonlit guild. Also as Kirito is not alone and not allowed to be so guilty about the things that happened to him at the different levels he gets to be more honest with himself as well as others; and I /adored/ their badass moments. I don't think I'll be able to forget when Kirito /punched a dragon to death, in the face/ or when Marzanna /cleaved a Boss because she was angry/ and about how they solved the situation with the KoB, it was quite clever a solution and definitely the first time I've read it happening, though it seemed like it passed without much notice due to all the other things that were happening then, as I read in one of your responses to reviews.
Thanks a bunch for the chapters so far and I hope to read from you again soon, and I wish you a wonderful day/afternoon/night. Cheers!)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm also glad you liked Marzanna, sorry about the name thing tripping you up! I wouldn't mind you spamming me at all! Feel free to spam to your heart's content if you still feel like it, so long as you're not just repeatedly demanding updates that is, that can get a bit annoying. I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed their badass moments and what my KOB solution was. The latter did pass pretty much without comment, yeah, which kinda bummed me out at the time because I felt a bit clever at it and thought it was rather unique and then no one said anything about it.
You're welcome, I'll try my best but can't promise anything -especially with this pain in the ass tablet like I mentioned in the AN-, and I wish you a spectacular day/afternoon/night as well!
shadowchaos5150- (And so, the floating castle of Aincrad returns, providing a new "Grand Quest" for Alfheim Online. There is much left to do though, within the virtual world and the real world as well. Did Dumb-as-a-door survive the events of Mike's sixth year at Hogwarts? Does Mike still have the Horcrux in his head? Does Marzanna have one in hers? Are the remaining Horcrux's even still in their canon locations? I suppose those questions can wait though, because honestly? I just want to see Kazuto's family's reaction to the knowledge of magic, his no longer being fully human, AND already being married at 16. Also, in my defense from my last review, I didn't realize that Kazuto would stop aging entirely at some point. And just because a reader like myself would like to see you save Yuuki somehow, doesn't mean you have to do so. And I don't know about others, but the reason I don't review often is mostly because I binge read most stories I come across, and I often don't feel like I have anything worthwhile to say. Still loving this story and will (somewhat) patiently wait for the next chapter.)
Yup, and abso-fucking-lutly, though I probably won't be covering everything, so there's probably less to be done than you think. Dumbledore did survive, yes, the situation between him and Mike has made him significantly more cautious in his dealings. Those other questions will in fact have to wait though. Lily already told them about magic, the non human thing, and at least Soulmates if not the marriage bit while Kazuto was in the process of changing remember? Though there will likely still be a discussion next chapter. I suppose I never explicitly stated that Kazuto would stop aging, given that with what I've said about how the Spardas, Demons, and Angels age and what I've said about Soulmate bonding I thought it was obvious, but as I've come to realize while writing this, sometimes I get so used to an idea I've thought about enough that my brain just starts accepting it as fic-canon and occasionally forgets whether or not you readers know it, so it's understandable. To be honest, I've thought about it quite a bit between when the last chapter was posted and this one and I'm pretty heavily leaning towards not saving Yuuki, still have one idea I'm turning over in my head that might win out in the end, so all hope is not yet lost. I understand that feeling entirely, I'm always bing reading the fics I find and ironically given that I'm writing fanfiction I hardly ever know what to say, but I've also come to realize that while those comments that are literally nothing more than 'please update soon' are damn irritating, any other comments -barring nasty reviews like that person who told me to kill myself on one of my one shots, who's review I promptly deleted because I refused to allow such negativity to exist in the reviews of my fics-, no matter how small, are always appreciated, even if its just 'I likes this scene' or 'I liked this characters reaction to this'. Anyway, I hope this chapter was at least somewhat worth the wait, especially since I've no idea when the next chapter will be out, for the reason explained in the AN at the top.
dess123s- (So is this the beginning of the connection into the magical wars now that Marzanna has revealed herself to the British Magical Community. Also even though Ordinal Scale was a bit bad now that Kirito and Marzanna are demon hunters as well as Oclumens it would be interesting to see how that movie would play out inverse.)
We'll start touching more on the war, yes, though it's not actually present in this chapter. I'm not entirely sure this will go on long enough to cover Ordinal Scale, at least not the fic proper. If the actual fic doesn't go on that long I might end up writing a one shot for it for the side story collection for this fic that I started.
Guest- (Really love your story its too bad that it ended maybe you can do a book 2 for SA0 fatale Bullet?)
Not over just yet. We'll get to the Battle of the Bullets -pretty sure that's the actual name- soonish.
Meteoryte- (i hope you update soon!
I've been thinking about... what if Mike and his friends join the game, maybe after defeating Voldermort of course... then maybe pairing one or two of his friends with Asuna and Suguha. i kinda felt bad for the two...
well it's just a thought... it's your story after all and i love this crossover u made! really! it's brilliant!)
Can't promise anything, as I explained in the AN. Mike's kind of only got Hermione, Luna, Neville, and the non-Ron Weasleys in the friend department, so that wouldn't really work. Thank you, I'm glad you've enjoyed it!
Rairi Valelira- (I do hope you find time to come back some day ~)
Not so much a matter of lacking time. As I explained in more detail above in the AN its been because my phone broke.
June 21st, 2025
Ymir was the name of the company started up by dedicated players that wished to see Alfheim continue and thus had bought it from RCT when it was announced that they were shutting down their VR department in response to Sugou's actions. Supposedly they had implemented many changes players had been wanting for quite a while before relaunching it back in April, though Hanna hadn't been around to experience the original version so she only knew that from others.
One such change was limited internet access within the game. Hanna genuinely doesn't know what else players use it for, but a lot of players still in school, herself and her friends included, have taken to using the limited access to pull up saved files from online storage to do things like homework. There were plenty of benefits to doing so, other than being able to simply lounge around with friends you might not live close to.
For starters, though there was obviously a limited number of pages you could open, it was still easier and more efficient to simply have to shift your gaze from one floating screen to another while doing homework than having to flip between tabs when you were having to research information or check sources, though apparently Asuna's mother complained anyway. Honesty, she was beginning to think that woman centered her life around nitpicking at Asuna's, not that it was really any of Hanna's business either, as Asuna had pointed out with fond exasperation the one time she'd said so.
Studying inside Alfheim also came with the plus of not having to deal with your eyes growing tired or your shoulders getting stiff. She may have superior physiology, but her body still suffers such issues as well, even if it takes longer. All of this combined with the fact that RCT, being the leading magi-tech corporation in the world, also offer magically protected servers to save files containing any sort of magical, and therefore sensitive, information, including the scans of her and her families magical libraries Kazuto had finally gotten her to do, means that she and Kazuto have also taken to going over the issue of Yui's body while logged on.
It's as her mate and Asuna are doing homework and she's looking into the issue of how to connect Yui's now complete body with the tech her mate and daughter made, that a huff from across the table followed by Kirito speaking up from next to her pulls both her and Yui's attentions from the screens open around them, "Are you still not quite used to that avatar yet?"
Looking up she finds him gazing at Asuna. The blue hair and eyed Undine grabs a stand of her hair between two fingers to gaze at it, "Not quite. It's strange, isn't it? My face and body are exactly the same as they were in Aincrad, except for the color of my hair and eyes, but I still haven't grown accustomed to it. Every time I see my reflection or a piece of my hair enters my line of sight, like just now, it distracts me."
Her mate chuckles faintly at their friend's annoyance, then tilts his head thoughtfully, "You know, it might be because it's exactly the same in every other way. It's similar enough that your brain thinks it knows what it's supposed to expect, so it throws you for a loop when that subconscious expectation is broken."
Hanna hums, "A fascinating theory, truly, however, I suspect that someone is purposely letting themselves be distracted from their large stack of homework."
He gives her a pleading look, "Oh come on! Asuna and I have been at this for hours. That workaholic might be able to stay single-mindedly focused on one boring thing for days at a time, but I'm the sort of person who needs periodic breaks! I'll go mad otherwise!"
Asuna snorts, "I, and pretty much everyone else for that matter, have told you two multiple times. You cannot go someplace when you're already there." Her mate rolls his eyes, but whatever his reply was going to be gets cut off before he even has a chance to start by Asuna receiving a message. She opens it quickly, then hums, "Sachi wants to know if the raid is still on for tomorrow. Apparently she tried calling both Kirito and myself before realizing we were probably still logged on."
He rolls his neck, purely a reflex, then hums, "Of course it is. Why would she think otherwise?"
Asuna rolls her eyes as she finishes responding and closes the message, "Apparently, Lizbeth was complaining about running low on materials to repair everyone's gear and Klein was once again poking fun at Kirito for being the only one to opt out of keeping his stats from SAO, so she was concerned about the raid being postponed."
He scrunches his face up, "What's the point in letting Diabel invite his minions from his old guild to join our guild if they don't, ya know, do minion stuff? Like keep Lizbeth's supplies up? Because I'm pretty sure we assigned that to the minions."
She laughs lightly, "Well, to be fair, when we told Diabel he was in charge of getting the lackeys to do whatever job we assigned to them and then that their job was lackey-like work, we specifically told him that their current job was to keep the guild's supplies up. A guild we still haven't officially created because we can't decide on a name and can't change it later. A fact that Diabel is rather annoyed about, so it's entirely likely that this is his passive aggressive way of telling you to get off your ass and just create the damn guild already, oh illustrious guild leader."
Her mate huffs, then squints at her, "Remind me again why you're friends with him?"
She grins, "Because he may be a manipulative passive aggressive little shit, but he's my manipulative passive aggressive little shit. That and he's my unofficial minion manager."
Asuna raises an eyebrow, "Minion manager?"
Her grin widens, "What? Did you think those minions he always had at his beck and call back in Aincrad were his? I mean, they certainly thought so, but Diabel knew better, because Diabel is my minion which automatically makes any of his minions mine too."
Asuna shakes her head with a faint smile, "You know, you could have just said 'because he may be an ass but I find it humorous and he's my best friend' and that would've more than sufficed."
She sticks her nose up in a false haughty manner, "Never. Now get back to your basic minion training."
Asuna rolls her eyes, "I believe the proper name is homework."
She waves her hand in over exaggerated dismissal, "If it makes you feel better to think of it like that, then sure, knock yourself out minion."
Asuna shakes her head again, then pointedly returns her attention to the screens around her, signaling that she's done with the conversation.
June 22nd, 2025
Hanna sighs lightly as Lizbeth hands her sword back, then turns to her mate, "Well… what do we do now? The preparation for the raid was done earlier than expected, and now there's too much time to just sit around doing nothing, but not enough to really do anything either."
Her mate hums a vague agreement. He's silent for a few minutes as he thinks, then tilts his head at her, "Well, we still haven't gotten around to visiting the Spriggan Capital, despite the Spriggan Lord's invitation. We could go check it out for a bit, then use the teleport gate there to head up to the eighth floor of New Aincrad when it gets closer to the meeting time."
Lizbeth raises an eyebrow before cutting into their conversation, "Are you sure that's alright? I mean, yeah, the various races have gotten more laid back in regards to each other, but Hanna isn't a Spriggan. You sure they'll be alright with you bringing her along?"
He waves the mild concern off, "Nah, when he extended the invitation I told him whether or not I showed was heavily dependent on whether or not anyone would have problems with me bringing my wife. He said it was fine."
Lizbeth shrugs, "Well, alright then. Have fun I suppose. Just don't be late getting to the meeting point."
Hanna lifts her hand in a vague agreement over her shoulder as she follows Kirito out of the joint Blacksmith/Shop owned by Lizbeth and Agil. Yggdrasil City is rather large, but the teleport gate isn't very far from the shop. It certainly doesn't have a prime 'in the same plaza as the gate' location, but it was still a pretty damn good set up.
Teleporting to the Spriggan Capital is as easy as teleporting between cities had been in Aincrad. Looking around she's rather taken aback by the temple-like structure situated behind the gate. The town surrounding it was rather normal, if more spread out than what she'd grown used to, but she'd bet money that the pyramid was the government building. She doesn't know quite what she had been expecting of the Spriggan Capital, but this certainly wasn't it. Though maybe she should've, considering the Spriggan Capital was situated North of Undine territory and South-East of Leprechaun territory in the area of Alfheim known as the Ancient Ruins, a forest area that, surprise surprise, was littered with ancient ruins. Or that's what she'd learned online anyway. This was the first time she was stepping foot in Spriggan territory.
All that being said, it's a rather lovely place. She could easily see herself possibly buying a house here with Kirito if their former home on the 28th floor doesn't exist in New Aincrad and they ever grew tired of the hustle and bustle of Yggdrasil City. They were certainly more likely to settle here than the underground caverns that make up pretty much every town, including the capital, in Imp territory. It might be the race she chose, and the towns in the territory might be kind of pretty with the crystals lighting everything, but she couldn't see herself, or Kirito, ever living there.
She's dragged from both her thoughts and her study of the Spriggan Capital by a voice, "Err, uhh, Ki-Kirito?" Her, her mate, and their child turn their surprised gazes to the wide eyed man that had approached them, but before any of them get a chance to say anything he flushes with embarrassment and hurriedly continues, "Y-You're Kirito, right? Th-The Spriggan Lord has been wanting to talk to you really bad, so he's been having people wait at the gate watching for a Spriggan wielding two swords accompanied by a female Imp and a Navigation Pixie."
It's strange, but if she didn't know any better she'd say there was awe in the man's wide eyed gaze as he looks at Kirito. That can't be right though. The only Spriggan's Kirito has ever met was the Spriggan Lord, briefly, and those in their not yet official guild that had chosen that race, which was a grand total of two of Diabel's minions. Kirito gives the man a soothing smile, "Yes, I'm Kirito, however I don't have a lot of time-"
However, the man shakes his head quickly, "The Spriggan Lord said that he thought you were a rather busy man so he said to tell you that although it's important, it shouldn't take too long."
Immediately after he looks mortified to realize he'd cut Kirito off, but her mate decides to ignore the strange man for a moment to throw her a questioning glance. She gives him a shrug and he nods lightly, before turning back to the man, "Alright then. I'm afraid I haven't the faintest idea where the Spriggan Lord's office is however."
The man nods rapidly, "Yes, yes, I know." Then he blushes in embarrassment again, "S-Sorry, I didn't mean- Th-That is, the Spriggan Lord told me to bring you to him myself if I saw you, as he said you wouldn't know your way around the place."
Kirito waves a hand lazily to indicate that he isn't offended, "Quite alright. I don't know my way around the place, given that my location data got corrupted the first time I logged in and as such this is my first time in the Spriggan Capital."
The man relaxes and gives them a hesitant smile, "Th-Then please follow me."
The man turns and begins leading them over to the temple-like pyramid, all but confirming her suspicion that it was the Spriggan government building.
It's about ten minutes later that the man draws to a stop in front of an ornate stone door. He throws them a quick glance, then hesitantly knocks on the door before pushing it open, "Ururirior-sama? I've brought Kirito-sama like you requested…"
The Spriggan Lord that they'd only ever met the night New Aincrad was introduced to Alfheim straightens up from where he'd been slumped at his desk looking over various screens. As soon as he sees them he closes the screens with a vague wave of his hand, then glances at their guide, "Ah, Shiridisu, thank you, you can return to your other duties now."
Shiridisu nods in acceptance, giving Kirito one last wide eyed look of awe as he passes them before quickly scurrying away. They share a look as they enter the room before she turns to the Spriggan Lord, whose screen name she absently noted to actually be spelled as Ulririor though the pronunciation was expected given this was a Japanese server and she honestly prefers the way it's pronounced here, and jabs a thumb over her shoulder, "Seriously. What was that about? He kept glancing at Kirito in awe the whole way here, but he shouldn't know my husband at all."
Ulririor rubs at his well trimmed goatee in what she thinks might be vague embarrassment, "Ah, well, you really must see it from their perspective. Are you aware that until five months ago, the Salamander General Eugene was considered the indisputably strongest player in the game? That the Salamanders had been steadily pulling ahead in the race war and were the strongest in general? Then, we started hearing stories."
He raises an eyebrow, "First, it was that a Spriggan swordsman had wiped out two of the Salamander's tanky Lancer squad on his own. Then, it was that a duel wielding Spriggan swordsman had demolished a twelve man squad consisting of three tanks and nine high level mages with nothing more than a single Sylph healing and a single spell from him that turned him into a dragon. After that we hear of a duel wielding Spriggan swordsman beating General Eugene in one on one combat and supposedly would've annihilated a force of almost seventy Salamanders if Eugene hadn't given in and retreated. Perhaps the most startling thing though, is the fact that after we went our separate ways back when we met during the Aincrad unveiling I asked Eugene what that talk of fights and rematches was and learned that not only were the stories I'd been hearing true but that they in fact spoke of you."
He shakes his head, "In case you're forgetting, the Spriggan are supposedly the weakest race. Really, I'd be more surprising if the Spriggan didn't think highly of you."
She raises an eyebrow at her mate, "... You really need to get around to telling me about the adventures you got up to while on your way to release Asuna and I from that creep Sugou, because it sounds like you had quite a bit of fun." Kirito gives her a grin, and she shakes her head at him before turning back to Ulririor, "They think highly of him, you say, looked like a bit more than that to me."
Ulririor shrugs sheepishly, "It might be more accurate to say that despite the fact none of them have ever seen him, and indeed that he's never even been to the capital, that they consider him more of the Spriggan's prized jewel, or perhaps their unofficial prince, but really can you blame them? The Spriggan have been not only seen as the weakest race but also as something of a joke. Then he comes along and while the other races grew wary of us, they also started treating us with respect for the first time since the game launched."
At that point Ulririor clears his throat, a slightly nervous look entering his eyes, "Which brings us to why I wanted to speak with you…"
He pauses briefly, seeming unsure how to continue, so Hanna takes pity on both him and her distinctly uncomfortable mate, "Let me guess, as the Spriggan Lord you have something of a duty to try and insure Kirito doesn't officially abandon the Spriggan territory, possibly see if you can convince him to back the Spriggan during race wide events?"
Ulririor nods, "Indeed. I recalled that back when New Aincrad was unveiled that you were discussing creating a multi-race guild with your friends, however with the Grand Quest that once pitted the races against each other now gone, there's technically anything wrong with such-"
Kirito lifts a hand to cut him off, then smiles awkwardly, "It's fun to play with one's friends, but it can also be fun to play against them every now and then. As long as no one makes a fuss about me playing with my friends when there isn't a race wide event taking place, with me possibly opting out of events if they start happening too frequently, and no one tries to involve me in politics then I'd be more than happy to stay loyal to the Spriggan."
Ulririor relaxes considerably, "That's more than acceptable. Honestly, I know some of the other races' Lords, like Mortimore, can be far more controlling than necessary, but as long as you don't abandon your territory, show up if we need you, and drop by every now and then just so the Spriggans can see you around, then I really don't care much what you do."
Then he grins, "I'm quite happy to hear that last part of your terms though. I couldn't in good conscious not make an attempt to insure the loyalty of the Spriggan that has single handedly all but turned the Spriggan's reputation around, but given how popular you are amongst the Spriggan before you'd even stepped foot in the capital and you're loyalty was still questionable you could easily take my spot as the Spriggan Lord through popular vote if you ran for the position."
Kirito grimaces, "No thank you. I really can't stand politics."
Ulririor nods, "Like I said, I'm quite glad to hear it." Then he leans back in his seat, "You really are something else though, you know that?"
Kirito shrugs, but doesn't say anything, so she decides to reenter the conversation with a grin, "Well, to be fair, Kirito and I did make up two thirds of the top three strongest players in Aincrad. And the only one that had any sort of claim to being stronger than us was Heathcliff, who turned out to be Kayaba in disguise mind you. If you don't believe me but happen to know anyone that was in SAO, ask them if they've ever heard of The Black Swordsman or The She-Devil."
Ulririor stares at them with wide eyes, "I-I'll do that…"
There's a pause, then Kirito clears his throat, "Well, if that was everything, my wife and I should probably be leaving to meet with our guild for the raid."
Ulririor shakes his head, clearly gathering himself, "There wasn't anything else I needed to discuss with you, no. It was good seeing you again Kirito." Then he turns his gaze to her, "And you as well Hanna."
They just give lazy waves over their shoulders as they leave. When they get outside Kirito rolls his shoulders as though he's trying to physically rid himself of the awkward embarrassment, "Well… I suppose there goes our plans to explore before the raid…"
She grins teasingly at him, "Maybe but that wasn't exactly a waste of time either, Kirito-sama, besides, you told him you'd come back every now and then so your fellow Spriggan could see their 'prize jewel prince' around."
Her mate gives her a weak glare then sighs, "Come on. I just wanna fight something right now."
She laughs lightly, but follows him without complaint. By the time they teleport to New Aincrad's eighth floor the raid party has gathered, and seemed to just be waiting on them, despite the fact they're a few minutes early. Predictably their friends pick up on Kirito's pouting despite the fact he's not physically pouting. Klein raises an eyebrow at her, "What's wrong with him? I thought you were supposed to be exploring the Spriggan Capital." Then he lifts his hand with to cut her off before she can even open her mouth, "Wait, don't tell me- You stopped him from trying some weird food."
She grins, "Nope!"
That draws more eyebrows from their friends, but it's Asuna that responds, "Then, what, did you stop him from napping?"
Her grin widens but this time just wordlessly shakes her head. Lizbeth huffs out a breath, "Then what is it?! Come on, don't leave us in suspense, especially since you clearly find it funny!"
She laughs brightly, "Alright, alright! So, we go to the Spriggan Capital and there's a guy waiting for us there. Apparently the Spriggan Lord wanted to talk to Kirito so badly he'd constantly had someone hanging around the gate watching for Kirito. Long story short, apparently all the shenanigans Kirito managed to get up even while he was on his way to find out if Asuna and I were here has shifted the reputation of the Spriggan from a weak joke to a race to be wearily respected."
Then she gestures at her mate so their gazes shift to him, "As a direct result we are apparently in the presence of the Spriggan's prized jewel and unofficial prince, Kirito-sama."
Kirito slumps as their friends crack up, then gives her another weak glare, "You know I love you with every fiber of my being, but sometimes I hate you."
She shakes her head, "If you say so, Kirito-sama." Then she grins at him, "Though if you'd prefer me to tell a different story, there's always that time you and Asuna-"
Predictably a hand quickly covers her mouth, "That's quite enough of story time!"
Asuna, who had noticeably stopped laughing, nods emphatically in agreement. The rest of their friends trade looks, but it's a narrow eyed Lizbeth that speaks, "You know, one of these days I'm going to get this mysterious story about you and Asuna that you two are so desperate to keep secret out of your wife."
Kirito glares at their friend, "Never."
Lizbeth waves a hand flippantly, then grins, "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Kirito-sama."
Diabel coughs pointedly, "As amusing as this is, since everyone is now gathered, perhaps we should head for the boss raid?"
Klein grins, "Sure. Assuming Kirito isn't too much of a prissy prince to get his hands dirty. Metaphorically speaking."
Kirito glares at him, "This so-called 'prissy prince' can take you anyday." Then he turns away with a huff, "Now come on, there's a boss we need to beat up."
Without another word he pushes his wings out of his back. He briefly rolls his shoulders, then takes off. She gives her friends a brief amused grin, then pushes her wings out and quickly catches up to her mate, "You remember to lay on your side before diving?"
A snort is her initial answer, "Not likely to forget after the first couple times."
Just like the NerveGear, the AmuSphere blocked signals going from the brain to the rest of the body and replaced them with data on whatever world the user was diving in. This nit only allowed them to experience the VR world, it also kept players from moving their body while in VR. However, as she and Kirito had found out the hard way, while it blocked the electrical signals between the brain and body, it did nothing to the magical signals. Which made sense when one paused and thought about it, since it was non-magical tech created by non-magicals. However, as she and Kirito had discovered quite by accident this also meant that when they manually brought out their wings in Alfheim, they also unintentionally brought out their wings in the real world. There was nothing quite as physically uncomfortable, even mildly painful, as wings pushing their way out of your back when you happen to be laying on it.
Easily twisting through the air until she's flying backwards in front of him she shoots him a grin, "That's fair I suppose, but it did take you longer than I thought it would to learn your lesson."
Kirito rolls his eyes, "That's because I'm still getting used to the idea of having wi- those IRL." Then he eyes her for a moment before huffing lightly and mumbling, "I still say you have an unfair advantage there."
'There' being flying of course, seeing as unlike all the humans in the game she did have experience flying. Actually, when she'd first joined Alfheim she'd first played with the idea of being a Sylph or Spriggan as they were the two whose wing shape most closely matched her demonic secondary wings, even if in real life they were almost entirely for maneuverability. She'd been leaning towards the former since they got a speed buff but had eventually discarded the idea entirely. Excelling in Dark magic, gifted with natural night vision, and possessing the unique ability to fly underground for short periods, though not in dungeons themselves as the Spriggan could, it had been the purple Imp she had eventually settled on.
She shrugs, "Can't be helped. It's just the way I was born and it's not like I have any control over that."
He sighs, "Yeah, I know." Then his lips twitch, "You might wanna start paying attention to where you're going though. Unless you want to run into that tree?"
She grins and banks left without taking her eyes off of him, missing the tree easily, "That tree?"
Her mate rolls his eyes, but there's a faint grin playing on his lips, "Show off. Got eyes on the back of your head or something?"
She simultaneously turns and drops back slightly until she's flying next to him facing forwards, "Course not."
She doesn't, however, elaborate on how she avoided the tree, drawing a predictable huff from her mate. She shoots him another grin before turning away. Aincrad's eighth floor was yet another forest, however, it was also flooded. In the original Aincrad, this had forced players to use either the suspended paths or the roots of the humongous trees, which were so large that in many cases the tips of the trees brushed the bottom of the ninth floor, to get around, and falling off meant searching for a tree with a ladder. In New Aincrad, flying made everything remarkably easier, especially since the new developers had done away with the fake Grand Quest and added in infinite flight for all races.
Another difference between the eighth floor of the original Aincrad and New Aincrad was the trees themselves. In the old Aincrad, they'd been pristine, but along with completely changing the floor's boss they'd also burnt a considerable number of the trees to create environmental lore. Not to total ruin, but many of the trees were scorched nonetheless. The closer one got to the boss dungeon, the more extensive the damage was, with the worst being those immediately surrounding the dungeon and the dungeon itself, which had been changed from the standard tower old Aincrad had used into the largest of the floor's trees.
When they enter the dungeon, the party pauses in the entrance to let some stragglers catch up. While Kirito waits for the stragglers and makes sure everyone's here she makes her way over to Leafa, who was running her fingers over a plaque near the door.
Ymir adding in those had raised a bit of controversy, both over possibly of bringing up bad memories for former SAO players and because people in general seemed to want to forget about the catastrophe as soon as possible, but Ymir had remained firm in their way of wanting to acknowledge what had once happened in Aincrad. The plaques were records of the players that had died on each floor, with their real names next to their screen names, and also contained a list of the players that had originally cleared the floor in question, without the real names of those that were still alive obviously.
Glancing over, she sees Leafa running her finger over Kirito's name. There's a beat of silence before the Sylph sighs, "You know… Onii-chan isn't exactly secretive about back then, but there's still a lot I don't know about those two years. I didn't even know you two were front liners until I saw your names on the plaque on the first floor. It took me quite by surprise, and even now that I know I still feel a bit of surprise when I see you and Onii-chan's names on these…"
She tilts her head as her gaze drifts over the ornate slab of metal, "Well… I'm not quite sure what to say to that to be honest… I know that if you asked, Kirito would probably tell you about the majority of what we got up to in Aincrad, but he also probably won't go out of his way to talk about it… I suggest you get used to seeing our names on these though. We were front liners all the way from the first floor to the seventy-fifth. There were a few floors we didn't help map, mostly the desert floors because Kirito cannot cope with heat," Leafa giggles at that and Hanna shoots her a grin before finishing, "but even then we participated in the raids."
Then she tilts her head back in thought, "Though I do wonder how they'll handle the Gleam Eyes or Heathcliff. Kirito practically solo'd the former, but a couple of us managed to get hits in. I don't know if you know this, but the latter turned out to be Kayaba in disguise, who was supposed to be the final boss, a fact Kirito worked out right after we beat the seventy-fifth floor's boss. As a 'reward' for figuring out his identity Kayaba let Kirito challenge him to a one on one duel to the death for the chance to release us all early. It should be obvious who won that fight."
Leafa stares at her with wide eyes, "I… I didn't know that actually…"
Hanna gives her a sad smile, before quietly asking, "Why do you think the other SAO players' secondary moniker for him besides 'The Black Swordsman' is 'Kirito the Hero'?" Then she lets out a sharp laugh, "I have never, either before then or since, wanted to punch Kirito so bad in my life then when he left me paralyzed on the floor of the boss room to go fight Heathcliff on his own. He was called the strongest player in the game you know? Admittedly, Kirito and I weren't far behind him, but the point still stands."
Leafa turns her incredulous stare to where Kirito is, then looks down sadly, "You know, the more I learn about those two years, the less I feel I know him…"
She gives the other girl a kind smile, "Now you're just being ridiculous. He's never lied to you about who he is, either explicitly or through his actions. He's still your older brother."
Leafa smiles faintly at that, then turns her gaze back to the plaque. She stares at it briefly, then removes her hand from it as she nods firmly. Before anything more can be said Kirito calls out, "Hanna, Leafa, come on! We're heading to the boss now!"
Hanna gives Leafa one last smile before turning to catch up with her mate. He shoots her a questioning glance, but she merely shakes her head. The trek up to the boss room is remarkably boring. Aincrad had only allowed parties of up to six players, but Alfheim allowed up to seven. Her party consisted of Kirito, Lizbeth, Silica, Agil, Leafa, Asuna, and herself. The Moonlit Black Cats, minus Asuna but with Thinker and Yulier rounding it out to seven made up another party.
The former members of Fuurinkazan had also joined the guild and were there, Klein was leading one of the parties of the formerly eleven man guild, whereas the other had welcomed Recon -who'd been invited into the not yet official guild by Kirito and Leafa-, Sasha, and Schmidt to round it out to a full party and was being led by Kunimittz(1), the former second in command of Fuurinkazan. Diabel was leading a party composed of Caynz, Yolko, and four of his former minions. Five full parties making for a total of 35 people made traversing the dungeon rather boring.
Thankfully, with the map data Argo had acquired they knew exactly where they were going, so it didn't take very long to reach the boss room. There's a brief pause as the Undines quickly cast various buffing spells on their respective parties, including fire resistance spells, that should each last ten minutes before needing to be renewed. Most of them were considered standard for boss fights, but the fire resistance spells were because the boss and the minions it summoned were all on fire and approaching them without protection would cause damage over time.
Once that's done Kirito turns to their still unofficial guild mates, "Everyone already knows what they should be doing, so I won't insult everyone's intelligence by going over it again. That said, the boss, «Wadjet the Flaming Serpent», has already defeated 26 raid parties, so don't be careless!"
With that said, he turns back around and pushes the door open, and it's something of a mad dash for everyone to get into position as the boss goes through its 'awakening' animation. Standing off to the side with her party, she glances at Asuna as the Undine lets out a sigh, "Something wrong Asuna?"
Her friend shakes her head, "No. It's just… I know, intellectually that the circumstances are vastly different between Aincrad and Alfheim, but I've gotten so used to the prep we used to put in before even attempting a boss that this kinda feels like a careless rush."
She laughs, "Maybe, but without the threat of death, that's the funnest way to do things!"
The Undine throws her a look of fond exasperation, "I really should've guessed that you would prefer to go in with metaphorical guns blazing and the bare minimum of a plan."
She laughs again, but before she can respond the boss lets out an angry roar. A split second later Pina gives a shrill chirping noise from its spot on top of Silica's head, prompting the younger girl to call out, "Minion summoning incoming!"
Immediately they turn their attention back to the boss. The boss possesses the face of a beautiful woman with a hood similar to a cobra's, a four armed but otherwise human torso, a snake's body from the hips down, its scales are black, and the skin on its human portion was a dark metallic bronze that was clothed in black and gold ancient Egyptian styled clothing. The boss swings the bronze torch in its lower right hand, and about forty pillars of fire erupt, swirling like mini tornadoes before compressing into the vaguely humanoid shape of fire elementals.
Just one fire elemental was almost laughably easy to deal with, but having so many to deal with made it considerably harder, especially given that they halved physical damage dealt to them, and the boss was around as well and could cause serious problems if it clumped up with its minions. Which was why part of their strategy was to have the two strongest parties, Kirito's and Klein's, focus on taking them out as quickly as possible while three of the other parties were simultaneously whittling away at the boss's seven HP bars and keeping it off their backs. The last party -the Moonlit Black Cats, Thinker, and Yulier- were also helping with the boss but their primary job was to keep an eye out for a specific attack the boss would do so they could quickly counter it.
Darting in, she starts stabbing at the mobs as she moves through them, aggroing twelve and drawing them a bit away from the other two parties focused on dealing with the minions. From there it's practically a dance as she flits through the group, tearing into them when she can, but often luring them close then flipping, rolling, cartwheeling, or jumping out of the way so they more often than not end up clawing at each other.
Other than the fact it contains most of the strongest players in their guild, this was the reason her party was one of the two dealing with the minions. Her unique skill set made it so she was practically specialized in taking on large groups on her own. It let the others only have to deal with only one or two at a time, which subsequently meant killing the minions would go a lot faster than it otherwise might. After all, one fire elemental was almost laughably easy to deal with.
She's already killed seven of the elementals before Kirito comes over to draw two of her opponents away. A quick glance around tells her that it's because hers are the only minions left.
Once the last minions are dealt with Kirito calls out, "Diabel, Kunimittz, switch your parties with mine and Klein's at the next break!"
He gets vague calls of confirmation back. It's only a minute or two later that the boss rears up until its head nearly touches the ceiling, immediately the mages hanging near the back begin to chant spells in preparation. A moment later the boss horizontally swings one of the swords held by its upper arms. Purple lightning spreads out around it, materializing huge half transparent swords. The players concentrated around the boss scatter, with those using shields or two handed weapons raising their equipment to block. A split second later the boss lets out a shriek and swings its sword down, launching the swords at their guild mates. Those blocking hold their ground against the assault, whereas the other members of the parties dodge.
The flames engulfing the boss fade with the use of a major skill and without hesitation the mages release the spells to impede movement that they'd finished chanting. Normally, boss monsters were practically immune to debuffs, but their movement could be sealed for up to ten seconds with the right timing. As soon as the silver chains and golden threads ensnare Wadjet, Kirito calls out to Klein, Diabel, and Kunimittz, "Now!"
As their parties switch, she can't help but smile. Everyone was really enjoying themselves. It was completely obvious, from the large grins to the vigorous way everyone was throwing themselves into the fight. Losing would disappoint everyone, but even if they didn't win, it was clear that everyone would still have fun. It might be a bit cheesy, but Hanna figured that was what was important.
However, that didn't mean that she, and everyone else for that matter, didn't want to win, so after switching the parties they attack the still immobilized boss with gusto. As the ten seconds of sealing run out, Wadjet shakes itself, then with a shriek it brandishes the crosier held in its lower left hand. Immediately, the circular pillars standing in rows near the walls begin to rumble as they spun, revealing the large mirrors on the other side. Without hesitation, the Moonlit Black Cats, along with Thinker, Yulier, and one of Diabel's minions each rush over to one of the eight mirrors and start manually turning them, and Kirito calls for everyone to move.
They hadn't yet fought this boss but apparently Wadjet's crosier shot out a ray of light from the crystal ball on the end that was capable of instantly killing anyone in the way. As if that wasn't bad enough, the light ray would hit the mirrors and be reflected in complex patterns, making it pretty much impossible to predict its trajectory. The mirrors could be broken if one wailed on them enough, but their durability was ridiculously high. However, the plus side of having twenty six parties come before them was that an alternate method to deal with the mirrors had been figured out.
Even as she follows her mate away from the boss she gazes over her shoulder in curiosity. A couple moments later a dusky green ray of light erupted out of Wadjet's raised crosier. The light ray that hit one of the mirrors on the west side of the room should have bounced off towards another mirror instantly, killing all players in its path. However, the mirrors had been adjusted by the players, and instead the light ray immediately bounced back and hit Wadjet. The boss shrieked and thrashed, the ray taking off three quarters of even one of its health bars.
She grins widely. She really does have something of an adoration for tactics that make the mobs hurt themselves.
Her gaze drifts around in curiosity, trying to spot differences between Sword Art Online's ninth floor and Alfheim's, but there aren't any that are immediately apparent. At a bare minimum, she knew that the dungeon layouts would be reworked, the bosses and mobs' difficulty cracked up, and that for the time being that there would be a brand new boss at the end of each labyrinth. Whether they would or should reuse any bosses from Sword Art Online was still being debated, but for the time being they were creating entirely new bosses for each floor.
A sigh draws her gaze to a widely grinning Klein, "Man, that got hectic near the end there, didn't it?"
She laughs, "You're telling me! No one mentioned that Wadjet summoned so many minions when her last bar hit the halfway point. I don't know if it's simply that no one's gotten that far, or if there were parties holding information back in the hopes that the boss would hold out long enough to beat her later, but that was one hell of a surprise. It was fun though, yeah?"
He chuckles, "Definitely!"
Kirito smiles warmly at her, "Indeed. We should probably be logging out now though…"
She glances at him, then glances down and to the right at the clock, "Right…"
Klein lifts a brow, "You guys got plans?"
Hanna shrugs, somewhat uncomfortable, "I'm going over to Kiriro's for dinner tonight."
Klein grins lightly, "Meeting the parents?"
She glances away, "Something like that…"
While it was true she'd yet to meet her mate's mother, that was only part of the reason for tonight. The main reason was that while her mother had explained about magic and soulmates when she'd gone over there to explain why Kazuto would be gone for over thirty-six hours without a word when they bonded, she hadn't told either his mother or sister about her family's… heritage. Or what it would mean for Kazuto.
Plus, she and Kazuto still have to tell his mother about Yui. For all that she wants to get to know her mate's family, she isn't exactly looking forward to the conversation that she'd soon be having with his mother and sister. His father won't be there as he was apparently too busy with work to attend the dinner to meet his son's significant other. Not that he was a terrible father. He'd apparently taken time off when Kazuto was first trapped with the rest of them and there was a high chance he could lose his son, and he'd also taken a bit of time off when Kazuto woke up, but he was still usually too busy to spend all that much time with his family.
With a wary sigh she logs herself out to prepare herself for what was to come.