Agil's party was the first to charge forward, supported by Diavel's party. I look back at Dynamm, Harry, and Asuna and nod before charging in myself, leading them towards Illfang from a flanking angle. The sound of battle fills the air as Klein's group clashes weapons with the sentinels. Wolfgang blocks a downward swing from Illfang as I pivot to attack from Illfang's left flank. Illfang raises his ax again, down towards Agil, who blocks with his ax.
With Illfang engaged, I rush in with a diagonal slash. The blade connects, slashing across the boss's hip. As I follow through, there is a flash as Asuna follows up with a blindingly fast thrust with her rapier. The damage draws Illfang's attention. I jump back as Asuna jump aside and Illfang swings horizontally at us.
The blow is blocked by Dynamm, who's shield halts the ax with an echoing noise of steel on steel. Dynamm groans under the strength of the blow, but he holds firm. An ax blow from Agil draws the attention of the boss back to the tanks. I look at Asuna who nods as we move back, our positions are quickly replaced by Diavel and his group who begin to attack Illfang.
"We're moving around to the right flank!" I shout as I begin to run around the boss. I take a glance to see Klein and Artoria working in tandem. Klein knocking up the swing of a sentinel as Artoria rushes in, slashing the sentinel across the abdomen while another party, led by an orange, spiky haired man supports them. Kunimittz, Issin, and Dale meanwhile are handling the other two sentinels, deftly trading off who is defending and aggressing with superb fluidity.
They make a good team. I think to myself as I pivot on my feet and rush in with an upward vertical along Illfang's leg. Asuna rushes in, jumping to get a thrust into the exposed armpit of the boss as his ax was raised. Illfang roars but before his attention can pivot to us, a hammer and shield wielding tank rushes in, striking the boss and regaining his attention. Dynamm and Harry rush in, mirroring their moves as they attack Illfang. I take a glance at his health bar. The first health bar was nearing depletion.
"Kaze!" Asuna shouts at me in warning as I look at her and notice movement. The attacks of Dynamm and Harry had gotten the attention of the boss and his ax was flying towards us.
"Shit!" I exclaim, swinging my sword to parry the blow. The ax hits my katana with incredible force.
Holy hell this guy has been juicing… I think to myself, I could feel my muscles and bones trembling as the shockwave of the parry traveled up by arms, sending a jolt of pain into my head. I felt my feet get pushed back a few inches. I let out a pant but the flash of a shadow as Illfang raises the ax again dashed any relief.
Oh god. Not like this. I prepare to parry the next blow but Dynamm rushes in to block the swing, and Agil jumps in, bringing his ax down on the boss's arm. I jump back and look at Asuna beside me.
"You alright?" She asks as I nod.
"Yeah. He hits hard. I think he works out." I respond, chuckling dryly. She shakes her head.
"Is this the place to be joking?" She asks, scoffing as I down a health potion to restore the health I lost absorbing the blow.
"I figured humor made me more charming." I grin, wincing as an aftershock runs through my head.
"Try not to die on us, ok?" Asuna replies, returning her attention to Illfang as I take an attack position. Then pause and look at Asuna. Was I getting told off by the quiet shut-in? I shake my head, bemused, then look back at Illfang and charge back in.
With Illfang's attention once again returned to the tank parties, Harry swings his hammer into Illfang's knee as I follow up with a horizontal slash across the boss's waist. Asuna rushes in, following my swing with a thrust at the same point. We jump back, but fortunately, Dynamm is not needed as Wolfgang and Agil keep the boss's attention.
I step back as Diavel's group rushes in, looking at Asuna as I take a health potion and catch my breath. The second health bar was gone. Klein's group rushes over and joins us, panting. The other support team had traded off with him, giving us both respites.
"How you holding up, Asuna?" I ask her as she nods.
"I'm fine. Once I catch my breath, I'm ready to jump in again." She responds, nodding and glancing at the boss.
"You all look like you're having fun." Klein remarks, downing a health potion as he interjects. Harry and Dale chuckle and I give him a thumbs up.
"That fat bastard can really bring down a blow. You feel the parry in the core of your bones." I remark, shaking my head, remembering both times I was forced to block a swing.
"Yeah, you still feel it, even with a shield." Harry adds, rolling his shoulder like it was sore.
"Yeah, that doesn't look like fun." Issin comments, stretching. I look at Artoria, who looked none the worse for wear.
"How are you feeling, Artoria? Are they working you too hard?" I ask her. She looks at me and shakes her head.
"I'm doing fine. I think I'm getting a hang of it." Artoria replies, smiling and nodding emphatically.
"She's more than got the hang of it. She's incredible with the timing. I think my blade is faster as is my damage output but she's got this sense of timing." Klein remarks, grinning and looking at Artoria who flushes at the compliment.
"I'm not that good. I'm just… doing what makes sense." Artoria responds, shaking her head. Kunimittz lets out a rare laugh and smacks her on the back.
"Bullshit. You're a pro at it. You have a rhythm and timing in fighting that makes it hard to believe this is your first foray into gaming." Kunimittz interjects, causing Artoria to flush more.
"Some people just have a natural knack for it I guess." I remark, steering them away from prying too deeply.
"What about you guys?" Dynamm asks, looking at Dale, Kunimittz and Issin. Dale nods.
"We're holding up fine. Frankly, we feel a little neglected. Kibaou's group is rather aggressive, so they are doing most of the leg work." Dale replies, chuckling and shrugging.
"Yeah… they are pretty assertive on controlling the fight." Issin remarks, scratching his neck.
Asuna looks at me and nods. I nod back and look at the others, stretching. My movements get the attention of Dynamm and Harry.
"We going back in?" Harry asks as I nod.
"Yep, once more unto the breach, dear friends." I reply and the others nod. Asuna grins subtly but the others appear to have not gotten my reference. We charge back into the fray of battle as Klein and Issin cheer us on.
My sword rakes across Illfang's back as Asuna follows up with a thrust from her rapier. The boss's final health bar drops into the red and he jumps back.
"Everybody get back!" Diavel shouts as Illfang dumps his shield and ax. Asuna and I retreat with Dynamm and Harry behind us. Suddenly, Diavel charges in with a shout, sword and shield at the ready. Asuna and I stare in surprise, watching Diavel and Illfang as the boss reaches behind himself and draws not a talwar but a nodachi. Diavel lets out a shout of surprise, unable to react fast enough as Illfang's blade strikes him, sending him flying. I watch Diavel hit the ground tumbling and rolling, his healthbar draining and draining to nothing. He disappears in a burst of digitalized particles. Everyone stares in surprise.
That was a real death. He's dead. Someone just died. I think to myself, I look down at my sword, it shakes slightly. I was trembling. I inhale, and exhale slowly to regain my composure.
"Leader's down but we aren't out of the fight yet!" I shout to rally my team, charging back in. Asuna nods and follows me, with Harry charging ahead and Dynamm following behind us. As we charge in, I hear someone from Kibaou's team shout something about there being more sentinels than what was mentioned. I glance over at Castoria and Klein, who are now busy desperately fighting two sentinels. There was indeed more sentinels.
"Kaze!" Dynamm shouts as I look back at Illfang. His nodachi was flying right at me. He had sidestepped Harry. I raise my katana to block.
Shit shit shit. It's too slow. No no no. Not like this. My blood runs cold, his nodachi coming down far faster than I could meet it with my own. I feel something tug me from behind, tossing me back as the nodachi swings past. I tumble and roll back. Dynamm had pulled me away. I stand up, but there was a throbbing pain in my arm. I look down.
Where's my sword? I think to myself. My sword was not in my- Where's my hand? Where the fuck is my hand? I look around. Everything past my forearm was gone, a glowing red stump just past my elbow was all there was. My hand, holding my katana skidded across the floor about 5 meters away, the hand bursting into particles. I felt the breath leave my lungs. I stumble back.
My arm. I-it's gone. No no no no. I feel a sense of nausea rush over me. Asuna tumbles back near me, her health in the red. Her cape, damaged too greatly, disappears in particles.
We're going to die here. I think to myself, my blood running so cold it felt like my heart had stopped. I look at Asuna. I look over at Harry as he buckles under a blow. Agil's line had been broken and Diavel's team was scattered.
I failed. I don't want to die. Get me out of here. I try to stand up, to run. I no longer cared about this fight. I just wanted out of here. But my legs wouldn't move. They were shaking yet they felt made of concrete. I smack them.
"M-move damn you!" I shout at my legs as Asuna pushes off the ground on all fours, looking at me with a sense of mortal panic. I stare at her, just another person I failed to protect. I look back at Illfang as he raises his nodachi to swing at Harry. Dynamm was dragging an armless Wolfgang out of the fight. Harry wouldn't survive that swing.
As the boss began to bring his nodachi down, a wadded ball of white and blue fabric flew through the air, intercepting the blade. While it didn't do much to stop the blade, the impact of the nodachi against Harry's shield was slightly reduced. The fabric bursts into particles as Harry is knocked back, tumbling with a tiny sliver of health remaining.
"Haha! I'm suddenly feeling a bit more inspired!" A female voice shouts out. A familiar voice. I look over at the source of the noise as a woman in blue and red light armor dashed forward, her ponytail of white hair flowing behind her, as she wore a grin that looked both cheerily playful and yet bloodthirsty. I felt my breathing disappear again. It was her.
Musashi…
I stare at her. It really was her. She had returned.
"Let's see how you hold together against my blade, big guy!" Musashi shouts gleefully, dodging a swing from Illfang and dashing into his guard, following through with a horizontal slash and a quick vertical slash. She was blindingly fast, jumping back and avoiding the boss's counter attack.
"Ha! Too slow! You'll have to be faster than that!" She laughs as she sidesteps back into Illfang's guard, striking with her katana along Illfang's arm, carrying through as she rushes past and behind him, pivoting around and bringing her sword down in a vertical cut as Illfang turns around to swing at her, yet she deftly intercepts his blow by swinging at the blade of his nodachi, near the hilt. Musashi laughs again.
"You got some strength, what's your workout regimen?" Musashi teases as she slips under Illfang's blade as soon as she parries, using the same motion to slash at his legs. I look around as everyone was just staring at the fight between the two. Kibaou's group had seized control of the sentinel situation again. I glance back at Musashi as she jumps back from a rampaging Illfang. She grins and dashes back in, ducking under the boss's swing and continuing into a rushing diagonal slash followed by a blinding series of slashes I couldn't fully follow. Agil's group cheers her on as Illfang's health bleeds down further and further with each slash.
Illfang rears back to bring down his nodachi again, and Musashi swings her sword once more blocking the blade as she rushes in, jumping off and swinging her sword down into Illfang's neck. The slash cuts deep through the boss's neck and with the cut, his health bar plunges to zero. In an instant, Illfang bursts into a massive explosion of digital particles and moments later, a popup saying "Congratulations" appears above where Illfang had just stood. Musashi sheathes her katana with a satisfied grin. Everyone stares at her in silence. Even the sentinels were gone.
Agil is the first to clap, followed by the rest of his party. The clapping and cheering spreads to the other parties. I look at Asuna who is smiling in relief, her eyes watery. Klein claps as Artoria doubles over, panting in exhaustion. I slowly stand up as a popup appears in front of me, displaying what I got from the fight. I had gotten a new set of armor, which was a relief. I equip the new armor and look at Musashi, who is trying on what she had gotten from the fight, a dark coat. She was pouting as she lifted up the sides.
I pick up my katana, sheathing it with my left hand as I walk over to Musashi. She looks at me with a pout.
"Ritsuka! Look at this! You see what they gave me?!" She complains, gesturing at the coat, immediately jumping to complaining rather than greeting me. I just stare at her, bemused.
"Uhh… yeah. I think it's called the Coat of Midnight or something. It's the Final Blow reward or whatever." I respond. She shakes her head and pouts.
"But it doesn't look good on me. It's like, not cute. At all. And black isn't really my thing either." She complains. She looks me over and grins.
"Wanna trade drops? This would look better on you anyway." She asks me insistently, hopefully. "I'll even treat you to udon!" She adds, sweetening the deal.
"No you won't. You'll just dine and dash like always and I'll be stuck with the bill since I'm a slower runner." I reply, shaking my head.
"Hey! Why didn't you intervene sooner? Diavel wouldn't be dead if you didn't take your sweet time!" A blue haired man from Diavel's party interjects, walking over angrily. Musashi turns to look at the man and cocks her head.
"I don't remember being brought on to be a hero. He tried to rush the boss and got killed. That's on him." Musashi responds plainly, shrugging.
"You bitch!" One of Diavel's party members calls out as Musashi sticks her tongue out at the group.
"You were just waiting to steal the kill yourself and get the last strike bonus!" Kibaou calls out, pointing an accusing finger at Musashi. She looks down at the black cloak.
"What? This thing? Sorry, but this is not at all my style. I was definitely not after this. You can duel me for it though!" She replies, grinning. Kibaou scowls and does not offer a duel, remembering that this woman had still solo'd the second phase of the boss.
When Kibaou does not step up to her challenge, the fervor by the two parties starts to die down to quiet grumbles. Musashi then looks at me and grins.
"Hard to please this crowd." She states, unequipping the coat. I chuckle as the others walk over.
"Thanks… you really saved us." Klein says, grinning and offering his hand for Musashi to shake. She smiles and shakes Klein's hand.
"What is your name?" Dale asks curiously. Musashi breaks the handshake and looks at Dale.
"You can call me Miyamoto." Musashi introduces herself cheerily. Dale nods.
"Miyamoto huh… like the legendary swordsman?" Asuna asks curiously, earning a smile and a nod from Musashi.
"Correct." She replies, looking Asuna over. "Ah! What a pretty swordswoman! We should duel sometime!" Musashi adds gleefully, earning a subtle blush from Asuna.
"Careful, Asuna. Musashi is a bit of a lecher." I comment teasingly, as Musashi pouts.
"I am not! I just appreciate a pretty face, boy or girl! Even better when they can fight!" She retorts as I laugh. I look at Artoria who just looks happy to be alive as she curiously watches the energetic conversation with Musashi. Musashi looks at Artoria next.
"Oh my god! She's adorable! Ritsuka! Where are you getting these swordswomen?!" Musashi remarks as she walks over to a flustered and now very awkward Artoria.
"That's Artoria. Do go easy on her, she's as fragile as she is small." I comment as Musashi laughs and Artoria looks at me.
"Don't call me small! Besides, I'm still growing!" Artoria snaps at me. Harry, Issin, Klein and Dale laugh. I look back at Musashi.
"So… Miyamoto. Would you join our party? We could use your skills." I ask her, hopefully.
Come on. Please. I can't say goodbye again. Let's fight together again, one more time, please. I plead inside my head as Musashi looks at me. She thinks for a moment as my heart pounds inside my chest. After what feels like a long moment, Musashi nods.
"Sure! As long as y'all cover my drink tabs!" She responds affirmatively, grinning. I look at her and raise an eyebrow.
"Wouldn't we be covering all your tabs, since you never pay them?" I ask her mockingly as I invite her to my party. She pouts as she accepts the invitation.
"What do you take me for? A wandering rogue?" Musashi asks.
"Yes." I respond simple and confidently. She slumps her shoulders.
"And after I put so much effort into trying to look like a cool, badass swordswoman for you." She replies, pouting. I shrug indifferently.
"How is it that you seem to know all these pretty women that are scary good with weapons, Kaze?" Klein asks, watching our exchange. I look at him.
"She… practices the same school of kendo as me." I reply, thinking up an excuse as quickly as I can. Klein nods.
"Shall we go check out the new floor?" Harry asks excitedly, changing the topic. I look at him, then the others. Musashi and Artoria nod, then Klein and Dale, followed by the others.
"Guess we best stop procrastinating then." I state, turning to head for the stairs across the room. Half the raid party had already left while we were talking. I walk alongside Musashi, with Asuna just behind us, followed by the others with Artoria trailing.
Well, one down. Only 99 more to go. Though, Musashi should make everything significantly easier. I think to myself, wandering up the winding staircase. After what feels to my impatient self like forever, we enter a room with open double doors at the end. Light streamed in from outside. Musashi runs forward excitedly as I follow after her at a more relaxed pace.
As I step out of the room into the outdoors, it takes a moment for my vision to adjust to the light, but once it does, I see that we stand on a cliff overlooking the second floor. Forest, peppered by flat topped mountains, tablelands stretched across the horizon.
"Woah…" Asuna lets out a gasp as she walks up and past me to the edge of the cliff to get a better look. Musashi was sitting nearby, legs hanging off the edge of the cliff.
"Well, that's something impressive…" Klein remarks, stepping out of the dungeon and into the outdoors. Dale lets out a soft gasp as well, taking in the view.
"You don't really appreciate landscapes in non-fulldive games. This, however, is incredible." Issin remarks, scanning the horizon and smiling. I walk over and join Asuna as Artoria walks up alongside me.
"So, what do you think Artoria?" I ask, looking at her. She takes in the sights, then nods and looks at me and smiles.
"It's pretty." She replies simply, I nod.
"Yeah, it sure is." I reply, looking out at the sun which was beginning to set.
"Thank you." Asuna breaks the silence that was setting in, speaking quietly enough that only I could hear. I look at her.
"For what? I didn't do anything." I reply, confused as to why I was suddenly being thanked.
"You were right. There are things to enjoy in this world. It's been fun, so I hope you'll let me continue to stay with your group." Asuna explains simply, continuing to look across the horizon. I look out to the pillar rising into the sky in the distance. I nod.
"Of course. You're part of this group. We'd love to have you stay." I answer back, smiling. I look down as my right hand reappears, making me grin even more.
Oh, that's nice. I was worried I'd be stuck with one hand. I'm not good with my left hand either. I think to myself in relief. I let out a sigh and look to my left, where a path leads down to the ground.
"Well, shall we press on? We have houses to buy, gear to repair and upgrade and a party to throw." I speak up, looking at the others. Klein and Harry grin.
"Yes! Party time! I need a cold beer after that!" Harry cheers, heading for the path down.
"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry myself, so let's get a move on!" Klein confirms, following Harry. Musashi stands up, grinning.
"Cold beer and free food! I'm down!" She laughs, running after the others. I chuckle, watching her go.
Not free you idiot. I think to myself, following the others as Artoria and Asuna follow behind me.