Link Start: Danger In Virtual Worlds
Chapter 2: Romeo's Plans. Death & Despair.
Date: Infinityverse Day 9
We've done the best we can but 567 players have perished since day 1. It is now day 9 and we have yet to beat a single boss besides the dreaded Wither Storm. But today, that's going to finally begin to change. As the appointed leader of the Assault Team, Diavel gathers together every single member together not far from Twisted Land due to the park being safe and secure like before the game launched. However, there's no space in the park big enough for us to meet because he got LITERALLY everyone. Once all of us have arrived to the meeting spot, he speaks. He has light skin, blue eyes, blue eye with long bangs, bronze armor, a shield, a longsword, and blue clothes. He proclaimed himself to be a knight in the original Aincrad. "I want to thank all of you for coming. When I died in SAO, I knew it was the end for me and I entrusted Kirito to finish off the first floor boss. I wasn't expecting to be resurrected by Akihiko Kayaba of all people. But I'm glad to be back and I humbly apologize for some of the underhanded tactics I tried to use in the past to hinder your progress, Kirito." "There's no need to apologize, Diavel. You sacrificed yourself and that made up for it in my eyes." "Kirito.. Those words mean a lot to me. But this is no time for being sentimental. It's been 8 days since this game began and we've already lost far too many people. We as the new Assault Team shoulder the responsibility to clear this game, bring everyone who has and will perish back, and get everyone out of this game. As all of you know, more guidebooks have been completed by Argo with a lot of help and distributed to everyone for free. That has to continue as we learn more about this game. We have been all equipped with diamond gear from Minecraft and thus have begun being able to grind the monsters on this floor for xp safely. However, our gear is lacking enchantments and we need a lot of Minecraft xp to change that. Today's meeting is about multiple objectives: fighting the Ender Dragon boss, establishing ways to get lots of Minecraft xp, and facing the first floor boss once we are better able to deal with our foes."
Jesse speaks up: "Once we defeat the Ender Dragon, we can build an Enderman farm for xp." Olivia, one of their friends adds to their statement. Olivia has dark brown skin, black eyes, black hair, a green beanie with goggles, a red overcoat, gray boots, and black pants. "Building that Enderman farm is going to be incredibly dangerous. We'll have to build carefully and design effectively. We'll have to build over the void. If you fall in the void in the End, it's game over for you. Gathering materials to build it is the easy part." "I was made aware of this. Thank you both for your input. We'll also set up other xp farms such as your classic mob grinders as well as farms using spawners found throughout Minecraftia and other farms such as automatic sugar cane farms." I speak up: "I put in a creeper spawner in one of Twisted Land's attractions. Sadly, we can't use it since Twisted Land is still open as a theme park. Anyway, if we could just access the system commands, we could locate a lot of Minecraftian structures and use them. We better make sure to build a guardian farm somewhere as well. And a zombie pigmen farm. The more different xp farms we have, the more materials we will be able to collect and share with everyone else. In Minecraft, you collect and can make what you want/need yourself which makes it different from SAO, GGO, and ALO." "You're right." The meeting goes on for a while and we split up into groups to do various tasks related to the objectives. Some of us go to the Nether to collect blaze rods from killing blazes and bartering with the piglins using gold collected from underground mines and other sources such as a looted Ocean Monument that I helped raid yesterday. Some others went around looking for endermen not on our side to hunt for some ender pearls in case bartering didn't work to get enough.
I wanted to go to the Nether but Kirito and his group insisted I stay to help train other people in swordplay because I've been able to build that level of trust despite my rampage during the fight against the Wither Storm. Stampy, StacyPlays, DanTDM, Jesse, Gameknight999, and other notable figures connected to Minecraftia ended up going to the Nether. Other tasks the Assault Team did included gathering intel on our foes(Orochimaru was most excited about helping with that), making plenty of food and supplies to last a while, getting equipment for more players, hunting monsters around the Town of Beginnings, helping those who have given up on fighting, ensuring no guilds get corrupt, starting those farms, and keeping an eye on the reformed Laughing Coffin murder guild. It took some time for everything to be put into place. We knew where the first floor boss dwelled but we had no idea where the stronghold with the End Portal was. Twisted Land has End Portal blocks inside it's Dimension Hopping attraction but I made it incredibly annoying to be able to get to them and none of us remembered if you could jump up into an End Portal block to go to the End. Ultimately, choosing between that and the stronghold came down to a lot of peoples' sense of adventure. That and we also needed to start mapping out Aincrad in earnest for obvious reasons. That settled it. We sent a small group to look for the stronghold while the rest of us mapped out as much of Minecraftia as possible while using existing maps in Twisted Land, Beacontown, the Lost Academia, and other locations to create one huge map and save some time. It turned out that Minecraftian maps were just what we needed.
It took all day but soon, all of us were in the stronghold. It didn't take long with Jesse's group to find the End Portal and all of us to go to it. Whis speaks: "So this is an End Portal room. How fascinating. Wait, I hear something." Suddenly, all of us are attacked from below by incredibly tough silverfish with menacing red eyes and dark auras. Ivor shouts: "Of course it had to be the silverfish! Quickly, someone turn off that silverfish spawner with torches!" But there were too many of them. None of us could get to the spawner which lies directly in front of the End Portal. I grit my teeth: "Damn it! There's so many of them! Everyone! Don't break any blocks in here! Some of the blocks here are infested with more silverfish! In fact, all blocks around us might as well be infested with them. If that's the case, they will eventually break apart and the lava pools in here will burn us all. This is a incredibly difficult situation. Sword skills would easily break the blocks in here.." We had no choice but to fight the silverfish without using any sword skills or any other weapon skills. Edyn complains: "Darn it! I wish I could cast my spells and I wish I could imagine Ugger right now but I don't have any of my ammonite with me in this game!" Tony replies: "It's extremely unfair but we'll get through this!" Strag adds: "Tony is right! We've faced Agram in the past. We can defeat these silverfish. We got this." Specter looks annoyed: "This game's system.. Because of it, Duel Monsters can't be used to deal with these silverfish. It's irritating and I don't get irritated easily." "Don't lose hope, everyone! I am here! And I must remind you all to go Plus Ultra! Young Midoriya! Show them!" "Yes, All Might!" Deku starts fighting more seriously. Seiya yells: "I won't be left behind!"
Athena speaks: "I don't like using weapons but there's no other choice!. "Arr! We'll plunder these silverfish and take their drops as our treasure! I'm going for that spawner! These silverfish must be prevented from increasing in number any longer!" "What a nap causation! You better listen to my instructions on how to reach that spawner or else those silverfish will really try to eat you alive!" Several minutes later, most of us are in terrible shape but we still keep fighting the silverfish. Right as Pirate Blaster manages to disable the spawner, something bad happens. Silverfish burst out of the blocks holding back the 3 pockets of lava in the End Portal room. Jesse yells: "Buckets! We need buckets! We need to scoop up that lava!" I pull out a bucket I crafted some time ago and risk my life: "I won't let any of us be burnt to a crisp! Haaaaaaaa!" We manage to stop the lava from getting to any of us in time but every single block making up the room except the end portal frames, spawner, and stairs break around us, revealing about a hundred more silverfish. "My power poots would be perfect right now! Darn it! This is no game so what could I even do against all of these silverfish?!" "I've had enough of this! Damn you silverfish! STARBURST STREAM!" Kirito unleashes his signature attack. Alice shouts: "There's no more need to hold back any longer! Release Recollection! Go, my flowers!" Alice's golden sword transforms. Another Integrity Knight, Bercouli yells: "Kirito! Alice! That's not a good idea! Hold your attacks back! You'll only hurt a significant amount of us along with these monsters!" "Crap! You're right!" "I will do as you wish, Uncle- I mean, Commander!" Bercouli has a simple blue outfit, cyan ish hair, light blue eyes, light skin, a slightly exposed chest, many scars, and a large build. Kirito and Alice hold their attacks back. Damn, it's hard to get these silverfish. Its a good thing that since my diamond sword is literally Graceful Protector in appearance, I have no trouble hitting them.
Pearl shouts: "We have to fight these things faster and with more precision! If only we could use our powers.." "Its okay, Pearl! You taught me well! We can do this!" "Connie, your words are very inspiring right now. Let's go." "I may not be able to use either of my Galaxy Eyes but I can still deal some damage! Go, Photon Sword!" All of us fight more vigorously. Some including myself drink potions to increase our battle performance and decrease our chances of dying to the silverfish since there's so many. In time, we manage to kill all of them. A good number of us put Eyes of Ender inside the End Portal Frames and the portal is soon open. Garnet speaks: "It's time to go. Let's do this." Yusei adds: "Yes, it's time to rev it up. But we have to be careful. We could end up far from the end island the Ender Dragon we must fight resides on and have to build our way over. This is going to be dangerous." Reiji nods. Yuya just smiles: "Hey! If that happens, I wonder if we could summon monsters to distract our foes and putting on a show they will never forget!" "I doubt that will work. We haven't been able to summon a single monster since this death game began." "Playmaker, be optimistic for once!" "AI, it's better to be realistic in the situation we are in. That being said, we can't afford to lose hope if we are to ever escape this game." Muscleman is the first to jump into the portal: "Guys, I'm jumping now! You know who else is jumping into this End Portal? MY MOM! See you on the other side, suckers!" Benson holds his anger in and is among those first to follow behind him. I jump in shortly after both of them. Once I get to the other side, I start extending the obsidian platform we're standing on a good distance from the island we need to go to.
"Damn it, we're just above the void! What a drag!" "..This is what I feared most! This almost happened when the others in the original Order of The Stone used that command block to defeat the Ender Dragon! But that's in the past now. We must build. Build I say! And I'm still a ninja of course!" As the others start coming through, we work together to keep building until the platform is big enough for ALL of us. A couple hundred to be exactly. Most Assault Team members didn't come with us as there's still so much to take care of. Many of them are clearing the dungeon to the First Floor Boss right now. Others are taking care of previously mentioned plans and responsibilities such as setting up mob grinders and helping those who don't want to fight anything. After another hour, we have successfully managed to build our way to the End Island. Shadow the Ender Dragon shows up to come help us. He says once we reach the island: "I can sense the other dragon's power. It's far greater than mine but I will still do my best to help. The End dimension is mostly unified under a peaceful union now but this area is not part of that union." After a few minutes, we reach the surface of the island. Dominic yawns and shouts: "Watch out for the dragon's charge attacks, fireballs, and breathe!" Ellegaard, another of Jesse's friends adds to his statement. She has black shoes, tan skin, black eyes, brown hair that curls at its ends, black, brown, and gold armor, and reddish brown boots. I wonder how both her and Magnus are alive. In every timeline they're in that I know of, one of them ends up dying while the other stays alive. "We have to shut off the ender crystals on top of each of the obsidian pillars around us by force. We can't afford to make any mistakes. I hope all of you brought along a water bucket in case the dragon knocks you!"
The dragon starts heading for us: "Arr! It's time but we have to be fast! If we don't destroy those pillars, we will never be able to deal enough DPS to win this battle!" "You're right. If all of us had our full abilities and strength at our disposal, we could defeat this dragon with ease but that's not the damn case. Haaaaaaa! I'll keep the dragon busy with my sword, armor, and shield! It is my duty as a knight who has yet to fully regain their honor!" I charge at the dragon with my summoned shield in my left hand and Graceful Protector in my right. After my hp dropped to 0 on Day 1, I was successfully healed with my hp stored to 100%. I was healed not long after we destroyed the Wither Storm. I forgot to mention that in my last writing. Whoops. Anyway, I don't think I'll be so lucky the next time my hp reaches 0. No one tried to stop me. I kind of built a reputation for going in like that I guess. I took the full blunt of an attack by the dragon as others began building or ender pearling up to the obsidian towers. My hp went down to 5%: "Crap! We don't stand a chance at this rate! The best chance we have is to destroy the ender crystals as soon as possible. But I'm in so much pain.. Damn it, this hurts so much.." I eat an enchanted golden apple as we can still craft those in this game for some reason(don't worry, plenty will eventually be made for everyone). Thank goodness too because they're incredibly rare to find in chests across Minecraftia. I catch my breath and prepare to attack. I stay on defense and try to protect as many other individuals as I can from our foe. Shadow even let me ride on him at a few points to achieve this. However, he generally had to be very careful about where he flew due to how tough the dragon was. But then, things changed when all of the end crystals were finally destroyed. Our foe flew so incredibly fast that it was hard for anyone to be able to get any of the end crystals. Now, the real battle began.
"Damn it! That dragon's so angry! At least now we won't have to hold back anymore! Starburst Stream!" "Go, my flowers!" "Finally! It's time! Witness the power of one of my original sword skills! Haaaaaaaaa! The cost isn't heavy on my body in this game. It's a non factor here! Continuous Great Infernal Tornado Slash: 50!" My attack doesn't work. "Damn it. I guess my avatar isn't strong enough and I don't possess a high enough object authority level.. Not only that but since Graceful Protector has the stats of a regular diamond sword from Minecraftia, my attacks aren't able to be nearly as strong here as they are for real.." The dragon starts flying around madly while trying to knock all of us into the void. We use a variety of methods to evade this. Building, blocking, jumping, ender pearling, water buckets, you name it. The dragon gets increasingly frustrated as we start laying down a lot of ranged attacks. Sinon is among the best at ranged attacks among us. With Minecraftian engineering curtesy of Ellegaard, Ivor, and Olivia, she was given a powerful redstone sniper gun to use. And I wasn't half bad with the bow I was able to craft. The rest of the battle was generally what you'd expect from an Ender Dragon fight except the dragon was a lot faster and stronger than normal not to mention that intense rage. When the dragon got low on hp, they started going berserk and dealing a lot more damage in the process. "Damn it! I can't get a clear shot anymore!" "It's okay, Sinon! We'll just have to attack with swords when the dragon hovers over the center of this island!" Kirito was right. We endured all that we could, forcing us to use all of our healing supplies except normal food. It seems that natural regeneration from a filled enough hunger bar in Minecraft is a feature ingrained in the system of the Infinityverse.
That's part of why we haven't died in the game so far ourselves. We waited patiently as best as we could. And then, the dragon does the rest thing. We gave them no mercy even as their breath sealed serious damage to all of us. "Haaaaa! I won't give up! I will restore my honor as a knight! If the dragon attacks any of you specifically, I will take the pain for you! I can't use any of my original sword skills here but that's okay for now!" "I'm getting fired up! Oh yeah! I can't transfer, but this still going to be so much fun!" "Don't get cocky, Kakarot!" "Relax, Vegeta!" We manage to defeat the dragon but that wasn't the end of it. As they began to do what all ender dragons do when they're defeated, something happens. A powerful blast suddenly comes out of them and reduces all of us to 1% hp.. Bray sighs: "No.. That's just like what the Black Sun was able to do in Miitopia. If anything attacks us, we shall be destroyed here.." "Hell no! We have to recover our hp!" As the dragon finally explodes, mountains of xp rain down on us. The xp dropped by the Wither Storm had to be used for other means than upgrading our gear unfortunately so the xp we gained was a brief joy. The joy didn't last long even as the ender dragon egg appeared and was collected. That's because our problems weren't over. A humanoid looking red and black figure appears briefly before vanishing in favor of a ancient statue like Ocean Monument guardian. They say ominously: "Jesse.." "Romeo! Enough of your tricks! I know that's you!" The guardian transforms into a Minecraft snow man with a scarf and hat included and speaks in a British like voice: "Oh Jesse, you're not any fun anymore. You could have just played my games and been my friend but no, you had to ruin everything" Romeo transforms into his original red and black form that makes him look volcanic: "You took away everything from me INCLUDING my powers and now, I'm here to get my revenge at long last! Everything you hold dear will be destroyed! This is what you deserve for what you did to me!"
"Romeo! This isn't the way! You don't have to do this! We can be friends if you just let go and stop trying to control everything again!" "Never! I will never listen to your pathetic speeches again, Jesse! Being you was completely exhausting! I'm never doing that again! Instead, I'm going to destroy all of you and.." Romeo transforms into a carbon copy of Diavel: "Be the new Diavel! That way, everyone will respect me and follow my orders!" "What the hell?! What are you?!" "Kirito, this is Romeo. He's back to being a bad guy." "Don't ignore me! Enough of this farce! I'll let my associates and monsters take care of you! Don't you think it's suspicious that you didn't have to deal with any endermen in that fight you just had?" "Romeo! What did YOU do?!" "It was about time those endermen started obeying me and got enhanced in the process. They were unless before but now, they're my loyal servants. I might as well leave now to start my new life as Diavel since all of you are about to die. Goodbye Assault Team! Goodbye Jesse! Farewell! I'm never seeing ANY of you ever again! This is the end for all of you! With each of you on a measly 1% of your original hp, there's no chance any of you will survive beyond this point! It's over! I win! Aincrad will be mine! Mine!" Romeo then teleports away with ease and in his place, an army of monsters as well as Minecraftians wearing black and purple outfits.
Jesse gasps: "Oh no.. Its even worse than what Romeo made it out to be.. This is it.. There's no way we can survive this will how low our hp is getting. Especially for those of you this game we're in considers to be players.." Jesse was right, the odds are stacked against us to the point our odds of winning seem impossible at this point. Not only that but they and their friends were clearly regenerating health faster than most of us were. Dr. Bonesbane steps forward and yells: "Foes of us, fight me first! That's right. Come at me and let me show you the true potential of chemistry!" "Arr! What are you doing, Bonesbane?!" The furry scientist from Kohnanix replies: "What must be done! Not all of us will be able to make it out of this alive. According to my calculations, some of us will have to die in order for the rest of us to live. I have volunteered to give my life to ensure most of you will get out of this safe and sound despite being severely injured!" "Arr. Count me in, too! Thrashbeak, let's do this!" One of Romeo's associates yells: "I don't care who we kill first! All of you must die! It's what The Admin wishes for to happen!" "Bonesbane, Blaster.. You aren't giving your lives alone.." I step forward too, the sound of my armor lightly clinking ensures everyone knows I'm prepared to sacrifice myself too. Kirito says: "Are you sure about this? Are all of you sure?" "We are. We've risked our lives countless times. I've died over 15 times myself. It never hurt any less no matter how many times it happened." Others decide to give their lives too to let everyone else live after the fight. And so, it begins. I charge in and start attacking as many foes as possible. Romeo's associates are tough but the monsters are even tougher. I was able to hold on for a few minutes, continuously holding back our enemies with all the effort I could muster. It was all I focused on the entire time.
My dodging skills and observant eyesight kept me going even on 1% of my hp. However, I heard it. The dying scream of a close friend. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dr. Bonesbane cry out in pain and fall to the ground: "Bonesbane! Noooooo!" "Swiftdrawer! Bray! Blaze! Everyone! I won't let any of you die..." To the shock of everyone around us, error messages popped up rapidly around the scientist before being completely pulverized by code coming off of him. He stands up one final time: "I've done it! At last! I have broken the separation of my physical abilities and strength from my mind! Now, I can use all of it in one final attack! I'll bring so many of our foes down with me before the system can erase me for breaking it! Chemical Chaos!" Dr. Bonebane's strength suddenly spikes as his aura actually appears in game. It's a lime green aura. I've seen it many times in battle since I became a knight. He's serious. The scientist puts everything he has into his newest attack which he is finally revealing for the first time. All kinds of chemicals appear out of nowhere and spray all over the ranks of the enemy after being filled to the brim with Bonesbane's very strength and life force. The damage is devastating. About a fifth of our enemies are wiped out from the attack. Upon its conclusion, Dr. Bonesbane utters out: "This is it for me.. I hope I was able to make a big enough difference.. Farewell my friends." He shatters into pieces as he falls back to the ground next to the portal back to Aincrad from the End. Soon, there's no trace left of him. Pirate Blaster shouts: "This isn't over! Arr! It's my turn! All of you, there's no need to attack our foes! I got 'em right in my sight! I'll plunder as many of them as I can!" "What a nap causation.. Blaster! Don't do it!"
"Dominic, everyone. It's been an adventure adventuring with all of you but it's game over for me now. I'm going to go out with a bang far greater than the biggest explosions fired using cannon balls or laser blasts from the mighty vessel I've called home for so many years! Thrashbeak, I need your help!" "Squawk! Thrashbeak will help Blaster! Squawk!" Somehow, they're able to pull the same stunt as Dr. Bonesbane. I watched with tears in my eyes as they prepared to die together. "Arr! It's going to be okay, friends of the lands, seas, timelines, and beyond! You better not let our sacrifices go to waste like some of the hunts for treasure did back in the day when I hunted treasure with my fellow crew mates on our might vessel when I was captain a long time ago! Octuple Full Powered Pirate's Plunder!" Thrashbeak adds to the pirate's attack. Before our eyes, swings, bullets, and more destroy another huge portion of the enemy forces. By the time they began to execute their moves, their hp bars had already reached 0. As I was in the same party as both of them, I watched as their hp dipped into the negative thousands. The game froze for a few seconds. When it was no longer lagged out, Pirate Blaster and Thrashbeak were on the ground, vanishing right before our eyes. "Arr. Our journey ends here. Thrashbeak, wasn't it fun to have all these wild adventures and die several times all these years?"
"Squawk. Thrashbeak agrees with Blaster that it was fun. Squawk." Neither of them said anything else as they vanished before they could do so. I grit my teeth: "Gaaaaaaaaah! No! I can't live with all these burdens! I can't take it anymore! Let me die too! Let me die! Damn it! Damn it!" I burst into full blown tears and begin to scream as I try to break the same things that had just been broken by myself: "Come on, let me access my full power! Come on! I don't want to do this anymore! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I try everything to force the system to let me have full access to what I can really do. The only thing I succeed in doing is making my diamond sword really become Graceful Protector but without its upgrades, spirit, or enchantments. That only lasts a few seconds and gave me false hope that broke as soon as it went back to how it was before. "NOOOO!" I'm so far in my despair that I don't hear anyone say anything to me. Even Herbsalvin and Blaze were unable to get my attention. My body was not only battered and bloodied but it was also sweaty, flowing with tears, and more as well. A dark aura surrounded me as my inner darkness took off. The aura was so intense that my sword that looks like my beloved Graceful Protector temporarily transformed into a truly wicked blade. The look in my eyes must have been wild with everything it now contained at the time. "LET ME DIE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I gain an appetite for destruction and start swinging my transformed sword wildly at the enemy forces. Anyone hit by the attacks was killed instantly.
And my fellow Assault Team members were wise to stay out of my way because I wouldn't have hesitated to kill them as well. My inner darkness has now fully transferred into my avatar. "THIS MISERY.." I collapse to the ground and get consumed entirely by sadness, anger, and fear: "I hate the society I'm stuck in.. I hate my life.. I'm broken.. I don't want to live anymore.. I can't take anymore of this so called life. I'm going to end myself BECAUSE THATS ALL I HAVE LEFT! ALL I HAVE LEFT IS TO DIE!" I plunge the wicked sword into my avatar's heart: "MY MISERY IS ENDING!" However, I don't die. Instead, a familiar red furry figure gets in the way of my attempt on my own life. My fursona, BlazeWarriorWolf. They took the entire stab, not letting me end myself right there. "BLAZE!" Blaze stares down at me with a smile. Not their normal warm smile but a wicked smile. Their bright red fur turns blood red. Their lightning mark turns gray. Their orange hair turns black and their brown eyes turn a very dark green. Their scarf dissolves and is replaced by a Grim Reaper like cloak. "Swiftdrawer. I won't let you die. I want to see you suffer! And I'm going to make you suffer even more!" "NO! I WONT LET YOU!" I plunge the sword deeper into them, starting a power struggle between the both of us. Our corrupted auras collide. My formerly pink against their formerly silver. Time becomes a blur until I see Blaze return to normal and collapse before my eyes. "Swiftdrawer.. My human.." "BLAAAAAAAZE! NO! NOT YOU TOO!" "We stopped each other's dark sides by using them against each other.. I'm dying, Swiftdrawer.. Take care of our friends, will you?" "I can't.. I can't do anything.. I'm useless.. I'm a broken knight.. All my hope is gone.." They die before my eyes. "..." I silently cry and flee from the battle that's currently going on. I equip a cloak with a hood to wear over my armor and exit the End through the portal back to Aincrad. I end up back in my bed in the room I've shared at one of the inns at the Town Of Beginnings as that's where my spawn was set.
I leave the room and then the inn and run away as fast as I can before I find a empty alleyway where I can be alone. I sit down in it and watch as my sword returns to looking like Graceful Protector. My vision is blinded by tears as they just start to fall and continue to do so. "I'm worse than trash.. I want to die and never experience anything ever again.. How can I call myself a knight? I'm broken. I have no more honor or integrity left.. Because of me.. Blaze is.. Blaze is dead.. *breathes heavily* I don't want to live anymore." I end up laying on the ground and holding my sword up to my neck: "Why is my health back to 100%? Just let me die.. I'm not worth saving. Not after everything.. I have so much blood on my hands.. I've killed so many people.. I've hurt even more.. I've broken promises and neglected or even ignored who I cared about.. All I am is a shell of nothing now. I'm as good as truly dead.. My real body is a zombie and I'm nothing here. Nothing." I begin to plunge my sword into my neck. Blood drips from it. I try harder to do the deed but I just couldn't. "Why can't I end myself? I'm no one now, my life doesn't matter. I don't matter. I'm useless.. I'm a failure.. Why? Please just let me die.." Suddenly, my vision went black. When I next came to, I saw a beautiful gate to a beautiful realm. I walked towards it, feeling compelled to do so: "I'm nothing. Why do I want to go through that gate? There's no point of my existence anymore. I'm no knight. I never really was.." But still, my feet kept moving as if they had a mind of their own. When I reached the gate, a serene figure stared at me, raised their hand to prepare to strike me, and said: "You, who have become nothing do not deserve a place in paradise. Begone, fallen hero who was once a honorable knight. Back to the Nightmare Realm you go. You shall become a decayed soul and be doomed to wander for eternity!" As I was pushed back by the unleashed strike, I just blinked a few times and replied: "Okay." I was sent straight back into the Nightmare Realm.
But this time, I wasn't a knight. I was nothing. I fell unceremoniously on some ground near the mountain I had climbed. And I laid there for who knows how long. "Am I nothing? Is this my fate? I'm doomed to wander this dimension now as my soul rots away. So be it, it's all I'm good for anyway." But my mind couldn't help but think of everything that led up to this moment. My analytical side wouldn't let me forget what happened to me. It just wouldn't. I closed my eyes to try to make it stop. When I woke up, I found myself in a bed in the Town Of Beginnings. "Who saved me? Why did they save me? I'm nothing. ..Or am I? I don't know anymore.." I saw a familiar face sitting in a chair next to the bed. "...Bray?" She smiles at me: "Swiftdrawer, it's so good to see you awake." "Bray.. You look horrible.." "Indeed I do, my friend. It's an intriguing tale. *sighs* But I'm more concerned about you. You tried to isolate yourself and end your life without anyone noticing but you lost consciousness before you could carry it out. I followed after you when I saw you leave the End. Kirito is currently leading the charge against our enemies as Diavel lost consciousness and the fight against Romeo's forces continues to play out." "Bray.. Our dearest friends.." "Swiftdrawer. I have some bad news." "Please no.." "Blaze, Bonesbane, Blaster, and Thrashbeak weren't the only ones we lost. Lauren, Julia, Austin, and Carlos.. We lost them too." "No.. Bray, I.. I don't know what to do anymore. I've become so broken. I feel like I'm nothing now after everything that's happened." "Swiftdrawer, you are not nothing." "Bray, I'm going to try to live. You still care for me and wouldn't let me die. I need to be alone.. I just need that right now.." I get out of the bed and start walking towards the wilderness beyond the Town of Beginnings. "I shall let you go alone. It will be intriguing to see how it goes for you. Remember that you can always message me, Swiftdrawer."
"Thank you, Bray.." After some time, I'm facing some monsters with my gear looking like my actual gear outside of the Infinityverse as usual. I take a deep breath: "Maybe grinding some monsters will help me remember why I'm not just nothing. Here goes I guess.. I'm so broken.. I'm still no knight.." And so, I grind and grind until the day becomes night and it gets dark outside. I return to the inn I've been staying, eat some food that was in my inventory, and silently walk back to the room I've been staying in, avoiding eye contact with every single person I came across. I was the first one back in the room. I sat down in a corner of the room and began crying. Kirito walks in soon after, completely beaten up and exhausted: "Swiftdrawer, are you okay?" It had long been clear to me he probably wasn't the same Kirito I had met and talked to in the past. I don't know what timeline that other Kirito is from. But at that moment, I was thinking of that at all. "..." "You don't want to talk? That's fine. I'll leave you alone. I need some space too anyway.. Klein is dead.. Silica too.. I couldn't protect them.." "..You know the same pain I do?" "I heard you lost some close friends too. It's really rough.. If you saw me right after they died, I almost think you'd have called me a big baby." "No, I wouldn't have. Kirito, do you have any recollection of previously meeting me before this game and hearing about some of what I've been through?" "Umm.. Yes. We sparred in ALO. *sigh* Somehow, talking to you doesn't make me feel any better at all.." "It must be because I turned into a completely hopeless berserker earlier today in the End. Im so useless. Im no knight." "Im useless too. I can't live up to my own reputation anymore. We beat Romeo's army but we lost a lot of people in the battle. Diavel almost died and is recovering. But now, that Romeo is pretending to be him.."
I suddenly fall asleep before responding. When I woke up again, I saw it was still dark out and tried to get back to sleep where I was. I dumbly thought that if I could end up sleeping on the floor like I had just done for some reason that I would have no problem falling back asleep in the same position. I was wrong and tried to sleep in a sleeping bag. It didn't work either. I gave up, walked out of the inn, ate food from my inventory again, took a drink of water from a fountain in the Town of Beginnings, and went back to grinding monsters in the wilderness. I still wanted to be alone for a while so I just spent hours grinding until my fingers hurt and my stomach started grumbling. Sighing, I ran from the monsters I was fighting and found a tree to eat lunch under. After doing so, I ate some Minecraftian bread that was in my inventory and drank from a Minecraftian bottle full of water. I then heard the screams of a very young group of players. I got up, hoped that I could handle the continued finger pain, and ran to their location. There, I didn't find your usual monsters attacking low level adventurers. No, I saw something far worse than that. Cloaked figures with orange cursors. Red players.. I drew my sword: "You bastards! Get away from them!" The red players turned to me and laughed. I then saw the tattoos on their avatars. The mark of Laughing Coffin. The murder guild from SAO who killed countless players in that game for fun, money, power, and loot. One of them looks at my username and cursor and grins: "Oh, it's you! The disgraceful knight who killed another player in the Assault Team and ran away like a scared little puppy!" "How did you?!" "Think about it. How would we know?"
"No.. It can't be.. You.. You have contacts inside of the Assault Team.. Laughing Coffin has infiltrated the Assault Team!" "That's right! You should see the look on your face! It's priceless! Oh and another thing, you really should rethink how you're reacting. After all, you did kill someone close to you, right?!" "No! Blaze.. Bastards!" The Laughing Coffin members prepare to kill the group of innocent players. The one who's been doing all the talking laughs: "Come on! Show us how angry you are! Show us how far you've fallen, so called knight! But know this! If you move, we'll kill these players right before your eyes!" "..You scum.. I'm not nothing.. I've fought the likes of you countless times. Get away from them. I came here without hesitation.. I realize it now.. Thanks to your evil deeds, I realize that I can't keep believing I'm useless. I'm going to do something." "Hahaha! You're so amusing! Alright then! Come get us! I dare you! But again! If you move, these players all die!" I move at top speed and bash one of them with my shield before kicking another in the no no zone. Finally, I attack another with my sword. My movements took them by surprise. I was furious and determined. "You've made a mistake pissing me off. And now, you're going to see why it was a mistake! I'm remembering why I fight once again. Why I draw my sword." The talker draws their own sword and laughs: "You really think your little stunts you just pulled will be enough to stop us?! That's a laugh!" "I haven't put in any effort yet." "Enough talk! Let's kill this fool!"
The others join the talker in attacking me soon enough. All but one who focuses on killing the innocent players. I ignore the majority of them and get in front of the innocent players: "Damn you! You'll have to kill me first if you want to kill them!" In the resulting scuffle, I was forced to kill all of the red players. No one came to help and the people I was protecting weren't able to do anything at the level they were at. Coated in the blood of the Laughing Coffin members, I pant heavily, severely hurt and almost to the point of total exhaustion. Tears drop from my eyes: "Damn it! No! Not again! I had to take more lives! ..I'm not a knight.." One of the players I saved speaks up: "Don't say that! We were so scared of you when we saw you run over. The rumors about you are terrifying but you saved our lives. How could we be scared of someone who saved us from those Laughing Coffin monsters?" Another adds: "Yeah! You're a hero to us no matter what you've done in the past!" "I.." I hear the sound of gunfire. I dash forward and pull out my shield: "Stay behind me! Someone has a gun!" I look over in the distance and shiver in fear immediately. It's Death Gun. He's firing his gun of the same name at us. He speaks: "Swiftdrawer, I see you've now been forced to kill people just like Kirito. You have stopped me in the past just like the Black Swordsman. I will eliminate you here to get my revenge on you as soon as possible. One of your friends killed Johnny Black before he was revived by unknown means." Before he could fire another shot, someone shoots him. Sinon. And she's not alone. Alice, Kirito, Asuna, Agil, Eugeo, and Lisbeth show up too, ready to throw down with Death Gun.
Not only that but Romeo appears out of nowhere and glares at Death Gun: "Death Gun! Stay out of my territory! The bottom floors of Aincrad belong to me! Go back to where you come from or you will be destroyed! These fools are my problem now, not yours! Go away! This is my time! You can't stop me!" "Oh but I can." Despite Kirito and his surviving close circle of friends showing up, Death Gun is still able to shoot Romeo point blank. Romeo screams: "Owww! Curse you! That hurt! Fine then, I will just force you out of my way!" Romeo uses his powers to send Death Gun away. After that, he teleports and vanishes: "So long, fools! I'll play with you another day! After all, I have to make you pay for what you did to my forces properly! Now to continue pretending to be that Diavel! Bye!" Sinon speaks to me: "Hey, are you alright?" "I guess.." The third of the innocent players says: "Don't be so down on yourself! We saw you do your best to save us!" "I did do my best.. But I'm still broken." Kirito replies: "I was the same way but my friends reminded me of who I am and what we're fighting for. We're about to head to the raid on the first floor boss. Care to join us? You look like you need someone to talk to." "I'll join you but don't expect me to be in my element out there given how I'm feeling.. I find it hard to understand why any of you are still willing to put your trust in me after my rampages through bouts of darkness manifesting in me through terrifying means." Alice replies: "It's because you still possess a brave spirit. I can feel your passion when you fight." The innocent players I saved nod. The first of them to speak earlier says: "She's right! If you were truly fallen as they said you were, you wouldn't have saved our lives!"
"So there truly is hope for someone who has let darkness consume them after all.. All of you, it's clear you aren't well equipped enough to defend yourselves effectively until some form of help arrives.. Please, return to the Town of Beginnings to receive training, shelter, food, better gear, and whatever else you need. I'm in despair but I've at least regained enough of my normal composure to ask of you to do that." They nod, say goodbye, and use Teleport Crystals to return to the Town of Beginnings. That just leaves Kirito's group. Asuna smiles: "See? Many players fear you but we know better than to fear you." "..Thank you." Eugeo speaks: "Hey, shouldn't we get going? We're late to the boss fight. If we don't hurry, we won't make it in time to join it." Kirito exclaims: "Crap! You're right! It's all my fault for taking so long earlier! We have to go! Join our party, Swiftdrawer and come with us! You can't fight alone anymore! Not when we're here and you're in a state of misery!" He sends me an invite to join the party. I accept. The party I was in before dissolved with the deaths of my dear friends who were in it with me. Agil, who has a bald head, brown skin, large build, brown goatee, brown eyes, gray armor, and moss green robes smiles: "There we go. I feel better about our odds. Silica and Klein will be avenged. We will fight in their memory. We should get going. There's no time to waste." We start running to the dungeon leading to the first floor boss: Illfang The Kobold Lord. On the way, we discuss amongst ourselves and I start to feel a little bit better at last. When we get to the door to the boss, we find it closed. Kirito punches it: "Damn it! We were too late! We can't do anything to help them!" For the next few minutes, we just stood there, trying to figure out what to do. But then, we started hearing a lot of cries of pain.
I even heard Dominic cry out. "Dominic! No! There has to be a way to break into the room! I don't think they can win without our help! I must regain my lost honor.." "I'm going to try something! Everyone! Stand back!" Kirito tries to bust through the door. When that doesn't work, he, Eugeo, and Alice use the Sacred Arts system commands to try to knock it open. That doesn't work either. Sinon tries shooting it open and I try a crack at it too. But nothing makes the door budge. But Asuna gets an idea: "Everyone! I have a plan! Listen! We need to use all of our attacks at once on the door!" "Hmm, that really is the only option we have. Despite what I'm going through, my mind can't help but start figuring out a solution. We'd need to be able to unleash a tremendous amount of force on the door with attacks that have a higher object authority than the door's object level. It's object level must be really high but if we combine our attacks, I don't see how we can't bust it open." And so, all of us use what we can do in terms of best attacks to attack the door at the same time. We do this multiple times. Finally, the door breaks apart and we enter the battle. I see Dominic badly wounded and about to be killed by Illfang. I yell: "Comrades, Dominic must be saved!" "I'll go with you, Swiftdrawer. In my eyes, you are still a honorable knight just as I am." "Okay!" I charge in to block Illfang's attack in Dominic with my shield and just as the boss is about to attack me, I yell: "Alice! Switch!" She knew what to do and we switched places, allowing her to use Perfect Weapon Control/Release Recollection against Illfang, dealing a significant blow and temporarily stunning our foe. I turned to Dominic and helped him stand up. "Swiftdrawer! You're here! But stop being a nap causation! Don't worry about me, help us defeat Illfang! Illfang still has 95% of their health left based on the info we have on their total hp!"
"95%?! We're going to be here for ages! But no point in thinking about that right now. You're right, we have to set aside everything to beat this damn boss and unlock the 2nd floor of Aincrad! Wait.. Where are the smaller monsters that came with Illfang?" I feel a lot of pain all of the sudden and collapse to the ground. But that's not all. There are 2 Diavels on one side of the room, staring at each other. Some Assault Team members are trying to figure out which Diavel is Diavel and which Diavel is Romeo. I then look behind me to see a Knights Of The Blood Oath member smiling wickedly as others keep the smaller monsters busy. Their Laughing Coffin mark is very much visible to me. "Damn it.. So you're one of the spies in the Assault Team for them.. Damn you bastard.. You're trying to kill me now even as Illfang rips through us easily.." "Hahaha! So all the rumors are true. You're the one who killed some other Laughing Coffin members! Well, I'm here to kill you once and for all! We can't let anyone with such an intense rage live. I saw everything you did yesterday until you fled the End! I know what you're capable of!" But then, Illfang attacks them from behind and kills them right then and there. "Crap.. I'm next if I don't move.." I then hear Dominic yell: "What a nap causation! I've had enough of this! I'm going to hack into the system to expose the fake Diavel! We can't stay divided like this! Our numbers are about to start slaughtering each other instead of focusing on Illfang!" I get back up and manage to dodge Illfang's attempt on my life. I lost 40% of my health from the ambush from that Laughing Coffin member who just died. In time, Romeo is exposed and he leaves in anger, vowing revenge all over again.
The tensions between Assault Team members end but I'm forced to prove myself as someone who is not a ruthless murderer since my cursor is orange. It took us hours to defeat Illfang but finally, we were able to and powered through the boss's switching to a weapon even the SAO survivors didn't expect: a chainsaw. We lost 23 players in total during the fight. Diavel stares solemnly as we stood in silence upon Kirito and Asuna's finishing off of Illfang. Lots of items and xp dropped but none of us were celebrating. The only truly good thing was that I had begun to rebuild the trust I lost due to my rampage in the End through my efforts in helping stop Illfang. We held a memorial and vigil for the players we lost that evening and had a feast in honor of everyone who had perished in the game so far. The next day, we started expanding operations to the 2nd floor which has mountains, a wasteland, a savanna, Stampy's Lovely World, The Old Builders' competition area and village, and more. Additionally, Nagato had all of us in the Akatsuki meet in a secret location. We began hunting bounties again but focused on capture instead of killing. I then confined in Kirito and his group about my involvement with the Akatsuki and did some training with them alongside my surviving closest friends. As time passed on, I focused on training, learning, coping and recovering from what has happened, rebuilding lost trust, regaining my knightly honor, exploring, and hunting bounties. On Day 18 of the game, the Wither boss was summoned and slain in the Nether. The next day, the 2nd floor boss: Asterius The Taurus King was slain as well. Only one person died. I didn't partake in the fight as I still needed time to recover and cope.
The loss of Blaze and other close friends truly took its toll on me. On Day 25, preparations to clear the 3rd boss were almost complete: Nerius The Evil Treant. The 3rd floor contains StacyPlay's Dog Craft, Trayarus's lab, Forest Of Wavering Mists, a tiny pass to the labyrinth guarded by The Indolent Treent field boss, Zumfut, Dark Elf Camp, Forest Elf Camp, Queen Spider's Nest, and Dessel. However, Kirito and Asuna chose to do the Elf War Campaign and sided with the Dark Elves again. While they did that, the 3rd floor boss fight was delayed which gave crucial time to the entire Assault Team. I began helping scouting and recruiting for the Assault Team in order to expand the number of players and others involved with it. I also spent a lot of time in the Queen Spider Nest's dungeon and quickly learned my way around it like few others did before me. Another thing I did while we waited for Kirito and Asuna was talk to a real therapist who had survived Sword Art Online and was now trapped inside the Infinityverse just like us. They help get me the help I needed from what happened due to Romeo's schemes. Something else that happened was the start of Veeva Dash and Hit The Target's attempts to cause trouble for the entire Assault Team. They took over Stampy's Lovely World in Stampy's absence and stole all of his dogs too. Hit The Target's castle was expanded and Romeo chose to ally himself with the duo of evil. But then, they lost hold over Stampy's Lovely World when a raid party was sent to usurp them. Stampy's helpers who had gone into hiding teamed up with the raid party to push them back to Hit The Target's castle. Earlier, the evil Denton who is one of DanTDM's enemies had similarly been defeated on the 2nd floor. But now, Romeo had 3 new wicked allies as his most trusted associates and they all wanted their revenge.
Meanwhile, Stacy's Dog Craft has easily been established as a safe area. And now, we of the Akatsuki spend some of our time hunting Laughing Coffin members. We suspect POH is their leader again and Death Gun still remains loyal to them even now. But we don't have enough information yet to determine any of that. On the 27th Day of the game, I joined in defeating the 3rd floor boss, still a member of Kirito's party. I saw how much better at swordplay so many individuals had gotten since Day 1. Athena now confidently swings with her sword though it's clear she can't wait to go back to more peaceful ways of fighting once we clear the game. Johnny Test has developed a chaotic style of swordplay that's unpredictable. More chaotic than Kirito's Aincrad style. But a collective concern is growing by the day. At the rate things are going, we are going to be trapped in this game for over 2 and a half years. We need to make more progress and faster. Enchanted Netherrite armor is becoming a vital part of any Assault Team member's equipment as more of it is created with the efforts of those most experienced in mining and crafting. But it takes a lot of work to just make one set of Netherrite armor so that's making a specific point just blaring in our faces at this point. We are going to have to get even better equipment. I'm talking high level armor from Aincrad NPCs and bosses or more custom made gear. Lisbeth set up her blacksmith shop and relies on a lot of people to help her gather materials. She offers gear at a lower price if the customer gets the materials or at least helps her get them: a deal inspired by Kirito and her adventure together with him to get a material that was basically hardened dragon feces.
Now, the 4th floor has been unlocked and it's clear that our enemies are all itching to cause some damage. Everywhere we go is infested with incredibly tough monsters. An enchanted Netherrite sword with Sharpness V alone would need to deal 15 hits to the monsters on the 3rd floor in order to vanquish just one so getting xp and materials has been a pain. All the xp grinders on floor 1 and in the Nether and End are fully operational though. That's one of the only reasons we are able to advance upwards in Aincrad at all. We have a limitless supply of blaze rods, bones, rotten flesh, gunpowder, Minecraft xp, ender pearls, gold nuggets, and other items. Ender pearls have become very popular because we never run out due to how many players use the enderman farm that was built and nearly lost the lives of 5 players. TNT has also become very common and it has saved a lot of players from death so far especially now that TNT cannons are now an integral part of the Assault Team's plans and operations. When we go to the RCT3 floors, I imagine beating the parks from the game will be far more difficult with monsters all over the parks and terrorizing the park guests. I'm going to have to be at the forefront of beating them as I'm one of the few players who has actually gone through the game's campaigns(though I never finished the Wild expansion campaign). La La Land and The Money Pit are going to be "fun". Anyway, the Switch technique that was first developed by Kirito and Asuna is now taught to anyone and everyone to help deal with monsters and red players alike. There are whispers of a rare item that restores a red player's cursor from orange to green on the 5th floor near a jungle temple so it looks like I'm going to have to get my hands on it. The stigma of a red player still follows me around despite the fact I haven't done anymore rampages since the End. Well, it looks like it's time to go to the 4th floor and see what's there. I don't remember what's there despite only starting to play Sword Art Online: Integral Factor back in my original universe 6 months ago. To be continued..