Link Start: Danger In Virtual Worlds
Chapter 13: Never Ending Fight
Dates: Infinityverse Day 332-368
Before I really begin writing about what happened on floors 34-36, let me explain a few relevant things. On the 35th Floor, there's the medieval Europe style village Mishe, Forest Of Wandering (which must be escaped within a time limit if entered as it's a dungeon where you can't teleport out), and some other locations which are in Integral Factor but probably not OG Aincrad. The floor boss for the floor is Stig the Sticky Thing. It is weak to slash and holy. When it's fought against, it spawns in a few small slime monsters to go along with it. Additionally, when it reaches half health, it will release a very toxic gas if I'm remembering correctly. The boss has a lot of health of course and looks truly evil. It is also much more gray than your typical fantasy world slime. It doesn't stay in one place. It just keeps moving around the dungeon it's in. If it weren't for the fact that I did a character quest in SAO Integral Factor last month where it is the boss to beat, I wouldn't have been able to talk about this because of the limits to what I recall based on what I know and understand while in my original body. There's little to no information on Floors 34 and 36 online so I won't be able to describe what was there very well unfortunately. It's true I could make up everything about the floors for the sake of storytelling but I'm not willing to do that at all. After all, I don't like getting things wrong that much. And I don't like exaggerating the stories I tell of my interdimensional adventures either. I want to write them as accurately as I can with the information I have. That being said, we really did reach Floor 34 on Day 332 as planned.
I look around: "So this is the 34th Floor, huh? It may seem like it was a bad idea for most of us to be kept in the dark about this floor up to now. However, I don't think that way because the info should have been shared at any time. Even right now before we move forward in it. That and we've been so busy all this time." Kirito nods: "Yeah, that's the gist of it. Don't worry, I think I'll just fill you in as we move deeper into this floor. For now, we'll stick with the others until we determine it's safe to split up." It didn't take long for that to happen. The monsters didn't seem too difficult to slay. Things seemed fine at first. But we weren't reckless. A plan was devised on the previous floor in light of the chaos we've been dealing with lately. Several parties now form squads together for each floor to better encourage teamwork and cooperation. It is also a way to make sure no one gets kidnapped or ambushed like has happened in the past. This way, we'll be much more ready for the enemy for now on. In fact, this would become key. Doofensmirtz complains: "Man, these monsters are too easy! Like come on, I felt much more in danger when Perry the Platypus and I were always fighting each other!" Susan Test replies: "Don't jinx us." Monogram adds: "We have to stay alert." I actually feel relieved that I will get to be around more of our comrades for now on. This is going to make surviving Aincrad that much easier. But then, we hear a noise. Eva exclaims: "What the hell was that?!" M replies: "I do not know but it can't be anything good. A rustle in a location like this implies an ambush by the enemy." I speak up: "I agree with you. We have to be very alert from here on out." That's when a large ambush conducted by Laughing Coffin occurs.
They trap us in by surrounding us on all sides. Goku shouts: "We got this! We can beat them! I saw this coming from a mile away!" It's worth noting that Goku switched back to using his fists for combat even though that's a very difficult path in this death game. It means he can only rely on his STR and AGI stats to increase his DPS as well as potions and other buffs. Before any of the LC members attack, Bowling appears in the sky and turns himself into a giant. He laughs and speaks to all of us on the 34th Floor: "Foolish Assault Team! Now that you are here, prepare for a never ending battle! To end it, one side has to completely kill the other! I'm going to enjoy this! My Laughing Coffin will kill all of you one way or another! There's no escape! If you want to keep progressing in Aincrad, you'll have to kill all of them and then, face me and kill me too! It can go on for as many floors as you want! I don't care if you have to fight the floor bosses! Laughing Coffin will try to kill you at any moment for now on! Hahahaha! But wait! There's more! More and more fools from various worlds are logging into this game and becoming Laughing Coffin members! You were on the verge of destroying Laughing Coffin completely several times but you can't do anything close to that now that I'm in charge of them! All of you magicless hazbans will die first! War criminals, corrupt politicians and law enforcement, the few who still remain from my old faction, and more are amongst those logging in! With such a collection of evil brewing, all your souls will soon belong to the Orichalcos God! And with your souls, the dragon will destroy all I seem undesirable! All of Aincrad will be cleansed as that is now my plan! Once Aincrad is all mine including the worlds that have been merged with it, I will escape from this digital world and continue my campaign across the multiverse while working alongside Don Thousand and his faction until I turn on them! For now, I will leave you all to suffer! Hahahahaha! If you can manage to crush my subordinates, I'll gladly show my face again! Bye! Prepare to die!"
He leaves. I sigh: "He wasn't so direct several years ago. He generally liked to run things in the background so I didn't see much of him until the final battle with him. He only appeared during a lot of the major incidents and such. Not all though." Sinon speaks: "This situation isn't good. Wait, I hear the sound of teleportation." Silica looks scared: "Not again! We're going to be teleported to a Roblox game!" Lisbeth readies her mace: "We'll have to survive it until it somehow ends while also dealing with Laughing Coffin. This can't be good at all." I sigh again: "Well, here we go again. Watch the Floor Boss for this floor show up at some point and force us to really fight to survive. And then, with it dead, we'll still have to fight our way through the Laughing Coffin members and other enemies to be able to activate the teleport gate to the next floor." Beerus groans: "I hate this game! I wish I could just destroy it but in here, my powers have been stripped from me!" One of the Laughing Coffin members laughs and speaks in a tough southern accent: "This is going to be fun. We're going to kill y'all and you ain't gonna be able to do anything about it. After all, many of us came to this game to eliminate the freaks who are amongst you. I'm talking those nasty *racist insult, confused *transphobic insult, filthy *homophobic insult, blood poisoning *anti-semitic insult, and so on!" I reply: "Let me get this straight, you came here to this death game with the risk of dying for real to satisfy your cravings for your despicable bigoted forms of hatred?" "You can call it what you want but I call it freedom! After all, an American should be free to insult anyone who's different and even: kill them!" "That's just messed up."
We find ourselves teleported to the game Survive Area 51 which I think we dealt with previously but I can't exactly remember. If we did, it sure wasn't as hard as it was going to be this time. I look around: "Why did it have to be this game? There's so many horrors lying in wait underground. Sonic.exe, aliens, zombies, horror movie killers, Slenderman, and more. I have a feeling all of the horrors have become much harder as part of the merge with Aincrad. That means we are going to be in it deep." Before we even tried to go underground, monsters appeared on the surface. I ready Graceful Protector: "Damn it. Damn it. Here they all come. There's even some xenomorphs.. That's really bad." The LC member from before laughs again: "You ain't got a chance now! When this is over, I will really begin to make America great again!" And so, the fight begins. We struggle for hours on the surface of this version of Area 51. We fight and we fight, killing respawning monster after respawning monster while also being engaged in struggles with LC. I hear Sonic shout: "We can do this! Even in this game, they still can't catch me!" Knuckles while punching the enemy with gauntlet weapons on his hands replies: "Stop being so optimistic! Focus on the fight instead, Sonic!" "Don't be a party pooper, Knuckles!" "Watch it, you!" Finally, we soon managed to get down underground by breaking through the enemy forces. A lot of Laughing Coffin members die: some of them at my hands. "Damn it! How many enemies do we have to kill? I never wanted this. If I didn't have to kill, I wouldn't kill at all! Haaaaaa! We won't lose. Not after everything we've been through! I've lost so many of my dear loved ones in this game. I will keep fighting for them as a major motivator! Take this and this!" Now that we're underground, we face hordes of monsters coming our way. In fact, every horror in the game is coming for us all.
There's even some enemies who weren't originally in Survive Area 51 such as the clowns from Killer Klowns From Outer Space and malevolent American, Russian, British, and Canadian politicians. Seeing the clowns, I shout: "See those big clowns? Pop their noses and they'll explode!" Pito laughs: "I'll take care of them! This is going to be fun!" Eva shouts: "Don't let your guards down! These cowards may be a bit unwilling to do a few things but they're still dangerous!" Another Laughing Coffin member goes nuts as they say: "Unwilling, you say?! No, we've just been holding back! But now that you have gotten this far, there's no more point! We're going to kill all of you and enjoy every single moment of it!" If I had to guess, the way to escape the game is to find a teleport button that will bring us out of the underground area. I think that was a feature in the game already but it's been so long since I've really played it from the safety of home on a electronic device that I can't exactly recall if that's true or not. I think it is but I'm not completely sure. That's just how it is, I guess. But that can't be the only clearing condition. Maybe we have to rack up enough points killing the monsters/horrors AND defeat the 34th Floor Boss. As time went on, things continued to get harder and harder. We kept being brought close to the brink of death. None of us have died yet thanks to the crystals that save us from the brink of death. However, it's also true that the enemy is getting tougher. Something that didn't happen in Survive Area 51 was the enemies getting harder to beat every single time they respawned. Each time they did now, they got just a little bit stronger. Not only that but horrors that normally wouldn't get close to you if you are far away are hunting all of us. Someone tried to close the door to the room Sonic.exe spawns in but that failed. To make matters worse, the guns the game normally provides in specific areas are nowhere to be found. Neither is the ammo.
Talk about making a Roblox game that much harder to survive. Piccolo speaks in concern: "If this keeps up for much longer, we won't be able to make it out of this alive. I suggest that anyone unwilling to kill steps up and puts things aside because right now, killing our foes is the only way to make it out of here alive. The entire Assault Team has been teleported here but it's still getting more difficult to survive here." Yet another LC member cackles: "That's right! We got you right where we want you! It won't be long until all of you die!" Tsunade replies: "That won't happen! We will fight you and we will defeat you!" A couple hours later, we're still fighting but are so exhausted. Most of the LC members who tp'ed with us have been killed. And yet, more of them come over as reinforcements. This is a true bloodbath. Kizmel shouts: "Perhaps we should one day restore favor from the Sacred Trees! But for now, we must not try anything with them! Everyone! Keep fighting! Don't ever give up for a single moment! This is the fight of our lives!" Her words boost morale. I activate Artist's Eye: "I'm on the dredges of my strength. I must begin using this ability of mine for as long as I can! With it, I'll impale as many enemies with black metal rods as possible!" That's exactly what I do. We can't afford to think of sparing any enemies at the moment. They are far too bloodthirsty and many in number for any kind of peaceful conversation to have an effect on them. Not even Silica's pleas have worked on them. Same with Yui and Aqua's. My actions help lead to a domino effect of clever plans and actions being executed. Together, they turn the tables on our foes, increasing the number defeated substantially.
With all of that going on, we are slowly getting closer to doing something more direct about the respawning monsters. Jesse, his friends, and other Minecraftians lead operations to literally block up the spawn pads the horrors are respawning through. The hope is to stop them from respawning ever again. I end up helping provide cover for some of those who are a part of that operation. If it succeeds, Laughing Coffin won't be able to overwhelm us as much anymore. "Haaaaaa! Get ready! We aren't going to stop for anything!" The plan to block up the spawn pads with Minecraft blocks works like a charm. Thus, the number of horrors we have to face starts shrinking exponentially until not even Slenderman is a threat to us anymore. Each horror started out being as tough to kill as something about 1/16th the strength of a field boss so by the time they were prevented from respawning again, they were at best as tough to kill as something twice as strong as a field boss. We somehow managed to not lose anyone in all of this fighting. With the horrors dealt with, a high ranking Laughing Coffin member panics: "No! We're going to start dying faster! We cannot allow this to continue! On the next floor, the former members of DOMA will join in and avenge those of us who fall! Just you wait Assault Team and BRAINS Collective! Laughing Coffin, let's kill as many of these fools as we can!" But then, the ground begins to shake violently. The 34th Floor Boss appears. We notice this right away thanks to the boss's health bar appearing in our vision. Heathcliffe shouts: "The Floor Boss is here! Please be extra careful from now on!" And so, we are divided up into fighting the Floor Boss and Laughing Coffin. It was an incredibly difficult boss fight. We almost lost a lot of people but somehow, we still managed to win without actually losing anyone.
Once the FB was defeated, the LC members panic despite the fact they were never attacked by the horrors or the FB. It's as if Bowling changed the programming of all those enemies to be friendly/passive towards LC. A LC member screams: "Now, we're really done for! Can't you see it?! A lot of the Assault Team members just leveled up!" Another replies: "Don't be a worrywart! There's more reinforcements coming! They aren't going anywhere! Even if we die, it will be worth it if it means these fools all die in the end!" That's when Shikamaru speaks loudly: "A teleport gate out of here has been discovered!" Yui replies: "Thank goodness I was able to hack into the system long enough to add that.." Since the horrors are no longer constantly respawning, we are able to immediately start heading the way that is without too much trouble. The Justice League member Shining Knight exclaims: "We have to escape immediately! There are too many enemies! I don't know how much longer I can hold on.." Wonder Woman replies: "None of us know how long we can stand against all of this if it keeps up. Just don't give up!" All of us start heading to the teleport gate with Laughing Coffin in hot pursuit as they continue to replenish and grow in number. Sinon and others with ranged weapons are picking them off while continuing to run. That makes it a bit easier to keep going. Vegeta yells: "Damn these enemies! They're so persistent! Leave us alone damn it! Let us get out of here!" A foe laughs: "You think we'd do that?! Wrong. Not a chance!" Bulma shouts: "We'll see about that! When we're done with you, you'll be begging for mercy if you aren't already dead!" Ellegard states: "We have to do more to slow Laughing Coffin down!" She pulls out some of her inventions and begins using them against Laughing Coffin. Ivor grumbles: "Very well.. I guess I will just to have to do harder to be a ninja!"
PAMA speaks: "I will be useful. I know what I'm about to do goes against what I've been able to learn from all of you but I don't have any other choice." PAMA ends up taking control of the minds of some of the LC members to hold them back. All of us keep moving and gradually push LC member after LC member back until there's a clear distinction between our 2 groups which didn't exist before. Before, Laughing Coffin members were mixed in with us and kept trying to kill us from close range. Now, that's no longer the case and thankfully so. We are getting close to the way out. We all do what we can while still running to get away from the LC members. And one by one, we leave the Roblox game through the teleport gate. We find ourselves at the sight of the teleport gate to the next floor. The LC members flood in right behind us. Kirito shouts: "Someone! Activate the teleport gate! We need to get out of here! There's no time! We're outnumbered!" I don't see who manages to activate it because I needed to help keep our foes back with my gun. But once it was activated, Marceline yells: "Everyone! It's activated!" We all get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Once all of us have safely made it to the other side, Argo chuckles: "With all of those traps and diversions we managed to set up, it will be a few minutes before they catch up. Nyehahahaha." Konan speaks: "We're all far too exhausted to keep fighting for much longer. Our best course of action is to hide until we are ready to fight again." Twilight Sparkle replies: "I agree with you. We prepared for the worst so we'll have plenty of food for a couple weeks in each of our inventories. It's a relief we discovered that we can craft sleeping tents." Argo nods: "From what I see, this floor is a little different from what I remember. That big cave over there wasn't there before. That's a great place to hide."
Someone says: "It's so cold here.." I nod: "We better set ourselves up in that cave until we're ready to fight again. If someone could cover our tracks once we get there, that would be great." Roddy speaks up: "I can do that! I'm still a snow golem after all!" And so, we all head into the cave. While Roddy covers our many many footsteps, Jesse and co are at the heart of the operation to seal up the cave to keep us warm and to ensure Laughing Coffin won't be able to find us. Just before the last stone and snow blocks are placed, Roddy enters, having taken care of his task. Just in time too because once the cave is hidden, it isn't long before our foes arrive. One of them says: "Where the hell did the Assault Team go?!" Amelda and the other remaining ex-DOMA members appear at this moment. Amelda replies: "They haven't gone too far. Congratulations on managing to exhaust them to the brink. They will likely be in a nearby town or hidden area. I should know: I did survive a war as a child after all until my former master saved me. Or more like, he supposedly did when he was the man behind the war to begin with." Varon adds: "There's no way they managed to get to a safe location in time. They're probably still finding a good place for themselves." "Remember the plan. We won't kill them all right away. We'll focus on taking the souls of the top players. Diavel, Heathcliffe, Goku, Swiftdrawer, Sinon, Kirito, Deku, All Might, and Tsunade are amongst our primary targets. We figured they'd escape that game and come to this floor ASAP. That was the whole point of continuously sending reinforcements to that game." They never found us. Over the next week, we stay hidden inside the cave. While inside of it, we gather what we can and keep ourselves alive. Things are upgraded, items and weapons are forged, players train together and against each other.
We could have emerged the day after we came to this floor but we knew it would be better to fully prepare first. Now, we are more prepared than we have ever been before. Small holes hidden away to the surface have been dug and then closed off then reopened over and over again to send out scouts to collect intel. So when we're ready to come out, we blow up the sealed up entrance to the cave we're in right back open. Before patrolling LC members nearby knew it, they were already captured and taken to the Blackiron Palace through teleport crystals. And with that, we decide to stay together as one united force against our foes. Throughout the entire floor, we do what we can to beat our foes. Amelda and the others are nowhere to be found. The fighting is constant even as we're all teleported into a warped fusion of the Roblox games Adopt Me, Build A Boat, the more difficult version of Survive The Disasters 2, Theme Park Tycoon 2, several rpgs, and more. That was hard to get out of. It took an obby at the end while we were being chased again to get out. However, the 35th Floor Boss was waiting for us on the other side the whole entire time. We gasped at this development. Bowling's voice is heard: "Surprise! With the flexibility of Roblox and my powers, I have once again brought you right into one of my traps! This time, I will have my subordinates make sure you die for good! Hahahahaha! Say goodbye to your woke ideals as they are crushed under the weight of true power!" I reply: "Your power is ultimately meaningless. You are a villain full of vile hatred. You must be stopped." He just laughs before going silent. At first, we are able to fight the boss with only its summoned monsters as distractions. However, our pursuers catch up to us. Varon shouts: "Jonouchi! Stop fighting that slime thing and face me once again! I want my revenge!"
Amelda shouts: "Kaiba! If you are here, you will duel me right here and now!" Raphael speaks: "Pharaoh, you can come out now. We will settle this once and for all." PaniK appears too while grinning: "I will eliminate all as the newest member of Bowling's most trusted subordinates! I'm being paid very well for this! It's been a while!" I sigh: "Damn it, they're all here too." PaniK ends up targeting me first: "You! You will be the first person I eliminate for good! Prepare yourself!" "Fine. I'll duel you." A few minutes later, PaniK lies defeated only for me to stab his heart. He shatters a few seconds later. But with the other duels going on, the battle conditions are now far more dangerous. "Damn it! This is so hard!" We are barely doing any damage to the Floor Boss with all the Laughing Coffin members trying to kill us and constantly having their fallen replaced by even more ruthless members as reinforcements. I'm currently fighting several of them and one of the smaller slime monsters. "Why don't you try being a little more fair?!" One of them replies: "Fair?! We don't do fair in Laughing Coffin!" "Well, I tried. You asked for this!" I activate Artist's Eye to impale them with black metal rods I create. "Surrender now and I will remove these from you, spare your lives, and send you to the Blackiron Palace. Alone, each of you individually isn't very dangerous, you know? I see no point in killing you if I don't need to. But if you insist on continuing to fight, I will have to kill you. Which I don't want to do. I'm good at killing but I don't enjoy it." They just laugh at me. I sigh: "So be it. You asked for this. Just please die quickly." And with that, I soon finish them off before blocking an attack never before seem from the Floor Boss alongside other tanks.
Liten breaths heavily: "That's a new attack. I don't remember that from the original Aincrad.." I nod: "It seems things are even harder about this than we thought they'd be." Even though it isn't even close to being halfway to being killed, Stig the Slime Thing releases poisonous gas into the air. "Damn it! Glad we all prepared for this but still, it has come too soon!" Many Laughing Coffin members die due to it while the rest live on because they managed to put on stuff to protect their respiratory systems in time. The duels are still ongoing. POH shouts: "You know what?! I'm done obeying the orders of that Bowling! Laughing Coffin is MY MURDER GUILD, NOT HIS!" Bowling appears and laughs: "You think I will let you do what you want on your own? Don't be foolish." He directly uses the power of the Orichalcos to suppress POH and any other dissenters in Laughing Coffin. Due to this, POH smirks as he says: "We'll kill all these fools! For the Orichalcos! For Bowling! Hahahaha! This I'm going to enjoy so very much now that I'm back to my senses!" He has no idea that he's brainwashed anymore. Bowling smirks before disappearing again. That's when a former Life Stealer comes at me: "YOU! YOURE AMONG THOSE BEHIND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LIFE STEALERS! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE AND KILL YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID BACK THEN!" We fight and we fight. Spells against swordplay. "You haven't changed your tactics from the way your friends fought before I helped defeat them when I was still a student at the Lost Academia! Don't think you can push me around so easily! Your defense may be high but your technique has not evolved. It has many flaws I can see clearly now!" Once I kill them as there was no choice to even just knock them out at all, I hear something bad. "Team Sonic! I'm coming!" I ignore any and all enemies who come after me. I have to get to them. As the number of enemies chasing me grows to about 20(a far cry from the total number of Laughing Coffin members who have come here to kill us all), I still keep running until I reach Team Sonic.
Knuckles yells: "Damn it! We can't do anything to these bastards! Not even my claws are doing much of anything!" I intercept an enemy attack: "Allow me to help!" Argo and Llenn show up too. "We'll help too! For free. Don't worry. Nyehahahaha. I'm not gonna charge ya any col for helping you with this problem." Several others join in too, causing the number of enemies around us to jump to the hundreds. Llenn yells: "How many of these Laughing Coffin jerks are there? All these bastards chased us to here or were already here before we came to help!" Stig suddenly targets us with a powerful and large AoE attack. We dodge it only to get attacked by Laughing Coffin in the process. I fight back with the others: "You think we'll be that easy to kill?! Think again! Even if we get distracted in a situation like this, we still can not only do this but show that we're actually incredibly hard to kill! Haaaaaa!" I help fight back even more after we recover from the damage we take after Stig performs a second attack. Sinon speaks: "This boss's AI is advancing quickly." Kirito states: "Hold on a second, I think Stig can adapt to any move we make quickly if I'm remembering right.. This is a problem.. Or maybe I'm mixing that up with another boss's abilities." Stig avoids a Starburst Stream. Tsunade says: "Kirito, no matter what this boss was like before, it is now obvious it has the power to adapt to every move we make." I mentally curse before yelling: "Damn it! Most of us can't even focus on fighting Stig! The majority of us are fighting Laughing Coffin member after Laughing Coffin member now! This is a situation that feels impossible and hopeless.. But still, we have to keep fighting as long as we can still fight. No matter how long this fight takes, we have to keep going until we finally see the end of it or die trying to reach that point. A never ending battle indeed.. We cant afford to be distracted at any point of this. We can't ignore what's around us. That's how we survive this damn game and escape by beating the top floor of Aincrad!"
A lot of our comrades hear what I say. My words helped boost morale as did the words of various others. Diavel adds: "That's right! There's a way out of this! We just have to work towards it as we already know what it is!" Stig shows enough intelligence to even adapt to try to actively demoralize us by hitting us with attacks at max power. I run in to take on as much damage as possible: "You won't crush our wills! Let us show you the full power of the Assault Team! Even if I die here, I know my comrades will win this and move onto the next floor and go from there. This is where the tide of feelings shifts. No longer will Laughing Coffin be the more motivated side. We will be the more motivated side. It starts now!" I soon have taken severe damage. I cough up blood. I'm not done yet. Far from it. I will make damn sure that we can get through this. I fight another LC member. They laugh at me: "You fool! You don't stand a chance against all of us! Soon, the entire Assault Team will fall!" "The future isn't certain! You can't say that for sure! Haaaaaa! If you give up, I will allow you to live. Refuse and you will die! I can see the bloodlust in your eyes!" "Hahahaha! You're weak! You're weak!" "We'll see who's weak!" And so, we fight and we fight. Our swords continue to clash into each other but it's the difference in experience that decides it. It is now Day 239 of the Infinityverse and this foe is now going to lose to me badly. I beat them before tanking another of Stig's attacks, drinking some healing potions, and fighting several more LC members at once. The duels nearby are only getting more and more intense. As things stand, it's just getting worse and worse all over again. However, we of the Assault Team are fighting back much harder than before. My furiously typing these words matches that energy. "You won't win, Laughing Coffin! We won't allow it! Your time is coming to an end someday!"
And with that, it becomes clear that we're still winning. Stig is now at half health. The brains of us clearers have been greatly stimulated. The strategic minds of Shikamaru and others are helping guide things along much better. This is allowing us to completely outsmart the Floor Boss AND Laughing Coffin. We are doing what we can to anticipate and counter every single possible move. Naruto blurted out we should continue to evolve how we fight so that we can always have something that will work on Stig. That's how Stig was defeated in the original Aincrad as well as in Integral Factor and probably New Aincrad too. This is assuming we're recalling what Stig was able to do against players in these versions of Aincrad correctly. We are getting closer and closer to winning even with the seemingly unlimited amount of reinforcements LC has in wait. "Haaaaaaaa!" All Might shouts as he and I end up teaming up with a few others to take on some slime monsters and more LC members: "We will go beyond! We will go Plus Ultra in a way that's never been done for! Everything will be risked in order to attain victory! That is what it will take to move on from this challenge!" Sakura adds: "Let's go! There's no more holding back and no more reason to doubt ourselves!" Naruto grins: "We can win! Believe it!" Stig looks confused to see its attempts to make us despair fail again and again. This allows for a big opening that is exploited by literally anyone who is free to attack it instead of fighting a different foe. In fact, this leads to a whole chain reaction of confusion for our other foes. And for that, they pay the ultimate price. Many LC members die or are just defeated/captured within just a few moments. I hear a Laughing Coffin member scream: "What's happening?!" Sinon smirks: "We're beating the odds." I add: "When strength, intellect, and willpower are pushed to their limits or even beyond, the course of a conflict can change completely! That's because that's how a living creature really shows their full power!"
The sentiment is repeated all over the battle area as more and more LC members fall without managing to hurt many of us in turn. Stig tries to adapt to what we're doing but the observations required to do that prove to be too much for even it to comprehend. As a result, its AI goes haywire and starts malfunctioning. This causes its attack patterns to become chaotic but also uncoordinated. Diavel shouts: "Ignore Laughing Coffin! Focus on Stig the Slime Thing while its AI is overloading!" That's exactly what we do. Those of us with high AGI quickly get away from the LC members to strike Stig with all that we have. So many of us attack at the same time that we even manage to make it impossible for Stig to target anyone. It's like the Floor Boss has become completely drunk and out of it. Therefore, we are now in the clear to beat it. The LC members all express fear and outrage that most of us just abandoned them in terms of fighting them. I even hear one shout: "Get back here and fight me, Naruto! You're a coward!" That gets ignored as Stig loses more and more hp. As if that weren't enough, Yuna performs a song to boost our STR and AGI for 10 minutes. Kizmel shouts: "Assault Team! Now is the time to use the potions that were prepared in the cave!" That's right, we worked together to make a massive stockpile of potions for the 35th Floor Boss battle and now, we're going to finally start using them. I smirk as I drink several potions to grant me various buffs. "Now we got you, Stig!" 8 minutes later, the last hit is dealt to Stig. The boss dies and shatters. The victory screen appears. POH walks towards all of us with an angry expression on his face: "What have you done?! You ignored us! Ignored us! And now, we can't use that Floor Boss as a diversion to allow us to kill all of you faster! This isn't over! Far from over! In fact, we'll spend days killing all of you right here if that's what it takes!"
He doesn't notice Argo run off in the direction of the teleport gate needed to reach Floor 36. Kirito shakes his head: "That's not going to happen." "No, it will happen! Kirito! It will happen! Just you wait!" "Nah. I don't believe you." "Shut the hell up! I'm going to kill you first for saying that!" Tsunade speaks: "That will depend on if you can catch us or not before we reach the next floor." "Shut the hell up too, woman!" That's all he is able to say before we pull a fast one on him. We planned just about everything ahead. Lyusula and Kales'Oh helped us a lot in making enough smoke bombs. A bunch of us throw smoke bombs, confusing the LC members who are now seeing multiples of a small number of individuals in the blinding smoke. Other traps are laid out too such as simple TNT mines, tripwires that trigger arrows to be shot out from dispensers, and covered pitfalls. With everything in place, all of us start running towards where Argo went earlier. In the Assault Team, we have managed to create a truly special level of trust amongst most if not all clearers. That's how we only lost 2 people in the midst of all of that chaos. As for the duels, they ended undecided because the duel disks of our former allies were attacked by some of my fellow Akatsuki members. This forced them to end without a winner or loser or even a draw. We quickly reach the teleport gate. Argo ushers us in: "Come on! We don't have much time! I'm going to destroy this teleport gate once all of you go through and then, I'll just take the stairs up to the next floor. I have no issue with doing so! Nyehahaha! Don't forget to come to me if you wanna know something! I'll give ya a free guidebook or ask you to pay me in col or information or a favor, those are the only currencies I deal in!" So once we make it to the 36th Floor, some of us get worried about Argo. Kizmel speaks: "Don't worry about Argo. She is strong, fast, clever, and smart. She will be okay and find us again soon. Just trust in her."
That settles the unease a lot. Meanwhile, we decide to pull the same thing as we just did on the 35th Floor. This time, we're going to hide deep underground for 2 weeks in order to be even more ready for what's to come this time. So with that said and done, 2 weeks pass by. The LC members never stop giving up on looking for us. They constantly try to hunt us down to no avail. We set up a self sustaining base while we were hiding for those 2 weeks to survive. With the 2 weeks up, it becomes Day 363 of the Infinityverse. That means, almost a year has passed since we got trapped in this death game. None of us talk about it in favor of preparing for what's next. We emerge stronger than ever. Bowling appears to greet us: "I applaud your efforts to outplay me and my subordinates. However, this is the end for all of you. You're not the only ones who have been preparing. Today, I will launch my final plan to kill all of you once and for all. My years of wanting revenge will finally become worth it. I have mostly stayed behind the scenes, letting my pawns do nearly all of the work. But now, that's going to change very soon. Are you scared? I hope each and every one of you is scared. After all, you should know by now just how powerful I have been able to become in this world. I won't even forcibly teleport all of you to another Roblox game or anything like that. This location is perfect for the last moments of the Assault Team. Your deaths will forever be memorialized as how I strike fear into the hearts of anyone else who dares stand against me. Hahahaha! Prepare for your fates to be sealed! I have changed so much since The Plot found me and Don Thousand was able to revive me and bring me to his side! I'll turn against him for my plans to succeed later. For now, I will focus on making sure all of you stay down and die for good here! Former DOMA members, you're first! Take the souls of the legendary duelists!"
No response. "..Very well! Laughing Coffin! Just kill all of them! I will join you in a few minutes. You can hold on for that long." A whole army of Laughing Coffin members appear just like that. But they don't listen to him. POH steps forward: "You bastard. We're tired of being used by you." 'What?! How are you defying me once again?!" Death Gun shoots him and speaks coldly: "Bowling, you never did actually get me under your control." "Death Gun?! I made sure to brainwash you? I know how sneaky you are! How did you avoid being brainwashed by me?" "So you admit it. You admit that you brainwashed Laughing Coffin. You have made a costly mistake that will only hurt you a lot in the end." "Hahahahaha! I don't care! With the power of the Orichalcos on my side, most of Laughing Coffin is still under my control." "That's where you're wrong." Raphael walks up to Bowling and speaks: "I have already broken from the seal. Do you know why you haven't seen me and the others for almost 2 weeks?" "You?! But I thought you and the others were just training to defeat the duelists I wanted you to defeat!" "You were wrong. We worked with Death Gun to destroy every single Orichalcos shard held by a member of Laughing Coffin. We were never under its control for very long." "Traitor! You're telling me that you, Varon, and Amelda all have been quietly against me for a while?!" "That is correct. We pretended to remain loyal to you to prevent you from becoming suspicious. We even secretly contacted the Akatsuki to destroy our duel disks 2 weeks ago. Those duels we played were only distractions from what we were really doing. As we were dueling, we had the Akatsuki break any Orichalcos shards they saw." "And now, you have turned all of Laughing Coffin against me! But why work with Death Gun?!"
Death Gun replies: "Because our goals aligned. I want to kill you. They wanted to defeat you through betrayal. Until you are taken care of, any enemy of you is an ally of Laughing Coffin. We'll settle our own differences another time. But for now, it is you who must die. Prepare to lose dearly, Bowling." "No! This can't be real! AAAAAAA! My plans! My plans! ..So be it! I wanted to save this for when I confronted Don Thousand but it looks like I have no other choice!" His form changes with his skin peeling off and things growing from below where that skin was. When the transformation is complete, he has become a huge skeletal monster. "Hahahaha! This is it! The form I have wanted for so many years! I have finally done it! And with it, all of you will die! After all, I used the data of each Floor Boss to achieve this! There's not an attack you can perform that I can't counteract!" Kirito shouts: "We'll see about that!" I nod: "What he said!" POH sighs: "I really hate you, Assault Team. But right now, I want to kill THAT bastard more than any of you. Like Death Gun said, we'll be allies for now. Once Bowling is dead, we'll be mortal enemies again so you better prepare to die as soon as we're finished here!" Sinon smirks: "I look forward to it." Bowling groans: "Don't ignore me! Don't ignore me! Death Crush!" Using the killing spell from Minecraftia as an energy boost to his now giant skeletal legs and feet, he tries to crush us all. However, we all get out of the way in time before counterattacking at the right moment. He staggers and the battle truly begins. As if that weren't enough, the 36th Floor Boss, attracted by the battling appears before us all. Bowling laughs: "Yes! The 36th Floor Boss! With it on my side, I will kill all of you for certain! Go on, kill them all, 36th Floor Boss!" The boss makes angry noises. Mayor Smythe makes an observation: "It seems that the Floor Boss sees Bowling as a threat to its territory. Therefore, it is relying on its territorial instincts to target our foe instead of us."
Silica nods: "I don't blame the boss. If I were like it, I would feel threatened by the presence of Bowling too!" As the Floor Boss begins attacking Bowling as well, Heathcliff shouts: "Now is the time to hold nothing back!" Bowling huffs as we all begin attacking him really hard: "Im going to make this Floor Boss pay for standing in my way! I will put in even more effort to kill it than in killing all of you!" A lot of us smirk at the villain's reactions to everything as we push even harder to do damage. I swing with my sword so hard that every swing takes a portion of my hp. Does that stop me even though I'm starting to bleed again? No. It doesn't. "Haaaaaa! Good luck killing all of us when your main target has to be the Floor Boss! And even though you have the data of the Floor Bosses, I doubt that extends to this one or the ones on floors above this one! That means, you can't counter every single kind of time especially since we're all attacking you at the same time!" I was right. One of his legs is bound to crack into dust by the time he finally defeats the Floor Boss. Luckily, we all still got credit for killing it because some of us shot at it earlier without understanding what it was actually trying to do. That's going to help for the clearing conditions for the death game later. Bowling screams in agony: "MY LEG! MY LEG! YOU HAVE LEFT ME NO OTHER CHOICE!" He heals his leg before cloning himself and laughing: "Now you have to defeat lots of me! You're all finished now that that Floor Boss is gone and can no longer distract me!" We begin to struggle greatly against the villain. This continues until something suddenly changes. The clones all suddenly dissolve. Bowling holds his head: "What is happening to me?! Earlier, I was an immortal object according to the system! But now, I'm killable! No, this can't be happening! My immortality! It's all gone! I can die! I can die! NOOOO!" His overreaction allows all of us to attack him at once, causing severe damage to be dealt. He simply heals that damage and glares at all of us. "You are all so irritating! I can't wait to kill all of you off for good!"
Again. He is acting very differently than he did before he was killed at the Lost Academia in 2019. But still, we fight him head on with everything we have. He underestimated us. With all of us working together, he's barely able to counter any moves we make. Bowling glares down at all of us as he realizes what's going on: "So, strategies used against the Floor Bosses work against me?! Well then, I'll just have to make it impossible for any of you to damage me all over again! I cast Arcana Barrier!" A huge magical barrier appears around him. "There! Happy now, Assault Team and Laughing Coffin?! Now, none of you can hurt me! But I can hurt all of you! Take this! Fireball! Earthquake! Death! Tornado! Blizzard! I KNOW ALL ELEMENTS! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" We struggle to withstand all of the attacks before attempting to attack his barrier. Doing that does nothing. Not only is the barrier tough but it also absorbs the energies of every single attack we try on it. Bowling laughs again: "Now do you see what I meant earlier?! It's impossible for any of you to survive now that I'm taking you seriously! You can't harm me. But I can hurt all of you as much as I want!" As we desperately try to find a way to break or get around that barrier, we are attacked relentlessly. I do what I can to take on as much damage as possible but my armor is starting to get pretty broken and I will run out of hp potions quickly at this rate. "Damn it! Damn it! I can't do anything here! Wait.. There is something! Artist's Eye, activate! And now, I will use you! Bowling, I'll create chains to hold you in place that not even you can break! I have a solid understanding of tough substances and other things relevant to hard to break chains. Because of that, I will ensure that you can't run as you please anymore!" With as much effort as I could muster, I create giant chains strong enough to hold Bowling's legs and feet in place.
"What is this?! YOU! HUMAN! HOW DARE YOU! DIE!" He tries to kill me but the attack is nullified by the efforts of many of the others. We amp up efforts to break the barrier. We are all trying our best to stop Bowling. POH yells: "Laughing Coffin, use every trick and tactic you can use! We'll kill this bastard! And after that, the Assault Team members which we are only fighting alongside because we have no choice but to all die!" Many LC members cheer and start fighting harder as well as dirtier. Kizmel shouts: "We must do everything we can to break that barrier! Once it is broken, we can truly begin to defeat Bowling!" Bowling is shocked: "Why aren't you giving up or wallowing in the despair I bring you?! I don't understand!" Olivia shouts: "Looks like someone has lost what it truly means to be an Minecraftian!" "WHAT WAS THAT?!" "You heard me." "NO! YOU DON'T GET WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE THAT AND I CAN PROVE IT!" The Arcana Barrier destabilizes as he shouts. Shikamaru concludes: "I see. So its stability is dependent on his emotions. If he feels strong negative emotions, it becomes unstable. Now, there are brief windows where it comes down. Very well. The plan must be to keep him angry while we figure out the timing and use it to launch attacks to the precise times that are necessary." Bowling hears this: "NO, YOU FIGURED IT OUT!" Sonic and others start mocking him, causing his anger to rise even more. His attacks still hit home and do a lot of damage but his barrier is a different story. It is flickering in and out more and more frequently. I choose not to join in on hurling insults at our foe. Instead, I decide to attack whenever the barrier comes down briefly. Bowling's mood reaches what would be labeled in the Sims 4 as "enraged". So angry that even Benson and Mr. Robinson(Gumball) couldn't even match the intensity of his anger.
And because Bowling's body is still Minecraftian despite its transformation, that spells the end for him. His anger keeps growing the more damage we deal and the more times the barrier briefly goes down. Thus, the insults keep flying. It's too much for him. The bodily processes related to anger within him are now going haywire. The only reason his attacks are still extremely dangerous is his muscle memory. That's also why when Broly gets mad due to seeing Goku, he is still able to fight really well. "YOU FREAKS! I WILL KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!" The barrier finally collapses completely after 14 more minutes. That allows us to attack him with nothing held back. He screams as the damage increases in pain and in rage. But it isn't our attacks that defeat him. We are barely doing enough dps to beat him in an hour from now. I just explained what it is that defeats him. His truly wrathful anger. We're all taking huge amounts of damage and many of us are on the brink of death. But still, we keep fighting no matter how much it hurts while also having the sense to consume items necessary to keep us from dying in this situation. As a result, we just keep on fighting until his body fails. Bowling's anger boils his eyes, his heart goes into cardiac arrest(his transformation didn't change it because changing it with magic would have meant death for him as the heart isn't something you can just change willy nilly), and his entire brain shuts down from the strain caused by the pain signals being sent into it through the nervous system as well as the sudden loss of sight and the overwhelming amount of anger he was feeling. Seconds later, he officially dies. Watching it was pretty gruesome. If he had planned more carefully, he could have been able to survive experiencing so much rage. POH laughs: "At last! That bastard is finally dead! *coughs up blood* Damn it, I'm not in any shape to kill any of you. Assault Team, all of you get to live for now. Enjoy your final days living. When we fully recover, we will return to finish you off once and for all."
All of the LC members use teleport crystals to escape. Heathcliff speaks: "We must begin caring for any of us who have been injured immediately. If you can help yourself, help yourself first before others unless your condition isn't life threatening." Tsunade adds: "Please help yourselves and others in the best ways you can without causing anyone to pass away. We can't afford such tragedies." And so, the healing process begins. I treat myself first as I almost died. I took on a lot of damage to protect some of the other clearers during that battle. I look like a battered mess. But we all managed to survive. Bowling's body soon shattered not long after Laughing Coffin retreated. Once we were all doing okay again, Nagato says to me: "We must resume operations to sabotage Laughing Coffin." "I agree. We should begin immediately. I'm in no mood to celebrate the end of Bowling being a threat to our survival, I want to get stuff done right now." And so, myself and the other members of the Akatsuki do just that. We rest for about 30 minutes before finding Argo. She laughs: "Nyehahahaha! Sorry for not joining in on that fight until the end. It took longer to rest from all those steps than I thought. It didn't take too long to go up them of course. After we won, I came over here to watch the area because I suspect Laughing Coffin has just relocated to this area." Konan nods: "I see. If you are correct, it won't take us long to find them and cut down their numbers significantly. Ever since you joined the Akatsuki in secret, you've been a major help to our efforts." "I'm glad to hear ya think I'm very helpful. It's no problem. I enjoy the kind of work I do after all. Besides, I get enough col and info from info broking as it is." I speak up: "If we are to raid Laughing Coffin soon, we have to move quickly to find their new hideout. With them all banged up just like we were, this is the perfect time to strike. It may be underhanded but they have swelled to a force that would wipe out most of the Assault Team if we clearers went to war with them. If we don't have to kill any, that would be helpful. But we must shrink their numbers asap."
And so, our covert operation begins. It doesn't take long to find their base and make plans to break in silently and take out as many of their members as possible. We slip inside through whatever means we can without causing a ruckus. We split up once we get inside in order to cover more ground. The first goal is to knock out anyone in sight. We'll capture whoever we can and send them away as we are doing that. Then, we'll take anything important that we can take without being seen. Finally, we will cause the destruction of the base. Since we have to do it discreetly, it will take time for the destruction to take effect. That will give LC members time to teleport away or escape through other means. We'll wait outside once we set all of that up and take down any LC member we see. That is our plan and we follow it to a tea. It goes smoothly. We manage to take out a lot of LC members out of the equation and send them to the Blackiron Palace. There, we have helped established a rehabilitation team in an attempt to turn away LC members from doing the horrible things they do to become better people. It doesn't work on all of them but there's been a few success stories that have reached my ears by this point. With the operation successful, I rejoin the party I'm in for an evening training session in the main town on the 36th Floor. The plan is to head to the next floor in a few days. We need to prepare some more before whichever villain strikes next does so. It's unfortunate that we have yet to cause the collapse of Laughing Coffin yet but pk'ing incidents have become much more rare these days than they used to be. And we're going to make sure it stays that way or drops to 0. Pk'ing must be avoided and prevented at all costs and as much as possible. That includes pk'ing by using a bunch of angered monsters.
The next few days felt like they lasted forever. I found myself getting involved in all sorts of activities. More Akatsuki missions, getting information for Argo again, sword training, philosophical discussions, and more. Finally, the day came to go to the next floor. Day 368. I say as I exit the inn I'm staying in with the others in the party: "Well. Here we go. Onwards to Floor 37. We made sure to make sure that we were all well prepared. Whatever comes next won't completely catch us off guard." Sinon nods: "We have learned a lot about expecting the unexpected in this death game. But still. We cannot be too careful or alert." Kirito sighs: "Man, wouldn't it be nice to just have a day to relax?" Lisbeth giggles: "Oh, Kirito. You never change." Silica adds: "A day to relax does sound nice. What do you think, Pina?" "Chiiiiiiiirrrrp!" Kirito chuckles: "See, even Pina agrees!" Sinon sighs: "That's going to have to wait. Right now, the priority is the next floor. We are clearing the floors faster now but we still have a long way until we reach Floor 100." "I know. I know. I just hope that bastard Sugou isn't doing anything too bad to Asuna.. Asuna, please be okay.." I put my hand on his shoulder: "She'll be okay. She's a warrior just like all of us are. She might have already escaped that scumbag by now." "You're right!" To be continued..