Chapter 06: The Rat

Unknown Location... (23:02, January 13th 2024)

For all of the deaths it had caused, very few (who knew of it's existence) could deny Cardinal's status as the world's greatest management program.

At least, that was how Akihiko Kayaba believed it to be. After all, it was almost self-sufficient, perpetual in it's calculations and evolution, the artificial intelligence fixing all mistakes it could find and above all, learning.

It seemed that his project had gone quite far these past months, with very visible and pleasing results to be shown. Out of the 10,000 he'd started with, 5,096 of them had now Awakened their Flames.

A whooping three thousand above his expected result for Incarnation of Swords and Fire.

Perhaps a reward for the Incarnates was due?

Yes, he supposed that was indeed paramount, especially as Floor 050 had just been cleared, allowing the permission of Familiars to be summoned and tamed. A perfect cover for ten special skills to start showing up at the 'halfway' milestone.

"System Log in. ID: 'Heathcliff'."

[CARDINAL ACKNOWLDGES. WELCOME, HEATHCLIFF.]

"System Command. Delete Rule Code 2119 'Unique Skills are only unlockable from Floor 090'."

[ACKNOWLEDGED. INITIALIZING CHANGES TO INCARNATION OF SWORDS AND FIRE CODINGS... FINALIZED. DO YOU WISH TO ASSIGN UNIQUE SKILLS TO APPROPRIATE OWNERS OR SPECIFIED SELECTIONS?]

"Assign {Holy Sword} to me. I shall leave the rest to your discretion."

[ACKNOWLEDGED. SENDING UNIQUE SKILLS TO APPROPRIATE OWNERS... FINALIZED. UPLOADING RECENT DATA TO MEMORY BANKS...]

It was now time to introduce the very literal... 'gamebreakers'.

Takamagahara Guild HQ, Zantleaf, Floor 049 (14:10, January 29th 2023)

"Kirito, would you like to explain yourself?" Sachi clenched her fists as she glared at the sheepish boy before her, a little thankful that she'd found out in the privacy of their shared room.

"I... I don't get it." Kirito looked aside nervously. "I mean, aren't you Bonded to Tsuna like everybody else?"

"Boss only uses pseudo Harmony Bonds for every Takamagahara member!" Sachi shouted, causing Kirito to reel. "For real Harmony, he's only Bonded with you Cadres and a few others! If I knew you were a Sky too, I'd have Bonded with you months ago!"

"...I don't think you'd want somebody like me as your Sky." Kirito looked back to her, meeting her eye-to-eye. "When Tsuna and I Bonded, it was... It's hard to really describe the feeling in words. But he was like... I was coming home. To my sister, to my computers, to messing about while her kendo exercises echoed from the dojo..."

Sachi let Kirito speak, rarely having the chance to hear him allude to his home life. From what it sounded like, Kirito had a sister that he dearly loved but had accidentally estranged, fervently wishing otherwise.

"And when I felt that, and I realized what it truly meant to possess the same Flame as him, I knew that I'd never be a good Sky for anybody." Kirito shook his head regretfully. "I can't grant that feeling of Harmony. I'm too... I guess I could classify it as internal and external. Tsuna's the external type, the Sky who understands people. He motivates them, reassures them and is the kind of guy you'd find yourself helping out. Me?"

Kirito thumbed his chest. "I'm internal. My Harmony goes inward instead of out, completely in tune with being self-centered and independent no matter how nice people say I am."

Sachi frowned. Kirito wasn't exactly wrong, but... "I don't care."

The moment she said that, she felt more of her doubts fade away. She really didn't care. Because while she really had no problems with Tsuna as a Sky, Sachi flat-out preferred Kirito. "Now gimme!"

Kirito was definitely unprepared for her to actually tackle him down to his bed and straddle him, her Rain Flames flaring out to coax out the Sky hidden behind Kirito's Cloud. A moment later, Sachi grinned in elation when she felt her Flames brush against and settle with the Sky-

"Onii-chan!"

"Kii-bou~"

Sachi nearly reeled from the Bonds that were already nestled to Kirito's Sky, the first being an erratic but unyielding emerald that crackled with love and desperation while the second was a mischievous but steady lavender that wafted with cunning and possessiveness. For somebody who claimed that he would be a terrible Sky, Sachi's Rain had nearly been shoved away by the territorial Lightning and Mist already Harmonized, even if the Lightning Bond did seem rather frayed.

Satisfied that at least two other people(with the frayed Bond most likely belonging to the 'sister' in question) saw in him what Kirito himself hadn't, Sachi poured in with the relentlessness of a hurricane, finally imprinting a space for herself in Kirito's soul. The effect was immediate upon her success, the two teenagers gasping at the almost audible click of instant and complete Harmonization between Sky and Rain, Sachi falling bonelessly over Kirito's chest.

"You're stuck with me, Kirito." Sachi chuckled, already drunk on the feeling as her leg idly intertwined with his. Now she could fully understand why almost all of Tsuna's Cadres liked to get so physical with him. "And I'll be sure to wash away all of the troubles that show up in our Court."

Kirito whined beneath her. How rude, considering that a girl as attractive as her was all but propositioning him while straddling him on his bed.

Forest of Wandering, Floor 035 (17:09, February 23th 2024)

"What are you on about? On top of that lizard being able to heal you, aren't a Sun Flame user?" Rosalia complained. "You don't need Heal Crystals."

"You're one to talk!" Silica shot back, Pina II squeaking in agreement from atop her head. "For someone who's a Storm, you never fight upfront, so what chances do you even get to use those Crystals?"

"It's just a matter of self-preservation." Rosalia replied as she fiddled with her red hair, the woman using what was probably a mirror in her profile to adjust her appearance again. "I'm not a child idol like you, Silica-chan, so the guys aren't going to put as much effort in protecting me."

Well, it wasn't her fault she'd been 12 when the stupid death game started! Their game avatars didn't age along!

"H-Hey, you two..." The leader of the Party who had invited her tried to mediate between them. But as far as Silica was concerned, she'd had enough.

"Fine! I don't really need these items." Silica relinquished the hard-won Item Drops she'd just gotten and removed herself from the Party. "They're definitely not worth Partying with you for even a single second more. There're tons of Guilds and Parties without you in them!"

"H-Hey, Silica-chan!"

Silica paid them no more mind, leaving Rosalia and the others as she headed deeper into the forest.

Looking back on that moment in hindsight, Silica regretfully acknowledged that she should've at least waited until they'd left the area literally designed to confuse players.

She certainly acknowledged the three Drunk Apes that had cornered her were definitely trouble. Knowing to move quickly, Silica dodged the first of their attacks, Sun Flames boosting her speed and allowing her to decapitate the closest one. "Pina, use {Bubble Breath} and then {Sideswipe Burn}!"

"Kyuu!" Pina II cried as it fired it's {Bubble Breath}, the bubbles from it's maw crashing into the Drunk Ape and exploding with the similarity of being hit by a shotgun blast. Not being done, her Familiar suddenly blasted forward with a surge of her Sun Flames upon it's wings, the strengthened appendages decapitating the stunned Drunk Ape.

Silica smirked in pride. Now for the third-

*CRACK!*

Silica choked, her lungs losing air as she was suddenly attacked from behind and flung facefirst into a tree. Flying after her tumbling body, Pina II healed Silica's HP back into the green as the girl shakily got up and grimaced at the fourth monster that had showed up.

Compared to the other apes, this one was almost twice the size of a Drunk Ape and had whitish blue fur and wielding a staff instead of a club like it's fellows.

And on top of that...

Grog the Intoxicated Monkey Sage

Grog hooted drunkenly and pounded it's chest with it's spare fist as two HP bars appeared above his head, bursts of Rain Flame appearing with each hit.

"A Field Boss?!" Silica's shock grew even more as a few other Drunk Apes began to spawn around it. "And it can summon minions?!"

Jumping aside, Silica barely managed to dodge the Drunk Ape that had attacked the tree she'd been resting against and immediately made to escape, not even attempting a fight against them. "Pina, {Veiled Mist}!"

A blast of obscuring mist and Pina II was flying beside her, the two sharing in the utilized Sun Flame to boost their speed and get away as far as they could-

*CRACK!*

Silica gasped as Pina II suddenly shoved it's way into Grog's sudden attack, the Feathered Little Dragon taking the brunt of the staff strike meant for her. "Pina!"

Even as Silica's HP sharply fell into the red, she was already blazing her Sun Flame as much as she could through the both of them. But Grog showed no mercy in it's onslaught. For every bit of HP she recovered, the Intoxicated Monkey Sage took more.

Even worse, the approaching hoots signaled to Silica that the other Drunk Apes that had been left behind had begun to catch up. Soon enough, Pina II took a vicious strike that it didn't immediately recover from, it's HP completely vanishing before Silica could channel her Sun Flame through.

"Pi... Pina...?" Silica muttered in disbelieving shock as her Familiar began to glow. "Pina?!"

"Kyu... uu..." With a final cry, Pina II's body shattered into polygons, leaving behind only a small glowing feather.

A terrible emptiness struck Silica at the sight, leaving her unmoving to Grog as it raised up it's staff to kill her as well just as the other Drunk Apes finally reached and surround them. Limp with despair, Silica looked at her imminent death with little movement to save herself, with even her Sun Flame completely vanishing when-

*snap!*

Grog and it's fellow monsters suddenly exploded into polygons as they suddenly died to nothing.

No, not nothing.

Silica knew for sure that there was something before her, even if she couldn't see it. "Wh-Who's there?"

*snap!*

First, nothing answered her. Then a figure slowly faded into existence before her, with only tiny wisps of Mist Flames flickering off her like an aura. Wearing a hooded cloak as dark as the night sky above, a girl with short blonde hair and whisker tattoos stared down at the kneeling girl. "Yo."

"Pina..." Without the imminent threat of death as a distraction, Silica allowed herself to weep as she took the glowing feather into her arms. "Please... don't leave me... Pina...!"

Silica felt the hooded girl quietly crouch and start patting her shoulder. "Sorry. That your Familiar?"

"Y-Yes." Silica sniffed. "That was Pina... my Tamed Monster..."

"Tamed?" The girl muttered. "Makes sense. Tamed Familiars can still die permanently compared to Summoned Familiars. Wait, that feather got a Name?"

Silica blinked her tears away and checked, finding Pina II's feather to be Named as {Pina's Heart}.

"That's great." The girl smirked. "You see, if a Tamed Familiar leaves behind a Named item, then you can still revive it."

"Really?!" Silica shouted, hope starting to swell up within her like a balloon. "Are you serious?!"

"Yup!" The hooded girl confirmed. "It's fresh information, so there're still lots of people who aren't in the know. There's a dungeon up at Floor 047 called the Hill of Memories. The reward for clearing it is a special flower that can revive Tamed Familiars."

The balloon of hope within Silica popped at her words. A dungeon at Floor 047? She was too low levelled for that for anything above the thirties...

"Too low-leveled, huh?" The hooded girl guessed correctly as she stood up. "Too bad, considering that only the Tamer in question can retrieve the {Pneuma Flower}. So even me offering my services' a bust. Not to mention the fact that {Pina's Heart}'s soon gonna become {Pina's Remains} in a few days if you don't make it."

"No..." Silica wilted. So in the end, saving Pina II was impossible? It just wasn't fair...

"Don't worry, I'd be terrible in my line of work if I couldn't offer multiple choices." The hooded girl quickly traded over an {Ebon Dagger}, a {Silverthread Armor}, a set of {Moon Blazers} and a pair of {Fairy Boots}. "There you go."

"Why would you go so far to help me?" Silica asked. "Also, I don't think I can afford all this."

"Well, it's certainly not just for the money that I'm helpin' you out." The hooded girl leaned over Silica, forcing the smaller girl to shrink back as she felt very much like prey before the slit golden eyes. "I've got my reasons to help you out in getting that flower. Don't worry, you can still use the {Pneuma Flower} however you want. In exchange, you'll be helpin' me out with something up there. What do you say?"

"...if this will help in saving Pina." Silica accepted the offered hand, feeling like she was making a Deal with the Devil as she did so. "I'm Silica."

The hooded girl bared her fangs with her grin. "Argo."

Mishe, Floor 035 (20:30, February 23th 2024)

Returning to Mishe, Silica idly followed after Argo as she'd mentioned renting a room for the night before they would head up to Floor 047.

"Oh, it's Silica-chan!"

Silica turned at the sound of two male voices approaching her, the two players unfamiliar to her.

"You sure got back late." The chubby one said, somehow ignoring Argo's presence. "We were worried about you."

"Want to Party with us?" The skinny one wearing pink for some reason spoke up. "We'll take you wherever you want to go."

Ah. Fans. "That's very kind of you, but..."

"She's already with me, boys." Silica gasped as Argo suddenly pulled her into an embrace from behind, the hooded girl grinning at the boys as her fingers caressed the shorter girl's cheek. "Try again next week."

Argo didn't wait for them to reply before pulling Silica along. To her credit, Silica didn't resist the pull at all, hoping to get away quickly. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." Argo snickered. "You've got nothin' on Aa-chan and Tsu-bou. It'd be easier to count the ones not worshipping those two in their Guilds."

Silica looked up to the older girl in surprise. The way she'd just spoken now... "Argo-san, which Guild are you part of?"

"Hm?" Argo's ever-present smirk grew wider. "The answer will cost you~"

Silica pouted before turning away with a huff, hating Argo's snickers as she did so. "Fine. Keep your expensive secrets."

"Well, if it isn't Silica-chan~" A familiar voice called out from an alleyway. "Oh? So you made it out of the forest. That's nice."

Silica grimaced at the sight of Rosalia and her former Party, their presence reminding her of her loss.

Argo tilted her head close and whispered. "She the reason you're were alone back in there?"

Not trusting herself to speak, Silica confirmed with a nod.

"Huh? What happened to your lizard?" Rosalia spoke condescendingly as she approached the duo. "Don't tell me it..."

"Pina died to save me..." Silica reluctantly confirmed. "But I'm definitely bringing him back!"

"That would mean you'll be heading for the Hill of Memories." Rosalia stated, causing Silica to still. Hadn't Argo said that it wasn't that popular a spot? "But is your level high enough for that?"

"Now, now, it's no good to bully kids." Argo suddenly stepped forward, her smirk now very predatory. "But I'm now kinda interested in you, red. The Hill of Memories ain't a popular thing for non Familiar users. You the same as Si-chan here?"

Silica and Rosalia stared at Argo as she had clearly acted protectively of the former, causing the latter to look her over contemplatively, as if trying to ascertain her strength just by looking at the hooded girl.

"Don't tell me this little girl's somehow managed to seduce even somebody from the same gender." Rosalia mocked, causing Silica to frown at her choice of words. "You don't seem pretty strong... to me..."

Rosalia frowned before taking a closer look at Argo's face. "Wait... do I know you from somewhere?"

"Oh? So you don't know me." Argo teased, stepping forward into Rosalia's personal space and making the redhead nearly flinch when she patted the woman's cheek condescendingly. "Too bad."

And with that, Argo stepped back and led Silica away.

Weathercock Pavilion, Mishe, Floor 035 (20:53, February 23th 2024)

"Why is she such a meanie?" Silica grumbled at their chosen table as she and Argo waited for their meal.

Argo hummed, tapping a fingerless gloved finger on the table. "Is Incarnation of Swords and Fire your first MMO?"

"Yes." Silica answered, to her great regret.

"In online games, there're always types like her." Argo explained. "Even if they were to become the worst of villains and scumbags, it's all fake to them since it's merely a role to play. You see how the cursors on our heads are green? If you commit a crime, it'll turn orange for a bit. Be a repeat offender or commit the worst of crimes and it's soon deepen into red and stay as such. That'll be a Red Player, the kind that become Player Killers, or PKers for short."

Silica gasped at the horrid idea. "They kill other players?!"

"If this were a normal game, then it'd really be not that bad." Argo nodded. "But this is different in here."

Silica blinked as Argo fingers threatened to nearly crush the cup in her hand. "This might be a game, but it's not something you play."

"U-Um, Argo-san..."

Argo blinked before relaxing. "Sorry, sorry. To be honest, I ain't that much different. As an info broker, I got a bad habit of always trading information as shrewdly as Agil does his products."

"I-I don't think you're that bad a person, Argo-san." Silica leaned forward across the table, catching Argo's hands in hers. "I mean, even though you saved me and are using me for some reason you won't tell me about, you had no reason earlier to defend me from Rosalia, right? You're a good person."

Argo looked surprised for a moment. Then she grinned. "Looks like even now, I still need to be consoled, huh? My Sky would laugh if he saw me like this. Well, either that or hold my hands too, but he's too much of a romantic wuss."

Silica's face burned as she suddenly realized her actions and pulled back, fervently fanning her face. "W-Wow! What's with our cheesecake taking so long?!"

She desperately called out to a passing waiter NPC. "Excuse, our order hasn't arrived yet!"

After dessert, an underwear-clad Silica sighed as she laid on her bed, unable to sleep due to a mix of worry for her partner's fate and her increasing interest in Argo. She didn't know you could like that for a girl! Was she actually gay, or just bi?!

A knock from her door came, along with Argo's voice. "Si-chan, can I come in."

"A-Argo-san?!" Silica squealed as she got up from the bed.

"I want to go over for what you'll need to expect on Floor 047." Argo spoke up. "You want to do it tomorrow instead?"

"It's fine. I was thinking of asking you for pretty much the same thing." Silica replied as she opened the door. "Come in, Argo-san!"

"..." Argo's eyes looked downwards as if observing Silica for the first time ever, before her smirk widened. "Huh. So you're really trying to seduce me?"

Confused, Silica looked down at herself. Her petite and still underwear-clad self. Two seconds of dreadful silence passed before she released a scream that everybody in the inn probably heard before slamming the door close.

A series of embarrassed shrieks and amused laughter later, Argo hummed as she set up a table between her and the humiliated girl. Pulling out a strange tool, she tapped the top, which prompted it to change form and display the whole of Aincrad in hologram form.

"Wha-What is this?" Silica asked in amazement.

"It's a Mirage Sphere." Argo answered before magnifying the hologram into what she guessed was Floor 047. "This here's the town area for Floor 047. And this is the Hill of Memories. We'll be taking this route-"

Without even a pause between her words, Argo flung out something from her cloak at the door. The flung item pierced into the door and seemed to hurt a person on the other side, given the surprised yell and immediate footsteps that Silica heard just as Argo had swiftly opened the door.

"What was that?" Silica asked in concern.

"An eavesdropper." Argo twitched her finger, causing what Silica noted to be a metallic-looking shard to rip itself free of the door and smoothly fly back under her cloak. Silica especially blinked as the Immortal Object icon appeared over the damage but kept flickering as the door slowly 'fixed' itself with each glitch. "And if we're lucky, the reason I'll be using you up at Floor 047."

"...I'm bait." Silica realized. "You're using both me and the {Pneuma Flower} as bait."

"Yup." Argo didn't even try to lie. "Better get some sleep for tomorrow. It'll be really hectic for you."

Silica gulped. W-Was Argo leading them into an ambush? Also, how had Argo's weapon clearly damaged an Immortal Object?!

Floria Gate Plaza, Floria, Floor 047 (10:15, February 24th 2024)

After the glow of the teleportation gate faded away, Silica, now adorned in Argo's gear, gasped at the sight of flowers everywhere. Even in the air, petals of all colors and shapes floated around lazily. "This place is like a dream...!"

"Free Info Fact: This Floor's nicknamed as the Flower Garden by some." Argo informed. "Everything about this Floor's flower-themed. Monsters, Items, even it's Floor Boss was called Alderbark the Evergrowing. It was totally a giant Ent that would've either trashed or ruled the ones in the Lord of the Rings."

Silica blinked at this strange piece of info that Argo had just stated to be free. "Argo-san, did you join the Frontliners in clearing this Floor?"

"Maybe." Argo shrugged, giving neither a confirmation nor a denial. "I am stronger than everything on this Floor, though. Don't worry, that's for free, too. Now, follow me."

After leading the way for a bit, Argo stopped to fish out something from her cloak before handing it over to Silica.

"What's this?"

"If things turn south and I give you the order, use this Teleport Crystal to warp to a random town below this Floor." Argo ordered.

"But..."

"That wasn't a request." Argo appeared the sternest Silica had ever seen her. "Take it and be sure to use it when I say so."

"...I understand." Silica took the crystal without any further argument.

"Okay, let's get going." Argo returned to her usual demeanor, leading Silica along. "This path will take us to the Hill of Memories."

Silently following after her, Silica frowned at the awkward silence between them. Argo kept walking forward with purpose, her eyes firm despite her usual attitude.

"Um, Argo-" Before Silica could say more, she was suddenly yanked off her feet by a pair of vines grabbing her up by the ankles from a plant-like monster from the flower field to their right. Being hoisted upside-down, Silica shrieked as she tried to keep her skirt from falling, her free hand grabbing her dagger and flailing about.

"Oh, it's a Garish Gerbera." Argo muttered between Silica's screams. "Be sure not to use your Sun Flames, Si-chan~! Frankly, this entire Floor is a bad zone for those with the Activation attribute."

Silica did not need to hear that, especially as the vines kept creeping up her legs and seemed to be leeching off her Flames anyways! "What do I do?! Help me, Argo-san!"

"Just stab it~!" Argo sounded like she was struggling not to laugh. "It's not like it's even a Field or Dungeon Boss that can use Flames of it's own."

Finally snapping out of her distress, Silica sliced off the vines holding her up. As the Garish Gerbera roared out, Silica flew down towards it's head, her {Fad Edge} allowing her to immediately kill it when she buried her dagger deep. Landing gracefully in the flowerbed as polygons rained down around her, Silica turned to Argo self-consciously. "D-Did you see?"

"Black is a bold choice for you." In hindsight, Silica should've expected Argo easily dodging the flying kick that immediately followed her words.

As they went onwards on their journey, Silica's suspicion of Argo actually being a Frontliner grew greater with each encountered monster they met. The Land Anemone, the Venusian Trapfliers, Argo easily handled them all without even needing a weapon.

Instead, Argo always directed her to always land the killing blow so that Silica got most of the EXP and Col while offering new ways to fight with her dagger as someone with a fellow rogue-type build.

By the time Silica had reached Lv. 45, she hadn't even been needing Argo to save her from monsters anymore. At last, they finally came to the end of the path. Reaching a hillside, they found an open space with a pedestal which stuck out against the area which was surrounded by dense woods of flowers contending against themselves as they bloomed.

"Here you go." Argo stopped and gestured forward, prompting Silica to rush ahead until she reached the pedestal.

Once she did so, it immediately glowed with a golden light while a flower bloomed quickly atop it until the glow stopped with it's growth finishing.

"Take it." Argo prompted.

Silica nodded and carefully plucked it, the {Pneuma Flower} becoming a registered reward for her. "This will bring Pina back, right?"

"Yup."

Silica sniffled in relief. "Thank goodness."

"But we still need to fulfill your part of the bargain." Argo reminded Silica, prompting Silica to frown. "Plus, it'll be better to revive your Tamed Familiar in a safer place since time isn't an issue anymore."

Silica sighed in disappointment but acknowledged the point, safely storing the {Pneuma Flower} into her inventory. "Okay."

Ready for a potential ambush, Silica and Argo made their way back along the path. Up until they reached the bridge where Argo had forced Silica to accept the Teleport Crystal, Argo hadn't seemed to be particularly bothered.

But now, Argo stopped her with a firm grasp on her shoulder. "Is this...?"

"It's no use hiding from me." Argo called out in a commanding tone. "All of you come out now."

After a few seconds, Silica gasped at the sight of Rosalia stepping out from behind a tree. "R-Rosalia?!"

"Your {Searching} Skill must be at a pretty high level to see through my {Hiding} Skill, whiskers." Rosalia commented before looking over to Silica. "Judging by that happy face of yours a while back, looks like you managed to get the {Pneuma Flower}. Congratulations, Silica-chan~"

It was a weird time to note it, but Silica didn't think that Rosalia's tone had ever been faker.

"Now hand it over!"

Silica immediately unsheathed her dagger, Sun Flames blazing forth. "I refuse!"

"That's a good response, Si-chan." Argo stepped forward. "Considering that I already promised that you'd be do as you want with that Item, especially as you've done well to act as bait for my true target."

Silica's eyes widened in realization. "The one you were using me as bait for... was Rosalia-san herself?"

"And posse." Argo gestured to the trees. "My target was the entire guild of these PKers, Titan's Hand."

Rosalia hummed. "Oh?"

Silica turned to Argo. "But Rosalia's cursor is green!"

"It's a simple trick." Argo huffed. "The green members scout out targets and lead them towards the Red Players' trap. Was that you or one of your minions eavesdropping last night?"

"Then, the reason she Partied with me was..." Silica frowned in realization. She'd been a target as well.

"That's right. I assessed everyone's strengths and weaknesses while watching them rake in all that Col." Rosalia confirmed with a smirk, shifting her weight a little as she licked her lips much to Silica's disgust. "You were the most bountiful prey we had our eye on, so it was unfortunate that you'd gotten the idea to leave when you did."

Rosalia started to caress her spear. "But then you mentioned getting a rare Item. And even your new friend was way too suspicious so I did the smart thing and researched you. Argo the Rat. An info broker with strong connections to Takamagahara, especially with their Cloud Cadre."

Silica's jaw dropped at that. Argo was an ally of Takamagahara?!

"That's kinda sad, considering that I did my own research long before you even saw me." Argo stepped forward. "Rosalia, Storm Guildmaster of Titan's Hand. Ten days ago, you were all responsible for the wiping out all of the Silver Flags excepting their own leader."

Rosalia started to twirl her hair (again?!) as she remembered them without apparent care. "Oh, that penniless bunch."

"The Silver Flag Guildmaster spent all day at the frontline's Teleport Gates, begging for someone to avenge them." Argo's smirk turned cruel. "Which is why it was really bad news for you guys when he directly ran into Tsuna. Amber Asura would've personally come for your asses if I hadn't asked to deal with this myself."

Amber Asura would've come himself?!

Even Rosalia seemed shaken at that, and Silica didn't blame her. Most Frontliners rarely cared about matters involving the already conquered Floors below, always making moves for the sake of advancement and clearing the game.

But Amber Asura was different. Very few players were unaware of how hard he and Takamagahara cracked down on miscreants and bullies in their territories. There were more than a few rumors of him being either a school prefect or bully victim IRL with how viciously protective he was over the innocent and weak despite his young appearance.

Now that Silica thought about it, he was probably the reason why she'd known so little about PKers before Argo told her after all this time in the game. His very influence pretty much hammered down on evil people like them and kept most of them from acting out.

"But weirdly enough, that poor guy didn't want you all dead. He just wanted you all imprisoned, so that you can all face proper justice IRL when we clear ISF." Argo shook her head. "Can you imagine how he'd have felt to come to such a decision?"

"Can't say I do. What kind of idiot takes all this seriously?" Rosalia placed her hand on her hip. "There's no evidence that the person dies in real life if you kill them here anyway."

Silica stared at Rosalia as the woman spouted the stupidest and most disgusting thing she'd ever had the misfortune of hearing. Judging by Argo's expression, the feeling seemed to be mutual.

"Anyways, shouldn't you two be more worried about yourselves?" Rosalia snapped her fingers, prompting many other players to appear from behind the trees, all of them bearing orange cursors. "Well, you did earlier call of all of us to come out, didn't you?"

Silica stepped back in terror. "A-Argo-san, there's too many of them! We need to get away!"

Argo tilted her head, her gaze still focused on Rosalia as she slowly stepped forward and snapped her fingers. "Nah, I'm gonna kick all of their asses."

*snap!*

"Argo-san, there's no way you can take all of them on your own!" Silica shouted. "Please, let's use your Teleport Crystal together."

"Aw, that's adorable. You think they're a threat~" Argo stopped to look back at her, her slit-eyed gaze undaunted. "Didn't I tell you earlier? I am stronger than everything on this Floor. And that includes these fools here who don't get the consequences of playing around with people's lives."

"Um, boss, a thought occurs." One of Rosalia's guildmates muttered to her as Argo continued to approach them. "This chick was well aware that she was coming up against a guild of PKers and Amber Asura apparently thought her suitable enough that he sent her alone in his stead. Are we sure that Argo the Rat isn't Frontliner-level?"

"Don't be stupid!" Rosalia chided in a tone that almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. "Does that bitch look anything special?! Deal with her quickly and take everything she owns!"

"I'll handle it." A Titan's Hand guildmate in blue sauntered over to Argo and placed an arm over her shoulders, tapping a dagger against her chest with it. "It looks like you don't understand the situation very well-"

*snap!*

*SHING!*

"-so...?" The PKer blinked in confusion as the entire arm that had been hanging off Argo's shoulder suddenly fell down, leaving him and everybody except Argo to stare at the empty space that had used to have a left arm attached to it.

Now, there was only the red polygonal view of virtual 'flesh' cut open. The PKer blinked as his confusion quickly made way for horror, especially as his legs suddenly gave out from beneath him, his legs having been also cut away from beneath him.

"J-Jack?!" The PKers screamed over the first casualty's terrified shouts. "That bitch! What did she do?!"

"I think you're the ones who doesn't understand the situation." Argo muttered as she pulled down her hood for the first time in Silica's presence, exposing a head of short blonde hair and letting her cloak spread out. Beneath her hood, Silica saw that she was dressed in ninja-like attire, which consisted of a black, sleeveless kimono-style top, black arm-warmers and leggings, with forearm and shin armor, and black tabi with waragi.

Along with that, beneath her cloak were several metallic shards perfectly arranged along the cloth, with a few pieces missing-

*snap!*

Silica gasped as she remembered Argo's Flame. For a Mist, would it not be a simple thing to render her weapon invisible as well as she'd done to herself? That must have been how she'd easily cut the orange player's limbs apart.

"Now, then, Titan's Hand!" A sinister aura seemed to surround the info broker as she beamed at the PKers, Silica noting a few more of the metallic shards in the cloak fading away into invisibility. "Who's next?!"

"...Gary, shoot her down." Rosalia ordered. "Don't miss."

Gary did as ordered, gathering and firing a mass of Rain Flames that hit Argo-

*snap!*

"So you're casualty #2, then?" Having just smoothly dodged the blue fireball, Argo's invisible blades tore apart Gary's limbs, much to Rosalia's visible shock.

"Bitch! Let's get her, Leeroy!"

"Right behind ya, Jenkins!"

Jenkins came at Argo with a Lightning-imbued greatsword from above while Leeroy followed after with Lightning Flames crackling across his daggers.

*snap!*

Argo smoothly dodged Jenkins's strike, cutting through his side and moving on Leeroy, slapping his arm aside hard enough to break it before stabbing into his stomach. Immediately, the two men started to scream and flail, Leeroy scratching at his eyes while Jenkins repeatedly slammed his forehead against the ground.

Mists dealt with illusions, after all.

"How is she moving like this?!" The fifth PKer screamed as he swung his longsword about as fast as his Sun Flames could boost him. "She's too fast! My attacks aren't hitting her!"

*snap!*

Easily moving into his personal space, Argo downed him with a vicious axe kick upon his shoulder from above. "That's just the difference between me and you all~"

Silica shuddered as now, all but one of Rosalia's underlings had easily fallen to Argo.

"Y-You bitch!" The PKer trembled even as he held up his axes, having been the one to have been hesitant to fighting her in the first place. "I knew that Amber Asura wouldn't have sent a weakling in his place! Boss, what do we do-"

*snap!*

Silica winced as Argo immediately blitzed forward and slammed him headfirst into the ground, having taken advantage of the few seconds he'd looked away from her. "She really... was stronger than them all..."

"Now, then..." Argo turned towards the shaking Rosalia. "It looks like you're the last one standing. Will you surrender?"

"D-Don't expect me to be on the same level as these fools!" Rosalia roared as she pointed her spear at Silica. "[Shot Bombs]!"

Multiple condensed orbs of crimson flames fired at Silica-

*snap!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

-only to be saved the attack being prematurely stopped by dozens of rapidly moving metallic shards.

"A-Argo-san?" Silica gasped as she shakily fell down to her butt.

"Now, now..." Argo glared as the metallic shards gathered up beside her, clicking together into a shape until they formed a massive uniquely shaped shuriken idly spinning while it hovered. "Are you just trying your best to piss me off today, Rosalia?"

"Huh?! Why would I give a fuck-" Rosalia's words stilled as the massive shuriken blitzed past her face, shredding off the bang of hair that Silica had always found annoying along with gouging a line into her face. "AH?!"

"Don't move too much." Argo warned. "I only need {Bondshape} to take off your limbs a bit~"

At her direction, the massive shuriken began to spin powerfully before chasing after Rosalia, the redhead desperately trying to destroy and deflect it's attacks with more Storm explosions.

But Silica could tell it was no use. With every swing and blast Rosalia used, Silica could still plainly see that she was getting overwhelmed.

"[Vermillion Detonation]!"

Silica gasped as Rosalia gathered immense amounts of condensed Storm fireballs and fired them, sending a rain of explosions onto both her allies and enemies.

Argo sighed before snapping her fingers. "[Throwing Star Tactics: Obscuring Haze]."

*snap!*

{Bondshape} suddenly broke apart while blazing with Mist Flames, the separated shards multiplying many times over until Silica couldn't tell the real from the fake. Another snap of her fingers fired at at the approaching bombs, causing the sky to redden from the clash of Flame attacks.

"Did you know, Rosalia?" Argo's tone was simultaneously teasing and cold. "About how some illusions can be so terrifyingly real that you can take actual damage from them?"

Rosalia froze, suddenly aware of the many shards hovering above her.

*snap!*

"Let's find out." Argo snapped her fingers again and the shards descended upon Rosalia, tearing through both her and the ground, the Immortal Objects meaning nothing to the onslaught of silver flashing death.

"Stop it!" Silica cried out as she reached Argo's side. "Y-You'll kill her!"

Argo raised an eyebrow and snapped her fingers when Silica's pleading stare refused to let up.

*snap!*

Silica blinked as all of the defeated PKers suddenly disappeared, leaving just an unconscious Rosalia who kept screaming as if {Bondshape} was still shredding her apart. "Wha..."

Silica eyed a wisp of Mist Flame that wafted off her hand, before looking to a portal that Argo promptly kicked the still screaming into. "How long...?"

How long had Argo caught her, them all, in an illusion?!

"From the first moment I snapped my fingers." Argo grinned cheekily, Silica only catching a flash of silver from beneath the cloak she wore as the whiskered girl's portal turned back into a Corridor Crystal. "And now, our business is concluded-"

"Argo-san, I'd like to buy information from you." Silica interrupted her, causing Argo to regard her seriously.

"...state your desire as a question."

Silica swallowed as she thought through all she'd known so far about her. Her attitude, her appearance, her skills... "How much Col would it cost to confirm that your... {Throwing Star Tactics}... is capable of ignoring the invulnerability of Immortal Objects?"

Argo blinked in surprise before looking aside to consider answering. Then, she opened her 'mouth to speak-

*snap!*

Weathercock Pavilion, Mishe, Floor 035 (15:11, February 24th 2024)

"I really wish I could join you."

Argo paused as she contemplated Silica's words. "In that case, why don't you go join Takamagahara?"

"Eh?" Silica blinked before stammering out denials. "N-No way! I'm not cool enough for Takamagahara!"

"Please, Tsu-bou doesn't care about stuff like that." Argo shook her head. "Even if you're not a Frontliner, he'll still want you as a friend, both to him and the Guild."

"R-Really?" Silica asked in disbelief. Was Amber Asura really such a casual person?

"Yup." Argo nodded. "You get permission to enter their HQ, join in at meal times, crash if you need a place to stay or hide, etc. Basically, he's the kinda guy who's gonna keep being your friend, even after we've cleared the game."

Clear the game...

"Th-Then I accept!" Silica decided. "I'll at least get up to Lv. 50, then I'll go to Takamagahara and enlist!"

"Good choice." Argo beamed. "Now, let's get to reviving Pina."

"Yeah!" Quickly pulling out both {Pina's Heart} and the {Pneuma Flower} from her inventory, Silica let the flower's nectar gather into a droplet and poured it upon the glowing feather, smiling wider as the feather began to glow brighter and grow into a familiar shape.

The moment Pina II came back, Silica would have so much to tell him. About her amazing adventurers both today and the previous night... and the teasing, scary, greedy and reliable friend she'd made during his absence.

Unknown Location... (23:30, February 27th 2024)

With a simple change of screen, his eyes shot over the list of 9 Unique Skills beside his own.

Darkness Blade(Ankoku Ken) Diva's Anthem(Utahime no Kokka), Dual Blades(Nitōryū), Iai Style(Battōjutsu), Infinite Spear(Mugen Yari), Sea God Strike(Kaishingeki) and Throwing Star Tactics(Shurikenjutsu) seemed to have already found suitable Incarnates, it seemed.

Only two left, but he knew that it was only a matter of time.

"...you're smiling. What did you do?"

Without any visible reaction to the words, Akihiko Kayaba turned around to face the petite woman with short, black hair staring at him from the doorway, a blank stare on her face as always, but unable to hide the small hint of regret that lurked beneath her eyes. "Good evening, Rinko."

Despite what many people of the world thought about him, Akihiko wasn't a heartless bastard that laughed and enjoyed the deaths and suffering of others. In fact, if one sat down to even say, enjoy a bowl of ramen with him, you would even say he was a nice but unsociable guy.

Of course, he would also easily admit to being a monster, especially when regarding what he had done with Incarnation of Swords and Fire.

It wasn't like he was as human as the woman before him.

"What did you do?" Rinko Koujiro repeated as she narrowed her eyes, looking at the screen he made no effort to hide... and becoming frustrated again because she couldn't understand it.

It wasn't her fault. Despite her brilliant her mind was, there was just no understanding a language that really didn't exist anymore in human history.

Still, he indulged her with an answer, because even if she didn't know (and most likely wouldn't believe) it, Rinko was the one he considered his dearest.

"Just completing another phase in my plans to evolve a few thousand humans as a species."

KingVessel: FORESHADOWIIIIIIING