|Jan. 20th, 21:27|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 10, Labyrinth|
Within the dark stone labyrinth overlooking Floor Ten, the interior was nothing to scoff at. Like the others before, the interior had changed. The walls stretched several meters up, leaving the pathways narrower, being able to fit four people if they stood shoulder to shoulder.
The walls were a dark, burnt orange with a curved skirting of rusting gold, the runes of flames etched into the surface. Goblets lit the way forward from the steel beams spanning the ceiling, creating a cage above players' heads. The floor was made of black marble though many were broken or uneven due to time. The music felt distant and eerily soothing, like a fire seen from afar.
"Okay, I'm gonna say it-" Artorias threw her arms wide. "-WE'RE. LOST!"
"Pah, I know the way back!" Behind her, the wolf head-wearing player, Kushla Daora proudly swung his axe to the pathway behind them, then pause. He craned it left, then right. "That way-!"
"You don't know where we're going! You don't even have your map open!" Artorias ran a hand down her face, shaking her head. "Let's just find this stupid entrance, we've been here for hours, Boss probably already has all the intel by now..."
Their trek through the floors of the dungeon wasn't easy but nothing two highly aggressive players couldn't handle. So far, using information and map data from previous explorers, they had made it over three-quarters of the way up. By Artorias' estimation, they should be close or on the floor of the Boss room entrance. One issue remained.
"This stupid debuff... I can't see anything!" Daora grunted, waving a hand angrily at the darkness. "How can we detect anything if we can't see past each other?"
"No, really? Never could've guessed," Artorias rolled her eyes, turning the next corner only to headbutt a wall, hearing Daora cackle behind her. Groaning against the stone wall, she motioned for Daora to lead down the right passage. "This is probably how that 'Player Murderer Boss' snuffed out everyone else,"
"Hmph, I bet it's too scared to face me head-on!" He boasted, exhaling sharply from the wolf nostrils, taking broad steps into the darkness despite the debuff of the same name. "We haven't even seen it so how do we know it even exists!? Bunch of wimps probably got killed by some trap!"
"True..." Artorias cocked her head in agreement, but her eye locked over her shoulder at the pathway marked out on their map. "Or... that 'IT' is doing this,"
Since they stepped onto this new, unexplored floor, something felt way off. Firstly, the Darkness debuff permanently attached to them made it so monsters ambushed them at the last second, so with two players, one covered the other's blindspot. Secondly, under the redhead's observations, the source was very close to them, like a cold chill across their backs.
"It's following us, just out of view," Artorias grimaced, marking the newest dead-end for Daora, he snorted sharply, keeping his silent observations on the road ahead. "Not to mention the mobs have grown scarce, I'm guessing you're right in assuming there's a trap to corner and kill players, they panicked in the dark, and it made its move, like with us."
"So we trick it into thinking we're some dumb minions and cut it down," He turned, pointing his ax at Artorias. "You want to know something? That's not half bad, good thinking!"
"Heh, you knew the second we got up here too," She smirked back, the pair noticing the hallway was widening. "This is new..."
"Hrm..." Daora grasped his ax in both hands, wrenching the staff to expand into its larger form.
Once through the widened corridor, the room seemed to expand beyond their vision, the realm of darkness surrounded them on all sides, ironic, given the floor was seemingly represented by a fire clan. Bonfires were lit around the area, but with the 'Darkness' debuff the flames didn't illuminate much beyond their circumference.
Just then, a strange sound akin to bark splitting apart could be heard, and dozens of amethyst flames spawned from nothing. From them came dozens of Scorched Soldiers, surrounding the duo with their backs together. "Oh no, a trap, whatever shall we do?" Artorias's tone dripped with sarcasm, rolling her eyes. "Bet I can kill more than you?"
"1000 Col!" Daora challenged, his fingers twitching at the circle of enemies charging the same skill, Vorpal Strike.
"Bet," Hearing this, Daora cackled like a madman, hunched as he exhaled through the wolf nostrils.
"AAAAAAAAA!" He let out a deafening warcry, swinging his battle-ax wide enough to catch four Soldiers. "Whirlwind!" The torrent swept the mobs off their feet, the two closest split in two as the wolf-headed man laughed. "These weaklings can't even take a single sword skill!"
"They got numbers, and the dark's probably what freaked people out - also-!" Artorias left a light red streak behind her, three more Soldiers shattered in the dark. "-that's five!"
Daora didn't let that stop his rampage, slashing back against his would-be-attackers. Their burnt swords didn't do much to his health as he left a trainwreck with his ax. His ax glowing a harsh silvery-grey as he spun it around, vaulting off the head of one of the Soldiers, "Grand Destruction!" The impact sent tremors through the darkness, the blast tossing several of the monsters flying in Artorias' direction.
She sent a rose-tinted roundhouse kick between two Soldiers, leaping from one of the flying monsters to press her boots against the ceiling, lunging down with Horizontal, decapitating two more while she rolled forward, bringing her shield high for a follow-up Shield Bash, the electricity flashing in the shadows as she cut the Soldier down with three sudden slashes.
Behind her, Daora grabbed one by the jaw, swinging it with all his might through one of the red-bar Soldiers, hearing them collide with the wall while he giggled, plunging his ax forward spinning into a cyclone with another Whirlwind, the aoe knocking most to the ground for him to pounce and bury with his blade. "Fifteen, lucky me!"
"Fifteen over here too! Crap, did we seriously tie!?" Artorias huffed, spotting his cursor through the dark. "Tch, guess there's only one left to break it, figures it wasn't the end of the gank boss's gimmick."
"Hrm..." Daora grumbled, unable to spot movement through the dark, both were fighting blind again, at least with the weaker monsters they could see the cursors in front of them or on their minimap, but nothing appeared. "Huh?" He craned his neck right, staring at the darkness, swearing he heard something shift.
Artorias stood silently, judging by the fact the idiot she was stuck with hadn't lost his temper yet meant he was trying to track wherever the boss was moving in the dark. Until it was defeated, no one was finding the Floor Boss room, more would continue to die trying to make it this far for no reason. That ends today.
Looking down at her shield, then to the bonfire, Artorias got a twisted idea, one that made her crack a toothy smile. "Gotcha Houdini," She spun around until she was within range to plant her left foot against Daora's back, shoving him forward as the large black battle-ax sliced through the shadows, colliding with her shield as Ward expanded its radius, chunks of the labyrinth floor ruptured by the impact as she slid back a few inches.
Daora wasted no time using the redhead's back to hoist himself over the barrier, twirling his ax around with his left arm, "Lumberjack!" The first strike tore into the boss's chin, the following streak repeating the motion through the neck as it slammed its ax again, tossing the pair across the chamber with a single slam. "Hey, Artorias!?"
Artorias gasped for a moment, she had landed in a bonfire, immediately her thoughts were to tuck and roll to avoid losing HP. She paused, looking around at... the whole chamber? The flame decal was visible to her again, so were the back walls, the flat open space... and the boss! "What the...?"
The player killer stood a few meters taller than a normal Soldier, the armor was stained black with some streaks of purple remaining from crystals breaking through its thick armor. It was bulky, more jagged with purple fabric adorning its pauldron. The head had a glowing violet line through it, horns more prominent at the sides of the skull. Held in its right hand was a large two-sided ax made of solid steel.
/Narga, Blade of the Deep - Lv. 28\
"Guess that works too," Her original plan was to cast just her arm into the flames to see if it removed the debuff, in reality, her whole body was unaffected by the flames, now, she was given a new buff to replace the Darkness, 'Well of Light'. She could see the boss approaching Daora who was too focused on why the girl was standing in fire. "Oi, move now, he's behind you!"
Doing as he was told, much to his chagrin, the ax slammed the ground, missing Daora. "Woah, how'd you do that, burning girl?"
"The flames are harmless, this must be the gimmick, I'll spot where he warps, you attack, got it!?" Much as Artorias hated losing bets, this was one of those two-person mechanics.
"You bet, just sit and watch me do my job!" Daora held his thumb out, charging a skill as he raised his ax against his left hip. "Hehehehahaha, come out, come out!"
Without a sound, Narga made the same effect as the other monsters, appearing in Daora's blindspot, her eyes squinted, now it all made sense. Darkness debuff to reduce visibility, then while out of sight of whoever it's aggroed to it'll warp to their blindspot. It was rather basic but a clever mechanic. Well, for a typical player that is.
"How unfortunate, you just had to be against someone better than you," Smirking, Artorias put both hands by her lips. "Six o'clock! Deflect it!"
"Hrah!" Daora twisted his waist in an irregular fashion no human could, his muscles taut as his arms swung the ax with greater force than a sword skill could produce, Whirlwind collided with the ax delivered from the darkness, releasing a ringing sensation that threw the boss off, the knockback shoving its left foot back slightly. "HAHAHA!"
Daora lunged, slashing at its wide torso like a slasher from a movie, carving deep into the black chitin-like armor. The boss quickly recovered, slamming its weapon down on air, Daora had leapt over the cleave, bringing his vibrant ax down with both hands. "Grand Destruction!"
The darkness was briefly dispelled by the impact, leaving a wide, red impression down Narga's helmet as it dissolved into the darkness, escaping the conflict. Daora landed, huffing sharply as he impatiently waited for Artorias' call. Artorias knew she wasn't a target, yet her face was concerned.
"Why did that knock half its health bar away?" Sure, the mini-boss had two bars, still pretty dangerous since it clearly had the numbers to two-shot an unsuspecting player if the reports were accurate. And yet, its health pool was shockingly low. "I don't like this..." "Three o'clock!"
The ax came down, deflected by the wolf-headed boy who cackled at the opportunity to inflict more damage than before. This was all he could ask for, a trick opponent that could kill him with two or so hits, coming along with the redheaded player was the best choice he ever made. Sinking his ax into Narga's right shoulder, he swung himself over its head, carving a deep gash through the limb and out the shoulder blade, spinning around with Lumberjack to cave both knees in.
Narga was starting to dissolve again, only this time, Daora wouldn't allow it, the boss was running and hiding long enough. Clutching his battle-ax in both arms he swung it back so to rest it against his lower back, the blades glowing a harsh silver. "Ultimate...!"
Artorias had to visibly wince at what came next. The ax struck from Narga's right hip to the left shoulder, twirling the ax, Daora did the same from the left hip, carving a massive 'X' through the boss, even as its ax retaliated, slicing the boy's health in half. Despite dipping into the amber, Daora's faux wolf eyes portrayed no emotion, only an animalistic fury as he spun the ax over his shoulders to above his head.
"...Breaker!" The sharp ring of steel against the floor shattered the environment, splitting Narga in half with a single, destructive swing no ordinary player could accomplish. The left-hand side of the boss slumped before splitting in two, shattering into thousands of pieces as a jet of air left Daora's nostrils. "Sixteen. I. Win!"
As if by magic, probably magic Artorias figured, the Darkness faded from their vision, and both could finally make out the labyrinth's design in greater detail. More importantly, a stairwell stood at the far end of the circular chamber. Both never said a word, ignoring their reward screens. There was an odd, thick tension hanging in the air.
"I FOUND IT!" "FUCK OFF, I DID, DOG BREATH!"
Both immediately booked it across the chamber, Artorias using the momentum of Sonic Leap to dive ahead of Daora, reaching the bottom step. Not to be outdone again, he hooked one of the ax heads under her ankle, pulling the rug out from under her as she face-planted the stairs. He unceremoniously trampled her to bolt up the stairs.
As he leapt, she tossed her shield at his nape, hearing him yelp as she caught it and shoved him aside while he pulled her ponytail but Daora lost his footing, the two tumbling back down the stairs in a heap, groaning.
|Jan. 20th, 22:07|
"Okay, so you got lost-" Nagi began, hands together up to his nose before he motioned the two hands forward to his companions.
"Yep." Artorias drawled.
"-fought an elusive boss that's taken the most lives since Floor One-" He continued.
"Yep." Daora chimed.
"-beat it, found out it's very weak, then trampled each other for bragging rights?" He cocked his head, ensuring he heard it right.
"Yeeep," The pair replied. "Jinx - Dammit."
Nagi sat back, speechless, then snapped his head to Argo who stopped sipping her tea to offer a shrug. "Don't look at me, I ain't got a cluE," If Argo the Rat was out of answers, no one had answers. "Still though, intel's gone around quick and clean, so nice worK," She put her thumb out.
"I get stuck with this moron, and I get a thumbs-up as a reward..." Artorias dragged her hands down her face, slapping the table. "Well! Screw all of you, I'm getting a hot bath, and admiring my sexy body, peace!" She left pretty quickly.
"I've got to repair my ax, I want to take the Last Attack from that annoying Blackswordsman!" Daora huffed and puffed, stomping down the road.
Alone, Nagi leaned back in his chair as Argo leaned against her knuckle, watching him with a sly smile. "You gotta admit, they pulled through for us where Ki-bou and A-Chan are stucK,"
"I know, already paid them," He smiled back, drinking his tea before tilting his head up at the dark sky. "Floor Ten, when we beat it... that's it, no more Beta intel." It was both an exciting and terrifying thought for sure.
"We'll manage, HerO," Argo nudged, tapping her mug to his. "Nyahaha, trust in yer good ol' pal ArgO!"
"I never doubted for a second," He agreed. Because now, he had two more people he knew he could rely upon.
To Be Continued...
A fun look at where our other dynamic duo were as Argo and Nagi dug around for intel, this isn't the last we've seen of this boss either, the worst is yet to come. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, players!
024 - Encore
Face to face with the Beta Testers' toughest challenge, can the Frontline Players conquer Floor Ten or be burned to ash...?