A/N: This whole arc is just so much fun to write. Review Time.
To Isshion: ...Hm, I'm sure we can slot in a fun arc among a tundra later down the line. Then this confrontation can really be set alight.
[Nagi]: We look forward to the day, thank you!
To Lovus Eternius: Implying you see this message, I'll take that as a compliment!
[Artorias]: I would.
[Argo]: 'Course ya woulD...
[Artorias]: Oi! ...you're not wrong.
Enjoy.
|Feb. 4th, 19:55|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 16, Darkdrinker Keep|
Metal rang and connected over the ambient noises SAO devised for the gothic aesthetic of Darkdrinker Keep. Yellow sparks tore against a black shield with an infusion of emerald contrails stretched by a set of thin-bladed claws, slashing in succession as the glow faded away into a Water Moon kick to throw back the shield.
Hotaru closed the gap in that instance, parrying both claws that drove toward Artorias' chest with Linear, the NPC twirling her body as the post motion disiapated rather quickly, allowing her to charge again with the stronger thrust Oblique, her ice-blue blade piercing between Arawn's crossed claws, puncturing his right side of his breast.
He lunged back with his feet against the statue, repelling off the eroded surface as his weapons switched, Bone Marrow, grinding against Artorias' light-green blade as she countered with Horizontal Arc, threshing the hunter over her head. Flicking it into spear-mode mid-skill charge, his body slammed forward Artorias' back, Sonic Charge rang through the air, missing the redhead who pivoted to slam her right foot against his cheekbone, twirling to complete her rose roundhouse kick.
Arawn fell into the tumble, catching himself to cross blades with Hotaru, his green eyes glowering at her onyx. "Heh, to think an NPC would help a player." It was amusing to say the least. But his hidden smirk fell, she didn't even flinch at the term.
"Hm, to think a player would have such a big mouth," He hissed when her rapier gleamed a cold winter blue, swiping sharply into a cursive 'l' that struck his right hip. Arawn held strong, seeing Artorias charge with Vorpal Strike.
With a grunt, he gripped his saw-spear in both hands, twisting his upper body to cleave the area in a wide, emerald halo, striking Hotaru's sides where her rapier couldn't block, and over Arotiras' tailcoat. That caused him to flinch, she hadn't suffered the stun effect of being struck during a skill-motion, rather, she dove onto her backside to slide with it.
Her glaring rosy blade slammed into his folded trick weapon, and while the strength of the blow was reduced significantly, the force threw Arawn backward until he struck the wall of the right building, his health falling from the impact and remaining fallout damage of the sword skill. Artorias flicked her wrist, Hotaru to her right.
Sprinting to pincer him, both saw the dark look in his eyes under that hat of his, twisting his body, Arawn held his extended spear over the left shoulder, grasping it with his right arm under his left, the edge casting a harsh green pigment. "Hehe, Revolve Arts."
With a series of twirls using his shoulder, the blade swung like a saw blade, tearing apart the ground while forcing Hotaru back, using basic stances to block and divert the spinning blade as Artorias did the same, tanking the strikes with Ward as the edges of her barrier began to chip away with a final devastating fifth strike that shattered the light barrier, leaving Artorias stunned.
"On your left," Artorias smirked, and Arawn's claws appeared once more, catching the tip of the rapier before it could slit his throat, but two parallel wounds pictured his collarbone, the three-hit skill Triangular. During the ravenette's constant thrust attacks, Artorias raised his strength with Kyodo, a red shimmer across his body from the kanji. "Time to make him choke."
A reddish-pink contrail followed Artorias' gaze, admiring the NPC girl's finesse without sword skills, applying pressure to Arawn that he met with an equally sturdy defense in the form of catch the rapier between his claws, while using the free arm to swipe at the girl's chest to stop her pursuit.
Casting a pink glow, Artorias dove under the pair, slashing at Arawn's shins before wall-running up the building to slash a vertical line through the air, grazing the hunter's left bicep. Diving back, Artorias completed her performance with a clean horizontal slash and a slant down the orange player's back, Horizontal Square tearing through his health as it fell to dark orange.
Using another Hellical Twice, he forced breathing room between his attackers, returning his spear to its folded state to slam it against Artorias' shield, the pair blocking and attacking in a frantic back and forth that left no room for Hotaru to push in. Artorias was grinning, and under Arawn's bandana, a tiny smirk was falling to frustration.
"That's it, show me a good time, Lil Hunta!" She cooed in her Irish twang, resulting in another flurry of wide but strong strokes with the trick weapon, the teeth grinding down the shield in her hand.
Down in the underground of the Keep, half of the dungeons and sewers were filled with black water and muck from the mire, what areas that remained dry with the pungent smell of the bog were roamed by undead warriors from the Keep long ago. Now undead, forced to wander the dungeons endlessly, covered in muck from the mire.
Across from the prisoners, the bricks on the outside shifted again, a few inching forward into the narrow hallway. One of the players noticed this, her eyes squinting with what little light the lanterns provided. "Did you guys hear that?"
"What're you talking about?" The only guy in the cell, huffed, drawing his eyes where one of the undead shambled by. He rolled his eyes. "It's just the mobs, forget it."
"Not them, idiot!" She insisted, "It's - ah, there, again!" She pointed sharply as the other girl raised her head from under a cloak she used to keep warm. True enough, the bricks were starting to jut more prominently from the foundations.
Keeping as quiet as possible, they listened, faintly, something was grunting on the opposite side of the wall. The guy's brow furrowed in confusion. "But... all that's out there is the mire, and some of these undead soldiers, right?"
"Um... maybe not?" The girl with a cloak murmured quietly, jolting when a brick fell to the floor, and the first rays of midnight white squeezed through the hole. "I-is that...?"
"No way... woah!" The guy jumped back when a brick rolled into the cell. That's when they heard it.
Grunts followed the constant banging on the wall, alerting several undead to the wall that was starting to bend into a curve, cracks formed on the sturdy foundations. "Yah! Yah! Rrrrraaaaaah!" With a howl, the silvery glow pierced the holes in the wall. "Whirlwind!"
An intense gust of wind obliterated the wall, crushing one of the soldiers underfoot as the carbon-black ax head swept bricks and dirt across the dungeon. Revealed as the intruder was a young man wearing a dire wolf head, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Lord of Wolves, Kushla Daora, is comin' through!"
Beside him, a flash of lime green light filled the tunnel, and a silver sword swiped two of the undead into a twirling Horizontal Square, the knockback severing the head of the left one, while the right lost its weapon arm. Fallen, Fynch swung back his silver straight sword, slapping it into the large object on his back as it clicked into place.
With both hands, he swung the lumbering slab of solid concrete over his shoulder, crushing the undead into a red paste that exploded with an audible 'smash', showering the dungeon in blue glass. With a heave, he put the large brick with a shaft onto his back again, unequipping his sword from the trick weapon once more.
"Okay, that was pretty cool, huh? You're a natural, true art of destruction I say," Fynch admired as Daora grabbed the lock on the cell, jiggling it. Fynch quickly stepped over the piles of bricks, fishing around in his inventory. "Ah, gotcha covered, good thing Harriet gave us all a key for this,"
He summoned the key, only to blink as the whole frame of the iron-bar door was lifted and thrown past his face, burying another undead with a spear behind Fynch. He turned to the undead struggling to move as it gargled a groan, then to Daora who crossed his arms, flexing his muscles.
"Hah, with my superior strength, this was child's play," He stepped into the cell, large wolf eyes staring at the flabbergasted prisoners. "Myself and my underling just rescued you, you can reward me by praising my efforts!" He snorted sharply.
"Wait... you!?" The boy's face fell into a furious glare, drawing his dagger toward Fynch who stood by the cell entrance as his face twisted nervously. "You're with those bastards!"
"Ahahaha... I remember you, yeah! Um... sorry 'bout all that stuff, I know, I know, really messed up, doing better, trying to right my wrongs, you know?" He waved his hands as if shuffling a deck of cards. The trapped player didn't buy it, so Fynch sighed, turning to Daora. "We should keep moving, those undead are good at cornering folks down here, plus their spawn rate's all over the place since we moved in."
"Don't order me around, I'm the boss!" Daora snapped back. "But we should move for the surface! Flint!" He soon stomped past Fynch who blinked with a smile.
"Eh, close attempt I guess," He looked to his former prisoners apologetically. "Look-look, distrust me all ya want, I'm just pointing good guys like him in the right direction, get me? So come on, chew me out later, I'll pay ya back, and we all get what we want, sound fair?" No one said a word, but the girl in the hood nodded once. "Perfect, let's roll!"
Inside the Keep was an entirely different experience. The halls were filled with decorative murals, mannequins holding suits of armor, weapon displays, and various riches left to collect dust and mold. Various points of the walls and ceiling were collapsed from a war long forgotten, leaving areas damp or overgrown. Moonlight fed into offices, bedrooms, and a library with the books laying in piles.
Evet had taken the right side of the Keep while Nagi searched the left, filling out the map of the abandoned Keep methodically, checking every room for traps or Harriet. Nagi felt a chill run down his back, afraid an astral-type monster could haunt this place. But from Fynch's reports, since they completed the quest in the area the first few hours floor eleven was open, nothing spawned in the castle anymore.
Nothing stretched beyond looted chests, and empty rooms of valuables. Fynch said they had picked the place dry before finally setting their sights on the Deep Slate Crypt, their first outing, primarily by Arawn's hand was the moment he encountered Philia. Since coming to this floor, their schemes that went unnoticed unraveled thanks to a single treasure hunter.
"Philia's fortunate to have messaged me," Nagi didn't want to think about what might've been if he was too late to react. But, despite the circumstances, it was Philia who set all this in motion, in a way, it was a good thing she did stumble upon Arawn. "But it won't matter if their leader gets away, she's in here... somewhere."
Finding a curved staircase taking Nagi to a fourth floor to the right, he crept up the steps, hiding behind the banister, checking the dark corners with a prod of his katana or even just a few rocks he had from outside. Using them to check for any player hiding, awaiting a moment to ambush him.
The hallway was much more linear than the others, where he climbed numerous steps and turned corners that led to other balconies overlooking the grand staircase at the entrance. It might as well be a labyrinth in design alone. This time, two stairwells connected to a T-shaped hallway, turning left, the ceiling slanted upward, and the walls were higher too.
The floorboards no longer creaked as two large oak doors stood a few meters away, candles on shelves lining the walls toward the ominous backroom. "Must've been the boss room for this Keep," No scent of copper or bloodlust, he proceeded toward the doors, the left ajar. "The others are waiting," Hesitation aside, he pushed the door wider to slip through, and the whole world changed dramatically.
The cool air that slipped through the Keep was replaced with a winter chill, moonlight burned through stained windows to his left. The stone brick chamber was the length of an ordinary church hall, another pair of long wooden doors to the back past an altar, the seats long since shoved aside or broken in two.
Brass chandeliers lit the oval archway running down the middle of the ceiling in orange, a few hanging lanterns attached to the eight pillars near the center where an old red carpet lay torn and moldy. The most disturbing piece? The dozens of weapons, armor and items stashed atop the altar on display racks, of various types and shapes, all from floors Nagi recognized.
Then the chilling breeze tickled his nose, pure, rotten copper clung to his nostrils, all emanating from the woman facing him with a lecherous smile and a blood-red cursor. A true player killer. "I was wondering when you'd come running to me... Nagi the Shinobi, ah, what a cute name," She teased.
Nagi said nothing, his senses sharpened on her whole body, she was as much of a threat as her weapons, just being near her made his skin crawl. "PoH, you've been sending him upgrade materials and weapons, why?"
"Tch-tch-tch-tch, let's not talk about other men, or that rodent that's leashed you, no-no, just you and me," She wagged her finger, taking a few steps forward to accentuate her curves. A cold wind blew from one of the shattered stained windows, catching her ponytail. "I'm pleased to see you again, Nagi, I am Harriet, leader of the Hunt." She licked her lips.
"I never got to chat much with you last time... but you, your reputation proceeds you, oh, no need to be modest, someone like you should take pride in their strength, I certainly do," Harriet spoke softly, but an eerie biting cold seethed from her teeth. "The first to obtain the Extra Katana skill, mastering a dozen skills in such a short timeframe, a player that could go toe-to-toe with the infamous Beater, all it would take is for you to turn your blade on others, what could they do?"
"Never." Nagi denied. "I don't prey on the weak for some sick feeling of strength, or for my own benefit, but you... you've taken someone's life or more, and for what?"
Harriet shook her head, displeased. "Because I too was weak," She admitted hand to her heart in a sense of isolation. "I woke up every day to a shit life with shitter parents that couldn't give less a damn about their mistake... so when I wound up here, stuck with them thanks to an old friend... I butchered them myself," She closed her hand tightly, recalling how easy it was to lure them away from town, they were none the wiser to their 'lovely mistake' under her mask.
"Then I realized how much better I felt, watching them scream as their life was taken from them, I wanted to feel that rush with my own hands again," She smiled sadistically, a faint blush on her face. "I wanted to kill someone like you, someone strong, full of hope and conviction, oh what I fight it would be... so I can't hate people like you, because you are driven like me,"
"We're not the same," Nagi replied. He did, admittedly, feel bad for her. Not everyone got a good life, he was lucky without realizing it. But someone like Harriet snapped, and this was the result. She was too far gone, she may have indirectly killed before, but now, that blood-stained cursor sold the story. She was a murderer, heartless and indifferent.
"No, we are, just on opposite sides," She reminded him, hands moving down to her waist, tracing her armor and down her toned stomach and waist. "He showed me the ideals I had been missing, my true calling, but you... what is it you fight for?" Harriet was curious, she had suspected it was to clear the game, but the ones she expected to die with Nagi returned alive.
"I... won't let this world stamp out anymore lives," Nagi replied calmly, and her frown deepened, then she laughed once.
"Is that all? Aw, how sad," She grasped her whip from her lower back, unraveling its threaded form to slap against the slate tiles. "That little rodent still has you playing fetch for her I see?"
"No," Nagi didn't let his anger boil over, a torrent of deep blue water rushing from his katana, gathering into a serpent tail around his body. "She's what I fight for." Selfishly, it was one of the less noble reasons for his drive, but he accepted that Argo was worth so much more than a little bit of pride. "So let me make this clear, these sins of yours shall not stand!" The veins in his face bulged, and any trace of pity vanished.
"Hmph, love is as powerful as it is toxic," She mused, then several throwing picks reflected in the moonlight. Nagi was ready this time, prepared to counter with Scarlet Fang.
*Ping-Ping-Ping*
The sharp whistle over Nagi's head drew his and Harriet's eyes around to the chapel's doorway. Landing behind Nagi, Evet drew another arrow, three pinning the throwing picks into the slate tiles. "No matter your reasons, taking innocent life can only be repaid by yours."
Taking a breath, Nagi swung his blade in a circular motion, "Dance of the Water Dragon," He had a plan, and as the scales rippled against the crashing waves, two gleaming eyes manifested.
Harriet smiled widely, slapping her whip off the ground as it glowed a vibrant orange, there were no sword skills for one form of a trick weapon, but this felt different than a sword skill, perhaps a buff from the weapon itself? Whatever it was, it sliced apart monsters on the highest floor thus far like they were paper. "You strike close, I shall guard," Evet murmured, arrows glowing dark purple at Nagi's back.
With one flick, the whip curled like a twister, shredding the floor in a torrent of debris. Nagi saw several arrows fly above, and in seconds, he evaded the whip entirely, seeing its threaded form slash against Evet who blocked with his great bow. Using the arrows as anchors, Nagi spun himself into a whirlpool, slashing the arrows to prolong his skill and bolster its strength.
"Three times is all I can afford!" His legs bent against one of the pillars, striking toward the red player whose lips parted with surprise, if only slightly. With one horizontal swing, the dragon threshed, guided by the blade toward her chest. She frowned.
"How unassuming," Suddenly, his skill was cut short, feeling his body whip through the air as his health took damage. Around his right leg, the thorns of the whip had caught him. Harriet's manipulation of the trick weapon was greater than Arawn's, and that glow... it felt like his skin was starting to burn.
Harriet was going to throw Nagi out the window with how his whole body was thrown into a whiplash. Forcing his eyes open just a crack, Nagi sucked in all the breath he could, pumping that needed concentration to his fingers as he slashed at the molten whip. A flash blinded them, and the vice-like hold Harriet had faltered.
With his newfound freedom, Nagi spun around and caught one of the pillars with his left hand, sliding around its surface to dive straight at the redhead. She was too frazzled to notice, that must've been the equivalent of a light stun-lock when interrupting a skill. Charging another water-blessed move, Nagi's katana plunged itself against her scaly breastplate, then flicked to slash across her face and hat, the force knocking her back several feet.
Stumbling to his feet, Nagi exhaled sharply, steadying his stance as the woman's teeth grit, and her whip went stiff, locking into a single two-handed spear with a burning orange spearhead. "Don't fuck with me, boy!" Harriet hissed, charging with deadly precision.
"Horizontal Arc!" Artorias met the spear's thrusts blow for blow, pink and green leaving crescents in the night sky. "Switch!" She quipped, the ravenette diving forward to plunge her rapier through Arawn's stomach with Linear.
He expected this, eyes glowing red as his dark-red saw-spear connected at inhuman speeds, then Hotaru's eyes widened with a gasp, the man's boot lodged against her stomach, slamming her down into the courtyard with a sizable web of cracks. The combination of Water Moon and the hidden skill Awakening was troublesome, to say the least.
Hotaru was still stun-locked, staring her killer in the face when her orbs widened at the resident treasure hunter who caught the edge of the spear between the teeth of her sword breaker. Arawn laughed, pushing down as Philia fell against Hotaru's stomach, painfully aware her level and strength weren't a match for a buff-infused orange player.
"You? You honestly think you have a chance at beating me?" Arawn taunted, but the ginger just glared.
"Not really, but-" Her foot swept wide, not a martial arts skill, just her own strength pulled the man's right foot forward enough to tumble with all his body weight pressed to his spear. "-the thing about you bad guys - grah!"
Her left bent upward, pressed to Arawn's stomach to throw him over the girls as Hotaru swung her rapier at the man's palm with an irregular Folium, amputating his left hand's fingers. Thrown without a proper handle on his trick weapon, his eyes shook with fright when Artorias slammed her shield against his stupid face, Shield Bash breaking his nose and cheekbone, sending him barreling across the courtyard, colliding with the statute.
The dust settled, and Artorias panted slightly with a frown. "Y'all talk too much," Beside her, Philia stood up and held out her hand for Hotaru, the two girls raising their weapons at the coughing fit by the statue now toppled over.
"You, hehehe, really think.. .you can beat me?" Arawn hacked, dusting off his coat as he stumbled forward to regain his bearings.
"Uh, dude, we literally just kicked your sorry ass for like, what, ten minutes? Girls?" Artorias twisted her neck to get a confirmation. Philia nodded hastily, and Hotaru pouted, nodding also. "Yep, ass-kicking for ten minutes chief."
"This is why I do things solo, too many variables but that's on me," He admitted, his skill wearing off, he didn't even so much as prick them to inflict Bleed. Despite his overwhelming disadvantage, he raised his spear forward. "Y'know one thing about me? I learn from my loses, so really, great stuff, real synergy you three have in only a single battle, that sorta stuff makes the show, right?"
"Let's silence this fool's squawking," Hotaru brandished her rapier, wanting to silence the man who let out a darker breathy laugh.
"Another thing," He raised a finger, pointing at the girls. "I know he's here, somewhere in this world... SilentNight."
With one word, the air shifted uncomfortably. Philia and Hotaru looked a little lost, but now the man hunter's reasons for being so strong made sense, he's after someone specifically. Artorias, however, held a firm glare and a bemused frown. "SilentNight isn't here, stop wasting your time chasing ghosts," Even her tone was flat.
"Oh no, understandable, you don't know what I know," Arawn refused to elaborate further, stumbling back when he spotted several green cursors appearing from the dungeons. "Guess that's a wrap, the curtain falls on this endless night," He tipped his hat to them. "Ladies, it's been a pleasure, may this victory further your efforts until we meet again."
"Like hell!" Artorias and Hotaru threw themselves into a skill, but by the time their blades cleared the plume of smoke the orange player left, he was already gone, masked by the Hidden skill. "Mother fucker just ALT F4 our asses!"
"What was that about? Who's 'SilentNight'?" Philia cocked her head when a blonde girl appeared behind her.
"I can answer that for yA," Argo grinned.
"Yah, Argo!" Philia whined as the color returned to her face.
"That will never not freak me out," Artorias recoiled herself, but relaxed again as she pointed Hotaru's frightened rapier toward the ground. "And no, you can't - SilentNight isn't in SAO, no one in the Frontrunner's matches that scumbag's M.O."
"Yer quite certain, ain'tchA?" Argo hummed curiously but if the red warrior knew anything, Artorias didn't show it.
"I've met him before, so no, he's not here, hell, he went dark for nearly a year now, no one's heard from him," Artorias tucked her hands into her pockets. "To answer you, hunter, he was the former number one champion in Japan for competitive video games as a whole, then he disappeared and never made a splash."
The gears turned in her head, and Philia's eyes brightened. "Oh! Yeah, I heard of him, I'm still new to video games as a whole so I've not gotten into the competitive side of things."
"Even I tried proddin' him for intel back when he was still floatin' about online, now there's not even a ripplE," Argo, the girl notorious for her information gathering admitted she too had met a brick wall. Shaking her head, she pocketed the blue crystal she had out and stared at the Keep with a pensive face.
"A shame," Hotaru spoke up, arms crossed tightly. "Evet spoke of him once, though it wasn't anything good."
"Hah, guess me and that stick-in-the-mud have something in common after all!" Artorias snorted, ignoring the ravenette's glare. "Now then, seems Numbnuts and Motormouth are done with their part, same for us, wonder how the boss is handling his share?"
With no Arawn, nothing was stopping them from joining their allies inside to apprehend the leader of this small orange party. That was the silent agreement but Argo wasn't moving, in fact, it was the first time since floor ten her face read the same expression Artorias had regretfully seen the day they dragged Nagi's sleeping body back to Brightburn. Terror.
Facing the Keep's main building, the upper floor was engulfed in bright, roaring flames that shattered every window on the floor, black smoke billowing from the tower. For the first time in floor eleven's history, the sky was lit with the intensity of a summer sun.
To Be Continued...
Act Two is complete and the third to wrap up the arc is fired up, literally. Arawn has escaped, but the imprisoned players are freed, but the fates of Harriet, Evet, and Nagi remain unknown. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
032 - Seige of Darkdrinker Keep Act III
Nagi and Evet confront the red player Harriet in a deadly clash of blades atop the ruins of Darkdrinker...