A/N: Okay, I really liked the design for this boss, that's all, and some banter between the Sleeping Knights and Nagi's party. Review Time!
To Isshion: I like replying to any review, so long as their not being hateful and such, your way of commenting is fun to reply to.
[Nagi/Yuuki]: Thanks a lot~!
Enjoy.
Nagi equipped his haori as not even the sunlight had appeared on the horizon through the blinds. Behind him, he smiled softly at the state of his room's other occupant. Argo was snoring softly with her mouth ajar, her curls dancing off in every direction. But what caught him were two fingers curled around the hem of his water-styled haori.
"I have to go now, Argo," Nagi whispered as she closed her mouth, grumbling into her pillow with one eye peeking up through her bangs.
"Two minuteS..." She protested, tugging at his jacket again, making him stifle a laugh, and kneel down next to the bed as her arm snaked around to hug him, eye still locked to his. "...I want all the deets later... too sleepY..."
"What's the price today?" He asked curiously, and what she did nearly threw him backward as the Rat leaned up from the pillow, nuzzling his nose with hers before flopping back to the bed with a cheeky grin when his cheeks went from pink to red, her own hidden by the darkness. "I-I see you l-later then."
"Hm," She yawned, removing her arm to go back to sleep, but she did enjoy hearing him stumble toward the door, clearly losing his motor functions.
|March. 27th, 06:15|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 24, Labyrinth|
The labyrinth on thelimnetic floor was strangely open compared to previous floors' alterations of the black spire's interior. Once inside, the roof disappeared into the shadows of the various floors above, the black rock and marble wrapping around with white bridges and pathways snaking across the walls from smaller caves, creating a spiderweb of pathways and walkways with stairwells connecting to random levels, making the matter of mapping paramount.
Deep blue crystals of various shades were embedded in the coral walls or grew from underneath the walkways above, and occasionally, Fishmen-like monsters would spawn, as well as your common sealife beast given steroids. However, with everyone's levels two above the standard for floor 24, and the fact half the party was filled with Clearers, it made progression smooth.
"You two look nothing alike!" Daora snapped after Nori and Nagi cleaned out the cave just ahead, waving them over as the wolf-man exclaimed his point, staring intensely at Yuuki who squeaked.
"Way to be blunt, Numbnuts," Artorias slapped the back of the idiot's head but Yuuki didn't seem too off-put by the reply, rubbing a few strands of purple hair between her fingers.
"I wanted to have it long, like my big sis, so I had it adjusted with a neat item Siune found me, and I found a rare Dye Trader on floor 21 who sold me the hair dye for a good price too," Yuuki explained, spinning around to let her hair fan wide. "And now I look like this, ta-da~"
"And your eyes? Since we're on the topic," Artorias asked a little less snappy than Daora, grabbing his muzzle to shut his trap as they walked. But then a faint flash of anxiety washed over the Absolute Sword's scarlet gaze so Artorias quickly cleared her throat. "Hrm! Boss room isn't far now! ALS had their goons scouting the last of the pathways three days ago."
"There's a stairway behind a boulder, that about right?" Nori poked her head out to join the others.
"Gold star," Artorias held up a thumb as Yuuki bounced ahead, that earlier worry washed from her features.
"I can't believe we're almost there! All our level grinding, material farming, and recruiting has paid off!" She squealed.
Jun laughed, eyes off to the side. "Yeah, if we don't run with our tails between our legs and have to explain to the Frontrunners why we're here," He pressed further as that anvil slammed into Yuuki's pride. "Not to worry, gotta plan myself - we use big, red, and scary here to frighten them off."
"Oh? I like this plan," Artorias smiled giddily.
"And have her ride atop Mr. Daora's shoulders as he screams like a wild animal to instill fear into their troops, simple!" Jun concluded with a speech bubble portraying his plan in chibi form.
"Hahaha, you know something, that's a good plan, I like it!" Daora agreed.
"What's with the 'Mr' though?" Artorias asked as Jun went to explain.
"Oh, that's 'cause Ran said - mmgfth?" Nori clamped her hands over his mouth immediately, a sweatdrop rolling down her face.
"L-let's keep that between the guild, 'kay?" Sensing her worry, and staring off at the still docile Yuuki, he fearfully nodded his head as she let go. "Anywho, let's book it before the rabble spawn again."
"Right Team One! Onward, toward the light!" Yuuki drew her sword forward up the stairs with a powerful aura, Nagi pumping his fist alongside Daora.
Artorias raised a perplexed brow at that statement, and Nori snickered behind her hand as Jun nearly burst out laughing that would've sent him toppling down the staircase that arched toward the next floor. "H-hey, wanna know where she got that from?" Nori murmured quietly in Artorias' ear, but juuust loud enough for Yuuki and the boys upfront to hear. "One of SilentNight's popular one-liners,"
"Ooooh?" Artorias squinted curiously, rubbing her chin as the cowlick atop the purplette's head stood upright.
"She's a total fangirl-" Nori grinned.
"Nooooo!" Yuuki zipped away, spinning Daora and Nagi around as she appeared before Nori who dodged her grasp, running up the stairs laughing while Yuuki's face turned a little pink. "I-I-I'm just a fan of his, that's all! Ran too!"
"Sure-sure, but if I asked you anything about the guy, you'd know like that," She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "You've watched every live stream, sponsor reveal, every competitive event with him in it, heck, at this point I'm convinced you've got a crush on the guy - woah!" She narrowly avoided Yuuki's scabbard being launched at her, the purplette's face scarlet.
"I don't!" Yuuki protested, spinning around to grab Artorias' jacket with pleading eyes. "You believe me, right?" She leaned in dangerously close, making the redhead's own face start to feel a little hot under the collar.
"Erm... well, uh..." She fumbled with her words. "Too close. Too close. Too close. Too close..."
"You totally do," Nori prattled on. "Pretty sure you called him 'cute' or somethi-"
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop iiiiit!" She wailed, turning to the others, Jun was nearly on the floor laughing, using his fist to prop himself against the wall. Nagi did his best not to show he was laughing too, but his shivering muscles were a clear indication as he turned his head away.
"There's nothing wrong with being an admirer, I think," Nagi murmured to Daora who cackled mischievously, nodding along.
"SilentNight... isn't all that great," Artorias, arguably the one Yuuki feared would tease her until the Boss room, had the most passive look on her face while she walked. "Admirable skills, definitely a top competitor, but... he is anything but a person to look up to," She pressed past her friends, lips knitted to a fine line.
"Artorias, have you... met him before?" Nagi worded carefully, but the redhead sighed, shaking her head. There was a slight scent of regret and forlorn coming from her aura. "I guess it wasn't great."
"I get what you're sayin' boss, I do but... just drop it, that deadbeat's history with me is the last thing I want to talk about," Then she turned with a winning smirk. "Well then, Cupcake, we've got a few levels left, how about I quiz ya, if you lose, you admit your undying love for the deadbeat, yeah?"
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" She screamed, ranting and raving as she chased the red warrior up to the next cave as her laughter echoed down the halls.
"SilentNight and Yuuki sitting on a tree-"
"Artorias!" Yuuki screamed after her.
"-K.I.S.S.I.N.G~!" Artorias sang before an almighty 'clang' reverberated off the walls. "...where did you have that hidden?... ow..."
Nagi sweatdropped next to the party. "We should make sure she doesn't turn orange."
"Not if we're in the same party... right?" Daora pointed out.
"Yuuki will find a way," Jun grimaced, and they all flinched from another metallic slap. "Uh, yeah, let's hurry you guys."
"Not even I'm that ballsy." Nori paled.
|March. 27th, 06:50|
|Floor 24, Boss Room|
"How much time, boss?" Artorias inquired, switching around her items in her quick-select menu for the coming battle. Two glowing red marks across her head began to disappear.
"Just under an hour, it'll be close if we can't manage on the first try," Nagi explained, keeping a timer on his menu's home screen. In just under forty minutes, they had scaled the towering bridges and caves to the final, narrow white road. The rest of the labyrinth was visible below, but thick dark bluish-black pillars coiled on either side of the road now, connecting to the ceiling above.
Water dripped from the cavernous ceiling, black archways between each pillar, spanning over the path with the underside glowing like rippling water. Ahead, two dark silver doors, inscribed with aquatic imagery and runes labeled the floor boss' chambers.
"Ah-hah, here it is!" Yuuki beamed, having pulled up the latest guidebook of Argo's for the boss intel. "Its name is the 'Vostok, Guardian of the Lakebed', a serpent leviathan monster that swims through water to launch evasive attacks and projectiles from its neon blue and orange spines, the blue ones cause a debuff called 'Riptide' which causes your body to randomly jerk in another direction, and the orange ones deal True Damage, yikes, that's really creepy." Her cowlick curled downward with her mood.
"So, steer clear of the water, watch for the blue spines, and evade the orange ones," Jun surmised, drawing his greatsword with a sharp smile. "Then let's give it our all!"
"Wait," This time, Nagi held them back, staring toward the door not far from them. His eyes squinted, and his nose kept twitching. "I don't like this, me and Argo worked through the main quests for the intel, but something didn't add up."
"What's that?" Nori inquired, sharing everyone's curious look with the shinobi.
"The final quest, 'March on Crescent Island' had a field boss that took a number of us to beat, but it spoke, which isn't strange in of itself, but it's one of his voice lines that's bothered me," Nagi explained, then repeated from memory of the mutant Fishman with a trident's fabled words. "'The tide may rest, but the depths of the lake will drown you in the sky',"
"What's that supposed to mean? That the floor will flood or something?" Daora hazard a guess.
"No... but, I think there's more to this chamber than we know," Nagi sucked in a breath, drawing Nevermore in the blue glow. "Let's see what's on the other side, Yuuki?"
"Trial and error, so let's go!" She agreed, drawing her own blade as everyone prepared, then she paused with a gasp. "Wait-wait, quick, let's get a photo!"
"...fine," Artorias rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless as the group of six squeezed in closer to the magic camera cursor appearing ahead of them. Yuuki stood in the middle with a peace sign, same for Nagi who grinned with his eyes closed, Artorias leaned her elbow on Yuuki's left with Nori on the right, and Daora pulled Jun into the camera's view tightly, all putting their hand out for a peace sign as the camera flashed.
After their group photo and their buff items and equipment were checked, the small raid party of just six pushed against the doors to the boss room together, with Yuuki being the first to enter. As the doors swung wide, the purplette recoiled when her hand touched a cool, rubbery surface that overtook the entry.
"What the what?" She blinked, everyone sharing the same state of confusion.
The whole doorway was enclosed by a bubbly veil of water, peering through, the whole inside of the murky chamber was flooded by water. Then it clicked, they would drown in the sky because the floor boss' chamber was flooded entirely. "Great, how do we fight underwater? I thought that feature wasn't patched into the game?" Jun exclaimed, worried they were soft-locked by the game itself.
"Maybe not..." Nagi stepped forward, pressing his hand against the surface until it broke the barrier, and his body was sucked inside, much to the panic of his allies as he... stood on the other side. He felt cooler within the chamber, but after carefully exhaling, the water didn't enter his lungs to inflict him with drowning, nor did his feet sway at all, gravity was the same.
Turning around at the veil, Nagi raised a thumb to them, reaching out to grab Yuuki's hand as she squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Once inside, Nagi spoke crystal clear. "You can breathe in here," Cracking an eye open, she gasped and found herself completely fine. "There you go, nice work, leader."
"Woah... this is so cool!" She grinned, squeezing Nagi's hand tightly before waving their joined hand to the others. "Come on in, you can breathe!"
Nori did the same as Yuuki before risking the idea of drowning in SAO, Artorias and Daora were fine, the latter trying to swim only to faceplant the dark blue floor. Jun fell through in a panic until he realized he was just like a fish flopping around on the ground, standing up quickly to act all tough.
"Aw, the wee man's all grown up," Artorias cooed, trying to pat his head as Jun slapped her hand away.
"Hey, not my fault human instinct tells ya to not breathe underwater!"
"Sure, and I'm actually a girl." Artorias chuckled, staring around the room. "Guess we're here..."
After taking a few steps away from the archway, the doors remained open, thankfully. The main chamber was a wide cylinder that took up nearly the whole top layer of the labyrinth, probably for this underwater room and the boss it harbored.
A few broken white pillars lined a center platform marked with the same runes as outside, blue crystals illuminating the chamber with an outer ring filled with dark blue water, unlike the rest of the room, it appeared completely independent of the current. Seaweed, shells, and other underwater materials decorated the pillars, the remains still attached to the ceiling, something clearly had torn out the middle segments.
Once the last foot crossed into the middle of the arena, the crystals dimmed, the shadows creeping down the walls until they were almost invisible. Something illuminated from the walls, swimming through the dark water, Jun pointing to it with his greatsword. "Over there, in the outer ring!" Everyone grouped up, back-to-back as the orange and blue spines ebbed and flowed like a shark through the darkness, cutting around the length of the chamber.
"Yuuki, you okay?" Nagi whispered, seeing the taut expression she wore.
"Just a little nervous I guess, it's my first floor boss," She admitted, looking down at her little sword. "How did you guys handle fighting the boss at the beginning of SAO?"
Nagi remembered it well, they relied on intel that, unfortunately, had changed since Beta. Argo still beats herself up about it, since Diavel died and passed the torch to Kirito to become the scapegoat. Against the odds, Asuna rallied the raid parties, and together, they slew the very first boss that brought them this far, nearing the first quarter of Aincrad.
Finding a fond smile at the bittersweet memories, he faced forward with a fire in his eyes. "We tackled it all head-on, no matter what changed, or how hopeless it was, we never gave in to defeat, not after coming so far with so many relying on us," THat was the answer, the key to the Frontrunners' motivation. "So long as everyone remains trapped here, I can't stop moving forward."
Yuuki stared at Nagi for a solid second which felt like minutes, it was as if her older sister was smiling ahead but instead, it was the katana wielder she met just yesterday, the feeling was strange but harmonized with her like a heartbeat. That filled her heart with courage, brandished her sword alongside his with a sparkling grin. "Alright! Let's clear this floor!"
By the time the spines reached the other end of the black water, something erupted from the surface, bubbles creating a haze that covered the dark body briefly as it released a deep, hollow roar that rippled through the water. Everyone quickly organized themselves with Yuuki and Nagi the frontmost players.
The wide hammerhead skull swept through the chamber, a large, obsidian-scaled serpent body trailing behind it. Large, vibrant orange horns jutted backward from the rectangular skull with tiny neon blue spines facing forward. Four bright orange eyes pierced the water in the middle of the irregular head, jaws wide with four mandibles.
The rest of the segmented body repeated a pattern of one large orange spike along the vertebrae, two large neon-blue prongs jutting from the sides with a narrow segment between two bigger slices, lined with a small blue spine on the back and two on either side. The tail remained concealed within the dark saltwater, but so far, its length was that of nearly twenty meters.
Four health bars emerged in the darkness, the spines glowing brighter to combat the dark water.
/-\Vostok, Guardian of the Lakebed - Lv. 45/-\
"Jun, Artorias!" Yuuki called out as Vostok swam toward the group with its jaws wide. In retaliation, it struck a radiant pink barrier etched around Artorias's shield while Jun swung through the water, boiling it bronze as his greatsword slammed against the underside of the head with a rising slant, then swinging with his sword into a downward cross that carved a bronze 'X' against the thick dark scales.
Vostok's head craned over the pair as Ward faded, leaving Artorias with a perfect view of the belly, drawing back her sword, she slashed a series of wide arcs, completing the square before rolling out from under the body. Kneeling, Daora used her as a stool, brandishing his new ax trick weapon.
It was the same dark greys and blacks, only now the head was a whole human skull with the ax blades forming crescent horns adorning the skull's temples, both horns glowing silver as the same pigment burned in the skull's sockets. "Crimson Blood!" He roared, spinning over the spines of the serpent with three right spins, landing on the other side as something struck his lower back, a blue spin. "Wha - Huh!?" His body suddenly dove left, smacking him into a pillar.
"Stay beneath it to avoid the spines!" Nagi waved, deflecting three of the blue spines as they copied the movements of homing missiles. Sprinting forward into a slide beneath the beast as its head slammed against Artorias' and Jun's defense, recoiling from the harsh ring, water wrapped itself around Nagi's blade once more. "Rushing Water Undulation!" The series of invisible claws shredded through the softer scales, a lilac sword repelling two blue and one orange spine until Nagi's post-motion wore off, Yuuki concluding Sharp Nail.
"Switch!" Yuuki called, diving away from another orange spine as Nori took the lead, slamming the gold tip of her massive spear through the smaller joint between two large portions, the wine glow crackling while her body spun around vertically, sawing through flesh and bone to the other side, stunning the boss as Nagi swept in with Yuuki, skills infusing into a purplish-blue river.
Their unified Vertical Arc and Serpent Slash, blasted a ring of patterned water and light purple through the underwear chamber while Artorias diverted Vostok's head into the ground where Jun slammed with Avalanche and Daora, whose debuff wore off, carved a heavy incision of red lines with Lumberjack, the final one-armed swat knocking the first health bar away.
The great guardian's whole body finally came out from the dark waterbed, slithering through the underwater chamber away from their sword skills as it released another eerie oceanic wail, the spines beginning to pulse before setting its sights on the small team. Phase two had begun, and it released a wave of blue and orange spikes like a series of arrows.
"Evade!" Yuuki waved, slashing the first few caught in her way while the rest did their best to avoid the heat-seeking spines with skills or agility. Daora swung with Whirlwind, swatting a good dozen away from the team but two blue ones struck Nagi and Nori, the pair suddenly slammed into one another. "Artorias and Daora, take over for vanguard, you guys remove the debuff!"
"On it - woah!" Nori grabbed one of the fallen pillars to hold herself steady to access her antidotes.
To everyone's surprise, Vostok's speed increased, stretching down half the arena to bash Artorias' shield with the left horn while Daora dove over the right thresh with Yuuki, the girl grabbed by the wolf-man and swung down with a yelp. She pivoted, drawing her sword high before entering a nose-dive toward the thick forehead held back against Jun's greatsword, but he, unfortunately, took an orange spine through the stomach, the piercing blade dealing a quarter of his health as damage, knocking him down, causing Yuuki's offensive Savage Fulcrum to deal less damage against the main body.
"Nori, with me!" Artorias commanded, blocking several blue spines with her shield swatting them like flies, sword cast a deep pink, a flash of pale purple behind her. "On my mark!"
"Gotcha!" The now recovered girl nodded, shadowing the red warrior who triggered a second skill with her grave shield, Threatening Roar. Vostok craned away from Yuuki and Daora, their blades clashing with the underbelly while it sped up into another charge, circling up and over toward Artorias.
The redhead didn't blink or even flinch, she steadied her hand, the blade tip tilted toward the neon blue maw as the mandibles splayed for a thunderous roar. With a single, erupting thrust, her sword dug through the jaws of Vostok, causing the large body to throw the redhead backward as Vorpal Strike angled itself upward, throwing the boss skyward as a few centimeters were torn from her health bar. But it worked, the boss's attack stunned it.
"Switch!" The raven-haired girl swept by Artorias, golden spear flashing into a halo of wine-colored sparkles. Fatal Thrust plunged through the base of the neck to the lower jaw as the hammer-head skull jerked violently to the air pressure that followed.
Above, Nagi and Daora dived down, connecting their skills in a double crescent with Rising Sun and Grand Destruction. The water wheel and silver flash of magic gunpowder shattered the second health bar in an instant as two other flashes of lilac and bronze ignited at the backside of the beast, Yuuki and Jun had taken the distraction as their chance to try for the other probably weak spot, the large glowing stinger hovering on the opposite side of the chamber.
"Everyone back away!" Yuuki rallied as the tail slammed into her sword, and the head of the beast struck the ground, knocking the players away with another volley of spines, but this time, despite their quantity, the circular pattern they flew was mapped, and they either parried or evaded the annoying spikes.
Enraged, Vostok trembled violently, and swam upward into a wide circle as another barrage of needles tore into the underwater arena, again, they evaded but couldn't pursue the beast above them, only now, it was moving even faster than before. That's when their voices fell into their chests. Vostok spun and nose-dived in the direction of Yuuki and Jun, both charging a sword skill to counter.
But then the leviathan disappeared without a trace.
It was too sudden, and the maneuver threw them off for a split second, but if you stared closely, the great guardian wasn't gone, the water rippled right where it had always been, they just couldn't see it.
There were two ripples as the invisible force collided with the ground, orange spines plunged through the ground where the two star-struck players once stood. Nagi had dived in and yanked Jun aside, tanking an orange spine to his shoulder as his health plummeted into the yellow. "Nagi!" Jun gaped but the shinobi just looked more determined.
Opposite them, Yuuki blinked up at Artorias who carried her bridal style away from the attack, her shield absorbing the orange spike's damage a fair bit but since it was true damage, it still dug into her health until it nearly dropped to yellow, but with Battle Healing, it slowly climbed that threshold.
"I, w-what?" Yuuki blinked as the redhead set her down to see the snaking guardian reappear, firing more spines as it charged twice in a zig-zag, headbutting the ground Nori and Daora once stood, Vostok pursuing the wolf-boy.
"Camouflage, Cupcake, very tacky," Artorias quipped, the two drawing their swords together as something else happened. "You see what I see?" Her brow rose to Yuuki who nodded sharply, charging with Artorias.
Nagi and Jun warded off the spines for their allies as they swung at the slithering monster, its charges had increased, making it tricky to deal significant damage to the head without needing to tank a charge directly, not to mention evading the blue spines. But the large, hot-orange tail was pulsing, and Nagi's nose twitched.
"The tail, look!" He pointed and Jun blinked, seeing his leader and Artorias sprinting toward it. He smiled.
"Let's leave it them, come on!" He took a solid stance, then, with a bronze blade, swung with two wide circles, a force similar to Whirlwind colliding with Vostok's dark scales as it jerked, hissing as it charged into a sharp U-turn toward Jun and Nagi, ignoring the skills colliding with its back as it roared. "Go for it!" Jun waved.
"Second Art-" Nagi channeled his skill, water boiling around him as two wide crescents stripped against the four orange eyes, piercing the murky depths with blue sunlight and scalding water and steel. "-Solstice Haze!" Unlike his regular katana skills, the cooldown was long for these hidden skills but the post-motion wasn't nearly as costly.
In the back, the tail shot upright, and three crackling white orbs manifested. In an instant that would've surprised the average player, three bolts of hot white lightning vibrated through the current, tearing through the floor as their targets vanished. Using their skill's motion to evade, Yuuki and Artorias swung like a mirror, slashing a synchronized Horizontal and Vertical Square through the glowing tail, although it did swat them away the damage tore off nearly half the boss's initial third bar.
"Nice!" Yuuki grinned but kept up her defense against the spines.
"Like clockwork! You guys take the front, we'll handle the back!" Artorias wave her sword, rolling from two orange spines and four blue banished with a flurry of swings with her shield.
Vostok vanished again, but the water spun above, alerting them to evade another barrage of glowing spines that did strike Jun and Daora but knowing their healing items could remove it, they just needed to ground themselves to a pillar for a few seconds while the others covered for them, evading and attacking the critical spot whenever possible, but the constant charging and the added lightning attack made that much harder, even with two of their best baiting the lightning.
The constant back and forth sent colorful arcs tearing through the darkest corners of the chamber, particles twinkling like stardust against the navy walls as silhouettes battled in the glow of the various spines that traversed the abyss, showering them with pin missiles and streaks of white plasma. Evidently, the result was the same, and the last health bar was all that remained.
Recoiling back toward the top of the chamber, the dim lighting made the various bioluminescent points of Vostok glow brighter, its eyes hungry as they turned blood red. The orange spikes enlarged, extending two inches as the leviathan circled until it formed a choppy infinity sign, its echoey roars filling the party of six with a feeling of dread and uproar. The final phase revealed itself.
The tail charged up until it burned a snow-white, with a twirl, three rows of orange and blue spines encircled the monster like teeth, unleashing a bullet hell that spread discord amongst the players desperate to avoid the attacks. Nori, Jun, Nagi, and even Artorias were struck with blue needles and one orange one each, and a staggering amount of health was lost in a blink of an eye, half of them plummeting to the red.
"Get down!" Daora growled, tossing Nagi and Jun behind a pillar while he took to shielding Nori as the entire chamber tingled with a static shockwave.
*BZZT-BOOOOSH!*
The orbs of lightning exploded in an expanding ring of plasma, stripping Daora of half his health while Yuuki, to Artorias' shock, and subtle panic, absorbed the lightning directly into her obsidian sword, having planted it into the ground to act as a lightning rod, her arms around Artorias to shield her as the redhead healed. The feeling of her arms looped around Artorias' neck felt pleasantly warm underwater.
"You idiot, why didn't you just evade!?" Artorias snapped harshly, and two red orbs stared back with a toothy smile, Yuuki's health fallen to the dark yellow as an orange spine had shredded through her left shoulder.
"Because I'm the leader, silly, it's my job to protect you guys," She replied with a look to where Nagi had done the same of Daora, pulling the wolf-boy onto his backside in time to evade the last of orange and blue spines. "And... I can't have a rematch if you die, can I?"
For once, Artorias had nothing to say but laugh breathily, picking up her sword next to Yuuki as she too drank a potion. "Aye, fair point," As they faced the descending boss, it was now in a frenzy, charging nearly every moment it turned, the spines fired haphazardly at best now, making it difficult to move into an attack, and its invisibility lasted a few seconds longer. "Whadda say we reel this big fish in?"
Yuuki blinked for a moment, then matched Artorias' firey smile. "Together!" Their swords lined up.
Nagi, who had seen them recover, had a plan as he waited for Vostok to charge him after slamming its head against Daora's ax as his skill bounced off the onyx scales, Jun and Nori plunging their blades through the belly while stumbling away from the random spines floating through the water.
"Everyone, use the strongest skills you have to stun lock the boss!" Hearing this decree, Nagi's blade swung with a jagged river's edge, Ichimonji collided with the thick exoskeleton, with the bonus to the skill, he repeated it, and the force was enough to cause the Stun icon to appear for a few seconds, the boss' thrashing head twitching in protest with a wail. "Lead it into Yuuki and Artorias' path!"
"Ahahaha, so it's that easy, huh!?" Daora's wolf brow narrowed with a clenched fist, huffing through the nostrils.
"Leave it to us!/We'll follow your lead on this, Nagi!" Jun and Nori complied as Vostok thrashed wildly, the tail beginning to pulse as more large spikes shot forth from the segments, even while invisible.
The Red Warrior and Absolute Sword didn't charge a skill, instead, they paused, waiting, moving slightly to avoid a stray spine but otherwise held their breaths. Vostok roared, appearing in a nose-dive as the players scattered into circling the guardian of the lakebed.
The first to move was Nori, pressing her spear against her left shoulder downward before twirling the polearm with a vicious halo of pale purple, flourishing the blade to counter the spines as two bodies flew through the water, swords alight as the last sharp upward slant from Nori's spear struck the invisible head, revealing Vostok's location as bolts of lightning increased to six, striking at the ground.
Nagi swept through with the roar of a dragon carving through the attacks, his body twitched, inflicted with paralysis as his final horizontal strike collided with the boss' large left horn, the maw of the water dragon turning the whole horn bright red after absorbing the lightning, his health falling to the dark yellow again.
To the left of him, Jun grit his teeth, silently thanking the raven-brunette for his brazen action, providing him with a clear shot at the angular head as the red eyes caught the sight of a red-steel boot digging into one of the eye sockets. Jun spun into a horizontal sweep with his sword outstretched, kicking off Vostok's head to repeat the action into a backhanded slant that he caught in both hands, slicing through the length of the head toward the ground before hopping into the air to bring the weight of his sword down with a warcry, a massive bronze helix of light shattering against the leviathan's head, dazing it.
"You're up!" Someone shoved their feet against Jun's shoulder, throwing the boy back as Daora threshed his large battle-ax in two rising diagonal slashes, widening Jun's lingering attacks across the beast's body, even as it charged, dragging Daora through the underwater chamber, his attacks led the head straight down with a following vertical chop, throwing the wolf over the monster's giant face.
Vostok's chin slapped against the ground, growling as it met the flash of wine and a roar of a dragon, the air force blinding it to Nori's Fatal Thrust that blinded its right side as she was sliced by the orange left horn, but she survived in the amber. However, she and Nagi smiled knowingly to where they led the frenzied water dweller, spines and lightning bolts discharging in the pandemonium.
A fountain of light red and lilac combined into a deep twilight underwater. Two intersecting right and left slants, a vertical cross that completely blinded the now immobilized abomination as its last head bash threw the pair skyward, but this only succeeded in spreading their sword range to the rest of the elongated skull.
Yuuki and Artorias spun over the horns, slashing in a wide circle. Their feet met in the middle, and in an artistic display, they doubled down, carving two massive ravines from the tip of the orange horns down through to the throat of the leviathan with an eruption of twilight streaks that obliterated the two horns, and ultimately, the floor boss hanging above them.
As it exploded into thousands of blue shards, the girls of purple and red fist-bumped, the embers fading from their swords.
/-\CONGRADULATIONS!/-\
Through vents hidden in the floor, the water that barely dampened their clothing was sucked out from the chamber, and the crystal lighting returned to a normal, bright pigment. Only when the water completely drained did the large bold text above, coupled with a comfortable level-up to 46 and item windows did the message sink in.
"We... we..." Yuuki was breathless, hands close to her unhinged jaw. Time and again, Yuuki couldn't fathom her's and her friends' dream of leaving their mark on this world, it was a tricky stunt to pull, and yet, the message was there, the signs were all lit up in gold. Her smile curled at her lips.
"WE DID IIIIIT!" The members of the Sleeping Knights let out a cry of jubilation, coupled with Nagi, Artorias, and Daora cheering themselves for their outstanding victory alone against the floor boss.
In just over thirty minutes, a party of six had cleared Floor 24 of Aincrad.
To Be Continued...
What an awesome fight to write, based on the Adult Eidolon Wyrm from Terraria Calamity. It'll be a white before Ran's team can confront their own solo floor boss but half the team's achieved their dream, but what happens next? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
036 - First Introductions
With Floor 24 cleared, Yuuki's team returns to Panareze to celebrate and discuss what's to come next. But one matter, in particular, concerns the twin leaders of the Sleeping Knights...