|March. 29th, 11:05|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 25, Sunsinger Village|
Quest Updated!
-Path of Divine Sakura: Danuja's Fall-
One fragment of the Tablet of Sunrise remains, at the heart of the Black Peaks lays Danuja's House of Darkness, with his forces weakened, the chance to strike back is now before he slips away.
*Infiltrate The Acquisition [ ]
*Defeat Danuja, Head of House Darkness [ ]
Floor 25 | Reward 5000 Col | Radiant Tablet of Sunrise
Everyone had gathered to speak back in the large home next to the spa to discuss their further plans with Kirito looking at his menu firmly. "Look, we'll need to put this on hold for today, me and Asuna have to get back to completing the main quest of this floor, especially with how tough the situation's become," He did want to help Nagi and his friends but they needed to work toward getting through this floor too less more people died.
"But what about the Tablet of Sunrise?" Yuuki protested with a slight pout. "The A.I's gotten too smart, what if it changes again and we're forced to fight off another wave of enemies like last night?"
"She has a valid point, but... this is your decision," Ran replied as her sister stared at her in shock.
"Ra-" But the elder sibling patted her head with a sad smile.
"We can't poach the frontlines' toughest players forever," In saying this, Asuna looked a little downtrodden herself.
Kirito rubbed his nape but kept an impassive look. "Once we've done sufficient progress we'll come back, I'm not saying you have to wait for us to complete this quest but that's your call too,"
"Ah man... I want to help you guys too but this quest..." Klein crossed his arms, eyes shut tight as he squirmed a bit. "Me and Nagi's been going at this head on from day one so I can't just leave the guy and Shirayuki to handle this alone, wouldn't be cool of me if I did,"
"That's fair," Kirito answered a little disappointedly but didn't show it for long, closing his menu before humming in thought. "I'd ask Argo to tag along but I don't know where she ran off to," Then he was slapped across the bicep. "Huh? What's that for, Asuna?"
"My God, are you really that dense? She's been worried sick about Nagi," She berated, causing the black swordsman to wince.
"I-I'm worried too, his health was dangerously low when Artorias and Daora found him," He defended, but the topic brought the mood down a little. Kirito sighed, hands on the table. "Look, Nagi will be fine, he's probably recovering from fatigue from expending so many skills at once, combined with the loss of HP,"
"Think that's nerd translation for, 'I feel terrible for what happened', that about right?" Artorias finally spoke up, having laid down on her back to stare at the ceiling absentmindedly.
"P-pretty much," Kirito muttered, unsure how to respond to that.
"Just go," Daora huffed, punching the table. "Leave the heavy-lifting to us! Those stupid dark samurai bastards messed with one of my minions and that pisses me off! I'll crush their whole House with my bare hands!" Steam puffed from his nostrils as a few chuckled at his brash response.
"We've got a score to settle with that prick," Artorias spat. "Go make sure shorty and Sir Knight Wannabe don't get themselves killed this time," She said that in an exasperated manner, rolling her eyes.
"As you can see, I think we'll be fine, Kirito, Asuna," Ran gestured before Yuuki jabbed her finger forwards.
"But next time we meet we'll have the treasure of a lifetime from that mysterious vault!" The purplette's eyes burned determinedly.
"I wouldn't know if there's treasure, but-" Sliding the door wide, Shirayuki greeted them with a hopeful smile. "-it is true relics of House Light lay beyond our reach, a troublesome puzzle that has taken a great few years to bear fruit - you need not trouble yourselves, Black Swordsman, Ms Asuna, your valiant efforts last night have earned you both mine, and my home's eternal gratitude."
"Are you sure?" Asuna held some anxiety in leaving them to a dangerous quest like this, but they also had another that had to be tackled, despite wanting to work to achieve both it wasn't practical.
"It's alright, Asuna-" Everyone's heads swiveled to Shirayuki's right, where Argo and Nagi stood by. "-thanks for helping us get this far, but you and Kirito need to see to the end of the main quest, Argo too,"
"Though I ain't happy about it... we need to unravel what's been handed to us so far, otherwise more folks are gonna wind up at Death's dooR," Argo shook her head with a sight, lightly punching Nagi's hip.
"How are you holding up?" Ran asked, equally as worried for her cousin as Yuuki appeared.
He patted his chest gingerly, "I'm okay, I'm sorry for worrying you all," He bowed his head a bit.
"Ya know, I really am gonna start charging you tax for under 'stressful work conditions'," Artorias groaned, running a hand down her face, then pointing to Argo. "Rat, feel free to make that official."
"Nyahaha! Already signed an agreemenT," She grinned mischievously, then she glared sharply at Nagi. "I mean it, don't make me increase the ratE,"
"U-understood ma'am," He smiled sheepishly, rubbing his nape.
"Wow, Argo's really scary sometimes,"Was the unanimous thought.
Shirayuki chuckled to herself, flashing them her wide smile. "Your recovery is a good sign my friend! Now, let's settle this conflict as one, long may the suns of a hundred worlds shine!"
"Yeah!" The group waved their fists high, wasting no time in wanting to settle the score with Danuja.
Just before departure from Sunsinger Village, Argo tugged Nagi aside out of view. "Hey,"
"HeY," She waved slightly, tucking her hood closer to try and obscure her anxious expression. Normally, she'd laugh and put on a pretty face, but after last night, and this morning had completely wrecked her façade as she stared up at Nagi, being half a head shorter than he was.
They didn't need to say much, so, Nagi smiled and held up fist to her. Argo blinked, staring at his fist before smirking herself, though her eyes remained soft as she gingerly tapped her knuckle off his. "Good luck," They chimed, and just as quickly as they turned to pass one another, performing their high-five, one high one low, Argo spun on her heel, reaching up on her toes to peck his cheek.
"Seeya later, HerO," She whispered, disappearing behind her cloak and onto the street parallel where the rest were waiting.
Nagi stood there, watching her until her cloak vanished into the sunlight with a warm smile and pink dusting his cheeks. "Seeya, Hosaka," Turning around, the two moved down their own paths.
|March. 29th, 15:15|
|Floor 25, Black Peaks, Acquisition|
They had to travel far south of the floor to the mountains forever coated in dark clouds. The temperature dropped with the occasional howling wind pulling snow off the sheer cliff edges. Traversing a secret pass Shirayuki had taken with her scouts brought them above the ruins of an old forgotten hamlet, the houses left in piles of rubble or half slanted over edges of canyons. More Dark Samurai roamed the ruins, Legionaries stalked the clifftops, their crossbows swaying in a usual pattern for guard mobs.
All led up between two sheer cliffs of the mountain peaks, sat on a plateau was a large fortress modelled after Feudal Japan, high brick walls covered the base with white walls and black-tiled rooftops of various heights, leading to a single, wide tower at the back of the castle, overlooking a valley, the same they had to travel up to reach the pass. Old, tattered banners of Dusk hung on rotten wood poles, bending in the wind.
"So, how do we cross?" Nagi asked, knelt beside Shirayuki.
"Without being spotted by those guys from the Bogs," Artorias murmured, keeping her shield raised and eyes peeled while Yuuki hid herself slightly behind the redhead.
"That is where the noble sacrifices of my friends will not go unrewarded," Her hand rose, pointing to the end of the cliff they hugged just outside of a cave that fed through the mountain. "To the left of this edge, one of us had set up a zipline, if we use this we will be dropped below the castle, from there, we may climb up onto the bridge leading to the main gate,"
"Then I get to use it?" Daora perked up eagerly.
"Hm, indeed, but we mustn't be hasty," The shinobi calmed Daora's destructive nature down as she studied the movements of the snipers. "On my mark, leave in teams of two, head for the zipline while the enemy is not watching, hug the inner wall once you land."
"Right, ready Yuuki, Ran?" Nagi asked, waiting to go last.
"S-Sure, always wanted to swing a-across a wide, windy chasm with n-no safety net, hehe..." Ran gulped, wiping the sweat off her brow as her sister hugged her back, ushering the eldest forward. "T-tell us when."
"...now," Shirayuki motioned sharply, and the two quickly shuffled in a hunched form across the ridge, careful not to be to hasty as they rounded the bend with a shaky sigh, noting the zipline anchored to either side of the ravine.
The sisters nodded, taking off their headbands to use as a grapple before Yuuki went first, offering Ran a quick smile before throwing herself down, withholding a yelp at the wires bounce as she flew through the air and tumbled onto the snowy ledge with a shaky laugh. Waving to Ran, Yuuki watched her sister nervously do the same, biting her lip to keep herself from making a sound before Yuuki quickly reached out to catch her, the two sisters falling backward and out of sight. "Th-that was t-too close,"
"Hehehe, but it was so much fun, y'know, if we weren't at risk of dying," Yuuki rolled her eyes, standing back with Ran as a minute passed and they spotted Artorias and Daora. The two seemed to be arguing silently with Artorias smacking him across the head before taking her own headband and swinging across the ridge with a tiny 'weeeee' as she hopped down before the girls with a perfect landing, arms raised.
"Okay, gotta do that again," She smirked as Daora came flying past a second later, smacking straight into the wall of the mountain, causing Artorias to snicker. "Please tell me one of you recorded that?"
"Honestly..." Ran pinched the bridge of her nose while Yuuki giggled, high-fiving Artorias in agreement of wanting to go again.
Last were Klein, Nagi, and Shirayuki. Klein went first and yelped slightly halfway when a gust of wind struck the cord, causing it to wobble. He fell face-first into the snow as they dragged him back under cover before the Legionaries could spot them, the group collectively sighing as Nagi and Shirayuki pressed themselves to the cliff wall out of sight.
"Go now, the winds have caused too much strain on the wire and it won't hold forever," Shirayuki urged as Nagi stared back at her quickly.
"But what about you-" She shook her head, taking off his headband to hold it out for him.
"Young Shinobi, you mustn't hesitate in moments like this, please, I will manage, now go," Shirayuki saw his reluctance but he wrapped the fabric around the cord tightly, and jumped, wincing when the wire bobbed and his body swayed. Slowly the pick holding the wire in place next to Shirayuki twisted and inched further out. Below, Daora and Klein waited until the last second as the wire went slack and shot out from the cliffside, causing Nagi to plummet slightly had two pairs of arms not grabbed his and threw him to safety beside the Konno sisters.
Nagi turned around sharply, "Shirayuki..." But there was nothing they could do, the zipline laying slack on their side over the edge as her pearl eyes studied them from afar.
"She'll find an alternative... probably," Artorias murmured, nudging Nagi's shoulder. "Come on, we can't waste time, it was probably scripted to be this way,"
"Sure, but I still can't help but worry if she'll have to fight alone now," Ran voiced their thoughts, all hugging the wall as they moved to the edge of the bridge's underside.
"With what Numbnuts has planned thanks to that shinobi, pretty sure we'll give her ample time to catch up," Artorias shook her head at Daora who was flicking through his menu, chuckling darkly. "Either that or he kills us all in one fell swoop."
"Let's do this, for Shirayuki," Klein made a hushed gesture of pride, the others nodding in agreement as they all stared up at the bridge, the guards stationed with their backs to them. "Here, I'll boost you guys up." Klein locked his fingers, ready to hoist them up.
"Daora, when I signal, you'll be ready?" Nagi turned to look at him as he fiddled with the key item gifted by Shirayuki for this mission. It was unorthodox and would be loud enough to make an entrance, something Daora gleefully took the chance to make himself the centerpiece.
"Just leave it to me!" He raised a thumb, head sparkling.
"...atleast he's confident," Yuuki smiled warily.
"Enough to kill us, lovely," Artorias deadpanned.
Through the large thick wooden doors that sectioned off the castle grounds, several Dark Samurai roamed its courtyard or patrolled the wall-walk above. The howls from the mountain masking footsteps, some crunching through snow as they walked. That is, until a loud thud struck the exterior gate. It wasn't much, but it caused piles of snow to fall from the overhang. Then another hard knock and more fell, alerting the guards to the entry.
One leaned forward to listen, then jumped back with his sword drawn at the door as he heard a grunt at the blow. The others armed themselves as a sharp hiss resounded, followed by a pop and faint light from over the wall. "...coming through... coming through..." The gates buckled, splinters flying back as more cracks appeared, causing the boards to snap and bend as whatever struck it had clearly weakened the doors. "Comin' Throoough!"
In a might blast of heat and light, small explosions in various colours spun and struck the courtyard, tossing the Dark Samurai wide as fires started thanks to the scattered shards of wood from the now warped and burnt doorway. Standing there through the flames, their body set ablaze, Daora stomped into the middle of the discombobulated soldiers, raising Skullshatter high. "I am Kushla Daora, the greatest warrior alive, I claim this castle in my name, weaklings!"
"He broke through the gate!/Alert Master Danuja!/Get him!" The enemies recovered quickly only for more bodies to swarm to Daora's sides as he grasped his ax tightly, still on fire from the fireworks used to breech as he screamed, ax silver in pigment as the head came sweeping in a wide arc, scattering the cinders as the aoe cleaved against two Samurai that got too close, while they blocked the skill the fire inflicted them with Burn.
"Okay, can I just say, having this idiot as your grand entrance every time was by far the best investment we ever made," Artorias chuckled, sword hung over her shoulders in pink. "God, you guys are screwed now," Her devilish grin could put the fear of God into a person's eyes.
"We'll focus on the bridge, they've bound to have mobilized after that," Ran suggested, as she and Artorias moved back to watch the now broken gateway.
"Hold them back as long as you guys can! Klein, Yuuki, we'll find Danuja!" Nagi waved, rallying the duo to his sides as they fought through the courtyard toward the stairway leading to the tower. "We'll leave it to them, right now, there's mobs in our way of the door, ready!?"
"Ready!" Yuuki swung her blade so it ran parallel with the right side of her face. Nagi and Klein stood to her sides in a perfect triangle formation.
Nagi and Klein took the vanguard in an instant, swinging together to knock the first two Dark Samurai off their feet with a unified Ripple Thrust through their defence, with the path cleared, Nagi switched with Klein, slashing the first downed Samurai with Serpent Slash. Klein moved past Nagi's back, blocking a slant from the side for Nagi before pushing down with his own skill, Scarlet Fang, the secondary vertical and thrust knocking the Samurai away.
Yuuki moved like lightning, she slid under a swordsman's legs, hopping onto his back before twirling forward, slashing his back to kick the katana away from another's chest as she landed. Nagi came rushing forward in a wave with Flash Blow channelled across his right foot, the blunt strike shattering the man's breastplate, stunning him. Yuuki spun herself around, leaving a wide arc across the second Samurai's waist as Nagi leapt forward, tackling them to the ground, impaling them with Striking Wave.
Yuuki parried a blow from the left, giving Klein ample time to slip his back across hers, releasing Iai from the sheave, the wide horizontal arc dividing the weakest mob in half. A Dark Spearman lunged, forcing them to split apart as their Fatal Thrust drew them toward Yuuki who inverted her sword to divert the strike, shoving them into Nagi's and Klein's line of fire. Stuck in post-motion, the boys swung their blades in intersect. Klein's Rising Tide from below, and Nagi's leaping handstand strike with Waterfall from above upward. The combined skills dealing a massive amount of damage, enough for a single Horizontal Arc across the back from the Absolute Sword to reduce them to shards.
"Nice work," The trio fist bumped then made their way up the steps in large strides. Nagi turned back to look down at his friends. Artorias was holding her own, almost enjoying the intensity with her back to Ran's. Daora was laughing hysterically, using a Samurai as a baton, swinging them by the leg to keep the others at bay.
"Good luck," He prayed for their safety, running to held Klein and Yuuki push the doors wide, the wind sucked inside with them.
Once inside, the trio saw locked doors leading to the rest of the castle, but instead, their focus was to the winding stairway that hugged the walls of the spire. Steadily, they marched up the wooden boards, the interior ruined and dusty, discarded treasures and weaponry scattered in corners of atop shelves. Nagi did take anything that was considered valuable, even as forging materials for Daora's blacksmith friend. The distant clashing of metal outside kept them on the march.
"Danuja... he's the boss you and Argo fought in Beta?" Yuuki asked suddenly, watching the wood beams above for any Assassins in hiding.
"Yeah, but he wasn't as intelligent as he is now, that was floor five, why is he this high up, and... it's like the corruption that ate away at him in Beta has bonded to him now," Even though it was brief, the air felt cold around Danuja back in the bamboo forest. Nagi's eyes narrowed a bit as he kept a hand on his sheath. "He recognized us instantly, everything about him is completely twisted around,"
"Guy really struck me as someone to avoid, but..." Klein grabbed Nagi's shoulder, smiling down at the young man. "Can't say this reunion won't be worth fighting for, yeah?"
"He's right," Yuuki held her arms around Nagi's right arm, hugging him with a big grin. "We've got your back too so no matter what we're taking back that last fragment!"
"I..." Feeling their support on his arms made his chest much less constricting, he was worried but now that burden wasn't nearly as painful. Nagi's lips curled up. "Thank you," The two grinned, humming a laugh together as the light reached through a small room at the top of the stairs.
Looking around, it wasn't much more than an attic for old supplies, a single dark wood staircase to the left wall leading up toward the top of the spire, and a name appeared briefly above their heads, and the quest marker changed once more for them. The title 'Sacrament' faded away with an eerie howl.
Quest Updated!
-Path of Divine Sakura: Danuja's Fall-
Witness the essence of darkness.
*Defeat Danuja, Head of House Darkness [ ]
Floor 25 | Reward 5000 Col | Radiant Tablet of Sunrise
"That's a red flag," Klein tisked, unsure of proceeding until Nagi stepped forward, climbing the last threshold to turn left to two sliding doors left wide open. Snow gathered at the edges of the balconies, a roof over their heads with oil lanterns swaying from the wind, a single long rooftop stretching out beyond the far back ledge and over the cliff. Standing there to face them was a yellow cursor with dark red text. Dressed in black samurai garbs with a black robe cast down from his waist to his knees, torn by time billowed in the calm wind. His face obscured by a large, pointed black straw hat and bandana. Attached to his right hip was his carbon black sword, hand resting against the hilt.
/Danuja, Head of House Darkness - Lv. 53\
"So... you've come at last... I didn't think I'd see you again... shinobi," Danuja greeted, drawing his ninjato again.
"I'm here to finish what I started," Nagi replied, holding Nevermore in its scabbard. "I do have one question, why? Why do all of this to the shinobi at Sunsinger village? Weren't you the ones who helped the Houses try to fend off the Abyss?"
Danuja didn't speak, instead, he gazed out toward the mountains. "...do you know what is to become of this floating castle?"
Nagi glanced at Klein and Yuuki, both shrugging slightly. "No, what?"
"House Light has fought the Abyss for centuries, sacrificing itself to seal it away, fragmenting in several other Houses... House Dusk released it out of greed and entitlement, dooming all Houses to ruin, from eight to three, to none," Danuja recited the tale, images of banners beyond the three they knew burning, being consumed by black vines and thorns as House Light was shredded at the center. "Over and over our ideal world was torn asunder by the mistakes of House Light's descendants, but in stealing the power of the Abyss, I and my followers will rectify those mistakes, creating a world that will never know conflict, no longer will they watch the lives of their loved ones be lost to it, serenity in its purist form,"
In any other circumstance, Danuja was sincere, he wished to end conflict, to give Aincrad, his world, peace. But Nagi stepped forward, waving his hand in astonishment. "What's good about a world that never changes!? Conflict and peace go hand in hand, erasing one will only create worse problems!"
"Yeah, the whole 'eternal world' shtick doesn't sound like fun to me," Yuuki made an awkward face.
"Besides, anything that requires creepy power like this Abyss stuff is serious bad news," Klein berated.
Danuja raised his head slightly, "...is that so?" He raised his blade into the Ichimonji stance, and that pressure expanded, his bloodlust turning his cursor red as a health bar appeared. "For as long as you stand in my way... serenity can never be reached,"
In a blink of an eye, the dark blade came crashing through the floor inches from where Nagi once stood, his scabbard bursting with water as he struck outward after a short spin, slashing down with a slant through the air that Danuja evaded, only to guard with his blade against the blade of air pressure that erupted with a roar, blasting away snow and leaving a massive gash in the padded floor. "Dragon's Breath!" "Switch!"
Yuuki and Klein pincered Danuja, his sword cast black again as dark light dripped from his ninjato, sweeping the ground under their feet. Klein brought his katana down with Ichimonji, their blades rang out as he repeated the skill due to a rank up allowing as much, forcing Danuja toward Yuuki who rolled to avoid his three slashes, criss-crossing her radiant blade across his shins, hopping backward to avoid a diving plunge that rose to parry Klein's counterattack. Danuja kicked the redhead in the stomach, the force flinging Klein into one of the corner posts.
Danuja bent his arm over his shoulder, parrying Nagi's approaching Whirlwind Slash with ease while twisting left to avoid Yuuki's Rage Spike, grasping her by the wrist to twist and disarm her, kneeing her under the jaw before she yelped, thrown into Nagi's chest as their sides were torn into with Iai sweeping the area in front of the dark shinobi.
"Get ready, Yuuki!" Nagi held her white clothing by the back, throwing her forward while kicking her obsidian blade high for her to catch and twist proper in her fingers, blade casting bright purple as Nagi followed with a sweeping array of geysers. "Rushing Water Undulation!" He swung high as Yuuki slammed her blade low, purple light intertwined with crashing waves of dragon claws that slammed into Danuja's posture, causing him to stumble into Klein's way as the redhead snuck up on the shinobi.
"Warrioooor!" Klein's defiant cry was bolstered by Battle Spirit, infusing this to his red skill as he jumped, avoiding Danuja's sweeping attacks. With a bright flash of light, a halo of jagged hardlight surrounded Klein, the sweeping vertical of Rising Run tearing into Danuja's broken posture. Yuuki and Nagi closed in only to recoil when firecrackers were thrown in their faces, followed by kunai that chipped into their health.
The trio stood back a bit, Danuja studying them with a small pace. "Your skills... will result in nothing... but your end,"
"Guys, I have an idea, but it means we can't use sword skills until the right moment," Nagi murmured under his breath for them only. The pair stared at him suddenly, not saying a word. "In that time, we'll close the gap and end this quick and easy so we can back up the others,"
"...alright," Klein's agreement made Nagi stared widely at the man who pointed a thumb at himself. "Want us to lead the charge then we've got you covered,"
"Mmhm, like I wouldn't trust you, what's the plan?" Yuuki's eyes burned with newfound fury.
"This-" Raising his left hand high, Nagi took in a deep breath with his eyes closed. "This skill was available after my fight with Yama. The overuse of Renewal and my health being as low as it was opened up the prerequisite for a skill meant for Floor 20, now, it'll be our ticket to winning back the stolen fragment," Opening his eyes, a veil of blue coated the trio. "-Iron Code!"
The buff would lock their sword skills for twenty seconds but after which their stats would be given a boon all around, including SP and health regeneration for ten seconds. The trio stood at the ready, of course, Danuja wasn't going to just wait as he was already upon them, blade coming across to sever their heads. "Dodge!" Yuuki was much faster, parrying the blow skyward as her leg snapped out to kick the shinobi. "Take the flank, I got him!"
"Right!" The boys yelled, moving aside as Yuuki squared off with the deadly boss herself.
"A child... fighting in a place like this..." Danuja charged a black sword skill, sweeping in a series of wide slashes toward her.
"This 'child' has seen tougher guys than you, come on and show me what you got," She boasted with her tongue out, waving her hand back for Danuja to meet her blade.
His sword clashed with hers in seconds, each vibrating slash parried with a mere flick of Yuuki's wrist, she couldn't beat him outright but she could parry. His skill ended with a thrust, one she hopped to the side of, sliding to her knees under a spin slash before twirling back onto her toes, flipping over the shinobi's pitch-black ninjato as he dived in an attempt to pin her hair, but the purple locks were swept to his right, her blade cutting across the hip toward the left shoulder blade and down again. When he spun to strike Yuuki, his blade bounced off the face of her obsidian sword.
Yuuki gave a carefree smile, but her scarlet eyes were flooded with focus and conviction, each of his rapid thrust or cuts met in kind, sparks of black and purple scattered between them before another arc of firecrackers was blown in Yuuki's face, and the glint of a blade tip punctured the cloud. Nagi's and Klein's katanas deflected the thrust. Time crawled for Yuuki, taking that advantage to rush forward, swinging down to lock blades with Danuja, Klein and Nagi doing the same, forcing the shinobi backward to exchange blows with the male raven-brunette, knocking Nagi on his ass while Klein slammed his weight down on his sword, drawing it upright to throw Danuja off for Yuuki's puncture to the stomach and chest, her constant rapier-like thrusts colliding with Danuja's before their blades glided past one another, and she recoiled from the three kunai digging into her side as a leg swept her side, swatting her aside for Danuja to focus on Klein.
"Hey, gotcha," The redhead smirked ear to ear, and his sword erupted in a furious rush of red energy, as if flames ran up its rugged edge, several buff icons appearing below his health bar as it rose out of the yellow, same for Nagi and Yuuki. "Hyrah!" With an enhanced Ichimonji, the air wailed from the impact, Danuja's boots sliding against the floor where Yuuki appeared, her sword cast with the same flowing pool of light as she cried out.
Phantom Rave flourished to life, two rising slants into a vertical chop and painful thrust through Danuja's armour, his stance unable to break the constant flinching as he felt the weight of her overhead slam tear down his right side, then again to the left as the girl landed on her knees, a burst of devastating damage leaving him reeling from the backlash. Then, a boot bounced from Yuuki's shoulder, and the ceiling was drowned in a maelstrom. A great tidal wave crashing down atop Danuja's head with a mighty splash, his health bar reduced to zero as he collapsed onto his knees several feet away.
Having recovered thanks to Iron Code, Klein was the closest, noting that the boss wasn't dying, "He's still got some bite in him, I got this," He spun his katana, moving quickly encase the boss had a recovery state they weren't aware of. A white vapour trickling from Danuja's fresh wounds.
"Impressive... shinobi, your strength... has grown from these memories of you," Danuja rasped, clutching his chest. "But... you deserve more for your strength, and your allies... would you not side with us...?"
Despite the adrenaline still rushing through him, Nagi frowned at the fallen shinobi. "Never, or I suppose in Shirayuki's words, heresy,"
"Hold on, Klein!" Yuuki gasped, running to grab his left elbow.
"Ah?" It happened so fast that Nagi's nose never caught the scent, that awful stench of death that sunk into his nostrils and made his head spin.
*SHiiing!*
The crackle and pop of the cessation of movement solidified into a solid form of black ice at the tips of Danuja's fingers, the spike severing Klein's right arm by the elbow as he was thrown so hard he knocked Yuuki onto her backside while he fell over the banister of the tower, hanging on by his fingertips. "Klein!" Nagi cried out in horror, the man struggling to hold on with only one arm.
"Heresy... was it?" Danuja asked, drawing Nagi's attention forward with Nevermore raised to challenge him, hopefully, Yuuki could help Klein. Danuja's vambraces split as more black ice formed along his arms, peeling back his sleeves to reveal many awful scars and burns, his blade coated in dark purple flames like he was in Beta, only without any loss of sanity. His eyes took on a gleaming purple tint as well, all while his ninjato grew to the length of a nodachi, made of thick, black ice. "If it is for the sake of preserving a world free of pointless death. I will seize any manner of sinful strength. Endure the weight of this world. May this darkness set you free."
Now, thunder and lightning struck around the tower as his health bar refilled, and he wore a new title.
/Danuja, Chosen of the Abyss - Lv. 53\
There wasn't any time to prepare as Danuja ran and lunged with his nodachi drawn back. Nagi raised to block at the last possible second only to wince and recoil from the strength behind the attack as it shook the floor under him. Then came a perilous swing that forced him over Danuja's head, turning to see another coming straight for him. The plunge missed and Nagi saw his chance, using Serpent Slash to land two quick blow and back off, something about this fight put Nagi on edge, watching Yuuki trying to help Klein out the corner of his eye.
Nagi struck the air with Iai, missing as the cold air was pulled between Danuja's left palm, forming a halberd of dark ice in mere seconds before it was thrown straight at Nagi, blasting apart into fragments and leaving a cold spot on the ground with purple embers. Suddenly, Danuja stood only a few feet away, swinging his nodachi in a wide upward slant that flowed seamlessly into a horizontal that struck Nagi's edge, straight into a spin slash and an uppercut, ending with a final cut from right to bottom left, the impact causing Nagi to recoil as his own posture broke.
"That skill... was too intense, my bones won't stop shaking!" He managed to perform Rising Tide, scoring a blow but narrowly avoided being impaled by the elongated blade. The skull with a black backdrop had appeared. "And Corruption's rising again... crap, focus us, you can do this just time everything accordingly, read his every move!"
Danuja closed the gap, swinging in long but powerful blows that quickened once contact was made, both exchanging strikes with no contact, raking the sky with ear-splitting metal. Ice formed around his arm again, and Nagi barely had the chance to hop back from a winding arc with that frozen halberd as it scattered ice everywhere, followed by a lunging slam that cut down Nagi's chest while he took the risk to unsheathe a fountain of water. Several aquatic claws tore Danuja apart only for the effects of the skill to be frozen by another halberd as it was tossed, carving a long line across Nagi's cheek.
"Hmph!" Danuja ducked under Nagi's attack, placing a palm against the raven-brunette's stomach as he gasped in shock, his lungs feeling like they were being collapsed from the inside as ice froze over his torso, his body thrown through the banister and onto the rooftop below with a pain crash, breaking the tiles in the process. A stomp later, and Danuja forced his blade down on Nagi's, inches from the boy's neck. "This is a fight... you cannot win,"
His health was steadily declining into the amber while Danuja's remained in the green. Klein had to wait for his arm to regenerate and Yuuki was too busy watching his back for any mobs that could've been tailing them to help Nagi. Water swirled around his right leg, and the forward momentum caught the dark shinobi's stomach as Crescent Moon flung him over Nagi's head and onto the rooftop behind him. Shifting back to his feet, Nagi held Nevermore to his right hip, the waves beginning to flicker akin to flames.
"Solstice Haze!" He growled, the wide crescents either side of him banishing the halberd of ice and nodachi swung in a cross pattern. "I don't accept that," Nagi countered, holding strong against the mountain's howl, his eyes unwavering beneath his amigasa. "Even in an impossible situation like this, I won't make her worry about me again,"
"...then you will die," The dark shinobi charged, moving in the same way as before with those flowing strikes. Nagi followed his movements, preparing to counter where he could-
"You speak the truth-!" From below, the rooftop burst wide open, a single, snow-white sword prodding through to cut a straight line from Danuja's waist to the top of his forehead, blinding the man in his left eye as he stumbled back with a grunt. Hopping up to stand before Nagi, Shirayuki grinned ear to ear, her outfit roughed up alot, her hood and mask down. "-young shinobi!"
"Shirayuki, you made it!" Nagi gawked, flinching when she tossed to him a single item, a stone with crystal fragments lodged in it, and the other quarter of a sun sigil etched to the stone. "This... this the final fragment of the tablet! But how did you...?"
"I had a suspicion our foe would be wise as to not carry such an important relic on their person, when we parted ways I took a far more unsavoury route inside, from there, I located their most fortified locale and stole away the treasure we sought, now-" She held her blade out in one hand. "-let us end this farce, Danuja,"
"The three swordsmen together... could not defeat me... you believe you can now?" He wondered, eye narrowed at the woman.
"But of course! This young man is my faithful companion on the road to the defeat of our ancestors greatest evil! He and his allies have brought nothing but triumph in my eyes, for that, I have no regrets in confronting a sinister omen like yourself! Simply watch and learn!" She took the lead then and there, blade overwhelmed in white light. "Third Art - Solar Brilliance!"
The same halberd of rime formed, attempting to drive through Shirayuki's heart only for her blade to extend into four rotating thrusts that split the ice into chunks, a final swing drawn against her left bicep as she pivoted, slashing wide on return over the whole rooftop, leaving two large red gashes over Danuja's arms as his nodachi shielded his chest, the shockwave blowing dozens of black tiles into the sky. Using the smokescreen created, Nagi dove through, the jaws of a dragon erupting around his body. Using the Dance, he spun and battered Danuja's blade with his, the raven-brunette's breastplate shimmering. "Renewal!"
Once more, three twirling slashes crashed into Danuja, his nodachi swung upright sharply across Nagi's right shoulder but he held firm, lunging down to release the stored-up force in one, devastating blow to the shinobi's left arm, shattering the ice beginning to form for Shirayuki to land her own consecutive strikes on the weakened limb, severing it with an overhead chop, her body shifting in front of Nagi to parry a retaliating swing of the nodachi, ice freezing mid-air like a crescent, digging into her hip but she wasn't frozen.
Darkness poured from the nodachi as another chain of flowing strikes swung toward the pair that Nagi dove in to counter, each strike rattling his bones as the final slant was drawing back and into Danuja's flip, bringing the frozen blade down with resounding force that Nagi recoiled, guarding but taking impact damage as a result. But Danuja's eye twitched, seeing that Nevermore was now burning with bright lilac flames, sakura petals blown away by the wind.
"Thanks, Shirayuki," Nagi smiled, lunging forward while Shirayuki followed by closely. Danuja dove for a lunging strike, his blade tearing through the roof while Nagi Kick-Stepped over his attack, drawing his blade down twice with Whirlwind Blade in conjunction with Shirayuki's own skill, but the two attacks were thwarted by Danuja's right foot and blade extended outward to block them both, twisting his form around to fling the pair across the rooftop as he gave chase for Nagi.
Tumbling back onto his feet, Nagi furiously parried and diverted each of the man's deadly strikes, "His attack power's increasing!" One snap kick struck the raven-brunette's gut, but he held firm, blocking two wide crossing slashes from touching his chest, the nodachi's reach made it hard to perform any counters. Danuja held back his sword in both hands, drawing forward using Ripple Thrust, aimed straight for Nagi's own eye.
*Tiing-Boosh!*
Both Nagi's and Danuja's eyes widened, a standard katana shoved against the face of the frozen nodachi, Klein pressing his full weight against his sword before it gleamed orange, and he yelled out in tune with his own arm, striking upward with ferocious force, knocking Danuja backward while Klein stumbled across the decline in the rooftop. "Hah, don't you be countin' me out just yet, ya hear!?" He smirked, still losing health due to his amputated arm while it appeared Yuuki was busying fending off mobs that clearly gathered to aid the boss.
"Klein!" Nagi gaped.
"Go for it!" He yelled back, collapsing to the rooftop.
To not waste Klein's aid, Nagi drew back Nevermore, water bubbling around his face to the tip of his blade until it all corkscrewed into a helix around him. "Solar...-!" He lunged as Danuja was forced to fend off Shirayuki's constant attacks, the two shinobi sweeping one another so fast it was hard to tell them apart through the sparks. Nagi sucked in a breath, waiting until his muscles tightened to release his skill. "-Brilliance!"
"It is time you were put to rest, Danuja," Shirayuki grunted, gritting her teeth as she slammed her shoulder against his chest, drawing her katana back in both hands to plunge it straight through his chest. His ice-cold hand grabbed her by the face, throwing her body and blade off his form as he reeled from the fatal wound, red sparks trickling from his wound before heat and the sound of rushing water came crashing down across his back.
Four thrusts pierced his torso at its edges, before he attempted to swing his nodachi around to disarm Nagi who spun back around, blade engulfed in roaring blue water as it crackled like flames, their blades collided in the center, but the ice snapped and eventually shattered, cleaving a long, red line straight through Danuja's chest, his ninjato clattering over the edge of the castle into the chasm below. He stumbled, his health reduced back to zero.
"I've... failed... you..." His foot pressed down on an unstable tile, causing his body to slip and fall backward into the canyon below, shards of blue glass soon following his fall.
"We... we did it," Nagi lowered his blade, then sheathed it to run across the rooftop to find Klein sucking on a health pot. "Klein, you okay?" He knelt beside the redhead as she held up his newly regenerated arm with a thumbs up.
"Never better, gotta admit, that save was so badass, right?" He chuckled giddily to himself.
"Haha, yeah, it was pretty amazing," Nagi found his smile again, helping Klein to his feet before waving up at Yuuki. The purplette soon had a big cheesy grin as she hopped up and down with her arms raised. "Shirayuki?"
The shinobi was looming over the place where Danuja fell, then, she put her hands together and bowed her head. "...may you find peace now, my brother," Exhaling softly, she turned to give them a proud look. "It seems I am in your debts once again, thanks to all of you, the myth myself, and my old friends had sought to uncover can be laid bare for all to see," She patted them both on the shoulder, shaking them slightly to show her elation. "Come, we will gather for a toast to this victory over the House of Darkness!"
Quest Updated!
-Path of Divine Sakura: Fairy Tale-
The fragments of the Tablet of Sunrise have been found. Combine them and unseal the relic from a forgotten era.
*Create Radiant Tablet of Sunrise
*Unseal the Chamber of Light
Floor 25 | Reward ?
They received the prompt for their previous rewards, including a good chunk of experience that brought the trio up from level 48 to 49. Klein and Nagi high-fived one another. "Alright, now let's go see what treasures are waiting behind that old door!" Klein pointed straight toward the tower where Yuuki sat, swinging her legs off the side. Then, Shirayuki giggled to herself, tapping the redhead's arm a little more to the right. "That way!"
"Hm, indeed Samurai," Shirayuki concurred.
Nagi couldn't believe it, they had completed this floor's side of the Divine Sakura campaign, but still his thoughts lingered to Danuja. He remembered him and Argo from the Beta, and his title changed mid-battle to 'Chosen of the Abyss', what exactly was he chosen for? "I have a bad feeling this isn't over..." He whispered, adjusting his hat over his head again as he followed Shirayuki to the hole she came through, Yuuki having hopped down to follow them as she blinked, noticing Nagi's forlorn expression.
"Hey, Kaito, you okay?" They were quiet enough that Klein nor Shirayuki could hear them as Klein offered to go first, only for a series of yelps and crashed to soon follow, much to the silverette's curiosity as she peeked down the hole.
"Hm? Yeah, just... really don't like how that ended," He again glanced to the ledge, then shook his head with a smile. "Well, come across that someday, ready to go back?"
"Totally! My sis' HP didn't even hit the yellow, she's really improved," Yuuki perked up then gave a sideways glance. "Oooor that's Artorias being, weeeell..."
"Artorias?" Nagi pointed out, as she mirrored his gesture.
"Artorias," Yuuki agreed.
Meanwhile, back in the courtyard of Acquisition, Ran flinched when Artorias sneezed sharply, causing the potion she was drinking to stain her face as she sniffed. "Ugh, stupid Nervegear, why does it simulate sneezing?"
"Pahahahaha, your face matches your hair now!" Daora cackled as more red potion dripped off Artorias' nose as she gave the wolfman a flat look, Ran giggling behind her hand.
Soon, the empty bottle was lobbed at Daora's head, knocking him off a barrel and onto the ground.
To Be Continued...
This was very high-action, and more of the sinister foe of the Divine Sakura quests shows itself in the form of Danuja's second phase. I really tried to give every character something to say here, writing a large group such as this makes it hard to give everyone focus so I tried to primarily stick with the main characters. Moving on, it's time for the finale of his arc, we've got quite the fight ahead (Lovely...). I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
042 - Massacre
Nagi's team come to unlock the secrets behind the Tablet of Sunrise. But on March 31st, the darkest day in SAO's recent history will unfold...