|Sword Art Online, Floor 71, Teleport Plaza|
|July. 15th 07:02|
Their was a damp dew when morning came, the floor was quiet, eerily so despite the NPCs going about their daylight cycle rotations like clockwork. Nagi and his team gathered before the teleport gate, ensuring no early birds of the Frontrunners were around when they arrived. Only to be partially wrong.
"G-Guys!?" Yuuki gaped, looking like a dear caught in headlights. Before them were the remainder of the Sleeping Knights, all wearing various digress of annoyance at their two leaders' antics.
"I... let them know, it was only fair," Ran opted to admit, hand raised. "This is important to me, which is why they deserved to know exactly why I chose to work with all of you over them," Turning back to look especially at Siune, Ran smiled apologetically. "I already said it, but, I'm sorry for being so secretive about this."
"Spare us the excuses, just get out there and kick some ass!" Jun cut ahead of the rest, no less pleased but looking between the two before sighing a smirk. "Do that, and we're square, leader."
"It's n-not that we insulted, it just felt l-like you were trying to fight alone, w-which isn't what you taught us to do," Talken elaborated further. "You chose the best of the best, t-then that means yo-you'll be safe."
"We'll be right there when the doors open again," Tecchi offered kindly.
"You never needed to apologize, we've seen already how much you've dedicated to this, we won't stop you, heh, I doubt we could anyway," Siune giggled a little.
"With a team like this, you guys might actually give all the Frontrunners a run for their money, hah!" Nori snorted, she and Siune sharing a knowing smile, wrapping behind their leaders to give a sharp smack on the back, even the game didn't shield them as their bodies jerked with a yelp at the spine-tingling sensation. "Now get your butts in gear and win this thing for the Sleeping Knights!"
The rest laughed at the scarlet now running across the Konno siblings' faces. "Ow-ow-ow... deserved that." Ran rubbed her back.
"Why me~?" Yuuki whined, thankful it was just her back, giving them a sharp look and grin. "Oooh, I'll be getting you guys back for that later!" She jumped, causing them to scatter from her, laughing collectively.
Clearing his throat, Kirito stepped toward them, a large, blue crystal in one hand. A Corridor Crystal, worth a fortune under his and Nagi's names. And in a way, a crystallization of all their work yesterday to prepare for this bold decision. "You guys ready?"
"Born ready!" The Konno sisters chimed.
"That will never not creep me out," Artorias shivered slightly.
"AgreeD," Argo nodded.
"Hey, uh..." Nori cut in hesitantly, looking ready to say something else, but quickly put on a brave face. "Go show everyone what you're made of, ya hear?"
"Promise," Ran assured them, hand to her frantic heart. Turning around, she nodded to Kirito. "Open the way, Kirito."
Raising the crystal high, he called out. "Open, 71st Floor Boss Chamber!"
Unlike the standard Teleport Crystal, that warped a single player, Corridor Crystals were brighter, and opened up a physical gate between two locations. When the light dimmed, the crystal shattering in Kirito's palm, an oval-like archway remained in white. The veil peeled away, revealing the hall leading up to the Boss Chamber.
Heading through, the gate was set to close after a minute, giving the Sleeping Knights time to stand by silently, watching their friends and leaders marched off down the blue halls, the rift collapsing into a singularity, dispersing into specks of light. Sparing Yuuki and Ran the worried looks resting on their faces.
Squeezing her hands tightly until her knuckles turned white, Siune sniffed sharply, turning to the others left behind. "Okay... let's go."
No one said a word, there was no need, the anguish in their expressions said it all.
|Floor 71, Floor Boss Chamber|
|July. 15th 07:07|
A deep, earthly groan echoed down the hall behind them, Ran and Yuuki opening the way into a strangely circular room, big enough for a full raid party, light fixtures embedded to the walls. Heading cautiously inside, the doors began to close behind them, sealing them in, no turning back now.
"Is this it?" Daora muttered, lowering his ax.
"Its a shafT," Gesturing high, they followed Argo's finger, lights every few feet lining the smooth stone walls. She then tapped a foot on the lip of the circular platform. "Hop on, bet its a lifT."
"Huh, that's a new way to enter," Nagi marvelled, the group hurrying onto the stage, and immediately hearing a loud crank of gears, and stone abrading stone when the platform buckled and began to rise, startling them for a moment. "They really don't want people fleeing this time..."
"Crystals might still work then," Kirito hummed, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about the lack of a safety net. Although, SAO was hardly a game that played fair. It was a funny thing, he enjoyed the challenge but dreaded it just as much.
"I get we're needing to take things seriously, but is anyone else feeling excited about this?" Yuuki was the one to voice Kirito's thoughts, her face buzzing with anticipation.
"Our backs are to the wall, we're a fraction of the player count we should be, on the clock, AND will likely have the wrath of the Frontrunners bearing down on us when this lift picks them up..." Artorias listed with each finger, but his shit-eating grin was anything but serious. "I'm freakin' ecstatic- hell of a request, Shorty." He knuckled the elder Konno's shoulder, the girl sheepishly grinning.
"I still feel pretty bad about throwing you guys into this," She admitted, staring at the lights that passed every few seconds. "I can't thank you all enough for doing this; the planning, preparations, all of it."
"Save the thanks for when we've cleared this floor," Kirito stated with a smile of his own, drawing Elucidator.
"Our job's not done until we win, Ran," Nagi added, preparing for the void that began to seep down from above, the lift coming to a slower elevation.
Her cheeks couldn't withhold a confident smile of her own. "Mmhm!"
Soon, they were engulfed in darkness, and not your average, everyday darkness, it was advanced darkness. Unable to even see an inch front of them, forcing their bodies closer to one another in the dead silence.
"Ugh, I should've made night vision potions..." Artorias eventually tisked.
As if on command, the whole labyrinth began to rumble and quake, some nearly falling over when cracks of light began to bleed through the walls of a massive arena running the circumference of the tower itself. Soon, bits and pieces of the wall broke away in chunks, shattering into glass, unveiling the sunlight, or lack thereof.
"Ah, someone opened the curtains," He commented again sarcastically.
The raging storm encircled the section of the tower entirely, streaks of purple lightning crackling through the clouds that left the floating lands below unseen. Up here, the wind howled in their ears, blowing through their clothes. The section of the labyrinth crumbled and collapsed, forming into a coliseum-styled ring of archways stretching across the outer rim. High above, the remainder of the spire continued through the cloud-layer continuing to rumble.
Their eyes drew upward, Detection warning them of the mighty force that came crashing down from the storm overhead. With a mighty crash, a blast of wind tore through the party, only this time, they weren't blown away by the oppressing force, standing firm with their faces twisted into firm scowls.
A large, silver blade swept back, slashing away purple streaks of lightning to disperse throughout the arena, a mighty roar coupled by the storms thunder shook the heavens. High above, a large, four-winged dragon had appeared. Covered in dark blue scales, some that formed into an imitation of plate metal, some scales tinged a pale yellow along its edges, giving the dragon stripes; it's underbelly grey. Both its horns and wing talons were akin to silver blades gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Most notable of all was its elongated tail, a thick, sharp blade, bigger than any greatsword, as silver as moonlight. The towering, blue and silver dragon flew above them, its massive blade tail swept behind it. With another deafening roar, three health bars appeared under a red cursor and blood-red name. The storm's fury escalated around them.
/-\Zordiath the Blade Dragon - Lv. 122/-\
"Now that's a dragon..." Nagi's voice was almost drowned out by the winds surrounding Zordiath, its tail turning a hellish orange, ringing in their ears. Remaining steady, Nagi eyed their leader for this specific mission, at Ran's request. "Plan, Boss!?" He slightly teased.
"Okay, real weird hearing that from you, Boss!" Artorias smiled sheepishly, waving Red Death wide. "Divide and take out a Crestbearer, avoid its wind attacks and sword skills- like right now, preferably!"
Splintering from their group, each evaded the elongated sweeping arcs of Vertical Arc, Zordiath remaining at the center of the arena where its tail could reach in any given direction for the first phase. Being careful to watch for the direction of its sword swings, Nagi approached the closest Crestbearer. It was a variant of the Devil Sentinels, renamed 'Crestbearers' at level 115.
Golem-types that were more mechanical structure. Floating white and gold chassis with a hourglass shaped torso and wide chest with a bright blue eye fixed to the front, a crystal floating above their heads and two similar shaped arms with one-edged swords.
Closing the gap with Solar Brilliance, the four-pronged thrusts tore into its metal frame, both blades sweeping with their own skills, each countered by the final, cleaving slash of Nagi's skill. Hopping back on his toes, he channelled Divine Sakura in its sheath, a lime-green hue erupting with a single, twirling slash, an invisible force colliding with the beast, Dragon's Breath destroying the Crestbearer in time for his body to roll back.
A massive tornado of wind erupting at the four main cardinal directions from Zordiath, then sweeping another set of whirlwinds through the other directions, swooping down to continue unleashing sword skills in the eastern direction.
Checking his stats, Nagi saw he was given a Crest of the Sky. "Got it..." Looking around, a glowing, circular symbol appeared above the others one-by-one. The closest to him, Kirito, ran up to him after another crescent of a sword skill brushed by. That's when Nagi noticed with surprise. "Your symbol's different."
"So's yours," He pointed out. Nagi's was that of a dragon breathing fire, but Kirito's was one curled into a circle. Their symbols didn't match, nor did the symbol at Nagi's feet, embedded into the stone. Their symbols were randomized.
"Crap- Artorias, they're all different!" Kirito hollered across the arena, seeing him dive away from a torrent of wind, followed by two diagonal slants from the boss.
"Different, huh...?" Muttering to himself, he glanced at his feet, standing on a symbol that too didn't match his own, a dragon with four wings spread wide. Taking this into account, he studied Ran who was making her way over, Yuuki cut off and stuck on the same side as Argo. Daora was nearest the elevator.
"Artorias?" Ran asked, sliding to his side, watching him tap his chin thoughtfully.
Sparing her own symbol a look, it was two dragons circling each other, at his feet, the same seal. Clicking his fingers, he grabbed her shoulders and shuffled her into position. "When I give the word, you strike it, stick to evading-" Another Crestbearer appeared without its seal- "And have fun with that, gotta run."
"Wha- hey!" And her words fell on deaf ears, the Red Warrior breaking into a wild sprint down the edge of the arena, sword sheathed to focus solely on sprinting.
He paid little mind to everyone, focused solely on the task at hand, it didn't matt- shaking his head, he slapped his forehead. "Stop that," Nearly falling back on bad habits. Studying the symbols both on the ground and above their heads, he made mental notes of each, slowly, even while evading waves of wind pressure and vibrant sword skills, Artorias's mind worked like clockwork.
"Callouts!" Standing on his own seal to the Northwest. "Nagi, Fire Left, Northeast! Kirito, Circle Dragon, South! Ran, Dragons Dance, East! Yuuki, Two Wings, North! Argo, Fire Right, Southwest! Daora, Dragon King, Southeast!" Each moved around, continuing to evade and deal with the blank Crestbearer that spawned on their cardinal point.
"Wait, there's an eighth, we don't have a Crest for thaT!" Argo called to, their momentum suddenly coming to a grinding halt. They had figured out the mechanic's last little trick, but as a cruel joke, SAO claimed the last laugh.
"We... we can't finish the mechanic...?" Yuuki grimaced, looking around for some form of method to bypass this, a helpless desperation building in her throat.
"No..." Ran didn't account for this, in her stubbornness to keep it within a single team, a team that couldn't fulfil the requirements for DPS. That cold, hard reality struck her in the chest like a brick.
"Strike the symbols on Three!" To their bewilderment and confusion, Artorias didn't even lose his stride, ducking under a horizontal cleave of Zordiath's tail, a few hairs grazed from the force behind it. Heeding his command, the team held their weapons high. "One! Two! Three!"
Each slashed their respective mark, a bright blue, almost white glow emanating from the stone, coiling around their weapons as a thin vortex of wind. All eyes were on Artorias, who, with a blade as bright as moonlight, sped from the Northwest to the West in a single, low-bearing slash, clipping both symbols within the short space of time. Each symbol retained its glow.
"He cut them both?" Nagi whispered, then saw the two fading symbols overlapping above his head, the realization hitting him like the punchline to a joke, laughing. "He gathered two symbols!"
"I ain't falling for that crap again," Artorias exhaled, standing tall to glare toward the mighty Blade Dragon, eyes burning bright with contempt. "You think I didn't learn from the 29th, Kayaba?!"
Each seal unleashed a single line of light, each converging on the boss's position, from below, a column of light pierced the boss, doing minor damage, but more importantly, dispelling the wind pressure surround its body, Zordiath stumbling in the air with a deep roar. The symbols were gone, and instead, every player converged on the dragon, a new buff applied.
|Buff - Stormruler|
Nullifies Wind Pressure and slightly increases Sword Damage
"All-in now, boys and girls!" Artorias hollered, going straight into a wide stance, blade overflowing with light emanating from Nova Ascension.
A blinding glare of violet etched across Zordiath's tail and even his bladed spines and horns to match. With a backward dive, it threshed its tail in a rising slant, arching in the air to cleave horizontally, Daora and Yuuki narrowly avoiding the slash led into a downward slant. The 3-hit skill, Sharp Nail.
Slipping in from below, Nagi swept in a rising flurry of blows, Conflagration cutting across its legs and the base of its tail. Kneeling, Argo vaulted off him to swipe down the underside of the dragon in a spiral from Frenzy, the cascade of sword strikes from Artorias woven with Kirito's own, both already unleashing their strongest skills off the bat. The deep wounds tore up the dragon's chest as it roared, pivoting to face them as it brought its sword wide, cast in gold.
The massive blade slashed Argo's descending body across the hip, a returning swipe catching Daora's Destroyer by the staff, he used its own momentum to twist blindingly fast, clobbering Zordiath across the jaw with three rapid strikes, Crimson Blood marring its scales. But a standard tail swing swatted the dragon lord flying back on his heels. Zordiath wasn't done, reeling back its blade with the tip poised forward, one thresh of its wings sent the dragon sailing forward, tugged along by the devastating force of Vorpal Strike that Daora and Argo barely managed to evade, the sparks of crimson splashing through the air.
Using the post-motion against it, Yuuki closed the gap first, the tail swept low behind Zordiath, with a hop, she ran up the length of the tail, Obsidian Rose wrapped in lime green, stabbing up the full length of the tail to the lower back of the dragon, the venomous thrusts causing the whole body to buckle, the purplette diving backward to avoid an omnidirectional, Horizontal cleave, the wind pressure alone nearly blowing her off her feet.
From below, Zordiath plunged its tail through the tower, flicking sharply to spray a large plume of shrapnel in a cone, yet, a blazing blue aura pierced from the left hand side. When Zordiath's head reeled forward after its Serrated Wave, it was met with the brunt force of a rising white sword, rich, blue wisps of light dispersing around him and Ran, Rebuke cleaving down the left side of the dragon's face in a pair of slashes, a pirouette connecting the lines into a jagged '4', spiking the dragon, grounding it momentarily with a deep snarl.
The air began to vibrate, Artorias's eyes widening as he threw himself onto his back, feeling the air split his chin open when the mint-green wave of light swept high, unleashing a crescent of air force that dug through his shield, flinging the boy across the tower. Sonic Leap rippling through his armour, dropping him by 10% in a single cleave.
"Heh, fast aren't you?" He smirked, downing a potion to restore himself quickly, Stormruler finally wearing off. The wind pressure returned, blasting the others away, dealing around 5% to 9% damage due to close proximity. From his observations, the first health bar had only dropped by around 10%, they were in for a long fight. "Split up, the symbols will swap around, leave two adjacent ones open for me, callout which symbols your Crestbearer has!"
"ON IT!" The party relayed, they had the pattern now, all that was left was to commit it to muscle memory.
|July. 15th 09:05|
The storm and the subsequent battle within continued to escalate, every opportunity for DPS was taken and spared no expense, little-by-little, a group of seven idiots chipped away at Zordiath and its three massive HP gauges, against the array of wind attacks and sword skills that only grew in multitude upon reaching the second health bar, Zordiath now incorporating skills with more than four hits into his stand-by phase, making movements around the arena increasingly more perilous.
"Dragons Dance, Northwest!" Kirito hollered, diving over a horizonal slash, narrowly avoiding a downward chop that followed.
"Fire Right, SoutH!" Argo relayed, her claws splitting the eye of a Crestbearer in two, using its crumbling body to dive across the arena.
"Get to your marks and ready on three!" Artorias relayed, twirling to block a sword swing with Red Death flush against his back, completing his turn to backward the Crestbearer with Red Dawn's Bash, shattering the monster, freeing up his floor seal. Giving everyone the time they needed, waiting until the last of Zordiath's wind blasts subsided, he screamed. "One! Two! Three!"
Crossing the edges of two in a split second, Artorias cleared his alongside the others, the chain reaction sending a beam of light through to disrupt the flow of air around the Blade Dragon who snarled in anger.
Unleashing a powerful roar, Zordiath let a cascade of ultramarine light tinge his tail, the sight momentarily freezing them. "It can use Ultimate skills too!?" Ran vocalized, so why did it worry her more that Kirito stepped forward, sword in one hand. "Kiri-"
She caught herself, his back to her as the winds grew harsher, the dragon flying straight for them, and a hand pressed to her shoulder from her cousin who smiled, undeterred by the glaring light. "Don't worry, he's got this,"
"Ain't a player who can react faster than Kii-BoU," Argo admitted with a snort of disbelief, keeping low. That's right, Ran loosened up, she had seen the Black Swordsman do the impossible time and again, there was no reason to worry. So she stood up, following them to flank the boss as it focused solely on Kirito.
Giving Elucidator a little twirl, Kirito stomped his right foot forward, raising it above his head, casting his weapon in a myriad of purples. Both combatants closed the distance, drawing their weapons with a web of lightning lighting up the skies above.
Zordiath's right slant was countered by a right slant, same for the left slant as the dragon dove forward to bring its tail down in a vertical, hearing and feeling it rattle against a third swing, a thrust countered by a rising vertical. Polygons of opposing colours flew around them, increasing with the heat of their weapons.
Again, the blade dragon arched its whole body behind its tail, bringing its full weight down against Kirito's radiant blade as it paralleled the blow with a rising streak of light. One, final vertical chop from Zordiath unleashed a downpour of invisible swords as burst damage, the drake watching the body of the teen becoming lacerated from the top down.
Crrrack!
Elucidator creased against the dragon's lowered scalp, a single, deadly cleave snapping its neck sideways, Deadly Sins sneaking in its seventh blow, stunning the drake. Phantom Rave marred Kirito's body, his health having plummeted from the final attack by 25%, yet, Deadly Sins yielded one more attack than the former, leaving Zordiath reeling from the tremoring shockwave to its skull.
Ran swept through the motes of purple light, the edge of Rebuke draped in silver. Casting her own ultimate yet again, her body soared just above the dragon's head in a small whirlwind of her own, repeating its own sword skill against it, a counterattack thwarted by the intervention of Daora's Grand Destruction sending the tail sweeping under the raven-brunette, straight into a twin thrust from Artorias and Yuuki, a follow-up, omnidirectional blow, courtesy of Nagi's Rising Sun. Many impressively deep wounds exploding across both sides of Zordiath's body.
A pair of enlarged claws tore and gouged out the hind legs, Argo swept off her feet to evade a low-bearing Horizontal Arc, completing her own esoteric skill with a dazzling riptide of emerald sparks. Landing on her back, she bent her legs, thrusting them high to act as a springboard for Daora who came within Zordiath's hellish gaze.
"Screw...!" Winding up a spinning slash, each increased in velocity of silver, catching the side of the dragon's head to avoid a wind blast, driving Destroyer deep through the crown, splitting scales and pixelated blood in a sharp sweep of blinding light. "Dimension!"
The head recoiled and bounced off the arena floor, Daora tumbling off its neck, backing away when their buffs ran out yet again. But instead of new Crestbearers spawning, something in the air changed. A tingling sensation toyed with Nagi's nose, blinding him to the drake's bloodlust, and there was the taste of electricity in the air, even their hair began to stand on end occasionally.
"Here it comes," Artorias warned, tensing up.
Zordiath spasmed and flew back as a blast of light expelled from its body, leaving the dragon wounded and swaying in its flight, its second health wavering by a few pixels before it disappeared, a single bar remaining as the group tossed around healing pots they had left. Now... it was time for the real fight to begin.
Snapping its jaws tight, Zordiath hovered in the air, eyes bearing down as it swung its head back, releasing a roar, and to their jump of shock, the dragon called upon a massive strike of lightning as the tempest above swirled and rumbled. The buzzing static in the air, travelled down Zordiath's body, its blades permanently tinged an electric purple as sparks discharged across its whole body, sweeping its tail high as it let out an increasingly metallic roar.
Poising its tail blade down, Zordiath plunged it through the ruined tower, unleashing an expanding halo of lightning, but more than that, several stray lightning strikes scorched the top of the tower, forcing the team apart as they ran and bound over the wave of lightning, watching for the glowing spots where lightning was set to strike.
"Now it can summon lightning, what is this boss!?" Yuuki exclaimed.
"Hahahaha, this is even more exciting than before!" Daora had the exact opposite reaction.
"Best down a paralysis potion noW!" Argo suggested, already biting down on her own whilst she ran around.
Brandishing its tail, Zordiath closed in, flying in a wide arc with its tail glowing brighter. It cleaved in a horizontal stroke, releasing a travelling crescent of lightning that they also had to evade, sweeping his tail back for an overhead cleave; two-hit skill, Cross Arc.
Sensing their chance, Ran didn't even need to look around to know Yuuki was close to her. "Yuuki, together!" Calling over the howling winds, the teen making a b-line for Zordiath who's eyes locked to the raven-brunette first.
Bearing down on her, Ran dodged a lightning fast pair of diagonal slashes leading into a thrust, she dragged her blade across, turning Rebuke bright purple, thrusting her arm into a blur of plunging blows through the lower half its its body, diving past the crushing talons.
Yuuki timed her jump over her sister, unleashing a devastating upswing bathed in amber, cracking it against both larger wings, falling into view of Zordiath's vibrating blade that buried past the purplette into the floor, shaving a few strands of hair, Obsidian Rose twirled around to cleave through the length of its tail, utilizing the ascending strikes of Sharp Nail to climb toward the base of the limb.
Below, Ran slid under the sweeping tail that Yuuki bounce off of, performing an elegant backflip. Aim true, Ran slashes in a zig-zag, Snake Bite fading for Yuuki to switch and parry a descending blow, Ran recovering to aid and throw the tail high, both weaving between attack and defence, synergizing and matching the other beat-for-beat, dancing between rampant, electrical arcs.
Ba-Bum
One misstep, and Zordiath's eyes narrowed, snarling when it pulled away from the pair, blade roaring, unleashing into a ravaging halo, dispelling any would-be attackers, flowing seamlessly into a thrust that tore across Yuuki's and Ran's shoulders, throwing the pair off their feet from the sudden shift in attack patterns.
"Yuuki!/Ran!" The rest called out, quickly repositioning to try and distract the dragon already turning to bear down on them.
"Cover them-" Nagi's words died, something streaking past his face with a collection of sparks.
Having drunk antidotes prior, the paralysis wasn't nearly as restricting but did feel as though gravity had increased all over Yuuki's body. "R-Ran..." She wheezed, turning shakily to find her sister fallen to her knees, unable to move, staring widely toward Zordiath. A horrible pit formed in Yuuki's stomach not a moment too soon.
"I... can't breathe..." Ran felt like she was suffocating, her legs simply gave out, the rest of her senses felt supressed or buried. It was brief, but the recovery was taking far longer, as though half her strength had simply been sapped away in the blink of an eye. "Not... yet... have to... move..."
Zordiath brandished its tail, she recognized that stance, Howling Octave, she'd be skewered in mere seconds if she couldn't evade fast enough. But her legs were wobblily, her vision fuzzy. Not like this, she didn't push herself this far for so long to die pitifully on the ground! She could still fight, she wanted to keep fighting-!
Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Ting-Bam!
Similar to a wind chime, each and every attempt Zordiath made to angle its tail was met with a disappointing interruption, a final strike effortlessly disrupting the sword skill in the blink of an eye. Kirito wasn't that fast, nor was Yuuki, no, only a single swordsman had that level of quick, fluid movements in such a tightly-knit formation, a talent Ran had only seen in videos and streams long before SAO.
Motes of pink and blue drifted through the air between her and the red tailcoat belonging to Artorias, she saw his hand tremble a little, tightening his grip before turning to instead offer his hand to the fallen girl. "You asked SilentNight to see you through this request, a request I wasn't certain I could fully commit to... so... for the first time under that name..." He whispered, finding his voice, face cold and callous, but a warmth behind a smile, and a familiar fire in both pale-blue eyes. "...will you fight alongside me?"
Artori- SilentNight, awaited her hand that gently came to rest in his palm, squeezing Rebuke tightly in the other. "I would be honoured." She giggled, feeling Yuuki's hand brush against her right. "With all of you." To fight alongside her sister, her cousin, her friends, and her idol. There wasn't a grain of fear left in her tender heart.
Reaching the other end of the arena, Zordiath let out a massive roar, calling down another array of lightning strikes, unaware of the Rat running parallel with a pillar behind it. Reaching the top of the archways, Argo waited patiently, sparing the others a glance as they continued to evade the bombardments from the storm. Sucking in a breath, the girl broke into a sprint, using the skill of the same name to give her a sudden boost of velocity, kicking off the edge of the archways.
In conjunction, she triggered her Acrobatics skill, allowing her feet to press to the open air as though it were solid ground for a secondary jump, closing the large gap between the edge of the tower and Zordiath. By the time the dragon swung its gaze toward her, it howled in agony as she screamed, driving the tips of her claws through its right eye with Acute Vault, flipping herself onto its head as her health was slowly suffering from tick damage due to the dragon's electrified state.
When her muscles loosened, she tore her claws from its socket, sliding down the length of the plates that made up its rigid vertebrae. Trailing a golden light, Argo dragged her claws through its back, using this leverage to keep herself steady on its bucking form, splitting pixelated blood, etching through all four wings in her fall, kicking off its body as it turned sharply with its wings folded, opening them wide only for Argo to carve an 'X' through its chest, landing on all fours, leaving an outline a helix through its scales.
The light burst, Zordiath lowered to sweep backward, the girl's eyes widening as her body locked up, only for Nagi's blindingly quick Iai to slash through the chest, performing a handstand to bound over its tail in time. "Switch!" Daora and Kirito closed in like a speeding train.
Daora leapt and drove the full weight of Destroyer down on the scalp, Zordiath's whole head creasing inward, a follow-up spinning vertical slamming it straight down atop Kirito's rising, Vorpal Strike, piercing through the head for massive impact damage, flicking Zordiath backward, but not before it spun into a barrel roll to cleave the two across their chests and sides.
Yuuki and Ran took the lead, closing in when Zordiath spotted them, curling its tail around its body, charging up Deadly Sins. The first slant aimed for the Absolute Sword, but she didn't block, instead, something else intervened, a single, vermillion skill burying the tip into the floor, but the momentum carried and flicked a hail of debris at the interceptor, only for each bit of stone to be swatted and crushed under a rampant flurry of sword swings, breaking through the dust, SilentNight closed the gap in a blur of red and black.
Losing Red Death in a deep blue haze, Artorias gripped the whip attached to its pommel, twirling his longsword, leaping and bending his body to flip and avoid the whip's curling body as it was woven into a whirlwind of slashes, each perfectly lacerating the underside of Zordiath, his own sword skill unable to break through Artorias's own Composite skill, Windmill.
"Switch." He spoke firmly the second the final blow was made, Yuuki and Ran flew by the retracting sword that smacked Zordiath across the face, earning a deep, vengeful snarl. The girls wound up their next attacks, slowing their assault and giving plenty of time to the dragon's own counterattack-
Had a blazing blue shield not dug and wedged into its stomach, Artorias performed a backswing into a sharp uppercut, climbing the monster's stomach to land a descending spike to its throat, the edge tearing through its rough skin, Falling Bash quickly faded to a teal coating around Red Death, Artorias's carving Savage Fulcrum through the body that had little time to react, followed by a swift Rage Spike to throw it back at the blade tip.
Heeding his last command, the Konno sisters combined both variations of Square into a double-layered assault, red gashes peeling across the once sharp and refined body, leaving very little room for counters. Each kicked off a heel, standing just shy of Artorias's shoulders.
"Yuuki, Kirito, Vanguard!" Artorias swung his left arm high. "Argo, Daora, Nagi, flank! Ran, with me!" He then retreated, allowing the others to get their licks in. "Here,"
Handing Ran a round potion, the gloomy storm made its contents stand out from the rest. A mesmerizing concoction of colours swirling in perfect harmony, creating a chromatic spectrum in the palm of her hand. "I-Is this...?"
"My Masterpiece, only one of its kind," It took him an hour of processing to make just one, the amount of hoops needed to simply complete it. He pushed it closer to her chest with a smirk. "Unless the great leader of the Sleeping Knights can't handle her drink?"
A sharp breath escaped her, trying not to laugh in their situation, the wind catching her hair. "Hmph, don't ever underestimate me, SilentNight."
|Almighty (S-Class Potion)|
Increases all stat values by 10X. Immunity to all Debuff ailments. Every Mastered Skill is temporarily given the status of 'Awakened'. ('Awakened Skill' buff increases a skill's core values and hidden stats beyond their pre-set limits)
Could such a potion even do all that? Ran had to believe that in order to create even a single potion, took Artorias countless hours of research, work, and failures to obtain. All this time, he was creating the perfect item all for her, a single wish materialized into a physical form in the palm of her hand.
Popping the cork, Ran downed the contents that was as sweet as honey with an intoxicating, lavender scent. The warmth spread through her whole body, healing her back to full and applying so many buff icons that they disappeared at the end of her status gauges. And surrounding her was an enchanting aura of streaks of colour, creating a rising flurry of wisps that refracted light.
"We still have to win, right, Ran?" Artorias asked quietly within the storm.
"Yeah..." She whispered, stepping forward alongside him when he stepped back, shield turning a bright, bronze hue. "I'm ready."
Zordiath skewered the ground, a wave of deadly lightning, couples with dispersing strikes from above filled the top of the ruined tower, itself dragging its blade free, twirling and spinning through the air, unleashing crescents of dark purple plasma, weaving a hazardous wave of attacks to converge on the duo.
"Then get going, SHORTY!" Ramming forward, Shield Bash cracked against her feet that bounce up at the last second, propelling her under a halo of light.
Kirito dove over a wave of lightning in time, spotting Ran's accelerating form, extending his hand. Hers crashing into his forearm, whipped around for another boost of speed. "Switch!"
Nagi cupped his hands, her foot pressed down for a split second, thrown higher by her cousin's lift over the electrical hazards as he was struck instead. "S-Switch!"
Her feet touched the ground, but her speed seemingly continued to accelerate, tucking her upper body low, coupled with the increased power to her mastered skills, everything was starting to blur together. Pushing forward, she dove over another wave of lightning, weaving back in the middle between three crescents, sliding under the straight line of electricity whilst narrowly avoiding two lightning strikes at her back.
Another two vertical arcs had her leap using Argo's offered back, rolling out of the lightning spots either side, debris and dispersing lightning dancing across her face, glaring up at Zordiath, frozen from post-motion, yet, Phantom Rave's final burst attack formed a straight line of lightning spots between the two of them, a wall of the storm's wrath crashing down before Ran.
The lingering threads of lightning dissipated... blown away by Daora swinging through with Whirlwind, creating a small opening for Ran to slip her lithe body through the webbed arcs. There, performing a rising slash to Zordiath's narrow snout, Yuuki cleaved in a criss-cross, bending her arm to throw herself, pushing Obsidian Rose against Zordiath's scalp. The Blade Dragon letting out a strained growl.
Diving back, she gave Ran exactly what she needed, the two sisters' feet pressed together, Ran rotating forward mid-air when her sister gave the last bit of solid land she needed, entering a final, blurring burst of speed, practically entering terminal velocity. "Win this, RAN!"
Suddenly, Zordiath recovered to throw a last-ditch Sonic Leap, the mint-green pigment washing over Ran like a tidal wave, aimed to bisect her at the hip. There wasn't a way to evade, momentum carried through Ran intensely, her path couldn't be diverged, time seemingly a crawl.
The Almighty potion, coupled with other skills and buffs applied at the time had caused an irregularity within Sword Art Online, something its own system had failed to predict due to the extremely specific requirements. For the moment Sonic Leap tore through Ran's body in a single, fell swoop, for the first time in SAO's history, a player had moved faster than the Cardinal System's framerate could generate.
Zordiath's tail swept through Ran, her body phased through the blade, in the words of those amongst gamers, Ran had No-Clipped through the sword skill entirely.
Sucking in long, deep breath, Ran threw Rebuke down the length of Zordiath's face, its edge sinking clean through flesh and scale, hands twisting the handle so tight it felt like gripping molten metal. "Yrrraaaaaaaaaaahh!" Her voice screamed to the high heavens, carving a massive incision through the full length of the mighty Blade Dragon, flying past the curling tail, severing its mighty sword from its limb, Rebuke shattered into a thousand pieces like snowfall.
Thrown backward and off the edge of the ruined labyrinth tower, Zordiath let out a deafening roar, its electric purple hue dispersed from its blades, fanning all four wings wide as it turned bright blue, shattering into millions of polygons right before their eyes. Nagi and Argo grinned, sharing a high-five. Daora threw his ax high in a fist. Artorias laughing weakly, winking to Yuuki who cheered.
/CONGRADULATIONS!\
Slowly, the thunderous roars of the storm were quelled, the dark skies broken up by rays of sunlight, even over the edge of the ruined tower, the blanket that smothered the air lessened, the lands of Bastia Gate visible finally, sunlight filtering through the parting clouds.
A shaky breath left Ran's lips, Almighty had ran out the moment she finished the floor boss off, all that remained was Rebuke, broken a few inches above the guard, it pulled through until the end for her, so she didn't simply discard it. Turning around slightly, her eyes were gentle, even as her legs finally gave out for the last time.
"Ran!" Several called to, but none were faster or closer than the firm arm her head landed against, saving her from a stinging fall.
"Heh... sorry, you... had to save me again..." Ran whispered up to Daora who came to rest on his knees, Ran's head pressed against his lap, the fur sash offering a nice pillow for her.
"Like you have to ask," He grunted quietly.
Disregarding their winnings, all of them soon surrounded her with worry, herself smiling contently when Yuuki sat at her side, panic written in her eyes. "Ran, a-are you okay?"
"Heh... I'm okay, sorta... funny, I don't feel any pain, but... I can't move my legs," She giggled weakly, closing her eyes for a second out of shyness. "I'm sorry for this... I... haven't been doing well the last few weeks, I've been feeling weaker and weaker... I..."
Then, like a stone to a glass house, the revelation shattered in their minds, and their hearts. None more than Yuuki, who's eyes grew unbelievably wide, shaking her head with a sharp gasp. "No... no-no you're.. you're okay, you just need to rest, t-that's-" She felt Ran's hand brush across hers, silencing her when her own hand turned to grip hers tightly, tears beginning to well up in Yuuki's eyes. "Y-you can't..."
"I think I used up everything in that last move... that's embarrassing..." Ran smiled sheepishly.
"You're fine, you're just a little tired. If you rest up, you'll feel better soon," Artorias reasoned, but he knew better, eyes downcast, hands balled up tight in his lap.
Sensing this, Ran stared between him and Nagi. "I figured... you two knew... or, had an idea of why I wanted to go through with this..." Neither answered, they couldn't bring themselves to speak. "It's okay, I wasn't very good at hiding it... my request... was to make a final, unforgettable memory with all of you, I'm sorry I couldn't include everyone."
"Don't be," Kirito shook his head. "I'm sure they'd agree on whoever you chose, it was your call to make, we were just the first ones to agree to it."
"Really? I'm glad..." Ran relaxed a little, squeezing her sister's hand, using her free one to materialize the last drop bonus, rather, two. "Here, I want you to have this, Yuuki."
In a flash of light, that crystal ball from the field boss had changed, now, contained in its smooth surface was a full, prismatic spectrum, twinkling in its own, bright storm. "It's name... is Soul of the Wind... with it, you can turn any weapon into an exotic-class item, with bonuses too depending on the weapon type. With this... Obsidian Rose can become the strongest weapon there is..."
Yuuki didn't fight it, accepting the trade offer as the orb vanished and was passed on to its new owner, one who would use it wisely, someone it was meant for. "..." Yuuki couldn't speak, biting her lip to supress her emotions.
"I'm sure it will protect you," Ran smiled thoughtfully, seeing the tear roll down Yuuki's cheek, hitting her own. "I'm not going anywhere, I'll be right here, you know that," She tapped two fingers to Yuuki's breastplate, right where her heart would be.
Just then, footsteps came barrelling in their direction, followed by desperate pants and stumbling feet. Jun, Nori, Siune, Talken, Tecchi. All the Sleeping Knights had gathered again. "Hey, come on... you guys," Ran whined weakly, peeking past Yuuki and Artorias to look at them. "We promised we wouldn't send anyone off at the very end," Despite refusing her demands, Ran's face went a little rosy at their arrival.
"You got the wrong idea, we're here to rally your spirits!" Jun declared, inching forward beside the group. "Look, just wait for us, try not to wander around too much," He now held her hand alongside Yuuki's against Ran's stomach. "When our time comes, we'll be there shortly."
"If you guys show up too quickly, I'm gonna be pissed," Ran furrowed her brow a little to try and glare back at Jun.
"Tsk-Tsk-Tsk," Nori sat down next to Nagi, wagging her finger. "None of that now! You can't do a thing without us, Ran. If you're leavin' ahead of us, no way we're gonna leave you to wander off on your own forever." But the cracks in her façade began to show. "So sit tight and wait for us..." Even now, Nori choked up herself, tears breaking from her cool, calm deposition that fell away in an instant. "Wait for us..."
"You mustn't Nori, we promised not to cry," Siune tried to be calm about it, but like us, all of them couldn't hold back their feelings any better than me. All of them now held her hand, giving her some of their strength if possible.
"Sorry S-Shorty, I, uh, couldn't keep quiet on this," Artorias quipped, his voice shaky. "Ain't that right, Nagi?"
"Ye-yeah, I figured... they had every right to be here after," Nagi rubbed his eyes, smiling warmly down at Ran, he could smell it, her scent was growing weaker.
"I knew it, traitors..." Ran huffed lightly. "Guess I have no choice then," Tears fell from her onyx eyes, warmth flooding into her cheeks as she admired all of her friends. "...then I'll be waiting, but I mean it, don't come any sooner than you have to, or so help me..."
"Hey, t-take a look," Daora nudged her side, her eyes following where his finger pointed. And her eyes were wider than ever before when sunlight poured in all around them.
The march of dozens of footsteps overtook the air, and ascending the spiral staircase that used to be the elevator, she could see rows of players march forward to line up. The Knights of the Blood Oath, The Furinkazan, Misfits, The Divine Dragon Alliance, and the Aincrad Liberation Force or The Army. It wasn't just a raid of 50, no, she could see far more than that had gathered. The look of wonder and bewilderment on Ran's face was priceless.
"Amazing...!" Ran gaped, blinking around to admire the titanic showing before her.
"This was my doing, my bad," Artorias apologized slightly as her eyes fell to him. "Asuna pitched in to make it happen,"
"Sorry, we didn't know if this might annoy you," Asuna came into view to give her own apology, though the raven-brunette hardly looked irritated, letting out a small laugh.
"Annoy me? Not at all, but why... why so many... for me?" She questioned, anyone would too in her shoes.
"Because, Ran... you're the Co-Leader of one of the most powerful guilds this world has ever known. All of them came, whether to support you or see you off, leaving you here in such a lonely way... we can't do that," Asuna's voice cracked, retaining her gentle smile against the pain.
"You and Yuuki have endured so much, the least I could do was give you an unforgettable send-off," Nagi concluded, his bottom lip trembling.
"I'm so happy... that makes me so happy..." Her voice was weaker, closing her eyes to amplify her smile for a moment, bringing her head to rest against Daora's lap again as her left hand found its way into Nagi's again, holding it and Yuuki's tightly, feeling them shake in both. "Artorias... can I... ask you something...?"
"Anything," He leaned closer to hear her out.
"Please... tell me your name..." She murmured, causing a shaky laugh to escape him. They were surrounded by their friends, but, even if the whole world knew, for this girl, one of his biggest fans, how could he refuse?
"...it's Alex, Alex Masaru," Artorias answered, watching the colour in her eyes sparkle like gemstones.
"N-not short for Alexander, right?" She questioned, earning a teary laugh from him.
"Yeah, y-you get it, S-shorty..." His voice quivered, wrapping his hand around hers and Yuuki's.
"...Alex, please... stand by Yuuki... for me," Hearing her final request, he sat up straight, feeling Yuuki press her back into his side, quivering too like a leaf.
"I swear I will, for the rest of my life." He vowed without even an ounce of hesitation.
"All this time, I've been thinking. If I was born only to die, then what's my purpose for existing in this world? Without creating anything, without giving anything. Wasting all that medication, causing trouble for those around me," Ran then contemplated, revealing all that was kept hidden within her heart.
"If I'm only going to be in agony, and suffer, and just vanish at the end... then it would be better to just vanish this instant," Now, her voice began to break, that heartache she held onto was horrible. "I had thought so many times...Why am I alive, anyway? All this time..." But her voice steadied itself, smiling lovingly at them all, at her sister. "And then... we were stuck in this game... in this world, I... I got to spend every day fighting and living alongside my closest friends, I got to watch my little sister grow and fall in love... and I finally got to meet one of my cousins,"
She closed her teary eyes, tears falling down her face. "If my whole life was to suffer until now, then it was worth it. I got to experience a beautiful adventure, even if my life had no purpose...it's still okay to live, to experience everything until the end, what could be more fulfilling than that?"
"A-Akio..." Yuuki whimpered, fresh tears dripping down her face.
"Yeah, that's me..." She croaked too, her forehead reaching up to brush against Yuuki's. "Everything left in me... I'll give it all to you; so live, Yuuki, live the way you want, the reason you want to live; you're not alone now... don't you see? All the people that love you, and how much I love you..."
"I-I love you too..." Yuuki cried, while she still had the chance to say it.
Argo hid her eyes behind her cowl, even if her tears could be seen rolling down her face, Kirito's own eyes were glossing, closing his eyes silently, hands shaking against Elucidator, but Asuna came to offer him a supportive hand atop them, her own eyes misty, but retaining a sad smile. Daora's trickled down the eyes of his mask, shivering while keeping his hands against Ran's shoulders to hold her closer to her sister.
"I'm so happy... I got to go on an unforgettable journey, and see it till the end... to fight alongside someone I admired, surrounded by so many amazing people, by all my friends... and I got to spend the last moments... in the arms of the people I love..." Aiko gave them all an everlasting smile, one that could banish the darkness that attempted to encroach on their hearts.
As her vision began to fade, staring up into her sister's eyes as she sobbed against Artorias who couldn't keep his head up any longer, she felt her eyes widen slightly. There, amongst her friends and guildmates, she saw silhouettes form into familiar faces. She let out a long breath. "Mom, Dad, Merida, Clover... guess you were watching this whole time, weren't you...? Did I... do my best? Was... was I a good sister...?" Her voice trembled at the end.
Merida offered her hand down to their friend. "Without question, leader."
"You were more than a good sister, Akio." Clover added, smile as gentle as silk.
Closing her eyes, Akio sunk into Daora's lap, a bright smile resting on her face that began to relax too, falling into a deep, long slumber. "Really? ...I'm glad..."
In seconds, Akio's world began to fade with the biggest smile in the world...
|IRL, Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital|
|July. 15th 09:40|
At 0935 hours, one of the hospital's nurses in charge of monitoring Yuuki and Aiko Konno's conditions reported the elder sister, Aiko Konno had passed away. What surprised doctors and nurses was that, upon receiving the news she had flatlined whilst also being one of the many still trapped in Sword Art Online, that upon the removal of the Medicuboid headset, no damage was found to her head or brain.
Logs recorded show that someone at an administrator level had safely logged Aiko Konno out of SAO mere moments after her death.
An additional report also stated that Aiko wore a small, content smile.
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
This one broke me, honestly, but, if the arc's name and the clues weren't obvious, this was the inevitable conclusion of Ran's final wish to someone she admired. We still have a chapter to cap off this sombre arc, I do hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Sleeping Knights.
106 - Shirushi
One week later, a melody warms a sorrowful heart...