[IRL, Somewhere in Tokyo]
[Kazuki's POV]
Kagachi was much bigger than what I read in the guidebook back in SAO. Argo may've skimmed that section. Already players rushed the boss, completely unprepared for what this samurai was capable of. Given the Katana skill was still out of reach of players in the early days of the death game, this boss unleashed some of the most destructive skills to date.
The first man was struck down with a slant, followed by another to Kagachi's right, the impact tearing up the pavement as their bodies were thrown away. A third was struck with a horizontal cleave, knocking them down instantly as Kagachi slammed his nodachi into the earth, carving a deep scar through the frontlines, tearing through another player into a winding, horizontal stroke to slice another.
It turned within the dust cloud, hissing viciously at the rest that tried to surround it, causing a distraction for myself and the others. "What do you say, Kirito?" Klein spoke up, but I could see it in Blackie's eyes as he stared down at his sword. This wasn't the same to him...
Meanwhile gunfire riddled Kagachi from the walkway of a building, forcing the boss to unleash its unique ability to counter. Formed around its left arm coiled a radiant, white serpent as it was threshed, extending across the plaza to burrow into the building as Kagachi wrenched and carved it through every other building, the serpent's body crashing into the ground between my group and Klein's.
"You guys had to fight this thing in SAO, what the hell!?" Riku exclaimed, sweating nervously beside Klein who just grinned away like an idiot.
"Don't worry, it only gets worse from here!" I hollered back.
"HaAH!?" The sight of Riku's jaw dropping was priceless to say the least.
"Hey, at Zero HP, there's a penalty!" Klein warned the newcomers.
"I know!" Kirito yelled as we were forced to evade from the cyclone that made up the serpent's body. Kagachi coiled it backward, whipping through the players as it threshed in tandem with its powerful sword swings.
"It really is the perfect long and close range fighter!" Yuuki, who had read up on the old SAO guidebook by Argo herself, was still pretty astounded by the strength and versatility of the floor boss. I was too.
"Nothing we can't handle, Cupcake. Ready?" I quipped, kicking my foot out to slide as I drew back my bow.
"Gotcha covered, let's go!" She cheered, brandishing her sword to rush ahead of me, followed by a series of vibrant red arrows whizzing by her face.
My arrows pinged against its thick armour while I adjusted to no aim-assist, but three of my arrows caught its neck and shoulder, forcing it to turn mid-swing as its blade tossed up rubble in Yuuki's path. She kept her body low to the ground, increasing her speed as she danced around the debris, flourishing her blade with two wide slashes through Kagachi's left hip.
It plunged the ground but missed the raven-brunette by a hair as two more of my arrows pinged against its face, causing it to brandish that serpent once more, its jaws wide with a venomous hiss. However, Yuuki closed in, completing her impromptu sword skill, Horizontal Arc with a final two cleaves through its back, Kagachi stumbling as it twisted and flung the serpent wide, forcing me to roll as I felt it blow past my head, Yuuki performing a backflip over its body in time, slashing in twin vertical strokes up its back whilst sprinting between the legs to evade the low-bearing slashes at the ground, nicking her heels.
Rallying ahead, Klein's war cry drew Kagachi's attention away from Yuuki and the others as it clutched its sword overhead, bringing it down hard against the sword and shield user of Klein's guild, Dynamm, his footing was sturdy, absorbing the impact that rippled outward from the nodachi.
Klein and the greatsword user, Dale, swept Kagachi's stomach together, leaving deep, crimson wounds through its armour. Drawing its Hate, I smirked as I watched the nimble form of my sister dive off of Dynamm's back, swishing her daggers in a criss-cross down the length of the boss's back, leaving an hourglass shape as she rolled into her fall and sprinted after Klein and Dale, the trio now being pursued by the boss, even as my arrows continued to splash against its back.
To save them, Harry One, their other tank with a shield, countered Kagachi with a shield slam, throwing back its arm straight into Yuuki's vicious slants mimicking Snake Bite, bowing her head so the combined assault of Issin's glaive and Kunimittz's spear to pummel the boss straight into the side of a building.
Prying itself from the rubble, Kagachi somehow looked even more pissed off than before, hissing at them all as it swung its blade to free itself and force the players back. Harry One managing to block another plunging charge for Riku who took cover behind him in time.
Now, its eyes were on me, being one of the few ranged fighters left, thrusting its serpent arm forward, I barely rolled out of the way with Asuna, watching the snake's massive body arc and tear through the building behind us, a plume of dust shrouding our vision.
"It's targeting you!/Get out of there!" Klein and Riku cried out, spotting the samurai lord barrelling toward us.
"Crap-hey!/Kirito!" I and Asuna watched the dust cloud part, the Black Swordsman finally making his move with some impressive speed, copying the form Yuuki took to maximize her own momentum. There was just one issue I spotted a little too late.
"Watch your-" And Kirito tripped over a bump in the road, making him tumble painfully as I winced and recoiled. "-...footing, ooh,"
Worst of all, he slid right in front of Kagachi, who spared him no pity as it drew its sword in both hands. Barely scrambling away in time from the vertical slash, Kirito ran... straight towards us with the boss in tow. Me and Asuna tensed before pivoting on our heels and hauling ass down the street.
"Really, you just had to run towards us!?" I panicked, panting heavily from the intense battle.
"No joke, it's really hard to move!" Kirito realized it fully what made AR drastically different compared to VR, our bodies felt the fatigue far faster without proper exercise.
"That's cause you're out of shape!" Asuna put it bluntly, and I nodded in agreement, seeing Kirito bite his tongue to keep from retorting.
"I'm just getting started!" He managed as we turned the corner, Kagachi still hot on our tails.
"That last attack is mine!" From out of nowhere, that RPG player took our place, firing a point blank rocket straight for Kagachi.
"Wait, it can dodge it!" But my warning was far too late, seeing the rocket propel itself through the air. Kagachi's eyes glowed and it jerked its head to one side, allowing the rocket to sail by, now on a collision course with Yuna singing in the background. "Crap-!"
If my heartrate wasn't already skyrocketing, someone stepped in at the last moment to parry the rocket, sending it in an arc straight towards Kagachi's blindspot, blasting the monster across the side of its head, knocking it down with a roar. The player landed, his tailcoat billowing behind him as the song came to an end, Yuna barely breaking her stride.
The young man stood tall, and had decaying leaf-coloured hair, and light brown eyes. His outfit was very futuristic, a black bodysuit with charcoal-shaded padding for his thighs and biceps, and a dark purple tailcoat too. Tattooed over the suit were these vibrant, neon purple strips that seemed to glow brighter at his arrival. And above his head was the player icon that stood out from the others.
/⁕2⁕\
"Wow," RPG man exhaled, probably with relief he didn't just blast everyone's idol into the past tense.
"Rank 2?" Asuna noticed as I had, no surprise one of the top ranks would come to an event like this, but... there was something about him I couldn't put my finger on.
That line of questions were put on hold, seeing Kagachi rise from the smoke, forsaking his pet snake for a second nodachi, growling as it brandished both, dispelling the dust. "Here comes its ultimate attack, tanks follow me!" Rank 2 declared boldly as he took to the frontlines.
To my shock, Kagachi turned to Rank 2, blades cast in a brilliant shade of ice-blue-A sword skill!? It swung in a wide horizontal and vertical, yet the Rank 2 effortlessly dove over the first stroke and evaded the second, drawing his sword across Kagachi's hip in passing without losing his nerve.
"Hey!" Running up to me were Riku and Yuuki. "Now's our chance!"
"Right behind you two, go!" I declared, chasing after Yuuki with Riku to my right.
Asuna flew by all of us, thrusting her rapier through Kagachi's back twice, tossing the boss forward as she ducked under a diagonal slash, leaving itself open to Yuuki's upswing to grind against its thrust from the right, parrying the nodachi for Riku to spin like a top on her heel, sweeping the legs with a flurry of slashes, stumbling out the other side.
Kagachi slammed his blades against Yuuki's, forcing her back as her shoulders took damage, jumping over a cross-slash, I slid onto my back and pulled back the string as many times as possible, unloading arrows into every inch of flesh I could manage, sliding past Klein who lunged forward and slashed down the boss's back.
It turned sharply to follow us, sweeping both blades one after the other, metal clanging in my ears as each blow was held back by Dynamm's own buckler. Pivoting, Kagachi swung with its left, unleashing a wide-ranged air blast from its nodachi, Harry One defending the others from the shockwaves that blew through them.
Kagachi was relentless chaining attacks constantly that not a single player could break through, even Klein was forced to flee as it swept wide and struck with the force of a freight train, tearing through any and all matter in its path. Yet, myself and Yuuki weren't deterred.
Two arching slashes tore up the ground beside us, and Yuuki twirled her sword to thrust it high, countering the right sword as she craned her body right, allowing my back to slide against hers, plucking three arrows at once to skewer the left wrist, causing Kagachi's form to stutter for just a moment.
We turned as one, my arrows shattering against its Oni face, five razor-sharp thrusts plunging through its chest, but I saw the strain on Yuuki's face, unable to reach far enough to complete her echo of Mother's Rosario. Thankfully, Rank 2 flew between us, slashing across the boss's stomach, swishing the edge to flick upward, carving a 'V' through the torso.
He slid behind the boss, slashing once more to finally stun lock the beast that fell to its knees. Asuna flew by Rank 2 as his lips moved, whatever it was spurred the brunette to thrust her rapier as far as possible, plunging it through its spine, piercing the chest as Kagachi roared, frozen stiff by the rapier's blade.
Neither of us breathed, seeing the boss erupt into an explosion of vibrant streaks of light unlike the polygons seen in ALO. The blast fell into a stasis, then converged on where the boss previously stood as they dispersed in the air around us. Kagachi the Samurai Lord had once again been defeated. And by an SAO player no less.
Everyone erupted into a familiar applause for the boss battle as I actually felt Yuuki's body phase through mine in an attempt to hug me, causing her to giggle at the dumb reminder she was basically a ghost. "Here," Holding up my fist to both her and Asuna, the girls smiled and reached forward to knuckle my own.
"Good Game!" We chanted as Asuna was forced to deal with Yuuki now bouncing in front of her.
"That was so cool! You, me, and Kazuki were so in sync! Oh-oh, and Klein's guild are even more amazing in AR, did you see how he tanked all those slashes one after the other!? That, I can't... amazing!" Yuuki sure had a way with words.
"Well, I do believe the young lady summed it up nicely, don't you?" I smirked at our victor tonight, watching Asuna raise her hands to try and quell Yuuki's abundance of energy.
"I-it was fun, you all did so well too facing Kagachi for the first time," Asuna was being modest.
"Congratulations on beating the boss monster!" Above, Yuna waved to the crowd with a bright and cheery smile. "I just boosted your points big time!" If there's one way to get your fans roaring, it'll be a stat boost. "Now, I'm gonna reward the player that did the most tonight!"
The world returned to its regular, modern day view as the battlegrounds faded away, the players still in their gear as Yuna floated down towards us. Myself and Yuuki hopped back as Yuna passed us, approaching Asuna... and kissed her on the cheek, much to Klein's and Kirito's surprise, even mine and Yuuki's as Asuna blinked at the action.
"You're today's MVP, congratulations!" Yuna gestured to the stunned Asuna whose face was a little pinker, earning 10,000 extra points to her ranking. Yuna backed away, and for a second our eyes met, and I swore her red gaze widened slightly as if she just recalled my face. Did... we meet before? With a charming wave, Yuna was bathed in the drone's light. "Alright, see you later!"
And like that she disappeared like a phantom, leaving me even more confused than before.
Riku came running up to us as I saw her high-five one of Klein's friends in passing. It wasn't often you saw my sister smile as she's the 'cool, lone wolf' kinda gal, so seeing that excited smile on her face reminded me a lot of Merida.
"That... was... so metal!" She exclaimed. "You two, and everyone else, I... how did... I know you guys are in the same guild in ALO but that level of synergy was insane! You didn't even say a word or looked at each other and you still dodged and moved seamlessly!"
Putting on a winning smirk, I saw Yuuki laugh with her eyes closed for a moment. "What can I say? The power of love is an amazing thing," My cheesy remark earned me a jab from Riku.
"Kazuki's stupid one-liner aside-" Yuuki dismissed with a wave.
"You love it!" I countered.
"We've been in dozens of boss battles together, despite him being a support he's the only one out of our guild that can keep up with me, and we just sorta... click," Yuuki never really had an explanation for our synergy, like hers with Asuna's. People Yuuki really feels a strong connection to tend to work perfectly alongside her.
"At first, I wasn't sure how'd I do, but Klein was good giving advice on the fly, and I actually got to do something to boot," Riku stared at the daggers in her hands, giving them a twirl as if they were drum sticks. "Next time there's an event like this, can we..."
"So long as Mom and Dad don't mind, I won't," I replied, seeing her pump a fist into the air.
"Awesome! I'm definitely gonna prepare more though, maybe using a treadmill will help with my stamina, I'm sore all over..." Riku soon devolved into a muttering mess as her thoughts ran wild. I rolled my eyes whilst Yuuki snickered beside me.
"Hey," Klein walked over with a curt wave. "Nice seeing the rust hasn't gotten to you IRL, Malzeno,"
"You wish," I bumped his fist with mine as I patted my sister on the head, making her muttering's cease. "Thanks a bunch for looking out for her, now she's itching for more,"
"Haha, glad to help, but hey, anytime you need a team, feel free to jump into ours, we'll keep ya safe, Riku!" Klein promised with a toothy grin. He was a total idiot sometimes but always the reliable kind.
"I-I appreciate that, thank you so much!" Riku bowed, making Klein laugh a little more.
"Hey, come on now, we're teammates now, so no need for the formalities!" He tapped a thumb to his chest. "Your my buddy's sister, and you've got the skills to match so you're all good in my books,"
Softening her rigid form, Riku smiled. "Thanks, Klein,"
"Good to hear! Now let's go!" He quickly hooked mine and Riku's heads into an arm lock, dragging us off with Yuuki skipping on ahead of us. "We've got items to sort and new rankings to gloat over!"
[Alfheim Online, Floor 27, Town of Ronbaru Inn]
"-then it drew two katanas at the same time, striking the frontlines relentlessly that no one could get a hit in! So me and Malzeno weaved between the attacks, finally breaking through its unending combos for the Rank 2 player to stun lock it, and then Asuna finished off with a really badass finisher to the back!" Yuuki finally took a breath, flopping to the couch beside me as I held out her glass of water to chug.
"You guys sound like you've had a blast in AR," Nori pouted, slumping in her chair. "Most I can do with mine is watch stuff and turn my room into whatever I want. But hey, better than the same old bland walls,"
"I heard t-that the Augma might rival the AmuSphere with its popularity," Talken pointed out, looking a little anxious.
"Siune mentioned we have an interview planned for the day after tomorrow, right?" I inquired as Siune sent me the message during the event boss. "Bet it's to discuss the recent decline in player numbers,"
"Like we were saying earlier today, it'll even out, just sucks we can't do any big raids for a while though..." Yuuki sighed in defeat, itching to fight another Floor Boss after seeing what Kagachi is like. "Sooner or later all of Aincrad's bosses are gonna show up in Ordinal Scale, talk about spoilers, not cool,"
We laughed at her cute little pout with her arms crossed as Tecchi spoke up softly. "What do you think will happen if one of the quarter bosses show up?"
"Hm?" I blinked for a moment to think about the question, then shrugged. "It'll likely be what tips most off that these are SAO bosses, the 25th led to a massive massacre of the frontlines, nearly ruined our chances of clearing the game. Then there's The Last Number, that'll definitely get the most attention since it was so big. And lastly, Skull Reaper, another notable boss that people will click onto."
"Are you okay though?" Nori asked, likely given the fact I'm a survivor. "I mean, didn't it feel off fighting outside of VR against the floor boss tonight?"
"Not really, a bit surprising, sure, but... no, something else, something about Yuna actually," I trailed off, recalling how she looked at me.
"Huh, sounds like someone's caught your eye~" Jun sang as I felt Yuuki's gaze on me.
"Jun, buddy, don't set Cupcake on me please, I'm tired after running around all night," My whole body just felt sluggish. "And to answer, no it's... when she was leaving after giving Asuna a lovely kiss on the cheek, the way Yuna looked at me, it felt like she knew me but from somewhere else..."
"Maybe when you had your Augma active one day?" Yuuki hazard a guess, no longer freezing me with that stare of hers.
"Maybe..." That didn't sit right either, no, we've met long before but how was that possible? She's an AI after all, I only knew of Yui as a smart AI. Scratching my head, I slumped. "Ah, I'm too tired to think beyond two brain cells, forget it, probably just me..."
"Well, next time, I'm joining through Siune's Augma, I won the bet after all," Nori proclaimed smugly, much to the boys' ire as she held up peace signs toward them.
"Right-right, I let her know..." I yawned, rubbing my eyes. "Let's call it a night, we got a whole weekend ahead,"
After saying our goodnights, I didn't logout instantly, instead, I took to one of the inn rooms to flop onto the bed with a heavy sigh. This felt better than AR, the sensations of the virtual world were clearer, I could tell the difference between this bed and my own. But best of all? I could actually touch Yuuki.
"Is it weird-slash-creepy to want to be able to touch you properly?" I asked, flipping around in time for Yuuki to jump and bounce into position beside me.
"See? It totally sounds weird doesn't it?" She replied, shuffling up beside me. "And not a chance, it feels strange phasing through people, it's like I'm so close to actually being able to move in the real world but there's this film in front of me or something,"
"Maybe one day," I muttered, resting my face against her shoulder.
"...do you really think I can leave my hospital room someday?" Her voice was quiet, anxious and worried over what might be. "I... nearly died not long ago..."
"Okay," Grabbing her hips, hearing her yelp slightly, I pulled her upright so we both were looking at each other properly. "Want to know something? Even if it takes 10 years, or 20, or more, so long as I know you're still here where I can sit and laugh with you, or fight alongside you, and whatever else. No matter how much time we have left, I'll never forsake a moment with you."
"A bit of a roundabout way to say it, but I have no doubts that one day you will be able to step outside that room, I'll be there waiting as long as it takes," Rolling my eyes at how corny this likely sounded, it usually worked to keep her worries and fears at bay. "Does that answer your questio-"
Her lips crashed to mine, deeper than before which really set my body alight as I fell backward under her kiss. Yuuki moved so she was sitting over me, never breaking away, this feeling was complete bliss as my hands held onto her sides tightly to savour the surprising intimacy.
She eventually pulled back, face hot to mirror mine as her eyes seemed to glisten, magnifying her tender smile. "Perfectly," Yuuki whispered to me, a lump forming in my throat under her vermillion eyes. "If enduring every cruel thing the world does to my body means I can stay like this with you, I'm more than okay with that,"
"I dunno if that's supposed to be charming or sadistic," I couldn't help myself as her lips locked to mine for a few seconds. "Well, not complaining anyway. You're really, uh..." Letting my intrusive thoughts get the better of me like this...
"Hm? I'm what?" Yuuki asked, still looming over me, causing my face to burn a little hotter. "Ka~zu~ki~"
"Don't do that, I hate it when you do that," I begged, averting my eyes for a moment. "You...look hot when you're like this," I muttered it under my breath, but she was more than close enough to hear me, now her own cheeks were crimson, staring down at me. "Hey, y-you asked-"
Again she cut me off with another warm kiss, drowning out my worries she might've found my thoughts of her creepy, but if she did, Yuuki wouldn't be kissing me right now. My hands squeezed her sides, feeling her body slump against mine as she relaxed into the moment a little longer, pulling away to pant heavily.
"Then it's a good thing you're handsome yourself," Yuuki winked, snuggling her head under my chin as I felt her whole body press to mine, much to my body's delight.
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I kept her close as I felt my eyelids finally start to fall; sleeping in the digital world was far nicer like this anyway...
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
And the big battle with some spice at the end, a delightful combination of genres! We've got so much to show this time around in Ordinal Scale, character-wise especially so. Not much else but build-up towards the event that sets the movie in motion. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Players!