|Sword Art Online, Floor 25, House Sun Stronghold|
|Feb. 23rd 08:07|
|Debuff - Black Sun|
While under its effects, enemy sword skills will rapidly reduce player weapon durability
Nagi should've seen it long before reaching this point, but fixated on every skirmish, and his own, fatigued, emotional state, his list of buffs and debuffs hadn't come to mind, and now, NightSky, the first quarter boss bonus drop, a weapon that's carried him through the game until this point through every adversity, had been snapped in two with a single sweep ofSköll's blade.
Recovering a few feet away, Nagi ran two fingers across his neck to the middle of his chest where a deep, red gash had formed, himself barely evading the worst the attack would've done. The samurai of House Sun stood tall, marching toward Nagi with a blaze in its mask's sockets, its two health bars unchanging, whilst Nagi's hovered around three quarters, NightSky blade shortened to only a few inches in length.
Despite the loss of weapon,Sköll wasn't about to let Nagi walk away in defeat, his boots broke the stone slabs beneath it, drawing its sword overhead as metal rattled in Nagi's ears, taking the boss by surprise when instead of NightSky, Nagi pushed the weapon aside, performing a sudden, roundhouse kick, the water splashing against the samurai's breastplate as it swung in a criss-cross, missing Nagi as it rang off the broken blade of Shirayuki's.
"It may be broken, but Shirayuki's blade is stronger than mine," Nagi warned with venom between his teeth. While broken and having lost a substantial amount of durability, Shirayuki's katana had more than enough hits left in it to be usable, even if Nagi couldn't perform sword skills, it would buy him time.
Again,Sköll was on the attack, striking with two-handed blows that made Nagi's bones creak just countering each slash and/or thrust. Even if those molten spots on its body were a weak spot, he wasn't able to put enough distance between himself andSköll to switch to a replacement katana, and he relinquished his mastery of One-Handed Sword Skills months ago, all he had left was a shattered katana and Martial Arts to keep him alive, but for how long? Could he even find an opening in that time?
Using a nearby column, Nagi ran up and leapt over a rising slant only for the boss to drive its elbow into his gut, flinging the shinobi across the pavement, raising Shirayuki's blade the moment he recovered to keep the oppressing katana from caving through his skull. The Sunblade drew back its nodachi and slammed repeatedly, each strike spewing fiery sparks, Nagi's sandals grinding against the stone slabs, his footing beginning to cave under the pressure.
Sköll gave no quarter, relentlessly striking down Nagi until his arms would eventually give out, the heat his armour produced making Nagi's body hot and heavy, and each strike would wear down the broken katana until it too would be unusable. His eyes flinched under each blow, but he could see, out the corner of his right, the blade of Divine Sakura, it was obvious that was the key to defeating the boss, but Nagi couldn't draw it, and in its sheath, no sword skills would be available.
"Was this how Artorias felt?" Had Nagi bitten off more than he could chew? But if anyone else were here, they couldn't draw the blade either, what can he do? What was the way forward? Screwing his eyes shut, Nagi vented his anger and frustrations into a wordless cry, finding a surge of strength to push and divert the nodachi sideways, long enough for him to throw himself into a backward roll, evading a vicious, horizontal arc.
Kicking to his feet, Nagi inverted his hold on Shirayuki's blade, waiting for the boss to steady itself and charge, blade swung down in a diagonal cleave toward the boy who charged with reckless abandon-
-only forSköll to instantly twist and thrust its blade off to one side, striking a crimson shield that drove itself against the blade-tip. Blinking once, Nagi's gaze followed the length of the nodachi to the pair of light-blue eyes glowering from behind the small shield with a nervous, toothy grin.
"Man, and here I thought I got the drop on you, that's scary!" Artorias grinned with a wink. "Good thing this is the good ol' One-Two!"
From the left, Destroyer sunk againstSköll's abdomen, its blades a bright white. "Whirlwind!" Daora hollered like a monster, the wind pressure forcing the boss back a few feet, straight into a pair of glowing swords.
Yuuki and Ran thrust their weapons together, but both Vorpal Strikes were parried by the addition of the boss's second sword as the right swung with its pivoting body, slashing across their weapons, blowing the Konno sisters back. It charged, thrusting both blades as they did only to cross them, defending against the splash of blue light emanating from Sachi's spear skill, Fatal Thrust, the secondary plunge shoving the boss away from the sisters in time.
Looking around, Klein, Kirito and Argo were here too, rushing in to join them in the battlefield, and all it served to do was twist that knife further into Nagi's chest. "What... are you doing here?" He asked in a hoarse voice.
"Saving you, idiot!" Mito snapped back, but there wasn't any malice behind her tone, her stern glare filled with relief. "We're getting you out of here, once we deal with this,"
"Our attacks didn't even scratch it, boss!" Artorias relayed, raising his shield to withstand each winding slash that swept in wide arcs, but he held his ground, even if his arm shook behind Red Dawn. "Numbnuts, aim for those glowing patches on its body!"
"Hah, good idea, I'll knock it down then!" He cackled, holding Destroyer behind him as he ran, the head humming to life with a lime green tinge.
"Let's go!" Yuuki waved to Sachi and Ran, the girls backing her up as they all surroundedSköll.
"Why... why are you... please stop...!" Nagi's eyes trembled, they couldn't kill it, their weapons were likely weakened severely by Black Sun, and the boss couldn't be killed without Divine Sakura, they'll die at this rate!
"Now why would we do that?" Artorias asked, his back to Nagi, blocking another pair of thrusts into intersecting slashes, each dug into his HP despite his defence, but the Red Warrior kept his smug grin strong. "When we're gonna kick this thing's ass! So it can't be damaged normally, sounds like an actual challenge!"
"Sachi, Ran, look around the area for any clues to weakening the boss!" Mito waved her free arm, gesturing to Nagi. "Argo, Klein, protect Nagi and get him closer to that shrine, if you need to retreat further, we'll cover you!"
Approaching in a wide arc, Argo crouched to help Nagi stand as Klein kept Sol Moeta drawn to shield them, though Artorias was doing the most work, another pair of slashes throwing him sideways into a handstand, hopping over two low-bearing sweeps as he spun around with a rose-tinted skill, slashing with Horizontal Arc across the boss's twin swords, the left quickly inverting to thrust and slice along Daora's right hip, cleaving through the scales in his waist pelt with ease, before both clashed,Sköll pressing his weapons against both of theirs, leaving itself open to Yuuki's flurry of cuts, rending its armour in a flourish of violet light, but even that didn't so much as tickle its first gauge, but two of the molten spots burst with cinders, causing the towering samurai to growl and eject steam from its mask in pain.
"So Arty was right, those spots are weak points but it still ain't takin' damagE," Argo's lips pressed into a thin line, but her focus on the boss was lost, feeling Nagi's arm trembling against her shoulders. Looking up at his face, what she saw tore at her heart; pain and anger twisted his features, his narrowed eyes shaken with guilt, gritting his teeth to supress and bottle up every emotion threatening to spill over.
"Please, you have to run... you can't... beat it..." Nagi's voice seethed, closing his eyes up tightly, desperately trying to push it all down. "This is my fight!"
"The hell it is!" Daora's voice carried over the chaos, his torso split open in various spots, even as he doused himself in a health pot, his wounds weren't closing up fast enough, swinging Destroyer down, Grand Destruction's radiant impact forcingSköll to slash through the skill, both swords snagging against Kirito's and Yuuki's swords, the veins budging from the sheer intensity behind each of its attacks. "This talk of us running away and leaving you to fight everyone alone has been pissing me off! She already said she had faith in you, didn't she!? Dying isn't going to make good on that!"
"And... about yourself, young shinobi," Their eyes met, clear, unfiltered gratitude and pride swelled in her gaze. "I have faith in you,"
Another memory tore into his mind, causing Nagi to trip over himself, falling to his knees beside Argo. Meanwhile, Kirito crosses blades with the samurai, matching its tempo, even as it left little-to-no room for a skill activation, their weapons streaking across the arena. "I already told you what you told me, I'm not abandoning my friend when he needs it, doesn't matter how much you yell and scream about this being your fight, I get it, but you can't do this alone, no one can!" With a plunge, Elucidator nickedSköll's hip only for both his blades to cleave Kirito's sides, himself seizing up from the impact.
Yuuki drove her blade downward between them, kicking the right skyward, twirling to slash the left, continuing her spiral on the tips of her toes to run her obsidian sword forward, Rage Spike's emerald form striking its breastplate as it leapt high to avoid Artorias's interception, the two moving shoulder-to-shoulder, crossing swords in a refraction of red and purple.
"I meant what I said! If you can't carry the load, then we'll help carry it for you, that's how we've always done things, even if it does hurt!" Yuuki called out to, Nagi's head bowed.
"Please stop..." Nagi muttered.
"How is this any different than when I attacked and abandoned you guys for my own interests!?" Artorias added, his Horizontal Square spliced with Yuuki's, layering each attack until they overwhelmed the Sunblade's, leaving it wide open for Kirito's Savage Fulcrum, the electric purple light carving across more molten spots, causing each of them to burst like boils, leavingSköll stumbling, catching itself with one of its swords, yet, its health remained the same. "Deep down I didn't want anyone to die for my own personal gain! I gave you no reason to trust me, but you still never gave on me, so I'll be damned if I do the same thing to you!"
"It might not seem like much, but you praising my crafting skills, it... it really made me feel happy to be in your party! I felt I finally belong somewhere!" Mito admitted at the top of her lungs, shielding herself against the boss's plunging attack, the shockwave sending her flying off her feet, using Soul Fang to hook the ground, barely swinging it back to block a wave of debris fired from the plunging slash from the earth, Mito's body peppered in red cuts.
"You never had to endure all this pain by yourself, you and I both know how much it hurts to lose someone dear to us," Up above the grounds to their right, Ran leapt down, hers and Sachi's search yielding no fruit. Instead, the raven-brunette pulled her longsword back, focusing her aim until Vorpal Strike burned across his snow-white sword's edge like an arrow. She spared her cousin a glance, seeing him hunched over, seeing him shake hurt more then any blade, "We're with you,"
"I don't think I ever said it, but... thank you for saving me, for never letting me give up on myself!" Sachi raised her voice, twirling her spear into a blur of jade, but each of her strikes were parried as she gasped, blown away by the boss's swipe at her gut, only saved by Kirito catching her back, raising his onyx blade in time to guard against two diagonal chops, each trailing into a slash at its back, blocking Artorias and Mito's strikes but leaving itself wide open to Ran's skill charge, plunging her blade through its stomach, the force throwing it back as it dug both nodachi deep into the earth, keeping itself upright with a deep grunt. "I want... to return that kindness... no matter what!"
"Stop..." Nagi pressed, the thoughts and memories filling his head sending icy chills through his chest.
"Hear that, bud, none of us are walking away, we've gotten through this game together and that's how its gonna be," Klein affirmed.
"Nagi..." But it was Argo's voice that straw that finally broke the camel's back.
"I don't want anyone else to die because of me!" He caved, pressing his forehead against the ground as his tears trickled down his face. "Shirayuki... Hotaru... everyone we've lost until now... It's... It's all my fault... that he..." He knew they were here because they cared, Nagi has never taken their support for granted, he knew the last few days had to be hard on them, with his head out of the game, which only made his guilt worse.
Then, a soft hand curled around his left, he didn't lift his head, but he knew who it belonged to. "Whatever happened back then, with your old man, I don't know every detail, and I ain't about to pry that out of yoU. But ya gotta let it go, if it were really yer fault, you wouldn't be the same person I've known all this time, and even if you had done wrong, I'll stand by yoU,"
Her hand squeezed tighter, wearing a tight smile as she brought her left hand down to cup his cheek, lifting his head so Nagi could face her directly, see the grief in her eyes, the worry and relief at his current state, and the warmth she wanted to convey. "I'll help ya fix every wrong made, each and every mistake until you can walk on yer own, even then, I'll still be right next to yoU," A small smile tugged at her lips, flicking his nose. "Get all that this time, HerO?"
"..." What could Nagi begin to say? What amount of words did he have in him to say how long he waited to hear those words, to be told it was okay if he had made mistakes he felt were almost unforgivable and still that person would stick to him through it all, even if he was made out as the villain.
Sparing the chaos behind him a glance, everyone was low of HP, but they didn't run away, they protected each other, covered as much as they could, all for his sake. They didn't complain or breakdown, even now, he could smell it in the air, their worries were all centered on Nagi, to protect their friend.
How could he turn away after that? He had to make it up to them, he had to... try. And there was only one way to do that. and it sat just in arm's reach...
Meeting Argo's worried but soft face, his own, teary expression softened. "It's okay, I... we made a promise," And to his right, Klein looked to have taken some blows himself, downing a health pot to keep himself in the green. His katana shook in his grip, each ofSköll's attacks were heavy and shook you down to your bones. But it was Klein, as goofy as he tends to be, it was him that Nagi knew he could rely on for this.
"I'm counting... on you, buddy,"
"Huh?" He blinked, unsure what Nagi meant before he reached over and gripped Divine Sakura by the sheath, his right wrapping around the handle. Each breath Nagi took came out shaky, he knew what was about to happen, but he had to protect them, no matter what it cost! Realizing what was about to be undone, Klein spun around in shock. "Wait-!"
"Nagi?" Then it dawned on Argo too, that slip of paper that had been attached to the weapon, she only gave it a once-over but if what it eluded to was true, then - her heart stopped, seeing Nagi twist the handle."NO-!"
Drawing the blade only an inch forward, a boiling sensation ran down his fingers, the blade was a rusted, putrid stain of blood that seeped like vapour, the stench unbearable as it dug into his nostrils, enough to make him want to dry heave on the spot. Pins and needles numbed his body, static filled his vision and drowned out noise in his ears. With a hitched gasp, Nagi's yellow health bar plummeted like a stone to water, eroding away every last drop of HP he had to give.
Collapsing with the weapon in-hand, everything went dark and cloudy. He couldn't hear anyone yelling or screaming, there was no sense of temperature or the roughness of the ground to be felt, even his tongue couldn't taste at all, just a faint scent of blood, and a rich,intoxicating quality, though it was growing faint.
Only three words appeared as it all went black.
/You Are Dead\
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
I am a horrible person, didn't you know? So, gonna let that simmer for a while; everyone came to save Nagi as he breaks down under all the pressure, and in the end, drew the blade of destined death. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Misfits!
091 - Acceptance and Hope
Within the darkness, a single, defining memory comes to light, and a revelation that follows...