The world was waiting for it. The moment screens all over the globe were hijacked by the man known as Akihiko Kayaba, so he could proudly display his perversion. His conquests. His creations.
Sixteen days after the boss raid of the 1st floor was live-streamed, it happened again. Many were caught by surprise, having assumed that, since logically Sword Art Online should only get harder the higher players went, it would take more than a month for that moment to arrive. But this time the news organizations around the world were quick to broadcast it. Nobody bothered trying to take it down like the first time, knowing it would be a wasted effort.
In Japan, it was not only news channels that were buzzing with activity, but also the government, and, indeed, the entire country. Schools interrupted classes, knowing that it would be useless to try and make the students maintain focus during that time. The teachers weren't much better either.
Of course, the ones who paid the most attention were the family members of the trapped SAO players, and Kikouka in his office. He closed himself off in his room, and watched the broadcast on his computer. As the frontliners entered the boss room, he had only one wish.
"Please nobody die."
---------------------------
Argo was running. She was running as fast as she could. But she knew she would be too late. And it was that blockhead Kibaou's fault! His and Lind's, damn them!
When Drifter and his party brought back the news that they had found the boss room yesterday, their intention was to gather all the frontliners and formulate a plan, much like they had done on the 1st floor. But of course Kibsou and Lind couldn't wait. The two arrogant idiots instead spent the entire meeting fighting about who would lead the raid-party, and, obviously, neither of them was willing to concede. They didn't let anyone else put forth their opinions either. And since the ALS and DKB were the two largest player forces, Kirito, Agil, Orlando, and the other party leaders couldn't intervene either.
Unable to come to an agreement, the two players decided to start the boss raid the morning of the next day, meaning, right now. And they set off with not even a basic attack plan, and, to make matters worse, full of infighting. The fact that Argo was on the verge of completing a quest that would give them possible intel about the boss' weaknesses was also completely glossed over.
Well, now Argo had completed the quest, but it was too late. She was sending messages to every player she knew in the raid-party, but no one responded, which meant they were already inside the boss room. She didn't have the time to be distracted by the broadcast, so she didn't even open it to watch.
She knew trying to rush there in time was a futile effort. But she still had to try. Because if she didn't make it, people were going to die.
----------------------------
Drifter scanned the boss room with cautious eyes. Much like Illfang's, this one lit up section by section when they entered. But while Illfang's boss room looked like a throne room, this one was more similar to an arena. It was fitting, he supposed.
Their enemies - plural - roared and appeared in front of them. Almost immediately, Drifter frowned. Through Kirito and Argo's guidebook, they had learned that the 2nd floor boss fight was actually multi-staged. Their first enemy would be << Nato the Colonel Tauros >>, a three-meter tall, blue-skinned minotaur, and, after the player brought him to the red of his third and last health bar, the real boss, << Baran the General Taurus >> would join the battle. But now, both appeared at the same time. This upped the difficulty by a lot.
Thankfully, that had been one of the possible changes they thought Kayaba might make, and had discussed amongst themselves what to do if that was the case. He saw the ALS and DKB scrambling to fight Baran, who they recognized as the main boss, and, as such, the one which would deliver the most rewards when slain. Just as expected. How disappointing.
"All right, let Lind and Kibaou struggle against Baran, they should at least be able to tie him down. We will join hands with Agil, the Legend Braves, and the other smaller parties to bring down Nato first."
Kirito nodded to show that he approved of Drifter's decision, and made a comment of his own.
"Watch out for Nato's << Numbing Impact >>, it is his most dangerous attack. In the beta the telltale sign he was going to use it was a long moo and raising his hammer above his head. And the horns are weak points of both bosses."
Quickly imparting all he knew to the others, Kirito was the first to charge towards the boss - before the tanks aggroed Nato, they had to kite him away from Baran. Drifter nodded somberly to Agil and Orlando while he took his position.
"Let's watch each other's backs. We can't count on the two idiots to come to our rescue if we get in trouble."
"Ha! Way more likely that we have to save their asses! But you got it, Drifter."
"Hahaha! When I said I hoped to do battle by your shoulders once more, I didn't expect it to be so soon, spearman Drifter! But an occasion better than this there isn't, don't you think?"
"I couldn't agree more, Orlando. Let's get a drink on the 3rd floor when this is over."
Fun fact, you could get drunk in SAO. Drifter had never tried, but the defeat of a floor boss seemed like an appropriate occasion to celebrate.
"Switch!"
Like an arrow leaving the bowstring, Drifter shot forward as soon as the heard Asuna yell the first syllabus. His speartip shone blue when he struck << Nato the Colonel Taurus >> with a simple << Sting >>.
<< Sting >> was one of the more basic one-hit skills, and was shared by the sword, dagger, and spear. It didn't deal much damage, but had almost no cooldown, making it a great opener for bigger combos. And Drifter utilized it as such. << Sting >> was followed by a << Horizontal Arc >> cutting across Nato's shin, and then two more regular attacks before the boss turned its attention to him, and Drifter decided it was time to retreat.
"Switch!"
Nautilus took his place, bashing Nato's knee with his round shield, and causing the boss to stumble and lean to the side. Safely in the back, Sinon was letting arrow after arrow fly at the boss. She was aiming for his pair of horns, his weak points, but Nato was moving around so much that she missed most of the times. After all, while she was a natural, she only had the << Grafted Horn Bow >> for a few days. Eventually, she settled for a bigger target, and fired at the boss' head, which had higher chances of scoring critical hits.
"Ahhh!"
Many screams suddenly startled Drifter. His head snapped to the left, and he saw a disaster happening.
At least a dozen players from the ALS and DKB were laying on the ground, defenseless. Sparks were flying around their body, the visual effect of the paralysis debuff. << Baran the General Taurus >> raised its hammer from the crate it had left behind after it used << Numbing Detonation >> - the upgraded and more dangerous version of Nato's << Numbing Impact >> - and prepared to bring it back down on one of the paralyzed players. If that truly happened, there was no doubt the unfortunate DKB member would be smashed into a pulp.
Thankfully, Lind wasn't a complete idiot, and had arranged for two parties to stay back. Initially they were supposed to switch with the ones in combat, but now they were playing the part of rescuers. And, while they bickered daily, at this time of need the DKB didn't abandon the paralyzed ALS members, but dragged them back too. It was one thing to dislike someone, and another entirely to watch them die, after all.
As for the reason why Kibaou didn't have other ALS members rescue his own people, it was because the fool had too engrossed in his own battle to notice Baran about to use the one skill the guidebook mentioned in bold red letters, and was, as such, also one of the paralyzed players. Unfortunately, paralysis only meant players couldn't move, but they could still speak, and so Kibaou was letting out a string of expletives.
Okay, maybe Drifter was being a little harsh. Kibaou was actually giving some orders - as much as his current condition allowed him to. But he had been behaving like an idiot the entire time the raid-party made their way through the tower earlier. He was particularly vicious towards Kirito after he saw the young swordsman had a second << Anneal Blade >> in his hands. He probably thought he had been tricked - which wasn't entirely untrue - but from his behavior, Drifter had come to realize that Kibaou's objective in trading with Kirito wasn't actually to have an << Anneal Blade >> for himself, but to deprive Kirito of his main weapon. After understanding that, any modicum of respect Drifter had left for the cactus-haired brute vanished.
But now the spearman didn't have the time to dwell on how much he wanted to slap some sense in Kibaou. Seeing as all the paralyzed players had been saved and were recovering, he turned his attention back to << Nato the Colonel Tauros >>. The group attacking the secondary boss had about fifteen people less than the ALS and DKB combined, so, even though Nato was slightly weaker, having only three health bars instead of Baran's five, they had to put in just as much effort.
"Agil, fall back and heal! Braves, take their spot!"
Logically, their group should be having even more trouble, since they were composed of many smaller parties. But Kirito was having no problem commanding everyone. That could only happen because Agil and Orlando were both listening to his orders. If the other players didn't, they might end up without any support - not because Kirito purposely abandoned them, of course, but the young swordsman could only focus on so many things at once. It was also because all of Kirito's orders made sense, otherwise no one would obey him.
"Kirito, you have to rest too!"
"I can still keep going!"
"No can do! Look at your health!"
Drifter barely heard Asuna and Kirito discussing while the duo dodged another of Nato's hammer blows. A quick glance at his HUD showed Drufter that Kirito's health had fallen to yellow at some moment.
"She's right, Kirito. Retreat and heal. All of us actually. Vass, switch with us!"
"Right!"
Ignoring Kirito's protest, Drifter landed one last << Snake Bite >> on the boss, and had Asuna drag the boy away while he followed. At the same time, he called for one of the reserve parties to take their spot.
Kirito was a great fighter, but his sense of responsibility was too much sometimes. He would tell other people to switch and heal, but only did the same himself when his health was in the red. That was a trait of his that Drifter and the others had been working hard to change. This was why, while Kirito was the party leader, Drifter sometimes used his authority as the oldest - both in terms of age and being one of the original three - to overrule him.
When they got back, Yuna switched the melody she was playing from << Firemare >> to << Rest >>. In doing so, she also had to change her instrument from the small harp to her old flute. It had come as a surprise for everyone the first time she did that, since you couldn't change your weapons while in combat. Apparently, musical instruments didn't count as weapons - which made sense, they supposed.
"You all right, Naut?"
Smiling at the songstress, Drifter patted Nautilus's shoulder. Other than Kirito, the ash-haired boy had also been hit a lot - inevitable, in his position. But that wasn't what Drifter was asking about, and Nautilus knew that. He showed a forced smile amidst his labored breaths.
"Yeah. No problems."
Nautilus' FNC hadn't flared up since the battle against Illfang. They had been worried it would happen when fighting the << Bullbous Bow >>, but it didn't. It seemed like it was truly random.
"Good. Let's bring this thing down then."
They had barely rejoined the fight when << Nato the Colonel Tauros >> roared and raised his hammer. Drifter's eyes widened, but he was in the middle of unleashing a skill. Even if he canceled it, he wouldn't be able to get out of << Numbing Impact's >> range in time.
"Get back!"
Drifter wasn't sure who yelled that, but he could only watch as the massive hammer opened a crater in the ground, thankfully far from him. Still, the sparks and bolts that left it struck him, and Drifter felt his whole body go numb. Unable to stand, he fell face-first into the ground.
"Drifter!"
His right arm, still holding his spear, was uncomfortably stuck underneath his body, the shaft poking at his ribs. In the corner of his vision, he saw a yellow lightning bolt symbol next to his health bar.
The spearman wasn't the only one who had fallen. Although they were more prepared than the group fighting Baran, there were still six or seven players paralyzed. And, to his despair, he discovered that three of them were the tanks. Without them, << Nato the Colonel Tauros >> was free to roam. And it was coming right for him.
'Move, move! Dammit!'
Inwardly, Drifter was screaming at his body to move. Of course, that was useless. This was a game. A death game, but a game nonetheless. Any amount of willpower was useless, and the system was absolute. He couldn't rid himself of his paralysis status just because he wanted to.
Watching the boss raise its hammer to crush him, Drifter couldn't help but wonder if this was how he died. His health was almost full, so he should be able to take one blow, right? And his party should be able to get to him in time, no? But that hammer was huge. So was the boss. What the hell had he been thinking when he decided to become a frontliner?!
Unwilling to, but unable to stop himself, Drifter flinched and closed his eyes when Nato prepared to swing its hammer. But the expected hit never came. Instead, he heard the boss scream, and opened his eyes just in time to see an arrow land on its horns, causing shards to fly off.
And then Nautilus was there, the brave blade-user, who was many years younger than him. The shy boy who had a condition that caused him to literally freeze in fear. But there was no hesitation in his steps as he placed himself between the defenseless Drifter and the hulking minotaur.
"Ugh!"
Nautilus grunted and stumbled when the delayed blow smashed into his round shield, but he didn't fall. He stood his ground, allowing Asuna and one of Agil's friends, Namate, to grab Drifter and pull him to safety.
"Drifter, how are you?!"
It took Yuna shaking his shoulder with a worried voice, and putting a paralysis heal potion to his lips, for Drifter to tear his eyes away from Nautilus' back. As the numbness receded, he got up and ruffled the songstress' hair.
"I'm good now, Yun'. Thank you."
"I didn't do much. It was Sinon and Nautilus who reacted fast."
"Yeah... I can't believe he ever thought he was a coward. He is really brave, isn't he?"
The conversation was so random and out of place, considering the situation, that Yuna was stunned for a second before she smiled brightly.
"Yes. Yes, he is."
Again I went a little overboard with the length. This happens a lot when I'm writing. Ah, well, enjoy!
"Phew!"
The young girl let out a sigh of relief, and patted her chest. That had been a close one. If the archer and that other player didn't have such quick reactions, the spearman would have died.
"Woah, that was really close!"
"Yeah, no kiddin'!"
"Hey, stop shaking your phone!"
Kirigaya Suguha was in class today when someone screamed and interrupted their homeroom teacher. The teacher glared, but the student who was sneakily playing on his phone didn't even care. He yelled to whoever was listening that the SAO players were fighting the 2nd floor boss.
That set the entire class ablaze. Everyone - including the teacher - took out their phones to watch the broadcast. Suguha was the quickest. After all, the other students might treat this just as some kind of show or entertainment, but it was different for her. Her brother was trapped in that death game too.
And just as she expected, he was also part of the raid-party. Again. Gods, how she hated Kazuto - or Kirito, as he was called in-game - for that. She had cried so much when she discovered he was laying in a hospital bed, and might die at any moment. And then she had felt so happy when she saw him again a little over half a month ago, only to cry again when she realized that the only reason she could watch him was because he was battling against the most dangerous monster in SAO at the time.
Even though they won in the end, Suguha was still so worried for him. And then when the whole beater thing started, she felt so angry. Even after that nice man from the government, Kikouka Seijirou, explained why he did it, she still didn't forgive Kazu- Kirito for trying to make himself to be the villain. How stupid was that?!
As much as she wanted to see him again, to know he was still alive and well, Suguha had hoped she would never find Kirito in one of the SAO broadcasts again, because that would mean her brother was, once again, fighting the worst Kayaba had to offer. But deep down, she knew she would be disappointed.
And she wasn't mistaken. Unsurprisingly, Kirito was there when the live stream of the battle against the 2nd floor boss - bosses - started. But she was also surprised to see that not only he was leading his party, he also seemed to be ordering a lot of other players around. To her, who knew Kirito was a loner, that came as a happy shock.
During the fight, she paid special attention not only to her brother, but also to the other five who were members of his party. During the chaotic melee, she managed to catch their names.
There was Drifter, the spearman who seemed to share leadership of the party with Kirito. He was older than the rest, but if he was fighting with her brother, he should be a good person.
Then, there was also Asuna, the unbelievably pretty girl who used a rapier, and always followed Kirito to attack the monsters. The two of them were incredibly in sync, and Suguha's little sister instincts told her there might be something going on between them.
The only person in the party who used a shield was called Nautilus. He was pretty plain-looking and didn't have much of a presence, at least in Suguha's opinion. There was also Yuna, the girl who took a musical instrument of all things to a boss-raid. According to some analysis she saw on the internet after the 1st floor boss fight, she could use music to heal people.
Lastly, there was the archer girl. Suguha barely noticed her in the first broadcast, that was how inconspicuous she was. Even now, she still didn't know her name, because the girl hadn't spoken a word the entire fight. But she had a freaking bow, so it was kinda hard to miss her now. Where the hell had she found a bow between the 1st and 2nd floor boss raids?!
Whatever the answer to that was, Suguha decided to pay attention to Kirito's party members too. When Drifter was almost crushed by << Nato the Colonel Tauros >>, she was horrified. Thankfully the archer girl and Nautilus saved him.
"Are you okay, Suguha... Eek! I mean, Kirigaya-chan? You are kinda pale."
Suguha glared at the skinny boy sitting next to her. He flinched, his glasses almost falling off his freckled nose, and charged the way he addressed her.
The boy was called Nagata Shinichi, and he could probably be considered Suguha's best male friend. She still didn't like others to know that, however, so she didn't allow him to call her by her first name. But seeing how he had noticed how she was pale while everyone was focusing on the broadcast, her heart softened a little.
"I'm just a little worried. He almost died."
"Well, yeah. Those bosses can paralyze players. I'm surprised no one was seriously hurt yet. I guess that's why they are the ones fighting the bosses, hum? They really are the elites of SAO. Especially that boy with black hair over there. Look at how good he is!"
Suguha followed Shinichi's pointing finger, and discovered he was talking about Kirito. Her brother was, at the moment, using Nato's hammer handle as a platform to jump up and hit the minotaur in the face with some sort of skill. Suguha couldn't help but stand a little taller when she heard people praising her brother.
"Uh? He looks kinda familiar... Don't you think so, Sugu... Err, Kirigaya-chan?"
"What are you talking about?! Pay attention to the fight!"
Startled, Suguha panicked and slapped Shinichi on the back of the head. The boy pouted, confused by why she hit him, but too afraid to ask. Suguha sighed in relief when she saw he had stopped asking questions.
Suguha hadn't told anyone that Kirito was her brother. She was pretty sure that if she did, her friends wouldn't stop pestering her with questions. The guy who died on the 1st floor boss raid, Diavel, was already being treated like some kind of celebrity. Could you imagine her brother, of all people, receiving the same treatment?! Her classmates probably wouldn't believe her even if she told them anyway.
Sighing inwardly, Suguha suddenly felt conflicted. She was glad that her brother had found friends and people he could trust inside SAO, but at the same time she felt like she had lost something.
The truth was, for a few years now, her relationship with her brother had become strained. One day, Kirito simply started distancing himself from her, and she never understood why, until a few weeks ago, when her mother explained to her that Kirito wasn't actually her brother, but, in fact, her cousin. His parents had died in an accident, and her mother adopted him. She planned on telling him when he was older, but Kirito found out by himself when he was just ten years old.
For the longest time, Suguha had thought that Kirito was pushing her away because of something she had done. She had been relieved when she discovered that wasn't so, and more than a little angry at him for doing what he did. Adopted or not, he would always be her older brother!
There was so much she wanted to tell him. Unfortunately, now it was impossible. But when - not if - he got out of SAO, she would tell him everything. After she scolded him for making her worry, of course.
------------------------------
"Careful! It's going berserker!"
Drifter didn't need Chuchulainn's warning to notice that. It was hard to miss how << Nato the Colonel Tauros' >> blue skin suddenly acquired a reddish hue.
Their group, even though smaller than the ALS and DKB, was the first to get a boss down to the last third of its last health bar. << Baran the General Taurus >> had two more HP bars than Nato, so that was understandable.
What wasn't understandable nor acceptable, in Drifter's humble opinion, was how Nato's raging mode consisted of it repeatedly spamming << Numbing Impact >>. Not to mention damaging the boss, the players were now running around like headless chickens to avoid being paralyzed to death.
The only one who could unconcernedly attack was Sinon, who stood in the rear with her bow fully drawn, launching arrow after arrow. Very soon the boss, who had its aggro cleared when it entered its berserker phase, turned to the archer, steam puffing out of its nostrils.
"Tanks, make a barrier! Everyone else, when it stops, hit it with everything you have!"
Seeing this as a chance they couldn't miss, Drifter silently apologized to Sinon in his heart for using her as bait. It worked surprisingly well.
<< Nato the Colonel Tauros >> smashed into the shield wall, sending quite a few of the tanks to the ground. But they managed to stop the boss, and, in the short interval before it could charge again or initiate a skill, attacks rained down on it from all sides.
It was very anticlimactic. After struggling for a long time, and a lot of close brushes with death due to the annoying paralysis, the combined attack of over twenty players wiped out the last of << Nato the Colonel Tauros' >> health without it even being able to unleash one last << Numbing Impact >>.
A player from some party Drifter didn't know was the one to get the last-attack bonus. It seemed to be some kind of armor, but the spearman didn't have the time nor energy to care about it now. Kirito was already gathering everyone again to go help the ALS and DKB against << Baran the General Taurus >>.
A quick glance told Drifter that Lind and Kibaou's people were holding on, albeit just barely. Unlike their side, which was more or less coordinated, the two large groups of players were actively bickering and sabotaging each other in the middle of the battle. For example, right now the DKB tanks held Baran's aggro, but instead of helping them split up the pressure, the ALS players were wildly attacking in a desperate bid to steal the boss.
'Those idiots! Do they even realize this battle is being watched by all the players in SAO?!'
"Tsk!"
Grunting in annoyance, Drifter trailed Kirito and rushed towards Baran. The black-haired boy positioned his sword behind him, almost dragging the tip on the ground. Seeing the signature starting stance of << Sonic Leap >>, Drifter grinned. His spear glowed red as he prepared a << Rage Spike >>.
Without the need to communicate, the duo suddenly accelerated, leaving Asuna, Orlando, and Agil behind.
"Oi! What do ya think ya are doing, ya goddam beater?!"
Kirirot turned a deaf ear to Kibaou's insults. When he was still more than five meters away from << Baran the General Taurus >>, the swordsman jumped, leaving only a dust cloud in his wake.
Bringing his sword in an upwards slashing motion, Kirito cut open Baran from the hip all the way up to the shoulder. The wound was so deep it was a surprise the boss hadn't lost an arm.
"Mooooo!"
Angered, the gigantic minotaur general tried to punch Kirito with its free hand while the boy was still in the air. It failed miserably. Drifter was right behind Kirito, << Rage Spike >> launching him forward, his spear drilling through Baran's left wrist.
So heavily wounded twice in quick succession, the four-meter-tall boss staggered, and then fell. It still had almost an entire health bar left, so it was by no means dead. But it was vulnerable.
"Kill!"
------------------------------
"Waa! Did you see that?! So cool!"
Shinichi was fanboy-ing, but Suguha had to - although reluctantly - admit that the pincer attack Kirito and Drifter had performed was pretty cool. No, scratch that, it was awesome! The two of them flew towards the boss like a pair of green and red comets. And the way Kirito left himself completely open after his attack... He didn't just trust Drifter to be there for the follow-up. He knew he would.
For some reason, Suguha suddenly felt like crying. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry, her eyes watering. The way her brother jumped in front of that monster... There was no hesitation whatsoever. When had he grown up so much?
------------------------------
The duo of Drifter and Kirito had knocked down the boss. There was no suspense left after that happened. Struggling to get up and surrounded by over fifty players, << Baran the General Taurus' >> fate was sealed. It couldn't even use << Numbing Detonation >> anymore, because each time it tried, at least four different attacks would knock the warhammer off of its path.
Though the DKB and ALS were the ones who did most of the work, Agil was the one who landed the last hit on << Baran the General Taurus >>, and Drifter would guiltily admit that he took no small amount of pleasure when seeing Kibaou and Lind's sour faces.
Feeling all the tension leave his body at once, Drifter sat down, panting heavily. This hadn't been an easy fight, but they had won. And nobody died. A complete victory! He was tempted to join the others in celebration when he happened to look at the entrance of the boss room, and saw someone he never thought he would.
"Argo?"
It was unknown whether the info broker heard him or their eyes just happened to meet, but when Argo stared right at him, what Drifter saw wasn't joy, but panic.
"Careful! It's not over yet!"
Unfortunately, Argo's warning was lost to all but Drifter, drowned by all the voices. Before he could get up and ask her what she meant, one of the dark corners of the boss room started to shine. Before anyone could react, they all heard a roar, and then a pillar of lightning tore a path right through the middle of the raid-party.
"What the?!"
Momentarily blinded, Drifter rubbed his eyes to get rid of the white spots. He almost wished he hadn't.
What greeted him was a scene of despair. Two dozen players were laying on the ground, paralyzed, and none of them above yellow. Some of the more fragile ones were even deep in the red, just a breath away from dying.
Looming above them was the worst monster Drifter had yet to see in SAO. A minotaur, like the other two bosses, but this one had three pairs of horns, and stood at well over six meters. Each of its legs was as thick as a tree trunk, and it's lower body was covered in chainmail. Literal lightning flared out of its nostrils, and on top of its head sat a platinum crown.
Looking at the gigantic golden warhammer, easily twice as big as him, and many times as wide, Drifter gulped in fear. Now he knew what Argo meant.
<< Asterius the Taurus King >>
No, I don't know if Suguha will end up with Sinichi. I still haven't decided on her importance as a side character to the fanfic, and if it warrants developing a relationship. I don't like the idea of just dropping "oh and btw she was now dating him" on you. IF I want to develop Suguha as a side character, and IF I decide to put her on a relationship, it will be more carefully planned. Again, IF that happens, idk if it will be with Sinichi or someone else. I can tell you it won't be Kirito tho.
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