Chương 171: Chapter 171 - Prometheus

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry for the radio silence. Until the semester ends, it's probably gonna be more of the same. Thanks for your understanding!

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For the next 4 days until they found the entrance to the boss room, clearers and frontliners ran themselves haggard trying to find everything they could about the floor boss, Prometheus.

This was the 30th floor. A round floor. Until now, every time they went up against one of those, people died. So the frontliners were willing to push back the raid, even if they hated staying stagnant, for the sake of security.

But with each passing day, it became clearer that there was nothing else to be found. No hidden quest, no overlooked piece of lore. Just what they already had. A giant in chains and flames for hair.

"That's it, I'm spent. I swear when we get out I'm studyin' every damn myth in the world so I ain't ever gettin' caught blind again."

Drifter snorted at Argo's antics. For the unyielding info-broker to give up, it must really mean there was nothing else to be found.

"If you say so. I know I would rather spend our new-found freedom relaxing, but you do you, little rat."

"Bleh!"

The whiskered girl blew a raspberry at him, and Drifter chuckled.

"Since you are tired, what do you say to a little break? Today is the day I go down with Yuna to the 1st floor to see Sasha and the kids. Wanna come? You will finally have some playmates your age."

She glared at him and punched his shoulder hard enough that he would have taken a few points of damage if they weren't in a safe zone.

"I deserved that. But honestly, you should come. It will take your mind off of things. You and Akari have been working too hard lately."

"I always work hard. That's why I am the brains of this operation and ya are just the guy with a pointy stick."

Drifter stared at Argo unimpressed. Then he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"Overruled."

"Wh- Hey, let me down! Dri-bou! I'm gonna fu-"

"Shush, we are going to see kids. None of that language."

"Drifter!"

...

It was a really good thing SAO didn't reproduce pain, Drifter reflected. Otherwise his shoulders and back would be very sore from all the punches Argo threw at them while he carried her.

It was worth it.

While he teased Argo all the time, it wasn't very often that Drifter got to see his little rat blush like she did when everyone in the Town of Beginnings watched him carry her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He knew he was going to pay for that later, but it was so worth it. Argo needed to know how to let go and act her age sometimes. All the kids in Reaver's Requiem did. They were still just 15, some even younger.

"Uh-oh. Someone is going to be in a lot of trouble later! Hahaha!"

Yuna's soft giggling reached their ears, amd Argo started trying to escape from Drifter's clutches even harder. The spearmaster, on the other hand, just grinned unrepentant before finally pitting their younger friend down.

Argo immediately scurried away and hid behind Yuna, glaring at Drifter. The spearmaster laughed and winked at her.

"I know. Totally worth it though. Good morning, songbird."

"Good morning, dummy."

Drifter gave Yuna a short kiss in greeting, ignoring Argo mock-gagging. If they were alone, he would spend a lot more time 'greeting' his songstress, but he could see several curious little heads peeking out of the gap on the front door of the church.

Drifter and Yuna separated, and he waved. Immediately, a bunch of kids burst out of the church, running towards them while laughing and talking all at once. Sasha was behind them, trying to corral all the excitable young ones.

"Drifter, Yuna! Ah, and Argo the Rat! I thought with all the furore about the 30th floor, you wouldn't come today! And you even brought company!"

Sasha stopped in front of them with her hands on her knees. Meanwhile, several kids were already climbing over Drifter or pleading for Yuna to sing for them.

Carefully steering the children back to the church and to the back courtyard, the spearmaster laughed.

"We wouldn't miss it for anything in the world, Sasha. Coming down here to unwind is even better for us than it is for the kids. Plus, you need a break every once in a while."

He said it jokingly, but Drifter had boundless respect for Sasha. Nobody had asked her to gather Aincrad's children and take care of them. She did it all on her own, and out of the goodness of her heart. She was simply a kind person. As far as he was concerned, she deserved more applause than all the frontliners.

But Sasha liked her hectic yet quiet lifestyle, so other than a handful of the Reavers, and Shivata and Liten on occasion, Drifter and Yuna rarely brought anyone else with them.

Argo didn't really count. First, she was still a kid in Sasha's eyes. Regardless of the forced maturity SAO brought, the info-broker was still just 15.

Second, she was Argo the Rat. Others may fail to grasp what that meant, but as a close friend of Yuna and Drifter, Sasha was fully aware of just how pivotal to the clearing effort the hooded girl was.

And lastly, it was Drifter who brought her here. And anyone the spearmaster considered a good person was a friend of Sasha's.

Serenely listening to Yuna's music, and watching amused as Argo was pulled into a game by some of the kids, much to her despair, Drifter and Sasha reclined on a bench in the church's backyard.

The spearmaster always enjoyed his time here. It was a release from the stressful frontlines and all the burdens he carried. But it was only when he sat back like this, silently observing, that he felt like his battle was worth fighting.

"So the Rat can make that face too, hum?"

Sasha breathed softly, and Drifter's smiled just as kindly. Argo wasn't smiling. She was panicking, overwhelmed by all the little ones' vying for her attention. But he had never seen her so free.

"So she can."

Sasha turned her head to look at him, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses.

"You love her."

It wasn't a question. Nor was it an accusation. There were many different kinds of love, after all.

"She's the little sister I never had. I care for everyone in Reaver's Requiem. I love 'em all. But Argo the most of all."

"Hehe! Doesn't Yuna get jealous?"

Drifter rolled his eyes. Sasha took a while to open up beyond her public facade, but once she did, you would find out she had a terrible habit of teasing you. And Drifter and Yuna happened to be her favorite targets.

"She tries. But she knows it's different. We are all one big family, Sasha. A messy, noisy, don't-ask-too-much family. And we wouldn't have it any other way."

"Family, huh? I wonder..."

The woman trailed off, and Drifter glanced at her. Sasha's gaze was staring past the walls surrounding them. At what, Drifter didn't know, but he had a suspicion.

"How was your life before?"

It was the kind of question you just didn't ask. SAO's biggest taboo. Drifter hadn't made that question to most of the Reavers, and he would die for them.

But Sasha didn't mind, not at this moment. She just continued staring, the only sign she heard him being the way she bit her lower lip.

"...Unfulfilled."

Eventually she spoke, barely a whisper. Drifter nodded, and put an arm around her shoulders. Yuna's hand came to rest on her forearm, and Sasha looked up, not having noticed the Songstress join them.

"And now?"

The hesitant smile that took Sasha's face, seemingly to her own surprise, turned brighter than any Drifter had ever seen.

"I'm happy."

Drifter's hold on her tightened, and Yuna shuffled to add her own arm to their three-way hug. The couple exchanged glances over Sasha's head, and smiled.

Thry stayed silent for a while, until eventually the kids got bored of Argo and went to play by themselves. A throughly exhausted info-broker joined them at the bench, glaring at Drifter's amused smirk.

"You okay, little rat? Too much for you?"

"Fuck off, Dri-bou."

"Argo! Language!"

Yuna hissed, and Argo shrunk back a little before mumbling an apology. Everyone knew you didn't anger Yuna. She had a mean streak a kilometer long behind that kind face of hers.

"We brought you here to relax, little rat. Did it work?"

The info-broker huffed as she plopped down next to Drifter, who readily pulled her over in a one-armed hug.

"Eh, kinda. Still got freakin' Prometheus on my mind, but nothin' I can do 'bout it really so..."

She shrugged, and Drifter and Yuna nodded in acquiescence.

"Prometheus? Like the Titan?"

"Huh?"

Three heads snapped to Sasha, who was looking at them with a mildly curious expression.

"What did ya say? Titan?"

Argo perked up and scooted over until she was almost pushing Drifter off the bench. Sasha nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah? It's an old Greek myth. Prometheus, Titan of Prophecy or something like that. He stole fire from the gods - Zeus, Poseidon, those ones - and gave it to humans. Because that was forbidden, the gods chained him up to a rock and cursed him to have a vulture eat... Something. His liver, I think. It's been a while since I brushed up on Greek mythology."

By now the trio of Drifter, Yuna, and Argo were staring at Sasha dumbfounded. They had spent days, over a week, trying to find anything they could on the floor boss and the lore behind it, and in just a few sentences, Sasha revealed more than they uncovered in all that time.

"Fire, check. Chains, check. I'm sure Kayaba took some creative liberty, but that's our guy alright."

Yuna shook her head, bemused. Drifter turned the other way, covering his mouth to muffle a snort of laughter. Evidently he wasn't as quiet as he thought, because Argo fixed him with a glare.

"Not funny, Dri-bou! I've been tryin' to crack this bullshit for days!"

The spearmaster lost it and started cackling. Argo pushed him, and he fell off the bench and was immediately assaulted by several kids jumping on top of him.

"Oof!"

"Tell me everything!"

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It was a Sunday two days later. Outside, most people were relaxing in their day off, enjoying the weekend, spending some time with their families.

In Aincrad, the Assault Team was preparing themselves for another life-or-death struggle.

"I don't like this."

"You never like anything. It's a wonder you even have fan-girls, Lind."

The scathing gaze the DKB leader threw his second-in-command had Drifter and the others nearby snorting in poorly concealed laughter. No doubt as the player intended, to break the tension.

"Moving on- I don't like this. It's a death floor with close to zero verifiable intel."

"I hear you, Lind. We can't be sure what Sasha told us 'bout Prometheus' legend translates to here. But we gotta make do with what we have."

"Agreed. Let's kill the boss and move on. The floor after a round is always easier, so we'll get some respite."

"Yeah, wouldn't count on that. Kayaba is a bastard, and SAO's his brainchild."

"Nobody asked you, damn pessimistic old man!"

As the guild leader grumbled and joked, Lind rolled his eyes. He knew they would be completely focused the moment they stepped inside the boss room, but he wished they would take preparation a bit more seriously.

Ah, nothing to be done about that. Striking his shield with his sword to catch everyone's attention, he stepped towards the doors.

"Alright, let's get this done and over with. Move!"

"And don't die! You'll lose dessert privileges if you do!"

Glaring at his vice-leader, Lind pushed open the doors. Drifter smirked and clapped Shivata on the back for the joke, before shaking his body and putting his game face on. With nary a signal from him, Reaver's Requiem took their positions.

As SAO bosses were prone to, Prometheus had to have a dramatic entrance. Torches lit up across the circular room, revealing the figure of a man, just about 5 meters tall, chained a big boulder in the middle of the room.

Just like the lore pieces the clearers had found, Prometheus' hair was made of flame. His torso was bare, revealing a mess of scars that could only come from the myth of the cursed bird.

No sooner than the last frontliner stepped into the room, Prometheus' previously closed eyes snapped open, revealing burning flames in empty sockets. With a grunt, he flexed his upper body, and the thick chains snapped like strings.

"Pitiful mortals... All shall die!"

Fingers curved and sharp like claws raked through his flaming hair, and Prometheus' hands came back covered in fire. With a roar, the boss launched himself at the players.