Looking over her soldiers she nodded with approval. In the twenty-four hours since she had sent the summons twenty-two of the guild members had arrived. Of those twenty-two, six were high level and high ranking members. She had already named them squad captains in charge of shaping up the lower level members. She had also issued a general call to arms at the front lines and bulletins in each of the major cities informing them that the knights were back, and they were going to clear the next boss.
Only four answered that call, which hadn't surprised her. The reasons for the guild's fall were as valid now as they had been the day Kayaba had made himself known. She was hedging her bets on clearing the floor. If they did that more would come, and then more after that. Success should breed success.
There was also her. She would serve as their secret weapon, an unstoppable tank, and the largest reason to avoid their guild, the pariah that had received Kayaba's blessing. It was actually a curse, her immortality, but few would see it that way.
"Aten-hut!" Oddly enough Klein's headband looked good with his new black haori and hakama, both with red trim and guild emblems. After both Liz and Silica worked on him a bit he had settled down enough to accept Asuna's apology and then accepted some coaching in his role as second-in-command in these meetings. He was going to still be a lovable goofball outside of them of course, but military order would be observed under official functions at least.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7EXvoPbv8
His call for attention had been text book perfect.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHBRcvIssD
Once everyone settled down, which was immediately with the older members, well used to the military precision expected of the guild's members. The newer members and the ones who weren't members at all took a little longer, unaware of the expectations.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡak5AxXnz2r
Asuna began a brief description of what would be expected of them today. "In eight hours were are going to teleport to the ninety-seventh floor and enter the dungeon. Today's mission will only be for scouting. We are going to make it as far as the entrance to the boss's room and then I shall enter alone to assess the boss for strengths and weaknesses as well as document any attack patterns it uses on me."700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZUFNk0Fmm
For a moment hushed silence met her words. There had only been only one attempt on the boss thus far. For the first time in the three year history of SAO it had been a complete wipe. With that wipe not a shred of information had left on the boss, leaving him a specter; a monster that preyed on their imaginations. Given the hell of the past bosses that had none the less left survivors, there was a lot of room for embellishment for this unknown. She couldn't blame them for the sounds of fear she was hearing even among the seasoned warriors
Of course Asuna had a two-fold security blanket. The first, and the one everyone knew about in the room, was her immortality. The second, and the one she would not announce, was the hope that Kayaba would lift that immortality as soon as she showed interest in fighting again.
"Are there any questions?" she asked the guild members.
Joffrey, one of the older and more experienced members, spoke up. "Ma'am, I understand the lack of risk on you entering the room alone, but what of the risk on reaching the room to the rest of the troops? The monsters on this floor are also higher than any we have seen of trash mobs. We will all willingly put our lives at risk to clear this game, but not foolishly. We have not trained together in over a year now, some of us not at all. We will lack coordination and that could cause unnecessary loss of life."
It was the question she had expected. As such her answer was immediate, and said with confidence, "I expect this to be a difficult journey, but possible with no loss of life. I will be acting as forward sentry, using my immortal object status to its fullest. The rest of the party will stay back and only act as backup with the most experienced members taking the lead."
Pausing for a second to allow that to be absorbed, she continued, "This is also expected to be both a learning and assessment opportunity. With this information we will know who needs improvement and where so training can be effective before we take a serious attempt on this boss." Several of the members nodded understanding, a few looking grim as they recognized the holes in this plan, but also recognizing that Asuna was aware of them too.
"Are there any other questions?" When no one spoke up she continued, "Then prepare yourselves for combat. Take any weapons and armor in need of maintenance to quartermaster Liz," that still felt a bit odd on her tongue, but it was accurate for the role. "All repairs will be free for this first mission."
One final look over the troops, then nodding with approval commanded, "Dismissed."
Looking over her shoulder one last time, Asuna noted that her raid group had managed to stay intact on the ninety-seventh floor until this point.
None of them looked happy to see her go, most notably her friends who had run to her banner when she stepped into the leadership role that Kayaba had forced upon her.
Looking forward as she walked she saw the two large doors that were the entrance to the boss room. There were only two possible endings of her taking the boss on by herself, both involved her losing against him. The one that involved a permanent death was the one she hoped for the most.
The trouble was at this level there was no information for the information brokers to broker. Their careers had ended, relatively speaking, when the last monster defeated in beta had fallen. The only information they had for sure was this was a boss room, and none of the people who'd faced him had survived to tell anything more about him.
That meant their teleport crystals weren't going to work in there. Unless this monster was so destructive it had killed an entire raid group before even one member had a chance to use it. Asuna doubted that. Kayaba may be a psychopath with a god complex, but there would be no entertainment value in a boss that had no chance of being defeated.
Asuna was going to be the information broker, learning as much as she could about his attack patterns, skills, and weapons before leaving. Unless the boss could not regenerate its health the possibility of beating him wasn't worth contemplating. In fifteen minutes Klein would approach the boss room, opening the doors the same as she was now, and she would make her escape.
Without fanfare she crossed into the room and looked around. The room was pitch black once the doors closed behind her, locking her into a fight she had no chance of winning. Background music began that reminded her instantly of a funeral, leaving her feeling cold. It was the start of a game cinematic. They'd become a standard part of boss fights since floor eighty she had heard.
Slowly the lighting grew from candelabras around the room. Marble columns became visible first, along with white marble walls. It wasn't the type of walls she was used to. A pedestal eventually became visible in the center and Asuna realized the room was actually a mausoleum. From a door on the opposite side eight figures entered the room, a sarcophagus carried amongst them.
As she watched she realized that each was the same model as The Fatal Scythe, which they had fought below the town of beginnings. Memories of that fight filled her with a primal fear. They had nearly died then, and Yui had sacrificed herself to save them. The reaction was normal, even with her immortal status.
They ignored her however, placing the sarcophagus on the pedestal, then turning and leaving silently, the only sound coming from the music setting the grim tone of the setting.
As the light grew she could make out the words on a placard built into the base of the pedestal:
Kirito, the Fallen Hero700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aVzeK90FX
October 7th, 2008 - November 7th, 2024700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpWPC1Bte5
Beloved Husband of Asuna,700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRidpBqG6h
Member of the Knights of the Blood Oath
If she was capable of doing so, Asuna would have screamed out her rage. How dare he tarnish Kirito's memory like this! But all she could do was watch as the cut-scene played out.
The entire top of the sarcophagus began to shake rhythmically, the sounds of a struggle from within beginning. The music built in intensity as the lid continued to tremble. Then a sword she knew too well, Elucidator, pierced it, a second later it exploded into chucks of marble rocks and dust as Dark Repulser joined the first.
No, no, no, no, Asuna began chanting to herself, unwilling to believe that even Kayaba would resort to this.
Kirito sat up from his not-so-final resting place, a smile on his face. Climbing out, he looked over at Asuna. "Well that was overly dramatic, wasn't it?" he asked, brushing off the marble dust from the sarcophagus's destroyed lid.
As soon as the final note of the cinematic's theme music ended Asuna again had control of her body, though her mind was in too much shock to give it direction. Standing dumbly her husband approached slowly, making slow stretches as he readied for a fight. "You know, I really thought I was going to beat Heathcliff last year," he said conversationally as his twin blades blinked into existence on his back.
"You aren't him."
A smile she hadn't seen in over a year crossed the boss monster's face. "Well of course I'm not," he said with her lover's good cheer. "I'm kinda like Yui though. Kayaba went through a lot of work trying to make me think and talk like the original. He even gave me a bit of self-awareness."
"Figuring out your attack patterns is going to be harder than normal, isn't it?" Why was she starting to talk to him like he was real? Even he admitted he wasn't real.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I don't have any, though I will give anyone trying to beat me a fair handicap to start with. First bar I'll only use one sword."
"How many bars do you have?" Until combat started those bars wouldn't show.
"Four, like most of the bosses until now."
"If you're supposed to be him you won't have any magic attacks, will you?"
"Uuuuuh... Well, I don't have any magical attacks. I'm glad he didn't. Magic really isn't my style, but no matter how well programmed and powerful I am a single swordsman will get overwhelmed with a large enough raid group. To stop that from happening I can copy myself up to the number of members in the raid I'm going against."
"You're being awfully helpful, for a boss monster."
"Well, I thought a bit of information would make the fight more interesting." Asuna's heart contracted. This fake sounded so much like him. He would be looking forward to a good fight as well, though not the killing.
"Sitting in this room for a year must have been hell on you."
"Actually, I haven't been here that long. It took Kayaba a good six months to get me where he wanted, then he saved me as an inactive file until you were ready to fight again."
Just when she thought the man couldn't strike any lower, she was proven wrong. "So, think you're ready to fight me?" he said, appearing unaware of her internal dialogue. It was proof that he was not the real thing. Kirito, the real Kirito, would have known exactly what was on her mind.
Not that that mattered. She wasn't ready. Not for this. "How can you say you're like the real thing when you're going to try killing me in a minute?"
"But isn't that what you want?" Her hands started to shake, hearing the truth spoken from his lips. "I'll free you."
No matter how large of a raid group, the battle would be the same. Most of the members of her party wouldn't last a minute against Kirito. Asuna by herself had as much of a chance to win as the entire front lines at once. She might as well give it her all then, and maybe save more from dying.
There was also the hope if she gave it her all Kayaba would return her avatar to normal, and allow Kirito to give her the release he was promising. He certainly seemed to think he could.
Could she attack Kirito? Even if he was a fake, did she have the resolve to give over everything to the purpose?
"Kayaba, you asshole!" she yelled in suddenly renewed anger, realizing the cruel paradox he had placed her in.
"As an independent AI, I have the ability to completely agree with you there. Setting us against each other is a dick move if ever there was one."
"Stop acting like him!" she screamed, lunging.
"All right! Now we're talking."
Even the real Kirito couldn't keep up with her speed in a duel. It wasn't enough on its own however. With his heavier, more powerful attacks she was unable to block any of his swings.
Her second blade, at least for the first bar, giving her the edge she needed.
"Wow, I never thought you'd be this good. I mean, no offense hon, but normally I am the better fighter," was his final comment when she finished depleting that bar. Her anger had allowed her to forestall any hesitancy she may have experienced normally in this duel.
As his second bar flashed to life, he said "This is when things get fun though," as Dark Repulser was summoned to his off hand. His compliment only fueled her anger further.
His twin blades were too much for her to block, but Kayaba, despite her hope, had not removed immortal object. It made the round ridiculously easy, along with the third bar where Elucidator disappeared and Excalibur, a weapon not even mentioned as existing in SAO, appeared instead.
On the final bar, things changed however. "This isn't exactly fair, but I did make Kayaba promise that you couldn't kill yourself, didn't I?" He smiled the smile she dreamed about every night. "And let's face it, you really did hope to die here. I'm sorry, I had hoped I could give you that."
With a scream of pure anger, she charged. Kirito attempted to dodge the attack, but only succeeded in making it a non-vital shot as her blade sliced through his arm. Something new happened however: Kirito screamed. Kirito bled. His black sleeve was becoming darker by the second, and blood dripped down his fingers as he dropped Dark Repulser.
"I knew Kayaba had some weird update that was going to activate when I got to my final bar, but I didn't expect this," he finally said, holding his wounded arm.
Her anger left her. Where were the digital cuts that had been such a part of SAO until now. How many players could stand watching NPC's die so gruesomely? How many could stand watching their own friends do the same? This was sick!
Her fifteen minutes were up, as from the door she could hear Klein, then a moment later Liz and Silica banging on it. The fight had gone faster than she had expected. While the first level had taken longer as Asuna blocked and gave the battle her all, once she had accepted what her immortal status meant and stopped defending herself, concentrating only on offense the matches had been swift.
The door was not opening however. She was thankful of that. She didn't want any of them to see this fight, especially Silica. Somehow she had held on to her innocence until now. She didn't want this blood bath to destroy it.
"If you don't mind, this hurts a lot. We already know I can't beat you, so would you mind finishing it rather than gawking. I can't just let it happen. I will defend myself, but the sooner this happens the better."
No. She couldn't accept this. Fake or not, her husband was asking for her to kill him, violently. Savagely. She had killed before in the game. Laughing Coffin too often had made it necessary. She hadn't enjoyed it. She'd been physically sick in fact.
And then this... It was too much. Her body may be immortal; her mind was not.
The skill assist made her react, or so she told herself, when Kirtito attacked rather than waiting for her to come to grips. She had intended to merely block his attack. Her rapier was a thrusting weapon, but her new fencing dagger had a slashing edge. Given that its primary use was to block it made sense it was the weapon she chose to use. She hadn't intended what became of it as she watched herself slice off Kirito's right hand at the wrist.
Like her earlier stab, the stump was bleeding, heavier than the stab however. Seeing it, she fell to her knees and began to vomit, though the game engine took into account she hadn't eaten in a year and all that came was dry heaves.
She was forced to listen to his screams while in that prone position, her stomach making it impossible to defend herself but her opponent was in no position to attack. Several minutes later the screaming stopped. Through her tears she looked up to see Kirito's corpse, his final bar depleted as he bled out.
In the center of the room "Congratulations" appeared in large letters, signaling her victory. In her heads up, drop information appeared, including her Last Attack Bonus: Kirito's Resolve. She didn't have it in her to open it up and see what kind of weapon it was.
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