Chapter 42: Closing the Curtain. [1]
Kayaba, Frost, and Dragon were teleported to the Ruby Palace.
"Hey, Kayaba, let us tell you something, we plan to make you an offer you can't refuse. Join us and we can make the VRMMO into something that can change the world, into something that will be a new way of life and a second home to people."
"The Full Dive System is just the beginning, your dream can bring that change. Join us, for we hold the power to bring that vision to life, we will be the prophets of the future and the Gods of the new world." Dragon spoke with passion.
"Ryu, you look like those edge lords you warned me to stay away from," Frost whispered to Dragon with a soft voice. Kayaba who heard the offer and the little diss smiled with a thoughtful expression.
"Ahem, I don't look like an edge lord, and Kayaba, think about it, we can save you from the press and the police, you can just vanish from the face of the earth and work from the shadows till the day we are strong enough to ignore the consequences." Dragon continued.
"A very tempting offer, but let me refuse. I have already planned to copy my consciousness to the internet and that plan is not going to change, for the preparations have already begun. But if you still want me to participate in your plan, I am willing if my plan succeeds." Kayaba smiled.
"I have a suggestion, you kick Ryu out of here and give him your address, he can help you with your plan, and meanwhile, you can join me and fight the last boss. Ryu is the best person for the job and I can guarantee that on our names, oh let us introduce ourselves." Frost spoke, "The name is Aster Frost, at your service and his name is Ryushi Korogane, I guess you most probably know that from our registrations."
Dragon and Frost remove their masks and the three smile at each other. "Are you really sure that you want someone who has the blood of innocents staining his hands?" Kayaba asked with a calculating smile.
"Well, let's be honest. Since we are coming clean, let me tell you something that no one should know. Kayaba do you believe in worlds other than this?" Dragon asked.
"Yes, I choose to believe so." Kayaba.
"Then you are correct in that choice, Aster and I are not from your world. We both come from different worlds, I was an ex-assassin and high school teacher while Aster is the Spirit of Winter. So, you having a little blood on your hands doesn't bother us, especially Aster here, he lived longer than all the people added together." Dragon chuckled.
"So, I guess you two are not joking. So, what am I going to do joining you guys?" Kayaba asked.
"Well, we can't invite you to officially join the group for now, but you can stay with me in the meanwhile, I have a Supernet in my head and you can stay in there as an assistant AI for now. You will have access to the multiverse from there and you can also join us for quests." Frost offered.
"Alright, but I still want my freedom," Kayaba spoke.
"Sure, you are our friend before anything else. So, you can make Ryu log out and send him to your home to make sure you don't botch that attempt at getting digitalized." Frost smiled.
The three chatted some more, where it was mostly on how Kayaba and Koro Sensei will get the digitalization to be successful, the plan which had a 1 in a 1000 probability came down to 1 in a 5. The plan was nearly foolproof and Koro Sensei was logged out after Kayaba gave him the address to his little hideout and messaged Rinko
"Now that we are done with this, let's get this party started." Aster smiled.
"Sure, but I guess a little buff would be needed to ensure that we have a little chance at fighting the Final Boss." Kayaba smiled and adjusted their levels and attributes a bit to have a chance to win while making sure that the chance would be somewhere around 20%.
A live video broadcast was displayed on all the floors, Kayaba and Aster stood there with smiles on their faces as the gates to the Ruby Palace opened. The players were shocked to see the display, the final boss Incarnation of the Radius, and even more so at Frost's face.
No one would have ever expected that the masked Monster would have such a young and charming face, and Heathcliff's face has changed into its original form as Kayaba Akihiko.
The Final Boss: An Incarnation of the Radius was a colossal monster that looks like both a goddess and a beast, as the monster is based on the goddesses mentioned in the Genesis of Aincrad lore.
The monster has a white body, red eyes, a feminine face, and several red orbs on its head, which extend above and behind its body to waist length, forming six long, sword-like appendages with a red orb at the bulge on each of them.
The boss has two arms, wielding a crimson sword in its right hand, and a spear with a red blade and black handle in its left. The monster also wears a lavish, hakama-like piece of clothing from the waist down. The hakama is crimson with black lines at its lower part, dark with red lines at its middle and upperparts, with a golden decoration at its very top.
The fight started, with Frost and Heathcliff blocking a laser attack from the Boss and parrying it to launch a counterattack. The monster swatted them with its spear, Heathcliff tanked it to give Frost an opening to strike, Frost took the shot and charged with his naginata glowing and started laying powerful slashes that piled damage on the boss.
Forst's unique skill Invincible and Heathcliff's unique skill Holy Sword displayed their might as the fight continued. The monster kept attacking furiously till its last health bar was left before it screeched and summoned the white tree to replenish all lost health and then the Black tree to launch a counter.
The Black Tree started its onslaught which was tanked and parried by Kayaba and Frost. The audience who were watching the live broadcast was cursing at the monster, after all that fighting, the damned monster simply regenerated and started attacking once again like it was nothing to its dandy soul.
"Were we supposed to face this beast?" asked Klein who was the only one who could manage worlds.
"This is just irresponsible, how could he design such a cheating monster? Even if he is the one facing it, it's still too much. I don't want to imagine myself facing that monstrosity." spoke Agil.
"But, who knew that Frost was such a handsome guy? I mean just look at his face, his eyes shine so brightly when he fights with such recklessness, and that smile, don't you think it's just unfair for us normal guys." A random bloke spoke.
"Yeah, I think I might have a crush on him, and even Commander looks really dashing in that armor, look at his block, ah, those serious eyes~" spoke a female player from the KOB.
"Oh Shit! the Boss again summoned that damn tree!" someone alerted.
"Not this time!" Frost threw his Naginata and intercepted the drop of life before it could fall on the monster while Heathcliff continued piling damage on it. The boss shot out missile-like projectiles at the unarmed Frost who drew his Kusarigama and wrapped the chain on the Boss' feet and yanked himself towards it to avoid the missiles.
Seeing that they were coming on to him, he climbed on the monster's back and jumped from there at the last minute. The blast made him fly further than he planned and made him land near the edge of the field where his naginata was embedded in the wall.
Frost drew the blade and started attacking the monster once again, but the Boss aimed a surprise attack at him, but Heathcliff pushed him aside at the last moment and took the blow head-on, his health bar fell to the yellow and then to the red.
The audience was shocked to see the myth break, to see Heathcliff's health bar not only in yellow but also in red. Kirito who saw this mumbled, "he was always fighting with his life on the line like the rest of us, it was his strength that made his legend like Frost, while Frost was like the sharpest blade, Heathcliff was like the strongest shield. Why? Why would someone do something like this?"
Asuna, Agil, and Klein who were near him heard his words along with a lot of others who were near him at the moment had heard him, they were thinking along the same lines while they watched Heathcliff cover for Frost with a smile and Frost did the same for him when he was using a healing crystal.