Chapter 9

It was more than a year ago that the Knights of the Blood earned

their reputation as the strongest guild in Aincrad. Tales spread

throughout the populace of the "Man of Legend," who led the

guild, and its vice commander, "Asuna the Flash." Now, her level

much higher and her skill with the rapier at its peak, I was getting

a front-row view of Asuna fighting a monster one-on-one for the

very first time.

We were in the center of a long corridor flanked by rows of pillars near the top of the seventy-fourth-floor labyrinth. The enemy

was a skeletal warrior known as a Demonic Servant. It stood

nearly seven feet tall, wreathed in eerie blue light, a long sword in

its right hand and a circular metal shield in its left. Despite the

absence of any kind of muscle, it was a powerful foe that struck

hard, and yet Asuna stood her ground, unafraid.

"Frrrurrrgh!"

It unleashed a bizarre guttural cry and swung the sword downward repeatedly, trailing blue light: Vertical Square, a four-part

combo. I stood a few steps back from the action, watching restlessly, but Asuna neatly sidestepped each of the blows in turn.

Just because it was a two-on-one battle didn't mean that we

could simply gang up on the enemy together. It was possible, of

course, but when you had two people unleashing blindingly fast

skills, it was more likely that you'd end up accidentally sabotaging

each other's attacks. That's where the switching tactic came into

play for parties.

After Asuna avoided the last and largest of the Demonic Ser-

vant's four attacks, it was left slightly off-balance. Asuna didn't

miss her opportunity to counterattack. She thrust her flashing

rapier several times at its midsection. Every one of them struck

true, shortening the skeleton's HP bar. Each individual thrust did

only minor damage, but the frequency was relentless.

After a three-part mid-level thrust combo, the skeleton was

about to recover and guard, but Asuna spun around and slashed

at its legs. She tore diagonally upward and connected powerfully

on two more thrusts up high, her blade spraying white light.

It was an eight-part combination named Star Splash, if I recalled correctly. Rapiers and their thrusting strength weren't the

best against skeletons, but her skill in connecting with the enemy

each and every time was considerable.

The sheer beauty of it all had me completely entranced, to say

nothing of its power in knocking out a third of the skeleton's

health. This was a true sword dance.

Asuna jolted me out of my reverie, shouting as though she had

eyes in the back of her head.

"Kirito, time to switch!"

"Y-yeah!"

I hurriedly readied my sword as she unleashed a powerful single strike. The tip struck the skeleton's shield with a gaudy

shower of sparks. This was part of the plan, though. An enemy

that blocks a heavy blow is left immobile for an instant and cannot attack right away. Asuna was frozen by the clash as well, of

course, but it was the pause that we wanted.

I charged in front of the enemy in her place. The switch tactic

was an intentional use of a break point in mid-combat to allow an

ally to step in.

I glanced at Asuna out of the corner of my eye to ensure that

she'd retreated to an adequate distance, and then I leaped at the

enemy. Asuna was a true expert of the game and could hold her

own, but in most cases, slashing attacks were far preferable to

thrusts against skeletal foes like the Demonic Servant. All those

skinny bones weren't easy to hit with jabs. Bludgeoning weapons

like maces were best of all, but I didn't think either of us had

learned that skill.

Unlike the enemy's ill-fated attempt, my Vertical Square hit

right on the money all four times, huge chunks flying off its HP

bar. The skeleton was slow to react. Monster AI in Sword Art Online did not handle sudden changes in attack tactics very well.

The day before, it had taken long minutes coaxing the lizardman's AI to allow me to re-create this effect, but with a partner,

one switch is all it takes. This is one of the greater advantages of

adventuring with a party.

I parried the foe's attack with my blade and initiated a powerful skill that would finish the battle. I slashed hard downward and

right, then flicked my wrists backward like a golf swing, spinning

the sword through the same trajectory in reverse. Each time the

blade edge struck bone, it made a percussive chunk and spilled

orange beams of light.

The skeleton tried to raise its shield to block a high swipe, but

I caught it by surprise with a left-shoulder body blow. It faltered

backward, helpless to stop my horizontal right slash. Another

shoulder, this time the right. Tackling the foe to keep him from

maintaining balance was a rare strategy, and Meteor Break was a

combo skill that required Martial Arts proficiency to learn.

This string of attacks had wiped out most of the enemy's

health; it was nearly defeated. I put all of my strength into the

high horizontal slash that finished the seven-hit combination.

The sword left a trail of light in its wake as it struck true, deep beneath the skeleton's lower jaw. With a dry crack, the skull flew

off, and the rest of the body clattered into a lifeless pile of bones

like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Nice job!" Asuna smacked me on the back as I put away my

sword.

We hurried onward, saving the distribution of spoils for later.

This was our fourth monster encounter inside the labyrinth, and

we'd barely taken any damage at all. I preferred to string together

massive blows, while Asuna specialized in quicker, varied combinations. When it came to seizing the advantage by overloading

the enemy AI—not in sheer computational power, of course, but

within the limits of the game's programmed algorithms—our two

styles were actually quite complementary. It seemed as though

our levels were close as well.

We carefully proceeded down the long, pillared hallway.

Thanks to my Search skill, there was little fear of ambush, but I

couldn't help but pay attention to the footsteps echoing off the

hard stone walls. There was no direct source of light within the

labyrinth, but the surroundings were bathed in a mysterious

bluish glow that provided us with visibility.

I carefully scanned the hallway, watching for signs of danger.

The lower portions of the tower were made of that dusky red

sandstone, but as we climbed higher, the material gradually

shifted to a type of stone with green highlights, as though the

walls were running with moisture. The pillars were finely etched

with eerie images, and their bases were submerged in a lowered

canal. All in all, the decorative detail of the dungeon was growing

finer and denser. There was little blank space left on the map. If

my hunch was right, we were nearly there.

At the end of the hallway stood large, gray-blue double doors.

They were covered with the same creepy reliefs of monsters as the

pillars. It was all digital data, of course, but I couldn't help but

feel an eerie, unnatural evil emanating from it.

We stopped in front of the door and looked at each other.

"Is it just me, or is this…?"

"Yeah, I agree…this must be the boss's lair."

Asuna grabbed the sleeve of my coat.

"What should we do? Just take a quick look inside?"

The words were confident, but her voice carried an anxious

tone. Even the most powerful warrior would be fearful in this situation. I didn't blame her—I was scared, too.

"Remember, the boss monster never steps outside its lair. I'm

guessing that if we just open the door and look…we'll be fine…" I

trailed off uncertainly. She looked exasperated.

"Keep a teleportation item on hand, just in case."

"Okay."

She nodded and pulled a blue crystal out of the pocket of her

skirt. I readied one of my own.

"Ready? Here goes…"

Asuna hanging on my right arm, I placed my left hand against

the door, clutching the escape crystal. If this had been happening

in real life, my palm would be slick with sweat.

I pushed slowly, and the door gave way with a surprising ease

for being nearly twice my height. Once put in motion, both doors

opened simultaneously with almost alarming speed. As Asuna

and I held our breath, they reached full extension with a heavy

thud, exposing the contents of the room.

Which at this point was nothing but sheer darkness. The light

that filled the hallway apparently did not extend to the chamber

beyond. It was a thick blackness brimming with cold, and no

amount of squinting revealed any details.

"…"

Just as I was about to open my mouth, two pale blue flames

softly popped into existence along the floor just past the doorway.

We both jumped despite ourselves.

Soon after, another two flames appeared a bit farther away.

Then another pair. And another.

Bof-bof-bof-bof-bof…The flames sounded off consecutively,

picking up speed as they created a path straight for the center of

the chamber. Finally, a much larger flame burst into life, lighting

the contours of the long, rectangular room in a blue haze. It was

large. Large enough to fill the remaining blank space on my map

by itself.

Asuna gave in to her nerves and grasped my entire arm, but I

didn't have the presence of mind to enjoy it. A massive shape was

steadily approaching from behind the thrashing dance of fire.

Muscles taut as ropes rippled up its towering form. Its skin

was a deep blue to match the tint of the flames, and the head that

rested atop the thick chest was not a human's but a goat's. Thick,

twisted horns stretched backward from the sides of its head. The

eyes glinted with the same blue-white hue but were clearly

trained directly at us. Its lower half was covered in long navy hair,

and although it was hard to see behind the flame, the legs looked

bestial as well. In short, it matched the classic description of a

demon.

There was a considerable distance from the center of the

chamber to the door, and yet we stood immobilized, as though it

were nearly upon us. I'd fought countless creatures during my

two years in SAO, but I'd never seen a demon. Sure, they appeared in plenty of RPGs, but face-to-face with the real thing, it

was impossible to stifle a primal terror from emerging.

I timidly focused my eyes and read the name off of the cursor

that appeared. "The Gleameyes"—this was most definitely the

boss of the labyrinth. Every named boss was preceded by a definitive "the" that marked it as unique. This one was named for its

shining eyes.

As soon as I put it all together, the blue demon raised its elongated snout and let out a rumbling bellow. The columns of fire

rippled, and the ground vibrated beneath my feet. It snorted pale

blue breath, raised the massive sword in its right hand…and

charged for us with stunning speed, the ground rattling.

"Aaaaah!"

"Kyaaaa!"

We screamed together, turned, and sprinted at full speed. I

knew on principle that boss monsters couldn't leave their chambers, but I couldn't force myself to rely on that now. I let my significant agility stat do the work, speeding down the long hallway

like a burst of wind.