Chapter 11

We were unlucky enough to run into a group of lizardmen, so by

the time the eight of us reached the hallway at the top of the

tower, it had already been thirty minutes. We never caught up to

the Army squadron.

"Maybe they used some items to return already?" Klein offered

in an attempt to break the tension, but none of us believed it. Our

pace quickened as we headed down the hallway. About halfway to

the door, we heard the echoing sounds that confirmed our fears. I

stopped abruptly and focused my ears.

"Aaaahh…"

It was soft, but undeniably a scream.

And not from a monster. We looked at one another and raced

forward. Asuna and I pulled away from Klein's group due to our

agility, but this was no time for playing nice. We sped over the

slick stones shining blue, this time in the opposite direction of

our last, panicked sprint.

Finally, we came to the massive chamber doors. They were already wide open, the flickering blue flames visible amid the darkness within. And behind them, a massive shadow, writhing. Periodic metallic clanging. Screams.

"Those idiots!" Asuna shrieked, dashing even faster. I strained

to keep up. We were going about as fast as the system could allow

us. It felt like my feet weren't even touching the floor. The pillars

that lined the hallway were a blur.

We screeched to a halt right before the doorway, the hobnails

of our boots raising sparks.

"Hey! Anyone okay in there?" I shouted, leaning my upper half

through the doorway.

The interior of the room was a picture of hell.

The blue-white flames were flickering across the floor in a lattice pattern. At the center, its back to us, loomed a gigantic form

gleaming with metal—the blue demon, the Gleameyes.

The wicked goat head emitted burning breath, and it swung

around a gargantuan blade like a zanbato—a sword more suited

for dicing horses than human beings. It hadn't even lost a third of

its HP. All around it, miniscule shadows leaped and fled. It was

the Army.

Their prior discipline was entirely gone. I tried to do a quick

head count and came up two short. Hopefully they'd used teleport

crystals to escape.

One of the men took a tremendous swipe from the zanbato to

his side and went sprawling across the floor. His HP was down in

the red zone. Somehow, the Army had managed to get trapped,

with the Gleameyes standing between them and the doorway

where we stood now. I shouted to one of the collapsed players.

"What are you doing? Teleport out of here!"

His face, lit blue with the room's eerie flames, was a rictus of

terror and despair.

"It won't work…We can't…use any crystals!"

"Wha…"

My breath caught in my throat. The chamber was an anti-crystal zone. It was a rare trap that you occasionally saw in labyrinths,

but none of the boss lairs had been this way before.

"They can't teleport out…?"

Asuna swallowed. This meant that it would be much harder to

save them. On the other side of the demon, one of the players

raised his sword and gave a battle cry.

"Nonsense! Retreat is not an option for the Liberation Army!

Fight, you scoundrels, fight!!" It was clearly Corvatz.

"You fools!" I screamed. The fact that there were two people

missing in an anti-crystal zone meant they were dead, gone forever. The unthinkable had already occurred, and he wanted them

to keep going? I could feel all the blood in my body boiling.

Klein's party finally caught up to us. "What's going on here?!"

I explained as briefly as I could. Klein grimaced.

"Isn't there anything we can do for them?"

If we leaped into the fray, it was possible that we could clear a

path for the soldiers to escape. But without a quick and easy way

to teleport out, there was no guarantee we wouldn't suffer casualties in the process. We just didn't have enough people. As I hesitated over what to do, Corvatz had rallied his men to their feet

across the room and was bellowing orders.

"All units…charge!"

Out of the ten survivors, two were slumped on the floor in critical condition. The other eight formed two lines of four, with Corvatz brandishing his sword in the lead.

"No! Stop!!" But my scream didn't reach them.

It was sheer madness. Eight warriors attacking all at once

wouldn't do a thing but cause chaos and limit their individual

strengths. They ought to be taking a defensive stance, doing bits

of damage one at a time, and switching out constantly.

The beast stood upright, hands on hips, and let out an earthshaking roar, spewing bright steam from its mouth. The exhaust

must have had a damaging effect, because the soldiers who came

into contact with it slowed their attack. Out came the demon's

giant sword again. One man was flipped straight over the

demon's head by the blade, crumpling in a heap on the floor right

before us.

It was Corvatz.

His HP bar was empty. He wore an expression of utter disbelief, his mouth moving slowly.

Impossible.

As soon as he mouthed the words, Corvatz's body shattered

into countless tiny shards with a nerve-grating crackle. Asuna

gave a brief shriek at his disintegration, so sudden and unceremonious.

Their leader gone, the Army squad was completely lost. They

fled and screamed, all discipline gone. None of the men had even

half his health remaining.

"No…no…you can't…"

Asuna seemed to be wringing the words out of herself. I tried

to reach out and grab her arm, but I was an instant too late.

"You can't do this!" she cried, leaping forward like a burst of

wind. She pulled out her rapier in midair and plunged into the

Gleameyes, a beam of light.

"Asuna!" I shouted, forced to follow in her footsteps.

"Whatever happens, happens!" Klein's party brought up the

rear.

Asuna's desperation attack struck the demon directly in the

back. Sadly, its effect on the monster's health was nearly imperceptible. The Gleameyes spun around with a bellow of rage,

swinging its zanbato with fearful speed. Asuna darted out of the

way, but the blade's shock wave threw her to the ground. It swung

around mercilessly for a follow-up.

"Asunaaa!!"

Sheer terror chilled my spine, and I desperately lunged for the

space between Asuna and the sword. At the last possible instant, I

succeeded in just barely deflecting the path of the demon's assault. The impact was breathtaking.

Our weapons sent off sparks as they scraped, and the giant

blade smashed into the floor just inches from where Asuna lay,

gouging a deep furrow with the sound of an explosion.

"Get back!" I shouted, preparing for the demon's next blow.

The swings came fast and furious, each individual swipe powerful

enough to be fatal. There was no time for me to mount a counterattack.

The Gleameyes used double-handed greatsword skills, but the

perfect craft of its combinations left me totally unable to guess

what was coming next. All my nerves were on edge, my every instinct dedicated to parrying or sidestepping each blow. The force

of them was so overwhelming, however, that I couldn't avoid

everything, and my HP dwindled bit by bit with each deflection.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Klein's party lifting up the

fallen Army soldiers to drag them out of the room. As the demon

and I were fighting smack in the middle of the chamber, their

progress was limited.

"Urgh!!"

The demon finally connected on a powerful stroke. I went

numb with the rattling shock, and my HP dropped precipitously.

My equipment and skill loadout weren't designed for tanking. I

couldn't last much longer. Fear of death spread through my limbs

like a chill. I couldn't even coordinate well enough to escape.

There was only one course of action remaining. I had to put all

of my damage-dealing expertise to the test and fight back.

"Asuna! Klein! Just hold out for ten seconds!"

I gave a hardy swing of my sword and deflected the beast's

next attack, taking advantage of the brief pause that ensued to

drop into a roll. Klein filled the gap with his katana just in time.

Unfortunately, Klein's katana and Asuna's rapier were both selected for their speed in battle, not their weight. They wouldn't

stand up to the demon's tremendous horse cleaver. I swiped my

left hand while on the floor, calling up the menu.

There was no time for a single mistake. My fingers flew over

the buttons, my heart racing. I quickly shuffled through my inventory list, found what I wanted, and materialized it. I set the

item in a blank slot on my equipment mannequin, opened my

skill window, and switched my currently selected weapon skill.

When all the steps were complete, I hit the OK button to close

the window, felt a new weight on my back, and looked up.

"All ready!"

Klein was pulling back and his HP bar was lower—he must

have taken a hit. Normally, he'd be using a healing crystal, but

that wouldn't work in here. Asuna was occupying the demon's attention now, and in a few seconds, she'd be down under half of

her health, into the yellow zone.

When she heard me give the signal from behind her, Asuna

nodded and unleashed a thrust attack with a piercing cry.

"Yaaaah!!"

Her sword left white tracers behind as it flew forward and collided with the Gleameyes's blade, sparks flying in every direction.

Both of them were knocked backward by the force of the impact,

leaving a space in between.

"Switch!"

I leaped in to face the enemy without missing a beat. The

demon recovered from its momentary paralysis and swung hard.

The zanbato trailed fire until it came into contact with the

trusty sword in my right hand, while my left hand reached for the

new sword slung over my back. It pulled free and connected with

the demon's torso. It was the first clean hit we'd scored, and for

the first time, I actually saw its HP bar diminish.

"Groaaah!!"

It erupted with rage and attempted another downward swipe.

This time I absorbed the blow fully with both swords crossed in

front of me, and pushed back. It lost balance with the reflection of

force, and I leaped onto the offensive for the first time.

A mid-level slash with the right sword. A momentary thrust

with the left. Right, left, right again. My swords flashed so

quickly, they seemed to burn my brain cells. High-pitched slashing sound effects popped off in quick succession, and beams of

light shot out of the fray like stardust.

I was using my hidden specialty, the Extra Skill "Dual Blades."

This was Starburst Stream, a high-level, sixteen-part combination.

"Raaaahhh!!"

Paying no mind to the few blows that the demon blocked, I

roared as my assault continued, left and right. My eyesight began

scorching—I could barely even see the enemy anymore. Even the

occasional shock of the monster's sword striking my body felt like

it was coming from another world entirely. Adrenaline coursed

through my veins, and my nerves sparked with every swing of the

swords.

Faster, faster. My mind was accelerated to the breaking point,

even the double-speed of swinging twice the swords feeling inadequate. I swung faster and faster, attempting to outdo even the

speed-assist of the game system.

"…Aaaaahhh!!"

The sixteenth and final blow caught the Gleameyes directly in

the middle of the chest.

"Groaaahhh!!"

Suddenly I realized I wasn't the only one bellowing. The

demon was roaring up at the ceiling, white exhaust pouring from

its mouth and nostrils.

It seemed to freeze for just an instant.

And the Gleameyes exploded into a vast cloud of tiny pieces.

Glittering particles of light showered the room.

Is it…over…?

My eyes swam with the aftereffects of the battle, and I unconsciously swiped both swords and returned them to the scabbards

crossed over my back. I checked my HP bar—a few pixels of red

remained. I stared at them as though they didn't belong to me,

then felt all the strength leave my body. I slid to the floor without

a word.

Blackness.