My sword bounced back and held still at my left side for an instant. There was another flash, and the combination of system assistance and forward leap ripped the sword from left to right. It was another level strike, much shallower than the previous, clipping the target’s gorget and left shoulder. Thanks to the help of my still-active buff, it knocked the knight farther back.
The force of the second blow sent my body spinning clockwise, the sword ending up at my left flank.
“Aaah!!”
I leaped hard off my right foot. The tip of the Anneal Blade sliced into the enemy’s chest again, shattering the thick metal breastplate. It caught his flesh behind it, sending up a spray of little red particles meant to resemble blood.
“Hrrg!” the white knight grunted. He tried to hold up his sword for another attack.
But my skill wasn’t done yet. The last swipe of Horizontal Square was a forehand from the right that completed a glowing square of light that expanded outward.
“Raaaah!!”
My blade and I danced, slicing through air that seemed to be thicker than usual with the acceleration of my senses. If this last shot hit his defenseless heart with a critical blow, that should eliminate his HP. But even as I roared, I altered my course slightly—for the kite shield in his left hand rather than his heart.
The flash of collision between sword and shield covered my vision in white. In the midst of that halation, the knight’s silhouette grew rapidly smaller as his body flew away with the force of impact.
In a world of silence, I heard the sound once again.
A tiny little cracking sound. A voice of farewell.
About eight inches from the tip of the Anneal Blade +8, the metal splintered, shooting out fragile shards that melted into the air like ice.
When sound and color returned, the first things I heard were the harsh ringing of metal and an enormous splash. The Forest Elven inferior knight had plunged into the water over thirty feet away, his longsword the only part of him remaining on the pier.
I didn’t know if he would remove himself from the battle once he’d fallen into the water, the way all the other elves did. But I didn’t bother to follow the commander’s status. I turned to my side.
In the rear, Asuna was still locked in combat with the heavily armed adjutant. Neither of their HP were even in the yellow zone yet.
I put the half-shattered Anneal Blade into my back sheath and called out, “Asuna, switch!!”
Instantly understanding my intent, the fencer smoothly pulled back and held her Chivalric Rapier +5 out before her.
“Yaah!!”
It was her signature Linear attack. It struck dead center of the enemy’s shield. Though it was a basic move, the combination of Asuna’s skill proficiency, weapon stats, force boost from her forward step, and the last few seconds of the viscount’s buff effects all combined to blast the Forest Elven heavy warrior’s considerable bulk backward.
Naturally, Asuna was put into a significant delay herself at having her sword skill successfully defended, but I was there to charge the adjutant and take advantage of the instant of standstill.
I was there to smash his defenseless side with Crescent Moon, a backflip kick attack. Lifted into the air by the skill, the heavy warrior bellowed with rage and consternation, plunging toward the water on the right side of the pier.
He splashed into the water with a splendid water spout. I blocked the spray with my arm and examined the lake surface.
The commander’s aide sank face-first a foot or two, then released his broadsword and round shield and began to paddle up to the surface. He glared back at us ruefully, then turned and began to swim away. I was surprised that he could even swim with that plate armor on, but it was probably yet another elven charm at work.
Our buffs vanished at last, and I turned my empty-feeling view back to the dock. My partner recovered from her delay and walked over for a celebratory fist bump.
Though we had finally won the exhausting battle, Asuna didn’t look very happy. I knew why, and I stroked the hilt of my sword to explain.
“It was about time for it to go…If anything, I’m glad it held out this long.”
I lowered my hand and patted my partner’s arm. We turned to look out beyond the end of the pier. The soldiers on the remaining Forest Elf ships were abandoning their posts and leaping into the lake. They swam over to join the commander and his aide and formed a long line swimming toward the canyon exit of the lake.
Meanwhile, the Dark Elves treading water climbed up onto the dock and assumed formation, while the soldiers on the four gondolas brought them back to their positions. While there was no way to know how many soldiers on both sides had died in the conflict, it was obvious that many of them had already been knocked out of the battle by falling into water.
Was this the best way for it to end? Given the possibility that the Forest Elves could attack again, perhaps we ought to have been more ruthless in seeking fatalities.
As the last line of the Forest Elves disappeared into the distant mist, a familiar voice called my name.
“That was brilliant fighting, Kirito.”
I turned slowly and fixed the smiling knight Kizmel with a steady gaze.
“Do you think…this was the right choice?” I murmured, looking down. Kizmel strode right up before me and bracingly smacked my shoulder.
“Hold your head high. You were the one who warned us of a Forest Elf attack, helped even the scales, and defeated the enemy commander in one-on-one battle, Kirito. Most important of all, you safely protected the two keys in the castle. What more could we ask for?”
Given that this was coming from Kizmel, whose beloved sister was killed by Forest Elves, I could only nod silently.
As though it had been waiting for that gesture, my quest log popped up and announced that the quest had been completed—specifically, the “Laketop Fortress” quest that followed the “Shipwright of Yore.” A huge amount of experience poured in.
I closed the window, unsure of how I really felt about it. Meanwhile, Asuna whispered, “I’m going to leave the lake for a bit and check for messages from Argo.”
“Oh…thanks, do that.”
Yofel Castle and its lake were an instanced map created for Asuna and me, which meant that, like dungeons, we couldn’t send or receive instant messages here. We’d been spending most of our time out questing as we hung around the castle, so we’d been buying updates on the progress of the floor from Argo, but the Forest Elf attack had kept us busy and unable to receive the midday message.
Asuna hopped onto the Tilnel and handled the oar somewhat awkwardly, sending the little boat gliding across the now-quiet lake. As I watched her go, Viscount Yofilis approached.
“It is a shame, what happened to your sword.”
I spun around and shook my head rapidly. “N-no, I put it through too much…”
The viscount’s scarred but beautiful features crinkled into a grin.
“It is good that you do not blame your weapon. Within most of the blade remaining, the castle’s blacksmith should be able to repair it.”
“Mmm…” I shook my head. “No, I’ll melt this one down and have it turned into a new weapon or piece of armor.”
“I see. In that case…”
Yofilis raised his hand. Two soldiers trotted up from the gate, bearing an enormous chest at least six feet wide. They lowered the heavy-looking chest next to their master and bowed before running back to resume their places among the troop formation.
“What’s this?” I asked, curious. Yofilis pulled a golden key from his pocket—not one of the six secret keys, of course—and unlocked the chest, pulling it open. A shine several times brighter than the afternoon sun filled my eyes.
The enormous chest was absolutely stuffed with weapons, armor, and accessories that had been buffed to a mirror shine. As I stared with shock, a dialog window appeared offering a choice of quest rewards.
Yofilis stood and smiled. “These are the treasu
red heirlooms of the Yofilis family. Human warrior, please accept any one of them as a personal gift from me and another as a reward for your valor in combat.”
“Huh? Er, but—”
The viscount’s stunning generosity completely obliterated the leftover gloom shrouding my mind after I hadn’t been able to finish off the Forest Elf knight.
“T…two? Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
“For me and my partner? Two each?”
“Naturally.”
“Th…thank you, my lord!”
I excitedly gave a Dark Elf salute, to which Kizmel smiled and rolled her eyes. But I couldn’t be blamed for my reaction. Countless times I’d been greeted with quest reward options and thought, If only I could pick two! It was a credit to my phenomenal self-control that I hadn’t thrust my fists into the air and screamed with triumph.
“W-well, if you say so,” I finished, tapping each of the items in the lengthy rewards list in turn to check out their properties—the greatest pleasure to be found in Aincrad.
Five minutes later: If only I could pick three!
I was still agonizing over which to pick when I heard a loud splash next to me. It was Asuna dropping the anchor of the Tilnel as she returned. I looked up from the list and beckoned my partner over.
“Hey, Asuna, check it out! We get two this time—two!”
Her face was grave as she leaped onto the pier and raced over. I couldn’t blame her—two items was serious news.
“And not two between the both of us, I mean two each!”
“Enough about tutus, Kirito!” she yelled, sparks flying from her boots with the impact of her sliding stop. She grabbed my shoulder and sucked in a deep breath. “This is important! They just left already!”
“Who did?”
“Who do you think?! The floor boss raid!!”
“…Wha…?”
Whaaaaat?! Kizmel and Yofilis blinked in surprise at my scream.
“B-but…this morning’s info said that the boss battle would be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest…”
“That’s right, but they found the boss chamber earlier than expected this morning, and they scouted it already. So they took a break at the nearby village to resupply and decided that they should just ‘git on with the battle already’ this very afternoon!”
“…You don’t have to elaborate on who said that one,” I groaned, summoning a mental image of the fourth-floor map. Yofel Castle was in the lower right of the circular map—the southeast. The Forest Elves’ castle was on the plateau to the southwest. And the labyrinth tower was just between the two, at the very southern tip of the floor.
The nearest village to the tower was barely a few hundred yards away, as I remembered it. And the layout of the labyrinth was quite simple on this floor. If they already had the route to the boss chamber mapped out it would take two…no, one and a half hours to get there from town.
“Do you know the exact time the raid left?!” I demanded.
Asuna looked back at her message. “Fifty-five minutes ago!”
“Then they’re already in the tower now…Hmmm, I guess we have no choice but to leave it to them this time…”
“Yeah…maybe you’re right…”
With the quick pace the DKB and ALS were making, I was sure they could defeat the floor boss at first glance without suffering any casualties. I just had to swallow my concerns in this case. Meanwhile, Kizmel approached the two of us.
“Kirito, Asuna, will you be challenging the guardian of the Pillar of the Heavens?”
“Uh…yeah, but it seems that our other companions have already begun climbing the tower…”
A faint shadow fell over her face.
“I see. If you trust them, then there is no reason to worry…but from what I understand, the beast of this floor…”
She trailed off, and the viscount filled in for her.
“We only know based on the legend, but it is said that the guardian beast who lurks in the tower of this floor wields some eerie power.”
“Eerie power…?” I wondered.
The floor boss we fought in the beta was known as a hippogriff—half eagle, half horse. Its beak was powerful, but in an internal chamber with a ceiling, all its wings could do was cause wind. I didn’t remember much challenge or any kind of special “eerie” power.
But in the next moment, I was reminded that my knowledge of the beta meant nothing anymore.
“The guardian beast of this floor is called a hippocampus—a cross between horse and fish. It causes water to spring from even the driest earth and can flood one’s feet from beneath him,” Yofilis announced, then added, “Any who fight the beast will need a charm to float in water, it is said.”
“…!”
Asuna and I held our breaths.
If we interpreted his words directly, the hippogriff-turned-hippocampus had the ability to fill the entire boss chamber with water. Therefore, we needed the means to float. But there was no way Kibaou and Lind would have their men hauling gondolas by hand up that tower. The system wouldn’t even allow us to do that.
What struck me as even worse was the possibility that in order for the room to fill with water, there must be no leaks—meaning that they might force the exits shut. If an inescapable boss chamber filled with water, the entire raid would be wiped out.
“W-we need to send them a message!” Asuna shouted, racing for the Tilnel. I quickly stopped her.
“No, the message won’t reach the players inside the labyrinth!”
“What should we do, then?!”
“We have to go ourselves. If we’re lucky, at least half of the raid members will still have their inner-tube fruit from the trip to the main city. As long as they can hold out with those, we’ll have time to reach the chamber and open the door from outside!”
I chose not to mention what would happen if we couldn’t open the door from the outside. It was too disastrous a possibility, and I didn’t want to believe that they’d set up such a lethal trap so close to the beginning of the game.
Asuna’s reaction was quick. She nodded with conviction and turned to Kizmel.
“I’m sorry, Kizmel—we need to go. But we’ll be back, I swear!”
But the Dark Elf knight’s shoulders simply shrugged, her expression one of affront.
“What do you humans call this? ‘Being distant’? I will join you, of course.”
“Wha—?” both Asuna and I uttered simultaneously. But that surprise was nothing compared to the shock that came two seconds after.
“And so shall I,” pronounced His Lordship Viscount Yofilis, master of Yofel Castle, as though it were perfectly ordinary. Asuna and I stared at him.
“Whaaaaaaat?!”
To fill in for my broken Anneal Blade +8, I called upon the services of the longsword the Forest Elf commander left on the pier. Asuna and I headed out into the lake in the large Dark Elven gondola, not the Tilnel, leaving the selection of quest rewards as a treat for afterward. And with the viscount, Kizmel, and two other stout guards, we had a full party of six.
With the soldiers managing the oars, the gondola raced through the empty lake and plunged into the canyon. A single terrific blow from its battering ram was enough to take care of any aquatic monsters in our way, and when we reached a branch in the river, we headed south.
Every time I looked at one of the labyrinth towers that stretched up to the floor above, I was overwhelmed by the scale, but as a representative of humanity in the presence of impassive Kizmel and Yofilis, I couldn’t afford to show fear. We raced up the brief path from the end of the canyon to the foot of the tower.
Argo was there at the entrance, ready with the map data. While her face went pale when she saw the cursors of the Dark Elves, she valiantly announced that she would join us.
We never stopped running, even inside the tower. The raid party ahead of us had cleared out nearly all the monsters on the way, and the few we saw were dispatched instantly by the viscount.
Sadly, unlike Kizmel, Viscount Yofilis never actually officially joined our party. If he had, then I could have learned what his level was—but perhaps that was something I didn’t really want to know. After all, depending on our choices in the campaign, the possibility was there that we might have fought him instead.
After a mad rush, we reached the entrance to the boss chamber just forty-five minutes after leaving the lake. That meant we were just ten minutes behind the raid.
The thick granite doors were shut tight. And through the narrow gap where the doors met trickled a tiny stream of water.
“…Kirito!” Asuna cried. I nodded and we leaped to the doors. I forced the Dark Elves behind us, then gripped the rusty handle with both hands, braced my feet, and pulled with all my strength.
But ultimately, there was no need to have pulled with much force. The giant doors were just barely holding put against enormous pressure from inside, and they burst open the instant I pulled.
“Whoaaa?!”
The shout came not from me or Asuna, or the four Dark Elves, or even Argo.
Along with a wave of water rushing through the doors came a large, shaven-headed man with an ax—Agil. He slid into the corridor on his belly and looked up at me, trying to get a smile across his lips.
“Hey, you showed up.”
“S-so you did get flooded!”
I pushed against the current and helped him up. More and more players washed out after Agil, but they were being caught by a fence surrounding the circular hall before the boss chamber. The water passed through the fence and drained down the stairs in a waterfall.
“Yeah. I told ’em it might be trouble, since the boss looked different than what the strategy guide said,” Agil grumbled. On the other side of the room, Asuna was clinging to the fence.
“Agil, are there victims?!”
“Don’t worry, no one’s died. Someone greedy picked all the little floaty-tube fruits they could back at the staircase…so thanks to those, nobody’s drowned, at the very least. We’ve just been trying to avoid the boss’s attacks and get this door open, but it was made so that it couldn’t be opened from inside.”