AUTHOR'S NOTE
So, uhh... I posted this yesterday on RoyalRoad and Ao3, and could have sworn I uploaded it here, but apparently not. I was like "weird, I usually get a handful of comments by now" and went to check, and yeah...
Sorry for the delay. But here it is. Enjoy!
///// START OF THE CHAPTER /////
"My sister."
All of the Reavers started when they heard Yui.
Sister?! Since when did Yui have a sister?
Well, to be fair they all knew that Yui's whole deal was that she didn't have any memories, so forgetting a sister was entirely too believable.
But even so, it was shocking. They all were keenly aware Yui wasn't human. They had turned Aincrad upside-down searching for any clues of her origins, and were convinced she didn't exist before the night she showed up at their home.
More than that even, they knew she wasn't just an awakened NPC like Kizmel. Oh, they had thought that at first, but there were simply too many inconsistencies. And with everything that happened in the last hour? Her eyes - and now her body - glowing, opening a dungeon below the Town of Beginnings, stopping a super-boss from killing them all...
No, Yui was something much more than a mere NPC given life.
But all of that-- None of it mattered. Drifter stared at Yui, then at the little girl still unconscious on the ground. Finally, his gaze shifted to the Fatal Scythe and sharpened into a glare.
"Then she's family too. Kirito, Asuna, get them out. We'll be right behind you."
The two parents exchanged a look and nodded. They didn't give Yui a chance to resist. Kirito grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder, while Asuna scooped the unconscious girl. Then, without even another glance at the Fatal Scythe, they turned and bolted.
"Keita, Sachi, and Tetsuo, with them!"
Kirito would only be able to use one of his swords, and Asuna had both of her hands occupied. They needed an escort - and it also went unsaid that the former Black Cats weren't prepared to fight a boss like the one in front of them.
To their credit, none of them hesitated or looked back. But Drifter was only able to direct his attention towards them for a second, because the moment Asuna had grabbed the other girl, the Fatal Scythe moved.
"Oh, no you don't!"
Drifter snarled. The boss was attempting to fly over them, completely ignoring the Reavers like they didn't even exist. It was single-mindedly focused on pursuing the lavender-haired girl.
That just wouldn't do.
A shining silver beam slammed into the Fatal Scythe, giving it momentary pause. But that was all Drifter's Serpentcoil Impale did.
Seven health bars manifested above the boss, and the first of them didn't have even a nick on it. One of Drifter's best offensive skills had failed to so much as scratch the monster.
But it caught its attention. The spearmaster could almost see the gears turning inside the Fatal Scythe's head, it's AI struggling to decide if it should continue its original mission or deal with the - admittedly negligible - threat first.
Reaver's Requiem made the choice for it. Three of Sinon's arrows slammed into the boss, and Feredir used Wolv's shoulders as a platform to jump up and clench his fangs around its wrist.
The arrows failed to pierce its cloak, and Feredir was swatted away like an annoying fly. But the Fatal Scythe finally turned to fully face the players for the first time.
Drifter shuddered, and he wasn't the only one. The sheer pressure of having the boss' entire focus on you was enough to make any player weak at the knees.
There was no doubt, this monster was way out of their league. The spearmaster doubted even the upcoming 75th floor boss could be this strong or terrifying.
"Fight while retreating! Don't bother with attacking, we can't damage it! Just keep yourselves alive long enough for Kirito and Asuna to make it out!"
It would be easier said than done. Drifter saw the boss winding up for a slash, massive scythe pulling back slightly, and Vallerk raised a Shield Wall empowered by Yuna's Song of Stone.
Next thing he knew, their tank was slamming into the far-side wall, over half of his health gone, and nearly unconscious from the pain.
"Vallerk!"
"Liz, focus! He's still alive! Everyone, switch to evasion! Parry if you can't dodge!"
Drifter hated giving those orders - and not only because of the callousness he was showing towards Vallerk, he had faith his friend would stand back up soon.
No, what he truly disdained was the change in fighting style. Attempting to parry instead of blocking was a thousand times harder and much more perilous. A single mistake and the enemy's attack would go right through your guard without you being able to put up any defense, taking the full brunt of it. With how strong the Fatal Scythe was, that could very well be a one-hit kill.
But from how badly Vallerk had been wounded with just a casual attack, it wouldn't really make a difference for most of the members of Reaver's Requiem if they brought their guard up or not.
"Look out!"
The spearmaster got the chance to put his words into action very soon. The Fatal Scythe loomed over him after Agil barely managed to use a Cleave to knock aside its weapon.
Grimacing, Drifter leaned back, the edge of the boss' scythe passing mere millimeters from his nose. His spear immediately rose in an Upturn, slicing at the body of the blade before the Fatal Scythe could do a follow-up.
One thing - the only thing - that they could feel grateful about in their situation was that the monster had very simple attack patterns: choose a target, slash, move on.
Of course, that didn't mean fighting it was easy. The Fatal Scythe was a monstrosity far above their current level, and both its speed and the power behind its attacks were just barely this side of bearable.
Still... to Drifter's experienced eyes, the boss felt... incomplete.
That was the best word he could think of. The very basic aggro priority, always going after whoever was closest, the lackluster offensive patterns, and the poor diversity of attack methods were all at odds with a being as strong as the boss was.
The Fatal Scythe had all of the potential to be a sure-death floor boss, but none of the required skill.
It was the only reason the Reavers were still alive. If the Fatal Scythe fought like the Two-Headed Giant or the Silver Duchess, the Reavers could very well have already suffered casualties.
As it was, it was still too close for Drifter's liking. Silica ducked under a swing of the boss' scythe, avoiding death by quite literally a hair's width, and his heart clenched painfully.
"Sinon, where are they?!"
He was talking about Kirito, Asuna, the Black Cats, and the two girls. Yuna couldn't stop playing her flute, having now changed to Clear Breeze to boost their agility - the song, nearly at max proficiency, gave the Reavers a life-saving increase of speed - to check the map, so it had to be left to the archer, the only one who was fairly idle since even her most powerful skill failed to damage the monster.
"They are getting near the exit, but-- They stopped!"
"What?! Why?!"
"I don't know! To your left, Yuuki!"
Her girlfriend didn't even hesitate before diving to the right, avoiding a slimy tongue before it could wrap around her waist. Her twin swords flashed, mincing it to pieces before a Sonic Leap carried her to - and through - the newly spawned mob.
"Great! Just great! More enemies!"
Drifter threw a Serpentcoil Impale at one of the toads that was sneaking up on Kizmel, his mind working at light-speed.
"Start falling back! Yuna, Sinon, Griselda, Liz, Vallerk, Agil, Wolv, Nautilus, to the rear! Clean up the mobs as we go, don't let them get to us! Kizmel, Yuuki, Ran, Silica, you are in boss duty with me!"
Sending the ranged and slower members of the guild far away from the boss to stop the mobs from overwhelming them was the best plan Drifter could come up with.
"Fuck!"
It did have the glaring fault of leaving only the five of them as the sole focus of the Fatal Scythe. Cutting the number of players facing it in half had the unfortunate side-effect of doubling the frequency with which each of them had to dodge the deady slashes of the giant scythe.
They would make do. They had to make do.
Shiiiiirrrrkkkk!
Sparks flew as Drifter's spear and the boss' scythe slid against one another, the Reaver managing to hold his ground for one eternal second before his knees buckled and he was pushed back.
It took all of his several years of experience to have the wherewithal of twisting his body as he fell. He landed painfully on top of his left shoulder, but at least he only lost a couple fingers instead of his entire arm.
It was telling of how hard the lives of frontliners were that he didn't even gave the missing digits a second glance, pushing through the pain to roll away before the Fatal Scythe could dislodge its weapon from where it had pierced the ground.
He caught a glimpse of Ran cutting into the monster with a Slant, trying to make it drop the scythe, but it was as useless as anything else they had attempted. It was like the weapon was glues to the skeletal hand they sometimes saw under its cloak.
Still, it wasn't like her actions were entirely without result. The Fatal Scythe turned its burning gaze to Ran, allowing Drifter to stand up and inspect the damage to his hand with a scowl.
His pinky, ring, and middle fingers in his left hand were gone, rendering it virtually useless to anything more than gingerly holding a teacup. Certainly not enough to properly wield the long spear and halberd he favored.
He used Infinite Spear to switch to a shorter, one-handed pike, somewhat akin to a Roman pillum. Not his first choice given the reduced range, but the least worse of the options at hand.
"We are nearly there!"
He risked a quick glance at his map, seeing the blue dots that represented Reaver's Requiem spread throughout the long corridor of the dungeon.
On one end, next to a giant, glowing red dot, were he, Yuuki, Ran, Kizmel, and Silica, accompanied by the two tiny yellow dots that represented the pets Pina and Feredir.
A little ways away from them, facing a wall of smaller red dots, were the other Reavers who Drifter had sent to clean the mobs.
And, at the far end of the corridor, just short of the stairs leading out and into the Town of Beginnings, were Kirito, Asuna, Sachi, Tetsuo, and Keita. Yui still didn't appear on his map, and neither did her supposed sister.
Why they weren't going out, Drifter didn't know, but it couldn't be anything good.
He would find out soon. They had been rapidly retreating as they fought the boss, and it wouldn't be long before all three groups merged into one again.
So, of course, it was the moment Drifter unconsciously relaxed just a little that everything went to shit.
His eyes widened as Kizmel was half a beat too slow to retreat, and the boss' scythe swept her legs out from under her. Literally.
"Gah!"
The Dark Elf fell like a sack of potatoes, giving out a strangled cry of pain. Both of her legs, severed at just above the knee, spun through the air for a couple seconds before shattering in a million particles.
The Fatal Scythe hovered above Kizmel, and a small part of Drifter's mind noted she was incredibly lucky to have survived that one attack, her HP bar so low he struggled to see it.
The larger part of the spearmaster's mind had pretty much shut down, his body moving purely on instinct to charge at the boss with a Rage Spike before it could slash down with its scythe and end Kizmel's life for good. With the corner of his eyes, he saw Yuuki, Ran, and Silica all using charge skills to try to do the same.
They would all get there too late.
"No!"
"Kizmel!"
Drifter's expression contorted in sheer anticipatory agony.
[ NO! ]
And then his body froze as something flew past him faster than he could blink, and the Fatal Scythe was smashed away from Kizmel's downed form and into the wall as if it were a football.
Drifter blinked, disbelief filling his being as he stared at the one responsible.
A tiny body, long black hair, and a pink dress. Dainty hands spread out protectively in front of Kizmel, hovering a good 4 meters above the ground. A blinding blue glow.
And the purple text above her head.
[ IMMORTAL OBJECT ]