HOME (SAO Short Story)

003| Battle Royale

Chapter 3
Battle Royale

———3rd Person POV———
"Alright! And with that final battle we have our final teams!"

Kuroh stared at the congratulations sign that was being shown on the screen, the announcers voice hardly registered to her as she stared. As much as she hated to admit it, her fathers team was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Between their tactical moves and the strength they hold as one group, she knew that they would have a tough time beating them. Zeliska rested a hand on Kuroh's shoulder, "Everything will be okay."

"We haven't talked at all during the SJ or since we agreed that I needed to beat him," Kuroh stated as she finally tore her eyes away from the screen. "I'm just...I'm scared that after this my relationship with him would never be the same."

"I can tell you now that it won't. If it changes for the worse or the better, I'm not sure. That depends on the battle and how you two respond on the field."

"You're right. Our relationship will never be the same, but I'm going to make sure that it will change for the better."

"Okay, satellite scan is going...now," a blue map of the fields floated in the middle of the small team. "My father's team should be around here somewhere..."

"TK-5, they're over there by the demolished city. The closest team to us is Team T-S, they won last year and are probably headed towards us now," Zeliska said as she pointed out the two teams.

"Yes, but Team ZEMAL is closer. They'll probably try to take them out on the way to us," Itsuki replied, pointing out ZEMAL's red dot.

"Team MMTM and SHINC are right next to each other so they're probably going to go after each other in the plains. Then PM4 isn't to far from JKSS and TK-5. I'm not sure who Pito would go after..." LLENN stated, "Nevermind. If JKSS really was apart of the BoB a few years ago then Pito would definitely go after them first."

"The winner of that battle is definitely uncertain," Kuroh added. "We should get going," the map disappeared as the group stood up from where they were crouching. Kuroh looked from the snowy mountains that her and her team were on. "This isn't a good place for us to be. LLENN and I stick out like a sore thumb."

"Agreed. We should start heading to the city, TK-5 will probably head towards us as well. We'd meet in the middle," Zeliska said as they started to walk down the mountains.

"I'll scout ahead," before anyone could say anything LLENN disappeared in a pink blur down the mountain. Her brown eyes darted around the area for any sign of movement. She let out a small cry of surprise as her health depleted slightly. 'Already?!' She brought her foot forward to turn to see what team it was. T-S stood a few feet away from her, the people with shields in the front while the others with guns stayed in the back. Red bullet lines appeared in her vision, all of them hitting a certain point on her body.

LLENN turned and ran towards her group again to warn them as she dodged the bullets that's Red being flung at her. When her team was in her sights, she waved her arm up as a warning. "T-S is down below!" She said as she finished running up to them.

"Itsuki, snipe 'em, Zeliska cover him. LLENN, you and I will get through their defences," Kuroh ordered before she started running down the hill with LLENN. She gripped onto her dual handguns, the feeling of them on her palms slowly calming her down from the anxiety that she felt thinking about her upcoming battle.