Progressive Factor

The Colonel, the General, and the King

Kirito

"Gotcha!" Kirito swings his blade against the open Nato the Taurus Colonel, followed by the group lead by Agil. As he glances back, Nato shares a staredown with Kirito as he raises his right arm. The stun debuff attack is coming. "Here it comes... Asuna!" As he leaps back, Kirito realizes he just spoke to no one named Asuna as Asuna herself is not here. His party consists of only Jaymes and Koharu, and ever since reuniting, they've used the same configuration of pairs being Asuna-Kirito and Jaymes-Koharu. Now without his "temporary partner" that he has admittedly grown used to, it feels...weird.

"Aw, you miss her, Kii-boy?"

Kirito grunts from the other male in his party's jest and looks to Agil. "I... Look, just evade it!" Kirito lands beside Koharu and Jaymes, watching as Nato finishes his attack animation with no victims. "There we go. Jaymes, Koharu."

Jaymes nods. "Right. Everyone, switch out while he's in his delay!"

"Team G Braves! Sally Forth!"

"Rest up, Kirito." Kirito nods to Koharu as she follows the men to their rotation in battle. Dropping his eyes off the battle for a second, he feels a tug at the end of his jacket and looks up to Agil.

"Ha ha ha! What's wrong? You look lonely out there! Missing your partner?"

Kirito clicks his tongue and snacks a potion from Agil. "Who, that stubborn goat? Hardly! Solo all the way, that's what I say."

"Is that so?" Agil did not point out the current hole in Kirito's argument, whether he doesn't realize it or considers Jaymes and Koharu to not be partners of Kirito as they're famous for their partnership. Hell, he doesn't even point out he's still in a party with them, as he's been for the last week or so.

Switching topics, Kirito takes a look at Agil's weapon, still the ax, but instead of the double-sided one from the floor below, the one he wields is one-sided and basic. "What about you? What happened to that rare double-sided ax? Now you're using a cheapo store-bought model."

"Hey, things happen. Don't worry about my performance, I'll maintain my marks."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Kirito takes a glance at the Legend Braves fighting Nato alongside Jaymes and Koharu. Agil might be a victim to Nezha's/their plot...and according to Jaymes, kept as a secret from Koharu, might not be the only victim present. According to the "Crimson Warrior," a member of the Dragon Knights, a boy named Shivata, "lost" his high-level Stout-Brand sword to Nezha the same day Asuna the day after Asuna lost her weapon.

These same "scammers" just destroyed a health bar of Nato's, impressing Agil and Kirito. "They're not just for show. Make sure you and your buds keep up, Master Blackie."

"Uh, yeah. The thing is...it's not the ones working on Colonel Nato that I'm worried about. It's the main force." Kirito looks over his shoulder to the main force fighting General Baran. He, too, just did the stun attack, catching some of the players who failed to evade in time.

"They don't look so good..."

"Kirito!" Kirito looks back around as Jaymes and Koharu come to him and Agil. "Let's go assist the main force. Agil--"

"Leave it to us and Team G. Hurry!"

Kirito nods. "Right!" Team I runs as fast as they can to Lind's position, seeing just how bad the main force has it. Besides being hit with stun, some worry more about their dropped weapons. Kibaou at least makes the wise order to abandon weapons for getting the stunned and paralyzed from a roaring Baran.