"Yolko!" Keita yelled where she fell.
The rest of them looked out the window and they spotted a robed figure on a far away rooftop.
Without wasting a moment, Ducker jumped out the window and onto the rooftop to give chase.
"Keep him safe!" Kirito yelled as he jumped after him.
Quickly, everyone did so by surrounding Schmitt as the two boys pursued the attacker.
Pulling out some throwing knives, Ducker threw them at the robed figure, however due to the distance, and his relative lack of experience with them compared to his mentor Kirito, he couldn't aim properly and they missed their target.
As he was catching up to his friend, Kirito noticed the man pull out a dark blue crystal.
"He's got a crystal!" he yelled breathlessly to his guildmate.
As soon as he heard that, Ducker put on an extra burst of speed, almost reaching a speed that would rival Asuna's.
Nearly reaching the figure, he jumped at him to catch him.
However the cloaked figure disappeared, leaving an explosion of polygons in his place before the boy could reach him.
"Oh shit!" Ducker yelled as he began to fall to the ground.
But before he hit the ground he suddenly stopped but he felt a harsh pressure on his neck.
Looking up, he saw Kirito holding on to his cloak with one hand while the other gripped the edge of the rooftop.
Once he stopped swinging, he lightly slapped Kirito's hand, telling him to let him go, as it was only a few metres to the ground where he landed on his feet.
Kirito jumped down as well, landing a metre away.
The two boys gave each other a look of disappointment.
"He got away," Ducker recapped.
"He got away," Kirito agreed.
They walked back to the inn, thinking of what could have just happened.
As they reached the place where Yolko fell, they noticed that the knife that killed her was still on the ground.
Ducker picked it up and put it in his inventory as evidence.
"Hey, thanks for saving me, Kirito," Ducker said as they walked up the staircase back to the room. "That's just another thing I owe you."
Kirito smiled in response. "Hey, we're guildmates," he reminded him, "that's just what we do."
Even though he had been a part of the Moonlit Black Cats for quite some time, he still couldn't help but find it strange how it was to be appreciated for such things.
It's a nice feeling.
As soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by the startled looks of their guild who all had their weapons out.
Quickly recognizing them, Sachi put her sword to the side to run forward and hug Kirito tightly.
He hugged her back before giving Keita a disappointed shake of his head.
"You two did your best," Keita consoled them.
Someone else was not as sympathetic toward them. "You idiots! What's wrong with you two?" Asuna scolded them. "Well, what happened?"
"We lost him," Kirito said.
"He teleported off somewhere before we could catch him," Ducker finished.
YOU ARE READING
Sword Art Online - The Midnight Shadow
FanfictionUsing all his power, Kirito was barely able to save the lives of his guildmates, but his guilt of putting them in danger drove him to leave them anyways. However, he did not have to return to be a solo player, as there is someone who will always sta...
