Sword Art Online: The Requiem

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

Dungeon Boss Room

March 31, 2052

“No! Don’t Die on me!” I pleaded.

I noticed a little red line remaining on his HP bar. He’s still alive. I can still save him! I scrolled through my inventory, my hands shaking as I hastily searched for a potion. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a potion. I just looked at him, hopeless. Using my peripheral vision, I can see Mayline running towards our direction.

“Regie!” she pleaded.

She got out a blue crystal and held it towards Regie.

“Heal!”

The crystal didn’t work out. We panicked. Regie was still hanging on to life but still, we need to get him to a safety place. The Skull Reaper, befitting its centipede-like appearance, was able to move very quickly to outmaneuver the players, making it extremely difficult to avoid being hit by its attacks. Its huge and long body also makes it difficult to avoid the creature's strikes. It crawled towards our direction  and hurled us with its claw. I quickly carried Regie over my shoulders and leapt away from the claws. Mayline followed until we reached the end of the hall where everyone was preparing for the boss to come back.

“Any Potion?!” I shouted.

Everyone got out their potions as I hastily put it to Regie’s mouth. Soon, his HP was on the yellow zone and his Battle healing skill somehow acted up.  I noticed that some of the guild members and attack force are missing. In that short time, I knew that the Skull Reaper Murdered about 700 of them.

“No more deaths, today. NO MORE!” shouted Regie as she impaled his sword on the forehead of the Skull Reaper.

“Squad B, C, and D! Casual Routine! Back to positions!” shouted Ace as he readied his sword.

The battle begun. Celine leapt forward and delivered a Start Splash and a Meteor Break at the boss. Ace performed three fast Howling Octaves, turning his skill into a 36-hit combo. I leapt forward and delivered a Vorpal Strike and a Savage Fulcrum at it, making it angry. Regie then leapt forward and performed a rare skill of the Dual Blades: The Eclipse and Star Burst Stream. Other players had charged their swords and attacked the middle. Maricris and Red targeted the tails which made it easier for us to tackle it with many attacks and skills. Another time passed and it fell apart.

“One fourth life Remaining!” Shouted Ace.

“Push!” shouted Regie and did his skills faster.

“Hmph.” Celine, insulted, did faster than Regie could which makes it easier to slay the boss.

Everyone has their hopes up now. Everybody is fighting it with charged attacks. Some may be exhausted but some kept hitting until they fainted and exploded into shards.

“Ace, Regie, Celine!” I called their Attention.

“What?” They replied.

“Show me the Best Skill you’ve got!” I shouted.

Ace ran forward and performed an even faster series of Howling Octave, which made his sword glow red. Celine leaped up and delivered a series of Meteor Breaks and Star Splash with such speed that it resembles like lightning. Regie then ran forward, holding his Elucidator  and Dark Repulsor, and performed his series of Starburst Stream.

“Together!” I shouted.

We all jumped up and performed a series of vertical arc at the Skull Reaper. It’s HP  depleted to zero, making the big CONGRATULATIONS! message appear.

Ace leveled up to Lv. 95 while Celine and I leveled up to Lv. 96. Regie reached Lv. 97 and finally mastered his Starburst Stream and The Eclipse skill.

“Congratulations, everyone!” he greeted everybody.

Everybody cheered except Maricris and Red.

“Congratulations? How about those who died? The 758 people? How? Huh?” shouted Red.

“Chill dude. Just relax.” I said.

“Relax? We are losing players here, Loser. We are losing lives. We are murderers.” He replied.

“Is this what you call Freedom? You lack potentials to be leaders.” Says Maricris.

“You’re questioning my Authority?” says Regie, tilting his head and glaring at Maricris.

“Bes. I’ll handle this.” I said, stopping Regie.

“You’ll handle this? We’ll kill you.” Says Red.

I used the sprint skill to run towards Red and he was quite surprised to see me appear in front of him. I held up a sword to his neck.

“You’re outnumbered. Do it and we’ll Kill you. Playing Orange for a day doesn’t make sense to me now. You two are the murderers, not us. Better stay off the front lines and never mess with the ways of our guild. Understand?” I asked and pressed the sword into his neck.

“But I---“

“UNDERSTAND?!” I pressed the sword deeper.

“Hey!” shouted Maricris. “You’re hurting him!”

I rolled my eyes at Maricris. “Understand?” I glared at Red.

“Yes.”

I dropped him to the ground and the two escaped the Dungeon so fast.

“Nice one, Gen.” says Ace and tapped me on the shoulder. “That would teach them.”