Always Be There For Me [Discontinued]

Chapter 6: The Boss and the Beaters

"Okay Asuna, I'll always be near you, I just have the invisibility cloak on, okay? Stay with Kirito too." I told Asuna. She nodded her head. I equipped the cloak and walked to where the rest of the people were and followed Asuna, who ran up to Kirito and walked side by side with him. She still had her hood on which concealed her face. Kirito was going over the plan with Asuna; they would be targeting the boss's helpers, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up. The second I do, switch in." Kirito explained. "Switch?" Asuna wondered. "Is this the first time you've been in a party?" "Yes." Asuna! No, you stupid! Switch in means to switch! What don't you get about it?! When he tells you to switch in battle, you just switch! Aya! I thought. I continued walking behind them, listening to their conversation.

"Let's go!" Diabel shouted when we reached to the boss room. He then opened the door and we then walked inside, the room filling up with light. I could then see a huge monster that jumped from somewhere (it magically appeared!): Illfang the Kobold Lord. The minions started to spawn around the monster, their weapons ready for battle. They then charged at us.

"Commence attack!" Diabel yelled. We all charged and readied our positions. "Squad A! Squad C! Switch! Here it comes, Squad B, block! Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch. Now! Switch, draw, and prepare to attack from the side. Squads D, E, and F, keep the sentinels off us!"

"Roger!" Kirito shouted back. Okay! I thought in my head as I ran side by side with Kirito along with Asuna. Kirito slashed a sentinel's stomach then shouted to Asuna, "Asuna, switch!" "Number three!" She yelled. I watched her hit the sentinel so fast with her blade; I couldn't even follow it with my eyes. Good, she remembers what I taught her, I thought. I kept myself busy with another sentinel and kept on destroying all of them. Illfang, the boss, finally reached the red and threw its current weapon away.

"Stand back! I'll go!" Diabel yelled. He charged up to the boss. What? I thought we were going to surround the whole thing... Diavel readied his sword, right when the boss reached for the Talwar. But it wasn't a Talwar, it was a No-Dachi! Shiz, the guide book was wrong, it's different from the beta test!

 "No! Jump back as fast as you can!" Kirito yelled the same time I yelled, "No, that's a No-Dachi! Get back!" Oh le poop, I shouldn't have yelled that out loud. Well, at least I'm invisible. Too late, Diabel was hit by the boss and flew all the way back.

"Diabel!" I heard Kirito yell as he rushed to him. I decided to take on Kirito's sentinel and mines at the same time to cover up for him. With a quick one, two, I defeated both minions.

"You were a beta tester...last attack bonus rare item...you were a beta tester too...defeat the boss...for everyone..." I heard as I listened to their conversation. Then I saw Diabel for the last time before he disappeared into tiny pieces of light.  He wanted the last attack bonus rare item I guess. Kirito stood up and was ready to fight.

"I'll go too." Asuna said. Me too! I thought. "Thanks." Kirito replied. You're welcome.

"We'll do it just like the sentinels." Kirito said. "Got it." And we charged at the boss. Kirito used a skill and brought the No-Dachi up. "Switch!" Asuna moved in, but the boss moved faster and attacked at Asuna. Asuna's hood was destroyed, revealing what she looked like to Kirito and everyone. Asuna then attacked again at the boss and it flew backwards. Tch, this cloak... The cloak was actually slowing me down a lot, it was s heavy! I wonder how Asuna was able to still fight!

"Asuna! I'm going!" I said as I unequipped the invisibility cloak and replaced it with a hood, the same one Asuna wore. "It's coming back!" Kirito yelled. Kirito, again, raised its weapon up and Asuna attacked. I attacked as many times as I could after Asuna finished. Kirito then did the same thing again, but the boss must've caught on and attacked Kirito who flew and slammed into Asuna. The boss came back to them, but Egil and I deflected its hit and I continued attacking without their help.

I continued attacking, but then I must've slowed down a bit because it used its chance to hit me. Kirito stood up and ran, about to block its hit from me, but I wasn't going to let it touch me. I quickly blocked it and countered the attack.

"Asuna! One last hit! You too!" I was referring to Kirito. He must've understood because he ran alongside with Asuna. Asuna and Kirito took turns as I continuously attacked. For the final performance, I dragged my sword across it, cutting it in half. Kirito did more of a curved pattern on its body. Our attacks finished it off; it flew into the air and disappeared into a bunch of blue light fragments.

Congratulations!! A notification said as it appeared above all of us. Everyone started applauding and shouting in happiness. A notification appeared for me and Kirito:

Congratulations! You got the last attacking bonus!

Bonus item: Coat of Light and Dark, it said for me.

Bonus item: Coat of Midnight, it said for Kirito.

"Um, good job?" I said to Kirito. "You too." Kirito said back.

"Congratulation. The victory belongs to the two of you." Egil said. "No..." Kirito said. Everyone started to applaud for us until...

"Why?! Why did you two let Diabel die? You guys knew that technique the boss used! If you told us about that up front, he wouldn't have died!" Kibaou yelled. There was a bunch of murmurs.

"Both of them must be beta testers! That's how they knew all the boss's attack patterns. They knew, but didn't tell us! There are more of you beta testers aren't there? Show yourselves!" Someone else yelled out. I looked at Kirito and he looked at me.

"I'm Kirito. Were you a beta tester? I was." Kirito whispered to me. "Yeah. I was a beta tester. What should we do? Everyone's going to start to suspect each other." I whispered back. He explained to me a plan that would work. Asuna and Egil was about to say something until they were interrupted with Kirito's laughter, along with mine.

I stopped laughing. "Did you just say I'm a beta tester? What an insult. I'm hurt." I said.

"Beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies." Kirito said. We then both stood up. "Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up, right?" I nodded my head and Kirito continued. "You guys were better than they are. But we're not like them."

"We only knew the boss's skills because we've fought monsters with katana skills on floor far beyond us. We know a lot more." I said.

"W-what? That's way worse than a beta tester! You're cheating, a cheater!" "Yeah a cheater!" "A beta tester and a cheater!" "A beater!" People started to yell. I looked at Kirito and smirked.

"A beater." I said. "Yes, I like it very much. Beater...we're beaters. Don't confuse us with the beta testers anymore." I said and equipped the Coat of Light and Dark; Kirito equipped the Coat of Midnight. Our coats flapped and settled down, making us look boss. "Let's go Kirito." I said. And then we walked to the entrance.

"Wait!" I turned around and saw Asuna. Kirito and I stopped. "You called my name when we were fighting," she said to Kirito, "Where did you learn it?" Oh my god, Asuna!!! He was in your party the whole time too!!!

"You can see another HP gauge below yours around here, right? Isn't something written next to it?" Asuna paused and looked.

"Ki-ri-to...Kirito? Is that your name?" "Yeah." Asuna started to laugh in embarrassment. "Oh, it's been there all this time!" "Asuna, you'll be really strong. So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down." Then we both walked away.

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