The Red Player (A Sword Art Online story)

Chapter 7: Blood Red

Chapter 7: Blood Red

Piifalo

A heavy gust of winds knocks me backward, pushing my left arm to the side with it. “It's fast,” I whisper. "I don't think I stand a chance to keep up. I look down at the mortified Ryuga. He shakes uncontrollably in fear.

“Hey,” he says with a shaky voice. "I know we're supposed to be enemies, but i suggest you start running... not that it'll do you much good," he manages to chuckle though his deep wound.

“You really don't know me,” I laugh through clenched teeth.

“Ha! Suit yourself-” Another gale whips straight into me, this time the pain in my shoulder is much worse. I realize my eyes had been shut for a single moment, and it was exactly then that I had been struck.

I ease my eyes open. A tall dark figure stands before me with his head bowed down and arms extended. I try to move my left arm upward to grab him, but a sharp pain paralyzes me. I look down slowly. A long katana, at least as tall as me shoots straight through my shoulder. I force a small grin.

“Damn, again?” The man slowly slides his katana out of my shoulder, revealing a gaping hole in my arm. My health bar drops to below ½ I wince slightly at the pain, but recover as his head rolls back up. He has long silver hair, and is several inches taller than me. (At least 6 feet tall) His long curved blade waits calmly in his hand. He wears a dark robe that glides in the wind.

“You await death with confidence,” he says with a voice void of emotion. I look into his pale grey eyes, filled with sadness. It’s then that I take a short step back. His aura radiates through the cold, misty air. His presence instills fear within my soul, stunning me.

If I don’t run, I’ll die. It’s just that simple. His eyes cut deep, if it were possible my health bar would drop in and instant. We stand unmoving for an eternity. My terrified breath is the only noise in this prison he has made. My body shakes uncontrollably, refusing to obey. Despair floods my mind as tears begin to fill my eyes. For the first time in my life, I want to scream. I want to cry and run. I’ve never been afraid of death, but he is worse. He is fear.

Immediately I tear away and sprint. The fear grows exponentially until it’s all I can think about. His emotionless eyes, draining the life out of anything it sees. Just a moment in his presence and I was begging for death.

Before I can get more than a few meters away he appears before me. I skid to a stop and pull out devotion, but my hand won’t stop shuddering.

“I am captain Hajime of Laughing Coffin. It appears my lieutenant has run off again and gotten injured in the process,” he sighs. “While I am somewhat impressed by your ability to damage him, you must understand that it is my job as his captain to kill you for it.” He grasps his katana tightly with his right hand. Suddenly my senses shut off again, and the world becomes dark. A ray of hope shines down from the heavens. Combat reflexes. Even if he’s too fast for me to see, I’ll at least keep up with pure instincts. Less than a second later, all my senses rush back. He’s directly in front of me; his blade across my chest. My health bar falls to below ¼. He pulls his sword out and steps back slowly.

Still his eyes remain unresponsive. In fact the only thing left is a deep sorrow and hopelessness. I fall to the ground and lay motionless. It’s… it’s over. I saw it coming, yet even combat reflexes didn’t have time to move. I-I’m completely out of options…

Frigid air breezes over the hole in my shoulder, and the slash wound on my chest stings on the cold ground. In front of me I hear the dirt crunch under Hajime’s feet as he makes his way closer. His katana rattles slightly as he changes his grip for the tip to face downward over my back. I close my eyes and wait. Suddenly I feel something from my detection skill. It move quickly towards us barreling at high speed in my direction. Combat reflexes activate once more, but for some reason, my vision remains. The world around me moves in slow motion. Hajime’s katana hovers over my chest, but to my right I see a figure rush toward us, Ashas! She slams into Hajime’s side, knocking him to the ground.

I hop up to my feet. Ashas struggles to get up, while combat reflexes continue to make everything appear slower than usual. Hajime, however, gets up alarmingly quickly, still moving even faster than me! He wastes no time throwing a vicious slash attack aimed at my chest. I manage to slip backward, but I can’t run away from my fear. He doesn’t stop attacking. All I can hope to do is block and run. Behind him Ashas charges forward with her knife extended, hoping to stab him in the back, but he easily dodges. She is left completely open. In one swift motion, he slashes her across her ribs.

In that single second, time stops around me. My eyes widen and fill with a fury that burns the chilled air around me. I scream at the top of my lungs. I lost my hearing due to combat reflexes but still it was deafening. I grab Devotion with both hands, even through the indescribable pain in my left arm, and swing. It didn’t matter how, or where I hit him, I just wanted him to die. I feel the heavy weight as Devotion lands in his left shoulder, at the base of his arm. Time returns to normal instantly, I watch as Hajime’s arm flies of his shoulder, shattering upon impact with the ground.

For a moment I could swear I was still in combat reflexes, as there was not a single sound. What was that? Why did I attack? Was the fear so great that I could not stop myself? Why at that very moment? Why not earlier?

Hajime grabs his shoulder and sighs. “I don’t know what you did, but your luck has just run out.”  Before I have any time to react he grabs me by my hair, and knocks me out with the hilt of his sword.

End of chapter 7. Hajime is Japanese for Beginning