With each of Shiro's sword strike, he pushed back Kayaba bit-by-bit. It looked as if they were still in a stalemate, but they aren't. Even with his reaction speed, Kayaba could only passively defend.
He knows at this rate that he'll die, yet he doesn't care.
Right now, he only want to see more about the unexplored possibilities that he saw back then - back when he was still a young boy full of dreams.
'I shall wait for his arrival.' He thought as he looked at Kirito in the distance.
The main reason why the latter didn't join this fight is to land the decisive hit, or at least help Shiro do so. Kirito knows just how annoying Kayaba can be, thus their chances of winning is higher if everything will be over in an instant.
After taking another calculated risk, Shiro managed to force Kayaba to use his over-assistance the second time.
"I wonder how you learned those deadly skills of yours. Each strike is filled with killing intent, something that you wouldn't see in a normal player." Kayaba asked this question after analyzing his sword skills.
"To be honest, I do-" Shiro paused for a while before a reply came out of his mouth. "Imagine living on a battlefield... It's only natural that I'm this strong, else I'll just be a rotting corpse somewhere."
Shiro doesn't know why, but it suddenly came to his mind like a reflexive reply. His emotions was stirred up as he said it, making him confused for a moment.
After all, this is the first time that he felt myriad kinds of emotions in a few minutes.
"A warrior who lived on a battlefield. Now, I understand."
Kayaba blocked two simultaneous strikes of his while he replied. Unbeknownst to the rest of the players, the group members received a message from Shiro.
Shiro: He used his second over-assistance chance. While he uses the third, attack him to the fullest. I'll slow down his time.
Through all this time, he's been informing them from the distance about their fight!
Considering that they all broke out of their own wills, chances are he'll fulfill his promise. Though, they'll resort to another way if he doesn't do so...
Namely, travelling to the real world and eliminating Kayaba Akihiko, freeing the players as they do so. This can be done since Kayaba programmed Aincrad to be deleted after he died.
"Who wants to do the countdown?" Roman asked.
"...Why do a countdown?" Touka replied with another question of hers.
"So that we don't mess things up?"
Truly, Roman's pessimism caught up to him once more and made him ask this silly question. Though, it's understandable since he has a threat hanging above his head, which is also his 'son'.
There's also the Beast VII, the Olga Marie Outer God, but he decided not to worry about it for the sake of his psyche.
"It doesn't matter. We can see the exact time to strike." Kal'tsit spoke while her feline ears twitched every now and then due to the paralysis.
She grasped her rapier as she was about to perform the stance of the highest level rapier skill.
"There it is..!"
After Kuroneko said it, they broke through the constraints at the same time. Kouzuki took a throwing stance before shooting out her one-handed spear with the skill . Moreover, Kal'tsit could summon Monst3r once more after the status effect wore off, thus it also charged together with her.
Kuroneko disappeared from plain sight suddenly after using . She roamed the area for a bit before finding the best angle to strike.
Shinji used the as he jumped up and thrust his spear straight at him.
Shino threw dozens of shurikens consecutively while Roman used to have a longer reach. There's also Touka gathering momentum for a huge downward strike with her great sword.
To add on this siege, Kirito also engaged with Kayaba once more while using . Even if it has a post-motion delay, it'll only happen in the last strike.
He's fairly confident to end this without going to that part, thus he decisively chose to use it for higher attack damage.
'What?'
The moment they all broke free, Kayaba's instincts warned him about danger everywhere, and only when he saw Shiro's guildmates rush over him from all directions. Then, he felt as if something was hindering him from moving effectively.
That's the effect of [Quagmire], slowing down the target's time. In this case, Kayaba's 'body' is the target.'
Knowing this, he doesn't have much choice except to use his final trump card.
Kayaba used the hidden ability that his armor set has, giving him a transparent shield all over his body. The only downside of it is its huge charging time, which was fulfilled after minutes of their clash.
They got caught off-guard since it wasn't even in the canon, but they continued their attacks.
Bam-!
While blocking Shiro and Kirito, Shinji's attack connected, pushing Kayaba an entire meter away from his previous position. He wasn't able to come out of it unscathed, however, with his spaulders broken - cracks appeared all over his armor.
It's not the end as he dodged some of the shurikens that was thrown at him before he blocked a javelin with his shield. Its durability decreased even further, the same cracks from his armor appearing on it.
As for the other shurikens, it hit him, reducing the transparent armor's durability.
Swooosh-! Stab-!
Kuroneko's backstab connected to his neck, but it was promptly blocked by the transparent shield. With a swift shield bash, he managed to make her back off.
Right now, he's already defenseless - his armor set broke down after that hit. The only thing that remained is his trusty shield, but it was about to break, too.
Still, only calmness can be seen in his eyes.
Bzzzt-! Bzzzt-!
Kayaba dodged Monst3r's lasers with minimal movement. However, he still got hit by it twice, lowering the transparent shield's durability even more.
It was also at this time did Kal'tsit and Roman engage with him. With their respective sword skills, they stabbed him.
Clang-! Clang-!
Crack-!
At that moment, Kayaba's senses broke through his previous limit without any assistance and used his shield to block their attacks once more time, barely saving his life. His shield broke into blue polygons while he got sent flying by the impact.
Just as he thought that everything's over, he saw a black-haired woman with a straight face aiming her greatsword at him.
'This is the end..?'
Unexpectedly, he used the over-assistance for the fourth time. Time stopped at his perception while his body automatically moved in midair to avoid that strike.
Once time flowed normally once again, he avoided the huge blade just as it almost grazed his left ear. Kayaba landed on the ground with his feet, a smile present in his face because-
"HAAA!!!"
"It's the end."
-he saw the two people that he considered the biggest variables, with their blades piercing through him nonetheless.
Kirito's Elucidator stabbed at his lower torso while Shiro's Fragrant Olive Sword stabbed at his heart.
Recalling all the interesting things that he saw while he fulfilled his childhood dream, another emotion can be seen on his pair of calm eyes - joy.
Truly, he hadn't expected to see so much things in this short span of one and a half year. Human willpower, in particular, made him interested.
Alas, it's time for the curtains to fall.
Under the dumbfounded gaze of the players, Kayaba turned into countless blue polygons. With a smile on his face, the last thought that he had is:
'It's fun while it lasted.'
*****
A/N: There's a correction last chapter. It should've been "Gotcha. It's the first one." It's fixed already, though. Anyways, there's only the transition chapters left (Reward Settlement and dealing with some more things) before he goes back to Terra. Shiro would also begin with some kind of experiment in the near future, something that would... (Clue: Kitchen, Ghost, Understaffed Base)
Fact #42: Not much is known about the Rhodes Island landship. Only, there's some hints here and there about it originating from an extinct civilization. One of such clues is it having helicopters. Remember the airplane fun fact a while ago? Airplanes/Helicopters are rare since the Catastrophes gather mostly in atmospheres. R.I. has those, which gave away some suspicions. Another clue is Rhodes Island having the capability to replicate Pure Gold. In the game, you actually make them in your factories before trading it to other countries/organizations. Though, most of the players switched to Rock Farming (1-7) as it could give them the currency for doing gacha - originum.
With each of Shiro's sword strike, he pushed back Kayaba bit-by-bit. It looked as if they were still in a stalemate, but they aren't. Even with his reaction speed, Kayaba could only passively defend.
He knows at this rate that he'll die, yet he doesn't care.
Right now, he only want to see more about the unexplored possibilities that he saw back then - back when he was still a young boy full of dreams.
'I shall wait for his arrival.' He thought as he looked at Kirito in the distance.
The main reason why the latter didn't join this fight is to land the decisive hit, or at least help Shiro do so. Kirito knows just how annoying Kayaba can be, thus their chances of winning is higher if everything will be over in an instant.
After taking another calculated risk, Shiro managed to force Kayaba to use his over-assistance the second time.
"I wonder how you learned those deadly skills of yours. Each strike is filled with killing intent, something that you wouldn't see in a normal player." Kayaba asked this question after analyzing his sword skills.
"To be honest, I do-" Shiro paused for a while before a reply came out of his mouth. "Imagine living on a battlefield... It's only natural that I'm this strong, else I'll just be a rotting corpse somewhere."
Shiro doesn't know why, but it suddenly came to his mind like a reflexive reply. His emotions was stirred up as he said it, making him confused for a moment.
After all, this is the first time that he felt myriad kinds of emotions in a few minutes.
"A warrior who lived on a battlefield. Now, I understand."
Kayaba blocked two simultaneous strikes of his while he replied. Unbeknownst to the rest of the players, the group members received a message from Shiro.
Shiro: He used his second over-assistance chance. While he uses the third, attack him to the fullest. I'll slow down his time.
Through all this time, he's been informing them from the distance about their fight!
Considering that they all broke out of their own wills, chances are he'll fulfill his promise. Though, they'll resort to another way if he doesn't do so...
Namely, travelling to the real world and eliminating Kayaba Akihiko, freeing the players as they do so. This can be done since Kayaba programmed Aincrad to be deleted after he died.
"Who wants to do the countdown?" Roman asked.
"...Why do a countdown?" Touka replied with another question of hers.
"So that we don't mess things up?"
Truly, Roman's pessimism caught up to him once more and made him ask this silly question. Though, it's understandable since he has a threat hanging above his head, which is also his 'son'.
There's also the Beast VII, the Olga Marie Outer God, but he decided not to worry about it for the sake of his psyche.
"It doesn't matter. We can see the exact time to strike." Kal'tsit spoke while her feline ears twitched every now and then due to the paralysis.
She grasped her rapier as she was about to perform the stance of the highest level rapier skill.
"There it is..!"
After Kuroneko said it, they broke through the constraints at the same time. Kouzuki took a throwing stance before shooting out her one-handed spear with the skill . Moreover, Kal'tsit could summon Monst3r once more after the status effect wore off, thus it also charged together with her.
Kuroneko disappeared from plain sight suddenly after using . She roamed the area for a bit before finding the best angle to strike.
Shinji used the as he jumped up and thrust his spear straight at him.
Shino threw dozens of shurikens consecutively while Roman used to have a longer reach. There's also Touka gathering momentum for a huge downward strike with her great sword.
To add on this siege, Kirito also engaged with Kayaba once more while using . Even if it has a post-motion delay, it'll only happen in the last strike.
He's fairly confident to end this without going to that part, thus he decisively chose to use it for higher attack damage.
'What?'
The moment they all broke free, Kayaba's instincts warned him about danger everywhere, and only when he saw Shiro's guildmates rush over him from all directions. Then, he felt as if something was hindering him from moving effectively.
That's the effect of [Quagmire], slowing down the target's time. In this case, Kayaba's 'body' is the target.'
Knowing this, he doesn't have much choice except to use his final trump card.
Kayaba used the hidden ability that his armor set has, giving him a transparent shield all over his body. The only downside of it is its huge charging time, which was fulfilled after minutes of their clash.
They got caught off-guard since it wasn't even in the canon, but they continued their attacks.
Bam-!
While blocking Shiro and Kirito, Shinji's attack connected, pushing Kayaba an entire meter away from his previous position. He wasn't able to come out of it unscathed, however, with his spaulders broken - cracks appeared all over his armor.
It's not the end as he dodged some of the shurikens that was thrown at him before he blocked a javelin with his shield. Its durability decreased even further, the same cracks from his armor appearing on it.
As for the other shurikens, it hit him, reducing the transparent armor's durability.
Swooosh-! Stab-!
Kuroneko's backstab connected to his neck, but it was promptly blocked by the transparent shield. With a swift shield bash, he managed to make her back off.
Right now, he's already defenseless - his armor set broke down after that hit. The only thing that remained is his trusty shield, but it was about to break, too.
Still, only calmness can be seen in his eyes.
Bzzzt-! Bzzzt-!
Kayaba dodged Monst3r's lasers with minimal movement. However, he still got hit by it twice, lowering the transparent shield's durability even more.
It was also at this time did Kal'tsit and Roman engage with him. With their respective sword skills, they stabbed him.
Clang-! Clang-!
Crack-!
At that moment, Kayaba's senses broke through his previous limit without any assistance and used his shield to block their attacks once more time, barely saving his life. His shield broke into blue polygons while he got sent flying by the impact.
Just as he thought that everything's over, he saw a black-haired woman with a straight face aiming her greatsword at him.
'This is the end..?'
Unexpectedly, he used the over-assistance for the fourth time. Time stopped at his perception while his body automatically moved in midair to avoid that strike.
Once time flowed normally once again, he avoided the huge blade just as it almost grazed his left ear. Kayaba landed on the ground with his feet, a smile present in his face because-
"HAAA!!!"
"It's the end."
-he saw the two people that he considered the biggest variables, with their blades piercing through him nonetheless.
Kirito's Elucidator stabbed at his lower torso while Shiro's Fragrant Olive Sword stabbed at his heart.
Recalling all the interesting things that he saw while he fulfilled his childhood dream, another emotion can be seen on his pair of calm eyes - joy.
Truly, he hadn't expected to see so much things in this short span of one and a half year. Human willpower, in particular, made him interested.
Alas, it's time for the curtains to fall.
Under the dumbfounded gaze of the players, Kayaba turned into countless blue polygons. With a smile on his face, the last thought that he had is:
'It's fun while it lasted.'
*****
A/N: There's a correction last chapter. It should've been "Gotcha. It's the first one." It's fixed already, though. Anyways, there's only the transition chapters left (Reward Settlement and dealing with some more things) before he goes back to Terra. Shiro would also begin with some kind of experiment in the near future, something that would... (Clue: Kitchen, Ghost, Understaffed Base)
Fact #42: Not much is known about the Rhodes Island landship. Only, there's some hints here and there about it originating from an extinct civilization. One of such clues is it having helicopters. Remember the airplane fun fact a while ago? Airplanes/Helicopters are rare since the Catastrophes gather mostly in atmospheres. R.I. has those, which gave away some suspicions. Another clue is Rhodes Island having the capability to replicate Pure Gold. In the game, you actually make them in your factories before trading it to other countries/organizations. Though, most of the players switched to Rock Farming (1-7) as it could give them the currency for doing gacha - originum.
