Kamen Rider Gaim/Sword Art Online --- Chapter 4

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don’t like it...well, I can’t please everyone. No flames please. They don’t contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 4: Boss Raid

Aincrad - Tolbana November 29th 10:00

Word spread fast once news of the Boss Room hit. Everyone who was working to clear the game headed straight for the meeting place so they could do their part. In twenty-four hours, Tolbana was now populated with the Clearers who had worked hard to find a way to beat the game.

Tolbana was selected as the meeting place since it was the closest city to the Dungeon. It also had all the stores a group would need to stock up on any kind of raid. It would allow the raid party to get to the Dungeon refreshed and ready for a fight. With how much the majority of the Dungeon would have been cleared, the raid group likely wouldn’t have to worry about being jumped by hidden monsters or traps. If they did, that’s what they all had their Lockseeds for.

Tolbana was packed with people, easily matching or exceeding the natural population of the city. Plenty of them were Clearers, but a good portion were merchants who had decided to try and make a few Col. In terms of economics it was a smart idea, but it didn’t stop some people from considering them to be opportunists. Even with that opinion, it still didn’t stop some players from buying their wares.

Among them was Kirito as he watched everyone go about their business from the shadow of a building. He had come to deal with the Boss, but he had a bad feeling about the upcoming fight. During the beta test, it had taken a full raid group of forty-two players to beat the Boss and a lot of them got killed in the process. Back then, the players could be reckless since they would be revived back in Starter City. This time around, none of the players could afford to be reckless and many wouldn’t be playing defensively. That would give the Boss an advantage since it wouldn’t be so inclined to fight that way.

Still, the Clearers wouldn’t be without their weapons. The Lockseed and Inves summons had given the players a huge advantage and better chance of survival. Kirito was positive that the raid party would be using Inves Tactics (as coined by the Clearers) to help take on the Boss and any distractions it might have. Kirito would have been there regardless, but with his SengokuDriver he felt he had a duty to use it in the boss fight if he had to.

“Hey, Kirito! Glad you made it!” Kirito blinked at the call and looked up, seeing a familiar face, albeit better armed than the last time they had seen one another. The elder player was running towards him waving his arm and grinning like a loon.

“Hello, Klein,” Kirito smiled. He was glad to see Klein alive. He didn’t have many friends so he was concerned for the ones he had made in SAO. He had also felt bad about leaving Klein behind like he did. So concerned about survival, Kirito didn’t want to risk anyone’s lives in being in a big group be it the others or himself. “Glad to see you’re still alive.”

“Well, it’s all thanks to these babies,” said Klein as he displayed his Banana Lockseed. The rest of his friends also held up their Lockseeds. They were all of various quality, but a good quality. “We took down a Field Boss with these babies!”

“Those aren’t the ones I sold,” someone new spoke up, revealing the large form of Agil. He had never seen a Banana Lockseed before, getting him interested in what qualities it might have. Was it another raid group who got them? “Did Argo sell them to you?”

“Oh these? Got them from the source. These things are freaking useful!” grinned Klein. “That Helheim place is tough, but so worth it!”

“Well, having Inves to scout dungeons and dangerous areas would be good,” agreed Kirito. Hearing Klein and his friends went through Helheim Forest actually made him more relieved in a crazy way. It meant that they were stronger than he had hoped.

“Yeah, and now we’re taking the fight to the Floor Boss!” Klein grinned. Oh, he feel pumped and optimistic. “Say, Kirito. What level are you at now?”

“Well…” Kirito rubbed the back of his head.

As they talked, they didn’t notice a girl wearing glasses walking by, letting her Grape Lockseed hang from her fingers as she went.

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - Tolbana Amphitheatre Nov 19th 10:30 AM

The time rolled around for the meeting and all of the interested Clearers took seats in the stone amphitheatre. On an elevated stage in the middle was a man with blue hair and a blue tunic wearing standard armor, and had a shield on his back, looking a little like a knight persona.

As the meeting started, the players took their seats. Agil sat down near the front while Klein and his group were in the middle of the stands elsewhere gabbing to one another. Kirito took notice of one in a hood and cloak, sitting a distance away from the others, alone and isolated. He decided to take the seat next to theirs.

“All right everyone!” the man on the stage clapped his hands, bringing attention to himself. “Let’s begin the meeting. My name’s Diabel. I consider myself a Knight in this game.”

“There’s no job classes in this game!”

“Yeah, be serious!”

Diabel waved down the laughter before his face grew serious, “I assume you’re all here because of the message that went out. I can tell you all that it is true. Yesterday, my party found the Boss Room for the First Dungeon.”

The amphitheatre grew quiet, no one was laughing anymore.

“Through the use of Inves Tactics and our own skills, we managed to map the entire dungeon and find the Boss Room,” Diabel continued. “I’d like to thank Agil for his work in supplying Clearers with the Lockseeds which upped our schedule by nearly a week.” The man waved, bringing a smattering of applause from appreciative customers.

“Okay, now you all know that the only way to get to the second floor is to defeat this boss,” Diabel continued. “If we can beat this boss, we can prove to the people in Starting City that we can beat this game and free ourselves! It’s just as much my duty as it is yours to do everything we can to advance and get free!”

The players all agreed, Kirito among them. Lots of people were giving up hope in Starting City, believing that it would be impossible to get to the next floor or everyone was just too terrified of death to try. By hearing that the second floor was opened, it would inspire more of the players to take part in Clearing and hopefully make getting to the Third Floor even easier. They needed all the help they could get, but if no one believed it was possible then no one would try.

“I won’t lie to any of you,” Diabel added. “This will be dangerous and there is a chance someone could die. Anyone who doesn’t feel like they have the courage or the experience to do this can leave now and we won’t think any less of you.” No one budged from their seats, making Diabel smile. “Okay then, everyone form up into parties of six. No single player can beat a Boss so its going to be a team effort.”

Kirito blanched, realizing that he had forgotten about raid parties usually going together as a group. Looking about, he saw that everyone was beginning to group together and form their raid parties. Agil had collected a group of fellows who thought his height would make for a strong contender. Klein and his own friends were already in a party, and it seemed that everyone else seemed to know each other to an extent and were partying together. Looking about, Kirito noticed that the cloaked girl he was sitting next to hadn’t budged.

“Uh, so you got left out too?” he asked.

“No,” the girl shook her head. “Everyone else just seems to know each other already.”

“A solo player?” asked Kirito, a little surprised to see another one like him. Usually solo players didn’t like working with anybody. “Well, then would you like to party with me? If only for this fight? Boss battles are going to need a group effort to in.”

The girl looked to Kirito, but nodded. He brought up the screens and made the request, the girl pressing her acceptance when it reached her. Her HP bar then lit up under his own, revealing her name to be Asuna. It was a name that gave Kirito pause since he knew that he had seen that name before…

“Excuse me! Is your party filled yet?”

Kirito and Asuna looked up, seeing a girl in an exotic green outfit and glasses approaching them. She waved in a friendly manner, but anyone could tell that she was all professional, “Everyone else has already filled groups and I don’t know anybody. Do you have a free space?”

“Uh...yeah,” Kirito nodded, making another party request. She quickly accepted it, putting her name under Asuna’s, revealing her to be named Sinon.

“Thanks,” Sinon bowed politely. “Let’s work well together.”

“Has everyone partnered up?” asked Diabel. “Okay, then let’s begin the strategy meeting portion!”

“Hey, I got something to say!” a man with hair that was spiked, resembling a cactus, shot his hand up. He got up on stage and turned to face the audience, “OK, listen up! My name’s Kibaou and ever since this whole shit-fest started, it seems that us newbies had to rely on ourselves! They took all the easy quests and the best hunting spots! The Beta Testers all left us in the dust to fend for themselves! Yeah, I’m talking to you bastards! I know you’re listening! So, any Beta Testers here better identify themselves then surrender all your equipment and Col! While you’re at it, hand over your Lockseeds too! With all that Col, you probably have better ones than us!”

Kirito grit his teeth, a wave of guilt washing over him as he remembered how he selfishly left Starting City behind so he could make himself stronger and leaving all of the beginners like Klein behind. Both Sinon and Asuna noticed him flinch and began to grow concerned.

“May I speak?”

Kibaou was silenced when Agil stood up and began walking down the stairs to the stage. Kirito noticed that he was much more tense than usual, giving off none of his friendly aura as he approached the spikey-haired man. It caused the angry Kibaou to flinch as Agil got closer, revealing just how much taller he was than any other Japanese man trapped in the game.

“My name is Agil. Let me make sure we’re hearing you right,” he spoke. “You’re saying that because the Beta Testers didn’t stay behind to train all of the beginners and tell them what to do, it’s their fault that they died. So because of that, any Beta Testers here should give up any items they have and all the Col they collected between the start of the game until now.”

“Y-yeah, so?” Kibaou grunted.

Agil reached into his pocket and produced a guide book, “I assume you read this guide book which is given out for free to all of the players?” Noticing that other players recognized the book, he continued. “This book was written by the Beta Testers and given out to anyone who wanted it. There is literally no reason why anyone can’t have this information.” He turned to face the rest of the audience, all of whom looked surprised that the information they were relying on came from the ones they were scorning. “If anything, the beginners profited the most from the Lockseeds as well. It was the beginners who stuck near cities and took their time that got the best Lockseeds first, learned first how to use them, and managed to bridge the gap between themselves and the Beta Testers.” He put away the book as he finished his speech, “I came to this meeting to learn from the deaths of those unfortunate people and hopefully keeping it from happening again. What I didn’t come here to do is place blame on people are are struggling to survive just like we are.”

Agil turned back to look at Kibaou before the man huffed and left the stage. He could tell that the group wasn’t going to try and get the Beta Testers to give up what they got. Seeing he made his point, Agil headed back to his own group where they congratulated him on the points he made.

“Can we continue then?” asked Diabel with his arms crossed. Seeing no resistance, he reached into his inventory and manifested the guidebook, his own personal copy. “Okay, the First Floor Boss is part of the information in this guide. His name is <<Illfang, The Kobold Lord>> and he is assisted by three <<Ruin Kobold Sentinels>>. He’s armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars and when one runs out, he summons another three Ruin Kobold Sentinels. When he’s down to the red in his last health bar, he’ll drop the axe and buckler to draw a talwar. His attack pattern will also follow a berserker style.”

The group of Clearers began to murmur among one another. They were impressed by the amount of information that they now had on the Boss. It gave his name so they would recognize him in case he was one of those sneaky types, as well as what weapons he used and what kinds of surprises they could expect. It would be a huge advantage for them in the upcoming fight.

“Item distribution after the fight will be normal. If you get an item, it’s yours! Experience will be divided automatically depending on how much or little you participate. Agreed?” More nods followed. “Okay. We’ll all set out tomorrow at ten in the morning. Gather what supplies you need and say your goodbyes to whoever you need to. If you’re late, you’d better catch up or we’ll leave you behind!”

The meeting ended, and the groups began to mill about or head out to get what they needed to make their chances of winning better. Klein and his group were gone in a flash to get the goods first while Agil was apparently making connections for better product. Kirito looked to his own teammates, but Asuna was already leaving and Sinon was already reading through the guidebook and deaf to the world. He tried tapping her shoulder but she just brushed it off like a bug bothering her and kept reading. So Kirito shrugged and headed out to see what was available for him to make use of.

While nobody was looking, he took out his Lockseeds. The Pineapple and Orange Arms were his best chance in case things went south. Gaim would be the deciding factor if the programmers decided that Illfang needed to be changed after the Beta Test. As the only Kamen Rider in this game, he would have to use whatever advantage he had at his disposal to make sure they could advance and end this death game.

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - Tolbana Nov 29th 9:12 PM

Asuna was alone as she took something out of her pocket. It was a Lockseed she had purchased a while back, the front marked with a sunflower seed. She clicked it open and summoned an Inves Warrior, standing at a height matching a puppy’s. It stared up at her expectantly and she patted the monster on the head. It might be a potentially dangerous monster, but it was the only companion she had. It saved her life a few times too.

“Hi Momo-chan,” Asuna smiled as she pet the small Inves, making it thrum happily. “It’s been a while since I called you out, hasn’t it?”

Picking up the Inves and carrying it like a pet, Asuna found a secluded bench decorated with a garden and took a seat. Putting her Momo in her lap, she withdrew two <<Small Loaves>> and gave one to her Inves, making it look like it was holding a large beach ball. The Inves dug in, thrumming it delight as its mistress also ate. The loaf wasn’t as good as Lockseed Flowers to it, but it was edible.

She watched the people of the raid party having their pre-battle celebrations. Mostly it involved some of the groups drinking wine, or whatever passed for wine in Aincrad. They wouldn’t get drunk, but it tended to make someone loopy for a while if they had a lot of it. She just couldn’t find anything to be celebratory about. They hadn’t even gone to see the Boss and they were going off to fight a monster who was stronger than anything any of them had ever fought before. What was there to be celebrating about? For all they knew, they could all be dead by noon tomorrow.

“Do you think he was here with us Momo-chan?” Asuna asked her eating Inves. “The Orange Samurai?”

The Orange Samurai had become a bit of a legend. A mysterious armored warrior. He had come out of nowhere. He had unique weapons which no one had ever seen before and just seemed to breeze through any kind of mob that went up against him. No one knew where he got his equips from, not even the few known Beta Testers knew where he got his equipment from.

Asuna had seen him though, so she knew where the armor came from: Helheim Forest. In the middle of the Orange Samurai’s belt was a Lockseed that had been split open. Asuna had tried to split open her own Lockseed for a new weapon, but nothing could crack open the Lockseed she had.

Asuna had met the Orange Samurai after her first week in Aincrad. When the death game had been announced, Asuna freaked out and locked herself in an inn for a week. She eventually got sick of hiding and decided to go down fighting, she went off into Aincrad and fought every kind of monster she could go up against. She risked her life several times and almost died once. One of her stupid stunts had her go into the Dungeon and just fighting everything she could find.

She had pushed herself to the brink when the Orange Samurai appeared, obliterating the kobolds she had been fighting. She was angry at him, saying she didn’t need any help. He retorted saying she was going to kill herself if she kept at it. Asuna promptly passed out not long after.

She woke up at a <<Rejuvenating Spring>> with the Orange Samurai dripping the healing water onto her, refilling her HP. She was exhausted and the adrenaline had worn off, leaving her almost unable to move on a bed of moss. The Orange Samurai continued tending to her, saying almost nothing. Asuna tried to berate him again, but the Samurai retorted that they shouldn’t just throw their lives away when they were able to keep going and escape. He cut off Asuna’s arguments by stating that her map of the Dungeon she collected would help the Clearers get through the Dungeon a lot faster and keep more of them alive. Going solo and just plowing through everything was a surefire way to get killed. Working with others, or at least coordinating their knowledge or unique finds would keep them alive a lot longer.

He then left her at the spring with a new sword she could use until she bought replacements for the weapons she lost.

Asuna still went solo, but she wasn’t so quick to throw her life away anymore. If she discovered anything unique she would give the information to Argo or her associates so everyone would be able to profit off of it.

She still wanted to see him again.

“It’s good bread, isn’t it?”

Asuna blinked and looked up, seeing Kirito taking a seat next to her. Asuna didn’t say anything, continuing to eat her bread along with her Inves in her lap. Kirito didn’t take it as an insult as he took out his own loaf and began eating, “This town has the best bread on the floor. I eat it at least once a day whenever I come by.”

“Really?” Asuna asked curiously.

“Yup,” Kirito nodded. Reaching into his inventory, he materialized a jar of some kind and set it down between them. “Try it.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Sinon’s voice cut in, the bespectacled girl reaching between the pair to tap the jar, her finger glowing. Bringing out her own loaf, she dragged her finger across the surface, leaving warm cream in its wake.

“Cream?” Asuna blinked.

“Its from a quest in the town back down the path,” Kirito answered, taking Sinon’s appearance in stride. “I can tell you the trick to it if you’d like.”

“I didn’t come here to eat good food,” Asuna retorted, but her voice was muffled by how fast she was chewing down her cream-covered bread as quickly as possible. Her pet Inves seemed to be doing the same as if it was a Lockseed Flower.

"I see you're a Lockseed user too," Sinon stated as she looked at the Inves. "Why treat it like a pet? Isn't just a tool?"

“I needed company and I just got attached to him,” Asuna shrugged, petting her Inves. “I’m a solo player so not many people like to deal with me thinking I’m a Beta Tester or some kind of snob.”

"Well we're going to need everyone's power, Inves and players, If we want to clear this floor," Kirito encouraged.

“So let’s not die then,” Sinon nodded.

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - First Dungeon November 30th 10:30

The journey to the Dungeon had been swift. They only took their time to make sure that everyone knew their roles. Not all of the groups would be taking on Illfang. Some of the groups would be fighting to make sure the Ruin Kobold Sentinels wouldn’t interfere with the boss battle. Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon would be part of the group making sure the minions wouldn’t get in the way. Everyone would also be using the Switch Strategy during the battle. It was discovered that in the midst of a battle, if a player swaps out after disrupting an opponent’s attack with a Sword Skill, a partner could take their place and take advantage of the opening for a critical strike. That lag would be open for even longer as the AI of the opponent needed to take a moment to adapt to the new opponent. Of course, everyone would be summoning Inves to further expand their numbers and give them a higher advantage against the enemies.

The group of over forty players were all collected at a large ornate door with Diabel standing in front of it, facing them all. He took in the numbers, serious as one could be when they were about to go into a life or death brawl for the first step to their freedom.

“I only have one thing to say,” he spoke seriously. “Let’s win!”

“YOSH!” the group shouted back.

Diabel nodded and then pressed his hands against the door, causing them to open on their own. Inside was a long room with pillars on either side and darkened glass encompassing most of the walls. The raid group entered, all of their weapons drawn and ready for a fight. The eerie silence hung in the air along with the darkness, making it seem like a death shroud was choking the air.

“Where is he?” asked Klein.

“There!” another player shouted, pointing at the opposite end of the room.

In the darkness, a pair of red eyes lit up the darkness. In reaction, the glass walls lit up with magic light, illuminating the room and giving a rainbow sheen over everything. It also lit up the monster sitting at the opposite end. It was a large monster, easily towering over the group, standing two meters tall. His skin was red and his gut was huge, painted with diamond patters. His legs were canine with a stubby tail coming out from under a loincloth and the legs protected by shin armor. His head was canine-like as well, protected by a helmet specially made for a kobold. At his side was an axe which looked crudely made while his other hand clenched a worn but still well-made buckler shield. Strapped to his back was a sword in a sheathe, the talwar which the guidebook mentioned.

The monster snarled at the sight of the Clearers and stood up, hefting his massive axe. The beast  leaped from his perch, landing several feet on the ground in front of the throne before rearing back and bellowing loudly. A red indicator appeared above him, announcing his name, <<Illfang, The Kobold Lord>>. As if answering his call, three flashes of light appeared in front of him, summoning three Kobolds which were human-sized, but adorned in knight-like armor which fit their bodies and equipped with large maces. They were the <<Ruin Kobold Sentinels>> which would be helping their master in the fight.

“Everyone! Summon your Inves!” Diabel ordered. The entire group of Clearers brought out their Lockseeds before unlocking them. A mass unzipping noise sounded off before Inves Warriors that were the size of adults leaped out from Helheim Forest into the Boss Room via zipper portals.

“ATTACK!” Diabel barked, pointing his sword at the monsters. The assigned players made their charge, picking out their targets as Illfang and his minions charged right back. The Sentinels met the players first, both sides unleashing their Sword Skills while the Inves followed their masters and picked the same targets.

The Battle for the First Dungeon had begun.

The battle was in essence controlled chaos. Each of the seven parties had their own tasks and they did such, but other than that all hell had broken loose. Three groups were keeping the Sentinels busy, which wasn’t easy considering their high offense, defense, and natural agility. The remaining groups were taking on Illfang himself. That also wasn’t easy since if the groups surrounded him, he’d unleash a spinning attack that stunned and did a big chunk of damage. The heavily defended tanks of the group would block his strikes while the others would continue slashing at him. With four health bars, it would be a while before they could get even a quarter of the way to finishing him off.

Diabel managed to lead the raid competently. He kept an eye on the minion groups while the other groups worked at Illfang himself. Whenever the group fighting him would get low on health, he’d order another to pick up the slack while they recovered. It was slow going since the Boss was indeed tough and strikes would only do so much and the players were fighting cautiously. The minion groups weren’t idle either as every time the main party managed to empty one of his health bars, Illfang would summon another three Ruin Kobold Sentinels which the minion groups would have to take on again.

Still, Diabel’s strategies were sound and no one died and Illfang’s HP was slowly dropping into the red area of his final health bar. Once the yellow bar turned an orange/red Illfang snarled at the group, his eyes narrowing like a cornered animal’s. He then hefted his weapons before he threw both his axe and buckler away, letting them crash to the ground.

“Looks like the information was right!” Kibaou grinned, his group agreeing with him as they saw the abandonment of the weapons.

“I’ll take it from here!” Diabel grinned, taking command and running for Illfang while charging up a Sword Skill of his own to use for a finishing blow. Kirito blinked in confusion, wondering what Diabel was doing since it went against the strategy he had established for the group to use. Then Kirito remembered a special bonus that came with being the one that struck a killing blow against Bosses. ‘Is Diabel a…!’

Illfang then reached behind his back and grabbed the weapon in the sheathe. Taking hold of it, he drew the weapon from the sheathe and letting the light catch off its surface. Kirito paled when he saw the weapon. It was a straight edge weapon, made for straight cuts and maneuverability, being somewhat short in comparison to Illfang’s body. A talwar was a long, curved weapon which was perfect for wide slashes, but it was a rather basic set of skills that went with it and could be countered if the players knew what they were doing. What Illfang was holding was most certainly not a talwar.

‘A nodachi! Dammit! They changed it from the Beta Test!’ Kirito thought in panic before he kicked the Ruin Kobold Sentinel away to focus on the boss fight, “GET AWAY! THAT’S NOT A TALWAR!”

“Huh?” Diabel blinked, glancing at Kirito.

Illfang snarled and then suddenly leaped into the air, bouncing off of the pillars before launching himself down and slashing Diabel across the torso.The man screamed as the force of the blow sent him tumbling backwards. Illfang then dug his claws into the ground and lunged at ridiculous speeds for one of his body mass, slashing Diabel a second time and letting him crash to the ground in a heap.

Kirito yelled out as Illfang leaped into the mob of players and slashed wide, knocking several of them away with painful strikes. Morale quickly broke as players began running for the hills, wanting to get away from Illfang and his newfound speed.

Kirito had faced nodachi Sword Skills in the Beta Test. Just having them required high speed and agility, making fighting such opponents difficult to the unprepared. Giving such skills to Illfang when he was already high in the strength category made him a deadly opponent. Against a group of unprepared players, one was looking at several kills happening at least.

“Diabel!” Kirito yelled, running to the man’s side. He materialized a <<Red Potion>> to try and heal him, but the blue-haired man stopped him. Both of them knew that the 2-hit combo was an <<Overkill>> strike. He wasn’t going to survive. “Diabel, why’d you go ahead like that?”

“You were a Beta Tester too weren’t you?” he asked weakly. “You know why.”

“The Last Attack bonus,” Kirito sighed. His guess was right, Diabel was a Beta Tester as well.

“Yes,” Diabel nodded, his body starting to pixelate as his HP began to vanish entirely. “Please...beat the Boss. Show the people we can beat this game!” His body then flashed blue, shattering into a cloud of pixels, signalling his death.

As Kirito now held empty air, witnessed as Diabel faded into nothing, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Digging out the SengokuDriver from his pocket, he strapped it on before taking out his Orange Lockseed.

He stared down at it and then turned his gaze at Illfang. His eyes were narrowed in a glare as he stood up and clicked open the Lockseed.

Meanwhile, Klein had just witnessed Diabel’s death and decided now it was time to unveil his secret weapon, “Man, shit just got real.”

“ORANGE!”

Klein blinked when he heard the announcement and gaped as the portal zipped open over Kirito to reveal the Orange Arms as it hovered above him. He then saw that around Kirito’s waist was a SengokuDriver.

“Should’ve known the kid would get one,” Klein shook his head in amusement. “Well, guess it’s OK then.” He strapped on his own SengokuDriver and clicked open his Lockseed.

“BANANA!”

An identical portal opened above Klein and his Banana Arms floating above him. This time it was Kirito’s turn to gape.

“Thought you were the only one?” Klein questioned, feeling smug. “Henshin!”

Kirito smirked and called out as well, “Henshin!”

They equipped their SengokuDrivers with their Lockseeds then locked them in place.

“LOCK ON!”

Then they sliced open their Lockseeds. This caused the metal fruits to drop on them, concealing their heads as they formed the pre-Arms suits.

“SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!”

“COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF SPEAR!”

The Arms opened and converted into the armor of both Kamen Riders, arming them with their personal weapons.

“OK, Kirito!” Baron called as he patted his younger friend on the shoulder, wielding the Banaspear. “Let’s see how this asshole deals with Kamen Riders!”

“Mind if I join?” offered Agil as he clicked open his Donguri Lockseed, wearing a SengokuDriver around his own waist.

“DONGURI!”

The two Riders’ jaws dropped at the sight of the Donguri Arms appearing and also that Agil had on a SengokuDriver of his own. He shrugged as he put the Lockseed into the SengokuDriver and gripped the sword-like lever.

“Henshin!”

The Donguri Lockseed was sliced open and the Donguri Arms fell on Agil, donning him in his pre-Arms suit before unfolding to form his Kamen Rider Gridon Donguri Arms armor.

“COME ON! DONGURI ARMS! NEVER GIVE UP!”

Gridon hefted the Donkachi. “So, you guys ready?”

“Yosh! Ikuzo!” Gaim commanded and the three Riders charged straight for the Boss. Baron leapt high into the air and stabbed Illfang repeatedly in the face with the Banaspear. Illfang recoiled from the blow before he was blasted backwards by a slam from the Donkachi. Gaim quickly followed up with a dual slash to Illfang’s gut with both the Daidamaru and Musou Saber.

The remaining players couldn’t help but gape at the sudden transformation of three of their own players. They knew it had something to do with Lockseeds, but they didn’t know what the heck the group had done to don themselves in such weird armor. The fact that it was based off seeds and fruit may have caused some laughs in another situation, but this was far from an amusing situation. It didn’t stop people from gaping at the three Riders

(LINE BREAK)

Sinon watched as the three Riders fought against Illfang the Kobold Lord. Due to her own experience, she knew that the SengokuDriver provided a significant boost in stats. However, Illfang was still too powerful and his last HP bar was still high despite taking so many hits and being in the red.

It was time for her to step up to the plate. Asuna watched as Sinon took out her SengokuDriver and her eyes widened in surprise to see the bespectacled girl put it on before fishing out her own Lockseed and clicking it open.

“BUDOU!”

The Budou Arms floated above her as she placed the Lockseed into her Sengoku Driver, locking it in.

“LOCK ON!”

“Henshin!” She sliced open her Lockseed to activate its power. The Budou Arms dropped down on her.

“HAI! BUDOU ARMS! RYUHOU! HA, HA, HA!”

As Sinon’s Kamen Rider Ryugen Budou Arms armor formed over her, she gripped the Budou Ryuhou tightly as the Budou Arms reconfigured and completed the change. Now clad in her Chinese soldier-themed armor, Kamen Rider Ryugen then charged into battle. Taking aim, she fired at Illfang with rapid shots from her Budou Ryuhou, the loud bangs following one after another.

Illfang bellowed from taking the blows and attempted to use his nodachi skills to block the shots. He was moderately successful since he was programmed to anticipate Throwing Dagger attacks, but the energy bullets were much faster than any thrown blade. After taking a few strikes, he leaped into the air and began bouncing off of the pillars of the room once again, aiming to use his agility to strike down the Riders once again.

Gaim, Baron, and Gridon thought that the Boss would strike at them first, being the closest but they were quickly proven wrong as Illfang made a beeline for Ryugen instead. Another leap shot him through the air, readying a Sword Skill to strike at the green Rider with savage lethality.

“Look out!” Asuna cried, preparing a Linear Sword Skill and lunged at Illfang to protect her teammate. She managed to disrupt the attack, but was knocked out of the way and her cloak was torn off by the nodachi in the process. It revealed her long auburn hair and her simple white and red outfit as she skidded across the ground, Illfang doing the same across from her.

“Asuna!” Ryugen cried then she turned and fired at Illfang.

Meanwhile, Gaim had seen what Illfang tried to do and decided to switch tactics. Illfang still had a decent amount of HP left and with his speed, he could bring down plenty of people before they would do the same to him. First he removed the Orange Lockseed from his SengokuDriver.

“LOCK OFF!”

“PINE!”

Then he replaced it with the Pineapple Lockseed.

“LOCK ON!”

After that he sliced open the Lockseed.

“SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!”

The Orange Arms vanished before the Pine Arms descended from another portal. Landing on Gaim’s shoulders, they unfolded into proper armor before the Pine Iron appeared in his hands. Swinging it to get used to the weight again, Gaim, Baron, and Gridon charged for Illfang as he turned to menace Asuna and the other Clearers.

“HA!” Gaim yelled, tossing the Pine Iron and letting it crash into Illfang’s shoulders, sending red pixels flying in all directions.

“Let’s go!” Baron yelled, charging for Illfang and thrusting with the Banaspear, digging into the Boss’ hide.

“HRRAAAGH!” Gridon bellowed, smashing his hammer into Illfang’s side. The force caused Illfang to stumble before he leaped away again.

“Bouncy little bastard, isn’t he?” Baron panted as he and the other Riders.

“These scrapes and bruises aren’t doing much and he’s just got so much fat we can’t dig in and get to sensitive areas,” Ryuhou frowned. “We need to hit him hard and all at once or else he’s just going to keep bouncing around and kill someone.”

Gaim looked to the Pine Iron in his hands before looking to the recovering Illfang, “Okay, so let’s make it a united attack.”

“A hissatsu?” asked Baron.

“Sure,” Gaim nodded before he turned to face Illfang once again, reaching to his Driver. “Let’s do this!”

“SOIYA! PINE SQUASH!”

“HAI! BUDOU SQUASH!”

“COME ON! BANANA SQUASH!”

“COME ON! DONGURI SQUASH!”

“HYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” Ryugen, Gaim, Gridon, and Baron all made a charge directly at Illfang as the Boss raised his guard and anticipated their attacks. Gaim moved ahead of the others before he dropped and kicked the Pine Iron like a soccer ball. The weapon’s main piece enlarged itself and stuck itself to Illfang’s head. As the Boss struggled to remove the obstruction upon its head. Ryugen was taking aim with the Budou Ryuhou while Baron and Gridon were preparing their own finishers.

Rapid shots of purple energy erupted from the Budou Ryuhou, pelting Illfang mercilessly. Once Ryugen exhausted her ammo, Baron rushed ahead and stabbed the Banaspear forward, running Illfang through with an energy projection in the shape of a banana.

Baron then dodged out of the way, allowing Gridon to continue have his turn to attack. Heaving his arms, he spun on the spot with his weapon held out. He didn’t stand still, but continued moving at Illfang with the image of an acorn appearing over him. Illfang grunted from the piercing stab he took and still struggled before Gridon struck his stomach with a powerful hammer strike. His gut actually rippled from the strike, creating a large area of red pixels, taking the kobold off the ground as he stumbled backwards.

“Kirito!” the three Riders shouted to their yellow and blue comrade.

“Yosh!” the last Kamen Rider nodded. Taking a running start, the first of the Riders ran towards the struggling Illfang who was on his last legs, his last bit of health blinking in his health bar. Seeing his chance, Gaim jumped into the air before he performed a flying kick and smashed straight through Illfang, leaving a large gaping hole in its chest. This was all it took to bring Illfang’s HP to zero before the Boss dissolved in an explosion of pixels.

<CONGRATULATIONS!>

The room was silent as the rainbow light from the glass walls died down. No one was really able to speak, wondering if what they saw was true. Illfang had been destroyed by four figures that were dressed in colourful suits of armor. It wasn’t until battle result screens popped up in front of all of the players, some of them levelling up in the process, did the reality come down onto them.

They had cleared the first floor!

Cheers erupted from the Clearers as they not only survived, beat Illfang, but also got one step closer to freeing themselves from Sword Art Online!

The Kamen Riders were alone in their own group, looking over their own Battle Results. As expected, they only got a fraction of the experience they normally would have gotten after using the armor. It didn’t stop the influx of Col and any items they normally would have received. Gaim even got a note that he got the Last Attack bonus, receiving an item called the <<Coat of Midnight>> for his efforts.

“Woo! We did it!” Baron cheered. “We beat that ugly bastard!”

“Yeah...” said Gaim softly, still recovering. Diabel had died so they hadn’t gotten through this completely unscathed.

“You bastards! How could you let Diabel die!!!”

The cheering stopped as everyone turned to see Kibaou on his knees, glaring at the four Kamen Riders with loathing. He stood up before stomping over to the four, looking like he was ready for a fight, “You had those suits the whole time didn’t you?! Why didn’t you use them at the start? You only did it because you wanted to score the most at the end didn’t you?! You let Diabel die so you could feel out the Boss!”

“Hey, what are you accusing us of exactly!?” Baron demanded.

“Cheating and sacrificing us!” Kibaou snapped back. “Those suits have to be an illegal hack or something!”

“Well duh!” Ryugen huffed, crossing her arms. “They come from Helheim Forest, they’re powered by Lockseeds, of course they’re a hack! They’re all from that programmer who’s been busting his ass to give us the Lockseeds and Inves!”

“And we had a full raid group with us,” Gridon followed up. “We were saving these suits in case of an emergency. Besides, these are as you say illegal hacks. There was no way we could be sure that they would even work in a Boss battle. Kayaba Akihiko could have made some kind of prohibition against these suits or something. Now that we showed them off in a boss fight, he may just do that!”

Kibaou, however, was not letting up as he continued, “Then you should share those suits and give them to people who really need them!”

“Tried to,” Baron shrugged. “Once I got mine I tried to share it with all my guys. They lock onto our ID codes or something. They only work for the people who put them on first and no one else after that.”

“Yeah!” one guy called, soon a bunch of men dressed in red armor like Klein’s before his change trotted up to the group. A portly fellow with a spear took the lead, “We passed that sucker all around us when Klein first got it. Didn’t work at all man.”

“It’s super-rare too,” another of the crew nodded. “When Klein got his we all searched Helheim Forest high and low looking for the chick who hands them out. We didn’t see a trace of her ever since.”

Kibaou gritted his teeth, his face red.

“Besides, did you really think this was going to be easy? There was a chance we would die here,” added Gridon. “It’s sad, but we all accepted that it could happen. One thing that we didn’t do though is let someone die just so we could show off or get the most experience! So, stop having a tantrum. Everyone gave their all to clear this floor now we need to keep on going. Diabel was ready to give up his life. You should honor him instead of spitting on his sacrifice like this.”

Altogether, the Kamen Riders closed up their Lockseeds, causing their suits to dissolve. It seemed to break the spell over the audience and they began to murmur. It was clear they were a little upset that the Riders didn’t bring the suits out immediately, but they all brought up good points about why they didn’t. Also, they did remember that they were all willing to risk their lives in order to beat the Boss. They didn’t want anyone to die, but they accepted that it might happen during the fight. They could grieve, but they could all accept that they didn’t let it happen since they were all in the same boat.

Asuna was just stunned to discover the identity of the Orange Samurai. The man who inspired her to live and survive as best she could in SAO was a boy her own age? He had been sitting right next to her before and after the meeting! She’d been fighting next to him the whole fight!

Sighing, Kirito turned from the group and headed to the second exit, a door which had opened behind Illfang’s throne, “Come on. Everyone is waiting for a sign that we made it. We should activate the teleporter in the main city. It’s time we spread the word and move on.”

Kirito then began his trek to the far side of the room. Before too long, Sinon, Klein, Asuna, Agil, and the rest of their supporters followed them. Only the odd ones out like Kibaou were left behind before even they grudgingly followed. The passed through the door and travelled up a set of stairs before reaching another set of doors. Kirito took the leap and pushed them open, momentarily blinking before their eyes adjusted.

They were met with a blue sky and open plains. In the distance were several, make that many mountains which were the main scenery of the floor. The group exited from the dungeon, coming out of a cliff face onto the path. So far, the path was the only sign of civilization, but it was a positive sign that everyone was happy to see.

They had reached the Second Floor.

“Feels good,” Klein grinned before he deflated, “Now...99 more floors...to go.” He hung his head as his friends patted him on the shoulders reassuringly. It had taken them a month to clear the first floor. The other floors were going to get progressively harder with even stronger mobs and Bosses.

Still, the entire group just wanted some rest so they began walking down the path towards the next town. If nothing changed from Beta Test, the upcoming town should be Urbus and it would have the teleporter which people could use to instantly travel up from the first floor. Just touching it would activate it.

“So, never pegged you to be a Kamen Rider and the only one with a gun,” Kirito spoke to Sinon.

“Neither did you mention you were the Orange Samurai,” Sinon retorted. “So, how exactly-”

“Wait, Kirito-kun! Sinon-san!” Asuna called to the two Kamen Riders. The two Riders paused for a second to regard her. She was grateful for them both but her eyes were on Kirito. “You were the one that saved me that day.”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she huffed.

“Well, I didn’t think it was important,” he answered and Asuna furrowed her brows. Why was she getting mad? It wasn’t like Kirito was his real name either. “You were safe. That’s all that matters.”

“Well...I guess I can’t argue with that,” Asuna agreed, although there was a warm sensation in her stomach from hearing a boy say something like that to her and mean it.

“So, what are your plans from here?” Sinon asked Asuna.

“You should join a party, make some friends,” Kirito suggested to Asuna. “You shouldn’t go solo. Not at least until you’re sure you’ve got a handle on everything. The mobs and quests are going to be even harder now than on the First Floor.”

“What about you?” Asuna asked.

“I’m better on my own,” Kirito answered.

“Me too,” Sinon stated. “Besides, I got this.” She held up her SengokuDriver. Asuna wanted to argue the point, especially the hypocrisy of telling her to join others when they were solo. She just couldn’t since they had those Drivers to boost them to higher levels than before. They could afford to go solo when not many others could.

“You know, after today, people are going to spread a lot of information on your armors,” the brunette warned. “People will probably want you to join up in their parties or get you involved in the raid party for this floor’s Boss.”

“And we’ll be there,” Kirito nodded. “We can’t keep these to ourselves and it was inevitable that someone lets the secret out. At least this way no one can say we were hoarding them to protect ourselves. We were given this power for a reason. I think clearing all 100 floors is that reason."

"Just be careful, OK?"

“Sure,” Kirito smiled back.

(LINE BREAK)

Tobei Tachibana’s Apartment - November 29th 5: 42 PM

Tobei settled down in front of the television once again for the evening, his phone unplugged as the number of calls had been ridiculous. If it wasn’t the reporters trying to call him up to get something about SAO out of him, it was the relatives of the people trapped inside either threatening him or begging him to do anything to get their loved ones out of the death game. It didn’t get any easier having to listen to their pleading since he had already tried to stop the game from happening, but failed. Only adding his Kamen Rider system did he really feel like he had managed to do something in order to save the players.

The lawsuits against Argus were going down the tubes for the company. With every death of a player, another family was suing the company for their role in that player’s death. Argus managed to worm their way out of the first 200 deaths since they argued that their product had been sabotaged and ignorant interference on the part of the families were just as at fault for those deaths. With the deaths of players in the game, the suicides, and the deaths by being attacked by something, Argus couldn’t exactly say it wasn’t their fault. They had been the ones who cleared all the monster designs, quest scenarios, trap placement, and pretty much every way a person could get killed in SAO. Not to mention they had been the ones who allowed Kayaba Akihiko to create the game his way. So in a way, they allowed the game’s lethalities to be created even if they didn’t know what their golden child had been up to. A liability like that was quickly picked up by all of the prosecuting lawyers and Argus looked like it was going to be sunk unless they found a new kind of evidence and/or excuse to use.

That didn’t matter too much to Tobei. He had quit Argus after SAO launched, not wanting to be part of it anymore since it had allowed things to be mismanaged so badly it allowed Akihiko to do what he did. It didn’t stop people from cursing him for his role in SAO, but it made him feel like he wasn’t taking part in blood money like the other programmers who were trying to hoard what they could and get out of the city. If anything, Tobei’s lawyers told him that his actions may have helped him get an eventual acquittal from any charges, especially compared to the other programmers who were going to hiding.

“Akihiko, what is the point of all this?” Tobei sighed, once more feeling the weight of every death on his shoulders.

A sharp ring snapped Tobei out of his growing funk. Blinking, Tobei stood up and approached his front door. He was wary, remembering how one of his fellow programmers got jumped in his own home by an angry family member. Reaching the door, slowly opening it but keeping the chain lock from letting it open only so far. He was expecting perhaps a police officer, a lawyer, or an angry family member of an SAO player.

What he got was a teenage girl. She wore a gray school uniform and had black hair in a pageboy cut with dark eyes. She seemed old enough for high school or just leaving middle school. Tobei wasn’t sure since kids seemed to grow so damn fast. Still, she didn’t seem to be sporting him ill will considering the unsure and possibly even fear.

“Yes?” Tobei asked warily. After all, the girl might be bait for something.

“Ano...are you Tobei Tachibana-san?” asked the girl.

Tobei sighed, “I am. What do you want?”

“I….I…” the girl fidgeted, looking at her feet. Obviously she was mustering a lot of courage in coming to his door for anything, “I...want you to find...my brother.”

“You want me to find your brother?” Tobei blinked in confusion, but then he suddenly got why she was asking him of all people, “Ah, he’s a player in Sword Art Online isn’t he?”

“Yes…” the girl nodded. “I...I know he’s alive...but I need to know if he’s okay.”

Tobei sighed, scratching his head. Closing his door slightly, he undid the lock before opening it again properly and gesturing inside, “Please come inside. I have a feeling that this might take a while. I’ll have some tea made so you can explain yourself properly.”

“Thank-you,” the girl nodded as she entered the apartment, Tobei closing the door behind her. He could tell he was going to need a while to get through this new bump in the road.

To Be Continued...