The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 89 - Blades Out

"Move it!"

The scythe user looked straight at me and shouted. I was caught off guard, wobbling away just in time to avoid the large blade of his scythe cutting into my face.

"Whoa.....!"

".....It's you!"

I spun around at another voice, as a redhead player stopped by, clearly recognising me. Of course, my response to her was with surprise.

"Aren't you Kira?"

"Yes. Listen, you need to get out of here. It's going to get chaotic."

She set off again to catch up with the scythe user. Without thinking much, I simply went after her.

As soon as I rushed out into the walls of the Gladiorium, I felt the feeling of freedom again. I stopped myself from embracing it for too long, before Kira leaves the Gladiorium and disappears from my sight.

I could have changed course to find Zena and the others, but Kira was far too important to ignore. I continued my pursuit after her out of the giant arena, when I heard a noise that sounded awfully like fireworks.

Turning to the noise while I slowed down, I saw it just above the canyon walls. The fireworks. Or rather, just 3 streaks of light streaming through the air, and fading off before they could fall back on the ground.

That felt like a signal to something. It was all I could make out of, and it was definitely something I had never seen before in this world.

The night sky was pretty young, too. You'd have to be blind not noticing the vibrant show.

I considered finding and meeting up with Zena instead. I'm sure he would be doing the same.

A slight chill shot up my spine, as I grasped the handle of Taiyoubimaru, pulling it out in a swing around my back.

PING......!

My katana had locked itself between metallic claws, as I struggled to find out who my ambusher was.

The claws withdrew, and I saw the chance to gain distance from the player, who I recognized immediately.

"Puma!"

I couldn't believe it. The bartender who Zena and I trusted in the city of Katalysis, now facing me off suddenly as an enemy.

Behind her, a scythe user had just reached the scene. He wasn't the player known as the Reaper, but an extra opponent to deal with was insanely bad news.

"Oh, lad," Puma held her claw weapon defensively. "I wished I hadn't run into yer."

"You're with the Council, aren't you." I grasped Taiyoubimaru with both hands, with the tip of its blade in front of my nose.

The bartender shrugged. "Well if it isn't obvious enough to yer that me and Tori are best buds, I guess forcing you to fight me might."

She slid a finger underneath a blade of her claw. It bled red crystals for a while, but she didn't care, shaking it off and pointing her claw at me.

"Very sorry, lad. Tori's orders. I hope yer don't hold a grudge against me trying to kill you."

Damn. That was straightforward. At least she wasn't sarcastic about it. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I'm so, so, so fucked right now.

"Let's make this quick, my fellow lad," Puma beckoned Acher to her. "We don't want to keep Tori waiting."

I was sure that taking on 2 players of possibly in the same range of player levels as mine would be an impossible feat to achieve.

In other words, it just wasn't fair. It really wasn't. I wanted to flee into the city, but I didn't think they're gonna let me escape anyway.

Well, who knows. With the city being in chaos right now, I might even run into an even worse situation, not that this one could be any worse than it already is.

My eyes shifted to the Gladiorium, the place where I'd just escaped from. With a click of my tongue, I took off towards the stadium, knowing full well that it was my only course of action. As expected, Puma went after me, with Acher following suit.

I ran at top speed, the fastest that my Sprint skill could give me. As I was just going to touch the outer walls of the arena, I felt the same chill up my spine.

Spinning around with Taiyoubimaru, I swung it around, seeing its blade sliding in between the thin blades of Puma's raised claw.

PHIKK....!

To think that she could catch up to me in such a short time. It's solid proof that her Sprint skill was definitely at a higher level that mine.

But never mind that. My katana was now stuck, as Puma pinned her claw onto it down and hard.

"Fellow lad!" She commanded.

Acher dashed towards my unguarded body, his scythe glowing red as he held it up for a swing.

To let my katana go or not was the question that I had to ask myself for those few seconds before Acher scored a hit at me. My hands were steadily gripped onto its handle, as if they were glued, but it wasn't because I didn't have a choice.

I had one. One that I chose to stick with my katana no matter what. Even if I would end up dying from it.

Nothing could replace Taiyoubimaru, ever.

Shutting my eyes hard, I expected the scythe's sharp and curved blade to dig into my body.

PING........!

But all I could hear was a clean sound of metal. My eyes fluttered open, as I found Puma's dumbfounded face looking away.

I turned to what she was seeing. For a moment, I felt relief sweeping through me.

He came just in time. That stubborn fool. That fool, who was locking blades with Acher using my Picturesque Brancher.

Both of them backed off from each other.  Puma clicked her tongue, and I saw the chance to gain distance from her distracted state.

"Use.....a fucking spear.....for goddamn sake!" I managed to call out, yanking Taiyoubimaru out of Puma's claw. Leaping back a few metres, I faced Puma with a renewed combat stance.

"Actually, I think I should!"

Zena's reply rang out through my ears. I didn't expect that, especially one that meant that he was agreeing with me.

"Catch!"

I turned to Zena, only to notice Picturesque Brancher flying through the air without warning. In a flustered moment, I reached out with my left hand and caught it by the handle.

As I caught it, a phrase automatically went through my mind:

.....Armament Swap!

My whole body shook. My vision turned green. My limbs were being randomly distorted by static-like stuff.

Ah, yes.....that glitch. I was starting to get used to it already.

Zena already had his spear out. A new spear, in fact, with a blue and red blade attached to its ends.

"It's as Tori had feared," Puma raised her claw at me. "The Witch needs to be hunted down."

"Try me," I shot back, stretching my glitchy sword-held arms. "I'll show you what it means to do the impossible."

Okay.....that was pretty cringe. But I couldn't show weakness against my enemy, even if I have to cook up some quirky phrase to do so.

I turned to Zena, who was a few metres away from me. He nodded at me, and I nodded back, as we faced our opponents for the real battle.

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