Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

New Years' Gamble: Fuscus the Vacant Colossus

"Retreat down the stairs." Kirito shouts out. A hard call, but with the walls coming down on them, they have no choice. But there was something Kirito wasn't saying; if everyone left the room, the boss would lose aggro and heal quickly. At least one person would need to stay behind, and the Black Swordsman had volunteered himself.

"But-"

"Go!" Diavel interrupts Hafner's protest, the raid leader sheathing his sword and leading the charge to the staircase.

"Koharu, let's go," Jaymes says. His partner nods and follows the rest towards the stairs with him. With a passing glance to the ceiling, Jaymes looks to the face of the golem monster...except there was no face there at all. Instinctively, he grabs Koharu's wrist. "Wait! The boss...is gone."

"Huh? What do you...how?" Koharu's eyes roam from the ceiling to the circumference of the room. By now, Asuna had taken notice of Fuscus' absence and called it to Kirito and Mito's attention. But Jaymes couldn't locate the blocky head of the boss. Not on the moving walls nor between the rapidly moving lines racing along the floor, ceiling, and walls.

They haven't defeated it, so where did the face go? Did it move to-

"No, Shiba!"

Liten's metallic voice rings out, and Jaymes' eyes lock in on Shivata, who's with Hafner at the stairs. But that's not what's eye-catching. Underneath Shivata, where the staircase should have been, is replaced with the mouth and face of Fuscus the Vacant Colossus. Confused and frozen by the new development, it's Hafner who explains what the hell happened as he tries yanking Shivata out of the monster's mouth. "The stairs...turned into its mouth!"

SAO, at its core, is a fair game. Forget the two most dangerous elements of the game (there are no revival items, and death here means death in the real world), and it is no different than any other video game. Everyone in the game has a fair chance of encountering quests, leveling up, enhancing their craft, and the boss battles are escapable. That was Jaymes' understanding; at least previous experience has proven that the raiders could escape back through the doors of the boss chamber. The last floor had a slight change to the rule-the flooded room could only be opened from the outside-but not once was escape impossible.

Until now.

While watching Diavel, Agil, and a few others hack at Fuscus' face to save Shivata (with little to no damage applied to Fuscus), Jaymes stands with his group with his focus on the battle in case the limbs reappear. He previously thought that the limbs were phase one of the fight, then they'll tackle the face. If the situation were to change, they'd prepare for it. It was working when they only thought the boss was the disconnected arms, face, and legs. But the walls and change of location...

"Damn...what's the deal with this boss and all the appearing and disappearing?" Kirito growls.

"So that's what they mean by Vacant Colossus," Asuna responds with a gasp. "Vacant means empty, and colossus means giant statue...I think it's referring to the entire chamber. This room is the boss of the fifth floor."

Mito grits her teeth. "So we're fighting this entire room? That's crazy, even for a magical golem!"

"What do we do, Jaymes?"

Koharu's whimper sparks action into Jaymes' tongue. He doesn't know what to do now, but that's for later. The first thing on his mind is saving Shivata. Looking at the blue-haired swordsman, he yells, "Diavel! The sigil on the head! Strike it!"