The Red Player (A Sword Art Online story)

Chapter 23: The Blank Sword Skill

Chapter 23: The Blank Sword Skill

Piifalo

So they're here already... Then where does that leave me? What options do I have now? My mind becomes inundated with questions of self-doubt, and fear, but I'm not left with much time to dwell on it as the two powerful figures appear before me.

"Hajime..." With just a single look I can feel my entire world change. The aura of darkened shadows, nightmares. I shake my head and clench my fist allowing me to look further. My eyes drift to Hajime's body, and a smile follows. "It's been a while since we've been... separated." I gesture to the place where his arm used to be, before I removed it.

His expression remains as stagnant as ever, denying me even the slightest satisfaction of a reaction.

Somewhere behind me Miki gives a chuckle. "You certainly are an interesting one, Piifalo. You're either the most courageous human I have ever met, or all these fights have given you brain damage." Miki's smile suggests the utmost joy. "I don't think you quite understand the situation you're in right now! We're seriously going to kill you!" He laughs ecstatically causing me to step back slightly.

 Suddenly Hajime's aura seems much worse... Bloodlust, hatred, and sadistic joy mix together, facing me all at once. My hands begin to shake uncontrollably. W-what's going on? I have to pull myself together, fast! W-what am I going to do? They're getting closer! Soon my body freezes and refuses to obey, only stumble backwards. Oh god...

Hajime's blank stare, Ryuga's sharp smile, and Miki's insatiable desire to kill surround me, pulling my mind apart, destroying it from the inside. Before I know it my back is in the snow, and I can't seem to move. Fireheart sinks into the snow beside me, and the once radiant glow fades to nothing. Darkness closes in upon my vision until... I'm blind. Silence sets in, and soon all feeling is nearly gone.

I wonder if they've reached me yet... Will they kill me? Will they take their time, stabbing me helpless body until there is nothing left? Or will they show mercy to their defenseless enemy? I wonder...

A ray brilliant golden light cracks through my world of darkness, and soon I can feel the cold snow covering my body. The light spreads further, as the sensation of movement finds it's way beneath me. I'm being dragged? Through the snow? I guess they found me... They won't show the mercy of killing me here, will they?

The golden light begins to pour in heavily now, like the sun rising over a blackened night, and my vision is clear. The sight is truly astounding Ashas' arms wrap around my shoulder, struggling to pull me out of the thick snow. A smile nearly makes it's way to my face... just before being crushed by the three Coffins standing before me. The aura is as overwhelming as ever.

Three gods hover above me, each one at least as powerful as I, if not even more so. With each step they take closer toward me, the more I beg to fall back asleep, away from the embodiments of fear.

"Where are you... Dais-" My sentence is cut off by a light pressure on my arms, and the shifting of snow beneath my freezing back. "Ashas... How can you do it? How can you withstand this - this pressure? Even so, why won't you just run? We're both dead now..."

"Gravity isn't what makes getting up difficult. It's fighting the fear of what struck you down that's the hard part," Ashas pants out between breaths. "Hell yeah I'm afraid right now, but getting up is a lot easier when you have a reason to do it!" Ashas heaves me backward with all her strength, causing my limp body to fall on top of hers. She pushes herself out from underneath. "Maybe I'm losing it right now, but I thought that maybe I was your reason to get up too..." She falls back into the snow, unable to make another move.

I lay down in the thick mess of hardened ice and chilling snow, feeling her words run through me like steaming water. Only a few meters away from me, between myself and the Coffins, steam begins to rise through the falling flakes, sizzling in the silence.

Blood pumps through my veins for the first time in minutes, and my head finally clears. I roll onto my chest slowly and tenderly. My feet push their way underneath me, giving rise to the rest of my body until at last I was standing.

"Alright you bastards, let's find out if you'll really be laughing in your coffins!" Throwing caution and hesitation to the wind I burst forward, snatching my burning Fireheart from the sinking pit of snow. "Hyaagh! Bloodrush!" Their auras seem to vanish the moment I activate my ability, but their strength is still evident.

My first step is a long one, a giant leap for Ryuga on the right side – the weakest of the three.  I thrust my Fireheart forward such that a streak of red is left behind by the blade as it travels. Ryuga tries his best to slip out of the way, but my massive sword still manages to hit his ribs with great force. He falls to the ground with half his health gone. His smile however, never fades.

The wind whispers beside my left ear, and Hajime's katana appears along with it causing me to recoil back – straight into the blade of Miki's sword. Before my health bar gets the chance to move an inch I roll up to Miki's chest. With all the strength I can muster I launch my knee into his gut, and foot into Hajime's ribs.

"Ahahahaha!" Miki laughs forcefully. "You're much stronger now! Where did this strength come from, I wonder? Let's find out how long this'll last!"

"I already know that answer. I've used Bloodrush enough times to know it's limits... as well as my own." My body burns to a dangerous temperature in an attempt to keep up. My eyes flicker to Ashas who had not reached a high enough level to last a second in this fight.

All three opponents stand firm, none of them have taken significant damage, physically or mentally. As the Hero of SAO, it seems I've run out of options... all except one...

I take a long, deep breath, putting and end to Bloodrush. The scorching Fireheart falls out of my open hand and into the snow, going dark the moment it leaves my palm. Then I wait. No one makes a move.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute, Ashas. Go." No one, not even Ashas replies. Heat flares up inside me once again, burning my insides. "Listen to me right now, damn it! Go! I'll find you soon, I promise." Even through her determination, Ashas begins to back away, before turning into a full run. No golden light would save me this time.

Ashas had only gotten a few meters away before Ryuga coos "Aww, how noble of you!" Mocking my actions

"Truly breathtaking," Miki chimes in. "But I think I liked the 'fired up' Piifalo much more. And I think I know how to draw him out..." All three coffins step forward in unison, pouring out intense intimidating aura.

I get no chance to register what they meant before they take off in a straight line, aimed past me.

My eyes grow wide with fear, and Bloodrush immediately activates, however several times weaker than any I had done before. "Sword skill number 23: Burning Tsunami!" A wave of flames erupt around my circular slash, creating a wall between Ashas and I, and the Coffins.

"Keep going, Ashas... Maybe we'll see each other again someday..." My eyelids ease shut, finally accepting my fate...

But then the wall breaks, and three tempered blades slide through my exposed body, before continuing past me. My health bar narrowly avoids zero. Bloodrush ends instantly, and I fall back into the snow, completely incapacitated and speechless.

The Coffins stop Ashas in her tracks, allowing Hajime to lift her off her feet with his arm. Ashas thrusts her knife for Hajime's face, but her hand is caught by Ryuga. Without a moment's notice he breaks her arm at the elbow.

"You bastard!" I scream, but my body won't move. The wounds and exhaustion paralyze me.

"There he is!" Miki exclaims. "Well if you want her back, meet us on floor nineteen at these coordinates. See ya later!" A message appears on my screen with a set of coordinates I had never seen before.

"W-What the hell!? Come back here!" The Coffins disappear in an instant. The last thing I see is Ashas clutching her shattered arm, before my mind fades to black.

End of chapter 23. Hope you enjoyed, I added a dedication to the story. Check her story out its p cool :p