Demon Swordsman: Remastered (Sword Art Online X Male Reader)

Chapter 6 - Mark of Darkness

Massacre.

U/n saw a massacre taking place within the twenty-fifth-floor boss room. The screams echoing through the room and exiting the only open doorway to be heard throughout the Labyrinth were horrifying. The rumbling of each step the massive two-headed giant boss took froze those watching in place and provoked those inside the boss room to run, breaking formation and screaming for their lives as the two-headed giant wielded four weapons in each arm protruding from its body. Its presence was overwhelming, but when a howl escaped its two mouths, the entire room froze, and the players rushing around the gigantic room seized and were unable to move as they were struck with a debuff.

The gigantic boss turned its body toward its next victim, an unfortunate member of the ALS, Aincrad Liberation Squad, frozen with fear and status while their wide eyes watched through a visor on their helmet. Those eyes traced the mallet within the giant's upper right arm, watching the veins bulge against the dirty and grimy skin of the arm before it was suddenly brought down with enough force to smash them into the ground and shake the entire room. The shattering of glass followed, and pixels were left in the place of the unfortunate victim, signifying the end of their life within Aincrad and the real world.

U/n felt his body go numb. He felt like a stranger in his body, unable to tear his eyes from the looming boss in the center of the room, watching its beady red eyes trace the entire room before finding its next closest victim while its HP bars appeared beside its face. Above its head appeared the name, written in dark red, spelling a singular string of letters, revealing the name of the beast: "Krokos, Keeper of Death." Yet that seemed unimportant to the next detail U/n's eyes found. Only a quarter of Krokos' first HP bar was gone.

Like before, when it got close enough, Krokos lifted its upper left arm and raised the battle-axe high into the air, nearly scraping against the ceiling. Its victim suddenly spasmed and rushed away, the red debuff above their HP bar vanishing as they screamed in terror. Others followed suit like the scream had jolted them out of terror, sinking them further into despair and helplessness. They were simply ants to Krokos. Death approached with each stride the bloodthirsty giant made, shaking the room and throwing the scurrying players off their balance in their escape.

"F-Form ranks!" A desperate voice bellowed.

U/n searched the room and found the owner of the voice soon enough, cowering in fear with a small group of ALS members, lifting a sword high in the air while it shook in their hand. The chainmail armour jangled with each rumble, a symbol of the Aincrad Liberation Squad, but what caught U/n's attention was the familiar head of hair in the shape of a cactus. It was the leader of the Aincrad Liberation Squad, a swordsman going by the name of Kibaou, a member of the Clearers. He commanded one of the largest guilds of the Clearers, only that number had been effectively cut in half because of their attempt to tackle the boss on their own and shrinking with each passing second.

The entire guild was in disarray, unable to or simply ignoring the orders from Kibaou because of their fear. The pathway toward the entrance of the room was never clear as the boss never strayed too far from it, effectively keeping every single member of ALS trapped in the boss room with zero chances of escape. None of them were focused on attacking the boss anymore, sent into despair with what little damage they had accomplished in the beginning before Krokos had turned the tides of the battle—turned massacre. The twenty-fifth boss of Aincrad was on track to eradicate the entire Aincrad Liberation Squad from existence.