The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Clashing Guilds Arc: Chapter 43 - Shattering News

Directly approaching victims in the open shouldn't be the Lycan Mark's method of attacking them, according to whatever limited knowledge I have about the orange guild.

"Where we bite at is none of your business, girl. Move." The fang-clad player spat, as he started to walk towards the crowd of Horizon's Edge guild members behind her.

SWUN.

The dull swing of an axe could be heard, as Misuko's green axe cut itself in between the fang-clad player and her fellow guildmates.

"I'm the guild leader here. What. Do. You. Want." Misuko separated her words as far as her patience could take her.

SHHINK...!

It was instant. The way Misuko took that immediate response, and the blur of the fang-clad player's weapon aimed at her stomach. They all happened at the same time. Her eyes looked like they were about to bulge, as she froze in place, staring at the guy in shock. Her mouth hung open, halfway ready to scream, but was cut short by the curved blade practically touching her abdomen.

Wait.....a curved blade?

A scimitar.

The fang-clad guy was a goddamn scimitar user.

The weapon which was on his back a second ago had vanished. I couldn't tell what that weapon was, but now I knew, as me and a few other guild mates quickly materialized our weapons in shock. Narnia got her hands on her long sword first, as she brandished it against him, panting breath after breath with mixed anxiety and fear.

The fang-clad player closed in on Misuko at eye-level.

"Whimper off."

He swung his scimitar away just as fast as he did on his first swing, leaving a still-frozen Misuko--with her axe still stretched out--silent. A mixture of fear and anger showed on her face, her breath cut short as she tried to turn to the fang-clad player walking on in front of her guild mates.

He raised his scimitar and then pointed straight at the crowd. "Which one of you is Zenalyth? Come out now!"

He probably didn't realize that he was pointing straight at me, in the middle of the crowd. It was a coincidence, sure, but I stepped straight forward, standing half a metre away from the tip of his scimitar.

I was lying if I said I wasn't scared about the blade being pointed that close at me.

"So, you're the one who bit Hallow and Val to death, huh." the fang-clad guy said.

My eyes widened at the mention of that name.

"How did you know that.....incident?"

The scimitar user broke into a brief giggle, before returning to his glare from before.

"YOUR birdie told me."

"My......." My voice trailed off, as I slowly began to realize who he was talking about. My clients, in that party on that day, in that incident. The ones who I talked to and told not to reveal the incident to anyone. Only they could have told him about it.

"They instantly told me ALL about it, for not getting on their asses." He continued. "The easiest questioning ever."

Clenching my left hand into a fist, I looked over the pointed blade, directly at his face. My right hand had stretched to my spear on my back, ready to grab at any moment.

"You're jumping to conclusions. I never killed them." I replied as calmly as possible.

The scimitar inched closer to my chest, its tip barely touching my clothes, just as it did with Misuko. The wielder leaned close to me, face-to-face.

"Don't you dare lie to me, bitch."

A silent glare was all I could manage back at the fang-clad player. My defiance against him was clear; Hallow and Val had ended their own lives with their own blades. Intentionally made their HP decrease to zero. I wanted to say that, but with a scimitar at my chest, I didn't want to take any chances.

This guy could pressure his dominance onto others. No wonder he was the leader of a well-known orange guild.

His scimitar drew back from my body, though I felt like my throat was stuck with seizure. I didn't even realize the open ground around me, my guild mates surrounding me from a distance. They had stepped back due to the brandished scimitar, and I couldn't say that I blame them for doing that.

"You were the one who hunted Hallow in a duel. It's freaking clear as hell that you took the final bite at him."

The fang-clad player's words probably didn't make sense at face value, but I got the main idea of it. My body started to relax a little, as I struggled to catch my breath from the shock I had just experienced. My arms were shaking quite uncontrollably, and for the first time, I had momentarily lost the will to reach for my treasured weapon to fight back.

"But I can't kill you yet." The fang-clad player's sharp eyes turned to me as he added.

Wanting to respond to that statement, I coughed out to break free from my silent trance.

"......W-Why?"

He finally put his scimitar back on his back as he replied simply.

"You're a wanted man now."

The ruthless player turned back to his gang, and as he passed Misuko, who had long already recovered from her shock, shot a ruthless glare down at her. Misuko, who was still holding her axe, didn't say another word, but her face said it all for her: she was pissed, but her eyes were flickering between her anger and her fear.

As the gang exited through the front gate, the fang-clad player turned back to me for a brief moment, and broke the silence and tension once again. He pointed an index finger at himself, in a way that might as well be treated as the middle one.

His words echoed through the front yard, as if announcing his presence in this small safe zone.

"Don't you dare forget the name, Fangras. The Lycan Mark is gonna make sure that you pay for what you've done to our members. We will bite soon."

He slammed the gate shut, which reverberated throughout the guild base. As the footsteps faded away, I stood standing, finally panting hard in the still silence of the front yard.

Holding up my right hand, which was still twitching a bit, I took a brief look at it. It was the representation of my courage; shaken and about to break apart at every second. Closing my eyes as hard as I could, my mind formed a word that described my situation perfectly.

Shit.

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