Today was the day. We're rushing the 75th floor boss.
Everyone was here. The Knights of the Blood, Fuurinkazan, and some other guilds like Agil's.
Heathcliff stood at the front, giving a motivational speech for everyone who attended.
X stood beside me, "You ready?"
I chuckled, "More than you, it seems."
"Don't bullshit me, Kirito."
After Heathcliff's speech, we ran into the boss room together, revealing...
Nothing?
X looked up, "Hey guys, on a scale of one to ten, how scared are you of skeletons and centipedes?"
I looked up and saw the boss.
The Skull Reaper.
It dropped down, crushing a few players in the process.
"Jesus Christ! It one-shotted our tanks!" One of the players exclaimed.
Dammit.
X immediately charged in, "I'll distract this thing! No matter how much damage it deals, it can't do shit if it can't hit me! Attack this thing from the sides!"
I charged in alongside him, "You're not taking this all for yourself."
Asuna and Heathcliff joined us.
X started panicking, "You guys are the main damage dealers! If you guys attacked that thing from the side it would die faster!"
Heathcliff smirked, "I think you forgot that I have absolute defense."
X sighed, "Alright, but if you get hit, you're done, so don't get hit."
He rushed in ahead of us thanks to the difference in speed.
"Come on, Skull Reaper! Let's have a Reaper vs Reaper battle! Hope you don't mind my minions joining in!" X laughed maniacally, switching to his scythe as he danced around the boss's head, slashing at it whilst still avoiding the boss's attacks.
The way he moved seemed almost graceful, even though he was a self-proclaimed reaper.
The Skull Reaper was a very tough enemy. It had high offense, high defense, and high HP. Its speed was higher than most other bosses and it had an erratic targeting system.
X was keeping up with it, no problem, even though he was a literal glass cannon.
One hit from this thing will deplete his HP so much that it will go into the negative ten thousands.
It took a long time, but eventually the boss was killed.
I looked around, we lost 14 members in that raid, but it wasn't as much as we would've if we charged in without a plan.
I looked at Heathcliff, and found that he lost some HP but his HP bar was still in the green.
That's impossible, The Skull Reaper killed our tanks in one hit. Heathcliff was a damage-dealer, so he shouldn't have that much HP.
I was about to do something that I probably would've regretted later.
I attacked Heathcliff, but my blade was repelled by an unnatural force along with the message: "Immortal Object".
Aha.
"I knew it." I muttered.
X chuckled from behind me, "So you noticed too, huh?"
I nodded, "Yeah, you're not a normal player, Heathcliff. The only one who can activate Immortal Object on a player is an admin, and they can only activate them on themselves. Thus, you must be... Kayaba Akihiko!"
I announced that last part for everyone to hear.
"Well, you are correct, Kirito. Very sharp of you. Yes, I am indeed Kayaba Akihiko. I was going to reveal that to you on the 100th floor and face you all as the final boss, but you guessed it long before that." He shook his head, still smiling.
"You bastard!" Someone from the Knights of the Blood attacked him, but was repelled by the same message. Heathcliff opened his menu and forcefully paralyzed everyone in the room but me.
"Now then, Kirito, how about a rematch? If you kill me, the game will end. But if I kill you... I'll be waiting on the 100th floor for everyone else." He offered.
"Kirito, don't do it." Asuna pleaded, "You'll be killed."
"Any small chance is a chance I'm willing to take. But no admin interference, alright?" I said, accepting his duel request.
"Of course. This is a fair fight."
"Don't worry, Kirito, if you die, I'll make sure to arrange the nicest funeral for you." X called from the ground behind me.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I rolled my eyes.
I then engaged Kayaba in combat.
"My, my, you seem motivated. Unfortunately, I think we both know that this will turn out just like our last duel." He taunted me as we clashed blades.
I didn't respond, I kept striking at his shield until Dark Repulser suddenly shattered.
Kayaba took that chance to slash at my avatar.
"Kirito!" X yelled, "Get back!"
I couldn't. The sword skill I just used had end-lag.
I closed my eyes, but the attack never landed.
Asuna had somehow fought through the paralysis and jumped in front of me.
No...
I watched in horror as Asuna's avatar shattered.
Suddenly, X yelled out, "Cure!"
He appeared behind Kayaba and stabbed at his back with the Blood Blade.
Shunk.
A blade was sheathed into a body, but it wasn't X's.
Heathcliff's sword, part of the Liberator set, was buried into X's avatar.
X glanced down, and smiled, "Well, I guess I won't be able to keep my promise to Sachi after all."
Heathcliff just sighed, "Really, Hibiki, is that any way to greet your older brother?"
... What?
Hibiki?
Older brother?
I glanced at X, and his eyes were wide with surprise.
"Older... brother...?" He muttered, and then forced the sword out of him, clutching his head.
Wait, how is he not dead?
X let out an earsplitting scream, and fell to his arms and knees, panting heavily.
He glanced up, and with a quick movement of his hand, threw the Blood Blade into Kayaba's avatar.
"I remember now. Why I was alone. Why my memory was gone." He sounded different. He sounded... tired, "When you made this death game, my image of you shattered. My mind forced itself to forget everything, and I fled. Hah, well, here I am, Nii-san, are you going to kill me now?"
X drank a health potion, recovering his HP, "Sadly for you, the Blood Blade and Death Sickle have a set effect. Don't you remember? I can survive one fatal blow per health bar, but when my health goes back to full... I can take another hit."
But his health never reached full.
Heathcliff slashed across his chest before it could.
"Heh, as expected of my heartless brother. I wonder how you'll explain this to Sachi?" X grinned as his avatar shattered, leaving his scythe and dagger behind.
No...
They're both dead.
But I must keep fighting.
I can't even find the energy to move.
I picked up Asuna's sword and swung weakly at Kayaba.
"Well, it seems like you lost your reason, so I'll just let you join your friends in death." He said as he stabbed his blade into my gut.
I watched as my HP drained to zero, but in a last ditch effort, I attempted to fight back.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily!" I gripped Asuna's sword in my hand and stabbed Heathcliff.
"Well, congratulations, Kirito. You win." Kayaba smiled as we both shattered.
A/N: Well, X and Sachi are now Akihiko's younger siblings.
I planned this to be the case, but I didn't expect to reveal it this early.
Also, I skipped Yui because X doesn't really have much involvement in that part of the story.
Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, consider voting and following for more. Peace out, everybody. Goodbye.
Timeless_95, signing out.