Shit, this guy is though, I thought to myself as Takeshi and I's fists smashed into each other.
I stared up at his health bar and it was still at 70%. I had managed to take away some of his health but it came at a cost. I glanced at my own health bar and realized that it was at 65%. We had been trading blows ever since he knocked down Klein. Skill wise, we were both pretty even but, unfortunately, despite the martial arts skill that I learned back when I was in SAO, his version of the skill seemed to be more advanced. On top of that, the rest of my group was at a huge disadvantage since none of them had learned the martial arts skill from SAO. That was probably why Klein went down so quickly when he charged him. Speaking of Klein, Lisbeth had been trying to wake him up. His health was in the red but he wasn't completely out of the fight, yet, but for some reason he was unconscious. Maybe, it was some kind of effect that Takeshi's attacks had. Perhaps, if he landed enough consecutive blows, it was able to temporarily incapacitate a player. I had no proof of this, though. I told Lisbeth and Suguha to stay back and protect Klein and make sure that Takeshi didn't finish him off for good. They, reluctantly, agreed, and let Agil and I take care of Takeshi, himself.
While Takeshi was distracted by me, Agil wrapped his giant arms around him, making it so that he couldn't move.
"Kirito, now!" he yelled.
I leaped into the air and was going to slam my foot on the top of Takeshi's skull but before I could, he headbutted Agil so hard in the face that he, instantly, released his grip. Takeshi elbowed him in the gut, sending him flying backwards and then grabbed my ankle the instant my foot was about to make contact with his head and slammed me, back-first, onto the floor of the castle. A sharp pain shot throughout my back, particularly, my spinal cord. It was scary how realistic the pain in this VR world felt in comparison to old Aincrad. I was still getting used to it. Hell, to be honest, I didn't know if I would ever get used to it. Ignoring the pain in my back, I managed to pick myself up off of the floor and immediately noticed that my health bar was now in the yellow, sitting at 50%. Half-way to being defeated. By the first asshole that I encountered in the castle. Just the thought of it pissed me off. Asuna was somewhere suffering and I was struggling to take down the first line of defense of Sugou's Royal Guard or whatever the hell they're called. How pathetic could I be?
I can't afford to concentrate on that, right now. I have to focus on the fight in front of me.
"You're not a bad fighter", commented Takeshi, smiling. "Unfortunately, you are not on the same level as me. I appreciate the challenge, though, small or not."
Agil flung one of his giant fists at Takeshi while he was too busy insulting me but somehow Takeshi managed to dodge it. My foot began to glow purple, indicating that I was preparing myself for a martial arts skill. I just needed Agil to keep him distracted for a little bit longer. Agil continued to throw a flurry of strikes at Takeshi, with Takeshi, able to dodge most of them with complete ease. Once I was sure that his attention was completely on Agil, I was ready to perform my martial arts skill. I charged at Takeshi, again and this time he didn't notice. I backflipped into the air and before he could notice me, my foot struck, downwardly, on his skull. This skill was called Gengetsu or the Crescent Moon. The attack had managed to send Takeshi's health down to 65%, meaning that the martial arts skill did a meager 5% damage to him.
Damn it, this is going to take forever, I thought to myself, annoyed.
"Not bad. It looks like it's time for me to get serious", claimed Takeshi, confidently.
*
*
*
Klein. Klein. What are you doing lying down like that? You made me a promise, remember? You didn't go back on your word, did you? You aren't going to let me down, again, right? Please, you have to get back up and keep fighting. I beg you. Stand up and fight, Klein!
*
*
*
Klein's eyes, finally, opened and his vision was blurry at first but as soon as the blur was gone, he could see that Lisbeth was kneeling by him and Suguha was standing in front of him with her hand on her sword, ready to strike at the moment that Takeshi decided to finish him off.
"Klein, you're awake", Lisbeth said, surprised.
Klein narrowed his eyes at his health bar that was in the red.
5%, huh? That's not very much left but still. It's enough.
Lisbeth offered Klein her hand to help him stand back up.
"Looks like whatever status effect you were suffering from is gone now", she concluded.
Klein took her hand and she pulled him up with her strength, alone. As soon as Klein stood back up, the pain in his body that was a result of the beating that he took from Takeshi returned. His face felt numb from the brutal blows to his nose and jaw he had suffered, earlier.
Seems like pain in this world doesn't go away. That fucking sucks.
"You guys were standing guard by me this entire time?" asked Klein as Lisbeth nodded her head, yes, in response.
Suguha looked behind her after hearing Klein's voice and looked relieved that he was conscious, again.
"As soon as you fell unconscious, Kirito ordered us to protect you incase Takeshi decided to finish you off and to leave Takeshi to him and Agil. They've been doing their best to fight him by themselves and they've managed to get his health down to 50% but I can tell they're running out of steam fast. If we don't do something quick, I'm worried that we'll..."
Klein cut Lisbeth off by putting his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"There's no need to worry, Lisbeth. I appreciate you and Suguha doing that for me and that's just like Kirito to put my safety above his own. It kind of sucks, though. It always feels like I'm the one who needs saving. I'm thinking that it's about time that I'm the one who does the saving, even if I end up looking stupid in the end."
Klein could tell that Takeshi hadn't even noticed that he was awake, again, and was too busy with his fight with Kazuto and Agil.
I don't have much health left so I don't know how much good I'm going to be in a fight but still. Even if my health reaches zero this early on, at least I'll go down fighting. Kana was right. She always has been. I've always been scared...of change...of taking chances...of making our relationship work...I'm tired of always letting fear control my fucking life. I'm better than that, now.
Klein released his hand from Lisbeth's shoulder and his feet began glowing bright purple.
"W-what...wait, Klein, you have..."
Lisbeth wasn't able to finish her statement before Klein dashed towards Takeshi with speed that not even Kazuto had demonstrated during his fight with Takeshi. This dash of incredible speed was actually the beginning of the martial arts skill called Senda or Flash Blow. Klein's hand began turning the same purple color as his feet, the closer he got to Takeshi, until he finished the martial arts skill by ramming his fist into Takeshi's jaw, without remorse, knocking Takeshi, flat onto his back. Kazuto and Agil both looked at Klein in complete shock.
"Klein?" asked Kazuto, still processing what he had just seen.
"You aren't the only one who has the martial arts skill from SAO. I took the time to get the skill too. I used to tell you that I always wanted to be a bad ass samurai", reminded Klein, smirking. "Figured that a samurai should be able to kick just as much ass without his weapon as he can with it."
Agil laughed to himself.
"Only you would say something so fucking corny right now", he mocked.
"A-aye, ease up. I'm being serious here."
"I'm surprised that you're standing again so soon", said Takeshi as he picked himself up. "Usually, my opponents are out longer than that, especially with how much damage you took. Oh well, it doesn't matter. This fight just keeps getting more and more interesting. Let's dance."
Takeshi's hands began glowing a bright red color, instead of purple and his eyes turned the same disturbing color. His body began to give off a strange red mist.
"What the hell is happening?" questioned Klein.
"His health is at 30%", observed Kazuto. "He must have sensed that he's in danger of losing to us, now, so he's playing his trump card. I'm not sure what ability this is but I'm pretty sure it's raising his attack. We have to be especially careful not to get hit, now."
Suguha and Lisbeth both threw punches at Takeshi while Klein and Kazuto were speaking but Takeshi, easily, grabbed both of the girls' wrists, before their punches landed. He flipped both of the girls onto their backs, demonstrating that his reflexes were even deadlier, now.
"It seems as though everyone's attention is finally on me, now", boasted Takeshi as Suguha and Lisbeth manage to pick themselves up and stand next to Kazuto, Klein and Agil. "Five on one...this might actually prove to be quite the challenge. Don't hold back or you'll regret it."
"Fuck this cocky bastard", insulted Klein through gritted teeth. "Let's take him down, Kirito."
Kazuto nodded his head in agreement.
"Kazuto, you and Klein stay back while we keep him distracted and wait for your chances to strike since you two are the only ones, who have the martial arts skill", pointed out Suguha.
Before Kazuto or Klein could argue against this plan, Suguha, Lisbeth and Agil ran towards Takeshi and began throwing a variety of strikes in his direction while Kazuto and Klein waited for their chance to strike their powerful enemy.
"On my mark, Klein", Kazuto ordered as his eyes followed the movements of his teammates.
"You're the boss", Klein responded.
After about thirty seconds of watching his three party members try to land a single blow on Takeshi, Kazuto finally saw an opening.
"Now!" yelled Kazuto.
Kazuto and Klein's feet began glowing purple and they both dashed forward at incredible speed. This was the initialization phase of the same martial arts skill that Klein had used earlier, called Senda. Klein's entire right hand was glowing the same color as his feet but, for Kazuto, only the fingertips of his right hand glowed purple. Klein smashed his fist right into Takeshi's jaw while Kazuto pushed his glowing fingertips right into his opponent's gut with incredible power, causing Takeshi to spit out blood onto the floor of the castle. Kazuto had combined two different martial arts skills, one being Senda or the Flash Blow and then Embracer which was the attack with his fingertips. Both Klein and Kazuto's attacks had dealt massive damage to Takeshi, leaving his health at 10% but the enemy didn't give them a chance to celebrate even for an instant. Takeshi lept into the air towards Kazuto and prepared to land a jumping punch with his left fist that was still glowing red. Kazuto focused intensely on nothing but his body and it began to glow a bright silver color, resembling the activation of the martial arts skill, Haganeri (Steel Tempering) which raised Kazuto's defense and made his entire body harder than a set of fully equipped steel armor. Takeshi's punch still landed directly on Kazuto's abdomen but only sent Kazuto back a few feet and barely had any effect on his health bar.
"Damn it!" exclaimed Takeshi in frustration.
"Now, Klein!" ordered Kazuto while Takeshi's attention was still on him.
A brutal round house kick, with Klein's right foot that was glowing blue, landed right on Takeshi's chin, the execution of the martial arts skill, Suigetsu or Water Moon, sending Takeshi's health to a whopping 2%.
"This can't be happening!" complained Takeshi, angrily, realizing how close he was to losing.
Kazuto let out a terrifying battle cry as he, painfully, uppercut Takeshi as he was falling towards him. A mixture of both teeth and blood was sent flying out of Takeshi's mouth. The attack was just enough to send Takeshi's health to 0%. Takeshi shot one more glance at Kazuto and, briefly, smiled to himself, having witnessed such an intense battle. Takeshi's body shattered into tiny blue polygonal shards, indicating that he had been defeated. In the midst of the floating blue shards was a single bottle of medicine which, in the world of SAO, was called a potion. A potion was able to help a player recover some of their health. Kazuto picked up the potion and turned his attention to Klein, who was on his hands and knees, exhausted, with his health still in the red. Kazuto made his way towards his teammate and offered him the potion without speaking a word to him. To his surprise, Klein pushed the potion away and stood up, clearly still tired from the fight and put on a forced grin.
"Thanks for the offer, Kirito, but I'm good", Klein assured his friend.
Kazuto and the rest of the party frowned at Klein's claim.
"Klein, you clearly took most of the damage during that fight", concluded Lisbeth, with her hands on her hips. "You need it the most out of all of us."
"You fought hard", praised Suguha. "You've earned it."
"Just take the damn potion, man", added Agil. "Even I was impressed by how well you did against that dude. He was seriously tough, even for me."
"I...I appreciate it, guys but..."
Klein stared at Kazuto's health bar which was in the yellow, meaning that he was the second most damaged player during the battle.
"But I'd feel more comfortable if our leader was back to full health. If Kirito goes down, then all of this is for nothing. Plus, we have no idea how powerful the next boss will be. Just take it, Kirito. Please."
"Klein, with how much health you're sitting at, the odds of you surviving the next boss..."
"Are basically none", interrupted Klein. "Yeah, you're probably right, Kirito. That's a chance I'm willing to take, though. So, hurry up and take the damn potion so we can get back to saving your girl."