Lisbeth and I made our way up the staircase to the fifth floor in complete silence. After what had just transpired with Suguha, neither of us were in the mood to talk. On top of that, there was no telling what was going on in Lisbeth's head after seeing how I mercilessly cut down Kenshi while he was without a weapon. The anger...and hatred that I showed...it had been a while since I've let that side of me show. Just hearing that cocky piece of shit talk that way about Suguha...and then bringing Asuna into it...I just couldn't take it, anymore.
"Is there anything that you want to talk about?" brought up Lisbeth, breaking the silence.
I stopped for a second to respond to her.
"I'm...sorry you had to see me like that...and if I scared you," I mumbled.
"It's alright...that guy was a real piece of shit...it's just that...I've never seen you like that, before...I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. You must be dealing with a lot between worrying about Asuna, losing each of us one at a time and fighting all of these bosses without very much break in between. At the very least, we were able to use all of the potions that Kenshi dropped on just the two of us so that we're both at maximum health, again."
"I'm fine...I just want all of this to be over, that's all," I answered. "Honestly, after I'm done with this, I might never pick up another video game in my life. We need to be careful, though. Kenshi probably dropped so many potions because of how difficult this last member of the royal guard is going to be. Plus, there's only two of us, now."
"We're so close, though," convinced Lisbeth. "We can't stop, now. Even if it's just me, I'll do everything I can to make sure you make it to Asuna, Kirito. We've come too far to give up, now."
"Yeah."
Lisbeth and I made our way up the remainder of the stairs, once again, in silence.
When we reached the next floor of the castle and I was able to catch my first glimpse of it, I stopped dead in my tracks, horrified. Lisbeth, accidentally, ran into me because of how sudden my stop was.
"H-hey, why'd you stop so suddenly?" she asked.
The hallway...it looked just like...the boss chamber...the same boss chamber...on the 75th floor of Aincrad. The entire room was almost like an exact copy of the layout of the very boss chamber that I would never forget. All of the memories that I had of the location...Asuna and I taking on a huge spider-like beast...me learning Heathcliff was actually Akihiko Kayaba...me, foolishly fighting him one on one...Asuna...Asuna...dying. I gritted my teeth at the recollection.
Sugou must have did this bullshit just to get to me, I thought to myself. Is that all this is...some kind of sick and twisted joke.
I turned to Lisbeth and realized the reason she was so confused was due to the fact that she never participated in the floor boss fights because she was a blacksmith. To her, this was just an ordinary room...but to me...it was my worst nightmare come to life.
"Kirito, what's the matter...is something—"
Loud footsteps approaching interrupted Lisbeth before she could ask me what was wrong. In front of us both, on the other side of the hall, a tall figure in red and white armor made his way towards us. His steel grey hair was tied back in a pony tail. The brute of a man was equipped with a one-handed sword and shield with a white cross on it. I recognized this weapon set from SAO...it was called Liberator...and it was only used by a single player in SAO...the most powerful player in the game...Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath...no, more appropriately...
"K-Kayaba," I muttered to myself, awestruck. "T-that's not possible."
Lisbeth turned to me in confusion and then focused again on the man standing in front of us, who was much closer. Her eyes went wide when she realized, who the man was.
"Wait a second, that's Heathcliff...Kirito, what the hell is happening? I-I thought you took down Kayaba in SAO to clear the game?"
Lisbeth was exactly right. The only reason that me and her were able to escape that hell, alongside the other SAO survivors, was because I somehow beat the game's creator, Akihiko Kayaba, in a one-on-one duel. So, what the hell was he doing, standing in my way, now?
"It's been a while, Kirito," spoke Heathcliff in his booming and confident voice, which was in stark contrast to how Kayaba sounded in real life.
Heathcliff was now standing in front of Lisbeth and I both.
"How...how are you here...it shouldn't be possible," I said as I stammered my words.
"That is the million-dollar question, isn't it?" he responded.
"A-after everything you did...you shouldn't be alive, right now. All the pain you caused me...the suffering Asuna had to go through...hell, you even took away Yui...all that was because of you...and now, you're telling me that you're still alive."
I drew both of my swords, my Dark Repulser and Elucidator and charged directly at Heathcliff, consumed by rage that the man I hated most of all in this world was still alive. I swung my Dark Repulser down on him with a blinding fury and he blocked it with his one-handed sword with ease and proceeded to slam his giant shield directly into my nose, breaking it, and sending my body flying backwards. My body rag dolled across the floor until I was, once again, right next to Lisbeth. I had never had a bloody nose, before...but the pain...it was surreal. Blood dripped out of my nostrils and his single strike was able to send me down to 75% health. Utilizing the anger that was still soaring inside me, I managed to pick myself back up.
"Still as headstrong as ever...that was your biggest weakness in our last duel," commented Heathcliff. "I was hoping you would have learned from our last fight but that doesn't seem to be the case.
"Fuck you," I muttered in anger.
I dashed at him again and this time, slashed both of my swords at him, simultaneously. He blocked one of my swords with his giant shield and the other with his one-handed sword. Heathcliff booted me right in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me, and then head-butted me with so much force that I flew backwards, again, and landed on the hard floor of the castle with blood dripping from my forehead and my mouth.
"If I recall, you never actually bested me in our previous duel...I remember winning and then something very unexpected happening which allowed you to win," recalled Heathcliff. "This is your chance then, Kirito, to beat me, fairly. Although, it seems like your skills as a player has significantly decreased since our last encounter. Could it be that rescuing the love of your life isn't enough motivation to push you to fight your best...or could that be the very thing that's blinding you, right now."
"Enough talk!" I yelled, tired of Heathcliff's mocking.
I continued, aimlessly, slashing both of my swords at Heathcliff while he, easily, blocked them all while Lisbeth could do nothing but watch.
Something isn't right, thought Lisbeth to herself as both of my swords clashed into Heathcliff's shield.
I pressed my swords into the shield with all of my might but it was pointless. Heathcliff pushed me backwards with his shield, causing my swords to be raised in the air, leaving me defenseless against a brutal slash to my mid-section by his one-handed sword. He then smacked me in the side of the face with his shield and I landed on my stomach, at 45% health.
I haven't even been able to land a single strike on him, I thought to myself as I picked myself up, this time slower.
My whole body was aching from all of the blows I was taking and the slash across my stomach was causing me excruciating amounts of pain. I couldn't stop, though. Asuna was so close...I just had to overcome one more obstacle to get to her.
"Kirito, wait!" hollered Lisbeth from behind. "Think rationally for a moment! There's no way that can be the real Kayaba!"
Not...the real Kayaba, I repeated in my mind. Everything about this floor...the fact that it looks like the boss chamber of the 75th floor...the fact that Heathcliff is the final member of Sugou's royal guard...he must be doing this to throw me off. Sugou said at the beginning that he wanted Asuna and I both to suffer. Part of that suffering must be forcing me relive that terrible memory of fighting with Kayaba in that boss chamber and relive all of the agonizing memories that came with it. The helplessness of Asuna being killed in front of me, trying to protect me...the disappointment in myself for not being able to defeat him, fairly...the anger at him for taking Yui away from Asuna and I both...everything...all of these feelings came back as soon as I saw Heathcliff's face, again. It's caused me to fight like shit, as a result. Sugou must have known this would happen. Me fighting like this is playing right into his hand.
"You're right," I muttered myself, agreeing with Lisbeth.
Heathcliff raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"This asshole isn't Kayaba...the one responsible for all of my pain...that Kayaba is long gone. You're...nothing more than a cheap rip off that Sugou created."
"A cheap rip off, hm? That's a bit hurtful, Kirito. Be that as it may, this cheap rip off has been humiliating you so far."
"What you said, earlier...about me never beating Kayaba, fairly...it was true," I admitted. "That's one thing that's always bothered me since waking up from SAO. I was able to defeat Kayaba...but not in a duel...it was because...hell, I don't even know what happened, myself. Regardless, this is my chance to redeem myself. I'm not going to lose to you in a duel, again. I'm not going to be blinded by anger or hatred...because you're not even the one those emotions are directed towards. You're nothing more than another obstacle standing in my way of getting Asuna back. Nothing more and nothing less."
Lisbeth stepped forward until she was standing right next to me and punched me in the shoulder.
"Ow," I complained.
"That was for being so stupid," she claimed. "This isn't like the last time you fought Kayaba, Kirito. You aren't alone...you have me, fighting by your side. I know I might not be the most help in combat but...I'm sure as hell not just going to stand by and watch while you fight him all by yourself. We'll take this guy down, together, and get Asuna back."
"Thanks, Lisbeth," I responded as she drew her mace and readied herself for combat.
Heathcliff chuckled to himself.
"I appreciate both of your fighting spirits," he praised. "Shall we resume our duel, then?"
Lisbeth was the first to make her way towards Heathcliff and swung her mace directly at his face and he blocked it with his shield. This time though, while he was distracted, I slashed my Elucidator at his backside and managed to nick off some of his health. Heathcliff seemed annoyed with this tactic and swung his one-handed sword at me but I blocked it with both my swords in an "x" style blocking stance. Lisbeth and I continued on with our combined assault on Heathcliff and we each managed to get a couple of clean hits on him. After a couple of minutes had passed, Lisbeth and I were both panting from exhaustion while Heathcliff stood in front of us, as composed as ever. His health was sitting at 75%.
"He's tough," said Lisbeth, between pants.
I nodded my head in agreement.
"We can't let up, though. We're doing great."
"This has been quite fun but...I'm afraid, holding back is no longer an option," Heathcliff said in response.
As soon as he said this, a familiar sight occurred in front of me. His shield began to glow, brightly, indicating that he was activating a sword skill that I was all too familiar with. It was called "Holy Sword." This allowed him to switch between strengthening either his sword or his shield and basically made his offense unstoppable or his defense impenetrable. The scariest part of this skill was that he could switch between powering up his sword or shield on a whim, meaning that he could change styles between offensive and defensive in the blink of an eye. It was this very skill that caused one my swords to shatter during my previous fight with him, causing Asuna to step in and take a blow that was meant for me. It was a skill that seemed too impossible to best, earning him that title of being the best player in SAO. The thing was, though, this wasn't SAO and I wasn't going to let myself lose to this damn sword skill, again.
"Careful, Lisbeth," I warned. "This sword skill was the most powerful one back in SAO. It seems like he's done playing nice."
How the hell am I going to beat him, though? I thought to myself. Think...what's the biggest difference between this confrontation and the last. Oh, right. I'm not alone this time.
"Lisbeth, make sure to follow my orders, exactly," I commanded.
"You're the expert," she replied, awaiting further orders.
I thought for a moment and realized another difference between this fight and my last encounter with Heathcliff. Since I was the only one fighting him last time, I could only focus on his shield but since I wasn't alone this time...
"Lisbeth, target his shield and leave the rest to me!" I shouted as we both dashed at him, each with a different target in mind.
While I dashed towards Heathcliff, a brief memory entered my mind of Asuna taking the slash for me back in SAO and her health bar immediately shooting down to 0%. The memory caused the grip on my swords to grow tighter.
I won't ever let something like that happen, again, I thought. Never again. This time...I'm going to be the one to protect you, Asuna.