Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
The sound of photon energy weapons slashing into each other could be heard throughout the desolate wasteland that was part of the map for the third round of the Bullet of Bullets as a sandstorm approached, ever so slightly as well. In the midst of this wasteland, bright flashes of green and red could be seen, almost like some kind of Christmas spectacle. This wasn't just a typical fight between two players, hoping to win the Bullet of Bullet of tournament. It was a fight with so much more meaning behind it. A fight where emotions ran high. A fight that was so ferocious, that it could have been mistaken as a battle to the death.
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My green photon saber clashed with POH's red photon machete and I could feel the heat coming off of the weapon that was mere inches from the bottom of my chin. The red light from the weapon shone on my face while the green light from mine shone on his.
"You're just as tough as I was hoping for, Black Swordsman," praised, POH, smiling.
"That praise doesn't mean shit coming from you," I insulted, causing POH to scowl, angrily.
Using his advantage in both height and strength, he pushed me back with a force that I wasn't expecting and I summersaulted backwards onto the sandy ground below me. In the corner of my eyes, I could see the sandstorm getting closer and closer to us. I figured it would be right on top of us within 5 minutes. I couldn't help but wonder if POH had a plan for dealing with the sandstorm or if he just didn't give a shit if it killed him, as long as I was killed, along with him? Before I could think any further about it, a knee strike met my jaw and sent me flying backwards, again, this time, landing on my back. I felt a numb sensation from where the blow landed but I ignored it because POH had jumped into the air and was thrusting his red photon machete, downward, with murderous intent. I rolled to the right and the red photon machete dug deep into the sandy terrain, instead of my stomach which was its intended target. POH ripped the photon machete out of the ground and did something I didn't expect. He threw his weapon, directly, at me and it spun like some kind of frisbee, ready to decapitate me. Luckily, I blocked the weapon with my own and, at most, it just pushed me back a few inches but this was just a distraction. While I was focused on the red photon machete, POH had snuck to the right of me with his usual sinister smile returned to his face. He socked me in the mouth with his right hand, causing me to stumble in the opposite direction and allowing his photon machete to slice the right side of my chest. I, foolishly, checked my health to see how much I had left and saw that it was still at 80% but POH made me pay for taking my eyes off of him.
Whack! Crack! Bam!
Three consecutive strikes landed on me. The first was a brutal uppercut. The second was an elbow to the jaw and the third was a nasty punch right to my stomach, dropping me to my knees. POH grabbed me by the black tailcoat I was wearing and punched me three more times in the face with his left fist, before finishing me off with a nasty head butt. Still, though, he didn't release his grip on my black tailcoat, almost like he planned on never letting go until my HP had dropped to zero. I refused to just let that happen, though. I kneed POH in the gut, causing him to, slightly, release his grip on my black tailcoat and then followed this up with a vertical slash of my green photon saber which managed to make contact with the right side of his face, drawing blood and taking a large chunk of his HP with it. POH hopped backwards, creating distance between the two of us. Most normal people would have been bothered or angered by the fact that their face had been cut but, of course, POH was the furthest thing from normal. As creepy as it sounded, it looked like the bastard was enjoying the fact that I had drawn blood. With his tongue, he licked the blood that was covering his face on the right side and his smile grew even wider.
"Now, things are getting interesting, Black Swordsman," he said, almost sounding happy. "Hahahaha...ya know, if I wasn't so dead set on butchering you for talking to my family, I might actually consider this shit fun. I've dreamed about this day. Finally, getting the chance to fight the man responsible for slaying so many of the players in Laughing Coffin. Seeing you kill all of them for the sake of your precious little girlfriend was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen."
"Talking to your family...to Ms. Tanaka and Lilith...helped me understand why you think the two of us are similar," I said, despite the words, themselves, making me feel sick to my stomach. "Everything you do...no matter how fucked up...it's for Lilith, isn't it? I always thought you were some kind of monster that took pleasure in killing but I even question that, at this point. I...kind of wish I never did visit your family because now when I fight you, I no longer see that monster...that blood thirsty monster that I hated so much. That's only part of what I see. The other part...is just a man...doing whatever it takes to protect the person he cares about most...even if it involves killing and putting innocents in danger. That's why you think we're the same, right, Vassago?"
It was strange using POH's real name, especially at a time like this but it felt appropriate.
"You think we're the same because I have no problem killing to protect Asuna just like you have no problem killing in order to protect Lilith. Isn't that right? But here's the thing, Vassago; we are different. I don't take pleasure in—"
"Hahahahaha!"
I was interrupted by POH laughing, maniacally.
"What? You don't take pleasure in killing? Is that what you were going to say? Ya see, Black Swordsman, I learned a very important lesson when I was younger. Sometimes, telling yourself that you enjoy killing...makes it all so much more bearable. The feelings of guilt...regret...all of these bullshit emotions go away without a trace. You should give it a try."
"Why the hell would I?" I asked, harshly.
"I'm not stupid, Black Swordsman. I can see they weigh, heavily, on you. The lives you've taken. The people you've killed to protect the person you care about most. Tell me. Do you have nightmares about them? Do you find yourself thinking about them...about whether or not they had any families...about whether they had a significant other...whether they had children...whether they were even bad people to begin with?"
"Shut up," I responded, coldly.
"Have you thought that all of those poor souls you killed back in SAO were just brainwashed idiots and that, before they met me and joined Laughing Coffin, they were just normal nerds, who loved gaming, like you?"
"Shut up."
"Do you ever wonder if your little girlfriend is actually a tad scared of you since she knows what you're capable of, firsthand? Have you ever stopped to actually think about how she feels in regards to you taking lives for her sake?"
"S-Shut up."
"Oh, but I suppose things are a little bit different, now, huh? I mean, she's killed someone as well so I guess the two of you can bond over that fact, these days. Although, if you had just been a little bit stronger, then you could have been the one to kill Sugou instead of her. You could have spared her all of the trauma that she's facing now if you were the one that killed Sugou. I know you've thought that, at least, once!"
"Of course I have so shut the fuck up!" I yelled, not being able to take any more of what POH was saying.
"Of course, I wish I was the one that killed that bastard, Sugou, instead of Asuna. I wish that every single fucking day of my life! I know...I know that would have spared her all of the trauma that she's going through, right now. But...but there's nothing that I can do about that. No matter how much I wish there was! I...I...I do think about the lives I've taken! All of the fucking time! I have nightmares about them, constantly! I...I know they had family and lives of their own and that I took their futures away. I...I'm aware that I'll never know for sure, who exactly the people were that I killed back in SAO. I'll never know if they were always bad...or if it was you, who caused them to be that way. The lives I've taken...haunt me every single fucking day of my life and, more than anything, I wish that they would go away!"
"The solution is simple, Black Swordsman, and your honest words have touched my heart," claimed POH. "Since you were honest with the both of us, I'll offer the same advice I was given all of those years ago. Just...pretend like you enjoy it...killing, that is. Even if you don't, it doesn't matter. It'll make all of those terrible feelings go away and, who knows? Maybe, one day, you'll end up actually enjoying it like I do?"
"That's bullshit!" I shouted in response. "You can tell yourself that you enjoy killing to prevent yourself from having to take responsibility for the lives you stole but in the end, that's the very thing that makes us different, you piece of shit! These feelings that I hate so much...they remind me...that I'm still a human being, who cares about the value of life. I may kill when I have to but I will never pretend like that doesn't matter because it fucking does! Taking a life always matters, no matter what you try to tell yourself, Vassago, and I know that deep down, you realize this too! These feelings may be annoying...no, they're fucking unbearable and they make life living so much harder but they're the very things that make us different so I'm never going to ignore them and pretend like they don't exist! So, there it is, Vassago. We are different, after all!"
POH sighed, expressing what seemed to be real disappointment in my response.
"Such...a fucking disappointment, Black Swordsman, but...it seems like you're right," POH replied with his sinister smile leaving his face. "When I saw you killing all of those Laughing Coffin members, I believed you could be the one fucking person that would truly understand me. Seems like I jumped the gun a bit. Although, that just makes this that much easier because, now, I have no reason to fuck with you, anymore. I'm just going to beat you in this silly little tournament to embarrass you and then, I'm going to find you in the real world...just like you found my family...and kill you...I'll kill you...your family...The Lightning Flash...I'll kill every single one of them while enjoying every fucking second of it! Hahahahahahaha!"
After the mentioning of my family and Asuna, I couldn't keep my emotions contained, any longer.
"Rahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I dashed towards POH, ready to take his head off with my green photon saber.
"Hahahahahaha, time to make things a little more interesting," said POH as he, quickly, dropped something onto the ground below him, before I could reach him.
All of the sudden, a puff of blinding smoke appeared in front of me, causing me to lose sight of POH, completely. I thrusted my green photon saber through the blinding smoke, hoping I could still hit him but, of course, I didn't. My weapon didn't pierce a damn thing and to make matters worse, I began, violently, coughing blood onto the ground, having made contact with the smoke and having breathed some of it in. Whatever POH used, it wasn't just a typical smoke grenade. There was poison in it as well. I fell to me knees and began coughing, even more, and ended up dropping my green photon saber so I could cover my mouth with both hands so more blood wouldn't leave it. My entire stomach felt numb. My mind was scattered all over the place, making it damn near impossible to concentrate. My vision was blurry and there was a ringing in my ears. Despite my poor vision, I could still see that I had the "poison" status effect, next to my HP bar, and that it was, slowly, eating away at my health. The worst part was that I was defenseless in this current state. The poison effect was so brutal that I couldn't even move my body, no matter how badly I wanted to. Something like this was a fitting piece of equipment for POH and I was stupid for not thinking he would try to pull something like this from the start. I was just as frustrated with myself as I was with him. Unsurprisingly, I felt something pierce my chest and when I looked down, I could see that POH's red photon machete was sticking out of me. My entire chest felt numb and the photon machete was ripped out before I could do anything about it and I landed on my stomach, feeling even weaker. I had no idea how long the poison effect would last but, at the very least, at this point, all of the smoke had disappeared but there wasn't anything in front of me. Plus, my vision was so blurry, that I doubted I could've seen much, even if there was someone there.
"What a sad sight."
That voice. There was no mistaking it. It was POH's and it was coming from right behind me. I had no idea what my health was at but it couldn't have been good, whatever it was. The next thing I felt was POH's red photon machete being thrust into my right hand. As a result, I felt nothing but numbness in that hand but it still wasn't enough to finish me off. Thankfully, some of my senses were returning, ever so slightly, and I pondered whether or not this meant the "poison" status effect was wearing off? I felt the photon machete being ripped out of my hand and it didn't take long for it to be thrust, directly, into the back of my left knee, making that area numb as well. I was surprised I wasn't dead, yet. I must have been damn close, though. I doubted I had more than 10% health left. POH was going to get what he wanted. I was going to lose to him...in front of everyone watching. Hm. It was strange. In a weird way, this kind of reminded me of what I did to Sugou. The same way I had tortured him back in his VR world when I had sent Asuna away. It was the very same method POH was taking, now. It was ironic in a twisted way. I felt the red photon machete being ripped out, again, and felt like it was only a matter of time before POH dealt the finishing blow while I could do nothing but lye on the ground, pathetically, and take it. I...was tired. It might have been from the poisonous smoke or it might have been something else. But I was so fucking tired. Tired of fighting. I...just...wanted to stop fighting...and give up. I had been fighting for my life ever since being trapped in that game from hell and I hadn't stopped, since, but, at this moment, I wanted to. I wanted to stop. I wanted to stop so fucking badly. I just wanted to give up and never have to fight, again. I just wanted to lye there on the ground and accept my fate. Some people say that before they die, their life flashes before their eyes but that wasn't happening, this time, most likely, because it was just a game, after all. But, as I laid there, waiting to be finished off, all of the regrets in my life began surfacing. Not being able to spare Asuna the emotional trauma of taking a life. Taking all of the lives that I've had to in my life to protect myself and the people I care about. Not being able to protect Lisbeth and being forced to watch her die, in front of me. Torturing Sugou like some kind of madman consumed by rage. Letting Asuna be kidnapped by Sugou, in the first place. Funny enough, the regret that lingered the most was the one that started it all. On the first day of being trapped in SAO, I wasn't alone. I had met another player and was with him...Klein. After learning from the game's creator, Akihiko Kayaba, that there wasn't an escape from his world and that if we died in the game, our brains would be fried, everyone panicked. Rightfully so. Although, after learning that information, Klein had kept his composure, pretty well, all things considered, and he did something that no one in my life had done before. He asked me to join him and his Guild. The thing that I had always wanted...friends...people to play video games with...something that I had longed for, before being trapped in SAO. It was right in front of me...and...what did I do? I rejected him. I went down my own path, leaving Klein behind for reasons that were...stupid. Now, Klein was gone...the first person, who had offered me such kindness, was dead...because...because...because he was killed by Death Gun. I could feel both of my hands turn into fists at the thought, even my bloodied hand. The first person, who had offered me kindness...was dead because of the bastard I was fighting, now, who helped Death Gun commit the act. I would sometimes ponder what would have happened if I took Klein's offer, that day, and joined him and his guild mates? But, if I had done that...I wouldn't have met Asuna...or Yui...I wouldn't have become the person I was, now. Plus...
"Ha...ha...hahahaha...hahahahahaha."
"What the fuck is so funny, Black Swordsman? Have you lost your shit after coming to terms with the fact that you're going to lose to me?"
Most of my senses were back, now, so I was able to speak, clearly.
"Haha, no, I just realized something funny. If Klein was here...and saw me lying on the ground like this, ready to give up, he'd give me so much shit for it. And...the thing is..."
I, slowly, picked myself up off of the ground, no longer being consumed by the "poison" status effect. Eventually, I was standing upright and was able to see that I had 5% health left.
"The thing is...I already let Klein down twice. I let him down when I rejected his offer to join him and his guild on that first day of being trapped in SAO. Then, I let him down, again, when I couldn't protect him from Death Gun. I-I'm not going to fucking let him down for a third time."
I forced myself to turn so that I was facing POH, who was still holding his red photon machete.
"If I did...I would never forgive myself."
"Wow, what a fucking touching speech...really moved me...it really did...but now that you aren't being affected by the poison, I'm ready to finish this fight of ours," said POH, smiling, wickedly. "Everyone's already gotten a good view of me kicking your ass so let's end this fight on a fun note, shall we?"
"Yeah, I agree."
What I did next shook POH to his core because, with my bloodied hand, I did the hand motion to quick-select a weapon but my green photon saber, that was still lying on the ground, activated, didn't disappear. Instead, another photon saber materialized in my left hand and when I pressed the button on the side of it, a blue beam of photon energy shot out of it. I made my way towards the green photon saber and picked it up with my right hand despite not even being able to feel it. I was now standing in front of POH, ignoring all of the numbness and self-doubt, holding two photon sabers at once. It really did feel like the game devs were on my side, this time, since my randomized weapon ended up being another photon saber. Most people would have been upset at this since guns were such a big deal in this game but as soon as I saw this had happened...in a weird way, I thought it was fate. Standing there...holding the two photon sabers of different color...it was...such a familiar feeling...and the face that came to mind, first...wasn't Asuna's...or Lisbeth's...it was Klein's goofy expression from when I first revealed to him that I could dual wield back in Sword Art Online. His look of utter shock and surprise had always stuck with me and I wondered what kind of face he'd make if he was watching me, right now?
"POH, this fight is no longer about just defeating you...or getting revenge...or anything stupid like that," I muttered, making my way closer to him. "This time, I'm fighting for all of the people I care about. I want to stop fighting...more than anything...but, for the sake of all of the people that believe in me, I'm willing to fight one last time...just to kick your ass."
"Hahahahaha, that's the spirit!" yelled POH, clearly excited by my threat. "Although, you pulling out an extra energy sword thing is quite the little trick...mind if I show you another one of mine?"
Another trick? I dreaded, internally. The poisonous smoke bomb wasn't enough?
"'Army of Undead'...Activate!" he yelled, confidently, as the ground around him began to shake.
I had never heard of the ability he was using but it didn't take long for me to learn what it entailed. Bony, skeleton arms tore through the sandy terrain around POH and out crawled five of the creepiest AI enemies that I had seen in a while. All of them were skeletons, wearing black cloaks and they had piercing red eyes that were staring at me. Three of them were equipped with short swords, one was equipped with a bow and the last one was, slightly, taller than the rest and was equipped with a spear.
"What the hell?" I asked, confused, by the ability.
This ability doesn't even make sense for this game world...the fact that they have regular swords, bows and spears proves this, I thought to myself. I doubt the game devs would implement a skill like this in a game with a futuristic setting like the one in GGO. I wonder...I theorized that the third player that was with Vassago and Death Gun had some kind of hacking abilities. Is...is he also, able to create abilities and weapons that aren't even supposed to be in the game? Hell, were those poisonous smoke bombs created by that third player as well? Now that I think about it, I've never seen them used in this game, before. What else has that bastard done to give Vassago an advantage during this fight? No, I can't stay focused on that, right now. I have to stay calm because if I get hit a single time, either by Vassago's undead army or Vassago, himself, I'm done for. If he wants to fight like this so can I.
"Ready or not, Black Swordsman, it's showtime!" hollered POH, pointing his red photon machete at me, instructing his undead army to attack.
The three skeleton soldiers equipped with the short swords charged at me, alongside the one with the spear, while the other skeleton soldier, with the bow, stayed back, to shoot me from afar.
"'Bullet Time'...Activate!"
Time around me slowed upon issuing the command and I dashed towards the three undead soldiers that were equipped with the short swords. For the first one that I targeted, I slashed both of the undead soldier's bony arms off with my photon sabers and then finished it off by decapitating it with a clean slice from my green photon saber. For the second undead soldier that I attacked, I sliced it, horizontally, with my blue photon saber, cutting the undead soldier in half, right at its navel, and then finished it off with a vertical strike from my green photon saber that sliced it, perfectly, in half, separating the left side of its head and torso from the right side. For the third undead soldier with a short sword, I executed another horizontal strike with my blue photon saber, this time, slicing off its bony, skeleton legs and then I thrusted my green photon saber directly into one of the undead soldier's red eyes for the finishing blow. I began to notice that time around me was starting to return to normal so I, quickly, ripped the green photon saber out of the undead soldier's eye and then turned my attention to the undead soldier with the spear. As time began to, slowly, return to normal, I charged the undead soldier with the spear and dug both of my photon sabers into its throat, making an "x" with my weapons in the process. Once the weapons were stuck in the undead soldier's bony, skeletal, throat, I used my strength stat to pull my photon sabers apart with brute force, tearing off the undead soldier's head, in the process, killing it, instantly. Unfortunately, time went back to normal before I could kill the last remaining undead soldier, who was preparing to shoot me with its bow. The other undead soldiers that I had dealt with while my "Bullet Time" ability was activated all shattered into tiny, red, polygonal shards, much to POH's surprise. I knew that stupid undead soldier with its bow was going to shoot me if I didn't do something so I decided to take a risk and threw my blue photon saber in the same frisbee-like way that POH had done earlier in our fight. Luckily, the blue photon saber hit its intended target and sliced off the last undead soldier's head clean off its body, before it could get a shot off, killing it with a single blow. As the last undead soldier shattered into tiny, red, polygonal shards, POH scowled at what he had just witnessed.
"Seems like I'm not the only one, who has some abilities," POH muttered to himself, annoyed. "I was looking forward to fighting alongside that undead army...but it looks like you made damn sure that wasn't going to happen."
While he was busy complaining, I had already made my way towards where the blue photon saber had landed to pick it up.
"Oh no, you don't!"
POH threw three sharp, red, photon knives in my direction to prevent me from being able to pick up my other photon saber. Once I was close enough to my other weapon, I dove towards it, slightly ducking my head and blocking the side of my stomach with my green photon saber. Two of POH's photon throwing knives headed right above my head while the last one was deflected with my green photon saber, allowing me the chance to pick up the blue photon saber with my left hand. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that if even one of the photon throwing knives had hit me, I would have died, instantly. POH gritted his teeth in annoyance at this but then his usual sadistic smile returned to his face.
"Don't get cocky, you little shit!"
The bastard didn't even give me a chance to catch my breath, before making his way towards me and, in the corner of my eyes, I saw that the sandstorm was nearly on top of the both of us.
"Shit, I have to finish this fast or that sandstorm is going to kill us both."
As soon as these words left my mouth, POH was already above me, slashing his red photon machete, downward, at my head. I blocked his strike with my blue photon saber while slashing his stomach with my green one, dealing damage to his HP.
"Huh?" was the only response he made to this.
While he was still stunned that I had landed a strike on him, I followed this up with a barrage of attacks with my both of my photon sabers. Since he only had a single weapon, POH struggled to deflect my strikes and his body was cut several times by both of my photon sabers causing his HP to decrease, at a rapid pace. This was his greatest mistake. Even with all of the preparation he had done and all of the abilities and bullshit he had thrown at me, he hadn't anticipated that I would have a second weapon. If he did know, he probably would have had his hacker buddy make it so that he could have wielded another weapon as well. This put him at a huge disadvantage and as he realized this, the sadistic smile left his face and, for the first time during our fight, it seemed like he was actually a little worried about the outcome. As soon as his health was around 50%, POH backed away to create some distance between us, finally, allowing me to catch my breath.
"Damn...this shouldn't be happening!" complained POH, angrily. "Y-You think...you actually have a chance at beating me? H-Hahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahaha! I have one last trick up my sleeve, you little fucker! I'm not going to lose to you, Black Swordsman! 'Rage Mode'...Activate!"
"Another ability?" I asked to myself as POH's entire body was covered in a red mist.
Similar to his undead army, POH's eyes had turned completely red and veins of the same color began appearing all across his face. I didn't know what it was that this ability did but, if I had to guess, I figured it increased his stats to a certain degree. In my current condition, there wasn't a single chance I could beat him, especially when my own HP was so low. All he needed was to land a single strike to defeat me and, to make matters worse, the sandstorm was nearly right on top of us. I...needed to take one more chance...probably the biggest chance of the entire fight. I had no idea if it would work but I had to at least try...for Asuna...for Yui...for my family...for my friends...for everyone that I cared about. I closed my eyes while POH charged at me like some kind of feral beast.
"'Awakening'...Activate," I said, calmly, not having the slightest idea if this skill would even work.
Hell, I had even told Asuna that there wasn't a way to learn the ability in GGO which, to my knowledge...was true. But, I had no idea whether or not I could use the ability in this game world because I had never tried. That was the chance I was taking...the final chance of this fight...the chance...that my life depended on. When I reopened my eyes, their usual black color was gone and replaced with a dark golden one. I could feel all of the energy that I had lost during my fight with POH return to me in an instant. POH was too rage-fueled to even take notice of the change in my appearance. It seemed that it worked...but I wasn't finished there. No, that was only the first part of this final chance I was taking. POH's red photon machete was mere inches away from my skull and, without looking at the weapon, I blocked the strike with my blue photon saber, stopping the raging lunatic in his tracks. I then muttered the same words...the same words that were responsible for protecting both Asuna and Klein from Gleam Eyes...the same words that were responsible for helping me save Asuna from Sugou.
"Starburst Stream!" I shouted with every fiber of my being and before POH knew what hit him, a barrage of strikes began to ascend on him.
POH, while still in his "rage mode," did the best he could to deflect some of my strikes, with some of them still landing on him.
"Faster," I muttered to myself, nonchalantly, and my strikes became even quicker and harder to block and more of them landed on POH than before.
As soon as he attempted to increase the speed of his deflections and blocks, I, again, muttered, "Faster."
My strikes, at this point, were raining down on POH with so much force and speed that he couldn't block them, no matter how hard he tried and his body began to be covered with slash wounds from my photon weapons.
"Faster. Even fucking faster!"
I was nothing more than a blur of blue and green light as the last consecutive strikes landed on POH, causing him to be knocked onto his back, his entire body covered in his own blood. 20...consecutive...strikes...it was more than I had ever been able to do while using "Starburst Stream" and my entire body felt, weightless, as it fell to the sandy, ground. The red in POH's eyes disappeared as his "Rage Mode" ability was no longer in effect and the golden color of my eyes disappeared from mine, indicating that my ability was no longer activated, either. Both of us probably looked like defeated corpses as we laid on the sandy terrain, not moving while the sandstorm began to cover us. POH was the first to be able to pick himself up and he made his way towards me, trying his best to ignore the fact that his HP was being lowered by the sandstorm. I forced myself, using the only bit of strength I had left, to look up at him and I began laughing as soon as I did so.
"7...7% health left," I read from above POH's head. "S-Seems like you actually...managed to beat me."
In most cases, POH would have been happy by his victory over me but because of the smile that was on my face, he couldn't force himself to be happy at all.
"W-Why are you smiling, then? Why the fuck are you smiling?! I beat you, Black Swordsman! I...beat you!"
"Hahahaha, yeah...you did...but I don't really give a shit," I responded, still smiling. "At least, I went out fighting...I feel bad for losing but...I gave it my all. That's all I really care about. Sure, some spectators are going to think I'm a loser and call me weak but...my friends...my family...the people I actually care about...do you really think they're going to give a shit that I've lost? I know...that they'll be proud of me for giving it my all. What they think of me...that's all I care about...that's what's most important."
"T-This wasn't supposed to be like this! I was supposed to embarrass you in front of everyone watching!"
"Haha, do I look embarrassed?" I asked, mockingly. "I was...planning on disconnecting as it got closer to the end, anyways...I never planned on winning this stupid tournament."
"W-What?!" questioned POH, not understanding what I was even saying. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"This...tournament...isn't about me, this time...I...have a different role to play...and I'll gladly play it. Everything...is still...going according...to plan."
The last thing that I was able to catch a glimpse of was an expression that I hadn't seen on POH's face before...not the look of someone, who had just won...the look of someone, who had been denied something they had desired so badly and this managed to make the smile on my face grow even wider. However, I did hear one more thing as well, before I shattered into tiny, red, polygonal shards and, for all I knew, it could have been my imagination but the words...that I had heard...I was able to make them out, perfectly.
Kirito, if you keep showing off like this, you're going to make me look bad, man.
Authors Note: Hello, thank you so much for reading this week's chapter! Despite not being too good at writing action scenes, I really did the best I could with this fight between Kirito and Vassago. There was a lot of build up to it and I hope I was able to writing a fight that was, at least, somewhat good. The most shocking thing about this fight is that Kirito actually lost, even after using his "Starburst Stream" and, to be honest, I always planned on having him lose this fight. Kirito, as a character, doesn't usually lose any fights so I thought having him lose one would show that, at the end of the day, he isn't some unbeatable, bad ass hero but rather just a normal gamer, who's been fighting for his life for so long and despite winning some fierce battles, has lost a lot of things along the way as well. To me, what's always made Kirito such an interesting character is that, despite being a bad ass, he doesn't really look or act like one. In many ways, Kirito looks...average...like an average gamer kid but despite his appearance, he still accomplishes some of the most bad ass things. I know that this series is more focused on Asuna and Death Gun but I really just wanted to have one chapter where Kirito got to shine. I look forward to focusing, now, on Asuna and Shino and the looming threat of Death Gun and I will see you all, next week!