Salamander, Samurai, Desperate: Klein
When I charged in to face K as my opponent, he was already in the middle of an intense sword brawl. Many Salamander soldiers swiped with their blades but he didn't draw his own in response. He simply dipped and ducked underneath, stopping one's arm as they attempted a swipe for K's body. K pulled him in and ignited his other hand in his infected green fire. Only it wasn't in a fist... he was reeling back a stiff backhand. K instantly swiped his fingers and cut the soldiers head clean off as he let out an audible chuckle. He stood up tall and another player approached from his rear. The player didn't yell or telegraph his presence, but the thing just knew. Whatever it was that was infecting K, it was starting to utilize his body better. He threw a flaming elbow back into the soldiers stomach and spun into an intense burning uppercut that knocked their head clean off. In a fluent motion, K sent a heel straight back into an incoming soldier to knock him over while another charged in for a downward strike. The entity instantly swapped attention and used the soldiers momentum against him. It put him a headlock and swiped out his feet as K's hands gripped the mans head, snapping it completely backwards. A feeling of dread immediately washed over everybody as evil K looked up at Eugene. The masses of infantry collectively took a step back as they all stood in horror.
"Idiots. Fine. I'll do it myself." Eugene got serious and drew his Demonic Sword Gram from his back.
The entity chuckled loudly as K crossed his arms and shook his head.
"We won't even break a sweat." Its voices spoke.
Eugene growled and stepped forward with a confident sword stance. He lunged in and performed a mad upward strike to which K easily stepped away from. The entity smirked at Eugene as he began to go ballistic. Not a single slice landed as K weaved in and out with his arms still visibly crossed. Even I was impressed by Eugene's speed given his larger size but regardless, it didn't matter. A final slice moved for K's chest but he launched up into the air within a millisecond. Eugene stayed extended as he frantically looked up and all around. When he looked towards his sword, K was standing menacingly on top of it with his arms still crossed. Another dark chuckle came from the being as it reeled it's foot back and punted Eugene's head like a ball. In the next split second, his decapitated head landed at my feet and he still managed to pull off a blink. It exploded into shards as did his body when K brought his attention to me. He slowly uncrossed his arms and began his approach. I stumbled back frantically and fell, taking care to grab my sword for protection. I pointed the tip at him as I crawled backwards and a smirk riddled his face when I heard a familiar voice.
"You don't want to do this, K." Kirito stood behind him with Asuna at his side.
"Kirito! Am I glad to see you!" I yelled, felling hope once again.
"You should leave, Klein. Get to safety with the others so we can properly put a stop to this." Asuna encouraged.
"I held him off the best I could! I wish you guys luck!" I yelled back at them as I high tailed it the hell out of there.
Cat Sith, Sharp, Ice Queen: Sinon
As I entered the front doors to the Sylph castle, I noticed that no one was in the main throne room. There wasn't a soul in sight at the table and when I looked over to the bedroom door, Sigurd stood tall in front of it.
"I need to speak with Sakuya. It's important." I walked up and told him.
"The Queen has asked not to be disturbed at this time. Of what does it entail?" Sigurd asked.
"It doesn't concern you. I need to see Sakuya." I told him.
"If it concerns the Queen, it concerns me too." He said with confidence.
"Fine. It's about K." I scoffed.
"Is it? Well then it's not that important. Move along. You may return to the Queen at a later date." Sigurd responded.
"This isn't a matter that can wait. Move. I don't care what your opinion of him is." I was stern.
"Sigurd? What are you doing standing at my door? I told you to take a break. Sinon is most definitely allowed to speak with me." Sakuya emerged from her bedroom.
"My Queen!" Sigurd stuttered in embarrassment.
"What seems to be the trouble, Sinon?" Sakuya moved him and addressed me.
"Sorry to disturb you, but this matter is pressing and can't wait even a little." I began with a quick bow.
"Queen Sakuya! Something terrible is afoot! A dark entity has ahold of K and he's arrived at the Salamander zone! He took on an army and kicked Eugene's head clean off! I fought him off the best I could but Kirito and Asuna showed up just in time. I figured they could handle it so I came to warn you personally!" Klein rushed in and over to us.
"It's true. Something evil is altering K's mind and he's going on a rampage trying to find me." I explained.
"That is terrible. We should detain him at once and try to cure his ailments." Sakuya suggested.
"I agree. If we can restrain him long enough for me to get thru, the entity should displace." I nodded.
"That seems like quite a lot of trouble just to capture one player. Why don't we just end him and expel the entity that way?" Sigurd cynically suggested.
"That's a horrible idea. He maliciously fought four guys bare handed and scared the rest of the soldiers pants off. Those punks didn't stand a chance and they knew it." Klein shook his head.
"Then what makes you think we can just as easily capture him?" Sigurd tilted his head.
"Are you implying that the skill of our armies are that of gnats?" Sakuya glared over at him.
"No, my Queen! Not at all!" He replied insistently.
"Then we should have no problem apprehending him. If Kirito and Asuna are keeping him busy then that should give us just enough time to gather our forces and detain him." Sakuya implied.
"Then the sooner the better. I don't want to see Kirito or Asuna hurt." Klein agreed.
"All of you however should stay here. If K is coming for at least one of you, then I have no doubt he'll be coming for all of you." Sakuya insisted.
"Sinon for sure. The entity said that it would end her first but I'm not sticking around to wait here. I wanna get right back into the fray!" Klein was determined.
"It's settled then. You and Athena shall spend your time here in my castle. Please, make yourself at home." Sakuya smiled as her, Sigurd and Klein all left out the front doors.
"With the Sylph kingdom assisting us, the probability of success has increased to sixty two point five percent." Yui confirmed on my shoulder.
"You hear that, Athena? Daddy's gonna be-" I looked and she was gone.
"Athena?" I frantically scanned around the main room but she was nowhere to be seen.
She had left my side unannounced again.
"Athena!!" I was furious.
Pure, Daughter, Goddess: Athena
As I rode quickly on the back of Fenny, I noticed giant green storm clouds that swirled above the Salamander kingdom. I worried greatly for Daddy's well being but knew that I had to make things right. When I entered the city's limits, I noticed that there were hardly any soul to be found. Not one person riddled the streets or occupied a shop and it gave me an uneasy feeling.
"You can't be doing this, K! You know yourself that it's wrong!" Kirito yelled in the distance.
I followed the sound of his voice and stumbled across daddy fighting Kirito and Asuna. Kirito stumbled back as his block was broken and Asuna took the chance to go in for a strike. Daddy reeled back his sword and tried to cut across her chest but Kirito jumped in front to take the hit. The force of it knocked them both down and they each struggled to get up. Daddy walked scarily over to them as he readied his blade to strike them down.
"First the strong. Then the weak." The entity spoke.
"Daddy, No!!" I screamed and he snapped to attention.
He instantly froze in place and a single twitch jerked his head. Silence fell as I saw something happening to daddy. The grip on his crystal sword loosened and it dropped to the ground with a clack. His open hand started to shake as he resisted the will of the entity inside him. Daddy was fighting within his brain.
Spriggan King, Master, Infected: K
My gaze found my daughter and I absolutely lost it. In my mind, I was thrashing, kicking and trying my hardest to break free from this prison but all that showed on the outside was me clenching my teeth. My vision met her pretty purple eyes and I went ballistic. I screamed "No" at the top of my lungs and tapped into my inner rage which resulted in the entity dropping my sword.
"There's no point in fighting us. Quit resisting or we'll make it as painful as possible for you watch." The entity's voices talked down to me in my head.
I struggled against the possession that bound me and started to slowly lose my sanity. I was enraged and I had no control but even still, I wouldn't Dare Let it Touch Her.
Lightening Flash, Caring, Berserk Healer: Asuna
As K dropped his sword upon the ground, I could see his hand begin to tense and shake. His head even twitched a few times as the entity was somehow frozen in place. The open hand gradually closed itself shut and slowly flipped to face to the sky. K's arm shook violently as his knuckles slowly turned to himself. In an instant, he punched his own cheek and tried to follow up again but the entity froze his fist.
"What are you doing?" The entity's voices echoed.
"You... won't... touch... her!!" K's voice struggled to scream as he followed thru with many more repeated punches.
The entity caught his fist and they were strained there until K flapped his wings to throw himself backwards into a building. His body stuck into the wall and the entity shook it off as it tried to pull itself away. An invisible force however pushed his body back against the damaged wall and the entity hung its head with a growl.
"Fool. You cannot defeat us even at this state." Some of the entity's voices were changing tones as it spoke.
"Then I will die trying to protect her!!" K looked up with one purple eye that housed his scar.
"Not on your life." It spoke back as his eye faded back to green.
The entity ripped itself from the wall and proceeded to charge towards Athena at rapid speeds using K's wings.
"Athena!" I shouted and Kirito abruptly got to his feet before me.
I quickly stood at his side but the two of us froze as we saw K stuck in place again. This time, the entity reached out to grab her but K gripped the arm before it could get close enough. K's hand ignited in his signature purple fire and a howling hiss came from the voices of the entity as it began to snarl in pain. The flame from K's hand began to spread and eventually engulfed his entire body. The entity managed to take over one final time as it thrashed violently from side to side. It collapsed to its knees when a sudden red glow emitted from both of K's eyes. He closed his fists and hunched over in place as his flames faded to an intense burning red. The fire grew greatly in size for a moment but ultimately, K fell forward and braced himself with his hands. Eerie silence filled the air as the group of us wondered if it was over.
"Daddy!" Athena rushed over without a second thought.
"Athena!" Kirito yelled and we both went to stop her.
The three of us met and suddenly stopped as we heard K begin to pant in a sweat.
"I'm so sorry, Daddy! I did this to you and it's all my fault!" Athena instantly ran up and hugged K as he looked up.
She crashed into him suddenly but he slowly held her close and rubbed the back of her head in response.
"It's okay, Athena. You needn't blame yourself. Daddy's just glad that you're safe." K shed a tear.
Just as the green storm dissipated above, a large fleet of Sylph soldiers took formation in the skies ahead.
"K! I as the Sylph queen must ask that you surrender peacefully or we will be forced to put you in binds!" Sakuya announced from their heights as K peeked back to look.
In that instance, Skoll came to a sliding stop as Sinon got off her back. She rushed over to K and hesitated slightly when she saw him holding Athena close. His gaze met hers and the two of them froze in place.
"Everyone stand down! K's finally back to normal!" Sinon held up a hand as she called off the Sylph brigade.
She turned back to him and they all shared a loving embrace.
"Oh, K... I thought I lost you." Sinon held him tight.
"Don't worry, Shino. I'm not going anywhere." He rested his forehead against hers and they had a moment to reunite.
I couldn't help but feel warm inside as I watched and I instinctively gripped Kirito's hand. He looked over to me with a caring smirk and I rested my head on his shoulder to share the solemn moment with them.