Each bit is pretty bog standard yeah, but put together?To be perfectly honest, just about every horrible thing in here I stole from video games.
Fenrir? Standard Kaiju bullshit.
Slenderman? Has his own game
Seeing family members? A mix of the old Mario creepypasta with Psycho Mantis from MGS2
Lilenburg? Practically ripped from Call of Cthulu
Shadar? Inspired by Skullmegadon from Double Dragon Neon
Combat in general? Dark Souls all the way.
I've found it kind of hilarious that every time something horrible happens, people are like 'WTF Cardinal' when it's actually pretty bog standard
...Fucking Tinkers (Worm/SAO)
- Thread starter violetshadows
- Start date
- Status
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
That's what I thought. Some people are just really predisposed to see certain things.
There are two types of frustrating bosses from real video games I'm waiting for:
Not a specific one, but something that turns a character enraged before they croak at the end of the buff; since there isn't a true mind control spell that will take you over here (al la Khepri mastered), I'm thinking a forced berserk condition or something that disables switching or retreating.
Thee other boss would be something, in not sure exactly what, that is invincible until a specific item (that you may or may not have in your inventory) is used or a specific type of damage is done (thrown weapons only, rapiers only, etc).
Finding these out the hard way would be terrifying for the players; the former would cause people you have formed bonds with to lose control without their consent, the latter would lead to panic and hopelessness.
Great job so far with the story!
Not a specific one, but something that turns a character enraged before they croak at the end of the buff; since there isn't a true mind control spell that will take you over here (al la Khepri mastered), I'm thinking a forced berserk condition or something that disables switching or retreating.
Thee other boss would be something, in not sure exactly what, that is invincible until a specific item (that you may or may not have in your inventory) is used or a specific type of damage is done (thrown weapons only, rapiers only, etc).
Finding these out the hard way would be terrifying for the players; the former would cause people you have formed bonds with to lose control without their consent, the latter would lead to panic and hopelessness.
Great job so far with the story!
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RadiantPhoenix
Trudging up the Hill
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Annoying monsters: dragons that strafe you with fire breath from a hundred feet in the air and don't land, while flying at 30-50 miles an hour.
thefluffyone
Big Ego for Something so Small, eh?
- Location
- Earth
The frustrating type of bosses I'm expecting? Recurring boss that just won't die, or multi-stage bosses. Not one that changes attack patterns when it loses a health bar, but one that when it's lost it's last health bar and is dead, transforms and gets back up. Nothing is quite as irritating as beating a boss only to have it get back up and come at you harder. Well except beating it then the boss getting a cutscene victory, or a cutscene kill steal by random asshole #23.
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Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
I hate when that happens
The truly annoying "bosses" are the assholes that you could beat easily but lose to because of scripted events.
banjo2E
Has left the planet
- Location
- Mafia Town
The bosses I hate are the ones which spam debuffs at you and become even worse if you try to take them off. See Atomos from FFV, who starts the fight by hasting himself and chain-casting Comet (high damage single-target attack) until at least one of your party members is dead, slowly sucks dead party members into his mouth to completely remove them from the battle (meaning you no longer have a dead party member, meaning he starts spamming Comet again), and spams Gravity (% based health loss), Slow (you get fewer turns), and Old (your stats take a nosedive) on the non-dead members of your team.
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Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
Or worse is the ones that have stupid amounts of buff and heal and you can't prevent their spells/abilities.
8 hours into the fight
The Thf with windower "The bee is down to 1000 kill it!!!!"
Demonic Typhia uses Pollen
Demonic Typhia recovered 10,000,000 hp
Sixteen people "FFFf-&|€\%^]¥\~£^{£*\£_•\£~£]_|~<#|~>K"
Demonic Typhia casts "Stoneskin"
The Only Tank "I have to go to school in 25 min... I haven't slept yet!"
The Whm "I'm on hour 46 over here and I have Dynamis after school which school in 2 hrs" (I was the crazy Whm)
Edit: the strange thing is no one died that run...
8 hours into the fight
The Thf with windower "The bee is down to 1000 kill it!!!!"
Demonic Typhia uses Pollen
Demonic Typhia recovered 10,000,000 hp
Sixteen people "FFFf-&|€\%^]¥\~£^{£*\£_•\£~£]_|~<#|~>K"
Demonic Typhia casts "Stoneskin"
The Only Tank "I have to go to school in 25 min... I haven't slept yet!"
The Whm "I'm on hour 46 over here and I have Dynamis after school which school in 2 hrs" (I was the crazy Whm)
Edit: the strange thing is no one died that run...
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Wasn't one of the bosses in FFXI so hyped by the devs that they purposefully crashed the server when some players were close to beating it?
That's quite the asshole move to pull.
I remember that, big white thing wasn't it? can't remember the name though...
Edit: hmm I was thinking of this:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85639-18-Hour-Final-Fantasy-XI-Boss-Induces-Puking
Might not be what you were talking about.
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Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
That was Everquest, in FFXI we had Absolute Virtue some of the best shells took over 24 hrs and still couldn't kill it, now he's nerfed but has like a 5 min to kill timer and it takes months to farm his triggers
They never thought it could be defeated, so it didn't have an item drop, a script to play at its loss, or even a death animation.
Supposedly if it got killed the whole game would have crashed, so they pulled the plug on that one server instead.
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Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
And the mob in Everquest was a crystal dragon all his attacks were one hit kills, no magic could hurt it, so it was physical damage and the mages were on resurrection detail.
Edit. As for final fantasy 11 a lot of the bosses which used to be absolutely insane next to impossible became pretty fucking easy once the player base got to level 99, granted I think I'm still capped at like level 85 I haven't played seriously since a week after Rift came out, then I quit Rift after three weeks. I think my biggest problem was I didn't like playing alone and the group I was with in both games broke
Edit. As for final fantasy 11 a lot of the bosses which used to be absolutely insane next to impossible became pretty fucking easy once the player base got to level 99, granted I think I'm still capped at like level 85 I haven't played seriously since a week after Rift came out, then I quit Rift after three weeks. I think my biggest problem was I didn't like playing alone and the group I was with in both games broke
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That's just lazy design all around.
Oh yeah, that nightmare.
I heard they only nerfed it when some kid died from exhaustion trying to beat it.
Malbutorius
C'est le bien qui fait mal
They should have nerfed it long before hand.
EDIT: Anyways the bosses I hate are the ones that scale to always be a higher level than you.
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4.5
4.5
When the roar finally ended you could have heard a pin drop. Surrounded by the inns and the restaurants which clogged the streets of the city, several people saw the boss, but no one said a word. Then, with a loud clatter, a sword fell to the ground. Finally, people began to panic.
"Oh, god," a woman whispered as she collapsed onto her knees. Abandoned by her two friends when they abruptly turned and ran, she knelt and stared at Fenrir with a look of uncomprehending shock.
The wolf blithely walked by her. Swinging his tail from side to side, he broke a building in half and sent the rubble falling down onto the road. Then, after leaping over the wreckage, he landed upon a small, cloth tent and promptly crushed its frame.
"That shouldn't be possible," Heathcliff muttered, his hand wrapped around his sword. Creaking whenever the handle rubbed against his gauntlets, he made a move to raise it though he clearly wondered to what effect.
I didn't blame him. At least ten meters high and twenty long, the boss was like a bull in a china shop. Pressed in by the narrow streets, we couldn't do much more than watch as his fur gouged holes in the brickwork. "Come on," I whispered while I gently pulled on Asuna's shoulder. "We don't have enough room to fight him here. If we stay, we'll just get crushed."
"We can't let him leave..." she rebutted, but she was hesitant to sound the charge. The first to encounter Fenrir's strength, she had already faced the wolf once before and had barely walked away from the fight. Uneager to begin round two, she swallowed the lump in her throat and allowed me to drag her by the sleeve.
"We won't," I reassured her while we navigated the poorly lit alley. "If Fenrir can travel wherever he wants then we don't have much of a choice. One way or another, we've got to put him down." Hearing the loud cries when people were crushed beneath his bulk, I knew that without a doubt.
Still, it was easier said than done. Leading everyone up a set of stairs onto a large, open-air overlook, we stared down at the Boss' progress worried about what we would find. We had good reason to be: Fenrir had destroyed half the street. Weaving back and forth while a few brave capes fought back, he suddenly whipped around and dashed the defenders through a wall. Checking carefully to see if they'd survived, I searched for an opalescent glow before recalling the bloody NPC.
Fenrir didn't even look injured. Skipping forward into a light run, he leapt over a small coffee shop and touched down two blocks away.
'Fuck,' I thought flatly when we soon lost sight of him. Disappearing behind the medieval sky-scrapers, the imposing structures obscured even the wolf's tremendous size and left half of us flinching at shadows for fear that he might come back.
"What now?" Subaru asked while he kept a wary eye on the horizon. "Do we... chase him down?"
I shook my head. "What did Lind text back?" I inquired after twisting to stare at Heathcliff. "Is he in the area?"
The grey-haired swordsman blinked, thrown by the sudden change in topic. "Uhh... I didn't get a chance to check. One moment."
Pulling up his menu, I waited impatiently for his response while his eyes skimmed over the screen. Finally, after double checking the last two lines, he looked up in faint relief. "He's on the Fourth Floor. I'll tell him what's going on."
"Contact ZTE and Jaxxster, as well," I replied. "Tell them to meet us by the south gate. We're going to need everyone for this; hopefully, they'll get here in time." Standing on the lip of the ledge, I listened to Fenrir's footsteps as he moved deeper into the city.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Fifteen minutes later we met in an abandoned stable just passed the exterior wall. Fenrir was audible in the distance as he tore his way through the town; however, we all tried to ignore the sound while we sat amidst the haystacks.
"Well shit," ZTE drawled out, his back pressed to a stall. Supporting his weight with the chipped, wooden frame, he'd arrived fairly quickly along with two other capes from his guild. A sword-user and a brunette with a shield, they were the only other members of Total Focus who were still on the active roster. A frequent sight on the front line, I hoped they'd be enough, but I had quite a few doubts in that respect.
"You can say that again," Jaxxster sighed, for once in agreement with his counter-part. Surrounded by a dagger-user and a slim girl with a spear, when compared to their previous showings, it was a grim reminder of 1337 Street's fall.
Lind and Kobatz rounded out our group though neither deigned to say anything. Altogether, it put our numbers at thirteen with a few more still expected to arrive.
Unable to wait any longer, I finally decided to step forward. "I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this can't continue. If the boss can move from Gilurst all the way to the Town of Beginnings then he can chase us back to Urbus, or Malchez, if he really wants to. Low as our numbers are, our only choice is to kill him."
No one looked inclined to disagree. "Yeah?" ZTE asked, more curious than confrontational. "How do you plan to do that? I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the guy's the size of a bus. Ignoring for a moment the fact that he has five health bars, what's supposed to be step one? Get gud?"
Kobatz barked out a laugh, and even Heathcliff's lips twitched up. Meeting the man's gaze, I let the comment pass and answered the only way I knew how. "I'm open to suggestions. Bombs; poison; fire. The system's given us plenty of room to improvise provided we're clever enough to take advantage of it."
Asuna chewed on her lower lip as one of my examples caught her interest. "Poison?" she asked, preoccupied by the possibility. "Has that been tried before?"
I shook my head while my thoughts turned back to Lung. "No, though I don't see why it wouldn't. After the Third, I made it a habit to keep an eye on the consumables available. I don't have any with me, but I know it's on the list."
Jaxxster nodded along. "1337 Street has some. It had diminished effects when we used it on a Field Boss, but it did stick." Bringing up his menu, he dug around in his inventory and removed a tiny, porcelain bottle. "This should be good for about twenty applications though it'll expend itself after the first hit. Call it a generous donation considering the severity of our situation."
Tossing the receptacle towards my chest, I caught it with my off hand. Glancing down at the grey container, I applied some to one of my daggers and then passed it over to Asuna. "What else?" I continued leadingly. "If there was ever a time to step up then it's definitely now."
"You mentioned explosives?" Kobatz asked for the first time since he'd arrived. "Not smoke bombs? I remember the grenades from Shadar, but I wasn't aware that was a thing."
Reaching into my inventory, I pulled one out and showed it to him. "I got mine through a contact with Argo. Apparently it's a relatively recent side-line in the Medicine Mixing skill. They work fairly well, but they aren't exactly cheap. I've only got about half a dozen on me."
Lind glanced at the sphere and slowly shook his head. "We aren't well prepared for this. We have options, but not enough time to utilize them. I say we let Fenrir have the city and regroup on the Second Floor. We'll lose some people, sure, but it's better than rushing to our deaths."
Jaxxster and Subaru considered this, but Kirito shook his head. "A month ago, I might have agreed with you; however, when Kayaba introduced pain, he made that solution untenable. The rear-liners? The players whose craft most of our gear? They're all inside the city. Since no one's in the field killing mobs, most players no longer have the col to stay on the higher Floors. If we retreat, some of them might survive, but I doubt it'll be a lot. In short, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot."
Lind clicked his tongue and chose not to argue with the brunette. Instead, after nodding at Shoukun when he walked through the door, I paused for a moment, so we could bring the young man up to speed. "We're talking tactics," I explained. "Do you have any suggestions?"
The brunette didn't reply, but the teen behind him did. "I suppose you could say that," Argo announced with a sober twist of her lips. "Hey, Khepri," she greeted me. "Everyone."
Joining our impromptu circle, she stopped beside Asuna and paused. Shifting from one foot to another, we stared at her expectantly until ZTE cracked his neck. "...Well?" he pressed her, the noise loud in the silence of the stable. "Don't keep us in suspense."
Glaring at him, she frowned, brought up her inventory and fiddled with something in the menu. Scrolling through her options, she gestured at an empty patch of ground and materialized a small pile of goods. "I can't say I know some secret weak point that we can hit for massive damage, but I've been giving this some thought. Icarus; Shadar; that fucker from the Fourth Floor - I don't know if it's been intentional, but the bosses have been getting harder."
"No," she then corrected herself after slowly shaking her head. "It's not that they've been getting harder - or at least, it's not only that. If I wanted to be accurate, I guess I should say they've gotten a lot less forgiving. After Slenderman and half the pain buffer got removed, I started noticing some patterns. Maybe I've been seeing connections where there aren't any, but I figured this Floor would be bad. Basically? I've been building up a reserve."
Gesturing at the consumables, the information broker huffed out a breath. "I can't say I trust myself to throw down with the boss personally, so here, consider this my contribution."
Stepping closer while the others expressed their surprise, I picked up a small, paper sphere and turned it over in my hand. Smaller than the grenades I'd used, it had a fairly polished look, and I thought it'd be rather potent. Getting a better look at its stats, I was pleased to see I was right. Taking in the boxes and the bottles spread across the floor, I smiled quietly at the boon. "We can work with this," I acknowledged before grinning at the brunette.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
We reconvened on a rooftop in the west half of the city. Fenrir was two blocks down making his way towards our position; however, we still had some time left, so we used it to go over the plan. "Step one," I began. "Kirito and I draw his attention. Since we have the highest Sprint skill we should be able to keep ahead. Ideally, we'll lead the boss through areas he's already destroyed, but either way, it'll give you time to set up."
"That's where we come in," one of Jaxxster's teammates interjected. "There's a couple of high-rises which are still intact along the road to the palace. We'll wait atop one of them and poison the boss when he passes. Throwing knives, pole-arms, whatever we have that can reach. If there aren't any noticeable effects, we'll break off and reconvene by the gate."
I nodded at the spearwoman who had introduced herself as Aoko. "Either way, Kobatz will be waiting by the western intersection with most of our explosives. The bombs Argo donated can be timed using a fuse, so it'll be his job to ensure they go off. You said you have previous experience with that?" I asked before turning to the dark haired shield-user.
The dour man nodded his head. "I spent two years with the peace-keeping forces in India back in twenty-eighteen. IEDs were common, so this won't be anything new. One way or the other, I'll make sure it happens."
Content to let him handle it, I thought about saying something more, but Fenrir didn't give me the chance. Practically prancing down the street, he was getting uncomfortably close, and it was time to go to work. "You ready?" I asked Kirito while the grim-faced youth drew his sword.
Giving me a focused look, I saw a fire burning in his eyes. "Without a doubt," he replied before jumping off of the roof. Landing on a canvas covered overhang, I braced my feet against the asphalt and then followed him down to the road.
Recovering from my dismount, I pushed myself onto my feet and twisted my neck towards the boss. ...Fuck, but Fenrir was big. You didn't really notice it until the wolf was right in your face, but we wouldn't have reached the beast's ankle if he pressed his stomach to the ground. Reminding me of the Endbringers and their frequent attacks on Bet, this would be the first time I'd ever fought something their size without the aid of my swarms. To be frank, I'd almost say it was insane.
"Let's go," I shouted instead before drawing a collection of picks. Holding them in the gaps between my fingers, I let them glow with the faint light of a sword skill and then released them at Fenrir's eyes. Flying forward, most of them hooked left into his snout; however, a couple reached their target and planted themselves beneath the lid.
The boss howled in rage. Dropping his health by a fraction of a percent, he bared his teeth at the two of us and leapt through the intervening distance. There must have been over forty meters separating us from the Floor Boss, and he cleared them in a single pounce. Realizing we'd never out pace him, I charged forward under his arc while his front paws crashed into the road. Hidden under his belly, he tried to swing back around, but like Illfang before him, he had trouble with the maneuver.
Kirito didn't suffer the same problem. Lashing out, the swordsman knew an opening when he saw one and took it for all it was worth. Able to set his stance and put his weight behind the swing, the blade dug deep into Fenrir's paw before pushing its way through the smoke. Unfortunately, though I saw the vicious hit land, if it wasn't for the twitch of Fenrir's health bar, I wouldn't have thought he was successful. "This way," I reminded him before hurrying towards the boss' tail. "We just need to stay within his shadow."
Following behind me, Kirito grunted his agreement. Briefly cast into sunlight when the boss flailed around, we dodged a smoke covered limb and the echoing snap of his jaws. "Khepri, the alleyway on your right!" he called out as he pointed at the upcoming intersection.
Looking ahead, I saw the narrow passageway he'd indicated and noted it led towards our rendezvous. Perhaps thirty meters long, it was too tight to accommodate the boss, and what's more, it would take us away from the teleport gate and any fleeing civilians. Shouting out a reply to signal I'd heard his suggestion, I sprinted back into the sunlight and the Floor Boss' field of view.
Naturally, he almost bit me in half. Slipping around his maw when he leaned his neck down to attack, we hurled ourselves into the alleyway and started racing through the tight corridors.
Fenrir hit the bricks with a howl. Toppling a nearby bakery and destroying a small hotel, the wolf was briefly buried in rubble as the city got intimate with his head. Then, after shifting his weight around, the Floor Boss tossed the debris aside and charged back into the breech.
The sky-scraper in front of me reverberated. Rising up from the curb on my right, the structure's eastern wall bordered the small lane in front of us and still it shook like a leaf. "Keep going," I shouted when Kirito stopped to look back. Avoiding a clothes-line when it fell from an apartment window, he danced back a couple of steps and then scrambled to catch back up.
Emerging into the remains of Fenrir's previous rampage, we had just enough time to gain a lead before the wolf jumped over the barricade. Landing with a small crash, the sound was loud, but I didn't notice it much over the racket which immediately followed. Deafened by the sound of falling stone, I ducked my head into the wind and ignored the chips which hit my back.
Spotting our teammates up ahead, I scanned the sky-line in the distance and felt relieved that we'd made good time. Better than we'd expected, even. Aoko still wasn't set up.
"Shit!" I cursed violently. "We need to keep him busy! What if we detoured by the castle?" Known as the Black Iron Palace, it was the largest structure in the city and possibly in all of Aincrad. Made from sheets of darkened metal, it stretched to the limit of the skybox and would surely wound the boss if he somehow managed to knock it down.
Angling towards the monument in the distance, Kirito nodded his head. "Through the front gate," he huffed, his arms pumping up and down. "There's an open-air intersection just on the inside." Allowing us multiple points of egress, it'd prevent us from getting boxed in by the Boss and the wolf's prodigious size.
Distracted by his breath on our neck, I didn't see it appear, but I heard it the moment we arrived. Heralded by the hollow sound of my footsteps, the environs were a poorly lit afterthought, overshadowed by the wolf behind us. "He's probably going to jump," I gasped, timing the statement with my breaths. "You go right, and I'll go left; afterwards, we'll circle back to the entrance."
Breaking off, Kirito hissed his agreement while he headed towards the hallway up ahead. Unfortunately. when we were each closing in on our target, a shadow appeared on the ground. Growing larger, I competed with the Boss' silhouette and hoped his aim was crap. I was lucky; it was. Slamming into the ground, I must've beat the Floor Boss by half a body length though obviously I didn't stop to check. In retrospect, it might have been better if I had, because if I did, I would have noticed it when the ground gave way beneath my feet. As it was? I only recognized the danger when I was forced to run up a slope.
"Shit!" Kirito screamed before getting dragged back towards the boss. Scrambling on the lip of a slowly widening hole, Fenrir pawed at the edge and then finally lost his grip. Grimly watching Kirito backslide as the perimeter of the cavity crumbled, I tried to avoid joining him; however, I failed in that endeavor. Unable to escape the hollow's reach, we tumbled down through the air only to hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"Huah," I croaked in agony, my breath driven from the depths of my lungs. Knocked into the yellow of my health bar, the damage was fairly concerning, but it was the pain which made me pause. Struggling onto my feet, my back protested the action, but I told it to suck it the fuck up. Then, after straining my eyes through the gloom, I tried to find the boss and my teammate.
"Kirito?" I murmured, hoping the youth had managed to survive. "Can you hear me?" Stumbling forward, I took a couple of steps and then paused when my foot just kept going. Leaning back, I didn't immediately tumble off the ledge, but it was a close thing. "Shit," I hissed worriedly while I stared at the sudden pit. A remnant from when the boss fell through the floor above, I spared a moment to hope the swordsman had caught an outcropping because if he hadn't, I didn't think he'd survive the drop.
"Over here," he whispered, dispelling the furrow in my brow. "Watch the rim! There's corrugated metal sticking up all around the gap." Glancing down at my feet, I immediately saw what he meant. Framing the large crack which separated the platforms we'd landed upon, there was a thick border of iron which had been warped by the Boss' weight. Razor sharp, I couldn't say what it'd do to my feet, but it'd likely prove dangerous if I accidentally stepped on the edge. Retreating a few paces, I built up a head of steam and then leapt over the narrow hole. Finally, after landing on my hands, I pushed myself off of my palms and took a look at what was left of his health bar.
Forty percent; about the same as myself. "Any idea how we're going to escape?" he asked as the Boss howled beneath us. Keeping an eye on the hole in case Fenrir somehow climbed his way free, I dug through my inventory for some rope and then tied the end in a loop.
"One or two," I replied absently before twirling the length of cord. Tossing it at the opening above us, I missed the first two throws, but caught some rubble with the third. I didn't like the look of the anchor nor the way it jutted from the wall, but we weren't spoiled for choice, and I was worried about the boss below.
"Here," I told Kirito as I passed him the other end. "If it gives way, try not to let me fall. Once I'm up, I'll find a tree or something and tie my half around that."
Coiling the strand between his hands, he gave me an exhausted nod. "Sure," he replied dryly before carefully shifting his feet. "No pressure or anything."
Shrugging my shoulders in response, I grabbed the frayed bit of hemp and scaled it hand-over-hand. Once I reached the top, I unraveled it from the rusted I-beam and approached a sconce on a wall. Removing the torch, I looped it twice around the stand and then made my way back to the hole. "All set!" I shouted down before giving a jerk on the line. "Whenever you're ready."
Following me up, he pulled himself out of the fissure and threw himself onto the ground. Hearing a clatter from below, I dragged him back to his feet and started running over to the nearby gate. "Make some room," I huffed. "It sounds like he wants to come up."
Tripping while we ran, we soon heard a shriek from the pit and forced ourselves to increase our pace. Louder and more highly pitched than the Boss' previous cries, it didn't sound like it came from Fenrir, but it could have been due to the acoustics. "Shit," I cursed aloud before disappearing into the tunnel. "Did that sound like an add to you?"
"Yes," Kirito replied flatly as his feet banged against the floor. "Do we stick to the plan?"
Hearing a paw hit the ground, I grimly nodded my head. "Going to have to; the boss is still alive." Risking a glance at his health, I tried to judge the damage and quickly groaned at the sight. Three fourths; he hadn't even lost half a bar.
"What's that thing on his back?" Kirito interjected, twisting a bit to point.
Shifting my gaze, I noticed a few green slugs which had latched onto the Boss' fur. Focusing my gaze on their icons, they only had a single health bar, but by the way the Boss began to howl, I didn't feel reassured in the least. "They're attacking the boss," I muttered. "Beyond that? Hope for the best."
Turning around, I put them out of my mind, so I could focus on the road in front of me. With a bit of luck, everyone would have enough sense not to accidentally agro the adds and it would mean an easier fight.
"This way," Kirito gestured when we re-emerged from the tunnel. Hanging a left, we heard the Boss chasing after us, but he was slowed by the persistent assault. 'Thank god,' I thought to myself. Watching the buildings flash past, it was hard enough to stay ahead with the help.
Reaching the end of the boulevard across from where we'd set our trap, I heard Fenrir approach and prepared for the start of our attack. "There's Aoko," I huffed, seeing the brunette give a distant salute. "Try to bring him in close."
Moving from the center of the avenue over onto the sidewalk, we hugged the shoulder of the street and sprinted beneath their position. Naturally, the Boss followed on our heels. Tossing his head, he was distracted by his various passengers, but I doubt we needed the assistance. Fenrir - for all his ferocity - wasn't the most attentive when chasing his tail.
"Yaaah," Asuna cried, her sword faintly glowing red. Joined by the rest of the raid group, it almost looked like a firework was going off - what with the sudden eruption of light. Briefly pushed back by the unexpected assault, I saw Fenrir stumble to the side, but he soon corrected his footing.
Ten percent, even with everyone unloading on him, he'd still only lost ten percent. Overall, I hoped the poisons did their job because I didn't trust us to do this more than twice.
"Kobatz just gave the signal," Kirito crowed while I watched the debuffs appear. "Thirty seconds until the landmine explodes."
Shifting my gaze to the road, I saw the bombs we'd been given in a small, tarp-covered cart. Piled up in the back, the cloth obscured the trap, but there was no mistaking the sparks. "We'll be there," I promised, putting on a renewed burst of speed.
'Twenty nine; twenty eight; twenty seven.' I counted down the seconds to the detonation, while my feet reverberated against the pavement. 'Twenty two; twenty one; twenty.' The Boss rampaged behind us, but I didn't turn back to look. We passed the vehicle with only twelve seconds left, and by the time Fenrir reached the blast radius there was barely three more to spare.
Throwing myself onto the ground, I twisted around to look and watched it go off beneath his paws. Erupting in a titanic explosion, my ears popped from the pressure wave and the 'Deafness' effect graced my bar. Dodging bits of broken glass when the windows shattered above us, we couldn't see the boss through the haze, but I didn't have a doubt we'd hurt him. It was only a question of how badly.
Staring expectantly while the smoke drifted away, I grit my teeth at the result. Peppered with electronic slashes, one of Fenrir's legs was reduced to little more than bone, but the boss was still standing strong. Left with just half of his third health bar, the slugs were an ash covered memory, and I actually mourned their loss.
"Shit," Kirito whispered as he shifted nervously on the road beside me. "Do we... take him around again?"
"Yeah," I answered tiredly. "Tell Aoko to get ready for a second pass."
AN: Fuck my browser all damn day. You would not believe the hassle I went through trying to get this up. First it crashes whenever I try to post, and then it eats my formatting when I finally fix that. If there seems to be some shit missing somewhere, someone say something because I wouldn't be surprised! It's just...fuck. Anyway, now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I'm going to admit that this is going out later than I'd hoped. I was actually thinking about holding onto it for a little while longer, but I've been pretty busy with real life, and I know it won't stop any time soon. With that in mind, I decided you'd probably rather have this now, than wait another two weeks for a slightly more polished version. It's rough, I'll admit it, but any changes at this point would probably be more form than substance, so until I get around to a second published draft, enjoy.
When the roar finally ended you could have heard a pin drop. Surrounded by the inns and the restaurants which clogged the streets of the city, several people saw the boss, but no one said a word. Then, with a loud clatter, a sword fell to the ground. Finally, people began to panic.
"Oh, god," a woman whispered as she collapsed onto her knees. Abandoned by her two friends when they abruptly turned and ran, she knelt and stared at Fenrir with a look of uncomprehending shock.
The wolf blithely walked by her. Swinging his tail from side to side, he broke a building in half and sent the rubble falling down onto the road. Then, after leaping over the wreckage, he landed upon a small, cloth tent and promptly crushed its frame.
"That shouldn't be possible," Heathcliff muttered, his hand wrapped around his sword. Creaking whenever the handle rubbed against his gauntlets, he made a move to raise it though he clearly wondered to what effect.
I didn't blame him. At least ten meters high and twenty long, the boss was like a bull in a china shop. Pressed in by the narrow streets, we couldn't do much more than watch as his fur gouged holes in the brickwork. "Come on," I whispered while I gently pulled on Asuna's shoulder. "We don't have enough room to fight him here. If we stay, we'll just get crushed."
"We can't let him leave..." she rebutted, but she was hesitant to sound the charge. The first to encounter Fenrir's strength, she had already faced the wolf once before and had barely walked away from the fight. Uneager to begin round two, she swallowed the lump in her throat and allowed me to drag her by the sleeve.
"We won't," I reassured her while we navigated the poorly lit alley. "If Fenrir can travel wherever he wants then we don't have much of a choice. One way or another, we've got to put him down." Hearing the loud cries when people were crushed beneath his bulk, I knew that without a doubt.
Still, it was easier said than done. Leading everyone up a set of stairs onto a large, open-air overlook, we stared down at the Boss' progress worried about what we would find. We had good reason to be: Fenrir had destroyed half the street. Weaving back and forth while a few brave capes fought back, he suddenly whipped around and dashed the defenders through a wall. Checking carefully to see if they'd survived, I searched for an opalescent glow before recalling the bloody NPC.
Fenrir didn't even look injured. Skipping forward into a light run, he leapt over a small coffee shop and touched down two blocks away.
'Fuck,' I thought flatly when we soon lost sight of him. Disappearing behind the medieval sky-scrapers, the imposing structures obscured even the wolf's tremendous size and left half of us flinching at shadows for fear that he might come back.
"What now?" Subaru asked while he kept a wary eye on the horizon. "Do we... chase him down?"
I shook my head. "What did Lind text back?" I inquired after twisting to stare at Heathcliff. "Is he in the area?"
The grey-haired swordsman blinked, thrown by the sudden change in topic. "Uhh... I didn't get a chance to check. One moment."
Pulling up his menu, I waited impatiently for his response while his eyes skimmed over the screen. Finally, after double checking the last two lines, he looked up in faint relief. "He's on the Fourth Floor. I'll tell him what's going on."
"Contact ZTE and Jaxxster, as well," I replied. "Tell them to meet us by the south gate. We're going to need everyone for this; hopefully, they'll get here in time." Standing on the lip of the ledge, I listened to Fenrir's footsteps as he moved deeper into the city.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Fifteen minutes later we met in an abandoned stable just passed the exterior wall. Fenrir was audible in the distance as he tore his way through the town; however, we all tried to ignore the sound while we sat amidst the haystacks.
"Well shit," ZTE drawled out, his back pressed to a stall. Supporting his weight with the chipped, wooden frame, he'd arrived fairly quickly along with two other capes from his guild. A sword-user and a brunette with a shield, they were the only other members of Total Focus who were still on the active roster. A frequent sight on the front line, I hoped they'd be enough, but I had quite a few doubts in that respect.
"You can say that again," Jaxxster sighed, for once in agreement with his counter-part. Surrounded by a dagger-user and a slim girl with a spear, when compared to their previous showings, it was a grim reminder of 1337 Street's fall.
Lind and Kobatz rounded out our group though neither deigned to say anything. Altogether, it put our numbers at thirteen with a few more still expected to arrive.
Unable to wait any longer, I finally decided to step forward. "I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this can't continue. If the boss can move from Gilurst all the way to the Town of Beginnings then he can chase us back to Urbus, or Malchez, if he really wants to. Low as our numbers are, our only choice is to kill him."
No one looked inclined to disagree. "Yeah?" ZTE asked, more curious than confrontational. "How do you plan to do that? I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the guy's the size of a bus. Ignoring for a moment the fact that he has five health bars, what's supposed to be step one? Get gud?"
Kobatz barked out a laugh, and even Heathcliff's lips twitched up. Meeting the man's gaze, I let the comment pass and answered the only way I knew how. "I'm open to suggestions. Bombs; poison; fire. The system's given us plenty of room to improvise provided we're clever enough to take advantage of it."
Asuna chewed on her lower lip as one of my examples caught her interest. "Poison?" she asked, preoccupied by the possibility. "Has that been tried before?"
I shook my head while my thoughts turned back to Lung. "No, though I don't see why it wouldn't. After the Third, I made it a habit to keep an eye on the consumables available. I don't have any with me, but I know it's on the list."
Jaxxster nodded along. "1337 Street has some. It had diminished effects when we used it on a Field Boss, but it did stick." Bringing up his menu, he dug around in his inventory and removed a tiny, porcelain bottle. "This should be good for about twenty applications though it'll expend itself after the first hit. Call it a generous donation considering the severity of our situation."
Tossing the receptacle towards my chest, I caught it with my off hand. Glancing down at the grey container, I applied some to one of my daggers and then passed it over to Asuna. "What else?" I continued leadingly. "If there was ever a time to step up then it's definitely now."
"You mentioned explosives?" Kobatz asked for the first time since he'd arrived. "Not smoke bombs? I remember the grenades from Shadar, but I wasn't aware that was a thing."
Reaching into my inventory, I pulled one out and showed it to him. "I got mine through a contact with Argo. Apparently it's a relatively recent side-line in the Medicine Mixing skill. They work fairly well, but they aren't exactly cheap. I've only got about half a dozen on me."
Lind glanced at the sphere and slowly shook his head. "We aren't well prepared for this. We have options, but not enough time to utilize them. I say we let Fenrir have the city and regroup on the Second Floor. We'll lose some people, sure, but it's better than rushing to our deaths."
Jaxxster and Subaru considered this, but Kirito shook his head. "A month ago, I might have agreed with you; however, when Kayaba introduced pain, he made that solution untenable. The rear-liners? The players whose craft most of our gear? They're all inside the city. Since no one's in the field killing mobs, most players no longer have the col to stay on the higher Floors. If we retreat, some of them might survive, but I doubt it'll be a lot. In short, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot."
Lind clicked his tongue and chose not to argue with the brunette. Instead, after nodding at Shoukun when he walked through the door, I paused for a moment, so we could bring the young man up to speed. "We're talking tactics," I explained. "Do you have any suggestions?"
The brunette didn't reply, but the teen behind him did. "I suppose you could say that," Argo announced with a sober twist of her lips. "Hey, Khepri," she greeted me. "Everyone."
Joining our impromptu circle, she stopped beside Asuna and paused. Shifting from one foot to another, we stared at her expectantly until ZTE cracked his neck. "...Well?" he pressed her, the noise loud in the silence of the stable. "Don't keep us in suspense."
Glaring at him, she frowned, brought up her inventory and fiddled with something in the menu. Scrolling through her options, she gestured at an empty patch of ground and materialized a small pile of goods. "I can't say I know some secret weak point that we can hit for massive damage, but I've been giving this some thought. Icarus; Shadar; that fucker from the Fourth Floor - I don't know if it's been intentional, but the bosses have been getting harder."
"No," she then corrected herself after slowly shaking her head. "It's not that they've been getting harder - or at least, it's not only that. If I wanted to be accurate, I guess I should say they've gotten a lot less forgiving. After Slenderman and half the pain buffer got removed, I started noticing some patterns. Maybe I've been seeing connections where there aren't any, but I figured this Floor would be bad. Basically? I've been building up a reserve."
Gesturing at the consumables, the information broker huffed out a breath. "I can't say I trust myself to throw down with the boss personally, so here, consider this my contribution."
Stepping closer while the others expressed their surprise, I picked up a small, paper sphere and turned it over in my hand. Smaller than the grenades I'd used, it had a fairly polished look, and I thought it'd be rather potent. Getting a better look at its stats, I was pleased to see I was right. Taking in the boxes and the bottles spread across the floor, I smiled quietly at the boon. "We can work with this," I acknowledged before grinning at the brunette.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
We reconvened on a rooftop in the west half of the city. Fenrir was two blocks down making his way towards our position; however, we still had some time left, so we used it to go over the plan. "Step one," I began. "Kirito and I draw his attention. Since we have the highest Sprint skill we should be able to keep ahead. Ideally, we'll lead the boss through areas he's already destroyed, but either way, it'll give you time to set up."
"That's where we come in," one of Jaxxster's teammates interjected. "There's a couple of high-rises which are still intact along the road to the palace. We'll wait atop one of them and poison the boss when he passes. Throwing knives, pole-arms, whatever we have that can reach. If there aren't any noticeable effects, we'll break off and reconvene by the gate."
I nodded at the spearwoman who had introduced herself as Aoko. "Either way, Kobatz will be waiting by the western intersection with most of our explosives. The bombs Argo donated can be timed using a fuse, so it'll be his job to ensure they go off. You said you have previous experience with that?" I asked before turning to the dark haired shield-user.
The dour man nodded his head. "I spent two years with the peace-keeping forces in India back in twenty-eighteen. IEDs were common, so this won't be anything new. One way or the other, I'll make sure it happens."
Content to let him handle it, I thought about saying something more, but Fenrir didn't give me the chance. Practically prancing down the street, he was getting uncomfortably close, and it was time to go to work. "You ready?" I asked Kirito while the grim-faced youth drew his sword.
Giving me a focused look, I saw a fire burning in his eyes. "Without a doubt," he replied before jumping off of the roof. Landing on a canvas covered overhang, I braced my feet against the asphalt and then followed him down to the road.
Recovering from my dismount, I pushed myself onto my feet and twisted my neck towards the boss. ...Fuck, but Fenrir was big. You didn't really notice it until the wolf was right in your face, but we wouldn't have reached the beast's ankle if he pressed his stomach to the ground. Reminding me of the Endbringers and their frequent attacks on Bet, this would be the first time I'd ever fought something their size without the aid of my swarms. To be frank, I'd almost say it was insane.
"Let's go," I shouted instead before drawing a collection of picks. Holding them in the gaps between my fingers, I let them glow with the faint light of a sword skill and then released them at Fenrir's eyes. Flying forward, most of them hooked left into his snout; however, a couple reached their target and planted themselves beneath the lid.
The boss howled in rage. Dropping his health by a fraction of a percent, he bared his teeth at the two of us and leapt through the intervening distance. There must have been over forty meters separating us from the Floor Boss, and he cleared them in a single pounce. Realizing we'd never out pace him, I charged forward under his arc while his front paws crashed into the road. Hidden under his belly, he tried to swing back around, but like Illfang before him, he had trouble with the maneuver.
Kirito didn't suffer the same problem. Lashing out, the swordsman knew an opening when he saw one and took it for all it was worth. Able to set his stance and put his weight behind the swing, the blade dug deep into Fenrir's paw before pushing its way through the smoke. Unfortunately, though I saw the vicious hit land, if it wasn't for the twitch of Fenrir's health bar, I wouldn't have thought he was successful. "This way," I reminded him before hurrying towards the boss' tail. "We just need to stay within his shadow."
Following behind me, Kirito grunted his agreement. Briefly cast into sunlight when the boss flailed around, we dodged a smoke covered limb and the echoing snap of his jaws. "Khepri, the alleyway on your right!" he called out as he pointed at the upcoming intersection.
Looking ahead, I saw the narrow passageway he'd indicated and noted it led towards our rendezvous. Perhaps thirty meters long, it was too tight to accommodate the boss, and what's more, it would take us away from the teleport gate and any fleeing civilians. Shouting out a reply to signal I'd heard his suggestion, I sprinted back into the sunlight and the Floor Boss' field of view.
Naturally, he almost bit me in half. Slipping around his maw when he leaned his neck down to attack, we hurled ourselves into the alleyway and started racing through the tight corridors.
Fenrir hit the bricks with a howl. Toppling a nearby bakery and destroying a small hotel, the wolf was briefly buried in rubble as the city got intimate with his head. Then, after shifting his weight around, the Floor Boss tossed the debris aside and charged back into the breech.
The sky-scraper in front of me reverberated. Rising up from the curb on my right, the structure's eastern wall bordered the small lane in front of us and still it shook like a leaf. "Keep going," I shouted when Kirito stopped to look back. Avoiding a clothes-line when it fell from an apartment window, he danced back a couple of steps and then scrambled to catch back up.
Emerging into the remains of Fenrir's previous rampage, we had just enough time to gain a lead before the wolf jumped over the barricade. Landing with a small crash, the sound was loud, but I didn't notice it much over the racket which immediately followed. Deafened by the sound of falling stone, I ducked my head into the wind and ignored the chips which hit my back.
Spotting our teammates up ahead, I scanned the sky-line in the distance and felt relieved that we'd made good time. Better than we'd expected, even. Aoko still wasn't set up.
"Shit!" I cursed violently. "We need to keep him busy! What if we detoured by the castle?" Known as the Black Iron Palace, it was the largest structure in the city and possibly in all of Aincrad. Made from sheets of darkened metal, it stretched to the limit of the skybox and would surely wound the boss if he somehow managed to knock it down.
Angling towards the monument in the distance, Kirito nodded his head. "Through the front gate," he huffed, his arms pumping up and down. "There's an open-air intersection just on the inside." Allowing us multiple points of egress, it'd prevent us from getting boxed in by the Boss and the wolf's prodigious size.
Distracted by his breath on our neck, I didn't see it appear, but I heard it the moment we arrived. Heralded by the hollow sound of my footsteps, the environs were a poorly lit afterthought, overshadowed by the wolf behind us. "He's probably going to jump," I gasped, timing the statement with my breaths. "You go right, and I'll go left; afterwards, we'll circle back to the entrance."
Breaking off, Kirito hissed his agreement while he headed towards the hallway up ahead. Unfortunately. when we were each closing in on our target, a shadow appeared on the ground. Growing larger, I competed with the Boss' silhouette and hoped his aim was crap. I was lucky; it was. Slamming into the ground, I must've beat the Floor Boss by half a body length though obviously I didn't stop to check. In retrospect, it might have been better if I had, because if I did, I would have noticed it when the ground gave way beneath my feet. As it was? I only recognized the danger when I was forced to run up a slope.
"Shit!" Kirito screamed before getting dragged back towards the boss. Scrambling on the lip of a slowly widening hole, Fenrir pawed at the edge and then finally lost his grip. Grimly watching Kirito backslide as the perimeter of the cavity crumbled, I tried to avoid joining him; however, I failed in that endeavor. Unable to escape the hollow's reach, we tumbled down through the air only to hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"Huah," I croaked in agony, my breath driven from the depths of my lungs. Knocked into the yellow of my health bar, the damage was fairly concerning, but it was the pain which made me pause. Struggling onto my feet, my back protested the action, but I told it to suck it the fuck up. Then, after straining my eyes through the gloom, I tried to find the boss and my teammate.
"Kirito?" I murmured, hoping the youth had managed to survive. "Can you hear me?" Stumbling forward, I took a couple of steps and then paused when my foot just kept going. Leaning back, I didn't immediately tumble off the ledge, but it was a close thing. "Shit," I hissed worriedly while I stared at the sudden pit. A remnant from when the boss fell through the floor above, I spared a moment to hope the swordsman had caught an outcropping because if he hadn't, I didn't think he'd survive the drop.
"Over here," he whispered, dispelling the furrow in my brow. "Watch the rim! There's corrugated metal sticking up all around the gap." Glancing down at my feet, I immediately saw what he meant. Framing the large crack which separated the platforms we'd landed upon, there was a thick border of iron which had been warped by the Boss' weight. Razor sharp, I couldn't say what it'd do to my feet, but it'd likely prove dangerous if I accidentally stepped on the edge. Retreating a few paces, I built up a head of steam and then leapt over the narrow hole. Finally, after landing on my hands, I pushed myself off of my palms and took a look at what was left of his health bar.
Forty percent; about the same as myself. "Any idea how we're going to escape?" he asked as the Boss howled beneath us. Keeping an eye on the hole in case Fenrir somehow climbed his way free, I dug through my inventory for some rope and then tied the end in a loop.
"One or two," I replied absently before twirling the length of cord. Tossing it at the opening above us, I missed the first two throws, but caught some rubble with the third. I didn't like the look of the anchor nor the way it jutted from the wall, but we weren't spoiled for choice, and I was worried about the boss below.
"Here," I told Kirito as I passed him the other end. "If it gives way, try not to let me fall. Once I'm up, I'll find a tree or something and tie my half around that."
Coiling the strand between his hands, he gave me an exhausted nod. "Sure," he replied dryly before carefully shifting his feet. "No pressure or anything."
Shrugging my shoulders in response, I grabbed the frayed bit of hemp and scaled it hand-over-hand. Once I reached the top, I unraveled it from the rusted I-beam and approached a sconce on a wall. Removing the torch, I looped it twice around the stand and then made my way back to the hole. "All set!" I shouted down before giving a jerk on the line. "Whenever you're ready."
Following me up, he pulled himself out of the fissure and threw himself onto the ground. Hearing a clatter from below, I dragged him back to his feet and started running over to the nearby gate. "Make some room," I huffed. "It sounds like he wants to come up."
Tripping while we ran, we soon heard a shriek from the pit and forced ourselves to increase our pace. Louder and more highly pitched than the Boss' previous cries, it didn't sound like it came from Fenrir, but it could have been due to the acoustics. "Shit," I cursed aloud before disappearing into the tunnel. "Did that sound like an add to you?"
"Yes," Kirito replied flatly as his feet banged against the floor. "Do we stick to the plan?"
Hearing a paw hit the ground, I grimly nodded my head. "Going to have to; the boss is still alive." Risking a glance at his health, I tried to judge the damage and quickly groaned at the sight. Three fourths; he hadn't even lost half a bar.
"What's that thing on his back?" Kirito interjected, twisting a bit to point.
Shifting my gaze, I noticed a few green slugs which had latched onto the Boss' fur. Focusing my gaze on their icons, they only had a single health bar, but by the way the Boss began to howl, I didn't feel reassured in the least. "They're attacking the boss," I muttered. "Beyond that? Hope for the best."
Turning around, I put them out of my mind, so I could focus on the road in front of me. With a bit of luck, everyone would have enough sense not to accidentally agro the adds and it would mean an easier fight.
"This way," Kirito gestured when we re-emerged from the tunnel. Hanging a left, we heard the Boss chasing after us, but he was slowed by the persistent assault. 'Thank god,' I thought to myself. Watching the buildings flash past, it was hard enough to stay ahead with the help.
Reaching the end of the boulevard across from where we'd set our trap, I heard Fenrir approach and prepared for the start of our attack. "There's Aoko," I huffed, seeing the brunette give a distant salute. "Try to bring him in close."
Moving from the center of the avenue over onto the sidewalk, we hugged the shoulder of the street and sprinted beneath their position. Naturally, the Boss followed on our heels. Tossing his head, he was distracted by his various passengers, but I doubt we needed the assistance. Fenrir - for all his ferocity - wasn't the most attentive when chasing his tail.
"Yaaah," Asuna cried, her sword faintly glowing red. Joined by the rest of the raid group, it almost looked like a firework was going off - what with the sudden eruption of light. Briefly pushed back by the unexpected assault, I saw Fenrir stumble to the side, but he soon corrected his footing.
Ten percent, even with everyone unloading on him, he'd still only lost ten percent. Overall, I hoped the poisons did their job because I didn't trust us to do this more than twice.
"Kobatz just gave the signal," Kirito crowed while I watched the debuffs appear. "Thirty seconds until the landmine explodes."
Shifting my gaze to the road, I saw the bombs we'd been given in a small, tarp-covered cart. Piled up in the back, the cloth obscured the trap, but there was no mistaking the sparks. "We'll be there," I promised, putting on a renewed burst of speed.
'Twenty nine; twenty eight; twenty seven.' I counted down the seconds to the detonation, while my feet reverberated against the pavement. 'Twenty two; twenty one; twenty.' The Boss rampaged behind us, but I didn't turn back to look. We passed the vehicle with only twelve seconds left, and by the time Fenrir reached the blast radius there was barely three more to spare.
Throwing myself onto the ground, I twisted around to look and watched it go off beneath his paws. Erupting in a titanic explosion, my ears popped from the pressure wave and the 'Deafness' effect graced my bar. Dodging bits of broken glass when the windows shattered above us, we couldn't see the boss through the haze, but I didn't have a doubt we'd hurt him. It was only a question of how badly.
Staring expectantly while the smoke drifted away, I grit my teeth at the result. Peppered with electronic slashes, one of Fenrir's legs was reduced to little more than bone, but the boss was still standing strong. Left with just half of his third health bar, the slugs were an ash covered memory, and I actually mourned their loss.
"Shit," Kirito whispered as he shifted nervously on the road beside me. "Do we... take him around again?"
"Yeah," I answered tiredly. "Tell Aoko to get ready for a second pass."
AN: Fuck my browser all damn day. You would not believe the hassle I went through trying to get this up. First it crashes whenever I try to post, and then it eats my formatting when I finally fix that. If there seems to be some shit missing somewhere, someone say something because I wouldn't be surprised! It's just...fuck. Anyway, now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I'm going to admit that this is going out later than I'd hoped. I was actually thinking about holding onto it for a little while longer, but I've been pretty busy with real life, and I know it won't stop any time soon. With that in mind, I decided you'd probably rather have this now, than wait another two weeks for a slightly more polished version. It's rough, I'll admit it, but any changes at this point would probably be more form than substance, so until I get around to a second published draft, enjoy.
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Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
And more so we appreciate your time and effort.
Of course seeing an update for this had me thinking, "yes, more Fucking Tinkers."
Of course seeing an update for this had me thinking, "yes, more Fucking Tinkers."
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Poor Kayaba. He has no Idea that QA is chiming in and telling Cardinal stories.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
On the bright side, only a 1/3rd of the last healthbar is left.
On the not so bright side, shit.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask. In one of the upcoming sections can you have Heathcliff say "We aren't going to make it." In regards to Aincrad? It just seems like something that would be very fitting.
On the not so bright side, shit.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask. In one of the upcoming sections can you have Heathcliff say "We aren't going to make it." In regards to Aincrad? It just seems like something that would be very fitting.
- Status