Chapter 154 - 25th Floor Massacre

Kizmel and Griselda had already gone to bed, and the inn's common room was empty. Drifter took the stairs one step at a time, unequipping his armor as he did so.

When he opened the door to his room, the only piece of equipment he had left on his person was his trident, which he propped up against the bedside table, next to Yuna's harp.

The owner of said musical instrument was already in bed, with her back turned to him, but Drifter knew she was still awake.

Taking off his shirt, he slipped under the covers. Drifter threw an arm over his wife, the other sneaking under her pillow and her head. Yuna sighed contentedly, rubbing her back against his bare chest until she found a comfortable position.

"How did it go?"

"You telling me you weren't watching from the window?"

He pressed a kiss on Yuna's exposed neck, and she shuddered.

"Of course I did. But I couldn't hear what you were saying after you started whispering."

Drifter hummed his acknowledgement, continuing to pepper her neck and nape with kisses.

"I only caught the tail-end of it, but it sounded like Kibaou was accusing Heathcliff of stealing his people? The KoB has been growing fast. Maybe Heathcliff was poaching some ALS players? I don't know. Anyway, I told him off for doing it in public. And Heathcliff too, for good measure."

He brushed her ear with his lips, and that was enough for Yuna. She turned around so they were facing each other, and kissed him hard.

"I bet neither of them liked it."

"Of course not. But who do you think your husband is? If I tell them to shut up so my lovely wife can get her beauty sleep, they will."

Yuna laughed at his mock arrogance, an enthralling sound Drifter would never get tired of hearing. Her eyes danced with mirth as she kissed him again.

"Flatterer."

"I prefer honest."

Drifter pressed into the kiss. For however long they made out, basking in the love they felt for each other, until Yuna pulled back.

"Well then, I better get some of that beauty sleep. Wouldn't want to disappoint you."

Drifter smiled and held his wife close, tucking her head under his chin. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head.

"You could never disappoint me, my songbird."

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Trust.

Even after he returned to the privacy of his own room, away from the prying eyes of spectators outside, Heathcliff was still thinking of what Drifter said. Of that word.

Trust.

Heath- No, Kayaba - had trusted many people over his life. But never truly. And he thought he was justified in it. All but one had betrayed him.

But now, he found himself being forced to confront that concept again. Because Broken Spear Drifter said trust was necessary to become a frontliner.

Of course, Kayaba knew that Drifter was speaking figuratively. There was no way the Assault Team would reject a group of skilled fighters like him and his Knights of the Blood Oath just because they weren't sure they could trust him.

But it left him thinking. Thinking that there was more to being a player than he initially assumed. More to being a hero.

For once, Kayaba didn't immediately delve into Cardinal's reports once he was safely secured away in his room. He just closed his eyes and thought.

Trust.

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The 25th floor of Aincrad would go down in Sword Art Online's history, for more reasons than one, and none of them good.

For one, it was the floor which took the longest for the players to explore, with the special exception of the 1st floor. 21 days to find the entrance to the tower, and then another week to reach the boss room.

And it was costly. Another record the 25th floor set, again ignoring the 1st floor, was the number of casualties incurred during its exploration. 27 mid and high-level players, 61 clearers, and 9 frontliners.

By the time an advanced party from DKB found the boss room, Aincrad had lost much of its cheerfulness from the remarkably easy conquest of the 24th floor.

And there was another reason why the 25th floor would go down in history as one of Aincrad's most infamous floors. Something that left the players and the world shaken to their very core.

A day when the foundations of the Assault Team almost crumbled, and all SAO players almost gave up hope.

The 25th Massacre.

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17th of December, 2023.

25th floor safe zone.

Reaver's Requiem was spread out on several different tables, having commandeered the common room of their inn. Not something the guild would usually do, but today was a special occasion. They needed the silence.

Because today was the day the scouting party was challenging the floor boss. And after almost an entire month on the 25th floor, everyone just wanted to come up with a raid plan and get it over with.

Drifter, Kirito, Asuna, Griselda, Agil, and Kizmel were all huddled up on one of the tables. The first 3 because they were the leaders of Reaver's Requiem, and the last 3 because they had good heads on their shoulders for tactics and strategy.

"Urgh... The anticipation is killing me. I don't remember it being this bad the last few times."

Asuna groaned, laying her head on the table. Despite the somber atmosphere, Drifter grinned.

"That's because we were the scouting party last floor. Waiting is always worse."

"They are already in the tower. Just a few more minutes, love."

Kirito combed Asuna's hair with his fingers, and just about everyone within earshot smiled softly. The two together were just so damn cute.

Thinking that, Drifter sneaked a peek over Griselda's shoulder to Yuna. His wife was two tables away, quietly chatting with Silica and Sachi.

When she caught him looking at her, the songstress gave Drifter a bright smile, which he returned. Then reclined back on his chair, waiting for the broadcast icon on his menu to light up.

"Liten is leading the party today, right? She is very straightforward."

"At least we won't have to listen to one of Kibaou's speeches."

The spearmaster snorted. It was a sign of how annoying Kibaou was that even Kizmel was making off-handed comments like that.

The responsibility for scouting out the 25th floor boss had fallen on ALS' shoulders. Like usual, 3 parties' worth of frontliners would be sent to scope out the boss' attack patterns, skills, and overall deadliness.

3 parties was a calculated number. Enough players that they could have tanks and damage dealers, but not so many that if, gods forbid, something went terribly wrong, the loss would crippled the Assault Team.

Which was why, of course, when the broadcast turned on and the Reavers each opened it on their own menus, they were all stunned to find not Liten and her 3 parties, but Kibaou and just about all of ALS.

And he did mean all of the guild. There were about 150 players streaming into the boss room, including the 40-odd frontliner elites of the guild. Of the rest, Drifter recognized some as the ALS' clearer parties. The majority, however, were unknown faces to him, but they all carried the Aincrad Liberation Squad's flag.

"Wh- What the hell is that idiot doing?!"

They all stood up, pushing back their chairs. The room broke into chaos, as did most of Aincrad.

Drifter's eyes were wide open with shock, anger, and fear. This was not what the Assault Team had agreed on. Not at all.

The spearmaster snapped his gaze from his menu to look at the others.

"Did anyone know about this?"

Kirito shook his head. He couldn't fantom what had possessed Kibaou to challenge a floor boss with only his own guild. And only less than a third of them were frontliners.

"It's going to be a massacre. We have to get there."

Asuna spoke with a trembling voice. And Drifter agreed. But none of the Reavers could help but to look back at the broadcast in transfixed horror.

Kibaou had led the ALS into the boss room silently. He knew that the other frontline guilds would be moving soon when they realized what he had done.

They spread out, the nervousness apparent in the faces of the green players. The frontliners, like Liten, had expressions that ranged from grim determination to forced calm. Drifter couldn't imagine the shield-bearer was happy with her guild leader.

In the middle of the room stood the floor boss. It was... Well, it was a Two-Headed Giant. Which was also its name.

The boss had its arms - four of them - crossed in front of its massive chest, towering over the players by a good 15 meters. The fours fists were bare, but no less intimidating than if they had been holding a weapon.

"Charge!"

Kibaou shouted, the first word Drifter heard him say since the broadcast started. He was the first to rush at the boss, the ALS players closely behind him.

Swords, spears, daggers, and axes cut into the boss' flesh, instantly erasing a few percents of the first health bar. The Two-Headed Giant stood completely still, not showing any reaction to the wounds.

For a brief, blissfully utopian moment, Drifter tricked himself into thinking everything would be alright. And then the boss opened its eyes, and he knew he was wrong.

A cruel glint shone in the boss' bloodshot eyes, and Drifter felt his grip on his trident tightening unconsciously. He hadn't even noticed when he drew it from his back.

The Two-Headed Giant uncrossed its arms, pounding its fists together. Then it stomped on the ground, throwing several players into the air. Both heads roared, and a fist the size of a car swung, battering one of the defenseless players.

It was like watching someone burst a water balloon, or punch a snowball. The fist paused momentarily, then passed straight through the player, leaving only shards behind.

Drifter froze. Around him, the Reavers stopped, mouths hanging open in horror.

"O-One hit?"

Drifter thought it was Agil who stammered. Right now, he felt as if he were afflicted with Nautilus' FNC. All he could do was stare at the broadcast.

The first death was only the start. While Kibaou, Liten, and the ALS players were just as frozen in shock as the spectators, the Two-Headed Giant didn't stop moving.

Another mighty swing of its fists sent players sprawling, and the boss quickly stomped on one of the unfortunate souls that followed Kibaou, his scream abruptly cutting off. When the boss lifted its feet again, there was nothing underneath it.

Another fell to a backhanded swing. That seemed to finally spur Kibaou and the ALS into action.

The spiky-haired guild leader yelled orders, and Liten and the other frontliners moved to intercept the boss. But they had hesitated for too long.

The Two-Headed Giant pounded the shield-bearer with its fists, and Liten held strong. But even from the broadcast, Drifter could see she was being pushed back.

"Liten is struggling. What is up with this boss?! This isn't even a round floor!"

Liten was thrown back and another player died. Four already, and it hadn't been even 60 seconds since the battle started.

"It doesn't matter. We need to get there. Asuna, Griselda, Agil, Nautilus, Yuna, message everyone. We meet in the plaza in three. Drif- Fuck, we don't have the Corridor Crystal anymore, do we?"

Reaver's Requiem started moving, checking their equipment and supplies. They had nothing ready. They weren't prepared to raid a boss today.

It was a sign of how dire the situation was that even Kirito cursed, and his girlfriend said nothing. She was preoccupied firing messages to all the frontline guilds.

Meanwhile, Drifter had swapped his trident for his old twisted bident. He wanted the more familiar weapon on hand if they were diving headfirst in such a chaotic situation. He shook his head to Kirito's question.

"Kibaou had the crystal primed with the boss room coordinates. Argo. If anyone has another, it's her."

"Let's pray she does. If we have to cross the maze and the tower to get to them..."

Kirito trailed off, his gaze once again turning to the broadcast. Drifter followed it, and winced. In the short few moments they had turned their attention away, the battle had got even worse for the ALS.

It was a fucking mess. No easy way to put it. The lower leveled players had completely panicked, and were running everywhere. Easy pickings for the boss as it chased them with a malicious grin, punching them to death one at a time. Kibaou's orders to regroup fell in deaf ears.

The clearers were faring little better. For all they may be considered frontliner seeds, getting thrown in such a brutal slaughter - and that was what it was, make no mistake - for their first boss raid guaranteed they couldn't fight back.

The frontliners were the only ones still holding some semblance of a formation, but even they were struggling.

The Two-Headed Giant was abnormally strong. Stronger than any floor boss that wasn't from a round floor. Stronger than the 10th and 20th floor bosses too, even.

Drifter suddenly had a horrifying thought. The 10th and 20th floors were dangerous because they marked something. They were checkpoints. A tenth of the way up. Two tenths of the way up.

And if that was the case, wasn't the 25th floor also an important marker? A fourth of the way up.

It explained everything. Why the floor boss was so strong. Why the floor was a deadly hell maze so different than the floors before it. Why so many people had already died.

Why the ALS was being massacred right now.

Drifter shuddered. The 25th floor was a giant meat grinder. Another trap for Kayaba to filter the weak from the strong. It was a sure-death floor, even for frontliners.

And Kibaou had just brought a hundred inexperienced players into it.