Chapter 99 - The 10th Floor Boss

Over the next several days, more and more clearers took to mapping the labyrinth. Information about the entrance to the tower was one Argo always gave away for free, no matter how much she had to pay for it.

The Reavers themselves spent almost the entire day on the labyrinth, every day. They had just finished off a group of Imprisoned Akago - a truly disgusting mob that looked disturbingly similar to a deformed baby. While the others were organizing the drops, Drifter read the messages Argo had left for him earlier today. He had only managed to skim over it before, but now he read it in depth, and frowned. Of course, Yuna noticed it.

"Bad news, Drifter?"

His friends went silent when they heard Yuna's softly whispered question. Bad news for them usually meant someone they knew died. But the spearman shook his head, and they let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The clearers in charge of investigating the lore of this floor think they are just about finished with it. I was just looking at the info about the boss Argo sent me."

"Well? Don't keep us guessing."

Drifter chuckled slightly, before the frown reclaimed his face. He saw another message and typed a quick response as he answered Yuna.

"It doesn't look great. The boss is supposed to be some kind of samurai lord. They don't know the name. Uses a katana, obviously. And apparently there are many mentions of an army."

The others were also frowning now.

"That's it?"

"Hence why I said it isn't looking great. Twelve days, and that was all they could uncover. I doubt the clearers are slacking, so that's what we have to go on... It's not a lot."

Asuna tapped her chin. She was thinking of what Drifter said.

"A samurai... It probably is fast, like everything else on this floor. The mentions to an army... Humm... Summoned minions, maybe?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I don't like this, everyone."

Drifter's gut was telling him something was wrong. He didn't know what or why. He just felt it. But with nothing to go on, he could only push the feeling down. He still voiced his concerns, to the shrugs of others.

"Me neither, but if that intel is what we have, we'll make do with it."

"We still need to find the boss room."

"Shouldn't take more than a day or two. We already started to come across paths other parties mapped."

Drifter checked the durability of his spear while the others discussed. He was still in the clear, but the weapon could use a repair. That tied well with the plans of the second person who had contacted him, and he turned to the pink-haired blacksmith in their guild.

"Liz, are you up for a short trip? Akari - from Fuumaningum - wants to meet with you. She's close by, so I thought we might as well go now."

"Hum? Why does she want to see me?"

Liz was confused for a moment, trying to figure out who Drifter was talking about, before hearing 'Fuumaningum'. Yuna furrowed her brows and stared at him at the mention of the role-player's name. Drifter caught that, and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it to calm her down.

He had told them he killed Morte. He hadn't wanted to, but they asked how he knew Akari when he mentioned her once, and the guilt was eating away at him, so he just told them. It hadn't been an easy conversation. The angry yelling at his recklessness had been bad. The silence from some worse. Yuna had refused to speak or even look in his direction for two entire days. Her anger would have lasted longer if she didn't worry about him during their daily battles. But he had gotten an earful and several days without kisses.

Thankfully, none of his friends had been scared of him. Horrified at the notion that he had to - yes, had - kill another player, even if a murderer? Yes. But not scared or disgusted with him. And that was all he could ask for.

"Fuumaningum is looking for new weapons that fit their style. How they managed to make the whole ninja shenanigans work as a viable combat style I'll never understand, but they did. She's good for her cor."

"Well, if they are paying, I don't see why not. Kirito?"

Liz turned to their guild leader. They were, after all, in the midst of a labyrinth exploration. The black-haired boy thought for a second.

"You sure it's safe, Drifter?"

"Hm, she set the meeting in one of the villages. Safe zone. Besides, the little rat vouched for her. And Akari did help me."

Kirito stared at him for a second )onger, then nodded.

"Alright. We'll meet you back at the main town by 10."

"Roger that."

Waving to the others, Drifter pecked Yuna on the cheek and pulled out a Lesser Teleport Crystal, as did Liz. They were being extravagant and even wasteful, but it was too dangerous for just the two of them to walk their way back through the tower, and if the other Reavers were to escort them, they would waste the rest of the day. Besides, while Lesser Teleport Crystals were rare and expensive, Reaver's Requiem had more than enough cor to buy them from the hunting parties in the bamboo forest. Most gave frontliners a discount.

After specifying where they were glowing, Drifter and Liz glowed blue for a full ten seconds - hence why Lesser Teleport Crystals weren't suited for emergency, although he had hope for variants bigger than lesser - before disappearing.

When Drifter could see something other than blue light again, he was already on a plaza in a quaint little medieval Japanese village.

"Ugh. Those aren't as smooth as the main teleporters."

Liz complained as she stumbled and grabbed onto his shoulder to restore her balance. Drifter himself swayed a little before straightening. After steadying both of them, he patted Liz on the back and gestured towards one of the exits of the plaza.

"C'mon, Akari's over that way."

"How do you know?"

"It's shadowy."

The blacksmith's outburst of laughter had more than a few players giving them odd looks. Grinning unabashedly, the spearman steered Liz towards the alley, raising his hand to greet a couple of people he knew, even if not by name.

"Drifter. Blacksmith Lisbeth."

"Ahh!"

Liz jumped a good three feet in the air when someone suddenly spoke from behind her. Drifter whirled around, spear unsheathed and jabbing towards the voice. Akari's eyes widened and she cartwheeled back, barely dodging the attack - which, admittedly, wouldn't have done anything to her since they were in a safe zone.

"Spearman Drifter, it's me!"

"Fucking hell, Akari! Don't sneak up on us again! If you did this in the wilderness, I might kill you before realizing who it was!"

Ðrifter cussed loudly and glared at Akari. And because it was Drifter, she didn't doubt it. The ninja looked genuinely apologetic as she bowed her head. Liz was still holding her chest with one hand, as if trying to slow down her pounding heart.

"Whatever. You said you wanted to meet and that I had to bring Liz, Akari. Here we are."

"Yes, and I thank thee, Drifter. Blacksmith Lisbeth, it's an honor to meet one such as you."

Liz worked her mouth a few times, but failed to say anything in response, and Drifter's angry facade cracked as he saw someone else utterly befuddled by the role-players.

"Alright, stop playing around, Akari. Why do you need us?"

"For Blacksmith Lisbeth's skills. We recently came across a blueprint, but we do not have our own forgers, nor do we trust any to hand it over to them."

Drifter raised an eyebrow, and Liz spoke for the first time, confused.

"But you trust me?"

"We trust Argo the Rat. And she trusts you."

Well, that was something. Drifter and Liz exchanged glances, and the pink-haired girl nodded.

"Alright. What's the blueprint? And what are you planning?"

Drifter felt like he was doing something illegal, standing in a dark alleyway while Akari turned her head to make sure no one was spying on them, before opening a trade window with Liz. The blacksmith's eyes lit up and she accepted.

"Wow! I've never seen something like this. Sinon's gonna love it. Err... If you allow me to forge some for her, of course, Akari."

"That won't be a problem, Blacksmith Lisbeth. I only hope you can create a hundred Meteor Steel Kunais for Fuumaningum free of charge. We will pay for any purchase after that number."

"Of course! I'll be more than happy to..."

Drifter didn't quite catch the rest of Liz's sentence. He was looking at Akari and frowning. The ninja was unusually outspoken today. Not like he was familiar enough with her to know how she was normally.

'Whatever.'

----------------------

"Ready?"

"As much as we ever are."

"Let's just get this over with."

Drifter stared at the double wooden doors with flower engravings, completely out of place in the multi-colored stone labyrinth. His spear was resting across his shoulders and over the back of his neck, his arms draped over both ends. Not exactly the posture you wanted to keep in the tower, but they were waiting for the other frontliners to arrive, and Fuurinkazan was bringing up the rear, so he felt safe to relax.

"How are you feeling, Yun'?"

Drifter looked at his girlfriend. Yuna was playing idly on her harp, and shrugged.

"Same old."

"Hungry then?"

The songstress huffed and smacked his shoulder. Drifter just grinned impudently. He got closer to her and whispered in her ear.

"After celebrations are over, how about we have dinner on the 5th floor? That restaurant with the blue cake? Just us."

Yuna brightened up and smiled. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek.

"I would like that."

The pair was still talking quietly when Kibaou called for attention. Ten floors in, the player didn't bother with a speech, simply counting everyone and pushing the doors open.

The boss room was a massive courtyard with a sandy floor. On one side were rows of straw dummies and other ancient training appliances. Drifter's gaze skipped over all of it to focus on the figure kneeling in the middle of the room, with their back turned to them.

Drifter's first thought was that the boss was small, just the size of a human adult. His second thought, in direct relation to the first, was 'shit!'. With a boss this size, only three or four players would be able to hit it at a time, and that was if they coordinated well.

As the Assault Team entered the room and spread out to surround the boss, the samurai started to stir. The way it stood up with jerking and sudden movements, not unlike a puppet on strings, was unsettling.

When it finally turned around to look at them, the players were greeted by total darkness. All that there was inside the armor was a shade, without even a face. Just nothingness. A bright red cursor flared to life above the boss' head.

Kagachi the Samurai Lord.

The name wasn't nearly as unnerving as the being itself. Drifter still didn't let his guard down.

"Charge!"

Bloody Kibaou! Drifter cursed in his mind when he saw the reckless ALS guild leader rush at the boss with just one word and no plan, followed by his subordinates.

The Reavers were much more careful in their approach. Unlike the more hot-headed members of the Assault Team - and they included not just Kibaou, but Lind and Klein in that description - had not forgotten one of the few pieces of intel they had about this boss.

Drifter's gaze wandered. There were dozens of players between him and the boss. Sinon kept losing arrows at Kagachi the Samurai Lord, and he could have forced his way to the front to fight it, but he didn't feel the necessity yet.

"Aaahhhhh!"

Until he heard the first scream. His head snapped around and he saw one of the ALS players clutching at the stump of an arm. The scream was of shock rather than pain. Drifter knew the sensation well. But what caught his attention now wasn't how the boss had chopped off a player's limb. It was how it hadn't.

Kagachi the Samurai Lord was ten meters away from the player, far out of range. But a silhouette, a copy of the boss, completely dark and without depth, had ambushed the man. Literally jumped out of his shadow and, Drifter spotted momentarily, it was connected to Kagachi's own shadow. And more were appearing.

Players screamed as an army of shadows manifested into existence right in the middle of them. Over twenty copies of Kagachi the Samurai Lord, appearing in front, to the side, and behind the Assault Team.

Forewarned by a fraction of a second, Drifter spun around and stabbed the shadow that appeared at his back straight through the face. He didn't see a health bar, nor did the copy have any reaction to the blow, instead trying to hack him apart, but Kizmel swung at it from the side, and the shadow vanished.

Another appeared next to Yuna, and Nautilus blocked a sword with his shield before cutting it in two with a Serration Wave. He had moved to protect the most vulnerable member of their group the moment he saw the enemies.

Silica and Yuuki had teamed up to defeat one shadow. Merida had just cut down another. Drifter also saw Agil and his friends struggling against five copies before the Legend Braves helped them. A DKB player nearby almost died when two shadows teamed up on him and stabbed him through the back. More of the frontliners were being forced to divert their attention to deal with the unending ambushes.

And they were, in fact, infinite. For every shadow killed, another would immediately pop up into existence somewhere around the boss room. Drifter immediately realized what this battle was about.

"Kibaou! Get a party to focus on the boss! Everyone else, close ranks around them! Keep the shadows off their backs!"

There was a second of hesitation from the entire Assault Team, then they obeyed. Because they were not prepared for this, and any plan sounded better than no plan.