Chapter 86 - Lord of the Fallen

Excitement. Nervousness. Those were the two feelings swirling inside Drifter right now, and he smiled a savage grin. It had been a while since he felt like that.

Even against floor bosses, he only felt the latter. There was no excitement, no sense of anticipation or desire, when several thousand lives hinged on your victory. No, when they raided a floor boss, what Drifter felt the most was fear, although he pushed it down and away.

But now, as they made their way towards the Spirit Tree to complete the last quest in the entire Elf War campaign - there were only two quests on the 9th floor: Meet the Dark Elf Queen and Slay the Fallen Elf Lord Aater - Drifter felt true excitement, for a variety of reasons.

They were finally about to finish the campaign that had lasted seven entire floors. And Drifter, as well as all the Reavers, but especially the original party, had gotten very emotionally invested in the questline. Maybe it shouldn't have been so originally, but after meeting Kizmel and witnessing Locke's death, seeing Feredir's true grief when losing its master... It was hard not to be that way.

Of course, there was another reason why Drifter, Yuna, Nautilus, Kirito, Asuna, and even Sinon were grinning widely, much to the disconcert of their guildmates, who weren't used to seeing such expression in... Well, anyone's faces. This was SAO, after all.

"Err... Drifter?"

"What's up, Liz?"

"Why... Are you smiling like that?"

Drifter stared at the pink-haired blacksmith for a moment, confused. Then, he burst out laughing as he realized that Liz and everyone else had only joined them a lot after they met Kizmel.

"Right, we never mentioned that, did we? I guess it never came up when we talked."

"What didn't come up?"

"Heh. After this... Mission is finished, there won't be any more threats to Lyusula. Soooo... Kizmel's coming with us."

The spearman was careful not to mention the term Elf War. Yuna had committed the mistake of saying it once in front of Kizmel, and the amicable dark elf was not happy.

But that didn't matter right now. Liz, Yuuki, Ran, Merida, Silica, and Vallerk were looking between Kizmel and the smiling Drifter repeatedly. The dark elf was also grinning, although she made sure to hide it.

"By coming with us, do you mean..."

"Yup. After we defeat Aater, she is going to join Reaver's Requiem. Ain't that right, Kiz?"

The dark elf halted momentarily and sketched a bow, her smile now in full display and she straightened her body.

"Indeed, Drifter. It will be my greatest pleasure to become the 13th member of Reaver's Requiem and conquer the rest of Aincrad with you."

Their mouths dropped wide open as the original six Reavers laughed, and Asuna bounced over to hug Kizmel. Then, everyone started talking all at once.

"That's amazing, Kizmel!"

"I can't wait to see Kibaou's face when he hears that..."

"Glad to have you on board, Kiz!"

"Big sis Kizmel, is Feredir coming with you? Please, please, please let him come!"

Overwhelmed, Kizmel struggled to answer. While she always knew she would leave with the Reavers one day, she never expected them to be so supportive of the idea.

"I-I... Thank you, my friends. I am glad to have met you on the 3rd floor that day."

With a grateful smile, the dark elf hugged back everyone who had come forward to talk to her. Then, she rested one hand briefly on top of Silica's head.

"Yes, Feredir will be coming with me, Silica. I wouldn't leave him behind no matter what."

"Yay!"

Silica jumped up and down, then hugged the huge wolf. Drifter felt like he saw Feredir roll his eyes before sticking out his tongue to lick her hand, but he must have imagined it. As for Kizmel, she watched the scene with a smile. There was no way she and Feredir could ever be separated. They were the only memories, the only ties each other had to her brother-in-law and her sister.

"But, how would that work? Isn't Kizmel an..."

At the back of the group, Vallerk spoke up quietly, only to be almost instantly cut off by Sinon with a warning glare.

"It doesn't matter that she is an NPC. She's our friend and she's joining us. Nothing can change that."

Vallerk had joined them later, so he had only heard the story of how Drifter and the others met Kizmel, but hadn't actually experienced it. It was extremely confusing to the shield-bearer when he first saw the dark elf, who didn't behave like any NPC he ever met. Even now, he still wasn't quite sure of what to make of her. The fact that she could join parties was already strange, and now she was going to enter their guild. Vallerk felt that his entire knowledge of RPGs was quickly becoming obsolete.

"Sorry, Sinon. I didn't mean it in a bad way, I was just curious. Kizmel is nice, not to mention very strong. I'm glad she can join us."

The archer's glower subsided when she heard the apology. Sinon rubbed her cheek, the slightest tinge of red from embarrassment on it.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just already imagining the things Kibaou and the other fools are gonna say to Kizmel."

And that was true, wasn't it? Vallerk sneaked a glance at his guild leader. Kirito surely already knew that getting Kizmel, an NPC, into Reaver's Requiem was giving ammunition for the ALS tyrant to call him Beater again.

But Kirito wasn't the same swordsman of a few months ago. He was still young, but he had grown into his role. He might never become an authoritative general, but he was a leader. Furthermore, he now had people he trusted. He wasn't a loner anymore. And being called a beater still stung, but not nearly as much as it once did. Because the ones he cared about didn't call him that.

Drifter looked back. He had heard Sinon's last sentence. But he just nodded to the archer. Whatever Kibaou complained about, he really didn't give a damn.

...

Excitement. And joy, now that they discovered Kizmel would enter their ranks. That was how Reaver's Requiem walked towards the location of their final quest.

A gigantic, ancient tree loomed over them. Drifter had never noticed it before, mainly because this entire floor was a forest, like most of the others before it. After all, a tree in a jungle, no matter how big, wasn't anything extraordinary. Except this one was.

Drifter looked up at the Sacred Tree. And then he looked up again. And then some more, because that was how big the tree was.

The Sacred Tree touched the bottom of the floor above. A thousand meters tall - more. It should have been a sign of eternity. An immovable paramount that had endured ten thousand years. But right, that very tree dark and forest elves alike worship - it was rotten.

All the leaves were an unhealthy shade of brown and yellow, fraying at the edges and falling. The trunk of the Sacred Tree was hardly any better. Huge cracks extended throughout it, making the tree seem like it would fall apart any second. And from those cracks, a black, noxious smoke drifted. It was putrid. It smelled like death.

At the base of the Sacred Tree, where a huge crack started, almost like an open door waiting for them, the Reavers spotted their first enemies. They were a trio of heavily-armored fallen elves, each of them holding massive axes. Drifter stared at them with Searching.

"Fallen Sentinels. Anyone ever heard of them?"

"I don't remember them from the beta."

"And they are not in the guide either."

"New mobs then. Whatever they are, they look strong. Don't lower your guard."

The players nodded. Drifter gestured towards one of the enemies.

"We'll split them, focus on the one on the far right. Vallerk, you tank the other two. Silica, Asuna, Kizmel... And myself will support you. Yuna, you run Rest full-power for Vallerk. Kirito, Nautilus, you and the others take care of the other. Bring it down and then repeat."

"Roger that, Drifter."

The sentinels earned their name. The players were still more than twenty meters away when they started to stir and turned their helmets towards them. No chance of sneaking around - not that the Reavers planned to.

Drifter met the charge of the Fallen Sentinels with one of his own. His spear shone brightly as he swerved it around two axes, striking the enemies in the throat with a Double Tap - one hit each. Even Kirito had to stop for a moment to admire how Drifter managed to turn a single-target skill into a crowd-control one simply by virtue of his incredible control over his weapon.

Then Vallerk barreled into the Fallen Sentinels with Unrepentant Charge, pushing them back even though they were twice as tall as him, and many times heavier. Asuna, Kizmel, and Silica went around him to strike the mobs. Folium, Slant, Stop Cut. Each of them carried a knockback, stun, or paralysis debuff, effectively halting the sentinels in their tracks. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough for Drifter to charge up his Tidal Sequence, sweeping one of the fallen elves from his legs, and a Martial Arts: High-kick knocked down the other.

Then, both Fallen Sentinels were on the ground, at their mercy. And the players had none for them.

"Switch! Send another our way, Drifter!"

"Here ya go!"

It took about three minutes for Kirito and the others to demolish their Fallen Sentinel. Drifter looked around, spun his spear, and smacked the mob with the lowest health in the face with the shaft. Vallerk completed the combo with a Shield Bash, sending the Fallen Sentinel stumbling towards the rest of the guild.

Numbers were the one advantage players had over mobs. Without shame, the Reavers ganged up on the monsters, making quick work of them.

"Aater should be inside the Sacred Tree. We can expect several checkpoints and ambushes before we reach him."

Kirito spoke as he prodded at a large cut on his shoulder, the red line slowly vanishing as Yuna's music worked its wonders.

The Reavers fought more recklessly than most. No, not reckless, that was the wrong word. They fought more... Straightforwardly than most. They never did anything truly risky - bosses didn't count - but they allowed themselves to trade blows and get injured more than other players would consider safe. But that was just because they had Yuna. Not only could she heal them during the battles, but also after it, so they consumed fewer potions - they were very expensive. Ran shrugged. She also had gotten hit during the short battle, but her HP was already back to full.

"Nothing different, then."

"Yup. Ladies first."

The girls rolled their eyes - Kirito was getting more and more cheeky later - and Silica and Yuna pushed Vallerk and Nautilus to the vanguard.

"Yup, ladies first. There you go."

"Hey, Kirito's the one who said it! Why are we getting caught in the crossfire?"

"'Cause you are his friends. And nobody told you to pick shields."

"Liz also has one!"

"Well, we like her better. Asuna, get your man under control."

Merida poked where she knew would hurt, and Asuna was suddenly also collateral damage. The fencer and Kirito blushed bright red while the others bickered. And Drifter and Kizmel, who had wisely chosen to stay silent, looked at each other and doubled over laughing.

That was how Reaver's Requiem entered the hollowed trunk of the Sacred Tree. And although they weren't laughing anymore by the time they reached the center, after several skirmishes with fallen elves, they weren't worried either. Just serious. Focused.

The final enemy in the Elf War campaign stood with his back turned to them. He was wearing a stylish - and lavish - robe, not armor. His platinum hair contrasted sharply with his dark, yet sickly pale skin. The seven Secret Keys floated around him. Slowly, the Reavers looked above his head.

Aater, Lord of the Fallen.

His name had a comma. That was the first time Drifter had ever seen that. Not even floor bosses had such a complicated name. And, as the fallen elf seemed to finally notice their presence and turn around, his eyes glowing red, Drifter gulped. Okay. Maybe they shouldn't be that relaxed.