Chapter 48 - Those Who Have Fallen

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry I didn't post the chapter yesterday! It was raining heavily, and my power was down yesterday and most of today. Nevertheless, it's here now, so enjoy!

END OF AUTHOR'S NOTE

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Somewhere on the 3rd floor.

Many moons had passed since he lost the one he cared for and loved the most in this world. Many moons during which he grieved, he mourned, he hated.

Time didn't diminish the fury he felt. It didn't heal his broken heart. In the silent nights with naught but his blade and his loyal companion by his side, hatred festered inside him.

He trained. He tracked. He hunted. Oh, he hunted. Not birds and deer, but the two-legged animals who had taken her from him. He became their nightmare. The reason why they couldn't fall asleep at night. Across floors he hunted them. He hunted and killed.

Now, the one he wanted to tear apart the most stood in front of him. He was different. More cruel, more evil. Fallen. But it didn't matter. Men and beast stared at one another, four pairs of eyes crossing. One cold and devoid of emotion. One full of bloodlust. One mocking and exultant. One burning with undying ambers of hate.

"Falconer! Die!"

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Kizmel was running like her life depended on it. For some reason, her heart throbbed with anxiety.

"Pay attention, everyone! We are getting near!"

Hearing Kirito's warning - which was prompted by a change in his quest log, though the dark elf didn't know that - Kizmel instead accelerated. She was afraid of what she would see, but she was even more worried about what would happen if she didn't hurry.

Unfortunately, her worst fears came true. After bursting into the man-made - or elf-made - clearing, she discovered her brother-in-law and his wolf pet battling against the hated << Forest Elf Falconer >> and his bird of prey. Only, the falconer was no forest elf anymore. He was already a fallen elf.

Paler than before skin and black veins protruding around his eyes, the << Fallen Falconer >> Was cackling madly while continuously hacking at the wolf-handler the party met the other time, Kizmel's brother-in-law. All the dark elf could do was defend, but even so he was still full of cuts and wounds.

His pet wasn't doing much better. Somehow, the falconer's falcon had also 'fallen', as Kizmel called it. The bird's eyes were of a blood-red color, and it was clawing away at the wolf while trying to blind it with its sharp beak.

"Locke!"

Unable to stop herself, Kizmel yelled. However, just as she tried to rush forward to help the other dark elf, many fallen elves appeared out of who knows where and blocked her path. Drifter and the party had no choice but to engage them.

"Kizmel?! Get away from here! That bastard is much more powerful than... Arghhh!"

Kizmel's brother-in-law, Locke, turned to look at them after hearing her voice. He was first stunned, but then showed a panicked expression. He was full of hatred for the falconer, fallen elf or not, and was willing to die as long as he could drag his enemy down with him. But the longer they fought, the more he realized the << Fallen Falconer >> was simply toying with him. He had already lost his beloved, he didn't want the falconer to turn his sights to her sister, the only other person he cared about.

However, the moment Locke got distracted, his fate was sealed. With a cruel sneer, the << Fallen Falconer >> pierced his sword through the dark elf's torso, the tip of the blade coming out of his chest. Then, he twisted the weapon.

Locke gasped, eyes wide open in shock. He tried to turn around, unwilling to fall like this, but it was useless. The falconer planted a foot on his back and pulled out his sword, causing the wolf-handler to fall face-first on the ground, where he lay unmoving.

"Awoooooo!"

"No!"

Kizmel and Locke's wolf both let out simultaneous sounds of despair. Drifter, who didn't have any connection with the wolf-handler other than his relationship with Kizmel, frowned while parrying a sword strike. Locke's death felt... Unnatural. It was too forced, too out of place. They never had a chance to even get close to him, much less save the dark elf. Everything felt very scripted. Unknown to Drifter, his guess was very close to the truth.

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Somewhere else, outside of Sword Art Online, in the real world, a man in a lab coat reclined on his chair and drank coffee while surrounded by screens. One of them beeped, and a message appeared.

[ Variable ERROR 0026 eliminated. Detected variable ERROR 0025 in close proximity. Proceed with correction? ]

The man took a sip of his mug, unhurriedly. Then, he shook his head.

"How many corrections has this error 25 avoided, Cardinal?"

[ This is the third time, sir. ]

"And why do you think that is?"

[ There is a 78,52% chance ERROR 0025's continuous glitches are due to the interactions with players Asuna, Drifter, Kirito, Nautilus, Sinon, and Yuna. ]

"Uhmm..."

[ Proceed with correction attempt number 3, sir? ]

"No, I'm interested in its evolution process. Rename variable ERROR 0025 to 'Kizmel'. Keep me updated."

[ Understood. ]

With this particular situation dealt with, the man, who was none other than Akihiko Kayaba, took another sip of his coffee. He soon archived that matter in the back of his head. There were countless other warnings and problems that required his attention.

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Back in SAO, Drifter glanced at Locke's body with a complicated look. In all honesty, the dark elf was just another NPC to him, and one with whom he barely had any interactions on top of that. But to Kizmel he was someone very important, and seeing her in pain hurt him too, because he had long since stopped thinking of her as just another line of code, and started treating her as a friend.

"Falconer! I will kill you!"

Driven by rage and anguish, Kizmel kicked the two fallen elves who had ambushed her away, and launched herself at the << Fallen Falconer >>. He, however, had no plans to fight her.

Whistling, the falconer stretched his arm for his pet to grab. With three or four beats of its powerful wings, the falcon took its master into the air, and out of reach. With how high they were flying, it could be seen the fallen elf still had some lingering concerns about Sinon.

"Looky look, what's this? Oh, it's your precious key! Hahahahaha!"

While laughing, the << Fallen Falconer >> had his bird fly him away, uncaring for the men he was letting behind. He didn't even mention Locke, only throwing a contemptuous sneer at the body, which he made sure Kizmel noticed.

Realizing Kizmel was so enraged she wasn't even paying attention to the battle anymore, Drifter moved closer to her. It wouldn't do if she was injured because she wasn't paying attention.

"Kizmel! Snap out of it!"

It was cruel to yell at her like that when her brother-in-law's body was still laying on the ground right in front of her, yes. But those fallen elves weren't weak, and there were nine of them. Drifter could control one, maybe two, but having to take care of the one who was already fighting him, plus the two Kizmel had been dealing with before, was too much for him. He was struggling to hold them back.

"Hah!"

A sword slipped past his guard, and bit into Drifter's flank. The blow grazed his armor, and didn't do much damage, but it still caused him to yelp in surprise. After all, although there was no pain, the sensation of having a blade cut your body wasn't pleasant.

The sound of his discomfort seemed to wake Kizmel up from whatever rage-induced trance she was in, though, so maybe it was worth it. Without any courtesy, the dark elf hacked away at her fallen counterparts' backs, delivering a frenzied tempest of deadly attacks.

In no time, the two fallen elves had - well, fallen. Their brethren followed in their footsteps soon enough. Drifter breathed heavily while leaning on his spear. Those kinds of battles were always the hardest. They caught you by surprise, leaving you no time to prepare or plan, and were short but intense.

"Locke... Why are you so silly? How can I face my sister's soul when I follow her into the Spirit Tree?"

Kneeling besides Locke's body, Kizmel cradled his head in her hands. While she wasn't crying, her eyes were red, and her voice laced with deep sorrow. Locke's wolf was next to her, prodding his hand with its snout, as if asking for caresses.

"F-Feredir... Don't grieve, old friend."

Suddenly, Locke strenuously opened his eyes. With a trembling hand, he patted the wolf's head. Contrary to what one would expect from someone at death's door, the dark elf's eyes contained only warmth and a measure of relief.

"You too, Kizmel, don't mourn me. I can finally see my beloved Tilnel again."

"Locke... You know she is going to scold you, right?"

"Hahaha... Cough! Cough... Cough! Hahahaha... I'm looking forward to it."

His laughter was interrupted by a violent coughing fit, and Locke's expression turned painful. He looked at the players, who were standing a respectful distance away.

"Humans... Take care of my sister-in-law."

Having said that, Locke closed his eyes again. Then, his body started shining, and finally it broke into countless shards.

"Awoooooo!"

Feredir howled mournfully, raising its head to the sky. Kizmel choked back a sob, but didn't cry. Closing her eyes, she muttered an old dark elf prayer for Locke's spirit to reach their sacred tree.

At that time, Nautilus was surprisingly the one to step forward and place a hand on Kizmel's shoulder. His eyes held a forlorn gaze, full of understanding. He didn't say any superfluous words, but gently guided the dark elf to stand on her feet.

"We will get the << Secret Key >> back from him, Kizmel. And this time he won't escape."

"Hm."

Kizmel nodded forcefully, then started following the << Fallen Falconer's >> trail without a word. Drifter exchanged wry smiles with the others when he saw that.

Soon after, they approached a hole in the ground, a downward slope directly into darkness. At the same time, their quest log updated, and Kirito sent a message in the party chat.

[ Kirito: This is the last leg of the Elf War campaign on this floor. There will be plenty of fallen elves, as well as one commander, so be careful. Plus, there's also the falconer, who wasn't in the beta. ]

The party nodded. And, just like Kirito said, the fallen elf hideout was fraught with dangers. They experienced all kinds of ambushes in a short span of time. << Fallen Elf Scout >>, << Fallen Elf Warrior >>, << Fallen Elf Broken Knight >>, << Fallen Elf Wing Commander >>, and all other kinds of enemies with deceptively simple naming sense appeared.

However, while the battles were taxing, they weren't impossible. This once more reaffirmed Drifter's belief that, as long as one was careful and didn't overestimate themselves, surviving SAO wasn't actually that hard, even for the weaker players. Only the boss fights were programmed to be deadly. Unfortunately, many players still died every day because they overextended past their limits.

After three hours of being on edge, always waiting for the next ambush, the party arrived at a huge cave, illuminated by flickering torches and shining gemstones. Two people were sitting on stone chairs in the middle of it, drinking wine. On the table in between them was a leaf pouch, the << Secret Key >>. They seemed to be expecting the players.

"Finally! I was starting to wonder if you were even weaker than I thought! Why did it take you so long?!"

"Stop your yapping, falconer. Just kill them and transport the key to our lord."

The << Fallen Falconer >> started to taunt them, but was cut short by the other fallen elf, who was wearing heavy metal armor. Above his head was a red cursor and his name: << Fallen Elf Expedition Commander >>.

"Ugh, arrogant bastard. All right, I will take care of this garbage."

Having said that, the << Fallen Falconer >> got up and walked towards the party. Seeing that the commander seemed to have no intention of interfering, this was most likely a two-phase battle, similar to the 2nd floor raid.

"Awooooo!"

At this moment, the one who launched the first attack actually wasn't the falconer. It wasn't even Kizmel or the party. Instead, it was Feredir, Locke's wolf, who had been quietly following them the entire time. The large wolf suddenly erupted in fury, and charged at the fallen elf.

However, from its perch on the ceiling, the until now unseen falcon dove down, smashing into Feredir. Both animals rolled on the ground, clawing and biting each other.

The << Fallen Falconer >> also rushed towards them, and his target was, not surprisingly, Kizmel. He seemed to hate the dark elf with a passion. But, he wasn't fighting Kizmel alone. Instead, he was fighting their entire party.

Nautilus took the lead, positioning himself in such a way that the falconer had to either change his target to him, or try to go around, showing his defenseless flank in the process. The mob chose the first option, and his sword let out sparks as it clashed against Nautilus' shield.

From behind, Sinon shot an arrow that hit the << Fallen Falconer >> straight in the head. His hate-filled gaze turned to the archer, and so he didn't see Asuna's and Kirito's swords coming from each side to leave deep cuts on his body.

"Arghhhhh! Why can't you ants just die?!!!"

Completely enraged, the fallen elf kept throwing ruthless attacks at the party, in no time bringing Nautilus down to yellow. Yet, he was unable to kill the players as easily as he thought he would. Instead, he was the one being slowly whittled down to death.

"Hey, falconer! Take a look at this!"

Suddenly, a loud shout caused the battle to come to a pause. The << Fallen Falconer >> looked towards where it came from, and his eyes instantly widened in astonishment.

Drifter was holding his spear up, and pointing it at the falconer. But what really caught the mob's attention was the falcon skewered in the tip. Kizmel and Feredir were standing on either side of him, and the dark elf had a joyous grin on her usually stoic face.

"No! How dare you!"

The << Fallen Falconer >> had been so engaged in his battle that he forgot to pay attention to the surroundings. It was only now that the falconer realized two people hadn't been attacking him this entire time. Drifter and Kizmel had gone after his pet.

Swinging his spear, Drifter sent the moribund falcon barreling through the air toward the << Fallen Falconer >>. But before the pet reached its master, Feredir jumped up and bit down on it, shattering the falcon between his strong jaws.