Episode 91 - Sister Witches
Floor 70
August 27 - Year 2
Bladescape Kaisho. The name still felt weird when players outside their guild addressed her as such, but after being first to the rally point, first to organize the parties while their group assembled, and then at the head of their march to the Boss' Lair, the role was starting to feel normal. All through the morning it had been Bladescape Kaisho, and even several times just Kaisho. She was their leader and deserved the name for that alone.
The doors to the chamber were closed. That was expected. It was normal. But since Floor 25, the one to open the doors had always been Commander Heathcliff. Usually the KOB was at the head, but at times, like Floor 39, other parties were assigned to move forward before the Commander.
They were waiting on Bladescape. She turned around and looked at the loosely organized players placed under her command. It felt like a moment that needed a short, but rousing, speech.
"All of you are experienced players. All of you have been in a Floor Boss Battle before. For some of you, it has been a few floors. I will admit, I have my concerns about the fact that we are a raid group mostly made up with no more than two from a guild. The Mirror of Knowledge is not normal, but I trust it."
Bladescape took a deep breath in, mentally resetting herself. "My concern has not lost the battle with logic. I believe that we will succeed because you are a fine fighting force! We don't need guilds to be dominating each boss battle, we need good, solid players. And we have a team of solid players who I trust my life with. We won't fail because we all got here through hard work, sweat, and certainly some tears.
"I believe that not a player will fall today. It may be, will be, a tough fight, but we have done it before and we are going to do it again! Let us show all of Aincrad that no matter what guild you come from, or how many guildmates are beside you, that we can stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone, and win. That all of us players, together, are more powerful than any single guild can be, and even Aincrad itself!"
Cheers went up as Bladescape turned around to face the door once more. Her right hand moved up over her shoulder and grabbed Harmonic Salvation. The draw was slow and deliberate and she prepared herself not for what was behind the doors, but for what was expected of her behind them.
Bladescape pushed on the doors, opening them inward, and advanced through them while the rest of the Wondercolts made sure they were pushed all the way out. She strode forward into the large chamber. It was bigger than what Bladescape had been led to believe, and it was the largest they had even been in by a significant amount. An enormous space for three witches to use was not a good sign.
The Attack Force, Groups A, B, C, and D formed up directly behind her. The Blocking Force, Groups E, F, and G filed out to her right. Group H, Kirito's party, was moving off to her left, straight for the wall so they couldn't be flanked.
Before, bosses had either materialized once they all had entered, been active when they entered, and sometimes required them to move quite a ways in before their reveal was triggered. This time, the Sister Witches didn't show until they all had entered. Instead of them materializing, they descended out of the ceiling, fully formed, to the opposite side of the raid party.
They gave themselves plenty of room to maneuver, but they were not the only ones already maneuvering. Group H was sliding along the wall at a good speed. The Attack Force had spread out, but had not broken their stride. The Blockers were hanging back a bit to set themselves up for a counter attack.
With the units deploying properly, Bladescape focused on the Sister Witches and their information. Each had four Health Bars. Dazzle was dressed in orange and yellow with purple accents. Dusk was in blue robes with darker blue and lavender accents. Lastly, Blaze was in purple robes with a green accent. All three wore large ruby necklaces.
It took Bladescape longer than it should have to recognize them for who they were. They were not just three witches that blasted the scouting party with air attacks as they had been told in the meeting. The NPC had said they hadn't gotten any useful information from the scouting party, and he was right.
Bladescape turned to the Wondercolts, slipping over to them. She wanted to fall back and re-strategize. Explaining that change was going to be a very difficult task and she would lose the confidence of her soldiers. She needed the players to have absolute confidence in her, and at the moment they did.
"I don't like this," Doombunny said before Bladescape could say anything. "I can see their info with Reveal. Yes, it is Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze. But they aren't air elements like they are supposed to be. Adagio Dazzle has an Earth Element symbol, Sonata Dusk has Water, and Aria Blaze has Fire. They are not simple air witches."
"This is gunna' to be a nasty fight," Backbreaker said. "And back then, we had Princess Twilight with us. We needed her."
"That must be what the Mirror meant for me," Knightstar said. "I am her, but not her."
"We needed us together as friends," Bladescape reminded her. "And that has not changed. We just don't have to sing to defeat them." Bladescape's grin turned sly. "We get to attack them head on with swords. I wanted to bash their heads in back then, now I actually get to do it.
A wicked laugh full of joy and glee of the upcoming battle was let out by Adagio Dazzle. "Welcome to the show! The puppets have arrived. You will find that you adore us."
With those words, any attempts at reorganizing the strategy without failing first was out of the question. They were committed to battle.
"Yeah," Sonata Dusk laughed. "When we say jump, you will ask us, 'How High?'"
"Put your hands in the sky," Aria Blaze snickered.
Blaze began to snap her fingers, creating a beat as she advanced and swaying to the same tempo. Dusk began to clap and Dazzle began to stomp her foot to the beat as they too made their opening actions.
The three witches grinned at the same time. "Listen to the sound of my voice," Dazzle said. Her voice was sweet and commanding. There was no edge on it. And that was when Bladescape knew something was wrong. The raiding party certainly hadn't dealt with their opening act because they hadn't been enough of a crowd. No headlining band ever went on prematurely.
"AFCK!" Bladescape yelled, turning to her. "Fife! Wondercolts pack around AFCK!"
"Now you've fallen under spell."
"High pitch note!" Bladescape ordered AFCK as she pulled out her fife. "Best you can do as long as you can!"
The Sister Witches opened up with their voices. The chamber echoed around them, creating a powerful effect. They all took a shockwave air attack, but Bladescape knew it was more. AFCK's fife's shrill note was tiny compared to the blast, but Bladescape heard it as the two sounds battled for control of the room.
AFCK's breath held out until the end of their first chanted rise. The Wondercolts were safe. For how long was unclear.
The rest of the raiding party was confused and disoriented. It was immediately clear they had lost their hearing, which would make communications very difficult. None of them had trained on nonverbal communications during Boss Raids. And even if guilds did, they didn't have more than the two per guild.
The Wondercolts were fine though. And it was all thanks to Bladescape's quick thinking and AFCK's extra-large lungs. Especially surprising for a drummer.
This was Bladescape Kaisho's battle. She had to figure out how to reorganize them and lead them into battle; hearing or no hearing.
With the others struggling to regain control, Group A charged. Before they got halfway to the witches, bat style wings began unfolding from the sisters' backs and then they became airborne. It wasn't high, but they were faster in the air than on foot. They split apart, preparing to flank the Wondercolts as they attacked.
Group A slid to a stop because of the wings. They hadn't gotten far ahead of Bladescape.
"New plan!" Bladescape yelled to them. "AFCK, you finally know how to play 'Awesome as I want to Be,' right‽"
"Mostly!" AFCK shrugged. "Why‽"
"Play it! Play it and don't stop! Even if you make a mistake just keep playing! We need to create as much conflicting sounds as possible! Everyone else, if you can tell they are going into a rise, retreat to AFCK to try and be safe! Push on with the fight! Give them no quarter!"
"Go Wondercolts!" Diemond exclaimed.
The rest of Group A yelled "Go Wondercolts!" as they charged.
AFCK began to play as best as she could. She focused on the feel of the music, letting the notes flow. She made mistakes, but she kept going. She was not going to let the others down.
Thunderborne's Rapier glowed blue as she prepared for her Sword Skill. She was aiming for Dusk. She screamed, "FIRST YOU SEE ME RIDING ON A SONIC RAINBOOM!"
Dusk avoided the attack with ease. She retaliated with a blast of water. It was deflected by Backbreaker's shield.
Knightstar had expected Thunderborne's attack to fail. She had moved to the side so that Dusk's dodge put her closer to Knightstar. She unleashed Horizontal Square, landing the first hit on the bosses.
Backbreaker was left deflecting a heavy stream of fire from Blaze. She never got a chance to attack as the two sisters teamed up to create space and slip past Diemond and Doombunny.
Repositioned, the sisters began another musical rise. The Wondercolts broke and ran as fast as they could to AFCK. They got to her just in time.
Kirito had two others with him. They had pushed ahead and right after the girls exploded the room with their second sonic attack, the Sister Witches found themselves under attack. Dusk took several strikes and the three of them repositioned themselves, free from their attackers.
Most of the fighters were having trouble on multiple levels. Severe hearing loss could, and was, causing most to also contend with vertigo. They could fight without hearing orders decently well, if they kept their visuals up, but most couldn’t stand as their inner ear function the NerveGear replicated was spun out of control.
Bladescape watched the opening minutes from inside the safety of AFCK's musical shield. The more they fought, the more they were disrupted and the easier they were to pick off. The mirror had warned them, but Bladescape hadn't calculated it into the strategy. Thankfully, the press on the Sister Witches was keeping the downed raiders from being attacked.
Now, Bladescape certainly needed a new strategy. Better yet, she wouldn't lose face for calling for a retreat. The only problem was that she could call and call, but the deaf raiders would never hear her. They were stuck in this room until she either could come up with a new plan, or organize the retreat.
Bladescape watched the next Wondercolts attack, trying to see the weakness they needed to exploit. Thunderborne was well ahead of the other. She jumped, triggering a sword skill as she flipped in the air. She landed in a roll and let the sword skill go.
“TAKE THAT!” Thunderborne yelled. “I’m going to 20% Cooler you to polygons!”
It was a good hit on Dusk, but a bad catchphrase. At least no one else could hear it to embarrass her later.
Thunderborne ducked under the water attack and skipped to the side as she let go Quadruple Pain. This time she stuck to the music AFCK was playing. “When it comes to making music, I’m the ruler!”
Blaze was keeping the others back with flames. Knightstar went wide, trying to back up Thunderborne against Dusk. Blaze tried to adjust, but Backbreaker pressed forward with her shield and Diemond leaped out in the other direction. Blaze avoided her mace and skipped back on her wings. She let go with a wide wave of flames again, which the tanks calmly took on their shields.
Knightstar got to Thunderborne right as she took a face-full of water in a powerful hook that was obviously very painful. It knocked Thunderborne to the ground. Knightstar began to poke with simple sword skills, trying to read Sonata’s attack patterns.
Thunderborne confidently stood up and whipped her rapier to bear down on Sonata. “Hey Sonata,” Thunderborne grinned. “I’m so good that you can’t defeat me!”
She triggered Flashing Penetrator, a powerful rapier charge skill that looked like a comet and had its own explosive boom. It looked good until the last second when a pointed bolt of water was shot from the ground, knocking Thunderborne’s rapier up and out of the way.
“You’re not that awesome,” Dusk coldly snorted. “You can’t even handle your own blade. You have no magic here. You are a loser, not a fighter. You failed the audition.”
Thunderborne was stunned, trying to comprehend the uncharacteristic personal attack. Knightstar leaped in, trying to break them up and create distance. Dusk gave them the distance they wanted by pulling up a wave of water from in front of her feet and pushing the two of them far back. When the water stopped pushing it splashed all over the two girls, soaking them on top of their humiliation.
Dusk and Blaze were displaying impressive uses of magic in a variety of attacks. They were highly skilled and very fluid in their reactions. Waves, bolts, blasts, and pointed stabs were just a few of their tricks. Dazzle had yet to attack outside of singing. She was waiting for something, and that was an automatic concern. Doombunny had said she was Earth. If she had half of the skills her sisters had, then they were in for a lot of pain when she unleashed her stone powers.
The Sister Witches began another rise which caused the Wondercolts to break and run to AFCK. Bladescape was all too familiar with the lyrics and notes. It was catchy then with their magic, and it was still catchy now.
“Blindsided by the beat.”
It was a long run from where they were.
“Clapping your hands, stomping your feet.”
Thunderborne sprinted ahead of the others and made it with ease. She was dripping wet despite the sprint.
“You didn't know that you fell.”
Knightstar got into the protective bubble.
“Now you've fallen under our spell.”
Doombunny got to them and then slipped on the water, hitting the ground hard. She barely avoided hitting her head. Knightstar pulled her up.
“Got the song that makes you lose it.”
Diemond and Backbreaker were rushing as fast as they could, but their armor was slowing them down.
“We say ‘jump,’ you say ‘how high?’”
Bladescape beckoned with everything she could for Diemond and Backbreaker to make it. It was a useless gesture since they knew they had to hurry.
“Put your hands up to the sky.”
Diamond outpaced Backbreaker who had the heavier equipment and got into the safe zone
“Listen to the sound of my voice.”
Backbreaker dove, going for the forward slide like in softball or baseball. The water on the floor aided her slide. She stopped just shy of them and was pulled fully into the area by Bladescape and Diemond.
“Captured in the web of my song.”
The room exploded in a blast as the witches’ song rose to its highest pitch. If anyone had been freed from their deafness, they were deaf once again. And with the shockwave that came with it, those that had managed to stand were knocked down and flattened, their health taking another hit.
The blast rippled off the musical shield of sorts that AFCK was projecting. It was barely enough to contain the seven of them. It certainly wouldn’t protect everyone. There was no way to get another muse here. Messages were blocked inside the dungeons and labyrinths.
Bladescape needed a plan. She saw Kirito and his team make a press after being flattened. Their target was Dazzle. She easily danced past them on her wings, a sly smile on her lips as they failed.
“Keep it up and target Dusk!” Bladescape ordered. “I’ll work on a way to organize everyone else! But you have to keep them off the others while I do!”
The Wondercolts charged off to follow the orders from Kaisho Bladescape.
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 97 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry - Greatsword - Rend
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 87 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search - Martial Arts
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 91 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics - Sprint - Rend
AFCK(PP): Lvl 85 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument - Rend
Diemond (R): Lvl 85 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making – Extended Weight Carry - Rend
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 92 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit – Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal -- Fencing - Sprint - Armor Pierce
Astro (PS): Lvl 87 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry - Search
Kiefer: Lvl 86 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts - Search - Armor Pierce - Sprint
Lessa: Lvl 84 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search - Acrobatics - Wood Carving
Joltron: Lvl 86 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Cooking – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation – Extended Weight Carry - Acrobatics
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 81 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce - Purchase Negotiation - Sale Negotiation
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I knew it was the siren sisters who were gonna be the witches.
Very slightly disappointed that we need to wait for more, but wait I will.
10659777
It was so obvious a blind man could see it
10659777
10659813
I wouldn't say so obvious. I did rename them!
10659795
Yeah, I know. But the fight got really long. It will be worth it.
Oh the siren sisters are witches alright. Witches with a capital B.
Now this is battle, not saying that fight with Tirek was lame but the playful mood of colts made it not as thrilling as it could be.
Please tell me that next chapter will be longer.
Yeah, this is going about as well as one could expect. Now if only Merlin could pop in with a Vinyl Scratch anilog...
I can't believe I didn't see that coming...
I wish the Dazzling had more status ailments with their singing like a Malboro Bad Breath attack does.
Making them even more of a pain in a fight.
10660125
It will be. Over 8000 words!
10660143
Sorry, no Merlin or Vinyl.
10660201
YES! Someone didn't see it coming! Not to make fun of you, but readers have been asking about them showing up since the beginning.
10660297
That would be interesting. But not being able to hear, and not being used to working together, that is a tough fight.
10660640
Over 8000?!!!!
Almost the right count for the meme.
10660725
Hey, the two chapters together were 12,000 words! That is a lot for online chapters. I do the best I can. Also, I have no idea what meme you mean. lol
10660748
What are you saying?! Of course I'm talking about this meme
10660799
I have never watched Dragonball Z.
My listed of watched Anime:
Bleach (all of the tv series, but no manga)
SAO & SAO2 - Not gotten to the Alicization seasons but read the books.
RWBY - All the way up to season 8.
10660812
I haven't watched it either, this moment is known well beyond the DBZ fans.
Aye I was right
I am more convinced then ever Discord is interfering with the game world. I mean first we have "Merlin" who seems to know a LOT about Sunset and who does NOT act like an NPC but rather more like a living being, and NOW somehow we have the Sirens whom Sunset and her friends have faced before.
Also I will be VERY surprised if Sunset does not ascend from all this, imho after all this is over (meaning SAO) she will have earned it
10668896
Can you explain "ascend?"
10668910
become an Alicorn. It been stated (I think) in cannon, ascending into an Alicorn is the result of facing a major trial. Well if SAO does not count as a major trial, I do not know what is. I mean shes already showing Leadership by being in charge of a massive group of people
Also and this is a thought that occurred to me today while walking back from eating at ponderosa (lts literally next door to me XD) Another being "Merlin" could be (though I dont know how he'd get into SAO) is Starswirl
10669035
Well, Starswirl was based on Merlin. About the Ascension, it doesn't exist in the human world. So why would anything she do there, translate back to Equestria?
10669382
because shes not a "Normal" human?
10669564
Yeah, but in the human world, she is a human with very limited equestrian magic. If she goes back over, that doesn't mean that she has any changes. Plus, she didn't do anything for Equestria. Monumental for humans, somewhat. Monumental for ponies? No. She can't become anything more than she is in the human world, a teenager. When Twilight goes over, she is nothing more than a human. She is no princess but in her mind. And she lacks magic, where SciTwi does.
10669570
I honestly (and this is my personal head cannon lol) dont think it would matter where an Equestrian was as long as they did something monumental they could potentially Ascend. Heh either way you have me on the edge of my proverbial seat waiting on your updates!
10669644
The edge of the seat is exactly where I want you! I need to work on the Asides.
10669669
*giggles* I forget has Princess Celestia visited Sunset yet?
10669675
No, she has not. The only princess to go over is Twilight, and the only others to go over is Starlight and Spike.
10670678
Why wouldnt Celestia (Princess) visit?
10671078
She has her royal duties? Plus, she has a double over there. While she has had the opportunity to visit, we have not seen her even give the notion that she might want to visit, let alone has.
And here I thought we saw the last of Equestrian themed monsters in Aincraid. I was dead wrong.
It explains so much now!
it."*
There goes the whole sword fighting.
https://m.Aaaand I got the song stuck in my head.