Episode 61 — Dagannoths
Episode 61 — Dagannoths
Thirteenth Day in the Month of Willow (March 13) in the Year of the Griffon
Floor 54 — Front Line Floor 57
Floor Fifty-Four wasn’t that far off the front. It made sense to be hunting an elite monster near the front for the best material to make leather armor out of. Bladescape knew of the dagannoths. By chance, the Wondercolts had cleared in the opposite direction of the swamp they called home. The stories were imposing, but they rarely included any information on what was dropped. How Ashley knew, Bladescape couldn’t guess. Maybe Argo could hunt that intel down, but it didn’t matter. This would help them all identify places to harvest unique crafting materials as they continued to clear floors.
Bladescape stepped into an NPC shop and bought more antidote and healing crystals. The swamp probably had some poison creatures she might have to deal with. A single teleport crystal was available, so she snagged it. The guild had a good stock of crystals, but it wasn’t unwise to stock up instead of depleting their guild stock. They would eventually have to buy more to maintain their stock. Bladescape preferred to err on the side of caution.
The swamp was a boss-less dungeon. Dungeons typically had an end goal, the dungeon boss, or something unique to them. The Wandering Forest near Mishe had some unique locations and was good for hunting. Occasionally, the boss-less dungeons were little more than places that blocked the ability to access guild storage or send messages. That was what the swamp was: a block. The dagannoths were supposed to be found around the center.
Bladescape struck out from the closest city, cutting due west to the swamp. It wasn’t too hard of a walk. The swamp was clearly defined by thick trees forming a barrier, all of them willows. It backed up to the edge of the floor, forcing Bladescape to circle north to find the entrance. She finally did, but it wasn’t what she was expecting.
It wasn’t just an opening in the tightly packed trees. The willows gave way to a giant oak tree. The old oak had a wide root base, but split into two trunks. Their branches intermingled, making it like a secret passage into the dungeon. The roots provided an easy way to climb up to and through the split. As cool as it was, each side of the trunk had a board pinned on it, giving a warning. The painted wood used Kanji and warned of a large monster and a small man-eater. A third board was hung above the entrance naming the dungeon, Fearnog Bog.
Bladescape kept the warnings in mind as she stepped through the trees. It was not what she was expecting when she heard “swamp” or “bog.” It was a wet woodland, full of willow trees, alder trees, and some birches. The tree branches were oppressive, pushing the ceiling down and making it feel claustrophobic. The ground was either full of moss, sedge grass, a purple reed-grass, meadowsweets, and a surprising variety of irises that brought color to the bog. The birch trees added some white to the scene and the tree moss brightened the whole swamp up, making it a lively green.
She had to be careful where she stepped. The mud was thick and the water that was visible could be deceptively deep. Being a bog, what looked like solid ground sometimes turned out to be peat, floating on top of the water. Bladescape soon figured out the pattern. Moss and reeds were the peat, while the sedge grass and meadowsweets indicated solid ground. The irises were a misdirect, being on both. Still, there was very little solid ground to use, any given area rarely being more than three feet wide. It reminded her of island hopping; using logs and stones to bypass the peat and water as she traversed to the next solid spot.
Once she was no longer falling into the mud and water, things went smoother. Actually finding the dagannoths would be another thing. She didn’t have a long line of sight in the swamp. There were too many trees. Bladescape camped out, leaning against a tree as she took a moment to catch her bearings and decide if she should take the left or right fork in the path.
A red cursor among the grass popped up and Bladescape immediately put her hand on her sword, but waited to draw it. Being so low to the ground, among the tall grass didn’t make sense. It moved a bit as it seemed to be following a small animal, hidden in the tall grass and reeds. Bladescape remembered the rumors of some of the best meat coming from small, hard to see animals, like the elusive Ragout Rabbit. She carefully moved her hand to her throwing pick pouch on her belt and pulled one out. She slowly brought it up to her head, ready to trigger the skill to throw it.
Blade throwing had a variety of throwing implements. Bladescape had been able to try what Doombunny used, but didn’t like them. The picks were sleek and fast. Historically, shuriken came in a variety of styles, with some of the oldest being needles, nails, or picks. Something poked its head out of the grass. The name popped up, Alder Furmus, but it was clearly modeled off of the pine marten. Bladescape shifted her hand, triggering the throwing pick, and nailed the creature before it could bolt.
The menu popped up in front of her. No meat, but she did get Alder Furmus Fur. Considering she was on a hunting trip for hides, it was a good drop. Not what she needed, but it might have potential for Diemond. She would do her best to keep her eye out for more.
Bladescape decided to take the left path. It seemed more likely to take her into the center of the dungeon swamp. The path ended up taking her alongside a more open waterway. It had slight movement in it as it flowed alongside the path.
Bladescape ducked low, under a large tree branch, holding onto it to keep from falling into the water. She had just enough speed in her movement to avoid the attack that came from the water. She jumped away from it as she drew Harmonic Salvation. Her right foot landed on peat and she went halfway into the mud.
The thing that effortlessly crawled out of the water looked like an otter, crossed with a beefy dog. The name that came up was “Dobharcu.” Due to its size, Bladescape figured this must be the small man-eater that the sign warned of. No matter what it looked like, it was the size of a large alligator.
It gave her no break as it attacked. She was still half in the mud, which had her very low to the ground. Bladescape chose Avalanche because it got her sword up high, yet it didn’t get tangled in the low branches because of where she was stuck. The skill slashed down on the dobharcu, taking off most of its health and causing it to back off, but it wasn’t going to give up on its meal yet. It did give Bladescape the ability to get her leg out of the mud and fully address it. She went on the offensive, killing it with a second strike.
Bladescape was going to have to be more careful whenever she was closer to the open water. The dobharcu’s ability to lunge out of the water meant it was a trap. Bladescape wasn’t very good at seeing them ahead of time. Search was not a skill that highlighted traps, that was Reveal. She was decent at surviving them, but she tried to avoid springing them whenever possible. Having to duck under that tree, that might be key to spotting future traps.
However the dobharcu was not the dagannoth. It was fierce and large, but it didn’t drop what she needed. She had gotten lucky. They were clearly a dangerous beast. Harmonic Salvation was a better sword than anything Bladescape had wielded, just based on the proportional stats to the creature she had just killed with relative ease.
It took time to move through the terrain, especially now that she was watching any open water for signs of an ambush. The air also felt oppressively humid, sapping her energy. Eventually, she entered a clearly marked safe zone with the edge outlined by flowers. It was tiny, but safe. Bladescape sat down on a log and drank some water. She had a sack lunch from Konpeito and it was well past lunchtime. Bladescape enjoyed her late lunch, but she made sure it was a fast break and got back to the trek.
It wasn’t much longer until she finally got to the center of the dungeon. She had fought her way through ten dobharcus and killed six Alder Furmus. Hopefully the furs were worth something because Bladescape had lost three picks trying to get them. They weren’t terribly expensive and she expected to lose some, but that cost did add up. They were for emergencies, being faster than her sword, and giving her another option. They made decent hunting tools, but if she was actually hunting with them, she would use a different alloy. Hers were weighted heavier to pierce thicker hides.
The center had a sizable lake in it, which was open and free of trees. Most of what was around the edge were low hanging willow trees. There was an area that looked more open a little further along. If dagannoths were in the area, it wouldn’t be where she was, under the trees. They were supposed to be tall creatures.
Bladescape worked her way there, but paused. To get to the clearing, she had to travel over a log that was spanning a decently wide creek. On either side it was open water. It looked like it could be a trap. It certainly would expose her. While the log had a great width, it would require her to keep her sword sheathed for balance. Bladescape checked her overhead clearance. It was alders and a birch, no willows, but one of the alders was angled, in the way of her landing if she jumped it. It was clearly placed there to prevent players from using agility to skip over the log. Bladescape sucked it up, sheathing Harmonic Salvation and stepping up onto the log. Nothing went wrong as she crossed. It was an easy walk. She had fretted over nothing.
Bladescape finished the last ten yards to get to the clearing and found herself on a peninsula. The water line was clear and the willow branches told her the only way out was the way she had come from. What mattered was that she finally felt like she could stand up straight. Nothing was directly looming overhead and she had plenty of solid ground to stand on, at least compared to the narrow pathways she had been navigating. There was no other open ground to fight large monsters lakeside.
As damp as it felt, the lively green was much more visible without tree branches reducing the light. The flowers stood out much more, as well as the purple reeds and the birch trees. It wasn't so bad on the peninsula.
Her enjoyment quickly ended as something in the water moved and a red cursor popped up. It was further out, but coming towards her. Bladescape drew Harmonic Salvation in anticipation and took a few steps back to give her the best area to work with. A shark-like head slowly rose out of the water and continued to come. It continued to rise, connected to a large, upright body. As it came out of the water, Bladescape gulped.
He was bigger than she expected. The smiling shark head was carrying a single row of large, needle-like teeth. A set of large spikes stuck out from its spine. Its thickly muscled arms were almost dragging on the ground and they ended with a pair of large, wicked looking claws. It didn't even have paws or flippers or hands, just those claws. It leaned forward as it walked because of its heavy arms, however, it was balanced by a short, bony tail swinging behind it, attached to its body above its hips. The whole thing looked like it stalked the bed of the swamp more than it swam. If it even could swim.
This was not going to be easy going solo against such a creature. Ironically, it would be hard to have more than three players on the peninsula, at least not without ending up in the water and even three would have a high risk of ending up in the deep lake. It appeared to be designed for solo fighting the dagannoths. The only Wondercolt who would be advantageous to have with her would be Natora for her spear’s reach. It didn't matter, Bladescape was in a dungeon and couldn't call for backup.
Even though that would be smartest, Bladescape wanted to take it on by herself. It was her armor, but Ashley had to make it, so Bladescape wanted to get the hides herself. It was a point of pride, having her hand be instrumental in the making of her armor. Besides, she had faced over fifty floor bosses, many more field bosses, and she had lost count of how many dungeon bosses and flag mobs they had killed. If she could beat them, she could solo the dagannoths.
Bladescape nervously rolled the hilt of Harmonic Salvation in her palms as she waited for it to approach. The Dagannoth stabbed at Bladescape with its claws. Weapon Defense handled the stab fine and Bladescape leapt into it with Rapture. It barely took off any HP. She dove out of the way of the other claws and it took a definitive step forward. The more steps it took. The easier it would be for it to back Bladescape into the willow branches.
Rapture was an upward slash attack. Bladescape chose a thrusting attack and Harmonic Salvation greedily buried itself in the beast, dealing four times the damage of the slash attack. It was a simpler attack, meaning it would remove less HP in a neutral setting, yet it had the shorter delay. The dagannoth hide was not neutral, it was resistant to slash but weak to piercing. Bladescape jumped back from the Dagannoth, once again narrowly avoiding the claws. Two dodges was all she got as another quick stab came as the creature used its other arm. The needle-like claws jabbed into her shoulder. They hurt, but there were no extra effects. It was just a lot of pain. Bladescape had fought through plenty of pain in this death game by now. She was close enough to unleash Heaven Splitter and the attack staggered the beast, eliminating the advancements it had made. Its territory was the water, but Bladescape was claiming the land.
Thrust was the name of the game. At least Harmonic Salvation was a long weapon. Thrust, block, thrust, dodge, hit taken, thrust, block, lunging thrust, dodge, reset, thrust, block, thrust, hit taken, thrust, dodge, dodge, thrust, block, thrust, block, thrust, dodge. Bladescape whittled it down as quickly as she could. It had a lot of HP, but Harmonic Salvation was a masterwork sword. She also had significantly more agility than the beast and was able to block or dodge most hits. Her armor's stats did a good job at protecting her, however, just like the beast, her armor was also weakest to piercing attacks and that was all it used.
Bladescape's triumph came with the glittering of polygons. She was left panting heavily, sticking her sword into the ground for extra stability as she recovered. Her Battle Regeneration Skill kept her from going into the red, but she fought most of that battle in the yellow and drank a health potion to be safe. She immediately refilled that pouch with one from her inventory so she didn't run low. The biggest problem was maneuvering on the little land she had. There were a few times where she knowingly had to take the hit in order to land a solid blow on the creature. Which was oddly okay. Battle Regeneration was leveled by damage taken. A player had to get hurt, a lot, to level it up. Especially to max it. Naturally, as a set Skill, she wanted to max it.
Bladescape looked at the drop list. Dagannoths were apparently great for XP and gave decent Col, but what mattered was the hide she got from it. That dropped her to only needing twenty-nine more. Looking at the weight of each hide, it was a very good thing that Bladescape had Extended Weight Carry as a skill. Her regular strength stats would carry her a good way without the Skill, but she wasn’t Malus. Bladescape was certain she had Diemond and Reisenki beat for strength. Konpeito was also a close runner up, but the rest of the Wondercolts were not strength-based fighters. Extended Weight Carry was useful on long days and in deep dungeons. It meant a player didn't have to ditch stuff in between combat just to be able to walk or get new, potentially better, items.
Bladescape saw the next one coming as she closed the drop menu. It was from her left. She stopped leaning on Harmonic Salvation and readied herself for another tough fight. This one had slightly different spines, but it didn't matter. They were all the same creature and she would kill as many as she needed to.
The first hour passed by quickly as the day grew older. She had only killed six others. It was taking between five and ten minutes to kill one. Then she had to wait several minutes for the next one to wade out of the water. It was a long fight for a single creature and it required focus and endurance that was unyielding and unforgiving. It would be easy to slip up and be punctured into polygons, forever lost. If she daydreamed and didn't stay ready, one would swim up onto land and attack her. Thankfully all of the boss battles had made her rather resilient and built her focus. Night grinding for XP also built focus and resilience, depending on the location and creature.
Thankfully the dagannoths came alone. If they were not as dangerous as they were, the dagannoths would make a great place to grind for XP. Their hides might make them worthwhile to hunt periodically, but that was unlikely unless there was a direct need for them. After floor 75, something new might come along, making their hides not worth the hassle. She might need them for armor upgrades.
As Bladescape readied herself to face the twenty-sixth dagannoth, she found herself facing something unexpected. This one was not the same as the others. Large green spines ran from its head to the tip of its tail. A tail that was much longer and better defined than the others. It stood a lot taller as well, showing off his green underbelly. If that wasn't bad enough, the claws were also bigger. They were more like small swords than claws.
Three health bars showed up along with its name, Bulcalla the Dagannoth Supreme. Bladescape rolled her sword in her palm nervously. This was an undiscovered flag mob. It likely wasn't a true dungeon boss, but that was a mere technicality now that she was facing it. Still, she had dragged out a boss dagannoth by killing just twenty-five regular dagannoths. Whoever had made the initial reports hadn't fought them too long.
And, she had to solo it. Bladescape wasn’t running. Her HP had been topped off for a while. The dagannoths had upped their game, so would she. Bladescape pulled out a poison made by Doombunny. It was for emergencies while hunting or clearing. Soloing an unexpected flag mob would qualify as an emergency. She smashed the vial on her blade, applying the poison.
“RAWH!!!” Bladescape yelled as she charged, taking the initiative. Its stab at her missed because of her quick movement.
Harmonic Salvation was hungry for the virtual monster’s flesh. It seemed to be drawn into the dagannoth. A deep piercing thrust was a good way to ensure the poison had time to transfer. She ripped the sword free as she jumped back, but was knocked to the ground from a swipe in midair. She had stupidly expected the boss to run off the same attack algorithms as the regular variants. A rookie mistake.
Bladescape immediately rolled along the ground to her right. Where she had been was stomped by the giant dagannoth foot. The stomp took a lot of its focus, allowing her to scramble up and hobble back out of the way of the next incoming stab. She pulled out a health potion from her healing pouch at her waist and fumbled it because her shoulder was numb. There were six or seven red claw marks raked along her right shoulder and arm. The fumbled bottle shattered on the ground. Bladescape dove out of the way of the next attack. It gave her the moment she needed to get a new potion and drink it. It was better safe than dead. She couldn’t rely on her battle healing skill too much in a solo boss fight.
During the next swipe of the claws, Bladescape activated Weapon Defense and with a twirl she knocked the claws away. It allowed her the opportunity to lunge in. Bladescape was more cautious of her exit and blocked another swipe. She didn’t dive right back in. She would have to figure out a better strategy. One that allowed for a steady, but safe, whittling down of his HP.
Harmonic Salvation was soaking up Bulcalla the Dagannoth Supreme's health, yet fifteen minutes didn’t even eliminate a health bar. The poison was working too, but it either wasn't very strong, or the dagannoths had great poison resistance. Bladescape was guessing it was the latter. Still, it was better than no help from it and she had taken down a sixth of its total HP. Slow and steady might win the race, but a marathon was always exhausting, no matter how quickly it was run. She pressed on until it came down to the final health bar, when it was in the red, and the boss threw its temper tantrum.
Bladescape dove out of the way of the raging Dagannoth. She came out of her roll behind him and lunged. It was a really good hit. She pulled out the blade and Bulcalla Dagannoth Supreme charged her again. Bladescape used a spinning defensive skill, Cyclone, that also moved her to the side. She blocked the swipe from the claws and unleashed a nasty gash up the back side and then chained Sword Skills, before the delay kicked in, and unleashed Avalanche.
The boss staggered under the heavy blow. Bladescape’s delay ended before the stagger did. She unleashed Volcanic Eruption next. It wasn’t enough to finish the fight. Bladescape took a swipe from the claws while she was in the delay. It knocked her clean to the side.
Bladescape rolled a bit and then tumbled into the water. It was shallow, thankfully, but the mud was sucking her in. Bladescape saw her health had dipped to the red. She was able to grab a healing crystal, yelling “heal” as she rammed it into her chest, and crawled out of the mud. It was a good thing she healed herself with the crystal. The foot came down on her exposed back, dealing damage as it slammed down and pinned her on her belly.
Bladescape wasn’t out of tricks. With her free hand, she got out a few throwing picks. It was a horrible angle, but with the skill triggered, she flipped three at the face of the Dagannoth. Two stuck and caused Bulcalla to reel back, freeing her.
Bladescape jumped up and rammed Harmonic Salvation into Bulcalla Dagannoth Supreme, straight to the hilt. The thrust was so quick and violent that Harmonic Salvation didn't have the opportunity to suck her in deeper. She drew it out, rotating so her back was to the boss. The boss took the bait and Bladescape unleashed Back Rush. It countered the swipe and then she unleashed Double Infinity. The slashes did minimal damage, but the prize was the center stab. It was stronger than Battering Ram, and it was all she needed to finish the fight.
Bladescape dropped to her knees amid the floating polygons. The total time for the boss fight was one hour and forty-seven minutes. Almost a two-hour solo battle with no breaks, no relief, and no back up. Bladescape double checked that nothing was coming and looked at her menu to see what she had gotten.
The XP dump took her to Level 78 and it gave her a massive amount of Col. Col she didn’t have to share with anyone else, either. Some was automatically taken to the guild storage, as a tax, but the rest was all hers. More importantly, the boss dropped ten hides. That was five more than she needed. But it was over. That was what mattered.
Bladescape decided against using a teleport crystal. Walking back would give her the opportunity to possibly kill more of the Alder Furmus creatures for their fur. She would have to once again face the traps she had triggered on her journey, but she felt ready to do that. She downed a health potion and began the trek back.
The trip back was still hazardous, but less so now that she had fought so many dagannoths and their boss. It certainly boosted her confidence. Dobharcus only tried to eat her six times. Meanwhile, she killed another eight Alder Furmuses, missed three others, and never got the chance to throw picks at four more.
Bladescape finally saw the oak tree but stopped a decent way back. The Silver Sagacity Circlet was a powerful object. It identified four players on the other side. It also showed her their cursor color, but none of them were in a guild. The orange guilds were not making formal guilds. These players all had Hide activated and, while they were very good at hiding, they were not Doombunny.
They hadn't noticed Bladescape. She could teleport out, but unless she backed up, they would hear it and know they were spotted. The only reason she could see them was because of the boost from her Silver Sagacity Circlet. She didn’t want to tip them off that someone had something that could beat their tricks. She needed to give them a reason not to think about it.
Bladescape chose her course of action. She could not leave them there, waiting for their unsuspecting target to arrive. Really, they needed to be put in their place. Their place was the prison the army maintained, but Bladescape couldn't bring four of them in, not alone, and she was inside the dungeon, unable to send a message out to anyone for backup. She fished out two vials of paralyzing pastes, applying one to her sheathed sword and one of the remaining three picks on her pouch. Thankfully she had refilled the picks held on the outside slots, but she was down to just those three.
“I know you two are there,” Bladescape called out, intentionally halving the number to give herself an edge, assuming they bought that she only could pick out two of them. “Come out and announce what business you have, trying to hide there.”
Two figures in black clothes and short black ponchos, which were ragged and worn, stepped into view. Their heads were concealed deep in their hoods but above them their orange cursors were clear. One had most of his face wrapped, but both wore the same, stupid grin on their face. It was not the same kind of stupid grin Klein wore. Klein's goofy face was gleeful, their grins conveyed insanity. One wiped his nose and on the back of his wrapped hand was a black marking, a coffin with the lid open. A skeleton arm was hanging out and a ‘laughing’ face was on the top of the lid. They were undoubtedly members of Laughing Coffin, the murder guild.
“So,” Bladescape asked, flashing her own sly grin. “Am I a random catch or am I long sought-after prey?”
One chuckled deeply. “You wish. You stumbled upon us. But that won’t matter. You won’t be around to report our activities.”
“Well, if that was true, you should learn to Hide better,” Bladescape said. “And not just the Skill.”
“So, you caught on just before you exited and backed up in fear,” he spat, shaking his head. “Won’t make a difference in the end.” At least he had fallen for her misdirect as planned.
Bladescape put her hands on her hips. She didn’t move to draw her sword. She knew there were two more. She had to outwit them. One hand was on a slim pouch. It had a butterfly neatly stitched on the top. Bladescape could feel it. Inside that pouch were three vials; each was filled with a high-level anti-drug mix that Doombunny had said should protect her from most poison and paralyzing agents. Her other hand was by her throwing picks.
One of them drew a thin short sword. The other had a long knife. They both had drugs on their blades. Bladescape recognized the special shine, mostly from Doombunny's use of them in battle, but the Silver Sagacity Circlet was also warning her about the added effects. All it told her was that an effect was active, not what it did or the strength.
Bladescape took a step back, trying to look as scared as she could. She needed enough time to pop the vial into her mouth. The picks would help buy her that time. The terrain also would allow her to face them one by one, assuming she didn't leave the dungeon.
Bladescape’s plan wasn’t to kill them. She would cut them and let the paralyzer drug drop them before they could drop her. One against four wasn’t good odds, even with her levels being well above theirs. Time was also against her. A drawn out battle against four meant she was more likely to make a costly error, whereas their errors wouldn't be as costly due to simple math.
Bladescape took a few extra steps back and they tensed up. They knew she was faking. She shouldn’t have been surprised considering the dungeon she was trying to leave. Bladescape switched tactics and deliberately pulled out the vial from the pouch, brought it to her lips and drank it. She dropped the empty vial and pulled her sword off her back with the same hand. She wasn’t moving her left hand from the throwing picks.
She charged, blade forward, cradling it in her right arm as she gripped the ricasso. It was a solid way to compensate for the weight in a single hand. In the same motion, Bladescape flipped out two throwing picks. They nailed the first attacker before he could react and he dropped in a stream of curses.
The second faltered at the reaction of his friend dropping but recovered quickly. He wasn’t expecting him to go down, paralyzed. Bladescape jumped forward, and landed, immediately skipping back. She was able to stay inside the oak tree. The short sword missed because she baited him into striking first.
Bladescape drove Harmonic Salvation into his shoulder. It went clear through, forcing her to kick him off of it. The second target had the paralysis tag over his HP bar, which had dropped halfway down from the stab. He couldn’t recover from being kicked off her blade since he was paralyzed.
“Now for you two,” Bladescape spat. “I’ll let you run, but I won’t. Your choice. You have five seconds to decide.”
Both stepped out from the trees they had been hiding along, trying to ambush her. One had a skull mask on and glowing red eyes. He carried an estoc. The other was wearing black on black and had an inverse symbol of their coffin guild tag on his chest. He carried a short spear which had several nasty thorns on it to give maximum DOT.
Bladescape walked forward slowly, sensing their intent to attack at the same time. The tree would trap her when they did. Moving also baited the one with the spear to jump in. Bladescape saw the attack coming, she was familiar with the starting motion and color because of Natora, sidestepping the thrust and slicing at his legs as he passed. One was severed clean off and the murderous red player couldn’t catch himself with both the paralysis and the missing leg working against him.
“Well, you are smarter than those three,” The one with red eyes said behind his skull mask. “I am guessing that the armor you wear isn’t a fluke. That color, blue and gold, with skills like that, well that could only mean you are part of that girl guild, the horse one, WCS.”
“Yep,” Bladescape grinned. “And you found the wrong prey today. Intentional or not, you tried to ambush me as soon as you discovered my approach. Your spearman could use work. It was sloppy and I saw it coming long before the Sword Skill was even triggered.”
His laugh was piercing. It was pure evil. “So you have some tricks at your disposal and you are well trained in combat. I guess we need to make sure Kurayaro actually knows how to fight a member of the Assault Team. The cursor above you may be green, but I know deep down, you want to kill. Everyone does. You want to kill, to control, to be the best. This game isn’t going to give you that unless you break from the mold. Clearing won’t get you that, but you still have time to earn that achievement.” He chuckled some more. “Doll Face, what is your name?” The way he said it was creepy, totally different from Klein. It left her with a chill, while Klein’s left her with a smile on her face because he was being fun or dumb.
Bladescape glanced behind her to make sure the others were still incapacitated, but kept half an eye on the skull masked player. “Bladescape. You?”
“XaXa, Red Eye XaXa," he replied in a cool manner. "You have that glint in your eye. You know real power and you want it again.”
Bladescape took in a deep breath, trying to resist tensing up. It wasn’t working. He was right. There were nights where she wanted the ability to control all of the players, to turn them into her own army that could storm every floor, beat every boss, and then take over Ruby Palace and clear the game. She had kept that a secret from the others. But if Red Eye Xaxa could see it, was she more transparent than she thought?
Bladescape saw the crown in her hands once again. The moment before she put it on her head and became that monster. The same dark lust began to surface.
But then she felt Harmonic Salvation in her hands. The crown was nothing more than a remnant memory of what once was. A past she had left. Now she had magic. In some way, even in SAO, it was here for her, helping her, because it chose her, and she couldn't do what it wanted her to do while stuck in this death game. It couldn't be overt like in the real world. That would let the game engine know something was off and they might be punished for it, but it could "randomly" name her first player made sword Harmonic Salvation, a reference only she would understand. One that would empower her. Bladescape gripped Harmonic Salvation tight and steeled herself from his swarthy ways.
“Have you met my friend?” Bladescape asked and she brought it to bear on him. “Harmonic Salvation. I walked that line before, that is true, but that was my past. And my past is not today. I didn’t dive into SAO to regain any of that. As soon as this death game started, my mind didn’t go there. It went to how I could protect and save every single player I could. I’m still holding onto that. I won’t stoop to your level and cut you down. I will simply put you in your place.”
Bladescape could see XaXa grin under the skull mask. Bladescape leaned forward to jump. She leapt, but it wasn’t straight at him. It was at an angle. The Sword Skill was a simple slash. XaXa didn’t move as her blade slashed at him.
CLING!
The estoc blocked her sword and then stabbed at her, impacting her right shoulder. XaXa was fast. Incredibly fast. Bladescape’s heart rate shot through the roof but she stopped herself with decently steady feet. The estoc rammed into her thigh, once again piercing her in less than a second.
But the drawback of an estoc was its range. It was a very close up weapon, being about the same length as a short sword. It also lacked an edge, making it suitable only for piercing. It was effective against a lot of armor types, but that was about it.
XaXa couldn’t avoid the bash to his face from Bladescape’s pommel. Her blade was up above her shoulder, allowing her to activate Avalanche. It was targeted at his leg and Harmonic Salvation cut through it with ease.
Bladescape took a few steps back as XaXa dropped from the Paralysis. She didn’t drop her guard as she gave them her orders. “If I were you, I would head to Marten, unarmed, and surrender yourself. You have a lot of guts trying to pull the stuff you are. That is something that will come back to haunt you if you continue on this path.”
XaXa laughed victoriously. “You don’t have the guts to strike us down. You’re not a real player.”
“A real player knows when to fight and when not to,” Bladescape shot back. “A real player knows when they are beat. When they step out of line, a real player rights that wrong. A real player is so much more than you understand. Courteousness is one attribute I can think of.”
Bladescape reached into her crystal pouch. She pulled out a blue crystal and looked at it. She didn’t use it though. Instead, Bladescape began to walk towards the closest village and its safety.
XaXa and the other Laughing Coffin members wouldn’t get her to run, but they wouldn’t jump her either. She would move quicker once they could no longer see her. In the meantime, as she walked, Bladescape sent a warning out to the members of the guilds she knew. The Wondercolts’ message could wait. Within minutes, the entire Floor and forward camp at Marten would be aware of Laughing Coffin being nearby.
A message from Klein came back immediately. "WHAT! ARE YOU OKAY?"
"I’m fine. I paralyzed them all before they knew what was happening. I’ve got a crystal ready if they decide to go for round two."
Bladescape messaged Knightstar. “LC tried to jump me. I’m fine. I paralyzed them. I got the hides I needed. On to the next item."
Knightstar kept it simple. "Understood. Glad you are okay. Do you need backup? Thunderborne looks like she’s about to run off to you even if you say no. We’re working on the flax."
”Thanks. Tell Thunder she can calm down. I’m going to collect Blue Stones on Floor 22 now.”
BLADESCAPE: Level 78 — Two-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense — Leather Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Sprint — Blade Throwing — Extended Weight Carry — Acrobatics
NATORA: Level 74 — Two-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiation — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Armor Pierce — Sprint
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 70 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Equipment Appraisal — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry — Armor Pierce — Search
MALUS: Level 73 — One-Handed War Hammer — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Extended Weight Carry — Battle Regeneration — Fishing — Search — Martial Arts — Rend
THUNDERBORNE: Level 73 — Rapier — Sprint — Acrobatics — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Armor Pierce — Martial Arts — Blade Throwing
KONPEITO: Level 73 — Two-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — Martial Arts — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Music — Blade Throwing — Bard — Extended Weight Carry
DIEMOND: Level 74 — Mace — Greatshield — Sewing — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Light Metal Armor Forging — Heavy Metal Armor Forging — Extended Weight Carry — Jewelry Creation
DOOMBUNNY: Level 70 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit — Blade Throwing — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Familiar Cooperation — Mixing — Search — Listen — Reveal
KIEFER: Level 71 — One-Handed Curved Sword — Slash Weapon Forging — Light Metal Armor — Weapon Defense — First Aid — Katana — Battle Regeneration — Slash Weapon Forging — Blade Throwing — Armor Pierce
SORYUTO: Level 70 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Music — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Fighting Spirit — Armor Pierce — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry
REISENKI: Level 71 — One-Handed Axe — Greatshield — Heavy Metal Armor — Equipment Repair — Metal Equipment Repair — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Cooking — Metal Refining — One-Hand Weapon Creation
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Great update! And I had a feeling Blade would encounter LC here. I wonder how many more the WC will have with em. Looking forward to seeing whatcha cook up next!
Edit: Right after my first comment I had a thought pop to mind. Given how promonent the WC are in the assult team, when Kirito Asuna and the others hold the assult on the LC guild, will the WC be requested to take part? What would their reply be? What would the consiquences of helping be? Or, what do you think the consquences of not helping be?
HA! I knew what this chapter was just from the setting, and it was as glorious as before!
Incredible fights and a good characterization moment for Bladescape as we see her deny her worst impulses in its face and fight off a Flag Boss and a bunch of coward assassin one after another. I’m excited to see what else she will stumble upon on this mini-quest.
Is the reason to why Bladescape didn’t inform the “police guild” because she was in a dungeon? So she couldn’t maintain an eye on the four to wait for them to arrive to capture them?
I’m anxious and excited for next chapter! Continue the good work!
11892594
Fantastic question! All I can say is that the raid will happen, that canon event must occur to shape Kirito, and also that the answers you seek will be addressed in the story. Well, I guess by even saying that, it's fairly obvious they will be asked to join. So, that's all I can say about the Wondercolts' future in regards to Laughing Coffin.
Canon SAO, the DDA was spearheading it and it occurred in August of the second year. They attempted to negotiate peaceful terms and at least two emissaries were killed attempting to negotiate face to face. Once the DDA learned the location for the lair, they organized the raid. There were fifty players total, of which we know Kirito, Asuna, and Godfree were participants. Also known is four members of LC: PoH, "Red Eye" XaXa, Johnny Black, and Lux, but PoH was not accounted for, not even being seen during the raid.
Yes, there are not a lot of clear details about the canon raid. For Ruby Palace, more information about Laughing Coffin will be given throughout the story. They will be developed further than they are in any of the light novels or the anime.
Edit: Oh yeah, Klein was present too in SAO canon.
11892683
I did rewrite it, but much of the premise was the same. I like the dagannoths as a monster. Quite a bit of changes were done. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was one of my favorite chapters in the Aincrad story. It does not rank for Ruby Palace, not even in the top ten.
And the reason is two-fold. One, Sunset wanted to put them in their place. Someone needed to check them. She could have backtracked so they would not hear her teleport, but once she found them, it meant a retreat could be heard. If she accidentally fell in the water, while likely not a threat to herself, it would tip them off. It was important to not make herself more of a target for having the circlet.
Secondly, four on one were not good odds. Being down to her last paralyzer made keeping them suppressed impossible. I guess it's three-fold, as yes, being in a dungeon meant she could not send a message. She also had no idea if LC would enter the dungeon. If they did, even with backup coming, it would be dangerous for Blade. Backup would not be the Army. Their members are too low of a level and not capable of winning a brawl with LC members. It would have to come from others who were stronger, like the KoB, WWFM (Fuurinkazan), or DDA.
That'll definitely eat up her time for sure.
Still a nice find.
Crap!
At least she found it?
Aaaaand it just got tougher!!!
Better safe than sorry.
Uh oh!
This bad. Really bad!!!
I know the first one is Red Eye XaXa, but not the second.
11892693
why was Lux there?
Bladescape against Laughing Coffin. Scary, but she handled herself against those psychos well. I wonder though, if she or any of the Wondercolts kill any of Laughing Coffin, would they say it had to be done or would they have PTSD and see it as murder like Kirito did? Good adventure.
11892889
Lux's note on the wiki reads: Forced to join the guild after being rescued from a group of monsters in a dungeon on the 32nd Floor. As a green member, assigned to enter towns for shopping and spying.
11893067
I'm just going to quote what I said to Twilight_Shimmer.
11893138
Ah right, i forgot about that!