Part 24 (2/2)

The entire group fell into silence for a long moment. Although we kept our watch on the surrounding floor, the boss still hadn't appeared. Time held our nerves tight as one second slowly pa.s.sed after another.

”Hey-”

Just as someone couldn't endure the tense silence any longer...

”Above us!!”

Asuna shouted next to me. I looked upwards in surprise.

On the ceiling of the dome-it was there.

It was exceptionally huge and long.

A centipede-!?

That thought pa.s.sed through my mind the moment I saw it. It was about ten meters long. But the body that was divided into numerous parts reminded me more of a human spine than an insect. Sharp legs made of bare bones could be seen protruding from every joint. As I s.h.i.+fted my glance down the body, it became thicker until the hideous skull came to sight. It wasn't the skull of a human. At the end of the smooth skull, there were two pairs of sharply upturned eye sockets with blue flames smoldering inside. The jaws jutted outward and were filled with a row of sharp teeth, while two ma.s.sive arms in the shape of scythes were attached on either side of the skull.

When I focused my gaze on it, the monster's name appeared along with a yellow cursor: ”The Skullreaper” - the skeletal hunter-killer.

As the shocked players watched the skeletal centipede crawl along the ceiling on its numerous legs, it suddenly spread its legs wide - and then dove straight into us.

”Don't just stand there! Scatter!!”

Heathcliff's sharp voice cut through the frozen air. The players finally came to their senses and began to move. We hurried to get away from the estimated landing area as well.

But the three people who were positioned directly under the skeletal centipede's dive were a little slow. They simply stood there and looked up as if unsure of which direction to move in.

”This way!”

I shouted in a hurry. The three players then became unfrozen and started running towards me- But in that moment, the centipede landed behind them and the whole floor shook violently. The three lost their balance as a result, just as the centipede swung its right arm- a huge bone scythe that was as long as a person- and cleaved directly into them.

The three players were sliced once in their backs and sent flying simultaneously. Their HP decreased quickly as they flew through the air-straight past the yellow area and into the red danger area- ”-!?”

Then they all reached zero, and the three bodies that were still in the air shattered into countless shards and scattered. The sound effects of death overlapped one another.

I heard Asuna hold her breath beside me. I could feel my body becoming rigid with shock.

They died-in one hit-?!

In the SAO system, which used both levels and skills, one's maximum HP rose with level, so higher level meant harder to kill regardless of one's fighting skills. The party here today was composed of only high-level players, so even if it was a boss, everyone should still be able to withstand at least a short combo attack-that's what everyone had thought. Yet in just one hit- ”This...is impossible....”

Asuna muttered in a forced voice.

The skeletal centipede that had taken the lives of three people in an instant raised its upper body and charged at another group of players with a thunderous roar.

”Ahhhh-!!”

The players in that direction screamed in panic. The bone scythe was raised high up into the air once again.

In this critical moment, a figure jumped in right beneath the scythe. It was Heathcliff. He raised his large s.h.i.+eld and blocked the attack, sending out an ear-rending sound of impact and a shower of sparks.

But there were two scythes. While its left arm continued to attack Heathcliff, it raised its right scythe and swung down at the frozen players.

”Dammit......!”

I ran in almost subconsciously, quickly covering the distance as if I was flying, and flung myself directly in front of the scythe. Then I crossed my swords and blocked its attack.

The tremulous force of impact struck my body. But-the scythe didn't stop. As sparks flew from it, the scythe pushed back my swords and came towards me.

It's too powerful-!

At this moment, a new sword flew in with a trail of white light and struck the scythe. A clas.h.i.+ng noise resounded. As the scythe weakened during this moment, I immediately pushed with all my might and managed to force the bone scythe back.

Next to me, Asuna glanced my way and said, ”If we both hit it at the same time-we can block its attacks! If it's us, then it's possible!!”

”Okay-let's do this!”

I nodded. Just knowing that Asuna was next to me gave me boundless strength.

As the scythe swung horizontally towards us once again, both Asuna and I swung towards the lower right to parry. Our swords struck the scythe head on in perfect unison, and this time it was the scythe that was knocked back.

I strengthened my voice and shouted: ”We'll stop the scythes! Everyone else attack its sides!”

It was as if my voice finally freed everyone from some spell. The players shouted, raised their weapons, and charged at the body of the skeletal centipede. A number of hits cut deeply into the enemy's body and the boss' HP finally decreased a bit.

But immediately afterwards, I could hear the screaming of several players. I risked a glance after countering the scythe again and saw a few people get knocked down by the long, spear-like bone at the end of the centipede's tail.

”Argh...!”

I gritted my teeth. We should help, but Asuna and I, as well as Heathcliff who was guarding against the left scythe by himself only a little further away, already had our hands full.

”Kirito-kun...!”

At Asuna's voice, I turned my gaze over to her.

-No! If we get distracted we'll be hit!

-Yeah, you're right... It's coming again!!

-Block with a left vertical upward cut!

We spoke to each other with only exchanged glances and blocked the scythe with perfectly synchronized movements.

We forced ourselves to ignore the screams that could be heard from time to time and concentrated on blocking the enemy's powerful blows. Amazingly, we didn't need to talk or even glance at one another. It was as if we were directly linked to the other. The enemy attacked so fast that it didn't even leave breathing room, but we still managed to counter it every time by activating the same skills at precisely the same instant.

Just then-as I fought at my limits for my very life, I experienced a feeling that I had never felt before. It was a totally surreal experience-as if Asuna and I had fused into one person and were swinging one sword. Our HP continued to decrease bit by bit due to the aftershock of the enemy's strikes we blocked, but we were already beyond caring about such things.

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