Floor clearing, which meant the opening of a new city, was already enough to start an exorbitant amount of gossiping. But this time, various other rumors had also been mixed in, like "The demon that wiped out a whole Army battalion" and "The Twin Blade swordsman that killed the demon by himself with fifty hits"... There should be a limit on how much they can exaggerate these things by.
Somehow they had found out about where I lived. As a result, swordsmen and information dealers had crowded around my house since early morning. I ended up having to go through the trouble of using a teleport crystal to escape.
"I"m going to move... To some super-rural floor, to some village where they"ll never be able to find me...."
As I endlessly muttered my complaints, Agil walked over to me with a smile.
"Hey, don"t be like that. It"s good to become famous for once in your life. Why don"t you host a presentation? I"ll take care of the tickets and the venue..."
"No way!"
I shouted and threw the cup in my right hand, aiming for the area about fifty centimeters to the right of Agil"s head. But I habitually made the motion which activated my Throw Weapon skill and hurled the cup towards the wall at a high speed. The cup left a trail of light before it smashed into the wall with a loud noise. Thankfully, the room was an indestructible object, so nothing else happened other than the appearance of the "Immortal Object" system tag. If I had hit a piece of furniture, it would have been destroyed for sure.
"Ah, are you trying to kill me here!?"
At the shopkeeper"s exaggerated shout, I raised my right hand as a sign of apology and leaned back against the chair once more.
Agil was currently examining the treasure I had received from yesterday"s fight. Every once in a while, he would make a strange noise, which most probably meant that there were some pretty valuable goods in there.
I had planned to equally share with Asuna the money I would get from selling the loot, but it was already past the promised meeting time and she still hadn"t arrived. I had already sent her a friend message, so she should know where I was...
We parted at the main street teleport gate of the seventy-fourth floor yesterday. She said that she was going to apply for a break and went to the KoB HQ in Grandum on the fifty-fifth floor. I asked her if I should go with her, given the trouble with Kuradeel and all. But she said it was fine with a smile on her face, so I abandoned the thought.
It was already two hours past the promised time. If she was this late, did it mean that something had happened? Should I have gone with her? I downed the cup of tea in a single gulp in order to calm my anxieties.
Just as I had drained the tea pot before me, and Agil had finished his examination of my items, I heard the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Then, the door quickly crashed open.
"Hey, Asuna..."
I had almost said "you"re late" but stopped myself. Asuna was in her uniform as usual, but her face was white and worry shone through her eyes. She held both her hands in front of her chest, bit her lip twice or trice, and then said: "What should we do...Kirito-kun..."
She forced out in a voice that was close to tears.
"Something...bad has happened..."
After drinking some newly-boiled tea, life managed to return to Asuna"s face, and she started explaining a bit hesitantly. Agil had moved back down to the first floor after noticing the atmosphere.
"Yesterday...after I returned to the HQ in Grandum, I reported everything that had happened to the guild leader. Then I said that I wanted to take a break from the guild and then went back home... I had thought that I would get permission during the regular morning guild meeting..."
Asuna, who was sitting opposite of me, lowered her eyes and grabbed her tea cup tightly before she continued.
"The leader...said that I could take a brief leave from the guild. But there was one condition... He said that...he wanted to have a fight...with Kirito-kun..."
"What...?"
I couldn"t understand what she meant for a moment. Fight...did that mean a duel? What did a duel have to do with Asuna taking a break?
When I asked these questions...
"I don"t know either...."
Asuna shook her head while looking at the floor.
"I tried to persuade him that there"s no meaning in doing that...but he just wouldn"t listen to me..."
"But...this is problematic. For that guy to suddenly present a condition like this..."
I muttered as the image of the guild leader flashed through my mind.
"I know. The leader usually leaves us alone even when we"re planning our strategy for clearing floors, let alone everyday guild activities. But I don"t know why this time he..."
Although the KoB leader had overwhelming charisma, which attracted the admiration of not only all his guild members but also most of the front lines people, he never gave any instructions or orders. I fought beside him during a couple of boss fights as well and greatly admired his ability to maintain the line without a single word.
For such a guy to put forth an objection with the condition of having a duel with me, just what on earth could it be about?
Even though I was completely confused, I spoke in order to calm Asuna down.
"...well, let"s go to Grandum first. I"ll try talking to him directly."
"Yeah... Sorry. I"m always causing you trouble..."
"I"ll gladly do anything, because you"re my..."
Asuna looked at me expectantly as I stopped in the middle of my sentence.
"...important partying partner."
Asuna pouted with dissatisfaction, then revealed a warm smile.
The Strongest Man, The Living Legend, The Paladin, and et cetera- the leader of the Knights of the Blood had so many t.i.tles that you couldn"t count them with your hands.
His name was Heathcliff. Before my "Dual Blades" became widely known, he was renowned as the only unique skill user amongst the six thousand players of Aincrad.
His extra skill used a sword and shield combination, both of which were cross-shaped, and allowed the user to switch freely between attack and defense. It was named "Holy Sword". I had seen it myself a couple of times and noticed that the skill"s most remarkable aspect was its overwhelming defensive strength. Rumors claim that no one had ever seen his HP go into the yellow zone. During the fiftieth floor boss fight which had inflicted heavy casualties on the players, he had managed to hold the line by himself for ten whole minutes. This achievement remained a popular topic of conversation even today.
There was no weapon that could pierce Heathcliff"s cross-shaped shield.
This was one of the most widely-accepted tenets within Aincrad.
As I arrived on the fifty-fifth floor with Asuna, I felt an indescribable nervousness. Of course, I had no intention of crossing swords with Heathcliff. I was merely going to ask him to accept Asuna"s request for a temporary break from the guild; that was my only goal.
Grandum, the living area of the fifty-fifth floor, was nicknamed "Steel City". This was because Grandum, unlike the other cities which were built with stone, was mostly comprised of huge towers that were made of shining black steel. Since the city had a large number of blacksmiths, its player population was quite high. However, there weren"t any trees or other greenery alongside the streets, which gave off a feeling that this city was harshly unforgiving in the winter winds.
We came through the gate plaza and walked along the road, which was made with steel plates locked into position with rivets. Asuna"s footsteps seemed heavy; maybe it was because she was afraid of what might happen.
We walked amongst the steel towers for about ten minutes until an even larger tower loomed before us. Silver spears protruded out above the huge gates, while white flags with red crosses swayed in the cold wind. It was the HQ of the Knights of the Blood guild.
Asuna stopped in front of me. She looked up at the tower for a while and then said: "Before, the HQ was a small house in a countryside village on the thirty-ninth floor. Everyone always complained that it was too small and crowded. I"m not against the guild expanding...but this city is too cold, and I don"t like it..."
"Let"s just get this over with quickly; then we can go get something warm to eat."
"You"re always talking about eating."
Asuna smiled and moved her left hand to gently grasp the fingers of my right hand. She didn"t even look at me, who was perplexed at her behavior, and just stood there like that for a few seconds.
"Okay, charging complete!"
Then she released my hand and began to walk towards the tower in long strides. I hurried to follow behind her.
After going up the stairs, we came across two wide-open gates, although there were two heavily-armored guards equipped with a particularly long spear on each side. Asuna walked over to them, the heels of her boots clanking against the floor. As she approached them, both of the guards greeted her by raising their spears off the ground.
"Thank you for your hard work."
With her crisp response and her confident stride, it was hard to believe that this was the same depressed girl who had been in Agil"s shop just an hour ago. Following closely behind Asuna, I pa.s.sed the guards and entered the tower with her.
Like the other buildings of Grandum, this tower was also built from black steel. Its first floor was a s.p.a.cious lobby, but there wasn"t a single person here right now.
Thinking that the building felt even colder than the streets outside, we walked past the mosaic floor, which had been meticulously constructed from numerous metal pieces, and came to a spiral staircase.
We went up the stairs; our footsteps echoing through the hall. The staircase climbed so high, a person with low vitality stats would have collapsed halfway up. After pa.s.sing countless doors, I started to worry about how much further we would still have to go. Then Asuna finally stopped in front of a cold steel door.
"This is...?"
"Yeah..."
Asuna nodded with an expression of reluctance on her face. But she seemed to have arrived at a decision right away. She raised her right hand, knocked loudly on the door, and then opened it without waiting for a reply. I squinted as bright light poured out from the room.
Inside was a round room that took up an entire floor of the tower. The walls on all four sides were made of transparent gla.s.s windows. The light that filtered through them colored the room in a monotone gray.
A huge semi-circular table stood in the center of the room; five men sat in the chairs behind it. I had never seen the four on the sides, but I recognized the one in the middle all too well. He was the paladin Heathcliff.
He didn"t look all that imposing. His age was probably around twenty-five. His features were sharp like that of a scholar, and a strand of steel-grey hair hung over his forehead. The richly red robe draped around his tall, thin body made him seem more like a wizard that didn"t exist in this world than a swordsman.
But the most prominent features were his eyes. Those mysterious bra.s.s eyes emitted a strong magnetism that overwhelmed people. This wasn"t even my first time meeting him; but to be truthful, I was still intimidated.
Asuna walked over to the table, the sound of her boots echoing, and gave a light salute.
"I"ve come to say my farewell."
Heathcliff gave a bitter smile in response: "There"s no need to rush. Please allow me to talk to him for a bit first."
He looked my way as he said that. I drew back my hood and stood next to Asuna.
"Is this the first time I"ve met you outside of a boss fight, Kirito?"
"No...we had talked for a while during the sixty-seventh floor strategy meeting."
I answered in a formal tone without realizing it.
Heathcliff nodded slightly and clasped his hands together on top of the table.
"That was a difficult battle. We almost took some casualties within our guild. Even though they call us the top guild, we"re always short on people. Yet now you are trying to take away one of our precious top players."
"If she"s so precious, how about putting more thought in selecting her bodyguards?"
The man on the furthest right began to stand up at my sharp retort, his expression changing. But Heathcliff stopped him with simple wave of the hand.
"I"ve ordered Kuradeel to return to his house and reflect upon his mistakes. I must apologize for the trouble we have caused you. But, we cannot just stand aside and allow you to take our sub-leader away. Kirito-"
He suddenly glared at me; his sharp metallic eyes showed an unwavering will behind them.
"If you want to take her-win her with your sword, with "Dual Blades". If you fight me and win, then Asuna can go with you. But if you lose, then you will have to join the Knights of the Blood."
I feel like I could finally understand a bit of this mysterious man.
He was someone obsessed with sword duels. Furthermore, he had unshakable confidence in his own skills. He was a hopeless person who could not throw away his pride as a gamer despite being trapped in this inescapable game of death. In other words, he was the same as me.
After hearing Heathcliff"s words, Asuna, who had been silent until now, opened her mouth and spoke as if she couldn"t take any more of this.
"Leader, I didn"t say that I would quit the guild. I just wanted a temporary leave, to get away and think about some things..."
I placed my hand on Asuna"s shoulder, whose words had become more agitated, and took a step forward. I faced Heathcliff"s gaze directly, and my mouth moved almost by itself.
"Okay. If you want to talk through our swords, then I have no objections. We"ll decide this with a duel."
"Auu-!!! Idiotidiotidiot!!!"
We were back in Algade, on the second floor of Agil"s shop. After chasing the curious shopkeeper back to the first floor, I tried to calm Asuna down.
"I was trying so hard to convince him, yet you just had to say something like that!!!"
Asuna was sitting on the armrest of the rocking chair I was on and was using her tightly balled fists to grind against me.
"I"m sorry! I"m reaaaally sorry! I just went with the flow and..."
She finally calmed down after I gently grabbed her fists; but now she was pouting. I had to forcibly keep myself from laughing at the huge gap between her behavior at the guild HQ and that of right now.
"It"s fine. We"ve decided on using first strike rules, so there"s no danger involved. Besides, it"s not like I"m definitely going to lose..."
"Uu~~~~..."
Asuna made an angry noise and crossed her thin, long legs atop the armrest.
"...when I saw Kirito-kun"s "Dual Blades", I thought that your skill was on a totally different level. But it"s the same for the leader"s "Holy Sword"... One could say that his power was strong enough to destroy the game"s balance. Truthfully, I really don"t know who"ll win... But what are you going to do? If you lose, it doesn"t matter if I can"t take a break, but you"ll have to join KoB, Kirito-kun."
"Well, you could say that I would still achieve my goal, depending on how you think about it."