13
THE BATTLE OF THE KOBOLD LORD AND HIS COHORTS against forty-four players was going far smoother than I ever expected.
Diavel’s team C took down the first HP bar, team D was responsible for the second, and now teams F and G were the main attack force halfway through the third bar. The worst that had happened so far was the tanks in teams A and B going down to the yellow zone on their HP. No one had fallen into the red danger zone yet. Team E and the two extras had made such easy work of the kobold’s helpers that team G, the other backup group, was able to switch over to the main boss.
What stood out to me most was the effort of Asuna the fencer. Her Linear skill had already impressed me on our first meeting, and with a better weapon, it was even sharper, piercing the throats of the Kobold Sentinels with ease and precision. The amount of time it took from initial motion to damage infliction had to be half of the ordinary time when allowing the automatic system assistance to take over. I’d been studying and practicing ways to intentionally boost my sword skills since the beta, and even I wasn’t sure if I could match that speed.
And this was from a total newbie who only knew one skill. A shiver ran down my back at the thought of her limitless potential if she added more knowledge and refined her instincts.
If possible, I wanted to see that transformation happen with my own eyes—but I quickly stashed that idea away. When I’d taken the path of a self-interested solo player one month ago, I’d lost any right to connect with others. My very first friend in this world, Klein, was probably still busy leveling up around the Town of Beginnings, trying to keep all of his party members alive …
Unrelated to my own bitter reminiscence, Asuna was just finishing off her second victim. Ruin Kobold Sentinels were rare monsters that did not spawn anywhere else, so even if they weren’t as lucrative as the boss itself, they still dropped plenty of experience, col, and items. The money was set to automatically divide between all the raid members, but the experience belonged only to Asuna and me for our direct effort in defeating the creature, and the looted items were her bonus for inflicting the killing blow.
For that reason, if Kibaou was being perfectly honest, he wanted team E to do all of the killing itself. But the two of us, the supposed “leftovers,” were dispatching our targets much faster than their full party of six. Surely he couldn’t complain about that.
But just as the thought passed through my mind, Kibaou’s gravelly rasp issued from behind me.
“Yer plan backfired, eh? Serves ya right.”
“…What?”
I turned around, confused. Only two of the three sentinels that spawned in the third stage of the battle were left, and they were nearly dead. We had enough time for a brief conversation before more of them showed up. The cactus-headed swordsman squinted hard at me and raised his voice.
“Drop the lame act. I already know exactly why y’all slipped yer way into this boss fight.”
“ ‘Why’? You mean… to defeat the boss? What other reason could there be?”
“Oh, so you’re gonna deny it? You know what you’re after!”
We clearly weren’t seeing eye to eye about the substance of the conversation. I clenched my teeth in frustration and anger. Kibaou finally came out and said what was on his mind.
“You think I don’t know? I’ve heard all about yer style … how you’ve always used dirty tricks ta steal the LA on all the bosses!”
“Wha…?”
LA. Last Attack.
In a way, he was right. I’d made a solid practice of trying to leave the smallest amount of health possible and then unleashing my most powerful sword skill in order to gain the largest LA bonus possible. But that had nothing to do with our current circumstances—it was only during the Sword Art Online closed beta that had ended long ago.
Kibaou knew that I was not only a beta tester, but the way I’d played. But … hang on. He’d just said he had “heard about” my style. Which meant it must have come from someone else. But who would have …?
A second burst of understanding shot through my brain.
Kibaou had been attempting to buy my Anneal Blade +6 for a preposterous price through Argo the Rat. Yesterday, he’d finally upped his offer past the market rate to forty thousand col. However, when I refused his offer, he did not spend that money elsewhere.
No. He couldn’t spend that money. It wasn’t his.
Kibaou was just another proxy, like Argo after him. That’s how he was able to talk to me the next day as though nothing had happened. The true buyer was someone else, and that was the source of the forty thousand col. By placing another person between them and Argo, no amount of money I paid back up the line could buy the true purchaser’s name.
This conspirator had given Kibaou beta information, manipulating him and inciting his hatred of former testers. Which meant that this mystery buyer’s intention was not to gain the Anneal Blade +6 for improved attack points. Perhaps that was a side benefit, but the real point was something else. They wanted to drive down my attack power, to prevent me from making use of my skill at earning LA bonuses …
“Kibaou… Whoever told you that story, how did they gain that information about the beta test?”
“Ain’t it obvious? They put up a grip of cash to buy the info from the Rat. All so’s they could sniff out the hyenas among the raid party.”
That was a lie. Argo might sell her own status numbers for the right price, but she would never sell beta test information.
I ground my teeth in fury but was momentarily distracted by a shout of triumph from up ahead. The boss’s lengthy, four-stage HP bar was finally on its last step. I couldn’t help but watch. After they’d eliminated the third bar, polearm teams F and G retreated, leaving the fully recovered team C to charge in and clash with the boss. Diavel the blue-haired knight, party leader and commander of the raid, sparkled dazzlingly in the darkness of the grimy dungeon.
“Ugruoooaaah!!”
Illfang the Kobold Lord roared, his loudest and fiercest yet. The final trio of Ruin Kobold Sentinels appeared from the holes in the walls.
“Go ahead, take one o’ them lil’ kobolds. Get your LA in,” Kibaou snarled, his voice dripping with scorn, and ran back to his team E partners.
I hadn’t recovered from the shock and confusion of our conversation, but I had no choice but to turn back to find Asuna.
“What were you talking about?” she asked quietly, but I had no time to do anything but shake my head.
“Nothing… Let’s just take down those enemies.”
“… Okay.”
We turned our blades on the closest approaching sentinel.
The next instant, I sensed something, and looked back to the main battle as briefly as I could.
The Kobold Lord had just thrown aside his bone axe and leather buckler. He roared once again and reached back behind his waist, gripped a handle wrapped in crude rags, and pulled out the long, malevolent talwar.
I’d seen this transition in attack patterns many times during the beta. From this point until he died, Illfang would use only Curved Sword skills. He made a terrifying sight in his berserk rage, but was actually easier to deal with than before, if you just knew how. His attacks were all vertical, long-range slices, so as long as you identified where he was aiming when he attacked, it was a snap to evade, even at close range.
On Diavel’s orders, the six members of team C spun into a circle surrounding the boss. This formation would not have worked against his wide horizontal swipes with the bone axe. The order was so precise and confident that you’d never guess he had nothing more to go on than a flimsy little strategy guide. Now the six could continue attacking and evading the talwar’s swings until the battle was …
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login