If someone asked Drifter how he thought he would be spending his Christmas of 2022 a few years ago - or even just a few months - he would have many answers. Maybe with his family, having a nice dinner and opening presents. Maybe with his girlfriend, if he was lucky enough. There was always the possibility of spending it traveling and having a nice time.

One way he would never imagine he would spend the most cheerful holiday of the year was waking up at the crack of dawn, donning his set of armor, hanging his spear on his back, and walking out to meet the group of teenagers he had ended up creating a guild with, and come to think of as family, so they could discuss how they would be risking their lives today.

Well, such was life. Life in SAO at least. One might think they would be eager to use the holiday as an excuse to take a day off, but that wasn't the case. Not even close. To them, this was just another day of their real lives lost while they were trapped inside of a megalomaniac's game. A Christmas they would spend away from their families and loved ones, and not by choice. Probably the first of many, on top of that.

No, that wasn't exactly right, Drifter thought as he looked around. Merida, Liz, Nautilus, and Sinon were already up, the latter two chatting with Kizmel. They were early risers like him.

"Mornin'."

"Good morning, Drifter."

Greeting his guild members, he sat down and took the food Kizmel offered him. Some kind of elven bread. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was delicious.

Soon, the rest of his guild, as well as Argo, and Agil and his people, appeared. The long table, the same in which they feasted last night, was now full, not only of people, but also of chatter and laughter. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

'Yup. It's not Christmas home, but this ain't bad either.'

Watching everyone, Drifter smiled. SAO brought people closer a lot faster than it would naturally happen. He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but there were at least a handful of people around the table he considered family.

"So, what are our plans for today?"

Though Yuna asked casually, she was eyeing Kizmel as she spoke. Yesterday, the party had told their dark elf friend about what they overheard the fallen elves planning. Kizmel, in turn, had brought them before the ruler of the castle, and they then repeated their story. Apart from a few rewards, they also unlocked the next quest in the << Elf War >> campaign, but the objective was simply to 'aid Royal Knight Kizmel'. Not a lot to go on.

"I think it might be best for us to stay in Yofel Castle, my friends. We had several skirmishes with the forest elves in the last few days, and I would rather not be away from the castle in case anything happens. There is plenty to be done here, if you are willing to help."

The quest then changed to 'help Yofel Castle prepare'. Only the members of Reaver's Requiem received it, however. That included Liz, Ran, Yuuki, and Merida, although they hadn't done the << Elf War >> campaign up to this point. Agil's party, on the other hand, didn't get anything.

The merchant and his friends left soon after breakfast, taking Argo with them, much to the info-broker's chagrin. She had wanted to explore more of the castle, but she had a busy schedule. It also appeared Fuumaningum was bothering her once again, though when Drifter asked if she needed help, Argo said it was just the cosplaying getting on her nerves.

That was how the Reavers spent most of their Christmas holiday. They weren't just laying around, but they also didn't try too hard, nor went grinding. Drifter and Yuna even had time to go to the Town of Beginnings to wish Merry Christmas to Sasha and the kids.

As he lay on his bed and turned in for the night, Drifter smiled at the ceiling. Once again, he thought that, while this wasn't a perfect Christmas, it wasn't a bad one either.

...

Of course, while Kayaba let Christmas go by without using any of his machinations, once the clock turned the bastard was back at it.

It was four in the morning when Drifter was woken up by bells being rung in alarm, and people screaming. After a few moments of confusion, Drifter shot up, his finger a blur as he navigated his menu and equipped his spear. Nautilus and Kirito weren't any slower than him.

"What's happening?!"

"No idea!"

"The forest elf attack Kizmel mentioned! That must be it!"

Drifter cursed under his breath, and ran out of the room. Dark elves were running up the ramparts and looking over the barricades. To his surprise, Drifter noticed most of them were concentrated on the sides of the castle that faced the river, instead of the ground entrance.

"You are awake, my friends."

"We would have to be pretty heavy sleepers to still be in bed with all this noise, Kizmel. Is this what I think it is?"

"I'm afraid so, Kirito. The forest elves have come in full force this time. Their ships are approaching as we speak."

Drifter left his guild leader speaking with Kizmel, and strode towards the ramparts. Asuna, Sinon, and Ran, who had appeared at some moment with the rest of the girls, went with him. Once there, all three drew in a sharp intake of breath.

Over two dozen ships were currently sailing downriver towards Yofel Castle, each filled to the brim with forest elves. Even as they watched, the dark elves in the ramparts started raining arrows at the attackers, relying on the height advantage.

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"God, this is a full-on war."

Even the normally expressionless archer had a gaping mouth at the sight, shocked. Drifter nodded wordlessly. This was not a battle they could fight on their own. If anything, the players would be background actors.

"Right. We stick together, single out enemies and take them out fast. When they break in, we'll try to use the gate as a chokepoint."

Drifter nodded. Asuna's plan was basically the same he came up with. There was little more that they could do. He sure as hell wouldn't risk his guild members by having them charge the incoming army for a mere few more experience points.

Climbing down the ramparts while dodging the dark elves still coming up, the four met with the rest of their guild, and Asuna quickly explained what they saw. Kirito heard her plan and nodded, ordering the Reavers to group up. Kizmel gladly joined them.

"They are breaching the gates!"

Twenty tense minutes passed, during which the players only watched as the dark elves fired arrow upon arrow at the incoming forest elf boats. Over ten ships were destroyed - either by having their entire crew killed, or by being set on fire - before the enemy NPCs finally reached the walls. Once they did, however, the forest elves made quick work of the gates that connected the castle to the docks.

The moment the gates were breached, the forest elves came - appropriately - flooding in. The guards just as quickly moved to engage them, and the battle turned into a mess, with hundreds of bodies clashing, and NPCs dying by the tens every minute. Drifter had been in three floor bosses' raids and several hundred minor battles until now, but this was unlike anything he had ever seen.

He didn't have much time to admire, though. Six << Forest Elf Raiders >> rushed at the Reavers. Not for the first nor last time today, the spearman was glad the entire guild was there today. Having all of them train together on normal days was impractical - too many people caused them to move too slowly, not to mention the experience gain when split between ten people was poor, to say the least. But, on occasions like this, more people made one hell of a difference.

Dodging under a cutting saber, Drifter thrust his spear through the attacker's stomach. Then, leveraging on the fact that his speartip was still buried in the forest elf's body, Drifter used a << Horizontal >> to push him towards Ran and Yuuki, who both used << Slant >> with uncanny synchrony to finish off the mob.

Without batting an eyelid, Drifter switched with Nautilus, spear held parallel to the ground in a << Rage Spike >>, impaling the monster his ash-haired friend had been fighting. Following the skill routine, he lifted the << Fallen Elf Raider >> in the air by his spear, before then slamming him into the ground, where Liz dealt the final blow with a << Bone Breaker >>.

There was a brief moment of respite, during which Drifter took the chance to scan the battlefield. He couldn't tell whether their side was winning or not, but at least they didn't seem to be losing. For the players, the battle had been somewhat frantic, but other than that it was quite easy.

He frowned. Nothing in SAO was easy. The moment you started thinking that, you were in danger. Overestimating Kayaba and his Cardinal System was a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

"Kirito, Asuna, something's wrong."

"Did you spot something out of place, Drifter?"

"No, and that's what's bothering me. This is almost like we are in a cut scene, don't you think? There's no real challenge."

"And Kayaba doesn't make simple battles. I see what you mean. But do you have any idea of what could be going on?"

Inwardly, Drifter rejoiced a little at how the swordsman didn't even question his words, even though Drifter was basing them on a gut feeling. This kind of trust wasn't something you could buy.

But, happy as he was at the comment, it didn't change the fact that Drifter had no clue as to what could be wrong - if there even was something. It was Yuna who came up with the obvious solution to their predicament: ask their friendly NPC.

"Kizmel, if the forest elves wanted to take control of the castle, what would they need to do? And which areas would they need to take over?"

The dark elf stabbed a << Forest Elf Raider >> through the neck with her blade, killing him, and turned to the songstress. She tilted her head in confusion for a second, before a calculative look appeared in her eyes.

"There's the arsenal, but controlling it now would be useless, since pretty much all our weapons are in use right now. Then there are the warehouses, but the forest elves can't afford a battle of attrition, so they are out too. The only other valuable target would be the inner area of the castle itself, but it is well guarded, and, as you can see, their army isn't getting through here."

Drifter nodded, then scowled. He should be feeling joyful the battle was going in their favor, so why did he still feel like he was missing something?

"Well, maybe not an army, but what about just a few people? Could they sneak in?"

Kizmel looked at Merida, and slowly nodded.

"Maybe, but what would be the point? They wouldn't have the manpower to take over the inner castle."

"But what if their aim isn't a place, but a person? Such as... The ruler of Yofel Castle?"

"Hiss!"

"This! We need to hurry!"

Drifter slapped his forehead. That was it! The quest didn't say they had to deter the forest elven army. The exact wording was 'protect Yofel Castle from falling'. Having its ruler be killed could very well qualify as 'falling'.

Kizmel didn't wait for another second after hearing Merida's rationale. The dark elf simply urged them to follow her, and rushed into the castle.

The hallways were mostly empty, which, at first, was normal considering most of the defenders were outside. But, as they approached the main hall, where Yofel Castle's ruler was, the lack of guards started to become concerning. The open doors and sounds of battle confirmed their suspicions.

Bursting into the hall, the Reavers saw about two dozen forest elves, a mix of << Forest Elf Raiders >> and << Forest Elf Spies >>, besieging the ruler, who had only four guards protecting him now. Even as they watched, one of the dark elves perished, putting an even bigger burden on the remaining three.

Yelling, Kizmel dashed forward, her blade cleaving one of the invaders in half at the waist. The others barely had time to react as the Reavers bore down on them. While the forest elves had an overall number advantage, they were spread too thin, with only ten or so being able to turn and face the players, while the others pressed on their assault against the castle ruler. Unfortunately, that was what spelled their doom.

Kirito, Asuna, Yuuki, and Ran, the fastest amongst them, rushed past the attackers so they could reinforce the dark elf guards. Pressed between two fronts, it didn't take long until the last forest elf was slain. Almost as if on cue, horns sounded, signifying the retreat of the enemy.