<< Aater, Lord of the Fallen >>.

Staring at the blood-red name above the NPC's head, Drifter gulped and tightened his grip on his spear. He had the feeling they had been taking the final boss of the << Elf War >> campaign far too lightly.

"Everyone, stay sharp! I've got a bad feeling about this!"

Evidently, the others felt the same as he, and Asuna shouted a warning. The second vice-leader of Reaver's Requiem rarely gave commands - but when she did, you followed them. Asuna's instincts were keener than even Kirito's, and if she felt something was wrong, you believed it, and braced.

Which was exactly what the Reavers did. Vallerk took his spot at the vanguard, using a << Shield Wall >> - a shield-bearer's strongest defensive skill to date, which needed three seconds to set up. Nautilus and Liz were to either side of him and a little to the back with Brace, ready to support the tank if needed. The rest of the players arrayed themselves behind them.

They still weren't prepared for what came their way. Aater didn't say a word. He just looked down on them and sneered. Then he waved a hand, and something hit Vallerk. It was too fast for any of them to see what it actually was. Drifter just knew that it went straight through the younger player, pierced Nautilus, and blew Kizmel, Kirito, and Ran off their feet.

"Agh!"

"Careful!"

"What the fuck was that?!"

Drifter found himself yelling as he whirled around to stare at the weapon that had just skewered five of them. His eyes widened.

"A branch?!"

Yes, a branch. Just a branch, nothing special about it except for maybe the oddly dark color. And the smoke drifting from it. And the fact that it had just taken out 40% of Vallerk's HP in a single hit, as well as a good chunk of Nautilus' and the others' health. So not a normal branch at all.

"That completely ignored my defense."

Vallerk spoke without taking his eyes off << Aater, Lord of the Fallen >>. The shield-bearer's pupils were slits, and the hairs on his arms were standing on end. There was nothing more terrifying for a tank than having their defense stat nullified.

"T-This... It has to be an opening attack, right? No way he can use it again."

'Please don't jinx it, please don't jinx it...'

Drifter prayed Yuuki was right. And she could be, because the fallen elf didn't attack again. He just looked at them as Kizmel spoke up in outrage.

"A branch of the << Sacred Tree >>. Aater, what have you done?! You have tainted the foundation of our very existence!"

The boss' head snapped towards Kizmel, his lips curling in disgust. Aater was a lot more intelligent than most NPCs. He scoffed.

"You are wrong, sister. The << Sacred Tree >> is nothing but shackles our once glorious race willingly subjected ourselves to. We were great once. We should be great. But the << Sacred Tree >> strangles our potential! It drains our magic. No more. Once our lord descends, he will raze it to the ground. And from the ashes, we will emerge stronger. Better."

"You are mad! The evil monstrosity you worship seeks only destruction. There won't be any of our people left if you follow through with the ritual. Please, Aater. Stop. There are better ways."

The boss regarded Kizmel for a moment, weighing her desperate plea. Then he shook his head.

"No. There aren't."

"Err... Guys? Look around."

While Kizmel and the boss glared at each other, Liz licked her lips and called out with a trembling voice. Drifter turned and cursed. Dozens, maybe so many as a hundred fallen elves had appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them. They completely blocked the exit. They...

"They aren't attacking. Why? Kirito?"

"I don't know!"

The swordsman was panicking. This was nothing like he remembered or what Argo had told them! Although...

"They are just kneeling there."

That they were. All the fallen elves, over a hundred of them, had formed a semicircle around the guild, blocking the exit, but not attacking them. They were kneeling, their foreheads touching the ground, unmoving. But when Asuna stepped closer to test the waters, they suddenly got up, weapons in hand. When she ran back, scared, they knelt again. Drifter frowned.

"They are there to stop us from leaving."

The spearman looked back to Aater, who was still watching them with a mocking smirk.

"We have to finish this in one go. It's do or die."

"We still have the << Corridor Crystal >>. That's probably why we got it in the first place."

Nautilus spoke, and he was right. But Drifter shook his head.

"True, but if we use it, we fail the entire campaign. Plus... Kizmel's not a player. She can't use the crystal."

It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to sink in. Drifter saw several emotions flitting across his friends' faces. Shock, fear. They settled in determination. Kirito raised his sword.

"Then we can't fail."

Kirito spoke with such certainty that the others felt their fear subside. Despite the situation, Drifter smiled. How was that the same boy who said he was too shy to lead a guild?

"You heard the boss, ladies and gents. And since Aater is being so polite as to stand still..."

Pushing past Vallerk, Drifter bent his knees and held his now-glowing spear in front of his body. He smirked when Merida joined him, her giant greatsword raised precariously above her head, also shining.

"That's a new one. What is it?"

"You'll see."

The spearman and swordswoman grinned at each other as they prepared their strongest skills. Each of them needed five seconds of accumulation before they could be launched, which was a lifetime when you were in the middle of a battle. But Aater was giving them all the time in the world, eyeing the duo cynically. He was going to regret that.

"Hah!"

Drifter exploded forward in a << Comet Break >>. The boss actually tried to sidestep and dodge the straightforward attack, but Drifter slammed his right foot down and changed directions, skewering << Aater, Lord of the Fallen >>.

"Raghhhh!"

The boss roared and raised a hand shaped like a blade to bring down on Drifter. But all he managed to do was make himself an even better target as Merida slammed into him half a second after Drifter, her broadsword slashing down diagonally, almost cleaving Aater in two, before bouncing back up as if it had hit a spring, cutting the boss a second time.

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And that wasn't the end. As Aater turned his focus to Merida, who had done considerably more damage than Drifter, the spearman crouched and sprung up, punching the boss with all his might in the chin. << Martial Arts: Senda >> left the fallen elf dizzy and he stumbled back.

And then the rest of Reaver's Requiem was there. The three consecutive attacks had wiped out a full 5% of the boss's HP in a moment - an impossible feat to repeat. Now, Vallerk came in with a << Shield Bash >> and a << Taunt >>, while Nautilus and Liz supported him from the sides, striking Aater with << Serration Wave >> and << Tremor >> respectively - the latter being a new skill the blacksmith had learned after her << One-handed Hammer >> had reached 450 proficiency. Two new icons appeared next to Aater's health gauge: a red drop for << Serration Wave's >> 'bleeding', and a broken bone for << Tremor's >> 'crippled'.

Kirito was right behind the three shield-bearers, his sword flashing in a << Horizontal Square >>. Asuna and Kizmel attacked from above while Silica dove and cut at the boss' legs. Ran and Yuuki teamed up to deliver two painful << Sharp Nails >>. Two arrows sprouted from Aater's forehead as Sinon fired her bow. And Yuna's << Firemare >> served as background music - while simultaneously boosting their attack power. Drifter high-fived Merida. This was Reaver's Requiem at its finest.

As he felt the long cooldown from << Senda >> wearing off, Drifter looked at the short-haired girl next to him.

"What skill was that? I've never seen it."

Merida grinned while making a victory sign.

"It's a broadsword exclusive. << Great Cross Slash >>."

Drifter whistled. From what he had seen, the skill's cooldown was even longer than his << Comet Break >>, as was the preparation time. But the damage... He quickly ran some calculations on his mind, and arrived at the conclusion that, if he was the target of the skill, his health would have dropped to yellow immediately, maybe even lower. Of course, Drifter couldn't even imagine a scenario where any player would allow Merida enough time to prepare the skill, so it was really only useful against mobs.

"Switch!"

Despite the fact he had been chatting with Merida, Drifter jumped into the battle again without a second of delay. Aater was the size of a normal person, so only so many of the players could attack them at once. But the teamwork of the Reavers was seamless, and Drifter traded places with Yuuki, piercing the boss' unprotected side with a << Sting >>.

"Ants! How dare you stand in the way of this lord?!"

Growling, Aater shouted and slammed his hands together. A surge of black wind flew from his palms, creating a whirlwind that blew Drifter and Nautilus away. They both fell, countless red lines dotting their bodies from a hundred small cuts. Drifter glanced at his HUD to see that he had lost 30% of his HP with this one attack.

'Oh shit!'

Looking up, Drifter's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way of a stomping foot. Aater's kick cracked the ground, and would have smashed his head to bits if he hadn't moved out of the way.

Without even getting up, Drifter swung his spear at the back of the boss' knees, hoping to trip him and even the playing field. He failed miserably. Aater didn't even flinch, much less fall. And his AI seemed to be much more advanced than any other NPC bar Kizmel, because he was ignoring Vallerk's << Taunts >> and the higher aggro the others accumulated, and seemed fixated on killing Drifter.

"Over here, you wannabe lord!"

Drifter didn't see where Liz came from, but the blacksmith smacked Aater on the back of the head with her hammer and an audible thud.

"You dare!"

"Uh oh."

<< Aater, Lord of the Fallen >> swept his hand and Liz grimaced, bringing her buckler to receive the blow. The palm slammed into her shield and she groaned. Liz took six steps back before her legs regained enough strength to hold her up.

Drifter took the chance to scramble to his feet and put some distance between him and the boss. But the damn monster turned his head back to him!

"What the hell did you do to anger him, Drifter?! Why is he so focused on you?!"

"I don't know! Help me!"

Kirito screamed, and Drifter screamed back. Aater was charging at him again with that murderous glare, completely ignoring everyone else. Sinon's arrows pelted him in the back and Asuna and Kizmel cut at him, but he just roared, smacked them away, and continued attacking Drifter.

The spearman put up a desperate defense, jabbing at the fists the boss threw at him and constantly retreating. Even in this situation, his mind was running. He was in a perilous situation, but it was also an opportunity.

"Since it's like that, I'll be the bait!"

"What?! No! It's too dangerous!"

"Then kill him faster! C'mon, I don't know for how long I can do this!"

Kirito bit his lips and exchanged a quick glance with the others. Yuna was staring daggers at the boss and had switched to << Del Din >>. Sinon had never stopped loosening arrows at Aater. Kizmel and Asuna were already attacking. The swordsman nodded.

"Alright, let's do this! Vallerk, be ready to tank for Drifter the moment he needs it!"

"Got it!"

While his friends went crazy on the offensive, Drifter was struggling to hold on despite the brave front he had put up for the others. He had given up using skills. He couldn't afford the frozen period of the cooldown, even if it was just a fraction of a second for the simpler skills.

Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. Silica, Vallerk, and Ran, who were closest to him at the moment, felt their jaws dropping as they saw Drifter repeatedly using << Snake Bite >> to block Aater's attacks. Or, at least, that was what they thought he was doing until they realized that his spear wasn't glowing like it should when he used a skill.

Every frontliner had at least one skill they had mastered - not in the sense of having 1.000 proficiency points in it, but that they could perform the skill without actually needing the system's assistance. For Kirito, it was << Sonic Leap >>. For Asuna, << Line Cut >>. Even Yuna had mastered << Martial Arts: Hiza >>. They were the skills that were so ingrained in their being that their bodies could perform them without even thinking.

And for Drifter, that skill was << Snake Bite >>. Sure, he had also pretty much mastered << Sting >>, << Vertical >>, and << Horizontal >>. After all, they were pretty much just a stab, a swipe, and another swipe. There wasn't any big secret to them. All the system did when Drifter used them as skills, instead of normal attacks, was improve the damage they dealt. Which was great. But not enough for a truly desperate situation, which was why Drifter had focused on mastering << Snake Bite >>.

He had accomplished that a few floors ago. It was just that other than Kirito, Nautilus, and Yuna, nobody had really noticed it. He wasn't forced to use his skilless Snake Bite a lot.

But Aater was pressuring him to that point. So Drifter was using his favorite move with abandon. Fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, feet. All his major joints twisted as he bent his spear around Aater's fist and pierced his forearm. Then in the other direction, cutting the boss across the chest. Two steps back and another twist, this time meeting the incoming fist head-on.

It hurt. Every attack Drifter blocked or failed to dodge chipped away at his HP, and he was now deep in the yellow zone. He simply didn't have time to drink a potion. But Aater was also paying the price for focusing so single-mindedly on Drifter. His own health bar had only 75% left on it.

'Ah. So that's why."

Much to his friends' consternation, a smile appeared on Drifter's face even in this desperate situation. In fact, he got so distracted by his realization that Aater managed to land a punch on his chest, leaving a fist-shaped red mark and dropping the spearman to a dangerously low health.

"Drifter, what are you doing?!"

"Vallerk, get in there!"

"No! Wait!"

Drifter stopped the tank just before he interposed himself between Drifter and the frenzied boss. All this while, he had been trying to understand why Aater was so fixated on him, and he had just discovered the reason.

'Should I say I'm lucky or unlucky?'

When the next attack came, Drifter dropped down, avoiding it by a hair's breadth. Instead of taking the opening to retaliate, he stabbed at the ground with an << Edge Vaulting >>.

Jumping over the boss' head, Drifter landed on a crouch and then sprinted towards the center of the room. There, forgotten by everyone, were six floating << Secret Keys >>. The seventh was on the ground, cut in two by Drifter's first attack.