The Black Swordsman

Chapter 17: The Fairy Brute, Takeshi Pt. 2

Shit, this guy is though, I thought to myself as Takeshi and I's fists smashed into each other.

I stared up at his health bar and it was still at 70%. I had managed to take away some of his health but it came at a cost. I glanced at my own health bar and realized that it was at 65%. We had been trading blows ever since he knocked down Klein. Skill wise, we were both pretty even but, unfortunately, despite the martial arts skill that I learned back when I was in SAO, his version of the skill seemed to be more advanced. On top of that, the rest of my group was at a huge disadvantage since none of them had learned the martial arts skill from SAO. That was probably why Klein went down so quickly when he charged him. Speaking of Klein, Lisbeth had been trying to wake him up. His health was in the red but he wasn't completely out of the fight, yet, but for some reason he was unconscious. Maybe, it was some kind of effect that Takeshi's attacks had. Perhaps, if he landed enough consecutive blows, it was able to temporarily incapacitate a player. I had no proof of this, though. I told Lisbeth and Suguha to stay back and protect Klein and make sure that Takeshi didn't finish him off for good. They, reluctantly, agreed, and let Agil and I take care of Takeshi, himself.

While Takeshi was distracted by me, Agil wrapped his giant arms around him, making it so that he couldn't move.

"Kirito, now!" he yelled.

I leaped into the air and was going to slam my foot on the top of Takeshi's skull but before I could, he headbutted Agil so hard in the face that he, instantly, released his grip. Takeshi elbowed him in the gut, sending him flying backwards and then grabbed my ankle the instant my foot was about to make contact with his head and slammed me, back-first, onto the floor of the castle. A sharp pain shot throughout my back, particularly, my spinal cord. It was scary how realistic the pain in this VR world felt in comparison to old Aincrad. I was still getting used to it. Hell, to be honest, I didn't know if I would ever get used to it. Ignoring the pain in my back, I managed to pick myself up off of the floor and immediately noticed that my health bar was now in the yellow, sitting at 50%. Half-way to being defeated. By the first asshole that I encountered in the castle. Just the thought of it pissed me off. Asuna was somewhere suffering and I was struggling to take down the first line of defense of Sugou's Royal Guard or whatever the hell they're called. How pathetic could I be?

I can't afford to concentrate on that, right now. I have to focus on the fight in front of me.

"You're not a bad fighter", commented Takeshi, smiling. "Unfortunately, you are not on the same level as me. I appreciate the challenge, though, small or not."

Agil flung one of his giant fists at Takeshi while he was too busy insulting me but somehow Takeshi managed to dodge it. My foot began to glow purple, indicating that I was preparing myself for a martial arts skill. I just needed Agil to keep him distracted for a little bit longer. Agil continued to throw a flurry of strikes at Takeshi, with Takeshi, able to dodge most of them with complete ease. Once I was sure that his attention was completely on Agil, I was ready to perform my martial arts skill. I charged at Takeshi, again and this time he didn't notice. I backflipped into the air and before he could notice me, my foot struck, downwardly, on his skull. This skill was called Gengetsu or the Crescent Moon. The attack had managed to send Takeshi's health down to 65%, meaning that the martial arts skill did a meager 5% damage to him.

Damn it, this is going to take forever, I thought to myself, annoyed.

"Not bad. It looks like it's time for me to get serious", claimed Takeshi, confidently.

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Klein. Klein. What are you doing lying down like that? You made me a promise, remember? You didn't go back on your word, did you? You aren't going to let me down, again, right? Please, you have to get back up and keep fighting. I beg you. Stand up and fight, Klein!