War For Underworld

Reaper of the Woods, Fatal Scythe

Jaymes

In the real world, it is still July 6th, 2026. In four months and a day, it will be the second year since the six thousand survivors logged out of Sword Art Online. But I'm sure everyone knows about that, but what I'm going to refer to takes place sometime earlier, between the defeat of Gleam Eyes and the defeat of Skull Reaper and Heathcliff. For me, I spent the time with Philia, Rain, and Strea, the treasure hunter for the entire time as I put Strea away for safekeeping in my inventory and Rain went off on her own during those final days. Before that, we had a few treasure hunts as it was their forte. But for once, I'm not thinking of myself or three of the many important girls in the last four years of my life.

At the same time, Kirito and Asuna decided to abandon the front for a while like I did, but with both players being members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, they had to gain permission from the guild leader while I, a solo player, had my own freedom (though Heathcliff and Lind were unhappy to lose me too). The blossoming couple found a home together on the 22nd Floor, got "married" status, and on one fateful day, met their "daughter" and my "niece" Yui.

I believe you know where I'm going with that story if you know it. I don't remember many of the details myself, but I remember two things: One, because of Kirito and Asuna finding out how to save Yui, I perserved Strea. Two, the dungeon underneath the Town of Beginnings, which was never really ventured into before, contained a powerful boss named Fatal Scythe.

When Medina said that the divine beasts preceded the creation of the Underworld, two things crossed my mind. Having played many games with legends and the sort, I mostly believed that was, in my perspective, it was just that, stories made by the people of the Underworld as world-building, just like the Great Separation myth in both Sword Art games. The second one, had not Sword Art: Origin literally recreated that myth, Ordinal Scale brought the bosses of Sword Art Online to life, and Gun Gale Online brought back the data of Koharu, I would not considered this was another weird anomaly of old SAO data reappearing. Project Alicization runs on the Seed, the Cardinal System has some implementation, so the idea itself isn't bogus, but when I thought about it earlier, I didn't want to think it could be possible. I was certain this was just a legend rising from the grave.

Fatal Scythe, the monster that ruled the dungeon underneath the Town of Beginnings and almost defeated my two great allies, is the identity of the Reaper of the Woods. And as the story told, he definitely was around long before the Underworld existed.

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Medina

"Fatal...Scythe?" For an innumerable amount of times today, Medina is shocked by the fear on Jaymes' face, but this time it overwhelms her mind. The young man who bravely faced numerous odds including Hersyrian, the Pontifex, and the Dark God... The boy who made her feel courageous at times she felt fear... The hero she loves is scared and he's showing it. He froze upon sight of the admittedly frightening reaper at the shrine ahead. If it wasn't for the fact she knew his origins as an otherworlder, she'd believe he's seeing a ghost...or is he?

She reaches out for his hand, interlocking hers. There she senses his fright by the slight shaking of his body, his nerves screaming for him to turn away for his life. She tightens her grip, and immediately his shaking stops. She looks up at him, his face reset to how she sees him. Brave, powerful, resolved...and then he looks at her, nodding silently and slightly. Medina smiles and relaxes her hold, but Jaymes keeps her left hand locked in his right for a few seconds longer, making her heart flutter and heat rise to her cheeks. If the situation wasn't so serious, if the scenery was different...if she hadn't been foolish to let Eydis win without a fight,..

Mia and Ilia stand behind them with the wayfarers Medina summoned to aid their fight, and to them is where Jaymes turns as he releases Medina's hand. They're two years younger than Medina and Jaymes, their abilities are on par with Medina at that age, but the difference in experience between masters and apprentices is marked by the look in their eyes. Medina and now Jaymes appear more calm and confident, while Mia looks deathly afraid and Ilia...well, Medina knows her apprentice is frightened even if it looks like she's nonchalant. The wayfarers, for their part, Medina's sure her otherworldly personal forces are frightened as well, but as long as Medina continues, they'll fight.