Sword Art Online: Phantom Reaper || SAO OC

51 - Berserker

As the large door leading to the floor 25 boss room opened up, everyone's attention turned to it. Several seconds passed before anyone made a move and the first person to react was General Vex who dashed into the room as if he was eagerly waiting to see what was on the other side.

When he got there he opened the door wide enough for everyone to see inside. The room was dark, but everyone could clearly make out a player in a purple coat on his knees with his back turned to them.

His leg had been cut off above the knee and his HP was in the red, but he leaned on his katana to prevent himself from falling over. Nothing seemed out of place about him at first, but he seemed to be in a great amount of pain as he struggled to move.

"No way... You..." Vex mumbled as he stepped toward the injured Nyx. "You cheating, thieving, piece of..." Suddenly he dashed forward and charged at Nyx who didn't seem to react to anything that happened.

Vex grabbed him by his collar and turned him around before punching him, knocking him straight down to the ground. Nyx didn't react at first, but after several seconds of silence, he began to chuckle darkly, surprising everyone who just watched what happened.

Vex clenched his fist, picked him up by his collar, and held him close to his face, trying to intimidate Nyx who was still laughing. "What's so funny kid? You think cheating your way through a dungeon's gonna scare me?"

Nyx's laughter died down and his expression was blank as he spoke in a low chilling tone, sounding nothing like his usual self "... Cheating?"

"You heard me! There's no way anyone could fight a thing like that by themselves. You just cheated to get the rare item, didn't you? Or were you just coming after what was supposed to be our reward?"

Nyx stared at him with cold, red glowing eyes, and without saying a word he cut through Vex's leg and pushed him back, letting himself fall back onto the ground. He hissed in pain, stumbled back, and gripped the leg Nyx cut through. "What the heck... That actually hurt..."

The group silently watched on, trying to process what they were seeing. This person sounded and acted nothing like their friend, and he had singlehandedly done what so many deemed impossible. Most of them were in shock, to the point that they hadn't noticed what Vex said.

Nyx's injured leg returned with a flash of light and a moment later he rose to his feet and began limping toward Vex. He wasn't in as much pain as he was earlier, but he couldn't shake off the dull aching sensation where his leg had been cut off.

"Hurt? But it's just a game, isn't it?" Nyx's tone was low and unsettling as he spoke. He raised his katana and this time slashed at Vex's arm. "There's no pain... No consequences for your actions... You can just do whatever you want without worrying about the next player, right?"

As he spoke he continued slashing weakly at the now terrified General who screamed and fell back, clutching his arm as he did. Each time Nyx cut into the general, Vex cried out as though he was actually feeling pain from each attack.

Kirito noticed that whenever Nyx sliced at Vex, his eyes seemed to glow brighter for a moment. He thought back to his conversation with Kayaba as he tried to think of a way around this. "Is this really just because of the Phantom Blade? Why would Kayaba even make something like this?"

Mercer watched on, absolutely terrified by what he was seeing while everyone else silently stared at the scene, still barely able to make heads or tails of what was going on.

Kirito turned to Sinon and called for her attention. "I need you to get your bow ready."

She looked at him confused for a moment and Kirito continued speaking. "When I call for it you're gonna pull Nyx's sword away from him, just like when you got my Excalibur back. Think you can do that?"