The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 88 - Prison Raid

27 February 2022

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

The few players looking up to watch a familiar above the city weren't running in panic.....yet.

True enough, familiars were as rare as they could get. It's not everyday that you get to see an instance of a dragon soaring through the air.

In the case of these orange players however, it might very well be their last.

Grace's feathered dragon was taking us to a building near the Gladiorium. I kept my eye on the entrance of the city, hoping that something would happen there soon.

It would take at least 5 minutes for that to happen, if they didn't get lost in the labyrinth first.

We landed on top of a building that was tall enough to show the entirety of the Gladiorium. I slid off the dragon's back, which it didn't seem to mind, though I swore I could hear it growl a little.

"I'll start the air support in 5 minutes," Grace affirmed.

"Our main targets are the Council," I reminded her as I fiddled quickly with my system menu. My bow behind my back was replaced with my new double-bladed spear, as I felt a little surprised by its weight, and how differently it weighed compared to Binarium Edge.

"Covering fire over the whole city's the only thing I can do," Grace stroked the neck of her dragon gently. "I'm afraid the collateral damage is unavoidable."

"Mmm, can is can, I guess," I pulled on my hood over my head.

Grace tilted her head in confusion. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"Oh, just a slip of my tongue," I waved my last words off in a hurry. "Just try to watch where you're firing, is all I'm saying."

"You should look out for where you're standing," Grace ruffled the feathers of her dragon, and it got up at her cue, flying off from the roof.

Maybe her air strikes could be avoided by taking shelter. I didn't think that dragon fire would have any significant effect on buildings made out of stuff from a canyon.

But I guess there was only one way to find out.

I first vaulted over the roof of the building I was on, trying to get down to the ground. Without the Climbing skill, I could only try to claw at the outer wall of the building as I helplessly slid down, hoping to not take any fall damage.

Maybe I should seriously consider having the Climbing skill, like Krieg did. Thankfully, the random grooves scattered across the wall made the clawing easier.

Landing in a not-so-great manner in a pretty narrow alley, I slid to the wall right away, noticing the throngs of players strolling on the street that the alley led out of.

If there was any way to get to the Gladiorium on foot with absolutely no one spotting me, I would have gladly used it. Having Grace drop me into the central structure of the city directly deprives me of any surprise factors I could use against the Council.

Only the well-lit streets would eventually lead to the centre of the city if you followed it long enough in the right direction. The dark alleys only served as connectors to the streets themselves.

There wasn't much of a choice. I made doubly sure that my hood was over my head before bolting out of the alley and into the bustling scene.

It was clear that the panic hadn't sink in yet. To my surprise, a flying dragon landing in Katalysis wasn't able to stir as much shock in the players here as I expected, probably because there wasn't enough players to spot it from below. I won't be complaining that it worked to my favour, though.