Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society

Facing Mutasina

What happened afterward couldn't be called anything but failure.

When the staff hit the large rock, it initiated the suffocation effect of the Noose. While Mutasina herself flopped along the ground as a result of her rough landing, I fell out of the tree to the forest ground. Grimacing, I sought to fight the curse, but it's easier said than done. All my willpower managed to get me to look ahead to Kirito and Asuna, who kept their stances and activated Sonic Leap and Shooting Star, and Kureha, who fights the intense power to keep her aim on Mutasina.

Mutasina's spindle cursor is visible to me, possibly due to the Noose counting as an attack, so I can see she lost over eighty percent of her health. The remaining twenty can be taken out by either Kirito or Asuna if they hit. As Mutasina lifts herself up, two glowing swords encroach upon her to end the curse.

My eyes widen in shock as two more blades appear between Kirito, Asuna, and Mutasina. Two dark shadows had intercepted my friends, taking the form of women in black leather armor and hats. Viola and Dia had caught up to us, resisted the Noose as Kirito and Asuna had, and protected Mutasina. Once the power of the sword skills died, all four collapsed to the ground, unable to fight the spell anymore. With no one in the way, Kureha shoots before she collapses, but her aim is slightly off the mark as the bullets whiz by Mutasina's right ear.

The ordeal may be a virtual illusion, but the primordial fear that comes with suffocation is real. The act of thinking and moving is secondary to the fight to breathe. To overcome that is a strain in itself, and I use it to look around. Behind me, on the forest ground and the riverbank, are my friends and our companions, including the Bashin and Patter, kneeling. The pets Kuro, Misha, and Aga curl in their own agony. Crawling, I catch up to the whimpers of Kureha, the mark on her neck glowing bluish-purple, her blue eyes welling up in fear. All I can do is reach out for her and clasp her hand.

With her group and her army of nearly one hundred struggling under the curse's might, only the river and the cries of Mutasina's bird are audible. Speaking of her, the white-robed witch rises slowly like a phoenix from the ashes. Her staff, stuck in the rock it nearly split in half, glows the same color as the noose around our necks. She takes hold of it and removes her hood, revealing her dazzling beauty, and scans the area. The difference between her and the body double is made apparent as her lips curl into a barely visible smile. She walks up to the four of us closest to her, stopping just behind Viola and Dia.

"Splendidly done. I had a feeling you would not be so boring as to hide in your base…But I never expected you to dam the river. I had no idea the crafting system could perform feats like that. Your plan completely surpassed my expectations. I assumed that I would not take more than a tenth of my health in damage all the way to the end of the game, but you nearly killed me by forcing me to jump from my flying mount."

Mutasina's no more than twenty feet away from Kureha and me. Despite the pain, if Kureha and I steadied her gun together, we could shoot her down. If I managed the will, I could slice her myself with Sonic Leap. But the pain and panic of suffocating are stronger than any will I have.

The hand in my grip tightens, but I cannot look toward Kureha. If I do, I will succumb to the rage inside me. I've faced some damnable humans in the last four years, but none have been as cold as Mutasina, which says something for the likes of PoH and his gang. They killed for the fun, the thrill, but to my knowledge they didn't draw it out to let their victims suffer. My sole encounter with Administrator was painful on my end, and she did kill Medina in front of my eyes. Subtilizer's treatment of Lievre, spitting in the face of her loyalty, sparked a fire inside me. That was the last memory of me giving in to my anger...but even with Quinella, I didn't sense overwhelming cruelty to her methods. Not once do I remember Alice, Eydis, or the Integrity Knights speaking about their leader being overly cruel to them.