The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 94 - Rogue of Mystery

28 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

From the very first time I'd met Krieg, I could already notice his absurd quirkiness.

Anyone else could take a second-long look at him and instantly realize that, among the large pool of players left in this world, he was one of those outliers who acted in a distinctively different manner.

However, it wasn't like it was a bad thing, in my opinion. My opinion would have been considered unpopular at that point in time, with no one but me approaching him and putting up with his ever-so-sophisticated style of speech. Incidentally, I would also use that way of speaking whenever I had the chance to speak to him at times as well.

Even with such a generous amount of time that I had spent with Krieg, I had never once deciphered the reason for his actions.

Did I need to understand him in order to get along with his antics? No, I didn't think that I needed to.

To me, Krieg was just Krieg, a guy who I could relate to due to a habit I shared with him: neglecting our duties in managing our respective Companies.

Or rather, we were both shirking our responsibilities a bit too much for Misuko's liking. It was a miracle that she didn't strip us of our appointments yet.

But then again, the exceptionally powerful players always turn out to be the weird ones. For me to admit that I'm weird as well felt pretty weird too, not gonna lie.

In Krieg's case, Misuko chose him to be Sky Company's leader for a sole reason, and that was his genius talent in reconnaissance in any way possible. No one in the guild could match him in lurking around and disappearing without any warning whatsoever.

Which, of course, contributed to the severe lack of knowledge of Krieg's way of thinking. His thought process was so impossible to decipher, even I would find it a nightmare to try to work along with him.

That nightmare was manifesting itself right in front of me, for the entirety of this infiltration expedition in the city of Katalysis.

Despite that, I didn't think I would bring myself to hate Krieg. He might still be a walking mystery that would never let anyone solve him inside out, but I knew him well enough to know that.....

.....He only lends an ear to those who are his match in strength. And I'm about to prove it to him once again.....

.....The reason why I qualify as the leader of Land Company.

My eyes widened in renewed focus. My lungs took in a bigger breath of air. My mind reminded myself that my opponent was an expressionless fighter without any signal that served any clues to his future tactics.

If luck was really a skill, I hoped that whatever action that I decide to start off the duel with would put me at an advantage.

Except that the action that I wanted to start off with didn't end up with my confident choice.

Within a split second, Krieg closed in onto me, causing me to almost falter in my focus. His body zoomed in, with his dagger pointed straight at me.

My reflexive arms moved the pole of my spear to meet the blade, in an act of muscle memory.

PING.........!!!!

The echoing metallic sound shook me, as I tried to keep my focus intact. It was my bad that I had taken too long to decide on my first move, but it did show that Krieg was unusually impatient.

He wanted to end me off quickly. That was his likely goal in this duel.

"Your hesitation has made my disappointment immeasurable." Krieg remarked, his dagger still trying to pierce through my spear's pole body.