SAO x Dark Souls Volume 1: Cinders of Aincrad

Aincrad Pt. 14: Yhorm the Giant

A week later, the assault team cleared the Irithyll Dungeon. The tight halls and enemies waiting to ambush us around every corner proved to be far more difficult than I had anticipated.

Reaching the Profaned Capital wasn't much easier, seeing as how everyone aside from a select few was impatient. After my fight with Lind, he pulled his guild out of the assault team. We were down by 50 men because of that. It only added to the anxiety everyone was already feeling.

Kirito: All the work we did to get here seems pointless when you consider the difficulty level this boss poses.

"Yhorm is not without his challenges. For one, the weapon you need to defeat him is at the back of the arena, near his throne. Second, the charge time for the skill is insanely long" I said

Asuna: how long exactly?

"Around 15 seconds," I said

Koharu: that's not too bad.

"You're missing the point. Yhorm is obscenely fast when he gets going. You will have little to no time to charge the skill before he's on top of you. It would help if you timed dodges, charges, and attacks accordingly. It would also be ideal if the damage dealer is fast as well" I said

Kirito: who do we have that has the stat requirements and speed to use the weapon?

"Asuna, how high is your agility?" I asked

Asuna: it's at max level.

"And your strength?" I asked

Asuna: 25.

"That's not good enough. It needs to be at least 30. What about you Koharu?" I asked

Koharu: they're both at 50.

"Are you willing to wield it? If not then I'll do it" I said

Koharu: I've got this. Don't worry.

"Just making sure," I said

Asuna: we've planned out who'll use the weapon, now we just need to figure out a strategy. U/n, you said that the arena is narrow, correct?

"Yes. It's not particularly small, but we won't be able to defeat Yhorm with an entire raid group. The weapon has a wide range of attack and if there were to be any soldiers in its path, they'd get obliterated" I said

Kirito: What should we do then?

"Talk to the other guild leaders and see what they think. A raid group of about 20 is more than enough. We can't have any more than that or there will be definite casualties" I said

Kirito: Understood. I'll talk to Klein and Agil.

Asuna: And I'll talk to the commander. He may even be persuaded to let me lead the raid group.

"Good. Meet back here at our place when you're done" I said

Kirito/Asuna: Understood.

They both left to inform the guilds of the plan for Yhorm. I sat back against the railing of my and Koharu's little cabin. It was on Floor 22 not far from a rather large lake. Since the assault team was on Floor 69, there was no one around. The peaceful sounds of the water and the birds were therapeutic.

(A/n: I think I used therapeutic right? feel free to correct me if I didn't.)

Koharu: It's beautiful isn't it?

"Yeah. Did you know that this is Aincrad's best season?" I asked

Koharu: How so?

"The warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, the sounds of nature, etc. It's all designed to make SAO feel as real as humanly possible. It wouldn't be a VRMMO if Kayaba hadn't programmed it this way." I said