Sword Art Online: The Crystal Swordsman

Rekindled Flame

Spriggan, Purple, Legend: K

The monster roared again, initiating the beginning of the dungeon boss fight. Regardless, I payed attention to nothing but Sinon in front of me.

"You are very strong, you always have been." I gave her my true smile and wiped away her tears.

I looked and suddenly noticed the monster about to clap his hands around Sinon and I. I quickly pushed Sinon sliding away, putting her safely at the boss's feet. I held my crystal sword flat and stopped myself from being crushed, relying solely on my blade to protect me. As the monster tried to push its hands closer together, my crystal sword started to pierce the creature's palms. With the little damage it took, the boss kept pressing, trying with all its might to crush me like a bug.

"K! Get out of there! You aren't going to last much longer!" Leafa frantically yelled to me, readying a spell that she thought might help.

I chuckled loud enough for the team to hear me and ignited my hands fully in fire. I sent a pulse of purple flame into the giants hands, causing it to yank them away in pain. The monster roared loudly and brought its two swords over its head, swinging them down towards me. I caught both blades in each of my fiery palms, planting my feet to maintain my stance.

"I'll keep it distracted! Go and find it's weakness!" I yelled, holding back its blades with all my strength.

The team started to run around it and attack to find a weak point. I pushed the boss's swords back up, causing it to stumble backwards abruptly. It planted its foot for balance, allowing Kirito to slash the back of the giants ankle and make it fall to one knee. The room shook as the dungeon boss temporarily collapsed.

"Achilles heel! Strike while he's down, K!" Kirito yelled to me.

I pulled my crystal sword off my back and flapped my black feathered wings to send me up into the boss's face. I started slashing as fast and as hard as I could in the proceeding seconds. The giant eventually shook his head and stopped receiving the damage I was dealing. I kicked off his face, backflipped and landed in front of him once more. The monster roared at me and began to walk when I remembered where I had put Sinon. I looked down to her and she was already watching me. She was shocked, confused, happy and sad all at the same time. Definitely in no shape for a boss fight. I sheathed my sword and sprinted towards her, sliding to lift her up in my arms quickly. I flapped my wings and boosted myself, getting out from underneath the boss's feet. I flew to a safe corner of the room and set her down softly. That's when the monster roared loudly again behind me.

"K! Look out!" Asuna yelled.

I turned around and was about to be met with one of the giants blades. I used my quickdraw speed to pull out my sword and block the attack as fast as I could. The sound of metal hitting metal pierced everyone's ears. A perfect parry. It was just enough for the giants blade to be knocked back, causing him to stumble on his feet.

"Cut the heels again! I can finish him off if you keep him down!" I yelled.

"Right!!" Kirito and Asuna acknowledged in unison, attacking constantly with the rest of the team.

The giant eventually fell and was left for me to finish off. I flapped up once again and slashed it in the face some more, cutting deep using all my force to bring the beast down. I brought its health down to a bar and a half which caused it to initiate some sort of blitz mode. He slapped me away effortlessly with one of his free hands which caused me to immediately hit a wall.

"K!!" Sinon screamed loudly as I bounced off and fell to the ground.

"Asuna, Try to keep K healed! It's okay if we get hurt, K can burn this bastard! Go!" Kirito ordered.

Asuna ran up to me and began to heal me instantly. Once my HP fully returned, I briefly held her hand.

"I'm sorry I lied to you... To all of you." I admitted.

"Don't be. You're apart of the team now. Get up, we're finishing this." Asuna stood up.

As Kirito distracted the boss, I noticed a gem in the center of the monsters back.

"Kirito! There is a weak spot on the boss's back!" I advised.

Asuna started to head towards the team but I stopped her.

"Asuna, please check on Sinon while we finish this." I told her.

She nodded and ran over to her. I ignited my crystal sword in my purple flame, giving it the extra kick needed to end this intense boss battle. I flew up into the air and launched myself towards the boss's weak point. I spun my blade in my hand, turning it backwards for my finishing blow. I brought it up and stabbed my blade directly into the gem, but one attack wasn't enough to kill him. It flickered but still stayed bright.

"You can do it, K! Finish him off!" I heard Sinon yell.

I looked to her briefly, glad she was back to normal again. I brought my sword up above my head and cut furiously downwards for a final strike. The monster roared and dropped it's two swords onto the ground. The giant continued to roar until it eventually exploded into shards, signaling the end of the long fought battle. I landed and watched as the team eyed me up. Even though I revealed my true form to everyone, I still wanted to disappear. I felt like I had done my job and I was no longer needed.

"K!" Sinon yelled.

I turned to look at her but was immediately met with a fist to my stomach. I hunched for a second from the impact but quickly looked up to her in confusion.

"What was-" I was cut off by Sinon kissing my lips passionately.

I was surprised at first but I kissed back. Sinon pulled away and pointed at me.

"You have some explaining to do." She demanded.

"Indeed..." I rubbed the back of my neck and looked to the team.

"Come on, they'll be eager to meet the real you." Sinon grabbed my hand and guided me playfully.

Sinon and I walked over side by side. I gave a nervous smile, knowing I might not get the best responses.

"Hello, K." Asuna smiled, reading that I was nervous.

"So that was you, huh? Glad to finally meet you." Lizbeth recalled with an understanding nod.

"I like the real you better." Silica couldn't quite find the words but she tried.

"At least now I know who's been stalking me." Leafa joked.

Kirito walked up to me and looked me in the eyes. He wasn't smiling, he seemed to have an unimpressed face on still.

"You shouldn't have lied to us." He said.

"I know... I am sorry." I hung my head.

"I look forward to dueling you one on one." Kirito held out his hand.

I looked up and met his handshake with a smirk.

"Likewise." I nodded.

"Everyone, this is K. K, these are my friends." Sinon smiled up at me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." I bowed.