SAO: The Legend Of The Black Swordsman

Chapter 21

"I'm nervous", Yui mumbled and hid behind Asuna's skirt. Kirito smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Me too, Yui-chan. But we do not have a choice, do we?", Asuna smiled as Yui tightened her grip on her skirt.

"Why can't we just go back? Papa will do something crazy again", she whined and frowned at Kirito and the expression was immediately copied by Asuna.

"He will do that, wouldn't he?", he smiled staring at Kirito with a fake grin causing the man to gulp in fear.

"What if I promise not to do something like that?", he offered, spreading his arms and Asuna clicked her tongue.

"There are many things I would place my trust on you, Kirito-kun. But this is something you cannot pay me to do so. I am not leaving your side even if I put myself in danger", she replied confidently and gave him a glare.

"I am not going to spend any more of my energy in trying to change your mind. I know it's a useless task" he groaned as Yui giggled behind Asuna.

"Here we are", he mumbled, standing in front of the boss room as an eerie green light peered from the edges of the door.

"Are there radioactive elements inside?", Asuna asked as she ran her hand through the green light waiting for something to happen. To her relief, nothing specific happened.

"It must be some sort of healing aura - like the one Gleam Eyes had", Kirito suggested and Asuna did not seem to argue with his logic. There was a good chance in him being right, and if he was, it would be a major problem for them. Kirito managed to deal with Gleam Eyes' terrific regenerative capabilities with the help of Eugeo - whoever he was. Even with the help of the blonde man, Kirito was only able to beat the boss with the last bit of his health. But he was nowhere close to confident that the same ability would help him scrape through the next boss again.

"The rest should be arriving now, shouldn't they?", Asuna asked him, looking around to see anyone close by. But to her dismay, no one else was there barring the three of them.

"We are around half an hour early, Asuna. The ALA would be going through their plans on their way here right now, so they might be here in a few minutes. You know how Heathcliff likes to make an entry don't you? He will take his own sweet time, and the same applies for Klein and his guild. The DDA, well, they would come at the last moment and save us claiming the KoB is useless without their help and whatnot", he explained, running his hand through the patterns on the door.

"I wonder what they say", he whispered and slit his eyes to try and decipher a pattern but to no avail.

"KIRITO-SAN!!", a shrill voice yelled and the said man turned around to see a familiar lute player running towards him, holding her musical instrument and her hat.

"Nice to see you, Yuna", he greeted her and motioned towards Asuna and Yui. "This is Asuna and that is Yui"

Asuna smiled softly at Yuna and Yui waved shyly before hiding behind Asuna again.

"The others should be here now, Kirito-san. They sent me to check if there are traps", she said with a smile and Kirito glared at her.

"They sent you to check for traps and without someone else to guard you? I mean, what were they thinking? I should have let them rot in hell instead of bringing you inside to help them out", he snarled and kicked a stone on the door. Yuna smiled weakly and rubbed her lute in embarassment.

"I am not as valuable as you think of me, Kirito-san. I cannot even hold a sword properly, you know?", she replied.

"So you are alive?", a large man grumbled with his pickaxe over his shoulder, giving Kirito a condescending look.