RWBY/Sword Art Online (Discontinued)

Chapter 18: The Final Fight

The fight against the Skull Reaper continues. Many soldiers have been wiped out already. The boss attacks Heathcliff who blocks the scythe with his shield. Kirito switches with Asuna and attacks. David and his friends also continue attacking. The bosses HP is at the red and just about defeated.

Heathcliff: Everyone! Attack!

Everybody charges in to finish off the Skull Reaper. Penny lifts David up and throws him at the boss landing a big hit. Yang catches David and throws him again. Everyone else continues using sword skills and soon, the bosses HP goes down to zero and the enemy disappears. The room changes back to its original color and everyone rests.

David: Man! That was one tough boss.

Ruby: WooHoo! We did it!

Suddenly, a flash of light appears and turns into a crystal. It is the final dust crystal.

Weiss: Look!

Kirito: What is it?

Jack: This is it. All of the dust crystals. The boss must have been holding onto it.

Yang: Seems like it.

Klein: Well, besides that crystal, how many people did we lose?

Kirito opens up his holo-window and checks to see how many died.

Kirito: 14 people died.

Ruby: No way!

Agil: You've gotta be kidding me.

Blake: This is too much.

Evelyn: Why! What is the point in dying!

Everyone gets shocked when they hear it.

Yang: Are we gonna make it?

Klein: We still have 25 floors left.

Agil: How will we make it to the top?

David: Just leave it to me. But right now, I'm kind of beat up from fighting the boss.

Kirito looks at Heathcliff who is still standing up with his HP still at green. Then he notices something about him. He gets a flashback of the fight when time stopped and he pulled off a fast attack. He grabs his sword.

Asuna: Hmm? Kirito? What's wrong?

Kirito charges at Heathcliff using Vorpal Strike but he shows as an immortal object.

Kirito: I knew it!

Asuna: Kirito! What are you doing? Huh?

Asuna gets a flashback from back at the Black Iron Palace on Floor 1 when Yui was shown as an immortal object.

Ruby: What the heck?! Immortal object?!

Everyone gets surprised about Heathcliff.

Asuna: Commander Heathcliff, what's going on?

Kirito: I'll explain. His HP gauge is protected by the system, no wonder why it never hits yellow. Ever since the first day, I've been asking, where is he watching us and controlling the world from when everyone else is out here fighting? But I've overlooked something obvious. It's something even a child would know. There is nothing more boring than watching others play an RPG from the sidelines. Isn't that right, Akihiko Kayaba?

Everyone: What?!

Ruby: That's Kayaba?!

Heathcliff: For future reference, can you tell me how you figured it out?

Kirito: When we had that duel back at the arena, I noticed that you pulled off a really fast attack. It was too fast.

David: Hey. I noticed it as well when I was watching the battle. In fact, it felt like time just stopped.