The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Clashing Guilds Arc: Chapter 40 - Unseen Miracle

18 October 2023

40th Floor Labyrinth

I could barely dodge the large blade as it swung at me in different directions. Spinning my spear frantically, I rushed at Hallow after each of his swings, with each of my spear's blades getting the cut on him as I went past.

Hallow's widened eyes shone constantly at me as he swung, albeit the misses. Attacks using a two-handed sword were slow enough to dodge, but getting caught by them would be fatal. Getting hit by one might cut my HP down by almost half of it, I had speculated, but I wasn't that stupid enough to try out my hypothesis at such a time. I wasn't a player with the role of a tank, and that was enough for me to decide on avoiding Hallow's attacks as much as possible.

Hallow didn't seem to care about his missed attacks, but rather focused on blocking whenever I attacked him straight on. He couldn't do anything about being attacked after missing his swings, but judging from his HP gauge, he was confident he could win this duel before his HP ran out.

I rushed at him again, this time my swings belonging to the 2-hit spear skill, Hellical Twice. Hallow didn't block, changing up his stance that seemed to activate a weapon skill. Before I could realize what he was doing, he smirked right in front of me.

The second swing of Hellical Twice struck Hallow's left shoulder, as he activated a two-handed sword skill, spinning his body around with his weapon in tow, which had been enveloped in a green glow.

I froze up under the effect of post-skill delay, as Hellical Twice ended. With my spear still dug into Hallow's shoulder, I couldn't back off in time, as I got momentarily pulled in with the spinning force. The powered-up sword swung with boosted force, running across my body in a horizontal cut.

It was the 2-hit two-handed sword skill, Cyclone. A giant horizontal red cut mark formed at where my stomach would have been, as I was sent off the ground, crashing a second later.

I had never felt such an injury before. The feeling of being cut at the abdomen, as if I had been cut in half, struck itself in my mind. Clutching my abdomen in pain, I winced on the ground.

"Relax......you weren't cut in half, though you would have died from that in reality. If only my cut went in deeper......" Hallow strolled up to me, his eyes constantly widened in excitement.

As I tried to rise up from the ground, Hallow swung again, this time aiming straight at my head. I held my spear up to block it with both hands, and the impact almost sent me back to my knees.

The force of the two-handed sword strained my arms in such a speed that they were shaking. I panted heavily, still having that sensation of being seperated in half lingering in my body. Groaning while trying to push upwards with the pole of my spear against a downward-swung sword, I locked eyes with my opponent.

"Grr....yarrgh...!"

I couldn't lose. I shouldn't. Not against a player who smiled as he swung his weapon with sadistic flares in his eyes. I shouldn't make him feel satisfied of another PK just because it was for fun.

I just wanted the strength to win over this maniac. That was all I wanted in that moment.

It was then that something struck me by the shoulder. An arrow, no doubt. But my HP didn't decrease, nor did I feel any pain from it. And in the next second, I was enveloped in a red aura. My arms stopped shaking, and a thought had surfaced in my mind, one that should have been on my mind since I blocked Hallow's attack, but had suddenly became clear, as if I could finally do what I wanted to do for the past minute.

Push.

The red aura had disappeared, but I could feel my spear budging against the large blade bit by bit. I could feel the surge of power flowing inside me, ready to be reelased. With a roar, I stretched my arms out with a strong burst of power, shoving the large blade out of contact with just the pole of my spear.