Chapter 72 - Irrational Cube

"All right, get ready everyone! We are going in!"

Drifter was shaken out of his recollection by Lind's voice. The DKB was the leading guild in this raid. Standing next to him was Argo, who had joined the guild for this battle. She would stay near the door the entire time, so she could quickly escape if the boss ever turned to her or she got in danger. Her only job was to hold the << Flag of Valor >>, not to be a hero. Drifter and Kirito had drilled that into her head.

Silently, the raid-party entered the boss room. The shadow Morte cast upon them was still there, but they wouldn't back out. They were frontliners.

"Remember the plan, people! Spear-users and agility fighters, we are relying on you more than anything else for this raid, so stick to your roles and don't be dumb!"

Hearing that, Drifter snorted. Shivata looked at him and rolled his eyes, but the spearman was unrepentant, and glowered right back at the tank. He didn't like the plan. It was a stupid plan.

The strategy they had come up with during the pre-battle meeting had been cause of much dissension and arguments between the frontliners, and even amongst the Reavers themselves. Shivata had suggested it, and Drifter and Asuna agreed. The idea was supported by Ran and Sinon, but their guild leader Kirito and the others had disagreed. They didn't quite manage to reach a compromise before the battle began. Needless to say, there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the air, and more than a few closed faces.

The name of the boss was << The Irrational Cube >>. A gigantic construct, not unlike a Rubik's cube, with each of its sides composed of nine smaller squares. Each of the squares had some symbols on them, and that was when the spear-users and agility-focused players entered.

<< The Irrational Cube >> was somewhat similar to the 5th floor boss << Fuscus the Vacant Colossus >>, in the fact that its attacks were very telegraphed. Whenever the boss prepared an attack, some runes on its body would glow, and the players had a few precious seconds to hit them and stop the attack before it happened, at the same time paralyzing the boss momentarily and allowing everyone to attack it.

However, the symbols were small, and flashed for only a brief moment. Hence the need for players with great accuracy and speed. But, to make sure they could reach the boss in time, those players would need to be in the front, even before the tanks. That was the reason behind the big disagreement. Needless to say, Nautilus, Liz, Yuna, and the others weren't happy with Drifter and the rest putting themselves in (more) danger. They understood the necessity, of course, but that didn't mean they had to be overjoyed about it.

Drifter cleared his mind and focused on the giant object slowly coming to life in the middle of the room. << The Irrational Cube >>. Why this of all things was the boss of a forest-themed floor, the spearman had no idea. Nor did he really care, if he was being honest.

Another boss. Another battle. Another floor. One step closer to freedom if they won. One step closer to hell if they lost. And death, probably. Drifter raised his spear. They would win.

-----------------------------------

Suguha was at home when the 6th floor boss raid of SAO occurred. Lucky, because she didn't want to have to mask her feelings again, not from her teacher and friends. Not from Shinichi. She wanted, no, she needed, to be able to cheer and cry for Kazuto all she wanted, and she couldn't do that at school.

She received news that a live stream was starting the moment the raid-party stepped through the boss room's doors. Not even ten seconds later, she was already on the sofa and turning on the television, yelling for her parents to join her.

Her mother came running from the kitchen, where she was preparing lunch, and sat down next to her without even taking off her apron. Kirigaya Midori stared at the screen with such intensity that Suguha thought the device would melt. Or she would have thought that, had she noticed her mother's gaze, but she was just as focused, so she didn't.

Kirigaya Minetaka appeared a few seconds later, running down the stairs. His hair was still wet, and his shirt stuck to his skin in damp patches. Her father had probably heard her yell and just thrown on his clothes, bolting from the bathtub where he liked to relax after a tiring week. He plopped down on her other side, and grabbed her mother's hand behind her back, squeezing Suguha in the middle. They were all trying to find comfort in each other.

"Their... Their formation is different, isn't it?"

As always, the Kirigaya family searched for Kazuto first. It wasn't hard to find him, especially now that he had his guild, Reaver's Requiem. But her father was right, there was something different about their positioning today. And not just them, but all the frontliners.

"Their tanks are staying back for some reason. And look, Drifter, Asuna, and Ran are in the front. Even before Nautilus and Lisbeth.

"But... That doesn't make sense, right? Aren't the more armored players supposed to be the first to engage the boss?"

"Maybe it's some new strategy?"

Suguha pondered. It was a curious arrangement of their forces. She was still thinking about it, trying to understand what was going through her brother's mind, when she heard her father whispering to her mother.

"Do you think... It might have something to do with that murderer? Morte? Maybe they fear an attack from behind?"

Suguha shuddered. Could it be? But no. Even if that was the case, their formation didn't make sense. It was as she was thinking that the boss, a construct called << The Irrational Cube >> came to life. At the same moment, Drifter, Asuna, and other spear-users and general players of the Assault Team shot forward. They seemed to be aiming...

"The glowing symbols! That's why they are at the front! They are trying to hit them!"

Drifter got his symbol, an upside down 'F'. So did Asuna and all the other players. Just half a dozen of them, because that was how many runes lit up. And the boss... Stopped. Like a machine losing power, the cube that was starting to rise fell down, and the frontliners attacked with wild abandon. The first health bar diminished by about 5%. And then << The Irrational Cube >> was up again.

Some kind of shockwave sent the attacking players stumbling back, and the cube floated up. It was hard to discern what they were saying, with dozens of voices speaking at once, but Suguha thought they were discussing tactics. Something about which party would take each side.

The Assault Team knew something. That had become clear by the 4th floor. Somehow, they had information about the bosses, which was great.

Suguha's mother yelped as one of the squares detached from the boss and rammed into two players, sending them flying. An impact like that would have killed anyone. But they just got up, chugged down a potion, and hopped back into the fight. Because this was a game.

But death was still real. Suguha couldn't comprehend how the frontliners could act like that. They almost died, again and again. Some of them did die. And yet, they always stood back up. Oftentimes without even a moment's hesitation.

She saw Drifter rush forward again, his target a glowing symbol high on << The Irrational Cube's >> side. He wouldn't be able to reach it... But he did. His legs flashed silver and he jumped, higher than humanly possible. A skill, that martial arts one, aimed at nothing. And then his spear glowed red as he stabbed twice at the rune, chipping away at stone, and causing the boss to fall inert once more.

Before Drifter even landed, her brother was already leading the charge against the boss, his sword shining orange as he opened a huge gash in << The Irrational Cube >>. But even Kazuto couldn't compare to the sheer damage from the broadsword-user in Reaver's Requiem, Merida.

The girl was almost smaller than her own sword. But gods, could she swing that thing fast. She made two cuts, her weapon glowing with an eerie red hue, almost in the shape of a cross. Suguha could swear the boss, for all its size, was pushed back a little.

They were doing it. Again. Even though this was the sixth time she watched a live stream of a boss raid, Suguha would never cease to be surprised. She was absolutely enraptured with the battle. Mostly because her brother was there, but also in no small part because of what it was. Many people had already linked the SAO broadcasts to the gladiator fights in the Coliseum. And they were right, because that was exactly what it was. A show. A bloodsport. One you couldn't take your eyes off.

Suguha was lost in her musings for a while, but she was still watching the raid. She saw the agility-focused players hitting the runes with increasing accuracy - and now she understood why the strange arrangement of the frontliners. But Kayaba gave the spectators a bird's-eye view of the battle, so she also saw something none of the players did.

While they had managed to hit and dim all the symbols on the sides of << The Irrational Cube >>, the boss didn't halt. There was still one more rune they had to hit, but it was on top of the floor boss. The Assault Team couldn't even see it, much less reach it.

The many cubes that formed the boss detached. Nine cubes for each side, six sides in total. 54 cubes, each of them the size of a person, started spinning. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Suguha saw the panic on the players' faces.

"AoE! Tanks to the front, everyone else get the hell outta the way!"

Too late. It was way too abrupt for the players to react. Suguha watched one of the spinning cubs smash into the back of a spear-user - not Drifter, thankfully - and sent him sprawling to the ground - only to be hit again. And he wasn't the only one.

Asuna saw that she wouldn't be able to run to the protection of the tanks in time, so she turned around and ducked under the first cube. The second came whirling from her left, and she placed her rapier between her body and the spinning mass of stone. The blade was thin and fragile, but it was better than nothing. The cube hit her, and the rapier... Snapped.

Suguha stared wide-eyed as the sword in Asuna's hand broke in half, and then shattered into polygons. The fencer didn't even have time to be shocked by the loss of her weapon, because the unstoppable cube smashed into her, and she was sent tumbling through the ground.

"Shit! It's eating through our durability! Dodge! Don't block unless you have no other option!"

Someone from the Dragon Knights Brigade - Shivata - shouted over all the confusion. However, it was easier said than done. The spinning circle of death that was << The Irrational Cube >> had already spread to half of the room.

She saw more equipment break, weapons and shields shattering. She saw Lizbeth and Ran being knocked aside by the boss, Drifter dragging down the red-haired guy who seemed to be friends with Kazuto just in time to duck under a cube. She saw the boss rumble. And then stop.

With no warning, << The Irrational Cube >> suddenly halted its frenzied attack. The cubes crashed to the ground, now immobile. And Suguha followed the stares of the frontliners, and saw Sinon standing at the back, legs apart, her bow still glowing with the aftermath of a skill. And she saw the shaft of the arrow embedded in the dimming rune the players had all missed before.

"Knights of the Dragon Brigade, attack!"

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, before Lind's shout shattered the stillness. With a roar, he charged the boss. The Assault Team followed.

Suguha let out the breath she didn't even notice she had been holding. They would pull through, like they always did, despite the odds, despite the fear she was sure they felt. She felt a huge smile taking her face as she pumped her fist into the air.

"Go, Kazuto!"