I cannot be forgiven. I can never pay the price for my wrongdoings.
Yet despite this, the faces that remained in my memories seemed to be smiling.
On the next day, I put on my blindingly white coat and left with Asuna for Grandum on the fifty-fifth floor.
Starting today, I would begin my work as a Knights of the Blood guild member. However, in contrast to the usual five-person party, Asuna took advantage of her power and allowed us to form a two-person party; so in reality, it was no different from yesterday.
But the orders that awaited us at the guild HQ were totally unexpected.
“Training…?”
“Yes. We will make a party of four and go through the Labyrinth Area in the fifty-fifth floor until we reach the living area of the fifty-sixth floor.”
The man who said this was one of the four other men who were present at the table when I had talked with Heathcliff. He was a huge man with thick blond curls and looked like an axe wielder.
“Wait, Godfrey! Kirito is going to…”
As Asuna started arguing, Godfrey raised one eyebrow and responded in a confident, if not presumptuous, voice.
“Even the sub-leader must adhere to the rules. I don’t mind the party he joins for exploration. But as the commander of the vanguard, I must test his capabilities. Even if he is a unique skill user, we don’t actually know if he’ll be of any use to us.”
“W-With Kirito’s strength, there’s no way he’ll be an inconvenience…”
I calmed the agitated Asuna down before speaking:
“If you want to see, then I’ll show you. But I don’t want to waste time in such a low-level labyrinth. Would rushing through it in one run be alright with you?”
Godfrey closed his mouth with an expression of displeasure. Then he left after saying:
“Assemble at the west city gate in thirty minutes.”
“What kind of attitude is that!?”
Asuna kicked the steel pillar with her boots in indignation.
“I’m sorry, Kirito. Maybe it would have been better if we had run away…”
“If we did that, all the members of the guild would collectively curse me to death.”
I smiled and hit Asuna’s head playfully.
“Uuuu, I thought that we would be together today…should I go along with you…?”
“I’ll be back soon. Just wait here.”
“Yeah…be careful…”
Asuna nodded reluctantly. After waving my hand towards her, I walked out of the HQ.
But when I arrived at the appointed location—the west gate of Grandum—I saw something even more shocking.
Next to Godfrey stood the person who I least wanted to see in this world—Cradil.
Chapter 15
“…what is this?”
I asked Godfrey quietly.
“Hmm, I already know what happened between you two. But since you’re comrades within the same guild from now on, I thought this would be a good opportunity to work out the bad blood between you two.”
As I watched Godfrey laugh with his head up in the air, Cradil slowly walked towards me.
“…”
I tensed and prepared to react to any situation. Even though we were in a safe area, there was no telling what he might do.
But against all my expectations, Cradil suddenly bowed. He then muttered in a barely-audible voice under his long hair.
“I’m…sorry for causing you trouble last time…”
This time I was genuinely shocked. My jaw dropped in amazement and I was left wordless.
“I won’t act so rudely again… I hope you will forgive me…”
I couldn’t see his expression under his long, greasy hair.
“Ah…yeah…”
As I forced myself to nod, I wondered what in the world had happened. Did he get a personality altering surgery or something?
“Yes, yes. Well, that’s all taken care of now!!”
Godfrey gave another hearty laugh. I felt really suspicious; Cradil must be up to something, but I couldn’t guess from looking at his lowered head. In contrast to its overstated emotions, SAO had a hard time portraying subtle expressions. I could only accept his apology for now, but I reminded myself not to let my guard down.
The last member arrived after a while, and then we set off for the labyrinth. Just as I began to step into my pace, Godfrey stopped me with a gruff voice:
“Wait… Today’s training will be done under the most realistic circumstances. I want to see how well you deal with dangerous situations, so I will be taking all of your crystals.”
“…even our teleport crystals?”
Godfrey only nodded in response. I hesitated. Crystals, especially teleport crystals, were the last safety net in this death game. I had never been without them. I was about to refuse, but a problem here might put Asuna in a problematic situation, so I decided to hold back my words.
Seeing as Cradil and the other member handed over their crystals obediently, I had no choice but to follow. Godfrey even carefully checked my inventory afterwards.
“Hmm, good. Then let’s go!”
At Godfrey’s order, we walked out of Grandum and journeyed towards the Labyrinth Area that we could see to the far west.
The fifty-fifth floor training area was a desolate wasteland almost devoid of vegetation. I wanted to finish the training quickly, so I suggested running all the way to the labyrinth, but it was rejected by a single wave of Godfrey’s hand. It was most probably because he had focused on raising his strength stats and disregarded his dexterity. I could only give up and continue to tread through the endless wilderness.
We ran into monsters a couple of times. But when it came to this, I had no time to wait patiently for Godfrey’s orders, so I simply cut them down right away.
Eventually, after making it past a number of tall, rocky mountains, the gray limestone of the labyrinth finally came into view…
“Okay, we’re taking a break here!”
After Godfrey announced this in his gruff voice, the party stopped.
“…”
I wanted to just rush through the labyrinth; but since I figured it’d be overruled even if I brought it up, I simply sighed and sat down on a rock. It was already nearly midday.
“I’ll hand the food out.”
Godfrey then called up four leather pouches and threw them to the members. I caught mine with one hand and opened it without any expectations. Inside were a water bottle and some hard bread that were sold at NPC stores.
I opened the bottle and swallowed a mouthful while cursing my bad luck; I would be eating Asuna’s handmade sandwiches right now if everything had gone as we had planned.
Then, I suddenly noticed that Cradil was sitting on a distant rock. He hadn’t even touched his pouch, and those eyes beneath his long hair glanced darkly in our direction.
What on earth was he looking at…?
A cold feeling abruptly passed through my body. He was waiting for something. That something…it most probably-
I immediately threw the bottle away and tried to spit the liquid out of my mouth.
But it was too late. Strength suddenly left my body and I collapsed. The HP bar came up at the edge of my vision; it was surrounded by a green line that wasn’t usually there.
There was no mistaking it; it was a paralysis poison.
When I looked around, I discovered that Godfrey and the other member were also writhing on the ground. I immediately reached inside my pouch with my left forearm, but this only intensified my panic. I had already handed all my antidote crystals and teleport crystals to Godfrey. I still had a potion, but it didn’t have any effect on paralysis.
“Ku…kukuku…”
Shrill laughter reached my ears. As he sat on the rock, Cradil held his stomach with both hands and bent over in laughter. His heavily lidded eyes revealed the crazed ecstasy that I remembered all too well.
“Waha! Haha! Hyahahahaha!!”
He guffawed towa
rds the skies, seemingly unable to control himself. Godfrey stared at him with a stupefied expression.
“What…what is this…? Wasn’t the water…prepared by…you, Cradil…”
“Godfrey! Quick, use an antidote crystal!!”
After hearing my shout, Godfrey finally began to rummage through the pouch at his side.
“Hya-!!”
With a strange scream, Cradil jumped off his rock and kicked aside Godfrey’s left hand with his boot. A green crystal rolled out of Godfrey’s hand. Cradil picked it up, then stuck his hand in Godfrey’s pouch, took out the remaining crystals, and put them into his own pouch.
Everything was over.
“Cradil…what, what are you doing…? Is this some sort of…training exercise?”
“Re-tard!!”
Cradil said as he kicked Godfrey, who still didn’t understand the situation and muttered these stupid things, in the mouth.
“Argh!”
Godfrey’s HP went down a little, and at the same time Cradil’s cursor changed from yellow to the orange color of criminal status. But this didn’t change anything. There was no way that someone would pass by on a floor that had already been cleared.
“Godfrey-san, I always thought you were an idiot, but I never imagined that you were this hopeless. Is even your brain made out of muscle?”
Cradil’s sharp laughter echoed across the wastelands.
“There are still a lot of things that I want to say to you…but it wouldn’t do to waste my time with appetizers…”
Cradil drew his two-handed sword as he spoke. He raised it high into the air and stretched out his thin body. Sunlight reflected off the thick blade as he waved it about.
“W-Wait, Cradil! You…what…what are you saying…isn’t…isn’t this training…?”
“Just shut up and die.”
Cradil spat out and swung his sword down without mercy. A heavy and dull noise sounded, and Godfrey’s HP greatly decreased.
Godfrey finally grasped the seriousness of the situation and started screaming. But it was already too late.
Twice, thrice, the sword came down with a merciless glint, and Godfrey’s HP reduced noticeably with each swing. Then, when it reached the red area, Cradil stopped.
Just as I thought that he wouldn’t commit murder no matter how crazy he was, Cradil reversed his grip on the sword and slowly pushed it into Godfrey. As Godfrey’s HP went down bit by bit, Cradil began to press his entire weight against the sword.
“Aaaaaaaahhh!!”
“Hyahahahaha!!”
While Godfrey’s wailing became louder, Cradil began mixing in a strange scream of his own. The sword dug into Godfrey’s body slowly and his HP reduced at a steady pace-
While the other member and I watched silently, Cradil’s sword penetrated completely through Godfrey, and his HP bar reached zero at the same time. Godfrey most probably didn’t understand what was going on even as his body shattered into countless shards.
Cradil slowly pulled his sword out of the ground, then spun his head around like a clockwork doll and looked at the other member.
“Ah!! Ahhh!!”
With these short screams, the member flailed around in an attempt to escape. Cradil then started walking towards him in odd steps.
“…I have nothing against you…but according to my scenario, only I can return alive…”
He raised his sword while muttering to himself.
“Aaaahh!”
“You wanna hear~? You see, our party-”
He swung it down; his ears deaf to the member’s screams.
“Was ambushed in the wilderness by a large group of PKers-.”
Another swing.
“We fought bravely, but all three had died-.”
And another.
“I was the only one remaining, but I drove back the criminals and managed to stay alive before returning to HQ-.”
After the fourth attack, the member’s HP vanished. A sound effect that sent shivers down my body resonated. But Cradil looked as if he had heard the voice of a goddess. He stood there, in the middle of the explosion of shards, and listened to it with a blissful expression on his face.
It wasn’t his first time…
I was sure of this. His cursor may have turned to the orange color of criminals’ only moments ago, but there were plenty of despicable ways to kill people without triggering it. However, understanding this fact now didn’t solve anything.
Finally, Cradil turned to look my way, with an uncontrollable mirth spreading across his face. He slowly walked towards me, his sword making an unbearable noise as he dragged it along the ground.
“Hey.”
He crouched down next to me, who was still sprawled on the ground, and said in a whisper.
“Because of an idiot like you, I had to kill two completely innocent people.”
“You seem quite happy about it though.”
I responded as I looked desperately for a way out of this situation. The only thing that moved was my mouth and my left arm. Because the paralysis condition kept one from opening the menu window, it also forbade the player from sending any messages. Even though I knew it wouldn’t do me much good, I struggled to move my left hand, which was inside Cradil’s blind spot, while I continued to talk.
“Why did a person like you join the KoB? A criminal guild would have suited you better.”
“Keh, why are you asking something so obvious? It’s because of that girl.”
He said this with his raspy voice and licked his lips. When I realized that he was talking about Asuna my blood began to boil.
“You damn bastard…!”
“Woah, why are you glaring at me like that? It’s just a game isn’t it…? Don’t worry. I’ll look after your precious sub-leader for you. After all, I have a lot of useful items.”
Cradil picked up the poisoned water bottle and then shook it to produce some splashing sounds. Then he gave an awkward wink and kept talking.
“And you just said something very interesting, that a criminal guild would suit me more.”
“…well, it’s just the truth.”
“I was complimenting you. You’re pretty sharp.”
Kekekeke.
Cradil seemed to be considering something as he laughed. Then, he suddenly unequipped the gauntlet on his left arm. He rolled up the white sleeves of his undershirt and turned his bare forearm so that I could see its underside.
“…!!”
When I saw what was there—my breath suddenly stopped. It was a tattoo. The image was a manga-like caricature of an ink-black coffin. A mouth and a pair of eyes formed a grin atop the coffin lid; the white bones of a skeletal arm reached out from inside.
“That…emblem is… «Laughing Coffin»?”
I asked in a dry voice. Cradil gave a smile and nodded in response.
«Laughing Coffin» used to be the biggest and worst PK guild in Aincrad. They were headed by a cold, sly leader and experimented endlessly with new methods of killing people; in the end, the number of players it had killed went into the triple digit figures.
The players once attempted to solve the issue through negotiations, but every messenger had been killed immediately. We couldn’t even understand why they PKed, since it only lessened the chances of clearing the game, and because of this we couldn’t talk with them properly. Not too long ago, the players who aimed to clear the game had formed a subjugation group that rivaled the boss-killing groups, and finally destroyed their guild after several long and bloody battles.
Asuna and I were in the group too. But the information had leaked somewhere, and the PKers were prepared and waiting for us. In my frenzy to protect my comrades, I ended up taking the lives of two Laughing Coffin members by accident.
“Is this…for revenge? You’re a survivor from the Laughing Coffin?”
I asked with my cracking voice. Cradil virtually spat out his answer:
“Heh, no way. Why would I do something as stupid as that? I joined the
Laughing Coffin only recently, and only in spirit anyways. I learned this paralysis technique from them…ah, that’s bothersome.”
He stood up with an almost machine-like movement and raised his sword up again.
“Well, we’ve talked for long enough. The poison should wear off soon, so I should finish this now. I’ve been dreaming of this moment…ever since that duel…”
Fire burned in his eyes, which were opened so wide they became circles. His smiling mouth had stuck its tongue out, and he even raised his heels to stand tiptoed as he prepared to swing his sword down.
Just before he moved, I tossed the throwing pick in my left hand using only my wrist. Although I aimed for the face where the damage was greatest, the accuracy penalty from paralysis caused the steel pick to miss and pierce into Cradil’s left arm. Cradil’s HP reduced by only a small amount, while I fell into a completely hopeless situation.
“…that hurt…”
Cradil wrinkled his brow and curved his lips upwards, then stabbed my right arm with the tip of his sword. He then twisted it twice, then thrice.
“Argh…!”
Although I didn’t feel any pain, an unpleasant feeling of being stimulated in the nerves passed through my entire body alongside the strong paralysis effect. Every time the blade dug into my arm, my HP decreased slowly but steadily.
Still there…? Was the poison’s effect still not going away…?”
I gritted my teeth and waited for the moment my body would be freed. The duration of paralysis differed based on the strength of the poison, but most paralyzing poisons wore off in five or so minutes.
Cradil pulled out his sword and then stabbed my left leg. The unpleasant feeling of being paralyzed rushed through my entire body once again, and the system calculated the damage mercilessly.
“Well…? How is it…? How does it feel to know that you’re going to die soon…? Tell me… would you…?”
Cradil said this in an almost whisper as he stared intently at my face.
“Say something squirt… Cry and scream that you don’t want to die…”
My HP fell below the halfway line and turned yellow. The paralysis still wasn’t gone yet. My whole body grew colder, as if death was enveloping me with freezing air, its chill slowly crawling up from my feet.
Sword Art Online - Volume 1 - Aincrad Page 14