RotTS 14

Merry Christmas, all!

I couldn't find a decent picture of Santa Claus, so I shall present you alternate Santa (Horror Santa) aka Nicholas the Renegade.

This Santa probably only owns coal to hurl into your socks though... You'd better leave cookies and milk out for him unless you wanna be killed in your sleep...

Enjoy your Wagyu beef, or whatever you eat for christmas.(Ham? I only remember turkey is for thanksgiving.)

Rondo of the Transient Sword: Part 14

In every field outside in Aincrad, something called a «Field Boss», a named Mob, is strategically placed at the entrance to the dungeon, its key function to block the dungeon from being accessed. The field boss's dens are usually surrounded by cliffs or raging streams on both sides, arranged in such a way that there is no other way to the dungeon as long as the boss is not defeated. In other words, each vast disc shaped floor of the floating castle, is essentially divided into a number of different areas.

This second floor was divided into a vast north area and a narrow south area, which was where the field boss was located. Its name was «Bullbous Bow», probably the portmanteau of a bull(male cow) and a bulbous bow(A bulbous bow on a ship, used to reduce drag), and, as its name indicated, it was a gigantic cow which had moves reminiscent of a battleship's heavy ramming when it lunged forward.

With its four horns close to the ground, its sturdy forelegs pawing the earth, as the four meter tall monster looked down on from far away, I whispered casually.

"That, I wonder if it's black brown skin is supposed to be Kuroge Wagyu beef……"

Then, an curt response from beside me.

"The meat drop, if we get it we can divide it up for eating."

"Mu…………"

For a moment, I seriously considered it. Aincrad's animal based monsters, upon their defeat may drop food based items like «XX's meat» or «XX's egg», which are actually edible. About its taste, they were rich in variation compared to the NPC restaurants within the area―― in short, it can be said that while there are tasty ones, there were also some that are not tasty.

The «Trembling Ox» that walks proudly in the second floor's fields had meat which was so stringy that even though you chewed and continued eternally chewing, unfortunately, it wouldn't be chewed through, but there were the occasional «Cow» which were so-so. In other words, the existence of the boss of the cows on the second floor, Bullbous-kun's meat might not be even more delicious, as I did not try it during the beta period, so I considered it ――.

"If that's the case, let's start."

At that voice and a nudge of the elbow, I quickly went back at looking at the field below.

I, the one handed sword user Kirito, who for some reason partied with the rapier user Asuna for two days consecutively, was on top of a small table mountain, which overlooked the Field Boss's den. The shrubs that grew at the edge was good camouflage, we shouldn't be seen from below.

The elliptical shape of the basin which was two hundred meters at its longest and fifty meters at its shortest, and within it was what was a Bullbous Bull that looked like it had been aggroed, and in front of it was a tight formation of raiders gradually closing in. The line up was two parties of six and a reserve party of three, a total of fifteen people.

Even though the raid against the first floor boss, the Kobold king, consisting forty people, seemed a little unreliable, the field boss was basically defeatable with one party  so long as it was at the appropriate level, without the need of forming a raiding group. So, a force of fifteen people could be considered more than sufficient ―― Furthermore, if they meet the prerequisite levels, they should be able to use the boss's fighting patterns and weaknesses well by working together closely.

"Hn......?"

While watching the raid, i gave out a small sound, and at the same time Asuna whispered.

"In that party, I wonder which are the tanks and which are the attackers."

"Y, Yes…… Somehow, it looks as though they both have a similar configuration."

The gigantic Kuroge Wagyu Bullbous Bow, with the body the size of a small mountain, was a boss that had a basic simple attack of rush-> turn->rush repeatedly. The two raid parties should use the tank members to act as the target against the continuous rushing and block it, while the attacking members to deal damage to it from the side and front.

However, from what I could see, there seemed to be no differences between the six individuals in both parties. Both seemed to have members that wear the same type of heavy armor for protection, and had the similar light equipment for attacking.

I strained my eyes staring from the summit three hundred meters away, eventually noticed something and made a noise.

"Ah……, Those guys, take a look at their cloth equipment under their armor."

"Eh? ……ah, it's true, the colors match the party."

It was difficult for me to tell from the metal and leather armor, but according to Asuna, the six to the right wore Royal Blue doublets, while the six opposite them, to the left, seemed to wear the same Moss Green.

If it is the method to determine who belongs in which party, then placing a sash of a different colour would be the normal method, and the color of blue and green were so close to each other as well, meeting halfway. In other words, those matching colors were not temporary, but should be thought of as belonging to the original group that claimed it ――.

"……Those guys, their raid forces were not reorganized for this battle."

In a voice that was getting more urgent, Asuna made certain my assumption.

"The right side's blue party is all comprised of Lind-san's…… in other words originally Diabel's comrades. In addition to that, the left's green party is Kibaou's comrades. It is true, those two do not feel like they are close accomplices.

"……Well, if the trusted comrades party was divided, maybe they decided the six of them weren't enough……"

"But if that is the case, the cooperation between the parties would be bad, wouldn't it. The situation with that boss, I can't think of a more important method than a target party and an attacking party method."

"I completely agree with you."

Immediately after I nodded deeply, the twelve people began to gradually move forward, finally stepping into the boss's reaction zone.

Bullmo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o――!! With that great roar, the craggy mountains three hundred meters trembled and shook. Pure white smoke began spewing out from the Bullbous Bow's nose, and it tossed its four horns around fiercely, then the bull began to recklessly…… no, vigorously rush forward.

The distance between the boss and the raid was only a hundred and fifty meters, so it looked as though there should have been a sufficient delay to react before contact, and the vision from the safe zone should have allowed them plenty of spare time. The players on the battlefield should have seen Bullbous move almost instantly.

While I worried about impatiently during the delay, the leaders of both parties finally gave instructions to their comrades in their party. As expected, I couldn't hear its contents, but both the party's heavy warriors stood out front, and hollered "UOOOO!!" loudly at the same time they lifted up their shields.

That wasn't a basic battlecry, it was a «Howl» based skill. It would increase the amount of the monster's hate toward them, drawing fire from the monsters. ―― But.

"O,Oi oi……Are both of them gonna be the target against it……"

As I muttered involuntarily, Bullbous decided which of the two warriors it was going to thrust its head into for a while, flicking it's head left and right, then finally decided on the blue party and charged ahead. The howl using player, and another player bearing a shield beside him, both took up defensive positions.

Two seconds later――.

Zugaaaan! With a loud noise, the giant cow slammed into the two warriors. If the defense here was not enough they would have been sent flying and take a lot of damage, but the two managed to withstand it despite being pushed around ten meters backwards, and counter pushed the cow's head. The remaining four members of Lind's party rushed in, using their sword skills to inflict damage on its unarmed flank.

"That was nerve wracking……. ――But, how did that happen…… I wonder"

Asuna said in a rigid voice, and I nodded at a slight angle.

"That's…… right. Originally, the boss can be defeated with a single party…… But then……"

Frowning as I moved my line of sight, Kibaou's green warriors did not join in the attack, remaining a distance away. On the contrary, their tanks were out front, ready to use howl again once the cooldown was over.

"……This means, they are not acting as a raid party, but rather they're fighting over the mob. It may be fine now, but I wonder if it will be fine later……"

Saying that with a sigh, I suddenly came to realization.

In the twelve members of the front lines, they were divided into exact halves of Lind's team and Kibaou's team, so which team does the reserve three belong to? Looking away from the battlefield, I gazed at the three players waiting in the rear.

At that moment.

"U……!?"

I gave off a low voice. Asuna who was beside me looked at me with a questioning look, so I leaned forward, reducing the space between us to answer.

Standing in the middle of the three people, was a well built one handed swordsman. With black bandit armor covering him up, his head was covered by a pointy onion shaped bassinet―― Certainly――.