"Alright, Yamikaze. Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Time to crash the party!"
Having agreed to Shana's plan, the two veterans moved to the front of the derelict building and took up their sniping positions.
"Two guards, two of us. I'd say we start with the basics," Tarako muttered.
"Against targets that aren't even moving? I don't think I could miss if I tried," Yamikaze replied.
"Alright. Three... two... one... Fire!"
The two gunshots overlapped so perfectly they sounded like a single crack of thunder. Both guards crumpled to the ground instantly.
"Go, Yamikaze! I'm right behind you!"
"Leave it to me! I'm gonna light up the sky!"
Leveraging his massive AGI stat, Yamikaze sprinted toward the entrance. He checked his timer for a split second, then lobbed a handful of grenades into the lobby. Simultaneously, on the other side of the building, Ikoma checked his own watch and fired the multipurpose launcher.
The sound of the grenades masked the heavy thud of the wire harpoon sinking into the concrete of the roof. Not a single enemy inside noticed the second breach.
"Go, Shana-san! Please... save Rosalia-san!" Ikoma shouted into his comms.
"Leave it to me. Move the Humvee to the front and be ready for a hot extraction."
"Understood!"
Ikoma gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. Though he was still getting used to the controls, he managed to maneuver the massive vehicle to a position where it dominated the front entrance.
"Now... how are those three doing?" Ikoma whispered. He could just barely see into the lobby, but the combat had moved deep into the building's interior.
"Hah! The diversion worked like a charm!"
"Sorry for the wait, Yamikaze." Tarako caught up, his rifle at the ready.
"No worries. Let's get loud!"
The two charged up to the second floor. Yamikaze lunged forward, a blur of motion. The enemies turned their guns on him, lead filling the air—crack, crack, crack! But Yamikaze danced through the fire, his AGI allowing him to weave between the bullets. While the enemies were distracted by the ghost in their midst, Tarako picked them off with clinical precision. The first floor was cleared in minutes.
"Hey, Tarako," Yamikaze said, reloading. "Wasn't that last guy one of your squadron members?"
"Hmm? Yeah, definitely."
"...You okay with that?"
"I told them: if they stood against Shana, they'd be standing against me. Maybe they thought I was joking. That's their mistake."
"Damn. Cold as ice, aren't you?"
"I have zero interest in protecting cowards who kidnap women," Tarako said flatly.
"On that, we are in total agreement."
They reached the stairwell to the third floor.
"That's a hell of a door," Yamikaze noted, looking at a reinforced metal barrier.
"That has to be the way up... but if we just kick it open, we're going to be turned into swiss cheese."
"Any ideas?"
Tarako looked around the hallway and spotted a heavy office chair. "Let's use that chair as a ram."
"I like it. I've always been a fan of the 'brute force' approach."
They hurled the chair against the door, forcing it ajar. Immediately, a storm of bullets hissed through the gap. The two veterans ducked back into cover.
"Judging by the rate of fire, I'd say seven or eight shooters?" Tarako guessed.
"Sounds about right. What's next?"
"After the brute force comes the finesse," Tarako smirked. He pulled a spare jacket from his inventory and draped it over another chair. "I'm going to shove this chair into their line of sight on the left. They'll all snap to it. The second they do, you toss this in."
He handed Yamikaze a flashbang.
"Oho? Blind 'em while they're looking through their scopes?"
"They'll go from predators to scarecrows in a heartbeat."
"My heart's racing already!"
The moment Tarako shoved the chair into the room, the enemies opened fire on the "decoy." Yamikaze lobbed the flashbang with perfect timing. A brilliant white light filled the room, and the two veterans stormed in, slaughtering the blinded players before they could recover.
"Yes!" Yamikaze cheered.
"My heart is pumping now!" Tarako laughed.
But their celebration was premature. A single player who had been shielded from the blast by a pillar suddenly emerged from a back corner. He leveled a high-caliber rifle at Yamikaze and fired.
The bullet took Yamikaze directly in the chest. He collapsed instantly. Tarako's eyes went wide; he gunned down the attacker in a frenzy and rushed to his friend's side.
"Yamikaze! Hey! Talk to me!"
"Ugh... getting shot while I was gloating... how pathetic," Yamikaze wheezed. "I can't fly anymore... a bird that can't fly is just a... just a guy..."
"I have no idea what you're talking about! Stay with me!"
"Listen, Tarako... if Rosalia-chan is okay... tell her... tell her Yamikaze fought like a demon for her. And... if it's not too much to ask... tell her I really wanted to grope her chest just once..."
"I am absolutely not telling her that! Shana would kill me! Yamikaze! Yamikaze!"
Suddenly, a metallic object clattered to the floor from Yamikaze's chest area. It was the slug from the high-caliber rifle.
"...Wait."
"What is it? I'm dying, man! Tell her about the chest!"
"Yamikaze, you aren't bleeding. At all."
"What? I took a round to the heart! There should be a hole in my—wait. There isn't?!"
"Is this... is this because of that vest Ikoma gave us?"
"The vest?! He wasn't kidding about the stats?!"
Just before the operation started, Ikoma had handed them two sets of tactical gear.
"What's this?"
"It's a prototype of our team's specialized armor. It acts like a high-end ballistic vest. It's designed to prevent critical hits to vital organs. Please, use it."
"Hah! Sounds like a good luck charm. We'll take it."
"Incredible. It actually stopped a point-blank high-caliber round," Yamikaze breathed.
"Even a real-world ballistic vest would struggle with that," Tarako noted. "Ikoma's craftsmanship is on another level."
"Long live Ikoma! I take back every joke I ever made!"
"I'm just glad you're alive, man."
"Yeah, thanks, Tarako. But listen... we need to talk."
"About what?"
"Everything I just said? The thing about the chest? It was a joke. A delirium. A fever dream. Please, for the love of God, do not let that reach Shana's ears."
Tarako gave him a cynical, knowing smirk. "Don't sweat it. I've had the same thought before, so I get it."
"A fellow man of culture! I knew I could count on you!"
"I didn't hear a word. Now, let's get to the next floor."
"Right!"
They moved to the next level and felt the air change. There was a sense of frantic movement inside the main room. The players inside weren't looking at the stairs; they were staring in terror at the back door.
"Wait... is that...?"
"Yeah. Shana must have made it down from the roof."
"The plan?"
"Flank them and kill everyone."
"Simple. I like it."
Just as they were about to breach, a series of agonized screams erupted from inside. The two veterans paused and peeked through the door.
One by one, black blades—looking like obsidian spikes—erupted through the chest or head of the players inside. With every strike, another player dissolved into digital dust.
"...Those black spikes. Any idea what those are?" Yamikaze whispered.
"No clue. I assume Shana is behind it, but I've never seen a weapon like that."
"There goes another one."
"'And then there were none,' huh?"
"Wait. Someone's coming."
Footsteps echoed from the back of the room. The heavy metal door groaned open, and Shana emerged. He was carrying Rosalia in a proper Princess Carry.
"Rosalia-chan!" Yamikaze called out.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Tarako asked, rushing forward.
"Tarako-san! Yamikaze-san!" Rosalia's voice was shaky. "I'm so sorry for making you do this."
"Nonsense. Don't worry about it."
"Exactly. Are you alright, though?"
Shana's voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "They cut her tendons and blinded her. Her stats have regenerated her sight and movement, but her legs are still weak. I'm carrying her out."
The two veterans froze. A second later, a wave of incandescent rage washed over them.
"Those pieces of shit," Tarako spat. "They don't even know the difference between 'playing a game' and being a monster."
"If I see any of them in the city, I'm going to personally hunt them until they delete their accounts," Yamikaze growled.
"Wait!" Rosalia said, trying to calm them.
"No," Tarako said. "I'm not letting this go."
"Even if it's your request, Rosalia-chan, I can't look the other way," Yamikaze added.
"No, listen to me!" Rosalia urged. She quickly explained the existence of Laughing Coffin and how this entire abduction might have been a set-up by the PK group.
Tarako's reaction was immediate and violent. "What?! Shana, are those bastards from Laughing Coffin really in GGO?"
"The odds are very high," Shana replied.
"I see. Dammit... if I find them, I'll make them regret ever logging in."
Rosalia looked at Tarako. "You... you know about Laughing Coffin?"
"Yeah. Back in SAO, my friend was almost murdered by them. Hachiman and a girl named Asuna were the ones who saved him."
Shana looked at the two men. "Rosalia... you can talk freely in front of these two. They aren't just allies. They're my... important friends."
Tarako and Yamikaze shared a high-five.
"YEAH!"
"Friendship status: ACHIEVED!"
"Ah..." Rosalia looked down, her expression turning somber. "Tarako-san... I have to tell you. Back in SAO, I was part of a group that worked for Laughing Coffin. If things had gone differently... I might have been the one who... who hurt your friend."
Tarako blinked, then gave her a warm, easy smile. "Is that so? But you're Shana's teammate now, aren't you? Then stop looking at the past. Just keep walking forward."
"Exactly," Yamikaze added. "Maybe you made a mistake back then, but you're doing the right thing now. That's what counts."
"Tarako-san... Yamikaze-san... thank you."
The three men looked at her with genuine warmth.
"Alright. Let's get back to Ikoma."
"Wait, before we go," Yamikaze said, pointing at the bodies that hadn't yet faded. "Shana, what were those black spikes? We saw them erupting through people's chests. It was terrifying."
"Yeah," Tarako added. "We were talking about it. Their HP bars just vanished."
"Oh, that? Hold on. Rosalia, hold tight."
Shana shifted Rosalia so he could support her with one arm and drew the AR from his waist.
"What is that?"
"Looks like a photon sword... but different."
"Wait, isn't a photon sword just a toy for roleplayers? No attack power, right?"
Shana nodded at them and ignited the blade. A beam of obsidian light hissed into existence.
"A black blade? It looks... ominous."
"That's it! That's what we saw!" Yamikaze shouted.
"Want a demonstration?" Shana asked with a faint grin. "Tarako, let me try to cut your arm."
"Hah! Go ahead. I've got high-tier anti-optical armor; it won't do a thing."
"You're sure?"
"Bring it on!" Tarako held out his arm.
Shana smiled and swung the blade. Tarako shrieked and yanked his arm back at the last second.
"WAAAGH!"
"Hahaha! Partner, that was a hell of a scream!" Yamikaze laughed.
"Shut up! Something about that felt... wrong! Like it was actually going to go through! You try it!"
"Fine! I'll show you how a real man takes a hit! But wait... Shana, let's test it on this iron pipe first."
Yamikaze held out a heavy iron pipe he'd picked up. In a blur of motion, Shana's black blade hummed through the air.
"Whoa! Don't startle me like that, Shana!" Yamikaze yelped.
Shana silently deactivated the blade and sheathed it, readjusting his hold on Rosalia.
"Nothing happened," Yamikaze noted. "I saw the blade pass through, but the pipe is—wait."
"A photon sword wouldn't even scratch that, right?" Tarako added.
"Yeah, I've tried. It's impossible."
"Shana, did you miss...?" Rosalia started to ask.
Clang.
A perfect, diagonal line appeared on the pipe. The top half slid off and hit the floor with a metallic ring.
"...What?"
"NO WAY!"
"Is that... a joke? Shana, one more time! Please!"
"Fine, fine. Special service for today only. Rosalia, sit here for a second."
Shana set Rosalia down in a nearby chair and drew both the AR and the AL.
"Two of them?!"
"Just watch."
Shana ignited both black blades.
"God, that looks cool..." Yamikaze whispered.
"Yamikaze, toss that pipe."
"You got it!"
Yamikaze threw the segment of pipe. As it whistled through the air, Shana became a whirlwind of motion. The two black blades danced, and a split second later, the pipe was reduced to half a dozen pieces that clattered to the floor.
"Wh—"
"What the hell?!"
"It's not a photon sword," Shana explained. "It's a Radiant Blade. Player-made. Functional."
"I've never even heard of such a thing!" Tarako shouted.
"Well, most players in this game aren't exactly master craftsmen," Shana noted. "This is what you saw through the door."
Shana stepped into a nearby room and thrust the AR through the closed door from the inside out.
"YES! That's it! That's the move!"
"So that's how he did it..."
Feeling a bit showy, Shana snapped the hilts together, forming the double-edged naginata. He spun it with hypnotic speed, shredding the wooden door into splinters in seconds. Tarako and Yamikaze watched as the "Sith-like" weapon hummed in Shana's hands.
"Incredible! It's like a sci-fi movie!"
"Beautiful... just beautiful!"
"Shana, you're a Je—"
"Stop right there, partner," Tarako cut Yamikaze off. "If you say that word, we're going to get a cease-and-desist letter from Hollywood for a billion dollars."
Shana deactivated the weapon. "If you ever find an item called a 'Radiant Unit,' give it to Ikoma. He can make one for you. Though mine are custom, so yours will probably look like the standard photon sword design."
"Wait, you'd let us have these?"
"Yeah. But don't go using them for PK-ing. As you saw, they're a bit... balance-breaking. I wouldn't even be using them if it weren't for today."
And so, Tarako and Yamikaze earned the right to have their own Radiant Blades crafted—though it would be after the third BoB before they finally found the necessary materials.
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