"GWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Drifter couldn't see PoH, but he could hear him. Everybody could. The fucker hadn't stopped laughing, cackling madly, except to catch his breath every now and again.
So that was who Red-Eyed XaXa got it from.
"Arghh!"
Of course, even if PoH and some of the more twisted red players were laughing, it was cries of pain and fear that dominated the air.
Drifter wasn't sure how many frontliners had died. Some, at the very least. He had witnessed a few.
After he finished off Hunter Grendel - the man was skilled enough with his ax to be a frontliner, although he didn't have the levels or stats to match - at the cost of a third of his HP, the first thing Drifter had seen was a DKB and a Laughing Coffin player ducking it out in the chaotic meele.
No, it wasn't right to call it a fight. Lind's man was absolutely demolishing the red player. He had only taken a few cuts, not even enough to push him to yellow, while the Laughing Coffin member was a literal finger flick away from death.
And yet, like Drifter knew he would, the DKB player stayed his sword at the last second. Both the weapon and his voice trembled as he spoke to the hooded red player.
"S-Surrender! Or I will s-strike you d-down!"
The red player was silent for a whole two seconds before he burst out laughing.
"Hehehehehe! Will you now!? Let's put it to the test!"
The spearmaster knew what was going to happen the moment the DKB player stopped, and he threw his weapon in a Serpentcoil Impale, which veered wildly off course as a red player sneaked up in him and sliced into his unguarded back.
"Fuck!"
Cursing, the spearmaster had turned around and delivered a powerful uppercut to the red player's jaw with a Martial Arts: Sendai, forgetting about the DKB player and his quarry for the moment. He could only hope he would do what was necessary.
Meanwhile, Drifter was in a dangerous situation of his own. He needed to interact with his menu to recall his spear. It was just two swipes and one click, but doing that while getting attacked was a whole other story.
So instead, he used the precious half-second his hasty Sendai had bought him - it would have been more if he had time to charge the attack, but he would take what he got - to mash blindly through his menu, once again glad for Infinite Spear. While not having his weapon in hand meant he couldn't change it with just a thought like he usually did, it was still faster than any other player.
The bo-staff hit the red player in the gut, causing him to double over, and it was all Drifter needed to change his weapon to a polearm, which he tore up in a Vertical.
A change to his trusty spear and a Snake Bite-Dirty Play combo later, and Drifter had killed his second Laughing Coffin of the day. The fifth life he had taken overall.
At this point, he was far past caring if how okay he was with that number made him a monster or whatnot. His head swiveled around, and he cursed when he saw the red player he aimed his Serpentcoil Impale at earlier, while the DKB swordsman was nowhere in sight.
Damn it to all hells. Why couldn't they have listened to him!? Stop hesitating. Kill the fucking red players.
Broken Spear Drifter followed his own internal monolog to a tee. The red player was still cackling when the spearmaster ran him through the back with a Sting.
And that was only one of the cases of frontliners dying because they couldn't bring themselves to kill that the guild master saw. There were others. Too many others.
He had known this raid would be a mess from the start. They were pitting good people, people who, while not entirely selfless, risked their lives everyday for the sake of others, against unrepentant murderers who delighted in the carnage.
But even if he hadn't expected it to be clean, he didn't think it would be this bad. The Assault Team might outnumber, out-level, out-skill, out-everything Laughing Coffin, but the red players had a determination to be monsters to the bitter end that the frontliners lacked.
Instead of one cohesive unit like they should be, like they had always been, the Assault Team was scattered, fighting multiple individual battles, or ganging up in singular red players.
The latter would have been a good tactic, and one Drifter advocated, if the frontliners got serious and actually took down the red players, instead of flitting around them and calling for their surrender. Like that would do something.
Laughing Coffin wasn't going to surrender, and Drifter was almost - almost - glad for it.
Almost, because Drifter's bloodlust wasn't worth the lives they were losing to the mad players.
But it was what it was. And as Drifter killed a fourth person, he caught glimpses of the battle around him.
The first ones his eyes sought were, of course, his guildmates. But in the press of bodies, the only ones he could see were Agil and Wolv, still dueling Johnny 'Alchemist' Black.
For a moment he thought about going there to help them, but he caught sight of Chuchulainn getting pushed by a Laughing Coffin player, and took a detour. Agil and Wolv could handle themselves. And this was somewhat personal to them.
-------------------------
"Kekeke! That all ya can do?"
Outwardly, Johnny Black was still laughing and mocking the two Reaver's Requiem merchants. Inside, however, his mind was running at full speed so he could just barely keep up with the two frontliners.
They wanted him dead, that much was obvious. Their attacks carried no hesitation whatsoever, and Johnny Black was sure that, unlike most of the other frontliners outside of Reaver's Requiem, those two wouldn't give him a chance to surrender.
He just wasn't sure why they wanted him dead so much. Other than the obvious, that is.
So he asked them.
"Any reason why ya surly fuckers are singling me out?"
Agil's answer was to growl, while Wolv attempted to take his head off with a swing of his mace.
There was a reason, of course. XaXa had been the one to kill Shigio, and logically the two Reavers knew their friend would have died anyway. But still, when Ceba told them that Shigio had died on his knees because XaXa used a nail coated in paralyzing poison, their anger had erupted. And then later, when they learned from Argo that Johnny Black was Laughing Coffin's poison specialist, they decided he had to die, and that they would be the ones to kill him.
It wasn't logical, and it probably wasn't sane either. But both Agil and Wolv were past the point of caring. Losing Namate to a floor boss had been one thing. They all accepted that was a possibility when they joined the Assault Team.
But the way Shigio died? To another player, monstrous they may have been?
Johnny 'Alchemist' Black would never learn any of that, mainly because neither of the Reavers would lower themselves to tell him or fall for his taunts.
The red player was a dead man already, and he somewhat felt it. He was managing get by - for now. But it was only because Agil and Wolv were being cautious of the various poisons and status effect potions Johnny Black was throwing around. He would run out sometime, and when that happened, so would his life.
Someone else would have cared, maybe even been slightly worried about that. Johnny Black?
He laughed.
"Kekekekek- Gwah!"
And stopped laughing when a glowing red arrow tore through his neck.
Johnny Black's gaze found the cold eyes of Aero Huntress Sinon on the other side of the room as she kowered her bow after firing the Searing Steam skill.
Those eyes were the second-to-last thing the Laughing Coffin executive saw before Agil's Cleave cut off both of his legs at the knee, and Wolv's mace filled his vision.
"Fuck."
------------------------
"Yes! You go, girl!"
Trisha could have kissed the archer. Watching her husband and Hana's boyfriend having to constantly dodge the nasty looking throwing picks and nails Johnny 'Alchemist' Black was flicking at them had been nerve-wracking.
The two women barely processed that their lovers had just killed someone. They were far past the point of caring. Had been since Shigio died.
Now they were just glad this nightmare was one corpse closer to ending.
--------------------
Asada Izumi, mother of Sword Art Online's first and only bow-user, was clutching her hands and crying. Her tears hadn't stopped falling since the Prime Minister's speech.
Only, even Izumi didn't know how much of those tears were of fear for her daughter's life... And how much was from pride.
The incident years ago had shaken up both of them, badly. After all, you can't just walk away from watching your ten-years-old daughter shoot a robber to death - and it was obviously a thousand times worse to Sinon herself.
For years, her little girl had shut herself from the world, and, most painful, from her. She had been forced to change schools and even cities once word of what happened somehow spread. She was bullied, belittled, and feared by other kids her age, and even adults.
When Sinon got trapped in SAO, Izumi was fully convinced that was the end. Her daughter, who had already suffered through so much hurt and misery in her short life, would meet her end in a virtual world where Izumi could do nothing to help her.
Somehow, that wasn't what happened. Somehow, Sinon found friends, people who cared about her. Family.
She found the strength to get up and fight, to open up to others, to love again.
And even the strength to dirty her hands with blood again, to protect those she loved.
Izumi was so immensely proud of her little girl each step of the way. Terrified and scared for her, of course, but also proud. From when she saw her in the first boss raid broadcast, to watching the daily life of Reaver's Requiem after the 10th floor, witnessing her relationship with Yuuki bloom and grow...
Most of all, she was proud of how Sinon got to live again. Not a normal life by any means, but one worth living nonetheless.
And if she had to kill the Laughing Coffin players to protect that life? Izumi was going to be cheering her each step of the way.
----------------------
The sudden blossom of warmth in her chest was so out of place that it threw Sinon's aim off. Instead of the headshot she was gunning for, the White Streak skill 'only' hit the target red player in the shoulder.
For a wasteful handful of seconds, the Aero Huntress wondered why she was suddenly feeling that way. Then she chalked it up battle stress, and drew her bow again.
"There. Left over your shoulder."
Next to her, Yuna had her eyes closed, listening. She didn't even notice Sinon helping Agil and Wolv. Her entire focus was being split between two things: playing her music, and finding Luring Voice Camer.
The only female member of Laughing Coffin's executives was being a pain. In seemingly mockery of Yuna's efforts - but a skillful one - she was using her music solely to counteract the Songstress' melodies.
Whenever Yuna played a song, protected by Sinon and Nautilus, Camer's discordant notes would come from somewhere around them, and always a different spot, disturbing her rhythm and inflicting debuffs on the Assault Team.
Debuffs the red player were using to great effectiveness. Even with Sinon on the lookout, they had lost a few frontliners because they were suddenly afflicted with 'fear' or 'slow'.
Of course, if Yuna so wished, she could give back just as good as she got. Better, even. Although Reaver's Requiem's Songstress would admit Camer was quite skilled, it was still a far cry from her own level.
But unlike Yuna, who wanted the least amount of death amongst her allies as possible, and was thus focusing only on buffing them, Camer couldn't give a damn about the rest of the red players.
Which was what led to this deadly game of cat and mouse, where every few minutes Yuna would utilize her incredible hearing to uncover where Camer was hiding, and direct Sinon to fire that way, only for the Laughing Coffin singer to tank the hit and disappear for a while, then come back looking none the worse for wear.
"Eiji, you should go."
Nautilus didn't even react to Yuna's slip up, a sign of how tense both of them were.
"Not a chance in hell. You and Sinon are the two most vulnerable players in the Assault Team. And those fuckers would like nothing more than to kill you. I'm not leaving your side."
"But-"
"But nothing, Yun'."
The two childhood friends glared at each other for a moment, before Sinon stepped between them, loosening an arrow at a red player who was sneaking up on Griselda.
"Actually, Yuna has a point, Nautilus."
"Not you too, Sinon. I already said-"
"Yeah, I know what you said. And I also know it was Drifter who told you to stay by our side, as if you weren't planning to do that already. But with him lost in this mess, and everyone else scattered, someone needs to go kill this bitch. She's causing more damage than half of Laughing Coffin combined."
"We'll get someone else to do it. Agil-"
"-Is already occupied again. Nautilus. Go."
It was an order, and no one mistook it for anything else, lest of all Nautilus. And while he didn't have to follow Sinon's orders...
"Grr! You better not die or I'll kill you!"