"Kill him!"
For one very brief moment, just a fraction of a second, Shigio considered that he might have pushed the murderer too far.
And then he decided that he simply did not give a fuck!
Red-Eyed XaXa and his merry band of killers had come here with one sole objective in mind: to slaughter Keita and his friends. And they would have succeeded, if it wasn't for the fact Shigio had some free time in his hands and decided to tag along.
The shield-user didn't regret ordering the others to run and leave him behind. They were younger, softer, and most of all, not frontliners.
It was an important distinction. One the red players seemed to have forgotten, if their stunned shock after he killed the first was anything to go by.
"..."
He had killed someone. In the brief slice of eternity between XaXa ordering his death and the closest red player descending on him in a rage, Shigio had time to acknowledge that fact.
He couldn't find it in him to care. Not now. And he wasn't going to live long enough to ponder if it was a sin or a divine duty that he had performed.
That was the truth. Shigio wasn't under any illusions that he would survive this fight. Frontliner or not, it was 1 against 11, and Laughing Coffin were exceptionally skilled at fighting other players. Far more than him, no doubt.
But he would be damned if he didn't drag some more of them down with him.
...He wasn't sure he could do that, actually. He was a tank, not a damage dealer. Killing the first one was already the result of a mix of the element of surprise, higher levels, better equipment, and one lucky crit with his Fissure.
He had lost the former, and the latter was down to luck. His only advantages over Laughing Coffin now were his frontline-tier level and skill proficiency, and Forge Master Lisbeth's equipment.
Honestly, even Shigio had been surprised by how easy eliminating the red player had been. He guessed Laughing Coffin wasn't used to their targets actually fighting back. And spending their days stalking, tormenting, and killing low-level players hadn't done them any favors in regards to their own levels either.
Now, with the rest jumping him together, and prepared for him, their arrogance gone, he didn't believe it would be nearly as easy to take them down.
Blocking the first slashing dagger was simple, and a Shield Wall softened the next two attacks. But he couldn't avoid the hatchet that buried into his side, nor the sword stabbed at his legs.
Shigio took all the hits without a sound. Both because he wouldn't give Laughing Coffin the satisfaction of hearing him falter, and because he was thinking.
He needed to find the weak link. XaXa, despite how much Shigio wished to bash his head in, wasn't it. The estoc-wielder was staying back, allowing the other red players to whittle down Shigio's HP little by little.
No, the weak link was one of the other murderers. They attacked him in groups of 3 or 4. Most were blocked, but there was always one or two who managed to slip an attack past his guard. After all, Shigio's shield could only block one direction at a time.
"Die!"
There. He found it. One of the red players overextended, emboldened by the lack of reaction from the Reaver.
Big mistake.
When the Laughing Coffin player, a man about a head shorter than Shigio, wearing a tattered hood and a bandana covering the lower half of his face, tried to sink his tomahawk in the back of the tank's knees, Shigio suddenly spun around, willingly exposing his back to the other red players.
"What the-"
His shield was interposed in the path of the tomahawk with a Brace, which swiftly turned into a Counterforce before the red player could react.
The murderer blinked in confusion when the shield was suddenly slammed into his face, before a hand grabbed his neck.
Martial Arts: Overturn. Sky and ground seemed to change places for the red player as Shigio threw him over his shoulder and smashed him into the ground. Then, in an eerie repeat of what had happened just minutes earlier, a Fissure almost tore him apart.
"Ack! Motherfucker! I'm gonna kill you!"
It wasn't enough to end the red player, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Relief which quickly turned to rage as he snarled up at Shigio, only to freeze when he met the frontliner's cold glare.
Shigio was staring at him unflinching. Swords, daggers, hatchets, and all manners of weapons and skills cut into the Reaver's back, and he ignored all of them.
For a moment, the red player wondered if this was how all the people he had hurt and killed felt right before they died. Then he stopped thinking altogether, because Shigio's shield crushed his head to shards.
The red player's body was still imploding when he turned around and used Mountain Power to shake off the other Laughing Coffin members clinging to his back like ticks.
"That's two."
A quick glance to the top left of his HUD showed that his determination to finish off that one red player had come at a cost. Shigio's HP was in the yellow, and dangerously close to red.
The Reaver didn't show any outwards signs of being fazed by his low health. His glare locked onto the Laughing Coffin player he had identified as the second weakest.
"One more. I can kill one more."
He didn't wait for them to react to his words. An Unrepentant Charge brought him right next to his target, and Shigio crashed into him so hard the red player was sent tumbling head over heels.
Skills cut into him, and he blocked some with minute adjustments of his body and shield. Most hit him, tearing away at his health bit by bit.
For a moment, Shigio thought he would get to kill a third Laughing Coffin player. A combination of Shield Bash and Martial Arts: Brick Break had left the murderer with less than 20% of his HP.
But then Shigio stiffened. He tried to use Fissure again, but his body wouldn't move. Even without the blinking yellow lightning bolt symbol in his HUD, the tank recognized the feeling of paralysis.
"Fuck... Now that little shit Black is never gonna let me live down that I had to use one of his stupid bitch-ass poison needles!"
XaXa's rough swearing came from behind him, and Shigio cursed in his mind. He had lost sight of the most dangerous Laughing Coffin player during the battle.
"It's all your fault you stupid motherfucker! Die!"
Shigio closed his eyes. He had taken down two of them. Could have been better, but then again, considering the circumstances, he had already done pretty damn well. Most of all because Keita, Sachi, and Tetsuo were long gone now, and that was what mattered the most.
But the expected feeling of XaXa's estoc piercing his back never came, even as Shigio crumbled to one knee due to the paralysis.
Instead, there was a short scream and the tell-tale sound of something dying. Shigio opened his eyes to see XaXa stabbing the empty ground where, just moments ago, Shigio's almost third victim had been.
"Motherfucking fucker fucking stupid son of A BITCH BASTARD CUNT!!!"
The fit of rage went on for nearly an entire minute, XaXa's guildmates wisely choosing to stay clear out of his way and as quiet as possible. Even amongst Laughing Coffin he was considered insane.
"Heh. I'm counting that as my kill. After all, I did most of the work. Three is a good number."
Everyone but Shigio, who leaned on his shield and sneered at XaXa. After all the combined attacks he had received, the Reaver only had a sliver of health left. And yet, he showed not one iota of fear as he mocked XaXa.
"If you want to take out a few more, though, be my guest, XaXa. I could do with a show."
"You bit-"
XaXa spun around, what little of his face that could be seen contorted in fury. His estoc lashed out, the tip stopping mere centimeters away from Shigio's exposed throat.
"Haa... Haa... Hahahahaha! You crazy motherfucker! Kekekekekekekeke!"
Then XaXa started laughing again, madness back in his gaze, and Shigio frowned. They couldn't have that now, could they?
"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you, XaXa. You know one advantage tower shields have, besides their powerful defense?"
Thrown into a loop by the non-sequitur, XaXa stopped guffawing. Shigio grinned, every bit as mad as his soon-to-be killer.
"They cover the whole body. Makes it ever so easy to type a message without anyone noticing."
Not just XaXa's, but all of the red players' eyes widened at that. This... This wasn't part of the plan.
"I might not have known it was you, but I could tell something was wrong. And I managed to get a message out before your ambush."
Shigio's eyes turned towards the direction of the safe zone, and Laughing Coffin, unwilling, followed his gaze. There was nothing in that direction but the blinding glare of the sun.
That, and some blurry shapes growing larger by the second.
"Heh. Broken Spear Drifter is already on the way, red player. My only regret is that I won't get to watch him stab your heart out."
"Raaaarrrgh!"
XaXa roared, a sound of guttural rage from the depths of his being. Shigio saw the estoc jerk forward. Felt it pierce his throat and come out the back of his neck.
Shigio didn't die smiling.
[ YOU DIED ]
He died smirking like a bastard who knew he had won.
---------------------
XaXa's already unstable psyche was nearing the point of rupture after going through the veritable roller-coaster of emotions that was this whole mess.
First, unbridled joy at finally being allowed out of his leash to hunt down Reaver's Requiem and other frontliners. Then dumbfounded shock at how easily Shigio took down one of his guild members. Dark disappointment when 10 red players struggled to bring down a single Reaver. Unmitigated rage at how Shigio almost managed to kill 3 of them before he was forced to interfere. Short-lived happiness at the idea of finally killing him.
And then, last and final, unease and a spark of fear when Shigio revealed he had contacted the rest of his guild.
A spark that lit up the fuse of his brittle self-control. Even killing Shigio didn't do anything to douse it.
"Kekekekekeke... Hahahahehehhe!"
XaXa didn't even realize it was him who was laughing at first. The kind of hacking laughter that sounded insane even to his ears.
He just. Didn't. Care.
"Kekekekekeke!"
"XaXa!"
He felt more than saw the spear flying at his head. It was just dropping into a crouch that saved him from losing it.
On his heels, watching the shards of what had once been Shigio blink out of existence around him, XaXa saw the murderous glare Broken Spear directed at him. His spear already back in his hands, the frontliner's gaze promised a painful death to any who got in his way, and, most of all, XaXa.
Other Reavers were with him. Black Swordsman Kirito, Lightning Flash Asuna, Aero Huntress Sinon, Precise Blade Ran, Untamed Storm Yuuki, Dark Elf Kizmel, and, to XaXa's surprise, the three Black Cats, Keita, Sachi, and Tetsuo.
"Kekekekekekeke!"
XaXa couldn't stop laughing.
-------------------------
17 minutes earlier.
[ Shigio: Trouble. Need hwlp npw. ]
Drifter stared at the message he had received for a full 3 seconds. The errors meant Shigio was typing blind, and the fact he limited it to just as many words as were necessary meant Shigio wasn't sure when he would enter combat and become unable to send messages.
That was what crossed Drifter's mind in the first 3 seconds. Then he spent the next 7 typing messages to Shigio, Keita, Sachi, and Tetsuo. He was the one who put them down as a material gathering party today, after all.
When none responded, he knew things had already gone to shit. Which was why, a full 10 seconds after Shigio sent his message, Drifter looked up to his party and yelled.
"Teleport Crystals, now! Shigio's group is being attacked!"
The rest of his party started, but Drifter was already pulling out the crystal, and they followed suit.
No sooner had they appeared on the 42nd floor safe zone, Drifter was already sprinting towards the teleporter, the others hot on his heels.
"Asuna, find where they are! Kirito, message everyone, tell them to get ready and get moving! Griselda, contact Argo, tell her we have a situation and need her on standby!"
None of them verbally acknowledged his orders, but Drifter knew they were being followed, even as the frontliners rushed through the streets, shoving players and NPCs alike aside.
"Got them! 22nd floor, by the lake! And- Ceba's with them?"
Asuna stumbled over her words, the last sentence coming out as a question. She couldn't fantom what Ceba could have to do with Shigio's party getting in trouble.
Drifter had an inkling. And as he stepped into the teleporter, ignoring the cries of outrage from the players he cut off, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
There was only one thing he could think of that would threaten a strong player like Shigio on a floor as low as the 22nd: other players. And there was only one group who would attack a frontliner of Reaver's Requiem in broad daylight.
"Laughing Coffin."
"What?"
Stepping out of the teleporter in Coral Village, the spearmaster needed only one second to reorient himself before again breaking out in a dead sprint.
"Laughing Coffin. It has to be them."
His party paled. And from the look of sheer panic in Yuna's face when the group his wife was part of emerged from the teleporter, she must have arrived at the same conclusion.
"Asuna, where are the others?"
"On the way. And- It looks like Keita, Tetsuo, and Sachi are coming back. Fast. Shigio's staying behind with Ceba."
They were at the gates now, and Drifter had to visibly hold himself back from just bursting through. If this really was Laughing Coffin, going off half-cocked would only be more dangerous.
He swiped a finger and opened his menu, more specifically his map. Now that they were on the same floor, it showed more details, and he could see that Shigio was moving around a lot.
More importantly, as guild leader, he could also see his health gauge, even though they weren't in the same party. And it was running out fast.
"We can't wait anymore. Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, Kizmel, Ran, Yuuki, we are going. Everyone else stays here and waits for the others. Yuna, I want you to message Akari. She'll know what to do."
There was no time to question his choices. He had gone for speed and attacking power over a more cohesive build, but Shigio simply didn't have time.
With a nod from the songstress, Drifter and the others set off, running as fast as they could.
They all knew it would be too late.