[F21 - SP] Shatter <<Betrayal of the King>>

[Bahr 0]

“To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils.”

Spoiler

STATS
LEVEL - 72
HP - 1470
EN - 144
DMG - 20
MIT - 79
ACC - 3
EVA - 4
FALLEN - 12
HOLY - 6
LD - 5
STEALTH DETECTION - 5
HOLY BLESSING - 24
BATTLE HEALING - 72
PHASE

HOME BUFFS
» WELL RESTED
     ➥ -1 EN FOR THE FIRST THREE TURNS OF COMBAT
» RELAXED
     ➥ +15 TO OUT OF COMBAT HP REGENERATION
     ➥ FULL ENERGY REGENERATION AFTER TWO POSTS OUT OF COMBAT
» SQUEAKY CLEAN
     ➥ REDUCE INCOMING DOT DAMAGE BY 25% FOR FIRST INCOMING DOT INFLICTED IN THREAD
» FILLING
     ➥ INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SINGLE CONSUMED FOOD ITEM IN A THREAD BY +1 T1 SLOT
» ITEM STASH
     ➥ +1 BATTLE-READY INVENTORY SLOT
» DELICIOUS
     ➥ COMBINE 3 IDENTICAL FOOD ITEMS INTO A FEAST ONCE PER THREAD
» SKYLIGHT SEARCHING
     ➥ SEARCHING EXPERTISE INCREASED BY 1
» ANGLER
     ➥ +1 MATERIAL GAINED WHILE FISHING
» MULTIPURPOSE
     ➥ GAIN +1 TO LD, STEALTH RATING, STEALTH DETECTION, OR PROSPERITY TO ONE POST IN A THREAD
     ➥ CAN BE APPLIED AFTER THE ROLL
» DECOR: <<SPOOKY AMENITY>>
     ➥ REDUCE INCOMING DOT DAMAGE BY 5% FOR FIRST INCOMING DOT INFLICTED IN THREAD
» KAMATETSU STATUE
     ➥ +1 DMG

SKILLS

NON-COMBAT SKILLS
» EXTENDED MOD LIMIT R3 
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ ALLOWS FOR THE USE OF ONE 3 ADDITIONAL MODS
» SEARCHING R4 >>> R5 WITH SKYLIGHT BUFF
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +5 LD
     ➥ +5 STEALTH DETECTION

COMBAT SKILLS
» PARRY
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ REDUCE FINAL DAMAGE OF NEXT ATTACK AGAINST YOU BY 50% (ROUNDED DOWN) AND NEGATES STUN/PARALYSIS EFFECT OF THAT ATTACK
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 2 TURNS
» BATTLE HEALING R5
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ WHILE IN COMBAT, USER HEALS FOR 5% (73 HP) OF THEIRMAX HP EACH TURN
» ENERGIZE
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ RESTORE 8 ENERGY TO TARGET PARTY MEMBER. CANNOT TARGET USER.
» CHARGE R2
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ +2 BASE DAMAGE TO A SINGLE ATTACK.
     ➥ -1 ACC DURING ATTACK

EXTRA SKILLS
» DISGUISE
     ➥ FREE ACTION
     ➥ +1 EVA UNTIL START OF YOUR NEXT TURN
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS
» MEDITATION
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ RECOVER AN ADDITIONAL 15 ENERGY - GETTING HIT BY AN ATTACK BEFORE YOUR NEXT TURN REDUCES ADDITIONAL ENERGY RECOVERY TO 9
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS

WEAPON SKILLS
» TWO-HANDED STRAIGHT SWORD R5
     ➥ +7 DMG WHEN TWO-HANDED WEAPON IS EQUIPPED

ARMOR SKILLS
» LIGHT ARMOR R5
     ➥ +25 MIT

MODS
» LIGHT ARMOR MOD: ATHLETICS
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +1 DMG WHEN WEARING LIGHT ARMOR
     ➥ +30 HP WHEN WEARING LIGHT ARMOR
» LIGHT ARMOR MOD: SPRINT & ACROBATICS
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +1 EVA WHEN WEARING LIGHT ARMOR
» PARRY MOD: JUSTIFIED RIPOSTE
     ➥ POST ACTION: COMBINE WITH PARRY
     ➥ SUCCESSFUL PARRY STUNS OPPONENT
          ➥ COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS
» WEAPON MOD: PRECISION
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +1 ACC
» WEAPON MOD: TWO-HANDED STRAIGHT SWORD FEROCITY
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +1 DMG WHEN USING 2HSS SWORD ARTS
» WEAPON MOD: TWO-HANDED STRAIGHT SWORD FINESSE R3
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ REDUCES THE EN COST OF TWO-HANDED STRAIGHT SWORD SWORD ARTS BY 3
» BATTLE HEALING MOD: EMERGENCY RECOVERY
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ WHEN PLAYER WOULD SUFFER NON-LETHAL DAMAGE THAT PUTS THEM BELOW 25% HP, HEAL 10% HP (147 HP) AFTER THE ATTACK RESOLVES
     ➥ CAN ONLY OCCUR ONCE PER THREAD
» ENERGIZE MOD: HYPERACTIVE
     ➥ POST ACTION
     ➥ INCREASE PASSIVE ENERGY RECOVERY OF PARTY MEMBER BY 3 FOR 3 TURNS. CAN TARGET USER.
» SEARCHING MOD: NIGHT VISION
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ IGNORES ANY PENALTIES FROM LOW LIGHT OR DARKNESS
     ➥ NEGATES BONUS ENEMY STEALTH RATING FROM LOW LIGHT OR DARKNESS
» SEARCHING MOD: REVEAL
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +2 LD WHEN SEARCHING FOR SUB-DUNGEONS OR LABYRINTHS
     ➥ USER CAN SEARCH FOR SUB-DUNGEON ONCE EVERY 15 POSTS
     ➥ USER CAN SEARCH FOR LABYRINTH ONCE EVERY 3 POSTS
» SEARCHING MOD: DETECT
     ➥ PASSIVE
     ➥ +2 STEALTH DETECTION
     ➥ +1 LD WHEN SEARCHING FOR SUB-DUNGEONS OR LABYRINTHS

EQUIPMENT

WEAPON
» [EQUIPPED] "DAWN'S DEMISE" - TWO-HANDED STRAIGHT SWORD (T3 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ FALLEN 2
          ➥ +12 TO BASE DAMAGE ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 6-8
     ➥ HOLY
          ➥ +6 TO BASE DAMAGE ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 9 OR HIGHER
     ➥ PHASE
          ➥ IGNORES 50% OF MIT ON NATURAL ROLLS OF 9 OR HIGHER

ARMOR
» [EQUIPPED] "BLOODSTAINED COAT" - LIGHT ARMOR (T3 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ +54 MIT
     ➥ +1 EVA
     ➥ HOLY BLESSING
          ➥ AFTER TAKING DAMAGE, USER HEALS 24 HP AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FOLLOWING TURN

TRINKET
» [EQUIPPED] "EAGLE'S EYE" - TRINKET (T1 - DEMONIC)
     ➥ +2 EVA
     ➥ +2 ACC

FAMILIAR
» [EQUIPPED] SWINE BAJESUS R3
     ➥ +9 DMG

BATTLE-READY INVENTORY

» TELEPORT CRYSTAL (5)
     ➥ ALLOWS USER TO BYPASS ROLL DURING FLEE
» HYPNOSIS 2 INSTANT CRYSTAL (3)
     ➥ -2 ACC TO SINGLE TARGET
» LULLABY 2 INSTANT CRYSTAL (1)
     ➥ -2 EVA TO SINGLE TARGET
» FLASH OF REJUVENATION COMPOUND (3)
     ➥ INSTANT
     ➥ HEAL 90 HP AS A FREE ACTION (AFFECTS ALL MEMBERS OF PARTY)
» SELF HEAL RECOVERY ELIXIR COMPOUND (5)
     ➥ HEAL 180 HP
» ROUND OF BEEF (3)
     ➥ HEAL 12 EN

TITAN'S STRENGTH CONSUMED (+3 DMG)
POACHED EGG CONSUMED (+2 ACC)
ROASTED PROVENCE CHICKEN CONSUMED (+2 EVA)
DIAMOND-INFUSED HOT DOG CONSUMED (+45 MIT)
BIGGEST BOY HOT DOG CONSUMED (+135 OVERHEALTH)
<<THE FOURTH LESSON, IS ACTUALLY FREE>> VITALITY FISH CONSUMED (+2 EN REGENERATED IN COMBAT)

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 144/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5

For a man who had denounced the regular usage of buffs, Bahr felt as though he had been using them rather flippantly as of late. But for what he planned to do next, they weren't an option - they were a necessity.

It was something he had been planning for for a long time. Over a year, in fact. Now, as he felt the uncertainty of a new way of life encroaching from all around him, it seemed like the right time to take the plunge. There were many questions that he desired an answer for. For whatever reason, he hoped he could find them within the fight that lay ahead. 

A chance to prove his worth. A chance to see if he truly deserved to survive in this death game, and assume his place among the Frontliners. A task few had ever dared undertake. An almost certainly deadly endeavor, one that would either render him deleted for good or cement his place among the best of the best. The strongest of the strong.

[Bahr 0]

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 139/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used Parry, -5 EN

Setting up with Parry in the beginning was necessary. Dawn's Demise flashed with a golden light as he silently activated the skill, putting in place the final preparations before he pressed on. As he walked through the dim valley, taking breaths between gusts of dust and soot, a warning populated before him heralding the battle's "impossible" status.

It made sense. The quest had been designed with parties in mind - and even then it proved difficult for many. Deadly, even, as the alert had suggested. It was impossible to tell just how many players exactly had met their fate at the hands of this creature. If Bahr were being honest, he was going into this without so much of an inkling of what to expect. So few people had gone into the valley and come out alive that there wasn't enough information in circulation to extrapolate a full lay of the land. For once, Bahr was going in blind.

But that's exactly what he needed.

"Accept."

[Bahr 0]

Spoiler

Encounter: Forgotten Time King
HP: 3750
DMG: 300 - Paralyze on crit
MIT: 150
ACC: 3
EVA: 0
<< Forgotten in Time >> The Forgotten Time King is immune to all status conditions, including Unique ones.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 133/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -9 EN ("Well Rested" house buff reduces EN expenditure by 1.)

Forgotten Time King: HP: 3435/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170174 | BD: 9, Crit for 30*13=390-75=315 DMG
MD: 1, Miss

No sooner had the window been dismissed than the air became charged with fury and earth started to tremble beneath the indomitable pressure of impending doom. A thick haze rolled into the area out of seemingly nowhere, suffocating the light from existence and shrouding Bahr in a blanket of artificial dusk. After taking a long breath to steel himself, he squinted into the unknown and began taking steps forward. The further into the miasma he crept, the more he could feel it infiltrating every part of him.

He saw the words first, hovering in the air. 

هل تذكر؟
Do you remember?
 

Bahr couldn't read it. He hardly even recognize the language. As the lettering faded, the culprit finally revealed himself. 

لا يجب أن تأتي إلى هنا.
You shouldn't have come here.
 

A ghastly figure with little more than a skull for a visage melted into view as the miasma made way. He wore a crown of bone that seemed to mimic a dying man's pleading reach for the heavens with his last breath. A mane of stormy gray to match the cloud that had enveloped them, draped over armor from a time long forgotten. In his right hand a spear sat clutched, crackling with golden energy that illuminated the surrounding nebula. It held up a hand as though to beckon him forth; a challenge to prove that his foolish decision to come alone wouldn't be in vain.

As the lettering faded away once more, Bahr dashed forward and filled Dawn's Demise with a crimson light. Holy lightning encapsulated the blade as he brought it down on the creature, the impact of the strike creating a pocket of displaced air that ejected material from the sight, then dragged it all back in as the atmospheric pressure tried to rectify itself. As the dust finally settled, it revealed that Bahr had hardly managed to chip its armor, much less deal any significant damage.

[Bahr 0]

Bahr's crimson and verdant orbs warily shifted to meet with the still, emotionless pockets where the King's eyes should have been. He took a few shaky steps back as he observed the monster's nonchalant demeanor, remaining stiff and upright as it silently returned its assailant's gaze. It almost seemed confused as to why a single mortal would dare attempt to harm it. As if Bahr should have known better than to even come here without the aid of others - however helpful or helpless they would have been.

تعتقد أنك فوق العواقب ، أليس كذلك؟
You think you're above consequences, don't you?
 

Indecipherable characters yet again faded into view and loomed silently over the King's head as it didn't make so much as a peep. It rose the blade of its spear into the air, and the clouds that surrounded the area began firing bolt after bolt of energy into it until it breathed the life of the storm itself. Realizing what was happening, Bahr poured scarlet light into Dawn's Demise once more, this time tainting the pure red with tendrils of smoky black. If Holy hadn't made much of a difference against such an adversary, perhaps Fallen was its poison.

He bent at the knees slowly before rocketing forth, pulling Dawn's Demise along behind him before letting it rip forth and into the King. With a loud clang and sharp feedback through Bahr's arms, he knew that this attack, too, had failed to penetrate the creature's defenses. Again, the Forgotten Time King stood silent and motionless, peering through Bahr with those empty sockets.

لدي خطط مفصلة لك.
I have elaborate plans for you.
 

All at once, the Forgotten Time King had vanished from its position in front of Bahr, and driven its spear toward him from the side. It was by the grace of Cardinal's programming that the Parry he'd prepared earlier managed to divert the attack, if only to a marginal degree. Still, the spear connected, its energy surged through Bahr's every pore, and he watched as his health bar plummeted.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1517/1605 | EN: 127/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -9 EN ("Well Rested" house buff reduces EN expenditure by 1.)

Forgotten Time King: HP: 3130/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170175 | BD: 8, Hit for 35*13=455-150=305 DMG
MD: 9, Crit for 300-124=176/2=88 DMG | Parry halves final damage and prevents paralyze.

 

[Bahr 0]

That can't be right...

Bahr's eyes were glued to his health bar.

There's no way.

But it was true. A measly two hundred of his over sixteen hundred hit points remained. It a single attack, the Forgotten Time King had nearly erased him - even with the maid of Parry. By the time he'd had the good sense to look up and see wether his opponent was gearing up for another attack, he saw the King yet again assuming a relaxed posture, patiently and silently waiting. He barely caught a glimpse of the lettering that hovered over its head.

سوف أمحوك.
I will erase you.

The text was short time time and, while Bahr still couldn't read it, he was pretty sure he had an idea of what it said. And judging by the damage it had done to Bahr with only a single strike, he had no doubt it would be capable of following through on its threat if he didn't start playing his cards perfectly. A cursory glance at the King's five health bars revealed than even with a Holy and Fallen strike each, Bahr still hadn't managed to deplete even one of the gauges. Not a great feeling when one's starting at their own and it's in the red.

Bahr needed to take the time to deliver careful and precise attacks that didn't leave much of an opening for retaliation. But the longer a battle like this dragged on, the more dangerous it became. The smart thing to do at this point would be to flee, but as Bahr peered around through the fog, he realized that he didn't even know any longer which way he had come from. He was trapped.

"Have it your way," he hissed as he shot forward and ripped Dawn's Demise toward his target.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 121/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5

Parry cooldown: 1/2 posts
Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -9 EN ("Well Rested" house buff reduces EN expenditure by 1.)

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2981/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170178 | BD: 5, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 1, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

Given the strength and resolve that Bahr had put into his attack, it came as quite a shock when the Forgotten Time King batted it away with a flippant backhanded slap. As though shooing away a pesky fly, or shifting a curtain aside to get a view of what lay beyond. So angered was Bahr by this that, without thinking twice, he loaded yet another Sword Art into the queue and let it rip and point blank range, hurtling the oversized slab of metal toward his nemesis with every molecule of tenacity he would Pinball.

And just as the first, the second was cast aside as though no real threat whatsoever. 

أحمق.
Foolish.

Though the Forgotten Time King itself didn't move, Bahr could feel the energy culminating in the area. After heaving in a lungful of air, he leapt back just in time to avoid the snap of lightning that crashed down from the heavens in the very spot he had been occupying only a moment before. Though Bahr's Battle Healing and Holy Blessing had started the process of earning his hit points back, he had doubts that he'd be capable of surviving something like that even if he was filled up completely.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 114/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5

Parry cooldown: 2/2 posts
Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2832/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170179 | BD: 3, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 6, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

Despite narrowly avoiding the clutches of death this time, there was no reason to celebrate just yet. The welling energy that Bahr had felt before hadn't yet dissipated; in fact, it felt as though it was continuing to grow. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention, saluting the ballooning charge that filled the air until it tasted like pennies. Then, all at once, it came crashing down.

Bahr prided himself as being one of the fastest, if not the fastest player in all of Aincrad. His dedication to the art of speed had awarded him an evasion rating envied by many, and allowed him to pull off herculean feats of unreal acrobatics in the past. But as fast as he was, and as fast as he ran, he understood that there was little he could do to outrun a flash of lightning.

Still, he sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him, weaving and serpentining in a futile attempt to dodge the flurry of lightning bolts that were raining from above. It wasn't until one ripped the ground beside him asunder and sent him flying that finally gave in, gritting his teeth as he did his best to stabilize himself against the rocky terrain he had landed in. Miraculously, it seemed as though the strikes had stopped.
 

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 112/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used Parry, -5 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2832/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170181 | BD: x
MD: 2, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

أنت سريع جدا.
لكنك تعلم أن رقصك لا يمكن أن يحميك إلى الأبد.
You are quite fast.
But you know your dancing cannot protect you forever.

With every letter that materialized, Bahr could feel the noose tightening around his neck. He'd been foolish to assume that a boss so powerful as this would be limited only to direct physical attacks. Of course it would have something else up its sleeve - be it minions, magic, or the very forces of nature. He just hadn't counted on the thing's trump card being literal lightning strikes.

Though, perhaps it was premature to assume that what he'd just witnessed was actually the Forgotten Time King's "trump card."

Bahr was making progress, though. Slowly but surely. One of the creature's health gauges was now fully depleted, with a second one about a quarter away. Though things were coming along, Bahr couldn't help but feel as though he wouldn't be able to hold out until the end of the fight. At some point he was going to get caught by a stray lightning bolt, or the tip of the King's very long spear. At that time, he would shatter.

His only option was to make the best of whatever time he had left.

With blistering speed, not unlike the prowess the King had displayed when it first struck Bahr, the Crimson Marauder flashed into attack range and let loose an absolute cannon of an attack, bolts of white electricity exploding from the point of impact.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 105/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2504/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170182 | BD: 10, Crit for 31*13=403-75=328 DMG
MD: 8, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

It was the type of strike that would have sent any other opponent flying. Even some previous floor bosses would have been reeling after an attack like it. But just as with the hits it had endured before, this one didn't so much as make the Forgotten Time King flinch. Being that it was still motionless, Bahr decided to follow up with a swift strike before backing off - but something went wrong. He found the blade of Dawn's Demise caught in the King's palm, and try as he might, Bahr could not wrestle the weapon free. As it tossed Dawn's Demise as, and its master along with it, Bahr noticed the first cross of emotion that had graced the monster's visage.

It looked annoyed.

توقف عن إزعاجي وأظهر لي قوتك الحقيقية.
Stop bothering me and show me your true strength.
 

Bahr could only surmise that it was a challenge to display some sort of might that the King would actually find fitting of a challenge. The problem was that Bahr was putting everything he had into this fight, and still seemed unable to keep up. It was toying with him, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Briefly, he thumbed the teleport crystal he'd stowed away in the pocket of his coat. Would now be a good time to use it? Or would he forever regret not seeing a battle like this through to the end? If he stayed and died, would he be capable of regretting the fact that he didn't see anything else to the end due to his own vanity and pride?

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 106/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -2 EN FOR MISS

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2504/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170183 | BD: 1, Miss
MD: 8, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

"Not yet," he concluded, earning himself a cocked head from his opponent. Bahr took a deep breath and assumed a battle ready stance, bending slightly at the knees and putting Dawn's Demise in the ideal position to either strike or parry. Since this seemed like the sort of fight that would take quite a long time anyway, trying to play it defensive and wait for openings was worth giving a shot. 

Though, it seemed that the Forgotten Time King didn't quite have the patience for that. 

مزعج. هل هذا كل ما يمكنك فعله حقًا؟ إذا كان الأمر كذلك ، فاهلك.
Annoying. Is that all you can really do? If so, perish.

It rose its spear high into the sky and poured golden energy into the clouds above. Bahr could feel the power surging through the air once more, and knew what he needed to do. Predicting where lightning was going to land was a fool's errand - but if he could interrupt the energy feed, he stood a chance of dealing some damage. So he dashed forward as the sky started falling, dodging and weaving between the strikes as best as he could manage until he was close enough to crash Dawn's Demise into the King's abdomen.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 99/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2199/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170184 | BD: 8, Hit for 35*13=455-150=305 DMG
MD: 5, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

Though the King did not move, the lightning did come to a very abrupt halt. Slowly, it craned its head downward to gaze upon the red blur that had accosted it, pitching its gaze just in time to see a follow up attack leveled at it without as much preparation as the first. Once again, Dawn's Demise clanked pitifully against the King's armor, failing to penetrate it. Even if he had stopped the onslaught of lightning, he wasn't making much headway dealing damage of his own. The King knew it, too.

"Is that why you just stand there?" Bahr practically pleaded. "Am I so little a threat to you that you don't even feel the need to dodge, or move at all?"

There was a moment of silence. Then, the lettering appeared again. 

هل تريد أن تموت مبكرا جدا؟
Do you desire death so early?

It continued to stand there staring at him, as though awaiting a response. The eerie calm that had taken over the thrill of battle was unsettling, but appreciated. Though, Bahr felt as though the King was waiting for something. An answer that Bahr didn't have to a question that he couldn't decipher.

يمكنني ترتيب ذلك.

I can arrange that.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 92/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 2050/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170185 | BD: 3, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 2, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

Without warning, it fired its spear forward, catching Bahr completely off guard. Again, thanks only to system assist, Bahr was narrowly able to divert the spear away from a straight-on collision with his chest. Didn't mean that what did manage to connect didn't sting, though. 

Fifty seven. Fifty seven hit points were all that stood between Bahr and complete annihilation. His eyes stayed glued to the remaining scarlet sliver as he doubled back from the King's attack, clutching at his shoulder where the spear had pierced through. Were this real life, his arm would surely be deadened and useless by such a blow. But after a bit of testing, it appeared as though everything was still in working order.

لازال حيا؟ كم هو حزين بالنسبة لك.

Still alive? How sad for you.

I can't do this. I need to get out of here.

But when he felt for his teleport crystal, he realized it was gone. Vanished. His eyes widened as he learned the truth.

He was going to die here.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1517/1605 | EN: 85/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1901/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170186 | BD: 5, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 9, 300-124=176/2=88 DMG | Parry halves final damage and prevent paralyze.

 

[Bahr 0]

تبحث عن هذا؟
Looking for this?

"When did you-" Bahr stopped himself mid sentence, realizing that even if the creature were to answer, he wouldn't understand it. 

كانت مسألة بسيطة. قد تكون سريعًا بالنسبة للإنسان ، لكنك بطيء مقارنة بي.
It was a simple matter. You may be fast for a human, but are slow when compared to me.

Then, he crushed it. Bahr's only way out, reduced to an azure pile that was carried away by the breeze. It was cemented then, in that moment. Bahr's vanity had finally led him to ruined.

So he decided that if we were to go down, it would be swinging. Crimson light poured into Dawn's Demise and painted the surrounding fog red as unbridled rage boiled to the surface. As Bahr sprinted toward his opponent, he heard a bizarre animalistic screeching that, after some reflection, he realized was his. It was wild abandon now - no holding back. No thinking. He only had time to act. It would be the last thing he would do.

This was it.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 78/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Parry cooldown: 1/2 posts
Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1586/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170187 | BD: 9, Crit for 30*13=390-75=315 DMG
MD: 3, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

When Bahr's Holy-coated blade failed to make the King move, he charged up Galaxy Destroyer again. And again. And again. And again. He concluded the onslaught with a Fallen strike, the enhancements smoky obsidian tendrils snaking their way long the blade and into the King the moment Dawn's Demise struck. But try as he might, and as mighty as he may be, Bahr was unable to move the immovable. 

And then it sunk its spear into his abdomen.

يكفي. نم الآن. إلى الأبد.
Enough. Sleep now. Forever.

This was it. The moment Bahr had spent so long avoiding. Years of prolonging the inevitable, mountains of effort dumped into chasing the unachievable, only for it all to come tumbling down and end exactly where he'd expected it to. He'd been a fool to imagine he could pull off a stunt like this. He'd come looking for answers, and had he found them? No. And now he never would.

He'd committed to his final gamble, and he'd lost. There was nothing left to do, and no use holding on. All that was left was to shatter.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1429/1605 | EN: 71/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 

Parry cooldown: 2/2 posts
Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1281/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170189 | BD: 8, Hit for 35*13=455-150=305 DMG
MD: 10, 300-124=176 DMG | Paralyze inflicted.

 

[Bahr 0]

The message felt more like a taunt than an alert. A final middle finger from the prison that had held him for so long. As he stared at it, he couldn't help but to start hearing things. Things distant and unfamiliar. He heard the incessant whine of some sort of machinery. He heard the distressed calls of people, seemingly swarming around him. With time, he came to recognize the sounds as some you might expect to hear in a hospital. His last taste of the real world outside the game, and he could hardly experience it. He couldn't so much as move a muscle.

He heard the heartbeat monitor. He heard the nurses. He heard commands being shouted and codes being read. And, before it was all over, he heard himself. An unrelenting stream of consciousness that he felt almost no control over. 

He accepted that he was dying at this point. It wasn't really even a choice. His body knew. His mind knew. After this moment of acceptance, his mind began to race at a sort of flash-like speed. Akin to what a lucid panic attack feels like on twenty cups of coffee. He didn't see everything from his life, and there was no apparent rhyme or reason or order of which he did. He did, however, feel a great sense of regret as he ruminated across all of the feelings and thoughts and memories that appeared. 

He thought about who he would never see again, and what he would never do again. He thought about how he wouldn't see what colors were going to be in the next evening sunset. How he would never brush his teeth again. How he would never feel the air running over his skin, or flowing into his nose again. He thought about the low hum of all of the appliances in his house that he would never hear again. Then he thought about what he never saw, or did, but always wanted to. All of the times he never told people how he felt, or how much he cared about them. All of the opportunities he let go because he was scared. All of the habits and problems in his life that he always wanted to change, but never did. 

Then he thought about how much time he had wasted worrying about these things. The time he wasted hating himself. The time he wasted being unhappy, and the time he wasted getting mad at himself for being unhappy; when he should have been happy. He thought about how he rarely ever fully synced up with what he knew he should have done, or what he should have thought. How he always seemed to deceive or sabotage himself in the process. He would get close to the sort of ideal or sublime that he always knew existed in each moment, but then he would run the other way. 

However upsetting and sad this whole part was, it kind of fit his Hollywood expectations of dying, which only exacerbated the disappointment. It was anticlimactic, like predicting the end of a movie. Now, he found himself getting upset and angry about the disappointingly rational and predictable process of getting upset, angry, and regretful while dying. Even here, he was literally regretting his final moments of life as they occurred. 

How foolish could I be? he wondered. What kind of being hates itself or brings suffering unto itself, knowing that hating itself and suffering makes them miserable? What kind of being spends their final moments alive being miserable about their life? 

In this ridiculous self-loathing rumination, as if coerced by something that was predetermined to happen at a certain moment of the body and brain turning off, a sudden pause occurred. A pause that felt much more like a flash than the previous flash that was occurring. It was not a flash of speed, but a sudden flash of ceasing speed. Like a camera flash to a little rodent, it stunned him, and stopped everything. As if his consciousness had finally surrendered, told by his subconscious that there was no "self" or life left to defend. 

For the first time, he felt free. 

Not free in the sense that he was able to do whatever he wanted. Quite the opposite. Free in the sense that in only a few moments, he literally would not be able to do anything he wanted. In this, he suddenly became so majorly indifferent to everything that everything became clear. He saw himself through an entirely different lens, as though a smudge on his preexisting lens had been cleared off, revealing what had always been obstructed from him. He continued thinking for a little while, but his thinking was different. It wasn't critical, rational, or judgmental.

For the first time in his entire life, he saw who he really was.

While alive, he understood that he had a conscious brain, and unconscious brain. He had learned about these fairly rudimentary psychological concepts as a young boy, and had considered the implications of them frequently throughout his life. However, these terms never really translated in a practical or helpful way - at least not for Apollo. If anything, they only made him feel like he had two parts of his brain; the part that was him, and the part that wasn't. He was, of course, his conscious brain, and his unconscious brain was something else that he was constantly fighting, or trying to conquer. 

This wasn't wrong, per se, but it wasn't exactly right, either. At a minimum, it certainly wasn't helpful. It took being on his death bed with the impending threat of gray matter liquidation to actually understand it. Sure, he was never his unconscious brain, but he was never his conscious brain, either. Just like he was never his heart, or his hand, or anything else on its own. He was never even solely what was contained inside his body. He was everything, in and out. He was the puppet, and the puppeteer. The puppeteer being sort of his unconscious brain, but also way more than his unconscious brain.

It was what made and fueled his unconscious brain. What made his brain as a whole. What made everything. 

Admittedly, while alive, this may have sounded confusing, or pretentiously cheesy, or like spiritual nonsense, or even cliche if someone had told him. Perhaps it is to you, right now. Most things about life while he was alive, though, sounded confusing, pretentiously cheesy, or like spiritual nonsense. However, after a certain point of being viscerally aware of your approaching mortality, you sort of don't think about things like that anymore. You stop putting this filter of judgement over sincerity, or cliche archetypical experiences. 

Regardless, even if you're not in this state, if you can humor me just for a moment, imagine the puppet and puppeteer that was previously referred to.

Consider how a puppeteer is only a puppeteer if he has, and manipulates, a puppet. If there was no such thing as a puppet, there would be no such thing as a puppeteer, and vice versa. The puppet is not the puppeteer, and the puppeteer is not the puppet; but without the other, both cease to exist in the context of their definitions. 

Apollo spent his whole life thinking he was the puppet contained by the strings. The consciousness contained by the brain. The brain contained by the body. The body contained by the world. And as a result, he spent his whole life at war against everything he felt contained by. He spent his life pulling at the strings, trying to rip himself from them. These strings, and his pulling at them, however, was the source of all the self sabotage and self loathing. All the divisions and limits between what he wanted for himself, and what he never could have. He was contained by strings, and furthermore, he added constant tension to them by pulling at them, making things worse by always trying to make them better. It was ultimately what had led to his demise against the Forgotten Time King.

A little earlier, he would have been gravely regretful of this realization, far more than his earlier regrets. He would have tormented over the idea that he ruined his life, missing the entire point. Making things worse than they had to be. However, he did not get mad, or regretful, at all. By this point, his conscious sense of self had full given up on defending itself. He didn't care. 

He recognized that he had no choice in these strings existing in the first place. They were written in his DNA. They were written in the DNA of his DNA. And furthermore, he had no choice in pulling at them either. If he was both the puppet and the puppeteer, even the act of pulling on these strings and struggling toward something, was in fact part of the whole show. His being came with strings, and his being came with the desire to pull at the strings. So what was he to do, other than to live with strings, and pull at them?

He spent his whole life fighting who he was, often hating who he was. Trying to be happier, or better, or something. Sometimes he would be successful, but even then would mostly just return to the same starting point, beginning the fight all over again. But, of course, this was because he never was who he thought he was. The part of himself that he always felt he was in a fight with - turns out, it was always more of a dance.

And without the constant push and pull, without the struggle, without seemingly having missed the point, there would have been no point at all. No dance, no show.

The things he could have changed, he did. The things he couldn't, he didn't. And the things he didn't know he should have, he never thought to try. He was exactly who he could have been, exactly who he needed to be. He did everything right by doing a great deal of things wrong. There was nothing to regret (regret implies he chose how things went), but he never really had a choice at all. He didn't choose who he was any more or any less than anything else that is, was, or ever will be. No more than a dog chooses to be a dog, or a rock chooses to be a rock. He just woke up, and was. He didn't choose who his parents were, what his brain was like, what his body was like, what his first sight was, his first conscious experience, his anxieties, his fears, or any of what these things caused him to do. 

Now, he was about to fall asleep forever, in the last choice he never made, holding the thing he'd been chasing his whole life. What had been the source of his misery was now, in the final moment, the source of his bliss. The source of his self discovery. His acceptance of who he really was while alive, and who he is now, while dead.

...

"Not yet Apollo. Please. Stay with me."

...

Mom?
 

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1357/1605 | EN: 74/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | Paralyzed

Bahr is Paralyzed

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1281/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170190 | BD: x
MD: 3+3=6, Hit for 300-124=176 DMG

 

[Bahr 0]

It all began moving backward. Bahr watched as everything he had just experienced began rewinding. He saw the flash, and then the lesser flash that had come before it. He saw bits and pieces of his life; memories playing in reverse. He heard the whine of the hospital room, he heard the distorted voices of the nurses, he heard the rhythmic whining of the machine. Then, the world of Sword Art flashed back into his existence right before his eyes as he felt the shattered pieces of his body reassemble. It tracked back until the millisecond before his health had dropped to zero. Bahr felt the spear lodged in his abdomen pulled back sharply, leaving him with a single hit point to spare.
 

أنت مصمم جدا ، أليس كذلك؟
You're very determined, aren't you?

"W... What the fuck..." he croaked, choking air back into his lungs after what felt like eons without it. Though the King remained emotionless, it seemed somewhat amused by Bahr's confusion. If it were capable of smiling, he swore it'd be beaming.

لذلك رأيت الأوتار. لكن مع ذلك ، يبدو أنك لا تعرف كيفية استخدامها.

So you have seen the strings. But even so, you don't seem to know how to wield them.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1461/1605 | EN: 72/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used Parry, -5 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1281/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170191 | BD: x
MD: 3, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

Bahr was still reeling from everything he had just experienced. He remembered every molecule of it, and had even gotten to see everything twice. He'd died, right? He was sure of it. He'd felt the helmet turn him into mush. So how was he here, now, breathing, looking back into those empty eye sockets again? The world was spinning and still all at once. He felt trapped in his body after having felt so liberated without it. Nothing was right - yet, everything was.

استريح.

Get comfortable.

The Forgotten Time King bents slight at the knees and assumed a more offensive posture.

لن يخرجك أي قدر من التصميم من عالمي.
No amount of determination will get you out of my world.

"I... I can't..." But he had to. This was his second chance, and there probably wouldn't a third. Weakly, shakily, he rose Dawn's Demise and prepared for the King's strike. He felt as though he could barely lift the blade, let along wield it properly. How the hell was he supposed to fight?

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1565/1605 | EN: 73/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -2 EN FOR MISS

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1281/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170192 | BD: 1, Miss
MD: 6, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

سنبقى هنا لفترة طويلة جدًا.
We'll be here for a very... long... time.

Then its spear rocketed forth again. The battle was back on, as if Bahr's brush with death hadn't happened, or at the very least, hadn't counted at all. Like the emotional and psychological trauma he'd just experienced was of little or no consequence. Not that he would expect the Forgotten Time King to understand and give him a reprieve - after all, it was merely a subroutine of a much larger program, created without emotions, and designed specifically to kill him. Why should it be phased that he just suffered through the greatest gauntlet of his entire life?

Somehow, some way, he managed to avoid the lightning-quick jab and retaliate with a strike of his own. But so weak was it that it simply bounced off of the King's armor without so much as a scratch to show for it. The King cocked its head toward Bahr, almost as though to say, "Is that all you've got?" Truth be told, it was close to.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1605/1605 | EN: 66/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 1132/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170193 | BD: 4, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 6, Miss

 

[Bahr 0]

But he needed to keep going. Though he felt weak physically, his resolve was stronger. He'd been offered a chance to escape this hell, and were he to squander it, what would his second chance have been for? To put him through further torment? Bahr now understood that there were many things that were out of his control - and perhaps even this situation, too, was one of them. But if he didn't at least try, he would never know.

So he charged up another Galaxy Destroyer, bathed it in Holy light, and let it rip. Pushed every fiber of every muscle in his body to the brink delivering it. All of his resolve, all of his regret, all of his fear and anxiety and strife poured into the most fearsome attack he'd ever unleashed against anything, ever.

And the King batted it away like it was nothing.

انا أعرف كل شيء.
I know everything.

It struck again, and this time Bahr was unable to avoid it. It pierced through him, and he felt his body shatter once more. He experienced the same machine trilling from before. The same inability to move. The same frenzied shouting of the nurses. The same flashes and ruminations as before. And just like last time, he heard his mother's voice urging him to hang on - before it was all rewound to the moment just before his demise, the crystalline fragments of his obliterated body coming back together as though drawn to one another like magnetic puzzle pieces. To death and back, just as before.

أستطيع أن أرى كل شيء.
I can see everything.

The spear plunged back into him, and all those pieces were let loose once more. Again the trill of the machine, again the nurses, again the immobility, again the flashes and the indifference and the pleading of his mother to not let go. And again the entire experience in reverse, bringing him back to the slice of time just before any of it had happened at all.

أرى اللاعب خلف شاشتك. الشخص الذي يتحكم في كل هذا.
I see the player behind your screen. The one who controls all of this.

Spear. Hospital. Death. Mother. Reverse.

الآن شاهدني أقتل شخصيتك الرئيسية مرة أخرى.
Now watch me kill your main character again.
ومره اخرى. ومره اخرى.
And again. And again.
ومره اخرى. ومره اخرى.
And again. And again.
ولا يوجد شيء يمكنك فعله حيال ذلك.
And there's nothing you can do about it.
لأن هذا عالمي.
Because this is my world.

How many times had he died by now? Too many to count. And with each time that he did, he felt his desire to return gradually waning. Eventually, finally, he lost all desire to reverse. To go back to the time before he died. He'd become locked in an infinite loop, and the only way to end it was to end everything. All semblance of recollection, consciousness, desire, or pain altogether. To return to the nothingness from whence he came. He'd been just fine there before life, and he'd be just fine there again after it. So when that final fragment of his that still wanted to live vanished, he finally remained in the white.

...
يا؟
Oh?
لا تريد العودة؟
You don't want to come back?
حسنًا ، سأجبرك على القيام بذلك.
Well, then I'll force you to do it.

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1517/1605 | EN: 59/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 | PARRY

Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 804/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170194 | BD: 10, Crit for 31*13=403-75=328 DMG
MD: 9, 300-124=176/2=88 DMG | Parry halves final damage and prevents paralyze.

 

[Bahr 0]

So that was it. The Forgotten Time King's real trump card.

It wasn't a main protagonist moment, where the hero rejected the horror of death through sheer willpower, clinging to life beyond anything reasonably realistic. It was the boss. Forgotten Time King. Not Forgotten Time King. Bahr understood now. It would simply reverse time to bring him back until it had had its fill and grown bored of him. Until then, there was nothing he could do other than die over and over and over again. This was his reality now. A potential eternity of of torment, played out for however long the King perpetuated it - or until the server was finally disabled, crashed, or the game was completed. But who knew if the King's powers did or didn't reverse time for the entirety of Aincrad, with the rest of the players none the wiser. 

The cycle continued until, eventually, Bahr woke up.

It was his phone alarm that did it. The one that told him it was time to get up and get ready for work. He'd been snoozing on the couch, which was typical. Except that it wasn't. He was back in his apartment in the real world, as opposed to his home in Aincrad. Confused, Apollo checked the date to find that it was the day that Sword Art Online was officially launching. If that wasn't perplexing enough, what was even stranger was that his brief morning scouring of the internet didn't produce any results for Sword Art Online. He instead found bizarre roleplaying forums and short stories - all with names and premises similar, but none that matched the "true" Sword Art Online. 

Was it actually possible that it was all a dream?

Spoiler

Bahr: HP: 1429/1605 | EN: 52/144 | DMG: 23 | MIT: 124 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 6 | FLN: 12 | HLY: 6 | PHASE | BH: 80 | HB: 24 | LD: 5 

Parry cooldown: 1/2 turns
Bahr used [x13] Galaxy Destroyer, -10 EN

Forgotten Time King: HP: 655/3750 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 3 | PLZ | ID: 170195 | BD: 4, Hit for 23*13=299-150=149 DMG
MD: 10, 300-124=176 DMG | Paralyze inflicted.