DISCLAIMER: HELLSING IS OWNED BY KOUTA HIRANO. I DO NOT ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

SWORD ART ONLINE IS OWNED BY REKI KAWAHARA. I OBVIOUSLY DON'T OWN ANY OF SAO's CHARACTERS EITHER.

ITALICS=THOUGHTS

BOLD=IMPORTANT DATES, PLACES, WEAPONS, ECT.

BOLD ITALICS= NARRATOR

(NOTE: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS STORY THEN DON'T READ IT.)

Hellsing Art Online

Chapter 8: Up The World Tree! (PART 1)

Alfheim, Neutral Territory, Arun
January 22, 2025 (5:00 P.M. ~ 2 hours left on the clock...)

The first thing the group of warriors noted was the sheer size of the first floor of the tree. It was as tall as the entire length of a football field. The walls were lined with orangish white panels, all of which were comparable to the combs in a bee hive.

"So this is the first floor." Klein looked around. "It doesn't look too bad."

"Don't let it's appearance fool you." Leafa gripped her sword tightly. "No one has ever made it past this room. Not even the biggest raiding parties have even gotten close."

Kirito smirked in confidence. "Well, those raiding parties didn't consist of former Sword Art Online players." He held his sword over his right shoulder. "Those raiding parties didn't have Alucard either."

Anderson frowned at Kirito's deceleration. "What about me? Do I not count as anything?"

The Black Swordsman scratched the back of his head. "Well the thing is, I haven't exactly seen you fight. I don't have a good concept of what you're capable of."

The Monster of God scoffed as he summoned two of his signature bayonets. "I guess I'll just have to prove myself. I am easily worth as much as Alucard"

"Is that a hint of pettiness I sense?" Alucard laughed. "How childish of you, Anderson. Have you developed a new sense of whimsy?"

"As if you're any less petty..." Anderson rolled his eyes.

Lisbeth's eyes widened. "I just remembered!" The pink haired Leprechaun ran up to Kirito. She quickly entered her inventory. After a few pings, two swords appeared in her hands.

Kirito's eyes widened in surprise. "Those aren't..."

Liz nodded as she handed him the two blades. "I've sent them over to your inventory."

The Black Swordsman immediately went into his inventory. The swords that Lisbeth gave him were in his inventory, just like she said. Kirito quickly equipped both. The two swords replaced the mighty blade he had been carrying around since he left Swilvane. Eager to test the blades out, Kirito unsheathed them.

"I'm guessing your satisfied with my handiwork?" Liz grinned as she watched the Spriggan play around with his new toys.

"How did you recreate them?" Kirito slashed the air with the two blades. "They even feel the same as in SAO." The two swords were exact replicas of his signature weapons during the final stretch of Sword Art Online, the Elucidator and Dark Repulsor.

"I figured that you lost them upon transferring over to Alfheim Online, so I figured I could forge them before we started the raid." The pink haired blacksmith explained. "It took me awhile to get the correct materials to even forge them, new recipes and all. I just hope it's worth it."

"But there's no custom content!" Kirito laughed as he slashed the air.

"I know, but since ALO is based off of SAO the coding for the swords had to be in the system somewhere. It was just a matter of recreating them." Liz smirked. "To your satisfaction, I hope."

The Black Swordsman nodded. "They're perfect." Kirito gave her a confident smile. I can now fight to my maximum potential. I may not have the sword skills from SAO, but I won't let that impede me.

A siren suddenly blared, taking Kirito out of his thoughts.

"Here comes the welcome committee!" Agil pointed his axe at the panels on the wall. They were now spawning hundreds of, what can only be described as, mechanical stone statues.

"Leafa! Are these the Guardians you mentioned earlier?" Alucard unsheathed his sword.

"Yeah." The blonde Sylph prepped herself for the swarm of Guardians. "They'll keep spawning until we reach the exit at the ceiling of this floor."

"Stop talking and prepare for battle!" Anderson formed a cross with his bayonets. "Push forward until we reach our destination!" The bayonet priest charged a large group of Guardians, slashing them into pieces with much glee.

Kirito gripped both of his swords, but not tight enough to the point that he couldn't move fluidly. "Yui!" He called out his adopted daughter.

The tiny pixie popped her head out of Kirito,s breast pocket. "Yes, daddy?"

The Spriggan let his friends take the front lines, just for a second. "Can you preform a scan on these guys, Yui?" Kirito jumped into the fray, cutting down Guardians left and right. "I want to know if you can identify any weaknesses these guys may have."

Yui nodded, quickly doing as she was told. "Well, according to the system, one individual Guardian is the equivalent of a regular in-game monster. They aren't any trouble individually, but as a group they pose a much greater threat."

"So in other words..." Kirito reversed the grip of both of his blades, impaling a Guardian directly behind him. "...these guys are basically the equivalent of a Super Boss, right?"

The navigational pixie nodded. "Correct, these Guardians are indeed formidable."

Kirito finished off the last of a mini squadron of Guardians, only to see the panels on the walls spawn more.

"Can I get a little support here, buddy!?"

Kirito turned around to see Klein, who was quickly getting overwhelmed by Guardians. "Klein!" He jumped into the chaos, standing back-to-back with the Samurai.

MkThey fought back-to-back, cutting down as many as they could. Both covered each others blind spots, not faltering at all. For a moment, the space around them was filled with nothing but the dematerializing bodies of the Guardians.

"Looks like you're still as good as you were in SAO, Klein." Kirito smirked as he slashed through two more Guardians.

Klein mirrored the Black Swordsman, cutting down another two. "Did you think that you'd be the only one whose stats ported over? Don't go thinking that you can lord your stats over me, Kirito. I was among the top players of SAO too you know!" The Salamander dashed forward, appearing as blur to any of the onlookers.

Alucard stopped to watch Klein as well, amazed by what he saw.

Klein suddenly appeared on the other side of the room, katana in hand. Several of the Guardians, between him and Kirito, stood motionless. A sly smirk formed on the samurai's face as he sheathed his katana. Seconds later, the Guardians behind him dematerialized. "Told you." He unsheathed his katana once more.

The No-Life King scoffed, acting not even the least bit impressed. "Don't think that you're impressive..." He muttered under his breath. The ancient Nosferatu eyed several Guardians, all of which were starting to surround him. He smirked, loving the thrill of being completely outnumbered. "Show me what you've got." Alucard reversed his grip on his sword.

The Guardians charged at him. The vampire ducked and dodged a majority of the slashes and jabs, blocking and parrying the rest of them. For a moment he was a crimson blur, moving between the Guardians with relative ease. He noted how closely packed everyone else was in the massive room.

"Don't linger in one single area!" Alucard shouted, switching back his grip to a normal one. "Spread out, otherwise you'll get overwhelmed!"

His teammates nodded in agreement. Agil, Klein, and Anderson spread themselves around the room, while Liz, Silica, and Kirito took to the air. Alucard remained on the ground, alongside Anderson.

Agil swatted aside as many Guardians as he could, swinging around his great axe with a steely determination. "Is there any end to these guys!?" The Gnome Axe-Weilder grunted in frustration as he continued to cut down as many of the mechanical statues as he could.

Another legion of Guardians charged Agil, eager to terminate the Gnome. Seeing an opportunity, Agil raised his right arm. "I guess now isn't the time to hold back..." A yellow glow enveloped his body as he charged through the legion. His axe cut through them like a hot butter knife. When the smoke cleared, Agil was satisfied to see that his targets were completely wiped out.

Before celebrations could be had, at least another hundred more of the mechanical statues spawned in.

"Damnit..." Agil gritted his teeth in frustration, readying himself for the next onslaught of Guardians.

Meanwhile, Klein was in a mess of his own. Liz was being swarmed by Guardians, so Klein, eager to save the damsel in distress, caught their attention. He didn't expect so many to chase after him, as at least one hundred came after him.

"Can't a guy get a break!?" The Salamander shook his fist at his attackers. "I was just trying to be the hero, for once!" When Klein gained enough distance from them, he turned to face the mob of monsters. He tightened his grip on his katana, not wanting to go down without a fight. "Here goes nothing..." Klein charged, headfirst, into the mob.

Anderson was fighting off his group of Guardians, just a short distance away. He took notice of Klein's plight and, not wanting to have to watch the samurai fall, summoned several bayonets. "Hey, samurai!"

Klein stopped his assault. "What is it?"

The bayonet priest chucked the bayonets at the Guardians surrounding Klein. "Take cover!"

Klein noted the hissing noise that the bayonets were emitting. He quickly caught on to what they were. "Crap!" He took off to the sky just as the explosive bayonets went off. The resulting explosion pushed Klein into a wall.

Everyone paused what they were doing to watch the explosion. Anderson watched the explosion, spawning two more bayonets to replace the ones he just tossed. "Amen..."

This little victory was short lived, as more Guardians just replaced the old ones. It wasn't long before the odds were beginning to stack against them. It seemed that no matter how many they destroyed, there was no end to the onslaught. Even Alucard was beginning to tire out from the fight.

"Alucard!"

The vampire paused his assault, eying the source of the voice. It turned out to be Leafa. "What is it?"

The blonde Sylph gestured toward the ceiling of the room. A huge hatch was located at the top of the room. "We need to get to the top of the room! That's where the exit is!"

Alucard nodded. When he looked up he was greeted by hundreds of Guardians, all swarming the skies like insects. The vampire knew that the odds were far staked against him and his allies. His only option, at this point was to release his control art restrictions to at least level 3, maybe level 2. "No choice…"

Time seemed to slow down as the room suddenly darkened. All eyes turned to the source of the sudden darkness. Even the Guardians, A.I. with no sentience of any kind, turned to face the source of the twilight.

"What the hell..?" Kirito muttered under his breath. At the center of the cloud was the being known as Alucard.

"Releasing control art restrictions to level 2…" Alucard's hat seemed to glide off his head, morphing into the shadow of it's owner. "Approval of situation A recognized. Commencing the Cromwell invocation. Ability restrictions released until the enemies have been rendered silent…" He formed a square with his hands, holding them out in front of his face. Several crimson eyes formed within the shadow of his coat. "Allow me to show you how a REAL monster does battle!" A shadowy mass surrounded the vampire as he leapt into the sky.

The Guardians seemed to register Alucard as the biggest threat in the room, as ALL of the them attempted to stop the monster from reaching the door on the ceiling. The shadows that surrounded Alucard leapt into action, tearing any Guardian that came within a few feet of him into mechanical shreds. It wasn't long until he hit the door on the ceiling. The vampire used a bit of magic to latch onto the ceiling, simultaneously pulling out his guns.

"Where do you get a pair of guns like those?" Klein muttered under his breath.

Alucard began to unleash a barrage of bullets upon the remaining Guardians. This gave the rest of the group an opening to fly through.

"This is our chance!" Kirito summoned his wings and blasted off into the skies above. The others nodded and followed suit.

Anderson, due to his lack of wings, groaned in frustration. "Why can't the door just be at the end of a really long hallway?" The bayonet priest noticed the hole in the Guardians defenses beginning to close. In response, Anderson dashed up one of the walls and began to wall jump between the many walls in the room. It wasn't long before he caught up to the group.

Alucard stopped his volley of bullets and began to pry the entrance to the next floor open. As soon as he forced the door open, everyone eagerly climed into the next room. The moment the last of the group escaped the mash pit below, the door slammed shut.

"Is everyone alright?" Kirito sheathed his duel blades.

Klein was panting in exhaustion. "That was only the first floor…" He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. "I don't think I'm gonna last the entire dungeon."

"You'll have to." Alucard pocketed his duel handguns. "The lives of hundreds are currently at stake. Don't let your petty limits stop you here, human."

Klein nodded in understanding as he got off his feet. "Anyone else think that this room is a little on the dark and dank side?"

"He's right, this place is giving me the creeps." Liz gripped her mace tightly.

The room seemed to stretch into the void, with no indication of how large the room really was. The floor suddenly began to shift violently.

"Everyone, get down!" Kirito shouted. The group seemed to split as a giant wall formed between the two newly formed groups.

Walls began to form as dimly lit torches began to light the newly formed walls.

"Looks like you made it passed Stage 1." Oberon's voice echoed all around them. "Don't get cocky, it'll only get more difficult from here on out. Trust me, you'll be writhing in agony before you even reach the halfway point of this floor."

Kirito gritted his teeth in anger. "Don't underestimate us! Your arrogance will be your downfall!"

"And your anger will be yours." The self anointed king responded slyly. "Before you is a labyrinth that features no visible end. At the same time there is an end. How can something have no end but eventually end? I'll let you figure out what that means on your own. But don't take too long; you only have 1 hour and 27 minutes left. Good luck…" Oberon cackled as his voice slowly faded away.

Kirito took a deep breath as he let his anger pass through him. That's when he finally took into account of who was separated from who.

With him was Klein, Lisbeth, and Alucard. On the other side of the wall was Silica, Agil, Leafa and the guy named Anderson.

"It looks like the only way to regroup is to head into the labyrinth." Alucard suddenly spoke up.

"He's right." A thick Scottish accent that Kirito immediately identified as Anderson's rang out from the other side of the wall. "We're going to have to split up and pray that we cross paths eventually."

Alucard nodded in agreement. "We're heading into the maze right now. I recommend that Anderson take point on your side; I shall take point on mine."

It wasn't long before both groups went down their own paths and into the dim corridors of the immense labyrinth. Alucard eyed every corner of every hall for any sign of enemies. Kirito stood directly behind the ancient vampire with Klein guarding their backs. Lisbeth was sandwiched between the two.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Alucard." Kirito followed the nosferatu as they rounded a corner. "Just how old are you anyway? I mean, Klein and Agil are in their twenties and the rest of us are in our teenage years so where does that put you?"

The No-Life King kept his back turned away from the 16 year old. "Does my age really matter?"

Kirito seemed to catch a glimpse of the monster's face. He was surprised to see that the ever present toothy grin that Alucard always had plastered on his face was absent. Instead, there was a somber look in his crimson eyes. They didn't carry that hyperactive madness that was merciless in combat, but a tired solemness that only the saddest of people could have.

"Come on man!" Klein smirked, mostly because he didn't see, or didn't notice, the sullen look on Alucard's face. "You can't be that old."

Lisbeth was highly attuned to picking up negative emotions, as she spent a good portion of the last year of SAO with Kirito, who was well known amongst their circle as one to suffer bouts of depression. "Klein, not now."

Alucard's tuned out their questions and repeated Oberon's riddle in his head. Before you is a labyrinth that features no visible end. At the same time there is an end. How can something have no end but stop so suddenly?

He was left to ponder the question as he led his group further into the labyrinth.

This labyrinth better not end with a dead end.

Alfheim, Neutral Territory ~ On top of the World Tree

January 22, 2025 (5:22 P.M. ~ 1 hour and 38 minutes left on the clock...)

Asuna stared at the ground below her cage somberly. There was a deep sense of foreboding in her heart. Something terrible was about to happen and there was going to be nothing that she could do about it.

The sound of the entrance to her cage opening filled her ears. She expected to see Sugou in all his narcissistic glory. Asuna was taken aback by what she saw instead.

"Why is there a giant slug in my cage?" Asuna raised an eyebrow. She didn't know whether to be intimidated or disgusted.

"For your information, I'm one of Sugou's top scientist." The smug grin formed on the giant slugs face. "I'm here to take you to my boss."

An idea quickly popped up into the chestnut haired girl's head. "Really?" She pouted ever so slightly. "And here I was wondering when he would finally come get me. It's so dull in here all by my lonesome."

The slug stared at he quizzically. "You're oddly obedient. Sugou told me that you weren't the submissive type. Are you trying to pull something?"

"Not at all." Asuna placed her hands on her cheeks and feigned a blush. "I just realized how handsome Sugou was in this world compared to how he looked in the real world. What's there not to love, he is going to be god of Alfheim soon." On the inside, Asuna was gagging.

I think I'm going to have wash my mouth laundry detergent.

The slug merely turned around and began to work on opening the door. "Looks like you've finally joined the winning side, Miss Asuna. Sugou is going to be so pleased when he finds…"

BAM!

As soon as the door to the cage was opened, Asuna beat the slug over the head with one of the chairs in her room. It simply collapsed into a slimy mass of purple.

"You're right…" Asuna smiled as she maneuvered around the incapacitated gunk of purple. "... I am on the winning side. It's just that it's not Sugou's side."

As the captive queen took her first step outside of her cage for the first time, one thing became obvious to her. The Endgame was nearing...

Alucard: Did you enjoy the chapter human? I hope you did. You're probably wondering what happened to the author. Let's just say that he's being punished for his failure to get this chapter out.

Kirito: Come on, Alucard. It was just some writers block; it happends to everyone. At least he didn't abandon it like most authors that suffer from writers block.

Leafa: That doesn't excuse the fact that he said that he would release chapter 8 as soon as he was finished fixing up chapters 1- 7. After fixng chapter 7, he disappeared for half a year!

Alucard: Hopefully he'll think twice next time he decides to take a break. If he gets another writers block, I'll be happy to "jog" his brain a bit.

Kirito: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you soon! (I hope...)