Swordmage Online

Author: Dreamwind

Gift For: Katie on FB

Fandom: Harry Potter/Sword Art Online

Rating: Mature

Series: N/A

Pairing: Harry Potter/Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito)

Additional Pairing: (Past) Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley

Characters: Harry Potter, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Asuna, Agil

Warnings: Crossover, Crossover Pairing, BAMF Harry, BAMF Kirito, First Time

Author's Note: Part of my October 24 hour Challenge. Prompt suggested by an Anon on LJ. Also, be warned that this is un beta'd!

Author's Note 2: If you can't tell, I redid chapter 1. It is almost entirely new content. The second half of the original chapter 1 is now chapter 3!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Warner Brothers. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara, Abec, ASCII Media Works,Yen Press, and Aniplex of America. I make no money from this work of fiction.

Summary: Trapped in a virtual world, could even the Boy-Who-Lived survive?

Chapter 1

November 6, 2022; London England

When his godson first stated that he wanted to play the new MMORPG, Harry had been worried. He understood how amazing the new gaming systems were compared to the ones Dudley used to play when they were younger. But Harry always worried that kids weren't spending enough time outside, getting fresh air. That wasn't the only concern though. Teddy was still a little kid and this new game was pretty violent from what he could see. It was all about cutting down monsters with swords. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that and he knew Andromeda felt just as conflicted. So when she brought her concerns to him he decided that he should buy the system and play it himself first. He would give Andromeda his opinion afterwards and then they could go from there.

He was, after all, the cool godparent, even if he still looked like an eighteen year old. It was the least he could do.

More than a hundred yards above, the bottom of the second floor glowed purple. As he looked towards the horizon, the vast tower far in the distance looked dark as the purple color changed into an eery glowing crimson. Something burned in his gut telling Harry that something was going very wrong, very fast. He slashed his hand through the air, pulling up the floating menu screen. Desperately, he looked for the "Log Out" button.

It wasn't there.

Hissing in a breath between clenched teeth, Harry was about to try contacting the system GMs when he was enveloped in a pillar of bright blue light.

The blue light faded as suddenly as it arrived. He blinked the spots out of his vision and found that he was greeted by wide paving stones, tree lined streets, and an elegant medieval town which he recognized as the Town of Beginnings. The central square was teeming with a massive crowd of fantastically beautiful people dressed in costumes similar to Harry's own. There had to be several thousand players here, maybe more. All of them looked confused, and for several seconds the overcrowded square was deathly silent. Then as suddenly as they all appeared, their voices raised in a riot of sound and languages, steadily raising in volume before the gaming system seemed to kick in and translate everyone's voices into one language. Not that it helped much. The susurus of noise was still mostly unintelligible to him considering the sheer number of people talking all at once.

Abruptly, someone screamed, cutting through the noise like a rapier, "Oh my God…look up!"

Harry looked up to the sky, which in the game was made up of the hanging second floor. The sky was changing again into a glowing red checkerboard pattern that reminded Harry of the chessboards in the Gryffindor common room. In the squares writing appeared. In English of all things.

WARNING

SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT

Around him the other players seemed to relax, but Harry felt his tension on rising. Every instinct he had from years of fighting for his life and tracking down Dark Wizards was screaming at him to retreat. To get home now. That they had all misstepped into a trap of epic proportions. Although the people around him had been fearful and panicked at first, the notice on the sky seemed to have calmed most of them. No one else that he could see seemed to have the same concerns that he did. They all seemed content to quite down, to complacently wait for rescue from the game by the GMs.

Rescue wasn't coming. He could feel it in his bones. He could see it in the eerie numbers that hovered over each persons heart.

The center of the Crimson pattern that covered the entire sky above suddenly sagged in the middle, dripping off the ceiling like an enormous drop of blood. The viscous drop slowly extended downward. Rather than breaking off and falling to the ground to splash at their feet, it abruptly changed shape in midair. What emerged was the form of a person clad in a robe the color of Crimson blood, a deep hood hiding the figure's face in a shadow of darkness. The robe clad figure was at least 60 feet tall, and it's feet still did not touch the ground. Harry wasn't sure how correct that was though because they were all staring up at the figure from the ground, which should've given them a glimpse underneath that hood. Only there was no face to be seen in the darkness. The underside of the hood and the stitching of the seam was clearly visible. The sleeves were the same. Dangling so long that they hid any sight of the figures hands, leaving only the faint empty darkness in their place.

If the robes had been black, Harry would have said they were the robes of a Death Eater, for the cut and style was eerily similar. But the color was Red rather than black and the game had been designed by a Muggle who couldn't have known about the Death Eaters and their miserable fashion sense.

Around him mutters of confusion and hope rose in waves.

As if to silent the crowd the right arm of enormous robe suddenly shifted. A white glove peeked out of the pendulous sleeve, but once again there was a stark separation between the robe and the glove with no flesh to be seen connecting them. The other arm lifted making the white gloved hand becoming visible. The empty white gloves spread apart, looming over 10,000 heads. In the dark shadows of the hood, a mouth that did not exist opened and a deep voice came forth, silencing them all.

"Welcome to my world, dear players." The crowd shuffled nervously staring up at the figure that was watching over them. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the only human being alive with control over this world."

The crowd began to scream and weep in parts, in other clusters of voices rose in confused mutterings, or stilled in stunned silence.

"You have likely noticed by now the the log-out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug. I repeat, this is not a bug. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. From this point onward you will be unable to freely log-out of the game until the summit of this castle is conquered. Furthermore, the NerveGear cannot be removed or shutdown via external means. If forceful means of exit are attempted," the voice paused, filling the air with a heavy, damming felt his heart pounding in his chest, wondering how long it would be until Hermione arrived for tea and tried to remove the NerveGear. His instincts were screaming at full force now, and Harry knew that things were about to get even worse.

The next words Akihiko Kayaba spoke came with a slow, awful finality. "The high-powered microwaves admitted by the NerveGear will scramble your brain and shut down your vital processes."

Harry felt his legs tremble and forced them to lock up so he didn't drop to the floor like some of the players around him. He had survived Voldemort after all. Taking a long breath Harry looked around the crowd of sobbing, terrified people and was glad he had told Andromeda not to let Teddy play the game without one of them trying it first. Harry looked down at the familiar words carved into his hands and felt his world change forever.

=== HP/SAO ===

December 1, 2022; Floor 1 Amphitheater

Harry strolled down the path leading to the amphitheater. It was a lovely street, a master piece of digital scenery. The ground was similar to cobble stones, but not nearly as bumpy to walk over, and the sides of the road was line with trees. The trees were still covered in leaves, though the leaves had long since turned into red, oranges, and golds, rather than the healthy green of spring. Still, there was something pleasing in the sight of them.

At the end of the road was the amphitheater that he was going to. He knew why he was going there, but he wondered how much help could actually be. He wondered if he should even go. Going there, standing amidst all the other players, would be hard. But his Gryffindor side wouldn't let him skip out on it. If others were willing to fight, willing to risk dying, he could hardly do less. He wanted out of the game. He wanted to see his friends again. To see his godson again. Waiting for others to defeat the 100 bosses, could take years. He didn't have years. Teddy was so young and if he was stuck in here too long he would come to in the real world to find that his godson didn't know him anymore. He had promised Remus and Tonks that he would be there for Teddy, and he was determined to keep his word.

The amphitheater at the end of the lane was suddenly in front of him. Rather than rising up into the sky, the amphitheater sunk into the ground. The only sign of it's presence in front of him being the tall Ionic marble columns stretched out at the end of the path. Taking a deep breath Harry marched forward between the columns, looking down on the stone amphitheater below. It looked like an ancient Greek amphitheater, though it appeared to be made out of golden limestone, rather than the same marble of the columns above. It was oval shaped with a dozen rows of long stone bench style seating carved into the amphitheater itself. At the bottom of the rows was a flat surface of the same stone. Across from the seating was a tall wall, which Harry knew was meant to hide the cast and stage hands from the audience between scenes of a play.

Harry looked around him, counting out the people already there. Some were seated in groups, others on their own. But all of them had the same determined set to their shoulders. Harry winced as he caught sight of a few with numbers hanging over their heads that indicated a not so good future for them. The player down at the bottom of the amphitheater, his blue hair lit up in the sun, was one of these players. The fact that the man trying to organize the boss raid party was one of those with an approaching date made Harry wince and think about turning around and leaving.

But his desire to get off of Floor 1, and to get out of the game, was stronger.

Glancing about once more he walked into the amphitheater and took a seat near a young man dressed all in black. Harry watched him out of the corner of his eye. The young man's countdown clock, as Harry had begun to think of them, showed a long life stretching out before the black-hair player. Inching slightly closer he took a good long look at the young man. He was very obviously of Japanese decent, but whether he was a player form Japan or elsewhere Harry couldn't know for certain. It was most likely that he was from Japan as that was where 90% of the players trapped in SAO were from.

He was handsome too.

Harry blushed and glanced away before the other could catch him staring at him. He looked younger than Harry, perhaps not even eighteen yet. It made Harry feel a little dirty, looking him over as he had been, but at the same time not. He could be older than he looked after all. Harry himself was already twenty-three and he still looked the same as he did on the day he killed Voldemort. Of course Harry was wizard and wizards aged very slowly in comparison to humans. They could live twice as long, easily, as a normal human, longer even if their magic was strong enough.

Harry pondered that for a while as he waited for the meeting to begin. He wondered for a moment if the young man was a wizard too, or just another Muggle. It would be nice to find another wizard in the game. To have someone he didn't need to hide things from, like Harry had to do with everyone else he met in the game.

A loud whistle pierced his thoughts, drawing his attention to the blue-haired player down at the bottom of the amphitheater.

"Thank you all for heeding my call today," he said in a loud, carrying voice. "You are the best and the brightest players in SAO."

Harry snorted at the flowery comment. While many of the players here likely were very skilled, he doubted that most of them were what could be considered the best. Sure he recognized a few as normal front line players, the tall axe-wielding black man was the most recognizable. There weren't many players of African decent in the game after all. However, most of the players here were ones Harry didn't recognize, or only remembered from the most recent front line battle.

"My name's Diavel," the blue haired man said. "And I like to think of myself as playing a "knight!"

Harry scoffed out loud, the sound hidden from everyone but the black dressed player next to him as someone else in the crowd called out, "I bet you wanted to say you're playing a 'hero'!"

The crowd laughed lightly at the joke, and Diavel waited for them to quite before continuing on. "Now you're all top players in the game active around the front line of our progress and I hardly need to remind you of why we're here. Today, our party discovered the first floor boss chamber!"

The crowd erupted again, this time with excitement. Adrenaline pulsed through Harry's veins and he leaned forward involuntarily. The boss! They were one step closer to getting out of here. One dangerous, potentially deadly step.

"The time has come to beat the boss and reach the second floor! It took an entire month, but now we have the chance to show everyone that someday we can beat this game of death. That's the duty of all the top level players here!"

"Hang on just a sec, sir knight," called a short, angry looking player with unusually spiky hair. "I gotta get this offa my chest before we can start playin' like we're all pals."

He stormed down the steps to where Diavel, a very attractive looking fellow in comparison, stood watching him.

"What's on your mind, friend," asked Diavel. "Positive opinions are always welcome. However, I'd ask you to introduce yourself first."

"Hmph," spiky hair grunted. "The name's Kibaou."

He spun about sharply to face the crowd of onlookers. With a voice full of misplaced anger, he screamed, "C'mon, you cowardly beta testers! Show yourselves! I know there's five or ten of 'em here!" He spun around, glaring at everyone. "Come out an' name yourselves! You owe an apology to the two thousand people who already died because you were too busy hoggin' everything to yourselves! Now get down on hands and knees ta apologize and donate your stockpile o' col and items!"

The crowed murmured in parts agreement, in parts disagreement, and in parts dismay. Harry felt his blood boil and surged to his feet green eyes flashing with power and rage. Before he could storm down the steps and scold the player like he would a child throwing a temper tantrum, the tall black man came up from behind the other player, his shadow covering the rowdy man like a shadow of death.

"May I speak," the black man said in a calm, collected voice. "My name's Agil," he said to the crowd.

"Kibaou-san, if I have this right," he said to the short-angry player. "You're claiming that many newbies died because the former testers didn't help them so they ought to pay reparations? Is that correct?"

"Y…yeah," Kibaou stuttered. "They abandoned all the new players who didn't know left from right on the day this damn game started…an' hightailed it right outta the town of beginnings to pursue their own selfish ends. You know anyone around you that fits the bill?" Gaining a little confidence from not being interrupted or immediately shut down, Kiabou continued on. "When them beta assholes hogged all the best huntin' grounds and lucrative quests…they kept the beginners from good leveling spots so that they had ta venture into dangerous zones and wound up dead."

Harry smirked and slowly lowered back down to his seat, noticing that the black swordsman beside him was watching him. Harry smiled at him. "There are always a few," Harry said lightly to him. "People who can't accept that things are out of their control. People who want to blame someone else, someone easy to blame, for all the troubles in the world."

Harry glared down at Kibaou even as Agil kept on lecturing him, and the others listening. "The deaths of those two thousand people don't belong on the heads of the beta testers. They belong solely on Akihiko Kayaba. Every time I reached a new town, the guidebook was available at item shops," Agil said. "And for free too. I'd say everyone has made use of them, right?"

"It was very helpful," a hooded figure to their left whispered in a soft, feminine voice.

"But it felt to me like it was all too quick. I suspect that the only people who could have offered this information and map data are the former beta testers who have already been well past anything we've seen so far." Agil turned to face the crowd, still holding up the SAO Strategy Guide. "Listen, the information was out there. There's no better gift you could give a group of beginners. Yes, many people died. But that was because they assumed SAO worked the same way as other MMOs, and failed to pull back when they needed to."

A line of sweat began to drip down Kibaou's face as he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth.

"Meanwhile," Agil continued. "We've got the information from the Guide and we're still alive."

Harry smiled and scooted closer to the black-clad youth. "Kibou's met his match."

"Seems that way," the other boy said.

"Kibaou is the kind of player who is never happy. Not unless he's the best, not unless he has the most, not unless he can build his own happiness on the misfortune and grief of others. He is here because he wants to be important. He wants to be the hero. The knight that Diavel claimed to be." Harry snorted, causing the cloaked girl to look towards him. "A real knight does not speak ill of others. A knight does not spread news that he does not know to be certain, or condemn things that he does not understand. Every knight holds human equality as an unwavering truth. A knight is never present when men or women are being degraded or compromised in any way, because if a knight were present, those committing the hurtful acts or words would be made to stop."

The black swordsman looked back on the scene below. A smile twitched the corners of his lips. "Agil's the real knight here."

"Agreed," Harry and the girl said on the same breath.

"You know a lot about knights," inquired the young man.

Harry laughed softly. "Well, I suppose I should. I'm British after all."

"Oh," the girl said in surprise.

Harry smiled again at the two. The three of them jolted and looked back at the goings on below as a commotion broke out. The others had rushed the stage, crowding around Diavel and Agil. A loud sursurus broke out as people started reading out commentary from an apparently new Guide book specific to the boss they were planning to face.

"What," screamed Kibaou. "Now wait just a damn second!"

Harry cursed the man, wishing he could risk casting a spell while trapped in the dangerous Muggle tech. He really was sick and tired of the whiny little rat of a man.

"Lookit this here," he said, practically yanking the Guide out of Dial's hand. "I knew it! The informant knows who's a beta tester! In fact," he growled. "Are we really gonna trust intel from beta testers? They could be leaving out the most important info just to screw us over!"

Harry jumped to his feet, storming down to the crowd below.

"If this came from the beta testers maybe they should stand at the front of the battle-"

"Shut up, all of you," screamed Harry over the crowd, silencing them with the unequivocal sound of command in his voice. He strode forward, the crowd parting before him like the Red Sea parting for Moses. "I have heard enough of his bloody crap! The beta testers are as trapped in here as any of the rest of us. They want to get out and back to their lives as much as any of us do and you are here scorning every attempt they are giving you, and everyone else, to make it out of this game alive? I cannot believe you!"

Harry glared out at the crowd, spine straight, eyes glowing with suppressed rage. "You have no right to be angry at them! If you were a beta tester," he said glaring at Kibaou. "I have no doubt you would have rushed out of the town that day as well to level up as quickly as you could. And I doubt you would be as kind as they have been and shared your knowledge and experience at no profit to you. No, what everyone here needs to be is grateful. They are giving us a chance! A chance to make it out of the upcoming fight with as many of us alive as possible."

"Indeed," Agil agreed. "The information is going to save the usual reconnaissance missions. We might even be able to win without any fatalities."

Kibaou glared at Harry. "How do we even know you aren't a beta tester? We don't even know your name!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "My name is Galahad. And if you didn't catch the accent, well, I'm from England. So obviously I could not be a beta tester."

Kibaou scowled. "You could be living in Japan!"

"I'm not. Not that, that would change what you think." Harry glared until Kibaou hunched in on himself and nervously looked around. "Each one of us is walking our own road in life and in SAO. We are born at specific times, in specific places, and our challenges are unique. As knights," Harry rolled his eyes. "Understanding and respecting our distinctiveness is vital to our ability to harness our collective strength. In this game the use of force may be necessary to protect ourselves and others, but only justice, fairness, and cooperation can truly allow us to succeed in defeating this boss, and the ninety-nine others ahead of us. We must work together as brothers and sisters, or perish together as fools!"

The crowd around him cheered, lightly pushing at Kibaou as he grumbled more complaints.

"Galahad is right! And if his words aren't enough for you," Diavel smacked his fist into his armored chest. "Then I'll take it upon myself to protect the group. If there is any fault in the information, then I will continue the fight. On my pride as a knight I swear this to you!"

The crowd cheered again, louder this time.

As the cheers began to die down, Diavel turned to look towards the black knight and the cloaked girl standing behind Galahad. "It seems fitting, after all. Given that we have a Princess."

The girl jolted under her cloak. Harry wondered if she was embarrassed about being singled out, or angry that her gender was being use against her. Even if it wasn't meant in a mean way. He knew that if it had been Ginny or Hermione under the cloak they would have torn it off and ripped into Diavel until he was a cowering, crying mess.

Harry's smile vanished. It hadn't been that long since they had gotten trapped and thinking about any of his friends and former classmates, made him sad. He let out a long breath and looked back up, surprised to find that both the girl and the black clothed young man were watching him.

"It looks like the three of us don't have anyone to team up with," the young man commented, looking between Harry and the girl. "Why don't the three of us team up?"

"Sure," Harry said.

"No thanks," she said at the same time.

"You know we can't join the raid unless we're in a party," the young man told the girl.

She blinked, blushed, and looked away from them. "I might consider it…if you send me an invite."

"Really," he said, surprised. "Okay."

The young man pulled up his menu with a swipe of his hand. A screen blinked to life in front of Harry and the young lady. Considering she hadn't said her name yet, Harry guessed the two might have met before. Looking at the request, Harry quickly reached out and tapped the 'Accept' button. The screen chimed once then blinked away. A new screen appeared welcoming him to the party with Kirito and Asuna.

"In exchange," Asuna said to Kirito. "You were saying something before we got here. I couldn't hear it through the wind. If we both survive the battle…tell me again."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Asuna caught the look and blushed a bright scarlet.

=== HP/SAO ===

Two Days Later, Floor 1: Forest Field

Galahad met Kirito at his Inn. Kirito almost walked into a wall when he saw him, because he hadn't recognized the other player. Galahad was dressed differently than he had been two days prior. Hell, he was dressed differently than he had been yesterday when they all practiced together!

The basic gear he had been dressed in had been replaced by nicer clothes and armor. Now he was dressed in a long green tunic with gold and black designs along the edges of the neck and hem. His pants looked to be black leather and over top of them he had a long skirt like piece of clothing that was open at the front and held in place by a green belt with a gold clasp. His chest was covered by a silver breastplate, over which the black strap of his swords sheath was attached. He grinned at Kirito and when their eyes met he gave Kirito a saucy wink, which made Kirito blush.

"Ready to head out? Asuna and the rest of the team should be waiting for us."

"Y-yeah," stammered Kirito.

They exited the town, quickly catching up to Asuna and the rest of the party who were already walking down the forest path to the dungeon. The fencer glanced at the two of them, doing a double take as she caught sight of Galahad, who merely waved in an amused manner.

The three of them walked at the back of the group and for several minutes the journey was silent. Harry rather enjoyed the lush green forest and the sunny sky that they found themselves in. It was different from the fall like atmosphere near the cities. Here he could almost imagine he was back at Hogwarts. What Asuna was thinking he couldn't guess, though if anything he was pleased by how calm she was. As the only girl in the party it had to be a bit daunting to be trying to take down a boss. He didn't get the feeling that she had ever played games like this before. Which made her being here all the more impressive in his book. Though he did wish she wasn't so shy.

Kirito coughed, drawing their attention to him. "As the leftover team, our target is going to be the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. The boss' entourage."

"I know," Asuna said in a soft voice.

"I'll use sword skills to knock their poleaxes up and out of the way. The second I do either you or Galahad should switch and jump in."

"Switch," asked Asuna.

Kirito stumbled and swiftly turned to look at the girl. "Level with me. Is this the first time you've been in a party?"

Asuna nodded and Harry realized Kirito was cursing in his head at that moment. Having someone who had never fought as part of a team before was going to be more of a hinderance than a help. Galahad interrupted and calmly went about explaining what their job was going to be and how they were going to achieve it as Kirito tried to collect himself. Asuna nodded, listening intently. The determined look on her face made Harry give her a sad smile. At the moment she reminded him so much of Hermione.

Eventually the first came to an end and the whole group made their way into the dungeon, past the all the low level minions. Finally they reached the end. Before them were the heavy metal doors that signified they had found the Boss Room. Diavel stopped them all, and Harry realized he was going to give them another speech. Harry was honestly a little tired of speech's. Diavel had been giving them a lot to the party over the last two days of training. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it was good for moral. It was just that he had been the leader of a battle before. He had already fought and died before. The thought that he might die on the other side of those doors was more of an irritant than any actual fear. He was used to living in fear that at any moment he would die. Five years of piece wasn't long compared to the 18 years of hell that came before it.

"-Let's win," Diavel cried out, fist raised.

The crowd rippled with a somber sound. They knew that what they were about to face was dangerous. That at least one of them would likely die, but they had all accepted that they had to do this. That the only way out of this nightmare was to face their fears, and the monster hidden on the other side of the door.

Diavel spun about and placed his hand on the door, slowly pushing it open. "Let's go!"

The room on the other side was dark. From where they stood Kirito and the others could barely make out the elaborate pattern on the stone floor, and the ghostly shapes of pillars stretching out into the darkness. As Diavel stepped into the room a pair of glowing red eyes lit up in the darkness at the end of the room.

Their blue-hair leader didn't hesitate as he led the party deeper into the room. As the last of them stepped over the threshold, the room burst into light, the darkness vanishing. With an animalistic growl the huge red figure at the end of the room leapt from it's throne, high into the air. With a deafening crash it dropped to the floor, knocking a couple of players to their knees as the floor trembled from the impact. Kirito cursed the cloud of dusty smoke that rose into the air from the impact, blocking sight of the boss momentarily. Fortunately it did not attack right away.

It let out a loud howl, throwing it's head back and exposing it's chest to the party.

Kirito glanced at his party, noticing Galahad checking out the Boss, his face a mask of calm detachment. Their was no fear in the stunning emerald eyes as it looked at Illfang the Kobold Lord. If anything he seemed slightly disappointed by the boss monster, which only confused Kirito.

Three towers of light surged up from the floor in front of Illfang, resolving into three smaller kobolds dressed in medieval armor and carrying axes. The minions had barely formed before they charged forwards at the group of players, Illfang right behind them.

Diavel slashed his sword in an arch toward the approaching monsters, yelling out his orders. "Commence attack!"

With a yell the main group of players charged forwards.

"Squads A and C! Switch," ordered Diavel. "Here it comes! Squad B, block!"

Illfang let out a roar, swinging it's weapon down at the cluster of players still battling his minions. Agil and Kibaou jumped forwards, setting into the boss with some of their strongest attacks, their weapons glowing brightly with their determination.

"Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch," Diavel called from the back. "Everyone else…As you fall back, prepare to attack from the sides! Squads D, E, and F, keep the sentinels off us!"

"You got it," Kirito called back, blade already drawn and ready for the attack. The loud clanging of metal on metal filled the room as players charged forward attacking minions and boss alike. Kirito, Asuna, and Galahad moved as a single unit. They switched in and out with surprising ease considering the limited time they had to prepare for the battle, especially as Asuna seemed to want as little to do with them outside of the actual fight, as possible.

Kirito was surprised by how good Asuna's dexterity and skill level was. The young woman was attacking so fast that he couldn't even see the tip of her sword! One minion burst apart beneath her sword in a shower of rainbow shards. It's comrade screeched and lept at Asuna, only to be taken out in a single sword stroke by Galahad, who had seemingly come out of nowhere. Appearing as if by magic, at Asuna's back just in time. The third minion launched itself at Kirito, blocking his attack and leaping backwards, forcing Kirito to chase it.

The angry roar of the boss behind him, distracted Kirito, drawing his gaze to it. Of the three HP bars, the monster appear to be down to the final half of it's points in the final bar, the normal color of the HP bar already glowing a bloody red. With a sudden cry the kobold lord flung away his shield and axe, startling the party into freezing.

Kibaou grinned at the sight. "Looks like the guidebook was right after all."

"Stand back," called Diavel from behind.

The other players turned to look at their leader, and Kirito noticed that Galahad had a far more serious look on his face as he watched the other man. Something was off and Galahad seemed to be picking up on whatever it was.

"I've got it," Diavel called out as he charged forward, past the other players who gave him confused looks.

Kirito snarled, swinging his sword at the minor again and trying to move forward. This wasn't part of the plan! 'I thought the plan was to surround it with the entire group?'

As he caught Diavel's eye, he noticed the sad, almost apologetic look in the blue-haired knights eyes. Kirito's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. Diavel wasn't trying to steal the HP from killing the monster, he was trying to save the party! Diavel must have noticed something off in the boss' attack!

With a snarling smirk Illfang reached behind it's back and pulled out a long bladed weapon. A weapon it hadn't used in the beta test! Diavel stood his ground, his sword glowing, ready for the attack.

'That's not a Talwar! It's a No-Dachi!' Kirito cursed out loud, slashing at the minion in front of him before turning towards Diavel. "Wait! Stop," he cried out. Kibaou turned at the sound of his voice, but the others remained still, watching Diavel charge forward in what was turning out to be a Kamikaze attack.

"Get out of there," Kirito screamed.

Illfang leapt into the air again as Diavel continued to charge forward. It ricocheted off the pillars several times before flinging it's body down at Diavel, head and No-Dachi first. Diavel screamed as the No-Dachi sliced through his side and the rest of the party let out shocked cries of horror. As Illfang swung at their leader a second time, a green and black blur intercepted the attack, forcing the No-Dachi to the side, where it slammed into the ground, cleaving through the floor, sending up a cloud of debris and dust. Illfang roared his displeasure as his attacked was blocked. Kirito ran forward, toward the slowly clearing cloud, calling out "Diavel!"

As the cloud finally disappointed the party were shocked to see their leader injured but alive, the green and black glad bishonen standing over him protectively. Kirito skidded to a halt next to Diavel and Galahad, already pulling out a healing potion as he came to a stop. "What were you thinking," he demanded.

He yanked on the top of the potion, pulling off the top and moving to give it to Diavel. The blue-hair man looked up at him, pushing Kirito's hand, and the potion away. "You know," he whispered. "You were a beta tester too? Weren't you."

Behind them a few of the party caught the softly spoken words, sending a ripple of shock through the crowd. Kirito gasped. He had suspected that Diavel might be a beta tester, but he hadn't been sure. He wasn't sure if he should be annoyed, angry, or impressed.

"You were after the rare item from the last attack bonus," he said in a quit voice. "You're just like me. A beta tester."

Diavel gave him a sad grin and went to answer, but his words were drowned out by the roar of Illfang and the clang of swords meeting. Around them the battle started again, and Kirito tried again to get Diavel to drink. And again the man pushed his hand away.

"Just shove the potion down his throat, Kirito," yelled Galahad. "We don't have time for martyrs!"

Kibaou yelled something derogatory at the Brit, who ignore him and called out attack orders for the rest of the party, telling Asuna and Kirito to drag the wounded out of the way and feed them any healing potions they could spar. Kirito looked back at Galahad in awe. The noob was leading the fight like a seasoned general, commanding voice brooking no argument from anyone, the black of his half skirt swishing around him dramatically as he continued his assault on the boss.

Asuna yanked Diavel's head back by the hair, causing the man to shout in surprised pain.

"Well," she demanded. "Feed the potion to him like Galahad said! We can't let him die!"

"Y-yeah," Kirito stuttered, following the order and force-feeding the potion to his fellow beta tester. All the while a part of him was trembling in shock. Since the beginning of the game, all he had thought about was his own survival. Nothing else mattered. But Diavel… Diavel wasn't like that. Even though he was a beta tester, he never abandoned the other players. Instead, he had brought them together. And yeah, perhaps he had tried to steal the special item for defeating Illfang, but he had done so knowing he might die. As Diavel swallowed the potion reluctantly, Kirito stood up, turning to face Illfang with a greater determination, with greater understanding. Asuna slid into place beside him as he clench his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I'll go too," she said with conviction.

"Thanks."

The two surged forward calling out to Galahad. "We'll hit him just like we did the minions!"

"Got it," Asuna and Galahad called out together.

Illfang turned away from the other players, focusing on the three running towards it. He gripped his No-Dachi, the blade glowing a fierce white as it's attack started. One after the other Kirito, Asuna, and Galahad switched out. Blocking and striking in rapid fire attacks that left the boss monster off balance. Asuna's cloak was torn away, revealing her to be a strikingly pretty young woman. But Kirito and the rest of the party were too busy attacking and helping the injured to notice. Suddenly the monster lucked out, his blade hitting Kirito, knocking him backwards into Asuna. The two went tumbling across the floor and Asuna gasped as she struggled up, catching sight of Kirito's HP bar dropping into the remaining third of his life points.

A shadow appear over them and she gasped as Illfang swung his No-Dachi up into the air above them, preparing to attack. It glowed an eery red and she was certain she was about too die.

Two voices cried out from behind and she looked up just in time to see Agil blocked the attack, and Galahad to launched his own. Illfang cried out in pain as the handsome Brit sank his sword into the monsters flesh, with a determined snarl. The rest of the players surged forwards behind them, leaving Asuna shocked and amazed.

"We can hold him off until you two recover," Agil told her.

"You got it," Kirito said as he pushed himself up. He looked towards the battle, and his newest ally, who was fighting with an amazing speech and flexibility. Galahad seemed to have utterly no fear as Illfang lept into the air once more, his weapon glowing as it swung back down towards the British swordsman.

"Watch out," Kirito screamed, launching himself forward to where Agil and two other players were on the ground defenseless, right in the path of Illfang's attack on Galahad.

Galahad roared, his sword moving lightning fast, slicing once, twice, three times before he propelled himself into a backflip off Illfang's rotund belly, making a clear path for Kirito to launch his own attack. He screamed out slicing through the monster in a upwards cut sure of his own safety with Galahad there blocking the monsters No-Dachi in time for Kirito to cleave his sword through the boss once more.

A blast of light blinded them as the boss disintegrated in a shower of rainbow shards. For a moment the room was still and silent, as it sunk in that they had won. They had beaten the first floor boss!

CONGRATULATIONS

The crowd burst out in riotous cheers of the delight as the banner flashed before them signally the completion of the battle. Kirito sank to his knees, gasping for breath while around him the other party members were hugging each other and dancing about like fools. Galahad stood at his back watching over the crowd as a pop-up window appeared in front of Kirito signaling that he had won the Last Attack Bonus. The Coat of Midnight! This was what Diavel had been after in the battle, other than getting to the second floor. For a moment he didn't want to take it. He hadn't fought just to win the item, he had been fighting to get out of this world. To get back home.

"You did good, Kirito."

Kirito looked up at Galahad who was smiling down at him in pride. The look made Kirito blink for a moment. It wasn't often in recent years that anyone looked at him in pride. It filled his belly with a fluttery sensation he couldn't place.

"You should accept the bonus. If you don't want it you can always sell it to Diavel." Galahad's lips twitched up in a smirk and he turned to look over at the blue haired man who was watching them with an awed look on his face. "I think you might just have a fanboy."

Kirito groaned but accepted the bonus item, watching Asuna help the still amazed looking Diavel to his feet. Kibaou was already running over towards them, a happy look on his face at the sight of their party leader still among the living. Nearby Agil was getting to his feet, dusting off his behind with a pat of his large hands. The older man caught him looking and gave Kirito and Galahad a wide smile.

"That was some fine swordsmanship," he said as he walked over to them. "Congratulations. Today's victory is all thanks to you two."

"No," Kirito said with a shake of his head.

"You guys rock!"

"Way to go, Kirito!"

"Galahad is the man!"

The shouts of appreciation filled the room, making Kirito want to hide behind Galahad. So many people praising him was a bit disconcerting. Surely someone would blame him for something? No one could possibly this happy to have the victory taken by one of the loners? He swallowed thickly waiting for someone, Kibaou most likely, to start blaming him for Diavel nearly dying. Surely one of them would notice that he had called out to Diavel, warning him to back off just before Illfang hit him?

But the crowd was silent of fear, betrayal, or anger. The room was filled with back slapping good wishes. He gave a tentative smile at the crowd noticing the suspicious gaze that Kibaou was giving him until Diavel set his hand on the shorter player's shoulder, distracting him. Whatever Diavel said to him seemed to calm him down though, and the moment passed.

"Smile and accept the praise," Galahad whisper as he helped Kirito to his feet. "Take it from me, this is a much better reaction than if Diavel had died and one of them found reason to blame a change of coding on you."

Kirito looked at the other player, surprised at the look in the normally bright green eyes. There was something haunted, something knowing in his eyes as he spoke about how a crowd could turn on you.

Galahad shook the look off, forcing a grin on his face before walking into the crowd thanking them, and telling them that they couldn't have done it without the rest of them. That defeating the boss was a team effort and all of them had played an important role. He praised them all for fighting, for risking their lives, and for defending each other, making several blush as if they had forgotten that the only girl in the actual party was in fact standing at the other end of the crowd watching them all with an indecipherable look on her face.

TBC….

(AN: to see what inspired Harry, aka Galahad's, costume look up Mikazuki Munechika. That was what I imaged Harry's outfit to look like, except with pants more like Klein's.)