Chapter 79: Kayaba Akihiko: You

After striking a blow that separated him from Kayaba Akihiko, Shengzai leapt directly onto the head of Kang Jin Long and began guerilla warfare with him.

Kang Jin Long possessed flight capability and, due to his mastery over wind, was exceptionally agile in the air.

Even against Kayaba Akihiko’s various ranged attacks, he evaded them with serpentine maneuvers.

Yet as he watched his ten HP bars slowly whittled down by one due to Shengzai’s sneaky tactics, Kayaba Akihiko ceased holding back.

Previously, his attacks had mostly been close-range ordinary strikes, but now, gripping his scythe tightly again, he began preparing to use a skill.

A crimson blood-light erupted from the scythe in his hand, and a blade-shaped glow resembling a blood-red moon shot instantly toward Shengzai, who still rode the dragon like a knight.

The blood-colored blade-light swelled with the wind, and by the time it reached Shengzai and his mount, it had grown to an exaggerated size of nearly dozens of meters.

With such a massive attack range, Kang Jin Long—whose body was likewise large—had no way to dodge.

Thus, as the blood blade surged toward them, Shengzai chose to abandon the vessel to save the general, leaping from the air, and helplessly watched Kang Jin Long split in two before dissolving into data fragments.

There was no choice; under those circumstances, dodging was his only option.

“Weapon Block” was a divine technique, but it had a cooldown.

Using other skills to tank the blow, given the level and stat gap between him and Kayaba Akihiko, would have been suicide.

In the real world, even if a spirit summon was destroyed, it could be restored by consuming spiritual energy and re-summoned.

But in this SAO, if a spirit summon was classified as a pet, then upon its death, it could only be revived at “Memory Hill.”

Of course, compared to Silica’s single dragon named Pina, Shengzai had plenty more fighters at his disposal.

“Spirit Summon: Azure Dragon—Wei Huo Hu!”

“Spirit Summon: Vermilion Bird—Xing Ri Ma!”

“Spirit Summon: White Tiger—Kui Mu Lang!”

“Spirit Summon: Black Tortoise—Shi Huo Zhu!”

As four ritual arrays unfolded before Shengzai, a dappled fire tiger, a majestic white steed, a black wolf radiating vibrant life, and a wild boar with flaming fangs all appeared simultaneously before him.

As Wei Huo Hu, Xing Ri Ma, Kui Mu Lang, and Shi Huo Zhu materialized, Kayaba Akihiko’s interface quickly displayed their stats.

As expected, these newly summoned creatures were also beings from the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

The instant the four Mansions appeared, Shengzai flipped onto the nearby Xing Ri Ma.

“Howl—————!”

As a piercing howl erupted from Kui Mu Lang’s mouth, vibrant life surged from the ground; vines and branches grew visibly before their eyes, completely binding and entangling Kayaba Akihiko.

(I know many readers will complain here that SAO has no magic—I know this, but pets and monsters have their own abilities: the ice dragon on floor fifty spat frost, the demon on floor seventy-four spat fire, and Silica’s dragon healed and restored HP.)

All I can say is, while the Sword Art Online setting claims no magic exists, the actual world is not entirely devoid of magical elements (￣￣)

And just as Kayaba Akihiko’s body was entangled by vegetation, Wei Huo Hu and Shi Huo Zhu both roared, their bodies radiating astonishing heat as they charged toward him at incredible speed.

Trapped by the vegetation, Kayaba Akihiko could not evade Wei Huo Hu’s claw strikes or Shi Huo Zhu’s headlong charge, taking direct damage.

Moreover, because flames clung to Wei Huo Hu and Shi Huo Zhu, their attacks ignited the vegetation wrapped around Kayaba Akihiko, causing him to suffer secondary burn damage.

Yet even against this combination, Kayaba Akihiko’s ten HP bars were only reduced by one more.

“Death Reaping—!”

As the vegetation binding him burned away and he regained mobility, Kayaba Akihiko activated another skill.

He swung his scythe into empty air—but as the blade cut through space, the edge vanished into the space before him.

When the blade reappeared, it was now at the neck of Kui Mu Lang, far behind him.

With this strike, Kui Mu Lang met the same fate as Kang Jin Long, dissolving into data fragments.

Having eliminated the most troublesome control unit in Shengzai’s team with a ranged skill, Kayaba Akihiko turned to Shi Huo Zhu, still charging at him, and reached out a single hand to lift it up.

But just as Kayaba Akihiko prepared to crush Shi Huo Zhu with his hand, the volatile Shi Huo Zhu chose to detonate on the spot.

Terrifying heat spread outward, forming a massive fireball over dozens of meters in diameter that instantly engulfed Kayaba Akihiko’s body.

Yet barely moments after the flames engulfed him, a scythe pierced through the fire, effortlessly tearing the fireball apart.

Shi Huo Zhu’s self-destruction had indeed damaged Kayaba Akihiko, but the damage was minimal—completely insufficient to kill him.

“Wenren Sword Art Form Three—Po Jun!”

At the very moment Kayaba Akihiko tore through the flames, Shengzai, riding Xing Ri Ma, charged forward and used the scythe’s swing as a springboard, slashing straight for Kayaba Akihiko’s head!

The single-handed sword blazed with the light of a sword strike, and since the head was a critical target, Shengzai’s slash dealt massive damage.

After leaping through the air, Shengzai landed swiftly; Kayaba Akihiko, whose HP had been significantly reduced, was about to capitalize and finish him off.

But at nearly the same instant, Wei Huo Hu and Xing Ri Ma, sprinting along the ground, leapt up simultaneously, disrupting Kayaba Akihiko’s attack rhythm.

As Kayaba Akihiko finished off Wei Huo Hu and Xing Ri Ma with a scythe cross-slash, Shengzai had already landed, moving at high speed while rapidly forming hand seals.

“Spirit Summon: Azure Dragon—Jiao Mu Jiao!”

“Spirit Summon: Azure Dragon—Xin Yue Hu!”

“Spirit Summon: White Tiger—Mang Ri Ji!”

“Spirit Summon: White Tiger—Bi Yue Wu!”

“Spirit Summon: Vermilion Bird—Gui Jin Yang!”

“Spirit Summon: Vermilion Bird—Yi Huo She!”

“Spirit Summon: Black Tortoise—Xu Ri Shu!”

“Spirit Summon: Black Tortoise—Niu Jin Niu!”

When Kayaba Akihiko finished off Wei Huo Hu and Xing Ri Ma and saw the multitude of new Mansions appearing before Shengzai, he froze in shock.

He even now felt his earlier decision to seal powerful abilities like “Revival” had been rash.

(End of Chapter)