Chapter Nine

"It's amazing!"

The scythe was everything I had hoped it would be. Dark, shiny, badass. It was the whole package deal.

I grabbed it's handle and swung it around, testing it out. Hideki squeaked and jumped away.

"Not in the shop!" He screeched, narrowing his eyes.

I laughed and shoved the scythe into an over-the-shoulder sheath. Once it was secure, I transferred some money over to Hideki.

"Thank you so much, Hideki. Except for the part where you almost fed me to a dragon."

He smiled sheepishly at me and turned away. I laughed.

"It was nice meeting you." I told him.

"Back at you."

I nodded and that was that. I left the shop and continued making my way down the road. I was supposed to meet the parties who are heading to fight the next boss. Everyone was supposed to converge in front of the boss room in 2 days.

I whistled, bringing Kuro and Gurē to my side. Once we were out of town, Gurē ran ahead, while Kuro walked by my side. Everything was calm and peaceful, but it was soon disturbed when Gurē came to a halt 20 feet ahead.

His hackles rose, he bared his teeth, and a dangerous growl rumbled up from deep in his chest. I stopped walked, reaching back to swing my scythe out of its sheath.

I took small steps forward until I was next to Gurē. I followed his line of sight until my eyes landed on a figure about 100 feet away, completely dressed in red. The figure continued moving forward, despite the "back off" warning growls coming from the wolves.

The closer the figure came, the more details I could make out. It was a male with pitch black hair. He was muscular, obviously a warrior. A chain was piled up around his hips, thick blades attached at the ends. Accents of white joined the red of his outfit, seemingly part of a guild.

I gripped my scythe in my hand, holding it out at my side as a warning. However, the man continued forward.

Finally when he was about 15 feet away, he stopped. The wolves snarled, turning from my fluffy friends into dangerous beasts.

"Do you mind not taking up the whole road?"

I moved to the side, silently, whistling for my wolves to back off. The moved and the man started past me. I turned to continue my way, but he pulled out a sword, holding it to Gurē's neck.

Without another thought, I swung my scythe up, letting it stop right under his chin.

"Take your sword away from my wolf." I demanded, strangely calm.

"They are dangerous to the public." He replied, just as calmly.

"Says who?"

"I do."

"And who exactly are you to decide that?"

"I am a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

I paused. The Knights of the Blood Oath was the most powerful guild in Sword Art Online. He wasn't someone to mess with if he was apart of the guild.

"I'm not getting rid of my wolves."

"If they harm anyone, they are gone."

I glared at him until he moved his sword away from Gurē. Then, he stared at me, waiting for me to move my weapon. I raised an eyebrow at him.

Then, we were fighting. I don't remember how it started, but suddenly our blades were clashing. I whistled for my wolves to back off when they tried to lunge forward.

It was hard adjusting to fighting with a scythe, but I managed. The man was definitely skilled. He managed to block every single one of my advances. I grew more and more frustrated with every swing, yelling out angrily.

He didn't even break a sweat.

Finally, I jumped backwards, out of his reach. I was breathing heavily, but he didn't even seem like he was just fighting me. His smirk angered me, so without even thinking, I whistled.

Kuro and Gurē were on him in seconds.

His sword was knocked away in shock, and my wolves had him pinned to the ground in no time. I walked over and leaned over him.

"Is that how this is going to end? You hiding behind your wolves?" He asked, dryly.

"They're my team. I'm just tapping out."

He glared at me and I whistled again, calling them off. Gurē snapped his jaw once before backing off, Kuro right behind him.

"One day, we will meet again, and we will fight evenly, and I will win." I told him.

He didn't bother answering as he got to his feet. I whirled and continued on my way, the wolves following after me. I could feel his burning gaze on my back, but I ignored him.

The next couple days, I worked my way slowly down to the right floor to meet the parties. It was a leisure trip, going my own pace, however my mind was on the man I fought.

He was so cocky, and smug, and mean.

Finally, the day of the raid came, and I met with the parties. It was mostly a couple of guilds, with a couple of solo players like me. I froze when I saw a red and white guild.

He couldn't be here. Could he?

However, my answer was soon answered when he stood up on a pedestal, quieting everyone down.

Our eyes met across the crowd and he immediately frowned.

"Oh no." I muttered.