March 6th, 2024 – 56th Floor
Sword slashed against the skin of multiple Drunk Apes. He didn’t even need to use Sword Skills to take them all out. They were barely even worth his time. Not even the rewards from the killings were enough to waver or deter the goals of the white robed man. Waving away the menu that displayed the rewards of his killings, the man pressed on.
Approaching the end of the forest, he emerged and found himself on the outskirts of Pani, the main settlement for the 56th Floor. Approaching the city’s entrance, he walked past the NPC guards, who merely stepped aside upon seeing the shade of his Color Cursor, green. Walking down the dirt paths of the mountainous region, he eyed many players on the street, who were conversing with merchant NPC’s or talking amongst one another with smiles and laughs. The white robed man merely kept his head down, not to attract much attention, as his skill his well known amongst the Clearers.
Reaching a point in the region, he saw a stalagmite with an opening in it, two more guards in armor guarding the entrance. The man walked up to the entrance and, upon being seen by the guards, they too stepped aside, knowing all well about his accomplishments.
Upon entering the stalagmite, he was met with the lot of Clearer Guilds that were usually seen in these types of boss meetings. He didn’t care for the fact that the GeoCrawler were causing a shit ton of problems for them. He was there for someone else.
He weaved his way towards the front of men who were also wearing robes that bore a striking similarity to his own. On each of them was a red insignia with black decals surrounding it, all flanked by a light blue background. White angel wings are spread apart from it, with blood smeared on each wing, which pays tribute to those who perished during the death game so far.
This was the symbol of the Brotherhood of the Bloodborne Zone.
The man stood in front of the other robed men and women and pulled his hood down, revealing a young teen with dark brown, unkempt hair, brown eyes, and a stoic demeanor that screamed, “Business!” What the Clearers were discussing was something the teen had heard time and time again. All he was able to make out were a chestnut haired girl dressed in red and white and a black haired boy dressed in the same attire color as his hair. Something about NPC’s, obeying orders, a duel, that sort. As the teen zoned out amongst the conversation, he noticed out of his peripherals that a young woman had walked up to his side. She wore the armor of the Divine Dragon Alliance, the teen’s former allies.
After a botched quest went awry, four Brotherhood members ended up dead as a result. An alliance was broken that day because of a Guild’s greediness to succeed the rest, expect for one factor: This girl that stood beside him. The girl whispered softly to the teen that only they could hear the sound of each other’s voices.
“Isn’t it crazy?” The girl asked.
“What?” The teen asked.
“Those two. All they do is argue nonstop about the same things as before.” The girl said.
“They only delay the process of clearing this floor. It’s been a week already and we’re still stuck in this goddamn town. I’m not even looking to beat the Field Boss.” The teen said.
“Then I guess we share the same mindset.” The girl said with a smirk.
The boy raised an eyebrow before looking back at the girl smirking.
“You’re Lana?” The boy said below his breath.
“Meet me outside after this meeting.” Lana said.
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As soon as the meeting got out, Lana was leaning against a neutral stalagmite. Soon, the same boy in white robes from before rounded a corner and saw her once more. He put his hood back up and crossed his arms.
“So you’re the Bellator I’ve heard so much about.” Lana said.
“Yeah? What about me have you heard specifically?” Bellator asked.
“Not much. Except that you’re a Level 88 player, leader of the Brotherhood, the first Clearer Guild in this game, and are as every much as powerful as people like Kirito, Asuna, Heathcliff, you catch my drift.” Lana said with a smirk.
“Why would someone like you be my Intel?” Bellator asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lana asked, her smirk degenerating into a frown.
“Don’t you remember how your guild crossed mine?” Bellator asked with a grimace.
“Actually-“ Lana started, but Bellator cut her off.
“How about when your cronies killed four of my most trusted Guild members after that Quest went awry?” Bellator asked angrily.
“What I mean-“ Lana tried.
“What else is there that needs to be said?” Bellator asked, arms crossed.
“It wasn’t us.” Lana said firmly.
Now, it was Bellator’s turn to be confused. He always believed it was high ranking members of the Divine Dragon Alliance who took out those four.
‘What are you taking about? I even went to the site and I know what I saw there.” Bellator said.
“What you saw was a set up.” Lana retorted.
“A set up? What do you mean by, ‘set up?’” Bellator asked.
“You’re not as smart as everyone makes you out to be, huh?” Lana asked with a chuckle.
“Cut the bullshit and tell me why it wasn’t your Guild that slaughtered four of mine!” Bellator snapped harshly.
“Shut up!” Lana whispered fiercly, placing a hand over Bellator’s mouth, “You want everyone hearing us?!”
Bellator let out a stifled sigh and removed Lana’s hand from his mouth.
“Alright, what do you have that I need?” Bellator asked.
Lana uncrossed her arms and faced Bellator, “Have you ever heard of a Guild known as the Fallen Angels?”
“Fallen Angels?” Bellator asked, “Don’t sound very similar to me.”
“I’m not surprised by that.” Lana quipped in.
“That another intelligence joke?” Bellator said, annoyance visible on his face.
“No. Just a statement of fact.” Lana said.
“Meaning?” Bellator began, spinning his hand in a circular motion, signalling for Lana to go on.
“The Fallen Angels are a Red Guild, or, what most player slike to say, a Player Killing Guild.” Lana explained.
Bellator’s eyebrow raised once more, “Red Guild? I thought Laughing Coffin was the only PK Guild in this game.”
“Everyone thinks that, which is why most people don’t know who the Fallen Angels are. Those who do are Intel experts like myself.” Lana explained.
“What do they have to do with this?” Bellator asked.
“So many questions. You’re lucky I have the answers you want.” Lana said, her serious demanor returning, “I have good knowledge that the Fallen Angels were the ones responsible for the deaths of your Guild members.”
“Why would they attack my Guild and blame yours?” Bellator asked.
“I’m guessing that they saw our alliance as a threat to their goal of taking down every other player in this game.” Lana said without a hint of expression.
“Sounds like a pretty extreme goal if you ask me.” Bellator said, a bit surprised.
“Their leader, Setsuna, is a force to be reckoned with. I would say that she even rivals you in terms of strength and power. And not only that, her entire Guild is comprised of Beta Testers, so they’re even more powerful than most guilds around.” Lana said.
“Is that so?”
“They’ve devastated more players than you can imagine.”
Bellator thought this over for a moment. A Guild deadlier than his own? Maybe even more than the others? That’s a pretty hefty thought to process once you break it down.
“What else do you have?” Bellator asked.
“I have reason to believe that they’re in the process of stealing a valuable weapon from the Aincrad Liberation Force…the Godslayer.” Lana revealed.
This made even Bellator go pale. The Godslayer was a sword that was a match for any sword the game had to offer, even his Winterthorn couldn’t match up to its power. Bellator now realized that this group meant no good.
“Thank you for this info, Lana.” Bellator nodded.
“No problem. Maybe this is a sign that the old alliance can get back together?” Lana wondered.
“No. Not yet anyway. If this Fallen Angels Guild gets word that we renewed our alliance, they’ll just go after us again, or they’ll go after the Godslayer quicker than what your knowledge intended.” Bellator explained.
“Oh, so you do have a brain after all.” Lana laughed.
“Don’t start.” Bellator said sharply.
Lana smirked before taking her leave, walking past Bellator. The hooded teen looked back at her before contemplating on her words and her intel. He was going to have to look into this Fallen Angels Guild. His train of thought was broken when Raiju, his Second-in-Command slapped him on the shoulder from behind.
“Hey man! Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for ya!” Raiju said.
“I was just contemplating on the strategies Kirito and Asuna were going over.” Bellator responded.
“Going over? More arguing over. Those two are about to duel any minute now. The Guild’s going to see it.” Raiju informed.
“You guys go on, I’ll catch up with you later man.” Bellator said.
Raiju nodded before running off with the other Brotherhood members. Bellator faintly smiled before leaning back against the stalagmite, thinking about what was to come next.