Chapter 3 - The Fallen Angel

After hearing what he had gotten himself into Saito decided to stay at the abandoned village for the night, he had not yet recovered from the shock, he didn't to expect a game to have this much impact on his life to begin with. After finding out that his life could be taken away from him if he did not complete this dungeon in time made him believe that it was a dream and he would wake up any time now, Saito laid on the rock hard floor as he slowly fell asleep.

Saito slowly opened his eyes to the sunlight as the warmth hit his face, he let out a sigh as he got up on his feet he picked up the dagger which was resting on the ground and placed it on his left hand.

"Vision guide me to the castle" (Saito)

[well ofcourse] (Vision)

Saito left the house that he used as shelter for the night.

[May i ask you somthing?] (Vision)

Vision asked in an emotionless voice, after revealing her identity to Saito she had decided to help him out by becoming his guide.

"Go ahead" (Saito)

[Why do you seem so calm?] (Vision)

Vision had noticed Saito's confidence and calm sense's, normally hearing the news that was broken to him normal humans would need quite some time to recover from the shock.

"What do you mean?" (Saito)

He replied as he jumped on top of a building, he decided to look around for demons before heading towards Lucifer as it was the most logical thing to do. he needed strength to fight Lucifer and the demons around the village were a perfect source of xp, however most of the demons around the village had already been turned into ashes by his hands.

[It would be natural for a human to panic for a little longer if they ever face the situation you're in, why is that you have recovered so fast?] (Vision)

"Grieving won't give me back what i have already lost, i decided to take action instead of wasting my time on grieving about it." (Saito)

He said with a confident face as he spotted a demon, he merged all his strength with his left hand in order to throw the dagger at full speed, the dagger started to glow as it released itself from Saito's hand.

*Swoosh*

The demon didn't get the chance to react to the incoming dagger, it pierced straight through its head and flew towards the building which was located behind the demon, the dagger pierced the buildings wall and went straight through it as if piercing through paper.

"i guess i over did it" (Saito)

Saito let out a wry smile as he headed towards the demon's body to retrieve the drops, after he was finished he jumped towards the roof of the building which the dagger had pierced through, Saito found his dagger which had sank itself into the soil.

"is there any more demons around the village?" (Saito)

He asked as he pulled his dagger out of the soil.

[There is no sign of life within the village besides you, i suggest you head towards Lucifer's castle you will most likely meet demons on the way.] (Vision)

"Are you sure?" (Saito)

He looked towards the castle which was in the distance, there was a forest full of scattered trees which stood 7 feet from the ground.

[Head towards the forest if you want to get to Lucifer's castle the fastest option would be going through the forest, however there is a high chance of encountering demons so you should be careful. ] (Vision)

Saito began to walk towards the forest, he couldn't afford to waste more time than he already had in order to survive. He wanted to reach Lucifer's castle as soon as possible which was understandable as his life was on the line. Along the way they had faced a few demons which was easy to take care of since Saito could attack them from a distance, he tried to avoid any close combat but there were times which forced Saito to engage a close combat battle. The reason why Saito tried to avoid close range battle's is because it was time consuming it was better to surprise the enemy and take them down swiftly to avoid wasting much time.

Once Saito approached the forest he jumped on top of a branch, he came into the conclusion that traveling within the forest was dangerous and being attacked by surprise was going to be very common. In order to avoid surprise attacks he decided to travel from branch to branch, this also allowed him to pinpoint demons within the forest who were on ground level and launch a sneak attack.

"There's three of them underneath us, should we just avoid them and move on i don't want to waste too much time? " (Saito)

Saito was beginning to lose his patience he wanted to get to Lucifer's castle as soon as possible, even if they did have some time left. Saito also did not know what would happen to him once he died, so it was natural for him to avoid useless fighting.

[i would not recommend that, at your current level it would be extremely hard for you to land a hit on Lucifer i suggest you level up to the maximum capacity.] (Vision)

Saito had not yet hit the max level which meant that he could not fight Lucifer to the best of his abilities, not only was he lacking in equipment he didn't have a class either which put him in a disadvantage.

{Classes: These are chosen by new adventurers once they reach level 10, Classes allow adventurers to use Class skills which are extremely useful in battle for example a mage would be able to unlock elemental magic. An Adventurer is able to choose a sum of 3 classes.}

{First Class: Lvl 10

Second Class: Lvl 25

Third Class: Lvl 50 }

"I guess we don't have a choice" (Saito)

Saito jumped down from the branch as he threw his dagger towards the first demon, the dagger pierced the demon's head as it collided with the demons skull. Saito landed near the demon with a pierced skull as it slowly turned into ash, he crouched down and picked up his dagger.

"One down" (Saito)

He dashed towards the other two demons with swift movements, he was too fast the demons could not keep track of his movements which resulted to their deaths.

"its surprisingly easy to kill them now" (Saito)

He picked up the dagger which was now placed on his right hand.

" 'kill', why does it satisfy me it's as if killing i natural to me now" (Saito)

he looked at his hands as he remembered the first time he killed a demon, although it was just a mob designed by the game company it still felt real.

[Don't worry these aren't real beings.] (Vision)

Vision spoke with an emotionless voice as she tried to comfort Saito. Vision had slowly learn how humans behave, and what their feelings mean to them.

"i guess you're right, even if they were real it would be foolish of me to hesitate in battle. At the end of the day it's either my life or my enemies and don't plan to lose mine." (Saito)

he jumped towards one of the branches and headed back up to continue his journey.

[Interesting it seems like the changes to his real body are advancing faster than expected, it has also started to alter his personality.] (Vision)

She whispered to herself as Saito steadily moved from a branch to another.

A few nights have past since they had entered the forest, Saito eliminated any demon along the way to gather xp and level up his stats. They had reached the end of the forest and decided to camp there for the night before continuing their journey.

"it took us two weeks to get through the forest, hey vision how long has it been in reality." (Saito)

He dropped the wood which he was carrying, he crouched down and picked up a two pieces of rock.

[Approximately four days, so you have around three more days to defeat Lucifer.] (Vision)

Saito forcefully collided the rocks together to make small sparks, a small fire emerged from the pile of wood as it illuminated the surrounding area. Vision had checked for any signs of danger however there were no demons around so Saito decided to make a small fire. Saito had spent quite a lot of time with Vision, which caused his to view Vision as a companion or friend.

"Vision" (Saito)

He softly spoke as he placed his hands on top of the fire to keep them warm.

[Yes saito?] (Vision)

"i wonder how you see the world, since you don't have a physical form." (Saito)

he had always wondered how Vision viewed the surrounding area, since Vision did not have a physical body.

[I don't understand what you're trying to ask, i do have a physical body however it's more convenient like this.] (Vision)

"Wait what?" (Saito)

[i have a physical body, wait let me show you.] (Vision)

a blue light emerged in front of Saito causing him to close his eyes, after a few seconds the light had disappeared Saito slowly opened his eyes.

"Hi saito" (Vision)

a girl almost the same height as Saito was seated in front of him, she had straight long blue hair that reached to her waist and bright blue eyes which stared at Saito. She was wearing a blue one piece dress which reached towards her knees and light blue gloves covered her hands.

"uhh.." (Saito)

Saito was speechless he hadn't expected Vision to have a physical form so he could not believe his eyes, Saito suddenly realised that he was gazing at Vision and quickly turned around to hide his embarrassed face.

"You look very nice" (Saito)

He muttered as his face turned red.

"Thank you" (Vision)

She looked at Saito's reddened face as she let out a smile.

"Uh i should get some sleep." (Saito)

he got up and walked towards a tree to rest against, he sat down and laid against the tree which was now behind him. he turned his sight towards Vision who was still gazing at the fire.

"can you keep guard while i sleep?" (Saito)

"That's fine" (Vision)

Saito slowly closed his eyes and whispered.

"Thank you" (Saito)

The next morning saito had packed up all his belongings and exited the forest with Vision who was still in her Physical form, Saito had managed to reach maxed stats due to the demons that he faced along the way.

Saito let out a sigh as he stared at Vision.

"Is something wrong?" (Vision)

Vision turned around to face saito.

"why are you in your Physical form, i thought it was less convenient" (Saito)

"Do you not like it, if so i can leave my physical form." (Vision)

"That's not it.." (Saito)

Vision tilted her head in confusion.

"Never mind" (Saito)

The duo walked for hours as they finally reached Lucifer's castle, it was standing right in front of them with its sinister aura. In Front of them stood ominus gates cladded in black, the castle itself did not have any windows or openings so the gates were the only way in or out.

"So what do we do now" (Saito)

Saito muttered as he glared at the terrifying gates in front of them.

"im not sure" (Vision)

She let out a wry smile as she looked towards saito.

"what do you mean, wasn't this dungeon created by you guys." (Saito)

He looked at vision with a puzzled face, he expected Vision to know everything about the game since she was an ai designed to monitor the game.

"I'm not sure, it do not have much information about this dungeon or its mobs. The only information i am aware of is the location of Lucifer." (Vision)

"So how do we get insi..." (Saito)

As Saito was about to finish a terrifying sound emerged from the other side of the gates as if signaling the end of their lives, the gates slowly moves as it opened a path heading towards the castle.

Saito who was now on his knees struggled to regain his balance, as he got up he focused his vision onto the gates which had revealed a huge throne room. It seemed like the castle was built without rooms or walls from within, there was only a throne room insight without any hallways or stairs. a huge room empty room filled the castle and at the end of the room laid a throne which was occupied by someone.

"All this trouble caused by a lowly human" (Lucifer)

Lucifer who was seated at the end of the room, looked down at saito as he entered the gates. His voice sent shivers down Saito's body it was already hard for him to move under his presence but his voice felt like it was piercing through his soul.

"I am sorry to disturb you but i did not choose to be here." (Saito)

He had managed to calm his body down and gain his composure, he looked at Lucifer who was seated in his throne with his sinister black wings laid on his back, Lucifer was wearing a thin black robe which suited his matt black hair and black pupils.

"You dare stand in front of me in my territory." (Lucifer)

Lucifer stood from his throne as he flapped his wings and landed a few meters away from Saito.

"I don't have time for your chit chat, it's either my life or yours so let's get this started." (Saito)

He dashed towards Lucifer with his dagger.

"How arrogant" (Lucifer)

Lucifer let out darts of feathers which zoomed towards Saito, however they were ineffective as Saito managed to avoid all of them. Saito who was now right next to Lucifer flung his hand as he tried to pierce Lucifer's chest with the dagger.

"What!" (Saito)

Saito jumped back as he tried to recover from the shock, Lucifer's left wing had clashed with the dagger and stopped it from reaching his body whilst his right wing left a cut on Saito's left eye.

"Thats troublesome, he can use his wings as a form of protection" (Saito)

A cold sweat ran down Saito cheek, he knew that Lucifer would be hard to defeat however he was not expecting his wings to be indestructible. He had to change his plans in order to adapt to the new situation.

[Be Careful if you die we don't know how that would affect your body.] (Vision)

She had left her physical form in order to avoid Lucifer's attention.

"i know that." (Saito)

He glared at Lucifer who was smirking.

"You are not my match, you haven't even seen a glimpse of my power" (Lucifer)

Saito suddenly let out a Laugh, he looked at Lucifer who was expressionless.

"Quit bluffing i know you can't use your power's" (Saito)

Lucifer looked at Saito with a disdained face, he didn't expect Saito to know about the loss of his powers.

"Who are you!" (Lucifer)

"Were you sent by the Holy Church, and do they know about this!" (Lucifer)

Lucifer glared at Saito who let out a smile.

"i don't know what your talking about, i am doing this for my own survival so quit wasting my time with words and start talking with action." (Saito)

He somewhat felt proud he was able to corner an angel with his threatening claims.

Lucifer spread his wings and dashed towards Saito whilst darting his feathers at him, however Saito was able to avoid them with ease due to his agility.

[Outside of Grand Quest Online]

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Saito" (Rikyo)

Rikyo and Mika were standing outside of Saito's flat, they had been worried since Saito stopped attending school a few days ago so they decided to visit him.

"Saito!" (Rikyo)

Rikyo turned around to look at Mika's worried face.

"Should we knock down the door?" (Rikyo)

Mika looked at Rikyo with a blank face.

"Yeah you're right the door is too much well i guess the window's fine as well." (Rikyo)

"No you idiot we aren't here to break anything!" (Mika)

She shouted as she swung her bag towards Rikyo which collided with his face.

"Awww!, i was joking.." (Rikyo)

"Hey Rikyo, i think we should go" (Mika)

"Saito might need some time alone to recover, he must be sick" (Mika)

She looked at Rikyo with a worried face.

"i guess you're right, besides this isn't the first time Saito has done something like this." (Rikyo)

Rikyo looked at Mika's worried face, he felt guilty as he did not know how to cheer her up.

"Don't worry he's going to be in school by monday." (Rikyo)

He smiled as he tried to comfort Mika. They headed down the stairs and into the distance, it was currently saturday two days away from the new scheduled release for grand quest online.

"Damn it, i can't get a hit on him." (Saito)

Saito complained as he jumped back to gain some distance from lucifer, they had been fighting for countless hours. Saito was starting to run out of stamina and he couldn't afford to lose the dagger which looked worn out, it could shatter in any moment.

"i need to get him in the next hit" (Saito)

He wiped the sweat off his face as he looked glared as Lucifer who seemed to be enjoying himself.

"What happened to your confidence human" (Lucifer)

He looked down at Saito with a smirk on his face.

"Vision how long do we have until the release" (Saito)

[Around one hour] (Vision)

"Ok do you remember the plan we only got one shot at this" (Saito)

[Yes] (Vision)

Saito clenched his fist and ran towards Lucifer, he closed the gap between them and swung his dagger towards Lucifer's face.

Lucifer raised his wings to block the dagger's path, however they did not collide. Saito jumped back as he reverted his attack and placed all his power onto his right arm allowing his to throw the dagger at full speed. the dagger darted towards Lucifer who had his eyes widened. Lucifer swiftly positioned his body allowing him to avoid the dagger by an inch.

"That was close, however it ends here human" (Lucifer)

He slowly walked towards Saito who was kneeling, Lucifer raised his wings as he got ready to pierce them through Saito's body.

"Say your prayers human" (Lucifer)

"ill do that in my time of death" (Saito)

Lucifer launched his wings towards Saito in order to cut him into pieces.

*Swoosh*

Lucifer was startled a dagger had flown passed him which caused his wings to stop for a second. Lucifer's wings collided with the ground as it sent cracks around the castle, dust had covered Lucifer's Vision so he could not tell if the hit had landed or not.

As the dust slowly settled a figure appeared behind Lucifer.

"i let my guard down.." (Lucifer)

Saito was positioned behind Lucifer with a dagger in his left hand which had pierced Lucifer's back.

"i did not expect you to bring along a partner, how stupid of me." (Lucifer)

Vision could be seen in a distance, she had a wry smile on her face as she looked at Saito.

"Uhh, i'm sorry i missed" (Vision)

She scratched her head as she started walking towards Saito.

"You idiot that almost hit me!" (Saito)

Lucifer let out a warm Laugh as he withered away. A black feather the size of Saito's palm slowly descended in front of him.

"Whats this?" (Saito)

he caught the feather and examined it with a confused expression.

"An item!" (Vision)

"well let's place this in my inventory for now, i want to leave this place as soon as possible" (Saito)

he placed the black feather in his inventory and looked around for a way out.

"So how do we exit this dungeon?" (Saito)

"Back here!" (Vision)

The gate that they had come through had disappeared, a blinding white light had appeared in its place. Saito and Vision walked towards it.

"it must be the exit" (Saito)

Saito reached out towards the blinding light and touched it with the tip of his finger, suddenly his body was pulled in as the brightness increased it caused Saito to shut his eyes.

A few seconds later Saito raised his eyelids to find himself standing near a tree, he examined his surroundings and managed to find a village in the distance. he was teleported to a grassland as the area was filled with light green colour much different to Lucifer's Realm.

"Vision?" (Saito)

[Yes i'm here] (Vision)

"Why did you leave your Physical form." (Saito)

he asked with a confused tone, Vision had come along with him however she left her Physical form so Saito could not locate her.

[The game is going to be released in a few minutes so you are going to leave very soon, its also convenient.] (Vision)

Saito let out a sigh.

"Thank you for helping me, i don't think i would have survived without you." (Saito)

[3 minutes until release] (Vision)

"oi stop ignoring me" (Saito)

Saito raised his head and looked at the sky, he couldn't wait to get out of the game since he had been trapped here for weeks. after 3 minutes of silence vision spoke up.

[The game has been released, you can leave now] (Vision)

"Dont you want to see off?" (Saito)

[Hmph, Why would i] (Vision)

Saito frowned as he looked around at his surroundings once more.

[Saito are you going to come back?] (Vision)

Saito could hear the sadness in her voice, he knew that he was the first friend that Vision had managed to make it would be hard for her to say goodbye. Saito decided to not say anything as he was not sure if could force himself to play this game again.

"i'm sorry" (Saito)

[I hate you] (Vision)

She heard vision mumble with a tearful voice, her voice broke Saito he did not want to hurt her in anyway however he couldn't bring himself to play the game after all that had happened.

"Log out" (Saito)

A blue light covered Saito's body as he slowly withered away. He opened his eyes as he laid on his bed, Saito slowly got up and removed the helmet from his head. He Decided to head towards the bathroom to see if the game had caused any physical changes to his body as Vision had mentioned. As he got into the bathroom he faced the mirror to view his reflection, his hair colour had changed from black to white and eyes from brown to dark pink. His skin had gotten a little darker as if he had been tanned however it did not look much different from his usual skin colour.

"MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" (Saito)

he screamed as he slowly recovered from his disbelief.

Note: Thank you for reading!