Infinite Trial from the Giant

"Would you risk your life for someone you've only known for less than a year in a place like this?"

Loki has been thinking about this question since Xia Tian left.

When they first met, if Xia Tian had not acted in time, Loki knew that he would probably have died at the hands of the two black beetles.

After that, the two of them started to team up. Even though they had experience in closed beta testing, Loki knew that his strength was not strong. Moreover, due to his fear of death, he was even more timid in battle. From the moment he entered the maze area, Loki knew that he would not be able to go on by himself.

It was all because of Xia Tian. Although he was always afraid of Xia Tian's adventurous fighting style, Loki knew very well that it was because Xia Tian always stood in front that he was able to keep following and reach where he is today.

Gradually, Loki's mentality changed in battles, especially when he was conducting the second-level strategy. After Xia Tian was hit by the breath of the Taurus King, Loki realized that Xia Tian was not invincible. He was also a player like himself, facing the same life and death danger. Loki wanted to do his best to share some of the pressure and help Xia Tian, ​​even if it was just a little bit.

That guy, what bullshit he said.

Loki couldn't say righteously that he was willing to sacrifice his life, he didn't want to die, he wanted to return to the real world, but as long as Xia Tian encountered difficulties, he would lend a helping hand without hesitation.

After all, they have fought side by side, lived and died together all the way.

Loki never believed that Xia Tian was the cold-blooded murderer that the outside world said he was, so when he learned that someone wanted to kill Xia Tian as a punishment for the murderer, Loki turned around and left the central square without hesitation.

I won't let you succeed.

Loki rushed into the maze area on the twelfth floor. For the first time, he abandoned his steady and cautious fighting style and rushed to the boss room on the twelfth floor as fast as he could.

And when he rushed in, he saw Kayaba Akihiko killing two kobold guards and attacking Xia Tian with his sword.

Without giving it much thought, Loki, who was already in a very bad condition due to his fast journey, rushed forward without hesitation, and then held up his shield, standing in front of Xia Tian like a solid wall.

As a dazzling light flashed, Kayaba Akihiko's final blow pierced through Loki's shield and pierced deeply into Loki's chest.

Kayaba Akihiko was stunned, Kirito couldn't help but take a step forward, Asuna subconsciously covered her mouth, and Argo standing on the other side silently clenched her fists. The other players who saw this scene in the central square opened their eyes wide in surprise at this moment.

When everyone was stunned, only Xia Tian took action the moment he judged that Kayaba Akihiko's sword skills had ended.

Xia Tian didn’t care who blocked Kayaba Akihiko’s attack, he only knew that now was the best time to get rid of Kayaba Akihiko.

Like a ghost, Xia Tian flashed out from behind Loki, and with all his strength, he used his sword skills to slash at Kayaba Akihiko's body with a cold sword light. Then Xia Tian turned the sword and stabbed it directly into Kayaba Akihiko's chest.

Kayaba Akihiko originally had only half of his health left, and with Xia Tian's attack, it slowly dropped until it disappeared.

The scene fell silent again at this moment.

Win... win?

Looking at the three figures on the screen, everyone couldn't help but feel nervous.

Kayaba Akihiko still had a look of surprise on his face, and a hint of helplessness and relief, as if he couldn't understand the development of this matter for a while. Then he turned his eyes away from Loki who was pierced by his sword, turned his head to look at Xia Tian, ​​and finally nodded slightly with a smile.

"You won, Xia Tian, ​​congratulations."

It was not until then that Xia Tian turned his head and saw Loki, whose body had become blurred. The other party was also looking at him. Then Loki grinned and laughed.

Xia Tian had seen this smile many times, and every time he smiled like this, Loki would say something.

"We are partners, Xia Tian"

Then, under Xia Tian's gaze, Loki and Kayaba Akihiko turned into fragments that flew all over the sky.

The data fragments of the two people intertwined and rose up, floating like the free wind to every corner of this steel city.

"August 8, 7:14"

"The game is complete..."

"The game is complete..."

With the system notification echoing throughout Aincrad, Xia Tian's trial was officially declared over.

Everything in front of me gradually became transparent, followed by a familiar feeling of dizziness.

"Welcome back, Fighter 949"

The sound of the arena once again rang in Xia Tian's mind.

He returned to his own fighters. Perhaps to make it easier for the fighters to summarize the trial, unlike the initial training world, after the end of this trial world, the arena actually showed Xia Tian his performance and achievements in this trial world in the form of a virtual projection.

Among the achievements given by this arena, there are two notices, one of which is:

'Hand in Hand Module (only for this world): Use this module to transform a non-player intelligent unit into a sworn partner. The partner has all the attributes before the oath, and can continue to grow and improve its strength without dying (only for one use)'

'This module is limited to the Trial World. Since it has never been used by fighters in the Trial World, it has been scrapped.'

'Special item module - Resurrection Chapter (exclusive, only available in this world): Only one chance to use, activated after death, resurrects in the best condition at any location within five meters of the death location, and eliminates all abnormal conditions. After the resurrection is successful, the Resurrection Chapter disappears'

'This module is limited to the Trial World. Since the fighters did not use it at the end of the Trial World, it has been invalidated.'

Yes, Xia Tian did not use the chapter of resurrection, the reward from the extra objective five, but this was the trump card that Xia Tian had originally prepared to keep in the battle with Kayaba Akihiko. As for the cooperation module, Xia Tian had not found the right time to use it before he had already faced Kayaba Akihiko head-on.

In Xia Tian's expectation, Kayaba Akihiko would never have thought that he could be resurrected, so the possibility of defeating the opponent in this way is very high.

However, some things don't always develop as people expect. No one expected Loki's sudden appearance. Even until now, Xia Tian still doesn't understand why Loki suddenly appeared there.

At this moment, Xia Tian remembered what he said when he left. He slowly leaned back and leaned on the sofa.

Are we partners...?

"Thank you, Loki."

At this time, Xia Tian himself had not yet realized that, unlike before, this gratitude contained a hint of truth that emerged from beneath his outer shell for the first time.