In a normal situation, Seiya wouldn't have been able to control so many shikigami at once. Even with his shared abilities, the Seiya from the Tokyo Ravens world could only control a maximum of three. But in this game world, the rules were different.
As the eight new constellations appeared before Seiya, Kayaba was completely dumbfounded. At that moment, he felt like he was playing an RPG, a player grinding through a dungeon.
Meanwhile, at the Dragon's Nest on the 55th floor, Kirito and the others fell silent as they watched Seiya command the large number of constellations to charge at Kayaba. Klein, who had been the most vocal earlier, cursing Kayaba for his shamelessness and lack of sportsmanship, now chose to remain silent. After all, if Kayaba was going to use a boss's panel to fight like a player in a PvP duel, it was only fair for Seiya to summon a few more pets.
What? You say the number of summoned pets is too many? That it's no longer a PvP but a group assault?
Klein could only say that as the final boss, Kayaba was supposed to be ganged up on by a group of players. This was just happening a little earlier than planned. Besides, why would they show any respect to that shameless bastard, Kayaba Akihiko? If it weren't for him, they wouldn't have been trapped in this death game for two years.
Though Kayaba's HP was high, Seiya's summoned constellations kept coming. Everyone had thought that Seiya had no chance against the final boss, but now, watching Kayaba's HP bar constantly drop, all the SAO players began to get excited. Based on the agreement between Seiya and Kayaba, if Seiya won, they would be able to return to the real world! They had already spent almost two years fighting from the first floor to the 75th. The remaining 25 floors would be even more difficult.
Even though they had adapted to their current situation and had become more experienced with boss raids, every floor boss still resulted in casualties. How long would it take them to clear the remaining 25 floors, and how many players would be left when they reached the 100th floor? The skills and mechanics Kayaba had already shown were enough to make them lose all hope. Could they really win against a Kayaba who would have even stronger abilities like Resurrection and Regeneration on the 100th floor?
Watching Seiya use various methods to chip away at Kayaba's HP on the projection, players across SAO began to cheer for Seiya, praying from the bottom of their hearts that he would defeat the devil that was Kayaba Akihiko.
At the top of Aincrad's 100th floor, the entire palace was in ruins from the battle. Seiya had continuously summoned his shikigami to attack alongside him, finally chipping away at Kayaba's ridiculous HP until it was on the brink of being defeated. The price Seiya paid was steep: all 28 of his shikigami constellations had been slain by Kayaba. He was now alone.
"According to the information I've found, all 28 of the constellations should have appeared by now. It seems you have no more help to summon."
Even with his HP depleted to a sliver, Kayaba looked at Seiya with a confident expression. The difference in their levels and stats was still immense. Even with only a sliver of HP left, Kayaba could still withstand some attacks based on the damage Seiya had dealt before. Seiya's HP was still in the green, but Kayaba's victory condition had never changed. All he needed was one hit to kill Seiya. Now that the summoned constellations were gone, the battle was truly a one-on-one.
"I may not have any other shikigami to summon, but thanks to the attrition from the previous constellations, I now have a chance to kill you, don't I?"
"Death Scythe—!"
The battle reached its climax. Kayaba made the first move, using his long-range scythe-slash skill. But seeing Kayaba swing his scythe into the air, Seiya, who already knew what he was about to do, began to run at high speed. He hadn't just been summoning constellations to chip away at Kayaba's HP; he had also been observing Kayaba's skills. Seiya didn't care about a skill's power, as even a simple normal attack from Kayaba could kill him. What he was more concerned with were the skills that were quick and hard to defend against, as well as the wide-ranging AoE attacks that were impossible to dodge.
This Death Scythe skill was one of the abilities Seiya had been watching out for. Because the scythe would suddenly emerge from a random point in space, it was difficult to predict its direction and timing. But through his observations, Seiya had found a way to counter it: by continuously moving at high speed.
Seeing Seiya suddenly run, Kayaba seemed to guess his intention. In the next moment, a cold-gleaming scythe suddenly appeared and slashed at Seiya's legs. When the scythe appeared at his feet, Seiya's lips curled into a smile, as he had already anticipated Kayaba's move. The moment the scythe appeared, he jumped onto a nearby stone pillar of the palace.
"Boom!"
The crimson scythe missed Seiya's feet, but the vacuum slash it created cut through the stone pillar. As the pillar began to fall, Seiya ran up it with astonishing speed. Just before the pillar fully collapsed, Seiya pushed off it with both feet, rocketing toward Kayaba!
Without his shikigami, Seiya had no way to attack from a distance. To take down Kayaba's last bit of HP, he had to go all-in!