Eighteenth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree.
1027 AST.
Asuna’s home, Selmburg, Floor 61.
As Kirito rested, snoring gently into his pillow, a hooded figure entered the room. His strides completely devoid of sound, the hooded figure placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and drew it, raising it over the boy’s head. He then shouted, his horn-like voice piercing through his skull-shaped mask as his sword raced toward Kirito’s bed warmers, disintegrating the pillow into countless crystal particles. “KIRITO!!!!!” His yell was followed by a gleefully maniacal laugh.
The sleeping boy reacted immediately, his eyes shooting open as he exercised the Quick Change skill mod for his one-handed sword skill, summoned his trusty black sword, and immediately shot out a thrust. The response was exceedingly smooth, even if it was performed by a teenage boy who had been sound asleep moments earlier. Of course, with his opponent being who he is—
Suzaku effortlessly deflected the thrust, redirecting the sword into his black cloak, a mad grin on his face as he leaped back and landed on the floor. He then immediately doubled over in sniggers and guffaws. The young man raised his hand for a moment, losing the gravel in his tone as his true voice came free, laughing freely in true joy. “S-Sorry… hehe! Asuna said you were such a heavy sleeper, I wanted to see how true that was.” Raising his skull mask, the quick-equip feature was activated before it vanished in kind before his hood was pulled back to reveal his true face. “Tell me you got that on camera.” He said, turning to Shiranami and Asuna in the doorframe.
The two girls in question silently threw a thumbs up as they both held up recording crystals. Scratching his head in exasperation, Kirito said, “This was your idea, wasn’t it, Shiranami?”
“Nyahaha, too late now!” she said, before instantly bolting down the hallway.
“Ugh… and I was having such a good dream too,” Kirito grumbled. “So? What do you want, bro?”
“I was planning to tag along to your orientation to the KoB, I had a few questions for your new boss… plus Tohka talked about joining and I promised her I would consider it, so this feels like a good first step to considering it.” Suzaku said, taking a seat on their bed with a smaller smirk, starting to cycle through some of his options before unequipping his sword.
“You in the KoB? You, the guy who couldn’t be blacker than me?” Kirito threw his head back and cackled. “Man, you’d look so bad in white, bro.”
“Why do you think I only said ‘considering?’”
“Not intending to discourage you, man. Not gonna lie though, I think it’s about time for you to consider joining a guild. You and I are solo players so you and I both know that there’s a limit to what we can do as solo players and that limit is fast approaching.”
“Yeah, but some of my… activities demand the privacy of solo play, it’s just my style. I can’t stop here, not as I am now..” Suzaku spoke in more of a gentle tone, his mask materializing into his hand as he gave it a small once over and felt its grooves beneath his open fingers. Kirito and Asuna knew the importance of this tool, they knew what it meant to him— but that also meant the safety net of a guild was a fleeting dream, especially one as organized as the Knights of the Blood Oath.
“—Sorry, that was insensitive of me. He is still at large, after all.”
“It’s fine. As soon as he’s out of the picture, joining a guild can enter my radar. For now, it’s not gonna happen.”
“In any case, you’re here for a visitation, right? My appointment with him is soon.” Kirito finally got out of bed and stretched. He then pocketed his hands and made for the door. “Let’s go, buddy, I got questions myself for that man.”
“I promised Tohka, yes. I’d rather not get her mad by breaking it…” he remarked with a soft smile.
“Yeah, both of our girls wear the pants in our relationships (lol).” Both boys shared a soft laugh together as they headed outside.
♢♢♢♢♢
1056 AST.
Main Room of the Knights of the Blood HQ, Granzam, Floor 55.
“You’ve arrived, I see. Although, you seem to have brought with you an uninvited guest.”
As promised, Kirito appeared before Heathcliff with Asuna, Shiranami, and Suzaku in tow. The two officers of the Knights immediately left the two boys and took their places at Heathcliff’s left and right sides, Asuna being Heathcliff’s right hand and Shiranami being his left hand. Both wore complicated expressions as while they accepted Suzaku coming with them, they weren’t sure how the Commander would deal with the unrequested visitor.
“I was interested in possibly joining the KoB after that wunderbar showing in the coliseum yesterday, it was a truly impressive display of skill and force.” Suzaku said as he pulled his hood off to reveal his full face, stepping forward before offering Heathcliff a handshake. “We’ve met before during boss raids, but I don’t think we had a real chance to discuss anything of great import. I was hoping to pick your brain a little, Clearer to Clearer.”
“Quite the greeting,” Heathcliff amiably returned the handshake. “Now, I can consider adding you into our ranks but you still have duties to perform, yes? Duties only you can do.”
“Something along those lines, yes.” Shaken but refusing to show it, Suzaku bit his tongue for a moment to keep his wits about him before breaking the grip on the older man's hand as he smiled to hide his fear. “I mostly had questions about your Outside System Skills. Being the strongest player in SAO, you have to have a few exploits of the code to assist you. I was wondering If we could initiate a trade of personal techniques, assuming you’re willing to share.”
“A trade, you say… An interesting proposition. Very well, I shall share with you what I did.” This statement elicited rather shocked reactions from his two adjutants but Heathcliff waved his hand at them to ease their worries. “Well, let’s see… I use an Outside System Skill I’ve chosen to name «Over-Assist». I suppose you could say it works by activating two different sword skills at the same time, which allows me to perform a high-speed movement with no cost, as using two different sword skills concurrently forces both to cancel each other out.”
“That’s Intriguing, my «Skill Break» works under a similar concept. I activate a «Martial Arts» skill and capture or strike an enemy weapon, since «Martial Arts» gives my hand or leg momentary invincibility to account for my usage of my body as a weapon, I don’t get injured at all. With proper timing, I can catch opposing sword skills and manipulate them, canceling the opposing attack out as their bodies can’t physically continue the sword skill. Since the longest cooldown and Post Motion delay for a skill in that category is shorter than a majority of weapon skills, it means I can act first and with no drawback.”
Suzaku instinctively flexed his hand, only to stop short as he looked up at Heathcliff as a fire formed in his eyes. “I wonder what’d happen if my «Skill Break» were to clash with your «Holy Sword». I haven’t had a chance to try clashing it against a Unique Skill” Despite his words, Suzaku was actively analyzing his acclimated information, running a collection of breakdowns towards what he knows about Sword Skills to understand if that was reasonably possible. There was too much Suzaku didn’t know, but it became more clear to him that Heathcliff wasn’t outright lying.
“Well, I am interested in crossing blades with you as well but we shall set that aside for the time being,” Heathcliff said. “For the time being, we both have other matters to attend to. Am I allowed to share the information you have shared with me to the rest of my guild and to Lux?”
“Sure, but don’t expect any hints on the timing you’ll need to use it.” Suzaku quipped back, smiling wider as he began to think about the «Over-Assist» and how he can start using it—well, that’s assuming it works.
“Suzaku, this should be enough for you,” Asuna said. “We’d like to start working on fitting Kirito up in our uniform.”
“Will promise you we’ll find a way to make him look good in white,” Shiranami added, although she followed with a shrug. “Can’t confirm you won’t die laughing though.”
“Yeah, you better give our boy the nines.” Suzaku remarked with a smile as he pulled his hood up, stepping back towards the exit as he blended in with the shadows. It would’ve been enough that, had they not known how he operates, Suzaku likely could’ve made it inside without getting caught.
♢♢♢♢♢
1133 AST.
A waiting room within the Knights of the Blood Headquarters.
“Hmm…”
Seated in a Victorian-era sofa, both Shiranami and Asuna were overseeing Kirito’s test-wearing of the white and crimson Knights of the Blood uniform. They had earlier taken his measurements and insisted that they custom-tailor his uniform for him; when Kirito suggested just dyeing his «Blackwrym Coat» in the colors used by the Knights, both girls gave him a death glare. Shiranami especially was offended as she had specifically crafted that coat for Kirito after had worn out his previous leather coat (which happened to be his third). She stood up and began observing from every angle, scrutinizing every aspect of the uniform. “Hmm… Kiri-nii, you look really good in that uniform.”
“Shiranami is right. It really does look good on you, Kirito-kun.”
“Yeah, wearing a guild uniform is weird…” he said. “I’ve always been a solo player… The one time I joined a guild, there were no guild uniforms.” Kirito once again looked over his uniform’s parameters. It carried the name of «White Knight Jacket» and it gave a flat ten-percent increase in defense and a five-percent decrease in hiding capability. Understandable, considering the colors of this thing. No shot is this hiding anyone.
“Oh! Asuna, let’s do that thing.”
“What thing…? Oh! That. Of course.” Both girls turned to Kirito before they said at the same time, ““Welcome to our guild, new recruit!””
Kirito was taken aback but smiled. “It’s most certainly nice to ‘meet’ you two, I suppose. The only problem—” Kirito approached both girls and hugged them before tracing a line down their backs with his index finger. “—is that I can’t do this anymore.”
“Hii—!”
“Aah—!”
Both girls let out truly unladylike squeaks as they pushed Kirito away and slapped him together, leaving deeply imprinted red marks on his cheeks. Both hissed at him, their embarrassed expression a feast to Kirito’s eyes. He nodded internally, patting himself on the back. Yep, was worth getting smacked.
“Ahem,” Shiranami cleared her throat, trying to clear her blushed cheeks. “Anyways, now that we know it fits, should we go and report to Heathcliff?”
“Let’s not,” Kirito groaned. “I really don’t wanna see him.”
“You’re going to have to see him eventually,” Asuna said.
“Yeah, I know… I just don’t want to see him now.”
Asuna sighed. She dropped her head and shrugged her shoulders. “Alright, fine. You’ll need to see him tomorrow though.”
“Ugh…” he dragged. “Fine. I wanted to try staying away from him for six days since our duel lasted for six minutes… but I can’t be that childish. I’ll see him tomorrow.”
Both Asuna and Shiranami giggled as they watched Kirito tap his foot on the finished wooden floor in a tantrum-like manner. “Alright then, should we head back to my house and relax? Do nothing until tomorrow and wait for Silica-chan and Helen-san to give us information on the seventy-fifth floor Labyrinth?”
“Sounds good,” Shiranami said. The two girls departed from the room first, leaving Kirito alone as he looked in the mirror and tried to place himself in his new uniform.
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
1203 AST.
The Labyrinth of Floor 75.
As Suzaku wandered through the grounds of the seventy-fifth floor’s Labyrinth, he began to swing his sword across the air in a set tempo into the enemies, bringing his weapon through monster after monster, all the while working his way through his various racing thoughts. This was all done while casually defending against and parrying monster attacks but not necessarily counterattacking. As far as I remember, Heathcliff didn’t make his presence known until during and after the boss raid of the twenty-fifth floor. He could’ve just been in the background but I don’t recall seeing or hearing about a person fitting his description fighting at all. He just appeared that day and took command with an overwhelming strength that quickly made everyone follow his lead. Then and now, he has always aggressively tried recruiting new firepower into his guild… It’s as if he is trying to force a monopoly on the Clearers, yet that makes no sense seeing as prime competition promotes prime action—
Sidestepping the slash of a monster, Suzaku weaved around it, the monster continually missing its marks as he continued to let his mind wander. In a flash, he was in the air, gracefully landing astride the monster’s shoulder and kicking it aside into the wall. —Maybe he’s just changed his style? Stronger gear alters various factors of play or maybe he just obtained his Unique Skill and decided to build into the Paladin role? I wish I knew how he got it… or how Kazuto unlocked his. That would make my day so much easier. The boy thought to himself, clearly flush with frustration at the lack of answers to his questions. This time, it was more painful due to his headache at the answers he was able to determine so far. Hiding in his cloak, Suzaku turned to face the monster which was recollecting itself. Cardinal is the program which runs SAO which I presume manages the Unique Skills, locking them behind especially difficult prerequisite conditions. Of the ones I know of so far, the Holy Sword has to be the most powerful. It covers all bases and massively increases the key functions of combat… so assuming it isn’t necessarily tied to a completing a skill and instead carries a secondary prerequisite factor, what exactly did Heathcliff do that was special? Maybe he found an ultra-rare item to respecialize his stats and completely changed his image? That could create a special balance of stats and mods to unlock it.
“What do you think? It’s definitely weird right? Guy shows up out of nowhere and suddenly he’s the most powerful. We also dunno when he obtained his Unique Skill. Maybe the Holy Sword requires the wielder to have the biggest active guild? You become the leader by proving yourself, gaining their numbers and proving yourself the strongest…” As he spoke aloud in a more casual tone, the beast turned around and charged Suzaku with a massive roar as the boy sighed. “Oh, right, you can’t answer, monster.” In a casual step forward, he slew the beast before letting a small groan escape him. “Okay, I need to talk to someone who isn’t an AI… or myself.” Reaching into his pocket, the young raven raised one of his Teleport Crystals in front of him. “Teleport: Danac.” In a small breakdown of crystals, Suzaku vanished and reappeared in the center square of the main settlement of the fifty-ninth floor. “So bright,” he cursed with great annoyance, pulling his hood up to cover his face as he began making headway toward his destination.
This is insane, I should just laugh it off and go on that date I owe Sinon. Instead, I’m moving to bug my friends with a crackpot theory. Concluding his travels outside of the guild headquarters for Roshigumi, Suzaku threw open the door, slipping his hood off of his head. “Yoshiki, you in!?” he yelled, trying to ensure he was heard before approaching the reception desk.
“---Yoshiki-san? Sorry, I’ll have to check…” The receptionist, a mid-level player by the looks of things, responded, checking through the various notes and whatnot occupying the table. “If you want, I’ll send him a message… could I get your name, by any chance?”
“Suzaku. He knows me…” The young raven spoke, starting to walk further into the building as he vanished in front of the receptionist. He hadn’t been inside before, but he remembered enough of Yoshiki’s various talks about his base to have a good idea of where his room was—up the stairs, down the third corridor. “Best place to begin…” As he began to speak, Suzaku approached the “Guildmaster’s Quarters” before letting himself in.
Just as the door opened, light flashed beneath the young raven’s steps, bursting into damaging sparkles as he darted back just in time. A rune, Suzaku would recognise, as the lad inside sighed and rose from his seat. “Seriously, at least wait for me to come down… is what I would say, but it looks like we’ve got something serious on our hands this time. Isn’t that so, Suzaku-kun?” Reaching into his belt, the little guildmaster retrieved a throwing dagger and sent it towards the rune, disabling it entirely.
Walking inside, Suzaku looked down at his friend with a rather tired expression. “You were an announcer for the duel between Kirito and the Paladin, so I’d assume you’d know something. Fess up.”
“…I’m guessing you already know more than me about him then. Not much more than you do, I would think—” Pulling out a second chair as he took a seat again, Yoshiki gestured for the other boy to join him. “—only that the… Skill, or whatever he used was, didn’t match anything I’ve seen or known of. Close the door, by the way.”
“The Holy Sword, yeah,” Suzaku affirmed, entering the room and shutting the door as instructed. “It's a Unique Skill that I assume allows the user to perfectly alternate between offense and defense.” While he wanted to take the seat proferred to him, Suzaku—being the socially awkward dunce that he is—balked for several moments until an impatient grunt from Yoshiki shocked him into taking a seat. “But, what do you know about him as a player?”
“Nothing. Even with what my guild … well, moreso what Totomi-san has done already… I can’t say I’ve dug up anything particularly relevant. No dirt, no… real explanation about the guy himself; you get what I mean, right?” A shrug rising from his shoulders as he opened his menu, Yoshiki looked through his message logs, rotating the display so that Suzaku could also see. All trivia, all… information that seemed like leads, yet led to nothing. “Honestly, I’ve been curious since the duel as well… You remember that last clash between him and Kirito-kun, right?”
“ «Over-Assist»,” Suzaku offered as he carefully read the logs. “That’s what he called it. He stated that it was some kinda Outside System Skill that ‘activates’ when the user initiates two different sword skills to take advantage of the system-assisted agility and dexterity to immensely bolster any actions the user takes with no consequence as the activated sword skills will cancel each other out—thereby, nullifying the post-motion delay.”
“… With no pre-motion?” A raised eyebrow from Yoshiki as his brain began working. “… I suppose that would explain that burst of speed, but… with no pre-motion or whatnot to it, how do you activate something like that? I’d have thought it a Sword Skill, but it’s not like I saw any colored trails that followed that shield of his. And even if we consider things like «Shield Bash», there’s no way he could’ve activated it from that position…”
“I would assume that he has a special sword skill within his Unique Skill’s skill tree that can be activated even from a compromising position like that… otherwise, it makes no sense—Kirito certainly broke through his defense, tearing apart sword and shield with that sixteen-part combo, yet Heathcliff’s Over-Assist kicked in when he should’ve been unable to enter any pre-motion—at least, that I know of.” Suzaku replayed the fight in his head, thinking for a moment before turning his head to Yoshiki. “You shouldn’t be able to activate a sword skill. It’s logically impossible… yet he did it anyway. See why I came to you?”
“… Mmn. That I see, now… though, hold on. How… exactly did you come to know all this?” Sighing as he thought for a moment, the lad spoke up once again. “Even with all my people keeping tabs on him and his guild, I couldn’t get anything concrete, which means…”
“Simple. I asked the man himself.” Sitting back in his seat, the raven took a moment to consider everything he knew surrounding the concept of Over-Assist. It was impossible.
“...Alright. Even discounting what you’d have given up for this information—given how powerful such a skill…is…” A touch of bitterness in Yoshiki’s tone surfaced, yet it was gone as he turned back to his desk, retrieving a paper and quill. He began scribbling down what they’ve discussed so far “Suzaku-kun, could you repeat to me what Heathcliff said on how to trigger this Outside System? I want to ensure that I’ve got nothing wrong.”
Suzaku nodded. “Performing two different sword skills at the same time, taking advantage of the system assist to perform high-speed movements without any real costs nor delays. The two skills would subsequently cancel each other out, resulting in no post-motion delay.”
“… That… can’t be right—unless there’s something I’ve missed. I’ve been running «Blade Throwing» for long enough to max out its skill level proficiency, yet I myself have yet to activate this so-called «Over-Assist»… You’d have thought the overlap in pre-motion for some skills there would’ve forcefully activated it at least once, but…” Shaking his head as he tried to comprehend the concept, Yoshiki thought back to his time in Aincrad so far—what with his choice to specialize into «Blade Throwing» to such an extent he even earnt the Unique Skill «Shurikenjutsu». He would think an exploit like this would’ve been noticed by him sooner or later. Yet… “… No, can’t be. Is it something that can only be done with other weapons…?”
“There’s one more thing to account for. I think he knows that I’m a PKer…”
“… Right, then. I suppose we can assume that everything you’ve been told was a lie? Given his status and all, it wouldn’t be unexpected, especially if he’s already figured you out…” Yoshiki began pondering yet again, now having to cross out the one bit of information he had to work from although he instead opted to add a question mark to the end as he couldn’t be sure that Heathcliff could in fact be telling the truth anyway, despite knowing of Suzaku’s PK activities. “Now, moving forward on the assumption that «Over-Assist» doesn’t exist… there still is no satisfactory explanation for how Heathcliff-dono managed to parry in time.”
“No, actually… an explanation does present itself. I am very careful when I act—I don’t get caught. I use teleportation crystals, my stealth build, and a lot of travel to various areas of the map that people seldom go to so I ensure that I am alone. Heathcliff told me that I shouldn’t join the KoB, he told me that I still have a duty that I must complete—a duty only I can do.” As the raven spoke, his gaze shot down to the floor for a moment. “How does he know what I do? It doesn’t make any sense… Heathcliff started making a name for himself later than anyone else. He was just stronger than us, and he possibly knows something no one else knows while seemingly being able to break the rules.” For a few moments, Suzaku couldn’t come to a conclusion before a premonition shot through him like a bullet. “It’s all too perfect—he can’t be a normal player. He has to have found some kinda developer secret like an area for in-game networking… Or maybe he was a developer?”
“… So, like the… GM from the start? I…” Silence lingered in Yoshiki’s voice, perhaps having now drawn a similar conclusion to the boy before him. “ … That has to be the case. That entire duel aside… it might just be me, but something about him just feels like he doesn’t have the same presence as us…if that makes sense? And even then, for him to already be more powerful than any of us and suddenly just show up like that…”
“—Maybe. Perhaps a developer with a guilty conscience has been using their backdoor access into this world to create an avatar of themselves to increase our odds of success by giving themselves all the best stats.”
“Mmm, that… yes, that makes sense. Maybe a ‘hero complex’ of some sort, if I’m correct? It’s a bit unsettling, thinking about it…”
“And that’s assuming he’s not simply the reaper guy from the start,” Suzaku shrugged before staring his friend in the eye. “I’m sure I don’t need to say this but—don’t say his name, don’t talk to anyone about this, and don’t share this theory with anyone, okay?”
“Like anyone will believe me. Even with my reputation—no, especially because of it, it’d be foolish to start something like that now, wouldn’t it? Assuming this theory holds any weight… we can’t even do anything about it.” A sigh escaped his effeminate lips as Yoshiki palmed his face, leaning back into his chair as he considered the circumstances. “He’s got the perfect reputation, the perfect role, the perfect setup, the perfect backstory… hell, calling him out now might just result in us being gone ourselves, or worse.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Yeah. but I can end this. After the next boss raid, I’ll take my shot. Ever since the duel with Kirito, I’ve been planning and preparing to end him, no matter what.”
“…Suzaku-kun, hold on a second. Do you hear what you’re saying?” Leaning forward in surprise, the lad tried his best to warn his friend of the potential danger of such an action. “Even as suspicious as Heathcliff-dono is… think of the consequences for a second. With the «Knights of Blood» losing their leader, Aincrad’s strongest Guild is thrown into chaos, the Clearers lose arguably their most powerful member thus far and frankly… I’m unsure how Shiranami-dono or Asuna-dono will handle taking his place.”
“… Mmh!” Standing in frustration, the teen began to feel a tightness in his body as he walked around the room. “I don’t know, okay?! If he’s the one responsible for all of this, I think I wouldn’t regret slamming my sword into him but I don’t know! What am I supposed to do? Not take my shot? What if I’m right?”
“…even then, assuming you're right, say that he’s a developer. Who’s to say he’s the only one? What if this is just a rogue developer going out of his way for our sakes? As much as I can’t understand why, going with that theory of yours… why not just let us out all at once? Why continue this whole mess…?”
“Maybe they can’t… or don’t want to? They’re effectively a god in SAO. If they can mess with the code that governs the game, being seen as the Hero of the story without having to risk anything? It’d be tempting…” After a moment, he turned back to Yoshiki before feeling his tension drain out of him. “This is all too theoretical—we can’t guarantee anything yet.”
“…Well, that’s speculation for you. Welcome to my world, Suzaku-kun.” A dejected laugh of agreement left the blacksmith’s lips, as he leaned back onto his chair. “Best we can do is wait and see… no matter what I do or say, you’re still going to confront Heathcliff-dono, aren't you?”
“I started hunting PKers because I couldn’t stand by while murderers got away scot free—not when I had the strength to stop them. If I have the strength to end Heathcliff and possibly clear the game in the process? I have to take it. Even if I die because of it.”
“Hey, hold on—why would defeating the one person we suspect to be a developer guarantee our victory!? Wouldn’t that lock us out of the one potential chance to get out easy?”
“Because If I can beat him, I may be able to get access to his admin privileges. I could give everyone his stats or make everyone into an Immortal Object, I could remove the limitations from the player avatars or make all enemies super weak!” It was more clear that Suzaku was simply cracking as a strong well in the pit of his stomach formed. He wanted to save everyone but didn’t know how.
…Or you might not, thought the lad in silence. As much as Yoshiki wanted to convince his friend, show him an alternative that might be safer… he saw guilt—an emotion that was all too familiar to the young blacksmith. Guilt and a desire to save, an ugly yet honorable emotion not unlike his own. Even if he couldn’t agree with the boy’s methods, to see such a stark reminder of his past now… “… Scratch that, we’re going to get nowhere at this rate. ‘Ifs’ and ‘buts’ won't mean anything without a ‘why’ or ‘how,’ after all…”
“… Yeah, you’re right. I need information on Heathcliff. I can’t go after him without being absolutely sure.” Stopping his pacing for a moment, Suzaku raised his hands and gently rubbed his face to hide the pain and mask his frown. “I’ll be fine, I need… I need to find Tohka. I told her I’d catch up with her soon.”
“… Then what are you doing here?” Opening his inventory, Yoshiki would quickly navigate through the list and tabs, summoning a pouch of Col to drop down to their feet. “You’ve got a date—at least, I can assume that it’s a date, right? Treat yourselves, seriously.” Raising the pouch of money up to the boy, Yoshiki continued to urge him. “Enjoy yourself for once; you’ve been working to the bone as is, no?”
A moment passed, Suzaku glancing down at the money for a moment before he let out a small sigh, his weight in his heart lessening by a few pounds as he touched the Col, adding it to his inventory. After another beat passed, he stepped in and gave Yoshiki a sudden hug as he smiled. “I owe you, quite a bit.” It was moments like this, Suzaku not presenting himself as the Shadow-Clad Raven but the young boy who entered the game those few short years ago that made him the most happy.
“If you want to repay me, just stay alive.” An audible sigh escaped the young lad as he returned his friend’s hug, letting go soon after with a pat to the other boy’s shoulder. “And have fun, while you're at it. Heard Floor 65’s got a new food stall open by the town hall; if Totomi-nee’s reaction was anything to go by, I'm sure you three will enjoy yourselves too.”
“Sure, we’ll have a blast if you’re recommending it.” He stepped back and pulled his hood up as he walked away, vanishing in kind to the shadows he felt so very comfortable in.
“—Now then.” Left alone at last, Yoshiki finally turned back to the door, retrieving the dagger stuck on the rune beside it. Whatever he does… maybe I’ll check up on him again, before the Floor 75 raid starts, thought Yoshiki as he set up the rune once again. Just in case.
»»———— ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————««
1440 AST.
A safe area of the Floor 75 Labyrinth.
“As expected, he’s not here anymore…” A lamentful sigh escaped from the young lady’s pink lips as she sat in the formal sitting position and ate her rations. The young lady—Tohka—was searching for the Raven, who had failed to show up at the promised time. She too was witness to the legendary duel between Kirito the Black Swordsman and Heathcliff the Paladin and she had her own food for thought at how the duel concluded. I’m sure that idiot is turning his head inside out trying to pinpoint exactly what the Paladin did.
Normally, when Suzaku was racking his brains, he would do so while sailing through the Labyrinth; he may be an incapable dunce at times but he knows that he should be performing his duties as a Clearer and mapping out the Labyrinth. Tohka was surprised the first time she learned that he had such a strong sense of duty, although perhaps she should have expected that. Knowing what kind of person he was in real life, Tohka understood that Suzaku was not the kind of person to depend on anyone else performing his duties unless he was incapable of doing so himself.
And so, here she was, traversing the Labyrinth on her lonesome to search for him to no avail. Even upon arriving in a safe area, she could not find him. Perhaps he gave up on thinking alone and is seeking help? He truly can be stubborn in the most annoying of ways… although that’s part of why I love him. Tohka finished her thoughts as well as her lunch before standing up. “Welp, I suppose I’ll call it a day there. Maybe I’ll drop by Asuna’s house and inquire if Suzaku has been knocking.” Palming her sword, she left the confines of the safe area, her senses once again on high alert as she began retracing her steps back to the entrance.
After a few moments of travel, Tohka immediately began to pick up on a familiar player ID on her map. It was strange since Suzaku traditionally didn’t travel through the Labyrinth without using his stealth skill, yet here he was, a small smile playing across the boy’s face as he pulled his hood back and approached her. “Sorry for being so late…” the boy said softly, stopping in front of her as he began to drop his gaze, a wave of shyness suddenly overcoming him. Suzaku was in love with Tohka and she always brought out the shy boy who gave into the violence of bullies. For all of his work to grow stronger and become someone unmatched, Tohka grounded him—she made him human. He couldn’t hide or become the Shadow-Clad Raven with Tohka—not to her and never to her.
Tohka crossed her arms, a playful smirk crossing her face. “Well, look who finally decided to show up. Did you have fun ignoring me?”
As she spoke, she could see Suzaku shrinking into his cloak at her admonishment, his gaze wandering to the side. “No, I needed a fresh set of eyes on a problem. I thought Yoshiki would have the answers. It did help but not enough.” For a moment, he refused to look at her—a mixture of shame and embarrassment staining his handsome face before he looked back at her. “Could I take you on a date to make it up to you? I need your eyes on this problem too.” Reaching forward, she saw Suzaku’s hand break from his cloak before being offered to her. “Please? I know I’m terrible but I need your help.”
“As always, you’re useless without me,” Tohka cooed. “Fine, I suppose you owe me.” She took the boy’s hand and pulled him close. Knowing the storm of emotions ripping the boy apart, she did the best thing she could do for him. Being around the same height forced Tohka to pull his head down into her chest but it served her purpose well enough. “Calm down, Shinya. Listen to my heart.”
“Mmh?!” Looking more confused as a large blush formed, the boy gave a subtle but deep sigh as she could feel his knees start to wobble, his frame gently shaking before wrapping his arms around her back as he closed his eyes and began to grow stable around her. “...I’m sorry for making you so angry.” Speaking more softly, she could feel Shinya in her arms—as opposed to Suzaku. Looking up into her eyes, he leaned closer and stole a kiss without warning. He was never the most openly affectionate, not unlike her, not loving public displays of affection. In private, with her or a select few others, they could see the Player Killer vanish and leave nothing but a boy who wanted to stop fighting and just live on a safe floor with the people he loved while Heathcliff and the Knights of Blood cleared the game. Unfortunately, they all knew that he would never be able to stop. It wasn’t in him to stand back and watch people die for him.
Upon breaking away, Tohka glanced to her side. “… Have you calmed down now?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, gently rubbing her face for a moment with his free hand, the other interlocking his fingers with hers. “Yoshiki recommended a new place on the sixty-fifth floor—a perfect place to talk this problem out…” Holding this for a moment, she could feel his grip break before raising up a teleport crystal with a soft smile. “Ready?”
Tohka nodded, squeezing Suzaku’s hand reassuringly. “I hope it’s got good dessert.”
As Suzaku declared the name, the pair were brought to the sixty-fifth floor, appearing in the town of Alverton and they took a moment to deeply inhale through their noses, enjoying the absurdly large mixture of smells and auras. The town was covered in an excess of shops and street stalls, each and everyone of them selling some kind of food, seemingly vying for the attention from the players. The various stalls and restaurants collected a variety of aesthetic and decorations. Aincrad’s sixty-fifth floor was colloquially referred to as “Foodie Paradise,” a well-deserved nickname from the floor’s massive collection of high-quality food and ingredient drops that are cooked by the expert NPCs, allowing players access to nearly any combination of delicacies. Unfortunately, Clearers tended to be the only people who could afford these meals due to being on such a relatively high floor in the castle.
As Suzaku looked around for a moment, he skimmed through his inventory for a moment before his cloak was opened gently. “I got some cash from Yoshiki, we should be able to afford any place in spades…”
Tohka raised an eyebrow before sighing. “I ought to pay the blacksmith a visit. Paying for someone else’s date when he has his own lady problems…” The blacksmith in question was performing routine maintenance on his personal effects within his quarters, shivering as if he heard Tohka’s comment. He then shook his head and returned to his work, assuming he was just hearing things.
“I always forget how bustling this place is; hopefully, we won’t have too long of a wait…” Putting away the money, he offered his hand once more before starting to follow the business to find the place Yoshiki mentioned.
As the couple ambled down the main causeway of Alverton, Tohka looked around, wondering which places they should stop at. She then spotted an izakaya-like establishment and tugged on Suzaku’s arm. “What about this place?”
“Sure, it looks nice.” Suzaku’s arm gently wrapped around hers, pulling her into the restaurant with a smile. The inside was a familiar architecture to the majority of SAO’s interior design with a Japanese twist to the aesthetic. “It’s been ages since I’ve smelled food like this…” He said with a smile.
“So my cooking doesn’t remind you of home?”
“It does!” Suzaku all but jumped at that comment, looking more worried. “I meant, the environment— the atmosphere. You know I love your cooking.”
The rose-haired girl simply chuckled. “I was just joking. I do agree though, this atmosphere is very Japanese. Do you suppose that we’ll get a Japanese super-complex of floors later? Would be nice to experience history.”
“I agree, that’d be a lot like that western game where you control kingdoms in war… forgot what it’s called though.” He thought aloud, taking a seat in an open booth that was further away from the crowds. “This is a serious topic, so I’d much rather we weren’t around eavesdroppers…”
Tohka sighed, seating herself in the booth they were escorted into. “Well, let’s order something first. I can throw up a barrier with the talismans I have on hand.”
“What about Gyoza? I haven’t had dumplings in a while.” He asked with a small smile as he inspected the menu, a wave of nostalgia coming over his body at all of the familiar dishes.
“Sure, I’ll take some soba then.” Tohka flagged down the NPC server and repeated their orders to him before he bowed to them and brought their orders to the kitchen. She then reached into her Lettering Satchel and retrieved a Luminescence talisman. “Do you want to talk now or wait until the food comes?”
“Best to get it out of the way now.”
Tohka nodded gravely as she activated the talisman while inscribing a command with her free hand to manipulate the talisman’s effects for he purpose of creating a refracting light barrier as well as a sound-retaining barrier with the help of the Aerosplitter element she had infused into her runic inscription. “Okay, whenever you’re ready to begin, although I’d imagine I’ve come to the same conclusions.”
“… It’s about Heathcliff. I think that he’s either a developer or a player who obtained access to an admin console. He’s… I’m gonna talk to Kazuto—try to take a shot at him if he’s willing to help.”
“—I see why you don’t want this to reach anyone else’s ears,” she sighed. “I’ve more or less drawn the same conclusion. Nothing I say will stop you from doing this, right?” Tohka asked this while staring directly into her significant other’s eyes, probing for his thought process.
“… Within reason, no. Assuming that we’re right, I can’t let him continue playing this savior schtick and risking the rest of our lives. It’s gonna end with my sword entering his skull or someone else’s sword punching through his heart.” As he spoke, Suzaku looked away for a moment in a mixture of frustration and annoyance before rubbing his eyes. “I have to speak to Kazuto… if he’s an admin or has their commands, I can’t play by normal Player Killer rules.”
“I would suppose so. I’m sure I do not need to ask but Kirito and Yoshiki are the only people you’ll tell this theory to, right? Yoshiki has probably already told you that we cannot afford to cast suspicion on anyone right now—we’re already much too far in for that.”
“I just need to tell Kazuto. Between the four of us, we can put him on the backfoot and possibly end this once and for all. Assuming he’s not just playing safe mode and relying on admin commands to not risk his life…”
“I see. In that case, you should be fine. Just don’t push yourself.” Tohka snapped her fingers and dispelled her runespell barriers, just in time for their server to come out with their dishes. “Let’s take our minds off of that and eat.”
“I think that’s a good idea. After this, where do you wanna go?” Replying with a smile, Suzaku raised his hands and gently clapped them together. “Thank you for the meal.”
“Thank you for the meal,” Tohka repeated. As she elegantly began partaking of the prepared dishes, she deliberated. “I don’t have as much of an appetite as you so… perhaps I’ll just watch you eat.”
“…Are you sure you don’t want to eat? I think it’s cute when you act a bit more honest~” His tone gently shifted to tease her, a big smile on his face as he put a dumpling up to her mouth.
Upon accepting the treat, she grinned. “Oh, I will, I’ll ensure that your whole wallet is empty from my dessert gorging.”
»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
Nineteenth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree.
0950 AST.
That morning, Kirito and Shiranami met with each other in the conference room of the Knights of the Blood guild; Asuna was absent as she needed to perform her vice-commander duties in her own office (she expressed regret at not being able to be present for the assignment of Kirito’s first mission). Both were in uniform and were waiting for Heathcliff to grace them with his presence.Kirito—being impatient at the Commander’s tardiness—began to tap his foot on the floor as he crossed his arms. “What’s taking him so long…?”
“I don’t know,” Ayanami stated. “Usually, the Commander doesn’t keep his guests waiting this long.”
“That’s because the Commander is out today!” The voice came from behind them. Instinctively, they both reached for their sword hilts and whirled around to face the voice. “Hey, hey, calm down!” The lion-maned man raised his arms in surrender, a sheepish grin plastered onto his face.
“Godfrey,” Shiranami sighed, relaxing and removing her hand from her blade at her waist. “Can you please not sneak up on us like that?”
“Apologies, apologies,” he stated. “Anyways, as I’ve said, the Commander is currently out on an errand but he has told me that I am to take Kirito for some training in the Labyrinth so we can determine which of the open high-ranking positions we’ll put him in.”
“Oh?” she ventured. “Well, I assume you won’t have any problems if I tag along, right?”
The face that she had on was probably quite the scary one because Godfrey backed up before stammering, “Ye-Yes, of course… It is not my place to tell you what to do, Assistant Second…”
Confused, Kazuto asked, “Well, can we go now?” The man only nodded as he stiffly turned around and headed downstairs. Kazuto looks over at Ayanami. “What did you do?”
“Nothing…?” she replied, tilting her head in confusion. “All I did was ask if I could tag along.”
“… Sure,” Kirito replied with but the slightest of pauses. He then stretched his arms and legs before stating, “Let’s head down.” He walked back over to the other end of the room, following Godfrey out, and left Shiranami’s sight. As he followed his superior officer, Kirito sank into his thoughts. He was honestly quite surprised that the guildmaster was out and could not provide his first assignment personally, considering how special his joining of the Knights is. Unfortunately, Kirito could not think for much longer as after tailing Godfrey outside, he spotted the person he least wanted to see in Aincrad—Kuradeel. “—You.”
Godfrey held up both his hands in a placating motion at the two men. “Now, now, I know that you two have… history, we shall say, but you are now guildmates. Let’s let bygones be bygones, yes?”
Shiranami arrived to see the tension. “Godfrey, what is the meaning of this?”
“Assistant Second!?” Kuradeel exclaimed. “No, this isn’t what it looks like. I would like to apologize to Kirito for my gross misconduct a few days ago. I have sincerely repented.” Kirito had braced himself for whatever could come next as knowing Kuradeel, being in a town won’t stop him from acting reckless; completely counter to his expectations, however, the sunken-faced man apologized, bowing his head low.
Shiranami scrutinized Kuradeel once more before sighing. “Fine. We could use this exercise to understand how much you are actually repenting.”
“We-Well, that settles things then!” Godfrey declared nervously, bellowing with laughter. Kirito still couldn’t entirely trust Kuradeel but he decided that it would be best to accept the apology and simply remain alert for suspicious behavior. He returned his attention to Godfrey, who proceeded to add, “Assistant Second, am I allowed to assume that the standard rules to this exercise applies to Sir Kirito too?”
“That is indeed so.”
“—Shiranami, what’s the meaning of this?” Kirito inquired.
“It’s standard procedure,” she replied as she manipulated her inventory and relinquished all of her crystals; potions were allowed to be kept as emergency insurance in a worst-case scenario interrupting their exercise. Kirito initially felt the need to protest against this but after seeing Shiranami obediently turning over her crystals without pause, thought better of it as he didn’t want his insubordination to affect either Asuna or Shiranami (or Helen, Silica, and Nirrnir for that matter, although Nirrnir likely wouldn’t care whatsoever).
Just like that, the party of four took off for the Labyrinth and Kirito decided to tune his mind into autopilot, only returning to reality after two hours had passed. Glancing at the system time in his user interface, Kirito finally sighed in relief when after traveling through the canyon-filled landscape and killing plenty of monsters, Godfrey declared, “Alright, we’ll take a break here!”
Kirito proceeded to take a seat on a natural bench in the floor of the canyon. “Phew… Those were some insane numbers of Sandcrawlers.”
Godfrey laughed heartily. “Indeed!”
“They just kept coming for seconds even after Shiranami left…”
“Yes, we would have had a much easier time with the Assistant Second’s help!” he laughed. “I’ll bring out the food now.” Opening his inventory, he manifested the three lunch bags that they had prepackaged prior to departing. He threw them at Kirito and Kuradeel. The grumpy Kuradeel said nothing as he leaned back against the canyon wall and deftly caught it.
Around half an hour ago, Shiranami left the group, saying that she wanted to keep Asuna company as she was currently left alone back in the guild headquarters attacking piles of paperwork the Commander had left unattended when he went out on his errand. Kirito patted Shiranami on the head, grateful that she cares for Asuna so much which elicited an adorable coo from the young idol. Happy though she was, she adamantly warned Kirito about Kuradeel; throughout the time they were together, Shiranami could not shake the feeling that the sunken-faced man was hiding something malicious.
Once again etching his girlfriend’s warning in his mind, Kirito absentmindedly caught his bag and opened it, silently hoping for a delicious sandwich that Asuna made. Expecting to be immensely disappointed, he found himself taken aback to find a sandwich made by Shiranami (evidenced by the cute stationery that came with the sandwich stating, “Keep me in your thoughts (love)”). He chuckled to himself as he took a bite out of it, savoring its taste, before reaching for the Florence flask of water, popping its cork, and drinking carefully; Kirito happened a glance in Kuradeel’s direction and noticed that he had just kept his arms crossed. He hadn’t even bothered using this hard-earned time for a much-deserved break, seeing how he didn’t attack his rations. Breaking his gaze, Kirito took several more gulps.
Suddenly, he felt something freeze up inside. Returning his glare to Kuradeel, Kirito was shocked to find him smirking; immediately, he removed the flask from his lips and threw it away, comically falling onto his back. The flask landed perfectly on its side without breaking but disintegrated into particles mere seconds later. Checking his level-94 status bar, he noticed a yellow icon with a lighting bolt inside of it next to his HP gauge which was itself surrounded by a blinking yellow light. Paralysis poison…?! he cursed internally.
Kirito returned his attention to his front when he heard a body thump onto the ground. He could just barely see Godfrey, flat on his abdomen. Godfrey groaned, “We-Weren’t you in charge of getting our water, Kuradeel…?”
The only response out of the man was a laugh—a long, very drawn-out and crazy laugh, seeded with insanity.
Godfrey repeated, “What’s… going on here…? Kuradeel, you… were the one who prepared this water, right…?”
Kirito groaned, “Hurry… Use the antidote crystal…!”
Godfrey wormed his way as much as he could to open up his inventory and take out a green antidote crystal. However, the still-laughing Kuradeel suddenly stopped and jumped in Godfrey’s direction, kicking at the hand that held the crystal. Giving another short laugh, Kuradeel said, “Godfrey-san, I knew you were an idiot but you really do have muscles for brains!” He said this as he tapped his head, very matter-of-factly. His hand then went to his sheathed two-handed sword.
“What… what are you doing…?” Godfrey groaned, before realizing with a surprised gasp what Kuradeel was about to do. Holding his sword above his head, Kuradeel swung it down hard, slamming it into his back. Godfrey let out a tortured groan as his health began to deplete. Kirito watched as Kuradeel’s green Color Cursor very quickly changed to an orange one as he had deliberately attacked another player. “Stop it…!”
Without holding anything back, Kuradeel struck twice more as he said, “Listen up. Our party was attacked by a gang of criminal players out in the field!” Not stopping his sword, he continued and attacked twice more, “Though the two of you fought hard, you were slain. I alone returned alive, after successfully defeating those damned outlaws completely alone!” Kuradeel finished his little speech and saw that Godfrey’s health bar was in the red. With a deep laugh that bordered on a growl, he held his sword in both hands and impaled him for the last time.
Watching Godfrey squirm was akin to an orgasmic experience for him as his smile grew wider and wider; he undulated his sword through the victim’s body, dealing more damage. Just as Kuradeel’s blade sank into the ground beneath the dying man, Godfrey stopped squirming as his health dropped to zero, resulting with his body shimmering and shattering into pixels. Breathing heavily as if he had just experienced a wonderful high, Kuradeel turned his head sideways to look at Kirito, his smile still unbroken. He soon began walking towards the paralyzed Kirito, yet despite being in such a situation, the young man couldn’t help but crack a joke in his mind. God, I shouldn’t have been so distracted by Shiranami’s sandwich.
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
Ten minutes earlier…
Asuna’s office within the Knights of the Blood Headquarters.
“Ugh…”
“Asuna, you okay?” Shiranami ventured, as she continuously toyed with some fabrics. Her hands expertly manipulated the needles and threads as she reminisced about her mother who taught her such fine arts and crafts. Despite the existence of the «Sewing» skill, one technically does not need the skill to sew, provided they have the specialized knowledge of how to actually sew; of course, what they sew by their own hands is not managed by the system of SAO, although Shiranami has discovered that if she stops just shy of finishing the sewing project and “completes” it with the Sewing skill, it can turn into a legitimate system-managed item.
“I’m perfectly fine,” she replied tiredly.
“You don’t look fine at all…” Shiranami placed her sewing implements onto the table and summoned a violin from thin air. “Perhaps I should play you a few notes.” She then began strumming a rhythm, a violin solo composition by a Romantic composer.
Asuna’s hardened expression visibly relaxed as she let the soothing music her friend was playing enter her ears. At Shiranami’s side lay three summoned beasts—a feathered dragon, a sharp-eyed falcon, and a housecat—all of whom were growling, chirping, and purring in time with the beat. “You really have a way with them, Shiranami-senpai.”
“Eh, no, not really,” Shiranami shrugged, deflecting the compliment her guildmate Silica gave her. Silica was present in this office too as she was busy ensuring the guild’s stock of synthesizable items doesn’t run out. Her Alchemy skill was extremely crucial to the frontline Clearers as some of the highest-quality items and materials were either too difficult to reach or too challenging to obtain due to needing to defeat certain monsters. Of course, some very skilled players are able to obtain those difficult-to-acquire materials and they still do make up the majority of the materials circulating among the Clearers but Silica’s skill still allows her to earn quite a boatload of money from selling her materials. “If anything, your Alchemy skill is much more useful.”
“Simply from a gameplay standpoint,” Silica denied. “Besides, I really only provide my stock to you guys, my closest friends. The rest of the Clearers still primarily depend on materials obtained the old-fashioned way.”
“I suppose that’s true…” Shiranami continued playing the violin to keep Asuna’s mood from collapsing before she stopped. “Hey, Asuna, I’m going to send Kiri-nii a message. I’ve already given him a warning about Kuradeel since I believe he’s still up to something but…”
“Yes, knowing Kirito-kun, he’d probably laugh it off, keep it somewhere in his mind, but screw up at just the right moment for him to be caught with his pants down.”
Shiranami nodded vigorously at that painfully accurate assessment. Opening up her menu, she navigated her way to Kirito’s chat log and sent a message, “How’s progress?” She waved away the chat log as she expected Kirito to take a few minutes to reply but was shocked to find a message: “Nothing to worry about, Assistant Second. We should be done soon.” Shiranami immediately leapt out of her seat with enough force to startle Silica’s summoned beasts. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” she apologized to them in a baby-talk voice before turning to Asuna. “Asuna, we need to go. Now.”
The Knights of the Blood’s vice-commander need not ask what was wrong. She simply nodded, “Okay. Silica-chan, can you finish my work for me? I’ve cleared out almost everything.”
“Alright,” she replied. “Take care of Kirito. I’m going to contact Suzaku… just in case.”
♢♢♢♢♢
Back in the Floor 55 Labyrinth…
Kuradeel closed the message window, muttering, “Alright, that should do it…”
Just seconds earlier, Kuradeel had finished killing Godfrey, yet when he was about to start killing Kirito, he received a message from Shiranami, inquiring about the status of the training session. Since Kirito was paralyzed, he couldn’t move, let alone reply to the message. Taking note of this, Kuradeel assumed that the message contained a question about the status of the mission. That is why he took the liberty to respond to the Assistant Second’s message on the disabled’s behalf, moving Kirito’s own hand to do so. Now that he was finished with that, he stood over Kirito’s frozen body, sneering, “Hey, because of a kid like you, I was forced to kill an innocent bystander.”
Kirito retorted, “You say that but you looked happy enough when he shattered into particles… Why would someone like you join the Knights of the Blood? You’d be better off in a criminal guild!”
Kuradeel smirked. “What an interesting thing to say. You have some sharp eyes.” Tapping his left gauntlet to remove it, he held up his now bare arm. What was revealed shook Kirito down to his core.
A tattoo taking the appearance of a half-open coffin with a skeleton inside stared back at him. The coffin’s cover was decorated with a grotesque face, painted as such that it invokes a laughing corpse. He gasped. “That’s the mark of the guild of murderers, Laughing Coffin!”
Continuing to smirk, Kuradeel replied, “That’s where I acquired this potion-mixing technique.” His face fell slightly as if he just remembered something but that quickly reverted back to his estactic grin as he replaced the gauntlet. “Whoops, I better stop blabbering or the poison will wear off. Time to finish this!” Marching over to Kirito, Kuradeel stabbed into Kirito’s right arm, resulting in an unmanly yelp.
Grimacing, he eyed his status bar. The poison is still in effect…?! His health slowly began decreasing as Kuradeel removed his sword from his arm and drove it into his left leg. Moving the sword back and forth, Kuradeel rambled, “Hey, how does it feel? How does it feel, knowing that you’re about to die? Hey, please tell me, won’t you?” Even with the bloodthirsty man stabbing him repeatedly, Kirito did not give the villain the satisfaction of a reply as his eyes focused on his dwindling health bar—having just entered the yellow territory.
Suddenly, his life began flashing before his eyes.
An image of his time in the Moonlit Black Cats.
An image of his time helping the members raise their levels.
An image of his time befriending the black-haired shy girl.
An image of his time listening to the girl revealing her fears.
An image of his time trying to alleviate the girl’s fears.
An image of his time entrapped in that hidden room with his guildmates.
An image of his time revealing his true strengths and being distrusted by them from that point on.
And then—
An image of the «Monument of Life» as he double-checked and triple-checked their names, hoping that their names being crossed out were a mere trick on his eyes.
When his thoughts cleared, only one train was left—at the same time Kuradeel drove his sword into his abdomen and his health bar blared red, sinking below fifteen percent.
Am I… going to die here…?
He closed his eyes, accepting his end, eliciting a snarky grunt from his murderer, “Well, damn, you’re no fun. No resistance?”
Suddenly, Kirito heard a voice… or at least, he thought he did. At the same time, an unbearable fear seized his heart, threatening to choke the life out of him before Kuradeel’s sword could. In his mind flashed the faces of his still-living comrades—Asuna, Shiranami, Silica, Helen, Suzaku… all those friends and more he had made in his time in this death game. If he disappeared, then what—
No. I can’t— “Gaah!!” A guttural scream escaped from Kirito’s lips as he forced his hand to move, grabbing the sword Kuradeel had stuck into his stomach, and with great difficulty, yanked it out. His HP bar sat at ten percent.
Slack-jawed, Kuradeel murmured, “Uh… huh? What’s this? Afraid to die after all?”
“That’s right… I can’t… die yet!”
“Ka! Hya-hya! Is that so? Well, that’s more like it!!” Kuradeel cackled like some monstrous bird, then put all of his weight into the sword, and Kirito resisted with his single hand. The system of SAO was weighing his strength stat against Kuradeel’s, pitting complex calculations against one another. The resulting outcome—the tip of the sword slowly but surely began to descend.
Once again, fear and despair gripped Kirito’s heart. Is this really it? Will I die? Am I going to leave Asuna and the others behind in this twisted, insane world?! Gritting his teeth, he continued his pointless resistance. “Now die! Dieeee!!” Kuradeel shrieked as—inch by inch—Kirito’s death approached in the form of a dull gray point of metal. The tip grazed his body… then sank just a bit…
A burst of wind shot through the air.
A wind colored white and red.
“Wha—? Huh...?” The murderer looked up with a scream of surprise, then went flying through the air with his sword, a crimson ray of light left in its wake. Kirito stared silently at the figure—or well, figures—that had descended in the murderer’s place.
“…I made it… I made it, God… We made it!” The chestnut-haired girl cried as her trembling voice reminded Kirito of the wingbeats of an angel—it was just that beautiful. The other girl, her silver hair flapping in the wind, held her sword up and glared at the opponent. Asuna nearly crumpled over me, her lips quivering and her eyes wide as she fumbled with a rose crystal. “He’s alive… You’re alive, right, Kirito? Heal!”
“Yeah… I’m alive…” How lame. I get saved again. Kirito closed his eyes as Asuna’s healing crystal recovered all of his HP. He tried to get up but was held down by Asuna as she shook her head, pointing at Shiranami with her chin. How exactly will this play out…?