Kirito brought his sword onto Heathcliff's with a loud clanging sound, as the paralyzed players around them watched the duel unfold. No, it wasn't Heathcliff—this was Akihiko Kayaba, the man who had trapped them all in this death game. The one responsible for all those who had died—over four thousand gamers. This, this was all his fault!
But Kirito wasn't fast enough. No matter how hard he willed it, no matter how strong he'd gotten, nor how hard he tried, he could do nothing about the fact that Kayaba had created this game. It was his. And even though this was suppose to be a fair fight, a duel, Kayaba was still the strongest of all, the final boss, the one who controlled everything in this world.
But he was going to win this. He had to. This would be the only chance to get them all out. He'd never be offered such a thing again. All of the players left in Sword Art Online were counting on him. To win. To save them!
But it wasn't enough. Kayaba had found a breakthrough. It...it was over. The chance was gone.
Kirito's eyes widened. "No! Asuna!"
Why would she do this? This was his duel! She wasn't suppose to intervene! No!
"I believe in you, Kirito."
Yes. He was going to win this. If it was the last thing he did.
And it was. He almost cried when he saw the expressions of the other players as he fell back, Kayaba's sword implanted in his chest. Their faces were distraught, as if their last hopes had died, were dying along with him. Funny. He hadn't known they really cared. But Klein's face was heartbreaking, to say the least.
Everything faded when his avatar, what had been his body for the last two years, shattered. And that horrible feeling rushed over his now non-existent chest as he gazed at that red button that had appeared with that fake-cheerful ringing sound.
You are dead.
No. He shook his head. Not yet. Not yet.
Imagine his allies, his friends, faces when all those shining particles that had been their savior suddenly gathered back together again to form a transparent, see-through avatar. He gripped Asuna's sword. "Not yet." He whispered.
Kayaba's face, among them all, was priceless.
Klein had tears streaming down his face. "Is it a ghost?" He whispered. If it was, the worlds, both of them, were much crueler than he'd thought.
The Lieutenant shook his head, eyes wide. "I don't know. Maybe. He's strong, I'll give him that."
"But, hey," Klein's second in command raised a shaking head slowly and brought it down on his leader's shoulder as they ll felt the effect of the paralysis wearing off. "If he came back, then he can't be dead, right? That means we might still have time to bring the rest of him back!"
"Not yet!" Their attention was drawn back to the fight.
Kirito's Ghost, as it would be later called in the stories told for years to come, lurched forward and plunged his wife's rapier into Kayaba's chest.
Kirito looked up just in time to see his enemy smile.
He watched as Kayaba closed his eyes in defeat, and his HP bar sunk into the red zone, until there was nothing left. He felt himself take a sharp breath and looked down at the rapier. Is this good enough?
The blue jewel on the hilt gleam, and Kirito closed his eyes for the last time in Sword Art Online.
Yes. That was fine for a kid like him. Just fine.
"Kirito!" Klein yelled, his voice catching. He grabbed his throat, choking down the tears as their disabled conditions finally wore off completely, and reached a trembling hand as he watched his best friend gleam in a blue light, and vanish. "No! Please!"
His guild held him back, and the rest of them watched silently as Heathcliff—Kayaba—their leader, dissolved into red mist that soon disappeared from sight.
"Hey, guy—Oh god, look!" Rosario shouted out, holding back a sudden rush of enthusiasm and joy. "The logout button, it's there!"
The others waved their hands to summon their player menu's and soon shouts of delight echoed through the halls. Klein just sat there, numbly staring in disbelief at the one button that he and his best friend—Kirito, Kirito was gone—had failed to find, no matter how hard they'd searched, two years before when this nightmare had all began.
The last thing he heard was the shouts of happiness, relief, and joy of all the players around him, and of those scattered throughout the entire game, before Kirito's last act saved them from that deathtrap, and they were all forced into an emergency logout.
And the last thing Klein thought while there, was, "Why? Why couldn't Kirito have had held on just a moment longer? He could be here, to, logging out with us! Why?!"
Kirito—or should we say, Kazuto Kirigaya—gazed at Kayaba without an expression as they sat side by side. In the sky. It felt strange, but he'd seen stranger things. After all, this whole world was just a video game.
Many would say that, of course. But they were never trapped in SWO for two long years, fighting till death. They weren't Kirito. And they weren't Kirito's friends, either.
He had a strong feeling that Asuna was meant to be with him right then, a feeling he couldn't shake off, no matter how many times he assured himself that she wasn't there. And she wasn't. So he resorted to looking at the man of his hatred instead.
"Why? Why do all this?" He found himself asking.
"Honestly?" Kayaba asked, not even turning away from the sunset—the fake sunset—even for a second. "I don't really know anymore."
They went on like that for a while, watching Kayaba's life work and Kirito's home for the last two years slowly fall apart. Kirito found himself sitting there, in the clouds, listening to his enemy with a strange feeling of peace in his heart, learning of Kayaba's life-long dreams and ambitions. It was weird. He'd just been out for this mans life, and he'd gotten it. And vise-versa—but here they were. Sitting. Chatting. Like it was all over a cup of morning coffee or something. And Kirito realized he didn't care anymore. He knew what he was going to do, already. He was going to fix this. Even if it wasn't his fault, even if Kayaba was the terrible cause—it had become his problem. Had been his, and ten thousand other people's, problem for two whole years.
"You wanted a new world. Free of the limitations of reality. A world were things would be different. Is that it?" he questioned, not looking at his companion.
Kayaba was silent for a moment, the wind ruffling his hair. "Yeah. I guess. That summed it up quite nicely, actually." He shrugged.
"So," Kirito began his plan, then. To fix everything. "Why don't we make that happen?"
Kayaba was startled out of his dazed look. "W-What? But... I already did... Didn't I?" The older man swept his hands out at the crumbling lands. "Sword Art Online. I—"
"No." Kirito shook his head. "I may not be an insane genius like you, but I'm not exactly stupid, either. We can make that happen. This technology you created, it can be used for much more than this, and you know it." He paused, before standing up. He turned and offered his black-gloved hand to Kayaba. "Given, you're still probably gonna die once we do it, but we can make that dream of yours come true before then, can't we? And we can fix the disaster this failed attempt of yours has become."
Kayaba stared at him in amazement. After a moment or two, he grinned, grabbing Kirito's hand. "Yes... I... I see now! We can! I can't believe I never thought of it! We can—I... Kirito-kun—"
"Akihiko Kayaba." Kirito stated. "Will you help me blur the lines of reality and the other dimensions together? Join me, and help me revolutionize our worlds."