Prologue

Kirito's opponent was someone who had mercilessly killed over four thousand people. Could a normal human being do such a thing? The deaths of four thousand, the resentment of four thousand, he could withstand such a pressure and still remain perfectly calm, he was no human, he was a monster.

"Aaaaaaah!"

He screamed to eliminate the small fragment of fear that had appeared in the back of his mind. He accelerated his movements further and rained down countless blows upon him per second. But Kayaba's expression showed no change. He blocked all his attacks with his cross shield and longsword at speeds the naked eye couldn't even see.

'Is he even trying !?'

Nervousness replaced Kirito's anger. Was it possible that Kayaba only stayed on the defensive because he could actually counterattack whenever he wanted and was confident that he could survive even a direct hit from him? Was it even possible to kill the Game Master, the god of this world ?

The suspicion overtook his mind. Heathcliff had never even needed the overassistance from the beginning.

"Damnit...!"

'Then, how about this ?!'

He changed his attack pattern and activated «The Eclipse», the highest art of dual wielding. Like the tips of an enveloping corona, his swords sent twenty-seven consecutive attacks towards Kayaba.

But Kayaba had been waiting for him to use a combo skill designated by the system. His face revealed an expression for the first time since the start of the duel. It was completely opposite to the one he had shown last time.. - it was the triumphant smile of someone certain of his victory.

He realized his mistake as soon as he launched the opening attacks of the combo. In these final moments, he had relied on the system instead of himself. But it was already impossible for him to stop the skill, and once the attacks finish he would be subjected to a short delay. Furthermore, Kayaba saw through all his blows, from the start of the combo all the way to the last attack.

As he watched Kayaba swing his shield at extreme speeds, repelling his swords with knowledge of exactly where each blow would land, Kirito muttered in his mind with growing regret.

'Sorry…..., I messed it up, Asuna'

The twenty-seventh attack struck the middle of the shield, sending out a shower of sparks. Then, with the shrill scream of metal, the sword in his left hand shattered.

"Well, this is goodbye, Kirito-kun."

Kayaba raised his sword and pointed it at his abdomen section as he stood stunned. A deep red shine glinted off the blade. The blood-red sword was then approaching him at an incredible speed—

He gasped for air as the pain flushed through his body. The sword stuck in his stomach, forcing it's way deeper and deeper into his flesh and organs until the tip hit the inner wall of his back.

"This was more than a satisfying fight, thank you for your association." said the blurry red silhouette in front of him with a clear undertone of enjoyment. The world seemed to lose colour turning black and white. The long sword in his hand now fully pierced through Kirito's body. He responded to it with several coughs of blood.

'Is this my end,...is this the end ?!'

No, he couldn't let it end here. How many others would have to sacrifice their lives if they had to proceed at this rate. The numbers increased immensely since around floor 50, because the bosses became much stronger with even greater gaps between each. The number of deaths was reaching an intolerable amount. They were doomed to die in this simulation if they would continue like they already do. This was the reason why he accepted the duel in the first place. He wanted to help everyone in this godforsaken game.

'But in the end, I did nothing ….'

This thought gnawed at his principles. He wouldn't accept this fate, no matter what. He had to win this battle, if not he would be a shame. Gathering all the force and energy he had left in his body, he tightened his grip on the sword which was still in his hand, dangling towards the ground, and went for a stab.

It worked! He had successfully used the situation and caught him off guard. Heathcliff widened his eyes, but before he could react Kirito shot his Elucidator right through him with all the might he could ever muster. A small smile of accomplishment formed his lips when he heard the sword ripping the flesh of his.

Tense silence filled the air as they waited for each other to bleed out first. Glancing at the left top corner of his Head-Up-Display (HUD), he saw his own Health gauge sinking with a rapid pace. He shrugged slightly at the sight. He could hear voices around him, however he couldn't recognize or understand anything. They seemed so near, but still so far away.

"You ain't fall that easily, hm ?" The red figure rasped weekly, his voice surprisingly clear to him.

He couldn't see his expression since his eyes were too tired for that and blurred out every image he received per data, but he was sure that Kayaba was surprised. Even Kirito doubted that he just now beat the game master, well not really beat as he was here on his way dying too, but his opponent's bar was a small red sliver by now too. His gaze traveled around the boss room searching for the chestnut haired girl. Unfortunately, his vision was a total mess so he couldn't identify any of the blurry bodies lying.

Kirito's HP bar vanished completely. A red message box appeared within his vision

[You are dead]

It was the command from the god to die. An icy coldness permeated his body. His senses dulled. He felt the innumerable blocks of code unraveling, severing, and destroying his very being. The cold crept up his neck and into his head. Touch, sound, sight, everything became hazy. His entire body was starting to dissolve, becoming shards of polygons, before scattering in all directions.

Kirito felt himself float through some sphere. His body didn't obey him, and his senses were dead, or at least dulled. Mere nothingness enveloped him and let him feel unfamiliarly lonely. He tried to cry out something, but his mouth didn't even budge a little and no tone came out his throat.

'Is this death?'

Klein watched the clash of those two completely different monsters. One combatively, the other one humanly. Emotions stacked over another. His mind was mainly shocked, when he saw Kirito being stabbed. But he would lie if he told anyone that he wasn't relieved when he saw that bastard named Heathcliff get stabbed, though Kirito was on the other side, not in a better state than his enemy.

As Kirito's avatar got destroyed, polygons dashed around above the heads of the lying people, the time seemed to change in slow motion. This sight sent chills down his spine as it made every inch of his skin crawl.

After mere split seconds, the colossal body of the former leader of Knights of the Blood, and the actual game master, shattered into small polygons too. Luckily, this caused the paralyzation effect to wear out. Everyone seemed to struggle moving so shortly after the intense battle. Klein dashed forward to Kirito's death place.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Asuna weeping desperately. She seemed to be unable to move due the shock. He wasn't sad, rather he was happy.

Don't get him wrong, he has a good reason to be happy. During the fight, he feared that Kirito could get killed and Heathcliff would be able to escape while he were paralyzed so he couldn't aid him. He opened the menu and scrolled through his inventory swiftly, not to exceed ten seconds in any way. Finally, he found the small item he searched for and put it on the ground where Kirito's body has been last.

'Please, don't let this be a joke!' Klein prayed silently.

The crystal was given to him by no less a person than Kirito. It was the Divine Stone of Returning Soul. He could clearly recall the moment when he saw Kirito looking sadly at him and tossing the crystal over to him in the snowy forest.

The crystal's tip emitted a dazzling light, causing him to cover his eyes if he didn't want to get blinded. Shimmering blue particles appeared from all over the room and got slowly attracted above head. These small particles merged with each other, growing in size and luminosity. The shower of small fragments by now, descended slowly to the ground, molding into a shape of a person. Although the harsh light damaged his eyes for sure, he couldn't help but stare at the mesmerizing event in front of his eyes.

The light died out gradually, and soon the all too familiar dimness returned into the room. Klein felt various people curiously peeking over his shoulder. Before the light totally vanished, harsh light flashed from the crystal, forcing everyone to squint their eyes. When it settled down, he could hear loud gasps right next to his ear. He opened up his eyes, only to widen them right after.

A slim, black silhouette lay there where he put the crystal before, which has been burst into thousands of polygons, but he didn't really pay much attention to that. His eyes kind of locked on the baby-like face of the strongest swordsman in whole Aincrad. He respected him, and looked up to him even if he were the older one between us.

Kirito slowly opened his eyes and blinked surprised. Before Klein could react, a lightning flash passed by him and halted on the other side of the lifeless figure.

"Asuna !" Agil shouted to the frozen girl.

But his voice didn't even register in her mind. It felt as if all her emotions were being burnt out, as if she was falling into a bottomless abyss engulfed by despair. There was no reason for her to do anything anymore. Whether it was fighting in this world, returning to the original world, or even continuing to live on, all of them had lost their meaning when Kirito couldn't be at her side.

Strong hands shook her out of her thoughts. She looked with wetted eyes at Agil, but he just responded with a big delighted smile.

"Why are you crying? Kirito is right there." Agil chuckled softly with a grin spread across his face.

"Wha-.." Asuna didn't understand. She was sure that she saw Kirito die, so how ? Well, she didn't care how. As soon as she found the black haired boy lying in the middle of the sitting crowd, she rushed as fast to his side as the system allowed.

"Kirito-kun !" She cried out his name desperately, as if it were a magical word to bring his consciousness back. She took the head of the boy in a tight embrace.

"Kirito-kun, you won't leave me, right? ...you promised." She whispered weakly into his ear.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows and squinted his eyes, making the impression that he was in pain. Asuna tightened her embrace even more.

"You….making….me...suffo...cate." Kirito brushed her cheek as he croaked out weakly.

"Kirito-kun !" Asuna was kneeling on the ground, her face right before his eyes. Her eyebrows were tightened, and she was biting her lip. Tears of desperation were now replaced by tears of joy and dripped from her nose on his cheeks.

As he sat up, pain spiked through his head and caused his face to distort.

"You idiot !"

She shouted and then jumped into his arms and hugged him. It shocked him enough to make him forget his pain for a moment. He could only blink in surprise and accept her hug. After a while, she broke apart and poured a small bottle into his mouth. The liquid which flowed in was a high-quality potion that tasted like a combination of lemon juice and green tea. It should fully heal his HP within five minutes, but his weariness was going to last a while longer. He had strong feeling of Dejá Vú.

Asuna checked to confirm that he had drunk all of it. Then, as her face began to scrunch up, she put her forehead on the crook at his neck and hid it from him. Kirito raised his head at the echoing sound of footsteps and saw Klein approach. He seemed a little apologetic for disturbing them, and as he wanted to start speaking, Kirito interrupted him.

"Why am I still alive? I clearly saw the death message." He asked in a cold voice. He felt Asuna twitch a little in his arms but ignored it since it seemed to be lesser in importance.

"You remember last Christmas ?" Klein asked with a growing smile on his face, Kirito tried to recall that event, but failed horribly.

"I don't, sorry. Maybe it's cause my head is still pulsing like crazy."

"The revival item…" he jogged Kirito's memory.

"aaaaahhh" He grasped in enlightenment, then he bowed slightly to show his gratitude.

"Very thank you !"

"No, actually we are the ones to thank you." He suddenly noticed that aside from Asuna, everyone in the room was looking at him. A murmur of agreement went through the room. Then they all rowed in front of him and bowed respecting deeply.

"It looks like this is the flow for the ending theme, right ?" Klein announced loudly. He smiled happily and blissfully, but sad too. The remembrance resurfaced in his inner eye. From the City of Beginnings till now, he had done so much in this world. The he noticed the still cuddling couple.

"As soon as I am out I am gonna find a girlfriend and make her happy !" Klein said out of the sudden with a strong voice and raised his fist while looking towards them.

Kirito responded with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head. "Sure". A small blush tinted their cheeks slightly red. Then Klein seemed to pause out for a moment before he narrowed his eyes looking to nothing in particular.

"By the way Kirito..."

"Hm?"

"When will we leave ?" Kirito left speechless for a while.

"He told us that when we defeat him he will release us." He said before realizing how dumb it sounded. Why did he trust that man? Was it cause it was the only hope? Who would think that he would let them run so easily anyway. 'No, Kayaba wouldn't lie' told him a gut feeling

"What now ?" A young male asked in the crowd, and added. "We have beaten the game master, so why isn't this game finished yet ?" The situation worsened at his words, and made the people wonder and babble around, causing uncontrollable fussing.

Suddenly, the air zapped loudly and the system displayed the wrong colours for a few moments. Everyone was shocked. The Cardinal's system seemed to freak out, but it settled down quickly. Asuna jumped up and pressed to Kirito's side.

"WHAT WAS THAT !" The room filled up with panic, everyone stampeding blindly. The emotions of each person was written obviously on their faces. Dread . After some time, the leader of the guild Divine Dragon Alliance shot up and yelled loudly.

"SILENCE!" His voice echoed, bouncing off from the walls and silencing every single person. He huffed annoyed and glared at all of them at once with a scornful look in his eye. Stepping aside, he let Kirito be the center of attention as he waved his hand in his direction. The boy nervuosly coughed in his fist to clear his throat. Frankily, he sucked at talking to bigger groups of people.

"We should move with the flow for now." Kirito proposed, much to their shocks. "It's a waste of time to wait here for something to happen." Yet again he could hear many murmures around him but he didn't pay any attention to that. His eyes were focused on the blue dim wall behind the crowd, staring down the nothingness.

"So we still have to fight ?!" An angered person in the crowd growled.

"What else ?" Kirito asked surprisingly cold, causing the the person to shut.

"So it isn't finished yet ?" Asuna talked waveringly into his neck, and lifted her head up to meet his onyx caring eyes. Kirito placed his fingers under her chin and raised her head even more, nearing her head to his one. Their lips connected, and they melted into the kiss with all the passion and fervor.

Kirito wanted to never let go and stay like that forever, but his lungs screamed for air after a very long kiss. He looked lovingly into her eyes as he gently caressed her cheek and gingerly wiped off a small tear in the corner of her eye. Displaying a hearty smile, he answered her.

"Yeah, we will have to fight on."

A/N: Yo! I hope you liked this story. Don't think this is everything. I just tried to get rid of this really disturbing Deus ex Machina moment from the light novel/anime. Naturally I had to write a Prologue, which covers this whole chapter.

Now there are two routes this story can take:

If I see that you like the story, then I am gonna continue it (I already set out some vague plans which really are good !) This will happen if we exceed a certain amount of reviews and follows which I won't tell you ! MWaahahahahah.

Or this story is getting no attention and I let it be a OneShot. An uncomplete OneShot ^^

It's up to you !

Bye !

Edit: I will continue this story ;) I am hoping you stay just as awesome as here for the rest of the chapters too.