The savior of over 6000 souls trapped in a game of death, lone player who carried the burden of the title "Beater". Man who conquered the 'god' of the world he was trapped in like a cage, opening the gate to let the trapped souls free. Unmatched savior, clothed in black. Is this man, this hero, this King of Gamers, ready to join a new death game?

Chapter 1

Polygons scattered across my vision, light blue, floating gently like feathers as they dissolved before my vision. The weight previously in my arms had vanished, the body of my wife gone. A soft scream escaped my throat, weak, coarse, pleading as I desperately reached out to gather the polygons, but they only shattered further at my touch. It shouldn't be this way. Asuna should be alive. It shouldn't be this way, my mind raced as I sunk to my hands and knees.

Slowly, mechanically, my body stood, eyes glazed over, lifeless, for what did I still have to live for? Why was I fighting a futile battle? I lifted my arm, weakly swinging my sword across his shield. Healthcliff, no, Kayaba Akihiko, gave me a strange look, almost disappointed, and batted away my sword with his. Elucidator clattered against the stone ground, my dull eyes following it weakly. It suddenly seemed impossible to reach, even though it was only a few feet away, and my body sank, hopeless, but tensed again upon a sharp pain in my chest.

I looked down, finding the sword of Healthcliff impaling my abdomen. My mind registered pain, but my body felt unable to stop it. I tried to remove the sword, but at the sight of my rapidly fading health bar, I closed my eyes, realizing my fate was sealed.

"I believe in you, Kirito-kun."

Asuna's words invaded my thoughts, reminding me of my vows. I would make it out of this world. We would make it out of Aincrad. Not yet… Even as my body began to fade, as my HP ran to zero, my grip tightened around Dark Repulsor, my jaw clenching as my body struggled. I'm not done yet…!

With a final scream, my eyes snapped open, burning gold, and my body surged forward, plunged my Dark Repulsor Into Healthcliff. A soft beep as his HP hit zero, his avatar looking down, almost like he was tired, or satisfied, or both, and with a sigh of relief, I began to glow, and whiteness enveloped my vision as my body tore apart, ears catching a final sound before being invaded by white noise;

"As of 14:55, November 7, the game has been cleared"

-Line break-

A sea of clouds. That was the only thing I could process thoroughly, as my mind raced. Where am I? How am I still alive? I died, didn't I?

"Kirito-kun"

My head snapped around at her voice. She's alive. Thank god. A wary smile tugged at my lips. "Sorry, I died, too."

She smiled in return, eyes beginning to swell up with tears, and in a flash, she was in my arm, her lips raising to meet mine, and for a moment, as the sun set, illuminating the clouds that danced around us in soft orange light, everything was perfect.

Wait, if Asuna and I are still alive, then wouldn't-

"Congratulations, Kirito" Kayaba Akihiko, no longer under the guise of his avatar Healthcliff, appeared behind us, looking down at the lowest layer of clouds, where my eyes found the floating castle falling to ruin. "Quite a sight, no?"

My eyes widened in shock, staring incredulously at the creator of the game that had been my life for the past two years "Kayaba Akihiko.."

As if we weren't even there, he continued talking, though it didn't seem he was even talking to us in particular, his hands casually in his lab coat's pockets as he nonchalantly watched the castle of his dream crumble through the clouds, "The SAO mainframe, within the fifth-level basement at my corporate headquarters, is deleting all the data on its storage devices. In ten or so minutes, everything in this world will vanish. Don't worry about the people down there; about a minute ago, the remaining 6,147 players were logged out. As for the ones who died, they're dead. They died when they were killed, but you two were the exception. You won the game, after all." He glanced at us out of the corner of his eyes, sighing.

"I should get going. The real world awaits, though I don't think things will end too happily for me." His gaze shifted to Asuna, frowning, "Seems the same for you too, Asuna. Though Kirito beat the game, all you did was sacrifice yourself for the hero." Her eyes widened, and she sunk to her knees, and I kneeled down to hold her close to me, letting my coat soak her tears. "You'll either vanish from the world, or be sent to another. For some reason, the system is refraining from allowing your Nervgear to log you out. I can't do anything about it either." He shrugged, closing his eyes, and vanished into smoke.

It shouldn't be this way.. This isn't the ending I was fighting for..! "Asuna, I swear, I will get you to the real world, even if it costs me my life!" My wife looked up, rubbing the tears out of her eyes, and nodded, though quickly fell back into my arms, weeping. I pulled her closer, closing my eyes.

Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat five times.

What was that? I just heard someone's voice in my head, but it was not my own. I figured it must have been from the stress of the past hour. I opened my eyes as Asuna pulled away and looked at me in horror, and found my body slowly becoming transparent. What? The voice inside my head continued, chanting off some nonsense that I couldn't decipher through my facing thoughts. Though one thing remained clear; what the hell is going on?

"Kirito!" Asuna cried out, my body nearly completely transparent now. She reached out to grab my shoulder, but her hand ran through thin air.

"Asuna!" I yelled, trying to take her hand in mine, but alas, as white crept into the corners of my vision, clouding my sight, I found that I was already gone, and the voice in my head had finished off it's chant. My arms reached out, trying to grasp what I could not hold, and I caught sight of her mouth open in screams that met deaf ears, and tears that fell like liquid crystals, just before whiteness engulfed my vision, and the world of Aincrad, as well as the real world I knew, was long gone.

-Line break-

Bright white light encased the room, and when it faded, mist covered the area, providing Kirei Kotomine and Tosaka Tokiomi with only the outline of the summoned servant. Kirei lowered his arms, which had shielded his eyes from the light, and coughed as the mist began to clear, and the priest got a view of his servant.

A man clothed in a long black trench coat, his eyes, closed, hidden behind the shade of dark colored bangs, two swords, one black, another white, strapped to his back, his expression both blank and confused, seemingly lost as a flood of information poured into his young mind. Slowly, he brought his hands upward, examining them, as if he couldn't believe them to be real. He buried his face in his hand, as if to hide the smirk adorning his dark features, as if trying to keep back the laughter that escaped his throat. "So, another death game…" His hand sank back to his side, his dark orbs gazing at the two men, who looked back in shock and awe, having not expected such a young boy. "So," a smile broke across his face, both gentle, kind, and amused, and the King of Gamers spoke.

"Are you my master?"