"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

― Plato

May 24th 2026

The bookstore doorbell chimed as its latest customer walked out into the sun pelted streets of Nishitōkyō. While most would be excited to have their latest purchase within their grasp, the small petite figure felt as two worlds weighed down on her palm. Spotting a bench off to the side of the walkway she gracefully slid into the seat and held up the monochrome book.

"SAO Incident Report"

The cover held a stark contrast silhouette of a castle. A place she had almost called home in a different time, a different life.

Though home wasn't supposed to be the place of your greatest fears, the spawning grounds of your nightmares and the graveyard for so many of your friends. Stopping that train of thought before it broke the already fragile dam she flipped to first page. The table of contents was smaller than she expected, containing a mere 10 chapters. Most of the book was dedicated to those on the frontlines and personal stories shared by some players who were stable enough to share. Taking a few seconds to flip to the final two pages of the book she found the section she wanted. The first page contained a disclaimer and the rights to distributing the sketch. No photos of the second page's contents actually existed due to the place it had existed being completely virtual. Clearly not everyone was thrilled to see the face of the most feared creature in all of Sword Art Online. Sighing she flipped the page.

…..

While just a sketch, she had to admit it certainly looked like the spectre of death that stood before her all those years ago. The glowing red eyes that stared back at her no longer drove her to panic like they might have 3 years prior though. As she looked at them, all she found was pity, longing and sadness. She hated that mask and she was sure it had as well. Looking down at the biography which was relatively small she read information she had already memorized extensively.

Name: The Black Swordsman

Age: Unknown

Sex: Male

Little to nothing is know about the The Black Swordsman, aside from being the most feared player in Aincrad. A server check confirmed the player was responsible for the deaths of 45 Players in Aincrad. The majority of these players were known to be participating in a guild called "Laughing Coffin". The guild was known to be extremely violent towards all other players and have been found guilty of at least 120 murders game wide. The rest of the kills The Black Swordsman are against players who seemingly have no connection to Laughing Coffin or any other crime affiliated groups.

The Black Swordsman's Identity still remains unknown though various rumors float around his continued existence. Sightings such as the VRMMO Gun Gale Online in the "bullets of Bullets" tournament, reportedly sniper class player Sinon was the final contestant along with The Black Swordsman. Due to the requested privacy the event has been kept under a need to know basis to the general public, but the Japanese government assures all residents and former SAO players the supposed swordsman was a mere imposter.

Sinon, the blue haired sniper, one of GGO's strongest players, a true master of her rifle. GGO was the girls life, not only did it pay the bills but it was her home. A place where the girl could be herself. She understood what it was like, to be the strongest in one world and utterly helpless in another. When she had encountered him for the first time, there had been some semblance of strength, though it had only been present with her lack of understanding to who she faced. The spectre of death had stood silently over her, simply watching. When she had realized who she was dealing it had already been too late. The girl stood no chance, panic had taken over and yet the sword never struck her. In the end Death had come for the last surviving Laughing coffin member Death Gun. A player hiding in GGO trying to make it another SAO. Nobody was able to find him after The Black Swordsman had killed his in game avatar, but she and Sinon knew. He would never walk this Earth again, never hurt anyone again and for that she supposed she could thank him.

She still remembered watching the broadcast of the tournament, seeing death gun make his appearance with that mask. Its mask, how did he get it? Why was he masquerading around as The Black Swordsman? It only took a hour for her to realize that he was also in with them. Walking around the dead streets of future Earth with Sinon no less. The girl had been petrified of the spectre that followed her around but still worked with him surprisingly. When Death Gun had shown up it would be a understatement to say he tried to escape. He had begged death not to take him, even removing his own mask revealing himself to be Red Eyed Xaxa from laughing coffin. It hadn't mattered in the end, The Black Swordsman cut Xaxa down without remorse, still it had taken him awhile to die. Death had leaned in his ear and said words that couldn't be picked up by the broadcaster, though if she were being honest with herself she couldn't help but feel happy about it.

The words spoken there wouldn't be said with warmth, instead it would be a promise of death. Right after the DEAD emblem had appeared over Xaxa, The Black Swordsman turned his attention back to Sinon. The stare had lasted only 10 seconds at the most yet it felt as if a lifetime passed. The girl was on the verge of breaking down out of fear before death blew one more gust of steam from his helmet and teleported. Some say he logged out or just disappeared as all ghosts eventually do. In the end Sinon was pronounced Champion of GGO, The Black Swordsman and Xaxa not being seen again. The next morning she had taken a cab to see Sinon, only to find the door locked and muffled cries behind it. A hour of coaxing and reassuring lead to the door opening and a devastated girl that reminded her all too well of herself.

She explained that a player named The Black Swordsman had approached during the final round of the tournament while Sinon had being traversing one of the last intact bridges in the surrounding area. Assuming him to be a regular player Sinon had fired round after round from her rifle only to have them destroyed by a blood red saber. Something she had claimed to be impossible when he had approached her and held the blade to her throat. His only response had been to blow a cloud of steam into her face and send her a party request, all the while holding her at the blades point. She accepted begrudgingly and followed him throughout the city striking down all that came in their path. Sinon believed they made a decent team at first, she handled any long range opponents while he handled the rain of bullets that struck their position and anyone foolish enough to step within his grasp.

She recalled one player attempting to strike him down with a concealed knife in a desperate attempt to live. He had simply and shockingly grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him up. From there he simply squeezed all the while holding in front of the shots of other players. Sinon told her then while he lifted the man it had allowed her a view of the man's belt. It contained his sword and while that would be normal for him, the fact stoof that he still held his crimson blade in his other hand.

Dual Wield. The same skill The Black Swordsman had possessed back in SAO. A skill supposedly impossible in the world of GGO. It was then she knew. Sinon had heard the rumours. What VR player hadn't? The Black Swordsman was known by all, from small town boy gamer, to the president of Japan himself. The self proclaimed god of death himself. The beater of SAO and murderer of innocent and guilty alike. The girl went into a panic right there and had almost been blown into oblivion if The Black Swordsman hadn't picked her up and dived into a underground parking garage before the entire area was destroyed by rockets and other explosives. The other contestants had taken notice of death and teamed together in a attempt to destroy him before he took everyone out. It didn't work of course, a hour later a black clad leather sleeve and glove burst through the rubble and murdered everyone in his path. It was there where he found Xaxa and Sinon caught up. She had been unconscious in the aftermath of the attack and woke to find a huge hole in the rubble covering the garage entrance. When she caught up Xaxa had already been cut into pieces. He still screamed as The Black Swordsman spoke his final words to him. She never heard them even with the loud monotone voice modulator he possessed. When the system pronounced Xaxa dead he looked to her before almost in a sullen state, all the while observing her. She believed he almost looked tired.

That night was probably the worst she had ever experienced as she moved all her furniture to cover her door. She had stayed in her bathtub in a attempt to curb the nightmares. Not that she had slept that night. Glowing red eyes had imprinted themselves into her very thoughts. Luckily the girl was aware enough to recall and share the story.

One more sigh escaped her lips as she thought of the event again, that had been months ago and she was still no closer to finding him. Argo had told her of a possible lead in ALO but she doubted anything would come out of it. All of his actions seemed random but she could sense a agenda, maybe not his own but one nonetheless. Some part of that thought terrified her and the other faith, he always had a plan. She had seen the intelligence behind that red iris the day the helmet had cracked in a blue shower of diamond pixels.

"Asuna!" Startled out of her thoughts she looked up to see the gang approaching. Looks like she had been found, had she been out that long? A look at her watch confirmed she had been sitting there for almost a hour. The sun had moved quite a bit in her past induced trance. The source of her name being called moved in front of her as she stood up to stretch. Lizabeth.

She held a beaming smile on her face till she looked down. Fear flashed through her hazelnut eyes as the books red one's stared back.

"Why" Her now toneless voice asked, only with a hint of malice though not at her. It didn't really come across as a question, not that it would have mattered as she didn't have a answer, not one that would make sense anyways. Smiling sadly she closed the book and stood.

"I need answers" While true it didn't hold the complete truth, too much had been left unanswered and yet still some part of her. a part of her she didn't understand cried out to see him again.

"We all need answers Asuna, but he's not the one who will give them, all he gives is pain". Her frown no longer held the disgust it held moments ago, now it was just contained, exhaustion defeat, and sadness. Lisbeth wanted to forget. Most of the survivors did, and in some way she supposed she wanted to as well. All the faces of those she knew and cared for who perished before her eyes. Even the boy she only knew for a few days. His name still cemented into her brain the day she had visited the iron palace only to see his name crossed out. A part of her died that day too, surprising as she never even really held a conversation with him. She hadn't given him the chance, even though he mentored her, taught her how to survive, to live and love life even when all was lost. She had never thanked him, it was her greatest regret, a decision that had seemed so insignificant yet almost stole her sanity the day she found out.

When she awoke she spent weeks searching for someone, anyone to find out. Eventually she had tracked down a government official by the name of Kikuoka Seijirou. He was tasked with interviewing SAO survivors and with her cooperation and some information, he told her what he found on the boy.

Name: Kirito

Age: 15

Sex: Male

Death: June 22, 2023, Player PK'd by The Black Swordsman

END CHAPTER ONE: ESSENCE OF THE PAST