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. He followed the the sparks and the uncountable bits of his sword, which wafted through the air.

"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 of deaths increased immensely since around floor 50, because the bosses became much stronger with ever 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 did up until now. That 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 compromised his principles. He wouldn't accept this fate, no matter what. He had to win this battle, if not, - he didn't want to think of the possibilities. 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 had worked! Heathcliff had his guard down as he had raised his arm and thrusted his only remaining sword deep into Heathcliffs's chest with all the might he could muster. The eyes of the man, who has never been uncalm, widened, but before he could react. 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 are merely conscious at this point and still refuse to fall, hm?" The red figure rasped weekly, his voice surprisingly clear to him.

He couldn't see his expression since his his character has dropped to low on health 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. His vision was a total mess. He couldn't find her, so he just faced a direction he thought he could sense an intense and emotional stare, and locked his gaze on a person lying on the ground. His face displayed a last, faint smile before being deprived of vividness.

[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 the slightest and no tone came out.

'Is this death?'

Klein watched the clash of those two completely different monsters. One combatively, the other one humanly. Emotions stacked over each other. He was shocked, seeing the sudden fear in Kirito's eyes when he experienced Heathcliff's true power. And when he was stabbed, Kirito's eyes widened wide, revealing his inner feelings, and Klein almost couldn't take it anymore.

As Kirito's avatar got destroyed, polygons dashed around above the heads of the lying people, 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. Her eyes followed the fragments. With unstaedy steps, she tried to grasp the polygons, but there was no way she could reach that high.

Klein had planned that this could happen. 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 Kirito went through a hard time and after learning that the item couldn't revive people who were dead for longer than ten seconds he gave it to Klein.

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 right ntext to the item. Although the harsh was unbearable, he couldn't help but stare at the mesmerizing event in front of his eyes.

The light died out gradually, and soon the familiar dimness returned into the room. Klein felt various people curiously peeking over his shoulder. Before the light totally vanished, another flas of light was emitted from the crystal, forcing everyone to squint their eyes or to advert their gaze. 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. It was the man, or more likely the boy, who had gained the most respect in this world.

Before anyone could even blink, a lightning flash passed by Klein and halted on side of the lifeless figure.

"Asuna !"

His voice didn't even register in her mind. It felt as if all her emotions were being ripped out of her character, 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 had been unconsciously reaching towards the ceiling where the fragments of Kirito had escaped to. But they weren't there anymore.

"Look!" said Agil whilst pointing to the source of a series of flashes of light.

"Wha-.." Asuna managed to express with a hoarse voice. Waiting for the lightning show to end she couldn't believe her eyes. I am hallucinating, right?! There is no way this is happening! and thus she rushed to his side as fast 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 expression of the boy was unsettling, as if he was experiencing a lot of pain. Asuna tightened her embrace even more. Her fingers gingerly brushed over his pale cheek. His brows furrowed and breathes become deeper. With a lot of effort, which she couldn't help but notice, he opened his eyes.

"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. It was real pain...he wasn't imagining things, was he?

"You idiot!"

She shouted and then jumped into his arms and hugged him. It surprised him enough to make him forget what happened for a moment. He could only accept her hug. After a seemingly endless while of silence, 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 at this point.

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 decided to ignore it, not to make matters worse.

"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 and I am a former dead man."

"You shouldn't make jokes about it...It was the revival item which got you back." he jogged Kirito's memory.

A moment of enlightment, followed by a moment of grumbling as he thought about the acutal purpose for the item, but finally followed by his happiness about his luck, after which he lowered his head slightly to show his gratitude to Klein.

"Thank you very much, I owe you something!"

"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 sheepish smile painted his face as he noticed this as he has never been a good center of attention. A murmur of agreement went through the room. Then they all lined up in front of him and bowed all to show their respect and graduation.

"It looks like this is the flow for the ending theme, right ?" Klein announced loudly. Kirito smiled happily and blissfully, but there was nostalgia too. The remembrance resurfaced in his inner eye. From the City of Beginnings till now, he had done so much in this world. It was as if he was born and raised in here.

Klein threw a weird glance at the still-cuddling couple.

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

Kirito responded with a smile and rubbed the back of his head. "Sure you will".

The crowd seemed to be motivated by this little speech and made their own wishes public.

"I will get to my old life and will be next to my newborn baby once again!"

"I will graduate once I'm outta here!"

"I will be with my girlfriend once I'm out of here." said a specific brown-haired boy. He seemed full of determination. Just thinking about being seperated from Asuna for more than two years terrified him and disturbed him deeply. He lowered his head so his lips were practically touching Asuna's ear.

"Once we are out of here I will find you and fall in love with you again." He could sense a resposne by the increasing strength of her hug.

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..." The boy who had exclaimed the wish to return to his girlfriend, said.

"Hm?"

"When will we leave ?" Kirito was 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 have thought that he would let them free so easily anyway. 'No, Kayaba wouldn't lie' he went with his gut.

"What now ?" The same boy, who seemed about the same age, asked and added right afterwards "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 murmur, causing uncontrollable fussing.

Suddenly, the air zapped loudly and the room's colour was displayed with 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 at nothing particular on the vast, blue, 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 their 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 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: If you want this story to continue, please leave a review. I know I've once uploaded it before, but that was my first try and my story started to get out of hand very soon. So I wanted to start over, but need to know if it is worth writing. Please leave a review or a follow so I know that there are some people actually reading my stuff. Also please point out any so I can correct them right away, thank you.