Hello again! writerfromheaven here, If you're reading this, then you're not one of the people that read my first chapter and stopped there. Congratulations! Please feel free to give yourself a hug. I will write more, so you can enjoy this feeling even more. Thanks!


The fight went well. Being assigned to support group E wasn't all that bad. I personally killed about 15 or so of the Ruin Sentinels. They gave me a load of EXP but not quite enough to level up.

"Group E, Move in on the attack! Get Illfang's last health bar down to red!"

I hadn't realised that Illfang's health had gotten so low. We went in to attack him.

Since group E was mainly made up of vanguards, we were able to take most of its attacks and still be able to return some damage.

After a few minutes of this fighting, Illfang jumped backwards, threw away his ax and shield, and pulled out, not a talwar, but a nōdachi, a broadsword. However, not many people seemed to notice, as they didn't really know what a nōdachi or a talwar was.

I didn't hear what Diabel was saying, but when he went out to charge the boss, he was the only one.

Kirito also noticed the strange weapon switch, and managed to choke out a strangled "Stop!"

He got into position to block the expected Talwar attack, How does he know how to block Talwar sword skills?, but such an attack never came. Instead, Illfang used his nōdachi for a nōdachi combo (would you believe it), and Diabel was completely rekt.

I gasped, and watched his health bar drain quickly. Kirito ran over to him, they exchanged some quiet dialogue which was ended by Diabel exploding into shards.

I slowly walked up to Kirito, in front of the main group of people. His expression was grim. Asuna ran over to join us. After a few seconds, Kirito lashed out and charged Illfang. Sighing and cocking my head slightly, I ran after him, with Asuna close behind.

"Asuna, Switch!"

Kirito had just blocked a strike from the nōdachi and Asuna ran in to strike a blow. It connected, and Illfang let out a shriek of pain. Since Asuna didn't know my name, all she could say was,

"Switch!"

I knew that this was my chance. I ran in and stabbed him in the chest, but quickly yanked out my sword to block a blow from Illfang's nōdachi.

"Asuna, Switch!"

I jumped back as Asuna ran in again. I immediately sensed something was wrong. Illfang switched his attack pattern and went with a special strike. Asuna barely dodged, but her red coat was slashed off. It revealed a young brunette, wearing a white dress. She looked about the same age as us, but at that point, it didn't matter as Asuna got a nice strike to Illfang's left arm, immobilizing it. And also, since Asuna didn't know Kirito's name either all she could say was,

"Switch!"

Kirito leaped in right as Asuna pulled back. Illfang swung his nōdachi, but I barely managed to block it as Kirito, now unopposed by anything, dealt the finishing blow with a perfect Vertical Arc. Illfang exploded into red shards.


Everyone was cheering, Kibaou, Agil, the sound wasn't deafening, but it was filled with joy. After a minute Kibaou suddenly stopped them, and started to glare.

"Wait a minute, where's Diabel? You, you let him die? How could you?! You knew what kind of skill the boss had! You even told him to stop! I bet you just wanted the Last Attack bonus!"

Kirito looked taken aback by this. I hoped this wouldn't happen.

"You knew he was going to switch to something other than the nōdachi, didn't you? Why didn't you tell him! He could still be here, laughing with us, you... monster!"

Kirito didn't know what to say. I felt the urge to leap to Kirito's defense.

"Diabel chose his own path, if you want to criticize Kirito for that, then go ahead and do so, but tell that to Diabel when you see him again." I responded, my face even.

Kibaou was nonplussed, he gritted his teeth and his head sunk. I could see tears dripping from his face. I knew my argument was good, but not enough to stop the people on Kibaou's side. The rest of the people started siding with him until eventually Kibaou looked up and said.

"I know what you are, Kirito, you're one of those guys! No wonder you knew what to do! You're a... a beta tester, a cheater, a beater!"

Kirito smirked and slyly responded,

"Beater huh, I like the sound of that. Beater... Well, go and sulk for yourself, I made a promise to Diabel, I would clear the game for him."

Kirito opened up his items menu and selected one, He must've gotten it from getting the LA on the boss. It was a dark black coat. Kirito look surprisingly cool in it.

"Come on, Asuna, Akira, let's go."

"Wait a minute," Asuna said, looking at Kirito and me perplexedly, "How'd you guys know my name when I never even told it to you?"

"That's easy, it's right next to our HP gauge. You can check it out when you're in a party." Kirito pointed out, "Or, if you look hard enough you'll usually see it above someone's head, although it's not as consistent."

"Oh! So... you're.. Ki...ri...to.. Kirito? And you're... A... Akira?"

"Yep! Now come one Asuna, let's go to on the next floor." I said.

"Uhm, sure!"

We silently walked up to the next floor, leaving everyone else, except Agil, who came running after us, behind.