SAO - Another's Story

Chapter 4 - The End of the World

Krankome and Harin both died in the Boss fight on Floor 64. On floor 71, the remaining members of out guild joined the top guild on the assault team, the Knights of the Blood Oath. We are now approaching the Floor 75 dungeon, to challenge a boss that has killed more players than any boss before it.

Floor 75 - November 7, 2024 - Floor Dungeon

Commander Heathcliff raises the crystal and opens the gate to the Dungeon. Directly inside is the boss door. He explains to the Assault team a bit about what happened to the Recon team when they challenged this quest. "It will be a difficult battle, but it have faith that we will prevail." He says. "For our day of Liberation!" The Assault team gives a loud war cry and Heathcliff turns to the boss door. I notice a boy dressed all in black slightly to my right. I recognise him. Kirito. He was in the boss fight on Floor 1, and has been on the Assault team a long time. He was granted the unique skill, dual wielding.

Heathcliff taps the door, opening it as the war cry quiets down. A few voices murmur to each other as we brace ourselves to what is to come. "Attack!" Cries the Commander and we charge into the room. We reach the centre - no sign of the boss. Even as the door closes all that we can hear are the confused whispers of the Assault team and brief scuttles of a bug.

"Nothing's happening" Says a heavily armoured player. Eyes widen as we realise the location of the boss.

"Above us!" Cries vice-commander Asuna. Players dive out of the way as The Skull Reaper drops from the high ceiling and reveals it's five HP gauges. On impact, three players are killed by the scythes that are this boss's legs.

The team spreads out. Kirito and vice-commander Asuna are attacking the head while the rest of us take it from the side. The Reaper parries my slashes as if it was using a sword of its own. The first HP gauge is down. Around me players are activating sword skills and ripping through the legs of the boss with ease. Second gauge down. I jump onto the beast's spine and dig my sword into it. It cries out as the team reduces the HP gauge to only two filled bars. Kirito is getting really into it, slashing his dual swords into the skull. I manage to switch out with Opilla and he sticks his axe into the spine and wrenches the boss.

One HP gauge. Half. In the red. Commander Heathcliff stops and points his blade at the boss. "Everyone," he calls. "Attack!" Every player charges at The Skull Reaper with Sword Skills ready. I can see many recognisable players from lower boss fights. Kirito. Asuna. Klein. Agil. Various members of the Holy Dragon Alliance. Every hit makes the boss reel with pain and it explodes into millions of tiny shards of green. The congratulations notification appears as every single player - excluding commander Heathcliff - falls to the ground panting. Minutes pass and I notice that Kirito is looking at Heathcliff with widened eyes.

The Black Swordsman equips his Elucidator and charges at the commander. "Kirito!" Says Asuna. "What are you -?!" The 'Immortal Object' hexagon appears next to the commander. Silence falls in the room. "Immortal Object?"

"Yes." Says Kirito. "The system ensures that his HP will never fall into the yellow zone. It always bugged me since day one; where does he hide when he watches us and adjusts the world? But I had forgotten a simple piece of psychology, something every kid knows; there's nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG. Isn't that right, Kayaba Akihiko?" Eyes widen and jaws drop.

"Would you be so kind to tell me how you figured it out?" He replied, staying calm.

"The first thing I felt was during our duel. You were far too quick."

"I see. That was an unfortunate mistake. You overpowered me to the point that I needed to use the system to cheat." The commander looked around at the horrified faces of the Assault team. "Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko. And if I may add, I would have been the final boss waiting for you on Floor 100."

"That's bad. The strongest player betrays us to become the final boss?"

"Not a bad storyline, eh?"

"I always thought that you would be the one to stand before me at the end. Dual-Wielding is the skill granted to the player with the quickest reaction time, to then act out the part of the hero to resist against the Demon King. But your power exceeded my expectations. Well, these unexpected events are what make MMORPGs so intriguing."

An elite member of the Knights of the Blood Oath speaks in a broken voice. "Our loyalty... Our hope..." Kayaba opens a menu. "How dare you?!" He rises his sword and charges at Heathcliff. Kayaba presses a button and the KoB member falls to the ground. He continues pressing buttons until everybody - excluding Kirito and himself - is paralysed on the ground. The pain is grimacing.

"What are you going to do?" Asks Kirito. "Kill us all and cover it up?"

"Oh, no. I would never do anything so unfair. Very well, then... I shall await you at the top of Aincrad. But before I leave. Kirito. I feel that I must reward you for deducing my identity. I will give you a chance."

"A chance?"

"A chance to fight me. I will naturally deactivate my Immortal status. If you can kill me, you will clear the game. Every remaining player will be able to log out."

"No, Kirito!" Says Asuna. "We'll just wait for Floor 100. Don't do it." Kirito thinks for half a minute.

"Don't insult me. That's fine. Let's finish this. I'm sorry Asuna, but I can't run away from this opportunity. I'm going to win and end this game.

"I believe in you Kirito."

Kirito stands and says his goodbyes to the friends he has made in this two-year long game of death. "Kayaba," says Kirito. "Before we begin, I have a request. I don't plan on dying here, but if I do, I need to to ensure that Asuna can't kill herself."

"Fine"

"Kirito!" Asuna screeches. "You can't do that! That's unfair! That's unfair!"

Heathcliff disables his Immortal status and draws his sword. Kirito is now wielding his dual-swords. The two stare at each other angrily for a couple of minutes and Kirito screams in rage. The black swordsman charges at Kayaba and he parries. Kirito slashes and Kayaba parries. This is how it goes for five minutes until Kirito's Dark Repulser breaks and is destroyed. Kayaba grins and begins his slash at Kirito when Asuna shakes off her paralysis and is hit by the sword instead of Kirito. She falls into his arms and he tears up. They talk to each other until she is dead and he picks up her rapier. Kirito slashes at Kayaba lazily and Heathcliff stabs him in the chest. Kirito's face is bored and not in pain. He is just sad. When his HP gauge is in the red, his face turns from sadness to sudden realisation. "Not yet." He manages.

Kirito falls to the ground with 0 HP. The rest of us grimace at the sight of our saviour's death. Players tear up. This all continues until Kirito's figure materialises with yellow shards and picks Asuna's rapier up once again. Kayaba's blade is still poking through his chest. Kirito stabs the rapier through Heathcliff's chest and his HP drops to 0. The two explode into shards of tiny green pieces that float away into the air. The same blue stream that covered me when I entered this game cover me again. I close my eyes.

I wake up on a slab in a white laboratory. White light shines in my eyes, making me squint. A sliding door opens and a large purple monster slides through. Six tentacles extrude out of the abdomen and it slithers up to me. It talks in a metallic yet human-like voice. "This ones awake" Another purple monster slides in and I realise that the SAO incident isn't over. Not until I get back to the real world.