Warning...there is swearing and the like in this chapter, You have been warned. Also, I do not support any themes that I have written in this chapter.
I need to thank Evangelina Amaryllis for beta reading this chapter.
Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00] June 12th 2023
With the help of the ALF, the location of all of Laughing Coffin's safe-houses have been found and Senryaku is about to begin their attack any minute in conjunction with the ALF. Senryaku is going after where PoH and his officers should be, which is a moderately large house on the outskirts of the Hill of the Cross. The players have been using it as a sort of replacement for a graveyard. Alongside the team of six in Senryaku, sixty players have been sent from the clearer guilds, with the three special units sent from the Divine Dragon Alliance and Knights of the Blood Oath having ten members each. They were handpicked from various cells across the entire guild network, rendering them some of the strongest players among the frontliners.
"This is where PoH should be… everyone, I want you all to attack the front of the house and stall them while my unit sneaks in from the back." Solaris says quietly, sounding more like she's asking than ordering.
"Sol, you're forcing us to attack the back? I want to be in the thick of it all." Masaru asks a tiny bit angrily.
"Masaru, doing this plan ensures that no one will get in your way, and you'll have a much bigger radius of combat; you may even get to fight the powerful leaders without having to deal with any of Laughing Coffin's peons." Solaris says casually, trying to inspire Masaru while dealing with his thirst for importance.
"Really? Hm… I'm liking that a lot more now." Masaru says happily, giving Solaris a sense of relief.
"Move out!" Solaris calls before stealthily slipping to the back with her unit of six.
Solaris, Kirito, Masaru, Elena, Ulrich, and Pulse quietly run to the left to reach the back end of the house, with them all hearing heavy combat happening at the front.
"Holy crap… That degree of fighting is not good, and we just got here a minute ago." Pulse whispers in shock at the sounds of battle.
"Pulse, I need you to keep an aerial viewpoint over us until we reach the back entrance; there's no cover here aside from that tree. Climb it and give us some suppressing fire if we encounter Laughing Coffin members." Solaris orders, authority drowning her voice. "Ulrich, I want you to stay out here and protect Pulse. Your fighting style is primarily defensive, and you require breathing room; you'll be better suited here." Solaris says in the same tone.
"Got it, Solaris." Ulrich confirms calmly, drawing his katana to prepare for any possible assailants.
"Understood. We'll keep watch here. Be careful, all of you." Pulse says, climbing the nearby tree with Ulrich pacing around the tree to protect Pulse, both of them feeling slightly worried about Solaris and the rest of her group.
Solaris, Masaru, Elena, and Kirito depart to the back entrance of this safe house with them being covered by Pulse's archery skills as they notice dozens of Laughing Coffin members rushing out of the house to fight the group.
"What the...?! This place is swarming with them!" Masaru shouts in anger, fighting off seven members on his own.
At this moment, Solaris receives a PM from Mikuya
"Solaris! Kuradeel was an agent of Laughing Coffin and he tipped them off about this crusade! All of their safe houses except yours were abandoned aside from a turncoat at the safe house I went to! You must retreat immediately! The entirety of Laughing Coffin is at your location! We're trying our best to reach your location, if you can give us coordinates, we'll set our Corridor Crystals to reinforce you in an instant and cover your retreat!" Mikuya says, revealing the betrayal of the Knights of the Blood Oath member.
"Damn it! Masaru, everyone, we need to fall back and regroup with the others! Laughing Coffin knew we were coming!" Solaris cries to the group, thanking her lucky stars that Mikuya's message had reached her before someone died.
Elena uses the force of her new sword; Tycho to whip up a small dust cloud by slamming the ground, with the others fleeing to Ulrich and Pulse's location.
"Pulse, Ulrich, we're getting the hell outta here! Regroup with Asuna and the others!" Masaru says in a semi-loud tone, wanting to escape this rigged battlefield as soon as possible.
Pulse jumps down from the tree and Ulrich rushes to the main group, then they all flee to regroup with the other cells of the crusaders, to find only the cell leaders alive and on their knees, surrounded by members of Laughing Coffin, with all of the regular members apparently being dead, to the dismay of Senryaku.
"Come on guys, let's get them-!" Solaris tries to say before being knocked out by a member of Laughing Coffin that followed them, and before she gave the coordinates to Mikuya.
"Solar-!" Masaru tries to say before also getting knocked out, same with the others in the group. Solaris' final thought is in recollection of her relief that no lives had been lost. Oh, how foolish her assumption was...
Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00] June 12th 2023
"Keita was right, this was a significant investment and the guilds just lost it within minutes…Laughing Coffin knew all along that we'd be coming. They knew we were coming and brought all their members here to fight us. We didn't stand a chance against their full might. Damn it…I knew some of these people from the beta and now they're dead because of me…It's just like the first month all over again!" Solaris growls in her mind, having seen that over fifty people from the guilds were killed. These people were some of the strongest people in the guilds and their deaths will significantly weaken the clearing efforts.
Solaris regains consciousness to find herself divided from the other crusaders and her unit, under guard by three people: PoH, Hisae, and Viper; some of Laughing Coffin's top dogs.
"Well well, you've finally woken up. You're tougher than I give you credit for. You're the first person to survive Hisae's famous skills." PoH says with a small sadistic laugh.
Solaris tries to draw her weapon to attack the group of three but she finds herself restrained with handcuffs.
"Let me go!" Solaris growls angrily, expecting them to follow her orders as her allies so willingly did.
"I don't think so, missy. You're our prisoner, same with your supposed 'elite' unit." PoH says with a toothy smile that only served to aggravate Solaris further.
"Damn you..." Solaris says in the same tone.
"Leader, Hisae, leave us. I can handle guarding Solaris on my own. She's no threat to us alone, but her colleagues in her unit are." Viper says seriously.
"Very well. Do not let her out of your sight Viper; no matter what." PoH says with a mild growl to intimidate the man with the snake's name, before departing with Hisae to another part of the house.
"Hm… Karen, you shouldn't have come here..." Viper quietly says with a small sigh.
"Makoto… How could you stand working with these criminals? They're evil and they're trying to stop us from clearing this game and escape!" Solaris says, mildly awestruck at his betrayal, as they've been friends for years in reality.
"I respect your ideals, Karen, but I just don't have the ability to believe in you all anymore. My chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is shortening my life expectancy by the hour. Considering how weak I've been feeling over the last month, I'm expected to die in a week." Viper says with a small sigh.
"Then please! Use that time to help us! Even if you're my enemy… We're still childhood friends..." Solaris says pleadingly. "And what about Airi, Ophelia, and Kazuma? They'd be heartbroken if they found out that their friend became a murderer!" Solaris says with tears in her eyes, remembering the Takara siblings for the first time since the beta test.
"Karen, if I help you, PoH and the others will kill us both. Besides, if I free you here, Laughing Coffin will overwhelm us." Viper says with a sigh. "And you are just as cruel… Bringing them up..." Viper says, looking away a brief moment in disappointment remembering how Airi was the main reason why Karen and Makoto were able to become friends with the Takara siblings.
"Makoto… Please..." Solaris says in a sad tone, with her eyes going round in shape as she stares at him.
"Damn it, Karen… Fine… Look, if you truly want to get out of here, you'll need to keep the others busy on the outside. I'd try to contact your ALF allies and give them coordinates if I were you. You also need to link up with your unit scattered around this house, the others crusaders are at one of our safe-houses, here are the coordinates." Viper says with a heavy sigh, undoing Solaris' rope handcuffs and passing a piece of paper to her. "Stay put, and I can think of a way for all six of you to be together, but you'll need to be restrained if we go this way." Viper says emotionlessly, not liking how effective Solaris' persuasion techniques are.
"Understood. I'll tell Lady Mikuya to mobilize her forces and arrive here in a half hour. Let's start..." Solaris says, sending a PM to Mikuya, crouching to her knees, and placing her arms behind her back to be restrained again.
"I trust you can work up a show? I'm going to try a story with you being unreasonable and torture being needed." Viper says, restraining Solaris again, but a little lighter, to plan for the upcoming escape.
"On myself?" Solaris asks a tiny bit worriedly.
"No - your unit. Torture tends to work better when applied on close friends. Now move it!" Viper says, dragging Solaris out of the room roughly as he quickly gets in character.
"Ow! That's a little extreme!" Solaris says in surprise, with Makoto dragging her by her arm.
"Shut up! We're about to leave the room and we can't afford familiarity here." Viper growls.
Solaris and Viper walk out of the room when Viper calls for someone nearby, who is wearing a cloak, with green eyes being the only thing visible. The voice the player gives off suggests it's a female.
"Lahios, I was able to get some information out of this girl; she told me of a large group on the far end of the forest, I want you to gather everyone to take care of them." Viper says mildly angrily, presumably trying to keep his cover.
"U-Understood, Lord Viper" Lahios says in a nervous tone, gathering as many Laughing Coffin members as possible.
"Wow… You're quite the-" Solaris tries to say before getting silenced by Viper.
"Silence! Prisoners don't have the right to talk unless spoken to!" Viper growls semi-angrily; Solaris really did find acting difficult, and it annoyed him, to say the least.
The duo continue walking when they encounter Ulrich and Elena in different cells, both unguarded, but there's no way they could break out on their own.
"Ulrich! Elena!" Solaris says with a small tear in her eyes, running toward the pair.
"Solaris! You're okay!" Elena says in concern for her leader.
"Did they mistreat you?" Solaris asks worriedly, feeling worried for her members' well being.
"Decent enough… Considering the situation." Ulrich says quietly, meditating to keep his cool.
While they were having this conversation, Viper unlocks the cells
"Out. You have a use elsewhere, move it." Viper says emotionlessly.
"God, aren't you a grouch? Alright alright, one second." Ulrich says sarcastically, deliberately taking his time getting up.
"Don't start with me - especially when I'm trying to save your ass." Viper says angrily, getting mildly pissed off.
"Come again?" Elena asks rapidly, in mild confusion.
"Let's save discussions for when you're actually free. Move it! All of you!" Viper says with a growl, before sending a PM "Leader, Solaris is being troublesome, I'm recommending torture of her unit to get her to cooperate. I'm bringing Elena and Ulrich to receive the appropriate measures. Bring Masaru, Pulse, and Kirito to the main chamber."
"Understood… You will be punished for your incompetence later. Bring the three of them to the main chamber. Hisae and I will bring Masaru, Kirito, and Pulse." PoH responds back quickly enough.
"God damn it… I'm screwed no matter what happens, I'm so going to die..." Viper says with a sigh. "Okay… Let me loosen your restraints slightly, if we're going to pull this off, you need to be able to escape in an instant."
"You're… helping us? But you're a member of Laughing Coffin!" Elena asks in shock.
"Eh… Reality does come first. Karen's my childhood friend so I have a small obligation to help her. Even if we're on opposing sides..." Viper says quietly.
"Karen?" Elena asks curiously.
"Hm… Cat's out of the bag earlier than I hoped, but look, I'll explain everything later, when we're all free." Solaris says with a sigh. "Viper, bring us to the meeting ground; we have fifteen minutes until Mikuya and the others arrive. How long will the scouts be gone?" Solaris asks in mixed tones.
"Hour and a half. The scouts would need to walk or run to the place I specified, and I even made it vague, so they'll be stumbling, giving us more time." Viper says with a small evil smile, scaring Elena slightly.
"You've become quite a terrifying person, Makoto. I know the COPD was slowly taking your life but… You've changed a lot since you came to this death trap..." Solaris says in mild surprise.
"Yep. While you were growing into a fearless leader and a beacon of hope for everyone, I'm forced to live in dismay until I die. I want to die fighting, at least it'll be worth it for me." Viper says emotionlessly, which slightly terrifies Solaris. Granted he was never the optimist but he was cheerful enough to live life normally. Now, he was turned into a ruthless murderer trying to justify what remains of his life.
With this being done, Solaris works with her restraints to keep them active and send a PM to Mikuya "Mikuya, in about...eight minutes, deploy a team of twenty to these coordinates and tell them to prep for immediate combat, send the rest of the ALF forces to these coordinates." Solaris types, punching in three sets of coordinates for her ALF allies. One is for where she currently is, one being where the LC members are headed thanks to Viper, and the other being where the other Crusaders are.
Viper loosens the restraints on Elena and Ulrich, then pushes all three to the door of the room where they currently are. They arrive in the main chamber after five minutes to find Hisae and PoH behind Masaru, Kirito, and Pulse, whom are on their knees.
"Good… They're all here, now we can keep an eye on all of them." PoH says with a growl.
"Yeah...keep thinking that way..." Viper thinks to himself, knowing his time is limited no matter what he does. He approaches Solaris and whispers "Karen… Start now. If you merely wait for the ALF, these two will escape… Stall for time..."
"But..." Solaris tries to say.
"Do it! Use the distraction your friends and I create to free Kirito, Masaru, and Pulse so they can aid us, then the ALF will arrive to apprehend them."
"Very well… Give me a signal when I should do it." Solaris says with a sigh.
"Trust me, you'll know it when you see it." He replies, taking his time.
Viper walks toward Hisae, who has made distance from PoH; what an idiotic move for her
"What are you doing, moron? You need to stay close to those three, in case they try something." Hisae says angrily.
"Oh, that is it! You die here and now you god damn broad!" Viper says angrily, finally reaching the limit of Hisae's attitude, drawing his sword to attack Hisae.
"Now! Start the operation!" Solaris shouts, breaking free of the restraints, with Ulrich and Elena in tow. "Ulrich, Elena! Handle PoH!"
"Damn it! Viper! You will die for this betrayal against Laughing Coffin!" Hisae growls angrily.
"Whatever! I'm a dead man no matter what, I ought to do what is right for the first time ever!" Viper yells at Hisae, feeling liberated at the concept of finally being able to beat the crap out of her, as he's had to hold back because of PoH's orders.
Elena and Ulrich fight PoH to stall time for Solaris to free Kirito, Pulse, and Masaru from their own restraints. She summons her spear and uses a light thrust three times, being careful not to hit them and go Orange.
"Thanks Solaris, we owe you big time!" Kirito says, drawing his sword and helping Elena and Ulrich with a wide grin.
"We really do owe ya" Pulse says with a gentle smile, drawing a longsword and going to attack Hisae.
"Solaris..." Masaru says quietly, before going to attack Hisae alongside Viper and Pulse.
"Hehe… Bashful as ever, I see." Solaris says with a chuckle, before going to help Masaru and the others with Hisae.
With the fight of four and three versus one, things seem to be going rather well until Hisae begins noticing flaws in Viper's combat stance, which is a direct result of Viper's weakening health in reality which is weakening his avatar in SAO.
"You all stay out of this! Hisae is all mine… I want to be the one to end this broad's life… I'm sick of her damn insults." Viper states angrily, panting softly.
"Viper, we won't let you fight this woman alone." Pulse retorts stubbornly.
"Don't fight me on this!" Viper growls angrily.
"Let the dying hero have his final wish, it's the greatest sympathy you could offer. No matter what happens, Viper dies here and now!" Hisae states emotionlessly, but angrily at the end.
"Here I thought you were a bitch incapable of any kind of positive emotion. Such a shame, I'd feel bad if I killed you now… Not." Viper says sarcastically and laughingly.
"I've always wanted to do this since day 1; PoH was the only one keeping your damn ass alive because he thought you were useful." Hisae says, dashing toward Viper.
Viper uses his longsword to repel Hisae's strikes as much as possible while making his own strikes, though his failing health is becoming evident in his stance as he's making mistakes.
"Damn it… My COPD is killing me faster than I thought… I guess it's true… Combat significantly lowers the time I have available… I had a week max before, but it's catching up fast...I imagine I only have a day now." Viper says to himself, coughing a few times, before gasping in shock over Hisae stabbing him in the chest with her sword, causing him to explode into pixels.
"No… Makoto… No… You'll pay for that!" Solaris says sadly over the fact she just lost one of her childhood friends in such a style, then developing an evil scowl. Her eyes widen in rage as her feet begin moving on their own, breaking into a sprint towards Hisae. Her eyes barely have the time to double in size in shock as Solaris manages to stab Hisae in the same place she stabbed Viper just moments ago, causing Hisae to die in the same fashion as Viper did, giving Solaris only a slight feeling of appeasement.
At this moment, a portal opens and twenty armed members of the ALF, led by Haruka arrive to pacify the situation, with them quickly apprehending PoH with help from Pulse and Kirito.
"The cavalry has… arrived?" Haruka says proudly, with a moment of awkwardness seeing only one member of Laughing Coffin: PoH. "Now I feel awkward as hell..." Haruka says with a disappointed tone, having lost a good deal of pride on this. She had definitely been expecting a larger battle
"I can't believe I..." Solaris says quietly, shocked at herself for losing her sanity like that.
"Solaris, there was nothing you could've done, Hisae would've killed us if you didn't do that..." Masaru says, trying to comfort his leader.
"I...I killed another player..." Solaris says quietly, collapsing to her knees.
"Um… We'll go take PoH to the Black Iron Castle, we'll keep the portal open as long as we can." Haruka says a little awkwardly, before leaving with her soldiers, Kirito, and Pulse.
"Solaris… You need to regain your composure; there are so many people depending on us." Masaru says a little bluntly, with good intention on his mind.
"...I..." Solaris says, crying a little, with her feeling a light slap on her face. "Wha...?" She says, noticing Ulrich being the one who did it.
"Solaris, this is unbecoming of a leader. Shape up!" Ulrich says in a mildly pissed off tone, although it's obvious to her that his intentions are pure.
"Ulrich, that's a little extreme!" Elena whispers, slightly surprised by his actions.
"Sometimes, extreme measures must be taken. Solaris, shape up or you will be demonstrating behavior ill-fitting the leader of a Special Forces Unit." Ulrich says solemnly.
"L-Let's go. Let's return to the frontlines, clear this game and return to reality." Solaris says coldly, not liking to admit that Ulrich's words were right.
"Solaris...you sure you can handle it?" Elena asks worriedly.
"Definitely, I just needed a little pick-me-up…Thanks by the way. Masaru, you said you wanted to break down the walls between us right?" Solaris says rather optimistically.
"...I suppose so" Masaru says quietly, a little unsure of himself on this one.
Solaris, Elena, and Masaru decide to introduce themselves in order.
"My name is Karen Koizumi. Trust me when I say I will not give up until we return to reality. I will make sure none of you perish." Karen says seriously, looking at them carefully.
"We're revealing our identities, huh…? I somehow suspected something like this would happen one day. My real name is Sylvia; Sylvia Miyagawa." Sylvia says casually.
"Katsuo, Katsuo Viperia. I suppose I should say: Pleased to meet you Karen, Sylvia, but… we've been working together too damn long for that to work." Katsuo says calmly, but laughing at the end.
"I'm exempt from this 'ritual' since I gave my real identity already." Ulrich says nonchalantly.
"Actually, about that, if you'd be okay with it, we really ought to create a sort of new identity for you." Karen says casually.
"Why do I need new identification? I am who I am." Ulrich asks a little stubbornly.
"Think of it as a new slate. I hate to say it, but since you exist in our dimension, you deserve a new identity." Karen says with a small smile.
"...If you think it's necessary, fine, but I'd still prefer my own name on this one." Ulrich says, not wanting to fight this girl, knowing how stubborn she can get.
"Hm, how would you feel about... Toki Inouye?"
"No"
"Eizan Miyahira?"
Ulrich shakes his head on this one, clearing disliking it.
"I'm not good with human names, alright?" Karen states angrily.
"Karen, why don't you try something like… Hikaru Murai?" Sylvia offers, quickly growing tired of this.
"That actually sounds decent, I'd be willing to go with that kind of name." Ulrich says with a small smile.
"Alright, I only called you by name with this unit and a few other people. We could easily manipulate information to make everyone think your real name's Hikaru." Karen says casually.
"...But still, I'd prefer going by my real name around us." Ulrich says with a sigh.
"Fair enough." Katsuo says casually.
"C'mon, let's get out of this dark and depressing place Karen, Ulrich, Katsuo." Sylvia says in an upbeat tone, wanting to get out of this hellhole.
Aincrad Standard Time: [17:30] June 12th 2023
Location: [Floor 36 – Senryaku Residence]
Ulrich, Karen, Sylvia, Katsuo, Amaterasu, and Silica are at Karen's house having a small party to celebrate the success of eliminating Laughing Coffin.
"Finally, at long last, those god damn Laughing Coffin bastards are gone. With their top officers dead, and their leader captured, they will no longer be a threat." Katsuo says happily.
"I, for one, am glad you all are alive. I would've been heartbroken if you all died." Amaterasu says quietly.
"Amaterasu, it's time for you to reveal your name; we need to strengthen our bonds. We've revealed our real names aside from you." Katsuo says casually.
"If you all revealed your names, I need to follow suite. My name's Kana Shimuzu. Silica, do the same"
"My name's Keiko, Keiko Ayano… Pleased to meet you all." Keiko says a little quietly.
"Kana, do you know Keiko in real life?" Sylvia asks curiously, feeling mildly confused at Kana's statement there.
"Keiko's my cousin in real life. Anyway, what are your names?" Kana inquires.
"Sylvia Miyagawa"
"Karen Koizumi"
"I'm taking up the identity of Hikaru Murai while I'm in this world" Sylvia, Karen, and Ulrich state casually, in order.
"Pleased to meet you all, I guess. Hehe." Kana says with a laugh.
"Kana, I just remembered, but I need to thank you for the new supplies." Sylvia says with a bow.
"Don't mention it; I am your unit's supplier, it's my job to keep you guys as well equipped as I possibly can." Kana says with another laugh.
"I'm thankful for that. I have to admit I was a tiny bit desperate when I formed this unit in the beginning, but I am not ashamed of that any longer. Especially with our strong reputation as special forces." Karen says with a small smile.
"Why don't we kick up the ante a little bit?" Katsuo states with a smile, bringing a small crate out of his inventory.
The group glance at it and are all shocked for words
"K-Katsuo, where the hell did you get alcohol?! We're all underage, too!" Karen asks in utter shock, angry at him for so much as considering drinking such beverages.
"I got it through…secret channels, and relax, alcohol has no true effect in this world. I saw it happen first-hand, so there's no problem figuratively." Katsuo states calmly, a small smirk on his face.
"I refuse to partake in this!" Keiko shouts angrily.
"Count me out, I have no desire to test this particular factor. The pain I felt from having my arm chopped off was bad enough! I don't want to risk getting intoxicated" Ulrich states with distaste.
"That'd probably be for the best. Since your body exists here fully, alcohol would affect you adversely." Karen states, wanting to try sparing at least one person if Katsuo begins forcing the issue. It wouldn't be good if he actually started pouring it down their throats.
After about a half hour, Katsuo has convinced them all, aside from Ulrich and Keiko, to give in and live a little.
"Very well, Katsuo… But if anything bad happens, I'm taking it out of your hide!" Karen says with a mild growl.
"Fair enough. Let's get started" Katsuo says calmly.
"Hikaru, Keiko, you may want to leave since Katsuo's forcing the issue here. Save yourselves!" Sylvia says with a frown, urging them to get the hell out of the room.
"Y-Yeah… I'm actually going to meet with Pulse and Mikuya in town." Ulrich says nervously, leaving the house to meet up with the pair, with Keiko in tow as they exit the area as quickly as possible.
Ulrich and Keiko leave the house to find Pulse and Haruka
"That was too close for comfort… I'm fearing the worst for them." Ulrich states in mild dread, fearing the condition Karen and the others will be in soon.
"I can't believe that Katsuo! Let's just wait for them to finish… We can pass some time by talking with Pulse and Haruka. They told me that they'd be on this floor for the night." Keiko growls in anger.
After ten minutes, they find them in the town plaza.
"Evening Ulrich, Silica. I thought you'd be with Solaris and the others celebrating the defeat of Laughing Coffin." Haruka says with a small smile.
"Solaris and Elena urged us to leave. Masaru delved into his…stockpiles" Ulrich mutters nervously.
"Oh yeah… I remember Masaru ordering a small crate of alcohol. I guess he was saving it for an occasion such as this..." Pulse says, scratching his head nervously.
"Mamoru..." Haruka growls angrily, considering how he knew that minors were going to do something like this.
"H-Hey, alcohol has no effect in this world aside from lightheadedness! Sure I should've done something, but this is a virtual world for god's sake, our minds merely mimic the effect." Mamoru says stutteringly, before getting whacked on the head by Haruka. "Ow..." Mamoru says in simulated pain, rubbing his head.
"So you two don't go by the names Pulse and Mikuya?" Ulrich asks, still not really used to the custom of naming MMO characters differently yet.
"No, these were the names we chose for our avatars, they aren't our real names. My real name is Haruka Uchimaya, though my birth name was Haruka Ballard according to the matron of the orphanage I grew up in. I was adopted when I was seven." Mikuya explains.
"I'm sorry to hear that Haruka. What about you?" Ulrich says with mild sadness in his tone before nodding his head to Pulse.
"Mamoru Nakasone. My family has been friends with the Uchimayas since my great great grandfather. I've known Hector and Amelia, Haruka's foster parents, all my life and they entrusted Haruka to me when they died in the first month of Aincrad. I've been a guardian to her ever since. If we survive this, I'm a bit tempted to formally adopt."
"Woah, adoption. You know that's a big decision." Keiko says in mild shock.
"Yep. I'm actually going to be wondering how we'd return to Europe if we do escape this world."
"You're both from Europe? I lived in France." Ulrich says in surprise, finally meeting people native to his relative area of birth, even though Ulrich knows he's not from the Europe they're from.
"Ah. I was born in Poland, while Mamoru was born in Croatia. When I was adopted, I then lived in Germany, with Mamoru being requested there by Hector and Amelia to act as a step-brother to me." Haruka smiles.
"I remember that. You were so withdrawn. She kept hiding behind Amelia whenever I tried talking with her. It took a year and a half before she began talking with me" Mamoru bursts into laughter at the memory.
"Hey… Stop talking about those embarrassing times… I was seven for God's sake!" Haruka exclaims with a heavy pout, looking down in embarrassment.
"Haha, it's one of the few benefits of being a guardian Haruka. We have to share embarrassing secrets with close friends." Mamoru says, laughing repeatedly with a sarcastic tone.
"Bugger off, you made that rule yourself..." Haruka says, still pouting.
Ulrich and Keiko lightly giggle at this, with Ulrich saying "This is actually a little bit funny, hehe."
"Hehe. I should punch you since you find this situation between Mamoru and I funny, but… I'll look the other way this time around." Haruka says, imitating his chuckle before covering her mouth with her right hand, to hide her giggling. Ulrich's remark apparently cheered her up a bit.
"Anyway, I'm going to be using a new name that was given to me by Elena; Hikaru Murai."
"Well, pleased to officially meet you Hikaru-san, haha." Haruka says with a little giggling at the sound of the name, compared to Ulrich.
"Do you want us to call you Hikaru or Ulrich?" Mamoru asks nonchalantly.
"Hikaru. This may seem extreme but in a sense, Ulrich perished in the crusade and Hikaru rose from the ashes, like the immortal phoenix."
"Poetic. Anyway, you left the others with the alcohol, right?" Mamoru continues.
"Mhm…I'm fearing the worst to be honest" Ulrich states in a frank tone, feeling concern for the people he's been working with he left the Forest of Doubt on floor 24.
"Life is such a cruel mistress… Let's go check up on them. We can hardly afford for the Senryaku unit to be outright unconscious from intoxication since we return to duty tomorrow afternoon." Mamoru says with a heavy sigh. "Not to mention the potential hangovers later on."
Ulrich, Keiko, Mamoru, and Haruka walk back to the residence of the Senryaku unit to find Karen, Katsuo, Sylvia, and Kana passed out on the floor.
"Katsuo…you…are…dead..." Karen mumbles angrily, seemingly incoherent.
"Ugh...I feel woozy..." Sylvia mumbles weakly.
"They're in worse shape than I feared… Let's get them to their rooms so they can rest..." Haruka says quietly, glancing at the state of the 'legendary' Senryaku Unit.
Ulrich handles bringing Katsuo to his room, Mamoru helps Sylvia, Keiko helps Kana, and Haruka helps Karen to her room to rest for the night. The group of four meet up in the main living room, sitting down on different chairs in the room, panting softly from the exhaustion of carrying the limp bodies to their rooms.
"Anyway, Keiko, how did your testing go?" Ulrich asks, wanting to know such things of his fellow members.
"Rather well actually. I passed the tests Solaris had set up and… My god was it difficult. No wonder you guys are so exclusive about who you let in."
"We are a special forces unit that gets sent on the most dangerous assignments, we all need to be at our best. Well… ignore this one time..."
"Hehe..." Keiko nervously laughs at this, since the members of the Senryaku Unit save Ulrich were passed out drunk. While this was being discussed, the feathery dragon crawled up Keiko's head and flew onto Ulrich's face. "P-Pina! No! Bad girl!" Keiko says sternly, scolding the dragon and pulling her off Ulrich.
"Hehe… I'm not offended by Pina doing that though her claws did hurt a little." Ulrich says, shaking off the notion with the small admittance.
"I'm sorry. I heard that you can actually get hurt for real so… D-did it leave any lasting injuries?"
"Not particularly, it's like getting scratched by a cat. It certainly hurts for a little while, but it won't last too long. Even if there are any scars, it'll fade within an hour, thanks to the fact injuries fade quickly. My arm actually regenerated within an hour back when I was being tested."
"Hehe… Funny. I actually have a cat in real life named Pina… Real life..." Keiko giggles before recalling real life; life outside Aincrad.
"Keiko, don't worry. We'll all leave Aincrad someday. With all the guilds working together, and them being led by the KoB, DDA, Fuurinkazan, Black Cats, and Silver Valkyrie, we'll definitely make it through. We just need to work very carefully to ensure we minimize the number of deaths we risk." Haruka says in a compassionate tone, wanting to relieve some of Keiko's concerns, with her noticing Keiko falling into mild depression when thinking of reality.
"Heh, you really have changed in the time you spent here, Haruka. You never would've been like this before Aincrad." Mamoru says laughingly, although there is a semi-hidden compliment in his words.
"You shut up!" Haruka retorts, punching him in the gut.
"Urk… I get the message. And damn are you violent..." Mamoru says, falling to his knees from the fact Haruka still wore her heavy ALF armor when she punched him, coughing slightly from the impact.
"Urusai!" Haruka retorts angrily, kicking him this time and speaking in Japanese.
"Ow! What the hell?" He shouts.
"Hehe." Keiko giggles at this development between Haruka and Mamoru.
"Let's go before my desire to kill becomes too strong, and don't forget all the remarks outside" Haruka growls angrily, stalking out of the house.
"I'd better hose her down. See you on the frontlines, Hikaru, Keiko." Mamoru mutters weakly, getting up to chase after Haruka.
"Later, Mamoru." Ulrich says calmly, trying to calm himself down from what just happened between the pair.
Mamoru leaves the guild house leaving Ulrich and Keiko by themselves.
"Keiko, let's go get a room picked out for you. This property has thirty rooms, with ten of them being bedrooms. The rest of them are divided into various other rooms: Kitchen, dining room, and so on. Karen planned to make ten the max of who we allow in, we're a small specialized cell, not like the others. We take in the best of the best."
"Thank you, Hikaru-san. I'm looking forward to working with you and the others on the frontlines."
"Actually, before that, I want to give you some equipment." Ulrich says, opening a trade window with Keiko. He gives her a full set of equipment of various variations: Ivory Dagger, Silverthread Armor, Moon Blazer, Fairy Boots, and Florit Belt.
"A-Are you sure?" Keiko asks in mild surprise.
"Naturally, this equipment is not suited to me, and this equipment will last you a little while. When Kana performs her next outfitting, you'll have access to top tier equipment. I got that stuff from monster drops."
"Arigatou, Hikaru-san!" Keiko says very happily, with her bowing in appreciation.
"Arigatou, that's Japanese for… thank you, right?" Ulrich asks, with him really wishing that Yumi had taught him Japanese since she has ancestral roots there.
"Mhm. I take it you don't know Japanese well." Keiko responds in a calm tone.
"I don't know an ounce of japanese aside from one or two words. Actually, now that I think about it are you speaking English or Japanese?"
"Japanese." Keiko answers automatically.
"So this Aincrad definitely has a translator. I only know English and I can understand and speak with you all with no problems. At least that's a plus." Ulrich responds with a sheepish laugh.
Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00] June 12th 2023
Location: [Floor 36 – Senryaku Residence]
Ulrich walks with Keiko to Bedroom 6 and enter it to find only a single bed in this moderately large room.
"This was not what I was expecting." Keiko responds in a mildly disappointed tone, with her not expecting her future residence among Senryaku to be like this.
"Keiko; Karen and Kana designed this place to allow a great deal of customization. Each bedroom is our private sanctuary, why force all the bedrooms to look alike? This room is yours Keiko. So you get to decide how to furnish it."
"Oh… But I don't have much money… I can't afford to furnish this place..."
"Don't fret. I'll help cover the expense and I'm sure Kana will as well since you're her cousin. Just pay us back when you accumulate enough Col."
"Arigatou, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd actually like to see the others' rooms before going to sleep for the night if possible."
"I doubt they'd mind."
They first enter Karen's room to find many bookshelves packed to the brim and a few workbenches with even more books on them. This light cyan and indigo colored room has a solemn air to it, with Karen working at a workbench in a corner only adding to the tense atmosphere
"Karen, you should be resting!" Ulrich shouts in mild annoyance.
"I have no time to rest. I have so many things I need to do, first of which is solemn apologies to Heathcliff and Nanak. Only twelve out of sixty six people survived the crusade… This is going to make the frontline clearing even tougher to pull off. Now more than ever will people need reassurances that things are fine. Aside from that, now that Keiko is a part of Senryaku, I need to modify my strategies to account for her being part of us now. What combat style do you specialize in Keiko?"
"One handed dagger, Ma'am" Keiko responds a little nervously, thinking that Karen's angry at her.
"Ma'am? That's far too formal, just call me Karen or Solaris. I'm not angry with you either. I'm just… Being a leader really bites at times. If something goes awry, they always blame the one who led the charge. I'm so sick of it at times, but I chose to remain a leader, so I have to be the one who deals with it."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Keiko replies apologetically.
"Hmm… If you don't have anything else to ask me, could you please leave? I have a ton of things to do."
"We'll leave you be, Karen, but don't push yourself. You have a bad tendency of doing that you know." Ulrich says, folding his arms over his chest.
"Sod off, jerk." Karen retorts sarcastically.
"Actually um… That guy back in Laughing Coffin's HQ… Did you know him?" He asks slightly awkwardly.
Karen faces Ulrich and Keiko for the first time and says "It's not something I like to think of anymore, but Viper was one of my friends from real life. His name was Makoto Kazuki. He was one of my only friends before Aincrad. I had three other friends as well, whom are all related: Kazuma Takara, Ophelia Takara, and Airi Takara. Makoto has...had a medical condition called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, which was killing him. He was either eighteen or nineteen… Doesn't matter much to the dead now. The reason I became friends with the Takaras was because of Airi when she was six, whom is eleven now. I was born in Japan all my life, same as Makoto. One day, the two of us noticed Airi was lost from her siblings and parents so we stayed with her until she found them. It took a good three and a half hours for her siblings to find her. While we were trying to find them, we made a lot of small talk between us and became friends. Kazuma and Ophelia assumed we were bad people until Airi, with her childlike innocence, told them we were good people who helped pass time and find them. Normally we would've parted ways there, but we had gotten rather close in the three hours of talking so we kept in contact and became very close friends. Hehe… Their mother actually applied to my parent's company: Koizumi Designs, the week after as an accountant." Karen says quietly, taking breaths here and there while making her speech of how she met and became friends with them.
"Oh… You must have been really hurt when Makoto died…" Ulrich responds in a despondent tone.
"Yeah, but I'm not going to let it bother me. Not right now. I'll mourn his death the next opportunity I get, but I won't make it my top priority - Makoto would hate me if I did." Karen says quietly, going back to work at her workbench.
"If you need help, just let me know Karen. Let's give her some space Keiko." Ulrich mumbles.
"Okay" Keiko agrees.
"This is so strange...why do I feel...happy hearing him say that? I think it's the alcohol talking. I...need more sleep than I thought." Karen thinks to herself.
Ulrich and Keiko leave Karen's room: #1, and head to Katsuo's which is up next. They find it to be rather generic but the atmosphere is friendly yet tense in this crimson red room. Katsuo's asleep in his bed, with Keiko walking toward him quietly.
"This reminds me of when were back on Earth… Mas-Katsuo-san was the quiet type and… He always looked so cute when he slept." Keiko says in a serene tone, slightly blushing after mentioning the last sentence. Though she does giggle at the end at the same time as the blush.
"Katsuo was the quiet type back in reality? Hard to believe from what I've seen of him." Ulrich states in obvious shock, since Katsuo better fits the image of 'fearless warrior', not the withdrawn type to him.
"Katsuo-san lost his parents a few years ago and he went to live with his uncle. He's been in a shell ever since. He only managed to break out of his shell after meeting Karen and the others here in Sword Art Online. He desires to free us all from this death trap. In the beginning, he barely slept and spent all his time protecting people. He even told us that his friendships to us all are the only things keeping him going. If we were lost, he would have no reason to fight any further. He may appear strong but… He's rather frail, emotionally." Keiko responds quietly.
"I never knew that… He always appeared so calm and collected, aside from an occasional temper." Ulrich looks down in thought.
"Despite that, Hikaru-san, Katsuo-san would want you to treat him as you normally do. He hates being coddled, so regard him as a fellow warrior."
"Naturally." Hikaru agrees calmly.
They leave Katsuo's room and walk into Sylvia's gold colored room to find her awake, sitting down at a desk, seemingly writing something.
"Ever heard of knocking?" Sylvia asks angrily, apparently having heard them walk in, getting up and glaring at the pair in her room.
"You should be asleep." Ulrich responds in the same tone.
"Hehe… Touché. Now, do either of you need something?" Sylvia chuckles in a friendly tone, before asking her question.
"I asked Hikaru-san to show me around… Since I'd be staying here after all."
"Oh, sorry if I came off as rude, but seriously, knock next time."
"What were you working on, Sylvia?" Ulrich asks curiously.
"That...That's private!" Sylvia blushes rather heavily upon saying it "There's no way in hell I can let him know that it's a love letter! I need to practice it for when we get back. Sato-kun...I will make it back one day." Sylvia says in her mind, with her thinking of a boy she had a crush on for over two years: Sato Ryusaki. "Oh yeah...Madoka and Tsubasa are out there still… Damn it, Kayaba! I was the one doing work to make rent, food, and everything else. I hope those two are doing okay without me… They're so young, Madoka is three years younger than me, so she's twelve right now, with Tsubasa being ten. I need to get out of here alive and make it back to them! Damn it, Kayaba..." Sylvia shouts in her mind angrily, recalling that her siblings are on the other side, with them having been dependent on her a good deal.
"You okay Sylvia? You've been quiet for a while, you haven't answered any of my questions either." Ulrich asks worriedly.
"Oh… Sorry, I was just um… eto… Hikaru, if I wasn't well…intoxicated by Katsuo's alcohol party, I would've told you all that… I have family back home; younger siblings in fact. I'm concerned for their wellbeing."
"Oh… But what about your parents?" Keiko asks quietly.
"My parents are presumedly deceased. I'm fifteen right now and… My parents were on an ocean liner that crashed into a reef eight years ago. So, after eight years, I have to presume they're dead…"
"Oh… I'm so sorry Sylvia...I didn't want to make you recall bad memories." Keiko whispers with guilt.
"It-it's okay. Look, I'm really busy so...if you don't mind?"
They leave the room rather quickly, not wanting to get on her bad side.
"Was I too hard on them? Hmm...Madoka, Tsubasa… I haven't thought of them since day one but… Kami-sama, please protect them… They're just children, they do not deserve misfortune..."
They enter Room #4 to find the walls multi colored with a rather unorthodox atmosphere to it, despite the furniture being standard to Aincrad, it obviously must be Ulrich's room.
"I'm going to stop here, I need to sleep. Kana's set up in room five. See you tomorrow"
Ulrich goes to his bed to sleep and falls asleep nearly instantly, with Keiko sitting on a chair near his bed.
"Hmm...just like Katsuo-san, Hikaru-san looks so different when he sleeps. He usually carries a noble, yet serious air about him, like a samurai; and when he sleeps, he gives off an innocent aura. Kawaii… Did I just seriously say that?! Calm down Keiko…" Keiko says calmly, before lightly blushing and walking away, wanting to try calming herself down when speaking with her cousin.
She knocks on the door of Room 5: Kana's room and the door opens nearly instantly
"Oh, hey, Keiko. Come in." Kana says in a friendly tone, walking away from the door of her silver colored room.
Keiko walks in, as she received the offer.
"You know Keiko… I'm actually feeling very worried about you being here in Senryaku. While I am always fearful of Katsuo, Sylvia, Karen, and Hikaru out there, you're my cousin and… Having you die would be horrifying to me." Kana states in a concerned tone.
"Daijoubu, I've been training extremely hard before asking to join Senryaku. I… I hated how I was never able to truly contribute to making sure we gained the ability to leave this world. I feel like that if I join, I can truly make a difference to the people here." Keiko whispers innocently.
"I see… Well, I know that things are going to be challenging now that we have six people actively fighting on the frontlines. I'll need to ask one of my guild members to join Senryaku full time as well to aid in maintaining and creating our equipment. Hmm…" Kana says quietly, looking through the list of guild members in Silver Valkyrie to contemplate bringing into Senryaku.
"Um, Kana-chan, do you think you could contemplate Lizbeth-san? She has always been the one helping me before now."
"Lizbeth? I assigned her to the Tenmongaku unit when it was formed, so you were working with that unit Keiko? Wait…wasn't Tenmongaku wiped out on floor 33?" Kana muses calmly before realizing what happened to that unit a while back.
"Mhm… I've been working solo ever since then with Lizbeth-san backing me with equipment."
"Oh, I see. I'll request Lizbeth to join us then." Kana says calmly, sending a PM to Lizbeth "Lizbeth, I'm requesting your presence here in the Senryaku residence on Floor 36. Amaterasu"
After ten minutes pass, Lizbeth walks into the residence, clearly psyched to have been called by the guild leader personally.
"You called for me leader?" Lizbeth asks in a proud tone.
"Lizbeth-san, if I'm right, the unit I assigned you to got wiped out a while ago, right?" Kana asks in a solemn tone, wanting to make sure.
"Yes Ma'am. I've been working as an independent merchant after they got annihilated. Silica-chan was the only survivor of Tenmongaku and I've been providing her with the best equipment I could make in exchange for Col and materials."
"Lizbeth, if you wish, I'd be willing to assign you to Senryaku. Karen, Keiko, Katsuo, Sylvia, and Hikaru will be actively fighting on the frontlines and it'll become too much for me to handle this myself."
"Me? Join Senryaku?" Lizbeth says in mild surprise, with her pondering the idea a bit "Hmm… I'll join!" Lizbeth says with a smile, aiding Senryaku is an extreme honor considering how selective they are and how they're usually always sent first for investigation and floor mapping.
"Glad to hear it. We've recently established a new principle after the crusade. What is your real name Lizbeth?" Kana asks in a serious tone, with her understanding why this new principle could be a morale booster.
"Why do you want to know my real name?" Lizbeth asks a little defensively.
"We all desire to return home one day, and knowing our real identities encourages us to fight even stronger to protect our friends and get them home."
"Hmm… I can accept that. Rika, Rika Shinozaki. May I ask for yours since I did so?" Rika responds calmly.
"Kana Shimuzu. My cousin here is named Keiko Ayano. Masaru's real name is Katsuo Viperia, Elena's name is Sylvia Miyagawa, Solaris' name is Karen Koizumi, and we recently learned of Ulrich's true name, as he was using a cover from us all, his name is actually Hikaru Murai." Kana says, keeping a calm disposition as she introduces her friends.
"Well, I suppose I should say pleased to meet you Kana-senpai, Keiko-chan."
"Ehehe...please don't call me senpai. It's just embarrassing, especially with how we're the same age...right?" Kana responds with an embarrassed blush, with her hoping she's not making things worse at the end.
"Fair enough. So… Is there a place for me to stay here?"
"You can stay in Bedroom 7. It has basic furnishing, but you can furnish it to your heart's content later."
"Arigatou." Rika says, walking to her assigned room.
"You should go get some sleep, Keiko-chan. You have a busy day ahead of you." Kana says serenely, walking to her bed to sleep for the night.
"I probably should. Good night Kana-chan" Keiko says cutely, leaving the room to go to sleep for the night as she contemplates her position as one of the two newest members of the famed Senryaku unit.
