So we've been outnumbered
Raided and now cornered
It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair
We're getting stronger now
Find things they never found
They might be bigger
But we're faster and never scared
You can walk away, say we don't need this
But there's something in your eyes
Says we can beat this

—Taylor Swift, Change

Link to Reality

Chapter X

November 14th

Streets of the small town inside of Scarlet Corridor, named Cresten, were mostly devoid of players. Occasional player that would go through was of either Leprechaun or Spriggan race and they didn't stick around any longer than how long it would take them to get a drink, then continue to wherever they'd headed.

It was early afternoon when Kirito found himself sitting at the top of the only church in town, its purpose only to show the time inside Alfheim. Normally he would have waited for the others in the pub from which they'd logged out, but for some reason he was feeling strangely restless. There was something unnerving about knowing that he was underground and the crimson light reminded him of things he didn't want to think about, such as the system announcement back on the first say in SAO, the battle against the seventy-fifth floor boss, subsequent duel against Heathcliff and the three blood red words that had flashed before his eyes: You are dead.

He didn't understand why he was thinking of it now.

It couldn't be just the light, but at the moment he couldn't think of any other reasons. He didn't know how long he was sitting there before somebody found him.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be doing?!"

Kirito heard the shout coming from somebody far below. At first he didn't even think it was referring to him, but he'd looked anyway. The person standing straight below couldn't be anyone else but Amber, her eyebrows raised questionably and arms resting on her hips. For some reason, she seemed to be annoyed at him.

Kirito raised his hand in greeting. "Oh, hey. When did you log in?"

"Shouldn't I be asking the same question?" she yelled. "Get down here! How did you even climb up there?! You can't use your wings here!"

"I jumped," Kirito explained.

Amber's eyes were wide and she seemed to be on the edge of shouting at him again, but for some reason she decided against it.

"You're crazy," she decided on. "Just get down here."

With nothing but a nod to agree, Kirito jumped down and in amusement watched the look on Amber's face change from panic to amazement and then finally annoyance, until she looked away from him and uttered, "Show off."

She opened her HUD and spent several seconds typing a quick message, then spoke once again, "We just heard from Todoh. He should be here soon, but he wasn't exactly precise."

"Ah, thanks for coming to tell me that," Kirito said, his tone grateful.

"What were you doing up there?" she asked as they started walking.

"Just thinking," he replied vaguely. "When did you log in?"

"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes ago. Ichigo was getting frustrated because you weren't at the pub so I offered to look around. I never thought I'd find you up there."

"I see. Sorry for troubling you."

"It's fine," Amber said. "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Eh? What about?" Kirito asked in surprise.

"Your abnormal abilities, obviously," Amber snorted. "Well, never mind that now. I'm sure I'll get to see them again so I'll keep my questions to myself for now. It's not like anything you say can help me improve much. Still, I'm curious. Just how long have you been playing?"

"Not long, really. I played other MMOs so most of my experience comes from that, too," Kirito admitted.

"I suppose that makes sense," she sighed.

She stopped walking and narrowed her eyes at something ahead. When she spoke, her voice was laced with surprise and doubt. "Is that…? Impossible!"

Kirito wanted to ask what she meant, but before he could she broke into a run. He looked ahead to where she'd been looking and his own eyes opened wide.

A dragon clad in metal armor had landed just in front of the entrance to the pub where they'd been heading. There was a saddle at the part where its neck connected to the rest of the body, indicating that it was not a monster to be killed but a tamed beast. However, there was currently nobody seated there.

Surrounding it were Ichigo and the rest of the Flaming Wolves, along with two other people, one of which Kirito recognized and the other who didn't.

Without thinking, Kirito broke into a run as well. He caught up with Amber shortly before she rejoined the others.

Most of the Flaming Wolves stood there with their faces each a showing a different kind of surprise as their final member, the Gnome Todoh, walked towards them with a grin that suggested he was both embarrassed and amazed. Behind him was a short blond Cait Sith girl with a pair of eyes that seemed to be absorbing every detail around her, completely oblivious to four people looking at her with shock while she went back to pat her dragon on one of its hind legs. It had to be her dragon, as only the Cait Siths had the Beast Tamer abilities and Kirito thought he'd be aware if Sang had a dragon for a pet.

"No wonder you got here so fast."

Icihgo's voice was something in-between astonished, sarcastic and utterly amazed.

Todoh laughed awkwardly. "About that, we should get going immediately."

"You're joking, right?" Sang asked incredulously. "You show up on a freakin' flying dragon sitting behind freakin' Alicia Rue and you expect us to just take it and 'get going immediately'?"

"Oh, so you know me," the Cait Sith girl asked with a grin, looking over at Sang curiously.

"I voted for you on the elections past month," he explained. "And then your predecessor proclaimed me a renegade."

"Ouch. That must've felt like a punch in the gut."

Sang shrugged, having significantly calmed down by now. "Not really. I was expecting something of the sort. Two days before that I called him a brainless jerk for pushing half his guild against our guild. I think you know how that ended."

Alicia Rue laughed heartedly. "I heard. I actually felt sorry about him for a moment. Just a moment, though."

"Anyway," Todoh cut in before the two of them could continue, "we have a problem."

"Well start talking," Ichigo ordered as she seemingly came to accept the bizarre situation.

"Eugene gathered some of his best men and is coming after us," Todoh replied. Alicia… well, I'm not sure what she'd done as she won't tell me, but he wants to take her head personally and he doesn't care what he has to go through to get it."

"That brute personally killed most of my escort," Alicia wailed. "And I didn't even do anything that scary."

"So what? You're playing chase with him?" Gill asked in disbelief.

"I'm stalling," the Cait Sith girl corrected him. "I'm heading to Sylvain, but for that I first have to break through the ring surrounding Arun. And that's exactly why I befriended your friend here," she gestured at Todoh with a teasing smile. Todoh looked away from his guild members as if that was going to save him from the upcoming lecture.

Much to his relief, Sang was the first to speak up.

"She hired you for protection?"

He grimaced, then explained, "More like dragged me in against my will, but at least I got a speedy transportation. Still, the Salamanders are coming after me too, now, so we need to move. They know what guild I'm in."

Ichigo palmed her face in frustration. "Just a few days after we beat them up, too… I was hoping they'd leave us alone."

"That's part of why they're coming with all they've got. They think Alicia is under our protection."

"Which she isn't," Amber was quick to point out.

"I wasn't counting on that, if that's what you're worried about," Alicia articulated, but then also added honestly, "But it would be of much help if you helped me distract them. Or just face them head on. Or… well, you don't have do anything if you don't like. It's your call."

Her brown eyes clashed with Ichigo's purple and the latter girl nodded.

"We'll have to face them sooner or later, so fine. We get out of the corridor and set an ambush. Kirito and I go against them head on. Todoh is with Alicia, Gill and Sang are looking after Amber, who's the backup healer."

"That won't work," Todoh was quick to object. "Eugene is going directly after Alicia and neither of us can currently stand up to him. Also, they have several mages so we need somebody who can take care of that. So Ichigo should be with Alicia against Eugene, Sang is taking care of the mages, Gill is guarding Amber and Kirito and I are going head on against the rest of them."

"You can come up with a plan later. They were on our tail when we entered the corridor, so they can't be far behind now and my little pet needs his rest," Alicia reminded them.

"Let's go," Ichigo commanded, but she didn't look pleased at all. She looked over to the Cait Sith girl and said in a dangerous voice, "You owe me for this, Alicia."

"Whatever you want, sweetie. Except for information, of course."

Ichigo rolled her eyes at that, but gestured at the others to follow. Kirito had been expecting some sort of objection from either Amber or Gill as they seemed to be the most uncomfortable with the plan, but neither of them said anything. The seven of them sprinted through the town and towards where the continuation of the corridor that was supposed to take them through the ring and to Arun.

While running, Kirito approached Alicia and asked something that had been bugging him for the past few minutes.

"If we leave now, doesn't that put your dragon in danger?"

She frowned at that, then answered firmly, "He won't dare. He better not."

"What did you do to upset him, anyway?" Amber asked. "I heard he's got a bad temper, but this is too much."

"Nothing that warrants a hunt for my head, I assure you," Alicia said with a grimace.

"Certainly doesn't seem that way to me," Amber muttered, but then she appeared to think of something. "Oh, Ichigo, I know this might be a bad time, but I have an idea how we can conquer the World Tree! Remind me to tell you later."

"You can tell me about it after we get out of this alive!" Ichigo snapped.

"IF we get out of this alive," Sang corrected. "I heard Eugene's pretty damn scary!"

"And he's got about twenty soldiers with him," Todoh supplied.

"Twenty?!"

"We dispatched about fifteen of them, so yeah, twenty should be it," Alicia confirmed.

"Just what the hell did you do?" Ichigo screamed at her.

"Nothing!" she replied with a pout. "At least I didn't think it was going to piss him off this much."

"Better not tell me at all," Ichigo decided. "This way I can at least hope it wasn't something utterly dreadful."

"Suit yourself."

They reached the exit in a matter of minutes, the corridor opening into a wide clearing covered in grass. Straight ahead lay the World Tree, appearing greater and larger than ever.

Sometime during the run, Kirito received a message from Asuna saying she'd reached Arun, but at this rate, he wasn't sure how long it might take him. His reply was short and to the point: «About to fight Salamanders. At least another two hours before I can get there.» Then he dismissed it and looked towards Todoh who tried coming up with some kind of a plan, but he continued complaining there was nothing to cover them anywhere close.

"So what do we do?" Amber asked. "Seven of us against twenty of them is suicide. We might be good, and I mean very good, but Eugene is one of the legends."

"Todoh, do you think there's any chance you can handle a head on attack by yourself?" Ichigo asked while frowning in thought. "I don't know how well I can fare against Eugene, but if Kirito works with me it might actually work. He's the priority number one we have to take care of."

"But, Ichigo—"

"I know what I'm saying," she determined. "Kirito is good enough—"

"The mages are the problem," Todoh insisted. "Taking care of Eugene is the priority, but there are three mages present and they'll be covering him. Kirito is good, I've seen it, so he has to go head on to keep the others busy. That way Sang gets an opening to go against the mages and you should be able to handle Eugene for a short while."

"I won't have anyone dying today and what you're suggesting is basically killing Sang!" Ichigo snapped.

"That's what I'm here for," Amber interjected. "I agree with Todoh's plan. But I don't think we have much time."

"We wasted too long on arguing," Ichigo said, then cursed. She materialized her weapon and turned to the corridor. They couldn't see anyone yet, but the noise that reached them was the clear sound of many people running.

"Crap, no time to get in positions," Todoh groaned. "Forget it! Gill, you and I have to keep them away from Amber. The others do whatever the hell you can!"

Kirito too had his weapon drawn and when Todoh shouted that, he relaxed. Going along with team plans was something he'd learned how to do during all the battles against the floor bosses in Aincrad, but fighting came much easier to him when he had a clean slate to do what came easiest in a particular moment.

"How did they catch up that fast?" Amber asked, but nobody bothered with responding.

Kirito settled into a stance from which he'd have the best mobility while they waited for the Salamanders to exit the corridor.

They didn't wait long.

"Charge!"

The order came from a tall Salamander at the front who had his sword directed straight at Alicia, as if he'd instinctively knows where she was. It was the kind of sword that attracted attention simply by existing and Kirito didn't need anyone to tell him that that guy was strong.

He had to hand it Alicia, however. The Cait Sith girl didn't look the least bit angry or terrified, just exasperated, as if the army general trying to kill her was simply overreacting over a minor misunderstanding. Somehow, Kirito didn't think that was the case.

The Salamanders that charged at them ahead of Eugene found their advance stopped by Todoh's timely appearance. Although he had dismissed the initial plan and basically told them to improvise, Kirito thought it was a good idea so he joined him at the front almost immediately.

Todoh's sword clashed against the Salamander's so hard that it produced sparks. Kirito, on the other hand didn't want to waste time on pointless sword-clashing.

The sword of the Salamander he singled out for that moment was a one-handed sword, very similar in design to the Anneal Blade he'd used back on the first floors in Aincrad. It was a fine sword, Kirito knew, and it had served him well, but there was one major weak point about it, one that he knew all too well. And this sword seemed to have the exact same flaw in design.

When Kirito's sword connected, the Salamander's blade got cleanly sliced in two, but it didn't end there. Kirito's outward swing continued until it got the Salamander straight on the chest armor and broke through it, taking about a quarter of his HP.

It wasn't enough to even destroy the armor, let alone defeat the Salamander, but Kirito didn't let that affect his judgment. He'd been expecting it. Using the man's current defenselessness to slash at any place that armor didn't cover assured his victory in a fairly short time and the man was swallowed up by bright red flames.

Kirito moved onto the next one without waiting for the flames to disappear. It didn't affect him, but it caused him to lose sight of Sang after the Cait Sith cleanly sliced one of the mages' necks with a dagger before another one tried to get him with a fireball.

Kirito didn't see whether the fireball connected, but he saw Sang retreating back to let Gill handle the mage and allow Amber to act.

Two down and not even two minutes passed. That was good.

Kirito's second opponent was even easier to dispatch than the first, mostly because he hadn't been expecting an attack from behind, let along from Kirito. For them, he was an unknown quantity among the Flaming Wolves and most the Salamanders instead focused on taking care of the more famous members, such as Gill and Ichigo.

That was their mistake. Kirito didn't mind exploiting it in the least.

It was after he had taken out the third Salamander that he noticed Ichigo's HP was a point away from dropping in the red zone. That stopped him for long enough that a magic attack almost got him on the shoulder, but he noticed it at the last second and evaded losing anything more than several of his Hit Points; not even one percent.

He left the mage for Sang to handle, preferring to head over and see what had Ichigo beat that hard. Several Salamanders got in his way, but their continued blocking their strikes as the sounds of battle echoed through the clearing.

All while fighting he kept his eyes on the battle going on between Ichigo and Eugene, but what he saw was something he didn't think was possible at first. After a long swing, Eugene's sword simply passed right through Ichigo's as if the blade wasn't even there. Ichigo was expecting it, obviously, and she retreated almost immediately as it happened, but the swing still managed to catch her upper arm and take away another five percent of her HP.

"KIRITO!"

At the call coming from behind , his head snapped to the other side where Amber had her hands full trying to defend against a Salamander with a single dagger and her HP was dropping slowly, but certainly. And behind the Salamander was a yellow Remain Light that could belong to nobody else but Sang.

Kirito didn't stop to think about what might have happened. Instead, he charged at the Salamander with a loud cry. His speed had to be at the upper limit of what the system allowed as the Salamander didn't have the time to do anything but glance towards Kirito as his sword sliced through the Salamander's waist.

Kirito pulled to a stop several meters later, unable to stop the momentum right away. He turned to look at the red flames swallowing up their opponent.

"Thanks," Amber breathed, then proceeded to chant the words of the revival magic with her hand pointed towards the tiny Remain Light.

He nodded then looked back towards Ichigo. He couldn't see well as she was standing further away, but her HP was red now and it was only thanks to Alicia's interference that Eugene's last attack didn't get her.

Todoh was trying to fight off three Salamanders at once in order to protect Amber who'd only just succeeded in reviving Sang, but two of them broke through anyway.

I don't have the time for this!

Kirito moved before they could have noticed him. He intercepted an attack that nearly caught Amber on the back then proceeded to attack with as much vigor as he could. His sword swings were parried at the cost of his opponent's HP, but it was taking away the precious time; the time Ichigo did not have.

Gill was having his hands full and Todoh had enough trouble trying to keep the Salamanders from attacking Amber and disoriented Sang, leaving only Alicia capable of aiding Ichigo – or was it the opposite way.

If Ichigo fell, there would be nothing to stop Eugene from getting to Alicia. As much as her interference helped Ichigo hang on for longer, Alicia on her own stood no chance against Eugene. Something reminded Kirito that it didn't matter, they wouldn't be harmed for real, nothing was going to happen even if they lost.

He ignored it.

Slicing through the Salamander who'd attempted getting Amber from behind, he signaled to Todoh that he was going. The Gnome didn't get a chance to respond, but nothing he could have said would have changed Kirito's mind about what he was going to do.

"Ichigo! Switch!" he screamed.

He wasn't sure if she understood what he meant with that, but she must have, as she took the moment that Eugene's attention was on Kirito to retreat.

Despite Kirito's hopes, Eugene's reflexes were quick enough to counter his attack.

"Alicia, get her to Amber!" he yelled when he realized how much of Ichigo's HP had really gone down. The Cait Sith nodded and grabbed the Imp girl before she could protest, choosing to attack the weaker members of Eugene's army while she fought her way towards the Leprechaun girl.

Only then did Kirito allow himself to focus on Eugene and attempt to think of a way to fight him.

"What did she bribe you with?" the Salamander General demanded as he actually managed to push Kirito back.

That question was the last thing Kirito was expecting to hear. "Um… I don't know," he replied honestly as he regained balance and charged again. "It had to have been something good for Ichigo to agree."

"I figured as much," Eugene snarled. "So are you going to move out of my way or will I have to cut you down as well?"

"… I'd prefer it if we didn't have to fight at all," Kirito said honestly.

"Tough luck, brat!"

Parrying Kirito's attack seemed to have taken little of Eugene's HP. It enraged him enough for the Salamander to put even more force in pushing Kirito backwards and, unfortunately, it succeeded.

Kirito was blasted high in the air, but his wings stopped him from flying off too far. Eugene then jumped in the air as well with an attack Kirito didn't have choice but to parry. That's when it happened.

The attack should have been stopped by Kirito's sword, but instead Eugene's passed right through it. Not sliced, not damaged at all. It just passed as if Kirito's sword wasn't even present and left a deep red trail on Kirito's chest, severely depleting his HP.

Impossible! How did he—

But then Kirito noticed something else. Eugene hadn't used his wings. None of the Salamanders had.

He propelled higher in the air, out of reach and surveyed the situation for a moment. Then he shouted, "Hey, Eugene!"

It was enough to draw the Salamander's attention to him rather than attack Alicia again.

"I'm sure you can see it too, now. You're outnumbered. That guy Alicia is fighting is going to lose; he's in red and she's far better than him anyway. Once he loses, it'll be seven against six with us outnumbering you. The others are fighting at the stalemate, but the only way you can win is if you personally kill all of us and by the time you might be able to do it, your whole unit will be wiped. Is killing Alicia that much worth it?"

The last sentence was obviously the clinch. Eugene looked furious, but as he took a good look he realized that everything Kirito told him right now was the truth. Decision rested on his shoulders and his shoulders only.

Kirito looked at him expectantly.

"Che," he spat at the side, then yelled, "FALL BACK!"

The Salamanders followed the command and pulled back, but not one of them lowered their weapons. The Flaming Wolves were surprised at their actions, but none of them put down their guards.

Eugene leveled Kirito with a glare, but Kirito didn't even blink, let alone flinch.

"We'll settle this another time," Eugene determined with fire in his eyes.

He then turned to look at Alicia and said, "The next time I see you, you're dead."

She was utterly unaffected by that threat. "Do you always have to overreact so much?"

His glare intensified, but then he turned his back on them and gestured his army to follow as he walked back towards the Crimson Corridor. As soon as the last one of them was gone, so was the tension in the air.

"Well, that went well," Kirito commented as he landed, then sheathed his sword.

"You're insane," Ichigo said while shaking her head. "I thought you were trying to commit suicide by fighting that guy. But that… I wasn't expecting that."

"Don't be silly, I saw what his sword could do," Kirito told her. "I would've lost if I fought him any longer. It was either me delaying him until all the other Salamanders were gone so that we could team up on him, or getting him to retreat. I'm just glad he happened to share my opinion and chose the latter."

"It ain't gonna be that easy the next time he sees you," Sang sighed. "He had you singled out. "

"What do you mean?"

Icihgo gave him a serious look. "The next time he sees you, you're dead. That's what he means. And it goes for both you and Alicia. And me, unfortunately."

Kirito looked towards the Cait Sith girl who only shrugged in response.

"I'll try to get that brute off your necks," she offered. "I have to get going anyway. My contacts are waiting for me at Sylvain and my little pet should have recovered enough by now. Make sure to send me an IM in which you define exactly what you want."

She winked at Ichigo, then walked over to Todoh and lightly clapped him on the elbow as his shoulder was far out of her reach. "It was a fun trip. Make sure to drop by Freelia sometime."

"If you promise you won't have Eugene chasing after us when I visit," Todoh agreed.

Alicia chuckled lightly. "Consider that in progress. I have to get over the phase where he can look at me without trying to kill me, after all."

"Better than nothing, I suppose."

"I'll remove you from the renegade list as soon as I get back to Freelia," she informed Sang.

"No need, I'm having just as much fun as I did back then, so it's fine," he replied.

"Not fine. I can't have somebody who voted for me on the black list," she countered, then turned to all of them. "Thanks, the lot of you. Don't hesitate to call if Eugene goes after you, or if you need help with anything else, really. I owe you for what you've done."

"Like hell you do," Ichigo bristled. "Be sure I'll be taking you up on that."

Alicia didn't seem to mind the anger in Ichigo's voice as she whistled loudly. It took several minutes, but her metal-clad dragon then showed up and she materialized her wings for long enough to fly into the seat on his neck. Then with a wave, she departed.

The total of six members of the Flaming Wolves guild stood still at the clearing until she disappeared in the distance, then Ichigo leveled Kirito with a glare.

"And by the way, thanks for that," she told him sarcastically. "The strongest player in Alfheim now has it out for my guild. It would be fine if it were just me, but now it's you who's screwed as well."

"Doesn't that mean that I just have to watch out not to let Eugene see me?" Kirito asked calmly. "I think I told you, but I'm not planning on staying for too long once I reach Arun."

"Define the 'not staying for too long' part, please," she hissed.

Kirito scratched the back of his neck and raised a hand in defense. "I… I'll let you know when I get some kind of a clue."

"Well, you're not leaving until you've helped us conquer the World Tree," Amber informed him unexpectedly. "It'll take all of us if we want my plan to work."

"And what, if I dare ask, is your brilliant plan?" Ichigo asked, voice laced with frustration that should have been directed at Kirito, rather than Amber, but the Leprechaun girl didn't seem to care as she started smiling confidently.

"It's pretty simple, actually," she said. "We just fly up there."

"And the flight limit?" Gill asked. "What do you intend to do about that?"

Amber's smile only got more confident as seconds ticked away. The plan she explained then was indeed a very simple one. Kirito thought it to be pretty ingenious, too.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was completely against it. Her voice was incredulous and absolutely dejected. "Are you crazy? That will never work. Something so… so…" she seemed to be at a lack of any fitting enough word to describe it.

"Creative?" Sang supplied instead. "Because Amber's plan is the funniest thing I've heard so far that is actually good."

"No! It's stupid!" Ichigo argued.

"I say we try, it's not like there's anything we can lose," Todoh said.

"No! Are you all crazy?! It's—"

"I actually think it's pretty ingenious," Kirito said, stopping any argument Ichigo was about to dish out. "It's strange, I'll give her that, but it's not something your everyday player would come up with. Even if it doesn't get us at the top, it should get us high enough to see what's waiting for us up there, no?"

"I thought at least you had some common sense," Ichigo thundered, then shook her head as though she had finally given up entirely. "Dear god, I'm surrounded by lunatics."

"Well, you don't have to be mean about it," Amber sighed. "Just… consider it. There's still time and it's probably once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something utterly stupid with nothing bad happening afterwards."

"They could ban us for cheating," Todoh supplied, but Amber dismissed it with a hand-wave.

"No, as we're not cheating. Nothing in the rulebook said that we had to fight our way up. Even if they did, nothing stops up from creating new accounts."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure—"

"Enough!" Ichigo exclaimed. "We're not doing that, over!"

"If you insist," Amber grumbled under her breath, then looked at Kirito with an exasperated sigh. "At least somebody likes that idea."

"I'll help you out if you'd like," Kirito offered.

She smiled in appreciation. "That would be great. Thanks."

Kirito simply nodded. It was a pretty good idea and it would be too bad for it to go to waste. Not to mention that perhaps, somewhere at the top of the World Tree, lay the answers to all of his questions. To get to that, he was prepared to do many things. Supporting Amber's idea was the least he could do.

For the two hours that Asuna had spent in Arun by now, her impression of the town could be summed up in a singe word: calm.

Unlike the Undine hometown, nobody seemed to be in a hurry, nobody came and went within minutes and those who did show up out of nowhere tended to stick around for a while. Unlike Everglade, whose lights allowed not a single person look at them directly, it had a much more tamed shine to it and the players were not predominantly Undines, rather there were players of all races everywhere and were actually being civil to each other.

Every time Asuna would spot a Spriggan, defined by the dark colors they wore, she'd start getting more impatient. She could understand Kirito, in a way. If he was to get involved into a PvP conflict or any conflict in general, she knew there was no way he would back out. It wasn't that she would ask something like that from him, either. That was not to say that the waiting wasn't driving her crazy.

"I say, let's go find a café or some other nice place and I'll buy you a drink while we're waiting," Tramp offered.

"And I say that I'd like to look around a bit more," Asuna replied snappily.

"Ouch. Yes, boss," Tramp replied jokingly, but Asuna could only sigh. He'd taken to calling her that way shortly before he'd logged out the night before and Asuna wasn't sure yet if he was thinking it seriously or just doing it to mock her. Probably both.

"I wonder how this place looks at night," Ame said while gesturing at the town plaza that lay a bit further ahead. It was a round space with a single fountain at the center and several benches surrounding it, which were in turn surrounded by several mini-gardens filled with blooming flowers. Players there mostly appeared to be female alongside many NPC couples.

"An hour or so at most and you'll get to see it for yourself," Tramp laughed and dismissed it quickly, turning to Asuna. "So, how much longer we wait?"

Asuna pouted at the question, having heard it about six times already since they'd arrived. She could understand they were also getting impatient, but Tramp could try becoming a bit more tactful and less obvious about it.

"He'll be here shortly," she said, then opened the map to confirm it to herself.

Her face relaxed slightly when she noticed that his dot was on the map shown to be just a bit further away from the East gates of Arun. Not a minute later, she received a message from Kirito that said they were close.

"This way," she said, then spread her wings and launched in the air.

Flying would save her from wasting too much time on navigating through the streets of Arun and since she was high up in the air, she might even be able to spot him before he notices her, those were the thoughts that had her rushing towards the gates at the top speed.

Ame and Tramp took some time to catch up with her, but nevertheless they were right beside her when Asuna landed right outside the East gates and stopped right in front of one of the large pillars. In the distance, she thought she could see several blurry shapes approaching, but it was hard to say anything yet.

"So they're coming?" Ame asked while looking off in the distance as well.

Asuna gave a short nod. She knew that Kirito was supposed to arrive with another five players and the group that caught her eyes several moments later seemed to number exactly six members. The more they approached the city, the more she could tell about them.

There indeed were six players, but they also seemed to be planning to land too early. The Cait Sith boy was the only one not flying in a straight line, preferring to spin under, above and generally get in the ways of the Imp girl and a tall Gnome player. Beside them was a Leprechaun boy seemingly amused at observing that, occasionally throwing in a comment of his own. Flying beside the Imp girl was a Leprechaun girl engaged in a heated discussion with a Spriggan boy who seemed to be getting more exasperated the longer she talked.

Asuna's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't see him well, but it had to be him.

Then the Imp girl flew straight towards the ground and group of five players abruptly changed direction in order to keep up with her. They landed fifty, perhaps sixty meters away from the East gates and Asuna's group.

Asuna took several steps ahead and was surprised to find Ame standing on her left and Tramp on her right. She smiled at them, and quietly said, "Thank you. For everything."

"Don't be silly, we've enjoyed this just as much," Ame chuckled in response.

Then the three of them looked ahead at the approaching guild.

They walked in equal speed, steps as though carefully measured so that not one of them would go far ahead of the others. They walked with strange air surrounding them and confidence as if the world was theirs to conquer.

The Gnome and the Imp girl walked in the middle to make sure that the leadership was in their hands. Beside the Gnome was the Cait Sith boy, looking tiny compared to the tall player at his side and he seemed to be the most excited out of all. Next to him was the Leprechaun, looking from one side to the other in curiosity. The Imp girl had her eyes meet with Asuna's for a moment, as though to question what the three of them were doing in their way, but Asuna dismissed it in order to look at the Spriggan walking on her left.

It was Kirito. It had to be.

The dark hair that stood in natural spikes wasn't his, neither was the skin of a darker shade, and especially not the pair of large eyes that gave off an impression as if he was trying to think of a way to prank somebody. What gave him out, even Asuna wasn't sure, but it had to have something to do with the way he seemed to forget that he was supposed to be talking to the Leprechaun girl walking beside him as soon as he noticed Asuna.

He abruptly stopped walking and as a result of that, the rest of the group stopped as well. They regarded the three Undines with interest and confusion and the Leprechaun boy turned to ask something, but the Imp silenced him with a hand gesture.

They were standing perhaps ten meters away now and each of the groups regarded the other. Only Kirito stepped out and continued walking towards them with both his eyes open wide.

He recognized her, Asuna was sure of it. Not the very first moment he saw her and he still looked a bit uncertain, but he recognized her.

So Asuna took several steps forward as well while battling the urge inside of her to run.

He stopped walking suddenly, reaching out with his hand, fingers lingering millimeters away from her shoulder.

She smiled softly as a single tear slid down her face.

A moment later she was pulled in a kiss that she'd been waiting for and she threw her arms around his neck without regard to anything else. She could hear gasps of surprise coming from everywhere around them, but at this point she didn't care.

They separated a few moments later and Kirito's forehead slid down on her shoulder. He seemed to be muttering something she didn't understand, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and even if she couldn't see his face at all, Asuna knew that he was crying, or at least very close to it. She could tell by the way his shoulders wouldn't stop twitching and the way he simply didn't want to let to go no matter how much time passed.

"Wait, so you're trying to say we went all this way for a girl?!" somebody – the Leprechaun boy – said incredulously. She faintly noticed Ame marching to him and elbowing him in the gut, but none of that felt important anymore.

"I'm sorry, Asuna. I'm so sorry. I failed. I failed to take you home…"

The words were so quiet that Asuna almost felt as if she'd been imagining them, but she understood. It was meant for her ears only and even if not, she doubted he would have been able to say it any louder.

"Stop that, there was no way we could have expected any of this," she whispered with yet another tear sliding down her cheek. "We're alive. We're fine. That's what matters."

"Still, I—"

"None of this was your fault, so stop being so hard on yourself," she whispered. "You… you've been letting that bother you since the beginning, no? Stop doing that. I'm fine. We're both fine."

He nodded, but didn't let go of her.

"How am I supposed to challenge him to a duel now?" she heard Tramp complaining somewhere behind them and Ame's timely reply of, "You won't." But none of that felt relevant anymore.

Then Kirito let go of her and looked straight in her eyes, his own filled with resolve and determination as he wiped away the last traces of tears.

That, Asuna assumed, was the biggest advantage of the virtual world. Because as much as you cried, as many tears you spilled over one thing or another, once you stopped, there was nothing to prove it ever happened.

"We'll end this," he said in absolutely convinced voice. "Once and for all, we'll end this. I promise."

Asuna nodded with a smile. "I promise, too. We'll find a way out. Together."

Then she glanced backwards, only just remembering that the two of them weren't really alone. It took her several seconds before she could actually come up with a proper kind of response to her befuddled friends, but there was nothing she could say other than a "Sorry", along with a sheepish and a bit embarrassed grin.

Then she gestured towards them and told Kirito "These are Ame-chan and Tramp. My trip to Arun would have been much less interesting without them."

Kirito glanced at both of them in curiosity, to which Ame responded with a greeting and a tiny wave and Tramp snorted, but nodded as a way of acknowledgment. They still looked a bit overwhelmed and that was just as much as Asuna could say about the group that had accompanied Kirito. They all seemed to be on the edge of asking various questions, the only thing stopping them being the fact that they didn't know from where to begin.

Asuna looked at Kirito expectantly, to which he only blinked several times until she sent a rather unsubtle look towards the five players behind him.

Kirito's mouth opened in surprise, then the look on his face turned goofy, which Asuna found looked strangely natural on his current face. "O… oh. Right. Sorry," he quickly said. "These are—"

"We can introduce ourselves," the Imp girl interrupted him in annoyance. Then she stepped over to Asuna and Kirito automatically moved out of her way, making Asuna wonder who she was.

She held out her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Ichigo, leader of the Flaming Wolves."

Asuna nodded and accepted the hand with a reserved smile. "My name is Asuna. Thank you for watching out for Kirito-kun. I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten far without somebody watching his back."

"H-hey, Asuna—"

"More like he watched ours in this particular case," the Leprechaun girl laughed and Kirito gave her a grateful look. "I'm Amber," she introduced herself.

"It's pleasure to meet you."

"So is this it?" Ichigo asked, looking over at Kirito with a strange look in her eyes, one that he unconsciously flinched away from.

"Eh?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't be fair if you tried to bail out now. It was only thanks to you we even got Ichigo to agree to my idea. There's no way you're getting away," Amber told him matter-of-factly.

"What? No! I'm not bailing out!" Kirito protested, automatically raising his hands in defense. "I said I'd help, it means I'll help you. I wouldn't go over my word like that."

"Good for you. She'd slice you in pieces if you did it," the Leprechaun boy informed him with a nod.

Kirito scratched the back of his head, but then he finally noticed the look Asuna was sending in his direction. Immediately, he seemed to sober up.

"I promised I'd help help Amber with her plan," he explained. "She has an idea about conquering the World Tree that might just work."

Asuna wanted to ask if that would be a waste of time, but then she noticed the look in his eyes. It surprised her at first, to see so much fire and determination present, but then she caught on to his idea. The top of the World Tree… the only place where they might be able to get any answers as to what their purpose in Alfheim was.

She nodded firmly and announced, "Well, you can count on me, too."

She then remembered the things she'd been discussing with her friends and turned to Ame and Tramp quickly. "I know I can't ask that of you, but—"

"Oh, we're so going to participate," Ame cut her off. "I wouldn't miss it for life."

Tramp nodded in agreement, too. "As much as I hate to agree with Ame of all people, she's got a point. Besides, you still owe me, no?"

With a reassured smile on her face, Asuna nodded and turned to face the two girls of the Flaming Wolves guild. "So will you accept our help?"

For a brief moment, Ichigo looked startled at the question. She hesitated before turning to Amber with a look that could almost be deemed as panicked. Then she cleared her throat and said, "You answer that!"

The Leprechaun girl flinched at the sudden command. She looked from Ichigo to Kirito helplessly, then the rest of the guild members before turning back to Asuna.

"The more the merrier, I suppose," she decided with a nervous smile.