One day later

Floor One

Army Headquarters

"Yesterday's defeat does not mean the end of the Army! We will come back, stronger, greater! We won't back down from this loss!" Words from Kibaou echoed throughout the halls. "We won't let any of the other guilds take any of the glory; we will clear this game for everyone, without those damn Beaters help!"

Little to his knowledge, there was more than just his soldiers in the hall. There were some people that want to spread fear and chaos. With grim smiles on their faces, their plan was set to motion. Any moment now, Kibaou would be attacked. When he was, his time would end, and the Army would be no more. Just a few more seconds and the chaos starts. PoH had begun the countdown with five seconds. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Screams had begun.

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Somewhere in The Town of Beginnings

"Hey, check this out, the Army is retreating from the front lines." A shocked voice from somewhere in the street said.

"Really? How bad was their defeat last night?" Another shocked voice.

"I heard 2/3 of them died in the fight. If it wasn't for the Beaters, the whole party wouldn't be alive today."

"Beaters saved them? That can't be true, they only care for themselves don't they?"

"That's what I heard too. The information about them must be wrong."

"We shouldn't be talking about them out in the open, They might hear us."

The two figures quickly walked down the street and into a hotel room so they can continue talking in private.

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Floor 24

Santa Rosa HQ

I woke up early, not really remembering what happened yesterday. It hit me that Alice and I were now a couple. Out of nowhere, I hear a knock on my door. "Come in." Alice's figure was in the doorway. My face becoming red as she walks in. "So, uh, about yesterday, that happened right?" She nodded. "I see. So what do we do now?" She shrugged. "I see. I guess we continue how we were before, except now we're a couple." She nodded again. "Well, right now, let's just get breakfast ready." She nodded yet again.

We both head out of the room, just as Dino got out of his room. His jaw dropped. "You two didn't, you know…" A thought came across my mind, and mischievous thought.

Before Alice could shake her head, I wrapped my left arm around her with a look of pride. "Of course we did, I mean, we are a couple now." His jaw dropped further to the ground. All of a sudden, I feel a sharp pain in my side and I double over. I look to my left and see Alice cover her face out of embarrassment and her elbow in my side. "Ok, we didn't, she just came to, well, talk? I guess." Before Dino could say anything, I wrap my arms around Alice and apologize for the joke. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything like that. I'll try to make sure I cut back on the jokes from now on ok?" She slowly nodded her head, still hiding from embarrassment. I turn back to Dino and start talking. "Well, we were about to get breakfast ready, you up for eggs? Over-easy right?" He nods his head. "Alice?"

With a barely audible whisper, she says "Ham and cheese omelette."

I nod and say, "Alright, leave it to me."

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A few minutes later

"Alright, eat up." Cooking was not my strong suit, especially in this world. So what was on the plates was a simple Scrambled Eggs. Dino was poking at his food, grumbling about not getting what he wants. "Hey man, at least we have something to eat. See, Alice is eating it no problem."

Without missing a beat, she turned bright red. Before I could apologize for whatever I did, there was a knock at the door. "Um, please hold on a sec, someone's here." I went to open the door. To my surprise, it was a couple of people dressed in a red and white uniform. "Oh, this is a surprise, did the Army get a uniform change?"

The two saluted. "Sorry to disappoint, but we are not The Army. We are a new guild, created after the fall of the Army. We are under the leadership of The Living Legend, the owner of the Holy Sword himself, Heathcliff. We come on behalf of him to personally invite you to join Knights of the Bloodoath. Your party has proven itself to be of use in previous boss battles." The two knights extended their offer.

"If it were up to me, I would decline. Though because we are a team, we put in a vote." I explained. "Listen, we were just having breakfast, but if you two would like to come in, we'll be through this in a heartbeat." I invited them into the house.

"This is a nice place you guys have, away from the hustle and bustle from the big towns." One of the knights was saying. "How long ago did you guys get it?"

As we walked to the kitchen, we talked, though, it wasn't a long talk. "Well, only about two or four weeks ago? I think?" I said, not really knowing what else to say. I noticed the confused looks on their two faces.

"You think? You bought this place and you don't know how long you've had it?"

"Well, I spend the days with my friends, and with Alice. As long as I'm with them, the days don't matter."

"Very noble." The knight said without emotion. We reached the dining area where the other two were eating. "Good morning Alice and Dino." Again, the knights saluted.

Not really acknowledging the two guests, Dino merely shrugged and Alice didn't make eye contact. I decided to let them know of the situation. "These two want us to join the Knights of the Bloodoath."

At the same time, those two shook their heads and said "No way, no how." Though, Alice's voice was considerably quieter.

"Well, there you have it, now, you can let your leader know that we will not join your guild." I said with a smile on my face as I led them back to the door.

"But what about having more people to rely on? Surely you'd want more people to have your back than these two."

"We usually have other friends help us in the boss battles, so we aren't truly alone. And don't call me Shirley."

The two knights were reluctant about leaving, but decided that it was best not to overstay their welcome. "Oh wait, I forgot something." I called back out to them. Instantly they turned around expecting me to ask to let us join their guild. "What happened to the Army?" Hanging their heads in disappointment, they told me that a Red guild went and attacked a meeting that Kibaou had set up the night before. Kibaou was attacked, but thanks to one of his soldiers, he was able to live on at the expense of the soldier's life. Fearing that he was being targeted for being a front line guild, Kibaou had recalled his men back to the Town of Beginnings.

I wave them off as they begin leaving again. I close the door and head back to the dining area. "Well, glad that's over with." The other two nodded. Alice was finishing up her meal and Dino had finished putting his dish away. "Wait a second, I though you didn't want the eggs."

"Well, there's nothing else, and you already made them, so I figured I better eat them. They were ok at best." He came up with excuses. "Well, if we're not doing anything today, I'm gonna head into town for supplies."

"That's fine, we'll start training again two days from now." He waved, already through the door. Well, that leaves two of us then. I looked back at Alice and noticed she had finished eating. "Well, now that you're done, what do you want to do?"

Alice put her dish away and headed to the door. When she reached it, she looked back at me expectantly. Well, good to know that I am included. I was nearly worried that she didn't want to spend time with me after yesterday.

We spent the rest of that day going around the town on the 25th floor, shopping for whatever it is Alice wanted. We finally got back to the house after nearly eight hours of shopping. "You know, I never thought anyone could shop for eight hours." She giggled just the slightest bit. I smiled at her. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Thank you for today, Slasher." Alice said with a smile on her face.

"As long as we're alone together, you can call me John. I think that would be a bit more appropriate for this mood."

She giggled again. "Well, John, as long as we're alone together, you can call me Arisa."

"Hey guys! I'm home!" Well, that didn't last as long as I'd hoped. Dino came back from wherever he was. "So, what'd you guys do all day?"

"We went out and got this." Alice had pointed out the necklace that I got her earlier that day. "And much more things."

Dino looked at me with a grin on his face. "Ohoho, is that right? Glad to know you two spent the day together."

I looked away, a little embarrassed. "What about you Dino? What'd you do today?" I quickly changed the subject.

"I hung out at Egil's shop most of the day, got me a new hammer." He said, bringing up his menu to take out his new weapon. It seemed to be even bigger than his current hammer.

"That's pretty good, better stats than your current hammer?" I asked.

"Yup, and it's heavier too."

"I can see that." We spent the rest of the night just talking about what the plan was for the next floor.

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"So you two failed to bring in the Santa Rosa group huh? Oh well, it's no big loss, we have "The Flash" in our ranks now. I think tomorrow we should see if the Black Swordsman will join our ranks." Heathcliff had debriefed the two knight that had visited the Santa Rosa HQ earlier in the day.

"Yes sir!" The two saluted in unison.

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A/N: Well, that's the end of that trilogy. I did not intend to make that a trilogy, just a two parter. Oh well, I think it ended quite well. I think that's the first time we hear Alice's real name, which isn't that much different from her screen name. Well, that's it for me…unless Slasher and Alice decide to pull me in for whatever they have planned.

John's Chronicle.

Slasher: Well, thank you for that introduction Thrasher. I guess there's not much to talk about in this episode. I mean, yeah, the Army has retreated, but that's about it.

Alice: And you got me this necklace.

S: W-well, yeah, what else was I going to get you? New daggers?

A: As long as it's from you, I don't care.

Ok you two, please, not too lovey-dovey, leave that for the story.

S: Speaking of the story, what made you decide to create this story?

Well, just watching the anime Sword Art Online (and reading the light novels) made me want to create this fanfiction.

A: Did you base any of us on anything?

Well, actually, you, Alice, are based on my D&D character of the same name, who herself is loosely based of Alice from Monster Girl Quest. But now, you have become a person unto yourself.

S: Any future ideas that you're working on?

Spoilers.

S: Well, I guess that wraps that up.

A: Until next time. Bye bye.

I do promise that the next chapter will not be The Fall of the Army pt. 4. It's a completely new chapter. Before that though, I will write another mini chapter detailing the duel between Slasher and Mikaila (remember her?).

S: Oh, you still haven't written that duel yet? Interesting.

Anyway, I have to get to bed. So, until next time, leave a comment/review and or favourite this story if you feel like it.

S: Wait a second, bed again? Is that al-