Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to sword art online or any other character that belong to other fanfics (all info found on their respective wikias)

" "– talking

' '-thoughts

" "-A.I. talking (not going to be used a lot)

Side Chapter 1: Gale Knight: The Resurrection of the Orichalcos

Time: Unknown Location: secret floor 39th dungeon

My name is Zenka Namikage also known as Gale Knight, I'm currently I'm lvl 45 and fighting with my own group and some members from the vigils against a dungeon boss named Mothra which is pretty much a giant moth, with the help of their leader, the infamous Dreaded Vigilante took the monster's HP down to almost 0.(Godzilla reference there)

"Everyone! We're holding it off, attack with everything you got!" the man with the shield shouted as everyone else charges forward while he and the original members of the guild block the boss's attacks, we then went in for the kill.

I guess I should introduce myself and my group in better detail, I was a young genius that helped create this game and designed some A.I. and help improved technology, my parent died when I was a young age but got taken in by keita, a good guy that died within this damn game, heard that the black swordsmen was a part of his guild before they got destroyed, I hold no ill intent for him as I think he has already suffered enough because of it.

There are 4 members in my group in total, The first 2 members of my group are a twin brother sister duo named Adam and Eve respectively, they are both around 16 year old and their real names they told us were Haruka and Sora, they both have white hair and onyx eyes, Adam is a katana user with Black medium armor while Eve is a AGI assassin type with light armor and dagger. Their personality are opposite to each other as Adam is a kind and helpful person while Eve is a very cold person that only cares about her brother, I have a weird feeling that their relationship is not that of brother sister kind but I think that's just me.(Yosuga no sora reference)

The 3rd member of my group is a guy named Helldiver, his real life name is Utsutsu (Pupa reference), he is a nice and friendly person but when we start fighting, a more violent and merciless side of him takes his place. He is an AGI type that uses a single sword and wears light armor. He has a little sister within this death game but he left her with the orphanage on the 1st floor as he doesn't want her hurt, brown hair and brown eyes and his younger sister has the same features, it probably a family thing.

The finale member of my group is Valkyrie, her real life name is Kanade (Angel beats reference), she has long sliver hair and odd golden eyes, she is a very emotionless person and the least talkative within the group, she shows a little emotion to me, helldiver and Adam but not that much. Her preferred fighting style is unarmed or with claws but she can wield a spear quite well, she also carries one of the Divine Stone of Returning Soul that was mass produced thanks to the leader of the vigils after he found a way to make more due to his knowledge of SAO's alchemy system.

The reason how I knew all of their real life name is that thanks to my work within the game, I still hold some power over the system as I can search trivial things about a player or on the game, I can't change anything like the savior can but I can get info on a few things.

Currently we are in an unexplored or at least unexplored until now secret 39th dungeon and with the main group of the Vigils fought the boss with us, the leader, Dredd was kind enough to give us the loot from this place as we were the ones that originally discover this place, he did gave us the opinion to join his guild but we decline and leave the area.

-The Next day- Location: Myujen

Myujen was the location we chose for our home base because it reminded most of us our homes in the real world for its urban city like feel with mostly 3-storey apartment-like buildings.

We are currently within a shared hotel room as we plan out what we were going to do for the day, Helldiver wanted to go check up on his little sister down on the first floor, Adam agreed as he wanted to see if the kids need anything while Eve said she would only go if Adam went, Valkyrie didn't mind while I suggested that we check out Hill of Memories afterward as there was a rumor that there is a newly discovered dungeon there.

-A Couple of minutes later-

We are currently on the first floor orphanage, I gave the caretaker here, Sasha some of our Col to help her get anything for the kids, and we even help train some of the kids that were brave enough to fight.

It was then that helldiver said that his sister wanted to go to the Hill of Memories as she wanted to see the beautiful scenery there, I then asked him if it was a good idea for his little sister, who hasn't trained at all to go to a high level floor. He then said that he will only allow her to follow us until the dungeon, after we reached it he will give her a teleport crystal and return back to the first floor plus with us around she shouldn't be in danger and with her being in our group, she will gain some loot and level with us, we later leave for the Hill of Memories.

-An hour later-

We reached the gate to the dungeon but we found that the leader of the vigil, Dredd here alone as he realized our presence "O hello, you guys planning to explore this dungeon too?" he said nonchalantly as he kills the Garish Gerberas surrounding the entrance.

"Need any help with them?" I said to him as he continues to cut down the garish gerberas

"Nope!' Dredd said as he kills the remaining mobs

"So you guys going in there? If so then you mind if I join you?" he said as we all shrug

-A couple of minutes later-

After We all had just entered the dungeon, we were immediately engaged with the mobs within the dungeon which were a couple of knights with the Black Luster Soldier (Yugioh monster dungeon) they were quite difficult to deal with but lucky they only spawn 6 at a time, Dredd was able to deal with 3 while Adam, Eve and helldiver deal with 1 while Valkyrie and me dealt with the last 2.

After we killed about 3 groups of 6 black luster soldier, 2 more spawn with a completely different type of black luster soldier with the name of Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of The Beginning, me and Dredd were able to switch between our strike in order to kill it while the others kill the other 2.

After making our way around the dungeon, we were able to reach the middle of the dungeon when a mini-boss spawn above us, if it wasn't for dredd warning us and pushing us out of the way, someone would have probably died, the mob was a big slivery-blue-ish dragon by the name of STARDUST Dragon, it was at that point that we realized that this dungeon was meant for people like Dredd but it didn't matter now as we charge toward the dragon.

-About 20 minutes later-

The fight was a hard one but we won, stardust dragon was able to transform about 6 times each form more powerful than the last, thankfully with the help of Dredd's dragon slayer swords and his dragon slayer-ish build for his character and his skills, we were able to beat it, I was able to get the last hit on Shooting Quasar dragon which was the final form of stardust dragon.

We all rest for a bit as we were all exhausted after we killed it as I check the last hit drop for the mini boss.

Stardust Blade: Description: A blade that can cut through the twilight, A Black silvery-ish 2 handed blade that can deals 2x the damage if the opponent is or has dragon abilities, it also deals 3x the damage against darkness type mobs.

Stardust armor: the armor appearance is similar to the armor of stardust phantom just less flashy and more protective, it increase defenses by 40% and increase 2 Handed Sword, Blade Throwing, Parry, Battle Healing, by 20%.

I simply smirk at my new armor as I equip it as I decide to take a break.

-30 minutes later-

We continued on the path to the dungeon boss room as we get stock up on loot, we encountered various mobs such as Summoned Skull, Flame Swordsman and various types of Dark magicians.

We were finally able to reach the boss room, before we entered Dredd used a corridor crystal just in case anything happen and we needed to teleport out of there we can return back here afterward.

The boss room was quite large (skull reaper's boss room size), the moment we reached near the center did the boss appeared as a large name appeared over a 5 headed dragon which was Five-Headed Dragon.

"Well….shit." was all Adam said as Eve hid behind him

"I'll deal with this guy head on, the rest of you attack him from the back….now HELL'S SABER!" Dredd shouted as we all charge in battle

-10 minutes later-

Barely 10 minutes into this fight and we had to teleport everyone except me and Dredd out of the boss room so that no one would die as Dredd quickly messaged his guild mates to come here with the help of his corridor crystal, me and Dredd are quickly being damaged by this beast, Dredd said that he would deal with the main body of the dragon while I deal with the dragon head that uses darkness.

I quickly dodge the barrage of attacks heading towards me while I hear Dredd using his sword skills at the beast as I charge at the head.

It was then that Dredd's team of an archer, a dagger user, a shield user and an dual sword wielder entered the boss room.

The archer quickly started shooting arrows into the eyes of the dragon as the other 3 charge at the beast, the dagger user quickly pulls out what looks like fiber wire from his belt and used his momentum and swing his way toward the dragon as his wire tangles around one of the heads of the dragon, I smile as I see the tide turning on this battle as I chopped off the head of darkness as the beast roared in pain.

Unfortunately, the moment I cut off 1 of the head of the dragon did it's HP immediately reached 30% which normally is a good thing but a big green seal appeared on the ground we were standing on, if I remember correctly from the old show this dungeon is based on that the green seal is called The Seal Of Orichalcos.

The ground then began to shake violently as all of the wounds on the dragon suddenly regenerated, the head that I cut off grew back but thankfully it's HP didn't regenerate back.

It then charged a big black ball of energy as it aim it toward us, it was then that Dredd shouted for all of us to get out of the way as he charge toward it as his blades grow blood red, I could have sworn that he said the words Codename: Hellfire.

But the Dragon was able to tail wipe me before Dredd was able to attack it, i was able to block the hit but it did cause my HP to fell into the red zone.

He was able to kill it in an instants as the dragon's beam shot toward the ceiling as the dragon itself dissolve into particles as Dredd just stands there for a seconds before collapsing as I began to lose conscious as well.

-Several days later-

It has been a while since the boss battle between me, my group and Dredd. After me and Dredd passed out, we were immediately transported to the Vigil's base on the 30th floor, we been invited to stay for a while for us to recuperate, we been given another invite for the guild which I'm still deciding on what I should do as the others decided that they would follow whatever decision I choose.

I have no idea how I was able to gain the trust of the group that they would have no problems in me choosing their fate.

I'm currently having my new armor and weapons upgraded by the guild's personal blacksmiths while I duel some of the members within the guild that wield 2 handed weapons to test my skills against theirs with my old equipment set.

It was at that point when I fought that Dredd came out and observed me and assess my skills, he told me afterwards that I was 1 of the top 2 handed weapons wielder he had seen in quite some time, he also talked about the skills of my teammates, all had their weaknesses and their strengths as well as what they can do to cover their weaknesses.

After my chat with Dredd, me and him left with a new recruit, Moonknight was his name I think, I have no idea why but he seem familiar to me, for a quest that we had gained due to us killing the 5 headed dragon, Moonknight was also here to get his skills tested and since the other member of my party were teleported out of the area before we killed it, they didn't get the quest, the quest was called The Resurrection of the Orichalcos and we set out to find 3 Atlantean knights with the names of Critias, Hermos, Timaeus.

-A few days later-

It been a few days since me, Dredd and moon knight had set off for the Orichalcos quest, we are currently in location where we were supposed to meet the 3 Atlantean knights with the names of Critias, Hermos, Timaeus.

While we were entering in an open area on the 39th floor dungeon, 3 knights landed in front of us as they were in an attack stand.

"Who are you warriors, are you the servants of Orichalcos? Or are you here to help us stop the return of the leviathan?" Critias said as we pull out our weapons just in case

"We are here to help you 3 warriors, my name is Dredd, and this is Moon knight and Gale knight." Dredd said to them as they look at each other and then says "In that case, how about we duel you and see if you're telling the truth." Hermos said as they charge at us, I was up against Timaeus while Dredd was fighting Hermos and moon was fighting Critias.

I tried my best to block his swings but 2 handed are not known for their speed during duels, I got my ass handed to me in the first 5 seconds even though I did get a few hits in, Timaeus only get my HP down to 20% before he moved away from me and charged at Dredd.

Moon was soon knocked down next to me as all 3 of the Atlantean attack Dredd, Dredd then quickly took out a few bombs and toss them at the 3 knights, the bombs exploded in their face as well as a smoke bomb under their feet as they stand their dazed as Dredd charge at them.

His sword then glows red as he does a spin move in the middle of the 3, ending the duel.

-A few minutes later-

We were resting while Dredd was speaking with the 3 knights, we couldn't hear what they were saying but our quest icon got updated stating that we will be transported to Atlantis when we are ready.

It was then that Dredd returned and told us that the knight agreed that we can bring up to 30 people for this, so we left the area and teleport but to base.

-An hour later-

After we assemble all of the top members of the guild including my group, we travelled back into the dungeon and activate the quest.

We were then teleported to a beautiful underwater city, presumably Atlantis as the 3 knight stand in front of us as we enter the gates of the city.

The moment we step foot on the ground in the city about 60-ish Orichalcos soldier appear in front of us, we all take battle stands as we charge forward.

Dredd was able to destroy about 10 of the soldiers with his sword skill as I charge forward and down a vertical slash killing about 3 soldiers while everyone else do their own thing as we head for the center of the city.

After about a few minutes of hacking and slashing our way to the center, Dredd decided that everyone except me and him will go with the knights to deal with whatever is at the center while everyone else deals with the endless horde of Orichalcos soldiers.

As we're sprinting toward the center, a large earthquake rocks the entire city as Dartz, the main antagonist came into view with a couple of Orichalcos Gigas with him.

"I see you gathered your forces once again Atlantean knights." Dartz said calmly as more and more monsters started to surround us with a big monster named Zorc Necrophades behind Dartz.

"Damn it we're surrounded" Hermos said as we ready our weapons

"The Great leviathan demands your souls! My minions kill them!" Dartz said as he teleports to a place in the center named Paradius

"Damn it what are we going to do." Dredd said as the monster just wait for us to attack

"Warriors, we are going to transfer our powers into you, use it to defeat them." The knights said in unison as they glow their own colors as the light engulfs both me and Dredd giving us Max out stats and infinite HP for 15 seconds

We then charge at the monster destroying them in one hit.

They couldn't block our attack or protect themselves as we tore through them, but our boost died down the moment we killed the last of the mobs.

"Well…..that was extremely exhausting…" Dredd said as he continue to advance forward

After more running we reached the center, Dredd gave me some special stamina potions he made, it really helped.

It was then we see Dartz "Well it looks like you warriors were quite good to be able to reached this far but it's too late, the leviathan has awaken." He said as a giant serpent like creature appeared behind Dartz as the serpent eats him while he says "warriors…..welcome to your doom."

The leviathan HP bar then showed up as 6 Bars of Health as well as the quest updating to a level 80 quest as it says kill the leviathan.

It then uses its tail and attacks us with it, Dredd was able to dodge it but I got hit instantly making my HP down to 20%.

Apparently from that 1 strike, a poison icon appeared on my HP bar as I slowly lose consciousness.

Third Person POV

Dredd looks toward the downed Gale knight as he contemplate what he should do next

"Well it looks like the boss knocked out the kid….well I guess it's time to use it then after all leviathan iwas said to be the creature that is on par with me." Dredd said as he goes in a battle stance as he says "Code word: Draconic Overload" as I transform back to my original appearance

"Well big guy…looks like you're going to be the first to see my absolute form…Code Word: Demonic Dragon Emperor" Dredd said as he transforms into a gigantic dragon as the 2 bosses do battle.

-An hour later-Gale knight POV

I woke up an hour later in a room within the vigil's base with most of my team sitting around me, Valkyrie was sleeping on me, Adam and Eve were sleeping on each other while helldiver was nowhere to be seen, in a panic I quickly check my friends list, I sigh in relieve when I see his name still active.

I move Valkyrie slightly in order for me to get out of bed as I head down the hall, I pass by a few members of the guild as they patted me on the back saying good job and so on.

I continue walking until I reached the main hall that I see Dredd and the group that were with us during that quest.

They all told me a good job and hope that me and other would join the guild, Dredd told me that the knight helped him defeat the leviathan thus ending the quest and getting a big reward for it.

He sends me some items he got from the leviathan, he gave me about 400 thousand Col just in case I didn't join his guild, A thing called Scales of the leviathan, it's an upgrade for any armor it is used with. And something called the Fang of the beast, it a cool looking dagger with a special poison stat, I guess it can be a good backup weapon just in case.

After everyone had woken up, we decided that we should join this guild as it would be easy for us if we have more people keeping our backs covered amongst other things.

There are still things strange about Dredd but it really didn't matter unless he was like I don't know the 100th floor boss or kayaba.

Right now I staring out a window contemplating whether or not this was a good choice for my team or whether this would be our downfall…..just as I was looking out the window Valkyrie comes up next to me and sits next to me, I don't know why but ever since the boss fight, she been clinging to me.

I see Adam, eve and helldiver walking up now to me as we plan on what we were going to do today.

But unbeknownst to me my road was now in the palm of an A.I….

End of Side Chapter 1

The first of a few ladies and gentlemen.