January 19th, 2029

While Kirito and his group were making friends out the elves, Michiko was far from the person she had become. She went with another, older woman to a lake outside of a town to the south of Eastown. Back then, things had not escalated so much. Player-killer guilds had not yet rose to power in the world of Vearth.

"Lilly," Michiko said. "Are you sure it's safe out here?"

"Don't be silly. We're not far away from town at all. Besides, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Okay," Michiko said. Her hair was short then. And though there were only months separating her from the Michiko that led the Black Wardens, she looked and acted younger. Her innocence was intact. "If you say it's safe, I'll trust you."

The two of them changed their clothed, and took a swim in the lake. There were no monsters or dangers, only fish. Overhead, the sun shined. Even though it was still winter, that day was beautiful, warm and sunny.

They got out of the water about an hour later, and sat together under a tree. Lilly had pulled a meal for each of them from her inventory, pork sandwiches, and they ate.

"Weren't you supposed to meet someone here?" Michiko asked.

"Yes," Lilly said. "I guess they're running late." After the meal, Michiko went back into the water to swim.

She dove under. In the game world, you could open your eyes beneath the surface, and it wouldn't hurt. Your vision wouldn't even be affected if the water was clear enough. She watched the fish swim by her, and then resurfaced.

She looked up the hill to the tree where Lilly stood. She was with a man. Michiko couldn't make out the details, but she assumed it was who she was set to meet with.

As Michiko began swimming to the edge of the water, though, something went wrong. Lilly pushed the man away, and they seemed to argue. Lilly was brought to her knees in tears. While she was looking down, the man pulled out a sword, and thrust it into the woman's throat. Before he left the scene, Michiko noticed one single detail. The man had the insignia of the Laughing Coffin tattooed on his left hand with red ink, which was exposed when he looted Lilly's body.


February 10th, 2030

Michiko snapped out of the memory of her older sister. She walked alongside her fellow wardens. "Laughing Coffin," she thought. "I'm coming for you."


As was planned, Kirito and his band of heroes were the first to attack. They walked up to the base, alone. Laughing Coffin saw them come, and thought that they were fools to attack with so few numbers. One of their members stepped towards them as Kirito entered the courtyard of their small town. No one attacked them outright.

"Well, if it isn't Kirito," the man said. "Hero of Sword Art Online. Awfully brave of you to come here with so few of you."

Kirito recognized this man's voice. He faced him directly, and smiled. "Johnny Black. Long time, no see."

"Personally, I would have preferred to kill you in the real world. But when my former guildies told me their new plan, I couldn't resist. What are you doing here? Are you going to kill us all?"

"We're here to negotiate your surrender," Kirito said. "If you don't, we'll kill every Laughing Coffin member in this place."

He laughed. "Oh, that's bold of you. Before we begin… I have to hear your terms."

Kirito drew one sword, and pointed it at Johnny. "You're an officer, no doubt. You come with us. You're all we need. This is the only warning I'll give you. And know that we'll take you in anyways."

He laughed again. The Laughing Coffin all drew their weapons. "I'm going to have to decline. Any last words?"

"Die," Sinon whispered. She was firing an arrow at the same time Agil was knocking her aim off.

"No, Sinon! We need him alive!" Agil told her.

Then the fighting started. Johnny turned and ran while the rest of the guild began their attack. Kirito drew his second sword, and his party all drew their weapons.

One man with an axe charged straight for Sampson. It was a mistake he soon regretted, as Sampson brought his weapon around fast, and chopped right through his opponent.

Three of them focused on Kirito, but of course, Kirito was far too fast and skilled. Not to mention he had at least twenty levels on them. He thrust his off-hand blade into one, and left it there, using one sword to fight the remaining two. After killing both of them, he drew his weapon from the first one's gut, and engaged more fighters.

NPC Laughing Coffin members began to emerge from buildings, joining the fight. The group mopped them up like the spill on isle three. It took very little effort.

As Johnny ran, he gathered up the other officers, and started to head for the backside of the town. Then, the wardens dropped down, and drew their weapons. "It's an ambush!" Johnny said. "Fall back to the keep!" They all ran from the wardens while more NPC's and a few actual players took them on.

"The officers," someone said to Eulsam as they watched from a distance. "They're on the move. If we go in now, we could take them without effort."

"If we charge in with cavalry now, they might run from the town instead." He looked and waited. "No… we wait for them to hold up in a place where they can't so easily escape."

When the first wave attacked the wardens, it was a clang, then another, and then the sound of steel piercing flesh. Laughing Coffin, with their brawler's tactics, might as well have been fighting the Roman legion. The wardens pressed forward, and the killing continued.

Once the officers were in the keep, Eulsam and his riders charged into the battle. They circled the fortress, and rode through the alleyways of the town, keeping reinforcements from getting to where they needed to be.

"You finish this," Michiko said. "I'm going to join Kirito and the others." She charged ahead, blocking a couple shots and retaliating with instant death blows.

Eulsam had something similar in mind as well. He had hopped off his horse, and drew dual blades to fight the mob of NPC's. "Red-Handed makes these guys seem so weak," he said as he got closer to Kirito.

"Laughing Coffin is just a mob," Kirito said. "They rely on outnumbering their opponents, and catching them when they're weak or unprepared."

"So in other words," Michiko said as she joined the conversation. "They're cowards."

"Very much so!" Kirito thrust his sword into a player's face. He then watched Eulsam for a moment, observing how he fought with dual swords. He wanted to see if it really was different from his own skills.

Eulsam's sword attacks were something of an art. He would whirl them around as he moved, making his attacks hard to predict. He rarely missed, but then again, neither did Kirito. His own style was less of that, and more straight forward. He made more attacks with his weapons, but they were more likely to be seen coming.

As the fight went on, he also watched Michiko. Her advantage came from wielding her special weapon. It must have been heavy, which meant her strength must be high to be able to wield it. Even more so with the way she spun it and pushed with it. It took little observation to see how it was used. Most attacks were counters. She would let an enemy try to hit her, and then catch the weapon between two of the blades on her weapon. Then, she spins it, parrying the attack, and thrust the weapon forward to deliver her own strike.

Most of the time fighting, Michiko was low to the ground, nearly in a crouching position as she tossed the weapon from hand to hand, and moved it around her back and over her head. When it spun, it was impossible to land an attack, because it effectively covered her entire body. She was open to attack only when making a strike of her own, which is why most of her moves were blocks and counters.

"Kirito," Eulsam said. "I was hoping to see more of your skills. But you seem distracted with my own. Do you admit my superiority, then?"

Kirito laughed, and shook his head. "No… just keeping mine secret in case we duel someday."

"A favorite strategy of mine, I like it."

Before long, the entire base had been emptied out. All that was left was to go into the keep. "Alright," Eulsam said. "This should be easy. Leafa, I hope you saved your mana for this one."

"Hai," Leafa said. She started to cast her spell.

Once it was done, the group charged in, and took the remaining members into custody. As they did so though, Michiko saw one run into the back of the room and escape down a hole.

"Tunnel!" she shouted before hopping down in it, and running to chase her enemies.

"Michiko, wait!" Eulsam said. "Don't go alone! Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Sinon, Sampson. Back her up!"

The small group all nodded, and went in to go with Michiko. She was already far ahead of them. Kirito and the others raced to catch up to her, but she was fast.

In the tunnel, she was taken off guard by a strike from a hidden angle. She dodged the attack, but rolled over the ground doing so. Once she got up, she was ready to fight. The man took a swing at her, and she parried the attack before striking herself. She cut him, but not badly.

When he struck next, it was quick, and he sliced at her left arm, causing her to drop her weapon. It did not deter her attack however. She reached forward with a punch, and then went to grab hold of his shirt. She missed, but grabbed something else.

The man had been wearing a necklace, and she took it off of him when he whipped around and got free of her grip. As he ran, she looked down to see a diamond ring. She took a look at it, and read to herself the text that was inside. "Lilly…" Her eyes widened behind her helmet, and she had a flashback of the moment at the lake with her sister.

Now she saw clearly in her mind what was taken. It shined in the light, and this must be it. A ring… a diamond engagement ring. The man had begun to run. And Michiko hesitated as she thought back, and thought forward.

Kirito and the group caught up to her, but had to catch her breath. "Michiko," he said. "Wait."

She looked at Kirito, and then her weapon. Without waiting at all, she grabbed her weapon, and charged after her enemy. "No," she said to herself. "I have to know…"

As she ran, she pocketed the ring. Soon enough she reached the tunnel's exit, into the forest. Though she didn't take the time to look, her vitals had changed. Her spirit and will appeared to exceed their maximum value, and her energy was still at full.

She looked around, and saw a glimpse of her target escaping. She kept up her running after him. She chased him then through the forest, unceasing in her quest to find this man, and ask him. She had to know for sure. It could be coincidence.

The man had stopped to catch his breath at a river. She walked towards him once he stopped.

"Where did you get it," she asked.

He looked back at her, confused. "What?"

"The ring! Where did you get the ring?"

He felt his chest, and that the ring had vanished. "A friend gave it to me. What's it to you?"

She leapt at him, attacking. Her blood started to pump faster. The man dodged the attack and got back to running. "You can't run from me!" she shouted as she chased.

Night was starting to fall. He ran down a hill, and through some bushes. She followed with great ferocity. She would not let him escape. He had to stop again to catch his breath. She was giving him a run for his money. She found him again, and readied her weapon. "On the inside of the ring, there's a name. Who is it?"

The man blinked. He tried to think. Maybe if she got her information, she would quit the chase. He too was trying to figure things out. "Uhh… L… Lilly!"

"Don't act like you don't know!"

"Lilly your girlfriend?" he asked, laughing a little.

She attacked him in rage, and he ducked away. Her furious attacking left more and more chances for him to strike back, and he did, slashing at her side. With her armor, it did minimal damage. He started running again.

"I don't know anything about the ring!" he shouted. "I got it from a friend!"

He tripped over a rock, and took some damage. She caught up to him again. She looked at him, and breathed heavily. "Liar!"

"Okay, so… I'm a liar," he said. "You think I stole it. Who was Lilly?"

"You killed her!" Michiko attacked him, and he dodged attacks. This time, he made good strikes, hitting her at spots that were less armored and dealing real damage.

"Okay, so I killed Lilly!" He shouted. "I killed Lilly and stole the ring!"

Michiko didn't even care about her injuries. Her arm was soaked in blood, and blood soaked her armor. She kept up the attack, and put him on the defensive. "Why did you kill her?" she shouted.

He saw a break in the attacks, and ran again. He jumped over a cliff, and into a lake at the bottom. The water broke his fall, and he swam to shore. There he looked around for Michiko.

Michiko jumped down after him, and she too landed in water. She was heavy though, and so she began to strip off her armor, leaving it behind. When she emerged from the lake, she had on nothing but tattered clothes, and wielded her weapon.

He was backed against a wall now. He began to laugh. "Yes," he said. "I remember now!" He drew his weapon, and prepared to fight. "Lilly, cute name. I never really take a look at the names of my targets."

"You didn't know her?" Michiko asked. Then she attacked again. She swung wild and hard with her blade weapon, bringing it from side to side. Without her armor, she was incredibly fast.

"I might have, but I don't remember you! Please, jog my memory!" While she was fast, her rage had left her with very little finesse. He dodged her attacks left and right. Then, when an opening came, he thrust his sword at her, cutting through her side.

She reeled in pain. While she was on the ground, she spoke. "She was my sister, you monster. I know you knew her. She was planning on meeting someone that day. I think it was you!"

He smiled, and nodded. "Ahh, I see." He walked up to her, slowly. "I'm sorry to tell you that I didn't. Wait, no I'm not." He had a short laugh at it.

She went and attacked again. Dodging her blows was starting to become child's play. "Liar! You knew her! You killed her!" She swung and swung, but her energy was draining.

He knew she couldn't keep swinging the heavy weapon around like that forever, especially with all the running she'd done. "No!" he shouted back. When another opening came, he moved to her unguarded side, and stabbed her. It was a critical strike, bringing her down below fifty percent health.

Now she was out of breath, and dropped her weapon as she fell to the ground. He went up and kicked her in the side. "No!" he shouted again. "I didn't know her. She was just another random victim." He started laughing at her. "And you tracked me down after all these… what… several months now to find me and take your revenge? Too bad!" He went to stomp on her head.

She jumped up into an attack though, grabbing his leg and pulling, knocking him down. He dropped his weapon, and she punched him in the face three times. After that, she pulled him up, and threw him back.

"Show me your right hand," she said.

He looked up at her from the ground. "No," he said. He drew a dagger, and ran at her. After tackling her to the ground, he started to stab her. She took serious damage, and struggled, but got him off of her.

It was a grim situation. She was nearing death, and he still had at least seventy percent of his health. "This is the real world!" he shouted, and spat at her. "The good guys don't win! Innocent people die!"

She screamed as she was stabbed more and more. "And people like you… fail…" At the last moment, she bashed his nose with her head. It did minimal damage to both, but was painful, and knocked him back.

She held her head for a few moments, but saw that he dropped his dagger. She took it and charged him. "No!" she shouted. "You're mine! I win!" She stabbed him in the face, and then kept going. She cut his throat, his mouth, his ear.

Soon, he was a sputtering mess. After it was over, she threw the dagger down. She was looking down at him and still angry. She still hadn't checked though. She pulled his right hand over, and took off his glove. No tattoo.

In that moment, she took her hand off of his neck, and it was covered, painted in blood. She recalled her time as a slave to Katsuo, the commander general of the Red-Handed. She recalled how she wouldn't break. Now though, as she looked down at the battered, beaten face of her enemy, she felt her heart sink.

After all she'd been through, her anger and her rage poured out. She took vengeance for Lilly… for herself… for Xaela and everyone she ever met who had suffered in this world at the hands of the player killers. She had won the battle for her revenge, but lost the war for her very soul, or at least she did in her mind. And who was this man. This man that she didn't even know the crimes of. When she looked at his player cursor, she saw something… green. He had attacked her in self-defense, and otherwise hadn't harmed another player, at least not in a full week.

Despite his guild, it was entirely possible that he never hurt anyone. Hers of course, was blood red. It never changed. Always, since she became Mokatso, she was a headhunter. How was she different? She told herself… always, that she killed for justice. But they needed this man alive. Him alive would have served justice more than this.

She screamed out to the sky, loud. Kirito and the others heard this, and went to find her. They used their maps to locate her, following the pinged location of her avatar. But then, it suddenly vanished. They raced fast toward that spot.

Michiko dove back into the lake after drinking health potions. She donned her armor, and reclaimed her weapon. And then, like that, she was gone. Not only did she remove all of her friends, but she left her own guild. And like that, she disappeared from the face of Vearth.

When Kirito and the others arrived, and couldn't find her near the dead body of the unknown Laughing Coffin, they didn't know what to think except that she had died.


February 11th, 2030

"So let me get this straight," Eulsam said. "We failed to capture a leader. Michiko is missing, presumed dead. And we didn't learn anything new from our captured enemies at all."

"At least we got something," Asuna said.

"What?" Eulsam asked. "What did we gain from this?" No one answered. "Our mission was a failure."

"We got some prisoners. We took dangerous players from the game," Kirito said. "That is something. We need to stay positive about this."

"It's clear what needs to happen," Eulsam said.

"What?" Kirito said.

"We'll never get any new information hiding behind our kingdom's security. I hate to do it, but we're going to have to thin out our numbers. The threat isn't here in our city. It's out there, in the world. And the less time we spend going out there, the more space we'll give them to grow."

"Still not following…"

"Vice commander," Eulsam said. "Can you maintain the defenses and security in the kingdom?"

"Yes, sir," a man said.

"Good… then here's what I'm going to do. Kirito."

"Hmm?" Kirito was still waiting for him to finish.

Eulsam pulled out a sword, and put its tip to the floor, holding it tight. "I feel I need to be on the front lines of this world. I humbly offer my blades. Please, allow me to join your party."

"That was a little long-winded," Kirito said.

"Yes, I… do have a pension for being dramatic, I suppose. He sheathed his blade. But what say you? Will you allow me to fight by your side?"

Kirito turned to Asuna, and then to the rest of the group. I few nods later, Kirito sent him a party invitation, and extended his hand to shake. "Welcome to the A team, Eulsam."

"Can I get in on this?" Xaela asked. "Before Red-Handed took me, I was part of an adventure group. I miss it. And I've done terrible things, I know. But I think joining the heroes of Vearth would be a good way to make up for it. Plus… if Michiko is out there. I want to be there when you find her." She held her hand close to her heart.

Kirito looked to Eulsam, and he nodded back to him. "It's fine with me," Eulsam said. "I told Michiko I would keep her with me, anyways. So I guess that'd be best anyhow."

Kirito sent out an invite to Xaela. "Welcome to the club, then…" Xaela smiled and accepted the invitation.