Well, okay, once again we're here, ready to rumble!

So, not really much to say this time before leaving you with the chapter, except one thing that really surprised me about last chapter's reviews, and that was some of the reactions to what Elysium did.

I mean, I know as a writer that I can't make everyone happy, thinking that is foolish, there will always be someone who disagrees with what you write, especially if you write Fanfiction, but I was truly surprised to see how some of the readers reacted so negatively to her 'killing' Kirito. I mean, I understand that's not something that would make anyone give her a medal, but I thought I had done a good job portraying her character and the reasons why she felt she HAD to do it, and then the regret she felt during and after the deed. Some of the reviews, though, made me feel as if for them I had written her as some Sugou-level bitch that was laughing all the way and enjoying cutting him to pieces O_O

Talking with a friend made me realize that this may have been just an initial reaction, that obviously people are going to care more about the character they like than the 'unforgivable' actions of the 'evil' OC, but truly, I thought I would at least give some deeper thoughts about her and her actions than just 'I'm glad that she died for what she did' or so. Hopefully, this chapter will help a bit with that, while it also officially closes the second arc and leads us into the final one of this mad story.

Without more words, I leave you all to enjoy the fic. Have a good time, hopefully!

PS: Sadly, my Beta will be busy for some time, so you will have to bear with just my own corrections for an undetermined time. Sorry.

Disclaimer: SAO and its characters don't belong to me, but to Kawahara Reki. If they did, I would make 'There is But One Ultimate Way' the official canon epilogue of the series so as to everyone could be happy.

Interlude: I AM YOU

December 31st, 2024. Yokohama, Kanagawa. 23:55…

Yuuki Asuna coughed harshly as she opened her eyes, her vision swimming as she tried to remember what had happened.

They had been 'winning', if one could consider anything in a situation where alien invaders were actively attacking a building on a city to try and kill your…best friend, and then you and your other friends, as positive. Thanks to Elucidator's unexpected, uhm, 'possession' of the damn tank she had been trying to bring down for almost 10 minutes, they had managed to neutralize and disarm the 3 aliens that had been inside it.

Suguha had been already urging them to hurry and either leave them be or knock them out so as to they could go and help Kazuto…when everything had suddenly gone to hell.

To be precise, a sudden absence of sound and a bright white light coming from the exact opposite side of where they were, two streets away from the hospital, had consumed everything, and the rapier-user had barely any time to see with shock how a bit more than the entire building's upper half vanished from existence before the shockwave reached them.

Asuna had never known that the expression 'like being hit by a wall of solid sound' could be used literally until that moment.

The last thing she remembered before blacking out were screams and pain as she felt like her body had suddenly been punched away by an especially big Floor Boss, just that this time she could actually feel how much that hurt. Now, though, she idly realized she couldn't move and that everything around her was dark. She was starting to panic about it when a slightly distorted mechanic voice suddenly asked something.

"Are you…okay…?"

"…Luci-kun?" whispered the chestnut-haired girl as the 'darkness' around her receded…and gasped at realizing it had just been the body of the tank-robot covering both her and a coughing Suguha, Elucidator shakily standing as it looked at them.

Given that he was missing half of its non-canon arm and that several pieces of his armored body seemed to have blown up or fell apart, it was a sight that was more than a little unsettling. And just under him, the unconscious (But alive) form of the 3 aliens that had previously been inside his 'new body' lay, unmoving.

"Oh…you're both okay, thanks the Boss. He would have never forgiven me if I let something happen to any of you…"

"Lu-Luci-kun, you're hurt!" shouted a worried Suguha the moment she could stand up properly again, eyes wide as she stared at the damaged robot. "What…?!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. This body is 'borrowed', and I'm a robot in the first place, remember? I'm not feeling any pain, though this sucks extremely." calmed them down Elucidator while waving his cannon-arm around. "After all, I didn't even have this body for even 10 minutes before they wrecked it…"

"…wait, what about Silica-chan?!" suddenly exclaimed Asuna while looking around, before stifling a gasp after doing so. The young kendoka followed cue a moment later, her hands shooting to cover her mouth.

The streets and buildings around them looked like the setting of some zombie apocalypse movie, everything cracked or outright broken. While there didn't seem to be any collapsed building, the ones closer to where the Yokohama North General Hospital had been looked as if the smallest disturbance would make them fall apart. Pieces of glass and debris littered the streets as far as their eyes could see, several cars were lying upside down or embedded into walls…and the massive form of a blue-feathered dragon could be seen not far from them, half-crashed into the side of a building and weakly moaning as he opened his wings, letting a gasping Ayano Keiko jump down and turn around to look at him in horror.

"PINA!" cried the young girl while hugging the dragon's side, even as the other two 'Anchors' ran towards her, Elucidator following close behind. "Oh God…I'm so sorry, you had to protect me again…"

"Kyuu…" weakly moaned Pina while smiling softly at his friend and master, before a light of cosmic energy enveloped him and he was once again reduced to his normal size, which the dagger-user was quick to hug with all her might. "Kyururu…"

"I-I was brave back there? Tha-thanks, but still, you…"

"It's not your fault, Silica." softly spoke Suguha while putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "None of us could even react to that explosion; there is no way you could have done anything. Hell, I and Asuna would have probably ended up quite hurt if it wasn't for Luci-kun here…"

"Suguha-san…" gratefully whispered Keiko while looking at her, before her eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror at seeing the landscape around them. "O-oh heavens…this…ho-how could they do something like this?!"

"I don't know, but I don't think I will like aliens…ever." coldly spat Asuna while walking to them, glaring at the area around her with clenched fists (Idly hearing screams of panic and confusion in the distance) before her gaze snapped towards where the hospital had been, as if just realizing something. "Wait…wasn't Kirito-kun atop that building before it was disintegrated?!"

The other two froze, horror dawning on their faces even as Elucidator also looked towards where the aforementioned building had stoop, less than a tenth of it still remaining, cracked and broken so beyond belief it seemed a miracle it hadn't collapsed upon itself already.

"Bu-but…does that mean…Kirito-san…?" Keiko seemed unable to finish her question, her grip on Pina tightening as her eyes shot over the empty space where the 12-pointed star of electricity had been.

"N-no…Onii-chan, please…no…" started to whisper Suguha as she started to shake, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "You can't leave…"

"He's okay!" suddenly shouted familiar voice, making the three girls, one dragon and one robot almost jump in place, turning around to see 4 familiar figures running towards them. "Seriously, haven't you noticed it by now?!"

"Li-Liz?!" shouted a surprised Asuna before quickly shaking her head. "No, way, it's obvious you and the rest would come too, but…what are you talking…?"

"You can still feel him, right? I certainly do!" interrupted Yuuki while stopping at her side, looking into her eyes with a serious gaze before slowly looking back towards where the hospital had been. "…I hope Dr. Kurahashi wasn't…wasn't there…"

"I'm sure he was one of the first people that evacuated and was relocated after the previous 'terrorist attack', Yuu." muttered Aiko while putting a comforting hand on her twin's shoulder, also sparing a sad glance towards where the hospital both had spent most of their recent lives had been before looking seriously back to the chestnut-haired girl. "And what my little sister is saying is, well, can't you still feel it? Our connection to Kirito?"

Surprise, then shock and finally realization shot through the three girls' faces before they quickly concentrated in the invisible 'bond' that joined all of them together, like a strange 'galaxy' that was ever-changing and ever-moving.

It felt weak and tired, maybe even in pain too…but the 'center' of their galaxy, the glorious 12-pointed 'star' to which they were all connected as 'Anchors', was still there.

"Yeah, seems like you just noticed it." smiled Rika at seeing their faces relax, Suguha and Keiko all but falling to their knees in relief while Asuna just rested against her rapier. "He got away from that…but probably not unscathed."

'Even if he's hurt, he still has Yhmos' powers, so he shouldn't be in any real danger.' suddenly spoke the living suit that was 'half' of the only girl that still hadn't said anything, startling them. 'Got to say, though, I wasn't expecting my…-old comrades- to detonate a makeshift antimatter bomb in the middle of a populated area…they must be more desperate than I thought…'

"Antimatter?! Are you serious?! That's what THAT was?!" half-shouted Shino with utter disbelief, quickly realizing by the looks everyone was giving her that she was the only one that fully understood the implications of her suit's declaration. "Ugh, just…maybe we should go and look for him? We're all lucky as you wouldn't believe, especially you three, of having been outside the range of that when it blew up, or there wouldn't even be a memory of us left."

"Okay…that's scary, alright." whispered Asuna while shaking her head. "But don't worry; I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing, right?"

"Of course." firmly declared Suguha while standing up, a determined look on her face now. "We will get to where Onii-chan is right no…!"

"A-are you sure?" the interruption coming from Yuuki took everyone by surprise, the young kendoka looking at the younger of the Konno twins in shock. "I-I mean, it's not as if I'm not worried about Kirito too! Bu-but…he has all those powers and, well…don't you think we should…try and help the people here…?"

At her words, the group of girls blinked and looked around at the clearly damaged city, a wave of guilt and doubt filling them when the not-so-distant screams and shouts (Now accompanied by the sounds of alarms and emergency sirens) once again entered their perception. Somehow, they had been so worried about their own problems that they hadn't even considered that they weren't the only ones affected by it all.

"I…I hadn't thought of that…" muttered Rika while biting her lips, looking around with a nervous look. "D-do you think we should…?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea." firmly declared Shino while her 'helmet' receded from her head, everyone looking at her in surprise. "Sorry, it's not that I don't get why you would want that, really, but think about it like this: If a bunch of teenage girls with strange 'superpowers' showed up out of the blue just after what happened, how do you think the authorities would react?"

"That's…" started to say Keiko before shutting up, biting her lips at the full implications hit her.

"Not to mention the fact that someone could identify or take a picture of any of us if we're careless, and that would led the problem back to our families." inwardly, the bespectacled girl felt a bit guilty at saying those words, even it was just to protect everyone, because she wasn't really in any danger of being 'exposed' thanks to Hecate. "I know it may sound selfish, but it's too much of a risk to…"

"No, Shino-chan, you're right." calmly agreed Aiko, her words earning another round of surprised looks from everyone while the girl put a hand on her little sister's shoulder. "Yuu, right now, the best we can do is finding Kirito. His powers may help fix this in a way we couldn't just by exposing ourselves directly…"

"…ye-yeah, you may be right." finally agreed the younger of the Konno siblings, hesitation changing into determination as she looked at the rest. "C'mon, let's go and find…!"

"Hey…what are you doing?!" Elucidator's robotic voice made everyone freeze and their gazes to shot towards where he was pointing.

There, the three previously unconscious aliens, about which they had forgotten about, had apparently woken up and crawled away, one of them currently looking at them with one hand over his helmet's side, shouting in fright at the tank-robot's words and doing his best to stand together with his friends.

"…quick! They spotted us!"

"Shit! The systems I was using to jam their signal must have been damaged in the explosion!" cried Elucidator while ignoring the retreating aliens and turning to look at the shocked girls. "We need to leave; they must have called for backu…!"

His words were brutally interrupted by the sound of Space being Warped, the screaming form of a 4-armed figure in armor shooting out of a 'portal' in the air and slamming all 4 of his 'hammers' on the tank-robot's back.

"This is for Elysium, you damned servants of the Tyrant!" roared Rarun as Elucidator's cracking form fell forward, everyone still gaping in absolute shock just as seven other figures jumped out of the distortion, landing near them.

Some were humanoid, a couple quadrupedal, some had tentacles or claws instead of arms or legs…but all of them were clad in the same black 'suits' that the group quickly recognized, their silver visors fixed on them for an instant before they vanished from the world's perception.

Shooting forward as their hands morphed into weapons, the Ghost Walkers got ready to end their enemies in one quick…!

"NO!" roared Shino while shooting forward, vanishing from vision and perception too as her hands morphed into impossibly long canons, which she used to actually clobber the shocked Walkers as she pushed them away from her friends, Hecate willing their 'helmet' to appear again as they started shooting energy blasts towards their quickly moving enemies. "You won't harm them!"

"Shino-chan!" shouted Yuuki while reaching out to where the bespectacled girl had vanished, before her instincts flared and, in a show of reflexes that was beyond even what the SAO Survivors present could do, made her jump backwards, a blade materializing in her hands while other 4 started 'floating' around her, the ex-tester of the Medicuboid glaring daggers at the figure that had been about to crush her with his hammers. "You…!"

"Servants of the Tyrant! I'm lieutenant Rarun-Konik, from the fallen Nebula-Class Battleship Star Hunter, one of its 3 surviving high-ranking officers! And in the name of our leader, Captain Elysium Syrom Revenant, I will send you now to reunite with your wretched master, to the depths of Unreality where she dragged him with her!" proclaimed the 4-armed alien while raising his massive weapons and towering over the wide-eyed girls. "Do not try to ask for mercy, as you lost the right for it together with your humanity when you chose to serve the…!"

A loud explosive sound abruptly cut off the lieutenant's words, sending him flying and his weapons out of his hands while, on the background, the invisible clash between the outnumbered and outclassed hybrid of Shino/Hecate and the other Ghost Walkers started to visibly destroy the street.

Lowering his mostly destroyed cannon arm, Elucidator's body released something akin to weak chuckle, too damaged to even stand from his half-crawling position.

"You…talk too much…bastard."

"Luci-kun!" shouted Rika while moving to his side, looking over the many damaged and smoking parts of the slowly rising robot with worry, even as the others kept gaping at the fallen form of Rarun, currently half-embedded against a building at the street's other side. "You okay?!"

"Can't feel…pain, remember? Just…lots of internal damage…don't think this body…can take much more punish…LOOK OUT!"

Elucidator's warning came just in time for Suguha and Asuna to move, finally overcoming their earlier surprise and reacting in time to block two of the suddenly roaring alien's fists, his armor's back scorched and smoking even as his helmet was quickly cracking.

Both girls' projected weapons quickly did too, to their surprise, even as they struggled to keep their footing against the lieutenant's monstrous strength, the road cracking under their feet from the pressure.

"FOR ELYSIUM…KILL YOU…!" snarled the 4-armed with a crazed toned, his helmet falling apart to reveal a raging face with a too-wide mouth filled with angular teeth, four eyes shining with a strange reddish aura. "BUMDAR GARHK!"

"What the hell happened to him?!" growled Asuna as she fell to one knee.

"I-I don't know, I think Luci-kun's attack may have done something to him when it hurt him…!" replied Suguha while putting all her strength behind her katana, going so far as to push the blade's flat side with her open palm, unwilling to fall down. "Bu-but he let go of his weapons, we may be able to…!"

"Watch out!" shouted Yuuki while moving between them, all her flying swords shooting to both sides in time to save the girls when their enemy seemed to remember he had two arms unoccupied and tried to crush their skulls, twin blades stopping each fist and slowly cracking under the pressure. "Kuh…! This is not good; we need to help Shino-chan!"

"UMHAGM DO GARUT! ELYSIUM OSAKM!" growled the crazed Rarun in answer as he pressed on, starting to overwhelm all three girls. "URASUM KIERK!"

"Why is this guy suddenly talking gibberish?!" shouted Rika while slamming her glowing shield-barrier on the mad lieutenant's side with all her might, throwing him off balance and letting Suguha, Yuuki, and Asuna to fall back even as Aiko jumped over her, 'shooting' at the roaring alien's back with her projected dagger-pistols. "He was speaking Japanese almost perfectly a minute ago!"

"I think it may have been his helmet translating for him." deduced the oldest of the Konno twins while aiming to the gaping and smoking hole on the back of Rarun's armor, pushing down the urge to vomit in favor of shooting at the scorched flesh, making the berserker alien snarl in pain as he fell back. "I don't think he can even understand us now!"

"Freaking great, as if he wasn't totally impossible to reason with already!" groaned the blacksmith as she spun around to deliver a hit with her 'crappy' hammer to their enemy's head, looking with the corner of her eyes how Keiko helped the other three to recover their breath. "Okay, as soon as we knock this guy out we go and find a way to help Shino-san deal with…!"

Rarun's eyes glowed as his face moved to the side, his head shooting forward to meet the hammer head on. Projected 'metal' cracked in a thousand pieces from the unexpected head-butt.

Shinozaki Rika was still too in shock at what had happened to even try and raise her multicolored shield, the roaring lieutenant's forehead slamming against her torso and sending her flying back through the air, a horrible cracking sound making everyone look in horror even as blood flew from her mouth.

"LIZ!"

"NO!"

"LIZ-SAN!" screamed Keiko louder than anyone else, the guilt of having been the only one that hadn't tried to engage the 4-armed alien (In favor of protecting her weakened dragon-partner) consuming her as she saw the oldest girl of the group crash on the road back-first, her eyes widening in horror as she saw Rarun roar and, ignoring the panicked shots Aiko was sending at his back, crawl forward inhumanly fast while raising one of his arms, ready to crush Rika's head into pu…"NO! DON'T TOUCH HER!"

With that scream, Ayano Keiko 'uselessly' extended her right arm towards her friend. At the same time, Pina's red eyes glowed.

Cosmic power surging through the Anchor Link, the young girl's form suddenly glowed, the phantom limb of a massive dragon covering her own arm and SLAMMING the shocked lieutenant on the ground with enough force to crack the road from side to side, knocking him out.

Everyone was blinking and slowly turning to look at the frozen Keiko as the phantom limb broke away into shining dust, the girl suddenly panting as her clothes seemed singed and the clips that held her hair into twin-tails fell apart into ashes, leaving her hair free to fall down.

"…woah." was all that Yuuki could say, even as Asuna reacted and ran towards her long-time friend, Suguha doing the same towards the kneeling Beast Tamer.

"Liz, hang in there!"

"Keiko-chan, you okay?!"

"I…did I really just do that…?"

"Yes, you did, but we don't have time to wonder how, Shino-chan needs our help!"

Meanwhile, the hybrid of Asada Shino and Hecate had been really in need of help for a while now. Her initial advantage at taking her foes by surprise had quickly vanished as the difference between the girl and her opponents became clearer.

She was not only outnumbered but totally outclassed.

Sudden changes in tactics, new attack formations, seemingly communicating their intentions to their comrades with just an insignificant gesture…

Compared with them, with true soldiers that had earned the title of 'Ghost Walkers' through training and years of warfare, it was more than obvious that she was just a 15 years old girl way over her head. Hell, she was sure that she would have died several times already if it wasn't for both Hecate (Being 'alive' making her clearly superior to the Standard AIs the aliens had) and her own experience 'hunting' Ghost Walkers in Requiem Universus Online, even if the latter was just useful for the basics of their abilities and theoretical basic tactics, which they were quickly changing once it became obvious she somehow knew them.

Such was the difference between real thinking soldiers and the virtual imitations Yui and her sisters had created from Yhmos' information.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Hecate had been talking with someone, apparently the aforementioned 'Space God', for the last seconds, though she had mercifully separated her 'mental voice' from Shino's own, so that they could still fight their extremely weird 'silent fight' (It was both bizarre and sinister to be moving and clashing endlessly with enemies that you weren't really 'seeing' with your eyes and that generated no sound when they fought) without dying. Yet another attack, an energy shot or maybe an actual 'bullet' of metallic origin, crashed against the dark-haired girl's shoulder, making the hybrid hiss in pain for an instant before clearly feeling how the pain subsided, the flesh and muscle were knitted back together and new 'black liquid metal' emerged to replace the skin, quickly remaking it at almost cellular level even as the 'armor' proper regrew too, covering the 'healing' wound.

Shino was still debating how disturbing it was that she didn't find that disturbing when everything happened.

First, her enemies stiffened, probably a result of seeing their boss being slammed down into the street by some sort of ghostly dragon-claw, and two of them shot in that direction, either to rescue their leader or to attack her unaware friends taking advantage of their distraction.

"Girls! N…!" started to scream the hybrid, forgetting they couldn't hear her with 'Ghost Mode' active…when she felt IT, freezing on the spot.

A feeling of sudden 'Silence' echoing through everything, the other Ghost Walkers also stopping dead in their tracks while the group of nearby girls stiffened, eyes wide.

Not far from them, Elucidator (Who had finally managed to stand again), took a step back, before screaming in something akin to pain, sorrow, and anger mixed together, the tank-robot clawing at his own chest as if trying to tear something off.

Then, light seemed to vanish from all the girls' eyes, the teenagers falling down on the ground like puppets with their strings cut, Pina crying out for his master as he vanished in cosmic dust.

Silence reigned on the street, neither the suddenly totally outnumbered and panicking Shino nor the alien assassins seeming sure of what had happened or how to react.

'…Yhmos! What's going on?! Hey, you AI girls, answer!' the sudden sound of Hecate's voice made the young girl react, realizing that her 'other half' must have accidentally broken their 'mental blockade' in reaction to whatever had happened. 'Hey, partner, something is very…! Holy shit, what happened to everyone?!'

"I-I don't know, but we can't waste time finding out, we need to get them out of here!" mentally shouted Shino as she dashed forward, de-activating Ghost Mode almost by instinct just as the Ghost Walkers finally started to react at the unexpected change in the battlefield. "Quick, we're going to need…!"

'SHINO, DOWN!' commanded the living suit with a panicked howl, purposefully paralyzing parts of their shared body to make them fall to the ground face-first. Then, without even giving the shocked teenage girl time to understand what had happened, the armor around her head thickened noticeably and the visor vanished, leaving her in almost total darkness as Hecate's virtual face appeared on her HUD with closed eyes and clenched teeth.

A second later, Asada Shino understood why she had done so.

(…DON'T…WANT…TO…DIE…!)

The Scream hit, the bespectacled girl roaring in shock and pain as she felt the psychic wave smashing against her human mind.

She was lucky, though, as, in that moment, she was the ONLY being on Earth that had a mind split between two beings, one of which had been created with psychic isolation also in mind, and as such had reacted in time to 'protect' them as best as she could.

And so, Hecate joined her pained scream, the living suit sharing the pain and saving her other half from the fate the other Ghost Walkers experienced (Reducing the pain from 'unbearable' to just 'horrible') as their own AIs, unable to react like living beings, were unable to handle the strain and let them fall to the ground in agony, their suits twisting and seemingly unable to properly maintain their forms as they became visible and the black metal covering them flowed around like liquid a second before trying to reform itself the next.

Shino was just vaguely aware of the distant screams and howls of agony other people in the city seemed to be making when The Scream stopped, fading away into the distance as its echo seemed to dissipate outwards.

She didn't even need to hear a word from her partner before jumping back to her feet, visible once again, the metal around her head reforming into her normal 'helmet' and redistributing itself properly again as she rushed towards the nearest of the fallen Ghost Walkers, extending a hand towards it.

"Get…it…!"

'Don't need to…tell me…!'

Acting as one, both pained beings that formed the hybrid let part of the arm's armor extend and latch into the unstable suit of the Ghost Walker, Shino forcing herself to suppress any guilt about what she was doing as the alien (Which looked like some sort of purple lizard with humanoid hands and no tail) gasped as his 'armor' flowed towards the running form, Hecate easily overriding and suppressing the non-living AI, taking all control over the nanobots that operated the 'pseudo-sentient' metal.

The bespectacled girl allowed herself to do the same with two more of the still pained and stunned Walkers before deeming it enough, desperately not thinking if any of the 3 aliens she had left 'naked' behind could or not breathe in their planet's atmosphere without them before she kept running towards her fallen friends, the mass of metal she was dragging through her arm squirming and shooting fast over her body as her living suit properly integrated it into them, reforming its shape.

One step, she was nimble and barely any taller, dragging a heavy mass that unbalanced her heavily. The next second, the road cracked beneath her colossal feet, Shino barely showing her surprise at how she now was wearing (Or more like 'was', given it was also part of her) an extremely thick armor, 3 and a half meters tall and almost robotic-looking, arms as thick as horse's necks and hands bigger than three human heads put together opening and closing before her eyes as feet the size of trashcans crushed the concrete as she skidded to a halt before her friends.

"I should SO be freaking out more about this." commented the girl as she let her arms change shape and surround her, thankfully still breathing, friends like a small platform, raising them at chest level in a weird mix of a hug and a swept. "But taking them somewhere safe and discovering what the fuck happened takes priority."

'Couldn't agree more, partner. Still, with all the extra weight, both them and the extra ton of Aximak metal I'm carrying and still distributing, I'm not sure if we're gonna be able to get away in ti…'

"The…boss…" came the gasping mechanic sound beside them, almost making the bulky hybrid jump as they turned around to see Elucidator's damaged frame standing up, looking straight at them. "The boss…needs help…fast…"

There was an instant of hesitation, even as both minds of the same body thought at inhuman speed.

"Hecate, do you think you can…?"

'Maybe, but he's going to have to do the heavier work. And we're gonna have to synchronize our minds fully for it to work.'

"Elucidator-san?" asked Shino as she moved to the robot's side, a strangely determined tone in her voice. "How fast do you think you can go?"

Seconds later, the remaining Ghost Walkers slowly started to move from where they had fallen, the one closest to the fallen form of Rarun raising his 3-eyed head in time to look in shock how what seemed like a Tachyon Tank with several lines of black metal keeping it together and a bulky 'jetpack' shot to the heavens just over them, flickering in and out of vision for a second before turning completely invisible.

Aware of the approaching sounds of screaming humans and emergency sirens, the Walker was quick to rush towards his lieutenant's side and contact HQ, demanding an urgent warp back to base, his gaze not missing the form of the three groaning and naked Walkers without armor.

Everything had just gone from bad to worse…

What was this?

What was that?

What was IT?

…was this what it meant to be dead? Was that it? Had she died and this confusing madness was what awaited her, instead of the uncaring oblivion of Unreality?

Was this her punishment for killing an innocent to try and protect the Cosmos?

Her thoughts were just starting to sink into that negativity…when something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, she was somewhere, she was someone once again, she had a body, she…!

…she was tiny. Small, a child, and wearing strange clothes she didn't recognize. At her side, a small-sized shinai (Wait, how did she knew that word? Bamboo Sword? What…?) lie in silence, even as she stared with a mix of fear and frustration towards the elderly man with a much bigger practice sword, who was looking at her with a mix of fury and disappointment.

Her grandfather (Wait, what? No, that wasn't right…she never knew any of her grandparents, why…?) seemed about to scream something else when someone suddenly interposed herself between them.

A small girl of dark hair, holding yet another shinai in her hand, trembling slightly but with her hands tightly closed.

"I will do it for both of us!" shouted the new girl with a tiny yet determined voice, surprising both her and the older man as she stared at him defiantly. "I will keep practicing kendo, hard enough to make it count for me and Onii-chan, so…please, leave him be, Ojii-sama!"

For an instant, it seemed as if the elderly man was going to angrily lecture the little girl, but, after a moment of silence and staring right into her eyes he just wryly smiled, saying something about her having the true spirit of a swordsman in her unlike him, and saying how their training would double in intensity from tomorrow onwards before exiting the dojo (Again…that word, how did she knew what it…?).

'She' was feeling both angry, disappointed and relieved at the same time. After all, even if she was happy the newcomer had got 'her' out of that mess, it felt wrong. 'She' was the big brother (What). Protecting Sugu was supposed to be 'her' job (Who?!), not the other way around.

In that moment, though, 'her' little sister (No…that's wrong, I don't have any sisters!) turned around, looking at 'her' with concern-filled eyes, reaching out with one tiny hand towards 'her'.

"Are you okay, Kazuto-oniichan?"

Looking deep into 'her' reflection on Suguha's bluish-gray eyes, the almost feminine face of a black-haired boy stared back (…how?).

His face.

"Yes, Sugu, I'm fine…and…thanks." answered 'her' with a clearly, if young, male voice.

That was who 'she' was right now.

Kirigaya Kazuto. The lonely child who liked games (But…I'm Elysi…eh? That…name…).

Kirito. The Black Swordsman…

(ETERNITY)

(NOTHING)

(ANCIENT…)

He gasped as he woke up, trying to recall where he was. Trying to make sense of anything.

Currently, she was looking out of his room's window, atop one of the highest towers of the castle (…what? What castle? How…?). The night sky greeted his sight, filled to the brim with stars as it always was in Yurandi. Just the thought that most of those stars probably had worlds on their own filled him with childish wonder and a longing desire.

"One day, I want to see all of them…" whispered the child (Wait, that's not my voice! It's…young…and…female…?) as he looked back towards the capital city not far from the castle, small light and the sounds of festivities reaching his ears as he sighed with a small pang of sadness, imagining other children happily playing through the streets together.

'He' couldn't do such a thing, though, for 'he' was the Crown Princess of Yurandi (What?! I'm not…princes…eh?!). Planetary Royalty had duties and things that were expected of them. They couldn't just play outside with the 'normal' children.

Though this had been drilled into 'his' head since the moment 'he' had use of reason, it didn't make the 7 Mega-Star Cycles (Years? Hold on, how do I know…?!) old understand it any better. Idly, 'his' gaze moved over the impressive room, with the ornate bed, beautiful toys and a stack filled with books from across the whole star system.

Thinking about how 'he' would change it all for having 'friends', the little princess moved towards the bookshelf and, expertly, grabbed a slightly thick volume, moving back to the bed and putting it on 'his' knees before starting reading.

"Deca-Cycles ago, in a planet whose star no one remembers…"

That was how 'he' still was when, time later, the door opened, making him jump in surprise before smiling brightly.

An unknown emotion was filling 'him'. And even so, it didn't seem unknown for the 'person' he was in that moment.

It was in that moment that 'he' finally became aware of 'his' tail, the small and bone-like appendage moving happily from under 'his' sleeping dress as 'he' rushed towards the door and threw her arms around the inhumanly (Alien…) pale woman's waist.

Sheer happiness and childish joy filled 'him' with the action, something that he (Myself…) couldn't remember truly feeling ever, to this degree.

"Mother!"

After all, while Kirigaya Midori hadn't been unfair or unloving towards him, the feelings 'he' was experiencing in that moment told him that the woman that was in truth his aunt couldn't be compared to the pink-haired alien that kneeled to hug 'him' back…

"Oh, Elysium, staying awake to read again?" despite the scolding nature of her words, nothing but a bright smile could be seen in the woman's face, the diamond-shaped pupils and pink hair of her daughter, same as hers, reflecting on her more 'normal' eyes. "Sigh, Fate above, what am I going to do with you…?"

…after all, comparing them, as unfair as it was, would be like comparing a warm fireplace with the sun.

Such was the care and love that Queen Iridium Paylin of Yurandi had for her daughter, the person he himself 'was' right then (No way…don't tell me…!).

Elysium Syrom Revenant, Princess of the Planet Yurandi (It can't be…).

1st Captain of the Float Elysium Syrom Revenant. The Noble Reaper…

(COSMOS)

(VOID)

(RULER…)

The first thing Asuna became aware of when her consciousness returned was the unusual cold she was feeling. The second was that she seemed to be inside some sort of metallic cabin that was quite cramped, given the several unconscious females inside it, and that was shaking way too much for her liking…

Wait, what?

"Where…? What happened…?" mumbled the chestnut-haired girl as she shakily stood up, doing her best to not fall down again as she noticed her friends lying unconscious around her.

"Ah, Asuna-lady! You woke up too?" the sudden voice coming from all around her made the former sub-commander blink as she looked around, confused. "Lady-boss and Shino-lady are out here, so don't worry, everyone is okay!"

"Luci-kun?" muttered the confused Asuna while heading towards what seemed like the 'hatch' of the strange cabin, ready to open it. "Where…?"

"Wait, no, don't just open…!"

The warning came too late, and, as such, the chestnut-haired girl was unprepared for the sudden blowing wind pulling the hatch away from her and almost literally dragging her outside. She didn't even had time to start screaming before black metallic 'tendrils' shot out from the vehicle's exterior (Which she now realized it was Elucidator in 'tank form' but with some kind of giant jetpack and a dark half-liquid 'armor' keeping him together), dragging her back towards it while others quickly closed the tank's hatch once again, letting the wide-eyed Yuuki heiress realize that they were flying high, very high, literally above the clouds.

As soon as her body touched the tank's surface, part of the black metal surrounded her feet, letting her shakily stand while using the strange giant jetpack (Which seemed 'fused' to the tank just over where its broken main cannon started) as support…just in time for said mechanical contraption to 'talk' to her.

"Hey, Asuna-san, you okay over there? I didn't hurt you, right?"

"What the…Shino-san?! Is that…you?!" shouted the shocked Asuna while staring at the metallic contraption.

"Yes, more or less. Sorry if my voice sounds weird, I and Hecate are kind of like in full synch to keep Elucidator like this…"

"Yeah, it's a bit weird and I feel like I may fall apart any moment now, but it's fucking cool!" commented the robotic being as they started to swerve left. "Now please hold on, we should be arriving at the estimated location very soon, and then we need to start searching!"

"Arriving? Arriving where? Searching what?" asked the confused rapier-user…before a familiar voice coming from the bulky hybrid-jetpack other's side made her almost jump in surprise, again.

"Can't you feel it, Asuna?" whispered Suguha without looking at her, the youngest Kirigaya seeming strangely pale and trembling slightly, though it didn't seem to be because of the cold. "Or to be precise, can you feel the lack of it?"

For an instant, the older girl was confused by the statement; then gasped at realizing just what her friend was talking about.

Lonely. Empty. Hollow.

That was how she was feeling inside in that instant, but she had been too busy freaking out to notice. The beautiful 'link' connecting her together to the rest, which she had grown so used to that she hadn't remembered how 'horrible' it was to feel 'normal'…was gone.

…no, not gone. The link was still there. She could still feel the others…but just faintly, weakly, and that with them being just literally under her feet, inside Elucidator's tank-form. As if the 'light' that illuminated that imaginary 'galaxy' all of them were part of had gone out, and in doing so taken away most of the energy that kept them connected…

That was it. It was gone. The massive 'star' that burned brighter than any of them, that gave them a sense of comfort and security, that made her feel all warm inside when she gazed at it through the link, the center of that 'universe'…had vanished.

"What happened?!" demanded Asuna while looking from one person to another, dreading the possible answer but at the same time needing it more than anything else. "What happened to Kirito-kun?!"

"…we don't know." finally answered Shino when it was obvious Suguha wasn't going to answer, the young kendoka seemingly too busy staring somewhere into the clouds and tightly gripping the hybrid's metallic side. "Whatever happened when you all fainted, it also affected Yhmos over there in Requiem Universus, and then there was this…Scream, I can't quite describe it, that let me get us all away from those damn aliens and seems to have affected the whole country, or at least that's what Yui and her sisters reported before they had to close the call to attend to their 'father'. That was a bit over 20 minutes ago…"

"I, well, kind of 'felt' where the Scream came from, as I didn't faint before, probably because my link to the boss is weaker than yours, so I have been guiding us more or less towards where I think he is…" revealed Elucidator as they ascended a bit more, Asuna finally taking notice that the 'cold' she felt was because of the altitude, and that if she didn't have an inhuman body she would probably be freezing to death in that moment. "I'm not totally sure of the exact point, though, which is why we were hoping that any of you could help us out when you woke up…but…"

"I can't feel him…" Suguha's whimper almost seemed like a sob, the former sub-commander biting her lips at looking how her friend fought back tears as she shook in place. "I can't feel Onii-chan anymore…Asuna, please, tell me…can you…?"

"…sorry, Sugu-chan. I…I can't either…" muttered Asuna while looking to her feet, feeling tears pooling in her eyes despite her best attempts to block them.

She wanted to believe it wasn't what they thought. That he was okay, maybe hurt or unconscious, but still…still ali…

"Uh…? Yui-san is calling." informed Shino out of the blue, a rough 'projector' like that of her helmet's HUD emerging from the side of her body closest to Asuna and letting the virtual girl's serious, though worried, face to be seen.

"Are you close to the area of Tokyo Tower?" asked the MHCP-001 as soon as her image appeared, making them all, or at least those physically capable of doing so, blink.

"Uhm, more or less." confirmed Elucidator with a confused tone. "Why?"

"Go and search over that area, quick. There is a high chance that…that Kirito is around there. At least, several reports we're getting indicate that an 'anomaly' that many described as 'a black and blue lighting shooting to the heavens' happened there." biting her lips, Yui seemed unsure if to say more, but finally steeled herself as she did so. "Also…they found a corpse at the tower's base, which apparently fell before the 'anomaly' occurred. Or at least what remained of one, it was mostly sliced apart and anything that could be 'recognized' from it vanished when it…splattered on the ground."

"Oh…oh God…" suddenly, Asuna was feeling sick, almost as if everything around her was about to start spinning out of control, flashes of the time she first met the boy in black shooting through her mind as she saw Suguha go deadly pale and seemingly about to hyperventilate. "H-he…Kirito-kun…?!"

"Calm down! As…as I said, the phenomenon was reported by witnesses AFTER that body fell! Data is not clear yet, there are lots of things going into the net slowly as the power comes back, but…it may not even be him, but whoever he was fighting against…he can't…" taking a moment to calm down, the virtual girl looked from the two clearly emotionally fragile teenagers to the bed that Tomoe had created in the middle of the Throne Room, where her sisters were worriedly looking over their father's unresponsive avatar. "…everything is a mess right now. The data we were getting from Internet since the power started coming back…people is scared and confused, there is chaos everywhere. Some are screaming about terrorists while a not so small number shouts about aliens and monsters and divine punishment. It's making getting anything concrete more difficult…I'm sorry I can't get you any clearer information, but…I'm sure Kirito is…"

"He's okay." spoke Shino with a strangely serious tone, a metallic sound that may have been the living metal forming most of her 'body' tightening around Elucidator's frame filling everyone's ears. "He has to be. If anything happened to him, Yuuki and Aiko would…"

"…I feel it." Suguha's sudden words made everyone freeze and look at the young kendoka, whose gaze was once again fixed over the clouds, though this time in a very specific direction, as if she was entranced by something. "I feel him…Onii-chan…!"

"Wait, what do you mean?!" asked a suddenly sharp Yui even as Asuna closed her tear-stained eyes and concentrated, barely suppressing a gasp when she did so.

It was so faint it was almost unnoticeable, but there, just at the edge of her perception, she could faintly perceive the blurry feeling of what had usually been a bright a clearly defined presence of…

"We have visual on something just ahead!" screamed Elucidator as they passed over a strangely shaped cloud formation, beyond which they saw…"What…is that thing?"

"It's…a sphere?" muttered a confused Asuna while staring at the unnatural object.

A perfect black sphere, over 3 meters in diameter, floating in the middle of the sky and softly 'spinning' over itself. And the clouds under it seemed to be 'following' its spin, as if shielding it from the gaze of the world bellow…

"Whatever that is…it's warm. And it's also giving off a massive energy signature." warily commented Shino in her echoing voice as they flew closer to the unknown sphere, passing a respectable distance over it. "I think we should be cautious if we try appro…what the?! Suguha-san, what are you doing?!"

But the young kendoka either didn't hear or totally ignored the hybrid's words, jumping off Elucidator's frame and towards the black object, calling forth her wings as she did so.

Suguha couldn't help but suppress a grunt at the action, the ethereal wings that before she had been able to summon almost as easily as she breathed now feeling more like trying to draw power from an almost empty battery, taking two terrifying seconds to fully manifest before she was able to stop falling and floated silently over the sphere.

Ignoring the warnings coming from the quickly returning flying tank, she softly touched the unnaturally warm object with her hand.

It moved without any resistance, as if it was a balloon waiting for a child to drag it home…

And whispers that seemed to come from some kind of endless void seemed to reach her mind, together with something else, beyond all of them.

A heartbeat.

"Onii-chan…" tears of joy and relief filled the youngest Kirigaya's face as she turned around, looking towards the incoming form of Elucidator. "I…I think Onii-chan is inside!"

"What?! The boss is in there?!"

"Kirito-kun…thanks Heaven…"

"Those are…great news, but…what is that thing?" questioned the confused Shino as she made the tank's frame slowly circle around the mysterious sphere.

"I'm not sure, but as you said, it IS filled with energy. A lot of it; so much that the remaining systems in this body that can measure energy and weren't fried by the battle earlier are about to overload." added Elucidator with an apprehensive tone, before what seemed like a groan was faintly heard from somewhere within him. "Oh! Hey, the others are waking up and…!"

"No way. It…it can't be…" the unexpected yet vaguely familiar voice took everyone by surprise, eyes shooting towards the small 'screen' that had been showing Yui's face until a while ago. "He's human…even with my powers, it can't…"

Now, though, the image had been changed to Yhmos' pale and shock-filled one, the avatar seemingly struggling to properly express whatever the Ancient Ruler was feeling. Around him, his 'daughters' were looking both relieved and scared, Yin and Yan talking at the same time while asking if he was okay and ignoring Haru's attempts to calm them down, even as Tomoe sent a message to Eve and Ivy (Currently down taking care of the 'little ones') to tell them their father had woken up.

Strea and Yui, however, were exchanging worried looks, their eyes shooting from Yhmos to the strange black sphere floating silently over Tokyo's sky.

"Dad…what is that thing?" softly asked the lilac-haired AI while squeezing his hand, making the rest fall silent as they looked at him.

The fallen Cosmic Entity spoke again, uttering a single word. None of them, human, machine or MHCP, understood what it meant, but all of them felt a strange tingle run through their minds at hearing it.

"…what?" questioned Yui what everyone was thinking.

"…there is no actual translation for that word in any of this world's tongues." clarified Yhmos while shakily sitting up, suddenly seeming every bit as old as his avatar made him look, and more. "But, if I had to look up for an approximation, then it would probably be…a 'chrysalis'."

In the ensuing silence, the sound of a drop of water falling down would have sounded like a gunshot. Even out there in the real world, for the cosmically enhanced humans, one human-alien suit hybrid and one living machine, all other loud sounds seemed to become mute as they tried to process what had just been said.

"…a chrysalis for…what?" came Shino's low voice when it was clear none of the others were going to ask, the girls apparently about to have another emotional breakdown and Elucidator seeming too out of it.

"…for one of my race."

This time, the silence was soul-consuming.

Elysium Syrom Revenant had gone through a lot, from a very young age. In Earth's terms, perhaps she would have been called a child soldier, or just a very eager teenager, that had gone through things that many would consider 'Hell'.

It had only made her stronger. She had swallowed her fears, pushed down her sadness, crushed her morality more than her old self would have ever liked and managed to keep going.

And yet, as 'she' sat there, staring through the eyes of the boy whose life she was living towards the computer where the hacked documents that revealed that 'her' life had been a lie, that the family 'she' thought belonged to wasn't really 'her' family, she couldn't help but share his childish pain, confusion, and sadness as if they were her own.

How would she have reacted, if she had known something similar when she was his age? That the mother she loved more than anything was her mother, that the father she admired like a Hero wasn't her father…? Well, she liked to think she would have done a bit better. After all, being raised as a princess meant that she had been taught endless things since she was very young. She was probably more mature at the age of 10 than Kazuto had been, and by then she already thought of Rarun as her real 'uncle' despite he not really being so.

And despite that, she understood, whether she liked it or now, how the boy felt. She was him, after all. She shared his desire to escape reality, to close into himself, his obsession with computers in general and then with games in specific growing more like an excuse to keep away from his family than anything else.

It didn't stop her from feeling bad for said family, though. Maybe the father or the mother could be blamed slightly from the childish point of view, it was easy to do so when they were rarely at home and more of 'her' childhood memories were with 'her' strict grandfather and then waiting long hours all by the lonesome…but she didn't deserve it. She, who also went through the same, but never thought less of 'their' parents, who was hurt by 'her' sudden indifference and then became indifferent towards 'her' too.

Kirigaya Suguha, 'her' little sister, didn't deserve to have also shared the same treatment 'her' discovery made 'her' give to 'her' family. She didn't know the truth, after all.

And then…IT happened.

Kayaba Akihiko. The revolution of technology. The Nerve Gear.

The virtual world, at the reach of everyone…

…and Sword Art Online.

As 'she' went through the Beta Test, Elysium's real self couldn't help but let her wonder grow. From a soldier's point of view, especially one from a Universe like hers, it was truly nothing more than a childish game, and a very stupid use of technology that could have others (Military) applications.

And that was where the wonder came from, as, as far as she knew, there was nothing like that in her Universe, or at least among the technology that the Alliance used.

Could they make it? Oh, most certainly, especially as 'she' looked through endless data and new about the designs and workings of the Nerve Gear online…but they simply hadn't ever done so, because it wasn't necessary. Because, in a Universe that had been at 'war' since immemorial times, something like this, the wonder of making imaginary worlds real just so everyone could enjoy them, was something people with the ability to actually do it would never 'waste their time' in.

Elysium didn't miss, though, that another clear reason 'she' loved the game so much was because it gave 'her' an extremely real chance to 'escape reality'. To pretend to be someone else.

In Aincrad, 'she' wasn't Kirigaya Kazuto, the adopted boy that no longer knew how to relate with 'her' family. 'She' was Kirito the swordsman, a brave warrior ready to face any danger to clear that floating castle.

When the day for the actual game to begin came, 'she' was extremely excited. Barely paying attention to 'her' sister…cousin, telling 'her' she was going to her kendo practice; 'she' uttered the words that would take 'her' back to the world 'she' loved so much.

(Link Start…)

And then, the dream became nightmare. The genius revealed himself as a madman, trapping 10000 lives in a struggle for life and death from which they couldn't even defend their real bodies themselves from, leaving only their consciousness trapped into those virtual reflexes of themselves, to fulfill a seemingly impossible task. And for no clear reason.

The Death Game had begun, and a hundred Floors separated the players from freedom.

Elysium wasn't totally sure what the laws of the Alliance would say about such a bizarre situation, but she was sure no one would object if she ripped Kayaba Akihiko's throat with her claws without any previous trial or sentence. The monster didn't deserve any better.

Yet, as Kirito, 'she' could only struggle, forcing 'herself' to the loneliness 'she' was used just to try and survive, an unnatural drive fueling 'her'.

'She' would survive. 'She' would go back home, to the real world. And 'she' would apologize to the family 'she' had wronged, feeling stupid that such a horrible and life-threatening situation had been needed for 'her' to realize that the fact that they hadn't conceived 'her' didn't make Midori and Minetaka any less 'her' parents, that the fact that they weren't born from the same mother didn't make Suguha any less 'her' sister.

Through a hardship and with a drive that her real self, the captain, couldn't help but be awed at, the teenager slowly forced himself to become a warrior.

Certainly, there was no pain in this world, but that didn't make 'her' struggle any less real or worthy. It didn't make the risk of death any less threatening.

And it certainly didn't make Kirito any less brave. Especially not given what happened after the First Floor Boss Battle.

Elysium would have never pegged the boy whose life she was experiencing as a martyr, and yet that was the only word she could apply when 'she' boasted 'herself' as 'The Beater' in front of the clearers, as 'she' took the burden and hate of the many to 'save' the other Beta Testers, those who could better help clear the game, among which only one was close to him in any way.

And so, 'her' lonely struggle continued. At first, that girl of the rapier, Asuna, made 'her' somewhat company on occasions, but in time their paths drifted apart as she assumed the leading position Kirito knew she was destined for, an inspiration to drive everyone forward, and 'she' kept fighting through the shadows, in a lonely struggle to always be strong enough to survive. While a bit worrying, Elysium honestly couldn't think there was anything wrong with it.

And then, 'she' met the Moonlit Black Cats…

(STRUGGLE)

(EMOTION)

(CHANGE…)

Kirigaya Kazuto thought he knew what it was to struggle. He thought he knew what it was like to face some of the hardest things life could throw at you.

As the training droid rammed a metallic fist on 'his' gut for what felt like the thousandth time, he was forced to reevaluate all of those beliefs, the training armor 'he' wore preventing any real injury but doing nothing to ease the pain as 'his' body crashed down almost to the other side of the training room.

It hurt, so much. It had been going on for hours, so long that 'he' was feeling as if the pounding pain had become a part of him, something constant and undeniable, and that any memory without that pain was only an illusion.

'He' should be giving up. After all, there was no real reason for this. 'He' wasn't doing this to protect anyone or to save a life, there were no great stakes at risk nor any death or life situation stopping 'him' from going back home. There would be no shame or loss if 'he' surrendered now.

That was how Kazuto saw this. That was what he would do in this case. After all, while he was no coward, he wasn't a hero or a saint either. He would do all in his power to protect those he cared for and try and help those he saw in trouble if he could do so, but he wouldn't go out of his way searching for problems to solve. He wouldn't look for greatness, even if it was for the better of others, because he was content with who he was.

That was why it was so painful. Because, despite how utterly alien the idea and concept should be for him, he still could, or more like was forced to, understand it, as the little girl, barely more than 12 mega-cycles old at the time, that did so was 'himself' in that moment.

"A…again…"

He understood her drive, because, in that instant, it was also 'his' drive.

'You were born to be a princess, not a soldier.' Those words from 'his' father rang true. Destiny had said so, since the moment 'his' father and mother met and fell in love, a princess and a hero of war, a queen and an admiral, like something out of a cosmic tale. Since the moment they married, and then 'he' was born, it was agreed that 'he' would be the next heir to the throne of Yurandi. 'His' father agreed, and 'his' mother was happy.

Kazuto could still remember the little girl who wanted to see the stars in the sky with her own eyes. And that had become uneasy, then scared, when some stars started to vanish from the heavens.

It would take mega-cycles before 'he' fully understood it. The scale at which the Tyrant brought devastation to those who opposed his supposedly 'rightful' rule.

Planets ravaged or broken. Entire Star Systems destroyed. Galaxies left in ruin.

But that was the beginning, just seeing the stars 'he' dreamed about vanish. And then hearing how 'his' father did his best to protect them, fighting for them every time during the long periods he wasn't with 'him' or 'his' mother.

And that was how 'he' decided to become a soldier. 'He' would be a hero, like 'his' father, someone who protected it all, not someone to be protected. Someone who fought for the freedom of every living being under the stars.

'His' mother opposed firmly, of course. And while 'his' father didn't deny 'his' seemingly 'surprising' wish, he didn't give 'him' any support to convince her either.

It took almost two entire Mega-Cycles. What first were pleas quickly became firm points, then solid arguments. Finally, 'his' mother, with a heavy heart and a sad smile, gave 'him' the okay, in a way. If 'he' could complete 'his' father's training, none of them would stop 'him' from joining the ranks of the Alliance.

It was obvious what the queen of Yurandi thought, of course. She was sure that her daughter would either surrender or realize that she wasn't born for such a life, that she would return home with her after her father treated her with the same ruthlessness that he did all other soldiers instead of how he would his beloved daughter. She would return, maybe crying, but at least safe.

As 'his' fist smashed through one of the droid's heads and 'his' sharp tail pierced one trying to take 'him' down from behind through the torso, rendering both useless, Elysium idly realized that, for once, 'he' was glad to disappoint 'his' mother, reigning back 'his' urge to cry with a determined scowl.

'He' was stronger than tears, after all.

And as 'he' rose through the ranks of the Alliance like a prodigy, almost nothing of 'his' old-self remaining, Captain Elysium Syrom Revenant was proud of 'himself', filled with pride after hearing 'his' father's praise when 'he' arrived at the Star Hunter.

…there was only one lingering doubt in 'his' heart, though.

Had it been because of 'him', that 'his' parents no longer loved each other? 'He' had asked uncle Rarun, of course, and the 4-armed lieutenant had answer with rotund denials, saying that it had sadly been a matter of how things were, that after so many mega-cycles of seeing each other so little things became bitter between them, that 'his' mother no longer had the heart of waiting every time 'his' father was out fighting in a never-ending war.

But, deep inside, 'he' was almost sure that was a lie. After all, no one knew better how much 'his' parents loved each other than 'himself'.

For 'his' mother to suddenly not want to talk to 'his' father anymore, and for him to accept it with neutral sadness…had it been 'his' fault? Because 'he' chose to be a soldier instead of the princess 'he' was supposed to?

Those doubts and hesitation kept mounting inside 'him', the horrors of the war not helping get rid of them. There were just so much destruction, so many battlefields, so many dead people, so many lost comrades, before one started to become…desensitized, to it all. And, to the small part of 'him' that was still the young princess Elysium, that was both horrifying and wrong. Horrible and against everything 'he' stood for.

One thing or another, one could blame 'him' or any of that, but it was a fact that it was what led to the catastrophe of Uekyt's moon.

'His' whole infiltration battalion, lost. And 'he', the prodigy captain, captured, kneeling on the ground while chains of unbreakable adamantine, same as her claws to keep these restrained (As no one had been brave or foolish enough to try and remove them directly) were wrapped around her arms, two Chimera-Level Battle Mechanoids holding them and keeping 'his' arms apart as the enemy general stared down at 'him', a destroyed battlefield around them and a dozen armored figures aiming their Galium Blasters at 'him', 'his' tail angrily trying to get free from where it had been painfully pinned down to the ground with a laser-spear.

"Behold, the mighty Noble Reaper, defeated! You should have known better than to fight against the Great One."

"Why…why are you doing this?!" snarled 'him' while glaring at the 12-pointed star symbol on the general's helmet, rage, and despair filling 'his' being. "We're fighting for the Universe's freedom! Why would you aid that monster?! Haven't you seen the destruction he has brought?!"

"The Eternal Conqueror only destroys those that will try and threaten his rule. All in the cosmos is His by birthright. Resisting is futile." the man's words were painful to 'him' because the general seemed to honestly believe them, as if they were the absolute truth of all. "It's not too late to see the mistake in fighting against His glory, young one. Join us, and let the Universe's order be restored once none oppose its rightful Ruler."

"Never." 'he' spat with hate and Determination, 'his' diamond-shaped eyes meeting the general's gaze while ignoring the excruciating pain coming from 'his' tail. "As long as I can raise these arms of mine, I won't bow down to the Tyrant."

"…that can be fixed." was the calm answer of the general before, with a gesture of his hand, the Chimera Mechanoids started to pull the chains.

Elysium had barely more than a second to understand what was going on before 'his' arms tensed and, suddenly, started straining as they were pulled in opposite directions.

"Ahh…AGAAAAH! Y-you…mons…teeerrrrss!" screamed the captain while using all of 'his' strength to try and break free, to free 'his' battle-claws enough to try and break the chains, even if 'he' knew it was impossible, for…for something, anything!

But the sounds of bones and armor starting to crack was all that greeted 'him', all the strength 'he' had inherited from 'his' father's race useless while soul-piercing screams erupted from 'his' throat, as 'he' felt the machines continue their task of ripping 'his' arms away from 'his' torso…

And then IT happened.

Why did it happen? Was it something predestined? Was it a casualty? Was it that 'his' screams somehow reached Beyond; a one in a thousandth millionth chance?

The answer, if it existed, wasn't something that anyone knew. The point was, though, that, in that instant, a 'he' fell 'his' arms about to be ripped apart…Elysium Syrom Revenant 'saw' something from Beyond.

One instant, 'he' was there, about to be mutilated, and the next, for a fleeting second, a moment between the Concept of Time itself, for a reason 'his' inferior mind couldn't comprehend, 'he' was staring at something so much greater than 'himself', than even her own Universe, that it was a miracle in itself that 'he' didn't go mad at doing so.

To this day, Elysium was unable to properly remember the ephemeral event, but Kirigaya Kazuto, who was watching it all through the princess-turned-captain's eyes, was properly able to SEE the fleeting glance of IT, whatever it was.

Something Beyond and Above it All. Something that didn't Rule, but still was Greater than anything belonging in the Never-Ending Omniverse. Something that was…

Absolute.

And suddenly, upon seeing It, the young ex-princess of Yurandi reached an understanding of the Cosmos that no inferior being should reach, ever. It was against nature and against the Laws of Reality themselves, and as such, that understanding was gone the next instant.

But an instant had been more than enough to create an unbreakable Connection. And that [Determination] 'he' had felt before came alive, answering 'his' call from the very roots of Reality and manifesting through 'his' trusted Crimson Reapers, rewriting their very existence.

When 'his' conscious properly returned, 'he' had already torn apart both Mechanoids, slaughtered all the soldiers and had 'his' Conceptual Claws half-closed over the general's head.

"Lo…long life to the Eternal Conqueror!" screamed the doomed man before his suit beeped loudly and a massive explosion engulfed it all…

Or it would have, if Elysium's claws hadn't suddenly expanded and covered the enemy's body whole, the Concept protecting Its master and the explosion vanishing from Reality as it came in contact with [Determination].

It would take almost an entire cycle before reinforcements from the Star Hunter, led by 'his' father himself, found 'him'.

Elysium hadn't moved at all in all that time, standing silently amidst the destroyed battlefield, with a crater before 'him' and the remains of 'his' enemies scattered around, staring fixedly at 'his' once again normal battle-claws.

'He' had been given a 'gift', and as such, been saved. Whether it had been on purpose or not, whether it had been 'his' destiny or a casualty like an ant suddenly staring up, seeing a man passing and understanding what it meant to be human, the fact that 'he' now had it.

And so, Elysium Syrom Revenant swore to herself. That she would those 'claws' to tear apart the evil that threatened her Universe, to fight for the freedom of the stars she had once dreamed about.

And despite how it went against almost everything that was himself, Kirigaya Kazuto understood her.

How could he not, when, in that moment, He and She were basically the same person?

(UNDERSTANDING)

(ACCEPTANCE)

…

..

.

(EVOLUTION…)

It was being, almost without a doubt, the busiest night in Japan's history.

Between the 'normal' chaos the prolonged and total energy outage had caused, especially in the middle of New Year's Eve, the 'terrorist attack' in Yokohama, the strange light phenomenon and 'incomplete and unidentifiable corpse' from Tokyo Tower, and the endless reports of people shouting about 'aliens and monsters' fighting in the middle of the city, it was understandable that most authorities and emergencies on half the country were busy trying to fix the situation before it escalated even further.

As such, and with most people in Japan trying to get more information about what had happened in the affected areas (Be it because they had friends or family there, or were simply just curious), no one could have really blamed the humans when the fall of a golden shooting star went by almost unnoticed, and wouldn't really be fully reported or acknowledged until the next day.

Even when said 'shooting star' crashed somewhere in the country's north, in the middle of a forest. After all, even if it had indeed been seen by someone with authority to do something, there was no one who could get to the area anytime soon to investigate.

No one human, that is, because it hadn't even been 10 minutes since the crash before a magician, a dozen infantry soldiers and General Gahul Moria materialized in the area thanks to a Warping Mystery.

While the soldiers and the wizard seemed on edge and nervous, there was a cold tiredness surrounding the snake-like alien, even as he released a sigh while raising his arm and scanning the surroundings with his terminal, his other hand idly caressing his battle-whip as he did so.

"Firssst the plan we ssstaked almossst everything on isss a total failure, then we lossst that naïve Revenant girl, and then that idiot of Konik almossst getsss himssself killed fighting that monster'sss followersss." mumbled Gahul while shaking his head, slithering forward towards the Impact Point while his followers trailed behind. "Not to mention how the Tyrant isss probably done playing around after whatever happened when Elysssium fought him, that the humansss all but know of our presssence after that, and now a freaking unknown object with more energy than anything thisss planet is able to produce fallsss from ssspace jussst after all that ssshit goesss down? Ugh, thisss really isssn't my night…"

"But General Moria, sir, what if it's a piece of our ship?" questioned one of the soldiers closest to him with a slightly excited tone. "After what happened tonight, recovering even a single piece of tech from the Star Hunter could help us immensely!"

"Anything from the ssship that remained in orbit ssso long, then fell down, would be little more than ssscrap, essspecially after the atmossspheric reentry." reminded him the snake-like alien as they finally saw a clearing among the trees just ahead. "Besssidesss, the timing isss too sussspicious to be jussst a coincidence, not to mention the fact that it crassshed HERE, in Japan, out of the whole Earth. I'm more willing to bet that, whatever it isss, it'sss probably more…trouble for…usss…"

Slowly, Moria's voice trailed off into frozen silence, and the other 'Star Hunters' behind him were quick to notice why, gasps of shock emerging from them.

There, before them, was an impressive crater, almost 50 meters in diameter and 10 or so deep on its center point…

And standing in the middle of it, an armored figure stood, shining with faintly golden light.

Tall and imposing, his frame, while smaller than Rarun's, would still be seen like the very limits of what humans would consider 'normal'. Smoke was still coming from the once golden full-body armor, now mostly blackened and filled with gashes and dents, but somehow still looking as intimidating and glorious as it would if it had been pristine. The helmet, shaped like some sort of ancient deity of war, somehow seemed more terrifying than ever in its damaged state, and while nothing but burned scrap remained of the mantle with the Universal Alliance's symbol that once hung from his back, it still seemed to give the same presence that demanded respect from everyone that looked at him.

"…n-no way…"

"I can't believe it…!"

"It's a miracle of Fate…!"

"…A-Admiral Revenant…?" asked Gahul with a strange mix of fear and hope, moving forward a couple of meters into the edge of the crater.

The golden figure's head suddenly moved, staring straight at him, making the general and all the soldiers behind him to freeze in place.

The armored figure, for his part, turned around…and collapsed to pieces.

Like a spell that had been broken, the Excelsior-Class Battle Armor fell down, the arms, legs, waist, head and torso parts all scattering around as they crashed heavily on the dirt of the crater, making a very loud sound as they did.

Their smoking insides were empty, nothing but a greasy sensation and a smell of burned flesh having been filling them.

And yet, if one strained their ears hard enough (Which none of the shocked and gawking aliens was doing, for obvious reasons), one could have almost heard a whisper echoing in the wind.

"…Elysium…"

The girl called Elysium Syrom Revenant, 1st Captain of the Float, one of the brightest and most promising members of the Universal Alliance, someone whose ability to summon a Concept of Reality had gotten her an Omega-Level of Security on her information in all Alliance's databases, prided herself in just one thing.

She hadn't truly cried even once since she decided to go down the path of a soldier.

Tears had sometimes filled her eyes during the harsh training her father put her through, but had never broken down crying for it. She had screamed filled with rage and regret after a mission or a battle went particularly bad and they lost a lot of men, but had never let that make her sob in sadness. She had barely allowed herself to shed a couple of silent tears after they settled down on Earth and she was able to fully acknowledge her father's demise.

Because she was stronger than tears. She had a duty and a mission that she had chosen to dedicate her life towards. She was no longer the pampered princess who cried every time something bad happened…

And yet, as 'she' sat in that silent room of Aincrad, hearing Sachi's last message echoing from the recording crystal that horribly cold night of Christmas, her real self couldn't help but cry her soul out, together with the 'her' that was sitting there and letting tears fall freely over the shining crystal.

It was almost preposterous, in a way. That the boy whose life she was experienced could have gone through something that made her, someone who had been fighting in a Universal war, to break down like that. Especially given that he had lived at least 2 Mega-Cycles less than her, and only gone through something that could be called traumatic during less than two.

And yet, she couldn't help it. What 'she' had felt since the moment she met 'her' guild (No…not mine…his…), 'her' friends, those that made 'her' feel like 'she' belonged somewhere and not like the outcast 'she' had forced 'herself' to become, both in SAO and before that, with 'her' family.

…and it made Elysium experience the joy of having true friends that considered you an equal for the first time too. She didn't even mind the fact that Kirito had lied to them about his level, his power, understanding his reasoning, as she had also done her best to hide her background during her first Ultra-Cycles in the Alliance, unwilling to let her status as a 'princess' made others treat her differently, and having little success.

That was why she shared his pain and guilt when they died, because of him (Not. It wasn't my…his…fault…).

That was why 'her' heart cried out when Sachi's body shattered into polygons while smiling sadly at 'her'. That was why 'her' soul broke when Keita jumped off Aincrad's edge before 'her', once again unable to do anything to prevent the tragedy.

The rage and the emptiness that filled Kirito after that, it was something that almost scared Elysium, especially as she had felt them through him too. His nigh-suicidal charge against Nicholas the Renegade, the (Predictable) disappointment of what the Divine Stone of Returning Soul really did and that final acceptation and forgiveness that ended with tears after hearing Sachi's last message…

How could someone suffer through something that made her think she had it easy in the war? She didn't want to feel this…she didn't want it…!

Even less when the sadness and tragedy became positive things. When the boy found new friends with which he bonded, when Kirito slowly learned how to open himself to others again…

Silica. Lisbeth. Asuna. Even Klein and Agil too, always supporting 'her' in different ways.

'She' (No…not me…him, NOT ME!) felt alive again. Hope filled 'her'. And determination too. They would clear the game. They would become free…

And unexpectedly, it happened. A 'miracle', the escape of the dreaded Tyrant from Elysium's Universe ironically spelling His downfall and freeing the trapped players of Sword Art Online.

Discovering 'her' powers', reconnecting with everyone, the 'Anchors' reveal, discovering and facing the 'Tyrant', which now seemed little more than a powerless and grumpy old man, growing close to Sugu…

Finding love. Being happy. Enjoying life to…

(No, no, no, NO! Stop it! I don't want to feel like this! Let me out of here! LET ME OUUUTTT!)

The aliens. Saving Yuuki and Aiko (Oh Fate, no…h-he was just trying to help two sick girls…STOP! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MORE!) The talk with Yhmos. 'She' refusing under any means to kill the 'invaders'. The fallen Cosmic Entity talking about 'her' fear of 'Death', and 'she' realizing that…

"…you're dying." muttered Kazuto with wide eyes, staring straight at the flickering avatar (…what?).

"…I am." simply answered the Universal Tyrant as if it was no big deal.

"How…? Why…?"

"What do you know about Life and Death, Kirigaya Kazuto? About the mysteries of the Omniverse? See, in most Multiverses, death is the end. The soul leaves the body and either vanishes or returns to an empty reincarnation cycle, wiped clean to start anew. Some Multiverses have actual 'Afterlives', though, to where the soul goes after the body dies. Some have even ways to 'resurrect' those souls. Mystical items, forbidden spells, powerful sorceries, you name it. But…it's all meaningless."

"…what do you mean with…?"

"The ONLY thing that is truly unique about all beings? That is the 'Existence'. It's unique, from the smallest bacteria to the most powerful cosmic beings. A 'blueprint' in the Omniverse that identifies us as Unique, as what we are…and that is erased and thrown into Unreality the moment anything 'dies'. Even being 'resurrected' in those Universes where it's actually possible won't change this. The soul may live on, the flesh may be restored, but the Existence won't come back. It will be another new one. All the memories, all the feelings, but still not the same being. Never again. And my own Existence is tied to my Aether Core…which is now yours. Every moment I keep on existing separated from it, my End draws closer."

"…"

"That was an answer to the question you never had the courage to ask me…oh, don't look so surprised, I have known it for some time. Can you 'resurrect' the dead? Probably, with enough time and practice with my powers…but they won't be the same person. You could even find their actual souls and drag them down from this Universe's reincarnation cycle and recreate their bodies down to the smallest atom perfectly. No one would notice the difference…except you."

"…I…"

"Want some advice? Don't try and play with Life and Death, boy. It will only obsess and destroy you, and I can't have you destroying the planet where my daughters live for some stupid reason, can I?"

"…have you told them?"

"That I will die? No, not really. In time, they will know, and I hope it's something that makes them realize a truth that many in the Omniverse don't get: There are those who seek Eternity. Those who are 'Immortal', and even some beings higher than me that claim to be 'Deathless'. Fools, all of them. Because tell me, Kirigaya Kazuto, how can ANYTHING be free of [DEATH]…when even whole Multiverses will end up falling to her uncaring embrace when their time comes?"

"…I…I should probably…"

"Yes, you should probably be going down there, Yui and the rest wanted to show you all some 'surprise' or something. Now, be gone, I grow tired of your face."

And before 'she' could protest, the goddammed bastard had teleported 'her' all the way to the vehicles' hangar (…I can't…I can't keep seeing this…I don't want to…to…!)…

But it came, the memories moving forward without mercy. 'Her' father returning, Lisbeth's excited discovery of her new powers, the glorious form of Azure Vanquisher, New Year's Eve (Please…please, Fate…no…forgive me…!)…

The attack. Rushing to do something and prevent a tragedy, leaving Sugu behind.

The hospital. HER (Me…).

The fight. The clash. The exchanged words. The antimatter explosion.

Tokyo Tower. The last warning for HER (Me…!) to go away.

The terrifying chill. [Determination]. The claws coming down to end 'her', and then there was pain, pain, pain like no other…!

(SURVIVAL)

And then…

(ADAPTATION)

Only…

(…LIFE)

With a scream that surpassed even the ones she released that time her arms were almost ripped away from her body, Elysium Syrom Revenant was herself once again, sprawled down in a strange 'void', shaking, sobbing and crying like a little girl.

That was why she had wanted it to end sooner. She didn't want to see him surpassing adversity and sadness to enjoy his life. Didn't want to see someone who had never even thought of the greater good, who only cared for those close to him, whose dreams had never been anything too special, being able to live in absolute happiness.

She didn't want to acknowledge that she could have stayed a princess and nothing would have been wrong, that no one would have judged her for it. That the Omniverse didn't care that she had gone against her Fate, that all the things she had gone through didn't matter to those living happily far away…

…that she had killed someone who she wouldn't hesitate to call one of the bravest and kindest persons she had known about in her life for no real reason.

Because now she KNEW, with every fiber of her being, that Kirigaya Kazuto would have never done anything wrong with those powers. He, who not only had never tried to use them or learn to control them for anything, but also wished there was a way to not have them because he only wished to be happy besides those he loved and nothing more.

She knew it because, in that moment, she may as well be him. She had just lived his entire life, after all.

And the only thing she had gotten in return was getting killed herself, and…and…

How…how was she still 'somewhere', if she had truly died? And how had she seen the boy's life? What…?

"Well…look at that. You don't look good, princess."

Elysium's head snapped up at the unexpected void, and she realized that she was floating, in the middle of what seemed outer space.

And just under her, massive and menacing, a 12-pointed and jet black star pulsed sinisterly.

But it wasn't the view of the impossibly changed Aether Core what terrified her, no. I was that of the shadow not far from her, its features obscured by an ethereal darkness and wearing a black long coat and with two swords in his hands, blades that she recognized immediately.

Elucidator. Dark Repulser. Her…no, HIS blades…

"Ka…Kazuto…?" asked the trembling captain…who then realized her voice wasn't hers.

"No, sorry, he's not here right now. I think he's somewhere still trapped in your own memories." The Shadow stared at her with empty eyes, nothing but a never-ending and uncaring void, which shook her to her very soul. "I'm that side of him he dislikes and rejects."

He took a step forward. She backed away.

"No…"

"I'm the Survivor. I'm the Warrior."

Twin blades ignited in the light of a Sword Skill.

"Please…no…"

"I'm the Beater. I'm the Black Swordsman."

Empty eyes shining with a hint of gold towered over her, and she finally realized, what the 'wrong' feeling with 'herself' was.

"Fate…please…I'm sorry…"

"I'm to him what your 'princess' is to you, captain. Those parts you don't need to live the life you have chosen…and yet are still part of both of you, no matter how much you deny it."

Because in that moment, instead of looking like her own body, the crying and shaking form under The Shadow looked like none other than Kirigaya Kazuto.

"And you know that…and me…very well. Because at this moment…you are me…and I AM YOU."

"…sob…I am…so sorry…forgive me…"

"I'm Kirito." sentenced The Shadow Elysium knew as well as herself. "And I don't take kindly to those that kill me."

And without more words, the judging edge of Dual Blades descended…

Next: Divine Humanity/Human Divinity

Author's Notes: And there, done! Woah, longest interlude ever, eh?

Well, there you have it. Hopefully, the 'dive' Kazuto and Elysium had in each other's memories would help everyone understand her a bit more (If you still hate her guts, well, I did all I could, you're allowed to have your opinion :3), while also given our protagonist some more character development, all the while what's 'happening' for real gets hinted at, and its consequences are going to show very soon.

With this, we have closed the 'Ascension' arc and entered the final one 'Godhood'. The world's reaction to the forces from beyond, the last struggle of the Star Hunters, the mysterious 'empty armor' and how the SAO gang will react and face all of this will be the centerpoint of this arc, but its main key, if it's not obvious yet, it's going to be what Kazuto is about to go through next chapter.

As a slightly adapted phrase from a game I really like said it: Will Humans become God or will the Gods become Human? You will have to keep reading to find out.

Also, if it confused someone (Can't blame you, as I purposefully made the part of Elysium-Kirito and Kirito-Elysium even MORE confusing that when it happened with Hecate and Shino), that last 'talk' Elysium experimented from Kirito's PoV chronologically happened back in chapter 9 (Star Princess of the Crimson Claws), when the scene cut off after Kirito and Yhmos' 'discussion' and before he 'appeared' down with the girls and the MHCPS when they gave them the Aurora OxO Oh, and if you didn't notice the reference, Sinon went full 'Hulkbuster' back there with Hecate's armor :P

Okay, I think that's all for now. Look forward to the next chapter, folks, it shall be…Divine XD

Until next time, this is Saint, signing off!