Chapter 14: The End of the World
I Don't Own Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンラインor Any of Characters, All Rights Go To Reki Kawahara and ASCII Media Works
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter Fourteen! I was really excited to finally begin writing this adaptation and it did take a while to write, so I hope you all enjoy! And who knows? This chapter may be the longest, at least in terms of the Aincrad Arc.
* Also, hold on to your butts, because this chapter will be vastly different from the source material! You may spot a few similarities between the two, but this is all mostly original content on my part!
* But anyway, again, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'm not going to say anything else, so let's just get right into the chapter!
Kirito
November 7th, 2024 – Seventy Fifth Floor: Dungeon
"Spread out!" Heathcliff exclaimed as The Skull Reaper descended from the ceiling.
Several people were freaking out and were frozen, too scared to move. Seeing as no one else spoke, I began to.
"This way!" I exclaimed as I waved at them. "Hurry, run!"
They began moving, just as The Skull Reaper landed behind them. It was too late. As they ran, The Skull Reaper struck them across their backs, sending them flying through the air. Klein and I moved in an attempt to catch them, but it didn't matter. As they soared through the air, they're bodies shattered into thousands of glittering shards before we could catch them.
Sweat began to bead up on my forehead as I realized what had happened. Sachi and Asuna gasped as this happened.
The boss is capable of one-hit kills?
"That was one hit!" Klein exclaimed as if he had read my thoughts.
"Man, we are so dead!" Agil replied behind me.
Meanwhile, The Skull Reaper began to prep for another attack. Within seconds, it began to charge us again. And not so surprisingly at this point, several players began to run from it, since we couldn't retreat.
The Skull Reaper closed in on a player and it was beginning to look like it would score a third kill, when surprisingly, Heathcliff flawlessly deflected the strike with his shield. But it didn't matter still.
The Skull Reaper simply curved one of its scythes around the shield and struck the player that Heathcliff had attempted to protect, killing him just as easily as it had the first two players that we had lost at the start. Interestingly enough, The Skull Reaper just ignored Heathcliff and moved around him.
"We can't even get close enough to hit the damn thing!" Agil exclaimed as we watched it move.
I moved forward regardless of what we had just seen.
"Kirito!" Sachi cried with worry.
I ignored her as I came to the aid of another player.
"Look out!" I exclaimed as I blocked The Skull Reaper's strike.
I struggled to keep The Skull Reaper's attack at bay, but I somehow managed to do so for a few seconds.
It's too strong!
It prepared to strike again and once again, Heathcliff blocked the impending strike. The Skull Reaper immediately prepared another strike and this time, my entire party, as well as Agil, came to my aid. Sachi helped me block the strike.
"If we block it together, we stand a chance!" she said.
I slumped down a little bit as The Skull Reaper retracted its limb. Sachi grabbed my arm and pulled me up.
"Kirito, come on!"
"No!" I exclaimed without turning to face her. "Just stay out of its sight! Don't let it touch you!"
I didn't wait for her to respond as I shouted out a command.
"Asuna, help me with the scythes!"
"Right!" she exclaimed as she ran to my side.
"Everyone else, attack it from the sides!" I exclaimed.
"You heard the man!" Agil exclaimed.
I heard several of the players comply and move forward. The Skull Reaper began taking small amounts of damage and become a bit too distracted to attack.
"Hold still baby!" Agil exclaimed as he charged forward.
The Skull Reaper surprised me by using its tail to swipe and launch two players across the room, killing them instantly.
"Damn you!" Agil exclaimed.
I was surprised once again when I turned my head to see Sachi entering the fight, despite my orders to do the opposite.
"Sachi!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?! Get out of its sight!"
"Kiri-Dude, now isn't the time!" Klein exclaimed.
I let out a growl.
"Right!" I said as I returned to handling the scythes with Asuna and now Sachi as well.
The Skull Reaper let out a growl or a roar, as it stretched itself upwards, likely preparing for another attack. I just looked up in awe at its HP bars, to see that we had barely caused its health to diminish.
"Ready, guys?" I asked. "Again!"
We got ready to get back to work on its scythes as it descended for another attack. However, The Skull Reaper quickly traveled across the room to Heathcliff, where he easily blocked its strike. As it did that, Klein ran underneath The Skull Reaper and began striking its underside, as Agil jumped up and used his axe on its back.
Asuna, Sachi and I ran back to the front of The Skull Reaper to work on its scythes again. It tried to strike again, but we blocked it with our swords. Once it lowered itself, we caught a glimpse of its face and struck it while we could. While we had it distracted, several shield and one-handed sword users worked on its legs.
However, one of them got hit and died immediately. The Skull Reaper once again used one of its scythes in an attempt to attack Heathcliff and not so surprisingly at this point, he blocked it with his shield again. Once it retracted the scythe, Heathcliff lowered his shield and struck.
I noticed that Klein charged the boss again. He jumped through the air and successfully struck it across one of its legs. I noticed that we had almost worn it down completely. I took a breath as I grinned and backed up.
"It's almost dead, guys!" I said. "Let's just take a bit of a breather! Just a few seconds!"
Asuna followed my example and backed up away from The Skull Reaper for a few seconds. Well, everyone in my party fell back, except for Sachi, who remained up front with the others, combating the boss.
"Sachi, what are you doing?!" I exclaimed. "Retreat! We almost have it! We can take a short break before we kill it!"
Sachi turned her head to look at me.
"No, I can do this, Kirito!" she exclaimed. "I can handle this fight! I can prove myself to you!"
Turning her head to look at me was Sachi's mistake. The Skull Reaper prepared to strike again as she looked at me.
"Sachi! Watch out!" I screamed.
She turned, saw that the boss was about to strike, shrieked out in fear and quickly struck The Skull Reaper with her sword. Sure, she was able to deliver the final blow, but The Skull Reaper was given enough time to deliver a blow of its own. Before The Skull Reaper died, it was able to strike Sachi, sending her flying across the room. My swords fell from my hands as I watched her get flung.
"Sachi! No!" I exclaimed as I ran over to where she landed.
As I got closer to her motionless form, I focused on her and saw that her HP bar was in the yellow zone – and it was slowly being depleted. I had no idea how she was able to survive a blow and all of the others didn't; maybe since it technically started the "dying process" as it struck Sachi, it was weaker than normal?
The point was I could still save her, if I could give her a healing potion quickly enough. And also, why was her HP slowly being depleted? Was it possible that The Skull Reaper was capable of delivering a poisonous strike? Or a strike that caused HP degradation? I finally reached her and sat down next to her, as I gently pulled her up, so that her head rested in my lap.
"Sachi, don't worry!" I tried to comfort her the best I could, speaking in a worried tone. "Just hold on, it'll be okay!"
I quickly opened my inventory and equipped a healing potion.
"Here." I said as I pushed the potion towards her lips. "Drink this!"
But to my surprise, Sachi lifted her hand up and pushed the potion away.
"Sachi, what are you doing? Let me give you the potion!"
She just looked up at me with a sad smile.
"It's alright, Kirito." She said in a hushed tone. "I'm not afraid of dying anymore."
I looked down at her as I threatened to start crying.
"Please." I said as I pushed the potion towards her lips once more. "Just take it!"
She refused to take it once again.
"Kirito, there isn't much time left. So, listen to what I have to say."
I didn't say anything in return, so she continued to speak.
"Thank you, Kirito."
"Thank you?" I asked. "Thank you for what?"
"Thank you for making these last two years worth living through. Just being with you and your friends have made these last two years worth living."
"Don't say that! You're going to be fine, Sachi! Now, please just take the potion!"
I tried to force it to her lips again, but she stopped me once again.
"Kirito, promise me something."
I didn't say anything, I only allowed her to keep talking.
"You have to promise me that you'll beat this game, Kirito. If not for me, for everyone else here."
I felt like I was going to cry now as my grip on Sachi tightened.
"Sachi, I don't want you to go!" I exclaimed as tears began to run down my cheeks.
Sachi only smiled up at me.
"Don't be sad, Kirito. Besides, we'll meet again one day, where the angels learn to fly!"
And then, the unthinkable happened. Sachi's form began to glitch out, before she ultimately exploded into thousands of glittering shards. I was awestruck. I refused to move, and I refused to think. I felt the healing potion slip from my fingers as I stared at the spot in which Sachi had disappeared. I could feel the tears coming. And I couldn't control them. I heard footsteps behind me, which eventually stopped.
"Kirito?" I heard Asuna say my name.
I looked up at her as tears streamed down my face.
"You were right. You said that I couldn't protect her on my own and you were right." I said. "Even with your guys' help, I still couldn't protect her!"
Asuna just looked at me sympathetically, with a sad look in her eyes. I turned away from her and pulled one of my knees up to my chest. I rested my chin on my knees, and I covered my mouth and nose with my hands as the tears kept coming. Eventually, I heard Asuna walk away from me. Memories of the Black Cats' deaths and now Sachi's death as well flashed through my brain.
I had failed to protect her. I had lied to her, even. I told her that everything would be fine and that I would protect her, and she died anyway. I lied. And right now, I didn't know what to do with myself. I sort of understood now how Asuna had felt when Yui disappeared. I understand how sad she was now, because I was experiencing that sadness myself.
I don't know how much time even passed of me just sitting there, overridden with guilt. It felt like hours had gone by, but in reality, it probably hadn't even been more than a minute or so. I overheard Klein speak as I began to come out of my trance.
"How many did we lose?"
I heard someone open their menu.
"Fifteen." Asuna eventually spoke. "We lost fifteen players today."
No one said a word for a few seconds.
"Oh my God." Agil eventually spoke in a hushed whisper that I could just barely hear.
Silence swept throughout the room again.
"We still have twenty five floors to go!" Klein said in disbelief.
"Twenty five more floors?" Asuna asked with disbelief as well.
"How the hell are we going to even make it that far?" Agil chimed in once again.
There were murmurs all around the room by this point, but no one had the guts to actually start up a conversation. I finally came out of my daze. I wanted to believe that this was all just a bad dream but, how could I? Sachi was really dead. And it was all my fault. I looked over at Commander Heathcliff, to see that he was the only one of us still standing up.
I focused in on him and saw his HP bar. I was disturbed. What disturbed me is that Heathcliff's HP was still in the green zone. In fact, if I recalled correctly, he was the only one of us who hadn't broken a sweat during the fight. Just then, my mind flashed back to when Heathcliff and I dueled some time ago.
Even though I had fought valiantly, he had still beat me, without his HP going into the yellow zone, mind you. And once again, his HP hadn't left the green zone here, either. In fact, there was apparently no recorded evidence of Heathcliff's HP bar falling into the yellow zone.
But, why? I don't care how strong you are in SAO, we all fall into the yellow zone at some point. It didn't really make sense for his HP to always stay in the green zone. I racked my brain for a suitable explanation. That's when it suddenly hit me.
What if it was impossible for Heathcliff's HP to fall into the yellow zone? What if the code of the game prevented it?
That made me really start to think. If Heathcliff's HP was being controlled by the coding of the game, there was only one person – or player, rather, that could have control over that: Akihiko Kayaba. My thoughts shifted from Heathcliff back to Sachi. I was angry with myself.
Why did I allow her to come along? If she had just stayed behind, this would never have happened!
I looked back at Heathcliff and my thoughts shifted once again.
No, it's Heathcliff's fault! If he had never have called us back, Sachi would still be alive!
I looked down at the floor. Heathcliff's HP couldn't fall into the yellow zone. No, Kayaba's HP couldn't fall into the yellow zone! There wasn't another possibility. Heathcliff had to be Kayaba, because Kayaba has the biggest influence on the game, therefore he could prevent his HP from slipping out of the green zone. Well, it was just a hunch, but I did believe that I was right.
I finally stood up from where I had been sitting and walked back over to where I had dropped my swords. I was only going off a hunch here. So, if I was wrong, I would most likely go to prison for attempting to harm my superior and likely, Asuna and Klein would never want to see or talk to me again. I reached down and picked up both of my swords, sheathing one while keeping other in my hand. Asuna looked up at me.
"Kirito, what are you doing?" she asked.
I ignored her and turned to look at Heathcliff, who hadn't noticed me yet. I took a deep breath.
No one else will die because of Kayaba's stupid game!
I started running towards Heathcliff as I charged my sword skill. However, it didn't take long for Heathcliff to notice, as he turned to face me with a surprised look on his face. I let out an angry exclaim as I struck him. Just as I had expected, as my strike landed, it was blocked and the purple "Immortal Object" tag popped up.
"Kirito, what the hell are you…" Klein began to speak, but he must have seen the tag too, as he cut himself off. "…Doing?"
I lowered my sword, as Heathcliff just looked at me with a serious look on his face.
"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Asuna asked as she ran up to me.
The tag above Heathcliff's head disappeared at this point. The next thing I knew, Klein appeared at my side as well.
"Commander, what the hell's going on?" he asked.
Before he could answer, I spoke.
"I think I have an answer to that. The reason the "Commander's" HP can never hit yellow is because he's protected by the system!"
I heard multiple gasps of shock around us. I continued to look at Heathcliff.
"You know, ever since day one, something's always bugged me about this whole thing." I said. "I was always wondering, "Where is he hiding while he watches us and controls everything in this world?" Well, the answer's pretty simple. It's basic psychology. In fact, it's so simple that every kid knows it. There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG."
I narrowed my eyes at Heathcliff, before I continued to speak.
"Isn't that right, Akihiko Kayaba?"
Everyone in the room gasped with shock, including Asuna and Klein. Heathcliff continued to stare at me, before eventually speaking.
"Just for my curiosity's sake, would you mind telling me how you figured it out?"
"The first time I knew something was up, was during our duel." I replied.
As I spoke about the duel, my mind flashed back to it once again.
"Remember when you turned the tables on me?" I asked. "That move was way too fast."
Heathcliff only looked down as he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Yes, I thought so. It was a mistake to think that would go unnoticed by you." He said. "But you were so strong and so fast, the only choice I had was to engage the system's assist-mode."
There were several gasps once again. I wasn't done yet, though.
"And there's the fact that there's no apparent evidence of your HP slipping into the yellow zone." I said. "I took that fact and I considered that only Akihiko Kayaba could have the influence on the game to keep his HP from slipping below the green zone. So, are you or are you not Akihiko Kayaba?"
He looked around himself, before he finally looked back at me.
"Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba." He said. "And now that my identity's been revealed, it should come as no surprise that I am the final boss on the top floor."
Everyone let out gasps of surprise, Klein and Asuna included. I was sort of surprised myself for some reason, not about Kayaba being the final boss, but the fact that Heathcliff was actually Kayaba surprised me. I don't know why, but I expected to be wrong. But the fact that Kayaba was the final boss, it made sense to me. I mean, think about it. Why wouldn't Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online, be the final boss? It only made sense.
"So, the strongest player in the whole game ends up being the final boss?" I asked. "Kinda cliché, isn't it?"
Kayaba just chuckled.
"Actually, I kind of like that angle. One thing's for sure. I always thought that you'd be the one standing before me at the very end." He said. "You know, duel-wielding is a rare kind of skill only given to the player with the fastest reaction time. He's the hero of this story and the one who rises up to challenge the demon king."
He smirked at me while he retained a serious look.
"But you, the power you displayed exceeded my expectations." He continued. "I guess these unexpected twists and turns are what makes MMORPGs so thrilling to play."
One of the players behind Kayaba began fidgeting.
"Our loyalty… Our hope…" he said. "How dare you?! How dare you?!"
The player leaped through the air and attempted to strike Kayaba down, forgetting that he was considered by the system to be an Immortal Object.
"How dare you?!"
Then, Kayaba did something that surprised us. He opened his menu before the player could land the strike and pressed a button. The player's form suddenly glitch and fell out of the air, with a paralysis symbol appearing next to his HP bar.
"Paralysis?" I asked myself as I watched what happened next.
Suddenly, people all around the room began to drop to the floor, except for me.
"Kirito…" Asuna spoke.
"Can't move!" Klein finished for her.
Kayaba had paralyzed them all?
I continued looking at Kayaba.
"So, what's the plan now?" I asked. "Are you going to kill everyone here and cover it up or something?"
"Oh God, no. That wouldn't be sporting of me, now would it? No, I have a better idea. I'm going to head for the top floor and wait for all of you there." He said. "I'll be inside the Ruby Palace. It's a shame I have to leave you all so soon, I've spent lots of time developing The Knights of the Blood Oath and other elite players. Oh, well."
He chuckled.
"You're all strong, so I'm sure you'll reach me. Eventually, that is. But before I go…"
He slammed his sword and shield into the ground.
"Kirito, I feel you deserve some sort of reward for discovering my identity. So, I'll give you a chance."
"A chance for what?"
"To fight me one-on-one. Right here, right now. Oh, and my immortality will be deactivated. Defeat me and you clear the game. And all of the players will be able to log out from this world, no strings attached. What do you say?"
I wanted to immediately say yes. I was still angry and upset about Sachi's death and now I blamed Heathcliff/Kayaba for it. But I was unsure about what do.
Could I really defeat him?
"Don't do it, Kirito!" Asuna said from her spot on the floor.
"You'll get yourself killed!" Klein exclaimed.
"We should fall back and devise a new strategy!" Asuna spoke again.
I just stood there, my face dripping with sweat as flashes ran through my head. I saw the first day all over again. I saw mass panic in the plaza. I saw myself saving Diabel from death during our very first boss fight. I saw myself abandoning Klein and Asuna that day. I started to get angry as I saw the deaths of the Moonlit Black Cats and now recently, Sachi's death.
I gritted my teeth in anger. I thought back to what Asuna had said before we left. How in the real world, our bodies must be barely hanging on to life. If that really was the case, then we couldn't stay here in Aincrad for much longer.
You have to promise me that you'll beat this game, Kirito. If not for me, for everyone else here, Sachi's words rang in my mind.
She was right. Sachi was right. I had to beat the game. I had to fight Kayaba and win. As I stood there, flashes of Kuradeel murdering Godfree and almost killing me appeared in my head, as well as Corvatz almost dying and losing Yui. I looked up at Kayaba.
"I accept your challenge." I said. "Let's finish this."
"Kirito!" Asuna exclaimed.
"Don't!" Klein chimed in.
"Kirito, brother! Don't do this!" Agil chimed in as well.
I stepped forward as I sighed. I turned around to face them with a sad smile on my face.
"I'm sorry guys. I have to do this." I said. "I wish that there was another way, but I just can't keep running away. And besides, we may be running out of time in the real world."
I turned back to Kayaba.
I'm going to win, I thought. I have to. For Sachi and for everyone else still here!
"Before we begin, is it too much to ask for you to allow my friends to move again?" I asked. "I want to say goodbye."
He stared back at me, before he opened his menu.
"I'll give you one minute." He said. "Better make it snappy, Kirito."
I turned around just as Klein and Asuna stood up, both of them being able to move again. Neither of them looked happy, though. I looked over at Agil, to see that he was still paralyzed.
"Agil, thanks for supporting all the players in the game since day one." I said. "I knew. You act like you're all about the money, but you're a hell of a guy, you know that?"
I turned to look at Klein.
"Klein, in the alley that day, you told me that I didn't have to go at the game alone." I said. "You showed me another way. Thank you."
Tears began to stream down his cheeks.
"God Damn you, Kirito!" he exclaimed. "You're going to win, so that I can buy you dinner on the other side to pay you back!"
I grinned.
"You bet, Klein." I said, as I turned to Asuna.
She looked like she was about to cry herself. I looked down as I sighed.
"Asuna, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we never got along and that we never really got to be friends." I said as I looked back up at her. "I deeply regret not getting along with you every day. I really do."
She sniffled and then did something that surprised me. She ran forward and hugged me, resting her chin on my shoulder.
"Y-You were the b-best friend," she hiccuped with her words as she began to sob. "T-That I n-never had!"
I smiled as I rubbed her back.
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you, too."
Kayaba cleared his throat from behind me.
"Come on, Kirito!" he called out. "Come face your destiny!"
I pulled away from Asuna and looked at her face, tears still running down her cheeks. I used my thumb to wipe her tears away.
"It's time for me to go." I whispered. "I'm sorry."
She continued to sniffle as she looked back at me.
"Don't you dare die!" she whispered back.
I grinned at her.
"I won't." I said. "Promise."
And with that, I turned back around and walked towards Kayaba as I unsheathed my other sword. I stopped a few feet from him and narrowed my eyes.
"If it's okay, I have a final request to make." I replied.
"What is it?" he asked.
"If I die here, today, I want you to promise me that my friends will see the real world again." I said. "Agil, Klein and Asuna, I want them to be able to see their families again one day. I think it's only fair."
"Okay." He said as he closed his eyes. "I'll see what I can do."
"No! I need to hear you say it!" I exclaimed. "Promise me, damn it!"
Kayaba opened his eyes.
"Okay, you have my word." He said.
He opened his menu and pressed a button. The "Changed into Mortal Object" tag appeared, and he prepared to unsheathe his sword. He prepared his sword and shield for the coming battle.
This isn't some in-game duel. It's a fight to the death. It's a death game. That's fine with me!
Time seemed to slow down for me. Something suddenly hit me. I was angry. But I realized that if I fought with anger, I wouldn't win.
My anger wouldn't get me anywhere. I couldn't solely rely on my strength this time. I have to be smart about this. I have to use my brain if I expect to win.
I ran forward as the battle began and tried to strike first. And because of that, I earned a cut across my cheek. Kayaba blocked my strike with his shield and caught the side of my face with his blade. I lost a very small amount of HP, but I lost some, nonetheless.
Damn, I thought. I guess that's what I get for being eager for battle! I have to be more careful!
Kayaba prepared to strike, and I tried to dodge. Although I did manage to dodge a strike to the chest, he his blade caught me in the arm.
He can block whatever I throw at him, 'cause he designed the dual wielding skill! And he knows all of its combos! All the more reason why I have to defeat him with my own power! I can't use sword skills! I have to use my intelligence to win!
I ran forward, jumped and flipped over him, only to get cut across the back of my coat. I turned around and began attempting to strike him. He blocked all of my strikes with his shield. He prepared to strike once again, and I sidestepped in an effort to try to strike him. He dodged my strike and cut across my coat once more.
I kept pushing to try to strike him. I managed to lay a few strikes on him, just barely depleting a minuscule fraction of his HP, but he ultimately landed three times the amount of strikes that I had, easily. I charged my sword skill on both swords at once and unleashed a combo – which was ultimately blocked by Kayaba's shield.
During this instance, when one of my swords made contact with his shield, I was shocked when the tip of the sword cracked and broke off from the rest of the sword. I scowled as I threw the now broken sword aside and continued to fight. I thought about trying to get behind him again. I jumped and flipped over him, but once again failed to land a strike as he landed several across my back once again.
I wasn't going to let myself die because of the fact that I couldn't duel wield anymore. I could still fight with just one sword. If anything, I had to try.
Asuna
Before the fight began, I heard Klein quickly open his menu and frantically whisper something, followed by the sound of something shattering. When I asked what that was, he dismissed my question, telling me not to worry about it. Once the fight actually began, I immediately noticed something was wrong. Kirito was taking strike after strike from Akihiko Kayaba. In fact, it looked like he was hardly trying to fight back at all! I began to get really worried once one of his swords broke. It really made me start to think:
Could Kirito, The Black Swordsman, really be defeated?
As the fight progressed, Kirito continued doing his best to avoid strikes from Kayaba, most of the time failing to avoid those strikes. He as well attempted to land aerial strikes on Kayaba, flipping over him, but most of the time Kayaba struck him just as easily as he did while Kirito was on the ground.
"What the hell is he doing?" Klein asked next to me.
"It's like he's not even trying…" I said in response.
"He's killing himself! He's going to get himself killed!" he exclaimed. "Damn it, Kirito! Stop screwing around and fight back already!"
"Pipe down!" I said. "You'll distract him and really get him killed!"
But Kirito kept fighting in the way that he had been. He kept taking strike after strike. And then the unthinkable happened. Kirito made one last attempt to strike Kayaba. He sprinted forward and charged his sword skill, before attempting to strike. However, Kayaba quickly sidestepped and delivered a long cut across Kirito's back.
Kirito continued running for a second or two, before coming to a stop a few feet away from Kayaba. His sword fell from his grip and he dropped to his knees, before collapsing onto the floor. Kayaba turned his back on Kirito and that's when I saw it: Kirito's form shattered into thousands of glittering shards. My eyes went wide with shock as it felt like my heart stopped.
Kirito was dead? It can't be!
"No way…" Klein spoke with disbelief. "It's not possible!"
Kayaba only grinned as he looked on at all of us.
"Is that it?" he asked. "That was almost too easy!"
I just stared on as my eyes stung, feeling as though I was going to cry. I fell down onto my knees as the tears began to come.
"What the hell was he thinking?!" Klein asked from next to me, sounding as though he was close to crying himself. "Was he trying to get himself killed?!"
Tears began to stream down my cheeks, and I let out a hiccup before I began to sob. I didn't want Kirito to do this, but I had been so confident that he could beat Kayaba. How could I have been so wrong? I just continued sitting there as the tears kept coming. That is, until I felt someone tapping my shoulder.
"Asuna!" Klein replied in a hushed tone. "Look!"
"What?" I asked as I looked up at him, still crying.
"Look!" he repeated as he pointed across the room.
I looked up as I sniffled and wiped the tears away. So, when the fight started, a sort of mist covered the floor of the room. And what I saw shocked me. Despite seeing his form shatter, I saw Kirito slowly rising from the floor out of the mist, slowly and quietly reaching for his sword as he did.
But something was odd about Kirito. The Coat of Midnight that he had been wearing was gone. That's when it hit me: Kirito had used the strategy that Kains and Yolko had used when they faked their deaths!
"Kirito!" I whispered with a look of hope now on my face.
"That son of a bitch!" Klein whispered back. "That smart son of a bitch! He used his coat's destruction to make it look like he had died!"
No one in the room said a word. Besides, anything above a whisper about what was happening could blow Kirito's cover.
Kirito
One Minute Earlier
I continued fighting Kayaba while keeping an eye on The Coat of Midnight's durability bar. Once I noticed that it was about to run out, I got ready for my final attack. I sprinted towards Kayaba as I charged my sword skill. And he reacted just as I thought he would. He quickly sidestepped and as I ran past him, he struck me down the back with his sword. My coat's durability was about to run out completely.
I came to a stop and fell onto my knees and allowed my sword to fall from my hand. I collapsed onto the floor and second or two later, my coat shattered.
"No!" I heard Klein speak. "It's not possible!"
"Is that it?" Kayaba spoke a second or two later. "That was almost too easy!"
That's because I deceived you, Kayaba!
Several seconds passed before someone spoke again.
"What the hell was he thinking?!" Klein asked, sounding as though he were going to cry. "Was he trying to get himself killed?!"
A couple more seconds passed, and I began to hear the sound of sobbing, which told me that my plan had worked. Everyone believed that I had died! After several more seconds passed, I began to slowly and quietly get up, reaching for my sword as I did. Once I had my sword in hand, I quietly rose to my feet. I cautiously and slowly turned around, to see that Kayaba had his back to me. I slowly began to sneak up on him. Once I reached him, I made my move.
"You should work on your aim." I whispered to him.
"Huh?" Kayaba let out a gasp of surprise as he turned to face me.
Once he was facing me, I wasted no time at all. I had caught him off guard and so, I put my sword through his chest, completely draining the rest of his HP. He stared down at me as his HP drained.
"Y-You treacherous little snake!" he said to me, before his form shattered into thousands of glittering shards.
Once Kayaba was gone, I continued standing there, with my sword outstretched. Sweat covered my face as my heart pounded in my chest. I don't know why my heart was beating so fast, I guess that I was surprised that I actually won.
Did I win? Did I actually beat Akihiko Kayaba?
I took a few breaths, trying to calm myself down. That's when I heard the cheers from all around me. I finally allowed myself to drop my sword and look around the room. Asuna and Klein ran over to me.
"You did it, buddy!" Klein said as he reached me and clapped me on the shoulder. "Oh my God, I can't believe you actually did it!"
I turned to look at Asuna, who looked back at me with puffy, red eyes.
"Um, hey, Asuna." I said in the most awkward tone imaginable.
She sniffled, before speaking.
"You idiot!" she exclaimed as she slugged me in the arm. "What were you thinking?!"
"Yeah, man!" Klein chimed in. "What did you do?"
I looked back at him.
"I knew that I couldn't beat Kayaba with my strength alone." I said. "So, I used my brain. I deceived him. I…"
Just then, an announcement popped up that interrupted me. And it was an audio announcement, so everyone in the room could probably hear it.
"On November 7th, at 2:55 PM, the game has been cleared." An automated female voice announced. "Repeat, the game has been cleared."
I looked down at the ground and I smiled.
"I actually did it." I said. "I cleared the game. It's over! It's finally over."
"Hey, Kirito, what the hell's going on?" Klein asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked without looking up.
"Look at yourself!" he said. "Something weird is going on!"
I looked at my hands, to see that they were glowing with a white light. I looked up at Klein to see that he was glowing with a white light as well.
"Look at me?" I asked. "Look at you!"
I looked over at Asuna, just to check to see if she was glowing too, and sure enough, she was.
"Kirito, what's happening?" Asuna asked, as her form completely become enveloped in white light, so I could no longer make out any feature of hers.
"Kiri-Dude, what do we do?!" Klein asked in a panic-stricken tone.
I looked over at him, to see that just like Asuna, he was completely enveloped in white light. I looked around us, to see that all of the other players in the room were the exact same way. I sighed as I looked down.
"I don't know." I said in an honest tone.
I continued standing there, as my vision become overtaken by white.
Above Aincrad
When I was able to see normally again, I noticed that I was in the sky, up above the clouds. I noticed that the wind was blowing as well. I looked down at the ground, if you could even call it that. The "ground" was completely transparent, I could see the clouds below. The last thing worth mentioning is that it looked like the sun was setting in the sky.
"Where am I?" I asked out loud.
I turned around, to see that I wasn't alone here. Klein, Agil, Asuna and everyone else were here with me.
"Where are we?" I asked.
I didn't get an answer.
"Guys?" I asked.
I turned to look at Klein, who seemed to be frozen in place.
"Klein, what's the matter with you?" I asked. "Are you lagging?"
When he still didn't respond, I put my hand up in front of his face and snapped my fingers several times. No response still. I sighed as I turned to look at Asuna, who seemed to be frozen as well.
"Asuna?" I said her name.
I didn't get a response.
"Asuna!" I exclaimed, as I grabbed her shoulders and began to shake her.
She suddenly blinked and looked at me.
"Hey, watch it, Kirito!" she exclaimed.
"Wait, you can hear me?" I asked as I retracted my hands.
"Of course, I can!"
"Then why didn't you answer me when I said your name before?"
She shrugged.
"I don't know. I tried to, but I couldn't move there for a while."
"Where do you think we are?" I asked as I looked around again.
She walked around as I continued looking around.
"I don't know… Why can't any of our friends move?" she asked.
I walked back up to Klein, whom was still frozen in place. I looked around once more, before I lost my cool a bit.
"What is wrong with everyone?!" I exclaimed. "What is going on here?!"
Before Asuna had the chance to answer, someone else answered.
"Your friends are fine."
I turned around to see Akihiko Kayaba standing several feet away from us. And it was Akihiko Kayaba, not Heathcliff. He was dressed like he usually was in all of the pictures that I had seen of him in real life, wearing pants, a dress shirt, dress shoes and a lab coat.
"Akihiko Kayaba." I said upon seeing him.
"Hello, Kirito." He said. "Congratulations. That was quite a strategy."
I looked down.
"Kayaba, there was no other way for me to win." I said. "I'm sorry for deceiving you."
He then said something that surprised me.
"No, no, no. Adaptability is an admirable trait."
We all went silent after that, before I summoned the courage to speak.
"So, where are we?"
"It's a stunning view, isn't it?" he asked in return.
I looked back out at our surroundings.
"Yes." Asuna answered this time. "Yes, it is."
"What is this?" I asked.
Kayaba ignored my question.
"At Argus Headquarters, the SAO mainframe is in a room five floors below street level." He said. "And starting here pretty soon, it will begin deleting all of the data from its drives. Soon, everything in this world will disappear forever."
Asuna and I didn't utter a word for a few seconds.
"And all the players?" she eventually asked. "What happens to them? What happens to us?"
"You don't have to worry about them." He spoke as he opened his menu, before a list appeared. "The 6,147 players who survived the game up to now will be safely logged out once the data deletion process is completed."
The list disappeared.
"Kayaba, just answer one question for me." I said.
He turned his head to look at me.
"Where are we? Why are we here? What is this place?"
He turned away once again.
"You could consider this to be the final "stage" of SAO." He said at last.
"Final "stage"? What do you mean?" Asuna asked.
"The final stage consists of a final, peaceful sunset. And I brought you all here to give you a chance."
"A chance?" I asked. "A chance for what?"
"You and your friends have become really close in the last several months of the game. I brought you all here for a chance. A chance to spend the final moments of SAO together and to watch the sunset. I think you all deserve to see a happy ending after all you've been through."
That's when something hit me. I gritted my teeth with anger.
"What about the four thousand people who died?" I asked. "What about Sachi?!"
I felt Asuna put her hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.
"I wasn't lying when I spoke about the matter on day one. Anyone who died, their minds will never return." He said. "Any world real or virtual, once you're dead, you're gone."
I gritted my teeth once more and fought the urge to cry. I don't know why I had to ask; I already knew the answer.
"Why?" I asked. "Why did you do this?!"
"That's… a good question." He spoke, as if he himself didn't know the answer. "It's been so long; I've forgotten the reason. Isn't that strange? Even before I developed a system for the full-dive environment, I dreamed of this."
"Dreamed of what?" Asuna asked with confusion in her voice.
"A castle in a world that wasn't governed by earthly laws and restrictions. I poured my life into making that world a reality. I created this world and I got to see something that surpassed anything I could have imagined for it."
He turned to look at us once more.
"My steel castle, floating in the sky, I don't remember how old I was when I became obsessed with it. I wanted to leave the earth, to fly to that castle! I wanted that more than anything else, for as long as I can remember."
I only looked back at him, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"You know what, Kirito? I want to believe it's still out there. That somewhere, in some other world, my castle is still standing, taller than ever."
I don't know why, but at this point, my anger was gone, and I was looking at Kayaba with sympathy.
"Yeah, I bet it still is." I said. "Somewhere."
"Mmm-Hmm." Asuna grunted in agreement.
Silence fell between us three now. Eventually, he spoke once more.
"Well then, I should probably get going now."
I looked over at him as he turned and began to walk away from us.
"Wait!" I exclaimed as I turned in his direction and put my hand out. "What are we supposed to do here?"
Kayaba stopped in his tracks. He turned around to face us. And what I saw surprised me. He had a rare smile on his face. And it looked like he was content with what was happening.
"Do exactly what I told you to do. Once I'm gone, all of your friends will be able to function normally again. Enjoy your final moments together in SAO." He said. "Goodbye, Kirito, Asuna. Congratulations on clearing the game."
He turned his head back, so he was facing in the direction he was headed, and he started walking again. And then his form turned to smoke. I was sort of angry, I suppose. He never even acknowledged Sachi. But ultimately, I didn't really care about it. Kayaba wasn't lying, though. Once he disappeared, I heard everyone in the "final stage" with us, regain the ability to speak and move around.
"What the hell?" Klein was the first one to speak. "Where are we?"
I turned around and walked over to Klein.
"Glad to see that you're able to function again." I said. "Kayaba described this place as the "final stage" of SAO. He says that we deserve the ability to be here, watch the sunset and just enjoy our final moments in-game together."
Agil paced over to us.
"Wait, you talked to the man himself?" he asked.
"Yeah, Kirito!" Klein chimed in. "I thought you killed him?"
"I don't think it was really him." I said. "I think it was just his afterimage."
"Tell me something, Kirito." Asuna spoke as she walked up to me.
"Yeah?" I asked as I turned to face her.
"How did you come up with the idea to defeat Kayaba like you did?" she asked.
"Yeah, how did you do that?" Klein chimed in.
I turned and walked a foot or so away from them. I came to a stop as I gazed out at the sky, looking at the Castle that Aincrad took place in.
"I realized that I couldn't beat Kayaba with my strength and dual blades skill alone." I said. "So, I had to use my intelligence."
"Your intelligence?" Klein asked.
I nodded.
"I remembered the way Kains and Yolko faked their deaths. They timed a teleport at the precise second that their armor's durability ran out. I thought maybe, just maybe, if I could get Kayaba to strike my coat enough times so that its durability would run out and I collapsed onto the ground the second that it expired, essentially making it look like I had died, maybe I could get him to let his guard down. And I guess it worked."
"You really did remember their strategy…" Asuna spoke as she walked up to me. "Was that your plan from the very beginning?"
I shook my head.
"No. I came up with the plan on the fly. It occurred to me that I was wearing a clothing item with a durability bar. So, that's when I decided to put my plan into action."
Klein walked up to me next.
"Well, congratulations on winning, buddy!" he said.
I smiled as I looked down.
"I don't think that's fair to say."
Everyone looked at me.
"What do you mean?" Asuna asked.
"I don't think I actually won." I said. "I think Kayaba only allowed me to win."
"How can you say that?" Klein asked with curiosity.
"Think about it. I think he wanted to lose. I think he understood that we may not have much time left in the real world. So, he allowed me to win. I think he knew what I was doing the whole time. He must have known that I was deceiving him."
"Where's your evidence, bro?" Agil asked.
I chuckled.
"Besides the fact that Kayaba was the creator of the game and he knew everything about it, I don't have any evidence. He must have known that that "method" of faking your death existed. He has eyes and ears in Aincrad, so it wouldn't surprise me if he knew about how Kains and Yolko used that strategy to track down Griselda's killer."
"What about how he mentioned it was too easy "defeating" you?" Klein asked. "Do you still think he knew what you were doing?"
I shook my head.
"I think he was just playing along with my plan. I obviously have no evidence to support this, but I think he could have killed me if he really wanted to. I think he just let me win."
No one said a word after that. As I continued to look on, I noticed that the castle was beginning to crumble from bottom.
This must be what Kayaba meant, I thought. The SAO servers are beginning to delete all of the game's data!
I watched as a small section of land break away from the rest of the castle. I noticed that the land mass was part of a clearing and in the clearing, was a two-story cabin. Asuna let out a gasp of sadness.
"Let me guess." Klein replied. "Our home?"
I nodded.
"It was." I said. "And it was beautiful."
I heard Asuna begin to cry again. I turned to look at her as she put her hands over her eyes.
"Asuna, what's wrong?" I asked.
She lowered her hands from her eyes and looked at me as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
"Two years of memories." She said. "And now it's all gone!"
She put her hands over her eyes and began to cry once more. I looked at her with sympathy as I stepped closer to her.
"Asuna," I spoke as I put my hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "Please don't cry. It's only natural."
She lowered her hands and looked at me once again.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
I looked at her with a sad smile on my face.
"Part of the journey is the end." I replied.
She looked at me, before she nodded and began wiping the tears from her face. She eventually smiled back at me and it surprised me when she took my hand in hers.
"Thank you, Kirito." She said.
"Thanks for what?" I asked.
She closed her eyes, before opening them and looking back at me, with a few tears rolling down her cheeks, however, she still had a smile on her face.
"Thanks for making this fight worth fighting!"
For some reason, I let out a gasp of surprise as I blushed. But eventually, I smiled back at her without a word.
A Few Minutes Later
A few minutes had passed and now Asuna and I were alone, sitting next to each other in silence. As we sat there, I decided to break the silence. So, I turned my head to face her.
"Hey."
"Yeah?" she asked as she turned to face me.
I looked down at the "floor", as a nervous feeling began to build up in my gut, before I looked back at her.
"I hope it's not weird of me to ask this, but once all of this is over, I think I'd like to meet you and try to be friends in real life. So, is it wrong of me to ask what your real name is?"
She looked at me as she blushed, but she didn't frown or anything. She eventually smiled.
"No, of course not." She replied. "My name is Asuna Yuuki."
"Asuna Yuuki." I repeated after her.
That must be the most beautiful name I've ever heard, I thought.
Of course, I didn't say that. It would probably be weird for me to say that. She continued looking back at me as she smiled.
"What about you?" she asked. "What's your real name?"
"My real name is Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya."
"Kazuto Kirigaya? If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just use your real name for your avatar instead of, well, Kirito?"
"It's kind of a long story…"
"We have some time, don't we?"
I had to give that one to her, she was right.
"Well, yeah, sure. But I wanted you to tell me about yourself. What ever happened to lady's first?"
She just smiled.
"You can go first."
I sighed.
"Whatever you say. First of all, most players don't use their real names for their avatar. And see, Kirito is a contraction of my real name. It takes the "kiri" of my last name and the "to" of my first name. Kirito. And SAO isn't the only thing that I've used it for."
"What do you mean?"
"Alright, before I tell you this next part, you have to promise me that you won't laugh."
"Okay, I won't."
"See, you say that. But every person I've ever told this, they always laugh about it."
"Kirito, just say it!"
"Okay, okay! So, when I was younger, I used to be pretty good at writing and drawing manga. Not so much anymore. But back in those days, I used to write and draw my own manga, with myself at the lead. Due to my nickname, I named my character "The Kiritonator". But it didn't last long and after the first three issues I sold, it eventually got shortened to just Kirito."
Asuna just looked at me. I let out a sigh.
"You're going to laugh now, aren't you?"
And just as I expected, a second or two later, she began to giggle.
"Ah, see? You're laughing!"
She stopped and eventually spoke again.
"I'm sorry, but you're right!" she said as she wiped a tear away. "It's funny! And cute, too!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, I guess."
"So, what did you do after you finished your manga?"
"Oh, I would sell them at school."
"And what did you do with your earnings?"
"I gave most, if not all of them, to charity. I don't want to be rich, I just wanted to provide an entertaining story."
"Well, that's nice of you. Do you still write and draw manga?"
I shook my head.
"No. Over the years, my drawing skills got worse and worse. And so, I gave it up at around the time I discovered my love for computers and technology. Interestingly enough, my cousin, Suguha, developed an impressive drawing skill. So, she dabbles in drawing from time-to-time when she's not focused on Kendo."
"Your cousin practices Kendo?"
"Mmm-hmm. And so did I, for a time. But I never liked it and I eventually quit. Suguha vowed that she would train hard for the both of us. And she did. She trained so much, that she eventually made it to nationals."
"That's awesome!"
I nodded.
"So, is there anything else that you would want to tell me?"
"Um, sure. As I said, my real name is Kazuto Kirigaya. And I think I turned sixteen last month."
"So, you're younger than me, huh?"
"Huh?" I asked in a surprised tone, as my cheeks turned light red.
"I'm seventeen. I'm a few months older than you!"
"Oh. Wow! I thought we'd be the same age!"
"I guess not. Anything else?"
"Um, I live with my aunt, uncle and my cousin, Suguha, who still thinks that we're siblings. However, my uncle is frequently away on business. And I have a love for computers and technology, which I suppose is what set me on my path to eventually play SAO."
Asuna nodded as she turned her head away from me.
"What about you, Asuna?"
She looked back at me.
"Um, I'm kind of from a rich family. Before I got trapped in SAO, I went to an all-girls private school. And actually, I almost never put on the NerveGear!"
"You didn't?"
"No. Originally, my brother bought a copy of SAO and all of the hardware required to play it. And he was off on a business trip on opening day, so he couldn't play the game. And there I was, curious about what the fuss on this game was all about. So, I put on the NerveGear that day. And…"
"And the rest is history?"
She looked offended that I interrupted her, but eventually she smiled and chuckled.
"Yeah. And the rest is history."
She continued talking and I swear, I tried to listen, but I just couldn't. I was stuck thinking about what Sachi had said, about how Asuna and I belonged together. And for some reason, it was starting to make sense. I really did like Asuna and after everything we've been through, I think I had fallen for her. Does that make sense? She always wanted me and Asuna to start a relationship when the time was right. And I had stated before that she was beautiful, I liked her hair and I found her eyes pretty to look at. So, what this the right time? And did Asuna have feelings for me, too?
Hold on, why do you have to ask? She appreciated how you comforted her after Yui's "death", she made you lunch because she thought that you deserved a thank you, she hugged my arm when talking about me with Mr. Nishida and she hugged me when she thought that I could die! So, she has to have some feelings for me! Just be a man and ask her, already!
"Hey, Asuna?" I asked.
She looked at me with a confused gaze.
"Yeah, Kirito?" she asked.
I smiled back at her.
"Stop talking." I replied.
I began to lean in towards her face and I gently grabbed her arm as I did. See, SAO had this system where if it detected harassment, the harassed player could send the harassing player to the prison area with the press of a button. And seeing as that didn't happen, maybe Asuna did feel the same way about me. Oh, yeah, and there's the fact that Aincrad was currently crumbling, so the system was probably no longer intact.
But also, once I was getting really close to her face, she sat up a bit and leaned in as well, as if to meet me halfway. And then, our lips met. We kissed for maybe five or ten seconds, before we pulled apart and she rested her forehead against mine. We remained like that for a few seconds, just enjoying the moment, before we were interrupted.
"Well, it's about time!" Klein exclaimed.
Asuna and I retracted our heads and turned to look at Klein, who was standing next to Agil, a few feet away from us. Both of them were grinning.
So, they had seen us kiss, huh?
It didn't really matter if they had seen us. I was just happy that Asuna returned my feelings and who cares if people saw us kiss?
"Hey, Kirito?" I heard Asuna say my name.
I looked back at her, to see that she had a smile on her face; a joyous expression. She looked genuinely happy. And it made my heart melt just looking at her face. Yes, this was coming from a guy.
"Yeah, Asuna?" I asked.
"Kiss me again!" she said, still with a smile on her face.
I chuckled, before I leaned forward once more, as I put my hand on her cheek and as she did the same. We kissed once again and once we pulled apart; a curious thought entered my head. Asuna looked at me with a troubled look on her face.
"Hey, what is it?" she asked. "You look like you're having a thought!"
I sighed as I looked down.
"I was just thinking, what if this is just a one-time thing? What if we never find each other in real life?" I asked. "Because, I mean, we can't all be in the same hospital! It's just doesn't seem realistic! And…"
"Hey." She interrupted me.
I looked back up at her. She gently put her hand on my cheek.
"I'll find you." She said in a sincere tone, with a smile on her face and a reassuring look in her eyes.
I looked back at her with surprise, but I eventually smiled and nodded.
"And Kirito?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Sachi can rest easy now. Because this is what she wanted for us!"
The mention of Sachi made me want to tear up, but I resisted the urge to cry.
"Yeah." I said as a sad smile came onto my face. "Yeah, you're probably right."
Eventually, after a few minutes had passed, Asuna and I were sitting next to each other in silence, just watching the sunset, holding hands as she rested her head on my shoulder.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" I heard Klein ask from behind us.
I turned my head to look at him.
"We're just watching the sunset, dude." I said. "Wanna join us?"
"But it's so boring!" he said as he walked over and stood at my side.
"I know. Isn't it great?"
"Totally." He said, as Agil came to stand next to Asuna.
And so, for the remainder of time we had left, we all just watched the sunset together. A minute or so passed and what was left of Aincrad had crumbled completely. And the sun had almost completely gone down. I couldn't help but smile, as did the rest of my friends. For some reason, off in the horizon, I began to see a blinding light, as if the sun was now rising.
The light kept getting brighter and brighter, until all I could see was the light. I could no longer see the sky, just the bright light that seemed to consume everything. And somehow, I just knew that the end was near. So, I decided to speak before I lost the chance to.
"See you on the other side, guys." I replied.
"Same to you, buddy!" Klein exclaimed.
He was the last one to say something before it all ended. The light had overtaken everything at this point and there was nothing else left to see. Then, the light went out and everything went black. And that's the last thing I remember before I woke up.
Sometime Later
When I finally came to, I immediately noticed that I was lying down. My vision was blurry at first, but I eventually realized that I was looking up at the ceiling, which had fluorescent lights, you know, the kinds that they only had in hospitals and schools. Speaking of hospitals, that's the only place that I could have been right now.
I slowly looked around the room but couldn't see much in my current position. I tried to move, and it felt like I was almost completely numb. Eventually, my hand came into view and I saw that it was wrinkled like an elderly person's hand would be. Eventually, I began to hear a slight beeping sound and that made me reach up towards my head.
And I touched something hard and plastic that was on my head: My NerveGear. As I put my hands on my NerveGear, images of all the friends I had made in SAO flashed through my mind. Asuna, Agil, Klein and Sachi, too.
Sachi…
It had occurred to me again that I had failed Sachi. I promised that I would get her back to the real world and I had failed to do so. My eyes stung with tears and it took all the willpower that I had left not to start crying again. I summoned the strength to sit up in my hospital bed and I took off the NerveGear as the power turned off.
As I took the NerveGear off, my hair tumbled out of it. That's when I noticed that my hair was now really long now, at least as long as Asuna's in-game avatar's hair, I would say. I rested the NerveGear in my lap and heaved a sigh. It was then that I realized that I had to find Asuna and my friends. Or at least I had to try.
I would try to find my other friends and it may be rude to say but finding Asuna was my number one priority. I placed the NerveGear on the side table, then I pushed the blanket back and swung my legs over to the edge of the bed over the course of a couple minutes. I then attempted to stand up from the bed and immediately my legs crumbled beneath me.
I wasn't surprised. I shouldn't have been so quick to attempt to stand up. We've all been comatose for the past two years, so we'd all probably have to learn to walk and even function again. So, I grabbed the IV stand as if it were my trusty sword, then slowly and gingerly began to push myself up to my feet.
Once I was up on my feet, I began to push myself forward and eventually I got so far that the electrodes ripped off of my skin and I heard my monitor begin to flatline due to the disconnection. I then began to push myself forward towards the door.
"A… su… na…" I choked out the girl in question's name in a hoarse voice.
I finally made it to the door and slowly opened it.
"Asuna…" I repeated in the same hoarse tone, but this time I was able to say the full word.
I finally left the room, clinging to the IV stand as if it were my lifeline. I then set out on my search for Asuna. And for once, I didn't look back.
Author's Note:
* And there it is folks, that was Chapter Fourteen, as well as the end of my adaptation of the Aincrad arc! I hope you all enjoyed!
* So, what do you think of my adaption of the final part of Aincrad? I'll just go over a few things here: 1., how Sachi died. Sachi's death is purely the reason for why Kirito attacks Heathcliff when he suspects that he's Akihiko Kayaba in disguise and he declares that "no one else has to die for Kayaba's stupid game".
* 2., his strategy in defeating Akihiko Kayaba. Is it believable that he would remember how Yolko and Kains faked their deaths and he used that same strategy to deceive Kayaba and get him to let his guard down? Maybe it's not and it's completely lackluster. I don't know, you guys tell me what you think.
* 3., how he nor Asuna died. I kind of wanted to take a happy ending here. Don't get me wrong, I love the "sad ending" of the Aincrad arc in the anime, where they both "die" and spend their final moments in the afterlife, if you want to call it that, before Kirito gets to return to the real world. It's really emotional, at least until you remember that they both survive SAO. But to me, it will always be emotional. I wanted to avoid that and actually give them the happy ending this time around. You know, with them all watching the sunset before Aincrad ends?
* Speaking of the sunset, that brings us to 4., how Asuna and Kirito got together. Is it cliché that they didn't have their first kiss until the very end? I didn't want them to get together in Chapter 10, because in the Anime, it seemed that they got together too fast (but that's probably because of how fast I watched the Anime the first time around). So, let me know: Is it cliché that they get together at the very end and that you'd prefer how they originally got together, or do you like how they bond over the course of the arc, before getting together at the end?
* And 5., it's not much of a point, I just want to explain this "reference", if you want to call it that: The final line of the chapter, being "And for once, I didn't look back". If you paid close attention in the past chapters, you will know that in almost every chapter, Kirito looks behind him. The fact (at least for me) that Kirito states that "for once, I didn't look back", should reference that he's grown as a character since the very start.
* So, like I said, tell me what you think of the final part of Aincrad. And be honest! Tell me exactly what you think of it, whether you loved it, hated it or if it was just okay. To me, this is my greatest creation in terms of fanfiction, and I want honest opinions. So, please, tell me exactly what you think. Tell me what I did wrong and generally, just tell me whatever you want to tell me, I just hope that I didn't ruin SAO for you.
* Oh, I almost forgot to mention something. I know that Kirito's manga backstory has nothing to do with any of the source material, but trust me, there is a reason for it. It's not just something that I made up for no reason. There is a reason (plot wise) that I decided to do that.
* By the way, I'm going to be changing the timeline a lot following this chapter. I'll still adapt the Fairy Dance arc (if you guys want me to), but the next three chapters will be Post-Aincrad or Pre-Alfheim chapters (basically just build up to Fairy Dance). So, expect three chapters of original content on my part!
* Anyway, that's going to do it for me, I think. Once again, no review responses this time. So, I'm going to go though, so have a great day and bye.
Review Responses
Guest Review (Chapter 13):
Although I am happy to see that Sachi survived, I am sad and disappointed to see that Asuna is still chosen and other girls like Sachi are discarded! Sao was originally a webnovel and in the webnovel, Sachi was Kirito first love! then Kirito x Asuna! from what I read, in the light novel (version adapted in anime), it would be the publisher which would have erased the relationship between Kirito and Sachi in favor of Asuna.
that means that Asuna was already presdestined no matter what! Poor Sachi, still trashed for the benefit of the one and only Asuna! it is really sad to see that with rare exceptions other girls are always forgotten, especially Sachi, as if they don't exist. what if Sachi had the same development as Asuna? if it had my adaptation of Sao, I would have chosen Suguha or Sachi, pairings much more natural and especially less "predestined" than Kirisuna!
yes i would not have chosen Asuna (unless it was Kirito x harem) but Kirito x Suguha and/or Sachi.
Okay, I'll start with getting this out of the way: I love the Kirito x Asuna pairing and it's the only pairing for me. They are perfect together and I'm sure that a bunch of people will disagree with me, but that's okay. That's just my opinion. I am however, open to accept other pairings, but I won't actually use them in this story (and likely, any other SAO story I may write in the future).
I'm with you on how Sachi died in the anime/every other depiction of SAO. That's why I decided to keep her alive in my story. I'll admit it: I would have actually liked to see her be able to have a relationship with Kirito, for a while anyway. A friend of mine feels the same way that I do about this. He wanted to see them get together and when she died, he was so broken up about it.
I didn't even know that there was a web novel. I started with the anime and then transitioned over to read the light novel. I also dislike how Kirito essentially forgets that Sachi existed (well, occasionally forgets) once he starts hanging out with Asuna. And if you hate how I killed her off at the last second, well, I don't want to tease something more than I already have, but I highly suggest you check out the next chapter when it drops. If you want to write your own adaptation of SAO, go for it!
You say "pairings much more natural" when talking about Sugu. Well, Kirito and Sugu are cousins, right? Look, I get a lot of people enjoy fanfics like that and so do I (to a certain degree and hell, I write one!) But my problem with Kirito x Sugu, is that they were raised as siblings. And that makes it weird, to me at least. I also don't generally enjoy harem stories. But this is all just my opinion.
So, if you think you can pull a story like that off, then by all means, go for it. Anyway, that's about it. I just wanted to give you my two cents about this. And I also wanted to say that I agree with most of your points. Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Two weeks after he wakes up, Kazuto is still adjusting to life back in the real world. While he awaits Asuna's awaking with Klein, Kazuto gets a pleasant surprise in the hospital.