September 7th, 2030

The Northern Mountains was the largest zone discovered by players to date. The northern and eastern ends of its vast expanses had never been reached, and the difficult terrain, climate and high level monsters made it a more-than-challenging and all-too-unappealing region to cross through, much less spend time leveling in. That was of course until recently. High level players began traveling towards the region in response to a combination of distress calls and wondrous monster sightings—dragons. And not just the great Smuldur, but hundreds of younger dragons that attacked players and towns that were too close to the new nest. A brand new dungeon was born into the world: The Dragon's Nest.

The snow flurried around Iceberg as Kirito and his group arrived. The cold weather injured their rather delicate pegasi, and they were forced to dismount before arriving in town, and this delayed their journey several days. They had to travel by foot through the tundra, and they took out old gear and stacked it on themselves as much as they could to stay warm. The sight of the town was a blessing, and they rushed into the inn the moment they arrived, to warm up.

"We need a room," Kirito said to the inn keeper. "Make it two rooms." He looked back again, counting the size of his party. "What will it cost us?"

"We only have one room available," the woman said. "Everything's all taken by the influx of players. We've got more under construction, but the cold is slowing us down dramatically."

"Then we'll take it…"

"That will be twenty thousand gold coins…"

Kirito blinked, and looked at her. "Twenty thousand? You can't be serious."

"There are players coming in from all over, and they all have lots of money because they're all high level. Only the wealthiest can afford rooms here. There are many sleeping in the town halls and in self-constructed shacks. Many I hear are holed up in caves nearby."

"Well," Kirito said. "Would it do us any good to say that we're here to slay the dragon, Smuldur, who terrorized players in Newberg?"

The woman behind the counter pointed to the players sitting around the lobby. "So are they," she said. "Ever since the dragons came, players have been coming from all over with dreams of being heroes. They've been able to kill a few of the smaller ones, but I haven't heard of any survival stories about fights against the big ones."

"That's impossible," Kirito said. He pulled out his two swords, and held them out. "You can't cut through a dragon's scales without legendary weapons, or Silver Steel like what we have." The innkeeper was taken aback by the blades. She seemed to know what metal they were made from.

The crowd in the inn seemed to notice as well. A few of them got up, and one of them drew a weapon. "You're with those raiders!" he shouted. "You're not welcome here. None of you! Get out!" As he spoke, a few more players also drew their weapons.

"Raiders?" Silica asked.

"Raiders of Argus," Klein said. "They were here? They were supposed to meet us. What happened to them?"

"They rounded up an army of players," the same person spoke. "I was with them. They said we were all going to slay the great dragon at the end of the Dragon's Nest, but as soon as we reached the first bosses, they left us to fend for ourselves, and our weapons were useless against them!" He held his hefty axe towards Kirito. "They brought us in there to keep the bosses busy, and nearly two hundred of us died!"

Kirito blinked, and sheathed his blades. "We didn't know that," he said. He waved his hands and shook his head. "No… to tell you the truth, we weren't even very great friends with them. They worked with us to get the weapons, and in the first fight against the dragon, but we lost and they were… unfriendly afterwards, so we split up."

"We planned on meeting them for the final battle once we found where the dragon fled," Leafa said. "We definitely weren't planning on using players as human shields."

"Wait a minute," Asuna said. She had realized something. "You said you had luck killing the smaller dragons. How is that possible?"

The man with the axe lowered his weapon. He still didn't trust the group. "You're right about their scales. We saw the same metal in the hands of that other group. They could pierce the scales of those dragons, but nothing else could. But it's possible to deal enough crushing type damage to hurt the beasts beneath their flesh… if they're small enough."

"That makes sense," Kirito said. "No one could hurt Smuldur without Silver Steel because he was so huge, so dealing other types of damage against him was useless."

"If that other group was supposed to meet you here," another player in the room asked. "Then why did they rush on ahead without you? They never mentioned you."

Eulsam sighed and shook his head. "Knowing them… they probably wanted to beat us to it. Where are they now?"

"As far as we can tell, they're dead. They never made it out of the dungeon. How did you come about those weapons… the metal type Silver Steel?"

"It was a part of a quest," Asuna said. "From Mother Earth herself. It was a long chain, but we found where it can be harvested. It's a four to five week journey there, and you'll need flying mounts to reach it."

"Like the pegasi that other group had," the man with the axe spoke again.

"You saw their pegasi?" Kirito said. "Ours were taking severe weather damage, and so we finished the journey on foot."

"Aye," the man said again. "We should have noticed something off about them. They didn't seem to care, and their pegasi died on the trip to the dungeon."

"After all the hard effort it took to tame them," Silica said. "What a shame…"

"Where is the dungeon?" Sampson asked.

"The Dragon's Nest is about a day's journey by foot from here. We marched a pretty clear path to it on our first run. You'll know you're there when you run into the mass grave… You shouldn't go though. Even with your weapons, its suicide. We don't have any intel on it. And since it opens with a boss battle, that can only mean it's an epic dungeon with more bosses inside, including Smuldur. A big enough player party could beat it, but only if we had Silver Steel."

"We don't have enough time," Sampson said. "We would arm you, but we have to clear the dungeon as soon as possible."

"The dragon is using a captured player to bring his species back to life," the wizard said, "There are a lot of dragons now, and most are much weaker… but a few weeks from now there will be ten times that number, and many of them will be huge."

"A captured player?"

"Yes," Sampson said. "My fiancé."

"I have a spell that can release her from whatever spells are placed upon her by Smuldur. But until I perform them, she is the second-to-last boss in the dungeon… The Dragon Queen."

"The number of dragon attacks has been steadily increasing since it began," the same player with the axe continued. "But I don't know what we can do. We've been hoping to gain enough experience from fighting the smaller ones to learn how to kill the big ones..."

"If you can put us up for the night," Kirito said. "We can form a new raid party to enter the dungeon tomorrow. We don't plan on using players the way our predecessors did, and we are going to warn you, what lies ahead will try you to your utmost. We'll only be accepting players who can provide tactical support, and we are especially in need of healers to counter the massive amounts of damage these monsters can put out."

"And what about the rest of us? We have to sit back and watch you take the spoils of the dungeon? There's going to be a whole lot of them, and even though we wouldn't stand a chance against the larger ones, we can help control the smaller mobs."

"Hmm," Kirito thought about it. "I don't know… It's just not safe."

"We should take their help if they are willing to offer it," Michiko said. "As long as they know what they're getting into."

"As we have fought," another player stood up. He was a magic user. "We have noticed ways to fight the dragons with magic as well. Water sorcerers can drown the smaller ones with a little bit of finesse. Various magic abilities, while not dealing damage, can push them back to keep them from swarming in too large of groups."

"Then we'll take all who are willing," Eulsam said. "As the head of the Protector's guild, and veteran of Tartarus, we have faced many challenges. In all cases, we have strived to keep as many players alive as possible, and our margin of safety has been high. This dungeon will change that. If you join us in this fight, you stand a good chance of never coming out alive. To all those who do not fear death, and are willing to die for the good of all players on Vearth, let them fight."

"Spread the word, if you would be so kind," Michiko said.

The player with the axe nodded, and called his group up to go out into the town. "We should meet in the town hall tomorrow morning to discuss strategies."

"We'll see you there," Kirito said before turning to the innkeeper. "Now… that room."

"The price hasn't changed! Twenty thousand!"

Kirito sighed, and paid the woman. The group then went off to get a good night's rest in preparation for the great raid on the Dragon's Nest.

September 9th, 2030

The frosty path that led up to the Dragon's Nest was wide, and the end of it was littered with the bones of players. As they marched, the group stopped at the entrance of a huge cave. They had rested very shortly before arriving at the entrance, as the first boss would not wait for players to engage or enter before attacking.

A loud screech sounded out through the mountains, and from the sky, one of a pair of huge dragons flew down to meet the players in the huge field of red snow and ice. As it roared once more, its vital information appeared around it. Its name was Wrath, and its twin in the skies was Ruin.

"Asuna," Kirito said. "Lead the way."

Asuna nodded, and activated her Valkyrie state. Her shield and spear seemed to glow, and expanded in size. Above her head a halo of light appeared and behind her back, a pair of unmoving wings of light. She ran towards the dragon, Wrath, and her spear crackled with lightning. The bolts of lightning struck at the ground nearby, and she stopped in her charge to hurl the legendary weapon at Wrath. She hit dead on, plunging the spear into the monster's chest, and dealt about forty percent of its health in damage in that first attack.

The dragon roared out in pain, and flew up into the air. Its twin, Ruin, came down to replace it, landing behind Asuna, who stood a considerable distance ahead of the group now. "Get ready!" a player shouted, it was the same player from the inn, who wielded a large axe. His tag read his in-game name: Stomper. "Now Wrath will attack from the sky while Ruin attacks from the ground."

"Shields ready!" Leafa shouted. While the mage classes prepared their defenses, Asuna engaged the head of Ruin. She blocked and deflected many attacks with her shield, and used her sword to strike quickly here and there between the dragon's swipes and lunges.

Ruin's tail swept from side to side at the other players, forcing them to spread out a little wide, but after they did, they formed up into three groups. The group to the left side of Ruin was the backup group. They were composed of mostly melee attackers, and not a single one of them wielded Silver Steel. They would serve as bait and distraction for the larger dragons, and engage any smaller adds that joined the fight. After they clumped up, they charged to the far edge of the battlefield, and two archers among them shot arrows at Wrath in the sky. The arrows hit, but dealt no damage. No other player attacked Wrath then, so that her focus was set to that group.

The group to the right was the main assault group. They were Kirito, Eulsam and the rest of that group who all had Silver Steel. While the backup group engaged Wrath, they came in on Ruin's side, and attacked there.

Finally, the group that formed at the far back was the caster group. They included Leafa, the wizard, and others who had a dual focus on shielding the backup group, and healing Asuna. Normally, Asuna would be much too far away to be healed, but with Kirito and her wearing the necklace, they could target Kirito for all of their healing spells.

Wrath dove down from the sky, sweeping across the field and unleashing a flurry of dragon fire on the backup group. As planned, a pair of shields were thrown up in their defense, which completely mitigated the damage. Sinon watched the attack take place from the primary attack group, and made a break for the backup group, going to join them.

"Sinon!" Eulsam shouted, trying to get her to explain her plan.

"I saw an opening!" she shouted back. Once she got to the other side, after dodging the dragon's footsteps, she rolled into position among the group, and readied an arrow. When Wrath came for a second attack from the other side, she let it loose, and then activated he ability, getting her three more shots in rapid succession. All of them hit their mark, and she knocked the dragon's health down to nearly fifty percent.

"Eulsam!" Asuna shouted. "We need to deal more damage to Ruin! We need them to switch again so I can retrieve my spear!"

Eulsam nodded, and looked around, trying to come up with a better plan of attack. "Silica!" he shouted. Use a rope so we can get on top of it!"

Silica nodded, and pulled out a lasso from her inventory. Once retrieved, she threw it at Ruin's head, and it landed on a horn, getting a nice good hold. Then, she began to climb the rope, and Eulsam ran to join her. Once the two of them were on top of the monster, they started making easy hits against its backs, and the damage started going up.

Ruin started to raise its wings, and it was going to take off. Wrath was already heading down to replace her. Eulsam and Silica jumped off at the last second. The wind from the takeoff knocked the assault group back and away. They had to take a moment to get up, but when they did, Asuna was quick to engage Wrath. She jumped at her, and gripped the spear that was lodged in its chest. She pulled it out, and used it to continue her assault.

"Incoming!" Xaela shouted, and turned to rush towards the cave entrance as a few dozen smaller dragons flew out to meet the party. Both she, Klein, and the backup group rushed to the entrance. Asuna took a run for it, leading Wrath to where the backup group was leaving.

They engaged the adds. The backup group wielded almost exclusively big, two-handed weapons that dealt crushing damage to knock back and hurt the smaller dragons. Xaela and Klein did their best to score killing blows for their bonuses.

Just before Asuna's Valkyrie ended, she managed to get another massive attack on Wrath with her lightning spear, dealing another critical hit. Silica saw that Wrath was about to take off again, and ran towards Sinon. "Sinon!" she shouted as she tossed her a rope. "Shoot it!" Sinon reacted quickly, and tied a rope to her next arrow. She fired away, and hit Wrath's back. Silica gripped the end of the rope tightly as it took off. When it went into the air, she was flung onto the dragon's back, and used her daggers to make several furious slashes while it was mid-air. The attacks kept Wrath busy with her, and while on her back, Silica was a difficult target to hit or shake off. Her skills and abilities as a beast master helped her stay on.

Now free from worry of being attacked by Wrath, the backup group could continue to fight the adds undistracted by the necessities of dodging the massive damage attacks by the boss. Xaela's Blood Bath built up more and more, and once she reached her maximum number of stacks, she charged to Ruin, and charged in front of Asuna to attack its chest, scoring a flurry of critical this and ending the phase.

Ruin took off again, and everyone was blown back. Xaela's Blood Bath ended before she could get up and return to the adds, which continued to pour from the cave. She had to start from scratch. Wrath landed, and Silica with her. She stayed on its back, continuing to deal damage, and Wrath thrashed about on the ground, dealing wild blows to the players trying to attack.

"Sampson!" Asuna said. "You're up!"

Sampson nodded, and went into his rage ability, transforming into the hulking minotaur. He drew his second axe, and attacked Wrath, quickly getting its attention. As he swung, he knew where to aim now, and swung wildly against the chest through the dragon's attacks. Finally, Wrath hissed out as her life came to an end, and she collapsed into the ground.

Ruin roared out in anger over her twin sister's death, and dove down at the group. As she dove, she opened her mouth and let a rain of fireballs come down on the crowd of players. "Look out!" someone shouted. They were too far spread out, and the casters could not shield them all. Five of them were hit, and died shortly after as they screamed in pain from the flames consuming their flesh.

Sampson's rage wore off, and he returned to a smaller weapon. When Ruin landed, it slammed into the ground with great force, knocking players down. Then, it reared its head ready to unleash a blast of fire on the players at the entrance of the cave. A caster in the group who was a water sorcerer acted quickly, and conjured a jet stream to hit the dragon's mouth. It flooded, and stopped the fire from burning.

Ruin then turned to the caster, but was quickly pulled back to focusing on Asuna as she struck it hard with her spear. She ran across the battlefield once more, keeping the boss away from the players. With her head, Ruin snapped down at Asuna, dealing major blows here and there. The healers had trouble keeping up, and Kirito ran back from the fight to keep from getting hit himself. Leafa used a different spell then. A flash of light blasted on Ruin's eyes, blinding her and keeping her from hitting her mark.

Kirito made a bee line for Ruin's front, and once there, he turned to attack the dragon, hitting its chest and scoring a few critical hits through his combos. Asuna joined in shortly after, with her much faster single sword attack, and together, they dealt the fatal blow to the monster. Ruin's death must have sent a morale shockwave through the smaller dragons, because they fled the fight and flew off into the air.

The group was able to rest, and convene before going further. "How many did we lose?" Eulsam asked.

"Five," Stomper said. "Five more to add to the mass grave."

"Don't think we don't take that loss lightly," Kirito said. "After what Rexem did, I don't want anyone to think we don't care."

"We know. You told us outright that you didn't expect any one of us to live."

Kirito nodded, but he still didn't like it. He stood up, and looked into the cave. "We can't wait," he said. "If we do, they'll organize their attack… I bet it's a huge surprise that we killed Wrath and Ruin." After a few more seconds, Kirito began to run in. He made sure first though, that healers had full mana, and players who were still with them had full health. Asuna was first after him, and then the rest of the group followed into the darkness below.

It was not easy making their way to the center of the nest, where their friend, Lisbeth, who had become the Dragon Queen, laid rest. Dragons would attack them throughout their journey into the cavernous depths, and in no small numbers. It was similar to their plight into The Ruins of Al'Kuraz, where the undead attacked in mass throughout their journey. Between them though, they kept the dragons at bay, and made their way into a huge chasm where hundreds if not thousands of dragon eggs remained unhatched.

At the center of the nest lied Lisbeth. She was… changed. Her dress she still wore, but over it she had on mail. And there was more than that as well. She had gained inhuman features, including a pair of dragon wings, a long, red tail, elongated ears, claws and fangs. Her half-opened eyes revealed the white in them was now yellow, and her pupils were changed to that of a reptile's. The player group approached her, and here there were only the youngest dragons who shied away and fled rather than fighting.

"Lisbeth," Sampson said as he headed towards her. Despite his feelings, he walked slowly, cautious of what might come. Lisbeth at this point was meant to be a boss battle, so he would expect to have to fight.

"Start your spell," Kirito said to the Yellow Wizard. MerWizOne nodded, and started casting. As he did thought, the Dragon Queen stirred. A soft breath came from her mouth, and it was smoke.

Slowly, she stood up, and looked at Sampson as he approached. She opened her player inventory, and through it, equipped her shield and sword. "Sampson," she said. "I'm so sorry about what had to happen between us…"

Sampson stopped and looked at her. "Lisbeth, we're getting you out of here."

"You can cancel the rescue mission though. I have a new place in this world, not by your side, but by the dragon king's… Because I knew you before, I will offer you this one chance to survive. Leave this place at once, or I will have to deal with you like I had to deal with the others." She pointed to a group of player corpses at the side of the room. Among them were Matt, Sarah, Hael and Blue.

"You don't have to fight anymore," Sampson said. "Just stay there and everything will be okay."

"Children…" she said. Her eyes flashed yellow, and then yellow eyes lit up all across the room. "Your mother is in danger. Defend me…" At that moment, the sound of a thousand wings flapping and a thousand dragons hissing and squealing sounded off. They charged towards the player group like a swarm of huge bats.

Sampson pulled his weapon and started swinging. Every other player did the same, and they all collapsed around the wizard to defend him, all except for Sampson, who pushed forward toward his beloved. "Liz!" he shouted. "You can fight his control over you!"

"I don't wish to," she said. "If you wish to battle me, then I must kill you." She charged for Sampson, roaring out loudly as she did. A jet stream blasted behind her as her wings flapped to propel her forward. Sampson did not hesitate and swung his axe at her, knowing she would block it with her shield.

Except she didn't. In fact, she had put her shield away, and when the axe touched her, it stopped and nearly bounced off. Her form glowed with a red light, and she swung at him with her sword. The blow knocked Sampson down, and he got up quickly to block the next two swings from the Queen.

Sampson parried one attack and then went to strike again, only to yield the same result. He was struck again, this time by Lisbeth's tail, and thrown away from her.

As Sampson got up, Liz held her sword up to the sky, and a flash of flames struck down onto it from the heavens, as if like lightning, and she thrust her sword through the air in his direction. A huge fireball fired from it, and Sampson saw it coming. The head of the attack transformed into something like a flying dragon, and he barely got his axe up in time to block some of the damage. His health dropped down to about ten percent after that.

"Sampson!" Leafa said. As another caster used a knockback spell to blow the whelps away, she jumped from the ring of players and rushed for him. Kirito saw this, and went after her. When Leafa got close, she dove in front of the next attack that Lisbeth was using, taking the damage, and then started to cast a healing spell on Sampson and Herself.

When Lisbeth went to attack again, Kirito used both swords to block the attack, deflecting it away. She was open, and so he struck, thrusting a single weapon at her main arm to try and disable her. When the weapon hit, it dealt no damage. Kirito blinked. "Paladin…"

Lisbeth moved to strike Kirito and he stepped back and out of the way, successive hits were parried away. "Wizard!" Kirito shouted. "Hurry up!"

It was one hell of a spell, and he was almost finished casting it. Lisbeth didn't just attack with her sword, but with her tail, and her wings. It was too much for Kirito to keep up with, and he was flung back. Lisbeth charged him to strike again, but just as she did, her body fell, and she found her mind outside of it, watching the scene.

It took a moment to sink in, but soon she was back in her body. The dragons had all suddenly stopped their attack and fled the cave. Lisbeth looked around, and then collapsed. "Lisbeth!" Sampson shouted, going to her. She was still at one hundred percent health. He picked her up, and started to head for the exit. "I'm taking her out of here," he said. Before he left, he threw his smaller axe at the party, and Stomper caught it. "Take these, I won't need them from here on out."

"Healer, with him," Eulsam said.

"No!" Sampson said. "Don't waste your mana on it. We'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Michiko asked.

Lisbeth looked over, weakly. She still appeared the same, with all of her dragon modifications. "I'm still their mother," she said. "They won't attack me…" With that, Michiko nodded, and Sampson left.

"Next stop…" Kirito said. "Smuldur."

"I thought that Smuldur would leave players alone without his bride," a player said. "I don't think we can fight him, either. He's too strong."

"You can't," Eulsam said. "You should all leave now. We'll face Smuldur."

"I will join you," Stomper said. He held up Sampson's axe. "After all, I have this!" The player was only able to wield the axe due to him being a much higher level than Sampson, who hadn't leveled since Tartarus.

"Then you're welcome to come."

"You will need me as a healer," another player said. "I will stay with the group. Too many though and we will simply be more targets for the dragon to kill."

The rest agreed, and they all headed out of the dungeon. "Why are we still going after Smuldur?" Stomper asked. "We have accomplished our objective."

"We still need to retrieve the Sands of Time," the wizard said, stepping forward. "He can still use it to artificially age his brood… what's left of it. And once I retrieve it, I'm going to put it some place no one will ever be able to reach it. It's too dangerous to let it fall into the wrong hands. I only wish I had thought to dispose of it sooner."

"Then let's move," Asuna said, heading towards a pathway that seemed to go up out of the nest.

As Sampson left the cave the way they came in, several dragons were abandoning the nest, fleeing to distant lands. Despite the cold weather, he felt oddly warm. He realized soon that it was coming from Lisbeth. "You're heavy," he said suddenly.

Lisbeth coughed smoke, and wrapped her wings and tail around him. She smiled softly and nodded. "I'm too weak to walk… that spell made me numb."

Sampson nodded, and hoisted her up a little higher, and then he kept on moving through the snow. "Wait," she said as they passed the corpses of the twin dragons. "Stop."

Sampson did so, and looked around. "We had to kill them to get to you."

Lisbeth blinked at their bodies, and nodded slowly. She put her hand on the snout of Ruin, and rubbed it softly. "My oldest… I know you did what you had to… but, is it wrong that I feel sad seeing them dead?"

Sampson shook his head. "Even if every intention about this was evil, I know that you are still their mother. And so… it would be wrong not to, I think." He smiled at her. "That's what love is, is it not?"

"You love me…" she says.

"Yes… and what is love if not understanding?" This left a smile on Lisbeth's face, then then Sampson continued on.

Soon, they came across a small group of players who were engaging a larger dragon. They seemed to be in bad shape, and the dragon was lashing out at them. One player was down, and it was about to unleash its fire breath.

Without warning, Liz rolled out of Sampson's arms. He blinked at her, and she could not stand, but she got to one knee. Her eyes lit up orange, and then so did the dragon's. It stared at her, and then it stopped its attack. The players attacking looked to Sampson and Lisbeth, confused. They decided to count it as good fortune, and didn't continue the hopeless attack.

When the dragon approached, Lisbeth reached up to touch its side. "We can ride," she said to Sampson. Sampson looked in surprise. He didn't question it either, and hoisted Liz up onto the monster's back. He followed, and held on tight around Liz. The dragon took off and flew southwest, towards Newberg.

The Sands of Time appeared as a huge, endlessly spiraling stream of sand. At the top, the sand emerged from nothing, and at the bottom, it fell into nothing. Around it, time was warped, and if one looked directly into it, they could see it reflecting back that player's past, present and even their future. This was all programming of course, so the future they were seeing, as far as they could tell, was more just a reflection of their own hopes for the future.

The artifact lied in the middle of a huge stone floor atop the next. It was out in the open, on a plateau in the mountains. Players entered this field from one side. On the other side of the sands, Smuldur waited for them. He wasn't asleep, but was nonetheless unimpressed by their climb to him. "You have slaughtered my kin," he said. "My children. You have stolen my queen from me. And now you wish to deprive me of this sacred artifact that in days brought my species from the brink of extinction." He spread his huge wings outward, and got up from his spot to approach the players. "I didn't expect you to get this far, much less… to make it through the front door. Your journey ends here, brave heroes. None have slain me in thousands of years. I am destruction incarnate!"

"You're a monster!" Stomper shouted. "Like any other monster… you were made to be defeated by heroes like us."

Eulsam blinked, and looked at Kirito. The two nodded and smirked at Stomper. "That was actually pretty good," Eulsam said. "You should join our group after this…"

"Thanks," he said. "I was thinking of what to say this whole time. I'm glad we got this far."

Smuldur laughed at him, and then the whole group. "Even know, your pride and your ambition lead you straight into your doom. I will kill you, and tomorrow, dragons will rule the world!" Smuldur began a flying charge at the players. They all ran to either side, around the ring. Asuna did not. She activated Valkyrie, and charged right back at Smuldur, hurling her lightning spear and hitting the monster with a critical blow.

Smuldur missed Asuna as she slid on her knees, ducking beneath him. As he flew by, she held out her hand, and her spear dislodged from Smuldur, and flew back to her. She blinked, looking at it, just as surprised as many of the other players must have been.

"Remember!" Eulsam shouted. "If he knocks you down, get up and run away fast, because that's when he strikes with his flames!" Smuldur circled around the ring, and then flew up, and back down, plowing through a few players who were in his path. They were knocked back, and quickly returned to their feet. They didn't look, and just ran out of a potential attack.

As predicted, Smuldur turned around and let out a stream of flames against the spot where the players had fallen. None were hit, and the dragon stopped, looking around. "Ahh," he said. "I see we're learning."

Everyone charged at him. Asuna threw her spear once more, Sinon fired her triplet of instant shots and Klein used his lightning quick strike. Kirito jumped at him, whirling his blades around to come down with a massive strike against the dragon's backside. After one hit from each player, Smuldur flapped his powerful wings, the gust throwing melee players back in all directions.

Smuldur identified the largest cluster of them, and reared back to blast fire at them. Leafa wised up with her tactics. She didn't shield the players, but instead cast her shield around the dragon's mouth itself. There was an explosion and Smuldur stumbled back a little, taking damage from the recoil of his own attack. He was dazed, and couldn't acquire a new target, as all of the players moved too quickly for him.

The next thing he knew, Asuna was falling over his head with her spear, and driving it into his snout. He roared out and whipped his head around. It flung her off, but she landed on the plateau instead of falling from the mountain. As he reared up, Sinon took her triple shot once more at his wide opened chest, and dealt significant damage. Every other player took the same chance, all scoring critical hits.

Smuldur quickly pulled back, and flew up into the air. He had already been knocked down to eighty-five percent of his health. As the players were off to such a good start, they all received a twenty percent bonus to spirit, simply due to high morale. Smuldur looked at them all. "You whelps…" he said. "You have learned how to fight quickly." He wrapped his wings around himself, and then whipped them out into a full expansion as fast as the eye could see, sending a wave of razor winds at the players. Everyone was hit, and blown back. But with less players, the two healers were able to bring everyone back up, nearly to full health before the dragon moved to his next attack.

Smuldur crashed back down into the ring, shaking the ground, and knocking everyone down again. Asuna charged him as soon as she was up, and slashed at him. Smuldur began using his claws to parry the incoming attacks. But they weren't enough, and the enemies he faced together were too many, but not enough for his biggest attacks to fully terrorize them. He was fought back. In order to change things up, he whipped around with his tail. This knocked everyone to the same spot, and he turned around again.

He reared, and smoke billowed from his mouth. Once again however, the shield wrapped over her muzzle, and he expelled flames directly back into his own lungs. He roared in pain, and trashed about until he rolled from the cliff's edge. The players' spirits rose again. Smuldur returned, and instead of landing, he hovered along the edge of the cliff, circling the ring.

"He's hesitating," Kirito said. "Everyone! Attack!"

As they all charged in, those who had them mounted pegasi. Those who did not took a leap of faith, striking down against the dragon's chest. Many critical hits were scored, and they followed the dragon as he was driven back down to the bottom of the cliffs. He landed with a heavy thud. The crushing force affected him, and his health was lower than ever before, in the yellow zone now, standing at forty percent.

The dragon quickly rolled and thrashed about, getting on his feet. He took for the skies, seeking to obtain the sands of time and flee. The players chased him. Those who were not mounted got picked up by those who were, and they beat him to the top, landing in front of the sands of time before he could reach them. The pegasi were exhausted and weak, so they were dismissed.

Smuldur reared back like he was about to breathe fire, but then stopped as the shield popped over his muzzle. He let the flames build, and once the shield vanished, he blasted the ring. The players scattered, but already on their feet, most of the damage was avoided.

"I have Valkyrie again," Asuna said. She activated it, and charged for Smuldur. When she held her hand out, her spear flew to her, and she leapt for the dragon. She drove it right into his heart. It was a perfect hit, and the spear hit his muscle beneath his flesh. His health drained instantly to zero, and he collapsed to the ground.

The players cheered, and congratulated one another. Sinon shook her head though. "Wait!" she shouted, pointing to the dragon. "It's not over!" No congratulations appeared above the monster. She was right.

Everyone prepared for more combat. Within seconds, the dragon was moving again. He lifted his head up and roared loudly as his health bar returned all the way back to full. He flew back from the player party, and hovered in the air. "This," he said. "Is not over!" He turned and fled the fight, and a huge flight of dragons followed with him. They flew off to some distant land, leaving the sands of time behind.

Now, a congratulations appeared in the air. Sinon smiled, and everyone cheered again. With the battle finished and the dungeon cleared, the wizard claimed the sands of time, and began to activate a teleport spell. Leafa recognized it to some degree, but was wholly unfamiliar with the entire spell. "Where are you going?" she asked. "We plan to celebrate back in Iceberg."

The old man shook his head. "I am much too old for parties," he said. "And besides, I must see to it that this artifact never sees the light of day again."

"Suit yourself, grandpa," Stomper said. "We'll send you some leftover party favors." The wizard laughed and then walked through his portal. It vanished behind him. Everyone returned to Iceberg.

Asuna beat the others back into town, and mixed in with the crowd that started to celebrate upon the group's return. They knew what it meant, especially based on the mood of those returning. The rest of the players came in shortly after, and excitement filled the air.

"Kirito," Leafa said to the Black Swordsman once they had arrived. "You have a promise to keep. Don't forget."

Kirito nodded. "I haven't forgotten, but…"

Leafa rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"One wedding at a time," he said. "Okay?"

Leafa blinked. She nodded slowly. "I almost forgot. Sampson and Lisbeth never got to finish their ceremony. I still think—"

Kirito shook his head. "It's impolite, don't you think, to try and upstage someone else's wedding?"

Leafa giggled and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I suppose you're right. Wait a little bit. But next time I tell you to do it, I expect you to do it. And no blaming your nerves either!"

Kirito held up his hands defensively, and shook his head. "It's not nerves, really!"

"Yeah… sure."

Asuna had found her way into the town's inn, where she saw a familiar face sitting in a corner, watching everything. He seemed so disappointed in the whole thing. Asuna sat down next to him. "Rexem," she said. "What's your problem?"

"I lost four members of my guild…" he said. "People have died, and they're celebrating." He had a drink in hand, and took a big gulp from it. "It's sick."

"Are you sure you're not just mad because you didn't get all of the glory?" Asuna asked. "And what about all those other players you left to die? I'm shocked you were brave enough to show your face in this town at all after that."

Rexem laughed at her. "What will they do? Fight me? They wouldn't stand a chance…"

"You don't feel bad at all for that?"

Rexem shook his head. "Soldiers die in the line of duty all the time. It's no different than that." He spotted Sinon as she walked into the inn. She appeared to be looking for Asuna again. "Hey, it's your wonderful friend, Sinon," he said. He pointed her out. "You should go party it up with her instead of me, since you dislike me so much."

Asuna pulled a second drink from the table, and took a big drink from it. She shook her head. "I pretended that you drove the biggest wedge between Kirito and me," she said. "But that's not true at all. There was something wrong between us longer than you've been around."

Rexem blinked at her, and rolled his eyes. "Oh, lay it on me, Asuna. You know I don't care about you and your high school sweetheart. Why did that even come up?"

Asuna moved a little, to hide from Sinon. "Sinon is trying to get me to go back and hang out with Kirito and my other friends," she said. "But I…" She sighed, and lowered her head. "I don't want to be with any of them right now."

"Why, little girl, are you confiding in me, your boyfriend's arch rival?" he asked.

"You're scum," she said. "You're borderline evil, and I think you're only a hair away from being a player killer. But… you're brutally honest. I think that's a quality Kirito's really lacking right now."

"Well don't that just make me feel all tingly?" He rolled his eyes at her and took another drink. "So you want me to be brutally honest with you about something, don't you?"

She nodded. "My friends keep telling me to keep loving Kirito. To trust him. But I think he might not love me anymore. I've never been in any other serious relationship before, so I can't tell if I'm being paranoid or not."

"If you're asking if Kirito loves you are not," Rex said. He sighed and nodded. "Of course he does. Don't be ridiculous."

"Really?" she asked. She nodded slowly. "I guess if my enemy and my friends are both saying so, I have to believe it."

"You're not paranoid though."

Asuna blinked, and looked at him. She took another drink. "I don't… what do you mean by that?"

"Kirito is… like me, on a fundamental level. He's overly modest and so it's well hidden. But deep down, he loves the fame, and the glory of being the hero of SAO. He loves being the one they brought back to life, the one who helped slay the dragon. He is capable of cruelty, however, as everyone is. Right now… I think he's afraid of you in some way."

"I am still not following you…"

"He led your group before, he still does. But his fame is waning as yours grows. It was you who brought him back. It was you who no doubt championed the fight against the dragon. You now out-level him by more than ten levels, and you continue to stay that way. You got the Valkyrie ability. One of only two class abilities that deal divine type damage."

"What is the other one?" she asked.

Rexem smirked at her. "You're looking at it!" he said. "How do you know Sinon is looking for you to bring you back to the group?"

Asuna shrugged. "Kirito keeps sending her after me…"

"Always here?" Rexem asked. After she nodded, Rexem pulled another drink from his inventory, and slid it over to her. "You're going to be wanting something a little stronger for this."

Asuna drank the new drink slowly, just a few sips before asking, "Why?"

"This is what the legal world calls… mere speculation. I have no real evidence, only a hunch. But I think your boyfriend is cheating on you."

Asuna blinked, and seemed surprised. She didn't believe that. "No way," she said. "Kirito has actual honor. A quality you might not fully grasp."

"I remember seeing Sinon and Kirito fight together in Gun Gale Online… they seemed close then, and I thought they might have been lesbian lovers. I of course, like many, thought Kirito was a girl then, but that's beside the point. It's always her looking for you. Why would Kirito trust her above all others to find you?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Asuna said, looking down at her drink. "You're lying…"

"A little tip from someone more experienced in the world of relationships," Rexem said. "Never trust your heart over your gut. What does your gut say, Asuna?" Asuna shook her head. She took another drink. "Where did she go?" Rexem asked. "Sinon has left. You're nowhere in sight. It's a good chance for a few minutes with Kirito." Through Rexem's eyes only, a small hidden buff had appeared next to Asuna's vitals.

"You're…" Asuna opened her map, and located Kirito and Sinon. The two of them were just outside of town, together…

Outside of the walls of Iceberg, Kirito and Sinon were sitting together. But the context, of course, was much different. Kirito was expressing a concern for Asuna, who was always running off ever since they got back to the game and left their vacation. Sinon was merely doing her best to try and comfort him.

"You're right," Asuna said, looking at the map. She put it away, and drank the rest of her drink in one gulp. She crossed her arms, and slammed the cup down. She groaned and curled up in her seat. "I can't believe him," she muttered.

"Well don't jump to conclusions," Rexem said. "Like I said… mere suspicion. Why can't your friends find you?"

"I turned character tracking off when I decided to go ahead into town," she said. "I did it before too, back when I disappeared from the first fight against Smuldur."

"But why?"

"I just don't want to be found right now."

"I see…"

"What should I do about Kirito?" She leaned against the paladin, feeling a little tired now. The effects from before had stacked when she finished the drink.

Rexem smirked. "The way I see it," he said. "You have three options. First: you can be honest with him about your suspicions, and tell him you don't trust him. Second: you can forsake your love for him, and break up. Finally… you can take revenge."

"Revenge?" Asuna asked.

"He gets with another girl," Rexem said. "You find yourself a guy on the side to even the score."

"Sounds evil," she said. "Not my style…"

"It's like me," Rexem said. "Borderline… You should try it some time."

"I think I will," Asuna said.

About an hour later, Asuna left the inn, halfway sober, and went to find her friends again. The party had started to settle down. Sinon went looking for her again, and saw her as she was leaving. She went to get her attention, but was stopped by Rexem as he left the end. "Sinon!" he said to her, catching her attention.

Sinon glared at him. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted you to tell Kirito something for me," he said.

"What?" Sinon asked him. She was suspicious about whatever message it was. She expected something passive-aggressive or perhaps even a flat out threat.

"Just let him know," Rexem said with an evil smirk. "My debt with Asuna is cleared. Your group no longer needs to worry about running into me again."

Sinon gasped. She remembered back to what Rexem had said to them in Newberg. "What… what did you do?" she asked.

Rexem shrugged, and walked away. Was he trying to get into her head? Sinon ran for Asuna, and grabbed her shoulder. "Asuna-san!" she said. "Are you okay?"

Asuna looked back at her. She seemed a little choked up, but instead of saying anything, turned back to keep going on her way, giving Sinon a disrespectful humph. She walked on, leaving Asuna sorely confused, and found Kirito in a nearby group of players. They were sharing the story of their adventure with some of the townsfolk.

Without thinking about it, Asuna walked into the crowd, and interrupted the story by pulling Kirito to her and giving him a passionate kiss. He didn't do much back at first, but slowly he responded, holding Asuna in his arms as many of the players around reacted with a mixture of chuckles and drawn out "awes."

Seeing this, Sinon was even more confused. She blinked and shook her head slowly. She looked back to see where Rexem went, but couldn't see him. Whatever happened, it must not have been too horrible, she thought. Maybe whatever she imagined had happened was just her imagination, but still something… was off about this whole thing, and it left her with a bad taste in her mouth.