The Death Game

by WebofSpideyguy7245698

Thousands are trapped in a video game, not everyone will make it out. Join Kirito and friends as they try to conquer the one hundredth floor, which would clear the game and as they ultimately try to keep each other alive. My adaptation of SAO, written the way I would have told the story. Rated T for Mild Language and Violence.

28. Chapter 28: Gilded Hero: Part 2

Chapter 28: Gilded Hero: Part Two

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 Twenty Eight. I'm sorry if my explanation at the end of the last chapter took a depressing turn. I just wanted to explain what's going to happen with this story. As I said before, there is a chance for this story to be picked up by me again, however, I'll explain that next chapter, which should be released on New Year's Eve.

* As for this chapter, I had originally planned to release it on Christmas Day, but depending on how I feel and if it's done, I may release this late Christmas Eve. Anyway, that's a quick run down of this chapter and the final chapter.

* I want to apologize if the "fight scene" in The World Tree was lackluster. I am well aware that it was most likely lackluster. I'll admit it, I've never been good with fight scenes. I was a lot worse when I started writing four or five years ago, but I'm not much better now.

* Anyway, enough talk. Let's just get into this. I hope you readers don't hate this chapter.

Kazuto/Kirito

ALfheim, Neutral Territory – Arun, The World Tree – The Birdcage – December 13th, 2025

Three Days Remaining

A awful cackling sound echoed out into the darkness. Asuna and I looked around us, trying to determine where the noise came from. Seconds later, that's when we heard the voice.

"What a surprise. What is a cockroach like yourself doing in my birdcage?"

It felt as though my blood had run cold. Thoughts ran through my head.

Could it be? Could that be the voice of the man who caused all of this?

"I hoped you liked how I decided to make my entrance." The voice said again.

Then, I saw a humanoid form begin to manifest a small distance away from the two of us. It was a man, slightly taller than me, with long, flowing blonde locks, large pale, green wings and wearing a long, green robe. And he also wore a crown of some sort. The image of this man instantly fit the name of someone I had heard quite a bit during my time in ALO.

Oberon The Fairy King, I thought.

The man took a few steps closer to us.

"It took me months to replicate Emperor Palpatine's laugh from Star Wars." He said. "So, I hope that you appreciate it."

I wrinkled my nose with disgust.

Eh, really? Star Wars?

"Oberon The Fairy King, I presume?" I asked. "Really, Star Wars? An American movie? You have no taste!"

I felt Asuna tug at my arm and so, I turned to look at her.

"Kirito, that's Sugou Nobuyuki, my ex-boyfriend!"

I felt my blood begin to warm with anger. I turned back to Sugou/Oberon, to see him smirking.

"And you must be Kazuto Kirigaya, otherwise known as 'Kirito'."

He stepped right up to me and his smirk disappeared, to be replaced by a frown. He then surprised me by backhanding me. And he did so much harder that I thought he could. I actually fell to the ground. He then took one step closer to me and kicked me in the rib, causing me to roll over onto my stomach. He let out a sigh, sounding like he was satisfied.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that to you, Kirito." Sugou replied. "But as much as I wanted to confront you in real life, I had to wait. I had to wait to get you here, so I could humiliate you in-game, just to show you how powerless and helpless you are."

I turned my head to look at him, finding it surprisingly hard to do so.

"Y... You caused the disappearances of former SAO survivors, didn't you?"

He leaned down with another smirk on his face.

"But of course, I did! They were valuable candidates for my experiments!"

I couldn't believe him. How could he do such a thing? He seemed to notice my shocked look and the smirk on his face grew, as if that satisfied him.

"You've been waiting?" I asked.

"Why, yes I have."

"What about that tranquilizer the other night? What was that about?"

"You had him tranquilized?" Asuna gasped with shock. "You... You monster!"

The smirk on Sugou's face disappeared, to be replaced with another frown. He looked up at her.

"Quiet, you." was all he said.

His disrespect to Asuna caused my temper to flare. Sugou looked back down at me, frown still on his face and spoke again.

"I am so sorry that that happened to you. Believe me, I really am. But truth be told, I did order that group of men out to watch you guys that night. That's all that they were supposed to do. But I suppose that they got a little cocky. They thought that I may appreciate having you in front of me in the real world. But no. No, no, no. I wanted to face you in-game."

"Face me in game? Why?"

He smirked yet again. How I longed to wipe that stupid smirk off of his face.

"Why because I wanted to best you in your own realm, of course. I wanted to make you think that you were in control, that you were in the zone. And then, I would crush and humiliate you, making you realize that you really can't do anything."

Crush and humiliate me? Make me realize that I can't do anything? Fat chance.

A smirk of my own spread across my face.

"I can't wait to wipe that stupid smirk off of your..."

Sugou rolled his eyes.

"Shut up."

And somehow, I listened to him. I turned my head, over the course of several seconds and looked at Asuna. I then turned back to him, once again, over the course of several seconds.

"I'm going to make you pay for treating her this way!"

His smirk disappeared, He bent down and grabbed my hair, pulling my head up and off the floor. I stared into his eyes.

"First of all, what did I tell you about talking? Save your breath, kid. You're going to need it." he said. "Now, you will not talk about my Titania. You will not look at her, you will not talk to her and you won't think about her. If we're clear on that, that'll make all of this easier for both of you."

He then drove my chin against the ground, causing minor pain in my jaw. I looked up at him after a few seconds.

"Tell me, why can't I hardly move?" I asked.

He smile a toothy grin.

"Like it? It's a new skill that I've developed. I call it Gravity Magic and I'll introduce it in the next update!"

I didn't need to say anything regarding that.

"Can I ask you a question?"

He shrugged.

"Sure. I have you right where I want you, so I'm in a good mood. Go for it."

"There was never any 'Grand Quest', was there?"

He chuckled.

"How perceptive of you, Kirigaya. No, there was never any Grand Quest. Silly, stupid, little rumors that I allowed players to spread among the game's populace. I never intended to allow an entire race of players to ascend to be Alfs. And you could also say that ALO isn't in beta."

My eyes widened with shock. He seemed to notice this.

"No, the fact that ALO was in 'beta', that was a cover story, if you will. It was the perfect explanation for the bugginess that some players report, as a result of the experiments on my guinea pigs."

He sees them as guinea pigs? Nothing else?

Sugou began to walk away from me. I turned to watch him walk towards Asuna, who seemed to be frozen in place.

"Now, I've answered your question. If you could just lie there, I'll come back to you."

He continued walking towards Asuna, but he eventually stopped. And he turned back around to face me.

"You know what? I just really want to savor this, you know? I finally have you right where I want you! The moment that I've been dreaming of for months now is finally here! So, I'm going to savor this just a little more, if you don't mind!"

He walked back over to me, stopped and placed his foot on my back. And then he pressed down, not that it really did anything.

"I'm going to let you in on something, Kirigaya. So, bear with me, here. Imagine this: With my research, I'm creating technology that would allow me to do something that many men have only dreamed of. I'll finally have full control over the human soul! I'll be a God! In this world and in the real one!"

I couldn't help but snicker at what he said. I could almost feel him looking down at me.

"What? What's so funny, Kirigaya?"

I turned my head and did my best to look up at him.

"You call yourself a God. Akihiko Kayaba was a God in Aincrad, only in a world that he created. Not you, though. No. You're just a man, a man who's trying his best to play a part that he was never meant to have!"

He just stared down at me with a blank face, before sighing with annoyance.

"Why did you have to go and do that? I was perfectly content with just having you underneath my foot! Oh, well. System command, change the pain absorber from level ten to level seven."

Pain absorber? What the hell is he doing?

He bent down and began to whisper to me.

"I just want you to know that I want this to hurt you, but not too much."

What?

Before I could ask what he was talking about, he let out a yell and it felt as though a headache was forming in the back of my head. He had stomped on the back of my head! He then began laughing as he walked around to look down at me.

"I tell you; I could do that all day!" he said as he laughed.

I looked up at him, as he wiped a tear from his eye. He then heaved a sigh and stopped laughing.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to spend some time with the girl I love. The girl that you took away from me!"

He began to walk away as I gritted my teeth in anger.

"Sugou, you bastard! If anyone took her away from anybody, it was you who took her away from me!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and just stood there for a few seconds. He then quickly turned around and ran back over to me, then kicked me dead center in my face. After his foot made contact with my face, I felt my brain begin rattling around in my head.

"Agh, God!" I exclaimed.

"That would be me. Now, I would keep my mouth shut if I were you."

He turned back around and walked back over to Asuna. I was forced to just watch as he came to a stop and snap his fingers. Out of nowhere, chains fell from the darkness above and Asuna's arms were lifted against her own will. The chains then hooked to her wrists, leaving her suspended.

"Sugou, leave her alone!"

He didn't respond to what I said. He just snapped his fingers and she was suddenly pulled towards the floor, causing her to make frightened and anguished look.

"Great! That's exactly what I was looking for!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "You can't get NPC women to make faces like that!"

That pervert.

All I wanted to do was get up, run at him and ram my sword through his back. However, I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but sit there and watched. He took a couple more steps toward Asuna and grabbed hold of the veil that hung in her face. He then pulled it up, so her face was no longer obscured. He grabbed a lock of her hair, ran his fingers through her hair and took a long sniff.

"Ah, you smell lovely. Figuring out how to replicate the way you smell in real life was a challenge." He let go of her hair. "And don't even get me started on how hard it was to get an analyzer into that room of yours."

Room?

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something to get him to direct his attention to me. So, I decided to speak up again.

"Sugou! Don't you look at her, look at me!"

He looked at me over his shoulder as he just stood there. He let out a sigh.

"Of course, all you needed to do was ask nicely! Hold on, I'll be right with you, Kirigaya."

He snapped his fingers and the chains around Asuna's wrists disappeared. As that happened, a small cage, even smaller than the birdcage that she had been in was, fell from the darkness above us. It came to rest behind her, and I could see it clearer now. There was no furniture and there was only room for one or two people in the cage.

He grabbed her by the throat before she could attempt to move and pushed her inside. The cage's door swung shut on its own. He then snapped his fingers again and the cage began to fly upwards. Asuna grabbed the bars of the cage and looked down at us as it came to a stop several feet above us.

"Hold on, my dear! I'll be back with you in a few moments!"

My temper flared once more. I hated that he was being affectionate with her. He then turned back to me and walked back over to me. I took the opportunity that I had been given.

"Sugou, where are you keeping her in the real world? What did you do with her?!"

He just smirked at me as he came to a stop in front of me. He kneeled in front of me.

"Well, seeing as you won't be going anywhere, I suppose that I can tell you. So, here goes. How do you keep your biggest secret from the 'Great Kirito'? I'll tell you. You stick right under his big nose and wait!"

My eyes widened with confusion.

What is he talking about?!

He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him

"You see, Kirigaya, she's at the place where it all began. She's resting where your post-SAO lives began. She's in the hospital where you went through your rehabilitation!"

He started laughing, most likely from the look of shock that was now on my face. He let go of my chin and patted my cheek.

How couldn't I have known? Well, why would I have suspected the hospital? How could I have...

He interrupted my thoughts.

"Kirigaya, I let you ask me a question, so now I have one for you. Why are you here? What were you expecting to happen? What do you want?!"

What do I want?

I chuckled as a few tears rolled down my cheeks.

"What do I want? All I..."

"Wait, hold that thought. System command, change the pain absorber from level seven to level five!"

He changed the pain setting again? What's he going to do now?

"Okay, go ahead."

I let out a sigh.

"All I want for Christmas is to have Asuna back by my side."

He immediately began to laugh. He then surprised me by beginning to sing in a really obnoxious, loud voice.

"On the twelfth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: Kazuto Kirigaya!"

He quickly moved around to my right side. He then kicked me in the jaw. Fire shot up my jaw. It felt as though it were on fire. If this was real life, it may have been dislocated.

"On a silver platter!"

He continued laughing as he began dancing around in circles around me for ten or fifteen seconds. He finally stopped and let out a sigh.

"Oh, that was fun! But I think I've done all I can with this. I've milked this as much as I can."

He walked back in front of me and grabbed my chin again, which was still throbbing.

"Kirito, I want you to know something. When you die, and you will die, there won't be any resurrections this time."

He then gave he a solemn look.

"I hope that they remember you."

He then let go of me and stood back up.

"Okay, let's get the final part out of the way. System command, change the pain absorber from level five to level three! This is the level where pain will begin to affect your body in the real world. I look forward to hearing you scream, Kirigaya."

He moved over to my right side again and suddenly pulled my sword from my scabbard. A few seconds later, he spoke again.

"Goodbye, Kazuto Kirigaya. I very seriously doubt that we will ever meet again."

He then drove the sword down through my back and out my stomach.

"Kirito!" I heard Asuna yell my name from above.

I didn't scream. Or yell. Or anything. Honestly, I was somewhat shocked from the pain. My entire torso and back felt as though they were on fire. I couldn't move or do anything.

Elsewhere

I had no idea where I was right now. The pain had ceased a little, but I could still feel it. It was definitely still there. I was lying down in some endless expanse of white nothingness.

Why is this happening to me? Am I being punished for thinking that I was some sort of hero? For thinking that I was the only one who could save Asuna?

That's when I heard a familiar voice. The same voice that I had heard earlier today.

Are you giving up? Are you giving up?

No, I thought. I'm facing reality, I think.

Then you are giving up. What was the point of me lending you a much needed hand, if you were just going to give up?

So, it was you who helped me? Is it really you, Akihiko Kayaba?

There was silence for a few seconds.

Yes and no. You're giving into a system that you once beat!

I wanted to sigh, but I couldn't.

What's the point? He's a GM and I'm just a player.

You were in this situation before and you prevailed!

If I could snort, I would have.

That was a long time ago, I thought.

I could have sworn I heard footsteps now.

"So, our battle was what then? A one time thing? One night only? A joke, even?"

I suddenly found myself able to look up now, only able to do just that. I couldn't believe it. Akihiko Kayaba was standing over me.

"Do you remember our fight?" he asked. "You showed me that the human mind is superior to the system!"

I just stared up at him.

"You... You can't be... You're..."

He cut me off.

"I will not accept the fact that all I did for you today was all for nothing! Stand up, Kirito! Stand up!"

The world of white melted around me and was soon replaced by the world of darkness that Sugou had put us in. I continued to lay there for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath. After those initial few seconds, I saw my HP bar shoot all the way back up to green. I let out a sigh, as I began to force myself to stand.

He wants a fight? Well, let's give him a fight!

Sugou was standing ahead of me, with his back to me and looking up at Asuna's new cage.

"So, that was your 'boyfriend'?" he asked. "The 'legendary Kirito'? Well, I must say that I am disappointed. I expected him to have just a little more fight in him!"

As I stood up, the sword in my chest came tumbling out.

"Sugou, your attacks are weak! The blades in SAO hit harder. Much harder!"

He finally turned around to look at me. He frowned as he saw me standing there.

"Unbelievable." He replied. "I've got a few bugs left to deal with! Oh, well."

He walked over to me and began to make the motion of backhanding me. I grabbed his wrist before it could hit my face. I lifted my leg up and kicked him away from me, which only sent him a few steps back. My eyes narrowed.

"You're insane." I said.

"No, insane would be letting her go again!" he exclaimed as he pointed back at her cage. "And I don't plan on doing that again!"

I gritted my teeth.

"Asuna was never going to be yours. When I get out of here, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you are sent far away from her for the rest of your life!"

He rolled his eyes. Before he could speak, I spoke myself.

"System login: ID Heathcliff!"

As soon as I said that, a whole new menu appeared before my eyes.

"What?! Whose ID are you using?!"

I ignored him.

"System command: enable administrator privileges. Set ID Oberon to level one."

A faint yellow outline flashed around Sugou, followed by an error message that popped up in front of his view.

"An ID that outranks mine! That's impossible! This is my world and I am the creator!"

As he spoke, the circle of gravity magic below us slowly disappeared. I finally felt normal again.

"I'm it's ruler! It's king! It's God!"

"No, I don't think so." I replied. "System command: change the pain absorber from level ten to level five."

I was going to start off easy with him. Part of me wanted to enjoy this. He turned to look at me with a glare.

"Okay, let's get this over with."

He walked over to me and tried to backhand me again, but I nailed him in the chin with an uppercut before he could land his strike. He hobbled backwards, wailing with pain as he did. I couldn't help but grin.

"Just so you know, that's only a taste of what's to come. I hope you're ready, Sugou."

He eventually got over his pain and removed his hand from his jaw. He looked at me with anger.

"You little punk... How dare you talk to me like that?!"

He ran at me and I got ready to attack. One second passed and I threw my fist towards his face. I nailed him in the middle of the face and heard the oh-so-satisfying sound of his nose popping. He let out a cry of pain as he hobbled backwards once again. I could just see the image of virtual blood flowing from his nose, even though there was no such thing in SAO and ALO. He held his nose as he looked at me, tears streaming down his face.

"I... I think you broke my nose!" he wailed.

I snickered.

"Aw, has wittle baby Sugou lost his ego? You won't feel any real world pain unless the pain absorber is set to three or below. You said it yourself, remember?"

He looked back at me with angry eyes. Before he could say anything, I intervened.

"Oh, speaking of which, system command: change the pain absorber from level five to level zero!"

Sugou suddenly looked back at me with fear.

"L... L... Level zero? Y... You're crazy!"

I chuckled.

"Sugou, you deserve everything that's about to happen to you."

He looked back at me, still with fear and now uncertainty. I cleared my throat after I scanned the menu for a few seconds.

"System command: generate object, ID Excalibur."

A golden sword materialized out of thin air and dropped into my hands.

"Huh, who know? All it takes is a command to summon a legendary weapon?"

He looked back at me with pleading eyes.

"Please, no. Not the Holy Sword Excalibur!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Please, Sugou. I'm not going to kill you. At least, not with this."

He looked back at me, once again with fear.

"What? What do you mean?"

I tossed the sword at him and he took his hands from his face to catch it. I got a glimpse at his nose at last and I saw that it was horribly crooked after I had punched him. Good. I was glad. The tip of the Holy Sword Excalibur touched the floor and it looked as though he were struggling to lift it.

"Come on, Sugou. I want this to be a fair fight. I won't kill an unarmed player."

He glared back at me again. I couldn't wait to wipe that glare from his face. I reached down and picked up my own sword and held it out in front of me. I looked back at Sugou, to see that the tip of his sword was still on the floor.

"Come on, Sugou. Raise your sword!"

I could have sworn that I saw him flinch.

"Don't act like a wimp, Sugou. The other guy never ran, no matter what happened. Akihiko Kayaba never ran!"

Sugou actually flinched as a frown appeared on his face.

"Oh my God! Kayaba?! That's the ID you're using, isn't it? Isn't it?!"

I let out a sigh.

"That man took everything I had! He took everything that was rightfully mine! All of that fame should have been mine!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Sugou, I won't lie and say that I don't know where you're coming from. I lost to him and then had to work for him. But this isn't about him. This is about you and me. So? Raise your sword."

He was silent, but he finally did just that. He ran forward and tried to strike. I parried his strike. He tried again. And so, I parried his strike, again.

"Die!" he exclaimed. "Die! Die!"

He threw four strikes in my direction and I blocked them all with ease.

"Have you even used a sword before?" I taunted him.

I sensed his anger flare. He ran forward again and tried to strike. I let out a sigh. I then blocked his strike and proceeded to cut off one of his hands. He screamed with pain, which was music to my ears. He dropped his sword and looked at his stump, as he reached for it and held it. I shook my head and gestured towards the sword on the floor.

"No, no. Come on. Again."

Even though I thought that he would refuse, he actually crouched down and grabbed the sword by its hilt.

"It does hurt though, right? But I promise that it's nothing. Not compared to what you've put Asuna through."

I saw him flinch again. He grimaced as he ran towards me and tried to strike me. I blocked his strike. He tried again and I blocked again. I had had enough of watching him struggle. I was ready to end this. I stepped forward and sent a cut across his waist. His legs were gone. They disappeared in a white light. And he was screaming in pain.

I let out a sigh as I walked over to him, now lying on his stomach, trying to climb away. I reached him and bent down to grab him by his hair. I finally lifted him up and looked at his face. There were tears flowing from his eyes and snot flowing from his nose. He looked scared. And he was right to be scared.

"Sugou, I have something to say. Once you're gone, I want you to crawl back under that damn rock that you came from. And never, ever come back out."

He looked even more scared now. He sniffled.

"Goodbye, Sugou Nobuyuki. I doubt that I'll see you again."

I then cast the remaining half of him up into the air and once he was low enough, I thrust my sword up and into his face. That face of his was gone now. The rest of him disappeared after that. I let out a sigh, as I returned my sword to its scabbard. I then stepped forward and snapped my fingers. Asuna's cage then began to lower itself. Once it was on the ground, the door opened, and I helped her out. Once she was out of the cage and it had disappeared, she hugged me.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." I whispered to her. "I just had to do that."

She pulled away from the hug, still holding my hands and shook her head.

"Mm-mm." she grunted. "I don't blame you. In fact, I'm glad you did what you did! Sugou deserved everything that happened to him."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you agree."

We continued looking at each other for a few seconds and I spoke again.

"Okay, I hate to cut our reunion short, but we need to get you out of here. We need to get you home. And I promise that I'll do everything in my power to keep this from happening again."

"Of course, you will." She said with a happy smile on her face. "I have faith in you. Always have, always will. And you will always be my hero."

I closed my eyes and chuckled. I opened my eyes a second later and opened the administrator menu again. I began scrolling and did so until I came to the button that would do the job. I looked back at Asuna.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded. I was about to press the button when she spoke up.

"Wait!"

I turned back to look at her.

"I want you to be the first person that I see when I get back."

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit, but I smiled.

"Well, the first person may be difficult to pull off, but I can promise you that I'll be one of the first."

She smiled back.

"I can live with that."

I nodded, pressed the button and confirmed. I watched as Asuna slowly began to glow and dissolve into hundreds of pixels. I let out a sigh and looked up.

"You can come out now. I know you're there. It is you, isn't it, Akihiko Kayaba?"

Eventually, a man in slacks and a lab coat appeared above me and slowly began to hover down to me.

"Yes. It's good to see you again, Kirito."

"Answer my question. Somehow, you're alive, aren't you?"

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly? What do you mean?"

"I am really an afterimage of the Akihiko Kayaba's mind. An echo, if you will."

I rolled my eyes.

"As usual, I have no idea what you're talking about. Well, I suppose I should thank you. It was you who made me able to duel wield, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes, it was."

"So, I'll always be able to duel wield?"

To my disappointment, he shook his head.

"No. As far as I can tell, there is no duel wielding skill in ALfheim Online. And as for an afterimage and due to the influence I have on this world, I have a very limited lifespan. I won't be here forever and I'm fading fast even now."

"So, this was a one-time thing?"

He nodded.

"Quite so. In fact, this may be the very last time that we speak."

"How are you here now?"

"Before SAO ended, I saved a copy of my neural mapping to your NerveGear, in hopes that I could be of some help in the future."

I cocked my eyebrow.

"That's very... benevolent, of you."

He shrugged.

"You said you've helped me. What else have you done?"

He chuckled.

"Well, you received an item of apparel at the start of all this, didn't you?"

I looked at him with shock.

"The Coat of Midnight. That was you!"

He nodded.

"You wore it quite often in SAO. I thought that you might have liked having it back."

I shrugged.

"It's cool. What else have you done?"

"I allowed you to duel wield in The World Tree and brought you back from the dead after Sugou killed you."

"And you said you're fading fast now?"

He nodded.

"So, hopefully you'll let me talk now."

I nodded. Suddenly, I saw a golden light above us. I gasped with surprise as I looked up. There was a oval-shaped object floating down to us.

No, I realized as it got closer. It's a decently-sized egg.

It lowered into my hands and stopped moving.

"What's this?" I asked.

"The start of a brand new world. A seed that will grow. If you choose to allow it, at least."

I looked at him with confusion.

"Could you not talk in riddles?"

He chuckled.

"I call it 'The Seed'. If you let it sprout, you'll know what I mean. What you do with it is up to you. You can even delete it if you want. However, if you still have any positive feelings whatsoever for the virtual world, you'll plant it and let it sprout."

I looked down at it with curiosity.

"I should be going now. Farewell Kazuto Kirigaya. This will likely be the last time we speak."

I looked up to see him begin to float upwards.

"Wait!" I called. "I got a picture in the mail today that was taken in Aincrad! Would that mean anything to you?"

He came to a stop.

"So, they finally delivered it for me?"

A quizzical look appeared on my face as I cocked my head to look at him.

"What are you talking about?"

He hovered back down to the ground.

"One of my former associates was supposed to deliver that picture, that was taken at the very end of SAO, months ago."

"How does it exist? It shouldn't be able to exist!"

"It was taken with a special recording crystal."

So, my hunch was correct.

"And I left detailed instructions to my associate on how to convert it to a digital file and how to manifest it into a physical form. To print it off as a real photo."

I just stared at him.

"And then I requested that it get mailed to you. I thought you would want a reminder of that moment at the very end. I hope that I gave you a lasting memory with that."

I continued staring and eventually nodded.

"That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you."

He nodded.

"No need to thank me. Now, I must go. I hope that we may one day meet again Kirito. Farewell."

He then began to glow, and I averted my eyes. Eventually, there was a bright flash and even with my eyes averted, they hurt for a second. When I looked back to where he had been standing, not only did I see that he was gone, but I found myself standing in an empty birdcage. I was back in ALfheim. I sighed.

"Yui, are you there? Are you okay?"

"Daddy!"

I looked up, saw a flash of light and Yui fell from it, hugging herself against me.

"Is Mommy okay?!"

I nodded with a smile.

"Yes, Asuna's safe. She's back in the real world now."

"Oh, thank goodness!" she exclaimed as she rubbed her head against my chest.

I sighed with relief.

"You had me worried, Yui."

She looked back up to me.

"Don't worry. I took shelter in the memory storage on your NerveGear."

I chuckled.

"That was pretty clever of you. Don't worry, I'll find a better home for you soon. Something with more memory space."

A sad smile came to my face now.

"Listen, I promise that we'll visit you soon. I just have to see Asuna again in the real world. However, I don't know how much longer this world will be here."

She beamed a smile at me.

"Not to worry Daddy! No matter what world we go it, I'll always be residing in your NerveGear!"

I chuckled again.

"That's good to know. Anyway Yui, I have to go now."

"Okay, Daddy. I love you!"

"I love you, too."

I opened my menu, kissed Yui on the cheek, took one last look at the world outside the birdcage and then left ALfheim.

Kazuto's House

When I came to, the first thing I saw was Sugu standing over me. She let out a gasp of shock and fell backwards onto my bed.

"I'm sorry! When you didn't log out right away, I got worried!" she explained. "And when you began breathing heavily, I thought that something was wrong!"

I sighed as I took off the NerveGear and sat it down on the bed next to me.

"Something was wrong. That was probably when I died."

Her eyes widened.

"You died?! Then, is Asuna still trapped?! Don't tell me that you gave up..."

I shook my head and held up my hand.

"No, she is free. I died when I faced Oberon, who is actually her ex from the real world. But I was brought back to life."

She went white with shock.

"Oberon is actually Sugou Nobuyuki? The developer of ALO?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"How did you come back if you died?"

"It's a long story."

"That's okay. You don't have to explain right now."

"Sugu, listen. Thank you so much for your help. I couldn't have done it without everything you did for me. So, are we good now?"

She put up her hand.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, you have to find Asuna. She's probably wondering where you are by now."

I looked at my digital clock. She was right. It was just past nine now. I had to get moving.

"Sugu, Sugou told me that he's keeping her at the hospital where our rehab took place. I have to go. But you have everyone's numbers. Let them know where she is and that I'm headed there now."

She nodded with a smile.

"Right!"

Sometime Later

I walked my bicycle down the driveway as Sugu walked by my side. I had my jacket on and had my keys and everything. I looked at Sugu.

"Okay, here I go."

"Tell her I said hi, okay?"

I nodded.

"Definitely. She'll be glad to know that you're thinking of her."

I stopped and began to rub my hands together.

"Wow, it's cold."

I looked up at the sky, to see white, petal-looking objects falling from the sky.

"It's snowing!"

Believe it or not, it was actually our first snowfall this year. I finally got onto my bike.

"Be careful!" she called to me.

I waved to her and finally began to peddle away. As I peddled, I never looked back, having no idea that I was about to walk into a world of trouble.

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. So, I have a few things I want to say. Nothing about the final chapter or any of that jazz. That chapter will come New Year's Eve, as I said, while this one was released late Christmas Eve or early, early Christmas Day. Depending on how you look at it.

* So, what did you think of Sugou in this version? I wanted to paint him as very disconnected from reality and even crazier than the canon version, somewhat even like the Joker in a way. Tell what you think of this version of Sugou/Oberon.

* I obviously removed another bit from this episode, you should know what I'm referring to. I think the last thing I'll say is what did you think of Kayaba? And by that, I mean his explanation on how he's been helping Kirito, like he made him able to duel wield for a time. I hope you guys like the explanation of the picture Kirito got in the first part of this arc as well, even though it's a small detail.

* Well anyway, Merry Christmas guys and thanks for reading this one. I'm going to go though, so have a fantastic holiday and bye.

Review Responses

Naruto Sakura Uzumaki (Chapter 27): I actually do care about you as an author (even though I myself am not an author). You ARE doing a good job, and you should be proud of it. I think it is an amazing story, and it is definitely a better version of SAO. You have NOT ruined SAO.

Don't let all of the negative reviews get to you. A lot of people leaving negative reviews are just trolls and or readers that are unhappy because of how things in the story weren't developing the way that they wanted.

I have been a huge SAO fan, so I know what I am talking about. It is my #1 favorite anime/manga/light novel (which used to be the Naruto series until they ruined it by making Boruto).

I think that the reasons why this story keeps getting negative reviews are because not enough people have read it thoroughly and entirely, and that most of the reviewers are just trolls or salty people.

Like I said before, don't let the negative reviews affect your writing or your thoughts. Just do what YOU want to do, and how YOU want to do it. Even if you don't get any more new positive reviews from readers, just know that I will always be there to support you.

Well, thanks, Naruto. I believe what you say that you know what you're talking about. I don't think you're lying at all. I appreciate your words, but I'm most likely quitting this story. However, I will get into the chance of this thing being picked up again next chapter. If I ever can be proud of this story again, it'll take some time. I've never gotten into Naruto. It just doesn't seem to be my style.

SAO was my favorite anime; Aincrad is definitely one of if not my favorite anime intros. In the past months, SAO and Your Lie in April have tied for my favorite anime. Even though it's really sad, I love Your Lie in April to death. It truly changed my life. I plan on collecting the manga at some point. Thanks for the review as always and Merry Christmas!

Guest (Chapter 27): No! For F's sake don't say that! This story is incredible, and I love every part of it, darn it! Being negative about things aren't gonna fix anything! Please keep up the writing, I beg of you. Someone might have their own idea on how the story should be written, but this is YOUR story. YOU decide what happens, no one else. And if you eventually decide to write Part II, count on me being one of the first people to read and rewiew. I love this story, and I really like the way it turned out!

Thanks for the kind words. I suppose not all guest reviewers are negative. You've proven that to me today. I really am glad that you enjoyed every part of this story, as you say, even though for me, it's hard to positively look at this story anymore. And as I told Naruto, I will get into how this story may be picked up again next chapter. Thanks for the review as always and Merry Christmas!

Next Chapter: In the series finale, Kazuto can finally see Asuna in the real world, however before he can see her, he's confronted by Sugou Nobuyuki, who in real life is a pathetic comparison to his in-game persona of Oberon The Fairy King. Will Kazuto be able to see his beloved again?