Chapter 28- Behind The Mask

April 20th, 2057

Rias had left her apartment shortly before her son and his friends did. She had gone into the nearby subway station to get to her job at a major business company. Her wage there was decent as combined with her husband's pay has allowed the three-person family to take occasional vacations out of the city, which Frank had loved as a child as it helped him get away from the stigma of him being called a freak because of his powers.

Under other circumstances, Rias would have been more than happy to erase anyone's memories of Frank's abilities, but it would be time-consuming to track them all down plus they only knew the bare minimum of what her son's powers were, which was the enhanced strength and speed. It's only when people learned of Frank's multiple forms that the demon lord took action, with the only exception being Frank's friends as she knew they could be trusted to keep the secret.

The northbound subway was coming into view, however, right before Rias could prepare to board, she heard a voice say, "Well this is certainly a surprise. I never would've assumed that you would try to work like the rest of these mongrels."

Rias's eyes widened in shock as she recognized the voice. She quickly turned around and saw a familiar red-haired demon sneering right behind her.

"Arcanos," she said venomously, while sending a death glare to her fellow demon. "What do you want?"

Arcanos was wearing casual clothes that fit the era, likely to blend in with the populace so as to not draw attention. But why would he reveal himself to her now, after all this time? He must have known that she'd been in Tokyo for the last thirty years. Was he planning on attacking her here, out in public?

Such a thought unnerved the demon sorceress. While she did care about humans and worried about the casualties a potential battle between two demon lords would cause, she knew it would also draw the attention of Frank and his friends, likely prompting them to investigate. Rias was confident that she could hold her own against Arcanos in a fight, but all these factors made her feel more hesitant than usual.

As if to mock her, Arcanos let out a cynical chuckle. "Why so cruel, Rias?" he cackled. "Is that any way to treat an old friend? Altena would be so disappointed in you."

Hearing the name of her old friend made Rias more agitated. She didn't acknowledge the final warning to board the subway as she kept her gaze fixed on the swordsman. "We are not friends, and don't you dare mention Altena like that. You and I both know that if she were here, we'd be having a much different conversation."

Arcanos, however, remained composed despite the threat. "True, Altena was the strongest demoness to ever live. She even rivaled Zarc, our king. Such a shame she chose to side with these weaklings and those half-breeds she would call a son and daughter."

"Shut it, you bastard!" Rias said in anger. Their conversation was drawing some attention from the humans, but neither of them cared. "Unlike you and Zarc, Altena actually cared about humans and wanted to protect them. As for her son, Zane, and her daughter, Lucia, she was doing her duty as a mother, protecting her children."

"Except that didn't work so well for any of them, did it?" Arcanos goaded with that same sneer on his face. "Altena lost her life, and Zane split his soul into fragments in a foolish attempt to combat Zeta whenever he would appear across the ages, leaving poor Lucia all alone."

"Is there a reason you're here or are you just trying to provoke me?"

Arcanos let out a chuckle. "Oh, a little bit of both. I just thought I'd offer you to join me in locating Zarc and wiping out humanity."

"You already know my answer. I'll never join you or your conquest. You're a disgrace to demons."

"Funny, because most mythologies and religions tend to view demons as evil beings," Arcanos said in a snarky tone. "So wouldn't that make you the disgrace?"

Unfortunately, Arcanos had a point. Most of the world's perception on demons was that they were evil and corrupted anyone who came into contact with them. But that wasn't always the case. There was a time, in an era long lost to history, where demons were seen as both good and bad. They were respected and feared. But that all changed when Zeta began his war on humanity and radicalized the demons with ill intentions. Only a handful of the good demons had survived the usurpation, with Altena and Rias being two of them.

"Altena may be gone, but my promise to her remains," Rias said firmly, her grip on her purse tightening as she spoke. "I swore that I would protect her children in her stead, and I fully intend to keep my word."

It was true that Rias took Frank in to honor her oath to Altena, but that didn't mean she didn't care about him. Far from it, in fact. She genuinely loved the boy ever since she and Shiro adopted him when he was ten. Rias has even come to view Frank as her own son, something she knew Altena would approve of. She also viewed Meg as her daughter too, who was none other than Lucia's reincarnation, despite the fact that she lives in a different apartment. Rias knew that monsters had attacked Meg several times before she was reunited with her brother, but what the girl didn't know was that the female demon lord had actually protected her by ambushing her attackers in the real world while Meg fought them in the Accelerated World.

Rias knew it would have been better if she had gotten the siblings sooner, but something told her to wait until they reunited on their own terms. What that something was, she'll never know. Thankfully Meg liked to drop by their apartment rather frequently, but Rias is still looking for a way to convince the girl to live with them permanently so she could better protect her.

Arcanos's sneer vanished and was replaced by a passive expression. "So that's how you feel," he said slowly. "Very well. If you truly wish to take this path to death, then I won't stop you. In fact, I hope that this path will end with me taking your life. By the way, do you recognize this?" The male demon reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a thin vial of red liquid. Rias immediately knew it was blood, but it wasn't ordinary blood. Even from a few feet away, Rias noticed trails of darkness within the liquid, the blood of demons.

Rias's eyes widened in shock as she put the pieces together in her head. There were only two individuals who possessed that type of blood in this era, and one of them had recently gotten into a battle where blood was shed.

"Arcanos, you snake," Rias said in anger. "Was that your goal in Okinawa all along?! To get Frank's blood and use it for your own ambitions?"

"Actually no, it was just a happy accident that I acquired this," Arcanos replied with surprising honesty. "I was hoping that Gandora would take out that half-breed, but that damn Night Remnant and Dawn Remnant interfered. If it wasn't for them, then Zane's reincarnation would be dead."

"Just what do you plan to do with that blood?" Rias questioned intently. Demon blood possessed a certain kind of power and a proper sorcerer could find ways to weaponize it. Plus, Altena's blood was especially powerful, even with human blood mixed in. Not to mention that Frank's blood might be even more powerful since it also contains small traces of ether energy which his Core Crystal generates in order for it to function.

Arcanos simply smirked as he pocketed the vial. "Now where's the fun in telling you everything? I'll just leave that to your imagination. Anyway, it's time for me to go. Farewell, Rias." Arcanos turned and walked off before disappearing from sight.

There was another announcement of the next northbound subway, but Rias wasn't planning on going to her job now. Her instincts were telling her that her son was going to get himself involved in another battle, and she couldn't help him if she was stuck inside an office. Rias quickly accessed her virtual keyboard and typed a message to her supervisor that she wasn't feeling well so she couldn't come in today. Her supervisor replied by saying that she would be allowed time off for today and hoped that she'll just relax to let the illness pass.

However, relaxing was far from Rias's mind as she hurried to Umesato High School, hoping that she won't be too late.

Kazuto was waiting for Seiji in the north courtyard, the same place where the freshman had ambushed his sister and stole her wings, while under the shade of the trees. He had told the younger Burst Linker that they needed to talk and since there were no cameras here, this was the perfect place to not be overheard.

The Black Swordsman wished that he was here the day of the attack. Maybe if he was here, he could've prevented Suguha's wings from being taken, but now wasn't the time for those thoughts. Kazuto would also be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching Frank throttle the dusk avatar yesterday. He was a little nervous at first since Seiji's trump card was still unknown, but the way Frank, or rather Marth, handled himself during that battle showed that he had everything under control.

But now it is Kazuto's turn to fight the thief. They have the perfect hand to force Seiji into doing whatever they want. Kazuto will make sure this will be Dusk Taker's last battle.

Kazuto soon heard branches breaking under footfalls approaching him from behind, prompting him to turn around. He stared at the innocent yet cunning smile of the lowerclassman, who appeared from the shadow of a thick oak's trunk.

"That's game over, Seiji Nomi—or should I say, Dusk Taker."

"…What did you say?" Smile still playing his lips, Seiji cocked his head slightly. "Does this mean that you're giving up and admitting defeat?"

"Not even. I mean that this game with you is finished," Kazuto said in a low voice, his tone deadly serious.

Seiji's smile gradually faded, and a faint line of displeasure dug in between his eyebrows. "I would've thought you'd be smarter than that, Kirigaya. I'll admit that Furuta took me by surprise with that Incarnate attack of his, but it won't help. You can't stop me, Kirigaya. Soon I'll defeat Black King and rule this school—no, the entire Suginami area."

"Wow, you sure sound confident today, Dusk Taker," a female voice spoke up. "Far different from when my protégé crushed you yesterday."

The Dusk Taker player flinched in fear as both Kuroba and Marth (SAO form) appeared from behind other trees, effectively trapping him.

"Where did you two come from?!" Seiji exclaimed in fear, his earlier bravado quickly vanishing.

"I've got a max level Hiding skill tied to my SAO form," Marth replied casually while adjusting his studded collar, before reverting to his civilian form. "Someone like you could never detect me."

"And Marth was kind enough to give me some pointers on how to conceal my presence so you couldn't detect me," Kuroba added with a cold smirk. "Face it, Seiji. You're the one who's outmatched."

Seiji's face began looking panicked. "Why did you want me here?" he questioned, unable to hide the fear in his voice. "Is it to fight me?"

"No, we'll fight later today," Kazuto said smugly. "My partners and I wanted to inform you that we know about your illegal brain implant chip."

Seiji's eyes widened in shock. "Tch. So you figured out my secret. But I could still report Frank to the government. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to add someone like him to their arsenal."

"True." Frank smirked, which sent a cold shiver down the Dusk Taker's spine. "But that doesn't mean I'll go quietly if they come for me. Plus, if we leak out your BIC, you'll be expelled and be branded as a criminal. I'd say the damage to you is greater than to me."

"We've already decided how we'll settle this," Kuroba added. "You're going to duel Kazuto. If by some miracle you manage to beat him, then you'll have to deal with me and Frank."

For a brief moment, deep anger and irritation rose up in Seiji Nomi's face. "Duel. Burst Linker. Both terms that I despise. No, the very mentality that would seriously use those words is so detestable I can hardly stand it. But…if that is what you desire, then I suppose I have no choice." His expression reverted to his usual faint smile as he leaned against the oak and flipped a finger up. "But if this is how things are going to go, then I have one suggestion."

Kazuto looked a little puzzled. "Suggestion?"

"Don't you all think it's ridiculous to fight accelerated duel after duel, dozens of times, even hundreds of times if it goes poorly, until one of us loses all our points?"

A bad feeling spread through the Black Swordsman's gut, but he didn't care. It didn't matter what Seiji wanted to suggest, it won't stop Kazuto from battling and defeating the smug thief.

"Let's finish this in one go. A 'final battle' you could say," Seiji said, gruesome grin cut into his face. "In the Unlimited Neutral Field, there's a way to wager all the burst points of the players on a single match. Two or more duelers charge all their points into an item, and then the last player left standing gets the item and the points. So? Is that a smart way for us to settle things?"

Frank let out an amused chuckle as he stared at the Dusk Taker player. "As if we can trust you to hold up your end of the bargain, Seiji. How do we know this isn't a plot for you to ambush us in the Unlimited Neutral Field?"

As with regular duels, time passed a thousand times faster in the Unlimited Neutral Field. The only differences were the key words you needed to say to enter the field and that it would cost you ten burst points rather than just one. Because of that cost, it is risky to constantly dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field within the same day. Only a king-class player could sustain that kind of point loss.

Besides, the talk of ambushes within the Unlimited Neutral Field reminded Kazuto of the Yellow Legion's scheme to attack the Red King Niko during the Chrome Disaster incident three months ago. Of course they didn't stay in the field for months waiting for Niko to show up. In the process of transferring the Enhanced Armament, the Yellow Legion had discovered Cherry Rook's real identity, and they had guessed at what time Niko would dive by monitoring his movements. Without means like that, setting up an ambush in the Unlimited Neutral Field is almost impossible.

"However, if anyone can pull off an ambush within the Unlimited Neutral Field, it would be Seiji," Kirito thought. His resolve did not waver. This was his best chance to stop Dusk Taker once and for all and he was going to take it. "Fine, Seiji. We'll have a sudden death match. But let me be clear, only you and me will be risking all of our burst points. Frank and Kuroba will be under no such restrictions."

Seiji's smile morphed into a face of irritation. "My, my. That's not very fair."

"Like you would know anything about playing fair, Dusk Taker," Kuroba said in frustration, her arms folded across her chest.

"True. Now that our terms have been settled, here's the address we'll meet for our battle. We'll meet there after school in the Unlimited Neutral Field. I'll let you all decide the time." Seiji flicked a mailing address at Kazuto, then whirled around and left the courtyard. Neither Kuroba nor Frank attempted to stop him.

Once he disappeared inside the school, the trio smirked over their victory.

"It went just like you expected, Kuroba," Kazuto said smugly. "Seiji definitely feels threatened now. It would have been nice to settle things here and now, but I can wait a few hours."

The Black King let out a chuckle. "It's only because Seiji is so predictable. People of his type need power for their superiority acts. He'll do whatever it takes to stay above those he discriminates."

Frank folded his arms and leaned into a nearby tree. "This plan is pretty risky though. We don't know how many people are in this organization with Seiji. Plus it's highly possible that he'll have a monster by his side for the attack."

Kazuto let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, this is our only option to stop Seiji. Asuna and the others will be there too, so even if Seiji does ambush us, we won't be alone."

"Agreed," Kuroba said with a nod. "To call this a battle between Burst Linkers would be an insult. Seiji is no Burst Linker. He's an acceleration user. This battle won't just be for revenge and retrieving Suguha's wings, it will be a battle of pride."

The Dark Swordsman cracked a grin. "It's almost over guys. Let's do our best and kick Seiji's ass!"

"Yeah!" Kazuto and Kuroba as they joined their hands with Frank.

Suddenly Frank's chest flared with excruciating pain. "Gaaaah!" he exclaimed as he hunched over while clutching his Core Crystal with his right hand. The pain was so bad that he could hardly think. It was almost like his body was trying to tear itself apart.

"Frank!" Kuroba shouted in worry as she grabbed him by his shoulders to keep him steady. For some reason, she wasn't feeling the Blade Eater's pain, despite sharing his core. That concerned the Black King immensely.

Even Kazuto was shocked. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Soon the pain subsided, leaving Frank panting. "That's…never happened before." He stared at his right palm, eyes wide in disbelief. "I've never…felt pain like that before. I'm fine now though."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kuroba questioned, her eyes still full of panic. "You looked ready to collapse just now."

Frank could only nod his head.

"Could Fenrir have caused that?" Kazuto asked in suspicion, his partners staring at him as he spoke. "I mean, whenever he contacts you, it causes you pain."

The Blade Eater slowly shook his head. "No," Frank replied. "That felt different from whenever Fenrir spoke to me. It was almost…like my body was fighting against itself just now."

Both Drivers looked rather puzzled. "What are you talking about?" Kazuto questioned. "Why would your body fight itself?"

"I don't know," Frank said sadly. "But I should still be okay to fight." He checked the virtual clock that was in his peripheral vision. "C'mon. We need to get to class. Let's meet up with Asuna and the others after school to go over the plan."

Both Kazuto and Kuroba could only nod as they followed the Blade Eater back into the school.

"Hey, Kuroba," Kazuto whispered to his female partner. "We might need to keep a closer eye on Frank. Whatever that was just now wasn't normal."

"I agree," Kuroba murmured. "I doubt that Frank is hiding anything from us, but he's clearly not okay. Something's felt off about him ever since the battle with Gandora back in Okinawa. Could it involve the Curse of the Destroyers?"

The Black Swordsman shook his head. "No, that can't be it. This is something else. I only hope we can find out what it is and stop it before anything bad happens."

Unbeknownst to the teens however, Rias was watching them from behind some trees. She had just arrived via teleportation and had witnessed everything, including her son's sudden spurt of pain. Tears leaked from her eyes as she stared at her son disappearing into the school.

"No," the demoness said in despair, her hands covering her mouth and fell to her knees. "I was afraid this would happen eventually. Frank, my sweet boy, no…" The words caught in her throat and wept.

Later that day

Graphite Edge opened his eyes and gazed at the beautiful night sky of the Unlimited Neutral Field. The surface of the earth, the buildings, everything was white as though the color had been drained out. The world wasn't colorless, but more like the shade of dried bone. Square houses cast neat shadows on the broad road. In the distance, the Shinjuko center, transformed into chalk towers carving out spirals, pierced the night sky and soared upward.

He was with Lotus, Wolf, Flash, Sniper, Fencer, and Fairy as they had all dived together after Seiji had sent him the time on when they were supposed to meet for their battle.

"A Moonlight stage?" Klein—Red Shogun said in surprise as he, Agil, otherwise known as Green Guardian, and Silica, Azure Tamer, appeared beside their teammates. Shogun looked like a classic samurai with fancy armor with a katana strapped to his waist. Guardian greatly resembled Agil's SAO avatar, with a helmet covering his face and a large two-handed axe strapped to his back. Finally, Silica's Duel Avatar resembled her Cait Sith avatar from ALO, however her hair was a lighter shade of blue instead of brown. She also had a face mask, just like Shogun, and had red eye sleeves as well as an ornate dagger in an indigo sheath strapped to her waist.

"This stage is bright, but you basically can't see anything in the shadows," Graphite Edge said as he recounted the characteristics of this stage. "Noise carries from far away but there aren't many Enemies as well as no trap-style terrain effects."

"Surprise attacks from a hiding place in open spaces are practically impossible in this stage," Black Lotus added. "However, that doesn't mean we can lower our guard. Let's head to the meeting point."

The others simply nodded in acknowledgement before they all marched towards the designated area. Soon the Black Legion arrived at a large building that resembled a medieval European palace, but they hid in the shadows to observe. It looked to be a gothic style with enormous columns lined up along the front, and several sculptures of angels and demons jutted out from the walls.

"Demons," Black Wolf said quietly, catching his friends' attention.

"Something wrong, Marth?" Argent Flash questioned.

Wolf just shook his head letting out a grunt in disgust. "No. Seeing those just reminded me of Zarc and Arcanos."

"Um, none of those statues are duel avatars, are they?" Azure Tamer asked nervously as she instinctively huddled close to Green Guardian.

Suddenly both Wolf and Graphite began chanting the incantation for the night-vision spell, something that was exclusive to the Spriggan race in Alfheim Online. When they finished, their eyes took on a shade of green before examining the palace thoroughly.

"Nope," Graphite Edge said after a minute. "They're just statues. We'll still need to proceed carefully though. There's a high possibility that this is a trap."

"Indeed," Aqua Sniper replied. "Alright. Kirito, Kuroba and Marth will go ahead while the rest of us follow from a distance while keeping watch for any potential ambushes. That's the still plan, correct?"

Black Lotus nodded her head in confirmation. "Spot on as usual, Sinon. There's no doubt in my mind that Seiji will have someone helping him for this. We need to be ready for anything."

Red Shogun smirked as he smacked his right fist into his left palm. "Sounds good to me. Make sure to kick Seiji's ass for me, Kirito!"

"You got it, Klein," Graphite Edge said before eyeing his sister, Verdant Fairy, who was simply staring at him. "Don't worry, Sugu. I'm gonna get your wings back and make sure Seiji never hurts you again."

Verdant simply smiled in response. "I know you will, Brother. You've never backed down from a fight that mattered before. Why would this be any different?"

The Black Legion soon entered the castle grounds, with Lotus, Graphite and Wolf in the lead. The expansive grounds soon became a garden covered by thin tiles in complex patterns. There was not a single object on the field, just long thin shadows cast by the lance-like towers—formerly the main pillars of the baseball fence.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here," Black Wolf spoke up, and Lotus nodded. However, the Dark Swordsman still looked skeptical about the area.

"Seems that way. Maybe Seiji was a half second behind us on the dive."

The faint sound of the wind reached the trio's ears. The Moonlight stage was completely windless, so that meant that something had to be moving in the sky. It could only be two things—a flying Enemy or a flying duel avatar. Whirling his head up toward the south-western sky, Graphite Edge growled the instant he saw it.

A shadow approached within the night sky aglitter with tiny stars, and then shined white in the moonlight. Slim body. Claws on both hands. And stretching out from his back: devil wings. It was none other than Dusk Taker.

"He's here," the Black Swordsman said coldly.

The flying avatar soon descended. Arms crossed, drawing an elegant spiral in the air, he came down in the center of the courtyard, an almost-silent landing. It was clear that Seiji had mastered the aviation ability.

It was silent for a few moments before Graphite broke it with a single step. "You ready to lose, Seiji?"

Dusk Taker folded his wings before gazing at the other members of Nega Nebulus, who were spreading out while keeping their eyes locked on him. "So you brought your whole Legion with you, Kirito. Do I truly frighten you that much that you need your own cheerleaders to keep your nerves?"

Graphite simply scoffed, completely unfazed by Seiji's remark. "They're here as a precaution," he answered. "Can't be too careful when dealing with you, after all."

Dusk Taker gave a short chuckle before thrusting his right hand out. Pinched between the tips of his fingers was a single card. It resembled the one the Yellow King had used to play a video of the past, only this one was red like blood. This didn't surprise Graphite though as he knew that a majority of special items sold in the Unlimited Neutral Field Shop were card-shaped.

"That's a Sudden Death Duel card," Black Lotus realized. "Those cards are very expensive."

"Correct. As expected from the Black King herself," Dusk Taker said while waving the card. "This'll be my treat. First, I'll charge it with all of my burst points, then Kirito will do the same with his. At the point when my HP gauge becomes zero then he'll get all my burst points. It'll be the opposite if Kirito's HP gauge becomes zero."

"I see," Graphite Edge replied. "How nice of you to come prepared with one of those cards."

Dusk Taker simply smirked at the sarcasm in his opponent's tone. "I have my ways. Now then, the key critical factor here is that the battle won't stop until someone dies. And the person who dies will lose Brain Burst. No holds barred, hmm? Oh, and just so you know, if you leave through a portal, it will be treated as defeat at that moment. You'll be faced with a forced uninstall the moment you return to reality."

"Fine by me. Now let's get started."

Dusk Taker nodded slowly and touched the card with the fingertips of his left hand. He performed several operations and the card gleamed a brief, vivid bright red. Then he tossed it to Graphite, who caught it between the fingers of his right hand. After glancing at his partners beside him, who gave him a simple nod, he clicked with his left and touched the Charge button in the center of the holowindow that popped up.

After scrolling past an explanation of the sudden-death rules, he came across a Yes/No confirmation dialog option and selected Yes. As soon as the prompt asking if he was sure, Graphite realized that he was about to begin a fight to the death in the virtual world again, just as he did before in the iron castle of Aincrad when he fought Heathcliff, otherwise known as Akihiko Kayaba. Just the thought of it sent a chill down his spine. But he wouldn't back down, just like he didn't back then.

As soon as Graphite hit the confirm button, the card flashed a remarkably dazzling red and pulled away from his hand. It then rose up slightly in the sky. Around it, the digital numbers of a countdown slowly rolled down.

"We're lucky news of this battle hadn't spread across the Accelerated World," Lotus spoke up as Graphite drew his black sword before closing his eyes. He seemed to be deep in concentration. "Sudden-death battles are very rare. They're almost unheard of."

"No kidding," Black Wolf replied. "The only instances I know about sudden-death battles is when two level 9 players fight each other. But this wouldn't be the first time Kirito and I had fought under that handicap."

Lotus cracked a knowing smile. "Indeed."

Unbeknownst to any of the players, three people were watching them from the shadows. One was none other than Dark Cerberus, who had spotted them heading to this castle out of sheer luck and followed them. This was a good opportunity to get revenge on the Black King. However, his instincts were telling him to observe for now.

The second person was the masked woman who had saved Wolf and Graphite from the Skull Reaper. Her true identity was none other than Rias Hagino, aka Rias Morningstar. Unlike Cerberus, Rias didn't find Wolf and the others by chance. She had entered the Accelerated World at the same time and place as them while keeping her presence concealed to avoid detection.

"Don't worry, Marth," Rias thought to herself as she eyed her adopted son. "I'm here if you need me."

The third person, however, was the most mysterious as she leaned into a pillar on a floor high above the courtyard, near opposite of where Rias was. She wore a white straitjacket that had multiple unhooked black straps on her arms and legs, as well as long high-heeled boots that went up to her thighs (which were hidden by the jacket itself). The jacket also had a high collar that could shield her mouth. She had long light green hair that flowed down her back, almost reaching her waist, and gold eyes. She looked to be around Wolf's age, but something about her seemed abnormal.

"I don't know why you want me to watch this," the girl said seemingly to herself, her arms folded across her chest. "This battle has nothing to do with us… Very well. I'll stay and observe, but I still think that this is a waste of time." She then went quiet before finding her gaze drawn to the Blade Eater. Something about him intrigued her. Perhaps this battle could provide an explanation for this.

Soon the countdown reached zero, prompting the flaming letters to announce the start of the duel. Dusk Taker kept his wings folded and threw out the talons of both hands. However, he didn't seem to be generating the purple sensation. Was he planning a ground fight with no Incarnation first?

Graphite wasn't moving either, but a faint golden aura soon flared around him. His hair and bangs ruffled in an imaginary breeze. There was also sense of power rising from him.

"Is Kirito really bringing out that sword?" the Black King asked herself. "The only sword that can rival Lunara and Solaris." She let out a chuckle. "This will be interesting to watch. Best of luck, partner."

Suddenly Kuroba sensed something strange, like someone was near her, hiding in the shadows. Her visor flashed purple and her hands morphed into swords as she took a battle position. "Who's there?!" she proclaimed loudly. "Show yourself!" Several tiles soon changed to black before flinging themselves at her, only to be cut down with ease by her swords.

Black Wolf let out a gasp as he felt a cold sensation on the back of his neck. A killing intent. The feeling came from his left, so he turned in that direction where he saw several projectiles flying towards him. He quickly drew his swords and cut through them all at once, not a single one hitting their mark.

"I knew something felt amiss about this place," Black Wolf said coldly as the other nonparticipating members drew their weapons in response. Rias also took a battle stance, readying to interfere if necessary. "Why don't you both reveal yourselves now?"

"You never change, Marth. I should've known that a sneak attack wouldn't work on you."

Two figures then emerged from the shadows and slowly approached the trio. The figure in front of Kuroba was a very bizarre duel avatar. Their entire body was made of thin panels lined up perpendicularly, almost as if someone had built up layer upon layer of square sheets of paper to form the shapes of body parts. There was a gap of about a centimeter between each panel, so that although a clear silhouette was obvious from the side, from the front, the avatar looked like nothing more than an arrangement of thin vertical lines. The dozens of panels were a lusterless black, as though they had all been painted with ink.

But what truly caught the Black Legion's attention was the avatar's color. The layered avatar was clearly and obviously a perfect black. It had none of the hints of silver like Chrome Disaster, purple like Dusk Taker, or the metallic sheen like Graphite Edge. Instead this black was complete, just like Lotus and Wolf, absorbing all wavelengths of light, rejecting all color.

However, the second person who was right in front of Marth was a very familiar masked girl. Serra. She looked the same as she did back in Okinawa, however the Blade Eater could sense a strange power coming from her.

"Serra?" Marth questioned in surprise. "How did you get into the Accelerated World?"

The mace wielder simply chuckled. "Thanks to Arcanos, I've now received the power to enter the Accelerated World without the Brain Burst program," she explained. "Now I can have my revenge on you whenever I want."

The layered avatar said nothing while the dusk-colored avatar sneered. "Heh-heh! Did you guys honestly think I'd fight fair?!" Seiji said arrogantly. "You guys are gonna lose big time. But first, let me clear things up. I obviously couldn't predict the time you would pick, and neither of my comrades are willing to wait months for us to show up. Both me and this guy," he pointed at the layered avatar, "have brain implant chips. The BIC connects growth terminals to the sensory area of the brain for a bioelectronic interface. Depending on the programming, it's possible to reach the deepest parts of the brain."

"What? Deepest parts?" Wolf said in confusion, and Seiji nodded exaggeratedly.

"Yes. Naturally, it's very dangerous. I myself haven't gone that far. But this person here, despite appearances, is rather daring. The terminals stretch all the way to his brain's mental clock control area."

"Impossible," Emerald Fencer said in disbelief. She looked like she wanted to hurry to her brother but stayed where she was to wait for further orders.

The words "mental clock" were practically the foundation of the acceleration of all Burst Linkers. The Brain Burst program accelerated thought by increasing the user's base clock, which was based on a standard of the user's heart rate, a thousand times within the brain. As long as you were diving in the Normal Duel Field or the Unlimited Duel Field, the amplification was fixed and could not be manipulated in any way.

"So then, Seiji," Kuroba said coldly. "Just how did your allies manage to set up this ambush? Like you said earlier, they couldn't afford to waste months here in the Accelerated World. Doing so would have drastically altered their souls."

"As expected from the Black King," Serra said with a sneer. "I dove in around the same time as Taker, but I was much closer to the meeting point than any of you, so I got here first and made myself hidden. The other guy, however, has been on a dive in this field since eight o'clock in the real world. But he hasn't been sitting around here for a few months. By inactivating the mental clock control area of his brain with the BIC, he can stop the acceleration of his thoughts at will. He is, you see, the sole deceleration user in the Accelerated World!"

"De…" Marth started.

"…celeration," Kuroba finished.

Everyone else in Nega Nebulus was shocked as well. The only one who hasn't reacted at all was Kirito, but his golden aura was slowly building.

"…Really now." A new voice finally spoke up, the gentle voice of an older boy, somehow seeming warm even through the electronic effect peculiar to the duel avatar. It came from none other than the layered avatar, who said in a soft voice with no hint of tension, "Look Taker. I can't help but think that all this chatting and running about is what got you into a sudden-death situation in the first place."

"I don't care," Serra replied. "As long as I get my revenge on Marth, I'll be satisfied. Taker can chat up a storm for all I care."

"Ha-ha! I guess that's where we differ in opinion, Black Vise. It's simply that you think silence is a weapon, and I think eloquence. Say, what do you two think? Their stunned faces? Don't they look like our technological strength has already robbed them of the will to fight?"

"Don't make me laugh," Kirito, who had been silent for all this time, finally said. He opened his eyes, full of resolve. "We knew you might try to ambush us, Seiji. That's why we brought all of Nega Nebulus with us. How you did so may have caught us by surprise, but it won't lead to your victory."

Dusk Taker gritted his teeth in frustration. "You sure talk big, Black Swordsman," Seiji retorted. "Just how do you plan to deal with my Incarnate attack. One touch and your swords will vanish!"

Graphite Edge simply smirked as his gold aura gathered around his left hand. "I'm not so sure your Incarnate attack will do any harm against this sword!" He swung his left hand to be parallel with his shoulder, causing a golden sword with emeralds embedded in the hilt to appear. The sword seemed to radiate light and possessed a presence of incredible power.

Serra's eyes widened in shock while most of Nega Nebulus cheered. "It can't be?! That sword!"

"Seiji Nomi," Kirito said firmly before moving the golden sword in front of him, "say hello to the Holy Sword Excalibur. One of the most powerful weapons in Alfheim Online and the only sword that rivals Lunara and Solaris. It took longer than I expected to bring it out, but this is the strongest sword I possess, and I'm gonna use it to take you down."

"Tsk," Seiji grunted. "I'd like to see you try. Vise, you handle Lotus. Serra, Marth's all yours."

Black Vise wordlessly nodded and prepared an attack while Serra drew her weapons.

"Hold it, Serra," Wolf spoke up. "Back in Okinawa, you said I caused you pain. You lost someone in the Demon War, didn't you? Who was it?"

Serra let out a chuckle. "I figured you would ask that question. Very well. I'll tell you who I lost. It's someone you should already know. My best friend and partner, Victoria Blackburn, otherwise known as Celina of the Alfheim Warriors!"

Everyone in the Black Legion gasped in shock.

"Celina?" Sinon said quietly.

"It can't be," Asuna added as the pieces started connecting in her head. Her face was completely distraught. "Please don't let this be true."

"Oh, it is," Serra said with a snide grin as she lowered her hood, revealing short pink hair. She then took off her mask, revealing her face to her former teammates. "It's been a long time, everyone. Did you miss me?"

Agil tightened his grip on his double-axe. "Is this some kind of sick joke?!" he said in anger.

"You bastard!" Klein shouted in outrage. "You're a freaking traitor!"

"No, please no," Silica begged in despair, tears leaking from her eyes.

"How could you?!" Thorrnn exclaimed. "You were our friend!"

However, the ones who looked the most shocked were none other than Marth, Kirito and Asuna. The pink-haired mace user was none other than their missing teammate, Lisbeth. However, instead of her usual pink eyes, they were now a bloodred. Something about those eyes made the group feel uneasy, something not natural.

"Heh-heh. I stopped being your friend the moment Marth killed Celina," Lisbeth explained. "The only thing pushing me forward is getting revenge. I won't let anything get in my way, not even those I considered friends and family."

Black Wolf gritted his teeth in frustration. "I didn't kill Celina!" he protested. "That was Zarc's doing, not mine!"

"It doesn't matter!" Lisbeth refuted. "Because you fused with that stupid core on your chest, you caused the Demon War to happen in the first place. You're still guilty in my eyes."

"But I…" Marth tried to say.

"Don't waste your breath, Marth," Kuroba spoke up.

"Kuroba's right," Kirito agreed. "Lisbeth's not gonna listen to reason. We've got no choice but to fight her."

Black Wolf tightened his grip on his swords so much that it slightly hurt. "I know, but that doesn't make this any more frustrating."

"If you want, I can switch places with you," Black Lotus offered, only for her protégé to shake his head.

"I appreciate it, but Lisbeth's after me. I've got to settle this and bring her to her senses."

The Black King nodded in understanding before taking on a battle stance to ready an attack on Black Vise. Graphite Edge and Black Wolf did the same for their opponents.

"Well then," Seiji said smugly. "I'd say that's enough talking. Let's get this battle started!"

Immediately afterward the duelists charged at each other, each readying an attack while everyone else watched in anticipation.

To be continued

Wow, this chapter took way longer than I expected. I had hoped to get this out near the end of April and now it's the beginning of May. Sorry, college has been a real pain since it's the end of the semester and I have lot of stuff to worry about to make sure I pass, plus Persona 5 Royal ate a lot of my spare time (and Hatsune Miku Project Diva Future Tone, that game is really good at eating up time). Anyway, Serra's true identity has been revealed and the climax with Dusk Taker draws near! Hopefully the next chapter will finally conclude this arc (this one has been longer than I expected it would).

I think this story might be my best work as I have gotten more experience with writing (if you haven't read my Sword Art Online: Dark Swordsman stories, the writing in them can be pretty hit or miss. It's a little embarrassing going through them after how I improved with this story. The only reasons why I keep them up is that they serve as the back story for Black Wolf and they are two of the first stories I've ever written. I could go back and make revised versions of them, but I kinda want to focus on new stories rather than rewriting old ones. Plus unlike Marth's relationship with Yuuki, I feel like the one he has with Kuroba is much more fleshed out and natural). This story has also been one the longest stories I've ever written in terms of word count. My current longest is Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Bonds which has 195,203 words and 48 chapters and this story is quickly surpassing that word count (and we're only at 28 chapters! Plus I'm not even halfway done with this story.)

Anyway, sorry about that little tangent. I just felt like I had to talk about it with how far I've come with this story. I'll see you guys next time!

Edit Note: After writing so many chapters I can see why Reki Kawahara chose to use the Accel World characters' real names within the Accelerated World because it's freaking exhausting typing their dual avatar names so many times. From now on, I'll be using everyone's real names (when the characters learn them) when in the Accelerated World. This'll be especially useful since Marth and Kuroba share the same color. Btw, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but "Kuroba Yukiko" isn't a name that I came up with for Kuroyukihime, that's her real name from the web novel. It's not in the light novels (at least not yet, it's still possible it'll get mentioned in later books). More you know, I guess.