Hahaha wow I didn't mean to leave this long of a gap between updates OOPS XD But it happens to be the one year anniversary of when I started posting this fic so I figured now was as good a time as any :D

I kept on pushing through, standing resolute, which you in equal measure loved and hated - Warrior (Beth Crowley)

o0o0o

Grimacing, Karma accepts Eugene's hand up from the ground, dusting herself off. Dying is as disorienting as it was the first time, and given how rarely it happens, she doubts she'll ever get used to it. Not to mention, she was treated to front seats at the light show when Eugene's party torched the plateau, and remain lights don't have eyes to close.

Blinking away the afterimages, she nods at the mage that resurrected her. "Thanks for that."

He just shrugs and mumbles something at his boots, looking slightly terrified of her, and he's not the only one. It makes her want to laugh. Sure, getting side-eyed looks from people that her mere presence makes deeply uncomfortable is nothing new, but in this context, it's downright hilarious. She's cognizant enough to know she can be intimidating and has used the fact to her advantage, but it's not like she can do any real harm to them here.

"Looks like we got here just in time," the general remarks, looking around with equal disbelief and suspicion. "You cleaned up pretty good yourself, though."

She shrugs. It did take all of her HP and magic to do it, although whatever decreases to her stats she incurred from the death penalty, she can gain back with a little grinding.

Her gaze snags on something in the sky. Narrowing her eyes, she thinks she can spot two fairies hovering at about cloud level. Her eyesight might not be as good as a Cait Sith's, but she can pick out some very distinct colors against the blue sky—green and black. An odd combination.

Eugene has a peculiar look on his face. Abruptly, he turns to his party and says, "Start heading back. I'll catch up."

"Before you do," Karma interjects quickly, "if you could escort those two players up there to me, alive, that'd be great."

There's some bewildered head-turning and squinting before the pair is spotted. The players glance at Eugene, who nods after a moment, and they take off.

"Who are they?" the general asks skeptically.

"I have no idea," she admits. "But if they're here, they must've found out what was going on. It's worth looking into, and I've got nothing better to do." She crosses her arms, lifting her chin briefly. "So. What exactly did you want to say to me that you couldn't in front of your buddies?"

He narrows his eyes. "I just don't understand how you could've almost taken out fourteen players by yourself," he states bluntly.

Affecting a smug confidence, she strikes a pose with a hand on her hip. "I'm just that good. What else can I say?"

But he shakes his head obstinately. "You started this game a month and a half ago. There's no way you can have the stats high enough for that in that time," he says in flat disbelief, "not without grinding nonstop every single day, and even that-"

He cuts off abruptly, the words suddenly seeming to catch in his throat, and she tilts her head, dropping her facade in favor of genuine curiosity. "What?"

Bruise purple eyes drift to the side, fixing themselves upon the leaders' remain lights, and Karma follows his gaze. As a remain light, she'd watched as the two fairies spotted their downfall approaching. Their armor was battered, their HP low, wings out of charge. Their embrace was not out of triumph, but defeat.

And yet even in defeat, even as the Salamanders reduced everything they'd worked for to ashes, they did not break.

"We'll fix this together," Alicia had whispered the moment before fire engulfed their world. "Everything's gonna be alright, I promise."

Karma doesn't think of herself as particularly prone to envy, but she felt it then. She hadn't been able to resist looking at him.

Tell me, she'd wanted to cry. Tell me everything's going to be okay, like you used to.

In the end, she didn't say a word, and neither did he.

As they watch, the two flames flicker out of existence in silence. She wonders what state of chaos their respective cities are in, and feels the slightest amount of pity for the leaders when they inevitably have to respawn there. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, but at least it means they'll be out of the way.

Finally, when they're well and truly alone, he speaks up.

"You're the girl who trapped herself back inside a game," he says, his gaze slowly sliding back to meet hers. "You were an SAO player."

Karma blinks slowly. So people are still talking about her. Unsurprising, given how fresh the scars from Sword Art Online still are. Frankly, she was surprised people were even playing this VRMMO in the middle of that crisis.

A flurry of questions and concerns flit through her mind; she casts them all aside. Right now, nothing matters except getting closer to Asuna. It's her job to face the enemies of the virtual world, and Heathcliff will protect her from anything else in the real world that might get in her way.

He'll protect her. The thought rattles her to the bone, and she swallows her nausea down.

"Got it in one," she confirms easily, fearlessly, and Eugene visibly balks. "And my fight's still not over yet. When's the soonest we can launch the raid?"

Eugene is still staring at her with the expression of a goldfish, jaw slack and eyes wide. "I—you can't be—how-"

She leans in slightly, pitching her voice down into a low growl.

"When can we launch the raid?" she repeats, enunciating each word carefully. "Give me an answer, not a question."

He jerks back slightly as if she stung him. "Er—a week, perhaps? I-I mean, a week," he corrects himself hastily, turning his question into a statement. She quickly suppresses an amused snort. "And I'm sure once word gets out, plenty of players will be eager to join in, so probably less."

"Make it less." She glances up at the pair of players, now surrounded by the Salamanders. "I think I still have some things to take care of. You can go. I'm sure you've got plenty of stuff to do to prep for the raid, so get to it. Here, take this." With a few taps, she sends him a trade window and watches his expression bug out at the sight of all the loot she won from the fight alone. "Use it for the army, I don't need it. I'll be in touch again soon."

As soon as Eugene hesitantly accepts the items, she turns to go, before whirling back around, making him jump.

"Oh, and this goes without saying, but keep your mouth shut about who I am," she adds, giving him a hard look. "There'll be hell to pay if you don't."

His jaw clenches; after hesitating a beat too long, he blusters, "If that's a threat-"

"It is," she agrees, halting him in his tracks. Sweeping one hand to gesture at the plateau, she comments, "And I think I've proven I'm as good as my word. Often better."

Clearly unused to being so blatantly challenged, he glares at her in silence, and she relents slightly, if only for the sake of diplomacy.

"Look, we're on the same side, aren't we? That means you've got nothing to worry about from me," she soothes. "I'll fight with the army when the time comes. All you have to do is say nothing—in this world or any other."

Slowly, he shakes his head, looking at her as if finally realizing that he'd never truly known a thing about her. "As if I have a choice."

"Glad we understand each other."

"But I wonder," he continues, meeting her gaze with a grim look, "what's gonna happen when you come up against something you can't just brute force through."

Without saying another word or giving Karma a chance to, he takes off. The rest of his party falls in behind him, and she crosses her arms with a snort.

"Wanted the last word or something?" she mutters with a roll of her eyes as she watches the little flock of red make its way back south. "Brat. Wonder how old he really is."

She tells herself to disregard Eugene's little quip; he was probably just salty.

But he's right, comments a small voice that sounds annoyingly like Heathcliff. You'd just run away again.

And...was he wrong? Every problem requiring a confrontation that she can't bring a sword to, she runs from. And of the many problems that she could fight her way through, how many of them ended well? Her hunts for orange players caused so many to end up dead on her blade. Her revenge killing against Heathcliff brought an end to the lie she's not sure she wanted to stop living. Her scrap with Clover led to more confrontation that she couldn't handle.

"But I can do it this time," she whispers to herself, anchoring herself with a hand clenching the grip of her spare sword. "It's working already, isn't it?"

Frustrated with herself for letting some stranger's petty words bother her so much, she turns her attention on the odd pair of fairies as they start to approach the plateau. Shielding her eyes with a hand, brow furrowed, she can see their flight trails now-definitely a Sylph and a Spriggan. How odd.

She twitches briefly when Heathcliff, who hasn't said a word since they started the trip here, speaks up.

"One of them is from the party that intercepted you in Sylph territory," he murmurs, a frisson of something in his voice, and she gives him a wary look.

"You know something," she accuses flatly. "Am I supposed to know the Spriggan too?"

The corner of his lips quirks in an enigmatic, humorless smirk. She didn't use to mind when he kept things from her, figuring that he thought it just wasn't important enough to take time to tell her or that she would figure it out herself, but even the littlest secrets grate on her now. His expression lacks any amusement, though, so she has a feeling it's nothing good, as per usual.

Her confusion only increases as they draw nearer. As far as she can tell, it's just the two of them, though true to Heathcliff's word, Karma does recognize the blonde from that Sylph party. Leafa, her name was? But the Spriggan doesn't ring any bells.

What's more is that he's almost completely decked out in novice level gear, and she's pretty sure Leafa wasn't high-level enough to carry a complete noob all the way from Sylph territory, based on the direction they're flying from. Besides, what's a Spriggan doing with a Sylph in the first place? Their territories are literally on opposite sides of the world.

The questions keep adding up, and it frustrates her that Heathcliff isn't giving her any of the answers that she seeks and he obviously knows.

"The Spriggan at least won't be an enemy unless you make one out of him," he adds, as cryptic as ever.

"I'll just kill him if I have to."

"I wouldn't advise it. You'd antagonize possibly the most valuable ally you could have," he tells her, and she turns to stare at him in suspicious surprise.

"He looks like a beginner."

"Looks can be deceiving." He would be one to talk. "And it's not him, anyways. There's someone with him that may prove to be the key to getting to Asuna." A hint of wistfulness enters his voice. "I only wish I hadn't made such hasty judgements on her utility before I knew what she was truly capable of. There were boundless possibilities I hadn't considered."

Now she's even more confused, and she squints back at the two fairies. "You don't mean the Sylph…"

"No."

He doesn't elaborate any further, instead extending a hand to reveal that he'd retrieved her sword that she'd thrown at Alicia.

"Every time I think I know what you're capable of, you manage to astound me once more," he murmurs, eyes affixed downwards upon the cold steel.

Her gaze darts to him briefly as she instinctively withdraws a half step, eyes narrowed. Was that a compliment to her skill? A comment on her stubbornness? A diplomatically phrased rebuke of her lack of hesitation? How does she respond? Since when did talking to him become like walking across a minefield?

Once, her answer would've been simple—a laugh, brushing off the compliment; she wants those days back, back when she fought for him without reservation.

"It was you who taught me to fight in the first place," she answers brusquely, rolling her shoulders in a dismissive shrug. "Have a little faith in your abilities as a teacher, yeah?"

Something cold flickers across his stoic features. "I did have faith. I had faith in all of the things that I never had to teach you."

His accusation slams into her and sends her recoiling, lip curling, something angry rearing up in her chest. It's almost laughable, that he of all people thinks he can call her out and complain about misplaced belief; she can't quite decide whether to laugh or scream.

"Well, I've always learned by example, so you know what I think?" she whispers. "I think that you don't have a single right to call me out on something that you could've never taught me in the first place."

Striding forward, she takes her sword, sheathing it in one smooth motion. Still seething, she leaves him behind to meet the pair of fairies as they land, idly noticing that their wings have just about run out of charge—probably why they didn't just turn and fly away.

In too low of a mood for courtesies, Karma just asks curtly, "So who are you and why are you here?"

Leafa's expression is cold but uncertain. By now, she and every other Sylph would've received the message that Sylph territory now belongs to the Salamanders. Somehow, she must've figured out the Salamanders' ploy to attack the treaty meeting, so she must be aware of what Karma has done here.

Karma takes all of this in in a second and then turns her attention away from the Sylph and to the Spriggan, who is by far the more interesting half of their duo. He's giving her a very peculiar look, as if he recognizes her, but is hesitant to ask for confirmation. And what's stranger is the nagging feeling that she should recognize him as well.

"You killed them all," Leafa says, looking and sounding personally wounded, and another laugh bubbles up in Karma's throat at something that really isn't funny.

What do you know about betrayal?

"They put up a good fight," she admits with a shrug and nothing more than lingering amusement. She supposes when she's already waded through an ocean of blood, what's a broken bone or two? Sure, maybe it takes time to heal, maybe it doesn't ever heal right, but they're alive and that's the important thing, isn't it? "But they've never had to fight like they mean it."

And suddenly, a puzzle piece seems to fall into place for the Spriggan.

"I...I found you."

Ruby and emerald eyes fall on the black-clad fairy, who's staring shell-shocked at the Salamander standing before them.

Her face is different, Kirito thinks to himself, as is her gear, although it's clearly quite high levelled. And he can't just assume based on the fact that she's left-handed, or her hairstyle. No, it's more than that. Strangely, it might be how she looks and sounds so tired. After all, they were really just coworkers. The places they met the most were during battle and afterwards when they were all beaten and battered.

He thought he would be overjoyed when he finally tracked her down. She wasn't using the handle 'Karma', and he didn't even know what race she'd rolled (although maybe he should've guessed). He had no way of tracking her down, so he resigned himself to the whims of chance and fortune—or, as he's starting to wonder, misfortune.

Whatever the case, as far as he was aware, they were the only two people in this game searching for Asuna, and he was confident that Karma would be an invaluable ally once he told her about Sugou and his plans. She probably already knows; that has to be the whole reason she's here in the first place, right? She would stop at nothing to get Asuna out of this prison.

And that's what suddenly makes him so uneasy. If their suspicions are true about what happened here, she's more than proven that she really would stop at nothing, and she would tear down anything in her way—enemies, neutral parties, allies, even herself if need be—with no hesitation.

Momentary surprise gives way to a lazy smile, and she slouches slightly, settling into a relaxed resting position—so to speak. She may not have the unmatched, incandescent speed of the Lightning Flash, but the storm always warns of the strike.

No one ever really sees anything coming with Karma until they're crippled and bleeding and already broken.

Kirito was never certain of how she handled that. Every action of hers had to be carried out swiftly and with no hesitation, knowing it could never be taken back.

He's starting to wonder if she really was able to bear that burden as well as she let them all think...or if she cast it aside at some point, if she simply stopped caring.

"So that's what he was talking about," she declares aloud, still smiling, looking perhaps even a little relieved; why is she still smiling? Surely she's too perceptive to not sense how uncomfortable he is.

Her tone is the same lackadaisical chipperness that he remembers from their infrequent conversations—not on edge, not quite open either, just lax in the knowledge that they were on the same side. Regardless of how unlikely it was that they would ever grow closer than coworkers, the mere existence of the trust and affection that they both had for the same person was a small security that allowed them to have just a little more faith in each other than, say, another stranger from the front lines.

And now, it is that very thing, that relic from a past world, that fosters such a deep unease taking root in his bones, because she of all people should know how everything has changed. If she truly feels so confident that they can still fight together, despite everything she's done-

"Bit slow on the uptake this time, huh, Kirito-kun? I had a feeling you'd get here eventually, though." She's still smiling. "Long time no see."

He swallows hard. He's seen exactly what she's capable of doing to the ones who betray her faith.

And he thinks he might be next.

o0o0o

As the Salamander stares calmly at them both, Leafa is keenly aware that somehow, none of them are total strangers to each other, but she's completely lost as to why Kirito suddenly has an expression of such raw discomfort. He'd been apparently looking for this Salamander, but he does not seem happy to have finally found her.

When Leafa met the odd Salamander, she immediately flagged as 'enemy'. But she was just so irrepressibly cheerful. Whimsical, carefree, happy-go-lucky. Still, whims don't get you an informal audience with the leader of the faction that yours is at war with in their capital city. Leafa always knew Catherine was strong, but she never thought of her as dangerous. It's just a game, after all.

She's starting to reevaluate now. When they were heading in to land, Kirito had warned Yui to stay hidden, just in case. The Navi-Pixie's response:

"Whatever you decide, you have my support."

So that's promising.

And then there's Kirito. He says he's a complete newcomer to the game—yet somehow, she's getting the feeling that he's not a newcomer to VRMMO fighting, judging by the way he treats combat. Unlike every other rookie player she's seen, he has never once turned away from a scrap with monsters, nor does he rush headlong at them carelessly. He handles a sword with astounding proficiency, but his style is a strange mix and match of many techniques that she recognizes from various disciplines. His skills are real, although he hasn't quite got the stats to back them up—in fact, Leafa has had to remind him to stick to support several times already before he gets himself killed playing the front lines.

But now? Now, he looks almost like he wants to back away from the fight before it even begins.

Karma tilts her head as Leafa's hand inches towards her sword. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Leafa, don't," Kirito tries to warn even as the young Sylph draws her blade fully.

"You killed Sakuya and Alicia," she hisses; if she were a Cait Sith, her ears would be pinned flat back to her head, tail lashing.

"Well...actually, I didn't, although I did kill all of their guards, so maybe take that as a sign that drawing your sword on me probably isn't a good idea?" Quieter, she mutters, "Whatever happened to people's sense of self-preservation…?"

"I can't just let you walk away with this," Leafa declares, and Karma blinks owlishly at her, now thoroughly bewildered, and lets out a little laugh.

"What other options do you have?" she asks, equally amused and confused. "Please tell me, by all means. I'm genuinely curious."

Her eyes narrow into shards of emerald. "Just because your numbers are high, doesn't mean you're invincible," she growls, and Karma tilts her head.

"I mean...not really?" she says awkwardly, now more amused than anything. "Shouldn't you know? Six of you couldn't bring me down past half health, and I wasn't really trying to kill you anyways."

Leafa grits her teeth, knuckles white as she grips her sword. To be fair to Leafa, part of why Karma handled her party so easily was because of their awful teamwork. They were probably holding Leafa back, in all honesty.

Kirito looks like he wants to intervene but doesn't know how, and Karma scratches her head idly. She knows perfectly well that the Sylph is not really a threat, so she turns to her main focus.

"So anyways," she says, nodding at Kirito, "you're coming with me, right? We'll make a push for the World Tree soon, depends on how fast Eugene can get the army fitted with new gear, which will probably take a few days, and-"

"Wait, you're not actually going with her, are you?" Leafa interrupts incredulously, her gaze snapping to Kirito, who looks torn for some reason.

"I…"

"You can come too, if you really want to help," Karma offers benignly.

"Like hell I'll ever work with Salamanders! Especially when they're using the money they stole from us," she spits out, expression blazing.

"Suit yourself." They don't really need her anyways. "Kirito-kun, we'll meet Eugene at Arun. Spriggans hire out as mercenaries all the time, and I'm sure I can bully him into letting me bring you along. I guess I'll be your babysitter for the whole fight, but that shouldn't be an issue, and since you got all the way here, I assume you haven't forgotten how to fight. I'll make sure we both get to the top, and we'll improvise from there."

Kirito stares defensively at her, his posture mirroring the look in his eye—shoulders stiff, chin lowered slightly. "...It doesn't feel right."

Eyes narrowing slightly with a strange, prickling sense of foreboding, Karma carefully keeps a neutral tone. "What doesn't?"

"How you're going about this," he elaborates unhappily, fists clenched by his sides. "Why did you have to tear apart the Sylphs and Cait Siths for this?"

Leafa flashes him a grateful look. Karma can feel Heathcliff's stare boring into the back of her head, and tired irritation sparks in her chest.

"Did you have a better plan?" she asks, her voice flat. "No, let me rephrase: did you have a plan?"

His grimace indicates that he in fact did not. "There had to have been a better way."

"Maybe, but there wasn't a faster one," she counters evenly, and Kirito flinches. "Are we on a time limit?"

He wavers, seemingly debating whether or not to tell her, which is frankly ridiculous. Finally, he mutters, "Five days."

That does complicate things a little. She dismisses the question 'why' for now; she'll get the answers later. "Then I'll get Eugene to launch the attack before that. He might want to try launching an attack on another race, but I don't think that's necessary." Not if they bleed the Sylphs and Cait Siths dry.

Kirito looks visibly distraught. "I—I can't do it like this, not by stepping all over thousands of other people-"

"You and I can't afford to be picky," she retorts. "Not when there is a real life on the line—hers. Or have you forgotten what it was like to live in a world full of real death?"

He flinches again at the accusation, and Leafa's gaze flicks between them in a moment of startled realization.

"This world is real too," he argues, glaring at her with unveiled resentment, and Karma wants to tear her hair out.

"Of course it's real," she sighs, exasperated, "but it isn't for them! Not like it is for you and me and her. This is more than just a game-"

"You're wrong about us!" Leafa bursts in indignantly, her sword still at the ready. "It's more than just a game for me, and for all the players in this world. This is where we come when we can't face the real world. This is where we come when the real world makes us feel weak and insignificant. Just because you lived in a virtual world with real death doesn't make ours invalid! And you took all of it away from us!"

CLANG!

Karma dances back, her sword flying to her hand. "I get that!" she shouts over the ringing of steel. "I do! You think I liked killing them?"

She locks the hilts of their swords and at the same time punches her in the gut, sending her flying back to land flat on her back with a choked gasp. Kirito draws his sword as well, but as Karma simply slams her blade back into its sheath angrily, he doesn't seem to know what to do.

"The whole reason I came here was to run away," she snaps, resentment for herself coiling tight in her chest, "from everything I couldn't deal with in the real world. My weaknesses, my enemies. The people I thought would never turn on me, because I obviously didn't learn my lesson the first time!" With a derisive grimace at herself, she continues, "So don't think I don't know what you're talking about. After today, barely anyone is going to want anything to do with me!"

She'll be even more alone, with only the company of him and her bitter grudges, and her hands tremble as she grits out, breathing ragged, "Today is not my victory."

Slowly, Kirito's sword point drifts downward, his expression slack with astonishment.

"I thought...I thought…" He trails off in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at her. "You didn't come here...for her?" She doesn't like the look of judgement.

"No," she concedes with a shake of her head. "I didn't know until recently. Seems like neither did you."

"Your friends and family are probably worried sick!" he shouts angrily, taking her aback by the sudden non-sequitur.

"What would you know about that?" she snaps.

Ignoring her interjection, he snaps back, "You just left them there like that? How could you do that to them?!"

Her teeth grind together as she snarls, "You think I did this for fun? You think I wanted to?! I never wanted to leave, but I couldn't stay in that place!"

He bristles right back at her. "You could've chosen to stay and at least try and patch things up when they went wrong," he counters. "They're your family!"

"You make it sound so simple," she laughs bitterly. "You think it would've been better if I stayed? You think telling my parents that they have a murderer for a daughter wouldn't have made everything so much worse? I thought Aincrad would've beaten the blind faith out of you, but apparently not."

"You didn't have to do it! There had to have been a different solution," he protests, sounding almost like he's pleading with her. "We could've worked together to find a better way! We still can!"

Letting out a hiss through clenched teeth, she warns, "Don't tell me what to do with my own life."

"Then what about the lives of others?" he demands. "Do they mean so little to you now?"

"No one's dead, are they? As far as I care, it's already better than all the death we had on our hands in Aincrad," she snaps, thoroughly done with this argument; they're just going around and around in circles, getting nowhere. "It doesn't matter anyways. I don't need you, Kirito, and the only reason we're still standing here having this stupid argument about things that already happened is because I know she would want you there."

And because she might actually need him, not that she would let him know that—no matter how cryptic Heathcliff can be sometimes, he wouldn't outright lie to her (well, maybe). Plus, if it comes down to it, one can never have too much cannon fodder.

"So," she says pointedly, "are you coming with me, or not?"

A small part of her prays that Kirito won't let her down, not like everyone else she put any faith in has. The bigger part of her has lived through too many fights to not know when one is brewing on the horizon, and instead prays that Asuna might forgive her one day.

Kirito balks, glancing between Leafa and Karma in visible agony. "I-I promised Leafa…I swore I would never turn on her."

Jerking her head at the Sylph, she asks quietly, "Is a stranger worth so much that you'd forget why you came here?"

This hits a nerve, and his gaze darkens like so many storm clouds.

"I gave her my word," he rebuts, voice trembling with a quiet fury. "Don't you dare suggest that I would ever forget."

With a sigh, Karma lifts a hand to her face. She has a sinking feeling that, again, she's going to end up doing something she'll despise herself for. "No wonder why Asuna fell for you and your golden heart."

CLATTER.

As they both turn, confused by the sound, they're met with the sight of an astonished, bewildered, hurt Leafa. Her katana lies forgotten on the ground, hands trembling in front of her lips in shock, and for a split second, Karma sees herself in that face of betrayal as if she was looking in a mirror.

"...Kazuto?"

o0o0o

standing in paints as it pools on the ground, colours of empathy blending with doubt - Artistry (Jacob Lee)

oh, where do we begin, the rubble or our sins? - Pompeii (Bastille)

Aaaaaaand there it is...the big reveal O.o Asuna's name had to come up at some point. I know it was because plot reasons that it didn't in canon, but it did feel the slightest bit contrived all the same XD Especially here, when Karma and Kirito are actively talking about her, having them go a full conversation without mentioning her by name even once, especially when they don't know that mentioning her name would lead to Leafa having Revelations, would be kind of absurd.

(Speaking of Leafa, why didn't she just message Sakuya that there was an attack about to happen? They seemed close enough to have friended each other...yet another nitpick with canon :/)

Continuing on with my endless confusion about this entire episode: I never really understood why Kirito didn't side with the Salamanders in canon. They probably would've hired him as a mercenary for his broken stats. I get that he didn't want to be Leafa's enemy, but the Salamanders were still his best shot to clear the World Tree (which was the whole point of going into Alfheim?), and he really threw that away for some girl he just met (as far as they knew)? Like sure, maybe he got attached to her, but he had zero obligation towards the rest of her entire faction and also another faction that neither of them belonged to. And with their help, they were able to clear the World Tree, sure, but there was no guarantee of that happening (and didn't they say it would take some time to get all their players upgraded with the new gear anyways? And they still showed up like the day after?). It's even more true here than in canon, since he doesn't have his stats and therefore shouldn't even be thinking about trying to solo the World Tree like he tried to in canon.

(Also, I don't understand why Eugene didn't just go ahead with the attack after he was resurrected by Sakuya? Why did they even do that? Why did he not attack them? Their whole army was still just standing there. And on that note, they brought literally a whole army to attack fourteen players, so I don't think they were thinking too hard about sportsmanship either. Was it really because of Kirito's diplomat bluff? And on that note, why didn't Kagemune call them out on it, and why did he actually lie to Eugene and say that Kirito had been travelling with an Undine? Why was that a good decision?)

Anyways. I just kind of can't with this episode, so I basically yeeted all of it out the window.

Speaking of Kirito, writing his initial reaction to Karma was kinda funny. He knew that she fully expected him to be on her side, and he also knew that he could not abide by her actions. The thing is, he was also there to watch Heathcliff admit to the knife in Karma's back, and he was also there to watch her proceed to take all her rage out on Heathcliff immediately after. So his first thought is, 'oh crap, she thinks I'll side with her', and his second thought is, 'Oh Crap, how do I break it to her that I can't without getting completely screwed over?'

(He doesn't.)