Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Asuna's eyes darted back and forth, hungrily looking for something, anything, that could help in this situation. That Fallen they'd fought earlier - Kar, was it? - had just drifted up out of Kirito's shadow, swiped the sacred keys, and was now holding Queen Illise at knifepoint. The poor queen couldn't even vocalize her opposition to the current predicament, as her kidnapper had a hand clasped over her mouth. Sure, the hostage situation in front of them might not have been real, per se, but nothing could be assumed with a sentient NPC like Kizmel in play. This could very well escalate into something that could spiral out of control.

"Let her go." Kizmel growled. Asuna could see the Pagoda Knight's hand twitching over the hilt of her sword.

"Tsk tsk." Kar clicked his tongue. "You're not in any position to be making demands."

"So then what are your demands?" Kirito asked, still frozen in place, his own hand halfway to his sword.

"Simple." Kar replied, his gaze alert and determined, albeit slightly amused. "You let me escape and in return I don't stain these royal carpets red."

"... He does know that there's no blood here, right?" Nautilus whispered from behind Asuna.

"Not now!" The fencer hissed, being careful not to raise her voice too much and alert the NPC.

"You won't get far, coward." Kizmel grumbled. "Once the alarm is raised - and it will be raised - the full might of Lyusula will be upon you."

Kar merely laughed. "I'd like to see them try. Now, do we have an accord? Or am I going to have to get my blade all bloody?"

Kizmel was the first to relax her posture and while the Renegades were soon to follow, Asuna's experienced eye could tell that everyone was still ready to leap into action at a moment's notice. Even Pina was on edge, her hackles raised in what amounted to a threatening pose. Illise, for her part, was remarkably calm but her eyes were practically screaming 'no.'

"Release her and we will not immediately pursue." Kizmel said, locking her gaze with Kar's. "... but you cannot expect us to roll over and let you escape with the keys."

Kar shrugged. "No, I would expect no less from you. At least this will be interesting."

With a sudden shove, Kar thrust the Queen into Kizmel's waiting arms. Once he was free from his hostage, Kar dashed out the door and into the throne room. Asuna had no doubt that the intruder was well on his way out of the palace at this point given his speed.

Queen Illise gently pushed herself off of Kizmel and straightened her posture. "We must give chase! He cannot be allowed to escape with the keys!"

"I will give chase as soon as possible, your majesty." Kizmel nodded and turned to Asuna and the other Renegades (plus Lokuss). "Will you join me? The people of Lyusula already owe you a great debt, but I'm sure we can - "

"Like you even need to ask." Liz interrupted with a chuckle.

"We're with you until the end, Kizmel." Kirito said with a nod, a sentiment which was echoed among the other players present.

Kizmel smiled and Asuna could see her eyes getting a little teary. "I could not ask for more loyal companions. Come, let us give chase then."

"I will send a raven to King Erlan and warn him of the danger." Queen Illise said firmly. "I have no doubt this was part of the Fallen's plan from the start."

"Kar must have known that we would be meeting with you." Geeou mused. "What we thought was his retreat was him just sneaking in within our shadows. Genius, really."

A few of the Renegades, Asuna included, stopped in place and gave the flaxen-haired swordsman curious looks.

"I'm not saying I agree with what he did!" Geeou quickly retorted. "I'm just saying it was a clever tactic, that's all."

"Where would he be heading?" Asuna asked. "He can't open the gates without all of the keys. We were missing two, right?"

"That is correct." Illise confirmed. "We were missing the Amber key and the Onyx key, both of which are being held in Mythath Shantar."

"In any case, Asuna's right. We need to move." Kirito said as he pulled up his map, allowing everyone to see the projection. "Your majesty, where would he retreat to?"

"There is a Fallen encampment in the Dread Grove." Illise said, completely oblivious to the holographic map hovering in front of Kirito. "Allow me to show you a map of where that is."

"No need, your majesty." Kizmel said as she walked up behind Kirito. She extended a finger and pointed at the northwestern corner of Kirito's map, just due north of their current position. "Your map may be incomplete, but based on what I can see, their camp should be somewhere here."

"Then that's where we're going." Kirito said, closing his map and looking over those assembled. "Asuna, can you message Argo and get the latest map data?"

Asuna nodded and quickly began composing a message to the Rat. Hopefully Argo was nearby to drop off the new map data before they reached the Fallen camp. Meanwhile, Kirito turned to address the rest of the group.

"Everyone else, get your things together and stock up on supplies. We're leaving in one hour."

"There's a lot of Fallen."

Asuna couldn't disagree with Naut's assessment. As she and the rest of the Renegades - she'd stopped excluding Kizmel and Lokuss from that distinction for the time being - crouched in the brush, she could see the busy, almost frantic pace of the Fallen camp ahead of them. Clearly something was happening or was about to happen; she hadn't spotted Kar among them so they were probably anxious for his arrival with the sacred keys. She'd no doubt that somewhere in the camp rested the keys already taken from Lyusula; there was no way they beat the General to his own camp, so the Fallen were likely waiting for him to return with the two keys that Kales'Oh had.

She pulled her gaze away from the camp to get a better view of their surroundings. Situational awareness was everything in combat. That was one of the first things Kirito instilled in every member of the Renegades and by now it was hardwired into her own brain.

She gulped. The Dread Grove, indeed. The name was not misplaced, if the ominous atmosphere was anything to go off of. A heavy fog sat across the forest floor, which did help with keeping them hidden but did little to ease Asuna's sense of dread - hence the name. She hadn't felt this unnerved by the ambience of an area since the ruins of Floor 5. There she blamed it on the literal spectres floating around, but here there was no such scapegoat.

"It's going to be tough." Asuna finally responded as she refocused on the enemy camp. "There's not going to be any sneaking this time; there's too much open space and too many Fallen wandering around. We're going to have to attack directly."

"Agreed." Kirito said, sidling up next to her as he also surveyed the enemy camp. "What are you thinking?"

"A variation of what we did when we stole the plans." Asuna said.

"Didn't you just say…?" Nautilus started to object behind her.

Asuna shook her head, cutting him off. "I know what I said. We can't sneak this time, but that doesn't mean we can't try a pincer move."

"Oh." Nautilus muttered. "That makes a little more sense."

"Good idea." Kirito said as he shifted in place. "We should split up into two teams. You and I should lead the main force while a second team flanks from the side."

Asuna shook her head again. "No. As great of a team you and I make, we need our faster members to be the ones that flank if we're going to make the most of this strategy."

Kirito looked a little dejected, but nodded anyway. "Fair enough. I'll take Liz, Leonn, Lokuss, Sinon, and Kizmel."

"Then I'll take Silica, Yuna, Nautilus, and Geeou." Asuna said. "Keep their attention and we'll flank when the time is right."

"Be safe." Kirito cautioned. It was a good thing lighting and visibility were poor here, else he'd see the blush creeping up on her face. Damn him and his accidental thoughtfulness.

"Always." Asuna answered with a nod. She pointed at each member of her team before motioning for them to follow. Crouching low, they made their way around the edge of the clearing and positioned themselves for a flanking maneuver. She made eye contact with Kirito across the grove and gave a curt nod, signalling that her team was ready.

Kirito had Sinon start the fight with a volley of shots, each of which arced high into the air before finding purchase in three of the perimeter guards. The angle of the shots immediately pinned them to the ground. In an instant, the alarm was raised and the Fallen Elves started to make their way over towards Kirito and his group, who immediately revealed themselves and ran forth to meet the enemy.

Asuna held a hand up. "Wait. We need to catch them off guard."

Several hums of affirmation were heard as Asuna's group prepared their weapons and changed their stances, ready to run at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Kirito's group - being slower but heavier hitting - was handling the defensive battle fairly well. Lokuss and Gryd were paired up with Sinon. Any foes that got too close to Sinon were either grappled and pulled back into a waiting saber or were immediately pounced on by a very angry Gryd.

"Hold…"

Kirito and Kizmel were fighting back to back, constantly swiveling and turning to fend off the multitude of attacks aimed at them. Any attack blocked or parried by Kirito was immediately retaliated by Kizmel, and vice versa.

"Not yet..."

Liz and Leonn were quite the defensive bulwark, using their blunt weapons to stagger their opponents or sending them flying. Just as a Fallen was jettisoned into one of its friends, Asuna made her move.

"Now!"

Her half of the Renegades launched out of the underbrush and dashed forward, each of their blades level with the ground as they made their approach. They sprinted forward, careful to minimize the sound of their footsteps without sacrificing speed. A successful flank was more akin to an ambush, after all, so stealth was still paramount. It seemed to work, as the Fallen didn't notice their approach until the last moment, when Asuna and her group slammed into the enemy forces. In an instant, the tide of the battle changed.

Asuna pushed off of the Fallen she'd impaled with her rapier, leaping off and backward. Just as she was about to press the attack, she spotted another Fallen charging from her left. Executing her ((Stellar Slip)) skill, she pivoted around her attacker and retaliated. To add insult to injury, a grapple wrapped itself around her attacker; Lokuss gave a mighty heave and sent it right into Kirito's blade, shattering it instantly.

Giving them both a nod of thanks, Asuna launched forward to finish the job she'd started. Her opponent had since picked itself off the ground and was ready for her attack. She locked blades with the elf briefly before disengaging; rapiers were not good in that kind of scuffle and broke too easily under that kind of pressure. Carefully, she circled around the Fallen and prodded his defenses with a series of quick jabs. He parried them all.

She smirked. With the element of surprise gone, her opponent was clearly a match for her. Probably some higher-ranked Fallen NPC or something.

This would be fun.

Just as she and her Fallen opponent lunged forward to clash once more, an arrow impacted the elf's shoulder, throwing off his momentum. Internally thanking (and cursing) Sinon, Asuna swatted away the now-sloppy swing of his sword and struck with a sword skill, riddling him with holes. He started to step back, clearly off balance, and Asuna pressed the attack, lashing out repeatedly with a series of slashes and thrusts. It did not take long for her opponent to explode into pixels.

"Thanks Sinon-non!" Asuna shouted over her shoulder, her tongue slipping and stuttering on that last syllable. She kind of liked the way it sounded, though.

"No problem." The archer replied, raising an eyebrow at the mispronunciation of her name.

Without another word, the fencer zipped around the battlefield, using her lightning-like agility to speed to and fro and quickly dispatch foes. She prioritized any Fallen that were already occupied with a Renegade, adding her strength to her friends' in order to tip the balance of their battles in their favor. The effect snowballed and before she knew it, the Fallen were either defeated or in retreat.

As Asuna reconvened with the Renegades, Kizmel placed a sturdy hand on her shoulder. "Well fought, friends. I did not see Kar in that bout, though, and that concerns me."

"Agreed." Kirito said, cupping his chin in thought. "We should search the camp. If we can't find him, maybe we can retrieve the keys."

Geeou looked towards the camp in question. "There's a lot of tents there. Should we split up?"

"Not too much." Asuna said, shaking her head. "If there are any Fallen Elves waiting to ambush us, we don't want to be caught alone. Teams of three."

"Asuna, Kizmel; you're with me." Kirito said, gesturing for them to follow. He pointed at the other members of their group. "Geeou, Naut, and Silica in one group. Yuna, Liz, and Leonn in the other."

"What about me?" Sinon asked.

"Stay hidden and keep watch." Kirito said. "Message us if you see any threats."

"Got it." The archer confirmed, bringing out her bow again. She backed away towards the treeline and concealed herself in the underbrush.

"Let's go." Kirito said as he led the trio into the camp. He looked over his shoulder at their Dark Elven ally. "Any suggestions on where to start, Kizmel?"

"We should check the central camps." Kizmel advised. "The command tents should be located there, and those are most likely to house either the keys or Kar himself."

Asuna had to stifle a laugh. Kirito looked over at her and arched an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." Asuna lied before deciding to share her thoughts with him anyway. "It's just… we're looking for Kar's keys. Get it? ...Like car keys?"

Kirito smiled and shook his head. "Don't you dare bring that up to Leonn. The last thing we need is to give him more pun ammunition."

"I don't understand." Kizmel admitted, clearly not understanding the reference.

"When this is all over, Kizmel, I'll explain." Asuna said with a chuckle. "It would take too long to explain right now."

"Another human culture reference?" Kizmel asked.

"You could say that." Kirito smirked. He stopped and pointed forward. "That looks like a command tent if I ever saw one."

It was a large, oval-shaped tent with a wide entrance on the longer side. A black tarp awning stretched over the entrance and while there was nothing obscuring their vision inside the tent, it was simply too dark to distinguish what lay within. There weren't even any torches inside to provide light. Apparently the Fallen Elves had better eyesight than even the Dark Elves.

Kirito pulled up his menu and manifested a torch in his free hand. After some finagling, he managed to light it, casting an orange glow all around them. Even now, its warm light began to seep inside the supposed command tent.

"Stay on your guard." Kirito warned. "We don't know if any of the leadership is still inside."

Asuna wordlessly nodded as she drew her rapier once more. She and Kizmel immediately took flanking positions on either side of Kirito. She took the right side while Kizmel took his left. Cautiously, they walked into the tent, the torchlight slowly revealing what rested within. Asuna immediately spotted a long oval-shaped table in the center with a large map sprawled out on its face. It looked to be a map of the 9th floor in its entirety. It was surprisingly accurate, based on what information the Clearers had already assembled.

Asuna made a mental note to snag the map to give to Argo later. Maybe she'd be able to extrapolate an actual player map using that. She was crafty like that.

On the far side of the tent was a smaller table - more of a desk, really - upon which rested several letters, an inkbox, and a small locked chest. That, more than anything else, drew Asuna's attention. Lokuss would no doubt find the letters enticing, but the chest looked more important. She wandered over, breaking off from Kirito and Kizmel, who had similarly spread out to search the tent.

"Find anything?" Kirito whispered to no one in particular.

Out of the corner of her eye, Asuna saw Kizmel shake her head. "No luck so far."

"Maybe…" Asuna mumbled, still not entirely convinced herself. She pulled the small chest to the edge of the desk closest to her and opened it. Within was a lavish cushion with seven indents sewn in. It reminded her of a ring box in that sense, with the cushion explicitly designed to hold objects of some significance. Strangely enough, there wasn't anything inside.

"What do you have there?" Kirito asked, coming up behind her and peering over her shoulder.

"This." Asuna lifted the box to show him. "Maybe Kar kept the keys in this box?"

"It's entirely possible." Kizmel commented as she joined the duo. "Strange that the box is empty. Perhaps he fled during the chaos with the keys?"

Almost out of instinct, Asuna looked over at the entrance of the tent. It would be just like Kayaba to program a sudden appearance by the Fallen General in question right as they were searching his tent. That NPC had the worst timing.

Much to her surprise, he wasn't there.

"... You too?" Kirito asked, following her gaze towards the entrance.

"Yeah." Asuna mumbled. "Would have been just like him to show up out of the blue like that."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Kirito added.

Just then, Asuna saw a group message pop up on her HUD. Glancing at Kirito, whose eyes seemed likewise glued to the corner of his vision, she opened the message.

[Sinon: Just spotted Kar sprinting out of camp heading east. Managed to get a few shots in before he got away.]

Asuna sighed. "Of course."

"What is it?" Kizmel asked, having been the only one of the trio literally unable to receive the message. "Has something happened?"

Asuna nodded. "Kar just escaped to the east."

Kirito pointed at the chest Asuna was holding. "Might as well take that with us. When we catch him, it might come in handy for storing the keys."

With the tent sufficiently searched, the trio made their way outside to meet with Sinon, but not before Asuna ducked back in to quickly grab the map on the large table. Not soon after, all of the Renegades reconvened at Sinon's location. None of the other groups had encountered Kar either, so it was a good call to keep Sinon on lookout. As Sinon explained her brief encounter with Kar, she pulled up her own map and enabled public visibility, displaying it for all nearby to view. Apart from the incomplete map data, what struck Asuna most odd was that there was a small dot moving across the map.

"Hey Sinon…" Silica asked, pointing with her small finger towards the dot in question. "What's that?"

"That?" The archer replied with a faint grin on her lips. "It's called ((Tracker's Shot)). Learned it last week. If the shot hits, it lets me mark a target and track them on my map."

"Neat." Geeou said. "How long does it last?"

"An hour before I have to refresh it." Sinon explained. "It should last long enough for us to tell where he's going."

"We won't need an hour, I'm afraid." Kizmel said grimly. She pointed at a spot on the map where the dot was clearly headed toward. After a few moments, the dot stopped in place and remained there. "That is where the sacred trees are located. It also happens to be where the floor guardian is rumored to reside. Strange, though."

Liz tilted her head in confusion. "What is?"

Kizmel shifted her finger slightly and circled an area right next to where the spot was now resting. "He hasn't entered yet. Why is he waiting?"

"Maybe it takes a long time to open the gates?" Silica suggested.

"It should not take that long." Kizmel said. "He's waiting for something."

"Maybe he doesn't have the Kales'Oh keys." Lokuss piped up. "He might be waiting for whoever was tasked with securing those."

"Then we have time." Kirito concluded as his eyes shifted up. "Looks like we have some preparations to make."

Asuna's gaze drifted up until she saw what Kirito was referring to. It took her a moment to mentally adjust once more to the fact that, despite the stakes of this mission, they were nevertheless still playing a game. Quests normally didn't progress on their own without player input, and right now it was abundantly clear what the game wanted them to do.

[Gather your forces and prepare for battle.]

"Mind telling me what's going on here, Beater?" Kibaou asked with a huff.

Asuna bristled at the mention of Kirito's "nickname" before taking a moment to steady herself. Kirito had accepted - or at the very least tolerated - the title so she'd do her best to not cause a scene. It would reflect poorly on the Renegades and only add fuel to the fire. To that end, she'd remain calm, at least outwardly. Even if she wanted to throttle the ALS leader every time he disrespected Kirito.

She blinked. When had she become so protective of Kirito?

"This looks like it might be the end of the Elf War campaign quest." Kirito explained.

Kibaou gave him a dubious look, as did Lind, who was situated nearby and listening in. "I get that, but why did you drag us out here for it? Doing the questline is your job, not ours."

Kirito sighed. "Because it's looking like the elves are going to join us in the battle against the floor boss. The quest is literally bringing us to the labyrinth to pursue a Fallen General who's planning on destroying Aincrad by draining the sacred trees inside of their magic."

"... That's just flavor text, right?" Lind hesitantly asked.

Kirito shrugged. "Probably, but I'm not willing to put that to the test."

"That's… fair." Lind admitted.

Asuna decided to make some last-minute checks to her equipment and inventory, occasionally stealing a glance around to survey the state of the Clearers. All of the major Clearer guilds were here. Their numbers hadn't changed drastically, but there were noticeably more people here than she remembered on previous floors. That was good; more people available to help take down a floor boss was always a good thing. Finishing up her checks, she looked up to see that Kibaou and Lind had since split off from Kirito to rejoin their respective guilds. Kirito, meanwhile, was patiently waiting for Asuna.

"You didn't need to wait for me, you know." Asuna chided him.

"I know." Kirito said with a faint smile on his face. "Let's go meet with the others. I think Geeou wanted to talk to me about something earlier."

The Renegade duo started making their way back to their guild, all the while Asuna felt a sense of dread coming from the labyrinth entrance looming off to their left. Unlike other labyrinths, this one seemed to be blocked off by a massive gate. Whether that was a result of the current questline they were on, or if the questline was needed to gain access in the first place, she didn't know.

She took a breath as they approached their friends. Kirito split off to talk with Geeou, who'd noticed his approach and pulled off to the side for their own conversation. Leonn, Sinon, and Nautilus were in deep conversation about something as they sat off to the side. Based on the latter's expression he was probably nervous about the upcoming battle. Frankly, she didn't blame him, especially now that everyone (in the Renegades, that is) knew about his FNC. She hoped it wouldn't rear its ugly head this time.

She decided to join Yuna, Liz, and Silica in their conversation, which admittedly looked a little heated. As she walked up, Silica brightened up and abruptly turned to face her.

"Good, a tie breaker!" Silica exclaimed as Yuna sighed. "Asuna, we need your opinion on something!"

"... What is it?" Asuna asked with uncertainty, not entirely sure she wanted to get into the middle of whatever debate they were having.

"We can't seem to agree on what hair color would look best on Liz." Yuna said, exasperatedly.

Asuna visibly sweatdropped. The minutes leading up to a large-scale battle and they're discussing hair color?

She paused in that train of thought. It wasn't as if they had anything else productive to do right now, and since her conversation with Liz and Yuna on the 5th floor, she had been in the mood to talk fashion with her girl friends.

"Hmm…" Asuna hummed as she gave an appraising look over Liz. The blacksmith squirmed a little under the scrutiny. "What are you both thinking?"

"I say she should go blonde!" Silica declared.

Yuna shook her head. "I think a white would look good on her."

Asuna pursed her lips as she looked at Liz. "Did you already have a color in mind, Liz?"

"All I know is I don't want either of those!" Liz stated firmly. "Blonde is too obvious and I don't know if I wanna go full white either."

Asuna raised a finger to her cheek and looked up, deep in thought. She leveled her gaze at Liz and noticed something about her she hadn't before. "What about pink?"

"Pink?!" Yuna and Silica shouted in unison. Liz let out a giggle at their reaction.

"That doesn't break our tie at all!" Silica huffed.

"I think pink would bring out her feminine side a little more." Asuna suggested. "Plus her eyes kind of have a little pink in them already, so they'd match!"

Yuna and Silica leaned closer to Liz's face. The blacksmith shrunk back a little, caught off guard by the sudden invasion of her personal space.

"You're right!" Silica exclaimed. Yuna seemed to agree, based on how vigorously the songstress was nodding her head. "You should go pink, Liz."

"What do you think, Liz?" Asuna asked, placing her hands on her hips as she smiled.

Liz seemed to contemplate the choice before giving a shrug and a nod. She smiled. "Yeah, I'll give it a shot!"

Asuna chuckled. "Yeah, you'll definitely be fending off the boys then."

"Oh no, we are not going down that road again!" Liz shot back with a smirk of her own. "Or do I need to bring up a certain boy we both know?"

Asuna flushed at being called out like this. Liz knew exactly what buttons to push, which frustrated Asuna to no end. Why was it that every time Kirito was even so much as mentioned that she felt warm all of a sudden? Subconsciously, she glanced over in Kirito's direction, only to see him having a good laugh with Geeou.

Asuna smiled at the sight. Kirito and Geeou's friendship seemed to be improving over the past few floors, she'd noticed. What had started as mentor-mentee had turned into something more akin to a brotherhood. The two just clicked. Watching Kirito laughing and smiling was a welcome sight. She didn't get to see him smile often around others, she realized. He did smile a lot around her though, and it warmed her heart every time he did. Her eyes widened as she came to a realization about herself.

She liked Kirito.

"Looks like the party's about to get started!" Klein shouted somewhere in the distance.

Welcoming the distraction, Asuna's gaze shot up as she tried to see what was happening. There was a thundering of footsteps as from down the road emerged a veritable army of Dark Elves, numbering at least a hundred strong. Some of the Clearers instinctively gripped their weapons, but calmed down when they saw that the elves didn't seem to have any intention of attacking. At the forefront, she spotted Queen Illise and Kizmel. Asuna gave a slight wave at her elven friend, who spotted her and gave a friendly wave of her own.

Emerging from another road just a short distance away came another army, this one composed of Forest Elves. Asuna panicked a moment before she noticed that this army did not seem hostile either. They looked just as determined and stoic as did their Dark Elven rivals. Heading this group was Commander Castien and a regal looking Forest Elf, who Asuna assumed was King Erlan.

As the two armies converged and stood side by side - with the Clearers taking up positions in between the two - Asuna saw a flurry of activity around the labyrinth gate as Fallen began pouring out and taking up battle formations in front. They were decidedly less organized and more resembled a band of rogues than anything else, but the expert way they handled those daggers, scimitars, and bows were still enough to give her pause.

"Everybody ready?" She heard Kirito ask as he walked up to meet her and the girls. The rest of the Renegades were right behind him.

"About as ready as I'm going to be." Leonn said, shouldering his maul.

"Let's do this." Silica stated, a serious expression on her face as she brandished her dagger.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw similar looks of seriousness and determination on the faces of her fellow Renegades. She unsheathed her rapier and merely nodded in reply. She was in battle mode now.

Kizmel walked up to meet them before she turned to look at the heavily guarded gate. "While I have the utmost confidence in our victory, let me be the first to say it has been a genuine honor to fight alongside you all. I could not ask for more formidable allies… or better friends."

"Likewise, Kizmel." Asuna answered. "But we'll get through this in one piece. Don't talk like that."

"Still…" Kizmel said, a grim look on her face. "I would be remiss if I did not express my feelings on the matter before such an important battle. Thank you all, for everything."

Before she could utter any sort of response, a clarion horn sounded in the still night air, coming from the Dark Elves. A few seconds afterward a second horn sounded from the Forest Elves, joining the first. A unified cheer and battle cry sang out in response as elves and humans alike attempted to boost their morale and demoralize the enemy.

Asuna steeled her gaze as she came up alongside Kirito, rapier at the ready.

The War of the Elves had begun.