A/N: Hello and it is good to be back, but I won't promise for more frequent updates this time because I feel I would be smitten by God if I do that. Just sorry for the long delay and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Once again, I would appreciate your ideas about story

Drenched in the Rain

It was hurting.

Everything was hurting.

It was what he felt like for maybe hours, maybe days he didn't know. He had lost his sense of time as he absent-mindedly walked through mob fields, armed with nothing but a lost friend. A spear without unequal beauty.

May her soul forever watch over us and heal our wounds.

His head was low as he didn't deem himself worthy enough to lift it. The only thing that mattered to him was the spear in his hands.

"Was it all a joke? I thought I had finally become strong enough to fight any opponent… Was my equipment the only reason for my strength?"

Those kinds of self-loathing questions and grief continued to eat his mind, and he continued to wander in the deserts of the 69th floor, not even noticing the mobs he cut down. Even that was like a testament to his honed battle instincts, but he could not care less.

He had lost a duel.

And not just any duel, a duel that cost his friend's life!

How could he live with that?

He continued to walk without a care for the world for a long time, occasionally he could hear the indicator of messages arriving in his mailbox, but he couldn't find it in himself to open them. His tears continued to drop from his eyes.

How could he look at Asemi's face when he couldn't protect one of their own?

He had lost his friends before too, many students from his guild, even some closer friends, but never on his watch. Never he had lost a duel on one-on-one, and never against Laughing Coffin. Only Champions and Kirito ever managed to make him sweat till this time.

Yet this time… To think that he only lived because that… creature wanted him to live and suffer.

How did that happen?

Because you went lazy, because you became complacent…

He suddenly heard a voice similar to his own and then found himself elsewhere.

A complete opposite to the desert he was in a few moments ago, he was standing in the middle of a storm. He did not imagine he could see such heavy rain in the real life, but there it was. He could not see more than a few meters in front of him unless the sky crack a flash that blinds and deafens. Even then, he could only see a few burnt trees, and possibly the safest place in such a storm.

A small house.

He instinctively turned to the house, but before even taking a single step that voice spoke again "It's locked, don't even try."

He turned to the source of the voice.

Even with that heavy rain and dark sky, he could see him. He was at the same height as him, on him he was wearing a brown trench coat, black leather boots, brown combat pants, and a khaki color t-shirt. On his chest, there were belts that resembled what soldiers used to carry bullets for heavy machine guns, but his ones were loaded with poisons, needles, and a few types of archaic bombs that could be crafted using the alchemy skill in the game.

On his belt, there was a longsword strapped at the right while a katana was strapped at the left. On his back, he was carrying a greatsword. His face was similar to his except for the eyes. His eyes were both beautiful and terrifying, a cold and unfeeling silver color.

Ilsamor realized that he was looking at the man that all orange and green guilds feared most.

"It has been a long time since we have been that desperate, isn't it?"

He was looking at the Silver Blade.

When and how did this start to develop he had no idea, but it was first discovered in an orange base raid on the 16th floor.

It was a tough fight and one of the first moments Ilsamor ever felt ruthless. The base in question was suspected to house serial killers and rapers, and this alone caused him to let go of any notions of mercy and compassion.

The fight was bloody and short, at the end, all of the orange players were killed, and none were taken as prisoners; however, this was not due to Champions' thirst for vengeance but rather orange players' refusal to surrender and their high poison resistance.

They were searching the base for possible clues and loots when he noticed Nautilus was giving him a strange look. He had tried to act like he wasn't but in the end, he had frowned and asked him "What is it Nautilus? Is something matter?"

"No sir, just… I know it will sound crazy but I was checking for something."

"For what?"

"For your eye color sir."

The answer was so absurd that Ilsamor couldn't help but look at the man "Excuse me?"

"Forgive me sir, but during the fight, I could swear that your eyes were in their usual color but in silvery tone."

Hearing that made him curious, and he checked it from the nearest mirror. He had relaxed after he saw them in their usual color. "It seems you started to see things due to the heat of the battle. Maybe you need some rest, Nautilus."

"M-Maybe you are right sir."

That was not the end of it, however.

As time went on, he noticed that he was… hearing a voice so similar to his own, a voice that advised him on various topics about warfare and martial arts. He was like the cold voice of reason, rarely emotional and absolutely merciless against all who commit crimes.

A man who saw the world as black and white.

It wasn't a sign of multiple personality disorder, but rather he was the state of mind Ilsamor dubbed as Battle Clarity. He had no idea how, but that state of mind literally became another personality, which made it easier to enter that state and exit from it.

He was helping him to focus by closing unnecessary pathways of his consciousness.

Flowers on the battlefield? He had no business with them.

That guy killed because he was trapped in a death game? He couldn't care less.

Today was a holiday? Well, you can rest once those SOBs are behind the bars or six feet under the ground.

That was him, his cold reason.

Ruthless enforcer of the Lady, a sword which was the nightmare of all monsters, be it human or not.

Silver Blade.

Come to think of it, he was not hearing it ever since he started to date Asemi.

"Why is it locked?" he asked him, rather than many other obvious questions. Blade just shrugged "Because we don't have the key."

"Who has it then?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

He was right. Ilsamor already knew the answer.

The sky roared once more, he could feel a chilling cold slowly creeping into his bones.

"Then let's return to her so we can—"

"No, we cannot. Not before we become stronger for it."

Ilsamor frowned "What do you mean?"

Blade slowly pointed to spear in his hands "Think. He killed Hikari just because she was close to us. What if that was Asemi?"

He felt his heart froze.

"You have deceived yourself with the false victories you gained. You need to open your eyes. We were powerless because without the items Lady provided to us, we are nothing."

"But the training—"

"Ilsamor, be honest. This is reality. How much stronger do you get with such compressed training? You are barely at the level of a newly trained fighter and so far you were holding yourself against others because almost none of the players have some sort of fighting training."

Ilsamor's eyes widened as his knees give away.

Blade was right.

"Don't lose yourself. This was a warning, one that we must take seriously. If he is a better fighter, then we need something else to even the odds."

Ilsamor sighed and for a moment nothing was heard beside the sound of the storm.

I cannot return home. Not yet.

"What should we do?"

"First we need to gear up."

"Okay. Then let's go to the temp—"

"No." Blade's sound was close to all arguments. "Because of all that ruckus, 69th floor's dungeons are untouched. We will raid those locations, and arm ourselves, which will also allow us to work on our game changer."

"What is it?"

Blade explained to him and his eyes widened. A rather vindictive smile appeared on his lips while the color of his eyes slightly lightened. He gripped the spear that once was his friend tightly and began to make his way to the dungeons.

He had almost forgotten about this game's real game-changers after all.

"That's what happened Asemi…"

Asemi was sitting inside their house at the 68th floor while listening to what had happened from Kirito with tears.

She couldn't believe Hikari was dead.

Still, she forced herself to put a hand on Kirito's shoulder "It was not your fault, Kirito-san."

Kirito shook his head and sighed "I don't think so. First Asuna, now Hikari… Orange players had landed very heavy hits on our morale from the beginning. Especially the fact that Ilsamor lost a duel for the first time… This will ravage our side's morale."

Asemi flinched when she heard Ilsamor's name and looked at the perhaps strongest sword of the game she was holding in her lap.

Kalaiet.

"Why did he let go of his sword, I cannot understand it…" Asemi said while trying to lift it. Her stats were barely enough for it at the end.

"He seemed rather disappointed with it…" said Kirito but Asemi countered it "But it doesn't make sense, Kirito-san. How can he think that he could beat Nocturn without it when he had already failed to do it while holding the game's strongest sword?! Has he gone insane?"

"I think he might have." Said Kirito while scratching his head, he dared not to meet her eyes. Asemi's anger left its place to worry "What do you mean?"

"Asemi… His gaze was not like a man just suffering from the loss of a friend. He looked betrayed, abandoned… I don't know, I hope he won't do something he might regret later."

"Like going after Nocturn?"

"No…" said Kirito after he raised his head "He will do that eventually. He wants his head as much as I want to see the corpse of PoH. I fear he might try to do it without serious preparation. Do you know where he is right now?"

Asemi sighed and checked her menu once more. "Still no sign. He must have closed his location to his friends. Kirito-san, I am worried for him."

Before Kirito could answer, however, the door of their house was knocked and in a second stood up and rushed to the door "Ilsamor, where have—"

"Sorry, but I am not him. What happened to the boss?"

Asemi's face paled.

"No, before that… Asemi, is it true?"

The rider seemed broken, for all the time they spent together, she had never seen him so heartbroken.

"Did that bastard really kill our friend?!"

Asemi bowed her head and slowly stood back "Please come in and have a sit. Kirito can tell you more."

Rider nodded with teary eyes and stepped inside. Without looking anywhere else, he headed towards the living room and Asemi followed him. Kirito was waiting for them standing and sitting down once he saw who the guest was. Asemi nodded towards him "Kirito was there when Hikari fell. Can you tell what happened to Rider, Kirito?"

Kirito sighed and told what happened once more. In the end, Rider just nodded without saying anything. He seemed nothing like the boisterous man he was, the only one she could see was a man who was resigned to his destiny. "Don't be that sad. She will be with Lady, in peace."

"But dread still haunts the living. If Nocturn even managed to defeat the Boss, what chance do we have?"

"You are forgetting that he and Kirito were alone out there. If we were there too then—"

"Yeah and I doubt we will find an opening like this again…" said Rider while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do you think Nocturn is stupid enough to operate alone while we know our only chance is to catch him alone?"

Asemi did not answer while Rider's eyes slowly hardened. "I think I asked the wrong question. Do you know that Nocturn is that stupid enough or not?"

Asemi's eyes widened "R-Rider, what do you—"

"Asemi now is not the time for lies. I remember what I saw that night, in front of the temple. You looked at each other and something happened, I don't know what. But I know it's something… peculiar because I remember what he said first: It's you, isn't it? Then… It's him!"

Asemi bowed her head and did not answer.

"Now when you said it Rider…" Kirito joined too "You were the only person who was worried about us losing the fight while everyone else was sure of it. Asemi you know him, don't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Rider frowned "Why?"

"Because I can't. And besides, we have more serious problems right now, we need to find Ilsamor before Nocturn finds him."

"Why?!" Rider stood up and yelled in frustration. "What is his problem with a boy who had not once left his home?! Why is he obsessed with Ilsamor, why is he that powerful in fighting?! Why?!"

Asemi stood silent and refused to answer. Luckily or unluckily just at that moment, Rider received an alert from the system and he opened it.

His eyes widened at the content of the message.

"No… NO, THOSE SICK—"

"Rider, what's wrong?" Kirito interjected and soon found himself the target of his fear-filled gaze.

"LC… Laughing Coffin is formally established as a guild and declared war on us!"

Both Kirito and Asemi shot off.

Ilsamor was moving in the hot desert, wearing only a white t-shirt and brown combat pants. In his hands were Eternal Brilliance, his face was scrunched up with grief but his eyes were filled with determination, and if one had looked closely he could see the slight lightening of his eye color.

"So, what will we do?"

Right now we have two main objectives. We need to acquire each type of weapon of light while keep working on what I have told you. By the way, you still didn't forget about t, right?"

"Yes. Kill enemies with a maximum of two sword skills, which in this case first to be a status debuff."

"Good."

"Can I ask something though? How am I going to acquire a katana, a greatsword, and a longsword? Will I just farm these dungeons until we find something?"

"No, we will use a far more efficient and rewarding method."

"Which is?"

He heard a sigh from the Silver Blade then he spoke once again "You remember your second sword, right?"

"You mean Heaven's Grace?"

"Yes, that one. Do you remember that you had to farm a ton of holy metal for that, specifically Divine Steel?"

"Yes, but that creates two questions—"

"Which I have answers to both if you listen."

Ilsamor stood silent and apologized.

"Now, while you didn't need it during you were there, Divine Steel was not the only holy metal in the game. From floor 53 to 64 there was another one called Blessed Silver."

"I didn't know that…"

"Actually, you do. Lady had mentioned it to you about creating it further into the game."

"So, what are we searching in here?"

While they were talking, he had finally managed to climb the sand hill and now was looking at a gigantic ancient temple. It was a good twenty meters high and spanning several hundred meters in width, temple was constructed with Greek architecture. Yet despite all the gloomy air, he saw what he was looking for.

Just at the point of entry, two pillars were different from the rest and they were shaped like elm trees.

"We are looking for the third holy metal, Celestial Gold. It would be the base of our new weapons."

"But last time it took days to acquire a decent weapon if Lady hasn't fixed that issue. We don't have that long!"

"Don't worry, this time you will have advantages on your side."

Kirito, Asemi, and Rider suddenly appeared at the 4th floor's town square and immediately met with a scene from nightmares.

Everywhere they could see members of Laughing Coffin running around and forcing doors to open. Few unfortunate players have been outright killed on sight and surprised defenders of the town were doing their best to repel the attack but they were outnumbered.

"How the hell did they enter the town?!" Rider yelled while unsheathing his sword and cleaving the nearest LC member with a well-aimed strike. Kirito unsheathed his blades and looked around him to choose his next action before answering "Game has a guild war mechanism implemented in it. It was never tried because no one sane would enact it in a death game!"

"Why would LC do that? They are just showing their location to us!"

"No, they don't…" said Kirito before starting a combo on a street full of LC thugs. He closed his eyes and concentrated, just like the spars he had done with Ilsamor. Chaining sword skills was a great power in this game, and his friend was one of its masters.

While he was looking to his targets, a sound from the darkest part of his being screamed for revenge. For justice.

Justice is a funny word to determine who would get the mercy first…

Did he deserve that mercy? It was a thought that plagued him ever since he witnessed Asuna's death. He was arrogant, he and others had underestimated what LC was truly capable of. Hell, even Ilsamor seemed to have underestimated them, considering he was beaten by Nocturn.

"But no more…"

He had the skill Dual Wield. He was granted it because he was the fastest player among them.

With a swift action, he appeared near the closest enemy with Blazing Spin, but before his skill concluded color of the swords turned yellow and he suddenly charged to the other side of the street with Double Circular, which was followed by another Blazing Spin. This time, the assassin was ready and intercepted him, but his combo hadn't ended, blades' color turned to cyan as he executed another sword skill, Dual Revelation. The assassin was not ready for it, and couldn't even yell as he turned into pixels, which Kirito didn't even bat an eye. He finished clearing the street with another Double Circular and Nightmare Rain.

Normally doing such an act would scar him beyond his nightmares, but after the loss he had suffered and the treatment he had received from the Lady, he felt nothing.

They had took the flash of his life.

"They are just using a fake base to sign up their guild. I don't think neither Nocturn nor PoH is that stupid. Rider, where is the rest of the Swords?"

"I am trying to reach them…" Rider said while opening and closing various menus from the screen in front of him. "But LC effectively cut other guilds from the fight by declaring this war only on us. They cannot harm them in the specified battle zones, which they have chosen effectively as the main base of operations."

"We need to contact other leaders and… Wait, do you hear that?"

Kirito stopped and listened.

Ahead, from the parts of the town they couldn't see yet there were screams, shouts, and… a melody. It was like a group of people chanting something. Words were not from Japanese, but…

"It's English." Said Kirito, Asemi nodded without taking her eyes from the direction of the sound.

"Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies

I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Offer me that deathless death

Good God, let me give you my life…"

Kirito had little idea about the context of the song and from his expression Rider was the same. Only Asemi's face showed a sign of worry. "They are mocking him. Trying to aggravate him into attacking them."

"But he is not here." said Rider, "This means they are not just aiming at him. They are trying to demoralize the entire town…"

Asemi stood still for a few moments, her fists were clenching and unclenching continuously. Slowly her eyes hardened and she slowly knelt.

"Asemi, are you sure? We don't know—"

"Rider, if we don't do it, we may never even the odds. If I lose my unique skill like Ilsamor had, then so be it. Send word to other champions, and tell them to reinforce other bases. After this, we will be enough for this floor."

Rider nodded while Asemi stabbed her Katana to the ground.

Passing time had added effects to their unique skills. Before they were nothing more than code lines appearing on the floor, but now Lady had designed unique visual effects for all.

As she stabbed her katana, the ground erupted with white-hot flames, which spiraled towards the sky like Chinese dragons, then slowly descended back into Asemi's body. She stood tall and swung her katana horizontally.

A white wave of flame appeared and enlarged as it went, as it passed allies gained buffs, periodical healing, and flaming weapons while LC members gained burn DoT and debuffs.

This was Flame's Judgement. Because flame was the ultimate bearer of means of justice and mercy in Lady's mythology. It was her most precious gift to humanity and its separation was the cause why First Light remained nothing but a destructive force.

It was an important concept that no one had noticed its significance yet.

"Hghh!"

A crack sound was heard in the boss room as Ilsamor hit the wall and lost 13 percent more of his health.

"You are not concentrating enough. You are still worrying about things you have no control over."

He wiped the sweat on his face and looked at the first boss of the dungeon, The Fire-Rat. As the name implied, it was a humanoid rat with several fire spells and fire-coated weapons. It was quick, agile and as a dungeon designed by the Lady, it had a damn good mind for an AI. His gaze fell on his spear, the color of his eyes was getting lighter and lighter. "I know but I cannot prevent it! Besides I have never been too good with spears…"

"It didn't help with Nocturn that you had a sword…" Blade spoke to him, his voice was disgustingly calm and logical. "If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for your loved ones. He enjoyed what he did to Hikari, you saw it in his eyes…"

His mind reeled back to that moment and he gritted his teeth.

That bastard had enjoyed every moment of that murder!

"And you know that he will take more joy from repeating that scene with Asemi."

Ilsamor's blood froze, and his hand holding the spear began to tremble. He could see it, he could damn well see it…

"Aww, you are such a beauty, aren't you…"

"Senpai! SENPAI!"

He was tied to a tree, unable to break his bonds, unable to beat him from their duels…

"Oh, I will thoroughly enjoy this, you know she "sparks" somethings down there…"

"I'll kill him. For justice, for mercy, for Hikari…"

Boss was closing the gap and preparing for a devastating strike. Ilsamor slowly rose up and held his spear with both hands, then waited for his window. Blade kept whispering to his mind about tactics and precautions.

Finally boss landed an overhead slash with a large sword it was holding in its right hand, at the same time Ilsamor rushed ahead and blocked the sword with the spear at the closest point to its hilt. It would put him in a more advantageous position, but just positioning itself wouldn't be enough and that was where timing came into play.

Spear glowed yellow, and the stat boost that was given to him by activated sword skill helped him to deflect its attack completely.

Boss was staggered.

Ilsamor took his chance and dashed to its back and towards its ankle, he released the four-hit skill, Revolving Arts. In its staggered state, that damage to its biggest support caused it to lean even more backward, and Ilsamor sealed the deal with a Fatal Thrust before using another dash skill to get out of the way.

The Fire-Rat fell down.

Following that, he jumped on it and began attacking its head with a three-combo chain before finishing it with Dimension Stampede, which also gave him a bit of his lost health. Before the screeching rat made a crazy attack, he withdrew.

Boss had lost its first health bar along with its right eye.

"Just how many times will you show mercy to your enemies?"

"I have never—"

"Isn't refusing to get strong the same thing?"

He had no rebuttal.

Boss was ready for the second stage of the fight after it trashed around a bit. Now, it was glaring at him with its sole eye full of hate.

"Let go of your joys and dislikes. They have no place on the battlefield."

He bowed his head and his soul prepared to embrace what to come while the boss started a long combo with its dual weapons.

He swiftly dodged away from its overhead slash and following thrust attacks. But the rat soon changed the rhythm and made a few horizontal slashes all of which send waves of fire to him. There was little place to escape.

"This is who you are, who you have ever trained to be."

Slash attacks were approaching him fast while his hands tightened around the spear. There was no other option but this:

"ENHANCE ARMAMENT!"

Several code lines accompanied by a bright white shield bubble appeared in front of him, and fire attacks were absorbed, and his wounds were healed from the absorbed damage. Boss seemed confused that he had not died.

"She told you, didn't she? The one who knows us better than we know ourselves."

Like a swift wind, he dashed and approached the boss with Fatal Thrust. Boss blocked it by using its sword, but his move hasn't been over yet. Despite the system's limitations, he pressed on his spear and forced it slightly downwards, which proved all the force it needed. His spear slid on the blade and hit the ground which allowed him to propel upwards while using the skill's stat boost.

"You have the Thunder. You lack the light to see your way…"

He landed squarely on the boss' nose and thrust his spear to its second eye. As he jumped to the ground once more, Ilsamor managed to land a few hits with Revolving Arts to its right arm. As soon as he landed on the ground, he took advantage of Fire-Rat's debilitated state and recklessly started to spam sword skills, only to be thrown back by a wall of fire from Boss.

"And fire to warm your heart."

It was cold… So cold…

"But why does it mean something wrong with you?"

His hand was trembling, and a lone tear dropped from his left eye.

"Does a blade have to have feelings?"

"…No…" he answered while looking at the boss preparing the third and final phase of the fight.

And he saw that…

Him standing right in front of him, but he could see nothing more. It was dark, with black clouds hanging above him, a downpour of rain was all he could feel.

This was a world devoid of light, except for occasional flashes of lightning.

"Then embrace who you are."

"I will…" he whispered while dodging the raining fire from the boss' spell.

"Let it rain, let it ruin, and let them feel…"

Boss turned to him and released a Scorching Ray attack which he nimbly dodged to left and continued his dash.

"Justice is blind to excuses as you are blinded by the dark clouds…"

He jumped over a wave of fire from the ground and left a broken katana where he had been standing, then dashed in another direction, 60 degrees left of the katana.

"Justice is deaf to the cries of mercy, and you already can hear nothing but cracks of thunder…"

He had arrived at his destination and he left a broken greatsword before starting another dash from sixty degrees left of it.

"And justice is numb to all touches, just as you cannot feel noting from the cold…"

He stopped at the third corner of the triangle and dropped a broken longsword this time, then stepped inside of it.

As soon as he entered, the spear shone and he knew the spear's passive was working.

"Now tell me, who you are…"

He dashed forward; Eternal Brilliance's light could have left the boss blind if it hasn't been blinded already. He approached the boss and as impossible as it seems, he managed to send the boss flying to the sky…

Holy Triangle: Eternal Brilliance would get a 300 percent bonus on stats and damage on skills whenever it is used in a triangle formed by holy weapon types.

He jumped and started to strike the defenseless boss. Using Fatal Thrust and Sonic Charge as a means of traveling in the air, he attacked every opening with the damage buff on the spear.

"…Archangel?"

He landed squarely in the middle of the triangle. The Fire-Rat stood suspended in the air for a few more seconds before turning into pixels and disappearing. After its death, flames blocking his path slowly receded away.

He raised his head after he heard the shattering sound, his eyes had already turned into a steely gray. His face was sad and serious, but his eyes were filled with determination.

"I am the Silver Blade."

Just like he swung his spear once before putting it on his back and headed deeper parts of the dungeon.

Reinforcements arrived finally after an hour after a small group of warriors led by Kirito, Asemi and Rider managed to take back one of the Teleportation Stones. Securing it wasn't enough though, like a cliché mission from all FPS games, they had to hold out until a less occupied region send forces to them. It had taken around thirty minutes and five lives.

It was unforgivable.

Laughing Coffin was unforgivable.

Kirito's self-control was flying out of the window fast as he continued to witness many brave souls, and many innocent players perished under the attack of LC.

Elucidator cut a clear line without stopping and sent another assassin to death, and it didn't make him feel anything. The only thing he could see was the feared expression of the Swords member he had just saved and a deep cry from within.

Take them all down! Own it all!

He could feel the boiling blood as he charged ahead and joined the Rider to push assassins from the fourth street.

Why it always happens like this? Why whenever I go near someone, I ruin things for them?!

Elucidator was engaged in a blade lock, but they were always forgetting his second sword. Soon he used a 1H sword skill and finished the already struggling enemy.

Is this my destiny? Always reaching higher for a Sun I will never own and always reaching deeper for something that can withstand at my side?

His thoughts became more and more self-loathing as he watched many more people die at their hands. He found himself fighting alone, surrounded by nothing but LC members. A self-deprecating chuckle escaped from his lips, even in a battle he found him without no one near him from their side…

He didn't know it back then, and neither did the creator of this world nor the creator of a world in the future, but his thoughts, his pain, and his power would create something really similar to him.

A dark, enormous tree that was unbreakable from outside, but ever alone and lonely.

It wasn't always like that and he knew it. He had lost people before, but back then there was someone near him. Someone who always supported him and even admitted that admired Kirito.

But now he was gone.

Kirito remembered what he had felt when they first met. He seemed so unbreakable, so fearless… Whenever he said something, there were many people that would record and learn it like the most valuable lesson. He seemed like he had an answer for every question. Even after he changed, he was still the boulder on many leaned their backs, due to his stubbornness on his beliefs.

But he had seen that boulder crumble.

He had lied to Asemi about Ilsamor's reason for abandoning Kalaiet. It wasn't a complete lie, but the underlying reason was far more serious than a simple disappointment with equipment. Ilsamor had once told him, that he saw his sword as more than a weapon, but a representation of the ideals he upheld, Virtues of the Lady.

And he abandoned them.

And his other support… Kirito was not even ready to remember her slightest memory…

"I'll tell you something after this raid, so stay alive okay?"

He would never learn what she would say to him. He closed his eyes and executed a Final Revolution to clear enemies around him.

He was clear for the moment.

Using that brief moment, he looked around. Maybe the only good aspect of the game's death mechanic was its inability to leave any corpses behind, but still, it looked like a battlefield. He could see the flames and smoke from alchemy bombs, sword clashes and orders could be heard from all around the city.

His eyes widened suddenly because he had seen something that shouldn't be on a battlefield.

A little girl, wearing nothing but a simple one-piece dress, was lying unconscious on the ground. He quickly rushed near her. She seemed fine, apart from being unconscious—

"He is here! PoH has been sighted at the western part of the floor!"

Kirito's blood froze in his veins, only to be melted and boiled with rage seconds later.

He was here huh? Now he would show—

"Don't…"

But a weak whisper suddenly doused all of the rage in him and he looked down. The little girl has somehow gained a bit of her consciousness and was looking at him with compassion and… love?

"Don't go near him now. It would destroy you… Like all these people…"

"But…"

"Please… I cannot lose you too…" she whispered, but what hit him most came a few seconds later:

"Papa…"

Just like that, she fainted once more and left Kirito with a decision.

Saving this little girl or killing PoH?

And even if he was burning with a desire to avenge Asuna, at his core he was still Kirito.