AN: So, I once again chose to go with the light novels version of events, as such there's an entire section that was removed from the anime that takes place between the fight with Eugene and their arrival at Alne that we'll be going over, so if you're confused about that second part of this chapter, that's what that is.

Review Responses:

KyoudaiDoushi- Dude, you realize that in the novels, Leafa and Kirito meet Tonkii on their way from the fight with Eugene to Alne, right? They cut that ENTIRE SECTION out. I didn't do so, but they still completely cut out the foreshadowing of them befriending Tonkii and Tonkii showing them where Excalibur is. Even though there WAS action in that segment. Probably not how you're expecting it to turn out. Kirito's become more blunt and honest due to Marzanna's influence, remember?

BatGames- Bit longer to wait I'm afraid. And technically only Mike is an OC. Marzanna is a version of Fem!Harry, remember?

Freerunner4427- Thank you! We'll finally see Marzanna again in a couple chapters.

shadowchaos5150- Welcome, newest minion. The allure sometimes takes a while to take hold of you, but it ensnares all in the end... I'm just joking of course! Don't know why it took you so long to give it a chance, but maybe it had something to do with the poor quality of the first chapters... Glad you enjoy it though! Welcome to my happy little corner of the internet and all that jazz. I've actually got that rather neatly figured out already, so you'll see in a few chapters!

Kirito stares down the gathered Salamanders once the dust from his landing clears, then calls out in his most commanding tone, "Lower your weapons! I want to talk to your commander!"

The Salamanders part like the red sea and a large man drifts to the front of the attack force, and Kirito flies up towards him. The man stares him down harshly, "What's a lowly Spriggan doing here? I'm going to kill you regardless of your answer, but in honor of the bravery you're displaying, I will speak with you first."

Kirito lifts his head, proudly meeting the man's eyes, refusing to allow anyone to look down on him. If he allowed such a thing, he would not be worthy to call himself Marzanna's mate. Without a bit of hesitation, and with every ounce of his confidence, he states in a firm no nonsense manner, "My name is Kirito. I'm an ambassador for the Spriggan-Undine alliance. After we heard of the Cait Sith-Sylph alliance, I was sent to see if they would be agreeable to joining our two alliances. If you attack this meeting, I can assume you desire a full-scale war with all four races, correct?"

The Salamander's commander seemed entirely unconvinced and unimpressed, "An Undine-Spriggan alliance?" Then he smirks at Kirito, "And you, without a single guard, are their ambassador?'

Kirito simply replies to the smirk and words with a sharp grin, "I don't need any. Besides, I'm merely here to see if the Sylph and Cait Sith would be open to a trade agreement. However, if the talks are disrupted, it will be much worse. The four races will ally against the Salamanders."

The man had briefly lost his smirk as Kirito talked, but his thoughtful expression shifted back into the arrogant one after a moment, "You're all alone, wearing horrible gear. You can't expect me to believe you." He lifted an arm and slowly draws his rather large two handed sword, holding it in front of him with both hands before continuing, "If you can withstand my assault for thirty seconds, I will believe you are an ambassador."

Kirito draws his own swords as he raises to be level with the man, sarcastically saying, "That's generous of you…" Then he smiles confidently, "Easily doable. As I said, there's a reason I don't travel with guards. They just slow me down."

The Salamander commander snorts, but then one of his men hesitantly pipes up, "Err, General Eugene? A thought occurs. This guy must have seen us preparing to attack before he revealed himself and he still stuck around, even though he only has himself and that busty chick he showed up with."

Kirito's gaze snaps to the dead man walking and snarls out, "Let me ask you something, how did you learn of this meeting? Probably a spy, right? So how did the Spriggan-Undine alliance know? I'll tell you how, because that busty chick, as you so eloquently put it, is my IRL baby sister. You. Are. Dead. I don't care how the rest of this plays out, I will be taking your god damned head."

There was a pregnant pause in which the man courageously tries to hide behind some of his teammates to get away from the aura of death and destruction Kirito was projecting towards him. Doesn't work out so well, considering the player's teammates hastily push him away.

The moment is broken however, by General Eugene snaping out, "Enough!" He glares at Kirito, practically oozing murderous intent, "I am your opponent!"

Kirito refocuses on Eugene, and for a few moment they just tensely stare each other down, but then the clouds start shifting, a ray of light traveling over Eugene. As it creeps up his sword he suddenly twists it slightly. It's a subtle movement, but it shines the sunlight right onto Kirito's eyes, forcing him to narrow them, and in his moment of distraction Eugene lunges forward, swinging his sword down on Kirito. Reacting instinctively he brings one of his swords up in a block, making absolutely zero unnecessary or excesses movements.

However, to his surprise, the moment Eugene's sword made contact with his, it seemed to turn to vapor, moving right through his block as though it was nonexistent before solidifying on the other side, slamming right into his chest with enough force to send him crashing into a rock formation below, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process.

He moves away from the rocks and restabilizes his flight instinctively as his sister incredulously shouts, "What on earth was that?!"

Another voice rapidly explains without hesitation, but in a tense tone, "That blade is The Demonic Sword Gram, and it has a bonus skill. Ethereal Shift. It allows it to phase whenever someone tries to block or parry with a shield or sword. It's part of the reason Eugene is thought to be the strongest player in the game, though don't let that fool you, he's definitely skilled as well."

Kirito shakes the last of his disorientation off, 'Phase Shift, huh? There's always something to balance out an ability like that. I'd bet money that its weakness is…'

Done with his brief strategizing, he shoots out of the dust, clashing with Eugene ferociously. Eugene actually grins as they lock swords, "Oh? I'm amazed you're still alive."

Forcefully disengaging their lock, Kirito immediately begins attacking with both of his swords. Eugene is in fact, at least a bit skilled though, and manages to block his first two blows before attempting to counterattack with an overhead strike. Kirito could easily twist out of the way, but he wants to make sure he was correct about his assumption regarding Ethereal Shift, needs to know if he needs to change his strategy. Thus he holds his ground, swinging one sword out in a 'block' even as he brings his other weapon up.

For a brief second, Eugene sneers as though questioning Kirito's intelligence, but another split second later Kirito's theory is proven true. The sword predictably shifts through his first blade, only to be stopped by his second sword with a resounding 'CLANG'. Kirito immediately capitalizes on the fact his first weapon is inside Eugene's guard, rather than the other way around, and shifts his block into a heavy blow that sends Eugene careening backward before he manages to stabilize his flight.

Eugene stares at him with wide eyes, "How…"

Kirito huffs lightly, "It's incredibly simple actually. I figured with an ability like that, there had to be something to counterbalance it. Namely, Ethereal Shift only works once per an attack. All anyone with a shield, or a second sword like me, needs to do is have enough brains and skill to realize that you can easily purposely trigger the ability with a weapon, block with your shield or second weapon and voilà, it's their weapon inside your guard rather than the other way around. Honest, that amazing sword of yours is actually more of a liability than anything. You literally can't attack against someone who knows how to beat it and has the reflexes to do so. Such as myself."

Eugene just continues to gape at him in the suddenly deafening silence, and Kirito glances around. Eugene it would seem, was far from the only one shocked at the revelation, but it's him that Kirito returns his gaze to with exasperation, "Seriously? Are you honestly trying to tell me that no one has figured out something so simple? Surely you've come up against someone else who figured it out?" Eugene slowly shakes his head as he glances down at his sword in astonishment, and Kirito sighs, "That's just pathetic. And it's making me begin to lose my faith in humanity and it's intelligence that my girlfriend has worked so hard to restore…" Trailing off with slight irritation for a moment, he shakes his head, then smirks slightly at Eugene, saying in a sarcastically generous manner, "If you've got a spare, I'd be happy to wait a moment while you change out that garbage for a proper weapon. Although I'm pretty sure it's been thirty seconds by now."

Having pulled himself together, Eugene snarks back, "How generous of you. It doesn't matter. I've changed my mind and decided to kill you."

Kirito nods lightly, "I see." There's a brief pause, then Kirito gives him an expectant look, "Well?... I wasn't joking. Go ahead and change your weapon. After all, it doesn't prove anything if I beat you when you have such a hindrance."

Eugene seems genuinely shocked that Kirito is content to wait and simply allow it, but after another slight pause, he hesitantly opens his menu, then navigates it as fast as possible, as though worried that Kirito will attempt to capitalize on the moment of weakness. Kirito doesn't move at all of course, which seems to surprise Eugene further.

Once the Salamander has a different weapon in hand Kirito smirks at him, "Better? Good. Not that it'll help you."

By now Eugene is eyeing Kirito in a baffled manner, as though he's something strange that Eugene has never encountered and can't quite figure out. Which Kirito supposed was true about basically everyone he and Marzanna met. Eugene snorts at the words, "We'll see about that."

Yes, they would. In fact, now that Kirito knew no one could say Eugene had a liability holding him back, it would be over quickly. Not bothering to voice those thoughts, Kirito simply bares his teeth in a vicious grin before launching himself at Eugene and into the motions of the dual sword skill The Eclipse. As he manually goes through the motions, he gives Eugene no chance to attack, forcing him to desperately dodge and block. However, Kirito was used to sparring with Hanna, used to being forced to catch her if he wanted to have any hope of victory, and on the fourteenth attack, he blows Eugene's guard wide open and immediately begins slicing into him with ferocity as he continues going through The Eclipse as fast as he can.

With a growl, Eugene suddenly strained his chest forward, and a small dome of fire surrounded him, likely some sort of last resort special ability of his armor, and Kirito is forced back when the done explodes. Eugene immediately tears through the smoke up towards him, weapon ready to attack, "Die!"

However, Kirito merely shifts to the side the tiniest bit, allowing the sword to pass him by harmlessly before thrusting both blades down into his chest, driving Eugene back towards the ground. Eugene's health quickly drops into the yellow, and he attempts to push Kirito off of him. Kirito backs up a tiny bit to get free of the hand on his face, then delivers two quick slashes, before lifting one of his swords above his head for a heavy downwards slash that cleaves Eugene in half, his body briefly separating into two pieces before his armor lets off one last massive explosion. As the fire dissipates, Kirito sees Eugene's Remain Light, engulfed in flames, falling down towards the ground.

There's a heavy silence following the dispersal of the flames and their roar for approximately fifteen seconds, then he hears the sound of a fan opening down by Leafa as a woman's voice proclaims, "Splendid! Simply splendid!"

A younger sounding but also female voice from the same direction quickly adds, "Wow, nice fight!"

A cheer from the Cait Sith and Sylphs follows those proclamations, then the other players, Sylph, Cait Sith, and Salamander alike all begin to murmur amongst each other excitedly. Kirito absently sheaths his swords, then turns towards the Cait Sith and Sylph Lords, the latter of which was obviously Sakuya, "I don't suppose any of you know revival magic?"

Sakuya shares a glance with the teenage looking girl who seemed to be the Cait Sith Lord, then turned back to him with a nod, "I do."

Kirito drifts around to be between the group he was protecting and Eugene's End Flame as he watches as her wings appear and she drifts up to where Eugene's Remain Light had come to a stop, still hovering rather far above the ground. She chanted quickly but calmly, then blue light drifted from her hands, wrapping around the flame and causing it to expand before it dissipated to reveal Eugene, hovering in the air with a contemplative expression.

Sakuya drifts behind Kirito as Eugene rolls his shoulders and stretches, likely to dissipate the discomfort from both Kirito's attacks and turning into an End Flame, which couldn't be pleasant. Then the man gazes at him thoughtfully, "... You're an excellent fighter. The best I've ever seen."

Kirito smiles at him, "Thanks. You aren't so bad yourself. Not many people can hold out for fourteen of my attacks before their guard breaks. It's just unlucky for you that for all that I prefer a strength reliant fighting style that I'm used to having to catch my agility preferring girlfriend in our spars."

Eugene nods slowly, "It's nice to know that my skill up to this point wasn't an illusion then. With how one-sided that fight was, I'd begun to wonder…" Then he shakes his head, "I had no idea there was someone like you among the Spriggans, of all races. The world is a much bigger place than I thought."

Kirito nods, "So, do you believe me then?"

Eugene stares him down with narrowed eyes, "... You've got the skill to back up the claim, that's for sure… but my instincts are telling me otherwise."

Kirito sighs, "Yea, I was afraid of that. You don't become that good of a fighter without developing some good instincts." He shrugs in an unconcerned manner, "Oh well. You caught me. It was a total bluff."

Eugene's eyes widen, "... You've got balls kid, bluffing like that under those circumstances. Though without the threat of a four race alliance against the Salamanders…"

Kirito tilts his head, "Then you're choosing to attack?" Eugene hesitates briefly with narrowed eyes, then nods. Kirito however, just gives him a sharp grin, "I see. Oh well. Can't blame me for this then. I tried to go the peaceful, diplomatic route. Guess we're doing this the easy way instead."

Eugene's eyes widen and there are exclamations of confusion at his words, but he's already raising a hand above his head and reciting an already familiar spell with excitement, "Seā urāza nōto diputo, ren herubegūru."

A tornado kicks up around him as his body twists and grows in only a couple of seconds. He simply enjoys the natural feeling form of the dragon for a moment, slightly worried about the fact he seems to be growing rapidly addicted to using it. Then he shoots forward, not even bothering to wait for the wind to die down. He twists around Eugene without touching the man, instead choosing to ram through the throng of Salamanders, killing four of them in his first run. He absently realizes that Kagemune is in the attack force, and is calmly drifting away, once again clearly not intending to fight Kirito. He's beginning to think that Kagemune is the smartest player amongst the Salamanders.

Pushing those thoughts away and twisting back around quickly, he snakes his way around and through the now panicking players, managing to take out another nine before Eugene shouts in a panicked voice, "That's enough!" Kirito pauses in his assault to turn to the man, who is once again staring with wide eyes, "A-Alright… We'll go."

Kirito grins, fire curling up from his mouth, "A wise choice. A bit of advice Eugene. Never underestimate a Spriggan, and don't pick a fight with me."

Eugene sighs tiredly, "That… is rapidly becoming obvious."

With a nod, he flies back over to his men, and he leads the nervous players past Kirito, who watches them intently for a moment before quickly lunging forward and biting the head off of one. Eugene whirls around at the terrified screams, but Kirito just stares him down, "I told you I was going to take his head. Nobody calls my baby sister a 'busty chick'. He was asking for it."

Eugene nods wearily, then quickly takes the remainder of his men and flies away like the devil himself is chasing them. Kirito watches them go for a minute, then lazily turns and drifts down to the gaping Cait Sith and Sylphs. His sister however, gives him an unimpressed look, "Just had to be a show-off, didn't you?"

Kirito reluctantly shifts back into his human form, then shrugs. At the sudden sensation of electricity, pins and needles, and a dull ache, he carefully stretches his body with a frown, as he absently replies to his sister, "What can I say? I hate being underestimated."

His sister frowns at him, "... Are you ok Onii-chan? That spell seems to mess with you a bit."

He sighs, "Just pins and needles. To be fair, I am completely changing my form, even if it's just in a game."

His sister stares at him for a moment more, then shakes her head with a slight laugh, "You're insane, you know that Onii-chan? Bluffing like that in that situation…"

He grins lightly at her, "I get that a lot actually."

They share a laugh at that, until someone clears their throat suddenly. Turning, they see Sakuya off to the side, looking terribly confused, "Sorry to interrupt, but would you mind explaining what's going on?"

Kirito glances at Leafa, then shrugs, "Don't ask me. I just came because it was something that mattered to my sister. She said she was your friend, and that she was going to try to help you. I couldn't very well let my little sister run off into a situation like that all on her own, now could I?"

Leafa sighs at that, "He's totally lying. He knows as much about the situation as I do."

Kirito shrugs again, "Sylph matter. Doesn't concern a lowly Spriggan such as myself."

His sister gives him an exasperated look, then turns to Sakuya with a shake of her head and begins explaining. She tells them everything she knows about the situation, though some of it was simply speculation on Leafa's part and not fact, as such, it takes a while, and by the time she's finished, the shorter sixteen hour day Alfheim has is drawing to a close, the sun painting the sky gold and the valley red.

Sakuya sighs as Leafa finally finishes explaining, then turns her narrowed eyes towards the ground in thought, "I see… I did sense some degree of irritation in Sigurd's attitude."

Leafa's brow furrows, "Irritation? At what?"

Sakuya turns her gaze to Leafa, "He probably wasn't able to accept that, in terms of power, we were falling behind the Salamanders. Sigurd is a man to whom power is very important. Not just for his character stats and abilities… He desired power as a player as well."

Leafa shakes her head, "Even so, why would he spy for the Salamanders? Doing so would only weaken the Sylph further…"

That was a question Kirito had been wondering about as well, so he pays closer attention as Sakuya sighs, "You've heard about the 5.0 update they'll be releasing soon, haven't you? Apparently, they're finally putting in a reincarnation system."

Understanding washes over his sister's face, "Then…"

Sakuya nods, "Mortimer, the Salamander Lord, put him up to it. They likely struck a deal, my head in return for Mortimer allowing him to reincarnate as a Salamander. Understandably, in order to stop spies from simply reincarnating, you have to have the Lord of that territories permission. However, reincarnation is supposedly going to cost a lot of Yuld, for both the player and the territory their joining, so I doubt Mortimer would've upheld his part of the bargain. Besides, who would want a player that they know will stab them and their territory in the back for personal gain?"

His sister turns her gaze towards the ground thoughtfully, and he continues watching her for another moment, having a rather good idea what was going through her head. She was likely wondering if he hadn't joined if Sigurd would've approached her to join him, or more accurately, whether or not she would've agreed.

After letting out a sigh, he casually says, "ALO really is a sinister game designed to test the desires of players." Everyone's attention shifts to him, so he gives them a mocking smile, "The designer must have bad character."

Sakuya chuckles lightly with an amused smile, "Yes, that's right."

Leafa briefly gives him a grateful smile, having taken his words as the comfort they were meant to be, then turns back to Sakuya and bites her lip, "So what will you do, Sakuya?"

At those words her amusement slips away, replaced by the calculating look of those in power. Then she glances at Alicia Rue, the Cait Sith Lord, whose name he'd picked up during the discussion, "Rue, you've raised your dark magic skill, right?" Alicia's ears twitch a bit at that as she hums in confirmation. Without hesitation, Sakuya turns to her, "Then please open a «Moonlight Mirror» to Sigurd."

Alicia nods, "Sure, but the sun is still out, so it won't last that long."

Sakuya shakes her head, "This won't take long."

Alicia nods, then steps back and lifts both hands, casting the spell with steady confidence, despite the fact it was one of those spells with almost twenty words. As soon as she's finished, a starry dome appears around them, and moonlight pours out of nowhere, immediately collecting in front of Alicia and condensing into a mirror. For a moment, the mirror's surface was wavy and looked like it was filled with smoke, but then the mirror's surface smoothed out and the smoke cleared to reveal an elaborate room decorated in green and gold, with large banners displaying the symbol of the Sylph. There was also a large desk, Sigurd was sitting at with his legs crossed and propped up, a hand behind his head, and a glass of what looked like wine in the other, with a rather satisfied grin stretching across.

Kirito would bet money that it was the office belonging to the Sylph Lord, not Sigurd's. The way Sakura's eyebrow twitched before she plastered on a fake smile and spoke was all the confirmation he needed, "Sigurd."

Sigurd drops the wine glass and shoots to his feet in shock, "S-Sakuya?"

She nods lightly, "Indeed. Unfortunately, I'm still alive."

Sigurd gapes in shock, "Why?" Then he seems to realize what he'd said and quickly back tracks, "I mean, what happened at the meeting?"

Sakuya's smile widens slightly, "It concluded successfully. We must still sign the treaty though."She closes her eyes as though in thought, "Oh right… We had an unexpected guest."

Sigurd seems to grow more nervous at that, "A g-guest?"

She opens her eyes to pin him with a look, though she never stops smiling, "General Eugene sends his regards."

Sigurd's eyes widen further as he pales, then he seems to notice him and his sister in the background, "Le- Leafa? So that's it! Those incompetent lizards!" Then he smirks slightly, mockingly asking, "Well? What will you do, Sakuya? Fine me? Kick me out of the government?" He turns away with a confident smirk, But without me running the military, how long will your rule last?"

Sakuya shakes her head, her "No, if you cannot stand being a Sylph, I thought I would grant your request."

That forces him to turn back around in shock, "W-What?" Sakuya quickly opens and manipulates her noticeably larger menu under Sigurd's horrified stare, and after a moment a notification of some sort appears in front of him, he glances at it before glaring at Sakuya, "Are you insane?! Me? You're banishing me?"

Sakuya's smile finally disappears as she starts him down furiously, "That's right. You can wander the neutral territory as a renegade. Hopefully, you will find something new there to occupy your time."

Sigurd stares at her furiously for a moment, then seeming to forget it was just a communication spell, lunges as though to attack Sakuya. At that moment though, the mirror dissolves into light. It was a shame, Kirito would've enjoyed seeing the bastard that put a hit on him and his sister run smack into the mirror like the moron he was."

There's a brief pause as the dome dissipates, then his sister hesitantly asks, "Sakuya?"

The woman in question turns to them, "I thank you, Leafa. I'm very happy you came to save me."

Leafa puts her hands on her hips, "Of course! You're my friend!... Although, I ended up not doing anything…" Then she lifts an arm and gestures to him, "You should thank Onii-chan."

Sakuya nods, "That's true. So… Your Leafa's older brother?" Kirito nods and Sakuya hesitates slightly, "Forgive me, but you seem a bit crazy. Bluffing like you did back there…"

Kirito chuckles, "Like I said. I get that a lot. I have the philosophy that whenever I have a bad hand, I always raise the pot… A philosophy my girlfriend shares, and that drives all of our friends nuts. They're of the opinion that we're both insane…"

Alicia puts her face really close to his, studying him rather intently, "For a big liar, you're really strong. Are you the Spriggans' secret weapon?"

Kirito chuckles, "Of course not. I'm just a wandering mercenary on a trip with my sister."

That draws a laugh from Alicia, then she smiles at him slyly, "If you aren't tied down anywhere, why not be a mercenary for the Cait Sith? You'll get three meals a day, plus snacks and a nap."

Sakuya suddenly appears on his other side, but like Alicia, she leaves a small bit of distance between them, likely trying to make sure he didn't think they were hitting on him, given how many times he's mentioned Marzanna, "Hey Rue, no cutting in line. He came to rescue the Sylph originally, so that should give us the right to first negotiations. Besides, his sister is a Sylph."

Alicia suddenly leans around him, "No fair, Sakuya-chan! Using his sister as bait!"

He backs up a step, "Ah, actually, that… would be something I'd have to discuss with my girlfriend, depending on…"

Depending on if he could save her, and if she wanted to play Alfheim, but he couldn't very well say that. If she didn't want to play Alfheim, which would be reasonable and understandable, he'd probably just come back and become an actual wandering mercenary, but if she decided to play… Well, when it came to them where one went, the other wasn't far.

He smiles presently at the Lords, "I appreciate the offers nonetheless. However, we're going to the World Tree right now."

Sakuya raises one delicate eyebrow, "Oh? That's a shame." Then her gaze shifts to his sister, "So you're going to Alne, Leafa? Sightseeing? Or…"

Leafa shakes her head, "I'll be staying with the Sylph, at least for now. I may end up leaving to go with Onii-chan eventually, just not now. I don't know when I'll be back though. I might explore the world a bit before I do… Despite playing for almost the whole year it's been out, I've seen remarkably little of Alfheim."

Sakuya nods in relief, "I understand. I'm glad to hear I won't be losing you at least, given everything that's going on. Make sure you come back." Then she grins, "And make sure you bring him with you."

Alicia pokes her head forward, "Stop by my place on the way back. We'll throw you two a party."

Leafa nods slightly with a smile. The Lords move away to stand in front of their respective groups, then they both bow slightly as Sakuya formally thanks them, "Thank you so much for coming today, Leafa, Kirito-kun." They both straighten with smiles before Sakuya continues, "Had we fallen today, we'd never have caught up to the Salamanders. I'd like to thank you somehow."

Kirito shakes his head, "No, it was nothing. Like I said, I only came because Leafa said you were her friend, so it mattered to her."

His sister smiles at him, then seems to realize something and turns back to the Lords, "Hey, Sakuya, Alicia-san, wasn't the goal of this alliance to venture up the World Tree?"

Sakuya nods, "Yes, eventually."

Leafa nods, "I'd like you to let us come with you. And as soon as possible!"

The Lords share a contemplative look, then smile lightly at each other, though it's Sakuya that responds, "I have no objections. Actually, we'd be quite grateful. But why are you in such a hurry?"

His sister turns to him in question, and he sighs tiredly, "I came to this world to reach the top of Yggdrasil, in order to find two people that are precious to me that might be there. I can't reach them in the real world, so I have to see, no matter what. I honestly couldn't care less about the Fairy King Oberon or infinite flight, but I must get there, so soon as possible. That's why Leafa is going with me."

Alicia bites her lip, "But it will probably take time to prepare all the raid member's' equipment. More than just a day or two…"

Kirito sighs, "I understand… You're right of course. For now, I just want to reach the base of the tree, and we'll work out the rest ourselves." Then something occurs to him, and he opens his menu. His first thought was to give almost all of it over, but he could practically hear Hanna getting onto him about not being too generous, so he leaves himself a decent sum to work with, then materializes the rest, "Here. This should help a bit in the way of funds."

Alicia walks forward and accepts it with a smile, only to stagger and drop the bag as soon as he lets go before picking it back up with a hold that was a bit like a hug. She peeks inside in curiosity, then turns with wide eyes to the other Lord, "S-Sakuya-chan! Look!"

Sakuya looks at her weirdly, then walks over before her own jaw drops, "100,000 Yuld mithril pieces?! All of it?!" Then she turns towards him unsurely, "It's almost impossible to earn this kind of money without fighting Evil God Class mobs in Jötunheimr... Are you certain about this? With this money, you could build a castle on prime land."

Kirito shakes his head, "I don't mind. I don't need it anymore."

It was almost his and Hanna's entire savings from Aincrad, but it was mostly useless to him now. They had more use for it than he did. Alicia smiles widely at him, "This will get us really close to the amount we need."

Sakuya nods, also smiling at him, "We'll ready our equipment as quickly as we can. And when we're ready, we'll call you."

Kirito smiles, happy to have a backup plan in case he can't reach Marzanna and Asuna on his own, "Thank you."

They say their final goodbyes to the two Lords and their groups, then Kirito turns to his sister with a grin, "Well, we should hurry and get back on track to Alne! The sun is going to set soon."

Without another word, he pulls out his wings and takes off, his sister catching up with him a moment later with a sigh, "Ah, I'm already tired though…"

Kirito glances down and to the right then tilts his head, "... That may be because it's already one in the morning."

Leafa jerks, "What?!" He sees her eyes flicker down, clearly checking her clock, before her mouth falls open, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

He glances at her, "Do you have plans or something tomorrow?"

Leafa sighs, "No, not really… It's just, the latest I've ever stayed up playing was two…"

He nods, "To be honest, I'm getting pretty tired too. With Alne so close I'm tempted to just push through…" Then he shakes his head, "We're really close anyway, so let's just stop in the next town."

His sister nods tiredly in agreement. It takes them another twenty minutes before they come across a town, and Leafa smiles widely upon seeing it, "Great! We can log out now!"

Kirito shares a smile with her before they both increase their speed, eager to log off and get some sleep, as well as a shower in Kirito's case. Landing, he and his sister begin to make their way towards the largest building, likely the inn. Even as they grow closer and his sister speeds up, he can't help but slow down with a frown as he notices how empty the town is.

His sister seems to take notice that he's falling behind after a moment and turns to him impatiently, "Onii-chan! Come on!"

He shakes his head slightly, jogging to catch up, then walks next to her as they approach the largest building, "Sorry, it's just… Don't you think it's a bit weird? There's no one here. Not even a single NPC."

His sister glances at him, then starts looking around, slowing down and frowning as she sees what he's talking about, "Huh… That's… weird. It's almost like-" Suddenly she gasps, "Onii-chan! Wait-"

He turns to her in surprise, but it's already too late, he'd already been reaching for the door of the largest building. Just like that, all of the buildings shimmer momentarily as an illusion drops, revealing fleshy lumps protruding from the ground, and the ground below them splits in half to reveal a large mouth. The flesh below them shifts quickly, drawing them into the mouth before either of them can even attempt to escape.

Kirito wishes he could say that their 'journey' through the monsters insides was quick, that it only took a few seconds, but it doesn't, it's roughly three minutes before they reach their 'destination'. On the plus side, their destination wasn't stomach, on the downside, when they're ejected from the other side, they're not only covered in mucus and slime but for some reason their wings don't work either. They fall straight down before landing harshly on a deep snow bank. Thankfully, like water, as long as the snow is deep enough the system will consider it able to break your fall without taking damage, so even though they fell hundreds of meters, they didn't die and have to start all the way from Sylvein again

Pulling himself up, he turns to look at his sister, only to find her staring at something with wide eyes, and before he can ask what's wrong she lunges over and covers his mouth bringing a finger to her lips in the universal sign to tell someone to be quiet, then shakily points to whatever she'd been staring at. Shifting his gaze, he sees a mob, as tall as a five story building, ambling through the snow. They stay quiet and hidden until it's long out of sight, then Leafa sighs in relief and drags him off. They take refuge in the first place they come across, a small building that looks a bit like a shrine, his sister dragging him around the fire in the center of the room before sinking down against the back wall.

Sitting down next to her, he gives her a look of confusion, "What was that thing? Where are we anyway? And for that matter, what was that worm thing?"

His sister sighs, "The worm thing was a mimic monster. As you saw, they pretend to be towns to draw players in. It's actually pretty easy to tell a mimic from an actual town, there's never any NPCs, and mimics obviously don't show up on the map as a town, but I was so eager to log off and get some sleep... Usually falling for a mimics trap ends up with you dying in its stomach, but… That one seems to have dropped us into Jötunheimr."

He tilts his head, "Jötunheimr? That'd be this place then, right? I thought it was just a big cave…"

His sister sighs, "Well technically speaking, it is a cave, but it's actually called the Underground because it's almost as large as the overworld, Alfheim. Jötunheimr was added in a massive update about a month ago, and it's the most difficult field in the game. The only mobs that spawn here are those unique to Jötunheimr, Evil God Class mobs, which are the strongest mobs in the game, minus bosses, and even then, I've heard of them rarely spawning with boss level stats…"

Kirito nods slowly, "So… How do we get out of here?"

Leafa gives him a tight smile, "And that right there is the reason I dragged you here instead of to the exit. There are four known ways in and out of Jötunheimr. If you use Alne as a starting point, there's one in each of the cardinal directions, with the direction we were coming from, and how close we were to the World Tree, the nearest exits should be either the one to the south or the one to the west, but… Well, they'd be quite a distance away, and the field is littered with Evil God mobs, and none of the races except for Imps can fly underground, so we'd have to go on foot. We'd never make it."

Kirito purses his lips in thought, "Those Evil God mobs, how strong-"

His sister huffs, "Don't even think about it, Onii-chan. When Jötunheimr first opened, the Salamanders sent a huge raid party, even larger than the one we just encountered, with Eugene leading them. They were wiped out almost immediately upon encountering their first Evil God Class, and I heard even Eugene didn't last ten seconds before dying. If we were to try to make it to the stairs, running that far of a distance would undoubtedly draw the attention of at least one mob, and we'd be dead before we could even do anything to it. If however, by some miracle we did manage to reach one of the exits, we'd still have to fight at least one of those things, seeing as there is an Evil God Class guardian at the base of each entrance into Jötunheimr."

Kirito thunks his head back against the wall behind him with a heavy sigh, "... In other words, we're screwed."

Leafa nods slowly, "Basically. And we can't even log out, because empty player avatars draw mobs like ants to honey. There was a reason Sakuya thought you'd been in Evil God hunting parties with how much money you have them."

Kirito shrugs, "I only kept what would equal ten of those mithril pieces, but other than that, that was mine and Hanna's entire savings from Aincrad. I figured having a backup plan was better than just holding onto it..." After a moment of continuing to try and think a way out of the situation they'd found themselves in, he sighs, "I guess our best hope is one of those hunting parties…. Well, I suppose I could use the Metamorphosis spell and turn into a dragon again and carry you. I seemed to be able to fly in that form in the Legrue corridor just fine."

His sister sighs, "I don't particularly want to be carried around, but unless we can come up with something else, we're going to have to. When it was added Jötunheimr replaced all of the above ground dungeons as the place with the highest difficulty, so parties coming down here to hunt are kind of rare."

Kirito nods at that, then stands up with a stretch, "Well, unless Yui detects other players?"

However, Yui shakes her head immediately, "No, I'm sorry Papa. There are no players within the range of my detection. I'm sorry Papa. If I'd just been paying attention and realized that 'town' wasn't on the map."

He shakes his head and smiles warmly, "No, it's not your fault Yui. I asked you to warn us of nearby players as a first priority, not find us a town to stay in. The blame is entirely mine and Leafa's."

Yui frowns, "But…"

He reaches out and tickles her neck with one finger, causing her to start giggling madly, "Nu-uh, no buts, and no frowning."

Yui tries to push his finger away, "P-Papa! Stop it, that- that tickles!"

He pauses in his assault, giving her a mock serious look, "Are you going to stop with the silly self-blame and frowning? If not I'll just keep ticking you."

He wiggles his fingers in a threatening manner, and she giggles again, "No, I'm done."

He nods firmly, "Good. Although, you could've saved yourself the trouble if you'd just listened to me from the get go. Papa knows best after all."

Yui shakes her head with a grin, "If you say so Papa, though I think Mama might beg to differ sometimes." Then she gives him a sly grin, "I'm sure she'd be fascinated by your theory though. That is, unless Papa wants to admit that he doesn't always know best, and thus since he didn't know about the mimic, this isn't his fault either."

He stares his daughter down for a moment, "Sneaky little brat. I can't do that, because then it would have to be all Leafa's fault."

His sister sighs, drawing their attention back to her, then she gives them a slightly bitter smile, "Well, if you think about it, it is all my fault. Yui was busy scanning for players and Onii-chan didn't even know about mimic monsters, but I did. I was just too focused on wanting to sleep to bother using proper precautions."

Kirito shares a glance with his daughter, then pins his sister with a serious look, "Leafa… There is this rather interesting little tidbit that Hanna and I discovered back in Aincrad, something that would still hold true here, seeing as ALO is mostly just a copy of SAO. Do you know what that tidbit is?" His sister hesitates, then shakes her head wearily. He lifts his hands and wiggles his fingers at her in a threatening manner, "Player avatars are ticklish too."

Leafa's eyes widen, then she shoots to her feet and backs up a few steps, holding a hand out in front of her as though to ward him off, "Don't you dare!"

Kirito tilts his head with fake innocence, "Is it your fault we're here?"

Leafa is silent for a moment, then shakes her head with slight amusement before caving, "No…"

Kirito drops his hands and smiles widely, "Well then! We're all in agreement!" His sister nods, but he continues before she can say anything, "The blame rests solely on the evil developers for putting in something that will only really work on newbies or players who are really tired!"

Leafa gives him a bemused look for a moment, "... I was going to say it's all that stupid mimic's fault, but I suppose that's technically true as well…"

Then she shares a glance with Yui and they both giggle slightly at his antics. However, their mirth is suddenly interrupted by a booming sound a short distance away. It seemed to be one of the Evil Gods, and sounded something like 'BORORORO'.

He shares an alarmed look with his sister, and after a moment she bites her lip, "That- That sounded way too close. Close enough that you might not even get a chance to change after leaving…" His sister only seems to think about it for another second before she suddenly gains a determined look, "Onii-chan is the one who has to make it to Alne. I'll distract it while you use that spell. I probably won't be able to buy you more than a few seconds, but-"

He shakes his head and grabs onto her arm to keep her from leaving, "No, I'm not just going to let you do something like that."

Leafa gives him a frustrated look as she starts struggling to pull her arm away, "Onii-chan! I-"

However, Yui suddenly breaks into their conversation, "No, wait. This is rather strange."

Leafa's struggles pause, a look of dread coming over her, "Strange? How so?"

Yui frowns, "There are two Evil God mobs out there." Both his and Leafa's eyes widen, but before either of them can respond to that in any other manner, Yui tilts her head, "The weird thing is, they're fighting each other."

His sister lets out an exclamation of surprise, but Kirito simply closes his eyes, listening intently. Sure enough, the thunderous footsteps accompanying the first sound of the mob they'd heard wasn't even as it would be if it was running in a straight line, but in the sort of irregular pattern you tend to hear while they move around during a fight.

A moment later he opens his eyes as his sister breaths out in shock, "B-But, mobs fighting each other? Evil God Class mobs?"

Kirito narrows his eyes in thought for a moment, then nods, "Let's go and see. This shrine won't be much of a refuge if they're so close anyway."

His sister hesitates, then nods in agreement, before they cautiously exit the shrine. They didn't have to go far before they spot the mobs. The one they first heard turned out to be a massive vaguely humanoid thing, though it had three faces, which decidedly weren't humanoid, lined up virtually on one massive head, four arms each of which held a massive sword that seemed more like a steel girder, and was twice as tall as the second mob.

The second was twenty meters tall, and seemed to be some sort of mash up of animals. It had large ears, an elephant like trunk, a body as flat as a bun, twenty tentacle like legs, all of which were tipped with a hooked claw of sorts, and was making a high pitched chirping sound that sounded like 'Yurururu'. The end impression was that of an elephant headed jellyfish. It was clear that though the first mob was a humanoid-type, the second was a beast-type mob.

The beast type kept extending some of its claws towards the face of the other mob in a futile attempt to attack, but with its swords, the giant easily blocked or deflected its attempts. On the other hand, the giant's swords easily cut into the jellyfish like mob, it's dark blood so prevalent it was like a mist. It made Kirito a bit uncomfortable, the fact that mobs had blood in Alfheim, because even though they couldn't feel pain, it sometimes felt like you were actually hurting them.

Next to him, his sister was gaping at the scene, "Wha… What's going on?"

Kirito didn't have any answers for her, so he simply continued to observe the scene. The mobs don't seem to take any notice of them, simply continuing to fight, though the giant definitely seems to be both stronger and faster, whereas threw jellyfish mob seems sluggish and weak.

Then, with a swing of one of its swords, the giant cut off one of the jellyfish's tentacles, and it lands near them with a ground shaking 'boom'. He takes a step back, suddenly weary, "Hey, it's a bit dangerous to stick around, isn't it?"

His sister nods absently, but seems absorbed in the sight before her as the jellyfish cries out as though in pain and attempts to run away. The giant doesn't seem keen to let it though, and simply starts swinging its swords harder. Unable to withstand the blows, the jellyfish cries out and couches on the ground, it's cries gradually getting weaker. The giant continues its assault without mercy, carving into the jellyfish cruelly.

His sister trembles slightly, before pleading with him, "Onii-chan, help it…"

He glances at her unsurely, he has a good idea of what she wants, but… Well, it was better to make sure he understood the lunacy she was asking of him, "Which one?"

His sister gives him a slightly irritated look, "The one being bullied, of course!"

He sighs, "I figured as much, but how do you expect me to do that? You know better than I how strong Evil God Class mobs are."

His sister slumps at the logical question, "I… Well…" However, while she floundered for a response, the giant continued to attack, and the jellyfish's cries grew shriller, causing his sister to panic, "Just do something!"

He sighs, "You say that, but…" Then something clicks in his head and he takes another hard look at the mobs, "... If mob forms have any meaning, and they generally do…" Then he glances around quickly before rapidly asking his daughter, "Yui, is there any water nearby? A lake or a river is fine!"

Without asking for a reason, Yui closes her eyes, nodding almost immediately, "Yes! There's a frozen lake one hundred meters directly north!"

He nods sharply, "Good. Leafa, run there like your life depends on it."

His daughter wisely dives into his pocket, but his sister just gives him a baffled look, "Uh, what?"

Reaching behind him, he pulls a throwing pick out, then holds it over his shoulder with his forefinger and thumb as he takes aim. He throws the small weapon as hard as he can, and it flies true, nailing the giant right in one of its six glowing eyes. With its defense stat, the pick barely makes its health bar visibly decrease, though he's slightly proud that you could tell at all, given that it was just a throwing pick. That said, there wasn't really any time to feel proud because the fact he did any damage at all has the mob stopping its attack and locking its gaze on them, signaling the shift in target.

It stares them down furiously and thunders out that strange 'BOBOBORORORO' again, and Kirito immediately turns and takes off at top speed, kicking up snow in all directions as he shouts at his sister, "Run for your life!"

He barely hears his sister start to run after him before a thunderous roar and booming footsteps sound out as the giant gives chase. His sister shrieks then shouts after him, "W-Wait! Don't just leave me behind you meanie!"

His eye twitches in irritation. First she gets onto him for dragging her along back in the Legrue corridor, now she says he's mean for letting her run on her own? He'd really appreciate it if she made up her freaking mind already. With how fast a person can move in a place like Alfheim, it's only a few seconds after that thought crosses his mind that he feels a subtle change in the ground below him, and he knows even without Yui telling him that they've reached the lake.

He continues on for a few more seconds before applying the brakes, as it were, kicking up a cloud of snow. He turns and catches his sister, staring in the direction they'd come from. His sister gapes at him incredulously, "Just what on earth are you trying to do?!"

He holds his ground even as the giant comes closer, then just barely audible underneath the booming footsteps, he hears the sound he'd been hoping for, 'CRACK' 'CRACK'. With each massive step, the ice begins to break, until with one last mighty 'CRACK', the ice beneath the giant breaks apart completely, and it falls in, sending up a ridiculously large column of water.

His sister desperately mutters, "Come on, just sink like that…"

Of course, that doesn't happen and a moment later one and a half of its faces breaks through the surface, the giant slowly coming closer using two of its hands to swim. It doesn't matter though, that hadn't been the plan anyway, the actual plan was quickly hurrying towards them, so even as his sister tenses up, ready to start running again, he continues to hold his ground.

His sister looks at him desperately, "Onii-chan! We've gotta go! You-"

However, she's cut off by another splash as the jellyfish like mob jumps in. Rather than running away, it had chased after them, and as he'd suspected due to its form, it easily cut through the water before lifting its tentacles and wrapping them around the giant's face and arms.

The giant tries to swing its other two swords at it, but just as it had the advantage on land, the aquatic mob had the advantage in the water, and just as the jellyfish had moved slowly when not in its natural habitat, its own movement was now so sluggish its blades couldn't cut into the jellyfish.

His sister stares for a moment, "Oh… I- I see… It's a jellyfish, of course it…"

He gives a triumphant hum of agreement, "Exactly. On land, it needs to use most of its limbs and strength just to support itself, but in the water… Well, that's a whole other matter."

With a furious chirping noise, the jellyfish mob forces the giant underwater, the violent struggling of the giant throwing water and chunks of ice everywhere. It doesn't seem to phase the jellyfish, which suddenly begins to glow with a bluish white light, which quickly changes to sparks and travels down its tentacles. With the identification ability of the Scanning skill, of which the visually based Search and hearing based Listen were sub-skills of, they could see hundreds of thousands of the giant's health points disappearing with every spark of electricity.

He honestly didn't know what they were, but there were flashes of red light underneath the columns of steam rising up. However, seeing as they didn't seem to have any effect on the jellyfish's health, he ignored them. It was only a minute later, maybe two, in which the violent struggling suddenly stopped and millions of polygons exploded out from under the water, thick enough to momentarily block their vision.

As they cleared away, the jellyfish lifted its many tentacles and waved them around with a victorious chirping cry, "Yururururu!"

Returning its limbs to the water, it smoothly glides through it over to the edge of the ice, then carefully drags itself up, water streaming down from it as it begins to make its way over to them. When it stops right in front of them, he was given the chance to truly appreciate its size. When being towered over by the giant, it had seemed small, it's tentacles looking thin and weak, but now that it was right in front of him, he realized that he wouldn't be able to fully wrap his arms around even the smaller limbs, much less the slightly larger elephant trunk.

No matter how he looked at it though, the head was similar to an elephant, though instead of ears it had hard round bits sticking out that were covered in frills that were likely gills. Its clusters of three large eyes on either side of its face were a bit unnerving, especially since it was staring at them.

Weary of attack, he doesn't dare takes his eyes off it, not even to glance at his sister as he speaks to her, "... So what do we do now? You said to save it, and I saved it, but it is a mob…"

His sister seemed just as unsure as him, though to be fair, the mob hadn't attacked yet. As though hearing his thoughts and wanting to contradict them, the jellyfish extends its trunk towards them, and Kirito takes a step back quickly, ready to run away again.

However, Yui, who had flown out of his pocket at some point, quickly grabs his ear, tugging lightly on it to stop him, "It's ok, papa. This child is not angry."

The long snout wrapped around them gently, picking them both up and hoisting them above it. It could easily drop them into its mouth and eat them, but luckily it simply dropped them on its back. Seen from even the distance of the ground, its body had seemed smooth, but now up close to it, Kirito realized it was covered with gray hair. Once they're on its back, the jellyfish let's out a pleased chirp, then begins to amble away.

He shares a look with his sister, then tilts his head, "So this is… the start of a quest?"

His sister looks equally as puzzled by the situation, "Well… If this were a quest, when it started we should've gotten a notification and updated the quest window…" Even though they both knew they hadn't gotten any sort of notification, she opens her menu and quickly glances it over, "But since there isn't anything displayed there, this must be an event… That could be highly troublesome."

He sighs, "... You mean if we end up making the wrong choices, right?"

His sister nods, "Precisely. With a quest, there's always some type of reward at the end, but an event is more like the player participating in a drama. It doesn't necessarily have a happy ending, even if you do make the best choices available."

Kirito tilts his head, "So we may end up with a bad ending no matter what we do?" His sister gives a sullen nod, "... You don't seem to like events."

His sister shakes her head, "I don't dislike them, per say, it's just… The last time I participated in an event, it was a horror themed one for Halloween… I made a bad choice and ended up dying by being boiled in a witch's pot."

Kirito gives her a tight smile, "What an… interesting game."

She shrugs, "It's not usually like that… It's just what happened to me last time."

He idly pets the fur below him, then sighs, "... Well, since it's already in progress, we might as well ride the boat out, or rather, the jellyfish. Besides, I don't think the snow is all that deep beneath us, so if we tried to jump down, we'd take some serious damage." He smiles lightly, "Honestly, I'm actually really intrigued by whatever is going on, and I really want to know, the only reason I'm reluctant to do so is because I really need to be getting to Alne…" His sister nods in understanding and agreement, but she's staring at him with a weird contemplative look, that causes him to shift uncomfortably, "... What?"

She jerks slightly, then glances away, "Nothing…" He doesn't believe it for a second though, and simply stares her down, and after a minute, she caves, "It's just… Onii-chan is really open about his emotions…" He gives her an utterly confused look, and her gaze drops down to her hand as she absently pets the jellyfish's fur while she gathers her thoughts, "... I've felt recently that Alfheim, and perhaps VRMMOs in general, test their players, but not in the obvious ways. The thing is, you obviously can't always win in these games, there are times when you lose. How hard you struggle, or if you can still hold your head high afterward, that's what I feel they test. In previous regular MMOs, your avatar wouldn't change no matter what happened to you, when you lost you could just talk about your defeat in whatever manner you wanted. However, when full-diving, your avatar always reproduces your emotional state. It's even possible to shed tears of mortification…"

His sister tilts her head as she continues to try and explain, "Most players hate how their avatars will always show how they really feel. When a situation turns bad, some will try to laugh it off, but a lot of players will log out as soon as they're defeated, not wanting to let others see how it affects them. Even I've done it a few times, when I felt like I was going to cry in frustration or something… Onii-chan doesn't seem to have any concept of that idea though. When we were fighting those Salamanders in the Legrue corridor, you didn't even try to hide your desperation or fury, and it was a similar situation when you were fighting Eugene… I mean, I know Onii-chan was in Aincrad for two years, but… It's just a bit strange to me is all."

He turns his gaze towards the ceiling of Jötunheimr thoughtfully, such a thing, hiding his emotions in a fight, had honestly never occurred to him. It takes him a few moments to gather his thoughts and respond, "Well… In the real world, there's no specific goal to life, unlike games, there's no specific ending you're working towards. Sure, you set goals and dreams, but that's not the entire point of life, even if some people end up dedicating all of theirs to one specific goal… So you could say that what you experience, the emotions that fill your life, are the whole reason for it. You could say that people live solely to be able to be happy with friends and family, to be content with the company of such people, and to fall in love. VRMMOs may have specific goals like quests and fully leveling this or that, but they aren't the be all and end all of why you play. You don't go, 'Oh, well I've completed this quest or reached this level, time to quit'. No, you keep playing. I think that it's for similar reasons as to why you just keep on going in the real world. Because you want to continue being awed by amazing places, to be triumphant after hard battles, and celebrate accomplishments with friends. The things we feel here are just as real, just as important as what we feel in the real world. Sure, no one likes to feel the negative side of emotions, but you can't deny that feeling them enhances the positive, and besides, if you couldn't feel negative emotions, you likely wouldn't feel positive ones either. If the trade off for being able to love and feel happiness, or triumph, or even just relief is feeling things like sorrow or frustration, then it's worth it. So, no. I don't hide what I'm feeling. Those emotions are too important to be degraded like that, as though they don't matter because 'it's just a game'."

His sister nods slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face as she idly takes in the rather impressive view they have from the jellyfish's back. Abruptly, she straightened with a worried look, and he instantly became alert as he looked for enemies, "What is it?"

His sister frowns heavily, "Do you remember how I said the closest exits from Jötunheimr were to the south and west?"

He nods, "Yea, so?"

His sister points at something in the distance, a massive tower stretching towards Jötunheimr's roof that chillingly reminds him of the labyrinths of Aincrad, despite being black. Then she points to another tower, before heavily pointing out what was rapidly becoming obvious to him, "The distance to our exits is increasing, which will only make it that much harder to escape after this event has played out. In other words, we're going the wrong way."