Chapter 9: A Dish Best Served Cold

June 27th 2024

Aincrad Floor 48: Lindarth

Sometime later, Kirito and Lizbeth came back into the forge with their heads held high. Kirito had a heart-to-heart talk with Lizbeth about their feelings for each other and while there was some between them, it was evident that Kirito did have eyes for someone else even though he denies it. As promised, Lizbeth did a full maintenance on Altinator's gear and weapons and per his request, she also upgraded his items using the materials that Altinator had gathered from his newest labyrinth run. Kirito said his goodbyes to Asuna as she walked out the smith shop to return to her guild headquarters.

"Well, now that my equipment is in tip-top shape, it's time to start grinding!" Altinator stated as he walked out of the shop, stretching.

"Hey Altinator, you mind coming with me to test out my new blade?" Kirito asked subtly.

"Yeah, of course!" Altinator answered, knowing what he was talking about. "Let's meet at the 2nd floor plains where it's nice and secluded."

Lizbeth eyed them suspiciously. "Ok boys, you wanna tell me what you guys are up to?"

Kirito twitched as he felt cold sweat run down his forehead. Altinator placed his hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

"It's alright, she has the right to know," Altinator whispered quietly. "You owe her that much after she made you that sword."

Kirito took a deep breath as he turned around with Altinator to spill the beans. Lizbeth looked at them surprised at the new development.

"So, you can fight with two swords?" Lizbeth asked without thinking. "No wonder you wanted a sword that strong."

"Please don't tell anyone else!" Kirito pleaded as he pressed his hands together like he was praying. "You know how those people are when they hear about unique skills that nobody else has."

"Oh, lighten up already! Your secret's safe with me!" Lizbeth smirked with a wink. "Just know that I won't take responsibility if your secret blows up in your face."

"Yeah, yeah!" Kirito shrugged off. He turned to Altinator and grinned. "2nd floor it is, then."

"I'll meet you there soon," Altinator stated. "I got some last-minute business I need to take care of. It won't take long, I promise."

"Sounds good, I'll seeya there!" Kirito replied as he walked towards the teleport gate leaving Altinator alone with Lizbeth.

"So, how are you holding up, Liz?" Altinator asked as he turned to face Lizbeth. "I take it that Kirito didn't reciprocate your feelings for him?"

Lizbeth's face turned red for a second, but then returned to normal as she gave him a sad smile. "Was it really that obvious?"

"It was clear as day just by the way you kept looking at him throughout our journey," Altinator teased as he laughed cheerfully. "I was honestly surprised that Kirito didn't get the hint."

"Ugh… shut up!" Lizbeth pouted as she blushed again. "It may be some stupid charm that radiates from him. I don't know…"

"Well, if only it were that simple…" Altinator commented as he looked up into the sky.

"W-what do you mean?" Lizbeth stuttered as she came back to her senses.

"You see, Kirito is still recovering from a traumatic moment that took place about a year ago," Altinator explained. "He watched his former guildmates die in front of his eyes after getting caught in a trap. One of those members was a girl that he grew very close to."

"Oh… I feel so bad for him. I'm so sorry," Lizbeth said as she looked down. "And to quickly assume that he had feelings for Asuna when he was still hurting inside… I feel so stupid acting the way I did!"

Altinator placed his arm around Lizbeth's shoulders and held her close as she buried her face into her hands. "It's alright, Liz. I'm sure he really appreciated you warming up to him. I certainly do."

"Huh? How come?" Lizbeth asked, looking at him in tears.

"After everything that I've been through with Kirito, he's like a brother to me," Altinator answered, wiping her tears away. "His happiness means so much to me now just as much as my real siblings who are also playing this game."

Lizbeth continued to cry softly as she buried her face into Altinator's chest. Altinator held her gently and rubbed her back as he continued. "You also helped me by giving me hope to care for people again and I wanna thank you for that."

"No… the pleasure is all mine," Lizbeth said, looking at him with a warm smile. "You're also welcome to come by anytime for your equipment maintenance. I'll also be happy if you choose to come visit me often."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try to visit you whenever I can," Altinator stated. "After all, I also have a guild to run. I think I made Kirito wait long enough."

"Yeah, I was about to say," Lizbeth commented. "Stay safe out there… and don't you dare die on me, you got it?!"

Altinator laughed and ruffled Lizbeth's hair. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."

Altinator planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before walking towards the teleport gate. He warped over to the 2nd floor where Kirito was leaning against the teleport gate wall yawning.

"Took you long enough," Kirito teased as he got up, stretching his arms.

"Sorry about that, it took longer than I thought," Altinator apologized as he opened his menu for a duel. "So, shall we get started?"

"You bet!" Kirito answered as he accepted the duel. The 60 second countdown started and Kirito drew both of his swords. Altinator drew his sword out and rendered a salute with it. When the countdown ended, Kirito rushed in with an attack. Altinator easily parried his attack and tried to counterattack to which Kirito blocked. The back-and-forth sword skill exchanges went on for the next few minutes with no sign of giving. Even Kirito's dual wielding skills like Starburst Stream could not land the deciding blow. As Kirito's last strike angled at Altinator, Altinator discharged his own sword skill at the same time resulting in both attacks hitting its mark on their respective torsos. Both HP bars hit yellow and the duel ended in a draw. After catching their breaths, Kirito and Altinator shook hands.

"Those were some incredible skills!" Altinator commented. "Good game!"

"Good game!" Kirito replied as well.

August 13th 2024

Aincrad Floor 55: Granzam

Altinator was in his guild office going over some strategies for the 70th floor boss when a message popped up. It was from Heathcliff.

To Commander Altinator,

Our scouts have just received the location of the hideout of Laughing Coffin through a leak from the inside. We know that Laughing Coffin is a big threat to our goal of finishing the game. Therefore, we propose a quick ambush against them, hoping for an unconditional surrender. I am aware that the odds of this happening is slim to none, however, we must end their threat once and for all. I have also messaged the Commander of the Holy Dragon Alliance and many other Assault guild leaders and they have all agreed for a final assault. We are planning to have a joint strategy meeting today at 1500 at our headquarters. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Commander Heathcliff

Altinator hesitated for a moment. He knew that he was being blackmailed by the leader of Laughing Coffin, PoH, to force him to turn a blind eye to their actions. Otherwise, Laughing Coffin would try to expose him to the rest of the players that Altinator was also involved with the development of SAO. Altinator went through his player list and found PoH. He clicked the message icon and was about to write an angry message when Ken burst into the office.

"Hey bro, you heard the news right?" Ken asked, nearly out of breath.

"Slow down Ken, take a deep breath," Altinator instructed calmly. "What news are you talking about?"

"The Assault Team found the location of Laughing Coffin's hideout," Ken announced.

"Yes, I just got that message from Commander Heathcliff," Altinator replied. "I was planning to have the elite members of the guild join us in the assault."

"Leave that to me, big bro!" Ken said with energy. "I'll take care of it!"

"Good! Round up the volunteers and tell that group to meet over at the KoB headquarters by 15 today," Altinator ordered.

"Will do!" Ken said as he turned around and left the office.

Altinator switched off his menu and got ready for the strategy meeting. According to Ken, there were about 10 volunteers that were eager to wipe the floor with these Laughing Coffin goons. The 10 of them with Altinator and his siblings traveled over to the KoB headquarters for the strategy meeting. At that meeting, he saw all of their friends including Kirito, Klein, and Asuna. Along with that, there were also members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, the Holy Dragon Alliance, Furinkazan, as well as some solo elite players totaling 50. One KoB member started the strategy meeting as he described the leaders of Laughing Coffin over a screen. After a small presentation, there was a brief Q&A session before the march to the hideout started.

Nobody had talked during the march. Everyone knew what was coming and even prepared for a counterattack from the murder guild just in case. By the time the main body reached the inside of the hideout, a large body of Laughing Coffin members ambushed the party. The main objective was to subdue and place the members into custody, however, the murder guild were relentless. Some party members resorted to killing the guild members instead of taking them as prisoners. Altinator, as the Red Baron, was one of those party members who had no qualms of killing murders as he had shown throughout most of his time in the game. It was during the middle of the fight when Altinator saw his worst nightmare.

"YOU!" Altinator growled as he saw a familiar face within the Laughing Coffin ranks. It was not PoH, but another killer that he remembered all too well. Before Altinator could reach him, the killer teleported out with PoH's help.

By the end of the assault, 21 of Laughing Coffin members were killed while the rest were subdued and arrested. Out of the 21 that died, Altinator was responsible for killing around half that number. Unfortunately, 11 of the party members of the Assault Team lost their lives in that assault. Some of them were from Knights of the Round Table. Among the members who were arrested were 2 of PoH's lieutenants, XaXa and Johnny Black. XaXa had offered to reveal his game name to Kirito. Kirito turned away.

"I don't wanna know your name, nor will it matter whether I know your name or not," Kirito said coldly. "I won't be seeing you ever again anyway."

XaXa sneered as he was taken away by the remaining members of the assault party. Altinator rushed over to XaXa and grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and shirt to ask him one question.

"Now you listen here scumbag, I know that your leader escaped along with one other member," Altinator sneered as he glared into his eyes. "You will tell me the other member's name or else!"

"Your empty threats don't scare me, boy," XaXa countered. "I will tell you nothing and there's nothing you can really do about it."

"I could kill you right here and right now!" Altinator growled.

"That's true, but after I'm dead, who else would know their locations?" XaXa mocked.

Altinator gritted his teeth as he let go of his collar and pushed him aside. He watched as XaXa and the rest of the Laughing Coffin survivors were taken into custody and led away to the Black Iron Palace Prison. The rest of the party members took their separate ways back to their respective headquarters and places of living after the deed was done. By that time, Altinator and his siblings were in the guild headquarters conference room where Altinator was still on edge due to the escape of that Laughing Coffin member.

"Altinator, what's wrong?" Ivy asked as she placed her hand over Altinator's arm.

"I saw that bastard who killed our parents during our assault," Altinator growled to which Ivy and Ken gasped.

"What?! No way!" Ken shouted in fury. His face twisted as they remembered the events that took place back when Altinator was 10 years old.

July 22, 2017

Josh was visiting his father at work as he had done most of the time to see the progress his father made on SAO. Josh's father was in a conference with Mr. Kayaba discussed SAO's development with Argus's executives. The meeting was adjourned and was scheduled to meet again after lunch break. Josh came out to meet up with his father when his mother also appeared in the lobby delivering her homemade lunches she had prepared. It was just after that when the front doors slammed open. A deranged man barged into the lobby with a pistol in his hand. He sent the lobby into chaos as shots were fired into the open space. The receptionists were discretely calling the police while security guards tried to subdue the intruder. The attacker fired his weapon again, wounding the security guards and fatally shot Josh's father and mother.

"NO! MOM! DAD!" Josh screamed as he saw that they laid there lifelessly and covered in blood. Josh broke down after accepting that his parents were dead. He looked away from the bodies, seeing the attacker pointing his gun at him with an evil grin on his face. Scared and resigned that he would join his parents in heaven, Josh closed his eyes waiting to see his own life slip away. Fortunately, that was stopped short by a taser shot by one of the wounded security guards. The attacker dropped his weapon as he writhed under the electric shock. A short moment later, the police arrived to put the attacker into custody. That was the last time Josh saw that attacker, but he would always remember his face.

August 13th 2024

Aincrad Floor 55: Granzam

"I recall that the person who murdered our parents was sent to prison," Ivy said softly. "How in the world did he get his hands on a nerve gear?!"

"I bet he escaped from prison and managed to steal one," Altinator inferred. "Then, he must've gone off the grid somehow to play the game without the police discovering where he is."

"What do you plan to do, big bro?" Ken asked.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Altinator sneered coldly. "I'm gonna hunt him down and kill him for what he'd done! I won't stop until I see him suffer just as I suffered watching him kill them in front of me!"

"I'm with you, bro," Ken growled. "I'll do everything I can to get the information you need to track that coward down!"

"Good, let me know if you find anything," Altinator ordered. "I'll do my own digging in the meantime."

Altinator knew where to start. He still kept the messages he had received from PoH all those years ago. With his administrator privileges, Altinator was able to track down where PoH last went. While it was only useful depending on how current his locations were, it was the best lead he had. Altinator teleported over to PoH's last known location looking around for any suspicious character. After many hours of searching, he finally found him.

"So, you finally seek me out," PoH said, smirking at Altinator.

"Shut your fat mouth, you disgusting piece of shit!" Altinator snapped. "I should just kill you right here, right now for all I care!"

"Careful, little boy," PoH taunted. "Should I remind you what will happen if you try?"

"I will tell the media when I'm ready, thank you very much!" Altinator growled. "You're lucky I'm not after you right now. I'm looking for one of your lackeys that escaped with you during the assault and you're gonna tell me where he is!"

"And what makes you think that I will ever help you?" PoH asked mockingly.

"The Assault Team attacking Laughing Coffin was not my doing," Altinator said coldly. "I honored our deal by not exposing your sorry ass and now you owe me a favor! You show me where that lowlife is and I won't kill you. You have my word."

"Hmmph, very well, boy!" PoH said gruffly as he pulled up the lackey's information and his last known location. The name was Death Mark. "Is this the guy you're looking for?"

"Yes, that's him!" Altinator said, taking notes. "We're even now. If I ever see your face again, I'm not gonna hesitate to kill you! Got it?"

"Fine by me," PoH said as he walked away.

Altinator teleported over to the location where his attacker was and found him in the dark forest.

"I know you're over there Death Mark, come outta there before I force you to come out!" Altinator ordered angrily.

Death Mark walked out of the shadows with a big grin on his face. "Oh I'm sorry, I don't believe we officially met, but I certainly remember you, little boy."

"Shut up!" Altinator snapped. "I know who you are and I'm gonna make you pay dearly for all the pain you caused me and my family!"

"Ah yes, you were fortunate the authorities took me in when they did," Death Mark smirked. "Your parents were just in my way, nothing more. You were pathetic back then just as you are now."

"ENOUGH!" Altinator yelled as he drew his sword. "It's about time I got rid of your pathetic existence. I hope I never have to lay eyes on a disgusting bastard like you ever again!"

"You're going to kill ME?!" Death Mark mocked brutally. "Even if you did, you'll still never get your parents back! They died like the pitiful dogs they were… and now, I'm gonna put you out of your misery for good this time. Think of it this way, you get to see your mommy and daddy again. Isn't that nice?"

Altinator screamed as he charged into Death Mark while he drew his own weapon. Death Mark swung his blade, but Altinator's fist shattered his weapon into pieces which disintegrated away a few seconds later. He slashed his sword into Death Mark's face, giving him a deep cut and chipped into his HP. Altinator's fist then slammed into Death Mark's gut, sending him flying. He landed on his back with a loud thud as Altinator jumped and sunk his sword deep into his chest. Finally, Altinator bludgeoned Death Mark with his fists as his HP slowly depleted. When Death Mark disintegrated into millions of pieces, Altinator cried with a loud voice of both pain and anger as Death Mark is no more.

This is for you, mom and dad! Altinator thought as he walked away and returned to his guild headquarters after serving his revenge cold.