An Unfortunate Start

When FacelessSamurai had finally took his guard position at 55th floor's guard post, it was already night with shining stars in the sky.

He was one of the twenty members of this forward outpost, an outpost they built over some advice from one their comrades, the Swordsaint. Sadly, he had died approximately two months ago (Kirito came out from the woods with a sad expression and holding his sword), and most of his teammates decided to hold this outpost for both honoring their comrade and helping the habitants of this floor in his memory.

He was relaxed, those last months were pretty smooth, they were barely deployed for any reason at all. Backbone of the orange guilds were destroyed in their fight against Swords, not even LC was enthusiastic about causing a mayhem nowadays. "Maybe we can finally focus on clearing this game instead of fighting each other…" said Samurai to himself, not knowing that few hours earlier Anti Orange Coalition mobilized large groups of players to raid known lairs of orange players.

After looking around for some time he got bored and pulled a book from his inventory. Not that he really enjoyed reading books that much, but there is not much to do inside this game (after all, SAO was designed to be a game), and while he hated to admit, this book he found "Misfit of the Dune: Aragorn's Revenge" was a pretty good book. He was wondering what would happen after Aragorn found out he was actually the mother of the dragons.

He sat on the chair, and began reading it, he had a four-hour guard that night, and he knew he had nothing to worry, except boredom.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Though he could not be found guilty for what had happened because it would be impossible to detect their presence without a maxed search skill with several other accessories. But it wasn't making the situation less dramatic.

By a 'thud' sound, Samurai felt his body go rigid. He could not move his muscles, even by a little. His eyes wandered to the status window near his health bar.

That lightning symbol… He was paralyzed!

"What? H-How…"

"Nice book you have there, brother." said a baritone voice before approaching and taking the book from his hands. Samurai could only see his black cape at first, but as he moved…

Oh no….

"Boss, what do we do?"

The question came from behind to the guy in front of him. He didn't answer immediately as he read the book. Then he said, "Kill them all," without lifting his head from it.

Samurai wanted to scream but he could not. He was still paralyzed. Still, it didn't prevent him to turn his pleading look towards the assassin in front of him.

"This is an interesting book, I loved it!" said the Assassin while unsheathing a dagger from his pouch, then looked at Samurai's begging eyes. "Oww, you are so sweet… Don't worry, you won't stay alone. Your friends are coming right behind you."

"N-No… No, pleas—"

"Shh, it will be over soon."

This was the last thing he heard, and soon after his name appeared at the records of Black Iron Palace.

Among many others.

Fifteen people from Floor 38.

Eleven people from Floor 29.

Twenty from Floor 40.

A night that would be dubbed as "The Bloody Friday."

Leaders had a very restless night.

It was not easy, both for mind and fortitude. 128 players were killed that night, and only 13 of them were orange players.

Saddest part? Most of the losses were elite players, front-liners that were crucial for their escape.

Many hearts were shattered, many friends were lost, and the power balance had shifted towards the Orange Players.

That was why front-line leaders were standing at the gates of Swords' Temple at the break of dawn.

Most of them had not come here before, so they had taken their time to look at the outer structure of the temple. While it was called a temple, it was more like a castle, the main entrance was from the temple building, but behind it, there were accommodations for guild members, training grounds for the special training to Sword members, armories, blacksmiths, and a few classes for Ilsamor's lecture about various topics.

"Just… Wow…" said Orochi (DDA leader), unable to hide his amazement. "What do you think Heathcliff-san?"

He did not get an answer because Heathcliff had previously come here and there was another place he wanted to see. Curious, other leaders followed them. None of them were expecting the scene they would see.

"Oh, my…"

An area filled with the most beautiful flowers and bright green grasses was standing before them. On it, all variety of weapons were stabbed to the ground, axes, rapiers, swords…

Heathcliff bowed his head to the last addition of the area.

Lambent Light.

"W-What is this place?"

"Why do these not decay?"

Orochi approached Heathcliff with a lump on his throat "Are… Are these…"

"Yes," said Heathcliff, a tint of sadness could be sensed from his usually neutral voice. "Players who gave their lives in defense of green players."

Other leaders took off their helmets and stood there for a minute, both as a sign of respect and sorry for their lack of action. Then they slowly turned their backs and walked back to the front door of the temple and entered the building.

The Interior was dark because lights from windows were blocked by curtains, except a sole pillar of light in front of a statue, there was no other light source. They were standing on a red carpet leading them towards the statue between wooden seats.

Right in front of the statue there was a single figure, kneeled before the statue and trembling. His usual black coat and the dual sword were hung behind him.

They recognized him, but before they could call out his name a figure they did not notice appeared and made a "shush" movement while pointing the door with his other hand. Leaders took the message and slowly exited from the building. The figure followed them.

Once they got out of the temple, the door was closed and Ilsamor spoke "I was expecting you."

Leaders stood straight, but many dared not to meet his eyes. He was wearing similar to his first appearance, but unlike that time he seemed almost like a warrior than a teacher.

"Ilsamor-san, we…"

"Shut it," said Ilsamor with a cold voice. "We have work to do, so I will be brief."

Leaders seemed surprised. "So you—"

"I won't chase after the dead's vengeance while the living is under danger. This matter has not settled, I assure you, but every moment we wait another player is lost to LC. I can and will stop them, and for this, I have only one condition."

"Which is?" asked Heathcliff.

"I am taking over all of the assets of Anti Orange Coalition and all of the forces you had reserved for this."

"Wait a—"

"I know this is a lot, so I am also limiting this authority with ten days, which can be increased if the need arises and you agree on it."

Heathcliff brought his hand to his chin, looked surprised "So basically, you want us to accept you as commander-in-chief for this operation, am I understanding correctly?"

"Yes, I am." said Ilsamor. "I know every backdoor they were exploiting to get merchandise from upper floors, every loophole of safe zones, every nook and cranny where Orange players are hiding. If we can work together, we can strike those coordinately and effectively, reducing orange front to a mere shadow, a shadow that will never regain its present power." Ilsamor wandered his gaze over the leaders. "You will act as my subordinates during the operation, and I will have the right to replace with another member of your guild if I see an incompetence."

Leaders seemed hesitant. "You ask too much Ilsamor," said Orochi. Ilsamor looked down on the man. "I'm asking too little considering the losses you had caused."

Orochi closed his eyes.

We'll never be forgiven for this.

"I think we do not have much choice." said leader of Paladin's Vengeance. Seeing no one objected he added "We accept your conditions.

"Finally…" said a cold and tired voice behind them. "Ilsamor, when do we start to kill those sons of bitches?"

After that, Anti Orange Coalition, or later dubbed as the Green Crusade, made its first meeting under Ilsamor's leadership, which Argo screamed "Finally!" in the middle of Town of Beginnings when she heard the news.

They were sitting at the meeting room of temple. The room was spacious, the floor was made from white marble, and the walls were painted green. A large window was letting the sunlight in, but for night times, there was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Leaders and Kirito were sitting around a round table while Ilsamor was walking around it.

He had worked on this plan for a long time, first by himself while impersonating Swordsaint, then with the help of his students. While it was fairly simple, details and precautions per floor made its preparation so long and tiring.

"We have one shot at this…" Ilsamor, while opening a holographic map in front of the leaders. "This operation will be very delicate in certain points; I expect you to follow your roles in utmost care."

He stopped and pointed 10th and 55th floors. "According to our scouts, these two floors represent the border of the region where orange guilds concentrate. I know it is a very wide area, but with the manpower of our guilds combined and pinpointed locations of most of their hideouts, we can storm those with ease.

We will use a tactic called spider web, we will send our people from both sides, hitting them at the same time. We will hit their hideouts while evacuating non-combatant players to safe zones below the 10th floor. As we progress, I believe we will finally manage to force them open battle somewhere around the 35th floor. However, as a precaution for any unexpected attack, we will keep 40 people around in reserves, to reinforce whenever we need.

While we advance, we will keep the entrance of the tower at the floor we cleared under guard to prevent any orange player to escape.

Finally, an elite strike team will hit some dangerous players that best not let them handled by ordinary players. This strike team will also be responsible for clearing any orange presence above the 55th floor. Any questions?"

Orochi raised his hand "What about supplies, or members condition? We can't just—"

"Supplies will be provided to you during this war…" said Kirito with a cold gaze. "And after the operation ends, you will pay for the supplies you had used with an appropriate payment method to Swords."

Ilsamor nodded "Basically, lend-and-lease. And don't worry about over-exerting players, I will personally see to it that, except emergencies, all of them get proper rest and food."

He stood straight once more "Any other questions?"

Leaders stood silent for a moment, then Ilsamor nodded "Good, then we can work on the details."

Towards the evening, the 10th floor's town square was filled with members of the Green Crusade who started to secure some locations and two known orange collaborators inside the town. Not all players were happy about it, but Crusade had paid several inns at various, secured floors for their accommodation. The same process was carried on floor 55 by the rest of the Crusade.

And while they were securing the respective floors, a team consisted of Champions and strongest of KoB, DDA, and solo players that in Coalition were preparing for the assault on Valeyard.

"Valeyard…" thought Ilsamor.

That guild was the thing made such a massacre possible.

In reality, Valeyard was just an orange guild, not particularly interested in killing other players for fun. However, what made Valeyard so dangerous that it was the ability of their leader, Venus, to form networks to get whatever she wanted. Such as that, she was the main supplier of other orange and red guilds with the advanced armor and weaponry from upper floors. And as it is said "He who has something to do with a big deal will always draw some profit," Valeyard was one of the strongest obstacles standing in front of them.

Loki and Ilsamor had worked together, ever since Loki infiltrated into the guild, he had provided them perfect intel for several hit locations, and depots. He got a complete list and command chain of Valeyard, in short everything was ready to wipe that guild from the face of Aincrad.

His strike team consisted of Kirito, Eurard, Nautilus, and two other knights from DDA, and they were standing at the square on the 34th floor.

"Okay, now we will wait for my contact," said Ilsamor then turned to Kirito. "Can you do a little scouting? See if there is any kind of…"

"I understand," said Kirito while equipping an item with high search buff. "You have suspicions about Loki?"

"Never," said Ilsamor with a firm voice, his gaze was wandering over his minimap. "But do Valeyard trust him completely? This is another matter."

"I see… I will get to it." with that, Kirito left the square. Nautilus stood near Ilsamor "He seems a little distracted. Do you think he will be okay?"

"Give him some time…" said Ilsamor while looking from his friend's back. "He had just lost a hardly replaceable part of his heart. I don't know what I would do if I had lost mine."

Nautilus nodded in a grim manner, then he stood near Eurard as they scouted near areas for any signs of a trap.

Everything was silent until…

"YOU GODDAMN TRAITOR!"

Ilsamor checked his map quickly. It had suddenly been filled with four dots, one green player was being chased by three orange ones.

"Loki…" said Nautilus while Ilsamor quickly unsheathed the Kalaiet. "They are on the move! Kirito!"

"I am here," said Kirito in a calm voice while his eyes were telling the exact opposite. "I will hit them from behind. You there," he pointed to two DDA knights "Come with me."

They left as Ilsamor, and Nautilus approached the edge of the safe zone and saw what was happening: Loki, clearly debuffed by orange players to reduce his speed, was running towards the safe zone. However, right after him, was Valeyard members, who donned high-level equipment and were chasing after him.

Before Loki noticed it Ilsamor saw the danger, his mark was still orange so if he were to step into the town, NPC guards would slaughter him.

There was no other choice.

He dashed forward with his sword in hand while Nautilus slowly followed him due to his heavily armored build.

"S-Sensei!"

Orange players were approaching fast, and whatever poison was affecting Loki, its effect was increasing. His running speed was decreasing fast and orange players were about to catch him. Under Ilsamor's fear-filled gaze a player with a spear came forward, now Loki was at the range of his attack.

Then a yellow light came from the left side, stabbing the spear-wielder, taking a big chunk of his health. Ilsamor knew that skill, Double Circular.

"Perfect timing Kirito!"

Finally, he was also in the range and he made quick work of player's arms. He had no illusion of a simple paralysis poison would decapacitate them.

"Don't move or you will lose more than those arms."

His health bar was a breath away from depletion which seemed to knock some sense into the orange player's head. He stood silently and lied without moving.

"Damn, it's Silver Blade and that Beater!"

Both Kirito and Ilsamor turned towards the orange players and stood next to each other. Eurard soon closed the right side while DDA players closed the left side of their escape routes.

Still, not a single player had ever found themselves in a completely desperate situation in Aincrad. Ilsamor prepared himself for possible escape attempts of players.

"You are surrounded. If you surrender, I will simply take you to Black Iron Palace. If not, I will use force, lethal if necessary."

"Screw your false mercy, Blade." said one of the orange players. "We all know you would give everything to kill us, but other major bosses keeping you in check—"

With a flash he lost an arm.

"Don't talk with Sensei like he is some sort of dog!" said Nautilus while his skill cooldown was ending. Ilsamor put his hand on his shoulder to calm him. "Calm down Nautilus. To answer your question, I would actually really like to take you all in alive, you know," said but his voice and gaze were ice cold. "Because you suffer more when you are treated and realized what you had done. Nothing can make you suffer more than your conscience.

Player paled when he explained this, but still held his ground. "To hell with you Blade! I—"

"I know right?" said Kirito, his voice was also cold and had nothing of its usual warmth. "Like, who could hug his mother when he awoke, knowing he had killed many people in a death game. You can imagine the type of pain your mom would have gone through if you die right now. What about the people you had killed? Robbed?"

"I-I-I never killed anyone!" he said but he was trembling. Seeing where things were going, Eurard approached him from behind and neutralized him without using his sword. Soon after, two DDA members escorted them to Black Iron Palace.

"This was a bit cruel Sensei," said Eurard but Ilsamor shook his head. "It would be cruel, but we have way past that. How is Loki?"

Nautilus had left as soon as orange players had surrendered to look for his friend. Loki was crying. "I didn't want it! T-they forced me, Sensei… They forced me!"

Ilsamor could get a general picture and he soon understood what had happened. His hands were balled into fists. "His cover must have been broken a long time ago. They forced him to prove himself over and over again, forced him to do horrible things."

Then he knelt near him and hugged Loki who immediately reciprocated the action. Ilsamor was gritting his teeth. "He was my best field agent, and he was a good friend. Not only they harmed him, but this also means most of the intel we acquired was false. Dammit!"

"What do we do know?" asked Kirito while looking around for a possible ambush.

"I will take him to Hikari, she needs to tend him. Then we will raid some of the bases from his earlier reports to capture one prisoner."

"What will we do with a prisoner?"

Ilsamor's eyes were telling the answer would not going to be a good one.

"Let me go!"

"SIT DOWN!"

All of that sound was coming from the underground forge of 4th floor's temple.

They were holding a girl from the Valeyard guild, her hands were tied from behind, her expression was showing signs of anger and horror.

"YOU CAN'T—"

SLAP!

Girl rolled to ground with the impact of the slap, which was so strong that it even chipped some of her health. Before she understood what was happening Eurard and Nautilus held her from her arms and made her sit at the chair before tying her hands.

"Rider…"

Ilsamor's voice made Rider shiver which had never happened before.

"…Disable the pain suppression system."

Rider countered which he had never done before.

"We can't! It is not allowed unless she first—"

"Do as I say Rider."

"But Boss!"

Ilsamor opened his mouth, probably to yell at him, but something stopped him. It was the light that coming from the Book. However, unlike previous times the light was not in a golden relaxing color, rather it was red.

Ilsamor closed his eyes, it was a clear warning. To his right, he had not yet fallen into classic madness of dictators. He was walking in a tightrope, going back and forth with being disgusted with himself for just the thought of torture and kept seeing Loki's state whenever he closed his eyes.

He sighed "Keep her restrained. I will return." And he got out of the room.

At the moment his knee touched the ground, he found himself at the throne room. This time, however, Lady's back was turned to him, and her hands were tied behind her.

He continued to kneel without making a slightest move, waiting her to start conversation. Finally she sighed "You disappoint me Ilsamor."

He didn't answer, but he could feel his anger was boiling inside him. "I don't understand my Lady."

"I have given you clear order about bringing those orange players to in front of the statues, and yet, my own Champion attempts to torture a seventeen-year-old girl?"

Ilsamor raised his head, his eyes were red with anger. "That girl is responsible for many deaths in Aincrad, she has no right to receive your mercy!"

"I am the one who will decide that, not you!" said Lady Cardinal while finally turning to him. Ilsamor could see anger and signs of fear in her eyes. "You are my sword, which means you will not strike someone I deign to give my mercy!"

"Where was your mercy when I lost an innocent and brave boy to the mind games of those sons of bitches!?" Ilsamor screamed, finally venting some of his rage gave him a dark pleasure. "Where was it when 115 green players were massacred!? You are supposed to be just, not only merciful, so why—"

He felt his body was paralyzed as he lied down to the ground motionless. He could not raise his head, but he could hear Lady's footsteps.

"Don't talk to me like that, ever again… Do you think you are that different from them in your heart? How someone like can understand the warmness of mercy while his heart is under constant thunder and rain? Do you think I don't know you had thought to escape with mission object back at our first meeting?"

Her voice was cold, and every word was crushing.

"I had told you again and again, didn't I? Your heart is the house of many storms, and with all those current events, it turned worse than the big red spot."

She sighed after that "It is easy to show compassion, protect and forgive people we love. Everyone can do that, but as my will in Aincrad, you need to also be selective about the people you are ready to kill and things you ready to do against your adversaries."

She stopped talking for a moment, but the sound of her clothes was indicating she was still moving. A few seconds later, Ilsamor felt his head picked up from the ground, and put on something soft. Not much sooner, Lady's hand was caressing his head.

He felt that his raging emotions were slowly ordering themselves as his mind once again started to think straight.

"There, that's better, right?" Lady said, her voice was indicating she was smiling, even a little. "I have given you right to kill in self-defense and I have bestowed that same right for the people who lost their loved ones. But I also wanted you to bring many orange players alive as possible, because we must stand between their madness and their real selves. This is not a mercy we are showing to them, rather we show this mercy to their real identities, ones that will be shaken to the core once they remember what they had done, understood?"

"Y-yes…" he said, his voice was hoarse and there were tears on his eyes.

"I am doing my best for the Loki, and I won't rest until he gets better. I also managed to develop a side effect for the lightning effect, now it will paralyze opponents, a code which can pierce every resistance. Use it to capture them alive, as many as possible."

Ilsamor could feel paralysis was wearing off, so he tried to get up, but Lady wasn't finished yet. She gently pressed his head to say one more thing. "And Ilsamor, during this whole mess, always keep Asemi near you."

"My Lady?"

"How long it had been since you've last sit and talked with her?"

"Three or four days, I think."

"As I suspected. I know I said it, Ilsamor, but I will say it again: Your heart is under constant thunder and rain. It was always like this, but it had become worse ever since 50th floor. Don't let your heart grew too cold, warm it with her mercy, until you can ignite a fire inside yourself."

Ilsamor nodded and closed his eyes as everything went blank.

After Ilsamor awoke in front of the statue, he sent a message to Asemi, asking her to meet with him when she becomes available. After that (with a slight reluctancy) he brought their prisoner in front of the statue and watched as she slowly surrendered herself to power of statue.

Now they would wait for a few hours until she was ready to talk.

"Boss, news from 10th floor," said Rider while approaching him. He nodded to tell him "Go on," so Rider continued. "They say they have flushed three hideouts and almost completed the search of the entire floor. They aim to proceed 11th floor in few hours."

"Good…" said Ilsamor without leaving his gaze from the prisoner "What about the team at 55th floor?"

"They said they had cleared the hideout we have found one hour ago," read Rider from the report in front of him "They will make a swift search about remaining ones before proceeding to the 54th floor."

Ilsamor nodded once more and continued to observe prisoner. Rider sensed there was not anything more to talk and prepared to leave…

"I am sorry Rider, for suggesting something that bad…" said Ilsamor just before Rider was about to leave. He still could not look at his direction because of that, he did not see Rider smiled melancholically to him.

"It is okay, Boss…," said Rider. "I am not mad at you." He sighed there. "Sometimes I actually think we deserve more than that."

Ilsamor turned to him, all surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how we ended up here. While you have always wanted to help people, things developed too fast. You remember how you became a guild leader only a few days later you had told Argo this was too early to build one? Or how we were forced to fight and evolve after the Battle of Coral Fields (His usage of this name placed a small smile on Ilsamor's lips)? And you carried everything, I mean literally everything. Sadness of every loss, murder accusation of guild leader's, orange players and their friends, 'where were you' screams from the ones who lost their friends… And you have walked with them, taking everything to your back, remembering and holding them tight…"

Rider bowed his head. "You had every right to be angry."

Ilsamor closed his eyes and smiled, but that was a tired smile. "Please don't think that you deserved this, Rider. After all, I—"

His words were interrupted by a sudden sob from the girl, sitting in front of the statue. Soon sobs turned into crying and girl started to shed tears uncontrollably. Ilsamor sighed and prepared himself for the interrogation.

Girl had provided them enough intel to raid few important places to acquire even more of intel. According to her, Valeyard had few maps in storages that could provide locations of their hidden caches. It was this intel which Ilsamor and strike team followed to 36th floor.

He knew operating in danger zone was actually dangerous, they could easily be overwhelmed by sheer number, and he was sure that orange guilds were watching safe zones for teleportation signs. Knowing this fact, the strike team teleported to the 46th floor and made their way to the 48th floor via labyrinth tower and stealth.

Fight broke out as soon as they had entered 36th floor. While Ilsamor, Kirito, and Asemi slipped past two patrols, rest of the strike team moved to intercept them. Fight broke out, and with Rider's lead, Strike Team began to push back.

It was not just a meaningless clash. Aim was to close off the entrance of 48th floor's lower exit and divert most of the forces to exit area.

Ilsamor had been better since he reunited with Asemi, but he was still angry about Loki's state. When he left the temple, he was still shimmering in front of the statue, and mumbling to himself.

Asemi touched to his arm as if she sensed what was he thinking. "He will be fine. Don't be harsh on yourself."

With a sigh he accepted "I know, I know… I am just… feeling guilty. I should have noticed it earlier, and I should have get him out of there. But…"

"You sound like the people you despise…" said Asemi. "You knew the risks, and he knew the risks. Not once, from the start, you had forced people to do your bidding. In every war, every fight and struggle, it was their choice to stand with you. I am sure Loki would be sad if he had seen you regretted from his decision."

Ilsamor shook his head and smiled after a long time. "You are my greatest blessing, you know…"

Kirito suddenly stopped and raised his hand "This is it. We have arrived at the target spot." He slowly unsheathed his dual blade and looked to Ilsamor. "I know it is not the time for it, but Ilsamor, when will you regain your unique skill back? We might use it, you know."

"I don't know, maybe never," he said. "Lady Cardinal said skill had been confiscated by Administrator system, and it would give it someone which would fulfill its conditions."

"Can't she just tell you conditions then?"

"No. She said Administrator System was keeping all of the skill records under heavy lock and he could not reach it unless she exposes herself."

Kirito nodded and they stealthily approached to nearest sentries at the door of a cave.

Few weeks ago, Kirito would show utmost care to take any strugglers alive.

But now…

"HNG!"

Nearest guards were knocked out cold with paralysis, and Ilsamor sent them to Black Iron Palace via a corridor crystal(it was a luck that he had a good chance with finding them) then they slowly moved towards the inner side of their hideout.

They were still showing care to stay hidden, but something was bothering Ilsamor. According to the girl they had interrogated, this was one of the main hubs of Valeyard, and it was supposed be heavily guarded, even with that ongoing skirmish at labyrinth tower.

His honed instincts were screaming at him from every direction, still trio moved slowly and took out the guards they had found in the area.

In just ten minutes, they had cleared the place and they were standing in front of the supposed storage area.

With simultaneous sword skills, Ilsamor and Kirito broke the door and enter. All they found, however, was an orange player standing in the middle of the room with an evil smile on her face.

"Venus…" said Ilsamor. "Long time no see…"

"It is, indeed, Blade," said Venus, her voice was smooth and with her image, she was ideal antagonist witch of every medieval legend.

"Wait a minute," said Kirito, clearly confused about all this. "Valeyard had been led by a woman?"

Ilsamor didn't pay notice, just walked up casually and pointed his blade to her. "Surrender. Whatever you had planned will fail—"

"Fail? Oh, my naïve knight…" said Venus with a condescending attitude. "Haven't you realized that I have been holding the trump cards ever since the beginning?"

Before Ilsamor asked what she meant, Asemi spoke with a voice filled with horror. "S-Senpai… These chests… are empty!"

"That's one of your problems Blade…" said Nyx, she had no problem of showing the joy she was having. "Another one… Well, you must have known, but don't you think last few floors had less karma quests than usual?"

Ilsamor's eyes widened with terror. "You didn't…"

"Ah yes, I did. You can thank Nocturn by the way, that little devil knows how to use his words and… well his hands."

Ilsamor couldn't bear it any longer, and he just stroke her with a lightning-based attack, then turned to Kirito. "Alert the Assault Team! Now!"

"Ilsamor, what's going on?" asked Kirito, his friend's fear was slowly affecting him.

"Kirito, these chests are empty, because Valeyard distributed them to all orange players in Aincrad! They are no longer under-equipped!"

Kirito's eyes widened with realization. But Ilsamor wasn't done yet. "And it becomes worse. Alert the whole assault team about possible infiltrators, all participants who joined in last 48 hours, and other suspicious ones must be detained and interrogated, NOW!"

Time started to tick once for the defenders of Aincrad.

A/N: Well, here it is, the first episode of Crusade Arc. I was going to publish it sooner but... Well, my week had gone to hell and back with the suicide of a friend of mine. I am probably the last person to tell you this, but please if you feel something is wrong, talk with people. I know everyone is saying this, but you can even talk with me if you don't have anyone else to talk.

I wish you well 'till next time.