Kiin purred, fluffing Kirito's hair as he nestled in on top of Kirito's head while Kirito checked over the status of all Alt's equipment. He made sure everything that could be repaired, was in perfect condition. He made sure everyone was ready, and when the time came everything inventory wise was ready, he picked the sleeping Kiin off of his head and checked the small male feathered dragon's status over. Unlike Silica's feathered dragon which had been out a lot which had grown bigger, Kiin grew smaller. Kiin had developed a status of [Dwarf Feathered Dragon]. There were no downsides to the diminutive size of him. In fact, Kiin suited Kirito as much as Pina suited Silica. Kiin used regenerative skills to heal nearby party members, but also increase their strength and project a phantom edge onto ally weapons, to prevent durability loss to weapons for a time.

Pina's special ability to heal wasn't unique among pets. It was particularly strong, but also couldn't be used at the same time as the more commonly used skills. [Dragon's Eyes] was a skill that Pina could use on her nearby allies. It increased the range of vision on those who would receive the buff, and provided a boost to dexterity. Basically, a best friend to the archers of the group.

Kirito gave Kiin a gentle scratch behind the ears and spoke up softly.

"It's about time to go. Are you ready?"

Kiin purred and licked Kirito's cheek.

"That tickles~"

Kirito giggled and moved Kiin back onto his head.

"I'll take that as a yes. How about everyone else?"

Kirito looked to the rest of the guild, and Silica also had Pina on her head. Everyone nodded their heads lightly, the determination in their eyes was like an intense flame. They were about to literally take on an army of monsters for a floor boss. The scale of the battle, 100 players versus 500 monsters, and potentially a true boss monster at some point.

Kirito got worried again at the thought and checked that the armaments Asuna asked him to make were in his inventory. He was asked to make some field items that would change their terrain to make the battle a little more to their advantage, so that they could fight the army in their way instead of ending up in a free for all and risking hurting each other. Being able to control the enemy into fighting them in five separate groups, small amounts of enemies at a time, would make the battle far easier. Each of the progression group's head guilds were going to lead the charge on the barriers Kirito had built.

Kirito needed to check one more time, the items in his inventory were immortal objects. He didn't want to risk that they could be broken easily and trampled so the enemies could flood through. If there was a true boss monster, that might negate it, but when the time would come for something of that sort to show up, Kirito would use a durability point of the [Dragon King's Soul] katana and end the monster's life immediately.

"Alright, let's head to the meet up place on floor 49 in the plaza so we can port the whole raid group to the door."

A bit of worry still clung to Kirito, but he ported to floor 49 with the guild and there was already the majority of the progression raiders present. It was likely because Asuna was the raid leader this time, but everyone was curious how the battle would go with a different leader since the previous time Kirito didn't lead, it had been a mess and people nearly died.

"Hi, how are you all doing today? Everything all ready?"

Tetsuo, the tank of the [MBC] guild asked as he noticed Alt filing in from the teleport zone to the meeting. He had become the leader of the guild after a while of internal conflict of their guild. As far as the drama was concerned, Keita the original leader of the group, had been too emotional to handle leading after Sachi left them to join Alt. Tetsuo being the tanker was chosen to fill the leader role since as it stood, the leaders of the progression guilds were all main tanks for their respective guilds. Keeping enemy attention on themselves and instructing their teams to swift victory just ended up being important since healers were more reactionary than in other traditional mmo games.

"We're doing well today, just finished confirming we have everything we need for the plan."

Asuna responded since she was the raid leader, rather than having the situation be awkward with Kirito leading conversation as per usual when he wasn't going to be leading the raid.

Tetsuo's eyes glanced over to Kirito and gave a smile and thumbs up. Everyone from [MBC] and [FKZ] had joined in the effort to get the materials required for the immortal object walls Kirito crafted for them. The walls were constructed through the discovery when Kirito made the new prison for more recent criminals. The walls of the prison were also immortal objects. Small things like food trays could be passed into the prison Kirito had made for the prisoners and he set it up with the child care system so they would be fed bread by the npcs so they wouldn't starve.

Asuna had placed her bet on the construction of the prison being the key to their success in the battle. It was a massive amount of preparation for the few days since she came up with the plan, and they were still feeling the effects of the ridiculous grind for materials, but they were on a sort of adrenaline high which made them feel stronger, considering how quickly they had gotten at toppling rather strong field opponents for the materials.

Kirito wanted to have every faith it would work the same as the prison he made. The prison was working, so there was no reason for the arena dividing wall to fail. Kirito's uneasiness made Klein and Tetsuo a little worried when they saw the expression he showed.

Asuna gathered the raid group's attention when the status of all members showed as present.

"Hello everyone. For those who don't already know, I will be leading the raid this time. It is not for lack of leadership quality of Kirito's, but the fact that we're approaching a fight more to my experience than his. This time we are fighting an army of 500 soldiers. There's the potential that along the way, the true boss monster will show up and we will have to defeat it as well. Kirito as usual will be our secret weapon for such event. For our plan this time, we will set up a dividing wall in the arena so that we can divide ourselves from the enemy, and give them only five small entrances to our side of the arena. We are going to divide into groups under the leading guilds of our progression team. The leading guilds being mine – Alternate Feelings, Klein's – Fuurinkazan, Tetsuo's – Midnight Black Cats, Heathcliff's – Knights of the Blood Oath, and Holy Dragon Alliance. We will deal with the enemy in a controlled manner so that we aren't overwhelmed by their numbers. Switching between teams of five in our overall groups of twenty five per opening in the wall, we will be able to handle the battle cleanly in spite of their overwhelming numbers. Any concerns?"

Asuna was very clear and concise with how she delivered the plan to the members of the raid who weren't already informed on the plan, no hand was raised right away, but after a few seconds, two people raised their hands from within [KoB].

"How will we divide the rest of the guilds? [KoB] and [HDA] are far larger than the rest of the leading guilds and we're just going to be dividing our numbers into your smaller guild's groups."

"A good question. I have already talked with your guild leaders and you all will be separated into your raid teams. Now, can I have everyone split up into your guilds individually, and we'll get to organizing each of the five main groups to have 25 people each."

There were a few other smaller guilds which were sorted into [FKZ] and [MBC]'s groups, and then the remainder from [HDA] and [KoB] filled out the rest of Alt's raid team. Among the people who joined Alt's group were a boy and girl who gave the impression they were not so conditioned to fighting. The girl wore a cloth type equipment, had knives at her waist and had a bard type outfit, very showy and performance like. It helped to identify the outfit with her having a lute equipped to her back. The boy wielded a single one handed sword like Kirito usually did, but his equipment was a little oversized, and he was as nervous as the girl, shaking and looking around as if monsters would show up in the town and attack. Of course they were safe in the sanctuary zone though, especially among the progression group. The two of them were the ones who raised their hands, and the boy had been the one to ask about dividing forces.

"It's very nice to meet you. We might be fighting alongside each other in the future, so let's get to know each other a bit before we port to the boss room door."

The bard appearing girl introduced herself spritely.

"It's nice to finally formally meet you. Please take good care of us. My name is Yuuna, and my partner in the knights is Nautilus. He's a really shy person but he does his best to protect me and he's good at it. You have our squadron today under my somewhat leadership. I'm not much of a leader within the knights, but Heathcliff trusted us to back you up for this fight however we can."

Yuuna's introduction was well received. She was very upbeat and happy. She gave the impression that she was a fan of the guild she was temporarily joining for the battle. Nautilus stared at Kirito and shifted in his equipment. Kirito looked over the equipment and called attention to the looseness of it, that he would quickly mend the issues with the equipment before they would head in. Letting Nautilus go into the battle in such unfitting equipment would be a detriment to the battle setting. Asuna let Kirito do that while instructing on how the teams were going to be split up for their group.

"...sorry about getting my measurements wrong. I was thinking of the measurements of the avatar from the character creator and forgot myself."

Nautilus's explanation to Kirito as Kirito swiftly made adjustments, trimming and folding the cloth and leathers while swapping out the plate of the armour with more fitting pieces from his inventory. In no time Nautilus appeared like a new person, like he would be a swift and deadly force on the battle field. A little shorter than Kirito with a boyish face and a frail frame, but an expression which was filled with enough determination that he might be able to cut through the immortal object barrier for a moment. At least to Kirito's imagination.

"It's quite alright. I always have spare equipment replacements in case the guild needs some replacements. Sorry about it not exactly matching your uniforms for the knights, but I'll make new ones with the right size when I get some time after we're done here."

Nautilus stared Kirito in the eyes as if he were trying to see through to the person on the outside instead of the reflection in front of him.

"I've been thinking of leaving the knights, but only if Yuuna decided to go. It's not exactly a good environment. It's well organized and we're getting stronger and stronger, but we don't get much chance to be ourselves. Yuuna doesn't get much time to do her music, and I don't get much time to invest into my preferred fighting type. I would appreciate if you would consider taking us in."

Yuuna overheard Nautilus's request and she butted in right after he finished.

"Sorry about that! He's right but it's really inappropriate to say that here before a big fight with our whole squadron here... I don't want to leave our squadron behind. It would be wonderful if you would take us all in, but I understand if that's too much. You seem more like a family guild than an organization."

Kirito waved his hands to stop her. It was getting awkward for no reason as far as he was concerned.

"No really, it's fine. Let's talk about this all more after we finish the fight here. I really appreciate that you like our guild so much you want to transfer from the knights, but I'll have to give it some thought and give the rest of the guild some time to think it over. It's not a no, but it's also not for certain a yes. I've heard your music, Yuuna. It's truly beautiful and I've wanted to introduce myself to you sooner, but I've been so busy with everything to stop by for more than the tips I tossed your way."

Yuuna blushed and nodded her head, retreating into silence as she and everyone else finished listening to Asuna's explanation and splitting of the group into teams.

As intense as the organization was and how much preparation time went into it, the fight went smoothly. When the number of enemies thinned out to less than a hundred, a giant skeletal lizard attacked the walls but failed to break the dividing wall at all. Kirito swiftly brought an end to the true boss of the fiftieth floor after it spawned, and the battle ended immediately as soon as the true boss disappeared in the death animation.

Business was dealt with quicker than ever after completing the 50th floor, and Heathcliff held Kirito back from leaving to the next floor right away.

"I overheard the conversation before with the squadron I sent to assist your guild's numbers. I do not mind if you take them in, but take good care of them. They are good people, Kirito kun. I wouldn't want to lose any people to the mistakes of someone taking on too much of a burden to handle."

His words made Kirito uncomfortable, but not enough to say no to Yuuna and Nautilus's request to join Alt. Kirito nodded his head and saluted Heathcliff to send him off.

"I appreciate your input. Thanks for your effort today."

Heathcliff left and shortly thereafter, the group which worked with Alt converged at the bottom of the staircase leading to the next floor.

Yuuna was chatting with the rest of the guild happily, and had her lute ready to start playing a song for them. Nautilus was smiling which was a good change from the resting blank expression he had before. He seemed to be happy listening to Yuuna's excitement and happiness. Kirito could tell immediately that Nautilus was in love with Yuuna.

"That fight went perfectly~! Thank you for your amazing leadership today Asuna. I feel like if we keep up that kind of smoothness in the remaining floors, we'll make it through the rest in no time."

Kirito's comment changed the atmosphere of the group a little and he scratched the back of his head in feeling the awkward atmosphere.

"Did I interrupt something?"

Yuuna shook her head with a smile, and started playing her lute. The song was a little similar to one of the musics which played within Aincrad, but different enough that it greatly showcased her creative talents. It helped that her singing with it was beautiful. After she finished singing, the other members of Alt chimed in before Kirito praising how amazing Yuuna's music was.

"As far as taking you in to the guild, of course you can! We'll need to get another residence though. Does anyone have any ideas for another location to check out for their place?"

Leafa's response to letting Yuuna, Nautilus and the rest of their squadron join the guild was echoed among the others. Kiin and Pina also gave out happy mewing sounds as if they were cats instead of fluffy small dragons. A growing family grew much larger.

"Well then...I suppose that means our smithies and clothiers will be busy for the next day or so~ welcome to the guild! I suggest a more town like feeling than the cottage. There's a district with large houses for sale on the 37th floor. We could probably fit up to 40 people in any of them comfortably, but 17 people should have lots of space in those houses. Let's get everything situated with new gear and housing as our priorities and then continue with progressing through Aincrad, together."

Kirito's words as the guild's "leader" were echoed with the rest of the members, while Yuuna hugged Nautilus's arm and happily hopped in place. They already appeared as if they were a couple. Kirito smiled and as he started leading the way up the stairs to the next floor as the last group to make their way up the stairs. He only made it up five steps before he suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness. He wasn't the only one as Asuna also mysteriously collapsed. They were both caught by their guildmates, but the mysterious situation only made everyone worry.