A/N: Kayaba is always a mysterious man in Sword Art Online. I still wonder what was his whole purpose in turning Sword Art Online into a prison death game. In this story, he is just as mysterious. In fact, Lightning and Kirito are about to discover a riddle. Something about Kayaba.


JUNE 11th, 2023. FLOOR 19, SUNFURY HOLD.

The nineteenth floor is pretty bad. No more terrible than the 18th floor. But this floor is nothing but a broken world of space, large cracks that lead to bottomless space. Well, actually, there is a bottom but when you fall it, it can still kill you. Even though the drop isn't long enough to take out a dent of your HP.

All the earth is purple and grassless, the sky always black. It's like the end of the world has come. Even the monsters here are dangerous. Mostly demons and red/pale skin elves. Levels 90-95. Even I'm fighting my hardest against the enemy.

Right now, I'm finishing my last quest on this floor, invading a dungeon. After that, I'm done for the day.

The Assault Team plans on raiding the next floor boss later in the evening. Makes me wonder if we'll be facing that Damned Lord unless he's gonna end up as one of the dungeon bosses of the 20th floor.

Leonardo was sent to the prison-hold of the Black Iron Castle on the first floor. Since then, the Holy Dragon Alliance has been put into question. If Leonardo became a secret member of Laughing Coffin, then it's likely there are other members like that.

So far, no secret Laughing Coffin members were found. Still, it was pretty shocking. I'm surprised the entire guild didn't get shut down cause Leonardo's betrayal sure did put damage to their reputation of loyalty and trust.

"It's a shame for what the Holy Dragon Alliance was put through," Lizbeth says.

I'm working with Rokel's guild, The Dancing Fairies, on this quest. "I know. I heard they suffered major damage, now the guild can hardly be trusted." Silica says.

"It's a tragedy all right. All because of that murder guild." I say. "Something must be done about Laughing Coffin."

I've been wanting to do something about that guild ever since they took away the Lunar Twilight. Killing Johnny Black isn't gonna stop them. What can? Raid the entire guild and sent them into prison? Most likely.

"I just hope...everything Kayaba said about dying in the real world...isn't true," Rokel says.

As much as I want to believe in Rokel, I know what Kayaba said on the Opening Day is true. A thousand victims of the Warlords Wrath Online incident died before I come to this world. I'm not sure the reasons of death other than brain-fried by the Nervegear like the thousand deaths could have just been from removing the helmets, and it would really be possible that being killed would free us and we will be awakened in the real world.

But all of that is false hope. Nervegear removal or in-game death. Death is all that awaits.

Whatever happens, we must prevail and beat this game for our freedom.


FLOOR 11, KARABOR.

After completing the quest, I wait within the underground city for the Assault Team to raid the next boss. My mind is lost in thought. There has been no connection with the real world. Not only am I concerned about how Serah's doing, but also how everyone is handling the situation.

We're barely alive in hospital beds. Can they really keep us alive long enough to beat this game? Whether we clear the game or not, we are on a time limit. From what I've learned, all the hospitals are doing the best they can to keep everyone alive. The Argus company is spending most of its millions to help the hospital in support. They'll go bankrupt for this, and I doubt they'll make or sell enough games to stay alive.

Who knows how long we'll be kept alive before they will be forced to pull the plug of all the players.

While I'm sitting around, I suddenly get a message. I look and see it's from Kirito. What could he want? I open the window and the message appears.

'I've found something. Meet me in the sewers.'

In the sewers? What did he found? This better not be his little jokes.

Karabor maybe an underground city, but the city has sewers beneath it. An underground tunnel underneath an underground city. Pretty crazy.

I arrive at the entrance of the sewers. It's pretty dark and my search automatically turns into night vision. So far, it's empty, but it does stink of sewage. I'm starting to wish smell isn't apart of the Nervegear's transmitters.

I walk deeper into the sewers, draw my Gunblade out, very cautious. Ten meters beyond the entrance and the sewers become a regular zone, outside of the city's safety. No monsters spawn here, but murder players will still ambush you here.

I hear something, like a heavy thud and splash. My soldier instincts took over and I stop in place, completely aware of my surroundings. Being this deep in a dark tunnel is a sure sign of being ambushed. Makes me wonder if anything could have happened to Kirito.

No. He's still alive. If he were dead, he would have vanished from my friends' list.

Nothing comes. I continue onward, but I can't drop my guard. Just then, something touches my shoulder. Startled, I do a sweeping slash. Instead of hitting flesh, or data for that matter, it hits steel. A hand covers my mouth and Kirito puts a finger on his pressed lips.

I take a moment to realize it's just him, but I'm still not happy when he startled me like that. Partner, criminal or not, I'll slice him in half for this.

"You know I can slice you in half for this," I say.

"Can't be any worse than a scolding from the Vice Commander of the Assault Team," Kirito says.

I sigh as I sheathe my Gunblade. "So what is it?"

"I found out something." Kirito takes me to a small space in the sewer, to stay out of sight from anyone who might be wondering these tunnels.

Kirito shows me a map of the labyrinth. He explains that on the third floor west path, there's a hidden room where it can't be shown on the map. I'm familiar with those things, they are usually trapped doors where all that is in there is a single treasure chest, but once you open it, an alarm goes up, you get locked inside and have to face a countless horde of monsters. Either fight them all or die.

I'm not fond of those. They're just terrible.

However, Kirito tells me this room is different. "What makes it different than the other hidden rooms?"

"As far as I've heard, it's the only room that isn't a trap," Kirito explains. "There's nothing inside, just a small room with some kind of message."

A message? "Some kind of history about this world?"

"That's what I thought, but the person who found it doesn't understand the message at all. Something he's never seen." Kirito says. "It could have some kind of information about the incident we're in."

I think this through. What Kirito says could be true. A message inside a game that no player understands. Players who've been trapped in this game should know what the message would be about if it's related to Warlords Wrath Online. This means that it could be a clue about Kayaba or our chance of being freed from this virtual prison.

Either way, we must find out.


FLOOR 19, ELITE DUNGEON

Kirito and I are planning to go through the Elite Dungeon to find this hidden room, but we're not going to get far with just an Assassin and a Swordsman. True, Rokel and I manage to make it through the fifth floor with only tanking Swordsman and First Aid healing, but this is different. I was at a high level, but Kirito and I are close to the same level against these mobs.

We need a Cleric. I don't trust the other players in this game to this kind of mission, so there's only one person I can trust to be our healer.

Kirito and I fight in the front lines. I'm doing this fight with just my One-handed Gunblade. Using a shield would just slow me down. But it's not too bad. With the combined strength of Kirito and I, we can handle the mobs here.

Hope stays a couple of yards behind, keeping us alive. I don't want to put him in danger, so I tell him to stay at a safe distance from the fight. He'll also keep an open mind for any monsters that'll ambush him.

The Elite Dungeon is crawling with those pale elves. Blood Elves as they are known.

When our fight ends, we rest up for a bit to regain our energy. "So you guys really think some secret message is in the labyrinth?"

"Kirito does. I'm just following his lead." I say.

"That's just rude," Kirito says.

"And you think it might have some connection to freeing us from this game?" Hope asks.

"I'm not certain if it this, but it will give us a lead on Kayaba's plan," I say.

As soon as we're well-rested enough, we continue on in the dungeon. The Blood Elves are tough enemies, the higher we process in this tower. It's like the higher we go on the Aincrad, the tougher enemies get. So far, it's for dungeon enemies. No one knows how that it is, but that's the least of our problems. If anything, we just need to remain cautious, keep a sharp mind. Give the enemy our highest number of strength.

We reach the third floor of the labyrinth. We look over the map. There are some unexplored areas on this floor. It's best to avoid those since the hidden room would have to be along with one of the explored paths.

We follow each of the paths to find the hidden room. So far, we end up in dead ends. Not only that, but we encounter powerful enemies. Takes longer for Kirito and I to handle. Even Hope loses more MP. Every battle or two, we take the moment to regain our energy.

It's almost time for the Assault Team's raid on this labyrinth, we need to find that hidden room quickly.

We wander down the path. We've cleared all the enemies on my main path that's been explored. "Lightning. Espeon. Over here."

We follow Kirito down the path. We find Kirito standing right next to an iron door. I'm caught by surprise. I look at the dungeon map and this door isn't located on the map. Behind it via map, just a dead end. "Do you think?" Hope asks.

"I don't know...it might be a trap," I say.

"Only one way to find out." Kirito puts a hand on the iron door. "Be cautious." He slowly opens the door. I stay close to Hope, weapon out. Have to be prepared for whatever's in store.

Inside the hidden room is...nothing.

Completely empty. Not even a treasure chest that triggers the trap. Still, we don't let our guard down. Kirito and I take the first step, and then Hope follows us inside from behind. After a minute of caution, we gently let our guard down.

"Nothing in here," Kirito says as he sheathes his sword. "This must be the room."

"Let's start looking," I say.

The room is small. All we have to do is check the walls. "Hey guys, is this it?" Hope shows us what is on the wall. Kirito and I look and we have found the message:

"Chaos overwhelms the world, where there's only fear with one look in the beast's I. The heroes was trained to fight the demons and bring light to the world, wrong against the light. The darkness, there's no hope. But faith in the light is more powerful. A single device can change everything, I know that.

Men was created with the gift to fight, to meant, and protect the light. In the past, humans were once peaceful, until the darkness to Chaos came. Demons invade and destroy homes and lives. Power to protect life can be used for destruction. The war against humans, angels, and demons. Fight for unlimited power to create save the world or destroy it.

Men use knowledge to gather information about the demons and the darkness, but even with the strongest knowledge has limits against the demons. It is that the light will prevail, and the darkness will too be banished.

Whenever Chaos falls, he returns to destroy the light. He is beyond dangerous. Too powerful for any human or angel to face. No one knows if he can really be defeated. I can only hope. Even in the deepest darkness, a small glimmer of hope was shine against it. The light will not fail.

Humans can hardly trust anyone. Deceived and betrayed against each other in the face of worlds end. And one day, the light will return and bring peace to the human heart once again. It is guaranteed.

To battle in the war. To save the world before it is too late."

It's like a page long on a novel but doesn't make any sense to me. "What is it, exactly?"

"It's information and quotes from Kayaba's game: Shadowhunters," Kirito says. He seems a bit confused, fingers on his chin as he gazes at the message. "This isn't right...some of the words are a bit off."

Kirito's right on that. 'Beast's I' should really say 'Beast's eye'. "I'm not hard-core with the game, but I can also see the errors."

"This...information from another game... is supposed to be a secret message?" I ask.

"Maybe it is. Might be some kind of code." Hope says.

Kirito takes out a small diamond. He aims it directly at the secret, with a flash, the diamond takes a picture of the message. "There are tons of types of secret codes. Meaning of the words. In between the lines. Unscrambling the letters. The secret message is hidden somewhere."

"Whatever you say, kid. Let's just get out of here and read ourselves for the Assault Team." I say.

Kayaba is hiding out somewhere in this death game. If this secret message tells me where he is, I'm coming after him. If it tells us how to be freed from this prison, I'm going for it and hunt down his real body.

Either way, I'm getting some answers straight out of him. He must pay for his crimes.