AN: Takes place three months after X'rphan.

Suguha and Recon did not participate on the X'rphan boss battle, since they're still training; Silica got ahead because she started sooner.

Apparently, you can set crystals on a place, so people can teleport to it.

I remember a long time ago, a reviewer said that I funnelled all the action to Asuna, or Klein. The chapter was made with the thought to do the opposite.

Also, next chapter might be even more delayed. Sorry.

UPDATE

-Added new characterization stuff

Chapter 10: The Gleam Eyes

Floor 70: Main Town

"Dynamm told us to wait here." Suguha reviewed their message for the tenth time, while Recon leaned back on a bench.

"That was five minutes ago."

"Maybe we just caught them when they're in a labyrinth." Suguha suggested, trying to quell her friend's impatience.

"Hey, Suguha," Silica tapped her shoulder, behind them.

"Oh, Silica, where's the rest of the guild?"

"They're in a labyrinth right now, so, they sent me." Silica explained, then headed to the teleport gate.

Floor 74 Labyrinth

The guild huddled around a campfire in the very strange maze, with Asuna currently cooking meat on a spit.

"Hey Kirito, why do you only use one sword?" Asuna asked, and the whole guild looked at him with a 'That's a good question' look.

"I want to use two hands with a sword, but I don't want to use a greatsword." Klein peered at him further.

"It looks cool, too." He admitted.

"When's your birthday?" Klein brought up, capturing the attention of his fellow guild mates.

"Almost two weeks ago, why?" The group winced, and Klein scratched his head, materializing something.

"We probably have to give you this now, sorry for being late."

"Late on what? Seriously," Kirito asked Klein, prompting a confused look from him.

"Your birthday present. Here." The samurai handed him a red trench coat, looking similar to his own black one.

"What's this?"

"It's a coat. We had to kill lots of dragons for that thing." Asuna explained, and gestured him to put it on. Kirito silently obeyed, and replaced his armor body slot. His jacket was replaced with the red one. It was like his old one, except it had bigger shoulder pauldrons, and bracers, with Fūrin Kazan's four-square symbol emblazoned on the left side of Kirito's chest, finally revealing his connection with the guild.

"Thank you, but-" Kirito saw Silica back, with Suguha and Recon in tow. He immediately scrambled behind something.

"What's wrong? Go apologize!" Klein pulled him out, and the guild pushed him towards them. Kirito bowed down, refusing to look at them in the face.

"Look, um.. I'm really sorry about last time, and-"

"Get up." Recon nudged him, and Kirito slowly obeyed, still looking at his feet. Suguha then hugged him.

"You're my brother, so I forgive you," Once Kirito detached, he faced Recon.

"Yeah, sorry for punching you in the face…"

"It's okay." He then held out a hand to Kirito, who shook it.

"Recon."

"Kirito."

Their reunion was interrupted by a group marching towards the boss room. All of the members wore identical armor, with green cloaks. Most of them were exhausted, struggling not to collapse to the ground. The leader remained ever so vigilant, calling out commands.

"Aincrad Liberation Force, move out!" Everybody in the group except him groaned, and hobbled forward.

"It's been a long time not seeing one of them," Asuna commented, looking at them march off at a unfamiliar path.

"Do they know where the boss room is? Silica, tail them." Klein said, watching her scurry off. The silence was broken when NPC monsters started spawning around them. Klein looked around for signs of a safe area, but found none.

"Crap."

Silica stayed a considerable distance away from them, randomly hiding behind something once in a while. Not that the Army cared; they just tried to walk forward, busy on reaching the objective with fatigue. They came across a large, ornate door, with braziers holding blue fire on each side of the door. The leader opened it, and when he stepped inside, the room lit, blazing blue flames around the room.

[The Gleam Eyes] stood there, with it's hulking physique, and goat horns. Beside it was a gigantic Zanbato sword, a wide blade with no hand guard. Something about it's appearance readied Silica to run.

"Attack!" The commander shouted, with all of then breaking into a winded run. They had courage.

Pure, idiotic courage.

The blue demon raised it's sword for a massive sweep, cutting across the Army's ranks with destructive force. Silica took off, heading back.

"Help!" she screamed, trying to squeeze every decibel out of her throat.

"Silica?!" Kirito ran towards the sound, backed by the guild, chasing the echo. They saw the boss room, fully lit. The boss was utterly destroying the opposition.

"Use the crystals!" Kirito called out, until seeing a member holding one hopelessly.

"They don't work!"

"Attack!" Their commander said once more, bringing some halfhearted companions. The boss reared back, and fired a purple energy attack from it's mouth, in a force so great, it blew the leader towards the door, landing a few feet away from the entrance. The helmet shattered, revealing his face in a wide-eyed stare.

"Impossible," he whispered, until he exploded in countless particles.

"No!" Asuna sprinted towards the boss with furious anger, freshly reminded of Sachi's death. She leaped up, and delivered a flurry of strikes at the nape of the neck, attracting it's attention. The boss turned around and punched her, almost sending her back to the door.

"Asuna!" Kirito dashed forward, reversed his grip on Elucidator, and parried with the gigantic sword, constantly draining his health.

"Everyone, get the Army out of there!" Kirito shouted. The ALF squad was located at the far side of the room, with a enormous amount of distance between them, not to mention a floor boss.

"Kirito, your health-"

"Just do it!" Kirito constantly avoided and blocked attacks, yet the fight was draining his health on a fast and steady rate. Kirito then was batted away a considerable distance, landing almost exactly where he started.

"Klein, watch out!" The boss started to slash at them, killing an Army member. Kirito consumed a potion, and dashed at the boss once more. He slashed at the neck, trying to distract it. The boss grunted and turned around, facing him again. Kirito evaded as much attack as he can, but his HP still chipped away. Harry One appeared beside him, blocking an attack with a tower shield, taking the hits well.

"What are you doing here?!"

"What does it look like,"he said between grunts, and through gritted teeth, "I'm distracting it!"

"I can distract it by myself-"

"I have a full set of armor, and a shield! Stop trying to carry everyone!" Harry One yelled, pushing him towards the direction of the rest of the guild. Dale and Harry Two strode past him, providing backup to the forward. Kirito sprinted towards the Army, and helped Klein carry an Army member up.

"It's a long distance to carry them, and I doubt they can hold that long," Klein looked at Mountain Team, distracting the boss.

"Yeah, you're right, we need more people." He then darted towards the boss room entrance, set up a crystal, and teleported. Klein groaned, and urged the Army man along, questioning his return. He saw the forwards tiring, and looked around for the most heavily armoured person in the immediate vicinity. There was Kunimittz, who actually is a forward, but right now aiding the rest of the forwards' patients. Suguha and Recon were offence-heavy, wearing robes, and Asuna's out of the question. Dynamm's armored, but not as much as…

Me. Klein laid the Army member down, and went to Harry One, the most fatigued.

"Tag out!" Harry One went back to the group carrying the ALF squad, and Klein struggled to parry with the giant sword.

"Kirito, when are you back?" Asuna whispered, looking at the entrance. Dale was caught in another bind, pushing his sword against the Zanbato. He tilted his sword, slipping it beside him. The boss gathered purple energy from seemingly nowhere, powering up.

"Line up behind me!" Harry Two commanded, and the two warriors obliged. The energy attack was partially blocked by the tower shield, creating a safe space behind him. It hit Harry Two like a meteor, making him struggle to keep his footing. Once it was over, he collapsed.

"Is everyone okay?" He wheezed out, kneeling. "Are you?!" Dale helped him up, putting his arm around his shoulders. Dale quickly checked the Army's progress. Not good.

"Can you keep going?"

"I'm no Heathcliff, but yeah, I think I could." Klein parried some more strikes, almost losing his footing with every clash. As predicted, the boss reared up it's head, and powered up. Harry Two rose, and held up his shield. Klein and Dale gripped his shoulders, helping him with the impact. The attack came, and they barely stood their ground. Harry Two's HP went into the red.

"Damn it!" Harry Two strained, not anticipating another sword swipe. Dale parried it again, but knocked away. Asuna stared at the entrance hopefully, looking at the crystal Kirito left on the floor.

Then she saw a flash of light. Kirito appeared, seemingly waiting. Then, multiple flashes appeared behind him, a collection of guilds, more than two dozen strong, that Fūrin Kazan befriended at the 50th boss battle. Fuumaningun, a beta tester ninja guild wearing dark cloth armor, and scimitars, renowned for their speed, appeared alongside.

"You know, I'm only doing this 'cause you're one of us," It's leader Kotaru, commented. Kirito rolled his eyes.

"Right." Keita ran up to Kirito, extremely excited.

"The Black Cats' first floor boss! But isn't there supposed to be a meeting?"

"We're just going to distract it! Now," Kirito unsheathed Elucidator, pointing at the boss' head. "Attack!" The multiple guilds charged under his command.

"All forwards, distract the boss! Kotaru, take your guild and attack! Everyone else, help the Army!" Kirito fired orders rapidly. The lumbering group was making slow, but steady progress. The ninja guild kept slashing it's legs in a extremely fast speed. Klein was visibly surprised, as extra forwards supported them.

"Kirito, you are a badass!" Dynamm exclaimed proudly. Asuna had a gigantic grin on her face, admiring his decision. Five men joined Klein's group, supporting them, while others sped up the Army squad's rescue. After being replaced by two others, Asuna charged towards the boss, activating a Sword Skill while sprinting.

Her most powerful skill, [Flashing Penetrator], activated. She took off like a rocket, heading toward the boss' legs with blistering speed, and went through the leg, taking several flips and rolls to stop. The boss reached it's red health zone, and started it's endgame. The boss roared, and a purple aura surrounded it. A catastrophic sweep from it's powered up sword stopped the attacking parties, severely damaging them, single-handedly tipping the scale to it's favour. It then started to charge another energy attack.

Kirito saw his whole rescue crumble. People tiredly retreating, fatigued from the fight. A figure sailed through the air, swatted by the boss' sword, and landed a few feet away from him.

Asuna

"Are you okay?!" he said frantically, helping her up. "I'm fine," she said, a little stunned.

Kirito saw the sliver of red left in her health bar and froze for a moment.

"Asuna, retreat back."

"No, I'm-"

"Go!" he pushed her back. Asuna looked back at him. "Don't do anything stupid!" she yelled above the chaos.

"Trust me!"

Kirito watched her go back, then faced the boss.

He had to finish it, the fastest way possible.

Even if it reveals his secret.

Kirito started to open menus, trying for one final attack to finish it off. The violet wind started to come fast. He stabbed his sword to the ground, and gripping on tight, resisting the force, watching his HP drain. A second scabbard appeared behind his left shoulder, carrying Dark Repulser. Once it was over, he ran to it's stomach, not caring that his own HP is in the red zone.

That thing just had to die.

Kirito activated Pre-Motion. The two swords glowed blue, and Kirito commenced [Starburst Stream], a devastating 20-hit combo. He slashed horizontally, following with a upward strike, then spinning twice, slicing both swords from left to right, gaining speed, reversing grip, and making X's on the bosses chest, generating ribbon-like streaks of light emanating around him, before leaping, and performing another combo on air, seemingly creating a bluish orb around him, his arms blurring from the speed. The floor boss kicked him up in the air, and slashing a backhand strike to Kirito. He parried with Elucidator, which cracked and shattered from the power, yet still repelling it's opponent. Kirito switched hands with Dark Repulser, and slashed downward, creating a gash from head to toe.

The Gleam Eyes froze, and exploded into polygons. [Congratulations!] hovered above Kirito, and the teen took a knee from exhaustion.

"What was that?!"

"How do you get that skill?!"

"Holy shit!"

Kirito silently sheathed his remaining sword, amid the questions. Asuna pushed her way into the crowd, pretty much saying the whole crowd's question.

"What was that?"

Kirito sighed and sat down on the floor.

"I got it six months ago. The skill's called Dual Blades. I, wanted to keep it secret, but I had to finish off the boss faster."

"How did you get it?!"

"Dunno. Just appeared."

The whole crowd went silent, still trying to comprehend his explanation.

"Well, at least they made it," Asuna said, helping him up. "Y'know, that guy," he pointed to Klein, who's starting to get flustered.

"He knew about it the whole time."

"I.. He convinced me!" Klein raised his hands in defence.

"Anyway, thanks for saving us,"a Army member shook hands with him, and solidified a relationship between the two guilds. Kotaru came up to him.

"It's too bad my guild can't dual wield, but the skill belongs to the right hands, I guess. Nice coat by the way." The ninja guild went towards the new floor, eager to explore. The rest of the guilds erupted to massive cheers.

"Hey Kirito, that was much better than normal floor bosses!" Keita hugged him randomly, and they went for the new floor, leaving a surprised Kirito.

"So, what's that black guild?" Klein nudged him, while walking around the 75th floor. Kirito chuckled nervously.

"Before I reunited with you guys, I sorta joined them. I didn't actually officially joined the guild, but well…"

"Really Kirito, seriously?" Issin said bluntly.

"I have a life outside you guys,"

"Last I checked, you have no life." Dynamm joked. Kirito chuckled, and started to run towards a house NPC vendor he spotted from a distance.

"Klein, we have a lot more Col now, so we're buying a house!"

"Woohoo!" Klein yelled, and the rest of the guild muttered agreement.

"This is pretty cheap for a house actually…"

Next time…

Suguha stared nervously down the darkened hallway, sensing a danger among the shadows. She threw a knife, tipped with poison to the presence, hoping to slow it.

"I don't know if that poison will work Suguha!" Recon said, watching the opposite end of the hallway.

The intruders attacked.

AN: And there's my clichéd cliffhanger!