Artificial Mirror

by Victory3114

Kirito, a solo player who has traversed the passage of life unaccompanied. He has never built any ties, preferring the freedom of solitude. Until he meets one who is like him, one without memories, one who reminds him of himself before he traveled down this path of desolation. And from then on, things change. For better or for worse?

7. Chapter 6: The Edge of Green

The air was clear and crisp as the amphitheater lay silent. Not a single person moved, everyone frozen in anticipation.

Kirito watched with a frown as the oddly-hairstyled man condescendingly raised an objection. The crowd unfroze, whispering amongst themselves. Some indignantly pointed fingers and said things like "Who the heck does this guy think he is?" or "He's so rude, just barging in like that!".

Mane shifted, turning her head to study the guy. An expression of disapproval formed on her small face. Sirius didn't react, though his gaze seemed to intensify, as did Heathcliff's.

Kirito thought about what the man had threatened to do: desert the meeting. It would obviously be much harder to take on the boss with ten less people. Their numbers were small already. They couldn't afford going without the man's group.

Diabel evidently thought along the same lines. His eyes narrowed, but he nodded and turned back to the intruding player.

"Very well. We shall listen. Would you please give us the pleasure of your name?"

Mane blearily blinked several times at the shorter man, then quietly said to Kirito, "Cactus-head."

"What?"

"That guy's name is Cactus-head." She leaned against him and watched with a tired expression.

Kirito snorted, stifling a laugh. He closely examined the man; he indeed looked like a cactus from above.

As if he had heard, the man whipped around, scanning the crowd with a sharp eye. After a moment, he turned back to a slightly confused Diabel.

"My name is Kibaou." announced the man in the gravelly tone of his.

---

Chapter 6: The Edge of Green

---

Diabel's mouth twitched downwards for a moment. "Indeed... and what do you have to say, Kibaou-san?"

Kibaou again turned around and looked over the crowd. His beady eyes shined with some heavy emotion.

Kirito felt a tap on his other shoulder, and he turned his head slightly to see Heathcliff leaning towards him. Without taking his eyes off of Cactus-head, Heathcliff muttered, "That man is..."

"Eh?"

Kirito suddenly shivered as his sixth sense alerted him to some kind of danger. He slowly angled his eyes towards the podium, meeting Cactus-head's gaze for a moment.

He slowly blinked, eyes narrowing. He felt something... wrong. Something he had felt before.

He sensed an extreme hatred.

Then Kibaou broke his stare to individually stare at the rest of the people around Kirito. Murmurs started to pop up, people starting to wonder what was this guy doing?

Kirito stared into the side of Kibaou's head. He wasn't sure... but he could feel hatred. Resentment, emitting from that moment of contact.

Mane shivered unconsciously, still watching the podium and it's occupants. Sirius let out a breath through his teeth, muttering, 12 people gone? That's not good. Though the girl had donned her hood, Kirito could hear her rapid respiration.

Heathcliff's face was hard, the way he expressed emotion. He repeated his words in a low tone, so only they could hear. "That man isn't very... stable."

Having finished his inspection, Kibaou finally turned to Diabel. He spread his arms in a questioning motion.

"Out of all these people... there are around five people that need to get down here right now and apologize. Right now."

The murmur among the crowd grew larger as a confused atmosphere descended upon them. Several people began calling out things like, "What do you mean?" and, "Are you crazy?".

Diabel's mouth turned into an honest frown. He raised both hands, silently indicating slow down. "Excuse me... but, apologize to whom? You are not making much sense."

Kirito abruptly leaned back apprehensively. Somehow, his body knew what was going to be said even if his brain didn't.

Kibaou spat onto the ground, the virtual spizzle evaporating, but the point was made. "Ha. Obviously to the two thousand people who died in this past hellish month! Just because of these people and their selfishness, they all died! Two thousand people!"

The audience instantly shushed. The number, two thousand, instantly made everyone know what he was talking about. Kirito sickly closed his eyes and watched the darkness under his eyelids.

"Um, Kibaou-san." He could hear Diabel tentatively asking. "Are you possibly referring to the «Beta Testers»?"

Kirito blinked open his eyes to see Kibaou gesturing wildly.

"Of course I am! Who else?" Kibaou swung his arm and punched the palm of his other hand angrily, causing his scale mail to clink on the hardened leather shirt underneath. "Those cheap bastards, right from the first day, just ran off! Abandoned us all, who couldn't even step out of that thrice blasted city without having our HP blown to bits by monsters. They took all the quests with the best rewards, they used all the profitable grinding grounds, they didn't care at all about the rest of us! Just about themselves!"

The crowd began to mutter, some players nodding their heads in agreement.

Kirito looked down at the floor between his feet. So Kibaou wanted revenge on the beta testers for abandoning the majority of the players in Starting City. That much was clear. He did indeed have several good points.

But more than half, around twelve hundred of those deaths came from suicide, not monster kills. Those people had jumped over the side of Aincrad of their own free will. The Beta Testers had nothing to do with them.

Still... eight hundred people...

However, if he spoke out here, he would immediately be labeled a beta tester, and most likely even land all of his friends in trouble too. That would never do...

Maybe I could have done something more? Kirito wondered.

All he had done was help a small group of players learn the basics of the game. A drop in the bucket compared to the many people that died.

"Well? I know some of you blasted beta testers are in this crowd!" Kibaou yelled. "You stinking rats, trying to join us hard, honest working people in killing the boss? I demand you all come down here, confess your sins, and kneel. To the party members your lives depend on. That is all!"

He felt Mane shift on his shoulder, and she quietly mumbled, "It's okay, Kirito-kun. Cactus-Head's not talking about you. You're a good person... you helped."

Kirito recalled that day and grimaced, remembering the four deaths. Despite the reassurances from all of his friends, he still believed he should have done... something more. He didn't know what, but he felt the unfortunate demise of those players was still his fault.

He had never told anyone his doubts, though. They were his problems and his alone. No one else's. It wouldn't be right to share the weight with another person.

So in reply, he only grunted.

The rest of the audience was dead silent, though Kirito could feel the tension and eagerness in the air. It was as if the crowd was just waiting for the first tester to be condemned.

Kibaou had blown off most of his initial steam and was staring angrily into the crowd. "Beta testers? Scared now, you cursed bastards with your better equipment and knowledge? I bet you're all just spineless cowards, every single one-"

"Excuse me, Kibaou. May I speak as well?"

Kibaou suddenly froze, completely caught off guard by the deep, firm voice that resounded through the evening air.

An extremely large man, bald, skin a rich tone of brown, walked forward and easily stepped onto the podium. He wore simple leather armor which may have led people to believe he was a lower leveled player, but the large battle axe strapped to his back spoke otherwise. Kirito recognized the weapon as a rare «Steelborn Battleaxe» that rarely dropped from a small quest chain on the first floor.

The guy was huge. There was no other word for it. While size did not equal strength in this world, he appeared to move with ease even though the weapon on his back had an abnormally high weight. A relative giant, he easily towered over both Diabel and Kibaou when he straightened up.

He turned and lightly bowed to the audience, before assuming a stern expression. Turning back to the two on the stage, he motioned to Kibaou.

"I am called Agil. Now, by what you have said, you believe the Beta Testers are to blame for the deaths of all two thousand players who have died thus far, because they never helped or took care of them, is that correct? And now, you want them to apologize and to accept responsibility."

Agil's quiet, sturdy tone eased the tension in the air slightly. Kibaou was overwhelmed for a moment. Perhaps he had never expected someone this calm to oppose him, or even any opposition at all.

"Uh... yes. That-That's right."

Cactus-head then drew himself up, as if reminding himself that this was his spotlight. He tried to straighten up, but he still didn't even reach Agil's shoulders.

"Those beta testers can go to hell. If they didn't just run off and leave nine thousand players all alone, stranded and with no help, those two thousand dead people would still be alive!"

Kibaou's hands curled up. He raised one arm to shoulder height in anger, caught in the moment, and shook his fist. "If only those devils had shared their knowledge! They should have shared their information, their items and intel, their col. If they did, he... they could all be still alive today! There would have been many more people here. Some of them were even elite MMO players, and if they had lived...I-If those filthy beta testers, those darned cheaters, had just not been selfish, we could have already been at the second, no, even the third floor already!"

His tone escalated until he was basically screaming the words and spittle into Agil's face. Diabel's eye twitched in annoyance and surprise. Kirito felt deafened by the silence that fell after Kibaou finished his rant.

Not only that, but he felt torn inside as well. He did have the knowledge. Why didn't he go help people?

He could have saved more...

"So this is your argument, Kibaou?"

Despite having been screamed at in the face, Agil still maintained his otherworldly calm and light, even tone. Kirito was strongly reminded of Heathcliff's unbreakable shell.

"Money and items, I feel that's pushing it a bit too far. A player has the right to what he earns. But information... the beta testers, they did give it to you, if you actually looked for it."

Agil pinched his thumb and forefinger together and drew out the menu, quickly manipulating it and opening his inventory window. He selected an item and chose the withdraw option, causing something to materialize about his hand and drop into it. The screen, by default, immediately swung around Agil's body and disappeared.

All the players in the audience craned their necks and leaned forward to get a better look. Kirito, with his «Searching» enhanced vision, immediately identified it as a booklet. He could vaguely make out a simply rat's head design on the cover.

He recognized it immediately. It was the manual that his friend, Argo, had written. Back at the beginning of the game, as an informational dealer, she had decided to help the players in her own way, pouring information about the first floor and Sword Art Online's interfaces into the booklet. The first edition had gone into most of Starting City's stores at the price of zero col; she relied on her informants and some friends, including Kirito, to supply the paper for the pamphlet, sometimes hunting the goats to the east herself to procure the sheepskin.

Something to note, was the line in red text on the back cover: "This information was derived from the time of the beta test. Some aspects of the game might have been changed in the official release."

Agil waved the book and gently slapped it into his other hand. "This is a guidebook. It was distributed for free among most of the shops in Starting City, «Tolbana», «Horunka», «Medai», pretty much every village."

"Really..." Kibaou snorted in disdain. "...and what is this guidebook about?"

"It's a complete guide on the first floor. Well, this edition is. The first edition was issued a day or two after... the tutorial. It covered the first floor up to «Horunka Village»."

Most of the audience started to mumble. "Is that true?" "It was there the whole time?" "For free?" In response, some of the players pulled out various editions of the guidebook and confirmed Agil's words. Mane yawned and pulled out her own copy.

"Now," Agil continued, "this newest edition came out around two days ago. It contains a detailed map and explanation of the first floor. There are quest guides and tips on farming as well. In the first edition, the combat tips only had details on «Wrist Blade» combat, which I speculate is because the author only knew how to effectively battle with that weapon. But this edition also includes «1-H Sword» combat and «Sword & Shield», as well as several other weapon categories."

This, Kirito already knew, for he had written the section on «1-H Swords» himself. Heathcliff had given the tips for Shield combat upon request from Argo. Numerous old beta testers, most specializing in different types of weaponry, had supplied that information.

...yet, that wasn't enough. People still died...

"...and most importantly, this edition also contains information on the first floor's boss."

There was a large outburst of surprise from the audience, most of them scrambling to see for themselves using the manuals their companions had. Kibaou himself stood stunned.

"Kibaou. This information could not of come from anywhere else other than the Beta Testers you speak disapprovingly of."

Kibaou's mouth opened and closed like a stranded fish. Still standing rather awkwardly to the side, Diabel nodded approvingly at Agil.

The giant hammered the final nail in the coffin. "So as you can see, right here..." Agil tossed the book back and forth between his gigantic hands. "...the information was available ever since two or three days after the start of the game. Two thousand still died. That was their mistake, their folly... I'm sorry to say that, but the resource they needed to survive was already available to them."

He turned to the seated players. "The beta testers did what they could. They provided this wealth of information to us. I say to any testers in the audience, thank you. You have done well. It is up to us to use it now."

Kirito blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling a wellspring of emotion directed towards Agil.

He's a good man...

"Yeah. He's a nice guy."

Mane's voice echoed in the confines of his mind again. She apparently felt the same way.

"Ah... wait, I want to say something too."

The crowd turned as one to rest their gazes upon a young boy sitting on one of the front row benches. He shrank for a moment, conscious that all eyes were on him, then he swallowed and stood up. On of his buddies slapped him on the back encouragingly.

He was a small kid, perhaps one of the youngest of the dungeon clearers. His stature was a little small, but then again, size did not equal strength in this world. If he had to guess, Kirito would answer, "About fourteen, fifteen years old?".

Kirito blinked several times, realizing he knew this kid from somewhere. He had briefly glimpsed him and his party once or twice in the dungeon, but he remembered his face... from somewhere before.

"Um... Kibaou-san, not all Beta Testers are bad. There was this one guy, he helped my friend, and I, after the tutorial... uh, the day after."

Kibaou squinted suspiciously at the boy, who cowered, then stood a little straighter. Agil and Diabel watched with interest.

"He taught me, and lots of other people, how to use Sword Art Online's «Sword Skills». He was a beta tester, but he wasn't a bad guy. Not all beta testers are bad guys."

Sirius glanced over at Kirito, and nodded with a knowing look, mouthing, "Remember?". Kirito clutched his head and shook it.

He felt a tug on his leather shirt, and he looked down. Mane had perched her head on his shoulder and was looking up at him. She muttered, "You taught that kid. He's talking about you."

Mane's words jolted Kirito into recalling the private chat he had had with Klein, and the kid who had thanked him. He closely scrutinized the kid; yup, it was the same one.

He suddenly felt a comforting feeling in his heart.

"He helped everyone, and, uh, I didn't catch on at first, but he stayed with me, made sure I learned how to use the skills! He was a really good guy!" The kid earnestly continued to elaborate, drawing approving nods and words from the audience.

A warm sense spread out through his chest. Something akin to gratefulness, gratefulness to this kid for standing up for him. Perhaps a little pride, too.

Then Kirito banished the pride from his heart. He hated that emotion now.

The audience was quieting down now, the kid having sat down, done with his little speech. Diabel turned to the other two men on the podium and reassumed control of the conversation.

"Kibaou, your point is noted. I myself did not know about this manual... I nearly died several times before this day. Times that I now realize could have been avoided if I had checked the store inventories more carefully. But now..." Diabel looked to Agil. "If there indeed is boss information in this book, then it saves us a lot of time in scouting battles."

Kibaou simmered silently with fury as Agil nodded confirmation and flipped open the manual.

Diabel nodded and continued. "Now, perhaps some beta testers did abandon the players, maybe that is true. But this meeting is not about that. We are here to look towards a new future. We are here to discuss our strategy for the boss, and we need all the help we can get. Especially the strength of the Beta Testers."

"I am sure you all have your own thoughts, feelings, and memories. Grudges. We cannot help it, it is only human. But for now, at least now, I ask all of you to set your differences aside so we can conquer the first floor. If there are some of you who will never fight alongside Testers of your own will, I regret to ask you to step out. We will have to manage... without you. Teamwork is essential in this world, especially in a boss fight."

Diabel stumbled a little over his last few sentences. The loss of twelve people would be a fourth of their attack force gone. That in and of itself would mean the difficulty of taking down the boss would double.

The blue-haired knight was risking the chance of success against the boss to hold out for beta testers. Kirito felt glad there were still people like him fighting for their freedom in Aincrad.

Kibaou looked around, at the stands, at the two men next to him. His eyes, hard and set, coldly looked up to his eleven friends sitting in the top row.

He leveled his gaze to match Diabel's and spat out, "Fine. For now... but let me be clear. Only for this fight. After..."

With that last hint of a threat lingering behind him, Kibaou hopped off the podium and climbed the stairs back to his group. He whipped around and sat down with a heavy thud, arms crossed and eyes closed.

Agil calmly stepped off the stage and returned to his seat at the front. Diabel, evidently relieved that it had gone without serious incident, returned the topic to that of the boss.

"Now... apparently, we have access to information on the boss in the form of this manual. I suggest we take a break, to cool off? Also, to go retrieve a manual from one of the vendors outside. I would honestly like to read what it contains."

The crowd largely consented, and the meeting broke up for the time being.

---

The group of forty players gazed apprehensively at the dimly lit carving adorning the door to the boss room. It depicted a vicious monster, a large Kobold-type enemy, decimating parties of players. Kirito hoped it wasn't a prediction of their fate.

It was the day after the boss meeting. The group had spent the morning completely crushing top dungeon floor, and now, at 12:24 PM «Aincrad Standard Time», they stood outside of the boss room in solemn and tense silence.

Each floor dungeon in Aincrad had twenty floors to explore and conquer, each filled with monsters, traps, treasure, and the occasional mini-boss. Up until now, only the nineteenth had been explored. With today's contribution, the whole dungeon had been scouted.

There had been no casualties thus far. Due to the information retrieved from «Argo's Strategy Guide», the raiding party had avoided all the traps and ambush mobs with ease, engaging the ones that provided the most exp for grinding.

Before they set out, Diabel organized the players into full parties of six, labeling them with the first seven letters of the alphabet for orders. Squad G, the last party, only contained five people: Kirito, Mane, Sirius, Heathcliff, and Asuna. Asuna turned out to be the cloaked girl's name, as Kirito found out when she accepted his invitation to a party. When in a party, the HP gauges, status effects, and names of the members appeared underneath the player's own in his or her vision.

Diabel had proved himself to be an exceptional leader. Once everyone had been settled into individual squads, he demonstrated his tactical prowess and managed all seven squads effectively, rotating out people who had taken too much damage and making sure nobody was left behind. The players who wielded spears and halberds, mid-ranged weapons, were always situated behind ones with swords or shields, players who could block the attacks made against them effectively.

With a newfound burst of energy, Diabel led them through the twentieth dungeon floor with no problems whatsoever. While he mostly stood in the middle of them all and issued the tactical commands, he sometimes forsook his position and rushed into battle. Kirito had to admit he was quite a powerful player, holding his ground solo against a «Ruin Kobold Trooper». As the group watched him dispatch yet another one by himself, Kirito could feel the trust towards him in the group growing.

This was how he lead; through trust. As a leader, he had led and protected them; in return, all he asked for was their trust.

Standing a little aside from the group, Kibaou and his supporters rested against the wall as the entire party caught their breath and prepared for the boss fight. His group of eleven took up squads C and D. From what Kirito could tell from his observations, they did work quite efficiently together, but followed Diabel's orders with reluctance.

Kirito made sure to keep his distance from those two squads. Even though he rationally knew there was no way for them to figure out he had been a beta tester right now, he still unconsciously moved out of their way, avoiding any sort of contact.

He leaned against a column, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for the rest of the party to recover. Some players were sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for the potions to replenish their health. Others checked the «Durability» values of their equipment, made sure they had enough potion supplies, did final run-downs before the boss fight. Nobody wanted to go in unprepared.

As he looked over the forty players before him, not including himself, Kirito would have guessed that Squad G was the strongest of all the squads. They had barely taken any damage, despite being rotated in and out just as long as the others. None of their members were tired in the least bit, and they had all checked everything beforehand.

Asuna, the cloaked girl, had proven herself to be exceptional at the sword, if a little restricted, as she never used any other skills other than «Linear». She wielded her «Edge Foil» with natural ease, piercing through the armor of the roaming troopers over and over again. Despite her only skill being «Linear», that skill was perfectly executed and followed up. Time and time again she thrust her blade into an unfortunate «Ruin Kobold Trooper» at a speed nearly too fast for the eye to follow. It was a beautiful display of talented swordsmanship.

However, her battle style was very, very risky. After performing the «Linear» skill, she always used the «Side-step Defense» tactic to dodge her opponent's attacks. She should easily be able to parry it using the reinforced blade of her «Edge Foil», but she always used the far riskier sidestep. If she didn't have her party members to cover her, and she was, by some chance, hit while attempting to sidestep, she would take a large amount of damage and might even get stunned, which would lead to certain death.

Indeed, she had gotten hit once. Her HP had dropped by 30%, which seemed to completely surprise her. Perhaps she had relied on that technique because she never got hit while using it before. She also became temporarily stunned, but thankfully, Heathcliff and Sirius were there to cover her while she recovered.

But nevertheless, she had excellent swordsmanship. Perhaps she was one of the most talented players in Aincrad...

All five of them, Squad G, were just waiting for everyone to get ready. Despite their obvious readiness, they all shared in the tense atmosphere that hung over the entire raiding party. Mane shifted uncomfortably, leaning back against Kirito's shoulder. He could feel her shivering slightly, and lay a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

Sirius, Heathcliff, and Asuna were quietly discussing strategy next to them. Being a group with one less member than the party limit, they had been assigned by Diabel to be the ones to engage the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels», the empowered «Ruin Kobold Troopers» who spawned to guard the boss. Heathcliff traced a battle diagram on the stone floor with his finger, speaking quietly to the other two, both of whom nodded in agreement. Kirito closed his eyes for a moment and reviewed what he knew about the boss for the umpteenth time.

«Illfang the Kobold Lord» had been described in great detail by Argo's booklet. A rough sketch of the boss, actually quite precise compared to the depiction on the doors before them, next to a large amount of text detailing the battle statistics of the boss.

"«Illfang the Kobold Lord» is the boss of the first floor. He is quite a large boss, spanning over two meters tall and around half as wide. As his muscular appearance might suggest, Illfang has emphasis on the «Strength» and «Vitality» stats, although his «Agility» is nothing to scoff at either. He has four HP bars, and it takes approximately ten minutes of careful attacks to deplete each one."

"At the beginning of the battle, three «Ruin Kobold Sentinels» adds will spawn and assist the boss. They are similar to the Troopers who wander the dungeon and surrounding area, but have been outfitted with better armor and weapons. They also have higher HP. It is essential that they be taken out or distracted from the fight with the boss. They will not respawn immediately or after a timer; they will respawn every time one of Illfang's HP bars have been depleted. Twelve Sentinels in total."

"The boss himself wields a «Dire Bone Axe» and a «Rounded Leather Buckler». While he does carry a shield, he does not use it that often. His attack patterns usually consist of the axe skills «Crush Cleave» and «Earth Breaker», skills that will leave his main body open for direct attacks. Sometimes, his roar may cause a 'fear' effect, technically known as the status effect «Delay»."

Kirito remembered «Crush Cleave», a triple slice skill that had a surprisingly fast rate of attack; many of his raid members had been caught off guard by it. «Earth Breaker» was a single-hit overhand smash, which, one unlucky beta tester had found, was unblockable and had to be dodged. The unfortunate tester's sword had shattered due to the force and the oncoming blow dropped his HP to zero, the first death during that particular boss fight.

"When the boss's last HP bar, the fourth, falls into the red zone, he will temporarily become an «Immortal Object». This will signal his transition, as he will discard his axe and shield and draw a «Talwar» type weapon from the sheath at his waist. His attack patterns will completely change. Once the weapon is completely out of the sheath, the «Immortal Object» status will drop, and he will be able to be attacked. One strategy that can be used is to prepare a «Sword Skill» and attack as soon as he becomes vulnerable, to deal a good amount of damage."

"The «Talwar» is a curved-sword type weapon akin to a sabre. The design of the wristguard and cramped hilt allows it to be effective at straight cuts such as «Slant» and «Horizontal», which, in addition to its «Strength» value, makes it effective against clumped-up groups. However, due to its nature as a slashing weapon, it has a hard time blocking or parrying straight pierce-type attacks. Because of this, it is better to engage the boss with a few people at a time while it wields this weapon."

He had been one of the few people assigned to deal with Illfang's Talwar form during the beta fight, and he could confirm these words. In fact, he had been the one who wrote and sent them to Argo to be compiled, along with Heathcliff's help.

That was all the information known about the boss, but it was enough to mount a raid with a good chance of success: a strategy, the attack patterns, any unique attributes. Kirito opened his eyes, feeling slightly more confident about the boss fight.

It just so happened that at that time, Diabel, who had been walking amongst the party members giving friendly advice and encouragement, called out an end to the rest. With a cacophony of creaks and clanks, the entire group roused itself and stretched.

Heathcliff smoothly stood up, slowly turning his neck from side to side to get rid of the knots in his virtual muscles. Sirius stood up and shook his head, before reaching out a hand to help Asuna to her feet.

Kirito gently shook Mane before checking his temporary inventory for potions. Satisfied, he scanned the crowd for Diabel: he was pushing his way through the players, making for the door. Upon reaching them, he turned around and waited patiently for the crowd to organize itself and settle.

As they had twice before, the raiding party grouped up together in squads; A, B, C, and D in the front, E, F, and G in the back. The first four were delegated to attacking the boss himself, while the last three were to deal with the Sentinels.

Eventually, the entire group got itself in place and the sounds of movement ceased. The only noises came from the flickering flames in the torches above, dancing light duskily illuminating the room. Diabel waited until all was silent, then raised a hand.

"My friends... we are about to engage the first boss of Aincrad. It shall be our first step towards freedom."

Nobody spoke or cheered. Partly in respect towards Diabel, partly because the noise would attract hordes of monsters towards them.

"I have but one thing to say."

Diabel spread his arms. Then, he emotionally clenched his fist and swiftly brought it down in a fistpump. "Let us win!"

Silence. A few players grunted.

With no further words, Diabel turned and placed the palm of his hand against the cool steel doors. Responding to his touch, they slowly and steadily swung open, revealing a dark room.

Diabel drew the sword from his back, an «Anneal Blade», and advanced cautiously into the room, shield held at the ready. The vanguard followed.

Kirito felt the cool air on his cheek as he stepped into the room. Next to him, Mane clutched at his arm in fear. Weapon in the air, in a battle stance, Kirito narrowed his eyes and surveyed the room.

It was a wide room, but not as much as wide as it was deep; far from it. He estimated around twenty meters from the left side of the room to the right side. In front of him, the room stretched into the shadows, denying his «Searching» skill any information. On the side, ornate columns and swaying patterns of rock covered the walls, giving a feeling of timelessness.

A large "Klunk" sound echoed through the air and down the room, as if a giant switch had been flicked. A blaze of light spread out from the open doorway behind them, as the walls were fired up and began to emit multi-colored spectrums of prismatic light, bathing the room in an even, ethereal luster.

And as if it were a signal, a blur of red leaped towards the party from the opposite end of the hallway. With the distinctive clanking of equipment, «Illfang the Kobold Lord» smashed into the hard marble floor with a force strong enough to kick up dust clouds. Red skinned, with tufts of dark blue fur here and there, and a distinctively canine snout, Illfang reached both his hands up behind his back and drew the «Dire Bone Axe» with one hand and holstered the «Rounded Leather Buckler» on his other arm.

Then, throwing his head back, the beast roared. A guttural death challenge to those who dared to disturb him on his sacred grounds. The sound chilled Kirito down to the very bones. Mane, along with several other players, whimpered.

Four HP gauges materialized in the air next to him, curving around the left side of his head and shoulder. With a rapid series of beeps, they filled up with green until Illfang stood at full health. A final "Klang" resonated throughout the hall as the cursor, a violent bloody red color, blinked into existence along with his name, «Illfang the Kobold Lord». A skull icon appeared over the HP bar, denoting a floor boss.

Three pillars of light shimmered around the boss, and when the glow faded, three «Ruin Kobold Sentinels» stood at ready, weapons bristling. Their HP bars formed and filled, cursors appeared and glowed, the bone-white text bearing their names.

A moment of utter silence filled the hall.

Then at last, with four screams of primal fury, they charged.

Diabel straightened immediately, drew his sword back, and swung it in front of him, pointing directly at the Sentinel at the front. He shouted the fateful words.

"Commence the attack!"

And the roars from forty-two throats rose and mixed with the hissing screams from the enemies, as the raiding party leveled their weapons and rushed towards the boss.

Fifty meters separated the two sides.

Twenty-five meters.

Ten.

Then the edge of green was crossed and the chaos of combat was all that remained.

---

Kirito swung his sword in a quick generic «Double Slash» skill that knocked the mace wielded by the «Ruin Kobold Sentinel» aside.

Switch!

Catching the thought, Mane ran forward, Historica blazing with a silver light. The «Horizontal» caught the Sentinel directly under its helmet, causing a cloud of particles to fly and its HP to drop by a significant amount.

Heathcliff charged forward, shield held in front of him. With a clashing sound, he bashed the shield into the face of the helmeted lizard, knocking him off balance. Sirius and Asuna followed it up, blades flashing as Asuna drove her powerful «Linear» skill into the chest of the Sentinel and immediately jumped backwards, making way for Sirius' backhanded «Uppercut» to make contact.

With a shrieking cry, the monster was launched into the air, where it flipped once and landed on its feet, crouching for a moment and then charging at them once more. Heathcliff hefted his tower shield and raised his «Anneal Blade», ready to receive and counter.

All around them, the clanging of blade on blade and weapons on armor echoed off the shimmering walls. The walls shifted continuously, swirls of light and color crawling through the room, reflecting off the ceiling and floor.

And in the middle of it all, «Illfang the Kobold Lord» was swinging his axe back and forth viciously, the strength of his blows displacing the air. There was a sharp green spark, as two players countered with «Sword Skills» of their own, temporarily halting the boss' movement.

Diabel called out an order and with battle cries, a party of six; Squad B, headed by Agil, moved in and attacked. Multicolored streaks impacted against Illfang's thick hide, causing his health bar to shrink; the largest impact came from the «Steelborn Axe» wielded by Agil. The monster turned immediately, raising its weapon. The players scrambled to dodge as the weapon shined bright red, and none of them were caught in the crushing «Earth Breaker» that shook the floor. Of course, the floor, being an «Immortal Object», was not broken.

Illfang roared in contempt, half for effect, half to attempt to fear, or «Delay», the players around him. Luckily, none of Squad B were affected by the status condition. Diabel shouted, "Retreat!", and the squad disengaged and were replaced by Squad D and A. With a point of Diabel's sword, they attacked.

Two of Illfang's HP bars were empty: black-rimmed, colorless gauges that had no life in them. The third bar shone a bright red, and was only around a fifth full.

The fight had been going on for around half an hour. Diabel tirelessly called out the tactics and commands, rotating the attack squads in and out with clockwork precision. Under his precise orders, there had been no casualties, nothing that couldn't be fixed by a health potion. While the Tanks of the squads had taken a lot of damage, none of them had slipped into the dangerous red zone.

Squads E, F, and G dealt with and kept the Sentinels away from the main boss fight group. They had respawned twice already; once for every one of Illfang's depleted HP bars. When the Sentinel assigned to their group had been defeated, Diabel ordered that squad to join the rotation against the boss until the next group of Sentinels spawned.

Heathcliff tilted his tower shield upwards, and with a shower of sparks, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinel's» attack was deflected. It staggered to the side, unbalanced.

Five swords pierced its hide at the same time. With a shrieking scream of pain, the armored Kobold slowly froze, turned blue, and shattered. A quick notice popped up in everyone's vision to denote the experience and gold earned.

Kirito idly chided himself for joining the "overkill" of the monster, then nodded quickly to everyone.

"Good job."

They all nodded back. Mane, blinking rapidly and breathing hard, shuddered for a moment. Kirito quietly tried to comfort her. Asuna slowly moved over and held her hand.

Despite her usually carefree nature, Mane still had Thanatophobia: the fear of death. While she knew, rationally, that these Sentinels were not much a threat, she also knew a boss fight would be incredibly hard, with a much higher chance of death. Which caused her to feel extremely anxious and nervous.

She took deep, shaky breaths, and with an enormous force of will, momentarily calmed down. She gave them all a weak smile and managed to breathe out, "I... I'm okay."

Both Heathcliff and Kirito frowned. After some consideration, he reluctantly accepted it. Kirito patted her once more on the shoulder, then surveyed the battlefield.

The other two Sentinels had been exterminated. Squads E and F stood unoccupied, some of their members panting.

Then Diabel shouted, "The third bar has been depleted!"

Kirito looked up at the boss, and sure enough, the the last vestiges of red disappeared from the third HP gauge. On cue, three pillars of shining light coalesced and disintegrated, leaving behind three fresh «Ruin Kobold Sentinels». Their HP bars appeared and filled up, cursors and names were visualized, and they charged into battle.

Illfang screamed again, a cry with noticeably more fury and anger than before. Several of Squad A were affected with the «Delay» status effect, but their comrades dragged them to safety before anything could be done to them. The roar had barely left his mouth when he fell upon the raiding party once again.

The Sentinel on the left made a beeline straight for Squad G. This one carried a shield and sword combo, shield held high and sword drawn back. A typical stance.

Heathcliff solemnly raised his tower shield in the same manner. "Same tactics," he commanded.

Sirius grunted in affirmation, moving forward preemptively. Asuna followed close behind, «Edge Foil» hefted at shoulder height. Kirito dodged around to the side, and after some hesitation, Mane ran after him.

As he inched around the target to strike at the Sentinel's side while it was occupied by Heathcliff, Kirito thought back to Kibaou's words.

"If they didn't just run off and leave nine thousand players all alone, stranded and with no help, those two thousand dead people would still be alive!"

Was there anything else I could have done?

"Kirito!"

Sirius' voice brought him back to reality. He shook his head and lunged forward, catching the Sentinel's tail with an overhand «Vertical», slicing off around 5% of its HP. The lizard screeched in indignation, before hopping back and settling into a defensive stance.

Kirito charged forward, his «Anneal Blade» whistling in the wind behind him.

Is there anything I could do... right now?

With a chain of furious strikes, a web of dark blue light, he smashed through the Sentinel's defenses and activated the sword skill «Vertical Arc», slicing the Kobold in a V-shaped trajectory. With a hiss, the Sentinel retreated.

Kirito lay still for a moment as his skill cooldown period expended itself, then he fell back, drawing the Sentinel closer as its focus led it closer and closer to him.

In the blink of an eye, he re-engaged, locking blades with the Sentinel. Through the slits of its helmet, he could see two red eyes, glowing in the darkness.

They struggled for a moment, then the Sentinel snarled and fell back as two blades pierced its sides while it was preoccupied with Kirito. Sirius and Asuna charged, not willing to give up the advantage just yet. They attacked the Sentinel while it was off-balance and managed to push it back, dropping it into the yellow zone.

Kirito quickly swiped a potion from his pouch and drafted it, healing whatever damage he had sustained from his fight. Several scratches along his person, revealing the red wire frame of his character, sealed up. Now rejuvenated both in HP and a little bit by the sweet taste of the potion, he ran towards the Sentinel, sword at the ready.

"Switch!" Sirius called, sensing his approach.

With a clang, Sirius knocked the Sentinel's sword back. Asuna shouted wordlessly and her powerful «Linear» skill pushed away the shield. They both leaped to either side. Kirito's «Anneal Blade» glowed dark blue, and he jumped forward, his weapon flying over his head and cleaved straight into the creature's helmet.

The «Helm Splitter» skill did its work, shattering the headguard. Shards of steel burst in every direction, nicking Kirito in several places, though causing next to no damage.

A naked, scaly head with the distinctive dog snout was now exposed on the Sentinel's shoulders. To his right, Asuna covered her mouth with one hand and turned slightly green. Sparing no time for surprise, Kirito immediately followed it up with a hilt bash to the head.

The creature hissed and rolled away, HP dropping into the red zone. It straightened, then suddenly started to sway on its feet. A comical ring of stars circled above its head.

"«Stun»!" Kirito exclaimed. A status effect where the victim was immobilized and could not attack or defend. There was a small chance to stun if hit in the head, and multiplied by two if hit with a blunt object.

Heathcliff wasted no time and roared, "Everyone, attack!" He hefted his blade first and charged.

The poor Sentinel stood no chance. Five swords pierced straight through it at different angles. With a howl of anguish, the monster disintegrated.

Before they even had enough time to relax, a large scream came from the boss. Kirito whirled around to see Illfang crouching, eyes glowing a deep, blood red. His last HP bar had entered the red zone.

There was a stray "Clang!" as one of Squad B's swords, slightly after his comrades, smacked into the boss' stomach. It was repelled with a sharp purple effect, and a system message popped up, «Immortal Object».

The boss was about to change his attack patterns.

"Retreat!" Diabel shouted. Squad B hastily followed his order, creating some distance between them and the boss. The blue haired knight rushed to the forefront of the players, his shield up and ready.

Illfang watched them bemusedly, then drew himself forward. Several players cringed, but instead of charging, he flung himself back, releasing his hold on his armaments. With the sounds of metal on marble, the «Dire Bone Axe» and «Rounded Leather Buckler» fell to the floor and disintegrated. The boss then straightened up and bared his teeth.

"Squad C!" Diabel called. The group of players looked up, none more surprised than Kibaou. "Stay close, but not too close, cover me! I'll finish him myself!"

And with that, Diabel charged forward into No-man's land. With some hesitation, Squad C followed him, spreading out. The rest of the squads cheered their leader on, with calls of support. Illfang silently watched them with its beady eyes.

Kirito frowned. Alone?

Sirius stepped forward uncertainly, whereas Mane blinked unknowingly. Heathcliff's eyes narrowed, and Asuna stood still.

While it was indeed better to engage a Talwar user with less people, solo was taking it too far. It was always dangerous to engage a boss solo, even if you had the information. What Diabel was doing was pure foolishness.

...Is it to show off in front of the entire raiding party?

That was certainly possible. To increase his standing among the players. The man who organized the first floor raiding party, and defeated the boss himself. That kind of title and achievement would earn him a legendary ranking and status.

But still...

Even as Kirito had his doubts, Diabel settled into a skill stance. His sword flared a sky blue as he prepared his skill, ready to strike as soon as Illfang drew his weapon. There was a murmur of anticipation among the party.

Illfang roared a challenge, then laid his hand on the cloth wrapped hilt protruding from the sheath hung horizontally behind his waist. Diabel shouted wordlessly in response, a brave and defiant response, before charging forward, trails of light whispering behind his blade.

Dread abruptly coursed through Kirito's heart, which thumped and struggled like a trapped bird.

It was as if time had slowed down. Diabel was running forward in slow motion, wisps of power emanating from his sword. Illfang slowly ripped the Talwar out of the sheath with a long, drawn out steely screech. The sound grated through Kirito's ears and rattled his brain.

...No.

The sheath dropped to the ground, no longer tethered to the boss's back. It clattered once, twice, and exploded. Taking no heed of it, Illfang settled into a combat stance.

...No, no, no...

A «Talwar» was a curved-sword type weapon. It had a unique hilt design. Its blade was flat and keen along the edges, with a sharp tip honed to a point.

That's... that's not a «Talwar»...

What Illfang was holding in his hand had a blade much straighter than any «Talwar». It started out narrow near the handle, which was lacking the distinctive cramped crossguard, and widened out until the tip of the blade. The end of the sword was notched, and the whole thing gleamed dark grey, the shine of a forged weapon. It looked extremely heavy; Illfang's knuckles were strained white as he hefted the blade.

That's not a «Talwar».

The information suddenly popped into Kirito's head. Ninth floor, during the beta. A red-armored sub-boss monster. Same kind of sword.

That's... that's... a...

Katana-type weapon. Offensive battle style. Hits hard. The facts popped into Kirito's head one after another, fueled and created by pure horror.

That's a «Nodachi».

But only one stood out in his mind. If one had the strength to bypass its «Strength» requirement...

It's different from the beta! DIABEL!

The «Nodachi's» greatest advantage was during a one on one fight.

"STOP!" The word tore itself from Kirito's mouth.

Heads were turning his way, but he ignored them. He bolted straight for Diabel.

"Retreat! Retreat as fast as you can! DIABEL!"

Too late.

Diabel leaped forward, sword shining bright. Illfang drew the Nodachi back, and it burst into red, curving around his body in a deadly arc. The «Knight» swung his weapon to meet it.

With a flash of red, the «Anneal Blade» was knocked from its owners grasp, where it flew to the side and clattered to the floor. The Nodachi hardly faltered in its movement, continuing on its way straight into Diabel himself.

"Gack!"

Diabel choked as the weapon, twice his size, smashed into him with the speed of a truck. With a sinister tearing sound, Illfang tilted the blade's trajectory upwards, cutting through Diabel's body from hip to shoulder. The force of the blow sent him flying back into the air, and he dropped to the floor with a sickening crunch. He bounced twice and lay still.

The room was absolutely silent. The last echoes of Kirito's scream hadn't even faded and yet, Diabel lay broken, an ugly crimson tear in his torso, revealing the wireframe of his character. Nobody moved, everyone staring at Diabel's broken form.

And then Illfang showed them the folly of taking their attention away from him, rushing forward towards the distracted Squad C. He brought the Nodachi around again, and it flared with red power.

They didn't even have the time to open their mouths to scream.

Arcs of red light traced the gashes in the armor and skin of Squad C as Illfang executed the «Katana» skill «Gengetsu», a powerful but unstable skill that attacked in a half-circle with explosive force. While it wobbled and was inaccurate, it was extremely effective against enemies clumped together in front of you.

Which spelled doom for Squad C. All six of them were knocked flying, two crushed against walls and the others dropping to the floor like sacks. None of them had green HP bars anymore. The two who had been flung to the side were in the red.

Nobody moved. Sirius muttered a curse under his breath.

Then someone in the raiding party screamed.

Utter chaos broke out. A majority of the people completely lost their nerve and ran full-pelt towards the open doorway. Some tried to force their way forward. Pandemonium.

"Darn it!" Sirius ran towards the fallen players. "Go! Go help them!"

Kirito dashed forward as fast as his legs could take him. Not fast enough. The main boss fight had been taking place too far from where Squad G had engaged the Sentinel.

Illfang slowly stepped over to one of the fallen players. Feeling the bosses steps shaking the floor, the man scrambled up and raised his sword, shaking. His eyes were wide with terror.

A simple «Curved Sword» skill «Reaver» was enough to banish him from the world forever.

Kirito gritted his teeth and ran faster. Still not fast enough. There was a death scream as Illfang took care of yet another player. He turned to the next closest target.

"Diabel!"

Which was the fallen raid leader. Kirito quickly knelt next to him and wrapped his arms around his torso. His HP bar was red, hovering at around 10% full. From that one blow, 90% of his HP had been removed.

He wouldn't survive a single hit.

Diabel moaned, apparently in shock. While no pain was felt in Aincrad, players still felt the power behind each hit, and some would be mentally stunned as their body felt the blow, even if there wasn't any pain.

Kirito pulled with all his might, but his «Strength» value was too small to move a person that fast. Even as he inched Diabel across the marble floor, he could sense Illfang approaching them at a leisurely pace, as if mocking their helplessness.

"Darn it! Move! You aren't going to die! Diabel!"

The raid leader groaned, then blearily opened one eye.

"You... Kirito..." He gritted his teeth. "Leave... retreat!"

"No! I'm not letting you die!" Kirito tugged again. "I've let too many people die already!"

"No! Leave... leave me!" Diabel's eyes focused on something behind Kirito. "Now! This is... my fault. Go! ...Go NOW!"

Kirito released Diabel, straightened, and whirled around. The «Anneal Blade» was withdrawn from his sheath and held up to ward off a blow.

Even as he did so, Kirito realized how futile it was.

Up close, the Nodachi was gargantuan. Even more so was Illfang, casting both him and Diabel in a deep shadow. The boss appeared to be sneering, teeth bared in a detestable smile.

His arm was pulled back. A red halo appeared to surround his head, and Kirito belatedly recognized the stance. While it was designed for axes, the weight and cutting power of the Nodachi still worked perfectly fine with it.

It was the opening sequence for «Earth Breaker».

Despair completely overtook his mind. It was hopeless. He couldn't possibly block this skill, not even deflect it. There was no time. The only option was to take the blow.

...no, Diabel!

Diabel would still be hurt. He would not be able to hold back the skill. Even if he took the entire blow with his own body, the leader on the ground behind him would take collateral damage as a result of the area-of-effect nature of «Earth Breaker». His already low HP would be completely drained.

What can I do!?

There was nothing he could do. Kirito raised his blade in a defensive stance, the flat of his blade angled across his chest to absorb the most of the blow.

He knew, however, that it was not enough.

No! There has to be something! This cannot happen!

"Kirito-kun!"

With the authority of God himself, the blade began the downwards arc. A crimson bolt of judgement.

No!

"No!"

The light faded to darkness.

This won't happen!

"I don't want this to happen!"

Closer.

I'M NOT LETTING ANYONE DIE!

"I'M NOT LETTING ANYONE DIE!"

Contact.

---

"Kirito-kun."

I... I...

"Kirito-kun!"

I... Mane?

"Kirito-kun!"

Kirito opened his eyes. He looked numbly at the «Nodachi», quivering as the force it used to carry was absorbed by the two blades, locked together by the hilts, that stood firmly in front of him.

One of the swords was his «Anneal Blade». The other was a light sheen of blue, golden hilt designs, and held by someone next to him. The flat of the sword caught the light, winking at him knowingly.

Double... knife...defense?

It was a rare tactic among knife users against sword-type weapons, due to the fact it was extremely hard to master. It involved crossing the blades and locking the hilts, forming an X. One could then "catch" the sword in the V of the two blades and effectively neutralize the blow. However, the blades needed to be at just the right angle for their hilts to lock and blades to balance the force, or else the defense would be broken and the knife user would be severely hurt.

Kirito had never seen it being used with swords anymore. And that sword... that blue sword...

Historica? Mane?

"Kirito-kun... nobody else is going to die. I promise."

Somewhere in his mind, he saw the scene in front of him again, like a fading memory. Except, this one was from a different angle, from right next to him.

He turned his head at the same time Mane turned to face him. He watched her face through his eyes and watched his own face with her eyes.

Kirito felt... strange. He looked through Mane's orbs and viewed his own face: quiet, determined, and tense. He felt her grip on Historica, his warmth pressing against her shoulder and back. He knew her every thought, and from them, he knew she knew all of his.

At the same time, he retained control and sense of his own body. He watched Mane's face; scared, yet determined. He felt his own grip on the «Anneal Blade». He felt her body's warmth pressing against his own shoulder.

It all felt so disorienting.

And yet, at the same time, it all felt comforting. So familiar.

Mane... we..?

"Kirito-kun... together. Nobody is going to die anymore... We're together."

He knew what she meant. She didn't understand what was happening, either, but they both knew that they couldn't let anyone else die.

All this happened in the blink of an eye, the speed of thought. In front of them, Illfang snorted in surprise. The «Nodachi» was drawn back, and Illfang prepared himself for another attack.

Without hesitation, both of them leaped forward, already knowing what they should do. With a swift jab of silver light, Mane stabbed Illfang in the stomach. Even as the boss turned to counterattack, Kirito raised his blade and slashed at his arm, tearing a small gash in the tough skin.

They shared a quick moment of exchanging thoughts, then Kirito, who currently held the boss' aggro, attacked him one more time and jumped away. Illfang crouched to charged at him, and just as he began his rush, Mane broke his concentration by attacking his tail. Repeatedly, they inched Illfang away from Diabel's prone form, as well as the other fallen players.

Together, they struck at the boss over and over. Chaining their attacks, repeatedly attacking and wearing down its HP. They constantly switched tactics and the aggression between themselves. They didn't even need to think their thoughts to each other. They already knew.

Steadily, point by point, percent by percent, the last HP bar was being depleted.

Kirito attacked furiously, driving the «Anneal Blade» over and over again into the target. Illfang howled in pain, before whipping around with the Nodachi blazing bright red. From Mane's perspective, he could see the angle of the attack was directed upwards, signalling that the approaching skill was going to be an «Ukifune», which knocked opponents high into the air.

He ducked and leaped sideways as the extremely large blade came within an inch of cleaving his arm off. Rolling to his feet, Kirito executed a «Slant» attack to Illfang's back leg, leaving a large gash in his hide.

He felt Mane flinch for a second, felt her withdraw for a moment as she remembered, by looking at his memory, how close that sword had come to hitting him.

Then she shook her head and lunged, «Horizontal» neatly hitting its target. Yet, Kirito could feel Mane's hand shaking. He tried to soothe her with comforting thoughts. He guided her hand to attack again, then helped her retreat.

I will protect you... protect you all.

Finally, he and Mane both engaged the boss full-on, utilizing the principle of the «Double Knife Defense» and their flawless teamwork to slowly overpower the boss. Constantly shifting focus, always defending at the exact moments, together, their blades glowed, whirled around and struck time and time again, a frightening display of grey.

Together they fought, they danced. The air filled with the sound of life and death. They weaved pristine patterns of grey threads, mirroring each other on either side. They stuck together, one after another, in perfect rhythm.

Inch by inch. The boss' HP dropped to 5%.

A guttural scream filled the air as Illfang finally went full on offense, completely disregarding hate. The «Nodachi» swung down over and over again at a speed that was absurd. Kirito could feel the power of the blows as they rained down upon them.

Suddenly, he stumbled as a point of terror drove itself into his brain, before being quickly withdrawn. He sensed a blow coming down through Mane's eyes, and ducked, feeling the displacement of air ruffle his hair.

Mane was beginning to falter. Her willpower, her dam against Thanatophobia, was beginning to run out as the rain of death around her sapped her energy. They both knew that with their builds and equipment, two hits would spell instant death.

This needs to end quickly.

"I...it... I... ah!"

Kirito dashed under the shower of blows and scored another hit on the boss. He felt a sharp pang of fear drive into both his and Mane's heads before they crushed it with their minds. She dashed to the opposite side and attacked as well.

The fear was corrosive. Kirito could feel the sheer terror Mane was just barely holding back. It gnawed at the edges of his mind, the edges of her mind, just eating away at their concentration. He and Mane locked their blades together again at a single thought, absorbing the impact of the Nodachi. They both gritted their teeth and the same impulse, but Kirito also felt Mane's legs wobbling under the pressure.

Illfang attacked again and again, repeatedly smashing the weapon into their locked blades like a jackhammer. While the speed of the blows were increasing, the power behind each hit was also going down.

But Mane's power was gone too. With a final smash of the Nodachi, she stumbled to her knees.

Alarmed, Kirito mentally screamed, MANE!

"Kirito-kun...! I... I-I...Ahhhh!"

The fear overwhelmed her, and through their link, him. The sheer terror of death wrapped its suffocating arms around him. Kirito's mind blacked out for a moment under the feeling of horror, just as Mane blacked out at the same time. He could feel both of their bodies freeze.

When he regained control of his senses, Illfang was already beginning the downwards cut.

MANE!

The blade silently ripped a gash diagonally in her small body, from shoulder to hip. The force knocked her to the floor, where she lay limp. Her HP bar steadily fell to 30%.

Her eyes were wide with shock and fear.

MA-!

An explosion of pure pain tore a gaping hole in his mind and chest. Kirito screamed, completely consumed by the blaze. His mind was burnt blank, with the sole exception of one emotion: surprise.

WHA- *HRK* GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Kirito fell to his knees, clutching his chest. His eyes were open but unseeing as he toppled over sideways onto the floor. Nothing remained but the pain and his screams.

The pain... It hurts...

The pain. A long diagonal flaming whip of pain that stretched from his shoulder to his hip.

Where!... *Gck!* NRRAAGHHHH!-... when!?...

Tears leaked out of his eyes. All rational thought had been destroyed. As if his entire upper torso had been torn apart.

He could no longer feel Mane's mind. He was alone, completely isolated, surrounded by the foreign wall of agony that ripped apart his soul upon contact.

Mane...!

An image floated in the smoldering remains of his mind: a large, pulsing tear in his body. Glowing a blood red, snapped wireframes lining the edges. It was what his eyes were seeing at that moment.

...How!? How... is there *gasp* pain!?

A low, tortured moan ripped itself out of his throat. Illfang spared him a short, condescending glance, before turning towards Mane's unmoving body.

No.. no... Mane...!

Alarm shot through his heart. He tried to rise, but faltered and struck the floor as the gash in his chest flared, dragging him deeper into a world of hurt. He grimaced and dragged himself forward with one hand, the other crossed across his wound.

Mane!

He couldn't let her die. Kirito knew he couldn't. He would never be able to live with himself. He leaped forward, heedless of the burning fire whose intensity nearly caused him to faint.

He collided with and pushed her aside just as Illfang roared and dropped the blade. With a clean, neat *snip*, the large katana sliced into Kirito's left calf.

Even as they tumbled away, Kirito's mind was blasted to pieces by the agony shooting up his leg. They rolled into the wall, both their heads smacking against the hard stone with a bone-crunching thud. Stars blinked in Kirito's vision.

His coughed, gasping for breath even though it hurt to do so. He weakly clutched at Mane, holding her small form close. She whimpered, eyes clouded with emotion and pain.

"Kirito-kun…" Mane whispered, then she lost all of her strength and fell against him.

Mane… *Hrk* Gah…. Mane…

"It… hurts, Kirito-kun… It hurts… this… is pain…? It hurts… so much…"

She slowly thought the words, punctuated by spouts of agony, and closed her eyes tiredly. Fear and pain wracked her body, causing her to shiver, even though she was tired to the point where she couldn't move herself at will.

Mane was feeling it too. The agony, the terror, the exhaustion. Kirito couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on inside her mind. Pure chaos...

Kirito squinted open his eyes, half-blinded by pain, as he felt the floor shake slightly underneath him, and dumbly beheld Illfang as the boss limped towards them. The «Nodachi» hung loose in the boss' grip, dragging along on the floor behind him. Out of four gauges, only around 3% of its HP remained.

In his own HP bar, only a few measly lines remained.

Kirito pulled Mane closer, not noticing the agony that shot up and down his chest area. He stared defiantly at the oncoming monstrosity.

The Kobold Lord halted in front of them. The smile was gone from its snout. Quietly, the gigantic katana creaked as its weight left the floor and was raised.

Kirito and Illfang silently, emotionlessly regarded each other. The black haired swordsman protectively tucked Mane tighter against him with one arm, and raised his sword with the other, ignoring the fire racing across his torso; nothing else mattered anymore. The red-skinned monster blinked twice.

Then, silently, the Nodachi dropped. It didn't even have the light of a «Sword Skill», yet both of them knew it was enough.

Kirito watched the blade drop down, closer, closer.

He closed his eyes.

"CLANG"

He opened his eyes.

A red-clad figure, gigantic tower shield held up to block the Nodachi. «Anneal Blade» held to the side.

"...Hea-*hrk* ...Heathcliff?"

With a deep grunt, the man in front of him exerted a tremendous amount of force, and actually managed to push Illfang back. He shifted forward in a defensive stance, continuously advancing, shoving them both away from the two limp players lying against the wall.

Suddenly, Kirito felt several hands grab at him. He instinctively bent over, pulling Mane in, to shield her from whoever was attacking him. He flailed around with his arm, the weapon having already dropped to the floor.

"Darn it, Kirito! I'm not an enemy! Kirito! What happened!?"

Sirius...

He tentatively stopped and looked up. Barely, he could just make out two silhouettes cast against the rainbow light cast by the ceiling. One of them was kneeling next to him, shaking him.

"Kirito! Are you okay!? Mane! What happened?" A muttered curse. "Darn it, respond! Say something!"

"Mane... Mane!" The other form rushed over and laid a hand on Mane's shoulder.

...everyone...

Heathcliff... Sirius... Asuna...

Kirito chose to somewhat relax, which turned out to be a big mistake. No longer held back, all the pain that he had been ignoring up until now drowned him like a tidal wave.

He heard muttering, then the feeling of someone dragging him. The movement flared his wound, fuel on the flames. He shuddered, shivered, whimpered.

The pain rose around him like a bonfire, burning through his entire being. Surrounded by agony.

Then the flames were doused by eternal darkness and Kirito was dropped into the void.

---

Kirito coughed, partly because his lungs hurt, partly because somebody was shaking him violently.

"Kirito! Wake up, darn it!"

One eye slowly opened, then squeezed shut. Cautiously, it opened again, followed by the other orb.

"Thank goodness..." He heard a sigh come in front of him. Unlike his usual exhales, this one was of relief.

The room was much darker than before, lit only by the numerous torches hung along the wall. The prismatic light from the walls and ceiling had faded, leaving the room cast in shadow.

Kirito blinked several times, clearing his clouded vision. The whole raiding party was there, some cheering, some sobbing in happiness. The sounds of celebration rang throughout the hall. People were patting each other on the back, screaming in delight, checking their stat screens as most of them had leveled up with Illfang's death.

Though, it looked like some were sobbing for a different reason.

Squad G stood aside, huddled around Mane and Kirito, separated from the rest of the party by about five meters. Their section was noticeably more quiet.

Kritio's chest throbbed. While most of the pain had subsided, his entire being still ached horribly. Moving his arm, he winced at the lances of fire that raced up his chest.

"Easy there. What happened?" Sirius softly asked.

"I...I don't know."

"We were pulling away the injured players when we saw both of you collapsing. We rushed over as fast as we could, but you took another hit." Sirius quietly literated, leaning in to let himself be heard over the celebratory din. "You nearly died. Both you and Mane. Two percent left."

Kirito shuddered, then grimaced at the retaliatory spark. "...that close?"

"Yup. You're still that close. Drink this." Sirius tapped the potion he held in his left hand.

Kirito slowly gulped it down, watching as his health bar slowly refilled. Suddenly, he bolted upright, gasping, "Mane! Where...!?"

"Easy, Kirito... she's right next to you."

He fell back, head turning. Sure enough, her prone form lay next to him. As he locked his eyes onto her, she stirred, eyes flickering open.

"Mane... are you okay? I..."

"...Kirito-kun..." She whispered his name.

"Mane... I, I'm sorry." Kirito paused, not knowing what to say.

"Here." He heard Asuna kneel down next to Mane. "Your HP is low... drink this."

Turning his head away from the girls, Kirito glanced over to see Heathcliff kneeling next to him. The red paladin laid a hand on his shoulder. His expression, surprisingly, was sad. Worried, even.

"Please... tell us everything. What happened. Every detail."

Kirito squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't talk about it. It was too confusing. But above all, it was between him and Mane. He couldn't just tell them... they probably wouldn't even understand.

"Tell them."

Mane's voice, still barely a whisper, floated over to him. His eyes blinked open, startled. Asuna backed off for a moment, before shifting next to Sirius.

"Tell them. They're friends. They have a right... to know." She sighed and fell unconscious, tired beyond belief.

But even he didn't know. What had happened, why their minds had linked, why the damage dealt to Mane had been dealt to him too, why it had all hurt so much.

How do I tell them? Even I don't know what...

Abruptly, they were interrupted by a large round of applause. All four of them, minus Mane, looked up to see the whole raiding party clapping. Some called out various forms of praise. Stunned, Kirito watched several people wave towards them.

Agil stepped out of the crowd and walked towards them, solemn and straight. He stopped in front of them and nodded.

"We owe our victory to you guys. You three..." Agil directed to Heathcliff, Sirius, and Asuna. "...stepped in and organized us when we were in chaos after Diabel was struck down. Thank you for leading us in the final charge."

Heathcliff and Sirius simply nodded in consent. Asuna blushed and looked at her feet, suddenly shy.

Agil looked over at the fallen Kirito. He knelt down to his level, and began to speak, loud enough for the now-quiet crowd to hear.

"You helped bring our morale back. Most of us were completely terrified of that monster, the one who had nearly killed our leader in one hit. We all thought it was hopeless. But you, you and her, showed us it was possible to beat that thing. Thank you."

Kirito was completely flabbergasted and at a loss for words. "I-I, um, no-wait, Diabel? Diabel, is he okay?"

"He's fine now. Nothing a potion couldn't heal. He wants to see you later."

"Why should we thank him!?"

The sudden outburst startled both Kirito and Agil into silence with its abruptness. The giant axe-wielder straightened and moved aside, allowing Kirito to see the speaker.

Kibaou, Cactus-head himself, had shoved his way to the front of the crowd with several of Squad C. Actually, the remaining three players of Squad C, Kirito now remembered; two of them had perished.

His voice echoed loudly through the hall, now that the entire area was as silent as a tomb.

"Why should we thank this guy, this beta tester, this guy who let two people die and who almost killed the four of us!"

Kirito blinked in confusion. "I... let two people die?"

"Yes, you idiot beta tester!" Kibaou waved his arms indignantly. "You knew! You knew the boss' attack patterns! The way you fought, even though that monster killed..." He shuddered. "...so easily, you knew! That's how you survived! You knew that the boss data we got from the guide was wrong!"

The crowd started to whisper amongst itself.

"I bet you're on a higher level than all of us." Kibaou accused, pointing a finger. "You know, know everything, don't you? Hunting grounds, best quests, any field traps, the best items and monster drops, best skills, best techniques! You even knew the attack patterns of the boss that wasn't in that manual!"

Then his eyes lit up. "That manual... that informant. That sneaky rat. Trying to get us all killed with false information!"

The whispers rose to murmurs. Murmurs of bewilderment, but most of the party looked like they agreed with Kibaou's statement.

Kirito steeled himself, then protested, "That type of weapon... it was found on a monster on the ninth floor. It's a monster-only sword. That's how I knew. The boss, Illfang, during the beta, he still carried a Talwar. That strategy guide was correct... during the beta."

"During the beta! During the beta! It all comes down to you blasted beta testers, doesn't it!?" Kibaou roared. With a steely hiss, he ripped the sword out of its sheath and whipped it around wildly, emphasizing every word.

"Why didn't you just share all that information? Why didn't you all just do that!? Why didn't you tell us what a Talwar really looked like! We could have been more prepared! Diabel wouldn't have nearly died! My friends... they wouldn't have died if it wasn't for you! All these people here, you nearly killed them all! You filthy, cheating BETA TESTERS!"

The crowd's conversation started to become dangerous, angry looks being sent in Squad G's direction. Some of them laid their hands on their weapons.

Kirito instinctively huddled closer to Mane, eyes narrowing. The atmosphere had become unstable, hostile intent directed at him and all beta tester. His mind raced, trying to find a logical solution but simply unable to.

"All of you beta testers deserve to die. It's only right. For those two thousand people, for the two people who died today, you guys don't deserve to live. Any of you."

Kibaou ominously growled the words as he marched towards them. The sound of his boots echoed off the cold, colorless walls, ringing repeatedly. His three followers walked close behind him. The sword in his hand swung back and forth.

"I'm sure everyone would agree. Now, I'm not sure whether the rest of you bastards are beta testers, but I do know for sure that this black gutless worm sure is one of them. Curse you, all of you spineless cowards!"

Kibaou stopped in front of Kirito. Uncertain, Kirito gazed blankly into Kibaou's eyes. Like before, Kibaou emitted an intense vengeful aura. His eyes blazed with deadly emotion, mouth open in a twisted snarl. The hateful pupils dilated, looking to something over Kirito's shoulder: his HP bar. Kirito instinctively flicked his eyes towards the upper-left hand corner of his vision; he was still regenerating health, level at around 20%. The color was still bright red.

Kirito's heart dropped into the floor. Something bad was about to happen.

Cactus-head hissed, "You and your kind... you can all go to hell."

There was no time to react. With a deadly ring, the sword flashed orange and whipped around in a circle, seeking Kirito's undefended head. He could only widen his eyes in surprise.

Wha-!?

For a moment, Kirito watched as the flaming orange blade fell upon him in slow motion. Behind the blade, lit by the shining light, was Kibaou's face, an expression of pure revulsion upon it.

Then a blur of silver, and Sirius was there, blade glowing a dark grey as it swung forward and intercepted Kibaou's, sparks of both colors flicking off in every direction. Kibaou's eyes widened; obviously, he had not expected anybody to be able to react with such a speed.

Taking advantage of his surprise, Sirius grunted and put his full strength into a shove, breaking Kibaou's «System Assist» in a shower of light and pushing him back. The attacker wheeled his arms and stumbled backwards before being caught by his three companions.

Everyone was stunned. Even Heathcliff, normally unbreakable and unreachable, had his mouth slightly open. The raw aggressiveness of the action had done that.

Sirius and Kibaou stared at each other, incredulous to malevolence. The silver-haired boy whispered, "You would go so far as to commit a Player Killing?"

Player Killing. Ever since the beginning of the death game, Kirito had never forgotten that concept. The fact still remained, that outside of an area under the influence of the «Area Protection Code», a player could die from anything. Monsters, traps, falls from a great height. Even other players.

But PK now meant real death. It was akin to murder. Which meant, the man in front of him had just tried to commit murder.

To kill him. Him, Kiriyaga Kazuto, known as Kirito in this deadly world.

Kibaou grimaced and seethed with fury as his companions helped him regain his balance. "Not just me. All of us. We want justice for our dead friends! Justice, for this disgusting beta tester! A filthy, cheating beta tester! Everyone here, knows at least one person, who died because of someone as disgusting as you!"

Despite the irrational thought behind those words, it was nonetheless true. Dark glances and mutterings were being thrown their way as many of the party members remembered loved or close ones who had died to monsters. Someone muttered a swear word, followed by "Beta Testers..."

The hostility in the air was bared, now that Kibaou had announced it. Heathcliff's armor clicked as he shifted the tower shield towards the rest of the raid party, his other hand lightly touching the «Anneal Blade» sheathed at his waist. Agil's brow furrowed as he recognized the gravity of the situation.

A slither of steel filled the air as one of Squad D drew their sword. Several other players nodded, some whispering to their comrades. Others watched the proceedings intensely. Kibaou sneered, confident in his position. They were all on his side now. They might not do the deed themselves, but they were on his side.

Kirito struggled to stand, but collapsed to one knee. He looked grimly at the players before him, each and every one of them staring with different emotions in each gaze.

He remembered reading something about this kind of situation in a book about Do-it-yourself MMO guild politics. Methods of persuasion; emotional appeal through past traumatic experiences could instantly switch someone over to your side. Kibaou had done that. Next, lead the way. Both his followers and Cactus-head himself had drawn their swords to avenge wrongs done against everyone.

He had most of the raiding party behind him. Kibaou, while, as Heathcliff had said, a little unstable, was evidently a skilled orator. Perhaps on an equal level with Diabel's skills, even.

Grudging admiration would get him nowhere in the current situation, however. Kirito knew that. The crowd was against him, and would say nothing to his death. Mane was unconscious. Asuna, Sirius, Heathcliff, and Agil were with him, but they couldn't do anything against over ten people, much less thirty-four of them.

He couldn't let them get hurt for his sorry sake. Kirito opened his mouth to talk.

"W-wait!"

The voice, young and innocent and completely shattering the tension that pervaded the atmosphere rang out, and a small form pushed its way out of the crowd.

Kirito numbly watched him as the boy ran over, past a completely dumbfounded Kibaou. He stopped before him; it was the boy who had spoken out during the meeting, the boy who Kirito had taught on the second day of this game, little under a month ago. Kirito vaguely recalled them being the same age.

"Wait!"

The boy studied his face closely, before bobbing his head once and opening his mouth. "It's you! I thought you looked familiar, it is you! You're the guy that helped us!"

Kirito nodded blankly. The boy turned to the frozen party. "Guys! This is the guy I was talking about!"

A light murmur began in the crowd. The kid nodded earnestly.

"Yeah! He is! I thought he had looked familiar, he really is the guy that helped us! He's not a bad guy, even though he's a beta tester!"

Two other players ran over, and Kirito belatedly recognized them as a few of the other people that he had taught. He hadn't remembered them as clearly as he had the kid, and therefore wasn't able to identify them during the meeting and boss fight. They stood behind the kid, and they all exchanged looks of support.

"He taught all three of us! Without him, we would not have even survived the first day... beta testers aren't all bad people!"

His friends nodded in agreement. The audience began to talk, swaying between the sides, uncertain. Kibaou could feel it, and he shouted out, desperate to regain lost ground, "Don't listen to him, he's probably a beta tester himself! All of them!" He pointed indignantly at Squad G. "All of you! Thrice-blasted beta testers and their accomplices!"

But the kid, with his honest and unbiased voice and tone, proved to be far more persuasive than Kibaou's promises of violent revenge. Heathcliff carefully watched the crowd, and determined they had gained a foothold. He nodded to Agil.

Agil cleared his throat, gathering attention. "While the beta testers are certainly not blameless, they did try to help in their own ways. I'm sure many beta testers contributed to the creation of this booklet, which might have been wrong here, but has been very accurate otherwise. I'm sure some of you guys are beta testers as well... we all worked together to defeat the boss. We should look to the future, not the past, if we ever want to escape this death game."

"Thank you for that, Agil-san."

Once again, the room fell deathly silent as a familiar voice was heard. The players parted to let Diabel walk through.

The knight looked much worse for the wear. His armor, once shiny and new, now had next to zero durability left, pitted with scratches, cracks, and dents. The shield was missing, apparently destroyed, and the sword in the sheath looked battered and worn. Diabel himself looked ten times more weary, though his HP was steadily increasing due to the potion he held in his right hand. His face looked like it had aged twenty years.

"What is the meaning of this, Kibaou?" Diabel murmured, drawing everyone's attention.

For a moment, some other emotion was apparent on Kibaou's face, other than rage. It was quickly wiped and Kibaou blustered, "This disgusting person, this beta tester, he responsible for the two deaths, he's responsible for you almost dying!"

"He saved my life."

The short and simple answer was borne by a tone that radiated the words Shut Up. Kibaou was shocked into silence.

"He saved my life, and the fate of this raid. These people, Squad G, are the only reason we are here, in this room, victorious. We should be going back with the news, bringing hope back to the dismal state of Starting City. To all the other players who still wallow in despair. Yet here I find you..." Diabel flung his arm out contemptuously. "...here, stirring up hatred, old grudges and revenge in our finest hour. What is the meaning of this, Kibaou?"

"He killed two of my friends!"

"I killed two of your friends."

Cactus-head opened his mouth to respond, but then paused as his brain registered the unexpected words that Diabel spoke. In fact, the whole party was stunned, unable to make sense of the statement.

Diabel's tone was tinged with regret. "I killed them. It was because of my pride; I freely admit it. I thought I could take on the boss alone, so I called upon you to cover me. Even though I did not know that the weapon had changed since beta, I still should have not engaged it solo. That... was a serious error of judgement on my part."

He inclined his head towards Kibaou. "I am sorry", he whispered, yet it could be heard by everyone. "It was my fault. All of this."

Kibaou struggled, eye twitching. A conflict of emotions seemed to rage inside of him. Finally, he growled, "If this gutless worm here had just told you, then maybe-"

"None of us could have known that it had changed since the beta. There is no possible way for that to happen. Stop, Kibaou." Diabel's voice grew hard."Stop trying to frame the beta testers. The tragedy that happened here... your two friends, their deaths were not caused by beta negligence. They were caused by the madman that rules this world, Kayaba Akihiko. Or have you already forgotten that day?"

Silent and enraptured, the raid group listened as Diabel continued. Kirito listened, spellbound.

"The day when we were trapped into this horrid death game. When we lost our freedom. This is what we are fighting for, Kibaou. Not revenge on beta testers. We are not fighting for the past." Diabel clenched his fist and raised it into the air. "We are fighting for our future. Our freedom, our liberation from this world. And to do that, we need to work together."

"No more, Kibaou. We need all the help we can get. We must work together, beta tester or not. Please, Kibaou, do not hate; a hateful heart is the most dangerous weapon of all."

The emptiness that filled the room was unfathomable. Diabel slowly lowered his arm.

Heathcliff moved, politely bringing his gauntleted hands together, clapping. Slowly, the room, was filled with the sound of applause as they followed Heathcliff's lead, cheers and whistles from one or two people. Kibaou stood in the middle of it all, frozen to the spot and completely incredulous.

As the applause faded away, Kibaou regained control of his motor and vocal functions. Closing and opening his fist, he desperately spluttered, "This beta tester! This filthy cheater! H-he, he tried to attack me! He's an evil, selfish-"

Diabel turned an icy gaze upon him. A gaze filled with cool disgust. "He is far better than you, a person who attempted murder. On one of the two people responsible for our victory, no less. The very person who saved my life!"

"Kibaou."

His name was like a bucket of cold water. Cactus-head backed up.

Diabel's order was swift and unforgiving. "If you refuse to stop disturbing the peace, Kibaou, leave. There is no room for irrational hate among us."

"Wh-wha!?"

"Leave. If you refuse to stop hating beta testers, you will never, ever be able to help clear the game."

Kibaou's eye twitched, his mouth open in a perfect "o". He looked around; it was evident that no one among the party was on his side anymore. This time, everyone was looking at him with hostility.

He gritted his teeth, turning towards Kirito, who was still kneeling on the floor. The words that followed dripped with raw hatred. The orbs above gleamed with primal fury.

"You... beta tester. Mark my words, someday... all you cheating betas will suffer. I guarantee, I will make sure that, all you beta testers will GO TO HELL, AND ROT IN IT!"

Kibaou whipped around and stormed off towards the exit. His companions, Squads C and D, followed him. Just before he reached the door, Kibaou turned to fire one last word back at Kirito.

"Beater."

And with that, he crossed over the green edge of the boss room's floor and vanished into the darkness beyond.

---

Diabel stood alone with Squad G in the boss room as he saw off the remaining players of the party. With the death of Illfang, for an hour, all monsters would disappear from the dungeon, so the boss raiders would be able to travel back to safety peacefully. Due to that, there was no problem for them to go back slightly later.

The raid leader's knowledge of that furthered Kirito's assumption. They watched the last stragglers head out of the boss room before turning to face each other. Silently regarding each other.

Kirito had mostly recovered by now, still feeling incredibly sore. Mane still lay unconscious in a fitful sleep, shuddering from time to time. He knelt down and gently slipped an arm around her shoulder and under her legs, picking her up.

She seemed to calm down a little, snuggling against Kirito's shoulder. He smiled slightly, the first sign of positive emotion he had displayed for a long time. The expression faded as he looked back up at Diabel.

"You were a beta tester."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. Diabel nodded solemnly.

"And that final solo attack wasn't because of your pride. It was-"

"The «Last Attack Bonus» rare item. Correct." Diabel hung his head. "It was a foolish thing to do. It cost the lives of two members of this raiding party... their demise was my fault."

Squad G silently regarded Diabel's sullen form as he gathered his thoughts, then the knight looked back up. "It was my fault. So that is why... I will fight for the clearing of this death game. Not for myself, anymore. For everyone trapped in this world."

He directed his words at Kirito. "You saved my life; I am forever in your debt."

Kirito opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Sirius. He cleared his throat before stepping forward. "Diabel, about Kibaou."

"That man... yes?"

"What will happen to him?" Sirius gestured with his arm towards Kirito and Mane. "That guy just tried to PK Kirito, tried to kill him! Is it really alright to just let him waltz away like that?"

"We can't do anything." Diabel frowned thoughtfully. "PK is a very serious issue. I don't think, anyone other than those who participated in the raiding party, will believe us if we told them. The concept of death and killing, the people in starting city cannot fully understand it yet. And we ourselves cannot punish Kibaou. Unless you want to commit retaliatory PK?"

Sirius quickly shook his head. Diabel glanced at his upturned palm "There you have it. I, personally, would like to see him reprimanded, but there is no concrete justice system in this world. In fact, Player Killing is allowed by the system. It is encouraged in a game such as this. This is still, fundamentally, a game, with PvP capabilities. Thus, we can do nothing."

The silver-haired boy scowled. "There must be something we can do! We can't just-"

Asuna moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Sirius flinched at the touch, before looking into the girl's face. Something passed between them, and he sighed, deflating slightly.

"...I'm sorry. Yes. But is there anything we could do to prevent it in the future?"

"PKing during the beta caused the cursor to turn orange", Diabel recalled absently. "Orange cursored players are not allowed into the villages, and are therefore never protected by the «Area Protection Code». After a week or so, the cursor will return to normal, but repeated PKs may result in a permanent change." The knight thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps, if I can spread the word of this, any future attempts to kill will be stopped."

Asuna blinked, before venturing, "I don't think that would really help, though."

"It will. Everyone, all the players in Aincrad, are afraid of death. Without the protection of the «Code», they will never have respite from possible death. Which will encourage people not to PK, I hope." Diabel sank back into thought before shaking his head. "Kibaou was a freak case. I'm sure only a few people would dare to go that far in the future. You needn't worry."

Sirius sighed. "Thank you for trying, anyway."

Heathcliff coughed politely, before notifying them, "Half an hour remains until monsters will reappear in the dungeon. We had best activate the transport portal to the second floor and head back."

"Yes, we had better." Diabel turned away. "I think you five should do it. We do owe our victory to you, after all."

"We're not going back."

Two surprised sets of eyes and one neutral fell upon Kirito as he uttered his statement. Only Sirius didn't react, as he and Kirito had already discussed this before. Mane was still asleep.

"We... Mane, Sirius, and I. We're going to go directly onto the second floor and head to the village there. We can activate the gate as we pass through. The teleport gate on the first floor will be connected two hours later."

Sirius nodded silently in confirmation. Diabel looked at them questioningly, then seemed to realize something, and tilted his head understandably. Asuna blinked several times.

"We will scout ahead." Sirius offered. Heathcliff consented, armor clanking as he stepped back.

"Very well. It is your choice. Do stay safe."

Kirito wondered if he had felt slightly awkward in the conversation; he had barely said a word. Sirius stepped forward and motioned Asuna aside, before talking to her quietly.

Then Kirito focused back on Diabel.

"And Diabel, you saved us by sending Kibaou off. We're even, alright? No debt."

Diabel grudgingly smiled. "Very well."

Mane groaned, then murmured something unintelligible before sighing and relaxing again in Kirito's arms. Kirito took a moment to watch her face, then a glowing light caught his attention and he looked up.

|| Diabel would like to be your friend!

|| - Accept

|| - Decline

"Just in case." Diabel added.

Kirito moved to accept, then realized both his hands were occupied. He shifted uncomfortably, tilting Mane forwards so he could touch the "accept" button.

"Well... I must take my leave now. You three are continuing, correct?" Nods from Kirito. Diabel turned to Heathcliff and Asuna. "What about you two?"

Heathcliff merely inclined his head towards the exit, signifying that he would return to «Tolbana». Sirius and Asuna exchanged some final words, before Sirius sent a friend request to Asuna. She accepted, then to Diabel: "I'll go back down."

"Very well." Diabel looked back at the three who were leaving. "Here we part ways. Farewell."

Kirito nodded silently. The three of them turned and began their way back. Heathcliff watched them for a few seconds more, searching them with a piercing gaze. Then he turned to follow.

Both he and Sirius watched as they stepped out of the room, fading into the darkness. Sirius watched Asuna closely; before she disappeared from sight, she gave a fleeting smile to Sirius.

Perhaps she does have some hope now after all.

Then Kirito looked at Sirius and cheekily asked, "So you found yourself a girlfriend?"

Sirius spluttered and nearly choked. Kirito laughed out loud. It felt good to laugh.

"Wha-wha-!? No!"

Kirito's mirth quieted down into a chuckle, before he smiled. "Just joking."

Sirius glared at him before the corner of his mouth twitched upwards as well.

Friends... it feels... nice to have friends.

Friends he could rely on. Mutual bonds of trust.

Kirito wondered for a while, what had really happened back there? They had always been able to hear each other's thoughts randomly, but during that fight, it was as if they were completely connected. He still remembered, they had somehow shared their mind and body.

He looked down and watched her peaceful sleeping face. The face that looked so much like his.

Whatever it was... she will always be my friend.

"Kirito, let's go." Sirius waved over towards the opposite end of the hall, where a large door was inscribed into the wall.

The boy moved along, pausing as Mane shifted in his arms. She let out a long breath and relaxed.

When Sirius laid a hand on the door, it creaked open, revealing a staircase. Kirito could see a faint blue glow up ahead, coming from the swirl of power that was the teleport gate to the second floor.

The light danced on their faces, a swirl of blue color alighting from the wall to their faces to the open doorway; a shining ball of lux levitating in the air between two stone columns that arced over the sphere. It pulsed from time to time, spilling tendrils of cyan into the air.

Sirius gestured. "You go first."

Kirito stepped forward, then suddenly thought of Kibaou. He knew the rage that man had, the burning fire in his eyes. Something twinged inside of him.

He really hates beta testers.

And just now, that descending sword, that face full of evil satisfaction, unnerved Kirito. That man had the will to kill. It was something he had never experienced before, killing intent with your life on the line. Kirito let out a deep, shuddering breath.

He blinked as he remembered something and turned to face Sirius. "Thank you... for saving me. From Kibaou."

"Don't thank me." His silver hair appeared to shine with latent luster under the gate. "We're friends. Friends do that for each other."

Kirito opened his mouth, then closed it. A warm feeling of gratitude rose up in him, and he swallowed before dipping his head.

He looked back at the glowing nexus of power, and stepped forward into it.

---

Author's Note

Fun stuff. Yayz~

At least this wasn't the 26,000 chapter I had planned originally. Thanks once again to Catsy for the help.

Well, we see something interesting between Mane and Kirito! Nothing much else to say...

Now, I will probably take a week off so I can 1) brainstorm a bit more and plot more stuffz and 2) catch up on school. Gosh, I really need to catch up, I've got a B+ in AP US History x.x

Well, until next time, Bai bai~

Review Answers

I've noted the fact that my story is a little different from Canon. Durability is a separate value, not counted in enhancements. Vitality exists, whereas in canon is was only strength and agility. Well, I sort of didn't know that when I started writing, so it's set in stone now! But it feels more right this way anyways, so Durability will stay separate, and vitality will continue to exist.

Sirius will probably have his past threshed out in later chapters, but not this one. Maybe next chapter, though.

Again, romance won't be the main point of the story. There will be tinges of it, I hope, though. Makes it slightly more interesting.

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Thanks to RainbowLalaland and all my friends on the SAO chat for helping with this chapter!

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I do not own Sword Art Online. All canon characters and setting belongs to Kawahara Reki. The OCs and story itself belong to me.