February 1st, 2023 (Floor 22: Mesprit)

Mesprit was a peaceful little town. Surrounded by lakes and forests, I decided that I could have spent a lifetime in such a town.

"You'd get bored in like four days," Blake pointed out dryly. I scowled but, after a moment of thought, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. This lazy life isn't for me... What about you guys?" I asked with a sly grin. It was no secret- at least not to Maisie and I- that Kirito had a thing for Asuna. And, despite her usually high-and-mighty attitude, she had a soft spot for the classic hero-archetype that Kirito represented.

"I don't know," Kirito answered first. "There's just so much else for me to see and do, you know?"

"Like avenge all of the fallen and pierce the heart of the 100th boss, freeing us all from this torment?" Blake interjected. Kirito scowled but was silent. Asuna hummed.

"I think this place is romantic. I could spend a lifetime here, if I was with the right people."

Maisie and I exchanged a knowingly glance and I slung an arm around her shoulder.

"Would those right people happen to include your resident band of nutjobs and martyrs?"

"I think the real question is: who are the nutjobs and who are the martyrs?" Heidan asked in a low voice to Blake, who had to cover the resulting laugh with a cough. I scowled at him and he raised an eyebrow. "Wow, your hypersense is on overdrive, isn't it?"

January had been a whirlwind and February indicated, at least so far, that it was going to follow that pattern. We'd cleared 19 floors in less than two months, with all of the Hunters levelling quickly. Kirito and I no longer had much competition; due to the extensive time I put into smithwork, I was solidly one level higher than him. He pretended not to care much but I knew it bothered him. Naturally, I pointed it out to him whenever I could.

Today was the day we took on the 25th floor boss. Based on the fields, the field bosses, and the labyrinth we had to trudge through to even track down the boss room, this one was going to be a doozy but I had faith that it would be okay. The Hunters had made it through all of the other battles cleanly and I wasn't going to let this one be any different.

Oh, how naive I was.

The congratulations banner hanging above our heads was a joke, a vicious joke that rubbed salt in our many wounds and twisted the dagger still in our backs.

It was all thanks to Kibaou. Everything could be traced back to his stupid pride and his childish need for attention. He rushed the boss room early, before the rest of the raid party had shown up. His 40 guildmates in the ALS weren't enough for a full raid party. They weren't prepared and, thanks to one player, they were slaughtered.

Reinforcements showed up, but not in time to prevent over half of the ALS from being killed. The Aincrad Liberation Squad lost twenty-seven people. The Dragon Knights Brigade, once boasting 38 players, was down to twenty-four. A mid-clearing guild that had tried their hand, the Blue Avis, was cut from six to one. Everywhere, someone lost someone else.

I had never been so scared in my life than when I started looking for my guildmates after the fight. As per usual, we had been split into pairs that had floated around, jumping in where we were needed. I didn't know where they were. I didn't know if... if...

One.

Blake's health was in the yellow. She'd been grazed by a poisoned dagger that the two-headed giant's minions carried. She had Nymer at her side, though, and she had managed to fight the underling off.

Two.

Maisie was in the red, dangerously close. So close. I gave her my last healing crystal, needing her to immediately get better. I was lucky that she wasn't poisoned as well, otherwise no crystal I carried could have helped her.

Three.

Asuna was already crying. She was in the yellow, but so many people were gone... I didn't know how this would affect her. So many lives gone in less than two hours... It was, without a doubt, the most-costly battle of SAO so far.

Four.

Heidan was one of the few players still in the green, if only barely. He had been so focused on keeping the minions off of everyone's backs that he didn't get a single hit in on the boss. In return, the boss didn't get a hit on him either and he was forced to deal with that guilt.

Five.

Kirito was crumpled on the ground after the battle. His health was in the red. He had fought so dangerously, so recklessly, so that the ALS could try to regroup. There was nothing left to regroup though, and he had overextended himself.

All of my guild had survived. I was one of the lucky ones- one of the only lucky ones- to have not lost a guildmate in the fight. Even so, I had lost comrades. I didn't know most of the players who'd died personally, but I knew their faces. I knew their attack strategies, their strengths and weaknesses. I knew which guild they belonged to, and if they thought I was a beater or not. I didn't know their names, but I knew their spirits.

And now they were gone.

February 4th, 2023 (Floor 26: Deigoh)

"I..." Asuna's voice drifted off but I knew where she was going. She was leaving the guild.

I wasn't surprised and I wasn't particularly sad either. Kirito had already left, not even a day after the massacre that took place on the 25th floor. A lot of clearers had; either from death or abandonment, the clearing force had been cut to a measly third of what it had been. Most who left were afraid of dying. Most who stayed were either too angry and blinded by rage to care or they thought throwing themselves in that Labyrinth would be a better way to die than just wither away. The Monument of Life would declare they were a hero, battling to clear the labyrinth. No one had to know they might as well have jumped off of Aincrad itself. It didn't matter to them anymore.

I didn't care that she was leaving, but I needed to know why.

"You don't have to say it... I just want to know why. The others have a right to know too." The Hunters were holed up in this sandy city. Deigoh was just a settlement on the vast desert that claimed the 26th floor. There were a few patches of green, bright and shining oases, but most of the floor was barren and unforgiving.

"I just need time to... think..."

"That's fine... The Hunters will have you back if you ever are done... thinking." That was all of a goodbye I offered. Asuna looked at me nervously for a moment, as if she were afraid I'd strike her, before opening her menu and leaving the guild. As guild leader, I had to approve her request to leave and I made sure to look at her carefully before pressing the confirmation button.

With Kirito, I wasn't sure but I knew: Asuna was never going to return to the Hunters. We may see her again, but she'll never rejoin our ranks.

Updated 22:09, 1.27.2022