Before I start this off, I apologise to all those who had been waiting a long time for this Chapter. It has been two weeks which is a very long time! I actually have about 4 drafts for this story and they were mostly trying to follow the story as depicted in the Sword Art Online Progressive Series (Nezha and the Legend Braves stuff) but after writing them, I was never satisfied. I got quite depressed as nothing new came into my head. I pretty much gave up on writing for about five days till one of my IRL friends asked my to instead, try a separate project to maybe get inspiration.

That project is now another fanfiction for Sword Art Online (Sword Art Online:Kurohime) and after that, I finally had an idea of what to write so, lets begin my usual greetings.

YO FELLOW BETA TESTERS AND ORDINARY PLAYERS. WE ARE BACK WITH CHAPTER 4 OF Sword Art Online:Atarashi no Kisetsu (Insert Crossing Fields Music here) This chapter is shorter than the rest but now that it's finally done, I can move on and write more about the parts which I anticipate you're all waiting (After all, what's a SAO fanfic without Moonlight Black Cats).

I will say sorry to everyone again but I can promise you! I will not give up on this series (nor my other one) till it is done!

P.s Releases may be slower as I have to manage two fanfics now

Chapter 4 : A Dance with Death

Outskirts of Urbus, December 7th, 15:56

"Yuuki, switch!"

Kirito shouted as he activated the Sword Skill [Horizontal] to knock aside the horns which threatened to impale him. Briefly stunned by having its head knocked to the side, the Bullbous Cow shakes it head, trying to clear its headache but just when its vision cleared, in front of it was a girl flying towards him with the help of the Sword Skill [Sonic Leap], a 1-Hit charge attack that ends with a downward slash. Unable to move anymore due to losing all of its HP, its legs buckled and it exploded into the familiar green polygons of death.

They had been hunting for about three hours already and there were some results from it. Kirito had leveled from 11 to 12 and Yuuki leveling from 8 to 10 which earned her two skill slots, a Combat slot and a non-Combat slot. Already, her first Combat slot was used for One-Handed Swords skills which should be no surprise and her second was occupied with a skill which she took under Argo's recommendation previously, [Tracking] which she had already seen Kirito put into good effect when they were looking for Argo. Martial Arts occupied the third Combat slot so now with a fourth one, she could increase her own combat capabilities.
"Nice job! We got something Kirito!"

Twisting her menu around, she showed the item to Kirito who nodded as he knew what it was but then he sighes, looking downcast.

"[Bullbous Beef] is a rather uncommon meat and I heard its as tasty as its real counterparts but we need someone with the [Cooking Skill] the make it taste as good ... too bad Asuna left."

Asuna had left earlier to meet with a certain "Heathcliff" she was supposed to meet a day ago if she had not been trapped with Kirito and Yuuki at the Cave of the Master. She was someone with a decently leveled [Cooking Skill] that could easily cook up their new [Bullbous Beef] excellently.

"Wait Kirito, I think I can cook it."

"Seriously? If you can that's great."

Turning the menu back to face her, she opened her Status menu and under the skills list, she tapped the empty [Non-Combat Skill] icon and from the small list of available options she found the one she needed, the [Cooking Skill]. From her items list, Yuuki pulled out a [Fire Starter] item which she had bought from Urbus and with the help of Kirito who had gathered a small pile of dry leaves and sticks from the nearby wildlife, they had a campfire ready to cook the [Bullbous Beef].

"Errr ... Kirito how do you do this?"

Materialising the slab of red meat which was about 20 centimetres wide, 10 centimetres thick and 10 centimetres high in her hands, she tilts her head as she asks Kirito who then frowns, suddenly having doubts about whether this was a good idea.

"W-Why are you asking me? You're the cook! You should know what you're doing?"

Sitting around the campfire, lost and confused, Yuuki uses her Hunter's Fang as a skewer and holds it above the fire much to the disdainful stare from Kirito.

"Are you sure this is how you're supposed to ... Woah! Was that supposed to happen?"

Yuuki's sword was enveloped in flames as the [Bullbous Beef] ignites. Panicking, she throws her sword into the air and it lands point first into the ground in front of Kirito who rapidly crawls back as the flaming meat was right in front of his face. The fire eventually fizzled out, leaving behind the black husk of what was formerly fresh food before it was defiled.

"I-It can't be that bad ... right? Why not try one ... please?"

Beckoning for Kirito to take a bite, he gulps before carefully approaching the sword with the "Cooked" [Bullbous Beef] on it. Peeling of a piece, it looked ready to crumble into ash as he slowly puts it into his mouth with a shaking hand. After a bit of chewing, there was a reaction as Kirito winced before swallowing down. With a shaky voice, he looked at Yuuki who had a "How was it?" written across her face.

"G-Get a few more levels into that Cooking Skill first ..."

An Inn in Urbus, December 7th, 20:04

After the disaster of Yuuki's first time cooking in Sword Art Online, they had continued grinding the fields around Urbus which brought Kirito close to leveling to level 13 and Yuuki becoming level 11. They had also managed to acquire two more pieces of [Bullbous Beef] which both of them decided they would boil one when they returned to Urbus because after all, how can there be an accident from boiling water? Was what Kirito thought dejectedly as he sat opposite Yuuki and in between them was another black husk resembling the monstrosity from earlier in the day, the boiled [Bullbous Beef].

"I-I did nothing wrong!"

"Yuuki ... how did you get the water to catch fire?"

Having borrowed the kitchen of the Inn from the NPCs in charge of the place, Yuuki had prepared a pot of water and placed it above the stove. Finally, she put the [Bullbous Beef] inside and all seemed to be going well as the water began foaming indicating it was boiling. Then, everthing went wrong as the [Bullbous Beef] burst into flames just like back at the campfire and soon, the pot was covered in flames and finally, the kitchen decided to join the fun as the rest of the food inside catches the sparks and flames creating a firestorm but by then, the Inn was already evacuated.

"At least no one died right! Stupid pervert Kirito!"

While she understood it was her fault that they both had to pay alot of Col to the NPCs for the damages they had caused, she hated to admit that she was wrong and so she acted like she was sulking. It worked however as Kirito sighs, thinking that he might have been a bit too mean and untactful with his comments. Bravely reaching for the "Boiled" [Bullbous Beef], he goes to take a bite, frowning as he chewed on the meat.

"I'll be waiting for when you cook this right. So ... cheer up."

It was a promise.

An Inn in Urbus, December 8th, 09:00

"Thank you all for gathering here today. It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to come here and also for the battle later so once again, thank you."

Agil spoke to the assembly of players gathered. Forty-three of them without their previous leader, Diavel, had gathered today on the request of the brown giant, Agil who had taken the reins of leadership and he was doing a good job at that. After the 1st Floor Boss battle, he had gained the respect of the raid party for being steadfast when the situation was dire and was also naturally charismatic thus to Kirito, Asuna and Yuuki, it was no surprise to learn that he was the new leader of the forward movement but the surprise was that he had sought after them to invite them for the 2nd Floor Boss battle.

After what happened at the end of the 1st Floor, they had expected to be treated indifferently (for Kirito, it would be venomously) but Agil had convinced most of the raid party that their assistance was necessary and he had managed to get a few, mostly his party and some other members to understand Kirito's actions and they were the ones who were grateful to Kirito and Asuna for their bravery in the Boss Battle. Yuuki's actions while not noticed by many, were seen by Agil and had impressed him thus, she was also another necessary member to the raid party.

Kiabaou, Lind and Maru from Diavel's original group were also among the raid party although they seemed to be split up. Seated with 11 others wearing khaki-green colored armor including himself, Kiabaou glared daggers at Lind and his party of also 11 people, wearing light-blue colored armour. Maru was alone in the middle of the crowd of remaining players with their assorted colored armor, not belonging to either group.

"Something happened?"

Kirito poked Agil as he pointed to Kiabaou and Linds' factions who seemed hostile towards each other.

"Ah them. Kiabaou-san joined an organisation from the 1st Floor which calls themselves the Army while Lind-san plans to create a Guild with his current party once the Quest is available. But now, they seem to be having disagreements."

The reason for their hostility was because of their difference in personalities and their mediator, Diavel was no longer here. Each considered the other the weak cowardly one and thus, their paths diverge leading to the bad relations between both parties.

Standing up and towering over the Assembly, everyone fell silent as their attention returned to Agil.

"Yesterday, Kiabaou-san and Lind-san with their parties had found the Labyrinth of the 2nd Floor."

For a simple refresher, the Labyrinth was usually the Entrance to a series of dungeons with several floors that eventually led to the Boss Room of the Floor as well as the passage to the next floor.

"They have both cleared ... the field-boss guarding the Labyrinth and thus tomorrow, we shall enter and go after the boss of this level."

Agil seemed abit hesitant and maybe abit disapproving as he mentioned about both Kiabaou and Lind killing the field-boss. This was due to the fact that there were nearly casualties while fighting the field-boss, [Bullbous Bow] due to the poor teamwork and co-ordination from both sides. Because of the bad relationship between both leaders, their party members had also adopted similar attitudes resulting in them being more of a danger to each other than the boss to them. They had finally managed to defeat the Boss with Lind acquiring the Last Attack Bonus, [Bulky Hammer] which was now sheathed behind his back making Kiabaou all the more sour as he glared at Lind.

"From the guide which Argo-san had kindly provided us all, we have information for the boss of this floor all the way to the 10th Floor. Unlike the first floor, there is a boss and a sub-boss, no minions. They are called Baran the General Taurus and Nato the Colonel Taurus."

Agil then proceeded to read out the boss's attack patterns in detail and also warning the raid party of the special move which both boss's use, [Numbing Impact]. This attack consisted of the bosses raising their weapon, a huge hammer and would glow with yellow sparks before being slammed onto the ground seconds later. Those closest to the impact zone would take direct damage and also, the sparks will trail off from the hammer and any player that gets into contact with them gets stunned for 3 seconds. Worse, taking a hit from the bosses while stunned would change the status ailment to the more dangerous and restricting paralyze. The good part however, is that the boss would be stuck in Post-Motion after this skill which opens up the chance for a counterattack if there was anyone able to do so.

"Everyone got that? Next, we will split up with half of us taking on Baran while the reminder handle Nato. Kiabaou-san, Maru-san, Kirito and my party will battle Baran while the rest battle Nato. No objections?"

There was objection written clearly on Kiabaou's face as he glared at Kirito with hatred and his party seemed to also want to speak out against the arrangements but they all remained silent as the raid party nodded in response.

"Then an hour from now, we will meet outside the labyrinth and work our way up. Be well prepared as we will not be heading back to town. Dismissed!"

The raid group filled out of the Inn and back into Urbus, splitting up into their parties as they went to stock up on supplies and leave for the Labyrinth. In the dark corner of the Inn sat a woman who looked out for only one person of the raid group. The black-haired swordsman that to her eyes, killed Diavel.

Labyrinth of the 2nd Floor, 20th level, December 8th, 13:00

Having left immediately for the dungeon as they had already made preparations before the meeting, Kirito, Asuna and Yuuki went through the dungeon quickly and easily, ascending through the many levels contained within the labyrinth before they reached the 20th level and just like on the 1st Floor, a huge door blocked the path towards the 3rd floor of Aincard.

*Guuuu*

Sword and rapier were quickly drawn as Kirito and Asuna turned around swiftly, expecting to face an enemy behind them but it was only the hungry monster in Yuuki's stomach, growling for replenishment.

"Well since we're early, how about we eat?"

Asuna said as she opens her inventory, placing down a red and white checkered mat and a familiar basket on top of it. It looked just like the one she had shown them back when they were trapped for trying to acquire the [Martial Arts] Extra Skill and they contained one of the tastiest sandwiches that have eaten since entering Sword Art Online. Seeing the picnic spread out before her, Yuuki claps her hands together as she remembers what she wanted to ask Asuna. Accessing her own inventory, Yuuki brings out a [Basic Bunsen Stove] she had bought from Urbus and also, a piece of meat which Kirito looked at warily. [Bulbous Beef].

"Yuuki ... you're not going to make me eat one of those again ... right?"

"What's wrong Kirito?"

Asuna tilted her head curiously as she notices the frown on Kirito's face but it disappears and he waves his hand to Asuna, dismissing her worry. Behind Asuna, Yuuki nodded her thanks as Kirito had understood the shushing gestures that Yuuki had been doing from Asuna's back.

"Asuna, your cooking level is above level 20 right?"

"Yes. What about it?"

In reply, Yuuki holds out the [Bulbous Beef] to Asuna and tilts her head towards the stove that Yuuki brought out. Taking the ingredient, Asuna removes a frying pan from her inventory and puts it on top of the stove. Activating the flames of the [Basic Bunsen Stove], she then reached into her menu again to take out a small kitchen knife, tapping on the [Bulbous Beef] and it lights up in bright blue and the mass of blue shrinks into smaller chunks of meat. After a minute of cooking, a pan filled with mouth-watering, properly cooked beef sat on top of the stove.

"Well ... that was surprisingly simple."

Kirito commented as he had expected a complicated process in order to create food in this world but seeing how short and idiot-proof, it had him wonder about how Yuuki could cause such an accident to occur from her earlier attempts.

"Asuna, can I borrow your knife and pan?"

Yuuki asks Asuna who gestures for Yuuki to help herself. Taking out another piece of [Bulbous Beef] which they had acquired from their climb through the Labyrinth, she follows the exact same steps which Asuna did. Everything seemed to be going right and nothing was out of the ordinary. Asuna frowns as she looks at Kirito who seemed to be backing away from Yuuki and her work, a cautious expression written on him.

"Asuna ... you should know that Yuuki ... burns water so I'm expecting something bad."

Burn water? How do you even burn water? Asuna asks herself but she jumps back suddenly as the stove along with the frying pan literally exploded into flames. Ah ... she understood Kirito's fear now.

2nd Floor Boss Room, December 8th, 14:36

Everything was still going somewhat smoothly. Despite co-operation problems initially between Kiabaou and Maru's party with Agil and Kirito's, fighting for their lives against a huge oversized cow, standing five metres tall with a gigantic hammer that could likely crush at least four people together with one smash, differences were put aside temporarily as they concentrated on the boss battle.

The strategy went as such. Having researched Argo's guidebook which provided information on the boss, Baran the General Taurus, they had an understanding of the attack patterns of Baran and thus, it was the job of Agil and his party of tank-orientated members to block and deflect the crushing blows of Baran while two of the other parties deal damage when given openings. The remaining party is kept at the back as a reserve and also as a measure for a special attack of the boss. Both Baran the General Taurus and his side boss, Nato the Colonel Taurus had a special debuff-ing skill called [Numbing Impact] in which they raise their weapons which would begin glowing golden yellow and after a terribly loud battle-cry ( MOOOOOOO! ), they slam it down, damaging any standing too close to the impact. The yellow lights from the hammer would spread out like sparks and any player that comes into contact with it gets stunned for 3 seconds. Getting hit while stunned would cause the status to switch to the longer, more restricting paralyze but as a bonus, the bosses are unable to move, stuck in Post-Motion after using [Numbing Impact] though they would sometimes chain some swings along. That's where the last party comes in, going in to pull out party members caught in the debuff skill and switching out with them until they recovered.

"Yeah we did it!"

"That's one down! We can do this!"

From the other side of the Boss Room where the other four parties fought the side-boss, Nato the Colonel Taurus, cheers could be heard indicating that they had defeated their quarry. Now, it was up to Agil's group to finish the remaining health bar of Baran the General Taurus. With four empty health bars, Baran had entered a state of [Frenzy] where his attack patterns became more irrational and his special skill [Numbing Impact] was used more often. However, having battled the boss for more than half an hour already, the players recognised the motions which Baran would make just as he begins his attacks thus, he dealt little damage while receiving a ton in return.

There was a slight mishap when Baran reached 10% HP and he lashed out randomly with the hammer, managing to knock one of the tank members which were supposed to block the blow aside, leaving the fragile damage dealers in danger.

"Asuna! Yuuki! Get its attention for me!"

"Roger!"

They both shouted in unison as they charged forward with Kirito following behind them. The golden hammer of Baran flew towards the two girls at an incredible speed but Yuuki reacted instantly as well, activating her own Sword Skill [Horizontal] to deflect the weapon, leaving the boss momentarily dazed. Still running ahead due to her momentum, Yuuki uses another Sword Skill, [Rage Spike], accelerating alongside Asuna who had activated a Rapier Sword Skill [Linear], a 1-Hit lunge ability. In a flash, the red sword and thin rapier created long red cuts on Baran's leg but now, stuck in the Post-Motion of their skills, their exposed backs faced Baran as it turned around bringing back its other uninjured leg as if preparing to kick them. However behind the two swordswoman was a black-haired swordsman who ran up the muscular back, his sword lighting up for his Sword Skill [Sonic Leap] as it made solid contact with the weak point of Baran, its head.

"Everyone! Now!"

"HO!"

The players cried, surrounding the boss with their weapons, illuminating it with the various colors of the Sword Skills that were used against it. The red bar slowly moved till there was no more space to move as Baran's health was zero-ed. Fizzling for a few seconds, Baran the General Taurus exploded into green polygons, signifying its death.

"Yes! I got the Last Attack!"

Screamed a for once, happy Kiabaou. Having received the congratulating message, he fist bumped the air while smirking at Lind who seemed annoyed and bitter. That soon changed however as Kiabaou's expression changed to one of shock and disgust.

"[Golden Bull Boxers]?! What the hell?!"

In his hands, amazingly enough were a pair of horribly dazzling golden boxers. A Taurus head was printed on the front of the undergarment to make matters worse for Kiabaou as the entire raid group laughed gleefully.

"Nice job Kiabaou-san!"

"Congratulations!"

"Wear it now!"

Relieved that the battle was over, they were not ready for the next surprise that Sword Art Online had to throw at them.

"MOOOOOOO!"

It was loudest for those who were previously in the battle with Baran. Turning around, they saw something that was not supposed to be there. Another Taurus, taller than Baran, a glittering crown on its head but the scariest features were the massive hammer, twice as large as the golden one carried by Baran and its mouth which was slowly turning brighter and brighter with a golden light. Stray lightning bolts could be seen escaping and too late, the raid group realised what was about to happen.

"MOVE!"

Agil commanded and everyone tried to dodge the special attack that came. Just like the special skill of Baran and Nato, [Numbing Impact] the new boss, Asterius the Tauren King had its own debuff skill called [Numbing Detonation] but what made it different and definitly more dangerous than [Numbing Impact] was how fast the sparks travel. [Numbing Detonation] was simple to dodge if you could see it coming but the boss, unnoticed when it spawned, had enough time to charge up its attack. An explosive sound like thunder erupted and a great lightning bolt shot out of Asterius's mouth, traveling the length of the Boss Room in seconds. Those at the back had enough time to move to the sides to avoid it but not those closest to Asterius and they were Agil, Kiabaou and Kirito's party. They could only watch in horror as the long gigantic hammer swung in an arc towards them.

Slammed while being stunned, the front line flew into the air, crashing into the wall at the end of the boss room, their stun statuses changing to the more impeding paralyze. For now, they were supposed to be temporarily safe as the boss was stuck in Post-Motion but beside Yuuki, she heard a grunt of pain and the disgusting, watery sound of a weapon piercing flesh.

"K-Kirito?! You okay?"

Looking at him beside her, there was a spearhead impaled into his back and following the long shaft back to its owner, Yuuki got a shock when she saw who it was.

"Maru?! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Shut up! I was waiting so long for this! This was the beater who killed Diavel! What's wrong with taking revenge!"

Shouting maniacally, she withdrew her spear from Kirito's body only to stab it again into him, reducing his already yellow HP into the dangerously glowing red. There was a shaky smile on her face as she was finally able to release all her pent up emotions after having waited till now for Kirito to finally get immobilised and defenseless.

"Stop! You don't have to do this!"

There was no stopping. Broken and crazed, Maru held the spear high, the tip lighting up into a crimson red before shooting down with the intent of finishing of the last bit of Kirito's life.

'Move ... MOVE!'

Yuuki cried out in her mind. Paralysis disabled all movement except for the fingers and desperately, she tried to wriggle the fingers of her left hand to assume a position she hoped the system recognised. Her hand illuminated in golden yellow and with the help of the system assist, her left arm ignored the paralysis status and shot forth to knock the spear with the Martial Arts Skill, [Senda], 1-Hit thrusting attack.

The terrible sound of steel slicing through flesh could still be heard but there was no burst of green polygons which signified death. Instead, there was only a painful scream from the girl who had intercepted the spear and only to have it enter her hand. The feeling if it had to be described, is similar to having your hand pulled apart by very strong, cruel forces.

"What are you doing?!"

Maru tries to pull the spear out but seeing the action, Yuuki closed the only part of her body that could move, her fingers. They grasped the spearhead tightly, not letting it reach Kirito's fragile life nor getting withdrawn for another attack.

"Let go you idiotic girl!"

The spear pushed forward and Yuuki's hand goes along with it, the tip barely touching Kirito's armour but it could go no further, held back by Yuuki's shaking arm as it held on through sheer willpower. That willpower was breaking however, with the greater amount of pain exerted due to the force applied on the spear.

'At least Kirito is out of danger ...'

Watching her red health bar decrease slowly, she nearly blacked out from the pain but she woke up again from a sudden immense pain as the spear shoots out from her hand.

Through her watery eyes, wet from the tears of intense pain, she could see Kirito standing over her, the paralysis effect having finally ended and his palm extended out. He had used the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira], a 1-Hit skill using the palm of the hand to slam into the opponent, inducing a knock-back effect. Pushed back, Maru slowly got onto her feet, revenge in her eyes as she glared at Kirito

"Just die already you dirty beater! You and your kind should all di ..."

If blood existed in Sword Art Online, it would have been a messy scene of gore. Cut of from her sentence, the gigantic hammer of Asterius the Tauren King replaced where Maru once stood and from beneath the huge mass of steel, polygons escaped through the corners of it. But there was no time to get emotional. Even as all the players had recovered, they were in complete disarray as there was no preparation for Asterius. Scrambling around it while getting occasional hits, they were losing health faster than they could recover. As a result, soon there was only Agil party left, trying to hold off Asterius with yellow health bars (50%-ish hp) but somehow, the raid group had dealt five out of its six health bars as damage. However, the glaring red health bars of the rest of the raid group slowly refilled itself but it was way too slow and Asterius's attacks hit harder than Baran's and Nato's, nearly killing a few players (Nearly, no one died) and reducing the HP of the tanks faster than its weaker counterparts did.

And now with its final bar of life, Asterius's skin had blackened and steam could be seen rising from it, a sign that it had entered a state of frenzy. Immediately after this began, it activated its special debuff-ing skill, [Numbing Detonation], stunning Agil's entire party before throwing them aside with its huge hammer. Thankfully, they were all tanks and no one died but no one was fit for tanking.

Kirito knew, a miracle was needed and ... he had an idea of how he might make one but ...

A miracle was needed now to take out the last HP bar.

"Yuuki do you trust me?

Even after the misunderstanding on their first meeting and walking into their bath. Even as both her and Asuna bullied him back during the Extra Skill Quest, he worked on it all day, determined to get them out. Even if it had only been three days, she could confidently say that yes, she trusted the person she had named the perverted lolicon.

"Then now, charge to the boss with me!"

He was mad. They were both at about 10% HP each, a casual wave of Asterius's hand would instantly kill them. Kirito was asking her to run towards death's waiting hands with him. But she already said she trusted him and she meant it. Gripping her red sword, Hunter's Fang tightly, she ran alongside the black-haired boy whom she had entrusted her fate to. Soon, Asterius was a mere metre away, seemingly grinning at them for accepting their destiny of being killed like lifestock.

"Now! Jump!"

Why? She would not know and she could not ask but putting all her strength into her fatigued legs, Yuuki leapt, her head leveling with Asterius's lower chest but soon, she flew higher than that, higher till her eyes made contact with the malicious ones of Asterius. Below her, Kirito had use the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira] which had a knockback effect to push Yuuki up so that she could reach the weakpoint of the Tauruses, their heads. Doing so had further decreased Yuuki's HP to a scary 2% but she was still alive in which Kirito was relieved for.

"The rest ... is up to you."

Kirito said as he crumbles, his own fatigue sapping the strength from his legs.

There was still a short distance between Yuuki and the head of Asterius but she covered it with a Sword Skill [Sonic Leap]. Slashing a red mark onto the crown on its head, it roared (MOOOO!) in anger at the insect in its face. Unlike its predecessors, it would not be stunned by one attack and it raised one hand to slap away the tiny life that dared to touch its crown.

It was just like back then when she was fighting the ninja while helping Argo. Adrenaline hastened her awareness and her motions. Her fingers were rapidly re-positioning the Hunter's Fang for another Sword Skill, [Uppercut], leaving another red gash on Asterius. Its hand halted momentarily before moving again but then it froze again as the system recognised another Sword Skill, [Slant], putting a further dent on the weakness of Asterius. Half its HP were gone from the critical damage it took on its head but it still did not stop there as [Horizontal] and [Slant] followed suit but there was still about 5% of the last HP bar left.

She was out of Sword Skills but instead, her left hand which had been empty turned into a weapon as it glowed for the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira]. There was still 3% of HP! The Hunter's Fang lifted off into the air as its owner released it, the weaponless hand becoming the weapon as it ignited with brilliant orange light for the Martial Arts Skill [Senda].

But it was still not enough. Staring at the last 1% silver of HP on Asterius, Yuuki could only watch as her air-time had ended, the fist of Asterius fast approaching to pummel her.

"Sorry ... Aiko ... Kirito ..."

"YUUKI!"

Green polygons showered the boss room. Kirito, blankly staring up suddenly gets into his feet, running forward to catch the girl that was falling from the sky. As he catches the unconscious Yuuki in his hands, he hurriedly side-steps as a Two-Handed Axe crashes onto the ground beside him.

" ... We did it!"

"Did you see Agil-san?!"

"He threw his whole axe!"

"He's a hero!"

"Agil! Agil!"

If anyone forgot the old tradition, ITS AUTHORS NOTES PART TWO PLUS SPOILERS!

UP NEXT ON Sword Art Online: Atarashi No Kisetsu

Its the first Christmas so its time for an event quest! Klein shall appear with all his lameness and derp! Also, let us begin the Kirito X Yuuki romance!

((As always, leave a review if you wish to give encouragement or point out mistakes (Object Remover-chan is sad with nothing to delete :( ) or submit a PM if you have questions (which may be featured in future Q&A stuffs!) ))

(((Also, the same friend who suggested me writing Sword Art Online:Kurohime also suggested I do an omake (or extra chapter) with characters from both sides interacting with one another. What do you guys think?)))

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(((((Penta parentheses. I know we all hate advertisements but I gotta put them there :P )))))