The members of Azure Storm and The Gilded Templars all sat in the boss room of the seventy-second floor catching their breath and restoring their HP. The fight had gone well and this time not a single player had been killed. The boss had seemed to be much easier than The Ashen Einhorn and had fallen much faster. Not that anyone was complaining of course. Chrome and Veille once again walked away from their comrades and began to speak privately.

"So, what's the plan from here?" Chrome asked.

"We can pretty safely assume that Nobunaga is gonna have a nice welcome party waiting for us up there so I think we'll be thrown straight into combat again. I messaged Kurogane so he'll be coming up here within a few minutes to back us up," Veille explained.

"Did you want us to stay and fight with you until they arrive?"

"No, I think I should be fine with the thirteen men I have here. Besides I doubt Kurogane will be long and he said he's bringing another thirty with him. You and your guild should break through the fighting as soon as possible and head for Nobunaga."

"According to Vakross there's a large manor in Gildar, so that's likely to be where he is. Hopefully we can slip in without much of a fight."

"Here's hoping. Well I think we've spent enough time resting, shall we head off?"

"Yeah, let's get this done."

The two walked back over to their guild members and everyone rose to their feet. Veille relayed the plan to the group of players and everyone nodded their understanding. They were all eager to get this done, but every one of them was nervous. Nobody knew what would happen once they ascended those stairs.

The group slowly proceeded up the stairway, their weapons drawn. Everyone was on edge, expecting a horde of DGamers to come charging down the stairs at any moment. They reached the next floor however with no problems. They arrived in Gildar to find, as Veille had expected, quite an impressive welcoming committee. Gathered before them were at least sixty armed players, all staring them down.

Chrome was glad it was still afternoon, the city may have been big but the streets around them winded in all directions and it seemed as though there were many dark alleyways. There was a small amount of cloud cover that left scattered shadows around the city and Chrome could see the manor on a hill in the centre of town.

"I'll make a gap in their lines. Don't you disappoint me kid. Every player stuck in this game is counting on you to win this fight," Veille said, throwing his cloak aside. Chrome nodded and signalled for his guild members to get ready. Veille clenched his right fist and his entire arm began to glow orange. He pulled his arm back and Chrome could see every muscle in the taller man's body tense. "Sonic Fist!" Veille roared, his arm snapping forward.

There was a loud noise as the punch seemed to shatter the air and a large number of Death Gamers went flying in multiple directions, causing a break in the enemy force. "Go!" Chrome shouted and his allies charged forward through the gap, batting away anyone who tried to stop them.

Chrome looked back as he ran, watching the fighting that now broke out as Veille's small party was set upon by the wall of DGamers. He forced himself to look away as he ran for the manor with his friends as fast as he could.

Veille batted enemies away on every side, his gauntlets crunching into their bodies and throwing them away as they charged him. "Stand strong men! The Death Blade Alliance will be here soon, hold out till then!" he roared, punching a swordsman square in the face.

The small group was surrounded and badly outnumbered, it wouldn't be long before they were overpowered even with their superior levels. Several minutes passed and the first of Veille's men was cut down by an enemy axeman. Veille growled in anger, quickly dispatching said axeman with an uppercut.

"Dammit Kurogane, where the hell are you?!" he roared.

"Looks like you're having a bit of trouble there Veille," a familiar voice said from behind him. Veille turned his head to see Kurogane standing with his large war hammer on his shoulder, a large group of his guild members gathered behind him with their weapons drawn.

"About damn time you got here! Give me a hand with these punks."

"Sorry, but I don't particularly feel like it."

"What?"

Veille's opponent's stopped and the martial artist turned to see Kurogane brandishing his weapon and triangular shield. Veille knew what was going on all too well but he knew Kurogane would feel the need to say something anyway.

"I've decided that you're not fit to call yourself a Death Gamer anymore, nor are you good enough to run your precious little guild. Lord Nobunaga is the one who shall rule all Death Gamers and if you're not willing to accept that then I'll have to eliminate you myself," Kurogane explained, a wicked smile on his face.

"Figures. You always were the sort of coward who would switch sides if there wasn't a guarantee of victory for you," Veille spat, raising his fists. Kurogane smiled at the comment.

"I was hoping your answer would be something along those lines, I've been wanting to knock you down a few pegs for quite a while now."

"Come try me then, I'll knock that smart talking mouth of yours right off your face."

Veille's men backed off, moving away from both their leader and enemies. Nobody wanted to get in the way of this fight, they all knew both players would probably attack anyone who interfered right now.

Kurogane stood with a look of amusement on his face while Veille's face clearly showed the irritation he was feeling. The two stared at one another for a few moments before Kurogane dashed forward.

"Since Lord Nobunaga took away Gildar's safe zone status, I'm free to kill you and all your men to my heart's content!" he said with a laugh, swinging his hammer at Veille. The Templar raised his left arm to block the attack, the impact sending him back a few centimetres.

"You're the only one who's going to die here you snake!" Veille roared, sending a solid punch into Kurogane's shield.

The two continued to block the other's blows as tiny chunks of their HP were whittled away with each blow. Both players jumped back slightly and took a few quick breaths. Veille knew that Kurogane had more reach and his shield provided him with a solid defence along with his heavy armour. Although Veille had plenty more speed, it would be hard for him to land a decent hit, let alone enough of them to bring Kurogane down.

Kurogane watched with a smile as the thoughts ran through Veille's mind. Veille did have a plan, it would require him dragging the battle out somewhat and there was no guarantee that he'd be able to pull it off. But right now, it was the only shot he had.

The Templar charged forward and delivered a powerful eight hit combo skill. Kurogane blocked each hit as well as the following six hit combo. A fast leg sweep made the hammer user jump, leaving him open to the strong uppercut that Veille unleashed. The armoured player fell to the ground and tumbled backwards before getting up just in time to block the same eight hit combo Veille had used before.

Kurogane let out a loud roar, slamming his shield into Veille before swinging his hammer in a wide arc the struck Veille in the side and threw him away to the left. The martial artist hit the ground and slid for almost a metre, causing a large cloud of dust. He groaned as he rose to his feet and took up his fighting stance once more. He didn't have time however to block the hammer strike that this time threw him to the right.

Veille laid on the ground motionless, his HP dangerously close to the red. He let out a groan as he slowly rose to his feet, holding his left arm. He had planned to try and break Kurogane's shield but those last two attacks had caught him by surprise and left him extremely weakened. He watched as Kurogane approached him, that deadly hammer dragging along the ground

"It's over for you Veille. Face it, I'm better than you could ever be and guess what, I'm on the winning team. I'm going to kill you, reduce you to level one and then I'm going to come and hunt you down every single day," he said as he walked, the twisted smile on his face growing. "I'll show you here and now that I'm the most powerful Death Gamer!"

"You're insane Kurogane," Veille grunted. "It doesn't matter if you defeat me, you'll never be the strongest. You don't have the heart."

"Heart? What the hell are you babbling about? The only thing that determines strength here is numbers, heart has nothing to do with it!"

"Without heart, you'll never attract any allies and without those, you'll always be weak. Fighting alone can only get you so far. Real strength lies in the bonds we make with our comrades. Real strength only shines through when people fight together as one. That's something you could never understand or obtain."

"Enough with your philosophy talk. If all that heart crap mattered you wouldn't be about to die. I'm the strongest here and I don't need to fight with a group of little friends to show it. I've beaten you on my own because I'm better than you!"

"You're a sad little man Kurogane, this so called power has corrupted your mind. Allow me to free you from the shackles you've placed on yourself."

"Enough!" Kurogane roared and he charged at Veille. The martial artist took a deep breath and stood up straight, his whole body glowing white. Both men roared as they charged at each other and delivered their final attacks.

Kurogane's hammer stopped as Veille seemed to vanish and reappear right in front of him, his fist buried in the hammer user's stomach. Veille's body tensed and a shockwave surged through both players. Their HP began declining quickly.

"What… the hell?" Kurogane groaned.

"The ultimate martial arts skill, Cosmic Burst. A skill that maximises the user's strength and agility but deals heavy recoil in return for massive damage," Veille explained. "We'll both be dying here Kurogane…"

The two fell silent as they shattered into data and the watching players stood in equal silence. Nobody knew how to react or what was supposed to happen now with both their leaders gone. One of Veille's guild members quickly sent a message before raising his weapon.

"Come on men, let's avenge Veille!" he called out as the rest of The Gilded Templars began teleporting in. The guild replied in a chorus of battle cries and charged at Nobunaga's forces.

As Chrome and the others reached the manor, the Azure Storm leader turned and looked down at the teleport plaza where he could see two large groups of players fighting. A feeling of uneasiness swept through him but he shook it off and turned back towards the manor.

"About time you lot got here. I was starting to think those grunts had taken you all down," a voice said. Everyone turned to see a man with a black ponytail walking towards them from beside the manor. He wore various pieces of purple armour and a large claymore bounced on his back as he walked. On his breastplate was an insignia of an angel holding a rose. Hakuya's eyes narrowed on the man and he drew his spear.

"Souji…"