Me and Lillian followed the Assault Team through the boss doors. The second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath and Commander Heathcliff, and also the Black Knight himself, led the charge. We got to the center of the room, and someone asked where the boss was. Suddenly, the Second-In-Command, Asuna was her name, cried out that the boss was above us. Me and Lillian were backup for this boss, we often were being the solo players that we were. But this boss was not normal. It was the Skull Reaper.
The battle lasted ages, me and Lillian having a few close calls but we helped each other out a lot. When the beast got low on health everyone started attacking it at once, all aiming for the Rare Item drop. Lillian was the lucky one. "The Spear of the Reaper?" She asked to not anyone in particular.
I looked at the spear she had equipped. It appeared to be formed in the shape of the Reaper'a scythe hand. "What's it's stats, Lillian?"
She pulled up the comparison menu and sighed. "Not as good as Electrum, my custom forged spear." Dismayed she re-equipped Electrum, putting her rare drop in her inventory. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw Kirito, the Black Knight, rushing Heathcliff. What surprised me most was that the "Impenetrable Object" barrier appeared right where Kirito's Elucidator struck. Then, we learnt the truth right from Kirito's mouth himself: the commander was Kayaba.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room looked at shock at Kirito. Then the commander told us that the Black Knight was correct. He indeed was Akihiko Kayaba. He then offered Kirito an option: Run away and survive as long as he could, or die challenging him to a proper dual. Kayaba then activated a game-wide paralysis on every player. Me and Lillian cried out in shock as the effect took place and we fell.
We couldn't see what was happening, but we could hear. And we could talk. "Lillian, this may be the last day we... the last day we live..." I said, the realization we could actually die hear and now setting in.
Lillian tried to shake her head, but could barely move it. "Don't think of that, Zycron. We won't die here... Kirito will win..."
Suddenly we heard the sound of a player's avatar shattering. A few seconds later we heard two more shatters. I realized the paralysis wore off and sat up, helping Lillian. Someone suddenly cried out. "Where's the commander?! Where's the second in command?!" Another player yelled at him. "Dude, what about Kirito?! Where is he?!" I looked around myself and couldn't see any of the three. Lillian held up three fingers. "Three... we heard three player deaths... does that mean...?" I hugged her close.
"Lillian... Kirito did it... and so have we... we survived..." I was so happy I was crying. I wasnt ashamed of it. Then my vision glared white and I could no longer feel Lillian in my arms. I blinked and suddenly I was somewhere else. I felt something on my head and reached a hand there and felt the Nervegear. I was out of the game... I was finally free...