A Certain Strange New World

by Blazingstarz258

Asuna and Misaka Mikoto are both students attending Tokiwadai Middle School. Even in Academy City Sword Art Online has become the game everybody wants to get. Asuna and Mikoto are able to access the game but find out there is a deadly twist to it and the two girls must find a way to cope with the horrible reality and survive.

7. Bloody Funeral

Author's Note: Yes I know I am a very terrible person when it comes to updating. Life got in the way and I've also been lazy as well, but I promise I will not drop this story!

Hello again readers, to those of you that are still keen on what is going to happen next in this story, thank you very very much for your patience! It has been a VERY long time since my last update -sweat drops-

Finally the new chapter is out! The long awaited clash with Laughing Coffin has arrived. To anyone that doesn't remember what happened last time, please re read the previous chapters, because I definitely had to do that before I started writing this one.

Chapter 7: Bloody Funeral

-July 2024-

"Here's your completed request Mikoto, I hope you like it!" A certain pink haired black smith beamed as she handed Mikoto a brand new sword.

The blacksmith was proud of the quality of work she put into each and every one of her weapons. Since she was not an active participant in clearing each of SAO's new floors, she decided to support the front liners in the shadows. The front liners were definitely not the only people trying their best to get out of this death game known as Sword Art Online.

Mikoto, otherwise known as The Blue Bolt, held onto the sword and a smile escaped from her lips.

"It's perfect."

She took out the sword from its sheath, swung it around a few times and got a good grasp of it.

Right now Mikoto was the only other person inside the black smith shop other than the owner. The owner was Lisbeth, a notable forager of weapons. Asuna and Mikoto were able to become good friends with Lisbeth a few months ago. If it wasn't for them, Lisbeth would have not gotten enough Col to open up her shop.

"Your new broadsword is called Coral Edge. I made it with lots of love, especially since it's made out of a rare material."

Lisbeth said that with noticeable pride. Every black smith needed to acquire a certain amount of pride and confidence in order for their work to truly flourish.

The sword Coral Edge was made of high grade metal that took Liz a while to obtain. This particular broadsword was longer than Mikoto's previous blade, and made of heavier material in order to improve its power. Mikoto needed to have quite a bit of strength in order to swing such a powerful sword around. Coral Edge's brilliant blue color shined magnificently. The blue shades of her weapons further reinforced her nickname.

Mikoto then put Coral Edge in its respective sheathe and looked at Liz. The short haired girl still had a grin on her face.

"Thank you very much. How much do I owe you?"

The pink haired proceeded to shake her head and grinned as well. "For you, free of charge."

Mikoto and Asuna gave a considerable amount of Col to Lisbeth to start up her shop, so in return the black smith gave them discounts for her services. A month ago Lisbeth promised to give the two Knights of Blood Oath girls new swords as a way to show her gratitude.

"Oh I have one more item for you." Liz quickly left Mikoto and went off to another room.

Mikoto then leaned against the nearby table, waiting for Liz to come back. Her eyes couldn't help but wander around. Right now she was in the back part of Liz's shop, where the actual foraging work was done with the hot flames and metal. There were lots of tools lying around, pieces of materials and even photographs. One particular photograph caught her eye, it was the photo taken on the grand opening of Lisbeth's shop. The picture featured the three girls together with wide smiles while holding up peace signs.

That occasion was one of the rare moments of joyfulness in SAO. Lately things had been even more stressful in the front lines.

Before Mikoto could delve even further in her thoughts, her ears perked up as she heard footsteps coming back.

Liz returned and she had another item in her hands.

Mikoto's eyes stared in disbelief, "is that…?"

Lisbeth nodded and beamed, "yup it's for you!"

The blacksmith proudly handed a blue shield to Mikoto. This blue shield was definitely made out of better quality than Mikoto's previous shield and even had the insignia of the Knights of Blood. The shield's blue shade was lighter than Coral Edge's.

"This is so amazing, you really outdid yourself." Mikoto couldn't help but grin even wider.

"It was no problem! That old shield you got a few floors ago was really bugging me so I decided to make you something even more outstanding. I admit it was sort of a pain to get the KoB symbol on there."

"I am definitely in your debt." The short haired girl said with the utmost gratitude.

"Actually it's the opposite. This is just another one of my ways for showing how grateful I am to you." The blacksmith smiled.

"Next time we go out for lunch, it'll be my treat."

"Okay! Then I'll make sure to order the most expensive things." Lisbeth gave a thumbs up.

The two girls chuckled briefly, but then Mikoto noticed the time.

"Oh shoot it's getting late. I should return to the front lines and discuss strategy with the others."

The Blue Bolt put the shield in her inventory. Her eyes were still gleaming with joy. It was like she was a kid that got a lot of cool presents for her birthday.

Just as Mikoto was about to exit the back door, Lisbeth shouted out.

"I send my regards to your boyfriend!"

Mikoto immediately blushed when she heard those words. The blushing girl stopped in her tracks.

"W-who are you talking about?!"

"Asuna has been telling me about that guy you have been hanging out with a lot. I assume he is your boyfriend." Lisbeth grinned deviously. "Next time tell me more about him."

"No-no our relationship isn't anything like that! He's just a good friend." Mikoto's face looked redder than it was just a minute ago.

"Sure he is~" The blacksmith gave a devious grin.

"Anyways, I'm heading out now!"

Mikoto stormed out of the shop. After she got outside, she took a deep sigh.

"What in the world is going through their minds?"

She grumbled to herself while heading towards the teleportation gate. Even though Lisbeth's teasing shook up her mood, she couldn't help but still feel giddy about receiving new weapons. The front liners needed all sorts of support for their clearing efforts; they would be nothing without the help from the merchants and blacksmiths. All kinds of people were supporting the front line efforts, Mikoto felt like she was burdened with everybody's desire to be freed. So many people were counting on her and her fellow comrades to clear the death game. However this sort of burden was what motivated her to do her best when fighting.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

-55th floor Grandzam-

Back at the Knights of Blood HQ there were some more unfamiliar faces that Mikoto noticed. In the past few months the KoB managed to recruit more new members which allowed the guild to have a more prominent presence within the front lines. However at the same time Mikoto couldn't help but be more wary of them. She had a hard time trusting people lately, especially since most of them were older men. Mikoto and Asuna were the youngest in the guild as well as one of the few females, which made them stand out from the rest.

"Mikoto-chan."

Mikoto felt a pat on her back. The short haired girl looked and noticed that it was Asuna who called her attention.

"Ah Asuna."

"Did you just get back from Lisbeth's?" Asuna asked.

Mikoto nodded.

"I managed to get a really impressive shield and sword from her. She says your new rapier is ready as well."

"Really?" The Flash's eyes shined like coins. "I can't wait to see it! I want to see your new weapons as well."

"Haha Liz has been doing her best to finish up your new rapier. When we go to the clearing fields, you'll get a chance to check out my awesome new sword and shield."

"I'm thankful we know somebody who is willing to work hard for the front liners. Even though Liz-chan doesn't enter in combat, her skills really do help out those who can fight."

"Yeah, though I wish there were more people like her, instead of those who cause all sorts of trouble."

Asuna's eyes widened a bit as she realized what Mikoto was implying. Lately the Laughing Coffin incident hindered their clearing efforts. There was a small awkward silence between them, so Mikoto decided to break that silence. Any mention of Laughing Coffin was enough to make any conversation go cold.

"Any idea what the meeting is about Ms. Sub leader?" The Blue Bolt asked.

"No idea, it was Heathcliff who called us all here. Usually he doesn't get involved in strategic meetings or planning, so it has to be something serious." Asuna replied though she didn't sound too certain in her statement.

"I have a feeling that this meeting isn't going to be about floor clearing." Mikoto said in an ominous tone.

"Y-yeah… I have a good idea what the topic is going to be about."

The two girls opened the door that led them into this large room with a round table in the middle. There were lots of chairs at the table and it was obvious who would be sitting at the head chair. The room was lit up by torches that were placed on the walls.

The lighting gave a dark atmosphere, making everybody inside feeling more tensed up.

There was hardly any chatter at all, everybody waited for their leader to arrive.

The air was very tense, everybody knew what was going to be discussed at today but they were all still anxious about what their meeting was going to be comprised of.

Lately lots of strange rumors had been flying around, though the front liners did their best to not let these rumors obscure their thoughts. It was not the first time there was strife amongst the players in SAO, but this was the first time that such conflict could disturb the front line efforts. Typically the front liners did not bother with issues from the lower floors, but this sort of issue had to be quelled one day or another. The sooner they got rid of the problem, the better.

Mikoto wanted to talk more with Asuna but she felt that any word spoken at this time would be inappropriate.

Not long later, the man with the renowned shield and sword combination entered into their midst. His onyx steel eyes were unwavering as usual and he sat down at the head chair.

"Thank you for coming here everyone."

His strong voice immediately caught everybody's attention. All eyes were on him. Everybody was eager to what he was going to say next. It was a rare occasion that the guild leader himself made an audience in front of the rest of its members. Normally it was Asuna who was the main speaker and led the meetings. Heathcliff's presence meant that things were really serious.

"We have some very pressing information… now I should ask everybody to calm down and listen carefully before I say anything more."

Everybody held their breath.

"Thanks to a particular source, I believe that we know the location of the Laughing Coffin base."

As soon as Heathcliff uttered those words, excited chatter occurred among the KoB members.

"After all of this time their location has been uncovered?"

"I don't know if we should really believe those words."

"If Heathcliff is confident about it, I should be as well."

The chattering continued for about another thirty seconds. Everybody in the room stared at each other with such disbelief and excitement.

"Settle down everybody." The KoB leader raised his voice slightly.

His eyes grew even more serious, as if he was piercing into their very souls. Heathcliff was surely a man with great confidence, he had to be 100% sure about the information he uncovered.

Mikoto and Asuna looked at each other with strange expressions.

If their leader did know the true hideout, this meant that they could end the conflict very soon. It was a nice feeling knowing that they had the upper hand against their enemy. However the idea of facing Laughing Coffin's notorious members head on sounded very daunting at the same time.

Mikoto couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine thinking about how they could subdue such dangerous enemies. The front line members were used to fighting against monsters, not against players who have lost their humanity.

Soon enough everybody hushed their voices and turned their attention back to their commander.

"This is information I still need to disclose with the other major clearing guilds. Surely we will come up with a special task force to eliminate them and determine who the leader of this force will be."

"Leader, can you tell us this exact location?" A member got up from his seat and asked. This particular was a male with long hair who had a sort of bewildered look in his eyes.

Heathcliff immediately shook his head. "Not yet, the information I possess cannot be spread out carelessly. If Laughing Coffin finds out that the clearing guilds are onto them, they will simply move their hideout or take a preemptive strike against us."

This response got some of the other players in the room chattering amongst each other yet again. Mikoto could hear other people making speculations and other talking about who should lead the task force. Most meetings were usually conducted with complete respect to the speaker, however this topic had riled up everybody so much.

Mikoto noticed some wandering eyes towards Asuna's direction.

It seemed like a likely chance that Asuna would be the chosen leader for the extermination mission. Her leadership skills showed great success in the battlefield. The main issue was how the battle against LC would be completely different than taking down a floor boss. Somebody with great confidence, charisma and most of all the willingness to sacrifice lives for the greater good would most likely be chosen instead.

Asuna raised her hand and said out loud, "can you tell us about this source? I just want to be sure that the information you received is entirely credible."

Some other players nodded in agreement with Asuna's query. It was clear that Asuna was able to gain the respect of many of her fellow guild members.

"Don't worry Asuna-kun I am positive with the information I received. I cannot disclose much more with all of you since it is highly classified. Once our other allies and I come up with a solid plan, I will make sure to reveal everything."

"Is there anything else you want to tell us leader?" The sub leader asked again.

"As usual, be sure to party up with others whenever you are clearing or in a non-protected zone. Ever since that attack on Rygar and his party, the Laughing Coffin members have gotten a bit bolder and shown themselves to some front liners. However they simply just taunt the clearers and immediately teleport away. Fortunately no other front liners have been killed, but Laughing Coffin still continues to terrorize those from the lower floors."

"Excuse me, may I say something else?" The long haired member asked out loud.

"Go ahead Kuradeel-kun."

Kuradeel then cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"Well if Laughing Coffin has not done any direct harm to the front liners for the past few months, should we really allocate our meager sources to defeat them? After all, we should devote most of our sources to clearing Aincrad's remaining floors."

Mikoto looked at Kuradeel with disgust.

Our sources are not that meager! Don't talk as if those innocent lives killed by the hands of Laughing Coffin should be ignored. The Blue Bolt thought angrily.

She was ashamed as to how Kuradeel was not willing to step in to stop Laughing Coffin. Life was already harsh enough living in the death game known as SAO, but LC had made things even more dangerous than before. It was difficult enough just being afraid of the monsters in the battle zone. Meeting mysterious murderous masked men seemed like a nightmare come true.

"Do you not really understand how much of a threat they actually pose?" Heathcliff said in his usual calm voice. However Mikoto could tell that he was restraining himself from sounding irritated. "If we simply turn a blind eye to this infestation, then the problem will only grow worse. Who knows when Laughing Coffin will become strong enough to even face against the front liners? They are all psychopaths who enjoy the terror they bring upon others. That terror makes them feel empowered and most likely they wish to maintain their dominating presence in SAO. They might someday feel the need to stop players from clearing the game since they enjoy their twisted roles. We must act now before they become too comfortable with their positions and decide to have everybody stuck in SAO permanently."

Heathcliff's explanation made some of the players in the room look pale all of a sudden. Who would have ever thought that LC could one day aim to stop all clearing efforts?

"Do you have anything else you would like to add?" Heathcliff gave a very serious glance towards Kuradeel.

The long haired KoB member shook his head with humility, "no sir."

"Good, I just want to make sure everybody knows what they are truly fighting for. However not all of you will have to face against the red guild. It is a reckless decision to send all of the clearers to exterminate Laughing Coffin. I understand that there are some of you more comfortable with fighting against monsters than against a rogue player."

Heathcliff paused for a brief few seconds, which was probably let the KoB members absorb everything he had been saying so far.

Mikoto had to decide whether or not she really wanted to take part of this extermination force. If only she had her electrical powers, she would have been more confident in her fighting abilities. She glanced over at Asuna and saw that Asuna was completely tensed.

"As I have stressed before, be sure to keep what has been discussed in this meeting confidential. If you decide to talk about this information with fellow guild members, be sure to do it in private locations, not anywhere in public. Eventually all of the clearers will know what is going on."

Heathcliff took a deep breath before continuing. "The meeting has been adjourned."

Even though the meeting was brief, it left a powerful impact on everybody.

Most members got up from their seats to exit the HQ, but Mikoto saw Heathcliff approaching Asuna. It was likely that she would be invited to the strategy meeting against Laughing Coffin.

Mikoto knew that she had to find something productive to do other than lounge around in her room. She had to get her mind off the meeting that would involve all of the higher ups from the clearing guilds. Most likely Asuna would be willing to share some of the contents from that meeting.

She walked back to the inn she was staying at and went inside her room. Right now she felt like taking a nap first in order to process everything that had just been explained.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she began to see images of swords flying and people being hacked apart. Mikoto believed that the players in SAO had to be unified in order to fight a common enemy, which was the game itself. It was disturbing imagining people who were willing to murder others just for the fun of it.

It didn't take long until she re opened her eyes and was glad that none of those mental images were happening at this moment.

"Hm, I need somebody who I can talk to…"

The short haired girl looked through her friends list and found somebody who could probably keep her company.

If you're bored, meet me at the Lazy Boar Eatery.

She sent the message to this person and put her two fingers forward so that she could access her storage window. With a finger slide in the air, she was able to access her clothing inventory and quickly changed from her casual outerwear to her battle gear.

After she changed, she saw a new message that read:

Ok sure, I'll meet you there in half an hour.

Right now all she wanted was somebody to talk to. Her closest friend was occupied so she decided to talk to another person who knew her outside of SAO.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The Lazy Boar Eatery was a restaurant on the 31st floor that was known for serving all kinds of interesting meat dishes. Even though the meat from SAO could not imitate the taste from real world meat, it was still a satisfying meal. Mikoto had done a few highly profitable quests so she felt like splurging a bit.

Whenever she walked in a town area of a lower floor, her combat outfit would attract a lot of attention. The designer of the KoB uniform definitely knew how to make clothing that would stand out. It was thanks to KoB's breath taking uniforms that the clearing guilds were able to find a new morale after the disaster in the 25th floor. Mikoto couldn't forget all of the stares that Asuna and the other members received when they made their debut.

She could hear some whispers from some of the people passing by. It was not strange at all that a majority of the individuals she ran into were male, and it was probably rare for boys to see a girl that stood out. There were a few times when she ran into some fans who usually tried to present her with gifts or even ask for her photo. It was funny how at Academy City she was faced with fan girls, but now she was popular amongst the boys in this world.

Mikoto arrived inside The Lazy Boar and was greeted by an NPC waitress. The NPC led her to a nearby table and presented her with a menu. She was not entirely in the mood to eat so she decided to order something light.

"Sorry if I made you wait." A familiar voice chimed.

Mikoto looked up and saw the person sitting across from her.

"No worries Touma." She smiled.

Her relationship with Touma had changed quite a bit. Normally she never addressed him by his first name, usually calling him idiot or some other nickname. Now the two of them were good friends who liked to meet up often. Every now and then Asuna teased her for being so close with Touma, but Mikoto always insisted that they were just friends.

"How have you been?" Touma asked.

Such a simple question suddenly became very complicated. Mikoto wasn't sure where to begin.

"Things have been rather complicated lately though I will probably tell you more about that later in a private place."

"Oh I see," Touma smiled gently. "Anything else new happen with you or Asuna?"

Mikoto decided that she should begin her conversation with Touma on a light note.

"Well I got my new shield and sword from Lisbeth." She grinned. Mikoto felt that she had to force some excitement in her tone.

"That's awesome!" Touma's eyes lit up. "Did she charge you a fortune for those items?"

"Haha no, we're good friends so she didn't charge me anything."

"Ah geez, I wish I knew a blacksmith who is that generous."

"Well thanks to that, I'm pretty much in her debt. Whatever favor she asks in the future, I'll have to do it. Most likely it'll be some out of this world request."

"Women sure are scary." Touma sweat dropped.

"Are you suggesting I'm scary?" She gave him a sharp look.

"Y-you have your moments…" The spiky haired boy avoided eye contacted for a few seconds.

"At least in this world, I can't chase you around with electricity." Mikoto said with a slight smirk on her face.

Somehow talking to him could lift up her spirits, even by a little bit.

I miss my powers so much. I wish I knew how things were going in the other world. Would my powers be the same once I get back? If I ever even get back.

"How have Klein-san and the others been doing lately?" She asked, changing the topic.

"Just the other day we managed to make it through the pack of angry bees during one of our quests."

"Oh? Did you guys get anything good?"

"Yup! We managed to obtain a substance that tastes a lot like honey as well as some bee stingers."

"What can you do with bee stingers?"

"Well the stingers are poisonous and anybody with a high enough medicine mixing skill can utilize the stingers into paralyzing substances."

"Heh so they're that dangerous huh. Does anybody in your guild have the mixing skill?"

"Yeah, but he's attempting to increase his level in order to actually use the stingers. I think one day we can use those stingers against tough monsters."

"They probably won't work against a boss monster."

"Probably not. There doesn't seem to be any short cuts or easy way out of fighting against a boss. Every day there always feels like there are less of us fighting to clear the current floor."

Lately morale hadn't been too high lately among the front liners. There had been some more stories about members from clearing guilds suddenly abandoning their positions. Some of the front liners had enough of risking their life that they decided to escape to the lower floors for a peaceful life. Fortunately the Knights of Blood never had a problem of AWOL members, they had actually gained some new recruits recently.

"If you don't mind, Asuna could probably make some tasty treats with that honey. It's amazing what she could do with her cooking skill."

"That's what the others and I thought. Don't forget I'm the person that taught you two girls how to cook in the first place." Touma proudly pointed to himself.

"Oh right… though it seems like Asuna's skill might be better than yours."

"Oh yeah? We'll just have a cook out and you can be the judge of that."

"I'd be happy to volunteer."

The two of them then chuckled lightly. Right now Mikoto didn't feel like she was in a death game, it was like she was back at Joseph's restaurant at Academy City. There were very few people that she could have enjoyable casual conversations with.

Thinking about Academy City made her sorely miss her friends such as Shirai Kuroko, Uiharu Kazari, and Saten Ruiko. It had been over a year since she was trapped in a game, and it seemed like Kayaba Akihiko's iron grip was not loosening at all. In order to return to her peaceful days back home, she had to work with the others to clear this death game.

"Something the matter Mikoto?" Touma looked at her concerned.

Mikoto snapped out of her deep train of thought and shook her head. "Oh just thinking about some things, I sort of got distracted."

As soon as they were done with their meal, they left the restaurant and Mikoto led Touma to an open grassy field area. It looked like a few houses were there, but these houses were vacant because there were "for sale" signs posted in the front. Mikoto was confident that nobody would overhear their conversation. She was thankful that the time she spent with Touma earlier was able to get her mind briefly away from the daunting topic at hand.

Her eyes quickly gazed over the scenery again and she used her detection skill to confirm that they were the only two in the area.

"It's a bit strange to see you so serious Mikoto." Touma spoke out.

"What I'm about to say, you cannot repeat to anybody else." She then took a deep breath and began her explanation.

Mikoto decided to tell Touma nearly everything. She started with Laughing Coffin's various atrocities and all of the efforts that the Knights of Blood put into searching for their hide out. Touma was able to keep quiet and listen to what she had been saying.

When she mentioned that their location had been found, Touma's eyes went wide.

"Soon Heathcliff is going to meet up with the other major clearing guild leaders to discuss what to do with Laughing Coffin. They'll probably ask for some front liners to help with the mission. I doubt many people would volunteer since fighting against Laughing Coffin sounds more dangerous than floor monsters."

Mikoto took a deep breath as soon as she finished her explanation. She then felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up. Touma's eyes stared intently into hers. However he had on a reassuring look that made Mikoto feel a bit more at ease.

"If you're going to be part of that extermination group, I will join you. It wouldn't be right to let you go in there without somebody to watch your back."

The short haired girl felt her heart beat jump up a bit. It would have been nice to have such a reliable person be with her during a dangerous mission, but she knew his tendency to over exert himself.

"I don't want you to feel obligated to come along with me. Most likely I'll join because Asuna will be an important part of the group. There's even a chance that she'll be the leader of the group." She responded back, with a concerned look in her eyes.

Mikoto could safely say that her skills were top notch. She felt it was her duty to use her strength for the greater good, even if that meant her life was in danger. After all, she put her life on the line nearly every day on the front lines.

"There must have been something we missed because we've been asking information brokers left and right to check all of the large houses from floor one. We all assumed that they would be hiding in some castle purchased from an NPC real estate agent." Touma thought out loud.

"Well that thorough check up helped us manage to uncover some orange guilds."

"Yeah but what we needed most was to find Laughing Coffin's hideout…"

There were a few moments of silence between them, but then Touma spoke up.

"Since you've shared your secret, I shall share mine's as well."

Touma got up from his seated spot and motioned for Mikoto to follow him. She noticed that he had a slight giddy look on his face.

"Where are you going?"

"You'll see." The spikey haired boy resisted a grin.

The short haired girl continued to walk behind Touma. It must have been something even more secretive than what she said because he was heading to the zone with the monsters. However Mikoto knew these monsters were below her level so she felt no fear being outside the safety of the town.

Not too far from them was a common creature on this floor. This particular floor was known for having gorilla like monsters. The gorillas walked around like gorillas in real life, except for when they engaged in combat, they got on their two legs and used a giant hammer that was strapped to their back.

The gorilla before them was walking on all fours. This kind of monster did not attack unless provoked.

Touma opened up his weapon inventory and showed it to Mikoto.

"Take a look at what I got."

Mikoto glanced over and her eyes widened with surprise. "The Iron Knuckles? It just looks like gauntlets."

She had never heard of anybody using a gauntlet weapon before, so they must have been something special.

"Haha not really. Let me show you." Touma equipped himself with these gauntlets. As their name suggested, they had an iron color to them.

The Iron Knuckles then began to glow a blue color, as if Touma was preparing to power them up.

Touma approached closer to the Gorilla and then stomped his foot aggressively.

The front liners discovered that the gorillas will respond to loud noises as well. The particular gorilla looked up and snarled out. It got on its two legs and took out the giant hammer it had.

Meanwhile Mikoto watched. She was wondering why Touma was not going to fight with his usual sword. Was he going to fight just using his fists?

Her thoughts were confirmed once she saw Touma taking the first move.

The spikey haired boy leaped into action.

The gorilla used its two mighty arms in order to swing the heavy hammer straight at him. Touma was able to duck down low enough to avoid the damaging blow. He quickly retaliated by jumping up, with his fist upwards and delivered a striking uppercut.

WHAP!

The uppercut successfully impacted the gorilla's chin, reducing its health. Touma's level was much higher than the gorilla's so his attack was even more damaging.

"W-what the heck? I've never seen anybody be able to damage a monster like that with just their fists!" Mikoto couldn't help but blurt out loud. She was completely flabbergasted and suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. Touma's current style was like how he fought back at Academy City, with his fists.

Also, not many players possessed the martial arts skill. It was a particular skill that only a few people knew about because it was a hidden quest. Only those who were close to information brokers could have known about it. Those who had this skill did not use it against monsters, it was considered quite unorthodox to do so.

After receiving the first punch, the gorilla then couldn't move at all, as if it was paralyzed.

"…" Mikoto stared with complete surprise.

As soon as Touma's feet reached the ground, he immediately took action again. He sent several straight jabs at the gorilla's stomach area, further reducing its health. At this point its health was now in the red region.

Within a few seconds, the gorilla was able to move again. Touma took some steps back to get some distance between him and the monster. The gorilla roared out angrily and charged towards Touma. It swung its hammer so fast that it almost seemed like Touma didn't have a spare split second to dodge.

Mikoto was about to unsheathe Coral Edge, in fear that Touma was about to get harmed.

He took a fighting stance as if he was in a fist fight. Touma did not budge from his spot even as the hammer seemed like it was going to collide into him…

POW!

Touma's left fist rocketed forth and punched against the hammer's swing.

If the gorilla was a real being, it would have probably looked at Touma in surprise. However seeing as it was just a monster that was not capable of independent thinking, the only thing the gorilla did was try to add more strength into its attack.

A second later, Touma's left fist was able to completely destroy the hammer. The once mighty hammer was then reduced to mere polygons.

The programming that controlled the monster was probably confused and had a moment of hesitation. Touma took advantage of that hesitation by delivering a final punch with his right hand.

Just as he punched through the Gorilla's body, it suddenly disappeared into multiple polygons.

Touma looked pleased with what he had done. The spikey haired boy took a deep breath and looked towards Mikoto with a relieved expression.

"Whew, thank goodness that worked out."

"What kind of skill is that?! It's even more advanced than the martial arts skill from the second floor!" Mikoto stared at him with disbelief.

The spikey haired boy then walked back to Mikoto with a grin on his face.

"I'll tell you something I haven't even told my guild members. I'm afraid people would come after me if they knew my unique skill."

He had a slightly worried and amused look on his face.

"Unique skill?" Mikoto had heard of them before. As the name suggested, these were the very rare kinds of skills that people could only dream of. The only person she knew with a unique skill was her guild leader Heathcliff. He possessed the skill "Holy Sword" which meant that he could switch between offense and defense easily. This gave him a very solid defense, making him one of the most fearsome players in SAO.

"How long have you known about your skill?" Mikoto asked. "So your unique skill works with the Iron Knuckles right?"

If Touma really did have a unique skill, it would definitely help out to the clearing efforts. However she could understand why he would want to keep it a secret.

"For about three months. One day I looked into my skills list to check out my stats and suddenly I see another skill slot added as well as this new weapon in my inventory."

"Another skill slot? I thought you already filled all 12 of yours."

In SAO, players had the option to pick and choose whatever skills they wanted, but they were limited to only up to 12.

"Check again." Touma opened up his window and showed it to Mikoto.

Mikoto read what was in his window and saw an unfamiliar skill name called Knuckle Breaker.

That must have been the unique skill Touma was referring to. People in SAO were aware of the existence of unique skills, but they had no idea of their specific details. There were perhaps a few other people who had unique skills but chose to use them in secret.

"Was there any information provided for Knuckle Breaker?" Mikoto asked as calmly as possible. She was still feeling a bit shaken up after seeing something extraordinary.

"All it said was that it was used in conjugation with the Iron Knuckles. I was sure to equip on the Iron Knuckles when nobody was around. Eventually I understood the weapon's and skill's true meaning. My unique skill basically allows me to fight my enemies without needing to hold onto a sword. I could instead use my fists against them. As you saw, the knuckles induced a temporary paralysis effect, making the opponent open to even more attacks."

"T-that sounds so amazing. Those knuckles were even able to destroy a weapon too."

"I'm not sure if I can use my knuckles to destroy an actual player weapon, but they are useful for depleting a weapon's durability."

"It's some twisted coincidence that you ended up getting such a skill." Mikoto shook her head amused.

"Yeah it is, which is why I don't want people finding out. Lots of information brokers will bother me to death and loads of others will be jealous of me."

"I'm even starting to get jealous of you." Mikoto said jokingly with a smirk.

"Please don't try to kill me and take my skill."

"I admit, the skill does suit your true fighting style. Back at Academy City, your annoying right hand sure caused a lot of trouble."

"It also got you out of some trouble as well. I'm thankful I was able to use it to save your sisters …"

Touma paused.

"And you as well."

It took Mikoto a second before she could properly react to his statement.

"W-what are you saying you idiot?!" Mikoto's face turned red.

"Ah sorry for catching you off guard. At least you feel better, right?"

"Y-yeah sure…"

"Haha sorry if I made you scared today. It's just that I've had nobody to really confide in."

"What about your guild members? They all seem like nice guys."

"I trust them, but you're the person that I've known much longer than the rest of them. You're the one who knows the real me back at Academy City. I feel that every moment I spend in this world has made me a different person. Overall I'm still the same kind of misfortunate guy but my sense of survival has grown much stronger and I've seen so many terrible things. If I ever go back to the real world, I would probably feel like a veteran who has seen the ugly side of fighting."

Mikoto felt fortunate that she found ways to cope with their situation. At least in this world friendship was the light that made things better. She made friends in this world and her friendship with Asuna grew even stronger. However she felt a painful aching pang, she was reminded of Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten.

Ever since she had fully committed herself to clearing floors, she tried to not let herself be distracted by memories of the past. It had been a while since she thought about those 3 girls. Mikoto couldn't help but wonder if they had given up hope on her? Most likely they had moved on with their lives. Kuroko would be in her third year and studying hard to get into an elite high school. The teleporter would most likely be the person most affected by her missing presence.

"I suddenly remembered a bunch of things from the real world. We've been in SAO for nearly 2 years that I've forgotten what real fresh air feels like. It's like we've been in this world all of our lives that everything feels oddly normal."

"When we were first trapped in SAO, I used to think that I was in a living nightmare. Now I can just wake up and feel like it's an ordinary morning."

"No need to put any doubt in our heads, we WILL get back to Academy City."

"I probably won't be considered a level 5 when I get back. Looks like I have a lot of training when I wake up."

"Haha, I'll just be the same old misfortunate level zero. I'd rather have my misfortune back at home than be stuck in this game."

The sun was meanwhile setting and the sky was getting darker.

"We should head back now. Most likely we'll hear some news from Heathcliff."

Touma stood up in front of Mikoto and the sun's remaining rays shone through his being. She couldn't help but think of how heroic he looked like.

Even though he was just a level zero, he seemed to possess as much strength and determination as great heroes. It was his nature to come running to help people out, which was his most admirable characteristic.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

By the time Mikoto arrived back to her inn, she saw Asuna was already inside their room.

"How was your meeting?" Mikoto asked as she closed the door.

"Well we got into some argument with the Divine Dragon Alliance. They're such a rich guild but so stingy when it comes to matters other than fighting bosses." Asuna said in a frustrated tone.

"Ah, so they think they're too high and mighty to help us out then."

"Well it's just that they don't want to spare too many of their members for the mission. They want to mainly focus their efforts on clearing and becoming stronger."

"The clearing effort has been stretched out pretty thin lately, the more we fight, the stronger opponents we face, the higher the chances that we might die. I feel so lucky that we've made it this far."

"It's because we've been supporting each other from the beginning.

"There's no use in complaining about it now." Asuna shook her head amused. "There is one thing I have wanted to ask you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"What do you think about our experience in SAO? Do you feel like we're locked in a terrible prison or that we are living the dream of being in a fantasy world that surpasses reality?"

"…" This sort of question struck Mikoto's core and she was not sure how to respond back. The question posed to her was something she thought about sometimes, but she had no idea how to properly articulate her response.

"It's alright if you can't answer the question." Asuna smiled softly. "So far it's been strange how being in SAO feels normal. As if we were naturally born into this world and fully accustomed to life here."

"Does that mean that you would like to remain in SAO?"

"Of course I want to escape this virtual world! The reason we fight every day is to get out of here, but I can't help but not entirely hate Aincrad."

"Is it because of a special somebody?"

"W-what are you talking about!" The Flash's clearly looked agitated.

"Haha if I press on any further, you would hate me forever."

Perhaps a certain black cloaked swordsman taught her how to truly live every day in SAO.

Mikoto looked at the window view that was in their current room. Their room was on the third floor meaning that she could get a good view from above. She could see that there were a few people outside minding their own business as well as the many stores that were close by. This view reminded her of life back in the real world, and gave her a pang of nostalgia. However she could never get tired of how detailed and realistic SAO was.

Mikoto saw that there was a newspaper right by her night stand and assumed that Asuna picked it up for her. The Aincrad newspaper reported that there were two other deaths that occurred by the hands of two red players. One witness stated that he saw the two players being hacked apart but could not muster the courage to save them. So instead he was able to teleport himself to safety.

"Geez, this is getting out of hand." Mikoto murmured as she was flipping through the newspaper. "I'm hoping Heathcliff actually does more than just maintain the guild in the shadows."

"Oh you're reading that right now?" Asuna peered over at her friend's direction. "Heathcliff told us that the way the newspapers portray Laughing Coffin is only making things worse."

"What do you mean by that?"

"There have been some innocent people that have been accused of teaming up with Laughing Coffin. Those accused individuals are then persecuted and mistreated."

"Wait, are you saying that this is causing mass hysteria as well?"

"Exactly, people aren't willing to trust each other anymore as much as they used to."

"Do you think there really are people who secretly support their terror?"

"There probably are, I can never understand why people can ever admire mindless violence at all."

"Lately people have been either falsely accusing one another or just refusing to even go to the fighting zone."

"Great fear is capable of breeding irrational thought and behavior…"

Even though mankind has been proud of its intellectual capacity, humans have proven time and time again how flawed they really are. People after all did make bad choices when they were scared, or mad, or stressed.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

-August 2024-

It took about a month to fully organize the task force that would take part in the extermination mission. This particular mission was referred to as a "Crusade" because the participants believed that they were doing a righteous deed by cleansing SAO of Laughing Coffin's presence. The crusaders were individuals from varying front line guilds who felt confident enough to partake in the dangerous expedition. Most people preferred to fight against the clearing floor's monsters than against actual murderers.

However there was one glaring issue. Would the front liners have to resort to killing? The only methods that could properly subdue Laughing Coffin were if their members surrendered willingly or if their HP dropped to zero. Most likely the LC members would fight to the death, which is what many of the crusaders feared, would happen. Nobody among the front liners had taken an actual life before. The cruelest rule of SAO was that if you died in the game, you died in real life.

There was no need to worry about any of the crusaders becoming a red player after killing a member of LC, because it would all be for self-defense. There was an update in the rule books that stated that a green player would not have their icon changed if they killed an orange or red player.

The leader of the crusaders, a charismatic young man from the Divine Dragon Alliance told everybody to resort to lethal force if necessary. The leader's name was Cletus and he was one of the Divine Dragon Alliance's officers. At first Asuna and Mikoto thought he would be arrogant, like the rest of the DDA's leaders, but they found Cletus to be rather tolerable.

Cletus was a rowdy and loud kind of guy. He was like a coach training up his team. The DDA leader liked to shout out a lot, as a way to increase morale. There was a rumor going around that Cletus was a high school athletics coach back in the real world. That would definitely explain a lot of his high enthusiasm and loud personality. He stood taller than most of the men in the front lines, which is one of the things that made him stand out.

Right now the main leaders were still in the process of organizing the crusade. The participants were on standby at the moment, though some of them might be having some doubts.

Every now and then the crusaders would gather for a meeting, and their most recent meeting had just ended. Sometimes after each meeting, one or two people would drop out of the crusade mission. Players were afraid that they would have to sacrifice their humanity in order to defeat Laughing Coffin.

Mikoto and Asuna left the meeting room and were chatting with each other on their way back to the teleportation gate. Each meeting gave them more questions than answers.

"No matter whether the crusade mission is successful or not, I feel that it will overall break the spirits of the clearers." Mikoto said with an ominous sigh.

"Why do you say that?" Asuna looked at her friend with concern. "It's obvious that if the mission is a failure it'll lead to a negative spike in morale. Everybody is counting on us to succeed, especially since their reign of terror has been going on since New Year's."

"Killing monsters is an entirely different manner than killing another player. We are coming there with intentions of making them surrender, but I feel that we might have to resort to murder."

"It sounds a bit too extreme to call it murder. What we're doing is justifiable self-defense. Laughing Coffin is the one that has been doing all of those horrible murders. It is our duty to make sure they do not harm others again, even if it means we have to harm them."

Asuna then took a deep breath before she asked.

"Ask yourself, are you willing to kill another player?"

The short haired girl took a few seconds before answering. This was the question that the two of them never said out loud, but it was something on their minds in their every waking moment.

"If the circumstances call for it, I will." Mikoto said in a firm tone. "Such as if my friends were in danger, I would not hesitate to protect them."

"I feel that most of the crusaders do not have that strong resolve to kill if they have to. The pressure might break their morale."

"I don't know if I can really trust the person who leaked out the location of Laughing Coffin's secret base." Asuna admitted while shaking her head. "I've never actually met the person since Heathcliff wants to keep his identity a secret. Red players are not allowed to enter town areas, so I assume the informant has been meeting Heathcliff in a clearing zone."

"Well that person said he felt unbearable guilt for killing all of those people. He wanted to find a way for the killings to be stopped. At least there is one sane person among them."

"He did get promised protected by the clearers, though I doubt people will ever want to associate with him once they know his secret."

"Heathcliff is a good judge of character and he trusts the informant. So I'll just have to believe in Heathcliff and trust what he says."

"Too bad leader isn't joining in on the crusade, I feel safer whenever he has our backs during any major fight. I hope Kirito can join us." Asuna said the last part in a low mutter.

"I heard you say a certain somebody's name. I'm sure that extreme solo player will be coming along with us. Even though he has that aloof exterior, he does care about the safety of others."

"Touma-kun will be there as well, so at least you have him to cover your back. You must really care about him since you've been seeing him lately."

"I-I have not!" Mikoto attempted to hide her embarrassment

Asuna giggled softly and then turned to her partner.

"You know… there is something I just realized."

"Hm? What is it?"

"We were in Tokiwadai for so long that we've never really gotten to interact with guys. Who knew that they could be so trustworthy and reliable? Back at my previous school some of the guys I met treated others like trash."

"It's strange how in SAO we've learned more about other people than we ever did in real life. Perhaps Tokiwadai's lifestyle was so rigid that we couldn't try and explore the world."

"In real life it's not every day that we get to slay some monsters."

As they went to the town's teleporting gate, the two girls stopped because one of their guild members approached them. This particular man stood in front of their path.

"Do you young ladies need an escort?"

"Uh no thank you Kuradeel-san." Asuna said politely.

Just as Mikoto and Asuna were about to walk past Kuradeel, he stopped them again.

"Oh I insist. Heathcliff has said that you two need extra protection."

"We'll be fine, we are in the safety of a town zone." Mikoto attempted to politely brush Kuradeel away.

The long haired man looked a bit irritated.

"It's not too long until the important mission happens, so I have to make sure you two are safe."

"If you really did want to protect us, then you would have joined the crusade." Asuna bluntly stated, leaving Kuradeel behind.

The two girls went around him and went into the gate without further hesitation. Kuradeel had been lately bothering the two girls, so Mikoto understood why Asuna said such harsh words. It seemed that Heathcliff did something unnecessary again and asked Kuradeel to watch over them as well. At first they acted politely towards him, telling him that it was not necessary to serve as their body guard but he kept following them almost everywhere. Fortunately there were moments when they managed to evade his presence.

"This all feels so real." Mikoto couldn't help but say while staring at the moon in the sky. Was this how the moon looked like back in Academy City?

"Did you say something?"

"Oh no, just talking to myself."

It was a few months shy before the 2 year anniversary of their virtual imprisonment. Each and every day felt very normal in SAO, as if Mikoto lived in this virtual world her entire life. She had become adjusted to the way things worked such as easily changing her clothes using her inventory, quickly eating food before its life expired and even clearing monsters. Could she and other people ever adjust back to their normal lives one day?

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

-August 15, 2024-

The awaited day had finally arrived.

About 50 clearers volunteered to take part in this crusade. Most were in it because they felt it was their obligation to defeat the cloaked murderers. A few wanted the fame and glory. If the crusade mission were a success, those who participated in it would receive special recognition from the SAO newsletter. A few information brokers were at the meeting spot, since they knew this was going to be one of the most historic events in SAO history. Fortunately the few brokers that were present promised to keep the extermination plan a secret. It would have been disastrous if more people than necessary knew about the plan.

Everybody had gathered up in the town square of the 68th floor, where the clearing efforts were currently at. As soon as a loud booming voice called their attention, they all went quiet and looked towards their commander.

Cletus stood before everybody in his magnificent armor. No doubt that he went to an expensive black smith and spent a fortune getting new armor and weapons. Since he was the leader of this crusade, he had to make himself very presentable.

"Today is the day we fight back and reclaim the peace of Aincrad!"

He raised his large sword in the air, which rallied up the crusaders.

"We will not falter in the face of fear because we are the front liners of SAO! We are the strongest players and we have made this far surviving in the face of danger."

Cletus' quick and stirring words were able to lift up everybody's spirits. It was definitely a lot like a coach giving a pep talk to his team before the team went off to compete. Except for this time, they were about to go into a battle that would determine the true power of the clearers.

However Mikoto still felt nervous about this entire ordeal. She was hoping that her mentality would still be in one piece after this. It took her a while to be accustomed to the intensity of boss battles, but this was a situation with different circumstances.

"Let's move on out everybody!" Cletus shouted out as he was the first one to walk towards the teleportation gate.

Everybody went through the gate and arrived at the 28th floor: TORKHA

This is one of the floors that were easily forgettable. Mikoto stepped out of the teleporting gate along with the others and felt a chill go down her spine. This had been the secret hiding spot that was right under their noses.

It turns out the main reason why the information brokers could not help locate Laughing Coffin's hiding spot was because LC stayed in a floor that was long ago conquered. This particular floor had a tower area that wasn't connected to the upper levels, which was a monster free zone in a cave. This was a type of cave that would have been explored by medium class players because the high leveled clearers were more focused on clearing mazes in the high towers.

Most likely any player that entered into the cave met an untimely death.

Kirito, the black swordsman as well as Touma the misfortunate Academy City boy approached Asuna and Mikoto. Kirito was adorned in his usual wardrobe. It was his style not to wear any bulky armor. He also had his impressive Elucidator, which was a prize from a boss battle. Touma had his katana in his sheathe and was in his usual samurai-like armor.

"Are you mentally prepared for this Asuna?" Kirito looked at her with a light smile.

Asuna looked surprised at Kirito's question and put on a confident expression.

"I have to be, if I show any feelings of hesitation, it will make others feel uneasy."

"People in power sure have it tough. As I promised, I will watch your back." The black swordsman said with conviction.

"W-what are you saying? You have to look out for your own self too." The KoB sub leader had a barely noticeable pink flush on her face.

"I can't have anything happen to you, or else I can't try your delicious cooking anymore."

"…" She stared at him speechless. "You just care about the food I make you?"

"Wrong choice of words bro." Touma walked behind Kirito and placed his hand on the black swordsman's shoulder. He then chuckled a bit and looked at Asuna. "Even though he's the elusive solo player, he is a knight in shining armor that can't ignore the damsel in distress."

"Gee look who's talking…" Mikoto uttered with a slightly amused expression.

It was strange how the four of them were sharing a few laughs even though they were about to embark on a dangerous mission. The mood around them felt a little less tense, which was probably for the better.

If a person had to describe the 28th floor, they would call it uninteresting. Because of this ordinary and plain lay out, it was obvious to see why this was LC's perfect hideout. This was a type of floor that people did not really want to live in because of how dry it looked. The 28th floor was known as a large abandoned waste land because it was filled with forgotten ruins. If one went out to the combat zone, they would see it was like one of those Western movies where it was nothing but dry cracked land. It was a type of place that had flat land so one could spot anything that stood out in a distance.

The crusaders started to wander if it looked conspicuous that a large group of people were going out into this wasteland. However it seemed like nobody was really around except for the NPC shop keepers. This place was known for having cheap housing, but most players most likely wanted to have better living than just simple brick housing.

It was about night time, which was seen as the most advantageous time to go through the battle zone towards the cave. If it was during the day time, it would have been much too conspicuous of a presence.

There was a specific formation that the crusaders took while going through the battle zone. Those with the highest detection skill would make up the outer part of the formation, since they would be able to alert others of any incoming monsters. Those leading the entire group had the best night vision skill, making sure that the entire group did not get lost in the dark.

Asuna, Mikoto, Touma, and Kirito stayed together towards the front of the group. Kirito had a high stat night vision skill so he was able to help with the navigating.

"I really forgot what happened on this floor." Mikoto lowly uttered. It had probably been over a year since she last stepped foot here. Honestly she had forgotten some of the floors she and the other clearers conquered.

"Me too, I know it was around the time that the KoB was taking charge of the front lines, but I don't think we faced difficulties here." Touma remarked. "I can't forget the red and white I saw that day…"

"…" Mikoto did not know how to reply back to what he just said, so she decided to go back to the original topic at hand. "Also there's nothing really remarkable here. It's all just tumbleweed and dry land."

"I admit that this is one smart place to have a secret headquarters. This is one of the floors that nobody ever wants to visit." Touma said as his eyes peered around carefully. This was one of the floors known for having hidden creatures pop out from underground.

It didn't take too long before they found the entrance to the cave. The walk to reach there was seen as uneventful even though a few large snakes appeared from the ground. Any incoming monster was dealt swiftly thanks to the clearer's high capacity for adaptation. Also the monsters from this floor were far weaker than the average clearer's current level.

There was no concern in getting lost because a few days ago, there was a small scouting group sent to inspect the area. They did not go inside the cave itself but confirmed its existence and location.

The cave entrance was even plainer looking than what crusaders expected. Perhaps it was another reason why LC chose this location, because it was nothing too eye catching either. Only bored wanderers would make their way inside of it, but would inevitably discover the horrors that lay within it.

"This reminds me of the 41st floor, which was themed after an underground city." Asuna mumbled. "I didn't like that floor since it didn't have proper sunlight."

Meanwhile they were all about to enter into the cave. Some crusaders put some last minute potions into their pockets while others had some light conversation.

"Feel free to hold onto me if you're scared." Kirito uttered, as if he was intentionally making fun of Asuna.

"I-I'm not afraid." She looked a bit annoyed and embarrassed by his comment.

"Who is the one that came up with excuses to skip out on the haunted themed mazes?"

"Ah geez, those two love birds are bickering again." Touma smirked. "Might as well let it all out before we enter into the big bad cave."

"We're not in love with each other!" Asuna hissed.

Kirito scratched the back of his head nervously and avoided gazing at Asuna's direction. The reactions of those two made Touma and Mikoto giggle lightly.

Before they entered in, Cletus stood on top of a large rock and did a few hand signals to the crusaders. The hand signals he did said: "enter in quietly" and "be careful"

Normally before any big event the leader would give out a booming speech. However in this situation, they had to attack using the element of surprise. Everybody was aware of what the hand signals meant right before they left for the 28th floor.

The crusaders all nodded and followed after Cletus into the opening. Mikoto and her friends stepped inside and realized that they were going down a stairway path. Everybody felt a bit uneasy entering in at first since it was pitch black, but a few seconds later, some torches at the side lit up. Most likely it was set to do that whenever players entered in.

The torches made everybody tense up a bit more, since they were afraid the torches would blow their cover.

Mikoto noticed how Asuna's hand subconsciously gripped onto the back of Kirito's coat. Normally the KoB sub leader held herself with more confidence, but Mikoto was glad Asuna found somebody that made her feel safe.

She felt lucky that some of her closest comrades were able to watch each other's back. Her eyes gazed towards Touma, the person who she considered to be like a savior. Back in Academy City he had the tendency to rush into dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences. He was probably one of the best allies she could ever ask for.

They kept on walking through the cave, glancing over at every corner.

The silence was completely eerie. There was so much uncertainty and tension in the air that nobody said a single word.

The calm before the storm could be seen as more frightening than the storm itself. It was difficult to tell how long it would take before all hell broke loose.

Those with the best detection and search skills led the group.

"Strange, you'd think that a few Laughing Coffin members would have been detected by now." One of the crusaders muttered to his friends.

Click.

Somebody stepped onto a strange button on the floor.

The ground began rumbling and everybody stopped moving all of a sudden.

"Keep moving!" Cletus shouted out. The air had gotten even tenser and Cletus was attempting to break through the high tension.

It took a few seconds before most people started walking forward again, their faces looked like they were pale from fear.

"I guess it was just the way this place was built." Somebody said in a relieved tone.

"Haha yeah, nothing like some shaking movement to scare us."

The two men gave off a light chuckle, but their light hearted humor ended abruptly.

"AHHHHHH!" The back part of the crusade group let out a loud cry of anguish.

"What's happened?!"

The 7 crusaders that were in the back of the group found themselves stuck in a poison swamp. This particular swamp was oozing with purple color and had a foul look to it. It was apparent that somebody stepped onto a floor button. As a result, part of the ground opened up, revealing the deadly poison. This was definitely a trap concocted by Laughing Coffin to prevent intruders.

"H-help us!" One of the crusaders in the swamp cried out.

The concept behind the poison swamp was a lot like quick sand. It was hard to get the person completely pulled out and the longer the person stayed in the swamp, the more their HP would be reduced. They had encountered swamps on the 25th floor. A terrible memory of the 25th floor horrors resurfaced for many of the crusaders.

"Grab on!" One of the spear wielding players stretched his spear out to those trapped.

The trapped person closest to the outreaching spear gripped onto the spear's end.

A few other spear users also joined in and let those afflicted by the swamp grab on. 5 people had to hold onto a spear in order to pull out those who were trapped in there.

Even though the HP of the crusaders was considered the highest in all of SAO, the poisonous swamp's lethal effect was working fast.

"Rescue them all up as quickly as possible!" Cletus shouted out.

Some of the crusaders in the swamp were further away than the reach of the spear. The thick swamp like substance made it difficult for them to move in their current position.

Mikoto could not do anything about the situation. Since she had no skills to help the situation, the only thing she could do was watch in horror like a bystander. She could clearly see that those who were not rescued in time had their HP quickly reach to the end of the line.

"P-PLEASE CLEAR THE GAME FOR US!"

Those were the last words heard from those remaining in the swamp before their bodies completely disintegrated.

At this moment, there were two casualties on the crusader's side.

Silence.

"We-we do not have time to mourn for the dead." Cletus uttered in a solemn tone. "Let's continue onwards. Now we know to be careful of traps."

The crusaders were so confident that they had the element of surprise. However it seemed like Laughing Coffin turned the tables. The way these traps were set up seemed to be very intricate, as if LC was expecting the crusaders to come in the first place.

Mikoto had to remind herself that casualties were a common part of SAO and moved onwards. She lost count of how many times she had to see people die before her eyes. She could remember that desperate look in their eyes as their life was being taken away.

There's no way that our plan could have been leaked…

That trap was perhaps just there to ward off outsiders. It wasn't for sure that their presence had been noticed. At this hour LC would probably be in the safe tower area scheming up with more plans. One of the back up plans was to wait near the exit of the tower area and ambush LC members when they exit the safe zone.

Just like before, everybody was completely silent while walking onward. However there seemed to be even more of a serious silence because of a few comrades already lost their lives. They had not even begun the real fight yet and they already suffered a few causalities.

Everybody made a sharp right turn to continue onto a new corridor.

Mikoto felt something odd as soon as she entered into the next corridor. She kept wondering, why were the walls from one meter high all the way up filled with tiny holes?

She looked at the walls suspiciously, as did everybody else. This particular area resembled a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, something that Mikoto recalled out of nowhere.

Is there going to be another trap?

Her question was quickly answered as small spikes fired out from the walls!

It was like they were really in an Indiana Jones movie, where traps kept on coming at them one after the other.

A few crusaders were unlucky not to notice what was going on in time and were hit by multiple spikes at once. Others were able to draw their swords and try to parry them away.

SHING! CLING!

Mikoto put her shield in front to deflect away an incoming spike. Kirito's senses were sharp enough to detect and slash away some of them as well away from those nearby him.

"Defensive formation everybody!" Cletus roared out as he got behind a person with a shield.

Fortunately more than half of the crusaders were shield users and they all had their respective shields out.

The defensive formation everybody took was also called the turtle formation. It was because the entire group looked like a turtle's shell with so many surrounding shields. All of the shield users were on the periphery of the formation, leaving the non-shield users to be protected on the inside. The shields on the outside would be raised out and tightly formed with each other, so that no holes would be left in the formation.

Mikoto's new shield was more durable than her previous one. She was glad that Lisbeth's handiwork could help her save more lives.

Those inflicted with the spikes were paralyzed and had to use one of their green colored antidote crystals. It would have taken wasted too much time to use an antidote potion instead, since a potion's effects were much slower than a crystal's. However that meant the crystals cost much more.

"I can't believe we've stumbled onto another trap." One player grumbled.

"Ah geez, I don't have that much more Col to get more crystals."

"Keep moving everybody." Cletus' voice rang out amidst the chatter.

The shield turtle formation moved on out slowly and carefully. As soon as they made it out of the spike trap area, the shield players relinquished their formation.

Everybody decided to take a minute to take a breather.

"Thank goodness we're safe." Touma sighed relieved. "If it wasn't for Mikoto's quick thinking, I'd be paralyzed. The poisons from those spikes seem a lot like the bee stingers that my guild collected."

"Laughing Coffin is known for being high skilled in poison mixing. It's no surprise we stumbled onto 2 poison traps already."

2 traps down, how many more await them?

Everybody was definitely getting more tense and nervous at this point. After encountering two dangerous traps, the crusaders were even more on the look-out. Unfortunately detection skills were not effective in detecting traps. One type of rare trap that they all heard about was the anti-crystal room. Apparently anybody who entered into that kind of room would not be able to use their crystals.

It seemed that not only were the traps meant to throw the crusaders into disarray, it could have also been meant to diminish their supply of healing items. Healing items were the only lifeline that could save them from death.

The crusaders entered into the tower area, which was reported to be a safe area. Most likely LC members were all waiting in the large safe room, which would be their gathering spot. Even though they could not engage in harmful combat in the safe zones, the crusaders could still intimidate Laughing Coffin with their sheer strength and numbers. Cletus was most likely hoping that they would surrender willingly since LC would end up being cornered.

"W-why is there nobody here?" Some of the crusaders muttered amongst each other.

A few of them had pale expressions on their faces. It was as if they had been duped this entire time.

The tower area looked completely void of human life. It looked like a typical medieval tower made out of large stone bricks with candles hanging on the wall. When going into the tower, the first thing a person would see is a long hallway that would lead to the large gathering room.

"Tch they've probably gone off to terrorize some other people! We should just wait here until they come back." Somebody said out loud.

"No I think they are still here in the cave. From the way their traps were set up, it was as if they were expecting us to come." Cletus admitted. His absolutely serious expression meant that he had given this much thought and finally spoken up. "The cave is a huge maze, so they have the at home advantage."

Everybody immediately turned their attention to their leader. It was apparent that their morality had been significantly impacted already.

Mikoto worried that even more daunting news would further crush their spirits.

"Our operation's cover got blown?!"

"Calm down everybody. We all know that plans never turn out the way we expect them to." Cletus' voice stopped the fearful chattering from the crusaders.

"We are the clearing group, we are used to adapting to strange situations. If we do not directly confront Laughing Coffin, then the hardships we have endured already will be wasted. I believe that they are attacking us because they expected us to take the most direct pathway through the cave. They are probably within the maze area, so we must go backwards and find them." He kept his voice very calm, which was remarkable in this kind of situation.

Everybody began to mutter confused.

"I doubt that Laughing Coffin has simply abandoned their hide out."

And so the entire group went back into formation and decided to work backwards.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Those with top notch detection and searching skills felt even more pressure. The longer they stayed in the maze, the more fatigue they experienced. At this point there were individuals who were already feeling weary especially from the stress of stumbling upon traps.

Perhaps this was LC's ploy to get the crusaders to fall prey to further traps. Originally it was supposed to be like a hunting game where the hunting dogs would be unleashed upon the weaker and unsuspecting prey. Now it was like a game of cat and mouse, and it was scary which role the crusaders were forced into.

There were a few more poisonous traps that they stumbled upon. It was quite clear that LC members were experts at concocting poisons. Attacking the clearers by poison was a clever tactic that gave them an advantage since those were perfect indirect ways to weaken their opponents.

The overall morale had significantly decreased as members were feeling impatient. Everybody assumed that it would have been a quick and direct victory since they were confident in their superior skill levels. However they all realized that they severely underestimated the tact and cunning of Laughing Coffin.

Cletus immediately put his right hand up, which got everybody's attention and made them be quiet. A few of the crusaders leading the party then made a hand signal that meant: ready your weapons.

It seemed that the detection and searching skills were really paying off for this moment.

Mikoto already unsheathed Coral Edge and held onto her shield tightly. She looked at her comrades around her and saw them all drawing their weapons as well. Touma held his katana in both his hands, Kirito was already holding onto Elucidator and Asuna had her hand on Lambent Light's handle, ready to unsheathe it any second.

Soon enough, they entered into another large room that had lots of hanging platforms around. Mikoto could pick up other presences with her detection skill. Just as she was about to say something to the group, the torch lights turned on.

"WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM."

An ominous voice echoed throughout the area.

A few of the crusaders looked pale faced as they heard that voice, as if a ghost had just entered into the room.

SHOOM!

It sounded as if projectiles were coming towards the crusaders, which prompted some of those in the front to pull out their shields.

Those who were not able to act quickly enough were struck by poisonous darts and fell to the ground in a paralyzed state. It seemed like the Laughing Coffin members possessed high throwing skills.

"Surrender now and we can guarantee that your lives will be spared." Cletus spoke in a confident and commanding tone. He was able to be protected from the poison darts because of the shield users surrounding him.

A few of the cloaked figures chuckled amused, as if Cletus had said a funny joke instead. All of Laughing Coffin's members could be seen standing above the crusaders on top of the floating platforms.

The leader of the infamous red PK guild stepped forward. Sources claimed that his name was Poh and that he possessed a very charming personality. It was difficult to see the man's face because of his cloak, but it was apparent that he was smiling.

"You think we are going to surrender, without a fight?!" Poh's voice boomed.

"Clearly the advantage is on our side." Cletus responded with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Oh? What do you think boys, is there anything else you all have to say?!" The leader of Laughing Coffin turned his head towards his fellow members.

"WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?!" The cloaked figures bellowed out. Their voices all sounded very gruff and diabolical.

"IT'S SHOW TIME!" Poh lifted up his Mate Chopper and then cackled evily. This particular fearsome weapon was a long dagger type that looked like a meat cleaver.

His cackle sent chills down everybody's spines. It was the sound of somebody who had overwhelming blood lust.

The rest of the Laughing Coffin members all cackled out as well, which clearly indicated their insatiable blood lust. They all jumped down from their current positions, swarming towards the crusaders.

Meanwhile the crusaders were riled up, both in negative and positive ways. Some of them looked even paler faced than before and were probably fighting the urge to just run away. This type of fight was unlike any that they had experienced in the boss battles.

However there was still a good majority of the crusaders that kept their calm, ready at any moment for the inevitable brawl.

"WE WILL BE TRIUMPHANT!" Cletus shouted out the Divine Dragon Alliance's motto.

The crusaders responded with a battle cry, which was able to quell the fright from the scared members and boost up their overall morale.

Everybody charged at each other – that's when all hell broke loose.

Those at the front of the charge unleashed out some flashy sword skills, but the Laughing Coffin members were agile enough to dodge and defend themselves.

It was no surprise as to how LC was able to adapt and evolve in close combat fighting.

Mikoto went into battle alongside with her closest friends and could see the sheer tenacity in their expressions.

The most difficult part in any major fight is to avoid succumbing to desperation. Everybody in SAO is desperate to not be killed and be able to return back to the normal world. However this desperation is what clouds people's judgment and makes them do irrational actions. In other cases, desperation can completely obliterate a person's motivation.

Mikoto was unfortunately feeling some hesitation and fear. It could be said that fear and desperation were a deadly combination.

She was experiencing the same paralyzing sensation back in the first boss battle. During that time, she felt so helpless that it was not possible for her to even continue fighting.

At the point when everybody stopped in order to face against the opposition, Mikoto simply stood there and watched. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as her wide and frightened eyes stared at the scene before her.

She could see Asuna perform a flawless linear strike that hit its mark. Kirito was not too far from her and he was able to parry off his opponent's initial strike and he responded back with a combination attack.

Snap out of it! She mentally commanded her body to move. However she felt her mind and heart experience inner turmoil. Her mind was telling her that the point of this crusade was to exterminate Laughing Coffin, even if it meant they had to resort to lethal force. However her heart was telling her that it was wrong to take away a human life.

In Academy City she had no problem dealing with ruffians or thugs, but never at any point did she ever have to make the decision to kill them. Mikoto felt fear from facing the consequences of murder and desperation because of how she wanted to get out of this situation already.

Suddenly her eyes caught a glimpse of an incoming sharp dangerous object coming towards her way.

That was the spark that set her body into action.

The Blue Bolt put her shield forward upon reflex. She felt an impact of a weapon upon her shield and then gave a mighty push. Her strength skill set was maxed out, so it was easy for her to push against other players and objects.

The LC member she pushed stumbled backwards for a few feet.

"To think I'd get a chance to play with a pretty young girl." It looked as if the man before her was licking his lips. "Let's toy around for a bit before I chop you up into pieces."

Mikoto was definitely feeling creeped out by this person, which further motivated her to throw away her sense of mercy towards human life.

Her opponent had a jagged type of sword that looked like it was meant for speedy attacks. The LC member did several quick thrusts forward while rushing towards Mikoto. It seemed that he was attempting to get her to follow his pace.

"You underestimate me." The Blue Bolt uttered coldly before she reacted defensively.

She had to admit that her opponent had fast strikes, but Mikoto had trained with somebody with much faster attacks.

It was easy for her to determine the pattern of the incoming sword strikes, so she was able to defend accordingly using her shield.

A few seconds later her sword, Coral Edge glowed a blue color.

She pulled her shield away so that she could initiate her sword skill.

Her initial strike was a slant that started from her upper right side and then finished down to the left. This strike was able to parry off her opponent's sword which left him open for just a brief second, which was perfect.

The sword skill was actually not finished yet, so Coral Edge continued to move thanks to the system's assistance. Coral Edge then moved from the left side and slashed up all the up to form another slant. This was the sword skill Vertical Arc, a 2 hit skill that formed a "V" shape due to two consecutive slants.

The second slant directly hit the body of the LC member, which resulted in him losing a significant amount of HP.

Instead of looking scared of worried, the LC member simply smiled amused. It was like he didn't even care about his own life or safety.

The short haired girl readied her stance, shield and sword again. Right now she was preparing for her next few moves while undergoing the cool down period that immediately took place after using a sword skill.

"Oya? Looks like we're going to have some real fun then!" The beast before her grinned. His grin made it seem like he was truly a monster. The thing before her could not be considered human at all.

It looked like the damage he took earlier did not faze him at all.

There was one particular technique that she felt could be helpful in this situation. A while back she saw Kirito use this skill that was able to break apart his opponent's weapon. The requirement for that skill was that her sword had to be of a higher grade than the opposing sword. Since Mikoto's sword was newly crafted by Lisbeth and made with a rare metal, it was obvious that her sword would be the superior one.

She positioned her sword in the correct form, ready to initiate the skill she had in mind.

Mikoto and her opponent charged forth towards each other. While her opponent looked like he was having fun, she had on an intense expression since she needed to be fully concentrated. It was due to her concentration that she was able to attack faster. The first strike went from left to right and then the second strike went from right to left. These strikes were aimed at the LC member's sword and had to be done with the utmost accuracy in order to achieve the desired result. This particular skill is referred to as Snake Bite because the resulting strikes look as if a snake's fangs had bitten up the opponent's sword.

After Mikoto was finished, she turned to look at her handiwork.

Because of the cloak that hid her opponent's eyes, she could not discern his facial expression. Most likely he was shocked to see his own weapon broken in half. His weapon crumbled into polygons as it disappeared from his hands.

Snake Bite was a skill she could only use once in a while because of how it took a toll on her own weapon. If she used Snake Bite many times without giving her sword time to cool down, then worst case scenario it could break Coral Edge.

"Hee hee I like you so much that I want to hear you scream in agony!" The LC member before her gave out a wicked laugh.

Before Mikoto could choose to either continue attacking him or try to talk him into surrendering, she was barely above to react in time and use her sword to block an incoming strike.

With her attention focused onto fending off her next enemy, she was no longer able to pay attention to the weaponless LC member.

Mikoto was thankful that there was no such thing as bloodshed in this game. Whenever a person was dealt with an injury, they would only see a slash mark on the inflicted wound and that was it. If there was such thing as blood in this game, the entire room would have been covered up in a complete crimson color.

The advantage should have definitely favored the crusaders. The crusader's overall skill was higher than Laughing Coffin's and LC was out numbered. There were 50 crusaders compared to 30 or so LC members, however it seemed like LC had the upper hand against the crusaders.

There was one clear reason as to why the crusaders were not completely dominating the fight. It was the difference between those who could break past their moral boundaries and those that couldn't.

"AHHH!"

"BURN IN HELL YOU MURDERER!"

It was uncommon to hear loud desperate cries within the room. It was perhaps the sound somebody having their life taken from them or the sounds of those forced to take another life.

Mikoto learned to ignore those screams because in some boss fight situations, they couldn't let death of their fellow comrades ruin their mentality.

"W-WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE BECOME?!"

One particular screaming crusader dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Not everybody could handle the tough burden they were assigned with. Before Mikoto and Asuna agreed to be part of the crusade effort, a few other male KoB members told them they should stay out of it. They were attempting to reason with the girls, telling them that they might not have a strong enough will to kill when necessary.

The two girls disliked it whenever somebody underestimated their skills or worth because of their gender, but they understood the concern of their fellow guild members. They felt that they had an obligation to help out for the greater good.

Mikoto's beautiful blue sword Coral Edge was able to deal some critical damage to the cloaked figure before her. As Coral Edge dug its tip into the figure's body, Mikoto felt sick to her stomach.

She took a quick glance at her surroundings again. Normally she would not be distracted during a fight, but there was different than a normal situation.

A certain black swordsman looked like he had becoming a fighting machine. His movements were erratic, unpredictable and lightning fast. It was as if the chains that regulated his sheer power had been relinquished. The beast inside of him had been let loose.

Asuna was able to fare well on her own. It had been difficult for her to get to Asuna's side because of all of the chaos. Everywhere Mikoto looked it was madness.

In a boss fight, they were at least able to predict some of the boss' moves and act accordingly. In this situation, there was no specific tactic to take down Laughing Coffin.

To the crusaders, the LC members before them were nothing more than the monsters from the clearing mazes.

In Mikoto's point of view, in order to actually kill another human being, a person had to forgo their humanity in just that moment.

She could see some cloaked figures disintegrating into polygons.

The person before her now only had 17% of the HP left, which was already past the red zone. With one final direct strike, she could be rid of him.

"RAHHH!" Touma gave out a battle cry and jumped in between Mikoto and the LC member. He used his katana and dealt the last slash that sent the LC member's HP to 1%. There was barely a sliver of HP left.

At that moment, the LC member then raised his hands in surrender. Thankfully this particular person knew when their defeat was inevitable.

"T-touma…"

"Snap out of it Mikoto! We're fighting for our lives here!"

"B-but…"

"What happened to the stubborn Biri biri that I once knew? You would always do your best for the greater good, even if it meant sacrificing yourself!"

Those words were like magic, they sent Mikoto back to reality.

"Please give me 10 seconds, that's all I need."

What does he need 10 seconds for? She wondered.

Instead of wasting any further time asking him, she simply nodded and stood nearby in front of him.

Mikoto took a quick half second glance at Touma. She noticed that he was going through his inventory and replacing his katana with another weapon.

It couldn't be?!

"Yosh it's ready!"

The spikey haired boy had his Iron Knuckles equipped on. The first enemy that he rushed towards was a LC member who was occupied with fighting a person from the Divine Dragon Alliance.

Touma yelled out. "Hey buster!"

The cloaked figure turned towards Touma and was met with an incoming fist. Touma's punch was able to land on the person's face. The LC member nearly fell down as a result of the harsh punch.

"W-what's going on?!" The cloaked person uttered confused.

"I just spared your life, you won't be able to move for a bit but if you surrender you can keep your life."

A person with a dagger tried to stab towards Touma but he used his superior speed to dodge the incoming knife. He side stepped and was able to find an opening to side step the cloaked person in the gut.

Touma's swordsmanship was decent, but his true fighting style was in his fist combat. Ever since he entered SAO, his fighting skills and reflexes were even more enhanced. It was like he was a skilled boxer taking out mere thugs.

His gloves were metallic enough to allow him to block an incoming sword slash. He used his other free hand to sock the person.

Touma's iron knuckles allowed him to move faster than if he was using a sword. Right now she had no idea how many hits he had already unleashed. Some of the stronger LC members required more than one punch.

With Touma being able to stun the LC members temporarily, it allowed the crusaders to take advantage of the situation. Touma was even able to break apart some of the opposition's weapons, which made some of the LC members agree to surrender since they were weaponless.

As Laughing Coffin's numbers lessened in the battle, their fighting spirit waned down and soon enough the remaining fighting members surrendered to the superior crusaders. Even though everyone in LC was perceived to be crazy, there were still some individuals rational to understand that giving up was a better option than losing their life.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Meanwhile some of the remaining crusaders were rounding up the Laughing Coffin members that had surrendered and escorting them to the dungeon prison underneath the Black Iron Palace. On the first floor the Black Iron Palace is known for being one of Aincrad's memorable landmarks. Underneath this palace was a dungeon area reserved for imprisoning orange players.

It could be said that the mission's success was due to the black swordsman and fist fighter.

At the moment, they were all still inside the cave, but close to the exit way.

In the end, Touma did not take away a single life. Mikoto and Asuna could not fathom the decision to use their blades to kill.

On the other hand, they knew somebody who had to resort to the last measure.

The three of them looked at Kirito. The black swordsman was sitting by himself with his eyes towards the ground. It looked like his eyes had been staring at a never ending abyss.

Even though it was over, everybody still had tension within their hearts.

"Kirito-kun…" Asuna muttered with a hint of concern.

"Go talk to him, he's one of the people who used his sword to kill. I can't imagine what kind of anguish he's going through right now." Mikoto uttered lowly.

The KoB sub leader sat down near the black swordsman. She placed a gentle arm on his shoulder and muttered something that Mikoto could not hear. Hopefully human contact would stir up Kirito.

Mikoto and Touma remained silent for about a minute. It was difficult to even think up of something to say to one another.

"Now we need some time to heal." Touma sighed deeply. "If only we could get away from the clearing efforts just for a bit."

"A long vacation sounds nice too." Mikoto said half jokingly.

"If you're on vacation, who is going to watch my back?"

"True…" Mikoto left a short reply.

Again, it was silence between the two of them again.

"I'm just glad this is over with now."

"I feel that it could have been over sooner if it wasn't for those traps…"

"The traps felt like they were a bit over the top. As if there were more traps than necessary just to prevent casual intruders."

"It seemed like Laughing Coffin was really expecting us to show up. As if somebody has tipped them off beforehand."

Touma looked shocked. He stared at her with disbelief, as if she was crazy for coming up with such a statement.

"You think there's a spy amongst the clearers. Now that's preposterous."

"I don't know, but I do think that the situation is fishy."

"We have to be careful about our suspicions since I don't want to arouse any strange rumors."

"Don't you find it strange at how confident Laughing Coffin seemed when we went to find them? It was as if they were expecting us all this time."

"They're a bunch of whack jobs."

"Those guys may be crazy, but they had to be smart enough to avoid being caught all this time."

Mikoto had a strong hunch that Laughing Coffin had a certain secret agent within the clearing group. Now the question is, who would be so vile enough to aid such a treacherous guild?

Author's Note:

I apologize for any of those that hate me for taking forever to update/dropped the story out of disinterest. I thank those who eagerly read this latest chapter and please leave any comments/constructive criticism.