A/N: I'm back with a Lunar New Year update! My laptop got destroyed so I was stuck having to write with my phone and that was just gruesome and I stopped. Now that I have my new computer, I should be able to put out chapters again, albeit a bit slower because this one is less user friendly. Anyway, on with the story!

Kirito was in the KOB main office with Asuna as she struggled to keep up with all the virtual paperwork she had to go through. Kirito was completely and utterly devastated by the revelation of just how strong Zoro was. He was sulking in the corner of the room as he continued to think about what to do. Kirito pulled up his quest screen and saw it there, the quest Kayaba had given him.

Defeat Roronoa Zoro: 0/1

The description of the quest had given him Zoro's location but he had no idea whether to go and just be more depressed when he found out how much stronger Zoro was then what he saw the day before.

'He was toying with me! That boss was destroyed in one hit, how did it not even occur to me that he was this strong, he soloed the entire Hidden Dungeon!'

"Kirito-kun, stop sulking over there and go train or something, watching you be depressed like that is making it difficult to finish all this paperwork. I bet Kayaba used the system or something to do it, cause this is just ridiculous!"

The call from his loved one broke him from his trance and he was partially back to his old self.

"Sorry Asuna, I was just thinking about Zoro…"

"Look, you don't have to fight him you know, you could just wait for us to clear the boss, I'll make sure everyone survives."

"But I want to help everyone escape too, I've already been branded a Beater, I don't need to make my name any worse for no reason."

"Can't you at least go and look for Yui? She went exploring a while ago and hasn't come back yet."

"Alright then, might as well do something I guess!"

"There's the Kirito-kun I know! Now try not to do anything stupid."

"Sure, sure…"

Kirito got out of the room and went to look for Yui, he found her easily, she was looking at the pictures hung around the castle and had been mesmerized by one which showed a field of beautiful flowers.

"Oi Yui! There you are, Asuna was looking for you, what are you looking at?"

"Papa look! It's so pretty! Can we go there someday?"

Kirito chuckled and ruffled Yui's hair.

"Of course Yui, I'll ask Asuna about it later."

"Yay!"

Just as Kirito opened his mouth to say something, a siren echoed through the world as an message was sent to all the players in the world. Kirito checked his mail to see a letter sent by Heathcliff, better known as Kayaba Akihiko. Kirito froze as he read the letter.

Greetings Players, I have set up a special event for all of you, in this letter you will receive a Teleport Crystal. This crystal is set to activate at Noon today and will take you all to where Zoro is, there will be a dungeon to clear if you wish to see him. Those who don't want to risk death can choose to delete the crystal from the inventory at the end of this message. Kirito, I wish you luck in your quest to defeat Zoro, you'll need it.

Kirito ran off to the Hidden Dungeon to get some last minute training done before Noon.

"Yui! Tell Asuna I will join her at the Teleport!"

'There's a good chance I'll have to fight Zoro again, I need to get stronger before that happens!'

Kirito went back to the corner he was stuck at last time and waited. Soon enough, the sound of distant croaks could be heard as the frog army approached. Kirito drew his blades and charged towards the frogs, slashing and slicing as the army surrounded him. He continued to attack the endless toad army while mentally fortifying himself for seeing Zoro again.

As Zoro slayed his thousandth Asura, Kayaba teleported into the arena.

"Oi Kayaba, what's with this event you're gonna use me for?"

"Nothing much, I just want to show them how strong you really are."

"I obliterated that boss in one hit, I don't think they need to see much else."

"But they haven't seen your Asura form yet, I bet it'll scare the daylights outta Kirito when you suddenly become three times stronger than what you showed back on Floor 75."

"Keh, just make sure they stay out of my way."

"Will do, they'll take some time to clear the dungeon so you can relax for a while."

"I guess I'll go and get some Sake then, I'll need it if I intend to actually relax. Maybe I'll take another nap, I still got tons of time till they get here."

Zoro yawned and headed to the rest area.

"Hahaha, you never cease to amaze me Zoro…"

The promised time came and the players who still had their crystals were teleported to the foot of the tower.

A few prominent figures were present in the crowd. There was Asuna the leader of KOB, Kirito the Beater, Klein the leader of Fuurinkazan and everyone's favourite shopkeeper, Agil.

"I wonder if I'll find any new rare items in here?" Agil questioned.

"I bet there are pretty babes in there waiting for me!" Klein exclaimed.

Kirito and Asuna both looked at the tower and saw that it reached far above the skyline.\

It was when they looked down that they saw cloaked figure enter the tower,

"Hey, it's not safe in there!"

Kirito ran in to see a bunch of mobs burst into looked around and saw no sign of the person. He decided to continue upwards and fought the mobs. The rest of the group eventually joined him and progressed up the tower. They found that the mobs got harder and harder the higher up they went. After what felt like an eternity, they reached the top and found themselves in an arena. In the arena, they saw two people. Kirito recognized one of them as Zoro and the other as the cloaked figure he saw previously, but he was holding something in his hand.

"Who the heck are you? What do you think you are doing down here, it's dangerous!?"

The person in front of Zoro threw his cloak into the air, revealing himself.

"Um… Who are you?"

"It's me! Captain Kuro!"

"Err… Nope doesn't ring a bell."

"I was the most cunning pirate in East Blue!"

"Hmm… Nah, can't remember!"

Kuro was frustrated and immediately threw the case he held into the air and it opened mid-flight, the claws fell from their container and slot themselves on Kuro's hands.

"Then I'll just have to make you remember!"

"Nuki Ashi: Kyuukyoku Keishiki!" (Stealth Walk: Ultimate Form!)

Kuro disappeared from sight as he activated his ability, Zoro was unphased by this, but the crowd of players now occupying the coliseum seats were. Slashes started forming all over the ground as Kuro cut and cleaved at anything he saw. One of the slices got directed at Zoro who didn't even flinch nor draw his blade.

"Mutoryu: Shinken Shirahatori to Hakai!" (No Sword Style: Sword Catch and Destroy)

To the audience and Kuro's surprise, Zoro had caught all ten of Kuro's blades. Each of Zoro's fingers held a blade and snapped them cleanly in half.

"You're a hundred years too early to challenge me!"

"Grr… Ragh!"

Kuro charged at Zoro with his broken claws in a last ditch attempt to kill him.

"A weakling like you isn't even worth my time!"

"Mutoryu: O Tatsumaki!" (No Sword Style: Great Dragon Twister!)

The technique was originally a Santoryu technique, but Zoro's intensive training had enabled him to do it without swords. The twister span and continued to hack at Kuro until the last bit of his health trickled away. Following a cloud of hexagons, the twister dissipated, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Zoro looked around and saw the crowd at the edge of their seats. He moved over to one of the buttons and pressed the fifth one. The Asura spawned and the players all jumped back in fright, the monster towered over them. They started panicking over the sheer intimidation of the mob.

"What is that thing!?"

"He's crazy, he's gonna fight this!?"

"There's no way he'll live through this!"

Kirito looked at the massive construct and examined it, it was apparently so strong that even his heightened Observation skill could not identify it.

'This must be the boss for the hundredth Hidden Dungeon floor, I didn't upgrade observation for Floor Hundred because we already knew Kayaba would be the boss of the top floor. This boss looks insane, the two swords it's carrying look extremely dangerous.'

Zoro moved to the centre to face Asura and drew his katanas. He got into stance and smirked.

"I haven't used this move in a long time, guess I should get some practice in.

"Kiki Kyutoryu: Asura!" (Demon Spirit Nine Sword Style: Asura!)

To the amazement of the crowd, Zoro suddenly grew four arms and two heads.

'What!? That's ridiculous! He's even stronger than what he showed yesterday?! How am I supposed to defeat that?!'

"Kiki Kyutoryu: Asura: Tengoku Tsuranuku no Ugui!" (Demon Spirit Nine Sword Style: Asura: Heaven Piercing Drill!)

Zoro launched himself at Asura, the impact was solid and the boss struggled to withstand the attack. Asura's health bar continued to drain as Zoro's Heaven Piercing Drill continued to bore into it. Nearing the end of its life, Asura's armor plated covering gave way and Zoro drilled through the great Buddha, collapsing it into a pile that broke into hexagons.

Zoro looked up and saw the people all at the edge of their seats, eager to see if anything would happen next. He spotted Kirito in the corner with his mouth opened, shocked that Zoro had destroyed the boss in a single hit. Zoro went over to the centre and raised his swords to the air.

"Is there anyone here who wants to fight me?! I will take up any challenger!"

The clearers went quiet at the announcement and no one moved. They were all too shocked by the challenge to do anything. A single hand was raised and the figure was teleported to the centre.

"So you want to fight me huh?"

"I hope you put up a good fight then!"

"I just hope I'll be able to leave alive."

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll be sure to leave some of your health left, Kayaba wasn't too pleased when I killed you last time. I'll give you a handicap even, I'll only use one sword."

Zoro drew Sandai Kitetsu and assumed his stance.

"I appreciate the sentiment."

"Be careful though, this one's a bit blood-thirsty!"

Zoro charged Kirito and caught him by surprise. He parried the attack and jumped back for some time to think.

'I can't use Sword Skills when fighting against him, they reveal too much about where I will attack, giving him signals when dodging.'

Kirito focused his thoughts and recalled his Niten Ichi-ryu training, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He sensed an attack coming from Zoro and instinctively moved to block it with his Dark Repulsor while he swung his Elucidator in an attempt to get a hit on Zoro.

The blade of the weapon cut into Zoro, leaving a red wound where it struck. Zoro was caught off guard by the sudden strike and Kirito used this as an opportunity to follow up on his earlier attack. With his Dark Repulsor now free, Kirito swung it in an attempt to build up a combo of attacks while he had the chance. At the same time, he swung his Elucidator at the side, effectively pincering Zoro, who only had one sword to block with.

Zoro blocked the sword coming at his right and quickly flicked it in order to parry the one coming at his left. Awed by Zoro's sudden burst in speed, Kirito couldn't build up the strength to pull back his blade and it pulled him back. Now with breathing room, Zoro initiated his attack.

"Ittoryu: Baki!" (One Sword Style: Horse Demon!)

The attack came flying towards Kirito and he parried it with both swords in an effort to prevent injury. The force of the attack pressed Kirito down onto one knee as he pushed off the sword and proceeded to strike at Zoro's chest while he was vulnerable. Kirito inflicted two clean horizontal slashes on Zoro's chest in the opening which did minimal damage. Zoro regained his footing and eyed Kirito like a predator would its prey.

"You've improved since we last crossed blades. I look forward to seeing you grow as a swordsman. Though you'll need a lot to surpass me boy!"

"Ittoryu: Daishinkan!" (One Sword Style: Great Dragon Shock!)

Zoro's hit connected with Kirito's two blades as he tried to block to strike, the force of the strike forced Kirito back a fair distance, he managed to stay strong and maintain his block but the shockwave had damaged him a good deal. He felt Zoro put more force into the strike and slowly drain whatever strength he had left. Zoro pushed one final time and broke Kirito's guard, his sword went for blood and cut Kirito's chest and a gaping gash opened. Kirito howled in pain as the katana wounded him. He backed away and found his vision fading, he looked up to see that he only had five percent of his health remaining.

Kirito collapsed onto the ground where Zoro walked over and picked him up before pushing one of the wall buttons and disappearing.

"Kirito-kun!"

Asuna struck against the barrier violently in an attempt to reach her beloved.

"Now now Asuna, Zoro didn't kill him yet. The barrier is blocking us from entering anyway so we can only wait. Remember, Zoro is a player like us and has proven to not be completely blood-thirsty, if not he would have simply used that whatever Kyutoryu and killed Kirito in an instant."

"Klein's right, the only thing we can do now is wait and hope. Our best bet right now would be to see if Yui can do anything."

"Yeah, you're right Agil, I'll go check on Yui."

A/N: That felt rushed, but then again I think I made Zoro a tad too powerful to the point where the story goes too fast... I'll try and get the next chapter done soon, though the new laptop is killing me with all its issues. In other news, It was announced at Katsucon that Sword Art Online II will air on Adult Swim starting March 28, at 1:00 a.m. EST. Hooray for Anime publicity in the West! Don't forget to Review or check out my other works and poll!