Link Start: Danger In Virtual Worlds

by Fireking492-BlazeWarriorWolf

Peace can never be truly found in the multiverse. With the defeat of Pmurt Nedib behind them, the BRAINS Collective faces a new crisis. The games of SAO as well as Minecraft, Duel Links, and more are forced together into a new incredibly twisted death game that traps countless heroes, innocent people, and more: the Infinityverse. And now, it must be cleared with high stakes.

4. Laughing Coffin and Romeo

Link Start: Danger In Virtual Worlds

Chapter 4: Laughing Coffin and Romeo

Date: Infinityverse Day 52-70

A few hours into working on beating the 7th floor of Aincrad, I was grinding monsters and helping collect information for Argo the info broker's guidebooks. With the inclusion of Minecraft into the first fraction of Aincrad, things have been very much complicated. Totems of Undying from Woodland Mansions are a hot commodity due to what they are able to do. I've gotten use to seeing SAO monsters in Minecraft landscapes but even that fact was unable to prepare me for what was about to happen right before my eyes and what I was about to experience seemingly out of nowhere. The general steps for clearing a floor of Aincrad have been cut and clear since Floor 1. Grind and collect materials, do quests, gather information, watch out for villains, upgrade gear, go to the labyrinth, and fight the floor boss. I didn't mind the rain of the forest that the teleport gate led to on the 7th floor that much. My armor kept me dry. I was grinding in a mesa biome full of gold inside its abandoned mineshafts. The mesa was not too far from the 7th floor labyrinth. But then, as I cut through netherrite armored zombies and wither skeletons as well as 7th floor monsters, I heard some screams of pain. Screams of pain from people I know personally. "What the hell is going on?! We haven't even been here on this floor for very long.. Damn it! I have to go help them! Stay back, monsters! I'll deal with you later!" I run from the monsters around me and immediately head in the direction the screams came from. But when I arrived, things were already horrific. Beerus shouts: "Damn it! I can't hold off these monsters! And I'm a god! This is ridiculous!" My mii counterpart speaks: "I don't think I'm going to make it.. Losing hp so fast.."

It was like a bloodbath was playing out in front of me. And behind it wasn't just monsters. But Laughing Coffin too. Somehow, Laughing Coffin has suddenly sprung into action out of nowhere despite losing hold up to now. Something changed within them very quickly. That's not very good news for us. I joined in the fray. Without access to my irl sword skills, I knew there was only so much I could do. "I won't let any of you die! System Call: Generate Burst Element! Discharge!" I still retain the system and object authority granted to me by the tyrannical Pontifex. My attack did nothing. The battle raged on. It was brutal. A Laughing Coffin member laughs: "What's wrong? Are none of you strong enough to face these monsters along with us with all the rare gear we looted from the people we've killed?? Oh well! More fun for us! We might as well make a game out of this! Whoever survives the longest gets to die the slowest death possible! Hahahahaha!" Dominic snaps: "You're all such nap causations! We'll stop you no matter what it takes! Laughing Coffin will be put an end to!" "I don't think so! The Assault Team are the one who are going to get destroyed! Clearers like you will never beat this game! Once we get rid of all of you, we'll use your rare items to beat this game ourselves and then, we'll start murdering in the real world as well! Now that POH has resumed being our leader, no one can stop us!" Swing, swing, swing. I engage one of the villains: "You bastard! I'll bring you down right here right now!" "Go ahead and try! It's useless but go ahead! You're going to die right here and now along with your friends!"

We engage one on one and effortlessly slice through any monsters that get in our way. Our fight is intense. A pool of blood forms underneath my feet but I'm not the only one bleeding around here. My opponent has taken less damage but it's still significant. "Hahahaha! Look! I'm winning! You're losing! You're so dead!" "Don't count me out just yet!" With my hp depleting quickly despite the strength of my armor, I knew I had to wrap things up. I activated Artist's Eye to create a small distraction that didnt require much concentration. My opponent was caught off guard for a brief moment. I used that opportunity to knock their sword out of their hands. But they simply drew another one and came at me again. My situation became more and more desperate. I wasn't just losing badly. I was dying. My hp was less than 25% in no time. I wasn't given any time to use any potions to save myself. Even though I'm already dead, dying for real in this game will still destroy my brain. I've been using my Artist's Eye almost everyday to create all kinds of things in order to aid the combined efforts of the entire Assault Team. I forgot to mention that fact before now if I'm not mistaken. "Crap! I'm going to die soon if I don't stop you very quickly! Just a little longer until I bleed to death.." "That's right! It's hopeless! You can't win!" "Says you! Take this! Haaaaaa!" I start fighting with more emotion, precision, and speed. I pull all the stops and all the muscles. My muscles screamed as I gave it my all against the Laughing Coffin member. Our swords continued to clash in a deadly dance. My shield blocked some of the hits sent my way but not all. Finally, the most critical moment arrived. 10% health remaining. "Gaaaah! This pain! It hurts so damn much! And to bear it, I'm putting my all into this! The more pain I experience, the more I have to do in order to endure it!"

"Die Swiftdrawer! Die! Let yourself die!" "Never!" "You'll regret refusing to give in!" 9%. "Get ready for my best! I will not die here!" 8%, "I'm going to win! You're going to die!" 7%. "I'm almost dead but you aren't in great shape yourself! I'm turning the tide of battle against you!" 6%. "No! I can't hit you anymore! So be it! Bleed to death! Let me watch you bleed! But make no mistake! I'm going to break your pathetic defenses!" 5%. "Ha! Ha! Ha! You can't keep up with me now!" 4%. "That's it!" My foe starts holding nothing back either. We move so fast that we are like blurs to anyone watching. In fact, our swords make distorted clashing noises when they do in fact clash. That's become quite common. The sound of distorted sword clings. When I reach 3%, my foe laughs: "You can't beat me now! Not as long as you refuse to kill! I see you holding back just slightly so you don't have to kill me!" "..Then I have no choice. *2%* I don't like killing but you have to die. Kill or be killed." "What?! You're taking this so lightly!" "I've killed so many foes in the past. You won't be the last." I overcome them by attacking with the intent to kill. They gasp, cough up blood, and rapidly lose hp. 1%. They shatter into pixels before my eyes. I drink some healing potions to restore my hp. I sigh. But then, I look around me to see pure devastation. Several Laughing Coffin members laugh amongst a sea of monster drops and puddles of blood. What I was seeing was horrifying. A young shoulder length blonde haired villager with bright blue eyes and a black smock with a grey stripe down the middle known as Crafter is on the ground dying before Gameknight999 who is in a full set of diamond armor, with a diamond sword in one hand, and a bow in the other. Gameknight999 has light brown hair, blue? eyes, and tan skin. "Crafter.. No.. Please don't die.." "Gameknight, you do not need me anymore. You are the hope of Minecraft, the user-that-is-not-a-user."

I would have listened more if he weren't the only dying individual. Kirito was nearby crying over both a dying Asuna and Eugeo. That's not all. Bray was supporting a dying Dominic with Barla standing in front of them to protect them. The Laughing Coffin members laugh maniacally. Their leader says: "What's wrong? Demoralized now that some of your friends are all dying? It's too late to save them! After all, they were all successfully poisoned and there's no cure for the poison we used! It's far worse than any poison potion you can brew with Minecraft's materials! That's the best part!" I slump to the ground. It was too much. But it got worse. The same foe says: "Enough waiting around! Let's kill the rest of them!" The others eagerly nod and they all start laughing even harder. Barla shouts: "Damn it! We can't defeat these guys! We have to retreat! And.. Leave our friends behind to die.." Kirito replies: "We can't just leave them! We have to fight to avenge them!" Bray speaks: "Unfortunately, I must inform you all that we must indeed retreat. We are outgunned and outnumbered. We don't have a chance here especially with the poison they carry. I am keeping my composure on the outside. But on the inside, I'm not so well.." "Damn it.. Even if we killed another of them, we'd still be done for.. This is too much for me.." I start crying right as I'm the first one to retreat. I run. Run as fast as I can, completely ignoring the slight pressure in my nose and the small pain in my throat as well as a mild headache. I didn't even notice them, I was in so much distress. When I finally felt safe, I stopped running, dug into the dirt of the biome I was now in and placed a dirt block over my head before tunneling as well as digging down. All in order to buy myself time in case the enemy finds my hiding place.

I felt safe but when I looked at my friends list through the Stasia window, I saw several names newly greyed out. "It can't be.. No.. We lost more people.. Dominic.." I place some dirt behind me now that I have tunneled some blocks away from when I first dug down when I was on the surface. And now, I fall to my knees. I cried, causing my nose to bother me a lot more than it was. But that wasn't all. My grief compounded with a nasty sickness that flared up like a raging spirit awakened from a long slumber. My throat became so sore that I couldn't even bear to utter a single word anymore. My nose became so congested despite my tears that it was getting hard to breathe with my mouth closed. I usually have my mouth closed when I'm not eating, drinking, talking, coughing, burping, or whatever else. Grief and illness were a horrible combination. I passed out right then and there from my exhaustion due to the earlier fight, my emotions, and my illness which had quickly spiraled into a nightmare in minutes. I didn't know how long I was out but when I came to, I was in a bed in a hospital hand built by other players using Minecraftian materials. The remaining members of Kirito's party besides myself alongside Bray and Barla had been waiting for me to wake up. Or at least, that's what I thought. But when I blinked, I didn't see anyone in the room I was in anymore. I was all alone. Opening up the Stasia window, I find a message from Bray telling me that everyone's preparing for the 7th floor boss battle now. The 7th floor has the locations of: Lexio, Lexio Teleport Gate Plaza, Verdian Prairie, Volupta, Volupta Grand Casino, Volupta Beach, Volupta Grand Casino Monster Arena, Plamio, Skeleton Prairie, Forest of the Shaky Boulders, Halin Arboreal Palace, Ant-Crossing Ravine, Tribra Villa, the jungle temple housing Minecraft's The Watcher, and the dwelling where the (Iron) Golem King resides.

I was unable to explore any of those places due to how long I was out and my need to continue recovering. It was now Day 56 of the Infinityverse. I was out for 4 days. Not good. But I at least felt better health wise. Being unconscious for so long allowed my body to almost finish successfully fighting off the illness. I used Artist's Eye to create a N95 mask for myself, put it on, and got out of bed: "I don't know where I'm going to go but I'm in no shape to help fight the 7th floor boss: Aghyellr the Igneous Wyrm.. Physically, I'm almost back to full health. But mentally, it's taking everything I have to keep it together.. I'm having a hard time feeling anything while also being on the verge of having a mental and emotional breakdown at the same time.." I leave the hospital without a word. Thanks to the influences of myself and others who fought in the Miitopian Civil War, the Assault Team has taken upon itself to provide free healthcare to all players. The Akatsuki donates a large amount of col to make sure that continues. After all, we in the Akatsuki have gotten a knack for finding hidden quests not even discovered in SAO or even SAO Integral Factor as well as finding treasure. Now that I'm out of the hospital, I just wander around hopelessly for a while after I check my gear and inventory to distract myself from my current state of despair. After a while, I decide to start doing the Elf War Campaign which I had previously chosen to skip out on. I needed a good distraction that wasn't too difficult and by now, most of the Elf War Campaign would be easy for me to complete on my own. I teleport back to the floor it started on: Floor 3. It pretty much goes the same exact way it does in Sword Art Online Integral Factor as I chose the same decisions made in that game by my player character in it. I choose to help the Dark Elf who was fighting on the 3rd floor against a Forest Elf. Her name is Kizmel.

When I completed the part of the campaign on the 7th floor, I found something special in my inventory. A rare ingot you can only get through fulfilling certain conditions in the Elf War Campaign. I had earlier requested through Kizmel to receive training in elven swordsmanship to improve my skills on a previous floor. I was down, depressed, and unsure of myself, okay? Playing through the campaign and interacting with Kizmel who is on the same level of sentience as Alice really helped me out. The others encountered a lot of trouble on the way to the 7th floor boss so no one came to help me out. And that continued on the 8th floor as well. By the time I had finished the 7th floor's portion of the Elf War campaign, the 8th floor boss had already been defeated. Why? Because the campaign and training really took quite a bit of time. It was now Day 65 of the Infinityverse. When I heard the news that the 9th floor was now open, I was both happy and crushed. Crushed because I was being left behind, happy because we were really starting to make progress towards beating this horrible death game. I chose to continue with the Elf War Campaign alone. I still needed time to myself to grieve and figure out what I'm supposed to do. But right as I was about to finish it, I encounter Lisbeth: "Hey Swiftdrawer! Haven't seen you in a while! Are you doing alright?" It was Day 68 of the Infinityverse now. "I'm okay I guess. *explains everything* How are you handling losing Eugeo and Asuna? Life just has to be so cruel to us all.."

"Im sorry to hear about your having such a tough time. Im doing my best to keep crafting equipment and keeping a smile on my face. It's hard but Im trying. Kirito has been completely devastated. He is fighting fiercer than ever and is always on edge. Poor guy, this has been very hard on him. Wait, you have an ingot from the EWC, right? Did I hear you correctly?" "Yes." "Sweet! I can make you an even better version of Graceful Protector with that! Or better yet, I can upgrade your sword with the ingot to make it even stronger! How does that sound to you?" "It sounds like exactly what I need right now." "Great! Give me the ingot and sword and I'll get started in a few minutes! In the meantime, could you collect some materials from this floor for me? That is, if you have a spare weapon." "I would say yes but I honestly need someone to talk to other than Kizmel. Could we gather materials together and I watch you upgrade my sword?" "I don't see why not! It'll be more fun anyway! Lately, a lot of people have been acquiring those ingots now that Argo has added the requirements for them in the guidebook about materials throughout this entire game." "I see. That's a relief. It means people won't fight over them as much or as often." "Right?! We almost had a split in the Assault Team occur because of Kirito's ingot! Can you believe that?! Even with Diavel leading, the various parties, solo players, and guilds fighting as clearers still have their differences." "Did you end up doing an auction for it? I'm surprised that the Guild Flag from the 5th floor boss didn't cause too many problems." "We almost held an auction but Argo updated the guidebook before it could happen. The Guild Flag has been transferred in ownership to Heathcliff who has resumed being the leader of KoB now that it's the largest guild in the game."

"Wouldn't that cause problems?" "In other games, yes. But here, no. Most clearers have come to understand one another and due to the resurgence of Laughing Coffin, more people are setting aside their differences to stop them and beat the game. Anyway, we should probably get to collecting some materials now!" "Indeed. Let's go do that. Where to first?" "For some reason, creepers have stopped spawning on all floors except this one so let's get some gunpowder!" "Since when did you make explosive weapons?" "Since GGO players started getting more frustrated of living without any guns accessible in game at the moment." "Ironic that they only spawn on this floor when it's freezing on this floor. Something tells me that Romeo is behind this." "Yeah. You're probably right. Practically everyone's been holding their breaths in preparation of whenever he strikes next." "Yeah, I got a bad feeling." We spend the rest of the day discussing as we gathered materials. I treated Lisbeth to dinner in Beacontown after she finished upgrading my sword. It felt quite a lot more powerful once she handed it back to me. After that, we stayed at an inn with the others in Kirito's party. And with that, the next day arrived. I set out to complete the Elf War Campaign. So I bid my fellow party members farewell for now and focused on taking care of that. Once I finished what I could, I got to the point where the confrontation with the leader of the Fallen Elves awaited. Forest Elves, Dark Elves, and clearers were all there. Why? Because the floor boss is a Fallen Elf, despised by both Forest and Dark Elves. Kizmel says: "So good of you to join us, Swiftdrawer. We elves stand with the army of man and other creatures to overcome the Fallen Elves. Leave the monsters here to us. We will follow behind all of you shortly."

Kirito speaks: "It looks like we're only missing a few people now. *sigh* Other than everyone we've lost so far." Alice replies: "Be strong, Kirito. We can't let their deaths be in vain. Let's clear this floor and get one step closer to escaping this evil world." Barla adds: "We have to be careful. It will only get tougher from here. *sees me and gives me a bone crushing hug* Hell yeah! You're back in business! I was so worried about you!" Kibaou scoffs: "All you people getting mushy makes me angry! Worse of all, you're letting a KILLER continue to be part of the Assault Team!" Mel replies: "Swiftdrawer is no murderer." "And how would you prove that?!" Konan speaks up: "There's no need to show proof. They're trusted by a lot of us." "You're in the Akatsuki! Your opinion doesn't matter!" Heathcliff puts a hand on Kibaou's shoulder: "Anger holds you back, Kibaou. You are far too rash. I watched you in SAO. I saw you create trouble for other players. Therefore, I ask you to please stand down and focus on the labyrinth and the awaiting floor boss: Demonic The Fallen Elven." Kizmel speaks: "Seeing man fight like this is concerning." Kibaou groans: "I'm sick of all of you!" Diavel replies: "That enough, Kibaou. Back in SAO, I was a beta tester myself. Kirito wasn't the only 'beater' in the Assault Team." "This can't be! You tricked me! Damn you! That's it! *reveals Laughing Coffin tattoo* Without the ALS, I don't control an army. But now, I'm part of something far more powerful than the ALS ever was!" Several other members of the Assault Team do the same thing. Kirito grits his teeth: "Damn it!" Ivor exclaims: "More traitors! Wonderful! Just fantastic!" Ruben the pig oinks angrily. Petra sighs: "Of course.. Why am I not surprised?"

Orochimaru chuckles: "My my, I knew there would be traitors and spies. I didn't foresee there to be so many. This will be entertaining. While I can't use ninjitsu, my experiments in this game have still led to some interesting results. I can't wait to try out my research right here right now." Kibaou grins: "You think you can stop us? *outfit changes to a familiar black and purple outfit* Laughing Coffin has become affiliated with Romeo! As his associates, we have been granted buffs to our stats! None of you stand a chance!" Monet, Gameknight's sister(who I first learned of in this game) has midnight blue skin with pale blue and white around the chest area, green eyes, blue hair that reaches her shoulders and goes down to her back as well, and very colorful iron armor she painted herself using Minecraftian dyes. She says: "You won't stop us!" Stitcher, another of Gameknight's friends has curly red hair and I can't find a proper description of her appearance nor can I remember it too well so that's all you get. She says with venom in her voice: "You're no better than those monsters who killed my parents! Monster!" Magnus adds: "I think you've underestimated us!" Sinon speaks: "Let's not forget the elves and the monsters. This is bad. If we don't act quickly, we're going to lose a lot of people." Kibaou laughs: "That's right! The beaters and all their friends are going to die today! You don't stand a chance against us now!" One of Kibaou's lackies goes after me. "Ha! I'm going to be the person who kills you, Swiftdrawer! I know you were asked this before. But would you consider joining up with us instead?! Join us and you get all kinds of rare items as well as some gifts from Romeo! It's a done deal!" "No. I won't willingly join up with a bunch of ruthless and smart murderers who delight in taking the lives of others." AI runs to me: "Swiftdrawer! Don't you dare face this digital meatbag bastard alone!"

Playmaker comes right after he does: "Laughing Coffin's dream of committing mass murder must not be allowed to come true. You cannot create a utopia by destroying the lives of those around you." Barla and Snarky both smirk as they join in the fight against my adversary. Snarky shouts: "You should have seen this coming, Laughing Coffin! We're not going to let anyone fight any of you alone!" "Hahahaha! But that's what we're counting on!" "What the hell?! Hell no! Look up!" We do so. Deadly space lasers. And they're coming for us all. "Damn space lasers. Why are there space lasers in Aincrad?!" Our foe laughs again: "No no! You don't get it! That's merely the distraction!" "*unison* Say what?!" A whole bunch of Fallen Elves ambush us from out of nowhere. I grit my teeth: "This didn't happen in SAO Integral Factor on this floor! What's going on?!" Lightning appears in the sky: "I have chosen to work with Romeo and Laughing Coffin for the sole reason of watching you clearers get destroyed. I have used my Ignis algorithms to reprogram all of the NPCs to grant them free will on the same level as Kizmel. They are all now as a matter of fact, Ignis AIs." General N'Itzahh of the Fallen Elves appears. He grins sadistically: "None of you are worthy of seeing the reawakening of my master! We will destroy you all!" Kizmel gasps: "This can't be happening!" Wendelin, a blonde haired and green armored Kales'Oh(Forest Elf) general exclaims: "We have to unite all of our forces as one to overcome all of these threats!" Unagami transforms into his intimidating form that he used back in Prime Empire: "As a game program, I wonder if I can use my abilities as the controller of Prime Empire in this game."

But things only get worse even as he discovers he can use his abilities to an extent. I swing desperately but we are outnumbered between the Fallen Elves, Laughing Coffin, and monsters. POH appears with his long wavy black hair, light skin, black eyes, tattoo, and black outfit with a evil grin on his face. "Oh how the clearers have fallen! It's time to kill some fools! Kirito! At long last, revenge will be mine! Hahahahaha! It's too bad that Lightning Flash is dead! I would have loved to see her face!" Sugeo/Oberon appears with blonde hair, light skin, green eyes, and a regal outfit with Asuna's avatar in a cage floating on top of him: "Hahahaha! Asuna's not dead! Instead, she's all mine! Sorry, POH but you don't get to see her looks of terror! Only I do!" Kirito yells: "You bastard!" "It was too easy to save Asuna's life just so I can have her all to myself. If you want to see her again, you'll have to come to the 85th floor! I doubt you'll make it so say goodbye to her forever, Kirito!" Oberon vanishes with Asuna, POH laughs: "I hate that guy but he does come in use every so often! This is going to be so much fun! Are you ready to die miserably at my hands once all your friends are dead, Kirito?!" Meanwhile, Sinon and Death Gun are locked in a gunfight as I managed to use Artist's Eye to recreate Hecate for Sinon. I on the other hand have no choice but to fight that Laughing Coffin member alongside some of the Fallen Elves. Leafa shouts: "Everyone! Don't give up! Even without magic, we can win this fight!" Yui nods: "We can do this! I think it's time to even the odds a little bit!" Lightning by this point had probably returned to Link VRAINS as I don't see him anymore. The entire game freezes for a few seconds.

POH yells: "What the hell is going on now?! We didn't plan for this!" Playmaker, Ai, Flame, Cardinal, Ghost Gal, Zaizen, The Knights of Hanoi, Yui, the Integrity Knights, The Watcher(previously mentioned, she has chosen to do more than just watch), and others who have had abilities to access a game's code in some way float into the sky without warning. Except for me and Kirito apparently. All fighting temporarily ceases. General N'Itzahh widens his eyes: "What is this trickery humans are playing? Could they really have magic? But that's impossible! Magic is gone from this world!" A automated system voice soon speaks after those floating start accessing the system: "Game rule altered. Authorizing duel disk use in all areas. Authorizing monster summoning to assist in battles. Classifying duel monsters as temporary party members. Administrative command executed. /kill. All Minecraft monsters within a 200 block radius of location have been eliminated." They all return to the ground. Kibaou sweats: "But how?! The game's source code should be inaccessible for you losers!" Ghost Gal smirks: "That's where you're wrong. Zaizen and I still have admin permissions from Link VRAINS. Cardinal and Heathcliff also have admin permissions." I show a determined expression as I back out of the fight for now. "Duel disk go. Let's begin! I draw! I set the Pendulum scale with these 2 monsters! With them out, I have all I need to begin designing the composition required to help ensure our victory!" A couple minutes later, Regnes and my other ace Artist monsters have been successfully summoned. I charge in with them: "Let's go! Haaaaaa!" The Fallen Elves and Laughing Coffin were not expecting this turn of events. POH trembles with rage: "Damn you all! Why do you have to be so hard to defeat?!"

Cardinal replies: "We have more than evened the odds. You will now most certainly lose to us and we will capture all of you." N'Itzahh glares: "Curse you all! You'll pay for this! Fallen Elves! Kill them all! Leave not a single one of them alive!" POH yells: "Laughing Coffin! Do the same! Kill them all! I don't care about taking my time killing anyone right now! We just have to kill them all and be done with this!" But, more duel monsters are summoned into battle. After a few minutes, Laughing Coffin and the Fallen Elves sustain heavy losses. N'Itzahh, the last Fallen Elf alive retreats: "You may have defeated me but my master will destroy you all! Just you wait! This isn't over!" POH sees this as he and the remaining Laughing Coffin members keep on fighting us in a losing battle. "Well, this isn't fun anymore. Laughing Coffin, retreat. It's not worth trying to kill these fools today. Kirito, you may have won this time but next time, I promise you suffering like you have never experienced it in your entire life!" He disappears without a trace. And the other Laughing Coffin members who weren't killed or captured follow right behind him. Kibaou is currently all tied up. Sinon and Barla are watching over him with guns pointed at him. Barla was able to craft a gun with materials from Minecraft, Aincrad, and myself(Artist's Eye). Sinon speaks: "You better start talking now that your friends have retreated." Kibaou scoffs: "Like hell I'd tell you anything!" Barla stares at him: "You have ways to make you talk." I point my sword at him and give him a glare of my own: "We really do. All kinds of ways. Even painful." Regnes floats behind me and coldly stares at our enemy. But it's Silica's surprisingly frightening glance that gets Kibaou to talk. She's certainly changed a lot. That much is obvious. Kibaou ends up spilling a lot of information. We learn of several hidden Laughing Coffin hideouts as well as spies of theirs we weren't already aware of. Oh and a plan to attack us again after we reach Floor 10 if their attack on the 9th floor fails which it did. Or that's what we thought..

Hit speaks: "The Akatsuki will take care of those hidden bases." Deidara laughs mischievously: "Yes we will! I can't wait to use TNT cannons on them!" Jiren replies: "Don't get too cocky. Laughing Coffin has become incredibly strong. We were lucky this time around but we won't be next time." Nagato adds: "Now that we have learned of more spies and some of their bases, the next priority is to defeat the 9th floor boss: Demonic the Fallen Elven." Kizmel says: "Army of man and others, we will fight alongside you from here on out. The feud between Lysula and Kales'Oh is over. We are now at peace. We will assist you in unifying the tower. Perhaps one day, this world can return to what it once was before the Great Separation." Diavel shouts: "It's settled! Everyone, please pay attention to your gear and supplies before we head into the labyrinth. We just endured an unexpected battle so we must make sure we are still prepared before we enter the labyrinth. Our target is Demonic the Fallen Elven!" We all look through our inventories and check our gears. Once everyone indicates they're ready, Naofumi says: "Okay now that we're all ready to go.. *points to Kibaou* What do we do with this trash? Maybe we should feed him to the floor boss!" Raphtalia widens her eyes: "You can't be serious, Naofumi!" Kirito smirks: "I know exactly what we should do with him. We could use him as a distraction for Demonic the Fallen Elven." "Use me as a distraction?! BEATER, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Sinon ignores him: "Not a bad idea. After what he pulled on us, he's practically asking for it. I get that this is a death game and all but he did try to get all of us killed. We won't let him die from being a distraction of course but I don't see the harm in your idea, Kirito." Shikamaru: "I hate to interrupt but that doesn't solve what we do with him BEFORE we fight the floor boss."

Pinkie Pie speaks up: "OOO! I know! I know! Someone should watch him and lead him along with us!" Discord chuckles: "Just like a pet! I like it, Pinkie Pie! But who should watch over this naughty naughty jerk? Oh! I know! Fluttershy!" So many of us sweat drop that we might have set a multiversal record. Barla speaks: "I have a better idea! I'm going to use him as my meat shield if that's alright with y'all!" No one objects. In fact, that's a much more popular plan than Pinkie Pie's. For the first time in forever, I laughed very hard. We all went inside the labyrinth together. And despite how tough the monsters inside of it were, they couldn't stop us. They just couldn't. We soon reached the door to the 9th floor boss. But before we could step inside, we heard N'Itzahh say: "Enter if you dare, humans and other fools! Do so and prepare for your dooms! This is where all of you perish for all eternity!" Romeo appears with a frown on his face: "Even my deal with Laughing Coffin has so far given me no entertainment! That's it! I've had enough of letting you clearers get all of the glory in this game! I'm going to defeat the 9th floor boss and I'm going to do it alone! You won't be able to stop me! I've used my powers to prevent any of you from entering through that door behind me! And then, I'll bedrock over this entire floor and trap you all below Floor 10 forever! It will be like my plan before but even better because none of you will be able to come close to stopping me from succeeding at my plan! That's just how it's going to be and you're all going to have to accept it!" Jesse yells: "Curse you, Romeo! Don't you dare do that! You're a coward! That's all you are! Why else would you fight a floor boss on your own when defeating you is detrimental to the goals of you and the other villains?!" "I don't care about any of the others! I'm only concerned with my own goals. That's all. And I will use anyone to achieve them!"

Without another word, Romeo enters the boss room. Ellegard steps forward and places a command block: "Romeo is so full of himself, isn't he? Well, he has underestimated us again. After weeks of hard work and dedication, I was able to finally create another command block. Once I activate it, it will reverse the block Romeo put on the entrance to the boss room for us." We hear Romeo scream in pain a few seconds later. Magnus chuckles: "Not so all powerful after all, is he?" Ivor replies: "No. He's powerful and smart but he's also impatient and arrogant. He doesn't stand a chance against the boss with the kind of attitude he has going on." Ellegard activates the command block. Bulma is first to test to see if it did anything. It did. She smiles: "Let's go in, everyone! It's time to defeat the 9th floor boss!" We all head inside the room right as the door began to close to lock in Romeo. But when we get inside, we see something strange. Romeo is fighting nothing. Just air. But he's still struggling. What's going on? General N'Itzahh is shown to be some kind of mini boss in place for Demonic the Fallen Elven. And his attacks are apparently being enacted through an invisible beast or force. He laughs: "That's right, I fooled all of you! Im not beaten yet!" But then, Romeo growls: "I grow tired of this game of tricks! I'm going to put an end to it now that I see the deception clearly for what it is!" In an instant, Romeo defeats the general who starts going transparent immediately thereafter: "Hahahaha! This isn't the end for me! Thanks to that Lightning fool, I was able to expand my abilities and regain magic in the process! With all of this power, I have begun my real plan to destroy you all!" And just like that, he's gone. Romeo looks furious: "I won't let that trickster go far for what he's done! I will kill him! And then.. Jesse, I will eliminate each and every one of your friends until you prove to be entertaining to me!"

Romeo vanishes again. Ellegard is unfazed: "I have put in a different command into the command block. I know where he is. All of us should be able to use teleport stones. The coordinates lead to somewhere else on this floor. X: -3245, Y: -24, Z: 6397." Teleport crystals have gone through a change recently to include the ability to input direct coordinates. The change occurred due to numerous attempts to hack into the Infinityverse's system and a brief breakthrough into it by Ghost Gal and Blood Sheppard. A minute later, we are all at the same location as Romeo. I look around: "Hey, this looks like Atlantis from the Minecraft Atlantis roleplay series from TheAtlanticCraft. I could have sworn this was on a different floor of Aincrad before. Did it somehow get brought up to this floor? Well, it's here and it's big. And somehow, we're not drowning despite being underwater." Just up ahead, Romeo is glaring at the general. He says: "You! I'm going to get you back for that little stunt you pulled! You managed to stall you for a minute but that's the last time you'll ever stall me!" "Hahahaha! Fool! Now that you're here, my ambitions will be complete!" The same speech and line of dialogue as in SAO Integral Factor happens. The general sacrifices himself to awaken Demon the Fallen Elven and the fight begins. We all try to join in on the fight but Romeo puts up a barrier to keep us all out. "I told you I will defeat this floor boss myself! And the glory will be all mine! None of you will ever get to the 10th floor!" Demonic chuckles: "You think you stand a chance against me? Your arrogance will be your undoing!" Demonic attacks with kicks, stomps, and knives just like in SAO Integral Factor. But unlike there, his attacks are far stronger and much much faster.

As a result, it becomes clear that Romeo might actually lose to Demonic despite all of his admin powers. Before our eyes, he tries everything he can. Creates death traps, transforms, forms a constricting gauntlet to try to weaken Demonic, you name it. But nothing works. In minutes, Romeo is beaten to the ground and severely weakened to the point his barrier collapses, allowing us all to join the fight at last. Romeo yells: "Enough! This is my fight! Stay out of it or else I'll make you!" We refuse to yield. He frowns and pushes us all back several hundred blocks. Or rather, he tries but something stops him. Okay, more than one actually. First, Demonic hits him hard. Second, various weapons and individuals. A anthro penguin with a crown and a high tech trident. Cody. A black haired scientist with a white lab coat and glasses. Professor Pikalus. A purple anthro kraken. TheKrakenKid. A blonde haired mermaid. Selena. And others. They are all in that series I mentioned earlier. Romeo gets angrier: "Stop getting in my way! This is not going how I planned it at all! Curses! I never expected things to turn out this way! Oh well! I'll find a way to kill all of you and it won't be long until I do." Cody says: "That's not going to be how it works around here, you hear me! You're in Atlantis! Your evil plans won't prevail here!" Seiya says: "This isn't the Atlantis I remember!" Mu replies: "It isn't, it's an Atlantis from another dimension." Shaka nods: "Indeed." Professor Pikalus proclaims: "We will stop you!" Obito replies: "It's interesting that it's only now you choose to work with us. We have reached out to Atlantis before but received no response." TheKrakenKid cackles: "That's because of me! I disrupted all signals but now that this fight is going on here, I have no choice but to work with all of you!" Madoka smiles: "The more the merrier! Let's go you guys!"

"Hell yeah!" Romeo is unable to resist the combined pressure for much longer. He sighs: "I can't win like this! Demonic is the only individual able to harm me, the rest of you are just very annoying. With your distractions, you are slowing me down and making me lose! Stop getting in my way!" We all refuse and continue doing things as we were doing them. He didn't like that at all but there was nothing he could do besides create some headphones for himself, put them on to block out some of the distractions we were giving him, and focus on fighting Demonic. However, it wasn't very long before he was unable to keep fighting for much longer. "Damn you all! Why did all of you just have to get in the way of my plans?! This is unacceptable! I can't believe this is happening to me! No! No! No! I'll get you all for this once I'm through with Demonic! Just you-" He gets stomped on and nearly crushed in the process. Demonic laughs: "Serves you right for being so foolish." Romeo gasps for breath as he recovers from being stomped. But it's clear that he is now really banged up and unable to defeat Demonic on his own. "This can't be.. I won't accept this! This isn't fun at all! And because it isn't fun, I'll just change the *cough* rules!" Romeo collapses to the ground, his body unable to take the force of the floor boss anymore. "No! Not even my powers are enough to keep my body in shape! This is the worst day ever! Everything is going wrong! Everything!" While annoying Romeo, we were all still fighting the floor boss despite his complaints. Jesse stops fighting temporarily to offer a hand out to Romeo. Romeo looks furious: "No! I refuse to take your hand, Jesse! You have long proven to not be worthy of being my champion! Petra also did the same thing! I have no champion because of you, Jesse! You ruined everything!"

"But you ruined yourself first." "And what is that supposed to mean?!" "Romeo, give up, it's not worth acting the way you are anymore." "What are you talking about, Jesse?!" Playmaker speaks up: "Jesse means that by giving into hatred, you have ruined your own chances of leading a happy and successful life. You want to rule over a perfect world but you can't create a world like the one you envision by destroying everything that you deem isn't worthy." Twilight Sparkle adds: "You reject the magic of friendship and use others to get what you want." Raphtalia is next: "It's not too late to change your ways. Even Naofumi has become a better person over time. I heard you once changed for the better." Filo pitches in: "So does being fun and happy with others not sound exciting to you anymore?! You sound no fun!" Sinon speaks up as well: "Hey, even a sniper like me enjoys a good time with friends." Kirito adds: "I've learned the hard way that working alone and being alone all the time just isn't worth it. Life is more fun with friends." Romeo gasps at everything he's hearing. So many of us contribute our own words as well. I myself add: "When one feels nothing but negativity, they are going to get crushed by it and live out a life that cannot possibly be full of true enjoyment or fulfillment. Your emphasis on negative feelings just isn't good for your mental health at all." Over the next few minutes, he hears more and more as we are all hit hard by Demonic many times over. The battle situation is getting desperate. If something doesn't change, we're all going to lose and die in the process. But then, Romeo has a change of heart. He looks determined after going through even more of a beating than before. He regains a lot of strength from his change of heart. Must be the magic of friendship.

"Jesse, all of you, you have reopened my eyes. I was wrong to make the choices I've made since being given my old admin powers. I'm not going to ask for forgiveness, all I'm going to ask for is to help make things more right by working together with all of you to defeat Demonic without letting a single one of you die." Petra replies: "You really have a lot to answer for but for now, you can help us." Diavel nods: "Yes. We need all the help we can get to defeat this boss and the other bosses that are waiting for us on higher floors." And so, it was decided. While feelings were mixed about Romeo, they were set aside in order to defeat the 9th floor boss. It was still a tough battle from then on even with all of us working together. Even with my improved skills from so much grinding as well as elven sword training from Lysula elves, my dps was nothing compared to the total dps of the entire Assault Team combined, even excluding Heathcliff and Romeo. But the damage we were taking was lower than before for 3 reasons. One, we were able to summon the duel monsters again. Two, Romeo was taking some of the damage for us. And three, Liten, a tank with light skin, shoulder length orange hair, topaz eyes, and a suit of heavy metal armor(face concealing knightly helmet included) joined the fight out of nowhere. She defended while also attacking with a long mace. While my build is a agility-strength/tank build, she is more focused on defense than I am. I recognized her from SAO Integral Factor's storyline.

Eventually, the battle finally ended. Demonic collapsed to the ground which is something that didn't happen in SAO or SAO Integral Factor. He weakly says: "I have been defeated by fools.. This is the end.. The Fallen Elves are no more. We have failed.. But know this! You have no hope of unifying the tower! No hope! No matter how many allies you bring together, you have no hope! None!" He then shattered into pixels, leaving beyond a victory screen, drops, and that other stuff. Celebrations begin right away with a lot of cheers. Leafa shouts: "Oh yeah! No one died during the battle!" Romeo said in a barely audible voice: "That was too close.. I'm so sorry to all of you for everything I've done.. If I had been more willing to work with all of you, that battle wouldn't have been as difficult as it was.. I didn't expect Demonic to be so strong.." Kirito replies: "Hey, we all make mistakes. Now that Demonic has been vanquished, I'm pretty certain other players will have to face a different floor boss from now on. The mini boss from the campaign." Jesse adds: "Romeo, it's going to take even more effort on your own to do better this time." "I know, I know. What should I do first?" Kibaou who had in fact been used as a distraction during the end of the boss battle laughs wickedly: "I know what you should do first! Die!" The ground starts shaking. "Hell no! What's happening?!"

Romeo looks ashamed: "This is my fault too.. I had set up a plan to lure the entire Assault Team and planted countless explosives in the area. Laughing Coffin somehow learned of this even though I never told any of its members." Kibaou smirks: "Thats what you get for double crossing us! But wait, there's more! A little present we rigged up! Not even teleport crystals will be able to save you now!" Ender the enderman appears between him and all of us along with a bunch of other endermen. They all make expressions that resemble: "So what?" And just like that, the endermen get all of us to safety. But Kibaou ends up showing up in the same area as us after 2 minutes of us getting our bearings once we were saved by the endermen. Cody sighs: "Well, there goes Atlantis." Pikalus replies: "It could have been worse. We could have all perished along with it." When Kibaou shows up, he is immediately apprehended by Tsunade and Sakura. Sakura glares at him: "Just what do you think you're doing, Kibaou?" He grins: "Signaling the others!" A bunch of Laughing Coffin members show up. I sigh: "Will these bastards give it a rest already? We humiliated them earlier and now they're back for more even though Romeo is on our side now. What game are they playing?" Subtilizer appears with a truly evil grin on his face: "The kind where I get to feast on all of the delicious souls I desire. I can already imagine how delicious Alice's soul is going to be." POH smirks: "You can have Alice but don't blame me if my guild and I kill everyone else before you can devour their souls!" "Don't push your luck, POH. This is still a mission. We will retrieve Alice, I will only taste a portion of her soul, we'll get our revenge, we'll make every player in this game lose their lives, and then, we'll hand her over to the United States. After that, we'll go on other missions but this time to conquer entire universes for Don Thousand."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm still going to kill some fools. After all, I despise the Japanese! My life was utter hell for the longest time because of my parents including my Japanese mother!" I think to myself: "POH and Subtilizer are 2 different types of villains. POH's villainy originates from suffering. Subtilizer's doesn't originate from suffering. This is very bad. With both of them along with Death Gun here, we actually have a highly dangerous fight on our hands. It was already extremely dangerous earlier but even with Romeo on our side now, this battle is going to be even more dangerous." Right as we were all about to begin duking it out for our very lives, something happens. A huge army of Minecraft monsters appear out of nowhere with 2 giant monsters leading them. A black ghast and scarlet enderman. Malacoda and Erebus. Vegeta scoffs: "What the hell is this? Some kind of who can slaughter the other sides first show? This is ridiculous." Edyn shakes: "This isn't good.. Not good at all.. What do we do?" The monster army make the decision for us by indiscriminately attacking anyone who's an Assault Team or Laughing Coffin member. That gave away what they wanted right away. Erebus shouts: "Where are you, user-that-is-not-a-user?! Come and face me! I will get my revenge for what you did to me! If you thought I could hurt you very badly in the shared dreams of Minecraft, you're mistaken!" Malacoda chuckles: "You were always too impatient and angry, Erebus! I can't wait to impose my will on you once again!" "I refuse to yield to you ever again! We have the same maker, the same master but that doesn't mean I have to like you or go with any of your plans! I only agreed to doing this because I thought it was a good plan too. I despise you, Malcoda!"

"I hate you too but we have to work together. We can't disobey Herobrine." "Don't say his name so casually!" "You've been too paranoid since we entered this game through its merging with Minecraft." "I just want my revenge and to destroy the real worlds once we escape this place with all the xp we will gather by slaughtering everything! Now that Romeo has changed sides, it's time for my revenge to finally begin!" I must have been seeing things but I saw a figure with glowing eyes very far away from us. Or at least, that's what I told myself. Deep down, I knew better than that. Gameknight999 shouts: "We can hear you!" Erebus shrieks: "GAMEKNIGHT999! I'LL FIND YOU AND I'LL KILL YOU!" I hear Stitcher say: "I almost wish Herobrine sent more of his creations to this game so I could kill them all! We'll avenge Crafter!" Gameknight999 clearly subconsciously wished that Stitcher would let go of her deep hatred of monsters. The fight that was now going on was going in ways really no one expected. We had to set aside our animosity to stand a chance. I found myself swinging my sword in perfect sequence with a sadistic member of Laughing Coffin who was clearly getting a thrill out of killing all of the monsters. I calmly but also passionately cut down monster after monster. I could hear Erebus getting angrier. He was definitely not expecting us to choose to work together for the time being. This is far from the first time I've been forced to work with the enemy. That big pointer finger caused one of the other times. A different time was caused by my death at the SDL's hands back in 2019. I've truly died many times. It took a while for all of the monsters to be defeated. But once they did, Erebus and Malacoda begin to retreat. Erebus screeches: "I'll be back, user-that-is-not-a-user! When you least expect it, I'm going to kill you!" Malacoda expresses pretty much the same thing.

They disappear through a Barian style portal. POH smirks: "Now this is where the real fun begins! Our unwritten truce is now over! It's time for all of you to die, clearers! I'm glad that no one was killed by those monsters because it means we get to kill all of you ourselves! Prepare to die!" "Soon, I will feast upon many delectable souls. It will be very much enjoyable." "Hahahaha! All them beaters aren't going to stand a chance against us!" I find myself unable to summon anymore duel monsters like Lightning or someone else with direct access to the game's source code undid the changes that were made earlier. That forced me to rely on just Graceful Protector as I faced a member of Laughing Coffin along with the other members of Kirito's party(Barla and Bray ended up joining in place of Eugeo and Asuna) and Gameknight's core group: himself, Hunter(also has red curly hair, older sister to Stitcher), Monet, Digger(tough and strong blacksmith villager), and Herder(young villager who takes care of the animals and tames wolves and cats). Herder's large pack of wolves kept our foe on their toes at all times, forcing them to be constantly on the move to avoid being bitten over and over again by the wolves. So many swords clashed with the Laughing Coffin member's but it still took us a while to defeat them. By the time we did, Death Gun, POH, and Subtilizer were already leading a retreat. POH stares back at us coldly: "I'll get you yet, Kirito! Next time will for certain be different! I thought the boss fight would weaken you but apparently, I was wrong!" Subtilizer licks his lips: "The more times we fail, the more delicious your soul seems to me, Alice. I look forward to the day I get a taste." Death Gun stares at Sinon: "You'll be the next person I kill when I next see you. Kirito will be unable to protect you. You may be trying to change my little brother but you can't change me from being Death Gun."

Monet exclaims once our enemies leave: "I'm hungry! Tommy-" "I'm not Tommy here. Remember?!" "Hmph! Gameknight! I want food!" With food now in mind because of all that, I soon decide to go to Twisted Land with my fellow party members. We get there 15 minutes later. I lead them up to the 2nd to top floor of the park's hotel, Nostalgia Cafe to have a meal. After that's done, I lead everyone down to the first floor of the hotel. "Swiftdrawer, are you taking us to Expedition Minecraftia? If so, hell yeah!" "Indeed I am. It's one of my best themed roller coasters in this entire theme park. It's been close to a year and a half since I finished building it excluding the time we've been trapped in this death game. It's so hard to believe that it's been so long already." We ride the roller coaster. Monet especially appreciated it given her creativity. "Woohoo! This is so much fun! It's so cool!" "I really should consider adding command blocks to give this coaster-Nevermind, I don't necessarily need to. I'm going to write out the story of this coaster someday as part of a chapter of one of my fanfics and that's good enough for me." We would spend quite a lot of time in Twisted Land over the next 4 days. After all, it had been decided to not open the teleport gate to Floor 10 just yet after the wild ride that was Floor 9. In my opinion, that was a good decision. The day after we were done in Twisted Land was the last day before the Floor 10 teleport gate would be opened. I arrived right on time to an Akatsuki meeting that was ironically, inside Twisted Land. In the Woodland Mansion far below Slaughterville where a certain clock is now being stored for the time being.

Nagato starts it: "I don't believe we will have much to discuss. We already plan to raid and take down as many Laughing Coffin bases as we can today. There are rumors that Laughing Coffin are planning an ambush for the group who get sent out to activate the Floor 10 teleport gate and thus, everyone who comes after they are scheduled to do so. We can't allow that to happen." And so, that's exactly what we did. We raided and attacked, using the cover of shadows, invisibility potions, and hidden passages. One by one, the Laughing Coffin bases we learned of fell. It was now Day 70 of the Infinityverse. During the last raid we did for now, we encountered strong resistance. I ended up facing Kibaou in a one on one match. He had evaded recapture after the events of Day 65. But I managed to defeat and capture him by myself in the end. Laughing Coffin would be crippled for a little while. We got about 23 of their strongest members and a lot of their resources. And so, things were all set for the next morning: when the Floor 10 teleport gateway would be opened. And now, I want to take this moment to talk about a more recent event than the Infinityverse Incident. Hamas and the Israeli military are engaged in violent combat now. Is it a war? No. It's worse than a war. A war is when 2 or more sides are actively fighting each over, where the main goals include militarily crushing each other and peace where they gain something. A war is also something I cannot possibly truly describe or understand despite my participation in the Miitopian Civil War and the ongoing Ultimate Interdimensional War. In my original body, I can't remember as much as I do in my other body so when I'm in it, I really can't even come close to truly understanding war or what it's like to live under foreign or tyrannical rule.

However, both Hamas and Israel are fighting rockets to blow up buildings where innocent people live. That's right. Innocent people. Their main targets aren't military installations or government buildings. They're innocent people. Hamas blew up an Israeli concert. Israel blew up a hospital. Western media really cannot be trusted when it comes to the conflict. Or rather, the genocide. Hamas is in the Gaza Strip, 75 square miles containing 2 million people. That means it's densely populated. Israel recently issued a 24 hour warning for about half of the city to evacuate or else. That's like a million people. You can't evacuate a million people from a place like the Gaza Strip in 24 hours. It's impossible. What Israel and Hamas are doing makes the murders committed by Laughing Coffin seem insignificant by comparison. Gaza has been turned into something far more dangerous than Sword Art Online. It's become a death zone home to a group of terrorists and is being bombarded by a government that wants to erase Palestinians off the face of the Earth. There needs to be a 2 state solution and there needs to be peace. Entities such as governments and militant organizations should not be using widespread military violence and destruction to solve their differences. We of the BRAINS Collective are being forced to use violence to stop Don Thousand and his pawns from merging the entire multiverse into a singular universe that is completely hellish. We hope to introduce non-violent methods to resolve differences in many universes. Can you imagine just how many lives could be saved in just the United States alone if everyone from citizens to politicians used video games for example to solve their differences and duke it out? One last thing. Being Pro-Jew is not the same thing as being Pro-Israel. Hamas is not Palestine. Palestinians aren't Hamas.