SAO: in your time.
Hello welcome to another chapter and side project right now another SAO story about Kazuto time traveling back in time to stop as many deaths as possible… enjoy.
With that enjoy this new chapter.
Start chapter:
The next morning Kirito woke up and found himself in bed with Asuna.
His Wife to be.
God how it felt good to say those words again.
He closed his eyes and sighed contently
Until he felt the bed shift and a warm lump pressed itself to his body before it too sighed contently,
Kirito opened his eyes and saw Asuna was laying on his chest
"Warm." She sighed
Kirito chuckled
Of course the moment had to be ruined this came from a ping from Kirito alerting him to a message.
Of course at the same time Asuna got one too making her sigh
"Alright we need to get ready for the day." She said
"Agreed." Kirito said as they both got up
"Hey Kirito question?" Asuna asked
"Hmm?" He asked her
"What are we going to do about Yui?"
Kirito smiled "when we find her we will have the real family." Kirito said
"That is if she finds us. Who knows what we might have changed." Asuna said
Kirito smiled "have faith, we know she will some things must happen, and I have a feeling she is one of them." He said
Asuna blinked and nodded "and if she has ameasia? I just think of how much she could be suffering right now." She said
Kirito held her "well figure it out then." He said
Kirito looked at the message it was from Argo. And suddenly he was put on edge
"Kii-bou if we're going to have the meeting about LC we need to do it soon I've gotten word that we are planning a raid on the boss soon."
Kirito responded quickly with a single word
"Where?"
Kirito looked over to see Asuna was dressed but also looking stressed.
"What is it?" Kirito asked
"Kayaba's angry I refused his offer." She huffed and dismissed the menu "you?" She asked
"Laughing coffin." Kiritio said
"What happened?" Asuna asked now high alert
"Argo called a meeting. didn't go into detail but said it was urgent.
"We should have a meeting anyways with all the leaders anyways ." Asuna said
"And Kayaba?" Kirito asked
"The Knights of the blood oath will be fearsome even without my involvement, Godfree believes he's not worthy to be Overall Vice but that's only because he's not tried it. Honestly he's better than me. I just got the job because I was a hardass." Asuna said honestly.
Kirito nodded
"Ok let's go." He said
The two arrived at the Dragon Knight brigade headquarters and found Kibaou and Korbatz of the ALS as well as Godfree from the Knights of the blood oath. Outside the meeting hall
"What no Heathcliff?" Kiriti asked
"He's busy." Godfree argued
Asuna and Kirito looked at each other obviously not believing it but didn't say anything.
They headed inside and found Lind sitting at the table alone which was concerning. Where was diabel? Where was Shivata?
Kirito looked concerned as he sat down while everyone else followed, he asked his question "where's Diabel?" He asked
Lind sighed "an accident." He said
Kirito gasped 'no can't be…did he?' Kiritos thoughts swam rapidly
"What happened." He asked
Lind sighed "we were coming back from a trip of grinding and scouting out for the boss room. Talking to ourselves about a good days work, We barely noticed but somehow Diabel started to lag behind.
We didn't even notice until his status effect appeared on our HuD." Lind said
The others gasped
"We doubled back to save and found him fighting againt 5 individual's all cloaked we charged forward to save and heal him and when we turned to confront them the men had left." Lind said
"That doesn't explain why he won't leave HQ." Godfree said
"What scaired us the most. Is even after we used healing crystals. His status effect was still there."
Everyone gasped "no way crystals heal anything that can't be possible." Asuna argued
"Did Diabel say anything to you about the men who attacked him?" Kirito asked
"Only two words." Lind said
"Laughing coffin."
Asuna hitched a breath as Kirito and Asuna looked at each other the others noticed this but Korbatz asked something
"What poison did this?" Korbatz asked
"It's the worst kind I've seen so far." Lind shuddered
"Let me guess no active debuffs but every 5 or so minutes the player uses 20 points of Health at a time." Kirito said
Lind looked up at Kirito "how did you know?" He asked
Kirito stood up "show me, Asuna start the meeting without me you know the talking points." He said as he made his way to the door.
Lind was stunned "he's not taking visitors-." He stuttered as Kirito left
"Damn it." Lind hissed as he ran after him
"Kirito! Kirito!" He yelled as he ran down the hall.
Kirito never broke his stride
He made his way to Diabel room where two guards were stationed
"Halt! You can't come in." The guard said
"I've come to heal him." Kirito said
"I'm sorry we can't-."
Kirito stepped in and knocked on the door
"Diabel open up!" He yelled
"Hey get back you beater!" The guard shoved him roughly to the ground.
However Diabel voice sounded from the other side of the door
"Let him in." He said his voice sounding hoarse.
The guards paused before opening the door for him
Kirito walked in and Kirito saw Shivata by Diabel bedside
"How is he?" Kirito asked coming to stand by him Shivata looked up concerned
"While in a safe zone he can't take damage but." He said
"But it means he is stuck here." Kirito said
Diabel nodded "I can no longer lead the front lines."
Kirito smiled "I'll get you up on your feet before you know it." He said as he turned to Shivata "can you get me a glass of water?"
Shivia looked confused for a second before he got one from his invintory.
Kirito pulled out a small vial and poured the contents in and stirred it up
"Drink all of it." He said as he handed the goblet to Diabel.
Diabel did so and much to everyone relief the status effect vanished
"It's gone." Diabel said
Kirito sighed "that's what I was afraid of." He said
Everyone looked over at Kirito confused as he walked over to the desk and picked up a chair before dragging it over to Diabel's bed and sitting in backwards
"I need you to tell me what happened. Spare no expense" He said
Diabel blinked "what do you want to know?" He asked
"Everything." Kirito said
Five minutes later The door to the meeting hall was kicked open as Kirito, Diabel, Lind and Shiviata entered the room.
"What did we miss?" Kirito asked
"We just went over the info you told Asuna about the floor boss." Kibaou said as they looked to there new arrival Argo the rat who was confirming the info.
"Ok unfortunately we got more pressing matters." Kirito said flipping the meeting on it head
"Diabel was jumped by laughing coffin. And was struck by a lethal poison made by a master alchemist." Kirito said.
The name flew over everyone's head but Argo and Asuna who winced.
"Who?" Kibaou asked
"How do you know this?" Argo asked immediately concerned
"That's irrelevant." Kirito shook off the question. As he put his hands on the table
"What is relevant is Laughing coffin's goals and plans." He said as he addressed the group
"As stated before last night Diabel was jumped by 5 people, while they didn't know it at the time I'm positive everyone of them was a member of laughing coffin the way the attack was carried out is plain as day there MO." Kirito said
Asuna and Argo tensed up
"And most definitely one of the members that night was Johnny black." He said
Argo gasped "that's."
Kirito looked at her and nodded
"I'm sorry but can you explain who, what and most importantly why?" Kibaou asked
Kirito sighed "Laughing coffin is a defacto guild. Unregistered. Hidden and with one goal in mind. Prevent the completion of SAO, nothing is off the table for them not even killing." Kirito explained
Everyone except those who already knew of Laughing coffin paled.
"Damn it." Kibaou snarled as he hit the table.
"Another goddamn roadblock!" Korbatz sneered.
"The attack on Diabel last night wasn't meant to kill. But to scare and frighten him. And with that they succeeded with remarkable ease." Kirito explained
"Hold on, how do you know about this group?" Lind asked skeptical as he found his seat as did the rest of the leaders of the DKB.
"Because Kii-boi has been going on a one man Crusade against these guys since the first day." Argo explained.
The others nodded accepting it.
"What I wanna know is about the poison they used." Lind said
"And the antidote you used to heal me." Diabel said
"You were able to save him?" Kiboau asked impressed at the beaters ability.
Kirito nodded
"I'm not sure how they learned of it but it's a poison I was able to craft as a deterrent for if someone tried to infiltrate my group of friends." Kirito said
"Wait you made it?" Kibaou asked but Kirito moved on.
"The poison is hard to craft. You need to be a master alchemist to craft. However the antidote is very easy to make. They are both common ingredients but can only be found on the 3rd floor."
"What are they?" Argo asked
Kirito glaired at Argo, "I'm curious about how this information was leaked to the group anyway." Kirito said
Argo stumbled "Kirito-!" Argo gasped nearly falling from her chair using his real character name
"No he's right." Asuna said arms crossed
"Kirito has been very tight lipped about the way the poison is crafted and the antidote. He won't even tell me."
"You will do anything to get information, Argo. You are the weak link." Kirito said
Argo huffed "ok so maybe I was investigating the way to make poisons and antadote's after you mentioned it but I never got any progress."
"We're you followed?" Kirito asked suddenly
"I don't think so?" Argo replied
"We're you muttering?" Kirito went into inquisitorial mode
"How else do I take notes?" Argo huffed
"Fuck." Kirito swore.
Argo realized the error she made, the full effect was felt hearing Kirito swear.
"I'm sorry kirito I-."
"It's ok Argo what's done is done." He sighed heavily he had wanted to keep the poison out of there hands, at least until he knew Johnny could craft it himself and hopefully by then he'd be behind bars. Or better yet dead.
"Well with that answer solved that. With the info leaked I'll explain the Antadote." Kirito said as he pulled out a small vial of liquid
"The ingredients are Black Mamba seeds and Acoco leaves. If you mix them together the game says you get a failed reaction and only gives you distilled water. This however is a glitch." Kirito said
Everyone was shocked a glitch inside SAO.
Kirito drew up two items two small vials of liquid
"This is actually Distilled water." Kirito said placing it on the table.
And this is the result of mixing the two ingredients together. Do you notice a difference?" Kirito asked
"The one on the left has a hint of pink to it." Argo said
Kirito nodded
"You add one micro vial of the mixture to one glass of water and it will get rid of the poison." He said
"Ok so Argo is how, laughing coffin found out about the poison but who made it? From what I hear this was your own creation." Diabel said
"Yes it was, which is why Johnny black is so important." Kirito explained
"I'm sorry but who is this Mr black anyways?" Kibaou asked
Everyone looked over to Kirito who answered
"Johnny Black is possibly the most dangerous man in this game." Kirito said
"As the member of Laughing coffin his role is to makes the poison the guild uses for assassination's, Johnny Black is cruel, unrelenting and worst of all He's insane. He and his other two members of the laughing coffin make up basically the triad of SAO."
Everyone winced hearing the underworld name spoken
Suddenly the leader of the ALS stood up.
"Kibaou." Kirito said
"It's obvious that this is, a much bigger than was believed. We should focus all our attention on dealing with them."
Kirito shook his head "that's exactly why I didn't say anything, not only would it play into their plans of causing chaos but it would show our progress down to a crawl." Kirito said
"And the poison is a threat too." Korbatz said
Lind looked over at Kirito.
"Do you think the flag of valor would counteract the poison?" He asked
That made everyone look up
Kirito thought deeply "it's possible…but at this point…" he evaded
Shivata slammed his fist on the table "Stop beating around the bush and answer!" He said
There was a pause as Kirito dropped his head
"In theory, yes. The flag of Valor would counteract the poison making it non lethal."
Kibaou sighed as he sat there, arms crossed.
"Very well…Kirito, make a guild."
That made heads turn to the leader of the ALS.
"You're surprisingly Amicable about this Kibaou." Diabel said
Kibaou scoffed
"Hey I might hate Beaters. But I hate murderers more, besides from what I've seen so far, he's the best bet to actually deal with these guys, even Argo didn't know about them." He said
Everyone looked to the info broker who shrugged "it's true Kii-boi was the one who introduced me." She said
"I'll only do it so long as you guys keep focused on cleaning the game.
The others nodded the primary objective still on everyone's mind.
Godfree stood up "Ok then if we are all in agreement Kirito will make a guild to counteract the Laughing coffin which will allow us to focus on clearing the game." He said
"If I may speak." Kirito said
Godfree nodded and sat down allowing Kirito to have all the attention,
"My new guild maybe there to counteract Laughing coffin but I won't sit off to the side. You can expect me to be beside you in the boss fights." Kirito said
Everyone nodded "we will be happy to have you." Diabel said
"Furthermore." Kirito said "Unlike Anyother guild on the front lines membership in this guild is temporary set on a per mission basis. Each time you do you will have to go under a screening before you're allowed to participate unless you insist on being a permanent member." He said
"Screenings each time?" Kibaou asked
Kirito nodded "believe me I know how these people operate. They are not a registered guild so they can infiltrate other guilds, already expect your guilds to be compromised." Kirito said
Kibaou scoffed "please I know my men in and out I'd catch onto someone doing something." He said
"Morte was one such agent." Kirito said pulling the rug out of Kibaous words
"What?!" He asked
"Wait was?" Lind asked
Kirito nodded "he's dead."
Kibaou scowled "damn it!" He said angry but not at tte death of the guy but more so the betrayal.
"Why are you telling us this for all you know one of us could be one." Korbatz said
Kirito smiled "trust me I know. Before I came here I ran extensive background checks on all of you. And had Argo tail each and everyone of you she made notes as to who you talked to, passed, and scowled at,"
Everyone was stunned
"Fortunately you're all clean." He said
Everyone sighed in relief.
"The fact is the poison is still going to be dangerous. And I won't have enough manpower to actually protect the fields from those who would try to destroy it." Kirito said
"However, we can counter this. The antidote is something anyone can make however we need to be careful as if Laughing coffin find out about where it is they might destroy it. We can lock it down and prevent them from getting it."
"Meaning they will be weak against their own poison." Argo said
"They would have to be insane to use it." Diabel said
Kirito nodded
"Kibaou." He said making the leader of the ALS look at him
"While I have enough experience to counter them I don't have the manpower. Can I count on your men to do this?"
Kibaou nodded "tell me where they spawn in and I'll protect them." He said
"There both on the third floor. Both on the south side near the Elven Spirit Trees. Actually it is those two trees as the stuff is only found there. But in abundance. So Laughing Coffin may plan several assaults to destroy the trees. I suggest you send the best of the best to Guard them." Kirito said
Kibaou turned to his second in command "Korbatz see to it personally."
Korbatz nodded and left.
"Korbatz." Kirito said making the man pause.
"I'm going to draft up an edict that can only be given out by me. Anyone and I mean anyone who enters the area and doesn't have an edict kill them." Kirito said
"Those trees are Elven teleporters though." Diabel said
"There not guarding the trees but the meadows in the shade of the trees." Kirito said
"The sacred meadows?" Argo asked
Kirito nodded
"Very well I'll have them guarded by the end of the day." He said
"Now back to my guild, as of right now myself and Asuna will be the only permanent members of the guild." He said "and we will be acting as Commander and Vice respectively. Anyone is able to join if they wish however and I must stress this enough You must volunteer. These missions will be dangerous. And you may- No will have to kill other players to complete them." Kirito said
Kibaou winced "now I understand the Screenings." He said
Kirito nodded "that's part of it." He said "I will not lie, my guild isn't about Clearing the game. Although it may at some points. My guild's singular purpose is to wage war on laughing coffin and any other red guild in this game." He said
Everyone tensed at his declaration
"I'm not requesting anyone to join, nor am I forcing them." He said
"Do you need help killing the boss?" Diabel asked
Kirito shook his head. "No, we should be good by ourselves." He said
"I know it's early but have you thought of a name for your guild yet?" Diabel asked
Kirito nodded "I actually have." He said
"The Crusaders." He finished.
A few minutes later the meeting was wrapped up and Asuna and Kirito were heading back to their inn.
"I must say I'm surprised." Asuna said
Kirito looked over at her "huh why do you say that?" He asked
Asuna had a teasing look in her eyes "because I half expected you to come up with a crazy name like "The Kirito's always right foundation."
Kirito stumbled tripping over his own feet as he look at Asuna like a deer in headlights.
Asuna lost it as she laughed "oh that face! Hahaha!"
Kirito smiled enjoying how much he loved her. The embarrassment forgotten mostly "ok I deserve that. But honestly it's not accurate to call it that." He said making asuna look at him
"Huh?"
He had his own teasing smile now "I should have called it The Asuna is always right. foundation."
Now it was Asuna's turn to stumble as she sputtered
Kirito chuckled "hehehe payback by." He said
Asuna huffed "oh fine I'll give it to you." She said as she walked by him "but only because your not wrong." She said
Kirito sputtered "that's not fair!" He argued
"Yes it is." Asuna said turning around and walking backwards benting forward to tease him as she gave him a saucy wink and a good view down the front of her shirt.
'She's gonna drive me insane.' Kirito thought.
"Wow you two, already fighting like a married couple, I'm so proud of you Aa-chan, Kii-boi." Argo said appearing out of nowhere
Asuna jumped 6 feet and spun around red as a tomato
"Argo, what are you doing here?!" She screeched
"She was here the whole time." Kirito added
Asuna turned back to Kirito "and you never said?!" She asked
"I thought you knew, she wasn't exactly being stealthy." He said
Asuna huffed "I…we will discuss this later mister." Asuna said pointing her finger right at Kirito's face
'Oh no she's seriously mad.' He thought as he noticed her anger.
"Wow I was just making a joke there but seriously I'd ask an invitation to the wedding." Argo said her voice once again lost the teasing zeal
Asuna sighed "What is it Argo?" She asked
Argo sighed before looking around then said to the two of them.
"I want in." She said
Asuna blinked
Kirito was confused "Argo are you sure?" He asked
Argo nodded "yes. I'm sure. And I wanna make it permanent too." She said
Asuna looked unsure but Kirito nodded
"Very well. I need to ask, how are you in a fight?"
Argo tensed "I'm more an info broker than fighter but I can fight with claws to defend myself."
Asuna looked at Kirito
"Are you sure?" She asked
He nodded "we can use the info anyway. Besides I have no doubt once the information gets back to our friends they will insist on joining too."
Asuns huffed "yeah I can see that I just. I just wanted to spend at least some alone time with you." She said
Kirito stepped forward and cupped her chin with his hand
"I know love." He said as his lips met hers.
Argo was stunned by there affection
They almost actually seemed like they were married.
They pulled away but Argo noticed how they stood.
How they hung onto each other.
'It's like they've been married for years.' She thought
"Follow us Argo. We won't make the guild officially until tomorrow. But still we need to maintain procedures." Kirito said as they walked down the streets
"Procedures?" Argo asked
"I was serious about the screening." He said as the trio headed back to the inn.
At the inn stood in front of the door to the second room he looked back at the two
"Asuna you preform the screening send me a message when your done I'm going to go update the info." Kirito said as he unlocked the door and slipped in as it clicked
Asuna smiled as she turned to Argo. Are you ready?" She asked
Argo gulped "exactly what sort of screening am I in for?" She asked
Asuna smiled "nothing bad I assure you come in." She said as she opened the door and lead the info broker inside.
As soon as Asuna shut the door her demeanor changed
"Ok strip." She said
Argo panacked
"Wha-!? A-Aa-chan?!" She gasped
However Asuna wasn't having it as she drew her rapier pointing it at her
Argo saw it had a tint of green on the blade marking it as a blade infused with poison.
"You noticed that, yes this blade is in fact infused with the Poison Kirito made, while it won't kill you here, you know just how bad the poison can be, and I know you know you won't be able to reach any exits before I strike a killing blow to you." Asuna said
Argo huffed angrily "you know this could be charged as sexual harassment." She said
Asuna didn't flinch "tough. There are something's we do for good that might seem evil. Now strip, before I actually consider you a laughing coffin agent." She said
Argo huffed her pride didn't want her too but she knew she had to or else
"F-fine." She said crossing her arms over her chest she used her free Hand to take off her armor. Leaving her in her bra and panties.
"Ok nothing on body so far." Asuna said walking around making sure to observe all parts of her Argo felt tense as she felt Asuna ogle her while still tracing the blade.
Asuna stopped and looked down Argo thinking the exam was over sighed in relief and went to put her armor back on
Only to find the blade at her chin as Argo gulped
"I mean all of it." Asuna said her eyes glaired in anger. Clearly losing her patience.
This time Argo really did blush
"What-but I can't do that!" Argo stuttered said
Asuna narrowed her eyes "are you telling me you don't know how to disable the Morality feature in the game?" Asuna asked
Argo blinked "I Um…errr…" she groaned
However with a bit more prompting from Asuna, Argo disabled the feature and took off her bra and panties her entire body red from embarrassment.
Asuna did a quick check to see and nodded "ok no tattoos on either breasts or crotch. Exam done you may put your armor on." She said impasssivly as she turned around
Argo blinked "wait that's it?" She Asked but agreed to dress herself quickly equipping everything.
Asuna turned around
" what did you expect from us?" She said
Argo. Blushed and looked away.
"Well um..we'll you happen to have seen a nice lovely girl like me naked and um well."
Asuna looked dumbstruck. And disappointed
"Blackmail really?" She asked
"Look I've made a bit of enemies, sometimes you. I could see that you would do that to get me to corporate." She huffed as she flipped up her hood now seeming to be exposed despite being fully covered
"I wouldn't put it past Kirito to set this up." She muttered
The punch Argo received from Asuna nearly sent her out the window
Argo slammed into the window sill, while no damage was taken it wrung around her head
"Ow!" Argo groaned as she looked up at Asuna who was glairing at her in righteous anger,
"Don't you dare." She snarled
If Argo was frightened when she saw Kirito's anger she Shat bricks at Asuna's
'Holy shit this woman is terrifying!' Argo mentally screamed
Asuna shut her eyes and calmed down when a notification poped up on her HUD from Kirito
K: is everything alright in there I heard a noise.
Asuna sighed
A: yeah I'm good Argo's clean had to take a bit of time make her take the exam but I did.
K: ok I'll assume I shouldn't want to know, I'm still working on Laughing Coffin's plans can you get supper ready?"
A: You just want to enjoy my cooking even though you're just as good now.
K: guilty as charged, set Argo up with a place I don't trust her in this room with the info on Kayaba. If needed I'll take the couch.
A: Got it. But your not on the couch but by my side.
K: Yes Love.
God was that so good to hear again.
Asuna closed the menu and addressed Argo
"Argo if you want to set up a bed you'll be sleeping here tonight so we can immediately make the guild tomorrow." Asuna said
Argo nodded "wait what about Kirito?" She asked
"I told him you took the exam, he's just updating the board about Laughing coffin." She said
Argo smiled
"Right." She said the smerk sounding out of her voice
Asuna looked at her "what's with the look Argo?"
"You care for him don't you?" She asked
Argo expected a blush, possibly denial,
However Asuna just smiled "oh yeah." She said
"W-what just like that?" Argo asked
Asuna smiled "just like that." She said
Asuna had spent too much time in her last life embarrassed over Kirito's affection for her. No not this time, their friends will have to get over it.
Argo huffed "it's no fun when the person your teasing isn't bashful at all."
Asuna shrugged "I've found my man and I'm not afraid to admit it."
Argo huffed "wish I could myself." Leaning against the wall.
Suddenly she found Asuna sitting beside her arm over her shoulder smiling "you will Argo, one day, you will."
Asuna stood up "I'm going to go make dinner I'll be back
After 30 minutes later Asuna put the food on the table as Argo was sitting by the couch
Asuna looked to the door dissapointed
'Is he really that engrossed in his work? I've messaged him 3 times.' Asuna thought she turned to Argo
"Argo would you please go and knock on Korito's room don't look in Just announce food is ready-." She said
Suddenly the door opened and Kirito walked in drooling
"I smell food." He said almost zombielike.
Asuna looked dissapointed as Argo giggled as they sat down and ate in bliss.
After the food Asuna stood up
"Ok here's the deal Argo your going to take the room on the left to sleep for tonight. Kirito you get the couch.
Kirito shrugged "a lot better than I expected."
Argo and Asuna looked at him
"What did you expect Kii-boi?" Argo asked
"The floor." He said deadly serious
After living homeless for the last few years of his life he could sleep pretty much anywhere.
The others looked at Kirito dumbstruck
Asuna looked at Argo
"Can you leave us alone for a bit?" She asked
Argo nodded "yeah I'm um. I'm going to go get ready for bed." She said
Once she left and shut the door Asuna looked at Kirito
"Ok Kazuto, before when she found us outside what would we have done if we had been talking about sensitive stuff?" Asuna said
Kazuto nodded "I understand what your saying, but I thought we would only descussing stuff of that nature in the second room." Kazuto said inferring about the planning room.
Asuna blinked "that's actually pretty smart… ok we will do that then." She said
They both got up "I'll do the dishes you get ready for bed I'll join you in a bit." Kazuto said
Asuna nodded as she left for her room.
Kazuto looked at the dishes and started to put them away
Unbeknownst to him Argo kept looking at him through the crack in the door.
Kirito entered the bedroom and found Asuna already in bed smiling.
Kirito smiled back as he got in and pulled the blanket over him as the two laid down
"Hey love?" Kirito asked
"Yes?" Asuna asked
"I happened to see a copy of our wedding bands would you?"
Suddenly Asuna sat up "give me!" She said
Kirito chuckled and pulled her ring out of his pocket
He didn't keep it in his inventory because he wanted to feel the weight of it in his pocket.
As he handed it to her she grabbed it and slid it on her ring finger.
She started to tear up
Before she gave Kirito a kiss on the lips.
"Thank you." She said
"Of course love."
They fell asleep.
The Next morning Kirito woke up to Argo screaming
"Asuna get up! Kirito is gone?!" He heard
'Oh shit.' He groaned
He tried to get up but he found Asuna had her arm around him
'Well…here we go-."
Suddenly Argo kicked open the door Asuna we gotta- ummm…"
She looked in and immediately saw the two in bed together
Argo blushed red and ran off.
Kirito blinked as he heard a groaning from beside him
"What was that?" Asuna asked
"Argo." Kirito said
Asuna blinked "she saw us didn't she?"
"Yep." Kirito said
Asuna groaned and stretched "ok." She said
Kirito looked over
"Your not concerned about this?" He asked her
"Why should I? Kirito, admit it we spent to much time skirting around each other in our last life due to our friends. This time, I know it's selfish, but I want to know I love you." She said
Kirito kissed her "yeah." He said
They stepped out of the room and found Argo by the kitchen trying to not set the place on fire
It was clear she was still processing what she saw.
"Hey Argo how's it going?" Kirito asked trying to be civil
However Argo was already bending down snapped up and screamed bashing her head on the top of the oven
Kirito and Asuna winced as the poor girl pulled herself out.
"Ow."
"Are you ok?" Kirito asked
"Yeah yeah I'm good Kii-boi." Argo said
"You know you can talk if-." Asuna started
"IM FINE!" Argo snapped
The others took a step back stunned
Argo paused "sorry." She said
"It's ok Argo." Kirito said
"We understand." Asuna finished
"You do?" She asked
Kirito nodded
"Then…how can you two love each other so deeply so quickly?" Argo asked
The two looked at each other. "It's complicated…" they said
"In time once we figure it out ourselves we'll tell you. But for now let's just say we trust each other." Kirito finished as Asuna nodded
"Come on let's get breakfast." she said tapping the other girl on the shoulder.
'If only I was so lucky' Argo thought.
Soon after they had breakfast made by Asuna the trio headed to the 3rd floor for the quest.
They found themselves in an abandoned run down house across from an inn. In one of the major cities.
Kirito opened the door and stepped in; he could see several large spiderwebs around the room.
The room was basically a lobby with one or two tables and an enclosed counter with a rack of wooden frames to hold papers as a sorting system.
However it looked abandoned, a thin vernier of dust caked everything. And several chairs and tables were destroyed.
"Hello?" Kirito called
There was a loud crash in the other room as they went to investigate and found a man tied to a web
Kiritio carefully cut him down as Asuna and Argo untied him.
"Thank you adventurers for saving me I was afraid I was a goner." He said
"What happened?" Argo asked
"My store was ransacked by bandits but not only that but they had a monstrous spider as a pet." He said
"The spiders web strike's again huh?" A voice said from the door
The three of them looked back to see a man standing there dressed as a guard
"Officer? What do you mean Spiders web?" Kirito asked
The guard sighed "it's a group of bandits around here thieves normally but everyone who encounters them says they have a giant spider under there control, everyone is afraid to fight them." He said
The guard looked at the man "did they take anything important?"
The man scoffed "besides the Funding for all the new guilds paperwork and Spare banners I'm untouched,"
"Ok col I can understand but what about the paperwork and banners?" Asuna asked
"Extortion." The guard said "some guilds like there members to be a secret so having the paperwork they can hold it over the guilds heads and the banners are so they can pretend to be the guild and scam people trying to hire them out." The guard explained
All ready the members looked at each other thinking the same thing. 'Even if it's a quest item, I bet it has info on player guilds too. Laughing coffins would definitely like to have them.'
"Wait you said they stole all the guild paperwork? Even the recent ones."
The NPC nodded
"Wait how recent are we talking about?" Kirito asked
"About 3 or so months ago we got a huge uptick of people making guilds. Adventuring guilds." The man said
"I even remember a recent one lead by this samurai guy in red armor. The guild was named Fuurinkazan I believe." The NPC said
Kirito Argo and Asuna looked at each other Argo and Kirito were stunned
This was not a part of the normal quest.
Still the fact is info like this is a golden opportunity for Laughing coffin.
They had to get those files back before Laughing coffin did.
"You three this is really bad, my forces are stretched thin trying to control the city and we won't be able to raid the spiders web's base with that monster there. If you can get rid of the spider we can get the files."
Asuna and Argo nodded accepting the quest which gave the normal quest marker on there HUD.
Kirito however stood up and had one more demand "only if you allow us to join you for the raid." He said
Suddenly the quest changed to add a second part.
"I can accept that, heck if you get rid of the spider it will make everyone happier." The guard NPC said
"I'll even register you guys as a guild if you want." The Guild broker said
Kirito nodded.
"Here's the information about where the Spiders cave is." The guard said as he gave kirito a file.
"We'll head out right away." Kirito said handing the file to Argo who began to read it as they left.
As they walked the street Asuna looked at Kirito
"Kirito why did you do that?" Asuna asked
"Because this way we can be sure that the guild files are secure." Kirito said
"That's right. The Curse of Stachion quest." Asuna said
Kirito nodded
"Huh?" Argo asked
"We activated the quest and while we were stunned we were attacked by Laughing coffin. And Johnny Black was there to retrieve the paralyzing gas. To retrograde into a poison. Which has become Laughing coffin's staple poison." Kirito said
"They killed an NPC to do it. And most likely they will wait till the raid and jump the NPC's to get the files." Asuna said
Argo nodded "then we have nothing to lose let's kill the spider quickly before Laughing Coffin finds that raid." She said as the three ran off.
The NPC's watched from the window as the players left.
In the eyes of the guard the lines of scrolling code were seen.
Yui was in control of the NPC.
(Unknown void)
Yui sighed again with the non interference policy but this was something too important,
Normally the quest would not have information on actual [Player: Guilds] but random NPC ones, not that the players were even meant to interfere with the raid it was an auto complete scripted event.
Of course recent events had changed that.
Somehow someone had been able to go in and change the text of the [Guild list: Quest item] and switch it up for the actual known [Player: Guilds]
Someone had hacked {SAO} and [MSID: Cardinal] was unaware
As the second highest power on the list [MHCP-001] had to step in.
Fortunately it just seemed the two players she was monitoring were both looking Into it.
The rise of [Player_Killing.] definitely had [MHCP-001] concerned, after all how can players beat the game if there's no one to play.
Oh looks like [MSID: Cardinal] is looking into her activity.
Yui disconnected from the NPC as she watched [Player ID: 10100110], [Player ID: 10111230] and [Player ID: 0188764] codename Argo, leave to face the [ Mob: ID: Flag Boss: Nephila_Regina]
Clearly they took this game and the lives of those in it with full respect.
[MHCP-001] felt they had found a kindred spirit.
She didn't know how she was going to do it. But she would she was determined now.
She would find a way to meet [Player ID: 10100110] and [Player ID: 10111230]
She just had to figure out how.
(3rd Floor: Arncrad)
Kirito, Asuna and Argo, teleported to the 3rd floor dark elf tree.
"Ok Argo where does the info say the cave is now?" Kirito asked
"Um says it's actually right outside this clearing." Argo said
Kirito smiled
Good, RNG was on their side.
"Let's go we got no time to waste." Kirito said as they headed off.
They found the cave and began to explore it, completing it rather quickly, only a few low level bandit mobs, while they made their way to the Spider pit where they spent most of the time thinking about who would lead the fight.
It was decided that Asuna would lead the fight while Kirito hung back and observed. Argo's fighting style.
The boss fight began with the spider falling down from the ceiling and began to shoot webs at them
Both Kirito and Asuna were in sync and jumped away from the attack
Unfortunately Argo wasn't able to follow and found herself tangled in the web.
"Argh guys!" Argo yelled trying to pull on the sticky webs.
Kirito turned around "sorry Argo." He apologized as he doubled back to cut her lose while Asuna drew aggro.
Once Argo was free she charged in "Aa-Chan switch!" Argo said
Asuna reacted instantly as she jumped up above the boss.
The boss following the aggro looked up.
Allowing Argo to strike at its chin sending it sprawling.
Kirito watched as the two girls fought in tandem. Not as well as himself and Asuna but pretty close.
The fights was easy for the three because they were so over leveled they barely had to dodge any attacks and could comfortably tank the blows without risk of damage.
Heck even when the boss summoned a horde of smaller spiders to harass them all the party had to do was kick them and they'd die.
The three of them would say it was a bore.
Until the spider attacked Kirito.
"Kirito look out!" Asuna called in panic.
Hearing his love's panic voice he looked up from his menu to see the spider falling upon him.
Kirito reacted instantly, not bothering to close the menu his adrenaline already pumping for combat. As he drew his sword
And killed it in one hit. While having half an HP gauge left to go.
The girls were shocked. Argo looked at Asuna worried
"That fight was too Easy normally Flag bosses level up with the party." Argo explained
"Well it's probably because I'm so over leveling, Cardinal dictated it would be unfair if it switched to be level with me." Kirito said
Asuna and Argo looked at each other
"Kirito, what level are you?" Argo asked
Kirito sighed
"Level 54." He admited
The others gasped "fifty four?!" Argo gasped
"Holy shit how is that possible?" Asuna asked
Kirito shrugged "I'm not sure. All I know is that unlike most RPG's where as you level it gets harder to get exp. For me it's easier for me to gain levels. At the rate I'm climbing. I'm going to be level 100 by the time we reach floor 50." He said
The girls blinked in awe.
Kirito picked up the quest item spider silk.
"Let's go, I wanna turn this in so we can keep the info away from Laughing coffin." He said as they made there way back to the entrance.
"I think we should teleport to the city that way we can get there faster." Argo said
The others nodded it was agreed time was of the essence.
"Let's go." Kirito said as the three teleported.
They arrived at the City and went to the guild brokers home and gave the NPC the Quest item.
The NPC bowed "thank you, thank you." He said
Kirito looked around noticing no sign of the Guard NPC
"Is there any word from the captain?"
"I was getting my forces ready." A voice said by the door.
The three looked over and sure enough the same NPC from before was there now in armor and a sword on his hip.
"We've finally got a location of the base follow me and we will meet up with them." The NPC said
The NPC lead Argo, Kirito and Asuna to the cave the Spider's Web was using as a base.
Kirito looked around at the mouth of the cave
'This is too much of an easy ambush point to be safe.' Kirito thought.
"Alright we've got reports that the Spiders are infact in here and they haven't had time to get the stolen information out of there yet." The captain said
"Let's move before that changes." Kirito said wanting to get a move on before Laughing coffin had a chance to get the stolen info first.
Everyone nodded as they made their way into the cave.
As they walked in the narrow tunnels of the cave the group looked around on edge. Waiting for an ambush
When they stepped into a large cavern it showed itself.
It was then the spiders web found them and began to attack them.
The melee was chaotic but Asuna Argo and Kirito were firm and were able to hold their own.
Kirito drew his sword "Argo try not to use sword skills if you can help it." Kirito said
Argo blinked 'don't use sword skills what was he crazy?'
Then the battle began.
And Argo saw what he ment.
It was different fighting than watching but she could see as Kirito engaged a bandit.
While the bandit stuck with only sword skills at one moment he overstepped Kirito cut him apart while he was frozen
Without using sword skills
Kirito was using the Post motion delay to his advantage in this fight.
Argo now understanding what he ment looked to join the fray
Only for a bandit to jump her causing her to squeak
"Asuna, switch to Argo, Switch!" Kirito said
Argo who was on the defensive only felt herself get thrown to the left as Asuna stepped into the line of fire for Argo as she parried the strike and like Kirito dealt with the mob without using sword skills either.
Argo was stunned at the combat prowess of the two of them.
Within minutes the group of 15 bandits were killed or captured by the group. And we're tied up defeated
"Let's get those files." The captain said
Kirito nodded and they headed to the back of the cave where the files were kept.
"Check the files and make sure they are all there." Kirito ordered with the subtle hint to make sure it's accurate that it holds info of Player guilds..
Asuna and Argo ran to the files and scanned them as they looked at each other.
"Well?" Kirito asked
Argo nodded
Kirito sighed "they're safe." He said to the captain who nodded
"Alright let's get back to the town then." He said
"Well escort you." Kirito said
The captain nodded as Argo and Asuna handed the files to the quest NPC.
As the group made there way back to the mouth of the cave Kirito felt something off
The prickle in the back of his neck.
Despite being a video game his instincts were honed for this type of combat and Asuna knew this
So it came as no surprise to Asuna as Kirito yelled "down!" In fact she just grabbed Argo and threw her to the floor.
As 3 poison laced throwing picks flew over there heads.
Kiritio looked around and saw 6 laughing coffin agents standing there smiling.
Kirito leapt up to engage the Laughing coffin members who had thrown the picks.
"Asuna, Argo, get the captain to the town!" Kirito ordered. As he blocked a laughing coffin member's attack
Argo went to argue with Kirito when she noticed several laughing coffin members attacking the Guard NPC's.
They were going after the Files.
Argo snarled and attacked the Laughing coffin members. Stabbing one in the back as the guard jumped away safe.
Before Argo could move she was kicked off By Asuna.
"Argo go escort the guards." Asuna said
"But?" Argo argued
"Go!" Kirito snapped leaving no room for argument as he parried another attack.
Asuna watched as Ago ran to the quest NPC and led them out of the cave.
Asuna notified Kirito when they were out of danger with a simple "there free."
Kirito smiled "then it's our job to mop up the rest here" he said
"Come on love let's knock the rust off." He said
However Asuna smiled "ot might be rust to you rickity bones." She teased
"I'll get you back for that."
"In bed I hope." She countered
"Maybe." Kirito said
Asuna smiled "let's go." She said
They lunged and attacked the laughing coffin agents
Kirito snarled as he struck the attacker
It was then he noticed something
The laughing coffin agent wasn't as ruthless as normal
No he was terrified.
Kirito who was in mid swing changed direction of his attack
And disarmed him
Like a sack of potatoes he crumbled
Kirito didn't even hit him.
He looked over to Asuna to see how she was doing.
She was engaged with the leader who Kirito could see was a laughing coffin member as he had the tattoo on his glove.
The assassin lunged at Asuna with a poison laced dagger
However Asuna grabbed his hand disarmed him and impaled him with his own dagger.
This allowed Asuna to finish him off as he shattered.
The others looked stunned
Kirito walked over to them.
"I'll ask you this once who are you?" He said
The others looked at each other and they lowered there hoods and they explained
They called themselves Invoke justice. A guild of adventurers with ambitions to be a part of the clearers.
As Kirito expected they were not Laughing Coffin
Just players who were tricked
Essentially L.C. had bribed them with col if they were to get the information in this quest.
They were also told no players would be in the event and they were only given one stun pick.
Kirito clenched his fist this shit was getting worse.
Asuna looked at Kirito "what should we do?"
Kirito huffed and responded "our job." He said before glairing at the guild members "you lot come with me." He said
The others looked concerned
As Asuna steped forward "Kirito are you sure?" She asked
"What but I-." The leader of the guild stumbled
"Did I stutter?" Kirito said
Asuna gulped and slowly backed away
The guild blinked and followed Kirito orders as they stood up
Kirito and Asuna lead them out of the cave.
When they reentered the city Kirito lead them to the inn where they got a table in a separate room.
Kirito stopped outside the room and looked at Asuna
"Stay here." He said as he walked inside
Once Kirito swept the room for bugs he came out and lead everyone in
Asuna noticed he had closed the windows only the candle in the center of the table and on the walls were the only light.
"Sit down." Kirito said
The guild of Invoke justice did as they were told.
They introduced themselves, a Fighter Terrence Armed with a sword and shield, the leader.
Then there was a spearman named David.
After that it consisted of two women. A girl named Angelica, and Tomo, both Tanks one using a two handed sword and one using a shield and mace combo.
Kirito took a deep breath and said
"It's unlikely you will receive your col." Kirito said
The guild shrugged "that's a given." The leader of the guild said
"I mean even if you completed the mission for them you would not have gotten the money." Kirito explained
The guild looked at each other "wait how do you know that?"
Kirito sighed
"Because the person who contacted you was an agent of a collective of guilds meant to spread chaos." Kirito said
He steppled his hands "they call themselves laughing coffin. And they are the most evil people to ever exist in this game." He said
The others blinked
"Even?" One tank asked Tomo
"Even worse than Kayaba, yes." Kirito answered.
He went into the full depts of Laughing Coffin what they do and how they are willing to do anything to accomplish it.
By the end Kirito could see righteous anger burning in the eyes of Invoke Justice.
"We are trying to make a guild to stand up and counter them. A beacon of hope against their darkness." Asuna explained
Kirito nodded "Don't be upset at yourself, a lot of players have been tricked by them." He said
"And a lot more too Huh?" The leader of invoke justice said
Kirito nodded
"Very well. How can we help?" He asked reaching out his hand to them the other members looking unquestionably at Asuna and Kirito.
Kirito and Asuna blinked "you wanna help?" Kirito asked
The guild nodded "we called ourselves Invone justice because we refuse to bow to hate. Each and everyone of us has had a run in with bullying and hazing, but we refuse to accept it anymore."
"Murder like Coffin is doing, is just another form of bullying in our book." The leader said
Kirito smiled "very well, we have yet to make the guild official yet but for now if you want to help you can level yourselves up, I don't know what level your at right now." Kirito said
"Um level 29." The leader said
Kirito said
"Decent level for this floor but to fight Coffin aim to be at least 10-15 levels or so higher." Kirito said he stood up
"I've paid for a room for your guild for a few days feel free to rest up and recover. When you're ready contact us." Kirito said
"How will we do that?" The leader asked
Kirito smiled as he looked over his shoulder "ask the rats." He said
Kirito and Asuna left the inn and moved across the street to finish the Guild quest.
When they reached the house Kirito felt his heart drop
From the group of 15 to enter the cave only Kirito, Asuna, Argo, and the Captain survive.
"What happened?" Kirito asked
"It wasn't the only ambush we encountered, we were attacked constantly as they shadowed us all the way back to city." The captain said
Kirito grit his teeth "damn. Ok at least we made it, let's go give the man the papers back."
The captain nodded "I need to go and check up on things. Thank you again for your assistance." He said as he left.
The trio of Argo Kirito and Asuna entered the shop with Argo now holding the files.
"Hold on, who's going to make the guild?" Argo asked as they stopped at the empty desk the space had begun to be cleaned no broken chairs or anything existed but some webs were still there.
"It has to be me." Kirito said
"Huh why?" Asuna asked
"It's due to a glitch that's in the flag of valor if the founder of the guild holds the flag while he makes a guild the entire guild gets the effect of the flag." Kirito said
"Is there a bonus for if the founder is the person it dropped for?" Asuna asked
"Yes there is." Kirito nodded
"I've never heard of this." Argo said
"It's buried deep inside the items Source code very very hard to access."
"Wait the source code. If you have access to the codes of the game."
Kirito shook his head "I found it in the beta and Kayaba changed it already it's view only now." He said
Kirito looked over to see Asuna narrowing her eyes at Him
He sighed clearly another conversation was in order soon.
Kirito knocked on the counter and the man appeared
"Oh you've returned." The NPC said
Kirito nodded "we got the files too. And the items stolen." He said as he turned in the quest
"Excellent excellent, now would you like to make a guild?" He asked
Kirito nodded "we would." He said
"Very well I'll set up the paperwork for it now." He said
"Hey um can I help organize the files for you?" Argo asked
The NPC smiled "sure young miss." He said
Kirito blinked and smiled as he realized what she had done.
Finally they made the guild naming it as promised The Crusaders.
They made their way back to the inn.
Argo noticed Kirito and Asuna walking together hand in hand.
(Start song: Tomorrow is a long time: by bob Dylan)
Argo watched as they were obivoius to there audience as they walked back.
Argo had a sad smile and hoped that one day she'd have someone like Asuna or Kirito in her life.
The couple looked at each other with deep smiles
They missed this, missed each other.
And they still had a long way to go before there happy ending.
But at least they knew what to expect.
The danger that awaited them was meaningless, after all they had each other.
Kirito looked up to the sky and smiled he knew everything would work out.
He remembered how he felt when he lost Asuna, the darkness that leeched into his heart, how it almost carried him here.
Then He found her, the shining light.
Her spark of light breed fire in his heart.
How he missed the feeling of her in lying next to her
How he'd lie beside her and cry.
He looked at her again and smiled his joy threaten to rip his face apart, But he couldn't stop her joy was infectious ,
He looked around at the beautiful world around around him
It only reminded him of Asuna even more.
Despite the fact he knew his love for her was true,
That she held the same love for him
He knew they would have a life together
He found himself falling in love for her all over again.
Asuna tilted her head as she noticed Kirito was crying
"What is it?" She asked
Kirito shook his head "nothing. It's just…oh I love you." He admitted
"I love you too." Asuna said back.
They made there way to the inn and found there way to there room.
"Argo I'll see you tomorrow, we will give you your first mission tomorrow." Kirito said
Argo blinked "it's early." She said
"Yes but your going to be up late we want you to go through your info broker Contacts and make sure none are laughing coffin." Kirito said
Argo blinked as she relized why.
"What about you?" Argo asked as Kirito paused
"Logistics." He said as he walked into the room
Argo went to her room and went through the arduous task of cleaning all her contacts of laughing coffin
She sighed as she found out she was in the clear
Suddenly a knock on the door as Argo looked up to see Asuna bringing food for her.
Argo smiled
"Thanks Aa-chan." She sighed
Asuna smiled "of course."
"Do you know what Kii-boi wants me to do?"
"Yes I guess I'll tell you now."
We need to know what L.C. Is planning and we can't do it blind.
We need you and your network to act as spies and infiltrate our enemies.
It will be dangerous it will be difficult, but we ask this of you because we trust you." Asuna said
Argo was stunned and blinked
Asuna smiled.
"Good luck. Keep us updated." She said as she walked away.
Argo sighed as she went to bed soon after.
(Eoc)
Here we go the next chapter.
Yes Kirito made a guild to face against Laughing coffin. Hehehe, The crusaders.
Next chapter soon keep reading -bankerrtx01