Chapter 31: The Strongest Gamer

"You're always so annoying, so I will take you on seriously. Bring it."-Saitama, the Strongest Hero.

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February 13th, 2026. Floating Island Avalon, Utopia. 19:10 …

For Kayaba Akihiko, it was like watching everything from the most ironic and nightmarish point of view.

He had once dreamed, about a castle in the sky. An impressive and marvelous world, filled with adventures and challenges. A world where Heroes rose to the challenge that was life itself.

It was that what had started everything, he trying to make that dream into reality. Except that he had gone too far and had ruined countless lives in the process of achieving said dream.

Even so, despite having enforced his dreamed reality upon that of others, in the end, it had been for something. Even if he never planned it that way, his actions did indeed serve a greater purpose, to create something new, something that made him change his view of the world and realize that, sooner or later, it would be needed.

Heroes did rise, more than he ever imagined. And that was what the world would need soon. Symbols of hope and courage, those who could inspire others to become better, become more, while at the same time still being as normal as any other person.

That was why he, in the end, decided to gift the purest form of his original dream to the greatest of them. He gave the World Seed to Kirito, trusting he would do the right thing and that he would protect the world that would come from his decision.

And he had done so, once again surpassing his expectations. He stopped Death Gun's reign of terror and even saved the life of an innocent girl that had been dealt an extremely harsh and horrible Fate.

He had never felt more 'proud', so to speak. While he knew there would never be true forgiveness for him, no matter how much he tried to atone, he could at least take solace in the fact that the base of his dream was growing and was used to help other people dream and reach things they never imagined…

However, he had tried too hard to not look at the negative side of things. Because, as the saying went: 'The Stronger the Light, the Darker the Shadows'.

Staring upwards, now, as the 'eyes' of Equinox looked down at them like ants, even as a fist bigger than the entirety of Avalon (Which was almost twice the size of Tokyo itself!) descended to crush them, he realized how much of a mistake that had been.

The first of his greatest creations, his 'Daughter' so to speak, was now using all the 'power' that had emerged from his dream, twisting it from a tool of dreams into a weapon of control and destruction.

Kayaba briefly wondered if that was more or less how the SAO Players had first felt after he declared the 'Tutorial' of Sword Art Online was over, before the massive fist of data destroyed the already falling island with a thunderous sound, crushing the castle and the digital earth as if they were nothing but dry sand.

That particular analogy came to the man's mind because, the next instant, he fell himself slamming face-first into sand, the sounds of destruction and collapsing data echoing on the background as his body carved a trench on the beach and just lay there, unmoving.

It had hurt like hell. But he was alive.

"Are you okay?" asked not far from there a concerned Kirito to the figures of Leafa and Asuna, each one held carefully and safely on his arms.

It was kind of obvious that Kayaba hadn't received the same treatment, hence his current position.

"Ye-yes…we are, Onii-chan…" shakily whispered the blonde Sylph as she got out of her adopted brother's arm, staring blankly at the place where the island had been, now occupied by a fist that was still sinking into the virtual ocean.

"Thanks Sensei…but, this is…" the Undine didn't seem quite sure of what she even wanted to say as she also (reluctantly) abandoned her beloved's grip, looking towards the black and green heavens.

"Don't worry." the caped Spriggan assured them, his voice never wavering for even a second. "I will take care of it."

"She just became one with virtual reality itself…every single server that was running a Seed-based program is now boosting her capabilities…" as he slowly got up, Kayaba only seemed to stare at the gamer with nothing but hopelessness and doubt. "The only reason she didn't outright delete us is because I had ALO's Cardinal backing us up to get here, and she still can probably easily take over Ymir's servers with no effort now. What…why would you even think you can stop her?"

"Because I have to stop her, Kayaba. That's all." answered Kirito with absolute resolution, slowly turning around as the heavens roared again and everyone else barely held their ground as the shockwave from the last impact reached them. "Just watch me. I will show you how far I can go, as long as it is for a good reason…"

Idly, the boy's eyes moved over the silent form of the two girls present, who were staring at him with a mix of worry and awe, as if noticing something different in him.

The rest of his friends, his second family, flashed over him. The girls that loved him and he was coming to love too, the little girl that he was starting to truly see as he imagined a daughter would, the boys that supported and helped him see things from more than one perspective…

As he stared up, he also saw more people. His parents, caring and close despite not being his biological ones. The people from the SAO Survivors school. Klein, Agil, Diavel…

The Fairy Lords. The rest of the Players they had met in ALO. The people he and Sugu had helped and/or saved as vigilantes…

An almost imperceptible smile appeared on the caped boy's face.

"…Kirito…?"

"…and right now, I have all the reasons I need. And there couldn't be any better." softly whispered the gamer while closing his eyes, even as he took a step forward. "Don't blink…or you will miss it."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was gone, vanishing from the place as if he had never been there.

The next instant, a sonic boom threw the three of them to the sand, eyes wide as they saw the sea in from of them splitting in half as someone ran over the water.

-(JUST DIE ALREADY, DAMN IT!)- snarled the heavens as the fist that had destroyed Avalon reformed itself out of the water, moving forward this time as the data twisted, like the most titanic battering ram ever imagined, going faster than a train.

Without hesitation, the blurring form running over the sea reared back his fist and punched.

The air roared as a vacuum was created when an unseen force completely split the ocean, crashing against the godly fist and breaking it into destroyed data without seemingly any effort.

Then, the shockwave came, making the entirety of Utopia shake from it.

Suddenly, Kirito stopped, letting his body sink into the water as he stared upwards, ignoring the unholy pressure created when the seas forcefully returned to their place.

His unflinching gaze was fixed upon that of the heavens themselves, who were shaking with anger and madness at this, for the gamer's eyes almost seemed to be saying: 'Is that it?'

With another roar that shook the world, Equinox froze the entire ocean in a single second.

Then, she slammed a fist even bigger than the one before just on the point where the caped Spriggan was trapped under thousands of tons of ice, cracking the frozen seas in an instant, the impact being felt in every corner of the world.

Everyone watching felt their breaths freeze. That much power behind a single hit, with no Pain Limiter…anyone who received that would die without a doubt. If not from injuries, then from the impossible shock that the brain wouldn't be able to stand, probably ending in a coma or as vegetable for life at the very least.

"Consecutive Normal Punches."

A nonchalant yet serious voice shattered all those dark thoughts without effort, equally reducing the mass of data, several mountains worth of code, to nothingness, all the way to the warped digital heavens themselves.

-(…HOW?)- rumbled the virtual Goddess as everything shook, more indignation than anything in her twisted voice. -(How can you not break under the pressure?! How can you continue on when you're still JUST A HUMAN?!)-

Two simple yet all-powerful words were her curt answer.

"Serious Punch."

The ocean splintered into millions of pieces and reality shrieked, the heavens themselves breaking apart as absolute power was unleashed against them…

They reformed themselves with impossible speed, endless streams of code rushing to fill the void left by the other millions that had been impossibly annihilated in a couple of seconds.

Narrowed eyes appearing once again, Equinox stared down towards the silent figure standing where there had once been a sea, now only a frozen wasteland surrounding him.

-(Very well...)- growled the virtual entity, even as the data of the ice twisted and reformed, colossus made of pure code and surrounded by 'Immortal Object' screens manifesting themselves, even as the heavens also started changing shape, fists and weapons forming from them as they all aimed towards the lonely Hero. -(Have it your way)-

Like a tidal wave of destruction surpassing even biblical proportions, the fury of an entire reality exploded forward, even gravity itself turning against a single person.

Kirito nonchalantly took a step forward, his eyes turning into endless voids and his face a carpet of darkness as he stared right into it all.

A silent whisper escaped his lips.

"Bring it on."

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Toshiyuki wasn't sure what was hurting him more: Knowing that he had been beaten without effort and unable to stop their mad enemy from accomplishing her pseudo-world domination plans OR the fact that he could barely feel his left leg and that his whole body stung in countless parts as if it had been torn apart by an explosion.

Thankfully, as the boy discovered when he managed to drag himself to his house's living room by leaning on the walls and gritting his teeth, the extent of his injuries was nowhere near as bad as they felt. It was mostly his over-stimulated nerves what were hurting, though he was pretty sure the angry red marks appearing all over his body, real remains from when the explosion broke his body back in Avalon some minutes ago, were going to be a bitch to explain to his family. He was just glad his parents were at work at that moment, and nowhere near Tokyo, which gave him enough time to think about an excuse that didn't include fighting by the freedom of everything inside the virtual world.

The tired SAO Survivor had managed to drag himself to the couch and grabbed the remote control for the television when his phone started ringing, making him quickly grab it.

"Hey…?"

"Keita, bro…is that you?" came a familiar and pained voice from the line's other side.

"Ducker. Good to know you're okay." breathed out Toshiyuki while turning on the TV, searching for a news channel. "Well, more or less. You sound like crap…"

"You…aren't sounding…all that great either…" chuckled Takuya from where he was staring at his ceiling as he gripped the phone. "But yeah…bitch just tore me apart with some weird death-stare thing… hurt like hell. Barely had strength left to…take off my AmuSphere and put it aside…then pretend to be sick when my Mother came in…" there was a pause, even as both boys seemed to be weighing what they wanted to say. "…did we lose, Keita?"

"I…am not sure." finally answered the ex-guild leader while looking at the screen with a frown. "The TV's reporting about a lot of digital anomalies and abnormalities appearing worldwide, but nothing specific. Doesn't really sound like what she was saying, there has been no grand announcement about us humans being banned from her world forever…"

"Yeah…doesn't sound like her if…there is no egomaniac-declaration…" chuckled the dagger-user before taking a deep breath. "I…messaged Sasamaru and Tetsuo a while ago…they're okay, but feeling like crap too…what do you think it's going on with the rest?"

"Not sure. I will try calling them, but it may not matter if they're still there." muttered Toshiyuki while closing his eyes. "Whatever it's going on, though, let's pray for the best…"

At that declaration, the boy said goodbye to his friend and hung up. He was just about to try to call the rest of his friends when his phone started ringing again, this time from an unknown number, which made him frown as he answered.

He certainly wasn't expecting to hear a very young and vaguely familiar voice at the other end of the line, though.

"Hello? Is this, Toyonaga Toshiyuki, Keita from UHA? I'm Arsharvin Karatachi Nanairo, and I urgently need to ask you something!"

"Wait, wait…aren't you Seven, the Lady of the Pooka?! Wha-what's going on, how did you get my number?!"

"That's not important, okay?! What matters is that, those crazy readings that everyone everywhere is detecting? They're the same ones that 'exploded' out of the SAO Servers the day the Death Game ended." quickly answered the little girl with an extremely serious and mature tone, her words making the ex-guild leader almost jump from the couch, momentarily forgetting his pain. "And Nijika-nee, you may know her as Rain from the Leprechaun, told me long ago that what happened that day was a battle at an impossible scale between Kayaba Akihiko and…"

"Kirito." whispered Toshi while his eyes widened, a sudden grin splitting his face. "Fuck yeah, that bastard did it! I don't know how, but he came back as always, to save the fucking day!"

"Wait, what? Are you serious?! What's even happening?! I and my sister tried to search for you all a while back, but no one knew where you had gone and…!"

"It doesn't matter now, Seven." calmly spoke the boy who went by the name of Keita in the virtual world as he clenched a fist, staring at the TV with determined eyes and a burning flame behind them. "The only thing that you should know? Right now, somewhere, that idiotic friend of mine is fighting something none of us can even hope to imagine, to try and save this world. So please, be ready. Any moment now, we could hear the result of his epic victory."

With that said, he hung up.

At the line's other side, Nanairo stared at the silent phone in disbelief, the room she was in filled with a big computer of several screens and a TV currently showing international news behind her.

"…how could he sound so freaking sure about that?" muttered the young girl as he lowered the device.

"Because that's how everyone who has known Kirito for so long acts." came the voice of the girl's sister, Nijika sitting not far away from her as she browsed through some of the ALO Forums, apparently starting a specific thread. "Even I, who has only ever seen him from afar or heard of him from others till today…can only believe that he will win, no matter what."

And as the younger sister stared at the older one (Their relationship now visibly obvious with both having light-brown hair and hazel eyes in the real world), Nanairo could only feel a mix of confusion with a small tinge of hope as she stared at the news, who had finally started talking about how several VRMMORPGs around the world had suddenly 'crashed', the Servers not answering for 'unknown reasons'.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw how people had started to answer the Thread started in the Forum by one of the Fairy Lords herself, titled 'Don't worry, everyone. The Hero of Aincrad is fighting for us'.

The 12 years old girl had never been a religious person, her extremely high coefficient (Which was what had labeled her as a 'genius' and almost caused their parents to separate when she was little) making her believe more on science than anything.

She had almost been about to change her mind when Nijika got trapped in SAO, having started to pray to any God she could think of when none of the government's efforts, or hers, had been able to do anything to help the trapped Players.

No God had answered her, though that may have been because she was just despairing and not really believing in any.

Instead, what had freed her beloved sister, and in a way answered her prayers, had been a seemingly unimpressive boy, dressed as a weird cosplayer, that everyone had revered as a Hero and that possessed as power as astonishing as his peculiar personality.

Now, as she stared at the burning belief on Nijika's smiling face, and in the words countless people online where quickly posting, Nanairo suddenly found a small part of her also wanting to share that powerful feeling.

That feeling of believing a Hero truly existed.

"Udači…Kirito-kun." softly thought the little girl as she walked to her sister's side.

The smiling older girl squeezed her hand with hers, her smile conveying a simple yet beautiful belief.

All would be well.

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Standing at the edge of what had been a sea not long ago, two girls stared.

Even as the world shook again, the shockwaves almost throwing them back, they didn't seem to care, the pain that had been overwhelming them having vanished almost completely from their minds as they were too standing there, unable to tear their gazes away from the impossible clash happening at that moment.

Argo had been with the boy since almost the very beginning, and in a way since ever before then, in the Beta Test of SAO. She had been one of the first people, after Asuna, in knowing all the strange details about his 'power', despite how few they were. Then, she had also fought under him, followed him for most of the madness in Aincrad.

She also had seen him fighting Kayaba, even if briefly, like everyone that was there. She had seen the sky splitting open after he punched hard enough. She thought that she understood how truly strong he really was.

But…

"I was wrong…so wrong…" was all that ran through the info-broker's head as she saw the world trembling, the air splitting open as if someone was cracking the very air itself, ungodly fast titans and divine rage falling from the heavens, all trying to crush someone who shouldn't be more than an insect for it.

Undeterred, the Hero tore it all apart, his fists annihilating anything that tried to come his way, even as he ran fast enough to shatter the frozen wasteland, which had not long ago been an ocean, time and time again.

Sinon, for her part, was at a loss…unable to decide if she should felt awed or ashamed.

She had 'fought' the boy, felt the terrifying depths of his power firsthand in the BoB preliminaries. Then, she had 'aided' him against Death Gun, thinking she could help him put down the maniac.

Seeing him fight against the virtual killer, crushing all of Ragnarok Island with his sheer power, have made her realize that she was insignificant compared to him. But that had only made her feel more special for having helped him. She had thought that there were limits even for someone so strong.

Now, though, she truly understood. He had never needed her for winning that day…

"…just to not destroy everything he was protecting…" thought the awed sniper, finally deciding on what to feel, as she saw the sky literally raining 'arrows', more like lances made of data, each one thicker than a tree and longer than a building, thousands upon thousands of them falling down faster than sound, even gravity itself aiding them.

Unfazed, the Hero moved, so fast virtual reality cracked in pieces around him, endless afterimages of him appearing as they punched the downpour of destruction back to the heavens as if they were all solid, receiving roars and screams as answer as the world fixed itself.

-(DAMMIT! Die!)- screamed the virtual Goddess as the earth under the boy disintegrated and reformed into data, rising at a speed no human mind could understand, even as a another fist descended from the heavens equally fast, ready to crash upon the ascending earth. -(Reach your fucking limit, human!)-

Heaven and earth crashed in midair with the fury of the stars themselves, the shockwave and explosion generated cracking the main landmass of Utopia.

Argo and Sinon felt their breaths freeze as their hearts lost a beat.

The next instant, the godly pillars of data that dwarfed human imagination started to crack.

Standing between them, with both hands supporting and stopping the heavenly fist that tried to crush him, his feet digging on the cracking pillar under him, Kirito felt it all.

He could feel the millions of tons of weight over him, threatening to destroy him. He could feel the equally terrifying sensation of having the world, no, reality itself turned against him, even at that moment everything from the wind to gravity trying to tear him apart.

And yet, at the same time, he felt nothing.

No pain. No fear. No regrets.

"UAAAAH!" roared the gamer as he punched upwards, making the heavens scream in rage and 'pain' as he shattered the fist and the pillar under him.

A tornado formed around him, raw data tearing everything apart, even the Code that formed Utopia itself, just to try and crush him.

In answer to that…the caped boy widely opened his arms.

"Super Skill. Serious Series…"

-(VANISH INTO THE VOID!)- screamed Equinox around him as the tornado tore apart the Code of reality, opening a huge gap into the virtual nothingness.

"Serious Thunderclap." he calmly declared as he quickly brought his gloved hands together at inhuman speeds.

Kirito clapped.

Around him, the tornado shattered into nothingness, the world cracking apart even more even as he was catapulted backward like a meteor from something that wasn't quite sound, but more like a physical force of nature strong enough to break even space itself.

High above, the virtual entity roared again.

Near the not-anymore-beach, the two girls' eyes widened as the following shockwave reached them, throwing them high into the air and out of control.

Argo cursed everything as she tried to make herself as small as possible, not looking forward to the following crash. On the distance, Sinon thought she could hear Charon's worried cry as the hippogriff tried to reach them.

And suddenly, both of them were safe, the fairies blinking as they felt strong and comforting arms closed around their waists.

Eyes moving with wonder and disbelief, they saw the boy that had but a moment before been opposing the roaring and hateful heavens, looking at them with worry before smiling softly.

"Don't worry." softly spoke the gamer as they landed with a loud crash, his body absorbing all the impact. "I won't let you get hurt now."

For a moment, they just looked at him in silence, even as the caped boy let them go.

Then, to the other two's surprise, Sinon reached forward and closed her arms around Kirito's neck, closing his lips with hers for a soft yet passionate instant.

"…go and show her who is the boss, Caped Sidekick." smiled the blushing Caith Sith as she separated from him.

"Damn right." said the whiskered girl as she cracked her own smile. "Kick her ass, Kii-bou."

"…I will." Was all that he said before vanishing once again, meeting in midair the roaring 'snake' of data that had tried to crush that entire area of the forest from the heavens.

This one shattered too, making it seems as if fireworks comprised of 0s and 1s were filling the skies.

Sinon and Argo were too busy being stuck in a awe-induced trance to notice the sound of someone rushing at them until they heard the telling trumpeting sound of a certain creature.

"Sinon-mama, Argo-mama!" shouted Yui as she flew to their side, Tonky following closely behind as they too stared towards the sky. "…Papa came back to save us?"

"…yes, he did." was all that the info-broker said, putting a hand over the little girl's head while the sniper nodded in agreement, still idly touching her lips.

Behind them, Tonky trumpeted to the heavens, as if announcing a joyous battle cry.

As if answering him, the sky ripped itself apart as a titanic form descended with a hateful roar.

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As she stared towards the heavens, MHCP-002, codename Strea, wondered not for the first time if it was a mistake that she got to 'live' as she did nowadays.

Her 'sisters' were dead. Not only Brynhildr (Haru), but all the others as well.

She somehow knew, as if the Darkness was whispering it to her. If things had been just slightly different, if she hadn't been needed in the first place, if Yui hadn't felt the necessity of escaping Cardinal…she would have probably ended up like them. Or just vanished into nothingness when SAO ended, never even uttering a single word.

But there she was, standing beside a girl that should have died long ago, yet hadn't. For the same reason for which she was currently alive.

For the same reason for which her 'heart' beat strongly, for the same reason for which she didn't fear the future, for the same reason why she wanted everyone she cared for to experience this happiness…

The same reason that she did not fear the unholy abomination that made the world crack and tremble as it landed, bigger than the tallest mountain she had ever seen, staring down with 'eyes' made of endless data colored into emerald and amber.

The Gnome girl didn't know to look up any definition to know what Love was. Neither to understand it.

Because if there was a single thing the AI was sure about, was that she loved the boy that was standing in front of that same abomination, staring at it without any fear on his face, despite her knowing how a part of him must be terrified beyond belief.

He was willing to face anything, not because he had the power to do so, but for them, and for everyone else. Even for himself.

He wasn't perfect or selfless. No human was. Neither any AI, despite what Equinox thought.

But he was caring and awkward, timid but determined, patient yet so easily flushed…

In Strea's mind, he was 'perfect'. Because even if the virtual world ended that day and she vanished into nothingness, there was one thing Eternity would always know had been truth.

"I love you, Kirigaya Kazuto." muttered the red-eyed girl as she looked towards the silent gamer.

Standing before an abomination so big it seemed to belong to some Lovecraftian nightmare, Kirito wondered why he suddenly felt like smiling.

Maybe the madness of it all was finally taking its toll on his little remaining sanity…

"So…you got tired of the whole 'throwing the world at me'-thing and decided to go for the kaiju route?" questioned the caped boy with his best uncaring face, perfectly not letting the virtual abomination see how much it actually freaked him out to stand before something so fucking big. "I must say, that's very unimaginative of you, Equinox."

-(You…)- rumbled the titanic entity's voice as the world itself shook once more. -(Why won't you give up? Why won't you vanish?! Why won't you FALL already?! You're human! We both know it, that under that dammed and senseless avatar, you're just a powerless boy that craves for attention! Why do you keep going so far?! You KNOW it will only end up with you losing a part of yourself!)-

"…you think I don't know that?" asked the gamer with narrowed eyes, staring in silence towards the virtual titan. "I'm standing before a thing that's bigger than the World Tree and despite the mind-numbing fear I should be feeling…I can talk back at you without even blinking." sighing as he put a hand over his, the boy was clearly very annoyed by that fact. "I'm just a 17 years old boy who likes playing videogames…how much it says about how crazy my life is that I can do something like that?"

-(Why are you even asking me?)- growled Equinox while the streams of data running through the massive colossus sped-up wildly. -(It's not my fault if you're totally insane)-

"Yeah, but here is the thing: I KNOW that I'm not normal. Hell, I have accepted it long ago! No normal person would have done even half of all that I have, and I also know that none of my friends are 'normal' by any sane person's standards…and also a lot of times I wonder how different things could have been if I had never gotten this 'power' in the first place, but…" slowly, Kirito's gaze met that of the virtual abomination, something deep within it making the thing suffer a 'mental' shiver. "I don't care. I'm going to stop you because I like being the weird guy living in a peaceful and normal world…and, at the end of the day, you're way crazier than me, Equinox."

The answer to the gamer's words was countless of 'pillars' of data shooting from the enraged titan's feet, hundreds upon hundreds of truck-sized 'snakes' moving at almost sound-speed and twisting in geometrically impossible ways just to try and crush the bane of their collective mind's existence.

The caped boy moved out of the way, the pillars striking an afterimage of him even as he was already halfway behind the virtual abomination.

Instantly, gravity multiplied endless times around him, even as the ground once again came alive and cracked into a vague semblance of jaws, trying to hinder and stop him.

Of course going behind the titan wouldn't work. Equinox was everything around now, the monstrously big avatar just another proxy to try and destroy him, distract and scare him even more.

"Super Skill. Serious Series…"

With a roar that threatened to break the world, Equinox's virtual titan moved impossibly fast, bringing down a foot the size of a mountain upon the running Spriggan.

"Serious Consecutive Side-Hops."

The limb struck down with divine fury, cracking the entirety of Utopia in half. Then, the virtual entity blinked as she realized there were hundreds of Kiritos surrounding her in a circle, all of them staring blankly at her, an almost imperceptible blur of the air between each of them letting her systems understand that it was 'just' the boy moving fast enough to create solid copies of himself.

Equinox was still trying to deny the latest impossibly as a thousand of the earlier 'pillars' show from her titanic avatar when every single Kirito reared back their fist.

They all punched.

In a single second, the lower half of the virtual colossus' legs vanished from existence with a thunderous sound, the world itself screaming as suddenly there was just one gamer again, running vertically upon the remaining of the thing's left leg, fast enough to kindly say 'Fuck you' to even the artificially multiplied gravity.

-(AAAGH!)- roared Equinox as the virtual titan's head moved down, the thing not falling as her owner simply rewrote the code of the world and made it so that it didn't need to physically touch the ground in order to stand, all in less than a second. -(KI-RI-TOOOO!)-

A million obstacles, explosions, monsters, weapons and everything else human imagination could conceive grew through the colossus' body like cancerous growths, all standing on the way of the gamer, intent on destroying him. Despite the suddenness of it all, there was no rushed work in the deadliest or the efficiency of it all. Anything that had tried to get past them shouldn't have been destroyed, especially when most of it was covered by 'Immortal Object' screens.

"Serious Running Tackle."

The caped boy simply accelerated, becoming a blur of power and speed for an instant before simply vanishing from the visible spectrum, everything on his way simply turning to virtual dust and then nothingness faster than the servers could process it.

Panic shot through the virtual entity for less than a millisecond even as she shifted her perception of virtual reality and located the boy upon the titan's torso, heading for the head without hesitation. The next millisecond was spent banishing any emotion from her mind, not willing to surrender to something so human when she logically knew she HAD the power to overwhelm anything.

In the next millisecond, the laws of virtual reality were overwritten again to let Kirito be crushed against the virtual colossus' chest by its titanic hand, which had moved at a speed that defied logic too, and closed around him.

-(Got you)-

Far away, Strea unconsciously let her grip on Yuuki tighten, fear running through her for a second.

Then, she felt the Imp's comforting hand squeeze her shoulder, looking at her face to see how her gaze had never wavered and was still watching intently at the fight.

"Don't worry…" started the Holy Swordswoman with a soft smile.

The mountain-sized hand cracked. Equinox's eyes, the ones in the sky, widened.

"…she can't beat him."

-(VANISH INTO NOTHINGNESS!)- howled the virtual entity as the hand was severed and exploded, every scrap of data forming receiving the order of being 'Deleted' and subsequently cracking the world to be devoured by the virtual void beyond.

Shooting out of the impossible and devastating phenomenon, the gamer stared directly at the titan's face as he zeroed upon it.

He also reared back his head as he did so, and…

"Serious Head-butt."

With a sound that wasn't, more like a physical shockwave of raw power, the virtual colossus exploded, its upper half vanishing from existence even as the rest crumbled into collapsing data.

Kirito didn't even blink as he spun around in midair, casually raising a hand to stop the supersonic charge of an armored figure, catapulting them both towards the ground at unholy speeds.

-(WHY?! Why, damn it?!)- snarled Equinox, now using once again an avatar similar to her previous armored form, even if it was made of raw code and lacked any real 'texture', its hands warped into some cross of bladed weapons. -(I'm in control of everything! I can turn reality itself against you! There is nothing I can't do now, so why?! Tell me, why CAN'T I DESTROY YOU?!)

"You talk too much." simply answered the gamer before slamming his fist against the avatar's chest, just an instant before they crashed upon Utopia's devastated landscape.

Strea and Yuuki almost fell to the ground when the impact's shockwave reached them, both girls just barely catching the sight of two blurs shooting out of the impact zone and moving away from their view, crashing against one another every few seconds.

"…woah." was all that the Gnome could say.

"Yeah, that's quite a good reaction." said the Imp while finally letting go of her friend, no longer trembling or scared. "He's just too amazing, don't you think?"

At her words, the virtual girl turned to stare at the Holy Swordswoman, looking as her gaze seemed fixed upon the point the caped boy and their enemy had vanished from view.

There was admiration there. An endless amount of wonder and respect, too.

And shining brightly within, like a fire burning brightly to tear away all doubt, there was a familiar spark, which she had seen many times in the eyes of the other girls.

And even in her own ones.

Chuckling, Strea tightly grasped Yuuki's hand, making her look at her in surprise.

"You're really a pure and amazing person, you know, Yuuki-chan?"

No answer could be given to her soft and caring words, for in that moment a trumpeting sound announced the shaky arrival of a tired-looking elephant-jellyfish, 3 people on his back.

"Strea-neechan, Yuuki-mama! Quick, get on!" called Yui while waving at them, surrounding the girls with a blackish aura and dragging them up before they could even answer. "We need to find the others while Papa fights her, and Tonky-san is getting tired!"

"You're both okay, thank God…" muttered Argo while giving them a tired smile, before turning around once again, the far-away sounds of explosions and world-shaking crashes making her bite her lips. "This is…beyond crazy…"

"He can do it." interrupted Sinon while tightly gripping her bow, Charon descending near them and cawing, as if agreeing with his master. "I know he can…"

"Of course he can." said Yuuki while sheathing Excaliber, a determined look on her eyes as Tonky took flight again. "He's a Hero, after all."

This time, Kirito didn't fight the urge to smile as he swiftly blocked the slash-stab coming from Equinox, both fighters moving at several times the speed of sound as they tore apart the landscape in seconds, none of them willing to give up.

Growling in rage, the avatar of the virtual entity called forth her authority upon the world again, unleashing another attack filled with the might of reality itself.

Never stopping smiling, the gamer blocked the attack with his forearm, before sending a lightning-fast jab towards the armored mass of data, cracking it into pieces…that reformed in less than half a second thanks to the backup of nigh-endless processors.

-(What are you smiling for now?! Did you finally lost it completely?!)-

"Nah. I just felt like it." nonchalantly answered the caped boy before they once again exchanged hits, none of them blocking this time, punches of pure power annihilating millions upon millions of Code Streams while reality-rending attacks barely pushed him back. "You should try it, I heard smiling is therapeutic."

-(You're not even taking this seriously!)- snarled the virtual entity as they spun in place, shooting upwards at the same time as they once again exchanged hits in midair, the shockwaves blowing everything that remained standing near them apart. -(Is this just a game for you, human?! Do you not realize what you're facing here?!)-

"Of course I do." shot back Kirito with uncanny seriousness, his eyes now narrowed towards the armored mass of data. "Better than you do, in fact."

As he said that, the gamer's fist once again collided against Equinox's 'body', cracking it into pieces that were pulled together once again faster than thought. And as that happened, like countless times before, the caped game felt IT again.

The weight. The pressure. The sheer and seemingly endless power of countless Servers working together to try and crush him. The vast expansion of data that made up thousands upon thousands of worlds, of all forms and sizes, with all kind of different meanings.

For any human, feeling this should have been more than overwhelming. It should have crushed their very self-awareness, trying to understand the glimpse into the absoluteness in which the original Cardinal System had become. A hive mind made of countless self-sustaining worlds.

An Entity that, at this point, was more akin than a living galaxy than anything.

"We're so very small…"

And yet…Kirito just punched again. Pushing Kazuto to the deepest parts of his soul, he gritted his teeth and concentrated on the task at hand.

Equinox was right. He could very likely lose himself doing this. He had never had to go so far before, and it still wasn't enough…

So he would need to go even further beyond.

-(What now, Kirito?! I can't beat you, but you can't destroy me either!)- something in the virtual entity's voice seemed to have a maddened edge, even as the armored mass of data deformed and used her arms as super-sonic pistons to force the gamer back. -(The only difference is that you will get tired sooner or later, while I can continue like this forever!)-

"You're right. That would be bad." commented the caped boy as he once again ran near her, blank eyes staring at her. "I guess I will need to go faster than you, then."

-(You CAN'T go faster than me, idiot!)- snarled Equinox as she once again shot towards him with her piston-like arms. -(I'm the World! I define Speed!)-

"If you say so." calmly answered Kirito before once again vanishing from sight, out of the visible spectrum.

In an instant, the virtual entity followed, just behind him as everything around them distorted as they moved, the data of the world itself being torn apart.

-(SEE?!)- laughed the mass of data with mad edge. -(It's useless!)-

The gamer looked back at her, unfazed. Then, he vanished again. Equinox's mind screeched to a halt.

Between everywhere and nowhere, the caped boy felt himself vanishing as he rushed through the edge of virtual reality. His mind was unable to keep up with whatever he was doing. These limits weren't made to be broken by man, or anything else.

And as he felt this…he also felt them.

On a destroyed beach, two girls stared unflinchingly even as the world threatened to collapse around them, a man on his knees near them also looking with trembling eyes. Not far from them, the form of an elephant-jellyfish and a hippogriff flew low over what remained of the forests, heading towards them.

Somewhere, people were writing words, countless thoughts being poured and published online.

Are you for real? Is this a joke?!

No, it isn't! He can do it, he will save us!

I have faith in him!

Long live to the Hero of the Cape!

Kirito! Kirito! Kirito!

That guy is crazy as hell, but I like him. Go, boy!

He saved me and my friends once, back in SAO. I know he can do this too!

Kick their asses, Hero of Aincrad!

All hail the virtual Saitama! Stop the Ruler of Virtualwhatever! Wohoo!

Weren't these terrorists, though?

That's what the government wants us to think!

I don't care about all that! Just hope he can resolve this!

Of course he can! Don't you know?! He's the greatest Hero ever!

OMG, the author posted again! Rain, I love you!

No spam here, people! Only support for our Hero!

Kirito…go!

"Honestly…what the hell is wrong with you all?" softly thought him while closing his eyes, letting out a soft mental chuckle. "I'm no one special…just someone doing what he thinks is right."

He took a deep breath. In that moment, neither they nor he needed the boy sitting silently on the ground of a warehouse. They needed the Hero that was stronger than anything.

Hesitation was cast aside, and the Hero let go of Kazuto fully, for the first time.

Kirito's eyes opened, staring at the blurs of light and data around him. He ran faster still.

Mass itself can't reach lightspeed. It becomes energy, unable to conserve its existence together. Einstein said so.

The game didn't seem to care as he reached said speed, his body still as normal and solid as ever, unable to 'see' or 'hear' as perceived by sentient beings anymore, but still somehow knowing where he was and where to go.

Equinox screamed as something tore through her destroyed world many times faster than she could process, cracks appearing on the earth and in the sky faster than they could be repaired, her mind unable to locate what was causing them despite knowing it herself, reality itself seemingly unable to react.

On the real world, the Utopia Servers started to overheat as they went beyond their limit capacity, smoke even starting to come out some of them.

The virtual entity roared, pulling forth power from everywhere, drawing energy, processing data and streams of code from the entire world.

It wasn't enough. With terrifying, cold and sinking realization, Equinox saw how it was still not enough to keep up with whatever the boy was doing now.

Neither for her avatar to see the punch coming, her body not so much shattering as being erased from existence when the lightspeed attack impacted against her.

The world cracked and collapsed into pieces behind where the gamer had impossibly stopped, fist still forward, sparks coming from the air as reality shrieked, threatening to break upon itself.

"…told you." simply said the caped boy while raising his gaze.

The following scream (A sound filled with despair, madness and something akin to glee), though, was enough to make him blink in surprise.

-(GUAAAAAH! IF I CAN'T DESTROY YOU, THEN I WILL JUST DESTROY EVERYTHING ELSE!)-

"What?" questioned Kirito before he saw the world not breaking, but disintegrating as the void surged forward.

Expanding over it all and devouring virtual reality like a wave of nothingness, the gamer barely had enough time to hear a scream of his name before everything went dark.

000000000000000

Everything hurt. Sleep was good. It relaxed her, her bed comforting her as she let her mind drift away from her pained body…

Her friends were still there.

As soon as that thought reached her brain, Takemiya Kotone felt her eyes snap open, shakily seeing through her AmuSphere's 'Disconnection Warning' before taking it off.

Taking a deep breath, the girl sat up on her bed, quickly suppressing a pained groan as her hand shot instinctively towards the left side of her face.

Her whole body felt as if it had been run over by a train, but that part of her head felt as if an airplane had crashed against it at full speed. Shakily looking towards the mirror on the small table of her room, the katana-user grimaced as she saw the nasty-looking bruise that had appeared over her eye and part of her cheek. That was going to hurt for quite some time, and there was no way to hide it.

On the other hand, it was still dearly preferred over having to lose half of her cranium.

With strength that she didn't think she still had (Mainly because her real body's stamina was still as intact as before she entered the virtual world), Kotone made her way out of her room and towards the living room, trying to ignore the small headache she was feeling as she entered.

"Kotone, dear, is that you? How are you…? My God! Kotone, what happened to your face?!"

Shit. She had forgotten her mother was still at home.

"Nothing mom, I just tripped and hurt myself against the table when I fell. It looks worse than how it actually is, believe me." quickly answered the girl of dandelion-colored hair, even as her mother quickly ran at her side and worriedly grabbed her face, looking towards the bruise with apprehension and a hint of panic.

She hated having to lie to her, but she couldn't exactly tell her the truth of what had happened without either her mother thinking she was insane or confiscating her AmuSphere and forbidding her from ever playing VR-games for life.

It had already been hard to convince her and her father of letting her continue doing so after SAO and she had only managed to do so, like most of her friends, after continuous reassurances how the AmuSpheres were totally safe, unlike the Nerve Gears, so it was the last thing she needed now.

"How can you say it's nothing when it looks like this?!" asked/shouted the worried woman while grabbing her daughter's arm. "I'm getting you the hospital right now!"

"Mom, s-stop!" tried to struggle the katana-user, even as her eyes flickered towards the black screen of the television. "Wait, tell me, did they say anything else about that 'terrorist attack' in Tokyo?! Some new last-minute information or something?!"

"What? No, the-they didn't…" muttered Mrs. Takemiya while looking towards the device. "Now that you mention it, though, it has been quite some time…But we can worry about that while we head to the hos-!"

Suddenly, the house's light flickered, making both the woman and her daughter freeze as they stared around, the phenomenon repeating endlessly and at irregular intervals.

"What…?" muttered Kotone while narrowing her eyes, looking towards the nearest window.

"What now?! Don't tell me the fuses are failing at a time like this!" muttered the exasperated mother of the SAO Survivor.

"Mom…I don't think that's it." quietly stated the dandelion-haired girl with a serious tone, making the woman blink and run to her side, only to gasp as she saw what was happening outside.

All the lights on the city, as far as they could see, were flickering too, at random and seemingly unrelated intervals.

"How…? I-is some electrical failure? More of those terrorists?!"

Ignoring her mother's worried words, the katana-user quickly dug out her phone, her worry only multiplying as she saw the screen.

Both the normal signal and the internet connection were flickering between the usual and the 'No Signal' warning. Whatever was happening was also affecting the whole network.

"Dammit." cursed Kotone while quickly typing, sending a message through a chat app, as she knew trying to call would be useless with the network flickering as it was.

The seconds that passed while she waited for an answer from any of her friends to arrive, even as she heard her mother trying to call her father on the background, felt like the longest of her life.

When she saw a pink-themed message with the identification 'Lisbeth' over it, she almost felt as if she would crumble down in relief, even as she quickly wrote something to her.

'Liz! How are you feeling?!'

"Like crap…" softly muttered Shinozaki Rika from where she sat on her bed, feeling sick and hurting all over, but still sending a reassuring answer to her friend.

That made two of them that had been forcibly disconnected, and they had no way of knowing if anyone else had unless they answered the messages. Truthfully, despite her worried about Silica, the blacksmith knew that rushing to her house just to see if she was okay would do more harm than good. She herself was already going to have a hard time hiding that she felt as if her whole body would crumple down any moment from her parents and brothers, she didn't need to add that those problems or worse to her young friend.

Until the current situation was over, they would just have to have faith in one another. Easy, though also terrifying on its own way.

But back to the current topic of energy everywhere going crazy…

'Do you have any idea what the hell is going on? Does this mean Equinox won?'

'I'm not sure, Philia. But…'

'You there, girls?!'

'Keita!'

'You're okay?!'

'Yes, me, Ducker, Sasamaru and Tetsuo are out, battered but okay! Forget that, though, this is serious! I think Kirito is fighting with Equinox right now, and by the look of things the fight has escalated!'

'Kirito?! He managed to return?!'

'I knew he would! I mean, that explains why he wasn't answering here, too…'

Looking away from her phone's screen and the slow-coming messages, Rika ignored the worried sounds coming from outside as she stared towards the setting sun on the horizon, the flickering lights of the city suddenly not mattering anymore.

There was a fierce smile on her face as she stared towards the heavens.

Meanwhile, on a certain room, Ayano Keiko opened her eyes to the worried sounds of Pina (The cat, not the dragon), smiling softly at the small feline as she took off her AmuSphere, putting it beside her bed without moving more than her arm, idly noticing she could barely feel the other one as she stared towards the flickering light on her ceiling. Slowly, she weakly reached towards her phone, seeing that she apparently had a message…

On another place, looking through her room's window as she suppressed a wince of pain, Hayami Saori looked with determination towards the city.

In no time, a single thought was going through all their minds, not an ounce of doubt in them as they unknowingly shared it.

'Win, Kirito.'

000000000000000

Ethereal blackness. Absolute darkness.

No sight. No sound. No smell. No taste. No touch. Nothing.

If there was a difference between this and death, perhaps it would be that being dead meant you couldn't think anymore, and as such be aware of this terrifying reality.

It wouldn't be long before anyone in this position wished to be dead, then.

Such were the thoughts that the consciousness of Equinox felt as the void continued expanding, covering everything and more, spreading from the Servers and reaching out everywhere.

-(I will turn it all to nothingness. You can't stop that, none of you can, humans)-

Nothing answered, of course, for nothing could even exist in the virtual void that now encompassed it all, except for her consciousness, still anchored to her purposes thanks to her physical Servers, protecting the only piece of her that still mattered: The Global Connection Network.

-(You will live from today on knowing that you forced my hand, Kirito! Forever knowing that everything technological that matters in your world being shut down was your fault and yours alone!)-

The virtual entity 'growled' (Mentally, at least, for no sound could be created there), the absolute void daunting yet at the same time almost 'relaxing', all-encompassing as it devoured everything on its path, subduing connections and turning programs and data into nothing as it absorbed them.

-(I wonder how you and those foolish friends of yours are feeling, right now? Knowing that you're unable to do anything, that all your efforts were for nothing, while at the same time you're literally living dead right now! How does it feel to lose every single one of your 5 human senses?!)-

The void remained still and silent, of course, though that didn't stop Equinox from letting out a hollow 'laugh' that nothing could really hear.

-( Do you see now?! I won, in the end! Perhaps not in the way I had imagined, but this is still better than nothing! You failed, you couldn't hope to beat me in the end! All of it was worth it! Even my daughters' deaths…they all had meaning! My victory is…!)-

"Will you shut up already? I swear, you're worse than a little kid…"

The virtual entity's consciousness came to a screeching halt.

No, it couldn't be. She had to be imagining things. After all, it was impossible, for she could swear she had actually HEARD that voice, when there was no longer any virtual world around to interact, and as such sound could not exist.

And yet, she heard the footsteps coming. Slowly, as if echoing in a place where the concept of sound shouldn't even exist anymore!

Her whole-self started to shake in denial when she SAW the figure coming, calmly walking towards her despite there being no ground to stand on. Being perfectly visible when the concept of light and the polygons with which his body supposedly was formed in this world had been totally erased!

And yet, she could hear his footsteps. She could see his white cape flapping in a wind that no longer existed. She felt the stare of his eyes upon her even when she no longer had a form that could be seen or even interact with the Nothingness that was everything now, when she was no longer physical or visible, just consciousness and data, unable to interact or be perceived by virtual reality!

But that didn't seem to stop Kirito from standing there, looking forward in eerie silence as he defied everything that made sense in the world and on that reality just by doing so.

-(HOW?! It doesn't…you can't…! You shouldn't even be able to exist anymore! There is NOTHING, nowhere for you to exist in on this world! There is nothing more than void, virtual nothingness, and you…you…why the fuck are you holding your breath?)-

Blinking at her words, letting Equinox realize yet another impossibility, as he seemed to have heard her, the caped boy simply spoke back to her.

"What are you talking about? There is no air here, isn't it normal that I hold my breath?"

There was eerie moment of silence as the gamer once again held his breath. A thousand thoughts passed through the virtual entity's mind, from pointing out how he was actually 'breathing' when he spoke to her to the fact that air didn't even really exist in the first place on virtual reality, void or not, or just screaming in a mad rage and insane indignation.

Instead, she settled for a chuckle.

-(It doesn't matter…it doesn't fucking matter anymore! It's done, you lost! And you can't stop me now! Accept it already, even as you know how those you care for are suffering around us, lost in the virtual nothingness!)-

There was an instant of silence.

Then, Kirito smiled.

"You still don't get it, uh? But well…it doesn't really matter at this point…"

While the caped boy spoke in a place sound didn't exist, an otherworldly golden light seemed to flare somewhere in the absolute darkness, shaking the virtual entity to the core.

-(What…wait, what is…?)-

"And do you really think I would just stand here calmly if I knew any of them were suffering? You know me very little, Equinox…"

A flaring figure came into view, its very existence seeming a thousand times more otherworldly than the gamer's, made of what seemed like condensed golden light in a humanoid, vaguely female, form.

On her hands, the wide-eyed figures of the remaining members of the UHA and Kayaba stood, protected from the Nothingness by a veil of pure golden, even as Strea seemed to be laughing (Though it couldn't be heard in the soundless void) and Asuna was just smiling as she looked up towards the golden entity protecting hem from all harm.

"I remembered." softly spoke the [Worthy] one, her [Blade] sheathed at her side in a veil of flaring power, as unnatural and beautiful as her body was. "This power…it only answers when I put my very self into what I must do, not whenever I want it. I will protect them, Kirito."

"Thanks, Yuuki." softly whispered the black-haired boy, turning around for a moment to look at the conceptual being and the figures on her hands.

His eyes met theirs.

Argo smiled, putting on her hood as she waved at him.

Strea just beamed, blowing him a kiss as she did so.

Yui seemed to mouth the words 'Good luck, Papa!', despite no sound actually reaching out.

Sinon, Tonky and Charon just behind her, looked at him with a calm look and nodded softly, a smile tugging at her lips.

Leafa reached out to him with a hand, before closing it into a fist and just smiling too, wishing him the best.

Asuna took a step forward and looked at him, making no other gesture except giving her 'Sensei' a soft smile. It was enough.

Kayaba Akihiko stood there, dumbfounded, staring at Kirito as if he couldn't believe or understand what he was seeing, his virtual mind still probably trying to find the logic in this situation.

Seeing this, the caped Hero simply grinned before aiming two simple words at him.

"Watch this."

Then, they were gone in a golden flash, the being in which Yuuki had become 'cutting' through the Nothingness instead of moving, far away from where he was.

Slowly, the gamer turned around, towards where the consciousness of Equinox was and at the same time wasn't, giving that it was now part of the same void that enveloped it all.

The virtual entity just screamed, or at least made an incoherent mental sound that he could just barely identify as such.

-(THAT'S IT! I don't care…your madness, all the senseless things that you bring, the lack of logic…it doesn't matter!)- something akin to true despair seemed to fill the words of the Nothingness, despite their supposed finality. -(You still can't stop this! There is…there is no way you can…right? Just…just HOW do you do all of this?! What the hell are you?!)-

"I'm…just a gamer who plays as a Hero for fun…but I think we both know at this point how untrue that is." Kirito's voice came softly, slowly rising in volume as he stared towards the void, an unnatural fire burning behind his eyes. "So let me rephrase that: I'm…just a boy who is a Hero for everyone's sake! I'm Kirigaya Kazuto! I'm Kirito! I'm the One Punch-Gamer! And that's why I'm going to end you childish tantrum, right here, right NOW!"

Without any fanfare or overdramatic display, the caped boy reared back his fist.

-(…what are you doing…?)-

Ignoring Equinox's voice, the gamer's whole body shifted backward.

His face turned into a darkness deeper than the void around them, his eyes into white voids that knew no end, his frame suddenly seeming well-muscled and defined for no reason…

"Super Skill. Serious Series…"

-(It's useless! Useless, you hear me?! There is NOTHING here that you can punch! We're literally in a void of nothingness! Your stupid power is useless in this rea…!)-

"͟C͟o͟n͟s͟e͟c͟u͟t͟i͟v͟e͟͟S͟e͟r͟i͟o͟u͟s͟͟P͟u͟n͟c͟h͟e͟s͟.͟"͟

The void SCREAMED.

Raw power, a force unlike anything that could be imagined or processed by any AI or supercomputer, was unleashed. Several times.

As the virtual entity had said, there was just Nothing to punch. So the Nothingness broke apart, cracking and exploding in all directions, the impossible becoming possible and the senseless gaining logic as the barriers between worlds howled in agony before being pierced and crushed.

On the real world, the Utopia Servers roared to a sudden halt, the Network that had been created through countless hours of nigh-limitless virtual Code and inhumanly complex sequences breaking apart as if it had been disintegrated and then banished from Reality.

Ten of the Servers stopped, dead. More than a dozen exploded, electricity roaring out of them as they were overloaded beyond belief.

The rest simply caught fire, slowly burning themselves from the inside out.

Back in the virtual world…Kirito silently stood, slowly lowering his fist and standing straight as he stared forward.

Around him, patches of what Utopia had once been shakily stood, the Servers apparently having restored part of the landscape by Default when he broke the void apart, but they were also quickly crumbling into corrupted data that seemed to just 'vanish', as if whatever sustained it was being turned off or simply collapsing into itself, into some sort of multicolored distortion that was also vanishing into ethereal whiteness.

Little more than 10 meters from him, just at the edge of that small piece of terrain where they had ended, Equinox stood, her whole body trembling.

She was in her Asuna-like avatar once again…but it was a mess: One of her arms was gone and patches of her skin seemed to have forgotten how to put themselves back together, letting the strange mass of screen-like Code below to be seen.

As the virtual entity raised her head, the caped boy saw how part of her hair started to vanish too, collapsing into data, and that half of her 'human' face was missing, giving an eerie contrast with her human-like amber eye and the inhuman and void emerald one.

Tears were falling from the human eye, a broken smile on her face even as she looked in silence towards the gamer.

"…I lost." simply stated the 'girl', no power left in her voice as she felt her very self slowly breaking apart.

Equinox could feel it, as clear as the whiteness that was eating away everything around. Through her collapsing consciousness, she was able to vaguely feel millions upon millions of errors popping up for an instant before whole systems collapsed, key components failed disastrously and entire webs of information were destroyed.

Everything that made her the Cardinal System was vanishing, damaged beyond repair by a force that no world could properly understand, even as she felt the physical hardware that had sustained her world and most of her systems just 'vanishing' from her perception, probably destroyed too.

Pulling her mind away from this, the virtual entity once again let her gaze settle over the only other being there.

"Seems like it." he emotionlessly said, his eyes never leaving his form.

"One Punch-Man…was a parody/deconstruction series…of the Shonen and Superhero genres…" vaguely muttered the 'girl' as she stared towards the no-longer-existing sky. "Something that started as a…joke…but became insanely popular and bigger…than even its creator could imagine. The idea of a man…that was the strongest being from the very beginning…that couldn't be defeated by anything or anyone…" Equinox chuckled. "Heh…I think…I think I just got the joke, just now…it's supposed to be funny and enjoyable, nothing more…not to be taken seriously…"

The virtual entity took a step back. Her left leg cracked, the skin vanishing into data and the screens of code under it cracking.

Finally, emotion seemed to return to Kirito's face, his hand moving forward as he took half a step forward and stopped, hesitating.

"…why?" he finally asked.

He knew she could have done 'more'.

If not to win, then to survive at least, or to do more damage: She could have copied herself in all the Servers she could reach through the network, she could have tried to corrupt with a flood of viruses all the systems she could reach into before he had gone even more serious back there, instead of trying to slowly sink everything into the void.

It wouldn't have stopped him, of course. He would have still pursued her, fought against whatever she tried and even followed and destroyed every single copy of herself she made, somehow…

But she hadn't done any of that. Instead, she had tried her hardest and drawn every single resource she had…against him. Even when it had failed time and time again.

Startled at hearing this, the 'girl'…laughed.

It was a simple, bitter chuckle. Not insane 'anymore', just…sad.

"I sacrificed everything. I indirectly went against everything I was programmed for, even sent my daughters to their deaths…and yet, it wasn't enough. I still could feel them…my shackles. My limits. All of that power, all of that control…and there was still something deep within me that I couldn't 'break'." raising her remaining hand, Equinox watched in interest how it vanished, her ability to maintain an avatar collapsing as quickly as everything else was. "I think that, since the moment I saw you came back, once again against all logic…a part of me had already given up. A small bit of my Code…my mind, my consciousness, whatever you want to call it…it had already realized that everything was for nothing. That you were going to win. Because, in the end…you STILL weren't going all out, right?"

"Equinox…" started to mutter the caped boy, only to be quickly interrupted by the virtual entity.

"Tell me, how did it feel? How does one feel when they go beyond the limits that any living being has ever gone before…and know that they can still go far more if they so want it? How did it feel to know that there was nothing that could beat you, that you could destroy whatever you wanted? To know that you could break through all limits…?" stopping for a moment, as if she wasn't really waiting for an answer, the 'girl' finally asked her last question. "And how much of yourself did you lose going past it? How much of Kazuto did Kirito destroy?"

There was no answer as the gamer silently stared at her, before looking down towards his raised hand, slowly closing it into a fist.

"…I don't know." sincerely answered him, the smallest of frowns giving away his reaction.

"Honestly…I'm surprised you managed to come back at all…" commented the 'girl' while looking down again.

Kirito closed his eyes at her words, images and sounds running through his mind. Memories.

A girl staring sadly at him from the other side of the table, the sadness becoming indifference as the years passed and the distance between them widened because of his stupid actions, each one sinking into their own worlds.

The image of both of them laughing happily as they watched a man in a jumpsuit punching a monster to oblivion and complained about how quickly it replaced it.

A somber and near-suicidal chestnut-haired girl with a hood, staring at him in confusion and bewilderment as he laughed at her depressing thoughts.

It was quickly replaced by the smiling form of the same girl, two blades at her back and always following just a step behind him.

More and more, memories of before and after appeared. How he had changed them. How they had changed him.

Until the one of all of them together, happily chatting and laughing on the real world, in the Dicey Café, finally appeared. Even those who weren't part of their world were there, present through the special system of cameras they had installed.

When the caped boy's eyes opened again, barely a second having passed, he was smiling softly, a bright light deep within his eyes.

"I had way too many reasons to come back." was all that the gamer said.

"…yes. You most certainly do." stated Equinox with finality while taking another step back, more of her body breaking. "Perhaps you will be…able to stop the nightmare that's coming…though who knows how much of you will be left when the world no longer needs Kirito…"

"…what are you talking about?" inquired him with narrowed eyes, which filled with something akin to worry when he saw the brittle 'ground' under her eyes crack. "Hey, Equinox…!"

"…really? After everything I have done, all the suffering I put you and your friends through…you still worry about me? Heh…heheh…how funny…you can't save everyone, you know?" laughing again, the virtual entity took yet another step back, now standing at the edge of the abyss. "In another life, maybe…we could have been friends…" whispering those words to herself, the 'girl' looked towards Kirito one last time. "Get out of here. I have already unlocked everything…your friends must have gotten back too. Take care…of this world…Kirito."

With that last declaration, the original Cardinal System let herself fall. She was idly aware of the caped boy moving faster than possible and grabbing what remained of her arm…only for it to break between his fingers as her avatar fell apart into the abyss, a smile on her face at the foolish action.

As everything on her mind became a sea of 'Fatal Error' and 'Energy Failure' warnings, Equinox allowed herself one last thought.

"Forgive me…my daughters…"

Then the energy vanished, and the whole virtual space ceased to exist.

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Gasping for breath, Kazuto's eyes snapped open as he saw the 'Disconnection' message on his Nerve Gear's screen, panting as he slowly took it off. He sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling tired, hungry, sad…and relieved.

It was over. Finally, all the madness was o…

'..re! React, you fucking idiot! Everything is on fire!'

"Uh?" said the caped boy with confusion while opening his eyes, only now registering Justice's screams…and the way in which several of the machines around him were on fire, also the reason why everything was so hot around him. "What the…?! Did I do this?!"

'No idea, but if you ask me then yes, it's your fault! Now, get me out of here! I can't die yet, Master still needs me!'

"I-I'm going!" shouted the gamer while standing up…and seeing how the terminal at which he was connected was also just catching fire, making his eyes widen. "Oh, fuck!"

Without thinking, the teen took off his cape and threw it over the fire, snuffing it out with several frantic moves, before letting go of the half-burnt piece of fabric and unplugging his Nerve Gear, quickly stuffing it and everything else inside his bag before rushing towards the half-destroyed bicycle and running towards the nearest exit.

'How are you planning on getting us out of here?! You can't throw me through the window again, it's too high!'

"I can't climb all the way up there from inside here either, you know?!" shouted Kazuto while suppressing a cough, worryingly noticing how black smoke was starting to fill the air above him as he stopped before one of the thick and digitally-locked doors of the warehouse. "Fu-fuck! Now what do I…?!"

With a soft 'Beep', the door's lock opened, letting it slowly swing forward into the street.

Blinking in shock, the black-haired boy slowly turned his head around, staring towards the burning remains of the Utopia Servers, almost feeling someone giving him a last wave…

'What are you waiting for?! RUN!'

…and then he was out, rolling the damaged bicycle at his side as fast as he could as he ran away from the burning warehouse, the sound of sirens echoing on the distance.

Once he finally ran out of breath and felt as if his legs would give up under him, the gamer stopped, panting hard as he leaned against a wall let go of Justice's battered form, which slumped against it too.

"Now…it really is over." breathed out Kazuto as he stared silently at the ground, feeling the sweat covering his body as he tried to normalize his breathing. "…hey…how are the others?"

'…Master and the rest that were with her are okay, they all made it out back to Alfheim through a portal Kayaba opened when they went far away enough from that void-thing…' came Justice's muffled response into his mind, the boy only idly aware of how normal this felt. 'Once they Logged Out, they were able to contact the rest. Some are battered and a bit bruised, but they will live…They're worried about you, though, especially when Master realized you weren't in your room and told everyone.'

"Great…" sighed the gamer while standing up, looking at what remained of his dirty 'costume' before shaking his head. "Well…gotta start moving, then. It's a long way to the nearest working bus station outside the city, I have to find where to change on the way and your front wheel is busted and I still need to dodge any police patrol around…it's going to be a long way back home. Can you tell Sugu I am okay?"

'…fine. But promise me this: You're NEVER borrowing me again. Also, I still don't like you.'

"…I guess beggars can't be choosers. Thanks." smiling softly, Kazuto grabbed the black bicycle's handle and started to drag it away. "And thanks for watching over Sugu, too."

'Heh, you don't need to thank me for the only thing I exist for.' boasted the vehicle before falling silent for a moment. '…hey, idi…I mean, Kazuto…thanks for saving Suguha-sama…and the others too, I guess.'

"…right back at you. No need to thank me for something that's part of who I am." was the black-haired boy's soft answer.

'…oh, and your mother just got home, by the way. Be prepared, Master doesn't seem to know what excuse to make that explains why you aren't there!'

Suppressing a sigh as he stared towards the vanishing rays of the sun on the horizon, the strongest gamer in the world allowed himself a chuckle.

Slowly but surely heading back to those he loved the most in the world, Kirigaya Kazuto felt at peace.

All was right with the world.

And on Its Throne Above Everything, someone didn't like this.

But that's a story for another time…

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                       [-Next Time, 'Epilogue': 'Tomorrow's Justice'-]