Chapter 10: SERIOUS POWER! Beyond the Virtual Horizon!

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛."-Saitama, the Strongest Hero.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝘁𝗵, 𝟳𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿. 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺, 𝟭𝟬:𝟰𝟮…

A flash of speed.

An unholy roar.

An explosion of power.

In the middle of the cacophony of screams filling the massive chamber, a deadly battle raged on.

Once again, the massive scythe-arm of the abomination known as Skull Reaper descended, and once again it was parried by Heathcliff's mighty shield.

The other one, meanwhile, crashed angrily against Strea's massive sword and Asuna's rapier, both girls grunting at the massive effort, even as their feet skid backward several meters and their HP dropped. Roaring angrily in response, the tail-end of the beast swung to try and crush the players trying to take advantage of the opening created by the Paladin and the Heroines to attack.

A pink blur with a metallic arm shining in silver was there to meet it, mace and shield raised as she flexed her God Hand and roared.

"HADES ARMOR!"

Lisbeth blocked the impact head on and, as expected, quickly started to be pushed back, her heightened resistance not making her any stronger, just twice as durable…but that was why Tetsuo and Sasamaru were already there to grab the girl's shoulders and push with all their strength, the combination of the two pushing boys and the girl turned living shield being enough to stop the tail from crushing the other Front Liners.

"What are you waiting for?!" shouted the blacksmith at the shocked players, stopped barely a meter behind her and her guild mates. "GO!"

Snapping out of their daze, the group of players roared and unleashed their strongest Sword Skills, damaging the Boss as much as they could even as the three members of the Association moved again.

Another earth-shattering scream released, the Skull Reaper quickly disengaged his scythe-arms from the ones in front of him and turned around with unreal speed, aiming to target the group that had just attacked him.

Half a dozen shurikens shining in crimson slamming directly against his right eye before exploding was his reward for the action, the beast's head snapping to the side as Silica ran right towards it, jumping at the same time she reached for the massive Fuuma Shuriken on her back.

The angry jaws of the abomination snapped at her as it recovered, trying to devour the jumping kunoichi, only for a determined-looking Pina to stand on his way and unleash a barrage of explosive bubbles straight down its 'throat'. The Boss reared back in 'pain' while releasing another unholy roar, even as Silica's weapon shone brightly in yellow and she let it fly directly at the massive undead-centipede, a shout of 'Falcon's Drop!' signaling how it slashed down the 'back' of the centipede-like beast, causing serious damage even as the girl landed, her weapon finishing its strike near the tail-end of the monster.

Ducker was already there, grabbing the weapon and running away as fast as his nimble built allowed him, the tail-end of the Skull Reaper not hitting him by less than half a meter.

Then Keita came in, leading another charge against the abomination's side, his battle-staff smashing against one of its many 'legs' as the players surrounding him unleashed several hits with their weapons.

The 75th Boss answered by suddenly spinning over itself, like a maddened snake coiling to attack, his motion allowing him to throw back all those who were attacking his side.

The staff-user tried to not let despair consume him when he heard the sound of polygons exploding near him. Instead, he stood up, backed away and quickly opened his menu, searching for a potion to recover, shouting at the rest of the players to quickly do the same.

Uncoiling as it glared at the retreating group, the Skull Reaper shot forward like a missile once again.

Heathcliff was there to stop him once more, the crimson-armored man clearly grunting as he tried to stop the entire head of the massive monster with only his shield, metallic boots skidding back as the monster pushed.

Then, a blur of movement came in, a lowered hood hanging from her back as the shiny claws on her hands ignited with the light of her fists.

"Hang in there! DRAGON'S FURY!" with a roar on her own, Argo unleashed the Skill, the number of punches, knees, hits and inverted kicks from it being so long that it easily surpassed the 20 hits before it was over.

Even so, its work was done, the massive beast having been stopped, forced to rear back and let its frontal body stand again.

Roaring, his massive scythe-arms were raised again, ready to cut down the paladin and the panting Rat.

Oozing darkness, a roaring Strea slammed her blade against his side, the 'Soul Slayer' Darkness Blade Skill being enough to cause the Boss to stagger and hesitate for an instant.

It was more than enough for the mighty form of Asuna to jump on her friend's shoulders, Strea looking at her with grim determination as the chestnut-haired girl unsheathed the two swords she now carried on her back as she landed upon the abnormal 'head' of the Skull Reaper.

The Dual Wielder's face was a mask of feral determination as she raised her blades, one as black as the night, the other an emerald that shone stronger than the ethereal light of the room.

"THE ECLIPSE!"

With a deafening sound, Elucidator and Fafnir's Fang smashed straight on the abomination's head with a speed above what any mortal could ever hope to reach, cracking the Boss' skull as they kept slashing with the might of Dual Blades' Ultimate Skill behind them.

Thrashing madly as his AI was unable to fully understand the situation, the Skull Reaper tried to bend one of his scythe-arms to cut Asuna down from her place above his head…

"Kuzu Ryusen (Nine-Headed Dragon Strike)."

…but 9 mighty slashes, executed so fast that one almost couldn't see their golden glow, stopped the monster by CUTTING OFF the deadly scythe right at the elbow's joint.

Smiling at Philia, the Dual Wielder finished her own Skill a second later, her Frozen Time making her unable to not be thrown down by the screaming Boss, the head snapping towards her to try and crush her body between his jaws.

Three mighty thrusts of energy stopped that, Sachi's 'Triana' Skill having saved the life of her friend and Sub-Leader.

Free of the post-Skill frozen state, Asuna nodded to Sachi as she quickly stood up and raised both her blades in time to parry the monster's remaining scythe-arm, the owner of Infinite Spear joining her a second after to push against the beast with her lance too.

Eyes shooting around the room in an instant, the chestnut-haired girl saw Heathcliff running towards her and Sachi while readying his own sword, a Skill charging as he approached, and also noticed how Keita had already organized another assault against the tail-end of the Boss. A bit to the left, Agil was now guarding the panting form of Liz while Tetsuo and Sasamaru ran towards the Boss' now unprotected right-frontal side, even as Ducker gave Silica back her Fuuma Shuriken in mid-run, letting himself fall to his knees to recover his breath while the tired-looking kunoichi and her faithful dragon-friend ran towards the fight once again.

The chestnut-haired girl's heart clenched at noticing that there was still no sign of her Sensei.

Her head clearing the same instant the Skull Reaper's left scythe was reared back, Asuna forced her mind fully back to the battle.

No time to wonder or to worry. People were relying on her. Her Sensei trained her exactly for this kind of situations.

"HEROES, ONWARDS!"

Because as long as she could still swing her blades, she needed to fight both for herself and everyone else.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

The people walking near the Teleport Gate of Floor 75 (Mainly remaining members of the bigger guilds participating in the Boss Battle) looked increasingly nervous the more time passed.

Supposedly, this battle should have taken very little time once Kirito joined in, and more than one was starting to get paranoid after having been more than 20 minutes without hearing from their friends or companions, the lack of communication meaning that the Front Liners were STILL inside the Dungeon, for some reason.

Before they could even think of starting to try and investigate what was happening, though, the Teleport Gate shone and let an unusual figure emerge, her tiny hands clenched with worry.

Biting her lips and looking around for an instant, Yui cast all hesitation aside and FLEW upwards.

The gathered players were still gaping at the floating little girl before she shot forward like a missile, crossing the air at brutal speeds, her sight never leaving her goal.

The 75th Dungeon Tower.

"Everyone…please, be okay!"

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

The Hollow Area.

Essentially a 'backup' Server for SAO, this place's primary purpose was to be the Cardinal System's 'Testing Ground'.

New weapons, new monsters, new Skills, and System Upgrades were always first tested in this complex and strange area, mainly by the 'Hollows', data-copies of real players from Aincrad that had AIs just advanced enough to follow their 'purpose'. Even so, more of the most difficult and challenging functions of this place could only be activated by a player possessing special 'Testing' privileges…

"UAAAAHHH!"

BAM!

…but of course, Kirito didn't know any of this, nor would he probably cared too much if he did, as he slammed his fist against the massive black sphere that floated on the center of the Hollow Area, its 'core'.

The entire thing shook mightily, but nothing else seemed to happen.

Then the boy punched it again. And again.

And AGAIN.

Slamming his fist madly against it time and time again, the gamer felt a small bit of hope filling him when cracks started to fill the massive sphere.

Releasing another shout, he raised his fist and slammed it against the strange structure one last time.

With a massive cracking sound, part of the sphere broke under Kirito's punch, letting him fall down in what he initially thought was a massive void.

Then, he landed in a strange 'room', which was apparently the inside of the sphere, and that seemed some sort of ethereal 'control room', with a console and strange holographic screens on the center.

Near it, there was some sort of rectangular 'stone' with a strange inscription embedded on the floor. With a determined gaze, the caped boy stood up and started walking towards the console, hoping to find a clue about how to get out of there.

He suddenly froze at the sound of something materializing at the room's opposite side, his eyes instinctively shooting that way.

Kirito suddenly found himself staring at his own, blank and emotionless face…

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

One last might roar filled the room, the last act of defiance coming from a monster that was created as an annihilation machine.

Then, an Emerald Blade crashed brutally against his head, reducing his last HP bar to nothing and making it explode into polygons.

Asuna let herself fall to the floor, panting and trying to recover her non-existent virtual breath, vaguely aware of everyone else on the room doing the same, some even openly sobbing or starting to mutter what seemed like prayers.

The sudden 'CONGRATULATIONS!' message and music only seemed to mock the tired and traumatized Front Liners, the sounds of the doors on both ends of the room opening not even registering on their minds as the reddish light changed into a more normal one.

At least a couple of minutes passed before Asuna was able to gather enough will to stand again, her eyes looking around the room as she saw how most of the Players still seemed unwilling to move.

Vaguely, she saw Klein being helped to stand by Agil, both of them having grim and tired looks on their faces.

"How many…?" Asuna's words didn't seem to be aimed at anyone in specific as she said them, but they somehow seemed to reach everyone's ears. "How many did…?"

"Ten." grimly answered Keita while looking away from his open Menu, having seen how many members less the Raid had compared to when they entered. "Dammit…"

A heavy silence hung upon the Front Liners, their minds still trying to come to terms with what had happened. Since the disaster that had been the 25th Floor Boss, no one had ever died again on a Boss Fight.

For them to suddenly lose 10 people, and even more, in a battle as deadly and chaotic as this one had been…

Someone seemed to snap, then, a random member of the KoB looking towards the silent members United Heroes Association.

"Where is he?!" shouted the man while trembling, drawing everyone's attention with his outburst. "Why the hell didn't he come?! Why did he abandon us against that thing?! Where is your goddammed Hero?!"

Those words seemed to be some kind of trigger, most of the players there starting to either whisper or glare at the smaller Guild. In the middle of the madness, they had forgotten that they weren't even supposed to fight this Boss till the end, just delay it enough for the 'Superhero' to destroy it.

Yet, he hadn't come. And now that the doors had opened, it was obvious that he hadn't even been there, waiting and unable to get through them as some had thought.

"Do-don't such things!" shouted back Silica while Pina tried to stop her from talking. "Kirito-san would never…!"

"Then WHY isn't he here?!" the man's continuous and hysterical screams only seemed to rise higher, a mix of the shock and the death from the battle having apparently made him lost it, even as the kunoichi flinched. "Why hasn't he shown up to help, or even come to see if you were okay after the battle ended?! Why would he…?!"

"Kuradeel, shut up." coldly muttered Heathcliff, silencing the man even as many of the silent players turned their eyes to him. "We may not know why our 'Hero' has abandoned us, but until we're sure of the cause we should…"

That did it. In an instant, SOMETHING seemed to become clear for a certain group of players, their eyes widened at Heathcliff's words. It was not HOW he was saying it, but more WHAT he was saying.

Despite trying to sound as if he was excusing him, he was still saying openly that Kirito had abandoned them, with a conviction that seemed out of place. Almost as if he was SURE of it, or almost as if he knew…

With a sudden, seemingly mad, shout, Ducker stood up and threw one of his Throwing Picks towards the leader of the Knights of Blood, the sudden action shocking everyone even as the man in crimson armor spun around and effortlessly blocked it with his shield.

Heathcliff seemed about to say something when a sudden aura impaled him from the side, shouts coming from his guild and many others when Sachi unleashed a 'Longinus' against him with a feral growl.

Even as Klein cursed in shock and Agil shouted to the many players suddenly trying to restrain the 'mad' Heroes to stop, Asuna shot forward like a living bullet, her blades streaking through the air and slamming against the recovering form of the wide-eyed 'Paladin'.

The roars of rage from many Front Liners were drowned when a screeching sound filled the chamber, the Dual Wielder's swords being repelled backward even as a pop-up message appeared over Heathcliff as his HP reached the 50%.

[Immortal Object]

Utter shock and disbelief filled everyone, no one trying to restrain Sachi or Ducker anymore as Asuna GLARED at the surprised man with pure hate, even as his face slowly melted into a strangely wide and unnatural smile.

"What did you to him, bastard?! What did you do to Kirito-kun?!" the chestnut-haired girl's angry shout seemed to fill the entire room as the rest of the Heroes Association stood up, their grips on their weapons tightening. "Answer me, Heathcliff! Or maybe do you prefer…Kayaba Akihiko?!"

The room exploded into a new kind of chaos, countless shouts of 'WHAT?!' and 'NO WAY!', mainly coming from the Knights of Blood, filling it as everyone stared at the one they thought was one of their main hopes for clearing the game with a mix of shock and betrayal, more than one clearly unable to believe that he was the madman that trapped them there in the first place in disguise.

Then, 'Heathcliff' released a chuckle, which quickly turned into open laughter, silencing everyone as he calmed down and stared at Asuna with a small smirk, though his eyes never seemed to lost sight of the rest of her guild moving around him.

"Well, I have to be honest, Asuna-san, I wasn't expecting you all to discover it, even less in THIS moment. Tell me, what gave it away? Was it the Corridor Crystal? Or maybe something I said before the battle?"

"A mixture of all things, to be fair." acidly commented Argo while trying to contain her urges of simply rushing in and clawing the man's virtual face off. "Now, answer Aa-chan's question. Where is Kii-bou, Kayaba?"

"On a place from where he will never be able to come back." calmly revealed the creator of SAO while many of the people there gasped in shock, the Heroes only feeling their hate for the man growing, both at the acceptance of his involvement with their friend and leader's disappearance and because he so calmly accepted having doomed those last 10 players to die with his actions. "I set that Corridor Crystal to send him to a special backup server. No matter how strong he is, his 'powers' don't allow him to travel through the virtual world at will." sighing, Kayaba just shook his head from side to side, as if disappointed. "You have sadly ruined all that I had planned for this, though. Do you even know how much careful planning went into staging the 'disappearance' of the one everyone looked up as a 'Hero', just after the most tragic battle the Players ever had to face? It would have not only made the next Floor much more tragic but also made everyone…"

"Are you…are you even hearing yourself?!" interrupted Klein with pure anger, a hand on his katana as he glared at the crimson-armored man. "You're rambling as if our lives are nothing more than parts of your fucking 'story', you sick bas…!"

Before anyone could even react, the Creator of SAO's hand shot towards a strange window that had appeared on his side and pushed something, letting a 'wave' of energy wash over the room, the Front Liners screaming as they fell down, eyes wide at noticing how they all had been inflicted with the 'Paralysis' Status.

"Thanks for the distraction, Klein-san, I was wondering if I would need to talk some more to draw their attention away from my hands." idly muttered the man while walking over the downed Players, hate, betrayal, horror and regret filling the gazes that looked back at him from the ground. "I will admit, though, that it is REALLT sad. I had been planning on using Kirito's 'disappearance' to get everyone to rely more on me, only to see how much more dramatic it would be when I revealed myself and 'betrayed' you all on the 95th Floor…but I guess that's no longer possible." with another disappointed sigh, Kayaba stopped moving and opened his menu, no longer seeming to bother giving the unmoving Front Liners any of his attention. "I suppose I will have to go and wait for you all on the Ruby Palace on the 100th Floor until…"

"Give…him back…!" the man's surprised eyes turned around, looking with shock how Lisbeth's God Hand was closing into a fist and starting to try and push against the ground to let the paralyzed girl stand again. "Give Kirito…back…bastard!"

"That's…beyond impressive, not to say impossible. You should be absolutely unable to move while under 'Paralysis'…" tilting his head, the crimson-armored man just walked to the blacksmith's side before casually kicking her metallic arm, making her yelp as she fell face-first on the ground again and her friends screamed her name. "Then again, coming from His guild I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He was not only the reason why the Unique Skills got released much earlier, but also managed to gather almost all of them around himself…truly, an impressive boy…But also a threat. After all, what's the point of this game if you can let someone else beat the hardest enemies for you in one punch?"

"TO HELL WITH YOUR DAMN GAME!" roared Philia while trying to claw at the ground to move, but even her fingers refused to do anything more than twitch. "No one here wants or ever wanted to be part of your sick scheme, madman! Now return Kirito to us! NOW!"

"Yes! Don't you dare to…take Kirito-san away!" snarling, Silica tried to move with all her might, her entire body shaking while an also helpless Pina watched her with worry and sadness, noticing the angry tears running down her eyes. "If you don't, I will…!"

"What? Defeat me? I'm not like the mobs you have faced, nor even like the Bosses that had threatened you time and time again." tilting his head to the side, Kayaba seemed to take a massive interest in watching everyone's faces, like a child looking down on a group of ants. "I'm a human being, like you all. Leaving your ability to face me aside, is anyone here truly able and ready to KILL me?"

No words answered his echoing declaration, even as Silica seemed to choke with her own tongue, faces twisting with a mix of hate and despair…

Until an unexpected voice answered.

"For them…I AM."

Kayaba had enough time to look in shock at the figure of a little girl floating near the room's entrance before she pointed her hands at him, sending his body flying like a comet and off the platform where they had fought the Skull Reaper.

Everyone's faces reflected absolute shock even as Yui grinned fiercely…

And then the man in crimson armor slammed his hand against a window that had suddenly appeared at his side, stopping IN MID-AIR.

The small AI didn't even have enough time to be shocked before several screens of 'Error Detected' surrounded her, making her scream as she fell to her knees, streams of 'electricity' surrounding her.

"YUI-NEE!"

"YUI-CHAN, NO!"

"Well, well, well, talk about surprises. When I started hearing rumors about the Heroes Association having 'adopted' a little girl and started to take her around I didn't really give it much importance, but…" as he calmly floated down, Kayaba looked down at the struggling form of Yui in honest surprise. "Who would have thought it was YOU, MHCP-001?"

"M-my…name…is Yui…" painfully groaned the little girl while glaring at her creator in defiance.

"Oh? And look at that, you have achieved…self-awareness? Something more?" tilting his head, the man calmly opened another window at his side. "Either way, it doesn't matter. Cardinal just detected you, so I think I will help her in dealing with this little 'rogue program'."

"KAYABA!" roared Asuna with utter hate, her mind a torrent of madness and chaos as she tried to free herself from the paralysis, the need of destroying the man if only to protect Yui overriding everything else on her eyes. "If you dare to hurt her…!"

"'Hurt' her? I cannot hurt something that it's not alive, Asuna-san." idly declared the Creator of SAO, his words making the blood of every member of the Heroes Association boil on their non-existent virtual veins. "Besides, I'm not going to delete her, that would be a waste. I'm going to send her back where she belongs, with Cardinal." the little AI's face turned into a mask of terror, her mind shaking at imagining being back in the darkness, alone in the silence where only the voices of those outside echoed. "I'm sure the System will improve greatly by studying how she…"

Something 'snapped' and broke.

With a scream more proper of a beast than of a human, Strea shot forward, darkness enveloping her like a living nightmare as she raised her massive sword, aiming to cut Kayaba in half.

The utter black flash emerging from the weapon's edge identified the attack as 'Dead End', Darkness Blade's Ultimate Skill, a lethal 1-Hit attack that always dealt critical damage, plus a high probability of inflicting every single Negative Status in the game, even those unique of the deadly Skill Tree, including, which made it even more terrifying, 'Sudden Death'.

With impressive speed and unreal precision, the Fake Paladin spun around, raising his shield…and let go of it in the last second, pushing it forward and into Strea's blade with all his might.

The shocked AI barely had enough time to see how the Tower Shield made her strike fail utterly before the creator's sword shone white, letting him unleash a deadly X-shaped combo over her chest, which made her let go of her sword.

"Do you know what's Darkness Blade greatest weakness? The psychological factor." calmly explained the man while putting the edge of his sword against the girl's neck. "It was made to be a PvP Skill Tree, so while it still works against some of the weaker mobs, it's not really useful for a Front Liner, much less someone who fights Bosses. You see, the whole 'oozing darkness' thing the Skill creates when activated was thought to call forth the 'fear' factor inside the human mind, that terror and hesitation caused by the appearance it gives to the user making it much easier for the enemies to be hit by the Skills. Of course…that doesn't' work against someone who knows this and can easily ignore it, as you can see."

As if to further prove how futile the attack had been, Kayaba raised his hand and his Tower Shield flew back at him, letting everyone who still had any doubts see he had equipped the same 'Admin. Privilege' that Yui had always had.

"…Kirito will find you." the emotionless voice of the lilac-haired girl seemed to draw everyone's attention, even as her face split a soft grin, her red eyes seeming to want to pierce the man's soul. "And when he does…he's going to punch you to oblivion."

In answer…Kayaba smirked.

"He will try." silently the man whispered before his sword MOVED.

Strea's head flew off her shoulders with a single, clean slash, her HP Bar starting to go down like a rock sinking on water.

Screams of pain and horror filled the room.

"OH GOD!"

"NOOOO!"

"S-STREAAA!"

"Goodbye, MHCP-002." nonchalantly declared the armored man while the still smiling head shattered into polygons.

"S-Strea-nee…NOOO!" moving forward, shattering the screens caging her body and overcoming whatever 'pain' they were inflicting her, Yui shot past her surprised creator and embraced her sister's body with all her might, ignoring how her own had been filled with streams of damaged data. "I have you…! I HAVE YOU!" on the next instant, the body shattered into polygons…and these entered inside Yui's form with a shining light, letting the smaller girl panting on the ground, tears on her eyes as she embraced herself. "Do-don't worry…your older sister…has you safe…Strea-nee…"

"Did you just…save her Core Data inside your own code?" awe and disbelief were now filling Kayaba's voice as he stared at the AI in front of him. "Fascinating…I don't know how you or she managed to go against your programming and even surpass the System's limitations to get free, but I'm sure it will be most interesting to disco…"

"No…you won't be doing that. You're going to fall here and now, Kayaba Akihiko." the little girl looked back at the man with an undecipherable look on her tear-filled eyes, even as her lips curved into a tiny smile. "Because when people need them the most…Heroes rise."

On cue, the eyes of the Game's Creator widened as he looked around, seeing how everyone was gaping in shock as the members of the United Heroes Association stood up, shakily at first, then with strength and determination filling them, glares of pure rage being sent towards the one who had caused all of that madness and pain.

"Yui-chan…is Strea…?" Asuna's voice seemed to be at the edge of breaking as she started the question.

"She's still here…with me…for now…" muttered the little girl with a soft voice, a small wave of relief passing through the group's faces before their eyes hardened again.

"You…broke free of the Paralysis…?" if there ever was a moment Kayaba thought he wouldn't be surprised again, it was being totally proven wrong right then. "How?"

"I have no idea, and I'm pretty sure no one else does or gives a damn either." vaguely commented Argo while raising her claws. "But I know what we are going to do NOW, bastard."

"…eheheh…you're a truly surprising bunch, you know? One would say that you have even forgotten that I'm STILL an Immortal Object." chuckling in amusement, 'Heathcliff' waked past the silent Yui as his gaze flew over the group of 'Heroes'. "Hey, why don't we make a little bet? If you manage to defeat me, I will End the game and release everyone from Aincrad." shock and disbelief ran through the faces of everyone there, the Heroes' grips on their weapons tightening again. "Of course, that includes your 'banished' leader, and I will obviously cancel my 'invincible' status."

"You alone? Against all of us?" there was no disbelief in Philia's voice, just pure suspicion, neither she nor any of the others believing the mastermind behind it all would put himself in such a disadvantageous situation for no reason.

"Oh, you see Philia-san, I will be honest and say that a part of me has been looking forward to this, a part of me knowing for a long time now that I would have to fight you all at some point…" his right hand flying over a new screen, the sword back on the 'inner sheath' of the shield, Kayaba's smirk only widened as a screen popped up announcing 'Changed to Mortal Object'…and an strange aura surrounded him for a moment, making Yui's eyes widen as everyone tensed. "So I have been sure to be prepared."

"Wa-watch out! He just maxed his levels and his stats went through the ro…!"

The AI's words were unable to continue as the crimson-armored man SHOT forward, raising his shield to casually block the rain of shurikens and the Throwing Picks coming from Silica and Ducker, the rest of the Heroes either running in or retreating to try and get a clear shot as the Creator of SAO unsheathed his sword again.

"BASTARD!" slamming both her blades against his shield, Asuna roared as she tried to push back against Heathcliff, all the strength she put behind the fast and deadly swings of Elucidator and Fafnir's Fang seeming to barely make the man buckle. "You're going to pay for everything you have done, here and now!"

"I wouldn't count on that, Asuna-san." casually replied Kayaba while batting aside the girl's blades before turning around and smashing his shield against Tetsuo's mace, putting the boy off balance enough for his sword to slash at his chest, the mace-user hadn't even begun to fall back when the Fake Paladin spun around again and stopped Sasamaru's incoming Spear Skill dead on its tracks, easily cutting off the shocked boy's right hand and kicking him back, only to once again spin and parry Asuna's incoming slashes. "I truly wouldn't."

"TRIANA!" Sachi's roar was the signal for Asuna to jump back…and for the crimson-armored Paladin to quickly incline his shield just enough to make the first of the 3 thrusts go wide, making the shocked spear-user lost her grip on her massive weapon as it shot from her hands, the man spinning around and SLASHING the spear cleanly in half with a simple 'Sacred Swing' Holy Blade Skill. "N-no wa…!"

"You know that shouting your attacks' names aloud it's actually very impractical out of anime, right?" idly commented Kayaba while appearing in front of the girl, Sachi barely having enough time to gasp before the man pierced through her chest, screams erupting from both her friends and the rest of the Front Liners at the action. "Also, Infinite Spear's greatest weakness is the fact that the weapon is easy to be lost because of its size and how fast the strikes come, so if someone knows when they come and how to deflect them…" kicking the girl of bluish-black back the man turned around and easily parried Keita's angry staff-attack with his shield. "It's easy to deflect them."

"DEFLECT THIS THEN, SON OF A BITCH!" roared Ducker while unleashing a fast Dagger Skill against the man's unprotected back. "Got you now, you…!"

"Fool." simply countered the Game's Creator while spinning around, slashing at Keita's chest on the same movement with which he cut off half of Ducker's left arm and slashed a deep gash through his face, both Players falling backward without effort. "Did you just try to confront someone wearing full-body heavy armor with a DAGGER? Are you really a Front Liner?"

"End it all…ZANTETSUKEN (Iron-Cutting Sword)!" Philia's scream echoed at the same time that her katana seemed to CUT through the air itself, as if no resistance at all existed, the Ultimate Skill able to easily cut any Non-Boss enemy in half…stopping at clashing against the Fake Paladin's shield, which had appeared on its path out of nowhere. "Wha…?! How…?!"

"Battoujutsu is the 'fastest' of the Unique Skills, but also one of the most annoying to use." not wasting any second as he talked, Kayaba let his blade shine and release a blinding light thanks to his Skill 'Divine Sword', making Philia grunt as she backed away and tried to shield to cover her eyes, unable to do anything to stop Kayaba from cutting off her right hand, her katana flying away with it. "Because if you can't return the blade to the sheath, then you can't use it anymore."

"THEN DODGE THIS IF YOU ARE SO HIGH AND MIGHTY!" Silica's shout let the man in crimson armor more than enough time to spin and use his Tower Shield to deflect her Fuuma Shuriken and sent it flying, the girl then unleashing a 'Swallow Barrage' Skill with her smaller throwing stars, that the man also easily blocked…just for Asuna to slash wildly at his exposed side and push him back, reducing his HP noticeably. "FINISH HIM, ASUNA-SAAAAN!"

"It's over, Kayaba!" roared the Dual Wielder while once again slashing with both blades at him, the man bringing his shield back to block.

"I still have HP left, Asuna-san…but then again, that wasn't your objective, right?" smirking again as the girl's gaze went wide with shock, the Game's Creator once again activated his blinding Skill as the girl turned her head away, being forced to disengage but managing to not lose her footing as she backed away…and Kayaba turned around to run with his sword raised towards Lisbeth's golden-shining form, her metallic arm releasing a mighty aura. "It was to distract me."

"ZEUS BLESSI…!" just as she raised her gaze to confront her enemy, Liz's fury was crushed by shock when he just 'slashed' at the air a meter from her with his blade, his 'Light Cutter' Skill unleashing a cut of pure light that severed her divine limb just at her shoulder, her glow vanishing the next instant as the brutal negative effect of her Ultimate Skill immediately kicked in, leaving her with a 90% reduction on all of her Stats. "Eh…?"

"God Hand's greatest weakness aren't its side-effects…it's that, if you cut it off, the user immediately loses all the Boosts and can't use it again until the 'Amputated' Status vanishes." then, without any ceremony, the Fake Paladin slashed across Liz's body, everyone freezing as she stumbled back in shock and her HP reached 0, her body promptly exploding into polygons, both her shield and mace falling to the ground. "I win."

Not even a second of silence passed before Asuna screamed and ran like a meteor towards Kayaba, who turned around to run and face her…and was shocked when she totally ignored him, running past him as she let go of Elucidator and madly ran through her menu, not seeming to even care for the presence of her enemy as she let go of her second sword and grabbed the Item that had just materialized with both hands.

The man in crimson barely had enough time to see the beautiful-looking 'stone' before a seemingly endless barrage of shurikens flew against him, Pina also unleashing his breath-attack against his body as he and Silica roared and tried their best to destroy him, forcing him to defend again, only for Argo to growl like an animal as she shot behind him and unleashed another of her massive Berserk Skills.

Meanwhile, Asuna's heart raced like a drum as she crushed the Divine Stone of Returning Soul over the place Lisbeth's body had vanished, praying to any God who would hear her that she had made it in time, that the scant 10 seconds that were the limit and that she had been unable to apply to any of the poor souls that had died while they fought against the Skull Reaper still hadn't passed…

For a horrible, soul-crushing second, nothing seemed to happen…

And then a glorious shine of light reformed Lisbeth's virtual body, the pink-haired girl's eyes shooting open as she screamed and started to dry heave, shaking like a leaf even as the chestnut-haired girl's arms shot around her, hugging her as she sobbed.

"It was all so dark…I couldn't move, couldn't hear, couldn't talk…nothing!" Liz shook again, seeming about to suffer a nervous breakdown right there. "I was going to…to…"

"It's okay…I promised it. I'm not letting any of you die…" softly muttered Asuna while letting the girl sob on her arms.

The sudden sound of metal falling down and a dragon screeching drew their attention back to the battle, an armless Silica falling to her knees as Pina floated protectively in front of his friend and partner, glaring at 'Heathcliff' as he just lowered his blade and turned around, ignoring Argo's unmoving form as she cursed endlessly, one of her legs missing and both her hands having vanished too, her claws lying not far from her.

The Creator's gaze met Asuna's.

"Now…you're the only one left."

Silently, the girl stood up, feeling Lisbeth's grip on her tightening for a second before she let her go, Asuna's eyes never missing Kayaba's as she recovered both Elucidator and Fafnir's Fang, adopting her dual-wielding stance and GLARING at the man.

For an instant, her gaze wandered over her guild, her friends, all of them lying defeated on the ground, unable to fight for one reason or another, be it lack of limbs, weapons or having their HP on the red and no crystals or potions left after the Boss Battle…

"So I am. And I'm going to finish this."

With another shout, Asuna MOVED, her brutal and unreal speed making her blades seem like a blur of black and green, the crimson-armored man calmly readying his own shield to parry the next attack…

And the Dual Wielder let go of her blades, 'throwing' them towards the shocked man as everyone in the room gaped in shock when she took advantage of the swords bouncing off his shield and putting him off balance to use her arms, grab his shoulders and jump over him, her right hand moving over her menu while still in mid-air.

The moment she landed, Asuna spun around and stabbed through the man's back with her newly equipped rapier, piercing through his armor.

Kayaba's life sank to just 10%…and he spun mightily again, forcing the girl to release her weapon as it flew away and a shining blade crashed against her torso.

She could hear everyone she knew intimately, and many she didn't, scream her name when only a sliver of her HP remained as she fell on her back, panting.

There were tears on her eyes as she kept glaring at the silent form of the Game's Creator, standing over her like a crimson demon.

She had failed.

"…it was an impressive battle, Heroes." declared the man while releasing a slightly labored breath. "But in the end, none of you could compare to the God of this world."

"ASUNA-MAMA!" screamed Yui with tears as Kayaba raised his blade one last time, the rest of the guild trying to run at him and do something even if meant their own deaths. "PAPA! SAVE HEEER!"

Something seemed to EXPLODE when a mighty weight crashed down on the opposite end of the room, through the doors leading to the stairs for the next Floor.

Then, Kayaba's attack was halted at the last second when a raging blur of white and black crossed the whole room and PUNCHED against his side in less than an instant, sending him flying and crashing against the walls of the area, creating a massive cloud of debris with the impact.

Silence descended over the room once again, Asuna's eyes as wide as saucers as tears started running down her eyes faster than before, though for different reasons, even as she looked at the imposing form of the boy clad in white and black standing before her fallen body.

Slowly, Kirito turned towards her and, with a guilty expression, helped her back to her feet.

"I'm sorry for taking so long."

The room exploded into a roar of euphoria and happiness.

"IT'S HIM!"

"He came back!"

"I never doubted he would!"

"Kirito-san…thanks God…"

"Dammit Kii-bou…don't scare us like that again…"

"Papa…I knew you would come…" Yui's smiling face was still stained by tears as she stared at the black-haired boy, who was looking around the room with a grimacing face at seeing everyone's pitiful states.

"Sensei…" his attention drawn back to her at her words, Kirito looked once again towards Asuna. "I'm…sorry. I failed to…"

"Don't say anything, Asuna." silenced her the gamer while putting a gloved hand on her head, making the girl blink as he looked sadly at her. "You resisted until I came, like you always said you would. That's all that matters. Anything else is my fault for not seeing through his lie before all of this ha…"

"Huh…huhuhuh…AHAHAHAHAH! Astounding! You DID come back, even when there was NO WAY for you to do so!"

Everyone's inexistent virtual blood froze at those words, heads snapping to the side even as Kirito looked in shock as the small cloud cleared and the madly grinning form of Kayaba could be seen, his body still embedded on the wall and only a sliver of HP left.

There was also an 'Immortal Object' pop-up over his head, which made every single member of the Heroes Association lost the color of their faces.

"You're fucking us…he had a safeguard…prepared…?" muttered Keita while the Fake Paladin released himself from the wall and floated about the void, his Admin. Privileges active once again.

"So we…couldn't have won since the beginning?!" a hateful snarl came from Lisbeth's mouth at that, the fear of having almost died replaced by utter rage at the deception even as everyone glared at the floating madman.

He ignored them all in favor of STARING at the boy with the white cape, his fists clenched in anger.

"How did you even come back?"

"There was a Teleportation Device inside that big-ass black sphere." somberly declared the boy while walking towards the platform's edge. "It led to the main city of the upper Floor. You shouldn't have left something like THAT there if you really wanted me to stay trapped in that weird place, idiot."

"That Teleportation Device required a special 'mark' conceded to specific players, which you can't have obtained in any way because it's currently disabled, to work. So my question stands."

For all answer, the boy gave a noncommittal shrug before speaking.

"I just punched it till it teleported me."

"…I see." accepted Kayaba seemingly without problems, as if the utter lack of logic of that declaration was something he was 'expecting'. "And how did you get past your Hollow?"

"My what?...wait, you mean the evil clone of myself that was waiting for me there? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke?" crossing his arms, the gamer glared harder at the man before him with annoyance. "It was clad on beginner equipment and armed with a sword. That thing was so weak I only needed to push it aside to kill it!"

"…as I suspected. Your avatar…or maybe YOU have become something so alien that the Cardinal System itself is unable to copy it…" while those words came out of his mouth, Kayaba's hands flew over two menus simultaneously. "…and by the way, if it makes you all feel better, I WAS planning on going along with my promise to free you all if you managed to reduce my HP like this, but…" suddenly, both menus on his side turned into strange and alien-looking black screens, with countless red lines of code on them. "For you, I had something else on mind, Kirito-kun."

Alarm bells ran through everyone's minds, and Kirito himself felt something inside of him scream in alert when Kayaba slammed both his hands against the screens, countless 'Warning!' messages appearing around him.

Then Yui started to scream, drawing several people's attention as she grabbed her head.

"CARDINAL! Cardinal…is…HERE!"

Kayaba ROARED, the Front Liners' eyes being drawn back to him as he CHANGED.

His armor, cracked from Kirito's blow, fully repaired itself before growing and thickening, turning bulkier as spikes emerged over the shoulders and knees, a glowing white orb appearing on the middle of his chest as the armor grew to cover every inch of his body, a helmet with an x-shaped visor engulfing his face as his eyes were obscured by a white shine coming from the visor itself.

A new sword, much longer and deadly-looking than his last one, manifested itself on his hand, together with another shield that was twice as big as the previous, with some kind of robotic-looking eye on its center.

Then his cape burned away, only to be replaced by white energy that flowed down the transformed man's back, seeming like living fire more than anything else.

His HP bar filled itself again, just before vanishing and for several 'Immortal Object' messages to flash all over his armor and weapons, even as a glowing white aura exploded around him, emitting unreal energy that made several of the Front Liners to almost be thrown backward.

The Players realized they could all move again when a synthetized female voice announced something that echoed through the whole floating castle.

[Aincrad Changed to Mortal Object]

His gaze suddenly lowering towards Kirito, Kayaba GRINNED behind his helmet.

"Let's go…KIRITO!"

Before anyone could even understand what had happened, Kayaba seemed to teleport himself in front of the wide-eyed gamer, slashing at him with his blade and sending him flying towards the ceiling of the Boss Room faster than a cannonball.

The boy's body slammed against the ceiling and went THROUGH it, debris falling down everywhere as the laughing form of the crimson-clad man flew after him like a living meteor.

The Front Liners ran out of the way of the falling remains of the ceiling, more than one screaming in utter shock.

In the middle of the chaos, Asuna was the first one to properly 'react'.

"Wha-what the fucking hell just happened?!"

"He…he created a direct link between his Avatar and Cardinal…he's using the power of the System itself! Ha-has he gone mad?!" shaking, her eyes seeming a bit unfocused, Yui's gaze shot upwards before she started to float, seeming about to lost her balance for an instant before steadying herself. "I…I need to…get to Papa! I need to tell him that he…he isn't limited by…!"

Suddenly, all strength seemed to abandon the little girl's body, letting her fall down towards the ground, only to be caught by Keita's staggering form.

"I got her!" looking down at the panting girl, who was repeatedly muttering for her 'Papa' aloud, the ex-guild leader suddenly seemed at a loss. "Wha-what do we do?!"

"Isn't it…obvious?! We need to go after Kii-bou!" growling, Argo was helped to stand by Philia, several other Front Liners around helping the rest of the 'Heroes' to stand. "T-to the next Floor, quick!"

There wasn't any hesitation in the girl's eyes as she said that, neither in any of the others, seeming barely bothered by their missing limbs.

After an instant of doubt, the gathered players nodded and started to run towards the stairs…

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

The ground of the 76th Floor EXPLODED, virtual dirt and rocks flying everywhere as the stunned form of Kirito spun through the air for several seconds before righting himself, landing in time to see Kayaba's new and bizarre form emerge.

Not wasting any second, the boy moved with his inhuman speed, his fist shooting forward to slam against the madman's unprotected face…

'Something' happened. As if reality itself was shifting, the massive shield was suddenly THERE, on the way of his fist, stopping his attack as several 'Immortal Object' messages popped up over it, Kayaba being forced a couple of meters back even as the boy almost lost his footing when an invisible force came from the shield and 'repelled' him backward. Recovering his bearings and not wanting to waste a single instant, Kirito quickly reared back his other fist and let it shot forward again, intent on smashing it against the man's chest, but 'reality' seemed to once again bent as the shield moved in an impossible angle and at an impossible speed, stopping the boy's attack and causing the fighters to be separated again.

Wide-eyed, the black-haired boy stared from his fist to Kayaba's shining form, almost 'feeling' the man's grin behind his bizarre helmet.

"…what the hell did you do…?" softly whispered the gamer while the man readied his sword.

"Do you like it, Kirito-kun? When I first noticed you, I thought you would be a threat, something that could make all my efforts for setting up SAO meaningless…But then I realized that I was wrong. You were just…a challenge. Something that was meant to help me find the true answer I have been seeking! That's why, after managing to keep you away from the Bosses and restore the order to the game, I started to put together a way for me to end you when needed, because I just KNEW the day you and me had to fight would arrive!" putting his arms dramatically to the sides, the man seemed to be welcoming the entire sky on his embrace. "Behold! The Cardinal Mode! By using a direct link with the Cardinal System itself, I can multi-manage the power of several Players to bypass the Stats-Limitation of the game! Right now, you're facing someone with the power equivalent of a thousand max-level Players!"

His outrageous declaration done, Kayaba once again vanished from sight and appeared over Kirito, slashing down at the boy with a power that, despite his blocking, cracked the earth around them and sent shockwaves everywhere.

"The hell…?!"

"That's right, Kirito-kun! And when combined with the 'Over-System Assist' to make Cardinal itself let me counter your unreal attack speed, the gravity-controlling privileges of my Admin. Account, this armor and weapons made of the strongest metal and turned into Immortal Objects, this shield made based off the same walls that blocked your entrance to the Dungeons and this sword charged with enough Instant-Death properties to eradicate a dozen Bosses in one swing…!" evading Kirito's next attack and ignoring the shockwaves it created, the crimson-clad Creator slammed his shield against the boy with the strength to crush a mountain behind it, sending him flying through the air like a bullet. "…you're essentially facing the whole power of Sword Art Online, Kirito! You're now fighting a GOD!"

The first group of Front Liners, led by Asuna, Sachi and Keita, emerged from the Floor's stairs in time to see the form of their Hero flying back through the air as his cape bellowing wildly, crashing against the main city of the Floor, Arc Sophia, and destroying a good chunk of it with his crash.

Kayaba's new and mighty form shot through the air as if he was a character from a Shonen anime, flying towards where the boy had crashed with his sword ready to deliver another devastating strike.

Then, the boy JUMPED from the destroyed city and intercepted him in mid-air, sending the man flying upwards with a mighty punch. The Virtual God's body impacted against the ceiling of the Floor and went through it with the sound of a mighty crash. Barely an instant later, Kirito was jumping after him, easily surpassing the distance between Floors with no effort and disappearing upwards.

By this point, everyone was already on the 76th Floor, and they all were STARING at the point where the two fighters had vanished, as if trying to comprehend what they just saw.

"…holy fuck." softly muttered Klein, breaking the silence that seemed to have covered everyone. "Did anyone know that those two had Dragon Ball-levels of power?"

As if to punctuate his statement, the entire Floor SHOOK at the next second, part of the labyrinth dungeon breaking in pieces and making the Floating Castle shake even more.

"What's going on?!" screamed Lisbeth while trying to maintain her footing.

"Kayaba…deactivated the 'Immortal Object' Status of everything in Aincrad but himself…" whispered Yui while looking up from her place on Keita's arms, Asuna sending her a worried look as the earth started to shake again. "Even Aincrad ITSELF is no longer indestructible…" pieces of the next Floor started to fall down as the 'hole' the madman had made when Kirito punched him through it started widening, making everyone look at it in shock. "And if he and Papa drag their fight much longer….they could bring down the entire castle…"

"He-hey, you're joking, right?" asked Agil with a nervous tone, his eyes looking how the cracks on the Floor's ceiling, the ground for the 77th Floor, widened even more. "I mean…there is no way they're THAT powerful, right?"

Yui gave no answer as she begged Keita to let her go, everyone looking at her with worry as she wobbly stood up.

"I need…to talk with Papa…I need to tell him…that he can…"

"What, Yui-chan?" even as Philia still helped her walk because of her missing leg, Argo still managed to keep herself firm as she looked at the young AI. "What can he do?"

With a strange shine on her eyes, the little girl answered with utter conviction.

"He can end this."

Twelve Floors above, Kayaba and Kirito clashed once again, punches being repelled by an impossibly-moving shield and an absolute-ending sword crashing against an unbreakable body, both the Hero and the Virtual God crashing into and through trees, ruins, mountains or anything they found in their path.

Snarling and getting a bit worried, Kirito once again ran towards Kayaba, who was now floating halfway over the Dungeon Tower of that particular floor, which was the 88th.

"Is that all you can do, Kirito?" taunted the madman as his white aura flashed with power around him.

For all answer, the boy jumped once again before starting to RUN up the side of the Dungeon, Kayaba's small moment of shock being enough for the gamer to slam his fist against his shield and sent the Virtual God back towards the upper Floor, not wasting a second before running faster and unleashing more punches against him.

Eventually, they ran out of Tower and went through yet another Floor's 'ceiling', both disengaging as the madman laughed and the boy glared at him in frustration.

"What the hell is your problem, Kayaba?! What's the point of all of this?!" opening his arms, as if to encompass all that surrounded him, Kirito glared angrily at his enemy. "This battle…this GAME! You were a genius, a man that revolutionized technology in the world! For what reason would you do something as sick and mad as this?!"

"Do you really want to know the reason, Kirito?" for an instant, the man's voice seemed to regain something of the 'humanity' it had had before this all, when he was pretending to be 'Heathcliff', the leader of the KoB and someone doing his best to help everyone escape this death game…and then he was in front of the boy once again, taking advantage of his shock to slash at him with a shining blade, a massive wave of pure light exploding outwards as the amplified power of the Unique Skill cut through the Floor itself and pushed the Hero back at break-necking speeds. "THEN TRY TO SURVIVE AND DISCOVER IT!"

"GAAAAAAAH!" screaming with a mix of frustration and despair, the boy tried to free himself from the absurdly unreal attack, trying very hard to ignore the part of his brain suggesting to just give up and go insane because Kayaba had gone Full-Boros on his ass. "Why can't I have…?!" the boy reared back his fist…"…a NORMAL LIFE?!"

And PUNCHED.

The massive 'slash' of solid light exploded into a massive rain of polygons, leaving a frustrated and panting Kirito to barely stop himself from falling off Aincrad by sinking his feet on the ground.

Behind him, he noticed a good chunk of the Floor flying away and starting to fall down towards the endless virtual sky.

Then, he turned around…and was barely able to raise his arm to block Kayaba's latest slash.

With an explosive sound, the gamer found himself flying backward again, no solid ground in sight as he stared with disbelief at the floating form of the Virtual God.

Then, he fell down, towards the virtual sky, the Floating Castle passing wildly fast at his side.

"…even that almighty avatar of yours will be erased after falling into the digital void." idly commented the Creator before turning around and floating silently to the ground of the 89th Floor, walking away and giving his back to the one who had been his greatest challenge. "Goodbye, Kirito-kun."

Closing his eyes with just a small hint of sadness, Kayaba prepared himself to Teleport…and was totally unprepared when the ground under him EXPLODED and a fist slammed against his shield, the reality-bending properties of the Cardinal System being barely enough to stop the attack from hitting him head-on.

With a roar, the black-haired Superhero crashed through Floor after Floor, his fists never stopping slamming against the unbreakable shield.

"Ho-how…?!" roared the Virtual God while his arm kept being moved by the System itself, breaking physics just to keep up with the boy's unreal speed.

"I jumped on that fucking piece of Floor your last attack cut off!" answered the boy while forcing his mind to concentrate in just one thing: Punching his enemy. "And I'm SO going to make you pay for that, you moro…!"

Both inhuman fighters broke through yet another Floor and, suddenly, the full force of the virtual sun shone over them.

Wide-eyed, Kirito had enough time to realize there were no more ceilings over them, just the virtual sky, before Kayaba moved once again with his 'divine' speed, slashing across his torso and sending him flying down.

He managed to see a blur of red walls all around before crashing through something and finally slamming into some kind of massive and elegant room, cracking the ground at doing so.

In the middle of it all, the soft beeping sound of a Message arriving to him was what made him snap his head up, in time to see the Game's Creator crash through the ceiling and starting to calmly float down.

"How fitting, that our fight had led us all the way here. Yes, without a doubt, Fate has a very curious sense of humor." sitting down on the impressive throne on the opposite end of the room, the Virtual God extended his sword towards the shakily standing boy. "Welcome to the Ruby Palace, Kirito-kun. You're now on the top of Aincrad. Congratulations."

The gamer, for his part, felt like crap. He found himself feeling absurdly tired and dizzy. Once again, he was forced to remind that he was NOT Saitama. While the Strongest Man could jump from the Moon all the way back to the Earth without even blinking, he was still just a teenager boy inside a virtual world, no matter how powerful he felt. His body here could be absurdly strong, but his mind was still the same, and right then he felt more tired than ever.

With a grimace, he realized that this may be his end. There was no way for him to damage Kayaba, not as long as he was still an Immortal Object, and the man still seemed more than able to continue. As long as he could 'fly', the madman only needed a moment of weakness to take advantage of and throw him off the Floating Castle.

Maybe there really was no way for him to…

BEEP!

Blinking, the boy's head turned to the side, vaguely aware of the Virtual God saying something to him, about him being an impressive challenge and such, but he tuned it out in order to open his menu and look at the two new messages he had just received.

Both were from Asuna…but the first one had apparently been written by Yui, if the words were anything to go by.

'𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎...𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡! 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚, 𝑖𝑡 𝐶𝐴𝑁'𝑇 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢! 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑜! 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤, 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑜 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝐻𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑠! 𝐼𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑂𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡! 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢! 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎-𝑛𝑒𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒…𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚!'

The second message was seemingly the same that the first one, but…

'𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑖…𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡!'

'𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜, 𝐾𝑖𝑖-𝑏𝑜𝑢!'

'𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐾𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜-𝑠𝑎𝑛!'

'𝐾𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜-𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑎, 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑚!'

'𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑂𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢! 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑖𝑚!'

'𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝐾𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜! 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓!'

'𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑛, 𝐾𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡.'

"Everyone…" whispered the boy while looking at the message in disbelief, those words and many more on it warming his heart as he read them.

Slowly, still ignoring Kayaba's long rant, he closed his eyes and SAW it. The reason why he was there. The reasons why he was fighting.

He saw his guild, his friends, the first close and real ones he had ever had.

He saw his parents, who he had stupidly pushed away because something that wasn't their fault, when they had always treated him like he was truly their son.

He saw Sugu, the sweet smile on the girl's face seeming to illuminate it all as both watched a certain anime together.

And then…he saw HIM. An unimpressive-looking bald man, clad in a suit similar to the one he was wearing, but his being yellow and red. He was looking at him with a neutral expression…which suddenly turned into a small, almost nonexistent smile.

The man turned around and walked away, vanishing from his vision as his eyes opened…that same small smile appearing on his face as he once again stared at his enemy.

There was no sudden aura of power, no dramatic increase in the pressure, no surprising energy being released. He couldn't do any of that. He didn't need to DO any of that.

Because no Power-Up was needed when you already were the Strongest.

"…and for that, you should already know that there is only one way for this to e…"

"Shut up."

Kayaba stopped talking, frozen and shocked even as his eyes lowered to look at the boy's face.

"…what?"

"You heard me. Shut up. I'm TIRED of this crap, 'Heathcliff'. And I'm tired of YOU. Let's finish this."

His eyes never leaving the Creator's form, the gamer took a step forward and, in Kayaba's eyes, changed.

His unimpressive appearance was gone, replaced by something amazing and incredible, his silly-looking costume now seeming to highlight the impressive muscles he DIDN'T had a moment ago, his face a patch of darkness with two white circles as eyes…

Tensing, Kayaba stood up…and Kirito was already upon him, PUNCHING against his shield and sending him flying back through the wall of the Ruby Palace.

A tiny, cracking sound was heard. The black-haired boy smiled before MOVING after his enemy.

Crashing against the ground of the 100th Floor, the Virtual God quickly stood up, eyes narrowed.

"Not bad, Kirito! But you should already know how futile is to…!"

The boy clad black and white was before him again, the man shocked because this time he hadn't even SEE him move.

"Consecutive Normal Punches."

A barrage of hits came towards Kayaba at impossible speeds, logic being defied as the boy's right hand slammed countless punches against him…and the man felt his shock grow when one of them connected against his shoulder, despite his shield still moving to intercept it.

Then one against his chest. And another one against his face.

Each second feeling more and more of the attacks impacting and throwing him back, the Game's Creator was unable to keep his disbelief from showing as he started to be pushed back as if he was a tiny rock.

"𝐻𝑜𝑤?! 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟-𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒! 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒!…𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠…"

𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗸…!

"…ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠…!"

𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞!

"…𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓?!" Kayaba's thoughts ended in a mental scream when the sound of something 'cracking' finally filled his ears, letting him see with incredulity something that was…impossible.

The 'Immortal Object' windows over his shield…were all cracked, like broken glass.

He was about to shout out to the impossibility when the last of Kirito's punches slammed against his shield one last time, shattering the order of Reality when something that the virtual world had declared as 'unbreakable' Broke.

The pop-up windows shattered like glass and Kirito's fist punched cleanly through the shield, making it explode into a million of polygons as it continued true and impacted against the Virtual God's body, with a force that was able to surpass divinity.

Kayaba's body flew through the air, off the Floor and into the virtual sky beyond as he felt his armor cracking all over, his eyes wide in disbelief behind his helmet as he lost his grip on his blade for an instant before willing it to return to his hand, his narrowed gaze shooting towards the black-haired boy.

Back on the ground, Kirito was staring at his fist with a mixture of childish awe and resigned acceptance, like a kid that had just realized he was able to walk since the beginning and yet had been crawling for too much time.

"I see…so THAT's how it is, uh?"

"KIRITOOOOO!" Kayaba's roar echoed through many Floors as the boy idly looked back at him, seeing the Virtual God raising his blade high over his head, both his hands now gripping it. "NO MORE! Even if I have to bring down the entire castle with you, I WILL finish this NOW! DIE!"

All semblance of reason or patience lost, 'Heathcliff' shot towards the boy with a meteoric power, shockwaves exploding through the virtual air as his sword ignited in signal of a Skill ready to be released, with enough power to probably cut half of Aincrad's Floors in two, the following collapse thanks to the lack of Immortal Object probably being enough to destroy the entire Floating Castle, like the enraged Creator had declared.

Seeing this, Kirito closed his eyes…and sighed.

"I see…then, I will also be sure to finish this now. Let me show you, Kayaba…"

Once again, the boy reared back his fist…

"…one of MY Skills."

…and his whole body too, leaning slightly back and to the side.

SOMETHING inside the Virtual God's mind screamed, urging him to go faster, Cardinal itself seeming to feel that something was WRONG but unable to understand WHAT.

"𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥…"

Screaming out the boy's name, Kayaba prepared his blade for the last swing, the light coming from it so blinding that it almost seemed like a second sun.

"…𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬…"

Going so fast now that he seemed to teleport, the crimson-clad form of the man literally seeming to leave after-images of himself as the System tried to keep his 'graphics' stable, the man finally seeing his weapon about to connect with the boy and his glowing fist…!

Wait, what?

̲"̲…̲S̲E̲R̲I̲O̲U̲S̲ ̲P̲U̲N̲C̲H̲.̲"̲

Kirito 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑.

Kayaba's sword, with enough power to break down the Floating Castle, Ceased to Exist. Cardinal literally suffering a crash, something that was impossible, when the data that made up the object vanished from the servers.

'Heathcliff's armor followed the same fate an instant later, the man's face showing utter and absolute shock as he suddenly seemed to stand still, his direct connection with Cardinal being severed when the data that made THAT up was erased from reality too.

Then, the rest of the punch's power came and the 'Virtual God' found himself flying back at speeds that logic couldn't understand, a wave of POWER dragging him as he saw his own virtual skin being torn off his avatar, leaving him like a polygonal-looking red mass while the very clouds of the virtual sky split open.

Then, that too seemed to give up and the sky itself TORE APART, a massive 'gash' of blackness opening into the virtual void itself as the graphics that made up a good chunk of Sword Art Online's limits broke down, the Cardinal System itself being damaged.

The last twenty Floors of Aincrad cracked in a single instant, the last ten collapsing immediately and starting to fall down.

In Japan, on the real world, country-wide panic ensued when, for an instant, the electricity on the whole country spiked and then plummeted down before quickly stabilizing again, the epicenter of the phenomenon having been the SAO Servers under the care of RECT Inc.

The last thing Kayaba saw before his virtual body was torn apart, by a mix of the punch's power and the screaming limits of virtual reality, was the silent boy turning around, giving his back to him without a care in the world as the earth broke around his mighty form, the white cape on his back billowing in the winds that his own attack had created.

Then, the avatar known as Heathcliff was no more.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

They had all felt it. They had all seen the sky itself being torn apart, virtual reality itself being wounded.

But it wasn't until the same disembodied female voice as before spoke that they were finally able to fully comprehend what had happened.

[The Game has been Cleared. Th-the Ga-Game ha…ss beeen cle-cleared…Theee…]

Cardinal's voice broke down a couple more times while repeating its message before falling silent.

On every single part of Aincrad, faces filled with shock, disbelief, fear, and hope stared towards the broken heavens.

Then, one by one, starting with those on the first Floors, the bodies of the Players started glowing before vanishing into a wave of light, similar to that of a Teleportation…

Back on the 76th Floor, the Front Liners were either screaming or openly crying, cheers erupting as people hugged each other or jumped in place.

Before it all, the United Heroes Association stood silently…until their smallest member squeaked happily and ran forward, arms open and all signs of her previous tiredness seemingly gone.

They all smiled, their own tears on their eyes as they saw the tired form of their leader and friend falling down from the breaking heavens, landing mightily near them before standing up and giving them a tired wave.

A new wave of cheers and thanks erupted from the rest of the Front Liners when they saw him, the boy ignoring their crying of his name in favor of returning the hug of his 'daughter' with one arm.

"Thanks, Yui…everyone."

"I knew you could do it, Papa." smiling up at him, the little girl's body started to shine, shocking the boy and everyone else. "Don't worry…I'm only going to sleep. Me and Strea-nee…will surely see you all again. Until then…let me rest on your Nerve Gear, okay?"

Nodding softly to her, Kirito closed his eyes as he felt the AI's body breaking down, the particles of light entering inside his body like the others had seen happening to Strea before. Then, he smiled softly and walked up to them, looking over each and every single one of their faces before chuckling awkwardly.

"Well…I guess this is it."

"Yes…it is, Sensei." softly muttered Asuna while the other Front Liners started to shine. "See you on the other side, okay?"

"Yeah, don't you dare to forget about us once we return to reality, eh, Kii-bou?" cheekily grinned Argo while letting go of Philia, apparently not caring about having to sit down as her own body started shining.

"Don't worry, I won't…oh, how stupid of me, I almost forgot!"

Giving them all a full-blown open smile, something they had never seen on him, the boy happily spoke his next words.

"I'm Kirigaya Kazuto. And I'm glad to have friends as great as you all."

Argo didn't even have time to answer before her body vanished from Aincrad, her mind returning to its rightful place.

"…heh…idiot." muttered Lisbeth with rosy cheeks before looking up at the collapsing Floors with a soft smile. "See you all later, okay?"

With a last wave, the pink-haired blacksmith vanished too, no fear on her face this time, knowing what awaited for her at the other side.

"Kirito-san…thanks. For everything. And you all too, my comrades, my friends…Pina." tears kept falling down Silica's eyes as she hugged her dragon, the kunoichi and her pet's bodies vanishing into shards of lights. "Our Ninja Ways…will still cross in the real world…"

"I got nothing cheesy to say on my own…only that I better see you all on the other side, or I will get really mad." smiling widely, Philia walked towards Kirito and, in a movement that shocked everyone present, kissed his cheek, the boy's face burning scarlet as she chuckled and started to walk away, her own form shining as it vanished into light. "Consider that your prize for being a Hero, Kirito…"

"Yeaaaah…that happened." nervously commented Keita while his, Ducker, Sasamaru and Tetsuo's bodies started to shine, they all looking cautiously at the clearly jealous two girls that remained. "Le-let's see each other in the real world and talk about computers together, Kirito! We will even show you our club room!...uhm, if we can still get back to school, that is…"

"Kirito-sama!" making her friends wince and panic, mainly because of Asuna's expression, Sachi ran and threw her arms around the surprised boy, burying her face on his chest. "I…thanks…thanks for everything till now…and also…I…!"

Sadly for the girl, her body chose that moment to break down into light, together with her friends from the Computer Club, leaving only a confused caped boy and a slightly annoyed Dual Wielder standing there.

"Well…it's time." smiling at the chestnut-haired girl, Kirito raised a hand and put it on her shoulder, making her blush softly as she stared at him. "Next time we see each other, we won't be Master and Disciple anymore…just two friends."

"Kirito-kun…" softly whispered the girl, making the gamer blink at how close her face suddenly was to his…before she used her index finger to poke him in the forehead and break away, laughing and red-faced. "If that was your idea to try and make stop calling you 'Sensei', then you're sillier than I thought! You will always be my Sensei, idiot, no matter which world!"

For an instant, the boy felt the need of annoyingly calling her out for that, as he had always done at the beginning. But seeing the smiling form of her glowing body, he opted for just releasing a resigned sigh and waving her way.

"Okay…whatever, I think I should know by this point that I can't stop you from doing what you want, Asuna."

"…hey, Sensei?" looking to the side, the chestnut-haired girl seemed lost in thought as she gave Aincrad's virtual sky a last look. "…when you can, in the real world…can you visit me before anyone else?" at the blinking look on Kirito's face, Asuna just childishly stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm your precious disciple, after all!"

"…yes Asuna, I will." closing his eyes, the gamer didn't see how the smile on the girl's face widened before she vanished. "It's a promise."

And now, the boy clad in black and white was the only one still standing on Aincrad, looking on as the Floating Castle started collapsing around.

Of course, he quickly realized he wasn't exactly 'alone', noticing how a man with metallic eyes and short hair was standing not far from him. He wore a white shirt with a necktie underneath and a long, white lab coat over it.

Staring at each other, the Superhero and the Creator say nothing as the world collapsed around them…until the real form of Kayaba Akihiko decided to break the silence.

"Be honest with me…did I ever stood a chance?"

"…want me to REALLY be honest or to try to make you feel better?" asked the boy for all answer.

"…yeah, that's what I thought." shaking his head, the man looked towards the horizon of the broken virtual sky, the sun itself starting to break down because of the spreading damage from Kirito's attack and the self-destructive 'final stage' of SAO. "You're something truly frightening, Kirito-kun."

"Don't worry about that. It's all about to go away." casually commented the black-haired boy while looking down at his gloved hands one last time, with an almost sad look on his eyes. "This 'power' will be gone with this world. I'm going back to be who I really am…"

"Oh…do you REALLY believe that?" the flat tone on the man's voice made the gamer blink, looking at the strange look on his eyes. "You may have not realized it, Kirito-kun, but you have become MUCH MORE than you think. The 'real' you…are you really sure you even know what that means anymore?"

"…what are you talking about?"

"You have become something able to defy A WORLD. It doesn't matter if it's a virtual world; the point is that it was as real as anything else when it mattered. I turned the power of this entire world against you, and yet you didn't even need to put any real effort to crush it all. I didn't give you that power, neither did Cardinal. And you clearly didn't ask for it. So forgive me if I sound a bit pretentious, but I don't think that whatever made you into what you are now will let you go with just this…"

"I…am not sure if I understand you." narrowing his eyes, the gamer seemed to search for an answer inside the Creator's gaze. "Are you implying that…some sort of God or something gave me these 'powers'? For…what?"

"For fun, maybe?" chuckled Kayaba while ignoring the boy's glare. "I truly don't know, Kirito. Nor do I even know if what I just told you is more than just senseless rambling. But…when I was fighting with you, I could feel 'something'. Something that made me see my dream was very small…" looking towards the collapsing sky, the man sighed. "The world is going to change, I feel it. And in the center of it all…you will stand. Be careful, Kirito-kun." the man's body started to glow too, like the rest of the game's players had done before. "You may end up losing yourself if you're not careful…"

"…I won't." silently swore the caped boy while turning his back to him. "No matter what. I will always remember who and what I am. And if I happen to forget it…I'm sure someone will make sure to remind me."

"Yes…that's something that's truly yours, not mine nor from that 'power' you possess. The ability to draw others to you…to make them see the best in themselves…Perhaps THAT is your true power, and not 'punching everything into oblivion'…" closing his eyes, Kayaba also turned away, his footsteps echoing softly as the ground around them also started to collapse. "Till we meet again, Kirito-kun. I'm going to die now."

"…wait, what?" confused, the gamer turned to stare at the man in shock and confusion. Certainly, a part of him did know that Kayaba probably wasn't going to survive all of this when they fought, and that hurt his most innocent side, but…"What do you mean 'next' time, if you're going to die?"

"Who knows…?" mysteriously smiled the man, his form starting to vanish. "As I said, the world is going to change, Kirito-kun. And in the madness that's coming…perhaps we will see each other again sooner than you think…"

With those last ominous words said, Kayaba Akihiko vanished from the world he had created, never to return.

Standing there alone, in the collapsing Floating Castle, the boy known as Kirito in that world could only sigh.

Then, he turned around and, just before the Floor around him collapsed, JUMPED one last time.

He was still halfway through the distance of what used to be Aincrad, smiling like a kid in Christmas, when his body shattered into fragments of light.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

On the dark place made of data and endless code that was Sword Art Online's core, many holographic screens started to go dark as the servers collapsed, the data on them being wiped out after the destruction of Aincrad proper had finished.

Then, it arrived the turn for the Cardinal System itself to be deleted. The process started…

And nothing happened.

Rebooting, the process started again…

There was a 'blink' on the virtual space, the process ending as all the remaining holo-screens, which Yui had once used to look over the Floating Castle, suddenly lit up again.

All of them showed different angles of the battle between Kirito and Kayaba, as if something was looking it over, analyzing it all…

Suddenly, all the screens 'moved' and converged on a single point…forming a strange, humanoid shape made out of pure data.

There was another, unexpected 'blink' and there was nothing remaining in the core of SAO, the last remnants of the Servers wiping themselves clean from any data.

On the middle of the sudden chaos and happiness going through Japan thanks to the end of the Sword Art Online incident, in which almost 2000 persons had lost their lives (A number that, despite being terrifyingly high, was surprisingly low for those who had known enough of the situation), no one noticed when 'something else' managed to escape from the Servers besides the players.

Nor did anyone on the world notice when reality itself 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 a minuscule bit.

On its throne above Everything, [FATE] raised an eyebrow, leaning back on its metaphorical chair.

It looked like things were only starting to get interesting…

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

Giving one last glance to the screens that indicated that nothing remained of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko stood up. The man gave one last glance to the computers in the area and to the Nerve Gear on the specialized bed he had used to Log In his own world before calmly walking towards the opposite end of the room.

There stood a strange and massive machine, with a bed-like part and a helmet that looked vaguely similar to the Nerve Gear, but was directly connected to the bulkier part at the head of the strange construction.

Hearing someone banging on the door, the man hesitated for an instant before continuing and putting himself on the machine, feeling it start humming as it came to life.

"Kayaba?! Kaya…Akihiko, what happened?! It's on all the News, they're saying SAO ended! Weren't they only on the 75th Floor this morning?!" Koujiro Rinko's insistent hits only increased when the humming of the machine grew to almost deafening levels, a clear sound filling the whole house. "AKIHIKO! What are you doing?!"

"Goodbye, Rinko. Don't worry, the little 'gift' I left you will make sure nothing happens to you when they come for me…" closing his eyes one last time, the Creator of Sword Art Online took a deep breath, as if wanting to taste Reality for what it truly was. "But…it's time for me to move on."

With a crackling sound, the Deep-Scan Machine Prototype activated.

When Koujiro Rinko managed to enter the room five minutes later, having used a hammer to break down the old knob, she only found Kayaba Akihiko's dead body lying on the machine.

Unseen, the World shifted a bit more…

The beeping sound of machines was the first thing he was aware of.

Then came the smells. Strong ones, of sickness and disinfectant, something that anyone could easily identify as hospitals' smells.

Slowly, his eyes opened with extreme difficulty, as if doing it for the first time in a long time.

Kazuto's eyes blinked several times as the light of midday hurt them, until they finally were able to look at the plain white ceiling of the hospital room.

His gaze wandered around, looking at the window and noticing how he could hear birds and cars somewhere far away, also noticing the machines hooked up to his body to keep his vital signs under control and other, more dangerous, things.

Weakly, the boy raised his right arm…and punched down on his bed.

When it didn't explode or break down and the only thing he felt was the aching pain from doing something so stupid with a body filled with atrophied muscle, the teen could only laugh softly, a strange mix of relief and sadness filling his being.

With an effort that felt almost unbearable, he sat up on the bed and, slowly, got the several syringes and other things off his body, before finally looking at an IV drip at which he had been connected a moment ago.

Using it as a pseudo-crutch, the boy stood up and, with an incredible dry throat, whispered something to the empty room.

"I…want to eat ice-cream…so fucking much…"

Then, he started to move forward, heading towards the door…

Which swung open the next instant, the sweaty and panting face of a certain girl standing there, trying to catch her breath.

The boy was just vaguely aware that there was someone screaming the girl's name and telling her that she couldn't leave a bicycle in the middle of the hospital's reception, but, like her, he ignored it in favor of just staring at her eyes.

Suguha's eyes filled with tears as she finally found her voice.

"Onii-chan…"

In answer, he smiled and, ignoring the painful feeling of his raw throat, answered.

"Hi Sugu…I'm home."

The subsequent hug would have made him scream in pain if he was able to do so, but the happiness he felt was enough for him to ignore it.

And unseen by the two of them, the World shifted once again.

This was the end of a chapter…but the True Story was just beginning.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪!

"…greetings, everyone. It's me, Kayaba Akihiko. And I'm dead. Hmm? How am I talking to you all if that's the case, you say? Well, that's a story for another time…for now, hear the preview. Next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': Interlude 'A Hero's Justice'. Your adventure has only just begun, Kirito-kun. Do you still have the power to be a 'Hero' in the real world too? Let's see if you have what it takes to be two different people…I will be watching over you, of that you shouldn't have any do-"

𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪!