Chapter 20

"The scouting party was wiped out—!?"

We were greeted with this shocking news when we returned to

the KoB headquarters in Granzam for the first time in two weeks.

We were currently on one of the higher floors of the iron tower

which served as the headquarters and inside the conference room

with the huge window where we had talked with Heathcliff last

time. Heathcliff sat at the center of the huge semi-circular table,

dressed in his usual long robes. The other leaders of the guild sat

on either side of him, except this time Godfree wasn't present.

Heathcliff clasped the bony fingers of his hands together in front

of his face and nodded slowly with a deep frown.

"It happened yesterday. Mapping the 75th floor labyrinth took

quite a long time, but we were able to finish it without any

casualties. Although I had expected that we would have a hard

time defeating the boss..."

I did have a feeling that something like this might happen. The

reason was that, of all the labyrinth bosses, only the ones from the

25th and 50th floors were extraordinarily large and powerful,

which resulted in heavy losses from both of those fights.

The fight against the two-headed giant on the 25th floor virtually

annihilated the elite troops of «The Army», which was the main

cause of their decline as an organization. When the six-armed

monster, which looked like a metallic statue of Buddha, launched a

fierce assault during the 50th floor battle, numerous players had

been frightened into teleporting away without permission and

nearly caused the front-line to collapse. If the reinforcements had

been even a little late, we would have faced another total wipeout.

As a matter of fact, the person who had held the line by himself

during that battle until support arrived was right in front of me.

If an exceptionally strong boss awaited at every twenty-fifth level,

then it was very likely that this boss would be the same.

"...So, I sent a scouting party of twenty men consisting of members

from five different guilds."

Heathcliff continued in a monotone. Since his eyes were currently

half-open, it was impossible to discern his emotions behind those

copper-colored eyes.

"They had scouted with utmost care. Ten of them had stayed

outside the boss room as reserves... but when the first ten entered

and reached the center of the room, the gates closed just as the

boss appeared. According to the reports of the ten who waited

outside, the doors stayed closed for over five minutes, and nothing

they did, including lockpicking or bashing the door, had any effect.

By the time the door had finally opened—"

The edge of Heathcliff's mouth became tense. He closed his eyes

for a moment and then continued.

"There was nobody in the room. The boss and the ten men had all

disappeared. There was no sign of teleportation. They didn't

return... and I sent somebody to check the death list on the

metallic monument inside Black Iron Palace for confirmation..."

He didn't say the next part aloud and simply shook his head. Next

to me, Asuna held her breath and then managed to force out in a

small voice:

"Ten... people... How did this happen...?"

"An anti-crystal field...?"

Heathcliff nodded briefly to my question.

"That's the only explanation. According to Asuna-kun's report, the

74th floor was the same, so it's highly probable that every boss

room from now on would all have anti-crystal fields."

"Damn it..."

I cursed. If emergency escape was impossible, the chances of

people dying due to unexpected circumstances were drastically

increased. We won't produce any casualties— that was the most

important guideline to follow while clearing the game. But it was

impossible to clear it unless we defeated the bosses...

"It's become more and more like a true game of death..."

"However, we can't give up on clearing this game just because of

this..."

Heathcliff closed his eyes and then spoke in a quiet but

determined voice:

"In addition to the anti-crystal field, the room also blocked the exit

as soon as the boss appeared. Since this is the case, we can only

attack it with the largest team of players that we can command

and coordinate. I originally didn't want to call you two back since

you had just gotten married, but I hope you can understand our

dilemma."

I answered with a shrug.

"We'll help. But I will be putting Asuna's safety as my top priority.

If a dangerous situation arises, I will be putting her before the rest

of the party."

Heathcliff smiled in an almost unnoticeable manner.

"One who wishes to protect another is capable of unleashing the

greatest strength. I look forward to your achievements on the

battlefield. The assault will begin in three hours. Thirty-two

people, including you two, are expected to participate. We will

meet in front of the teleport gate in Collinia on the 75th floor at

one o'clock. You are dismissed."

As he finished, the red paladin and his men stood up and left the

room.

"Three hours— What should we do?"

Asuna asked as she absentmindedly sat down on the steel bench. I

simply watched her in silence. Her body which was covered by a

white combat uniform with red decorations, her long and silky

hair, her sparkling brown eyes— she was as beautiful as a

priceless gem.

When she noticed that I kept looking at her without shifting my

gaze, Asuna blushed and asked with an embarrassed smile:

"Wha...? What?"

I hesitantly opened my mouth:

"...Asuna..."

"What?"

"...Please don't get angry and listen to me. This boss fight today...

could you not take part and wait here for my return?"

Asuna first stared at me, then she lowered her head with a

melancholic expression and said:

"...Why are you saying this...?"

"Despite what Heathcliff said, we simply can't predict what will

happen in a place where crystals can't be used. I'm really afraid...

when I think about it... that something will happen to you..."

"...You want me to wait in a safe location while you go somewhere

that dangerous by yourself?"

Asuna stood up and walked towards me with confident steps. Her

eyes were aflame with passion.

"If I did that and you didn't return, then I'd commit suicide. Not

only would I lose my reason to keep living, I would also never

forgive myself for simply waiting here. If you want to run away,

then we'll run away together. If that's what you want to do, then

I'm fine with it."

She finished talking and touched the center of my chest with the

fingertips of her right hand. Her eyes softened and a soft smile

appeared on her face.

"But, you know... Everybody taking part in today's battle is afraid,

and they all want to run away. Yet, despite the fear, they still

agreed to join. That's because the leader and Kirito-kun... because

the two strongest people in this world are leading them... that's

what I think... I know that you don't like to bear responsibility. But

I hope that you'll try, just this once, not only for them, but also for

us... So we can return to the real world, so we can meet again; I

hope we can try our best together."

I raised my right hand and clasped Asuna's hand softly. The

feeling that I didn't want to lose her flooded out from deep within

my heart.

"...Sorry... I, became weak for a moment. To tell the truth, I really

wish we could just run away together. I don't want you to die, and

I don't want to die either. We don't have to..."

I gazed into Asuna's eyes and kept on talking:

"It's fine if we can't return to the real world... I want to go on living

with you in that forest lodge. The two of us... forever..."

Asuna grasped her chest with her remaining hand. She closed her

eyes and frowned, as if she was trying to endure something. Then,

a dejected sigh escaped her lips.

"Yeah... It really is like a dream... It would be great if we could do

that... Spending each day together... forever..."

She stopped here and bit her lip as if she was letting go of a

hopeless wish. Then she opened her eyes and looked up to me

with a serious expression on her face.

"Kirito-kun, have you ever thought about it...? About what's

happening to our real bodies right now?"

I was struck speechless by this unexpected question. It was

probably something that every player here wondered about.

But since there was no way of contacting the outside world, it was

useless to think about it. Although everyone was scared, they also

avoided confronting this question.

"Do you remember? That person's... Kayaba Akihiko's introduction

at the beginning of the game. He said that the NerveGear would

permit two hours of disconnection. But the reason for that was..."

"...To move our bodies to the proper medical facilities..."

Asuna nodded as I muttered this.

"Then a few days later, everyone had been cut off for about an

hour, right?"

Something like that had definitely happened. I had looked at the

disconnection warning and worried about whether or not the

NerveGear would kill me in two hours.

"I think everybody had been moved to hospitals then. It's

impossible to take care of a comatose person for years in a normal

household. They most likely moved us to a hospital and then

linked us back up again..."

"...Yeah, I think you're right..."

"If our bodies are just lying on a bed, managing to stay alive only

through the numerous cords connected to them... I don't think that

they'll remain safe in that situation forever."

I was suddenly overtaken by the fear that my body was starting to

fade away; I hugged Asuna to confirm our existence.

"...In other words... regardless of whether or not we can clear the

game... there will always be a time limit..."

"...And this time limit will differ from person to person... Since

talking about «the other side» is a taboo here, I haven't discussed

this with anyone else... But you're different. I...I want to spend my

whole life by your side. I want to go out with you for real, get

married to you for real, and then grow old together. So...so..."

She couldn't continue. Asuna buried her face in my chest and let

the tears flow. I slowly stroked her back to help her finish her

words.

"So... We have no choice but to fight right now..."

My fears didn't actually go away. But how could I give up now

when Asuna was doing her best to open up our future while trying

so hard to keep herself from collapsing.

It's alright— It will definitely be alright. As long as we're together,

it will definitely—

I strengthened my arms and hugged Asuna tightly to get rid of the

eerie feeling that threatened to overtake me.