Chapter 196: Kayaba’s Demise

18 Months passed, and the survivors of the game were currently on the 70th floor of SMO, and over this time, Soren and his family ran one of the top ranking guilds, comprising only 7 people. Soren and his family had ran the fields of all the Mini Bosses, and hidden quests that not even the beta testers knew about because Soren had inside information, but Soren wasn't the only person with this knowledge, as Kayaba who was acting as the Guild leader for the KOB, knew even more than Soren did, as he created the game, while Soren only supervised, and watched as the stages were created. Over the course of 18 months, Soren had ranked as one of the top 10 players, and when he met with Kayaba who disguised himself as a the Guild leader of the KOB, Soren took notice that his Class was indeed the Magic Swordsman Class, so Soren knew that Kayaba most likely had an extremely high MP capacity.

[Hmm… It has been a while since I checked my status, what level am I now?]: soren

Name: Soren Class: Magic Swordsman Title: Solo Boss Killer

Level:83

Exp: 101,335/480,000

Currency: $7,960,000

HP: 30,500/30,500 Stamina: 80,000/80,000 MP: 1,500,000/1,500,000

Skills: (MP OverLoad) (Killing Intent) (Basic Sword Skills) (Basic Elemental Magic) (Mana Imbue) (Advanced Sword Skills) (Advanced Elemental Magic) (Silent Step) (Leopard Step) (One-Handed Sword Skills) (Silent Cast) (Elemental Slash) (Blood Lust) (Starlight Strike)

[I haven't really added to my skills, and kept with the ones that I have here… Hmm… I should be able to solo the Boss for the 70th floor with my strength right now]: soren

Soren then went into the 70th floor's Dungeon, and started looking for the Boss room, and while looking for the room, Soren came across some members of the Divine Dragon Alliance.

[Hey! Look what we have here boys!... It's the Guild leader of the #3 Guild in all of SMO!]: DDA member

Soren watched as all the scouting members began eyeing him as well as his equipment up, and some laughs were heard from some of them, and when Soren tried to ignore them, he was stopped by the first member who spoke.

[Hey, hey, hey!... Don't leave now… We haven't gotten the chance to catch up… Don't you remember us?]: DDA member

Soren just took a look around at the group of 5 members that began surrounding him, while the other members of the Scouting team just watched from afar.

[Hmm?... Sorry, but I have no recollection of You, or your pitiful group]: soren

When the group of 5 men heard that Soren didn't recognise them, they felt anger swell up inside them, and with that, one of the men in the group shouted out.

[You killed Zero, and now you don't remember us?]: DDA member 2

When the man said that, Soren hit his palm with his fist, and said.

[Oh!... Now I remember, you are those perverts who tried to sleep with my wives… So why are you here?]: soren

Soren had shouted out this, and it caught the attention of the spectating members of the DDA, and with that, the 5 members surrounding Soren tried to charge him, but Soren just dodged them, and continued his path towards the Boss room, and with Soren's speed, he easily escaped the idiots without having to play as a Red player for a week. Soren then continued his way through the labyrinth like Dungeon until he came across a set of Double doors, and entered the room, and inside the room Soren saw the Boss standing in the center of the room, and above the Bosses head was its name.

[Dryden of Dimensions… You might be my downfall today, but if not, you will be my stepping stone]: soren

Soren then fought with the Boss of the 70th floor, and overcame the almost near Game Over experience, and after getting the Floor Cleared message, Soren popped a few health pots, and walked towards the Door that led to Floor 71.

[That was quite troublesome if I say so myself… Maybe it would be best to take my whole group with me next time]: soren

Soren had entered floor 71, and started searching for the town, while slaying any beast that came his way, and after a few hours of searching from tree tops, and any sign of NPC made trails, Soren found the town, and activated the Teleportation Plaza. Soren then spent some time looking through the town for any important Hidden quests that could further his Level, or Equipment rating, and after finding some decent ones that required a group, Soren went back to his home on the 20th floor, and gathered his group.

[What does Husband need from Misha?]: misha

[Yeah, what's up dad? Why call us all together?]: zenith

[Calm down, I know you were all doing your own thing, but it needs to be put on hold… I beat the boss on the 70th floor, and just picked out a bunch of good group quests for us]: soren

When Soren said that, everyone in the group perked up, as after a little over a year of playing the game, the ones not too interested, had found an interest with something from the game like Smithing, Shopkeeper, Fisher, ect. And with this, Soren had a balanced group with both Misha, and Hancock being Potion Makers, as it dealt with gathering herbs and other materials, while Zenith liked the idea of Smithing both Armor and Weapons, and that left Vados to be a Shopkeeper who holds most of the money in the group to buy and resell items. Soren, Killua, and Gon didn't find any interest in a side job, and stuck with being High Level Clearers, and that just meant they fought tooth and nail with the monsters on the new floors, while clearing paths for the lower levels, so that as many people as possible can leave the Death Game.

[We're in!]: whole group

Soon, many months passed with Floors being cleared left and right, and currently, Soren, Zenith, Killua, Gon, Misha, Hancock, and Vados were fighting the Floor Boss of the 75th floor, and it looked like a Centipede made out of bones, and the name for this boss was The Skull Reaper. Soren had decided to fight along with the Clearing teams, as this marked for being ¾'s done with the game, while it signified the end of the game for Soren, as he knew that Kirito would out Heathcliff, a.k.a Kayaba.

[Switch!... Cover me!... Help! I got his attention!... Someone get Frank out of there! He just pulled Aggro, and is about to die!... Switch!]: people fighting the boss

Soren and his group were helping the others as Support Players, while the Clearing team fought the Boss close up. Soren began using his Long range spells, while Killua and Gon were switching out with each other and attacking the Boss's weak spots that were indicated through a Skill they both got from field clearing, and were jumped by a horde of Beasts, while trying not to pull Aggro. Misha, Hancock, and Vados were using Long Range spells, while throwing out Healing pots for those who were low on health, and after a 30 minute fight that Soren could have ended in 10 minutes if he went all out, everyone was cheering, while Kirito began speaking out while releasing a shimmering Golden aura that is displayed when a certain skill is used by the Hero Class, and it was just an Intimidation Aura similar to Soren's (Killing Intent) skill.

[Don't celebrate just yet guys…]: kirito

[What do you mean Kirito? We just beat the Boss, and are one step closer to escaping this place]: asuna

[Asuna… Heathcliff isn't who he says he is… I noticed back when we fought to decide if I would join the KOB… His shield expanded to block my attack… And have you ever seen his health go below the Yellow?]: kirito

[.... *Clamoring among the crowd*...]: group

Soon, everyone turned towards the sound of Heathcliff clapping, and saw him with a big grin over his face.

[Congratulations Kirito!... I didn't expect to be found out so soon! I thought we would reach up to around Floor 80, where there would ultimately be less people left before I exposed myself and left to wait for you on the 100th floor]: heathcliff

[What do you mean Heathcliff, or should I call you Kayaba?]: kirito

[Hahahaha!... Kayaba is fine, or you can continue to call me Heathcliff, either works… So, now that you know my secret, will you continue to fight until you reach the 100th floor to fight me? Or will you fight with me now?]: kayaba

[I will fight you now!... And if I win, you gotta let everyone go!]: kirito

When Kirito said that, Kayaba just looked at Kirito like he was an idiot, and spoke once more.

[I wasn't talking to you… I was talking to Soren]: kayaba

Kayaba then looked over to Soren who was starting to be surrounded by his group, and when Soren noticed Kayaba staring at him, he just pointed to himself with confusion, and spoke.

[... Me?...]: soren

[...Yes, you… There is nobody in this game with your name, as only one Player can own that name… So, what will you pick? Fight to the 100th floor? Or battle me now, and take the chance of dying early?]: kayaba

Soren just looked on with an uninterested face, while picking his virtual nose, and flicking his fingers to get what could be presumed to be boogers off of his hand.

[Hmm… I am quite tired of this Game… It was fun while it lasted, but I want to move on to bigger and better things in life, so let's battle now]: soren

[Hehehe… You seem to be quite carefree when it comes to your life, do you perhaps still not believe you die in real life when you die here? Or has the death of the person you know as Zeno affected you mentally to the point you don't fear death now, and would rather relish in it?]: kayaba

[Hmm?... No, Zeno is just fine, he wanted to leave the Game early, so he let himself get killed so he could leave]: soren

When everyone heard this, they looked towards Soren like he was an idiot, the carefree look on his face made everyone around him look at Soren with pity, while some had looks of grief for Soren, as they couldn't imagine losing their friends like that, all of them except Kirito who watched as a Guild he had joined all died due to his failure to tell them the truth.

[You petty fool… Then let me send you to him now]: kayaba

Kayaba then snapped his fingers, and everyone transported to floor 100 for the final battle, and while Soren was teleported to the top floor, everyone else was stuck downstairs where the final Mini Boss was.

[Now! We won't be interrupted, so we can fight at full power… I noticed that you also picked the Magic Swordsman Class that you forced me to add, and I gotta thank you for that, I never thought that such a class would be so great… So tell me… Before we fight, what score did you get on the initial test?]: kayaba

[Hmm… A perfect score]: soren

[P-Perfect!... Impossible! Even I, who is registered as the smartest man in the world, only got a 96%... So how could you achieve a Perfect 100%?]: kayaba

Kayaba didn't believe Soren, and quickly brought up his page, and looked at his test results, and just like Soren said, he got a perfect score, and Kayaba not only saw Soren's score, but also saw his Status layout.

'...T-This!... Why is it so high!?... Even mine is nothing compared to his': kayaba

Kayaba saw that Soren's status was at least 2.5 times higher than his, while they were both at the same Level. Kayaba then resorted to using his GM abilities to alter Soren's status, and make his be Debuffed for this battle, and Soren's Status now resembled Kayaba's, and when Soren noticed, he felt Kayaba was just a wannabe God, and didn't say anything, but choose to show Kayaba what he does best to God's. Soren then started his uninteresting fight with Kayaba, and nothing Kayaba tried could affect Soren, as Soren's battle experience was thousands of years more than Kayaba, and the only reason any of the monsters were able to do any damage to Soren, was due to the natural instinct built into the Beast programming.

[H-How is this possible!... Why! I'm even cheating, and you are still able to overpower me!... Just who are you!?]: kayaba

[Hehe… I guess it won't hurt to tell you, as you will die anyway, as you have affected yourself the same way as the rest of us… I've never been worried about dying in this Game, and the same goes for the rest of my group, as we are Gods not from this world, the only reason we came here was to experience Virtual Gaming to this level]: soren

[W-What?... T-then why! Why ask me to put Magic inside the game?]: kayaba

[I just told you, so we could experience the VR World with some fun elements… Now, you can pass on knowing that you will be killed by a God, maybe you can fulfill your dreams in your next life]: soren

Soren then killed Kayaba, and the Game ended, with Soren being gifted the World Seed along with his Player being given Administrative permissions, Soren then kept the World Seed in this Inventory, and opened the Administrative pannel, and logged Everyone who remained in the game out.

[Goodbye SMO... I'll see you another time!]: soren