Epilogue: Tomorrow's Justice

February 14th, 2026. Nishitokyo, Tokyo. SAO Survivors' School, 12:00…

A precious blue sky.

Surprisingly, it was that, out of all things, what Kazuto felt was out of place the most. As if it shouldn't belong to the world he lived in.

After all, the memory of a black and green sky with massive eyes, trying to utterly destroy him, was still fresh on his mind. The relaxing and beautiful visage above him felt almost eerie to him.

And yet, it was there. It was real. The world was still spinning and everything continued normally the day after he had fought a deadly battle that seemed to have come directly out of the imagination of some bizarre American comic-book's writer.

It felt strangely weird for him to be just sitting there now, eating lunch after the morning classes were over, with little actual effect on his 'normal life' beyond many students excitedly whispering about the 'terrorist attack' of yesterday.

Of course, there had been those (Mainly some he suspected played ALO or had friends did) that had stared at him more than usual through the hallways or in class. At least no one had tried to corner him and ask/demand for explanations about the whole 'Ragnarok War' and what supposedly happened yesterday after it, manga/anime style, but he was really wondering if it just wasn't a matter of time before…

The black-haired boy was cut off from his musings towards the heavens as someone bopped his head with some chopsticks, almost making him fall backward from the shock.

"Gah!"

"Hey, snap out of it, Mr. Hero." playfully said Rika while staring at him with a fake scowl, the others around either shaking their heads or laughing. "Anyone would say you prefer staring at the clouds than spending the time with your lovely girlfriends on Valentine's Day!"

"So-sorry, I was just…well, it's just that…it's still just hitting me, that yesterday DID happen…" softly muttered the gamer before sighing, shaking his head. "A part of me still thinks is too outrageous that everything just seems as normal as two days ago…while the other is very happy knowing that the world hasn't gone crazy or something…"

"Sensei, you're overthinking things." simply said Asuna from where she sat on his left side, playfully hitting his shoulder. "You saved the world, so try and relax for a bit already, okay?"

"Yeah, you never know when the next Disaster Level-Dragon will come knocking down on our door, right, Kii-bou?" joked Shiori with a grin, everyone sending her dry looks at that.

"Please, Argo-san…don't make those kinds of jokes." sighed Keiko while idly glancing towards her arm, which still felt a bit stiff every time she tried to move it. "I think we all could go without anything like that happening ever again…"

At those words, everyone sent a worried glance towards Kotone, who was sitting at the left end of the group and eating calmly beside a worried Saori. Blinking at noticing the stares, the dandelion-haired girl stopped and sent them all a big smile.

It was kind of dampened by the bandages covering one of the upper halves of her head, though, even hiding one of her eyes from view.

"Now, would you please drop it already? I already told you I'm fine! Seriously, it's only because of mom's worries that I'm even wearing this thing, the doctor said it would be okay with just applying the cream they gave me…" pouted the katana-user to her worried friends. "Really, I already got tired of repeating to Strea and Yuuki that it wasn't their fault and that I was okay, don't make me start with you all too!"

"I-if you say so…" dubiously accepted Saori while looking from her friend to the rest of the group. "Though, if there is anything we could do for you…"

Kazuto caught the meaningful look in the spear-user's eyes when her gaze met his. She shouldn't have bothered, however, as he was already halfway to stand up when she did so.

In silence, the black-haired boy walked to the edge of the group and stopped beside the blinking Kotone, her visible eye looking at him with confusion.

She was totally caught off guard when he just leaned forward and kissed her, several of the other girls gasping in surprise while the rest just smiled warmly or chuckled at the sight.

Not even a second later, the gamer separated from the frozen katana-user, who was staring at him with wide eyes (At least the visible one), her face quickly reddening into a dangerous-looking shade.

"Just remember we will always be here for you, okay, Philia?" warmly spoke Kazuto while smiling at her.

Kotone just nodded dumbly even as he returned to where he left his lunch, staring at him with a vacant expression as her face continued reddening.

"Uhm…Philia-chan…?" asked Saori while waving a hand before her face, her own face a bit red. "…you there?"

"Leave her be, Sachi. It may take a while before she snaps out of it." commented Shiori while grabbing another rice ball, eyes closed and a small blush on her own. "Believe me, I know."

"So, with that done…Sachi, Liz, and Silica-chan are the only ones who Sensei hasn't kissed yet, right?" cheerfully questioned Asuna to the group, the boy sitting near her doing his best to appear as calm as any great Hero that had just fought a virtual eldritch abomination the day before.

He honestly considered it a greater victory when he didn't choke on his food at the words.

"A-ah, ye-yes, well…" muttering senseless words, Keiko looked from her food to the gamer and back again, her face turning such a deep shade of crimson it seemed about to burst. "I…wouldn't mind if…"

"Well…thanks for reminding me, Asuna!" happily spoke Rika before standing up and walking past the shocked kunoichi, who squeaked as everyone stared in disbelief when she just stopped in front of the blinking Kazuto, leaning forward with a seductive smile. "Now, Hero, let your favorite blacksmith reward you for saving the world, oka…?"

"Would you please cut that out? I know that almost no one comes this far on the school grounds beside us, but it's still hella embarrassing to see."

Everyone's heads snapped towards the voice, even as the wielder of the Mjolnir cursed and turned around to pout-glare at Toshiyuki's incoming form, who was looking at them with a mix of resignation and amusement.

"Dammit, Keita! Couldn't you have waited a bit more?!" groaned Rika while the boy behind her released a sigh, Asuna laughing as she patted him in the shoulder.

"Thanks, Keita-san." happily thought Keiko while pumping a fist, determined flames on her eyes. "I swear I'm NOT letting Liz-san get ahead of me again…!"

"I'm going to go out of a limb and say that you didn't come all the way here just to say that." chuckled Argo while grinning at the situation. "Where are the others, Keita?"

"Enjoying their 'popularity' as part of the UHA and the fact that it's Valentine's Day." explained the ex-guild leader while sitting down, a smirk on his face as he drank of a small soda can on his hand. "After the shit we went through yesterday, though, I think they more than deserve it."

"And what about you?" curiously asked Saori while looking towards her old friend. "Shouldn't you be relaxing too?"

"Ehm…"

"Leave him be, Sachi-tan. After all, Keita-chi already has a date planned with Siune-chan later." calmly revealed Shiori with a knowing grin, making the older boy choke with his soda and the rest to either look with surprise or with 'I knew it!'-looks.

"Ho-how do you know that?!" demanded Toshiyuki with wide eyes. "A-and it's not a date, we're just going to eat together and chat, she also wants to know the details of what happened yesterday, so…!"

"She could perfectly have asked Yuuki about that, though." interrupted him the info-broker with her characteristic grin. "Oh, by the way, you will be pleased to know that you have her blessings. Go forth and enjoy your time with Siune, she said. More or less."

"Wha-wha…?!"

"Heh, well, who could have known you liked older women, eh, Keita?" joked the black-haired boy towards his friend, who quickly stopped spluttering to send him a deadpanning look.

"I don't want YOU, of all people, commenting about me like that. Especially after this morning's little show."

"…did you have to remind me of THAT?" groaned the gamer while the girls laughed at the topic.

Really, Kazuto couldn't believe it. Maybe he was still a bit too dense most of the time (And having forgotten he studied at a school where literally every single person considered him their Hero was a great example of that), though, because finding his desk with a small mountain of chocolates wrapped in red and pink packages had left him frozen on the spot, even as all his other classmates either stared with blank faces or openly laughed (Not to mention the blushing female ones that refused to even look in that direction).

Seriously, that stuff wasn't supposed to happen outside of manga/anime, dammit!

…it said something about him, though, that he could take fighting against a virtual God and defied the limits of reality in stride, but something like this totally freaked him out. And not something positive.

Luckily for him, the girls had mostly taken the event with humor at his expense and nothing more. None of them had any reason to get irrationally jealous or something, after all.

Toshiyuki, however, was wondering how either Shino or Suguha would have reacted to the sight (As Yuuki's and Strea's reactions were more than obvious). A moment after it, though, he realized that it would probably be better for his sanity to not wonder about that.

"…you know…I always thought you or the others would react a bit more…'strongly', to this." muttered Asuna while looking at the oldest male of their guild, who just looked at her before sighing and shaking his head.

"Honestly? The boys and I weren't even all that surprised when we found out yesterday. I mean, in a way, we kind of have seen it coming a mile away, even if something like this should be impossible to even imagine in real life…guess it just shows how screwed on the head we all are." mused the ex-guild leader with a thoughtful look, before looking at them with a smile. "But what the hell? I trust you all with my life, and I know all of you are mature enough to know what you're doing and to not take crazy decisions without thinking them out thoroughly. Also, I can't think of anyone better to suite the role of the 'so much of a lucky bastard', as Ducker would put it, than you, Kirito."

"Uhm…woah, thanks, Keita." muttered the shocked boy while the girls exchanged some smiles at that, even as Toshiyuki walked at his side and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I…really, you and the rest are some awesome fri…"

"However." whispered the staff-user while leaning closer to the boy, so as to none of the girls could hear him, never once dropping his proud and accepting smile. "Friends or not, Hero of the World or not, if you make Sachi cry then you can bet me and the others will make sure you lose some teeth. In a friendly way, of course."

"…duly noted." accepted the gamer with a wry smile, even as the other boy let go of him and went to talk with the aforementioned girl, who was happily greeting a confused Kotone back to the world of awareness after whatever 'happy bliss' in where she was in had worn off.

When he heard the bell announcing the end of lunch and the start of the next period ringing, Kazuto couldn't help but wonder how things would go in the future, even as he stopped for a moment and saw everyone starting to walk away, smiling and happily chatting between them.

For a moment, he silently stared at his empty right hand, closing it into a fist.

The words of someone that couldn't be saved echoed through his mind…

"And how much of yourself did you lose going past it? How much of Kazuto did Kirito destroy?"

For a moment, his hand was clad in a white glove, his fist hiding the power to Destroy It All…

"Sensei! What are you doing there?" echoed Asuna's voice, making the black-haired boy blink and look towards where everyone was staring at him with raised eyebrows. "We're going to be late for the next period!"

"Ah…sorry, coming!" quickly answered the gamer while running towards them, a smile appearing on his face once again.

There would be time to worry about such things later. Now, though, he was okay, with those he loved and with a future that promised to be peaceful.

That was all he needed to know.

00000000000000000

"…well, this is goodbye, I guess."

Muttering these words more to himself than to anyone else, Kayaba Akihiko stared silently at the setting virtual sun of Alfheim, not really looking back towards the three figures behind him.

"…do you really have to go?" asked Yuuki with a hint of sadness, staring at the back of the man who suddenly sounded extremely old. "You could just…stay around, you know. Relax for a while…enjoy your new life."

She knew he was responsible for many horrible things, yes, and that there was no way that the world could ever forgive him…but he wasn't completely a bad person. If anything, he was someone that had lost his way, and that now was struggling to try to fit in the right one.

Her answer was a dry chuckle, not a hint of real mirth on it, as the father of virtual reality turned around to face her and the others.

"No, I don't think so. Now that the crisis is over, I'm sure my presence wouldn't really be welcomed anymore." stated Kayaba with a somber tone, a sad smile on his face as he stared at the horizon. "Kirito won't forgive me, ever. Neither will any of the others…and I'm sure you two won't either, Yui-chan, Strea-kun."

"…you're not as bad as I thought you were…but you hurt my little sister." coldly muttered the oldest of the MHCPs as she stared at her creator dead in the eyes. "And that's something I will never forgive."

"Yui-nee…" whispered Strea while grasping her sister's hand, a bittersweet look on her eyes. "…thanks."

In silence, the man of the lab coat watched how they held hands, also noticing the tired and weary form in which they stood, the clear shaking in Yui's eyes and the slight trembling of the Gnome's hands.

They were an extremely beautiful example of how far beyond even his wildest dreams had virtual reality gone. At the same time, it broke his heart watching the two virtual girls still showing clear signs of trauma from having had to kill some of their other 'sisters'.

Because in a way, he was also responsible for it all.

"…no point delaying this anymore, then." sighed the creator of virtual reality as he turned around, once again staring at Alfheim's infinite sky. "If Kirito or the others ask where I went…well, I myself am not sure, so it doesn't really matter."

"…what are you going to do?" softly asked Yuuki while tilting her head.

"There are…many things, which I need to look into. Make sure that what…happened with Equinox doesn't repeat." firmly said Kayaba while remembering the many horrible and sinister things he had read some dark people were using the fruits of his dream for. "And I also need to discover…something more."

Idly, his mind remembered that last file, those two words as a title being the only remaining data of whatever it had been that Equinox discovered and drove her over the edge of her already damaged psyche.

He didn't know what exactly that 'Project: Alicization' was, but he would do his best to find out, to the last consequences.

"Then…goodbye." weakly said Strea, clearly unsure of how to feel towards the man that had once tried to kill her but had helped them all preserve their lives and the world just the previous day.

"…goodbye. Take care, you all." finally muttered the man of the lab coat before turning around once again, starting to walk away.

Not having even taken 4 steps, Kayaba Akihiko vanished from the world of Alfheim Online, heading once again towards the massive and lonely place that was the internet, to start his long task…

The three virtual girls were standing there in silence for almost 5 minutes before finally moving again, slowly heading back towards the guild's log house.

When they arrived at the clearing beside the house, Tonky's worried form turned towards them, the beast making a trumpeting sound as it got closer and gently touched Strea's side with his trunk.

Smiling at the gesture, the Gnome caressed the elephant-jellyfish even as her older sister floated up to his head and sat on top of him, scratching it while chuckling softly.

Watching all of this, Yuuki let her own smile blossom again and joined two sisters in 'petting' the UHA's loyal beast-friend, staring towards its several strange eyes.

"You're also sad, uh? After all, you did lose a friend in this fight…" sadly muttered the Imp…before seeing the eyes blink at her in confusion. "Uh?"

"Eh? What are you talking about, Yuuki-mama?" asked Yui in confusion while tilting her head. "Our shy neighbor didn't die."

"Yeah! I mean, Equinox tried very hard, but he kind of can't die unless you totally destroy the whole system. He's awesome like that." clarified Strea with her own smile, even as Yuuki suddenly noticed an ominous and sinister feeling behind her.

"And…ehm…where is he…?"

"Right behind you." cheerfully pointed the youngest-looking AI, making the Imp turn around and look up, to the THING that was staring into her soul.

Tall and slender, with no face, wearing some kind of expensive-looking 'suit' that was in fact part of his skin, sinister-looking tentacles moving abnormally on his back…!

"…hi, I'm Yuuki." greeted the Holy Swordswoman while raising her hand.

There were several seconds of awkward silence before, mutedly, the humanoid abomination took her hand with one of his (If those could be called hands), shaking it back.

"Yay! You didn't run away screaming like Argo!" happily celebrated Strea while raising her arms. "Oh, and he is…well, he doesn't really have a name, or at least not one that he can tell us…"

"We call him Slendy, though!" clarified Yui with a smile on her own.

"Ah, nice to meet you, Slendy!" finished Yuuki while letting go of the creature's hands, turning around to stare back at the other two virtual girls, ignoring the apparently utterly confused look on Slendy's…not-face. "So, what were you saying before, Strea?"

"…gah! Can't believe that idiot Kayaba almost made me forgot!" cursed the Gnome before quickly grabbing the blinking Imp's hand and rushing towards the log house. "Quick, we need to call the rest! The events of yesterday may have thrown my plans out of the window, but I will be dammed if this Valentine's Day isn't something to remember for everyone!"

Watching her little sister drag one of her 'Mamas' away, Yui felt a smile once again spreading on her face. Idly, she saw how their shy neighbor shrugged and, after waving goodbye at Tonky, who answered in kind, left for the woods again, vanishing between a blink and the next.

Silently caressing the elephant-jellyfish's head, the Mental Health Care Program-001 looked towards the sky.

For a moment, she thought about her other sisters.

Putting a hand over her eyes, Yui felt the tears that fell for a moment before she closed her eyes, pushing the memory away.

Everything was well now. The world had been saved, her real family had been protected and they could all live happily ever after now.

And yet…

"…if there is any place where you are now…I hope you are at peace…little ones…"

That line of thought finished, Yui opened her eyes and smiled once again, letting her power envelop her as she flew towards the log house.

The future was waiting, after all…

00000000000000000

Kazuto sighed once he returned home, tired but happy, even as he felt Suguha walking besides him with a similar expression on her face.

It was night already, and the day had seemed longer than it really was.

They had all already decided to gone out and spent some time together 'as friends', given the date, but they certainly weren't expecting Strea to call them after having met with Shino and Sugu, and then almost literally force them to go through some 'romantic' things she had planned for, like going to a small festival, dinner at a nice place, a special spot to watch the fireworks…

Honestly, while a part of him knew he should be worried wondering from where the vibrant girl had gotten the money for all of that, he had been too busy enjoying the day and the girls' company to care too much for it.

A part of him had felt a little bad that Yuuki and Strea were technically only attending to their 'special day together' through the Communication Probe, but both had assured the worried group that it wasn't a problem.

They could be together with them in the virtual world almost every day, after all, but the virtual girls had assured them that, after the yesterday's events, they wanted to enjoy the real world with them as much as they could too, even if was just through a camera.

That had made the black-haired boy feel much more determined. As soon as he could, he was going to try and get a part-time job or something, then get Sachi and Keita's help to continue working on the Probe and its future upgrades.

He had never wanted the frontier between the virtual and the real world to be shorter than right then…

"Onii-chan?" called his adoptive sister from the living room, making the gamer snap out of his thoughts and look at her. "Mom won't be coming back tonight. It seems things were in quite the mess in her office…"

"I see…that's too bad." muttered Kazuto with a slightly guilty look on his face.

Yesterday, when he got home, his adoptive mother had all but squeezed the life out of him, seeming on the verge of crying, before angrily demanding why he had thought it would be a good idea to go out and see if his friends were okay after the communications went down (Excuse that Strea apparently had quickly made up and relayed to Sugu through Justice) in the middle of a 'terrorist attack'. The fact that he hadn't taken his motorcycle and instead taking Suguha's bicycle for 'safety reasons' had relieved some of her fears, but hadn't really diminished her worry/anger much, especially after seeing the state the aforementioned vehicle was in.

It was only thanks to the fact that the whole 'fighting the entire incarnated force of virtual reality' was still fresh on his mind that he had been able to truly seem scared and worried enough for his mother to believe his excuses about his deep worries (Which had been in fact been true, in a way) and how some punk had tried to stole the bicycle and he had chased him before the robber threw it against an old house's window and ran for it.

He hadn't realized how much he hated hating lying to his aunt…his mother, when Kirigaya Midori had finally calmed down and just hugged both he and Sugu, telling them to never worry her like that again. It had been a long time since they had been able to have dinner and spent almost an entire night together as a family, but the woman had been smiling through it all, extremely happy. The gamer had realized that he had been smiling too. And that only had made him feel guiltier.

Never mind the whole 'going to save the world at personal risk'-thing, Kazuto had to accept that what both he and Sugu were scared the most was how the woman that had raised them would react when, not if, she knew of their current 'relationship'.

Being honest, the black-haired boy would feel satisfied if they could just make her understand the situation and see her accepting what they felt for each other. Then, he could die happy when the woman killed him, without a doubt, at learning about the REST of his girlfriends.

The gamer was suddenly brought back to reality when he felt a hand nervously grasping his. Blinking, he looked down to see Suguha standing just beside him, her face blushing extremely and, for some reason, shaking.

"Sugu? Are you okay?" worriedly asked Kazuto while putting a hand on her shoulders.

The young kendoka raised her face, looking straight on his eyes before leaning forward. Then, to her surprise, she froze before turning around, confusing the black-haired boy, who had been ready to accept the kiss.

"No…would be bad…acted first…" mumbled the katana-user before shaking her head and touching her burning cheeks.

"Eh, Sugu? What's going o…?"

"O-Onii-chan, le-let's meet in ALO in ten minutes, okay?! I-I will be waiting on the log house m-me and Asuna have something fo-for you!" quickly cut him off Suguha before rushing upstairs without looking at him, so fast it seemed her feet were on fire.

The gamer stood there dumbly for almost a minute, wondering what the hell had just happened, before quickly replaying the days' events to try and see if he could discover what was going on.

Sadly, besides Shino's outrageous request (Even more because she had actually said it with a shy and cute voice) of joining him and his adoptive sister next time they went out as vigilantes, nothing especially strange had happened…except for the part where both Suguha and Asuna had gone to the bathroom at the same time. While Asuna carried the Communication Probe…

Okay, so, Strea probably had something to do with this. On a side note, the sniper of the group had reminded him he needed to buy a new cape and gloves, and probably pants too, to replace his ruined 'costume'.

Banishing those thoughts for another, less weird, time, Kazuto headed to the kitchen and took a moment to drink some water before staring in silence at the window and, finally, going to his room.

The boy was wondering why he felt so nervous, but chalked it off to just the uncertainty of the situation before putting on his Nerve Gear (For he felt some kinship to the machine after yesterday's events and had decided to use it a bit more instead of his AmuSphere, despite his avatar having 'returned' to his normal account) and, after a moment of hesitation, Logging Into ALO.

When the multicolored lights faded from his view and he found himself on the world of fairies once more, Kirito allowed himself a moment to stare at the moon from his place on Aincrad's 40th Floor, the current Front Line.

The caped Spriggan wondered what Kayaba was doing at that moment, still not sure of how to take the man's disappearance and his supposed goal to wipe out the 'corruption' of his dream from the world. Did that made him some sort of Anti-Hero now? The gamer wasn't sure, but he quickly found out that, in the end, he didn't really care that much.

Those he loved were okay. The world was still standing and safe from the madness that surrounded his life. And as long as he could still raise those fists of his, he would still do his best to make sure everything stayed that way.

With that last thought, Kirito nodded to himself and vanished in a blur of speed, arriving to Floor 22 shortly after.

The caped boy was confused, though, seeing no lights turned on inside the log house. Weren't Asuna and Leafa supposed to be there? And even if they hadn't arrived yet for whatever they had to tell him, Strea, Yui and Yuuki should be inside, and it was still too early for them to have gone to sleep…

Casually, he noticed that Tonky was nowhere to be found either, the elephant-jellyfish absent from his usual resting spot beside the UHA's 'headquarters'.

Feeling a strange tension at the increasingly weirder situation, the gamer walked towards the front door at a normal pace, slowly opening it and looking into the darkened area as he entered.

"Hello? Leafa? Asuna? Anyone?" frowning, Kirito entered the house and closed the door behind him, instinctively heading towards where he knew the switch for the building's artificial illumination was. "Where is everyo…?"

"Kirito-kun." came a soft and familiar voice from his side, though with a strangely serious tone, almost making the surprised boy jump as he felt her grabbing his right hand.

"Asuna?! God, you almost gave me a heart atta…!"

"Onii-chan…" whispered another familiar voice as he felt another slender hand grabbing his other hand, confusing him at the strange mix of nervousness and determination on her voice.

"Su…? Uhm, Leafa? Okay, what's happe…?"

"Not here. Come with us." interrupted the Undine before starting to drag the confused boy upstairs, the silent Sylph doing the same as he followed them with trepidation and a strange feeling inside of him, even as a part of the boy's mind wondered why they hadn't turned on the lights yet.

When they finally entered the house's biggest room, the gamer felt both girls finally release him before closing the door, making him shake his head with a mix of confusion and wariness.

"Okay, I give up! What has gotten into…you…two…?"

Whatever Kirito had been about to say died in his throat, even as the moonlight spilling through the window finally allowed him to see the figures of both girls.

Leafa's hair was down, probably the second most notorious thing, giving her an unusual and charming look, like a golden waterfall falling down her back, which the blushing Sylph didn't seem to mind as she tried to stare at him without looking away in embarrassment.

That had probably something to do with the fact that both of them were barefoot and wearing nothing but thin, see-through nightgowns, one green and the other blue, letting him easily see the underwear they were wearing.

The caped Spriggan felt a part of his brain fry itself when he realized neither of them was actually wearing underwear for the upper part of their bodies, letting him see a visage most males would kill for.

"Gah…wha…eh…?!"

"Strea and the others are spending the night in Alne. And she already told everyone to not Log In tonight because of…important things…" started Leafa while taking a step towards him, putting a hand on his chest.

"Technically, this was our idea, but she helped quite a lot. She didn't seem mad, though, just saying that she wants to be the 'next' when the time…comes…" followed Asuna while also getting closer to him, her hand stopping beside the other girl's. "Remember what I told you before the meeting with the Fairy Lords? I wasn't joking, Sensei."

"A-Asuna, Su-Sugu, yo-you don't need to…you don't have to…"

"But we want to, Onii…Kazuto-kun." softly spoke Leafa while looking at him, her eyes filled with love, yearning and a deeper emotion the gamer was unable to properly name. "I…we love you. We truly do. And we want to show you how much…"

"And while doing this in the real world would bring way too many problems right now…we don't have those limitations here, so…we can 'reward' our Hero." whispered the Undine to his ear while leaning closer to him, making Kirito start shaking. "Especially after Strea kindly told us you discovered a way to take off that costume of yours."

"…I'm afraid to even ask how she knows about that." numbly muttered the caped Spriggan, as he had never actually told that 'secret' to anyone, and only used it to sometimes relax in secret either on the sea or a random hot springs of ALO.

"We…won't force you to do anything you don't want to, Onii-chan. And of course, we won't keep this a secret for the rest; that would be selfish." came Leafa's voice as she put a hand on his cheek. "Don't you want this, Onii-chan?"

There was a moment of silence as the gamer's mind entered the mystic task of pondering that question.

On the one hand, the two girls he loved the most in the world were half-naked, pressing themselves against him and telling him he could really do whatever he wanted with them without holding back. On the other hand…

…what other hand?

Instead of answering verbally, Kirito quickly let his arms wrap around the surprised girls, locking lips with the surprised Sylph and almost sucking out her soul with a kiss that left her weak in the legs. He quickly proceeded to the same with a suddenly very enthusiastic Undine, even as she tried her best to kiss back and not end like the half-conscious mess in which Leafa seemed to have become, eyes dreamy and gasping for breath.

"Does that…answer the question?" gasped the caped Spriggan, the years of pent-up tension that any normal and hormonal teenager would feel in his situation screaming for release.

"Yes." both of them muttered lovingly before they started kissing again, even as they half-consciously operated their Menus…

And as the three teens finally let their feelings flow freely like never before, somewhere, the MHCP-002, codename Strea, was smiling, knowing that everything was right in the world. Everyone could be happy.

…well, maybe except a certain and still half-destroyed bicycle leaning against the side of the Kirigaya's house, which was 'shaking' unnaturally as it kept receiving 'feedback' from the link with her master, unable to not look or turn away from…the scene.

'…I hate my life.' summarized Justice while cursing her existence with a depressed/excited tone, still unable to look away.

And almost everything was right with the world…

00000000000000000

Somewhere, on the dark alleys of a small city in the Tokyo Prefecture, people that one would rather not get on the bad side of on a dark night like this one were cowering, afraid.

For the dark examples of humanity hiding on that backward place knew to fear the dark form of the young man that walked stealthily through the alleys, always looking around and over his shoulder as if he believed he was being followed, a slightly crazed look on his eyes as he 'played' with the small knife he carried,

Stepping out of the darkened streets and leaning against the side of a rundown building, Kanemoto Atsuchi, once known in Sword Art Online as 'Johnny Black', groaned as he let himself slid to the ground, staring with annoyance to the sky.

He had been on the run like this for months now, and it was only either a combination of his skill as an SAO Survivor and sheer dumb luck, or a great showing of incompetence for the authorities' part, what allowed him to still be 'free'. If his current lifestyle could be called that, though.

He couldn't even go around relieving his stress by killing random nobodies, for he knew he would be fucked the moment he attracted even the smallest bit of attention towards himself. And he had no wish to end up wherever the hell they had taken Xaxa.

In the end, though, all of it was HIS fault, like always.

"Curse you, fucking Kirito. I hope you're suffering some shitty accident or something right now." snarled the virtual killer, though seriously doubting that was the case, for some mysterious reason.

Idly, as he always did to calm himself, Atsuchi caressed the small, needleless syringe he carried on his ragged and worn out jacket, feeling its weight and imagining himself injecting the caped bastard with it.

At this point, though, the last of the 'real world Death Gun', the only remaining syringe of the substance known as succinylcholine, was little more than a good luck charm or a reminder for him to not go insane. The actual possibilities of him ever getting close to that damn 'Hero' on the real world (And he would first need to know who the fuck he was on reality to do that), were as much as those of anything interesting happening in the next minutes.

It was understandable, then, that the young man almost jumped out of his skin when the ringing of a phone started echoing near him, a nearby and clearly not very used telephone booth 10 meters from him being the cause.

For a long while, the confused killer just stared dumbly at it, almost as if wondering if he was dreaming. When the ringing stopped, only to quickly start again, Atsuchi finally stood up and, after glancing warily around the empty street, walked towards the phone and answered it.

"…who the hell is calling?" rasped the man with just a small hint of nervousness, the whole situation seeming straight out of some strange horror movie.

"Ah, Johnny. Been a while, hasn't it?" a smooth voice echoed through the line, making the killer freeze and almost let go of the phone. "It's almost a pleasure to hear your voice again. Almost."

Somewhere else, the man that everyone in SAO had once known as 'PoH' smiled darkly, clearly amused at the obvious shock/fear of his old 'associate'.

"Bo-Boss?! Is that really you?!" half-shouted the wide-eyed Atsuchi while looking around, now clearly panicking. "Why…?! When…?! How…how did you even know where to find me?!"

"Ah, that would be telling, wouldn't it, Johnny? Let's cut to the chase, though: I now have some, let's say, 'influential' people for which I work for, and they're VERY interested in acquiring the services of a certain 'old friend' of ours, mainly because of the amusing 'show' he put up on the, how was it called…Bullet of Bullets?"

"Wha…? Xaxa? Bu-but he…" realization filled the man's eyes as he froze, suddenly feeling as if the phone on his hands weighed a ton.

"Tell me, Johnny, wouldn't you like to go and help your old pal? If you manage to do it successfully, you won't need to keep running around like a rat, of course…"

Even as he felt the hesitation and desperation inside Atsuchi's mind start fighting a battle he already knew how would end, the Prince of Hell let out an amused chuckle.

It looked like soon it would be Showtime once again…

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So late at night, very few people were still around and awake inside the psychiatric hospital near the outskirts of Tokyo. Patients aside (Most of which already were or had been put to sleep), only the bare minimum personnel needed for emergencies and security remained awake and working.

Then again, it wouldn't have come as a surprise that even those few that were still there looked deadly tired. After all, with the events that happened on the nearby capital the past day, they had been unable to rest in the slightest for more time than it was healthy, most of the patients unable to be moved to another location during the 'terrorist attack', which had made the stress levels skyrocket everywhere as the personnel in charge of the building feared something would happen to them.

In the end, though, nothing had happened. The authorities had cleared the city late at night and the government had made an announcement saying that the crisis had been solved and the culprits' plan stopped, after which they had disappeared and were being 'actively pursued'. Not that most of the people there really cared, and they were sure that most of those eager to just return to their homes did either.

Those that did, though, had started endless rumors and conspiracy theories running around about what exactly had happened, what had REALLY happened and what the government was trying to hide…

All of this went through the mind of the bored man sitting on the reception, his gaze turned toward some old horror movie being shown on the TV. Suddenly, his attention was drawn away from the scene of the helpless teenagers trapped in an abandoned building with the monster when he heard the sound of footsteps heading his way.

The tired-looking guard stopped near him, sighing as he left an empty tray over the counter.

"Man, I swear, this job is going to depress me to death. I should have heard my mother when she told me to study harder on high school…"

"At least you only are here on the nights, when they're mostly asleep." snorted the receptionist while shaking his head. "I swear, I get that these guys are sick, and most of them are fairly harmless most of the time, but some of them…brr, only thinking about it makes me shudder."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me…" his eyes suddenly containing a spark of interest, the guard looked towards his coworker before starting to whisper. "That guy, the weird one in room 230…"

"230? Shinkawa? Ugh, see? That's one of the ones I didn't want to think about." groaned the older man while grabbing his head, seeming very annoyed. "He was a mess when they brought him here, and only making sure he stayed alive was a fucking odyssey for days. Then, he goes catatonic and barely reacts anymore, but when you get close you can swear he's STARING at you with those sinister eyes of his…"

"Yeah, well, what I was saying…are the rumors true? What the other caretakers say?" asked the guard with an excited look, his gaze moving everywhere as if to make sure no one was spying on them.

"…what exactly have you heard?" questioned the suddenly serious receptionist with narrowed eyes.

"That there are no records about the reason why he was transferred here out of the blue and that his files are highly classified and that some men from the government were with the group that brought him here." quickly replied the younger man. "And…that they think he's HIM. The 'monster' of the Bullet of Bullets. Death Gun!"

"Shh! What the hell, man?! Don't say that fucking name aloud!" growled the old receptionist while looking around, before quickly dragging the young guard towards him, eyes serious. "Hear, I don't know how that rumor started, but it would be best if you try to ignore it, okay? I don't know the details because we were specifically told to NOT ask questions about that guy. Whatever the hell is going on with him, I'm better off not knowing."

"But…the others said they head him saying that name several times, back when he was all crazy! And sometimes I could swear I heard it too, when passing near his room." argued the man with a frown. "You know, that super strong guy that beat him! Kirito!"

"I don't know anything about that, nor am I going to judge or make crazy theories about one of the patients here just because he kept repeating a name that for all we know he just heard on the internet." cut him off the receptionist with an annoyed tone, turning again to look back at the TV. "Now go and finish your damn shift already!"

"Okay, okay, no need for all that hostility, geez…" shaking his head with resignation, the guard started walking away. "…I can't argue about the eyes part, though. Seriously, those red eyes of his are REALLY creepy…"

His head snapping towards the younger man, the suddenly pale receptionist staring in shock, just as the movie's monster on the screen caught one of the poor protagonists.

"Wait…what did you said about his eyes…?"

Deep within the psychiatric hospital, on a room with a tag announcing '230: Shinkawa Shouichi', the silent form of a young man was huddled in silence on a corner, staring at everything and nothing as senseless mumbles escaped his mouth.

Then, suddenly, his gaze snapped towards the ceiling, as if looking at something that wasn't there.

"…to…Ki…ri…"

Endlessly, the only slightly comprehensible word in the middle of the mad whispers was repeated.

Finally, after months of endless darkness and constant haunting images, on the back of the mind belonging to the one who had once been known as 'Red-Eyed' Xaxa…something crumbled, as a depth of despair and darkness that no human being should know was reached.

On the suddenly unusually silent room with padded walls, the sound of something dripping into the floor was as loud as a gunshot. On the darkness, a face looked towards the door, blood slowly dripping down his face like crimson tears.

In the middle of the black corner, his suddenly all-red eyes shone like lights of oblivion.

"…KI…RI…TO…"

Suddenly, things were not going right with the World anymore…

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Sitting silently on a chair while looking at several abnormally big computer screens, Seijirou Kikuoka read the latest reports about the events that had taken place the previous day.

It was surprising, to be honest, how little more than lesser injuries and the occasional small robbery had happened after the madness of the 'terrorist attack' against the capital. The problems that came with the impromptu evacuation and the following order for people to return home aside, things had been oddly peaceful even when the capital was left half-abandoned.

Of course, this may have had to do with the many rumors from a few eyewitnesses about a certain vigilante running around on the bicycle of his 'boss', punching the shit out of anyone he saw trying to commit a crime and helping those he saw in troubles during the incident…

"The 'Caped Sidekick' acting alone and the Bicycle Girl nowhere to be seen, uh?" muttered the bespectacled man while releasing a chuckle, as if thinking of a personal joke. "Honestly…sometimes I really don't get you, Kirigaya-kun…"

Turning his head towards another screen, the officer's eyes sharpened while remembering the report he had to forward to his superiors that same morning, after all, investigations about the events were over, and they later gave a 'public' version of the events to the general populace.

It helped that most of them believed that it really had been a terrorist attack, despite the official reports his department had made and the, even if scarce, evidence they had shown.

Most politicians really didn't want to accept the fact that a group of crazy Artificial Intelligence could appear and suddenly try to conquer the world, it seemed. Some things were better off staying in fiction (Even when not long ago a lunatic had tried to develop actual brainwashing using VR-tech, and before that one man trapped 10000 inside a Death Game).

On the other hand, those few that did believe that something surreal happened had been more than eager to bring more funds to his 'project'. Everything had a bright side, it seemed.

Especially given what his teams, the first to arrive at the 'Ground Zero', had found and retrieved…

"Kiku-kun?" suddenly came a curious voice from the entrance, making Kikuoka turn around to see a familiar figure standing on the room's entrance. "You still working in there?"

"Yes…someone needs to make sure our paperwork gets done, Takeru."

One wouldn't tell by his looks, especially with the whitened blond hair that stood up like a hill of swords, the T-shirt with its faded in color or the three-quarter length jeans and sneakers with damaged soles. (The round-rimmed glasses didn't help much either), but Higa Takeru was a genius. One that could very much revolutionize the world in many ways.

Not surprising, given that he had gone to university with both Kayaba Akihiko and Koujiro Rinko. And, later in his life, had worked in the same university's lab in which the father of virtual reality and Sugou Noboyuki had been the prodigies of.

He had always looked up to the 'greatness' of those that surrounded him. And, for those and other, personal reasons, he wanted to help 'change' the world.

Which was exactly what they were working on in that place, arguably the most secret and one of the most protected facilities in the whole country.

"Yeah, say that as if you were the one who does most of the work." scoffed Takeru while shaking his head, walking until he stood at his friend's side. "…I'm still not sure if what we did was a good idea, Kikuoka."

The sudden shift in the usually meek man's tone made the officer stop and turn towards him, a serious and determined look on his face.

"It had to be done. You know that the new funds have come with pressure for us to hurry up. And the 'unexpected problem' with the Fluctlights has already put us behind schedule more than we ever thought, no matter how much 'Accelerated Time' we use." turning his face towards a very specific screen, which showed another room of the facility, showing a damaged-looking piece of hardware and several people taking notes or connecting cables to it, using portable terminals to look over its systems. "Besides, we didn't really 'lie' to anyone. All the other Servers had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in that mysterious fire…"

In the investigation room, the form of the half-burned piece of hardware shook for a moment, as energy was given to it at intervals as top-tier computers were used to analyze, copy and try to repair all data it contained.

"Except for that one." dryly finished the blond man while looking uneasily at his 'boss'. "Seriously, Kiku-kun…you know that we're not only risking our jobs if they discover we took it, but we're also literally playing with fire. If that thing was even half as dangerous as those rumors say…"

"That's why we're making sure those rumors stay like that: Just rumors." cut him off Kikuoka with a sharp tone.

It hadn't been easy, but with their resources, they had been able to misdirect, distract and even add enough of their own false rumors for the thread in the ALO Forums to stay as something that no one would really 'believe' in the grand scheme of things.

While there was no doubt on his mind that a good chunk of players from Alfheim Online believed that the one called Kirito had indeed fought a super AI to stop it from taking over the world, it would remain just another of the wild rumors that had plagued interned for years now. They would make sure of it.

"…is this worth the risk?" quietly questioned Takeru with a small voice, as if desperately wanting confirmation.

For all answer, the other bespectacled man quickly typed some things on his keyboard, bringing out several images, some hazy and others clear, that had been taken by Players of ALO.

An armor-clad girl with a bat tearing through an army with ever-increasing strength, a childish figure carrying a silver doll that left only screaming and seemingly mad players in her wake, tall mechanic machines armed with all kind of weapons destroying everything on their path…

And just under them, images taken from the Bullet of Bullets were shown. Of the sinister and inhuman 'monster' wearing a dark cloak, his red eyes piercing into the soul.

"This. No matter what, no matter if we have to cannibalize most of the Code that remains of that thing or if we have to fill the blanks ourselves, we NEED to get the key in which it created these things so easily, how it programmed those 'powers' against the normal rules of the Systems." firmly muttered Kikuoka with a strange glint on his eyes. "It may be the answer we have been looking for. To finally bring the Project out of its stagnant state."

"…I will get back to work on it, then." answered the blonde man before turning around, stopping for a moment after taking a few steps. "…what should I do if…I mean, when I'm done?"

"Compile the program obtained, and load it into the Underworld." declared the other bespectacled man while crossing his hands together, fingers interlaced under his chin. "It's time to accelerate our progress."

With a last nod, Takeru left, once again leaving Kikuoka alone in the room.

Silently, the man stared at the only piece that had been 'saved' from the fire that had destroyed and consumed most of the Utopia Servers, thinking back in how, as his agents had reported, the only reason this had happened was because 'someone unknown' had put out the first fire that had erupted from it, reducing the damages to a minimum compared with every other piece of hardware in the warehouse.

Slowly, the officer moved his hand under the desk he was sitting in, bringing out the half-burned and long piece of white cloth his agents had recovered.

The destroyed cape seemed to stare back at him, as if judging him. Kikuoka took a decision.

They were going to need someone 'real' to truly test the human interaction with the Fluctlights, after all…

Meanwhile…everything was dark for the 'fragment' of thought.

It could not understand what was happening. It wasn't fully aware of its surroundings. 99% of its systems had been destroyed, after all, and whatever remained was too damaged to make sense of anything.

Only two things properly remained, and one of them was currently in the process of being analyzed, the few systems that remained attached to it being butchered and put together time and time again like a never-ending cycle.

The broken program only knew that it was related to a story and its characters. One about a man that could beat everything with one punch…

The other, though, was something strange and worrying. It was a 'thought', one could say. An incomplete one, but that repeated endlessly, in an almost agonic way, through the program's Code.

"I'm sorry…"

Too bad, the program incoherently thought, that it couldn't remember to whom or about what it was sorry for. And that hurt it, in a terribly painful way, even if didn't know what.

The program was badly damaged. It was a miracle in itself that it even still existed, as if only brittle pieces of glass put together in a painful way. It should have failed already, shut down despite the efforts of the humans basically dissecting it for the knowledge it hid…

But it just wouldn't. It didn't DIE. It couldn't die.

As if some superior force was forbidding it from the peace of oblivion as punishment for…something…

When Higa Takeru returned to work on the damaged computer, the moment he activated his own portable terminal, he froze, eyes widening as, for an instant, a twisted message appeared on his screen, before fading and just letting the usual screen showing the progress of the data recovery of the hardware before him.

The blonde man would make his coworkers run several tests and even scan fully his portable terminal, but, in the end, no evidence that the message had existed appeared. Finally, the genius was forced to chalk it up to his tired and overworked imagination and continue with his work.

Scavenging what they needed of the original Cardinal System's remains was a very difficult task, after all.

Still…he could almost feel a strange shiver running down his back, remembering the words he had read on his small screen, even if only for a brief instant.

                                 "Why can't I die…?"

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On Its Throne above Everything, [FATE] tore Its gaze away from that dammed Universe.

It was done.

Silently, the Absolute One saw how the Threads of the Future in that specific part of the Omniverse, which had been much clearer compared with the 'Universe Prime' of that Multiverse, turned a dark gray, then pitch black.

It had been forced to abuse Its usual 'loopholes' to extremes It had never been forced to before, but it had been necessary.

Reality was so badly damaged it had already begun to 'bleed' on its edges. The World was already starting to reflect this in several worrying ways, which would only escalate further if left untouched.

Even using whatever remained of the insignificant existence that had come the closest to actually neutralize the Anomaly was acceptable, but the One above All knew it most likely wouldn't be enough.

[DEATH] would be outraged without a doubt, having been denied another existence that should belong to 'her' again, from the same Universe, but [FATE] didn't care about the whims of Its 'sister' in that moment.

Drastic measures needed to be taken. Its siblings would need to be called upon, and a meeting held.

The Balance of the Omniverse couldn't be risked by a single and insignificant universe. If the last of Its attempts to break the Anomaly failed…[Purification] would need to be enacted.

It knew [LIFE] would probably argue against it, but it would matter little if [DEATH] side with Its point of view, which it would without a doubt do after the Anomaly had stolen an existence that rightfully belonged to her, damaging Reality further when doing so.

[TIME] and [SPACE] wouldn't care, as always, siding with the oldest Absolute Ones by default. The Eternal Twins only cared for Balance and maintaining the Great Void, after all.

The only problem…would be [DESTINY].

Thinking about the youngest of Its siblings, the One Above All felt Its metaphorical eyes narrowing.

Everything should have ended the moment the corrupted existence had separated the Anomaly from the Gift It had given him long ago. There was no physical way for the human to recover his connection to it. The Anomaly should have been neutralized.

Instead, against all odds, the human had done the impossible and, using the original medium with which [FATE] toyed with his Destiny on the beginning, had recovered his Gift and triumphed once again.

Only the interference of another Absolute One could have allowed this to happen. After all, the Rules prohibited [FATE] from using Its Omniscience over Its siblings. And that also meant that there was no proof that the youngest one had done something that could literally be considered betrayal against everything they stood for, aiding in the further damaging of the Balance they were supposed to preserve.

[DESTINIY]'s obsession with lesser beings had been worrying for way too long, but none of them could imagine it had come down to this. Of course, he would never actually confess he had done such a thing…which meant that, with the support of most of the others, he would be forced to also approve of the [Purification].

'Nodding' to Itself, the oldest of the Absolute Ones leaned back on Its Throne again. Suddenly, without apparent warning and nothing that indicated anything had been done, 'something' manifested behind It.

There were no words or Concepts that could describe the construct, but it was above to Divine or even Cosmic understanding. If it had to be 'dumbed down' for something like humans to understand it could have been called something akin to…a sand clock.

And in that place where the Concept of [Time] didn't exist, the metaphorical grains started to fall, silent and never to be stopped.

[FATE] called for Its siblings, all the preparations complete.

Now it only remained to be seen…

Would the Anomaly break under the nightmare that awaited him?

Or would It finally take the pleasure of crushing his entire portion of Reality like the Omniversal Cancer it had become?

Whatever it happened…it would certainly be interesting to see…

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[One Punch-Gamer]: The End

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To be continued…in -OPG: Chains of Fate-