Chapter 20: Absolute Holy Sword?! Behold, the One called Zekken!

October 5th, 2025. Kawagoe, Saitama. Somewhere in the city, 20:30…

The night was cold, winter making itself present in the form of the chilly air that ran through the noticeably emptier city.

It was through one of its many and cold streets that a figure ran, looking over his shoulder several times while trying to regain his ragged breath, ignoring the scarce people shouting at him when he crashed or pushed them aside, shooting into an alley to try and get away from his currently unseen pursuer.

Almost as if it was a curse from the underworld, the man heard the faint sound of bicycle's wheels skidding on the distance.

This wasn't supposed to happen, or at least those were the frantic thoughts of the petty thief. It was supposed to be another simple night pickpocketing and maybe getting a purse or two, like always. He was NOT supposed to end up fleeing from the recently returned 'Urban Legend'.

While some people would have questioned the bravery of the man for fleeing from what supposedly was just a teenage girl in a bicycle, he didn't want to take any chances. He may not totally believe in the rumors of her being something inhuman or having strange powers, but the fact that the Bicycle Girl had SOMEHOW beaten the crap of two people with a CAR and a gun, coming out supposedly unharmed, was pretty much a fact. Like hell was he trying to face the vigilante with just his fists, appearances be dammed.

Lost in thought, the man felt a smile appear on his face when he saw the metallic fence at the end of the alley. Great! He knew this part of town like the back of his hand, and he could perfectly get over the fence and lose the damn vigilante through the maze-like area that came after it! His grip on his 'goods' of the day tightening, the man ran faster towards the fence, feeling hope filling him…

And then he thought he had started to go mad when he saw a figure clad in black with a white CAPE descending from nowhere, landing in the middle of the alley and blocking his way to the fence.

Perhaps, if the man had been in a more clear state of mind he may have thought that the boy in front of him had not really fallen from high in the sky (Like his terrified imagination had deduced), but just jumped down from the relatively high fire escape at the building's side. Alas, he was too busy staring at the blank and utterly bored eyes of the teen, who wore a black scarf around the lower part of face, which somehow made him feel scared shitless and extremely small.

Screaming like a lunatic, the thief raised one of his hands while gripping his stolen goods even tighter with the other, ready to shove the caped boy out of the way, not caring for what could happen.

The mysterious boy, for his part, moved around the man's clumsy 'attack' with such painful easiness that it almost seemed as if the petty thief was totally still, the man's eyes widening with a mix of horror and disbelief.

"Too slow." were the last things he heard before the caped boy rammed his fist on his stomach, with such a strength that it sent him back, sprawling into the ground.

The thief moaned something uncomprehensive just before a shinai slammed against the side of his face, knocking him out.

Standing heroically on her faithful ride, the Bicycle Girl looked up through her reflective glasses and smiled widely at the caped boy (Even if he couldn't quite see it with her health mask on) and gave him a happy thumbs-up.

"Good job, Onii-chan! You were SO cool doing that!"

"Yeah, well, I think the guy was kind of freaked out by you already, so it wasn't really difficult…" awkwardly commented Kazuto while adjusting his scarf, not mentioning that having inhuman reflexes also helped quite a bit. "Also, I think I won't try doing a jump like that again in reality, my feet are killing me…"

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?!" asked a worried Suguha while getting off the bicycle and walking towards him, pointedly ignoring Justice's totally not-jealous rage at the action. "Maybe we should stop for tonight? It's pretty cold out here, after all…"

"I think that would be for the best…" muttered the gamer while looking down at his 'costume' with a mix of amusement and despair.

In truth, it wasn't really a 'costume' in the literal sense; it was just him wearing black sport clothes and white sports shoes, nothing more. And he was only wearing white mittens because it was cold outside, the color was a total coincidence. The scarf WAS for 'concealing' his identity, of course, he couldn't very well be out there watching over his sister as another 'vigilante' while showing his face out in the open, that was just asking for trouble. Besides, any criminal they chased would probably be busier staring at his cape than at his face.

The fact that he was completely okay with wearing a cape for this should explain a lot about his current way of seeing his life (And that he probably needed to see a psychologist soon). The fact that finding a cheap white cape online had been, in fact, pretty easy, was just another reminder that they were in Japan.

Sighing, the boy nodded towards his adoptive sister, who beamed at him (Again, unseen because of the costume) and led the way back to her bicycle, him getting on the back as she rode towards somewhere they could take off their costumes (Or just the cape in his case), pointedly ignoring how he could almost feel the vehicle wishing him a horrible death. Bicycles didn't talk. As repeatedly stated, he wasn't THAT crazy.

"Heheh, let's get back and drink get hot chocolate and biscuits, Onii-chan!" happily declared Suguha, cheerfully unaware of the dark feelings Justice was directing towards her boyfriend, even as a blush spread through her face. "And…if you're feeling too cold tonight, I could always…hug you until you fell asleep…"

"Oh, uhm…thanks for the offer, Sugu…" muttered the black-haired boy with a crimson face, his adoptive sister almost losing control of the bicycle when she realized she had said that ALOUD…also not noticing that it had been partially Justice's fault that they almost crashed, as if the vehicle had felt a horrified shock at her words. "…that would be…nice."

Even as a smile slowly spread on her blushing face, the young kendoka shyly nodded.

Suddenly, none of them felt the night as cold anymore…

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October 6th, 2025. New Aincrad, Alfheim. Floor 22, 12:30…

The moment he appeared in his room on the United Heroes Association's HQ (Aka the Log House in the woods), Kirito sat up and looked out of the window with a faint smile. The caped boy was happy because Asuna would be returning that night from the 'family meeting' in which she had been the last week, all the way in Kyoto, so he was looking forward to see his disciple, best friend…and girlfriend, again.

Honestly, the thought still felt a bit weird to him, especially after remembering with a blush how nice waking up hugging Suguha had been, and that he had nothing to feel guilty about because both of them had agreed to the outrageous shared relationship they were currently in. Not that he wasn't enjoying it, of course, and he always made a point of being sure to respect both girls and shown them how much he cared for them (As best as a romantically-newb gamer could).

In fact, the caped boy would be lying if he said that a part of him didn't wish things could stay like that between them forever. Yeah, it was crazy and realistically impossible, but then again, he still had the 'power' to punch the sky apart if he so wished in the virtual world. And he had become a pseudo-vigilante together with his sister. Absurdly impossible things seemed to have been becoming the usual in his life, so, would it really be too selfish of him to wish…?

"Papa? Are you there?" came a familiar voice through the door, making the gamer push his train of thought away and turn around, smiling as he opened the door.

"Yes, it's me, Yui." greeted Kirito while looking down at his pseudo-daughter, who smiled brightly at him before grabbing his hand.

"C'mon Papa, let's go down, Strea-nee is looking through some websites to see if we find any image of you punching those players in Jotunheimr the other day!"

"O-oh, tha-that's great to hear, Yui-chan…" sweatdropped the caped boy while letting himself be dragged, feeling slightly nervous.

Truth to be told, he didn't feel really embarrassed for having done that the other day. Hell, he even was pleasantly surprised when not only the GMs didn't try to ban him, but even sent him a formal message apologizing for the troubles caused (Which apparently had, in fact, been their fault) and thanked him for having saved Ymir from what would without a doubt had been a nightmare, both in the gaming and the economic sense.

He had been quick to reply that most of the credit should go to his friends, of course, since they were the ones who had actually completed the Quest and retrieved Excaliber, preventing the crisis that would have destroyed Alfheim, but he hadn't gotten an answer after that.

No, the reason he was REALLY worried about was that he feared Strea or Yui would find out anything related to the Bicycle Girl online, especially if it included any news about her new 'sidekick' (He still remembered with amusement how Sugu had seemed outraged by the fact that anyone would call him her sidekick when they were 'partners and fellow warriors of Justice', in her words).

They weren't quite planning on 'lying' to their friends, but they still had wanted to wait till Asuna returned before telling everyone what they had been doing (And swear them to keep the secret). If anyone discovered it before they said the truth tomorrow…well, he was sure they wouldn't really blame Sugu too much. But they would probably scold HIM, a lot. He just knew it, even if it didn't make sense from a logical point of view. His life was just crazy like that.

Shaking out of those thoughts as they arrived to the house's living room, however, Kirito was surprised to find a wide-eyed Strea running around the room while operating her menu, only for the Gnome to freeze upon seeing them and hurriedly run their way.

"Yui-nee, Kirito! It's an emergency, let's move, quick! We need to go to Floor 24!"

"Wait, what?!" shouted the caped boy even as the AI girl quickly grabbed his hand and started to drag him out of the door, a blinking Yui following behind as she changed to pixie form. "Strea, wait a minute, what's wrong?"

"The others…! Well, you see, remember how Argo-chan was trying to obtain all the info she could about OSSs to help with our 'project?'"

In response, Kirito nodded softly at her, a small thoughtful look on his face.

Original Sword Skill, or OSS for short, was another new feature Ymir had added to ALO with the latest update. Basically, it added a special option to a player's menu that allowed one to enter a 'recording' mode, with which you could create your very own and personal Sword Skills.

Of course, this wasn't easy by any stretch: The original Sword Skill System had been created by recording the movements of experts in the use of the weapons using specialized equipment, back before the SAO incident, and as such creating your own required a mastery of your chosen weapon that went way beyond the average player, not to mention a certain degree of ability and speed to make the system acknowledge the Skill, or the 'recording' would end in failure. Kirito had been sure any of the girls, even Sugu, could easily create one or two of these with their current abilities, at least some with a decent number of 'Hits' (For the more one wanted to add to their OSS, the more difficult it became and easier the chance of failure was).

Of course, he should have known that they wouldn't settle for something so 'simple'. While Leafa had already created an OSS on her own (Which she had called 'Justice Rider', to everyone's amusement), the rest of the females in the United Heroes Association had 'challenged themselves' with something that went a level beyond that.

Namely, they wanted to create Original Sword Skills for their Unique Skills.

The group had started to get pretty excited about it, especially after they started researching the matter seriously when Sinon got her 'Archery' Skill, but they had started to lost hope just before Asuna had to go to that family trip the last days. While the Unique Skills COULD activate the 'recording' process of the OSS system, it was clear that they hadn't been taken into account when it was created, and that, being Skills more inclined towards the 'fantasy' side than the 'realist' side of the scale, recording even 3 Hits of them into any shape seemed absolutely impossible, as the girls had stated with frustration after hundreds of failures, while he, Yui, Leafa, Keita and the rest cheered on them.

Even Asuna's Dual Blades or Philia's Battoujutsu, the ones who should have been the most 'simple' to use for the deed given the lack of 'special effects' in them, had utterly refused to let their users record a Skill, their attempts always ending with the annoying 'Beep' of a failed action. Above all of them, Liz had surrendered first, saying that there was no way to create any OSS for God Hand, given how it worked…but had suddenly recovered her spirit, like most of them, after the Excaliber incident.

Because of that, Argo had been going around (Usually dragging Sinon with her if the girl was around, claiming she needed more training with her Unique Skill) and exhausting both herself and Garasu to find any and all info they could about Original Sword Skills, even asking other known players for help in this, intent in finding a way for them to finally perfect and create their Unique OSSs.

Despite this, the gamer wasn't quite sure what would make Strea react the way she was now, as if she couldn't believe something…

"Strea-nee…what happened?" finally asked a confused Yui when they exited the house and the Gnome whistled quite loudly, turning to them with a nervous look.

"Well…Argo-chan discovered that a player suddenly appeared and started challenging any opponent to duels, in a spot of the 24th Floor…and that this player was offering an 11-HITS OSS as a reward for anyone that could beat her."

"What?!" shouted Kirito with absolute shock, the navigation pixie at his side gasping in a similar reaction.

It was to be expected, because, as far as everyone knew the strongest Original Sword Skill developed to date was Leafa's Justice Rider, with 7 Hits. That someone had managed to make one of ELEVEN was nothing short of unbelievable.

"Yes, they reacted the same way, but apparently this person demonstrated that the Skill was the real deal before starting to challenge people. After endless consecutive battles undefeated, it seems they have even created a nickname for her…" muttered Strea even as the white-furred form of Tonky (Out of Jotunheimr thanks to Kirito's 'help') landed at the house's side. "Zekken."

"Absolute Sword…?" whispered the caped boy, wondering why the word sent a shiver down his spine, a strange feeling of excitement filling him. "Well, guess the girls must be eager to try and beat this…"

"They already tried. That's why we're going." informed the serious-looking Strea while flying up a couple of meters and landing on Tonky's back.

"Wait…Strea, are you saying that…?"

"Yes. Leafa-chan is currently trying too, but…everyone else already lost to this 'Zekken' girl."

Vaguely aware of how Tonky grabbed his unmoving body, Kirito felt his mind reeling in shock, unable to believe what was had been said.

Despite having come to terms with his 'power' and everything that came with it, that didn't change the fact that he had obtained it without any apparent reason, not having given anything for it. That had always made him respect and admire the strength and tenacity of his friends (Which had only grown after the Excaliber Quest), who had earned their own skills and abilities by themselves, inch by inch. Even Suguha, who didn't have any Unique Skill, was impressive enough on her own, and was obviously the 'strongest' of them in the real world. In the same way, even if they didn't have any special Skill, Keita and the other boys knew how to act in almost any situation, always ready to cover the rest and protect the weak points their abilities had, not to mention that the older boy had quite a tactical mind on his own.

That was why the sudden news had left him shocked beyond belief, even as he vaguely registered Tonky flying them over the edge of Aincrad and then upwards towards Floor 24.

Zekken…

Was there really someone strong enough to beat ALL of his guildmates…?

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Aincrad's 24th Floor was a place covered by lakes and small patches of lands that could barely be called islands, the biggest of them being just around 200 meters in diameter.

In one of these many mini-islands, a quite impressive and notorious tree grew, an unmistakable landmark that probably was the center point of a Quest or something similar. It was at the roots of this imposing tree that a group of players from all races were gathered, whispering excitedly among themselves as they watched the battle above.

They were interrupted, though, when a massive elephant-jellyfish flying thing descended from the skies and landed in the water just at the side of the 'island'. Almost everyone was gaping even as Kirito and Strea jumped down Tonky's back, Yui quickly thanking him for the ride before flying after them.

The gamer was already moving towards his friends (Sans Leafa and, obviously, Asuna), all of which were very busy staring upwards and barely seemed to have paid their arrival any attention.

"Guys?" asked the worried caped boy once he was close enough, making many of them blink and turn to look at him, surprised by his presence. "What is…?"

The sound of a familiar voice shouting interrupting him, the boy's gaze shifted just in time to see a familiar and strangely-decorated katana fall from the heavens and sink itself on the earth 4 meters from them, edge-first.

Kirito was just starting to 'hear' the frustrated and ashamed cries of 'Sorry, Master!' coming from Justice's Wings when a blur of blonde hair crashed on the ground, just at her sword's side. Leafa had enough time to whimper in defeat before her body burst into a greenish Remain Flame.

"Dammit…she did it again." whispered Argo while biting her lips as she looked towards their Sylph friend's flame.

"Is she even human…?" asked an incredulous Ducker. "I mean, after she discovered the tricks behind your Unique Skills I COULD have believed she was just being very lucky and had a sharp mind, but to beat even Leafa, a national-level kendoka…"

"I told you she was no joke." bitterly said Philia while looking upwards. "Not even KAYABA could move like that, and he KNEW how our Skills worked firsthand."

"Not even mine and Pina's combination was able to faze her…" whimpered Silica while her dragon friend looked down too, apparently ashamed. "Her Ninja Way is just too far above ours…"

"No fucking contest…" was the mantra that a shocked Lisbeth was repeating several times. "I went Zeus Blessing on her and she somehow DODGED all my hits by just an inch until it wore off…how the hell…?"

"That girl is terrifying…" muttered Sachi even as the many players around cheered in excitement towards someone who had just started to descend from the air. "And…amazing, too."

"For Leafa-sama to lose like this, even after I asked her to avenge my shameful defeat…" Sinon's voice was clearly filled with a mix of despair and terrified awe.

Ignoring the wording of that last sentence, Kirito's eyes moved towards the landing form clad in purple, finally letting his eyes fall over the one they called Zekken.

It was a girl, young but happy-looking, from the race of the Imps, the fairies of darkness. Her purplish-black hair was long and lustrous, falling all the way to her back. She wore obsidian half-armor, which covered her chest and had a slight bulge, a bluebottle violet blouse and a windswept dress of the same color beneath. From her waist, a thin black sheath hung, probably belonging to the purplish One-Handed Sword she had on her hand.

With a bright smile, the Imp swordswoman raised her empty hand, two fingers raised and open in the classical 'victory sign'.

"Okay! That's another win for me! Man, today sure is filled with lots of amazing players…"

Any other person would have been kind of 'disappointed' with the 'unimpressive' look of the one the people had nicknamed 'Absolute Sword¡, especially after the apparently brutal defeat over people they had seen handling epic monsters and holding their own against enemies that far surpassed them.

Kirito, on the other hand, had watched One Punch-Man. Even more, he had been going around wearing Saitama's clothes for years now. He KNEW, more than anyone, to not underestimate someone from their looks. The fact that Zekken was a young girl didn't even register through his mind as part of this, though, as it should be obvious for anyone who had grown up with Suguha and been near Silica for quite some time. There was only ONE thing in his mind.

This girl was STRONG. Perhaps stronger than anyone else he had seen, besides Kayaba in his 'God Form'.

But…why did that make him feel like…?

"Go and beat her, Kirito!" Strea's sudden shout startled him out of his deep thoughts, making him squeak at noticing the girl had pushed him forward and he had started to walk almost without noticing, even as the rest was reviving his little sister with an item. "Avenge everyone's honor!"

"What?!" shouted the confused boy with a shocked expression. 'Sadly' for him, the Imp girl had heard the shouting and turned around to look at him curiously, a smile spreading through her face after seeing the strange Spriggan that had stepped forward.

"Oh, would you like to try, then?" asked her in a happy way before quickly operating her menu, sending a Duel Request to him. "C'mon, equip your weapon! This will be a fight till one of us has no HP left!"

"Wa-wait a minute!" quickly started the caped boy while shaking his hands. "I didn't mean to…!"

"Show her, Kirito!" came Sinon's raging shout, making the gamer freeze. "Avenge Leafa-sama's honor!"

"I know this is totally unfair, but what the hell, that girl totally annihilated us, so go and kick her ass, Kii-bou!" added Argo with just a hint of bitterness, making Kirito feel the urge to facepalm.

"Onii-chan…you would really fight her for me…?" 'whispered' a blushing Leafa in a too-loud voice, totally misunderstanding the situation.

Looking back for help, the caped boy saw Keita gave him a resigned shrug, as if saying 'Be a man and affront the consequences'. Sighing and feeling incredibly bad for it, the gamer nodded towards the confused/curious Zekken, who was looking from him to the other members of the Heroes Association, before accepting the Duel, making the Imp smile as she prepared her blade and the countdown started.

That also let Kirito a moment to stare at the actual in-game name of the girl in front of him.

Yuuki.

"Hey, are those your friends? They were all really strong and could do some amazing Skills I had never seen before…" cheerfully commented the Imp while the numbers kept ticking down.

"Yes, they are…" muttered the gamer while shaking his head, letting a faint smile cross his face before looking at his opponent with resignation. "And…sorry about this, really."

Yuuki blinked at his words, clearly confused, even as the last second ended and the 'Duel' officially started.

Without wasting a single second, Kirito MOVED, ready to grab the girl and end this as fast as he could, clearly not wishing to drag it on and humiliate her.

The surprised Imp dodged the attack, the Spriggan's hand going through a part of her hair as she spun around.

The gamer didn't know if the gasps coming from the crowd (And mostly from the side of his friends) came even close to his own shock. Yeah, he had done that half-heartily, for obvious reasons, but he had still moved at a speed almost no player in ALO could reach unless they were flying at top speed and were especially good at it. To have managed to evade him, even if barely, without having had any previous warning of what he could do…

He didn't had any moment to keep dwelling in this, however, because he quickly had to move his head to the side to evade what would have been a beheading attack if it had connected with any normal player. Startled, the boy overrode his battle instincts and put his full attention back on the fight, also dodging the next slash of his opponent.

Kirito had an instant to realize that the attack had been faster and more precise than the last before he had to dodge an even stronger one.

Around the mini-island, absolute silent had fallen even as everyone found their eyes glued to the battle taking place in front of them. The United Heroes Association, however, was more than shocked by the fact that the Imp girl had DODGED an attack from Kirito.

They all knew he could go way faster than that, of course, and they had seen him do and defeat seemingly impossible things…but this was the first time a 'normal' person had been able to evade even one of his hits.

Even Kayaba Akihiko had needed the Cardinal System backing him up to be able to block the boy's mighty fists, yet Zekken was actually forcing their surprised leader to dodge her slashes by a hairbreadth. Again, they knew he wasn't going 'serious' on her, but even so, the only one any of them had ever seen pushing him like that had been Asuna. And that had been back in SAO, when the chestnut-haired girl had asked him to increase the frequency of their 'spars' to master Dual Blades after their first meeting with Laughing Coffin.

Yuuki, for her part, was astonished, her excitement only growing with each swing of her blade. Certainly, she had felt more than tempted to ask any of those girls with the incredible abilities and the strange but powerful Skills to 'help her' with the real reason for which she was doing this whole dueling thing…but that small whisper that was always with her had told her to wait, that none of them was the one she was waiting for, so she had continued…and now, THIS.

"Woah…what is this guy?! It's as if he could see all my attacks coming a mile away!" excitedly thought the one called Zekken while pouring more and more of herself into the fight. "How can he be so fast?!"

"Stronger…no, it's not that. Faster? No…she's as fast as Asuna, maybe a fraction slower than her…then, what is this?" were the frantic thoughts of the gamer as he kept trying to decipher the puzzle that was his opponent. "How can her attacks become sharper and deadlier with every move?! Unless…she has been HOLDING BACK against everyone?!"

The caped boy had enough time to process the full implications of this before Yuuki grinned and feinted, the fake attack never coming even as she spun around and unleashed a 'Vertical' Skill.

Despite knowing the attack wouldn't really harm him, the surprise took over and Kirito actually used his forearm to BLOCK the attack, taking a step back and blinking in shock.

No one sans Death Gun and Kayaba had ever been able to land a hit on him, even if he wasn't going serious. Narrowing his eyes an infinitesimal fraction, the gamer quickly evaded the next attack without apparent effort, to the Imp's surprise, a strange suspicion starting to form on the Spriggan's mind.

"Woah! You're unreal, Mr. Cosplayer!" commented the girl with a challenging smile, her grip on her blade tightening.

"…I'm not cosplaying." deadpanned the caped boy while staring at her, still trying to give form to the idea that his mind had come up with about the Imp.

"Really? Oh, okay…but even so, I congratulate you. I didn't think I would need to use THIS today…" idly muttered Yuuki before shooting forward again at unreal speeds, swinging her blade straight towards Kirito.

The gamer, for his part, was ready to once again evade the strike and try to catch her…when a blinding light covered the whole edge of the girl's blade, the shine overwhelming his eyes in an instant. He had enough time to hear the astonished and disbelieving shouts coming from most of his friends (And utterly confused ones from Leafa and Sinon) before the girl's blade impacted against his chest and sent him flying backward, crashing against the island's tree. He didn't get up instantly, though that was mainly due to the shock of what had happened. There was only ONE Skill that worked that way.

One-Hit Sword Skill 'Divine Sword'. The first and most simple of the Skill Tree belonging to the Holy Sword Unique Skill.

Even as he stood up with a swift jump and stared towards the incoming purple blur that was Yuuki, he couldn't help but imagine a crimson-armored figure with a long blade and a tower shield instead of her.

Then, the moment was over and he was stopping the wide-eyed Imp's blade with his gloved hand, his fingers closed around the blade as he looked silently at her.

"I see…so Cardinal has determined you to be the 'Strongest', uh?"

"What?" asked the confused girl…before the caped boy let go of her weapon with a mighty push, which almost sent her falling on her ass, and JUMPED upwards, many people around squeaking in alarm as the shockwaves made them fall down. "Ah…! HEY!"

With that shout, the Imp girl shot upwards too, her wings opening as she pursued her opponent.

"…was that…Kayaba's Unique Skill…?" muttered Sachi with a minuscule voice, even as Sinon and Leafa looked at her in shock.

"What?!"

"That girl…what are you going to do, Kii-bou?" whispered Argo with narrowed eyes, her gaze never leaving the purple blur speeding towards the black-white one.

Looking down, Kirito saw Yuuki approaching and once again let his instincts take over, even as the girl unleashed a flurry of strikes that even lifelong-warriors of old would have been unable to predict or evade.

The gamer's hands deflected all of them in a blur of motion, even as his momentum and the girl's slashes kept pushing him upwards.

"…her reaction time." finally realized the shocked Spriggan, even as he kept deflecting her attacks. "It's even faster than Asuna's…no, even faster than several of the other's combined. Hell, it would be faster than mine if I wasn't actively channeling my 'inner Saitama' right now! But…that means…"

"Strong…" muttered the Imp with slightly narrowed eyes, her smile dropping just a fraction. "Too strong…"

For a moment, the caped boy could have sworn he saw another figure shadowing Yuuki's form.

Identical to her, but with slightly shorter hair and lacking any of the Imp's racial characteristics, dressed in a white dress, a melancholic smile on her face as she whispered something on the other girl's ear…

The strange moment was faster than what it took a human to blink, but for Kirito's enhanced senses it may as well had lasted an eternity, Yuuki's smile having returned in full force at the specter's words. He was still trying to understand what he had seen when the girl slashed at him with a determined shout, the 'Light Cutter' Skill creating an edge of pure light that didn't really separate from the blade, but gave the illusion of doing it, basically a slashing and much faster variant of 'Vorpal Strike', with the added effect of blinding the opponent. The gamer had once taken head-on Heathcliff God Mode's version, a gigantic energy slash, so something this shouldn't have been any problem.

Except for the fact that he couldn't fly, his enemy could, and she had the thought of unleashing the Skill right on his face.

"…how clever…" whispered the caped boy as he flew out of control, totally blind for but an instant.

For the girl people had called 'Absolute Sword', it was more than enough.

"MOTHER'S ROSARIO!"

Kirito had seen many impressive things in his life, and done many more. He was also the only one on his whole group of friends that could boast of having seen every single existing Sword Skill at least once (Except for the mysterious missing Unique Skill and a couple from Sinon's Archery, who the Caith Sith was still trying to master). He knew how amazing, impressive and, in some cases, beautiful these deadly 'Sword Arts' could be to a level only surpassed by Kayaba Akihiko himself.

And yet, he had never contemplated anything as breathtaking and beautiful as the Skill that followed the purplish glow engulfing the Imp's sword.

Five consecutive stabs in a straight line, from the top right to the bottom left of the opponent's body. Then, the girl drew her blade back and, in an instant, performed another five consecutive stabs in a straight line, this time from the top left to the bottom right, perpendicular to the prior five, the two lines together forming an X shape over his body with their third hit overlapping. And finally, the swordswoman tilted her body and used her full strength to perform a last stab, directly at the intersection of the cross-shape created by the former ten strikes, just as the gamer's body was forced to crash against the Floor's 'ceiling'.

A beautiful Skill, shaped like a cross, as its name indicated. One that reflected determination and perseverance on a level unheard of, for the precision and ability needed to create such a thing was beyond that of anyone else…and it also reflected a hollow sensation, an empty resignation running down the blade as if the one wielding it had already abandoned all hope, but still smiled just for the sake of not being sad.

It was a Skill that did not deserve to have had every single one of its strikes blocked by an open palm that moved faster than any of its stabs. Neither did the blade deserve to be crushed and turned into breaking polygons when said hand closed into a fist after having stopped its last hit.

Yuuki's brain was barely registering the impossibility when an overwhelming dread filled her, her gaze fixing upon the carpet of darkness in which the caped boy's face had become, his eyes having turned into two voids that sucked all life out of the air as a fist that carried the end of all things shot towards her….!

Kirito came back to his senses and realized what he was doing in time to stop his punch.

He could do nothing about the shockwave, however.

With a scream of pure shock, the Imp girl went down as if she had been hit by a giant hammer of air, her wings unable to fight against the residual power of the stopped attack. Without thinking, the cursing Spriggan kicked off the Floor's ceiling and shot after her, trying to reach her falling body in time.

Down below, people were murmuring between themselves in excitement and confusion, only those belong to the Caith Sith race having even remotely been able to see what was happening. The members of the Heroes Association noticed, though, that more than one was whispering things like 'Isn't that the guy from the Bullet of Bullets?' or 'I heard he was down on Jotunheimr the other day too!'

Before any of them could inquire about that, however, Sinon, Silica and Argo gasped at the same time, the younger girl even pointing upwards. The rest could clearly see why a moment later, when Zekken's form fell down like a meteor, screaming as she headed head-first into the water.

A black and white blur caught her barely 2 seconds before she crashed, both of them plummeting into the lake surrounding the island of the big tree, a massive column of water rising into the air from their crash.

Several seconds of absolute silence passed among the crowd before a caped figure jumped out of the water, the silent Spriggan carefully holding a purplish Remain Flame in his arms.

Wordlessly, Kirito ignored the window announcing him as the winner of the Duel, the boy quickly opening his menu and grabbing a Resurrection Potion, emptying its contents over the Imp's flame.

With a gasp, Yuuki's body appeared again, the girl taking deep breaths and even shaking a little, her eyes quickly moving towards the gamer's form, still standing behind him.

He looked away with shame at her shocked and slightly scared expression, turning away and whispering 'I'm sorry' before vanishing from sight in a burst of super speed, ignoring the cries from his friends and arriving at the Floor's edge in a second, jumping off Aincrad and down towards Sylph territory, over where the Floating Castle currently was.

All the while, the caped boy never stopped thinking about the girl that, somehow, had a better reaction time than any Front Liner-SAO Survivor, and all that sinister fact implied…

Back on the tree's island, even as the United Heroes Association and Tonky flew away and the other players started to talk excitedly among themselves, the girl called Zekken never stopped looking in the direction where Kirito had vanished.

Unseen by everyone, the same 'shadow' from before, identical yet different to her, leaned over her body and hugged her from behind.

"It's okay, Yuu…" it soothingly whispered on the Imp's ears.

As always, only Yuuki could hear her voice…

00000000000000000

October 8th, 2025. Kawagoe, Saitama. Yuuki Household, 18:35…

It was a peaceful night in the residence of the Yuuki Family (Though it was closer to a mansion than anything else), and nothing could possibly disturb this fact…

CRASH!

…except maybe the sound of a fine and clearly expensive plate breaking against a wall.

"Asuna!" shouted a woman with dyed, rich brown hair and eyes of a similar color, her usually calm and cold demeanor replaced by utter shock as she stared at the enraged expression of the aforementioned girl. "How could you…?!"

"How could I what, mom?! Break the damn plate?! It's nothing to worry about, we can just buy another, better one! Isn't that how you think things can always be fixed?!" practically snarled the chestnut-haired girl while standing up, her eyes glaring towards her mother with an unearthly fury.

Yuuki Kyouko found herself at a loss of words, her eyes wide as she stared at the girl she knew was her daughter.

…but she had never believed Asuna could hold such anger on her gaze, let alone aim it at her. In that moment, she wasn't staring at the girl she had raised to be a 'proper and brilliant lady' for years, no. She was facing the anger of the Heroine the people of Aincrad had called 'The Mighty Flash'.

Despite this, the older woman tried to recover her temper and sent a stern glare towards her daughter, not willing to let this 'childish tantrum' go on.

"I'm your mother, Asuna, and I won't have you showing such disrespect to…!"

"Respect?! You want my respect, mom?! Start with respecting ME first!" shouted the chestnut-haired girl while stomping around the table, never stopping glaring at the woman that had brought her into the world, who was looking at her in utter shock again. "I can still talk to you in a civilized way when you try and have me change schools without asking my opinion on the matter. I can bit my tongue and still keep arguing like a normal person when you criticize my 'useless' hobbies. I can just get a bit angry when you try and choose my future for me, even after the DISASTER that was Sugou Nobuyuki, and keep trying to make you see reason with words…but when you INSULT my friends, then I NO LONGER will give you any damn respect!"

"I was just being perfectly honest, you're way above that group you hang up with, and that boy you're always around of isn't worthy…!"

"DON'T you dare to finish that sentence!" snarled Asuna again, making her mother cringe at the sheer passion in her voice. "If you say that about him…about the person that saved MY LIFE in every single meaning of the phrase…then I will never say a word to you again, mother."

"Asuna…!" started to say the woman, standing up in shock as she saw the chestnut-haired girl head towards the living room's door. "We…we're not done talking, young lady!"

"Oh, but I think we pretty much are. Until you start realizing I'm your 18 years old daughter and not a DOLL you can dress-up and make do whatever you want, then we have nothing to talk about. Or until you stop thinking that anyone who doesn't has a lot of money or high social standing is below us." coldly declared Asuna before stopping at the door, the gaze she sent towards her mother being colder than the artic, almost making the woman shiver. "Grandmother and grandfather would be ashamed of you."

Kyouko reared back at the words, looking as if she had received a physical blow. The door slammed closed a second later, the rushed steps of her daughter echoing into the massive house.

On the second floor, Asuna held back angry tears as she entered her room and closed the door, trying to calm down. She had been holding back in a lot of ways, since she came back home after the SAO and ALO incidents were over. The girl had done her best for reconnecting with her family, after realizing how empty her relationship with them was thanks to her Sensei and the rest of her friends. Things had gone surprisingly well for the most part, at least with her busy brother and her worried father. Asuna always tried to talk with the former when he was free, and always made sure to pass some time conversing with the later about most things going on in her life, especially since he had to step down from his old post as CEO of RECT thanks to the actions of that Sugou bastard.

The only one with which she had seen her efforts of being 'closer' were utterly failing was her cold mother, whose pragmatic view of things now seemed utterly sickening to the SAO Survivor. Even so, she had still tried to be a polite and good daughter, hoping that a way of bettering their relationship would come, even if the lack of significant progress for almost a year had discouraged her quite a bit.

Then, the 'family meeting' at Kyoto came, and she needed to use every ounce of her willpower to not explode at realizing that, once again, her mother was trying to control her life and future however she pleased, without caring for her opinion. More than once, she had been sure she would snap, grab the nearest blunt object and unleash hell upon the 'important men' that had talked with her so casually in there.

She had been immensely relieved of getting back home, heading to her room and Logging into ALO to unleash tons of pent-up violence upon any mob and Boss she could find. Her friends had even asked her if she was okay, clearly worried about the brutal way in which she murdered any enemy they found, but she had calmed them down after assuring she was only very glad of being back doing Quests with them. She had told them about the great views and similar things in Kyoto, deciding to omit the most 'annoying' bits of the trip for their sake, and they in turn had explained her all that had happened in her absence.

Remembering that made the chestnut-haired girl frown slightly, the worried look on Leafa's face flashing in her mind, just like the equally worried looks on everyone's faces. Also explaining the reason why her Sensei wasn't there, and why he had looked a bit down the next day in school, despite smiling and telling her how happy he was for her return.

Zekken. Someone so strong and skilled that had beaten everyone else (Except Strea, though the Gnome had outright said that not even with the advantage Darkness Blade had in PvP would she even come close to beat the so-called 'Absolute Sword'). Someone who had actually forced Kirito to go a bit serious.

Someone who was the new wielder of Heathcliff's…Kayaba Akihiko's 'Holy Sword'.

None of them was sure what exactly had happened near the end of their fight; only that her Sensei had apparently ended up sending the unreal swordswoman down like a rock, trying and failing to save her from suffering a deadly crash into the waters of Floor 24. After that, the boy had come out of the water, resurrected the girl from her Remain Flame, who was apparently quite shaken by the event, and, after apologizing, he had run off.

Suguha had apparently tried to ask him what was wrong after logging out when they couldn't find him, at which the boy had told her he was feeling a bit depressed because he felt as if he had bullied the girl…but it was clear that there was something more to it.

After all, she had seen the distant look in Kazuto's eyes that morning in school, as if he was lost thinking about something. Usually, she would have felt a bit angry at the fact that he wasn't telling either her or Suguha what was wrong with him, but that look on his eyes had made her rethink that. Whatever was going through his head about this 'Zekken', it was something he considered quite serious, but she hoped he would share it with them if it was something that affected him somehow. Luckily, she had a way to investigate more into the matter herself.

Apparently, as Argo and the others had told her a bit earlier, the mysterious Imp girl was once again challenging people in Floor 24. Tomorrow, she would go and go look for herself, maybe even try and challenge someone who, apparently, had managed to do something that she had never achieved: Force her Sensei's hand.

As she prepared to go to bed, pushing away bitter thoughts about her mother in favor of wondering ones about the mysterious 'Absolute Sword', Asuna idly noticed that the moonless night seemed oddly dark…

A thought that was shared by two guys, a Salamander samurai-wannabe and a Sylph dagger-user, as they ventured through the woods of New Aincrad's 22nd Floor.

"Klein-san…I have a bad feeling about this…" muttered the younger boy while looking around with nervous eyes, always believing to see 'something' out of the corner of his eyes.

"That's just nonsense, Recon! Didn't you say you wanted to join Fuurinkazan to take on Aincrad? Then you should act more like a man!" boasted the red-head with a confident smile.

The green-haired boy grimaced slightly at the words, before nodding with determination. Certainly, unless one was extremely strong, it was almost impossible to venture into the Floating Castle that now flew over Alfheim, so most 'normal' players that wanted to challenge it needed to either go with regular parties or be part of a guild that was trying to clear it. And the Sylph just so happened to have come across Klein one day in Alne, heard him talking about his 'awesome guild' and their adventures in Aincrad, and asked if he could join.

After all, Leafa-chan now spent almost all of her time in there. And she barely talked to him in school nowadays, always seeming to have her mind in other things. If he wanted to once again spend time with her, he needed to start braving into this place too!

Hence why both of them were there now. The Salamander's friends had accepted him right away, but Klein had said he should first need to past a 'test' to see if he was worthy of fighting alongside the proud and brave members of Fuurinkazan, so he had gotten rumors about a mysterious Quest that could only be taken at night and that had a high-level reward somewhere around there and had come there together with the 'newbie'.

Still, after almost an hour of going around in a New Moon night, Recon was starting to feel more than unnerved, with no sign of the Quest yet and that sinister feeling that something was watching their every move…

Then his eyes finally caught sight of something unusual.

A piece of paper, hanging from the side of a tree.

"Uh…? Ah, Klein-san, look! Can that be the start of the Quest?!"

"Oh, sharp eyes, Recon! You will be a great addition to our mighty guild" boasted the samurai wannabe before they got closer, even as he ripped out the note from the tree.

Both of them looked at it, the simple message in it staring back at them, together with a strange and slender drawing: 'Don't look or it takes you'.

That may have been the first sign that something was veeery wrong. The second probably would have been the pop-up warning that they had accepted a Quest, despite no confirmation option having been given. The third, however, was perhaps the most ominous one, as another window informed them that their wings had been deactivated for the duration of the Quest.

"…I'm not liking this all of a sudden…" whimpered the Sylph while looking around, the darkness suddenly seeming much more ominous.

"Heh…heh…oh, look! We only have to collect other 7 of these pages, nothing difficult even if we can't fly! And look, the Quest even gave us a couple of torches!" cheerfully commented Klein before activating one.

All the way to the Floor's other side, the screams arrived, making Yui and Strea blink and look out of the window in the log house's living room, where they were calmly having tea.

"Hmm…it seems someone is trying to beat THAT Quest again." idly commented the Gnome before shrugging and drinking some tea. "Looks like our 'neighbor' is going to have another busy night…"

"It seems like it…" nodded the younger-looking AI before smiling cheerfully and grabbing a cookie from the table, eating it with another sip of her tea. "Remind me to leave some cookies for him with Tonky before going to sleep, okay, nee-chan? He's too shy and never comes out when we try to get close, after all!"

And with that perfectly normal declaration, the virtual sisters kept enjoying their tea, Recon and Klein's occasional screams on the background.

All in all, it was another peaceful night…

00000000000000000

October 9th, 2025. New Aincrad, Alfheim. Floor 24, 15:35…

Leafa was standing on one of the floor's many 'islands', staring at the water with a small frown, when Asuna landed near her. For a moment, the Undine blinked in confusion at the Sylph's apparently bad mood, before looking around and realizing what was going on.

"He isn't coming, right?" sighed the Dual Wielder with a scowl even as she saw the kendoka stomp on the ground.

"It's just…ugh! I love him, but sometimes I wish he wouldn't try and keep quiet about things that bother him like this! That idiot…" grumbled Leafa while looking away, arms crossed.

"Well…what about this?" asked Asuna while putting a comforting hand on the Sylph's shoulder, smiling at her. "After this, we both go and 'ask him nicely' to tell us what's wrong?"

A small smile spread through the kendoka's face at that, and the Undine blinked in confusion when she swore she heard the girl's katana chuckling evilly at the idea, but dismissed it as a hallucination from the stress she still felt over her argument with her mother.

"Heh, yeah, that sounds good, Asuna-san." giggled Leafa before looking seriously at her friend. "Still…are you sure about this? That Zekken girl is no joke, her level of Skill is just…unreal."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I want to know how good is the one that forced Sensei to put some effort into a fight…" muttered the Undine before a determined grin appeared on her face. "Besides, I need to avenge your defeats and restore the honor of the Heroes Association! It doesn't count when Sensei does it, for obvious reasons!"

"If you…say so…" sweatdropped the Sylph before opening her wings, nodding towards the direction where the 'Island of the Big Tree' was. "Shall we?"

With a nod on her own, Asuna flew after her friend (And...fellow girlfriend? How do you even call someone in their situation?), her eyes widening slightly at seeing the players gathered around the area, Tonky floating in the water nearby with Argo, Yui and Strea sitting on his back (She still needed to figure out how had Kirito gotten him out of Jotunheimr without the admins from Ymir noticing).

But what immediately got her attention was the lonely figure standing on the center of the clearing, just besides the tree's roots, who was currently sheathing a sword on her waist (Which she noticed was just a normal, high-level steel one, reminding her that Kirito apparently broke her old one) while a Remain Flame floated down behind her.

The cute-looking Imp had a small frown on her face as she looked up towards the tree.

As she landed beside her friends, the Undine could have sworn she saw the mysterious Zekken leaning slightly to the side, as if someone was whispering to her ear, letting a cheerful smile appear on her face again.

"Hey there, Aa-chan, Leafa-chi." greeted Argo without taking her eyes from Yuuki's form, who was just calling out to see if anyone else wanted to 'try' next. "Be warned, she may look in our direction in a weird way from a moment to another."

"Uh? What do you mean?" asked Asuna with confusion, even as Leafa bit her lips.

"You don't think…?"

"Yeah, I think she's looking to see if Kirito will show up again." informed Strea with a curious gaze. "Though if it's to ask for a rematch or something else, I'm not sure…"

To be fair, everyone had been curious about it, but given that most had other things to do that day, only the three of them had remained there to watch over the mysterious 'Absolute Sword', regretfully.

"Ah…she's doing it again." muttered Yui with a startled voice, both newcomers looking up just as Zekken's gaze washed over them.

Her red eyes, a similar shade to Strea's, passed over Leafa with just a hint of acknowledgment…and then found Asuna's.

Time seemed to stop, as if someone had cast a spell over the World. Aquamarine met blood as an eternity seemed to pass when their gazes crossed. The Undine shivered with a strange sensation even as the Imp seemed to almost jump on her feet.

Asuna hadn't been aware of the confused voices calling out to her until she was standing 5 meters from Yuuki, rapier drawn, the Imp girl blinking as if she also had just noticed she had walked forward.

"Hey, you want to try, Nee-chan?" asked the one called Zekken, a happy smile appearing on her face as she sent the Duel Request.

After a second of hesitation and looking back at her confused/curious friends, the Undine nodded and accepted.

The countdown started even as Asuna sighed, quickly operating her menu and putting her rapier away, much to the Imp's confusion, and quickly equipped both her trusted blades.

She resisted the urge to frown at the many confused/disbelieving stares coming from most of the Players around when Fafnir's Fang and Elucidator appeared on her hands. She knew that most of the people around though that dual-wielding was something unpractical and silly, and looked down on any 'newb' that tried to do so just to 'look cool', which was one of the reasons she disliked using her Unique Skill in the open. To be fair, though, they would have been right under most circumstances. Be it in the real world or here in ALO, using two heavy swords of the same length was dancing between the line of 'impractical' and 'suicidal'.

But the Undine came from Sword Art Online, where the rules of 'reality' were looser than those of Alfheim. Back in the original Aincrad, despite her reticence to use the Skill at first, she had mastered the use of both blades to a level few modern-day humans could ever hope to accomplish even after years of training.

And that was why several jaws dropped when, the second the countdown finished, Asuna vanished in a blur of inhuman speed, the sunlight reflecting off her armored gauntlets being the only warning Yuuki got before the edge of the first blade was about to cut off her head.

Zekken seamlessly deflected Fafnir's Fang, with just a bit of surprised effort. Elucidator, however, managed to cut across her torso as she tried to dodge, clearly not used to fight an opponent wielding two weapons.

Both girls separated and stared silently at each other, even as excited whispers ran through the crowd at the latest development. The Undine idly noticed how Yui and Strea cheered quite loudly for her even as Leafa and Argo sharply watched, but her attention never left the silent form of her enemy.

Once again, the smile on the Imp's face widened.

"You…are somehow related to Him, right?"

Asuna didn't answer. Neither did she need to ask who the other girl was talking about.

She simply rushed forward again, her instincts as sharp as the edge of her swords, ready to take down her opponent.

Yuuki's smile turned into a fierce grin as she spun out of the way of the emerald blade…and countered the black one with a 'Sacred Swing' Skill, the fierce slash of the light-shrouded blade heading straight towards the Undine's face.

Luckily for the Dual Wielder, she had been expecting her to use Holy Sword. Letting go of Elucidator, she somersaulted with seemingly impossible grace, getting out of the Skill's way and landing behind the shocked Imp.

The black blade was once again in her owner's hands when Zekken spun around, the Skill 'Holy Cross' being unleashed with impossible precision, rivaling or even surpassing that of Kayaba.

'Double Circular' quickly repelled it, sparks flying from where the swords 'danced' to counter the opposing one in a clash of Skills.

Everyone watching was in utter awe, even as both girls seized up one another, like warriors of old searching for an opening. Even Argo and Leafa were speechless, while Yui and Strea looked on open-mouthed.

It was to be expected. After all, in another world, in another tale, those two Unique Skills would have been destined to face each other as the ultimate enemies. In this one, wielded by these two girls, who had received them by several twists of Fate and adapted them to suit their every move and their complex styles, it was like watching the metaphorical fight of 'The Dragon and the Tiger'.

Their gazes crossing again, Asuna and Yuuki felt IT again, that strange and unknown sensation overwhelming them.

Both warriors decided to end it all with the next strike, as if compelled by an unseen force. The smallest mistake in predicting what the other would do would mean their absolute defeat, so…

"Starburst Stream!"

"Mother's Rosario!"

…both unleashed power beyond that of any mortal men, a star-rain of slashes meeting a brutal 'crucifixion' of stabs.

Asuna's Skill had more Hits. But Yuuki's one had almost twice the power of each of hers.

In the end, the mighty clash of stabs and slashes between the three blades ended with an impressive 'explosion', created maybe by the sheer force behind the girls' Wills...or maybe because, like most normal Sword Skills now had in ALO, Dual Blades' Skills now had elemental magic partially imbued in them, Starburst Stream, in particular, having 25% of Lighting and 25% of Fire.

Everyone was still staring in shock at the cloud of dust that had been created from the attack when the Imp and the Undine rolled out of it, jumping back to their feet in just an instant, Asuna panting hard while Yuuki just silently restored her stance. Both of their HP Bars were at less than 10%, though Zekken's one was a sliver bigger. If the Dual Wielder wanted to have an opportunity, she would need to carefully plan the next...

Yuuki started to laugh. Openly and cheerfully, with a massive smile on her face, confusing the hell out of everyone, the Undine most of all, especially when she sheathed her sword and quickly flew towards her, the lack of any hostile intent stopping Asuna from attacking even as the other girl grabbed her shoulders and looked at her excitedly.

"Yes, you're the one! The one we have been looking for!"

"Uhm...what?" flatly muttered the extremely confused girl.

"Ah...yes, quick, come with me!" said the Imp for all answer, grabbing the surprised Undine's hand and raising into the sky with her, forcing the squeaking Asuna to open her wings and fly after her opponent, Duel forgotten.

Down on the clearing, the spectators of the unexpectedly interrupted battle were still trying to comprehend what had happened, the remaining members of the Heroes Association most of all.

"...did Zekken just kidnap Asuna?" asked a blinking Leafa with disbelief.

"...I think so?" answered Strea while looking at Yui for help, the pixie shrugging with an equally clueless look.

"Well...that's something I certainly WASN'T expecting..." commented Argo while standing up. "I guess we will need to wait for Asuna to tell us what THIS is about, so, in the meantime..." turning around, the Caith Sith produced a virtual newspaper, holding it before the surprised face of her Sylph friend. "Say, can you please tell me. Leafa-chi, what is this Sinon-nya found yesterday about?"

Frozen in shock, the blonde girl gulped at seeing the article's title: 'Bicycle Girl back with mysterious caped sidekick?!'

She had just remembered that, because of this Zekken's business, she and her brother had forgotten telling everyone about their recent 'nightly activities'.

Unknown to everyone, however, a black-haired figure clad in white and black watched from not far away how Asuna and Yuuki vanished towards the sky. For an instant, Kirito almost followed after them, before looking down and shaking his head, opting for logging out. It wasn't his problem, and there were some things that were better off not known. Hopefully, Asuna would be able to help the young prodigy with whatever she needed…

Even so, once he had taken off his AmuSphere and sat on his bed, Kazuto couldn't help but look with a conflicted frown towards his computer's screens.

On them, many articles about the possible uses of FullDive technology in medicine, especially the care of terminally ill patients, could be seen, a couple ones about the places where the tests for this were currently being done too.

With a sad look, the gamer turned around and walked out of his room.

That's why he wasn't able to see how a silver mask with dual-colored eyes suddenly appeared on his screens, 'looking' over the open articles before vanishing without a trace.

On New Aincrad's 22nd Floor, in the living room of the UHA's log house, Excaliber shone from its place hanging from the wall, where Asuna had decided to put it for everyone to always see.

The Legendary Holy Sword shone with a blinding golden light for a moment, before falling silent once again.

The Promised Time was very close now…

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW!

"…h-hi there, eve-everyone…this Tsuboi Ryoutarou, better known as Klein in the virtual world…I'm here to gi-give you the next chapter's preview, s-so let's get it over with, okay? Next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'The Wish of being Remembered'. Asuna meets a ce-certain guild, a group of fri-friends joined for a single mission, all hi-hiding a terrible secret…will the Heroine fi-find the truth behind the Absolute Sword?…oh, sweet hell, I think it's here! In the shadows…always watching me…stay away, you slender abomination! Uaaah-!"

END OF THE PREVIEW!