Chapter 7

Asuna used her thumb to flick open the cap of a small bottle and

gulped down the blue liquid inside. She then checked the remaining

amount of mana potions.

The potions that filled her pockets were used up during the 40

minute long intense battle, and she was left with three. Shiune, who

was also acting as the healer alongside her, should have about the

same amount as Asuna.

The few people who were in charge of the frontal assault seemed

to be worn out. They tried their best to avoid the dodgeable attacks of

the black giant's attack patterns, but they couldn't avoid the giant's

toxic wide-ranged breath and the all-directional attack of the two

metal chains swinging about crazily. While these attacks appeared,

Asuna and Shiune could only continue to chant the highest level spells

for healing, so their mana points continued to dwindle like flowing

water.

Even though Nori's stick, Taruken's spear and Yuuki's sword

managed to hit the giant precisely, it felt like they were hitting an iron

wall that wouldn't be damaged no matter how much they attacked. The

boss would occasionally put its four arms in front of its body to defend

itself, and when it did so, it would be able to deflect everything like

metal, and the sense of futility continued to increase.

Asuna swallowed the anxiety that was rising up her throat along

with the potion, and energetically said to everyone,

"Everyone, we're going to make it! Just a little more!"

—Even so, 5 minutes ago, she was shouting the same words. As

there weren't any HP bars shown on the boss monsters of the floors in

New Aincrad, they could only guess its HP through movements. The

black giant that was slow and dormant at first could be said to have

gone completely berserk. They could confirm that he didn't have much

health left, but this of course was merely an overly optimistic guess.

In such an overly long battle where there was no end in sight, the

backup players behind normally needed to use up mana points, but the

front players withstanding the enemy's onslaught had to use their

mental strength and concentration. In a normal boss battle, they would

have to switch a tank at the front after a maximum of 5 minutes. From

this, one could tell how much the Sleeping Knights were struggling.

However, they would still end up tired in the end. After hearing

Asuna's call, Yuuki was the only one who let out an energetic Oh!! to

answer her. The petite Imp girl didn't show any fatigue even after

countless minutes of battle as she continued to use her fleet feet to

dodge the giant's hammer and chains before using the sword in her

right hand to deal decisive damage.

Before this, Asuna thought that Yuuki's strength came from her

abnormal reflexes, but now she had a whole new understanding to this.

That strong will to concentrate and continue swinging the sword may

even be a match for Kirito's.

At this moment, Asuna chanted for the umpteenth time as she

saw a distant memory in the past from the current scene.

In the 74th level boss room in Old Aincrad, Kirito once fought

valiantly alone against a gigantic humanoid-type monster. He used

parries and speedy footwork to dodge the enemy's ferocious attacks

under such a dangerous situation, and his two swords continued to

swing at a machine gun-like speed, using endless number of sword

skills at the weakness of the boss, the flank—

"Ah.."

With this sudden idea, Asuna couldn't help but call out. The spell

chanting failed as it was interrupted, and BOON! Black smoke appeared

around her.

Asuna immediately cringed as she messed up, but Shiune, who

was behind her, managed to finish her spell at the last second. Tecchi

and company that was surrounded by toxic breath in front had their

HP bars reverted to a safe level.

Asuna raised her hand in apology to Shiune, who glanced at her,

then said quickly,

"Shiune, I have an idea. Can you hang on for about 30 seconds by

yourself?"

"Un, it's alright. I still have enough mana."

Asuna raised her hand at Shiune again, who nodded, then raised

the staff in her right hand. She quickly took a deep breath, and started

chanting a new spell at the fastest speed possible.

As the spell words were chanted, glittering ice pieces started to

appear in front of Asuna, and they immediately solidified into four

sharp ice pillars. Once the ice knives were complete, a blue circle

appeared in the girl's eyes. This was the scope of the non-tracking

offensive spell.

Asuna cautiously moved her left hand and slightly adjusted the

blue scopes at the throats below the two heads of the giant. The giant

continued to move forward, and the hammers in the upper two hands

were ready to swing down—

"Eii!"

Asuna swung the staff in her right hand straight down. 4 ice

pillars flew in the air with a light blue trail, accurately hitting the

bottom of the giant's necks.

"GUUOOOOOHHHHHH!!!"

The giant immediately let out what sounded like a cry of agony as

the hammer attack stopped. The four arms were crossed in front of its

body as it curled up. It kept such a defensive position for about five

seconds before raising its arms again and slamming the warhammer

into the stone floor.

The ground trembled with this heavy and loud sound, and Asuna

steadied herself to prevent herself from falling as she whispered,

"As expected…"

Seeing that Shiune, beside her, had her head tilted in doubt,

Asuna quickly explained,

"I originally thought that the defensive action was just random,

but it wasn't like that. His neck is the weakness. We didn't have too

much strength to look for its weakness, so I completely forgot about

this…"

"So we can beat it by attacking that, right?"

"I guess…it would be more efficient, but that weakness is way too

high…"

The giant was about 4m, and even Taruken's spear would need

some more length before reaching its neck. It couldn't be attacked

directly. They could fly and attack if it was on the field, but they

couldn't do so in a dungeon.

"Looks like we can only get ready to be countered and use our

sword skills to attack."

Asuna nodded her head in agreement with Shiune. They could

only use a thrust-type sword skill if they wanted to extend their

hangtime in the air in an area they couldn't fly, or jump and use a

combo-type skill. Of course, once they finished doing so, there would

be a lag, and then they would fall without any defense. The enemy

would use that time to counter hard. Even though they could try to use

a spell to revive anyone if they died, it wouldn't work every time. Also,

revival spells were rather long, and would slow down the recovery of

health, which may cause the entire party to collapse.

However—Yuuki would definitely say without hesitation, let's try

this. Asuna thought about this and looked at Shiune's face. In the end,

this tender-looking yet unexpectedly strong Undine nodded hard to

agree with Asuna's thoughts.

"I'll go forward to tell them the battle plan. Please hang on and

heal them."

"Leave it to me!"

Of the few potions that she had left, Asuna grabbed two bottles,

handed them to Shiune, and immediately dashed forward. She

immediately ran through 15m, got near the black giant, and the roar of

the chain immediately came from beside her. She cringed her neck

back to dodge it, but the plumb-bob grazed the front end of her

shoulder, and her HP immediately dropped.

However, Asuna didn't mind at all. As she got behind Yuuki, she

shouted,

"Yuuki!"

Yuuki, who was swinging her sword, looked back and widened

her eyes,

"Asuna, why are you here?"

"Listen to me. This guy has a weakness. We should be able to deal

more damage to it if we aim for the central parts of its neck."

"Weakness?"

Yuuki looked back again, and stared at the giant's head, up above.

At this moment, a large barrel-sized hammer suddenly flew down from

above, and both of them immediately ducked. Yuuki then jumped to

avoid the shockwave on the ground and shouted,

"It's too high…I can't reach it even if I jumped!"

"Isn't there a well-suited stepping board?"

Asuna smiled and looked over at Tecchi who was slightly further

away, raising the shield that looked like a doorplate and protecting

Nori from the wildly swinging chain. Yuuki seemed to understand

Asuna's intention and smiled back.

Both of them dashed forward and went about 3m behind Tecchi.

Yuuki put her left hand near her mouth and let out an amazingly loud

voice from her petite body.

"Tecchi! DUCK DOWN AFTER THE NEXT HAMMER ATTACK!!"

The tall and large gnome widened his small eyes, but immediately

nodded.

The black giant swung its metal chain for a while, and then tilted

its upper body that was as large as a large boulder before taking a deep

breath. It paused for a while before opening its two mouths. KOHAAA!!

It let out its toxic breath, and the surroundings were all covered with a

sulfur-like smell. Everyone who was standing in front of it had their HP

drop bit by bit.

However, once the breath attack ended, a blue light descended

and recovered everyone's health with perfect timing. The giant then

raised the two hammers that were in its upper arms.

Yuuki ducked and got ready to charge forward. Asuna quickly

said to her little back.

"That's the last chance! Do your best, Yuuki!"

Yuuki kept her back facing Asuna and immediately answered,

"Leave it to me, Nee-chan!!"

Nee…chan?

As Asuna blinked after hearing such unexpected words, the girl

leapt forward.

The giant in front looked like it was going to slice through the

ground as it slammed its two hammers down into the ground hard. The

deep sound echoed throughout the room, and Tecchi immediately

ducked to defend against the radial shockwave.

Yuuki then jumped, using her left foot to step on Tecchi's left

shoulder, and her right foot stepped on his thick and heavy helmet—

"URRIIIYAAAAA!!"

With a sharp cry, Yuuki seemed to be moving the wings that

didn't exist as she leapt high. She got close to the giant's chest in an

instant and pulled the sword in her right hand back hard.

"YAAA!!"

Yuuki shouted out again and charged at the joint of the two necks

at an alarming rate. Immediately, the bluish-purple flash effect

exploded, causing the coin-shaped room to be filled with light.

Even if it's an area where they couldn't fly in, the players just

needed to continue using sword skills in the air to remain there before

the skill ends. Right now, Yuuki was in front of the black giant, moving

her right hand at a lightning like speed, letting out 5 strikes from right

up to bottom left, and then made another five hits in a line to form an

intersection point. Whenever the sharp tip of the blade hit its

weakness, the four arms of the giant would continue to struggle and let

out what sound like a wail.

The thrust attacks on the monster created an X shape. Yuuki's

body tilted to the right and put her left hand on the right hand that was

holding the sword.

The dazzling flashes released by the blade caused Asuna to

narrow her eyes. At this moment, Yuuki's obsidian sword looked like a

diamond. The shining white sword seemed to let out a crisp sound like

a bell and hit straight into the intersection of the X point, the point

where the giant's necks were connected, and then stabbed it straight

into the giant's body.

Soon after, the black glowing skin of the giant started to form

several cracks, with the point the sword was stabbed in being the

center. The cracks seemed unable to take the pressure that was coming

from inside and continued to become thicker. The cracks then

extended to the giant's body and limbs.

With the sound of a large tree falling, the giant's body was split

into half from the point the two heads were joined. The 4m tall giant

corpse then looked like a shattered glass statue as it exploded into

numerous fragments of various sizes. The pure white light that was

given off from the insides of the body started to close in with the

physical impact, and Asuna's head started to throb hard. The sound

effects that had deep and high-frequency sounds mixed in bounced

through the dome, finally dragging on into a long and stiff metallic

sound before vanishing.

The mysterious blue flame that lit the dim coin-shaped dome

suddenly shook and became a normal orange. The boss room was filled

with bright light, chasing the remaining amount of devilish intent away.

GACHANG. A loud sound rang. The door deep inside that led to

the next room was unlocked.

"...Haha…we…we made it…"

Asuna let out a hoarse laugh as she collapsed onto the ground. As

she looked up, she exchanged looks with Yuuki, who was blankly

staring at where the boss was destroyed.

The petite Imp blinked for another few seconds, and then finally

gave a smirk. However, it immediately changed into a smile she had

seen many times before—no, it should be said to be the most dazzling

smile.

Yuuki sheathed her sword and immediately ran over to Asuna.

She immediately jumped over with her arms wide open from afar and

leapt into Asuna's arm.

"GUAA!?"

Asuna let out a loud cry and collapsed with Yuuki onto the ground.

Both of them stared at each other's eyes at a close distance to each

other, and started shouting,

"AHAHAHA…WE DID IT, WE WON…WE WON, ASUNA!"

"UN, YEAH! AHHH—…HOW TIRING—!!"

Even with Yuuki sitting on her, Asuna still stretched her limbs out

and laid down flat on the ground. The 5 other partners around her who

were also so tired that they collapsed leapt up, gave victory signs and

started cheering.

At this moment, Asuna noticed a heavy sound from above and

looked over at the source of the sound. The entrance that appeared in

her inversed vision started to open aside again, and numerous people

were gathered there.

The ones who rushed in without waiting for the doors to open

completely and made such a loud ruckus was obviously the large guild

alliance party who blocked the corridor. These people noticed that the

boss room was filled with orange light, and curbed their momentum as

they slowed their footsteps before stopping to look around.

A dark red haired Salamander was standing in front of the large

party of about 50 people. At this moment, his eyes seemed to meet

Asuna's. The leader's face seemed to show amazement, understanding

and regret, and Asuna merely watched this in a really happy mood.

"Hehe…"

Asuna, who was lying on the floor, laughed, and then showed a

victory sign to Yuuki and her 5 partners.

The members of the large guild left some common menacing

words before leaving, and Asuna and the Sleeping Knights opened the

door deep inside the room. They climbed up the long spiral staircase

and came out from a pavilion shaped building. They arrived at the 28th

level where no one had entered previously. They immediately ran over

to the nearest shopping street, and the moment Yuuki activated the

transfer gate at the central plaza, the boss conquest quest was

completed.

The seven of them immediately used the gate that was giving off a

blue light to return to the streets of Ronbaru, formed a circle at a

corner of the plaza, and again hi-touched each other.

"Everyone worked hard! It's finally over!"

Asuna smiled as she said that, but she felt a little lonely inside her

heart. She was just a mercenary after all, and the end of this contract

would mean that they would have to go their separate ways.

No. There was still a lot of time to be friends with them —as

Asuna thought about that, Shiune suddenly pat her on the shoulder.

That nice looking face showed a serious expression that was different

from usual.

"No, Asuna-san. It's still not over yet."

"…Eh?"

"There's still one more thing to do."

After looking at her expression, Asuna immediately thought of the

incident at the «Monument of Swordsmen» in Black Iron Palace.

Speaking of which, the members of the Sleeping Knights' aim wasn't to

conquer the bosses, but to leave the names of all the members on the

monument as proof that the guild existed. Speaking of which, it would

be too early for her to be happy now—

However, what Shiune said next was far beyond what Asuna

expected.

"—Let's have a party to celebrate."

Asuna's knees went limp as she nearly fell. She raised her fist in

protest, and then put her hands on her hips before saying,

"Un, okay! Let's have a big one!"

After saying that, Jun's face showed a smile,

"We still have lots of funds here! Which place are we going to

choose? Should we rent some high-class restaurant in some city?"

"Ahh…"

Asuna suddenly had a thought. She then locked her fingers

together and looked around. Even though she only knew them for a

mere two days, she should be able to get along with these people like

old friends. Asuna really believed in this as she said,

"Well…in that case…do you want to come over to my house? It's a

little small though."

On hearing Asuna's invitation, Yuuki immediately showed a smile.

However, for some reason—her smile vanished like melting snow.

Yuuki bit her lower lip and looked down.

"Yu…Yuuki, what is it?"

Even though she was feeling puzzled, Asuna still asked the

normally enthusiastic girl who in turn didn't lift her head. At this

moment, Shiune looked like she was going to finish off what Yuuki said

as she continued,

"…Well…I'm really sorry, Asuna-san. Please don't mind us…it's

just that we…"

However, before Shiune finished, Yuuki, who had her head

lowered, suddenly gasped and grabbed Shiune's right hand.

She bit her lips hard, and her large eyes showed an earnest look

as she silently looked at Shiune. Even though Yuuki looked like she was

trying to say something as she moved her lips twice, she didn't let out a

voice in the end.

However, Shiune seemed to understand what Yuuki wanted to

say. Her lips showed a smile that was difficult to understand. She put

her right hand on Yuuki's head, and then faced Asuna again.

"Thank you, Asuna-san. We'll gladly come over to your house

then."

Asuna could only feel troubled as she didn't understand what was

going on just now. However, Nori seemed like she wanted to dispel the

gloomy atmosphere as she said with her usual forthright voice,

"If it's like that, we have to prepare the wine! Let's buy one whole

barrel!"

"There's none of potato sake you like, Nori."

Taruken interrupted at this moment and gave a stern comment

from behind.

"Stop spouting nonsense. Since when did I like potato sake? I like

Awamori sake the most!"

"Aren't you still like an old man."

Jun's stronger punchline caused everyone to start laughing. Asuna

started joining in too, and then looked over at Yuuki. Though Yuuki's

face showed a smile, a certain sense of reluctance in her seemed like it

didn't vanish completely.

The gang went to the central marketplace of Ronbaru, bought a

large amount of alcohol and food before moving to the 22nd level.

Most of them took off from the plaza in the town area, looking

down at the forest that was buried by snow below as they moved south.

They flew by the frozen lake, and could see a stretch of open land and a

round house there.

"O, over there?"

Yuuki's excited voice caused Asuna to nod.

"Yeah..ah!"

Before Asuna could even finish, Yuuki opened her arms and

immediately flew down to the courtyard in front of the house, landed

with a huge 'BFUU' and whipped up a large amount of snow. A large

number of birds that were perched on the trees nearby were all

shocked.

"…Really."

Asuna and Shiune glanced at each other before smiling and

opened their wings as they got ready to land. Asuna glided around for a

while before landing in the courtyard, and was immediately dragged

towards the door by Yuuki, who couldn't wait.

Asuna wanted to introduce her friends if they were around, but

there wasn't anyone inside. Kirito and Klein, who helped to stop the

large guild, haven't returned from the save point, so it couldn't be

helped. However, even Lisbeth and Silica weren't around. Did everyone

expect this to happen and deliberately moved aside for the 7 of them to

party?

"Heh. Fuu-n, is this Asuna's house?"

Yuuki happily looked around at the tables that grew out from the

floor, the heater that was burning red and the swords and other items

that were hanging on the wall. The other six were all gathered around

the table, taking out the food they bought out from their item inventory.

Soon, obscure food, drinks and snacks were piled up like a hill.

They followed Nori's wishes and bought wine. They unplugged

the corks to pour the golden liquid into the cups and lined them up.

With that, the preparations for the party were complete. Jun dragged

Yuuki, who was watching Asuna intently as she kept her collection of

condiments, back to the living room, and the 7 of them sat down in

front of the table.

Yuuki, who was in charge of leading the toast, smiled brightly and

said,

"In celebration of our triumph in the boss conquest…cheers!"

Cheers! The other people chanted. After that, the sounds of glass

cups knocking into each other could be heard as everyone immediately

gulped down the wine and started their reckless party.

Jun and Tecchi talked about how they defeated the boss. Nori and

Taruken were excitedly talking about all the wines in ALO, and Asuna,

who was beside them, heard Yuuki and Shiune talk about the past

VRMMOs they were in.

"And the worst thing is that it must be some sort of game called

«Insect Site» in America!"

Yuuki used her arms to wrap around her body as her face tensed

up.

"Ahh…about that."

Shiune also nodded her head helplessly.

"Heh…what kind of game is it?"

"Insects! They were all insects! It's fine if the monsters were all

insects, but even the players were all insects~. I was an ant that could

walk on two legs, so it was fine, but Shiune…"

"No, you can't say it!"

"She was one huge hornworm. She could let out thread from her

moment…"

Yuuki finally couldn't help it as she started laughing at this point.

After seeing Shiune smirk, Asuna started to laugh too.

"It's great~ we could go about travelling through all sorts of

worlds with everyone."

"What about Asuna? Looks like you've played VRMMOs for a long

time."

"Me? Errm, don't tell anyone. Actually, I spent a lot of time playing

to get enough money to buy this house…"

"I see~"

Yuuki lifted her head, and again narrowed her eyes and looked at

the living room.

"But this house is really comfortable. Sure has a memorable

feeling to it…"

"Yeah. I feel safe staying here."

Shiune nodded deeply too.

However, her small lips suddenly opened.

"Wha, what's wrong with you, Shiune?"

"Damn it, I forgot about it! Speaking about money…we told Asuna

that we would hand all the boss drops over to her when we asked her

to defeat the boss. What should we do? We bought so much stuff…"

"Wah, I forgot about it!"

Both of them looked apologetic as they lowered their shoulders.

On seeing this, Asuna smiled and waved her hand at them before

saying,

"It's alright. I'll just take a little. Ah, I suppose—it's better…"

After saying this, she kept her mouth shut and sighed hard,

"Not take anything. However, I have something I want to ask you

people."

"Eh…?"

"Well…even though the agreement is complete…but I still want to

talk to Yuuki some more. I have a lot of things I want to ask you about."

Yuuki, I hope you can teach me—how to become as strong as you.

Asuna thought deep inside and continued,

"Can you let me join the Sleeping Knights?"

Asuna had never joined any guilds ever since she became a spirit

in ALO. Large guilds have invited her a few times before, and Kirito and

Lisbeth said that they could form a small one, but nothing came of it.

The reason it became like that was mostly because Asuna still had

some «fear» about guilds. In the past, she was the sub-leader of what

was called the strongest guild for more than a year. At that time, she

demanded iron-like discipline and steel-like will from her members,

and she acted as an example and never showed a smile in front of them.

The members back then only feared her, and never looked up to her.

Asuna was scared that if she joined a guild in ALO, her mannerism in

the past would return.

However, Asuna managed to blend in amongst the Sleeping

Knights naturally, and could give them instructions without hesitation.

That must have been because the earnest attitudes of Yuuki and the

rest made Asuna get rid of the doubts inside her easily. Being with

them would definitely make that wall in her heart shorter, and she

could become really strong. Asuna herself never noticed it, but Kirito,

Lisbeth, Klein and everyone should have noticed this and supported

her actions. Thus, when Asuna stated that she wanted to join in the

conquest activity of another guild, they didn't feel unhappy, but

continued to give Asuna encouragement.

On hearing Asuna's request, Yuuki didn't answer immediately as

she bit her lips hard. Her wide eyes showed anxiety again.

Shiune and the other 4 quietened down and stared at Yuuki and

Asuna. Amidst this silence, Yuuki merely stared at Asuna. Finally, the

voice she let out was a trembling one that was different from usual.

"Well…Asuna. We…the Sleeping Knights will probably…disband

in spring. After that, it's unlikely that everyone would be back here."

"Un, I know. It doesn't really matter until spring. I want to be

friends with Yuuki…and everyone. It should be alright if it's before

spring, right…?"

Asuna leaned forward and stared at Yuuki's purple eyes. However,

Yuuki actually avoided Asuna's gaze for the first time. She gently shook

her head and said,

"Sorry…I'm really sorry, Asuna. I'm really sorry…really…"

Yuuki continued to mutter, and yet it sounded really painful.

Asuna didn't have the heart to let her continue.

"I see…it's alright. I should be the one sorry here for making

things difficult for you, Yuuki."

"Well…Asuna-san, we…we…"

Beside her, Shiune looked like she wanted to help Yuuki to

continue, but it was rare that even she didn't know what to say.

Asuna looked around at the pained expressions on everyone's

faces, and clapped her hands to try and ease the mood as she said in an

energetic voice,

"Sorry for troubling you after mentioning that. Let's go see that to

change the mood!"

"That…?"

After hearing Asuna say that, Shiune merely felt troubled, and

Yuuki lowered her head dejectedly. At this moment, Asuna pat both of

them on the shoulder.

"You forgot about the most important thing! The «Monument of

Swordsmen» at Black Iron Palace should be updated.!"

"Ah, that's right!"

Jun shouted as he got up.

"Let's go, let's go! Let's go take a photo!"

"Shall we go?"

Once Asuna made that invitation, Yuuki finally smiled.

After dragging Yuuki, who still looked a little dejected, Asuna saw

the center plaza of the «Starting City». Actually, she hadn't been here

for a long time.

"It's really wide here…here, come over here, everyone!"

With their backs facing the large palace, they quickly moved

through the garden, and the rectangular «Black Iron Palace» soon

appeared in front of everyone. As it was the most famous landmark in

Aincrad, a lot of new and old players would go in and out from this

place.

After passing through the tall and large gate, they entered the

building, and the cooling air immediately stroked everyone's skin. The

players' socks stepped on the iron floor, and caused many echoes due

to the abnormally high ceiling.

Asuna, Yuuki and the rest let out sharp footsteps as they entered

the hall inside. They went through two doors, and right in front of them

was a large space that was shrouded in a quiet atmosphere. In the

middle, there was a long and large monument.

"Is that it?"

Jun and Nori ran past Asuna and Yuuki as they ran forward. After

a few seconds, they arrived below the «Monument of Swordsmen».

Asuna immediately lifted her head and looked at the end of the thick

words.

"It…it's there."

Yuuki suddenly muttered, and the hand holding Asuna's hand

exerted more force. At this moment, Asuna noticed that at the center of

the black glowing monument, under the words [Braves of 27th Floor],

their names were clearly indicated in English.

"It's there…our names…"

Yuuki suddenly muttered. Upon seeing her wet eyes, Asuna

started to feel emotional too.

"Oi~ we're going to take a shot!"

Jun's voice could be heard from behind. Asuna grabbed Yuuki's

shoulder and turned around.

"Here, smile, Yuuki."

Yuuki finally smiled the moment Asuna said that. The 6 of them

were lined in front of the monument, and Jun operated the «ScreenShot Camera Crystal» window. He set the time, let go of it, and the

crystal floated in the air, showing the countdown as it flickered above.

Jun ran between Yuuki and Tecchi. As everyone showed their

smiles, the crystal let out a 'passh' sound as it glowed.

"Okay!"

Jun returned to the crystal. Asuna and Yuuki looked back at the

«Monument of Swordsmen» again.

"We did it, Yuuki."

Asuna let go of Yuuki's head and patted her on the head. Yuuki

nodded her head slightly and stared at the 7 people's names for quite

some time before quickly,

"Un…I, I finally did it, Nee-chan."

"Fufufu."

After hearing her say that, Asuna couldn't help but laugh out.

"Yuuki, you said that again."

"Eh…?"

Yuuki could only stare at Asuna's face as she didn't know why

Asuna started laughing.

"You called me Nee-chan in the boss room as well. Of course I'm

happy too…――!?"

Halfway through, Asuna took those words back after saying it.

That's because Yuuki had already widened her eyes as she used

her hands to cover her mouth. Those purple eyes let out a transparent

liquid, and finally rolled down her white face.

"Yuu…Yuuki…?"

Asuna gasped and reached out, wanting to grab the Imp girl.

However, Yuuki took two, three steps back. She opened her mouth and

said in a hoarse voice,

"Asuna…I, I…"

Yuuki suddenly lowered her head and wiped her teary face before

waving her left hand. With trembling fingers, she pressed the window

in front of her, and that petite body was immediately surrounded by

white light—―

From that day on, the invincible swordsman «Absolute Sword»

Yuuki disappeared from Aincrad.