Sword Art Online

Part 3

"Everyone, take one piece of bread each!"

"Hey, it'll spill if you don't pay attention!"

"Aah, sensei! Ginn stole my sunny-side-up fried egg!"

"I gave you my carrots in return, didn't I!"

"This is... pretty amazing..."

"Yea, it is..."

Both Asuna and Kirito gazed upon the scene of a breakfast, resembling a battlefield unfolding right before their eyes, and muttered to each other in a daze.

The Starting City, the guest room within the church of the seventh eastern district. Large plates of eggs, sausages, vegetable salads and such were lined up on a pair of huge, long tables, nearly overflowing them, and were ravaged by twenty or so children in a grand riot.

"But still, it looks like they're really having fun."

At the circular table slightly away, Asuna sat with Kirito, Yui, and Sasha, smiling as she brought a cup of tea to her lips.

"It's like this every day. It doesn't sink in no matter how many times they're told to be quiet."

Having said that, Sasha narrowed her eyes filled with love from the bottom of her heart, as she looked at the children.

"You really do like children, don't you?"

Asuna spoke, and Sasha smiled with embarrassment.

"On the other side, I was training to become a teacher in university. You see, classroom chaos has always been a problem, hasn't it? The chance to be able to guide children; I've always gotten fired up by it. But when I came here, when I started living with those children, just about everything was different from what I believed in... It felt like I was the one relying on them instead; that they were supporting me more rather than the other way around. But, well, that might be fine too... I started believing that it was merely a natural result."

"Well, I guess I do understand somehow."

Asuna nodded, softly brushing Yui's head, who was earnestly putting a spoon to her mouth beside her. The warmth brought about by Yui's existence surprised her. It was different from the heartrending love she felt in her chest that tightened when touched by Kirito; it was like being tucked into unseen feathers, before being covered once again; a quiet serenity.

Yesterday, passing out after going into a mysterious fit, Yui fortunately came to after several minutes. However, as Asuna did not want to immediately make any long trips or use the teleport gate, and also partly due to Sasha's keen invitation, they ended up borrowing one of the Church's available rooms for the night.

Yui's condition seemed well since the morning, so Asuna and Kirito were relieved for the moment, but her original circumstances had not changed. According to the faint memories that seemed to have returned to Yui, she appears to have never come to the Starting City, and in the first place, she was not living with a guardian. In that case, the origin of the defect in Yui's memory, the symptom of her regression back to an infant, was absolutely unknown, and they were at a loss for what they should be doing next.

But Asuna had tempered the feelings from the depths of her heart.

From now on too, she would continue living together with Yui until the day her memory returns. Even if her break were to end, and she had to return to the frontlines, there should be a way to somehow—

As Asuna got lost in her anxiety while stroking Yui's hair, Kirito put down his cup and started speaking.

"Sasha-san..."

"Yes?"

"...Well, it's about the Army. To the extent of my knowledge, despite the overwhelming tyranny from those guys, they were still determined to maintain public order. But looking back at those guys from yesterday, it was as if they were criminals... Since when has it been like that?"

Sasha tensed her mouth and answered.

"The time I felt their change in objectives should have been around half a year ago... There were some who committed acts of extortion under the name of tax collection, as well as others who, on the other hand, cracked down on those. I have also witnessed scenes of fellow members of the Army confronting each other several times. According to rumours, it seems that there were power struggles among the higher-ups or something like that..."

"Yeaah... Well, they're still an enormous organization of over a thousand members now, after all. There's no way they're monolithic though... But still, if what happened yesterday was a daily affair, they shouldn't be able to just leave it alone... Asuna."

"What?"

"Does that guy know about this situation?"

Guessing at whom Kirito referred to with those reluctantly spoken words, "that guy," Asuna spoke as she held back a smile.

"Well, I guess he would know... Leader Heathcliff is knowledgeable, even about the movements of the Army, after all. But about him, how should I say this, he doesn't seem to have much interest in anyone aside from the high levelled clearers... He has asked various things about Kirito-kun in the past, but at the time of the subjugation of the murder guild, «Laughing Coffin», he just left us with a single line going, "I'll leave it to you." Hence, I believe that he probably wouldn't mobilize the clearing group for the sake of influencing the Army."

"Well, it does seem like it's possible when you consider that guy... But in that case, we can't really do much with just us around."

Knitting his brows as he sipped his tea, Kirito suddenly raised his face and looked towards the entrance of the church.

"Someone's here. A single person..."

"Eh... Could it be another guest..?"

As if to emphasize Sasha's words, a loud knock resounded throughout the building.

The one who entered the dining room with Sasha, a dagger hung on her waist, and Kirito, who followed her to be certain, was a female player of tall stature.

Long, silver hair tied up in a ponytail- her appearance gave off the impression of intelligence, and her sky-blue eyes shone intensely with light on her sharp, well-featured face.

Hairstyle, hair color, and even the color of the eyes' pupils can be customized to one's will in SAO, but as what most of the system had to work with were Japanese, players that suit strong hues of color like this could be said to be fairly rare. Asuna too, had once tried dying her hair to cherry pink herself; it was an unmentionable past in which she returned it to brown in disappointment.

She was a beautiful person, and having gained a first impression that included some yearning for her adult-like image, Asuna dropped her gaze once more, towards the girl's equipment, and her body stiffened up on reflex.

Though it was hidden by an iron-grey cape on her body, she wore a dark green coat with leggings well-fitted on her thighs; the metal armor with a dull gleam was unmistakably the uniform of the «Army». On the right side of her waist was a shortsword, and a curled up whip hung on her left.

The children who had noticed the woman's appearance sank into silence all at once and stopped moving with their eyes dyed in vigilance. However, Sasha smiled towards the children and spoke as though she was easing their distrust.

"Everyone, it's fine, don't worry about this lady. Continue your meal."

The children threw a questionable glance, but with those words from Sasha, in whom they had placed their utmost trust, everyone released the tension in their shoulders feeling relieved, and the clamor immediately returned to the dining room. The female player who walked all the way to the circular table in the midst of all that took a chair offered by Sasha and sat down with a short bow.

Not understanding the situation, Asuna looked at Kirito questioningly, and he, who sat down in a chair, too, inclined his head to the side as he faced Asuna and spoke.

"Er, well, this person is Yulier-san. It seems that she has something to tell us."

The silver-haired whip-user who was introduced as Yulier looked straight at Asuna for a moment, before quickly bowing her head and opening her mouth.

"Good to meet you, I'm Yulier. I belong to the guild, ALF."

"ALF?"

Asuna asked in return at the name she had heard of for the first time, prompting Yulier to give a slight bow with her head.

"Ah, excuse me. That would be the abbreviation for the Aincrad Liberation Force. I don't quite like the official name, so..."

Her voice was that of a composed, elegant alto. Feelings of envy grew even larger within Asuna, who had always thought her own voice was childish, as she returned the greetings.

"Nice to meet you. I am the guild, Knights of the Blood's— ah, no, I'm currently retired for the time being, but you can call me Asuna. And this child is Yui."

Having emptied the serving of soup in the time passed and presently challenging the fruit juice, Yui suddenly raised her face, closely watching Yulier. She slightly inclined her head, but soon gave a sweet smile, retreating her gaze.

The moment the name of the Knights of the Blood reached Yulier's ears, she opened her sky-blue eyes wide.

"KoB... I see, in that case, it's no wonder those guys were easily dealt with."

Asuna, who figured "those guys" referred to the assault and extortion group from yesterday, heightened her wariness as she spoke.

"...In other words, you're here to question the incident from yesterday, is that it?"

"No, no, that's not it at all. It's the opposite; it's more like I wanted to express my thanks for doing a good job."

"..."

Facing towards Kirito and Asuna, who were silent as they tried to get ahold of the situation, Yulier straightened herself up.

"Today, I came here with a request for the two of you."

"A-A request...?"

Nodding as her hair of silver swayed, the swordswoman from the Army continued.

"Yes. Then I'll start my explanations from the very start. What is known as the Army, wasn't named as such since long ago... The reason why the ALF became the current name for the Army, is due to the fact that a former sub-leader, a man named, Kibaou, who is presently the influential head, took control over it. Initially, it had the guild name, MTD... Have you ever heard of it?

Asuna did not recall ever hearing of it, but Kirito gave an immediate reply.

"That's probably the abbreviation for «MMO Today». At the time SAO started, it was the biggest net-game information gathering site in Japan. The one who formed the guild should have been the administrator from there. If I'm not wrong, the name was..."

"Thinker."

At the moment the name was spoken, Yulier's face contorted slightly.

"He... was definitely not trying to make a self-righteous organization like how it is now. All he wanted was to equally share information and food resources among as many players as possible..."

Even Asuna knew all about the ideals and collapse of the «Army» during that time through hearsay. The ideal of hunting down monsters with many people, lowering the level of danger as much as they could, through which they were able to earn a steady income and spreading that out equally, was not flawed in itself. But the essence of MMORPGs was the scramble for resources by players for themselves, and that had not changed, even with the strange, not to mention, extreme conditions attached to a game such as SAO. No, actually, it could be said that those conditions reinforced that supposition instead.

Therefore, a pragmatic plan and strong leadership for the organization were crucial to realize those ideals, and to add onto that, the Army was much too big. Concealment of acquired items was rampant, coups and revolts happened one after another, and the leaders gradually lost their control over the guild.

"And the one who came to power then was the man named Kibaou."

Yulier spoke in an unpleasant tone.

"He supported the concept of individualism from Thinker, began strengthening the structure of the organization with players of the upper rank with similar views, and changed the name of the guild to Aincrad Liberation Force. In addition, he drove the hunting down of criminals and monopolization of fields with effective rates up, through the use of an official policy. He had at least considered friendships with other guilds by defending the etiquette on hunting areas until then, but after that, he kept up the monopolization for a long period of time through multiple displays of power, sharply increasing the guild's profits, and caused the supporters of Kibaou to end up gaining political power rapidly. Recently, Thinker has been increasingly resigned to the status of a mere figurehead... while the players from the Kibaou clique have been getting carried away, starting acts of extortion under the pretense of «tax collection», even within the boundaries of towns. Yesterday, the ones who caused all of you that distressing encounter were part of those guys from that faction."

Yulier took a breath of air, drank the tea Sasha had made, and continued.

"However, even the Kibaou clique has a weakness. That is, they're hooked on nothing but the accumulation of wealth, barely continuing with the completion of the game. The belief that they are mistaking the cause for the end is becoming popular among the tail end of the players... To restrain that dissatisfaction, Kibaou recently took a reckless gamble. Within his subordinates, he assembled a party of ten of the highest levelled players, sending them to finish off the foremost boss."

Asuna unintentionally exchanged glances with Kirito. The case of the player from the Army, Colbert, who challenged the floor boss of the seventy-fourth floor, «The Gleameyes», without even proper preparations and died a tragic death found a new detail to add on to her memory.

"Regardless of how high those levels may have been, from the very start, when compared to those from the clearing group, we cannot deny our lack of competence. ...In the end, the party was eliminated, and with the worst possible result of the death of the commanding officer. Kibaou was strongly blamed for that display of recklessness. We were only a short bit away from being able to exile him, but..."

Wrinkles creased on Yulier's high nose bridge, and she bit her lips.

"Three days ago, Kibaou, took drastic measures as he was hunted down, setting a trap for Thinker. He used a corridor crystal, set to deep within the dungeon, at the exit, and Thinker ended up getting expelled instead. At that time, Thinker went without his equipment, believing in Kibaou's words, 'Let's talk while unarmed,' in a status that guarantees that one would be unable to break through the mob of monsters from the deepest section of the dungeon and return by oneself. It seemed that he didn't even carry a teleport crystal with him..."

"Th-Three days have already passed...!? In that case, Thinker-san is...?"

Towards Asuna who replied with a question, Yulier gave a slight nod.

"His name on the «Monument of Life» is still unaltered, so it seems that he managed to make it all the way to the safe zone somehow. However, as the location is still the inner portion of a considerably high levelled dungeon, we appear to be unable to take any action... As you know, messages cannot be sent within dungeons, and the guild storage cannot be accessed from inside, so we can't just send a teleport crystal in either."

Since using a corridor crystal leading right into a destination of death is a basic technique known as, «Portal PK», Thinker should naturally know about it. However, he probably did not even consider that a sub-leader of the same guild would go to that extent, even with the bitterness between them. Or perhaps, he just did not want to believe it at all.

As though she had read Asuna's thoughts, Yulier muttered, "He's just too much of a good person," with a sigh, and continued.

"...The only ones able to manipulate the proof of a guild leader, the «Scroll of Contracts», are Thinker and Kibaou, and at this rate, with Thinker not returning, the guild's personnel management and such, even the finances; it will all be left under Kibaou's control. The responsibility for not preventing Thinker from falling into the trap lies with his assistant, which would be me, and I have no choice but to go and rescue him. But I have no chance of breaking through the dungeon he is confined in with my level; neither can I call for support from the players of the «Army»."

She bit her lips tightly, before looking straight at Kirito, then Asuna.

"And at that time, I caught wind of news that an amazingly powerful pair appeared within the city, hence it is with the intention to ask for help, that I came here, as I could not just ignore the situation and do nothing. Kirito-san— Asuna-san."

Yulier bowed deeply, and spoke.

"I believe this to be extremely impudent of me to ask of this when we've just met, but please, won't you aid me in rescuing Thinker?"

Asuna stared intently at Yulier, who had ended her long story and closed her mouth.

It may be depressing to say so, but within SAO, the words of others cannot be trusted so easily. Even for a matter like this, the possibility of it being a conspiracy to lure Kirito and Asuna outside the range of the town, so as to inflict harm onto them, cannot be abandoned just yet. Normally, as long as there is sufficient knowledge about the game, one would be able to find the holes in the stories of possible liars, but unfortunately, Asuna and company are much too ignorant about the true state of affairs concerning the «Army».

Exchanging a glance with Kirito, Asuna opened her mouth to speak with care.

"—If there's something we can do, we should offer our strength— that is what I believe. But for that to happen, we would first have to do some research at least, so as to confirm your story..."

"That is— as expected, I suppose..."

Yulier gave a slight nod.

"I even realize, that this is an unreasonable request... However, it would not be unthought-of for a horizontal line to be engraved into Thinker's name on the «Monument of Life» of the Black Iron Castle any moment now..."

The silver-haired whip-user's firm eyes appeared to cloud over, swaying Asuna's feelings. She keenly felt her desire to believe. But at the same time, the experience she had gathered over these two years in this world warned her, setting off alarm bells about the danger of letting her emotions loose.

Taking a look at Kirito, he too, seemed to be lost in his thoughts once again. Those black eyes intently looking this way reflected the wavering of his heart, between the desire to help out Yulier and the concern for Asuna's health.

—It happened then. Yui, who had been silent up till then, abruptly raised her face from her cup and spoke.

"It's fine, Mama. That person, she's not lying."

Asuna was taken aback and stared hard at Yui. Putting aside the contents of her speech, it was excellent Japanese, as if the way she had faltered with her words up until yesterday was a lie.

"Yu... Yui-chan, are you able to understand something like that...?"

Having been asked the question as Asuna looked into her face, Yui gave a nod.

"Un. I can't... really put it into words, but I get it..."

Having heard those words, Kirito reached out with his right hand, ruffling Yui's head. He looked at Asuna and grinned.

"Let's just regret believing in her, instead of regret suspecting her. Let's go. We'll handle it somehow."

"You're as carefree as ever, huh."

Shaking her head as she replied, Asuna too, reached out towards Yui's hair with her hand.

"Sorry about that, Yui-chan. We will be delayed in searching for your friends for a day, but do forgive us."

She whispered in a small voice, although she was unsure if she really understood it. Yui gave a huge smile and nodded. Stroking her glossy black hair once again, Asuna turned towards Yulier and spoke, smiling.

"...We might not be of much help, but do allow us to aid you. The desire to help someone important to you; I too, understand that feeling..."

As tears welled up in Yulier's sky-blue eyes, she took a deep bow.

"Thank you... Thank you so much..."

"Let's save that for after we rescue Thinker-san."

Asuna gave yet another smile, and Sasha, who was looking over the situation in silence thus far, clapped her hands together.

"In that case, be sure to get your fill! There's still more left, so do have some too, Yulier-san."

The feeble sunlight of the early winter leaked through the treetops of the roadside trees turning a deep crimson, casting shadows upon the stone paving. Barely anyone passed through the alleys of the Starting City, and coupled with the streets that stretched out forever, the somber impression it gave off could not be denied.

Asuna, properly armed with her equipment, hastened through the roads along with Kirito, carrying Yui, under Yulier's guidance.

Asuna naturally tried to leave Yui behind in Sasha's care, but as Yui stubbornly insisted on going together, she ended up reluctantly bringing her along. Of course, a teleport crystal was prepared for her in her pocket. If the situation called for it—though it would trouble Sasha—it was arranged to allow her to retreat away from there.

"Ah, now that I think about it, you didn't mention something important yet."

Kirito called out to Yulier, who was walking in front.

"Which floor is the dungeon in question on?"

Yulier gave a simple answer.

"It's, here."

"...?"

Asuna instinctively inclined her head to the side.

"Here... eh?"

"It's, well, this Starting City's... there's a large dungeon in the underground at the central part of it. Thinker is... probably, in the deepest part of..."

"Seriously?"

Kirito spoke as though he was groaning.

"There wasn't anything like that during the beta test. What a miss..."

"The entrance to that dungeon, is at the Black Iron Castle— in other words, it's at the Army's headquarters. It does appear that it's the type of dungeon that opens up with the clearing of the upper floors, and it was only found out around the time Kibaou came to power, with them planning to monopolize it for their own clique. It was kept a secret for quite some time, from even Thinker, and of course, myself as well..."

"So that's it. There are quite a lot of rare items that pop up only once in unexplored dungeons, after all. They must have made quite a profit from it."

"Well, that's not quite true."

Yulier's tone of voice was dyed with slight traces of pleasure.

"Despite it being on the base floor, the degree of difficulty for that dungeon was dreadfully high... Even among the base monsters there, their levels are close to those around the sixtieth floor. It seems like even the advance party led by Kibaou himself got broken up and chased around, barely escaping with their lives by teleporting out. Thanks to those recklessly used crystals, we went deep in the red and all."

"Hahaha, I see."

Yulier responded to Kirito's laugh with a smile, but soon sank into gloom.

"However, right now, that's the reason why saving Thinker is difficult. The corridor crystal that Kibaou used was made by marking a spot rather deep inside that he got through to as he ran here and there away from the monsters... Thinker is probably at the tip of that marked spot. It's not quite impossible for me to handle the monsters there if it's one-on-one, but consecutive battles would be totally hopeless. —I apologize, but the two of you will..."

"Ah, well, if it's around the sixtieth floor..."

"We should be able to handle it somehow."

Following up on Kirito's statement, Asuna nodded. For the dungeon on the sixtieth floor, a level of 70 was needed to amply clear it, but Asuna had currently reached level 87, while Kirito had easily exceeded 90. With that, it should be possible to break through the dungeon even while protecting Yui, and she released the tension in her shoulders with relief. However, Yulier continued her speech without changing her anxious-looking expression.

"...Also, there's another matter of concern. It's information gotten from the players who participated in the advance party, but deep in the dungeon... a humongous monster was sighted; something at the rank of a boss..."

"..."

Asuna exchanged glances with Kirito.

"The boss might be that one from around the sixtieth floor... How was the boss from there again?"

"Eh, well, I believe... it was something like an armored warrior formed from stone."

"Ah, that one, huh. ...It wasn't too hard, if I'm not wrong..."

Facing towards Yulier, she gave another nod.

"Well, as for that, we should probably be able to handle it as well."

"In that case, I'm relieved!"

Yulier finally slackened her jaws and continued her words while squinting, as though she was looking at something dazzling.

"That's right... The both of you have always experienced boss battles... I'm sorry, to take up your precious time..."

"No, we're on break right now, after all."

Asuna flustered, waving her hands.

As they exchanged those conversations, the form of a huge building, shining with a black luster, began to appear in the streets beyond them. It was the largest establishment of the Starting City, the «Black Iron Castle». In the hall right after entering through the main gate, the «Monument of Life», with the names of every player listed on it, was erected, and although anyone could enter up till that point, most of the deeper grounds inside were completely under the control of the Army.

Yulier did not head for the main entrance to the castle, moving around to the back. The high castle walls and the deep moat encircling it, denying intruders, continued on forever. There was absolutely no human traffic.

After walking on for several minutes, the place where Yulier came to a stop was a stairway that descended from the road, down towards somewhere close to the water's surface of the moat. Peering in, there was a dark passage wide open on the right side at the tip of the stairs.

"We will enter the castle's sewers from here and head for the entrance to the dungeon. It might be a little dark and narrow though..."

Yulier cut off her words there, glancing at Yui, within Kirito's arms, with concern. With that, Yui scowled as though she was upset,

"Yui isn't scared!"

and insisted so. A smile unintentionally leaked from Asuna, as she looked at the situation.

To Yulier, Yui was explained with nothing more than a, "We're living together." She did not try to pry into anything beyond that, but she probably had reservations about bringing her along to the dungeon, as expected.

Asuna spoke as to alleviate her worries.

"It's alright; this child is much more alert than she appears, after all."

"Yep. She will definitely become a fine swordswoman in the future."

With Kirito's remark, Asuna exchanged glances with him and smiled, and Yulier gave a deep nod.

"Well then, let's go!"

"Nuooooo"

And the sword gripped by the right hand cut through the monster with a slash,

"Ryaaaaaaa"

And the sword gripped by the left hand blew it away with a bang.

Equipping two swords for the first time in a while, Kirito released all the energy saved up from his holiday, laying waste to the swarms of enemies without pause, one after another. Asuna, holding Yui's hand, and Yulier, gripping her metal whip, had no chance to do anything at all. Each time the groups of enemies, comprising of huge frog-type monsters covered in slime, crayfish-type monsters carrying pincers of a black sheen, and such appeared, what assaulted them with reckless fury were the swords from the left and right, tearing through everything surrounding them, finishing the enemies off.

Asuna's mind went, "Oh, geez," but Yulier gazed upon Kirito's berserker-style with wonder, her mouth agape. It was probably a spectacle much too different from her knowledge of combat. With Yui cheering on with an innocent "Papa, do your best," the tension in the air evaporated even further.

Dozens of minutes had passed since heading from the dark and moist underground water supply, until invading this dungeon made from black stones. It was more wide, deep and filled with monsters than expected, but with Kirito breaking the game balance, swinging around his pair of swords with vigor, the two swordswomen suffered from nearly zero fatigue.

"We... Well, I'm a little sorry about this, leaving it all to you..."

Towards the apologetic-looking Yulier, with her head bowed down, Asuna replied with a wry smile.

"No, that guy's already enthralled, after all... It's fine just letting him do everything."

"Hey, what's with that, that's horrible."

Kirito, back from devastating the group, sulked as Asuna's words reached his ears.

"Want to switch, then?"

"...Ju-just a bit more."

Asuna and Yulier smiled as they met each other's glances.

After the silver-haired whip user waved her left hand, displaying the map, she pointed out the glowing point that represented a friend marker, showing Thinker's present position. As she did not have the map to the dungeon, the path towards the glowing point was blank, but they had already shortened seventy percent of the total distance.

"Thinker's position hadn't moved for several days. I believe that he should probably be in a safe area. If we're able to reach all the way there, we can just use crystals to withdraw, so... I'm sorry, I'll be counting on you for just a little longer."

Yulier lowered her head, and Kirito frantically waved his hands.

"N-No, we're doing it because we want to, and there are items dropping as well, so..."

"Oh?"

Asuna asked in return by reflex.

"Did something good drop?"

"Yup."

Kirito nimbly manipulated the window, and a dark red meat appeared from its surface with a clacking sound. Asuna's face froze, thinking about how grotesque it must feel.

"Wha... Just what is that?"

"Frog meat! You'll definitely say that its tastiness is comparable to its strangeness, so be sure to cook it later."

"I. Won't. Do it!!"

Asuna shouted out, and opened up her window as well. Accessing the inventory shared with Kirito, she dragged the character string going, «Scavenger Meat x24», and mercilessly tossed it onto the trash bin mark.

"Ah! Aaaaaa..."

Looking upon the utterly dejected-looking Kirito speaking in a bitter tone, Yulier could not help but laugh, holding onto her stomach, even as she tried to stifle it. At that moment,

"Big sis, you finally laughed!"

Yui cried out delightedly. She too, grinned broadly.

Looking at that, it took Asuna aback— recalling what had happened back then. The day before, the time Yui went into spasms was also right after the children had all laughed together, having repelled those guys from the Army. It seemed that the girl had a unique sensitivity towards the smiles of people around her. Whether that was the personality she was born with, or perhaps due to all the painful feelings she had suffered until now— Asuna instinctively held up Yui in her arms, hugging her closely. She swore in her heart, that she would always smile when beside this child.

"Well, let's go on!"

To Asuna's voice, the party stepped forth, heading ever further into the depths.

The groups of monsters mainly made up of aquatic-based creatures from the time they entered the dungeon changed into those from the specter family, such as zombies and ghosts, as they descended the stairs, sending intense chills down Asuna's heart, but Kirito's pair of swords continued slaughtering the appearing enemies in mere instants, not showing the slightest hint of hesitation.

Normally, it is not quite well-regarded for a high levelled player to go wild in a hunting field far below theirs, but there was no need to mind about that this time, as there wasn't even anyone else there. If there was time available, it would be a chance to work towards levelling up Yulier, who was content being the support, but rescuing Thinker took precedence at present.

In the two hours that passed in the blink of an eye, the distance between the current position displayed on the map, and where Thinker's location was, thought to be the safe zone, steadily narrowed down.

It was completely unknown just how many had already been downed, as Kirito's swords blew that particular black skeleton swordsman into pieces, and they finally caught sight of a passage glimmering with warm light just beyond there.

"Ah, it's the safe zone!"

As Asuna spoke, Kirito nodded as well, having confirmed with his detection skill.

"There's a player alone inside. It's safe."

"Thinker!"

Yulier shouted out and ran with her metal armor clinking, unable to hold herself back any longer. Kirito lowered his two swords and hurried behind her, along with Asuna holding onto Yui.

They ran towards the light. As they went through the road that bent to the right for several seconds, a large fork in the road, and beyond that, a small room, soon came into view.

To their eyes, accustomed to the darkness, the room was filled with light bright enough to blind them, and a single man stood in the entranceway. His face was shaded due to the backlight, but he was wildly waving his arms in their direction.

"Yurieeel!!"

The moment he confirmed the figures, the man roared out her name. Yulier waved her left hand as well, running ever quicker.

"Thinkerrr!!"

As if his voice was mixed with tears, the man's cry—

"Don't come any closeeer!! That road is...!!"

On hearing that, Asuna slowed down her pace, startled. But it did not seem to have reached Yulier's ears. She was rushing straight towards the room.

In that moment.

Several meters before the room, in the blind spot on the right side, on the path intersecting the road that the three were running through, an unexpected single yellow cursor appeared. Asuna promptly checked the name. The display was «The Fatal-scythe»—

With the meaning of a scythe that decides fate, it had the defining "The" attached to it. The proof of a boss monster.

"Nooo!! Yulier-san, get back!!"

Asuna screamed. The yellow cursor smoothly moved towards the left, closing in towards the intersection of the crossroads. At this rate, Yulier would run into it at the crossing. There was barely any time left.

"Ku-!!"

Suddenly, Kirito who had been running on Asuna's left seemed to— have vanished. In reality, he had dashed off at a tremendous speed. The surrounding walls quivered with the sound of that impact.

He travelled several meters with a force at the level of teleportation, and as Kirito held onto Yulier from behind her with his right hand, he thrust the sword in his left into the bedrock with all his might. A tremendous metallic sound. Countless sparks. Performing an urgent brake that was able to burn the very air, in the space in front of the pair that barely managed to stop before the crossroads, the ground roared as it tremored, as a gigantic black shadow crossed.

The yellow cursor that lunged into the passage on the left stopped after roughly ten meters. The monster of unknown stature coolly changed its direction and appeared to charge in once again.

Kirito released Yulier, and withdrawing the sword he pierced into the floor, he jumped into the left passage. Asuna followed behind frantically.

Shaking Yulier, who had fallen due to shock, back to her senses, she pushed her towards the opposite side of the crossing. Letting Yui down from her arms and entrusting her with Yulier, Asuna left a short call.

"Please retreat into the safe zone with this child!"

The whip-user nodded with her face white, and having confirmed that she carried Yui towards the room, Asuna drew her rapier as she turned to the left.

The sight of Kirito's back, staying still in his dual blades stance, entered her vision. What laid further in— was a being of two and a half meters, a humanoid silhouette clad in flapping black robes.

Within the hood, the arms peeking out from the cuffs, were dark, corporeal and wriggling as they coiled about. Inside its murky face, all that occupied it was a pair of energetic eyeballs, their blood vessels visible, looking down at the couple. It wielded a huge black scythe in its right hand. From the edge of that cruel curve, viscid red blots trickled down, drop by drop. As a whole, it had a figure just like that of the supposed god of death.

The death god's eyeballs swirled around, and looked straight at Asuna. At that moment, chills ran through her entire body, as though her heart was gripped by pure fear.

But its level should not be too much to deal with.

With that thought in her head, the moment she readied her rapier once again, Kirito spoke coarsely, standing in front of her.

"Asuna, get those three at the safe zone and escape with a crystal now."

"Eh...?"

"This guy's bad. Even my identification skill couldn't find any data on it. In terms of power, it probably ranks among the ninetieth floors."

"...?"

Asuna lost her breath and stiffened up as well. Even in those moments, the death god gradually moved through the air, closing in on the pair.

"I'll stall for some time, so hurry up and get out of here!!"

"Ki-Kirito too, we should both..."

"I'll go after you! Hurry...!!"

Even though the teleport crystal is a last resort measure for retreating, it is not an all-powerful tool. Between gripping the crystal, designating the destination, and actually completing the teleportation, there is a time lag of several seconds. If one were to receive an attack from a monster in that period of time, the teleportation will be cancelled. When the chain of command breaks down in parties, with people retreating purely to suit their own convenience popping up, the reason why the rest become casualties, unable to even stall for enough time to teleport, is due to this.

Asuna was at a loss. Even if the four of them teleported first, with Kirito's running ability, he might be able to outrun the boss to reach the safe zone. However, the charging speed shown by the boss earlier was truly terrifying. If perhaps— she were to escape first, and after that, he doesn't appear. That was a thought she could not bear.

Asuna took a glance at the depths of the road on the right.

—Sorry, Yui-chan. Even though I said that we'll be together...

Whispering so within her heart, she shouted out.

"Yulier-san, I'll leave Yui to you! Please escape together, you three!"

Yulier shook her head, her expression frozen.

"I won't allow it... something like that..."

"Hurry!!"

It was then. The death god, swaying its wielded scythe, started charging with startling vigor, miasma spreading from the hem of its robes.

Kirito crossed the swords in his hands, taking up an imposing stance before Asuna. Asuna frantically clung onto that back, meeting Kirito's two swords with the one in her right hand. The death god, without a care for the three swords, swung the scythe down, aiming above the couple's heads.

A red flash. An impact.

Asuna felt herself spinning round and round. First, she was thrown to the ground, then she crashed into the ceiling on the rebound, before falling back down to the ground once again. Her breathing stopped, and her field of vision began to darken.

Her consciousness hazy, she checked Kirito's and her own HP bars, both of them had half shaved away from that single hit. The merciless yellow indicator conveyed the inability to survive the next attack. She had to get back up. That was what she thought, but her body couldn't move—

—And, at that moment.

Short step after short step, she heard those soft footsteps close to her ears. Shifting her sight, bewildered, childlike steps, like those of a kitten, advancing forward without a care for the impending danger entered her vision.

Slender hands and feet. Long, black hair. It was Yui, who should have been in the safe zone. Possessing a gaze without the slightest trace of fear, she stared straight at the gigantic god of death.

"Idiot!! Hurry up, get away!!"

Frantically struggling to move his upper body, Kirito cried out. The death god held its scythe aloft with deliberate motions once more. If she was dragged into an attack of that range, Yui's HP would certainly be blown away. Asuna too, tried to move her mouth. But with her lips stiffened up, she was unable to utter a single word.

But in the next moment, something unbelievable happened.

"It's alright, Papa, Mama."

Along with those words, Yui's body gently floated into the air.

It was not a jump. Moving as though she flapped invisible wings, she came to a complete stop at a height of two meters. She softly hung her far too small right hand in the air.

"Nooo...! Get away!! Get away, Yui-chan!!"

As if to erase Asuna's screams, the death god's scythe was relentlessly swung down, drawing a line of dark-red light. The atrocious pointed edge came within reach of Yui's pure white palm—

Right before it came into contact with her, it was hindered by a vivid purple barrier, and repulsed with a large noise. The system tag that floated before Yui's palm caused Asuna to stare in astonishment.

[Immortal Object], that was surely what was written there. Immortality— an attribute that no player should possess.

The black death god spun its eyeballs about, as though it was bewildered. Immediately following that, a phenomenon to further surprise Asuna happened.

"Gouu!!," along with this sound, crimson flames came forth, coiling around, with Yui's right hand as their core. The flames scattered widely for an instant, before immediately condensing, and started to join together into a long and narrow form. As one looked on, the figure changed towards that of a huge sword. A blade, sparkling in the shades of the blaze, emerged from within the flames, extending out endlessly.

The greatsword that appeared in Yui's right hand was of a length that easily exceeded the girl's height. Radiance from the metal that seemed to be on the verge of melting illuminated the pathway. As though rousing the flames of the sword, the bulky winter clothes worn on Yui's form burnt down in an instant. From beneath that, the white one-piece dress the girl had on at first appeared. Strangely enough, even as the flames winded around the one-piece dress, as well as that long, black hair, there seemed to be absolutely no effect on them.

She casually spun the sword that exceeded her height around, once—

Without showing a hint of hesitation, Yui challenged the death god as she drew strokes of flames.

Despite its actions being governed by nothing more than simple algorithms from the system, within the boss monster's bloodshot eyes, Asuna believed she saw them dyed in a distinct color of fear.

Draped in the swirls of flames, Yui charged through the air with a deafening roar. The death god raised the scythe before itself and assumed a defensive stance, as though it was afraid of the girl, far smaller than itself. And approaching forth, Yui swung the huge, blazing sword straight down with all her might.

The blade, exuding intense flames, collided into the horizontal scythe's handle. For an instant, the pair's movements ceased.

Without even a moment to think, Yui's flaming sword moved once more. Like the metal was ablaze with withering amounts of heat, the radiant blade ate into the scythe's grip bit by bit. With enough force to tear apart everything but Yui's long hair and one-piece dress, as well as the death god's robes, it flickered behind them, scattering large sparks at times, lighting up the interior of the dungeon, dyeing the area orange.

Before long—

Along with an explosive sound, "Gou," the death god's scythe was finally cut in half. Immediately following that, as the energy accumulated thus far was unleashed, the greatsword turned into a pillar of flame, striking straight into the middle of the boss's face.

"—h...!!"

Asuna and Kirito squinted their eyes and shielded their face on reflex, reacting to the excessively strong force from a scorching ball of fire that appeared in that moment. At the same time Yui swung the sword straight down, the fireball blew up, swallowing up the death god's form in crimson swirls as it streamed deeper into the passage. Hidden within that thunderous roar, a faint shriek of death and agony echoed.

When they opened their eyes, they immediately closed them for an instant due to how dazzling the flames were. The figure of the boss monster was no more. Small fires swayed about, left behind here and there on the road, making cracking noises. And in the center of it all, Yui stood still by herself, looking downcast. The blazing sword which stood in the ground, dissolved and crumbled down into nothing as it exuded flames just like the time it materialized.

Asuna rose up, finally having regained the strength in her body, slowly standing up by using her rapier as a support. Kirito too, stood up shortly after. The couple approached the girl with unsteady steps.

"Yui... chan..."

Asuna called out with a coarse voice, and the girl turned back without a sound. Her small lips showed a smile, but in those large jet black eyes, many tears were swelling up.

Yui looked up at Asuna and Kirito as she quietly spoke.

"Papa... Mama... I, remember everything now..."

The safe zone of the deepest part of the Black Iron Castle's underground labyrinth was shaped as a perfect square. There was only a single entrance, and in the middle of it, a smooth, gleaming, black stone cube acting as a table was positioned.

Asuna and Kirito looked on at Yui, sitting on the stone table, looking small and quiet, in silence. Yulier and Thinker were asked to escape first, so the three were by themselves now.

"My memory recovered"; with just those words, Yui went through several minutes without speaking at all. That expression seemed sorrowful somehow, as though she was hesitant to speak, but Asuna gathered her resolve and asked.

"Yui-chan... Did you remember...? Everything up till now..."

Yui still continued looking downcast, but finally gave a nod. With an expression like a mix between smiling and crying, she raised her small lips.

"Yes... I will, explain everything— Kirito-san, Asuna-san."

The moment she heard that polite form of speaking, Asuna's chest tightened with desolate expectations. A suffocating belief that something would be ending.

Within the square room, Yui's words gently started flowing forth.

"This world named, «Sword Art Online», is managed by a single large system. The system's name is «Cardinal». That is, the way this world is managed is based on its judgment. In the first place, Cardinal was designed to not require maintenance from humans. With two core programs doing mutual error correction on the other, and in addition, countless numbers of lower program bundles, they regulate the whole of this world... The AI for monsters and NPCs, the balancing of the rates of items and the currency, anything and everything is managed by the cluster of programs under the command of Cardinal. —However, there was one thing that could be entrusted to nothing but humans. Trouble originating in the players' mental state; that was the only thing that could be settled by none other than humans themselves... and for that purpose, dozens of staff members should have been prepared."

"GM..."

Kirito spoke with a sigh.

"Yui, in short, are you saying that you're a gamemaster...? A staff from Argus...?"

After spending several seconds in silence, Yui softly shook her head.

"...When the developers of Cardinal entrusted even the care of players to the system, they ran a trial of a certain program. Using a feature unique to the Nerve Gear, it monitored the emotions of players in detail, and appeared at the side of players found to have problems to hear them out... «Mental Health — Counselling Program», MHCP version 1, codename, «Yui». That would be me."

Asuna's breath was taken away with how much of a shock it was. She was unable to apprehend just what had been said right away.

"Program...? Do you mean an AI...?"

She asked in a low voice. Yui gave a nod, a dejected smile on her face.

"So as to not discomfort players, I was given an emotion imitation function. —It's fake, all of it... even these tears... I'm sorry, Asuna-san..."

Large tears spilled from Yui's eyes, becoming particles of light, and dissipated. Asuna took a single, soft step towards Yui. She reached out her hand, but Yui faintly shook her head. As if— she was unqualified to receive Asuna's embrace.

Still incapable of believing the situation, Asuna forced out her words.

"But... But, losing your memories...? Can something like that happen to an AI...?"

"...Two years ago... The day the official service started..."

Yui lowered her eyes, and continued her explanation.

"Although I am unaware of the complete details of what exactly happened as well, Cardinal handed down an unplanned order to me. A complete prohibition from interfering with all players... Unpermitted to come into any tangible contact with them, I reluctantly continued with nothing but the monitoring of the condition of the players' mental health."

Asuna reacted reflexively; she guessed that «unplanned order» was due to the manipulation done by the only GM of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko. Yui, who was probably in the dark about him, moved her lips once more, her face distorted in sorrow.

"That situation— was simply the worst... Practically all of the players were taken over by negative emotions such as fear, despair and rage most of the time; at times, there were even some that fell into madness. I continued looking into the hearts of those people. Originally, I would not have been able to stop myself from going straight up to those players, listening to their stories and settling their problems... but there was no means of coming into contact with them from my position... With that contradiction of having the sense of duty, yet the lack of authority to do so, I was gradually flooded with errors, and broke down..."

At the bottom of the silent underground labyrinth, Yui's delicate voice rippled out, like a trembling thread of silver. Asuna and Kirito could not help but listen attentively without uttering a single word.

"One day, when I did my usual monitoring, I noticed a pair with mental parameters that differed largely from those of other players. I had never encountered those brain patterns that I picked up until then. Joy... peace... but not just those... Just what are these emotions; thinking that, I continued to monitor those two. Mysterious desires sprouted within me, as I pried into their conversations and actions. No such routine should have existed, but... I wanted to get closer to those two... in an intimate setting, I wanted to converse with them directly... With the wish to be nearer, even the slightest bit more, I wandered about daily, manifesting at the system console closest to the player home that the couple lived in. I believe I must have been considerably broken down at that point in time..."

"And that is, the forest of the twenty-second floor...?"

Yui gently nodded.

"Yes. Kirito-san, Asuna-san... I had always wanted... to meet with the two of you... In that forest, the moment I saw the two of you... I felt extremely happy... It was strange; it's not possible that I could think of something like that... I am nothing but a mere program..."

Overflowing with tears, Yui closed her mouth. Asuna was stricken with indescribable feelings, grasping her hands tightly before her chest.

"Yui-chan... you are a true AI, aren't you? So you possess actual intelligence, don't you...

As she said so in a whisper, Yui inclined her head slightly and replied.

"I.. don't understand... Just exactly, what had happened to me..."

At that moment, Kirito, who had kept his silence till then, took a step forward.

"Yui is no longer a program operated by the system. Therefore, you should be able to voice out your own wishes."

And he spoke in a soft tone.

"What do you wish for, Yui?"

"I... I want..."

Yui stretched out her slender arms towards the couple strongly.

"To always be together... Papa... Mama...!"

Without even wiping away the tears flowing over her face, Asuna rushed over to Yui, tightly holding onto her small frame.

"We will always be together, Yui-chan."

Shortly after, Kirito too, wrapped his arms around Yui and Asuna.

"Aah... Yui is our child. Let's go home. We'll all live together... forever..."

However— within Asuna's breast, Yui softly shook her head.

"Eh..."

"It's... too late..."

Kirito asked, bewildered.

"Why's that... what's too late..."

"The reason why I have regained my memories... is because I've touched that stone."

Yui looked towards the center of the room, pointing at the black cube stored there with her small hand.

"When Asuna-san pushed me away into this safe zone earlier, I touched that stone by coincidence, and understood. That is not just a decorative object... It's a console installed there in the case that a GM requires urgent access."

As though there was an order of some sort within Yui's words, several lines of light burst towards the black stone. Immediately, with a fading beeping sound, a pale blue holo-keyboard rose to its surface.

"I believe that the boss monster from earlier was stationed here to keep players away. I accessed the system using this console, and eliminated the monster with the «Object Eraser» summon. At that time, with Cardinal's error correction ability, my damaged language faculty was restored, but... at the same time, Cardinal also found out about me, who was left alone until then. Right now, the core system is scanning over my program. It will conclude with the answer that I am a foreign entity, and I'll most likely be erased. I already... do not have much time left..."

"That... That is..."

"Can't something be done about it? If we get away from this place..."

Yui merely gave a wry smile towards the pair's words. Tears flowed down Yui's white cheeks once again.

"Papa, Mama, thank you. This would be our farewell."

"No way! I don't want something like that!!"

Asuna desperately screamed.

"This is just the beginning!! From now on, happily, together with everyone... living peacefully with each other..."

"In that darkness... During that long suffering where I did not even know the end of, the existence of Papa and Mama was my only solace."

Yui looked straight at Asuna. Faint light began enveloping that body.

"Yui, don't go!!"

Kirito held on to Yui's hand. Yui's small fingers gently caught hold of Kirito's.

"When I'm with Papa and Mama, everyone is able to smile... I was very happy for that. This is my request; that from now on too... in my place... help everyone out... give them joy..."

Yui's black hair and one-piece dress began disintegrating away into transient dispersing particles of light, much like morning dew. Yui's smiling face slowly became transparent. Her presence faded away.

"No! I don't want this!! If Yui-chan isn't here, I won't be able to smile!!"

Covered in the expanding light, Yui smiled sweetly. She caressed Asuna's cheek with her hand, on the verge of disappearing.

—Mama, do smile...

As a weak voice reverberated in Asuna's mind, an overwhelming dazzling light scattered out; as that too faded, there was nothing within Asuna's arms.

"Uwaaaaaa!!"

Raising her voice uncontrollably, Asuna fell to her knees. Kneeling atop the stone paving, she cried loudly like a child. The tears spilled onto the ground, drop after drop, mixed together with the grains of light left behind by Yui, vanishing away.