One Punch-Gamer

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟯𝗿𝗱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. 𝟰𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿, 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗜𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 '𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗯', 𝟱:𝟯𝟬…

CLANK!

The sounds of metal clashing reverberated through the dark forest, traces of mist covering most of it even as, on the ground and with their backs against a tree, the wide-eyed figures of three players watched with a mix of horror and awe.

Barely evading having her hand chopped off for the 3rd time, Asuna promised she would remember to kick their asses several times later for just lying there and NOT helping…if she survived this, of course.

With that in mind, the chestnut-haired girl growled and tried once again to lunge at his opponent, but the sinister hooded figure just continued smirking and used his own weapon to deflect the rapier.

For an instant, Asuna's eyes traced at the sinisterly approaching form of the massive Chinese kitchen-like 'dagger'…

Then, she quickly used her empty hand to 'punch' against the weapon's massive edge, a feat of precision and reaction speed that no other player except her Sensei would have been able to do, and deflected it enough to not be hit directly , spinning herself around.

The dark grin never faded from the man's obscured face despite his failure, the bits of shaggy hair and the scar visible over his right cheek somehow giving him an even more terrifying look.

The man's sheer presence seemed to ooze a chilling sensation, call for a deep and buried fear within the human psyche, that need all living beings had that screamed 'RUN! DANGER!' being recalled just by being near him…and the scariest thing was that it was a simple man causing it, not any great monster or terrible demon.

Then again, the one standing in front of the girl the Front Liners called 'Mighty Flash' was something much more terrifying than any of those things. He was, after all, true living proof of the darkest side of humanity.

Unlike any Mob or Boss, he destroyed lives for his own amusement. And he ENJOYED it.

Even worse, though, was that he had the dark 'charisma' to make others believe he was RIGHT to do so.

That train of thought made her eyes swept through the battlefield for an instant, trying to make sure her friends were okay.

Near the edge of the small clearing, she was able to see how Sachi barely deflected yet another attack of the guy with the estoc, the annoying red that seemed to be his 'theme' making her eyes hurt as he saw how he darkly laughed at the spear user from behind his skull mask's red lenses. His red eyes and hair were oddly in contrast with the black cape and hood he wore, even if the hood was lowered right then.

Sachi seemed to prepare a counterattack, but hesitated at the last second and allowed her foe to attack again, the estoc actually piercing the girl's side and making her jump to the side while barely grasping her massive lance. The skull-masked guy laughed harder.

'𝑅𝑒𝑑-𝐸𝑦𝑒𝑑' 𝑋𝑎𝑥𝑎…

On the opposite side, fighting the closest to the 3 frozen ex-guild mates, Argo was clearly panting, her claws barely seeming able to keep up with the mad slashes and lunges from the guy with the scarecrow-like sack mask, the dagger that Asuna knew was poisoned with some deadly combination too close to the whiskered girl for her liking, even as the lunatic never stopped his mad laughter.

𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘...

She registered all of this in less than an instant, her eyes shooting back towards her enemy a second later…only to see the massive edge of the 'Mate Chopper' about to cut into her face.

Without missing a beat, the rapier-user threw herself backward and out of the massive knife's reach, her eyes perfectly seeing how the deadly sharp weapon managed to cut off some of her virtual hairs even as once gain tried to impale her enemy taking advantage of his own attack.

Fast as lightning, the man's arm moved back and deflected her weapon with his own, once again reminding Asuna of the absurd power that the dark knife people called a 'Demon Sword' had.

"What's wrong, 'Hero'?" asked the hooded man with a wicked tone, his grin seeming to turn even darker by showing his teeth. "Is that all you and your friends have? Don't go and disappoint me now, because…" raising his 'dagger' again, the man's voice seemed to gain a maniac edge. "It's Showtime!"

Ignoring the chill that ran through her upon hearing the English words of the phrase, Asuna steeled herself while facing her dark enemy.

𝑃𝑜𝐻...

How had things ended up in such a dark and screwed-up situation?

It had all started two days ago, in the evening. She, Sachi and Argo had been in the 57th Floor trying to rest a bit after the tiring battle that the 62nd Floor Boss had been. Kirito, Keita and the others had stayed in the newly opened Frontline of the 63rd Floor, getting things ready for the Floor's exploration and to watch and make sure that no players got themselves killed by trying to rush ahead of the Front Liners for items or something else.

Having won the last 'bet' they made about it, it was the guys turn to do that while the girls' relaxed a bit. They had even offered Kirito to come along, seeing as he wasn't part of those bets for obvious reasons, but the black-haired boy had politely declined, saying that the first hours after clearing a Floor were always the ones when the chances of someone trying to 'explore' getting themselves killed were the greatest.

So, the three girls of the 'United Heroes Association' had been calmly walking after having lunch and talking about things…when a guy with a spear impaled through his chest had appeared hanging from the window of a building, screaming for help.

What followed had been an absurdly elaborated scheme that made it seem as if a mysterious 'assassin' suddenly had discovered how to kill people while inside the Safe Zones, but thanks to the combination of Asuna's sharp mind, Argo's information, and Sachi's instincts, the girls had been able to look through the ruse.

In the end, it had all been a plan from the players named Yolko and Caynz (The two supposedly 'assassinated' people) to draw out Schmitt from the Divine Dragon Alliance (Also the same three idiots who were currently watching them fight scared and doing NOTHING to help). Apparently, they had all been members of a guild called 'Golden Apple' before it disbanded after the death of the Guild Leader, a woman named Griselda. They had manages to deduce, from the gathered information about the 'case', that his she had been killed by her own husband, Grimlock, who had been also part of the guild, when he had been after some sort of rare ring that she was going to sell in the Front Lines. Despite that, Asuna had been sure that there was more to it in the story than it seemed.

Of course, it had been some hours later that Schmitt had run out of the DDA's headquarters and come down here, where the guild had made a 'tomb' for Griselda, consumed by the guilt of having helped Grimlock because of the ring, not knowing that he would end up killing the woman. That's when Caynz and Yolko had revealed themselves before him, still alive and revealing their 'plan'…just for the three members of the United Heroes Association to show there, revealing how absurdly easy it had, in fact, been to discover their plan, and explain what they knew.

But just when everything seemed to have been about to be solved as the guilt of everything fell on Grimlock (Who the girls already had asked Kirito and the other boys to localize)…THEY had appeared.

The three most infamous players of Sword Art Online. The ones who stood at the top of the 'red guild'. Those who called themselves the 'villains' of the world, who followed the twisted ideals of their sinister leader, the one who wielded that massive knife.

Laughing Coffin.

Their appearance was certainly something the girls had NOT been expected. Nor how they had promptly declared that they were going to kill them all.

That was what had led to their current situation, facing a 3 vs. 3 battle against a group of crazy maniacs that seemed hell-bent on killing them, even as they tried to make the difference…without doing the same.

And it was becoming apparently clear that THAT was all the difference the 'Red Players' needed to get the upper hand.

"Damn it!" growled Asuna while jumping backward, glaring at her enemy with hate and frustration. "What's the point of this, PoH?! What are you even hoping to accomplish?!"

"Haven't you heard it all the times I have said it, girl? It's just how things ARE!" answered the leader of Laughing Coffin with his usual calm and sinister tone, carelessly shrugging his arms to the sides, as if not caring for a counterattack. "In this world, NOTHING that we do will be our fault, just Kayaba Akihiko's! Therefore, isn't it normal that we use that freedom for whatever we want?" PoH let out a dark chuckle as he said that, his eyes seeming to want to pierce Asuna's soul. "Just like you and your friends 'play' the role of Heroes, we have decided to become the Villains of this world. We will do whatever we want, however we want it…and YOU are the main obstacles in our way. The only reason we accepted the 'job' of killing those three frozen losers over there was because we knew YOU three would be here!"

"…you're SO fucked up in the head that I don't even want to imagine how your parents must feel."

"DON'T bring my parents into this, bitch!" suddenly growled the hooded man while waving his weapon at her in a very OOC-way. "Just because they didn't love me doesn't mean I have issues because of them! They were still the ones who raised me!"

"…what?" was the flat answer of the rapier-user.

As this…'interruption' happened, the other fights were…

"What's wrong, little girl?" challenged Xaxa with a smirk. "I heard you had the power to DRILL Bosses back with just a thrust, yet all I see before me is a scared weakling! Are you so eager to die?!"

Dodging another thrust of her crazy enemy's weapon, Sachi couldn't help but grit her teeth in frustration. She had the worst matchup possible against the estoc-user thanks to the fact that her Infinite Spear SUCKED in PvP, so she was forced to rely mainly on normal Spear Skills, which weren't all that good with a spear as long as her, and she couldn't really risk using any besides the basic ones or the 'recovery time' could allow her extremely fast opponent to deal some serious damage. She was already with 60% of her HP, and she had barely touched him. She could TRY to use one of her Infinite Spear Skills, but there were more chances of either she hitting the others in the middle of their fights, missing the guy entirely OR left herself wide open for a Skill of his. Her Unique Skill had been made to fight either big enemies or groups of small/medium ones, not a single human-sized opponent like this.

So then…that meant it was time to change tactics!

"O-oh yeah?! Well, at least I don't have to go around hiding my face and trying to seem some kind of Halloween-obsessed guy!" retorted the girl, proving everyone that she wasn't the best one in taunting an enemy. "Di-did you put that on by yourself or did you need help from your, ehm…baby brother (?) to do so?!"

At those words….Xaxa seemed to snap, his red eyes shining with angry bloodlust as he growled.

"Don't FUCKING mention my creepy little brother, damn it! One of the best things about getting trapped here is that I get to not see his annoying fa…!"

"LONGINUS!" screamed Sachi as her spear's aura shot forward, impaling the ranting estoc-user and sending him flying against a tree. "…uhm…well…" as the Skill died out and Xaxa fell to the ground, the girl couldn't help but sweatdrop. "…talk about luck?"

Meanwhile, the last fight of the clearing…

"AHAHAHAHAH! YES! Keep running, little rat, AHAHAHAH!"

"Goddammit, don't you EVER stop freaking laughing?!"

…wasn't going that well.

"Why should I?!" happily asked Johnny Black with a sinister smile (Though it wasn't visible because of his creepy mask), even as he once again got inside Argo's range and swiped madly at her, not bothering with any Skill even as the girl, who fought in a similar way, tried to keep up with her claws. "If you are going to do something, then you should enjoy doing it! So, I'm going to keep laughing until you're DEAD, Ahahahahah…!"

"𝐹𝑢𝑐𝑘! 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑁𝑂𝑊𝑆 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔!" grimaced the whiskered-girl even as she was barely able to intercept the latest attack with her claws. "𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑂𝑁𝐸 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠!" parrying the next strike, Argo realized that she needed to do SOMETHING or sooner or later her concentration would slip and the madman would hit her. "𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙…𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝐼'𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 …!"

"Time to dieee, sweetieee!" grinned the madman while retreating his dagger and charging a Skill, making Argo's eyes widen.

"Shit…!" growled the girl while rearing back her fist, her claw-clad hand shining as she unleashed the thrusting Martial Arts Skill known as 'Senda' and…

Her enemy smirked as he abandoned the stance by dropping his knife and crouching, Argo's claw narrowly missing his head as the wide-eyed girl stood there in shock.

"You feeell for iiiit!"

Johnny's left hand gripped the falling dagger on a reverse grip and SLASHED with it against the info broker's exposed torso, making her scream from the shock.

The reaction from everyone was instantaneous.

"ARGO-CHAN!" shouted Asuna at seeing her friend staggering back.

"Don't get distracted, Hero!" grinned PoH as he swung the Mate Chopper at the girl's head.

"SHIT!"

"A-Argo-san, NO!" screamed Sachi while turning around…

"You will pay for what you just did, bitch!" roared Xaxa while thrusting his rapier at the girl, piercing THROUGH her right shoulder.

"UAAH!"

"𝐻𝑒…𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒…𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚…!" were the self-loathing thoughts of Argo as she fell backward, her body frozen and unable to move even as the 'Paralysis' Status Effect appeared at the side of her HP Bar, the poisoned dagger of the laughing madman having done its job. "𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟…𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠…!"

The girl realized too late that this was entirely her fault, in more ways than one. She was mainly an Information Broker, not a fighter. Her true weapon was information more than skill, and it had been like that since the Beta Test, hence why she used such an unorthodox weapon as her 'claws', which couldn't really activate any normal Skill and could only be used in conjunction with the Martial Arts Skills. Despite her having been leveling up in the Front Lines since she officially joined the 'United Heroes Association', Argo was still the weakest of them when it came to fighting. Even in Boss Battles, she was mainly a Support and usually just ran around keeping everyone in check, passing potions when needed or taking an occasional opportunity to land a distracting blow on the enemy.

She knew how to defend herself, but she didn't know how to truly FIGHT. Not against someone like this, another human being whose only wish was to hurt and kill for his own sick enjoyment.

Idly, she noticed with shock and horror how Asuna tried to use her gauntlet-clad left hand to deflect PoH's attack, only managing to almost lost her hand and receive a good chunk of damage, having apparently forgotten for a second how the wicked Mate Chopper was strong enough to literally 'ignore' even Heavy Armor protection. At the other side, Sachi was trying to remove 'Red-Eyed' Xaxa's weapon from her body as she tried to swing her own spear against him, but with one hand busy trying to get free from the estoc she didn't have enough power or balance to properly hit the 'red' player with her oversized lance, even as he seemed to content with staying inside her range and push her back, seeing how her HP kept going down the longer his weapon stayed impaling her.

And finally, as if a sentence of her end, the wicked form of Johnny Black suddenly towered over her paralyzed body, his eyes reflecting dark enjoyment as he played with his poisoned dagger.

"Now then, how would you like to die, nee? Do you want it to be fast? Maybe I can use an actual Poison on you instead of just a paralyzing one? Oh, oh, I know! Why don't I keep you down there while you see how my colleagues kill your friends while you can't do ANYTHING, ahahahah…!" the madman's laugh echoed like an evil scratching inside Argo's head, her eyes shooting from him to the despairing situation of Sachi and Asuna, cursing her own weakness. "Well then, what do you…?"

"Nanatsu no Taizai (Seven Deadly Sins)." echoed a soft yet deadly voice.

Johnny's eyes widened and it was only his wicked instincts and relatively high stats what allowed him to dodge to the side, only losing his left arm (which was cut in three pieces before having even fallen to the ground) and getting a nasty cut on the side of his chest when the 7-Hits Skill slashed at where he had been standing a second ago. The HP of the one nicknamed 'Poison-Dagger' fell all the way to the low-yellow even as the wide-eyed Argo looked at the suddenly appeared girl, her orange hair reflecting softly her Sword Skill's last shines coming from her katana.

Not missing a beat, Philia quickly grabbed her dagger with her empty hand, raising it and stopping Johnny's angry lunge before he could do anything, apparently surprised at her action.

"Sorry, but you're NOT catching me off guard, lowly murderer." coldly declared the girl before slashing down with her katana, forcing the Laughing Coffin's member to jump back even as she sheathed it once again before letting her dagger fall to the ground. "Tsk, now that I grabbed it I will need to let it go or I won't be able to use Skills. Such a troublesome System…" moving her gaze while mumbling, the Ronin looked directly at the still paralyzed Argo. "Mind if we butt in, Heroes?"

The words seemed to make the other people fighting, who had frozen at the unexpected entrance, to snap out of it.

"Wait, did you say 'we'…?"

"All yours, Strea." interrupted the girl with a smile.

As if those words had been a trigger, a sudden feral scream echoed as a darkness-covered figure jumped down and SLAMMED her massive blade over the estoc-user, forcing him to jump back and abandon his weapon even as the slash got it out of the shocked Sachi, whose HP had just hit the red.

Before anyone could even understand what was happening, the new figure GLARED at Xaxa with her blood-red eyes and dashed at him, seeming more like a beast of darkness than a person.

Even as his face went full 'OH SHIT!', the skull-masked player showed that he DID have the skill to back up his actions when he dodged the charge and rolled to recover his weapon, turning around to unleash a Skill…

…and almost shitting himself when he saw the 'thing' of darkness once again before him, the blade it was wielding shining with the characteristic light of a Sword Skill even as it pierced him in the chest twice, making him stumble back from the sheer mass of the weapon, his own life dropping to the red…and then a sudden, sickly feeling spread through his body, making him fall down on his knees and start seeing everything a bit blurred.

"What the…fucking hell…?!" cursed Xaxa while trying to understand what the black-thing had done, his eyes shooting at his HP Bar to reveal he was…"Wha-what fucking Status is 'Cursed'?! I-I have never heard of that one!"

"That's normal. It is restricted only to the Darkness Blade Unique Skill…" the new voice made EVERYONE blink in shock and turn around to see the form of an 8 years-old girl, both her long hair and her dress a smooth black, who was FLOATING some meters from the ground. "…it's a side-effect of the Skill 'Widow's Fangs', meant to utterly confuse the senses of the player afflicted by it…truly, something expected of a Skill that was meant for extreme Player Killing."

"Yay! Yui-nee knows so many things!" chirped Strea as her personality once again did a 180º change, coinciding with the darkness retreating into her sword and revealing the developed girl with a happy smile. "We came to help the Heroes!"

"Oh yeah?! Well, I would like to see you try!" grinned Johnny while lunging towards Philia with vengeance, not bothered in the slightest by missing one arm as he aimed for paralyzing the girl too. "Come and let me return the favor for my arm, bitch!"

"Yeah…how about no?" replied the girl as she sidestepped him and once again put her hand on her katana's hilt. "Strea-san, watch out, the other one is still moving!"

"Uh?" muttered Strea with confusion even as she turned in time to see Xaxa shattering a Healing Crystal and recovering most of his HP, drunkenly standing and glaring at her despite still being under the effects of 'Curse'. "Wha…? You still want to fight like that?"

"Shut up and di-die, bitch!" growled the skull-masked player before shooting at her with a 'Star Splash' Skill…when Sachi got in his way and interrupted his attack with a thrust to his side, making him roll to the side and canceling his Skill. "GAH! What the…?"

"You forgot about me?" glared the girl of bluish-black hair while standing at Strea's side, looking at her. "Let's make sure he stays on the ground!"

"Yay, let's do it!"

"…it looks like the tables have turned, PoH." calmly declared Asuna once the shock of the madness happening around had vanished.

"You think so?" mused the leader of the murder guild while looking around, before his eyes turned back towards Asuna. "Perhaps…but I'm sure everyone will throw down their weapons…" suddenly, the man was in front of her and the rapier-user was forced to jump back as she raised her weapon…only to have it ripped out her hands by the too-strong-slash from the Mate Chopper. "If I threaten with killing you! Don't you think so?"

"Fuck!" cursed the girl while looking at her fallen rapier, PoH having quickly stepped over it and smiling at her while pointing his knife her way.

"Surrender, 'Hero'."

"…dammit…I will…"

"Yes…?" smirked the man, thinking himself victorious.

"…have to use THAT."

"What?" at the girl's sudden declaration, PoH's eyes widened at seeing her opening her menu and scrolling through it at impressive speeds…while MOVING backward, away from him. "YOU…!"

"Oh, so she's finally going to use it in a fight?" muttered Yui with a childish curiosity on her eyes; her gaze looked through the whole battlefield at the same time. "That's going to be good…"

With a growl of frustration, the leader of Laughing Coffin shot forward, intent on cutting the girls arms off before she could do any…

Two swords materialized on Asuna's back just as he stopped in front of her to slash down, even as the girl used her hands to JUMP over his shoulders, shocking him. Then, the chestnut-haired girl unsheathed both blades, wielding them against the madman.

"Now…you will taste my Skills." silently declared the dual wielder.

PoH just stared with a mix of disbelief and amusement.

"Are an idiot, Hero girl? Everyone knows that you can't use Skills with two weapons equi..!" PoH's words died on his throat when he saw both blades start to SHINE. "You have got to be…!"

"Double Circular." intoned Asuna while MOVING, her speed letting her cross the distance and spin herself as she slashed with both blades, one after another, in an instant, the Skill causing enough damage to leave the red player with his life on the red from just that.

The other members of Laughing Coffin stared in shock even as their Boss rolled through the ground for a moment before jumping back to his feet, his eyes now dark and calculating as he STARED at Asuna and her blades.

One was a simple-looking, though high-level, straight sword, with a red hilt. The other, however, was a weapon as black as the night, with a dark pattern and a strange hilt that clearly identified it as a sword from fantasy…and a very powerful one, too.

"Like it?" asked Asuna after noticing the killer's gaze, pointing at him with the black sword. "It's called 'Elucidator'. Sensei got it from the 50th Floor Boss, then gave it to me. It's my greatest possession. And this…" muttered as she opened her stance and wielded both swords to her sides. "…is my greatest 'weapon': Unique Skill Dual Blades."

"Is she fucking kidding…? She can actually use Skills with TWO swords at the same time…?" muttered Xaxa while looking on in shock.

"Wait, but the amount of damage one could do from THAT…oh, fuck." cursed Johnny at noticing that they may have been 'a bit' in troubles.

"So you were holding back…not only against me but also for quite some time." muttered the hooded man while slowly standing, Mate Chopper at the ready once again. "Tell me, how is that you have NEVER used that on the Front Lines?"

"Because I don't like it." muttered the girl with a frown. "It's too difficult for me to use two swords properly. I'm NOT ambidextrous, and my balance really sucks when Dual Wielding, so I prefer using my rapier much more…" as she said that, the girl adopted a determined stare, his eyes never leaving her silent enemy. "Even so, no one can deny that this thing is POWERFUL. The Skills alone can cause brutal damage, even the weakest ones, as you just saw. That's why I still trained it in secret and swore to Sensei that I would use it if either mine or others' lives were in danger. I don't really need a lot of ability to fight like this when I can literally spawn Skills that can end most enemies in one go." as if to prove her point, the blades of her swords shone as she changed her stance, readying another Skill. "It's over PoH. Surrender."

There was a moment of deadly silence.

And then…PoH started to laugh.

It was low and silent at first, but it quickly became full-blown mad laughter. When his other two subordinates also joined in, it was only natural that the girls became a bit…unnerved.

"…AHAAHAHAH…surrender? Oh no, dear, I think we won't do that. Because, you see, as good as you're, as powerful those abilities of yours, you're all lacking a very important thing." if possible, the hooded man's grin grew wider. "None of you is trying to end this battle."

"Wha…?! What the hell are you sa…?!"

"Easy, girl! You're NOT trying to kill us!" interrupted PoH with a manic tone, as if he was chiding a child that didn't want to brush his teeth. "You and your friends could have ended this battle more than once now, but each time you have had a shot to go for the kill you have either held back or retreated! You want to try and just 'capture' us, am I right? Like the good Heroes should do, you catch the bad guy and put him in prison…" his smile turning even darker, the hooded man played with the edge of his Mate Chopper. "But you see…this isn't a story where the Heroes win and the bad guy surrenders. This is a fight for your life, little girl…and unlike you…" the massive knife was once again pointed at the silent Asuna. "I'm NOT trying to keep you alive."

With that said, the smirking man started to walk towards the dual wielder, apparently not caring for how low his HP was. Asuna took an involuntary step back.

"S-stay back! I'm warning you!" threatened the girl while pointing with her swords.

Even so, no Dual Blades Sword Skill was released. Grinning widely, PoH struck forward, almost forcing Asuna backward as she tried to deflect his strikes with her blades.

"HAH! What's wrong, 'Mighty Flash'?! Where are those devastating Skills you were boasting about a moment ago?!" mocked PoH even as he kept pushing the struggling dual wielder forward, her lack of practice with using the weapons becoming more noticeable each second. "Why don't you use them against me?!"

"Yo-you...!"

"You're too NAÏVE!" Xaxa's sudden words made both Strea and Sachi dodge the incoming attack, the skull-masked player grinning evilly at them before unleashing a Linear Skill against the spear-user. "What's wrong?! Scared of finishing the job?"

"A-Ah...!"

"Leave her alone!" growled the lilac-haired girl while shooting forward, darkness once again oozing from her massive blade as she swung it against Xaxa, the estoc-user never losing his grin as he easily evaded the obvious attack. "RAGH!"

"Heheh, the boss is right! Even you with all your dark and scary tricks WON'T kill me, uh?!" without waiting for an answer, the skull-masked player shot in front of the AI and unleashed an endless barrage of thrusts against her, no Skill but simple ability, which the girl seemed pressed to block with her massive blade. "What use is to have those Skills and that strength mean to destroy if you're afraid of actually killing?!"

"...not good..." muttered Yui with clenched fists, her eyes shooting around the battlefield endlessly as she bit her lips, feeling the need to help only stopped by the knowledge that using her 'power' against a player would cause that Cardinal detected her immediately.

"Face it, little girls, you have lost!" madly laughed the still armless Johnny as he swung his dagger madly against Philia, seeing the girl actually being forced back now that she had stopped re-sheathing her katana. "Ohoh, this is RICH! All that power and you're afraid to actually use it even to save your own lives?! AHAHAH! I'm SO gonna enjoy killing every single one of...!"

The sack-mask wearing maniac words, however, were interrupted by a sudden shining roundhouse kick to the back of his head, which sent him face-first into the ground, reducing his HP to the very edge of the red.

Shocked, the fighters' attention was once again dragged to a single place as the saw the scowling and panting face of the no-longer-paralyzed Argo, the last shine of the 'Suigetsu' Martial Arts Skill she had just used vanishing.

Her face suddenly split into a shit-eating grin.

"Your luck just ran out, bastards."

Unknown to her, Cardinal acknowledged the last attack she had just done, and after a series of quick and unseen calculations, assigned the proper 'reward'.

Back in the clearing, though, the meaning of her words seemed to become clear for the leader of Laughing Coffin at the next instant, when his eyes shot towards the edge of his vision, as if he had just gotten a message, and cursed with a scowl.

"Damn! Xaxa, Johnny, we're getting out of here, now! HE is coming!"

"You kidding?!" cursed the skull-masked player before ignoring his opponents and starting to run towards his boss' side.

"HUAH!" startled, PoH was suddenly forced to block both incoming slashes as Asuna had attempted to either cut off his hand or get him to drop the Mate Chopper. "Do you really think we will let you get away?!"

"You will if you wish to save those three."

"Wait, wha...?"

"SURPRISE!" screamed Johnny before spinning around on the ground and throwing three throwing-picks towards the shocked and forgotten ex-members of Golden Apple, who quickly fell backward grabbing at the spots where they had been damaged, unmoving. "Johnny's special, paralysis and deadly poison in one! Oh, who will save the poor fools now before their HP runs out?"

"NO!" shouted Asuna and Sachi at the same time, both ignoring their opponents to run towards the fallen players as they opened their menus. Strea, for her part, quickly put herself between them and the members Laughing Coffin, seemingly ready to stop any sneak attack even as Yui landed at her side, Philia stopping at the other while once again grabbing her sheathed katana's hilt.

Never stopping to look at them, PoH reached inside his robes with one hand...and grabbed a single, large and indigo-colored crystal.

Argo's eyes widened in shock even as she watched the man raise it and shout 'Corridor open!' and a 'gate' of light opened just behind him.

Where in Hell's name had they gotten a Corridor Crystal?!

"Black, move!" barked the hooded man even as Xaxa stopped at his side, both already with a foot inside the gate.

"On it, boss!" grinned the poison-user with a mocking tone before standing up...only for Argo to kick his back again, though without a Skill this time, and put him down by half-throwing herself over him, making the man scream. "Wai...what the hell?! Get off me, fucking rat!"

"Make me!" shouted Argo while trying to hold the killer with all her might.

"JOHNNY!" Xaxa's eyes darkened with anger as he made to unsheathe his estoc again. "Let him go, you...!"

The entire clearing SHOOK when 'something' fell from the sky.

Asuna and Sachi froze for an instant before smiling and finishing giving the Antidotes to the paralyzed and poisoned players.

Yui and Strea squealed happily. Philia almost jumped in shock before LOOKING at who had landed and letting a small smile appear on her face too.

Argo just grinned again as she felt the struggling Johnny freeze under her.

"Took you long enough, Kii-bou."

Kirito stood up, his form never having seemed more menacing or impressively sinister as his cape flapped behind him.

Not even looking at his fallen comrade, PoH grabbed the shocked Xaxa by the hood and dragged him into the gate, which closed immediately after them.

Happily, Argo stood up, letting Johnny Black roll through the ground, scramble to his feet and raise his poisoned dagger in a threatening position, his eyes seeming those of a cornered animal as Kirito turned his scowling gaze from the place where the killer's 'friends' had vanished to him.

In the newest silence of the area, the red player chose to simply laugh.

"Heh...I imagined you taller, you know?"

The black-haired boy was before him at the next instant, not having given him enough to even BLINK. Startled, Johnny SWUNG with his deadly weapon, directly at Kirito's face.

He almost let go of it when he felt as if he had tried to swing against a fucking wall.

Then, slowly and calmly, the caped boy reached out, grabbing for the hand holding the knife and CRUSHING the weapon out of existence, scattered polygons being everything that remained of Black's dagger.

The madman just STARED from his remaining empty hand to the still silent boy.

"Oh, that's just so much bullsh...!" he was unable to finish his phrase, however, when Kirito held him by the neck and effortlessly raised him from the ground, making him flail his limbs around and make choking noises. "Ga-gah! Le-let me go...can't breathe...!"

"We're in a virtual world, idiot. You DON'T need to breathe." finally spoke the scowling boy, making the madman blink at realizing that, effectively, all that he was truly feeling was an extreme discomfort and a vague sensation of SAO's 'non-pain' around his neck, even as Kirito ignored him and looked around with worry. "Is everyone alright?"

"...yes, everyone is." sighed Asuna while standing up, looking how Sachi also finished and the panting forms of Yolko, Caynz and Schmitt kneeled while shaking, the first two hugging each other while the last one broke into a mix of sobs and thanks. "...sorry, Sensei. I almost screwed this up, and we even let them escape."

"Hey, it's not your fault, Asuna. It's no one's. Besides, we got this bastard." he declared while glaring at the grimacing form of Johnny Black. "I'm just glad everyone is okay and...uh? Philia, is that you?"

"Hello again, Kirito." softly nodded the Ronin while the others blinked. "It's good to see you again."

"Kirito-sama, do you know her?" curiously asked Sachi while tilting her head.

"Well, you could say she helped me and someone else some time ago." awkwardly muttered the boy while scratching his head with his empty hand. "Thanks again for your...eh? Who are you tw...?"

"HI!" jumped Strea excitedly, latching herself at the boy's chest, letting everyone open-mouthed and making the 'superhero' squeak in surprise, keenly aware of how a certain part of the girl's anatomy was pressed against him. "I'm Strea, and I'm your greatest fan, Kirito!"

"Uh, ah, eh...ehhh?!" was the boy's coherent answer.

"Uhm, forgive my little sister, she's a bit...well, that." awkwardly muttered the little girl before once again floating and stopping near the once again shocked boy, who GAPED at her. "Hi there! I'm Yui, and I have wanted to meet you for some time now, Papa!"

Utter silence filled the clearing for the umpteenth time that day. And then...

"PAPA?!" shouted every girl present.

"Wait, what?!"

"Woah, Kii-bou...you're more popular than I thought..."

"Ah! A-Argo is making that scary smile of hers again!"

"SE-SENSEI! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Ho-how should I know?! A-and you, uhm, Strea-san, co-could you please let go of me?!"

"Hmm...nope, I don't wanna!"

"Le-let Kirito-sama go already!"

"...I wonder why did I even accept to travel with these two..."

"Because you're also interested in him, Philia-san, face it."

"WHA...?! Do-don't say stupid things, Yui-dono! I only find him interesting because of how he fights for a noble cause, nothing more!"

"...I didn't say anything to indicate the contrary, though."

"Kuh!"

"...so..." awkwardly muttered Johnny Black, now knowing if to feel despair or amusement even as Kirito tried to deal with the madness around him while STILL holding him up by the neck. "Am I the only one feeling forgotten?"

"No...you aren't." whispered the 3 ex-guild members while sweatdropping.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

Some hours later, after Johnny Black had been handed to the Aincrad Liberation Force to be confined in the Black Iron Castle, Kirito and the others sat on a table in an Inn of Floria.

Even as the caped boy STARED at the smiling Yui and the cheerful Strea (Currently eating a chocolate cake they just ordered), with Philia sitting at her other side, he couldn't help but feel that Keita and the other guys had been lucky of staying behind to catch that Grimlock guy.

"So…let me get this straight. You two aren't human, but a pair of highly advanced AIs that were designed as some sort of in-game psychologists for SAO. But then, when Kayaba turned it into a Death Game, YOU were locked away and unable to do what you have been programmed for…" the black-haired boy resisted the urge to massage his temples as he stared at the nodding girl that SOMEHOW the world seemed to have decided to make into a parody of Tatsumaki. "…and when you thought you were going to drown into despair or some sort of data-parallel, you started to watch me because of the…'weird' things I do." receiving another nod, Kirito couldn't help but stare helplessly at his friends, but the girls seemed to also be intently staring at the two, making him sigh and continue. "And the reason you call me 'Papa' is because you see me as some sort of…parental figure…because you essentially learned how to be 'human' watching me. Every day, since the game began."

"Hai, Papa!" happily nodded the little girl while Kirito slammed his head on the table.

"Nom…then, Yui-nee woke me up, prepared me a body and readied our escape!" cheerfully added Strea while pointing with her fork. "We got out last Christmas, and we have dedicated ourselves to observe you personally since then!"

"…you mean you have been stalking him." deadpanned Argo while looking at them.

"No! What part didn't you get, Argo-san? We have been 'watching over', not stalking!" chided Yui with a happy tone. Everyone deadpanned again.

"…and you are with them because…?" asked Kirito while looking at Philia, trying to still find a shred of sanity around.

The Ronin simply shrugged before looking away.

"The-they offered me to travel with them after the day I helped you and Silica by chance…" muttered the girl while putting on a calm face. "Nothing special there…"

"We told her she could join us in 'watching over' you and she agreed." happily commented Strea while finishing her cake, even as the Ronin's 'mask' was destroyed in favor of an explosion of blushing denials.

Kirito felt once again that he was missing something, but his self-preservation instinct was screaming to him that he just SHOULDN'T ask. Letting out a sigh, he consoled himself in the fact that at least this day couldn't get any more awkward.

It was at that point that Sachi touched his shoulder, making him blink and look at her.

"Kirito-sama…who is Silica?" innocently asked the spear-user.

Everyone on the table fell silent, several eyes falling on the blinking boy.

"Oh! Uhm, she's…"

"The loli-ninja with the dragon who also worships Kirito!" shouted Strea while raising her arms, making everyone gawk at her (Though maybe because of what said sudden movement did to her chest) even as the caped-boy felt the urge to simply run back to the Front Lines at super speed.

Watching between amused and tired, Argo shook her head and opened her menu, knowing that she should better get some job done before sleeping…she hadn't rested since that madness of the fake murders began and she still needed to inform Keita and the others that they needed to drop Grimlock with…

All her trains of thoughts suddenly froze, and the voices of the others on the background vanished, however, when she saw something in her menu that WASN'T there the day before.

"…the hell?" muttered the hooded girl in shock, drawing Asuna's attention away from her Sensei trying to explain…something. "…'Berserk'?"

Slowly, Argo read what she was seeing. And slowly, a VERY scary grin started to appear on her face.

"A-Argo-chan?" muttered Asuna with a dubious face, even as everyone blinked and let their attention be once again dragged to the 'event' behind them. "A-are you okay…?"

"Oh yeah, Aa-chan, I'm perfectly okay." grinned the whiskered girl with pride. "In fact, I think I have never been better."

"…that sounds incredibly scary, for some reason."

"This coming from the guy who beats any enemy with one punch?"

"…it's much more depressing than what you may it sound like, Philia-san."

"Ah, cheer up Papa, I think you're amazing!"

"Ehm, shouldn't you STOP floating before anyone around notices something is WRONG with that?"

"Sensei! I need more training!"

"Eh?! What for?!"

"I need to be able to use Dual Blades to at least a decent enough level to not be taken off guard again!"

"Man, that was really random…you're a funny girl, Asuna!"

"He-hey, why are you hugging me now?! Re-release me!"

"Oh, forgive Strea-nee, she can be a bit…too touchy-feely, eheheh."

"Senseiiii, heeeeelp!"

Moments like this made Kirito wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have just stuck with being a Solo Player.

Incidentally, the United Heroes Association gained 3 new members that day.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟒𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒. 𝟓𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟎…

On the many, many, MANY and absurdly labyrinthic caves that filled this part of this unimportant Floor…the greatest evil in Aincrad under Kayaba Akihiko gathered to plan for evil things…

"I'm SO fucking bored." muttered Xaxa with a depressive aura, half-curled against a wall in the middle of a 'room' in the many caves, PoH standing not far from him looking at his menu. "This last month since they got Johnny has gone from boring to outright depressing in a second!"

"Yes, Xaxa, I know, you have been complaining about that FOR A WEEK now." sighed the madman while trying to contain his twitching eyebrow.

"But it's the truth! Since those bastard 'Heroes' got him, that fucking kid in black has been pressing HARD on any small thing we have tried to do! He even spent hours arguing with fucking Heathcliff to make capture us a priority over Clearing the Floors just because we killed a couple dozen people, and since then we have lost like, 10 of our men! And the saddest thing is that they didn't even get to die fighting, they were ALL caught by those fucking bastards!" grumbling in annoyance, the skull-masked red player glared at nothing. "I think I'm going to kill Lux when she gets back, just to not get bored."

"…ehm, yeah, I don't think that's going to happen." commented PoH with a suddenly VERY nervous tone.

"Uh? Why not? Don't tell you are taking pity on the bitch, boss! We can get another loser to get us supplies and info for…!"

"No, because I think Lux just betrayed us." deadpanned the man before looking at the blinking Xaxa. "I just received a message from her saying 'Goodbye, assholes', and now I'm receiving a lot of 'THEY'RE HERE!' or 'RUN!' ones from our guards on the upper caves."

"Wait, does that mean…?!"

"Boss!" screamed a random Laughing Coffin member while entering the room, panting. "Th-the Divine Dragon Alliance, the Knights of Blood and the United Heroes Association are all here! They have got us surrounded!"

"…well, shit." sighed the hooded man before straightening himself. "Okay then…if they want to get us, they will have to do it the HARD way." grinning sinisterly, PoH raised the deadly form of Mate Chopper and pointed it at the random red player. "Get everyone ready for the last stand! We're going to take as much of those bastards with us as we can!"

"Ri-right away, sir!" shouted the man before running to communicate the orders of their grand leader.

"…say, you DO know that HE is most likely out there too, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"…and you STILL want us to fight?!"

"Well, are you going to run like a scared bitch, Xaxa?" challenged the man with a dark smile. "Do you want me to say that? Go ahead if you want. I won't even stop you from doing so."

"Wha-what are you saying?!" growling in rage, his red lenses somehow shining, the skull-masked player pointed his estoc to the ceiling. "I will at least take with me 3 of that bastard's bitches before they can even touch me! To the eeeend!" roared the madman while running out of the room.

PoH still stayed 5 more seconds without moving before calmly pulling out a blue crystal from his robes.

"Well…guess I will have to stay low for a while. Eh, it could be worse. Showtime never ends, one way or another." raising the crystal, the man dedicated one last thought to his 'brave' subordinates before laughing. "Teleport…!"

And as the leader of the murder guild vanished in a rush of polygons, no one was left in the now empty room.

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

"Okay, here is the plan!" whispered Xaxa with a serious and dark look as he and others Laughing Coffin members looked down towards the arriving Front Liners. "We jump down on them screaming like angels of death, and then we take advantage of them being scared shitless to slaughter as many as we can! Who is with me?!"

With a roar of agreement, incidentally killing their element of surprise, the members of Laughing Coffin jumped down the almost five meters that separated them from the surprised Front Liners, making them darkly cool as they soared the air with their weapons drawn…

"KoB, raise your shields!"

"Everyone, move back! Sachi!"

"On it, Asuna-san! MOON SWEPT!"

…and also turning them into extremely easy targets for several contingency plans.

By the time the 'battle' itself started, at least 10 of the remaining guild members had been caught and deprived of their weapons after crashing badly against the ground or a raised shield.

Xaxa, having somehow evaded both Sachi's Omnidirectional Skill and crashing into the impromptu wall of shields, rolled over himself before ignoring everything else and dashing towards the members of the United Heroes Association, who currently seemed very busy by helping disarm and bind the fallen Red Players before they could recover. Even better, HE didn't seem to with them.

With a massive grin, the skull-masked killer reared back his estoc, ready to unleash a 'Flashing Penetrator' Skill…

"Fangs' Storm."

…only for an unexpected claw moving at high speeds hit him on the side. Then another. And another.

Xaxa was sent head over heels through the ground after receiving a flurry of TEN hits, not only doing noticeable damage to his HP but also almost making him lost his estoc. Wide-eyed, the red player looked back to see the grinning form of Argo, hood down and her claws at the ready as they stopped shining.

"Sorry, red eyes, but I'm NOT letting you hurt my friends."

"The fuck was that?!" growled the boy as he warily looked towards the one they had thought to be the weakest player of the Heroes Guild. "No Martial Arts Skill should be so…!"

"Long? Savage? Yeah, you would be right." calmly accepted Argo, never losing her grin even as the battle started to get serious around them. "For all of its cool, Martial Arts is an Extra Skill meant only for support or to get around a dangerous situation. Few hits, never more than 4, and relative damage. No one can get through SAO effectively fighting weaponless, and even my claws just add a little damage to that." crouching down, the girl's face took on a deadly serious look even as her grin start to show teeth. "This isn't 'Martial Arts'. This is 'Berserk', the Skill meant to turn your body into a weapon."

With that outrageous declaration, Argo shot forward towards Sachi, even as the annoyed red player just grinned before running forward too.

"Are you trying to attack someone who uses A ESTOC up-front?! That new Skill of yours must have gotten to your head, little…!"

The hooded girl JUMPED over him, making the blinking Xaxa realize that both her LEGS were shining now.

"Eagle Tempest."

"…rat?!" finished the shocked guy with the skull mask when Argo literally RAINED KICKS over him, as if she was some sort of kung-fu master from an anime, hitting his shoulders endlessly and making it impossible for him to even try and get his estoc up.

15 hits later, Xaxa stumbled backward again, his HP on the yellow as he stared with incredulity as the girl did a backflip and landed perfectly on her feet, her legs stopping shining as she grinned at him again.

"As you see, the Unique Skill Berserk takes unarmed fighting to another level. It's based around giving such a fast and absurd amount of hits that it actually becomes noticeable damage."

"You bitch…aren't you a bit too cocky?" muttered the skull-masked player, his face changing into a dark smile. "This is a fight to the death, remember? You, your Hero friends and all these 'allies' of yours are going to know what is to face someone ready to fight until the e…!"

"What are you talking about?" Argo's extremely innocent tone made Xaxa blink and feel unnerved. "No one is going to die today. We're just the distraction."

The killer's eyes widened as the implications of the statement hit him.

"FUCK! Retrea…!"

It happened then, too fast for many of the presents to properly see or understand, though the shock of one side was joyful while the others were terrified.

A blur of POWER and SPEED shot through the battlefield, having jumped down from one of the upper caves. The sounds of polygons breaking echoed everywhere…and at the next instant, all the remaining members of Laughing Coffin found themselves weaponless and on the ground, the Front Liner quickly surrounding and restraining the no-longer-threatening murderers.

Xaxa had enough time to curse everything before finding himself face-to-face with Kirito, a grinning Argo actually chuckling when the boy's hand closed around the red player's estoc, destroying it.

Silence ensued.

"…you're SO full of crap." deadpanned the skull-masked guy.

"If it makes you feel better, we will put you on the same cell of Johnny Black." answered the caped boy with a tired tone, but still glaring at him. "He has been whining the whole month about how you guys were going to get him out of there." Kirito didn't even seem to react or blink when Xaxa roared like a rabid animal and tried to charge towards him, only to be stopped by Agil and a member of the KoB, both grabbing his arms and keeping them behind his back. "Maybe like that he will shut up."

"You believe yourself so high and mighty, eh, 'Hero'?! Well, big news, you're NOTHING! You're only a fucking cheater kid running around like he owns the place!"

Idly, the black-haired boy noticed how an angry Asuna tried to move at those words, but Keita and Philia, who shook their heads at her protesting look. For his part, the boy just stared silently at Xaxa, his face blank and seemingly…absolutely bored.

He had found that putting that face unnerved others greatly, and he was rewarded by Xaxa shaking in rage as he glared back at him.

"Wrong. I'm not any of those things. I'm just a Gamer playing Hero for Fun. And you may be right that outside here I'm no one special, but here I CAN make a difference. I have the power to do so." without effort, the boy's hand blurred and CRUSHED the skull mask around the red-haired player's head, shock reflected deeply into his eyes as the remains of his trademark look scattered into polygons. "You also had power, inside here, like everyone, but you decided to use it to play with and destroy people's lives for your own amusement. And NO ONE has that right, no matter how powerful. Neither you, nor me…or Kayaba Akihiko." the boy's eyes seemed to burn with an inner strength that awing and terrifying at the same time. "This world may be a 'game', but it's not something you 'play'. It's something you LIVE. And your decisions in life have led you to this. I don't need the power to outrun a bullet to know that, right now, I'm better than you." with that said, Kirito gave his back to the silent Xaxa, starting to walk back towards his friends even as the no-longer-skull-masked player was dragged towards the Corridor that had been prepared by Heathcliff for their quick imprisonment.

"…I call bullshit in the bullet thing." was the first thing that the shocked guy was able to say.

"Well, I will be glad to test it if you ever get the chance to shot me with a gun." nonchalantly answered the caped boy, not even bothering to look back.

"…this isn't over, you heard me?! It's NOT, Kirito!" snarled Xaxa as a tired Agil sighed and forced him to stand in front of the portal. "Remember my name clearly, for one day you will regret to have dismissed me here! Remember the name of Red…!"

"Oh, shut up." interrupted him Agil while pushing him through the portal, the axe-user feeling a grim satisfaction at hearing the red-headed player squeaking.

On a cell of Black Iron Castle, Johnny Black turned around in time to see his 'friend' crash face-first on the ground. The poison-user cursed everything under the sky.

Back on Floor 53, Kirito looked around even as everyone discussed among themselves, most wearing relieved smiles on their faces while others sighed in relief.

His friends joined him a moment later, the group seeming content to just share the silence of their leader.

"…did anyone find PoH?" asked the black-haired boy with a small scowl.

"Sorry, Kirito, he wasn't around here." muttered Keita while putting his staff down, a frown on his face. "If the info we got from that girl who ran away was right, then we got everyone except him."

"Do you think he managed to escape during the battle?" wondered Philia with a dubious look. "Or maybe he hid deeper in the caves?"

"No, I would have found him when I was sweeping through them if that was the case, and the people we put on the outer tunnels haven't reported anything. He most likely used a Teleport Crystal." scowling, Kirito shook his head before putting on another tired smile, looking back at everyone. "But at least the main concern is over now. Laughing Coffin is over. Without the guild, he had no way to do any of the things he had been doing till now." crossing his arms, the gamer looked towards the ceiling in deep thought. "Even if he got away, PoH has no option but to remain hidden and away from any big town forever if he doesn't want us to catch him."

"Then this is a victory for the Heroes!" chirped Strea while jumping up and down. "Hooray, let's celebrate with Yui-nee when we get back!"

"Is there ANY moment when she isn't like this…?" rhetorically asked Ducker while shaking his head.

"Don't ask if you know the answer." muttered Asuna while walking at Kirito's side, before looking silently at him. "Well, that's one crisis over. We should head back and rest, Sensei."

"…yeah, you're right. We need to return to the Front Lines soon, after all." closing his eyes, the boy vanished the images of his parents and the smiling visage of Sugu before turning around and opening them again, looking at the group of people that he was glad to call 'friends'. "We still need to get back home."

And with a chorus of acknowledgment, the members United Heroes Association started the walk back to where their true challenge waited.

After all, before being 'Heroes', they were the first people who sought freedom.

Only time would tell if they were able to truly grasp it…

𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬

𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪!

"Ah…what a shame…uhm? Oh, hello there, you all. This is yours beloved, the great PoH, showing you all the next chapter's preview! And before you ask, no, my name doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the stupid American honey-loving bear for kids, even if they sound the same. It stands for Prince of Hell. Uhm? Why, you ask? Hoh, now that would be telling, right? Heheh…next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'The Right Arm of God!' What happens when you have the power to become better than anyone without any effort…and you absolutely hate it? To which point can the doubts of one's power's worth lead someone? Kirito will have to test that when he meets with someone who loathes having the power to be the 'best'! Hmm, sounds interesting…but I fear I will have to miss it. I'm going to have to lay low for a good while, but don't worry, for Showtime it's never o-!"

𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪!