Kuradeel seemed to be considering something as he laughed. Then, he suddenly unequipped the gauntlet on his left arm. He rolled up the white sleeves of his undershirt and turned his bare forearm so that I could see its underside.

When I saw what was there-my breath suddenly stopped. It was a tattoo. The image was a manga-like caricature of an ink-black coffin. A mouth and a pair of eyes formed a grin atop the coffin lid; the white bones of a skeletal arm reached out from inside.

"That...emblem is... "Laughing Coffin"?"

I asked in a dry voice. Kuradeel gave a smile and nodded in response.

"Laughing Coffin" used to be the biggest and worst PK guild in Aincrad. They were headed by a cold, sly leader and experimented endlessly with new methods of killing people; in the end, the number of players it had killed went into the triple digit figures.

The players once attempted to solve the issue through negotiations, but every messenger had been killed immediately. We couldn't even understand why they PKed, since it only lessened the chances of clearing the game, and because of this we couldn't talk with them properly. Not too long ago, the players who aimed to clear the game had formed a subjugation group that rivaled the boss-killing groups, and finally destroyed their guild after several long and b.l.o.o.d.y battles.

Asuna and I were in the group too. But the information had leaked somewhere, and the PKers were prepared and waiting for us. In my frenzy to protect my comrades, I ended up taking the lives of two Laughing Coffin members by accident.

"Is this...for revenge? You're a survivor from the Laughing Coffin?"

I asked with my cracking voice. Kuradeel virtually spat out his answer: "Heh, no way. Why would I do something as stupid as that? I joined the Laughing Coffin only recently, and only in spirit anyways. I learned this paralysis technique from them...ah, that's bothersome."

He stood up with an almost machine-like movement and raised his sword up again.

"Well, we've talked for long enough. The poison should wear off soon, so I should finish this now. I've been dreaming of this moment...ever since that duel..."

Fire burned in his eyes, which were opened so wide they became circles. His smiling mouth had stuck its tongue out, and he even raised his heels to stand tiptoed as he prepared to swing his sword down.

Just before he moved, I tossed the throwing pick in my left hand using only my wrist. Although I aimed for the face where the damage was greatest, the accuracy penalty from paralysis caused the steel pick to miss and pierce into Kuradeel's left arm. Kuradeel's HP reduced by only a small amount, while I fell into a completely hopeless situation.

"...that hurt..."

Kuradeel wrinkled his brow and curved his lips upwards, then stabbed my right arm with the tip of his sword. He then twisted it twice, then thrice.

"Argh...!"

Although I didn't feel any pain, an unpleasant feeling of being stimulated in the nerves pa.s.sed through my entire body alongside the strong paralysis effect. Every time the blade dug into my arm, my HP decreased slowly but steadily.

Still there...? Was the poison's effect still not going away...?"

I gritted my teeth and waited for the moment my body would be freed. The duration of paralysis differed based on the strength of the poison, but most paralyzing poisons wore off in five or so minutes.

Kuradeel pulled out his sword and then stabbed my left leg. The unpleasant feeling of being paralyzed rushed through my entire body once again, and the system calculated the damage mercilessly.

"Well...? How is it...? How does it feel to know that you're going to die soon...? Tell me... would you...?"

Kuradeel said this in an almost whisper as he stared intently at my face.

"Say something squirt... Cry and scream that you don't want to die..."

My HP fell below the halfway line and turned yellow. The paralysis still wasn't gone yet. My whole body grew colder, as if death was enveloping me with freezing air, its chill slowly crawling up from my feet.

I had seen many players die in SAO. They all had the same expression on their faces as they shattered into countless fragments and disappeared; it was always the same simple expression of pondering, one that asked, "am I really going to just die like this?"

It was most probably because, deep within our hearts, none of us wanted to accept the absolute rule of the game. We simply didn't want to believe that death in the game meant an actual death.

We all held a hopeful speculation, that "maybe we'll just return to the real world when our HP reaches zero and we disappear." Of course, you had to personally die to find out what would actually happen. If you think about it like that, then death would be one of the ways to escape this game-.

"Hey, hey, say something. I'm really killing you here."

Kuradeel pulled his sword out of my leg and stabbed my stomach this time. My HP decreased significantly and went into the red danger area. But it felt like this didn't concern me, as if it was all happening in another faraway world. Even as I was being tortured by the sword, my mind was embarking down a dark path, as if a heavy and thick cloth was gradually covering it.

But then-a strong fear suddenly clenched my heart.

Asuna. If I disappeared and left her in this world, Asuna would fall into Kuradeel's hands and endure the same pain as me. That possibility formed an unbearable pain which shocked me back into consciousness.

"Kaaaah!!"

I opened my eyes, grabbed the sword that was buried in my stomach, and started pulling it out with all the strength I had. I had only about ten percent of my HP left. Kuradeel then shouted in surprise: "Huh...huh? What's this, you're scared of dying?"

"Yeah...I...can't die yet..."

"Heh!! Hyahaha!! That's more like it!!"

Kuradeel laughed like a freakish bird and put his weight behind the sword. I strained against it with one hand. The system performed a set of complicated calculations based on my and Kuradeel's strength and determined the result.

The final result-the sword started coming down again, slowly but steadily. I was filled with fear and despair.

Was this the end?

Was I going to die? Leaving Asuna in this insane world?

I resisted the gradually closing sword and the despair that reached out from within me.

"Die-!! Diiieeeee-!!"

Kuradeel screamed in a shrill voice.

The killing intent that took the form of a dully shining sword came down centimeter by centimeter. Then finally, the sword tip reached my body-and slowly dug in...

At this moment, a gust of wind blew.

It was a gust of deep red and pure white wind.

"Huh...!?"

With this exclamation of surprise, the murderer and his sword were thrown high into the air. I stared speechlessly at the silhouette of the person who had appeared.

"...I'm not late... I'm not late...thank G.o.d...I'm not late..."

Her trembling voice sounded sweeter than the flapping wings of an angel. Her lips trembled violently as she collapsed onto her knees and looked at me.

"Alive...you're alive, right, Kirito-kun...?"

"...yeah...I'm still alive..."

My voice sounded so weak that it surprised me. Asuna nodded once and took out a pink crystal from her pouch, then put her left hand on my chest and shouted.

"Heal!"

The crystal broke and my HP bar filled up in an instant. After confirming my recovery, Asuna whispered to me: "...wait here. I'll take care of this quickly..."

Asuna then stood up, drew her rapier elegantly, and started walking.

Her target Kuradeel was still preparing to pick himself off the ground. When he saw the person that was walking towards him his eyes grew wide.

"A-Asuna-sama...h-how did you get here...? T-This, is, training, yes, there was an accident in the middle of training..."

Kuradeel bounced back up as if he had springs and attempted to form an excuse with his nervous voice. But before he could finish, Asuna's right hand flashed and the tip of her sword tore Kuradeel's mouth. She didn't become a criminal since her opponent already had an orange cursor.

"Ahh!!"

Kuradeel covered his mouth with his hand, leaned backwards, and froze for a moment. Then, as he righted himself, his eyes were full of a familiar anger.

"You b.i.t.c.h...that went way too far... Heh, well it's fine. I'll just take care of you as well..."

But he stopped mid-sentence; Asuna had started attacking fiercely as soon as she fixed her grip on her sword. Her rapier drew countless lines of light as it slashed and stabbed towards Kuradeel at unbelievable speeds. Even I couldn't see the trajectory of her sword, and I was several levels above her. I just watched as the angel swung her sword almost as if she was dancing.

It was beautiful. Asuna pushed her opponent back expressionlessly, her long chestnut hair flowing while sparks of anger enveloped her entire body; it was indescribably beautiful.

"Ah!! Kaaaa!!"

Kuradeel had already begun panicking, his sword swung about wildly without even landing a scratch on Asuna. As his HP decreased noticeably from the yellow zone to the red danger area, Kuradeel finally threw his sword aside and screamed with both of his arms held up in the air.

"O-Okay!! Okay!! I'm sorry!!"

He then went to his knees and begged.

"I-I'll leave the guild! I won't appear in front of you two ever again!! So-"

Asuna silently listened to his cries.

She raised her sword slowly and reversed her grip. Her thin arm tensed with nervousness, and then went up another couple of centimeters as it prepared to stab through Kuradeel. At that moment the murderer screamed even more loudly.

"Heeeek! I-I don't want to die-!!"

The sword stopped as if it hit an invisible wall. Her thin body began to shake violently.

I could fully feel Asuna's inner conflict, both her fear and her anger.

By what I knew, she had never killed anyone in this game. Since when a player is killed in this world they also die in the real world, PKing in this network game is equivalent to actual murder.

-Yeah. Stop, Asuna. You shouldn't do that.

As I screamed this to myself, I also thought of the complete opposite at the same time.

-No, don't hesitate. That's what he's after.

My prediction became reality 0.1 seconds later.

"Ahahahaha!"

I wasn't sure when Kuradeel had picked his sword back up, but he suddenly swung it upwards with a scream.

Asuna's rapier made a clanging sound and flew out of her right hand.

"Ah...!?"

As Asuna exclaimed and lost her balance, a metallic shine flashed above her head.

"Sub-leader, you're still faaaaaaaaaaaarr too naive!!"

With a shriek filled with madness, Kuradeel swung his sword down without hesitation, drawing a dark red line of light.

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

This time, I was the one who had screamed. I kicked off from the ground with my right foot, which had just recovered from the paralysis, and flew a couple of meters before pushing Asuna aside with my right hand while blocking Kuradeel's sword with my left.

Thump.

With this unpleasant sound, my left arm was severed from the elbow down. The body part loss icon flashed below the HP bar. While b.l.o.o.d.y red lines of light flowed from the cut on my left arm, my right hand straightened its fingers and-.

I stabbed my hand into the gap between Kuradeel's thick armor. It glowed yellow as it buried itself deep within Kuradeel's stomach.

I had successfully countered with the point-blank range skill "Embracer", which immediately eliminated the last twenty percent of Kuradeel's HP. His gaunt body shivered violently beside me, then completely lost all strength and sagged.

As his great sword fell onto the ground and clanged, he whispered into my ear: "You...murderer..."

He sneered in a "kuku" sound.

Kuradeel's entire body shattered into numerous gla.s.s fragments. I was pushed back by the chill force of the dissipating polygons and fell backwards.

For a while, my exhausted, frozen mind registered only the sound of wind blowing.

Then I heard irregular footsteps stepping on the gravel. When I turned my gaze, I could see a fragile looking figure walking towards me with a hollow expression.

Asuna walked shakily towards me with her head lowered, and then collapsed to her knees in front of me like a puppet with its strings cut. Although she reached out towards me with her right hand, she suddenly pulled it back before it could reach me.

"...I'm sorry...because of me...it's all because of me..."

Asuna forced this out with a shaking voice and a grief-stricken expression. Tears rolled down from her large eyes and fell to the ground like sparkling gems. I barely managed to say something short with my dry throat: "Asuna..."