A journey to another world starting from a sword

When a player's health reaches 0, the player will be killed by the NerveGear mechanism. Therefore, the mechanic's designer, Akihiko Kayaba, is the culprit of murder. Thus, players have the right to kill other players and enjoy the game.

With this declaration, he will become the founder and leader of "Smiling Coffin," the largest murder guild in SAO.

Then Dante placed his palm across his neck and made a swiping motion.

I'll kill you sooner or later! PoH!

They'll clash sooner or later. Now that we're in their sights, we might as well declare war.

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"Have you heard? Someone has already breached the central Dalhali fortress."

Walking down the streets of the starting town, Asuna overheard other players discussing their progress in the game, and one of them was saying something like this.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's said that a blue-haired swordsman led the team to defeat the boss head-on."

"Wow...that's amazing! Now we can head to the last village."

"What?" Silica, who was standing next to Asuna, muttered softly, "But Dante already defeated the bear boss in the Western Caves a long time ago."

Silica's words made Asuna raise her head slightly, looking at the sky where raindrops were about to fall, her mind lost in thought.

"How long has it been since we finally opened up the road to the central government? More than a thousand of us have already died."

"Hmph, this stupid game will probably never be able to be completed."

They also heard the discouraging words spoken by other players.

Well, if Mr. Dante and Silica hadn't arrived in time, I would probably have been one of those 1,800 people.

Asuna gave a wry smile and continued walking forward.

"Where do we go next, Miss Asuna?" Silica hurriedly followed, but Ding had sent her a message telling her to keep an eye on Miss Asuna and not let her do anything foolish.

She was also a little worried. Miss Mito, who had been with Miss Asuna before, was nowhere to be found. Judging from Miss Asuna's disappointed expression, something must have happened, but she didn't dare to ask, afraid of touching on her painful memories.

If it was just an argument, that's fine, but if it was...

"Silica-chan, you don't need to follow me anymore, I'm fine." Asuna shook her head, indicating that the other person didn't need to worry, and then she walked towards the item shop.

"But...but..." Silica stammered, but still chased after him.

The two arrived at a quiet alley and went into a prop shop. Silica watched as Asuna sold a large number of items to the shop owner.

From Asuna's perspective, those props are called: "cotton skirt", "floral skirt", "sheer long shirt", "flannel skirt" and "silk camisole".

She used to buy these dresses secretly, without telling Mitt, but now she understands that the extra decorations are meaningless for what she's about to do.

She then bought a hooded cloak from the store.

Wearing it, the hem reached her ankles, and with the hood up, it perfectly covered Asuna's delicate face.

"That's really great." Silica praised, clasping her hands together as she looked at Miss Asuna.

"Thank you," Asuna replied politely.

Looking at the cloaks worn by the mannequins in the store, Silica wanted to buy one too, and, well, she'd also buy one for Dante.

By the way, if it were Dante, he would definitely say, "Buy two more as spares."

whee......

Asuna watched Silica grinning foolishly as she picked something out from the shopkeeper.

Out of politeness, she did not leave without saying goodbye, but chose to wait quietly, and even gave Silica some advice along the way.

Mr. Dante would probably be better suited to bright colors like white or blue.

Then Silica gave the opposite answer, saying that Ding should prefer a low-key color like black.

So Silica bought two completely different colors, black and white, and the cloak she bought for herself was orange-yellow.

After stepping out of the shop, Asuna looked at Silica and said, "Silica-chan, I plan to head to the next village, 'Torbana'."

I just heard from a player that the central road has been opened, and you can go directly to the village at the end.

"Huh? So rushed?" Silica's eyes widened as she cautiously tugged at Asuna's sleeve. "Um... let's wait for Dante to come, we..."

I was just about to suggest that we team up.

But Asuna resolutely shook her head and refused, saying, "This is my own decision."

She didn't want to continue decaying in the town where she started. In order to maintain herself, she was determined to keep moving forward, and when she was exhausted, she would just collapse and die.

Since everyone is going to die anyway, she wants to choose how she dies!

"Ah..." Silica gaped speechlessly, looking at Asuna's resolute expression, unable to utter a word of denial.

It was during this moment of hesitation that Asuna moved forward, heading towards the North Gate.

"Ah! Wait! Miss Asuna!" Silica shouted as she opened her friends list to send a message and hurried after her.

Rain began to fall from the sky, as if trying to hinder the girl's steps, but Asuna's heart remained calm, her gaze fixed on the huge pillar in the distance.

That's the maze leading to the second floor, and at the very top is the location of the floor boss's room.

If we could reach there...

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At that moment, a short-haired girl who had lost her warhammer in fear during her first battle saw Asuna's resolute figure and felt that she was incredibly dazzling.

Encouraged by this, she regained her courage and decided to pull herself together and head to the battlefield to find the lost weapons.

Chapter 27: Hands Clasped Together

By the time Dante reached the edge of the square, Mitt was almost pulled up.

Mitt, who originally intended to commit suicide, found the slightly curved tip of the scythe in his right hand wedged into a protrusion resembling a wooden beam on the outer edge of Aincrad.

And so she was lucky enough to be suspended in the air, even though the night wind blowing in her face made her body sway.

She had hoped to give up naturally here and find peace of mind.

But just as Mitt closed his eyes, quietly awaiting death.

"Mite!"

"Miss Mitt!!!"

Yuna and Ashura arrived just in time, risking their lives to pull Mito, who was hanging on the outside.

A strong wind blew, lifting Yuna's hat into the endless night.

"I... want to go to where that child... Asuna is!! So you can let go now, Yuna!!"

"You're still alive, Miss Asuna."

"Huh?" Mit looked at the man who emerged from the edge in disbelief. He first grabbed Yuna's ankle so that Yuna could reach Mit's hand.

Dante nodded to Ashura, indicating that she could loosen the ropes a little, as his strength was sufficient to support the weight of both of them.

Yuna felt a sudden lightness in her body as her clothes were pulled back. Fortunately, the clothes were of good quality, as expected of Miss Li's craftsmanship. However, the clothes being pulled back made her chest uncomfortable.

"What did you say?" Upon hearing Dante's words, Mitt's eyes widened, and his lips trembled slightly.

They were pulled up little by little.

As soon as Dante was able to reach her, Mitte desperately grabbed at his outstretched left hand.

He pulled her and Yuna up, while Dante's hand was still held tightly.

"Miss Asuna is still alive," he told her again.

"But...but?!" Mito stammered, unable to speak, her emotions extremely unstable. She clearly saw that Asuna's HP bar was almost empty.

"Why do you think I found you?" Dante asked Mitt.

Ah!

Yes, this person should be in Horuka village, and the road to Tonabal has already been opened.

It was incredible that she could appear in the wilderness where she was.

Mitsu suddenly remembered that Asuna and Silica had exchanged messages. Could that be why he came looking for her?

"Asuna..." Mito let go of her hands, hesitant to speak, his expression a mixture of wanting to confirm and fear, which all three could clearly see.

“Silica and I rescued her.”

Finally, Mitt heard something from the man in front of her that made her heart sink. Rather than feeling relieved, she felt as if her heart was about to drop into her stomach.

The rain started again, and a cool breeze carrying moisture swept in from the deep space outside the floating city, pattering against her face.

"Then I found you weren't by her side... Did you abandon her?" Dante turned and stared at Mitt's wide eyes, at her guilty expression, as if he were blaming her.

The next second, Mitt's nose twitched, and tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the wet ground.

"I...I...I'm a coward! I can't bear to see Asuna's HP drop to zero. I swore to protect her, but I ended up putting Asuna in danger because of chasing the Swift Ratman..."

As she spoke, Mitt felt her tears mingling with the raindrops hitting her face, indistinguishable from one another.

She kept rubbing her blurry eyes with her palms, but they became even blurrier.

Fortunately, SAO doesn't have the concept of catching a cold, so there's no such thing as a runny nose; at most, only tears come out.

"Here." Dante took a piece of cloth from his inventory and handed it to Mitt.

Mitt took it and looked closely; it was a chamois cloth used for wiping and maintaining weapons.

Looking at the man in front of her again, the speechlessness in her heart was reflected in her eyes, but this also diluted the intense regret she had felt for herself just now.

Was the other party doing this on purpose?

They stared at each other, and Mitt lowered his head, clutching the piece of suede he had just been holding tightly in his hand.

"Since Miss Mitt's friend is still alive, isn't this a happy ending?" Yuna sensed the heavy atmosphere and immediately tried to lighten it up.

"..." Ashurai didn't say anything. She had watched Mitt's crying the whole time, but didn't know how to comfort him.

Because... can a broken friendship really be restored to its original state?

She didn't know the answer.

"Yes." Mitt opened his mouth with difficulty, forcing a smile, then his face darkened again.

It was already too late, and she knew that herself.

"Let's go back and find Miss Asuna." Yuna grabbed Mito's hand and looked at her expectantly.

“But…” Mito bit his lip and said self-deprecatingly, “Asuna will not forgive me.”

It was he who abandoned Asuna when she was in the most danger.

"Then go and beg Miss Asuna for forgiveness! Aren't you friends?" Only a kind and gentle girl like Yuna could say something like that.

Even Ashurai found Yuna's naiveté amusing, but that's just how Yuna is.

Life is a process of constantly making mistakes, constantly correcting mistakes, and constantly growing in the cycle of errors.

Thanks to Yuna's words, Ashura realized that Mito's self-loathing was unnecessary.

Because whether or not forgiveness is truly up to Mito's friend, Miss Asuna, isn't it?

She then took a few steps to the left and stood next to Dante. "Thank you so much. If you and Mitt hadn't arrived in time, Yu and I would probably be dead."

After she finished speaking, she exhaled a breath of warm air, like a sigh.

"We can't just stand by and watch someone die."

Upon hearing Dante's extremely calm reply, Ashura chuckled, "You really do seem like a knight."

"A knight?" Dante turned around in surprise upon hearing Ashura's assessment.

“Yes, you’re probably what knights in epics or novels look like.” As she spoke, she looked Dante up and down. “But you’re pretty shabby.”

This refers to his equipment; there was probably no knight dressed more shabbily than him. If he took off his coat, he would look like a militiaman or a mercenary.

"..." Dante glanced away helplessly, looking at the outskirts of Aincrad. He didn't know when, but the endless darkness had disappeared.

The first rays of dawn broke through the sky.

A faint glimmer of light appeared on the hazy horizon, and platinum-gold rays gradually pierced through the clouds, illuminating the floating city.