Aincrad 1 Page 20

  To be honest, I didn’t have a foolproof plan for victory. In our previous duel, I hadn’t gotten the sense that my sword work was clearly inferior to his. But if he chose to use the same system assistance—as he called it—that had caused me to freeze for a second while he reacted, there would be nothing I could do.

  It was only Kayaba’s pride on the line that would keep him from using it. Based on his statements, I had to conclude that he would try to defeat me within the limits of his Holy Sword ability. My only hope for survival was to catch him off guard and finish the fight quickly.

  The tension rose between us. Even the air seemed to tremble with the weight of the situation. This wasn’t a duel. It was a fight to kill. That’s right—I was going…

  “…to kill you!!” I spat, charging forward. I brought my right sword in for a long horizontal swipe. With his left hand on the shield, Kayaba blocked it easily. Sparks flew, illuminating our faces for an instant.

  As though the sound of metal clashing was the opening bell of our fight, we instantly accelerated into a full-blown sword battle.

  Out of the countless fights I’d experienced in this world, this was the most irregular, the most human. We’d both exposed our secrets to the other before. My Dual Blades skill was Kayaba’s design, so I had to assume that he knew all of my combos. It certainly explained how he’d stopped all of my attacks in the previous duel.

  I didn’t use any of the system’s combination attacks—I swung my swords freely, using only my instincts. I wasn’t getting any help from the game, but it seemed like my accelerated consciousness made my every move much faster than normal. Even my eyes couldn’t keep up with the speed, my swords waving into afterimages: one, five, ten, twenty. But…

  Kayaba deflected each of my blows with easy precision. When he had the opening, he would dart in with a sharp stab of his own. Instantaneous reaction speed was the only thing that kept me from being hit. The battle maintained an uneasy stasis. I focused on Kayaba’s eyes, trying to read his thoughts, his actions. Our gazes met.

  Kayaba’s—Heathcliff’s brass eyes stayed chilly. That hint of humanity I’d witnessed in our public duel was nowhere to be seen.

  I suddenly felt a slight chill run down my back.

  I was facing a man who had slaughtered four thousand people. Was that even humanly possible? Four thousand deaths, four thousand voices of vengeance. No man who can live with that much weight over his head can be human—he’s a monster.

  “Raaahh!!”

  I roared, trying to banish the tiny inkling of fear blooming in my heart. I whipped my arms around even faster, striking multiple times a second, but Kayaba never blinked. He wielded his shield and longsword faster than the eye could follow, perfectly blocking each and every blow.

  Is he just toying with me?

  The fear soon turned to panic. If Kayaba was able to defend every single blow, he must have the ability to strike back and deliver a critical hit at any moment.

  Doubt clouded my heart. He didn’t even need the system’s assistance.

  “Shit!”

  In that case…how about this?

  I switched tactics, unleashing the Dual Blades’ highest skill, the Eclipse. My sword edges bore down on Kayaba with ultra speed, flashing in all directions like a solar corona. Twenty-seven consecutive strikes—

  —But Kayaba was simply waiting for me to fall into the system’s preprogrammed combination. For the first time, his mouth displayed signs of emotion. But unlike our last fight, this was a smile of certain victory.

  After the first few swings of the combo, I realized my mistake. At the very end, I’d relied on the system for help, rather than my own instincts. I couldn’t break out of the combo partway—it would freeze me momentarily. But Kayaba knew each and every attack in this string.

  As blow after blow was parried easily by Kayaba’s crucifix shield, the only thing I could do was breathe a silent apology.

  I’m sorry, Asuna…At least I know you’ll still be alive…

  The twenty-seventh and final left thrust struck the center of the shield in a shower of sparks. The next instant, the sword in my left hand gave a metallic screech and shattered into pieces.

  “Farewell, Kirito.”

  Kayaba’s longsword was held high over my head, glowing crimson. It swung downward, a blur the color of blood—

  In that instant, a voice, loud and fierce, echoed inside my head.

  I’m going…to watch over you!!

  With incredible speed, a human blur darted between Kayaba’s glowing blade and me. Chestnut hair flipped through the air.

  Asuna…why?!

  She should have been paralyzed by the game system itself. But she stood before me, her chest held high, both arms extended.

  I could see surprise on Kayaba’s face. But no one could stop his attack now. It all moved in horrifying slow motion, the sword slicing Asuna from shoulder to breast.

  I lurched forward desperately, reaching out for her as she fell. She crumpled into my arms, soundless.

  Our eyes met. She smiled faintly. Her HP bar was gone.

  Time stood still.

  Evening. Meadow. Breeze. A slight chill.

  We sat on the hill side by side, gazing out on the lake, the reddish-gold setting sun melting into deep blue.

  Leaves rustled. Birds called as they returned to their nests.

  She slipped her hand into mine, leaned her head on my shoulder.

  The clouds trailed past. Stars began to twinkle, one, then two.

  We silently observed the colors of the world shift and blur.

  Eventually, she spoke up.

  “I’m a little sleepy. Mind if I use your legs as a pillow?”

  I smiled and answered, “Go right ahead. Good night…”

  Just like then, Asuna looked up at me from my arms, her face beaming, her eyes full of love. But the weight and the warmth of that previous time were gone.

  Her body slowly took on a golden glow. Motes of light separated and scattered.

  “This can’t be…Asuna…why…? Why did you…?”

  My voice trembled. But the light mercilessly glowed brighter.

  A single tear fell from her eye, sparkled momentarily, then vanished. Her lips moved, faintly, carving the sounds.

  I ’ m s o r r y .

  G o o d - b y e .

  Swish…

  The light in my arms flashed, then burst, countless golden feathers floating through the air.

  And then she was gone.

  I scrambled to regain the floating lights, a voiceless scream ripping my throat. But the golden feathers blew away as though on a gust of wind, spreading out, evaporating. Disappearing. Forever.

  This can never happen. It should not. It can’t. It can’t—

  I crumpled to my knees. The final feather floated downward to rest on my hand, then blinked out.

  23

  The ends of Kayaba’s mouth twisted, and he gave an exaggerated shrug, hands wide.

  “That was a surprise. Almost like a story event in a single-player RPG, isn’t it? She shouldn’t have been able to recover from that paralysis…As I said, quite unexpected.”

  But I couldn’t even hear him. My every emotion was aflame, burning out, plunging into deep, black despair.

  I had lost my reason to do anything.

  Fighting in this virtual world, returning to the real world, continuing on with my life—it was all meaningless. When my lack of strength led to my guildmates dying those many months ago, I should have joined them in death. I’d never have met Asuna. I’d never have made the same mistake again.

  And I didn’t want her to commit suicide? How could I have been so foolish, so shallow? I didn’t understand a thing. How could anyone live with such utter emptiness…?

  I gazed down absently at Asuna’s rapier, gleaming on the ground. I reached out and picked it up.

  I stared at the frail, thin blade, hoping to find some trace, some record of her existence there, but there was no
thing. Not a single fragment of its owner was present in that shining reflection. I slowly climbed to my feet, one of my swords in one hand, Asuna’s rapier in the other.

  Enough. I would take my memories of the few days I’d been able to spend with her and then go to the same place.

  I felt as though someone called my name from behind me.

  But I didn’t stop. I pulled back the sword in my right hand and struck at Kayaba. I took two or three ungainly steps forward, then thrust the blade.

  It wasn’t a skill, not even a proper attack. Kayaba swung his shield and easily deflected the attempt with a pitying look, then buried his longsword in my chest.

  I looked down passively at the metal glimmer sunk deep into my body. There was nothing to think. Just the objective resignation of my end.

  In the right corner of my vision, my HP bar slowly drained. Perhaps my accelerated senses had not worn down yet, because I could see the bar diminishing, dot by dot. I closed my eyes. In the moment that my mind ceased to exist, I wanted to see nothing but Asuna’s smile.

  Even with my eyes closed, the HP bar was still there. The strip of red surely and steadily shrank. It felt as though the system itself, the god that had granted me life for so long, was silently licking its chops, waiting for the moment it would claim me forever. Ten more pixels. Five. Then…

  I suddenly felt a rage the likes of which I’d never experienced.

  It was this. This was what had killed Asuna. Even Kayaba, its creator, was only a part of it now. This was what had ripped apart Asuna’s body, blasted her mind, enveloped me—the will of the system itself. The digital god, mocking its players’ ignorance, swinging its merciless scythe.

  What are we? Foolish puppets, dancing on the unreachable strings of the SAO system? If the system says yes, we survive, and if it says no, we perish. Is that all we are?

  My HP bar ran out, as if to laugh at my helpless rage. A small purple message appeared front and center: YOU ARE DEAD. God had spoken.

  A powerful chill ran through my body. Sensation faded. I could feel countless lines of code setting me free, slicing me into pieces, preparing to feast. The chill rose from my spine to my neck, then flooded into my head. The nerves of my skin, sound, light—everything grew further away. My body was dissolving—turning into polygonal shards—dispersing…

  But I wasn’t going to play along.

  I opened my eyes. I could see. I could still see. In fact, I could see the look of shock on Kayaba’s face, his hand still gripping the sword in my chest.

  Perhaps my senses had accelerated again, and the instantaneous process of my avatar exploding was happening in extreme slow motion. The contours of my body were already softening, dots of light spilling off and blinking out here and there, but I still existed. I was still alive.

  “Raaaahh!”

  I screamed. I screamed and resisted. Against the system. Against the Absolute.

  Asuna, spoiled and lonely Asuna, had wrung out every last ounce of willpower to beat that irreversible paralysis and thrown herself before a strike that couldn’t be blocked. Just to save me. I couldn’t let her sacrifice go to waste. It wasn’t an option. Even if death was ultimately inescapable…there was one thing…left to do…

  I squeezed hard, knitting the sensation back as if it were a fine thread. The texture of what I held—Asuna’s rapier—flooded back into my hand. Now I could feel her will exuding from it. I could hear her voice, urging me on.

  My left arm began to move, achingly slow. As it rose bit by bit, the contours shuddered, visual artifacts peeling off. But I never stopped moving. Inch by inch, I raised my arm, my soul flaking away.

  Unbelievable pain shot through my body, the apparent price for my heresy, but I gritted my teeth and kept moving. The distance, just inches, was unbearably long. I was freezing cold. Only my left arm had any sensation left, and the chill was quickly eating through it. My body was crumbling, spilling like a delicate ice sculpture.

  But finally, at long last, the shining silver tip of the sword touched the center of Kayaba’s chest. He did not move. The shock on his face had worn off—only a peaceful smile was left on his slightly opened lips.

  Half by my own will, half driven by some mysterious unknown force, my arm closed the final distance. Kayaba shut his eyes and accepted the rapier piercing his chest. His HP bar emptied.

  For an instant we both stood there, each with his sword stuck through the other. All of my willpower spent, I gazed into space.

  Is this…what you wanted…?

  I never heard her response, but there was a momentary thump, a pulse of warmth gripping my left hand. I released the strength that was keeping my body from shattering entirely.

  As my consciousness slid into nothingness, I could feel my body disintegrating into a thousand pieces and Kayaba’s doing the same. Two familiar bursts of sound overlapped. Now it all really was drifting away, separating faster and faster. Was that Agil and Klein calling my name? And beyond that, the artificial tone of the system’s voice…

  The game has been cleared. The game has been cleared. The game has been…

  24

  The entire sky was ablaze with the setting sun.

  I suddenly realized I was in a very strange place.

  A thick crystal slab was under my feet. Beneath that transparent floor, strings of crimson-splashed clouds flowed past. I looked up and saw nothing but infinite evening sky. An endless expanse, sprayed with gradient colors from brilliant orange to bloodred to deep purple. I could hear the sound of a slight breeze.

  Aside from the red and gold clouds floating by, there was nothing in the air but this small circle of crystal, and I was standing at its edge.

  Where am I? I remembered my body shattering into countless pieces and dissipating into nothing. Was I still somewhere inside SAO…or had I actually gone to the afterlife?

  I looked down at my body. The leather coat and long gloves were the same equipment I had been wearing when I died, but everything was ever-so-slightly translucent now. And it wasn’t just my clothes. Even my body itself had turned into a partially see-through material like colored glass, and it was sparkling red with the light of the sunset.

  I stretched out my hand and waved the fingers. The game window popped open with the same sound as ever. I was still stuck in SAO.

  But there was no equipment mannequin or menu readout on the window. It was simply a featureless box that read [EXECUTING FINAL PHASE: CURRENTLY 54%] in small letters. The number ticked up to 55 percent as I watched. I’d thought that dying and disintegrating happened at the same time that the device fried the brain. What was happening here?

  I shrugged and closed the window, then jumped as someone called out to me.

  “…Kirito.”

  It was like the song of angels. A shock ran through me.

  Please let it be real; please don’t let it be an illusion, I prayed, and turned.

  She was standing there, set against the burning sky.

  Her long hair was rippling in the breeze. Her smiling face was close enough that I could cup her cheek if I reached out, but I couldn’t move.

  If I take my eyes off of her for just an instant, she’ll disappear, I thought. Instead, I stared silently. Like me, her body seemed made of a delicate crystal. As it sparkled and gleamed with the light of the sunset behind it, it seemed to me that the sight was more beautiful than anything in the world.

  I desperately tried to hold back the tears, and finally I cracked a smile. When my voice came out, it was barely a whisper.

  “Sorry…I guess I died.”

  “…Dummy.”

  A large tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled. I opened my arms and called her name.

  “…Asuna.”

  She jumped to embrace me, tears sparkling, and I held her tightly. I’d never let her go. No matter what happened, I would never release my grip.

  After a long, long kiss, we finally extricated our faces and looked at each other. There were so many things t
o say about that final battle, so many things to apologize for. But words were no longer necessary. Instead, I turned to look at the endless sunset and asked, “So…where are we?”

  Asuna silently looked down and pointed. I followed her finger.

  Far, far away from our little floating crystal platform was a point in the sky—and there it floated. It was like a cone with the tip chopped off. The entire structure was made of countless thin layers. If I squinted, I could see little mountains, forests, lakes, and even towns in the spaces between the layers.

  “Aincrad…”

  Asuna nodded. That had to be Aincrad. A giant castle, floating in an endless expanse of sky. The world of swords and battle that had played host to our painful two-year struggle. And now it was below us.

  Before I came here, I’d seen pictures of the structure in promotional material for Sword Art Online. But this was the first time I’d ever actually seen it like this in person. My breath caught in my throat; I felt something like awe.

  The floating fortress of steel…was collapsing.

  As we watched, a chunk of the lowest floor broke off, spilling away into countless smaller pieces. If I trained my ears, I could hear the heavy crumbling sounds beneath the wind.

  “Ah…”

  Asuna murmured. A larger piece of the bottom broke away, and this time there were trees and cascades of lake water among the structural rock as it plummeted through the red sea of clouds. That was where our little log cabin used to be. Floor by floor, the place that had consumed two years of our memories peeled apart like tiny membranes, and I felt grief well up in my heart.

  I slowly sat down on the edge of the crystal platform, still holding Asuna.

  My heart was oddly calm. I didn’t know what had happened to us, what would happen to us, or why, but I felt no fear. I’d done what I needed to do, lost the life I had been given, and now sat with the girl I loved, watching the end of the world. Nothing mattered anymore. I felt fulfilled.