"I... lost." Kirito lowered his head, looking at the cold gleam of his sword which seemed to have dimmed. "How could I lose?"
How was Heathcliff able to react? Kirito didn't understand.
Only Kaede knew that Kirito should have won, because Heathcliff had used administrator permissions at the final moment. The speed at which that shield moved was absolutely not a normal speed.
"You lost. According to the rules, from today onward, you are a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath," Heathcliff said, looking down at Kirito, who was half-kneeling with an unreadable expression.
Then, he turned and walked out of the arena.
"Ohhh!!!" At this moment, all the members of the Knights of the Blood Oath in the arena began to cheer and jump for joy. As expected, their Commander was the strongest; even the legendary Beater couldn't compare to their Commander.
Pride and self-satisfaction filled their hearts, for a time even washing away their jealousy over Kirito's Dual Blades.
"Is Kirito okay?" Asuna looked with some concern at Kirito, who remained motionless.
"He's fine," Kaede said. "Besides, even if something's wrong, he doesn't need our comfort." As she spoke, Kaede looked toward Sachi, who was walking toward Kirito.
"Eh? Who is that?" Asuna's eyes widened, clearly recognizing Sachi as well.
"Mm, it's her. That's probably why Kirito agreed to this duel," Kaede nodded, indicating she had seen her long ago.
"But, haven't they already..." Asuna still knew a little bit.
"Who knows~"
In reality, the outcome of the win or loss didn't matter to Kirito. Originally, he just wanted to look after Sachi; even if he lost, with his skills, he could still look after Sachi within the Knights of the Blood Oath.
The reason he was like this now was that Kirito was shaken. He completely hadn't expected—hadn't expected his finishing blow to be blocked so easily.
Could he ever break through that shield? Confusion appeared in Kirito's eyes.
"Kirito-kun..." At this time, Sachi had also reached Kirito's side.
"Sachi?" Kirito raised his head, hiding the confusion in his eyes, and gave Sachi a smile. After a period of reflection, he was now certain.
Sachi was right; his feelings for Sachi were merely like, far from reaching the level of love.
Looking at Kirito's smile, Sachi seemed to understand something in that instant. Although her heart felt a bit bitter, she ultimately showed a brilliant smile.
"Let's keep working hard together from now on!"
"Mm!"
...
"What was your purpose in pulling Kirito in?" Currently, Kaede was at the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath, chatting with Heathcliff.
"It's nothing, just that for the upcoming strategy, we need to concentrate all our strength together," Heathcliff said.
"Is that necessary?" After a moment of silence, Kaede felt Heathcliff was making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, the death rate for boss strategies was currently zero.
"...Has your observation not noticed the difference?" Heathcliff was taken aback, then suddenly remembered that Kaede's attention hadn't seemed to be on the boss at that time. He couldn't help but give a bitter smile; he had talked too much and exposed more things.
"The upcoming bosses are very powerful?" Looking at Heathcliff, Kaede could only find this one explanation.
"Yes. Every 25 floors is a dividing point. If the previous ones were a single step forward, then the 75th floor might be a jump of over a dozen steps at once."
Kaede fell silent upon hearing this. The 74th-floor boss had already left her and Asuna a bit exhausted. Although being much stronger wouldn't necessarily break their fusion of Secret Moves, if it was a jump of over a dozen steps...
Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on Kaede's lips. "Isn't that a bit perverted?"
"That's why I'm gathering you high-end players together; only then is there hope of getting through."
"Aren't you the creator of this game? Why are you doing such a thing?" To be honest, Kaede was a bit puzzled by Heathcliff's behavior.
"Because on the final floors, I will transform into the 100th-floor boss. I really want to see the players' expressions at that time." Heathcliff smiled as he spoke. "Also, I want to see if they can truly create a miracle."
"Hmm..." Kaede looked at Heathcliff, considering his words. At that time, more than half of the members of the Knights of the Blood Oath would likely collapse immediately. And now Heathcliff had defeated Kirito, making him the uncrowned king and the indisputable strongest in the eyes of others. The betrayal then...
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Kaede's lips, and her eyes sparkled slightly.
It seemed... quite exciting.
Imagining the faces of the other players at that moment, a sense of pleasure radiated from her heart. That pleasure made Kaede's smile grow increasingly eerie.
Although the reasons for their smiles were different, at this moment, the atmosphere between them was exceptionally harmonious.
...
"Kaede, where did you go?" Asuna asked, looking at the approaching Kaede.
"Oh, I went to see the Commander."
"The Commander?" Asuna was taken aback. "Is something wrong?"
Kaede shook her head. "Nothing much. It seems the Commander is going to send some people to explore the 75th-floor maze area."
"We've reached the 75th floor," Asuna sighed, feeling a bit sentimental. Before she knew it, so much time had passed, and only a quarter of SAO remained.
Although she knew it would only get harder from here on out, Asuna believed that they would ultimately succeed.
Yui, standing nearby, heard this and fell silent. Her cute little face didn't seem very happy; after all, she knew that she was actually just a program. If this game ended, what would happen to her?
However, the sensible Yui didn't say anything to worry her parents, though she clearly hadn't realized how observant Kaede was when it came to reading expressions.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Kaede ruffled Yui's hair at that moment. Yui was thinking that, and she was thinking the same thing—perhaps even more intensely; she was just short of causing a scene.
"Mm!" Yui nodded vigorously.
Asuna noticed this, and the thought of Yui's identity immediately crossed her mind. She fell silent for a moment, then walked over and hugged Yui. Her lips moved for a long time, but in the end, she didn't say a word.
"Mama, it's okay~" Yui patted Asuna's back as if comforting a child. "Yui is very strong."
Despite saying that, Yui's eyes were still brimming with tears.
"There will definitely be a way." Kaede, standing nearby, had an urge to reveal Heathcliff's identity to them, but in the end, she didn't say it.
"Let's go, let's go home!" Kaede said.
"Mm!" Asuna and Yui nodded, seeming to cherish the time their family spent together even more than usual.
To their surprise, while they were worrying about what would happen after clearing the game, they heard the news that a scouting party had been completely wiped out!
Kaede's pupils constricted deeply at that moment.
This was the qualitative change that Heathcliff had spoken of!
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