Sword Art Online: Sealed Sentiment

I don't own Sword Art Online or any of its characters. The series is solely the property of Reki Kawahara and his publishers.

Author's Note: It seems like I do this way too much and I absolutely shouldn't, but I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. A lot of things happened as a result of me missing my personal deadline, but it's no excuse to have you guys wait. You, my readers and followers, deserve more than that. I thank you for your patience and understanding.

It's been a little over a year since I've started this fanfiction. To be honest, it should be done by now, but at least I'm writing it now with the intention to finish it. If this fanfiction were a part of the light novel series continuing from Vol 8, Early and Late, chapters 1-8 make enough content to be considered Vol 9. This was my original intention and I'm glad that my pacing actually let it happen. If you guessed it already, you're right. The story is currently halfway done. I promise it won't take another year to get to the end. Hopefully I finish this before the new SAO movie airs. Good thing the release date is unannounced!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter which concludes the quest for the legendary bow!

Fenrir's Lair

April 18, 2026

Chapter 8

Coming off the success of breaking their fall with the aid of her water magic, Asuna and Klein, along with Yui, advanced straight ahead with only one direction to go in the cavernous dungeon. They confirmed that the rest of their group was fine via private messaging and they all agreed they would advance from their current points and attempt to meet up. As Asuna and Klein walked side by side and trudged ahead through the cave, Yui flew slightly ahead of them to warn the two of any incoming enemies.

Leafa was with Lizbeth, Silica, and Pina, meaning that Kirito and Sinon were currently together. Klein had begun to notice that over the past week, those two have been growing considerably close and couldn't help look back on the dilemma Kirito discussed with him and Agil back in the Dicey Cafe. Kirito, subconsciously or not, may very well be picking Sinon. The self-proclaimed Salamander samurai wanted to know what Asuna felt about the situation.

"Asuna, does it bother you that Kirito and Sinon have been acting all buddy-buddy lately? Doesn't that worry you as his girlfriend?" Klein made sure to talk softly so Yui could not overhear the delicate conversation about her adoptive parents.

"Oh, that?" Asuna started with no hint of astonishment.

Klein was initially stunned. For Asuna to have no reaction to the possibility of losing Kirito as a romantic partner, what did that mean?

"Sinonon and I agreed to have a little competition. To see whether Kirito-kun will stay with me or if she can get him to respond to her feelings."

A competition for his affection? Dammit, Kirito! You really are one lucky bastard!

"Are you sure about this? What about Yui?" Klein mentioned, aware that Kirito and Asuna splitting apart would undoubtedly affect Yui. How would she react knowing that her adoptive parents broke up?

"No matter what happens between Kirito-kun and me, Yui will always be our daughter," asserted Asuna, staring to walk with a stride in her step.

"I see, but don't you think Kirito should end his relationship with you first before getting all chummy with someone else?" Klein pointed out.

Like Agil warned earlier, Kirito had to make a decision sooner than later in order to mitigate the pain of heartbreak and to make sure the friendship between him and the two girls remained untarnished.

"To be honest, I'd prefer that, but I realized something with our relationship. We are each other's first romantic partners and I think that we wouldn't know when or how to break up with each other even if it was necessary. I can't picture Kirito-kun having the heart to end it and I really don't want to let him go. But if he truly desires to be with Sinonon, I won't stop him. I won't get in the way of his happiness," ended a Asuna, her lips trembling as she struggled to keep up a bittersweet smile.

Klein noticed her hesitation, but decided to say nothing, knowing that this was a decision Asuna made for herself and Kirito. Truly, Klein thought that Kirito and Asuna were amazing people. Kirito proclaimed he would not get in the way of Asuna realizing her dreams and Asuna declared that she wouldn't trounce on his happiness. Perhaps the love between Asuna and Kirito was one that transcended romantic love and one that could remain even after an end to their current relationship.

"Well, if it means anything to you, Asuna, I hope Kirito stays with you," said Klein attempting to comfort her.

"Thanks, Klein. Despite all the teasing about women you have to put up with when you're around us, you're a really good guy. I hope you find someone for yourself someday," said Asuna, cheerier than earlier.

"Yeah, maybe someday," wished Klein.

"Mama! Klein! Over here! There's a door!" shouted Yui from ten meters ahead.

The two caught up to Yui and were met with a dark marble door not unlike the others they encountered in the beginning of the dungeon.

"Well, we're finally getting somewhere," commented Klein.

"Maybe Papa and the others are behind the door!" exclaimed an optimistic Yui.

Asuna giggled while patting the little navigation pixie's head as she flew back onto Asuna's shoulder.

"Let's see what's behind this door and reunite with Kirito-kun and the rest."

Asuna nodded to Klein who held onto his katana to prepare for what may lie ahead. Holding onto her wand as she braced herself, Asuna pushed the door open.

"I think it's those strange pieces of armor strapped onto him that we need to take out, Klein!" Asuna shouted as she finished healing the Salamander swordsman back to full health.

Asuna and Klein were face to face with a dungeon boss, a giant god known as «Baldr». The boss stood at a height of ten meters, brandishing a splendid bastard sword while sporting grey chainmail armor that clashed with the pink translucent bands that were strapped to its arms and legs as if they bound him.

"If that's what we have to focus on, then let's try it! I'm tired of this guy's health not going past the seventy-five percent mark! It's ridiculous!" complained Klein, even though he was used to dealing with various mechanics throughout his raiding career.

"Klein, I'm going to switch to my rapier after casting some defensive spells on you so I can take out those bands while you tank the giant!" announced Asuna, just before she started casting her magic.

Klein continued to parry the boss's relentless swings as buff icons appeared one by one next to his name in the upper-left corner of his vision. All he could do was focus on defense, knowing that the giant's health wasn't moving from its current point.

"Done!" exclaimed Asuna, her silver rapier now in hand. "Cover me, Klein!"

"Go get 'em!" Klein responded by activating an Original Sword Skill «Dancing Flame». His katana became doused in red-hot flames as he went through the motions of his five-slash skill, prompting the giant to defend itself.

Asuna circled to the back of the giant and launched her assault upon the crystal bands on the boss's legs. She didn't know how strong of a blow she needed to make to break off the bands, leading her to use a Sword Skill just to be safe. Upon activating the «Linear» Sword Skill, her rapier glowed white, causing the pink bands to reflect a brilliant sparkle. She thrust her weapon into the giant's left band, immediately shattering it along with puncturing part of the boss's leg. Baldr's health begun to sink past the seventy-five percent.

"Asuna, that did it!" celebrated Klein, preparing to launch another attack from the front of the boss.

As if to cut the excitement of their progress short, the boss's arms started to give off a red aura, indicating that its attacks would start to become more brutal.

The giant raised its giant sword up with both hands and swung down at Klein who had to change his strike into a parry in an attempt to block the blow. Sparks flew out as the two swords clashed, but the boss's sword lowered still, bringing Klein to one knee as he struggled to keep the giant's sword in check.

"Hang in there, Klein-san!" cheered Yui, watching the fight from a safe distance.

We can damage the boss more when we destroy a band, but in turn it becomes stronger. If we want this to be as painless as possible we'll have to wait for the other HP thresholds before breaking the other bands.

The raid leader in Asuna's mind grasped the situation and planned accordingly, securing the path with the least amount of risk. Her past experiences from leading raids in SAO allowed her to stay calm and see the overall picture. Being the sub-leader of the top guild in SAO was no mere fluke.

Asuna quickly released another Sword Skill, «Neutron», jabbing five blows into the boss's leg, causing the giant to ease the pressure off of Klein who lost his buffs and a portion of his health. As soon as Asuna regained movement from her Sword Skill she switched to her wand and reapplied her spells to Klein along with restoring his HP.

"Thanks, Asuna," said Klein, "From the look on your face it looks you have a plan." The Salamander knew Asuna's face of contemplation well.

"I do." Asuna confirmed, reiterating her previous thoughts out loud to Klein as he held back the giant while Asuna supported him.

"So we'll have to wait for each interval before destroying each band? That's not too bad. This giant's never faced the strongest samurai of the Salamander race!" claimed Klein.

"I like how you said samurai instead of swordsman because you acknowledge General Eugene as the strongest," mocked Yui.

"Hey! I almost beat him once!" Klein complained.

Asuna giggled, preparing herself to support Klein with her spells as they started to take their plan forward and bring the boss's health to fifty percent.

"Okay, Klein, let's get started!" declared Asuna.

"Understood! Ora!" Klein chanted a battle cry as he prepared yet another Sword Skill, searing his flaming katana into the giant's digital flesh.

Three percent health remaining.

Klein, who was in the final fourth of his health, struggled as he held back another ferocious strike from Baldr, the crushing weight of the giant's sword causing Klein's stance to shift. The samurai's health started to steadily decline past the tens while Asuna could no longer heal him due to her mana having just run out.

"Asuna, I can safely use a Sword Skill one more time to take him down to one percent. Use that chance to land the finishing blow on that band on his arm!" proposed Klein.

"Of course," Asuna acknowledged, the wooden wand in her hand disappearing as a silver rapier materialized in its place.

"Let's end this together!" she yelled.

"Take this!" Klein screamed as he activated «Snake Bite», a two slash Sword Skill that allowed him to push back the giant's sword, briefly stunning its motion. The flames from the skill scorched the boss's skin, decreasing its health to the final one percent.

"Now!" exclaimed Klein, currently in the paralysis from using a Skill.

"On it!" Asuna affirmed, climbing onto Klein's back, using him as a boost to jump up to the right arm of the boss. Having leapt up into the air, Asuna stared down the giant at the apex of her jump with a face of pure bloodlust. She was known as the «Berserk Healer»

for a reason.

She changed her gaze and fixated her sight onto the pink crystalline band on the giant's arm, putting her whole body into one final «Linear» Skill. She dove straight into the band, shattering it into glittering pieces, her rapier sinking completely through the giant's upper arm.

Asuna landed onto the giant's arm, using her stuck rapier as support and planted her feet as she pulled her weapon out.

"We did it! Whew, that was a close one," Klein let out a heavy breath.

Asuna again met the ground as the group was met with a «Boss Defeated» message even though the giant was still alive and knocked down to its knees.

"Well, it says we beat the boss, but why is he still around? Wait, he's no longer marked red as an enemy. He's a friendly NPC now!" Asuna deducted.

"Those bands must have been some form of mind control," mentioned Yui who flew back to Asuna now that the battle was won.

"That would explain the blind rage he seemed to have," Asuna speculated.

"The big guy's coming to!" Klein pointed out.

"Fairy warriors," started Baldr, bowing his head before the small group, "I have brought great dishonor to the court of gods by allowing myself to be captured by the bastard wolf, Fenrir, and turned against my will. Thank you for releasing me from my captivity."

"It's no problem at all," dismissed Asuna.

She was never one for quest text and preferred to skip straight to the point in order to meet up with the others.

"Would you happen to know how to get back to the top of this area?" she asked the giant.

"Before I was taken over, I was shackled and directed to this prison. As such, I have a clear impression of this lair. However, the only way out is through Fenrir's den. If I could ask for the help of you kind fairy warriors, I would ask that you help me find my two comrades who were also taken captive and join us in our fight against Fenrir to save our lord, Odin."

"That's a lot to ask," commented Klein.

"Odin is the ruler of the gods in Norse mythology and undoubtedly the one holds the legendary bow that we're looking for," analyzed Yui.

"Then it looks like we have no choice in the matter, huh?" said Asuna. "We're in this dungeon for Sinonon so if that means having to save Odin, we'll have to tag along with Baldr anyway," she reasoned.

They needed to message their findings to the others.

"Baldr, before we accept your offer we need to communicate with the rest of our fellow warriors who became separated from us."

Ding.

A message was sent to Asuna from Kirito, detailing his group's current situation. After she was done messaging him, Asuna smiled and gave the news to Klein, Yui, and the giant.

"Looks like we'll be meeting up with our friends and your brothers shortly, Baldr."

The entire party became reunited along with the three demigods, Vidarr, Baldr, and Hodr, who began to lead them to Fenrir's den. They talked of their experiences fighting the three giants in their separate instances.

"Our fight was almost too easy," Leafa recalled, "the lightning from Liz's Mjolnir completely shattered the mind control from Hodr almost immediately after the fight started.

"I really wish that I got a katana instead of that legendary hammer I had to give to you," complained Klein, jealous of the fact that his first legendary drop wasn't his weapon type.

"Think of it this way, Klein. Not only did you help us by saving Thor during the Excaliber quest, that same hammer is helping us progress towards Sinon's bow. Though on the downside, you probably won't be getting a legendary this time either," Lisbeth commented.

"Kirito, you said that if the legendary katana was ever found that we would try to get it, right?" pleaded Klein, low in spirit.

"Of course," the black swordsman answered hesitantly. "Let's just hope that's not any time soon," he whispered to Sinon who was walking closely beside him.

The pale blue-haired girl let out a small giggle, attempting to cover her amused expression with her hand. She could understand him not wanting to do another legendary dungeon so soon. Between their jobs with Project Simulation, preparing for the upcoming Dueling tournament, and with having to balance his schoolwork, Kirito was undoubtedly exhausted. It was the same for her.

Lisbeth, taking note of Kirito and Sinon's interaction, looked in the direction of Asuna who was next to her and saw her show an expression of melancholy, a pained smile formed on her lips. Lisbeth hated seeing Asuna in such a state, but knew she could do nothing, Asuna already decided to let Sinon have her way and trusted Kirito to make his decision between the two of them.

"Alright, I'll use that as my inspiration! Let's kick Fenrir's furry little behind!" livened up Klein, aware of the tense atmosphere around Asuna.

"Klein-san, I didn't think you would be so motivated," commented Silica.

"I bet he thinks that getting a legendary weapon will give him the edge over Eugene," mentioned Lisbeth.

"I almost beat him in a duel once," countered Klein.

"Yeah, but he wasn't even using his Demonic Sword. In terms of pure skill, he's still the better swordsman," stated Kirito.

"You're cruel, man," whimpered Klein, hanging his head down.

At the expense of his pride, the red-haired samurai was successful in his endeavor to lighten up the mood around the party, the group laughing in earnest.

They continued to follow the three giants until they finally came to a stop before a large obsidian double door which even dwarfed the giants.

"I can sense our king's presence behind these doors," voiced Vidarr.

"I also feel Fenrir's malevolence seeping through from inside," observed Hodr.

"We should exercise caution while approaching the demon wolf, lest we risk failing once more and becoming his twisted servants again," Baldr warned.

"Yes, but this time we have our fellow Fairy warriors helping us in our plight," Vidarr stated, motioning towards Kirito's party.

"We welcome your assistance," the other two giants said in turn.

"It's nothing," started Kirito, "it would be bad news if we allowed Fenrir to have his way."

He blurted out a half-hearted statement, not wanting to offend the giants by telling them that their goal was a rumored bow of great power. Sympathy for NPCs was something that Kirito always expressed, but he could never really understand the reason. If he had to think of one, he guessed it was because whenever he went into a Full-Dive, the world he was in felt real, along with the NPCs.

Kirito felt a nudge to his right arm, Sinon trying to attract his attention. She gave him a smug look that said, "Nice excuse, dork. Trying to sound like a hero?"

Trying not to react to Sinon's teasing, Kirito took command of the party and suggested that they take out the weapons they would be using for the fight and had Asuna apply their buffs beforehand in case the fight started as soon as they entered the boss room.

"Fairies, are you finished with your preparations?" asked Vidarr, prompting a transparent window to appear before Kirito, the party leader.

Without hesitation, he selected the circle on the window with his finger, starting the boss event.

"Let's do this!" Klein shouted, pumping himself up.

"For our king!" the three giants cried out, opening the door and storming their way inside along with Kirito's group following closely behind.

Upon entering, the party was greeted by a lone black wolf, standing in the middle of the wide open space of the cave. The shine of its glossy fur reflected the light of the crystals throughout the room. The giants paused with genuine fear as Fenrir, who stood at three-fourths of their height on all fours, simply looked past them as if they were of no significance.

"Fenrir! Do not ignore us!" shouted Vidarr with disgust.

"It is time you released our lord or we along with these Fairy warriors will send you to your demise," worded Hodr.

"We know our king is here. We can feel his presence!" Baldr stated.

The dark wolf continued to ignore them and addressed its first words to Kirito's group.

"Fairies, do you truly believe that you can defeat me, who effortlessly took the lord of these foolish giants captive along with bending their own wills to my bidding? Turn back now and I shall reward you with this weapon of great power, its string produced from the hairs of my sacred fur."

The wolf produced a black wooden bow in the air in front of the party, its quality rated just below that of a legendary item.

It wasn't quite the legendary bow that they sought, but if Sinon was willing to take the offer, Kirito would go with her decision.

He turned to Sinon for her response and was greeted by the firm shaking of her head.

Kirito smiled and nodded in turn, ready to address Fenrir.

"We'll have to decline your offer. We're putting a stop to you and saving Odin."

"Of course these Aesir fools have converted you to their side," Fenrir replied back, using his power to cause the bow to disappear before he addressed the giants.

"If you truly wish to see your king again, then bow and submit!" the wolf roared out, laughing before the entire party even though they all had their weapons pointed at him. He clearly didn't seem them as a threat.

His lack of respect and taunts angered the giants, leading the three of them to blindly rush the wolf as they brandished their weapons towards Fenrir.

"Papa, I have a bad feeling about this," Yui warned.

"Ha, ha, ha!" the wolf laughed as he materialized sharp purple crystals into the air and sent them towards the giants.

"Those stones are just like ones that mind controlled the giants earlier!" observed Leafa.

We don't have time to cast a spell to stop the shards now!

Kirito started to sprint towards the giants in hopes to catch up to the shards, but knew he would never make it.

In the instant he gave up on his pursuit, three arrows sped past his head and exploded upon reaching the shards, shattering them into fine pieces. «Explode Arrow».

Kirito believed that Sinon always seemed to react the fastest out of everyone. Without her, there would be far too many close calls in their dungeon and raid attempts.

"How do you expect to save your king when you wildly charge towards the enemy like that? That's the reason why you were captured in the first place!" Sinon had no problem reprimanding the giants of Aesir themselves.

"We apologize," said Vidarr, "It's truly a shameful event when we giants have to be lectured by the Fairies we watch over."

"Geez, Sinon, remind me not to get on the wrong side of you. You're picking fights with gods," commented Klein.

"Well, that's Sinonon for you. When it comes to battles, she can't forgive careless mistakes," said Asuna.

"Let's coordinate our attacks together," suggested Kirito to the giants.

"Very well," responded Hodr, "We'll defeat Fenrir and save our king as one fighting force."

"Prepare yourself, Fenrir!" challenged Baldr, pointing his sword towards the wolf.

"Fools! Know your place! Consider yourselves to be at my mercy!" Fenrir shouted, leaping towards the giants.

The ground shook from the force of the wolf's feet as it propelled itself into the air, leaving a faint imprint of its paws into the stone of the cave.

The giants, who were still together in a group, swung their weapons towards the incoming wolf, but Fenrir released a breath of purple fire from its mouth, causing the giants to shield themselves and focus on defense.

"I have you now!" Fenrir taunted, releasing another wave of purple shards towards the giants at close range.

This time, Kirito's group was ready. Leafa released a wind spell to disperse the shards headed towards the giants and the fragments fell harmlessly to the ground.

Sinon started to fire arrows at the wolf while Asuna provided support and healing for the entire party. The rest of the group headed towards Fenrir, preparing their own assault.

"Surround him!" ordered Kirito, wanting to trap the wolf by encircling the boss. They were able to surround Fenrir and the group began its onslaught of attacks.

Spear, axe, sword, dagger, hammer, and arrow, punctured and cut through the wolf, but his health bar was reducing slowly. The combined assault of attacks lasting thirty seconds had only lowered Fenrir's health by two percent. They were clearly in for the long haul with this boss fight.

Still, Fenrir did not seem to make any moves to dodge the incoming attacks. It was as if the wolf was merely playing with them and gauging their power.

"Enough!" the wolf howled, the sound of its voice penetrating through the group's ears.

The wolf jumped high into the air and fired another purple breath of fire at the circled group.

Asuna casted a shield of water over the party to reduce the damage while Sinon held her bow ready to prevent another onslaught of purple shards that could be concealed by the flames.

Sinon spotted the glint of purple amidst the transparency and released her «Explode Arrow» once more, blowing away the mind control shards. The two ranged heroines made sure that their party remained protected.

Rather than land in the center of the circle that Kirito's group and the giants created, Fenrir grounded himself several meters away from them began to charge straight for them, dashing his way towards Vidarr.

Sinon fired several arrows while Leafa casted a wind missile, but the wolf shook them off while taking minimal damage as he gained ground on the spear-wielding giant. Vidarr attempted to jab his spear at Fenrir, but the wolf adjusted, moving its body to the side and lunging onto the giant.

Vidarr was knocked to the ground with Fenrir pressing down on his throat with his murderous paws. Hodr and Baldr quickly made their way to Fenrir to force him off their fellow giant. However, this was part of Fenrir's plan. The wolf used its hind legs to jump backwards, avoiding the swings of Hodr's axe and Baldr's sword. With the two giants now vulnerable, he fired yet another round of mind controlling shards, impaling the two giants.

There was no chance that Sinon could disrupt the shards when they were fired from point-blank range.

"Baldr! Hodr!" Vidarr yelled out in anguish.

"It is futile!" laughed Fenrir, "they won't listen to your cries now!"

The two giants were now mindless, turning their weapons towards Vidarr and Kirito's group. The purple mind control shards were lodged into their arms, one impaled in each.

"It's okay! We just have to destroy the crystals to defeat them," said Klein, basing his theory on his previous boss fight. The samurai started to charge towards Baldr, eyeing the giant's right arm.

"Sinon! Kirito! Cover me!" he requested.

Kirito sprinted towards Baldr, ready to grab the giant's attention, allowing Klein to hit the shard lodged in Baldr's arm without worry. Sinon fired off a blinding arrow into the face of the giant, causing Baldr to cover his face, exposing his arms.

Kirito initiated the «Dance of Darkness» Sword Skill, slashing away at the giant with his black sword, holding the giant back from recovering. Klein jumped up and hit the purple crystal lodged within the giant's arm, but his katana bounced right off with no crack or dent to be seen in the gem.

"What?" questioned a shocked Klein. "Asuna was able to destroy those pink shards around his armor earlier."

The others in the group were holding back Fenrir and Hodr while Kirito, Klein, and Sinon contemplated on their next plan of attack. Sinon thought of what was different between these crystals and the ones she and Kirito encountered.

"Kirito." voiced Sinon, demanding his attention.

"The shards that were on Vidarr were purple like these! We'll have to use the crystals on the ground to destroy the ones in their arms!"

"Of course! Everyone, keep holding back Baldr and Hodr, we'll have to collect the crystals on the ground from Fenrir's earlier attacks to free them!" ordered the Spriggan.

Sinon, who was accustomed to collecting the shards, already had several slipped into her belt. Kirito and Leafa were able to collect a few as well while the others continued to attract the attention of the bosses.

"All right! Let's try this again!" Klein shouted, repeating the same tactic with Kirito and Sinon against Baldr. Once more, Sinon blinded the giant while Kirito held him off, allowing Klein to jump up, shard in hand, slamming it into the mind control gem lodged within Baldr's arm. Upon contact, the crystal in the giant's arm broke off, leaving one more in the other arm to go. Klein quickly unsheathed his sword while in the air and used «Vertical», bringing his sword down upon Baldr, searing his flaming katana into the giant's arm.

As the Baldr shouted in agony, Kirito jumped to the second arm and took out a shard of his own, colliding it with the other crystal, removing the mind control from Baldr who came back to his senses.

"Thank you, fairies once more, let us free Hodr and put an end to this foul wolf."

The giant took off with his sword and started to fend off Fenrir who regularly attacked Vidarr while the giant side-stepped the wolf's blows.

"Let's do this again for Hodr!" Kirito commanded.

The group quickly made short work of Hodr's mind control with Leafa and Silica being the ones to destroy the crystals.

The giants were now free of the mind control, the party now facing Fenrir, united at their full strength.

I wonder why he never used his shard attack again. Is there some sort of limit?

Sinon thought to herself as she continued to release her arrows at Fenrir while the others fought him at melee range alongside Asuna who supported the group with her healing and buffs.

Sinon began to scan the room and noticed something odd with the large purple crystal formation in the ceiling. A section of the bottom of the formation seemed as if it were sliced off cleanly. However, at no point during the fight with Fenrir did anything touch the formation in the ceiling. The crystal was far too high to be caught up in an attack.

She took a closer look at the disrupted formation and made out a dark leather boot adorned with gemstones. Attached to the boot was the faintest hint of a leg that she could see seeping through the thick purple crystal. Focusing her vision once more, she spotted the name of an NPC, «Odin».

The god was stuck inside a crystal prison of the same color as the mind control shards. Sinon deduced that Fenrir had been using the gems from Odin's prison to take control of the giants. It was likely that he refrained from using any more in fear that Odin would be able to break free.

"Everyone!" Sinon called out.

"Above us is Odin, himself! He's trapped in a crystal prison!" she pointed upwards at the purple formation.

"She's right!" Vidarr exclaimed, "Quickly fairies, you must free him with the power of the shards!

"Well, we'd be glad to do so, but how will we get up there?" Lisbeth questioned, pointing out that the ceiling was well over twenty meters high.

"I'll take care of that," Sinon declared, fiddling with a purple shard. She thought of attaching one of the shards to the head of her arrows before, but she was reluctant to use that method in the previous fight because she was unsure of its reliability.

In this case, she had no other choice than to take her gamble. There was no other way to break Odin free.

"I won't let you!" Fenrir yelled as he breathed his dark flames at Kirito's group, forcing them to back off their attack and take a defensive stance, leaving the wolf free to dash towards Sinon.

Already taking aim with her bow towards Odin's crystal prison, Sinon was in no position to defend herself from Fenrir's incoming attack.

"Leafa! Asuna! Cast a spell to slow him down!" Kirito commanded, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop Fenrir himself, as he was the farthest from Sinon.

Leafa and Asuna quickly chanted their spells to send a gale of wind and a torrent of water at Fenrir, slightly impeding the wolf's progress towards Sinon, but it dashed through regardless.

Kirito, who already started his sprint to make his way to Fenrir, still wouldn't reach the wolf in time.

If only I could use magic besides illusion spells.

"Don't count me out!" shouted Lisbeth, lifting up Mjolnir, the god of thunder's legendary hammer, creating a bolt of lightning that struck the ground below Fenrir's feet, completely halting his progress.

"You possess Thor's power?" howled an enraged Fenrir, recovering from the paralysis caused by the electricity.

"Thanks, Liz!" acknowledged Sinon, who released her shard-equipped arrow at Odin's crystal prison, shattering the formation into large fragments which smashed into the ground, decorating the floor with broken purple gemstones.

Odin was free.

"Our king!" shouted the three giants.

"Thank you fairy warriors and my loyal knights for releasing me, but now is not the time for idle chatter. Let us end this demon wolf's tyranny," chanted the god, who floated down towards the floor, his robes flowing along with his descent.

"Bastard! Forget about absorbing your power, I'll just have to kill you!" shouted Fenrir, jumping up at Odin and letting loose his dark flames.

The tendrils of fire blazed towards Odin, but he merely lifted his ornamented golden staff, creating a glowing force field which extinguished the flames. Afterwards, he threw down his staff, using its pointed end to stab straight through Fenrir's body, attaching the wolf's body to the ground.

"Damn you!" Fenrir shouted, as he struggled to remove himself from the staff that held him to the ground like a stake.

"Everyone!" shouted Yui, demanding the group's attention.

"Odin gave Fenrir an 'increased damage taken debuff' with that attack. Now is the time to unleash your attacks at full strength!"

"Fairies, my knights, end this treacherous wolf!" demanded Odin, landing onto the ground.

"Let him have it!" shouted Klein, racing off towards the pinned Fenrir.

The giants and Kirito's group surrounded the wolf, Sinon and Asuna included, swords out, barraging Fenrir with Sword Skills.

Flashes from the glowing weapons of fire, ice, and other elements reflected off the shattered purple fragments across the ground, creating a scene that looked beautiful yet grotesque as the giants and the rest of the group terrorized Fenrir, decimating his health bar.

The giants and Kirito who chained his skills with «Skill Connect» continued to release their assault onto Fenrir and the others waited for their Sword Skill Delay to wear off.

"Just a little more!" informed Yui.

"One more round of Sword Skills!" Kirito yelled as he started the third part of his chain.

The others unleashed their second round of Sword Skills, making quick work of Fenrir's health bar. However, despite their torrent of uninterrupted damage, the wolf's bar wouldn't go below one percent.

"What's going on?" Silica questioned.

"Only the power of a god can deal the finishing blow to Fenrir, a divine being," said Odin.

"Fair leprechaun, I'm sure you know what to do," the god addressed Lisbeth.

"I gotcha, old man!" Lisbeth lifted up her golden hammer as lightning warped around its head and swung it down upon Fenrir's head.

"Damn you, bastard god king!" the wolf managed to let out before Lisbeth struck the deathblow.

Boss Defeated!

Fenrir was defeated and the fight was won. The group raised their weapons in the air and celebrated alongside the giants and Odin.

The giants conversed with Odin on how Fenrir tricked them and how Kirito's group released them from his mind control and agreed to help them save Odin. Odin quickly realized that the mind control was a power stolen from his own by the use of the purple crystals that drained his strength. Kirito's group stood together congratulating each other on a great fight and complimented each other's skills.

Odin beckoned the party over to thank them for helping him and his warriors.

"I heard from my friends that you refused Fenrir's offer of power when you could have easily overwhelmed them with the power you have shown throughout the fight with the demon wolf. I would like to thank you properly by awarding the archer who freed me with a gift."

Sinon stepped forward and presented herself, bowing courteously towards the god.

The god lifted his golden staff and materialized a brilliant bow that was made of golden translucent crystal that required no bowstring.

"This is «Light Bow Shekhinah», a bow infused with all my power. There is no need to carefully nock your arrows as there is no bowstring. Simply place your arrow where the bowstring would be and pull back. Just as your leprechaun friend's hammer is filled with Thor's power this bow represents mine. Consider yourself a true friend to the gods of Asgard."

"Thank you, it is an honor," Sinon said, accepting the legendary bow.

Item added to inventory.

Sinon immediately hit the accept button on her quest window, claiming ownership of the item and completing the quest for everyone.

"That's great, Sinonon! We got your bow," Asuna said excitedly.

"Thank you, everyone," Sinon replied.

"There's no need to thank us so formally, Sinon. We're your friends, right?" Lisbeth said, lightly tapping Sinon's shoulder with her fist.

"But you'll have to let me work on any upgrades for your bow, got it?" the blacksmith added on.

"Understood," Sinon said, beaming at everyone.

"Now that we are free from Fenrir's clutches we must return to Asgard and calm the panic caused by my disappearance," Odin interrupted.

"I'm sure you fairies must be exhausted from the arduous battle. I would like to extend an offer to teleport you to the entrance of this lair with my power if that is your desire."

"That's probably a good idea. Better to celebrate outside rather than in a dark dungeon like this," commented Leafa.

"Yeah, let's all head back to the Log House to celebrate," Kirito confirmed.

"Odin, we'll take you up on your offer," he answered the god king.

"Very well," started Odin as he lifted his staff.

"The gods of Asgard will never forget you," he added.

"Until next time," said Vidarr, waving his hand along with the giants, sending the group off.

Odin's staff glowed a blinding white and the group was teleported to the bottom of the staircase at the entrance of the dungeon.

"Couldn't just teleport us outside? Now we have to climb some stairs," Klein complained.

"Maybe we should have let you walk all the way back from the boss room," commented Lisbeth.

"No, no! That's fine! See! I'm walking up the stairs!" blabbered Klein as he stepped a few steps ahead of everyone.

"Move over, Klein. I'd like to get in some shooting with this," an enthusiastic Sinon nudged Klein to the side as she darted up the stairs towards the outside of the Ancient Forest clearing.

"Hey, wait for me! I'm not going to miss seeing a legendary weapon in action!" Kirito chased after her.

"Papa, wait up!" shouted Yui as she hopped from Asuna's shoulder and slowly flew up. Asuna looked up at Kirito running after Sinon and could only feel that she was starting to lose him. She wanted to respect the decision that he would make when the time came to choose between Sinon and herself, but she couldn't just leave things as they were.

"Hurry up!" Sinon taunted Kirito who was only a few steps behind her.

She was having the best days of her life. Last night she went out to eat with Kirito and today she worked together with her friends to get the legendary bow. She could not wait to try out her new bow for the first time.

She reached the final step and stepped onto the fresh grass of the Forest Clearing. The sky was still bright blue and small unkillable NPCs such as squirrels and birds surrounded the peaceful enclosure. She would have to venture deeper into the forest to test her new weapon.

As she turned to face Kirito who was a little behind on the steps, she met the blade of a rapier held a few centimeters apart from her neck. She instantly tensed up and froze. The dark hooded man who was wielding, took advantage of the opening and quickly spun to her backside, stopping her from using the «Quick-Switch» by restraining her right hand.

A PKer now of all times?

"Sinon!" shouted Kirito, had his black sword out in his right hand after being alert to the dire atmosphere.

Besides the hooded man restraining Sinon there was another cloaked man beside him wielding a cleaver that looked like a butcher's knife. The image of a robed man holding a similar weapon entered Kirito's mind. It was a dark scene from his past. There was no doubt. This man was definitely him, the leader of Laughing Coffin.

"PoH," Kirito muttered in a mix of fear and anger.

"So you do recognize me, Kirito. Nice of you to remember an old friend from the SAO days. The same days you spoiled when you helped destroy my guild and ended the game," PoH ended, flaunting his weapon and pointing it towards Kirito.

"Why, why are you here?" Kirito was at a loss for words. He never thought that he would see PoH again. The previous Death Gun incident was enough of a haunting memory.

"Ever since the members of Laughing Coffin were released from jail, I've been waiting to repay you. My findings led me to this game. It reminds you of the good old days so much doesn't it? This game even has Aincrad itself! It's almost as if I've gone back! Too bad I can't truly kill anyone in this world," PoH laughed into the sky.

Immediately after the end of SAO when the remaining players were released from their virtual imprisonment, the surviving members of Laughing Coffin were sent to prison for their crimes of Player Killing. However, they could only be confined for a few months. There were no laws in place to try someone for a crime that took place in a virtual world, let alone murder. The members of Laughing Coffin were released under the rationalization of being mentally ill with no legitimate charge to detain them.

"Kirito! Sinon!" Klein yelled being the next one out of the labyrinth. He spotted the two cloaked figures and recognized PoH.

"You!" Klein yelled in surprise.

"Klein, what's wrong?" Asuna asked as she and the rest of the group stepped onto the ground of the Forest Clearing.

"No, that's . . ." Asuna realized what was happening and became speechless.

"Oh, The Flash is here too? Excellent," PoH added.

"Who are these people?" Leafa asked, not having knowledge of the members of Laughing Coffin besides Red-Eyed XaXa from the Death Gun incident.

"Sinon!" Leafa shouted, noticing that the archer was being restrained by the other cloaked figure.

"Grr, let go of me!" Sinon yelled, struggling to break free. She shook and wrestled with the arm that held her while eyeing the blade that was by her neck.

If I can't break free with my arms then. . .

Sinon stomped her foot onto the cloaked figure's boot, causing him to jerk backwards from the slight sensation of pain, giving her an opening to quickly duck under his rapier and break free of his grasp.

Sinon used the «Quick-Switch» feature and slashed her pale green «Soul's Embrace» at the unknown assailant who managed to deflect the blow in time to avoid harm. However, Sinon's blade bounced off and nicked the cloth of his hood, revealing the man's face.

What was immediately striking was the glowing red eyes of a mask that resembled the one that Death Gun wore. Sinon could also make out the brown unkempt hair that dropped over part of the mask.

Death Gun? No, it couldn't be him. I know for a fact that Kyouji and his brother are in jail. Could he be the third?

The third member of Death Gun was Johnny Black from SAO. He was still missing and confirmed to be on the run. However, Kikuoka notified both Sinon and Kirito that he would eventually be caught. It was only a matter of time. So who was it behind the mask?

Sinon's eyes darted towards the area above the masked man's now visible head. There was an orange icon that indicated that he was currently flagged for PvP as a result of attacking Sinon first. Next to the icon was the name "Taka."

Taka! Isn't that Tanaka's in-game name?

"Sinon! Are you alright?" Kirito extended his arm to her shoulder, having already walked up to her as soon as she broke free.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, happy for his concern.

"But," she added, "take a look at this one's name," she pointed to where the name would be displayed above Taka's head.

"Taka! Tanaka is that you?" Kirito froze, flabbergasted. How could the friend who worked alongside them at Project Simulation be a part of Laughing Coffin?

"Tanaka. . . Is that the friend you two made at work?" Asuna asked, remembering her conversations with Sinon and Kirito.

"He only got close to you so I could witness this moment of bliss, the moment when you realize that the one you thought a friend betrays you! The look in your eyes when you saw that you were deceived was simply the greatest, Kirito!" PoH mocked, chuckling.

"Isn't that right, Taka?" the leader of Laughing Coffin added.

The man in question, Taka, still had not said a single word. In fact, it almost seemed like he was shaking, disappointed at his own incompetence. From the moment he came in contact with the man known as PoH, he was shackled. He truly enjoyed the time he spent with Sinon and Kirito, but he knew they would quickly become false memories. One day he would have to betray them and the time finally came.

All he could manage to do was mouth two inaudible words.

I'm sorry.

He looked towards Sinon and Kirito, but only saw their scorned faces of disappointment and betrayal.

"It's a shame you still don't feel like talking, but no matter!" PoH continued on.

"Kirito, Flash, and that samurai-looking fellow whose name evades me. . . It's about time I got back at all of you for the destruction and disbanding my guild."

Klein, who would normally take offense to having his name glossed over, stood completely silent, struggling to make sense of the situation along with the others.

"It's showtime!" PoH shouted, lunging towards Kirito and Sinon, swinging his cleaver as he aimed for Kirito's head.

Sinon and Kirito, who stood together, braced themselves for combat and raised their weapons, preparing to block the incoming blow.

Taka could only watch the scene unfold, powerless, as he agonized over the act of his betrayal. The current him was enslaved by Laughing Coffin and he couldn't forgive himself for never trying to back out. If only he had let it end that day in SAO, then perhaps Laughing Coffin would have never been at large, preventing the mass killing of guilds and quite possibly the Death Gun incident.

If only he had died that day.

Ending Note: Well the last part of this chapter took a rather dark turn. This chapter concludes the first half to my story. The second half will have a strong focus on the real life portion of the story, but first the next chapter will be a flashback to Tanaka's days in SAO. You'll learn of his past with Laughing Coffin and the events that shaped up to the eventual raid of Laughing Coffin. I'm looking forward to writing these upcoming chapters since writing ALO fights was starting to take a strain on me. However, I'd rather not make any promises on the time frame of the next release. All I can say is this. Thank you as always for following my story and look forward to the next chapter!