I walked into the floor graveyard, and stood in front of all the players who died on this floor. But there was one that stood out in particular.

Here lies

Kirito

Murdered

October 7, 2008 - January 1, 2023

Loving brother and friend

Sugu must have made it after I disappeared. The tombstone was very right, I am dead. Now I'm something else, and there's really no going back to the way things were. I stood there for a minute, then got a message that PoH wanted to see me. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and went back to HQ.

Laughing Coffin HQ

"What do you want PoH?" I said.

"We're making a move against the Blood Oath, kid. And I need my best assassin to carry it out."

"What's do you want me to do?"

"There's a blacksmith in Lindarth, goes by the name Lisbeth. I need you to kill her."

"You want me to kill VC's best friend?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"No, sir. Just verifying."

Lindarth

I used the thieve's highway to move through Lindarth and towards Lisbeth's shop.

'Let's make this quick. Go in, kill her, get out.'

I reached the street leading to the shop, only to see Asuna talking to Lisbeth.

"Asuna, what are you talking about?" Lisbeth asked.

"We got a tip that Laughing Coffin is going to kill you. We need to get you out of here."

"Why would they want to kill me?"

"Liz, we need to move now! If they're coming after you, they're gonna send they're best. And you know who they'll send."

'Who the hell tipped them off?'

There wasn't anything I could use to swing from, and my picks are pretty much useless. I turned around and returned to HQ. Let's just say that PoH wasn't very happy.

"What do you mean you couldn't kill her?" PoH said.

"I mean, someone tipped the Blood Oath off. By the time I got there, the Vice Commander was dragging Lisbeth out of her shop."

"Damn. Who do you think tipped them off?"

"I don't know. I have some suspects, but I can't be sure."

"See if you can get to her. Maybe there's an opening you can find."

"I see what I can do."

The Next Day

"Kirito, we've got something." Kai said running into my room.

"What?"

"Our informants said the Blood Oath is planning on moving Lisbeth to a safe house. They don't know where the safe house is, but they do know they're escorting her, today."

"Hmm, I might be able to get her during the escort. Depending on where the safe house is. Thanks for the info."

If the safe house is in a town or safezone. I could probably use a disguise. So I left the HQ and went back to Lindarth, but walked into a different shop.

"Welcome to Ashley's. How may I- oh damn it."

"Evening Ash." I said walking in. "I need a new jacket."

"What's wrong with the one you're wearing?"

"It's gonna stands out where I'm going."

"What type of coat do you need?"

"A white and red one with a hood."

Ashley sighed. "I'll see what I have."

She went into the back and came out with a couple pairs of jackets. I examined them, and chose one.

"That's a custom jacket. I made it based on the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Perfect. I'll take it."

I paid for jacket and walked out. I did the cursor quest to turn my cursor green again before going to Granzam. I stood across from the Blood Oath's HQ for an hour and waited for an opportunity to make my move. I watched as sixteen soldiers escorted Lisbeth out the base and towards the teleportation gate. I followed them from the rooftops to the gate. Disguise equipped, I dropped down, followed through the teleportation gate. They went through a town of and into the Area. Something didn't really feel right. Why take her somewhere she could easily be attacked? As I walked with the Knights, I felt a chill down my spine, like something wasn't right. Then smoke circled the sky, circling around us, then went up in the air and hit the ground knocking us back. I looked up to see the thorn in my side. Shiva, kneeling on the ground where the smoke had hit. He's starting to piss me off, so I wasted no time charging at him. He stood up, blocking my attack with his sword, and kicking me back. I dodged as he attacked and stabbed him in the ribs, then cut across his chest. He retaliated by head butting me and cutting a diagonal across my chest and, using the momentum of the attack to flip the sword position from zatoichi to normal, cutting me again, forming an X. He vaulted over me, cutting up my back when he landed. I rolled forward putting some distance between us, and we both read each other's mind as we ran towards each other, activating Senda. But I cancelled the skill and slid under Shiva, who jumped over me, and I stood up to attack and we clashed.

"Ugh. You've... improved." He said.

"How did you know I would be here?"

"I have my ways."

We pushed our weight against each other, I reached behind me, grabbed a pick and stabbed Shiva in the stomach, paralyzing him. As much as I want to kill him, the target was getting away, so I cut off his hands and chased after Lisbeth, who was taken by a knight. I moved through the trees and managed to catch up with them. The knight tried to escape with a crystal, but I threw a pick, breaking it and paralyzing him. Lisbeth drew her mace when I dropped down and walked towards her. She swung at me, I dodged under and wrapped my arms around her throat in a sleeper hold and choked her out. Sword in hand, I lifted it above my head but stopped myself. It would be a waste to kill someone so talented, so I picked up Lisbeth's body and used a crystal to teleport directly to the HQ.

A few minutes later

I stood in a room with Lisbeth tied to a chair. There was something about her, but I couldn't tell what it was. There's something beneath the surface. She groaned and lifted her head up and looked around.

"Good, you're awake." I said.

"Ugh. Where am I? Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Kirito. And you're in the LC's HQ."

"Kirito? You're Leafa's brother. You're dead."

"Not quite. I was forced into the LC to protect Sugu. And you know what? I can see the appeal of the guild, a chance to be free, to do whatever you want."

"You're murderers."

"We're opportunist. Morte threatened Sugu, so I killed him. I want something, I take it. All those people who said you couldn't be a smith, you can just kill or torture."

"How do you know about that?"

"I know things. But I'm right aren't I? Deep, deep down you wanted to kill or hurt those people, to prove them wrong, and you still do."

"I-I... Yeah, I do."

"We're giving you a choice: Work with us and be your true self, or go back to that facade you call a life, and to the people who undermined you."