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Ulrich has found 2 of his friends from Aincrad: Karen and Kirito. Ulrich now has to find Katsuo, Sylvia, and Amaterasu (Kana's true name). However trouble seems to be unfolding after hearing of a large Salamander military battalion not far away.

Rated: AU Fiction T

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Credit goes to the original creator of the SAO universe; credits also to the creators and contributors to the Code Lyoko series and related works.

Author Notes: If you want to understand this story fully, I would highly recommend reading my previous work: Code Aincrad.

I need to give credit to Latiosus for Beta reading this chapter.

Alfheim Standard Time: [19:00] August 1st, 2025

'The wall's down, we can enter Lugru now.' Karen says.

'Excellent, let's go, you have friends here, right Ash? And…' Ulrich trailed off, 'What happened to Kirito?' Ulrich asks, looking around for the familiar black figure of his friend, having not seen him going over the edge of the bridge, with him barely holding on.

'Kirito-kun got stupid, so I was forced to slap him.' Leafa was glaring at the bridge's end.

'Yeah, Okamoto told me she'd be here, she loves being in the town squares. Meet up with me there when you all finish your business.' Karen says with optimism before departing.

Leafa, Kirito, and Ulrich inspect the city of Lugru with awe when Leafa broke the silence between them.

'So this is Lugru…' Leafa chirped happily.

'..Ouch..' Kazuto muttered under his breath, while rubbing the glowing red hand mark on his cheek.

'Kirito, you had that coming for what you did to Leafa.' Ulrich states without any trace of sympathy.

'It was a joke, the atmosphere was tense, and I wanted to lighten it a little.' Kazuto muttered back.

'Try it again and I'll turn you into mince-meat…' Leafa growled at him angrily.

'Got it…' Kazuto blinked at her in shock, and a little sad that Ulrich's backstabbing him like this.

They take some time to wander the market when they hear music being played, along with singing.

'Leafa, Aio, can either of you hear..music being played?' Kazuto asks.

'I do hear music; I think it's coming from the square.' Leafa answered.

The trio walk towards the square where they find Karen with two friends enjoying the music being played by a female player wearing clothing drenched in the color gold. Ulrich glanced at the two people with Karen and notices a young feline player wearing casual clothing colored silver, with an older player, but not by much, wearing a blue robe with gold trims. The robe this player is wearing is hiding his appearance but he has the hood down so his blue hair and crimson eyes are visible.

'This music is incredible…' Ulrich seemed slightly absentminded.

'She's a member of the Puca race; they specialize in using music to boost their party's abilities.' Leafa replied nonchalantly.

'I see' Ulrich answered, still absentminded, trying to enjoy the music.

The music player finishes the song and makes a bow towards the small audience that had gathered in the square to listen to her sing and play music. Ash walks toward the singer with her friends and seem to start a good conversation.

'Aio, I'm going to head to the park, come find me there later.' Leafa called out, while dragging Kazuto along, much to his displeasure.

'Got it Leafa. I'll see you later Kirito.' Ulrich replied.

Leafa and Kazuto depart, leaving Ulrich on his own. He sees that Karen is beckoning Ulrich to come over to where she is, so he does so, just to have something to do.

'You said your game name was Minatoya right?' An Undine player asks the Puca.

'That's right, I'm grateful you came to hear me play today.' Minatoya says after making a bow.

'You played excellently Mina-onee-chan' The Cait Sith player: Okamoto chirped happily.

'M-Mina-onee-chan?!' Minatoya blinked in shock, while stuttering a little in fear.

'Okamoto, that was not appropriate! I'm very sorry for her behavior Minatoya-san' The Undine frowned at his companion, and he quickly bows in apology for Okamoto's action.

'I see..' Minatoya replied, still mildly freaked out. 'It's rare to see Sylphs near here actually…' Minatoya trailed off, facing Ulrich.

'Actually Minatoya, this is a friend of mine. His game name is Ulkaios, but we call him Aio for short. Aio, I'd like to introduce my friends: Okamoto and Izanagi' Karen smiled as she introduced them.

'I'm pleased to meet you Ulkaios-san' Izanagi says with a bow.

'Hello Ulkaios-senpai' Okamoto seemed incredibly happy.

'Hello Izanagi, Okamoto, Minatoya' Ulrich nodding in turn at the trio.

Minatoya gasps, barely audible to anyone without a high hearing skill, when she hears Ulrich talk, she decides to think of a test to determine if a theory she has is true or not.

'Ulkaios, you don't need to answer if you don't understand, but do you know the names: Kingetsuga, Gingetsuga, and Kurogetsuga?' Minatoya asks Ulrich.

'Yeah, I know those names; they were my weapons in the last MMO I played. Why do you ask?' Ulrich asks curiously, he has no idea why this Puca asked such a random question.

'This Sylph had those weapons in the last MMO he played. So..Ulkaios and Ulrich are the same person' Minatoya thought to herself.

'Why did you ask such an unusual question Minatoya-san?' Izanagi frowned slightly at the randomness of the question.

'Oh..no reason, but Ulkaios, Ashikaga, I want to talk to you both..privately…' Minatoya trailed off, looking distinctly nervous.

Ulrich, Karen, and Minatoya walk to a secluded area of the town square and after looking around to make sure no one was within eavesdropping range.

'I'm pretty certain at this point. I'm glad to see you again Ulrich.' Minatoya smiled at the Sylph.

'You..you know my real name?' Ulrich's eyes widened in shock.

'I was very certain when you answered the question about the Getsuga trio. Only one person had the weapon: Getsuga in Aincrad, and that was the clearer: Ulrich Stern. My game name back then was Elena.'

Ulrich gasps in surprise while Karen is surprisingly quiet about it.

'I presume you had some inkling from the beginning, right Karen?' Sylvia asks.

'A tiny bit, but you just confirmed that you are Sylvia.' Karen answered.

'So is there a reason why you're here Ulrich, Karen?' Sylvia asks the pair.

'We're traveling with a Spriggan and Sylph named Kirito and Leafa' Karen replied.

'Kirito? Is it the same Kazuto from Aincrad?'

'Yeah, we've been traveling together.' Ulrich answered.

'I see. If you'll allow it, let me join you as well. You can call me Mina for short.' Sylvia smiles at her two friends.

'Feel free Sylvia, I've been trying to gather knowledge on Katsuo and you all since I arrived in this world. Okamoto has been trying to help me in that regard.' Karen explains.

'We should return to the crowd, before your friends get suspicious'

'Right, let's go.' Ulrich says.

Ulrich, Karen, and Sylvia return to the stage where Okamoto and Izanagi are waiting.

'Ashikaga, I can imagine that Minatoya will be joining us?' Izanagi asks with remarkable perception.

'Yeah, she is. Are you going to accompany us too Izanagi? Okamoto?' Karen addressed her two colleagues.

'Of course, my friend here wants me to help you, so I'll help. Besides, I need to keep an eye on her' Izanagi replies.

'I want to help my friend, count me in Ashikaga-senpai' Okamoto chirped happily.

'Okay, we need to find our friends; they said they'd be in a nearby park…' Ulrich pointed out.

Alfheim Standard Time: [20:00] August 1st, 2025

The group of five walk away from the town square to the park where Kazuto and Leafa are at. When they arrive, they find Leafa and Kazuto looking very distressed.

'Aio, Ash, I'm glad you guys came back so quickly, we need to leave fast!' Leafa exclaimed the second she spotted them.

'Leafa, what's wrong?' Karen, trying to calm her down.

'I heard from Recon, I found out what that Salamander battalion we heard about is going to do!'

The group quickly begins running toward the exit of the city. While the group is running Karen tries to get more information.

'Okay Leafa, while we're running, we need specifics on what's going on.' Karen states.

'In a little over a half hour, beyond a place known as the Valley of the Butterflies, a secret meeting will begin between the Sylph and Cait Sith leaders. The Salamanders are going to attack that meeting.' Leafa explains, looking worried.

'How would the Salamanders benefit from attacking the Sylph and Cait Sith leaders?' Ulrich asks.

'First of all, they would stop the alliance from forming. Second, If bad information from the Sylph resulted in the death of the Cait Sith leader, the Cait Sith will hold resentment toward the Sylph, it could even result in war between the 2 factions. Third, if a faction leader is slain, the winner gets roughly a third of the territory's money, and you can invade the capital of the nation for about a week and a half and make any tax you desire.'

'This game allows that to happen? Talk about easily corruptible ideals..' Karen frowned, clearly annoyed.

'Kirito-kun, everyone, this is a Sylph problem. You don't need to help me. If we do go..we probably won't leave unscathed. We'd have to start over from Sylvain and Lugru. It's entirely possible that..if you all want to reach the top of the World Tree, you'd all be better off working with the Salamanders.' Leafa muttered the last part reluctantly. 'If they succeed in this operation, they'll have everything they need to make an attempt to clear the World Tree. Because you all are so diverse, I believe they would hire you as mercenaries, even you Ulkaios, if you explained you've always been a renegade with no loyalty to Sylvain.' She shook her head sadly.

'Leafa, are you sure? You're really forcing us into a corner here' Ulrich looked crestfallen.

'No, I will not betray my friends; I am not going to attack you Leafa, not for my own benefit.' Kazuto replied angrily.

While Kazuto, Ulrich, Leafa, and Karen were talking, Sylvia, Okamoto, and Izanagi are rushing to try getting as close to the field as possible.

'Guys, I really hate to kill the mood, but we need to leave now if we want to stop the Salamanders!' Karen says in a hurry, activating her sprint skill immediately.

'Right!' Kazuto called out.

Kazuto, Karen and Ulrich use their sprint skills to quickly exit the cave, with Leafa being dragged by Kirito. They run through many monsters trying to exit the cave, which begin chasing after them. They fly immediately after leaving, and find Izanagi outside.

'About time you all left, Minatoya-san and Okamoto are already rushing to reach the meeting point. We need to hurry!' Izanagi urges them on before quickly flying to chase after the Salamanders.

As they begin their flight, Leafa has something she needs to get off her chest

'Kirito, what you did took years off my life!' Leafa exclaimed after punching the black-clad swordsman.

After flying for about ten minutes after leaving the cave, they catch the sight of something remarkably beautiful that reaches into the clouds.

'What is that..?' Kazuto asks in surprise.

'That's the world tree: Yggdrasil.' Leafa explains with absolute calmness in her voice.

'Sugoi..anyway..Leafa, where is the meeting going to be? I need to give the location to Okamoto, Mina, and Izanagi if they're going to help us with the Salamanders' Karen stared at the tree in awe at the start, and regaining her composure after shaking her head very quickly.

'Okay..It's to the northwest, near the mountain there' Leafa pointed out the mountain as she speaks.

'How much time do we have left? We can try asking Izanagi and the others to buy us some time if it comes down to it.' Ulrich called over the wind.

'Out of the question Aio, I will not let my friends suffer that way!' Karen barked out angrily. 'Let's see..we have twenty minutes until the Salamanders arrive..Major Yamakage is in the vanguard position of this Salamander battalion.' Karen continues with concern, absolutely understandable, since Eugene and Yamakage are both very dangerous Salamanders.

'That's not a lot of time, we need to hurry!' Kazuto called out to his companions.

Alfheim Standard Time: [20:30] August 1st, 2025

The group all activate a special burst to their flight to increase their speed so they can reach the meeting ground before the Salamanders arrive. Because of this, they appear right above the Salamander battalion, without being noticed.

'Leafa, I don't know if we'll get to the meeting before the Salamanders do' Karen says.

'Yeah, I know, even if we could warn them, there are two possible outcomes: We'll either barely get them out or..we'll perish in battle…' Leafa trailed off as she thought about having to restart at Sylvain again.

'Everyone, I can detect a force of 70 players directly ahead of us. It's most likely the Salamander battalion. I can detect 14 more players further on, most likely the diplomats. The Salamanders will make contact in one minute!' Yui says with mixed tones.

'We're not going to make it..Kirito-kun, everyone, thank you. I want you all to work with the Salamanders; you all haven't done anything to interfere with their plans. They'd still be willing to hire you all as mercenaries' Leafa says with a bitter undertone as she spoke of the Salamanders.

'Running away is not my thing Leafa.' Kazuto tells the Sylph in a slightly angry tone.

The diplomats notice the incoming Salamander battalion and quickly stand up from their table.

'Why are the Salamanders here?!' A Sylph royal guard asks in disbelief and shock.

'Salamanders! Begin the-' The major: Yamakage tries to say before a sudden collision is seen in the ground in front of the Cait Sith and Sylph, sending up a lot of dust in the air, distracting Yamakage from commencing his order.

The collision surprises the Cait Sith leader: Alicia Rue, the Sylph Leader: Sakuya, and Yamakage, and when the smoke clears, a single Spriggan player is seen.

'Kazuto, you are such a giant fool!' Ulrich and Karen both shout in the minds.

'Everyone! Put away your weapons now!' Kazuto shouts to the Salamander attack battalion.

'Who is that?' A Salamander soldier asks.

'That appearance seems..familiar..But who is he..?' Yamakage's eyes narrowed at the black clad figure with a gigantic black sword… something very familiar was there from his clothes all the way to how he carried himself.

Leafa and the rest of Ulrich's friends touch down on the meeting ground and do their best to protect the diplomats, with Ulrich stepping forward to join up with Kazuto.

'I want to talk to your commanding officers!' Kazuto shouts.

The commanding officers of the Salamander battalion: General Eugene and Major Yamakage fly in front of the battalion and are confronted by Kazuto and Ulrich.

'My name is Kirito; I'm an ambassador for the Spriggan-Undine alliance, here to forge an alliance between the Cait Sith and the Sylph! If you dare attack this meeting, you will be met with the full force of all four races!' Kazuto shouted out to the two commanders.

Everyone on the meeting ground except Karen, Sylvia, and Ulrich are shocked by this, as they know the truth of Kazuto.

'Kirito?! Kazuto Kirigaya..so you came to Alfheim Online to save us. I just wish..we met under different circumstances my friend..I have to cast away my shell of Masaru when I'm with the Salamanders, I cannot abandon my mission of helping them here..not even for you..hmm..not just anyone would stand with Kazuto..who are those six who arrived with him, I see an Imp, two Sylphs, a Cait Sith, an Undine, and a Puca..' Yamakage thinks to himself.

'An Undine-Spriggan Alliance? You claim to be their ambassador and not bring any guards.' Eugene called back mockingly.

'Correction, I have guards, plenty of them too.' Kazuto replies confidently.

Karen, Sylvia, Ulrich, and Izanagi get the signal and fly towards Kirito.

'See, my royal guard compromises of my friends among the Puca, Imp, Undine, and the Sylph. Putting that aside, I was sent here to negotiate an alliance with the Sylph and Cait Sith. If you dare disrupt this meeting, your Salamander faction will suffer for it. The Sylph, Cait Sith, Spriggan, and Undine will ally against the Salamanders, and don't forget small factions of the Puca and Imps who will want vengeance!'

'Do you honestly believe we trust you Kirito, you are no diplomat for the Spriggan, your equipment is shoddy, diplomats would not wear such beginner equipment.' Yamakage says mockingly while keeping his cover.

'Hold your tongue Major, let's test this Spriggan's strength.' General Eugene says while withdrawing his blade: the Demonic Sword Gram. 'If you can survive in battle against me for 30 seconds, I will believe you're the Spriggan ambassador.' Eugene says conceitedly.

'General, let me fight this Spriggan, I don't want you wasting your strength on this beginner.' Yamakage tried to negotiate with him.

'That is not needed; I will be your opponent Yamakage! I am Kirito's second, if you want to fight him; you have to fight me first!' Ulrich barked out at Yamakage.

'That voice..Ulrich?!..hehehe..I've been dying to face you at full strength for months now. Now I have my chance.' Yamakage smirked to himself.

'Very well, I will face your second Kirito.' Yamakage says with pride.

'Let's make distance so our battles will not overlap.' Eugene says wanting to make things a little fair for the combatants.

The combatants spread out to create two different battlefields with Eugene and Kazuto facing each other, and Ulrich and Yamakage fighting each other.

Yamakage uses a very strong sword & shield formation while Ulrich is using his katana: Liberator.

With the preparation Ulrich and Yamakage made for each other, they were twenty meters apart, which Yamakage quickly breaks when he charges at Ulrich with his sword & shield, drawn.

'Prepare to be defeated!' Yamakage shouts as he performs the charge.

Yamakage reaches Ulrich's location in under ten seconds with a stance that emits extra aggression and at the same time… uncertainty. Yamakage begins to slash at Ulrich but he quickly dodges it because of his enhanced speed and agility as a Sylph. Ulrich takes the opportunity to slash Yamakage's exposed back which succeeds, which leaves a bright red gash of pixels roughly three inches thick.

'Gah..you'll pay for that Sylph!' Yamakage spat out in anger, but in secret, he thinks to himself 'I'm impressed Ulrich, you seem to really have the determination to win this battle for Kazuto's sake. But how long can you keep that up since you don't have a pain absorber..hehe'

Yamakage again tries to slash Ulrich but barely succeeds in leaving only a light slash on his arm because of Ulrich's extraordinary agility, which does not seem to faze him in the slightest.

'I don't understand! Ulrich should've been in pain when I slashed his arm. Maybe the transfer from Sword Art Online to Alfheim Online installed a pain absorber. I do remember that Ulrich was made part of Cardinal's code when Kazuto tried to place Ulrich in his NerveGear.' Yamakage thought to himself.

Because of this agility, it's becoming increasingly difficult for Yamakage to keep up because Ulrich is wearing light clothing compared to Yamakage's heavy armor. With Yamakage becoming desperate, he decides to take a different approach to get some sort of advantage over Ulrich, he quickly switches his sword & shield for a 2-handed sword.

They clash with their blades once again and Yamakage whispers to Ulrich

'Ulrich, you wouldn't want to hurt one of your brothers… right?' Yamakage says in an innocent tone.

Like.:. Fun run 3d. 44.7% (1049 votes).

'What..What are you talking about? …Wait that voice..Katsuo?!' Ulrich exclaims in shock.

Yamakage's face develops an evil grin and uses this opportunity to inflict a series of blows against Ulrich in his moment of confusion. Because of the fact Ulrich was caught off guard, he is sent flying into a nearby mountainside because of the immense force of his massive sword. Yamakage turns his back to Ulrich presuming he won, which he takes advantage of. He uses a combination of his flight and his sprint skill to rapidly charge towards Yamakage and succeeds in slicing him in half much to his utter shock.

'You fought well, Katsuo, my friend, but I am the victor.' Ulrich whispers to the Salamander.

'You fight with strong determination Ulrich. I am glad to have fought with you at full strength' Katsuo replied before becoming a Remain Light.

Ulrich grabs Katsuo's remain light and brings it to the meeting ground, where the leader of the Sylph faction: Sakuya, revive Eugene and Yamakage after they were slain, with them both possessing frowns on their faces over their defeats.

'You two are excellent fighters, the best I've ever seen in this game.' Eugene nodding to the pair out of respect.

'I agree with General Eugene, I have never been defeated before now.' Katsuo echoed with equal respect.

'I had no idea the Spriggans and Sylph had warriors as strong as you among their ranks. This truly is a big world.' Eugene says proudly.

'Will you believe I'm an ambassador then?' Kazuto asks.

'I suppose I have no choice, considering the evidence. Neither I nor my leader wish to fight the Undine and Spriggans. We will withdraw, but I want to fight you again someday, Kirito.' Eugene says proudly.

'I'd like that, very much' Kazuto says proudly.

'Well then, let us go' Eugene says.

'General Eugene, I have a request' Katsuo says.

'What is it Major Yamakage?' Eugene asks.

'I..I wish to accompany these people, I made a deal with the Sylph: Aio, that if I lost, I would accompany him and his friends that moment onward until I am dismissed. I do not want to have to break my word' Katsuo says, clearly lying, but because Eugene was away from his battle with Ulrich when it started, he doesn't know that. However, Ulrich is doing his best to hide the shock of that statement.

'Hm..very well, I will dismiss you from the Salamander nation, and I will make an exception in your case, so you will not be treated as a renegade' Eugene says, out of respect from Katsuo's service record in the Salamanders.

'Thank you General Eugene, I am grateful that you would do this for me. Glory to Lord Mortimer.' Katsuo says with a tear in his eye, and with a salute in the last sentence.

'Glory to Lord Mortimer.' Eugene exchanges a salute with Yamakage.

The Salamander battalion depart the area with no further trouble, much to everyone's surprise. There are a few glares directed Katsuo, as he's one of the most prominent leaders of the Salamander faction. Katsuo does feel the pressure of the stares being directed at him but does his best to keep a straight face.

'Major Yamakage, why did you want to withdraw from the Salamanders? You're one of the best leaders they have' Sakuya asks, obviously curious at the seemingly sudden decision of the Major.

'I withdrew because I lost the fight against Aio, so I have to accompany him because of his victory.' Katsuo says.

'You're an awful liar Yamakage, tell us the real reason' Karen smirks at the look on the Salamander's face.

'Hmm..Aio, Puca, Imp, I want to talk to you three alone.' Katsuo mutters to the three said players.

'Lady Sakuya, would you mind if we departed for a short time? We have a private discussion we need to have.' Ulrich requests as politely as he can.

'Certainly, go on ahead, we have matters of our own to discuss. Leafa, I want you and your friends among the Cait Sith, Undine, and Spriggan to attend this conversation.' Sakuya says.

'Understood' Ulrich and Leafa say, with the groups splitting in two for their different conversations.

Ulrich, Karen, Sylvia, and Katsuo fly to the sky around fifty meters away from the meeting grounds when the conversation between this group begins.

'Yamakage, why did you call us here?' Karen asks.

'I called you all to reveal the truth. My game name here is Yamakage, my previous game name was Masaru, and my real name is Katsuo Viperia. I would appreciate it if you would call me Yami as long as we use these names' Katsuo says.

'Katsuo, so you're Major Yamakage, one of the strongest leaders among the Salamanders.' Karen says.

'Since I made my introductions, could you do the same?' Katsuo asks in a military style request.

'My game name is Ashikaga, real name, Karen Koizumi, call me Ash.'

'My ingame name is Ulkaios; just call me Aio, like usual.' Ulrich says.

'My name's Minatoya, nickname: Mina, my real name is Sylvia Miyagawa' Sylvia says.

'Karen, Sylvia, Ulrich, I am really glad I got to see you all again, I was using my resources in the Salamanders to try finding you all. But I never did imagine we'd meet as enemies on the battlefield. I was surprised when I heard Kazuto and Ulrich among the Sylph and Cait Sith. It's why I requested permission to leave the Salamanders without being branded a renegade, so I could accompany you like before.' Katsuo explains.

'Well Katsuo, I am glad we found you and brought you back into the fold, we just need to find Kana and Asuna, then we'll work together to clear the World Tree.' Karen smiled.

'No, we just need to find Asuna, I used my intelligence as best as I could to find Aincrad players, Kana actually set up shop in Aarun, she's playing as a Leprechaun character named Krisaga, I was going to go visit her when we Salamanders went to clear the World Tree.'

'I see, now that we're reacquainted, let's return to Sakuya and the others.' Ulrich says.

'Right' Sylvia says, with everyone else making various sounds of agreement.

Katsuo and the others return to Sakuya at the meeting ground, with good news: the Cait Sith and Sylph have allied to clear the World Tree, and will make preparations for it right away, however, Sakuya and Alicia are being rather troublesome in an unusual way.

'Hey Kirito, were you being honest about being an ambassador for the Spriggan-Undine alliance…?' Alicia openly flirts with the Spriggan, with several looks of indignation from the others.

'Oh, that was all a big lie; a bluff, a con, negotiation.' Kazuto says with far too much pride, which makes nearly everyone that knows him for real sigh in disappointment.

'You're insane, I cannot believe you thought that up on the spur of the moment.' Sakuya says, shaking her head in disappointment.

'Hey, if I have a bad hand, I'm going to raise the pot.' Kazuto explained, in his normal 'far-too-much-pride' way.

'You know, for a liar, you're very strong. Are you a secret weapon for the Spriggan faction?' Alicia asks while grabbing onto Kirito's left side.

'Not really, I'm a wandering mercenary, same with my companions.' Kazuto says calmly.

Alicia laughs and clings onto Kazuto's left arm, pressing the entire length of her body against his arm, creepiness slowly itching up is spine.

'You know; if you and your friends are wandering mercenaries, why not work with my Cait Sith faction? The benefits are: Three meals a day, plus snacks and rest whenever you wish.' Alicia fluttered her eyes at him, blatantly flirting with him, being half-serious when speaking of the others.

This finally got a reaction of shock from Leafa, along with Karen and the rest of Kirito's friends. Meanwhile, Sakuya is quickly approaching Kirito's right side.

'Kirito right? How about you join me for a drink after this in Sylvein? I'd like to get to know you a little better.' Sakuya pressed herself into his arm.

'Wait..' Leafa called out, beginning to return to her senses.

'You're not being fair Sakuya! You shouldn't try to seduce him!' Alicia says angrily towards Sakuya.

'Quit being hypocritical Alicia, you're the one clinging to him like a lost puppy.' Sakuya retorts straight back at the Cait Sith leader.

'I am not a puppy! I'm a cat!' Alicia says very angrily now, after being compared to a dog.

Kazuto draws a breath to interrupt before just sighing, caught between two sides of an argument was definitely not fun. He felt a tug at his back.

'Stop it both of you! Kirito-kun is my-..my..' Leafa trails off from the expectant looks from two race leaders. Leafa is blushing heavily around now 'He's my..' Leafa lets go of Kazuto out of embarrassment.

'Look..I appreciate your offers, I'm sorry, but I'm going to the World Tree with Aio and the others.' Kazuto says, feeling a little bad for shooting down both Sakuya and Alicia.

'Sakuya, Alicia, this alliance was to defeat the grand quest of venturing up the World Tree right?' Leafa asks, regaining her composure.

'Eventually, yeah' Sakuya replied.

'When you do this, let us come with your armies, as soon as they can be assembled!' Leafa says.

Sakuya and Alicia exchange a quick glance, contemplating Leafa's decision

'I have no problem with that, we'd be thankful actually, having such a diverse group of strong warriors and strategists will be very helpful to our cause but why are you in a hurry Leafa?' Sakuya asks.

There's silence between everyone before Kazuto speaks out saying.

'I came to Alfheim Online to get to the top of that tree. I need to meet someone who may be there.' Kirito says, clenching his fist as he remembered the picture of Asuna, trapped in that bird cage.

'Are you speaking of..The Fairy King Oberon?' Sakuya asks, frowning slightly.

'No… at least, I don't think so.. It's someone I can't get to in the real world, but I need to see this person' Kazuto says sadly.

'The thing is, it'll take time to prepare our armies' equipment, it would take weeks ordinarily. Not one or two days.' Alicia says, feeling bad for Kazuto.

'I know..Haste makes waste. For now, I merely wish to reach the tree's base; we can work out the rest then.'

Kazuto then thinks of something and opens his inventory screen and spawns a bag holding something.

'Do you think you can use this to bolster your war funds?' Kazuto walks forward with the bag easily held in one hand.

He passes the bag to Alicia who quickly falls to the ground from its immense weight suddenly being forced on her. When she looks inside…

'Sakuya! Take a look at this!' Alicia says in shock.

'This has to be close to 100,000 Yuld!' Sakuya exclaims in shock before turning to Kirito with a serious expression on her face. 'Kirito, are you sure about this? With this much money, you could build your very own castle on prime land.'

'Sakuya, Alicia, how much Yuld do you need to mobilize your army with ancient class equipment?' Katsuo asks.

'If we want to deploy a large force we need..around 400,000 more Yuld, we'd divide it half and half for us all.' Sakuya says.

'I see…' Katsuo says.

He them opens his inventory and spawns a bag of his own, presumably with even more Yuld for the war fund. He motions for the Sylph royal guard to approach him to grab the bag. Three of the members of the royal guard hurry towards him and grab the bag, but even they struggle somewhat to hold the bag, but somehow bring it to Sakuya. When she opens the bag, she is heavily shocked by the contents.

'How much Yuld is in this bag?!' Sakuya exclaims in shock.

'There's 500,000 Yuld there, use it to prepare your army to take on the World Tree' Katsuo replied.

'Woah! I never knew there were Salamanders this friendly and most of all, generous. Since you left them, how would you feel about transferring to my faction?' Alicia asks in her flirtatious tone and lecherous expression on her face once again.

'As much as I would love being around a race of cat people, I am still loyal to the Salamanders, I will never betray them to join the Cait Sith' Katsuo says seriously, but humorously at the start.

'If that's the case, why did you not use this money to bolster the Salamander army?' Sakuya asks out of curiousity.

Author Notes:

(Cliffhangers for the win, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for the rest of this.)

This article relates the original Sword Skills in Sword Art Online VRMMORPG, which were later carried forward and implemented in ALfheim Online and Underworld.

Sword Skills (剣技 sōdo sukiru) are a complex combat move system introduced in Sword Art Online. All Skills are written in Latin letters in-game and, excepting Katana and several Martial Arts skills, named in English. Contrary to the name, works on all weapons, like warhammers, spears and even bare fists.

In the ALO patch that introduced Sword Skills, they had been tweaked to include elemental damage and allow players to create and share their own skills. Rumors circulated that talked about a dozen or so skills being removed in the process.

The Seed game creation kit does not have Sword Skills, so the way Underworld has adopted it is a mystery as of February 2020. Underworld Skills are called Secret Art Finishing Moves, and the main difference with them is that the combo numbers depend on the weapon's Priority class.

A Sword Skill is activated by assuming a pre-set weapon stance, which is called Pre-Motion (予備動作 puremōshon, lit. preparation motion). As the system recognizes the pre-motion, it lights up the weapon in the Skill hue. Then the player picks the moment to let the system finish the move, which automatically performs a much more powerful attack than a simple weapon swing at a speed that is nearly impossible to reach without it.

After a specific Skill has been performed, it enters a cooldown (冷却 kūringu) period where it cannot be used again, which is indicated on the player's head-up display (HUD) at the bottom. The other Skills are still available during that period.

How many different Sword Skills a player has and their type are based on the player's unlocked Weapon Skills.

In SAO, when Sword Skills of the opponents collided, both had a chance to be mutually negated. This is no longer the case in Underworld.

One-handed Sword

Other Weapons

• One-handed Curved Sword
• One-handed Axe
• Two-handed Battle Axe
• Two-handed Sword
• Rapier
• Dagger
• Martial Arts (Extra Skill)
• Blade Throwing
• Claws
• Katana (Extra Skill)
• Dual Blades (Unique Skill)
• Holy Sword (Unique Skill)
• Weapon Defense
• Two-handed Long Bow(ALO)
• Composite Skills that use the weapon and the player's body

• Aincrad Style: Kirito's usual style turned one-handed sword school.
• Zakkarite Style
• Serlut Style
• Norlangarth Style (Norkia Style)
• High Norlangarth Style (High Norkia Style)
• Balto Style

• Sword Skills - Fan Wiki