Helheim's invasion 〜Confrontation〜

Because of the catastrophic damage in ALO, the fairies have a council of war.

While they face the army of Helheim, Kirito feels a sense of discomfort and decides to do something ——

## Previous Episode

Makoto is a police officer who is a friend of Kazuto and Suguha from childhood.

Suguha talks Makoto into playing in ALO, then Makoto ends up settling in Helheim, the land of dead, and involuntarily leads an army to the Fairyland.

She was fighting an inner struggle that she was being in the opposite situation as when she was in the real world, however, she started feeling different as she mingles with other demons and enjoyed her new role destorying areas in ALO.

## Event Period

9/18/2018(Tue) 06:00 ~ 9/26/2018(Wed) 05:59 (UTC)

## Tips

* In Part 2, the Break-in Bosses perform ultra powerful Acceleration Skill. See what will happen if you strike them back with Acceleration Skill!

* Break-in Bosses are dark-elem. but Holy-elem. characters can hardly deliver damage to them and don't get much damaged by the Break-in Bosses. There's no elemental trick, you just have to use your multi-play skills.

* Break-in Bosses can bring back the area boss you defeated from Helheim, the land of dead. Defeat the area boss swiftly then move on to the Break-in Boss!

* When you have a new character from Gales & Arrows -Transcending Time, you get to open one extra treasure box (Character Bonus). Try the powerful ★6 character Acceleration Skill and earn other bonuses too.

## Story

**Story 1**

Asuna: Are you okay, Rai-- Er, Nijika?
Nijika: Ha ha... Honestly, I'm a little bummed about dealing with the death penalty. But, hey, these things happen sometimes, right? It's been some time since I was last killed...
Nanairo: Ugh, it's just like you to take these things lying down! Well, I'm not having it! Sphica and Feliz are furious too! We're not going to rest until we've had our revenge!
Agil: How are you going to do that when you guys can't dive for a while?
Nanairo: Ulp...!
Kazuto: ...I couldn't believe that players killed by the demon army have to wait several days before reviving.
Suguha: I know, but here we are...
Kazuto: Figures that once again didn't see fir to tell us about this change...
Asuna: "ALO us currently undergoing a technical evaluation. As such, stability may be compromised". Well, that's something at least. Maybe this lastest event took even by surprise...
Kazuto: True. I guess that explains why more people aren't upset with them about this.
Rika: Hey! Sorry I'm late!
Keiko: Hi there, Liz.
Rika: Ugh, real life can be such a pain. I can't wait till we can fast-travel instead of taking the bus.
Kazuto: So your account was suspended for a few days too, Liz?
Rika: Yup. It's okay, though. My schoolwork's keeping me plenty occupied. A few days without diving into a VRMMO isn't gonna make a dent in MY schedule.
Keiko: Ha ha... That just sounds like sour grapes...
Kazuto: Sinon, Klein, and Philia said they couldn't make it today, so I guess this is everyone. Could you all put on your Augmas? I want to let Yui and Strea join us too.
Asuna: Okay.
...
Strea: Hiya!
Yui: Hello, everyone. Sphica's avatar has resurrected, but as we thought, she still won't be able to fight for a while.
Kazuto: I see... The demon army disappeared pretty suddenly after destroying Leprechaun territory. They must have returned through that same black void we saw them use before.
Agil: That little trick of appearing and disappearing suddenly is a real problem for us.
Kazuto: And that's not all. Based on everything we've seen, they have some really though fighters too. The two-handed swordsman who defeated Rain... The two who transformed into giant monsters...
Rika: And the little demon about Yui's size who took me out. She started out no bigger than a pixie, but then she turned into an avatar of about ten-years old.
Asuna: That does sound just like Yui. How did she fight? Did she use magic like most small avatars?
Rika: I thought she would at first, but that turned out to be a huge mistake... She looked all cute with her little staff, but she was actually a total brawn-over-brains type.
Keiko: So, she was kind of like the demon bersion of a pixie?
Suguha: Was there anything else you all noticed during your battles?
Nijika: Well... I think that the girl I faced was probably a player...
Kazuto: A player? Come to think of it, you said something about that too, didn't you, Agil?
Agil: Oh yeah, the girl with the dark skin and bat wings.
Strea: She WAS pretty tough... And she definitely sounded more like a player than an NPC.
Kazuto: ...

**Story 2**

Rika: Maybe it's some kind of random bonus for first-time divers?
Suguha: Or an existing player found a rare event and used it to change races?
Keiko: If that were the case, you just know they'd be talking it up on social media!
Kazuto: That's true...
Nanairo: I'll try doing a search for anything like that. Help me out, sis.
Nijika: Alright.
Yui: Oh, we can handle that. It's our specialty, after all. Come on, Strea.
Strea: You got it, big sis.
Agil: Back to the demons... It's not just that they're tough. They know how to analyze a battle too. When we used our ballistae on them, they knew to go after that team and take them out first.
Kazuto: I wonder if a player did that too... It IS possible to command NPC armies like in an RTS here.
Asuna: So, rather than focusing on beating their leaders, maybe we should gather more forces of our own? Actually... now that I think of it, it might be crucial that we do that as soon as possible.
Kazuto: Yeah... This is a full-blown war now. We need more than just a few powerful allies helping us.
Agil: The first "M" in VRMMO does stand for "massive," after all.
Suguha: Hang on, though. The other races in ALO are still fighting each other, right? It's gonna be way harder to gather allies across race lines that it is from the same race alone.
Rika: Good point. The Salamanders were even raging online about how they were gonna beat the demons first.
Keiko: So Klein aside, I guess we won't be able to count on any of them for help...
Kazuto: I think it's worth trying an ALO-wide summon anyway. We can't afford to be divided right now.
Yui: Mommy, Daddy... I'm afraid we couldn't find anything about a player using a demon avatar.
Strea: There were a few obvious lies and jokes about playing as one, but pretty much nothing credible.
Kazuto: I see...
Yui: There is one thing we noticed, though...
...
Seiko: Ugh... I'm exhausted... I guess I HAVE been involved in an awful lot of warfare lately... And here I thought that games were supposed to be light fun. I had no idea they could be so much work... Still... I have to admit there's also something surprisingly... fulfilling about them. Hm? It's one of my colleagues from Hakodate...
Colleague: Hello?
Seiko: Oh, hey, it's good to hear from you. What's up?
Colleague: Seiko, do you have a moment right now? Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly!
Seiko: Oh, sure, no problem... What's this all about?
Colleague: Remember how you helped out with that inquiry for the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare?
Seiko: Oh, yeah... I did a deposition about households suspected of neglecting their children.
Colleague: Do you also remember Haru Kiyono? One of the teens from one of the households we investigated?
Seiko: Haru Kinoyo... Yeah, I remember her... She was still in elementary school back then, right? As I recall, one of her neighbors informed us that her parents had a tendency to neglect her. But it wasn't very serious, so we decided to just keep an eye on them... Why, what happened?!
Colleague: Oh, no, they stopped neglecting her after that, so that's okay. But now there's another problem. Can you tell me everything you know about Haru?
Seiko: Huh?

**Story 3**

Kazuto: Hi Sugu. Ready to go home?
Suguha: Hey Kazuto! Yup, all set!
Kazuto: Your kendo practice sure runs late, huh. I'm sorry I can only pick you up when I leave early.
Suguha: Don't worry about it! I'm just glad you're here!
???: Well now, if it isn't my favorite pair of siblings.
Suguha: Sei!
Seiko: Taking Sugu home, Kazu? That's great. It can be dangerous for a girl to walk alone at night. You're such a good big brother.
Kazuto: It's really not that bad nowadays. Even this town's gotten in on the "security cameras everywhere" act.
Seiko: Yep. And police like me are doing our best to ensure our security infrastructure is up to snuff.
Kazuto: Although... it's also true that most security cameras there days are part of a network. If you hacked into that network, you could get away with all sorts of awful stuff...
Seiko: Oh gosh, that's a good point! You really do keep on top of this stuff, don't you, Kazu? ...
Suguha: Sei?
Seiko: Hey, Kazu. Speaking hypothetically... What if someone were to hack into the security camera network... But not do anything worse than watch people?
Kazuto: Hm? Well, hacking a security network like that is already a crime in itself... Why do you ask?
Seiko: Oh, uh... Sorry, I can't say any more than that. It's classified...
Kazuto: Hmm... Well, putting the legality aspect aside, I guess it would depend on the reason. If someone WERE to do that, what's the first thing you'd think they were after?
Suguha: Probably peeping or stalking?
Seiko: Hmm... I don't think it's anything like that. I think they just want to fell... connected to the world.
Suguha: What are you talking about, Sei?
Kazuto: Come one, Sugu, think. Seiko must be dealing with a case that she can't go public with yet.
Suguha: Oh, yeah... Sorry about that.
Seiko: Ha ha... Not at all. I'm sorry for being so vague about it... Besides, I'm not a detective. And this isn't even a case I'm directly involved in. It's just, a girl I used to know is, uh... Well, she's good at computers, and I heard she might be doing that kind of hacking.
Kazuto: I see...
Seiko: Sorry, just forget I said anything. I'd better get back to my patrol anyway...
...
Suguha: ...
Kazuto: Now I see what's going on.
Suguha: Oh really? Care to enlighten the rest of us with your brilliant deduction, Sherlock?
Kazuto: Ha ha, it's elementary if you just stop to think about it, Watson.
Suguha: If we're really doing this, I'd rather be Hercule Poirot, from the Agatha Christie novels.
Kazuto: Noted. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that the person Seiko is looking into... is someone who broke into the security camera network to peer outside. Basically, a shut-in. But they probably don't mean any harm. They just can't accept that they've become a shut-in... So they use the cameras to see what the outside world is like, to try and forge a connection with it.
Suguha: That may be true, but honestly... Even if it's illegal, I'm just impressed they're able to hack into the camera network at all.
Kazuto: Well, if they're young and spend all day on their computer, they've probably learned a thing or two. If I felt like it, I could just as easily... Uh, never mind.
Suguha: Kazuto! You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking!
Kazuto: I'm not, I promise! N-Now come on, let's get out of here.
Suguha: Okay... Still, is it just me, or did Sei look a lot more down than the last time we saw her?
Kazuto: She did, didn't she...?
Suguha: Maybe it's just the case she was talking about. She did say that she hasn't been able to try ALO yet, right?
Kazuto: Yeah...

**Story 4**

Kirito: Really? What did they say?
Yui: Apparently, this event is called "Helheim's Invasion". The premise is that the demons who live there have decided to take revenge on the fairies in Alfheim.
Strea: And the most surprising part is that this is a player-made quest!
Asuna: A player-made quest... Oh, like the safari park Yuuki made that one time!
Yuuki: Yup. It sounds like player-made quests are a pretty big deal in Asuka Empire right now.
Sinon: But why would they only annouce this now, after Arun and the other territories have already fallen?
Strea: Oh, they said the event was set to be super difficult, so they'll be adjusting it as they go.
Silica: Maybe they were slow to respond since they weren't the ones who created it?
Leafa: Maybe that also explains what's going on with this typo.
Kirito: What typo?
Sinon: Yui called it "Helheim's Invasion", but it actually says "Halheim's Invasion". See the logo? And since Helheim means "Hel's Domain", with this misspelling, it'd be "Hal's Domain". Sheesh!
Leafa: Ha ha, sounds like someone needs to study up on their Norse mythology.
Kirito: ...

**Story 5**

Kobol: Yeah!
Skull: Wow, Makoto, look at you! You're all fired up!
Makoto: I'm excited! We've destroyed three fairy territories, but we still have our work cut out for us!
Thokk: Hehehe. You've come a long way, Makoto. You're an all-new demon compared to when ya started. You've really taken this whole evil thing to heart... I love it!
Makoto: Come on, you don't have to put it like that.
Thokk: So why the change of heart, anyway?
Makoto: I don't know... It's just, in reality, you always have to do the right thing, y'know? Which is fine. But here in VR, I've started thinking it's okay to be someone completely different. After all, there's a lot of hardships in the real world. But here, I can totally let loose!
Thokk: Nahaha, now I getcha. But ya know, I still can't get over how a straitlaced police officer... is goin' around killin' fairies left and right as the commander of the demon army. What a twist! If your real-life friends ever found out, it'd make their heads spin!
Makoto: I'd never tell anyone I knew in real life about this! Still... Taking this whole evil thing to heart, huh... Hehe, why not? Now that I've come this far, I may as well go all the way. I could even become the demon queen!
Grimm: Demon queen? You want to rule over Helheim, Makoto?
Makoto: O-Oh, uh... I was just speaking metaphorically.
Grimm: If you have your sights set on Helheim, you'll have to defeat Lady Hel first.
Makoto: Lady Hel?
Grimm: All manner of fearsome dead warriors gather in Helheim. Anyone can fight their way to the top.
Makoto: So, in other words... it's okay for any of Helheim's denizens to try and overthrow their ruler?
Thokk: Pretty much. So, you gonna challenge Hel for the throne?
Makoto: Gosh, I don't know... If she's the ruler of Helheim, she must be awfully strong, right?
Thokk: She's tough, sure, but she's also just an enemy NPC who's been designed to be defeatable. I doubt she's as tough as that Leprechaun called Rain you defeated the other day.
Makoto: I-Is that so...? Ha ha, okay then. If I'm going to go full evil, I'm going to have to cross this bridge sooner or later! I'm going to do what Isami Kondo did to Kamo Serizawa and exact justice on our current leader!
Thokk: Heh heh heh... Fine with me. It'll make things even easier.
Makoto: Huh? Did you say something, Thokk?
Thokk: Oh, uh, nope, not a thing. Now come on, let's go show Hel who the real boss of Helheim is!

**Story 6**

Makoto: Aah! What's her deal?!
Thokk: Gahaha! I guess Hel's not choosy when it comes to romance.
Grimm: Makoto beat Lady Hel! From now on, Makoto is the ruler of Helheim!
Skull: Whoa! You're amazing, Makoto!
Kobol: Ms. Makoto... I'm so happy for you!
Makoto: Thanks, everyone...
Hel: Now that I've lost, I too shall follow the law of this land and obey our new ruler, Makoto.
Thokk: Alright, Makoto, you're officially the leader now. Why not say a few words?
Makoto: M-Me? W-Well, uh... Okay, everyone! It's time to begin our next invasion! Soon, the living world will run red with the blood of our atrocities! Death to the fairies!
Demons: Yeaaah!
Thokk: Heh heh heh, lookin' good out there, Makoto. Next up is the Spriggans. Let's get a move on!
Makoto: Okay!
...
Kirito: Philia...
Philia: Come on, Kirito, buck up. You're making me nervous.
Kirito: Hey, you saw our detection skills picking up the largest demon army to date too, right?
Philia: Yeah, I know... So, how's our backup situation looking? Probably not so hot... right?
Kirito: I'm afraid so...

**Story 7**

Asuna: Kirito! Yui!
Leafa: Hey there, Philia!
Kirito: Thanks, guys! This will be a big help!
Sinon: Eh. it's still just our usual crowd.
Silica: I'm afraid so. We tried asking other Cait Siths for help, but they all refused...
Strea: Same here. The Gnomes I talked to said they want to take a break from fighting after their defeat.
Klein: And the Salamanders just laughed and said "Let 'em come to Salamander territory!
Agil: I guess it's just not possible for a place built on racial conflict like ALO to come together.
Asuna: Oh, but we did find someone to join us.
Rechka: Hey there, Asuna's husband. Long time no see. How ya been?
Kirito: Rechka!
Rechka: Sorry for the absence. My real-life store's been kinda busy lately.
Kirito: Don't worry about it. I'm glad to hear business is going so well.
Rechka: Ha ha, I hope you'll stop by yourself sometime.
Kirito: You can count on it.
Klein: A fellow Salamander, eh... Hehe, why don't we take this opportunity to get to know each--
Asuna: Klein! Rechka's... Uh... Well...
Rechka: Hm? Oh, I see. If you wanna hit on me, go ahead. Just know I already got a husband up in heaven.
Klein: S-So, you're a widow...! I had no idea... Of course, as a man among men, it would be unseemly of me to NOT help a grieving woman heal...
Sinon: Ugh... I can't even bother to snark at this point.
Kirito: A-Anyway, I'm glad you're all here.
Asuna: Now we just need to wait for the Sleeping Knights. Although, they should have been here by now...
Kirito: If they don't get here in time, we'll just have to start without them. This isn't going to be easy... But I'm counting on all of you to help protect Spriggan territory!
Asuna: We'll do our best!
...
Makoto: Alright, everyone! There it is! You can see Spriggan territory from here!
Skull: Yeah! Come on, everyone! Let's go tear those fairies limb from limb!
Grimm: Hehe, another day of blood and death! I can't wait!
Kobold: I'll do my best not to get killed today!
Hel: Ooh, this is so exciting... I think I prefer following Makoto to being in charge myself!
Thokk: Hm? Well, well... My detection skill is pickin' somethin' up.
Makoto: Huh? I didn't know you could use detection, Thokk. I mean, you're a non-combatant navigation gremlin, right?
Thokk: Oh yeah, I guess I never showed ya this form, did I? \*munch munch\*
Makoto: Huh? You can eat those strawberries?
...
Makoto: Whoa! What did you do?!
Thokk: This is my other form. It's how I fought the Leprechauns the other day.
Makoto: I see... Wait, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?! This is a big deal!
Thokk: Gahaha. You never asked.
Makoto: So, you can fight in that form?
Thokk: Well, more or less...
Makoto: Ugh, I really wish you'd told me that a lot sooner... I thought you were useless in battle.
Thokk: Heh heh, you gotta play your best cards close to your chest, am I right?
Makoto: I guess... So, you can navigate, give orders, fight, detect... It's like there's nothing you CAN'T do.
Thokk: Please, you're too kind.
Makoto: That wasn't a compliment. You've been taking way too long to tell me all these things... By the way, eating strawberry to grow bigger comes from an old game where you'd eat mushrooms... I wasn't asking, but thanks, I guess. You must really like strawberries, huh?
Thokk: I love 'em! The only bad thing about 'em is that they don't grow near my house!
Makoto: Your house...?
Thokk: Uh... I-I mean Helheim, of course!
Makoto: I see... Anyway, what did your detection skill pick up?
Thokk: Oh, yeah. There're some fairies hidin' out in those bushes over there.
Makoto: Right over there, eh...? Come on out! We know you're in there!
???: Damn. I knew they'd spot us...
Makoto: Who are you?
Yuuki: We're the Sleeping Knights.

**Story 8**

Yuuki: Oh, you haven't heard of us?
Siune: And here I thought we were a pretty well-known guild in ALO...
Tecchi: Anyway, what do we do now? They've already spotted us.
Jun: This is all Talken's fault. He was our navigator, right? He's why we ended up taking the long way around to Spriggan territory!
Talken: H-Hey, there was nothing wrong with my route. Yuuki's the one who got us off track!
Yuuki: Ha ha... Sorry about that. I saw a rare monster and couldn't help myself...
Nori: Never mind that now! We need to figure a way out of this mess! Sleeping Knights or not, there's no way we can take on this entire army...
Siune: Nori's right. We should have snuck by them and rendezvoused with Asuna's team...
Thokk: Makoto, these are some pretty skilled players. Not only that, it sounds like they were on their way to help out the Spriggans.
Makoto: So it seems. In that case, we'll just have to crush them here! The fewer enemies we have, the better!
Thokk: Hmm... Yeah, that's true, but... What to do, what to do...?
Makoto: Thokk?
Thokk: Y'know what? Why don'tcha let me handle this, Makoto? You all keep goin' with the invasion.
Makoto: Huh? What do you mean?
Thokk: Don't worry, I got this covered.
Makoto: In that form? Are you sure? I still don't know how strong you are... Will you really be okay?
Thokk: Aw yeah, I'll be fine. All you gotta worry about is gettin' your army to Spriggan territory. It's okay. Stalling's my specialty.
Makoto: Well, alright...

**Story 9**

Thokk: ...
Talken: Oh, crap, the demon army left for Spriggan territory...
Yuuki: Did you just help us escape...? What's going on?
Thokk: I didn't help ya escape nothin'. I'm gonna stall you here as long as I can.
Jun: Hmph. Without your army, there's no way you can beat the Sleeping Knights all on your own!
Nori: If you think you can take us by yourself, you're sorely mistaken.
Thokk: Hehehe. Believe me, I know what I'm doin'. I can't have my little Makoto goin' up against Zekken, after all.
Yuuki: You know who I am? But didn't you say you don't know us? Oh, wait, that was the swordswoman...
Thokk: Course I know you. You're one of ALO's most famous players.
Siune: ...I thought you were an NPC at first, but you aren't, are you?
Thokk: Huh?!
Yuuki: I think you're right, Siune. I thought she was an NPC with high-level AI like Yui or Strea... But there's something fishy about her... Or should I say, something human.
Thokk: Hehe... I knew I couldn't pull one over on a VRMMO veteran. You're nothin' like Makoto.
Yuuki: ...Who are you?! Why didn't you want me fighting that demon from earlier?!
Thokk: Aside from that black-clad Spriggan when he's serious, you're probably the toughest player in this world. I didn't wanna risk my little Makoto, the strongest demon ever, losin' to you. Not after I've spent all this time and energy training her.
Yuuki: ...What are you talking about?
Thokk: Hehehe... I already said too much. Now, I think you need to die. Time for another strawberry! \*munch munch\* ...
Yuuki: Huh?! What's going on?!
...
Demons: Graaa!
Kirito: Here they come! Let's do this!
Asuna: If we can defeat their boss-class monsters, the rest should scatter without anyone to command them!
Leafa: Bosses first, got it! Now, where could they be...?
Sinon: Leafa, over there! The one with the skulls and the one next to her with the horns! Maybe that's them!
Agil: That's definitely them! Those two devastated Gnome territory!
Strea: They change into giant monsters too, so be careful!
Klein: Hey, there's a little girl swinging an axe around over there!
Kirito: Maybe she's the one who beat Liz? Although she looks different than the one Liz described...
Philia: I think she might be boss-class too, though.
Sinon: Hey... Over there! Isn't that Hel?!
Asuna: Hey, yeah, it is...
Leafa: Maybe she's just taking part in the battle since it's Helheim's army waging war and all?
Kirito: So four boss-class NPCs, huh...? But where's the one we have to be the most careful about...?
Asuna: The girl with the bat wings who beat Rain? Good question...
Silica: ...There she is! At least, I think that's her! She'e fighting on the front lines!
...
Kirito: Huh?!
Rechka: So that's her? The one cutting through the other Spriggans as if they were paper?
Asuna: Yes, she's really though! Her swordplay is incredibly refined and powerful.
Klein: And if that wasn't enough, she's busting up weapons left and right... How is she doing that?
Sinon: Maybe a special ability? Or just the extra strength gained from two-handing her weapon...?
Kirito: Look how she's moving... That's got to be based on real-world experience! Everyone, we'll handle her. Can you all take care of the other four?
Klein: Sure... Wait, who's "we"?
Kirito: Leafa, come with me!
Leafa: Huh? Me?!

**Story 10**

Spriggans: Gaaah!
Makoto: Whew… I’m really liking this technique. Adding magic to the one-handed thrust boosts, its power and lets me cancel into the next move… I guess this is an Original Sword Skill. I wonder what I should call it… I should probably make it sound like something that fits into this fantasy setting… Of course, if it’s going to sound like me, it should also take some influence from the Shinsengumi…. I wonder how Thokk is doing. She said she’d be fine, but I can’t help but worry about her… She was so forceful about it that I couldn’t help but let her have her way, but still…
Spriggan Player: Hey, you! What are you blabbing on about?! We’re not here to watch you monologue!
Makoto: Oops… Well, that was embarrassing. Heh, but no matter. You’ll all soon be dead anyway!
Spriggan Player: E-Eep!
???: ‘’’Hold it!’’’
Makoto: …!
Kirito: You’re gonna have to deal with us first!
Makoto: …I’ve seen you before.
Kirito: Yeah… We first met in Arun. You’ve gotten a whole lot stronger since then, though…
Makoto: Hehe. Sorry you didn’t beat me when you had the chance?
Kirito: Not at all. I love a good challenge. The stronger, the better.
Leafa: She talks so naturally… It sounds like everyone was right.
Kirito: Yup. She must be a player.
Makoto: Hm? Yeah, I’m a player… So what?
Kirito: How did you get that demon avatar?
Makoto: How? It’s what I started the game with. Although… it did feel like Skull and Grimm forced it on me…
Kirito: Skull and Grimm… Those two boss-class NPCs, huh? Are there any other players in the demon army besides you?
Makoto: No…
Leafa: She must have happened to trigger a rare event, then. Odd she didn’t talk about it online, though…
Kirito: Yeah… In which case…

**Story 11**

Makoto: Huh?
Leafa: Kirito?!
Kirito: Even for a rare event, don’t you find it strange that there’s only a single player in the enemy army? And since you didn’t talk about it online, it must mean one of two things. You don’t know the first thing about how to use the internet… or you must have made this quest yourself. You made us think the demons were all NPCs while you give oeders behind the scenes. Am I right?
Makoto: Ha ha, sorry, you were closer with your first theory. I AM a VRMMO beginner, after all…
Kirito: What?!
Makoto: Besides, I didn’t even know it was possible to make your own quests…. Whoops. Thokk warned me about being careless with real-world stuff.
Kirito: Could it be…?
Makoto: Alright, enough chit-chat. Come one, I’ll take you both on at once! **Yaaah!**
Leafa: Whoa, she’s fast…!
…
Kirito: **…Oof!**
Makoto: Wow! Nice reaction time! That was a debana waza, wasn’t it?!
Kirito: Debana waza…?!
Leafa: Kirito!
Kirito: Leafa! Hit her with magic while I keep her pinned down!
Leafa: Got it!
Makoto: I see you’re used to pinning your opponent’s sword down like this too…
Kirito: As are you… You look like you have real-world kendo experience…
Makoto: …!
Leafa: Tear my enemy limb from limb! Ultra Gust!
Makoto: …!
Kirito: …Hiki waza! Another kendo move!
Makoto: …Looks like it’s time to finish this with my OSS…! I still have to get back to the others and fight by their side… It’s my duty as the new ruler of Helheim!

**Story 12**

Kirito: Uh-oh… That’s the technique that took down Rain!
Makoto: **Yaaah!**
Kirito: She’s enchanting her sword in a thrust stance…! The pressure is unbelievable…!
Makoto: **Makoto-style Hiken: Hel Blade…!**
Kirito: **Aaargh!**
Leafa: **Kazutoooo!**
Makoto: …Huh?!
Kirito: **S-Sugu?!**
Leafa: **Aaah!**
Kirito: L-Leafa! Hang in there! Why did you take the attack for me?!
Leafa: H-Hehe… I just fgured that once you saw her move, you’d know how to counter it next time… But… it looks like I won’t get another chance to try and counter it myself…
Kirito: Don’t worry, you’ll be okay! I’ll revive you with Wolrd Tree sap once you’re a remain light!
Makoto: …You can’t. Fairies that are killed by demons can’t turn into remain lights. Once their HP runs out, they’re dead. That’s what Thokk… my navigator… taught me…
Kirito: …I knew it… You’re Seiko, aren’t you?
Makoto: …!
Kirito: …