Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online Light Novel Volume 01

**Aincrad Hallowing** (アインクラッド・遥拝, *Ainkuraddo Yōhai*?) is the first book in the **Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online** spinoff light novel series. It is the first volume in the Floating Castle of Death Arc.

## Summary

The 『Sword Art Online』incident.

In 2022, the great professor, Akihiko Kayaba, has created a breakthrough in the world of VR with his new invention of the «NerveLinker». However, his plan was truly a dark one. Using his power as the game moderator, he proceeded to lock the 10,000 players who had logged into the SAO servers within the game, charging them with the impossible task of clearing all 100 floors of the castle of «Aincrad».

Two years have passed since the death game began and the Clearers have reached the 74th Floor. The season is late autumn with the wheels of fate, which had ground to a near-halt, will finally begin turning.

## Chapters

### Section I: Memories of Evil

#### Prologue

Ayanami Shiratsuyu and Nijika Karatachi are both in Studio One of Onkio Haus Inc. to record a single that will be used for Nijika's debut. As a confidence boost, Ayanami agreed to be the featured co-singer in the piece. After finishing the recording, they both return to the Keio Plaza Hotel where they begin preparing to dive into «Sword Art Online», but not before having a small lunch and cleaning themselves.

Ayanami, known as Shiranami now as that is her in-game name, logs into SAO just as the clock ticks the exact time the servers open. She lands in the Town of Beginnings and meets up with Nijika, known as Rain in-game. They both then scout out for a player named Kirito. Despite Shiranami already knowing the basics of playing a VRMMORPG as she was one of SAO's beta testers, she asked Kirito to teach herself and Rain the basics. He agreed but a player named Klein begged to tag along.

Out in the West Field, both Shiranami and Rain perfectly executed the Sword Skill «Slant» before Kirito could begin coaching them which surprised him. He asked the three players whether or not they had any plans but they answered no. He then declared that they will spend the next four hours grinding in order to level up.

At 1725, the four players collapse from exhaustion, and they all joke about how tiring VR was. Klein then mentions that he has dinner waiting for him and proceeds to attempt to log out but brings to everyone's attention the absence of the log out button. Kirito tries to contact a GM but fails. Seconds later, they are all forcefully teleported to the Town of Beginnings where an apparition that looked similar to a Grim Reaper breaks the news that the missing log out button is, in fact, a game mechanic of «Sword Art Online». He then informs them that death in-game means death in real life and that the only way to escape is to clear the game.

The apparition disappeared but not before leaving a "present" in all the players that erased their custom avatars, replacing it with their real-life appearance. Immediately sensing danger in the form of crazed fans, Shiranami looked over at Kirito who agreed to take them to the next village.

#### Part 1

Actively exploring the 74the Floor Labyrinth as a party, Shiranami absentmindedly forges into the maze by herself, leaving Yuna and Nautilus behind her. After the latter caught up, they scolded her for her absentmindedness.

## List of Illustrations

### Color Illustrations

* Page 3-4: Akihiko Kayaba appears as the Grim Reaper to announce the beginning of the infamous SAO Incident.
	+ No dialogue
* Page 5-6: A shared breakfast table in Asuna and Kirito's honeymoon house with Shiranami and Yui.
	+ Dialogue of 『Mommy, this food is delicious!』(Yui), 『Aren't I the big sister, Nii-sama?』 (Shiranami), 『Uh, let's not go there.』 (Kirito), 『I'm glad it suits your tastes, Yui.』 (Asuna)
* Page 7-8: Kirito versus Heathcliff, their duel following the 75th Floor boss battle.
	+ Dialogue of 『You indeed are strong enough to inherit that unique skill.』 (Heathcliff), 『What about you? You're practically impossible to penetrate.』 (Kirito)

### Chapter Illustrations

#### Memories of Evil

* Page **TBA**: Shiranami and Rain conversing with Kirito in the Town of Beginnings.
* Page **TBA**: Kirito using «Starburst Stream» on «The Gleam Eyes» in the solo raid of the 74th Floor, killing it and clearing the floor.
* Page **TBA**: Kirito confronting Heathcliff in the conference room of the KoB headquarters as Shiranami, Nautilus, Yuna, and Asuna look on.
	+ Alternate: Shiranami declaring her intention to duel Kirito for his admission into the KoB.
* Page **TBA**: Shiranami versus Kirito in their duel in «Collinia» on the 75th Floor.
* Page **TBA**: In the real world, Akihiko, in his cottage in the mountains of Aichi Prefecture, receives a call from Nanairo Arshavin, a genius twelve-year-old professor who calls him from Hikarigaoka Park in Nerima Ward.

#### Dawn Romance

* Page **TBA**: Kirito killing Kuradeel.
* Page **TBA**: Kirito and Asuna discover Yui in the forest.
* Page **TBA**: Yui defeating «The Fatal Scythe» using «Object Eraser».

#### The Torch's Inheritance

* Page **TBA**: The Clearers gather in the Teleport Gate Plaza for the 75th Floor boss battle.
* Page **TBA**: Kirito kills a red player in the raid against «Laughing Coffin».
* Page **TBA**: The boss raid versus «The Skull Reaper».
* Page **TBA**: Shiranami stabs Heathcliff.

## Trivia

* This volume of the light novel was originally published as a web novel on the website, Wattpad, beginning on October 18th, 2018.
* Due to the word '*hallow*' being a synonym of the word '*worship*', the word used in the kanji of the volume's title, the author felt it was fine to use '*Hallowing*' instead of '*Worshipping*'.
* Originally, the final product of the story would have two prologues for the first section, however, the author decided that there was no point to have two prologues and combined them into one.