Sword Art Online - Alternative Reality

Demon's Sighting CHP.5

It was the same withered tree with a nameless headstone on the 19th floor, but the hidden moon and thick mists surrounded it in a chilling atmosphere. It was the grave marker where we had 'buried' our guild leader. The day after we found out she died, we came here and let her sword naturally lose its durability, and it was the day we dissolved the guild. It was the obvious outcome since we all knew that one of us was responsible for the loss. No, I knew who was responsible for it...since it was my fault that she had died.

"Griselda...I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry...I-I didn't want it to turn out this way!!!"

Even though I was dropped off at the DDA base by those two, I knew that she would come for me sooner or later. A ghost didn't care about safe zones or locked doors. It was only a matter of time before she got me to. So, even though I didn't plan for this, didn't want this, the only thing I could do was beg for forgiveness. That way, maybe, just maybe, she'll-

"What did you do Schmitt?"

"HHHYYYYYYIIIIII"

A tall, robed figure, her face completely covered. But I already knew who she was. There was only one person who it could have been.

"Gri-Griselda?! I'm sorry, I really mean it, I didn't mean it, honest!"

"Answer the question, what did you do Schmitt?"

"Gr-Grimlock?!"

Appearing from the shadow of the tree, was a larger man, clad in a similar robe. It should have been impossible, Grimlock should have been alive!

"Answer me, Schmitt!"

"EEEYYY"

Angered, Griselda revealed a dark red weapon, gleaming with a sick red luster. It had the same spikes as the other two that killed them, only this one seemed thinner, like an estoc. That didn't matter though, since whatever weapon it was, it would kill me. The only thing I could do was confess my sin and hope for forgiveness.

And so I did. I told them everything. How a note wound up in my pouch, telling me to set a corridor crystal in Griselda's room at night, then placing it in the guild storage. It seemed ingenious at the time since the person would be able to sneak into the room even though it was locked, take the ring from the sleeping Griselda, then sell it off. I would have earned a much larger share of Cor, and even though it was betraying the guild, it would ultimately help all of us out, since I could help clear the game faster. That was how I justified it anyway. But-but-

"I swear, I never thought anyone would get hurt...would die! Please, you have to believe me!"

Prostrated before the ghosts, the sins of my past, the only thing I could hear was the chilling breeze through the dead forest. Finally, a shuffling occur, and I couldn't help but shiver at the thought of that estoc being prepared to strike me down. What surprised me more though, was the familiar voice that I heard, that didn't belong to Griselda.

"I recorded everything, Schmitt."

"Wa..."

As I looked up, it was the same figure that had taken a dagger to the back and fell out of the window. A person that shouldn't have been here.

"Yo-Yolko...?"

The other figure slowly approached and took off his hood, revealing the second impossible feat of the day.

"C-Caynz?"

Although I hadn't seen it for myself, Caynz had died 2 days ago, and I saw Yolko die with my very eyes only a few hours ago. Yet somehow, they were here in front of me, alive and breathing. She still had the estoc out, but on her other hand was a recording crystal that had been activated for who knows how long. Thousands of questions had been answered in a span of a few seconds, and for the first time since this nightmare began, the tension left my body.