The Black Swordsman

Chapter 40: The End

Almost 5 weeks had passed since I went inside of Sugou's world to rescue Asuna. So much had transpired in such a short period of time. Immediately, after one of the most traumatizing moments of both of our lives, which was taking Sugou's life, Asuna and I both learned that one of our best friends had lost her life as a result of putting the Nerve Gear back on. Lisbeth's death was hard on all of us, Asuna, especially. It seemed like every day since she was released from the hospital, she visited Lisbeth's headstone to pay her respects. Sometimes, I would go with but, other times, I couldn't will myself to, as pathetic as it sounds. Seeing her headstone made all of the guilt and regret of having her come with me to Sugou's world...all of the traumatizing memories of Sugou torturing her in front of me while I did nothing...everything...come back to me. I could only imagine how Asuna was handling it but I rarely talked to her about it and figured letting her grieve in her own way would be for the best.

As soon as Asuna was discharged from the hospital, she began attending the same school as me and the rest of the SAO survivors. At first, she was nervous, showing her face at school for the first time, since being trapped in SAO. Luckily, she adjusted to the school very quickly and many of the students were very kind to her and thanked her, endlessly, for her help in clearing the game and saving their lives. While holding hands in the hallways, we got all sorts of looks from the other students...admiration...envy...hatred...confusion...none of the emotions bothered me, though. Neither did the stares we got when we ate lunch with each other, outside. It wasn't any different than how it was in SAO, when we were together. Some kids were okay with us being in a relationship and some kids absolutely hated it...either way, it didn't affect us.

Most of the time, Asuna put on a smile while she was at school, both when she was with me and when she was with her own friend group. Behind this forced smile, I could see so much constant pain on Asuna's face that no one else could see except for me, Klein and Agil. Apparently, Asuna's parents had been forcing her to see a psychologist after school to help her deal with what happened with Sugou. I was extremely curious about what she talked about with the psychologist but I told myself it was none of my business. In fact, it was my fault that Asuna even had to take another's life, even if it was in self-defense. The last thing that I ever wanted was for her to have blood on her hands. I had always tried so hard to prevent this from happening but...all of that effort was for nothing. Asuna killed Sugou...violently...to protect me. There was no taking it back. Nothing she could do would bring him back. He was dead. I didn't know how long it would take for Asuna to recover from this, mentally, or if she ever would for that matter. This could very well be something that will be with her for the rest of her life. I mean, all of the lives I'd taken back in SAO...I still hadn't forgotten them. The guilt of taking their lives...to protect myself and my friends...it still hadn't left me...so, what were the odds of it leaving Asuna, someone who was way more pure-hearted than me?

Asuna mentioned that she had encountered POH, leader of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin, during her time of being trapped in Sugou's world. She explained how he believed that me and him were the same, deep down, and that one day I would be able to see that. At this point, a part of me wondered if POH was right. When I was torturing Sugou for what he did to Asuna, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good. Maybe, deep down, I am a monster just like him. The only difference between the two of us was that I had Asuna...a light in my life to lead me away from the darkness. If I didn't have her, then...then...I question how different the two of us would truly be. It does unsettle me, knowing that POH is still out there, somewhere, and I doubted that I wouldn't encounter him, again. He would find me, eventually, and I would have to fight him, in order to protect Asuna. It was inevitable. The only way our conflict with each other would be solved is with one of our deaths.

3 Weeks after we woke up from Sugou's world, the game developers, who made SAO, actually released a new version of the game for the Nerve Gear which was actually safe to use. The game had a log out button and it allowed all of the players to reload their save files so they could pick up where they left off. Many of the SAO survivors didn't touch this game out of spite or fear of putting the Nerve Gear back. Some SAO survivors couldn't help but return to the world of Aincrad, despite their horrible experiences with it. I never wanted to return to SAO and neither did Asuna, but, the two of us, alongside Klein and Agil, did end up returning to the world of Aincrad. I couldn't tell you why Klein and Agil returned but, as for Asuna and I, there were two reasons we returned. One, was to return to our beautiful cabin that we had purchased on the 22nd floor of Aincrad and the other...well...