Looking For Something Real (Sword Art Online)

23. Confessions

Authors note: Lots of fluff in this one! Be sure to comment bellow if you have any advice or are just liking the story :D

Chapter 23 August 16th 2025 "Confessions"

Kirito and Asuna's Apartment, ALO

It was the night of the 'Guardians Challenge'. The developers of ALO had arranged a tournament in association with MMO Today. They had recreated the final raid of the original ALO which was intended to be impossible. Of course Kirito had disproved that.

The tournament however was not about clearing the boss but rather surviving the longest. Wave after wave of guardians would spawn in increasing numbers to assault each team, it was inevitable that it would eventually overwhelm them.

The rules were rather simple. Each team was comprised of two players and the timer only stopped when the last player was killed by the never ending swarm of Guardians. Magic and healing items were disallowed however, making it a true test of sword and flying skill.

This kind of challenge was already right up Kirito's alley so when Leafa had requested his help to compete he eagerly accepted. Leafa's motives were not for the challenge itself, but for the grand prize. The team that lasted the longest would receive <<The Shifting Blade>>, a legendary weapon which would alter its properties based on the race of its wielder. What's more it was a Katana, Leafa's preferred weapon.

The rest of our friends had gathered at the apartment to watch the challenge as it was streamed by MMO Today. An assortment of snacks had been arranged and by this point most of it had been eaten. Klein and Agil sat at the bar in the back of the lounge watching over the heads of myself, Lisbeth, Silica and Asuna on the couch while Yui sat happily on Asuna's shoulder.

It seemed that the mods had chosen to save the strongest fighters in the game until last as Kirito and Leafa were slated to be the final contestants. On the large screen before us were the penultimate fighters in the challenge, General Eugene and his brother Lord Mortimer.

They had already smashed the previous record of 10:40 and were well into their eleventh minute. However Mortimer was perilously close to death and as the Guardian Bowmen unleashed a volley of arrows, Mortimer exploded into a ball of flame as his remain light flickered to the floor.

This seemed to throw Eugene into a rage as he catapulted himself into a large group of guardians, screaming and cutting wildly. Silica and Liz looked on with eyes wide, dazzled by the spectacle. Meanwhile Asuna and I smirked as we, veterans of SAO's Assault team, saw it for what it really was. Eugene allowed his rage to control him and put himself in a precarious position, it was only a matter of time before he would be surrounded and defeated.

A Whirling ball of guardian swordsmen plummeted towards Eugene and he was quickly obscured from view. Shortly afterwards a flash from within the ball showed that the last of his HP was gone and the round was over. The timer read 12:23.

"12 minutes 23 seconds? That's gonna be a tough time to beat for anyone." Silica said sounding a little dejected.

"Nah, Kirito and Leafa have beat these things before, they can do it again!" Klein said from behind us and we all turned to face him and Agil.

"Yeah daddy won't let anyone beat him. Those guardians don't stand a chance!" Yui called from Asuna's shoulder.

It was still a little odd to me even after all these months that an AI which had become unshackled felt such admiration towards Kirito and Asuna. But despite what all the movies would tell us I failed to believe that Yui would ever rise up against a human. She was the gentlest possible robot overlord I could imagine.