SAO: The Legend Of The Black Swordsman

Chapter 22

Kirito laughed out loud, clutching his stomach and wiped the tears from his eyes as he stared at the confused faces of Heathcliff and the rest of the survivors.

"You...You are not serious, are you?", he asked weakly, and Heathcliff sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't know. What do you think?", the older man countered and the others began to sharpen their swords and other weapons, staring at him maliciously.

"As of now, I OWN this place - literally. Each boss was coded by ME - each floor was designed by ME, and YOU? Granted - you have helped me a lot. But I am not giving you any credit for this, Kirito. All you did was give me a small push. A small spark, and look what I have achieved with that spark!!", he yelled and majestically spread his arms, staring at the roof with an evil grin.

"I have created my own real world - a world safe from monotonous life, a world making you live on the edge everyday, every hour, every minute, and every second. Can the real world give you that? NO!!"

"As far as I know, none of us volunteered to join some death game, Kayaba", Kirito sneered, with a twitch of his left eye. Heathcliff ignored him and turned around to see the other survivors.

"True - you did not. But here are you are - anyway. Let us deal with what we have on our hands, shall we?", the monster continued with a wicked grin before turning his attention back to the rest of the players.

"Honestly! Didn't any one of you figure out that he was the one I had asked you to kill two years ago?", Heathcliff asked, brimming with amusement and everyone bowed their heads in shame.

"I mean, the answer was RIGHT in front of you. First of all, WHY would someone wear a mask? To conceal their identity most of the times, and I had asked everyone to keep their eyes peeled out for my assistant, Kirigaya Kazuto, well, now you know him as Kirito. But NONE of you managed to sniff his identity out? Shame, shame. Ah, to know that I was leading a bunch of hay-for-brains truly disappoints me", he pouted playfully and sunk his sword deeper into the ground.

Asuna looked at all of her teammates in despair and betrayal the second they began to stare at her husband in a threatening fashion.

"Everyone, please! Do not listen to Kayaba. If it wasn't for Kirito-kun, the damages would be FAR more than expected, and if he actually wanted to kill everyone, he would not sacrifice his health for our cause. He never chose to stay behind a shield! He stood at the front with a sword! Please! And how would you expect to deal with the remaining twenty four bosses if you were to kill him? Think rationally!!", Asuna pleaded everyone, and held Yui close to her bosom, shielding the little girl from the menacing glares of her husband's former comrades.

"Let us put that to vote, shall we? How many of you are in favour of killing Kirito?", Kayaba asked and raised his hand. Barring Agil, the Fuurinkazan, Yui and Asuna, everyone's hands shot up like missiles and they prepared to charge at Kirito. The Black Swordsman sighed and pulled down his mask finally in front of the crowd.

"Any last words, traitor? I was right, you know? ALL that time back, Beater", Kibaou sneered as he waved his sword at Kirito. Asuna's eyes grew misty and her hand weakly went towards her rapier. She knew that even though she was up against the strongest Aincrad had to offer, she would stand up tall for the man she loved knowing that he would do the same if the situation was altered against her favour.

Everyone followed Kibaou, and drew their weapons out glaring at Kirito. Heathcliff smiled victoriously and began to walk back. But a few metres away from the door, he turned around to meet the players.

"Just so you know....this is the last time we fight on the same side. Goodbye", he waved with a smirk and turned back. Everyone nodded their heads in defeat before turning their attention back to Kirito, expecting a defensive stance from the warrior.