Sword Art Online ALICIZATION- Reversal

Chapter 49- Retaliation

Hey, sorry for the wait everyone! I had some technical issues that slowed things down more than I wanted. So here you go!

-cut-

I watched the lights descending, filled with dread yet as I sensed imminent destruction, Klein smiled at me. Did he know something I didn't? As I realized a Red Knight was behind me, someone else cut him down. I turned to see a familiar face. "Agil!" I exclaimed happily, seeing a fellow SAO survivor who'd faught on the frontlines with me and Kirito in that death game, it gave me hope. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner." I noticed more light and turned right, immediately realizing who they were. "Lizbeth, Silica!" I sheathed my sword and ran to them. "You came. You actually came!" I exclaimed while grabbing Lizbeth's hands. "Of course we'd come." Lizbeth responded, "How could we not?" Silica chimed in and before the two girls hugged me.

"You've been pushing yourself too hard, you're all beat up... you're overdoing it, Asuna." Lizbeth said. "Leave the rest to us, everyone's here." Silica said. "Everyone?" I questioned, it was almost too good to be true. But it was. Eugene and his Salamanders along with all the other tribes from ALO, they were all here. Even Yuuki's friends... I felt a pang in my chest as I thought of my departed friend, however I quickly shook it off. Everyone was fighting, everyone had come to support me and help protect Kirito and this world's people.

"You might not even make it back, but you still converted your precious characters..." I whispered softly. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." I said as Lizbeth walked to my side.  "What're you talking about, Asuna?" Lizbeth asked. "I believe we all made it through SAO amd ALO so we could protect what we love right here, right now." Lizbeth continued as I turned to look at Silica. "Yeah, you're right. Thank you." I said while wiping my tears away. I stepped forward, turning to face my friends.  "Hey, Liz, Silica? Who was it that brought you all here?" The two girls looked at each other and grinned. "Come on, Asuna, who do you think?" Lizbeth said. "It was Yui." Silica finished for her. "Yui gave this heartfelt speech about the Underworld and the people who live here." Silica explained. I gasped in response but noticed the light, looking up to see more players. "Thank you, Yui." I said while holding my hands together over my heart, as if clutching the object the AI was once stored within. 

'Kirito, Yui... both of you care so much about this world... you both want it to be safe... so, I can't let you down, can I? I can't just disappoint my family like that,  afterall, how could I call myself Yui's mother if she can't be proud of what I've done? Right, Kirito?' I began to feel my body rejuvenate as my stamina returned. I opened my eyes, my expression hardening as I drew my rapier. 

"Um... Lady Asuna?" Renly's voice drew my from trance and I looked to him.  "Who exactly are these people? And, also, those knights?" Renly asked me. I smiled a bit. "They're my precious friends!" I chirped happily. "They came from my world to help us." I told him. Renly looked shocked and walked torwards Lizbeth and Silica. He seemed to be studying them, in the same way a dog sniffs a person's nand before letting them pet it, and then he bowed after a few seconds. "Is that right? I'm so glad! I thought everyone from the outside world, apart fro  Lady Asuna, would look scary like those knights." He said as he stood up straight, gesturing to the American players. As casual as usual, Lizbeth started to forcefully pat his shoulder, saying, "Of course we're not all like that! I'm Lizbeth! Nice to meet you, Mr. Knight." Silica, on the other hand, did a formal bow. "I'm Silica! It's very nice to meet you!" Renly did appear slightly flustered but still responded with minimal stuttering. "R-right, nice to meet you! My name ks Renly." The green haired knight said, introducing himself.

I smiled a bit, it was good to see my friends after the several days I hadn't seen them in. However, I quickly remebered the problem at hand. "Liz, how many people converted in all?" I asked the pink haired girl. "Um, maybe a little over two thousand, I think?" Lizbeth responded. "I did my best,  but I couldn't convince every single player who heard me out." She said while looking down in defeat. I put my hand on her shoulder. "That's more than enough!" I reassured her. "But, in order to keep reconverting a possiblity, I'd like to avoid a war of attrition. And let's not expand the frontlines too much and bolster our healing. Liz and Silica, I want yoh to fall back with 200 or so and form a support unit." I said while looking back at them. "Understood!" Silica exclaimed. "Okay! You can count on us!" Liz responded while giving a thumbs up. My gaze then moved to Renly. I turned to face the green haired boy. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but please join the monks and use your healing arts. Since the other world Swordsmen aren't familiar with Sacred Arts, it would really help if you could teach them the formal arts." I instructed the Knight, and duty bound as he was, he stood at attention. "Uh, right, Lady Asuna!" He said. Despite his shyness, it was clear he was competent at his job, he wouldn't have survived the War so far if he wasn't. If only my world had more people like him.

"I.." I trailed off as I looked away from him, quickly drawing my sword and pointing it forward. "Will fight on the frontlines!" I exclaimed as I ran torwards the action. I looked around at the ongoing battle. 'Now, we won't lose!' I thought as all the major players from ALO and SAO were here. We were outnumbered, but we had our foes outgunned and we were the better fighters. I knew that our victory was all but certain. I passed up my teammates, Yuuki's squadmates from ALO before she died, and cut one of the Red Knights in two and severed the head of the next while using a single and light acrobatic maneuver to dodge any attack they might've tried. Using three slashes, I cut through two of my foes while raising my sword with a smile on my face. My friends had all come to help me, and we could win now! 'All together, we'll definitely win!' I thought excitedly as I went into a downward slash, cutting a Red Knight from the head down as my allies rallied to me. 'Just like an SAO boss raid.' I thought. This type of endurance battle was my domain, what I was accustomed to. Prolonged seiges, raids, and wave-defense were what I waw used to so this Battlefield was nothing I couldn't control. Afterall, if you can control the pattern and speed of battle, you can control the outcome.