Yusei walked into the courtyard, looking at the moonlight in the sky. He was already equipped with his usual battle gear.
After waiting a moment, a figure emerged from the room... a dragon. Kanna walked up to Yusei with her characteristic adorably dumb expression and sat down beside him.
Yusei smiled and patted Kanna's head, speaking softly, "Are you ready?"
Kanna nodded seriously, "Ready. It's just..."
Before she could finish, another small figure emerged from the room.
"Kanna stepped on my stomach when she got up."
"..." Yusei smiled helplessly.
"Alright, Shiro, you can come with us too."
Shiro's cute face showed no expression. She paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay. It's just..."
Before she could finish, yet another small figure emerged from the room, and behind the small figure followed a taller one.
Yusei was speechless when he saw who it was.
Shiro explained expressionlessly, "Yui woke up."
Her words were concise and clear, but they conveyed her meaning well enough.
When she got up, Yui woke up. Yui waking up caused Asuna to wake up, and now they had all followed.
Yusei let out an awkward laugh, then shook his head with a wry smile.
"Fine, let's all go together. It doesn't really matter anyway."
Asuna looked at Yusei with concern, "Yusei-kun, where are you going so late at night?"
A bad feeling rose in her heart. Immediately, she also equipped her gear and, without waiting for Yusei's reply, continued, "Wherever you're going, I'm coming too."
"Yui wants to go too!" Yui chimed in beside her.
Yusei looked helplessly at the mother and daughter, "Okay. But Yui, could you go wait in the real world first? Because this game is about to end, and it might not be safe for you to stay in the game world any longer."
"Game ending?" Asuna and Yui were both stunned for a moment, then looked at Yusei puzzledly.
Yusei patiently explained to Asuna and Yui about Kayaba being Heathcliff.
"No way?" Asuna couldn't help but cover her small mouth in shock upon hearing this.
'The Guild Master who led everyone... was actually Kayaba Akihiko?'
"That's the truth. So I'm going to defeat him and leave the game," Yusei said with a smile.
"But isn't that too dangerous? He's the Game Master," Asuna looked at Yusei worriedly.
Yusei smiled and pointed at Kanna, "If it were just me, it would definitely be dangerous. But we have Kanna."
"Kanna?" Asuna looked at Yusei in doubts, then suddenly realized something.
That was, Kanna also didn't have a player tag above her head.
'In other words, like Yui, Kanna was an NPC? So that meant... Kanna was the dragon Kanna?'
Asuna looked in surprise at the adorably dumb little loli before her, completely unable to connect her with the terrifying dragon she had seen before.
Seeing Asuna's expression, Yusei knew she had probably guessed something and nodded.
"That's right. Kanna is the dragon Kanna. Kanna is very strong."
Hearing Yusei praise her, Kanna also smiled and looked up at him.
"Yusei is also strong."
'Was this mutual admiration?'
Yusei patted Kanna's head.
However, this didn't completely dispel Asuna's worry. Because if Kanna was an NPC, she was still subject to Kayaba's control.
In other words, he just needed to press a few keys, and Kanna would...
In response to this, Yusei just smiled mysteriously, leaving her with a sense of suspense.
"Kanna is a dragon. A real dragon."
Afterwards, the Kazami Household headed to the front lines, to the Knights of the Blood Oath's Headquarters.
Yui obediently listened to her parents and left SAO for the real world, saying she would go to the hospital where her parents were ahead of time to take care of them.
And Asuna, despite her worries about this operation, still followed Yusei to confront Kayaba for the final battle.
She had actually wanted to leave this game for a long time, to quickly return to the real world, to truly meet Yusei, and to take care of their daughter.
Arriving at the floor where the Knights of the Blood Oath's Headquarters was located, Kanna transformed into a dragon. Yusei, Asuna, and Shiro rode on her back.
They flew directly towards the Knights of the Blood Oath's Headquarters.
Kanna's flying speed was extremely fast. When they reached the outskirts of the Headquarters, Yusei's sharp eyes caught sight of a figure standing at the outer entrance.
Seeing the figure's appearance, Yusei froze.
'That was... Kaguya?'
Asuna naturally saw her too and then looked at Yusei beside her.
"Yusei-kun..."
Yusei nodded, signaling Kanna to land.
Kanna landed, stirring up a cloud of dust. Yusei, Asuna, and Shiro jumped down from Kanna's back, and Kanna transformed back into her little loli form.
Kaguya showed no surprise at this scene.
Or rather, she had already mostly guessed it.
Seeing the group approach, she felt uncharacteristically nervous, but quickly tried to calm herself.
Asuna looked at Kaguya and asked puzzledly, "Kaguya, why are you here at this time?"
Kaguya glanced at Yusei, then at Asuna's fully equipped gear, and spoke frankly.
"I found out a few days ago about his plan to challenge Kayaba Akihiko alone. So I've been waiting here at the Knights of the Blood Oath's entrance to stop him."
"This is a suicidal move. I can't just let him go to his death."
After saying this, Kaguya seemed to think of something, paused slightly, and continued.
"He has you now, Asuna. He has Yui. He's not alone anymore. Besides, Shiro also needs him to take care of her."
Yusei sighed. He had never said he was going to challenge Kayaba alone, but he was still grateful for Kaguya's concern.
However, he was somewhat puzzled and looked at Kaguya curiously.
"How did you know we were coming tonight? I don't think I told anyone, did I?"
"I didn't know. But I've been waiting here every night. If you were going to find Heathcliff, you would definitely pass through here."
Kaguya's words stunned everyone present. Yusei fell silent, looking away somewhat awkwardly, then uttered two words.
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me. This isn't for you. It's for Asuna, Yui, and Shiro." Kaguya showed no particular expression, only giving a faint smile.
Asuna, however, stood rooted to the spot. She remained silent for a long time, lost in thought. She looked at Kaguya and Yusei, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.