It was a cold, suffocating silence, more oppressive than anything before. More oppressive even than facing death itself.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the paladin standing in the center of the room. A blood-red cloak wrapped around him, and Heathcliff's face still carried its usual calm smile. Yet from that trusted face, some of them sensed a strange feeling of déjà vu.
Two years ago, in the plaza of the Town of Beginnings, beneath the twilight sky, there had been the colossal Creator—the avatar of Kayaba.
It had been just like this.
A crimson cloak concealing a faceless visage.
A gaze that did not exist, yet still sent a chill down their spines.
"Captain…?" Asuna stared at him in a daze. "What's going on?"
"As you can see, your Kirito has already proven everything through his actions," Heathcliff replied with detached composure.
He slowly turned, looking at her the way one might look at a lab mouse in a cage.
"I am Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Aincrad."
"You… what did you say?" A member of the Knights of the Blood shakily rose to his feet, his resolute eyes trembling with disbelief.
Heathcliff—Kayaba Akihiko—no longer looked at the guild he had created with his own hands. Instead, he turned toward Kirito with visible interest.
"As expected, the clue was our last duel—when I was forced to trigger the system assist."
Kirito nodded, but unease sank deeper in his chest.
There was no satisfaction in having uncovered the greatest mystery of all. From beginning to end, Satoru's stare had left him even more on edge than Heathcliff's amused scrutiny.
"Then, Suzuki-kun, when did you figure it out?" As if he were thoroughly enjoying the fact that he had been exposed, Kayaba looked toward him. Satoru's fists were clenched tight.
"I had very little contact with you. Although we did duel once, I didn't deliberately trigger the system assist as I did against Kirito. I shouldn't have revealed any flaws."
Kirito's expression changed.
"Deliberately… used?"
"That's right. Your speed was rising explosively at the time, and you had the potential to reach that level. So I put pressure on you. Though in the end, it seems you still failed to cross that threshold."
"Idiot…" Satoru forced the word out through clenched teeth, glaring at Kirito in fury. "Did you think exposing him would fix everything? At the very least… you should have done it in front of the entire player population, somewhere he couldn't clean it up so easily. Here, with only thirty-something of us present, all he has to do is move a finger, change a command, and every one of us dies."
"After that, he only needs to announce, as Heathcliff, that we were all wiped out. No one would doubt the strongest Holy Sword. They'd simply think only someone as powerful as him managed to survive."
Kirito seemed shaken.
"But… this was the only chance. Otherwise, with the system protecting him, no one would ever be able to expose his immortality command."
"Just because you can't do it, does that mean I can't?!" Satoru roared, his voice echoing through the vast floor.
"That is quite an arrogant thing to say," Kayaba said with a soft laugh. "But your concern is indeed reasonable. After all, in this game, I am God."
"Preparing multiple fallback plans and moving according to the formation. As expected of the owner of Infinite Sword."
"But rest assured. I'm not that cruel. Those gathered here are the elites of the frontliners. If you all died, the game's progress would be delayed considerably. Especially the Knights of the Blood, whom I personally cultivated. I developed them carefully as the main force meant to conquer the 95th Floor and beyond."
"My original plan was to reveal my identity on the 95th Floor, then proceed to the Ruby Palace on the 100th Floor and wait for you there… But when I think about it, if no one could ever reach the higher floors, wouldn't I be terribly bored on the 100th Floor?"
He said it like a joke.
"You… you have to be kidding. Our loyalty… our hopes." The guild member desperately suppressed his rage as he raised the massive axe in his hands. "You trampled all of it so casually, with that kind of attitude?! Kayabaaaaaa!!"
He lost control and charged at the paladin in the center.
But the arrogant man was faster, and he held far greater authority. He swiftly opened the system menu, tapped once, and the charging player collapsed to the ground on the spot, yellow arcs of electricity flickering across his body.
Maximum-level paralysis.
Then, one by one, every player was paralyzed.
Everyone except Yurnero and Kirito.
Under the murderous stares surrounding him, Kayaba remained perfectly at ease.
"Now that all the troublesome factors are gone, Suzuki-kun, let us return to our earlier topic. How did you notice me so early?"
Satoru stayed silent for a long while.
Then he spoke, each word deliberate.
"You, who have mastered five weapon-type skills, can handle all kinds of enemies with ease."
Kayaba froze.
"That was when we were discussing the Laughing Coffin raid, wasn't it? But what about that sentence?"
"When I fought you, I only used One-Handed Sword, One-Handed Curved Sword, One-Handed Dagger, and Rapier."
"But even so, your build was clearly multi-weapon based. I could simply have guessed you had five or more."
"The key is five. The number five," Satoru said coldly. "As the creator of this game, do I need to remind you any further?"
Kayaba frowned.
A few seconds later, realization struck him, and he burst into loud, delighted laughter.
"Hahahaha, so that's what it was."
He looked genuinely pleased, as if thrilled that someone had paid such close attention to the details of the world he had created.
"I never expected a player capable of satisfying the creator himself to actually exist. Hahahahaha!"
"You're right. The key lies in the number five."
He looked at Satoru with open delight and revealed the truth without hesitation.
"Among the ten Unique Skills I designed, Infinite Sword is the only one that can be unlocked by any player. Its initial requirements are not especially harsh. Dual Blades must be granted to the person with the fastest reaction speed, Life-Farewell Halberd must belong to the one with the highest adaptability to the dive environment, and Assassination requires killing fifty or more players in total."
"But Infinite Sword is different. Its unlock condition is very simple… accumulate a total of 4,000 weapon points. The first player to meet that condition obtains it directly!"
Kayaba spoke slowly.
"Whether that means raising four weapon systems to the peak, with 1,000 points in each for a total of 4,000, or raising five weapon systems to 800 points each for a total of 4,000, or even six, seven, or eight, as long as the total reaches 4,000, it works."
"But… in terms of efficiency, five is undoubtedly the best answer."
He sighed with emotion.
"Precisely because I am the creator, I knew that, and that was why I said it. And because you are the owner, you understood…"
"In the end, my own omniscience and omnipotence over this world caused my mistake. I had already been exercising restraint. Even with the Knights of the Blood, I only set the general direction and left the details to my subordinates, all to avoid this exact situation."
"But you are a player. You couldn't possibly know the unlock condition for Infinite Sword, and you should have had no way to deduce it."
He asked again.
"The moment I discovered this skill, I carefully examined my own build. This game pays close attention to detail. A Unique Skill meant for handling multiple weapon systems wouldn't appear for no reason."
Satoru's voice was cold.
"Wonderful. Truly wonderful." Kayaba nodded with a smile. "Someone has observed the game I created with such deep immersion. That makes me genuinely happy."
"You and Kirito discovered the truth about me one after another. Your powers of observation are worthy of praise. In that case, giving you a chance would not be unreasonable."
He planted his sword and shield onto the smooth obsidian floor and looked at the two of them with an overwhelming gaze.
"Fight me here, in a second round of duels. If you win, I will release all of Aincrad. Naturally… I will also remove my Immortal Object status. I will not use any other system privileges either. What do you say?"
"Wh…?"
Kirito and Satoru reacted at the same time. Kirito's expression turned grim, while Satoru's face twisted even further.
Seeing their different reactions, Kayaba's unpleasant smile deepened.
"As for the order… let's see. Since Suzuki-kun discovered me first, he should be the first to fight me. If he fails, then it will be Kirito-kun's turn."
He looked toward Satoru.
Satoru stood frozen in place, his face growing paler by the second.
"If it is you, there is certainly a chance. Infinite Sword is the power granted the greatest number of possibilities. I never imagined it would one day stand before me, because it depends on far too many coincidences piling up together: an obsessive and arrogant player, the ability to withstand the pressure of the Death Game and continue experimenting, and many other factors besides. Only when all of them finally collide can such a power be born."
"It is different from Dual Blades, Life-Farewell Halberd, Assassination, and the others. Those skills only require their users to keep following their own principles. But Infinite Sword… it does not even offer a clear direction for those principles."
"You even defeated Didos, whom I once considered the strongest player in Sword Art Online. Life-Farewell Halberd was the most powerful skill I designed back then. None surpassed it."
"You have every right to be proud, Suzuki-kun. In the end, the one who reached me, the God, was not one of those geniuses, but an ordinary person like you."
"Challenge me. There is no need to fear."
"Fear you…? Don't make me laugh." Satoru's voice came out hoarse as he stared straight at him.
"Oh…? Then draw your sword."
"…"
Satoru did not move.
Trembling, he lowered his head and looked at Sheeta beside him, who had also been paralyzed. The girl gazed at him with eyes that were clear, innocent, and utterly unclouded. She said nothing. Not a single word that might disturb his state of mind.
From beginning to end, she only clutched the hem of his pants, giving him silent encouragement.
But.
No.
No.
I don't want that kind of encouragement from you.
Not when things have already come this far.
Damn it!
He grabbed at his hair in agony.
Kayaba looked at him strangely, then shifted his gaze to the girl on the ground.
"It seems you are not ready. In that case…" He deliberately drew out his tone. "How about we let Kirito-kun go first? Dual Blades is also a power I placed high hopes in. Now that he has experience fighting me, surely he will be able to defeat me this time."
He placed extra emphasis on the word defeat.
"No!!" Satoru roared.
Everyone stared at him in shock as he gasped for breath.
Kayaba, however, looked as though he had just received confirmation.
"So it seems you are not afraid of death. There is another reason…"
His tone sank into malice.
"Then, Suzuki-kun, how about I give you a second choice?"
"Right here, if you simply nod and agree, I will immediately grant you the right to stop being a player and exchange you with the Floor Boss I originally designed for the 99th Floor: the Divine Ruler."
Everyone stared at him in shock, Satoru included.
"What… did you say?"
"To put it simply, I will turn you from a player into a Floor Boss. From one of the Strugglers trying to liberate this game into an executioner who will use everything in his power to stop them. If Kirito defeats me after that, then you will replace me as the final boss."
Kayaba spoke softly.
"Are you insane?!" Agil and Klein struggled to prop themselves up from the ground. "Yuyu! Don't accept it!"
Sheeta's hand suddenly tightened around his pant leg. The gentle, quiet girl became unbearably anxious, her clear eyes fixed on him and filled with fear.
"No one would ever accept a proposal like that, Kayaba!" Kirito shouted. "No matter what, all of our time is limited. Our bodies are still lying in hospital beds. That suggestion of yours can't save anyone!"
"Is that so? But his attitude seems to suggest otherwise, doesn't it?" Kayaba said with a soft laugh.
"…"
"Yuyu…? Yuyu, say something!" Klein struggled to crawl across the ground, shouting at the motionless Yurnero. "Think about it! This won't save anyone, and it won't protect anyone! There's nothing in it for you at all! Haven't you always been good at calculating things?!"
"Can it really protect no one?"
Kayaba looked at the shaken Sheeta. She opened her mouth soundlessly and slowly shook her head, while he murmured with suggestive intent.
"Your understanding of this game should be second only to mine. If you become a boss, you certainly won't be some monster that only knows crude AI routines. You understand Sword Skills thoroughly. You understand the frontliners thoroughly. You even know how to kill. And with that, you can obtain stats on par with a Floor Boss…"
"You would be absolutely invincible, Suzuki-kun."
His voice turned tempting.
"Come. Choose."
Satoru raised his head in confusion and looked at him.
"Will you become the hero who kills me and her, liberating every player? Or will you become the Demon King who protects only her, while cutting off every player's hope?"
At those words, Satoru finally dropped weakly to his knees, as if Kayaba had sentenced him to death and stripped every last bit of strength from his body.
"Is that really how it is? Is that really how it is? Is that really how it is? Is that really how it is…? Is that really how it is?!"
He began questioning himself almost neurotically. Then his voice turned into a roar, then a howl, as he pounded the ground in a frenzy.
Sheeta suddenly wrapped her arms around him.
She simply held him tightly, tears spilling from her eyes as she endured his madness and struggling, her delicate body trembling along with him.
But originally…
She should have been paralyzed too.
She should have been unable to move.
"That is exactly how it is."
Kayaba looked at the two of them embracing in agony before him. At last, the smile vanished from his face, leaving only pity.
"The Mental Health Counseling Program, Concept No. 1. The program responsible for managing and caring for the mental state of every SAO player. Its designated younger sister is Yui. It is also an advanced autonomous artificial intelligence I wrote, codenamed Sheeta."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Nero."
The girl who had always followed obediently behind him, who rarely showed any expression other than a smile, was now crying uncontrollably.
"Sheeta… Shīta, if you follow the Japanese reading," Kayaba said quietly. "It is the name of the strong-willed heroine from that distant Castle in the Sky. The name of that fascinating, extraordinary girl—the rightful heir of Laputa's royal line, who fought alongside Pazu against the pirates and, in the end, liberated Laputa."
"You even noticed that?"
Kayaba let out a long sigh.
"If Aincrad is liberated, then as part of this world, she will naturally be liberated along with it."
"The program will be deleted."
"But if this world is not liberated, the time the two of you have together is already limited."
"What a pity, Suzuki Satoru."
Kayaba closed his eyes.