Sword Art Online

The VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online (SAO), is officially released, with 10,000 copies released and sold immediately. Kirito, who beta-tested the game, logs-in to the world of Aincrad and meets Klein, a new player, who asks him to teach him the basics of the game including the Sword Skill battle system. Later, after several hours in the game, Kirito and Klein discover that they cannot "log-out". Shortly after, the pair are teleported to the town square, where they see that all other players have also been transported to the location. A red-hooded Game Master then appears in the sky and reveals himself to the crowd as Akihiko Kayaba, the game's creator. He tells them that he intentionally removed the log-out option. He cautions that they cannot log-out by simply removing the NerveGear, the VR helmet they use to log-in the game, as it will kill them instantly. The only way to log out is for the players to beat and clear all 100 floors of the game. Should they die in the game, their real bodies will perish as well. As a parting gift, Akihiko gives them a mirror that alters their in-game avatars to resemble their real appearance. Kirito asks Klein to follow him to the next town to level up before resources are depleted, but Klein politely declines as he wishes to remain with his friends. Kirito then heads out, vowing to be free from the game. By the end of the first month, 2,000 players have died and the 1st floor has yet to be cleared. Source: Wiki

Kirito attends a meeting organized by an idealistic Diabel, who announces to the attendants that his party has found the boss of the 1st floor tower. He rallies everyone to team up and beat the boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, which will open up the 2nd floor. Parties are formed and Kirito teams up with a girl named Asuna. A new player named Kibaou blames the Beta Testers of the game for running away to loot and level up while leaving the new players behind. Another player named Agil defends the Beta players, revealing it was they who gave them the free guide book that helped them survive the game. Using the guide book, Diabel devises a strategy for fighting Illfang and his minions. Later that night, Kirito shares his food with Asuna while she tells him that she joined them because she felt compelled to do something rather than nothing. The next day, Diabel's raid group arrives at the boss's room and battles Illfang and his minions. When Illfang's HP becomes low, Diabel goes for the finishing blow. Kirito tries to warn him after noticing Illfang has a different type of weapon from the one described in the guide book, but Illfang strikes down Diabel. Kirito realizes that Diabel was also a Beta player as he had attempted to obtain the boss's rare item. As he dies, Diabel begs Kirito to defeat the boss and save the players. Having an epiphany on how Diabel was helping the other players while Kirito had only helped himself, Kirito experiences a renewed determination to defeat the boss. With Asuna and the raid group's help, Kirito kills Illfang, clearing the 1st floor much to everyone's joy. However, the celebration ends when Kibaou blames Kirito for Diabel's death, as his knowledge as a beta player might have saved Diabel. Fearing continued fighting between the beta and new players, Kirito mocks everyone, telling them he is unlike the beta players who were clueless about the game, as he obtained far more knowledge of the Beta test than any other player. Everyone is repulsed by Kirito, and brand him a Beater -- a Beta player who cheats. As Kirito leaves for the 2nd floor, he advises Asuna to join a guild. Source: Wiki

Four months have passed with more powerful players and guilds clearing the game's floors. After saving a guild called the Moonlit Black Cats, their leader, Keita, thanks Kirito and asks him to join their guild. Kirito accepts the invitation, but hides the fact that he is Level 40, twice the average level of the guild. Kirito bonds with his new friends, especially Sachi, who confides in Kirito that she is afraid to die. Kirito assures her that he will protect her and that they will be free one day. On June 12, 2023, while Keita goes to buy a house for the guild, the Black Cats decide to earn some money by going to the upper floor dungeons, but get trapped in a room with higher level Mobs. Kirito desperately tries to save his friends but they are killed, including Sachi. Thinking that he is responsible for his friends' deaths, including Keita's, who committed suicide upon learning what happened, Kirito displays increasingly reckless tendencies and goes on a dangerous quest to obtain an item that revives the dead. On December 24, 2023, Argo the informant tells Kirito of the existence of a special boss named Nicholas the Renegade, which drops the item. As Kirito travels to the boss, he is followed by Klein and his guild Fuurinkazan, concerned with Kirito's safety. They are then surrounded by the Divine Dragon Alliance guild who are also seeking the item. Klein and his guild hold off the Divine Dragons, while Kirito goes off to face Nicholas alone. He emerges victorious, however to his despair, Kirito discovers that the boss item can only revive the dead within ten seconds of the person's death. When Kirito returns to his room, he receives a farewell message from Sachi which she had recorded before her death to be delivered on Christmas Eve. In the message, Sachi asks Kirito not to blame himself over her death and that he should continue living to the end of the game. As she ends the message by humming "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Kirito cries. Source: Wiki

A beast tamer named Silica quits a party after arguing with their leader, Rosalia. Later, Silica is ambushed by monsters while making her way alone through the forest, and her dragon familiar, Pina, is killed trying to protect her. Kirito appears and saves Silica, and then tells her of an item at the Hill of Memories on the 47th floor that can revive her familiar within three days of its death and offers to accompany her there. As they spend time together, Kirito warns Silica of "orange players", players who commit crimes, and "red players", players who kill other players and then notices someone eavesdropping on them. The next day, as they make their way to the Hill of Memories, Kirito tells Silica about his younger sister, whom he was very close to and Silica reminds him of. As they finally retrieve the item, the Pneuma Flower, they are confronted by Rosalia and her men, who are actually part of the Titan's Hand, a notorious orange player guild and are after the flower. Kirito then reveals that his true motivations for escorting Silica was to draw Rosalia out and arrest her. The guild realizes Kirito is the infamous Beater, "The Black Swordsman", and are effortlessly outmatched and detained. Later, Pina is revived, and as Kirito prepares to return to the front lines, he vows to Silica that they would meet again in the real world. Source: Wiki

During a meeting between guilds on the 56th floor, Asuna, who has become Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood guild, proposes a plan to lure a boss they are fighting into a village and is opposed by Kirito, as the NPC villagers will be killed. A month later on the 59th floor, Kirito is taking a nap until Asuna arrives and chastises him for being lazy, but Kirito persuades her to relax as well. To repay him for guarding her while she napped, Asuna offers to buy dinner for him at a town on the 57th floor. However, their meal is interrupted by a scream, and they rush out of the restaurant to find a player, Kains, hanging outside a church, impaled with a spear. He dies immediately after. As they investigate the murder, Kirito wonders how Kains was killed in a safe zone, speculating that either the victim was dueled by another player or that someone had found a new exploit to kill players. Yolko, a friend of Kains, mentions someone may have been spotted behind Kains as he was impaled. Asuna and Kirito travel to Egil's shop to learn more about the murder weapon. Egil tells them that the weapon (Guilty Thorn) is a custom made weapon by a blacksmith named Grimrock. After informing Yolko of their discovery, she explains to them how she and Kains are related to Grimlock. Six months earlier, Yolko, Kains, and Grimlock were part of an eight-man guild called the Golden Apple, led by Griselda, Grimlock's ingame wife. One day, the guild acquires a rare ring and votes whether to use it or sell it. Three members, Yolko, Kains and Schmitt, now a member of the Divine Dragon Alliance, vote to use it, but the other five vote to sell it. Griselda goes out to sell the ring and is killed. Yolko believes Kains's killer is targeting the three of them for going against Griselda's wishes. However, Schmitt fears that the identity of the killer is Griselda's ghost, who wants revenge against them. Yolko is then killed by a dagger thrown from the window. Source: Wiki

Kirito pursues the assassin, who escapes by using a teleport crystal. Kirito wonders how it is possible to kill someone in a safe zone to which a paranoid Schmitt declares that the killer is Griselda's ghost. After watching a dropped sandwich vanish and talking to Asuna about the game's marriage system of inventory sharing, Kirito deduces how Yolko and Kains "died" and who was Griselda's murderer. He explains to Asuna that Yolko and Kains are actually alive, and that they had merely faked their deaths by using a teleport crystal when their armor broke from the damage over time weapon effect to give the appearance of a player death. Yolko and Kains confront Schmitt at Griselda's grave to investigate the identity of Griselda's killer. After Schmitt explains that he had only followed instructions given to him and had not expected Griselda's death, the three are surrounded by members of the notorious player-killing guild, Laughing Coffin, who have come to kill them. Yolko, Kains and Schmit are rescued by the timely arrival of Kirito, who intimidates the Laughing Coffin into retreating. Asuna arrives with the man who hires the Laughing Coffin and Griselda's killer, Grimlock. Grimlock reveals that he is the assassin of Griselda, who is also his wife in the real world, because he is unable to accept that his kind, dutiful wife he loves has become a fearless, independent leader. Asuna admonishes Grimlock for Griselda's death, telling him that he has never truly loved his wife and that he has been merely possessive. After Yolko, Kains and Schmitt capture Grimlock, Kirito and Asuna briefly discuss about marriage and Kirito states he would love his partner more after seeing a different side of her. Kirito and Asuna then see an apparition of Griselda thanking them. Source: Wiki

On 48th floor, Asuna visits her friend, Lisbeth or "Liz", at her smith shop before going off adventuring, and Liz suspects that she was going away with a boy she likes. The next day, Kirito arrives at Liz's shop in search of a custom-made sword to buy. Much to Liz's shock, Kirito's sword, Elucidator, easily breaks her strongest sword. Angry and her pride hurt, Liz persuades Kirito to let her accompany him to the Western Mountain on the 55th floor to get a rare mineral from a dragon that eats crystals, so that she can use the mineral to make a stronger sword. When they arrive at the Western Mountain, Kirito tells Liz to hide when he fights the dragon. However, she ignores his advice and emerges from hiding halfway through the battle, believing the dragon almost defeated. The dragon blasts her into a deep pit with a powerful gale, and Kirito jumps in to save her. Despite surviving the fall, the pair cannot find a way out of the pit and are forced to sleep there for the night. Liz asks Kirito to hold her hand while they sleep, which brings her to the realization that she has feelings for him. The next morning, Kirito discovers that the mineral they are seeking, a Crystallite Ingot, is under the snow as the hole is the dragon's nest. The dragon returns and Kirito grabs Liz with him as he stabs the dragon's back, forcing it to carry them out the hole before jumping out. Now safe with the mineral, Liz creates a new sword, Dark Repulsor, for Kirito and denies payment. She instead asks Kirito to make her his exclusive smith and is about to confess her feelings to him, when a worried Asuna suddenly arrives. Realizing Kirito is the boy Asuna likes all along, Liz abruptly excuses herself from them. As Liz cries over her heartbreak, Kirito finds her and tries to comfort her. Accepting that her feelings would go unrequited, Liz pledges her support to Kirito as his smith if he promises to win the game and free them all. Source: Wiki

After adventuring on the 74th floor, Kirito finds a Ragout Rabbit, a rare S-class animal with top grade meat. Since he cannot cook well, Kirito decides to sell it to Egil, but he changes his mind when Asuna arrives and tells them she has mastered her cooking skills. Instead, Kirito requests her to cook it in exchange for a share of the meal. However, Kuradeel, Asuna's escort sent by the Knights of Blood, is against Asuna inviting Kirito to her home as he is a Beater, but Asuna ignores him. At her home in Selmburg on the 61st floor, Asuna cooks the rabbit meat for dinner. Over the meal, Asuna and Kirito discuss the two years that have passed since they were trapped in the game and how so many players have gotten accustomed to living in Aincrad, with fewer than five hundred players clearing the floors. Both agree to party up and explore the dungeons in the 74th floor, and meet up the following day. However, Kuradeel appears and attempts to stop them. Kuradeel challenges Kirito to a duel, promising to leave them alone if Kirito wins. Kirito defeats Kuradeel by breaking his sword. However, Kuradeel refuses to give up, until Asuna relieves him of his duties and orders him to return to Knights of the Blood headquarters. As Kirito and Asuna explore the 74th floor dungeons, they discover the boss room and its boss, Gleam Eyes. Source: Wiki

Kirito and Asuna flee from the boss room to another part of the dungeon, where they stop for a meal and encounter Klein and the Furinkazan guild. The Aincrad Liberation Force guild, known as "The Army", also appears, visibly exhausted from exploring the floor. As the soldiers rest, their leader Corbatz demands Kirito to give them the map he made of the floor. Despite Asuna and Klein's protests, Kirito complies with his request. Kirito, Asuna, Klein and his guild later check up on Corbatz and his men, only to learn that they are battling Gleam Eyes by themselves, despite Kirito's earlier warnings. To make matters worse, the teleport crystals do not work in the boss room. As the members of the Army are killed off one by one, Asuna, Kirito and Klein charge at the boss to protect the survivors. Not wanting to see more people die, Kirito is forced to use a unique skill, Dual Wield, he has been keeping secret that allows him to fight with two swords. Using both Elucidator and Dark Repulsor, Kirito performs Star-burst Stream, a barrage of deadly slashes to defeat Gleam Eyes, before falling unconscious as his HP hits red. Upon awakening, Kirito is greeted by the sight of a distraught Asuna, who announces her intentions to take a break from her guild and continue partying with Kirito. Shortly after the boss battle, Kirito's unique skill becomes the talk of Aincrad, which gets him the attention of Heathcliff, the Commander of the Knights of Blood. Not wishing to see his vice-commander leave his guild, Heathcliff challenges Kirito to a duel. If Kirito wins, Asuna is allowed to leave the guild and join his side, but if he loses, Kirito must join the Knights of Blood. Kirito agrees to the terms and accepts Heathcliff's challenge. Source: Wiki

The duel between Kirito and Heathcliff is held at an arena where a large crowd has gathered. Asuna warns Kirito to be careful about fighting Heathcliff as he has a unique skill called Holy Blade, which grants him maximum strength and defense. Heathcliff initially overpowers Kirito but the tide turns when Kirito forces Heathcliff on the defensive. Just as Kirito is about to deal the winning strike, Heathcliff mysteriously manages to dodge it and defeats Kirito. Now a member of the Knights of Blood, Kirito is questioned by Asuna about the reason for his strong aversion to joining guilds. After he confides in her about what happened to his old guild, Asuna comforts Kirito and tells him she will protect him. Later, Kirito is asked by fellow member Godfree to follow him and a seemingly remorseful Kuradeel to the 55th floor dungeons for a skill assessment. As they stop for a break, Kirito notices too late that the water he and Godfrey drank contains a paralysis effect. Kuradeel then reveals he is a member of the Laughing Coffin and his intentions to kill both Godfree and Kirito, while making it look like they were victims of an ambush. After finishing off Godfree, Kuradeel attempts to kill Kirito, but the latter is saved by the arrival of Asuna who tracked them on her map. Furious, Asuna quickly whittles down Kuradeel's HP until the critical stages. Kuradeel begs Asuna for forgiveness, which was a ruse to get her guard down and disarm her. Just as Kuradeel is about to strike Asuna, Kirito jumps in between them, blocking the attack with his arm before killing him. Asuna feels guilty for what had happened, but Kirito kisses her, and tells her how much he cares about her and how he wants to protect her. They stay at her home for the night. Later, as he sits next to Asuna on her bed, Kirito asks her they should take a temporary leave from the guild tells her of a place where they can be alone together and then proposes to her, which she tearfully accepts. Source: Wiki

Kirito and Asuna go on vacation and stay at their new home in a secluded village in the 22nd floor. The couple later find a lost girl in the forest and see her suddenly collapse. As they approach the unconscious girl, they discover that she does not have a cursor above her, suggesting a glitch. They take the girl to their home. She wakes up the following day, but upon questioning from Asuna and Kirito, it is discovered that the girl cannot remember anything but her name, Yui. Yui, unable to pronounce Asuna and Kirito's name correctly, calls them "mama" and "papa" instead. Believing that she got separated from her family, Kirito and Asuna decide to head to the Town of Beginnings on the 1st floor to find Yui's relatives before they go back to the front lines. Instead, they find a young woman named Sasha and the children she's taking care of being extorted by the Army for taxes. Asuna attacks their leader, scaring him and the rest of the Army soldiers away. As Sasha and the children thank Asuna, Yui reaches towards the sky and repeats "Everyone's hearts..." several times. Asuna rushes over to ask Yui if she has remembered anything, and she tells Kirito and Asuna that she realizes she has never been to the Town of Beginnings before. Suddenly, Yui's eyes widen, and mysterious static sound affects everyone before Yui faints. Source: Wiki

Kirito, Asuna and Yui are resting at the church where Sasha takes care of the younger children, until Yulier, second-in-command from the Army, suddenly arrives. Yulier explains that the Army under their leader, Sinker, had good intentions of helping players but as the Army grew bigger, unscrupulous leaders within the Army began abusing their powers. Sinker was going to expel Kibaou over the Gleam Eyes incident, but the latter trapped him in a secret dungeon beneath 1st floor. Yulier then asks Kirito and Asuna for help in a rescue. The couple accept and, upon arrival at Sinker's location in the dungeon, get attacked by a boss called "the Fatal Scythe". Kirito and Asuna tell Yulier to escape together with sinker and Yui as they fight the boss, but it is too strong. As the boss is about to strike down Kirito, Yui jumps in between them. The boss attacks, but the boss is unable to damage her due to her being an "Immortal Object". Yui then promptly defeats the boss. After the battle, Yui tells Kirito and Asuna that she has finally regained her memories. She explains that she is an AI counselor created by the game's Cardinal system, whose purpose was to monitor and counsel the players on their mental state. On the day of game's launch, Cardinal refused to allow her to interact with the players, and she was forced to watch their mental states deteriorate. Sometime after, Yui learned about the happiness of Asuna and Kirito and thus made an appearance in the 22nd floor forest to meet them. Despite the revelation, Asuna and Kirito still accept Yui as their "daughter", but Yui bids them farewell when she realises that she is to be deleted for her interference in the game. Refusing to accept her deletion, Kirito uses the GM console Yui left behind to save Yui's data by turning her into a game item. With the data saved on his NerveGear local memory, Kirito and Asuna hope to recreate her in the real world. Source: Wiki

While fishing near a lake, Kirito encounters Nishida, an old man and former network security manager for Argus, the company that made SAO, who oversaw the game's development. He remarks that despite honing his fisherman skill, he is unable to cook delicious dishes with what he catches. Kirito then invites him to his home for Asuna to cook the fish he just caught for them. During their meal, Nishida mentions a huge fish he tried to catch many times but failed, and he asks Kirito to help him. Later, Nishida manages to hook the fish and passes the rod to Kirito to pull it away. The fish is revealed to be a huge monster which Asuna slays. Soon after, Kirito receives a summons from Heathcliff. Kirito and Asuna leave to meet up with him at the Knights of Blood headquarters, where they learn that a scouting party had been trapped and killed in the 75th level's boss room. A team of players from several guilds, including Kirito and Asuna, is being assembled to fight the boss. Fearing for her safety, Kirito asks Asuna to stay behind, but Asuna refuses, declaring that she would rather die than live without him. She also surmises that all players' real bodies must be currently undergoing treatment in hospitals and that their condition cannot be preserved indefinitely. Therefore, simply fleeing to live by themselves in the game is not an option. Later, when the players enter the boss room, they are confronted by the Skull Reaper, a ferocious, skeletal monster capable of killing players in one blow. Kirito, Asuna and Heathcliff battle the creature head on, while the other players flank it. Source: Wiki

After the group defeats the Skull Reaper, suffering 14 casualties in the battle, Kirito deduces that Heathcliff is, in fact, Kayaba Akihiko himself, when exposing him as an "Immortal Object". Akihiko paralyses everyone except Kirito, and he then offers Kirito the chance to face him in a one-on-one duel where, should Kirito win, Akihiko would log out all the remaining players. After giving his best wishes to the others, Kirito accepts the challenge but is unable to overcome Akihiko's absolute defense and intimate understanding of the game's mechanics. As Akihiko readies the finishing blow, Asuna overcomes her paralysis and takes the hit instead, losing all her HP and disappearing as a result. Distraught by Asuna's death, Kirito loses the will to fight and receives a fatal stab from Akihiko. However, at the point of death, Kirito remembers Asuna's belief in him and re-materializes to defeat Akihiko using Asuna's sword. They are both killed simultaneously and the game is declared cleared on November 7, 2024. Kirito then awakens high above the game world, where he finds both Asuna and Akihiko. Akihiko informs Kirito and Asuna that he has logged out all the other players as promised, and he also explains his motives for creating Sword Art Online before disappearing. Kirito and Asuna then tell one another their real names, Kirigaya Kazuto and Yuuki Asuna, and embrace each other as the world falls apart. To his surprise, Kazuto awakens in a hospital in the real world and, despite being physically weak, he sets off to search for the real Asuna. Source: Wiki

Two months after being freed from SAO, Kazuto's sister, Suguha, has been constantly worrying about him. The pair have a kendo spar, and though Kirito loses, Suguha is both shocked and curious about his unusual yet proficient sword fighting skills as a result of his time in SAO. Later, Kazuto goes to the hospital to visit Asuna who, along with 300 other players, has yet to wake up even after the SAO incident. It is there that he meets an associate of Asuna's father, Sugou Nobuyuki. Much to Kazuto's fury, Sugou tells him that he intends to be adopted into Asuna's family while she is still comatose as a precursor to marriage. Claiming that this is his right since it was his company, RECTO Progress Inc., had been keeping Asuna alive after SAO's developer Argus went bankrupt, he informs Kazuto that the ceremony will occur in a week and tells him not to see her again. Later at home, Kazuto breaks down before Suguha, who tells him not to give up, despite knowing Kazuto is actually her cousin and harboring her own feelings for him. The next morning, Kazuto receives an e-mail from Andrew Gilbert Mills, Egil's real life persona, with a screenshot of an avatar resembling Asuna from another game. Source: Wiki

Kazuto visits Andrew, who explains that the screenshot he sent originated from Alfheim Online (ALO), an MMO where players take the role of fairies capable of flight. He explains that the figure resembling Asuna was spotted somewhere on the game's World Tree. Noticing that RECTO created the game, Kazuto decides to don his NerveGear once again and take up his role as Kirito in ALO. After selecting his character race as a Spriggan and diving in, he enters a strange warphole which leads him to a forest, where he finds to his surprise that his stats are identical to his SAO avatar's, with the exception of his dual wielding skill. He also discovers that he still has the SAO in-game item containing Yui's data, which he activates to bring Yui into ALfheim as a Navigation Pixie to their reunion. Yui deduces that the game is made using a copy of SAO's servers, which was why all common skills and stats from SAO had been carried over to Kirito's ALO avatar. As Kirito gets used to his flight controls, two Sylph players are being chased by Salamander players. Just as one is defeated and the other named Leafa outnumbered, Kirito crash lands before her and steps in to help defeat the assailants. Source: Wiki

Leafa thanks Kirito for saving her and teaches him how to fly properly. They then travel to the Sylph Territory (Sylvein) where they meet one of Leafa's party members, Recon. Leafa and Kirito go to an inn and have a conversation about how he can get to the top of the World Tree. Seeing Kirito's determination to reach the top of the tree, Leafa decides to help him and asks him to meet her at the inn the next day. When Leafa logs out, it is revealed she is actually Suguha. Meanwhile, Asuna is seen in a gigantic bird cage at the World Tree, held by the game master, Oberon the Fairy King. She recognizes Oberon as Sugou, who insists on calling her "Titania". He reveals to Asuna how he captured the minds of 300 players before they were logged out from SAO including her own, as part of his research on memory control. He threatens to alter Asuna's memories if she does not cooperate with him and then departs, leaving Asuna in despair and quietly begging for Kirito to save her. Source: Wiki

Suguha reminisces about how she started VR gaming, and then meets up with Recon's real life persona, Nagata Shin'ichi. She informs him that she will be leaving their party to join Kirito. Later, she logs in as Leafa and accompanies Kirito to shop for new equipment, but runs into her party. The group is led by Sigurd who does not take kindly to Leafa's departure and warns them they will be consider renegades for not sticking their allegiance to their race's territories. Before Kirito and Leafa set off, Recon approaches them, saying that though he wants to join them, he will remain in the party to keep an eye on Sigurd due to some suspicions he has on him. Later during their travels, Kirito and Leafa arrive at a landing point where they take turns logging out to refresh themselves. After Kirito returns, they both set off again, unaware that they are being followed by a mysterious group. Meanwhile, Asuna learns from Oberon that Kirito is still alive and secretly obtains the keycode for her cage's lock. Source: Wiki

While passing through a cave, Leafa receives a message from Recon cautioning her to take care. She and Kirito then realize that they are being followed and try to escape, only to be cornered by a large group of Salamander players. Kirito asks Leafa to support him with her magic while he fights the group by himself. However, he is unable to break their formation until Yui comes up with a plan to have Leafa cast some protective magic on Kirito, while he conjures a spell that temporarily transforms him into Gleam Eyes. In his new form, Kirito obliterates his enemies, but spares one whom Kirito bribes in exchange for information. The Salamander player reveals that his party was ordered to attack Kirito and Leafa by the same group which attacked them during their first encounter. After arriving at the next town, Suguha logs out for a while and answers a phone call from Shin'ichi. Shin'ichi tells her that Sigurd is in cahoots with the Salamanders, who plan on attacking the Sylph leader Sakuya and the Cait Siths during a meeting to establish an alliance. Upon returning to the game, Leafa explains the situation to Kirito and states that it would be in his best interest to continue without her, as allying with the Salamanders may be the best option for him in order to reach the top of the World Tree. Kirito instead chooses to help her and makes use of his speed to break out of the cave with her. Source: Wiki

Kirito and Leafa reach the meeting place just as the Salamanders prepare to attack the Sylphs and Cait Siths. Seeing that they have no chance against them in a direct confrontation, Kirito rushes forward and addresses the Salamander General Eugene. Kirito bluffs that he is an ambassador for the Spriggans-Undines alliance, and cautions him that to attack them would be tantamount to declaring war on the other four factions. Eugene does not believe him and challenges him to a duel. Though both are equally skilled, Kirito is severely disadvantaged by Eugene's superior sword, which can phase ethereally and bypass his defenses. Kirito conjures a huge smokescreen, making use of it to borrow Leafa's sword and attack from Eugene's blind spot. Drawing his second sword to block Eugene's attack at the last instant is enough to surprise him, and Kirito proceeds to win the duel. After Eugene is defeated, he is revived by Sakuya, and leaves in peace with his army. Now exposed as a traitor, Sigurd is contacted by Sakuya who strips him of his title and has him banished from the Sylph territory. After learning that the now allied Sylphs and Cait Siths plan an expedition to the World Tree in a couple of days, Kirito donates a large sum of money to Alicia, leader of the Cait Siths, to aid them in their war effort and departs ahead with Leafa. Meanwhile, Asuna makes use of the code she had previously learned to open the cage and escape. Source: Wiki

Kirito and Leafa reach Arun, the capital of Alfheim, located directly beneath the World Tree. However a sudden announcement of an emergency shutdown for server maintenance prompt the two to find a nearby inn and log out. The next day, Suguha accompanies Kazuto to visit Asuna at the hospital. Meanwhile, in the World Tree, Asuna stumbles upon a room where experiments are being made with the brains of the other SAO players trapped in ALO. She then attempts to log out of the game by using the GM console inside the room, but is captured by two of Sugou's assistants. However, she manages to snatch a key card before being thrown back to her cell. Back in the real world, Suguha gets heartbroken upon seeing Kazuto tending to Asuna, and is comforted by Kirito after she logs back as Leafa on ALO, still unaware that both him and her brother are the same person. Later as the pair approach the World Tree, Yui suddenly detects Asuna's presence, prompting Kirito to fly ahead leaving Leafa behind. Source: Wiki

Kirito rushes up to the World Tree but is blocked by a barrier. Desperate, Yui calls out to Asuna, who hears her cries and throws down the administrator's key card, which Kirito catches. Resolving to get to Asuna's location, Kirito bids farewell to Leafa and embarks on the Grand Quest himself to reach the top of the tree. Upon entering the dome at the tree's base, Kirito is faced with hundreds of valiant guardians, which he angrily battles against. Despite his best efforts, Kirito is overwhelmed and runs out of HP. Shortly after, Leafa enters the dome and grabs Kirito's flame which contains his soul, before successfully escaping to revive him. Leafa tries to talk Kirito out of re-entering the dome alone, but he remains determined. Leafa then hears him speak Asuna's name, causing her to realize that Kirito is actually Kazuto. Upon discovering one another's identities, they log out. In the real world, Kazuto then approaches Suguha, who reveals in great anguish that she had fallen in love with both of his identities and how she knew they were not true siblings. Heartbroken, Suguha shuts herself in her room leaving Kazuto outside her door in shock. Source: Wiki

Kazuto thinks back to the time when he was ten and learned that he was not related with Suguha, which resulted in him becoming detached from his family and increasingly engrossed with online gaming. However, due to his extended period trapped in SAO, he decides to make amends with his family. Wanting to sort things out, Kazuto asks Suguha to meet him in ALO. As Leafa contemplates whether she should stop seeing her brother in-game anymore, she runs into Recon, whose unsuccessful attempt to confess to her cheers her up. Leafa then challenges Kirito to a one-on-one duel, during which they both end up throwing it to apologize to each other. After Kazuto explains he won't be able to say what he thinks of Suguha until Asuna is rescued, Leafa agrees to help him in his quest, dragging Recon along with her. Kirito once again takes on the guardians, this time with assistance from Leafa and Recon. As the number of guardians keep increasing, Recon uses a self-destruct spell to create a gap for Kirito to get through, but it is filled up all too soon. Just as things look dire, Sakuya and Alicia arrive with their armies to back them up. Using Leafa's sword, Kirito manages to break through the guardians and reach the top, only to find a system administrator-locked door in his way. Then, using the admin key card Asuna gave them, Yui manages to open the door, teleporting her and Kirito to a new location. Source: Wiki

Arriving at the top of the World Tree, Kirito and Yui finally reunite with Asuna. However, they are suddenly hit by high gravity magic, which forces Yui to retreat, and are confronted by Oberon. As Oberon reveals his plans to control the human mind is almost complete, he chains Asuna up and starts to molest her in front of Kirito, who is stabbed into the ground by him. As Kirito falls into despair, he hears the voice of Akihiko, who encourages him to stand up and fight, realising the pain is nothing compared to the pain of SAO. Using Akihiko's administrative functions, Kirito removes all of Oberon's powers and challenges him to a fight with no pain absorption, showing him what true pain is before he finally destroys Oberon. After logging Asuna out to ensure her safety in the real world, Kirito meets with the remnant of Akihiko's memory, who gives him an item called "The Seed" before leaving. After returning to the real world and giving his thanks to Suguha, Kazuto makes his way to the hospital to reunite with Asuna. Source: Wiki

Rushing to the hospital, Kazuto is attacked by an injured Sugou with a knife at the parking area. Kazuto disarms him, and after considering everything Sugou has done, Kazuto spares his life. Kazuto finally meets with Asuna where they have a tearful reunion. On May 16, 2025, Kazuto and Asuna have returned to school, attending a special school for students who were trapped in SAO. As they have lunch, Kazuto reveals Sugou was captured by the police after their fight and his crimes were exposed by one of his employees. The 300 players that were trapped by Sugou were released but his experiments shocked the public. Asuna's father and his higher ups resigned and shut down ALO with other VRMMORPG following it as a result of the scandal. Later, Asuna, Kazuto and Suguha head to Andrew's bar along with Liz/Shinozaki Rika, Silica/Ayano Keiko, Yolko, Kains, Sasha, Yulier, Sinker, Klein/Tsuboi Ryoutarou and his guild where they have a party to celebrate for clearing the game SAO. Andrew analyzed "The Seed" to be a program that allows anyone with a server to create their own VRMMORPG and transfer players to other VRMMORPG easily. "The Seed" is uploaded to the internet which revives the VRMMORPG genre. Later that night in Alfheim Online, Kirito meets up with Leafa where they share a dance and a heartfelt conversation in the sky. Directly afterwards the new floating castle Aincrad from SAO is brought into Alfheim Online which Kirito then professes his intention to clear all 100 floors of SAO. He is met with their friends from SAO and Alfheim Online flying towards the new Aincrad. Source: Wiki