I'm a Sword Master in Sword Art Online

The two walked through the forest along a mountain path, the fallen leaves rustling softly beneath their feet. Mochizuki Kaede's silver hair shimmered and danced in the shadows of the trees, like flowing mercury. Asuna followed closely behind, the water droplets splashing from her white boots as she stepped into the stream refracting iridescent light in the sunlight.

Suddenly, a deep ravine appeared ahead, like a giant maw of nature ready to swallow them whole. According to the old sage's instructions, this was the final destination of their journey.

This is the very center of the first level, and also the lowest point of the first landmass. Towering cliffs surround it like prison bars, cutting the sky into narrow blue fragments. In the center of the valley, a stone statue of a goddess kneels in prayer, mottled moss covering her compassionate face. At the statue's feet, a staircase leads towards the earth's core, each step engraved with ancient runes, gleaming with an eerie blue light in the dim glow.

Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna exchanged a glance, then stepped onto the stairs without hesitation. The stairs seemed endless, and the air grew thick and murky.

Suddenly, a large group of bullfrog-like monsters appeared around them. They were about half the height of an adult, with rough skin covered in green bumps. These monsters hopped and leaped along the sides of the stairs, croaking. However, the monsters on the first floor were too low-level to pose any threat to Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna. Mochizuki Kaede simply swung his weapon lightly, and the monsters instantly turned into data fragments. Asuna followed closely behind Mochizuki Kaede, providing him with support.

I don't know how long I walked; time seemed to lose its meaning here.

When Mochizuki Kaede's boots finally touched the hard, flat ground, a bright and clear view suddenly appeared before her eyes—

At the end of the corridor, a large door stood majestically. Intricate runes were engraved on the door, each line flowing with a liquid-like radiance, like a living galaxy meandering and flowing across its surface. The light flickered, as if it were breathing.

A look of surprise and delight simultaneously lit up Mochizuki Kaede's and Asuna's eyes. Behind that door lay the "Sanctuary" mentioned by the old sage! It held the possibility of bringing Kissmel back to the world!

The two quickened their pace simultaneously, the sound of their boots striking the ground echoing through the corridor.

As they reached the center, the entire space suddenly trembled.

"Om-!"

A ghostly blue light surged in from all directions like a tide, forcing the two to squint involuntarily. When their vision refocused, a chilling black shadow stood starkly in the center of the passage.

It was a three-meter-tall monster, shrouded in a tattered black robe. In the darkness beneath the brim of its hat, countless dark red veins writhed. Materialized dark energy coiled around the withered arms extending from its sleeves, constantly twisting and shifting. Most horrifying of all was its face—if that writhing mass of darkness could be called a face—set in the center was a bloodshot eyeball, eerily rotating until it finally locked onto the two figures.

"This is..." Asuna's breath caught in her throat.

The monster gripped a long, large scythe in its right hand. The blade was curved and sharp, and drops of viscous red liquid dripped continuously from the menacing curved blade, making a jarring "drip-drip" sound that was particularly jarring in the silent space. Overall, it resembled the Grim Reaper.

.

.

.

.

Thank you [Happy Lemon Pie] for the monthly pass!

Chapter 138: The Sanctuary

"Death?" Asuna's heart skipped a beat, and she blurted out the word instinctively, while quickly raising the elven sword in her hand.

Standing at the front, Mochizuki Kaede reacted swiftly. His eyes were resolute, and his hands firmly gripped the Thunder Blade and the Greatsword. The Thunder Blade crackled with electricity, emitting a soft "sizzling" sound. The Greatsword exuded a heavy and steady aura, its blade gleaming coldly in the dark blue light.

"Asuna, the contract box is with you. Run to the [Sanctuary] immediately." Mochizuki Kaede's voice was extremely calm.

"Huh...?" Asuna was slightly taken aback, and unease flickered in her bright eyes.

“This guy is no ordinary person.” Mochizuki Maple’s gray eyes were fixed on what was in front of him. “My identification skills can’t read any data at all… His strength is probably close to that of the level 90 boss.”

"…!" Asuna gasped, her entire body instantly stiffening. The boss on the 90th floor was undoubtedly an insurmountable chasm for them at their current level!

Asuna was torn by a fierce internal struggle. Reason told her that Mochizuki Kaede, with her own speed, should be able to reach the Sanctuary without the monster catching up, after all, Mochizuki Kaede was always agile. But this monster was the boss of the 90th floor! Its ghostly movements filled her with unease. The thought that if she abandoned Mochizuki Kaede and fled first, and Mochizuki Kaede met with misfortune, was something Asuna couldn't bear.

"How could I abandon Xiaofeng and run away alone!" Asuna's slender fingers gripped the sword hilt tightly again, her tone filled with unwavering determination.

Just then, Death's figure suddenly blurred. The next second, it appeared in mid-air, its scythe drawing a scarlet arc as it cleaved down towards the two of them!

"clang--!!!"

Mochizuki Kaede crossed his twin swords into a cross, forcefully blocking the fatal blow. The stone slab beneath his feet cracked instantly, and his knees bent slightly from the immense impact, yet he still stood like an iron tower before Asuna.

Without hesitation, Asuna pressed herself against his back, her elven sword positioned at a perfect angle at the point where the two swords crossed. The defensive net formed by the three weapons shimmered with different colored skill lights—blue and white lightning, pitch-black pressure, and emerald holiness—all merging into one at that moment.

However, Death paid no heed to these obstacles. Suddenly, the blood on the scythe boiled, and the blade erupted with a blinding red light—

"boom!"

A devastating shockwave exploded. Asuna felt herself spinning, as if caught in a mad vortex. First, she slammed into the ground, the hard surface making her internal organs feel displaced. Then she bounced back and hit the ceiling, her head slamming against it with a sharp pain, before finally falling back to the ground. Her breath caught in her throat, her vision went completely black, as if she had fallen into an endless abyss, surrounded by bottomless darkness and silence.

As she struggled to regain consciousness, she subconsciously checked her and Mochizuki Kaede's health points and discovered that both of them had lost more than half of their health points due to the attack. The glaring yellow warning felt like a bucket of ice water being poured over their hearts: they absolutely could not withstand the monster's second attack!

"We must...stand up..."

Asuna's fingers clawed at the rubble, but she couldn't muster any strength. Out of the corner of her eye, Death had raised its scythe again, the blood on the blade forming long, red lines, pointing directly at her body—

"boom!"

Mochizuki Kaede pounced like a cheetah, throwing her greatsword with pinpoint accuracy at the joint of the scythe. Amidst the sparks of clashing metal, the scythe's trajectory was successfully deflected, grazing Asuna's body and leaving a deep trench in the ground.

"One-Sword Asura—!"

[Thunder Punisher] burst forth with dazzling light, and blue-white plasma enveloped the blade as if it were a tangible substance, piercing straight into the Grim Reaper's chest.

However, this all-out attack only forced Death to retreat half a step.

The absolute numerical difference made everything a joke.

"Crack!"

Death swung his scythe backhand, severing the [Thunder Punisher] as easily as cutting tofu. The crackling, electric half of the blade spun and plunged into the ground, the remaining electricity emitting a dying "zzzz" sound.

"Xiaofeng! No!!"

Asuna's scream echoed through the corridor. Just as the scythe was about to strike—

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, the contract box at her waist burst forth with a dazzling purple light. Countless purple light particles poured out like a galaxy, rapidly condensing in front of Wang Yuefeng. Gradually, a slender figure emerged from the light: a kite shield in the left hand and a military knife in the right. There was no clear face, but it exuded a chilling sense of familiarity.

“...Kizmel?”

Asuna's call was accompanied by an incredulous tremor.

The knight, formed of purple light, leaped into the air, his kite shield precisely blocking the downward-slashing scythe.

Death seemed caught off guard by this turn of events. It roared and swayed slightly. Qizmail's spirit seized the opportunity to swing its saber. This strike was devoid of any fancy techniques, a simple forward thrust. The moment the blade touched Death's black robe, countless purple light patterns spread across the monster's body like a spiderweb.

"His-"

A grating tearing sound rang out, and Death's towering body suddenly stiffened, the darkness beneath its black robes beginning to churn violently. It frantically swung its scythe in an attempt to retaliate, only to be cleaved in two by a second horizontal slash from the saber!

Even Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna were shocked by this powerful force that was not something Kissmel had ever displayed in his lifetime; they seemed to witness the birth of a miracle.

Kissmael's spirit form didn't pause for a moment; she continued wielding her saber, launching a fierce attack on Death. The saber flashed like lightning, relentlessly piercing Death's body. Under Kissmael's onslaught, Death gradually found itself in a difficult situation.

"boom!"

Finally, in a fierce exchange, Kissmael seized the opportunity and thrust his saber into Death's chest like a meteor.

"Roar--!"

Death let out a scream, and its body began to dissipate, turning into black fragments that disappeared into the air.

As the Grim Reaper disappeared, the purple figure also began to dissipate at the same moment, and the light particles flowed back into the contract box like fireflies flowing against the current.

The surroundings returned to calm, but Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna were unable to recover from their shock for a long time.

“Even if only fragments of her soul remain…” Mochizuki Kaede’s voice was low, “she is still protecting us.”

Asuna stared at the flickering light on the contract box, countless questions swirling in her mind—where did this power, which transcended the system's rules, come from? Why could Kissmael's soul materialize?

However, they did not linger in this mood for long, and the two quickly entered the sanctuary.

The entire area of ​​the sanctuary is a pure white cubic space.

The walls, ceiling, and even the floor emitted a soft glow, making one feel as if they were floating in the clouds. Only in the very center stood a polished black cube-shaped stone table.

.

.

.

.

Thank you [秋月流云] for the monthly pass!

Chapter 139: Formatting

Asuna took a deep breath and gently placed the contract box on the black cube-shaped stone table.

In an instant——

Countless blue light patterns lit up on the surface of the stone table, as if a sophisticated circuit board had been instantly activated. These streams of light quickly spread to the contract box, and purple light particles flowed out of the contract box like a gentle stream.

Under the tense and expectant gazes of Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna, particles of light slowly condensed before them. First, a strand of purple hair appeared, then familiar elven pointed ears, and finally, the crisp royal guard uniform—Kizmel's silhouette gradually became clear.

When she opened her eyes, her violet eyes immediately locked onto Mochizuki Maple.

“Kiz…” Mochizuki Kaede said slowly.

"Mochizuki Maple...!"

The moment the female knight saw him, her eyes lit up with a dazzling light. She ran forward with outstretched arms, her purple hair billowing behind her—

Her body passed through Mochizuki Kaede's chest.

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

Kissmel looked down at her translucent palms. Mochizuki Kaede's hands were still in an embracing posture, but they were only holding a ball of cold air.

“I…” A hint of loss and confusion flashed in Qi Zimei’s eyes, but soon she forced a smile, a smile that was tinged with bitterness and relief. “Wang Yuefeng, I feel like I’m dead. I’m probably in a soul state right now.”

When Kissmel's gaze turned to Asuna, her expression softened: "Lady Asuna, it's been a long time."

Asuna looked sadly at the female knight in front of her, tears welling up in her eyes. She wanted to hug her tightly, but Kissmel was in a spirit state and could not touch her at all.

“Miss Kizmel…” Her voice choked with emotion, and she didn’t know what to say.

Kissmael looked around, her ethereal hair swaying gently in the data stream: "Where am I...?"

Mochizuki Kaede recounted the old sage's guidance in a calm, almost restrained voice. As he spoke, the confusion in Kissmael's eyes gradually turned into understanding.

"I see..." She looked down at her semi-transparent body, then suddenly looked up as if she remembered something. "Right, I think I was just... fighting some black monster with a scythe?"

Mochizuki Kaede then recounted in detail her fierce battle with the Grim Reaper.

Kismer listened quietly, nodding slightly from time to time: "Ever since I died in the royal city, my consciousness has been in a state of chaos, as if I were in an endless darkness, without direction or hope. Then I suddenly sensed that Mochizuki Kaede was in danger. That feeling was like an invisible thread pulling me out of the chaos, so I woke up in a daze. Then I met someone in my consciousness, but I forgot who it was. My memories were fragmented, like a broken mirror, impossible to piece together. Then when my consciousness cleared up a little again, I saw that black monster with a scythe. At that time, I only had one thought in my mind, which was to fight. Then my consciousness became chaotic again, as if I was pulled back into the darkness by an invisible force. Only now that I am here with you has my consciousness slowly returned."

After she finished speaking, her figure flickered a few times, and her edges began to blur even more: "It seems that this reunion is only temporary... I can feel... the power that holds us together is dissipating..."

“Qizi…”

“Miss Kizmel…”

Mochizuki Kaede and Asuna's calls rang out simultaneously, but at that moment—

"boom!"

Suddenly, the black stone table burst forth with a blinding blue light, and a holographic keyboard appeared out of thin air. Immediately afterward, a huge system window popped up, and countless lines of code scrolled like a waterfall, illuminating the entire sanctuary as if it were a sea of ​​data.

"This is..." The rapidly scrolling characters were reflected in Mochizuki Kaede's pupils, "System management terminal?!"

The contract box suddenly dissipated into particles of light, and Kissmel's figure began to fade rapidly. As if suddenly remembering something, Mochizuki Kaede lunged at the virtual keyboard, her fingers flying across the air—

[Abnormal data volume detected].

[Start the formatting process].

[The carrier is being reconstructed...]

"Hold on!" Mochizuki Kaede gritted her teeth, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

Kismer's body had become almost transparent, but at the last moment it suddenly coalesced. Countless purple light particles, as if drawn by a force, converged towards the center of the stone table, gradually condensing into a rhombus-shaped amethyst necklace, which floated silently in the air.

Formatting complete.

【New platform: Soul Crystal ver.1.0】

Mochizuki Kaede reached out tremblingly, and the crystal necklace slowly landed in his palm. Through the shimmering amethyst, a faint silver-purple halo could be seen flowing within. The moment his fingertips touched the crystal, a familiar voice softly echoed in his mind:

【I'm here……】

The system windows on the stone table began to close one by one, until only one flashing notification remained:

[WARNING: Unauthorized access].

The system will reset in 60 seconds.

"go!"