I, Asuna, don't want to travel around the world

Obviously, he had the same unique skills as Kayaba Akihiko, but in the end, he was not the one fighting against him, and Kirito felt a strong sense of frustration.

"But at least in terms of the results, it's good."

Of course, the same goes for Klein and Agil.

"That's amazing! Asuna!"

"As expected of the Ghost of Conquerors and Flash, isn't she? I must thank her after returning to reality!"

"I hope that by then she won't chase us to do something according to her requirements, hahahaha!"

“Hey, hey, she’s definitely going to scold you for doing this, Klein.”

Klein and Agil leaned on each other, and finally hit each other's shoulders hard, crying and laughing.

Kirito just watched the two of them quietly, with a helpless yet happy smile on his face, and slowly sat down on the ground with his hands.

"Hey! Everyone must have a good get-together after we get back!"

"What? You're just getting up now, Kirito!"

"too slow!"

"Zheng!"

Klein's body was suddenly enveloped by a layer of light. Seeing this, he sat cross-legged there, scratched his head, and said, "Oh, it seems I have to go first."

"Tsk! Go away, go away, don't be an eyesore here!"

"Hey! Your smile is so disgusting, Klein!"

“Huh?! You’re just jealous that I’m faster than you. Humph, see you in real life, Kirito! Agil!”

"Oh, see you later!"

"See you!"

The next moment, Klein's figure slowly disappeared, accompanied by his friend's teasing.

Shortly after……

"Zheng!"

"Zheng!"

Two beams of light, symbolizing return, descended from the sky, enveloping Kirito and Agil.

"It's finally our turn."

"Yeah, it's finally our turn."

Kirito and Agil laughed, and then their figures were enveloped by the light and gradually disappeared.

As figures disappeared one after another along with countless beams of light, Aincrad, the game world that had trapped countless players for more than two years, finally came to an end.

“Rumble——!!!”

The floating city of Aincrad suddenly began to vibrate as all the players disappeared.

This is because the castle is rapidly falling apart.

It has completed its mission.

"What a sweet dream..."

----

----

"where is this place?"

When she woke up, Asuna found herself in a very strange place.

Here there is a fiery sunset that almost burns the entire sky.

Asuna was standing on a thick layer of crystal floor. Although it gave people a feeling that "this floor is very thick", the floor was as clear as a stream.

It gives people a feeling of "floating in the air".

Under the transparent floor, countless clouds dyed red by the setting sun slowly passed by.

Looking up, you can see the sky dyed red by the setting sun, as if extending infinitely into the distance.

The endless sky changes in layers, from bright scarlet to blood-red, and then to purple.

In addition, there was the sound of a faint breeze ringing in Asuna's ears.

There was nothing in the sky except for clouds gleaming with golden red light. If you looked from a distance, you could see a crystal disk that looked extremely small compared to the vast sky.

Asuna herself stood on the edge of the crystal disc.

After looking at the sky for a while, Asuna turned her attention back to herself.

"...Where is this place? My body should have broken into countless pieces and disappeared when I died.

Is he still in SAO?

Or... have you arrived in the afterlife?"

As she said this, Asuna looked down at her body.

The Blood Knights uniform and gloves he was wearing were the same as the ones he was wearing when he died.

However, compared to when I was "alive", everything about me now seems a little transparent.

This "everything" does not only refer to the equipment, but also the parts of Asuna's body exposed outside the uniform have become translucent like colored glass.

At this moment, Asuna's body also appeared a faint red due to the red light emitted by the setting sun in the distance.

Asuna stretched out her right hand and tried to wave her fingers lightly.

"Ding~!"

Then, the familiar sound effect and window that had accompanied Asuna for two years appeared at the same time.

"Okay, so this is probably still the interior of SAO."

Asuna said softly, and then looked at the wound that had become completely different from before.

In that familiar system window, there was no equipment doll or many menus.

There was only a small line of text displayed on the blank screen.

[The final stage is currently underway and the progress is currently 54%]

As Asuna stared, the number suddenly rose to 55%.

Asuna felt a little confused.

However, compared with the confusion that he should have died but did not die in the end, this string of numbers is actually not very important.

After all, even if I knew the meaning of this string of numbers, what would it matter? Could I change it? No!

So, take care of your own affairs first.

According to what Kayaba Akihiko said at the time, these players will be killed in reality at the same time as they die in the game.

Asuna originally thought that after their bodies in the game collapsed, the system would send a signal, causing the stealth devices worn by these players to kill themselves through "brain death", and then their consciousness would be destroyed... But what is going on now?

No one could answer Asuna's question, at least, not yet.

"Crack, click, click..."

The sound of shattering in her mind resounded, but Asuna seemed not to have heard it and turned her gaze into the distance.

[Corrosion rate... 99%... encountering unknown resistance...]

Chapter 12 The End of the World

In the sky quite far away from the crystal disk where Asuna was standing - something was seen floating.

The object had the shape of a cone with the front end cut off.

The whole thing is made up of countless layers stacked up on top of each other. If you look closely, you can see many mountains, forests, lakes, and towns between the layers.

"That's... Aincrad..."

Asuna sat on the crystal disc, her hands folded around her knees, and whispered softly.

There was no doubt about it, it was Aincrad.

A huge floating castle floating in the infinite sky.

Countless players spent two years fighting continuously in that world of swords and battles.

And now, it was far away from Asuna's feet.

Before coming to this world, Asuna had seen its appearance in the expansion pack when SAO was released in the real world.

But this is the first time I've seen its entity from the outside.

Looking at the floating castle suspended in the air, a feeling close to awe filled Asuna's whole body, causing her to hold her breath.

It was as if she had seen the wonders of nature, or something else amazing. At this moment, Asuna was filled with awe.

However, at this moment, this huge steel city is gradually collapsing.

With the evacuation of the players and the end of the game, at this moment, part of the bottom floor of Aincrad has been broken into countless fragments.

Under Asuna's silent gaze, some flew away and some peeled off.

If you listen carefully, you can hear some heavy rumbling sounds mixed in with the wind.

After all, where I am now is still the game world. Even if it looks very far away, if I listen carefully, I can still hear some sounds.

"It's over..."

Asuna let out a small cry.

I watched the world I had lived in for two years gradually collapse, and watched silently as I sent it off for the last time.

As time slowly passed, a large part of the lower floors collapsed one after another. Countless trees and lake water mixed with boulders and steel, continuously falling down, and finally sinking into the red sea of ​​clouds.

“Great view, right?”

Suddenly, an extremely familiar voice sounded beside Asuna.

Asuna raised her head and looked to the right. She hadn't noticed that a man was standing there.

That person was Kayaba Akihiko.

At this moment, Kayaba Akihiko's face no longer looks like Heathcliff, but his original appearance as the developer of SAO.

He was wearing a white shirt, tie, and a white robe, and looked like a thin scientific researcher.

His eyes, which originally had a slightly metallic texture, were now filled with a gentle look as he looked at the gradually disappearing floating city.

Moreover, his body was translucent, just like Asuna's.

Even though she had fought a life-and-death battle with this man not long ago, at this moment, Asuna no longer had the slightest desire to fight him.

There is even a faint sense of familiarity and control in my heart.

It seems that as long as I am in this game, I will not be harmed?

Asuna shook her head gently, driving away those unrealistic thoughts from her mind.

She turned her eyes away from Kayaba Akihiko, looked back at the gradually collapsing castle, and asked:

"The game, is this the end?"

"Ah, yes, it's completely over."

Kayaba Akihiko's voice was also quite calm, without any ups and downs. He just quietly watched the destruction of Aincrad and continued speaking.

"Right now, the SAO mainframe installed on the fifth floor of the basement of the ARGUS headquarters is working to completely delete the SAO files.

In about ten minutes, this world will be completely destroyed."

"What about the people in there? How are they doing?"

"Don't worry."

Kayaba Akihiko moved his right hand, looked at the window where he was called out, and said:

"Just now - all the surviving players, a total of 6,147 people, have completed logging out."