Hello again! I'm back with more chapters! 

For all the support and reviews you all gave me! It really means a lot. But we'll talk about it later, anyway, on to the story!

(Opening Theme)

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XXX

The unexpected happened, Yoruko's eyes widened, then she stumbled back and turned around, to everyone's horror, a knife was embedded in her back. She then stumbled again, backwards this time, and fell through the window.

"Yoruko!" Kirito cried out as he and Shoto quickly dashed towards her, but it was too late. Her body hit the ground and she shattered into a million pieces.

Kirito quickly scanned the roof to see if the person who threw the weapon was still around, and as luck would have it, he found a hooded figure jumping through the roof.

"Asuna! I'll leave the rest to you!" Kirito said. "Let's go Shoto!"

"Right behind you!" Shoto answered with a grin, after hearing the answer Kirito, along with Shoto, jumped from the window to the roof of the house in front of them.

"Stop!" Asuna screamed at the two, but it was too late as the two had already jumped, now chasing the hooded figure.

With both Kirito's and Shoto's speed, they managed to close the distance between hooded figure and themselves, the figure noticed the duo chasing him/her were catching up, since they seem to have more speed. And so, the figure took out his/her teleportation crystal.

"Damn!" Kirito cursed, he threw three iron needles at the figure, but since they were in the middle of town it bounced back as a purple barrier appeared to protect the murderer.

Shoto, now conscious of their situation, abandoned his plan to throw his knifes at the figure, the hooded figure whispered something to the crystal.

'He's teleporting? But, where to?' Kirito asked himself, but then the bell from the bell tower rung, signaling the beginning of the evening. The figure teleported at exactly the same time as the bell rung.

"Damnit!" Shoto cursed, knowing the figure could be anywhere right now.

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XXX

Kirito opened the door and entered followed by Shoto to the room where Asuna and Schmidt were left behind.

"You morons! Are you two out of your mind?" Asuna greeted the two males, rapier drawn. After a few seconds she sighed and sheathed her sword. "So? How did it go?" Asuna asked.

Kirito shook his head. "No luck, he teleported away."

"Too bad we're in town, if not..." Shoto whispered "Damnit!" He cursed again punching the nearest unlucky wall.

Kirito clenched his hand. "The inn is protected by the system... We thought it would be safe here... Damnit!" Kirito cursed, agreeing with the blonde, also punching the nearest wall.

"That person wearing the robe was Griselda..." All the occupants looked at Schmidt. "It was Griselda's ghost..." He whimpered trembling in fear. "She's back to take revenge on all of us! A ghost could easily PK within a safe area..."

"It was no ghost." Kirito said. "There must be a logical explanation to these murders within the safe areas... There has to be." Kirito said, trying to reassure himself rather than the others.

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XXX

Town Center

Night

"Was that black robed person really Griselda?" Asuna asked the two males, Kirito thinking hard about the problem and Shoto eating a sweet bar. "Now that I've seen it twice, I'm starting to believe it too." The three of them were sitting in the town center after escorting Schmidt back to the 'Holy Dragon Alliance' HQ.

"No, that's not a ghost." Shoto said, finishing his sweet bar. "First of all, Ghosts can't use teleportation crystals, they don't even need it! They can just disappear!" Shoto explained.

"Teleportation crystal..." Kirito said, he seemed to be getting something.

"What is it?" Asuna asked the black haired male.

"Nothing... Never mind." Kirito said dismissing the idea.

The three sat in silent contemplation, the moon shining on the town, players walking by here and there, the water of the fountain calmly flowing as night passed.

"Here." Both Kirito and Shoto looked towards Asuna, who was extending both of her hands holding something covered in purple cloth.

"For us?" Kirito asked

"What do you think?" Asuna asked. "You think I'm just showing these to you two?"

"Oh... Thank you." Kirito said taking one.

"Yeah, thanks." Shoto said taking one too.

Both boys opened the cover, and saw a sandwich inside, filled with a variety of stuff inside. "Its about to expire and vanish, so you two should hurry and eat it." Asuna said holding another one for herself.

"Oh... Ok." Kirito said, but before he could eat it, Shoto stopped him.

"Before you eat it, you should prepare an antidote, God knows what she put inside it." Shoto quietly adviced.

A tick mark appeared on Asuna's head. "You want to die?" She seemed to have heard his piece of advice.

"Ah! Ehm... Nevermind Kirito, eat and rejoice." Shoto said sweating slightly in fear.

Kirito sweatdropped at his friend's complete silence while being death glared by Asuna, he could understand though. Kirito then looked at his food, then took a bite, after tasting it, his eyes widened. "It's delicious..." He then continued to eat his food, a bit too fast.

"Really?" Shoto asked, and then he took a bite as well. "You're right... It's good." Shoto said impressed by the sandwich. "When did you get the food?" Shoto asked.

"I did say it's about to expire." Asuna said. "I'm prepared for situations like this, so I packed them up this morning."

"As expected of the witch leader of the KoB assault squad." Shoto said earning a punch to the head from Asuna. "Ouch!... I deserved that..."

"Where did you buy it from?" Kirito asked trying to ignore the blond.

"It's not for sale."

""Huh?"" Both Shoto and Kirito looked at her in confusion.

"I can cook, you know." Asuna said.

Both Kirito and Shoto looked at each other, then looked at Asuna who was munching her own snack. "Ehrm... How should I say this...if you put this on an auction you could easily get rich." Kirito said.

"That's no good, Ki." Shoto said, his two friends looked at him. "For some people, the food they cook isn't for sale, no, it's for the people they care about, to watch them eat our food, their smile and happy face is rewarding enough." Shoto spoke up standing up, then he walked forward. "The food they made can also-" Shoto was cut off as he slipped, stepping on a banana peel that was lying on the ground, the sandwich in his hand fell, dropped to the ground shattering into pieces. "NOOOO!" Shoto cried out in despair, not because of the banana, but because of the now dead sandwich that he only took one bite from. "You! How dare you throw that accursed peel on the ground! You bastard!" Shoto said, standing up and taking hold of the nearest random player that passed by.

"Wh-what?" The player asked confused. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"Don't play dumb with me! How bout I kick your teeth in, huh!?"

"Shoto! That's enough! The banana peel was already there when we got here!" Asuna said standing up and trying to stop Shoto from abusing innocent (and confused) players.

While Asuna was trying to stop Shoto, Kirito looked at the ground where Shoto dropped his food. "I see... I get it now..."

Both Shoto and Asuna stopped what they were doing. Shoto letting the player go and Asuna stopping her lecture "What did you get?" Asuna asked curiously.

"I... We didn't see anything, we thought we saw it, but we were looking at something else!" Kirito said, Asuna looked at him in surprise, while Shoto was still confused. "There could never be weapon or logic that can commit murder in safe areas."

Shoto then clapped his hands together. "I see... then all we need is two more people, a giant talking dog, and a vehicle named 'The Mystery machine'!"

"Stop joking around!"

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XXX

On the 19th floor known as Cross Hill, an area that was covered in a foggy mist and surrounded with dead trees, there was one specifically large dead tree where a grave plate that belonged to Griselda rested. A lone, heavy-armored figure could be seen standing in front of it, clenched his fist tightly as he stared down at the grave, the fog lifting a little to reveal the figure to be Schmidtt.

"Griselda..." Schmidtt whispered as he stared down at the grave sadly, "The only way I can be saved now is if you forgive me." Falling to his hands and knees, Schmidtt bowed his head a far as he could. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Griselda! I swear, I never thought that was going to happen to you."

For a few moments, nothing happened as Schmidtt sat in front of the grave... until...

"Oh really?" The Holy Dragon raised his head up in shock and fear from hearing the eerie voice, which only echoed through the fog around him. "Really? Really?" The armored man's fear continued to grow as he tried to find the source of the voice, before sensing something behind him and turned around quickly... only to see that it was a long-eared rabbit.

Letting out a relieved breath as the small creature hopped away, Schmidtt turned his head back to look at the grave. Only this time, there was a cloaked figure standing in front of him. "What did you do to me? Tell me, Schmidtt. What did you do? The female cloaked figure undid her cloak and pulled out a sword, one that looked exactly like the one that killed Kains.

"Okay, okay!" Bowing his head once again as fear overtook him, Schmidtt's body started to shake while he spoke. "I... I only... The day we voted to sell the ring, a note and crystal appeared in my belt pouch, and there were instructions..."

"Who were they from, Schmidtt?" A male voice spoke up making the man's eyes widen before he looked up to see another cloaked figure, this one male, emerge from behind the tree. "Who gave you those instructions?"

"G-Grimlock? You're dead too?"

The male figure ignored Schmidtt's question as he asked his own question, "Tell me, I want to know who was it that gave you those instructions?"

"I-I don't know! I swear I don't know!" Schmidtt answered as he shook his head a few times, "The note just said to bind the crystal to the inn room where Griselda was staying at so they could enter the room, and then to put the crystal in the guild's shared storage..."

"... And? Then what?" The male figure asked, only for Schmidtt to bow his head once again.

"That was all I did! I swear!" Schmidtt said as his body continued to shake from the fear he was feeling, though this time a strong mixture of guilt was mixed in as he thought about what had happened to Griselda not long after he had followed the notes instructions. "I never wanted her to die! I never meant to be a part of something so horrible! Please believe me!"

The two cloaked figures looked at one another as the fog around them started to lift, before the two of them reached up and pulled down their hoods. The female figure turned her head back to the cowering Schmidtt and spoke, "We recorded everything you said, Schmidtt."

With eyes snapping open at the familiar voice, Schmidtt slowly looked up in shock to see both Yolko and Kains standing in front of him. Both very much alive.

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XXX

""They're alive?!"" Both Shoto and Asuna exclaimed in surprise.

Kirito nodded "Yeah, they're alive, Yoruko and Kains."

"But..." Asuna started, not really sure about Kirito's suspicions.

"Within safe areas a player's HP bar cannot lower under normal circumstances. On the other hand, objects can expire, just like that sandwich." Kirito explained.

"Kirito... Don't remind me of that incident 5 minutes ago..." Shoto said kinda depressed over the loss of the delicious food.

Kirito sweatdropped. "Uh... Sorry." Kirito apologized "Anyway, back then, Kains' armor was pierced by the spear, but it didn't lower Kains' HP, only the armor's durability."

"S-so, that was what shattered into pieces?" Asuna asked, rather overwhelmed by his deductive skills.

"Yeah, just the empty armor." Kirito answered. "And by timing it at the right moment the armor broke, Kains teleported away."

"... So it made it seem like Kains had died..." Shoto realized slightly wide-eyed.

Kirito nodded "Yeah, and the same thing happened to Yoruko, she must have had the dagger the whole time she was talking to us."

"The whole time?" Asuna asked.

"Think about it, she never once turned her back to us in that room, she continued talking while confirming the durability of her armor, and when it was time, she acted like she was hit by a dagger in the back." Kirito explained.

"Then the robed figure was..."

"I'm willing to bet my virginity that it was Grimlock." Kirito answered. "Kains and Yoruko realized that they could fake their death by this method." Kirito continued. "They even made it looked like PK's in safe area are possible to arouse more fear."

"Their goal was to find and expose the culprit ring case." Asuna said.

"So they fake their own death and create two phantom avengers." Shoto finished.

"They must've doubted Schmidt the entire time." Kirito said in confirmation of his theory. "Hey, you two still got Yoruko in your friend list right?"

Both Shoto and Asuna looked at each other, and then quickly opened their friend list, with Asuna having more than Shoto. "Ah! She's on floor 19, on a small hill close to town."

"I see, then let's leave the matter to them now, our part in this case is over." Kirito said.

Both Asuna and Shoto nodded.

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Floor 19: Hill of Cross

"You recorded it?" Schmitt asked looking at both Kains and Yoruko who were holding a recording crystal. After Schmitt went to Griselda's grave to ask for forgiveness, for what he had done, that he was one of the reasons she died. He was surprised to find both Kains and Yoruko instead, alive and well. "I see... So you cared for Griselda this much..." Schmitt said sitting down on the ground.

"You didn't hate her either, did you?" Kains asked.

"Of course not!" Schmitt answered instantly. "Believe me... I only passed the entrance requirement for the Holly Dragon Alliance due to the weapon I bought from the money I got." But before he could continue he felt something stabbing into his shoulder as he fell down, unable to move. "Paralysis?"Schmitt thought looking at his status beside his health, the weapon responsible still imbedded in his right shoulder.

"One down!" A voice said walking toward the downed Schmitt. The figure wore a hooded black robe covering his face, behind him were two other robed figures.

One of them quickly pointed his sword at Kains and Yoruko. Schmitt lookedat the player's headand saw an orange diamond. "Could they be?!"Schmitt thought.

"This guy is a nicely sized prize." The other robed figure said looking at Schmitt. "One of the leaders of the Holly Dragon Alliance, if I'm not mistaken."

Schmitt's eyes went wide looking at the figure that held a clever like sword in his hand, but the thing that captured his attention was the emblem on the glove in the figure's hand. "The PK guild... Laughing coffin!"

"How should we make this fun?" The cleaver sword holder asked.

"Do that! Let's do that, Head!" The knife thrower suggested."A game where they must fight to their deaths! And whoever survives get a chance!"

"If I recall correctly, the last time we played this you killed the survivor." The Head of the group said.

"Ahhh! You shouldn't spoil the fun of the game, Head!"

The one who was holding the sword towards Yoruko and Kains only smiled.

"Now then, should we get this done?" The Head asked, walking closer to Schdmitt, when he was beside him he raised his sword.

Schmitt closed his eyes, prepared for his fate, but was surprised after a few seconds of feeling nothing and opened one of his eyes to see that the blade had come to a halt, The sound of horses neighing could be heard coming from the side followed by their footsteps, making everyone turn their gazes to where the noises were coming from and saw two horses coming closer with a player on each one. The Laughing Coffin members quickly moved in closer to one another in a triangle formation, preparing themselves to face whoever was riding on the horses.

"Ow!"

"You okay, Kirito?"

"I'm fine. Just surprised me."

"Should've raised your Riding Skill like I told you."

"Oh, shut up!"

If it weren't for the strong tension and deadly atmosphere, many of the onlookers would've sweatdropped at the awkward, yet funny conversation between Shoto and Kirito, the former getting off his horse while the latter was rubbing his lower back and tailbone area. Upon arriving on the scene, Kirito's horse decided to stand up on its hindlegs, causing the Black Swordsman to fall on his ass and back.

"Oh well, it looks like we made it in time." Kirito said as he and Shoto both hit their horses' behinds, which activated the horses' return setting and sent them on their way back to the town. Turning their attentions back to the three Laughing Coffin members "What are you guys gonna do now? Do you think you can survive against us?"

"... I know who you both are, the famous duo called the Moonlit Black Cats. Kirito, the Black Swordsman and Shoto, the Yellow Fang." The leader of the three men said as he looked at the two teens as they drew their swords. "Despite there only being two of you, even I have heard of your accomplishments."

"Wow, you're making me blush." Shoto replied as he positioned his sword in front of him, the serious look on both his and Kirito's faces never diminishing and the determination in their eyes refusing to falter. "Then you know that even if the three of you came at us, this battle wouldn't end in your favor."

After a few second, the leader of the trio smirked as snapped his fingers, signaling his men to put away their weapons. "Let's get out of here." The boss said as he and his teammates followed him, Shoto and Kirito warily watched them retreat until the three Laughing Coffin members disappeared into the misty forest.

Kirito released the breath he had been holding before he sheathed his sword, to which Shoto mirrored before the two turned their heads to look at the supposedly murdered Players.

"I'm glad we meet again, Yoruko." Kirito said to the supposedly dead girl.

"I wanted to apologize to you once it was all over." Yoruko then looked at both Kirito and Shoto. "But I guess you won't believe me even if I say so right?"

"Next time, don't lie to us, it's not nice to make people worried." Shoto said.

"We're sorry..."

Shoto shrugged. "As long as you understand."

"Both of you, thank you for saving us. But how did you know?That those three would ambush us here...?" Schmitt asked, standing up since the paralysis effect was already gone.

Kirito shrugged. "I didn't know. We weren't a hundred percent sure, so we just concluded it was a possibility." 

Shoto then looked at Kains and Yoruko. "Kains, Yoruko, the two weapons you've got were made by Grimrock right?"

Kains and Yoruko looked at each other, then at Shoto and Kirito. "He wasn't willing at first." Yoruko answered. "He said he wanted Griselda-san to rest in peace."

"But as we kept begging him, he finally gave in to our request." Kains continued.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but he didn't oppose your plan for Griselda's sake." Kirito said gaining a surprised look from them. "If you stage an insane incident like murder in a safe area, you'll draw too much attention, and people would realize." Kirito looked at the ground. "We only realized it 30 minutes ago."

"Realize what?" Schmitt asked.

"Grimlock is probably the one who sent that note to Schmitt, and sent a red player to kill Griselda." Shoto explained.

"What?" Shoto looked surprise. "Why?"

"As a couple they shared a combined inventory, when one of them dies, his/her inventory items are given away to the surviving members." Kirito explained. "Do you get it?"

"Grimlock was the responsible for Griselda's death, and all the items that she possessed went straight to Grimlock's inventory. In other words, he stole from his own inventory." Kirito explained as he glanced over at the Holy Dragon Alliance member. "He was probably the one who sent those instructions to Schmitt, and sent a red player to kill Griselda. Just like he tried to do with you three."

"If he's the culprit, then why did he help us with our plan?" Yoruko asked.

"You explained your plan to him, right?" Kirito asked, when Yoruko gasped, Kirito continued. "Then he could use that as a chance to burry this ring case forever. Schmitt, Kains, Yoruko, he waited for a chance where all three of you were together... To erase you all at once."

"I see... That's why the PK guild showed up!" Schmitt said in realization.

Shoto nodded. "They've probably stayed in touch since the murder of Griselda."

"But..." Yoruko said falling down but Kains held her up.

"I found him." All four of them look toward Asuna, who was walking toward them with a male, wearing a hat, a pair of dark glasses, a white shirt underneath a long coat and a pair of dark pants.

"Long time no see, guys." The male said as he and Asuna came to a stop.

"Grimlock... Did you... Did you really?" Yoruko asked, and Grimlock didn't answer. "Why, Grimlock?! Did you desire that money that much that you stole the ring and killed your own wife?!"

"Money..." Grimlock said gaining their attention. "Money you say...?" Grimlock laughed for a bit then stopped. "It wasn't for the money. I had to kill her no matter what. While she was my wife here, she was also my wife in the real world."

Everyone gasped at the revelation.

"She was a perfect and ideal wife, she was cute and obedient. We've never once had an argument, but... When we got caught in this world together, she changed." Grimrock paused. "Unlike me, she wasn't startled, shocked, or scared by this terrible game of death. She became more lively and active compared to before, I had to accept it! The Yuuko I loved had vanished!" He paused again. "Then... Then what if, in this world, where murder is possible, I locked her... I wanted to lock Yuuko as she appeared in my memories for eternity... Who can blame me for that?"

"Bastard..." Shoto said gritting his teeth.

"You killed your wife for such a stupid reason?" Kirito asked in shock.

"This reason is more than enough, one day, you will understand too, detective boy. As you find love, as you are about to lose it..."

"You're wrong!" Grimlock looked at Shoto in surprise. "Love isn't like that... When you love someone, you will do anything to protect that someone! Even if it means we have to change, as long as we can see the smile of our loved one, isn't that enough?" Shoto asked. "Griselda, she became more active in the game, what if her goal was to finish the game? So that you and her could live a normal life again? But you... You killed her because she changed? Did you even talk to her first?" Shoto glared at him. "It's wasn't love you felt... It was possession!"

Grimlock's eyes widened, remembering everything he had done with Griselda, he fell to his knees. Then both Schmitt and Kains walked towards him. "Shoto, Kirito, will you let us take it from here?" Schmitt asked.

"Definitely." Kirito answered with Shoto nodding.

With the confirmation, both Schmitt and Kains shouldered Grimrock, and walked away, followed by Yoruko, but not before giving the three one last bow, which was returned by the three of them, then jogged to catch up with Schmitt and Kains.

Without them noticing the sun had risen, Kirito yawned tiredly. "Man, I'm tired."

"Make it two." Shoto said rubbing his eye.

"Hey Shoto." Asuna called gaining the blonde's attention. "Theoretically speaking, if you got married, and noticed a side of your partner you hadn't noticed before, what would you think?"

Shoto blinked at the question, he thought for a second before responding. "Happy I guess?"

"Happy?"

Shoto nodded. "If you married someone, then that means you love a side of your partner, and when your partner shows you a hidden side of theirs, wouldn't that mean your partner trusts you enough to show you their hidden side? And besides, my teacher once said that marriage is an eternal oath we make, oath of our eternal love and loyalty and whatever happens, we will get through it together. So unless you're completely sure, don't get married or you'll regret it, he said."

Asuna looked at Shoto, and then stretched. "That's one wise teacher you got there."

"Meh, he's my butler actually." Shoto informed.

Asuna blinked. "Eh?"

"You're talking about Robert, aren't you?" Kirito asked the blond.

"Yup."

Asuna sighed. "Whatever, I'm hungry since we haven't gotten the chance to eat at all."

"That's right..." Kirito said agreeing.

"Hah! Now you're speaking my language!" Shoto said grinning.

"We've been away from the frontline for two days, we have to get back to work tomorrow." Asuna told the hungry duo.

"Yeah, I want to get through this floor by the end of the week." Kirito said.

Shoto smiled. "Piece of cake."

Both Shoto and Asuna started to walk away but Kirito stopped them by gripping their arms. "What?" Asuna asked, Kirito answered by pointing to something under the large tree where Griselda's grave lied.

There was a figure, her gentle smile glowed with kindness, she wore the same cloak as both Kains and Yoruko.

Asuna's mouth hung opened, she looked beside her to see the same thing happened to Shoto and Kirito, shock clear on their faces.

"Thank you."

With that simple word she disappeared. All three of them stayed silent for a bit until Asuna broke it.

"Hey, Shoto, Kirito, let's add each other as friends."

""Huh?"" Both Kirito and Shoto said at the same time.

"We haven't done that yet, right? If we are on the assault team, it'll be inconvenient if we can't get in touch with each other." Asuna said.

Both Shoto and Kirito looked at each other. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Asuna?" Shoto accused pointing at Asuna, who gained a tick mark on her head.

"I know both of you are a team and have a guild, you don't have to party with me." Asuna said ignoring Shoto's accusation. "I know we haven't been on the best terms, think about it while we get some food."

Shoto's growling stomach was the sign needed for them to welcome her suggestion. "Ah, by the way Kirito, I wanna get a new sword."

"How come?" Kirito asked.

Shoto shrugged. "Just feel like getting something new is all."

"You want a new weapon, right?" Asuna asked a nodding Shoto. "Then I know just the person to introduce you to."

To be continued...

(Ending Theme)

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It's finished! Man I'm tired... In the next chapter our heroes meet Lizbeth! Do look forward to it! More reviews, faster update! And all of you, Happy New Year! Thank you for all of you that read the story... *sob* Thank you...

See ya!!!