123 Chapter 123 - The True Monsters

Aincrad's 5th Floor, wilderness.

Night had fallen in Aincrad. A few brave souls were still about, but most of the players had turned back to the safe zones to rest.

Nights were dangerous in Aincrad. Mobs multiplied and went berserk more easily. And it was when Aincrad was shrouded in darkness that the true monsters of Sword Art Online came out.

A lone figure was making their way through Aincrad's 5th floor. It was a man, afraid of his own shadow. He jumped at every little noise, and kept looking over his shoulder.

He should have been looking in front of him. That way, maybe he would have seen the blade that came out of the darkness and left a vibrant red line across his neck.

"Argh!"

The man screamed and staggered back. The back of his knee hit a rock, and he fell over. When he scrambled to get up, he found out he couldn't move. The yellow lightning bolt symbol for paralysis appeared next to his depleted health on his HUD.

"Kikikiki! What do we have here? Did you lose your way? Gyah! Hahaha! Don't you know that night is when the wolves are about, little lamb?"

The attacker cackled madly, an insane laughter that left no doubts about the twisted mental state of the player.

"W-Wait! Don't kill me! Please!"

His hat lost somewhere in the darkness after he fell, Grimlock looked up at the mocking player, his eyes wide. He was beyond fear, especially as he watched the creepy red eyes hidden behind a mask, and the even redder cursor above the player's head. He was terrified.

"Aww! But I really wanna cut you to pieces though? How about I kill you just a little bit? Huh? What do ya think, lost little lamb?"

The player raised his weapon, a blade so thin it was almost invisible in the surrounding darkness, if not for the cold glint when the moonlight shone on it. Those red eyes were like two bloody lanterns boring into Grimlock's mind.

"P-Please! I-I came here to find you!"

"Oh?"

The blade that had been slowly descending to pierce Grimlock's body halted. The red player tilted their head curiously, and Grimlock quickly continued, knowing that convincing the murderer over him was the only path for survival.

"I-I heard you take j-jobs sometimes. C-Comissions. I have o-one for you. I can pay!"

The red player stared at him for a long time, and Grimlock closed his eyes, waiting for the moment that blade pierced his heart. But after a long time, what hit his chest was a small vial.

"P-Paralysis heal?"

"Drink it, little lamb. Then I'll take you to the boss."

Grimlock almost couldn't believe his ears. He was saved! He was going to live!

All his relief vanished when he saw the grin on the red player's face. Those teeth seemed ready to sink into his throat.

"Yeah. You better have a good story to tell, little lamb. I was just gonna skin ya alive. Boss is gonna have his fun. Kikikiki!"

Grimlock had started regretting his actions the moment he stepped out of the safe zone. Now, he was almost wishing someone would pull the NerveGear off his head so everything could be done with. But there was no medicine for regret in this world.

"By the way, little lamb, you do know who we are, right?"

The red player fixed Grimlock with another dead stare. He swallowed and forced himself to answer.

"Y-Yes. L-Laughing Coffin, right?"

His only response was crazy laughter.

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Fuumaningum didn't have many members. Only 23, in fact. Too few to form a thorough spying network for Argo the Rat. And the higher the players climbed, the more Aincrad expanded, and the harder it became.

Because of that, Akari wasn't surprised when the subordinate she tasked with following Golden Apple reported that he had lost sight of some of the guild's members.

Fuumaningum was already stretched thin, and the Rat had said this wasn't a priority, so Akari only assigned one person to the mission. They still needed to rest and sleep, and there was little they could do when the guild members split. The role-player logically chose to stick with the guild leader, the woman called Griselda, who was somewhere on the 12th floor.

"Royal Customs. That's an NPC appraisal shop, isn't it?"

"Yes, my lord. An expensive one."

"Humm... Tell the shadow to continue following her. Report anything unusual."

"Understood, my lord."

A shadow blurred and vanished from her side, and Akari laid back her head against the roof tiles. Her gaze flickered once to the people in the square below her. The unassuming man with a spear strapped to his back, the girl playing the lute while sitting between his legs, the black-haired boy arguing with a loud-mouth red-haired man, and many more.

Akari wasn't here for any particular reason. She just found herself tailing Reaver's Requiem more and more. Somehow, even while hiding on rooftops, she always felt included whenever she was watching them.

Maybe it was how brightly their spirit burned, even in the shitiest of situations. They never gave up hope. They gave her hope that SAO could be beaten.

It was a pity Drifter already had a girlfriend. And Agil was married. Klein... Too loud. The girls were too young for her taste. Ah well, that was too bad.

Romantic daydreams set aside, Akari looked at the sky - the bottom of the 20th floor in this case - and closed her eyes while listening to the sounds of conversation under her.

Almost a fifth of the way. Fuumaningum might not be able to help in the frontlines, but they were doing their part too.

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Griselda and Grimlock were a married couple, both in Sword Art Online and the outside world. Their story was nothing special.

Griselda and Grimlock had met each other in their last year of university. They didn't start dating immediately, and only became a couple a month before graduation.

After two and a half years of dating, Grimlock asked her the question, and she gladly said yes, knowing that he was very much the love of her life.

They had been married for three years when Griselda brought home two NerveGears, suggesting it would be a good way for them to de-stress and bond as a couple. Grimlock readily agreed.

At first, Sword Art Online was everything they imagined and much more. So realistic. So engaging. And better yet, they could relive their marriage inside the game! Griselda and Grimlock were married for a second time before their first sunset in Aincrad.

Then they had been teleported to the Town of Beginnings, and Akihiko Kayaba had appeared and explained what Sword Art Online truly was. That was when the first crack appeared in the couple's relationship.

After the first week of denial, Griselda made her way outside of the Town of Beginnings again, this time with the full knowledge that death was real. Grimlock refused to leave their room.

That was the first time Griselda felt so disappointed. Not at her husband, but with herself. The image of the man she loved crying and babbling, holding her leg and begging her not to go, struck her heart. The way he immediately slammed the door closed after she left drove the wedge deeper.

Every night, Griselda came back exhausted, but alive. Grimlock barely spoke a word to her. She didn't think he even realized time was passing.

Griselda knew that while she was hesitantly exploring the outskirts of the Town of Beginnings, players were already adventuring into other maps. She truly respected them, for not giving up, and for getting back on their feet so quickly. She longed to join them. But she couldn't leave her lover behind, even if his actions had hurt her deeply.

It was only after witnessing the frontliners defeat Illfang the Kobold Lord that Grimlock gathered his wits, for the first time thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to survive SAO. There were players forging forth! Someone would save him!

By then, Griselda had already explored much of the 1st floor, and met new people with whom she formed a semi-regular party. They were the starting foundation of the Golden Apple guild. With Cainz, Schmitt, and the others, Griselda was surviving and growing stronger. The heroes she watched on the raid broadcast were still far away, but not forever out of reach.

Still, every night Griselda returned to the Town of Beginnings, to the room she paid for, and brought Grimlock dinner he couldn't afford, having long since spent everything he started SAO with.

Not once, in the entire first month of SAO, had Grimlock left the room. But he did the morning after Illfang's defeat, after much coercion from Griselda.

She had never felt happier than the moment she saw him pick up a sword. She understood that he too needed to grow stronger, as she couldn't protect him forever. She too would one day join the frontlines, and escape SAO with her own strength.

For a time, it seemed like they could mend the crack in their relationship. But every night Griselda heard her husband crying himself to sleep, and that Grimlock refused to spend the night in the same room as her, looking at her as if she were a stranger, Griselda understood that it would never be the same again.

If Sword Art Online hadn't happened, they would still be a happy couple. Grimlock would never have shown her his cowardly, selfish side. She would never have broken her shell and became a woman that thought and acted for herself.

If only SAO hadn't happened. Then everything would be perfect. Except that now that she saw Grimlock's faults, all of them, Griselda couldn't be sure he was the man she fell in love with.

She still loved him. Very much so. All his failures, all his selfishness, everything aside, Griselda loved him. The man she spent almost 7 years with wasn't an illusion. He was just buried underneath fear and insecurity. But he was still there, she was sure.

Which was why his betrayal hurt even more. More than anything she ever felt before.

"Grimlock, where are we going?"

"Call me by my name, Mai. My real name. We are alone here. All alone."

"O-Okay. Then, where are we going Keiji?"

Griselda looked around. She wasn't afraid of much, but the 19th floor was eerie. Especially at night. The dark soil, dead trees, swirling mist, and dead silence made her shiver. She could hear her own heartbeat, and the sound of her husband breathing. Both were fast.

She was also unsettled that Grimlock had suddenly called her here. Grimlock, who usually wouldn't let her out of his sight for even a minute - not because he was afraid for her, but because he would be too terrified to move otherwise if she wasn't there with him. Grimlock who trembled every time they met a mob. Who would urge all of them to pack up and return to the safe zone 3 hours before sundown.

He asked her to follow him out of nowhere, and even made a point of not letting their guildmates know about it. As far as Cainz and the others were aware, the couple was still in their room.

If it was for some romantic escape, Griselda would understand, and even welcome it. But there was nothing romantic about their surroundings. All she saw was a hill, a big dead tree, and what looked like a grave in front of it.

"Keiji... Please tell me why we are here. You are scaring me."

"Mai... Mai, you are my wife. I love you. I love love love you."

Grimlock stopped walking, and took off his hat. Then he plucked his shades off his face. Griselda recoiled when she saw his eyes. They weren't downcast and numb like she had grown used to seeing. But they weren't better. They were huge. Crazed.

"Keiji, what happened?"

"I love you so much, Mai. Why couldn't you have stayed the same? I love you. But you are not who I love anymore. You became another person."

"Keiji-"

"You are my wife. You aren't supposed to change! It's all this damn game's fault. But I won't let you change. You are my wife. You will always be mine."

"Keiji!"

"I can't let you change, Mai. B-But your memory will always be mine. I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love..."

"Keiji, there are people here. Who are they, Keiji? Keiji."

"...sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love you. I'm..."

Her heart hurt so much. Grimlock - no, Keiji - had fallen to his knees now, and was still mumbling crazily. But Griselda forced herself to look away from him.

They were surrounded. Shadows had appeared amongst the trees when she wasn't paying attention. She pulled out her sword, thinking they were monsters like the Hero's Ghosts. But then she realized the figures were other players. Her grip on her sword handle tightened when she saw they were all holding weapons.

"Kekeke! Looks like you broke him, sweetheart. Though, he probably was always a little broken, no? Hahahaha!"

"Who are you?"

Griselda spun on the spot, slowly. There were seven players surrounding her. A lump formed on her throat when she realized they all had red cursors above their heads.

The one who spoke appeared to be their leader, so Griselda turned to face him, forcing down her fear. Truthfully, she did not see a way out of this situation.

"Kikiki... I suppose I can let you know, can't I? Not like you're gonna be able to tattle to anyone. Kekekeke!"

Griselda felt the leering gaze of the red players on her. The leader's was the worst. That skull mask and red eyes. She could feel his lust, but not for her body. He just wanted to kill her. That was what got him off.

"We are Laughing Coffin!"

The man raised his arms like he was lauding some god. His laughter was maniacal. Then he suddenly stopped, and his gaze pierced her.

"The lost little lamb hired us to skin ya, sweetheart. Should've been a better wife. Kikikiki!"

Griselda's eyes widened, and her head snapped towards Grimlock. He was still on the ground, but he had stopped mumbling. Now he was staring up at Griselda with a fanaticism that disgusted her. She didn't even contest what the red player said. She could see it was the truth.

"Keiji... How could you?"

"Mai... It's all your fault! You changed! If you hadn't bought this game! If you had stayed with me instead of going out to fight! B-But you will soon be my old Mai again. Yes... I won't remember who you are now. Only my wife, my dear, sweet, obedient Mai."

Right as the last two words left Grimlock's mouth, Griselda knew the man she once loved was well and truly gone.

Tearing her eyes away, she turned back to the red players. She could see their mocking smiles. Some were outright laughing. They were enjoying this. For them, it was some kind of sick play.

"All done, sweetheart? Kekeke... I'll stab a hundred holes in you. A masterpiece like... Hum?"

The psychopath pointed his sword at Griselda - an estoc, a small part of her mind whispered, probably trying not to go insane - but stopped mid threat, and tilted his head. Griselda wondered what was happening. Was this another way to torture her? Then she felt the ground rumbling. And it was getting louder.

Unconsciously, Griselda turned her head towards where she had come from. The city of Ralberg laid there, far away and lost beyond the mist. But she heard something. It sounded like... Horses?

She had just started to identify the outlines in the mist when she saw a silver blur. It rapidly grew larger, and her eyes widened in sudden recognition.

A spear slammed into the leader of the red players, who barely managed to move his estoc in front of his body to block. The thin blade did little to protect him, though, and the silver-glowing spear pierced a hole through the right side of his chest.

Then Reaver's Requiem burst through the mist, Kirito and Asuna jumping off a horse, weapons drawn and attacking, forcing the three red players behind Griselda to beat a hasty retreat.

The NPC Kizmel rode her mount straight into the middle of the battle, smashing Grimlock away.

Griselda barely noticed. Her eyes were locked onto the last Reaver. Drifter jumped down from his horse, putting himself between Griselda and the red players.

She had never seen such a fearsome expression on the spearmaster's face before. Not even against Illfang or Kagachi or the worst of floor bosses. Such hate. So much disgust. His glare at the red players and her scum of a husband was pure loathing.

She never felt more relieved it wasn't directed at her.