Chapter 40: The Prelude to an Ending.

It's already been a year since the players were trapped inside the Floating Castle Aincrad, Dragon, and Frost were looking for a tree on Floor 55 Dungeon, it was a desert canyon with nothing more than sand monsters and rocks, as far as the sight could go.

"Ryu, I told you we should buy that wood from the Knights of Blood. Now we are inside this fucking desert looking for a damn tree. Let's hit the Field Boss and get the hell out of here." Frost grumbled looking at the blinding Sun right above them.

"They are asking for a million for that dumb piece of wood. I am not willing to pay a fucking million for that, no matter how much you want to make that naginata." Dragon growled.

"It's too damn hot, you might be a human, but think about my feelings for a bit. Can you imagine how harsh it is for me to walk around in this heat without my powers chilling me?" Forst said with a defeated sigh.

"Stop being a baby... wait, do you see that?" Dragon stopped midway to point at the figures a few hundred meters before them.

"Oh, shit, isn't that Kuradeel killing his commander? Shit, we forgot about this... Run, we got to save him." Frost ran towards them.

He dashed in and smashed his knee on Kuradeel's unsuspecting face that was twisted in a hideous grin, mocking Kirito. Dragon quickly used a healing crystal to ensure that his Hp does not hit zero and picked him up, "you okay there buddy?"

"Yeah, I thought I was a goner." Kirito sighed and looked at Frost beating up a battered and bruised Kuradeel.

Another figure came rushing in, they turned around to find a very familiar figure of Asuna, who started attacking Frost without rhyme or reason.

"How dare you kill our members, despite all those times we fought together, we thought of you two as friends, and this is how you repay us?" Asuna barraged Frost with a hundred quick slashes that Frost managed to block half of the attacks, but she was not relenting, and fighting without attacking against a rapier user in close combat was not something easy to deal with.

"You dumb woman, we did not kill anyone, much less betray you. We were passing by and managed to save your boyfriend, stop being a nuisance to Frost." Dragon hollered.

She looked at him and found Kirito awkwardly waving at her, she stopped attacking and looked at the armored figure before her, and quickly bowed 90 degrees, "sorry for my earlier behavior, I was a bit out of it, the situation was a bit misleading..."

"Don't mind, it just shows how much you care about him. You two share some lovey-dovey time together, we will keep looking for the 'Dreadwind Wood'. See ya later." Dragon waved as he left with Frost.

"Wait, isn't that an item from the Feild Boss, 'Desert Treant'?" Kirito asked.

"You have it?" frost asked.

"Here, take this. It's the least I can do to thank you for saving me, besides we are friends aren't we?" Kirito smiled.

"Hmm, then why didn't you come to us if you wanted a blade?" Frost asked.

"I didn't have enough to pay you guys..." Kirito rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile.

"So, that was the case, alright! From now on, you don't have to pay us, but in return, you will help us find some materials, agreed?" Dragon extended his hand.

"Sure, you guys are the best after all. Just message me the items you want and I will keep an eye out for them." Kirito smiled and took Dragon's hand.

With a sudden flash of light, Kuradeel's sword came toward the unsuspecting Asuna. The blade was intercepted by frost who stopped it with the edge of his polearm and pushed him back and pinned him to the ground with the blunt end of the weapon.

"Seriously, you tried doing that despite knowing the difference in our levels?" Frost scowled, "throw him in the prison, you better not find me on the other side after this."

"Frost, we can't do that, just forget about it and let the authorities handle this once we are out." Dragon said as he tied up the bastard and left with Frost as he dragged the tied-up Kuradeel through the sand, giving the couple some much-needed privacy.

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"It's about time we should get moving you know... It's the end of this game, after all, Floor 75, that's when Kirito unmasks Heathcliff and defeats him. We should join the Boss raid as well, but it's really testing one's limits to see their friends face a fate of cruelty and still look away. Why don't we change the plot a bit?" Dragon asked with a serious gaze.

"We can, let's save Asuna from that fucker Sugou in ALO before she goes through 'those' scenes. We can even help Kirito out in the ALO, what do you think?" Frost gave his two cents.

"Alright, let's do that. But let's keep Kayaba alive this time around, it's just too sad for him to die. He deserves a better ending with his partner, let's ghost him away." Dragon commented as he put on his gear.

Frost looked at his new Naginata with a complex gaze and hooked it up behind him. They teleported away to the 75th Floor, where the Assault Team was supposed to meet. [pic here.]

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In front of the Boss Room:

Heathcliff stood before the door and started speaking, "Are you ready?"

"The Knights of Blood will hold off the Boss in the Vanguard. While we do, I would like the rest of you to discern its attack patterns, and be flexible with your counterattacks. It will be a difficult battle, but I have faith that we can prevail. For our day of liberation!"

The players were at the peak of their morale, the door was opened and the players walked in. Dragon looked around and found Klein and Agil standing along with Asuna and Kirito, all of them had tensed faces but their eyes were resolute.

"Let's get this boss. I can't wait to go back to my project," Frost chuckled, which was so out of character that the others who knew him in the game.

"Don't die you all." Smiled Klein.

"Nah, no plans to die, I still have to make a fortune out of today's drops." Agil snickered.

"Attack!!!!" roared Heathcliff.