"Here we are."
After passing through the second dungeon, Asuna and Kirito arrived before a checkpoint.
At this point, they had made it about halfway through the first episode.
The first episode was a super-extended movie edition, with enough content for roughly five episodes.
According to Asuna's plan, slaying the Tree Sentinel should have been the final battle.
"After that comes the main storyline." Kiriko said, "Go sit at that Site of Grace over there, and you'll be able to trigger the story."
Kiriko had already gone through this part of the story herself, so she would not encounter it again.
Asuna nodded and sat down.
"Huh?"
After Asuna sat down, the surrounding space suddenly dimmed, as though it had gone from daytime to night in an instant.
Thick black mist spread out, obscuring the distant world and leaving only the white light before her.
[Image: It wasn't actually this flashy in the game.]
At that moment, a cloaked woman passed through the black mist and arrived beside her.
[Image: It looks like her!]
[Same cloak.]
[Beautiful chin.]
[Judging by the shoes, she seems to be the NPC from the beginning.]
[I'm suddenly interested in the game's background.]
[Will there be some kind of spinoff game?]
"Hello, one who came through the mist. My name is Melina." The woman sat down beside Asuna. "I would like to make a deal with you."
[Image: Melina, commonly known as Wood.]
"You—were you the one who saved me earlier?"
Asuna recognized her.
"Not me. It was Torret." NPCs in Sword Art Online: The Lands Between could be very intelligent if they were meant to be.
"Do you know about Finger Witches?"
"Finger Witches?" Asuna recalled what she had been taught before, then thought of the witch she had buried at the beginning. "Could