Chapter Summaries

Lianye’s party completed the Spider Cave reconnaissance quest and found a Dark Elf Knights emblem, but a monster roared from the cave’s depths before they could return to camp. Kiriko recognized that the Spider Cave boss had appeared earlier than it should have.

• Kizumeil explained that spider legs could be used to make a powerful antidote and said her late younger sister had been a pharmacist.
• Lianye’s party cleared the remaining spider nests and found a silver Dark Elf Knights emblem.
• Kizumeil gave the emblem to Lianye to deliver to the commander, completing the reconnaissance quest.
• A large monster roared from the cave’s depths, and Kiriko realized the boss had appeared earlier than expected.

Lianye and his companions confronted the Spider Cave’s boss, NephilaRegina, and Lianye used his ability to sense movement through the ground to ambush it. He dodged the queen spider’s first attacks and struck during its opening, leaving its health badly reduced.

• Lianye noted that Kizumeil’s strength made the party more than capable of handling a Third Tier field boss.
• Kizumeil warned the party that the giant spider was moving underground.
• Lianye closed his eyes, sensed where the spider would emerge, and struck it as it burst from the ground.
• NephilaRegina climbed into the air, dropped to the cave floor, and charged Lianye with its front legs.
• Lianye dodged the spider’s two-legged strike and counterattacked, reducing its health by more than forty percent.

Lianye, Asuna, and Kiriko defeated the Spider Lord and quickly completed two campaign quest chapters with Kizumeil’s help, then chose to slow their dungeon progress while waiting for more quests to unlock. At the Dark Elf camp, Lianye went to bathe and Kizumeil entered, intending to use the bath as well.

• Lianye, Asuna, Kiriko, and Kizumeil defeated the Spider Lord and obtained the Queen Spider’s Poison Fang.
• The party used the drops and the Scout badge to complete Chapters Two and Three of the campaign quest with Kizumeil’s help.
• Lianye suggested slowing their dungeon progression while later campaign quests unlocked, and Kiriko and Asuna agreed.
• Lianye soaked in the Dark Elf camp’s hot-water bath and reflected on how unlike a real bath the virtual sensation was.
• Kizumeil entered the bath tent, greeted Lianye, and said she planned to bathe there too.

While helping Kizumeil bathe, Lianye reflected on her status as an NPC and listened as she described a dream that seemed to replay her near-death battle. Her ability to dream suggested that the AI behind her had begun behaving independently after Lianye saved her from the quest’s constraints.

• Kizumeil asked Lianye to wash her back, explaining that she had no one else to ask after Tiriel’s soul was recalled by the Tree of Life.
• Lianye considered how Kizumeil’s memories and existence were data, much like his own body in S-A-O.
• Kizumeil told Lianye that she had been having strange dreams for four days.
• Kizumeil described dreaming that she fought a Forest Spirit knight, released the Tree of Life’s protection to help Lianye, and died after defeating the enemy.
• Lianye concluded that Kizumeil’s AI had begun acting independently after he freed her from the quest’s constraints.

After the Third Tier campaign quest, Kizumeil returned to the Ninth Tier through the Spirit Tree to deliver The Emerald Key, parting from Lianye, Kiriko, and Asuna. The chapter then described how players across Aincrad regained hope and resumed climbing the floors, while Lianye and his companions slowed their advance.

• Kizumeil said farewell to Lianye, Kiriko, and Asuna before entering the Spirit Tree portal reserved for Dark Elves.
• Kizumeil promised Asuna they would meet again and told Lianye she would share the next chapter of her dream.
• The chapter described how players' deaths declined as they learned to survive and began believing they could clear Aincrad.
• Lianye, Kiriko, and Asuna slowed their floor-clearing pace after previously outpacing the frontline players.

Asuna and Kiriko discussed the mysterious Heathcliff, who had soloed the thirty-third-floor Boss, while Lianye denied pretending to be him. Heathcliff went on to found the Knights of the Blood Oath, which rapidly became a leading guild.

• Asuna read that Heathcliff had cleared the thirty-third-floor labyrinth Boss alone and accused Lianye of using a disguised identity.
• Lianye denied being Heathcliff and said Kayaba Akihiko would not add a name-change function.
• Kiriko wondered why no one had noticed Heathcliff before, while Asuna and Kiriko agreed his strength could help players clear the game.
• Heathcliff rose to fame with a one-handed Sacred Sword, a Sacred Blood Cross Shield, and the unique Sacred Sword skill system.
• Heathcliff gathered players into the Knights of the Blood Oath, which soon overshadowed Holy Dragon United and the Aincrad Liberation Army.

Lianye, Kiriko, and Asuna encountered Heathcliff at the thirty-fourth-floor labyrinth entrance, where Heathcliff tried to recruit them into the Knights of the Blood Oath. Lianye refused and led his companions away, while Heathcliff remained curious about the powerful data stream that had fused PROJECT with SAO.

• Lianye reflected that Heathcliff was the mastermind behind SAO and a more calculating hidden figure than Tirubell had been.
• Three days later, Lianye, Kiriko, and Asuna encountered Heathcliff and members of the Knights of the Blood Oath at the thirty-fourth-floor labyrinth entrance.
• Heathcliff invited the three solo players to join his guild, but Lianye refused on their behalf.
• Heathcliff recalled discovering that PROJECT had invaded and become an undeletable part of SAO, and he wondered whether he could defeat its cheater.
• Lianye felt uncomfortable under Heathcliff's scrutiny, said farewell, and led Kiriko and Asuna down another path into the labyrinth.

Lianye and Asuna discussed their suspicions about Heathcliff and the conspicuous Knights of the Blood Oath, then argued over the realities of living in SAO. The chapter left Asuna furious with Lianye after he teased her about how her real body was being cared for.

• Asuna told Lianye that Heathcliff seemed suspicious because of his strength, sudden guild, and carefully planned appearance.
• Lianye reflected that Heathcliff wanted SAO players to trust him and the Knights of the Blood Oath, and admired the guild’s striking uniforms.
• Asuna accused Lianye of thinking something rude, and they joked about how difficult it was to distinguish virtual life from reality.
• Lianye brought up the awkward reality of caring for players’ bodies outside the game, and Asuna grabbed his neck and shook him in anger.

Kiriko received a special quest to travel to the fourth floor and learn a new sword skill from Yuroun. Lianye and Asuna agreed to join her, pausing their labyrinth raid to gather ingredients and head to the lower floors.

• Asuna questioned whether Lianye was an NPC, and he joked that she might instead consider him an esper or magician.
• Kiriko noticed a new quest directing her to the fourth floor to find the retired swordsmanship master Yuroun.
• Lianye told Kiriko to pursue the quest and said the group could travel between floors using Teleportation Crystals.
• Asuna agreed to go along and suggested they collect cooking ingredients on the lower floors.
• Lianye, Asuna, and Kiriko paused their raid, took out their Teleportation Crystals, and prepared to travel.

The Moonlit Black Cat Brigade was trapped by a treasure chest alarm and faced a deadly swarm of skeletons. Meanwhile, Kiriko, Lianye, and Asuna hunted on the nineteenth floor and discussed the danger of traps and large groups of enemies.

• A member of the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade opened an unopened chest, triggering an alarm that summoned a swarm of skeleton soldiers.
• Qing Tai ordered the guild to close ranks as the monsters blocked their exits and their health bars fell into the red.
• Kiriko, Lianye, and Asuna continued their skeleton-hunting quest on the nineteenth floor, where monsters respawned quickly but traps were common.
• Kiriko warned that large enemy groups could overwhelm their damage-focused party, and Lianye said he wanted a Greedy Hydra to farm monsters.
• The group noted that their sword skills were better suited to fighting bosses or dueling than handling massive waves of enemies.

Asuna, Kiriko, and Lianye traced an alarm trap’s Skeleton Soldiers to a party of players in mortal danger. Lianye charged to save the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade and defy Kayaba Akihiko’s control over the death game.

• Asuna threw away a Skeleton Soldier’s bone club, triggering alarms throughout the labyrinth.
• Lianye noticed the Skeleton Soldiers were converging on a room, and the three fought their way after them.
• The trio found the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade surrounded by Skeleton Soldiers, with every member near death.
• Kiriko wondered how they could reach the trapped party in time, while Lianye ordered them to charge in.
• Lianye vowed to break the rules of Kayaba Akihiko’s game.

Lianye rescued the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade from a skeleton ambush by defeating a Skeleton Captain and healing the five players with Grand Challenge’s Highgarden Rose effect. After his group joined their raid, both parties cleared the remaining skeleton soldiers, leaving the strangers celebrating their survival.

• Lianye rushed past two skeleton soldiers and reached the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade, telling them to hold out for five seconds.
• Qing Tai raised his shield and ordered his teammates to tighten their formation as their health fell dangerously low.
• Lianye used Grand Challenge to strike a Skeleton Captain’s weaknesses and kill it, triggering the Highgarden Rose’s healing effect.
• Lianye invited Qing Tai’s party into the raid, and the rose’s healing pulses restored all five members’ health.
• Lianye’s group and the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade defeated the remaining skeleton soldiers, and the five strangers cheered and high-fived each other.

Asuna and Kiriko reflected on how helping the lower-floor players had reminded them of the warmth and camaraderie of gaming. After Lianye explained that powerful players like Heathcliff could rival him, the rescued Moonlit Black Cat Brigade thanked him, and he wondered what Sachi’s future would hold.

• Kiriko and Asuna admired the lower-floor players’ unity and said helping them made them feel they had not lost their humanity.
• Asuna and Kiriko praised Lianye’s unusually powerful sword skills and healing abilities.
• Lianye said other players could eventually match his abilities and confirmed Kiriko’s guess that he meant Heathcliff.
• Sachi thanked Lianye tearfully for rescuing the Moonlit Black Cat Brigade.
• Lianye wondered whether Sachi was fortunate or unfortunate.

After completing Sword Art Online and returning to Summoner's Rift, Lianye considered how to give Yui, Streya, and Kizumeil real human bodies. He decided to enter a new anime world to seek a suitable Hero Ability and a way to create Homunculi.

• Lianye returned to Summoner's Rift after defeating Kayaba Akihiko on Aincrad's hundredth floor and completing his Sword Art Online mission.
• Lianye decided not to bring Asuna and Kiriko to Summoner's Rift while matters in the real world remained unresolved.
• Lianye considered how to give Yui, Streya, and Kizumeil genuine human bodies instead of leaving them as virtual entities or putting them in robots.
• Lianye decided to enter a new anime world and unlock a Hero Ability that could help him create Homunculi.
• The system suggested Soul Reaper Yorick, but Lianye rejected the idea because he wanted a suitable home for the girls.

Lianye chose Guilty Crown as the next world after deciding against revisiting the Type-Moon setting. He selected the Void Walker as his main Hero Ability and wondered how its psionic blade would manifest there.

• Lianye considered using the Einzbern family's homunculus magecraft to create a human body but decided not to return to the Type-Moon world.
• Lianye discussed other anime worlds where homunculi appeared and chose Guilty Crown for its mix of void powers and technology.
• The system asked Lianye to select a main Hero Ability for the confirmed world.
• Lianye chose the Void Walker and wondered where its psionic blade would emerge in Guilty Crown.

Lianye unlocked Kassadin’s Void Walker Hero Ability and was transported bodily into the Void, where he prepared to undergo its baptism. He remained confident that a Summoner could wield the Void’s power without losing his identity.

• Lianye spent 3,150 Hero Points to unlock the Void Walker, Kassadin Hero Ability.
• A violet passage opened beneath Lianye, and he fell into the Void.
• Lianye surveyed the silent, desolate landscape and recognized that terrifying creatures inhabited it.
• Lianye accepted that mastering Void Walker would require a baptism by the Void, trusting that his Summoner consciousness would remain intact.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lian Ye, a 'Void Walker', accepts the Void's power, resonating with it and gaining abilities without being distorted.
• Lian Ye opens a rift to the Void and steps through.
• Ouma Shu, an ordinary high school student, witnesses a humanoid figure, infected by the Apocalypse Virus, crossing over from a rift in the Void.

Character Developments

• Lian Ye: Accepts the Void's power, becomes a 'Void Walker', and gains abilities of a 'Void Prophet' due to being a Summoner.
• Ouma Shu: Initially detached from extraordinary events, becomes involved when he witnesses a Void creature crossing over.

Significant Themes

• Acceptance vs. resistance: Lian Ye accepts the Void's power instead of resisting it.
• Ordinary life vs. extraordinary events: Ouma Shu's desire for an ordinary life is disrupted by the Void creature's appearance.

Character Interactions

• None in this chapter; both Lian Ye and Ouma Shu act independently.

Key Plot Points and Events

• A humanoid figure from the Void arrives in the real world, exploding into purplish-blue crystals upon landing.
• Ouma Shu, the protagonist, witnesses this and is terrified by the figure revealed after the crystals shatter.
• The figure, later revealed to be Lian Ye, survives the Apocalypse Virus and maintains his consciousness, unlike typical infected individuals.
• Ouma Shu attempts to flee but is captured and infected by Lian Ye's Void tentacles.

Character Developments

• Ouma Shu: Initially shocked and terrified, he tries to escape but ultimately fails, becoming infected by the Apocalypse Virus.
• Lian Ye: Despite being infected by the Void, he retains his consciousness and manipulates Void energy, resembling an ancient evil god.

Significant Themes

• The terror and unpredictability of the Void and its creatures.
• The struggle for survival and the consequences of infection by the Apocalypse Virus.
• The contrast between the expected outcome of infection (death and disintegration) and Lian Ye's survival.

Character Interactions

• Ouma Shu and Lian Ye: Ouma Shu's fear and attempts to escape contrast with Lian Ye's calm and inescapable pursuit, leading to Ouma Shu's infection.

Lianye entered the world of Guilty Crown and accidentally killed Ouma Shu while trying to copy his clothes and create an identity. He realized the people of this world were unusually vulnerable to the Void and considered how the Void’s growing connection to the world might lead to calamity or salvation.

• Lianye copied Ouma Shu’s appearance and made himself suitable clothes and an identity card after arriving in the real world.
• Lianye accidentally caused Ouma Shu to crystallize and disintegrate when he touched him with Void energy.
• Lianye apologized and withdrew his crystallized hand, resolving to control his power more carefully around people.
• Lianye attributed the world’s vulnerability to the Void to the Apocalypse Virus, Lost Christmas, and research into the Power of the King.
• Lianye wondered whether the Void Walker’s arrival would bring calamity or salvation to the world.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lian Ye, a character from the online game "League of Legends," is now in a composite anime world, listening to the song "Oh, wildflowers blooming in the field..." by EGOIST.
• He meets Kanojo Matsuri, Ouma Shu's childhood friend, on a train. She expresses her concern about recent terrorist incidents.
• Lian Ye ominously predicts that the situation will worsen, hinting at the impending chaos caused by the Void's descent.
• Lian Ye finds Yuzuriha Inori, the true identity of the online singer EGOIST, injured in an old school building.

Character Developments

• Lian Ye: Shows his malicious side by disrupting Matsuri's conversation and revealing grim foreshadowing.
• Kanojo Matsuri: Demonstrates her kind-hearted nature and concern for public safety.
• Yuzuriha Inori: Despite her injuries, maintains her dignity and continues singing.

Significant Themes

• The descent of the Void and the impending chaos.
• The contrast between Matsuri's hope for peace and Lian Ye's grim prediction.
• The captivating power of music, even in dire circumstances.

Character Interactions

• Lian Ye and Kanojo Matsuri: Lian Ye's malice contrasts with Matsuri's kindness, creating a tense dynamic.
• Lian Ye and Yuzuriha Inori: Lian Ye finds Inori injured and singing, but their interaction is not detailed in this chapter.