"There's no way to beat this game. The only difference is when and where you die..."
Having cleared the first and second floors of Aincrad at great cost, Kirito, Asuna, and the rest of the players ascend to the third floor. Tenuous new allies await them--most crucially, Kizmel, the elven knight. Kizmel is supposed to be a minor NPC with low-level AI, but she soon reveals herself to be much more. With new allies come new complications, though, and the elves of the vast third-floor forest are no more united than the players who have just arrived there. The intrigue deepens when a mysterious...