Having defeated General Eugene of the salamanders and aided the alliance between sylphs and cait siths by protecting their leaders, Kirito and Leafa reach Alne, the town at the foot of the World Tree, at long last. But before they can tackle the tree--and their main objective--server maintenance begins, and they are forced to log out. Back in the real world, Kazuto and Suguha Kirigaya, each unaware of the other's in-game identity, pay a visit to Asuna Yuuki, who still lies asleep in her hospital room. While there, Suguha suffers a terrible shock when she realizes just how strongly her beloved...

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In an effort to discover the truth behind Death Gun, Kirito has entered the Bullet of Bullets tournament in Gun Gale Online. Both he and Sinon the sniper girl have made it to the finals, and the reality of what they discover is stranger than anything they could've prepared for. As Sinon is forced to face her own past, lives are on the line once again, and Kirito struggles to connect Death Gun to events in the original SAO game--but can Death Gun's bizarre rampage be stopped in time?