STORY

The maximum-acceleration phase has begun. Alice succeeds in logging out of the Underworld. But despite defeating Gabriel, Kirito doesn’t make it in time. Left behind, he’s in despair, until Asuna, who’s made the choice to stay behind, appears before him. In the real world, Higa and Kikuoka rush to the lower level of the cable duct to shut down the STL, in order to disable the maximum-acceleration phase, but…