"Ah......h

Asuna let out a small cry. She saw that most of the bottom floor of the twenty-two-story forest hut began to crumble, and countless trees and lake water mixed with the building materials and continued to fall, and finally submerged into the sea of red clouds.

Zhang Yu hugged Asuna and sat down directly on the crystal floating island.

The heart is quite calm at the moment. In his arms, Asuna stared at the crumbling Ayn Grant with half-closed eyes. Zhang Yu stroked her hair slowly.

"Akihiko Kayaba, you're there......"

"What? How do you know I'm here? ”

Suddenly, a voice sounded beside the two of them. Asuna looked to the right, and there was already a man standing there.

That person was Akihiko Kayaba. His face was not Heathcliff, but his original face as an SAO developer.

He wears a white shirt and tie, and a white robe. On his weak, thin face, only the metallic eyes gave the same feeling. And those eyes are now full of gentleness, looking at the vanishing floating city.

Zhang Yu naturally couldn't tell him, I had read the original book...... Still looking deeply at Ayn Grant, who was crumbling.

"Why did you transfer me here?"

"It's just to talk to you Yujun again."

"Ayn Grant... No, the world is gone? ”

Akihiko Kayaba's voice was also quite calm.

"Yes. At present, the SAO mainframe installed on the fifth basement floor of the ARGUS head office is using all the memory to completely delete the files. In another ten minutes or so, the world will be completely wiped out. ”

"What about the people inside...... How are they? ”

Asuna muttered.

"Don't worry. Just now—"

Kayaba moved his right hand and continued to look at the window that had been called out.

"All the players who are still alive, a total of 6,147 people, have all logged out."

Asuna wiped away the tears that oozed from her eyes. Engrossed in solemn gaze at Kayaba Akihiko.

"No, I'm asking about Yui? What will Yui do? ”

Akihiko Kayaba's expression didn't change at all, and after clearing the window, he put his hands in his pockets and spoke.

"She is the companion of this world, and naturally she dies with this world. Like those who have died, life is not something that can be restored or created so simply. The living continue to live, the dead are destined to disappear, and their consciousness never returns. This is true in all worlds.

As for your words - it's because I want to talk to you at the end that I've created these times. ”

"What are you trying to express to the world by doing these things? Or what's the point......? ”

Kizuhiko Kayaba smiled a little wryly, and after being silent for a while, he spoke again.

"Meaning? - I've been forgetting about it for a long time. What is it for? When I learned about the development of a fully stealthy environmental system—no, I should say it was earlier—I lived to create that city, that world that transcended all the frameworks and regulations of the real world.

Then, at the last moment, I saw something that transcended the laws of the world that I had created......

No, it should be that I saw from the beginning someone who could go above and beyond the rules I had set. ”

Kayaba Akihiko's eyes full of quiet light first turned towards Zhang Yu, and then immediately moved away.

The wind that began to grow stronger shook Akihiko Kayaba's white clothes and Asuna's hair. More than half of the giant city has collapsed.

"We have been dreaming a lot since we were young, right? I don't remember how old I was when I was entangled in the fantasy of this floating castle in the sky...... That imaginary situation, no matter how much time has passed, remains vividly in my mind.

As I get older, the images become more realistic and expanded. Fly up from the ground and go straight to that castle...... For a long time, that was my only wish. Listen to me, Yujun. I still believe that there really is a castle in some world—"

Suddenly, Zhang Yu seemed to have a feeling that he was a little similar to Akihiko Kayaba. I am a person who lives in reality, and I am covered in bruises and bruises that are suppressed by life. And he is the one who lives in the anime and creates a real world.

"Of course there is...... The best proof of this is in front of you. ”

Zhang Yu looked at Ayn Grant and muttered, and Asuna in her arms also nodded quietly.

Silence returned between them. Looking into the distance again, he saw that even the part outside of the floating city was beginning to crumble. You can see the originally endless sea of clouds and the red sky, which are engulfed in white light and gradually disappear on the far side. The erosion of light is happening everywhere, and it seems to be slowly approaching here.

"I almost forgot to tell you...... Yujun, congratulations on the complete strategy game. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Yu and Asuna looked up at Akihiko Kayaba, who was standing on the right. And he looked down at us with a steady expression.

"So—it's time for me to go, too."

Zhang Yu hurriedly shouted at Kayaba Jinghiko.

"Wait a minute!"

Kayaba Jinghiko, who was just about to turn around and leave, stopped again and looked at Zhang Yu suspiciously.

"Yujun, is there anything else?"

"You have the seeds of this world."

"It's worthy of Yujun, and he even knows this. I sometimes wonder if you're a spy sent by China.

The Seed of the World, from Cardinal, which is necessary to run VRMMO, to the game's production tools, is packed in it, and you can set up a VRMMO environment with 3D objects and a server. Create your own world. ”

Akihiko Kayaba's face was full of surprise, he had never leaked this information to anyone. But anyway, in the end, he also planned to give it to others, so it didn't matter if he gave it to Zhang Yu now.

Take your hands out of your pockets and spread your palms. A translucent goose egg-sized seed was suspended in his hand, and a small world seemed to loom inside the seed. Aoba Jingyan waved his hand, and the seeds floated towards Zhang Yu and them.

"This can save Yui, maybe it could be a side quest......"

Zhang Yu looked at the World Seed floating in his palm, and silently guessed in his heart.

"It's beautiful!"

Asuna stared intently at the beautiful World Seed in front of her and exclaimed.

"Then it's okay, I'll go first. Yujun has a chance to see you again. ”

After Kayaba Jinghiko finished speaking, he smiled at Zhang Yu and them. Turning and walking into the distance, a strong wind struck him, as if it was going to take him away—a cloud of mist and smoke cleared, and his figure was nowhere to be seen.

The red rays of the sunset shine through the crystal plates. There are only two people left here.

As for where exactly he went? Is it back to the real world? Or went to other places, these are not Zhang Yu's responsibility.