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Fairy Dance Arc 1/2 - Sword Art Online

The second arc of the canon Sword Art Online series that covers the events during Kirito's Adventures in ALfheim Online spanning between January 19 and May 17, 2025, which corresponds to volumes 3 and 4 of the novel, or the second half of the first season of the anime.

Volume 3

Two months after the SAO incident, while Kazuto rehabilitates his body enough to train with Suguha , 300 people, including Asuna , remain in a coma for unknown reasons. Kirigaya Kazuto often visits Asuna in the hospital. During one of these visits, Asuna's father brings Sugou Nobuyuki into the room and leaves. Nobuyuki says he is in charge of RCT Progress, the company that took over the SAO. After Argus's death, he unexpectedly mocks Kazuto, jokingly calling him Kirito, and touches Asuna, telling her he will marry her in a week in a marriage of convenience. Kazuto is depressed, and his sister and cousin console him, though they have not spoken much in years.

The next day, Kazuto receives a message from Andrew Gilbert Mills (Agil) with a strange, blurry photo of Asuna trapped in a birdcage. He discovers that the photo was taken in-game from the final quest area of the flying fairy simulation VRMMORPG Salvation, which is sold by RCT Progress. Kazuto must see it for himself. He transfers his SAO account and logs in, choosing a Spriggan as the race that wears black. Then, resurrecting Yui as a Navigation Pixie, he meets and defends Leafa from an attack by the Salamanders, who then take her to the Sylph City and offer to take Kirito to the World Tree for the final quest. We then learn that Leafa is actually Suguha, and that her friend Recon is a classmate.

Asuna spent two months in the cage, receiving daily visits from the Fairy King Oberon, who is, of course, Nobuyuki's avatar. He returns, saying that he met with Kirito and reprimanded him. He also mentions that ALO's purpose was to conduct human experiments on the 300 people trapped inside, previously redirected to the ALO servers, in order to influence their thoughts and emotions and obtain military funding. Oberon leaves, using a keypad lock that obstructs Asuna's view. Asuna hopes that Kazuto will save her.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Leafa buy her better equipment and head to the Tower of Wind to maximize their limited flight time. Leafa's group leader, Sigurd, appears, somehow certain that Leafa is attached to his group night and day. Sigurd leaves, hunted by Recon who suspects him of wrongdoing.

Kirito and Leafa confront twelve Salamanders ambushing them in a mountain tunnel in the Legrue Corridor, defeating them by bribing the last one. Through her information and, later, an IRL call from Recon, they learn of a betrayal and plot to turn alliance talks between the Sylphs and the Cait Sith into a war with a Salamander attack force, and rush to their aid.

They discover a sky filled with Salamander fighters, and Kirito bursts in, saying he's an envoy from the Spriggan-Undine alliance. The Salamander commander duels Kirito to see if he's worth it, and Kirito wins thanks to his creativity. Furthermore, the previous bribe backfires when the bribed man brings the fake "news" about the alliance. Peace is assured, Kirito even funds the alliance with his enormous personal bag of money, and the real envoys—girls—each want Kirito on their team, making Leafa jealous.

Meanwhile, Asuna manages to peek at the code and escapes from the cage.

Volume 4

On their way to Alne, Kirito and Leafa are caught in a massive, unique event in underground Jötunheimr and are unable to fly. They continue their quest despite fatigue and drowsiness, traversing snowy landscapes and riding a large floating creature, helping it defeat its enemy. The monster helps them return later and gives them a glimpse of the most powerful sword in the game. They take a mental note, find an exit, and continue.

Asuna traverses the top of the World Tree and finds the secret laboratory with the mind-experiencing monsters, who are the avatars of the immoral scientists. She tries to get a console to log out, but they notice and stop her at the last second, sending her back to her cage. She manages to steal a key card from them.

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