Sword Art Online (series)

This article is about the series. You may be looking for the VRMMORPG.

Spoiler Alert: This article or section contains details about plotlines not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you wish to be spoiled.

Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン, Sōdo Āto Onrain^?) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kawahara Reki and illustrated by abec. The series is published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki Bunko label. It has been adapted into two anime series by A-1 Pictures which aired from July to December 2012 and from July to December 2014. The series has also been adapted into multiple manga series, with illustrations by Nakamura Tamako, Minami Juusei, Hazuki Tsubasa, Kiseki Himura and Nekobyō Neko and others. The series has also been adapted into multiple game adaptations.

Plot Overviews

Aincrad (First Arc, SAO)

Main article: Aincrad Arc

In the year 2022, Kirito (the main protagonist), a solo player who had the luck-of-the-draw to play the beta version, and the many other players of Sword Art Online (SAO) are trapped inside of a game, unable to logout; the only way to live is to win. Death in-game means death in the real world; tampering with or prolonged power outages to the Nerve Gear, the gear that simulates in-game character control by redirecting brain signals, also means death. To win means to defeat the final boss on the top floor; out of the original 10,000 players at the start, two years later, over 6,000 remain with 26 floors left to clear.

Volume 2 also contains four side stories that take place within two years of the SAO incident.

Black Swordsman (Aincrad 35th Floor, February 2024): Pina, a «Feathery Dragon», dies protecting her tamer Silica, one of the rare Beast Tamers in SAO. In order to revive her, Silica must obtain the «Pneuma Flower» in four days. Will she and Kirito succeed or fail?

Warmth of the Heart (Aincrad 48th Floor, June 2024): Lisbeth, a Blacksmith, is visited by Kirito and requested to make a high level sword. But to do so they need a special ore. Will the two succeed in this quest or die trying?

Morning Dew Girl (Aincrad 22nd Floor, October 2024): Kirito and Asuna are now married in SAO and living together. One day they stumble upon a girl named Yui with no memories, who is younger than any player they have seen so far. Who is this girl and what secrets does she hold?

Red-nosed Reindeer (Aincrad 46th Floor, December 19–23, 2023): Kirito has been leveling up without any regards to his life in preparation for a game event. Just what happened that caused Kirito to go so far?

Fairy Dance (Second Arc, ALO)

Main article: Fairy Dance Arc

"The Hero" Kirito (Kazuto) has completed and exited the game along with the majority of the living players. However, 300 players, including Kazuto's sweetheart Yuuki Asuna, are still trapped by the NerveGear and have failed to awaken. Kazuto finds a picture of what looks like Asuna in one of the other VRMMO games known as ALfheim Online (ALO). And so he must now embark on another quest for the sake of his love, who is held captive in ALfheim Online.

Phantom Bullet (Third Arc, GGO)

Main article: Phantom Bullet Arc

Thanks to the "World Seed", entrusted to Kirito who uploaded it onto the internet, the development of VRMMOs has progressed extensively. However, Gun Gale Online, a VRMMO game that focuses on guns and shooting rather than sword and sorcery, has had some of their players killed by a certain individual while in the game world, but the mystery is that they also died at the same time in the real world. Kirito must once again embark for a new world in search of the man supposedly behind the deaths, "Death Gun".

Mother's Rosario (Side Story Arc, ALO)

Main article: Mother's Rosario

A new player named Yuuki, who earned the nickname Absolute Sword (Zekken), appeared in ALfheim Online and challenged the players to a duel, promising an eleven-hit combo Original Sword Skill as a reward to whoever defeats her. Asuna decided to accept the challenge, but just as their intense duel was about to end in Yuuki's victory, she stopped and requested her help. Will Asuna have what it takes? And can she somehow uncover the secrets that Yuuki and her guild, the Sleeping Knights, hold?

Early and Late (Side Story Collection, ALO & SAO)

The volume contains three side stories that take place either in Sword Art Online or ALfheim Online.

A Murder Case in the Area (Aincrad 57th Floor, April 2024) (SAO Side Story): A murder takes place within a town's safe «area». Now Kirito and Asuna must unravel the mystery of this supposedly impossible death. Otherwise nowhere in Aincrad will be safe any more.

Calibur (Alfheim, December 2025) (ALO Side Story): Main article: Calibur; In the Fairy Dance Arc, while traveling to the World Tree, Kirito and Leafa had discovered the location of the Legendary Sword, Excalibur. Now a few weeks after the events of Phantom Bullet, Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Silica, Lisbeth, Klein and Sinon embark on the quest to claim the strongest weapon in ALO. However things are not as they seem, and the quest for the Legendary Sword turns out to be one that may decide the very future of ALfhiem itself.

First Day (Aincrad 1st Floor, November 2022) (SAO Side Story): The Logout button is gone and Sword Art Online has become a "Death game". This chapter tells the story of what Kirito did in his first day trapped in Aincrad after leaving the Town of Beginnings.

Alicization (Fourth Arc, Project Alicization [PA])

Main article: Alicization Arc

Kirito awakens to find himself lost in a new world. With the realistic world and his "lost" memories with this world, he questions his own identity and his existence in the world he used to know and the world he is currently in. He soon finds out that this is a virtual world with the name "Underworld", and pursues to find the truth about this world and the objective of Rath for making this realistic world.

Beginning

The first part of the arc begins with Kirito, Eugeo and Alice, setting out to explore a cave said to harbour a dragon and ice. After entering the cave the trio leave and pass close to the "Dark Territory", where a terrible mishap occurs, and Alice is taken away from her village by an Integrity Knight to be tried and executed for breaking the Taboo Index, the "absolute law" of the Axiom Church. However, Eugeo believes she is still alive. Six years later, Kirito reappears, and he helps Eugeo in his Sacred Task, by cutting down a demon tree known as the Gigas Cedar, so that they can go find Alice at the top of the Cathedral tower.

Running

During the confrontation with Johnny Black, Kazuto was injected with a deadly dose of succinylcholine, which put him into a coma. After his condition was stabilized, he mysteriously disappeared while being transported to a hospital, and Asuna set out to find him. With the help of Yui and Koujiro Rinko, she found Kazuto in the custody of Kikuoka Seijirou in a secret government base in the Pacific Ocean, where Kazuto was being treated to have his neural network restored with the help of the Soul Translator, the fourth generation FullDive system that Kazuto had been testing. There she learns the truth about Project Alicization and why the Soul Translator was created.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Eugeo journeyed to the south of Rulid, to a large settlement in the northern area of the empire called Zakkaria to participate in the Zakkaria Sword Arts Tournament to continue on their journey to gain access to the Central Cathedral, where Alice was supposed to be held.

Turning

Now in the second year of the North Centoria's Imperial Sword Mastery Academy, Kirito and Eugeo were working their way up to the top of the Academy's ranks to be given the right to participate in the Norlangarth North Empire Empire Swordsmanship Tournament and, later, the Four Empires Unity Tournament. However, after a certain incident midterm, they both ended up breaking the Taboo Index and were arrested by an Integrity Knight, who turned out to be Alice, with no memory of her life in Rulid. After escaping the Axiom Church's jail and an encounter with another Integrity Knight, they were saved by the world's Cardinal, which had taken the form of a human avatar and no longer in control of Underworld. From her, Kirito learned the secret of the Axiom Church and its immortal ruler, Quinella.

Rising

The story of Cardinal continues from the previous book. Quinella, the ruler of the Axiom Church was a Fluctlight whom became the "Administrator" of Underworld after merging the world's Cardinal System into herself, and obtaining eternal youth. However, after a conflict within herself, and an attempt to rectify errors which this change caused, the being calling herself "Cardinal" was separated from Quinella. After a brutal battle, Cardinal retreated into a Library that had no physical entrance.

After learning the truth behind the Axiom Church's existence, Kirito learned of Rath's plans with the residents of Underworld, and the terrible war that was sure to come. He became intent on stopping it, but had to first put an end to Quinella's actions. He and Eugeo are then sent to retrieve their swords, and must then climb the 100 floors of the Central Cathedral, fighting the Integrity Knights within the tower, while simultaneously honing their skills and becoming stronger.

Dividing

Kirito and Alice were sent flying from the 80^th floor after the pair's swords had clashed with great power and created a hole in the side of the tower. The two hung on for dear life and agreed to a truce until they could return into the tower. As they climbed up the side of the tower, they noticed creatures from the Dark Territory, the gargoyles.

Meanwhile, Eugeo forged onward without his partner. As he went up the floors, he encountered Integrity Knight Bercouli Synthesis One in the bathing area and defeated him by using the Armament Full Control Art of his Blue Rose Sword. As Bercouli fainted, a small clown-like person came out and jumped to Eugeo. Eugeo then blacked out due to the effects of his Blue Rose Sword's freezing and «Life» draining ability.

Outside the Cathedral, Kirito and Alice managed to eat the meat buns Kirito got from Cardinal. While chatting, Kirito mentioned Selka, Alice's sister, and managed to get a reaction. As Alice decided to walk out of her duties as an Integrity Knight, her Seal of the Right Eye activated, the same phenomenon that happened to Eugeo. Alice suffered immense pain in her right eye with the warning sign titled "System Alert" being displayed on it. Kirito then promised her that he would lead her to Selka one day after they defeat the Administrator.