Chapter 81: Victory? Mutual Annihilation?

"Your physical abilities are astonishing—I never expected that the national kendo champion, besides your exceptional swordsmanship talent, would possess such remarkable martial prowess."

"But you’re far too naive—you really thought I didn’t anticipate you’d choose to close the distance and make a desperate move?"

Seeing Shengzai sprinting swiftly atop the collapsing stone pillars, Kayaba Akihiko also displayed a look of surprise.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected Shengzai to be so outstanding in physical ability, beyond his kendo skills.

With such exceptional physical capabilities, he shouldn’t have needed to appear so desperate when evading my attacks before.

The reason he acted that way was likely to lull me into complacency.

But Kayaba Akihiko is a cautious man; even after losing his spirit servant, he had already anticipated that Shengzai would do everything possible to close in and make a final gamble.

The reason is simple: in SAO, ranged attack options are extremely limited, and against me—with my abundance of crowd-control and ranged skills—if Shengzai doesn’t close the distance, he’ll lose even the faintest chance of victory.

Watching Shengzai leap high into the air, about to deliver a downward slash to his face, Kayaba Akihiko slowly extended his other hand and summoned a shield from thin air.

"Forgotten? My unique skill, 'Holy Sword,' paired with the two-sword style—I was always meant to wield a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other."

Upon hearing Kayaba’s words, Shengzai, already airborne, grimaced, while the players watching from floor fifty-five erupted into curses.

"Kayaba Akihiko, you bastard—you’ve sunk so low just to win!"

"Aren’t you the final boss? Which boss uses a player’s unique skill? If you’re this much of a sore loser, why even agree to PVP in the first place? What fairness is there in this crap?"

Kirito’s grim expression aside, Klein was now seething with rage—he’d likely land several hard slaps on Kayaba’s face if he were standing right there.

Using the boss panel for PVP was already questionable, but at least Kayaba truly was the final boss.

As the final boss, Kayaba directly overriding the AI to manually control the boss module in combat with Shengzai—though some were indignant, they ultimately tolerated it.

But now he’s using a player-exclusive 'unique skill'? That’s just shameless.

Are you a player or a game monster now? Are you some kind of hybrid version?

Just as Shengzai seemed on the verge of victory and hope had ignited among them, this bastard Kayaba kept ramping up the difficulty and crushed the hope they’d barely managed to rebuild!

"CLANG——————!"

Shengzai’s downward slash struck Kayaba’s shield and was instantly repelled by a powerful rebound force.

The recoil damage even caused his HP to visibly drop below fifty percent, entering the yellow zone.

As his body was flung backward, the stun duration from Kayaba’s earlier use of the 'Death Harvest' skill had ended—he tightened his grip on the crimson scythe and swung it down at Shengzai, who hung helplessly in midair.

On the ground, with Shengzai’s reaction speed and physical ability, he might still have had room to maneuver against this strike.

But now, suspended in midair, evasion was impossible. As the massive scythe drew ever closer, spectators even closed their eyes, as if they’d already seen the final outcome.

"Weapon Block———!"

"TING——————!"

As the crimson scythe, slicing through the air, neared Shengzai, he noticed his skill icon had just finished cooling down—he gripped Dawnbringer tightly and struck out without hesitation.

Sparks flew violently as the crimson scythe clashed with the azure one-handed sword; Kayaba’s massive frame recoiled backward, while Shengzai’s body crashed straight into the ground.

'Weapon Block' can bypass level and stat differences to successfully block, but it cannot negate fall damage.

Because of this, Shengzai’s HP—already in the yellow zone—plummeted further due to the fall damage, dropping straight into the red zone at ten percent.

In PVP, item-based recovery is prohibited. Seeing Kayaba recoil from the 'Weapon Block' as well, Shengzai didn’t hesitate—he hurled Dawnbringer from his hand!

The skill 'Throw Sword,' like 'Weapon Block,' is a basic universal skill. Due to its low power and the fact that throwing your weapon leaves you unarmed, many players never bother learning it.

But Shengzai learned it—and leveled it highly. And under current circumstances, it was by far the most effective skill.

Dawnbringer, violently thrown, shot through the air like a streak of light, hurtling toward Kayaba’s head at incredible speed.

'Throw Sword'’s damage calculation depends on the user’s level and weapon level, plus a critical hit bonus—if this landed, it would completely drain Kayaba’s HP.

When the SAO players saw Shengzai hurl Dawnbringer, hope flared again.

But just as Dawnbringer was about to strike Kayaba, he swung his scythe once more, deflecting Shengzai’s thrown sword away.

'Weapon Block' isn’t exclusive to Shengzai—Kayaba Akihiko can use it too.

Yet at that exact moment, as Kayaba deflected Shengzai’s 'Throw Sword' and smirked at him, he realized Shengzai had already begun sprinting at full speed the instant he threw his sword!

While Kayaba focused on deflecting the thrown blade, Shengzai surged forward again at astonishing speed, closing the distance in an instant.

Kayaba, having just used 'Weapon Block,' was still in the brief stun state from his scythe swing.

Seizing this opening, Shengzai leapt onto Kayaba’s arm and sprinted rapidly along it.

The one-handed sword, previously deflected by 'Weapon Block,' spun through the air, then was caught again by Shengzai’s outstretched hand.

Seeing this, Kayaba realized at once: everything had been part of Shengzai’s plan all along—every prior move was merely setup for this final strike.

His unique skill was used, his ranged abilities were still on cooldown, and even his last resort, 'Weapon Block,' was gone—what could he use to stop Shengzai’s desperate final assault?

"Shengzai Wen—I never expected you’d have this kind of resolve. But I won’t surrender so easily."

"Don’t forget—this isn’t ordinary PVP. Even if we both perish, those players can return to the real world. But you—your HP is empty. Are you truly certain you’ll survive in the real world?"

(End of Chapter)