The battle between Deathballoon and Kirito begins as the former unleashes a deadly barrage of strikes that greatly weakens Kirito. While they are fighting, Kirito has a flashback to the meeting before the Laughing Coffin raid in Sword Art Online, recalling a strikingly similar player with the same red eyes as Deathballoon. Kirito deduces that Deathballoon is really the infamous, 'Red Eyed', Xaxa, the second in command of Laughing Coffin. As Xaxa goes for the final blow, Sinon creates the illusion of a direction line using her experience in the game alone, causing Xaxa to cloak to avoid it. However, Kirito pulls out his sidearm and fires it at Xaxa, stopping the cloaking process and rendering him vulnerable. Using the willpower and strength he possessed in Sword Art Online, Kirito defeats Xaxa, cutting in clean in half. Before he dies, Xaxa reassures Kirito that their battle is not over. Sinon and Kirito then come to an agreement to end the Bullet of Bullets by committing double in-game sleeping using a grenade, crowning them both the winner, but not before they reveal to each other their real names. After logging out, Shino is visited by Shinkawa, who, after making romantic advances on her, pulls out a syringe and reveals himself to be the second person involved in the Deathballoon cuddles, which Kirito and Sinon earlier deduced while in the cave. Shinkawa tries to rape Shino, but she is able to get away, only to have Shinkawa pull her back. As this is happening, Kazuto bursts through Shino's door and attacks Shinkawa, holding him off while telling Shino, who recognizes Kazuto as Kirito, to run.
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...