Recognizing the special tension between Lizbeth and Sachi, Kirito realized he was caught in a classic love triangle. Luckily for him, his best friend Klein and his guild, Fuurinkazan, showed up and greeted them warmly.
"Kirito, I knew you guys would be here. What's gotten into Seiya? Why would he suddenly want to duel the leader of the Knights of the Blood?"
After Klein and his guild arrived, The Holy Dragon Alliance, The Army, and guilds like Hope's Light, formed by Kibaou and Diabel, also appeared. Seeing all the players who had been on the front lines of the Assault Team gathered here, Klein couldn't help but exclaim, "This is a top-tier duel between the two most famous players in SAO. This is way bigger than any of our raid strategy meetings. I bet every player who can get to the 55th floor is here to watch."
Kirito looked at Heathcliff, who was standing on an ice pillar with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, and said, "It's not surprising. With their Unique Skills, Heathcliff and Seiya are probably the two strongest solo players in all of SAO. This duel will determine who is the strongest player, so it's only natural that people are curious."
Agil teased, "I thought there were three players with Unique Skills. The duel hasn't even started, and you're already counting yourself out, Kirito?"
"Yeah, you have a Unique Skill too, Kirito. You and Seiya were evenly matched in your duels. If you get serious, you should be just as good as them, right?"
Klein's words made Asuna and the others curious. They knew Seiya and Kirito were close, but they had no idea they had dueled before.
"I was only able to hold my own because Seiya wasn't used to the game controls. Two years have passed since then. I wouldn't stand a chance against him now. You guys don't know Seiya. That guy is an absolute monster. His learning ability and talent have been amazing since we were kids. To be honest, most people here probably think Heathcliff will win, but my gut tells me that if Heathcliff doesn't have a special trick up his sleeve, he's going to get his butt kicked."
Kirito's high praise for Seiya surprised Klein and the others. But they knew Kirito wasn't exaggerating. If anyone knew Seiya best, it was Kirito, who had grown up with him. Not even Asuna knew him as well.
"By the way, it's almost time for the duel. Why isn't Seiya here yet? Asuna, do you know where he is?"
Asuna suddenly felt a sense of unease. She opened her message window and tried to send a message to Seiya, but a pop-up told her that the area he was in could not receive any messages.
"Oh no, something's wrong with Seiya! He told me this morning he had to take care of something, but I can't reach him at all now!"
Asuna's words made Kirito and the others worried. There were only a few areas in Aincrad where messages were blocked, and those were usually dangerous, no-teleport zones. Seiya was supposed to duel Heathcliff, but he was nowhere to be found. It was obvious that something was amiss.
Unable to contact Seiya, Asuna was now anxious. Although she knew it was unlikely, she went up to Heathcliff and asked, "Heathcliff-san, where is Seiya right now?"
Heathcliff, who was standing there with his eyes closed, was completely taken aback. Wait, you don't know where your own in-game husband is, and you're asking me? Where is Seiya? How am I supposed to know? I was just about to wonder when he was going to get here! He was losing face as a GM.
"Seiya suddenly disappeared, and I can't contact him. This all happened after he accepted your duel. Last night, he hinted to me that you're not a simple character and that he was prepared to risk his life for this duel. It's just a normal PvP, so why would he be in that mindset? Now it seems..."
Heathcliff was speechless at Asuna's wild imagination. He even wondered if she was trying to set him up. He was Kayaba Akihiko. If he wanted to kill Seiya, would he use such petty methods?
Meanwhile, in the center of the desert on the outskirts of the 47th floor, a place called Hill of the Dead, a few figures stood amidst the sand. If Asuna and the others were here, they would have seen that one of the figures was Seiya, whom they couldn't reach. The others were Kuradeel, the man from the Knights of the Blood who had been following Asuna, and a few others wearing black cloaks with coffin tattoos on their backs.
Seiya was on his way to Dragon's Nest to duel Heathcliff as planned. But Kuradeel, dressed in the Knights of the Blood armor, stopped him and said the duel location had been changed. He then led him to this area. If Seiya were a normal player, he would have trusted Kuradeel and walked into a trap. But since he was a transmigrator who had some memory of Kuradeel, he followed him to this remote area.
Kuradeel wanted to kill him, and coincidentally, Seiya also wanted to kill Kuradeel. If Seiya won the duel against Heathcliff, the death game might end, and they would all return to the real world. Instead of leaving these scumbags like Kuradeel as a hidden danger, it was better to deal with them right here and now!