Sword Art Online Episode 13

Edge of Hell's Abyss (奈落の淵) is the thirteenth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on September 29, 2012.

Plot
On November 5, 2024, Kirito goes fishing and meets a man named Nishida, a well-known fisherman of the area. After talking and eating one of the fish Nishida catches with some of Asuna "soy sauce" they decide to team up to catch the biggest fish Nishida has ever seen by using Nishida's fishing skill and Kirito's strength skill. They successfully catch the fish, which is actually a monster that Asuna easily defeats, but this ruins her disguise and everyone is able to recognize that she is Asuna, the Sub-Leader of Knights of the Blood. This causes everyone to run toward Asuna. Kirito was going to join in the crowd before receiving a message from Heathcliff calling Kirito and Asuna to return to the front lines. They say their farewell to Nishida but promise to return as they teleport to Grandum.

Upon their arrival, Heathcliff tells them that a group of twenty players found the 75th Floor's Boss Room, but when 10 of them reached the center of the room, the door shut behind them. Minutes later, the door opened and no one was left there, neither the players, nor the boss. Because it was an Anti-Crystal Area, they could not escape and died. Thus a team of players from several guilds is being assembled to confront the dangerous boss. As the time for the battle approaches, Kirito asks Asuna to stay behind, fearing for her safety, but Asuna refuses, claiming that she would rather die than live without him.

Kirito expresses his true feeling of wanting to run away with Asuna, believing it is better to live in SAO rather than returning to the real world. Asuna mentions that all players' real bodies must be currently being treated in hospitals and their condition can not be kept indefinitely, thus living in the game won't last forever. With the realization, that whether they clear the game or not, there is a time limit and that they have no choice but to fight.

Prior to the battle, Kirito and Asuna find out that Klein and Agil are also joining the fight. They all enjoy a light conversation before Heathcliff and the Knights of the Blood's arrival. Heathcliff uses a Corridor Crystal to open a portal to the 75th level's boss room. Heathcliff gives a word of encouragement to the players. Asuna hold hands with Kirito, reassuring him that she will protect him and vice-versa with Kirito. Kirito tells Klein and Agil not to die and Klein responds by telling him the same. Afterwards, everyone runs into the boss room.

The gateway closes and disappears. But nobody sees the boss, until Asuna hears rattling and realizes that the boss was on the ceiling. The boss was a skeleton-like centipede named The Skull Reaper with a pair of gigantic scythes as claws. It immediately kills two players with its scythe in one hit. The remaining players are horrified and frozen with shock. The Skull Reaper attacks another player before Heathcliff blocks it with his shield, but it still kills off another player with its other scythe. Before it kills another player, Kirito flings himself in front of the scythe, crossing his two swords to block its attack, but the scythe pushes the swords toward his body.

The boss was about to strike Kirito with its other scythe just as Heathcliff came to the rescue and blocked it while Asuna's sword struck the other scythe, pushing the scythe back. Heathcliff blocks one scythe while Kirito and Asuna block the other scythe, allowing the others to attack from the sides. Agil, Klein and two other player began their assault but were stopped by Skull Reaper's tail, killing the two other players in the process. Everyone continues the attack from the sides while Heathcliff, Kirito and Asuna block the scythes.

New Characters

 * Nishida

Named Monsters

 * The Skull Reaper

Guilds

 * Knights of the Blood
 * Divine Dragon Alliance
 * Fuurinkazan

Inventory

 * Kirito
 * Elucidator
 * Dark Repulser
 * Asuna
 * Lambent Light
 * Heathcliff
 * Liberator
 * Corridor Crystal

Known Sword Skills

 * Flashing Penetrator

Location

 * Aincrad Floor 22: Lake Outside Coral Village, Coral Village Teleport Gate Plaza
 * Aincrad Floor 55: Grandum
 * Aincrad Floor 75: Collinia - Teleport Gate Plaza; 75th Floor Labyrinth - Boss Room

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted Volume 1, Chapters 18-21


 * In the Light Novel, Kirito wondered if Nishida was an NPC, before he clarified that he wasn't, while in the Anime, he explained his real-life occupation after meeting.

Quotes

 * "I got stronger so I'd be able to survive." - Kirito
 * "I cried alone every single night. It felt like every day that passed here stole another piece of my real life away. After I cried, I'd go and fight as hard as I could. My only thought was winning, moving forward, and getting stronger." - Asuna
 * "But as we partied up together. Even in a world like this, he was really living. He wasn't losing a day in the real world. He was gaining a day here. The one who taught me that was Kirito-kun." - Asuna
 * "For the first time since I arrived here, I was happy here. To me, Kirito-kun is the meaning of my two years here and proof that I am alive." - Asuna
 * "In other words, whether clear the game or not, there's a time limit?" - Kirito
 * "I want to stay with you forever, I want us to date for real. To really get married.. To get old together!" - Asuna
 * "Don't die." - Kirito
 * "If we block together, we can do this." - Asuna

Episodio 13