Sword Art Online Episode 20

General of the Blazing Flames (猛炎の将) is the twentieth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on November 17, 2012.

Plot
After Kirito and Leafa exit the cave and start flying, they noticed the World Tree in the distance. Kirito then asked where the meeting would take place. Leafa pointed to the location and informed him that they only have 20 minutes to get there. Both increased their speed as they tried to reach the Leaders in time.

Yui detected 68 players on their way, presumably the Salamanders attack force, and another 14 ahead of them, the Sylphs and the Cait Sith diplomats. Yui mentioned that there are only 50 seconds before they made contact. Admitting defeat, Leafa told Kirito to go to the World Tree while she tried to save Sakuya, but Kirito rejected the plan, saying that running is not his style.

The Salamanders arrived and just as they were about to attack, Kirito landed with a boom and asked everyone to put away their swords. Leafa startled Sakuya, the leader of the Sylphs, and informed the party that their fates rely on Kirito, standing in between them and the Salamanders. Kirito then asked to talk to Salamanders' commander. The commander then appeared, annoyed by the fact that Kirito had interrupted their attack. Kirito then tells the commander that he was an ambassador to the Spriggan-Undine alliance, and disrupting the meeting would cause them, along with the Sylphs and Cait Sith to wage war on the Salamanders. The commander then started laughing at him, believing that he is not an ambassador by saying that he has no guards and "horrible gear". He then says that he would believe him if he could hold him off for 30 seconds, and then equips his Demonic Sword Gram. Sakuya then realizes that the commander is General Eugene, the strongest player in ALO.

Eugene used the sun's rays to blind Kirito and began the first assault. Kirito attempted to block the Demonic Sword Gram, but fails due to Eugene taking advantage of his sword's unique skill, «Ethereal Shift», which allowed the sword to pass through swords and shields when the opponent attempts to block the attack, causing Kirito to get hit. But Kirito refused give up and retaliates. As they continue to fight, Kirito points out that 30 seconds have already passed but Eugene had already decided to change the rule to a deathmatch and continues to attack Kirito. Using his sword's unique ability, Eugene began to take the upper hand in the battle, so Kirito  tried to get some distance between him and Eugene and summoned a smoke curtain with magic.



Taking advantage of the diversion, he borrowed Leafa's Katana and gains altitude. Eugene cleared the smoke screen and thinks that Kirito had run away from the fight. With Kirito nowhere to be found, everyone, except Leafa, believed that Kirito had fled. Just then, Kirito surprises everyone as he soared down from the sky to clash against Eugene, surprising the general by drawing Leafa's katana right after he blocks Eugene's attack with his great sword, causing «Ethereal Shift» to lose its effect.



Taking advantage of his experience and proficiency in dual-wielding two swords from SAO, Kirito attacked fiercely and the General is not able to defend against the onslaught and counter-attack due to the limitation of «Ethereal Shift», combined with Kirito's god-like speed. Thus, Kirito won almost instantly with the continuation of his attacks. Everyone was amazed by the outcome of the battle, with the diplomats cheering and the Salamanders appreciating Kirito's skills.

After the match, Sakuya revives Eugene (as requested by Kirito in the light novels) and, after being revived, Eugene admited that Kirito is the best fighter he had ever seen. Kirito thanks the General and asked if Eugene believes what he had said about the Spriggan-Undine alliance. As Eugene contemplates Kirito's claim, Kagemune appears. To Leafa's suprise, Kagemune lied and teld him that Kirito and an Undine had destroyed his party. Eugene then believed the allgeations, and, as he and his brother knew it would not be worth fighting against the four races, he agrees to leave with his troops. He then expressed the wish to battle Kirito once again, which the latter agrees, and he left on good terms.

After the Salamanders depart, Leafa explained Sigurd's treason, and Sakuya presumes that he had betrayed them because the Sylphs were falling in their military power to the Salamanders, and because of the 5.0 patch, which was rumored to include a reincarnation system, which would allow a player to be reborn as another race, if the lord of the race agreed. Sakuya then talks to Sigurd, and then expels him from the Sylphs. After hearing that Kirito isn't allied with anyone, the two leaders flirted with him and ask him to join their respective forces. Leafa then to stop them by saying that he is her partener, but while she is a loss for words. Kirito rejected the offers of both leaders, and tells them about his need to reach Aarun fast. He gave them a heavy bag with 100,000 Yurudo to help them prepare for the assault towards the World Tree. The Leaders thank Kirito and left, telling him when he came back from the World Tree to visit their place again.

Leafa approaches Kirito as they see the Leaders leaving, but Yui pops out of his pocket saying that she is mad with her papa, because he had cheated. Yui mentions that his heart was beating faster when the Leaders were close to him, but he excuses himself by saying that he could not avoid it because he is a man. With this, Leafa asked what Yui thinks about her and is surprised to know that she is just okay. Kirito messed up by telling her that she is not like a girl, in a sense that it is easier to get along with her, so he started tp gain altitude and called Leafa to start travelling to Aarun to change the topic. Meanwhile, in the bird cage, Asuna waked up and enters the code she had memorized earlier to open the gate and leaves.

New Characters

 * Sakuya
 * Alicia Rue
 * Eugene

Locations

 * Butterfly Valley (Neutral Territory)
 * World Tree

Abilities Used

 * Dual Blades (experience of dual wielding from SAO; not an actual skill in ALO)

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Volume 3 Chapter 4​


 * In the anime, it isn't mentioned that dual wielding has been attempted by other players, but that no one is known to have managed to efficiently use the style in battle, as it is difficult for a person to manipulate 2 swords with both hands and have them working in sync.
 * In the light novel, after beating Eugene, Kirito smiles at the cheer that everyone was giving him while bowing at the audience. However, in the anime, he just swing his sword and stares down.

Quotes

 * "Running away isn't my style" - Kirito

Episodio 20