Sword Art Online Episode 09

Blue-Eyed Demon (青目の悪魔) is the ninth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on September 1, 2012.

Plot
While holding «Teleport crystals» in their hands, Kirito and Asuna entered the boss room of the 74th Floor. As the blue torches lit up inside the room, they found a demon-like boss poised for battle in front of them with its great-sword. Its name was boldly stated as «The Gleam Eyes».

After fleeing from the boss room, Kirito and Asuna took a break in a safe-zone of the Labyrinth. While discussing a counter plan against the boss, Asuna asked Kirito why he only carried a single one-handed sword without a shield as well, seeing that he had no particular need to increase his agility. She also asked him why had she never seen him using the sword that Lisbeth crafted. As Kirito was clearly uncomfortable with the question, Asuna, even though still curious, stopped pursuing the matter and brought out a food basket.

After tasting Asuna's special homemade food and her self-made sauces, they encounter Klein and his guild, the «Fuurinkazan», as they entered the safe-zone. As Klein attempts to ask Asuna out, Kirito punched him, causing him to fall down. The other members of «Fuurinkazan» looked at Kirito suspiciously for a few moments, but after a while they recognized Asuna and tried to get close to her. Meanwhile, another guild known as «The Army» marched into the scene. «The Army» troop commander, Cobert, ordered his troops to rest, and demanded the mapping data from Kirito. Kirito gave it to him, as he was going to make the mapping data public anyway. Kirito warned Cobert not to go to the boss room, but Cobert ignored his comment and ordered his battalion to keep marching. Thinking that the group might get themselves into trouble, Kirito, Asuna and Klein along with his guild decided to follow the battalion.



On their way, after Klein and his guild defeated some Lizardman Lords, they suddenly heard terrified screams coming from the boss room. As Kirito and Asuna ran to the boss room, Klein and his guild fended off more Lizardman Lords that were respawning nearby. As Kirito and Asuna watched The Army fight the boss, they noticed that the troops were in bad shape, and that the boss was blocking the exit. Kirito ordered the soldiers to teleport out, but one of them told him that the «Teleport Crystals» would not work. This reminded Kirito of the incident where the Black Cats of the Full Moon were killed when an anti-crystal trap was activated.



After Klein and his guild had managed to defeat the lizardmen they proceeded to the boss room. As the boss was about to kill a member of The Army, Asuna could not watch what was happening and attacked the boss. Kirito and then Klein soon followed her. While Klein and his guild took several members to safety, the boss started to prepare the energy attack on them, but Kirito canceled it by attacking the boss' back, causing it to stumble. The boss then landed several hits on Kirito, decreasing his health gradually. Kirito was contemplating whether he should use his «Dual Blades» skill, but he then looked at Klein, Asuna and then some other Army members and saw that they were on the verge of death. He then recalled about his previous guild, in which most of the members were killed when an «Anti-crystal zone» trap was set off.

The boss then attacked Kirito as he was distracted, but Kirito managed to block the attack. He then decided to use his «Dual Blades» skill, asking Klein and Asuna to hold the boss off to give him some time to prepare. After finding the «Dual Blades» skill, he activated it and called out his Dark Repulser and attacked with both his new sword and his Elucidator, greatly shocking everyone. He then activated one of his high-level Dual Blades skills, Starburst Stream. After being hit multiple times, the boss managed to interrupt the attack by grabbing Kirito's Eludicator. As Klein and Asuna watched in horror, the boss began to attack Kirito with its sword, however Kirito attacked faster and killed the boss. After the boss shattered into thousands of pieces, Kirito fell unconscious momentarily due to the mental fatigue he experienced during the battle.

After Kirito regained consciousness, he learned from Klein that three players including Cobert had died in that boss battle; the first boss battle casualties since the 67th Floor. Klein yelled at the soldiers, stating that it was not a proper battle due to their weariness. Klein then asked about his «Dual Blades» skill, and Kirito explained that the skill appeared in his skill window six months ago and that he didn't know the conditions he met to unlock it, which was why he didn't show it to the other players, as he was afraid of what could happen if everyone knew about it. Klein realized why Kirito did not reveal the skill, as he knew how he would feel if he was him and everyone knew about it. Klein and his guild then began moving towards the next settlement to unlock access to the next floor, while Asuna decided to take a break from the Knights of the Blood. The Army soldiers left the scene, heading back to their main headquarters. The next day, Kirito was hiding out at Agil's shop, and Agil was reading the paper. Kirito told him that the news were too exaggerated, as Agil said that a "blue demon had killed an Army squadron and was killed by a guy's dual-bladed 50 slash combo". Kirito had been chased throughout the morning by swordsmen and info brokers due to the revelation of his «Dual Blades» skill and, at that point, Lisbeth told him that was his fault for revealing "their" secret. Suddenly, Asuna returns, bearing news that something was wrong.

In the «Knight of the Blood»'s base on the 55th Floor, Kirito met with the famous «KoB» leader: Heathcliff, who challenged him to a duel for the sake of allowing Asuna to take a temporary leave from the guild. If Kirito won the duel, then Asuna could leave to be with him, however if Kirito were to lose, then he would have to join the «Knights of the Blood». Seeing as there was no talking out of it, Kirito boldly accepted the duel request, stating that he would rather use swords than words.

New Characters

 * Heathcliff
 * Cobert

Named Monsters

 * Lizardman Lord
 * The Gleam Eyes

Guilds

 * Fuurinkazan
 * Aincrad Liberation Force
 * Knights of the Blood
 * Black Cats of the Full Moon (flashback)

Inventory

 * Kirito
 * Teleport Crystal
 * Elucidator
 * Dark Repulser
 * Sandwich - given by Asuna
 * Asuna
 * Teleport Crystal
 * Lambent Light
 * Sandwich
 * Klein
 * Karakurenai
 * ALF members
 * Teleport Crystal

Known Sword Skills

 * Starburst Stream - Kirito

Locations

 * Aincrad Floor 74: Labyrinth, Boss Room
 * Aincrad Floor 50: Algade - Agil's shop
 * Aincrad Floor 55: Granzam - KoB Headquarters

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Volume 1, Chapters 10, 11 and 12


 * In the light novel, Lisbeth doesn't appear in Agil's shop, therefore she does not mention about Kirito's "new" skill being their secret as of the "Warmth of the Heart" side story (Episode 07 and Volume 2 Warmth of the Heart).
 * In Volume 1 Chapter 11, the novel says that after Cobert was killed, the soldiers started to panic and ran around screaming. This is entirely skipped in the anime.
 * In the novel, The Gleam Eyes roars right before it shatters into thousands of pieces. This is not shown in the anime.
 * In the novel, after Kirito defeats The Gleam Eyes, he sheathes them back into their scabbards before falling unconscious. In the anime, after the boss is defeated, he simply holds the swords and then falls unconscious.
 * In the novel, after Kirito regains consciousness from defeating The Gleam Eyes, Asuna gives him a high-quality healing potion. This does not happen in the anime.
 * In the novel, after the players learn of Kirito's dual wielding skills, they manage to find where he is living, and Kirito ends up using a teleport crystal to escape from the mobs of players. In the anime, it is not mentioned where he lived, and he did not use teleport crystal to escape.

Episodio 9