Sword Art Online Episode 19

The Lugru Corridor (ルグルー回廊) is the nineteenth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on November 10, 2012.

Plot
Kirito and Leafa enter the caves toward Lugru. On the way they talk about each races' spells, and Leafa unexpectedly receives a somewhat cryptic message from Recon, which states "I was right. Be careful. S." They are interrupted from their speculations about the message by Yui, who informs them that twelve hostile players are approaching, prompting Leafa to hide them with concealment magic. Kirito notices a red bat and tells Leafa, who immediately recognizes it as a tracer and strikes the bat with magic, effectively destroying it. She then tells him to run because they were being followed by Salamanders.

They arrive at the lake surrounding Lugru and just before they enter the city, a large stone wall emerges before them, blocking their advance. Kirito asks if they can bypass the wall by going into the river, but Leafa tells him that there are powerful monsters in the lake and is almost impossible to kill without having an Undine. Kirito tells Leafa to stay back and support him, which she agrees to and he begins the assault, but is stopped by the Salamander shield formation. Due to the combination of healing mages, attacking mages and blocking soldiers Kirito is having a hard time breaking through the formation, so Leafa suggests surrendering and starting again from Sylvain, to which Kirito refuses saying that while he's alive he won't let any party member die.

On the last attempt to fight the charges, Kirito is stopped once again, and is forced to jump back. Yui tells Leafa what to do and she protects Kirito with a defensive spell, allowing him to use his magic. Kirito transforms into a creature resembling The Gleam Eyes and takes down the entire Salamander squad, starting with the blocking soldiers, and then the mages. The leader of the squad panics and dives into the river, only to get killed by one of the monsters living in the lake. As Kirito goes to kill the remaining Salamander, Leafa manages to stop him and tells him to live so he can be interrogated.

Kirito negotiates with the Salamander (by bribing him with many items) and obtains information about their pursuers while Leafa and Yui are surprised by their humorous attitude in their negotiation. The Salamander reveals that him and the others were ordered to attack them by someone of a higher rank then him. He also tells them that they were heading north, which Leafa thinks that they are going towards the World Tree, but he tells her they are not heading there. After telling what he knows, the Salamander leaves happily with the items that he was promised for being interrogated.

They enter the city and Leafa, at Kirito's suggestion, logs out of the game to ask Recon what his message meant. Suguha calls Shinichi and demands to know what's happening, and he informs her about Sigurd's plan with the Salamanders and how he sold out their leader, Lady Sakuya. Shinichi had caught Sigurd acting suspiciously and decided to tail him, eventually stumbling upon his meeting with the Salamanders. However, he was found out before he can escape and was shot with a poisoned arrow. Shinichi reveals that a group of Salamanders are planning to attack the Sylph leader and the Cait Siths during the establishment of the alliance treaty between the two races. Leafa connects once again and explains the situation to Kirito, and gives him the option to continue on without her as allying himself with the Salamanders may be his best chance to reach the World Tree. Kirito rejects the idea and decides to accompany her. Taking advantage of his speed he grabs Leafa's hand and they exit the caves in no time.

New Characters

 * Sakuya (cameo)
 * Alicia Rue (cameo)
 * Eugene (cameo)

Named Monsters

 * Orcs

Location

 * The Lugru Corridor, Neutral Territory

Adaption Notes

 * Adapted from Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 03 Chapter 4


 * In the anime, it wasn't mentioned that the Illusion spell Kirito performed turned the player into a monster, the shape of which randomly depending on the player's combat skills and that, usually, the end result would be a weak monster with no change in stats.

Episodio 19