Sword Art Online Episode 09

The Blue-Eyed Demon (青目の悪魔) is the ninth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation, as well as the ninth episode in the Aincrad Arc. 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». As the boss poised a battle stance and roared, Kirito and Asuna immediately ran out while screaming for their lives.



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, Kirito suggested having about 10 shield users in the fight. With the topic about shields brought up, Asuna found it suspicious that Kirito lacked a shield, stating that it was the biggest advantage of using a one-hand sword, as well as the fact that she had never seen him using the sword that Lisbeth crafted for him. Asuna explained that she had no use for a shield because she used a rapier and a shield would thus slow her down while others had varying opinions on using a shield. As Kirito was clearly uncomfortable with the question, Asuna, even though still curious, stopped pursuing the matter as it was impolite to ask about other player's skills and brought out a food basket.



After tasting Asuna's special homemade food and her self-made sauces, Klein and his guild, the «Fuurinkazan», entered the safe-zone. After noticing Kirito, Klein asked why was he accompanied by someone due to Kirito's solo-player status, but after noticing Asuna, Klein was momentarily stunned by her beauty and tried to ask her out, but Kirito punched him in the stomach, 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 though they were held back by Kirito. As Klein stepped on Kirito's foot for payback and then tried to question his relationship with Asuna, they were interrupted by another guild known as «The Army» who marched into the scene and had supposedly left the front lines after the boss fight on the 25th Floor. «The Army» troop commander, Kobatz, ordered his troops to rest, and asked Kirito if he had cleared the road up ahead, but after hearing Kirito having encountered the boss room, Kobatz demanded the mapping data. Klein and Asuna were reluctant, but Kirito gave it to him, as he was going to make the mapping data public anyway. Kirito warned Kobatz not to go to the boss room, as his party was too small and obviously too exhausted and in no condition to fight, but Kobatz 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. Before leaving, Klein requested Asuna to look after Kirito.



On their way, after Klein and his guild defeated some Lizardman Lords, Klein believed The Army teleported out until they were interrupted by terrified screams coming from the boss room. Kirito and Asuna quickly ran to the boss room while Klein and his guild fended off more Lizardman Lords that were re-spawning 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 Moonlit Black Cats were killed when an anti-crystal trap was activated.



After Klein and his guild had managed to defeat the Lizardman Lords they proceeded to the boss room, but they watched in horror as The Gleam Eyes blew through The Army and killed Kobatz. As the boss was about to kill another member of The Army, Asuna could not watch what was happening and attacked the boss, but was knocked away from its powerful punch. Kirito and then Klein soon followed her into the fray and Kirito blocked the boss' attack on Asuna. While Klein and his guild took several Army 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, but the boss retaliated and landed several hits on Kirito, decreasing his health gradually. Kirito was contemplating whether he should use "it," 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, and quickly decided that there was no time to think about using "it".

The boss then attacked Kirito as he was distracted, but Kirito managed to block the attack. He then requested Klein and Asuna to hold the boss off to give him some time to prepare. After finding the skill, «Dual Blades», 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, but 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 thrust his Dark Repulser into the boss' groin area, killing it. After the boss shattered into thousands of pieces, Kirito noticed his HP was nearly depleted and fell unconscious momentarily due to the mental fatigue he experienced during the battle.



After Kirito regained consciousness, a terrified Asuna quickly hugged him, and Kirito learned from Klein that three players including Kobatz had died in that boss battle; the first boss battle casualties since the 67th Floor. Klein then mused at how dumb Kobatz's actions were and there was no point in fighting when it involved dying. 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 jealous MMO gamers can be and 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 stated she had decided to take a break from the Knights of the Blood, stating she was scared if Kirito died and wanted to be with him.

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 mused how he had been chased throughout the morning by various swordsmen and info brokers due to the revelation of his «Dual Blades» skill. Lisbeth then walked in and teased him that was his own fault for revealing "their" secret. Suddenly, Asuna arrived, 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, stating that he could not allow the vice-commander to leave so easily, as she was a primary member of the Clearer group. 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
 * Kobatz

Named Monsters

 * Lizardman Lord
 * The Gleam Eyes

Guilds

 * Fuurinkazan
 * Aincrad Liberation Force
 * Knights of the Blood
 * Moonlit Black Cats (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 Item Shop
 * Aincrad Floor 55
 * Granzam
 * KoB Headquarters

Adaptation Notes

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


 * In Volume 1 Chapter 11, the novel says that after Kobatz 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.
 * Kirito does not describe the Extra Skills, such as Katana, in the anime.
 * Although The Gleam Eyes dropped loot for Kirito, the loot isn't seen or mentioned at all after it dies. In the light novel, Kirito showed what the boss dropped to Agil.
 * In the novel, Kirito drank some old tea, and after Agil tells him that he plans to use his Dual Blades skill to make some money, Kirito gets upset and throws the cup, almost destroying a piece of furniture in Agil's shop. In the anime, this does not happen, although he isn't happy with the news Agil reads to him.
 * 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).
 * Lisbeth appeared in this episode because the author called for "More Deban" for her.
 * 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.
 * Kirito and Asuna's actual trip to Granzam, with Asuna "charging" by holding hands with Kirito, is omitted.

Quotes

 * "You lagging?" - Kirito
 * "This is impossible..." - Kobatz
 * "Kirito's not so good with words and he's a crazy fighter, but please take good care of him." - Klein

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