Calibur SS

Not to be confused with the original Calibur story.

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Calibur SS
SS Information
Cover Character(s)	Asuna, Freyja, Kirito, Klein, Leafa, Lisbeth, Pina, Silica, Sinon, Tonky, Thrym, and Yui
Published in	Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE Vol.20
Release Date	June 10, 2011

Calibur SS (キャリバー SS(すこししっぱい)版, Kyaribā Sukoshi Shippai-ban^?, literally, Calibur "Slight Slipup" version) is a magazine bonus short story written by Kawahara Reki. It was initially released on June 10, 2011 as part of an «All-in-1-Book: Accel World & Sword Art Online» (まるごと１冊　 アクセル・ワールド＆ソード/・オンライン, Marugoto Issatsu　Akuseru Wārudo & Sōdo Āto Onrain^?) appendix to Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE Vol.20. Calibur SS is the hypothetical bad ending to the Calibur side-story, branching from the canon version of Calibur when Klein decides not to save Freyja. It was published two months before the canon version of Calibur was released with Volume 8 of the main light novel series on August 10, 2011.

The story is set two weeks after the end of the Phantom Bullet Arc, illustrating how Kirito and his party could have failed The Holy Sword of the Ice Palace quest by not having Freyja's support during the final boss battle if Klein had not rescued her beforehand. The beginning of Calibur SS is identical to the canon version of Calibur until the point where Klein was supposed to save Freyja. Aside from removed reference to Freyja, the plot remains mostly the same as the canon version of the story, until it diverges from the canon entirely during the part of the boss battle where Freyja was supposed to request the aid of the fairies to retrieve her treasure.

Plot

Part 1

The quest to retrieve «Holy Sword Excalibur» from the base of Jötunheimr was revealed to the public. However, unlike what Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito) and Suguha (Leafa) expected, it was not a quest to clear the Inverted Ice Pyramid, but another quest to slaughter all beast-type Evil Gods and the sword had yet to be obtained. After Kazuto and Suguha called Yuuki Asuna, Asada Shino (Sinon), Tsuboi Ryoutarou (Klein), Ayano Keiko (Silica), and Shinozaki Rika (Lisbeth) to form a party of seven to attempt raiding the ice pyramid again, they gathered at Lisbeth's shop in Yggdrasil City to prepare and then came to Jötunheimr via a secret passage that Kirito and Leafa had found nearly a year before. There, they called Tonky to transport them to the dungeon, but the creature instead took them downwards, until they were able to clearly see what was happening on the ground, where they saw players cooperating with the humanoid-type Evil Gods to eliminate the beast-type Evil Gods. At that moment, an NPC calling herself «The Queen of the Lake», Urðr appeared. She told them of a once beautiful Jötunheimr where the roots of the World Tree touched the floor and the endless void in the center of the land was filled with water of the purest quality. The Frost Giants had used the «Holy Sword Excalibur» to cut off the roots of the great tree and this resulted in Jötunheimr turning into a frozen wasteland. After telling that the quest to slaughter the beast-type gods would result in the humanoid-type Evil Gods to invading Alfheim and would reward a «Fake Sword Caliburn», instead of the real Holy Sword Excalibur, Urðr requested the fairies to enter the inverted ice pyramid dungeon, called Thrymheim, and retrieve the real sword from a plinth to return Jötunheimr to its former state before the beast-type gods were all slaughtered. The party then entered the upside-down pyramid to clear its four floors and obtain Excalibur.

Part 2

Klein exclaimed after seeing Kirito perform his Outside System Skill, Skill Connect, to what Kirito did not pay too much attention. Then Leafa informed that they had almost one hour before the quest ended in failure, so they started running towards the next floor. There, they encountered a Non-Player Character (NPC) asking for help, but because it could be a trap, they left her and continued on their way to the boss room.

Part 3

Despite the best efforts of the fairy warriors, the group only managed to whittle half of the boss's hit points by the time their time limit for the quest expired. Thrym laughed at them as he ejected them from the Thrymheim castle and made his castle ascend to the surface, triggering the Ragnarök event and destroying Alne, along with the players' houses and items. As Kirito and the others watched the mass destruction, Yui informed them that the items were refunded in money and others were stored in their owners' storage. Suddenly, a Game Master named Marinca, who was happy to know that the items were saved, appeared and explained to them that the chaos was mostly her fault.

After talking with Marinca, the group decided to try to stop Thrym again, but they would wait one and a half hours to rest and try again. Kazuto woke up in his bed and started thinking, but then Suguha entered his room and Kazuto told her that everything would be fine. He then started thinking and noticed that they had committed an error in leaving Freyja, and because of it, they had failed the quest.

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