Hey,

I had planned to put together a short summary of the volume, but with work keeping me so busy I couldn’t even find the time to properly read it last week… I guess I’ll have to save that for the future volumes! Now that I think about it, I should actually get Kasamaki to help me out with that from now on…

The Demons’ Crest anime adaptation started airing last week, so please give it a look if you have the time (especially the opening )!
I personally had the chance to work on the opening and many episodes alongside my goated boys, and I’m so glad to finally see all our efforts pay off.

As always, thanks to RedBlueZero for accepting my selfish last-minute requests, especially when I delivered the translation later than I had promised…
 

Adaptation notes: I was thinking of translating スルーヴァ as Svafa, but Yen Press went with Surueva. We will then be using Surueva.

Credits

Translation, typeset: Celest
Editing: RedBlueZero
Raws: Celest, “I”

Sword Art Online Progressive 10 - Illustrations & Afterword

Afterword Translation

    Afterword

Thanks for reading Sword Art Online - Progressive 10, “Nocturne of the Blue Reflected Moon (Part 2)”.

First of all, I apologise for releasing the “second part” of the story rather than the “final part” I had previously promised in the afterword of the previous book. In contrast to the previous volume, which focused primarily on the Elves, this volume was planned to focus on the players themselves in the first half, with the two stories gradually merging in the second half. However, the players’ circumstances turned out to be far more complex than I had anticipated…

As of January 2023 in the story, the players trapped in Aincrad can be roughly divided into three groups: the Clearers who fight on the front lines; the mid-tier group who aspire to join their ranks; and the standby group who remain in the Safe Zones, hoping that someone else will eventually clear the game one day. To give a rough idea of their proportions: out of the 8,000 players who have survived the game so far, approximately 100 of them belong to the Clearers, around 1,000 make up the mid-tier group, and the remaining majority fall into the standby group.

They all, naturally, long to be freed from this death game, yet there are a few players—labeled PKers—who are plotting to interfere with that. Asuna temporarily gave them the nickname “Viper” in this volume. The known members are currently Joe, Morte and Buxum, with “the one in the black poncho” acting as their leader, as well as Hemlock, who makes his debut appearance in this volume. I felt it was about time I finally revealed what drives this group of PKers to attempt to kill the Clearers, both directly and indirectly, and why they are so hell-bent on these acts of sabotage that are essentially forms of suicide. I, however, ended up writing considerably more pages than anticipated on dungeon raid scenes. But, well, it was quite fun to write a large-scale group battle again after such a long time.

Additionally, I was finally able to bring focus on Johnny Black, a very important character in the main story. He was the one who kept blurting out “I, I know the truth!” on Floors 1 & 2, and I’m looking forward to carefully writing out the route he takes to become one of the three leaders of the PK group, only to ultimately reach that scene in the Alicization arc.

Now then, there’s one more character who’s finally made his return that I need to mention: Klein.

At this point in the story, Klein and his guild “Fuurinkazan” (although his guild’s name was not revealed in this volume) belong to the middle group. In the 1st volume of the main series, he was already a first-rate top player who used to speak rather bluntly to everyone except Asuna, so I initially thought he’d be a little more inexperienced and innocent at this point in time… But, as I was writing his character, well… Klein was still Klein.

Although he wasn’t able to participate in this volume’s battle, I’m looking forward to making the next volume’s plot revolve around the rivalry between Yofilis and Lavik, the secret machinations of the Fallen Elves, and the conquest of the Floor 8.

I believe Klein will continue to support Kirito in the volumes to come. Please also look forward to seeing how his meeting with Agil will be depicted. I’ll do my best not to keep you waiting too long, so thanks for always supporting the series!

    A certain day in September 2026 - Kawahara Reki

Illustrations Translation

“…Kirito, you little…”

— Klein
A curved-sword wielder who met Kirito on the first day the Death Game began, only for them to go on their separate ways. They just reunited on Floor 8.

“Aight, let’s do the same and buy a super huge house on an installment plan, too.”

— Argo
The mysterious info dealer of "Aincrad". Known as "Argo the Rat".

“Wait, huh?! No, that’s not what I meant!”

— Kirito
A swordsman striving to reach the top floor of Aincrad. He's a "solo" player by nature, but is working with Asuna for now.

“I’m going to kill you right here, right now.”

“And I’ll kill Joe, and then I’ll kill your other guildmates.”

“Haha… Mister Kirito, can you really pull that off given you were literally freaking out just ten days ago?”

— Morte
A one-handed axe wielder wearing a chain mail coif. Member of a PK group, he has repeatedly attempted to kill Kirito ever since their encounter on Floor 3.

“A troll dullahan…?”

“It’s a long-range attack! Get out of its club’s trajectory!”

— Herbjørn the Troll Dullahan
Quest Boss on "Aincrad"’s Floor 8. It guards the Key Item "Adamantine Key" deep within the Adamantine Shrine.

Note: For better readability, the translation has been typeset directly onto the illustration.

Labyrinth Area
Royal Castle
Shrine of the Secret Keys
Surueva, Capital of Kales'Oh Kingdom (Floor 8 Inner Grounds)
Floor 8 Outer Grounds
Ring-shaped Lake
7~8F Stairs
Frieven Main District

FLOATING CASTLE AINCRAD - Map Data

FLOOR 8

The eighth Floor of Aincrad is split into Inner and Outer Grounds by its ring-shaped lake.

Monsters inhabit the lake and are said to attack anyone who attempts to swim across it. As a result, the only way to travel between the Outer and Inner Grounds is to cross one of the two bridges, located to the north and south. However, both entrances are guarded by Forest Elf knights.

The Outer Grounds are home to the main District of Frieven and the Labyrinth Tower. Frieven is a town built by hollowing out the interior of a rocky mountain reaching fifty meters in height. Its summit has been leveled into a flat surface, which serves as the Teleport Gate Plaza.

The Inner Grounds are home to Surueva, capital of the Kales’Oh Kingdom, which is the Forest Elves’ homeland. Most of the Inner Grounds are covered in forest, but the area is governed by strict regulations; even stepping off of the designated paths and crushing a single mushroom is enough to bring Forest Elf knights rushing to the crime scene to drag the offender straight to prison.

Every Forest Elf knight patrolling Surueva belongs to the elite class of the elves, boasting the strength of a lower-Floor Field Boss. Furthermore, they’re quick to call for reinforcements, meaning even a large party risks being wiped out if they attempt to challenge them.

    Illustration: Kurusu Tatsuya