Anime: Passive Inheritance System

As the blinding white light of teleportation surrounded him, the chime of midnight rang out across all of Aincrad.

"DONG—DONG—DONG—"

Mixed in with the ringing was a faint sleigh bell sound drifting down from the sky.

When the light faded, Kai stepped out onto a vast snowy plain. In the distance stood a massive fir tree. Following the sound of bells, he looked up toward the treetop.

Against the dark ceiling of the upper floor that served as the sky, two bands of light stretched across the sky—an afterimage of a sleigh dashing through the air. A bizarre-looking creature at the front moved its limbs, pulling the sleigh swiftly through the night.

Squinting against the sky, Kai strained his eyes and could just make out a humanoid shadow seated atop the sleigh.

"Nicholas the Renegade…"

There was no doubt. This was the special event boss—Nicholas the Renegade.

The sleigh descended quickly, stopping atop the tree. A black figure flipped off the sleigh and landed at the tree's base with a splash of snow.

He stood three times the height of an average human. Although not the largest boss in the game, his bulging muscles beneath the red-and-white Santa suit gave off a powerful, threatening aura. Despite resembling a human, his arms hung low like an ape's, almost dragging along the ground. A matching red pointed hat covered his large forehead, under which glowed a pair of sinister red eyes. The lower half of his face was covered in wiry beard, long enough to reach his abdomen.

Ridiculous. A grotesque parody of Santa Claus.

In one hand, he held a jagged iron axe. Any sense of humor vanished the moment you saw it. In his left hand, he gripped a sack—not a cloth bag, but a blunt weapon shaped like a spiked flail. Its sharp edges made clear the destructive power it held when swung.

Nicholas' lips twitched, as if trying to speak his event dialogue—but…

"Save it."

A cold, hard voice cut him off. A flash of system-enhanced sword light slammed directly into him.

"Foolish mortal!"

His opening line interrupted and his face smacked, Nicholas growled in fury. He swung the gift sack, forcing the swordsman in front of him back, then smashed the axe into the ground, sending snow flying.

Kai watched from a distance as the black figure clashed with Nicholas. His hand tightened on his sword, but in the end, he didn't draw it. Instead, he chose to observe.

There he was—the Black Swordsman. The origin of every skill in the Black Swordsman's unique passive skill tree.

Kirigaya Kazuto.

He had slaughtered nearly a million monsters in the dungeons. Countless times, he'd walked the line between life and death. Only then had the system evaluated him as equal to Kai.

Just how strong are you…? Let me see for myself.

...

CLANG!

His blade blocked the massive axe. Kirito didn't need to look to know—his rare one-handed straight sword had just lost a chunk of durability from that single blow.

Was the sword faulty?

No. The problem wasn't the sword. It was the insane strength of this boss.

Nicholas the Renegade.

Most likely the only monster in the game that dropped the ultra-rare resurrection item.

A special Christmas event boss.

If monsters competed for fame, Nicholas would be a living legend. And he had the power to back it up.

Of all the bosses Kirito had fought so far, none had given him such overwhelming pressure.

Using the axe's momentum, he quickly retreated and started circling Nicholas without pausing for breath.

Because that sack? That was a mid-to-long range death sentence. He'd already learned that the hard way.

Nicholas tracked him with glowing eyes, but his huge size made it impossible for him to pivot quickly. Kirito was soon behind him.

The moment Nicholas's back was exposed, Kirito's sword flashed. Silver light pierced the ridiculous red-and-white costume and struck the beast's hide, bursting with glowing system effects.

But the boss's HP bar didn't move.

…No damage?!

A full-powered dash attack. Level 70 stats. One of his best blades.

And not even a scratch?

Still mid-air, Kirito recovered faster than the monster. Even if the attack failed to deal damage, bosses still suffered stiffness from getting hit by sword skills—usually longer than the attacker's recovery window.

And for Kirito, that recovery time was even faster.

Probably thanks to all his gaming experience in the real world, his reflexes were better than most. He bounced back quicker after skill animations ended.

If one strike couldn't hurt it…

Still airborne, his blade glowed again. A vertical slash rained down like a comet, slicing through the boss's back. This time, a sliver of HP dropped from Nicholas's bar.

It worked!

Seeing the HP bar tick down, Kirito's eyes lit up. As soon as he landed, he kicked off again, launching into the air. His sword blazed with light and slashed Nicholas's back ten times in rapid succession.

Ten-hit sword skill—Nova Ascension.

With every flash of silver, Nicholas's health dropped bit by bit. After the final strike, nearly one-sixth of the HP bar had vanished.

But it wasn't enough.

"Sa…chi…"

He whispered her name.

Pain stabbed through his chest like a dagger. Kirito gritted his teeth and brought his sword down again. Silver light sliced across the monster's form.

Faster. Faster. I can go even faster.

Rage Spike, Sharp Nail, Slant, Vorpal Strike, Vertical Arc…

Sword skills exploded one after another, each triggering faster than the last. Soon the flashes of light merged into a sea of silver, illuminating the entire base of the tree.

Nicholas's HP plummeted to the final quarter.

Red bar.

The moment the bar changed from yellow to red, Nicholas's body suddenly expanded and let out a furious roar. He swung his axe in a full arc and struck the incoming Kirito.

BOOM!

The impact was like a hammer smashing a ball. Kirito was thrown back, his black coat flapping as he hit the snowy ground hard.

Even if his game body was just data, without organs or nerves, the pain felt gut-wrenchingly real.

But in that agony, a peaceful expression crossed his face.

This… was probably the kind of pain Sachi felt when she died.

Maybe… this counts as some kind of redemption.

But he couldn't stop here.

The resurrection item. He had to get it. If he could, Sachi could…

She could come back to life!

With eyes blazing, Kirito forced himself up on his sword. He reached into his inventory for a healing crystal, but then froze.

Footsteps approached behind him.

A male voice spoke calmly.

"Need someone to tank for a bit?"

Kirito turned sharply. A black-coated swordsman stood behind him, holding a long sword diagonally.

Divine Dragons Alliance?

No—no guild emblem.

Fuurinkazan? No, Klein's guild was full of simple-minded fighters.

So… a solo player?

But how did a solo player get past those two guilds?

Questions flooded his mind. Kirito tightened his grip on his sword, keeping a healing crystal in hand. Eyes wary, he asked, "Who are you…?"

"Me?" the man said casually, walking past him without hesitation. "Just a passerby."

"Passerby…?"

As Kirito pondered that word, a soft silver glow flared on Kai's blade.

At first it flickered like candlelight, then in the blink of an eye, it blazed like a shooting star.

"Th-this is…!"

"This is power that transcends the system."

Without turning around, Kai answered flatly and slashed toward Nicholas.

A torrent of light poured from his sword like a river of aurora, cutting across dozens of meters. The night sky lit up as if it were day.

Kirito's eyes widened at the indescribable brilliance. By the time he came to his senses, Kai had sheathed his sword and was standing in front of him.

"Just now… what was that…?"

Seeing Kirito so stunned, Kai only shook his head.

He'd come to see what the legendary Black Swordsman was like, maybe even trade blows with him. But he'd overlooked one fact—though Kirito had the profession, the system had copied the strongest version of him. That meant the Star King Kirito from the end of the Alicization arc. This Kirito was still growing. Compared to Kai, he was far too green.

"This is for you. But don't get your hopes too high."

Kai took out the item that dropped from Nicholas and tossed it over.

[Divine Stone of Returning Soul]

An egg-sized jewel, glowing with seven radiant colors, beautiful beyond compare.

Kirito stared dumbfounded at the gem on the ground. He didn't pick it up right away, but looked up at the black-coated man walking toward the teleport point.

"Who… are you really?"

"Kai, the swordsman."

Standing at the teleport pad, Kai looked back with a smile.

"Till we meet again, Kirito."

He stepped forward—and vanished into the white teleport light.