After Kazuto and Suguha have their falling out, Kazuto recalls why he got into MMO games to begin with: after discovering on an internet database that he had been adopted by his aunt after his parents died, he delved into MMO games as a means of escaping reality. The two years he spent trapped in SAO, however, had taught him a valuable lesson: that there was really no difference between the real world and the virtual world. His resolve renewed, he asks Suguha to meet him in ALO.
After logging back in and spurning Recon's confession of love, Leafa meets with Kirito in order to settle their grievances with a duel. Before they fight, however, Leafa realizes that the way Kirito held his sword when they practiced kendo earlier was exactly how he held his sword in-game. The battle takes them into the skies over Alne, but quickly ends when Leafa falls into Kirito's arms. The two reconcile with one another, with Kirito stating that he can't truly return to reality until Asuna wakes back up. Leafa promises to wait for her brother's return to reality, and vows to help him clear the Grand Quest.
Before re-attempting the quest, this time with Leafa and Recon at his side, Kirito asks Yui about the Guardian Knights. They spawned at such a high rate that Kirito begins to suspect that the quest was never meant to be cleared at all. Nonetheless, he must try.
Once inside, Kirito makes his way for the gate once more, with Leafa and Recon providing heals. The Guardian Knights begin to spawn in massive and dense swarms, making Kirito's attempt to clear the quest even more difficult than last time. Recon suddenly enters the fray, casting a high-level spell that causes him to explode like a bomb, blasting a hole through the Knights swarm while incurring a severe penalty. As the Knights begin to respawn, Sakuya and Alicia Rue arrive with Sylph warriors and Cait Sith dragoons in tow, thanks to Kirito's generous donation to their alliance earlier.
Leafa fights alongside Kirito, and gives him her sword, which allows Kirito to make one final push to the gate. The gate, however, does not open when he reaches it: it has no quest flag, and will only open for system administrators. Thankfully, Kirito has the admin card provided for him by Asuna, which Yui uses to open the gate...
