Rushing to the hospital, Kazuto is attacked by an injured Sugou with a knife at the parking area. Kazuto manages to disarm him, and after considering everything Sugou has done, Kazuto spares his life. Kazuto finally meets with Asuna where they have a tearful reunion. On May 16, 2025, Kazuto and Asuna have returned to school, attending a special school for students who were trapped in SAO. As they have lunch, Kazuto reveals Sugou was arrested by the police after their fight and the crimes he committed were exposed by one of his employees. The 300 players that were trapped by Sugou were freed but his experiments shocked the public. Due to the scandal, Asuna's father and his higher ups resigned and shut down ALO with other VRMMORPG following it. Later, Asuna, Kazuto and Suguha heads to Agil's bar along with Liz, Silica, Yoruko, Kains, Sasha, Yulier, Thinker, along with Klein and his guild where they have a party to celebrate for clearing the game SAO. Agil analyzed "The Seed" to be a program that allows anyone with a server to create their own VRMMORPG and transfer players to other VRMMORPG easily. "The Seed" is uploaded to the internet which revives the VRMMORPG genre. Later that night in Alfheim Online, Kirito meets up with Leafa where they share a dance and a heartfelt conversation in the sky. Directly afterwards the floating castle Aincrad from SAO is brought into Alfheim Online which Kirito then declares he intends to finish clearing all 100 floors of. He is met with their friends from SAO and Alfheim Online flying towards the castle.