Volume 26 afterword

Afterword

Thank you all for reading 『Sword Art Online 26, Unital Ring V』.

Having begun at the end of the year 2018, the Unital Ring Arc has had its fifth installment released with this volume and the story, encompassing two worlds, is finally heading into its climax...... or at least it's supposed to be heading there, but I keep coming up with things that I need to write, as well as things that I simply want to write, left and right, which makes it hard for me as the documenter to pick and choose what goes in. Though, well, I guess it basically is the norm for me!

(Henceforth, I'll be touching on the content of the book itself)

Nevertheless, I am quite psyched that with this volume we managed to achieve a grand goal that I had set up ever since I began the UR arc: the come-back scene for Ronye, Tiese, and Selka. Every time I referenced the fact that two hundred years have passed since the UW arc, as well as the Moon Cradle arc that followed afterwards, even I myself have been plagued by worries: "Can I truly have them reunite with the three girls......", but Kirito isn't the only one relieved that we've managed to reach Planet Admina and accomplish the mission of retrieving the Art for removing the effects of Deep Freeze; I myself feel just as relieved from the bottom of my heart.

Of course, it's not all of the characters' problems are resolved and we've reached the happily ever after part; in particular, what's up with Tiese when she came face-to-face with Commander Eolyne right after being awakened!?... and that's right the part where "To be continued" comes strolling in, but I do hope the plot will finally make headway into exploring the mystery behind the Commander next volume, so please stay tuned!

Meanwhile, we're making steady progress on clearing the world of Unital Ring; in this volume, we've finally been able to get a complete overview of the world. In Kirito and Asuna's absence, Silica, Sinon and friends are facing of against a super-powered Field Boss; I hope you manage to appareciate their growth in their own way.





Now then. When this volume comes out in October 2021, finally! "Sword Art Online -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night" movie is coming to the big screen.

It's a challenging project, rebooting the story of the Floating Castle of Aincrad where it all began from Asuna's perspective; as the author, as well as Kirito and Asuna's biggest fan, I myself am really looking forward to the chance to appreciate the movie on the big screen. And I would be very happy to see all of you coming to the theatres as well!

With this volume, I ran into all sorts of trouble, especially after finishing my manuscript, so I humbly, humbly apologise to my illustrator abec-san, as well as my editors Miki-san and Adachi-san for burdening you all. I will do my best to make the next volume's release as smooth as possible! And I thank all of you for reading the story thus far!

On a certain day in September, 2021　Kawahara Reki.