"Kirito and Alice, follow me up these stairs. These will lead to my chambers. We have to discuss something there." With that said, Quinella turned around and climbed the stairs. When Kirito approached them, he looked up at the stairs. The top was barely visible and it was quite dark.

"Pff... that's too many." Kirito complained. Quinella giggled a little.

"I thought that the mighty Kirito wouldn't have anything stand in his way, yet a set of longer stairs can destroy his resolve?" She giggled again.

"Fine. I'll climb these."

Alice put her hand on Kirito's shoulder. "Should we really follow her? It might be a trap." Kirito smiles at Alice.

"She might have an alterior motive. I bet she would've tried to slay us both if she wanted. Come on, let's go."

Alice rolled her eyes, before she and Kirito started to climb the stairs. It was a long climb and halfway up Kirito started to sweat a little.

"Sure you can make this, Kirito?" Quinella said in a taunting way.

"I'll show you!" Kirito sped up for about 10 steps, before slowing down again. "Pff, these are some really long stairs. Why did you make these stairs so long?"

Quinella looked over her shoulder towards Kirito. "Well, if anyone would try to invade the tower, like you and Alice, they might tire themselves out before they reach the top. "

Kirito sighs. "I suppose that works..." They finally reached the top of the stairs and entered Quinella's chambers.

"At last, we have reached my chambers. Join me at my bed, we shall discuss there." Quinella made her way towards the bed in the center of the circular room. Kirito, Eugeo and Alice followed her. While walking towards the bed, he looked around. "Quite a roomy space for just a bed." Kirito thought to himself. Quinella approached the bed and sat on the edge. Kirito, Eugeo and Alice stood in front of her.

"So, you might wonder why I asked you to come here, no?" Quinella snapped with her fingers and three chairs popped out of nowhere behind Kirito, Eugeo and Alice. "Please, sit down." Kirito looked at the chair briefly before sitting down. Alice followed, then Eugeo as well.

"Yes. I imagined you'd slay us on the spot there. Why did you interrupt me and Eugeo's fight?" Quinella smiled and swiped her left hand in the air, creating a virtual map of a rather barren area. Kirito inspected it closely. "Isn't this...the Dark Territory?" Quinella nodded.

"This is indeed a piece of land from the Dark Territory. The reason I called you here was to inform you about this. The forces from the Dark Territory are awaiting a perfect time to invade the Human Empire. If the Axiom Church ran out of Integrity Knights, then the Dark Territory would invade with any defenses and run rampant throughout the Human Empire, killing thousands. I can't have you kill any more of my precious Knights." Quinella swiped the map away and walked towards Kirito, lifting his face up to hers with her hand and looking directly in his eyes. "The favor I'm here to bestow on you, is for you to become my Integrity Knight." Kirito shook his head and backed up, off his chair.

"Forget it. If the Dark Territory is such a problem, we can do it without being under your control." Quinella started to laugh rather loudly.

"Do you really think you can defeat the forces from the Dark Territory alone, and in your current state? Don't make me laugh even more than I am right now."

Alice stood up and confronted Quinella.

"Kirito's right. We can defeat the Dark Territory with our own free will. We just need more numbers." Kirito's mouth fell open a little as Alice smiled at him. He quickly regained composure and walked up again.

"Yes. If you free the Integrity Knights, they can fight with more emotion than ever. We ca-" Quinella took hold of Kirito's face again and whispered to him.

"Oh, Kirito. You look so alone."

"A-alone?!" Kirito questioned.

"Don't you want to be loved by someone? Someone that gives their all to love you?" Eugeo froze at that instant and grabbed his head. Alice turned towards him with concern. "W-what... is going on... Who a-am I really?" Eugeo's mind went into overdrive. "Is this all a trick... by h-her...? N-no, that's not possible... b-but, what she is saying will break her promise..." Eugeo, still shaken, looked towards Quinella and Kirito.

"I'm n-not alone, I h-have Asuna." Quinella dragged Kirito closer towards her.

"But she isn't here, is she?" Kirito couldn't believe what she said. "How does she know about Asuna..? Asuna isn't present in this world, is she? What is this Quinella capable of?" As Kirito's mind turned into a trance, Quinella dragged herself and Kirito towards the bed. She sat on her knees as she began to unhook her clothes. Eugeo had already drawn his blade, but his left hand covered his face. "S-she... tricked me..." Eugeo held his Blue Rose Sword with both hands and ran towards the bed as he screamed loudly.

"YOU, YOU TRICKED ME!" Quinella looked over towards Eugeo and sighed. She put out her left hand towards Eugeo and froze him right where he stood.

"I suppose my ritual isn't exactly perfect yet. But you will prove to be another useful test subject." She moved her right hand through Kirito's black hair. "Mhmm... Just as soft as before.." But just as Quinella thought she had Kirito right under her power, she blocked her movement and backed off.

"Y-you're tricking me. I have Asuna. Once I'm done fixing stuff here, I'll go back and see her again. You're done for." Quinella sighed in disappointment.

"Well, this is disappointing." Quinella put her clothes back on and snapped with her fingers. Eugeo was able to move, but instead crumbled to the floor. Kirito and Alice ran towards him with concern on their faces.

"Eugeo! Stay with me, please!" Kirito's face, filled with tears now, turned towards Quinella. "What have you done to him?!" Quinella merely giggled.

"I did as you asked. I freed him from his will as an Integrity Knight."

"But why now, and so suddenly." Kirito questioned.

"I had a plan, but it didn't work out so well. I will be leaving now." Quinella snapped with her fingers once more and started to fade away. Kirito lifted up his hand.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Quinella giggled again."

"You'll see eventually." She was gone completely, leaving Kirito and Alice looking over a lifeless Eugeo at the top floor of the Axiom Church. They waited for about 10 minutes, when Eugeo finally woke up.

"Eugeo! You're here! Thank goodness..." Kirito, with tears in his eyes and across his face, hugged Eugeo fiercly. Eugeo looked at Kirito with a smile. "Y-yeah, I'm back..." Eugeo and Kirito stood up, with Kirito wiping the tears from his face. "More importantly, I might know where Quinella has teleported to."