Mother's Rosario is a side story of Asuna and Konno Yuuki set in the new ALfheim Online hosted by Ymir. It covers January 6 to April 4, 2026, corresponding to the Sword Art Online novel Volume 7, manga Mother's Rosario, and Season 2 Episodes 18 to 24 of the anime.

Story

On New Aincrad's Floor 22, it is December 24, 2025 when Asuna the Undine, nicknamed the Berserk Healer, finally realizes her dream to buy out the Forest House she and Kirito used to have together in SAO. The house is now a place of the old friends to meet.

On January 6, 2026, Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth, and Silica are in the house, using FullDive to do homework together. Kirito, Pina, and Yui are stacked on top of each other asleep at the mantelpiece, making everyone sleepy too. Lisbeth asks Asuna whether she has heard of Zekken, the Absolute Sword, explaining Zekken is the nickname of an unbeatable sword-wielding player. Asuna says she was away with her mother in Kyoto and had no gear to check things out online. She thinks about it, and it obviously makes her uneasy and distracted. Meanwhile, Zekken turns out to be a challenger who posted a notice on MMO Tomorrow, offering an 11-hit combo Original Sword Skill, but defeated over thirty players so far, even Kirito who later told Lisbeth Zekken would take the Dual Blades skill in SAO instead of him as the fastest player, so they never met in SAO.

Asuna logs out to have dinner with her mother Yuuki Kyōko who tells the daughter she is hiring a private tutor so Asuna can transfer to a school superior to the SAO survivors school. Asuna asks about the man she had to meet last month to which her mother says that marriage is part of a career, and that she will not let her marry someone inferior, like people from her current school. Asuna says she will consider transferring, moves to leave the room, and just before closing the door, makes Kyōko angry asking if she despised the fact her parents were farmers.

On January 7, Asuna meets Zekken, who is a young Imp swordswoman, in New Aincrad on Floor 24, and they duel on the ground. Zekken's system name is "Konno Yuuki". Asuna uses her experience to gain an advantage but loses to Yuuki's Original Sword Skill. Yuuki declares to the perplexed Asuna that she will do.

Yuuki and her guild of Sleeping Knights want to leave their mark by getting onto the hall of fame, the Monument of Swordsmen, for which purpose they want to defeat the Floor 27 boss. Asuna wonders why "that black Spriggan with two swords" did not work for this purpose, to which Yuuki says he had deduced her secret, then changes the sibject and they strategize against the boss. Asuna leaves the inn then suddenly is forcibly logged out.

Kyōko has pulled the plug because Asuna seems "addicted", and Asuna gets angry. She refuses to have dinner tonight. She almost calls Kirito about Yuuki but feels she might go weak during their chat and say she will not be able to go to ALO or, indeed, their school anymore. She decides to be strong after all.

Asuna helps the Sleeping Knights organize the tactics using her vast experience then leaves.

On January 8, 2026, the party is gathered in the morning, and Asuna suddenly thinks it strange since it is a common school day, wanting to know more. After telling Kirito and others about the dungeon, they rip through the dungeon until at the boss room Asuna finds several invisible people from a guild who say they are simply waiting for their friends in peace from the random encounters. The party proceeds to face the boss and eventually lose.

Asuna realizes and tells the party that the people from before were part of a guild who spy on the others' boss fights and go to clear the floor boss using the information gleaned. They have little time to prepare, so they re-challenge the dungeon. This time, they find a sizeable crew of the same guildsmen who block their way and refuse to let them go and fight. They decide to force their way through, as Yuuki tells Asuna that some things can only be conveyed with a clash. The rest of the guild is running to catch up in the meanwhile, but suddenly Kirito and then Klein make a dramatic appearance and promise to buy them more than enough time. The party pierces through and enters the boss room at the last moment.

Fourty minutes later, the party is at an impasse. Asuna remembers an earlier random experience and tests her hypothesis, exposing the boss' weakness. She tells Yuuki about it, and Yuuki says she can do it, accidentally calling Asuna "sis". Yuuki brutalizes the boss and they leave victorious, to the dismay of the clearer guild waiting at the door. They go to the Forest House, and the Sleeping Knights reminisce about the MMOs they played before this one. Asuna likes them and wants to join the guild, which causes a dour shift in the general mood. The party says they disband soon anyway. Later, they take a picture with their names on the Monument, and Yuuki calls Asuna "sis" again, prompting her curiosity. To Asuna's surprise, Yuuki starts sobbing and logs out.

Continued on page 2

References

• Mother's Rosario - Fan Wiki
• Novel Volume 7 - Fan Wiki