Ye Xiu vs Kirito

'Forth work! Sadly, no artwork for the combatants. Would greatly appreciate help!'

Ye Xiu vs Kirito is a possible Death Battle, featuring Kazuto Kirigaya from Sword Art Online and Ye Xiu from The King's Avatar. It is also the second Death Battle by DemonsAnarchy to feature Kirito.

For this Death Battle, Kirito will be using his "Sword Art Online" character.

Description
''The best gamers in their respective genres are about to trade blows! Will the Beater of Sword Art Online emerge victorious, or shall he fall by the might of Glory's Battle God?!''

Interlude
(*Cues: Invader - Jim Johnston)

Video Games. Professional Sports. You wouldn't think that these two terms would merge together. Together, however, they created a competitive battlefield where friendships are broken, rivalries are born, and champions are made.

And among the many champions, many victors and warriors who reign supreme, these two are the best of the best, be it in your standard MMORPG or in the Virtual World!

Kazuto Kirigaya, the infamous Beater and Black Swordsman of the Death Game Sword Art Online...

'''And Ye Xiu, the Player of [Lord Grim] and the fearsome Battle God of Glory! He's Wiz, and I'm Boomstick!'''

And it’s our job to analyze their armor, weapons and skills to find out who would win…a DEATH BATTLE.

Kirito
Sword Art Online - the latest entry in the long-running genre of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. A world, created in virtual reality where players were to conquer the vast castle in the sky: "Aincrad." The first ever VR-MMORPG, it was truly ground breaking.

'''Until it's maker turned it into a literal "death game." And by that, we mean that "death" in the game is, you guessed it, dead in the real world! ...damn that god dark real quick.'''

Akihiko Kayaba was a genius, however somewhere in his mind, he knew this world was far from perfect. There was something missing. To find the answer to this missing "something," he turned SAO into a game of survival. Soon, however, the answer to this missing "something" revealed itself as the wielder of the unique skill: "Dual Wielding."

Introducing the Gary Stue himself: Kazuto Kirigaya AKA Kirito!

After the death of his parents, Kirito was taken in by his relatives. Initially a skilled kendo practitioner, he chose to abandon the sword in favor for the computer. By some stroke of luck, he was accepted as one of the 1,000 Beta Testers of Sword Art Online's initial stages. As such, when the game received a worldwide release, he was given a free copy and able to use his avatar from the Beta Testing.

'''Then Kayaba's "death game" started, and shit hit the fan real quick. Worse, people started blaming the Beta Testers for their problems! Actually, before we continue...what the hell is with that guy's hair?! It's like a cactus!'''

(refers to Kibao)

I have no idea. A-anyway, Kirito realized that if the game was to be beaten, the Beta Testers and newbies had to fight together. Thus, he created a new breed of player - falsely claiming that he had more knowledge about the game than any of the others: info about floors, weapon drops, grind spots. As a result, he was branded both a Beta Tester and a "cheater:" A Beater.

'''Kind of a stupid name in hindsight, but he's more than earned it. Living up to the name, Kirito increased his Level quickly and got several nice weapons, though he favors the one-handed sword. He's crazy fast, able to cut down a wolf in the blink of an eye!'''

Thanks to his previous kendo training, Kirito is a fairly powerful swordsman, which leads up to his more fearsome reputation as a sword-wielder dressed in dark clothing - the "Black Swordsman." Also due to his high level, he has access to numerous impressive abilities. Among them is [Battle Healing,] which restores his HP at certain intervals. He's also strategic as well, if not a bit devious as he used a girl as bait to lure out a thief guild and effortlessly took them down. Of course, due to his black sheep status, you'd be hard press to find someone willing to work with him.

'''Unless, of course, you're a girl. Man...how come the OP guys get the girls?! Not only that, but the guy wasted an opportunity by getting married!'''

I'm...not even gonna comment on that. Perhaps Kirito's most fearsome ability in SAO is the skill that he is best known for.

'''"Dual Wielding!" (cue footage of Kirito against the Gleam Eyes) Aw yeah~! Now that's how you use a sword!'''

A unique skill granted only to those with the highest reaction time, "Dual Wielding" - as the name implies - allows the user to wield two one-hand swords at once. Among Kirito's impressive abilities with his twin blades are Starburst Stream - a 16-hit combo attack - and The Eclipse, which is an even longer combo. Additionally, Kirito also has access to Martial Arts, which allow him to initiate a Sword Skill barehanded. On a minor note, he also has tracking, hiding, sprinting and...fishing?

'''Aaaas for equipment, his badass longcoat is the Blackwrym Coat, which allows him to hide from enemies and players who don't have a high enough search skill. His primary sword is "Elucidator" which is dropped by a demonic boss on the 50th Floor, and it boasts an impressive damage output of 700!'''

On a side note, Kirito's STR stat wasn't high enough to equip the sword at first, showcasing how much he had to work to get it. The second blade, "Dark Repulser" has a damage output of 680-700, making it equal to the Elucidator. With these swords, Kirito is far more powerful. He was capable of solo-ing the Gleam Eyes, the Boss of the 74th Floor with these twin swords, though to be fair he also had help from his future wife Asuna and his friend Klein.

'''Sadly, Kirito's a bit hotheaded. Push the right buttons, and he'll charge at you like a berserker while throwing caution to the wind! Like the time he got his ass whupped in ALfheim Online when he tried to rescue his waifu on his own!'''

It's also easy to break his fighting spirit as well - when Kayaba's Avatar, Heathcliff killed Asuna in front of him, Kirito barely had the strength and will to fight back. To make up for this, though, Kirito seems to have the Devil's luck. When Kayaba struck him, his HP hit 0 - yet before his Avatar could be destroyed and his brain reduced to mush as a result, he somehow had the strength and willpower to end Kayaba and thus end the game prematurely.

'''Not to mention his absurd luck in getting high-grade drops. Like the S-Class meat he got from killing that poor defenseless rabbit and his Elucidator from that demon boss!'''

Kirito's accomplished quite a few feats: he defeated Heathcliff after the hollow-victory against the Skull Reaper, defeated Eugene of the Salamander race in ALO, and won Gun Gale Online's Bullet of Bullets tournament alongside Sinon.

When it comes to sword-fighting...there is none better than the Black Swordsman!

Kirito: This may be a virtual world, but I feel more alive here than in the real world.

Ye Xiu
In professional gaming, particularly the eSport scene, friendships are broken. Rivalries are born. Champions are made. No matter what genre - fantasy, first-person shooting, MMORPG - there shall always be conflict. No matter what kind of gamer you are, there is only one thing to seek.

'''The sweet, sweet taste of victory! If you want glory in life, then there is only one game, one MMORPG, for you to obtain it! ...Glory!'''

Several updates, additional content DLC and servers have caused the game to expand since its initial launch, and in that time, several spectacular players were made! Han Wenqing of Tyranny, Blue Sword's Huang Shaotian, Sun Mucheng of Excellent Era...

...yet all pale in comparison to the famed "Battle God," Ye Xiu!

One of the first original players of Glory, Ye Xiu ran away from home to pursue the goal of becoming a professional gamer. Alongside Sun Mucheng, he was quickly scouted by Excellent Dynasty, who helped sponsor him and crafted him into one of the most famous and powerful players in the entire gaming community. Players who have played Glory for over 5 years are considered to be "veterans," thus Ye Xiu is arguably the best of them.

'''He didn't earn the name "Battle God" for nothing, either! His Avatar, [One Autumn Leaf] was a Battle Mage - a cross between a badass lancer and a kickass magician! He was downright unstoppable! Nothing could top him!'''

Except, perhaps, age. It's a common known fact that one's hand speed tends to diminish as they begin to hit close to their thirties. Not only that, but Ye Xiu had refused to promote the game in any way. He chose to instead enjoy playing the game. Unfortunately, Excellent Dynasty had decided to effectively remove him from the team because of this and his increasing age. As if giving up [One Autumn Leaf] wasn't enough, he was even forced to announce his retirement - meaning that he wouldn't be able to return to the professional gaming scene until the following year.

'''Worse, he barely had any money whatsoever, instead choosing to give his earnings to his friends who pursued similar careers. As fate would have it, though, Ye Xiu happened upon an internet cafe...'''

On the same day Glory's tenth server was to open. Taking a job as a night manager there, Ye Xiu began a new start to Glory, where many began to quickly recognize his skill and ability. He was also quickly making his name through the tenth server with his new account, [Lord Grim.] Thus the famed Battle God returned to Glory once again - this time starting from scratch.

'''Being one of the hardcore players of Glory, old Xiu knows the abilities of every class in the game! He also plays the [Unspecialized] class, which is more or less an all-rounder.'''

Unspecialized Players have access to low and mid-tier abilities and are generally unfavored, though Ye Xiu is possibly one of the few who can bring out this character's potential due to his knowledge in all 20 Class abilities. His fighting style revolves around switching between gunfire, sword-play, spear brawling and so on. His unique Silver Weapon - Myriad Manifestation Umbrella - can change between a sword, spear and gun depending on the situation. Not only that, but Ye Xiu is strategic and cunning, using other guilds and teams to his advantage while also keeping even the most fearsome of bosses stun-locked, thus making it easy for them to dwindle the boss' HP away.

If there is any downside, though, it's the fact that he's forgotten even the most basic of things when starting all over!

Given his long record, Ye Xiu had genuinely forgotten how to play when starting from the very beginning, forced to look up guides for boss battles and raids to obtain rare items and materials. Additionally, Ye Xiu has a habit of bearing a condescending attitude towards others, even those he considers friends. This hardly does him any favors, and considering his reputation as the Battle God, there's more than a few people who want a crack at him. Even Excellent Era wanted to put an end to the gaming legend when they discovered that he was still playing.

'''Didn't do much to keep him down, though! With his impressive knowledge, old Xiu can control the flow of battle with ease, though when it comes to others, it all comes down to how well one coordinates with the others. He can also figure out what classes would suit what players - like that one kid who was playing as an assassin or something, which he totally sucked at. On recommendation from old Xiu, though, and the kid kicks ass as a sword-swinging spellcaster!'''

In the end, when all is said and done, there is no greater foe than the Battle God of Glory himself.

Ye Xiu: We'll clear them in one wave.

Intermission
Alright, the combatants are set! It's time to end this debate, once and for all!

It's time for a DEATH BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Trivia

 * This is DemonsAnarchy's second game vs game Death Battle since Haseo vs Kirito.
 * This is also the second Death Battle to star Kirito, as noted above.