With twenty-four players dead and five players alive, Kirito speculates that there may be more accomplices of Death Gun who are committing murder in the real world. Kirito and Sinon believe that Yamikaze may be another target for Death Gun. With that in mind, Kirito goes out in the desert as bait and waits for either Yamikaze or Death Gun to attack him. Kirito senses Yamikaze closing in on him, but Death Gun fires a bullet, which Kirito dodges by a hair. Yamikaze tries to hide, but Sinon kills Yamikaze to protect Kirito. Death Gun then realizes that Sinon is aiming at him, and as they shoot a bullet at each other, Sinon destroys Death Gun's sniper rifle at the cost of her telescopic sight shattering. However, as Kirito is about to strike Death Gun, the latter pulls an estoc from the remains of his rifle and counters the attack. After the two exchange insults and threats, Death Gun begins assaulting Kirito with overwhelming speed.