'Sword Art Online' Sets Up Huge Duel With New Cliffhanger

Sword Art Online is toeing through its third season, and it looks like one of its first big battles is coming through. After all, Kirito is ready to fight, and his opponent isn't someone fans should scoff at.

This week, Sword Art Online: Alicization proved it is ready to get serious. Kirito and Eugeo are enrolled in the Sword Mastery Academy, but their entry has not been without controversy. The pair have made enemies, and Volo Levantein wants to put Kirito in his place.

As fans could see, Sword Art Online pushed audiences into a tizzy when season three put Kirito against Volo Levantein. The noble thinks he rules the Sword Mastery Academy as is, but even Volo can see how talented Kirito is. In a bid to prove his own worth, Volo set a trap that would force Kirito to duel him, and the latter took the bait.

"Don't do it, Kirito. Volo's powerful. It's too dangerous," Kirito's friend pleads after the boy is confronted by Volo. However, the hero decides he will give the older student what he wants.

"I'll leave the method up to you, Lord Levantein. After all, I'm the one being published."

For readers of Sword Art Online, they will know how this big feud goes down. Volo is a strong person to duel, but Kirito does retain his strength from his previous virtual reality excursions. The hero may have lost other pieces of his life, but Kirito knows how to fight. So, when Volo begins his half-cocked match, he is met with plenty resistance. In fact, Kirito is able to nab an upper hand when he uses his Vertical Square, and he might have won the whole match if it weren't stopped by Azurika in the light novels.

Are you ready to see this fight on the small screen? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Sword Art Online: Alicization can currently be found streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu. The series is officially described as such:

"Where... am I...?" Before he knows it, Kirito has made a full-dive into an epic, fantasy-like virtual world. With only a murky recollection of what happened right before he logged in, he starts to wander around, searching for clues. He comes upon an enormous, pitch dark tree (the Gigas Cedar), where he encounters a boy. "My name is Eugeo. Nice to meet you, Kirito." Although he is supposedly a resident of the virtual world - an NPC - the boy shows the same array of emotions as any human being.

As Kirito bonds with Eugeo, he continues to search for a way to log out of this world. Meanwhile, he remembers a certain memory deep down within him. He remembers racing through the mountains with Eugeo as a child... A memory that he should not have in the first place... And in this memory, he sees someone other than Eugeo, a young blond girl. Her name is Alice. And it is a name that must never be forgotten..."