It is commendable that Kawahara can pack so much content into a volume that only last 20 minutes of real world time. The mission to save Aqua Current’s real body from Seiryu, then the battle royale of sorts against Magenta Scissors and Avocado Avoider, and then the major battle against the guardian of the tower, Metatron, all in such a short span would be considered phenomenal or even too fast paced for most stories, but for Accel World, it was well paced and actually entertaining that it felt natural. I loved it a lot.
I did have some concerns initially about a battle royale being written. In my opinion, it is always hard to transfer something with so much action to the written medium as its seems difficult and challenging to make sure the reader can see and understand all that is going on. I found that it largely worked for the battle. There were some parts where it was a bit too much going on, especially with attack names, but the battle was handled so briskly and well written that it wasn’t something that I would totally skip over and just reach the end.
Metatron battle was one of the best written team battles in the entire series, like wow at how awesome it was done. I enjoyed seeing everyone involved and in action. So good.
I did have some concerns with the ending, but I guess needed a way to make it dramatic and also to get Haruyuki there in time (though he could have given him Gale Thruster again).