The Senate’s Secret, May 380 HE Part 2

"There…we…goooo!"

For the umpteenth time, I hauled myself up, caught my right

leg on the corner of the marble, and swung up onto a flat surface

at last.

My joints and muscles, taxed well beyond their limit,

screamed and throbbed like they were being seared by flames.

Large beads of sweat rolled down my forehead and neck, but I

couldn't even move my hands to wipe them away; I couldn't do

anything other than pant. The fatigue was so real and all-encompassing that it was hard to remind myself that this was just the

STL's virtual world.

Once the moon had fully risen, we spent the next two hours in

another agonizing climb, and now that I was finally up on the

ninety-fifth floor of Central Cathedral, I didn't even have the energy to look around. I let my limbs lie flat, closed my eyes, and

waited for my life value to return.

There were nearly fifteen floors between the terrace with all

the stone minions and here. It wouldn't have been that bad if not

for the golden knight fixed to my back by her slender chain, necessitating all that time and stamina.

Alice Synthesis Thirty had impressively overcome the Seal of

the Right Eye, that mysterious system that kept all Underworldians in check, but the cost had been severe. It had exploded her

jasper-like right eye without a trace, and the shock and pain had

knocked her unconscious.

The Underworldians' souls were stored in lightcubes, an artificial memory medium. Perhaps because of that, they had a tendency to be more susceptible to psychological shock. When they

were faced with immense sadness, fear, or anger, they went into a

kind of temporary shutdown to protect their fluctlights from

some kind of fatal error—but in a world without the concept of

crime, it was quite rare for such extreme emotions to manifest. It

had happened to Alice's sister, Selka, two years ago, too, when we

were attacked by the goblins in the northern cave.

Alice went unconscious merely to soften the shock of breaking

through that eye seal. I expected she would awaken eventually; if

there had been some fatal-error damage to her fluctlight, she

would have died on the spot, as Raios Antinous had.

In that sense, it was remarkable that Eugeo, who had suffered

the same phenomenon as Alice, stayed awake and finished his

swing when it happened. He'd been fully spent after we got tossed

into the cells, but he still responded when I spoke to him.

So the reason for the Underworldians' mental fragility and absolute obedience to orders was still a mystery, but at least I knew

it was possible for them to overcome it; Eugeo and Alice proved

that. Yes, they were technically artificial intelligences, but the

power contained in their souls was no different from that of people in the real world…

These thoughts and more went through my head for an hour

on the terrace with the minions while I waited for Alice to recover, but she never opened her eyes. I used sacred arts to stop

the bleeding, but I had neither the resources nor the skill to heal

her entirely. While I waited, the moon rose and granted some

spatial resources, but I needed them to generate the ice picks for

climbing. The best I could do was rip the hem of my shirt to make

an impromptu bandage for her, then continue climbing the tower

with the unconscious knight weighing me down.

I removed the chain that connected us, tried hauling Alice's

slender but unbelievably heavy body over my back, and seriously

considered removing the golden armor and Osmanthus Blade

that made up most of that weight. However, it would have been

stupid to leave those tools of hers behind now that she had made

up her mind to fight on our side.

Instead, I steeled myself, hooked the chain to the knight's

body, and began climbing up toward the top of Central Cathedral

in the distant night sky. After two hours of miserable effort, the

sight of a new terrace brought me such relief, I accidentally

dropped one of the hooks. All I could do was hope nobody was

waiting on the ground far below, unsuspecting.

At any rate, once I had made it the ninety yards straight up

that vertical wall to the ninety-fifth floor, I figured I had earned

the right to lie down on flat ground for a little while. I wasn't

planning to move for another three minutes at least.

Just when I hoped to enjoy the feeling of every muscle in my

body relaxing, I was interrupted by a quiet groaning from atop

my back.

"Mm…muhhh…," the knight said, her breath tickling my neck.

"Where…? What…did I…?"

She tried to get up, but the chain quickly went taut, and the

weight returned to my back.

"These chains…Kirito…Did you carry me…up here…?"

That's right—you owe me some gratitude, I thought.

"Oh no, you're all sweaty! You'll stain my uniform! Get away

from me!" she shouted, whacking the back of my head. My forehead smacked the hard marble floor.

"I don't know…what I did to deserve that shabby treatment…," I

grumbled as I undid the chain and removed the cargo from my

back, then leaned against a nearby pillar. The knight didn't utter

a word of thanks for my extreme physical labor; she was busy

flapping her white skirt in an attempt to air it out. Once she finished, she felt the sleeve that had been pressed to the back of my

neck the entire climb and glared at it suspiciously. Well, I wasn't

going to let this insult go without some banter of my own.

"If you're that concerned, why don't you go and take a bath,

princess?" I said sarcastically, but fastidious Alice actually looked

like she was taking the question seriously. "I'm just kidding!" I

added. "There's no way we're going back down all that way."

"That won't be necessary, actually. There's a Great Bath for the

knights just five floors below us."

"Wha…?"

Now it was my turn to look baffled. After escaping the underground prison, running through battle after battle, and completing this unplanned wall-climbing campaign, I would be lying if I

said I didn't want the chance to wash off the dust and sweat. It

didn't even have to be a bath, just a water pump—and then I

looked around at last.

Like the name Morning Star Lookout suggested, the ninetyfifth floor was built to be one giant observation deck. The four

edges of the tower had no walls here—which was why I was

climbing up to it—just round pillars supporting the ceiling at tenfoot intervals. Given how open it was, I could now understand

why Administrator placed those minion gargoyles along the walls

below.

We were on the outermost part of the floor, which was a terrace with the occasional little set of stairs leading within. The interior was slightly elevated, with marble sculptures, verdant

plants, and tastefully designed tables and chairs. I had no doubt

that the wide-open view of the Underworld below would be

breathtaking in daytime.

On the north end, a great set of stairs led to the adjacent

floors. We were the only people in sight.

But had Eugeo passed through here yet or not?

Seven hours had passed since I was separated from him on the

eightieth floor. I had to scramble for my life up a sheer wall and

he had regular old stairs to use, so he should have gotten here

much quicker.

But the problem was that he had to face a foe much stronger

than the minions: Bercouli Synthesis One, commander of the Integrity Knights, a hero of legend stronger than Vice Commander

Fanatio and Alice, both of whom had already fought me off without much trouble.

Eugeo was mighty, too, of course. In terms of sword skill, he

had probably surpassed me already. But skill alone could not dispatch the superhuman Integrity Knights, especially the senior

ones. It required taking advantage of the opponent's mindset and

utilizing anything you possibly could in the vicinity—a true "anything-goes" approach. Could earnest, straightforward Eugeo pull

that off…?

Alice finished her own examination of the vicinity. "I say this

with no relation to the issue of baths…but I must doubt that your

friend Eugeo has come up this far yet."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because once we were thrown out of the cathedral, this floor

became the only place we could get back inside. It's really obvious

from a glance…so if he had gotten here already, he would likely be

waiting for you."

"…I see. You've got a point," I said, crossing my arms. If Eugeo

had reached this floor before us, he'd have been either caught or

killed by now. While I'd been doubting him just a moment ago, I

also wanted to believe Eugeo was good enough not to end up with

either of those fates.

"The other thing for Eugeo," Alice said, clearly not realizing

how naturally that name slipped out of her mouth, "is that if he

came up the stairs from the Cloudtop Garden, he would run

across our most powerful fighter before reaching the Morning

Star Lookout. That would be Uncle…Commander Bercouli."

Setting aside the use of the word uncle, I couldn't help but be

curious about something she said.

"Is he really that tough? This knights' commander guy."

Alice turned to me with a grin, part of her face still hidden by

the makeshift bandage. "I have never once bested him in a practice duel. If you lost to me, and Eugeo is at your level, then by that

logic, he will not win, either."

"…Sure, by that logic. But if not for what happened, I may not

have actually lost to you, either," I grumbled.

The golden knight ignored me and continued, "Uncle's skill

with the blade is absolutely first-class, but his Perfect Weapon

Control is simply divine. His Time-Splitting Sword, like the name

suggests, is capable of piercing time itself. I suppose you would

understand if I said that when he cuts the air, that slicing force

remains suspended there for a time. Even if you avoid his strikes,

eventually you will be trapped in a cage of blades that you cannot

see. The slightest move might cost you a hand or a foot or, worse,

your head—but if you don't move, you are an easy target. Ultimately, any opponent of Uncle's will be forced to stand in place

and succumb to one of his greatest attacks like a practice

dummy."

"…The slices…remain suspended…"

It was hard to imagine from the way she described it, but it

sounded like the chronological length of a swing was extended

out into the future. If so, it was a frightful power indeed. It would

totally override the strength of the Aincrad style, which was to reduce the strength of any single blow but make up for it by extending the range and time of our attacks with combos.

What would have happened to Eugeo against such a foe? I was

certain he wouldn't be dead, but a chilling foreboding crept up

my spine. Perhaps we oughtto head down in search of my partner

after all. But what if he'd already been captured and taken to Administrator's chamber on the top floor? What if she was performing some dangerous sacred arts on him, with her knowledge of all

the user commands…?

At last, the fatigue was starting to leave my legs, and I got to

my feet, if unsteadily. I glared at the stairs on the north end of the

floor and bit my lip. What I would give for a sacred art that could

tell me Eugeo's current location—but as a basic rule, no art could

be cast on a human target that wasn't present. If that were not the

case, Administrator and Cardinal's duel would have been over

ages ago. But if the target were an object rather than a person,

there were other options…

Only then did I realize that there was such an easy way to solve

this problem.

"Of course…that's right."

I motioned to Alice, who was looking at me with suspicion,

raised my right hand, and at a moderate volume announced,

"System Call!"

My fingers glowed purple, a sign that the spatial resources

were charged again after the exhausting climb up the wall. Careful to control my emotions, I enunciated the following commands: "Generate Umbra Element. Adhere Position. Object ID,

DLSS703. Discharge."

It was always good to memorize your vocabulary. Naturally,

my search target was the unique ID of Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword.

From what I was able to guess, DLSS was probably an abbreviation for "Double-Edged Longsword Single-Hand," while the

string of numbers was the identification for that particular sword

within that category. My black sword's ID was DLSS102382,

which suggested that when the Blue Rose Sword was generated in

the early days of the Underworld, there were only about seven

hundred one-handed longswords at the time, but by the time my

sword was crafted just two years ago, there were over a hundred

thousand. At least, if my deduction was correct…

The little darkness element floated steadily downward until it

landed on the ground a short distance away and burst.

"…It's below."

"So it would seem," Alice noted with mild interest.

I clutched and released my fist a few times, sensing that some

of my fatigued life was back, but I knew that Alice had suffered

more damage. I glanced her way and asked, "Do you think you

can heal your eye…?"

She put her fingers to the strip of cloth that had previously

been part of my shirt and asked, "Did…you do this?"

"Yeah…It managed to stop the bleeding, but that was the best I

could do with my sacred arts. I thought maybe you…"

"Of course. My sacred arts authority is far beyond yours," she

snipped in her usual manner. Her visible eye turned to the sky to

stare at the full moon. "But there is not enough sacred power in

the air to generate the light elements needed to restore my lost

eye. It will not be possible until Solus rises."

"Then perhaps if you converted one of your high-priority obj—

I mean, one of your precious valuables into power…Your armor,

perhaps…"

"Even the art to return a receptacle into its basic sacred power

requires more than a small amount of power to begin with. Didn't

you learn that at the academy?" she said with exasperation, then

thought it over. "I do still feel the pain, and my vision on the right

side is limited, but neither is enough to prevent me from fighting.

I shall be able to continue in this state for now."

"B-but…"

"More importantly, I want to feel. I want to feel the evidence of

my intention to fight against the Axiom Church I've believed in

for so long…"

In that sense, I couldn't argue. This fight was as much about

Alice creating her own destiny as it was about mine.

"All right…if it comes to combat, I'll protect your right," I said,

eyeing the main staircase. "We've got to hurry, though. Based on

the movement of that darkness element, Eugeo's got to be pretty

far down from here."

Technically, my search spell was for the location of Eugeo's

sword, not Eugeo, but he wouldn't let go of it unless something

very bad happened.

Alice looked to the stairs as well and announced, "I'll take the

lead—I know the way. Then again…we're only going down the

stairs." And without allowing me any chance to interject, she

strode toward them, boots clicking. I hurried to keep up.

Cool air flowed up from the descending stairs at the north end

of the floor, and I couldn't sense anyone in the darkness below.

Even on the lower floors, there was very little sense of activity; up

here at the top, Central Cathedral was simply cold and dead, like

a series of lavish, beautiful ruins. It was hard to think of this as

the center of power for the organization that oversaw the entire

human world.

There was supposedly a senate in addition to the Integrity

Knighthood among the upper echelon of the Axiom Church. It

seemed strange that I'd ascended so high in the tower yet had not

seen a single one.

I caught up to Alice on the right side as she descended and

voiced my suspicions. The knight looked a bit perplexed, then

whispered back, "As a matter of fact, even we knights aren't told

anything about the senators. I've heard that the ninety-sixth floor

and up is a section called the senate, but we are forbidden to

enter…"

"Oh…So what do the senators actually do, anyway?"

"…The Taboo Index," she said, her voice even quieter now.

"The purpose of the senate is to observe and confirm that all people are following the Taboo Index. When there is an Index violation, they dispatch an Integrity Knight to control the situation. I

went to take in you and Eugeo from North Centoria Imperial

Swordcraft Academy two days ago on just such an order."

"…I see…So the senate is kind of like a proxy for the pontifex.

I'm surprised that Administrator would give them such powerful

privileges, knowing how cautious she is. Unless the senators have

their memories controlled the same way the knights do…"

Alice scowled and shook her head. "Please don't talk about

memory. I don't want my remaining good eye to start hurting,

too."

"S-sorry. I think you're safe now, though…Eugeo's eye seal

broke, too, and nothing much happened to him after that…"

"…Let's hope you're right," she said, rubbing her eye patch.

I recalled what had happened on that exterior terrace. Alice

had been shaken a number of times before she ultimately swore

to fight against the Axiom Church and its leader, but at no point

did her Piety Module ever show signs of activity. I assumed that

the memory fragment Administrator took from Alice had to do

with her sister, Selka, or childhood friend Eugeo, but unlike what

had happened with Eldrie, when Eugeo mentioned Selka's name

to her at the academy, no purple prism appeared from her forehead.

So what in the world was the memory that Administrator took

from Alice's mind?

It was rather pointless to wonder about that now. Once Cardinal performed her Reverse Synthesis Ritual (if you could call it

that), Alice would regain her past memory, and the Integrity

Knight I was with now would cease to be…

Again, I sensed a subtle little twinge in my chest as I mechanically walked on.

The only sounds on the late-night staircase were two echoing

pairs of feet. After five repetitions of landings with bright-red carpets, the descending stairs came to an end, revealing a very large

set of doors. We'd passed the ninety-fourth through ninety-first

floors, and there were no marks of battle anywhere.

Alice came to a stop, and I sent her a questioning glance.

"Yes…this is it. The Great Bath on the ninetieth floor. I would

assume that Uncle wouldn't choose such a place as his defense

point…but then again, knowing him…" She trailed off as she put

her hand to the door. Just a light push, and the thick slab of marble rotated without a sound. Instantly a wave of thick white mist

pushed out, and I turned away on instinct.

"Whoa…that's some major steam. How big is this bath? I can't

even see inside."

Although it obviously wasn't the time, it was very tempting to

strip off my sweaty clothes and jump into that hot cleansing

water. Only when I took a step inside the cloudy air did I realize it

was not hot steam but freezing mist.

Alice wasn't expecting this, either—she sneezed daintily, and I

promptly unleashed a percussive blast of my own. The veil of

white air hovering in front of me gave way, but not because of the

force of my sneeze. When I saw the state of the bathing chamber,

I stood still in shock.

It had to take up the entire floor of the tower, because the far

wall was foggy in the distance. Almost the entire chamber was a

bathtub, split in two around a long straight walkway right in front

of us. Each bathtub was practically a fifty-meter Olympic pool on

its own.

But the truly shocking detail was that the bath-pool on our left

was completely frozen white. Even the animal-head faucet in the

corner of the bath, pouring water in, was frozen into a curved pillar of ice, indicating that the freezing process had happened in an

instant. That would be not a natural effect but the work of sacred

arts, of course.

Whatever froze this much water at once was no laughing matter. You'd need at least ten expert casters utilizing ordinary sacred arts with ice elements to achieve this effect.

I headed to the left and descended the stepped lip of the tub so

I could rest my foot on the surface of the hard ice. It didn't creak,

even with my full weight and heavy sword resting on it. I guessed

that the water was frozen all the way to the bottom of the baths.

"Who did this…and why?" I wondered. After a few steps over

the wispy surface, my boot landed on something hard. It crumbled delicately. Upon closer examination, I saw a number of the

small round objects on the surface of the ice. I reached down and

broke one off, then lifted it up.

It was a rose of ice, with many layers of blue, translucent

petals.

"…!!"

I'd seen these before on multiple occasions. In the Great Hall

of Ghostly Light on the fiftieth floor, when we fought Vice Commander Fanatio Synthesis Two; and in the Cloudtop Garden on

the eightieth floor, when we fought Alice Synthesis Thirty. Eugeo

utilized his Perfect Weapon Control to immobilize his targets in

those situations, producing ice roses just like these.

It wasn't sacred arts that froze this mammoth bathtub solid…

"…It was Eugeo…"

Alice lowered herself on the ice next to me. Her working eye

was wide as she gasped, "By the Three…You're saying Eugeo did

this…?"

"Yep, no doubt about it. It's the Perfect Control effect of his

Blue Rose Sword. But I'll be honest…I didn't think it had this

much potential…"

Eugeo claimed his Perfect Weapon Control was designed for

slowing down opponents. He was dead wrong—anyone trapped in

this hell of ice would lose their life before long.

Perhaps he really did defeat the legendary hero Bercouli. I

looked around, desperate for information. The darkness element

had indicated that the Blue Rose Sword would be around here,

and that meant Eugeo was here, too.

Just then, I heard Alice gasp.

"…!"

I sucked in a sharp breath, too. About twenty yards away was a

rather large silhouette. It was unmistakably a human head and

shoulder. Someone buried in the ice.

Alice and I shared a glance, then we raced over, scattering ice

roses.

I soon realized the person trapped in the ice was not Eugeo.

His shoulders and neck were at least twice as thick as my partner's.

I slowed down out of disappointment and caution, but Alice

only went faster. "Uncle!" she cried, racing for the frozen silhouette.

That's Commander Bercouli?! Then where's Eugeo…?!

Confused, I increased my speed again. When I caught up several steps later, Alice was on her knees before the burly man,

clenching her fists and screaming, "Uncle…! Commander! What

happened to you?!"

Alice had seen Eugeo's ice power on the eightieth floor, so she

should have understood what the Blue Rose Sword's effect was;

when I got closer, I realized what she meant.

The man wasn't simply frozen up to his chest. His rippling,

muscular shoulders, trunk-thick neck, and fierce, proud features

were all colored in a drab, inorganic gray.

"That's…not part of Eugeo's…Perfect Control effect…," I murmured, stunned.

Her back to me, Alice said, "I…I agree with you. Long ago,

Uncle told me…the prime senator has the authority to turn all

human beings into stone…even Integrity Knights. I believe the

name of the ability is…Deep Freeze."

"Deep…Freeze," I repeated. "Then this old guy—er, I mean, the

commander—got turned this way by the prime senator? Aren't

they on the same side? Why…? I mean, he should be a valuable

force in fighting off intruders, right?"

"I think Uncle secretly questioned the senate orders handed

down to him…but like I did, he believed peace was impossible

without the rule of the Axiom Church, and he spent countless

days battling for that purpose. No matter what powers the prime

senator has, there is no call…no reason for him to do such a horrid thing!!"

Tears dropped onto Alice's knees from her left eye. She

reached out, not bothering to wipe her cheeks, and clung to the

petrified Bercouli. One of the teardrops landed on the commander's forehead and vanished into little sparkles of light.

A sharp crack split the scene.

Alice leaped up to her feet, staring at Bercouli's neck. There

was actually a small split there, as though the mild warmth of her

tear had melted the stone effect. The fissure widened and grew,

throwing off tiny shards of material.

We watched in amazement as the gray statue continued splitting, very gradually changing the angle of its neck. Soon the face

was pointing toward us, and the stone around the mouth began to

crack. Shards of stone that would have been flesh and blood just

hours ago continued to fall away.

Based on the name Deep Freeze, I assumed the command

would completely pause an Underworldian's state, body as well as

mind. It wouldn't be like spreading liquid plaster over someone

in the real world. Through the orders of Stacia, the god of all, his

every movement was forbidden—and he was trying to overcome it

through willpower alone.

"Uncle…stop, stop it! You'll tear your body apart, Uncle!!"

Alice pleaded tearfully. But not for an instant did Commander

Bercouli stop his defiance of the gods. With an especially loud

crunch, he lifted his eyelids. The eyes revealed were as gray as his

skin, but the irises rippled like the surface of water, and they

began to regain a very faint bluish color. The absolute strength of

will they exuded was so overwhelming, it gave me goose bumps.

He grinned, throwing off another shower of shards, and

opened his mouth to emit a hideously raspy but powerful voice.

"…Hey…little Alice. You shouldn't cry…that hard. It ruins…

your pretty face."

"Uncle…!!"

"Don't…worry…A single art isn't going to kill a guy like me.

Besides…"

Bercouli paused, taking in Alice's tear-streaked face and the

impromptu bandage that covered the right side. He gave her a

smile full of fatherly love and said, "Oh, I see…little Alice, you

made it over that wall…You broke through…the right eye…like I

never could…in three centuries…"

"U-Uncle…I…I'm…"

"Don't look at me…that way…I'm…happy for you…Now

there's…nothing left…for me to…teach you…"

"That's…that's not true! There are so, so many things…I still

want to learn from you, Uncle!!" she cried, not even trying to hide

her childish sobs, flinging her arms around his neck.

"You can do it, little Alice," Bercouli whispered into her ear,

beatific smile on his lips. "You can…correct the mistakes of the

Church…and help guide this world…to its proper…state…"

I could tell that the strength was rapidly draining from his

voice. The remarkable willpower coming from the knights' commander's fluctlight was reaching its end at last. His eyes suddenly

turned to me; they were losing their focus and turning gray again.

He worked stiffening lips and croaked, "Hey…kid…Take care of…

little…Alice…"

"…You bet," I said simply, and the hero of old nodded back,

creating a fresh crack in his stony neck. What I interpreted as his

final words emerged as white, frosty mist. "Prime Senator

Chudelkin…took your…partner 'way…I bet it was…to 'ministrator's…chamber…Better hurry…before he gets trapped in the

labyrinth…of his memories…"

And with that, Bercouli the Integrity Knight Commander returned to silent stone. There was something truly appropriate

about the heroic figure he struck, buried to his chest in solid ice,

neck and face covered in fine, tiny cracks.

"…Uncle…," Alice whimpered, still clinging to his shoulder. I

turned away, considering what the man's words meant.

This Prime Senator Chudelkin was the one who'd placed the

Deep Freeze command on Bercouli and taken Eugeo away. That

much was certain, because, in a spot not far from the frozen

Bercouli, there was a square shaft carved out of the ice all the way

down to the floor, as though cut by an electric saw. Eugeo must

have used his ice roses' power expecting to go down and take the

commander with him, but then the prime senator came along, cut

him entirely out of the ice, and took him up to Administrator's

chamber at the top of the tower.

I had to wonder what this "labyrinth of memories" meant,

though. I didn't like to think about Eugeo being handily brainwashed, but I also had no idea what sort of methods Administrator would use to manipulate his fluctlight directly.

I peered down the square hole and saw, just through the perfectly smooth sides, something shining. I crouched down to see a

longsword plunged into the floor of the bath. Even through several inches of ice, I would never mistake that beautiful curve. It

was the Blue Rose Sword.

That striking weapon was practically a part of Eugeo; the sight

of it left behind under thick ice only made me more worried. I

glanced back at Alice, who was still clinging to Bercouli, then

drew my black sword and stuck the tip into the ice directly above

the Blue Rose Sword. For just an instant, I pushed down.

The ice cracked, split vertically, and crumbled into the shaft

nearby. I knelt and squeezed the exposed handle of the Blue Rose

Sword, then pulled, wincing against the sensation of well-belowzero-degrees metal on my skin. It resisted a bit, then slid out

silently, scattering ice fragments.

I stood up, black sword in my right hand and Blue Rose Sword

in my left, and felt my joints buckle with the extra weight. No

wonder, since I was holding two very high-priority Divine Objects, but I wasn't going to complain. Ronie and Tiese, our trainee

pages, had worked their palms bloody carrying these swords to

Eugeo and me before we were taken to the cathedral.

Now it was my turn to take this sword to Eugeo.

A familiar white leather sheath was on the frosted ice surface

nearby. With my sword at my side, I picked up the sheath and

placed Eugeo's sword in it. After a little more thought, I then attached the second sheath to my belt on the right side, balancing

the weight so I could still move reasonably well.

I exhaled and turned around to find Alice up on her feet. She

rubbed the moisture on her cheek with her sleeve and, to hide her

embarrassment, grumbled, "The only person mad enough to

carry two swords would be some peacock of an elite noble…but

oddly enough, it seems to suit you."

"Hmm? Oh…"

I couldn't help but grimace. During SAO, my lifeline as a solo

player was my flashy Dual Blades style, but I'd hidden that skill

for so long, I still felt anxious about showing off a two-sword approach in front of others.

Or maybe that wasn't entirely it. Perhaps I was somehow

afraid—even sick—of the ostentatious description of Dual-Bladed

Kirito, the hero who'd beaten the Game of Death. I never wanted

to take on that particular role again, no matter what anyone said

about me.

"…Yeah, but I can't actually swing two swords at once," I told

her with a shrug.

Alice nodded as if this were obvious. "If you swing two swords,

there is no way to execute a proper ultimate technique. In that

sense alone, there is little reason to ever wield two swords at

once. Anyway, if the sword is still here, then we ought to assume

that the pontifex has apprehended Eugeo already. We ought to

hurry; she is not bound by typical logic…"

"Have you…spoken with Administrator before?"

"Only once," she answered, lips pursed. "It was six years ago,

after I woke up as an apprentice Integrity Knight with no memory, facing my summoner, and God's proxy in the mortal world,

the church pontifex. She was very beautiful and fragile, not the

kind of person who has ever held a sword…but her eyes…"

She clutched her own shoulders. "Her eyes were silver and reflective, like a mirror…I didn't realize it at the time, but now I do:

I was terrified of her. It was an absolute kind of fear, the sort that

told me I should never defy her or doubt a word she said, and instead I should offer her my everything."

"Alice…," I murmured, feeling momentary disquiet.

But she sensed what I was thinking, took a deep breath, and

raised her head to look at me. "I am fine. I've made up my mind.

For the sake of my sister living in the far north…for my unfamiliar family, and for all the citizens of the realm, I must do what I

believe is right. Uncle knew about the eye seal that we all bear.

That tells me that Bercouli Synthesis One, leader of the Integrity

Knights, did not blindly believe that the Axiom Church's reign

was entirely good. Our trek down here to get your partner was a

failure, but I'm glad that I saw Uncle…I know that my heart is

firm and in the right place now."

She crouched and caressed Bercouli's stone cheek, lingering

no more than an instant before she turned away, striding purposefully over the ice in the direction we had come. "Let's hurry.

We may need to battle the prime senator before we have a chance

to face the pontifex herself."

"W-wait…are we just going to leave the commander like that?"

I asked, trotting to catch up.

Alice glared at me with her good eye and snapped, "Either we

will truss up Prime Senator Chudelkin to make him undo the sacred art…or we will cut him in two and solve the matter that way."

As I struggled to walk with the weight of two swords, I realized

I never wanted to make an enemy of this knight again.

We raced back up the five flights of stairs, dealing with extra

gravity this time, and stopped when we made it back to the Morning Star Lookout. I was wheezing with the effort of lugging the

Blue Rose Sword, but the Integrity Knight was largely unaffected,

despite wearing so much armor that her weight couldn't be far

from mine. With her frosty-blue eye and snow-white skin, she

faced the next staircase with determination.

"Listen to me as you catch your breath. The senators are not

much more than simple civilians when it comes to using weapons

in short-range combat, but their sacred arts authority is higher

than ours. Even in this resource-scarce environment, they can use

the catalyst crystals from the Rose Garden to unleash practically

unlimited long-range attacks."

"Enemies like that…you need to…sneak up, then stick close," I

wheezed between breaths.

"We can't be bothered with personal dignity now," Alice

agreed. "If we can successfully approach without detection, that

would be best, but there is no guarantee of that. If that plan fails,

I will use my sword's Perfect Control to block their sacred arts,

and then you can charge them."

"So I'm the suicide-charge guy…," I lamented, recalling how

much I hated dealing with mage-type enemies.

Alice arched her eyebrow and offered sarcastically, "We can

switch roles, if you prefer. But you will be in charge of blocking

their sacred arts."

"Fine, fine, I'll do it."

My black sword was still recovering its life value, and I wasn't

sure whether it had enough for a good Perfect Control use. If possible, I preferred to save that for a fight against the pontifex. My

sword's ultimate power was a fairly simple one—summoning a

giant spear of darkness—that excelled in power, but it didn't have

the varied effects Alice's flower storm did.

"If I feel like it, I might favor you with a recovery art from behind," Alice said generously. "You may cause as much damage as

you wish, but make sure that Prime Senator Chudelkin survives.

If my memory is accurate, he will look like a small man in brightred-and-blue clown clothes."

"…That…does not sound very…dignified."

"But you must not underestimate him on account of it. In addition to his powerful Deep Freeze ability, he has a number of

speedy and powerful arts. He is likely the most powerful caster in

the Church, after the pontifex."

"Yeah, I get it. It's pretty much a quest cliché that the little

silly-looking guys end up being the toughest enemies."

Alice briefly shot me a suspicious look, then turned her face to

the staircase and announced, "Let's go."

We raced up the flight of steps as fast and quiet as we could, and

we came upon a cramped and dark hallway, which ended at a

black door. The hall was maybe five feet across and lit by eerie

green lamps. It was just tight enough to force you to move out of

the way if someone was coming from the other direction. The

door at the end of the hall was small, too. Alice and I could just

walk through without bumping our heads, but a man as large as

Bercouli would have to crouch down quite a bit.

It just didn't sit right with me. Normally when you got into the

ultimate enemy's stronghold—the final dungeon, if you will—the

design and furnishings got fancier and more imposing. And just

one floor below, the Morning Star Lookout had been extravagantly outfitted. So why would it suddenly get so cramped and

unpleasant, right before the very end?

"Is this…the senate you mentioned earlier…?" I murmured.

"It should be," she replied uncertainly. "It will be clear when

we go in, at least."

She strode down the hallway, flicking her golden hair aside to

blow the hesitation away. I was starting to think this might be a

trap and was tempted to reach out and stop her. But then I

thought better of it; the Axiom Church wouldn't set up a trap for

intruders this high in the tower. And even if they did, it would be

a bold projection of its power, like those minion statues on the

walls outside.

The twenty-yard-long hallway did nothing to block our way. In

moments, we reached the little door and shared a glance. As the

up-close attacker, I grabbed the tiny doorknob to take the lead. It

clicked open, no lock, and smoothly swung outward.

There was a sudden gust of cold air from the darkness within,

suggesting the thick presence of something. It was the kind of

foreboding sensation I got when opening the door to a labyrinth

boss chamber in Aincrad—and it made my spine crawl.

I wasn't going to beg Alice to take the lead, of course. I pulled

the door all the way open, ducked my head, and looked inside.

The hallway continued a short way through, then turned into

what looked like an open space with hardly any light. All I could

see was a faint, flickering purple light, though the source was unclear.

The moment I moved through the doorway, I heard what

sounded like mumbled chanting. I stopped to listen harder: It

wasn't just one voice. There were several, perhaps dozens, all in

unison. Behind me, Alice murmured that it was sacred arts, and I

realized she was right.

I tensed, preparing for multiple attacks all at once, then realized I was mistaken. From what I could hear of the spell words,

none included the "generate" command that was a virtual requisite of any attack art.

If I was curious, Alice was downright proactive. "Let's go in. If

the senators are preparing some major unrelated sacred art, that

suits our purposes. We can sneak through the darkness and get

within sword range before they realize it."

"…Oh, good thinking. I'll go first, like we said. Watch my

back," I whispered, quietly drawing my black sword. The Blue

Rose Sword was only likely to weigh me down in combat, but I

wasn't going to just leave it on the ground there. Once Alice had

her Osmanthus Blade drawn as well, I resumed sneaking forward.

The closer we got to the dim chamber, the more I noticed a

nasty smell in the cold air. It wasn't a fetid odor like animals or

blood, but more like the stink of rotting food. I tried to ignore it

as I pressed my back to the wall of the corridor and peered into

the dark space that I assumed was the senate.

It was large—but more than that, it was tall.

At its base, the chamber was a circle about twenty yards

across. The curved walls stretched up about three floors to a ceiling hidden in darkness. The structure of it reminded me of Cardinal's Great Library.

There were no lamps in the room, only a flickering purple light

coming from the walls here and there. There was also a series of

many round objects placed at set intervals, but I couldn't tell

what they were.

Then a new light source appeared very close to us. It was a

square board glowing light purple—a Stacia Window. And the

sphere within it was…

A human head.

Did that mean every last round object here in the cylindrical

chamber was…

"…A…h-head…?" I gasped.

"No, they seem to have bodies," Alice noted, as quietly as she

could. "But it's like they're growing out of the walls…"

I squinted as best I could. There were indeed necks and shoulders beneath the spheres, but that was all I could make out—their

bodies were stuffed right into square boxes mounted into the

walls.

Based on the small size of the boxes, I had to assume their

limbs were folded into an absolutely minimal space. It didn't look

comfortable in the least, but I couldn't actually tell how the people in the boxes felt about it, because their faces showed zero

emotion.

Their pale, exposed heads had no traces of hair on their scalps,

chins, or brows, and their beady, glassy eyes gazed at nothing but

the Stacia Windows right before them. There were complex

strings of letters appearing on the windows, at the end of which

the box-people would intone, "System Call…Display Rebelling

Index" with washed-out, bloodless lips.

I froze. Their voices didn't sound like they belonged to living

people. "Are…are these the ones who…?!"

"You're familiar with them?!" Alice snapped. I glanced at her

and nodded.

"Yeah…There was this window that opened in the corner of the

room right after we had that big fight at Swordcraft Academy two

days ago. There was a white face watching me and Eugeo from

it…and no doubt about it, it was one of these…"

Alice paused to listen to the box-people chant, then frowned.

"The sacred art they are reciting is completely unfamiliar to me…

but it seems they have the realm divided into sections. I am not

certain what all those numbers are supposed to mean, however."

"Numbers," I repeated to myself, hearing a voice in my head.

Among those hidden parameters is a value called the violation index. Administrator quickly discovered that she could utilize this value to snif out people who were skeptical of the Taboo

Index she had set forth…

That had been from wise little Cardinal in the Great Library.

This proved it: The Rebelling Index, as the box-people called it in

the sacred tongue, was that very violation quotient she mentioned. All the dozens of "boxen" in this chamber were monitoring the values of every man, woman, and child in the world.

If they detected abnormal values, they would open a portal

and peer into the location, identifying and reporting the violator.

Then whoever received that report would order an Integrity

Knight to bring that individual to justice. That was how Eugeo,

Alice, and I were brought to the cathedral in the first place…

I was broken out of my stunned stupor by the sound of some

kind of buzzer. Alice and I both tensed and raised our swords, but

we hadn't been spotted. The boxen stopped their chanting and all

looked upward.

Until now, I hadn't noticed that, on the walls just over their

heads, faucet-like objects jutted upward. The box-people all

opened their mouths, and a thick brown liquid abruptly flowed

out of the spigots. They caught the liquid in their gaping mouths

and swallowed it mechanically. Some of the liquid spilled out of

their lips, staining necks and collarbones. That was likely the

source of the stench.

Soon the buzzer sounded again, and that was the end of the

liquid feeding. Their faces snapped forward again, and the chanting resumed: System Call…System Call…

This is no way to treat human beings.

In fact, even cattle and sheep shouldn't have been treated this

way, I recognized with a surge of anger pulsing up from my gut. I

clenched my teeth.

Alice grunted, "Are they…the senators who help the Axiom

Church rule over the human realm…?"

I looked over to see that her one visible eye was shining with

fury. I hadn't put that idea together, but it seemed accurate now.

All of these dozens of people stuffed in boxes were the senators,

the high administrative officers of the Axiom Church.

"And was it…the pontifex who created what I am seeing now?"

she continued.

"I reckon it was," I said. "I bet she found people from all over

the realm who were weak in combat skills but excellent in sacred

arts, then stole their thoughts and emotions and turned them into

this senatorial security system…"

Systemwas right. These weren't people; they were devices.

Their job was to maintain perfect peace—or stagnation—across

the realm under the Axiom Church's rule. Even the Integrity

Knights, with their most precious memories stolen, didn't suffer

such an ignoble fate. It was atop centuries of this sacrifice that

Administrator had reigned.

Alice slowly hung her head, until her dangling hair hid her expression.

"…This is unforgivable."

The Osmanthus Blade in her right hand rang softly, as though

channeling its master's rage.

"No matter the crime, these are still human beings. But she

did more than steal their memories—she removed the very intelligence and emotion that makes them human, stuffed them into

these cages, and now feeds them worse than beasts…There can be

no honor or justice here."

She raised her head to a noble tilt and strode willfully into the

chamber. I rushed after her.

The senators' eyes did not move from their Stacia Windows,

even with the shining presence of a beautiful lady knight in the

darkness. She walked to her left and stood before one of the

boxes. I watched the pale face of the senator over her shoulder.

Up close, there was no way to tell even a gender, much less an

age. The endless period of captivity in this lightless prison had

robbed all traces of humanity.

Alice lifted the Osmanthus Blade. I thought she was going to

destroy the box at first, but instead she rested the tip right around

the location of where the senator's heart would be. I gasped and

hissed, "Alice!"

"Wouldn't it be a mercy…to end this life?"

I couldn't answer.

Even if we returned their memory fragments—assuming such

things had even been saved—it seemed impossible that it would

return them to their former selves. I had to assume that the senators' fluctlights had been broken beyond repair, twisted into

something unrecognizable and wrong.

But even then, perhaps Cardinal or even Administrator herself

could grant them some wish aside from death. It was this thought

that made me reach out for her shoulder guard to stop her.

But just as I did, a strange sound from farther into the chamber caused us to freeze.

"Aaah… Aaaaah!"

It was a high-pitched, grating screech.

"Aaah, oh my, ohhh, Your Holiness, what a waste…Ohhhh,

ahhh, you musn't, aaah, ooooh!!" howled the bizarre voice. Alice

and I shared a suspicious look.

I didn't recognize it. It didn't sound young, but it didn't sound

elderly, either. All I could tell from its voice was that it seemed to

be in the throes of some kind of maniacal excitement.

Her anger temporarily forgotten, Alice lowered her sword and

stared in the direction of the sound. The screeching voice was

coming from another hallway in the wall, just like the one we

came through but deeper inside the cylindrical room.

"…"

Alice pointed toward the hallway with her sword, motioning

me on. I nodded, and we began to lurk toward it.

There were no pillars or furniture of any kind in the wide-open

chamber, so crossing it was mildly terrifying, but none of the

dozens of senators along the walls paid us any mind or seemed

capable of recognizing our presence at all. Their entire world was

the system window in front and the food spigot overhead, and

that was it. I remembered feeling twinges of pity at the lives of the

basement jailer and the girl controlling the elevated platform, but

the word pityon its own was entirely inadequate to describe the

plight of these creatures.

As for whoever was moaning and screeching at the top of their

lungs right near this dehumanizing place, I couldn't begin to

fathom the mindset. Whoever it was, I couldn't imagine them

being an ally of any kind.

Alice felt so, too, and there was a different kind of anger now

creeping over her pale face. She crossed the chamber on a

straight line and peered around the side of the corridor, while I

stole a look over her shoulder.

At the end of the similarly cramped hallway was another large

room, albeit much smaller than the circular chamber. The light

inside was soft but bright enough to make out its contents.

And they were absolutely bizarre.

Every last fixture of the room shone in garish gold, from cabinets and beds to little round chairs and storage boxes, all reflecting the light in equal measure. Even from this distance, I could

feel it penetrating my eyeballs to the back of my head.

A plethora of toys in every size was scattered all over—in some

cases spilling out of—this furniture. Most were stuffed animals in

bold primary colors. There were dolls with button eyes and yarn

hair, familiar animals like pets and livestock, even some hideous

monsters I couldn't begin to identify, heaped into piles all over

the floor and beds. There were building blocks, a wooden horse,

instruments—like the entire stock from the District Five toy

maker had been dumped here.

And sitting half-buried in them, facing away from us, was the

voice's owner.

"Hoooooo!! Hooooooo!!" it screamed, over and over. This figure, too, had a bizarre appearance.

It was round, almost a perfect sphere of a torso, with a round

head on top, like a snowman. But rather than being white, the

body was clad in a clown's outfit, with the right half bright red,

and the left blue. The short-armed sleeves had red-and-blue

stripes, as well. It was making my eyes hurt.

The round head was completely white, and from the rear it

looked no different from the senators', except that the skin was

oily and shiny. Resting atop the head was a golden cap the same

shade as all the furniture.

I leaned over Alice's ear and whispered, "Is that the prime senator…?"

"Yes, it's Chudelkin," she whispered back, but with an audible

loathing. I stared at the clown's back again.

The prime senator was a kind of counterpart to Bercouli the

commander of the knights, the greatest caster of sacred arts in

the Axiom Church and one of its chief officers. And yet, he

seemed totally defenseless. Whatever was in his hands, it had his

entire attention.

From what I could make out beyond his very round back,

Chudelkin was gazing into a large crystal ball. With each flash of

color inside, he flopped and kicked his little legs and shrieked,

"Haaa! Hohhh!"

I'd been expecting a tense and uncertain lead-up to a spectacular battle, like with Deusolbert and Fanatio, so I had no idea how

to react to this. But while I wasn't sure how to proceed, Alice had

no such hesitation. She raced toward him, not even bothering to

sneak.

But her feet hit the ground only five times. She easily brushed

me off and raced like a golden gust into the toy room, and by the

time Chudelkin's fat head started to turn, she already had the

frilly collar of his clown outfit clutched in her fist.

"Hooooo?!" the round object howled. Alice yanked him out of

the sea of plushies and held him high. At last, I caught up to her

and, glancing around the entire room, looked for any sign of

Eugeo—but wherever Chudelkin had brought my partner after

the Great Bath, it wasn't here. Disappointed, I turned back to the

middle, where the crystal ball that had so enraptured the strange

little man caught my eye.

A somewhat three-dimensional image wreathed in swirling

light was projected in the center of the large glass ball, which was

about a foot and a half across. It displayed a girl sprawled on her

side atop lustrous bedsheets. Her face was hidden behind long

silver hair, but it was clear from a glance that she wasn't wearing

a stitch of clothing.

Both disappointed and fulfilled that this was what Chudelkin

had been exclaiming over, I then noticed that there seemed to be

someone else with the girl. I tried to lean in for a closer look, but

the spell vanished, the images inside the ball abruptly flashing

into whiteness.

Alice had no interest in the crystal ball to begin with. With her

free hand, she thrust the tip of her sword toward the dangling

man and threatened, "If you try to start chanting an art, I'll cut

your tongue out from the root."

The little man clamped his mouth shut before any complaints

could arise. Given that all sacred arts in the Underworld had to

begin with the System Call prefix, the caster was essentially at our

mercy now. Still, I paid close attention to his stumpy arms for any

movement and glanced up quickly to get a view of Prime Senator

Chudelkin.

I couldn't imagine a more enigmatic human face. His brightred lips dominated the lower half of his round face, with a large

bulb of a nose, and eyes and brows as curved as an iconic smiley

face.

Those beady eyes were bulging now, though, the small, dark

pupils jittering as they stared right at Alice. Eventually he relaxed

his heavy lips from their trumpeter's sour pucker and screeched

in tones of rusted metal, "You…Number Thirty…What are you

doing here? You fell out of the tower with the other rebel and

plummeted to your death!"

"Don't call me by a number! My name is Alice—and I am not

Thirty any longer," she snapped, her voice freezing air.

Chudelkin's greasy face twitched, and for the first time, he looked

at me. His crescent-shaped eyes bulged out to half-moons, and he

gurgled a series of gasps.

"You…Why—what is this?! Number Thir…Alice, why do you

not attack this boy?! He is a rebel against the Church…an agent of

the Dark Territory, as I warned you!!"

"He is indeed a rebel. But he is no soldier of the dark lands. He

is just like me."

"Wha…? Wha…?"

Chudelkin's stumpy arms and legs flopped around in midair

like the toys that filled the room. "You—you would dareto rebel

against us, you little piece of shit!!"

His round white head instantly turned beet red, and his

scream reached an even higher register than before, the sword

pointed at his throat entirely forgotten.

"You Integrity Knights are nothing but mindless puppets!! You

don't move until I commandyou to move!! And now you have the

gallto rebel against our glorious leader, my lady Administrator

herself?!"

Alice snapped her head to the side to avoid the spittle flying

from Chudelkin's apoplectic lips, but she did not otherwise react

to his insults. "It was the Axiom Church that turned us into pup-

pets," she stated coldly. "The Synthesis Ritual blocked our memories, instilled loyalty into us by force, and made us believe the lie

that we were knights summoned to earth from Heaven."

"Wha…?" Chudelkin's face went from red back to white, his

large mouth flapping helplessly. "Why…? How did you…?"

"Blocked or not, there are a few memories I still retain. When

we stepped into the senate room, I caught a glimpse of an image…

A terrified girl tied up in the center of that chamber, subjected to

three days and nights of the senators' multilayered spells to crack

open the walls of her mind. That was the truth of the Synthesis

Ritual…and the stone floor of that chamber is most certainly

stained with the tears of lamentation and despair of that girl I

once was."

Alice's voice was controlled, but it cut like a steel blade.

Chudelkin's face bounced back and forth between red and white

at a dizzying speed. Ultimately, the only person in the senate with

his own will regained his swagger and leered at us.

"Oh yes…that is correct. I can recall the scene quite clearly, in

fact. You were so young and innocent and sweet, and you pleaded

with tears in your eyes so many times…'Please, don't let me forget…Don't let me forget the people I care about!' Hoh-hoh-hohhoh!"

When he put on a hideous falsetto to mimic a little girl's

speech, Alice's eye grew bright with flame. This did not threaten

Chudelkin into stopping his mockery.

"Oh-ho! Oh-ho! Yes, I remember indeed! Even now, I could

spend an entire night basking in the delicious memory! They

dragged you out of that rural hellhole you called a home, and I

put you to work as an apprentice sister for two years. You were

the kind of tomboy who would slip through the curfew regulations and go see the Centoria solstice festival, but you really

trulybelieved that if you studied hard, we'd let you go home

again. Of course, that wasn't true in the least! Just when you

raised that sacred arts authority level to a good solid amount,

boom!Forced synthesis! Oh, you should have seen the look on

your face when you learned you'd never go home again…I wish I

could have turned you into stone and kept you around as a decoration in my chamber forever! Hoh-hoh-hoh!!"

Even I couldn't stop my sword arm from trembling. I heard

Alice grinding her teeth over Chudelkin's jabs, but she kept herself under control and said, "You mentioned something odd just

now: forced synthesis. That makes it sound like there's a voluntary version of the Synthesis Ritual."

The prime senator's eyes narrowed into slits. "Hoh-hoh, very

shrewd of you. Yes, that's correct. Six years ago, you steadfastly

refused to recite any of the secret commands that are necessary

for a typical Synthesis Ritual. You actually had the nerve to tell

me your calling was still back in your home village and that you

didn't need to obey my orders!"

That sounds just like what young Alice would say, I thought,

despite having not known her back then. The memory of this experience caused the prime senator's lips to curl into a nasty sneer.

"What a disgusting little shit you were. I wished so badly to

have my lady awaken early, but the rule is that she's not to rise

until all the preparations for the ritual are completely done. So I

had no choice but to temporarily pause the automated senators

and have them pry open the door to your most precioussecrets

through magical force. I suppose I shouldn't complain about getting such a juicy show, however! Hee-hoh, hoh-hohhh!"

His gale of laughter stopped the instant she moved the tip of

the Osmanthus Blade an inch closer. But the ugly smirk on his

lips and in his eyes remained.

Chudelkin had boasted several crucial bits of information. I

wanted to pry out some more intel, assuming Alice could main-

tain her composure, but something about it felt wrong. Would

this clown really reveal core secrets of the Church without even

being prompted? He wouldn't taunt her this way if he was afraid

for his life, and he didn't seem to be waiting for a chance to take

her by surprise, either.

While my mind raced on, Chudelkin resumed his story. "When

the first stage of the forced synthesis ended and you blacked out,

it was none other than I who took you to Her Holiness. Regrettably, I was not allowed to witness what happened next, but when

the ritual was done and you awoke as an Integrity Knight, you

had total belief that you were a disciple of God, dispatched from

Heaven. Just like all the other knights. Boy, when I hear you folks

drone on and on about the celestial realm, I have to hold my sides

in to keep them from splitting! Ohhh…"

He babbled and chattered away, dangling in the air, and I

gradually noticed that his eyes were jittering slightly, as though

he were waiting for something. Was he carrying on like this in

order to keep us here in the room with him…?

I was about to warn Alice, but she spoke first. The golden

room rang with her voice, even icier now than in the Great Bath:

"Prime Senator Chudelkin, you may be just another victim like

the Integrity Knights, a sad little clown whose life was a plaything

for Administrator like everyone else. But regardless of that, you

have enjoyed your circumstances immensely. Surely you have

been satisfied with your life. I am done listening to you."

The Osmanthus Blade's tip pressed against the center of the

bulging clown costume, right above his heart. The shining material dipped inward with one final show of resistance.

If Chudelkin's goal was to buy time, he would bring up some

new piece of information now, I assumed—perhaps Eugeo's location.

But one second was all it took to prove me wrong.

As the prime senator froze, his mouth half-open, the golden

sword plunged deeper and deeper. His narrow eyes shot wide

open, and the red-and-blue outfit bulged out even farther, testing

its limits. Alice turned her face away, anticipating a spray of

blood.

There was a tremendous bang!and Chudelkin's body popped

like a balloon. A massive gush of blood landed on Alice's armor

and did…nothing.

"What…?"

"Huh?!"

Alice and I were stunned. It was not liquid that burst forth, but

smoke that had somehow been colored deep red. It spread farther

and farther, filling the room.

There had been a special kind of monster in Aincrad that did

this. It puffed out the skin of its body, and if struck with any kind

of non-blunt damage, it would burst and emit a huge blast of

smoke, allowing its true body to escape.

With that old instinct in mind, I swung my sword at a narrow

shadow that quickly passed the corner of my vision. I felt it strike

something, but the only object I could see through the smoke was

a familiar golden hat rolling at my feet.

I made to chase after him, but the moment the nasty-colored

smoke entered my nostrils, I felt a needling pain in my throat and

doubled over coughing.

"Chudelkin!" Alice hissed, hand over her mouth, and leaped

for the shadow. Chudelkin ran toward the back of the chamber,

not toward the hallway to the senate room. I followed after them

in a crouch, believing there wasn't actually an exit back there.

Instead, the first thing I saw when I got through the choking

smoke was a golden chest of drawers pushed to the side to reveal

a hidden passage. A comically thin figure with that same fat

round head was nimbly racing down it.

"Hee-hoh!! Heeee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hoh!!" he cackled, loud

enough that I could hear it through my coughing. "Sacred arts

isn't all I'm good at, you pathetic losers! Sucks to be you! Wanna

play tag? Because I can play the host, and I'm very thorough!

Hoh-hohhhhhh!!"

The pattering of his shoes soon drowned out his maniacal,

broken-toy laughter.

4

Alice and I were slowed down for less than five seconds.

We shared a glance, then I took the lead down the narrow hallway. Thankfully, the red smoke I inhaled wasn't toxic—if it had

been, something would've happened to Chudelkin, given that his

clothes were filled with the stuff—and the coughing indeed soon

wore off.

The hidden passage was built for Chudelkin's size, and I had to

duck down to avoid hitting my head on the ceiling. The occasional

scraping noise I heard from behind had to be Alice's shoulder

guards hitting the walls. The sheath of the Blue Rose Sword on

my right waist was also banging against the wall as I shuffled

along uncomfortably.

Eventually there was an ascending staircase ahead, so I

stopped and made sure there wasn't an ambush before charging

upward. Chudelkin's footsteps were long gone, darkness and cold

air the only things coming down the passage ahead.

The staircase was much longer than I had anticipated and

seemed to cover a good three floors' worth of height. I'd estimated that the chamber filled with what Chudelkin called the automated senatorscovered the space from the ninety-sixth to

ninety-eighth floors, so this path was probably leading us up to

the ninety-ninth.

The battle with the Axiom Church that had begun in the basement—two years before, when Eugeo and I left Rulid—would be

over in two floors. My partner wasn't at my side, but if Bercouli's

words were accurate, I would see him again in Administrator's

bedchamber. Then I'd give him the Blue Rose Sword, and the

three of us would defeat Chudelkin, then the pontifex herself.

And then…

I shook my head, focusing on a faint light up above. I could

think about what to do afterward when we got there. This was the

final battle: Concentration was everything, and the present was

more important than the future and the past.

From up ahead, I heard the distant screech of the prime senator.

"System Caaaaall! Generaaaate…"

That would be an element-based sacred art. My hackles rose,

but there was no stopping now. The light ahead grew closer and

closer.

"The stairs are ending up ahead!" I warned Alice.

"Watch out for a surprise arts attack!" she replied.

"Got it!"

I held my black sword out front as I ran. Given the measure of

control a caster had over the possession of a generated element,

magic in this world was well suited to ambush attacks. You could

form a flame element, keep it on standby, then discharge it when

the enemy came into sight, almost like a firearm.

On the other hand, the power of the magic was dependent

upon the number of elements being expended. If it was just one

little orb, the attack power would be the same, whether cast by a

student in their first year at school or a master with a lifetime of

experience. Discipline allowed one to increase the number of elements at once, but each one required a finger to maintain it, so

the upper limit of simultaneous elements was ten. My black

sword had the capability to absorb energy, so I could defend

against even a tenfold heat or frost element attack.

If Chudelkin was going to attempt a surprise attack, it would

be safer to plunge through the exit of the stairway, rather than

lean out carefully. I sped up through the last leg and leaped high

in the air on the final step.

But there was no storm of fireballs or deluge of icicles. I did a

full three-sixty turn in midair to survey the room, but I did not

see Chudelkin or anyone else. I landed on the marble floor on one

knee and listened carefully. The only sound was Alice running toward me.

She appeared through the exit of the staircase as I got to my

feet, then she took her own turn examining the place. "I thought I

heard him chanting, but there's no one here…Perhaps Chudelkin

gave up on laying a trap and fled to the hundredth floor above…,"

she murmured, glancing up at the ceiling.

"But that's Administrator's room, right?" I asked. "Is the prime

senator allowed to just burst in there?"

"I doubt it…Where are the stairs up anyway?"

Once again, I looked around the round room that composed

the ninety-ninth floor. It was quite large, probably a hundred feet

across. The floor, ceiling, and curved walls were the same familiar

white marble, but there was nothing in the way of decoration or

ornamentation. At most, there was a series of large lamps fixed to

the walls, but only four were lit, leaving the interior dim. Everything in the room was pure white, so it would probably be blinding in here if all the lamps were on at once.

The staircase we'd taken opened directly into the floor near

the wall. There was a marble hatch above, and I was certain that

if lowered, it would fit seamlessly into the floor.

Perhaps there was a similar hidden drop-down door in the

ceiling somewhere. I looked around for a pull cord or handle, but

saw nothing. Perhaps a good sword skill might punch a hole in

the ceiling…

"This room," Alice suddenly murmured. I turned and saw that

the knight's left eye was open wider than usual.

"What about it?"

"I've…been in here before. This is where I woke up…on the day

I became an apprentice Integrity Knight…"

"W-wait…are you sure about that?!"

"Yes…All the lamps were on at the time…and the room was extremely bright and shining…The pontifex herself stood in the center, and she commanded, Wake up, child of God…"

Alice realized that a note of reverence had crept into her voice,

and she scowled. "The pontifex removed all my memories up to

that point, gave me a false past and a knight's duty, then left me

with Uncle…with Commander Bercouli. Then a part of the floor,

similar to the elevating disc in the middle part of the cathedral,

took Uncle and me down to the ninety-fifth floor. I have never

been back here since."

"The floor…sank?" I repeated, stomping on the marble with

my boots. The only sensation I felt was thick, unmoving stone. It

would be hard to find a hidden elevator in a room this size, and

we didn't need to go down.

"Do you remember how Administrator went back to her chamber then, Alice?" I asked.

She lifted a finger to her lips and thought. "I think…that the

moment the disc sank into the floor…she looked up…and another

small disc descended from above…"

"That's it!" I shouted, staring greedily at the white ceiling. It

wasn't a pull-down hatch but an elevator hidden above us. Even

still, I couldn't spot anything like a switch. There wasn't an operator like on the elevator between the fiftieth and eightieth floors,

so there had to be some mechanism to work it automatically. But

what was it…?

"Oh…perhaps it was what the prime senator was chanting…," I

wondered aloud. Alice latched onto it.

"So it wasn't an ambush but an art to make the disc move…?

Kirito, what did you hear Chudelkin say after 'Generate'? Do you

remember?"

I really, really didn't want to tell her I wasn't listening, so I

frantically replayed the moment from a few minutes before in my

head. His needle-pitched voice had cried, Generate, and then…

"L…Lu…something…," I said, struggling to remember. Alice's

glare was even colder than usual.

"That should be enough. The only element that starts with

luwould be a light element."

My face lit up, and I nodded to show that I did understand

after all, but Alice was already turning and putting away her

sword. She thrust her open hands toward the ceiling.

"System Call! Generate Luminous Element!"

To my amazement, she created a full ten light elements, the

theoretical maximum. She then sprayed the floating white orbs

outward without further modification. They landed at various

points on the ceiling and burst without a sound. One flashed

brighter than before—and then a circle of light a few feet across

appeared where it had landed. It wasn't in the center of the room,

but close to the wall.

Alice lowered her arms, and I walked up to her side, watching

cautiously. The circle of light faded quickly but did not disappear,

and before long, the ceiling within its perimeter slid smoothly

down toward us.

The stone platform was at least eighteen inches thick and

looked tremendously heavy, yet it floated as if it were nothing.

The light element had merely been a switch, and something else

was powering the movement, but I couldn't begin to guess what it

was. It was on the level of some of the "miracles" I saw Cardinal

perform in the Great Library—in fact, that must be exactly what it

was. The source of this elevator's movement was doubtless some

tiny piece of Administrator's boundless power.

The elevator landed on the floor with the slightest of vibrations. The top was not bare marble but was covered in bright-red

carpet that glowed faintly in the light coming down from the circular hole in the ceiling.

The way to the top floor of Central Cathedral was open.

When Alice and I rode that elevating disc to the hundredth

floor, the last and biggest battle of all would begin.

The original plan was that I'd use my secret-weapon dagger on

Administrator while she slept and let Cardinal handle the rest.

But with Chudelkin hiding from us on the floor above, she would

likely be awake already—and more importantly, I'd already used

my dagger to save Fanatio, the vice commander of the Integrity

Knights.

Fortunately—if you could call it that—Alice the knight had

agreed to return to being the original Alice already. That meant

Eugeo didn't need to use his dagger on her. When we got up

there, I'd have to rescue him from his frozen state, I suspected,

and find a way to use his dagger before Administrator started taking me seriously. I couldn't imagine another way for us to win.

Alice was reaching a final moment of determination as well.

We stared at each other and nodded in unison.

"…Let's go."

"Here goes nothing."

And thus the elite disciple Kirito and Integrity Knight Alice

Synthesis Thirty started walking toward the elevating disc that

awaited just ahead.

One, two, three steps—and the pale light coming from the hole

in the ceiling, probably moonlight, abruptly shaded over.

I stopped and stared into the hole, where I caught sight of a

number of bright glimmers of light.

It was, in fact, moonlight—reflecting off a beautifully designed

suit of armor. Whoever it was leaped down through the hole, a

good twenty feet above, long cape trailing behind.

It was too tall to be Chudelkin. Then I wondered whether Administrator was coming down to this floor, but the figure's stature

was male. I couldn't make out a face against the light.

"Are there more Integrity Knights left?" I muttered.

"That armor belongs to…No, wait…," Alice whispered, right as

the descending knight landed atop the disc. He bent his knees to

absorb the impact and slowly straightened back up.

The armor was silver tinged with blue. The metal plate looked

almost a bit translucent, collecting the moonlight and bouncing it

back beautifully. The cape was deep blue, and I did not see a

sword on his waist. His downturned face was hidden behind a

large gorget covering his neck, but the wavy hair was…a soft

flaxen color.

Instantly, a shock like a bolt of lightning shot through me.

That color. I'd lived for two years in the Underworld with that

hair color right nearby.

It can't be. But. How…

I was caught flat-footed, locked in extreme confusion. At last,

the knight raised his head, and his green eyes looked at me

through heavy lids. There was no longer any room for doubt. The

young man in the Integrity Knight armor was…

"...…Eugeo...…"

The name left my mouth as barely more than a moan.

I would never mistake him for anyone else. He was my partner

and my best friend; we'd been inseparable since our meeting in

the forest two years ago. The only thing that kept me going for so

long in this alternate world was Eugeo's presence at my side. I

would never, ever see his features in someone else's face by accident.

But this expression in Eugeo's eyes and mouth as he stared at

me was one I did not recognize. In fact, it was not an expression

at all—the word implied that something was actively being expressed. This youth was all inanimate ice, even colder than when

we'd first met Alice at the practice hall of Swordcraft Academy.

"Eugeo," I repeated, my voice normal this time. The cold glare

did not falter or break in the least. But he wasn't ignoring me. He

was measuring me, testing me…to see whether I was worthy of

the bite of his weapon.

"…No…it's too soon," Alice mumbled.

Desperate for anything to cling to, I asked, "Soon…? Too soon

for what…?"

"For the completion of the ritual," the golden knight said,

glancing at me only briefly before she announced, "Your partner…Eugeo has already been synthesized."

The Synthesis Ritual. Direct manipulation of the fluctlight, a

process only Administrator was capable of. Stealing memories,

inserting loyalty…raising him into an Integrity Knight.

"…No…no way…You said it took three days and nights," I

protested, shaking my head like a stubborn child.

"The prime senator said that was because I refused to recite

the necessary sacred arts commands. If I had simply repeated

them, that three-day process would not have been necessary…But

even still, this is too soon. Barely hours have passed since Eugeo

fought Uncle…"

"That's right…This isn't possible. Eugeo couldn't…just…It has

to be some kind of illusion art or something…"

I took an uncertain step forward, not even fully comprehending what I was saying anymore. I was jolted to attention by Alice

reaching out to grab my right arm. "Get a grip!" she hissed. "If

you can't stay calm, we'll lose any chance we might have to save

him!"

"S…save…?"

"That's right! You yourself said it: There is a way to restore the

knight's original memories! So there must be a way to return

Eugeo to normal! We mustovercome this challenge in order to

take advantage of that!!" she spat out, her palm burning with

pure willpower against my wrist and pouring life back into my

numb flesh. I'd nearly been about to drop my sword; I gripped it

harder than ever.

Alice was right. Eugeo's memory and persona weren't lost forever. They just couldn't come to the surface, due to the manipulation of a single part of his fluctlight.

All I had to do was take back the Memory Fragment that Administrator stole from him and have Cardinal reintegrate it, and

then Eugeo would return to the gentle, mild-mannered swordsman I knew. The first step to achieving that would be dialogue

and information gathering. Whatever personality was running

Eugeo, I had to convince it to let us pass…or perhaps even help

us. I'd been completely helpless against Alice, and somehow I had

won her over with words—there must be a way to repeat that success.

"…Let me handle this," I whispered to Alice, who was still

clutching my wrist. Hesitantly, she acquiesced and let go.

"All right. But don't take him lightly. That knight is no longer

the Eugeo you knew."

"Right," I said. Alice took a step back.

To be honest, no matter how powerful Eugeo was as an Integrity Knight, as long as Alice used her Perfect Weapon Control

—transforming the Osmanthus Blade into a storm of petals that

tore the enemy to shreds—we could easily neutralize his strength.

Such was the power of Alice's ability. But that was truly the last

resort, after all other options had been exhausted. I wanted to

avoid harming him if at all possible, and it seemed the height of

cruelty to make two childhood friends fight when their memories

of each other were stolen.

I stepped forward and took the full brunt of Eugeo's cold stare.

"Eugeo," I said for the third time, completely firm, "do you remember me? I'm Kirito…your partner. Remember how we've

been together for the entire past two years?"

The young man in blue-and-silver armor said nothing for several moments, until…

"I'm sorry, I don't know you."

That was the first thing Eugeo the Integrity Knight said to me.

His soft voice was as I remembered, but it had the same icy quality as his eyes. Clearly he had no access to his pre-synthesis memories, but surely the quick process meant there wasn't time to insert the usual false memories about being summoned from

Heaven, either. There must have been a huge blank space in

Eugeo's self-conception at the moment. If I could just take advantage of that…

"But thank you," he continued, to my surprise.

Suddenly full of hope at that non-hostile response, I asked,

"For what?"

"For bringing me my sword," he said.

"Uh…"

I looked down to my right side. There was the Blue Rose

Sword, a Divine Object wrapped in its white leather sheath. I

looked up and asked, "What are you…going to do with it?"

Eugeo's green eyes blinked, and he said, quite simply, "I'm

going to fight you. That's what she wants."

"…"

Then it was true—he had come down into this room to defeat

Alice and me. Because it was what shewanted.

Sensing that my hopes were growing further and further away,

I still clung on. "Eugeo, are you just going to follow orders…to

fight without knowing who you are or even the meaning of that

fight? We are not your enemies. You came all this way to fight Administrator and take back your precious—"

"It doesn't matter what the meaning is," he said, and for the

briefest of moments, he wore the first true expression I had seen.

"She is going to give me what I want. And that is all I need."

"What you want…? Is it something more precious than Alice?"

The moment he heard that name, supposedly the most important thing in his world, I thought I sensed a flicker of emotion in

his pale features. But again, he covered it up with that icy visage.

"I don't know. I don't want to know. About you…or anyone.

I'm just sick…of…already…," he mumbled, the words too faint for

me to make out. He stepped off the disc and held out his hand. "I

have nothing more to say to you. Let's fight…That's why you're

here, isn't it?"

"…Not to fight with you, Eugeo. I can't give back this sword," I

warned him in hushed tones, switching my black sword over to

my left hand and pulling out the Blue Rose Sword with my right.

With my eyes trained on Eugeo, I reached toward Alice behind

me and—

"I don't need it transferred by hand."

The white sheath was ripped from my hand. But it wasn't

Alice. The sword shot through the air, as though pulled by invisible strings, and landed right in Eugeo's grasp, over thirty feet

away.

Sacred arts?! Did I miss him chanting…?!

Then I heard a voice behind me spout, "Incarnate Arms…!"

"What's that?" I asked, face still forward.

"It's an ancient art taught to the Integrity Knights," she explained quickly. "It is neither sacred art nor Perfect Weapon Control. It simply moves objects with the force of will alone. I've

heard that only a few knights aside from Uncle can use it."

"You mean you can't?"

"I…I trained in it, but I can't even move a pebble, much less a

Divine Object. There's no way a brand-new knight could master it

so quickly…"

All the while, Eugeo was examining the Blue Rose Sword, and

he hung the sheath on his left side. He grabbed the hilt and

promptly drew it. The faintly translucent blade gave off a white

mist of frosty air.

I had no choice but to put my normal sword back in the proper

hand and hold it up. Eugeo and I had faced off many times over

the past two years. But that was always with wooden practice

swords; we had never once used the black sword and Blue Rose

Sword against each other.

And yet, the only feeling that filled my chest was the realization that the time had finally arrived. I'd sensed this moment

might come, on the very day we left Rulid. But that vision was

only to the point that our blades clashed. The outcome of the fight

was still unwritten. And no one else—not even Administrator—

could decide that for us.

"Eugeo," I said, considering this to be our final conversation,

"you might not remember this, but I was the one who taught you

to use the sword. And I can't afford to lose to my own pupil."

He didn't say anything back. He merely lifted the Blue Rose

Sword and assumed the pose to initiate a sword skill: the onehanded charge attack, Sonic Leap.

Slightly pleased that he still remembered the Aincrad moves

I'd taught him, even after he'd forgotten his own name, I made

the same stance.

Two swords glowed the same shade of light green.

One second later, Eugeo and I launched off the marble floor in

unison.