Final Battle, May 380 HE

Ooh, well said.

Given the weight of the situation, I suppose my own reaction was a bit less

than totally serious. But if I didn't treat it that lightly, the freezing tone would

have overwhelmed me and caused me to back down.

When we arrived at the hundredth floor of Central Cathedral at last, it was a

circular chamber well over a hundred feet across. In the middle of the room was

a massive circular bed, and that seemed to be the only piece of furniture.

And atop the bed, without a stitch of clothing covering her body, was a

breathtakingly beautiful woman.

She was, without a doubt, the absolute ruler of the Axiom Church and thus of

the human race as a whole: Administrator. But her sense of presence was so

great that just by standing there, she made me instantly lose sight of the fact

that this was actually a virtual world called the Underworld and that she and all

the other people here were "artificial fluctlights," AI routines saved on an

artificial medium in the real world.

But in fact, I didn't need to see her brilliant silvery hair and mirrorlike eyes

first. From the moment I'd first stepped onto the platform that would take me

up to this floor, my palms had been sweaty, and cold fear had gripped my spine.

As I had looked through the hole in the ceiling directly above me and into the

darkness that awaited, I had felt an aura of death more thick and cold than in

any of the boss chambers in the original Aincrad.

The real me—not Kirito the elite disciple but the actual Kazuto Kirigaya—

wouldn't die inside The Soul Translator if I lost all my life value here in the

Underworld. But the entity known as Administrator had the ability to inflict

suffering on me that far surpassed death.

In fact, hadn't Cardinal said that Administrator wasn't bound by the Taboo

Index she herself had created but instead was still restricted by the conceptual

taboos that she'd been raised with? That murder was the one thing she couldn't

commit?

But because of that limitation, she could inflict pain that was far more

horrible than logging out of the Underworld—I could wind up like those

senators, living like a machine hooked up to a feeding tube, forever.

Of course, just because I understood more about the underlying situation

than Alice or Eugeo did didn't mean that my fear was greater than theirs.

Administrator had removed Eugeo's Piety Module herself, but Alice's was still

embedded in her fluctlight. I couldn't begin to imagine how frightening it must

have been for her to face off against her absolute ruler.

And yet the golden knight held her head high and proud as she declared, "My

ultimate duty is not the protection of the Axiom Church! It is to protect the

peaceful labor and rest of the unarmed multitudes! And your actions, more

than any other thing, threaten the peace and safety of the people of the

world!!"

Alice's golden hair shone, lit with righteous purpose. Her voice cut crisply

through the heavy, cold gloom, keeping it at bay.

But the pontifex didn't express any anger at Alice's bold castigation. If

anything, her lips curled with entertainment. Instead, it was Prime Senator

Chudelkin—who was hiding under the bed for some reason—whose hideous

screeching voice rent the air.

"S-s-sileeeeence!!"

He hurtled out of the hanging sheet and performed a series of somersaults

before popping to his feet. He wobbled a bit from all the rotation but recovered

to express his full indignation in the space between us and the pontifex.

His red-and-blue outfit was torn to shreds, and the poison gas he'd used on

the previous floor was gone, thanks to Alice's Perfect Weapon Control of the

Osmanthus Blade. That skill had split the blade into hundreds of tiny pieces that

whirled into an astonishing storm of petals that were meant to help us escape

Eugeo's ice—Chudelkin got caught in the aftermath only because he came

chortling down from the ceiling at the right time.

As usual, his slipperiness was impressive. Despite the damage to his clothes,

he retreated without suffering much injury himself, but now, on the top floor,

there was no escape. With the mighty Administrator behind him, however, he

was bold again, throwing his hands into the air and then jutting both pointer

fingers at Alice.

"Why, you half-broken little toy knight! Your duty?! To protect?! How you

make me laugh! Hohhhh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hohhhhh!!"

He did a little spin, causing the tattered shreds of his clothing to lift up into

the air, exposing striped red-and-blue underpants. Then he put his hands on his

hips and stuck out his left foot at her this time. "You knights are nothing more

than puppets that act on my command!! If I tell you to lick my boot, you will lick

it! If I say that you are my steed, you will carry me on your back!! That is the

duty you knights are blessed to have!!"

He lost his balance and nearly toppled over backward due to his massive

head, but the wild swinging of his arms helped him stay on his feet.

"More importantly," he continued, "the idea that the knighthood is destroyed

is absolute poppycock! Less than ten overall, including the worthless old

Number One and Two, were damaged at all! In other words, I have more than

twenty pawns still remaining! One single member mouthing off does not even

begin to affect the ironclad rule of the Church, you hideous, shining wench!!"

Ironically, the clown's vulgar insults succeeded only at calming Alice's nerves.

She was back to her sharp, rational nature. With a shake of her head, she said,

"You are the fool here, scarecrow. Are there brains in that oversize head of

yours, or just straw and scraps of cloth?"

"Wha…whaaaaa—?!"

The blood rushed to his crimson head until he was fully purple. But before he

could scream whatever came to his mind, Alice icily continued, "Of the

remaining twenty knights, half of them are immobile at the moment, due to the

pontifex's so-called reset to modify their memories with sacred arts. And the

other half are on their dragons, fighting at the End Mountains. You cannot call

them back here now. If you did, the forces of darkness would immediately pile

through the caves in the north, west, and south parts of the mountains, as well

as the Eastern Gate, and cause the Axiom Church's rule to crumble."

"Nng…hrrgg…!"

Chudelkin's face was now turning from purple to black. But Alice wasn't done

yet.

"In fact, it is already crumbling. Those ten knights and their dragons cannot

fight forever. But the cathedral no longer has any knights in reserve to replace

them. Or will you venture into the Dark Territory yourself, Chudelkin, and

bravely battle with the fearsome dark knights?"

I couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious about that remark. The backup

knights—like Eldrie and Deusolbert and the Four Whirling Blades—had just

been hospitalized because of Eugeo and me.

Still, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Chudelkin's head reaching

the limit of its internal pressure.

"Mwa-hohhhhh!! You—you—you sneaky little—!! Do you think you've gotten

the better of us with that, you miserable whelp?!" he screamed, like a kettle

letting off steam, his feet stomping the floor in a childish tantrum. "As

punishment for this absolute insolence, you'll be sent to the mountains for

three years once you've been reset! Oh, but before all of that, I'll keep you for

my personal plaything!!"

He began to screech about exactly the sorts of things that he would force

Alice to do, until a word from Administrator behind him instantly shut him up.

"…Hmm."

He went stock-still and silent, his face returning to its original color. The

pontifex ignored him and turned to Alice. "No, it doesn't seem to be a logiccircuit error. And your Piety Module is still functional…Does that mean you

independently removed the Code 871 that was installed for me…? And not just

on a sudden emotional burst…?"

What is she talking about? I wondered, scowling. Installed? By whom…? Code

Eight-Seven-One…?

The silver-haired young woman was not forthcoming with more information,

however. She swept the hair hanging on her shoulders back and changed gears.

"Well, I won't know any more than that without a good analysis. Now,

Chudelkin…I am a generous person, so I will give you an opportunity to improve

your now miserable reputation. Use your abilities to freeze those three. You can

reduce their life to, oh, let's say twenty percent."

When she was done speaking, she waved her right pointer finger. Instantly,

the massive bed beneath her feet rumbled into rotation. My eyes bugged out.

Like an enormous screw, the forty-foot-wide bed began to descend into the

floor. Chudelkin squealed and darted away from it.

Eventually, the entire bed had fit itself snugly into the floor, even the hanging

canopy, such that there was nothing but carpet with a large circle drawn on it. A

moment later, Administrator descended to the floor without a sound.

On a sudden whim, I glanced down at my own feet and saw that there was a

similar circle in the carpet where the levitating disc had brought us up. I

guessed that the room must be designed so that everything extended and

retracted into the floor that way, but a glance around the room revealed that

there was only one other circle, a small one on the far wall across from us. I

couldn't begin to guess what it contained.

Once the bed was gone, the top floor of the tower seemed shockingly vast.

The circular walls were all made of perfectly unblemished, crystal clear glass,

meaning that only the golden pillars supported the domed ceiling. The dome

was decorated with art that seemed to be depicting the genesis of the world,

and crystals affixed all over the display blinked and glimmered like stars.

What did surprise me was the sword-themed golden decorations that

adorned all the pillars. The smaller ones were still over three feet long, and the

longest nearly ten. The hilts were quite small, though, so it was clearly

impossible to pull them off the wall and use them as weapons. The edges didn't

look very sharp, either.

Otherwise, the hundredth floor of the cathedral was the worst kind of place

to fight someone who could cast sacred arts: wide open with nothing to hide

behind. I put weight into my right foot, preparing to leap forward on Chudelkin

before he could start chanting.

But before I could execute my plan, Alice shook her head. "It's dangerous to

just charge in. The pontifex will have an art that can capture us alive if she

simply touches us. The reason she allowed Chudelkin to go first is undoubtedly

to give herself a better chance to make contact with us."

"Now that you mention it," Eugeo whispered, the first thing he'd said in ages,

"I have a feeling that she chose not to kill me, when she certainly could have.

And when the prime senator turned Bercouli to stone, he was riding on him…

touching him directly."

"Okay," I said, nodding. "So it works on contact with the target."

Propelled attack arts like fireballs or ice blades notwithstanding, any kind of

art that had a specific target, as a general rule, required that the caster make

contact with that target, even if just on the leg or foot. It was one of the

fundamental rules of the sacred arts that any novice at the academy would

learn.

In other words, as long as we didn't let Chudelkin or Administrator actually

touch us, we didn't have to worry about falling prey to that horrifying

petrification ability. But at the same time, that meant we couldn't get within

sword-swinging range.

That ultimately left us at a disadvantage. In terms of sacred arts, Eugeo and I

were nothing compared to Alice, and in a battle of long-distance attacks, even

the three of us together were likely to get outgunned against the prime senator.

I bit my lip, thinking hard. Eugeo continued, "Plus…the pontifex has a fullbody—"

Whatever he was trying to say got cut off by Chudelkin, who sprang up from

his sitting position. "Hoh-hoh-hohhh!"

We took fighting stances in reaction. He gave us a suddenly very nasty smile,

then turned back to his commander and simpered, "You can flatten those three

little dung beetles with the press of your pinky finger, Your Holiness, yet you

bestowed upon me the honor and pleasure of dealing with them! I might cry! I

do believe I shall!! Hoo-goo, hoo-goo-goo-goo…"

Sure enough, sticky tears began gushing from the corners of his eyes, forming

large droplets that tumbled off his cheeks. It was sickening.

Even Administrator seemed tired of dealing with him. She backed away about

twenty feet and said impatiently, "Fine. Just do it."

"Yeh-heh-hes, Your Holiness! I shall undertake every last effort to meet your

satisfactiooooon!"

He pushed both thumbs into his temples as if there were buttons there, and

his tears instantly stopped. The little clown leered at us and continued, "Now,

now, now…You will not get off with simple apologies. No, I'll be grinding down

nearly all of your life before I finally allow you to sob and beg on your knees.

Are you ready for that? Are you sure?"

"…I'm tired of listening to your nonsense. Just do your worst already. Like I

said on the floor below, I'm ready to cut that filthy tongue clean out of your

hideous mouth," snapped Alice, who was not one to lose the war of words. She

squeezed the hilt of her sword and widened her stance.

About fifty feet away, Chudelkin took an odd stance of his own, crossing his

arms in front of his chest.

"Ohhhhhh, you'll get it now!! If you want my beautiful, perfect tongue, you'll

have it—sliding all over your body, once I've frozen you in solid ice!!

Hwaaaaa!!" he screamed, and launched himself into a magnificent leap,

performing a one-and-a-half backflip with a full twist and landing hard. Not on

his feet or his hands but on the top of his head.

"..."

Neither I, Eugeo, nor Alice said a word. Yes, it made sense that with his

enormous head and spindly body, the prime senator would find it more stable

to be situated upside down, but what was he going to do now that he was stuck

there?

But Chudelkin maintain a firmly serious expression—as far as I could tell, since

it was hard to read it upside down—extended his arms and legs, and screeched,

"System…Caaaaall!!"

Alice promptly drew her blade. Eugeo and I took stances as well, though we

weren't sure what to do yet.

"Generrrate Crrryogenic Element!!" he cried, enthusiastically rolling his r's.

The power and scale of a long-range attack art could be narrowed down to a

fairly specific window based on the number of elements that were initially

generated. I watched closely, determined to spot exactly how many little ice

lights appeared in his fingers.

Paaam!! Chudelkin clapped his hands together and spread them wide, still

upside down. At the ends of his fingers, thrumming softly, were ten little motes

of blue light.

"Damn, the maximum," I cursed, but it wasn't unexpected. I was barely more

than a beginner, and even I could generate five elements at a time on one hand

if I focused hard enough. Chudelkin was the greatest caster in the Axiom Church

after Administrator, so making five on each hand would be second nature to

him.

Alice didn't move, but I took a step to the right and held up my off hand in

order to generate the opposing heat elements. Eugeo took the exact same

stance. If we each made five, perhaps we could defend ourselves against

Chudelkin's ice…

But right as I was about to give the command, there was another dry paaam!!

It was Chudelkin, this time smacking his bare feet together. Then he spread

his legs wide until they were straight lines along with his arms. With the sound

of dewdrops falling, ten little ice elements appeared over the tips of his toes.

Eugeo's hoarse whisper spoke for the both of us.

"…You gotta be…kidding me…"

With twenty elements in total now floating off his hands and feet, Chudelkin's

upside-down mouth curved into a huge grin.

"Oh-ho, oh-ho-ho-ho-ho…Very frightened, are we? Peeing our pants just a

little, hmm? If you assumed I was no different from any of those measly arts

casters, you were very wrong."

The Underworld's concept of sacred arts—in short, magic—was confined by

vocal commands and the imagination of the caster. For example, in the act of

performing healing arts, any hostility toward the target in the heart of the

caster would dramatically lessen the effectiveness of the healing. But if one

prayed with all one's being for recovery, the results might actually surpass the

privilege level of the caster.

Elemental attack arts worked the same way. Vocal commands—the sacred

words—were not enough to alter the shape of the generated elements. They

had to be linked to the image in the caster's mind for guidance.

That image was a finger. From the start to the very end of the process, the

caster had to focus on the mental image of each element, connected to each

finger. For this reason, even the most advanced of users could only control ten

elements with ten fingers. In order to break that limit and utilize the toes for

this mental image as well, you'd either have to be floating in the air off your

feet somehow—or balanced on your head such that all the limbs were free. Just

like Prime Senator Chudelkin.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" he screamed, and started chanting the element-activation

command at ultrahigh speed as we stood dumbfounded. First he thrust his right

hand toward us, then his left.

"Dischaaaaaargeuh!!"

Shoom! Five icicles shot forth, rending the air in a vortex of chill. Cold on their

heels came another five.

There was no escape. Two fanning spreads of ice spears, high and low,

covered every angle. The only way out was to knock down the spears that

would hit us, so I squeezed my sword hilt and focused— Golden glimmering

covered my sight.

Alice had swiped the Osmanthus Blade sideways, disintegrating the tip into a

multitude of little shards that spun and danced through the air. It wasn't the

first time we'd seen Alice's Perfect Weapon Control, but it still succeeded in

taking our breath away with its beauty.

The only light illuminating the top floor of Central Cathedral was the

moonlight coming through the windows on the southern side. But the golden

petals reflected it as though they were glowing with their own light as they

swarmed, creating a thick, dense meteor shower.

"Haaah!" Alice cried, swinging the hilt, which was all that was left in her hand.

The storm of petals swooped in coordination with her action, enveloping the

ten icicle spears and filling the air with a tremendous grinding sound. It was as

though she'd tossed ice cubes into a high-powered mixer on liquefy; in

moments, Chudelkin's spears had been reduced to sherbet, melting harmlessly

into the air and expending their magical resources.

"Hnng…grrrrrrng!!" the little man grunted, grinding his teeth as he witnessed

his confident attack being completely nullified. "Don't think you're so special

just because of your stupid little grater!" he howled. "How do you plan to

handle this?! Hohhhhh!!"

He swung his feet, still holding ten elements of their own, from the sides to a

raised position. The ice elements rose in parallel toward the ceiling, where they

met and formed a square crystal block.

The ice grew and grew with a series of heavy booms, until it formed a solid

cube about seven feet to a side. But its transformation didn't stop there; vicious

spikes grew on every surface.

If the physical rules of the Underworld were the same as real life, the cube of

ice up above had to weigh a good seven tons. Judging on the spot that it would

be impossible to stop that with swords alone, I fell back a step.

"Hoh-hee-hee…How do you like that? Just one step before my ultimate

sacred art!! Get ready to be flattennned!!"

From his headstand position, Chudelkin lowered his upright legs to a forward

position. The spiked die made of ice came hurtling downward with a deafening

rush.

Eugeo and I jumped sideways, desperate to get out of the way. But once

again, Alice did not show an ounce of hesitation. She stared down the massive

object that was about to crush her to a pulp, not moving a muscle…

"Haaaaaaaaah!!"

With the loudest and fiercest cry she'd made in any fight so far, Alice thrust

the hilt of her sword high.

The storm of golden shards floating around her collected into a sharp

formation with a crisp cha-king! They formed a huge cone about ten feet tall

with the pieces arranged outward into fierce spikes. The formation spun as the

block of ice descended upon it.

When the two objects collided, the vast chamber was filled with a show of

sound and light that was both deafening and blinding, all at once.

"Krrrnngggg…Crush…them…flaaaaaat!"

"…Break it apart…flowers!!"

The prime senator and the Integrity Knight screamed, polar opposites of

beauty and ugliness, both twisted with ferocious effort. With major works of

magic like this, in addition to numerical priority, it was willpower and mentalimage strength that would determine the ultimate winner.

For several seconds, the blue chunk of ice and the golden spiral held firm at

equal distance from their white-hot intersection point, but they gradually grew

closer. Thanks to the overwhelming light and ear-splitting roaring, it was

impossible to tell whether it was the cube crushing the drill with its

overwhelming weight, or the drill gouging out the ice.

Only when the two objects were nearly overlapping did it become clear which

of the two had won.

With a sharp crack, the entire cube of ice split, going white. Then the block,

which was the size of a small shed, burst tremendously into a vast number of

little shards. The air was instantly colored white, and I had to hold up my left

arm to shield myself from the onslaught of cold.

"Hkyaaaa?!" shrieked Chudelkin. His outstretched limbs trembled. "Th…this is

preposterous…My superbly impressive and ultimate sacred art, which was

bequeathed to me by Her Holiness…"

That mocking smile had vanished from his venomously red lips, but despite

the feat of obliterating the massive ice block, Alice wasn't unscathed, either.

She swung her arm to return the cone of shards to the form of her sword once

again but had to valiantly hold firm to maintain her balance. I guessed that

she'd probably taken some of the impact of the flying ice at close range.

"Alice!" I cried, but she held out her free hand to stop me and pointed the tip

of her blade toward the distant Chudelkin.

"Chudelkin, your faithless acts are nothing more than a paper balloon filled

with air—just like you!!"

"Wha…wha—haah—wha…?!"

Her cutting remark was so devastating that for once, the man couldn't come

up with a response. His round face was distorted beyond belief and twitching

violently as greasy sweat poured in rivers down his upside-down features.

Just then, Administrator broke her silence from the back of the room,

speaking to her level of boredom.

"No matter how many years pass, you'll never not be stupid, Chudelkin."

The prime senator's limbs promptly withdrew. He shrank like a sulking child,

while the pontifex gracefully turned on her side and lay down in the middle of

the air, as though there were an invisible sofa there. She floated upward,

crossed her legs, and continued, "Alice's Osmanthus Blade has the highest level

of physical priority of any existing Divine Object. And she utterly believes in that

fact. And yet you attempt to use a physical-type attack art against her. Have you

forgotten the most basic fundamentals of sacred arts?"

"Hah…hoh-hoh-hah-hee…," Chudelkin giggled nervously. Tears burst from his

eyes without warning. Since he was balancing on his head, they ran down his

forehead and sank into the carpet where his scalp met it.

"Oh-hoooo…Oh, what an honor, what glory, what privilege!! Her Holiness

herself, offering lessons to the lowly likes of me! I shall rise to the occasion…

Humble Chudelkin will prove himself worthy of this tender mercyyyyy!!"

Somehow, Administrator's statement had been more effective than any

healing art. His disbelief had been wiped clean in an instant, and the prime

senator was now glaring boldly at Alice with his own bizarre brand of proud

confidence.

"Number Thirty! You just likened me to a paper balloon filled with nothing but

hot air!"

"…Are you saying you're not?"

"Nooooot! Not, not, not, not!!" Chudelkin's eyes seemed to light with visible

flames. "I do have strong beliefs of my own! And one of those is love!! I am

driven by pure and selfless love for my wise and beauteous Holiness!!"

At any other time, in any other place, this would come off like third-rate

theater. But somehow, in this moment, the statement reverberated powerfully

through the room. It was almost kind of touching, in a pathetic way—even if it

was coming from a half-naked clown man balancing on his oversize head.

Chudelkin glared at Alice with burning eyes, spread his limbs wide, and

screeched, "Y-Y-Y-Your Holiness!!"

"What is it, Chudelkin?"

"After so many long years of faithful service, I, Prime Senator Chudelkin, do

finally, for the first time, make a most impudent request of you!! I shall

henceforth risk life and limb to vanquish the brazen traitors, and all that I ask—

nothing more!—is that upon my successful completion of this weighty duty, I at

last be allowed…to place my hands…to place my lips…upon your blessed

figure…and to spend a…a…a night of dreams fulfilled together!!"

Well, that's one way to make a bold request of the absolute ruler of all

humanity.

But there was clearly no doubt that this was a scream from the heart, an

absolutely true confession of real emotion from the very depth of Chudelkin's

soul.

It was so far beyond pathos now that it was genuinely heroic. Neither I, nor

Eugeo, nor Alice could move a muscle.

Floating on the other end of the room, Administrator reacted to Chudelkin's

request by…curving her pale lips into a smile that suggested nothing could be

funnier. Her mirror eyes, which reflected all light, now wavered between scorn

and mockery. But when she spoke, covering her mouth with her hand, the voice

that emerged was full of benevolence that was at odds with her expression.

"…Very well, Chudelkin," she murmured. "I swear to Stacia, goddess of

creation. When you have fulfilled your duty, you shall have an entire night to do

with my body whatever you wish."

Because I came from the real world, with all its lies and deceptions, it was

laughably obvious to me that she didn't mean a word of that promise.

But the people of this world, probably due to the structure of their artificial

fluctlights, were unable to disobey the laws and rules that existed on a higher

level of importance than them. These laws ran from local precepts of villages

and towns to Basic Imperial Law to the Taboo Index and even to personal oaths

sworn to the gods.

The higher up in the ruling structures one was, the fewer number of laws that

applied, but even Cardinal and Administrator, the very highest of managers in

this system, were still subject to them. The range of activities that their parents

had limited them to in their youth was still active. Hence, Cardinal couldn't put

her teacup directly on the table, and Administrator couldn't kill human beings.

But Administrator had just proven to me in person that she was no longer

bound by her own oaths to her gods. It was clear evidence that she did not have

a shred of belief in Stacia, Solus, or Terraria, the three goddesses at the center

of the Axiom Church's influence.

Naturally, Chudelkin was unable to see through his master's deception. He

heard what she said, her words dripping with derision, and his eyes filled once

again with bulging tears.

"Oh…ohhh…I am filled…I am enshrouded in limitless joy…In this moment, I am

supremely enabled, sublimely motivated…In short, I am unstoppable!!"

His tears sizzled and evaporated, and suddenly Chudelkin's entire body was

glowing a furious, flaming red color.

"Sys! Tem! Caaaall!! Generate…Therrrmaaal…Elemennnnnnntoah!!"

His limbs sliced the air, fully extended and straight, down to the fingertips, at

the ends of which appeared a multitude of burning red dots. From my position

standing behind Alice, I could keenly sense that this was Chudelkin's last and

greatest attack.

Like the ice, the number of glittering ruby heat elements was twenty in total.

Chudelkin's balancing entirely on his head meant that his legs no longer had to

support his body. But clearly, having the strength of mind and imagination to

separately envision and control all ten toes in addition to his fingers required

great practice.

While his eccentric appearance and personality drew all the attention, Prime

Senator Chudelkin clearly had as much training as the oldest of the Integrity

Knights—if not more—and was a tremendous foe in his own right.

His eyes narrowed in a gloating manner, as if he sensed my fear—and then

they bulged as far as they could. His tiny pupils shone with red light, turning my

fear into shock. At first, I almost thought he was like a classic heroic protagonist

whose blood burned so passionately that his eyes turned into literal flames…but

then I realized my mistake.

The "flames" I saw burning right in front of Chudelkin's eyes were actually

large heat elements. He could use even his own two eyes as control vectors…

They were the twenty-first and twenty-second elements under his control.

Before being expended, the elements in waiting did release a small amount of

their resources into the nearby air. Having heat elements an inch or two away

from your fingertips caused a bit of a prickling sensation, but I could tell that

having larger elements so very close to one's eyeballs couldn't be safe. Soon the

skin around his eyes was fizzling and charring.

But the prime senator didn't seem to feel any heat or pain. With his eye

sockets blackening, his strange face looked downright demonic. He grinned

wickedly and screamed in ear-piercing falsetto, "Witness, my greatest of sacred

aaaaaarts…Come forth, genie, and burn these rebels into ash!!"

He pulled his limbs in, then swung them about with blinding speed. The

twenty elements didn't change form immediately but flew into the air in

parallel lines of five each, hurtling through the space between him and us with

startling velocity.

To my stunned disbelief, the glowing red lines came together to depict a very

large human. It had short legs. A bulging gut. Oddly long arms. And a head

wearing a crown with several spikes on it. It was an enormous clown, as if

Chudelkin's original puffed-up form had grown to several times its size.

The last of the elements filled in the crimson stripes that made up the suit of

the twenty-foot-tall burning clown, and then they vanished. Its face, which was

so high I had to crane my neck to see it, was based on Chudelkin's features but

looked many times more cruel. A tongue of flames licked out of its heavy lips,

and the fissures that represented its eyes exuded a gaze that was paradoxically

freezing cold.

Now that he was done waving his limbs around to create the flaming clown,

Chudelkin at last closed his eyes so hard it was audible. The last two heat

elements shot forth and took hold in the dark sockets of the clown to form

burning red eyes.

The enormous clown glared at us with horrifying malice—it was as though

Chudelkin's very soul had transferred to it. It lifted the pointed boot of its right

foot and pressed it down on the ground in front of it. The floor rumbled, and a

great billow of flame erupted from the giant's foot, singeing and hazing the air

around it.

Eugeo and I were stunned into silence during the entire display. It wasn't until

Alice's interjection that we snapped out of it and brandished our swords once

more.

"…I'll admit that I did not know he was capable of such a thing," she

whispered. Her words were as precise and controlled as ever, but I didn't miss

the slight wobbliness in her voice.

"It seems we misread Chudelkin. Sadly, my flowers cannot destroy that

bodiless flame giant. Even on defense, they will not withstand a direct attack for

long."

"…Meaning that in the meantime, we'll have to do the job of attacking

Chudelkin's actual body," I whispered hoarsely.

"Precisely right," Alice returned. "I'll find a way to block him for ten seconds.

Kirito, Eugeo, you must find a way to vanquish Chudelkin in that time. But you

cannot approach within sword-strike range. That is what the pontifex is waiting

for."

"Ten…"

"…seconds."

Eugeo and I shared a look and groaned.

When we'd fought on the floor below, Eugeo had overpowered me with his

icy impassiveness, but after his knighthood had been undone, he'd gotten his

emotions back. Oddly enough, the sight of fear and hesitation in his face made

me a bit happy. It was reassuring.

But this was time to think. If Alice just wanted us to rush Chudelkin while she

handled the fire clown, we had several options. I'd taken on that role many

times against floor bosses in Aincrad, and Chudelkin ought to be defenseless

while he was controlling the clown.

On the other hand, there was no guarantee that Administrator would stay still

and watch while we charged. So we had to keep our distance as we attacked.

Being swordsmen, there were only two ways for us to attack from a distance.

One was using sacred arts. But with the level of arts that Eugeo and I were

capable of casting, I couldn't imagine that we could break through Chudelkin's

defenses to actually do serious damage to his life.

The other was the ace up our sleeve, Perfect Weapon Control—but this had a

weakness. Activating it demanded the chanting of the extremely long command

that Cardinal put together for us. It would take well over ten seconds. As an

Integrity Knight, Eugeo had used Perfect Control without a vocal command, but

I didn't think he could do it again now. I certainly couldn't.

"…!"

I ground my teeth in frustration. The burning clown moved forward

mockingly, its body swaying and wavering in the heat. The movement was far

from agile, but its size was all that mattered. Each step brought it several feet

closer.

Once it was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating against my skin,

Alice moved at last. She swung the Osmanthus Blade high overhead. Her free

left hand was straight backward, and her legs were wide apart front and back,

as tense as bowstrings.

A whirlwind gust erupted at Alice's feet, fluttering her long white skirt and

golden hair. The Osmanthus Blade shone with golden light and split into

hundreds of petals that began to glide through the air in a line.

"Spin, my flowers!!" she shouted, so loud I had to wonder how her body

could produce such a sound.

The golden petals swirled at such a high speed that they became individually

invisible, melting into a blur that grew into a huge tornado.

When grinding the ice cube, she'd created a cone with a sharp, focused point,

but this was now the reverse. It was like a funnel that grew into the air at a

diagonal from Alice's hand, over fifteen feet across at the widest end. The

rotating golden storm sucked in the air around it, sending out random gusts

that buffeted my body and Eugeo's.

The flame clown was so close it could practically flatten us. Smirking all the

while, it launched itself into a jump nearly to the ceiling and came down

fearlessly into the middle of Alice's tornado. There was a sizzling sound like a

furnace bubbling away, so loud that it drowned out all other sound.

The fire clown's feet were swallowed up in the nearly vertical golden tornado.

Ripped apart by the rapidly spinning blades, the flame burst apart in all

directions like sparks, singeing the air.

But the clown maintained its enormous size, still holding that hideous smile

that stretched from one side of its face to the other. Ever so slowly, it began to

stomp on the tornado. Directly underneath, Alice's legs were trembling, and

there was ferocious concentration on what I could see of her face.

The tiny petals began to take on the heat, turning red from the clown's

powerful flame. Even now, Alice and her Osmanthus Blade were undoubtedly

taking steady, solid life damage.

Eight seconds left.

It was impossible to defeat Chudelkin with sacred arts. There wasn't enough

time for Perfect Control. The only things I had on my side were the black sword

in my hand and the techniques that were fully committed to muscle memory.

During the two years I'd spent here, I'd practiced and repracticed countless

sword skills so that I could teach Eugeo all about the Aincrad style. In the

process, I'd realized that in this world, sword skills could sometimes exhibit a

power that far surpassed their original specs in the game of SAO.

That was because in the Underworld, much of the outcome of actions was

determined not by system calculation but by the strength of the user's will and

imagination. The little spider named Charlotte and Alice the Integrity Knight had

called this power Incarnation.

In other words, here, the power and range of sword skills that were strictly

defined in the old Aincrad might actually be augmented by the power of

Incarnation.

But on the other hand, it also meant that negative emotions like fear,

timidness, and hesitation could weaken the same skills.

There was a strong, fundamental desire within me to distance myself from

the Kirito avatar I had cultivated in the SAO days: the Black Swordsman and the

Dual Blades master. I wasn't able to analyze the precise cause of that feeling.

Maybe it was a desire not to be treated like a hero. Maybe it was guilt over

those people whose lives I'd failed to save or ended. Either one could be true,

but it might also have been something completely different that I had yet to

figure out.

All I knew for certain was that no matter how much I might dislike it, Kirito the

Black Swordsman was a part of me, had helped shape who I was now, and was

giving me strength.

The same man who'd fought in that world—the same me—was still here.

Seven seconds left.

With the heat of the giant stomping on Alice's tornado plastering my cheeks, I

turned my stance to the right and lowered my waist.

I lifted the black sword to the level of my shoulder, laid it perfectly flat, and

pulled back.

My left hand provided catapulting leverage.

I hadn't used this skill or taught it to Eugeo or even attempted re-creating it

yet. And I knew why: Because this sword skill was the one the Black Swordsman

knew best of all and used the most often. It was his symbol.

On a straight line from the end of the slightly translucent black sword and

about fifty feet away was the upside-down Prime Senator Chudelkin. His seared

eyes were still closed, but he was obviously using some means of sharing the

sight of his flaming clown. He should have noticed my motion already.

There would be only one shot at an attack. I couldn't let him defend or evade

it. In that sense, fifty feet was such a tremendously long distance. Balancing on

his head meant Chudelkin couldn't move quickly, but I'd already seen plenty of

the little clown's resilience in a pinch. I needed his attention diverted away from

me, if just for a quarter of a second.

Six seconds left. With as few words as possible, I whispered to my partner,

"His eye."

"Got it."

His response was so immediate, so primed to go, that I glanced at him and

saw that there was now a shining arrow of ice in Eugeo's right hand. It wasn't all

that big, but the brilliance of its light was a sign that it had a high system

priority. I supposed he must have taken the ice resources in the air from Alice

and Chudelkin's fierce battle and converted them for use without anyone

noticing.

Five seconds left. Eugeo moved his hands as though pulling on a greatbow,

and the arrow in his grasp flashed blue.

"Discharge!!"

With that, the arrow of ice flew, but not straight at Chudelkin. Eugeo's left

hand guided it in the air, first around the right of the flame clown, then curving

left and upward. With all the red from the flames filling the chamber, the blue

trail the ice arrow left behind stood out by contrast. The clown's burning eyes

followed its course.

Four seconds left. When the ice arrow had nearly reached the domed ceiling,

Eugeo clenched his controlling hand. On command, the arrow plunged at twice

the previous speed. Its vicious head bore down—and not on Prime Senator

Chudelkin.

But on Administrator, who lay prone in the air behind him.

Three seconds left.

The silver-haired woman showed no signs of alarm at Eugeo's brilliant ice

attack. She merely glanced upward in annoyance, puckered her lips, and blew

out a little puff of air.

That was all she did. But the arrow of ice promptly melted, several feet away

from her.

The true attack Eugeo was making was not on Administrator herself, however,

but on Chudelkin's abnormal fixation and attention on her. The instant the

arrow flew behind him, Chudelkin's eyes bulged, and he rotated around on his

head.

"Your Holiness, bewaaaare!"

Two seconds left.

I was already on the move before Chudelkin's scream hit my ears. I held the

sword at shoulder height, right arm pulled back as far as it could go. The

preliminary motion kicked in and turned the blade red as blood.

The system started moving my body automatically. My feet, wide apart,

launched off the floor. The acceleration was funneled into my rotation,

traveling through my back into my right shoulder. The rotation went back into a

straight motion, bursting through my right arm into the sword that was now

just an extension of it.

With the metallic roar of a jet engine, the sword burst forth in a straight line

with a shining crimson light that was deeper than any of the flames.

This was the One-Handed Sword skill Vorpal Strike.

The reason I had used this skill so much in SAO was because it had the

tremendous power to change the course of any battle, and a range that seemed

almost unfair for a One-Handed Sword attack. The crimson effect carved

through a space about twice the length of the blade itself. When combined with

the full reach of my arm, it could sometimes outdistance even a long spear.

But the distance to my target, Prime Senator Chudelkin, was a good fifty feet.

A normal Vorpal Strike would never reach him.

In other words, I had to use my imagination—my Incarnation power—to

extend my first use of this attack in the Underworld to over five times its range.

This would not be easy.

But I didn't think it impossible. I would never think it.

Alice was exposing herself and her blade to hellfire, trusting in me to find the

solution. My best friend, Eugeo, had used all his smarts and concentration to

unleash a sacred art that would allow me this opportunity.

If I couldn't step up and do my part for them, I had no right to call myself a

swordsman.

And I was nothing if not Kirito the Black Swordsman.

"Rrraaaahhh!!" I bellowed, summoning all my force. At that moment, a

fingerless black glove covered my right hand, as though it had seeped out of the

very air around me.

On its heels, smooth black leather appeared over my battle-torn sleeves,

stretching up my arms to my shoulders, then my torso. Instantly, it turned into

a long coat, the studded hem whipping wildly.

The light effects around my sword flashed brighter, almost like an explosion.

From one concentrated point at the tip of the sword, they practically drowned

out the red light coming from the flaming clown.

"Aaaah!!"

I unleashed all the power at my disposal.

One second left.

2

What was that sound?!

Eugeo gaped at the abnormal roar coming from just nearby.

All ultimate techniques created a multitude of lights and sounds. But this was

different from anything he'd heard to this point. It was thicker, heavier, harder,

sharper—just like the sword was roaring on its own.

The sound was coming from the black sword in Kirito's right hand. It sparkled

like black crystal, the blade's sharp edge rattling and emitting an ear-splitting

roar. And it wasn't just sound—the entire sword was wreathed in deep-red

light.

It's a special technique. But I've never seen this kind before.

Eugeo held his breath. But the truly shocking part of this was what happened

right after that.

This time, his partner's entire body flashed brightly and transformed into an

appearance that he'd never worn before.

Kirito had been dressed in a black shirt and pants, tattered somewhat from all

the fighting they'd done. But after the wave of light passed over his arm, body,

and legs, a long, dark leather cloak with a high collar and a pair of slim-fitting

leather trousers appeared out of nowhere.

That happened in less than a blink, but the strange phenomenon did not end

there. There were more changes to Kirito's body, though they weren't as

dramatic as the changes to his clothes.

First, his black hair was longer now, covering half of his profile. Also, what was

visible of his eyes through the wild blowing of his bangs was fiercer than

anything Eugeo had seen before. They were wild, the look harder—harder than

when they'd fought the goblins in the northern cave, harder than when he'd cut

off Raios Antinous's arms, harder even than when he'd fought against

Deusolbert and Fanatio. It was like Kirito's very spirit had fused with the sword,

becoming sharper and more dangerous.

His lips peeled back to expose his canines as he growled, "Rraaaaahh!!"

Kirito's sword also blazed with metallic sheen, the red light rapidly increased

in intensity, and then his friend's hand shot forward with blinding speed. The

long hem of his coat flapped behind him like monstrous wings.

It was clear that this was an ultimate technique of the Aincrad style.

But what a tremendous thrust it was. It was unlike any of the moves he'd

learned from Kirito; its ferocity seemed more High Norkia in style but with all

the ornamentation and beauty removed. It was an attack meant for nothing but

piercing a target…

"...!"

Eugeo sucked in a breath and followed the crimson shine with his eyes.

Kirito was aiming, of course, for Prime Senator Chudelkin, who was controlling

the fiery behemoth. But the target was at least fifteen mels away. No special

technique would reach that far as long as it was from a sword.

The moment Kirito unleashed the thrust, Chudelkin wasn't watching him. He

was gazing toward the rear of the room, where Eugeo had shot his ice arrow

just seconds earlier.

Eugeo had used all his knowledge and creativity to attempt that trick, but of

course it didn't work on Administrator, who simply shattered it with a breath.

But as Eugeo expected, Chudelkin couldn't possibly ignore an attack on his

master and had to turn to shriek a warning. As Kirito had requested, he'd

managed to distract their target.

Relieved that the ice arrow had vanished without a threat, Chudelkin turned

back, still on his head. Instantly, his narrow eyes fully opened, revealing a quick

succession of emotions.

First was shock upon registering the sound and light of Kirito's oncoming

sword.

Second was relief upon recognition that it was a thrust that surely wouldn't

reach him.

Lastly, he felt terror at the realization that the red light causing all that

metallic roaring was still coming closer.

Like him, Eugeo was too surprised to breathe. The bloodred light passed by

Alice, who was still blocking the atronach, and jumped through all fifteen mels

in an instant—until it easily shot right through the upside-down Chudelkin's

stick-thin torso.

The blade of light extended nearly another two mels, then dissolved into little

points of deep-red light that hung in the air like motes.

And then a gushing jet of actual blood shot through the air.

It was coming from a massive hole in the center of Chudelkin's chest, nearly

large enough to bisect his body.

"Oh-hooooooo…" He exhaled weakly, like air escaping a balloon. His body

slowly tilted until he toppled with a splat into a puddle of his own blood.

It continued gushing out, a seemingly impossible amount for such a small

form. Chudelkin lifted a trembling arm, reaching for the floating Administrator.

"…Y…Your…Hol…i…ness…"

Eugeo couldn't see the little man's expression from where he stood.

But Prime Senator Chudelkin's hand fell to the soggy carpet with a squelch,

and he moved no more.

At the same moment, the clown of flames that had been just about to crunch

through Alice's golden tornado vanished, its puffed-up torso evaporating into

smoke, briefly leaving that evil grin before it too disappeared. As though baffled

by the loss of their enemy, Alice's little golden blades slowed until they hung in

the air.

Eugeo felt his ears ringing in the sudden and complete silence that fell over

the room. He glanced to his right. Kirito was paused in a low crouch, his right

arm extended as far as it could go.

The light that covered the black sword's surface vanished, and the tail of his

coat flapped once more before it hung still. Right before Eugeo's unbelieving

eyes, Kirito's appearance went hazy and changed back to the way it had been

before.

Kirito still didn't move after he was back in his simple black shirt and pants.

Eventually, he let his right arm drop until the tip of the black sword landed on

the carpet, and he hung his head.

Eugeo didn't know what to say to him.

Kirito had tried to save even Vice Commander Fanatio. Even against someone

like Prime Senator Chudelkin, he would never celebrate the taking of another's

life. With his bangs back to being short, it was easy to see that the icy harshness

he'd shown in the moment of his attack was gone.

Only the sharp ringing of Alice's cloud of golden petals clicking back into their

rightful place broke the silence, several seconds later. Sensing a hint of

nervousness in her demeanor, Eugeo looked over her shoulder toward the

other end of the room.

Administrator, floating in the air, was reaching out her delicate hand toward

the collapsed prime senator.

It was obvious from a glance that Chudelkin was dead. She couldn't possibly

be administering healing arts. Or did she actually have the ability to bring

corpses back to life…?

Eugeo sucked in a sharp breath, right as the pontifex's utterly impassive voice

said, "I'm only cleaning him up, because it's such an unsightly mess."

She waved her hand lazily, and Chudelkin's body flew into the air as easily as

if it were made of paper, slammed into the window on the distant eastern side

of the room, and fell into a little heap there.

"…How could you…?" Alice murmured under her breath.

She was still the cold, dispassionate Integrity Knight whose personality had

been tinkered with, but even Eugeo understood why she felt the need to speak

up. Chudelkin was hardly respectable, but at the very least, he had given his life

fighting for the sake of his master. The least he deserved was a worthy burial

for his remains.

But Administrator didn't spare a second glance for his corpse. If anything, the

way she was smiling mysteriously made it seem like she'd completely wiped all

knowledge of the prime senator from her mind already.

"…Well, that was a very tiresome show," she said, "but I suppose I did glean a

little bit of meaningful data from it."

Her voice was innocent and beautiful, and she even threw in a few sacred

words that Eugeo did not recognize. Without breaking the sideways pose atop

her invisible couch, she slid five mels through the air, into the center of the

round chamber.

Administrator pulled back a lock of silver hair that had fallen over her face in

the wind, then narrowed her reflective rainbow eyes and placed that magnetic

stare right next to Eugeo—onto Kirito, who was still crouched.

"Irregular boy. I had thought my inability to read your properties was because

you were an unregistered unit from an unofficial marriage…but that's not the

case. Did you come from over there? Are you one of the people…from the other

side?"

Eugeo hardly understood the implication of anything that she whispered.

Over there? The other side…?

Kirito, his black-haired partner, had appeared without any of his memory in

the forest south of Rulid two and a half years ago, a so-called Lost Child of

Vecta.

The town elders had told Eugeo that such people sometimes appeared. But it

was only when he was a little child that he'd actually believed Vecta, the god of

darkness, was reaching over the End Mountains to play tricks on the memories

of people, the way the stories said.

When people experienced things that were tremendously sad and painful,

they could actually lose their memories and sometimes even their lives. Eugeo

had learned that from Old Man Garitta, the previous carver of the Gigas Cedar.

Years ago, Garitta's wife had drowned, and his grief had been so great and so

deep that he'd lost over half of the memories of his life with her. He had

chuckled sadly and told Eugeo that this was both the mercy and the punishment

of Stacia, goddess of creation, at work.

So Eugeo had always secretly assumed that this must be what had happened

to Kirito, too. He would've been from the eastern or southern empire, based on

the color of his hair and eyes. Something horrible and sad had happened to him

back home, and he'd wandered for a long time without memory, until he'd

eventually come to the forest near Rulid.

This was partially why Eugeo hardly ever brought up the topic of Kirito's past

while they were on their long journey to Centoria and through the academy. Of

course, there was also the fact that he was scared Kirito might remember and

then go back to his real home, never to return.

However, Administrator, who had the power to see all things that happened

in the human world, had used a strange term to describe Kirito's origin.

The other side. Did she mean the other side of the End Mountains, in the Dark

Territory? Was the one clue to Kirito's birth, his consecutive-attacking Aincrad

style of swordfighting, actually a school developed in the land of darkness?

No. She would certainly have more knowledge of the Dark Territory than that.

The Integrity Knights under her control ranged freely over the mountains to do

battle with the dark knights there. It was impossible to imagine that

Administrator, the supreme ruler, would not know what the Dark Territory was

like, how its towns looked, and what kinds of lives the residents lived there. She

wouldn't need to use a vague placeholder term like the other side.

Which would mean…

Administrator was referring to something even she couldn't see, some place

outside of the very world…? Something beyond even the Dark Territory…or

perhaps even farther, even more removed. Like some kind of other world

entirely…?

This concept was so abstract for Eugeo that he couldn't even find the words

to describe the thoughts in his head. But his hunch told him that he was on the

verge of something unbelievably massive, some kind of great secret of the

entire world. Unable to resist a sudden burning impatience, he looked around,

out the huge windows, into the night sky.

Between the black shapes of the clouds was a sea of stardust.

Was Kirito's home…somewhere on the other side of the sky? What kind of

place was it? And did Kirito in fact have those memories back now…?

Several seconds of silence were eventually broken by his black-haired partner.

Kirito got to his feet and answered Administrator's question with a simple and

monumental "Yes."

Eugeo stared at his partner, feeling himself go numb with shock. Kirito had

gotten his memory back already.

In fact…had he always had his memory, right from the start…?

For an instant, Kirito looked back at Eugeo. There was a multitude of

emotions in his black pupils, but it seemed to Eugeo that foremost among them

was pleading, a desperate wish for Eugeo to trust him.

Then he looked back at Administrator. Despite the fierce determination on his

features, there was also a note of self-deprecation. He held out his hands and

said, "But…my designated authority level is the same as any other person in this

world, and far from your own, Administrator…or should I say, Quinella?"

The instant he said that mysterious-sounding name, the grin vanished from

the pontifex's beautiful features. It was only for an instant, however, and soon a

much larger smile was playing on her luscious lips.

"So I see the little one in the library has been filling your head with silly tales.

And…? What did you come tumbling into my world to do? And without any kind

of administrative privileges."

"I may not have privileges, but I do know some things."

"Oh? Such as? Be warned, I have no patience for old, foolish tales."

"Then how about the future?" Kirito offered, sticking the point of his sword

into the floor and resting both hands on the pommel. There was harsh tension

in his cheeks again, along with a fiery look in his black eyes. "In the fairly near

future, Quinella, you are going to destroy your own world."

All this shocking pronouncement achieved was to deepen the smile on

Administrator's face.

"…I will? It's not the boy who tormented so many of my sweet little puppets

who will destroy the world, but me?"

"You heard me. And your mistake was that you created the Integrity Knights

to fight off an all-out invasion from the Dark Territory. Their existence is the

mistake."

"Hah. Ha-ha-ha-ha."

It was almost certainly the first time, at least since she became the supreme

ruler, that Administrator had ever been corrected by someone else. She put her

finger to her lips, and her shoulders shook, as if she was holding in a gale of

laughter.

"Hee-hee-hee. Yes, that does sound like something she'd say. She must have

practiced her feminine wiles, if she was able to ensnare boys like you with that

childish appearance. I merely feel pity…both for her jealous desperation to see

me fall and for you willingly being her cat's-paw." She chuckled deep in her

throat.

Kirito opened his mouth to say something, but a different voice spoke up first,

loud and determined.

"Forgive my interruption, Pontifex."

It was Alice the Integrity Knight, who had been silent all this time, now

striding forward in her metal armor. Her long blond hair shone brilliantly in the

moonlight, as if competing against Administrator's own silver locks.

"It was also Commander Bercouli and Vice Commander Fanatio's view that

the Integrity Knights at present would not be sufficient to fight back the coming

invasion of the forces of darkness. And mine, as well. Of course, every last

member of the knighthood would fight to the bitter end if need be, but do you

have a means to protect the defenseless citizens after the Integrity Knights are

all gone? Surely you cannot be thinking that you alone could destroy all of the

enemy's hordes!"

Her fierce, beautiful voice swept through the chamber like a cool breeze,

ruffling her adversary's hair. The pontifex's smile waned. She stared at her

knight in gold, seemingly surprised.

Alice's words came as a shock to Eugeo, too, for a different reason.

Alice Synthesis Thirty the Integrity Knight. The temporary, artificial persona

that now inhabited the body of his childhood friend Alice Zuberg.

She was a cold and impartial administer of the law's justice—or should have

been, the way that she had smacked Eugeo when she'd arrested them at the

academy days ago. Within Alice the Integrity Knight, there shouldn't have been

a single smidgen of all the emotions that made Alice who she was—her

kindness, her innocence, her love.

But the way she had just spoken was different. It was as if the old Alice had

grown into being an Integrity Knight herself.

She didn't notice the way Eugeo was gaping at her. The Integrity Knight thrust

the end of the Osmanthus Blade into the floor with a mighty clang! and

continued, "Holy Pontifex, earlier I said that your obsession and deceit brought

the knights to ruin. Your obsession was in the way that you stole all weapons

and power from the people of the realm, and your deceit lies in how you even

abused your faithful Integrity Knights! You tore us away from our parents—

from wives and husbands and siblings—locked away our memories, and filled us

with false pasts, telling us we were summoned from some celestial realm that

does not exist…"

She stopped, lowering her gaze momentarily, then straightened up and

defiantly continued, "If this was a necessary thing to protect this world and its

people, I will not chasten you at this moment. But why could you not even trust

in the loyalty and respect we have for you and the Axiom Church?! Why did you

have to implement such accursed measures that forced our very souls into

servitude?!"

Eugeo saw a number of tiny droplets slide down the profile of Alice's shapely

face.

Tears.

Tears, from Alice the Integrity Knight, who should have lost all emotion.

As he watched, stunned, the knight arched her back to stare boldly up at her

ruler, without bothering to wipe her cheeks clean.

But those words, sharper than any sword, failed to register on Administrator

any more than a slight breeze would. She smiled coldly and said, "Well, well,

Alice. These are quite heady thoughts you've been juggling. And it's only been

five…six years? So little time…since I created you."

Her tone of voice was the lightness that came from the lack of any emotion or

connection. It was also reminiscent of polished silver. There wasn't even the

barest hint of warmth in it.

"…You claim that I did not trust in my Integrator units? Why, I'm almost

offended. I trusted you very much…You were my sweet little clockwork

puppets, rattling away for my benefit. You clean and polish your sword regularly

so it doesn't get rusty, don't you, Alice? It's the same thing. The Piety Modules I

gave you are my present, the proof of my love. That way, you can always be my

sweet little toys. You won't be plagued by all the stupid troubles and pains that

the lower people have."

And with that transcendent smile, Administrator lifted her left hand and spun

the triangular prism between her fingertips. It was the improved version of the

Piety Module she'd taken from Eugeo's forehead.

Through its wavering purple light, she gazed down at Alice and whispered,

"Poor, poor Alice. Look at how your pretty face is twisted. Are you sad? Or are

you angry? If you'd just stayed as my little puppet, you would never, ever have

had to feel such pointless things."

Alice's tears dripped lightly off her cheeks to hit her golden metal armor, a

sound that was joined by something hard creaking. It was the Osmanthus Blade

pointed into the ground at her feet—and piercing the thick carpet to gouge

right into the marble floor underneath.

She clenched the sword so hard she was damaging the indestructible

structure of Central Cathedral, her voice cracking and trembling. "So you think

that Uncle…Commander Bercouli spent three hundred long years of service to

you without the slightest bit of anguish or doubt? You are saying you don't

recognize the long-held pain within the heart of the man who swore deeper,

longer loyalty to you than anyone else did?"

There was an especially loud crack from the sword. Alice drowned it out by

bellowing, "Sir Bercouli was constantly torn between his loyalty to the Axiom

Church and his duty to protect the common people! Many times he pleaded to

the senate to strengthen the Royal Knights of the four empires, who were

knights in nothing but name, but I don't suppose you knew that! He…Uncle

even knew about the seal placed within our right eyes. That alone should be

proof enough that he suffered a vast torment unlike anyone else's!!"

But even this ragged, tear-streaked missive was met by nothing but a cold

smile on Administrator's pale features.

"…Why, this saddens me, to realize that you thought so little of my love. Of

course I knew these things." She beamed, but there seemed to be a whiff of

cruelty behind her expression. "My poor Alice, let me explain something to you.

Number One…Bercouli did not start worrying about such tawdry things just

now. In fact, he said much the same thing about a hundred years ago. So I fixed

him."

She giggled musically. "I looked into Bercouli's memory, found the mass of

troubles and anxieties, and erased the whole lot of them. And not just him…I do

the same for any knight who's been around a good hundred years or so. I

helped them forget all about the pain. Don't worry, Alice. I don't get bent out of

shape over a little mischief. I'm going to erase whatever memory it is that's

making you look so sad, too. You'll go back to being a precious little puppet with

no need to think before you know it."

The only thing left in the cold, heavy silence that followed was Administrator's

quiet, mirthless chuckle.

She wasn't human anymore.

It was so obvious to Eugeo now. The fresh wave of chills rolling over his skin

told him as much.

She had the power to erase human memories or create them anew. Eugeo

had undergone that terrifying process himself. Just a simple spoken command

of three sacred words on his part was all it took for Administrator to lock his

memories out of reach, make him into an Integrity Knight, and force him to

attack Kirito.

If Administrator had gone through the full, proper process of the Synthesis

Ritual, Eugeo probably wouldn't have regained his wits this way. But some hole

in Eugeo's memories that had always been there—though he had no idea why

or how—had ultimately saved him from that fate.

That didn't mean his sin was absolved. Against Chudelkin, all he was able to

do was momentarily distract the enemy with sacred arts. He couldn't assume

that alone made all forgiven. In truth, he still didn't have the right to stand side

by side with Kirito…

He focused on the Blue Rose Sword clenched in his right hand, then felt

Kirito's gaze on his cheek. But he couldn't look back and meet it.

Alice murmured, "Yes…I am feeling sadness and pain that threatens to tear

my breast asunder. It is a wonder that I even have the strength to stand."

Bit by bit, her trembling voice regained firmness. "But…I do not wish to erase

this pain, this new sensation. It is the pain that tells me I am not just a knight

puppet, but a real human being. Your Holiness, I do not wish for your love. I do

not need you to fix me."

"…A puppet that refuses to be a puppet," Administrator replied musically.

"But that does not make you human, Alice. Just a broken puppet. It doesn't

matter what you think, I'm afraid. Once I resynthesize you, all of these feelings

you have now, and everything else, will cease to exist," she said, the gentlest of

smiles for the cruelest of words.

"Just like you did for yourself, Quinella," said Kirito, breaking his silence at

last. Once again, he used that strange name. And once again, the smile vanished

from the girl's face.

"Didn't I tell you not to bring up the past, little boy?"

"If I do, will that erase the truth? Even you can't alter the past as you please.

You were born like any other person. You're a human being. And that fact can't

ever be deleted…can it?"

Suddenly, it clicked into place for Eugeo. When they were in the Great Library,

Kirito must have heard about Administrator's true name and birth from

Cardinal.

"Human…yes. Hu-man," Administrator murmured sarcastically, the little grin

back again. "I'll admit that hearing that word from a boy from the other side

prompts some conflicting feelings. Are you saying you are more special than I

am? That an Underworldian like me should shut up and mind my own business,

perhaps?"

"Not at all," Kirito said, shrugging. "In fact, in many ways, I think the people

from this world are superior to those on the other side. But at the root of it all,

we're still the same human beings with the same souls. And you're no

exception to the rule. Does living for a few hundred years mean a human being

becomes a god? It doesn't, does it?"

"…And what is your point? That as human beings, we should all sit down and

enjoy tea time together?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn't object to that…but my point is that because you're

a human being, you cannot be perfect. People make mistakes. And the mistakes

you've made are reaching the point where they cannot be contained. Now that

the Integrity Knights are half ruined, if a full-scale invasion from the Dark

Territory comes, the human realm will fall."

Kirito paused and glanced at Eugeo before continuing, "Eugeo and I were in

the cave that goes through the End Mountains in the far north two years ago,

and we fought a band of goblins that came from the far entrance. I'm sure

whatever Integrity Knight was guarding the area must have missed them. That's

going to happen far more regularly now. Eventually, the incursions will become

an invasion, and the world you've taken such pains to maintain—or stagnate, as

the case may be—will be exposed to an unstoppable wave of destruction and

violence. I can't imagine that this is what you really want to happen."

"Says the boy who destroyed those knights himself. But your point is

acknowledged. And?"

"You might think that as long as you survive, you can always start over

afterward," he said, his tone getting harder and darker, as he slid his foot half a

step forward. "Maybe you could create more laws to control the overflowing

hordes of darkness and those lucky few human survivors—perhaps a new

control structure, some Church of Darkness, or something along those lines. But

unfortunately for you, that won't happen. Because on the other side, there are

people who have true, absolute authority over this world. They're going to think

this was a failure, and they can and will start over. With the push of a button,

everything in this world will vanish. The mountains, the rivers, the towns…and

all human beings, including you, will disappear in an instant."

By now, Kirito's words were beyond Eugeo's understanding. The same could

be said of Alice. She turned, eyes red and puffy, looking at the black-haired

swordsman with curiosity.

Only Administrator herself seemed to perfectly grasp the implications of

whatever Kirito was saying. Her teasing smile was all but gone, replaced by

narrowed silver eyes that seemed to freeze whatever they looked at.

"…No, that would not be pleasant," she said. "I do not like hearing that some

stranger can treat this world like their own garden to do with as they please."

She steepled her slender fingers, covering the lower half of her face. The

toying, teasing note in her voice when she'd been speaking to Alice was all but

gone.

"But then…what of you? What of you people from the other side? Do you

grapple at all times with the possibility that your world was created by some

higher power and attempt to curry the favor of that force or being so that your

own world is not wiped clean, too?"

Kirito did not appear to be expecting this question; he bit his lip and did not

respond. Administrator sat up on the invisible floating sofa and spread her

arms. Her long legs straightened out to a standing position. Her naked form was

more beautiful than any depiction of a goddess, shining in the moonlight and

casting an overwhelming holy presence throughout the room.

"…Of course you do not," she continued. "You people created a world and the

lives within it, then decide to erase them when you do not care for them any

longer. So, coming from such a world, what right do you have to argue with my

choices, boy?"

She looked up at the ceiling—no, through the marble roof and into the night

sky far beyond it—and declared, "I refuse. I will not beg those who fancy

themselves gods of creation, pleading for the right to my continued existence. If

you heard the tales the little ones recite, then you should know that my reason

for existing is to rule, and nothing else. It is that desire alone that moves me and

gives me life. My legs exist to climb over others to greater heights. They are not

meant to bend at the knee!!"

The air rushed and swirled around her, buffeting her silver hair. Eugeo

faltered a step, overwhelmed by the force of her presence. Administrator was

the enemy who overwrote Alice's memories and allowed the nobles to languish

in corruption—but she was also the supreme ruler of the world, a being who

was half human, half god, and would never spare a glance for a common

peasant like him, a fact he was now reminded of.

Even the partner who had guided Eugeo all this way swayed with the weight

of the moment, but then he recovered and took a step forward instead. He

thrust his sword into the ground before him, just to emphasize his own

presence.

"In that case," he bellowed, so loudly that the window behind him rattled,

"are you going to let this land be overrun so that you can be the ruler of a

nation without subjects, sitting on a throne in name alone, waiting for your

lonely end?!"

All the youthful beauty of Administrator's carefully sculpted face melted

away, and the full, true age of the woman underneath came to the fore in the

form of pure rage. This too faded in short order, until her pearly lips wore that

mocking smile again.

"…I'm offended that you think I haven't given a single thought to this all-out

invasion, as you call it. I've had plenty of time to think…for time alone is my ally,

and not the people on the other side."

"So you have some means of avoiding the end?"

"I have the means and also the objective. Ruling is my reason for existence…

and there is no limit to its bounds."

"What…? What does that mean?" Kirito asked, taken aback. She didn't

answer him immediately. Instead, she let a note of mystery linger in her smile,

then clapped her hands together as if to say that the conversation was over.

"I can tell you the rest of it once you've become my puppet. And Alice and

Eugeo, too, of course. But if you want a teaser, let me just add that I have no

intention of accepting that the Underworld will be reset…or allowing the 'final

stress test' to happen. I've already gotten a sacred art prepared for that.

Rejoice, for you three will bear witness to it before anyone else."

"…Sacred art…?" Kirito repeated skeptically. "So you're going to rely on

system commands and all their inherent limitations? You think that the

commands you can execute will completely wipe out the hordes of darkness?

When you can't even handle the three of us right here."

"Is that so?"

"It's true. Clearly, you have lost. Your long-range attacks will take seconds,

and Alice can stop them. Meanwhile, Eugeo and I will cut you down. If you try

to paralyze me with a contact-based command, I'll do what I just did to

Chudelkin again. I hate to rely on theory at a time like this, but a single

spellcaster without a front line to hide behind cannot beat a group of

swordsmen. That's an ironclad rule that has to apply to this world, too."

"Single…single, you say," she chuckled. "That's a very good point. Yes, in the

end, numbers are the problem. Having too many pawns means you cannot

control them all. Too few, and they cannot withstand the stress test. I grew the

Integrity Knights over time to meet that balance…but…"

Without her trusted retainer Chudelkin, the supreme ruler was all alone. But

she exhibited boundless confidence in the face of the three rebels. "To tell you

the truth, the knights were only a stopgap. The military force I truly seek

doesn't need memory or emotion or even the power to think. All it needs to do

is destroy whatever foe is before it, over and over. In other words…it doesn't

need to be human."

"…What are you…saying…?" Kirito mumbled, but Administrator ignored him.

She lifted her left hand high, holding the triangular prism that glowed an eerie

purple color: Eugeo's Piety Module.

"He was an idiotic clown, but Chudelkin did prove himself useful. He gave me

enough time to construct this drearily long command string. Now…awaken, my

faithful servant! My soulless slaughterer!!"

That was when it hit Eugeo.

The sacred chanting he'd heard when he'd first returned to this room, coming

from the inside of the bed. An extremely long art, one of the greatest

challenges even for the pontifex, as it could not be abbreviated with willpower

alone. And now she was about to execute it.

What she sang next was just two simple words, too brief to stop, but more

horrifying than anything else she could have said.

"Release Recollection!!"

The ultimate form of Perfect Weapon Control. The true secret art that

unlocked the weapon's unconscious memories and brought forth a power

greater than any sacred arts…

But Administrator was completely naked, without so much as a knife on her

person. It wasn't the Piety Module she was holding, was it? But that prism

couldn't possibly have memories that could be released…

As he stared at the distant figure, Eugeo eventually became aware of a faint

sound growing firmer. It was the metallic clinking of some object from behind…

but now from the right and the left as well.

He spun around and moaned in shock at what he saw.

The forty-mel-wide chamber was supported by a number of pillars. And the

gleaming golden swords in a variety of sizes that adorned those pillars were

now trembling.

"Is…is this…?!" He gasped. Alice murmured, "It can't be…!"

The biggest swords were three mels long. Even Administrator couldn't

possibly swing such a thing around. And from what Eugeo knew, the rumbling

wasn't just coming from the one he was looking at. The same phenomenon was

happening to all the pillars that lined the room. There were at least thirty of the

swords in total.

But Memory Release was a skill that worked only on weapons that had been

used so often, they might as well be a part of the wielder's body. It was through

the deep relationship between master and blade that one could come into

contact with the sword's memory at all.

The pontifex treated her own subjects like tools. There was no way she had

such deep bonds with thirty different decorative swords. So what in the world

was the "memory of the sword" she had just unlocked…?

As the three of them stood dumbfounded, there was an especially fierce

rumble, and the enormous swords pulled away from the supports to float in the

air. Eugeo had to duck as one swooped over his head, rotating madly. They

gathered in the center of the room, right over Administrator. Then something

even more shocking happened.

Thirty swords of various sizes rang loudly as they contacted one another,

banging and sliding into place to form one gigantic mass. Eugeo noticed at once

that it seemed to be vaguely humanoid in shape.

A thick backbone ran through the center, and long arms stretched to either

side. There were legs below, but four of them instead of two.

When the swords finished transforming into the bizarre giant—no, monster—

Administrator held out the Piety Module toward it.

That prism is the centerpiece of her Memory Release, Eugeo instantly sensed.

At the exact same moment, Kirito yelled, "Discharge!!"

Suddenly, there was a bird of flame in his outstretched right palm. While

Eugeo—and likely Alice—had been watching the swords connect in shock, Kirito

had busied himself with chanting an art.

The firebird shot forth toward the prism in Administrator's hand. There were

many kinds of heat-based attack arts; the Bird Shape art that Kirito used

automatically tracked its target. And the pontifex was concentrating on the

sword giant above her, so she didn't notice Kirito. It was going to work! Eugeo

was sure of it— Until the next moment, when one of the sword giant's legs

stretched out and blocked the bird's path. It was unable to dodge and smacked

into the metal, bursting into deep-red droplets. The shining golden sword got a

bit of soot on its surface but was otherwise unaffected.

Administrator completely ignored that whole sequence. She released the

triangular prism in her left hand—not so much tossing it as letting the prism rise

on its own until it fit inside the space between the three swords that formed

the creature's backbone.

The purple light continued to rise until it came to a stop at about the spot a

heart would be in a living being and flashed much brighter. That light then

spread throughout the giant, and the swords that had seemed more decorative

than practical suddenly rang loudly as their edges spontaneously sharpened.

Eugeo's instinct told him that this was the completion of the pontifex's art.

Administrator narrowed her eyes and smiled.

Then the sword giant spread its four legs and leaped through the air in

between the humans and the pontifex, landing on the floor with a thunderous

rumble.

Eugeo gaped up at its towering five-mel height. Backbone, ribs, two arms, and

four legs—all made up of golden swords. It was like a toy that a child would

make out of carved branches…or some creature of living bone from the depths

of the Dark Territory.

"…Impossible…," moaned Alice under her breath. "Controlling multiple

weapons at once—thirty, at that—goes against the very properties of Perfect

Control arts. It shouldn't be possible, even for the pontifex. She still has to

follow the laws of sacred arts…So how is she…?"

Administrator would have heard her, of course, but the woman floating

behind the sword giant ignored her. Instead, she gloated, "Ha-ha-ha…ah-ha-haha-ha-ha. This is the power I sought. Pure attack, a power that will fight for

eternity. Its name…will be Sword Golem, I have decided."

Eugeo tried to use what he knew about the sacred tongue to decipher the

two strange words she had just said. He knew that the sacred word Sword came

from weapon-enhancing arts. But he'd never even seen the word Golem in his

textbook at the academy. Alice didn't seem to know, either, and she would

have a much stronger grasp of the terms.

The silence was broken by Kirito's hoarse mutter.

"A moving puppet…made of swords."

His description of it in the common tongue must have been correct;

Administrator's smile widened, and she clapped her hands together.

"I should have realized that you would know your sacred language…excuse

me, your 'Ing-lesh.' If you don't want to be a knight, I can still make you a

secretary—but only if you drop your sword, apologize for your transgressions,

and promise your eternal loyalty to me."

"Sadly, I have a hard time believing that you would trust my promise. Plus, I

haven't given up on this one yet."

"I do not dislike this boldness of yours, but stupidity I cannot abide. Do you

really think you can best my golem? Against a puppet whose each and every

blade has the priority level of a Divine Object? The ultimate weapon of war,

which I used every bit of my valuable memory space to construct…?"

Something about the term ultimate weapon stuck in Eugeo's mind. Yes, it

reminded him of what Vice Commander Fanatio had said—that the pontifex

used a thousand mirrors to gather Solus's light into a single point that could

produce superheated flames without sacred arts. Fanatio had called it a

"weapons experiment."

So a weapon of war would refer to some tool with more potential power than

any sacred art. Was this Sword Golem standing before them now the realized

form of just such a weapon…?

Whatever Administrator might have registered from the looks on their faces,

she now waved her right hand with a cold, cruel smile on her lips. "Now…fight,

my golem. Destroy your enemies."

And as though the giant had been waiting for just that command, its heart

pulsed with purple light.

The four-legged monster issued a metallic roar and began to charge. Its size

was not nearly as large as the clown of flames that Chudelkin had created

earlier. But the freakish way its many joints scraped and creaked as it

approached froze Eugeo's heart with terror.

The golem swung its arms up high, each one made of three swords together.

The quickest to react was Alice, who'd seemed paralyzed before this. Half a

second after it moved, she was plunging forward, bravely meeting the

monster's swing.

"Yaaaaaah!!" Her scream was even sharper than the golem's screeching. Her

back arched as far as it could go as she wound up, clutching the Osmanthus

Blade in both hands.

At that point, Kirito was moving, too. He leaped forward to his right, trying to

circle around the golem. Eugeo was stock-still as of yet, too afraid to move, but

he could at least attempt to discern what Kirito and Alice were doing.

They both suspected that if the golem had a weak point, it was where the

backbone met its four legs—what would be the pelvis on a human. But it was

too dangerous to attack the area head-on. So Alice was acting as a decoy to

draw the golem's attention—if it was conscious enough to have such a thing—

while Kirito tried to sever the weak point from the side. It was essentially the

same strategy they'd used against Chudelkin.

Eugeo couldn't help but be impressed at how the two launched into this

combined stratagem without any planning ahead of time. But there was a

twinge of pain there, too.

Alice's sword traced an arc through the air as bright as Solus. The monster's

right arm swung down ferociously. When the two golden blades connected, the

resulting shock wave seemed to shake the entire cathedral, its wind buffeting

Eugeo.

Just two seconds had passed since both sides charged.

And whatever you might call a "battle" ended at this exact moment.

Alice's Osmanthus Blade, a Divine Object with the property of "everlasting

eternity," was easily overpowered by the golem's arm. The knight was unable to

stop the backward momentum of her sword and lost her center of gravity.

As she struggled to regain her balance, the golem's left sword plunged in at

blinding speed. Compared to the first rush, the little thunk that followed was

barely noticeable. But it was the sound that heralded the end of the fight.

The ghastly huge tip of the sword appeared from Alice's back, spraying darkred droplets. Her long, beautiful hair floated upward with the impact, taking the

brunt of the spatter.

Her golden breastplate, which had been split clean in two, instantly shattered

with the loss of its life value. The Osmanthus Blade fell from her hand and

clattered on the ground.

Lastly, the golem promptly yanked its left arm back, leaving the Integrity

Knight to fall to the floor.

"Aaaaaaahh!!"

It was practically a scream. That was Kirito, the black-haired swordsman just

around the giant's right side, eyes livid with rage as he charged.

His black sword glowed a brilliant blue. That was the attack known as Vertical.

The golem would stop if they could shatter the Piety Module encased in its

backbone, but it was heavily defended and too high for any ultimate techniques

to reach. So Kirito was aiming at the point where the golem's spine met its legs

instead. If just that point could be destroyed, it would prevent the giant from

moving.

Just after its attack, with both arms lowered, the golem shouldn't have had a

way to defend itself. But the moment Kirito's sword started to move, the giant's

top half rotated around the spine with tremendous speed. It swung in a way

that no human being could ever do, its left arm in a side swipe toward Kirito.

There was a blunt impact. With superhuman reflexes, Kirito changed the

course of his technique and fought back the golem's strike.

But before Eugeo's horrified eyes, the exact same thing happened again.

Kirito rose off his feet, unable to bear the full brunt of the impact. The

golem's back left leg promptly shot forward toward his unprotected side.

There was another heavy thud, and Kirito shot sideways until he crashed

against an east-facing window. A frightening amount of blood splattered against

the glass, and the swordsman in black crumpled to the floor.

Eugeo watched in silent shock as a pool of blood formed beneath his

facedown partner; he could feel nothing in his own arms and legs. It was like his

body didn't belong to him anymore. He was helpless to stop it from shivering.

Only his face was able to respond to commands. He turned it to look up at the

Sword Golem standing just five or six mels away.

The monster looked straight back at him. The hilt of the sword located at the

top of the backbone almost looked like a face. Two gemstones inlaid on the

guard twinkled like blinking eyes.

He couldn't move or speak. All that Eugeo's numb mind was capable of doing

was repeating the same thought.

It can't be.

It can't be. This can't be happening.

Alice and Kirito were essentially the greatest warriors in the entire world.

They would never lose a fight together, even against a freakish creature—a

weapon of war—like this one. They were going to get back up and draw their

swords again, very soon…

Hee-hee. Hee-hee-hee.

Over the constant heavy grinding of the golem came a quiet chuckle. Eugeo

saw then that Administrator, levitating in the background, was surveying the

battle with great pleasure. The only color in her mirror eyes was the red of the

blood that Kirito and Alice shed. There was not the tiniest bit of pity in them.

The giant creature began to move again, preparing to carry out its master's

orders to completion. The front right leg raised and fell, taking a huge step. The

front left leg followed it.

Red drops decorated the left arm of the approaching giant. Eugeo hoped it

would just kill him and be done with it.

Even his fear was gone.

The entire world was utterly silent…

Until suddenly, a tiny voice popped into his head. So small, he didn't even

realize he was hearing something at first.

"Use the dagger, Eugeo!"

It was a woman's voice, a bit deep but beautiful.

If this was an illusion just before his death, it certainly didn't sound like any

voice from his past. He looked to his right and saw— —resting on Kirito's right

shoulder, barely the size of a human fingernail, a black spider.

But no bug that small could speak. Yet, there was something in the voice that

made Eugeo believe it. Perhaps due to his exhausted wits, Eugeo fully trusted

that the tiny creature, waving its front leg as if scolding him, was indeed the

source of the voice in his head.

"I…I can't. The dagger won't reach her," he mumbled. The spider waved its

raised leg even harder.

"No! The corridor! Stab the levitating disc in the floor!!"

"Huh…?"

His eyes went wide. The black spider stared back at him with its four little

ruby eyes and said, "I'll buy you time! Just hurry!!"

Cute little fangs spun as the spider yelled at him. Then it turned briefly toward

Kirito, who was looking pale, and brushed his cheek lightly with a single leg

before jumping down to the floor.

The tiny black dot landed on the carpet without a sound.

Then it started running straight at the Sword Golem, a creature thousands

upon thousands of times its size.