022-03: Rainbow Bridge: Alfheim July 2025

On the far side of the violet sky, a castle floated, shining red.

Two months had passed since New Aincrad was added to the game, but

looking up at it from sea level still filled me with a very strange sensation. It was

hard to believe the tiny structure up in the sky was the exact same size as the

floating world I had once lived in.

Of course, if I spread my wings and rose up toward New Aincrad, it would

eventually become so huge that it filled my entire field of view. I could fly

through the outer edge of the first floor and be in a vast region full of

mountains and lakes of its own. Walking from end to end would take the same

amount of time as in Aincrad.

But even knowing that, I couldn't help but wonder.

About being trapped there for two years. About wandering the trackless

wilderness, fighting deadly monsters, and meeting and parting with countless

people. About fighting Heathcliff on the seventy-fifth floor in a duel, ending the

deadly game. And wondering if any of it was actually real.

Or maybe…

It was landing in Alfheim in search of the sleeping Asuna, going on a brief but

head-spinning journey, and freeing her from the malice that caged her. Then

joining with old and new friends in a peaceful and enjoyable life between the

real and virtual worlds. Was that part actually real?

I stared at the floating structure lit by the setting sun, my mind trapped in this

cycle of questions—when there was a deafening blast like a horn, rising up from

the ground all around. The chalky-gray surface under my avatar's feet trembled

and shook. I raised my arms on instinct and grabbed Asuna's hand on the right

and Klein's on the left.

"Nwah! Wh-what is this?!" Lisbeth yelped.

"It's not gonna dump us right here, is it?!" Klein screeched.

"If so, we can just fly away," Agil pointed out calmly.

A small hole in the ground ahead of us grew, then erupted with a tremendous

geyser of water.

"Kwirrrr!" "Hwaaaaaagh?!"

That came from the little dragon Pina, who had been located directly above

the hole, and Yui the pixie, who was straddling Pina's back. The water lifted

them over fifteen feet higher into the air, but Pina spread its wings for balance

and hovered at the peak of the jet. Yui's scream of terror two seconds ago

turned immediately to delighted laughter.

I held up my arm to block the shower of droplets and turned to confer with

Asuna, breaking into a grin.

"…I mean, of course it'll blow exhaust."

She nodded and replied, "It's a whale—it's what they do."

Yes: Asuna, Leafa, Silica, Lisbeth, Agil, Klein, and I were in a seven-player party

accompanied by Yui and Pina, standing on the back of a massive white whale

that was so big, it would send any Deviant God stampeding away in terror.

The group stood around, nodding sagely, as the blowhole blast died out. Yui

descended from the air above and moved to Asuna's left shoulder.

"The whales of the real world don't actually shoot seawater out of their

blowholes, however. It's just when they surface and exhale that they blow the

nearby water up with it!"

"Ooh!" all seven humans exclaimed in unison.

Always happy to show off her impressive ability to memorize facts, Yui placed

her hands on her hips with adorable pride.

I looked up at the castle of steel hovering in the evening sky again. New

Aincrad flew in laps around Alfheim at a tremendous speed, so it was even

smaller now than it was a moment ago. I stared closer at a spot about a fifth of

the way from the bottom—around the twenty-second floor.

Only the first ten floors were open at this point, but eventually, we would be

able to reach the twentieth floor and beyond. Only when I saw that log cabin

deep in the snowy woods would I feel certain that Aincrad had vanished into

the memories of the past. Only then would we be back in a world where a game

was meant to be played for fun.

The white whale took us from the island of Thule off the southwest of Alfheim

to the beach in sylph territory, then beckoned us to step off with a call like a

massive tuba. The party jumped off its back onto the white sand under the

creature's gentle eye, after which it turned back around and swam into the red

of the setting sun, accompanied by its dolphin friends.

"Mr. Whaaaale! Thank you so muuuuch! Let us ride on your back again

somedaaaay!" Yui called out. The white whale responded with another majestic

spout of air, then began to submerge until it was underwater and out of sight.

Only then did Yui stop waving her tiny hand.

I grinned at the sorrowful expression on her face. "We'll see it again. It

seemed like that quest had more story left to tell."

"Yeah! That's just it, Kiri!" bellowed Klein, completely ruining the lingering

emotion of our parting. He rubbed his bristled chin and continued grumpily,

"What the hell was with that quest? The mermaid princess was an old man, and

the old man was a giant octopus, and the giant octopus was some king of the

abyss from the something-or-other gods…I have no idea what any of that

meant."

"First of all, the mermaid princess was just your own fever dream," I shot

back. But I couldn't really solve his problem; a glance at the rest of our party

told the tale—Asuna, the demon of quest-solving; Leafa, an eager student of

Norse mythology; Agil, the brainy tank; and even Lisbeth and Silica—all of them

had their arms crossed as they mulled things over.

It was Friday, July 25th, 2025.

We'd decided to tackle a quest called Pillager of the Deep, which was said to

involve gigantic aquatic monsters, since Yui mentioned she wanted to see a

whale.

At first, it came across as a typical kind of fetch quest, when an old NPC asked

us to go into a dungeon and search for an item. But in fact, the old man was the

one behind the problem and was hoping to get us to pillage the treasure sealed

in a temple on the seafloor—another fairly common quest pattern. But from

that point on, the story went truly haywire. The old man turned into the

massive octopus monster Kraken the Abyss Lord, a monstrosity with seven HP

bars that, with the flick of a single tentacle, put us into a near-death state. Just

when all seemed lost, a gigantic man named Leviathan the Sea Lord descended

from above, and the two shared some complicated dialogue, at which point

Kraken withdrew to the depths of the sea. Leviathan seized the pearl (actually a

large egg) that we took out of the temple, and we got a musical fanfare and a

quest-completed notice. It was hard to know what the point was supposed to

be.

Stunned, we realized the rumored aquatic monster was actually just Kraken,

which was disappointing. But then the man who called himself king of the sea

summoned a white whale that took us back to the beach—so at least we

completed our initial goal of showing Yui a whale. It was a successful outing

overall, but I couldn't disagree with Klein's dissatisfaction with the whole

ordeal.

After mulling it over a bit, I turned to my friends and asked, "Does anyone

actually remember exactly what the octopus and the guy talked about?"

In a classic MMORPG, you could just scroll upward on your message window

with the mouse to see all the dialogue from the quest, but VRMMOs did not

have such a convenient feature. There was the option of using a crystal to

record the dialogue during a story event that seemed like it would be

important, but we didn't have the wherewithal to do that at the time.

The other six all tilted their heads and looked upward, searching their

memory, but every one of them eventually shook their head.

"Awww, this is what we get for having a party of all meatheads with no

mages," I commented with a sigh. Liz made a pitcher's windup motion and

hurled an index finger in my direction three times in a row.

"You have! No room! To talk!"

"…I'm sorry, ma'am."

Yui leaped off Asuna's shoulder and landed on my head like Leviathan landing

upon the seafloor.

"Very well," she said, resigned. "It's cheating a little bit, but I can re-create the

conversation for you!"

The party exclaimed with wonder, and the pixie puffed out her chest with

delight. She began to mimic the conversation between the octopus and the

man.

Leviathan: "How long has it been, old friend? You can't kick the habit of your

schemes, can you?"

Kraken: "And how long will you beg for the mercies of the Aesir? You do a

disservice to the name of the king of the sea."

Leviathan: "I am satisfied with being king. This is my garden. And you would

knowingly come into my realm to do battle, King of the Abyss?"

Kraken: "…I shall withdraw for now. But I will not give up, my friend. Not until

the child's power is mine, and I can have my revenge on those meddling gods…"

Leviathan: "That egg belongs to the one who will one day rule all the seas and

skies. You must return it so that I may transfer it to a new chamber."

"…The end!"

Yui finished the conversation to a round of applause from the humans and a

flutter of Pina's wings from where it rested atop Silica's head.

"Thanks, Yui," I said to my talented daughter, then proceeded to verbalize my

thoughts aloud. "Hmm…the two things that stick out to me are the words Aesir

and child. I feel like I've heard these together before…"

"Ooh!" clamored Leafa the magic fighter sylph, raising her hand. She had the

deepest appreciation for mythology and legends, and she stepped forward to

demonstrate it.

"The Aesir are a pantheon of gods that show up in Norse mythology! You've

all heard of Odin the almighty, Thor the god of thunder, and the trickster Loki,

right?"

"Yeah, sure, of course," the rest of us said, bobbing our heads.

Leafa continued, "And as for the child part…"

"Uh-huh?"

"I have no idea!"

We all made a slapstick slipping motion and flopped on our faces.

The next one to speak was Silica, the cait sith beast-tamer. "Ummm, so the

old Kraken man doesn't like the Aesir, but he can't beat them right now, so he

wants the child's power to be stronger…right?"

"If that giant octopus's insane power wasn't enough to do it, how tough do

those gods have to be…?" Lisbeth the leprechaun wondered, bouncing her pink

hair in a way that showed off its metallic sheen.

"Well, they are gods," Asuna the undine noted.

Next, Klein the salamander interjected haughtily, "That's right! You young'uns

probably don't know this, but Odin's the toughest of them all! When you

summon him, he goes zwam! and slices all the monsters in two…"

"Uh, you're talking about another game, not the actual myth," snapped Agil

the gnome, eliciting laughs from everyone, including Yui.

I snorted, too, because I recognized what Klein was referring to, but I was still

working on why that conversation had seemed so strange to me.

The answer came swiftly. Kraken and Leviathan were just NPCs in the middle

of the quest, even if they were both boss-type monsters. Their conversation

would have been written by the scenario writers from Ymir, the company

running ALO now.

Yet all of us were acting as through the two were real beings with minds of

their own.

That was probably because their dialogue was very human. When Kraken

ruefully claimed, "I will not give up," it really made you think, Man, I bet that

octo's been through a lot…

Or could it be that Kraken and Leviathan…weren't actually simple NPCs?

In the very early days of Aincrad, Asuna and I met a dark elf knight and went

on adventures with her. Her name was Kizmel, and she was an NPC, but she

wasn't anything like the usual mobile objects that repeated programmed

phrases over and over. She had the ability to hold natural conversations with

us…something almost like a will and mind of her own.

ALO operated on almost an identical architecture as SAO. Meaning that

simply in terms of the Cardinal System's capabilities, there was the possibility

that high-functioning AI NPCs like Kizmel could exist here, too.

But in that case…did that mean that Kraken was both a quest NPC and

something more than just a pawn being operated along the quest's script? Was

it the giant octopus's true innate will that drove it to desire the child's power to

lead a rebellion against the Aesir…?

"…Nah. No way," I muttered, realizing that my thoughts were leading into the

realm of the absurd. Meanwhile, Klein was getting revved up explaining Odin

and Bahamut from the good old days to the others, when he suddenly erupted

into a squawk.

"Aaaah! Crap! I forgot I paid to have a pizza delivered at ten!"

"Uh-oh, that's in three minutes. It'll take you a good ten minutes to fly back to

Swilvane from here," Agil pointed out.

Klein put his hands to the sides of his head and arched his back in dismay.

"My seafood pizza and beeeeer!"

I felt like I'd heard him say this long ago, I noted fondly. I strode up to the

katana wielder and patted the sleeve of his samurai-style armor. "We'll watch

you until your body vanishes. Just log out here. Make sure to pick it up at the

door this time."

He blinked in surprise, then realized what I was referring to and chuckled.

"Good point. Well, I'll take up your offer and log off for today."

"Say hi to the shrimp and crab and squid and octopus on your pizza for me,"

said Liz.

Klein blanched, then opened his menu. "Well, my friends, so long!"

He hit the LOG OUT button, and the salamander avatar automatically sank down

to one knee and closed its eyes.

In ALO, logging out of the game outside town left your avatar in place for

several minutes afterward; it was a measure to discourage escaping a PvP battle

by simply logging out. Your avatar could be targeted by monsters, of course, so

there was a high possibility that doing so would mean the next time you logged

in, you would be in Remain Light (dead) form.

So when logging out in a dangerous area, the common method was to do it

with friends who could guard your body until the avatar eventually faded out

when it reached the time limit. Fortunately, this beach didn't seem too

dangerous, so I took my eyes off Klein's body to make a suggestion to the

group.

"If anyone else wants to log out here, go ahead. I'll be the last one waiting

around."

Asuna was the first to raise her hand, looking sheepish. "Um…I think…I'll go,

too…"

I'd not yet had an audience with her, but from what I'd been told, Asuna's

mother was very strict on time and other matters. I nodded and said, "Sure

thing. Thanks for coming today."

"Yeah. Thanks to everybody else, too. It was fun. Take care!" she said and

quickly transitioned to the log-out pose, too. Next, Agil said he needed to prep

for the café, Liz mentioned a TV show she wanted to catch, and Silica had

homework to finish. They left the fairy realm all in a batch.

When Silica went into the waiting position, Pina began swiveling its head

around, as though standing guard to protect her avatar. It was a very touching

detail, I thought, stretching.

Then I met the gaze of Leafa, who was stretching in the exact same pose.

We both made the same awkward smile, and I looked toward the horizon to

the west.

The sun was now completely gone, leaving only a deep crimson along the

land. Yui went from sitting on my head to climbing down my shoulder and into

my shirt pocket, where she yawned adorably.

"…That whale was really, really big, wasn't it, Papa?" the pixie said sleepily. I

rubbed her head with my fingertip.

"Yup. We'll have to get another ride someday."

"Yeah…"

Yui closed her eyes, and within moments, she was sleeping peacefully.

She was an AI independent of the ALO game's system, so she didn't need to

sleep like a person, but when she received a great amount of information input

or didn't have something urgent to process immediately, she would often go

into a visible sleep mode in order to tidy up her memory. In her form of dreams,

she was probably reliving today's adventure already.

A little while later, Klein's avatar turned into little motes of light that

dispersed and vanished, followed by Asuna, then Agil, Liz, and Silica.

I turned to Leafa and extended my hand toward her without thinking. "C'mon,

Sugu—let's just pop back over to Swilvane."

My sister pursed her lips and pouted. "You know, we're not underwater now,

so I can fly perfectly fine without needing to hold your hand."

"Oh…r-right. Sorry, uh, I wasn't thinking," I said, pulling my hand back, but the

golden-haired magic warrior grabbed it anyway.

"But since I'm better than you in the sky, I can be the one to do the pulling!"

"…Th-thanks."

We spread our wings and took off from the beach, with purple color flooding

over the surroundings.

I glanced to the northeast, where the stars were already beginning to twinkle

behind the massive silhouette of the World Tree. But closer than that was a

crowd of green lights, shining like jewels. It was the familiar capital of the sylph

territory, Swilvane.

After I checked to ensure Yui was tucked safely in my pocket, I joined Leafa in

flight, gliding on the sea breeze toward our destination.

2

"...Ho-hai-hee," I murmured interestedly in the middle of chomping on thick,

chewy udon noodles.

Across the dining table, Suguha glanced at me.

"It's rude to talk with your mouth full, Big Brother."

True, eating with my chopsticks in one hand and a tablet in the other was not

exactly the proper etiquette for mealtime. Nevertheless, I swallowed the

mouthful I was chewing and stated with great authority, "Obviously, it's okay to

eat udon while multitasking."

"…Then what about curry udon?"

"Nope."

"…And kitsune udon with fried tofu?"

"Okay."

"…What about nabeyaki udon served in a hot pot?"

"Nope."

"I have no idea where your standards lie." Suguha sighed. She took a bite

from her chilled udon soup (topped with seasoned egg, steamed chicken, boiled

shrimp, okra, mekabu seaweed, perilla leaf, and chopped nori) and slurped the

noodles.

We'd logged out of ALO about fifteen minutes earlier. Our mother wasn't

home yet, for the usual reasons, so we were having a late dinner. It felt like we

were getting too accustomed to this kind of meal, because it was quick to make

and clean up afterward.

I was making a mental note to have a proper three-item meal tomorrow when

her voice drifted over the table again.

"So what do you see, then?"

It took me a second to recognize that she was referring to my "Ho-hai-hee"

statement.

"…I'm amazed you could detect that I was saying 'Oh, I see'…Er, sorry. I

meant, I was talking about the Aesir."

"Oh, so you were looking that up already."

"I only just read a brief synopsis of the concept," I said, handing Suguha the

tablet, which was displaying the contents of an online encyclopedia. While she

glanced at it, I debated whether to split open my egg to let the yolk mix with

the udon, or to just pop it into my mouth. Suguha snorted boldly.

"…What?"

"Come on, Big Brother. You can't look at this and think you've understood

anything. This is the most surface-level explanation."

"Oh…it is?"

"Yes. If you really want to know more, you have to start with Odin's father,

the giant Borr, and his father, the original god, Búri…See, in Norse mythology,

the history of the world starts with a huge tear in the fabric of existence called

Ginnungagap—"

"S-stop, hold on," I interrupted. "We can go over the origin of the world some

other time. Eat up quick before your noodles get cold."

Suguha looked perturbed but obliged, placing the tablet down and picking up

her chopsticks again. She used them to cut the boiled egg in half, sending the

yolk into the noodle broth. Its creamy yellow shine was so enticing that I did the

same and slurped some up with the noodles.

I felt bad about interrupting her chance to lecture, but I didn't need any

knowledge that detailed at the moment. The only thing I was curious about was

the possibility of a continuation of the Pillager of the Deep quest, not a

hypothetical land of the Aesir that might exist in ALO.

Following Kraken's deceitful instructions, we pulled the Holy Child's Egg out of

the underwater temple; Leviathan took it from us and said he would transfer it

to a "new chamber." But I doubted that was the happy conclusion to that story

line. I had no idea what the child was—and since it was hatching from an egg, it

couldn't be human—plus Kraken didn't seem to have given up yet. And on top

of that, I wanted another shot at fighting that giant octopus.

Maybe there was a bit of personal sentiment mixed in there. But to me, this

was clearly meant to be the intro to an entire questline rather than a single

quest.

In an ordinary questline, finishing one quest would automatically begin the

next, along with a quest marker pointing the way forward. But on rare

occasions, it was left to the player to follow the information provided by the

first quest and go to some place or perform some action to reveal the next step.

If this questline was one of the latter type, there should be some hint as to

what to do within the conversation between Kraken and Leviathan…but…

"…Brother. Big Brother!"

I suddenly realized that Suguha had been calling my name, and I came to my

senses with a start.

"Uh, wh-what?"

"I'm sure you haven't forgotten that tomorrow morning is the start of our big

dojo cleaning. We need to get to bed early tonight so we're up bright and

early."

I had, of course, completely forgotten. But I didn't let that show.

"Got it, got it. I'll be asleep by one…or two at the latest."

She gave me a piercing, skeptical look, but I evaded it by taking my empty dish

to the kitchen.

I lay down on my bed and glanced up my headboard to view my alarm clock

upside down.

It was eleven thirty. Back in the Aincrad days, this was right in the middle of

the nighttime active hour, when I would take my sword to lucrative grinding

areas in search of good loot.

Of course, leveling-up your character (not that ALO actually had levels,

technically speaking) was essential. Especially for me, because I had started

over fresh after SAO; there was a period where I was engaging in some hard

grinding in the hopes of catching up with Asuna and the others.

But of course, I would never again have the most powerful motivation of all—

the prickling sense of danger, of needing to level-up to increase my chances of

survival. And this, obviously, was a good thing. I did not desire to go back to that

deadly world.

Still, perhaps there was a part of me that still wanted something. Something

like a game, but not…Something that would bring a breathtaking reality to the

little garden of the virtual world.

The moment that Kraken's single attack put us on the brink of death, only to

give way to Leviathan's trident, felt like that something to me. Despite being a

story event in accordance with the quest, it also seemed like it might be a

completely spontaneous happening, something no human hand had written…

"…I mean, I just think that would be cool; that's all," I murmured to hide my

embarrassment as I turned out the lights, preparing for an early bedtime before

our big cleaning day.

Then, ten seconds later, I reached up and felt around until my hand found the

AmuSphere. I placed it on my head and quietly gave the vocal command.

"Link Start."

3

As long as I get to bed by two o'clock, that's still fairly early, I told myself as I

touched down in Alfheim.

It was equally dark there at this hour. However, to dedicated online gamers,

these were the golden hours, and Swilvane, capital of the fairy territory, was

packed. Sylphs were the majority of them, of course, but there were also other

fairy races in greater numbers than before.

The view through the window of the room I rented in the inn to safely log out

made it clear that the cait siths were the most numerous of the other fairy

races today. That made sense, as they were in an alliance with the sylphs. The

next most common group in attendance were pookas and imps, which had

adjacent territory. The sylph land also adjoined the salamander territory, but

they were still officially at war, so there was no red hair to be seen here.

My race, the spriggans, were not hostile to the sylphs, but our territory was

on the opposite side of the world, and it was one of the least popular races on

top of that. So there were no other spriggans to be seen on the streets, like the

salamanders.

I decided it was best to move about without drawing too much attention, so I

pulled a hooded cape out of my inventory and put it on. Then I cast the

illusionary magic spell Moonshade Lurk and snuck out of the inn.

Moonshade Lurk was a spell that made it harder for others to see you when

you were in any shade cast by the light of the moon, meaning it had no effect in

a dungeon, where there was no moonlight. It was only a slight benefit, but that

was the best I could do with magic. Fortunately, the moon was dazzling tonight,

and Swilvane was rife with cramped alleyways, so I could move fairly quickly

without being exposed.

After a few minutes, I reached the center of town and came to a stop in the

shade.

Right ahead, there was a rotary over a hundred yards across, with the sylph

lord's manor in the center—the most beautiful building in all of Swilvane. The

three-story structure was surrounded by a deep moat, with bridges only on the

north and south sides that connected to the road around it. The entire rotary

was wide open, with no shade for me to hide in.

At the foot of each bridge stood a pair of powerful-looking NPC guardians

with tall halberds at the ready. Only the lord or lady, and players on the manor's

registry, could pass by them.

Leafa was registered, as far as I knew, but the list had no exceptions, even for

party members of those who had access. I had wings, so you might think I could

just fly high over the guardians' field of view, but things weren't that easy. The

entire manor grounds were under a special barrier that nullified all the magical

power of outsiders, including flight.

I wasn't going in there to steal anything, so the proper etiquette would be to

flag down a staff member going in and ask for permission to enter, but I really

didn't want any rumors left behind about tonight's visit.

"…!"

In that instant, I sensed that the moment I was waiting for had arrived, and I

crouched low.

A black shadow began to cross the surface of the radiant moon from the right.

It was a nightly occurrence in Alfheim—an artificial lunar eclipse. New Aincrad,

the flying castle, was covering the moon for less than a minute. And of that

time, it was only a complete eclipse for less than five seconds.

The pale disc began to wane, until finally all the light was gone—Swilvane was

entirely within the shadow of New Aincrad. I bolted out of the alleyway and into

the open.

There wasn't much foot traffic here, since there were few shops to visit, but

that didn't mean it was empty. The cait siths shouldn't be able to see me

because of the spell's effect, but I could only pray that their keen ears wouldn't

pick up my footsteps as I zipped across the rotary. There was a cast-iron fence

separating the road from the moat, and right in between the two bridges, I got

a foot on top of it and jumped for all I was worth.

As soon as I was over the dark surface of the water, I could no longer use my

wings or any magic. Rumor said that there were nasty aquatic monsters lurking

in the moat, which was nearly thirty feet across, and if they caught you, they

would drag you down to the bottom, where you would die and turn into a

Remain Light. But the light would actually appear just before the moat, so

anyone could see that someone had attempted to sneak past.

Even for a nimble spriggan, crossing thirty feet in a single jump without flight

was simply impossible. But in midair, I pulled my sword off my back and

reached forward as far as I could during the fall. The end of it just barely

managed to catch on the stone blocks on the far side.

If it were ordinary stone found anywhere else, a sword crafted by a master

blacksmith like Lisbeth would just cut right through it, but the structures in

town were indestructible. I used that to my advantage, pushing down on the

block with the tip of the sword and using it for leverage to hurtle myself

upward.

The following hop was enough for my left hand to reach the edge. I sheathed

my blade and scrambled up. There was a brief, quiet ringing when I pressed on

the stone with the sword tip, but fortunately, the guardians at the bridges did

not react.

Crouching low again, I hurried behind the bushes of the garden before the

brief eclipse was over.

"...Whew." I exhaled in relief and looked upward at the manor before me.

My destination was in the center of the top floor, if I recalled correctly. I didn't

know if the person I wanted to meet was there, but if they weren't, I'd just have

to wait around anyway.

There would be no protection from my spell here. I placed my weapon into

my virtual inventory, prayed there wouldn't be any guardians indoors, and

began to circle the building in search of the front entrance.

Five minutes later, I had finally made my way to the stately double doors on

the third floor of the lady's manor. I swiveled to each side to make sure it was

safe.

There were no figures to be seen in the spacious hallway. The majority of the

administrative players were having a chat in the great hall on the second floor,

which meant I was able to get up to the top without being seen or scolded. But

if the person I was looking for was on the second floor, it would all be for

nothing. Praying that my good fortune would last, I pulled back my hood and

knocked on the doors.

After a moment, a familiar voice said, "Come in." I exhaled in relief, pulled the

silver handle, and slipped inside through the smallest possible crack in the

doors.

I shut the doors behind me right as the woman operating the territorial

master's access window looked up across the desk.

Sakuya, lady of the sylphs, wore an elegant kimono-style dress. When she

recognized me, her shapely eyebrows wrinkled, she inclined her head in

confusion, and lastly, she pointed a finger in my direction.

"May I ask something, just to be certain?"

"Anything you want."

"You haven't been hired by salamanders to come here and take me out…have

you, Kirito?"

"Uh…is that even possible? As a spriggan, can I even pass the bonus from

defeating a fairy lord to a salamander?"

"It is, if you are officially hired as a mercenary. Of course, the guardians in the

town would react as though you were a salamander, so you would not get more

than a hundred yards inside without a pass medallion."

"Ahhh…Hrmm, sorry, didn't mean to sound interested. The answer is no, of

course," I said, holding up my hands in a show of peace. "The truth is, there's

something I was hoping you could tell me, Sakuya."

"…And that's why you broke into my house?"

"Well, yes…I mean, I'm not on your friends list, so I can't send you a direct

message…and I didn't want anyone else to hear this…," I explained, keenly

aware that I was starting to sound like a girl in a rom-com.

The sylph lady shook her head and said, "It is no matter…but I am the master

of this territory. As you belong to a different fairy race, I am limited in what I

can tell you—even if you did save my life."

"Oh, that won't be a problem. I'm not asking for any sylph military secrets.

Plus, I'm prepared to offer you information in return, of course."

"You are? What will you tell me?"

"How to sneak into the sylph manor and how to prevent that from

happening."

Sakuya blinked with surprise, then burst into laughter. I could only pray the

sound didn't carry all the way downstairs.

She poured me a glass of expensive-looking wine that I sipped very carefully.

Step by step, I ran through the reason for my unannounced visit.

Sakuya listened in silence until I was finished, then nodded.

"I performed the Pillager of the Deep quest about ten days ago, myself."

"You…you did? On your own?"

"I enjoy the occasional dungeon dive, too, you know. Plus, you've seen me

taking part in a number of floor-boss raids in New Aincrad."

"Ah, good point."

"But…"

The proactive sylph master downed the rest of her wine and paused to

consider.

"When I and some of my cabinet members did the quest, there was no Kraken

or Leviathan."

"What?"

"We found the pearl, or egg, or what have you, in the temple and handed it

back to the NPC. He thanked us, and that was the end of the quest. Then he

summoned a giant squid that grabbed us with its tentacles and pulled us back

to the beach. It was…not the most enjoyable experience."

"A…giant squid? I wish I could have seen that…Er, I mean, I suppose that

means there's a branch depending on whether or not you hand over the

pearl…"

"It would seem so. But who would refuse to hand over the quest item?" she

said with a smirk. I smiled back uncomfortably.

"Well, I was going to give it back to him…but Asuna took it away from me

before I could."

"Ha-ha. I would never doubt her sixth sense," she said, pouring herself

another glass of wine. "So I understand now that the quest has a branching

path. And…what is it you're hoping to learn from me?"

"Well…I was wondering if you had any ideas about the 'new chamber'

Leviathan mentioned…For example, were there any other buildings on the

seafloor aside from the temple that seemed likely…?"

"Hmm…Not off the top of my head…"

The sylph leader thought for a bit, then opened her special menu and

displayed a map across the entire surface of her desk. It was a map of all of

Alfheim, several times more detailed than any that we common players could

produce.

"This is a kind of state secret, I suppose, but I'm willing to show you. This map

contains discovered quest locations, buildings and headstones with a particular

history, and unique spots like shortcuts—everything. If we search this for 'new

chamber,' then perhaps…"

Her fingers ran across the map surface, and a window with search results

opened up. There were zero hits.

"Then 'holy child'…Nothing. 'Kraken'…'Leviathan'…still nothing."

"What about 'egg'?"

"That might be too vague to work…There, you see? Over a hundred hits.

There are dozens of quests about finding eggs or protecting them or cooking

them."

"Oh…right…Hrmm…"

I stared at the flat image of the fairy world and replayed the dialogue

between the king of the sea and the king of the abyss in my mind.

How long has it been, old friend? And how long will you beg for the mercies of

the Aesir? …Not until the child's power is mine…The one who will one day rule all

the seas and skies...

All the seas and skies.

"Um…Sakuya?"

"What?"

"Does that map have three-dimensional data on the unique points of

interest?"

"Of course."

"Could you tell me the lowest of those points on the map? Aside from

Jotunheim, I mean."

Sakuya quickly sorted the information. "The lowest coordinates are at

negative three hundred and twenty-one feet. The quest name is…Pillager of the

Deep."

Her eyes glittered. I bobbed my head in return and said, "Next, tell me the

point that is highest. Aside from New Aincrad, I mean."

"…I don't need to search for that one."

"Huh…?"

"The answer is obvious. The mystery located at the highest point of

Alfheim…?"

The beautiful leader of the sylphs jabbed a thumb at the large window behind

her and grinned.

"That would be the top of the World Tree, of course."

4

Three months earlier: April 2025.

The new company running ALfheim Online, Ymir, unveiled a massive update

to the game.

It implemented the flying castle, New Aincrad; consolidated old SAO accounts;

and removed the limit on flying time.

Previously, the fairies had been unable to reach even the lowest branch of the

World Tree on their own power, but now you could fly all the way up to New

Aincrad, which hovered far, far above the ground. The first place the newly

powered fairies went was not to the new flying castle, however, but the tallest

place in Alfheim itself—the top of the World Tree.

But they did not reach the top of the tree, nor even see it.

The top of the World Tree was shrouded in massive cumulonimbus clouds.

The ferocious gale-force winds and lightning bolts that crackled around them

rebuffed any player's attempt to pass through. The result was the same if you

tried to rise along the trunk. Within seconds of entering the mass of clouds, you

would either die from lightning shock or get physically hurled out into the open

air by the winds.

The idea had probably come from a classic animated film, but among the

players, it was known as the Lightning Dragon's Nest, and even now, there was

no end of foolhardy adventurers attempting to breach the supercell…

"…Hey, Kirito," said Asuna, who stood at my side, staring up at the sky. "How

many times have you died trying to fly into those clouds?"

"Um…no more than ten…I think…?"

"And who had to use magic to recover your Remain Light each and every

time? Remind me again."

"You, Asuna…"

"And who helped you recover from the experience penalties each and every

time?"

"You, Asuna…"

"Well, I'm glad you remember," she said, beaming. I awkwardly returned the

smile.

"O-of course I do. And I've thanked you for that more times than there are

total suckers on the eight tentacles of the Kraken."

"That's…not the nicest analogy…," she muttered, looking up to the sky again.

It was two o'clock on Saturday, July 26th.

There were no other players on the observation deck built at the southern tip

of Yggdrasil City, the elevated city built into the center of the World Tree. In the

past, countless people had challenged the storm from here, but now the

supercell surrounding the peak of the tree was considered an impassable

barrier, much like the dome at the base of the tree guarded by its NPC knights

had been in the early days of ALO.

That dome was created by Nobuyuki Sugou, the previous manager of ALO.

He'd set the difficulty to an impossible level in order to hide his personal usage

of server resources and, more important, his illegal experiments. It was

impossible to imagine Ymir, the new management company, having people held

prisoner at the top of the tree, however.

If we couldn't get through the clouds, then, it was because we hadn't fulfilled

some condition. Meaning if we cleared whatever hurdle that was, there might

be a way through the howling, crackling storm…

"Thanks for waiting!" called an energetic voice from below as a green blur

zipped past the handrail of the observation deck.

The figure that did a flip overhead and landed in front of us was a speeddemon sylph warrior. After logging out in Swilvane last night, she must have

flown at top speed to get to Yggdrasil City.

Leafa glanced at the time readout and groaned, "I couldn't break forty

minutes!" The distance between the two cities was over forty miles, so she'd

need to maintain a solid sixty miles an hour to record a time that short.

"Wow, that's really impressive, Leafa. It took me and Kirito nearly an hour,"

Asuna remarked, genuinely impressed.

My boorish, unsophisticated sister puffed out her chest with pride and said,

"There's a trick to it. The wind direction changes with altitude and time, so you

have to constantly fine-tune your facing to keep following the proper tailwind."

"So you've totally memorized how the wind blows. That's amazing…Kirito fell

asleep while he was flying and ended up crashing through a flock of Cyrus

Medusas."

Leafa shot me a nasty look. "He logged in by himself late last night so he could

do something in Swilvane. Apparently, this idea to tackle the Lightning Dragon's

Nest again came from some information he picked up on, but he won't tell me

anything more than that."

Even Asuna's expression grew suspicious at that point, so I coughed

unconvincingly to hide my embarrassment. Suguha had learned about my latenight dive during our big cleaning of the dojo this morning, due to all my

yawning. Of course, I didn't tell her anything about what I was actually doing—

infiltrating Lady Sakuya's manor—but it felt like the secret was going to get out

sooner or later.

Still, it was worth the risk. If I hadn't met with Sakuya and seen that secret

world map, I would never have gotten the hint that the "new chamber" might

be on the top of the World Tree.

And once I was aware of it, I couldn't possibly sit still. After the cleaning was

done, I reached out to the usual gang—of course, it was the middle of the day,

so Agil and Klein couldn't join in—and called for a meetup at this observation

deck.

I was gazing at the passing clouds for no particular reason, hoping Liz and

Silica would show up soon, when a tiny spirit of salvation popped out of my

shirt pocket. She stretched her tiny arms, yawned adorably, and flitted upward

with a sound like bells ringing, landing on Asuna's shoulder with a smile.

"Papa, Mama, Leafa, good morning! I think I slept in a little," said our

daughter, who giggled to herself cutely. The women immediately forgot about

their criticisms and beamed back at her.

We were reminiscing about the whale from yesterday when Lisbeth and Silica

arrived from the southwest. With all members present, we were ready to hold

our meeting.

"…Well, I don't really have a very fancy plan. Basically, I'm going to charge

into the Lightning Dragon's Nest, so if I die, bring me back with magic, please…"

The Remain Light left behind after a player's death generally had to be

physically grabbed by party members to be moved, but a few high-level magic

spells and expensive consumable items could retrieve a Remain Light from a

distance. Since trying a direct retrieval of a Remain Light inside the Lightning

Dragon's Nest was likely to lead to additional victims, I would need to be pulled

out of the clouds by magic.

Of course, after a certain amount of time, I would automatically revive at my

save point, but that would come with a much harsher experience penalty than if

someone else revived me. I was prepared to die once or twice, but the less I

lost, the better.

When the girls heard my plan, they looked at one another, and then Lisbeth

spoke for the group.

"So, um, just to make sure I have this right…You want to go to the top of the

World Tree because you think that giant pearl, or Holy Child's Egg, will be

there?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

Silica's triangular ears twitched as she asked, "But, Kirito, assuming you find

the egg, what will you actually do with it? You aren't going to steal it, are you?"

"Y-yes," I said again, and I explained, "The thing about the egg is…I have a

feeling we can get a continuation to the Pillager of the Deep quest from

yesterday. I really don't think it was meant to be a one-off quest…"

Asuna's light-blue hair swayed as she considered the idea. "Maybe that's

true…but when there's additional quests, aren't they usually found in the same

area? On a straight line, there's over sixty miles between the underwater

temple and the top of the World Tree. Even if the phrase 'all the seas and skies'

is the hint, it seems like an extreme leap."

It was a very keen observation from the woman who was known as the questfinishing demon back in the Aincrad days. Out of all the many points of interest

in Alfheim, the deepest was located in the underwater temple and the highest

was in the Lightning Dragon's Nest. But I couldn't bring that up here, because it

was a secret of the sylph government, and I shouldn't technically know that.

If I wanted to use that as evidence to convince her, I'd have to reveal that I

snuck into Lady Sakuya's manor last night…

"You know..."

That was Leafa, who was leaning against the observation deck handrail. She

looked around at each of us, then started again.

"You know, I had a dream last night. A dream of a rainbow bridge coming

down from somewhere very high in the sky. And I went up and up that bridge

until I came to a huge and very beautiful gate…But before I could get there, I

woke up," she said, smiling bashfully, and looked out at the blue sky. "I'm sure I

had that dream because we were talking about the Aesir on the beach last

night. See, in the mythology, the Aesir live in a land called Asgard…"

"Is that a land in the same sense of Alfheim and Jotunheim being lands?" I

asked. Leafa nodded.

"Yes. In Norse mythology, there are nine lands in all. There's Vanaheim,

where the Vanir live; Niflheim, the land of ice; and so on…Asgard is located all

the way beyond the sky, and there's a rainbow bridge leading from it down to

the ground. And the rainbow's name is Bifrost…"

The sylph warrior looked up again, tilting her golden ponytail downward.

"Ever since the first time I saw the Lightning Dragon's Nest…I've had this idea

in my head. What if there's a rainbow bridge inside those clouds that leads to

Asgard…?"

"Wow…that's so romantic!" squealed Silica, her eyes sparkling. The

exclamation caused Pina to stir atop her head. "If that's true, I want to see that

for myself…I mean, I want to cross it!"

Liz, Asuna, and Yui all smiled and nodded along. I considered this for myself.

Based on the conversation between Kraken and Leviathan, the Aesir could

quite possibly exist somewhere in ALO as NPCs. In that case, their home of

Asgard existed, too…But simply seen in terms of MMO construction, it was

baffling to imagine an entire new region existing in the game without any

announcements or hints whatsoever.

In fact, when the underground realm of Jotunheim opened, there were huge

announcements all over the official site and other spots for gaming news, and

they held a commemorative in-game event. If they were spending all the money

and time to create a new game zone, why would they make the gate impossible

to reach and ensure that no one could get there?

But on the other hand, there was no point to listing all the reasons it couldn't

be true. All I had to do was get through those clouds to find out if there was a

rainbow bridge inside, a Holy Child's Egg…or perhaps both.

"Then I'll go and find out what—"

"In that case, I'm going, too!" chirped Leafa, raising her hand. Then the other

girls joined in, even Yui.

"At this point, we might as well all go as a group!"

"Yeah, let's go!" cheered the girls, much to my alarm.

"W-wait, wait. If we all get wiped out, who's going to get our Remain Lights?"

"Look, I want to be on the front line rather than playing backup all the time,"

Asuna said slightly petulantly. But as someone who relied on her to get me out

of trouble all the time, I couldn't argue with her wishes.

She smiled again and pointed out, "If we get wiped out, we can go out and

hunt monsters when we return to town. We'll make up for the experience

penalty in no time with a group this large."

It was true that summoning them here and telling them to wait around while I

exposed myself to danger was hypocritical of me. More important than figuring

out the mystery of the quest was making sure everyone had fun engaging in the

adventure.

"…You're right. Let's all go together, then!" I agreed.

The four of them, along with Yui and Pina, cheered in unison.

"Yeah!"

After checking over our gear, we left the observation deck and soared

through gigantic branches that twisted and craned like the walls of a maze. I

stayed at the tip of our V-formation and kept us moving straight upward.

The Alne highlands were clear and sunny today, without a single shred of

cloud in the sky. But after a few minutes following the curve of the World Tree,

curling white clouds came into view ahead. If I concentrated, I could hear the

faint, deep rumble of thunder.

"We're almost there!" I shouted to my companions, lowering my speed. We

passed through the layer of haze that acted as a warning zone, and then there

was nothing but a huge white block filling our view—the Lightning Dragon's

Nest. The sharp tip of the World Tree was surrounded by a block of

cumulonimbus clouds, five hundred yards tall and across, that blocked it from

sight.

I threw my wings out to come to a stop and hovered in the air.

A supercell storm in the real world could be six miles across and two or three

times higher, but seen up close like this, the virtual cloud mass was every bit as

terrifying. I'd flown inside many times before, but even now, I felt myself

trembling with excitement.

Just on my left, Silica exclaimed, "Ooh, wow! It looks yummy—like whipped

cream!"

"You're right," Lisbeth added. "I want to drop that on top of a stack of

pancakes, slather it in syrup, and gobble it up."

On my right, Asuna came to a stop and laughed. "Ah-ha-ha-ha! Let's go get

some when we're done here, then. I hear there's a really good pancake shop in

Ygg City now."

"Really?! I love pancakes!! I'll have a ten-stack!" Leafa finished.

Should I find their confidence and excitement infectious or worrisome? And

what happened to going hunting if we got wiped out and had an experience

penalty?

But that was only if we wiped out. If all went well, we were going to charge

through the clouds, find the rainbow bridge that continued the quest, and

celebrate with pancakes instead.

Properly motivated again, I proclaimed, "I'll eat a hundred!"

It was time to reveal the strategy to my steadfast companions. "Based on

dying in there ten times, I can tell you that dodging the lightning is impossible.

Rather than trying to endlessly change directions, slowing us down, we should

try to cross through as quickly as possible. There's no visibility when you're in

there, so we'll need to make a star to fly straight."

"Got it!" the others chimed. Yui flew into my shirt pocket, and Pina flattened

itself against Silica's back like a booster rocket.

The five of us formed a tight circle. Rather than holding hands with Leafa and

Lisbeth on my sides, I grabbed Asuna and Silica across from me. The rest of

them followed suit so that our ten arms interlocked in a five-sided star pattern.

This was a high-level group-flying technique called a star bind. It worked only

with a group of five, but it offered much sturdier support than a horizontal line

or a circle while still improving speed and stability.

The problem was that flying sideways in this formation meant that at least

two of the five would be flying backward, which required a lot of skill, so Leafa

and I elected to do it. We moved slowly, maintaining our formation, until we

reached the height of the cumulonimbus clouds, and just in case—or just for

good luck—we had Asuna cast a spell of increased lightning resistance.

"Okay…I'll count us down. Five, four, three, two, one…"

Lastly, all five of us shouted in unison, """""Go!! """""

Five pairs of wings shone five different colors, and we accelerated as though

shot from a giant cannon.

With a thousand feet of lead-in, we reached our maximum speed and burst

right into the giant cloud mass. At first, the only thing we could see was white,

but it got darker very soon. The density of the air increased against our skin,

slowing our speed.

"…Here it comes!" I shouted, and clenched my jaw.

Krakaaang! A piercing explosion rattled my ears as a burly bolt of purple

lightning shot through the air just ten feet away from us. Liz and Silica, who

were experiencing the Lightning Dragon's Nest for the first time, yelped a little,

but our pace stayed firm. We held hands tight and made a beeline across the

storm, which was dark as the night.

The next thing to assault us was a lateral gust of wind. Alone, we might have

been buffeted head over heels and lost our sense of direction, but with the

weight and propulsion of five, we withstood it.

There was another brilliant flash of lightning nearby. Then another. And

another.

The path of the lightning bolts seemed random, but I didn't think they actually

were. For one thing, there had probably been thousands of attempts in total on

this storm, and not a single person had made it through. Every person who

invaded these clouds, somewhere between one and ten seconds inside,

suffered a direct lightning bolt attack and died instantly. Dodging or defending

against them was impossible.

But if my suspicion was correct—then the "new chamber" Leviathan spoke of

was somewhere beyond this cloud layer.

We could break through this storm. I had faith, if not any evidence. We had to

be able to seize something in this ordained death zone…something capable of

telling a true story in this artificial world…

Kra-booooooom!!

Yet another barrel of purple lightning—I'd lost count of how many there had

been—shot toward us, twirling and zigzagging like a dragon. It just barely

grazed us and continued onward. The light left me blinded, and all sound

vanished. We were flying so fast that my fear didn't have time to catch up.

Were we still under ten seconds? Or had that milestone already passed? How

far would these storm clouds go…?

Just on my right, Leafa shouted loud enough to be heard over the thunder.

"There's a huge wind coming from below! Don't fight; let's ride it!"

Below. We were the ones facing backward, so it would be at our backs. No

sooner had that registered for me than a tremendous gale buffeted us. We

squeezed even harder, desperate to maintain our star formation as the forces

of nature tried to tear us apart.

"...…Here! " Leafa yelled. I buzzed my wings as hard as I could.

We went from horizontal flight to a sudden jump upward. The vibration

weakened, but our flying speed reached levels I'd never experienced before.

Several lightning bolts were raining down around us. If we freaked out and

slowed down, they would certainly strike us.

"Keep goiiiiiiiing!! " I bellowed, wrenching my voice from my lungs.

The star formation held firm, as our arms were locked, not just with the two

across the way but also with the arms of the other two on my sides. I could feel

courage coming from where our skin intersected.

We were a comet with five multicolored trails. Four bolts of lightning struck

ahead, behind, and on either side, turning my vision white again. The visual

illusion of blindness did not leave so quickly this time, either. Instead, the area

got whiter and whiter, even brighter…

And then the sound was gone, too.

The howling of the storm, the flashing of the lightning dragon—everything

went distant. With nothing but unbelievable silence around, I opened my

narrowed eyes at last.

The first thing that came into view was a vertical white wall. It acted like a

screen without definition—the only detail was our shadows, rising along it.

I looked to Asuna and Silica, across from me. They were both wide-eyed. I

wondered what they were seeing from their vantage point.

"…I think we're good to undo the formation now," Asuna whispered. I slowed

down and carefully let go. With the star undone, Leafa, Liz, and I turned around

to see.

There was a vast, spherical space bounded by pure white around us.

It had to be about a thousand feet across. A green pillar ran through the

center of the area. The foot of the pillar was submerged in the white wall, but

its sharp tip was visible near the roof.

No question. That pillar was…

"The tip…of the World Tree…," Leafa said, her voice raspy.

We had broken through. We were in the Lightning Dragon's Nest, which no

other players had reached, inside the eye of the storm that surrounded the top

of the World Tree.

"I can't believe it…" Asuna gasped, holding a hand to her mouth as she stared.

We locked eyes, then smiled and sucked in a deep breath together to erupt into

cheers.

But at that very moment, a pixie leaped out of my shirt pocket and cried,

"Papa, something's coming!"

"…!"

The five of us tensed. I drew my sword from over my back, looking around for

trouble.

The cloud dome was almost completely silent. There was no hint of the

lightning that was rumbling just on the other side of them behind us. All I could

hear was the gentle rustling of the tree's leaves in the breeze running under the

dome…

No.

There was a tapping sound approaching, but from no direction in particular. It

wasn't metallic but something both hard and soft, like a branch striking a thick

pane of glass.

"Oh…there!" yelped Lisbeth, pointing up at an angle.

The sun was out of sight, but the uppermost part of the cloud dome was full

of brilliance that caused me to squint against it. A small silhouette was

approaching from the light. It wasn't a monster. It was a fairy like us, wearing a

loose toga…No, wait, a human…?

It was a young, thin man. Despite having no wings on his back, he was

creating footsteps in the air, as though walking on some invisible glass staircase.

His long blue-silver hair was flared upward at the ends, and he wore a thin

circlet around his forehead. I couldn't see a sword or staff on him, but there

was an unbelievable intensity about him that sucked the air from my lungs. We

backed away.

The young man maintained his pace until he had descended to our level, then

came to a stop in the air just fifteen feet away. Though his features had a

crystalline beauty, it was the piercing, golden-brown eyes that made the

greatest impact.

When he spoke, a cursor appeared over his head.

"Put away your swords, fairies."

It was a voice as pure as polished steel. The name on his cursor was Hraesvelg

the Sky Lord.

"Hraesvelg…the Sky Lord…," Leafa whispered at my side.

It felt like a name I'd heard somewhere before, but I didn't have time to go

dredging up memories. Instead, I threw an elbow into my dazed sister's side.

"Oof…Wh-what was that for?!"

"Put your sword away!" I hissed quietly, slipping my own weapon into the

sheath on my back. The girls made sure to remove their weapons, pulling us

back from a battle footing.

Identity aside, there was no doubt that Hraesvelg here was of a kind with

Leviathan. If we fought, he would prove to have such powerful stats that the

wave of a finger could wipe us out.

With my sword put away, I stared over the young man's head again. But the

only thing there was a cursor with his name. There was no golden ! to indicate

he was a quest-related NPC.

Was this the wrong place to go to find the second quest in the story line?

Then why had Hraesvelg appeared? The sky lord, well over six feet tall, looked

down upon us and hummed to himself.

"I see. I wondered how you tiny fairies managed to break through my storm.

You had the protection of the king of the sea."

"King of the sea…? Do you mean Leviathan…uh, Your Majesty?" I added

hastily. The lord of the sky did not change his expression at my rather forward

question but merely nodded.

On the other hand, the giant old man had given us a ride back to land on a

whale, but I didn't remember him casting any magic on us. When had we

received his protection…? Or was that the evidence that the quest was still

ongoing?

"But, fairies," Hraesvelg continued, slightly harder than before, "just because

you have gained the acquaintance of the sea lord does not mean you are

allowed into the sky chamber. Or are you thieves who consort with the lord of

the abyss?"

"No, sir!" "Certainly not!" "No way!" "You're kidding!" "That's not true!"

"Kyurrrr!"

Fortunately, the sky lord was capable of discerning six different protests at

the same time. He nodded and said, "I see. Then you should leave here at

once."

"..."

This time, we were all silent.

Hraesvelg had mentioned the "sky chamber." That had to be the "new

chamber" Leviathan had mentioned.

It meant the Holy Child's Egg that Kraken was after was safely contained

somewhere under this dome. I looked at the trunk of the World Tree and saw a

structure on the lower part that looked much like a gate. The interior of the

thick trunk had to be fashioned into a dungeon, just like the underwater

temple.

A new dungeon! I want to go in there! More specifically, I want to go in and

open all the treasure chests! I thought, driven by my baser instincts.

But my sister did not share them. Leafa floated in front and shouted to the

sky lord, "Um…excuse me! Before we leave, can you tell us just one thing?"

"What is it, fairy girl?"

"Is there no rainbow bridge here…? There's no Bifrost leading to Asgard?!"

Those golden-brown eyes grew even sharper somehow, like the eyes of a bird

of prey. "Why do you want to know that? Do you intend to cross it and seek an

audience with the Aesir?"

The tension in the air reminded me of something. The conversational ability

of Hraesvelg, the lord of the sky, was advanced far beyond that of a simple chat

bot. He, along with Kraken and Leviathan, had to have a more developed AI

with a rudimentary facsimile of self-awareness. Something closer to the dark elf

Kizmel from Aincrad, or Yui, who was curled up in my pocket right now.

Had Ymir created these characters and inserted them into ALO? Or…was this

the work of the true god that controlled this virtual world…?

Leafa was silent, too, but for a different reason. She shook her head.

"No, I don't want to meet any gods. I just…want to know. Is this the end of

the world…? Or is there more beyond this point?"

It was a rather abstract answer to the NPC's question; how would he interpret

it?

The sky lord smirked mysteriously and said, "It is a hope beyond your means,

little fairy. I call myself the lord of the sky, and even I have not seen the very

limits of the nine worlds."

"…Oh…"

"But I shall tell you one thing. The rainbow bridge of Bifrost does indeed come

from Asgard, but it does not end in your land."

"Huh…?!"

All four of the others gasped, too, not just Leafa. The only other land currently

accessible in the game was the subterranean realm of Jotunheim. The rainbow

couldn't be passing right through the surface and ending at the bottom of the

cave.

But the sky lord did not intend to give us any further hints. He just smiled

enigmatically and took a step back.

"And now, you ought to return home."

"Huh…? W-we have to pass through that storm again…?" Silica asked, her

voice frail.

The lord of the sky looked stern once more. "Did you break through my shield

without considering that on your return?"

We all looked guilty, realizing our mistake. Fortunately, he did not summon

any lightning bolts in his anger.

"In light of my friendship with the king of the sea, I will send you back outside,

just this once. Listen to me, fairies: You must never come back to this place

without the proper role."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" we said obediently. It felt like his lip curled just the

slightest bit with mirth.

But then his expression turned stern again, and he raised a long-sleeved arm

high in the air. I presumed that, like Leviathan, he was calling us our return taxi.

What would it be this time—a giant bird? A dragon? A flying saucer…?

But my expectations were utterly shattered.

"Farewell, little ones," Hraesvelg said in a deep, authoritative voice, and he

swung his right hand down. The arc of his hand looked like the transparent wing

of a bird of prey. But the very next moment, a powerful whirlwind appeared

and swallowed us up.

"Aaah! Yah, ah, aaaaah!"

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one embarrassing myself. The four girls

screamed, too, as the vortex picked us up and spun us around. On instinct, I

spread my wings and tried to escape the tornado, but there was no propulsion

behind the motion at all.

Soon the sky lord was distant, and the roof of the dome was approaching.

Either way, the big storm wasn't happening inside this dome, I thought. But

then a small hole opened in its ceiling. Would it take us to a safe passage or

back into a zone of instant, crackling death? I couldn't tell from here.

Liz grabbed Silica's hand before she got sucked through the hole. Then Leafa

grabbed Liz, and Asuna grabbed Leafa.

"Kirito…!" she cried, stretching toward me. I grabbed her hand next.

Sadly, that was the end of our chain. I didn't have a sixth person to grab for

help.

But as my hand scrabbled in empty space for anything it could touch, I felt

something.

On pure reflex, I squeezed it tight. Tensing myself against the buffeting wind, I

looked back at my hand and saw it was holding a narrow, vertical branch. There

were two cute, perky little leaves growing from the end. It was the very, very tip

of the World Tree.

"Rrr…rrrgh!"

I clenched the branch with all my strength, fighting against the sky lord's

whirlwind. Just above me, Asuna shouted, "Um, Kirito…?!"

"It's all right! I won't…let…go!"

"No, not that…I feel like…you aren't meant to do that—!"

"Huh…?"

I looked up and saw a surprisingly conflicted look on Asuna's face. Behind her,

Leafa yelled, "That's right, Big Brother. I don't think you're supposed to grab

that branch!"

"Let go, Kirito! His Majesty's going to be angry!" Liz called.

"If it snaps, that's your fault!" Silica warned.

"Kyuuuu!" Pina agreed.

"B-but…I was trying to help you guys," I complained weakly.

Then, far below the thin branch I was holding, a shadow leaped out from a

part of the World Tree's trunk.

It was not Hraesvelg the Sky Lord. It was much bigger than a human being,

with two wings and a long neck and tail. Alfheim was a big place, but even then,

this was the most supreme of monsters that you rarely witnessed: a dragon.

The dragon rolled, its numerous scales glittering like sapphires. The creature

looked right up at us and roared like a bundle of thunderbolts. It exposed sharp

fangs, which were crackling with visible electricity.

"S-see? It's angry, Kirito!" Asuna warbled. I couldn't disagree with that

observation.

"F-fine! Fine! I'll let go on the count of three! One, two, thr—"

Craaack!

The branch I was holding snapped with a tremendously satisfying sound.

The thunder dragon, screeching lightning bolts at us, glared with fury

smoldering in its blue eyes. But fortunately—if you could call it that—we had

lost our lifeline to the tree and were sucked out of the hole in the roof with

great force.

The line of us, all connected, shot through a dark, narrow tube of space at

high speed. I couldn't even tell if we were going up or down at that point. With

each turn to the left or right, I felt like my soul was being wrenched out of my

avatar.

"Yaaaaaah!" screamed someone; I wasn't sure who.

"Yahooooo!" screamed another someone; it was definitely Leafa.

We spent at least thirty seconds on this unexpected roller-coaster ride before

the tunnel ahead began to get lighter. But our speed did not slow at all as we

approached the white light at the end.

Shu-pu-pu-pu-pung! We popped right out into the midst of an endless cobalt

blue.

No matter which direction I looked, there was nothing but sky, sky, sky. I

spread my arms and wings to steady myself and looked down. There was a

pure-white cumulonimbus cloud directly below, but very far away. Even farther

below that were the hazy, faded branches of the World Tree.

"Kirito!" someone said. I looked up, expecting to be scolded, and saw Asuna—

—with a dazzling smile on her face.

I smiled back at her, then grabbed the hand she stretched toward me. Leafa

grabbed her other hand, then connected with Liz and Silica so that the five of us

were floating in a line again. Lastly, Yui emerged from my pocket and alighted

upon Asuna's shoulder.

Ultra-high-altitude gusts whistled past our ears. The falling sunlight made our

hair and equipment glitter and shine.

No one said anything for quite a while. They must have been reflecting upon

the strange experience we'd just had.

We did not gain another quest to follow up Pillager of the Deep. But as we'd

left, the sky lord had told us that we "must never come back to this place

without the proper role."

In other words, if we did have the proper role, we were allowed to return…I

assumed. We must not have fulfilled the requirement for the quest yet. The

continuation of the story was waiting for us somewhere in the world. And that

meant we would find it sooner or later.

It wasn't just the quest, either. Suguha wanted to see the Bifrost, and if the

sky lord was to be believed, that existed somewhere else, too.

I turned my head to the right and called out to the sylph warrior whose

ponytail was whipping in the wind. "Leafa, it's too bad we didn't find the

rainbow bridge. But I'm sure one day…"

"Oh…about that," she said, snapping out of her reverie and looking back at

me. "Hraesvelg said that the bridge starts in Asgard but doesn't end in Alfheim.

Hearing that reminded me of something. In the myth, the Bifrost connects

Asgard and Midgard."

"Mid…gard?" the rest of us repeated, unfamiliar with the name.

Leafa grinned and explained, "The land of the humans."

"…Humans…," I repeated.

At first, I didn't understand why that wasn't the place we were now—but

then I understood. Alfheim wasn't the land of the humans. Every player and

NPC, without exception, was a fairy with pointed ears and translucent wings.

But then that meant there was no place in ALO that could be considered the

land of the humans. No place for a rainbow bridge to appear. I shared a look

with Asuna, Liz, and Silica, who had all come to the same conclusion. But in the

middle, Leafa did not stop smiling.

"Oh…I get it!" shouted Yui from Asuna's shoulder.

"What do you get, Yui?"

"I know where the human land is!"

She flew up from Asuna's shoulder and took a little distance so she could turn

and face all of us together. The little pixie puffed out her tiny chest with pride

and pointed to a part of the sky.

The navy-blue curtain stretched onward without end. There was no sign of

any rainbow bridge, or even any flying monsters at this elevation…

But that wasn't true. In the far distance, at nearly the same height as us in the

air, was a small floating shadow. A frustum shape with just the faintest hint of a

curve along the sides.

New Aincrad.

"Oh…th-that's right!" I yelped, wide-eyed.

There were scores of NPCs living in New Aincrad. They didn't have wings, and

their ears were rounded. The same thing was true of the players who once

fought there.

"…Is New Aincrad meant to be Midgard in this world…?" Asuna murmured.

"That's what I suspect!" Yui claimed.

Leafa bobbed her head. "I think so, too. Of course, there's no rainbow bridge

leading to New Aincrad for now…but I'm sure that at some point, maybe once

we've conquered up to the hundredth floor, Bifrost will come down from the

sky…"

"That's right! I'm sure it will!" Silica cried. Asuna and Lisbeth nodded

vigorously.

On the inside, I couldn't help but lament, Awww, the hundredth floor? But I

didn't let that disappointment show. I pointed at New Aincrad with the object

in my hand and said, "All right, let's be the first to hit floor one hundred!"

Despite my expectations, there was no cheer in response.

I looked to the side in surprise and saw the four girls, Yui, and Pina all staring

at me with a strange look in their eyes.

"D-did I say something weird…?"

"No, but…I can't believe you brought that along…," Asuna said. I looked at

what I was pointing toward New Aincrad.

It was a very long stick, nearly five feet long. The surface was fine and pale,

with delicate spirals near the tip, followed by two large dazzling leaves.

The highest branch of the World Tree.

"Oh…I b-brought it with me…"

I looked down at the cumulonimbus clouds below, but there was not yet any

sign of a furious sky lord or dragon chasing after us.

"Ummm…what should I do with this?"

"I don't know—you grabbed it! You deal with it! I don't want to experience

divine punishment on account of you!" Lisbeth snapped. So I tried to think of

how to "deal with it." Alas, throwing it away, burning it, or boiling and eating it

all seemed likely to invoke that very divine punishment.

"Well…maybe I'll sell it to Agil and let him suffer the consequences instead…"

"…So you're going to sell it to him, not give it to him."

"I mean, it's the very top of the World Tree! You can't find something like that

just anywhere," I protested, then got an idea and tapped the branch with my

finger.

A properties window popped up with a little jingle. I assumed, of course, that

it would say something like Wooden Branch.

"Huh…? Wait, this name is really long. Uhhh, Crest of Yggdrasil…? Category…

Two-Handed Staff?!"

I looked up and saw Asuna staring back at me with wide eyes. I lifted up the

branch, which had just been revealed to be a staff, and said in a quavering

voice, "I guess it's actually a weapon…and the specs on this thing are crazy…It's

got to be a legendary weapon…"

"I-I've never seen a staff like that before. Does that mean it's a one-of-a-kind

weapon…? H-how much would you get for something like that at the auction

house in Alne…?" wondered Lisbeth, unable to resist her business instincts.

Then someone coughed. Next to Liz was Silica, whose triangular ears were

twitching as she scolded, "Kirito? If it's a weapon, then there's not going to be

any punishment for taking it. And what to do with it should be obvious."

"Kyuuu!" squeaked Pina, bobbing its head up and down.

"O-o-of course. Of course." I nodded back and let go of my grip on Asuna's

hand at last. I slid forward through the air and turned next to Yui so that I was

facing Asuna directly. She looked dumbfounded.

Leafa, Liz, and Silica all knew what I was about to do and fanned out to the

sides.

But Asuna was still at a loss. I straightened up, then laid the Crest of Yggdrasil

flat across my hands and offered it to her.

"Use this, Asuna. I'm sure it will be a big help for you."

"Uh…Y-you want me to have it…?"

I inclined my head to confirm, and she hesitantly took the staff. It looked just

like a tree branch, but that merely gave it a graceful beauty. It was the perfect

match for an undine healer.

I glanced at the others to send a signal, then took a deep breath and

announced, "Asuna, thanks for always having our backs!"

"""Thanks!!!""" the other girls chorused.

Asuna clutched the branch from the World Tree to her chest and flashed a

dazzling smile.

5

As we gradually descended toward Yggdrasil City, I glanced up one last time at

the white clouds atop the World Tree.

We didn't find the continuation of the quest I wanted or the rainbow bridge

Suguha was seeking. But perhaps those two goals were actually the same thing.

Based on the conversation between Kraken and Leviathan, the quest was just

the start of a grand narrative encompassing the unseen Aesir. In that case, the

day would eventually come when we crossed a multicolored bridge and visited

Asgard beyond the sky—far in the future, of course.

There was a vision in my head that put a small but undeniable flame in my

heart: of beating the hundredth floor of New Aincrad and seeing Bifrost touch

down upon the ground there.

There's no end to the adventure. There's always something else that comes

next. Even if I grow into an adult and leave ALO behind, I'll always be able to

find that rainbow bridge if I just look up into the sky.

"Hey, Kirito!" said Asuna excitedly as she paced alongside me. "Remember

that dungeon we couldn't beat because my healing abilities couldn't keep up

with the damage? Let's all go try it again tonight! With this staff, I think we can

finish it this time!"

But then Lisbeth turned back and called out, "We have to eat pancakes in Ygg

City first! I wanna see you reach a hundred, Kirito!"

"Uh…c-can we drop that down to fifty…?" I replied. The girls laughed.

Leafa turned and flew nimbly in reverse. There was a mischievous smile on

her lips. "That can be arranged. But in return, you have to admit what you were

doing in Swilvane last night!"

"Oof…"

Should I attempt a hundred pancakes, knowing I'd have no appetite for

dinner? Or should I give up and admit my sins in infiltrating the sylph manor?

Either choice made for a pathetic finish to our two-day adventure. I couldn't

make up my mind, so Yui spoke from my shoulder with a brilliant way out.

"Don't worry, Papa! If you cook up a hundred pancakes' worth of batter at

once, then you only have to eat one big one!"

"…Ah, I see. That's a good idea."

I gave a gentle fingertip rub to the head of my daughter, who was clearly

going through a fascination-with-big-things phase. One day I'd have to show her

a real whale.

Up ahead, the city built around the giant tree was coming into view. I put all

my strength into my back, vibrating my wings as hard as they could go.