Chapter 23

4:27 PM, October 3rd, 2026 (December 7th, Stellar Year 582).

Asuna, Alice, Eolyne, and I returned to Central Cathedral on Cardina, along

with the X'rphan Mk. 13.

Of course, we did not force the damaged X'rphan to fly. I created another

portal door, this one massive, right next to the immobile craft, then lifted it with

Incarnation and somehow managed to push it through.

For now, I couldn't connect the door to coordinates unless Asuna or Alice was

there, or it was a place I'd been before and could easily imagine. The problem

was that when I opened the first door, the girls were not on the Morning Star

Lookout, but the kitchen on the ninety-fourth floor.

Naturally, the second door also connected to the kitchen, so Asuna and Alice

jumped through, then traveled to the ninety-fifth floor while I waited on

Admina. Then I created the door again to their current coordinates, where it

was safe to put the aircraft. In gaming terms, it was like setting up my fast travel

locations to the first and second floor of the same building, but that wasn't

going to be a problem for the time being.

I passed through the door with the X'rphan the second time, putting me and

Eolyne on the ninety-fifth floor. Naturally, we were bombarded with questions

by Stica and Laurannei.

As it happened, Stica had peered through the portal when coming to pick up

the food and witnessed the conclusion of the fight between Eolyne and Istar.

Naturally, she was dying to know what had happened, and while I wanted to

explain it to her, I would use up all the valuable time remaining if I responded to

every question.

So I forced the pilot commander to be our answer sheet while Alice, Asuna,

and I rushed down the great stairs to the Cloudtop Garden on the eightieth

floor.

Alice clutched the sealed chest tightly and barely waited for the double doors

to open before bursting into the garden. She flew up the green hill.

At the top, caressed by the osmanthus tree, one girl and two knights waited in

eternal slumber under the effect of the forbidden Deep Freeze art, which

Administrator had concocted generations ago…

Alice knelt before her beloved sister, Selka, and placed the bluish-gray box on

the grass. Asuna and I, and Eolyne, Stica, Laurannei, and Airy with her friend

Natsu all watched with bated breath.

She ran her fingers along the sides of the chest and lifted. The lid, which had

been so close to the box that it seemed there was no seam at all, came loose,

revealing the box's contents.

The interior was lined with deep-blue velvet. There were a number of

depressions in the surface, holding a small scroll and three crystal bottles. Alice

looked back to me with confusion.

"I think the scroll has the entire formula for Deep Freeze on it," I explained,

"and the bottles contain a solution that corresponds to the formula that undoes

it."

"Solution…? So we don't need to chant the entire formula? We just sprinkle

the contents of the bottle, and it will undo the petrification?"

I nodded.

Alice faced the box again and reached down to pull out the bottle on the

right.

It had a multifaceted surface, like a cut gem. She stared at it for a moment,

then crawled closer to Selka on her knees. She pressed a hand to her chest,

breathing heavily, then pulled the top off the bottle.

If this doesn't do the trick, Star King, I'm gonna sock you in the mouth, I

thought to my past self, waiting for the moment to arrive.

Alice reached out.

Her hand rotated slowly, trembling, until the bottle was past level over Selka's

head.

The liquid that poured from the narrow mouth of the bottle shone blue in the

light, as though it were glowing all on its own. It dripped over Selka's bangs,

down her cheeks, and gathered to drip off the underside of her chin.

One…two…three…

Five seconds felt like an eternity, but then it was over.

Blue light gently enveloped Selka's frozen body.

Her toes and fingers, robe hem, and other extremities gradually began to

regain their original color and texture. The osmanthus tree behind her began to

rustle, as though understanding the importance of what was happening here.

The veil of white on Selka's head began to sway in the breeze.

A lock of bright-brown hair fell over her forehead.

Her eyelashes trembled, slowly rising…

Indigo-blue eyes, bleary and dull, looked upon the world, then blinked and

blinked again, gaining focus. Her pink lips moved, then uttered a faint but

undeniable sound.

"...…Alice…?"

"Selka!!"

Alice toppled onto her sister, her voice wet with tears already. She pressed

her face into the shoulder of the white robe, circled her arms around Selka's

back, and called her name over and over.

Tears ran down Selka's cheeks, too. "Alice, oh, Alice!" she repeated.

I had to rub my forearm across my eyes. I approached the box, which was

now sitting behind Alice, crouched down to pick up the other two bottles, and

handed one to Asuna.

"Go ahead and pour this on Tiese."

"Okay!"

Asuna was blinking back tears but smiling, too.

I walked to Selka's right and pulled out the stopper in front of Ronie.

She looked about ten years older than when she'd been my page. She had

grown taller, but her face was absolutely the same.

I'm back, I whispered silently, and poured the vial over her head. The same

exact process occurred here, starting at the end of her robe and rising, turning

her from stone to living before my eyes.

Her neck, cheeks, and then eyes regained signs of life. Her bangs rustled in

the breeze. Her eyelids fluttered…and then opened.

Eyes the color of a clear lake stared right into mine.

That was when I recalled what Airy had said: Ronie and Tiese underwent lifefreezing arts in their mid-twenties and spent another fifty years before they

were petrified here. Meaning their mental age was over seventy now.

Compared to them, I was nothing but a sassy little kid…

But my fears were totally unfounded.

"…Kirito!!"

Her voice and expression were exactly as I remembered them from

Swordcraft Academy. Ronie leaped forward and hugged me. I awkwardly

returned the gesture and patted her back.

"It's been a while, Ronie. I'm glad to see you again," I managed to stammer.

She squeezed me even harder and repeated, "Yes…yes!"

After a good five seconds of that, her mind finally caught up to the situation,

and she cried, "Oh…what about Tiese and Selka?!"

"They're fine. We've unfrozen both of them, too," I said, pulling away.

But when I turned around, I was met with a sight I had not expected.

Tiese, having been brought back to life by Asuna's application of the solution,

had taken a few steps forward. Her red eyes were open wide, staring.

Staring at the face of Integrity Pilot Commander Eolyne Herlentz, covered by

his white mask…