Part 2 The sound of the pair's soles striding up the marble stairs reverberated alone for a brief period of time. Without that, their surroundings would be engulfed in a silence, piercing enough to hurt one's ears. There should be a great number of ascetics and their apprentices living in the giant tower of the Axiom Church, according to the extent of Eugeo's knowledge, but he could sense nothing close to any human presence, no matter how hard he strained his ears or focused his eyes. Additionally, the sight that greeted him at each new floor he climbed up—a rectangular hall with corridors stretching left and right, doors lined up in identical intervals along them—was practically indistinguishable, giving him the impression that an illusory art had been placed on them unseen, making them ascend and descend the same staircase over and over again. He wanted to try entering one of the corridors and opening a nearby door to ascertain that was not the case, but Kirito silently kept up his constant pace in front, so he told himself not to get distracted. If Deusolbert's words proved true, even stronger enemies would be awaiting them on the fiftieth floor of the cathedral, somewhere a little higher on this staircase. Gently touching the grip of his beloved sword swaying at the left of his waist, at the moment Eugeo tried to shake away his idle thoughts, Kirito's feet came to an abrupt stop immediately before reaching the landing. Turning around with a serious expression, he spoke with a tense tone, going, "Hey, Eugeo. ......Which floor are we on now...?" "Hey... hey now." After an instinctive, slight stumble, Eugeo breathed a sigh, shook his head, and dropped his shoulders, all at the same time. "It's the twenty-ninth floor next. I thought it might be the case, but to think you really weren't counting." "Don't you think it would only be proper to have floor indicators on the staircase, normally?" "That might be true, but you still should have noticed it after all this time!" Tuning out Eugeo's gesture as though it didn't concern him, Kirito leaned his back onto the landing's wall with a thump. "Nonetheless, we're still that far, huh... I thought we had gone pretty high up too... I'm getting hungry..." "...Well, you aren't alone on that one." Close to five hours had already passed since they were treated to that luxurious breakfast in Cardinal's Great Library Room. Solus was approaching the center of the sky from what could be seen through the long and thin window, and with how they had climbed twenty-five floors, which would be a thousand steps, in addition to going through a single, intense battle, it was certainly unavoidable that their bodies were demanding replenishments. Nodding at Kirito's words, Eugeo followed up by holding his right hand out without reserve. "So, hand over one of those in your trouser pockets." "Eh... no, these are, well, for emergency use, so... —Your eyes are unexpectedly sharp, huh." "There's no way I wouldn't have noticed with how stuffed those are, right?" Kirito thrust his hand into his right pocket with what seemed like resignation on his face, before taking two steaming manjuu out and tossing one of them over. Upon catching it, there was a savory aroma that provoked his stomach despite the sizable time that had passed since they had left the library room. "It got burnt a little with that old man's blazing attack." "Ha-Hah... so that's why. Thanks for the food." The manjuu was created by Cardinal via a high ranking sacred art, so that meant it had originally been pages from a precious, old book, but Eugeo closed his eyes to that fact and bit into it. He momentarily savored the crunchy grill marks on its skin and the juicy minced meat filling in a trance. The modest lunch was finished in a few tens of seconds; Eugeo licked his fingers and breathed a short sigh. There was still a suspicious lump in Kirito's left pocket, but he decided to leave that alone while calling out to his partner who had also finished eating. "That was good. —So, what's the plan from now on? We'll reach the fiftieth floor in question if we climb for another thirty minutes, but... are we going to charge in from the front?" "Nn..." Kirito mussed up his hair as he groaned. "That's right... —We found out just how scary an integrity knight can be earlier, but judging from what I saw in the battle between you and that old man, rather than those guys not being used to consecutive skills, they really don't have any experience with them, I guess. I want to believe that we have a chance of winning if we bring it into a one-on-one melee. But with several of them there, not to mention how they're fully prepared and awaiting us, that would be hard to set up." "Then... let's give up on going in from the front and search for another route?" "I wonder about that. Even Cardinal declared that this grand staircase was the only route and even if we found a secret passage, there's still the danger of getting caught in a pincer attack before long... I hope to defeat the knights on the fiftieth floor without running away elsewhere, somehow. So that would bring us to having to use our trump card, but we have the time to prepare that draggy, long art ritual, thanks to the warning that old man gave us." "I see... The «armament full control art»..." When Eugeo muttered it, Kirito nodded with a complex expression. "I'm worried about using it in an actual fight without practice, but wasting our swords' Life on a trial shot at a place like this would just be... We'll use the full control art together, before we dash onto the fiftieth floor and try to render as many knights powerless as possible..." "Aah, there's something I have to say about that, Kirito." With just a little awkwardness, Eugeo cut into Kirito's words. "That is... It doesn't feel like my full control art will be a high impact direct attack like the integrity knight's skill earlier." "Eh... r-really?" "You see, the one who wrote the art ritual for me was Cardinal... I was the one who thought up the type of skill, but still..." Kirito tilted his head as he spoke to Eugeo, his murmurs full of excuses. "Well, try reciting the art ritual for now. Without the opening line." "Y-Yeah." He rapidly chanted the art ritual as he was told to, with the «system call» omitted. Kirito, who listened with his eyes shut, went against expectations and smirked after Eugeo reached the final line, "Enhance armament". "So that's it. True, it can't quite be called offensive, but it's useful enough, depending on how it's used. And it doesn't seem to go too badly with my full control art." "Oh? What's your skill, Kirito?" "That's something for you to look forward to." Eugeo lightly scowled at Kirito, tossing out that glib line. However, his partner combed his forelocks upwards with a composed face, leaning his back against the wall once more. "Well, I can't call it a real strategy, but let's go with it. First, we chant the armament full control art just before we charge onto the fiftieth floor, leaving it in standby before activation. Then upon dashing in and confirming their positions, you first hit them with your skill, then I will with mine. If everything goes well and the enemies are gathered in the same place, we might even render all of them helpless." "Might, huh." He agreed doubtfully, but to be honest, Eugeo didn't have a plan of his own. He couldn't help but admit his partner had a better aptitude for creating a plan with all factors accounted for and he was frankly thankful for being able to chant the art ritual before the battle, with his lackluster confidence in reciting it quickly. "...Then, let's go with that. First, I will..." As he spoke, Eugeo casually turned his vision towards the left, at the stairs continuing to the cathedral's twenty-ninth floor. And he opened his eyes wide in amazement. Two petite heads were peeping out from the shadows surrounding the railings, their four eyes staring intensely in their direction. The instant their eyes met with Eugeo's, the two heads tucked in with a flash. But as he continued to gaze on, speechlessly, the heads appeared once again, their still-innocent pair of eyes blinking steadily. Realizing something had happened, Kirito followed Eugeo's sight and after also leaving his mouth agape, he hesitantly asked. "Who are... you two?" With that, the two heads met each other, nodded in sync, and nervously revealed themselves entirely. "Ki... kids...?" Eugeo muttered, unthinkingly. The ones who stood on the floor above were two girls clad in exactly the same ink-black clothes. Their ages appeared around ten. He felt a tinge of nostalgia, for the plain black clothes were greatly similar to the religious habit belonging to Selka, Alice's little sister, who studied at the church in Rulid. However, unlike Selka, the girls wore short-swords with an overall length of around thirty cen on their green belts. A moment of wariness welled up, but he immediately noticed not only their blade, but their grips as well, were made from a reddish wood. The hue was unusual, but it was likely similar to the wooden swords granted to children aiming to become swordsmen. The girl on the right had her pale light brown hair in two braids. Her droopy-looking eyebrows along with the corners of her eye gave an impression of meekness. Contrasting with that, the girl on the left had her straw colored hair cropped short, her two eyes accented upwards in resolve. As Eugeo and Kirito stared on in silence, the one who took a step forward was the spirited, strong-minded girl on the left as expected. Taking in a deep breath of air, she suddenly began her self-introduction. "Erm... I'm-I'm Fizel [6] , a sister apprentice of the Axiom Church. And this girl here is also a sister apprentice..." "Li... Linel." The pair's childish voices ended on a quavering note, perhaps due to their uneasiness. Eugeo showed a smile meant to reassure them and immediately realized he might be seen as hostile, considering they were sisters of the church, even if they were still apprentices. However, the words spoken by the girl who called herself Fizel were more straight to the point than Eugeo would have expected. "So... are the intruders from the Dark Territory supposed to be the two of you?" "Hah...?" Kirito's and his face instinctively met. His partner, too, was unable to come to a decision on how to handle this situation. His lips flapped endlessly with his eyebrows knitted, and then he swiftly moved and slunk behind Eugeo's back. "I'm bad with kids. I'll leave this to you." Told that from behind, he wished to whisper "That's unfair!" back, but hiding behind Kirito wasn't quite possible now. Looking at the two girls on the floor above, he gave a stifled reply. "Er... erm, well... we ought to be humans from the Human World, but... the part about us being intruders is, well, not exactly wrong, I guess..." This time, the children huddled their foreheads together upon hearing that and began to exchange words in hushed voices. They were soft, but still audible due to how the surroundings were far too silent. "What's with that, they just look completely like humans on the outside, Nel. They don't have any horns or tails." The one who said that, unsatisfied, was Fizel, the girl who seemed strong-minded. The girl named Linel argued back falteringly. "I-I only said what was written in the books. You're the one at fault for thinking they would really have them, Zel." "Hmm, still, they might just be hiding them. Maybe we can tell if we get closer?" "Eeh, but they just look like normal humans. But... maybe it's possible that they have fangs..." The charming conversation reminded Eugeo of the twin daughters of the Wolde farm where he had once freeloaded, and his lips truly went slack this time round. If Kirito and himself were kids of that age and found out there were intruders from the land of darkness nearby, there was a high possibility they would have gone and sneaked a peep like this. As a result, they would probably have received a harsh scolding from their fathers and the village chief. Eugeo instantly became worried, having thought of that. Wouldn't the two girls be punished later for coming into contact with rebels against the church? He figured he wasn't in any situation to hold that concern, but still felt that he had to speak. "Hey... won't they get mad at the two of you for talking to us?" Upon hearing that, Fizel and Linel promptly closed their mouths and then after, put on smug smiles. Fizel answered, looking just a little jubilant. The politeness in her speech went missing unnoticed. "All of the brothers and sisters and their apprentices were ordered to lock the door to their own rooms and not leave since this morning. So that means that even if we went to take a look at the intruders, there's no worry of anyone finding out." "Ha-Hah..." Somehow, it seemed exactly like a reasoning Kirito would come up with. He could even practically picture that in his mind, how they would get found out in the end and be scolded. The two girls went into some discussion once again, but Linel was the one who spoke out this time. "Ermm... are you two of you really not monsters from the Dark Territory?" "Y-Yeah." "Then, I'm sorry, but could you allow us to take a closer look at the two of you...? At, erm, your foreheads and teeth." "Eeh?" Losing his calm at the unforeseen request, Eugeo glanced behind, but not only did Kirito not send any aid his way, he even feigned ignorance with his head looking elsewhere. Eugeo reluctantly nodded to the girls. "...Well, if that's all, I don't have a problem with it..." Being unable to refuse in this situation was partly due to his nature, but there was also his desire to prove that he was a regular human despite being a rebel going against the church and depending on the circumstances, it might even be possible to gain information on the cathedral's interior from the pair. Fizel's and Linel's faces sparkled and they trotted down the stairs, their gait entwined with curiosity and caution. Their feet stopped upon reaching the landing, their blue and grey eyes pointedly fixed on him. Eugeo leaned over, combing up the hair on his forehead with his left hand as he bared his teeth for them to see. The children stared at Eugeo for close to ten seconds without blinking a single time, before they finally nodded, apparently satisfied. "He's human." "He is, isn't he?" Such a pronounced disappointment appeared on the pair's faces that he couldn't help but to break into a wry smile. Looking at Eugeo doing that, Linel inclined her head to the side. "But if the two of you aren't monsters from the Dark Territory, why would the Central Cathedral believe that the two of you are intruders?" "E-Erm..." Even while thinking it would be a turn for the worst one way or another, he figured there wasn't any need to hide after all that had already come to pass and answered honestly. "...A long time ago, a female friend of mine was taken away by an integrity knight. So, I came here to take her back." This, in particular, must have been hard for an ascetic apprentice, who would normally believe firmly in the Axiom Church's sense of justice, to accept. He expected expressions of disgust and dismay to show up on those young faces, but contrary to that, the girls simply nodded curtly. The girl with straw-colored hair, Fizel, spoke with a slightly disgruntled face. "So that's it. That was a pretty normal reason." "N-Normal?" "There were a few cases of people arranging protests against the church when their family or lovers were taken away, recorded in the past. The two of you are probably the first to actually get in here like this, though." Following on, Linel picked up the flow from the side. "Not to mention how they said you cut the spirit-iron chains and escaped once you were imprisoned, and that part about managing to defeat two integrity knights too, which made us wait here, thinking there were definitely monsters of darkness... maybe even a genuine darkness knight launching an attack. But to think you were just normal humans..." The kids exchanged looks and went, "Is this enough?" and "It is, right?", as they lightly nodded to each other. Linel, who looked at Eugeo once more, tilted her small head as her pigtails swayed. "Then, last of all, could you tell us your names?" There’s more that I wanted to ask, though, thought Eugeo as he replied. "I'm Eugeo. The one behind me is Kirito." "Hmph... you don't have a family name?" "Ah, yeah. I'm a child of the pioneers, you see. ...Could it be the same for the two of you too?" "No, we have one." Cutting off there, Linel grinned widely. A bright, cherubic one—a smile like her cheeks were stuffed with delicious sweets. "My name is Linel Synthesis Twenty-eight." Eugeo couldn't immediately deduce the meaning that name possessed. At once, a cool chill could be felt at his abdomen and Eugeo turned his vision downwards. Eugeo wasn't sure when it had been drawn from the belt, but the short-sword gripped in Linel's right hand had its tip sunk about five cen into his body. It appeared to be only a wooden sword when worn in her belt, but it seemed what he truly thought was the blade, was actually a wooden scabbard. The real blade drawn out from there was not wooden. It was a murky-green, unfamiliar metal. Its surface caught the sunlight shining in from the window and gleamed as though it was wet. "Eu...!" Was that short utterance Kirito's voice? Turning his rigid neck behind him, he saw his partner frozen, with his right foot a step forward. Fizel, who was beside Linel only a moment before, was now standing diagonally behind Kirito, with that same green sword thrust into that black coat. The shape of her mouth that made up that smile was the same spirited one as earlier, just as jubilant. "—And, I'm Fizel Synthesis Twenty-nine." The short-swords were drawn out from Eugeo's and Kirito's bodies at the same time. Fizel and Linel gave the swords a flick faster than the eye could perceive and shook off the red blood cleanly, then neatly stored them in their respective scabbards. The chill creeping in from the injury in his abdomen spread throughout his body in an instant. The places that freezing coldness assailed went numb one after another. "You... two... integri... ty..." Right after he had somehow forced out those words, his tongue went numb and he was completely petrified. His knees gave way without warning and Eugeo dropped to the floor like a sack. His chest and left cheek crashed heavily onto the marble, but pain, as well as his entire sense of touch, was absent. Immediately after, Kirito tumbled over with a thud. Poison— Eugeo realized, though it was already too late, and tried to think of a countermeasure. He had generally studied about forms of poison in nature and and their antidotes from the Sword Mastery Academy lectures. However, all of those were only measures for cases when one was affected by poison from plants, snakes, or insects, not in preparation for getting attacked by venom in the midst of battle like this. That was only natural. Battles were competitions of valor and grace where the academy, no, the Human World was concerned, so an act like adding venom to weapons would have been strictly prohibited. He heard that even the young noble, who had released a venomous insect and tried to hinder Eugeo and Kirito from taking part in the Zakkaria Swordsmanship Tournament, didn't go so far as to coat his sword with poison in the match with Kirito. As such, the knowledge Eugeo possessed was on the level of knowing what type of herb to apply when stung by some specific venomous insect. Even if he were to discover what variant of venom the girls used, there was no vegetation around, let alone medicinal plants. The final method was to try curing himself via sacred arts, but the usage of art rituals was impossible with his hands and mouth paralyzed. In other words, if this venom did not merely rob his body of its freedom, but was one that constantly reduced his Life as well, both of their lives would be extinguished before they got halfway up the Central Cathedral. "You don't have to be so scared, Eugeo-san." Integrity Knight Linel Synthesis Twenty-eight's voice suddenly trickled down from overhead. Perhaps due to the venom's influence, he heard the sweet voice somewhat distorted, as though he was underwater. "It's just a paralyzing venom. In the first place, the only difference is whether you die here or on the fiftieth floor." The click-clacking of her footsteps sounded and a small, light-brown shoe jumped into Eugeo's vision as he remained immobile with his left cheek stuck to the ground. Linel lifted her right foot, and then unreservedly placed its end atop Eugeo's head, moving it here and there as though she was searching for something. "...Hmm, so there really weren't any horns." Moving her foot onto his back, she endlessly trampled over both of its sides. "No wings either, huh. Zel, what about your side?" "This one's just a human too!" Likely having examined Kirito the same way outside of his sight, Fizel responded unhappily. "Ah-ah, and I was hoping to finally see a monster from the Dark Territory too." "Well, it's alright. If we drag these two to the fiftieth floor and cut their heads off in front of those lame people waiting there, we should be able to get sacred instruments and flying dragons too. Then we can fly over to the Dark Territory and look at the real ones all we want." "Yep. Right, Nel, let's see who's the first one to get a darkness knight's head!" Even after all of that, Fizel's and Linel's voices were the very likeness of innocence and Eugeo thought that to be the most unnerving part of it all. How could children like these little girls become integrity knights—no, before that, why were these children in the cathedral? Eugeo could not see when Linel, who was in front of him, drew her sword. Fizel's agility, having easily defeated Kirito who was a distance away, was even more horrifying. However, combat skill was not something that would improve without long years of practice and the experience of actual life-and-death battles. The reason why Eugeo could freely handle the Blue Rose Sword, a sacred instrument, would have been due to his experience in patiently swinging an axe at the Gigas Cedar, but Kirito said driving away the goblin group at the northern cave also played a major part. But no matter how he looked at them, Fizel and Linel were around ten years old and they seemed to have never actually experienced a fight against the Dark Territory monsters too, according to their words. In that case, through what means did they master their physical movements and sword handling, which were faster than the eye could follow? However, Eugeo did not let out a single sound about the swirling doubts within his heart. It seemed the venom had circulated through his entire body, with the sensation of the floor's coldness or the presence of his own body disappearing before he knew it. Linel's small hand grabbed Eugeo's right ankle and he noticed he was being dragged along as his vision reeled around. Desperately shifting his eyeballs that could hardly move that much towards the left, he spotted Kirito being dragged along like baggage as well. The paralysis likely reached his face the same as Eugeo, as his partner's expression was blank. The two young integrity knights dragged Eugeo and Kirito along, the Blue Rose Sword and black sword still within their belts, and began going up the stairs without a care. Their heads were violently lifted and dropped each and every step climbed, but as expected, there was no sense of pain. He had to find a plan to escape this crisis, but perhaps because the paralyzing venom had assailed even his spirit, Eugeo could sense nothing but a parched emptiness enveloping himself. He had resolved himself to fight the Axiom Church, but even he didn't think they would have carried out such dreadful manipulation on such children of tender years, molding them into integrity knights. And the humans living in this Human World believed that it was the symbol of absolute goodness and harmony. And had for hundreds of years. "You think it's weird, don't you?" Linel's voice suddenly reached his ears, faint laughter accompanying it. "'Why did children like these became integrity knights?', right? You're going to get killed soon enough, so I'll tell you." "Nel, isn't there no point in saying that if we're killing them? You're eccentric as always." "Don't you think going all the way up to the fiftieth floor is boring?—Eugeo-san, we were born and raised here, in this cathedral. We were made by the brothers and sisters in the tower under orders from Administrator-sama, you know. For her «resurrection» sacred art experiments that can recover Life that had been completely lost." The words coming out from her mouth were unbelievably horrifying, but Linel's voice remained cheerful until the very end. "It seems children outside receive their sacred task when they're ten, but we were given them at five. Our job was to murder each other. We were given a sword like a toy, far smaller than even this venomous sword, and made to pair up and stab each other." "You sucked at stabbing, didn't you, Nel. I couldn't stand how much it hurt each time." Linel responded, unsatisfied, at Fizel's voice that seemed to have joined in. "That was because of your weird movements, Zel. —I think you two would know after defeating two integrity knights, but humans don't die so easily, do they, Eugeo-san, Kirito-san? It's the same even for kids at merely five years old. Even as we panicked with the need to kill each other quickly, we blindly slashed and stabbed until finally reducing each other's Lives to zero, but Administrator-sama would just resurrect us with sacred arts..." "And resurrection totally didn't work out at the start too, right? The kids who died normally were still lucky; there were some that exploded into pieces or some that turned into weird lumps of meat or some that became different people when revived, weren't there?" "Even if it was supposed to be our sacred task, we didn't want to be pointlessly hurt and revived either. We tried out various ways and noticed that getting killed in one hit as cleanly as possible hurt the least and had high chances of resurrection. But that single hit's the hard part, you know. It had to be really fast and smooth, either a stab to the heart or slashing off the head." "And we succeeded in that at around seven, I think? We practiced all the time while the other kids were sleeping, after all." There was utterly no sign of his senses returning, but shivers still assailed Eugeo, like goose bumps rising over his entire body. The reason why Fizel and Linel acquired their frightening physical techniques. It was from killing each other without cease over many years, or so the girls were saying. Day after day, they swung their swords thinking about how best to sever their friends' lives. Certainly, with the accumulation of such experience, it might be possible to master the skills required to be conferred the position of an integrity knight even as a child. But on the other hand, these two have definitely lost something essential. Linel continued in the same cheerful voice even as she incessantly ascended the grand staircase. "It was around the time we became eight years old that Administrator-sama gave up on the resurrection art experiments. It looked like perfect resurrection was impossible in the end. Did you know? When your Life becomes zero, loads of white arrows of light rain down and, how do I say this, the insides of your head get sliced away bit by bit. The kids who had their important parts shaved away don't come back the same even if their Life was restored. There were countless times when I lost the last few days of memories after getting revived. —As a result, the thirty of us at the start became just Zel and me at the end of the experiments." "That big-headed elder told us who had survived to choose our next sacred task, so we said that we wanted to become integrity knights. He got mad when we said that, saying that the integrity knights were guardians of order summoned from the Celestial World by Administrator-sama; that they weren't something children like us could become. And then it ended up as a match against the novice integrity knights at that time. ...What were those guys' names?" "Erm... Something-something Synthesis Twenty-eight and Twenty-nine." "Look here, Nel, I'm asking for that something-something part. Oh well, that face the elder had when we cut those arrogant brothers' heads off in one slash was strange, huh?" Stopping her words there, the girls merrily laughed for a while. "...And, upon finding out the result, Administrator-sama made us integrity knights as a special case. Replacing the two who died. But she said we lacked the knowledge to take up defense duty like the other knights, so we had to be taught about the law and sacred arts for another two years as sister apprentices... honestly, it's just annoying." "When we were discussing how we could get flying dragons and sacred instruments quicker, the warning that underlings of the Dark Territory had invaded the cathedral came in, you see. Both Nel and I went, 'This is it!'. We thought that if we caught the intruders and executed them faster than the other knights, Administrator-sama might make us into official knights, so we waited at the stairs." "I'm sorry about using poison. But we really wanted to bring Eugeo-san and Kirito-san to the fiftieth floor if possible... Ah, please don't worry. We're super good at killing, so it won't hurt." It seemed the two girls couldn't wait for the moment they cut Eugeo's and Kirito's necks in front of the defense line of integrity knights on the fiftieth floor much longer. Their lively strides became increasingly light, climbing the stairs astonishingly fast despite dragging their prey along. Although he had to think up of an escape plan somehow, Eugeo could do naught but listen to what the pair talked about in a daze. Even if his mouth wasn't paralyzed, he believed it was utterly impossible to make these children change their minds through words. The two of them probably don't even possess the concept of good and evil. All the girls obeyed was the orders from the one who «manufactured» them, the highest minister, Administrator— After they turned for the umpteenth time, the ceiling reflected in Eugeo's opened eyes changed from the underside of the next floor's staircase to a level surface. The staircase likely didn't continue because they had finally reached the fiftieth floor that divided the cathedral into two. Fizel and Linel’s steps came to a halt and they exchanged brief words, "Let's go" and "Yeah", with each other. There were several minutes until that green sword severed his neck—no, there were probably only seconds. His body showed no sign of his senses returning at all and his fingertips wouldn't move the slightest despite how much he wished it. The ceiling here was much higher than it had been so far. It was probably twenty mel high at least. The marble canopy far above, colorfully depicted a likeness of the three goddesses of the world's creation and their devotees, arched overhead. The columns that supported the canopy, too, were adorned with countless sculptures, Solus's light lavishly cascaded down onto them through the windows installed to the left and right. It was a somber scene, one fitting of its name, «Grand Cloister of Spiritual Light». The two girls dragged Eugeo and Kirito along another five mel and their feet stopped there. His body spun half a circle with the force of his right foot thrown out and Eugeo could finally see through the entire grand cloister. It was dreadfully wide. Likely using up all of this entire cathedral floor, the flooring made from stones of different hues appeared hazy at the corners in the white light. A deep-crimson carpet spread straight towards the wall furthest from the entrance, a grand door that practically seemed built for giants towered at the end. There was no mistake that the stairs continuing to the next floor were beyond that door. And— Far in front of the door, in the center of the hall, several motionless knights clad in full body armor, exuding an air of intimidation that would let no-one pass as they stood tall, could be seen. Four were lined up at regular distances. One was a little in front. Every one of the four standing behind were uniformly equipped in armor, gleaming silver, wearing helmets engraved with a cross. The same shape as Eldrie's. Their weapons, too, were the same large straight swords thrust onto the floor, with both hands placed firmly on the pommels. The one in front had armor with a significantly different design from the four behind. It was completely suffused with a refined orchid radiance and was noticeably more sophisticated as well, while a slender sword that seemed specialized for thrusting skills hung at the waist. What that knight wore could be considered light armor, but the other four were no comparison for the density of resolve that emanated from there. Eugeo couldn't see what lay inside that helmet modeled after the wings of birds of prey, but he believed there was no possibility that the knight was inferior to Deusolbert. These were the five integrity knights that formed an insurmountable barrier to their aim of the highest floor. But the ones who were a bigger threat to the lives of Eugeo and Kirito at the present moment were the two children standing right before their eyes. Triumphantly bending their backs, covered in their plain ascetic clothes, Linel and Fizel confronted the five knights. "—My, if it isn't Deputy Knight Commander Fanatio Synthesis Two-dono here." Linel first announced in a cheerful voice. "It appears the elder must have been rather alarmed as well, to go to the bother of sending «Heaven Piercing Sword» Fanatio-dono here. Or perhaps you are the one panicking here, Fanatio-sama? I suppose you couldn't bear to have «Fragrant Olive»-dono walk off with the position of Deputy Knight Commander with her performance, could you?" The few tense seconds of silence were broken by the purple knight's rather sharp voice accompanied by a metallic reverberation. Eugeo felt confident that he sensed hidden irritation behind that muffled echo, unique to integrity knights, that didn't seem to originate from a human. "...Why are you young apprentices in this battlefield of honorable knights?"" "Aha, that's soo lame!" Fizel quickly shouted back in an unreserved tone. "It's because you bring stuff like honor and dignity into fights, that two of your all-powerful, able-to-match-a-thousand integrity knights have lost, heh. But rest assured, so that you esteemed knights don't suffer any further disgrace, we have caught the intruders for you!" "We'll be cutting the intruders' heads off now, so please look closely and report it to the highest minister. I suppose the honorable integrity knights wouldn't even imagine about stealing our achievement, am I right?" Eugeo couldn't help but be dumbfounded at the girls' guts despite the perilous situation he was in, as Linel and Fizel spoke with even less restraint while the five integrity knights, possessing superhuman strength, faced them. No—that might be a little off. Could that prominent emotion hovering behind the children's small backs be hatred...? Lying on the floor, Eugeo issued his strength to the only part that could move, his two eyes, and stared at Linel and Fizel. But still, what was their hatred directed towards? Despite appearing before the major criminals who had rebelled against the Axiom Church and highest minister, Administrator, the girls had showed nothing but pure curiosity. Linel and Fizel, openly expressing both hatred and contempt, glared at the integrity knights, and the knights looked back at the two children with irritation, as Eugeo looked up at the children, harboring doubts in his mind, so— Until the instant that black-clothed shadow appeared behind the children without a sound, there was likely not a single being who had detected its movement. Kirito, who should have been affected by the paralyzing venom like Eugeo, approached from behind the two girls with the smoothness of a shadow panther on the prowl, and took the venomous swords hanging on their waists by their hilts: Fizel's in his right hand, Linel's in his left. With that, he drew the swords upwards and linked it to a shallow slash on each of the children's exposed left arms. The children only managed to turn to look back with blank faces after Kirito landed from a long jump backwards, with the short-swords still in his hands. Vacant expressions of surprise appeared on Linel's and Fizel's innocent faces. "Why..." "Move..." The venom's effects manifested immediately and the children tumbled onto the floor softly after voicing that much. Kirito got up as though he was their substitute. He held both of the venomous swords together in his left hand and searched through Linel's ascetic clothes with his right after walking up to her. The object he instantly picked out was a tiny bottle the size of his fingertips, stoppering an orange-colored fluid. Flicking off the cork and putting it to his nose, he nodded as though convinced, then walked on. Eugeo couldn't do anything but to believe the fluid, gently flowing from the bottle that drew close to his lips, was an antidote and drank it down. It was likely for the best that he had no sense of taste. Kirito, displaying a rare sort of grimness on his face, whispered in an extremely soft voice while still on his knees. "The paralysis will be cured in a few minutes. When your mouth can move, be sure to start chanting the armament full control art without the knights' notice. Keep on standby when you're done preparing and wait for my signal." Getting up after saying only what he needed to, Kirito moved to the girls' side once again. He shouted out towards the five integrity knights still standing a distance away in a strained, loud voice. "Knight Kirito, as well as Knight Eugeo, would like to extend our deepest apologies for the disrespect of looking on while lying down at the side! In addition to that disrespect, I beg for you to grant a deferment for us to redress our disgrace! I propose we cross swords after that hiatus!" The purple knight, who was probably of a rather high rank, immediately replied in a dignified tone. "I am the second of the integrity knights, Fanatio Synthesis Two! Criminals, my sacred instrument, «Heaven Piercing Sword», doesn't possess a single drop of mercy, so declare your last words if you have any, while this sword remains sheathed!" Upon hearing that, Kirito instantly looked down at the two girls collapsed beside him and hit out with his words, loud enough for even the knights to hear. "—I believe you think it's weird, don't you? About why I could move." Chagrin dyed Linel's eyes as the words she had personally spoken earlier were stolen. "The two of you fumbled your words earlier. You said all of the brothers and sisters were ordered not to leave their rooms. There shouldn't be anyone who can disobey an order within the cathedral. Hence, that proved you were not actual sister apprentices since you hadn't abided by the order." A prickling pain crawled around his limbs, perhaps because his senses had started to return thanks to the medicine, but Eugeo took nearly no notice of it. He finally understood what emotion was hidden behind his partner's expression. Despite his usual character, that Kirito—was enraged. But it didn't seem that rage was directed towards the children. After all, a considerable level of sympathy could be seen in his eyes as they were cast down at Linel and Fizel. "Besides, there're those scabbards on your waists. Those were made from the «ruby evergreen oak» in the south, right? That is the only material that would not rot when in contact with these swords made from the «poison steel from Ruberyl». There was no way mere sister apprentices could have something like these. Thus, I chanted an art to counteract the poison before the two of you got closer. It did take quite some time for it to finish, though. ...Strength isn't purely based on how fast you can swing your swords. To sum it up, the both of you were foolish; foolish enough to deserve dying here right this instant." Kirito coldly told the two girls and raised the poison swords held in his left hand up high. The two swords traced a green flash as they flew from his hand, thrown down without any hesitation. They buried themselves with a dull noise, into the stone floor at the tip of Linel's and Fizel's noses. "But I won't kill you. In exchange, watch closely at just how strong the integrity knights you ridiculed are." He turned aside after those few words and proceeded several steps forward. Kirito slowly turned the black sword that glided from its scabbard with a sharp sound and brandished it in front of himself. "—I apologize for the wait, Knight Fanatio! Knight Kirito stands before you!!" He's overdoing it... regardless of what the circumstances may be. He thought to cry those words out at his partner's back, but Eugeo's lips merely trembled slightly. His senses were returning, but his voice was still locked away. Kirito had always borrowed those weapon listings from the academy's library he held an interest in, so that was likely where he had gained the knowledge of the «ruby evergreen oak» and «poison steel». With his inherent insight added in, Kirito might have escaped from the trap laid by Linel and Fizel, but it was clear that they had been plunged into an even more perilous plight due to the children. After all, they had to engage strong opponents in direct combat: five integrity knights, with one among them at the position of Deputy Knight Commander. The plan of discussing their actions and chanting the full control art in advance, before charging into the grand cloister, was naturally voided. The usual Kirito would have dragged Eugeo along as he fled without a tinge of hesitation, rearranging the circumstances to make it the slightest bit more advantageous. As expected, the reason why he didn't was because he wasn't in his normal state. If he stared hard, he could practically see a profound anger stirring Kirito up, bluish-white flames upon the black shirt on his back. Even the instructors at the Sword Mastery Academy would have been overpowered if they had confronted Kirito, as he currently was, head-on. However, as expected of one who was the integrity knight’s second in command, the purple knight named Fanatio grasped the hilt of that slender sword on the left waist in a dignified motion. When it was unsheathed with a clear sound, a dazzling radiance, as though the blade itself was emitting light, struck Eugeo's eyes. Following Fanatio, the four integrity knights behind reversed their great swords thrust into the floor and brandished them in a neatly coordinated motion. The resolve felt welling from their swords rippled the air in the hall as it pushed against Kirito's. Fanatio, who didn't show the slightest bit of liveliness despite the strained situation, let loose a voice with a somber ring to it from under the helmet. "Criminal Kirito, it appears you desire an individual match with me... but unfortunately, we have been strictly ordered to use all means to erase the both of you if you were to reach this cloister. Hence, I shall have them serve as your opponent first. —The «Four Oscillation Blades» personally tempered under my instruction, that is!" Fanatio loudly declared, then started with rapid chanting of a complex sacred art that began with system call. It was likely, no, unmistakably the armament full control art. The only means to counter were to use the same art as well, or to cut the knight down before it was finished. Kirito chose the latter. As he rushed at Fanatio with enough force to make sparks scatter from his soles' hobnails, he swung his black sword overhead. However, the knight who stood at the left, among the four in wait behind Fanatio, began an assault at the same time. The great sword held with both hands cleaved horizontally from the left with a heavy groan, advancing on Kirito. Kirito changed his sword's orientation, receiving the knight's attack with a downwards swing from overhead. An ear-piercing crash resounded. Both were repelled backwards, widening the gap. Kirito's recovery was quicker in comparison to the knight, hurriedly trying to pull the huge sword back. He had already entered the stance to pursue upon landing, and with just a single lunge more at his opponent's chest— "......!?" —Eugeo's breath immediately escaped after he believed that. He didn't know when it had happened, but a second knight had rushed in and released an all-out horizontal slash from the left. Kirito stopped his feet and this time, his sword slashed up towards the left and repelled the enemy's sword. There was the same metallic noise and abundant spray of sparks as earlier, and the two opened up a distance of approximately four mel. The second knight's stance, too, was severely demolished. It was only natural, holding one's ground after being repelled from dealing an all-out attack with a sword that huge would be difficult regardless of how much physical strength one had. What should be praised, however, was Kirito's expertise, for repulsing the opponent's sword with a complete minimum of motion and gracefully absorbing its recoil, shifting into the next offensive stance immediately after. However. Without being giving even the time to consider the potentiality, Eugeo saw a third knight lunging at Kirito once again, directly after he landed. Before his sight was taken by the collision between sword and sword for the third time, Eugeo forced his eyes to the rear. "——!!" And he ground his teeth. In that moment Kirito crossed swords with the third knight, the fourth was already beginning to rush forth. How could they predict Kirito's movement so accurately? Kirito's reaction finally became erratic from the consequent horizontal cleave. Although he did succeed in intercepting it somehow, his black-clothed frame swayed in the air, perhaps due to the force he was pushed back by. ——I see. It took too long, but Eugeo noticed the four knights' intent. All of the knights' attacks were horizontal slashes from left to right. Parrying that with his sword would restrict the direction to which he would be repelled, to a certain degree. With that as their aim, the next knight would repeat the horizontal slash. The wider range when compared to thrusts and vertical swings, along with the blade's length, could provide a rough estimate that was sufficient for them to catch Kirito within the reach of their slashes, even if it was done in advance. It was a supposed «consecutive hits skill via a group» from the integrity knights who shouldn't have secret moves with consecutive hits. They really were different from the swordsmen in the capital who purely pursued the beauty of styles, they were true warriors hardened through actual battles in the Dark Territory. However, the knights' coordinated tactic was not perfect either. —Notice it, Kirito, there's a way to get through it if you do! A hoarse groan seeped out from Eugeo's throat as he tried to shout. His tongue and lips were finally starting to move. As he moved his mouth in a desperate bid to loosen those stiff muscles, to start on the art ritual even a moment quicker, Eugeo frantically prayed as he looked on at his partner. For him to notice it. Having parried the fourth knight's sword, Kirito slipped up in his landing at last, thrusting a single hand onto the floor. The first knight's sword roared as it launched an assault, thrusting in after recovering from the impact. Kirito immediately slumped his upper body backwards, slipping under the sword. A section of his black hair made contact with the blade and was scattered away. Yes—If the incoming attack was certain to be a horizontal slash, he would simply have to dodge above or below it instead of deflecting it with his sword. But that evasion has to be combined with a counterattack. If he were to fall down, there would be a short pause, no, something longer than that before he could take action again. It appeared the second knight approaching from Kirito's left had absolutely no intention of missing that pause. Nimbly shifting the sword that was pointed sideways up, the knight executed a vertical slash at full power. "D...!!" Danger, Eugeo tried to shout, ignoring the sharp pain running through his throat. However, it wasn't in time. It was when he instinctively averted his eyes, not expecting him to be able to dodge— The initial knight who just completed the sword swing on Kirito's right shook violently. Kirito wasn't merely sprawled over. His two legs had clutched around the knight's unnoticed, pulling the knight down atop himself. The second knight could not stop the slash in motion and the great sword's blade buried itself deeply into his ally's back. The knight who recovered his sword while showing signs of shock was then assaulted by a black flash reaching from below. Kirito, his lunge accurately stabbing through the knight's two arms as he got up, turned towards the third knight who appeared to be charging forward in disorder and shoved the second away with all the force he had. As expected, the third couldn't hack at him along with an ally and halted the slash. At last, the consecutive attacks from the group Fanatio called the «Four Oscillation Blades» came to an end. Kirito ran savagely through that gap. Without sparing the four knights even a glance, he launched an attack on Fanatio, chanting the full control art. Let it reach—! Eugeo frantically prayed. "Enhance...!" Fanatio shouted. "Uooooh!!" Kirito howled, his sword raised up high from afar. It wouldn't reach from that distance normally, but the blade released a yellow-green flash immediately after. Aincrad-style secret move, «Sonic Leap». It was a one-hit vertical slash like «Vertical», but possessed the ability to charge forward from over twice that distance in an instant. Fanatio turned the slender sword's point at Kirito whose bestial pounce trailed out a path of light. However, it was impossible for such a delicate weapon to ward off the impact from a secret move no matter what was tried. The long sword carved from the Gigas Cedar held a weight higher than the Blue Rose Sword, a sacred instrument. Adding a slashing attack at Kirito's practically godlike speed into the mix, it would be enough to smash something like a slender sword into smithereens, even if there were three of them bundled up together. It was at the instant when the black-clothed knight reached the peak of his jump and began to swing his sword forward— A flash came from the slender sword at the knight's hand. No, to be accurate, the entire blade turned into a bluish-white radiance as it stretched out forward with terrifying agility. The slender ray of light penetrated Kirito's left flank without a sound, continued onwards towards the sky, and ignited a small explosion as it plunged into the grand cloister's ceiling. That all ended in an instant. Kirito's secret move had its trajectory upset with his abdomen pierced through, and merely grazed a decorative wing on Fanatio's helmet, forcibly snapping it off into the air. Barely any blood could be seen flowing from the wound and Eugeo didn't think there was much of a drop in his Life, but Kirito fell onto a single knee upon landing. When he focused his eyes hard enough, he saw pale smoke rising around the small hole opened up in his shirt. It was probably a flame-type attack? However, the light released from Fanatio's sword was a blinding white that was almost blue. Eugeo had never seen a flame of such color before. Turning with a motion so refined it was detestable, Fanatio pointed the slender sword's end precisely at Kirito who was crouching on the floor. With a faint 'sha', the ray of light surged out again. If it wasn't for Kirito springing to the left immediately before that, the light would have likely gone through his right leg. The light ray that precariously missed stabbed into the marble floor and once again caused a small explosion. When the light faded, a bright-red hole remained melted into the surface there. "No... way...!" Eugeo did not notice the jarring, hoarse voice that escaped from his own mouth for a while. The material used in building the cathedral was marble of the highest grade, like the «immortal walls» that divided Central Centoria as a cross, judging from its pure white hue and glassy glaze. It wasn't something that could be melted despite how hot a flame you used. Hadn't how only the carpet had been burnt when those infernal flames brought forth by Deusolbert's «Conflagrant Flame Bow» had engulfed the surface been enough to serve as evidence for that? In other words, that would make Fanatio's full control art far mightier than Deusolbert's skill, if it was a flame-type attack. So wouldn't Kirito's Life that suffered a direct hit from such a skill be on the verge of dissipating? Kirito didn't stay in a single place, continuously jumping in erratic directions as Eugeo looked on tightly gripped in the fist of an ice-cold fear. Light rays flashed out one after another, digging into the ground, as Fanatio's sword chased his figure. A more horrifying detail of that skill was how it contained absolutely no prior movements before the discharge of light, such as accumulating the light or thrusting the sword. At the very least, Eugeo couldn't guess at when the nonchalantly shifting slender sword would emit the ray of light from his position. Describing it as having an extremely long range would define it at the same level as Eldrie's «Frost Scale Whip», but that was mere child's play when compared to this. Showing no sign of getting fired up at all, Fanatio continued pursuing Kirito with slick movements like a dance. Kirito could dodge even four, five, six shots of those solely because of his painstakingly tempered physical capability and feral intuition. However, at last, the light that shot out for the seventh time declared an end to the fatal game of tag. Shaa! The top of his foot was pierced in midair by the light ray that scorched the air as it shot out, Kirito crashed onto the floor, shoulder first, his posture crumpling. But still, Fanatio's sword point unwaveringly aimed slightly below the tuft of black hair that was brought up straight away. "Ki......" -rito, Eugeo tried to shout before he noticed the numbness of his throat and mouth were finally gone. He might be able to articulate clearly enough to complete the art ritual like this. Instead of screaming out, Eugeo steadily sent strength to his abdomen and began chanting the art ritual at a volume too soft for the knights to hear, but loud enough to reach the creation goddesses. "System call..." Kirito would be able to get through this level of danger on his own. Hence, there was only one thing Eugeo ought to do, to chant the full control art as he was told to, getting it ready to be activated whenever it was needed. With the sword of certain death pointed straight at Kirito, Fanatio kept quiet for a while, as though to provoke him, before speaking out in a dull voice. "...I have been given advice, that prattling on at times like this is a bad habit of mine, from the Knight Commander for over a hundred years, but... Still, it feels like such a misery. Every single one of those who have prostrated themselves beneath the authority of my «Heaven Piercing Sword» could show naught but that asinine expression, you see. I suppose you, too, are wondering what exactly is the true form of this technique capable of cornering yourself so easily." It seemed the four knights under Fanatio had finished treating their casualties in the meantime too, as they were now surrounding Kirito from the back, holding their great swords in one hand. This made it even harder to escape, but it increased the possibility of prolonging Fanatio's small talk accordingly. Concentrating fully on not making a single mistake in his chant in order to avert failure, Eugeo continued stringing the art ritual together with all he had. "You may be a criminal, but I suppose you know of mirrors if you have lived in the capital?" Fanatio suddenly asked a question that came out of nowhere and a perplexed expression appeared on Kirito even as he withstood the pain. Mirrors. Of course, Eugeo had seen them before as well. There weren't any back home in Rulid, but his personal room in the academy's elite swordsman-in-training dormitory was furnished with a small one. It was a mysterious tool that reflected far more vividly than water surfaces and metal sheets, but Eugeo couldn't quite come to like his own feeble appearance, so he hadn't had much of a craving to peek into it. With the sword prepared to immediately shoot light at Kirito if he made any movement, Fanatio resumed in a voice that revealed no emotion. "As it's a highly valued commodity made by pouring melted silver onto glass, I doubt there would be many opportunities for inhabitants outside the capital to lay their eyes on it, but... that tool is able to reflect Solus's light almost perfectly. I wonder if you understand... that is, the reason behind why the area shone on by the reflected light becomes twice as hot. —A hundred and thirty years from now in the past, her eminence, the highest minister, confiscated silver coins and other items made from silver, and commanded glassmakers to create a thousand large panes of glass. They were for an offensive art that required no chanting... an experiment labeled «weaponry» though, you see. The thousand mirrors, lined up to form a half circle in the cathedral's front yard, reflected the midsummer Solus's light and focused it onto a single spot, bringing forth a pure white inferno. That melted a large rock the size of a man in mere minutes." Weaponry... white inferno...? Eugeo understood nothing from Fanatio's words. However, he knew by intuition, that the scheme from the highest minister was as horrifying as having children murder each other in order to stabilize the resurrection art. "—In the end, the eminent highest minister judged that it required too much preparation to get it into a battle-worthy state. However, she mentioned it would be too much of a pity for all of it to go to waste, and with her divine miracles, she gathered every one of the thousand large mirrors, tempered them, and created a single sword. That was this sacred instrument, the «Heaven Piercing Sword». Do you understand, criminal? What pierced through your abdomen and leg was the might of Sun Goddess Solus herself!" The words from the integrity knight, tinged with a faint haughtiness, were such a surprise that Eugeo narrowly avoided making a blunder on the nearly completed art ritual. Solus's light gathered by a thousand mirrors—was that supposed to be the true form of that white ray of light? It was possible to counteract an attack through thermal elements with cryogenic elements. But how could an attack through light be guarded against? In the first place, arts with luminous elements as their source of power should have nearly no direct offensive ability, to the extent of Eugeo's knowledge. A blinding light could be negated with umbra elemental arts, but a light ray on that level would probably pierce through ten or twenty umbra elements thrown at it easily. Unconcerned with the intolerable unease in his heart, Eugeo's mouth continued constructing the art ritual, half automatically, and finally reached the final line. The power hidden within the Blue Rose Sword would be invoked after chanting the ending phrase, «enhance armament». But that would have to wait for Kirito's signal. Fanatio appeared to have ran out of things to talk about and slightly thrust the sword pointed at Kirito's head forward. "Kirito, have you understood the might of my sword that will erase your Life? Then I shall allow you to repent for your sins, entrust your heartfelt faith to the three goddesses, and beg them for their mercy before you die. If you do so, the spiritual light of purification will cleanse the sins of your soul and guide it to the Celestial World. Now—farewell, immature and foolish criminal." The Heaven Piercing Sword shone dazzlingly, projecting the ray of light that would ring his death knell through his heart. "Discharge!" It was in that instant when that scream reached Eugeo's ears. Directly before Fanatio's sword shone, Kirito slapped his two hands together with a 'pan!' and then held them out in front. What appeared before his palms was a single sheet colored silver. No, that's not it. It wasn't merely a sheet of metal. The perfectly level, square sheet clearly reflected Fanatio's helmet while the knight stood in front of Eugeo. Eugeo's eyes had perceived elements of two different hues grasped in those hands before they were slapped together. The light on the right hand was that of metal elements. It was used to fire needles or create trifling tools, the metallic-type element. And what the left hand held were crystal elements. It was the glass-type element used to create imperceptible barriers and glass cups. With those two formed into the shape of a sheet and layered, the object created was— A mirror. The light spear that concealed an extreme heat hit the mirror created by Kirito's art ritual and changed it from silver to orange in the blink of an eye. The Lives for tools created from elements were after all low. Even if a knife looked the same on the outside, compared to one forged from ore that could last for tens of years, one formed from metal elements would exhaust its Life in only hours and dissipate. That mirror should be no exception, it was highly doubtful it would have the endurance to deflect the Heaven Piercing Sword's light. As Eugeo's fleeting thought predicted, the mirror survived in the air for only a mere tenth of a second. The glass and metal melted into a fluid that scattered about and the light ray went straight at Kirito, retaining eighty percent of its radiance. However, the instant's worth of reprieve forcibly brought about wasn't wasted on Kirito either. It was hardly anything, but he succeeded in tilting his frame towards the left and the light singed only a part of his black hair and cheek before it streamed behind him. And the remaining twenty percent of the light caught by the mirror— Was deflected at an acute angle and sprung upon Fanatio's helmet. It shouldn't have been a predictable move, but as expected of the second integrity knight, the light ray was dodged with a head tilt to the right with reflexes on par with Kirito or higher. However, the knight couldn't protect the decorative wings that sprung from either side of the helmet. The decoration on the left was hit by the light and the clasp disintegrated with it—the helmet broke into two, front and back, immediately after. Eugeo's sight was seized by the abundance of hair that swept into the air in that moment. It was a deep black like Kirito's hair. But its silkiness was overwhelmingly superior. The flowing wavy long hair, which must have surely been groomed with tender care, glistened bewitchingly in the midday light from the grand windows. Why would someone like a knight— As Eugeo unconsciously wondered that, he could see Fanatio's face quickly being covered with a raised left hand. And Fanatio shouted. "You saw, didn't you... cretin!!" It was utterly different from that metallically warped voice that had come from the helmet previously; it was in a high-pitched tone, both refined and supple. She's female—!? The overwhelming surprise drove Eugeo to the brink of releasing his voice, which would break the art ritual's standby status. He tightly pursed his lips to prevent any unnecessary words from spilling out. However, part of his consciousness was steadfastly drawn towards Knight Fanatio's retreating figure. Her stature was similar to Kirito or taller, but when he assessed her with that thought in mind, the line tracing from her back to her waist was certainly slender. However, he had been completely convinced she was a man up until now. They had already encountered knights like Alice Synthesis Thirty, or Linel and Fizel, though they were children, so there was no reason to deny that there were quite a number of females within the integrity knights. In the first place, close to half of the trainees studying in the academy were girls like Tiezé and Ronye. Many integrity knights were produced from their ranks, so there was nothing strange about the second knight being female. When he pondered on why he was so astonished despite that, Eugeo noticed that it was because Fanatio's speech and behavior up until now had been excessively masculine. If that was the case, the reason for the anger exuding from Fanatio's entire frame right now was not because her bare face was seen—it might be due to them finding out she was female. It appeared Kirito, down on the floor with a single knee, had the pain from the burn on his cheek vanish too, as an astonished look showed up on his face. Glaring at Kirito crouching through the gaps between the fingers on her left hand, Fanatio spoke again. "So you're... making that sort of face too, huh, criminal. So even you bunch, guilty of high treason against the church, will not fight seriously the moment you know I'm a girl?" Despite being a lament, practically wrung from herself, her voice was exquisite, bringing to mind stringed instruments played by a virtuoso.
"I am not human... I am an integrity knight summoned to this land from the Celestial World... And yet I have to suffer such scorn from you men, the instant you know me to be female! Not just among my peers... but even from the commander of those incarnations of evil, the darkness knights!!" —That's not it; neither of us are looking down on you. After replying thusly in his mind, a thought struck Eugeo. He had fought many swordswomen during his service as a guard in Zakkaria and while he began studying in the academy. There were several among them who possessed more skill than Eugeo and of course, there were times when he lost against them. Through experiencing all of those battles, Eugeo did not go easy on his opponents just because they were female and he held respect for experts in the field regardless of their gender. However—what if it wasn't a match where the competitors won by stopping before making contact or after the first hit, but an actual life-and-death battle? Could he really annihilate his opponent's Life without hesitation...? It happened when Eugeo was seized by the thoughts he now considered for the first time and lost his breath. Kirito who was crouching on the floor suddenly became a gust of wind and leapt out. It was a downwards slash from the right without any trickery or even secret moves. However, the blade moved at an appalling speed that appeared hazy even in Eugeo's eyes. It was like a miracle instead, that Fanatio managed to parry it in time with her heart thrown in disarray. Gaan! An ear-piercing impact echoed through the hall, scattering sparks that vividly illuminated the pair's faces for a moment. Fanatio skillfully stopped the slash near her slender sword's guard, but she could not soak up the brunt of the charge and was forced back several steps. Kirito locked their swords together and jostled into the female knight's slender body without slackening the pressure. Fanatio's knee, clad in purple armor, began to bend slightly. Kirito suddenly spoke in a low tone. "I see, that explains that sword and skill. It's to hide that you're a woman when fighting... that's right, isn't it, Fanatio ojou-sama?" "You... bastard!!" Her shout sounded like a scream; Fanatio forced her sword back as they scraped against each other. When Eugeo turned his sight that was fastened on those two elsewhere, he could feel signs of distress from the four surrounding knights as well. It might be likely, but there could be some among them who did not know Fanatio's bare face. The two girls who were laid paralyzed on Eugeo's right couldn't show any signs of either, however. Exposing themselves to the knights' eyes, Kirito and Fanatio continued their all-out competition. Kirito was clearly the winner in terms of body weight and sword weight, he guessed. But after getting pushed back once, Fanatio showed no sign of drawing back with that physical strength unimaginable from her slender arms. Kirito hurled words at her once again from the gaps in his gritted teeth. "...I'll say this first, but what I was surprised at just now, was how the resolve in your sword decreased by such a far-fetched amount the instant your helmet broke. Hiding your face, hiding your sword swings... aren't you the one most conscious that you're a woman?" "Sh... shut up! I'll kill you... I'll definitely kill you at least...!" "That's what I'm planning on doing too. I have absolutely no plan to go easy on you because you're a woman at all; after all, I've been losing to swordswomen the entire time!" It was true that Kirito had countlessly been beaten by Sortiliena-senpai, whom he served as a valet, as far as Eugeo knew. But Eugeo believed he wasn't exactly referring to training or practice matches. As if he was saying that he had actually lost to swordswomen elsewhere, in real bouts in the past... At that moment, Kirito's right leg suddenly sprung forth and tripped Fanatio's legs. Her upper body floundered and the two swords scattered sparks as they parted. Without a moment's delay, he thrust his black sword in with a single hand. However, the integrity knight's right hand flashed at godlike speed and her slender sword deflected the black sword from the side like a living creature. Straightening her posture while avoiding the thrust's passage, she took a step back to regain some distance. Kirito's recovery was quick as well. Using the momentum from the thrust, he dove into the opponent's chest in what seemed like a body slam and maintained the close range. After all, long range battles were not feasible against Fanatio who possessed that skill to fire light rays without prior preparation. An ultra-high speed clash of swords began at near-zero distance. What frightened Eugeo was how Fanatio dealt with Kirito's disorientating consecutive attacks without retreating by even a step back. The black blade that launched assaults from up, down, left, and right in succession was handled by the slender sword, freely flashing around, retaliating with thrusts of two or three consecutive hits whenever there was the smallest opening. Neither of the two used secret moves, but that was because they couldn't even find the opening to perform the initial stance. Every single one of the traditional swordsmanship styles in the Human World possessed only one-hit sword skills and it seemed not even the elderly Integrity Knight Deusolbert knew of consecutive hit skills. That would mean Fanatio worked out consecutive sword skills through her own effort. The reason behind that was definitely not unrelated to Kirito's speech from a while ago. The light from the Heaven Piercing Sword, to defeat enemies without getting close. Or the consecutive hit skills, to drive enemies away with successive attacks even if she was unable to use the full control art and lost the initiative. In other words, the female knight, Fanatio, was afraid of enemies getting close to her and noticing what was hidden under her armor. But why...? Why would she try so hard to hide her own gender? While reflecting on the new doubt that welled up, Eugeo's eyes were glued to the battle between the pair. It appeared the four knights under Fanatio were the same, they looked over the ferocious fight without moving one bit and with their great swords lowered. Really now, this is such— Such a magnificent battle. At that close distance, both parties hardly moved their feet and continued defending against the barrage of slashes and thrusts darting back and forth just by dodging their bodies or by parrying. The spectacle around the pair was as though a multitude of stars were surging in, rebounding, and vanishing, one after another. Even the clangs of steel clashing against steel had a certain magnificence to it, reminding one of a percussion instrument duet. A chilling smile crept onto Kirito's face that grew pallid as he executed techniques with such vigor, it was like he completely fused with the black sword. The close range battle should have been able to blockade the opponent's usage of Solus's light, but he currently seemed to be simply immersed in the joy of thrashing out with his tempered sword skills to his heart's content. On the other hand, Fanatio should have no reason to go along with her opponent. If she were to get one of her subordinates to attack Kirito from behind, take that opening to gain some distance, and fire those light rays again, there would be no possibility of Kirito defending this time. Despite that, the integrity knight with fluttering black, long hair appeared to be trying to conclude the showdown through direct attacks with her slender sword. Eugeo could not infer the reason for that. Because of anger caused by Kirito's provocation? Her pride as a knight could not forgive retreat? Or perhaps, she, too, had found something of note in this exchange of consecutive hit skills, this transcendental battle? Eugeo could not see anything but Fanatio's back from his position; he did not know what sort of expression showed upon her face. Making a guess from her several remarks, he figured Fanatio had served the church as an integrity knight for a hundred and thirty years at minimum, with the possibility of it being more. It was an absurd length of time that Eugeo could not even imagine, with himself unsure if he could even reach nineteen years old. He had no idea how many years it had been since she had concealed her face and gender, but if she had worked out all of those consecutive sword skills through her own effort, that was not merely ten or twenty years of practice. Kirito could only continue crossing swords with Fanatio right now because he, too, was a user of the rare consecutive hit skills, the Aincrad style. If this was any other swordsman, they would probably have been prostrated on the ground, unable to take even one step within the blade's range. Hence, Kirito might be the first opponent Fanatio faced who could go up against all of her thoroughly polished sword skills as well. They might be integrity knights, but the adoration of the beauty and gallantry in using a single hit was evident in Eldrie's and Deusolbert's fighting styles. As such, it was doubtful that Fanatio had displayed her consecutive hit skills in practice with a knight as her partner. She had trained by herself for a long, long time, with no-one but an imaginary shadow; a fellow consecutive hit skill user then appeared, taking the form of an entity named Kirito. As Eugeo looked on at the pair's superhuman confrontation, his entire body was covered in goose bumps without him noticing it as tears spread from his eyes. Ever since Kirito began teaching him the Aincrad style, the ultimate battle he visualized in his mind was now being carried out in reality here. It carried not the beauty of a style that continued seeking for vanity, but a raucous beauty acquired purely as the result of seeking to cut one's enemy down. Fanatio's five consecutive thrusts took on Kirito's five consecutive slashes in succession and the respective swords, strongly deflected away, swung down as the pair screamed out their resolve. "Ryaaaa!" "Seaaaa!" Even Eugeo, lying on the ground far away, could feel the heat from the shockwave caused by the clashing swords on his skin. Kirito's and Fanatio's black hair violently fluttered, their swords rasped, and the pair switched positions. Eugeo lost his breath for a moment when Fanatio's bare face finally entered his vision. It was a pure, beautiful face; one that made him think how a holy woman from the world of fairy-tales would look like if they truly existed. She could be in her mid-twenties at most erring towards the higher side, with her silky skin the shade of black tea with plenty of milk added in. Both her arc-shaped eyebrows and long eyelashes were black, but her eyes were mostly a gold tinged copper-red. Her appearance showed that she was probably born in the eastern region and her nose bridge was moderately high. Her jawline had a tinge of roundedness as well, bringing forth a remarkably gentle elegance. And her petite lips were a very mild red. The murderous anger from just a little earlier was no longer on the female knight's face. Something like resignation, bottling up a certain sort of sorrow, could be felt in its place. "—I see now." Fanatio murmured in her bewitching voice with the swords crossed. "Criminal, it appears you are a little different from those who picked a fight with me. There haven't been any men able to try and kill me this seriously once they saw this abominable countenance until now." "Abominable—huh. Then for whose sake are you combing that hair and tingeing those lips red?" Kirito's question was as provocative as usual, but Fanatio only showed slight signs of a cynical smile, answering quietly. "I have already waited more than a hundred years for the man I love to request more from me, than sword techniques and severed heads... it is only natural to be in the mood for some cosmetics after aching for him so long under that steel mask and then ending up playing second fiddle to a new female knight, with a face more beautiful than myself and freely flaunting it." A strong knight more beautiful than even Fanatio. And female too. It was only after Eugeo shivered upon thinking how such an opponent still remained above in this tower, that he realized he had an idea who the integrity knight fitting those conditions was. Not wearing a helmet, becoming a knight only in recent years, someone who knocked Eugeo down in a single hit at godlike speed—Alice Synthesis Thirty. Kirito should be pondering over one thing or another at Fanatio's words as well, but he revealed not a single atom of it as he questioned further. "—What's the most important thing to you? If integrity knights exist purely to serve the highest minister's commands, you wouldn't even require a heart capable of worrying over love or jealousy. I do not know who that man is, but if you’ve had an unrequited love on him for over a hundred years... that would mean you're human. It's because you're human, just like me. I'm fighting to overthrow the church and highest minister, to enable humans like you to love and live normally!" Even Eugeo was deeply surprised by those words. He never knew Kirito, who always seemed aloof, thought about such things in his mind. But at the same time, Eugeo also noticed somewhere in his partner's voice there was an echo, as if troubled over some sort of contradiction. Fanatio's face distorted once again, though only for a fleeting instant. Looking at a deep valley carved into her smooth forehead, he thought the «piety module» would emerge like in Eldrie's case, but the visible changes to the second among the knights ended there. "...Child, you do not understand. If the church's authority was lost, who knows what sort of hell this world would be thrust into... The army of the Dark Territory strengthen their forces day after day, clamoring beyond the mountain range at the end that seals them away. Aah... I will admit it, you are strong. And neither underlings of darkness nor malicious intruders, as the Chief Elder mentioned, it seems. However, that does not change the fact that you are of extreme danger. To be able to sway the church and integrity knights with not just that sword, but your words as well... Before the greatest duty granted upon us integrity knights, to protect the Human World and its inhabitants, my love is merely... it's not even worth harvesting, equivalent to the chaff of wheat." The Heaven Piercing Sword and the black sword crossed between the pair continued emitting a grinding sound that seemed to reach its limit, even while Fanatio talked with a grave expression, as if stating her resolution. It was clear that either of them could be sent flying if they lessened their strength by the slightest amount. No, the two swords should still be losing their Life in the meantime. If the swords remained locked, the first one to run out of Life would be the Heaven Piercing Sword. After all, if their status as sacred instruments were on the same level, the one with more Life would simply be the thicker and heavier one. There was no chance Fanatio had not noticed that. And how she would be mercilessly slashed dead by Kirito the moment her sword gets propelled backwards and creates an opening. "Hence—I need to defeat you. Even if I have to trample upon my pride as a knight. Sneer at me for winning with such an unsightly skill. You possess the right to do so." After softly declaring all of that, Fanatio continued and shouted. "Light hidden within the Heaven Piercing Sword, it is now the time to release yourself from your shackles!! —Release recollection!!" This art ritual—is the art to release its memories!! The silver blade shone brighter than it ever had. After that. Shupaa! Several rays of light were released in a radial pattern from the sword tip with that noise. Eugeo instinctively thought it was meant to blind. To momentarily rob Kirito's sight and break his posture before cutting him down. However, that verdict was utterly extinguished when one of the light rays shot by the Heaven Piercing Sword in all directions hit the floor right beside Eugeo, burying deeply into the marble. It wasn't meant to blind—none of that light was! Kirito!! Eugeo couldn't bear but to lift his upper body as he screamed in his heart. When he focused his eyes, he saw the light rays fired at point-blank range just about to pierce through Kirito's right arm. That wasn't all, he could already spot evidence of deep black penetration marks in his left shoulder and right thigh. And Kirito wasn't the only one struck by the ultra-hot light on his body. The master of the Heaven Piercing Sword, too, had unsightly holes bored through the armor on her abdomen, shoulder, and both legs. The depth of her injuries were worse than Kirito's. Still, that expression filled with resolve that showed on her lovely face didn't stir a single bit. Integrity Knight Fanatio Synthesis Two planned to blow away her own Life as well, with Kirito as her companion. The words from the previous highest minister, Cardinal, replayed in his mind. The ritual phrase, «release recollection», awakens all of the weapon's memories, releasing its rampaging power. A power capable of annihilating one's life that swallowed up not only the enemy, but yourself as well. The released Heaven Piercing Sword gave almost fatal wounds to the pair from point-blank range, with considerable damage to the surrounding four as well, in its initial barrage. The divine ornaments in the grand cloister were not outside its reach either and were brutally torched, while the expensive glass windows shattered in succession. There were hardly any rays of light that flew all the way to Eugeo and the two paralyzed girls, collapsed nearby, but still, they would suffer a direct hit sooner or later. No matter how much light it emitted, the sacred instrument tempered from a thousand panes of mirrors showed absolutely no sign of falling into silence. The sword point gleamed at intervals of roughly one second, firing short rays of light without taking any care to aim. Half were fired towards the empty skies, scorching only the walls, pillars, and ceiling, but quite a number among the other half reached out at a lower angle and were amassed by the pair's bodies within point-blank range, naturally enough. Unable to remove his sword, Kirito could only shift his head as much as he could to narrowly avoid the light bent on piercing his forehead. The light went for Fanatio's face next, but the integrity knight didn't make the slightest movement. The light rays grazed her cheeks, burning dark-red grooves into her unblemished, smooth skin and burning away a considerable amount of her abundant black hair in an instant. "You... damned idiot!!" Kirito cried out with a desperate expression. Drops of fresh blood scattered from his mouth along with it. Eugeo could easily imagine how taking that many light rays to his body would leave Kirito on the verge of exhausting his Life, regardless of how much he might have. But the black-clothed swordsman stubbornly refused to fall, even sliding his sword over the origin of the light rays, the tip of the Heaven Piercing Sword, covering it with the black sword's flat. As a result, it might just be a temporary deferment, but all of the light fired towards Kirito and Fanatio ended up being obstructed by the black sword. Now—now or never! Kirito didn't signal for it, but Eugeo knew the time had definitely come through both his rationality and intuition. Fanatio was naturally engaged, while the four knights under her were desperately guarding from the light as well, using their great swords as shields, with hardly any composure to care about the remaining criminal. There was no one capable of stopping Eugeo's full control art that would leave him wide open during its activation if he used it at this moment. Springing up with an intense force, Eugeo drew out the Blue Rose Sword that he had been gripping onto the entire time in a single stroke. "Enhance......" Spinning it in midair, switching it to an underhand grip, he supported the grip with his left hand as well and thrust it into the marble floor with all the strength he could muster. "—Armament!!" Close to half of the pale-blue blade sunk deep into the floor. Bashiiii!! Accompanied by a sharp, explosive noise, the marble floor was instantaneously covered in a pure-white frost. As crystalline icicles pointedly stabbed upwards, a frigid wave burst forth at a breakneck speed. Approximately five seconds after activation, the frigid wave with a breadth close to ten mel engulfed Kirito and Fanatio, along with the four knights, at their feet. It appeared the four knights finally noticed the strange phenomenon with that. The faces covered by their helmets jerked and turned to look at him. But it was too late. While Eugeo put all the strength he had into his two hands, he shouted out loud. "Bloom—Blue Rose Swoord!!" Countless pale blue icy tendrils grew upwards in an instant, towards the four knights, Fanatio, and Kirito from their feet. Each tendril was only as thick as a pinky finger. But all of them grew prickly thorns, densely packed together, firmly digging into their prey's legs. "Nhn..." "Wh-What!?" The knights collectively cried out. Innumerous icy tendrils had already crept up to their waists and abdomens along their legs. There were some who belatedly attempted to prune away the tendrils with their great swords, but the tendrils wrapped around the blades repeatedly upon contact, shackling them onto the floor. The knights assailed by the tendrils, from their chests to their heads, even down to their fingertips, were frozen into ice sculptures incapable of the slightest movement. Eventually, from the tendrils that obstinately entwined around their quarry while letting out sharp 'kin' noises blossomed a limitless number of large roses, colored in a profound blue and preceded by the reverberation of an exceptionally lucid chime. Naturally, all of that was cold ice. No honey or fragrance was produced by their solid and transparent petals, but in their place, the roses began emanating a white chill. The air within the entire cloister was shrouded in a thick mist at once, glittering and sparkling. The source of the chill—was the captured knights' Lives. The speed of reduction was exceedingly gradual, but they could not muster the strength necessary to break their bonds while the ice roses leeched Life from the entirety of their bodies. In the first place, this art ritual wasn't meant for killing enemies. Eugeo decided on the art's nature solely for the goal of retarding Integrity Knight Alice's movement. The four knights were rendered completely powerless, but as expected of the one who managed them, it appeared Knight Fanatio saw through the skill's nature in the moment the tendrils broke through the frost and jumped into the air in a bid to escape. However, Kirito, who knew of Eugeo's art, reacted slightly quicker. Having jumped up high in anticipation of Fanatio, Kirito used the swordswoman's spaulder as a stepping stone of all things and escaped further into the air. Somersaulting towards the back while scattering fresh blood, he escaped the ice tendrils. His sacrifice was driven onto the ground; tendrils wrapping themselves around Fanatio's entire body as she fell onto a knee. "Kuh...!" Perhaps due to the break in her concentration, the rays of light indiscriminately fired from the Heaven Piercing Sword ended after shredding several tendrils, sinking into silence. Thin tendrils rapidly twined around the desolated damaged armor, encasing it within thick ice. ? The last of the blue roses that opened up from Fanatio's feet bloomed in all its glory atop the scar carved on her cheek. The second integrity knight completely ceased motion along with the sacred instrument. In spite of the harsh injuries over his whole body, Kirito somersaulted backwards multiple times in succession and broke away from the ice tendrils, then failed on his final landing and fell with a thud beside Eugeo. "Gufh..." A choked voice escaped from the depths of his throat and a large quantity of fresh blood immediately sprayed out. Watching as that froze at once into a deep-crimson frost, Eugeo unconsciously cried out. "Kirito... wait a moment, I'll chant a healing...!" "No, don't stop the skill!" Even while he was on the verge of losing consciousness from blood loss, Kirito still scowled with a gleam in his eyes and shook his head. "That person won't fall from just this much..." While a thread of blood flowed near his lips, he propped his body full of wounds up with the black sword. Kirito wiped at his mouth with his left hand and shut his eyelids for a while to regulate his breathing, before his two eyes flared open and he raised the black sword up high. "System... call!!" The art ritual following the opening line that strained his willpower was chanted at an astounding speed, considering his physical status. Wheezes interweaved with blood pervaded the gaps between each verse and florid sprays scattered from his lips at times, but still, Kirito continued to recite the art ritual that exceeded ten lines without getting stuck a single time. Looking from up close, countless scars were carved into Kirito's body, an image so gory it caused him to shiver. The Heaven Piercing Sword's light had pierced his well-trained body several times, charring his wounds black. There wasn't much bleeding, a small consolation, but the various injuries evidently reached his internal organs. Kirito's Life should be decreasing quicker than the knights still captured by the ice roses, his life in danger without immediate medical care. However, Eugeo could not let his hands go from the Blue Rose Sword's grip in order to maintain its full control art. It would provide some relief if Kirito would use a healing art on himself, but it appeared his partner who continued chanting while looking ghastly had absolutely no intention of doing that. There was no need to be in such a rush, the knights ensnared in the ice cage wouldn't break out so easily— It was when Eugeo thought this that his sight returned to the knights in front once more. A streak of white light emerged from the center of the fully bloomed ice roses and stabbed into the wall. Eugeo could only let out a short gasp from the overwhelming shock. "Eeh..." The source of the light was Knight Fanatio, who should have been fully enveloped by the layers of ice tendrils and with her movement completely sealed. The armament full control art didn't exactly allow completely free usage after finishing its chant. Handling the weapon with its offensive ability amplified required a high degree of mental focus from the user. Eugeo, too, had to keep a tight grip on the hilt of the sword pierced into the floor and maintain the image of abundantly blossoming ice roses if he didn't want the knights to escape their shackles. After fully controlling the Heaven Piercing Sword, Knight Fanatio had shot countless rays of light, gone through an ultra-high speed sword fight with Kirito, and in the end executed its grand technique of an unrestrained and indiscriminate light ray barrage, dealing almost fatal wounds even to herself. Her mental concentration should have been sapped and been released from the state of controlling the Heaven Piercing Sword—or so Eugeo thought. However. Completely encased in ice, Fanatio had raised the slender sword up high with her right arm, and was slowly moving it with crackling noises coming from the ice. The visage of the knight's spirit rising from her slim body, like a swaying heat haze, was clearly reflected in Eugeo's wide opened eyes. "Kuh...!" Biting his lips, Eugeo forced more strength into the two hands gripping the handle. Guided by his mental image, close to ten budding ice tendrils reached out towards Fanatio from around her. The tendrils whipped at Fanatio's right arm and twined about it in the same motion, without leaving any gaps, and stopped her movement. But that only lasted for a brief second. With virtually no care for the thorns stinging her, the integrity knight forced her right hand down. Nearly half of the blue tendrils snapped, sparkling as their pieces scattered. A chill colder than ice covered Eugeo from the back. —Is she truly human? Kirito's willpower, as he continued his high speed chant while coughing up blood, was absurd as well, but the swordswoman took the cake. She would not fall despite the many perforations over her entire body from the light rays' indiscriminate attacks and the merciless Life absorption by the ice roses—on the contrary, she was continuously pulling apart those ice shackles that rendered her four subordinate knights utterly motionless with the strength of her right arm alone. Eugeo stared in terror at the Heaven Piercing Sword gripped in the knight's right hand as it seemed to gradually adjust its angle towards the two of them. Exactly what endowed Fanatio with this much power? Her obligation to protect the law as an integrity knight? Her love towards some man that she carried for over a hundred years? Or perhaps, those words that came from the woman's mouth earlier...? Fanatio said that the Human World would likely be overrun by the Dark Territory's armies if it lost the might of the Axiom Church. Thus, that meant that even if she was hurt in the process, that woman was willing to fight to protect the masses of the Human World—those who should have been looked down upon, held in contempt, and taken advantage of by existences like her, whether they were higher class nobles or livestock. However, that was impossible. Integrity knights were minions under that highest minister, Administrator, who arrested the young Alice and transformed her into a different individual by robbing her memories. A detestable enemy. Eugeo's mind had established them thusly, and he climbed the cathedral, determined to take their lives should the need arise. Despite that, how could he even consider this true—how could he seriously consider this integrity knight as an agent of justice? "You... the whole lot of you don't deserve to uphold justice!!" Eugeo gave a stifled scream and poured all of the hostility he could scrape together from the depths of his heart into the Blue Rose Sword. Once again, numerous ice tendrils leapt out around Fanatio, their tips turning into sharp thorns and piercing into the knight's right arm one after another. "Stop... stop moving!!" Despite how overwhelming hatred should be whirling within his heart, for some reason, something spilled out from Eugeo's eyes. However, he could never concede those were tears. Eugeo couldn't let his heart be moved by Fanatio's figure as her right arm stupidly refused to stop even while pierced by the ice thorns, embodiments of Eugeo's outrage and resentment. The integrity knight's arm was battered. Snapped thorns were stuck in it like a pincushion, her blood quickly trickling down and turning into dangling red icicles. But in the end, the arm's movement did not stop, and it adjusted the Heaven Piercing Sword held aloft from vertical to horizontal, training its sharp point onto Eugeo and Kirito. Eugeo saw the silver blade bathed in a radiance, more dazzling than ever before, through the tears that blurred his sight. It shone so brightly that he could only believe Fanatio was spending the rest of her remaining Life on it. Eugeo's moist, squinted eyes gazed upon the pure-white radiance that felt like the Sun Goddess Solus had descended into this grand cloister. —I can't win. I can't win against her as I currently am. Gazing at the ice roses that crudely crumbled simply by being exposed to the white light, Eugeo gently took a breath. He, however, had no plans to gallantly close his eyes and wait for the light to take his life. He absolutely couldn't accept yielding to Fanatio's «justice» in such a manner. At the very least, he wished to display his obstinacy by having one last rose blossom. It was when he tried to scrape together the dregs of hatred still remaining in the depths of his heart, determinedly, that it happened. Kirito softly muttered by his side, apparently having finished chanting the art ritual. "You can't beat her with hatred, Eugeo." "Eh..." Upon turning his head, his partner continued with a slight smile visible on his bloodstained lips. "You didn't get this far because you hated integrity knights, right? You wanted to take Alice back, you wanted to meet her again... you're here because you love Alice, right? That feeling definitely won't lose to her justice. I'm the same... I want to protect the people in this world; I want to protect you and Alice and even her over there. So there's no way we can lose to her now... isn't that right, Eugeo?" Kirito's voice was calm despite the desperate situation. The black-clothed swordsman with many mysteries surrounding him nodded once more with a smile and looked forward. That was the exact moment the Heaven Piercing Sword fired what was likely its final and greatest beam of light. It was a gigantic spear of light, large enough to fit all of the light rays it had fired so far within it and more. It was like the Holy Spiritual Light, personally thrown by the goddess, Solus, to drive away the Darkness God Vector during the world's creation, had descended to incinerate all that exists. Kirito's black eyes flared wide open and were gleaming with overwhelming resolve. His voice that recited the final verse was filled with an unwavering determination befitting the dire circumstances. "Enhance armament!!" Facing straight ahead, the blade of the black sword pulsed. Immediately after, strands of darkness flowed out from all over the blade. The pitch-black torrent that seemed to suck in all light rippled, twisted, and entangled around itself. They became a spear, thick enough to wrap one's arms around, in an instant and increasingly pushed forward. Upon straining his eyes, it seemed only the sharpened tip was solidly materialized, taking on an obsidian-like gleam. He could recall that texture. The gigantic tree Eugeo swung an axe at, day after day. The «demonic tree» from which that black sword originated—the Gigas Cedar. The moment he recognized it, Eugeo understood the true form behind the full control art Kirito activated. He had awoken the memories sleeping within the black sword through the art ritual and projected into this location the appearance it could once boast of, that of the gigantic tree that refused to be hacked down over hundreds of years. Of course, its shape and size had not remained the same as it was then, but its essence was exactly the same. Tough, sharp, and an overwhelming mass. Its very existence was worthy of becoming an ultimate weapon. Eugeo's heart pounded hard. Immediately— The huge, pitch-black spear's tip made contact with the huge spear that was the gathered light of Solus. The explosive shockwave intensely shook the entire grand cloister... possibly the entire Central Cathedral itself. Perhaps even the giant tree was oppressed by the heat and intensity of the light that went beyond imagination, for it lost its momentum in charging forward. But endless darkness continued to stream from the black sword in Kirito's hands, trying to spur the spear forward, even to the bitter end. ? It appeared the Heaven Piercing Sword, held in Fanatio's hand, had no intention of resigning either. The rampaging torrent of light strengthened with each second, the ice roses covering the knight had already completely melted away due to its heat. That might have been an understatement; the gauntlet covering the knight's right arm appeared to be glowing bright red with white smoke rising from it. The clash between light and darkness continued for a while in the center of the grand cloister. However, it was doubtful a competition between powers of such extreme levels would end with them perfectly offsetting each other and vanishing. It was certain that one side would drive back the other and thoroughly annihilate its enemy. The one at a disadvantage in this match—was Kirito? Sure, the Gigas Cedar was tough, but in the end, it was still a tree, a tangible existence. As the original had eventually been chopped down after hacking at it time after time, this, too, would be extinguished after getting damaged beyond its limits. However, the Heaven Piercing Sword's light was a mass of pure heat. How exactly could an intangible assault be snuffed out? Supposing countermeasures exist, it would be either to use a mirror to deflect it like Kirito had once succeeded with, or neutralizing it with an absolute frost, stronger than what the Blue Rose Sword had brought forth; a power with a special trait capable of opposing it should be necessary. However, listing through the Gigas Cedar's properties would result in two: its absurd toughness and its weight— No, there was one more. Greedily absorbing Solus's light and turning it into its own energy. Fanatio's spear of light was abruptly ripped into over a thousand streams. The balance broken, the one to charge forth once again was the essence of Kirito's giant tree in the color of darkness. The tip was red-hot to the point of being blinding, but still, it gouged and shredded through the light without yielding to its pressure, proceeding towards the source. The light, split out in a radial pattern, pierced everywhere in the grand cloister, causing countless small explosions as they melted the ice tendrils. The four knights stuck onto the floor were blasted into the air one after another. Even as Integrity Knight Fanatio looked upon the huge, pitch-black spear drawing close like a tempest, she didn't take a single step. It appeared that all the anger and hatred had already become absent from her beautiful face. Her eyelids gently closed and her mouth moved slightly. Some sort of emotion must have been the root of that, but Eugeo had no guess for what it was. The giant tree's thorny tip finally ground its way to the light's origin and collided with the Heaven Piercing Sword's sharp point. First, the slender sword of white silver contorted as it was flicked away, glittering as it spun in the air. Immediately following that, the knight herself was thrown into the air by a tremendous impact. Fragments of the purple armor scattered as she was swept straight into the ceiling, smashing the wall mural that took the world's creation as its theme into small pieces. Her descent was slow. Along with countless marble fragments, Fanatio's body fell as though there were strings attached to it, falling directly in front of the large doors at the rear of the grand cloister with a dull crash. And the second integrity knight stood no more. The pitch-black spear gently lost its corporeality and began to be absorbed back into the black sword Kirito held, like a stream of shadows. When Eugeo took a look, it appeared the sword itself had become somewhat enlarged like during that one battle with Raios, but it returned to its original size once all of the darkness was once again within the sword. Eugeo turned back forward and gazed mutely over the debris left from the fierce battle. The spotless marble floor and walls were melted and broken here and there, mere shadows of their former selves. The floor at the heart of the brawl between the huge spears of darkness and light in particular, had a broad and deep trench channeled through it; it was weird how it hadn't broken through to the floor below. The fact that two people alone brought about this much destruction to the Central Cathedral's fiftieth floor, the «Grand Cloister of Spiritual Light», not to mention that they were just swordsmen studying at the Sword Mastery Academy only two mere days ago, would not be believed by anyone aside from those present. —But we really did it. Eugeo muttered in his inner thought. We've fought five of the integrity knights, those who maintained an unconditional rule over this world of humans since its creation, and we have won. Counting from Eldrie onwards, this would make it nine integrity knights we've driven off. According to Cardinal's words, there are twelve knights stationed within the cathedral, so there's three left. In other words, if we defeat just a few more knights... It was roughly at the same time as Eugeo clenched his teeth. Kirito collapsed onto his knees beside him. The black sword fell from his right hand with a flat clang. Tearing his hands from the Blue Rose Sword stabbed into the floor in a panic, Eugeo's torso lurched forward and he propped his partner up. "Kirito!" The body he held back was astonishingly light and the extent of the blood and Life flowing out was undeniable. The skin was whiter than marble and there was no sign of those shut eyelids lifting. Scanning his eyes over the entire body, he held his hand over the wound that seemed the deepest, the one at the flank. "System Call! Generate luminous element!" Gathering the three generated luminous elements on the wound, he next converted them into healing power through an art ritual. He released his hand just as the charred wound began to close, bit by bit, and carried out the same treatment on the wound at the left shoulder. Normally, catalysts such as «sacred flower orbs» were necessary for generating luminous elements which consumed much sacred power from the surrounding area, but they weren't now. Sufficient Life extracted from the five knights by the Blue Rose Sword had transformed into sacred power and had accumulated in the air. The continuous reduction of Life should halted with the worst wound healed, but Eugeo couldn't use any luminous-type sacred arts capable of recovering Life of someone who lost much of theirs. He grasped Kirito's right hand with his left without any hesitation and chanted a new art ritual. "System call! Transfer human unit durability, self to left!!" Beads of indistinct blue light covered Eugeo's entire body this time around and they immediately gathered at his left hand, then streamed into Kirito's body. This art which allowed for Life transfer between humans had a huge effect despite the art ritual's simplicity. Thinking back upon it, Kirito was the one who had suffered heavy injuries while Eugeo had barely lost any Life, both during the battle against Deusolbert and this time as well. He couldn't possibly pay it all back unless he handed over his Life to the brink of collapsing. Or so Eugeo thought, but when he felt roughly half of his Life had finally flowed out, Kirito fuzzily opened his eyes and gripped Eugeo's hand with his left, pulling it away from himself. "...Thanks, Eugeo, I'm alright now." "Don't force yourself, there should be some injuries hidden from plain sight left over after you went through all that." "It's way better than that time those goblins came at us; I'm more worried about that person..." Finding the Knight Fanatio, fallen on the opposite side of the cloister, at the end of where those black eyes stared, Eugeo unconsciously bit his lips. "...Kirito... That woman... tried to kill you..." The moment he said that, what Kirito had said immediately before he activated his full control art resounded deep within his ears. Looking downwards, he continued in a whisper. "Can't beat her with hatred... that was what you said earlier, wasn't it? Yes, that might have been true. I wasn't fighting that integrity knight due to some personal grudge or hatred directed at her, that certainly wasn't my reasoning for fighting... But... But I really can't find it within myself to forgive the integrity knights. It's not just their ridiculous strength, if they had that resolve... if they possessed the heart to protect everyone living in the Human World, then why can't they use that power and..." Eugeo faltered, unable to speak any further. However, Kirito, who staggered up and picked his black sword from the floor, nodded as though he understood. "I'm pretty sure those guys are stuck with their own doubts. If we meet with that Knight Commander person, we might find out more about that... Eugeo, your full control art was amazing. You're the one who beat those knights. So there's no need for you to aim your hatred at those humans, Fanatio and those knights in the «Four Oscillation Blades», any longer..." "Humans... Yeah... you're right. I understood that much when I fought them. She's human; that's why she was so strong." When Eugeo muttered that, Kirito let out a slight laugh and agreed. "Those guys might say that they're truly the good guys, and they might truly be the bad guys in your eyes, but they're living humans just like us. Deciding who's truly good or bad like that is impossible for humans, I'm sure." Those words sounded like he was voicing them so that he could also believe in them; a thought suddenly came to Eugeo. —Kirito. Don't you think that would apply to the one whom you got so angry over earlier as well, the highest minister, Administrator... the one with an ironclad rule over the Axiom Church and consequently, the world? But before he could ask, Kirito had already started to walk towards Fanatio who lay fallen before the grand doors. He took five, six steps before pivoting back and retrieving a small bottle after searching in his pocket. "Oops, forgot about this. Get rid of the kids' poison with this, please. Be sure to break those venomous swords and check if they're holding onto anything else strange before you make them drink it." Thinking about how he had forgotten about them as well, Eugeo caught the small bottle Kirito tossed and nodded. After standing up, pulling the Blue Rose Sword from the floor, and turning around, the young female knights, Fizel and Linel, were in the same condition, lying on the floor, paralyzed. The frost covering the surroundings had already vanished and it didn't seem they had suffered any injuries from the ice tendrils or light rays. The moment their eyes met with Eugeo approaching them, the girls sulked by averting their eyeballs which were all that were mobile. Looks like we won't be seeing eye-to-eye in a different sense from Fanatio's case here; he held back a sigh as he crouched down and pulled out the two venomous swords, thrust into the floor by the tip of their noses, with both hands. Tossing them both into the air, he swung the Blue Rose Sword a single time as they came spinning down. The short swords were demolished without difficulty, turning into specks of light and vanishing as they lost all Life before they fell onto the floor. Sheathing his beloved sword, he squatted down beside the pair and checked over their ascetic clothes to see if they possessed any other weapons while apologizing with a "sorry". Lastly, he uncorked the small bottle and poured the seventy percent left of its content into both of their mouths, sparing half to each of them. With this, the pair should be able to recover from their paralysis in a little less than ten minutes like Eugeo. It would be fine leaving them alone like this, but Eugeo then thought, "What would Kirito say in a situation like this?", and thus, opened his mouth after thinking for a short bit. "...Fanatio and Kirito are that strong because they have their sacred instruments and armament full control arts... that might be what the two of you think, being who you are, but that's wrong. Those two are much, much stronger... they could fight on even when hurt that badly not through their skills or weapons, but through their heart and mind; that's also why they can use such amazing art rituals. True, the two of you may be experienced with techniques for murdering humans. But killing and winning are completely different matters. I didn't notice that until today as well, though..." Eugeo had absolutely no idea how much of his own words reached them as they kept their eyes averted as usual. In the first place, he wasn't very good at dealing with children. But still, at the very least, the pair should have felt something after watching that battle as well, he was sure of that. When he recalled that innocent idle chatter from Fizel and Linel, he felt that he could believe them to not be truly bad as well. Turning around after a simple "see you", Eugeo ran after Kirito. He quickly ran his eyes left and right as he moved through the extraordinarily devastated cloister, checking on the status of the four knights serving under Fanatio. It appeared all of them had suffered rather deep wounds from the spear of light that went berserk as they had all collapsed. But as expected of integrity knights, he couldn't spot any completely devoid of Life. Their bleeding was minor as well, so they would likely be able to move soon enough. However, unlike them who were only dragged into the small explosions, Fanatio had received the entirety of the huge, rushing spear of darkness and was clearly on the verge of losing her life, even without looking at all that blood spilled in a large area around the fallen woman. Coming to a standstill near Kirito who knelt on a knee by the knight's side, Eugeo silenced his breath as he peeked in over his partner's shoulders. Looking at them up close, the wounds all over Fanatio's body were so horrifying, he wanted to turn his eyes away. Her torso and legs had holes pierced by heat rays in four spots, while her right arm was torn by the ice roses' thorns and on top of that, scorched by the aftermath of the Heaven Piercing Sword's final attack, leaving practically no place unhurt. However, as expected, what appeared to be the most terrible was the wound on her upper abdomen that had suffered a direct hit from the Gigas Cedar. There was a gaping cavity, as deep and large as an adult-sized fist, with fresh blood flowing incessantly. The face with her eyelids shut had changed into a faint bluish-purple, like her armor's color had made its way there, and not even a trace of vitality could be spotted. Kirito was in the process of trying out sacred arts to mend the wound as he held his hands over Fanatio's abdomen. The Stacia Window likely wasn't open because looking at her Life served no purpose at the moment. Noticing Eugeo approaching, he kept his face down and spoke with urgency in his tone. "Help me out here, the blood won't stop." "Ah... yeah." Nodding and getting down on his knees opposite, he put his hands to the same wound. After he chanted the same luminous-type healing art as the one he had used on Kirito earlier, the blood flowing from the wound seemed to have reduced somewhat, but the goal of sealing it was still far off. It was evident the surrounding sacred power would soon be exhausted and the both of them would be unable to generate luminous elements even if they persisted in the healing. Fanatio would probably recover some Life temporarily if they transferred theirs, but that was useless in the end if the blood loss wasn't stemmed. As it was, saving the woman's life would require assistance from a sacred art user capable of stronger healing arts than the pair, or a legendary elixir. Firmly biting his lips as he quietly stared at Kirito's face, Eugeo spoke after a moment of hesitation. "It's impossible, Kirito. She's losing too much blood." Kirito kept his eyes cast down for a while, but soon answered in a hoarse voice. "I know... but if I don't give up on thinking, there... there should be some kind of way to get through this. Eugeo, I'm begging you, please think about it too." That expression was filled with a sense of powerlessness, much like when he was unable to prevent that malicious act on their valet trainees, Ronye and Tiezé, two days ago; Eugeo felt a prickling sensation in his chest. However, no matter how much he thought, it was still obvious that there was no method to call back the life now fading away before his very eyes. The thought of healing the four knights fallen behind and having them help with the treatment flashed through his mind, but they definitely didn't have the time to afford carrying out such an oblique method. Fanatio's Life would likely be lost for all eternity in the seconds after either Kirito or Eugeo stopped their healing arts. And even if they continued with them—the same conclusion would arrive several minutes later. Eugeo made up his mind and informed his partner in the most solemn voice he could muster. "Kirito. —You told me this when we escaped from the underground jail, didn't you? That I would need to be prepared to cut down any enemy if I were to go any further. Weren't you fighting this person on the basis of that resolve earlier? Didn't you use that skill determined to have one of you die with the other living on? At the very least, this person... Fanatio-san did not hesitate. Her expression showed that she put her entire life on the line... that's what I believe. You should understand that too, Kirito... it wasn't at a stage where you could win while worrying about your enemies or going easy on them." That was what turning not a wooden sword, but a real sword towards an opponent meant in the end. Eugeo had learnt that through his trembling hands, the sharp pain in his right eye, and the icy terror deep in his chest when he sliced off Humbert's arm. That said, he had always believed this black-haired partner of his had understood that long ago—from before they met in the forest south of Rulid. Upon hearing Eugeo's voice, Kirito gnashed his teeth together and endlessly shook his head left and right. "I understand... I have to understand. Both this person and I fought seriously... a close, earnest fight where either of us could have won. But... this person will disappear if she dies! She has lived over a hundred years... in hesitation, in love, in pain; I can't just let a soul like that vanish... I mean... even if I die..." Even if he dies—what was he trying to imply? All humans will have their souls brought before the goddess of life, Stacia, when they exhaust their Life, and vanish from the Human World. As long as Kirito, despite his many mysteries, was a human, that should apply to him as well. Eugeo momentarily became bewildered, but that was erased as Kirito looked straight up and yelled without warning. "Can you hear me?! Knight Commander! Your deputy's going to die here! Or that elder person's fine too! If you can hear me, come down here and help!!" His scream echoed softly from the high ceiling far above and vanished in vain. However, Kirito did not give up and continued shouting. "Anyone's fine... there's still some of you integrity knights around, aren't there?! Come and help your ally! I don't care whether you're a minister or an ascetic... just get your butt over here!!" There was no response from above, but silence from the likenesses of the three goddesses, broken beyond recognition. Not even a gentle breeze descended upon them, let alone the presence of another being. When they looked back down, the hue of Fanatio's hair and skin were becoming unmistakably more pallid. Her remaining Life was a hundred, or perhaps fifty—Eugeo, who wanted to send off the deputy leader of the integrity knights, Fanatio Synthesis Two, departing for the Celestial World with at least a silent prayer, tried to persuade Kirito otherwise, but he did not cease his screams. "I'm begging you... someone! Help us out if you're watching! ...That's right, come here, Cardinal! Cardinal..." Kirito sank into silence as though something had blocked his throat all of a sudden. Eugeo looked up and watched his partner's face in shock, as it first showed a surprised expression, then a moment of hesitation before it turned into determination. "H-Hey... what is it all of a sudden?" However, Kirito thrust his right hand into his coat breast without replying. What he took out—swaying on the end of a slender chain, was a small steel dagger. "Kirito—! That's-!!" Eugeo instinctively shouted. The same dagger dangled around Eugeo's neck. He couldn't possibly have forgotten about it; it was the dagger that Cardinal, the previous highest minister before she was banished, had given them before they left the Great Library Room. It possessed absolutely no offensive ability, but it connected the one stabbed by it temporarily to Cardinal's domain. She had handed them over, with Eugeo's meant for Alice and Kirito's meant for Administrator, to function as a trump card for the duo. "You can't, Kirito! Cardinal said she didn't have any more prepared... that's supposed to be for the battle against Administrator..." "I know..." Kirito groaned in a pained voice. "But I can help her if I use this... not helping someone out even when I have the means to do so... I just can't prioritize anything to be higher than a human's life." He gazed intently at the dagger with a expression, pained, yet filled with a resolute determination— Kirito stabbed what he was holding in his right hand into Fanatio's left hand, the only part of her body that wasn't injured, without any trace of hesitation. In that instant, the entire dagger radiated a dazzling light along with its chain. Without even the time to swallow his breath, the dagger disassembled into several bands of purple light. Upon study, all of the light bands were lines of sacred letters just like those that appeared in the Stacia Window. The intricate letters separated from each other as they glided into the air and sank in everywhere over Fanatio's body. The entire integrity knight was enveloped in a purple aura along with the complete disintegration of the dagger. Eugeo gawked at the amazing spectacle, then noticed the bleeding from the wound on her upper abdomen had completely ceased, somewhat belatedly. "Kirito—" Eugeo tried to tell him that the bleeding had stopped, but was interrupted by a resounding voice that immediately came out of nowhere. [Goodness me, what a helpless fellow you are.] Kirito snapped his face up as though it were repelled. "Cardinal... is that you?!" [There's no time, don't ask the obvious.] There was no doubt that the lovely voice and impudent obtuse manner belonged to the previous highest minister they had encountered in the Great Library Room. "Cardinal... sorry, I..." Cardinal bluntly cut off Kirito's anguished voice as he tried to talk. [There's no point apologizing now. ...I figured it might end up this way since I saw how you fought. I understand your circumstances; I will handle the treatment for Fanatio Synthesis Two. However, I will be taking her body over here as it will take time for her to recover completely.] The purple light wrapping around Fanatio's figure shone brightly as the voice mentioned so. Eugeo involuntarily closed his eyes and by the time he opened them again, the integrity knight was already—surprisingly enough, this included the pool of blood spread over the floor—nowhere to be seen. Several of the fragmented sacred letters could still be seen drifting through the air. Cardinal's voice was channelled through them as their flickering overlapped, the volume gradually falling. [Those bugs have already noticed, so I'll make this brief. Judging from the situation, the possibility of Administrator still being in her unawakened state is high at the present moment. If you reach the highest floor before that woman awakens, you could deal with her without using the dagger. Hurry... there aren't many integrity knights left...] Eugeo felt the invisible conduit that linked to the Great Library Room's domain was rapidly closing. Cardinal's voice proceeded into the distance and just before her presence disappeared, the specks of light in the air flickered and fell onto the floor as they took corporeal form. What tumbled atop the marble with a refreshing note were two small glass bottles. Kirito stared at the bottles the shade of lapis lazuli as though his energy had been sapped, but soon reached his arm out to pick both up at the same time. Looking up, he held one between his fingertips and offered it. While dropping the bottle into Eugeo's outstretched palm, Kirito murmured in a low tone. "...Sorry for that mess, Eugeo." "Nah... you haven't done anything worth apologizing for. It just surprised me a little." When he said so with a wan smile, Kirito finally showed a small one as well. Standing up while wobbling slightly, he flicked off the small bottle's cork. "Seeing as she's going to the bother of sending us refreshments, let's accept it with thanks." Standing after his partner, Eugeo pulled the cork off the small bottle and drank down the fluid it contained in a single gulp. He couldn't quite call it delicious even if he were to try being polite; he grimaced at its sourness that resembled siral water devoid of sugar, but it felt refreshing like cold water pouring upon his consciousness, exhausted from the lengthy battle. It seemed that their half-depleted Lives were recovering rapidly as well, with the remaining wounds on Kirito's limbs mending in the blink of an eye. "Amazing... it would have been great if she had sent a whole bunch of these, rather than just these two while she was at it." When Eugeo said so without thinking, Kirito shrugged his shoulders with a cynical smile. "If they have a priority as high as this, it would probably take a long time to convert them into da... art rituals and transfer them. Instead, you should be looking at how fast she... uwah!?" All of a sudden, Kirito let out an agitated voice and sprung aside, so Eugeo stared at his partner in puzzlement. "Wh-What is it, all of a sudden?" "Eu-Eugeo... don't move, no, don't look down." "Hah?" It would be harder to not look down when told such a thing. Instinctively looking down at his own feet, Eugeo found that something had got there without his notice and screamed. "Eek!?" Its length was roughly fifteen cen. Countless slender legs stuck out from its long and flat torso, split into minuscule segments, and its front half was atop Eugeo's shoe. The ball-shaped tip that was apparently its head possessed a row of over ten small, red eyes and two terrifyingly long, needlelike horns protruded from its two sides, slowly swaying independently of each other. It was a sort of insect—that might have been it, but its weird appearance could only have been described as repulsive. Insects are abundant in the forest south of Rulid, but he had never seen one with such an appearance before. Eugeo froze as his mind overloaded, but the weird insect searched its surroundings with its horns for another three seconds before it decided to try and gently creep up his trousers from his shoe, so he sprung up with yet another scream. "Eek...!!" When he violently stamped down, the insect fell off onto its back, but it immediately spun about and rapidly crept between his legs. Unable to stand it climbing up again, Eugeo jumped up and down over and over again, but a particular disaster occurred upon landing after jumping numerous times. Following a harsh 'kusha' noise, the sensation of a lumpy and sticky object splattering open made itself known to Eugeo's sole while the bug was magnificently pulverized under his right shoe. Brilliant orange bodily fluid squirted in all directions and a pungent, offensive stench hung in the air. Eugeo got close to losing consciousness as he saw the torn-off leg still hopping about, but he desperately held down his fear, aware that this was no situation to faint, and looked up at Kirito in a bid for assistance. When he did so, the partner with whom he was connected heart-to-heart was apparently now three mel away and slowly backing off even further. "Hey... heey! Don't you dare run away!" Against that shrill accusation, Kirito shook his head that had turned blue left and right in small movements. "Sorry, I can't really handle stuff like that." "I can't handle them either! At all!" "Hey, don't bugs like that usually draw in another ten or so when one dies?" "Don't even speak of such things!!" Determined to share his fate with his partner even if he had to embrace him, Eugeo crouched in preparation to hurl himself at him, but he froze again upon a purple light abruptly shining from under his feet. The disgusting remains were just dispersing into beads of light when he timidly looked down. The viscous fluid, husk, and such vanished without a trace before seconds had even passed and Eugeo let out a long sigh of relief from deep inside. Apparently assured from far away that it had vanished, Kirito finally came back after the whole affair had already been settled and spoke out in a solemn tone. "...So that's it. That just now was a familiar released by Administrator to search for Cardinal. So it sniffed out the passage to the library room..." "......" Eugeo scowled at Kirito with upturned eyes, showing a slight resentment, then reluctantly replied that he understood. "Then... that means there's a whole bunch of these creatures prowling around this tower? But we haven't seen a single one until now." "Look, when we escaped into the library room from the rose garden, there was that rustling noise from behind the door, right? They're normally hidden away well, but that said, there's no meaning in going around to look for them. Besides... Cardinal mentioned something strange, didn't she... that Administrator was unawakened, or something like that..." "Aah, now that you bring it up... That essentially meant that she's sleeping? She has already gone to bed despite the sun still out?" Kirito rubbed his chin for a while at Eugeo's question and then answered as though he didn't understand either. "Cardinal also said that Administrator and the integrity knights are overexerting themselves in various ways in exchange for living for hundreds of years. Especially Administrator who seems to spend most of each day sleeping, but... in that case, what exactly happens to her control over the integrity knights and the bugs like the one just now...?" Sunk into thought for several more seconds with his head looking down, he soon responded to himself while mussing his forelocks about. "Well, we'll naturally find out if we continue to climbing. —Putting that aside, Eugeo, could you please take a look at my back?" "H-Hah?" Kirito spun to show his back to Eugeo who looked on in mute confusion. He ran his eyes over it while at a loss, but there wasn't really anything strange about the black fabric of his coat aside from the damage to it, proportionate to the recurring battles. "There's... nothing special about it, though..." "How do I describe this... are there any small bugs clinging on? Like a spider or something like that." "Nope, there's nothing like that, though." "I see, that's fine, then. —Well then, once again, let's continue on, to the second half of our journey!" Eugeo chased after Kirito, who began to walk briskly towards the cloister's northern end after that, in a fluster. "Hey, what was that just now?!" "It's nothing, really." "You're making me curious, take a look at my back too!" "Like I said, it's really nothing." During their light conversation, an occurrence which had repeated countless times since they had left Rulid Village, Eugeo softly murmured within his heart what he truly wished to ask. Why were you, capable of keeping your cool in any situation, so distraught before the death of Fanatio, an enemy—and what was to follow those words, [even if I die]— Kirito, just who... are you...? The black-clothed swordsman who stood still before the humongous doors, possibly several times his height, reached out with both his hands and pushed them open to the sides with vigour. In that instant, a chilly gale blew through and Eugeo turned his face away slightly.
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