Sword Art Online - Volume 14 - Chapter 2.1

The Decisive Battle 5th Month of Human World Calendar 380
Part 1
—Ooh, nice one.
I muttered my somewhat lighthearted opinion of Alice’s grand speech in my heart while listening to it.
I would have lost against this pressure that threatened to freeze me solid and ended up stepping back if I didn’t.
The hundredth floor of the Central Cathedral that I finally reached was a circular, spacious room, probably forty meters across. A bed, gigantic and circular as well, was placed in the middle of the room and that appeared to be the only furniture around.
And standing still atop that bed was a stark naked, absurdly beautiful girl.
There was no doubt she was the supreme ruler of the Axiom Church—thus effectively, the Human World—the highest minister, Administrator. The overwhelming presence she exuded just by standing there instantly blew away my recognition of this world, Underworld, as a virtual world and how its inhabitants, including her, were AI, or «artificial fluct lights», stored on storage media made by man.
No. It was before I laid my sight on her magnificent silver hair and specular silver eyes; my two hands were already damp with sweat, the murky fear raising goose bumps down my back, by the time I boarded the elevating disk on the ninety-ninth floor to get here.
After all, the cold «presence of death» lingering at the dim hole that opened up straight above the elevating disk was heavier than every single one of the boss rooms I had experienced back in the Floating Castle Aincrad.
My physical body, Kirigaya Kazuto in the real world rather than Kirito the expert swordsman-in-training, would not die in the Soul Translator even if I lost my all of my Life in this Underworld. However, this girl who called herself the highest minister, Administrator, possessed the power to put me through torture worse than an actual death.
That’s right, the sage, Cardinal, said it, didn’t she? That Administrator was not bound by the Taboo Index she created herself, but she was still incapable of murder due to the concept of taboos taught to her when she was young.
However, that restriction was precisely why the highest minister could make me suffer a horrible fate—for example, forcing me into a situation much like those machinelike elders, connected to tubes, for all eternity.
That said—
My fear, originating from my broad knowledge, could never match that of Alice or Eugeo.
It appeared Eugeo had his «piety module» removed by Administrator, but Alice’s was still embedded in her fluct light. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the terror she had to endure, standing face to face with the supreme ruler like this.
But still, the golden knight firmly threw out her chest and continued her speech in a clear voice to the very end.
“Our ultimate mission is not to protect the Axiom Church! It is to protect the peaceful lives and tranquil rest of the tens of thousands of the people without might! On the other hand, Esteemed Highest Minister, your deeds serve only as a detriment to the public peace for the many living in the Human World!!”
Standing a step in front, Alice’s golden hair shone even brighter, as though radiating with the light of conviction. Her strong and clear voice cut into the cold air the wide room was submerged in and swept it aside.
However, the ruler standing still a distance away showed absolutely no sign of anger at Alice’s blatant admonitions, the edges of her lips even turning up slightly as if to express her amusement.
Screaming out in a shrill voice that scraped at my eardrums in her stead, was the chief elder, Chudelkin, who was hiding under the bed for some reason.
“Sh- Shh-Shut upppppppp!!”
Bouncing out from beyond the hanging sheets with vigor, he rolled forward before standing up. Perhaps that made him dizzy as he tottered about for a bit before regaining his footing and threw his head back, trying to look as impressive as he could with his small stature, in between the highest minister and us.
His red and blue jester costume was torn to shreds and his replenished poison gas was let out again because he was swallowed up by the Fragrant Olive Sword’s armament full control art that Alice invoked downstairs.
Alice had used that incredible technique that split the sword’s blade into hundreds of small edges, bringing forth a golden storm of flowers, to escape from Eugeo’s parting gift, that ice jail, but she mercilessly included Chudelkin after he descended from above with his odd laughter, hopping into the middle of the room.
While his clothes were shredded, he managed to escape without suffering any heavy injuries by exhibiting once again his one and only forte, running away, but there was nowhere else to run here on the highest floor.
But perhaps influenced by Administrator who stood behind him, Chudelkin raised his hands up high, then quickly thrust his two index fingers at Alice.
“A broken knight puppet like yoouuuu!? Mission!? Protect!? You make me laugh, hoo—hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh——!!”
He spun around while laughing shrilly, flashing his underpants with red and blue vertical stripes as his tattered jester outfit fluttered about. Putting both hands onto his waist, he pointed the toes on his left foot at Alice this time and continued yelling.
“The whole lot of you knights!! You’re nothing more than wooden puppets that live on to follow my commands to the letterr!! You will lick this foot if I tell you to, and you will become a horsey if I tell you tooo!! Appreeeciaaaate that mission bestowed upon you integrity knights, hooooohh!!”
He lost his balance then, with his body nearly falling backwards and his huge head leading the way, but he narrowly avoided that by flapping his two hands at his sides.
“In the first placee! How could the Order be destroyed, that’s just ridicuuuu—louss! There aren’t even ten of you out of order, including that trashy number one and twoo! So I still have over twenty pawns at my fingertipss! The church’s rule won’t tremble even one bit from your lonely prattle, you gaudy, golden girl!!”
Though meant as cynicism, it appeared the clown’s petty curses took some tension off Alice. Regaining her characteristic calmness and harshness, the knight lightly shook her head and responded in an icy voice.
“You are the fool here, scarecrow. Do you have straw and rags in replace of a brain in that round head of yours?”
“Wha… whaaaatt!!”
More blood rushed up to his already-red head, but before he could yell out anything, Alice continued her words with the slickness of ice towards the now-purple Chudelkin.
“Ten among the twenty knights remaining are immobile due to that «reset» the Esteemed Highest Minister spoke of… the alteration of their memories through arts. And the other half are riding astride flying dragons even now, engaged in combat at the mountain range at the edge. You can’t possibly recall them. The moment you do, the Axiom Church’s rule will collapse as the forces of darkness march into the Human World through the caves north, west, and south of the mountain range, and through the «Large East Gate» too.”
“Guh… mghghh…”
Alice cast her final words to finish off Chudelkin whose face surpassed purple and turned pitch-black as he groaned.
“No—that is already collapsing. Those ten knights and those flying dragons can’t fight on forever. However, there is no one capable of taking their places left here at the cathedral. Or perhaps you will proceed to the Dark Territory in person and have a bout against those darkness knights renowned for their bravery, Chudelkin?”
I couldn’t help but to cast my eyes down a little as I kept still behind Alice when she pointed that out. Eugeo and I were the ones who sent the substitute knights, essentially Eldrie, Deusolbert, and the «Four Oscillation Blades», to the hospital.
However, before I could look downwards, the pressure in Chudelkin’s head crossed its limit.
“Mmhooooo!! H- Ho-How impertineeeentt!! Don’t think you’ve won that one yet, girlll!!”
Exhaling air that seemed practically as intense as steam through his nose, the clown floundered as he stamped on the floor.
“This is your punishment for such rudeness towards mee!! I’ll have you at the mountain range for three years after a reset for youuuuu!! No, I’ll have you do this and that as my toy before thaaaatt!!”
Following that, the chief elder who began yelling out his plans for Alice in a screechy voice was instantly silenced by a short utterance from Administrator behind him.
“…Hmm.”
Completely ignoring Chudelkin whose face returned to white all at once and stood at attention in silence, the highest minister turned to Alice and lightly tilted her face.
“It doesn’t seem like an error in your logic circuits, after all. And the piety module is still active… In that case, was the «Code 871» applied by that person voluntarily released…? Rather than through an unanticipated emotion…?”
—Just what was she talking about? That person…? Code, eight, seven, one…?
I frowned, unable to grasp the meaning behind Administrator’s words.
The silver-haired girl divulged no further information and tossed the hair flowing over her shoulder behind with her right hand as she switched her tone.
“Well, I won’t make any progress on my understanding without further analysis. …Now then, Chudelkin. I shall be magnanimous and grant you an opportunity to restore your worth after how you had fled. Try your best to freeze those three with your arts. As for their Lives, well, anything above two-tenth would be fine.”
She carelessly waved her right hand’s index finger after she spoke.
With that, the gigantic bed stationed at the highest minister’s feet immediately began spinning with a dull noise as my eyes widened.
The bed, measuring ten meters across and fixed with a canopy, sank into the floor like an enormous screw. Chief Elder, Chudelkin, who was acting haughty at its immediate side, jumped aside with a “hohii”.
With the entire bed now neatly stored under the floor, its canopy, too, spun about as it fitted under the floor, leaving nothing more than a circular pattern lined by the carpet. After a short pause, the highest minister landed onto the floor without any sound whatsoever.
A thought came to mind and I looked towards my feet, seeing a similar pattern on the floor bounding the elevating disk that had brought Alice and I here. It seemed this room was contrived to have things rising from and sinking into the floor, and I looked around, but the only other pattern I spotted was a small one against the wall far away. I had no guess for what could come out from there.
The highest floor felt astonishingly wide with the bed gone.
The curved wall was completely sided by glass lacking even a single smirch while golden pillars supported the domed canopy. The canopy was adorned with an intricate piece of art that appeared to be based on the creation myth, with the crystals embedded all over it flickering like stars.
The somewhat surprising bit was how mock golden swords decorated every one of those pillars. Even the smallest ones were a meter long, while the largest ones were over three meters long, so it seemed utterly impossible to pull them from the pillars to wield them as weapons, with their absurdly tiny grips. Their blades hardly seemed sharp either.
At any rate, the hundredth floor of the cathedral had absolutely no cover, a space greatly disadvantageous when fighting against a sacred arts user. Having judged that for the moment, I figured it would be best to charge forward before Chudelkin had the chance to chant his arts and shifted my balanced onto my right foot.
But even before I could move for real, I saw Alice shake her head slightly.
“It will be dangerous rushing in unprepared. The Esteemed Highest Minister should possess the arts needed to capture us alive with a simple touch. She must be targeting that opening by sending Chudelkin to challenge us first.”
“That reminds me…”
Here, Eugeo, who had stayed quite so far, whispered in a tense voice.
“It felt like the highest minister didn’t kill me despite having the chance. In addition, the chief elder intentionally got on… no, touched Bercouli-san when turning him into stone.”
“I see, a «direct contact rule», huh.”
I nodded along while muttering. Aside from the ranged offensive arts, such as flames or ice blades, one would generally need to touch the target with one’s hands—though feet should work just as well—for there to be any effect. It was a fundamental rule of sacred arts that even novice trainees of the academy knew.
In other words, there was no worry of suffering from that terrible petrification art as long as we restrain from direct contact with Chudelkin and Administrator. But at the same time, that would put our swords out of range.
Thus, our situation remained disadvantageous. Alice’s skill with sacred arts was far from Eugeo’s and my reach and if it turned out as an exchange of ranged arts, Chudelkin could likely drive all three of us back on his own as the chief elder.
Eugeo continued talking about something while I bit my lips and continued thinking.
“Besides… the highest minister’s whole body is…”
But before he could, Chudelkin who had fallen onto his rear jumped to his feet like clockworks.
“Hohohohh!”
He showed us, bracing ourselves in a hurry, a revulsive smile entirely different from before as he buttered up to the ruler behind himself.
“…Your Eminence, what magnanimity, to go out of your way and bestow upon me this pleasure when you could have crushed those three damned bugs with a single prod from your little finger! Your humble subject is in tears! He is truly in tearss!! Hgh, hghghgh…”
We could only feel dumbfounded as viscous tears fell from the corners of his eyes in drops just like he had said.
Perhaps Administrator was tired of dealing with him too, but she moved back five meters with a curt remark.
“…Well, just go for it.”
“Y-Yess! Your humble subject will fight tooth and nail to meet your expectatiiooooonnss!!”
Chudelkin pressed his two thumbs onto his temple and his tears came to a sudden stop, as though there was a switch there; the small jester grinned broadly as he glared at us.
“Now, now, now… the lot of you won’t be getting out of this with a simple apologyyy. I’ll shave at least eight-tenth of your Lives away, bit by bit, before you grovel in tears on the ground, so how about you prepare yourselvess?”
“…I had enough of your foolish words. Like I had said downstairs, I will slice your dirty tongue off from its base, so stop your yapping and come.”
Unwilling to even give an inch in the battle of words, Alice replied, then gripped her beloved sword’s handle with her right hand and strengthened her center of gravity.
Once again, Chudelkin crossed his arms before his chest in a bizarre pose roughly five meters away.
“Nnnnnn, unforgivableeee!! If you desire to be licked by my beautiful tongue so much, I’ll lick you all you likeee!! After you’re frozen stifff!! …Hoaaah—!!”
Chudelkin jumped up high with that cry and launched himself behind into the air, landing with a thump after one a half flips and a twist. Not on his feet or his hands, but on the top of his head.
“………”
Eugeo and I weren’t the only ones rendered speechless; the same went for Alice. Sure, the chief elder might be more stable upside down due to that super huge round head on his stick-like torso, but just what was he thinking, cutting off his movement?
But the person in question, Chudelkin, had an exceedingly serious face on—hard as it was to recognize, with him upside down—as all of his four limbs shot out, before he screamed out the start to a sacred art in his ear-piercing voice.
“System… caaaaall—!!”
In response, Alice drew her sword with a shrill noise. Despite being at a loss for an appropriate response, Eugeo and I braced ourselves with our swords too.
“Generate cryogenic elementt!!”
Chudelkin shouted out the generation art for cryogenic elements awfully quick.
The power and scale of ranged offensive arts could be mostly predicted from the number of elements generated at the start. I squinted in order to not miss the points of light appearing on the chief elder’s hands.
Paan!! Chudelkin slapped his two hands together while doing a headstand and spread them wide. Blue flecks of light were brought forth on the fingers of both hands with a faint, audible pulse—ten of them.
“Damn, the max, huh.”
I cursed without thinking much, but it wasn’t like I didn’t expect that. Even a beginner like me who knew nothing more than the basics could generate five on a hand if I focused. Chudelkin was the Axiom Church’s strongest arts user, if excluding Administrator, and it would be only natural, instead, for him to generate ten on two hands.
Alice stayed still, but I took a step to the right and held out my left hand to create thermal elements, the opposing element. Eugeo, too, adopted the exact same posture. If we managed five elements each somehow, we might be able to defend against Chudelkin’s cryogenic elements—
However, that happened when I was about to start my shout.
Paan!! The noise from a slap rang out once more.
That was the noise made by Chudelkin, on his head, when he deftly slapped his two bare feet together. His two legs part next and extended out into a straight line like his two hands. Immediately, all ten tips of his toes, too, had cryogenic elements generated on them with a noise like falling frost.
The phrase Eugeo hoarsely muttered on my left was one I fully agreed with.
“…No way…”
While maintaining a total of twenty blue elements on his hands and feet, Chudelkin showed a huge smile with his inverted mouth.
“Ohoh, ohohohoho… Quaking in your boots, peeing in your trouserss? I can’t very well have you lump me up with those trashy arts user, you know?”
In the Underworld, control over sacred arts, or to put it plainly, magic, was done through voice commands and the user’s imagination. Taking healing arts as an example, holding animosity in your heart towards the target would have a sharp decline in its effect while praying for someone to recover with all your effort could bring about a heal beyond one’s authority.
The same applied to offensive arts that manipulated elements.
Reshaping the generated elements and firing them required more than the voice commands, or the words of the art. A conductor for the user’s imagination, linked to the consciousness, was absolutely essential.
That was, in short, one’s fingers. One had to retain the image of an element connected to one finger for the entire duration of the art incantation.
In other words, no matter how high ranking an arts user was, it was normal to manipulate a maximum of only ten elements through both hands. To break that restriction and use the toes on one’s feet as imagination circuits, one would have to continuously hover in the sky—or do a headstand with only one’s head. Like Chief Elder Chudelkin.
“Ohh, hohohoo…!”
Continuing his shrill cries, Chudelkin chanted the command to shape the elements at an exceedingly quick pace and swung his right and left hands towards us, who were standing still, one after another with hardly a pause between them.
“Dischaaaar—geee!!”
Whoosh!!
Cutting through the air, five icicles released a swirl of cold air while they shot forth. Another five chased after.
Even if we wanted to dodge, the two layers of ice spears, shot out high and low, revealed no blind spots as they spread out in a fan shape while flying here. Figuring I could only knock down the icicles likely to hit myself, I firmed up the grip on my cherished sword in my right hand and looked at—
A golden sparkle obscuring my sight.
With a horizontal sweep, Alice’s Fragrant Olive Sword divided into countless small edges, starting from its tip, and fluttered as they dispersed into a whirl.
It wasn’t my first time seeing Alice’s armament full control art, but both Eugeo and I had our breaths taken away by its frightening beauty.
Only the bluish white moonlight shining in from the glass windows to the south illuminated the cathedral’s highest floor. But still, the golden petals drew traces in a bright shade of golden yellow as if they emitted their own light, soaring as a dense meteor shower.
“Hahh!”
Alice swung down the grip left in her hand with a sharp cry.
The storm of flowers fluttering in the air followed her movement’s lead and engulfed the ten icicles, producing the rigid noises of something being shaved away. Like tossing ice cubes into a high speed blender, the ice spears shot by Chudelkin quickly turned into harmless sherbet and melted, their resources futilely scattering into the air.
“…Nhn… gngngnngnnn…”
With that sacred arts fired so proudly easily rendered powerless, Chudelkin bit tightly and grinded his upper and lower jaws against each other while roaring out in an upset voice.
“…Don’t think you’ve won yet with a crude grater like thatt! How about this thenn! Hooooohh!!”
He swung his two legs, lowered horizontally with the ten elements still on them, up from his sides with force.
The cryogenic elements that flew up high, drawing parallel blue streaks, coalesced into one near the ceiling and produced a rectangular lump of ice.
The ice continued enlarging while heavy, dull thumps reverberated, growing into a cube with each side probably measuring at least two meters long. The transformation didn’t stop there and fiendishly sharp spikes thrust out all across it in a dense formation.
If the laws of physics in the Underworld conformed to those in the real world, the ice die in the air would be totalled up to a mass of over seven tons. Quickly coming to the conclusion that taking something like that on with a sword would be impossible, I unconsciously took a step back.
“Hohihii… how about thatt, how’s the taste of my greatest and finest artt!! Now, it’s time to flatten all of youuuu—!!”
While upside down, Chudelkin dropped his two legs that were extended straight up. The spiky die began falling with a roar.
Eugeo and I lost our wits and jumped to the sides. But once again, Knight Alice didn’t take a single step back. She firmly grasped the gigantic object, looming ever closer to crush her, in her sight while standing upright—
“Ha… aaaaah——!!”
Letting out a roar more ferocious than any of those in the battles thus far, she raised the handle of her beloved sword in her right hand up high.
The small golden blades floating about gathered with a crisp, metallic noise and created a cone probably around three meters long. The drill with countless barbs lined up across its surface growled and spun as it intercepted the falling ice cube.
A tremendously loud noise and dazzling flash was produced the moment the two objects met, causing the room to tremble violently.
“Kuhnnuhooooohh… c-cru-crush… iitttt!”
“……Break it… O, flowers…!!”
The features of the chief elder and integrity knight leaned the same amount on the scale of beauty, though towards different ends, as they wrung out desperate cries.
When skills of this scale collide, their numerical priorities would naturally play a part, but the most important factor for victory would be one’s willpower and potential for imagination.
The blue block of ice and the gold spiral struggled for seconds with a point that glowed white with incandescence between them, but it didn’t take long before they gradually began breaking into it. The glaring flash and ear-splitting noise of the impact made it impossible to know whether the cube was crushing the drill with its weight or if the drill was piercing through the cube as it rotated.
The result of the match was clear only when the two objects were practically laid over each other.
Crack; the sharp noise of something shattering rang out and cracks ran over the entirety of the ice cube.
Immediately after, the block of ice that could have fitted a small hut dispersed into enormous fragments as they scattered in all direction. The surrounding air was instantly dyed white and I guarded the incoming wave of cold air with my left arm.
“Hyaaa!?”

The panicked shriek came from Chief Elder Chudelkin.
Still on his head, his stick-like limbs quivered all over.
“No… no way, of all the ridiculous… H-How could the transcendentally beautiful and extraordinarily cool art Her Eminence had bestowed upon me…”
The mocking smile finally vanished from his lips, so red they appeared venomous, but still, Alice wasn’t left unhurt though she splendidly succeeded in shattering the huge block of ice. The small edges that formed that cone returned to their original longsword appearance with a wave of her right arm and the knight valiantly stayed on her feet, despite her posture falling in complete disarray. She must have been hit by several fragments of the ice block that broken apart at point-blank range from her.
“Alice…!”
Holding me back with her left hand when I ran towards her, Alice flicked the tip of her beloved sword towards the distant Chudelkin.
“Chudelkin, your faithless techniques are nothing more than a paper balloon blown up with air! Just like your own body!!”
“Wh… w-what did…”
Chudelkin’s curses and swears stopped at last upon receiving Alice’s rebuke, as sharp as any of her slash. His round head distorted to its limit and trembled violently, as his sweat flowed in the reverse direction like a waterfall.
It was then—
When the highest minister, Administrator, who had been watching the battle from the back of the room finally spoke with words that bordered on expressing her boredom.
“Honestly, you certainly stay a fool no matter how many years pass, don’t you, Chudelkin?”
The chief elder’s limbs instantly shrunk in.
In contrast to Chudelkin who had contracted to the size of a child, the highest minister tilted her body in a graceful motion and lay down in mid-air, on what seemed exactly like an invisible sofa. Lightly floating upwards in that posture, she then crossed her slender legs as she continued.
“The Fragrant Olive Sword Alice has possesses a physical priority that is considered top class even among all of the divine objects in existence. And the girl firmly believes in that fact too. To think you would try a physical-type offensive art on an opponent like that, have you even forgotten the basics of sacred arts?”
“Hah… hohohohii….”
Tears suddenly fell from Chudelkin’s two eyes while his high-pitched voice leaked out. He was upside down, so the large drops flowed down his forehead one after another, creating a stain on the carpet as they reached the tip of his head.
“Ohoohh… what a waste, what an honor, what an inspiration!! For Her Eminence to confer her teachings onto her undeserving subject directly…?! Your expectations shall not be in vain, this Chudelkin will ensure your kindness will be repaaaaaaaaiiidd!!”
It appeared Administrator’s voice had more effect than healing arts on Chudelkin. The chief elder’s fear from earlier was swept away in an instant and he gave Alice a bizarre glare that was filled with what was probably his own unique form of determination.
“Number thirtyy!! You said it, didn’t youu, that I was a paper balloon with no substance!!”
“…And you believe you can refute that?”
“I doo——!! I do, I do, I do, I dooo!!”
Red flames audibly flared up within Chudelkin’s two eyes—or so it seemed.
“Even I have something I believe in!! And that very thing is lovee!! My love that lacks all falsehood towards Her Eminence, our sacred and beautiful Highest Ministeeeeerr—!!”
I would have never guessed those words originated from anywhere aside from some third-rate drama, but the current time and situation allowed them to resound through the room, powerfully, with a tinge of tragedy. Even if it was a half-naked clown, upside-down on his gigantic head, who spoke them.
Chudelkin glared at Alice with fiery eyes and spread his limbs out wide while wringing out shrill words directed at Administrator behind himself.
“Y- Yo-Your Eminence, Highest Ministerr!!”
“What is it? Chudelkin.”
“Your Eminence, your humble subject, the chief elder, Chudelkin, begs for you to grant his insolent request, the first in his many years of service under youu!! Your subject shall now stake his life to exterminate the rebelss! In the event that he succeeeds, will Your Eminencee! W-Will Your Eminenceee grant the allowance for these hands and lips to come into contact with your noble being, and to s-share a single night’s dream with it, I beg of you, I beg of you, I beg of you, pleaseeeeeee!!?
—That’s one mighty direct request towards the absolute ruler of the Human World.
But I had no doubt whatsoever those screams were his true feelings, emotions expressed from the depths of the spirit that belonged to this man named Chudelkin.
Listening to the monologue that went beyond being tragic and could even be considered heroic, Eugeo, Alice, and I were all frozen in place at a loss for words.
On the other hand, the highest minister, Administrator, heard Chudelkin’s wish as she floated at the far end of the room and—
Her pearl grey lips sharply twisted up as though she found him unbearably comical.
Shades of scorn and ridicule quivered in her mirror-like eyes that rejected all light. Administrator’s right hand covered her mouth as she spoke in a voice, filled with affection, contrary to that expression.
“…Certainly, Chudelkin.”
Or so she whispered.
“I will swear it on Stacia, the Goddess of Creation. You shall have every last nook of this body for a night the moment you accomplish your task.”
I knew there was no truth to those words as a human of the real world which was likewise immersed in lies and deception.
The humans of this world, likely caused by the architecture of artificial fluct lights, are incapable of disobeying laws and regulations ranked above them. Those laws include the local ones in villages and cities, the Empire Fundamental Law, the Taboo Index, and any personal vows to the goddesses.
The number of laws binding each individual lessened as one climbed the ranks in the ruling structure, but that rule applied to the supervisors with the highest standing, Cardinal and Administrator, all the same. The code of behavior passed down by their parent still lived on, with Cardinal unable to place a tea cup on a table and Administrator unable to kill a human.
But these eyes of mine had just witnessed how Administrator was not bound by her vows to the goddesses a moment ago. In other words, she did not hold even a scrap of faith towards the three goddesses: Stacia the Creation Goddess, Solus the Sun Goddess, and Terraria the Land Goddess, who granted the Axiom Church its authority.
But of course, Chudelkin did not discern his master’s lies.
Upon hearing the words Administrator spoke while restraining her snickers, large drops of tears overflowed anew from Chudelkin’s two eyes.
“Ohh… ohhh…… your humble subject is now… engulfed in happiness incomparable to any otheerr…… my… my will to fight is swelling up a hundred times over and my spirit is overflowing, to put it into words, your subject is now truly invincibleeeee!!”
His tears audibly vaporized—
A brilliance suddenly enveloped all of Chudelkin, like flames.
“Syss! Temm! Caaaaall!! Generateee thermaaal elemeee——ntttt!!”
His hands and feet cut through the air and points of light, burning red, formed on his limbs, currently extended straight to his fingertips or toes. The fact that this was Chudelkin’s final and greatest attack was made clear to even me who stood behind Alice.
Like the cryogenic elements earlier, the number of thermal elements generated, gleaming like rubies, totalled up to twenty.
Chudelkin’s two feet were freed from their role of supporting his body as he stood on his head. But that said, individually imaging each toe among the ten on his feet would not be possible without amassing a tremendous amount of practice.
I was totally focused on his bizarre appearance and personality, but with his years of experience, Chudelkin was a formidable opponent not to be taken lightly just like the senior integrity knights—perhaps even surpassing them with his number of years.
Maybe he sensed my shudders, but Chudelkin’s eyes narrowed with triumph, then widened as much as they could next. His tiny pupils emitted a crimson light and my fear turned to shock. I wondered if his willpower had turned into flames and shifted to his eyes like some hot-blooded protagonist, but then realized that was off.
The light burning right before Chudelkin’s two eyes were large thermal elements. That guy had used even his own two eyes as terminals and generated his twenty-first and twenty-second elements.
Elements radiate resources with properties conforming to their type before they were fired, though dim. It would feel just a little warm when thermal elements were brought forth several centimeters from your fingers, but he would never get out unscathed when maintaining ones that large right before his eyeballs. The skin around his eyes started sizzling at once.
But the chief elder appeared utterly unconcerned over both the heat and pain. Chudelkin smirked with his whole face, changing from looking strange to evil with his eye sockets blackened, then screamed out at a pitch higher than before.
“Behoooooooldd, this is my greatest and strongest sacreeed aaaarttt…! Come forth, demonn!! Incinerate the rebels to charss!!”
His once withdrawn limbs swung out faster than the eye could follow. Instead of transforming immediately, the twenty elements fired organized themselves into five horizontal rows in the air as they flew about in between Chudelkin and us at a ferocious speed.
Their trajectories gleamed red and reproduced the shape of a gigantic human as a whole while I watched on, speechless.
Short legs. A fat belly that swelled out. Curiously long arms. And a head wearing a crown with numerous horns extending from it. It was just like Chudelkin before he released the smoke screen from his clothes, magnified several times, a giant clown.
The elements that created the blazing, five meters tall clown drew vertical stripes in the shade of deep crimson that dyed jester costumes before vanishing.
Though modeled after Chudelkin’s face, the clown’s face, present so high above that I had to look up, appeared several times more vicious. A tongue of flames flickered in and out from the gap between its thick lips and a frigid chill radiated from the crevices that made up its narrow, long, slanted eyes despite how it was a flaming giant.
Chudelkin swung his hands and feet around as he constructed the clown with thermal elements and to finish things off, he shut his eyes where the last two elements resided with enough force to make a noise. With that, the thermal elements moved towards the clown’s dark eye sockets and resided within them as eyes, flaming red.
As though possessed by Chudelkin’s own spirit, the gigantic clown stared down at us with a murderous gaze. It brought up its right foot that wore a pointed shoe and stepped down hard on the floor slightly in front. A heavy tremor accompanied the inferno swirling up from the giant’s foot as heat wavered in its surroundings.
Eugeo and I were in no state of mind to do anything but stand still, dumbfounded, but a murmur from Alice standing before us prompted us to grip our swords in a fluster.
“…I did not know he was capable of arts on this level either.”
Alice’s words remained calm even in such a situation, but they ended off on a hoarse note, perhaps reflecting the unrest in her heart.
“It appears I have underestimated Chudelkin. Unfortunately, my flowers are incapable of destroying that intangible giant of flames. Even if I focus on defense, it is unlikely I could hold for long.”
“…In other words, we can only attack Chudelkin directly in that time, huh…”
Alice let out some crisp instructions for me as I muttered in a rasp.
“Exactly. I will do everything I can to defend for ten seconds. Kirito, Eugeo, defeat Chudelkin in that time. However, you must not approach close enough to fight with your sword. There’s what the Esteemed Highest Minister is waiting for.”
“Ten…”
“…Seconds.”
Eugeo and I groaned simultaneously and exchanged looks.
He had overwhelmed me with the composure of ice when we crossed swords downstairs, but it seems Eugeo had regained his emotions when freed from his knighthood. While feeling glad, despite the situation we were in, over the fear and panic showing up on my partner’s face, I racked my brain.
If Alice wanted me to charge in while she’s dealing with the flaming clown, I would happily do it. I played that role when clearing the bosses back in the old Aincrad and besides, Chudelkin should be completely vulnerable while he controlled the clown.
But she was correct in how we had no guarantee that Administrator would stay quiet as we advanced. As such, we had to attack Chudelkin without approaching him, but as we were in the swordsman class, Eugeo and I had only two methods for far range attacks.
The first would be to use sacred arts like he did. But with the level of arts Eugeo and I were able to use, I doubt we could penetrate the defenses of a high ranking arts user like Chudelkin to cut away his Life.
The other would be to the secret move I had been saving up—or in other words, the armament full control art; but that came with its own problems. Activating it required reciting that lengthy art Cardinal had composed. That would definitely be impossible in ten seconds. Eugeo managed to use his full control art without the chant when he was turned into an integrity knight, but he probably couldn’t repeat that as he was now. Of course, neither could I.
“………”
As though sneering at me while I bit my lips, the blazing clown swayed its enormous body from side to side as it slowly began its advance. Its movements were hardly nimble, but it was big, after all. Each step brought it over a meter closer.
It was right after the flaming clown drew close enough for us to feel the heat it radiated on our skin when Alice finally took action.
She raised the Fragrant Olive Sword held in her right hand overhead. Her left arm, extended straight behind, and her legs, parted towards the front and back, were as tense as a bow’s string.
A gale like a tornado suddenly rose from Alice’s feet, violently setting her white long skirt and golden long hair aflutter. The Fragrant Olive Sword’s blade split into hundreds of petals enveloped in golden light and began to slide through the air in rows.
“——Spin, flowers!!”
A shout that seemed impossible with a body as slender as hers shook the air.
At the same time, the golden petals whirled at such extreme speeds that they appeared merged into a single mass, growing into a huge tornado all of a sudden.
They densely grouped together and produced a cone to break the ice cube earlier, but they did the reverse this time. They spread out like a funnel, diagonally pointing up towards the sky from Alice’s hand, with a diameter close to five meters even at its narrow end.
The golden storm sucked up the surrounding air, becoming a gale that blew without form or structure, rocking Eugeo and me.
Just reaching out alone would cover the distance left between us; the flaming clown jumped up high with its unvanishing sneer, almost reaching the ceiling, then fearlessly descended into Alice’s tornado.
Dobaaa! The roar resembling a blazing furnace erased all other noise.
The golden tornado extended almost straight up and swallowed the flaming clown’s feet within itself. The flames were torn into by the edges rotating at high speeds and scattered like grand fireworks, scorching the air.
However, the clown retained its gigantic size and showed a broad sneer across its entire face as it slowly, slowly stomped onto the tornado. Alice’s feet quivered faintly as she supported it from straight below and the glimpse of her side profile I had showed a grim visage.
As though unable to endure the clown’s heat, the petals that made up the tornado became visibly redder. Alice and the Fragrant Olive Sword she held must have steadily losing their Lives even in this very moment.
There were—eight seconds left.
It would be impossible to defeat Chudelkin with sacred arts. There weren’t enough time for the full control art either. The only method left to me was the black sword in my right hand and the techniques I had immersed myself in.
During the two years I spent in the Underworld, I had practiced the many sword skills I knew from the past in order to teach Eugeo the «Aincrad style». Through that, I noticed sword skills in this world occasionally demonstrated power far exceeding what they possessed back in the world of SAO.
After all, most of the motions that lead to the result are determined not by the system’s control but the user’s willpower, their imagination. The small spider that watched over me for so long, Charlotte, and Knight Alice had called that power, «incarnation».
Thus. The power and range of sword skills that were strictly restricted by the system back in the old Aincrad could be amplified through the power of incarnation—probably.
But when considering it from the other end, fear, panic, hesitation, and such negative notions will weaken one’s techniques as well.
Inside of myself, the desire to dissociate from and to forget who I was in the old SAO days—that avatar given the two names, «The Black Swordsman» and «The Dual Blades»—had spread its roots deep.
Even I couldn’t provide an accurate analysis of where that emotion originated from. Though it might be due to the aversion to being treated as a hero, or the guilt over those I failed to save or those who died, it was just as possible those reasons were utterly wrong.
However, I could say this for certain. As much as I loathed it, «The Black Swordsman» was definitely a part of myself and gave form to me, granting me power, even now.
Yes, «he», who fought in that world, was now here—no, that should be «I» instead.
Seven seconds left.
Feeling, on my cheek, the heat from the giant stomping on Alice’s tornado, I stretched out my body much towards the right and lowered my waist.
Bringing the black sword in my right hand up to the level of my shoulders, I wielded it horizontal and pulled it far back.
I put my left hand on the sword’s tip like an aircraft catapult.
This skill was one that I had never tried using up until this point, whether it was to teach Eugeo or to simply reproduce. I knew why. This was the sword skill «The Black Swordsman» understood the most, the skill he used the most. You could even say it was symbolic of him.
I could see Chief Elder Chudelkin, on his head, at a point fifteen meters straight from the end of the slightly translucent black blade. His eyes, with their blackened borders, were closed, but I had no doubt he had linked his sight to that of the flaming clown through some sort of technique. In other words, he should have already noticed my actions.
I had one chance to attack and I couldn’t possibly have it defended or evaded. In that sense, this distance of fifteen meters felt unbearably far. Chudelkin was likely incapable of nimble movements while supporting himself with his head, but I had already witnessed his tenacity at times that mattered more than I needed to. Even half of a half-second would be enough; I had to get Chudelkin’s attention off myself.
Six seconds left. I whispered to my partner with words as fast as I could muster.
“His eyes.”
“Got it.”
I gave him a glance at his near-immediate reply and saw an ice arrow, glowing blue, held in Eugeo’s right hand, though I had no idea when he made it. It wasn’t all that large, but its dazzling radiance served as proof of its high priority. Even I didn’t notice it while standing beside him, but he must have converted the cold air resources released during the exchange earlier between Alice and Chudelkin into elements.
Five seconds left. Eugeo’s hands moved as though they drew an invisible longbow tight and the nocked ice arrow let out a blue flash.
“Discharge!!”
The ice arrow was shot with that short command, but not straight towards Chudelkin.
Eugeo’s left hand guided it first around the flaming clown’s right, then towards its left in a large curve as it soared upwards. The blue streak drawn by the ice arrow in the room dyed red by flames glittered brightly from their severe contrast. The clown’s burning eyes, too, revolved as they chased the arrow.
Four seconds left. Just before the ice arrow reached the ceiling of the room, Eugeo gripped his left hand tightly. With that as the signal, the arrow swooped down in a straight line at several times its previous speed. The keen arrowhead’s aim—
Was not Chief Elder Chudelkin.
It was the one slovenly lying sprawled in mid-air far behind him, the highest minister, Administrator.
Three seconds left.
The silver-haired girl showed absolutely no sign of panic even as she watched the rapid decline of the ice arrow brought about by Eugeo’s full might. She gave it a miffed glance, then pursed her pearl grey lips and let out a light sigh.
That alone sufficed to shatter the ice arrow with it still over a meter from the highest minister.
However, the true target of Eugeo’s attack was not Administrator herself—it was Chudelkin’s abnormal attachment for her.
The moment the arrow went behind him, Chudelkin’s actual two eyes opened and his head spun around with his entire body as he cried out.
“Your Eminencee, take careeeee!”
Two seconds left.
My body began its motions before Chudelkin’s scream reached me.
I pulled back my right arm as much as I could while it held my sword at shoulder-level. Detecting the pre-motion, the blade assumed a light as red as blood.
The system assist began moving my body. Simultaneously, I kicked off the floor with my two feet, opened widely, front and back. Changing the acceleration into torque, I sent it into my right shoulder through my back. Switching that torque back into a linear force, I drove forth the black sword that had fused with my right arm.
The metallic roar of a jet engine rang out alongside a crimson flash more vivid than flames; the sword lunged straight forth.
One-handed straight sword, single hit technique, «Vorpal Strike».
The reason for my frequent usage of this skill in the old SAO was its might that allowed it to decide a battle in a single strike and its long range uncommon to one-handed straight swords. The deep crimson light effect would pierce through the air a distance of two blade-lengths away. Its maximum reach, with one’s right arm completely extended, boasted a range that surpassed even long spears at times.
However, my target, Chief Elder Chudelkin, was fifteen meters away. The normal Vorpal Strike would never reach.
I had to extend the range of this skill that I was unleashing for the first time in the Underworld by over five times through the power of imagination… of incarnation.
It wouldn’t be easy.
But I doubt it would be impossible. I know.
Knight Alice’s faith in me had allowed her to throw her beloved sword and herself into that conflagration. Eugeo, my close friend, had mustered all of his willpower and wisdom in firing that sacred art to provide this opening for my attack.
I had no right to call myself a swordsman if I failed to match their determination here.
Yes, before all else, I am the swordsman, Kirito.
“U… oooohh——!!”
I released a war cry from the depths of myself with all my might.
A black, fingerless glove oozed out from mid-air and covered my right hand.
Following that, black leather appeared above my ragged sleeve and continued on towards my shoulders from that arm, before finally reaching out for my torso. That shortly transformed into a long coat and its studded hem ruffled violently.
The intensity of the light effect engulfing the sword grew as though it had exploded. A radiance of deep crimson expanded far enough to negate the scarlet scattered by the flaming clown and concentrated upon the sword’s point.
“Ooohh!!”
I unshackled the last of my strength with a savage yell.
One second, left.