Sword Art Online - Volume 16 - Chapter 19.5

Chapter 19.5
Asuna held the teacup with one hand, while gazing at the crackling bonfire.
What realistic flames.
They were not even in the same dimension as the special effects flames depicted with the rendering engines in SAO and ALO. Every spark that danced up when dry wood cracked, the thick, charred smell floating in the air, and even the warmth she felt on her face and hands, all stimulated Asuna’s senses more realistically than reality itself.
Not just the fire. The rigidity of the folding chair’s seat, the smooth feel of the wooden cup, and the rich, soothing aroma of the tea; along with the trees around them, their leaves rustling crisply in the night wind.
Since entering the Underworld, having to deal with endless drama, Asuna had been unable to fully experience this world. As she revived her senses, she was truly impressed by the STL’s «Mnemonic Visual».
It seemed that Kirito, who had been logged in without knowing that this was a virtual world, must have become well-experienced before realizing the circumstances. After all — there was not a single NPC in this world.
Asuna turned away from the bonfire and gazed towards the people gathered in the round forest clearing. Quick introductions had already been exchanged.
Sitting to her left and hogging what looked like a bottle of vintage liquor was Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli. Beside him was Integrity Knight Alice, dressed fully in golden armor. Against the fire’s orange glow, her golden locks deepened in color; Asuna could not help but acknowledge her stunning beauty.
To Alice’s left sat a shiftless youth of about fifteen or sixteen years old, who seemed to be an Integrity Knight of the highest «Class». His name was Renri.
Further down, a slender female Knight sat as quietly as a shadow. Her shining new armor seemed not to fit her at all: from time to time, she either pulled on the straps, or loosened them, looking just like a beginner in a VRMMO. But when she was introduced as Sheyta, in the split second that Asuna met her long, narrow eyes, a certain indescribable boldness seemed to lay within.
To Sheyta’s left, across the bonfire from Asuna, around ten people, addressed as Guard Leaders, sat side by side in a row of chairs. Among the tough, hardened faces, there was one female.
To Asuna’s right, the young uniformed girls from before were curled up together, sitting as quietly and as far away as possible. The red-haired girl named Tiese and the tea-color haired girl, Ronye, appeared to be younger students from the academy that Kirito had enrolled in half a year ago.
After sizing up each of the ten-plus swordsmen, Asuna was touched.
Without doubt, they were real humans.
Their appearance, actions, and even their breaths was absolutely devoid of artificiality. Furthermore, the fact that only one artificial Fluctlight, Alice, had managed to break through their «inability to defy law and order», was quite unbelievable.
She now completely understood Kirito’s wish to protect each and everyone of them.
I will inherit that will.
Asuna steeled her determination, then took a deep breath, and spoke:
“Greetings, everyone. I believe this is the first time we’ve met. My name is Asuna. I’m from the outside world.”
While it had only been eight days since her departure, Alice was beginning to miss the short, idyllic time she had spent living reclusively with Kirito in the border village of Rulid, when she would often push Kirito in his wheelchair on their way to the nearby farm.
Surrounded by a white wood fence, woolly sheep would graze nonchalantly on the green grass, and among them, the pure-white lambs would race around, full of energy.
Alice could not help but marvel at their blessed lives. Not having to worry about the world outside that fence, peacefully living in captivity, protected by humans.
She never expected that —
The people of this world were leading lives exactly like those sheep.
That otherworldly girl Asuna’s words had dealt an earth-shattering shock to all of the Knights and Guard Leaders. Even Knight Commander Bercouli, while maintaining his usual relaxed expression, must have been thoroughly shaken inside.
Asuna had called the world where the Human Empire and Dark Territory existed together using a word in the Sacred Tongue: “ Underworld ”. And outside — not geographically, but conceptually — was a strange realm termed the “ Real World ”.
Of course, the Guard Leaders successively raised various questions about that world, which seemed no different from the land of the gods.
The visitor replied. The people living in the Real World, like them, were human beings with emotions, desires, and limited Life.
And right now, at a highly specific location in the Real World, two powers were jostling for control of the Underworld.
Asuna seemed to be a messenger for one of them. Her goal was to protect the Underworld.
The other side’s goal was — to retrieve one single human from the Underworld. After that, they would undertake the destruction of the entire world, rendering everything they knew into absolute nothingness.
Hearing those words, the Guard Leaders began making a reckless racket.
What quelled this disturbance was Bercouli’s thunderous bellow.
Isn’t it the same? The three-hundred year old hero pointed out. Beyond the Human Empire lies the endless Dark Territory, with an army of tens of thousands just waiting for a chance to invade. Until today, there has not been a single one who has sat down and carefully thought about this reality. It’s just an extra world outside of ours, what are you afraid of?
After this violent reasoning was conveyed through a steady and reliable voice, everyone accepted its view. Bercouli turned to Asuna and asked: Who is the person that your enemies are looking for?
The outsider’s light brown eyes swiveled from Bercouli to Alice.
“… M… me?”
Not just Renri; Tiese, Ronye and even Sheyta revealed expressions of shock. Only Bercouli nodded as though he was expecting such an answer.
“As I expected… the «Radiant Medium»…”
Asuna did not understand what that meant. She blinked at the Knight Commander, then turned back to answer.
“We don’t have much time. To prevent the Underworld from being destroyed, Alice has to come to the Real World with me. If Alice is no longer here, the enemy will stop interfering with this world…”
“W… What kind of joke is that?!”
Alice yelled, unable to restrain herself any further. She leapt from her chair, slapped her chestplate with her right hand, and proclaimed, with increasing intensity:
“Asking me to flee?! To abandon this world, and abandon everyone here, and my comrades in the Defense Army… to flee to the Real World?! Impossible! I am an Integrity Knight! My greatest and only mission is to protect the Human Empire!!”
Now Asuna leapt to her feet. Tossing her chestnut hair that was reminiscent of silver oak acorns, she retorted with a voice like a silver bell:
“All the more reason! If the enemy… is not from the Dark Territory, but a thief from the Real World, and if they were to get hold of you and drag you out of this world, everyone here… not just them, even the earth, the sky, everything will be destroyed! We don’t even know when the enemy will attack!”
“Hold on, about that, you’re a bit late about that, Asuna-san.”
The Knight Commander spoke calmly:
“The enemy you speak of are already here.”
“Uh…”
To Asuna, who was suddenly struck dumb, the Knight Commander took a slow sip of liquor and continued:
“Seems like everything’s been revealed. The «Radiant Medium». «Dark God Vector», who’s chasing her. The god Vector who’s directing his troops right now must be someone from the Real World like you.”
“Dark… God.”
Asuna whispered, her face pale. She continued with some incomprehensible words:
“I really didn’t think of that… the Dark Territory super account actually wasn’t locked with a password or anything…”
“Ex… Excuse me.”
Breaking the brief silence, young Knight Renri timidly raised his hand.
Seeing that everyone turned to look at him, the boy asked softly, his face reddening:
“About that, what exactly is a Radiant Medium? And, the thieves from the Real… World? Why do they want Alice-dono?”
The one who answered his question was someone whom everyone thought would remain as «The Silent» during this meeting, the gray Knight Sheyta.
“Because she broke the Seal of the Right Eye.”
Alice jumped at that, momentarily forgetting her indignation. Her hand unconsciously moved to her right eye, and she asked:
“You… You know about that, Sheyta-dono?! How?!”
“It still hurts… whenever I think about it. At that time, to cut down… the strongest thing in the world… the invincible Axiom Church… it must have felt good.”
“…”
The Knights and Guard Leaders fell into a thin silence. Bercouli coughed and pretended not to hear that.
“Ah, I believe there are others here with similar experiences. If the slightest sliver of dissatisfaction or resistance was held against the Highest Minister’s power or the Axiom Church’s authoritative body, one’s right eyeball would begin to flash with red light, coupled with a stabbing pain. Typically, whatever thoughts one had would be forgotten due to the excruciating discomfort. But if one continued these unstable thoughts, the pain would intensify without end, and their right vision would be dyed completely red — and eventually…”
“Their entire right eye would explode.”
Alice whispered, her memories of that detestable moment still fresh.
“Then… Alice-dono…”
To Renri’s horrified voice, Alice nodded slowly and continued, her voice soft.
“I battled Senate Elder Chudelkin, and the Highest Minister Administrator. To summon that determination, I temporarily lost my right eye.”
“Erm… May I ask…”
A voice even smaller than Renri’s requested an opportunity to pitch in, belonging to the girl Ronye of the Supply Team, who had been listening wide-eyed until now.
“Eugeo-senpai too, to protect me… when he swung his sword for Tiese and me, and committed the crimes, from his right eye… Blood…”
That should be it as well. Alice nodded. Fighting countless battles as a civilian, defeating even the Knight Commander, and displaying perfect Incarnation against Administrator. That young man was definitely able to surpass the mere Seal of the Right Eye.
That’s right, during the battle on the topmost floor of the Cathedral, Administrator seemed to say something about the Seal of the Right Eye to Alice. Was it, Code eight seven…?
Without waiting for Alice to recall Administrator’s words, Bercouli spoke while rubbing his chin.
“Hm… In other words, those ‘enemies’ are looking for those who broke the Seal on their own. Asuna-san, do you people of the Real World have the same Seal as well?”
“… No.”
After hesitating for a moment, the chestnut hair swung from side to side.
“I don’t have any such experience. Maybe the only difference between Real World people and Underworld people is whether they can break laws or commands.”
“That means, Lil’ Miss Alice is now an existence exactly the same as you guys? But don’t you think that’s weird? If you’re the same, why do they have such a request? Aren’t there plenty of people in the Real World?”
“That’s…”
Hesitating more than she had before, Asuna fell silent.
But just as she dislodged her frozen memories, Alice’s shout interrupted Asuna’s words.
“That’s it! Code 871 !”
Wringing her hands, she said frantically:
“The Highest Minister called the Seal of the Right Eye as Code 871 . She said it was added by «that person»! I don’t know exactly what that means, though…It’s not Sacred Tongue, so it’s the language of the Real World?!”
“ Code … 87 … 1 …?”
Asuna repeated, dumbfounded. Her brows creased in surprise.
“… Did… someone from RATH add the Seal…? But wouldn’t that… just interfere with their purpose…?”
She sat back down, thought for a moment, then —
She suddenly looked petrified. Her pale pink lips trembling, she squeezed out a hoarse whisper.
But Alice did not understand what she said.
“… Damn it!… There’s a mole in RATH…! On the other side of this wall…!”
Asuna was deeply shaken.
Blind obedience of a higher power. In order to remove the only flaw in the jewel of the artificial Fluctlight, Higa Takeru and the RATH technicians had put in immense effort.
This was because the current artificial Fluctlights were unable to evaluate the morality or utility of commands they were given. If they were loaded as AI onto war machines, even if their command system was hacked and they were ordered to attack the troops they belonged to or engage in indiscriminate murder of civilians, they would not be able to evaluate their commands, instead choosing to execute them directly. They were different from the regulations within Western armies, who possessed the ability to defy orders.
Therefore, to engineer artificial intelligence that was able to break through this limitation, RATH undertook simulated experiments in the Underworld that spanned hundreds of years.
However, if the Seal of the Right Eye or «Code 871» was an apparatus to prevent the experiment from exceeding, if it had been inserted by someone unknown within RATH.
This attempt at disruption probably originated from a directive issued by the attackers on the Ocean Turtle.
And now this mole was still able to move freely in the upper shaft on the Ocean Turtle. If he wanted to, he could even slip past the other technicians and enter STL Room 2, where Kirito and Asuna lay completely defenseless.
Brushing away the chill than ran down her spine, Asuna continued to think:
Her only option was to run her current «Creation Goddess Stacia»’s HP to zero — to death, in other words. But if that happened, she would not be able to log back in with this super account. With the system administration authority commands currently locked, they were unable to reset account data.
Since the attackers were using Dark God Vector, an account of the same level, he was undefeatable with a civilian account. To protect Alice, and then log out safely, she needed this account no matter what.
— What to do? What should I do first?
After racking her brains for a split second, Asuna inhaled deeply, and decided.
She would prioritize the Underworld. This world ran at a speed one thousand times that of the Real World. Before the smallest movement happened in the Real World, they should still have some time.
In this time, she had to come up with a plan to protect Alice from the enemy-led Dark Territory army, and extract her to the Real World. If she failed at that, and Alice fell into enemy hands, those people would destroy all of the other Light Cubes without hesitation to solidify their status as the holders of the single true AI. They would destroy the Underworld, which Kirito had put his life on the line for.
***
From the reports they were receiving, it seemed that Yuuki Asuna’s judgment had been completely correct.
But neither her, nor Higa Takeru and Kikuoka Seijirou on the Ocean Turtle, had realized an important truth.
Ever since Gabriel Miller and Vassago Casals had logged in, the FLA rate had been slowly decreasing. This operation was being performed by Critter, the technician of the attacking team, but the one who gave the order was Gabriel.
In about twenty hours, armed JSDF personnel from the Aegis destroyer «Nagato» would storm the floating structure. In that sort of situation, it was understandably inconceivable to RATH that the attacking team would lower the Acceleration Rate and throttle their own necks.
Of course, the reason behind their lowering of the Acceleration Rate was beyond anyone’s imagination.
But —
In this instant, only one person had seen through Gabriel’s motive.
Concealed in Yuuki Asuna’s portable terminal, «she», the world’s most advanced «Top-Down» artificial intelligence, stealthily planned as she flew through the internet.
***
“What’s… wrong?”
Alice had stopped using honorifics some time ago. Hearing her words, Asuna suddenly raised her head and shook it.
“No… It’s nothing. Sorry to interrupt.”
“You didn’t interrupt, we’re still waiting for your reply.”
Alice said testily.
“So, do you have any clues about the name «Code 871»?
“Yes. I was just about to explain.”
Alice retorted coolly. Even Asuna herself was perplexed at this.
Asuna could not remember ever arguing with anyone. She was on good terms with her friends — Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon, and even with her classmates in school.
Speaking of which, when was the last time she had contended with some like this? She thought for a moment and nearly burst out laughing. Without a doubt, that person would be Kirito.
Ever since they had met on the first floor of Aincrad and somehow struck up an interdependent relationship to begin clearing that death game, Asuna had stared at and shouted in Kirito’s face numerous times, occasionally even getting physical.
Maybe, there would come a time when she could get along with this girl named Alice.

— No, that’s not very likely.
As Asuna thought, she opened her mouth:
“… Then, the person who set up what Lil’ Miss Alice called «Code 871», or the Seal of the Right Eye, was someone from the Real World… in cahoots with the enemy.”
“Hmm… Well, besides destroying one’s right eye, is there another way to remove this so-called Code?”
At Bercouli’s inquiry, the otherworldly girl shook her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know either… I don’t think that it’s something that can be removed from within the Underworld, I’m afraid.”
Listening to Asuna’s clear voice, Alice felt uneasy.
Of course, her first impression of her was terrible. Asuna suddenly getting that close to Kirito without explanation left her deeply vexed. After all, she was the one who had protected and cared for Kirito and his injuries.
Then again, this girl named Asuna, like Kirito, was from the Real World. Judging by her words and actions, she must have had some relationship with him there. Then, since she chased him to another world, she at least had some say in the matter.
Was this the reason to her anxiety? She had thought that she was the only one in this world most obligated and responsible for Kirito, yet now there suddenly comes someone to challenge that?
Or was it her competitive spirit towards Asuna’s frightening swordsmanship?
That was Alice’s first time witnessing a strike with such ludicrous speed. It was a speed that not even Vice Knight Commander Fanatio could match. It wasn’t merely a continuous strike; it felt more like multiple stabs coming at exactly the same time. If their swords had been knocked slightly off course upon hitting each other, her opponent would likely have recovered faster.
Or was it —
Because Asuna was so extraordinarily beautiful that just looking at her made you sigh?
An exotic face without even the slightest tinge of austerity, as though it were the embodiment of the word “exquisite” itself. The bonfire brightly illuminated her white skin and her soft, billowing chestnut hair, which looked to be top-quality strands of silk braided together. The Guard Leaders’ eyes all revealed intoxicated gazes of admiration. If Asuna had called herself Goddess Stacia, they would have believed her without question.
She wanted to know.
Not about the Real World or about the enemy, but about this Asuna person. The relationship between her and Kirito.
Catching herself floating within her own thoughts, Alice regained her senses, struggling to concentrate and catch up with the conversation. Asuna continued to the Knight Commander:
“… The «enemy» are afraid of those who have broken the Seal in the Underworld… in other words, if their proverbial «Radiant Medium» shows up and is taken away by some external force. Because the Radiant Medium in the Real World is actually an extremely precious existence.”
“That’s what I don’t understand.”
Knight Commander Bercouli muttered, twirling his bottle of liquor.
“Your «Radiant Medium», or Lil’ Miss Alice, should be an existence equal to that of a Real World person, shouldn’t she? I just asked, why are they you all so stubborn about this? Whether it’s the enemy, or Asuna-san, what exactly do you want Lil’ Miss Alice to do once you take her away?”
“Um…”
Asuna bit her lip.
Her long eyelashes drooped as she showed a pained expression.
“… I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you yet. Because, I… hope that Alice-san can come to see and judge the Real World with her own eyes. It’s not the kingdom of the Gods, nor is it a fantastical utopia. In fact, it’s far uglier and dirtier than this world. I believe the same about the motives of the people after Alice-san. That is to say, I believe she would not forgive the Real World and the people living there. But… It’s not just that. There are many people who wish to protect this world. Just… Just like Kirito-kun.”
Alice silently listened to the other girl’s long, difficult speech.
Yet she found herself surprised, nodding slowly.
“… Okay. I won’t ask any more questions for now.”
She slowly parted her hands, and shrugged.
“No matter what, I’m not going to do what I don’t want to do. Besides, I haven’t decided to go yet. Although I do wish to see the outside world, that’s still a matter we can discuss after we… defeat Dark God Vector and his invading army, and establish peace.”
Alice thought that Asuna would rebuke fiercely again, but she only hesitated for a moment and spoke slowly:
“… Yeah. Since that Dark Territory army is being controlled by a Real World person, it would be quite dangerous for Alice-san and I to leave on our own. The enemy should have thought of that as well. I’ll… fight alongside everyone. Please leave the fight with Vector to me.”
Cheers were heard from the Guard Leaders. To them, no matter what she herself claimed, Asuna was no different from Goddess Stacia. At least, if she had that earth-shattering super attack, it wouldn’t matter if the enemy had twenty thousand or two hundred thousand troops.
The Knight Commander seemed to be considering the same thing. He crossed his arms and asked:
“All right, we’ll put aside the matter of the Real World for now. Back to the problem at hand… That skill you used just now, Asuna-san, can it be used infinitely?”
“… I’m sorry, but this will disappoint you.”
Asuna shrugged her shoulders and slowly shook her head.
“That sort of power places great mental strain on its user. I would be able to withstand it if it were merely discomfort, but if I use it without restraint, I may be forcibly ejected to the world to preserve my mental health. If that happens, I can never come back. Unfortunately, I can only perform large-scale geographical commands once or twice more.”
Let down by their excessive anticipation, the faces around the bonfire looked disappointed. Noticing this, Alice sprang to her feet again.
“How can we only rely on an outsider’s power to protect our world?! She has already given us enough aid. Now, it’s our turn to show the outsider what we, the Knights and Guards, are capable of!”
After this fierce call to action, Alice felt Asuna’s surprised gaze on her and avoided her eyes embarrassedly.
The first to agree was Renri, the youngest Knight present.
“Y… Yeah! Didn’t you hear that, she’s not a god, she’s a human like us! Then we can fight as well!”
With words that seemed to resonate from the two Divine Instruments at his waist, the young Knight looked towards the red-haired girl a distance away from Asuna. Alice chuckled inwardly.
“I wish to… battle that person again, too.”
«The Silent» Sheyta murmured, throwing her hat into the ring.
The Guard Leaders soon assented one by one, exchanging glances with one another.
That’s right, we’ll all work together and protect what we love – came the yells and shouts from the Guards who were gathered on the grass around them. As if it were swept up in the wills of the crowd, the fire also began to crackle more vividly, smoke flying towards the night sky.
***
Was this — really okay?
In her assigned tent, Asuna began to think as she removed her pearly-white armor.
According to Higa and Kikuoka’s intentions in the Real World, Asuna was supposed to quickly bring Alice to a system console and extract her to the safety of the sub control room.
But what then? According to Kikuoka, as long as they procured Alice’s Fluctlight and analyzed its structure, they could load it into an unmanned weapon as the basis for its AI. The remaining ten thousand artificial Fluctlights would then lose all purpose. It would also do them no good to waste an immense amount of power and space to keep them running.
Even they only rescued Alice and destroyed the rest of the Underworld, what would Kirito think after he wakes up? No, would he even be able to wake up in the first place…?
No, she could not falter like that again. She had come all this way to meet him, so she must try her utter best to connect with him, speak with him, and search for the key to his recovery. Higa had said that they could only hope for a miracle from within the Underworld to heal Kirito.
Right now, she wanted to be in the supply tent where he was, to hold him, and talk to him. During this period of diving in, she wanted to always be by his side. She never wanted to abandon him and travel to the system console in the faraway south.
— At least, just for tonight…
Making her decision, Asuna removed all of her armor, changed into a female habit and tunic, then moved to the entrance of the tent to listen.
Despite her protests, the Knight Commander had assigned a Guard to her as security. The young man, nervous with his task as Goddess Stacia’s bodyguard, was restlessly pacing around the tent’s surroundings.
When the footsteps passed over the grass directly across her and neared the middle of the back, Asuna hastily left the tent. In three silent and huge steps, she concealed herself within the shadow of a giant tree ten meters away.
Stealing a glance behind her, she saw that the guard seemed not to have noticed anything, continuing his rounds. After silently apologizing to him, Asuna walked into the depths of the forest.
The Human Empire Army, tired after their large-scale battle, had all retired early, with the exception of a few sentries. The sentries were focusing on the outskirts of the forest, so Asuna was able to sneak into the supply tent area undetected.
Close your eyes and focus.
She did not know whether it was the power of her super account or pure intuition, but she could immediately feel the location of her lover.
Taking a few steps in that direction, Asuna suddenly noticed in the corner of her eye a flash of golden light.
Damn — She timidly turned to look.
A silhouette stood with its back against the tent, arms crossed. Like Asuna, it wore a simple gown with a yarn scarf. Flowing golden hair that waved in the night wind. Deep blue eyes that projected a frightening glare.
“… I knew you would come.”
Alice snorted softly, shaking her golden ponytail.
Staring directly at her opponent of the same height, same body, and same age, Alice was just about to speak her prepared words.
— Didn’t I say that you are not allowed near here? Just go quietly back to your own tent.
But the breath she had inhaled felt difficult to vocalize. Because within the eyes of the outsider Asuna, she saw an emotion that could not be clearer.
Yearning. Pain because of that yearning, and determination because of that yearning.
Fuu — sighing deeply, Alice asked herself.
— This is not me yielding. I am the one with the highest responsibility to make sure Kirito awakes. This reality will not change. Because Kirito has fought with me, hurt with me, and fallen out of exhaustion before me.
So this is — a part of what I have to do to make sure Kirito comes back.
“… Let’s make a deal.”
Hearing Alice’s short remark, Asuna blinked in confusion.
“I’ll let you see Kirito. I’ll also tell you what I know. In exchange, you tell me everything you know about Kirito.”
After less than a second of confusion, Asuna smiled confidently.
“All right. But it’s a long story. One night may not be enough to tell it.”
How uncomfortable. Pouting again, Alice demanded:
“How long have you been with him?”
So, Asuna’s light brown eyes stared up at the night sky, then she curled the fingers on her hands and replied:
“Well… we were battle partners for two years. Then we dated for a year and a half. We even spent two weeks living together.”
— “Dated” meant a romantic relationship, right? No, maybe… But I’ve lived with him for longer…
Alice wavered slightly, then threw out her chest and retaliated:
“I’ve spent an entire night fighting by his side. Then I took care of him in the same roof, staying by his side for half a year.”
It was Asuna’s turn to be shocked, but she quickly recovered. Is that so — she murmured.
The two glowered at each other, as though fully clad in armor, ready to draw swords and duel. The night air crackled, and dry leaves unlucky enough to land between them exploded: pishi, pishi.
The one who bravely entered the battle between an Integrity Knight and the Creation Goddess was — the thin voice of a young girl.
“Um…”
Shocked, Alice whirled in that direction. Asuna followed suit.
The voice had come from a young trainee from the supply team with a soft cap on her tea-colored hair and a gray nightgown — Ronye. She shyly clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and spoke again.
“Actually, I, I spent two months cleaning Kirito-senpai’s room, and he taught me sword skills as well, and even treated us to the Jumping Deer Inn’s honey pies several times! It does seem like very little compared to you two, but… I also want to share…”
Alice blinked a few times before exchanging glances with Asuna again. Both of their mouths smiled wryly at the same time, as though sighing together.
“Sure, Ronye-san. You were a companion, after all.”
Alice shrugged and nodded towards the petite girl. She could not help but praise the trainee exhaling and smiling in relief: what commendable bravery.
But — she was not the only challenger.
“May I partake in the information exchange?”
A seemingly masculine tone, yet a distinctively clear female voice. A rather tall woman had appeared under the moonlight without a sound. Gazing at her graceful features, Asuna let out a weak voice.
“… You’re the…”
Without a doubt. she was the female guard corps leader from the meeting a while ago.
The woman, whose brown hair was tied in a long ponytail, nodded.
“I am Sortiliena Serlut of the Norlangarth North Empire Knight Order. Although I wanted to wait until after the battle had ended… or so I thought, but due to my long association with Kirito, I couldn’t help but join in.”
Alice sighed again, raised her shoulders, and spoke to the tall Guard Leader:
“… And what sort of association is that, Guard Leader Serlut?”
“… If you don’t mind, please call me «Liena», Knight-dono.”
Sortiliena coughed softly before playing her trump card:
“When I was at the Norlangarth Empire Sword Mastery Academy,Kirito served as my valet for a year. I also passed some sword skills to him.”
“………”
The other three sank into silence at this revelation.
?
Asuna and Alice met eyes, simultaneously displayed expressions of “Really, now”, and nodded.
“Then you must have quite a bit of information too, Liena-san. Please come in with us.”
With an odd atmosphere, the four of them began silently moving, and Alice led them into a small tent. Simple bedding lay on top of two leather pads next to each other. One of them was empty, while a black-haired youth with his eyes closed lay on the other. Poking out of woolen blanket, two longsword hilts were slightly visible.
Seeing this, Asuna’s lips trembled with a deep longing. Alice did not discern it.
“… What’s the matter?”
At Alice’s question, the otherworldly swordswoman momentarily forgot the animosity between them, and answered with a smile:
“Kirito of the «Dual Blades». That’s what they call Kirito-kun over there.”
“… Hoh…”
Now that she mentioned it, when Kirito fought that decisive battle against Administrator, he was indeed freely wielding his own black sword and Eugeo’s white sword. That definitely did not look easy.
Alice moved to sit down opposite the sleeping Kirito. She beckoned the other three to sit as well, saying:
“Then let’s start from there.”
The dark night over the black wilderness became colder and colder, with only the violet moon shining silently over the land.
Whether it was the Guards of the Human Empire Defense Army or the Dark Knights and Fist Fighters of the Dark Territory army in their camp that was now split by a large crevice, all had sunk into deep sleep.
In one corner of the silent night before the final battle between the two sides, only one candle inside a tent could not be extinguished. Sounds of quiet laughter came from behind the thick curtain, but the only one who could hear was a lone owl perched on a tree branch.
After the oil in the lantern was depleted, the four young women, exhausted from talking so much, sank into sleep beside Kirito.
A moment later, far away in Central Capital Centoria in the Human Empire, a bell steadily tolled midnight. Of course, this sound did not reach the camp in the Dark Territory.
At the same time —
A sensation so faint it could be described as the «vibration of time» reached every single person in the Underworld. That was the sensation of the FLA Rate dropping to 1:1, but even if someone was awake, they would find it extremely difficult to feel it.
Underworld Human Empire Calendar, the eighth day of the eleventh month, Year 380, 0:00.
Real World Japan Standard Time, 7 July 2026, 0:00.
The timelines of both worlds were completely synchronized.