Sword Art Online - Volume 27 - Chapter 12

12

Upon her return after two minutes of being logged out, Alice opened her eyes and asked Selka, “How much more time do we have?!”

“Seven minutes, Alice. Did you reach Kirito?!”

“Yes, he said he’d come…as soon as he could…but…”

She had to tell them the harsh reality of the situation, because Selka, Tiese, and Ronie looked all too relieved at the news.

“…Kirito’s home in the real world is over thirty kilors away from the facility where he travels to the Underworld. I believe it will take an hour or longer for him to arrive.”

“Kirito’s home…,” Ronie murmured, her eyes briefly vacant before snapping back into focus. “An hour? But we can’t always rely on him to get us out of trouble every single time.”

“That’s right. Now is the time to demonstrate our pride as knights and articians,” Tiese and Selka added.

In the window screen, the three large dragoncraft continued to point their prows at the cathedral. The solid image of the man calling himself Agumar Wesdarath VI had vanished, but he was sure to appear again to deliver his final warning when their grace period was almost over.

“Six minutes left,” Selka announced. Alice took a deep breath and exhaled.

The hour until Kirito arrived would be an eternity, given the situation. But until then, the five of them would have to protect the cathedral—specifically, the sleeping knights on the ninety-ninth floor.

She squeezed the sheath holding her sword. Tiese placed a hand on the pommel of the thin longsword that hung from the left hip of her knight’s uniform and announced, “We will fight, too, Lady Alice!”

“Thank you, Tiese. But only two can ride on that,” she replied, glancing at Airy, who was busy performing setup in the corner. Before Alice logged out, the handrail and step had been removed, but now they were attached again, so Airy was almost done.

“But…,” Tiese protested. Alice laid a hand on her shoulder.

“You and Ronie have a different role to play. When the defensive wall on the eastern side opens, I will be drawing the enemy’s attention. You’ll need to go to the aid of the space force base at that time. You can use wind-element flight, correct?”

“Y-yes. It’s just that we can’t fly as freely as Kirito does, and it will cause a very loud sound, like a gale of wind…”

“That’s all right. At this height, you can reach them even by gliding, and the sound should be drowned out by the roaring of the dragoncraft’s engines.”

“…Understood. We’ll take care of the base!”

Tiese and Ronie performed the abbreviated knight’s salute.

“Thank you. But don’t get yourself hurt,” Alice said, saluting back. She turned to her sister. “Selka, there are two things I want you to do.”

She leaned close and quickly relayed her instructions, just before Airy spoke up from the northwest corner of the floor.

“The preparations are complete, Lady Alice.”

“Thank you, Airy.”

She had made all the moves she could. The only thing left to do was fight like her life depended on it.

There was a pouch on her belt that she removed and handed to Selka. “I have one last request. Would you hold this for me, Selka? It’s very important to me.”

“Of course…but what is inside, Alice?”

“They’re Amayori, the dragon you met in Rulid, and its brother, Takiguri. They’ve been reverted back into their egg form. One of my other goals was to hatch and raise them.”

“Amayori’s egg…,” Selka repeated, wide-eyed. She clutched the pouch carefully to her chest. “I will do this for you, Alice. I’ll keep them safe, no matter what it takes.”

“Thank you.”

She brushed her little sister’s shoulder, then took a step back. The timer on one of the floating windows was under four minutes. There was no movement from the formation of dragoncraft, but it was painfully clear that their Incarnate weapons were still trained on the cathedral.

Alice gave them all a bob of her head and turned away.

With her left hand resting on the Osmanthus Blade, she rubbed a coiled whip equipped beneath her belt pouch with the right. It was the Frostscale Whip, a Divine Object left behind by Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One after he perished in the Battle of the Eastern Gate. Although Alice was not able to wield it herself, simply having it on her belt gave her strength.

She made her way around the X’rphan Mk. 13 resting in the middle of the floor and continued to the northwest corner. Airy was just tightening the last screws at the moment.

She straightened and put the screw tightener back into the toolbox. “I’ve finished the inspection and maintenance. It’s ready to go whenever you want, Lady Alice.”

“Thank you, Airy. I know this sounds scary…but I swear to you, I won’t let you take a single scratch.”

“It’s fine, my lady. Focus only on the enemy and do not concern yourself with my needs,” Airy replied at once. There wasn’t a hint of fear in her eyes.

To Alice, this woman was hard to separate from the levitating platform operator she had been back in the old days. But after those events, Airy had been the yardmaster of the dragoncraft manufacturing facility. She must have piloted the craft on multiple occasions, then, perhaps even into battle. Being overly precious about her ability to take care of herself was pointless, Alice realized.

She smiled briefly and said, “I’ll do that, then, Airy…Let’s go.”

“Very well,” she replied, gesturing ahead of them.

It was a fully metallic circular platform, about five feet across. There was a handrail running around it, two sealed canisters below, and many exhaust ports. This was the levitating platform that Kirito had developed for Airy.

Alice hopped onto the step resting a good foot off the ground, then reached back to pull Airy up after her. She stood in the front, with Airy in the rear, both firmly holding the railing.

Three minutes remained.

“Go ahead, Selka!” Alice called out.

Over by the windows, Selka replied, “Okay!” and touched one of them.

With a heavy rumbling, the defensive wall before them began to open up, pulling apart upward and downward. Ten seconds later, the instant it was fully open, Airy called out, “Launching.”

High-pressure air shot out of the ports beneath the platform, without any chanted commands, and the disc rose off the floor. It proceeded upward, sliding through the aperture, out of the cathedral entirely. They had been inside the heated tower all along, so the December night air was bitingly cold, but Alice did not feel it.

Airy promptly steered the levitating platform up to the ninety-ninth floor. Up close, there were indeed countless pits and cracks in the marble exterior of the wall. Normally, the regenerative qualities of the building would repair the damage in no time, but this still hadn’t happened, even seven minutes after the attacks—an effect of the Incarnate weapons’ overwriting effect.

The sight of so many brutal scars made Alice angrier than she expected to be. Although she didn’t realize it, spending the majority of her short life in Central Cathedral gave her more than a little attachment to the place.

She adjusted her direction to face the three large dragoncraft. Instantly, as though waiting for this signal, the center craft emitted rays of white light from its back.

The light gathered into a detailed image, a figure who stood more than sixty feet tall. The menace calling himself Emperor Agumar Wesdarath VI stared at the two with haughty arrogance and opened his mouth to speak.

“Illegitimate occupiers, if you have come to beg for my mercy and swear obedience, cast aside the sword you bear.”

His booming voice washed over Alice’s being.

Below, the city of West Centoria wailed with many sirens as emergency vehicles rushed back and forth. The sidewalks along the major roads were filled with people in nightclothes, looking up at the sky to see what was happening. It seemed the city had barely started evacuating the citizens. That made it all the more crucial not to allow any dragoncraft to crash-land there.

By placing his dragoncraft directly over the city, Agumar was making hostages out of the citizens of the country he claimed control over. Such a man had no business calling himself an emperor.

As they had planned, Airy quickly recited a sacred art. A film made of crystal elements appeared in front of Alice’s face, and the air around them began to swirl in a funnel shape. It was a voice-projection art meant to allow her words to reach a great distance.

Sucking in a deep breath of chilling air, Alice grabbed the hilt of the Osmanthus Blade and drew it free.

She held it high overhead, glimmering in the starlight.

“My name is Alice…Integrity Knight of the Axiom Church, Alice Synthesis Thirty!!”

The decision to name the Church of the past was a deliberate one. She brought down the sword, leveling the tip at the three-dimensional image in the distance.

Agumar’s eyes flared slightly, seemingly taken aback by her reaction. Alice fixed him with a stare and delivered her speech:

“Whether you are indeed the true progeny of the imperial line, so-called Agumar Wesdarath VI, or an arrogant pretender to the throne, the word of an Integrity Knight is not to be ignored!! I command you to land your craft outside of Centoria’s limits, cease your attack on the space force base, and surrender along with all your soldiers!!”

Her amplified voice traveled not just to the three dragoncraft, but over a wide section of Centoria, she was certain.

According to Selka’s explanation, the Rebellion of the Four Empires, which occurred after the Otherworld War, was started when the emperors at the time issued edicts that the Human Unification Council were traitors who had destroyed the Axiom Church. In other words, the emperors were rebelling against the Unification Council, specifically, and were not denying the authority of the Axiom Church in the least.

That meant that if Agumar was a descendant of the western emperors, as he claimed to be, he should not be able to defy the name of the Axiom Church. At least, that was the hope.

Sadly, that hope was instantly dashed.

“It is you who is the pretender, girl. The Axiom Church fell into ruin two hundred years ago, and its knights died out with it. Only the most naive of children believe the fairy tale that the Integrity Knights were sealed away and will one day come back to life. You are nothing but rats skulking in the sealed floors of Central Cathedral. I will give you one more opportunity. Throw down your sword and prostrate yourself atop that winged insect you ride!! Otherwise, my dragoncraft’s flames will burn you to ashes!!”

Agumar pointed a finger imperiously at her, as though he could push the sword aside from there.

Alice would have assumed that referring to the flying platform as a “winged insect” would rankle some feathers, but Airy’s voice was as calm as ever.

“Lady Alice, I believe that statement was not meant for you, but for his soldiers, to quell any unrest based on what you just announced. I can only assume that the earlier attacks were meant for the knights who are currently petrified, as he just mentioned. I believe we should assume that he is aware the old Integrity Knights are kept on the ninety-ninth floor.”

“Yes, I agree,” she whispered back, to keep her voice from passing through the amplification art. Alice lifted the Osmanthus Blade slightly higher and pointed it at Agumar’s image once more.

“I bear the Osmanthus Blade, a divine weapon, as proof that I am Alice the Integrity Knight!! Fire your missiles, if you wish!! From this moment on, not a single one of them will touch Central Cathedral!!”

“Then I will turn you and that sword into ash!!”

Agumar lifted his right hand, then swung it down.

Three missiles launched simultaneously from under the wings of three dragoncraft.