Sword Art Online - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.4

Part 4
*Klang*. The 5:30 bell rang, and I opened my eyes at that moment, thinking that I should do what I could do at this moment as I got off the neat bed.
I opened the window to the north, stretched my back, and took a deep breath full of cold air dyed with the color of dawn. I took a few deep breaths, and the sleepiness remaining within the back of my head disappeared completely.
I pricked my ears to listen, and the kids in the room opposite the corridor had woken up as well. I quickly changed my clothes so that I had the chance to wash myself at the well before them.
My «Initial Equipment», the tunic and cotton pants, showed no signs of obvious stains, but Eugeo said that their lives would quickly drop if I don't wash them. If that was the case, it was about time for me to consider changing my clothes. I would discuss this with Eugeo - I thought as I walked out of the back door and arrived at the well.
I took a few scoops of water from the pail and poured it into the tray, and as I bent down to wash my face, someone quickly approached me from behind. It's most likely Selka, I thought as I lifted myself up, wiping off the water on my hands as I turned around.
"Ahh...morning, Sister."
Standing over there was Sister Azariya, who was in a habit, which didn't show any sign of sloppiness. I hurriedly lowered my head, and she nodded and answered 'morning'. My heart was really shocked to see her stern lips curled up more than usual.
"Then... Sister, is there something...?"
I asked tentatively. The Sister blinked hesitantly and simply said,
"—Selka is missing."
"Eh..."
"Kirito-san, do you know anything? Selka seemed to be very close to you..."
Was she suspecting that I did something to Selka? I felt very embarrassed for a moment, but immediately felt that was not the case. In this world which had the absolute law, the Taboo Index that no one could break, the Sister probably didn't even think of a huge crime like kidnapping a girl. In other words, she felt that Selka disappeared on her own, and simply wanted to ask if I knew where she went.
"Well... no, I've never heard anything... it's a rest day today, right? Did she go home?"
I racked my still-sleepy brain as I said this, but the Sister immediately shook her head.
"Selka has never gone home ever since she came to this church two years ago. Even if she did, she would have told me so without hiding anything. She went off without even attending worship this morning. Even though— there's no rule that forbids her from doing so..."
"Then... did she go off to buy something? How are the ingredients for breakfast prepared?"
"We bought two days worth of food yesterday and stored them last night because the shops in the village are all on break."
"Ahh... I see."
At this moment, my lacking imagination reached its limit.
"...She must have had something urgent going on. She'll definitely come back."
"...It'll be good if that were the case..."
Sister Azariya continued to frown in a worried manner, but still sighed lightly in the end.
"Then, we'll wait 'till noon. If she still hasn't come back, I'll look for the people at the village council to discuss this. Sorry for bothering you. I still have to prepare for worship, so I'll take my leave then."
"Well... I'll go around nearby to look."
After watching the Sister nod, bow and leave, I poured away the water in the tray, all the while having a bad feeling about this. I remembered that I was a little worried when I talked to Selka yesterday, but I couldn't remember what it was about. What did I say to cause Selka to go missing?
I finished the worship with anxiety in my heart, comforted the kids who were continuously asking where Selka nee-chan went to, finished my breakfast, and the girl still hadn't came back. I hurriedly cleared up the utensils for breakfast and walked out of the front door of the church.
I didn't agree with Eugeo to meet here, but as the bell rang at 8, I could still see the flax-colored hair walking into the plaza from the road in the north. I surged out, and ran towards him.
"Ya, Kirito. Good morning."
"Morning, Eugeo."
I saw Eugeo, who was smiling at me like yesterday, and simply greeted him before continuing,
"Are you resting the entire day too, Eugeo?"
"That's right, yeah. That's why I want to bring you around the village, Kirito."
"That's good, but before that, I need your help. Selka has gone missing since morning... I want to go around to look... "
"Ehh?"
Eugeo widened his green eyes, and then frowned worriedly.
"She left the church without telling Sister Azariya anything?"
"Seemed so. The Sister even said that this is the first time such a thing happened. Eugeo, do you know where Selka may have gone?"
"Where she could be, huh? Even if you ask me..."
"I told some things about Alice to Selka last night, so I want to see if there is any place she might have memories with Alice..."
At this moment, I finally realized, at a moment so late it amazed me, the truth behind the anxiety inside my heart.
"Ahh..."
"What, is there something wrong, Kirito?"
"Don't tell me... —Hey, Eugeo. You didn't tell Selka the reason Alice was taken away by the Integrity Knight when she asked you, right? Why?"
Eugeo blinked a few times, and finally nodded slowly.
"Ahh... that did happen before. Why... as for why I didn't say so... I'm not so sure about the reason... but maybe I was worrying that Selka would try to follow Alice's footsteps..."
"That's it."
I groaned softly.
"I told Selka last night about Alice touching the land of darkness... Selka must have gone to the Mountain range at the Edge."
"EEHH!!"
Eugeo's face immediately turned pale.
"That's very bad. We have to get her back before the villagers find out and chase after her... when did Selka leave?"
"I don't know. She was gone when I woke up at 5:30..."
"In this season, dawn is around 5. It's impossible to walk in the forest if she leaves earlier. In that case, 3 hours..."
Eugeo looked up at the sky and continued,
"When Alice and I went to the cave, we spent less than 5 hours on our feet while we're kids. Selka's most likely halfway there. I don't know if we can catch up if we chase after her now..."
"Got to be fast. Let's move."
I said anxiously, and Eugeo nodded hard,
"No time to get ready. Luckily, we will be moving down the river, so there's no need to worry about water. Alright... this way."
Eugeo and I walked towards the north at a speed that wouldn't cause everyone else to feel weird.
The shops were becoming sparse, and once we saw that there weren't any more pedestrians, we dashed down the stone steps at a speed where we were almost going to fall off. After spending about 5 minutes walking towards the bridge above the river, we got past the eyes of the guard in the sentry post before running out of the village.
Unlike the wheat fields that stretched down the horizon in the south, the north of the village had a thick forest. A river circled around the hill that formed Rulid village and headed through the forests, extending out of both the north and south of the village. There was a small path with thin grass growing on the river bank.
Eugeo kept his eyes on the path that shifted to the riverside, walked for another 10 steps and stopped. He used his left hand to stop me and knelt down, using his right hand to touch some slightly tall grass.
"It's here...there are some signs that this place has been stepped on."
He muttered and quickly drew a mark to summon the «Window» of the grass.
"The Life has decreased by a little. If it were an adult, it would have been decreased a lot more. A kid definitely came by here before. Let's hurry."
"Ah...ahh."
I nodded and followed Eugeo, who was becoming faster.
No matter how far we moved, the scenery of the river on the right and the forest on the left never changed. Along the way, we passed by a lake and a slightly sloped region. It just made me feel like I had entered the «loop landscape» trap that most RPGs have. I could no longer hear the sound of the bell on the tower, and could only deduce the time from the sun that rose up bit by bit.
Eugeo and I continued to jog down the river, and if it were the me in the real world, I'd be completely breathless in less than 30 minutes. Luckily, the men in this world seemed to have a rather high average resilience, and I felt that it's more comforting than tiring to move my body. I once suggested to Eugeo to go a little faster, but Eugeo said that if we moved too fast, our life would drop quickly, and we wouldn't be able to move if we don't stop and rest for a long time.
Just like that, we kept running for 2 hours at a suitable speed, but there was still no sign of the girl in front of us. Speaking of which, based on the time now, Selka may have already reached the cave. The restlessness and anxiety spread through my mouth with a slightly metallic smell.
"I say... Eugeo."
I said as I took note not to mess up my breathing. Eugeo, who was running on the front side in front of me, turned back to look.
"What is it?"
"This is just for precaution's sake...but if Selka enters the land of darkness, will she be taken immediately by the Integrity Knight?"
At this moment, Eugeo looked like he was searching through his memory, and immediately denied it.
"No...I guess the Integrity Knight will most probably fly over to the village tomorrow morning. It was the same six years ago."
"I see... then, even if it is the worst case scenario, there's still a chance to save Selka."
"...What are you thinking about, Kirito?"
"Simple. Today, if we bring Selka away from the village, we might be able to hide from the Integrity Knight's pursuit."
"..."
Eugeo turned his face forward, remained silent, and whispered,
"How is that... possible. What about the Sacred Task...?"
"I never said that you have to come along, Eugeo."
I deliberately said with a taunting tone.
"I'll take Selka away. It was my fault for talking too much, so I'm bearing responsibility for this."
"...Kirito..."
On seeing Eugeo's face from the side showing such a hurt expression, I felt a sharp pain deep inside. However, this was to shake his sturdy «Obedient Will». Even though I'm scolding myself deep inside for using Selka's crisis, I had to make sure right this moment whether the Taboo Index was just a philosophical law or an absolute rule to the people living in this world.
After that, Eugeo slowly shook his head, several seconds later.
"No... it's impossible, Kirito. Selka has a Sacred Task too. Even if I know that the Integrity Knights are out to capture her, I can't let you go with her. And I don't think things will develop to such an extent. Selka can't possibly commit such a grave crime."
"But Alice did it."
I simply gave an example. With that, Eugeo bit his lips tightly and shook his head hard to deny it again.
"Alice... Alice was special. She was different from everyone else in the village. Even me... and of course, different from Selka too."
After saying that, he increased his pace as if he didn't want to continue talking. I followed him from behind, whispering to that girl whose name I only knew in my heart,
—Alice... what in the world are you?
To the residents, including Eugeo and Selka, the Taboo Index wasn't something that could be broken even if they wanted to. It's like people in real life being unable to break the laws of physics that states that they couldn't fly. This was something that affirmed my observation that «they were still different from me as humans even though they have real Fluctlights».
However, breaking a powerful Taboo...what kind of existence is this girl called Alice who could break such a powerful Taboo? Is she a test player like me using the STL? Or—
My feet moved on their own as I tried to piece together all sorts of thoughts in my mind. At this moment, Eugeo broke the silence.
"I see it, Kirito."
I lifted my face, and like he said, at the break of the forest, I could see greyish-white rocks lining up.
Both of us dashed down the remaining few hundred meters left and stopped at the grassy patch that became gravel. I panted in a slightly heavy manner and looked up at the scene in front of me in a dumbstruck manner.
It was not the virtual world— the change in area was really too clear-cut, causing me to think of saying such a thing. There was only a very narrow buffer zone splitting it, and abruptly, it became a rocky mountain that was almost vertical. The amazing thing was that if I raised my hand, the places I could touch were covered with thin snow. I didn't know how tall it was, but there was pure white light flashing nearby.
The snowy mountains extended out to both left and right sides of where I stood, until I could no longer see them. It felt like they wanted to divide «this side» and «the opposite side» of this world perfectly. If this world really had a designer, I really wanted to complain that his design for the boundary was too simple.
"Is this...the Mountain range at the Edge? And on the other side is the land of darkness...?"
I whispered with disbelief. Eugeo nodded.
"I was shocked when I came here for the first time. This Mountain range at the Edge..."
"...Is so close to us now."
I sighed as I continued and subconsciously tilted my head. It was a road that had no obstacles, no split paths and a distance that could be covered in 2.5 hours just by walking faster. It was like— like it was luring us, luring the residents over to the Taboo area. Or it may be the other way around, inviting people from the land of darkness to invade...
Eugeo turned to me, who was relaxed, and said anxiously.
"Then, let's hurry. There's most likely still a 30 minutes distance between us and Selka. Once we find her and pull her back, we might be able to go back to the village while it's still bright.
"Ah, ahh... you're right."
I looked over at where he was pointing at, and I could see that the river we walked down was being sucked in —or rather, flowing out— from a protruding hole in the wall.
"Is that it..."
We jogged in. The height and width of the wall wasn't small, and on the left side of the trail of water that was flowing, there was a stone path wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The hole was completely covered in darkness, and there would occasionally be a cold wind blowing.
"Oi, Eugeo...how do we light this place?"
I had completely forgotten about the necessary items needed for exploring a cave and panicked when I said it. Eugeo nodded with an expression indicating to leave it to him, and raised a piece of grass that even I didn't know when he had picked up. What are you going to do with a bristlegrass? Just when I looked forward in a dumbstruck manner, Eugeo said with a serious expression.
" System ???? ? Call! ???? Lit ??? ? Small ???? ? Rod! ???? "
«System Call»? Just when I was startled—
The tip of the grass Eugeo grabbed onto let out a bluish-white light with a *swoosh*, and the brightness was enough to illuminate several meters of darkness. Eugeo raised it and stepped into the cave.
My surprise didn't fade at all as I hurriedly followed him and walked beside him, asking,
"Eu-Eugeo... just now, that was?"
Eugeo frowned sternly, but obviously showed a delighted expression as he answered,
"This is a sacred art, but it's just very simple. I learned this by practising hard in order to get the «Blue Rose Sword» last year."
"Sacred art... You said... stuff like 'System' or 'Lit'... do you know what they mean?"
"They... don't have any meaning, it's just a formulaic line. It's a sentence used to call god and pray for a miracle. The higher level sacred arts seem to be a lot longer than the one just now."
I see, so he just treated it as a spell without thinking of it as a form of language. I nodded away deep inside my heart. However, this spell really demanded instant effects. The designer of this world was indubitably a realistic person.
"I say... can I use it?"
It wasn't the best situation at the moment, but I still asked with a thought to try. Eugeo started pondering with uncertainty.
"I practised this spell whenever I had free time in my work, and spent a month to learn this spell. Alice said before that those with aptitude would learn it in one day, and those who don't have it will never be able to learn it in their lifetime. I don't know your aptitude, Kirito, but it might be impossible for you to learn it immediately..."
In other words, if I wanted to use magic... sacred arts, I had to practice it countless times to raise my skill level. This really wasn't something that could be mastered instantly. I could only give up for now and stare at the darkness in front of me.
The moist grey stone path was meandering forward. Icy cold wind that could cut the skin blew over at me from the front. I had an ally with me, but I didn't even have a wooden stick, let alone a sword, which really worried me.
"I say... Did Selka really come into such a place...?"
I couldn't help myself from muttering. Eugeo silently used the glowing bristlegrass to light the ground.
"Ah..."
The bluish-white ball of light showed a shallow frozen puddle. The center of the puddle was trampled upon, creating cracks all round.
I tried to step on it, and the ice let out a cracking sound as the cracks became bigger. In other words, there was someone lighter than me who had just walked on the ice not too long ago.
"I see... Guess we're right then. Really... I don't know whether she's just reckless or doesn't know fear..."
I couldn't help but mutter. On hearing that, Eugeo tilted his head in a puzzled manner.
"Actually, there's nothing much to be scared about. There's no white dragon inside this cave, not even a rat or a bat here."
"I-Is that so..."
I was again reminded that even though there were enemies, there were no attacking monsters. At least I could assume that the mountain range at the edge was inside the field area in a VRMMO.
My back that had been tensing up for some reason relaxed at this point— and at this moment.
There was a strange sound that came with the wind coming from the darkness in front of us. Eugeo and I glanced at each other. *Gii*, *gii*, that sound seemed to be some cry from a certain kind of bird or wild beast.
"Oi... What was that just now?"
"...Well... It's the first time I'm hearing this sound... Ah."
"Wha-What is it this time?"
"Do you... smell something, Kirito...?"
On hearing him say this, I tried hard to smell the incoming wind.
"Ahh... something, giving a burnt smell... and... "
The burnt-resin smell had a small underlying miasma of beasts in it. My expression changed the moment I smelled this. This really wasn't a smell that I could bring myself to relax over.
"What is this... "
Just when I forced out these words, another sound came, and I gasped.
"KYAAAAAAHHH...!!!!" and, the long dragged out voice was undoubtedly the scream of a girl.
"NOT GOOD!"
"SELKA...!"
Eugeo and I shouted at the same time as we dashed down the slippery stone path that had frozen on top.
I was unleashed into the biggest sense of danger —so huge that I couldn't recall any other situation where I had had a stronger feeling— as it struck my body like ice, numbing my limbs.
As expected, «Underworld» wasn't a complete paradise. There was a pitch black malice wrapped under the thin layer of peace. It would be illogical otherwise. This world was most likely like a giant clamp holding down all the residents in between. A certain person spent hundreds of years unscrewing the clamp slowly, watching whether the residents would unite to resist or feebly get crushed.
Rulid village was most likely one of the closest places to the clamp. As the «final moment» continued to approach, the souls of the residents being annihilated and disappearing would continue to increase.
But I would definitely not allow Selka to become the first one. That was because I was the one who got her to this cave. I had to make sure that she would come back safely in order to take responsibility for getting her fate involved...
Eugeo and I continued to dash at full speed, relying upon the weak light of the grass. Our breathing became erratic, and whenever we inhaled, our chests would feel pain. We nearly slipped a few times, and the knees and wrists that hit the ice walls would continue to hurt. It wasn't hard to imagine that both our «lives» were decreasing. However, even if it was so, we couldn't slow down.
As we continued to move forward, the smell of burning wood and the wild stench became thicker. *Gii gii*, the sounds could be heard with the metallic sounds *gacha* *gacha*. I didn't know what kind of people were waiting in front of me, but I could easily imagine that they weren't some friendly guys.
Since I don't even have a knife on my waist at all, I should plan some strategy before heading forward cautiously... I whispered to myself as a game player, but the feeling that it was not the time for this overwhelmed me. Eugeo's face was even grimmer than mine as he quickly dashed forward with tremendous speed. No matter what, I couldn't possibly stop him.
Suddenly, there was an orange light swaying on the wall in front of us. From the reflection, it seemed that it was a rather large dome inside. My skin felt a clear prickling sensation at the enemies' presence, there were many of them— a whole lot. I prayed that Selka was fine as I stepped into the dome space with Eugeo.
I have to look around and take the most suitable option— as fast as possible.
I followed the deduction made in my mind and widened my eyes to access the situation like a wide-view camera snapping away.
Basically, the round dome was about 50m in diameter. The ground was covered by a thick layer of ice, but there was a large crack that opened in the middle, showing the bluish-black surface of water.
The orange light came from two clusters of bonfires. In black metal cages, *pacha* *pacha*, the firewood was burning away.
Also, right around the two clusters of bonfires, there was a group of things that looked humanoid but were obviously neither humans nor wild beasts, and there were more than 30 of them.
Each of them, or it should be said that every single one of them, weren't large. The head of the thing standing was only at my height, but their bodies with slightly slouched backs were rather muscular, especially the arms that looked weird and the hands that had sharp claws on the ends that looked like they could rip anything apart. They had bright leather armor on, and their waist had all sorts of fur, bones and little bags jingling there. Also— even though they were crude, I could feel power from their crafting machetes.
Their skins were dark grayish-green, and they had some light bristles growing on them. All of them were fully bald, without exception, and they were growing fur only on the side of the sharp and pointy ears, like wires. They had no eyebrows, and below the protruding forehead, there were eyes that were so big that they didn't match their body at all, all giving off a corroded yellow.
They were extremely abnormal— and also things that I had been used to seeing.
They were the low-level monsters «Goblins» that would definitely appear in RPGs I was familiar with. Having realized that, I heaved a sigh. Goblins were basically monsters used for beginners to train and gain experience, and their stats were normally very low.
However, this relaxed feeling could only last until the one that was standing closest to Eugeo and me discovered us and turned around.
My bones were frozen as well the moment I felt the expression coming out from the yellow eyes of that guy. Its eyes were showing doubt and surprise, which then changed to a cruel delight and endless hunger. That was enough to make me tremble like a small insect stuck in a large spider's web.
These guys weren't programs as well.
I realized this clearly in the midst of my overwhelming fear.
These goblins had real souls as well, of a similar nature to Eugeo and me to a certain extent, intellects born from Fluctlights.
But why—? Why was there such a thing?
During the approximate 2 days I was released into this world, I had a rough deduction on what kind of existence Eugeo, Selka and the other residents were. They were most likely «Artificial Fluctlights» kept inside some artificial medium and not saved in a living person's brain. I couldn't imagine what kind of medium could preserve a human's soul, but at least it wasn't hard to imagine that since the STL could read souls, it should be able to duplicate them.
It was really a scary thought, but the source of the duplication was most likely a new-born's Fluctlight. They could have duplicated that thing called the «Original Form of the Soul» endlessly and let them grow up from babies in this world. Other than that, there was no other hypothesis that could explain why the Underworld residents had 'Real Intellect' and 'Outnumbered the current number of STLs'. What I was scared about on the first night was that the reason why RATH challenged god was— to create a real AI, an Artificial Intelligence, and used human souls as a mould.
This aim was already 90% complete. Eugeo's foresight had already far surpassed mine, and his complex emotions already had more depth. In other words, it wouldn't be strange for RATH to end this grand yet arrogant experiment at all.
But the experiment still continued on, which showed that RATH was still not happy about the current results. What was lacking? I kept thinking about this, and maybe it had something to do with that «Taboo Index», the rule that Eugeo and the rest couldn't break.
Anyway, this assumption could explain Eugeo and everyone else's existence. They were different from me in the physical dimension, but their souls were all «human», completely the same.
But— If that was the case, what were these goblins? This strong hatred that looked like it was about to flow out from the yellow eyeballs was...?
I didn't think, and was unwilling to think that the original form of their souls were human. Maybe RATH caught a real goblin in real life and let it use the STL— this fragmented thought flashed in my mind.
The goblin and I stared at each other for less than a second, but it was enough to terrify me. As I didn't know what to do and could only stand blankly, the goblin in front of me let out a sound, *Giii*— which may be a laugh, and stood up.
And then, it spoke.
"Oi, look up! What's going on today? Another 2 white Ium brats have come running here!"
At the same time, there were cackles, *gigi*, *gigi*, coming from all over the dome. From the nearest one, the goblins all raised their machetes and stood up, giving off hungry looks.
"WHAT DO WE DO~? DO WE TAKE THEM AWAY AS WELL!?"
A goblin shouted initially. At this moment, the roar could be heard from behind, and all the goblins stopped laughing. From amidst the monsters, there was a goblin that was twice as large as the other goblins, looking like an officer-class.
This guy was equipped with scale mail, and the forehead had a decorative feather that was of primary colors. The eyes that had a tinge of red below the feather let out an overwhelming evil and icy cold-like intellect that could cause anyone to faint. The goblin leader smirked and bared its yellow untidy teeth before saying in a hoarse voice,
"We won't earn much even if we take the male Ium. Too much of a hassle. Let's just kill them all and turn them into meat."
Kill.
To what extent should I accept this term? I was lost.
I should be able to take away the possibility of real death here, where my physical body would actually take a fatal blow. These goblins couldn't possibly hurt my physical body lying in the STL in the real world.
But even so, I couldn't assume that this would be the same as an ordinary VRMMO and think that it would be just a bad status. That's because, in this world, there were no revival magic or items that existed for that purpose— other than with the Central area of the Church. If I got killed by them here, this «Kirito» will most likely meet his end.
Then, if I died, what would happen to me, the consciousness of the main body?
Would I have woken up in the Roppongi headquarters of RATH, and had the operator Higa Takeru hand me a drink while saying 'you've worked hard'? Or would I have awakened in that forest alone? Or would I become a bodiless soul that can only watch this world being destroyed?
Also, in this situation— what would became of the fates of Eugeo and Selka if they died here?
Unlike me, who had this «personal medium» that was my brain, they, Fluctlights who were kept inside some sort of large memory installation, may disappear completely once they died... that sort of thing was possible, right?
Oh yeah... Selka, where was she?
I interrupted my thoughts and focused on the scene in front of me.
As according to the instructions of the goblin leader, the four henchmen drew their machetes as they walked over to us, slowly, carefreely, baring their teeth and cackling, looking like they really intended to kill us.
The other goblins, that totalled more than 20, showed excited expressions, all cackling with delight, *gigi*. Behind them, I finally found the one I was looking for. I couldn't see clearly in the darkness, but Selka, in her black nun habit, was lying on a crude cart. Her body was tied up with a straw rope, her eyes closed tightly, but her expression looked like she should have just passed out.
If I remembered clearly, the goblin leader just now had said that male «Ium» —possibly referring to humans— couldn't be sold even if they're taken back, so they'll be killed.

On the other hand, the girl would be sold. They intended to kidnap Selka, take her back to the land of darkness and sell her as goods. If this continued without us doing anything, Eugeo and I would likely be killed, but the fate that awaited Selka would be even crueller. I couldn't just give up and let it become a part of simulation, absolutely not. She, like me, was a human— and just a 12-year-old girl at that.
In that case, what should I do—
"There's only one choice."
I muttered. Beside me, the frozen body of Eugeo moved.
We have to save Selka no matter what, even if I have to sacrifice my temporary life.
Of course, it wasn't that simple. The difference in battle strength was too great. While the 30 goblins were all equipped with machetes and armor equipment, we didn't even have a stick in hand. But even so, we had to go. What led to this situation were my careless words in the first place.
"Eugeo."
I stared in front and quickly whispered.
"Listen up. We're going to save Selka. Don't move."
"Got it." I immediately heard the response. Just as I expected, the heart within him was rather strong.
"I'll count to three, and then we'll knock down those four at the front to break through them. Our sizes are different, and we'll definitely succeed if we're not scared. I'll take the left, you take the right, and we'll throw the fires into the lake. Don't throw away the lit grass. Once the flames are out, pick up a sword from the ground and cover my back. Don't think of trying to beat them. I'll use this chance to deal with the big one."
"...I've never swung a sword before."
"It's similar to the axe. Let's go... one, two, three!"
We were on ice, but Eugeo and I didn't slip as we ran at the fastest speed we could muster. We kept praying that this luck would continue till the end, and I roared out from the bottom of my abdomen.
"UWOOOOHHHH!!!"
Eugeo was slower by a bit as he shouted "WAAAAAHHHH!!!' It sounded like a scream, but it did seem to be effective as the 4 goblins widened their yellowish-green eyes. However, they probably weren't stunned by the shouts, but by the fact that the «Ium brats» lunged at them.
I ran 10 paces, kept my body down and aimed for the leftmost goblin and the one beside it. My right shoulder lunged right over. Maybe it was the unexpected action and the correction effect of the difference in size that the two goblins turned twice and skidded off on the ice. I looked aside, and Eugeo's hit succeeded beautifully as the goblins rolled aside like turtle shells rolling.
I continued to charge and accelerated towards the goblin circle. Likely, these guys didn't seem to have much response ability as all of them could only look over blankly without standing up at all, including the leader.
Yes. Just stay around like that and don't move! I prayed as if I was scolding them as I ran past the gaps between the goblins and dashed across the last few meters.
At that moment, the goblin leader, who seemed to have a slightly higher intelligence than the rest, roared angrily,
"DON'T LET THEM GET NEAR THE FIRE—"
But he was a little late. Eugeo and I rushed to the fires and kicked them over to the water. A large amount of ash scattered around as the two large bonfire sank into the black water, leaving behind a *syuuu* sound as they were extinguished with a cloud of white steam.
The dome was immediately in complete darkness for a moment— and then, a faint bluish-white light scattered the darkness. It was the light on the bristlegrass that Eugeo was holding with his left hand.
At that moment, we got our second stroke of luck.
The goblins surrounding us all screamed out, some covering their faces and some turning their backs. I looked over and saw that even the goblin leader on the other side of the lake was bending his upper body back and using his left hand to cover its eyes.
"Kirito... this is...?"
Eugeo whispered in surprise. I simply answered him.
"Most likely...these guys are scared of this light. Now's our chance!"
From the weapons placed messily around the lake, I took out a crude straight sword that looked like a large metal sheet and a curved knife with a slightly wider volume at the front end. I put the knife in Eugeo's hands.
"This knife is used like an axe. Listen, use the bristlegrass' light to hold them off and chase off the guys closing in."
"Ki...Kirito?"
"I'll take that one down."
I simply answered and looked at the goblin leader that was glaring angrily from through the gaps between the fingers covering his face. I held the straight sword with both hands and quickly swung it left and right. Unlike its appearance, it felt a little dull, but it was a lot better than the Blue Rose Sword that was overly heavy.
"GURAAH! YOU IUM BRAT...YOU DARE TO TAKE ON THIS «LIZARD KILLER UGACHI»-SAMA!?"
The leader glared at me with one eye and closed in on me as it roared, drawing the large machete at its waist with its right hand. The pitch black blade had blood that seemed to show signs of rust on it, giving an abnormal pressure.
Can I beat him—!?
Facing this enemy who wasn't tall, but a lot heavier and more muscular than me, I panicked for an instant. However, I immediately gritted my teeth and moved forward. If I didn't beat this guy and save Selka, it would became a situation in which I have brought about the worst fate to her when I came to this world. Size wasn't a problem. In the Former Aincrad, I had had countless battles against enemies 3-4 times larger than me under the condition that I would really die if I lost.
"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE YOU ON! —I'M GOING TO CONQUER YOU!"
I shouted, partly directed at the leader and partly directed at myself as I immediately dashed through the remaining distance.
My left foot took a large step forward, using the sword to slash down at the left shoulder of enemy diagonally.
I didn't underestimate the enemy, but the goblin leader's reaction was a lot faster than I had imagined. It ignored my attack pattern and swung its machete horizontally. I kept my body down and barely managed to dodge it. I felt that my some of my hair touched it since it felt like they were ripped off. My sword hit home, but only shattered the metallic shoulder armor.
I would have been overwhelmed by force if I stopped. Having such a thought, I kept my center of gravity low and moved beside the enemy, aiming for the opened flank of the abdomen before swinging a horizontal attack. This time was the same as well. Even though I had the feeling, I couldn't break through the simple scale mail, and only managed to send maybe 5-6 sheets of metal flying.
SHARPEN YOUR OWN SWORD PROPERLY! I told off the owner of the sword in my heart, dodging the counterattacking strike that came swinging down from above. The thick blade of the machete pierced through the ice floor on the ground, and I shuddered in fear of the goblin's arm strength.
I definitely couldn't handle this if I simply used single attacks. I made this decision, and while the goblin recovered from its frozen stiff state, I took a huge step forward and launched my counterattack. My body started to move on its own in a semi-automatic manner as it once again moved in a similar way to the countless moved it did in other words, the killer technique called «Sword Skills».
At this moment, a phenomenon I had never imagined before happened.
My sword let out a very weak light that still remained. At the same time, my body flashed through at a speed that far exceeded the physics of this world. It was as if someone was pushing me with an invisible hand from behind.
The first strike that came swinging upwards from the bottom right position grazed past the enemy's left leg and stopped his motion.
?
The second strike that swung from left to right horizontally sliced the chest plate of the armor and made a light cut on the flesh inside.
The third strike that quickly swung down from the top right side sliced apart the left arm the enemy raised to defend himself from slightly below the elbow.
The fresh blood that came out from the sliced off surface was shown as pitch black under the bluish-white light. The left arm of the goblin that flew off, *kurukuru* fell into the lake on the left side, letting out a heavy splash.
—I won!
As I firmly believed this, I was thoroughly shocked.
That attack just now... the three-continuous-strike sword skill for one-handed swords, «Sharp Nail», wasn't just an appearance, but in fact it really happened. In the midst of slashing, the blade let out red trajectories in the air, and my body was accelerated by an invisible force. In other words, it was «System Assist» with a «Light Effect».
In other words, in this world, Underworld, sword skills really existed. The sword skills were installed into the system of the boosted world. 'Recreation of imagination' couldn't explain this phenomenon. I almost didn't realize that the skill I released was one. The system detected my initial motions and let out the sword skill through assist to correct my actions. If not, such a phenomenon couldn't have happened.
But if that was the case, there was a new question.
Yesterday, I used the single sword skill «Horizontal» with the «Blue Rose Sword» in order to cut down the demonic tree Gigas Cedar. That was an elementary skill that was a lot easier than «Sharp Nail»— just an ordinary swing. However, the system never helped me. The sword didn't glow, and my body didn't accelerate. The blade missed its target, and I fell in an awkward manner.
However, why was I able to use a sword skill at this moment? Was it because this was a real battle? But how did the system decide whether the player was seriously battling...?
As I made this thought, I blinked. In the old SAO, there wasn't much of an opening. I would be still after doing a continuous skill, and the enemy, having been greatly hurt, would be unable to move for the time being.
But— in this world, even with the sword skills, it isn't a VRMMO game. I foolishly forgot about that.
The goblin leader with its left arm sliced off was different from the polygon monsters, as it did not stop for even a moment. Its flashing yellow eyes didn't show any signs of fear nor emptiness, just overwhelming hatred inside. The pitch black blood flowed out from the wound as a scalding roar—
"GAUUAAAA!!!"
And quickly swung the machete in its right hand.
I couldn't dodge the incoming heavy blade that was flying horizontally in time. The area near the tip grazed my left shoulder, and the pressure alone sent me flying by more than 2m as my back landed hard on the icy surface.
At this moment, the goblin leader finally crouched down and put the machete in its mouth and used the right hand to grab onto the sliced off part of the left arm. *Misa misa* - a terrifying sound could be heard. The goblin leader forcefully crushed the flesh to stop the bleeding. Its actions obviously weren't of the standard kind of AI. Yes... I had noticed it the moment that thing declared its name to be «Ugachi». This wasn't a battle between player and monster, but two people wielding weapons trying to kill each other.
"Kirito! Are you hit!?"
Slightly further away, Eugeo used his right hand to hold on to the curved knife while his left hand held onto the glowing grass to hold off the goblin's henchmen.
I wanted to say 'It's just a scratch', but my stiff tongue couldn't move like I thought as I nodded with a trembling voice. As I used one hand to support myself onto the icy surface as I stood up—
A burning feeling came out from the left shoulder, feeling like it was going to burn through all my nerves. *Saka saka* — sparks appeared in my sight. I couldn't help but cry out as my throat let out a groan.
Such— tremendous pain!
It was far more than my pain tolerance could handle. I couldn't do anything other than curl myself and pant lightly. Even so, I still tried to look behind to see the damaged part of my shoulder. The sleeve on the tunic was completely ripped off, revealing a large and ugly wound on the skin. It was more like a wound ripped by a giant claw than a sword wound. The skin and the flesh under it was completely shaved off as bright-red blood continued to spurt out. My left arm was only left with a numbing hot feeling as my fingertips were unable to move, as though they didn't belong to me.
How could this possibly be the virtual world? I cried out inside my mind.
The point of the so-called virtual world was to eliminate all of reality's pains and difficulties, ugliness and filth, and achieve an environment that was clean and comfortable, right? What was the point of realistically creating such a level of pain and suffering? No— This pain was more than it would be realistically. If I had such an injury in real life, I would probably secrete brain chemicals or end up in a coma as a defensive mechanism, right? It wasn't possible for someone to endure such a level of pain...
—Maybe that was not it.
I tried hard to look away from my wound and mocked myself before changing my thoughts.
I, this person called Kirigaya Kazuto, was completely unused to real pain. In real life, I had never had any severe injuries ever since I grew up. When I was forced by grandfather to learn kendo, I quickly gave up. It was tough when I went through recuperation after SAO, but it was thanks to the most advanced training machines and supplementary medication that I didn't have to worry about pain.
Of course, there was nothing much more to be said about the virtual world. The Nerve Gear and AmuSphere had had a pain absorption function that could remove them almost completely, and the level to which it did so was such that I would wonder if it was too overprotective. Because of this, damage in battles was just a simple increase or decrease in Hit Points. Oh yeah, if such pain existed in Aincrad, I would definitely have been unable to leave the Starting City.
Underworld was a dreamland that was created, and also another reality.
I was uncertain how many days it was before, but I could finally understand the significance of the words I said to Agil in his shop. The so-called reality referred to real pain, hardship and sorrow. Only those who could endure these things that strike them, and overcome them, could get stronger in that world. The goblin leader, no, Ugachi already understood this, and I had never thought of this before.
At the front end of my vision, blurred by tears, Ugachi stopped the bleeding on the sliced off left arm and silently watched me. Its eyes shot out a look of utter vengeance as the surrounding air seemed to rumble. It put the machete it was biting on into its right hand and swung it. *Vun*.
"...Such humiliation, you'll never repay that even if I dice you up and devour you alive...however, let's do this."
Ugachi swirled the machete over its head *Vun, vun* and slowly closed in. I looked away from him, watching Selka, who was lying after being tied up tightly. My mind was thinking that I had to stand up, to stand and fight, but my body just couldn't move. It felt like the negative impression that had developed in me had become a restraint in reality and bound me...
The heavy footsteps suddenly stopped in front of me. The air was rumbling, and I felt that the giant blade was about to be lifted up. It was too late to either dodge or counter. I gritted my teeth and waited for the moment I was to be released from this world.
However, after a long while, the blade of the guillotine never dropped down. *Za zaa-* what replaced it was the sound of the ice surface being trampled on, and then, there was a familiar voice shouting,
"KIRITO—!!"
I widened my eyes in shock as I watched Eugeo leap past me to slash at Ugachi. He continued to swing his right hand wielding the curved knife wildly and forced the enemy to take two, three steps back.
The goblin was startled at first, but he immediately regained his composure and wielded the machete skilfully with only one hand and parried away Eugeo's attacks from left and right. For an instant, I forgot about my pain and yelled,
"STOP IT, EUGEO! HURRY UP AND RUN!!"
However, he continued to yell while losing himself and continued to swing the blade. As expected of someone who'd been swinging that heavy axe for a long time, every single hit's speed was eye-popping, but unfortunately, the motions were too simple. Ugachi first looked like he was enjoying the resistance of a prey as he continued to defend enthusiastically, and then, "GUASS!" It roared and used his toes to kick Eugeo's supporting leg. As Eugeo lost his balance and tripped, it easily raised its machete—

"STOOOPP ITTTTT——!!!"
Before my shout reached them, it casually swung horizontally.

Eugeo took a hit to the abdomen and was sent flying far away, landing right beside me with a blunt sound. I instinctively turned around, and a sharp pain occurred in my left shoulder like a flash, but this time, I ignored the pain and nudged over.
Eugeo's wound was a lot more serious than mine. His upper body was sliced open horizontally, and the jagged wound was bleeding out a lot of fresh blood at a horrifying rate. Under the light of the grass that was still held in his left hand, the irregular workings of the organs inside the wound were laid bare to my eyes.
*Cough*. With a heavy sound, Eugeo's mouth choked out blood with bubbles mixed in. The green eyes lost their light as they stared right above emptily.
However, Eugeo never stopped trying to stand up. His mouth breathed out air that had some red mist mixed within, trembling as he used both hands to support himself off the ground.
"Eugeo...that's enough...it's..."
I couldn't help but say. The pain on Eugeo's body was not something that could be compared to mine. It was definitely much more than what the normal consciousness could endure.
At that moment— the eyes that had lost their focus looked straight at me, and he blurted out the words that were drenched in blood.
"Whe-When we were young...we promised...me, Kirito...and Alice, from the day we were born together, to the time we die together...this time, I must definitely...protect...I must..."
At this moment Eugeo's arms suddenly lost their strength. I quickly reached out my arms to grab his body. Just when Eugeo's slender yet muscular weight was transferred onto me...
My vision was surrounded by an interrupted white flash, and at the deep part of the screen, there were vague shadows there.
Under the fiery red sunset, I was walking down a path between the wheat fields. The one holding my right hand was the young boy with flax-colored hair, and the one holding onto my left was a blond girl.
That's right...I believed that the world would never change. I believed that the three of us would continue to live together. However, we didn't manage to protect her. We couldn't do anything. How could I forget that despair, that helplessness? This time... This time, I'll definitely...
I could not feel the pain on my shoulder any more. I gently put the unconscious Eugeo onto the icy surface, reached my right hand out and held onto the hilt of the straight sword that dropped onto the floor.
I then looked up and swung horizontally at Ugachi, who was swinging down its machete just at that moment.
"GURAA...!"
The enemy roared out in surprise as its body swayed slightly. I used the momentum as I stood up to ram right into its abdomen. The goblin swayed again and took two, three steps back.
I pointed the sword in my right hand into the center of the enemy, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
It was true that I was a complete novice when it came to the pain of the physical body. However, I have experienced an absolute pain that far surpassed that. This kind of injury was nothing comparing to the pain of losing someone important. The pain of losing was the only thing that would never disappear no matter how anyone tried to manipulate through machines.
Ugachi let out a loud roar of intolerance, and the henchmen around him that were cackling away, *kiki*, all shut up.
"White Ium...don't get cocky!!"
I gathered my consciousness onto the blade tip of the machete as Ugachi charged over ferociously. *Kiiiin*. With this sound, everything else in my sights disappeared as radials. It was an accelerating feeling that I had forgotten for a long time, where my nerves started to feel hot. No— in this world, it should be said that my soul was burning.
As I faced the machete swinging down, I took a step forward to dodge it and slashed from the bottom left side, to cut off the right arm of the enemy near the shoulder. The machete that was swung together with the giant arm spun, *vuun vuun*, and landed in the midst of the surrounding goblins, causing lots of screams.
Ugachi, who had lost both its arms, was showing anger and more surprise in its yellow eyes as it swayed back. The black liquid that continued to seep out from its wound landed on the ice and created steam.
"...How did this great me lose to an Ium...a mere Ium brat..."
Without waiting for the panting voice to finish, I charged forward with all I got.
"No. My name's not «Ium»!"
I subconsciously said this. At the same time, the toes on the left foot, the fingertips on the right hand, and the sword tip that reached the fingertips became as sharp as a whip. The blade shone again, and this time it was a pale green light. An invisible hand pushed me hard from behind as I used the one-handed thrust sword skill, «Sonic Leap».
"I AM...THE SWORDSMAN KIRITO!!"
*Pyun*. As the sound of the ripping air reached my ears, Ugachi's giant head was already flying high into the air.
That head seemed to fly up straight before turning and falling. I reached my left hand out to grab it, holding it by the decorative feather that was standing like a plume, raised the head of the leader that was still bleeding and yelled.
"I TOOK YOUR LEADER'S HEAD! ANYONE WHO WANTS TO FIGHT, STEP RIGHT UP! THOSE WHO DON'T WANT TO FIGHT, SCRAM BACK INTO THE LAND OF DARKNESS!"
Eugeo, try and hang on for a while. I muttered deep inside my heart as I glared at the surrounding group with my utmost killing intent with both eyes. The goblins started to panic as they saw their leader die, each of them looking at each other and letting out panicked sounds *gii gii*
After a while, one of them, who was standing at the front row, holding a stick behind its shoulder, walked out.
"Gehe, in that case, once I kill you, I, Abuli-sama will become the next head..."
Right now, I didn't have the time to patiently hear it finish its words. My left hand gripped the head as I dashed forward, using the same skill as before to slice that guy from the right rib to the left shoulder. With a blunt sound, blood splattered next, and the upper body slid down the sliced off area before landing on the ground.
With that, the remaining goblins seemed to have finally made their decision. They all screamed out and rushed towards a corner of the dome. Several goblins pushed each other and moved through the exit we didn't enter from, and soon disappeared without a trace. The echoes of footsteps and screams gradually faded away and vanished. The ice-built dome entered an icy cold moment of silence, as if the commotion just now was a lie.
I took a deep breath, endured the pain that came out from my left shoulder again, and threw away the sword in my right hand as well as the head in my left. I turned around and ran towards my friend who had collapsed.
"EUGEO!! HANG IN THERE!!"
I shouted, but his pale face wasn't moving at all. I could feel some slight breathing from the slightly parted lips, but it seemed that it could stop at any time. The devastating wound on his abdomen was still bleeding. I knew that I had to stop it, but I didn't know how.
I used my stiff right hand to quickly draw a mark and knocked on Eugeo's shoulder, looking at the window that appeared with a praying attitude.
The life— Durability Points, were indicated as [244/3425]. Also, the value in the front was dropping at a horrifying rate of one point every two seconds. In other words, Eugeo's Life would be at its end in about 480 seconds— there were approximately 8 minutes left.
"...Hang on. I'll immediately save you! DON'T DIE!"
I yelled again and immediately got up, dashing towards the wheelbarrow that was left aside.
On the cart, there was Selka, all tied up amidst the wooden barrels and containers with unknown contents and many weapons. I pulled out a knife from a nearby box and quickly cut the rope.
I carried her petite body, laid her down on the wide floor and quickly checked her, but there was no obvious external wounds. Her breathing was a lot steadier than Eugeo's. I grabbed the shoulders on her nun habit and shook her with the minimum amount of force.
"SELKA...SELKA! WAKE UP!!"
Selka's long eyebrows immediately twitched, and the light brown eyes opened with a blink. It seemed that she couldn't recognize me with just the light of the bristlegrass tossed beside Eugeo as her throat let out a small cry.
"No...noo..."
Selka waved her arms and tried to push me aside, and I held her down before shouting,
"SELKA, IT'S ME! KIRITO! DON'T WORRY, THE GOBLINS WERE CHASED AWAY!"
On hearing my voice, Selka immediately stopped. She reached her fingers out tentatively and gently touched my face.
"Kirito...is it really you, Kirito...?"
"Ahh, I came to save you. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No... Not at all. I'm fine..."
Selka's lips curled aside, and then she immediately leaped over to hug me on the neck.
"Kirito...I...I...!"
The slight breathing sound could be heard beside my ear, letting out a child-like cry— but before that could happen, I carried Selka with both hands, turned around and started running.
"Sorry, cry later! Eugeo's severely hurt!!"
"Eh..."
The arched body immediately froze. I kicked aside the shattered ice on the ground and the junk those goblins left behind as I dashed towards Eugeo and put Selka down.
"It's too late for ordinary treatment... use your sacred arts to save him, Selka, please!"
Selka listened to me as she held her breath and knelt down before gingerly reaching her right hand out. She touched the deep wound on Eugeo, and suddenly moved her hand back.
After a while, Selka shook her head that was tied into three braids hard.
"...I can't...this kind...this kind of wound, my sacred arts... can't..."
As she used her fingers to touch Eugeo, her face went pale.
"Eugeo... you're lying, right... because of me... Eugeo..."
Tears trickled down Selka's face, landing onto the pool of blood on the ice. She took her hands back and covered her face, letting out a cry. I felt that it was cruel to say this to such a girl, but I yelled.
"CRY AFTER YOU HAVE HEALED EUGEO! NO MATTER WHETHER THERE'S A WAY, JUST TRY IT! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THE NEXT SISTER!? YOU'RE THE SUCCESSOR TO ALICE, RIGHT!?"
Selka's shoulders jerked hard for a moment, but immediately slumped back weakly.
"...I...couldn't be like nee-sama... I couldn't even memorize the spells nee-sama spent three days to master even after a month. Right now, what I could only heal are... very small wounds... "
"Eugeo, he..."
I was driven by the emotions rising up within me as I said desperately,
"Eugeo came to save you, Selka! He risked his life not for Alice, but for you!"
Selka's shoulders jerked again, this time, more than before.
During this time, Eugeo's life was dropping towards zero. There were only 2 minutes left, maybe even one. An instant moment of silence felt so long it was unbearable.
Suddenly, Selka lifted her face. The expressions of fear and hesitation she had from several seconds before was all gone.
"—It's too late for ordinary treatment. We can only try a dangerous high-ranked sacred art. Kirito, I need your help."
"I-I understand. I'll do whatever you say."
"Give me your left hand."
I immediately reached my left hand out, and Selka used her right hand to hold it tightly. Then, she used the left to hold onto Eugeo's right hand, which was lying on the icy surface, tightly.
"If the art fails, both you and I may die. Be prepared."
"Just let me be the one to die then— ready whenever you are!"
Selka stared straight at me with sturdy eyes, nodded and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath.
" System ???? ? call! ???? "
The loud voice echoed through the ice dome.
"— Transfer ??????? ? human unit ????????? ? durability ??????? ? right ??? ? to ?? ? left!! ????? "
Her voice echoed. *Kiin*- the sharp voice became louder— and then, a blue light pillar appeared, with Selka in the middle.
It was a lot brighter than the grass, incandescent, as it illuminated all the corners of the large dome a light blue color. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes, but this was only for a moment as my left hand that was held by Selka suddenly had a strange feeling surrounding it, which caused me to open my eyes wide.
It felt like my entire body disappeared into the light as it flowed out from my left hand.
Looking closely, my body was actually creating lots of small spheres of light, moving from my left hand to Selka's right hand. I looked over at where the spheres of light were moving towards, and the light flowed through Selka's body, increasing in brightness before being absorbed into Eugeo's right hand.
Transfer Durability. In other words, it was a sacred art that transferred one person's Life over to another. If I opened my window now, I would be able to find that my value was dropping.
It's fine. Just take it all. I thought silently in my heart as I exerted more force into my left hand. Selka, who was acting as the conduit of the energy and the amplifier, looked as if she was in pain too. I realized the cruelty of this world again, and how great the price of living was.
Pain, suffering, and sorrow. The reason why there was such a deliberate intent to emphasize these things that weren't required in the virtual world was obviously something closely related to the existence of Underworld. If the technicians of RATH were trying to gain some form of breakthrough by torturing the Fluctlights of the residents, it seemed that the unexpected intruder, me, was being a form of interference by helping Eugeo here.
But as for me, just send me to the devil for that. Even if he was a soul, Eugeo was still my friend and I would never let him die like this.
As the life transfer continued, my body was surrounded by a strong chill. I used my gradually fading sight to observe Eugeo. The wound looked a lot smaller than when the spell started, but it wasn't completely healed at all, as the blood flowing out didn't stop in the slightest.
"Ki-Kirito... are-are you still alright...?"
Selka panted in pain as she said in an interrupted manner.
"No worries... a little more, give Eugeo a little more!"
I immediately answered, but in fact, my eyes had almost lost all their sight while my right arm and leg were going numb. The left hand Selka was holding onto was the only thing throbbing warmly.
Even if I lost my life in this world, it was completely fine. If I could get Eugeo's life back, I could endure the pain that was a lot more than before. However, the only regret would be that I would never see this world progress until the end. If those goblins were just the start, if the invasion of the land of darkness continued to intensify, I would have to worry about Rulid village that would be the first to be exposed to it. I would lose all my memories when I log out, so I might not be able to log in again.
No, even if I disappear—
Eugeo, who witnessed the goblins and took the sword to fight would definitely do something. He would warn the village chief, strengthen the guards, and warn the neighboring towns and cities. He would definitely do that.
And so, I couldn't let Eugeo die here.
Ahh, but— my life was about to end. For some reason, I knew this. Eugeo still hadn't opened his eyes. Even after spending all my life, it wasn't enough to heal his wound and drag him back from the edge of death?
"...I...can't...if I continue, Kirito, your Life will...!"
Selka's crying seemed to come from afar.
Don't stop, continue. Even though I wanted to say this, my mouth couldn't move, and trying to even sustain my own thoughts became gradually more difficult.
Is this death? The simulated death of the soul in Underworld... or, will the death of the soul kill the physical body in the real world? What caused me to think about this was the cold I couldn't endure and the terrifying loneliness...
Suddenly, I felt someone's hands on my shoulders.
They were warm. It felt like my body that was frozen in ice was gradually melting.
I— know these hands. Hands that were delicate like the feathers of a bird, yet grabbing onto the future more forcefully than anyone.
......Who, are you......?
?
I asked without letting out my voice, and my left ear felt a soft breathing. After that, I heard a voice that was so nostalgic that it made me want to cry.
?Kirito, Eugeo... I've been waiting for both of you. I'll continue to wait... at the top of the Central Cathedral...?
Her blond hair let out a light like the stars and filled me within. The overwhelming energy pulsed through all the corners of my body, and seeped out from my left hand as if it was looking for an exit.