Sword Art Online - Volume 14 - Chapter 2.2

Part 2
—What was that sound!?
Eugeo’s eyes opened wide at the peculiar noise booming out right beside him.
All secret moves produce strong light and sound. However, this was different from all of those he had heard thus far. It was deep, heavy, firm, and sharp; it was as though the sword itself had screamed out in anger—
The source of that roar was the black sword held in Kirito’s right hand. Its blade with its black crystalline radiance had its sharp edge quivering violently while letting out that ear-piercing howl. Its actions were not merely auditory. A profound red shine enveloped the entire sword.
—It’s a secret move. But I had never seen one like this.
Eugeo held his breath. The phenomenon that truly surprised him, however, only happened immediately after.
A sudden, glaring light engulfed his partner who held onto the sword and he transformed into an utterly different outfit from before.
Kirito should have been clad in a black shirt and trousers of the same color, frayed from the many fierce battles. However, the wave of light shifted from his right arm, towards his torso and feet, with an overcoat of black leather with a high neck and long sleeves spontaneously appearing as it did and his trousers, too, instantly converted to one made from thin leather.
The process ended quicker than the blink of an eye, but the phenomenon did not end there. Distinct changes occurred on Kirito’s own body as well, though on a smaller scale than those clothes.
First, his black hair grew slightly and concealed half of his side profile.
Next, the black eyes peeking from the gaps in his swinging fringe exuded a light he had never seen before. A light more keen than when he fought against the goblin group in the Northern Cave, or when he sliced off Raios Antinuous’s arm, or when he crossed swords with Deusolbert, Fanatio, and the rest. It was as if Kirito himself had merged with the sword, becoming a keen edge.
A cry overflowing with savagery burst forth from beyond his bared teeth right after.
“U… ooooohh——!!”
The metallic roar and crimson light from the sword heightened in intensity and immediately following that, Kirito’s right hand shot forth so swiftly, it simply disappeared. The cuff of his long coat flapped fiercely like the wings of a demon.
It was an Aincrad-style secret move; it certainly was.
But still—what an astounding thrusting skill. It was a mighty single-hit skill different from those Kirito had taught him thus far, one that seemed closer to the High Norkia style, if he had to choose, but it was stripped entirely of the traditional styles’ focus on the beauty of the style, a single strike devoted to piercing through the enemy—
“………!”
With his breath held, Eugeo somehow chased after the crimson glow with his eyes.
Kirito’s aim was, of course, Chief Elder Chudelkin who controlled the fiery clown. However, there was fifteen mel to where the enemy stationed himself. No secret move could possibly reach him as long as one still used a sword.
Chudelkin did not look towards them the moment Kirito released his thrusting skill. His eyes were pointed towards the back end of the hall where the ice arrow shot by Eugeo had passed by mere seconds ago.
He had poured all of his knowledge and inspiration into that art, but it was ineffective on Administrator as expected, shattering upon a single breath from her. However, Chudelkin had turned back and warned in his shrill voice instead of ignoring the attack targeted at the ruler as Eugeo predicted, so he should have fulfilled Kirito’s request to divert his attention.
Perhaps at ease after the ice arrow died out without any difficulty, but Chudelkin turned his face back while still on his head.
His narrow eyes widened as much as they could in that instant as they filled with a hectic jumble of emotions.
The first was shock, towards the flash and roar let out by Kirito’s sword as it thrust forth in that very moment.
The next was relief, towards how it was a mere thrusting skill that could not possibly reach him.
The last was fear, towards the blade of crimson light extending incessantly before his eyes as it lavishly let out that metallic roar.
He forgot to breathe as surprise overtook him; the same went for Eugeo. The light in the shade of blood passed by Alice’s left as she guarded against the flaming clown in front of Kirito, dashing through a distance of fifteen mel in an instant—
Easily stabbing through the exact middle of Chudelkin’s torso, thin as a pole, while he stood on his head.
The gleaming blade reached out for almost another two mel before it disintegrated into crimson specks that drifted into the air. The copious spray of actual blood followed immediately after. The source was the injury in the center of Chudelkin’s chest, large enough to practically split him apart.
“Ohoooooohhhhh……”
That deflated voice, devoid of strength, flowed on for a long time.
The body that stood on its head slowly lost its balance and splashed into the pool of fresh blood it had personally created.
As more blood than seemed possible from his meager body steadily flowed out, Chudelkin lifted his trembling right arm and extended it towards Administrator who hovered in mid-air.
“……Aah… mine, my…… Emi… nence……”
The man’s expression, as he let out that frail voice, was out of Eugeo’s sight from his position. His right hand fell onto the carpet with a damp noise and there, Chief Elder Chudelkin ceased to move.
With that, the flaming clown that was on the verge of stomping the golden tornado above Knight Alice out of existence, too, was extinguished as its rotund belly turned into a mass of white fumes and its grin melted into the air. The tiny golden edges manipulated by Alice decelerated slowly and drifted in the air as though they lost their purpose with their enemy’s annihilation.
Eugeo’s ears thought they were numbed with the sudden, complete silence that settled in while he slowly returned his view towards the right.
Kirito had stopped all motions with his waist still much lowered and his right arm extended as far as it could go.
The light remaining on the black sword’s surface swiftly vanished and the cuff of his overcoat fluttered one last time before it hung down. Eugeo watched on with his breath held as his partner’s appearance blurred and returned to what it was, starting from one end.
Even after returning to that simple black shirt and trousers, Kirito remained still for a while. His right arm eventually gently swung down and the tip of the black sword struck the carpet with a thump.
Eugeo was once again left wondering if he should call out to his partner whose head hung down.
Kirito, who had helped even the deputy knight commander, Fanatio, likely felt no joy over depriving Chief Elder Chudelkin of his Life, even if he was an enemy. His side profile visible through the gaps in his fringe, now at its original length, showed absolutely no residue of that icy cool-headedness he briefly had during that attack.
The one to break those several seconds of silence was Alice as the swarm of small edges returned to her sword with a sharp, metallic noise. Feeling tension from the knight’s back, Eugeo turned his eyes further into the hall once more.
Drifting in the air, Administrator reached her slender left hand towards the chief elder as he lay prostrate on the floor.
Chudelkin was obviously at the end of his rope, but did she intend to apply a healing art on him? Or will the highest minister call his Life back from the grave—?
It happened when Eugeo sharply drew in a breath.
Without leaking even a shred of emotion, the highest minister’s voice leisurely streamed on.
“At least put him away, how unsightly.”
A casual wave of her left hand blew Chudelkin’s corpse away as though it was as light as a paper doll and he crashed into the window on the far east side before falling onto the floor below and coiling up small.
“…What have you…”
Alice muttered in a hushed voice upon seeing the highest minister’s deed.
The girl’s personality might have been modified into that of a collected integrity knight, but Eugeo, too, understood that overwhelming desire to comment. He had no respect whatsoever for Chudelkin, but at the very least, he had lost his life in a fight where he expended all of himself for his master. At the bare minimum, his corpse deserved a civil burial.
However, Administrator did not even spare another look at Chudelkin’s abandoned corpse; on the contrary, she appeared to have wiped all traces of the chief elder’s existence from her memory as she showed that mysterious smile exactly like before and spoke.
“…Well, that may have been a boring show, but I did gather that small bit of useful data from it.”
The highest minister entered a monologue mingled with sacred tongue in that unblemished, beautiful voice. Still lying upon that invisible sofa, she softly glided five mel through the air and moved to the middle of the round hall.
Sweeping away a strand of that silver hair blowing in the wind, Administrator smoothly narrowed her eyes, wavering with prismatic light, and looked towards Eugeo’s side with her magnetic gaze—focusing upon Kirito who still had his head down.
“Irregular boy. I could not access your properties in detail, but I thought that was as you were an unregistered unit born from an irregular marriage… that was incorrect. You are from there, aren’t you? A human from «the other side»… aren’t you?”
Eugeo barely comprehended any of those words pitched out in a whisper.
—There? The other side…?
Kirito, his black-haired partner, had appeared in the forest south of Rulid two and a half years ago with his memories gone as a «lost child of Vector».
The elders of the village had told Eugeo that such phenomenona of humans appearing every once in a while were acts of mischief committed by Vector, the god of darkness, reaching out with his long arm from beyond the mountain range at the edge and erasing those people’s memories, but Eugeo only truly believed in that when he was still a child.
There are times when people face a situation so painful and dismal that they let go of those memories of their own wills, even taking their own lives at times. The one who taught Eugeo that was the old Garitta, the previous generation’s woodcutter. Long ago, he had lost his wife to a drowning incident and his excess lamentations back then had apparently robbed him of over half of his memories regarding his wife. The old man had laughed then, claiming it to be an act of both benevolence and chastisement from the goddess who governed lives, Stacia.
As such, Eugeo guessed Kirito was in a similar situation and thus, kept that to himself even now. He figured something distressing and sorrowful must have happened to him in his home town, likely in the eastern or southern regions when judging from his hair and the color of his eyes, finally reaching Rulid’s forest after wandering for a long time with his memories lost.
That was one of the reasons he did not ask Kirito about his past during their journey to the central capital and those days in the academy. Of course, he could not deny the fear that he might return to his home town upon regaining his memories might have led to that as well.
However.
The highest minister who possessed the capability to look over the entire Human World had referred to Kirito’s birthplace with strange words.
The other side. In other words, she meant beyond the mountain range at the edge—the Dark Territory, the land of darkness? Was the one and only clue he had to Kirito’s birth, the Aincrad style with its consecutive sword techniques, taken from the land of darkness?
No. The highest minister should possess detailed information on even the Dark Territory. The integrity knights under her command passed through the mountain range freely and crossed swords with the darkness knights. Thus, he doubted Administrator who ruled over them would not know of the countries and cities in the Dark Territory, along with those who lived in them. She had no need to express it in vague words like calling it the other side.
Following that line of thought—
What Administrator’s words referred to was the outside of this world, a place where even her eyes could not reach…? Beyond even the land of darkness… perhaps even farther than that, in a place that could be said to be another world…?
Such a notion felt far too abstract for Eugeo and he could not even find the right words to express his own thoughts. However, his intuition told him he was on the verge of discovering something tremendously important, what could be considered a secret behind this world. Tormented by that burning desire, Eugeo shifted his sight and gazed at the night sky extending out beyond the gigantic windows.
The stardust ocean flowed on in the rifts between the streaming black clouds.
Beyond that sky… was Kirito born in a land there? What sort of place was it? And had Kirito regained his memories of it…?
The one who broke the seconds of silence was his black-haired partner who slowly got up.
“That’s right.”
Kirito replied in the affirmation to the highest minister’s question with a single short yet heavy line.
Practically numbed with shock, Eugeo looked at his partner’s profile. So Kirito really had regained his memories.
No— Perhaps from the very beginning, he had already…?
Kirito’s eyes gave Eugeo a fleeting glance. The strongest among the various emotions visible in those black eyes was a light that appeared to Eugeo as a plea for his trust.
His look immediately returned to Administrator who stood before him. Despite his stern expression, Kirito lightly spread his hands out with a somewhat bitter smile.
“…That said, the level of authority granted to me is equivalent to that of the people of this world, hardly anywhere near to yours, Administrator… no, Quinella-san.”
The moment he called out that name that had an odd ring to it, the smile on the highest minister’s beautiful face waned slightly.
However, that lasted only a moment as a smile, larger than before, rested upon Administrator’s glossy, pearl grey lips.
“So that shorty in the library room had been running her mouth off with those dull stories. …And? What exactly have you dropped into my world for, boy? And without any supervisor authorities too?”
“I do have some knowledge even if I lack those authorities.”
“Oh? For example? I have no interest in those meaningless tales of the past.”
“Then how about one from the future?”
Kirito faced the highest minister with his two hands placed upon the black sword thrust in the floor. The grave expression returned, straining the area near his cheeks, as a keen light shone in his black eyes.
“Quinella-san, you will destroy your world in the near future.”
The smile showed on Administrator’s lips only deepened even after she heard those impactful words.
“…I will? Not you who had brought so much suffering upon my adorable dolls, boy, but me?”
“Yes. After all, your mistake was in establishing the Order of the Integrity Knights for opposing all intrusions from the Dark Territory… no, its establishment was a mistake in itself.”
“Fufu. Ufufufu.”
Likely having her mistakes pointed out for the first time ever since she became the ruler, the highest minister’s finger touched her lips while her shoulders shook as though holding back strong laughter.
“Fufufu. That certainly sounds like what that shorty would say. It seems that shorty had learned some new tricks, to think she managed to ensnare a boy with such an appearance. How pitiful… both that child who had chased after me so and this boy who got caught up in that in his carelessness.”
The highest minister’s laughter continued through her slender throat.
Kirito’s mouth opened to speak further, but the austere reverberations of a sharp voice rang out a moment quicker.
“If I may have a word, Esteemed Highest Minister.”
The one who took a step forward with her armor clanging was Integrity Knight Alice who had kept her silence thus far. Her long golden hair gleamed beautifully in the moonlight as though opposing Administrator’s glossy silver hair.
“The consideration regarding the inability of the current Order of the Integrity Knights to perfectly handle the combined invasion from the forces of darkness expected to soon arrive is one likewise shared by his Excellency, Knight Commander Bercouli, as well as Deputy Commander Fanatio-dono. And… I, too, am of agreement. Naturally, we, the Order of the Integrity Knights, are prepared to fight to our last knight, but Esteemed Highest Minister, do you possess the means of protecting the innocent common folk after our demise? I highly doubt even you believe yourself to be capable of exterminating the extensive forces of that land by your own hand alone!”
Knight Alice’s forceful yet beautiful voice blew across the hall like a refreshing breeze, swaying Administrator’s hair. With her smile slipping away, the highest minister stared down at the golden knight with an expression containing mere traces of surprise.
And Alice’s words were a shock to Eugeo in a different way.
Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty. A provisional personality residing in the body of his precious childhood friend, Alice Schuberg.
The girl should have been a cold-headed enforcer of the law as shown when she landed that nasty hit on Eugeo’s cheek at the academy’s grand hall several days ago. Knight Alice should completely lack those many emotions that Alice once had: gentleness, innocence, and above all else, affection.
However, Knight Alice’s previous words seemed exactly like what Alice would have said, had she stayed as she was and grew into an integrity knight.
Showing no sign she noticed the look from Eugeo who was swallowing his breath, the integrity knight stabbed the Fragrant Olive Sword into the floor with a shrill clang and argued further.
“Esteemed Highest Minister, I have mentioned that your obsession and deceit had led the Order of the Integrity Knights to ruins earlier. Obsession refers to your thief of all weapons and power from the inhabitants of the Human World, while deceit refers to how severely you had deceived us integrity knights! You had us part from our parents… our wives and husbands, our siblings, and sealed our memories away while planting false memories about how we were summoned from some imaginary Celestial World…”
Alice seemed to have hung her head down for an instant there. However, the knight immediately straightened her back and continued in a voice more resolute than before.
“…I would not have blamed you if it was necessary to protect this world and its inhabitants. However, why do you doubt our loyalty and respect towards the Axiom Church and you, Esteemed Highest Minister?! Why have you performed that corrupted ceremony on our souls to force us to submit to you?!!”
Eugeo looked on as several small drops fell from the smoothly curved contours that made up Alice’s cheeks while she asked as though pouring out her heart.
Tears.
The integrity knight that had practically lost all emotions, Alice, was crying.
Eugeo swallowed his breath from the shock; before his eyes, the knight boldly threw her chest forward as she looked up towards the ruler without wiping her cheeks.
Despite pelted with words sharper than swords, Administrator showed a faint, cold smile as though she had felt nothing from them, treating them as beneath the level of a breath of air.
“My, my, Alice-chan. It seems you have grasped some pretty difficult ideas in your mind. It had only been five… or six years? That was all that had passed… since you were created.”
The voice lacked solemnity, as it should, with it missing all emotion. However, its resonance was polished, resemblant of pure silver. Even the slightest warmth was absent from it.
“…I lacked trust in you integrator units, you say? That is a little disconcerting. I had placed so much trust on all of you… you are my adorable dolls, clicking into your positions like clockworks ever so gallantly, after all. Haven’t you, too, polished your precious sword so meticulously for it to not rust, Alice-chan? It’s the same. The present I had given all of you, those piety modules serve as the proof of my love. So that you dolls will remain beautiful for all eternity. So that you will not be bothered by those trivial worries and suffering the masses are prone to.”
Administrator brought up her left hand with an aloof smile and spun the triangular prism in it with her fingertips. It was the upgraded piety module extracted from Eugeo’s forehead.
Looking down upon Alice through the violet light, she gently whispered.
“Pitiful Alice-chan. Your beautiful face has gotten so disheveled. Are you feeling sad? Or perhaps angry? …If only you had stayed my doll, you would have been spared from those meaningless emotions for all eternity.”
The soft sound the tears dripping down Alice’s cheeks made as they fell onto her golden armor was accompanied by another: a rigid clink.
The Fragrant Olive Sword thrust at the knight’s feet had pierced through the thick carpet and was sinking through even the marble flooring.
While putting in enough strength in her two hands to even damage the materials that made up the indestructible Central Cathedral, Alice forced out a quivering voice.
“…Uncle… his Excellency, Knight Commander Bercouli, have never worried nor suffered in the slightest throughout the never-ending days of the three hundred years he had lived as an integrity knight; are you of that opinion, Esteemed Highest Minister? Are you asserting that you are unaware of the grief that he, who had devoted the deepest loyalty to you, had continuously carried in his heart?”
A noticeably sharper twinge rang out from beneath the sword. Alice shouted at the same time with an intensity that exceeded that.
“His Excellency, Bercouli, had always been suffering throughout his mission to safeguard the loyalty towards the Axiom Church and the masses! You must have known that his Excellency had plead with the Chamber of Elders to bolster the imperial chivalric orders of the four empires, that are of no practical use, countless times! His Excellency… uncle was even aware of the seal carved into our right eyes. That is plainly evidence that he was the one who had suffered most, is it not?!!”
The questions stained with tears were practically asked with much pain—
However, even so, Administrator responded with a cool smile on her pale, beautiful features.
“…How disheartening. To think my love could be mistaken as one so shallow. I knew of those, naturally.”
A tinge of cruelty peeked through her lovely smile—or so it seemed.
“I will tell you this, pitiful Alice-chan. It is not the first time number one… Bercouli had fretted over those worthless issues. In truth, that child had uttered those same thoughts around a hundred years before. Thus, I fixed him up.”
A giggly chirp spilled from her.
“I had peeked into Bercouli’s memories and erased aaaall of those worries crammed in there troubling him so. Not just him… the same goes for all of those knights that lasted for over a hundred years. I allowed them to forget all of those painful memories. Don’t worry, Alice-chan. I won’t get angry over this petty mischief from you. I will be sure to erase those memories causing that sorrowful face of yours. I will be sure to return you to a doll that has no need to think.”
Administrator’s suppressed laughter was all that shook within the leaden, cold silence.
That was no longer human.
As his shuddering surged anew and covered his body with goose bumps, Eugeo verified that fact.
The ability to erase and perhaps overwrite a human’s memories as one wished. Eugeo had experienced that horror with his own body. Administrator had sealed his memories and turned him into an integrity knight who turned his sword towards Kirito and Alice after he recited that art consisting of merely three words.
If Administrator had conducted the Synthesis Ritual with the proper procedure, he would have likely never been able to regain his consciousness like so. She had used a gap already present in Eugeo’s memories—though he did not understand why it was there—which resulted in his salvation.
However, he had yet to redeem himself for his sins. Eugeo could do nothing more than distract Chudelkin with an art during that battle. He could not forgive himself with merely that. He felt himself unworthy to even stand by Kirito’s side now, shoulder to shoulder, to be perfectly honest…
He tightened his grip on the Blue Rose Sword hanging down from his right hand, then felt Kirito’s gaze on his right cheek. However, Alice’s low voice murmured before he had a chance to return the look.
“…Certainly, I feel enough torment and anguish to tear my chest apart in this moment. It is strange enough I could even stay on my feet.”
Her voice quivered, but slowly regained its strength.
“…However, I do not wish for this pain… this emotion I am feeling for the first time to be erased. After all, this pain is what truly taught me that I am not a knight doll, but a single human. —Esteemed Highest Minister, I do not wish for your love. I have no need for your ministrations.”
“…A doll that stopped being a doll.”
Upon hearing Alice’s words of parting, Administrator spoke in a tune.
“That is no human, Alice-chan. That is no more than a broken doll. Unfortunately, your thoughts are of no consequence. As long as I synthesize you again, every last bit of your emotions this moment will be erased, after all.”
It was when the highest minister let out those horrid words with a gentle smile.
“Like what you’ve done to yourself—right, Quinella-san?”
Kirito, who had kept silent thus far, called to Administrator with that odd name once again.
Like earlier, the girl’s smile dimmed upon hearing that.
“Now, boy, haven’t I told you to put an end to those old stories?”
“Would the truth be erased if I do? Not even you could modify the past as you want. You could never erase the fact that you, too, was born as a human child, a single human being… isn’t that so?”
I see; Eugeo agreed in his heart. Kirito must have heard about the stories regarding Administrator’s true name and birth from the sage of the Great Library Room, Cardinal.
“Human… human, you say?”
The smile immediately returned to Administrator and she muttered in a tone different from before, somewhat filled with cynicism.
“When it’s you who say those words, boy from «the other side», it has a rather complicated ring to it. In other words, boy, are you claiming yourself to be superior? That those of the Underworld are simply impertinent… is that what you wish to express?”
“No, no, nothing of that sort.”
Kirito shrugged his shoulders and rejected the highest minister’s words.
“On the contrary, those of this world are superior to the humans of the other side in many aspects. But they are both human at the base, possessing that same soul. You are no exception. No matter how many hundreds of years pass, a human could never possibly become a god, right?”

“…And what about it? Are you suggesting that we sit down for a cup of tea as fellow humans?”
“I’m all for that. …But what I meant was that as a human, you’re not some perfect existence; that’s what. Humans make mistakes. And yours is beyond repair. With the Order of the Integrity Knights partly destroyed, the Human World will be crushed if the combined invasion from the Dark Territory starts this moment.”
Kirito then took a glance towards Eugeo and continued in a hushed voice.
“…Two years ago, Eugeo and I had fought a group of goblins that trespassed from the opposite entrance deep in the cave going through the mountain range at the edge. The integrity knight in charge of that area must have overlooked them. And such incidents will occur more frequently from now. Eventually, that trespassing will turn into invading and this world you had worked so hard to preserve… or to keep in stasis will be exposed to merciless destruction and violence. Of course, I believe you have no desire for that either?”
“Big words for the one who went about breaking those knights, boy. Nonetheless, very well. And?”
“If you only wish for yourself to survive, you only have to restart after that… sure, you might be thinking that.”
Kirito spoke in a more forceful tone and shifted his right foot half a step forward.
“To bind the masses of darkness flowing into the Human World and the remaining humans with law, then making a new organization to rule over there… a Darkness Church, maybe? I doubt that will be beyond your ability, but still, that won’t be happening. There are people who truly hold absolute authority over this world on «the other side». This is what they will think… this time was a failure, let’s redo it from the start. And with a single press of a button, this entire world will be gone. The mountains, the rivers, the cities… and all of the humans, including you, will be wiped away in an instant.”
Kirito’s words had already exceeded Eugeo’s understanding.
The same probably went for Alice. She turned her face towards the black-haired swordsman with a questioning look, her eyes red at their edges.
However, it seemed the highest minister alone had perfectly understood what Kirito had said. The smile had nearly completely vanished from her lips and a frigid light flickered in her narrowed silver eyes.
“…I will admit that is unpleasant. To have someone tell me so clearly… that this world is a miniature garden that can be manipulated by some unknown being.”
The supple fingers on her two hands interlocked and hid the bottom of her beautiful face. The voice uttered by her unseen lips had lost most of the playfulness it had when talking to Alice.
“However, in that case, what about you… those from «the other side»? Are you constantly aware of the possibility that your own world was created by some higher being and endeavor to please it with your progress?”
It appeared that question was beyond Kirito’s expectations too.
Looking down at the swordsman who bit his lips and kept silent from above, Administrator softly brought herself up from that invisible chair and spread her hands out towards her sides. Her long legs, too, extended forward as though she was putting them on display. Her bare body possessed beauty that exceeded that of statues of the goddesses and lightly gleamed as it bathed in the moonlight, spreading an overwhelming sense of divinity into the hall.
“…Of course you don’t. Your caprice had led to the creation of a world and the lives it has, and you will erase it the moment it lost its necessity. And you, boy of such a world, do you have the right to challenge my choices?”
The highest minister turned her eyes towards the ceiling… no, towards the distant night sky beyond the marble canopy and declared loudly.
“I would rather not. Flattering those playing as divine beings of creation and begging them for the continuation of one’s existence are simply wretched. You should have known if you had heard those old tales from that shorty, boy… my sole reason to exist is to rule. That desire alone moves me and keeps me alive. These two legs are for walking forward and definitely not for bending down onto my knees to yield to another!!”
The air swirled with that roar and her pure silver hair ruffled greatly.
Overwhelmed by her intensity that allowed no reply, Eugeo unconsciously drew his right foot back. Administrator was the one who had overwritten Alice’s memories, the enemy that neglected the nobles’ depravity, but still, Eugeo had to admit once again that she was the mightiest ruler of the world—the absolute being, a demigod, that one without a family name like himself would never gain an audience with.
Eugeo’s black-haired partner who had led him all this way, too, appeared overwhelmed with his upper body trembling, but he took a step forward instead of back. He stabbed the black sword in his right hand hard into the floor as though to give himself courage.
“—Then!!”
His speech was loud enough to shake the glass window behind.
“Then—do you intend to look away as the Human World is trampled upon and sit on a make-believe throne, as the ruler of a nation without citizens, while awaiting your own, lonely destruction?!!”
The instant she heard those words, the girlish part of Administrator’s beautiful face vanished, replaced by pure fury from the eternity she had lived through. However, that expression faded soon after and a whimsical smile adorned her pearl grey lips once again.
“Regarding that combined invasion business you mentioned, boy, it would truly be a disappointment if you had thought that I have nothing planned. I had an abundance of time to think… time alone is my ally, unlike for the people of the other side.”
“…So, you claim you have the means to prevent that end?”
“You may call them the means, and the goal too. I exist only to rule… there is no end to the limits of that.”
“What…? What do you mean?”
Administrator did not give an immediate reply to Kirito’s voice that sounded puzzled.
Instead, an enigmatic aura accompanied the smile on her lips before she lightly clapped her two hands together as if to declare the conversation over.
“I will let you hear the rest after you have become one of my dolls, boy. Of course, you too, Alice-chan, Eugeo. If I am to add one last thing… I have no intention to stay quiet in regards to not only the reset for the Underworld, but the «final load experiment» as well. The art for that purpose has already been completed. …Rejoice, I will grant you the opportunity to see it before anyone else.”
“……An art…?”
Kirito replied stiffly.
“You’re relying on the system commands that are filled with restrictions? Are you planning on exterminating all of the forces of darkness with some command only you can use? Despite how you can’t even handle the three of us right now?”
“Oh, really now?”
“Sure it is. You no longer have any chance at victory. Alice can stop any long-range offensive arts in several seconds while Eugeo and I will slice into you in the meantime. If you’re thinking of paralyzing us with a command that requires you to touch us, I will cut you with the skill I defeated Chudelkin with earlier. —I don’t want to say this now either, but a single art practitioner unprotected by any vanguards cannot win against multiple swordsmen. That should be an absolute rule even in this world.”
“Single… single, you say?”
Administrator giggled in her throat.
“It’s nice how you pointed that out. Yes, the numbers are the issue in the end. My control is limited when there are too many pawns. Or at the very least, the final load experiment would be too much. I had added to the Order of the Integrity Knights while maintaining that balance, but…”
The mightiest ruler who should had no more than herself remaining after losing her loyal subject, Chudelkin, displayed boundless composure before the three rebels as she spoke to herself.
“To be honest, the chivalric order was merely the means to an end. The military might I truly desire need not think, let alone possess memories or emotions. It only needs to be an existence devoted to slaughtering the enemies before its eyes without end. In other words… there is no need for it to be human.”
“…What are you…”
Ignoring Kirito’s words, Administrator raised her left hand up high. Gripped within was a triangular prism, glistening with a bewitching violet—it was the piety module extracted from Eugeo’s forehead.
“He might have been a foolish clown, but even Chudelkin did have his use. He did grant me the time to assemble every last segment of this lengthy art, after all. Now… awaken, my faithful servant! The soulless executioner!!”
Eugeo understood upon hearing those words.
It was the art that resounded quietly from the depths of the bed when he returned to this room after regaining his senses. An absurdly long sacred art that was considered to be most advanced even by the highest minister’s standards, with an incantation that she could not shorten using the power of her mind. That very art was about to be released in this moment.
What the silver-haired girl loudly sang out next were two words that were far too short to interrupt yet possessed a trepidation that exceeded all other phrases.
“Release recollection!!”
The core of the armament full control art. The secret art to release a weapon’s memories and draw out power beyond all sacred arts—
However, the nude Administrator had absolutely nothing on herself, not even a small knife. Could it be the piety module she held in her left hand? However, that triangular prism should have no memories that could be released.
A quiet yet definite sound pricked Eugeo’s ears as he looked up towards the highest minister on the other side in shock.
Clink, clink; the shrill noises of metal came from behind… no, he heard from the right and left.
Eugeo quickly turned about and a sharp gasp came out from him due to an overwhelming surprise.
There were countless pillars encircling the broad hall that measured forty mel across. The imitation swords, gleaming golden and made in various sizes, attached to them trembled slightly.
“What… what is…!?”
Eugeo’s quivering voice was accompanied by a single “Impossible…!” from Alice.
The largest among the imitation swords reached a length of three mel. Not even Administrator could wave such a thing around easily. In the first place, the sword Eugeo looked at was not the only one that was vibrating. That same phenomenon had occurred on every one of the pillars positioned around the hall. The number of imitation swords likely amounted up to thirty.
The recollection release art could not be used unless a weapon was on such a degree of familiarity that it was practically a part of yourself—or it should. The cherished sword’s memories could only be first accessed after it was connected with its wielder by deep bonds.
The highest minister who thought of her subordinates as mere tools could not possibly form such bonds with all thirty of those imitation swords. Thus, what exactly were those memories she released, and what was the sword—?
Before the three who stood still, an extraordinarily intense reverberation roared out and the gigantic swords left their pillars as they floated upwards.
With one grazing Eugeo’s hair as he stooped over in a fluster, the swords spun violently as they soared up and gathered in the air directly above the highest minister, in the middle of the hall. A phenomenon that was even more astonishing than before occurred without delay.
The thirty swords of various sizes let out metallic clanks as they connected and assembled into a gigantic mass. Eugeo immediately noticed that appeared somewhat similar to a human’s silhouette.
A thick backbone stabbed through its core while its long arms extended towards its sides. Legs sprouted from its underside: four of them, twice that of humans.
Turning towards the swords that swiftly transformed into a bizarre giant, no, monster, Administrator held out the piety module gripped in her left hand.
—That triangular prism is the keystone to the highest minister’s recollection release art.
Just as Eugeo thought so, Kirito shouted out from his side.
“Discharge!!”
He took a look and saw birds made from flames dwelling on the tips of his spread-out right hand. Kirito alone had chanted an art while Eugeo and perhaps Alice, too, were watching the swords uniting in shock.
The flaming birds shot out soared with the triangular prism Administrator held as their target. There were many variants of offensive arts using thermal elements, but the «bird shape» art Kirito used had the property to automatically home in on its destination. In addition, the highest minister’s eyes were concentrated on the sword giant above her and did not notice Kirito’s movement. It should hit—!
Eugeo was confident.
The sword giant extended out one of its leg while afloat and intercepted the flaming birds. Unable to dodge, the birds crashed into it and instantly scattered into crimson drops. The gleaming, golden sword’s surface was merely covered in a faint layer of soot; it showed no sign of damage.
As for Administrator, she had completely ignored that single act and softly released the triangular prism in her left hand. Rather than her throwing it, the triangular prism rose on its own, drawn towards its interior beyond the three swords that made up the giant’s back.
The violet light slowly ascended, coming to a stop where the giant’s heart would have been, had it been a living creature, and then let out a significantly stronger glow.
That radiance diffused through the giant’s entire body and the countless swords, once with rounded, ornamental blades, gained sharp edges as a metallic noise rang out. In that instant, Eugeo understood, instinctively, that the highest minister’s art had been completed.
Administrator smiled with her eyes narrowed.
The sword giant spread its four legs out and soared through the air—positioning itself directly in between the highest minister and the trio, and landed with rumble of a dull tremor.
Eugeo looked up in silence at the strange, gigantic mass, likely over five mel in height.
Its spine and ribcage, and even its two arms and four legs were all assembled by golden, imitation—no, actual—swords. Like a toy made by a child from whittled wood branches… or perhaps a bone monster inhabiting the farthest reaches of the land of darkness.
“…Impossible…”
That murmur that sounded somewhat like a moan came from Knight Alice.
“Using a full control art of such a grand scale on multiple… let alone thirty weapons would be inconsistent with the principles behind that act. Even for you, Esteemed Highest Minister, violating the fundamental principle of sacred arts should not be possible… what exactly have you…”
Alice’s voice had likely reached Administrator’s ears as well, but the girl floating behind the sword giant ignored her question and displayed a satisfied, muffled laugh instead.
“Ufufu… fufu, fufufu. This is truly the power I desired. Pure might capable of fighting on for all eternity. A name… yes, I suppose calling it a «sword golem» will do fine.”
Despite the situation as it was, Eugeo still guessed at the meaning behind the unfamiliar Sacred Tongue term.
He knew «sword» was a word that referred to swords. However, «golem» had never appeared in any of the textbooks used in the academy. Even Alice who should be far more proficient in the Sacred Tongue than Eugeo appeared to be at a loss.
The short silence was punctured by Kirito’s hoarse muttering.
“A sword… automaton.”
That translation into Common Tongue appeared to be accurate somehow. Administrator’s smile broadened and she lightly clapped her hands together.
“I knew you would be proficient in the Sacred Tongue… no, in English. How about becoming my secretary instead, if you prefer that over being a knight? I would need you to drop your sword, apologize for your insolence, and pledge eternal allegiance towards me this very moment, however.”
“Unfortunately, I doubt you would believe an oath from me. Besides… I hadn’t admitted my loss just yet.”
“I have nothing against that strong spirit, but I certainly cannot accept such a fool. Perhaps you actually believe you can defeat my golem… or anything of that sort? This doll made from swords possessing priorities on the level of a sacred tool? The mightiest weaponry that I had devoted every last sector of my precious memory space to complete…?”
Weaponry; he had heard of that term once.
It should have been mentioned in Deputy Knight Commander Fanatio’s speech. When the highest minister tried to focus Solus’s light onto a single point with a thousand panes of mirrors, so as to cause a flame of extreme heat without the usage of sacred arts, long ago in the past. The highest minister had called that trial, a «weaponry experiment»—
So weaponry was effectively a tool that exhibited sufficient power to exceed sacred arts? And the sword golem standing beyond their eyes now was the completed form of that weaponry… was that it?
Perhaps having caught sight of the expressions the trio had on as they stood still, Administrator showed a cold smile as she slowly swung her right hand.
“Now… fight, golem. Crush your enemies.”
As if it had been awaiting that command all that while—
The heart of the sword giant shone brilliantly with violet light.
The four-legged monster immediately charged forth with a metallic roar.
The size of the sword golem could not match the flaming clown created by Chief Elder Chudelkin earlier. However, the looming monstrosity with its countless clinking joints inspired frigid fear in Eugeo’s heart.
The first to respond to the golem whose two arms, each made from three swords, swung up high was Knight Alice who had been looking on in a daze until now. Slower by merely half a second, the knight resolutely met the monster’s assault from the front.
“Yaaaaahh!!”
Her loud battle cry overwhelmed the metallic noises from the golem. Alice’s two hands gripped onto the Fragrant Olive Sword and she bent her body to its limit before swinging it down.
Kirito, too, began moving then. Leaping forth towards its left, he circled about the golem’s flank.
Despite engulfed in fear and frozen still, Eugeo still managed to guess at Kirito and Alice’s aim.
Both of them had judged that the joint between the golem’s spine and four legs, the part where a human’s pelvis would be, could be a potential weakness if it even had one to begin with. However, it would be far too hazardous to target its pelvis with a frontal attack. Hence, Alice would be the bait and draw the golem’s attention—if it even had one, however—while Kirito would cut apart the enemy’s vital point from the flank. A strategy fundamentally the same as the one they had defeated Chudelkin with.
Eugeo watched on, feeling both deep amazement and mild torment over how the pair could immediately begin a combination attack without any prior discussion.
Alice’s sword rushed down an arc, leaving behind traces resembling the light of Solus.
The monster’s right arm, too, swung down with a thundering roar. An impact great enough to sway the entire cathedral blew outwards the moment the large and small gleaming, golden blades clashed, slamming against Eugeo as a gust.
 
Two seconds had passed since the pair’s assault.
And then, any and all conflict that could actually be considered a “battle” ended in that instant.
 
Alice’s Fragrant Olive Sword—a best among the best of the sacred tools, one possessing an «eternal immortality» property—was easily flicked away by the Golem’s right arm.
Unable to pull back the sword surging backwards, the knight was slightly lifted off the floor with her balance destroyed.
Targeting Alice as she desperately tried to stay on her feet without falling over, the golem’s left sword thrust forth at a speed faster than eyes could follow.
A dull noise resounded, one far too plain when compared to the earlier clash. But at the same time, that was the sound that had concluded the battle.
The tip of the brutally gigantic sword appeared from Alice’s slender back and splattered drops of deep crimson. Her long, beautiful golden hair gently flowed while doused in fresh blood.
Her golden breastplate, split into two, instantly lost its Life and both sides shattered into pieces. The Fragrant Olive Sword fell from the knight’s right hand and tumbled onto the floor.
And finally, the golem’s left sword nonchalantly pulled out, leaving the integrity knight to fall forward.
“U… aaaah!!”
A shout that sounded like a scream.
It had surged out from Kirito. The black-haired swordsman who was circling towards the giant’s right savagely charged in with a queer light in his two eyes.
The black sword released a vivid blue glow. It was the secret move, «Vertical».
The golem would likely stop if the piety module stored in its back was broken, but the thick blades protecting it and the difference in altitude denied the secret move from reaching. Hence, Kirito’s aim was the joint between the golem’s spine and legs. Certainly, the giant would be rendered immobile if that exposed part was broken.
The golem, having just swung down its two arms, should lack all means of guarding.
However, immediately after Kirito’s sword moved.
The top half of the giant rotated with intense fervor using its spine as an axis. The giant’s left arm, turning about horizontally in a movement impossible for humans, slashed at Kirito from his side.
A dull clink from the clash. Kirito had diverted the trajectory of his secret move with superhuman reflexes and met the golem’s assault.
However, the scene Eugeo saw a moment ago repeated itself in his sight.
Unable to endure the impact, Kirito floated upwards. Without delay, the golem’s left rear leg lunged out, drawn towards his unarmored chest.
The dull noise resounded once more. Blown away from the side, Kirito crashed into the window in the east. A horrifying amount of fresh blood dyed the glass before the black-clothed swordsman slid off and crumbled onto the floor.
Unable to make even a single sound, Eugeo stared on as a puddle of blood spread out from beneath his partner who had collapsed facing down.
His legs and arms felt absolutely nothing. It felt like his body belonged to someone else; he could do nothing to restrain its trembling.
All he could move was his face and Eugeo slowly turned it up, towards the sword golem in his path a mere five or six mel away. The monster, too, looked straight down at Eugeo. The sword hilts at the peak of its spine appeared just like a face. The jewels inset on the two aligned guards blinked irregularly like eyes.
Capable of neither movement nor speech, Eugeo merely repeated a single word within his paralyzed mind.
—These are all lies.
—Lies. This is all one big lie.
Knight Alice and Kirito could be said to be the strongest experts in the Human World now. Even with some strange monster or some sort of «weaponry» as their opponent, the pair should not be losing like this. They will stand right back up this very moment and ready their swords once……
Hehe. Hehehe.
Quiet laughter streamed on, accompanying the solemn, metallic noises constantly let out by the golem.
His sight moved and saw the highest minister, Administrator, floating behind and merrily looking down at the tragedy. Her specular eyes reflected nothing but the red from the blood flowing from Kirito and Alice. Not a single tinge of compassion resided within them.
The bizarre giant began moving once more to execute its master’s commands.
Bringing up its right front foot, it took a long step, and thrust that down into the floor with a metallic clunk. Followed by its left front foot.
Red drops dyed the looming giant’s left arm. Eugeo decided that, at the very least, he would die from a slash by that arm. His fear was no more and the world was silent, far too silent—
Without warning, a voice burst in his mind like a bubble; it took a moment before he realized it was real.
[Use the dagger, Eugeo!]
It was a female voice with a somewhat deep yet charming reverberation.
The voice was too unfamiliar for a hallucination on the verge of death. Taking a glance down towards his right, Eugeo saw—
Something atop the collapsed Kirito’s right shoulder at the mere size of the tip of one’s nail, a pitch-black spider.
It was impossible for such a tiny bug to talk. However, something in that voice urged Eugeo to believe. All doubts over the owner of that voice were dispelled from his paralyzed consciousness while the small creature brought up its right front leg as if berating him.
“It… it won’t work. That dagger won’t reach Administrator.”
He answered in a small voice and the spider violently waved its raised feet.
[No! A passage! Stab it into the elevating disk on the floor!!]
“Eh…”
Eugeo opened his eyes wide, dumbfounded. The black spider focused its four eyes, glistening like rubies, on Eugeo and continued.
[I will buy you time! Hurry!!]
The spider, crying out while the adorable fangs peeking out from its mouth shifted about, glanced at Kirito’s pallid cheek and softly touched it with its right foot, before leaping towards the floor.
By the time it soundlessly touched down onto the floor, the miniscule spider—
Turned towards the sword golem, likely tens of thousands times its size, and ran straight.