Part 3
I thought I had conquered enduring physical pain to some extent.
Slightly more than two years ago, I crossed swords with goblins that intruded from the Dark Territory at the cave north of Rulid Village. During the battle, I got my left shoulder cut by the machete belonging to the leader of the goblins and despite how it was far from lethal, the overwhelming pain—or to be accurate, the fear of suffering pain—made me cower, nervous, and rendered me immobile.
That experience exposed my weak point in the Underworld. Perhaps due to the long time I spent fighting in worlds lacking pain, thanks to the pain absorber function installed in the Nerve Gear and AmuSphere, I had lost my resistance towards it.
Since then, I had controlled myself to not shrink back any longer when attacked by wooden swords during practice with Eugeo or the academy’s matches and perhaps as a result, the injuries I suffered in my fights with the integrity knights had not left me frozen in fright, at the very least. After all, in the Underworld, you could fully recover even with your hands and feet sliced off as long your Life did not reach zero.
But—
Right before the very end of this long journey, I was taught the bitter lesson that I had never actually managed to conquer myself at all.
«Sword golem», the military weaponry created by the highest minister, Administrator, possessed extraordinary power and speed. It had transcendental performance that deviated from even the rules of this world. It was already a miracle that I managed to block that first attack from its left arm; the second using its left rear leg was faster than my eyes could even follow.
The sword that served as the golem’s leg seemed to have torn through my internal organs, from my right to my left. I was aware of an icy chill caressing my stomach at the time of that heavy blow, but what I felt as I flew through the air, crashed into the window, and tumbled onto the floor was a pain rushing through my entire body as if I was being immolated. None of my fingers could move while the lower half of my body had no sensation at all. It wouldn’t be strange even if my body had actually been split into two with only a single layer of skin joining them.
It was a real mystery how I retained my ability to think.
Or perhaps that was because the pain was far exceeded by my despair.
My Life should be falling at a rate faster than ever before. I must have no more than a few minutes left before it touches zero.
And Integrity Knight Alice probably had even less time remaining. The golden knight, collapsed on the floor a distance away, was stabbed through her chest by the sword golem’s sword. It appeared she avoided a direct hit to her heart, but her blood must be spilling out at an alarming rate. The chance that not even healing arts of the highest grade could stop that was high. That miraculous fluct light that broke through the «seal of the right eye» applied on all Underworld inhabitants with its will alone was being extinguished before my eyes.
The life of my irreplaceable bosom friend, Eugeo, who stood outside my field of vision was like a candle in the wind too. His strength had already surpassed mine, but that was no enemy that swordsmanship could stand up to.
My hazy vision showed the sword golem advancing, causing tremors as it did.
Even when I tried to call for him to flee, only a weak breath spilled out from my mouth.
No, even if I could call out to him, Eugeo would not run. He would grip his Blue Rose Sword and stand up against this overwhelming enemy to save Alice and me.
This worst disaster could only be attributed to my miscomprehension—the foolish assumption that Administrator would not murder.
In the Great Library Room, the sage, Cardinal, had explained the essence of what made up the «taboos» in this world with a tea cup. What she had wanted to convey was that all taboos had their own loopholes. Administrator had probably broke through the restriction on herself by creating an automatic weapon to slaughter her enemies instead of doing it with her own hands.
The pain that seemed to rage like flames was gradually turning into a dull numbness.
My Life will soon be zero. I would probably be kicked out from this world in that instant, wake up in the STL, and staff from Rath will fill me in. About the deletion of the Underworld in its current state—along with every fluct light, including Alice and Eugeo, without exception.
If my Life held just as much meaning as Eugeo and the rest.
If only I could meet a true death with this pair here.
How could I apologize to them with anything less than that?
The four advancing legs of the sword golem and the radiance of the collapsed Alice’s golden hair flickered and quivered in my slowly darkening vision.
Even that light, too, steadily abandoned me.
That was when that soft, yet substantial, voice burst into my ears.
[Use the dagger, Eugeo!]
It had a velvety ring that I seemed to have heard from somewhere. I continued listening to the exchange between the mezzo-soprano’s voice and Eugeo with my mind blank.
The owner of that voice gave several short instructions before declaring that she would buy him time and moving to my ear. It felt like something warm had touched my right cheek for an instant.
That warmth brought back a speck of sensation to my body and I desperately lifted my half-fallen eyelids.
Before my eyes, the one who leapt down onto the carpet stained with my blood without a sound—
Was one extremely, extremely small spider gleaming with a lustrous black.
That could be no other. Charlotte. The familiar of the sage, Cardinal, who lurked about my vicinity for two years to collect information.
But why was she here now? This small spider should have been released from her duty by her master in the Great Library Room and disappeared into the gaps between those bookshelves.
Pain and fear left my mind for a moment from the overwhelming surprise; the creature that was far too small began her charge towards the gigantic golem before my eyes.
Her four slender legs wildly kicked off the carpet. However, the distance crossed by the spider in a step was no match for that of the golem. Just how did she plan to buy time with the golem lunging at Eugeo?
Or so I wondered before a weak gasp leaked out from me, assailed by an even great shock.
The black spider had become a size larger.
Each time her pointed legs thrust onto the floor, the size of the spider rapidly multiplied. She became bigger than a mouse, a cat, soon a dog, and continued growing larger even then. Before I knew it, my cheek that touched the floor could feel the heavy tremors from Charlotte’s legs kicking off the carpet.
“—Gigii!”
Letting out a grinding, metallic noise, the sword golem finally took notice of Charlotte. The two gems at its face flickered as though appraising its enemy.
“Shaaaa!”
Emitting a shrill, intimidating cry, the black spider whose overall length had crossed two meters, too, had its four individual eyes shine with a keen light.
Though her height failed to reach even half of the golem’s, the enlarged Charlotte had her body covered by a tough-looking carapace in contrast to her enemy formed solely from slender, long swords. The jet-black shell gleamed like the Rasta colors tinged with gold in the light and the claws growing on her eight legs, too, were like black crystals.
Two of her legs were visibly larger, serving as her arms, and their claws were long enough to bear a resemblance to swords as well. Raising that right leg up high, Charlotte threw it down at the golem’s left leg.
A heavy, metallic impact, like a clash between greatswords, echoed throughout the room. The orange sparks created illuminated the murky hall with dazzling light.
That flash of light brought to attention Eugeo’s figure that had started running without my notice.
Not towards the golem. Nor was it towards Alice or me.
He dashed towards the circular pattern on the southern wall to carry out Charlotte’s instructions to stab the dagger into the elevating disk.
Behind Eugeo, though that single strike from Charlotte had broken the sword golem’s stance slightly, it effortlessly stood its ground and was just about to raise its right arm up high.
The golem seemed to have completely identified the sudden, gigantic black spider as its enemy and its two bluish-white eyes shone sharply as it swung down its right arm with a roar.
Charlotte met that attack with her left arm.
The sword of gold and claw of black crystal crashed in mid-air and brought forth a fierce shockwave once more. The tremor travelling through the floor shook through my body as well.
That single strike from the sword golem that easily blew away both Alice and me was taken on by the large spider as she deeply lowered the six legs at her rear.
The pair continued that same ferocious struggle in an attempt to force the other down. The tough carapace on Charlotte’s legs warped as she supported that massive weight while the three swords forming the golem’s right arm creaked at their joints as well.
The competition ended in a mere three seconds.
The one to break with a dull noise was Charlotte’s left front leg. Milky white fluid gushed from the intersection, dyeing her black carapace.
However, the spider did not even take a step back and lunged forth with her remaining right front leg. Her aim was the gap between the three huge swords making up the sword golem’s back. The violet light gleaming within it—the piety module.
Her claw that reached out like a black flash of lightning stabbed through the prism, the golem’s greatest weakness—that moment I saw that, the numerous swords lined up on the left and right of its spine as its ribcage moved as one.
Jakiiin!! A metallic noise like a paper cutting machine rang out. The four blades on each side had intersected. Held within them, Charlotte’s right leg was helplessly severed and a flood of bodily fluid spurted out once more.
The golem’s ribcage opened slowly and the torn half of her leg fell from inside. Perhaps convinced of its victory, the golem’s two eyes faintly flickered with what looked practically like ridicule.
Charlotte retained her gallantry even with her two front legs lost.
Letting out a shrill cry once again, she leapt forth to bite with the thick, short fangs growing from her mouth.
However, her attack did not reach. The golem’s leg kicked up faster than my eyes could follow, slicing off another two of Charlotte’s left legs, and the giant spider fell onto the floor with a thud, its balance destroyed.
That’s enough—run.
I tried to shout.
I had never conversed directly with that black spider named Charlotte.
But she had always been watching over me. She even told me the zephyria flowers I grew in the dormitory’s flower beds could still be saved after Raios and Humbert tore them apart. Despite how her mission from Cardinal had only been to observe me.
Yes—she should not be dying in such a hopeless battle for nothing more than to buy some time.
Run; I tried shouting once again, but it failed to make any sound.
Getting up somehow with her four remaining legs, Charlotte lowered herself to launch yet another reckless charge.
But the golem’s left arm that came from straight above an instant quicker pierced deep into the black spider’s torso after tracing an elegant arc.
“……Ah…”
A noise, far too weak to be considered a scream, spilled out from my throat.
—That happened then.
A sudden violet flash blotted out my vision.
It was a radiance I had only seen once before. The bands of light sweeping through the hall were all sets of miniscule letters. This same light had come forth when I used the dagger Cardinal gave me to help Deputy Knight Commander Fanatio.
Eugeo must have reached the elevating disk and stabbed in the dagger he had. I was not sure what result that would lead to, but Eugeo had not wasted the time Charlotte bought with that assault she carried out at the risk of her life.
Bathed in the gradually fading light, the jet-black spider pawed at the floor with her remaining legs, as though she wanted to stand even with her body stabbed all over. However, her gigantic body powerlessly sank in a puddle of white blood after the golem withdrew its arms with a damp noise.
The four individual eyes lined up on her face had lost most of that vivid scarlet that resembled rubies. Having confirmed the state of the elevating disk with those eyes, Charlotte murmured with a weak voice as blood spilled from even the gaps between her fangs.
[Thank goodness... I made it.]
Her right legs shook and altered the direction she faced. Her four eyes stared gently at me.
[I am glad... I could, fight... with you... in the......]
Her words ceased as though they had dissolved in mid-air. The crimson light in her glossy, round eyes flickered and vanished.
As my sight gently blotted out, I realized my tears could still flow now even while I approached death myself. The giant black spider shrank silently. The white puddle, too, swiftly evaporated, leaving behind nothing but a corpse the size of my fingertip, facing upwards with its four legs drew in.
The sword golem turned about as though it had instantly lost all concern for that life it had severed while its two shining eyes caught sight of Eugeo.
The giant form turned by ninety degrees and heavily stabbed the tip of its extended foot onto the floor. The ribbons of violet light continued wavering where it advanced towards.
I strained with all my strength to move my neck by several centimeters and the source of the light came into sight.
A ring of light pulsated on the floor at the southern side of the circular hall, a short distance from the glass window. It was the elevating disk Alice and I had used to get to this hundredth floor.
Something like an extremely small cross was stabbed in the middle of that ring. It was Eugeo’s share of the reddish-copper daggers Cardinal had entrusted us with. Those daggers were created from the resources taken from the pigtails that she grew for two hundred years and could open a channel that transcended space between Cardinal and whatever it was stabbed into.
Eugeo had stabbed the final resort against Administrator into the elevating disk in the floor as instructed by Charlotte, the black spider.
The elevating disk was already completely shining with violet light. High frequency waves like many tuning forks resonating with each other swelled out as the dagger itself came apart at last, connecting the elevating disk and the canopy with a narrow beam of light.
Eugeo who stood still beside it covered his face with his left arm, unable to bear its radiance. The sword golem advancing towards him, too, had its joints creak to a stop as though hesitating over the unexplainable phenomenon.
The beam of light gradually grew in width. A glossy, dark brown surface—a board—appeared from within it. No, that was no normal board. Rimmed by a rectangular frame, it had a silver knob protruding from one side; it was a door.
Just as I realized that, the radiance gave an intense flash, then vanished. The high frequency waves receded as well and silence returned to the hall.
Both Eugeo and I looked towards the thick door with a familiar design and color in silence.
Perhaps its program resumed after the abnormality had settled down, but the sword golem took a step forward with its right leg.
In that moment—
A small, stiff noise shook the air gently, but surely.
The silver knob slowly rotated. The stiff sound soon echoed out once more, followed by the door opening quietly.
The door stood upon the floor by itself, so there should be no more than the same hall beyond it. But on the contrary, no moonlight filtered through the gap between the wooden frame and door. Its depths were submerged in absolute darkness.
The door continuing swinging open and stopped upon opening a gap of around fifty centimeters. Its contents remained hidden from view. The sword golem continued its advance, ignoring the door. Its huge swords would be within range to cut Eugeo within three steps… two—
Without warning, an astounding intensity of light flooded out from the darkness beyond the door.
A pure white flash of lightning horizontally surged forth.
Gagaan!! Its impact made a noise that assailed my ears beyond any other sacred arts I had ever witnessed. The lightning that landed directly on the sword golem squirmed like a living being and turned its giant form into a black silhouette.
The lightning attack raged for several seconds before finally receding and the golem, which seemed to boast of a durability close to invulnerability, came to a stop as its upper body swayed. Faint white smoke rose from the tens of swords and its two eyes flickered haphazardly.
The monster that tenaciously tried to continue moving was struck hard once again by another lightning bolt emitted from the door. It was an unbelievable rate of fire for a sacred art of such power which should require an incantation consisting of tens of lines. With various parts charred black, the golem let out a shrill groan as it took a step back, but was chased down a mere half-second later.
A peal of thunder more intense than before roared out and a third bolt of lightning dashed forth. Struck by the white light, thicker than the two before, the five meters tall military weaponry was easily blown away like a paper model. Whirling about in mid-air, it passed through the immediate right of the hovering Administrator and crashed down onto the floor at the far end of the hall. I felt the Central Cathedral itself quivering from the impact of its fall.
The upturned golem finally ceased movement, but the tips of its sword limbs still trembled in small motions showing that its Life had yet to be depleted. But still, it seemed unlikely for it to get to its feet any time soon.
I shifted my sight back and watched the darkness beyond the door once more.
I already knew for sure who would be appearing from there. No one in this world was capable of rapid-firing such immense sacred arts aside from the highest minister, Administrator, and one other.
What first appeared from beyond the darkness were a narrow staff and the petite hand that held it. Following those was a loose sleeve upon a slender wrist. Several layers draped onto a black velvet robe. An angular hat decorated with a tuft. The flat shoes peeking out from the cuff of her robes took a step forward and stepped noiselessly onto the carpet.
The moonlight illuminated that soft-looking chestnut curly hair and those small silver-rimmed glasses. Her large eyes where youth and boundless wisdom coexisted sparkled beyond those lenses.
The sage, Cardinal, who possessed a level of authority equivalent to the highest minister, Administrator, as her other self and lived in the Great Library Room that was isolated for what was practically an eternality, calmly walked out into the bluish-white moonlight, and then stilled her feet. The door behind her closed on its own immediately after.
How could Cardinal reach this hall from that isolated library room?
The key was, of course, the reddish-copper dagger Eugeo held. The dagger stabbed into the elevating disk by Charlotte’s instructions had connected that to Cardinal. In that case, using an art to change the destination linked to the elevating disk to the library room should be an easy task for the girl.
The petite sage scanned through the top floor of the cathedral that she was likely seeing for the first time with a stern expression like that of a teacher.
Next, she turned her eyes to Eugeo who stood at the side and gave a curt nod. She also stared hard at Knight Alice who laid prostrate a distance away. Shifting those eyes to me who was in a similar posture, she showed a slight smile as though to reassure me and nodded once again.
And finally—
Cardinal resolutely straightened up her small body and gazed at Administrator who continued hovering further in the hall in silence. The sage’s side profile gave no hints of any intense emotions she might be holding in this confrontation against her ultimate enemy after two hundred years.
Having confirmed the situation, Cardinal softly raised the staff in her right hand. Her small frame instantly floated up and she glided through the air to where Alice and I had fallen.
Descending onto the floor, she first gave Alice’s back a soft touch with the head of the staff. Gleaming particles of light fluttered and whirled about when she did, sinking into the knight’s body.
Next, she knocked the slender staff against my shoulder. That warm light came forth once more and enveloped my body that had lost all sensation.
The cold sense of emptiness I felt, like I had ceased to exist, first vanished before a searing pain returned to my abdomen that had received a direct hit from the golem. I forced down the urge to scream and the pain was soon thawed by a wave of warmth. My bodily sensations returned just as the pain settled down and I tried flexing my stiff right hand countless times before feeling for the injury on my stomach with apprehension.
My touch revealed that though a stinging scar remained, the deep wound that nearly severed my body had been completely sealed up; I couldn’t help but to be surprised. If I wanted to accomplish the same effect with healing arts, I would have to chant continuously for hours in a forest filled with sunlight.
I’m saved—such simpleminded happiness seemed even inappropriate for an art so miraculous, but naturally, compensation of equal value must have been needed. Not to mention the one to pay the price would not be me, but the sage, Cardinal. After all, the highest minister, Administrator, would never let—
As though utterly unconcerned over my spine-chilling imagination, Cardinal gently floated up once again.
The place she landed after a short while was before a small black corpse lying on the carpet.
The staff thrust onto the floor with a soft thud. Even as its owner’s hand separated, the staff stayed upright without a smidgen of movement.
Cardinal quietly stooped over and gently scooped up the meager remains from the floor with both hands. Pressing the hands enveloping the black spider, Charlotte, to her breast, the girl hung her head deep down, then whispered in a voice so soft I couldn’t catch it.
“You… stubborn thing. Have I not relived you of your duty, thanked you for your efforts, and asked you to live on as you wished in the nook of any bookshelf of your liking?”
Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, thrice, beyond her round glasses.
I gripped my black sword that had tumbled to my side with my right hand that could finally move properly, and then used that as a prop to stand. After wobbling closer to Cardinal, I shelved away those words I should be saying and instead, first asked.
“Cardinal… was that Charlotte’s… true form…?”
The sage whose curly hair swayed as she lifted her face looked at me with moist eyes and replied with a tone that seemed even nostalgic.
“…Many magical beasts and oddities dwelled in the forest and wildlands even in this Human World in times of old. You should already be familiar with such beings.”
“…Named monsters… But… Charlotte was capable of human speech and she even had emotions… Did she possess a fluct light…?
“Nay… In the words of your world, she would be equivalent to an NPC. Granted a modest pseudo-intelligence engine in a nook of the Main Visualizer, rather than a light cube, she was a part of the system, so to speak. Numerous large beasts, ancient trees, giant rocks, and such able to respond in the Common Tongue were positioned in the Human World too. However… they are all gone now. Half were exterminated by the integrity knights while the other half were used as object resources by that Administrator.”
“I see… So like the guardian dragon that had turned to bones in the cave at the northern mountain edge…”
“Aye. I had thought that a pity and took in as many of those newly created AIs as I could. Though many of those familiars I employ are small units without intelligence engines, there are some AIs in my care that I put to work like Charlotte. After all, they would not suffer much damage even after shrinking their outward appearance thanks to their high stats. She had stayed unharmed despite how much of a racket you caused while hidden in your clothes due to that.”
“B-But… but still…”
I stared hard on Charlotte’s corpse lying atop Cardinal’s palm and continued my questions while holding back the tears that threaten to spill yet again.
“Charlotte’s words and actions were in no way that of some false AI. She saved me. She sacrificed herself for me… Why… how could…”
“I believe I said this before, but this child had already lived for fifty years. She had continuously conversed with myself and watched over many humans in that time. Brief as it was, two years has already passed since she had clung to you… With that much time spent together, even without a fluct light, she—
Cardinal’s tone suddenly increased in vigor and she finished her remaining words, decisively.
“Even if the true nature of that intelligence is naught more than input and output data, a true heart could still reside there. Aye, at times, even love. —Even an eternity would not suffice for you to understand that, however… Administrator, you empty vessel!!”
Calling out with an austere voice, the childlike sage finally turned her two eyes straight towards her bitter enemy of two hundred years.
Floating a distance away and watching over the situation in silence, the highest minister gave no immediate reply.
Her clasped hands covered her mouth, showing no more than a mysterious light in her specular eyes.
According to the story Cardinal told me in the library room, when Administrator merged with the former Cardinal System, she manipulated her fluct light and eliminated most of her emotions in order to prevent any revolt from the self-repair sub-process—the second personality that made up the base of the current Cardinal.
The danger of the sub-process possessing her body had passed after they separated into two unique humans, but still, she should have found emotions useless and have no need to revive them.
Hence, the image I had of the existence known as Administrator was a human being that processed tasks like a machine, one exactly like a computer program. But the highest minister I encountered on the top floor of this cathedral differed greatly from my imagination. I could sense nothing false about the smile she had as she held Chudelkin in contempt and toyed around with us.
And even now—
Silvery laughter burst out from the mouth the silver-haired, silver-eyed girl hid with both hands as her two eyes narrowed to slits.
Hehe. Hehe, hehe.
Treating Cardinal’s words, said with utmost severity, as though they were less significant than even a breeze, her slender shoulders shook as she continued laughing.
Before long, she added a short line between her laughter—one that brought to life my earlier dread.
“I thought you would come.”
Hehe, hehehehehehe.
“I thought you would come out from that moldy cellar if I teased these boys enough. That’s your limit, shorty. Sending your pieces to deal with me, yet not abandoning them like pawns should be. Humans certainly are beyond all help.”
As I had—
As I had feared, Administrator’s real aim was to lure Cardinal out from the isolated Great Library Room by pushing us to our limits. In other words, the highest minister still had some trump card capable of securing her victory in this situation.
But the sword golem, what should have been her ultimate weapon, was nearly destroyed by Cardinal and both Eugeo and I were capable of fighting somehow. A glance confirmed Alice should have regained her consciousness as well as she was trying to get up with her hand pressed against the floor.
Like the two sides of the same coin, Cardinal and Administrator would definitely end up in a draw if they fought each other one-on-one, so we should hold an overwhelming advantage with the situation as it was.
In other words, Administrator should have stopped spectating and begun an attack with all her might the moment the door connecting to the library room had opened. But why had she not opposed the destruction of the sword golem, Alice’s and my recovery, and not to mention that conversation between Cardinal and I that was in no way short?
Naturally, Cardinal should have the same misgivings as me. However, her side profile revealed only an adamant grimness.
“Hmm. It appears you, too, have gotten rather competent with that human mimicry of yours. Have you spent the whole of the last two hundred years honing that laughter before a mirror?”
Administrator sidestepped the harsh words once again with her laughter.
“My, the same goes to you, shorty, what were you thinking with that style of speech? You were shaking ever so miserably when you were brought before me two hundred years ago. Weren’t you, Lyceris-chan?”
“Do not call me by that name, Quinella! My name is Cardinal, a program that exists solely to delete you!”
“Ufufu, so you were. And I am Administrator, the one who manages all programs. I apologize for the late greeting, shorty. It took a little time to prepare the art for welcoming you.”
Finishing off with a smile, Administrator gently raised her right hand.
The outspread fingers bent as though they were crushing something invisible. Her cheeks that had remained pure white until now became faintly flushed and a fierce light entered her silver eyes. Cold shudders ran down my back upon realizing the highest minister was seriously focusing for the first time.
But there was no time to do anything. An instant was all it took for Administrator to grip her right hand tight.
With that—
Gasshaaan!! A multitude of shattering noises clamored out from all about the hall. I thought the gigantic glass walls encircling it had all shattered.
However, that was wrong.
What broke was beyond the windows—the murky, snaking sea of clouds, the star-filled skies, the full moon shining clearly with bluish-white light: the whole of the night skies.
I looked on, dumbfounded, as the skies became countless thin fragments, whirled about, and dispersed, falling and breaking into ever small pieces as they crashed into other another. What appeared after the fragments that displayed the starry skies crumbled was a scene that could only be expressed as «nothingness».
The black and violet space that conveyed no depth made up a marbling pattern that wriggled viscously. An utterly blank world that would suck in anyone’s mind if stared upon for too long.
It differed entirely in hue and beauty, but still, I felt it resembled the scene from then. The veil of white light I had once seen engulfing the sunset skies as the floating castle, Aincrad, crumbled.
The Underworld couldn’t possibly be crumbling away and vanishing, could it? The Human World, the Dark Territory, the villages and cities… along with everyone living within them; everything?
What drew me back from my descent into panic was Cardinal’s voice, firm and steadfast, though not entirely immune from shock.
“You… disconnected the address, haven’t you?”
—What did she mean…?
I looked on, unable to tear my sight away from Administrator even in my confusion, and the silver-haired girl gently lowered her right hand as she replied in a whisper.
“….I certainly was the one at blame two hundred years ago when you escaped on the brink of death, shorty. That moldy cellar was personally set as a disconnected address by myself, wasn’t it? Hence, I decided to learn from that mistake. To lock you in on this side the next time I lured you out. A cage for a rat to be hunted down by a cat.”
Closing her mouth, the highest minister snapped her fingers with her left hand this time, as though to put on the finishing touches.
A breaking noise, rather modest when compared to earlier, immediately sounded out as the brown door towering behind shattered. Its fragments broke off into even smaller fragments while in mid-air, eventually disappearing. In addition, the circular pattern marking the elevating disk’s position vanished from the floor as well.
Eugeo who stood beside it extended his right foot in shock and stomped on the carpet numerous times. Before lifting his face and giving a small shake of his head as he looked at me.
In other words, this was how it went.
What Administrator broke was not the world beyond the windows, but the actual connections between the world and the highest floor of the cathedral here.
Even if we somehow broke the surrounding glass windows, we couldn’t go beyond it. Because there was nowhere to go to. As a method to shut away someone in a virtual space, it was far too perfect, truly one only permitted to those who held the authority of a supervisor. Compared to this, the jail area located in the Black Iron Castle on the first floor of the old Aincrad could be even considered naive.
Administrator didn’t waste the few minutes since Cardinal’s appearance, but used them to prepare for this grand art—that was it.
But.
If the connections between the spaces were completely severed.
“I believe that metaphor is lacking, however.”
Apparently having easily reached the same conclusion as me, Cardinal rebutted in a low voice.
“Even if it takes only few minutes to disconnect them, re-connecting them is no easy task. Thus, you, too, are completely trapped in this place. And I believe it is hardly clear which faction would be the cat or rat in this situation. After all, we are four and you are one. You would be making a heavy mistake if you underestimate these younglings, Quinella.”
Yes, that’s right.
With things as they were, Administrator shouldn’t be able to escape from this space easily herself. And both Cardinal and she were spell-users possessing the exact same capabilities. We could end the fight by slashing at her while Cardinal canceled out the sacred arts directed at us—that was what it summed up to.
But even after Cardinal explicitly pointed it out, the highest minister retained her faint smile.
“Four to one? …No, your calculations are just a little off. To be accurate… it would be four to three hundred. Even without including me, that is.”
The honeyed voice cut off just as the overturned clump of metal—the sword golem that should have been nearly destroyed—behind the highest minister resounded with ear-piercing dissonance.
“What…”
Cardinal shouted in a deep tone. She must have judged it completely nullified after being struck by the three consecutive bolts of lightning she shot with all her might. I had no problem believing in that either.
But the light in the golem’s two eyes that had definitely vanished just seconds ago now gleamed brilliantly like two stars. Directing that murderous light at us, the giant lifted itself up with its two arms as though it had recovered from its damage in an instant before thrusting its four legs onto the floor and standing straight with a thunderous roar from its abdomen.
A closer look showed that the set of swords that should have been charred at various spots from Cardinal’s lightning attacks had regained a fresh sheen without my notice.
It was true that weapons of high priority were furnished with the ability to regenerate their Life in this world, but that was only when they were properly maintained and sheathed. Still, recovering half of its health would take a whole day and in the first place, the swords forming the golem’s body were ornamental pieces attached to the pillars.
Even if all of its parts possessed priority levels equivalent to those of sacred tools like Administrator mentioned, that was no reason for them to recover from damage this quick.
But the sword giant towering behind the highest minister was enveloped in an aura exactly the same as—no, more overwhelming than what I had felt before it took on those lightning attacks. If this golem could be mass-produced, that might really be sufficient to fight back the combined invasion from the Dark Territory; its strength made even that seem plausible.
The young sage’s sonorous voice reached my ears as I stood still at a loss for words.
“Kirito, Alice, Eugeo, behind me! You must not move from behind me!”
Upon listening her instructions, the other two who weren’t already behind Cardinal from the start dashed over. It appeared the damage Alice suffered from getting the right of her chest pierced had almost fully recovered as well. She had lost her golden breastplate and a blue bodice, her clothes as a knight, underneath was badly torn, but her movements showed no traces of any wound.
Standing stoutly with her Fragrant Olive Sword, Alice softly whispered to me.
“Kirito… exactly who is this…?”
“Her name’s Cardinal. Another highest minister who fought with Administrator and got exiled two hundred years ago.”
And—in contrast to the one who manages ( administrator ) , she was the one who resets ( formatter ) . The one who shall return the world to a merciful null.
But naturally, I kept that to myself for now. I continued my explanation to Alice who had a doubtful expression on.
“It’s fine, she’s on our side. She’s the one who helped out Eugeo and me and guided us here. She loves and grieves for this world from the bottom of her heart.”
At the very least, that was a definite truth. Alice seemed to be unable to cast aside all doubt and hesitation, but she still gently pushed her left hand against the right of her chest—the place healed by Cardinal’s miraculous power—and nodded deeply.
“…Understood. High ranking sacred arts reflect the heart of its user… I shall believe in the warmth of this person’s power that had healed my wound.”
That’s totally it; I nodded in return, deeply moved.
Even if it was the weakest healing art consisting of only one line, its effect would vary greatly depending on whether it was performed on someone carelessly or with sincere prayers.
Cardinal’s healing art was filled with a true tenderness that melted away all suffering with its warmth. That was exactly why I still clung to hope and believed that her determination to return the entire Underworld to null was up to discussion—but that, too, could only happen if we won this fight.
What contrivances did the sword golem possess to instantly recover completely after losing all of its power and how should that be dealt with; we had to find the answers to those mysteries first.
With its entire body glinting with a gold tinged with black, the golem nonchalantly began its advance.
Cardinal braced her staff, prepared to confront it, but she couldn’t quite use powerful sacred arts for a preemptive strike like several minutes ago. Administrator must be aiming for an opportunity to attack: the moment Cardinal uses any art.
—Think. That was all I could do now.
The sword golem’s auto-healing ability was probably granted by the recollection release art. In that case, the «something» that the thirty swords forming the golem’s huge body originated from should possess some property that allowed that.
What first came to mind upon hearing about the automatic regeneration of Life was the giant tree that was the source of the black sword held in my right hand, the Gigas Cedar, but that amazing recovery ability was only due to the abundant space resources supplied by the sunlight and the earth.
But the only source of resources in this hall was the moonlight pouring in from the southern windows. I highly doubted there was enough accumulated for that giant frame to instantly recover. In other words, the sword golem did not originate from an object of nature like the Gigas Cedar.
Thus, the remaining possibility was a living creature type of object that possessed a recovery ability unreliant on space resources? But Cardinal had definitely said that the enormous named monsters that once inhabited this world were extinct. Meanwhile, normal animal units like bears and cows did not have a priority level capable of that absurd offensive potential. Even if ten thousands of them were concurrently transmuted into a sword, the result would probably be far from reaching the sacred tools of the integrity knights. That was just how low a beast’s Life was. Priority and durability were proportional, so creating thirty of those incredible weapons would need thousands or tens of thousands of those large animal units—
Wait.
Didn’t Administrator say something strange earlier?
Four to three hundred.
The units used to create that sword golem were not moving objects like animals. They were human units, the human beings living in this world. Not to mention—it took three hundred of them. A number that would require an entire small village to be wiped out to fulfill.
I was convinced I reached the correct conclusion after a moment of thought so fast that it felt as though my mind was on fire. But that granted no reprieve. Instead, what assailed me was an overwhelming terror. Goose bumps rapidly rose all over my skin, from head to toe.
The people of the Underworld were not simply objects capable of movement. They possessed fluct lights, souls, like us, people from the real world. And even when transmuted into swords, their fluct light would not cease activity as they still existed in a corporeal form.
In other words, those turned into parts for that golem might still retain their consciousness within that metal, even if they had no eyes, ears, or mouths.
Apparently having arrived at the same conclusion before myself, Cardinal’s petite frame faintly trembled. Her small hand turned pure white with how tightly it gripped the staff it held up.
“……You abomination.”
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