Chapter 20.1
Each of their Battles
7 July 2026 / Eighth Day 1 of the Eleventh Month of the Human Empire Calendar, 380
5:00 a.m.
More than 3,000 players gathered in a great dome in the World Tree that stood in the heart of Alne City, at the center of the world of ALfheim Online.
The winged knight monsters defending the dome’s roof gate had been removed. 2 Instead, the nine fairy races now used this space to meet and negotiate, or as a venue for events.
Only four players were facing the roughly 3,000 other players who had been gathered to this large, inconvenient meeting.
The hulking Gnome Agil, Salamander samurai Klein, Cait Sith beast tamer Silica, and Leprechaun blacksmith Lisbeth — partners of the «Black Swordsman» Kirito, who was still diving in «Underworld», yet to awaken.
At 4:20 a.m., when Klein and Lisbeth had been sending out in-game messages to every single friend on their lists, there were only three Lord-class players online. But, while pleading with them and their subordinate officers, they resorted to the taboo method of begging them to contact other players in real life. As a result, all of the players currently in the square had managed to assemble in just 40 minutes.
In this sizable, hemispherical space, nearly 30% of the floating or standing players were using newly created accounts.
They were certainly not new to VRMMOs, however. They were veterans of other The Seed games, diving here by request of friends who had ALO accounts.
In other words, the 3,000 people gathered in this World Tree dome were the elites of the elites among Japanese VRMMO players. They were the final hope of Yui, the top-down AI: they were the only force that could save the Human Empire Defense Army in Underworld.
In the hushed dome, the Leprechaun blacksmith Lisbeth’s magically amplified voice continued to broadcast emotionally.
“… What I’m telling you guys is not a lie, nor a joke! A Japanese research organization has used our national budget and The Seed to build a virtual world called «Underworld», and thousands of American players who know nothing about it are about to dive in and massacre the residents inside!”
Lisbeth felt embarrassed at her own nationalistic tone, but remained encouraged by reassuring herself that was only to her advantage; she continued shouting:
“The residents of Underworld aren’t just NPCs! They are true artificial intelligence, born from the data of the countless VRMMO worlds that you’ve all been playing in! They have emotions like we do, they have souls like we do! Please, to protect them, please lend us your strength! Please convert the character data that you all are currently using into Underworld!”
Ending her five minute speech, Lisbeth surveyed the players, and hoped.
The crowd of fairy faces only looked confused. Of course, there was no way they could immediately understand just by suddenly hearing all of this. Even Lisbeth herself still found it hazy after listening to Yui’s explanation of Underworld’s structure, and the «Artificial Fluctlights» living within.
An elegant hand rose out of the shocked, clamoring players.
Sylph Lord Sakuya came walking out, her slender body wrapped in green robes.
“Lisbeth. I don’t think that you and your friends would do all of this just as a prank, and what’s more, there must be something big if even that Kirito boy hasn’t logged in for ten days. But…”
Sakuya’s fluent and calm voice wavered in perplexity.
“… To be honest, it’s difficult to believe this all of a sudden. There exists AI with human souls, and the American military is trying to seize them…? It’s all terribly far-fetched… Of course, to prove your words, we’d only have to log in and see for ourselves… But you just mentioned that diving into «Underworld» involves a few problems, right? Could you explain them first?”
— This moment has finally come.
Lisbeth took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment.
This is the moment of truth. If I fail here, no one will come help us at all.
Snapping her eyes open and giving a sweeping look to Sakuya, the other Lords in front of her, and the countless players, Lisbeth replied adamantly:
“Okay. — Underworld doesn’t operate like a normal VRMMO game at all, so there’ll be a few problems when you dive into it. First of all, there’s no controllable UI in Underworld. In other words, you can’t log out on your own.”
The hubbub suddenly became louder.
Can’t log out on your own ; was this not a phrase that conjured images of that death game from the past, «Sword Art Online»? These days, all games built off The Seed, including ALO, provided two ways of logging out: either by controlling the UI or through a voice command.
“The only way to log out is to ‘die’ inside. But that brings me to the second problem. In Underworld… there’s no Pain Absorber. If you take heavy damage that reduces your HP to zero, you should feel rather severe pain.”
The uproar grew even louder.
Pain isolation was a compulsory feature of any modern VR server. In virtual worlds without this function, getting slashed by a sword or burnt with fire would hurt as intensely as it would in the real world. Depending on the circumstances, bruises might even appear on one’s physical skin.
Yet there was a far more severe problem that came with this dive.
Waiting until the disturbance subsided slightly, Lisbeth then informed the players of the third and greatest sacrifice.
“— One more. Underworld servers are currently in a state where even the developers can’t operate them. Which means… we can’t guarantee that everyone’s character data can be converted back to their original games… In some situations, the characters themselves might even be lost.”
After a short pause —
Terrifyingly loud roars of fury flooded the vast dome.
Lisbeth, Klein, Silica and Agil lined up in the middle of the floor, with Yui standing on Klein’s shoulder in her tiny pixie form; standing silently, their bodies endured the wave of voices that lashed at them from all directions.
This reaction was exactly what they had expected.
The 3,000 top players had spent inordinate amounts of time and effort raising their characters. For ALO, they had spent hours furiously slaying monsters that yielded only one experience point; it was repeating the mundane task of emptying a lake with a bucket, day after day.
How could they remain silent upon being told that there was a chance of losing the characters they had built by infusing their entire spirit into them?
“Y… You’re fuckin’ kidding me!!” A player who ran out of the crowd shouted, jabbing his index finger at Lisbeth.
He was a Salamander dressed in crimson full-body armor, carrying a battleaxe on his back. He appeared to be a Commander-level player just below Lord Mortimer and General Eugene.
Pushing up his helmet visor and exposing his eyes that scorched with rage, the Salamander bellowed in a voice loud enough to shut up the entire group behind him:
“You gather everyone here and tell us to dive into some fishy server; that’s already pretty ridiculous. Now you’re telling me about character loss?! How the fuck are you gonna pay us back if they’re gone forever?! Or is this just a trap to weaken our entire race?!”
“……… Gurgh!”
Lisbeth stuck out an arm to stop a red-faced Klein from jumping forward, and tried her best to reply calmly:
“I’m sorry, we can’t. I know very well that the characters you’ve trained are priceless. That’s why we’re pleading you to help us… All I’m saying is, please help our friends in Underworld, they’re putting their lives on the line to defend against the Americans’ attack.”
Even though she was not shouting anymore, Lisbeth’s voice still carried across the entire dome. The Salamander seemed to hold in his anger for a moment, but suddenly it came sputtering out furiously again.
“The ‘friends’ you talk about are just the SAO survivors, aren’t they?! Those guys who make that face that screams ‘I’m super special’! I know all of it, you original SAO lot have always looked down on us!!”
Now it was Lisbeth’s turn to be speechless.
Lisbeth had never once had thoughts like those the Salamander was accusing her of. But come to think of it, she could not be entirely sure that such a mentality had never come to her. Having situated her player home within floating New Aincrad instead of a town on the ground, she almost never went below and talked only to her old friends; that much was true.
The Salamander continued relentlessly, as though seeing through Lisbeth’s hesitation:
“Who cares about artificial intelligence, or national secrets?! Don’t get too cocky and bring real world shit into a VRMMO! You can go by yourself for that kind of stuff! Isn’t that better, you splendid, noble Great Survivor?!!”
Yeah, get lost ; curses like those began to rouse the crowd.
— I can’t do it.
My words can’t get through to them at all.
Lisbeth couldn’t help but feel tears welling up as she looked imploringly towards the strong, native ALO players whom she knew well — Sylph Lord Sakuya, Salamander General Eugene, and Cait Sith Lord Alicia Rue.
Even though their eyes met hers, they remained silent.
Their blazing gazes merely stared at Lisbeth unswervingly. As though they were saying, show us your determination .
Lisbeth took a deep breath, and shut her eyes tightly. She thought of Asuna, who would be desperately fighting at this very moment; Kirito, who was injured; Leafa and Sinon, who had rushed ahead into Underworld.
— At my level, even if I convert over, I won’t be able to fight like Asuna and everyone else. But there must be something I can do. Right now, this place is my battlefield.
Forcing her eyes open and wiping away her tears, Lisbeth began her speech:
“… Yes, I brought some real world stuff here. And, as you said, those who emerge from SAO may find it very easy to mix up reality and virtual reality. However, I’m very certain that we’ve never thought of ourselves as heroes.”
Gripping Silica’s hand, who stood teary-eyed to her right, she continued:
“She and I currently attend a special school for the survivors you mentioned. We have no choice, since our previous schools had already dismissed us in the middle of the year. — All of the students in the survivors’ school have to attend counseling sessions every month. They monitor our brain waves with AmuSpheres, and we’re asked lots of uncomfortable questions like, ‘Have you lost your sense of reality’, or, ‘Do you want to harm other people’. There are children who have been forced to drink medicines they hate. To the government, we’re a reserve army of criminals that needs constant supervision.”
Sometime during her speech, the waves of fury had calmed, and a tense silence took over the dome. Even the Salamander had widened his eyes in surprise.
Lisbeth had no idea where the flow of her speech should terminate. She was only desperately converting her unstoppable emotions and thoughts into words:
“But… to be honest, the old SAO players aren’t the only ones who are treated like this. All VRMMO players are viewed this way, more or less. Some say we’re just a heavy load on society who contribute nothing, some say we’re escapists who don’t pay taxes and pensions… There have even been calls for a return to conscription, just to force us to serve society!”
Lisbeth could feel the surging anxiety of the thousands of players. If only she poked it with a needle, rage twice as intense than before would erupt.
But Lisbeth placed her left hand on her chest, and continued to shout:
“But I know! And I believe! This is reality!!”
Her arms motioned towards her surroundings — towards the whole of Alfheim.
“This world, and the many other virtual worlds connected to it, are obviously not imaginary places that we escape to! To me, there are real lives here, real friends, real laughter, tears, encounters, and farewells… This is ‘reality’!! I’m not alone, am I?! It’s because we believe this world is another reality that we try as hard as we do, right?! Yet, if we see this as only a game, as only a virtual world, and abandon it, then where is our ‘reality’…?!!”
Unable to hold them back any longer, Lisbeth felt tears rolling down her face. But she did not wipe them away, and squeezed out her last words:
“… The numerous worlds that everyone raised; they came together like this World Tree, and the tree has grown. Now that the blossom called Underworld has finally bloomed, I want to protect it! Please, I beg of you… lend your strength to us…!!”
Lisbeth reached out towards the roof of the dome.
In her vision trembling with tears, phosphorescence sparkled, falling from thousands of fairy wings.
***
A brilliant silver light drew a long, bright arc in the dawn.
A second later, with a dry snap, a thick rope was severed, and danced in the air like a black serpent. The tens of enemy soldiers hanging from the rope were plunged into the bottomless valley, howling. The «Twin Edged Wings», the Divine Instrument that had cut the rope, turned in a sharp curve and returned to the hands of Integrity Knight Renri Synthesis Twenty-Seven.
Although Renri had already quickly cut five of the ten ropes set up by the Dark Territory army to cross the valley, his face showed no sense of accomplishment or pride. Rather, he seemed like he was being tormented by the merciless order to sever the literal lifelines of the enemy soldiers, who were sacrificing themselves to cross the valley.
The same went for Asuna, who was beside Renri and clutched the reins atop a white horse.
When Asuna, Renri, Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty, Integrity Knight Sheyta Synthesis Twelve, and Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli Synthesis One arrived on horseback, hundreds of enemy soldiers had already crossed the valley, and began valiantly attacking them to protect the remaining ropes. A great number of enemies were killed by the three foremost Knights: Bercouli, Sheyta, and Alice. A few tried to flank Renri from the side, forcing Asuna to swing her own sword.
In the virtual world «Underworld», based on the The Seed program, Sword Skills and Horse Riding from the SAO era were still usable.
Not only that, Asuna was using the Super Account «Stacia, Goddess of Creation», whose every parameter was very close to the upper limit; in addition, the specs of her equipped rapier, «Radiant Light», were beyond that of the Integrity Knights’ Divine Instruments. Therefore, even «Linear», a basic Sword Skill, could easily pierce through a Dark Knight’s armor or a Fist Fighter’s hulking frame.
Nevertheless, the blood spraying from enemies’ wounds, their aggrieved screams, and their lost lives, were all real.
The people of Underworld, whether they came from the Human Empire or the Dark Land, all possessed souls of exactly the same nature as Asuna’s — Fluctlights.
Her opponents were unquestionably real people just like her, yet they could be killed in one strike just because of some game-like status values and weapon specifications; this truth gave rise to an unbearable pain and dreadful feeling to Asuna’s heart.
What was more, despite how they charged forward with tragic resolve, it was clear that the Dark Knights and Fist Fighters were not doing so of their own volition.
These Artificial Fluctlights possessed the trait of being utterly unable to resist their superior’s orders. Under the command of «Vector, God of Darkness», a real world human using a Super Account like Asuna, they continued their attack despite everything, even knowing that they were dying in vain. In another sense, they were but victims, dragged into a real world battle over technology.
But Asuna still strove with all her might to dispel this thought from her mind.
Right now, her utmost priority was to protect the «Radiant Medium» Alice, whom Vector was pursuing — and Kirito, who was in the encampment behind them.
She’d heard that the only human resources left in the Dark Territory army were these Fist Fighters and Dark Knights. If they could take advantage of this reckless valley crossing operation and erode their main force, Vector would be left helpless.
“— All right, the sixth one next!!”
Integrity Knight Bercouli’s firm, vigorous voice carried over and disrupted Asuna’s train of thought. Only after Alice, Sheyta, and Renri immediately replied to acknowledge, did Asuna follow suit.
Just as they turned their horses around and prepared to move west, the sharp blast of a horn came from behind.
At a backward glance, they could see the Guardians 3 of the Human Empire decoy squad atop a hill a kilometer away, surging down in orderly formation.
Having completed their preparations just fifteen minutes after the Integrity Knights did, they were coming from the encampment to assist.
“They’re such… a restless bunch.”
Bercouli’s words were bitter, but since nearly 500 Fist Fighters had successfully crossed the valley, it wasn’t a bad time for reinforcements to arrive. As long as the Guardians could hold off the enemy army, cutting the last five ropes would be much simpler.
— Seems like we’ve won this battle, Vector-san.
Asuna said softly in her heart —
Before she could finish, a peculiar phenomenon entered her vision.
Against the blood-red rising sun, mysterious objects began to fall from high in the sky.
Red lines. Not just one. Tens… Hundreds.
No, thousands .
The lines seemed to consist of tiny dots, linked together. Squinting her eyes, she saw that each dot was either a number, or a letter from the English alphabet.
These mysterious bunches of lines poured silently down onto their side of the valley, roughly one or two kilometers east of the battlefield.
Slowly, not just Asuna, but also the Integrity Knights, and even the Dark Knights and Fist Fighters of the Dark Territory, all ceased their actions to watch this bizarre event.
The first red line that jabbed into the cracked earth became a small pile and shook —
It took only a few seconds to turn into a human form.
***
What he saw made Fist Fighter Chief Iskahn forget the rage coursing through his body, even if it was just for a split second.
— What are those?
On the other side of the great valley, the five hundred Dark Land soldiers who had successfully crossed the rope bridge were about to fearlessly engage the five Integrity Knights.
Yet their movements had suddenly stopped, and all had turned their astonished eyes outside of the battlefield.
Iskahn’s face, as though pulled along by this scene, unconsciously swiveled in the same direction. There, he saw a torrential crimson rain, falling two kilol to their east.
With a odd thundering, countless red lines tumbled from the heavens. They swelled up upon touching the ground, and rapidly molded into human shapes.
Warriors appeared before them, their bodies secured completely in crimson armor, equipped with long swords, battleaxes, and spears.
Although its color was different, the shape of their armor was very similar to that of the Dark Knight Order. At a glance, they seemed to be Emperor Vector’s divinely summoned reinforcements.
Then, Iskahn distinctly felt that something was ineffably queer.
These red infantrymen were standing without any sense of discipline or regulation. It was completely unlike the Knights trained under Dark General Shasta, who was now deceased. Some were chatting casually with swagger, some sat on the ground, and some even drew their weapons and waved them around without waiting for orders.
The most striking thing was — their number.
After the peculiar rain stopped, the legion appearing on the ground had swelled to an unbelievable size.
He estimated that they numbered far beyond ten thousand, twenty thousand… It looked like thirty thousand people. If the Dark Knight Order had such a powerful backup team, they would have abandoned the Ten Lords’ combined regime long ago and brought the entire Dark Territory under Shasta’s rule.
What was more, shocked and disturbed murmurs were breaking out even among the Dark Knights in the troops on this side of the valley. Even they are clueless. What the heck is that?
In this case, these red soldiers were the true “Dark Legion”, which their Emperor, Dark God Vector, had summoned with secret arts from the depths below.
As he realized this, Iskahn’s shock changed to fury.
If he could summon an army as large as that —
Why didn’t he do it earlier?! Weren’t the Fist Fighters and Dark Knights who had perished in this pointless valley-crossing operation just lures that served only to attract the enemy now?!
Wait — what if that’s really the case??
Had the Emperor only given the order to forcibly begin that unprecedented, suicidal operation in order to buy time to summon his own subordinates?
…… No.
Not just this operation. During the entire battle at the Great Eastern Gate, the loss of the Dark Land army’s strength was beyond abnormal. Whether it was the Goblins, the Giants, the Ogres, or even the Dark Sorceress’ Guild, they were all annihilated. Yet the Emperor didn’t even bat an eye, let alone mourn their deaths.
In other words, to Emperor Vector, the fifty thousand people of the Dark Land army had been expendable pawns from the very beginning!
Before that moment, Iskahn, the young chief of the Fist Fighters’ Guild, had merely been a young man uninterested in anything other than training his own skills, and the rise of his tribe.
But in this very second, his thought process had, for the first time, risen to a point from which he was able to view the entire Dark Territory, the Human Empire, and the entire Underworld. This perspective created an unsolvable conflict in his mind.
The Emperor was the strongest one. He must obey the strongest one, unquestioningly.
But.
But —
“Gurgh…!”
Excruciating pain, like nothing he had ever felt before, pierced his right eye. Iskahn groaned as he covered the right side of his face. The Fist Fighter Chief stumbled, and dropped to his knees.
With difficulty, he could make out over thirty thousand crimson soldiers beginning to run, speaking an unintelligible language.
At the location they were running to, nearly one thousand Human Empire soldiers quickly combined with the Integrity Knights and arranged themselves into a counterattack formation.
Between the two sides, five hundred Fist Fighters and Dark Knights stood still, utterly lost.
It seemed that, despite the mercilessness of the Emperor’s strategy, he had at least saved the lives of these five hundred warriors.
Iskahn consoled himself as he massaged the intense pain in his right eye.
— Even after all of their suffering, he had still underestimated just how cruel Vector really was.
The instant that the five hundred Dark Territory soldiers, the Human Empire soldiers, and the summoned Dark Legion met —
Countless swords, countless battleaxes, and countless spears reflected the sunlight —
Then, with bloodthirsty howls, they were swung at the Fist Fighters, who were supposed to be their comrades.
***
“Those guys… Why?!”
It was Asuna’s first time hearing such a shocked yell from Knight Commander Bercouli, but words failed her.
The 30,000 soldiers who suddenly descended… no, dived to the east of the battlefield, had undoubtedly been summoned by Emperor Vector.
But where on earth did he get so many people?
Did he directly create system-controlled monster-type characters? But the central console was already locked, and this type of administrator-privileged operation was impossible; the only way to introduce new fighters was to create a character in the real world, then dive in like Asuna had, but the attackers only had two STLs.
Asuna sank into the chaos of the moment —
Her bewilderment was shattered by the roars of the red troops that had already approached within a few hundred meters.
“ Charge ahead!! ”
“ Give ‘em hell!! ”
— English!
Those people are all humans from the real world — judging by their accent, they’re Americans!
But, why would they be here… This is a genuinely different world, completely cut off from the real world…
No.
No —
Maybe, to the people diving in with STLs, Underworld was actually a different world created through the “Mnemonic Visual” with realism rivaling that of the real world. However, the generic VRMMO template «The Seed» had also been used to design this world. In other words, as long as one used an AmuSphere, they could dive into this world using a low-end server based on polygonal construction — furthermore, the Ocean Turtle had a large, military-grade bandwidth satellite connection.
Then, if someone were to write a client program that included Underworld central server address and the accompanying account information, and disseminate it in the real world —
Not just several tens of thousands; summoning an army of hundreds of thousands was certainly not impossible.
But what shocked Asuna the most was how those crimson soldiers acted; they had started to directly attack their supposed allies, the Dark Land Knights and the Fist Fighter army, without any hesitation.
“Wh, what are they…?!”
“Aren’t they supposed to be our allies?!!”
The Knights screamed desperately while trying to defend against the attack, but their numbers were already far too disproportionate, and on top of that, the crimson soldiers’ weapons and armor were of much higher specs than the Dark Land army’s equipment.
One after another the swords and shields started breaking apart, and together with the agonizing screams from the collision of both armies, innumerable spurts of blood began gushing out.
“ Dude that’s awesome!! ”
“ Pretty gore!! ”
These Americans were probably completely unaware of the true nature of this battle. They were probably under the impression that their diving in was merely taking part in an open beta test for some new VRMMO. Therefore, she could not blame them for swinging their swords and killing everyone. After all, to them, these soldiers were not conscious beings equal to humans; they were NPCs, mere trifles. Of course, not everyone was atrociously evil; in the real world, they were still VRMMO players who could be friendly and work together with other players on the same server. If there was time to inform them of the true nature behind Underworld and the Artificial Fluctlights, Asuna believed that most of them would immediately drop their weapons.
But they hadn’t such leisure right now. Even if Asuna tried to step into the battlefield and explain the situation in English, they would just think of her as an NPC speaking preset lines. If they were told “killing enemies right now will earn you points, which you can exchange for rare items after the official release”, even the Japanese players would do the exact same thing.
In short, verbally convincing them was impossible.
The people the Americans were trying to kill were not NPCs, but artificial Fluctlights carrying real souls. After finishing off the soldiers of the Dark Territory, those of the Human World would surely be next. Then, as the only one present inhabiting a transient body, she had to fight.
With that resolve, Asuna raised the rapier in her right hand and began to quickly chant a command.
“ System call! Create field object! ”
A polychromatic spectrum of rays gathered on her sword.
There was currently no way to create a bottomless canyon like she had last night; if she did so, she would also cut off the Human Empire Army’s path of return. Thus Asuna instead imagined a gigantic rock as sharp as a spear, and slashed her sword down.
Laa—. with a solemn sound effect, the spectrum of rays shot from her sword tip directly into the ground, slightly beyond where the American and Dark Territory armies collided.
The ground before her suddenly shook violently and a steep peak surged out of the ground, rising nearly 30 meters high at once. The tens of crimson soldiers standing atop it were all sent flying.
Four more mountains burst from the ground, shooting into the air, and the ground swayed without pause. Shouting earsplitting curses in English, several hundred crimson-armored bodies were thrown high; some were pierced by the rocks, while others landed heavily on the ground in a storm of flesh and blood.
Asuna could not summon the willpower to imagine how those people felt before dying, because a harsh, searing pain suddenly shot through her mind and caused her to collapse on the back of the horse.
Silver sparks scattered in her vision as she struggled to breathe and began to hyperventilate. The pain now was much worse than when she had created the deep canyon last night. Asuna was now personally experiencing the torment of massive amounts of geographical data coursing through her soul… The raw feeling of her Fluctlight being worn away.
— But I must not fall here.
If this was how Kirito was injured, this was how she wanted it to be. Asuna thought this as she clenched her teeth, and pulled herself up onto the saddle.
The zeal with which the American players came from the east side of the battlefield seemed less ardent than before.
But since the five rocky hills were only around 500 meters wide, the players would soon pass around them.
I must create a rock wall in the south, so that the Human Empire Army can retreat.
Asuna raised her trembling right hand, panting —
But it was seized tightly by another armored hand, which reflected the shining gleam of dawn.
“… Alice?!…” She called the golden knight’s name in a hoarse voice.
The golden knight’s beautiful white face showed steely resolve as she shook her head.
“Don’t push yourself anymore, Asuna. Leave it to us Integrity Knights now.”
“B… But, those people are enemies from the Real World… from my world…!”
“… Even so, if it’s just some tens of thousands of bloodthirsty guys waving their weapons around, it won’t be enough to scare us.”
“Yep, and that’s why it’s our time to shine.”
Bercouli added with an untroubled grin.
Although the Knights’ tones of voice eased the current situation, Asuna still detected tragic understanding in their faces, worse than before.
The crimson tsunami of enemies numbered more than 30 times that of the Human Empire Army.
This was no longer something they could face merely with courage. But the Knight Commander raised his longsword high, high in the air, and shouted an order in an extraordinarily irrepressible voice.
“Listen up! All units, assume a dense formation! Do not let the enemy breakthrough anywhere!”
***
“Oh… Ohh…”
What came from Iskahn’s mouth was no longer human language.
“Oh… OHHHHHHHHHH — !”
Blood dribbled from the fists clenched at his sides. But the young Fist Fighter roared like a wild beast, seeming not to feel pain.
Iskahn’s aide Dampe standing still by his side seemed to share Iskahn’s feelings, and was looking down, deeply… deeply.
All dead. All consumed.
His tribal warriors, in a storm of chaos, had perished, defenseless against the approaching dark cloud of swords, their souls lost in a mist of blood.
Moreover, the soldiers still crossing the valley on the five ropes were unable to stop, because the Emperor’s order of “reach the other side” still affected them. They could only obey their absolute master, precariously cross the rope bridge, then be surrounded by the crimson army and torn apart indiscriminately.
Why — Why hadn’t the Emperor given an order to stop crossing the valley, or for that army to stop attacking the friendly Dark Territory army?
Were his tribal warriors not even lures, but mere sacrifices offered to that summoned crimson legion now?
“Must… To the Emperor…”
He must report to the Emperor. He must request that he stop this operation.
Furious and desperate, Iskahn took a slow step towards the imperial throne carriage behind him. The entire right half of his vision turned deep red, and spates of excruciating pain assaulted his right eye.
Then, his aide Dampe looked at him, his now contorted face seemingly trying to say something.
Just then, a gargantuan black silhouette flew overhead.
Iskahn and Dampe instinctively looked up towards the shadow in the sky; it was a dragon.
Riding on top of the jet black armor was a figure with long, flowing golden hair dressed in a lustrous fur mantle — Emperor Vector himself.
“Ah… AH…!!”
As though he had heard Iskahn’s involuntary shout, the seated Emperor glanced quickly at the ground. No emotions could be read from his dark pupils. It was an icy glance that contained not a sliver of compassion— not even a speck of interest for his soldiers, who were dying in vain.
Then, Emperor Vector turned away from Iskahn, and directed his dragon south of the valley.
This is— the god. This is the ruler.
But, if this is the ruler, if this is the strongest being with unrivalled power—
He must take the according responsibility!!
Leading his subordinate army, ruling over his subjects, bringing the nation to prosperity; those are the duties of a ruler. Therefore, someone who sends several tens of thousands of lives to their end without even using them, without feeling anything at all — the Emperor — right eye — isn’t qualified — right eye hurts — to be a ruler…!!
“Uwo…. OH… OHHHHHHH!!”
Iskahn thrust his right fist high, and curled his finger into a hook.
Without hesitation, he stabbed it into the source of blazing heat blocking his thoughts — his own right eye.
“Ch… Chief!! What are you doing?!”
The young Fist Fighter stuck out his left hand to block Dampe from approaching him, and with a bellow, ripped his right eyeball from its socket. The white sphere gave off a strange gleam from within his fist, but as it shattered, that light disappeared as well.
As of now, Iskahn had not reached the point of completing removing «Code 871» through his own willpower, like Alice and Eugeo. Therefore, he was still unable to initiate any sort of traitorous intent directly towards the Emperor, or refuse the Emperor’s two orders: “continue the valley crossing operation” and “You yourself may not cross the rope bridge”.
However, he had discovered a rather barbaric method to evade the Emperor’s orders — and this method itself was asymptotically close to betrayal.
Iskahn spun around and spoke to Dampe staring at him speechlessly.
“The Emperor hasn’t told us anything regarding those crimson soldiers, has he?”
“Ah… No, he hasn’t. But…”
“Then, if we were to kill all of them, it would have nothing to do with the Emperor.”
“… Champion …”
Iskahn gazed at the dumbstruck Dampe with his remaining eye, and ordered.
“Listen up… After crossing the bridge, all tribe members will attack that crimson army. No matter what, we must save our partners.”
“Hah…?! The ‘bridge’ you refer to, how… would…”
“You know what I’m going to do. I leave it to you, then.”
With those calm words, Iskahn turned towards the valley.
Suddenly, roaring flames enfolded his feet.
Then the king of the Fist Fighters slowly began to run towards the valley, leaving a trail of blazing footprints behind him. He ran faster and faster, finally transforming into a flash of fire.
If I can’t cross the rope bridge… then all I gotta do is fly over!
Screaming that in his chest, he flung his left foot over the roughly hundred-mel-wide gorge.
“Jumping” was a very important skill in a Fist Fighter’s training.
This training slowly progressed from being able to jump over a safe sand pit, to sharpening one’s willpower by crossing knife mountains and oil-filled vats, and served as the basis of forming one’s own firm confidence to their own jump; «incarnation», in other words.
Eventually, the jumping distance of a top-notch warrior could surpass 20 mel. In this flightless world, this was the extent of a human body’s physical jumping distance.
Yet what Iskahn needed to cross now was a bottomless canyon whose width was five times this limit. The Fist Fighter stared straight ahead, his heart still as he leapt into the air, his body dragging a long trail of flames.
Ten mel. Twenty mel. His body rose still.
Thirty mel. Thirty-five mel. A strong wind blew from the valley below, pushing the Fist Fighter up as though he possessed invisible wings, propelling him even higher.
Forty mel.
Just a bit more — he only needed to rise a bit more… Then he could rely on momentum to reach the other side —
But.
Just before he reached the very center of the valley, the upwards wind mercilessly ceased. The Fist Fighter’s body instantly lost its upward momentum; the trajectory of his jump reached its maximum, and he began to fall in an arc.
He was… five mel from the other edge.
“UWOOOOOHHH!!”
Iskahn screamed, flinging his right hand forward, attempting to grab something out of thin air. But no place existed for his hand or foot to grab onto; only endless, cold air extended on and on from below the darkness under his feet, wrapping around his body that was about to fall.
Just then —
“ CHAMPIOOOOOOOOOON!! ”
A tremendously thick roar reached Iskahn’s ears.
He twisted his head around.
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