Sword Art Online - Volume 28 - Chapter 1

1

“I’m here to rescue you, Eo.”

The swordsman propped up in my left arm wore a white leather mask that was stained with sweat and blood.

In the Underworld, bringing up a Stacia Window was the most surefire way to know someone’s status, but just looking into his eyes told me all I needed to know.

Eolyne Herlentz, commander of the Integrity Pilots, blinked back agony. His eyes were hidden behind plates of thin glass in the eyeholes of his mask. There was still strength in those blue eyes, but it was clear he was reaching the limit of his abilities, both physically and mentally.

I would have cared for him right away, but there wasn’t time to stand around generating elements. The very person who had inflicted such damage on Eolyne was still standing just seven or eight yards away, smiling arrogantly.

Searching out Eolyne’s presence, I created a door of Incarnation, which took me to what looked like a large office. Bookshelves lined both walls, and a large, heavy-looking wooden desk lay ahead of me. Leaning against the desk was a black-haired, gray-cloaked figure with a beautiful face I recognized. It was the mysterious gunner I’d encountered in the secret base on the companion star of Admina: Tohkouga Istar…

While Eolyne was battered and bruised, Istar had not a single strand of hair out of place. The freakish bodies strewn about the office spoke to why. They had sharply jutting heads and unnaturally long arms. Their skins, as well as the blood that dripped from their wounds, were as black as ink. There were six of these bodies.

I had fought monsters before that bore a very close resemblance to these—but not in this era. They were called minions, and I had dealt with them on the outer wall of Central Cathedral two centuries before, during the reign of Administrator. The fine details differed, and these were wearing metal armor, but they were clearly the same species.

It wasn’t clear why Istar had minions under his command, but after seeing the hideous experiments being performed on the Divine Beasts in the base on Admina, I wasn’t surprised. The minions were surely stronger than they had been two hundred years ago, so the fact that Eolyne had defeated six of them on his own explained his exhaustion.

I could also guess at the reason why he chose to stay here and fight alone, rather than seek to rejoin his subordinates as the commander of the Integrity Pilots.

There was another space force member in the room. I recognized his bold features as belonging to the man who drove me from Centoria to the mansion in the forest: Operator Second Class Lagi Quint. He was standing with the support of the bookshelf at his back, but there was a deep wound on his right shoulder, and he had been exposed to the minions’ toxic blood. Eolyne had been fighting on his own to protect Lagi while he was immobilized.

I couldn’t let that heroic effort go to waste. Some light element arts would purify minion blood in just five seconds, but Tohkouga Istar was a formidable foe. Not only was his saber work a match for Eolyne’s skill, but the real danger was in the Perfect Weapon Control arts he could execute with the black gun on his right hip. If he created that Incarnation nullification zone again, I would instantly lose half—no, 70 percent of my combat ability.

On the other hand, Istar himself would be unable to use Incarnation within the nullification zone, too, but I didn’t know if I was up to the task of fighting a master combatant of the Underworld using only pure fighting and sacred arts ability.

Noticing my moment of hesitation—perhaps fear, perhaps concern—Istar’s red lips formed an even deeper smile.

“I figured you would appear either at the base or at the cathedral…So this was your choice.”

As usual, Istar’s voice was husky and melodious in an androgynous way. Those pale purple eyes, framed by long lashes, held a chilling light that seemed to sap my body temperature at a glance.

It was about 11:40 PM on October 3rd at that moment in the real world. Istar had vanished from Admina after four o’clock in the afternoon. Only seven and a half hours had passed since then. It was hard to believe that in that amount of time, he had gotten four large dragoncraft ready and flown them the 300,000 miles between Admina and Cardina. He must have been planning this invasion of Cardina for a while; Eolyne and I neutralizing a base and a dragoncraft was just the trigger to launch that attack.

Sensing he was going to try to say something, I squeezed Eolyne’s shoulder a bit harder and said to Istar, “There are knights stronger than I am to protect the cathedral. Are you sure you don’t want to go there, though? That craft belonging to Wesdarath VI or VII or whatever might have crashed already.”

I was half bluffing, but Istar did not bat an eye. His narrow smile widened.

“If so, it is of no concern to me. I doubt it, however… If even a single Avus is shot down, Centoria will become a sea of fire.”

“So he’s taking the populace hostage, then. Impossible to believe someone who fancies himself an emperor would act that way.”

This time, I was sure I would at least get him to frown, if not snap in anger. However, that little mocking smile still did not budge.

“You should know these imperial families and noble families haven’t a shred of dignity among them—assuming you are the real Star King Kirito.”

“…Why do you think that?” I asked. I hadn’t spoken my name in his presence yet.

Istar countered, “The female pilots you summoned to Admina called you Kirito.”

“……Ah. Good point.”

Yes, I did recall Asuna and Alice calling me by name close to Istar and Eolyne’s showdown. But even still…

“The Star King vanished from the Underworld over thirty years ago,” I said. “Wouldn’t you assume I was just a different person with the same name?”

“Ordinarily, yes. But after witnessing that preposterous intensity of Incarnation, one certainly has to wonder,” Istar noted. I glanced at his right hand.

For him to activate his Incarnation-nullifying Perfect Weapon Control arts, he would need to draw the black gun from the holster on his hip, aim it, and call out, “Enhance Armament.” That would take at least three seconds, all told, but I could immobilize him with Incarnation faster.

On the other hand, if he sealed my Incarnation ability, I would have to fight him with my sword.

“…What are you people after? Do you really think you can conquer the Integrity Pilots, the space force, and the ground force with just four dragoncraft?” I demanded, my voice a few hertz lower than usual.

Istar’s smile didn’t waver. “At the very least, the emperor thinks so. If he’s able to command all floors of Central Cathedral and drive out the Stellar Unification Council, then the entire ruling system has toppled. That tower is the very symbol of power… If the Star King Kirito made any mistake, it was not toppling that monument at once,” said the delicate beauty, his eyes boring through me like ice crystals.

I had no memory of my time as the Star King, so I didn’t know why I…why he hadn’t destroyed the cathedral. But I could imagine. It was probably because there were too many memories in it. There was just no way to destroy the great staircase, where I’d run with Eugeo; the ninety-ninth floor, where we crossed blades; and the top floor, where his blood was shed for good…

For an instant, I glanced down at Eolyne under my arm. He had lost consciousness, and his eyes were closed behind the mask. I swept aside the unnecessary mental distraction and retorted, “That self-styled emperor never had any plans to conquer Central Cathedral in the first place. He was firing missiles at it like he wanted to raze it to the ground.”

“Missiles…? You mean the heat element projectiles? I suggested he at least use traditional ballistics rather than Incarnate projectiles, but the emperor fears the return of the Imperial Knighthood above all else. He intends to eradicate the ninety-fifth floor and upward, regardless of how much the people of Centoria might protest,” said Istar, shaking his head and shrugging.

I glared at him. How did the emperor learn the Integrity Knights and their dragons had been frozen in cold sleep atop Central Cathedral? And why was Tohkouga Istar freely revealing the intentions of the emperor—surely a sensitive secret if there ever was one?

To buy time? Why? The minions were powerful, but it was simply impossible for them to completely take over the space force base with the number a single dragoncraft could carry.

The objectives of Emperor Agumar Wesdarath VI and his ambush troops were, first, to eradicate the top floors of Central Cathedral and the Integrity Knights held there, and second, to kidnap or kill Eolyne, commander of the Integrity Pilots, and throw the military command structure into chaos, as I saw it. But the defenses of the cathedral—between the offensive and defensive excellence of Alice Synthesis Thirty and the now awakened Fanatio Synthesis Two—would be difficult to break through, and they had nearly succeeded at abducting Eolyne, but had been foiled.

Given that the ambush had failed, buying time was meaningless, because their position would only worsen. Istar had demonstrated a remarkable willingness to flee on Admina, so he had to realize these facts. Whatever was happening right now, he seemed to know they had other means of potential victory.

Before teleporting to the base, I had given the newly awakened Fanatio as much information as I could and promised her I would return by midnight. I had another twenty minutes until then, but there was no way staring each other down and wasting time was in my best interest. On the other hand, Istar might’ve been waiting for me to make my move.

Should I try apprehending him with Incarnation right now? Or continue our conversation, waiting for help to arrive?

In the world of Unital Ring, I didn’t hesitate to use my sword to rescue Yui when she was kidnapped by therians. That wasn’t even an hour ago—and this situation bore some similarity to that—but I just couldn’t cut through the hesitation roiling within me.

When I held my silence, Istar narrowed his eyes and said, “It seems you are not the Star King.”

“…Why do you think that?” I managed to reply. An even crueler smile twisted his red lips.

“Because you are missing the stern edge the legendary Star King is said to possess…and because you do not understand the lack of mercy among all those who share an emperor’s blood.”

His utterance was like a signal.

Suddenly, the darkened sky behind Istar burst into pure white, and the windowpanes behind him rattled and shook.

“…?!”

I held my breath and watched the light fade outside the windows.

Straight ahead and to the left—the southeastern sky, to be precise—there was a red glow in the sky. Upon further examination, it was clear, even from six miles away, that there were massive flames rising from Centoria in the distance.

They were not rising from the city itself but from the top of the white structure that towered over the center of it.

Central Cathedral was burning.