As those who have been following me on Twitter already know, I finished reading volume 26 of SAO last week... and I ended up basically summarising the story as I read it when I was only planning to just share my first impressions... but then people kept asking about very specific scenes, so I ended up going into much more detail than I had intended on a first run... this also meant that it took me an entire month to actually finish reading the book, since my free time is pretty limited... But as a result, you get to read the full summary of the story all in one release!
We also made a podcast version ovewview, for those interested. It's shorter than the full summary, but it could be interesting to those who don't want to read walls of text... or those interested in what my voice sounds like, I guess: Now some of you may be asking: but hey, what about a summary for volume 25! Yes, I do plan to work on it too, but I'll be releasing it in smaller chunks when I need filler releases. For the impatient types, you can find a podcast overview of the volume here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the release. If you have any suggestions/requests for what to work on, feel free to leave a comment or contact us through Twitter/Discord/Email.
Any feedback is appreciated.
-Gsimenas
Table of contents:
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
Chapter 1
The gang reached Selka and noticed that she seemed to be in Deep Freeze. Kirito looked around for clues on how to undo the Deep Freeze and noticed that there were two women surrounding Selka in a protective manner one metre away on either side. These women also seemed to be in Deep Freeze and were wearing robes with the emblem of the Axiom Church, so he assumed that they were knights. Just then, he realised that the women in their late twenties looked familiar. Kirito thus summoned Laurannei and Stica, placing them next to the two frozen women and thus confirming that the "statues" looked like 10 year older versions of the two girls.
Kirito: "No way...... are these Ronye and Tiese......?"
Laura: "Whaa!?"
Stica: "No way!?"
Alice questioned Kirito on whether he could undo the Deep Freeze with Incarnation. He preferred not to take chances, as he didn't know how to imagine an unfreeze and thus fears that an attempt to forcefully undo the freeze with Incarnation would leave the girls half-frozen. Eolyne had only ever read about Deep Freeze in books and had never seen it in person before, so he couldn't help them on this issue.
Asuna: Don't worry Alice, Kirito-kun did say that Selka-san was waiting for you here, no? He wouldn't have said anything like that if there was no way to undo the petrification.
Kirito (internally): I would like to concur, but I don't have any memories of that scene. Though if this Star King character did actually say something like that, shouldn't he have prepared some scroll or drug or something to undo the petrification? Damn, that Star King dude sure is inconsiderate.
Kirito decided to investigate the upper floors for clues.
Kirito: "I'm gonna go grab our swords from the lock mechanism, so wait here for a bit."
Stica: "Kirito-sama, we would be more than happy to deal with such menial tasks for......"
Kirito: "By Real World standards, forcing girls to carry something this fucking heavy would have me branded a heinous criminal; as heinous as someone breaking the Taboo Index."
A guy forcing girls to carry objects this fucking heavy is a big enough crime to count as breaking the Taboo Index by Real World standards."
Asuna (with a serious look): "Uttering the word 'fu-'...... the f-word when talking to girls is just as heinous, Kirito-kun."
Kirito (ducking his head): "I-if you'll excuse me."
(For reference, the original text used the word クソ (kuso = shit), rather than "fuck")
Just then, the inner doors opened up. A girl stepped into the garden through the door with a thirty-centimetre-long rat-like creature. The girl walked over to the hill with the olive tree, her head a little hung down. When she heard the rat making noises, she looked up and noticed the gang. At that very moment, she suddenly began running the rest of the way up, tripping over herself (just losing her balance, not actually falling down) numerous times along the way. Upon seeing her face up-close, Kirito realised that she looked like the Elevating Operator, though he had doubts since she was already more than 170 years old when he last saw her.
Kirito: "Err......are you......"
Airy (with a small tear spilling from her eyes): "Kirito-sama......Asuna-sama......Alice-sama, (bringing her arms to the front and giving a bow with no further emotions) welcome back."
Chapter 2
The species of the brown animal that was accompanying Airy was currently nibbling on walnuts, is officially called 《Mimi-naga-nure-nezumi》 (Long-Eared Soakrat). This particular rat is named "Nuts" (ナツ). Nuts took a liking to Laurannei "for some reason". Airy had brought over a basket with picnic goods: a blanket big enough for ten people, 8 cups and some cofil tea, as if somehow foreseeing that Kirito and co would be coming. Though that wouldn't explain why she had been shedding tears. Once she poured everyone drinks, she went over to the frozen girls to wipe off the dust. Asuna and Kirito were feeling very nostalgic about both the Elevating Operator and the rat. Kirito even had the feeling that she had some other name than just "Elevating Operator", which was the only name he remembered her by. Alice remembered the Operator too, since she had to use her services at least once every few days. Sometimes she gave the girl sweets in gratitude. But the Operator now seemed different from the time she last saw her.
Meanwhile, Eolyne's mind was off somewhere else, as he wasn't following the conversation by the time Kirito asked him if he knew the Operator.
Eolyne: "I didn't even know that there were living human beings in the sealed floors of the Central Cathedral. For starters...... where does she get her water and food from?"
Kirito: "......Now that you mention it......"
10 minutes later, Airy came back to the picnic party.
Airy: "Would anyone like a refill of cofil tea?"
Stica: "Oh, in that case, yes please! Your cofil tea is really good!"
Laurannei: "Whoa, Sti, you're being quite shameless."
Stica: "Says the girl who had a big ol' 'Dis be gud stuff!' look on her face the moment she took a sip of it, Laura."
Laurannei: "Hey......I've never been that crude!"
Airy (having shown a brief, faint smile at their banter): "This cofil tea is made from a cultivar known as 《Yuudzukiyo》 (夕月夜, evening moon/moonlight), selectively cultivated by the esteemed Star Queen. As far as I am aware, this is the only place where this cultivar is cultivated in all of Underworld."
Stica: "By this place, you mean the Cloudtop Garden?"
Airy: "No, on the 95th Floor."
Alice: "......The 《Morningstar Lookout》......"
Kirito: (glances at Asuna at the words "cultivated by the esteemed Star Queen")
Asuna (not reacting to the mention of Star Queen): "This really is good. The name 《Yuudzukiyo》 is also lovely."
Airy: "......The Esteemed Star Queen took the name from a tanka written in the Real World a long time ago, or so I hear."
Asuna (nodding): "I had a hunch that would be the case...... Say, Kirito-kun."
Kirito: "Y-yes?"
Asuna: "At this point, I think we have to just face the facts."
Kirito: "W-what facts?"
Asuna: "That I was the Star Queen and that you were the Star King."
Kirito asked Asuna why she arrived at that conclusion. In response, Asuna recited a tanka. According to Asuna, it comes from the Man'yoshu anthology, volume 11. It's not all that popular, but Asuna herself loved it and remembers it well. So basically, Asuna doesn't think anyone else would have arrived at such a name for the cofil cultivar.
Kirito: "Okay fine, I'll face the facts. So apparently I'm the Star King that had been ruling Underworld until thirty years ago."
Stica and Laurannei: (broad smiles)
Eolyne: ("took you long enough" shrug)
Kirito: "......Though, I'll have you know, just because I'm facing the facts doesn't mean Asuna's memories and mine have returned. On that note, err...... (looks at the Elevating Operator)...... sorry, I think you had some other name than just "Elevating Operator", right......?"
Elevating Operator: "Yes. My name is Airy."
Eolyne (hearing that name): (twitch)
Kirito: "So what are you doing here? Why haven't you been frozen like Selka and the others......?"
Airy: "Because that was my wish."
----------
(Airy's narration)
The 2nd generation Commander of the Sacred Arts Casters, Selka Zuberg, along with Integrity Knight Tiese Schtrinen/Shtolienen Thirty-two and Integrity Knight Ronye Arabel Thirty-three went into their long sleep in the year 441 of the Human Empire Calendar - sixty years after the founding of the Unification Council. That very year, the long-standing Order of Integrity Knights was abolished. In its stead, another organisation that differed by only one kanji, the Order of Integrity Pilots, was established. The old knights were given three choices: 1) transfer to the new order; 2) retire from their duties and live their lives as they pleased; 3) choose to subject themselves to the Deep Freeze ritual of their own volition.
The first to choose the Deep Freeze option wasn't a knight though...Selka was the first to request to be frozen. The lost art of Deep Freeze had been analysed and recovered through the joint effort of Ayuha Phiria, the 1st generation Commander of the Sacred Arts Casters, and her successor Selka, thus the Star King and Star Queen had no choice but to approve her request. Ronye and Tiese, having raised their respective children to adulthood, decided that it would be sad to have Selka sleep all on her own and thus the three of them underwent the ritual as a group.
Among the knights, there were some who transferred to the Pilot order and some who chose a new way of life, but the majority instead desired to be frozen as well. Some time later, in the year 475 of the Human Empire Calendar, having served at the king and queen's side the longest of all the knights, Fanatio too went into a state of sleep. Three years later, the Star King and Star Queen relinquished all of their authorities to the Human Empire Unification Council and retired.
In the year 480 of the Human Empire Calendar, the Human Empire Unification Council was renamed to the Star Empire Unification Council; likewise, the calendar was renamed to the Star Empire Calendar. That same year, floors 80+ of the Central Cathedral were entirely sealed off; only the two majesties, Airy herself, and Nuts were allowed inside. The Star King and Star Queen then spent their days in peace, until they too went into sleep and, in the year 550 of the Star Empire Calendar, their bodies were enveloped in light and disappeared before Airy's very own eyes. As commanded, Airy informed the Star Empire Unification Council that the two had departed from Underworld. She also passed on the words the Star King had left her with, before choosing to spend the following thirty years watching over the top of the cathedral, waiting for her masters to return.
----------
(Kirito's perspective)
The first thing Asuna did upon hearing the story was to stand up all of a sudden, walk over to Airy sitting on her knees (seiza), go down on her knees herself, and give her a big hug.
Asuna: "Forgive us...... forgive us, Airy-san. You must have been so lonely...... all alone, for thirty years......"
Kirito: (resists the urge to join Asuna while cursing the Star King for ordering such a cruel mission)
Airy: "Oh no, Asuna-sama. As I mentioned before...... this was all my own, strong wish. The two Majesties honoured me by deciding to enter their sleep in a part of the Cathedral that I myself loved, but that would have left them with no one to respond to unforeseen situations and, more importantly, no one to welcome Kirito-sama, Asuna-sama, and Alice-sama back on their return."
Asuna (protesting vehemently): "Welcome us back......!"
Airy: "Asuna-sama, I have been very, very happy to have been able to serve you, Asuna-sama, and Kirito-sama. You two have granted my dream...... so it is only natural that I watch over the place in your absence; besides, I was not lonely. Ronye-sama had entrusted me with Nuts, who has been keeping me company this entire time."
Asuna calmed down after that and released her embrace, but still chose to sit snugglingly close to her. At that point, Eolyne took the opportunity to ask a question in a a slightly tense voice.
Eolyne: "If I may, there is something I would like to enquire. Could you be...... Airy Toroom-sama, the first generation manager of the Integrity Pilot Order's First Dragoncraft Factory......?
Airy: "I had received the pleasure of fulfilling that role for some time, yes......but all I did was pass on what I had learnt from my own tutor to the great people at the factory. Please just call me Airy."
Eolyne: "That is most unthinkable......my grandfather often said that if it weren't for you, Toroom-sama, the deployment of mass-produced dragoncrafts would have come a whole thirty years later."
Airy (reminiscing on the past for a bit): "That was a long, long time ago."
Since time was short (logout at 17:00; currently past 11:30), Kirito continued the conversation.
Kirito: "Ehm......Airy, once again, thank you for carrying out such an arduous job, truly. It vexes me that I have none of my memories as the Star King, and I feel sorry for you, but I am also awfully happy to get to see you again."
Airy (with a faint smile): "Me too, Kirito-sama."
Kirito: "Now then, I'm sure you probably know already...... but the reason we returned to Underworld was to reawaken Alice's younger sister Selka. Of course, that includes Tiese and Ronye too. Do you know what's the process to do so?"
Airy: "I do."
Alice (relieved): "Airy-dono, what is this process? Is it an Art......?"
Airy: "Yes. Though......while it truly pains me to inform you of this, everything regarding the Deep Freeze Art that Ayuha-sama and Selka-sama had restored has been strictly sealed away; that knowledge is stored elsewhere."
Alice: "By elsewhere, do you mean outside the Cathedral......somewhere inside Centoria?"
Airy: "Oh, no. It is neither in the Human Empire, nor the Dark Territory, nor the extracontinent stretching on beyond them. The 《Sealed Box》 is hidden away on Planet Admina."
Chapter 3
Having finished their picnic, the gang packed up. Kirito retrieved everyone's swords, which triggered the doors to close down again, so he rushed back inside in a hurry, hoping that Airy would have a way to open the doors from the inner side. Once the group reached the 90th Floor, Alice asked a question:
Alice: "Airy-dono...... what became of the bath on this floor?"
Airy: "It is is still around, Alice-sama. The Art the Supreme Priest had performed onto the Grand Bath is still functioning, keeping the water pure regardless of the hundreds of years that pass by. Though, the Esteemed Star King did some remodelling, so the bath is now divided into female and male sides. Also, he installed another entrance at the northern side to allow direct access to it from the Elevation Shaft, but it is currently sealed off."
Stica: "Wha, a bath!?"
Laurannei: "There is a bath way up here!?"
Asuna (proudly): "It's phenomenal; so big that you can take a swim in the water, and it also has windows all around the walls, allowing you to see not just the Centoria townscape, but even up to the End Mountains on a clear day."
Kirito: "Huh, Asuna, you still have memories of the bath?"
Asuna (exasperated): "Of course I do. Once the Otherworlder War came to an end and we returned to the Cathedral with Ronye-san and the others, we used to come here twice a day. Though you always got out of it with your usual 'I'll take one later' lines, Kirito-kun."
Kirito: "Oh......"
Kirito (internally): Now that you mention it, that kinda rings a bell. Though I had my hands full preparing for the peace talks with Fanatio and Deusolbert, so I didn't really have the luxury of time for a bath.
Kirito stares at the doors to the Grand Bath absentmindedly as he monologues about Deep Freeze and the lifespan of a soul.
Alice (from the right): "Kirito, I sympathise with your desire to make use of the Grand Bath, but we do not have the time for that at the moment, now do we."
Asuna (from the left): "She's right, Kirito-kun, we have to hurry up and go to Admina to retrieve the Sealed Box. We can save the bath for later."
Kirito: "Y-yeah, let's head on."
----------
The gang climbed up to the 95th Floor. There, they found a wall of various trees covering the lookout's periphery. There was a pure white dragoncraft enshrined at the centre of the floor. Even the Pilots were surprised by the sight. For one thing, it was BIG. The dragoncrafts the girls emplyed were about 15 metres in size. This one was about half the height of the entire floor - about twenty five metres. Also, while the regular dragons had a steel texture, this one was made out of pure white materials with a bit of translucency. Despite its size, its elegant design didn't make it seem sluggish. Kirito assumed it was specialised for long-distance fast flights, rather than combat.
Kirito (to Eolyne): "So this...... is the Star King's dragoncraft that you mentioned?"
Eolyne: "......It's my first time seeing it, but it's safe to say yes. Look there."
Eolyne pointed at a spot on the dragoncraft's right flank right under the canopy that featured the English letters 【Ｘ’ｒｐｈａｎ ＸＩＩＩ】. The same name and spelling of it as that of the field boss from the 55th Floor of Aincrad.
Kirito: "So this is X'rphan Mk XIII......"
Airy: "Yes, this is the final dragoncraft the Star King had created. It was rolled out exactly a hundred years prior, but it still maintains its peak condition."
Kirito: "So, Airy...... you've been performing maintenance on this dragoncraft too?"
Airy: "That is correct. Though, all I did was wash the surface with water elements and let the Eternal Heat Elements and Eternal Wind Elements out of the hermetiseal canisters a bit from time to time."
Kirito: "But...... seriously, you've been such big help with everything from A to Z...... I don't even know how to thank you......"
Airy: "Please take a look at this."
Airy pointed to a 1.5 metre diameter metal disc.
Kirito (internally): What's this for...
Eugeo (flashback): If the Church ceased to be and you were released from your Calling, what would you do......?
Airy (flashback): "If you are asking this question in the sense of 'what I would like to do with myself'...... I would like to fly freely through the sky......with this Elevating Disc.
Kirito: "Is that...... an Elevating Disc that you can use to fly freely through the sky......?"
Airy: "Yes. I call it the Flight Disc. It does not have wings, thus it required an innumerable amount of testing and remodelling for stable flight, but you, Kirito-sama, never did give up on it. Because it was your promise with Eugeo-sama and me, as you stated......"
Kirito (internally): I still find it hard to see this Star King as myself, but nice job.
Kirito (internally): Wait, did she just mention Eugeo. (turns to
Eolyne: "......Is something the matter, Kirito-kun?"
Kirito: ".....Oh, no, nothing."
Kirito: "So back on the 80th floor when you mentioned that dream of yours that we granted for you, it was all about this Flight Disc, huh."
Airy: "That is correct, but that is not all there is to it. Kirito-sama, Asuna-sama...... and not just you two; all those among the Integrity Knights, all those among the Human Empire Unification Council, as well as Master Sadore - you all have taught me, the girl who had come to believe that operating the Elevating Disc was my sole purpose in life, a great many joys and pleasures, as well as sadness and loneliness. The majority of my memories and emotions are compressed and it takes me time to recall them...... but nevertheless, they always bring warmth to my chest. And so, keeping watch on things in your absence is no hardship at all, honest."
Kirito has a flashback about Eugeo's remarks how memories are always with him in his heart.
The gap to the outside is entirely covered in trees, but the planters that the trees are in can simply be moved.
Kirito: "This dragoncraft can be used to fly to Planet Admina, right?"
Airy: "Of course."
Kirito: "How many people fit inside?"
Airy: "It can seat two people."
Kirito figures the riders will have to be Eolyne and him.
Stica and Laurannei wanted to join them with their own dragoncrafts, but the required secrecy is exactly why they had to look for the Star King's dragoncraft in the first place. Kirito remarked that Laurannei felt far more hot-blooded than her ancestor when she said that they could just make up some bullshit excuse to deploy their dragoncrafts.
Kirito monologued about how Ronye and Tiese got frozen at nearly the age of 80 but look no more than in their late 20s in appearance. He speculated that the two underwent the age-freezing art at that age, though it should have been one of those Arts that only Administrator knew how to use.
The girls and Eolyne were still having their back and forth.
Airy (seemingly enjoying herself the slightest bit): "Stica-sama, Laurannei-sama. Unfortunately, the Keynis Mk 7 that the Pilot Order is currently equipped with can only produce no more than half the speed capabilities of the X'rphan Mk XIII outside the atmosphere. If you were to accompany them, you would only greatly increase Kirito-sama's and Eolyne-sama's travel time."
Stica and Laura in sync: ""Only half the speed capabilities!?""
Kirito (internally): And here I thought that prototypes and one-off machines having higher capabilities than the standard variants was only an anime and game thing. The Star King sounds kinda childish to insist on following the trope.
Kirito walked over to Asuna and Alice to tell them that he would be going with Eolyne.
Asuna: "Kirito-kun, don't forget your 《ikanoosushi》 (literally, "squid sushi")."
Kirito (frowning): "......W-what was that supposed to be, again?"
Alice: "Don't go (ikanai) with strangers, don't get on (noranai) any fishy vehicles, be loud (oogoe o dasu) if something happens, get away from danger right away (sugu nigeru), and notify (shiraseru) others about your condition."
Kirito (internally): What am I, a child!
Kirito: "G-gotcha. I will be careful. I'm sure you'll be fine on your end, but if anything were to......"
Alice: "Everything is under control."
Alice grabs Kirito's right hand.
Alice: "Kirito, I am sincerely counting on you. I need the 《Sealed Box》 that contains the Deep Freeze Art.
Kirito: "I know. I'll be sure to get it for you."
----------
Since the dragoncraft was in perfection condition, the gang only needed 10 minutes to get it ready for launch. Eolyne, now in his Pilot outfit, took the front seat, while Kirito went for the rear seat. Airy pressed a hidden button near the stairs and the marble planters slid out of the way, creating a big enough aperture for the dragoncraft to fly out into the sky. The dragoncraft is apparently a VTOL and doesn't need a runway. It also has a cloaking field function that Eolyne triggers to make it invisible ("see-through").
Kirito: "Hey, Eolyne, mind if I say the line?"
Eolyne: "Huh? What line?
Kirito: "This one. Ahem. X'RPHAN MK XIII, LAUNCH!!"
Also Kirito: (realises the dragoncraft doesn't make loud engine noises that he was expecting for his cool takeoff scene)
Eolyne: "I am sorry to disappoint you and your pumped-up "launch", but this is all we're getting till we reach the three thousand mer mark or so. It makes a whole lot of noise when you switch to full gear, you see."
Kirito: "I-I see. How long will it take to reach the three thousand mer mark?"
Eolyne: "Well, around ten minutes, I guess."
Kirito: "Hmph...... by the way, how long till we reach Planet Admina?"
Eolyne: "Hmm...... if Airy was was correct about the X'rphan Mk XIII being twice as fast as the Keynis Mk VII, it would take us about an hour and a half at full speed, I guess......"
So, passenger crafts take 6 hours to reach Admina, standard dragoncrafts take 3 hours, and Kirito's one-off special takes 1.5 hours. Kirito wondered why was the trip so short, so he decided to ask about the distance. Eolyne stated that the distance between Cardina and Admina is around 500,000 kilors.
Kirito: "B-but in that case, Admina should be hella visible from Cardina, shouldn't it?"
Eolyne (most exasperated voice in history): "Haah? Well of course it's visible. Actually, at this time...... (looks around and points to the front) look, it's right over there."
Kirito: "Nah, that's supposed to be the moon..... Lunaria, isn't it."
Eolyne: "That's the archaic name for it."
Kirito: "Whu......Hey wait a minute, so you're telling me Lunaria is Admina!? So, you're telling me someone actually went over to it and discovered that Lunaria was a hugeass planet, rather than some simple moon !?"
Eolyne: "Well, it doesn't change the fact that it's small. Admina is only about half the size of Cardina in diameter. That's why Cardina is the 《primary planet》, while Admina is the 《companion planet》."
Kirito: "F-for reals......"
Eolyne: "By the way, the first in history to arrive at Lunaria with his dragoncraft was none other than His Majesty, the Star King himself, I'll have you know."
Kirito: "For reals......"
So, Admina is close to Cardina's orbit, but unlike the real world Moon, Admina goes through its moon cycle in a single day, rather than a month, since it doesn't actually revolve around Cardina like the Moon does for Earth. Eolyne wants to see the Moon. After a monologue about Underworld's continued existence, Kirito makes a promise to show the Moon to Eolyne one day.
When the duo reached the three thousand mer mark, Eolyne began unloading the juice. The dragoncraft started going so fast that Kirito had to keep himself from hitting the Incarnation breaks. Finally, they left the atmosphere and the shaking of the craft abated.
Eolyne: "Maaan, this isn't a legendary craft for nothing...... that speed just now was achieved using only slightly over half of the machine's power output capacity."
Kirito: "Let's pass on going full gear."
Eolyne decides not to take the shortest course to avoid contact with liners and other Space Force craft, since they were on a top-secret mission. The chapter ends with Eolyne telling Kirito that he could recline in his seat for some rest.
Chapter 4
The chapter switches to Asuna's point of view as she watches the dragoncraft disappear from sight far in the clouds.... from the comfort of the Grand Bath... and naked. Apparently, Airy invited them there right after they saw off the dragoncraft... since the trees were blocking their view of the dragoncraft. Though Asuna couldn't rule out the possibility that Airy sniffed out their craving for baths. The Grand Bath reminded Asuna of the Floor 7 casino quest. Specifically, the luxurious bath in the casino with Argo, Nirrnir and Kizmel. Asuna also remembered Kizmel's prank in the bath. Asuna suddenly felt pain run from her back to her chest and forcefully corked up her memories of those days.
Narration: Finally, the pain gradually subsided. Those days will never come again and her wish to reunite with the Dark Elf knight and other NPCs will never come true. The narration continues to talk about Aincrad, how it transformed into tree cradle - The Seed Nexus, and how Underworld is the flower blooming at the top of the tree. It gets compared to the Sephirothic tree from the kabbalah. According to Kirito, Kayaba mentioned that the name Aincrad comes from "An INCarnating RADius". But Asuna has a different thought: the Sephirothic tree was born from 《nothingness》 or "Ａｉｎ" in Hebrew. And what if "crad" stands for the English word "ｃｒａｄｌｅ". So, "the cradle of nothingness" and from nothingness comes infinity, and from infinity...... and Asuna's vague memories stop there.
Asuna couldn't understand Kayaba's/Heathcliff's thinking that resulted in dragging 10 000 people into his desire to create a true other world, of which 4 000 died. But she did admire his FullDive technology and the Soul Translator technology that came about because of it. Asuna also had a feeling that compared to the time she used the Grand Bath two months ago (or two hundred years in Star Empire Calendar terms), the sensations she felt in the bath now felt like it got a significant upgrade.
Asuna (internally): "If I get too used to this bath, I might no longer be satisfied by our own bath at home anymore."
Meanwhile, (splash)
Laurannei: "Hey, what do you think you're doing, Sti!"
Stica: (swimming in crawl through the bath after jumping into it)
Laurannei: (jumps into the bath too despite scolding Stica for the exact same thing just moments ago)
Stica and Laura end up racing through the bath.
Alice: "......Some time ago, I too practiced swimming in the Grand Bath here. When no one else was present, of course."
Asuna (giggling): "Back when I was a child, I've gone bath-swimming at a spa hotel (Kurhaus)...... which refers to a humongous public bathhouse in the Real World. I got a big scolding from my mom back then."
Asuna: (realises that Alice's own parents have likely passed on and tries to apologise)
Alice: "No need to feel bad about it; I do not have any memories of my early life anyways...... If I can just reunite with Selka, that is more than enough for me."
Asuna moved her left hand inside the water, found Alice's right hand by touch, and grasped it with a squeeze.
Asuna: "Kirito-kun will find the Art to undo the petrification, for sure."
However, Alice ponders why
At that point, Asuna noticed that the brown rat was also swimming in the bath.
Alice: (dumbstruck): "......So that rat can actually swim......"
Airy: "The Long-Eared Soakrats usually inhabit the marshlands in the north side of the Central Capital, you see."
Airy (having walked into the room and holding her arms in front of herself bashfully): "If it actually took its swimming seriously, it could go faster than a fish when it is in water."
While enjoying the sight, Asuna monologued about how she had to protect the world no matter what. She could not allow it to be destroyed until Real Worlders and Underworlders became considered equal human beings. She considered it her duty as one granted the powers of the 《Goddess of Creation Stacia》.
Chapter 5
October 3, 10:00 AM. In the western residential area of the town of Ruis na Rig in Unital Ring where the Basin tribe had taken residence, the first Basin tribe baby in the village was born. Silica was feeding their army of pets harvemeat (short for "Life Harvester meat"), when Lisbeth barged into the stable.
Lisbeth: “Silica, t-they gave birth! I repeat, they gave birth!”
Silica: “B-birth to what!?”
Lisbeth: “Babies! Babies, I say!”
Silica: “L-Liz-san, you gave birth to babies!?”
Lisbeth: “Why would you ever get the idea that they’re mine! Sheesh, just come with me already!”
Dragged to a large Basin tent, Silica found herself facing the matriarch of the Basins... with a baby in her embrace. After having her fill of staring at the baby,
Silica: "Izelma-san, is this baby yours?"
Izelma: "Did I look like I was marow (マロゥ)? This child was given birth to by Kayatore (カヤトレ), Soobor's (スーボル) wife. Kayatore is resting over there."
Silica: "M-marow? What's that supposed to be?"
Izelma: "It refers to a baby being inside the mother's belly."
Silica: "Oh, I see. Marow......Marow......"
【Basinese Skill proficiency has increased to 16】.
Apparently, the Basins have a tradition to have lots of heroes hold their babies in their arms to have them grow up strong and healthy. So, Izelma offered the baby to Silica (Lisbeth already had her chance to hold the baby). The baby seemingly didn't like the way Silica held them in her arms and began frowning. As it was on the verge of crying, Pina came to save the day. From Silica's shoulder, it started rubbing the baby's cheeks and the pleased baby fell asleep again. The baby is apparently named Yaer/Jaer (ヤエル). Silica began daydreaming about having her own baby one day, as well as getting married to someone she loves and starting a family. But she didn't feel like this scenario was likely. Silica's been getting the weirdo treatment from her old friends in the real world for playing VR games after having been trapped in SAO.
Silica went on a monologue about how the virtual world and the bonds she made there are important to her and her friends but fears that their time in VR games is akin to a stray pack of beasts who just happen to be resting at the same place after a long and hard journey and that they'll all eventually head separate ways. Asuna and Lisbeth had started logging in less frequently because of their encroaching exams, so Silica started getting the feeling that Unital Ring would be their last chance to get together. Silica also feared that all the UR NPCs would be erased if they did reach their goal. But she recalled that the first to reach the aurora spot would be "granted everything" and hoped that it would include the chance to save the NPCs. After taking another lungful of baby scent, Silica returned the baby to Izelma and thanked her for letting the girl hold the baby.
----------
Some time later, Silica and Lisbeth left the tent, all mushy after getting their fill of baby cuteness. Ruis na Rig has been drawing more players as a stopping point. The commercial district has been getting 40-50 visitors by now. To their surprise, both the Basins and Pattels also started doing business with players. The Pattels have been selling simple dishes and preserved foods that they've been making out of the vegetables and pulse they've been growing. Meanwhile, the Basins have been selling armour made from pelts, or accessories made from fangs and stones. As the manager of Ruis na Rig, Kirito had elected not to tax the NPCs. On the other hand, the Insecsite players and former Mutasina army players managing inns and stores in the southern area were seeing five percent of their proceeds automatically deducted from them, so Silica feared that might cause trouble if the Basins expanded their business.
Silica: "Liz-san, when do you plan to open up your blacksmith store?"
Lisbeth (still having a case of mushy brain): "Hmma? Bleksmit? (brain rebooting)......Oh, yeah, blacksmith."
Lisbeth explained that she's built up a stock of merchandise but she's facing a supply issue with materials, since the only iron ore spot around them was the bear cave... and the amount of ore they could extract from their sole iron hotspot in one go just couldn't meet Ruis na Rig's iron consumption trends. The girls looked at the sky, but there was no giant castle of iron to be found. On that topic, the area that Aincrad crashed into is roamed by tremendously powerful monsters.
So, Lisbeth wanted to find a new hotspot for iron. The waterfall cave that Kirito and co had found was tantalising, but too far away... and nobody wanted a certain witch to catch wind of it. So, Lisbeth preferred finding a source of iron up north. Both girls came up with the idea of exploring up north. They were both level 16 now, which was on the higher end of the spectrum among their group, but Kirito was already past level 20 and the girls wanted to reduce the difference by at least a level or two. The two girls headed for the log house, since it was about time for their other friends to start logging in.
Chapter 6
This chapter starts with Asada Shino making a simple minestrone with batard for a late breakfast. Since Kirito, Asuna, and Alice were off to Underworld for most of the day, their main Unital Ring activities were slated to start at 19:00. Shino finished off most of her homework on Friday, except for her classic literature B workbook. She would usually do her homework with her friends in the virtual world, but Unital Ring didn't allow importing external content, such as homework.
Shino usually prioritised schoolwork and didn't like having unfinished homework lingering in her mind when she was playing games, but this time she began thinking that she wouldn't be able to focus on her homework until she checked on Ruis na Rig to ensure that everything was alright beforehand.
Shino (internally): "Is it just me, or have I begun thinking like Kirito......"
Despite her self awareness,
Shino (feeling guilty): "Link Start."
Shino (internally): Just one lap around town!
Sinon appears in the living room of the log house.
Lisbeth: "Rear guard, acquire～～d! (grabs Sinon by the collar from behind)"
Sinon: "Unyaah!? W-what's going on!? (notices Silica and Klein before her)...... What exactly is going on here?"
Silica: "Good morning, Sinon-san! We are planning to go exploring the northern forest; would you join us?"
Sinon: "I-I was only planning to take a short lap around town...... (realises that Lisbeth won't let her go unless she responds "yesu")...... oh, well, fine. As long as it doesn't take long."
Klein: "It wo～n't, it won't! We're just going out mapping unexplored areas for a bit!"
Lisbeth: "Like he said, and also searching for some iron hotspots for a bit while we're at it!"
Sinon (internally): That sure sounds like hogwash...
Sinon: "Fine, fine."
----------
After stocking up on consumables and adding Misha to the party, the gang set off from the 2 o'clock gate. Yui wasn't with them as she was deploying most of her resources for network surveillance while Kirito and co were busy investigating Underworld. The forest scenery gets compared to Ivan Shishkin's paintings.
Klein: "Ahh, the forest sure feels nice～～"
Sinon: "Hey, Klein, I sure hope you're keeping a lookout for any enemies properly..."
Lisbeth: "And be sure to look for iron ore too."
Klein (giving a thumbs-up): "You can count on me! Only thin' that the Great Klein's sensor doesn't pick up is spooks and chameleons."
Sinon: "And what proof do you have that spooks don't show up in forests at day time?"
Sinon monologues about not having a source of bullets. She learnt how to craft gunpowder from the Orniths... but it required secretions from a bug that could only be found on cacti roots on the west side of the Gjol Plains... 30 km away from Ruis na Rig.
Suddenly, Misha started growling and they all come to a stop. Sinon heard a buzz similar to the noise that large GGO mechanical monsters give off when moving. Up ahead they noticed a thick wall of shrubs with sharp thorns that stretch as far as the eye can sould from east to west, seemingly dividing the forest into two sections. At one point among the wall of shrubs, creepers from the branches of the trees formed a vine curtain, beyond which they found a 10 metre long, arched tunnel. The tunnel was just barely big enough for Misha to tread through and the buzzing sounds were coming from the other end of the tunnel. Using hand signs, Klein and Sinon decided to scout ahead.
Klein and Sinon reached the vine curtain at the end of the tunnel and took a peek at what lies beyond.
Klein: "Ugeh"
Sinon (internally): And you're the one who said 'Shh!'
The tunnel led to a fifty metre-wide dome area. At the centre of this area stood the biggest old tree they've ever encountered in Unital Ring. The ground was full of giant flowers that looked like rafflesia (stinking corpse lily) with toxic-looking flower petals. But neither of these were responsible for Klein's reaction. Instead, what had caught Klein's attention... was a black conglomeration of hornet nests inside of the tree's trunk... a single nest was easily over five metres in diameter and there were five or six of them fused together. Like a hornet condo.... with giant, dark green hornets...ten centimetres in size each, sucking the nectar of the toxic-looking flowers.
As Sinon was considering a tactical retreat without stirring the literal hornet's nest, they heard a man’s voice calling out to them. Reflexively taking out her musket, Sinon spotted a man creeping around in what looked like a natural refuge between a rock and the shrub wall a bit of a distance away inside the dome to her right. Sinon was a bit peeved that the man managed to elude her notice till now. When she gave the man a good look, she realized that he looked familiar. It was the ex-ALO player who had come to scout their village ahead of Mutasina’s army but found himself caught by the Insecsite players.
Klein: “Huh, why if it ain’t Friscal.”
Friscal then gestured them to come over to his place, but Sinon returned the gesture, since she didn’t want to keep the girls outside waiting too long. Reluctantly, Friscal crawled out of his refuge and smoothly made his way along the wall to the tunnel. The man was apparently wearing what looked like a ghillie suit that he had bought from the Pattels. It apparently takes the Pattels four days to make a single outfit. Sinon was now interested in buying one for herself. The three of them made their way outside the tunnel and reported their findings to Lisbeth and Silica.
Klein: "Man, that thing there was total bonkers; a single one of 'em nests was as bigass as a house, after all. Ain't it smarter ta just make a detour around it?"
Friscal (pridefully): "That's what you'd think, pops."
Klein: "Yer one ta talk when you're about the same age!"
Ignoring Klein’s indignation, Friscal continued by asking the gang if they knew about Unital Ring’s structure. Sinon responded with what they had learnt from Argo: that the world was in the shape of a circle, the radius of which was around 700 km, and that all the different VRMMO game players were placed along its circumference.
Friscal: “That’s mostly on point, but your info is a bit outdated.”
Friscal then picked up a nearby branch and drew a large circle. Then he drew a circle within the circle, within which he drew another one.
Friscal: “Based on what I put together from different groups of Seed players, this world isn’t simply flat as a board; instead, it consists of a terraced structure centered on the goal point.”
Silica: “Terraced……you say? So, like a wedding cake?”
According to Friscal, the outer circumference is a coastline. About a hundred kilometres away from it, the ground moves up a terrace. Then again later on. The terraces are split by cliffs that are 6-7 times bigger than the cliff norther of the Stith Ruins (over two hundred metres, that is). In the example circle Friscal drew, the cliffs would only be paper thick, but it would be suicidal to attempt to climb them.
Lisbeth: “So then, how exactly are we supposed to climb up to this terrace?”
Friscal: “From here on out, I’ll be charging a fee….. or at least I usually would, but since I owe you one for removing that shitty-shit spell Mutamuta cast on me, I’ll put it on the house.”
Sinon (internally): Guess Mutamuta is referring to Mutasina. Don’t you think she’d come to kill you if she caught wind of you nicknaming her like that? Oh well, you reap what you sow.
Friscal (with a ‘this is top secret stuff’ look and tone to him): “Now listen, what I’m about to tell you is srsl mega-rare intel, so don’t yap about it to just anyone. ――These terraces have points where you can climb to the top. Most of them are dungeons that span throughout the interior of the cliffs, though some have stairs carved into the cliffs themselves or ladders that look like they could very well give out any moment now.”
The gang looked unimpressed with Friscal’s top secret intel, seeing as it was common sense that there had to be ways to climb the cliffs or no one would be able to make progress on the game.
Friscal (adding hurriedly): “Now get this, the route leading to any such cliff-climbing point is guaranteed to have a bonkersy obstacle along the way. Like, a puzzle gimmick where you die if you fall off, or a field boss that can wipe out a thirty player raid party.”
Sinon: “……So you’re saying that the hornet nest we saw just now is one such field boss?”
Friscal: “Yeah, no doubt about it. I’ve checked things out by walking quite a distance long the shrubs on either side of the tunnel, but these shrubs go on and on with no other way to get around them, nor can you cut through or burn through these thorny shrubs either. This buzzy-buzz area is probably the first obstacle set for the Stith Ruins starters.”
Sinon: “Say, if what you’re saying is true, then if we were to just head far, far west or east, we’d eventually find a cliff-climbing point and its respective obstacle set up for players from a different game. If someone else had already broken through one of those points, couldn’t we just take advantage of it and use the same route to climb up the cliff?”
Friscal: “Oh…… well, sure. Actually, some dudes have apparently already broken through their first obstacles, in fact.”
Klein: “For real! Which games did those dudes come from?”
Friscal: “Sheesh, I’ll have ya know that this is as far as my leads go. I’ve got nothing to back it up, but AFAIH, there are two powerhouses that have broken through their respective obstacles by this morning. The first one is 《Apocalyptic Date》, a game with nothing but beastmen.”
Silica (with twitching ears): “Oh, I’ve head of ApoDate before! The players there get to be fluffy and cute! Though there are reptiles and amphibians in there too…… I was considering converting over to it for a bit at some point.”
Friscal: “I’d hate to burst your bubble, Li'l Missy, but while those guys might look cute, they’re also diehard combat freaks. The whole reason they’re progressing so fast is because their own fur and claws work like pretty good gear on their own, so they can get by just fine with minimal gear crafting, as far as I’ve heard.”
Silica: “As long as the avatars look cute, who cares about the rest! More importantly, what is the other game?”
Friscal: “Oh, this one’s pretty famous, so I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about it. It’s Asuka Empire.”
Asuka Empire was so famous that even Sinon, not exactly well-versed in VRMMOs other than ALO and GGO, at least knew what kind of game it was. And its playerbase was nearly as big as ALO’s.
Klein: “……Though ya know, man, unlike ApoDate, Asuka guys do need ta craft their gear, doncha think. How exactly did those guys make so much progress?”
Friscal: “To put it simply, those guys didn’t have to deal with crap.”
Friscal: “Thanks to Mutamuta, us ALO folks got wrapped inta one heckuva infighting, so most of our powerhouses got entangled in crap right from the get-go. Meanwhile, our leftward neighbours from GGO got into a pow-pow scramble over bullets, while our rightward neighbours from Insecsite are having a slaughterfest between the Sixes and Eighmores, remember? Our playerbases aren’t going ta get started on genuinely progressing through the game till their hegemony is sorted out, but the guys from Asuka on the other hand were pretty much cooperative from quite early on in the game, so they’ve managed ta set up a hugeass crafting base right next to their starting point, apparently.” Sinon got depressed that they might have fallen fatally behind because of Mutasina. Friscal: “Whoa whoa, don’t be so down in the dumps, Sinosino. Asuka and ApoDate did get quite a headstart on us, but we’ve got ourselves a hugeass advantage over ‘em ourselves, ain’t that right?”
Sinon: “……What is this ‘advantage’?”
Friscal: “What else could it be: our Ruis na Rig! There shouldn’t be any other powerhouse that managed to set up a base of this scale thirty whole kilometres away from the starting point. If we manage to get through the buzzy-buzz area by the end of the day, I’m confident that we’ve got more than enough chance to catch up to Asuka and ApoDate through better logistics afterwards.”
Sinon: “…………Well, you do have a point……Alright, we’re going through that hornet nest dome.”
Everyone gives a unified smile.
Sinon: “Also, if you call me Sinosino one more time, I’m setting that ghillie suit of yours on fire, got it.”
Chapter 7
A whisper into Kirito's ears (in a forceful/masculine manner of speech): "Come on now, wake the hell up, Kirito."
Kirito woke up and found himself in the cockpit of X'rphan Mk XIII with Commander Eolyne at the pilot's seat, focusing on controlling the dragoncraft. Since Kirito didn't want to bother the guy, he returned his head to the headrest and tried to recall the dream he had just had, in vain. When he gave a sigh,
Eolyne (in a softer manner of speech than the previous voice): "Oh, so you're up, Kirito-kun."
Eolyne informed Kirito that they'd nearly reached their destination by now. Kirito saw
Kirito: "Though......if the people that did move over gave birth to kids......"
Eolyne (bewildered): "Even if kids do get born, the total population isn't going to change, you know?"
Kirito: "Wha......?"
Eolyne: "The number of people coming to this world is identical to the number taking their leave of the world...... doesn't the Real World work the same?"
After a few moments sitting dumbfounded, Kirito realised that Underworld had a population cap, since the Lightcube Cluster only had around 200 000 cubes, making it physically impossible to store more Fluctlights than that. 200 years ago, both the Human Empire and the Dark Territory had around 80 000 pop each. Now that there was no fighting among them, they used up all the free cubes, apparently.
Kirito: "......Uh, no, the Real World doesn't have such a restriction."
Eolyne (stumped): "Wha......but then wouldn't your population keep on increasing without end?"
Kirito: "It is, actually. The current population of the Real World is over 8 billion."
Eolyne: "Eigh-............"
Eolyne found himself at a loss for words for a good three seconds. Then he turned his upper body to the left as much as he could to stare to Kirito with a dumbstruck look.
Eolyne: "D-did you just say 8 billion? You mean, 80 000 times more than 10 000?"
Kirito: "E-ehm (counts the zeroes). Yep, 80 000 times more than 10 000."
Eolyne: "............Goodness gracious......"
Eolyne: "I have read records that tens of thousands of Real Worlder forces were teleported in one after another during the Otherworlder War, so, yes, I did assume your population was quite big...... though I never thought it could possibly be in the billions. So that means, if the worst...... (in a whisper) oh, nevermind."
Even Kirito realised that Eolyne was considering the prospects of another Otherworlder War and how they would be totally outmatched if the next war was even bigger.
Kirito decided to change the topic,
Kirito: "Is a day on Admina of the same length as on Cardina?"
Eolyne: "Yep. Though, Aury, the central capital of Admina, is on the opposite side of the planet compared to Centoria, so it's currently the dead of the night there."
Kirito couldn't figure out what the origin for the city's name could be, nor did he have Yui with him. Kirito noticed artificial light sources on Admina, but Eolyne was heading eastward of them.
Kirito: "Err......We can't exactly land directly in the airfield of the town itself, now can we?"
Eolyne: "Well, yeah; just because we have a cloaking field doesn't mean we can obscure our jets in the middle of the night."
Kirito: "In that case, if we do land in a more secluded spot, how are we going to reach town from there?"
Eolyne: "Kirito-kun, what do you think those long legs of yours are for?"
Kirito (internally): Srsl. Hey wait, they're not all that long.
Eolyne: (chuckles)
----------
The surface of Planet Admina is apparently covered in yellow flowers. The flowers have been there even before the Star King first descended onto the planet. The dragoncraft was currently flying 1000 metres above ground. The flowers apparently change with the seasons... but the flower fields remain yellow throughout the year.
Kirito (internally): Lazyass devs at Rath...... but it was probably the Cardinal System that automatically generated the map when someone first got close to it.
This conversation made Kirito recall Cardinal the Sage from the Great Library Room.
Morning was dawning. The dragoncraft was going in the direction where it was still dark.
Kirito: "......Say, if we want to sneak up to the capital, wouldn't it have been better to head up from the brighter side than the darker side?"
Eolyne: "Well, true, but in that case we'd have to go a lap around Admina, which would double our flight time. Technically, I chose a course that would be impossible to see from Capital Aury due to the roundness of the planet, so the odds of us getting spotted are minisculely low......I think."
The dragoncraft was flying faster than the revolution speed of Admina, so the sky was getting darker.
Kirito wondered how the dragoncraft was nullifying air resistance, since he didn't feel any of it, nor had he seen the dragoncraft getting red hot on entry, but he did remember having to counter air resistence with an aerial element barrier when he was flying with Incarnation back during the war.
Kirito: "Say, Eolyne......"
Alarms suddenly started ringing out in the entire cockpit as a red light came up on the dashboard, interrupting Kirito's thought.
Kirito (flustered): "W-what the!?"
Eolyne (tense but calm): "It's an Incarnation signal. Kirito-kun, did you just pull something?"
Kirito: "I-I didn't do anything!"
Eolyne: "In that case, guess it's an attack. I'll look above, so you keep an eye below."
Kirito: "G-gotcha!"
Kirito (internally): Attack? Who the, why the, how the...
As he alternated between looking to the left and right, Kirito noticed several red lights coming towards them from the lower left ahead of them.
Kirito: "Luminous bodies at ten o'clock!"
Eolyne: "Spotted some on my end too! Those are......Incarnation-Guided Missiles, this is going to get a bit rough!"
Eolyne sped up the craft to a speed that they hadn't even reached during liftoff from Cardina. Kirito found it hard to even breathe properly over the acceleration. Yet the lights were still closing in. The moment the lights were only 500 metres away, Eolyne suddenly pulled off a summersault. Kirito noticed that the guided missiles numbered twelve or thirteen. Thirty percent of them had lost track of them and flew off elsewhere. The remainder turned back towards them and kept chasing them.
Kirito: "I......is someone controlling those things!?"
Eolyne: "Nah, those are Incarnation weapons that automatically pursue their target! There has to be a mecharriage or dragoncraft that fired them off......though!"
Eolyne went for a roll upon finishing that line. Several more missiles were shaken off. Still five or six in pursuit. 300 metres away.
Kirito: "Hey, if it seems like we're about to get shot, I'm using Incarnation!"
Eolyne: "Guess we have no choice; keep it to a minimum though!"
Kirito (internally): We've already been spotted though... though I guess it's possible they haven't realised that the Integrity Pilot Commander and former Star King are on this craft, so using Incarnation in full power would give us away.
A third summersault. Three missiles to go. Less than 200 metres away. Kirito pondered whether he should shoot the missiles down or create a barrier. He settled for a barrier, as he didn't know how big of an explosion to expect from the missiles. Kirito formed an Incarnation barrier about 1/10 as powerful as the one he had used to defend against the Abyssal Horror, around the dragoncraft. Half a second later, the three missiles made contact with the barrier. Kirito felt the feedback, but compared it to about five or six burst thermal elements. There were three missiles and two explosions. Kirito kept the barrier up just in case.
Kirito: "The missiles are all go-......"
Suddenly, Kirito felt something trying to slip through the Incarnation Barrier. Kirito felt as if something was eating through his barrier. Something that felt like a parasitic creature covered in plenty of mucus. Kirito turned around and stared at the right rear of the dragoncraft. There, he noticed something strange wriggling about. 1 metre in length, 5 centimetres thick. Black tube-shaped object. Sorta like a snake or an earthworm. Something organic.
Eolyne (voice not hiding his disgust): "W-what is that thing."
Kirito: "Why are you asking me. Actually...... it's right about to penetrate the barrier!"
Eolyne: "Gotcha. Brace yourself."
Eolyne pushed his hand against the canopy. Ten cryogenic elements were created outside the glass. He then sent them after the earthworm, creating a load of ice the moment they made contact. This froze the front half of the worm.
Eolyne: "Alright......I'm going to land X'rphan, so keep the barrier up in the mean time."
Kirito: "G-gotcha."
Kirito (internally) It feels disgusting to have your Incarnation eaten by the black worm, but guess I have to put up with it.
Kirito tried to reinforce the barrier around the worm. As if having waited for that moment... something wriggled right underneath them. By the time Kirito reacted to this second threat, he felt his Incarnation Barrier having been breached.
Kirito: "Eolyne! Below......"
Boom!
Chapter 8
Asuna suddenly felt a popping sensation at her nape. But there was nothing beside the red carpet on the Grand Stairs behind her.
Alice: "......Asuna, did you just......"
Asuna: "Alice, you too.......?"
Stica/Laura (from the next stair landing): "Asuna-san, Alice-san, is something the matter?"
Neither the two girls, nor Airy seemed to have felt anything off.
Asuna: "Sorry, it's nothing!"
The two girls start climbing the stairs again.
After finishing their bath, the girls changed into bathrobes and chatted over cold drinks and various fruits of all colours. With the 1:30 PM bell, they changed back into their previous outfits and left the bath. Their next goal was the kitchen on floor 94 to prepare a nice feast for Kirito and Eolyne's return. Stica and Laura were arguing on what to make. According to Airy, Star Queen Asuna used to strive towards inventing new dishes in that very kitchen. Asuna doesn't remember anything about that, but she did apparently leave detailed records of all her recipes. Instead, the bigger question was whether Kirtio and Eolyne would be back in time to enjoy the feast without rushing.
Asuna (internally): At least get back with thirty minutes to spare.
Asuna rushed up the final stairs.
Chapter 9
Silica and friends decided to establish a temporary base beside the tunnel leading to the hornet’s nest, creating a ten square meter clearing around it. Sinon and Klein then constructed a foundation, while Lisbeth built a simple cabin. The base was built as a place to gather loads of materials for their plan. Sinon proposed building bunkers mid-fight so that they wouldn’t get surrounded by the hornets. Friscal volunteered to be the messenger between the frontline base and Ruis na Rig due to being specialised for covert operations. Meanwhile, Silica's blueberry-fed bear decided to take a nap. Pina decided to use the bear as an improvised bed.
Monologues about the fleetingness of VRMMO games and how the UR NPCs and pets will likely be deleted once the game is cleared. Since The Seed allows low game production costs, tens of such games have been abandoned in the past 1.5 years.
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While waiting for more of their people to log in, the four of them devoted their time to amassing materials. Mostly just plain logs and ropes, since they only planned to use them for makeshift bunkers that didn’t need to hold out for long (decent buildings also required nails and sawed logs). The cabin was now being used as a storeroom for the materials. 40 minutes material stocking later, the cabin’s storage filled up. Just then, Friscal brought over some reinforcements: Agil, Argo, Leafa from Kirito’s gang; Holger, Dickos and several companions from the ex-Mutasina forces; Zarion, Beaming and several others from Insect Site; 3-4 participants from the Basins and the Pattels, totaling nearly 20 additional members for the boss fight.
Silica: “I-I’m pleasantly surprised to get so many people gathered here! It is still so early in the day, even if it’s a Saturday……”
Leafa: “Well, get this. (looks at Friscal as he is talking to Agil and Klein about something) That guy had been running all around Ruis na Rig, assembling a force this big in the blink of an eye. He even seems to have mastered Basinese and Pattelese to a rather reasonable degree while no one was looking……”
Argo: “(frowning) You can say that again; my gig's findin’ itself in hot water right about now, girL. (smirks) Granted, this li’l ol’ me gets the credit for calling out to Zarion and co, thougH.”
Leafa: “Among the gang, only Agil-san, Argo-san, and Asuna are capable of chatting fluently in English, after all.”
Kirito can apparently speak quite a bit of English too, owing to his former interest in studying abroad in America, but he's not exactly on the level of a native speaker.
Due to being utterly unable to communicate with the foreign players during the war in Underworld, Silica started pouring herself into her English studies, but she still needs people to speak slowly for even a chance to understand what they're saying. Her speaking skills are even more shaky. Zarion finished talking and chatted Silica up.
Silica turned to the three Pattels. Standing up front was Chet (チェット), their female leader with a yellow bandana, tidy leather armour, and a pitchfork.
Chet: "Silica, is it true that you're going to fight the big green hornets?"
Silica (having leveled her Pattelese): "Yeah, we've got to get past the hornet nest to continue through the forest."
The other Pattels, named Chinooki (チノーキ) and Chilf (チルフ), were clearly frightened by the hornets, despite not even having seen them in person.
Chet: "Back when I (using the "atai" pronoun) was a wee lil lass, my gran used to tell me stories. Of how the Pattels were driven out from the prairies by scary, scary green hornets loooong, loooong ago."
Chet began recounting the history of their tribe.
----------
Long, long ago, the Pattels had built a fine town in the rocky mountains in the northern part of the Gjol Prairie (ギヨル平原), where they cultivated corn, kept bees, and lived in peace. But one day, the earth started shaking vehemently and the side of the mountains crumbled down. Subsequently, a swarm of never-before-seen huge, green hornets appeared and attacked the Pattels. Both those that stood up to fight against the invaders, and those who tried to run away and hide from them were killed off, their capital falling to the hornets in the blink of an eye. The survivors fled to the southern prairie, but the savage dinosaurs drove them far, far to the east and only a mere few tens of them managed to reach the 《Great Wall of Gaiu》(ガイユーの大壁). Ever since then, the Pattels had been hounded down by toads and lizards as they barely managed to keep their people alive. They began dreaming of migrating to the Promised Land said to be found at the eastern edge of the world. ----------
Basically, the Pattels were feeling despair that their dream land turned out to have a hornet problem, seeing as it was a swarm of hornets that had destroyed their entire capital. At that point, Sinon perked up the Pattels by suggesting that this could be their chance to get back at the hornets for their ancestors and learn how to deal with them so that they could one day reclaim their old capital. Apparently, the Pattels of yore had deduced the hornets' weakness and passed on that knowledge to their descendants, from chief to chief. As the child of the current chief, Chet had received that knowledge as well. Silica assumed that the NPCs in the Stith Ruins were supposed to give fragmentary info that would have led players to find the Pattels at the Great Wall and learn how to get the hornets by gaining their trust through some quest. But Kirito unknowingly simplified things by bringing the Pattels to their town.
Silica: "W-what is this weakness?"
Chet: "Lobelia flowers."
Chapter 10
Kirito: "Does this flower have a name?"
Eolyne: "......It might have one, but I don't really know what it is."
Kirito and Eolyne have crash-landed in the field of yellow flowers, crushing them with X'rphan.
After their crash-landing, Eolyne had slumped down on the ground. Hugging his knees at the edge of the crashlanding trail, he was staring at the heavily-damaged X'rphan absentmindedly, feeling guilty about breaking the Star King's prized dragoncraft. The wormissile had dug through the dragoncraft's abdominal plating, tearing through the engine and pipes. Yet there were no traces of any burning. The hermetiseal canisters with the eternal elements were also still intact. Technically, the boys could still make the dragoncraft fly with Incarnation, but that wouldn't allow them to pull off its 300 000 km/h speed. When Kirito glanced at the clock just before their crash-landing, he noticed that the it was a few minutes past 2 PM. Kirito only had 3 hours until he was forcefully logged out. To make matters worse, they currently didn't have a way to get back to the Central Cathedral.
Kirito: "Say, Eolyne."
Eolyne: (slightly turns towards Kirito)
Kirito (walking around Eolyne to face him up-front and then bringing his eyes to Eolyne's level): "Do you still believe that I am the one and only Star King?"
Eolyne (blinking a few times before giving a nod): "Yeah......I do."
Kirito: "In that case, in the name of Star King Kirito, I forgive you for damaging X'rphan. Heck, I'm at fault for not noticing that extra black worm crawling up from below. So, it's about time you put a stop to your moping and get down to discussing what we're going to do from this point on."
Eolyne (dumbstruck): "............I wasn't moping or anything, though."
Kirito: "Yeah right, you’re acting just like the time we got thrown into the underground jail at the Cathe-…… (realises that Eolyne isn’t Eugeo) oh uh, nevermind. Anyway, get back on your feet already (supressing the pain in his chest as he extends his hand to Eolyne).”
Eolyne (giving a questioning look): (takes Kirito’s hand).
Kirito wondered why no one was coming to finish them off after shooting down X’rphan. Eolyne speculated that the missiles were either fired by an autonomous watchguard system, or their assailant’s main goal was to strand them on Admina. According to Eolyne, the Ground Forces had been investigating the feasibility of autonomous defence systems, but they hadn’t worked out their friend/foe system, so the project had been shelved… but it was technically possible to create an autonomous defence system if discerning friend from foe wasn’t a concern, theoretically.
Eolyne was more concerned about the wormissile. The frozen one from before was still lying around behind X'rphan in a large block of clear ice. Upon approaching it, Kirito noted that it looked even more gross than he had expected: 1 metre long, 5 centimetres thick black and long tube-shaped worm with small hexagonal scales. In its semi-transparent head was a ring pattern and black speck that looked like a snail eye parasite.
Kirito: "......Say, Eolyne."
Eolyne: "......What?"
Kirito: "How do your folk at home call you?"
Eolyne (with a strange look on his face): "Haah? (exasperated) Is this really the time to be asking something like that?"
Kirito: "Don't you get the urge to shorten names when taking on complex issues? You can just call me Kirito (without honorifics)."
Eolyne: "............"
Eolyne's expression: Is this guy really the Star King? Sigh.
Eolyne: "My mom..... I mean, my mother called me Eo or Eol."
Kirito: "I see. You mind if I go with Eo too?"
Eolyne (with theatrical gestures): "Go right ahead."
Eolyne had never seen such worms before. But he has read documents that describe something similar to these worms. Specifically, the detailed records on the Otherworlder War that only Star Empire Unification Council members could peruse. One such entry was about the biological weapon with automatic homing capabilities that was created by the Dark Territory caster division via forbidden arts by directly transforming the Life of allied forces into spatial resources. The art was officially named 《Deathcurse Worms》(死詛蟲). Kirito had been comatose during the battle at the Great Eastern Gate, but he did have a vague sense of what was going on. After the war, Kirito learnt that it was Eldrie who had sacrificed his life to stop the worm attack. To his knowledge, Alice is still in possession of Eldrie's Divine Object. All the large-scale offensive arts used during the Otherworlder War were discarded in the aftermath. Though, the casters themselves had memorised the incantation, so Eolyne couldn't rule out that some of them had made copies of the art on the sly.
Kirito: "For the time being....... what are we going to do with the earthworm?"
Eolyne: "If the ice were to melt, it might go on the move again. On the other hand, I wouldn't want it to explode on us. Kirito-kun, couldn't you do something about it with your Incarnation?"
Kirito: "Like I said, just call me Kirito. Wait...... so I can use Incarnation now?"
Eolyne: "You've already used it for blocking the missiles and when X'rphan crash-landed, so there's no real point to worrying about it now. Though, well, I would prefer you to hold back, more or less."
Kirito: "Easy for you to say to hold back......"
Kirito monologued about how the harder it is to imagine a specific phenomenon, the more Incarnation it takes to make it a reality. For example, getting paper to burn is far easier than getting rocks or iron to burn. Wiping out the worm at full power would be easy, but holding back required to learn more about the earthworms traits to counter them properly. So, he placed his hand on the ice and used Incarnation to scan the worm. Kirito first felt the sensation of "Cold". Specifically, the worm feeling cold and desiring heat. Kirito speculated that whoever created the worms implanted the primitive desire to avoid cold to force the worm to seek out the nearest heat sources... such as a dragoncraft's eternal thermal elements. Next, Kirito found out that there were four umbral elements sealed in the earthworm's belly. When these elements come into contact with thermal elements, they burst. The reaction would result in micro black holes, which was what had damaged X'rphan.
To disarm these umbral elements,
Kirito: "Eo, give me some luminous elements."
Eolyne: "......You know you could just make them yourself."
Despite his grumbling, Eolyne created a luminous element for Kirito, who then used Incarnation to create little holes in the worm and then push the elements into them. The luminous elements cancelled out the umbral ones.
Kirito then scanned the worm again and noticed a faint consciousness from the worm's body outside of its head. Apparently, the thing in its head really was some different organism parasiting the creature's head. And this parasite was the one seeking out heat. It was also likely the source of the Incarnation-melting mucus to boot.
Kirito used Incarnation to cut open the worm's head and then extract the parasite.
Eolyne (disgusted): "Uwaa, what are you even doing, Kirito (takes a step back)"
Kirito (internally): Took you long enough to get rid of the "-kun".
Once the parasite was fully separated from the worm, it instantly withered away. The parasite apparently can't live on its own.
Kirito: "......I think we're out of the danger zone now."
Eolyne (keeping his distance): "But that thing is more than likely to still be alive."
Kirito: "Well, yeah...... though we could just crush it with the ice to kill it off, probably."
Eolyne: "Uugh......I don't really want to see that."
Kirito: "Well, not like I want to go through that either."
At that moment, Kirito felt something akin to a primal urge, faint as it was, coming from the worm. But it wasn't seeking out physical heat sources specifically; instead, it was seeking a more abstract warmth.
Kirito: (gasps)
Eolyne: "......What's the matter, Kirito."
Kirito: "This thing is a child...... a baby."
Eolyne: "A-a baby?"
Kirito: "I mean that it's just been born. Whoever created this thing forcefed the baby umbral elements and parasited its head with some other organism, turning it into a makeshift guided missile."
Eolyne: "Kirito......are you sympathising with this creature?"
Kirito: "Nah, not really...... I'm just pissed at the dude who turned it into this monstrosity."
Eolyne: "I'm pretty sure it's the same thing, though."
Kirito decided to heal the worm. But since it's an umbral-attribute artificial creature, regular healing arts wouldn't recover its Life. On the other hand, umbral elements were predisposed to gouge out any physical matter it came into contact with, so Kirito couldn't just shove an umbral element into it. Instead, he converted some of the ice into mist-shaped umbral elements (ice was closer to umbral than luminous elements).
Eolyne: "Whoa......so you can use matter conversion arts without incantation. Now that's what I call the legendary......"
Kirito: "Okay, enough already. For starters, the conversion I'm doing here is child's play compared to the Esteemed Supreme Priest's stuff."
Also Kirito: (realises that this was the first time he referenced Administrator in front of Eolyne)
With the mist umbral elements, the worm started healing up and two new organs were formed in its head: small spheres that looked like three rubies on each side. In other words, eyes. It now began to look more like a snake than an earthworm. This was probably the worm's original form. Kirito's idea was that if he released the worm now, it would try to return to its birthplace. By chasing it, they could track down whoever created the worm in the first place. Or at least its production facility.
Kirito used Incarnation to hide the crash trail by growing more flowers. Then he grew the vines of the flowers to cover X'rphan, making it look like an ordinary small hill.
Eolyne: "......Just like the 《Flower-Caller Hoya》 from the stories."
Kirito then released the worm-turned-snakey by using his Night Sky Sword to chop off some of the ice. The black serpent rose to the sky and started flying off to the west, not showing any interest in Kirito or Eolyne. The two boys gave chase. The snakey wasn't going as fast as it did in missile form, but it still forced Kirito and Eolyne to sprint at full speed to keep up. Object Control Authority apparently determines endurance and both of them had quite a bit of it.
Kirito: "Eo, if this gets hard for you, let me know!"
Eolyne: "I could say the same to you, Kirito!"
Kirito (internally): That voice and tone sounds so alarmingly similar to my late partner's... not the time for this...
Chapter 11
Sinon: "Lobelia flowers......"
Sinon (internally): Nope, never heard of them.
Silica and Lisbeth: ""LOBELIA FLOWERS!?""
Sinon: "Huh...... you know them?"
Silica and Lisbeth: (nod with looks of fear and shock)
Silica (in a hoarse voice): "......It is an ingredient for a Level 5 paralysis+damage poison."
Sinon: "Did ALO even have an ingredient like that......?"
Lisbeth: "It's not from ALO. Lobelia flowers were a thing in SAO."
According to Chet, Lobelia flowers inconspicuously bloomed on the roots of old, withered trees. The Pattels couldn't acquire much of any Lobelia flowers in their lands since it lacked trees in general due to draught. To make matters worse, dead trees were predisposed to rotting away quickly under such conditions. On the other hand, the Great Zelueterio Forest was filled with truckloads of trees and withered trees didn't disappear so quickly. The Pattels had never seen the flowers with their own eyes, so they could only give descriptions of the flower they had learnt from their parents. On the other hand, the SAO players among the group had seen Lobelia flowers in SAO, so they could easily help identify them. Agil was the first to spot some beautiful violet blue flowers with four petals that appeared to be eerily twisting, as if in agony. It also had purplish green leaves and black stamina + pistil.
Dickos: "Would ya look at that, what a cute flower. It doesn't look deadly poisonous at all. (extends his right hand to reach for it)"
Silica and Agil: "Agh!"
But they were too late to stop him. The moment Dickos touched the flower's base with his gloveless fingers and plucked it,
Dickos: "Hongyaah! (loses his balance and topples over)"
A blue flower over black ground icon debuff icon appeared by his HP bar as he froze up and started slowly losing HP.
Argo (exasperated): "Whoa whoa now, don't just touch it with your bare hands, maN"
Argo forces down an antidote potion that Asuna and Sinon had crafted with their Pharmacist skill. Despite the girls not having leveled their skill that much yet, the potion was enough to save Dickos from dying a stupid death.
Dickos (taking his distance from the flower as he groans): "Maaan, I sure underestimated these flowers...... I've taken on 《Poison Resistance》 and 《Resistance》 abilities and still got hit with the poison just by plucking it."
Lisbeth: "Didn't we warn you; Lobelias are seriously bonkers. You would have been dead right about now if you were to have eaten it."
Chet: "And here we thought that humankin are all supposed to be clever."
----------
The gang split into groups of 3-4 to search for more flowers, now that they were all familiar with what the flowers looked like. By the time they all gathered at 3 PM, the entire assembly of twenty people had only found enough flowers to fill half of a large pot. Though, according to Chet, that was more than enough. The gang set up a stove and started boiling the flowers in water, causing steam to come out of the pot.
Sinon: "Is the steam not dangerous to inhale?"
Chet: "No worries. Though my daddy told me to never take a sip of the broth, no matter what."
Sinon: "Why would we ever do that."
When Sinon took a whiff of the vapour, she realised that it smelled like designer brand perfume.
Sinon: "......I can see why people would get the urge to give it a sip."
Silica: "Indeed, it sure smells really sweet......"
Chet: "Lobelia poison is scary, but not really that scary."
Lisbeth: "W-what's that supposed to mean?"
Chet: "This poison loses its colour and smell thirty minutes after being crafted. At that point, it just becomes regular water."
Everyone: "............"
So, the poison can't really be used for massive PKing, but it also meant that they had to assault the hornet hive within thirty minutes of the poison being cooked.
Sinon: "Chet, how much longer is this going to take?"
Chet: "It'll be ready once all the flowers dissolve. So, about five more minutes."
Klein/Agil?: "Whoa now, that ain't leavin' us much time for dilly-dallying."
Klein, Agil, and Argo pass on the news to the others, who were having some friendly chats amongst each other. Sinon, Silica, and Lisbeth lined up bottles on the table and got ready to divvy up the poison.
Sinon monologues about how tenaciously surviving through any unexpected circumstances was the strong point of VRMMO players as she looked up the sky and mentally called out to Kirito, Asuna, and Alice - Sinon and co doing their best on the UR side.
Chapter 12
Kirito began his narration by complaining that he had never run as desperately as he was now chasing the black snakey. 30 minutes of running later the snakey started descending. By then, Eolyne already had multiple drops of sweat running down his forehead and had also opened up his spacesuit down below his chest. Yet he didn’t remove his mask nonetheless, even though Solus was only starting to rise above the horizon.
At that point, they arrived at a basin with a three-storey building and a runway. The snakey went straight for the building. Eolyne drew Kirito’s attention to the runway, where they noticed a large dragoncraft that surpassed X’rphan in size. Kirito assumed that this was the thing that had launched missiles at them. Eolyne was concerned that they had to have known about their entry to Admina beforehand, but wasn’t sure if it was because of an information leak, or because they had some super good sensors.
Eolyne: “……Kirito. I have to investigate this base. Naturally, it’s going to come with quite a few risks, so I’m not going to ask you to come……”
Kirito: “I am coming with you, obviously. I wouldn’t know what to say to Stica and Laurannei if something happened to you when you ran off on your own, and I might be able to find what I’m looking for in that base. Actually…… if I could just use Incarnation, we wouldn’t even need to go out of our way sneaking in; I could just pull the building out of the ground and even analyse the walls and ceiling, I think……”
Eolyne: “………….”
Kirito (internally): Not sure if he’s exasperated or impressed… probably the former.
After three seconds of silence, Eolyne argued that whoever was inside the base probably wasn’t aware that the two of them had tracked them down and they had no guarantee that the ringleader was on site, so he preferred to maintain their operation covert as long as they could.
Kirito: “You do have a point…… Alright, I’ll follow your orders.”
Eolyne (giving Kirito a suspicious glance): “Alright. Though, I only have one order. Hold on tight to my hand.”
Kirito: “H-hold your hand……? You know, surely I'm NOT in the age group at risk of getting easily lost.”
Eolyne: “That’s not what I meant; I’m planning to use the 《Kuu Incarnation》.”
Kirito (not identifying the kanji): “K-kuu……?”
Eolyne: (draws the kanji 空: empty/vacuum/void)
Kirito: “空…… w-what do you mean by void……?”
Eolyne: “It’s a derivative of the 《Incarnation to hide one’s Incarnation》 that I mentioned before: the 《Incarnation to erase one’s presence》.”
Kirito: “Erase… one’s presence……So you’re saying you’re going to imagine yourself vanishing?”
Eolyne: “No, that’s not what I meant. It is impossible to actually make oneself vanish with Incarnation…… After all, your own being is the source of the Incarnation. It’s more like when you use a cleanator’s suction tube to vacuum the cleanator itself.”
Kirito (internally): Oh, so they have device similar to a vacuum cleaner in this age.
Eolyne: “……Though, with Incarnation of your level, Kirito, you might actually end up getting around the aforementioned Providence. So, whatever you do, don’t even try erase yourself with Incarnation, not even as a joke.”
Kirito (raising his hand in a gesture for making promises) : “I-I shall take your advice to heart. Though, in that case, what is this Void Incarnation then……?”
Eolyne: “Simply put, it’s an Incarnation that allows you to erase the self that others perceive……I guess. Actually no, it’s not exactly erase per se…… it’s more like diluting it, or fusing it……”
Kirito: “Diluting? Fusing……?”
Eolyne: “It would take me over an hour to explain it in detail. For now, just have faith that as long as you cling to me, the guards won’t be able to find you.”
Kirito: “A-alright, gotcha…… I’ll have faith in you.”
So, Kirito grabbed Eolyne’s hand and moments later saw something like a ripple going through his vision. Then he felt as if the boundary between himself and the rest of the world became unclear, as his body began to feel as if it was spreading through the world. The sensation soon faded away, but didn’t disappear. When he looked at Eolyne, he saw the man’s contour’s wavering, as if the two of them had become ghosts. Though when Kirito put more pressure into his hand, he realised that their physical contact was still very much firm.
Kirito (internally): Wow, I shouldn’t get so full of myself just because I can make walls and make dragoncrafts fly with Incarnation. Technique-wise, Eolyne far surpasses my Incarnation.
Kirito began following Eolyne down the hill.
----------
Kirito (internally): Okay, this building looks much heavier than I thought. It might not actually be that easy to lift it up with Incarnation.
Kirito and Eolyne headed for the side entrance on the northern side, guards in blackish uniforms with guns on either side. The guards took no notice of them, in spite of the fact that the two boys were going straight for the entrance. The guards didn't even take notice of their noisy footsteps, proving that Eolyne's Incarnation was interfering with perception, rather than just concealing them.
Kirito thought back to the old days, recalling that he practically never saw any guards standing watch during his Swordcraft days, since Underworlders couldn't break rules anyway. So, it was weird that both this base and the Central Cathedral had strict security. As they approach the guards, Kirito starts getting doubts that the guards aren't just faking that they can't see them. Kirito notices that his hands have become sweaty, while Eolyne's hand is still dry.
Kirito (internally): Eugeo's hand felt just like his.
Having sneaked past the guards, the boys entered the building through the side entrance. No guards or people in the corridor. Kirito noticed a stairwell on the right and Eolyne headed straight for it, where he let go of Kirito's hand and undid the Void Incarnation with a big sigh. Using the Void Incarnation took a lot out of Eolyne, so much so that he began taking deep breaths due to the exhaustion. Kirito even noticed that Eolyne looked pale even in the dark corridors. Kirito grabbed a bottle of a highly-concentrated Healing Agent that Laura had given him from his belt and offered it to Eolyne.
Eolyne drank the entire bottle in one go, before returning it to Kirito with a sour look.
Kirito: "......Does it taste that bad?"
Eolyne: "Hmm...... it tastes like dark-roasted cofil tea with pickled siral peels, I guess......"
Kirito: "I see."
Kirito (internally): So, it tastes like concentrated lemon coffee, huh.
Kirito: "......So, where do we start our investigation?"
Eolyne: "What do you propose?"
Kirito: "Well, that'd obviously be the basement."
Eolyne: "Why?"
Kirito: "If we're looking for fishy experiments, it's gotta be in the basement, that's just common sense."
Kirito (internally): Oh wait, there was nothing but a prison in the basement of the Central Cathedral. Her Holiness Administrator is just conceited though.
Eolyne agreed with the idea but warned Kirito that they'd be going in without the Void Incarnation. The two then began descending the stairs.
Chapter 13
The group has now made 20 bottles of Lobelia poison. According to Chet, the giant hornets live off by assaulting places with tons of humankin, demi-humankin, or large animals, whose corpses they use as seedbeds to cultivate giant flowers, whose nectar they in turn use as food to increase their numbers, until a part of the swarm eventually leaves the colony to build new nests. The dome area that the current nest occupies is filled with Rafflesia (stinking corpse lily/monster flower) flowers.
Klein (with a know-it-all look): "That there's whatcha call an 《offshoot swarm (分蜂)》!"
Lisbeth: "We don't need your random trivia right now."
Lisbeth expressed concern that Ruis na Rig would be the next victim of the hornet assaults unless they did something about the buzzer problem. Sinon is serving as the leader of the raid party. They've finished all of their prepwork while waiting for the Lobelia concoction to finish up. They had a total of 24 players on board for the raid. The raid was divided into 6 parties of 3-5 players each. One party got 3 bottles of Lobelia concoction each. The two remaining bottles were given to Argo and Chet as spares, since those two were their most nimblest members. The brawny players filled their storage with the building materials they had gathered.
At 3:30 PM, the group entered the dome.
According to Friscal, the hornets don't react to players close to the entrance, so the group built a beachhead out of logs. Then six players with scout builds put on some ghillie suits that they had learnt how to craft from Chet and the other Pattels, and sneaked into the hornets' range. Their goal was to reach the Rafflesia flowers (officially known as 《Galgarmol Flowers (ガルガーモルの花)》 in the game) and spike them with poison, hoping that the hornets would be lured in by the sweet smelling nectar and partake in the poison.
The risky job of poisoning the flowers was taken on by Dickos, Sissy the tiger beetle, Friscal, Argo, Silica, and Chet from the Pattels. Silica was concerned about exposing Chet to such danger, but the Pattel insisted on doing the job. Silica had reached level 17 during her exploration of the forest and had thus earned a total of 16 Ability points by now. She had conserved half of her points, which she now used to acquire the 《隠れ身》(Kakuremi = Vanishing) skill to greatly increase her hiding capabilities.
The dome area was divvied up by the six scouts. Silica got sneak from grass to grass in the nine o’clock area, if the fifty-metre-wide dome area were to be compared to a clock. By the time Silica reached the halfway point and took a breather, Sissy and Argo, located on the farthest ends away from Silica, had nearly arrived at the centre of the dome. Not wanting to be outpaced by those two, Silica was about to leave her hiding spot, when… she suddenly heard a buzzing overhead.
As the hornet continued buzzing around her with no sign of going elsewhere, Silica heard a noise and felt something touching her left shoulder. With her right hand, she touched her shoulder and felt something round with her fingers. She picked it up and brought it before her eyes…… only to have to hold back a scream upon seeing what it was. What she found was a ten-centimetre-long bug. Since the system apparently treated her grabbing the bug as an attack, a cursor appeared over it: 《コハクミツスイダニ》(Kohakumitsusuidani = amber honeyeater tick). Finding out that her bug was a tick only made Silica 30% more disgusted by it.
Silica managed to poison her first flower... but only barely avoided having some drops of it splash onto her own hand. At this point, Silica wished they had someone with a leatherwork skill so she could have them make some fingerless gloves that Kirito was a fan of, since they would offer some protection without interfering with her finger's tactile sensations. Silica finished poisoning the next three flowers without a hitch and was about to head for her fifth one, when she heard a shriek coming from behind. There, she saw two hornets carrying something… and that something was Chet. The Pattel was hanging limp from the hornets. Although she still had over eighty percent of her HP left, there was a stinger shaped debuff icon next to it. Silica deduced that Chet was stung by the hornets and paralysed.
Silica glanced back at the beachhead, where she saw Sinon already aiming her musket, yet seconds passed and the sniper didn’t open fire. Silica realized that the hornets were covering Chet, so Sinon was finding it hard to shoot them down without hitting Chet.
Silica (internally): If only Kirito or Asuna were here——! (clenches her teeth to suppress her primitive reflex to rely on them)
Silica then began rationally analysing the situation. She presumed that the hornets saw Chet not as an enemy, but just as some random prey that had wandered in, so they weren’t planning to just kill her right away. This meant that if they managed to wipe out the hornets, Chet could be saved. Silica thus finished her job and started heading back, when she saw a paralysed hornet falling down a short distance away. The cursor above it read 《ギルナリス・ワーカー・ホーネット》 (Gilnaris Worker Hornet). Then another one fell. Then another. And so one after another, the paralysed hornets continued falling down. As Silica and the other scouts returned to their beachhead, Silica looked back at the nest and saw the moment Chet was dragged into the hornet’s nest.
Silica (internally): We’re going to save you, no matter what.
Sinon: “Battle stations! Builder Squad, Cover Squad, advance!”
Chapter 14
Kirito’s perturbed how silent the inside of the base was. The two boys continued descending one set of stairs after another, but still couldn’t reach the next floor. After about three floors worth of stairs,
Kirito: “Say, was this underground part of the base excavated by human effort……?”
Eolyne (exasperated): “Is that really a pressing question……?”
Kirito: “I-I wouldn’t say pressing……”
Eolyne: “Oh, fine. Underground construction on this level is usually done using 《Darkness Element Excavation Techniques》.”
Kirito: “Oh, darkness element…..?”
At that point, Kirito realised that umbral elements were like mini black holes when burst, sucking up and eliminating surrounding material.
Kirito: “I see…… But isn’t that dangerous? I’m getting the feeling that precise control of darkness elements requires quite the skilled caster.”
Eolyne: “Indeed. We only managed to use this technique safely when the 《Light Element Permeating Steel》 art that could withstand multiple Darkness Element bursts was……”
Eolyne suddenly stopped his explanation and pointed his finger forward.
They had finally caught sight of the door at the end of the stairs. The boys silently approached the doors and opened them just enough to take a peek inside. Beyond the door was a metal corridor with some faint source of light deeper inside. The two of them sneaked inside and noticed a glass wall to the right up ahead. There was an elevator at the other end of the hall, which was likely the main route to the hall, while the stairs they arrived from were the emergency stairs. Kirito was worried that they'd have nowhere to hide if someone came down the elevator, so they'd have to rely on Eolyne's Void Incarnation to hide themselves if it came to it, but Eolyne was still looking somewhat pale.
Kirito (internally): That's the one point that makes him different from Eugeo; despite his frail appearance, Eugeo was actually pretty tough......
When the two finally arrived at the glass wall and looked up,
Kirito: "............!! (holds back from letting out a shout)"
Beyond the glass was what seemed to be an observation room with another glass window. Beyond this second window, Kirito witnessed a giant snake on the floor inside a room as big as a minor gymnasium. The snake was around twenty metres long and so wide that even two people together wouldn't be able to chain their hands around it.
Eolyne (whispering in awe): "......A Divine Beast......"
Divine Beasts referred to giant creatures that used inhabit various parts of the Human Empire long, long ago. Basically, the equivalent of named monsters in game terms. However, the great majority of these creatures were hunted down by the Integrity Knights under Administrator's orders and were turned into Divine Objects.
Kirito: "W-wait, so Divine Beasts still exist in this day and age?"
Eolyne: "Well, of course they do. Though, all Divine Beasts are under strict protection by the Star Empire Law; it's forbidden to even enter their domains. Shutting one of these beasts inside an underground basement is so barbaric that the person responsible has to lack any fear whatsoever, even when it comes to God......"
Kirito (internally): The God he has in mind is probably The Creation Goddess Stacia (imagines Asuna).
There were several red and green tubes coming out of the floor. Two of them were thrust into the giant snake's mouth. Some other tubes with needles were piercing its body directly. It seemed that the snake was being drugged to sleep.
Eolyne (pointing to the snake's head): "Is it just me...... or did something move over there......?"
Kirito: "Wha......"
Kirito focused on the snake's head and saw something squirming at the snake's nose.
Kirito: "Eo, isn't that the black snake that had been pursuing us?"
Eolyne: "Oh......that could indeed be the case...... But why are they held so deep underground?"
Kirito then noticed some vents on the ceiling.
Kirito: "If those are vents, they should be going up all the way to the roof."
Eolyne: "Good point. Meaning that the black snakes were born in this place...... wait, could it be...... (stops talking)"
Kirito arrived at the same conclusion: the comatose Divine Beast was the one giving birth to those black snakes. Someone was making the giant serpent have babies. Then whoever was behind this plot was taking the baby snakes and planting parasites into their heads, as well as forcing some umbral elements down into their stomach. This resulted in the organic missiles that had shot them down.
The black snake baby was trying to wake up the big serpent, but that wouldn't be happening while the mommy serpent was drugged.
Kirito: "Eo...... what do we do?"
Eolyne, five seconds later: "......Unfortunately, we have no way to save the Divine Beast and its children right now. Now that we know the base's location, we should head back to Cardina and send in an official investigation team after reporting to the Star Empire Unification Coun-......"
In the middle of Eolyne's response, they heard a metallic sound coming from the other end of the glass. Two people with hazmat suits stepped inside the giant room through a thick set of doors and headed straight for the giant snake. The guy up front had a long, metal rod with pincers on its tip, in his right hand.
The guy up front pointed the rod at the baby snake, causing the pincer end of it to suddenly extend and grab it, before reeling the pincers back in. As the two people in hazmat suits began talking, Kirito and Eolyne headed for the door next to the window and sneaked into the observation room. There was a speaker in the room that was picking up on the conversation from the two figures.
Hazmat Suit A: "......can't have just laid eggs out of nowhere. The last stimulant was administered eight days ago, so there should still be two more weeks till the eggs in its belly reach the bare minimum size."
Hazmat Suit B: "But then where did this youngling come from? Don't tell me someone overlooked it during egg collection?"
Hazmat Suit A: "Based on the procedure for the egg collection, that's even less likely...... either way, we've got to handle this post-haste. Should we go through the guided missile procedure again with it?"
Hazmat Suit B: "Nah, it's already too big for the procedure. Even if we did plant the parasite into it, the parasite wouldn't be able to fully dominate its brain. No choice but to dispose of this thing."
The guy without the rod opened a case he had equipped on his hazmat suit and took out a large syringe, telling his partner to hold the snakey down tight. As the needle approached the little snakey, it suddenly broke off at its base, while the syringe itself crumbled away a moment later.
As the needle approached the little snakey, it suddenly broke off at its base, while the syringe itself crumbled away a moment later.
Men: "W-what the!?
Kirito and Eolyne: "Ah (exchanging glances)"
Kirito (internally): Okay, so it was my Incarnation that broke up the syringe, but I wasn't the one who broke the needle. So much for that 'Wait, so you're actually sympathising with these creatures?' shtick of yours!
Suddenly a siren rang out in the room... and probably the entire base. Meanwhile, the hazmat suit guys were rushing out of the room.
Kirito: "Well, this is bad......our Incarnation got picked up. W-what do we do now? Run for it?"
Eolyne: "Nah...... we only used our Incarnation for a single moment, so they can't possibly have narrowed down its source precisely. We'd be better off hiding in this room than running around willy-nilly."
Kirito: "B-but this place isn't exactly safe from......"
Just then, the elevator started coming down.
Kirito: "......the guards that seem to be coming down here already."
Eolyne: "No worries, we'll use my 《Void Incarnation》 once more."
Eolyne grabbed Kirito's hand and pulled him close, Kirito's chin landing on the commander's right shoulder. Eolyne activated his Void Incarnation. Kirito suddenly felt a painful chill piecing his senses. Or rather, it felt like a swirling flame of darkness that ate up all heat and light. He heard the doors open behind him as polished leather boots stepped on the floor.
Chapter 15
The raid party is currently engaging the hornets. The party has made several “bunkers”, which are basically just simple cabins that are cheap to build but have a decent Durability. These bunkers are used to provide cover to their injured teammates so they could heal up while the hornets are busy gnawing on the cabin’s logs, but they also serve as hornet lures to reduce the number of them engaging actual players. Holger’s Bunker B is slightly below 1600/4000 Durability, so he requested aid. Dickos rushed over to the cabin and selected the Repair option from the building menu. Repairs aren’t instantaneous: selecting the repair option starts a 30 second countdown, during which the repairer has to stay put and avoid getting hurt, so Holger defended the guy in the meantime, while Sinon fired at the hornets with her musket.
The raid party has a total of three bunkers. The repair duty is handled by Dickos and Sissy with all the logs and ropes the party has stockpiled before the battle. Meanwhile, Agil, Klein, and Leafa from the ALO team + Zarion and co from Insect Site + Basin warriors are holding up the front line by engaging the giant hornets. The lightly armoured Basins appear to have prior experience fighting against hornets, as they easily evade the stingers.
It's already been five minutes since the battle began, none of the fighters have been paralysed yet. Sinon kept watch on the party's HP bars and organised fighter placement. She ordered a spear guy named "Thomosin" (Dickos's teammate) to fall back and heal up, so he rushed over to Bunker C, while a grasshopper named Needy got out of Bunker B and looked at Sinon with his black compound eyes, awaiting orders.
Needy went to replace Thomosin. Sinon was relieved that they understood each other right away. Sinon has some confidence in her English skills (though she sees herself below Asuna and Kirito), but getting good scores on tests isn't the same as actually conversing with a native speaker. She sort of regretted not joining the American GGO server, though that would have meant that she wouldn't have met Kirito and become friends with Asuna in turn.
In her monologues, Sinon thinks about Spiegel/Kyouji. Apparently, he has been admitted to a medical reformatory (officially a "juvenile correctional medical care and education center") three months ago. He'll be in there for quite a long time due to Death Gun's actions claiming the lives of 4 people. Shino had gone to see him, but she didn't actually get the chance to meet him per se. This is followed by monologues about Spiegel, how SAO has been center of all incidents, and how they needed to reach the aurora place to find out if UR would be the end of things.
Over half of the hornets had been paralysed before the battle commenced, so they managed to hold the front lines with only ten people, despite more and more hornets leaving the nest. Chet was still at 80% HP, though Sinon was worried about her being turned into larva food at some point. As Sinon worried about the situation, a healed-up Lisbeth rushed out of Bunker A. Sinon ordered her to the center and in turn ordered Klein to fall back.
Klein started drinking his potion beside the bunker entrance.
Klein: "Yo, Sinosino, feelin' like things are runnin' smoothly, aincha!?"
Sinon: "I'm pretty sure I told you I'd burn anyone calling me like that."
Klein also seemed to be worried about Chet. Sinon did have the possibility of using Hecate II to destroy the nest if things got dicey, but she had a limited stock of ammo and there was no guarantee she wouldn't harm Chet with it.
Several minutes later (around ten minutes into the battle), the hornets stopped coming out of the nest. Sinon ordered everyone to clean up. No one has got stung so far. As Sinon finished loading her musket, however, she suddenly felt a chill going down her spine. Something was coming out of the topmost hole of the nest. A hornet head popped out of it... but it was four to five times the size of the worker hornets. Next came its chest and six legs. Then its large abdomen. Finally, a stinger as long as a small sword. The new hornet was easily over two metres long. Emerald head and belly, orange wings. Its cursor had three HP bars. Its name: 《ギルナリス・クイーン・ホーネット》 (Gilnaris Queen Hornet). But that's not all. The queen was followed by four 《ギルナリス・ソルジャー・ホーネット》 (Gilnaris Soldier Hornets) that were smaller compared to the queen, but were still pretty big and had huge jaws.
The five new hornets started descending onto the battlefield. Sinon surveyed her surroundings. Most of the flying worker hornets were already handled, but there were over a hundred of the paralysed ones still lying around, and it seemed they'd start returning to normal in a minute or two. That would be too much for the raid to handle. So, it was time to play their own ace.
Sinon: "Silica, your time to shine!"
Silica: "Okay!"
Silica brought out Misha from the southern tunnel, where they had been waiting on standby.
Sinon: "Silica and Misha, aggro the queen and find out what she's made of! Agil and Klein, Zarion and Beaming, Liz and Leafa, Dickos and Holger, your pairs will be taking on one guard each! Everyone else, clean up the worker hornets!"
Holger: "Sinosino, sure you don't need a guard while you load up your gun?"
Sinon: "I'm fine, I'll use my laser gun if shit hits the fan."
Holger: "Roger, though do be careful now! (follows after Klein)"
Sinon (internally): Once this battle is over, I'm gonna have have to drill into the boys' thick skulls just how serious I am about banning the nickname "Sinosino".
Chapter 16
The leather boots clinked through the room and stopped beside the window for observing the Divine Beast. Two more men entered the room and lined up behind the first person. The siren stopped howling at that moment. Kirito and Eolyne were crouching under that same window, only three metres away from the men. After some hesitation, Kirito carefully looked up at the intruders… although he and Eolyne were technically the ones intruding. The two men in the rear were dressed in a dark grey uniform just like the guards outside, but these men were armed with swords rather than rifles, and they looked to be in their twenties or thirties. Meanwhile, the person up front, on the other hand, was ambiguous: Kirito couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman, nor whether they were young or old. This person was wearing a dark grey coat with a silver epaulette. The person wasn’t wearing a hat, but their long collar and abundant wavy hair made it hard to see the person’s face. They looked a bit taller than Kirito and Eolyne.
Maintaining the Void Incarnation, Eolyne let out laboured breaths. Kirito could only pray that the three people would be leaving them soon.
Coated person (in a slightly husky voice that made it hard to distinguish between male and female): “……I take it there’s no cause to doubt that the high-level abnormal Incarnation was detected by the Incarnometer on this floor?”
Guard A: “Yes, indeed, Your Excellency. The Incarnometers on the first floor and the roof had also reacted to it, but the highest values came from here underground.”
Guard B: “Additionally, the lab workers have also reported a cryptogenic phenomenon.”
Excellency: “Cryptogenic?”
Guard: “From what were were told, their syringes broke apart just when they were about to perform a lethal injection on the Divine Beast’s youngling in the isolation room, it seems. The lab workers fear that the Divine Beast had used Incarnation against them and are now refusing to leave the analysis room.”
Excellency: “Fmmhh……”
Pondering, the person suddenly turned in Kirito‘s direction and looked down, allowing Kirito to see their face. Kirito had associated this individual’s aura with violent, whirling black flames, but their beautiful face did not match his first impression. Long-slit eyes with long eyelashes, vivid crimson lips, and pale blue eyes with a silver streak. Both Kirito and Eolyne tensed up when those icy eyes gazed in their direction.
Excellency: “……I presume we are absolutely certain that 《Arvus》 shot down the hostile dragoncraft?”
Guard: “Yes, we can guarantee it, as we have sighted a darkness elemental explosion and black smoke coming from that very area. Just to be sure, we have dispatched a search party to the estimated crash site, but they have yet to report any findings.”
Excellency (turning back to the snake room): “In that case, there is the possibility that the crew managed to escape before they crashed down.”
Guard: “If I may…… even if we suppose the crew did actually manage to survive, we believe it is impossible for them to manage to track down our base, let alone infiltrate it.”
Excellency (nodding): “Hmmm…… (admonishing) Yet making the impossible possible is exactly what Incarnation is about. If you put too much faith in Incarnometres and Anti-Incarnation Gear, you’ll find yourself in a world of trouble.”
Guard: “Oh, yes…… ——Your Excellency, are you implying that someone has already infiltrated the base?”
Excellency: “Who’s to say.”
The moment the coated person gave a slight nod, Kirito felt a freezing chill going down his spine. Reflexively, he pulled Eolyne toward himself as he flopped to the floor as fast as he could without making a sound.
The very next moment, the "Excellency" thrust their right hand into their coat, pulled out the sabre hanging at their left hip, and slashed towards them. Kirito felt the invisible-to-the-naked-eye slash grazing his nose as the metal wall to his immediate right gave off sparks. Kirito was surprised he didn’t instinctively create an Incarnation Barrier to protect himself against a slash as clean as this. Kirito was only able to avoid it because it was a horizontal slash.
Guard: “Y……Your Excellency, what happened!?”
Excellency: “Oh, nothing. ——Sugin, Domui, return to the first floor and strengthen the front entrance and rear exit guard. I’ll investigate the isolation room just to be safe.”
Guard: “In that case, we’ll……”
Excellency: “No need. Go!”
The guards quickly left the room. The “Excellency” reached out for the handle of the door that probably led to the analysis room... but looked back in Kirito’s direction beforehand. Kirito avoided eye contact. Eventually, Kirito heard the door opening, then boots clicking and the door closing again, as the footsteps receded and then disappeared. The next moment, Eolyne’s Void Incarnation turned off, the Commander still lying on top of Kirito.
Kirito (giving the guy a pat on the back): “Good job, you saved our hides back there. Now’s our chance to head outsi……”
Just as Kirito was about to heave a sigh of relief… Eolyne fell off him, as if going limp.
Chapter 17
The queen hornet's first move was to unleash some ear-piercing strange noise from its mouth. It didn't deal any debuffs, but it was so unpleasant that everyone had to cover their ears. This gave the solider hornets the opportunity to ram the other eight fighters. The worst off was Leafa, as she's a glass cannon. Silica rushed over to the stunned Leafa, but she was told to focus on her own job. By then, the queen hornet had recovered from its post-sound-wave rigidity. Silica presumed that the queen's next attack would be coming in the next two seconds, which might pose a danger to their frontline warriors.
Silica: "Misha, 《Spineedles》!"
Meanwhile, Queen's stinger started shining red. Silica instinctively realised that this was going to be an AoE physical attack with poison debuffs. But Misha managed to unleash its spine-shooting attack first, hitting the queen and her soldiers. This blew them away. The Queen lost nearly 80% of its first HP bar. Meanwhile, the soldiers all lost half of theirs.
Sinon ordered Argo's group (Argo, Friscal, Needy, the Basins, and the Pattels) to continue cleaning up the paralysed worker hornets.
Agil: "Thanks for the save, Silica!"
Zarion:
Silica started fervently thinking of what to do now.
Silica (internally): What would Kirito do at a time like this?
Silica was impressed with Kirito's creativity in tight spots.
The queen was too high for Silica to reach with her weapons. She considered ideas like making towers or mobile towers..... when she was hit with an idea. Silica climbed on top of her bear's shoulder and asked Misha to stand up. This lifted her up by about three metres. High enough to reach the queen with a Sword Skill from there. The soldiers went after Misha (probably because they were aggroed by the last attack). Klein, Leafa, Dickos, and Holger intercepted the soldiers. Meanwhile, the queen opened up its jaws for another sonic attack. Silica ordered Misha to rush in and unleashed 《Rapid Bite》 after jumping off the bear. Silica's dagger stabbed the queen in the face. The attack not only stopped the queen's sonic attack but also managed to deal a great knockback. With a summersault, Silica landed on Misha's shoulder again. Pina landed on her head, letting out a proud "Pyui!".
Lisbeth: "Nice one, Silica!"
Silica: "It's thanks to the dagger you crafted for me, Liz-san!"
Silica (internally, after drawing emotional strength from the fact that her dagger was made out of Kirito's sword): And Kirito-san's ingots.
Silica's Rapid Bite landed a critical, apparently. The queen's first HP bar was wiped out. Having recovered from the knockback, the angry queen hornet charged in again.
Silica (internally): Just you wait Chet. We'll be right there to save you.
Suddenly, the queen showed off its sharp trophi... as if sneering. Then it started rising up into the air. Six metres, seven metres.... and out of Silica's range. The queen stopped at around eight metres and its long antennae took on a bluish white light. The light started to spread towards the base of the antennae.
Fearing that something bad would happen when the light went all the way through,
Silica: "――Sinon-san! Snipe!"
Just then, bam!
It seemed that Sinon's sense for danger had tingled, as she opened fire on the hornet queen just as Silica called out to her. Sinon's shot snapped the left antenna in half. But Sinon was a second late. The light had just passed that very point less than a second ago and so it continued on. The light reached the queen's head. Her eyes unleashed a stream of dazzling light that spread out all over the dome.... and that's it. No one got hurt, suffered TP or SP loss, or got debuffs.
Just as Silica wondered what that attack was all about...all the paralysed worker hornets suddenly started buzzing as they got off the ground. Turns out the queen's move wasn't an attack... it removed debuffs from her subbordinates. Sinon ordered the cleanup detail to assemble beside Misha.
As Silica stood dumbfounded, the queen hornet gave another haughty sneer.
Chapter 18
Kirito: "Eo......! Are you okay, Eolyne!"
Eolyne had gone limp, his eyes closed. Kirito touched the guy's neck to check his pulse (which wouldn't have worked in a usual VRMMO, but Underworld was no ordinary VR world), but it was very weak. His skin was also startlingly cold. Deciding that the only thing he could do was to allow the guy to get some proper rest, Kirito took Eolyne into his arms. Kirito suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, soon realising that the situation reminded him of the top floor of the Central Cathedral.
Kirito felt his crystalised grief and memories slowly dissolving into his bloodstream.
Eugeo (flashback): "Our roads part here.......but our memories will remain forever."
Eugeo (flashback): "Meaning... that we're best friends... forever."
Kirito decided to dam up those feelings and focus on the present. His priority now was to get Eolyne out to safety. Weighing his options, Kirito noticed the "Excellency" and the two lab workers entering the isolation room. The former didn't even bother putting on a hazmat suit. The three of them stopped in their tracks a short distance away from the comatose serpent. Unlike the lab workers, the "Excellency" went up even closer to the snake, so much so that they could reach it with their hands. As Istar peered into the serpent's mouth, their conversation was relayed to Kirito through the speakers.
Excellency: "......It seems to me that the stasis device is functioning without issue."
Lab worker: "Y-yes......we are administering the standard drug dose."
Excellency: "Fmmh. Where is that youngling that you spoke of?"
Lab worker: "W.......well....."
After the two lab workers exchanged glances with each other,
Lab worker: "......W-we lost sight of it when we evacuated. Though I do believe it is still in the isolation room, somewhere......"
Excellency: "So, you're saying you have no idea where that youngling came from, nor do you know where it disappeared to."
Lab worker: "W......well, at the present moment, that is what it comes down to......"
Excellency (in a voice so chilly that even Kirito subconsciously wanted to duck his head): "Find it and capture it."
Lab worker: "B......but Your Excellency, Istar......there is a chance that the Divine Beast's Incarnation attack will befall on us if we lay a hand on the youngling......"
Kirito (internally): Seems like they attributed our Incarnation attack on their syringe to the Divine Beast. ――Wait, did he just mention a name? Is......Istar. That's definitely what I heard. Not sure if it's a name or surname, but it seems like it's the name of this 《Excellency》 character. It sorta has the same ring to it as Goddess Ishtar from Mesopotamian mythology, but it's probably unrelated to it.
Istar's wavy black hair's highlight looked a bit red in the bright light. Combined with their light blue eyes, Kirito's first impression gave him the image of a cold flame through association.
Kirito (internally): If I were one of those subordinates, no way in hell would I want to be on the other end of that gaze.
Istar: "......Even supposing that the Divine Beast was indeed the one to unleash that Incarnation attack, the effects of it were limited to the syringe, weren't they?"
Lab worker: "Y-yes.......that is true, but......"
Istar: "Meaning that you're safe as long as you don't try to kill the youngling. If you still want to argue with me, we can finish our conversation in the interrogation room."
Lab worker: "O-oh, no, no objections here! We shall begin our search for the youngling at once!"
Kirito believed the youngling had hid under the Divine Beast's head. Although now was their perfect chance to escape to the first floor, Kirito couldn't leave the baby snake to fend for itself after even Eolyne pitched in to save it. As the boy began weighing his possibilities, he recalled that the lab workers had attributed his Incarnation to the Divine Beast. Kirito looked up to the isolation room's ceiling and spotted a hatch that likely had been used to lower the Divine Beast into the room, which meant that it had to be connected to the roof.
Deciding to make use of this misunderstanding to his own advantage, Kirito made it seem like the Divine Beast had awoken by casting his Incarnation upon it. He lifted its head and used thermal and metallic elements to give it the red eye effect. He then blew away the double hatch on the ceiling, revealing a big hole. Meanwhile, the baby snake clung to the Divine Beast's head. Kirito then shattered the walls and glass window, transforming them all into umbral elements, which he then turned into mist shape for a makeshift smokescreen. The boy then took Eolyne under his arm, jumped through the window and used Incarnation to make himself fly over to the hatch, grabbing the Divine Beast with an Incarnation Arm to take it with him. Pulling the snake with him, Kirito rose up to the sky and passed through the clouds to keep them out of sight from ground level.
Just as Kirito thought about returning the Divine Beast to its domain before it woke up, he heard a high-pitched roar right behind him and felt a scorching heat piercing the right side of his chest.
Chapter 19
Later on, Silica would come to realise that it never crossed her mind to wish Kirito, Asuna and Alice were there with them during the hornet battle.
The worker hornets didn’t deal much damage, but their stingers could paralyse their targets for a long period of time. And there were still fifty of them around. Sinon was weighing their next course of action: retreat and abandon Chet, or stay and risk casualties. At that point, Silica noticed that Chet’s HP bar started going down. At the current rate, it wouldn’t even take a minute for it to go down to zero. Their only hope now was to take down the queen hornet... and fast.
Silica (internally): If only we could drag the queen down to the ground!
Now was their big chance to deal some serious damage against the hornet. But half of their frontliners were pre-occupied with the soldiers... to make matters worse, it was too risky for too many people to attack the same opponent at once due to the inherent risk of their attacks resulting in friendly fire. The queen still had 2 more HP bars left, so they wouldn't be able to kill it right off the bat even with their best Sword Skills.
Silica began looking for ways to deal more damage than with a Sword Skill. As the girl recalled the roof log dump that killed Misha's predecessor, as well as how Sinon could make use of her Hecate II by fixing it in place to support its weight, she suddenly came up with an idea that combined the two workarounds into one.
Silica: "All of you, surround the crash point!"
Although Silica's command didn't specify who this "all" she was referring to, Lisbeth, Klein, Agil and Leafa reacted to it immediately, leaving the soldiers to Zarion, Beaming, Holger, and Dickos.
Silica: "Hold out your weapons as high as you can with your left hands and open your gear menus with your right!"
Although the entire group had dominant right hands, they didn't stop to question Silica's order. Upon moving their weapons to their non-dominant hand, each of them held their respective weapons out high as they opened their menu windows.
As Silica's dagger, Lisbeth's mace, Klein's scimitar, Agil's two-handed axe, and Leafa's long sword formed a circle, Needy landed in the centre of this circle. The bug warrior then immediately pulled on the thread tied to the queen with all they had, before jumping out of the circle.
At that point, the over-two-metre-long queen crashed into the ground, getting stunned by the impact as she raised a tremour.
Silica: "Now take the weapons in your left hands――and switch them out with the weapons you inherited from ALO!"
Apparently having guessed what her idea was going to be before she even explained it herself, the entire team took action before she was even done with her order.
The entire team switched out their weapons.
Silica: Easthreader (イーススレッダ) the dagger.
Leafa: Rísavind (リーザヴィンド) the long-sword.
Agil: Notzhior (ノーツヒョール) the two-handed axe.
Klein: Spirit Katana Kagutsuchi (霊刀カグツチ) the katana.
Lisbeth: Lightning Hammer Mjolnir (雷鎚ミョルニル) the hammer.
Although none of them could lift up their ALO weapons due to not meeting the strength requirements for their high-grade weapons... they could still swing them down. The entire group struck the hornet with their inherited weapons at about the same time, cutting apart the hornet's carapace.
Chapter 20
Having been shot, Kirito's first concern was to make sure Eolyne hadn't been hit by the assailant. Checking on the unconscious Commander, the boy discovered that the shot had apparently only grazed Eolyne's forelocks. Deploying an Incarnation barrier, Kirito turned around. There, he spotted a figure giving off the impression of spilled ink, floating on the white clouds. The figure had long hair and a black coat, holding out a large pistol in their right hand. Kirito had been shot in the right side of his chest with it. Kirito then felt the burning pain return as he spotted a big hole below his right collarbone, blood gushing out of it. The old Kirito would have lost half of his Life after suffering a shot like that... and would have lost the other half to the ensuing bleeding afterwards. But ever since his battle against Administrator and Gabriel, he realised that his body in this world was merely a projection of his soul... and he'd endured worse pain in the battle against Gabriel, anyway. So, Kirito turned his own blood into resources that he then used to heal the gunshot wound... and fix his pilot suit while he was at it. Kirito (internally): If only I had had even half the mastery over Incarnation back during the battle against Administrator as I do now, I might have been able to save Eugeo......
Kirito couldn't see the figure's face due to the sunlight behind him, but he could make out that this figure was Istar based on the presence the figure gave off. As Kirito wondered how Istar had managed to fly... and weighed whether it'd be best to approach Istar to extract information out of the person, or to prioritise Eolyne's and the Divine Beast's safety, Istar suddenly closed the distance between them far faster than Kirito had been expecting, prompting him to expand his Incarnation barrier and strengthen it too. Just as Kirito began to think that Istar would crash into his invisible wall, Istar suddenly pulled the breaks and stopped just ten centimetres away from the barrier.
Istar was now less than ten metres away from Kirito himself, so the boy got a clear look at Istar's face and their 'icy blue' eyes from the front for the first time. Istar's face possessed inhuman beauty, so much so that he felt awe just from seeing their appearance... a sensation he hadn't felt since Administrator. Istar's face possessed not a trace of emotion. The two continued staring at each other for a good five seconds, before Istar glanced at Eolyne. For a moment, Kirito noticed the slightest trace of emotion on Istar's smooth brow, but this too disappeared momentarily.
Istar (his face not showing even the slightest sign of him actually being apologetic): "I apologise for shooting you from behind all of a sudden without warning. Testing whether this thing works well was my first order of business, you see."
Kirito: "Were you specifically aiming for the right side of my chest? Or were you aiming for my head or heart but screwed up your shot?"
Istar: "It wasn't realistic to aim for any particular part of your body from that far away. Landing a hit at any point whatsoever was good enough for me."
Kirito recalled that Istar had shot him from a distance of 100 metres. According to what Sinon had once told him, the effective range of pistols in the real world was 20 metres at best. Even in GGO, the maximum effective range was 50 metres tops.
Kirito: "......What's the underlying mechanism that allows the gun to fire bullets?"
Istar: "The mechanism is pretty simple: it just uses the pressure of burst wind elements to fire the bullet. Though it does have extra tricks to help remove excess pressure from the compression chamber."
Kirito still couldn't tell if Istar was a man or woman. Everything about them seemed gender-neutral: the slightly-high, husky voice, the sublime beauty of their face, their height and physique, and even their attire. The only thing that Kirito could make out was that Istar had no device on them that would allow flight, so he concluded that Istar used Incarnation to accomplish this feat, just like he himself had. According to Kirito, Incarnation was in a sense the power 《to overturn the common sense of the world with the power of imagination from a single person》. But flight required quite a lot of Incarnation to pull off, since 《people don't fly》 was a very ingrained piece of common sense among all Underworlders, including the person trying to pull off the feat. As far as Kirito knew, the only people capable of pure Incarnation flight without gimmicks was Administrator and Vecta. Kirito believes he wouldn't have been able to pull off flight himself if he hadn't faced off against those two in a grueling battle.
Istar (returning the pistol to its holster): "I've answered a whole two questions for you, so it's only fair that you answer my own questions."
Kirito (internally): Hey, you shot me!
Kirito decided to both stall for time to let Eolyne get back on his feet, and to extract information while he was at it.
Kirito: "......Fine, if I can answer them, that is."
Istar: "Were you the one who eliminated the Abyssal Horror?"
Kirito weighed his options. On the one hand, disclosing the answer to the question would allow Istar to estimate the extent of his Incarnation. On the other hand, the answer wasn't likely to break off talks, so he could still stall for time.
Kirito: "That's right."
Kirito (internally): I wasn't the only one who contributed to it, but I won't disclose that.
Istar: "I see."
Istar began pondering something. Meanwhile, the sun continued to rise. It was already nearly 4 PM in the real world. Kirito and co would be logged out at 5 PM, so the boy no longer had any hopes of returning to the Central Cathedral in time. Instead, he wanted to at least ensure that the situation was stable enough that his sudden disappearance wouldn't cause problems. Kirito planned on continuing the conversation for another five minutes before wrapping Istar in an Incarnation barrier to buy themselves the chance to get out of dodge safely.
Eolyne (faintly): "Buying time."
Kirito looked downwards in surprise, noticing that Eolyne had his eyes faintly open. Kirito was relieved to see that Eolyne was recovering, but on the other hand, he didn't understand what Eolyne was referring to.
Eolyne: "While he's keeping us busy here, the base personnel must have been ordered to conduct an evacuation right about now. Once this is done, they will probably erase the base itself."
Kirito: "E-erase...... what's that supposed to......"
Kirito used a shred of his Incarnation to sense heat and movement below the clouds. He thus noticed that the dragoncraft 《Arvus》 (アーヴス) had already started its engine as the soldiers were bringing cargo onto its cargo hold.
Kirito (internally): Well, I'm a dumbass for not noticing that. I was trying to gain leads from Istar but was instead just dancing in the palm of their hand.
Istar (with a faint shred of emotion amidst the chilliness of their voice): "......I'm surprised you noticed."
Eolyne (in a somewhat different tone than usual): "Well, that does sound like something you, Tohkouga Istar (トーコウガ・イスタル), would come up with, doesn't it."
Kirito: "............! (gasp)"
Kirito (internally): He definitely sounds like he knows Istar from before.
Istar: "So you really were the one who infiltrated the base, huh, Eolyne Herlentz. I see your body is as frail as ever."
Eolyne (looking at Kirito): "I'm fine now. Put me down (mouthing the name 'Kirito' to make it clear that Kirito was not to reveal his own name to Istar)."
Since he was standing on a cloud, Kirito wondered if it would be best to create a platform Eolyne or at least keep holding his body, but Eolyne stated that there was no need to support him. When Kirito set Eolyne down, the Commander had no trouble hovering on the cloud with his own Incarnation.
Kirito (internally): Now that I think about it, it's been two hundred years since the Otherworlder War. If they've developed their science and technology to a level that allows them to travel to other planets, it only makes sense that they've done as much research and innovation regarding Incarnation. Naturally, that should include 《efficient ways to acquire Incarnation》. I really have to stop thinking that I'll be just fine whatever may come as long as I have Incarnation on my side.
Eolyne: "Throw the gun and sword away and turn yourself in. Your conduct is a clear-cut act of treason against the Star Empire Unification Council. I must arrest you and take you to Centoria."
Eolyne: "......You sure have changed, huh, Kouga. The old you would never have exposed yourself to danger to buy time for your subordinates to escape."
As Kirito began thinking that he had to ensure the big dragoncraft couldn't escape with the tech used to make biomissiles out of the Divine Beast's children,
Istar (tilting their head): "Expose myself to danger......? (brushing away their hair and continuing on with a straight face) I have zero intention of doing anything of the sort, naturally. I'm just here to keep you two busy until Arvus takes off, and then I'll just walk away...... or fly away, to be more accurate."
Eolyne (giving a slight shrug): "I see, so you really haven't changed at all, huh. Though, I'll have you know that this arrogance of yours is the very reason you lost against me at the Human Empire Unification Tournament's finals."
Istar: "That old match where participants are forbidden from using their Incarnation doesn't deserve to be called anything but a cheap show. I'll teach you what real battles are all about."
Istar casually drew their saber the moment they made their declaration. Eolyne followed suit.
Kirito (whispering): "Sorry, Eo, I'll be seizing them."
Kirito wrapped Istar in a transparent sphere made from his barrier, which he then beefed up with more Incarnation, seeing as there was no need to hold back now that their cover was blown. Kirito believed that no matter how strong Istar's Incarnation was, it wouldn't be able to pierce his barrier, as it was capable of withstanding even the Abyssal Horror's blasts. Istar then took a step forward inside the invisible cage and touched the barrier. Kirito felt like something bizarrely cold was slipping through his consciousness. Although Kirito's barrier remained undamaged, Istar easily slipped through it. Kirito felt the sensation he had just experienced was identical to the one he felt while dealing with the wormissiles, but tens or even hundreds of times stronger. It was the Incarnation to encroach upon other Incarnation.
Having slipped out of the barrier without trouble, Istar went after Eolyne at tremendous speed.
Chapter 21
With the defeat of the queen hornet, all the other hornets immediately crumbled away. Meanwhile, Chet's HP bar stopped going down. There was no need to climb the giant tree to get to the nest. The back side of the tree had a huge hole at its base, which led to a natural passageway through the tree's trunk up to the nest. There was no need to rush now, but Silica still took up the leading position among the infiltration team and rushed up the narrow passageway. The nest was practically empty, as all the larvae and chrysalides had disappeared with the queen.
Silica: "Chet! Where are you!?"
Chet (from deeper in): "Over here!"
By then, Argo and Leafa caught up to Silica and followed her through a tunnel that led to the central part of the nest, which had multiple entrances and an an elevation that looked like the queen's throne. At its base, they found a petite Pattel plastered to the floor with what looked like gray clay. Silica pulled Chet out of that substance. After shaking off the clay, Chet jumped at Silica.
Chet: "Thank you, oh thank you, Silica."
Silica: "Oh, don't mention it......if anything, I'm sorry I couldn't save you right away. Are you hurt?"
Chet: "The larvae nibbled on my tail a bit, but I'm fine."
Silica: "W-whaa......?"
Silica then noticed that Chet's tail was now ten centimetres shorter and its tip and was covered in a damage effect.
Having calmed down, Chet let go of Silica and looked at the others.
Chet: "More importantly, come over here, girls!"
Chet began running behind the throne. Silica was at a loss for words at what she found stockpiled there: weapons, armour, ornamentations, tools, as well as all kinds of coins. Unlike other monsters they'd fought, the queen and other hornets just immediately dropped their materials upon their death, rather than requiring dissection. The same as was the case with the Life Harvester. So, Silica had thought they'd already received their rewards in the form of wings and carapace from the hornets, but the actual reward turned out to be a pile of treasure.
Leafa: "Uwaah, rad......! That's a cha-ching worth of treasure!"
Silica: "Though......why would bug-type monsters have a stack of money and weapons lying around?"
Argo: "Well, there's an obvious answer for that, girL. Just like Chet, some unlucky adventurers got scooped up by the hornets and brought to the nest so they would......"
Silica: "No need to elaborate on that!"
Silica felt a bit reluctant about touching the items when she realised where they had come from, but since leaving all the stuff just lying around in the nest would only mean that either someone else found the loot and took it all for themselves, or the items lost their durability and crumbled away,
Silica: "Do you think this will all fit in our storage?"
Argo: "Barely, but yes, it should probably fit, girL" Leafa: "If we dump our logs, that is."
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The other Pattels were overjoyed to see Chet leave the hole safe and sound, going in for a hug. The others were also all smiles... until the girls dumped all the booty they had stuffed their inventories with onto the ground. Silica wanted Sinon the raid leader to decide how this would all be split, since she had prior experience with loot division going wrong... seeing as this subject was one of the three main sources of quarrels in MMORPGs.
Sinon: "I assume everyone's fine with deciding the loot division back at Ruis na Rig.
Klein and co (basically dancing around the pile of loot): (comes back to their senses)
Silica remembered that their original goal wasn't to beat the hornets, but to find iron deposits and a road leading to the next tableland, so they couldn't head on back just yet. The treasure was stashed into wooden boxes, which they then sealed with wax and gave to their brawny members. The wax seal served as insurance against sticky fingers, as taking anything out of the boxes via the menu would remove the seal as well, making it clear that the boxes had been tampered with.
Lisbeth: "C'mon, let's go!
Silica: "Coming!"
Chapter 22
Despite knowing that now wasn't the time for it, Kirito found himself transfixed by Eolyne and Istar's aerial battle. Unlike Kirito's fight against Gabriel, Eolyne and Istar weren't flying around willy-nilly. Instead, their sword-versus-sword bout was mostly ordinary...if one were to ignore the fact that they holding their bout atop a cloud, as well as boosting their attacks and defence with Incarnation. The two of them were evenly matched in their ultraspeed bout. Kirito felt he couldn't pull off the way they smoothly transitioned from one Incarnation to the other. Their techniques were so well-structured that Kirito got the urge to refer to it as an 《Incarnation System》. The two were basically mirroring each other's moves, so the fight was going 50/50, but Kirito was starting to worry about Eolyne's endurance, seeing as he had just recovered from a fainting spell.
Just as Kirito decided to intervene and get in Istar's way to give Eolyne a hand, several things took place concurrently. Two small and fast dragoncrafts took off from the runway. Meanwhile, Arvus started moving from the taxiway to the runway, signaling the end of its cargo-loading. Finally, Kirito sensed a ton of thermal and aerial elements arising deep below the base and gradually building up power for a big boom. And there were still over twenty people inside the base. As the small dragoncrafts continued closing in to support Istar, Eolyne and Istar readied their Sword Skills.
Tending to all three issues was impossible for him alone, so Kirito did the only thing he could to think of: to think, fervently. As he considered which issue to prioritise first, Kirito felt like he heard a voice.
Cardinal: ――I entrust the rest onto your hands...... Protect this world...... its people......
As Kirito thought about the people who had entrusted their hopes to him, Asuna, Alice, and Cardinal crossed his mind. If only Asuna and Alice were there with them, they could solve all of their issues. Asuna and Alice were a whole 500 000 km away at the Central Cathedral, but Cardinal's 《Doors》 could ignore this physical distance. In the first place, distance as a concept didn't exist in Underworld, at least in the same sense as in the real world. Kirito didn't know the art for creating the teleportation gates, but he did recall Charlotte's teaching: all arts were just a tool for organising and guiding Incarnation.
The planets of Cardina and Admina revolved around their respective axis in the same direction and at the same cycle, but Centoria and Aury were located on exactly opposite ends of their respective planets. This meant that the distance between the two capital cities varied depending on the time of day (my own concept illustration: ○• •○ -half revolution-> •○ ○•). Right now, the distance between them was the shortest it could be.
The boy gazed at the stars and found Cardina. He found the artificial inverted triangle continent on it. The vivid green circle surrounded by white mountains in the upper left of a red land was the Human Empire. At the centre of it was Centoria, at the center of which was the Central Cathedral. He couldn't actually make out all these details with the naked eye per se, but he could imagine them. And so, gathering the spatial resources supplied by the sunlight, Kirito created a large amount of crystal elements, which he then condensed into a single large door. Below this transparent door, he created a seven-metre-wide disc. Then he pictured Asuna and Alice on the faraway planet.
Kirito (internally): No, those two are right over here, beyond this transparent door.
Kirito (internally): The concept of distance does not exist in this world
The sunlight beyond the crystal door rippled. Within these ripples, he caught a faint projection of the two girls in blue pilot uniforms. At that very moment, he telekinetically pulled the door open. The dimly white scenery gave way to a view of the Cathedral's kitchen in vivid colours. This was no longer a projection. He had succeeded in connecting the wasteland on Planet Admina with the Central Cathedral on Cardina through the crystal door.
Kirito: "Asuna! Alice! Sorry, but I could use your help here!"
Kirito considered how he would have reacted to the door opening up out of nowhere if he were in the girls' shoes. He thought that it would take him at least ten seconds to recover from the astonishment, grasp what was going on and dismiss the possibility of the door being a trap before he dared venturing through it. However, the girls didn't even take half a second to recover from their surprise and go through the door without a shred of misgivings. The next moment, the girls were now standing on the disc. They were surprised to find themselves in the sky with the sun rising as they stood on a disk above the clouds, but they didn't stop there.
Asuna: "Kirito-kun, what do we need to do!?"
Kirito (using Incarnation to clear the clouds around them): "Asuna, get the entirety of that base below us into the air. The underground part of it is about to explode!"
Kirito (looking at Arvus as it began its takeoff run): "Alice, you put a stop to that bigass dragoncraft! Though, don't shred the whole thing to smithereens either!"
Alice: "I see you still have your penchant for absurd demands......! (drawing her sword) I'll get it done!"
Asuna: (lifts up her large kitchen knife instead of the Radiant Light)
----------
The following events took place concurrently:
Alice (pointing her Fragrant Olive Sword forward): "Enhance Armament!"
The Fragrant Olive split into countless petals that descended to the ground just as the Arvus was taking off. As the petals came down upon it, they split into two streams and wiped out the flaps of its wings. Without them, the dragoncraft couldn't produce enough lift to continue its ascent and thus crash-landed in a field of flowers.
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Pointing the kitchen knife towards the base, Asuna shouted, "Heave――――ho!"
Rainbow light descended onto the base perpendicularly and wrapped around it. With what seemed like an angelic choir in the background, the building gradually rose from the ground. The people who were already just one step away from escaping the building jumped out of it while they still had the chance. Meanwhile, the people behind them retreated inside.
Kirito (internally): She summoned extra large meteorites against the Abyssal Horror and created a fissure several kilometres in size during the Otherworlder War, so lifting a single building isn't a big deal for her.
Asuna: "Huff!"
The building was moved to the side, just several seconds before the flames spewed out of the hole that had been right under it moments prior.
----------
The two small dragoncrafts had been blown away with the clouds when Kirito was giving the girls instructions, yet they now continued rising up in spite of this setback. On intuition, Kirito guessed that these two dragoncrafts were piloted by Istar's underlings: Sugin and Domui. The dragoncrafts were similar to Stica and Laura's 《Keynis Mk VII》 models, except for the fact that these dragoncrafts were dark grey and didn't have crests or numbers. Their cannons were already shining with thermal elements. Kirito could just suppress the fighter dragoncrafts with Incarnation, but he feared that catching them with Incarnation when they were flying at such a high speed speed could damage their hermitiseal canisters, resulting in an explosion that could kill the pilots. As if seeing through his misgivings, the fighter 'drags opened fire. Not on Kirito... or Eolyne... or even the girls either... no, they opened fire on the giant serpent instead.
Kirito just barely managed to set up a barrier to block the projectiles. As the boy wondered why the underlings were so desperate to prevent the serpent from escaping alive,
Kirito (internally): I'll be borrowing your sword, Eugeo.
Kirito drew the Blue Rose Sword and pointed it at the dragoncrafts.
Kirito: "Enhance Armament!"
The sword shone blue as its light turned into icy tendrils, which then befell the dragoncrafts. The 'drags broke their formation and parted to the right and left, but so did the tendrils pursuing them. Just before they made contact, the tendrils split into a net and twined around the steel dragoncrafts. The 'drags' engines stopped within a second as the ice wrapped around their rear. As the ice continued to spread, it sealed the giant fighter 'drags inside itself. Having lost their propulsion, the two 'drags began falling down. Due to its high priority, the ice would serve to cushion their fall.
While the three of them were busy with their respective jobs, Eolyne and Istar continued duking it out without any of these events affecting their concentration. The two continued holding their respective Sonic Leaps at the ready, waiting for the right moment to strike. Since Eolyne was at a disadvantage in a bout of endurance, Kirito was thinking of intervening with an element attack. However, just as the boy was about to create some thermal elements to throw Istar's concentration out of whack... he suddenly felt a gentle touch pressing down on his hand. It was neither Asuna's, nor Alice's hands touching him, as the two girls were still busy with their jobs. Nor was it Eolyne himself touching him, since all of his concentration was focused solely on Istar. At that moment, Kirito glanced at the Blue Rose Sword in his left hand. The blade in its Armament Full Control form was wrapped in white, diamond-dust-like particles. Kirito felt like he could see something... someone inside this mist, when...
Stica: "――Your Excellency, Eolyne!"
The girl's voice was coming from beyond the still-open crystal door. The next moment, the two swordsmen made their moves, kicking off the air with their Sonic Leaps in sync.
Eolyne's long sword clashed with Istar's saber, resulting in a shockwave and a flash of light. As the two Incarnation-boosted swords continued to clash, the excessive condensed power was released in the form of purple lightning. The clash ended unexpectedly when their weapons... crumbled away into fragments, as the released energy went out in a bang, blowing the two of them away.
Kirito caught Eolyne with his arms. The Commander had some fine gashes in his chest and arms, but none of them were wounds worth any concern, while Eolyne himself was still conscious to boot. Istar was fine too. But they only had a pistol left to their name.
Eolyne (after leaving Kirito's arms and standing firmly on the air): "I'll give you one more chance. Turn yourself in, Kouga."
Istar (breaking into a faint smile): "I sure am glad your skills haven't rusted away, Eol."
Istar breaks their smile and shoves away the saber fragments lingering on their coat.
Istar: "But your naiveté is still the same as always. You can't win against me like that."
Istar suddenly drew his pistol. Kirito erected a barrier between them, believing that while Istar themselves could slip through it, that power couldn't possibly extend to the bullets of their pistol.
Just then, Istar extended their right hand straight towards the sky, aiming the muzzle straight up, as they said something unexpected.
Istar: "Enhance Armament".
The black pistol let out a noise as crimson light shot out of its openings. When Istar pulled the trigger, a blood-red light slipped through Kirito's barrier and expanded into a sphere. Kirito didn't feel any heat or pain from being engulfed by the light, but he was assailed by a discomfort. As if a cold hand was stroking his soul. This reminded him of Mutasina's choking spell.
As Kirito wondered what effect Istar's bullet had, his question was answered: Kirito's crystal door disappeared; Asuna and Alice let out a scream as they began to fall. Although Kirito immediately tried to use his Incarnation to support them, he realised that he and Eolyne themselves had also lost their ability to float in the air. No matter how much he focused on it, Kirito couldn't stop their fall. His imagination kept being erased before it could manage overwrite the order of the world.
Kirito realised that Istar's Armament Full Control Art produced an Incarnation-Voiding Space. When Kirito looked at Istar, he noticed the black figure falling down as well. And fast. Istar was intentionally streamlining their body to descend faster, like a skydiver. Istar was aiming for the two fighter dragoncrafts that had already been freed from their icy prison. Just before they could crash into the ground, Istar created some aerial elements via regular Sacred Arts and burst them to create a cushion, landing safely on their feet. After a roll, Istar went for Domui's craft and grabbed the pilot, then raced up to the other craft and picked up Sugin, before dragging the two underlings with them up the hill. Just before escaping out of sight, Istar glanced back at Eolyne, before disappearing beyond the hill. The next moment, the two fighter dragoncrafts exploded, probably due to a self-destruction sequence activated by Istar's lackeys. The Incarnation-Voiding Space ended at the hill, so Istar would be able to resume Incarnation flight beyond it, while Kirito and co had no means to stop them. As Kirito was about to order the others to repeat Istar's aerial element trick, a long and black cylindrical body gradually rose from below Kirito and Eolyne, scooping them up. Then it went for Asuna and Alice, scooping up the girls as well. This flying body, 1.5 metres in diameter and 20 metres long... was a black serpent. Which is to say, it was the very same Divine Beast they had rescued. Kirito spotted a small black snakey clinging to the big serpent's head and happily wagging its tail.
The Divine Beast closed in on the ground, before going upwards again. At that moment, Kirito noticed the Arvus crew and the base personnel looking up at them in a dumbstruck manner.
Kirito: "......Eo, what are we gonna do with these guys?"
Eolyne (shrugging): "Not like we have a choice, we'll leave them alone for now. If we seize the giant dragoncraft and the base, we'll have more than enough evidence that a conspiracy was taking place."
Kirito: "I see......"
Asuna (walking over to them along the Divine Beast's back): "Kirito-kun, what is this gargantuan serpent-san?"
Kirito: "A Divine Beast that had been living on Admina for ages, apparently."
Alice "A Divine Beast! (kneeling down and stroking the beast's scales) This is the first time I see a living Divine Beast. Oh, right...... if we exclude the Abyssal Horror, that is."
Kirito: "I'm pretty sure that thing was in a league of its own, probably."
Kirito: "Alice, Asuna, thanks for helping us out. We would have been in some serious deep shit if you two hadn't been there for us."
Asuna: "Well, that's all well and good, Kirito-kun, but what was that door......"
Deep feminine voice ringing out directly inside Kirito's head: 『O Black King, where would you have me to take you?』
Kirito (looking around in surprise): "E-excuse me!? (realising that this was the Divine Beast talking)"
By then, the serpent had taken them outside the Incarnation-Voiding Space.
Kirito: "W......wait, hold it!"
Kirito used his Incarnation Radar in a certain direction. His radar picked up on something, so Kirito pointed in that direction.
Kirito: "Take us there!"
The serpent took them to a certain small "hill" in the flower fields. The serpent descended to this hill before Kirito could even ask. The four of them jumped off and turned around.
Serpent: 『......You have my thanks for releasing me (the serpent is using the "warawa" pronoun") and my young from that pound, O Black King』
Kirito: "Oh, no...... we should be thanking you. We're really grateful that you decided to help us out, in spite of the fact that we are humans just like the men that put you through the wringer."
The four of them give a deep bow.
Serpent: 『No need for your concern, I know full-well that there are both good and bad individuals among the humankin. I will ensure that the scoundrels who captured me will one day pay their dues.』
Kirito: "You can count on my assistance when the time comes."
Kirito thinks that the serpent showed the slightest bit of a smile at his response.
The serpent then brought her pointed tail to Kirito. There was a small leather bag wrapped in a cord on the tip of the tail.
Serpent: 『Take this』
Kirito: "Huh? W-what is this......?"
Serpent: 『This is something that you yourself had entrusted to me years ago. You had asked me to hand this over to you whenever you made your appearance once more with the passage of time.』
Kirito: "............! (gulp)"
Kirito (internally): So, she's saying that I had entrusted something to her back when I was still the Star King to pass on to me when I returned to Underworld.
Serpent: 『Technically speaking, you were apparently supposed to arrive to me after surmounting a series of trials all around the planet...... but since we've already been reunited, I see no harm in handing this over to you right away. Take it.』
Kirito (internally): So, based on the Divine Beast's words, it seems the Star King had set up a super long series of consecutive quests for me. But the Divine Beast I was supposed to come across in the final chapter of said questline ended up getting itself captured. Since I had to rescue her, the questline ended up being wasted. Well, I can't exactly say that I don't feel regrets about such an outcome... but still, the sentiment 'heck yeah, lucky me!' I'm feeling right now is ten times stronger than any regrets.
Serpent: 『......Let's meet again one day, O Black King......O White Queen, O Golden Knight, O Blue Swordsman』
The giant serpent whirled up into the sky and flew away at vehement speeds in the direction of the sun.
Five seconds of silence later,
Alice: "......Kirito, what is that thing?"
Kirito: "Oh, this is probably...... (takes out a rectangular, twenty-centimtre-sized box that seemed to be made out of something like glass or metal)...... this is the 《sealed box》, Alice. Everything about the Deep Freeze art is inside of it."
Alice: "Wha......!"
Chapter 23
3rd of October, 2026 AD / 7th Day of the 12th Month 582 SEC, 4:27 PM.
Kirito, Asuna, Alice, and Eolyne returned to the Central Cathedral with X'rphan Mk XIII. Of course, they didn't fly all the way back on dragoncraft. Oh, no, Kirito instead made the journey back home much shorter by creating an ultra-sized door next to the dragoncraft. He then crammed the dragoncraft through the door with Incarnation, although just barely.
Right now, Kirito needs Asuna or Alice to pinpoint the coordinates for a door, but once he opens the door to a specific place at least once, he can imagine that same place well enough to open another door later on even without the girls. The first door opened up to the kitchen, so the second door of his had to open up at the same place. To work around this issue, Asuna and Alice went through the second door and then walked up to the 95th floor. In the mean time, Kirito stayed on Admina and then created the ultra-sized door to the girls' coordinates when they reached the 95th floor to transport their broken dragoncraft back home more easily.
The first order of business for the boys... was to endure a barrage of questions from both Stica and Laurannei, as the former had been worried sick due to noticing Eolyne's fight against Istar when she had come to the kitchen to help transport the food. Kirito foisted the answerman duty onto Eolyne while he and the main heroines rushed down the stairs to the 80th floor.
Alice was carrying the sealed box and she was so impatient that she rushed into the garden without waiting for the doors to fully open. She kneeled down before her beloved Selka and placed the small bluish-gray box onto the undergrowth. Having caught up with her, Kirito, Asuna, Eolyne, Stica, Laurannei, as well as Airy with Nuts on her shoulder watched on from behind her as she opened the lid of the box, revealing several cavities in a velvet lining, shining a deep indigo blue. Alice found a small scroll and three crystal bottles inside these cavities.
Alice: (turns back to Kirito, bewildered)
Kirito: "The scroll probably notes down all the arts for Deep Freeze, while the bottles contain a drug form of the unfreezing art, I think."
Alice: "A drug......? So you're saying we can use these bottles undo the petrification without needing to resort to reciting a long rite?"
Kirito: (nods)
Alice took the rightmost bottle out of the box and sidled up to Selka on her knees. She then placed her left hand on her own chest and took several deep breaths, before pulling the cork out of the bottle.
Kirito (internally): ――Star King, if this doesn't undo the petrification, so help me I'll kick your ass.
With a shaking hand, Alice tilted the bottle onto Selka's head. A blue shiny liquid spilled out of the bottle, trickled down Selka's forelocks, along her cheeks, and went down her neck.
One second.....two......three......
Five seconds later, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Selka's petrified body took on a bluish phosphorescence.
Gradually, her body regained its usual colours and texture.
The pure white veil that Selka was wearing started swaying in the breeze.
Her eyelashes quivered... as her eyes slowly opened up...
Her beaming indigo blue eyes blinked once, then twice, before regaining their focus.
Selka: "..................Nee-sama......?"
Alice: "Selka!!"
Her face wet with tears, Alice clung to Selka. Pressing her face onto her sister's shoulder, Alice wrapped her arms around Selka and called out her name time after time again. Selka's face also had tears spilling down her cheeks, as she repeated "Nee-sama, Alice-nee-sama!".
Kirito: "Asuna, do me a favour and free Tiese from her petrification."
Asuna (brushing off her own tears by blinking, before nodding with a smile): Sure!"
Kirito pulled the cork out his bottle after walking over to Ronye. The girl looked ten years older than he remembered from her valet days. She was also a bit taller, but her face was the exact same as he remembered.
Kirito (internally): I'm back.
Kirito repeated the unfreezing process with Ronye. The girl opened her eyes and looked at him.
Kirito then remembered what Airy had told them. Ronye and Tiese had undergone the Life Freezing Art in their late twenties and had spent fifty years frozen. Meaning that the girls were mentally over seventy years old. This gave rise to a fear that he'd be regarded as a snot-nosed brat in comparison.
Contrary to his misgivings,
Ronye: "......Kirito-sempai!!"
Ronye clung to Kirito.
Kirito (patting Ronye): "Long time no see, Ronye. I'm glad to see you again."
Ronye: "Yes, yes......!"
A full five seconds later, Ronye seemed to catch up with what was going on.
Ronye: "Oh, right...... what about Tiese and Selka!?"
Kirito: "It's okay, we've already undone their petrification."
When Kirito turned around, he was met with an unexpected sight.
Unfrozen by Asuna, Tiese had taken a few steps from her original position. Her autumn-leaf-coloured eyes had nearly popped out of her head, transfixed by a certain individual.
She was staring... at the Integrity Pilot Commander, whose eyes were hidden behind a white mask... she was staring at the face of Eolyne Herlentz――
(To be continued)
Personal Highlights
Chapter 1:
💠Kirito needing to place Stica and Laura beside the "statues" to realise that they're Tiese and Ronye. Like... really, man?
💠Kirito's self-burns.
💠Kirito trying to act gentlemanly, only to be chastised for using the f-word.
💠Another familiar face makes a return!
Chapter 2:
💠Stica and Laura's typical banter.
💠More UW history of the maximum accelearation phase.
💠Wow, Airy spent a whole thirty years in isolation... Kirito really does need to kick his own ass at some point.
💠Our
Chapter 3:
💠Kirito was so lazy to walk all the way to the bath that he made the elevator go all the way up to it instead.🤣
💠The girls are totally not going to enjoy the bath while the boys are off to work.
💠So, Star King managed to fulfil his promise to Airy in the end by making her a flying disc...
💠Kirito being treated like a little child going off on his first errand and prone to get himself lost.
💠Kirito being pumped up for a launch... only to be disappointed at their takeoff speed.
💠So... Underworld's moon turns out to actually be a planet...
💠When a craft goes so fast that even Kirito, of all people, specifically asks not to go at full speed.
Chapter 4:
💠So, Progressive's bath scenes have started encroaching on Unital Ring now...
💠Oh look, speak of the devil, a Progressive bath reference.
💠Stica and Laurannei got beat at their own racing game by a rat.
Chapter 5:
💠"L-Liz-san, you gave birth to babies!?"🤣
💠Basin babies♡
💠Pina the Baby Pacifier.
Chapter 6:
💠Kirito is confirmed to be a contagious bad influence.
💠Shino went in for a lap around town and ended up spending the entire day on an impromptu boss battle. A typical gamer day, I guess.
💠Lisbeth's obssession with iron ore.
💠The Great Klein's sensor... being useless against ghosts.
💠Someone managing to evade Sinon's notice... and it turns out to be that random guy from the Legrue Corridor.
💠Friscal sure loves doubling the first syllables of peoples' names. Mutamuta's definitely going to kill him for that when she finds out about it, though.
💠Ooo, more knowledge about the structure of UR's world.👀
💠A game where all players are cute (and aggressive, but let's not be bogged down by the details) furries?👀
💠If it's cute, who cares about the details!
💠Oh look, Asuka Empire became relevant to the main story👀
💠"[...] if you call me Sinosino one more time, I’m setting that ghillie suit of yours on fire, got it"🤣
Chapter 7:
💠So, Kirito's being haunted by mysterious voices now. Did Charlotte reincarnate into a man?
💠Eolyne being hit by the bombshell that the real world doesn't have automated birth control.
💠Japanese sure does make it difficult to proccess large numbers... even for native speakers, apparently.
💠Kirito's penchant for random chit-chat that ends up in random infodumps.
💠Kirito's long legs, lel.
💠Kirito being the first suspect whenever something Incarnation happens, lel
💠Wormissiles... now I've seen everything.
Chapter 8:
💠Wow, this chapter was only one page long...
💠Star Queen Asuna leaving a stockpile of her own recipes
Chapter 9:
💠I guess Silica's pets don't even need Kirito to sleep through the day...
💠The random guy from the Fairy Dance Arc turns out to be a rather capable guy to have around. He's even giving Argo a run for her money.
💠Kawahara's trying his best to have the American players speak English... even if Kawahara's understanding of English is limited...
💠Pattel backstory.
Chapter 10:
💠Mopeylyne is so cute♡
💠Kirito randomly asking for Eolyne's nicknames because he hates long names...
💠Eugeo angst
💠When did Kirito get a doctorate in worm/snakey surgery...
💠Holy, SAO suddenly went horribly dark. Baby snakey torture is so sick...
Chapter 11:
💠When Kirito's away, someone else has to fill in the void by doing dumbass things in his stead, I guess.
💠"And here we thought that humankin are all supposed to be clever". The ratmen sure know how to do sick burns.
Chapter 12:
💠Sweaty Eolyne, oh my
💠Kirito being a Stacia wannabe.
💠If an Incarnation to hide one's Incarnation wasn't enough Incarnoshenenigans, now we have Incarnation to erase one's presence to make things even more interesting. At least it's burns through Incarnoenergy fast, I guess.
💠EoKiri handholding, oh my.
💠Eugeo angst
💠Kirito watching too many Hollywood movies.
Chapter 13:
💠General Sinon, at your service!
💠So, even a ratgirl can get to be the princess in distress... to be saved by Silica, the dashing knight!
Chapter 14:
💠Kirito sucks at striking up a conversation when things get too silent.
💠Yikes, SAO is doubling down on the random dark plot streak. That's some cruel shit going down with the giant snakey...
💠So much for stealth. Even the more rational Eolyne couldn't bear to watch the snakeycide.
Chapter 15:
💠Sinon getting her time to shine as a natural-born raid leader.
💠Wait... so you're telling me Kirito the Engrishmaster has better English skills than Sinon. Hubbuwah!?
💠Sinosino's apparently becoming a running joke. Can't wait to see Sinon shoving fire arrows up the boys' noses. Sinosino♡
💠Mother of all hornets!
Chapter 16:
💠Since the UR arc didn't have enough mysteries going on, now we'll have to keep guessing if the villain is a girlish guy or a boyish girl...
💠Kirito seems to have met his match in sixth sense bullshit.
Chapter 17:
💠Pina asserting its presence despite not even contributing anything to the battle.
💠Silica trying to mimic Kirito's way of coming up with wacky ideas. And then drawing emotional strength from the fact that her dagger is crafted from the remains of Kirito's sword.
Chapter 18:
💠Eugeo angst
💠Grand Theft Snakey
Chapter 19:
💠The side characters get names for their ALO weapons!
💠So, weaponpiles are the next big thing in dogpiles now?
Chapter 20:
💠Istar asserting dominance with Kirito's barriers.
Chapter 21:
💠Cha-ching!
💠Silica finding out that there are questions that are best left unanswered.
💠Klein's booty dance.
Chapter 22:
💠Kirito unlocking the power to summon his waifu from all the way on another planet.
💠Asuna casually lifting entire buildings with a kitchen knife in-hand.
💠Kirito meeting his match in Incarnobullshitting.
💠Telepathic giant space serpents. Now I've seen everything.
💠Star King going out of his way to set up a series of trials for his younger self, only for the whole thing to blow apart when some random dude or dudette stole his final boss/quest NPC(?).
Chapter 23:
💠Of course Kawahara comes up with some excuse to avoid the need to create actual system commands for his Sacred Arts.
💠Kirito threatening to kick his own ass.
💠Kirito getting worried that he'll be treated as a snot-nosed brat by his kouhai.
💠So, Kawahara learnt the art of reusing the same cliffhanger for two books in a row...
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