Takes place after Alicization, which is more than a decade since Godou became a Campione.
A/N: Not entirely fluent in Campione! mechanics and lore, so I'm hoping people will point out any mistakes I made, please and thank you. Admittedly Constellation feels more like a F/sn power than a Campione! one, but... Eh, whatever.
There's going to be a plot, kind of, but I'm not writing the full part of this story anytime soon. That's why for now I'm just going to treat the prologues as one-shots and mark the story as "complete", considering they stand on their own well enough. Once I get started for real, I'll switch back to "in-progress".
Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara, and Campione! by Jou Takedzuki. I own absolutely nothing in relation to either works, except for the plot of this particular story.
Prologue I—Dual Blades
Kayaba Akihiko intended for Sword Art Online to be as realistic as possible, but he didn't get it down perfectly. For example, there were the Sword Skills themselves; Asuna could still remember that first time Kirito had shown her the Windmill Block skill, because she had said, "If you spin your sword that fast, shouldn't it fly out of your hand?"
More obvious was the very stats that were the foundation of their characters. Sure, representing their parameters with numbers that grew as you trained sounded good on paper. But without some kind of cap or some kind of diminishing return on how much they could improve, the stats tended to be used for increasingly ridiculous feats, usually involving the roofs of buildings. Most humans were physically incapable of jumping over a car, running start or not; at her peak in SAO Asuna could clear a small house, from a standing position. It got to the point that she started doubting she would get used to a regular human body again, once she returned from Aincrad—but on second thought, with stats in SAO changing as fast as they did, working with what she had rather naturally become a finely honed skill, lest she accidently overshoot her target. With that, as soon as she reawakened as a flesh and blood mortal, it took no more than a moment for her to accept her atrophied body for what it was, and it took her just as long to accept that humans as a whole weren't built for rooftop chases the likes she had seen in SAO.
After a date with Kazuto, she often got into those kinds of philosophical moods, with that contemplation of the barrier between fantasy and reality being the topic on this particular occasion. And that was why it felt like a slap on the face when at that exact moment, by the oddest twist of coincidence, she saw two figures bounding from rooftop to rooftop with leaps obviously too lengthy for a normal human to make.
Asuna froze, her eyes wide. What was that? Did she really see that? It wasn't—it wasn't some people filming a movie or something, was it? Or maybe this is just a dream? She pinched herself, and since it hurt she wasn't dreaming, but she couldn't see any cameraman or someone like that nearby to capture the action, so it wasn't a movie either.
A more foolhardy question followed: should she chase after them? For a moment Asuna considered the paths she could take; and then, overwhelmed by curiosity, she simply began to run, following the general directions of those two roof-leapers into the alleys. It occurred to her that maybe she should've gotten Kazuto—they had only said their goodbyes for their date a few minutes ago, so she might've been able to catch up to him to drag him over here and let his clever mind put together some kind of rational explanation. But no, Asuna decided, darting through the twists and turns only a metropolitan area could offer. These two were fast. If she couldn't catch up now, she would lose—them—
And suddenly there was an abrupt scenic change into a relatively open area, accompanied by the ring of metal and song.
It was like a scene right out of a movie; that was what Asuna first thought. Four people, obviously of non-Japanese descent. A blonde with a rapier, in her mid- to late-twenties, with a face set in a beautiful yet grim expression of determination. Another woman fighting by the blonde's side, tall and slender like an elf, her silver hair and clothes fluttering as she danced to the melody of violence. Two sword-bearing men, identical twins by the looks of it, with chiseled muscles, tanned skin, dark hair, perfect teeth. And amidst them all, an explosion of colour—several, actually, some of fire, some of light, and all quite obviously magic, if the absence of machinery that could generate such special effect were anything to go by.
That resulting scene, in front of Asuna—it was spectacular. It was enthralling. And it could easily end very, very fatally.
Before her stunned eyes, one of the weapons turned into a bow in a flash of light. It fired several rapid shots at the men, punching holes through concrete and stainless steel, sending them retreating closer to Asuna, even as they tried to bat the missiles away. At the same time, the blonde woman held her sword before her, rapidly muttering words, before swinging out her blade, solid beams of white raining down in the area ahead.
All of a sudden, Asuna realized that it was not a smart idea to stay still where these lights of destruction might hit her, and hastily scrambled back.
This turned out to be a bad move.
In a motion so synchronized it was almost creepy, the two men's heads turned around and stared directly at her.
"What have we here?" one of them said.
"It appears we've a peeper," the other responded.
Behind them, the two women stopped in shock. "No," the silver-haired gasped, and then she shouted, "Run!"
Huh? was all that Asuna's mind could come up with at that warning, and then the two men were charging at her.
Her experience in SAO wasn't for nothing—with that level of danger, her battle mode kicked in and she leapt away, back the way she came. There was nothing she could do at the moment, lacking both weapons and an understanding of the situation. She would only be a hindrance to whichever side was the good guys (and by this point, it was fairly obvious those would be the women). Luckily, she was at least fast enough in fleeing that the men couldn't close the distance to her. The problem now was to avoid letting these real-swords-waving maniacs arrive at the main streets, lest they attack some innocent passersby.
Then the men joined hands and things got a lot more complicated.
Asuna painfully learned that this must've been an activation for magic of some kind; "painfully", as in the two caught up with Asuna in two more steps when before Asuna had been keeping her lead just fine. She had enough presence of mind sidestep from the first down-swipe, and then jump away from the low sweep.
This unfortunately left her in the air, unable to maneuver and completely vulnerable to a follow-up slash.
Suddenly the blonde woman caught up, batting down the sword that had been about to attack with her own. Its wielder gave a shout and tried to turn on the blonde, but she had already slipped past him and was reaching for Asuna, shouting, "Grab my hand!"
And that was when they all realized that the second man, the one who had conducted the low sweep, was already swinging his sword again.
There was nothing Asuna could do about it; she had just landed, and was not mobile enough to attempt a dodge. There was little that the blonde could do about it; her rapier was in her right hand, and the attack was incoming from the other side, so she couldn't block. However, the older woman did do the one thing she could.
She dove for Asuna and took the slash meant for her.
Blood splattered out, wet and heavy. The wound wasn't facing her, so Asuna couldn't see how bad it was—but it was a wild enough slice that some blood still splattered across her cheek. For a frozen eternity, Asuna could see nothing except that blonde woman's face, still beautiful and grim, but now with that self-satisfied look of one who had accomplished something they were wholeheartedly proud of, and was glad they did so before they died.
Asuna would never forget that horrible moment for the rest of her life.
Then the instant moved on, and Asuna found herself facing a world that did not give a damn whether such a radiant woman like the one who saved her had survived the blow or not. The two men who had attacked for no reason at all were both raising their blades in preparation for another blow, and this time the woman wouldn't be able to protect them.
Her eyes drifted to the woman's right hand, which was only barely hanging on to a rapier.
The blonde was still airborne. The swords were starting to descend. Asuna's hand clasped around the hilt of her savior's weapon, and she whispered, almost as a tribute:
"Switch!"
Three blades intersected on one point with a discordant clang!, and Asuna took advantage of the angles to slide the opponents' swords to the side, before twisting over to catch the blonde with her left arm. She lashed out blindly once, more to discourage the two men from following than anything, and then started half-running half-dragging the woman back.
"Erica!" a voice cried, prompting her to look upwards. As it turned out, the woman's—Erica's—companion had not been idle. She had leapt over their heads, and at the apex of her leap, fired several arrows from that bow of hers, making the two men beat a hasty retreat. She landed right next to the downed woman, eyes never leaving the enemy. "Erica, are you all right? How bad is your wound?"
Erica drew a sharp breath, sounding pained. Asuna realized with some mortification that she had accidentally pressed against the woman's wound when she grabbed her, retracting the hand and apologizing profusely. "Ow...it's okay, I'll live." Then, more to the silver-haired woman: "I had enough left from my last use of the Youth Incarnation that it avoided being fatal. On the other hand, I'm afraid I'm stuck to the sidelines for the rest of this battle."
And then Asuna could no longer withhold her distress. "What's going on?" she whispered nervously, fingers tightening around the rapier. "Who are you? Who are they? Why are you fighting—"
"The short version," Erica said lightly, quite the contrast with the blood still painting the ground, "is that we're mages, and they're Heretic Gods."
"Way to put it gently," the silver-haired woman muttered.
"Mages?" Asuna said blankly, though with all the impossibilities she'd seen it really shouldn't've been a surprise.
One of the twins frowned, an expression that did little to lessen the handsomeness of his face. "We resent being titled as such."
"The concept of Heretic God is those who reject their legends," the other said.
"Quite preposterous. We the Dioscuri were quite content with our lives."
"Our only aim is to thwart the coming of an apocalyptic prophecy. Once finished, we shall depart to slumber once more."
Erica bowed slightly, though her hand was still pressed tight against her side. It struck Asuna then, just how—mature—the woman was, with her regal look, a tall stature, and an enviable figure. "Apologies, Lords Pollux and Castor; we meant you no offence. However, your actions will endanger the lives of untold millions who live in this country. I implore you, please; give my king's benefaction another consideration. Can you truly not cease your actions, so we may discuss items of such import under a banner of peace?"
"Never," the first one, who Asuna guessed was Pollux, replied.
"We cannot allow the subject to slip away," said Castor.
"In addition, your master being a Campione does not do you any favours, girl."
"Surely you already know a god's intrinsic sentiment of them."
"And that's how it is," Erica whispered, before Asuna could ask what a Campione was. "If we let them be, they're going to start attacking bystanders again. I won't blame you if you want to run right now—these are gods we're facing, after all."
Asuna glanced at the twins, who were observing the girls coolly, like how a stockholder would gaze at companies that weren't doing well this quarter. To stop them from attacking people, attacking innocent people like the ones who may very well be carrying on unaware in the buildings surrounding them, someone would have to fight, fight in real life, and fight well enough to retain their attention..."maintain aggro", in game terms. Her hand started shaking, but she tightened her grip again. "I can fight, too," she whispered back.
"I thought you'd say that," Erica replied with a smile. "You seemed like the type. Okay, here's the situation. I'm injured and you look like you know what you're doing, so I'll lend Cuore di Leone to you and provide covering fire with spells. My rapier's most powerful in a different form, a holy lance, but unless you conveniently have some spear training too...?"
"I've grinded 2-H Assault Spear before," Asuna admitted, "but I'm far more used to a rapier."
Erica raised her eyebrow. "I see," she said, still in a low tone. Asuna suddenly realized Erica didn't understand her jargon, and wondered if she even knew about SAO. "In any case, it can hurt gods, but I won't bet on us winning. We'll have to hold out for ten minutes; that should be enough for Godou to finish his fight and make his way over. We win once he's here. Until then, we'll have to make do with you two protecting each other and me backing up you girls.
"And by the way," she added, "we forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we? I'm Erica Blandelli, and my friend here whose name you might recognize as the author of a particularly cheesy series of romance novels—"
For a moment, the silver-haired woman broke professionalism to squeeze her eyes closed, as if she could ward off a headache with such an action. "Did you have to say that part?" she asked in a pained voice. "I'm Liliana Kranjcar."
Asuna smiled. She couldn't help it, with the two acting ten years younger than their real age. "I'm Yuuki Asuna."
Erica smirked back. "Very well, Asuna-san—I hope I can call you that? On my signal." Then, as Liliana turned her bow back into sword form, she raised her voice. "One last thing, honoured Lords, before we are drawn to battle once more. Please, I beseech you, please grant my request, to allow this critical information to reach my organization: the knowledge of everything you learned regarding the apocalyptic prophecy you have mentioned earlier."
Both gods let out a hiss.
"That is already a tall order, dog of Campione," Pollux growled.
"And yet you dare insinuate your victory is assured?" Castor snarled.
"I actually wanted to pass along the information before we fought," Erica muttered. "But I think they're a too angry to listen to me any longer. Well, it was worth a try. Liliana, Asuna-san, go."
As the two gods charged and Erica limped back with an impressive amount of dignity, Asuna acclimatized herself to the feel of her new rapier, Cuore di Leone, and readied herself to battle.
It was fairly obvious that these two gods, whatever else they were, did not become legends because of any particular skill with their swords. (Asuna soon realized that the men's weapons were makhaira—single-edged, curved cavalry swords. Its equivalent in SAO had high damage and weight; in real life, they were likely able to crush through bones.) However, the speed boost they received from whatever magic they were using was formidable, and it quickly became apparent to Asuna that a lucky opportunity like the time she blocked both their blades at once weren't likely to come again anytime soon.
On the other hand, Asuna wasn't used to fighting in real life. The weight and feel of the rapier was only a little heavier than her usual one in ALO, but she simply did not have the strength to use it to her liking. She didn't make as much wasted movements as the Dioscuri twins, but she could not reach anywhere near the speeds she usually moved at in VR. And while the gods were fairly obviously projecting their attacks, she was still having trouble responding to them.
The fight was in favour of Pollux and Castor, albeit only slightly. Asuna and Liliana were fighting defensively, one twin each, but with the weight of the rapier actually encumbered Asuna, making her carelessly receive several scratches from the first few exchanges simply by not dodging fast enough. There was also the problem of synergy. Both Liliana and Asuna made the mistake of fighting as if their usual partners were supporting them. As a result, several times Liliana backed off to start chanting a spell, inadvertently leaving Asuna to hold them off alone, and just as frequently Asuna charged in expecting Kirito to have deflected the incoming blows for her.
It scared Asuna to admit it, but she might have died in the first thirty seconds if it wasn't for Erica's quick spells. An arrow of light here and a spike of iron there, and the most dangerous-seeming of attacks were blocked or aborted.
Once, Asuna managed to completely circle around the twins and found herself staring at the wide-open back of Pollux. For a moment, she froze, uncertain how to act. Certainly, if the twins were as destructive as Erica and Liliana (and the gods themselves) made them out to be, she wanted to stop them. But until now, she hadn't seriously thought about whether there was a need to kill them.
Then Erica took the choice out of her hands, shouting, "Back off, Asuna-san!"
Asuna hastily ducked underneath a swing Pollux sent to her, then darted in with a jab to stop the gods from concentrating solely on Liliana. "What was that for?" she shouted back to Erica, seconds before she was forced to concentrate on a combo the two brothers were dishing out.
"Their Authority!" was the answer, and then a hiss of pain as she clutched her side. "It's a passive one, stemming from their status as the patron gods of athletes. Any attack fundamentally unsportsmanlike automatically fails and causes automated retaliation. But conversely, invoking it stops them from fleeing, so don't worry about them running off and concentrate on staying alive!" And then, in a low muttering Asuna barely made out, "Hmm, I wonder if the sportsmanship rule applied when we were having our time-out too..."
Most of this went over Asuna's head, but she at least remembered the word "Authority". It was pretty easy to guess that this was a stronger form of magic.
Then the battle changed entirely when the two gods made a huge leap and landed on the first floor roof of one of the adjacent buildings.
Asuna paused. "Okay, how are we supposed to—"
"For we are the son and son removed of Zeus—" Castor intoned, his words ringing with power.
"—for we are the overseers of the path—" Pollux continued.
"They can split the spell words between themselves!?" Asuna heard Liliana hiss.
"—we command you, Aeolus—"
"Asuna-san, move!" Erica shouted.
"—carry, sweep, chase these poor souls to their rightful place!"
Asuna didn't know where the blow was coming from. She thought she'd only be able to dodge once she saw the attack coming. She had a bitter reality check a second later when the very wind lifted her off the ground. Too late, she tried to flail, to get out of the spell's influence.
It simply slammed her into a concrete wall.
With a cry of pain she hit her head, enough to black out momentarily and then make it ring like crazy. Luckily she'd had the sense to put her hand between head and wall, but now it felt shattered, and she didn't think she'd be able to do that trick again without turning the hand into a pile of mush.
Struggling to her feet, she dimly noted that Liliana had reverted her sword to a bow form—a crossbow this time—and was firing away rapidly, while Erica was spamming spells as much as she could, generating twenty projectiles at once and refreshing it as they fired one at a time. Above, the two gods waved the wind back and forth to knock away the projectiles, making the whole thing look like some kind of extra-long snake swinging its head, if snakes were a technocolour mixture of blue and whatever spell Erica was using at the moment.
She glared at Pollux and Castor for a moment. There was something there. Something about the way they moved alternately struck a chord with...
Ah-hah.
Asuna stepped over to the blonde adult, keeping an eye out in case the gods decided to forego defense. "Erica-san, do you have any spells that'll let me fly up there?"
Erica completed restocking her current round of ammo before asking, "Do you have a plan?"
"See them? The two gods are taking turns controlling the wind to the left, then right, then left, then right. And Liliana-san said something earlier about them splitting spell words—"
"Which likely means it's not that they can choose to split control, they must split control!" Erica smiled, then for some inexplicable reason, began struggling out of her shoes. "Nice catch!"
Of course. Sometimes she had to do that in the middle of a boss fight, back in Aincrad.
"Put these on and yell, 'Soar, sandals of Hermes!' to walk on air or walls," Erica said, tossing her the shoes (and then wincing, pressing her hand against her side). "Liliana, you heard that?"
"You want us to attack from three sides," Liliana stated calmly, all the while maintaining her barrage on the gods. "It's as good a plan as any, and since we must keep them occupied pressing them with attacks is certainly the best course of action. Very well; I leave the initiative at your discretion, Yuuki-san."
Asuna kicked off her shoes and struggled into Erica's. It fit snugly, even though she thought it'd be at least half a size bigger. Maybe it could shrink and grow as its user needed? "In that case," she said—
"Soar, sandals of Hermes!"
A magic circle glowed underneath her, and then she kicked off, flying into the sky with an admittedly large sense of disbelief. Behind her, Liliana did the same, her bow flashing back into a sword again as she raced in the air, closing in toward the two gods' left. Erica raised a hand toward the gods.
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God!"
The air flashed as balls of light glowed into existence, giving off a sense of tautness as if they were arrows being aimed before they were fired. Asuna moved in fast, angling her path so that it would curve around into Pollux's side. Across from her, Liliana was doing the same, driving her sword forward. So when the balls of light were released, flying head-on into the gods, Asuna thought for sure that at least one of them would finally wound the immortal, because they shouldn't be able to defend against three attacks from three directions at once.
Unfortunately, Asuna had been under the assumption that when the control of the gods' winds was switched, they had to change direction. If they did, there would've been an opening for at least one of them, but apparently it was not the case. Castor swung his sword, and the current, like a hammer to utterly redirect Erica's magic attack to the ground; Pollux took over, and then swung his makhaira and the wind into Asuna. She barely had a chance to brace her rapier in front before the attack both physical and magical slammed into her, sending her into the air with a cry of pain. Then Castor drove the momentum around and down, catching Liliana and blasting her into the ground with a similar cry.
Well, that went about as well as expected, Asuna thought through a haze of pain, and then realized: she...expected that?
Surprisingly she must have, since she knew exactly what she should do next.
"Hey!" she shouted to get them to turn, and then helped gravity along by pushing off the air with her magical shoes, downwards.
Pollux faced her and then screamed as the rapier nearly gave him a third nostril. At her angle, Asuna could only aim at one of them, and she hadn't been going for him. Unfortunately, Castor almost dodged it too; he had been lucky enough to twist his face around in a way that actually put him out of Asuna's path.
So she did the next best thing—she swiped to the side and nicked his cheek.
It wasn't the best reward they could've gotten from that gambit, but it was the first strike that their side managed to land on the gods. And she had just proven that they weren't sitting ducks. They could fight back.
And: wow, she hadn't done anything that daring since attacking a 21-man group with just the seven Sleeping Knights, all those months ago.
Asuna invoked the magic in her shoes to lower the angle of her fall, and then rolled into the ground, absorbing the impact and setting her next to Liliana who was getting to her feet.
"Nice hit," the woman said with a grim smile, leveling her sword at the gods. Her clothes were dirtied somewhat, but otherwise she was no worse for wear; unlike Erica, who was definitely an adult in the physical sense, Liliana gave the impression of being mature and respectable mentally, with the kind of seriousness that wouldn't be out of place for a headmistress of a school...if it wasn't for her apparently secret hobby of writing trashy romance novels, that is.
Nevertheless, Asuna felt proud of receiving a compliment from her. "Thanks," she said back, and then stood beside her once more, facing the gods.
Castor was screaming bloody murder, clutching at his wound as red blood ran down his cheek. "My face! My face!"
"Pollux!" Pollux cried, which incidentally made Asuna realize she had them backwards the entire time. The god now known for sure as Castor continued, "Peace, brother, it's but a flesh wound. It mars your face not. Here..."
And then Asuna nearly dropped her rapier as Castor leaned over and kissed his brother, right on the cut she made.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing!?" she sputtered out, face beet red.
Beside her, the woman she only just pegged to be as respectable as a headmistress sported a trail of drool from the corner of her mouth. "Uh," she managed intelligently.
Erica seemed the least affected. "I'm bleeding to death here, girls," she dryly commented from behind. "I'd appreciate the two of you retaining concentration until after we're out of this life-and-death situation. Then I can take you both to that manga store two streets away, and you can ogle all you want, you yaoi fans."
At least that got Liliana out of it. "I resent that!" she snapped back. "My tastes are strictly heterosexual!"
"Oh? Then why have you still not bedded Godou? Because this would explain a lot. It's a shame, but I'll just have to explain to our king that you cannot return his love since you're rooting for Amakasu-san in your heart. I'm sure he'll understand." A giggle, then: "Of course, you can just as quickly reassure him of your tastes by sleeping with him already."
Liliana almost seemed to be at the verge of turning and throwing her sword at her friend. "You—you—you vixen!"
Asuna, rather embarrassedly, looked back to check on Erica. The blonde was in better condition than she thought; she wouldn't seem injured if it wasn't for all the blood at her side, and even that seemed to have stopped. The glow coming from the hand holding her wound might've had something to do with that.
Then her attention whipped back to the two gods—she almost flinched at the sudden rush of hate directed at her. They had separated, and Pollux's injury had already healed to the point of a small but visible scar. This did not change the fact that the brothers seemed ready to murder Asuna for that slight.
As if in confirmation: "You shall pay in blood, humans," Castor spat out ominously. Pollux didn't say a word, but instead glowered at them.
Of course, this might've been more menacing had the Heretic Gods not already been trying to kill them.
"Fair price, actually," Erica muttered, then raised her voice, seemingly back to being all business. "If the venerable Lords do not mind a question, this...instance, appears to display that some aspects of Narcissus' story share the same root of the Dioscuri's legends, no? In fact, were the two of you the same person? Was the love Narcissus had for his reflection simply describing the two of you?"
Castor scowled. "For what reason must you know?"
"I'm curious," the tall woman replied, a polite smile on her face. "Some things have been inconsistent with the legends of Pollux and Castor I know of. The Dioscuri were said to be superb riders, for example; it seemed strange you manifested the appropriate swords but not the Divine Beasts. My humble guess is this: some manifestations of your Authorities simply conflict with another's. If you galloped to battle on mounts, you wouldn't be able to touch each other, after all."
"Erica, you're really pushing it," Asuna heard Liliana mutter quietly.
"We are one and same," Castor told Erica bluntly.
"That is all that is," Pollux added.
"Your transparent attempt to stall until your Campione arrives—"
"—shall be for naught once we erase your resistance here!"
"I think that means yes," Erica commented dryly. "Oh, how I look forward to Godou rewarding me handsomely for this information... Asuna-san, Liliana—get ready for round two! Just a little longer until reinforcements arrive!"
Asuna swallowed nervously, mouth dry. Determined to repeat her last stunt, Cuore di Leone was gripped tightly as she brandished it, stepping forward into battle once more.
"We twelve kings of night sky come—" Castor began.
And suddenly the situation reversed. From the corner of her eye, Asuna saw the blood drain from Liliana's face. Erica let loose a vicious expletive so uncharacteristic it shocked the brunette to the core.
"Liliana, take Asuna and run!" Erica shouted.
The silver-haired girl was way ahead of her. It was still too late.
"—cursed Pandora, away! No allies of men remain!" Pastor completed.
It was a short incantation, perfect for battle—and perfect for washing away the world into an ocean of white before Liliana could scoop up Asuna and flee from the effective range. Erica fared no better, weakened and without her magic shoes. Wherever they were, they were trapped.
"What is this? What's going on?" Asuna asked bewilderedly, eyes wide.
"Liliana, can you use—?" Erica tried at the same time.
"I can't! I'm at least a tenth generation—wait, where did they go!?"
Indeed, Asuna realized, Pollux and Castor were nowhere to be seen. She tried to grip Cuore di Leone tightly, and then was startled to realize that it was no longer in her hands, inexplicably being in Erica's instead.
"Argh, stay alert! Minimize engagement!" With that, Liliana deposited Asuna on the ground and held out her own weapon. The three of them stood, backs to each other as they frantically scanned the surroundings for the next attack.
Erica swore again. "Why did I not see the signs!? Of course that scorpion earlier wasn't a Divine Beast. Of course Pollux and Castor had this aspect in their legend. Of course they were the two parts of the Gemini! Oh, I hope Godou is all right—I should have told him about this Authority when I had the chance—"
"Erica-san, Liliana-san!" Asuna shouted, getting frightened by their desperation. "What is it? What is this spell!?"
Erica's face was grim as she answered, a one-word answer that did little to dispel Asuna's confusion but set in stone just how screwed they were.
"Constellation."
"What?"
"Our souls were taken from our bodies and put into Constellation," Erica said tersely.
Asuna hesitated, and then, "What? What does that mean?" If it was anything like the Soul Translator that RATH developed, it probably left their bodies comatose and defenseless, but surely the same applied for their opponents, right?
"It means many things!" Erica shot back, obviously stressed. "It means it's an anti-Campione Authority, unique to the Zodiac and their ritual. It means it's the domain of heavens where humans remain human and gods are free to rampage as they please! It means it strips blessing and divine protection, it means only the innately magical retain their abilities and on a technical note it means if we perish here, they can take over our real bodies! But first and foremost, even without those additional effects—listen to me, do not get injured in Constellation because an injury here is a wound to the naked soul, which precious few spells can treat—!"
Then things went worse.
Asuna didn't see the first strike at all—it came with having her back to the gods. But the fact of the matter was, a blade had snuck out from nowhere and run through the front of Erica's right leg, making her scream in agony as she flew through the air and collapsed in pain.
"No! Erica!" The silver-haired woman ran over to cover the fallen girl, brandishing her sword at where the two Gods that had blitzed past.
It didn't help. In a flash, Pollux and Castor were in front of the elf-like woman and slashed her shoulder open, in the same motion striking with the flat of the other sword to make her fly back with a similar cry of pain. Liliana's sword clattered towards Asuna, whose eyes had widened—she had seen that coming this time, and they were even faster than they had been before.
"Wh-what...? H-how...?" she stammered.
Again, as if they were mirrors, the two turned to her and raised their swords. "Is it not obvious, mortal girl?" Castor asked.
"A human's soul is, in the end, a human soul," Pollux murmured.
"This magic bares a being for what it is—"
"And mere mortals are, naturally, magicless. Luckless. Defenseless."
"What unnaturals the Campione's concubines be, to have retained their arms in this holy site."
"You, on the other hand, appear to have no such aspect on your person."
Asuna, at some instinctive level, finally understood some of what Erica had said. These—gods—they were magical by definition. Their existence itself was sustained by something outside of scientific understanding. On the other hand, Erica and Liliana—they were probably magic-users, but that was a big difference from being magical. Magic must be a tool. This particular magic, Constellation, it just got rid of most of the tools, keeping only the aspects that were part of the soul's definition—clothes, appearance, and apparently, Erica and Liliana's swords.
It was the difference smashing a brick wall with your fist or with a sledgehammer—normal people, with their own power, were not naturally supposed to accomplish such a feat. In the end, this Authority was just a really fancy way of forcing a fight between a god and an armed human into a fight between god and human.
Asuna took a deep breath, trying to channel that persona she had maintained in Aincrad in an attempt to calm herself. She grabbed Liliana's fallen sword—its owner groaning in pain, some distance away—and pointed it at the Dioscuri, knowing full well that she was alone. "You know," she said, "this seems awfully overkill for just scratching your cheek."
"Asuna," Erica said through gritted teeth, struggling to get up, as was Liliana. "Run. Cuore di Leone, I entrust the battlefield to you!"
Quite suddenly, the sword by Erica's side shimmered, then out of the red flash of light leapt a metal lion roaring defiantly. It bounded once, before leaping at the Heretic Gods.
They paid it no particular attention—Castor swung his sword once and the mass of steel was batted away easily, crashing into the ground. Instead, their focus was entirely on Asuna.
"An insult to a part is an insult to a whole," Castor said.
"An insult to us is an insult to our kind."
"Yuuki-san—" Liliana cried out.
"Now—"
Both twins raised their makhaira.
"—die."
"Stooooop!"
Asuna had no time to check whether it was Erica or Liliana who cried out. She didn't have much time to do anything. Still impossibly fast, both Pollux and Castor darted in front of Asuna in an instant and thrust their swords in for the kill—
—which were easily parried aside.
"What—?" someone had time to say, and then the riposte tore into Castor's stomach with the speed of a meteor.
The god screamed, his voice ringing through the white environment like the world was wailing in pain. Pollux, panicked, grabbed his brother and leapt back. The resulting action pulled the sword out with a sick sound, splattering blood onto the floor (Asuna was kind of surprised it existed, actually).
Erica and Liliana were looking at her in shock. "Asuna...san...?" the blonde woman said, uncertainly.
"Don't worry Erica-san," Asuna replied evenly. "I expected that."
"You...wench...!" Castor snarled, both he and Pollux glaring at her with pure hate. Despite the horrific pain he should be in, the gods looked ready to attack her again, at any moment. "Death is not enough for you. We shall rip you apart, burn your corpse, and throw your ashes into the deepest pits of Tartarus!"
It exists? a part of her mind wondered. The rest was ready when the Dioscuri leapt forward with that impossible speed again.
—That speed had been the first clue.
Asuna had wondered where it came from. Did Constellation buff the god using it on top of debuffing the humans caught in it? Possible, but unlikely. When the playing field had already been changed to give the gods this much of an advantage—why bother? No, the speed increase must've been a side-effect of something else. Something involving the removal of "tools". And that led to a curious thought.
—Could the body, be called a tool?
At first, she didn't think so. With such a loose definition of a "tool", even the five senses and the organs that perceived them could also be considered a "tool", and since Asuna was not currently blind and deaf (in Constellation, anyway; her real body might be in that state), she had rejected that thought. But, no, that's not right. The senses couldn't be called a tool because they perceive a "world"; more precisely, they told her where exactly in the "world" "Asuna" was. In other words, they defined her individuality—her sense of self. Body—mass—on the other hand...
Had she not thought, just recently, about how weak her body was compared to how she felt on the "other side"? To the point that she once thought about wanting to "unequip" this weak body of hers and swap it for something better?
That was the kind of psyche, she realized, that one needed to consider the body a "tool". Erica and Liliana, who apparently considered their swords parts of themselves, would likely not be able to do that. An ordinary person thought, "I need my body to move faster"; an ordinary person would not think, "If only my body wasn't hindering me, I could go so much faster". Thus, here, this advantage was something that lied with her and the Dioscuri.
And even with the gods, they were constrained to the speed that their spell from earlier had limited them to, sans the burden of maintaining their physical manifestations, which explained the difference between their speeds. They were not supposed to go any faster—their magic demanded it. On the other hand, though Asuna had not been "Asuna the Flash" for so long that it supplanted her real-world self (she would've shown up in a different outfit plus a rapier if she did!), her abilities there had clearly imprinted on her. That speed that she was famous for, it wasn't all from equipment boosts, or her stats, or even from the Sword Skills. The steadfast determination to charge ahead with no obstacles being allowed to obstruct her way—that mindset, it was all her.
Constellation's nature just allowed her use it in full. Looking at it that way, this place was practically no different from playing in a VR environment.
That was what was currently letting her keep up to a god's speed. Even as she battered away blows and stabbed into legs, shoulders, arms, torso, the gods' expressions were changing; first anger, then incredulity, then confusion, then—fear.
"What is this?!" Pollux cried, his face a mess of blood and injury. On the bright side, his scar from earlier had been completely concealed, thought Asuna could spare neither the effort nor the goodwill to tell him so.
"N-not possible," Castor stammered. "Not possible!"
"Why is there, in this day and age—"
"—a swordsman—"
"—whose mind had tempered to move faster than thought?!"
Asuna grunted, these desperate swings having more force behind them. "Honestly," she said, almost exasperated, "I don't think you'll get it even if I explain Sword Art Online to you!"
Then she struck in a series of thrusts that pockmarked the gods' bodies with angry red splotches. Both gods howled in pain and fright, stumbling back as Asuna switched to an all-out offensive beautifully.
"This can't be!" Castor screamed, even as Asuna stabbed into him and his twin again, and again, and again. "This can't be!"
"We should not—together, we cannot fall!"
"Our two blades cannot be defeated by a mere human!"
Oh, yes. That was the other part: their blatant lack of skill with swords.
Pollux and Castor had a lot going for them. For example, they were very resilient, still moving despite the many wounds decorating their skin. With their Authority, they were extremely fast, inhumanly so. In particular, their two weapons were perfectly in sync, better than most humans could do with two arms.
But a part of Asuna, the gamer part, was insulted at their showing. It was an affront. She had noted it before—they simply were not gods suited for combat. It wasn't the same; they didn't have the skills, the technique. They didn't have the battle instinct. They didn't have the sheer reaction time.
"Stop being so arrogant!" Asuna finally snapped, a little bit of anger leaking through despite her efforts. "'Can't be defeated by a mere human?' Get real! Your Dual Blades—are nothing to his!"
Ducking clear of the clumsy swings the twins aimed at her, she spun to their side and plunged her sword in with all her might. The point tore through Castor's upper ribs, right where the heart would be, and then went through him entirely to stab a shocked Pollux in the exact same place.
The resultant screams almost seemed to shatter Constellation with its intensity, but Asuna gritted her teeth and held fast to the sword. Even as the gods flailed, their limbs nearly hitting the brunette at times, their essence seemed to crack—spreading out from her last blow, golden light shining through, while piece by piece the gods' skin scattered away and made the hole wider until with a final, brilliant flare the Dioscuri's form blasted apart into nothingness.
There was silence for a moment. Asuna lowered her sword—Liliana's sword. She knew Erica and Liliana must be directing shocked, even incredulous stares at her back, but she couldn't seem to muster the willpower to meet them...she suddenly felt so tired.
"This is...the end, right?" Asuna mumbled. "I did okay, right? I protected people...right...?"
And then the world went dark, and Asuna fell into unconsciousness.
"A new daughter! Oh my, it's been too long since my last child...I'm so happy to meet you! We'll be seeing each other for a long time, so let's get along, okay? Oh, that's right—I'm your new mommy. Whenever you're in trouble, don't hesitate to ask me for help, okay?
"Oh, I know, I know, you already have a mother—so just call me your stepmother instead! Not to brag, but even if I give you a new dress and a pumpkin carriage to meet your Prince Charming, my magic won't wear off at midnight! ...Eh? I mixed that up? Ahaha...the details aren't important, I just want to tell you that I'm super-reliable! You don't have to worry about anything!
"...I'm sorry. You're going to face tough times soon. Some of your friends will go through this ordeal with you, but some...won't. I wish I can tell you that at least you'll have your loved one by your side, but that would be a lie. You'll be missing him terribly, I'm sure, and sometimes you'll feel like giving up just so you can see him again, but for his sake, you can't. Please...keep that in mind. Everything you'll go through is so you can reunite again, so stay strong.
"Yuuki Asuna, I dub you the newest god-slaying king. Accept the world's blessings, and accept the world's hatred; accept the price necessary to inaugurate you as the eighth Campione!
"Face the world squarely, my new daughter. There will be light at the end of the tunnel, once you reach it. ...And for the record—I do think you and Kirito-kun look cute together, you know!"
"Sword Art Online," Godou said thoughtfully. "That does make sense. Mundane people generally aren't experienced with battle, but if they play virtual reality games, especially when their life was on the line..."
It was a few hours later, away from the metropolitan areas and in a local shrine associated with the "History Compilation Committee", not far from Tokyo Tower, that Asuna found herself seated across of someone she only just learned was Japan's most important figure—the sole Campione of Japan, or at least he was until Asuna had become one. He and his companions were the ones who told Asuna just what Campiones were, what being one entailed, and introduced her into the world of magic. In turn, Asuna had told them about herself, including just where she had honed her prowess for battle when she was supposedly a "normal" person.
The shrine maiden to the side, whose name Asuna had learned was Mariya Yuri, was serving tea to both of them. "I think I remember you talking about it once," she remarked as she smoothly refilled Asuna's cup. "Wasn't that the video game where you had to put on a helmet to play, and if you died in-game, it would destroy your brain?"
"Yeah," Godou muttered, his expression turning dark. "The casualties ended up reaching nearly four thousand Japanese by the time the game ended. It was the worst cyber-terrorism act ever committed in the world, and to think that for all my powers I couldn't do anything about it... I owe you an apology, Asuna-san."
"No, no, don't worry about it," Asuna said hastily before Godou could fully lower his head. "The only thing that would've helped was finding Kayaba Akihiko, and as I understand it Campiones are mostly suited for battle, right? There wasn't much anyone could do aside from leaving it to the police."
"I should've put a higher bounty on Kayaba, though," Godou protested. "There must've been someone in the magical community that could've found him. Hell, I could've gotten to my knees and asked that idiot Doni to use his Stone Age Authority, and that would've released the victims quick enough—"
At his side, Erica sighed. "Godou, we've discussed this before. Using magic to help the victims would've led to a myriad of problems, the least of it being the logistics of treating people all over Japan and exposure of magic to the general populace. And there's simply a limit to how much magical aid should intrude into regular investigations. The fact is, we don't have enough resources to go and catch every mass murderer. Please understand that."
"I still don't like it," the Campione muttered.
Asuna tried to smile reassuringly. "It's okay; what's done is done. And really, in the end, there were some happy experiences in there too. It wasn't all bad."
"I suppose not," Godou allowed, reluctantly.
"...And, um, also...if you don't mind me asking a question, Godou-san..."
"Hm?"
"Why are you blindfolded?"
It was a valid question, sort of. As soon as Asuna had been led into the room, Godou had been attacked and had a blindfold placed on him. And the person who attacked him was—
"He's blindfolded," Kusanagi Shizuka grumbled from behind her brother, "because Onii-chan is an unrepentant womanizer who will go after any and all females he lays his eyes on! Aaagh, as if his harem wasn't shameless enough! Asuna-san, be careful, or else you'll be his next victim!"
Godou, apparently the undisputed ruler of Japan whose word was law, practically wilted under his sister's accusations. "Ugh...Shizuka, why do you have to say such hurtful things in front of a new ally? You do know I'm trying to make a good impression, right?"
"How can I not say it!?" Shizuka yelled back. "Every single time you go off on a battle, you come back with a new girl! First, Erica-san, Yuri-san, Liliana-san, and Ena-san. Luo Hao-san and Aisha-san seemed so suspicious too. Even Hikari-chan's acting head-over-heels for you! And that was before I even knew about what you were up to all the time! Anyone would agree that the world needs someone to protect it from you!"
The Campione slumped. "I actually miss them," Godou muttered, "the days Shizuka could lord over only one part of my life and I was free for the rest...ohhh, how did things go so wrong...?"
"Uh," Asuna said, not really sure what more she could add. Her impressions of the elder Campione was that of a thoughtful and reliable man, quite unlike the image his sister painted...though, there was also the fact that there were two foreign beauties rather casually draping both sides of him. "Erica-san, Liliana-san, what are you doing?"
"Snuggle time," Erica said brightly. "We volunteered to hold off Heretic Gods all by ourselves, so I'd say we're well-deserving of some."
In contrast, Liliana stiffed slightly, as if caught red-handed. "I-I am my King's knight, so I must present myself at his side, else I'd shame my position...a-and, besides, we've sustained wounds in Constellation! Close physical contact is only logical to heal ourselves more quickly!"
"Um," Godou said, arms wrapped around the dozing girl also with silver hair sitting on his lap who Asuna had noticed earlier but did not comment on, "you guys do know it's Athena who's actually doing the healing, right?"
Athena? As in, from the Greek myths? And there was that weird aura of power around that child, too, so... "Heretic God?"
Godou seemed embarrassed. "No, actually. Divine Ancestor. It's, uh, it's a long story. And it was totally out of my hands."
Behind him, his sister hmphed and crossed her arms. Obviously, she didn't think it had been out of his hands.
Incidentally, Godou had been wounded as well when his opponent—Scorpio, apparently—sprung Constellation on him, but managed to defeat the Heretic God all the same. When Erica and Liliana had found him, Asuna had seen those expressions on their faces go through largely relief with a slight tinge of embarrassment to something best described as "Of course he won, my King never loses a battle!" mode. It was kinda funny to see, but it was also somewhat touching. Asuna knew those two girls loved him with all their hearts—as a female, she thought they fit together so naturally, with Erica and Liliana looking like young ladies and the tall man just a tad older. Even the quietly smiling Yuri seemed to complement the scene. She wasn't about to condone harems, but if there was anyone she had to name who could most likely keep relationships with multiple women healthy and functioning, it was probably Godou.
...She still wasn't condoning them, though.
"Just watch yourself, Asuna-san!" Shizuka said loudly. "Or else you'll be wrapped around Onii-chan's finger before you know it!"
"Uh, I think I'm okay," Asuna said. "I already have a boyfriend."
"Oh, thank goodness," Yuri sighed. "That takes a load off my mind."
"You too, Yuri?" Godou asked in a pained voice.
The last occupant of the room cleared his throat. "In any case," Amakasu Touma said, "I believe we've explained to you all items of immediate concern, Yuuki-dono. Do you have anything more you wish to know or clarify about magic, Campione, and Heretic Gods?"
Asuna shook her head distractedly. She stared at Amakasu and idly wondered if he would actually look good together with Godou.
The man frowned. "Is there something on my face?"
"It's nothing," Asuna said hurriedly. She swore she heard Erica chuckle inaudibly.
"If you say so," Amakasu replied. "As we've discussed, Godou will remain the King of Japan, while Yuuki-dono may continue living here with his permission—"
"With my blessing. I'm not going to make her move just because we're both Campione."
"Of course. Your authority, Yuuki-dono, will be second in Japan only to King Godou and his house."
"I still don't feel comfortable with that much power," Asuna admitted. "I'm just a high school student."
"As was King Godou when he first became Campione," Amakasu reassured with a smile. "You will do splendidly, Yuuki-dono."
The man coughed before continuing. "However, we still have no idea why the Gemini and Scorpio have attacked the general populace without warning—that's something the Committee will have to look into. Yuuki-dono, we will appreciate all co-operation and aid you can provide for us while our investigation is ongoing, and for that to work as smoothly as possible we would like to offer you the position of Junior Head of the History Compilation Committee, underneath King Godou. It is our hope that with two Campiones leading the way, the future of our organization will prove to be a rewarding and bright one for all people of Japan. I hope we will receive a favourable response."
Asuna hadn't the chance to let her change into a Campione sink in yet. She allowed herself to do so now. There were some new sensations—the swirl of magic, both in her body and outside, as well as the stronger response when she made a fist that told of stronger muscles. There was the way that Amakasu, someone rather important who Asuna had only just met, had deferred to her so respectably. Supposedly her bones were now as tough as steel, and Authorities she had usurped from Pollux and Castor were now hers to use.
It was a big change. But it wasn't a hard body to get used to. She had lots of practice in Sword Art Online, after all.
She looked at the others and smiled. "I'm still a novice, and bound to make a lot of mistakes...but I believe you're good people, and if there's anything I can possibly help with, I want to do it. The best way I can do so right now seems to be joining you, so I will accept your offer, Amakasu-san."
She bowed. "Once again, my name is Yuuki Asuna. I look forward to working with you all!"