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The fictional setting of reincarnation is nothing new to Kazuto Kirigaya, but he never expected to be reincarnated himself after a fateful day. The spirit that killed him was tasked by God to ensure his safety as punishment, but it was becoming more problematic than Kazuto expected. In short, they *really* aren't fond of the other, but they're stuck in this together. AU.

Foreword

For those who followed the original work, please accept this super chapter, divided into two parts for convenience, of 30k+ words covering the entire prologue arc with altered details. In the former work, this is comparable to the first three chapters which covered its own prologue arc, which itself was about less than 20k words.

I'll admit it. It's less humorous due to the nature of the changes, but I'm trying my best to preserve the content. Why did it lose some of its humor? You'll see from how I changed it.

For new readers (and potentially old ones), I'll give you the breakdown. Here's some information you might need to know before committing to this long chapter. I've numbered the divisions, so if you need to drop it midway, you can return to it by Ctrl+F the roman numeral. The future chapters will not be as long, but they will still remain within the same schema of roman tagging. Roman numerals will reset upon obvious occasions.

Mobile users? … I'm really sorry. You're just going to have to tough it out, unless Ctrl+F exist for phones. I splitted the chapter into two with mobile users in mind. EDIT : I've been told that Ctrl+F does exist on mobile, so I'm safe.

EDIT: Speaking of tags, I'm not interested in writing a harem, even with the isekai setting. There might be a romance though, but there's a slight problem. If it happens, it won't happen during the first arc. I got a character in mind that would take the role, but she'll show up in the second arc (if I ever get to it, that is). In any case, it's full on alternate fantasy with humour sprinkled in.

If you want to know about characters, there'll be quite a number of original characters, but my intentions are to use the original cast as much as possible. They may act differently than you would expect, but that is simply due to the… nature of how I changed them. I'm not saying anything outside of that, but you'll know what I mean by the time you finish the prologue arc.

Reviews may contain spoiler, and if you're like me, you always go to the reviews before clicking the story, so this warning is useless. Hah.

I'm done here, so make your decision to read on or not with the information I've given you. If you do read on, then I'll meet you at the bottom of the page (edit : of the second part). If not, don't worry. No hard feelings. Go re-read Prince of Swords or something. That's always a good read.

This one's dedicated to my lack of time management. Why must you abandon me?

EDIT: Note, from April 1 onward, I'll be updating the summary to match with the current arc.

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=|==== 0 ====|=

The somber sound of the wind whispered its name throughout the concentrated forest. It pushed itself against his soft skin, a refreshing though unsettling tickle. The leaves covered sky, as the sparks of sunlight managed to sneak their way through, igniting a beautiful illumination that scattered across the waving grass. It felt unnatural to the boy, despite the rigid bark pressed against his back. He wasn't supposed to exist within this calming paradise, yet his body was powerless to do anything but realize that fact. All of it was wrong, but it allured him to a sense of peace.

Perhaps it was peace that he needed.

However, this hadn't been what he wanted. He shouldn't have been here in the first place. In fact, he shouldn't be here at all. As quick as the incident was, he had only wished that he said his goodbyes to his loved ones beforehand, though he could hardly have predicted such a result from leaving to go buy a video game.

After all, dying in an accident wasn't on his list of things he needed to do today. He remembered the agonizing pain as the vehicle drilled him into the wall. He suffered through the sight of seeing his own body in shambles. The mere memory, though seemingly unreal, was enough to make him uneasy.

Unfortunately, it was all real, but the atmosphere suggested it was simply a fabrication. If he truly lost his life, he would not be lying about, embracing the few shimmering rays, flickering back and forth among rhythm as the leaves danced to the breeze's melody. He would not feel the breath of his existence respirating. He would not be in complete shock.

It was probably one of those situations where if he slept, he would wake up once again in his room with no wounds, scars, or damaged organs. It must have been a dream—rather, it was a nightmare. The boy sighed heavily, bringing his arms behind his head. They were the closest objects around most cushion-like, but the silence among the thicket ensured that regardless of what he used, a deep slumber would always be the result.

A gust of air stirred up, sending a small chill to his body. A blanket would have been nice, but he had to manage with what he had. A few of its friends mischievously followed its leader, disturbing him even more. He silently cursed the mockery of nature against him, fighting against any simple thing he wanted to do. Oblivious to the error in judgement, he closed his eyes for one final attempt.

It shouldn't have been nature he cursed at.

Something immediately came crashing down, ripping through the branches and opening a clear entryway for the column of light. The countless snapping of twigs held mere candlelights to the roar of the crash. The boy's heart drummed at an erratic rhythm, as the meteor-like force pressured him to jump back on his feet. He reflexively covered his eyes and ears, shielding them from the screaming explosion as smoke covered what he could see. The ground in front had disappeared before him and in its place was a giant crater formed, separating any type of sameness the forest had with itself. The departed trees had disintegrated without evidence of its existence. He didn't note any cause, but what did he know was there was a figure raising up from the smoke.

If he ever wanted to start praying in his life, this would have been the first time he done so seriously. He wasn't pleading for his survival though. He just wanted that one thing to stay the fuck away from him.

He closed his eyes and breathed. He waited, gulping his fears. He hoped, holding a glint of light among emptiness.

"Please…" he whispered. "Please, just let that be some freak disaster by nature…"

Almost immediately his silent desire, those dreams were shattered onto the ground.

"There you are, Kazuto!" the figure boisterously chuckled, with another care. It was already closing the distance. With no sense of hostility being detected, it should have been the polar opposite along the converse. "Man, God really threw you into a weird spot, but it's actually pretty peaceful here. It makes a ton of sense. Took me awhile to get sorted through the database, but here I am! Did you miss me?"

Kazuto merely stared expressionlessly at the faceless figure in the distance, as his hands and legs were frozen in place. There was one conclusion he could draw out; he wasn't going to like any of this.

He sighed.

"Son of a bitch."

──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────
Re: Swords and Nebulous Arts
Written by BlazingKeld
──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

「The author of this fanfiction does not own Sword Art Online nor its proper characters.
This fanfiction was created to aid in the author's writing skills. Please do not expect frequent updates.
I highly advise reading the author's note at the end.」

=|==== I ====|=

"Are you still mad about the incident?"

"Get the hell out of my new life and any other lives that I could possibility have."

"I'll take it as a 'yes'."

"Take it as a definite yes. Please."

Kazuto Kirigaya had only met this creature—nay, monster—once before. They didn't converse an excessive amount either. He only needed that one encounter to realized that this spirit was absolutely the worst type of news that one could imagine. He never wanted to encounter him—her—it—whatever it was—ever again, yet here he was, humoring it with single sentence responses.

Kazuto grunted as he removed his hands from his ears. Despite shielding them as quickly as possible, they were still ringing from the initial impact he couldn't block. "How loud did you even have to make that entrance anyways? I'm standing right here!"

"Eh, I wanted to see how grand I could make it. Louder and bigger is better, right?"

"No." Kazuto responded firmly. "No, it is not."

"You clearly don't know about the prestigious arts of explosions. I was honestly trying to go for a bigger one."

"Thankfully, you didn't!"

The figure stretched its arms before walking over to his side. He wasn't particularly fond of the decision made for him, but there was no use. What the deity above said have been solidified, and will remain concrete until he has a proper death. Whatever that meant and what was considered as a proper death, Kazuto hadn't a slightest clue. Though, he couldn't fathom or agree with the decision made. Reincarnating was fine, but it was the second part to the deal. How has the punishment specifically targeted for this monster inadvertently spread to the obvious victim like a disease?

"Hey, look on the bright side! You won't get lonely ever again!"

"I'd rather be alone, than to be trapped here with the thing that basically murdered me in cold blood," Kazuto callously answered. "I'm usually a solo player in video games anyways."

"You meant an edgelord loner that can't teamfight for the life of him or bother to keep an eye on his teammates, so he makes an excuse of playing solo," Nebula shrugged, as Kazuto scoffed at the added description. "To be fair and honest, it was the truck that technically killed you, not me," it added, trying to soothe the annoyed boy.

"I am already on thin fucking ice to killing myself," he stressed. "Don't push it."

The figure shrugged, throwing its arms out. "Yeesh. Only in this situation would suicide actually be a rational threat. I can't be bothered to care too much about it though." The figure spun around, exposing its back to Kazuto. It shot up an arm, gesturing an attitude. "Just tell me when you ready to leave or whatever. I'm here as a follower, not a leader. Just don't make my job any harder than it has to."

"Well, I'm having some serious considerations right now…"

"Geez, whatever. I'll leave you to your emo things here," the figure puffed out a breath of air. "I haven't seen this world yet since I wasn't stationed in accordance, so I'm in this as deep as you. It's better for you to take your time and accept everything that happened so far. You can't do anything else anyways."

Dismissing the boy to his own thoughts, the figure began roaming around the site while Kazuto leaned his head back and pulled on his straightened black hair. He took a closer look at his physique while he was at it. From what he could tell, his appearance was the same outside of his clothing. Even then, the blackness of his new coat held the same general thematic of his wardrobe.

He pondered at the trivial concepts circling around, since he did know what exactly happened. A setting like this wasn't anything original. He just hasn't processed and registered all of it; his mind didn't take it as reality. These types of things only happened in gaming and manga; the latter had a surplus amount of this trope, but it was not as if he was completely ignorant of his situation. If there was anything, he was surprised at how much information he had stored up..

Recollecting his memories, this had certainly been one of those reincarnation settings that he heard about while browsing the web. Though it was basic in style, there were a vast amount of ways that authors and creators would use to tackle the scenario, with some being similar to others. Kazuto had hoped that it was something along those lines, so it would have been easier on him.

In those compositions, it was straightforward on what he needed to do. Find an adventurer's guild in a nearby town, take quests and go from there. Maybe get through some story arcs that could include teaming up with new allies and facing off against dangerous enemies. Essentially no brain power was used in that process; the stories wrote themselves and all he had to do was treat it like a walkthrough of a game. It was simple enough, but there was one potentially dangerous obstacle—probably more fatal than depending on a random number generator.

Kazuto glared at the unknowing stray spirit, approaching the perimeter of the crater it created. It was the only odd variable in this equation; the unsolvable portion that couldn't be determined through any normal means. Not even an complex calculator would clear up the ambiguity.

"I really don't think I was supposed to make that," the figure started. "Like, I'm a spirit. How on earth was I able to break the ground like that? Any ideas, Kazuto?"

"Don't talk to me. I'm…" Kazuto's words staggered. He couldn't find the exact emotion, but he went with the closest thing he could grab. "I'm just still pissed off."

"Fine," the figure growled. "Screw you as well."

The constant condescending attitude that this figure was presenting was not welding well with him. Something within Kazuto snapped in millions of pieces, plunging his conscious down to the black abyss. In other words, he lashed out.

"Okay, you pathetic nameless entity that got kicked out of subspace—!"

"... Hold on, what?" The spirit couldn't register the sudden hostility quickly. "I really don't like the way you referred to—"

"You put yourself in my shoes right now!" Kazuto thrusted his finger outwards, as he snarled aggressively. The seemingly sudden burst of agitation froze the figure at its feet, knowing it's going to be taking some heat.

"Be me! I'm walking down the street, minding my own business. I just got the new video game that I waited a year for its official release. I get really hyped about throwing it into my virtual reality console, but I hear a random truck's horn. Must be some stupid driver cutting him off in traffic or some shit, right? That's my thought process, so I proceed to ignore it. Why would you think otherwise in a normal, autumn day?"

"H-Honestly, that was a bad mindset to have—"

"I don't give a shit! I'm not done talking!

"Turns out, that truck was set on a collision course with me, and instantly kills me in a freak accident. People were probably freaking out over the blood and guts spilling out of my body, but I don't know about that part. I was busy dying!

"Next thing I know, I'm in some subspace purgatory in front of a being that introduced itself as a God. I get the gist of his explanation; I died in a terrible accident and it could have happened to anyone. I was just unlucky and was at the wrong time and at the wrong place. Alright! That's understandable, and he was just doing his job explaining to me what happened in a calm fashion; if anything, he was helping with come to terms. It had only been a few minutes, but God was trying his best to keep me in a tranquil state. I was going to rest in peace!

"Then one specific little fucker had to come report the issue."

"From what I got from the database of your life," the figure confusingly uttered, "I never recalled you being this aggressive while—"

"Shut up! Let me finish!

"Because of that one issue, God needed to put me back into the world of living because my death was a mistake. It was revealed to me that I wasn't supposed to die yet. Can you imagine that? Because I can! And now, I can't be brought back to my own world because I'm technically already dead there, so what does God do? He decides to throw me into an unknown world in a goddamn deserted forest. As a bonus, the process is against my will because it for the sake of balance in the universe or some bullshit reasoning!

"Oh, and that's not the worst part. Worst part that he tells me that the fucker that killed me will now be responsible in looking after my life in this new world. I don't know about you, but that sounds like the worst idea ever! It's like giving a serial killer a knife and telling him not to kill the other prisoners!"

The figure simply stood, taking all of Kazuto's anger as he stood, gasping for air after his well-deserved rant. Despite the sorrowful and aggressive story, the figure didn't show reactions. "You got pretty heated there, Kazuto. I think you should at least calm down."

"You think!?" Kazuto threw out his arms in disbelief. "You're not even trying to replicate my feelings!"

"I am," the figure said sternly, smirking. Apparently, the entity found Kazuto's breakdown to be amusing. "Do you really think that we entities have emotions to call our own? If we did, the results won't look too pretty considering we have to manage the universe. Of course, I can't related even if you tell me the story. I can't feel, idiot; we have no legitimate emotions. We simply use the database to perceive what we should be feeling, but at any time, we can shut those down like a machine. Though, it's not like I'm a heartless bastard. You know what?" The figure returned fire, holding its hand out and generally pointing to Kazuto. "I think you're the asshole here, trying to throw blames onto someone else."

"IT. IS. YOUR. FAULT."

"Small details, small details," the figure muttered, waving its hand to block the argument. "The point is that I can relate to you because I've seen so much of your world already, but because I've seen so much, something like this doesn't bother me. People die everyday; suck it up. In other words, guilt-tripping me is a waste of energy. I'm telling you, the best thing you can do for yourself is to just accept your situation and make what you can out of it. That's what a sane person would do. Are you sane, Kazuto?"

"..."

The figure's words appeared to be true. Kazuto's lungs couldn't hold up anymore and forced his body to collapse against the tree. His head banged against the bark, but he showed no pain. All that yelling and outage caused his body to be numb, drained from any mental strength. The only sound he could muster from the bottom of his stomach was a deep growl, transitioning to a sigh. He gave himself a small headache from that screaming.

"Let me be… For a while… Please..." he muttered under his exhaled breath, needing this nightmare to be over already.

On the bright side, his mind drifted away as his body fell victim to a limp. He got that sleep he wanted, in one way or another.

=|==== II ====|=

There was an explosion of some sort along the horizon.

It couldn't have been misheard, but no one in the town knew what it was. The citizens roaming around on the streets had murmured while their speeds had picked up. They didn't know how to react. Panic wouldn't be settled though it was controlled, as it hadn't been directly involved with the town; that was just how humans were. Thankfully for them, the soldiers had been calming any sense of anxiety, mentioning that it was nothing too dire, but it was a matter worth an investigation team. They had to promise safety above all else.

The city was protected from the outside forces by a sturdy brick wall, but it had appeared to be flawed. The actual city itself was built mainly on an downwards incline, to take advantage the rushing rivers. There was the possibility that invaders could use this advantage to get over the defenses, as the walls were not built according to relativity, but to their precise height from the ground up. Therefore, all of the towers along the walls had experienced the same problem. This odd feature made the town of Lananon a rather awkward place to protect.

Nevertheless, soldiers were paid to protect the citizens and they will use their training to do exactly that, but there was a clear visual difference between the two groups of soldiers present. One of them wore a standard metal armour, a uniform to the local soldiers paid by their town's taxes. The other group were not naturally belonging to the town, but settled here for a certain reason. They were clear to distinguish, even within a crowd due to their white and red uniforms.

"Was that a Nephethes?"

Two white-garbed soldiers had been sitting above the front gate, watching idly as hunters and civilians rushed back into the town for safety's sake while native soldiers rushed out, helping the people get to safety. In any other cases, the two would have been enjoying a nice liter of alcohol, but they were on duty. They had to settle for tea uncharacteristically inside of a vodka glass, which wasn't disappointing, but there was much to be filled by the empty void.

The younger ally wondered about his senior's question, gently refilling his empty cup with the metallic teapot. "We can't judge from the impact alone, especially if the smoke is barely seeable in the distance. Despite that, we have to treat it like a Nepenthes until we pinpoint where their nest is. Though, the explosion was rather sudden and louder than I would have liked it, so I'm willing to believe that it wasn't a Nepenthes couldn't have done it."

"Sudden?" the older man frowned. The older man with a robust build pondered at the situation. With an hairstyle, a brown goatee and sideburns all contributing to the point where he was closely resembling monkey, all he could do was scratch his head. "How so?"

The younger soldier brought his hand up, dragging a finger over his words. "Typically, when a Nepenthes is roaming around, the birds would notice their flailing about since they're rather sensitive. That causes them to disperse into the sky before any damage could be done to them. However, this instance had the birds flying away at the same time as the attack. Either the Nepenthes somehow found a stealth ability, in which we'll be in grave trouble, or it was something else entirely different. Something that the birds didn't register as a threat until the impact."

Crossing his arms, the other man nodding in the logic. "I never thought about it like that," the allied soldier said to a cheerful tune. "I'll keep that in my head for next time."

"What kind of commander can't even think logically like that?" he jested, as his friend scratched his head embarrassingly. He gave a deep exhale, smiling in similarity. "While we're on the topic, I have to ask you. Why did you come along with Commander Asuna? Don't you have your own fraction to look after? Don't tell me you're trying to ensure that Commander Asuna is taken out of the picture by sabotaging her or something?" he cheekily asked. "Jealousy, maybe? Did Kuradeel pay you to help him get to commander status?"

"You speak of treachery, Kolts!" the older man replied aggravated. "I would never even dare in my dreams!"

Kolts waved his hand nervously, as his slicked brown hair started to bounce. His blue eyes tried to hold the man's harsh stare. "G-Godfree, that's not what I meant! It was a playful jest, I swear!" Kolts gulped, trying to calm his trembling voice. "Despite the joke though, we soldiers knew that if Commander Asuna never showed up out of nowhere one day, Kuradeel would have been the next in line after Commander Oscar lost his life in battle. He was a rather seasoned warrior on and off the battlefield, and he pretty much deserved that promotion. You gotta feel bad for him, but I'm not saying Commander Asuna is a terrible commander; to contrast, she's a great one! Best commander I've served so far, despite her young age. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was one of the prophesied heroes!"

"I see," Godfree bowed in his seat. "Then I must apologize for my sudden anger and misinterpretation. I concurrently agree that Commander Asuna has been performing her role to excellent degree. That's one of the reasons why I look up to her, even as a fellow commander despite her youthness."

Kolts sighed heavily, collapsing against his chair. He couldn't blame the man for assuming his joke to be an implication, but was glad he could ramble out of it. He took a sip of his green tea, as the aroma of the flavoured water calmed his heart down. "Nah, it's my fault for joking in a way that didn't appear to be one. It was a rather sour one to say anyways." As he rested his glass against his leg, he grinned. "Though, Godfree. You're significantly older than Commander Asuna. If anything, she should be looking up to you as a role model, not the other way around."

"Age has nothing to do with skill and experience. If she proves herself on the battlefield and among leadership, she is someone worth keeping an eye on. I'm sure many of the soldiers share the same sentiment."

As Godfree finished his answer, the two soldiers bursted into cheers. Despite the clear visual difference in appearance, the two men were no more than five years apart from each other and were friends for much longer. They often enjoy rambling on duty whenever they can.

It was an amusement the two of them partook that transitioned from their time within training when they were teenagers. Staying up past midnight to be on guard duty for the castle while talking about the most random stuff had created quite the memories and forged a strong bond between them. They couldn't exactly say one knew the other inside out, but the relationship was similar to friendly step-siblings.

"Do you really think Commander Asuna would be fit to be one of the hero braves?" Godfree echoed.

"I don't see why not," Kolts shrugged, looking down the crowd of people bustling around. "She's pretty powerful in strength and tactics, and her lightning elemental only makes her a dangerous foe that enemies would never want to meet on the battlefield. That is, if they could see her in time. Though, her decision-making could use some work, but that just comes with more experience." He rested his glass back onto the makeshift table. "The fact that she still hasn't been marked is still reassuring. It just means that the world doesn't have the Demon Overlord yet, so there's no need for the heavens to call upon the braves."

As Godfree took the final sip of his tea, finishing the cup as he nodded. Even if it wasn't the usual alcohol he desired, the substituted drink had been addicting in its own right. The blend held his taste buds in all the right places. "This tea you got had an excellent taste."

Kolts pondered aloud. "Really? All I did was pick a random herbal leave at the shop. The clerk told me it's supposingly one of the towns known tea blends though, so I lucked out there."

"It has a calming taste to it." Showing his friend the empty glass, he continued. "Is it possible for you to buy a few bags and bring them back to the capital? I'll try and stop by there as well. That way, we can get double the amount!"

"Godfree, there's no limit to how much you can buy…" Kolts mentioned, scratching his head.

"Is that so!?" he heartedly laughed. "Very well! Buy as much as you can, Kolts!"

"I'll do just that, Commander," Kolts chuckled. "It's much cheaper here since it doesn't need to get imported to the capital."

He placed the empty glass back onto the surface, exhaling a deep breath. "I supposed I delayed this for more than an excusable amount of time, but I should go and check up with Commander Asuna and see what is the next plan of approach."

"I wouldn't say it's too dire, maybe send a search team or something."

"Most likely, but if Commander Asuna believes it to be something else, then we will take her word for it. Her instincts are one of the best in the Knights of the Blood Oath." Godfree rolled over his arm and walked down the wall. He waved to Kolts; he caught the gesture in his corner. "Take care, Kolts. Hold the fort up while I'm gone. I'll give you and everyone else the details soon."

"Don't worry about the gate too much." Kolts patted the weapon against his hip, as the sheath is engraved with a golden insignia of downwards pointing sword, similar to a cross. "I'm more than enough manpower for whatever hostility comes through the gates, even without you. Honestly, having the both of us here is kinda overkill."

"Would you be fine even if a handful of Nephethes shows up out of nowhere?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." He chuckled, surrendering his hands in the air. "I could barely take on one by myself consistently as it is; two if I'm on a good day, but it wouldn't be at the same time. Gotta be one after the other."

As Godfree left down to the stairs, Kolts suddenly remembered his original question. "Ah, I forgot to return back to that topic on why he's here." Holding his head in embarrassment, he shook his head at his own fault. "I guess I'll have time to ask him later."

=|==== III ====|=

Grogginess took his eyes as his hands reached to amend them. His sleep patterns had been considerably irregular, so blanking out of his consciousness for a short time might have been helpful. He couldn't say it was a short time, since he had no clock to tell him. Considering that the sun hasn't bothered to set yet, he would imagined so.

Even if death had settled with him, resting had still been one of the best things given to humans.

With his senses restarting themselves, Kazuto begun to have a clear vision of the forest again, but there was something missing. The makeshift clearing had still been present, and the black coat he was equipped with had still been hugging his body. His sword that spawned alongside him had remained in his peripheral, yet he never bothered to check the quality underneath the sheath.

Evidently, there was no signs of the figure—

"Oh, you're awake."

"Fucking hell…" Kazuto exasperated and darted his head, scanning the area for where the voice had came from. It felt close, yet he couldn't discover its location of origin. "W-Where are you!?"

"I'm inside of you!" the figure answered bluntly.

"... I don't even want to know what you did to my body to get there."

"Relax, I'm just within your consciousness' spacial plane," the figure amusingly assured. "The moment you got here, we were already teetered up by a link, so all I had to do was jump inside you. Emotional damage may apply."

"Emotional damage will apply, you mean."

"Just want to put this out there; there's basically nothing here let alone all of the gaming, tech and otaku culture. I'd say that would make up for at least seventy percent of your memory. Wow, a good portion of that section is just tech knowledge. Aren't you a smart kid?"

"No one gave you the right to go through my brain like that!"

"I'm apparently a 'nameless entity that got kicked out of subspace', so a few rule breakers shouldn't be out of character."

"... Fine…" Kazuto surrendered. He didn't have the mental stamina to maintain the discourse, nor did he have the intellectual abilities to force the spirit into the metaphorical corner. He simply allowed the issue to flow past his fingers. Complaining now wasn't going to change a single thing.

It'll remain true that he die, that he was reincarnated, that he was stuck with an displeasuring spirit. All of it will remain until some ambiguous end, yet to be determined. He groaned from reminding himself about the scrambled system, but alas, he needed to persevere.

How did that saying go again? Rome wasn't built in a day? Though in Kazuto's case, it was more like a character can't grind to max level, stats, and be top ranked in a single day for a game he just started.

Resting his arms down and his hands snuggly tucked within pant's pockets, he sighed. "I should probably get going and find a town or village somewhere. That's always a good landmark to start in reincarnation settings."

Even if it wasn't, there was no point in wandering a forest aimlessly. Rather than following the gaming guide of reincarnation, it was better to say it was common sense to try and find a civilization, or at least, someone who can help him out. Hopefully, the nearby villages accepted wandering travellers into their streets. Maybe he'll come across a young woodcutter that would be nice enough to show him the way.

"Good idea," the spirit reinforced. Kazuto looked around in the forest, and decided on a random direction before the spirit stopped him three steps in. "Whoa, wait. Are you just going to leave that sword there?"

Kazuto promptly turned back after his brief realization, reaching for the sheathed weapon. There was conveniently a place to attach it against his belt. "Are you implying that there are monsters in this world?" he asked, strapping in the sword. "Because I'm not going to appreciate it if there are. Let's leave those creatures to gaming."

"I wouldn't say imply, but if this really is a reincarnation setting like those fictional stories in your world, the common theme is that monsters exist, and eight times out of ten, they're not your friends. One out of ten times, you are the monster. It's really more of a general observation."

"... Damn," Kazuto begrudgingly muttered, "you're right for once."

Baring the sword's blade to the sky, Kazuto allowed the sunlight to bounce against the edges, basking itself in the shallow heat. The weapon was in near perfect condition, from what he knew from swords, though he didn't have a menu to check its precise numeral stat. With the idea in mind, Kazuto took his other hand, attempting to tap it. It was the same trigger to get the Sword Art Online's system to display weapon details.

His finger met with the steel; nothing had been brought up much to his disappointment. If the world had functioned like Sword Art Online, he would have had an easier time transitioning his livelihood over. He would be able to fight with confidence should the occasion arise. Ultimately, this hadn't been like the virtual world, as the thought escaped through his heavy breath.

"Wh—What was that?" the figure questioned, confused.

Kazuto stiffened. "Shut up, you saw nothing," he monotonically answered quickly.

"I see what you see, and you just tapped it randomly."

"No," Kazuto kept his calm attitude, covering his embarrassment, "you saw absolutely nothing. I saw absolutely nothing. Nothing happened. Are we clear?"

"Fine," the figure mused, "I guess."

Bringing the sword back into the shadows, he took a few simple swings. Even if this hadn't been the virtual reality game he was expecting, the flow of motion had been rather similar. He tried throwing out a fews more mock strikes, intimidating the moves he learned from Sword Art Online, but with no other players to help collaborate what was the extent of the system was like, he couldn't peek into fights or forums and take some notes for himself.

Twisting his body to slash the air in front, he tried to bring out specific moves that existed in Sword Art Online. They were called Sword Skills and they were significant stronger then normal attacks, though they would lock him in an animation. They came in many different forms, but Kazuto focused on the offensive types, repeatedly bringing his weapon forwards. Even when he was concentrating on the ability triggering, there was no familiar blue light that formed.

He didn't have much of a basis to think mechanics from the virtual reality game transitioned to this world. It probably had to do with his outfit, giving a placebo that it was still related to Aincrad, the world within Sword Art Online. However, he couldn't shake off the odd feeling of semblance and he wasn't saying that because he had a sword in his hand.

"Anyways, are there any guarantees that I'm able to use this weapon properly?"

"I suppose that's ultimately dependant on you. I'm just here to get you out of sticky situations until my punishment's been lifted. Basically, it all relies on how confident you feel holding a sword. I'll be there as your little margin of error."

"In other words, you will prevent me from dying," he assumed, "right?"

"I said sticky situations, not hellfire on earth," the figure snarled. He wasn't too keen on allowing Kazuto to believe the notion. "I can't protect you if you decide to rush into a horde of enemies without a plan or the brute strength required. Please be tame with what you want to do; it's your life as well."

It had been in his favour to keep out of danger until he had known what he was doing, since he never got the basic tutorial on this world. It was something that he needed to investigate for himself, so avoiding anything that comes across him had been the safest option. He supposed the sword should be present in case of a defense if he needed to fight for an escape. He shifted his sights back to the weapon.

He didn't realized it before, but it was surprisingly light for a broadsword. It was nothing he expected compared to how players talked about the real life comparison within the game. It might have been one-handed, but there was no way that he should have move the weapon to speeds rivaling a rapier, yet he was. From the looks of it, it appears that the sword was a parting gift from God and once deities are involved, logic can be thrown right out the window.

Pushing his sword back into the cover, he proceeded the same facing direction.

"That's the opposite direction of your original choice," the spirit pointed out.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Kazuto scowled. "I'm inside a forest, that I don't know about, within a world, that I don't know about. Unless you want to pitch in and give me directions to a nearby town I would miss otherwise, just stay quiet."

"Fair enough. I'll keep an eye out for villages you could miss."

"Thanks for doing the bare minimum," Kazuto grunted.

=|==== IV ====|=

"Why would something like this happen now?"

Lannon's main strategy room that was typically occupied by the city's tacticians, but ever since the arrival of the Knights of the Blood, there had been one frequent visitor that showed up. However, the tacticians didn't push her away.

Instead, it had always been a joy for the them to see the young commander, but to an unaware witness, the girl in front had appearance of a daughter rather than a soldier. She was the ideal woman for men her age, equipped with her light clothing fitting the aesthetics of her peers. Despite her beautiful choice in uniform, she kept a focused expression, brushing over one of her hanging hairs over her ears.

Though his desk was filled with maps and reports scattered around, the hooded tactician, his dark green hair peeking out, was cloaked in his robes when he noticed the exasperated sight of the visiting commander sitting on the couch straddling the wall. She flipped through the papers in her hand; her determined face revealed that she was trying to find something. His brown eyes immediately broke away from his own assignment, while a few wrinkles had shown around his eyes.

He was awfully bored anyways, being forced to play second-fiddle to the Knights of the Blood Oath in the entire Nepenthes operation. He was fine if he was involved with the Nepenthes situation, but he wasn't allowed. He was given the task behind the scenes of gathering information and storing them like a secretary. The mayor actually had a secretary for jobs like this, annoying him further. He thought about the situation extensively though, so he felt like he was in the position to give advice if she needed it. It bested decaying away with a pen in hand.

"Commander Asuna? Is there a problem?"

"The civilians are desperately worried about the explosion that happened. You must have heard about it by now."

"Of course," the man nodded. "News circulates rather quickly, and even if I didn't hear the news from my colleagues, I would have to be either dead or asleep or not be able to hear that. Last time I check, I'm on hour twenty-six right now and I'm definitely not dead."

"Hour twenty-six? I-Is that safe?" Asuna asked, her serious expression easily broken.

"I'm still working fine, am I not?" The tactician quietly yawned on cue. "Just need to have my hourly gallon of coffee."

She cleared her voice, clearing up any weaken tones that could make her voice shaky. Her eyes returned to her documents.

"What are you trying to find there?" the man asked.

"These are just scribbles of eyewitness reports that the soldiers got together as soon as possible," Asuna answered, turning the page. "Alongside with any information about this territory and local reports from other towns. It's nothing worthwhile though."

"You wouldn't be able to get information about the Nepenthes or the explosion from that additional source from other towns. You were looking for something else until the explosion happened, right?" he concluded.

"Aren't you observant?" Asuna verbally applauded. "Anyways, the main issue I have is that the citizens wanted us to make sure its safe and the mayor of Lannon is pushing this issue onto us, but I'm worried about is the nature of that explosion. I want to know your perspective, as the town's one strategist."

"Basically, you're hesitating on whether or not you should treat it as a nuisance or a threat. Geez, that damned mayor, always trying to push his work onto others. All he really does is stamp the papers and see if he profits off of it. Hell, he's even throwing those jobs to me now. I swear, he doesn't know what he's doing half the time," he growled. The man noticed his tone shift, bouncing back his calming voice. "I digress. You don't have to accept anything outside what you were contracted to do. Strictly and technically speaking, that explosion was outside of the area that the Knights of the Blood were expected to cover. We should have enough soldiers of our own to see what the explosion was all about."

"I can't ignore such a calamity."

"Are you looking down on our amateur ranks because of our lack of magic arts?"

Asuna was surprised by the accusation, readily defending herself. "No! I would never think about it like that!"

The tactician slowly stood up and sighed. He begun pacing around the room's perimeter with his hands behind his back. He had thought that the commander before him would refuse such a blind eye. He had simple wanted to see the young commander's conviction for himself, rather than from words.

"Honestly," the tactician said, "it's these types of problems and situations that might get you killed in the future. Stick your nose in too much and you won't have a nose when you come out."

"Well, if I die, then it means I was unprepared. At no point should a commander be such, so it ultimately translates to my effectiveness as a commander. I'm also aware of my position as a role—"

"Fine, fine." The man easily yielded his persuasion, seeing that Asuna was not willing to budge her position. If anything, it made things easier for him. "Look, I only heard the visual details, but allegedly, the explosion was instantaneous without any preemptiveness. To add on, it should have been rather large if people could see it from the city walls. I was surprised by how it was able to make a noise as loud as it did."

The native tactician stopped in front of the commander, who didn't glance up. Her eyes were too engrossed at the reports, but he knew she was still listening. "Keep in mind that the explosion isn't what you came here to do. Your portion of the Knights of the Blood Oath came to tackle the Nepenthes problems and that's it," he reminded her. "However, if you insist on investigating, I would highly recommend to limit yourselves."

"You're saying that a small scout team would suffice?" Asuna mulled over the idea, while turning the page. "Well, that was my original idea as well."

"Original?" the tactician cocked his head. "I think I know what your thought process is, but explain, just to be safe."

Closing the paperwork on itself, Asuna returned the tactician's stare, tucking away the paper. The man sat across from her, rolling over to lie down on their couch. He turned his head to the side to keep her in his sights. "What if it's a trap? I've been thinking about the appearance of the Nepenthes lately, and something just doesn't add up. It's like they were brought here by a third party, not a sudden migration like people initially thought. That's why I had reports get sent in from other towns and cities to see if there was anything contradictory about passing transporters."

"Unlikely, as I thought. Do you know how much effort that would take to transport each Nepenthes across the continent? You would have to get by some many town, hiding groups upon groups of them. How much did the Knights of the Blood Oath kill on the first day?"

"... About fifty," Asuna promptly answered, knowing the numbers from the field reports.

"Yeah, and that was just on patrols and the afternoon manhunt that spanned only an hour or so. That just means they brought at least fifty Nepenthes in cages without letting anyone know. It had to be in a cluster too. If it had been a migration, there's still the chance that those monsters somehow avoided all of the towns and landed here."

"Your suggestion is just as unlikely. If not, then more," Asuna said shaking her head. "It's still possible. It wouldn't be the first time that officials managed to hide information from us."

"You wouldn't be wrong." The tactician propped up his leg on top of the other; his head laid on the armrest. He begun making subtle hand gestures alongside his words. "Though, this and that situation differs. What would both parties gain both it? The officials can get some money, but should be skeptical that they're transporting Nepenthes of all monsters. Even if they didn't know, they should have been told the news about Lannon and raise some eyebrows. The transporters can bring over their Nepenthes, but have them killed off by soldiers and now they're down in cash. Transporting fifty Nepenthes isn't easy; you need a very large group to do that, and this is the bare minimum amount." The man lead his eyes to the commander. "What does this have to do with the explosion?"

"It's true that the noise was much louder than expected. It's true that it was much larger than it should have. Putting that together, what could have made such irregularity in the first place?" She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees and bringing her weight onto her hands. "Not even a Nephethes could do that, nor any monsters that I know of. What if it was something far greater than what a small team could deal with? What if the Nepenthes was the first step within someone's plan? We simply do not have enough information to act on this situation."

"So just hold your positions in the city," the man sighed, bothered by the obvious choice by her standards. "If you need to expose yourselves to just deal with the people's concerns, it's probably a bad idea. Or is it something else?"

Asuna's closed her eyes. She was probably the best decision to ignore it, but she couldn't turn away from the mysterious force. It was as if she knew that if it went unchecked, there would be a bigger problem. "I have a bad feeling about this, but I don't know what to trust. The data, or my instinct."

The door opened wide, slamming against the wall. The entrance had surprised Asuna out of her thoughts, while the man glared at the young girl at the frame. Her black ponytail had bounced, while her clothing was in the same style of the man. "Oh, Asuna!" she called, waving with her long sleeves. "You're here again! You needed some peace and quiet from the chaos in the streets?"

"It's Commander Asuna if you want to refer to her by name," the man corrected, not bothering to to look at her. He rolled over to his seat, sitting up properly and straightened out his robes.

"She's my age, so it doesn't make sense for me to call her that. Besides, she's not my commander." She walked up behind him, grabbing the top of his hood playfully and pulling it off, revealing the man's hair in its messy, but organized style. "The day I call her by Commander is the day I either work for her or you take off the hood indoors!"

He immediately swung forward, exposing himself for only a second until the hood came back on. He glared back at her. "You can't take the hood away from me! It's the distinctive feature of tacticians! If anything, you should be wearing them!"

"You'll catch me dead before I do." She crossed her arms, growling. "I only wear the robes you gave me because people recognize it as our uniform now, sadly enough."

The man groaned as he ignored the obvious grudge. "Lilia, did you find what you were looking for in the library?" He twisted his head this time.

The returning girl had shook her head. "Nothing about Nepenthes migration. All I found out that it was technically possible, but the chances of the world ending have better odds than what's happening now. The conditions are too strict."

"Information from a monster guide? Is that all you can come up with? Not even a single proper report?" the man raised his eyebrows, clicking his tongue. He had been expecting at least some answers out of this situation, but she returned with no information. He shook his head, clearing up at least one detail up. "You're an apprentice for a reason I suppose; I shouldn't have really expected much."

"B-Be quiet, Reine! You try finding this out by yourself!"

"Nah. Too much work for minimal to no results."

"Honestly!"

Reine glanced back to Asuna as Lilia made her way back to her own desk which was perpendicular to his own, pouting and crashing into her comfy seat. Her table was considerably neater than Reine's. Her own robes had more glow to it, but it hadn't been for show. She may have been on a lesser standing than Reine, but she was still considered to be a tactician. Depending on who was asked, some citizens would say that Lilia appeared to have the main role rather than the apprentice.

"So, what are you two talking about? The explosion?"

Asuna nodded. "I'm starting to have the suspicion that it wasn't a monster that caused it."

"Couldn't it be a high-leveled art?" Lilia suggested. "Though, I don't know any magic arts that would just make an explosion like that."

"What, you think it was a high-level magic art someone decided to blast out for fun?" Reine asked in disbelief. "That person would have to be insane to just randomly do that in the middle of nowhere and not warn anyone. Either that, or unaware of the consequences."

"I guess that's true, and there's no one in the Lannon that could use high-levelled magic other than the mayor," Lilia added, pushing her hands against her cheeks as a rest. "The best we gotten was medium-levelled person. Our town isn't know for magical talent anyways. While we're on the topic," Lilia turned over to her senior, "how's your magic coming along?"

"Same trashed results as always. I still don't understand why we should be learning magic anyways. I'd prefer a seasoned sword than some magical words and circles." Reine sighed. "Anyways, let's get back on topic. You're implying that a human randomly blasted such an art?"

"Surely, they must know that's a terrible idea," Asuna stated.

"Okay, suppose it had been a human who casted it," Reine hypothesized. "There's two real answers that would allow them to cast it like that. One, they want to get the attention of the Knights of the Blood Oath like you thought."

"But two, someone wanted to take out a Nepenthes themselves and ended up doing that," Lilia offered.

"Then it would have been a traveller of some sort, but I find that highly unlikely," Reine claimed. "If that explosion was high-leveled magic, it's a rare type. Not many people use magic for straight-up explosions. And they choose to use it in the middle of a forest? Yeah, not buying it." He crossed his leg over the other, stroking his chin. "Even if this person did run into a Nepenthes, they wouldn't have the time to cast it. High-leveled magic takes too much time to prepare."

"You think?" Lilia tilted her head.

"I don't mean to be rude," Asuna interrupted, "but I don't think we're getting anywhere."

"No, I think I got the gist," Reine said. "Send a small group, and you're concerned that they might be wiped out by a trap. Send a medium sized group and because of the possibility of the manmade distraction, you think that the city will get attacked by another force. That would be the reasoning for your transportation theory. Don't go at all, and you feel like something bad is going to happen. So really," he pondered, "when it boils down to it, shouldn't you just send yourself and Godfree to investigate? In terms of sheer numbers, it's an underestimation compared to your regular squadrons. In terms of power, it's an overestimation. Balances out in the end."

"Send the two commanders?" Lilia questioned, not believing in Reine's recommended choice. "That's kinda stupid."

"It is, but it's the best case for our, nothing personal but, indecisive commander here," Reine explained. "Both Asuna and Godfree are commanders, serving under Leader Heathcliff for the capital's primary forces, right? From what I heard, you're pretty scary in a fight, and nothing would be standing in her way after you're done. Godfree is pretty amazing on the battlefield with his bountiful array of weapons, and can give the support needed that a one-person party can't have by themself."

"That is the strength that we commanders are required to have if we want to be a leader to the soldiers and the people," Asuna clarified, "but that decision would make our forces without a commander for some time. Godfree doesn't have the same mobility as I. My assistant, Kuradeel, is out on a patrol right now, so I can't leave them this place unattended."

"What's the worst that's going to happen?" Reine stood up from his seat, stretching. He made his way over to the windowsill, to let in some fresh air. "The Knights of the Blood Oath are still a formidable group of the capital city. If this place does get attacked, I'm sure they can manage without a commander. Or do you not trust them?"

Asuna stayed silent, as the two tacticians heard a heavy exhale, a resignation of some kind. "Very well. However, if anything happens and people die because of it, I'm coming back to you, Reine."

"Ooh. Scary." Reine tilted his head back, throwing up his shoulders. He decided to playful ask in retaliation. "By the way, does Leader Heathcliff make the decisions in the organization or something? You're rather bad at coming up with the obvious."

Asuna stood up, ignoring the comment and approached Lilia's desk, placing her papers onto the table. "You mind?"

"Just leave that to me. The fast you leave, the faster you'll return."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

With her words of departure, Asuna took her leave, closing the door gently with a click. The room was left to the original two residents once again, as Reine sat back at his desk, collapsing into his arms.

"And I return to the piles of paperwork." He banged his forehead against the wooden surface repeatedly. If he had lost consciousness from the impact, it might have been a blessing.

"R-Reine?" Lilia called, surprised.

"Lilia," he called out, holding his face flat against the table, "help me out and grab me a cup of coffee. Please?"

"Alright… Don't pass out before I return."

Lilia stood up from her desk and left the room, closing the door behind her. The room was now empty without another soul inside. Reine couldn't muster up a smile, but he had been content with how the conversation went. He managed to complete his assigned mission and confirm one other detail, though they weren't much a feat. The background information he had had already ensured his success as long as he manipulated the conversation in the right manner.

He felt bad for the commander, throwing her into an unexpected obstacle, but the only reason he underwent the plan was the personal mission he needed to fulfill. He only had to get Asuna to go to the high-leveled art and that was it. It never said anything about securing her death. As such, that was why he recommended Godfree to come with her.

Why was he doing this? He didn't search for an immediate answer, as the reward scared him from thinking about it. What he was going to do with the reward was scaring him even more. Even though he was a lackluster tactician that only wanted to take it easy, he knew he needed to accept those conditions. He lacked power to do anything about his situation, letting the mayor control him like a puppet, all whilst his silent anger couldn't exhaust itself.

He pulled out one of his drawers and lifted up a secret component that he carved out when Lilia wasn't watching. Stored within was a written letter from the mayor, something that he wasn't supposed to have as it wasn't detailed to him. It was the damning evidence against him, but Reine couldn't use it to expose the mayor. People would otherwise believe that Reine was the one who forged it, having access to the mayor's stamp if needed. For now, his individual knowledge was enough.

His fears will cease once he accepted the reward. If he was going to commit, he needed to accept the consequences, but he knew it was going to be fine. His avengement would be complete if he had the strength.

"Hey, I know you're listening." Reine had muttered in a low voice, such that if there had been anyone in the room with him, he wouldn't have heard it. His kept his eyes down, sights mindlessly locked onto the oaken desk. His heart was heavy as he gulped. "The job is complete. Be sure to uphold your end of the bargain."

A sudden throbbing gnarled at his hand, devouring the entire arm in numbness and pain. He couldn't react accordingly, as his eyes panned over to the backside of his hand. From emptiness, an unusual mark. He held his breath, and cringed.

=|==== V ====|=

There was no end to the forest, as every tree had looked like the next precedent one. The structure of the pathway, if he could call it that, had been naturally distorted, often forcing Kazuto on winding trails. This hadn't been an environment that humans would trespass normally, but he grudged onwards.

"You know, I really don't like being called 'nameless entity that got kicked out of subspace'. It's too long, and it's too offensive."

"I wasn't planning to, but I might have to think about the decision now," he sarcastically said.

"Look, I have a name!" the spirit stated. "It's SE2470! I take pride in being one of the first three thousand spiritual entities to work alongside God!"

That was worse than the original name he used. "That's a mouthful if I ever heard one. SE2470?" Kazuto pretended to think about the name, but deformed back to his original reaction. "That's stupid, and I'm not calling you that."

"Wh-What?" the spirit was shocked. "Alright, Kazuto! You think of a better name for me!"

"How about 'Murderer'? Rolls off the tongue decently well, and reminds me on how much I hate you."

"You're just being a tsundere!"

"More like I'm being a tundra," Kazuto quickly retorted.

"Wow, cool comeback! Where did you get it from, a light novel or something?" The spirit's question was immediately dismissed from Kazuto's mind.

There had been blocking branches in his way, and he didn't want to lose track of his bearings. Ensuring that he was heading straight ahead, he sliced through the trees, dropping their arms onto the grass-filled ground. It was good practice, as it was a few years since the last time he picked up a sword in reality. Still, that was a shintai for kendo, but the concept wasn't too foreign since it was only a year ago he used a sword in the virtual world.

Thinking about it, if he did have to give a serious name to the annoying and sorry excuse of a spirit, it had to be something that both of them would agree one. If the spirit disagreed, he would never hear the end of it. If he disagreed, he'll just be bothered by it until it decides to leave.

He bit his tongue on other potential suggestions. He was good at lashing out at people in games if they messed up heavily, but he took long-term decisions very seriously. If he had let his voice speak whenever it wanted, he would only end up basically insulting the spirit.

That wasn't a bad plan either, but Kazuto held the urge.

The spirit gasped within his mind. "Hey, what about Nebula?"

"Nebula, huh?" Kazuto repeated. "I think that might be the first time I haven't hated you for something."

It was an astronomical term used to refer a cloud of dust in the vast space. It was one of the random pieces of knowledge he managed to compile up while on the internet. He couldn't find a reason to hate it, but there must have been an underlying reason to why the spirit selected.

"Pretty nice, huh? I thought of the words 'subspace' and thought of 'space'. Then I cycled through words that related to space, and I thought 'nebula' was a good word! Has a nice ring to it, and it could be a makeshift name. I knew I had to shy away from any human names, because that would be just wrong. And it's seemingly unisex, so perfect of a genderless entity! Thus, call me Nebula!"

Kazuto took the entire thing back. This spirit had simply been basic in its decisions, and he shouldn't have been expecting anything logically complex or sinister from it.

"Yeah." Kazuto nodded, as he ripped down his blade on another branch. "I guess Nebula is a good name. It's not inherently offensive and I don't have to take a breath after I say it."

While they briefly touched upon the topic, Kazuto had some concerns and curiosities he needed to be answered. He did know about the general act of reincarnation, but he didn't know precisely about his situation. It may have not done anything, but it would satiate his desire for the moment.

"Nebula, since we're still on the topic, can I get an explanation as to what exactly are you?"

There was a moment of silence, before Nebula answered. "That's a good question."

"... Excuse me?"

"Well, all you need to know is that we are something made out of nothing," Nebula explained. "We entities exist, yet not for the sake of existing. Our very nature is a mystery to even ourselves, and the very reason we were brought to life was to assist the God of the worlds and universes. You know? You old guy you met?"

"I'm fully aware who God is," Kazuto drolled.

"Anyways, if you need a comparison, we entities would like business people, the very same workers in suits you see everyday on the streets. You could acknowledge them, or ignore them and continue on your way. They might not hold a light in your world, but they still have jobs to do. However, we don't work with papers and documents like them per say. Instead, it's more like handling the order of the universes in God's steed. Whether that's to uphold natural births and natural deaths, luck and karma, or anything trivial."

"Wait, God doesn't control the universe, but you and your entity friends do?"

"He does the heavy lifting for everyone; don't get me wrong. There's simply too many living beings in the multiverse, it would be difficult for even God to do it himself. Our job is to consider the finer details and sort those out. In other words, we're the backdrop to God's standing ovation. We present and make everything look clean and nicer, but no one really pays any attention to us, to the point where we faded out of everyone's religions as his helpers." Nebula sighed. "I still can't believed they would replace us with angels. Understandable figures to worship, but… they're angels! How did it come to that!? We look nothing like them!"

"You just confirmed the multiverse theory."

"I'm not saying it's wrong. Humans do have interesting ideas."

"Digressing aside," Kazuto interrupted his train of thought being derailed, "it's then that you messed something up, and killed me. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"It happens more often than you would think," Nebula argued. "About sixty-five percent of all truck accidents are caused by us. The rest are actual accidents by reckless drivers."

"Truck accidents? Why so specific?"

"We don't choose the method of death, Kazuto. For some reason, if we accidentally cause someone's death, it's always by truck."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. All of those medias you have back in your world are scarily accurate to the truth sometimes."

Kazuto's trail among the forest didn't look like it was ending soon. Hordes of trees had still stood tall in his vision. It came to a gamer's instinctive decision where he subconsciously began marking all of the passing tree to make sure this forest hadn't been called any synonym of the Lost Woods.

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain how you managed to kill me accidentally. Was there a button? Filed the wrong document? Tipped over the structure with my life force in it? I think I have the right to know that scenario, at the very least."

"Rarely do accidents actually happen in the comparison of the amount of living beings, and I've never had the pleasure to witnessing it for myself. Therefore, I was curious," Nebula paused for dramatic effect, "so I did it. I basically deleted your life execution file out of my free will, if you want to put in computer terms."

"You have to be fucking joking me."

"God just told you there was an accident, so that you didn't lose it in front of him." Kazuto could hear the smugness in Nebula's voice. "Typically, if it was actually an accidental, the entity who did it used too much force on the data of a life. They're very fragile, after all. God forgives accidents, so many of them go unpunished.

"It didn't help that I was created with the emotion of curiosity, and God discovered that I did it on purpose."

"I thought you just said entities don't have—!" Kazuto stuttered, noticing the clear contradictions. "Wait, but God said that it was—!"

"God doesn't lie, but he likes to presents technicalities if it reassures someone's soul. There had been an accident behind the scenes about your death. Turns out I was defective and God didn't realize until it was too late!"

He found his palm pushed up against his face. Kazuto was suspended in disbelief—or thought that he called it. Either way, he stemmed himself into the ground, taking the divine moment to take in the claims though his true emotions had been leaking out. His hand clenched into a fist; his teeth bit down tightly on himself; a vein begun to appear on his forehead.

"Bask in the glory of being before the only defective entity out of an infinite amount!"

There really was no fighting the system, was there? Like Nebula said, he needed to accept it, but this was entirely ludicrous. It was like the universe was out to get him with this setup. He said his hotheaded piece earlier, but only bitterness had soured his stomach now.

"I just hate everything," Kazuto muttered, as his hands came together in one more prayer. "God, please give me my life back. I promise I'll be more social to my family and I'll make an effort to make new friends. Just get me away from this failure of an entity."

"Hey, I'm right here." Nebula muttered emotionlessly, mimicking an offense.

"I know you are."

As his words ended, Kazuto's ears twitched as he darted his head to the left. There was a rumbling sound from that direction, but he couldn't quite determine what it could possibly be.

There were too many birds flying about and singing, scattering in multiple directions. He felt the gust of their flaps as they soared past. This was new information he noted; the idea of birds had been transferred over, but he couldn't say if any of the passing animals were exactly similar. If animals existed normally, surely monsters didn't as well… Right?

The rumbling sound had only grown, breaking Kazuto's distraction. Birds had been rather sensitive compared to humans, and would run away in any case of danger if possible.

"D-Don't tell me…"

Kazuto's intuition acted for itself, readying the steel blade in front of him. His two hands gripped on tightly, as his arms started to tremble. He couldn't detect anything within his sights, but there was a strange feeling. The hairs on his body had been standing up straight as his skin underwent goosebumps.

At last, the rumbling earth had stopped, but Kazuto's body hadn't relented because he saw something. The trees in the distance appeared as if they were moving out of the way, but that was impossible. Something had been pushing them down, letting the bodies crash onto survivors. Whatever it was, it was approaching towards him—

and fast.

"H-Hey, Kazuto?" Nebula stuttered, sharing the same eyes, if not a wider perspective than him. His spine chilled at what Nebula wanted to say. "You might want to start running."

"Do you know what that is?" Kazuto asked, slowly backing up, peeking back to avoid any obstacles.

"I got a clear vision on it, and I'm just going to say…" He heard Nebula gasp. "Ah, it's too late. Get ready for your first battle. Hoped you learned the mechanics of this world by now."

Kazuto snapped back to the incoming danger, only to see that it seemingly disappeared. He didn't know where it went, but he didn't care. However, he noticed something off about the small exposure of sunlight. Above the area he was generally standing, the light dared not to access the forest.

Kazuto immediately looked up, and narrowly jumped out as the danger crashed down from the sky. It was less dramatic and more crude than Nebula's entrance, but it did its intended job as Kazuto staggered backwards, catching his feet on the ground.

Grunting, Kazuto leered upwards. He got his first real look at what a true monster looked like as the broken arms of the trees snapped without any resistance, showering the creature in a burning spotlight.

His eyes widened.

It towered over him, as the blasphemic excuse for a creature directly stared at Kazuto. Instead of feasting with its nonexistent eyes, the plant-like monster simply knew he was standing in front. His heart became erratic, feeling the heavy heat that was the monster's breath. It hadn't been the massive red lips that cause his discomfort, nor was it the long tongue it used to lick it. It wasn't the sharp, deadly canine fangs that no plants should have either. Kazuto hesitated to move as the monster grew out its thin, green arms from the squiming roots, pointing all of them like a blade ready to impale its prisoner.

Any of those unpleasant details would have a person faint on the spot, but he remained standing strong, though not out of his mental fortitude. It was out of memory that he managed to hold his ground.

His feeling was correct, but Kazuto did not understand. He had seen this monster before, but there was a major problem if this was truly another world.

This wasn't Sword Art Online.

"Why the hell is a Little Nepenthes here!?"

The Nephethes screamed out to the open, shattering his ear drums as it returned back to its prey. Drool had finally oozed out of its mouth, dripping slowly and steadily. Facing off this monster normally hadn't been a problem, but he couldn't say the same about now. Something about the monster frightened him to the core.

"Hey, Kazuto?" Nebula muttered. "Pick a God of any choice, and hope you start fucking praying."

Twice already he tried that method, and he didn't want to strike out a third attempt.

"I suddenly remember why I'm not heavily religious."

=|==== VI ====|=

A pale man trudged along the the empty forest, as his sword was being dragged behind. His wrinkles on his face suggested that he was older than he actually was. His long hair allowed a black ponytail to be tied behind, accented with two bangs, pushed against the sides of his head. His white armour was patterned with a red edge plating while a similarly coloured cross had been found on a selection of locations, a clear indication of the Knights of the Blood Oath. However, it was patched with a few spots of red liquids.

The Knights of the Blood Oath were a group comprised of excellent soldiers of blades and magic, swearing their duty for the sake for their country. Some of them had more plans for their future than others, but none of those ambitions had truly contradicted with their promise to the capital. They worked hard to get there, and they weren't about to throw it away.

A swift gaze upon the man's sword had shown that something was amiss. Bright, red blood had been stained against the weapon, fresh from the source. Granted, it may have been from a sudden monster attack, but one would have to consider the difference in colour and situation. The Nepenthes' blood had been comparatively darker, removing any possibility of combat. The similar intensity was shared between neutral animals, but there hadn't been a single reason why a patrolling soldier would randomly attack them. In addition, a few animals would not have enough blood to shower the blade's edges.

"Kura… deel…"

The rasping of the man's victims had been whispering loud enough to grab his attention. The man called Kuradeel turned his head in a borily fashion, uninterested in the collateral damage. Though he was pleasantly surprised, he showed it through a devious grin. Apparently, one of them didn't get the message clear enough. However, he didn't have much time to play around with the dying humans in front of him anymore.

He already had his fun, cutting his allies' body into a disfigured mess.

"Look," he snarled, "I don't have much time to waste on you losers. You're already dying, so why do you want me to end it quickly? I already gotten enough amusement from killing our allies, so I'll just leave you to suffer."

The lying soldier was very close to death, edging near the brink every second. Even so, he was struggling to move. He hadn't planned on what he would do if he do, but he couldn't leave it at Kuradeel slaughtering his allies. It may have been a natural reaction when facing with the end of his life so suddenly, as blood, tears, and sweat were piled among each other.

He was scared to look upwards to Kuradeel's insanity, but he couldn't look backwards either. Rather, he didn't want to witness the mutilation of the soldiers that he fought aside throughout the years. For it to end here at the hands of someone he once trusted, it was nothing less than a cruel joke.

"Kuradeel," he groaned, "why…? Why… did you do this…?"

"No reason in particular."

Kuradeel dropped the blade's tip into the struggling man's palm, but he couldn't even muster a single scream. It only pained his fleeting consciousness, biting his bloodwelled lips.

"Actually, it might make a nice gift for Asuna when she sees this."

"What are you… What are you planning!?"

Kuradeel pondered to himself curiously, pressing his elbow on top of the hilt, pushing the blade deeper. "What can I tell you? Let's see…" In the midst, he stepped on the man's fingers and held the handle tightly. He threw his shoulder, slicing the man's hand from the interior. The soldier somehow found the strength to croak a cry. He drowned himself with tears of anguish, as he knew his body was being played with.

However, through the tormentation, the soldier was able to keep his calm. He had endured heavy training to do so, as he latched on what Kuradeel previously said. "A gift for… Asuna? D-Don't tell me…!"

"Yeah, I'm trying to get rid of her." Kuradeel grinned, stomping onto the soldier's face. His skull cracked from the power. "Now that you know, what can you do?"

"Commander Asuna… will surely—!"

"It's always Commander Asuna this, Commander Asuna that!" he snapped, repeatedly throwing his foot down on him. "Did you know!? That position was suppose to be mine! I was supposed to be the next commander! I was Commander Oscar's second in command! That blind idiot Heathcliff couldn't see the fucking resolve I placed into that position! To place a soldier that literally experience one large-scale battle as the next commander than one who experienced dozens! It baffles me!"

"Kura… deel…"

"I even accelerated the progress when I assassinated Commander Oscar!"

Against the ground, the soldier's eyes widened. "You… Commander Oscar… You killed him...?"

"Oh, I spoke too much." Taking off his foot, he walked over to the soldier's side and swung it backwards. He released the momentum and socked the soldier in his open stomach, sending him flying over to a tree. With the hit, he coughed aggressively and out of control, staring up to the man who was once respected by his peers, degraded to a murderer. "Poor bastard didn't even see it coming in the middle of the fighting until it was too late."

"You'll pay… Kuradeel… Karma will surely catch up to you…!"

The man's voice stopped forcely, as Kuradeel plunged his sword into the throat and slashing outwards. His bugged eyes were left, as the stains covered the woodland nature. He wiped the blood off the blade using the soldier's clothing, the parts that weren't drenched, and threw his sword over a few meters. If Asuna did find the landscape he created, she shouldn't have a deep reason to believe he did this. In addition, he dropped his emergency dagger that all soldiers were required to carry.

That's how he'll throw her off guard when he approaches without a weapon.

At least, that's what she'll think, as he brandished one more weapon from his clothing.

It was a dagger, crooked in its darken blade and a foreboding skull dressed at the hilt. A red line had sliced itself through the the middle of the blade, glowing. As Kuradeel merely held the weapon, he felt the looming force surroundings it.

His job was to stab Asuna with it, anywhere, as long as it stayed attached to her. This would effectively kill her, and then some. He giggled, thinking about how the beloved commander will simply become a puppet in a matter of time.

He turned to the direction of where the explosion happened. It was bigger than he expected, but he couldn't complain. His benefactor had been the ones pulling the strings, so all he needed to do was follow. He walked towards the site, knowing that Asuna will make her way over soon.

That's what she had told him.

xxx