Chapter 8 – Denial


11/8/380


My blurry eyes really didn't give me anything. I saw some light, but I had no idea where I was. Neither did my ears – I heard muffled sounds, like metal scraping against itself. Was I still on the battlefield? Instantly, adrenaline soared through my entire body, awakening it from its previously dazed state. I shot upright, as a sheet of fabric fell off my body and onto the ground. Seeing a shadow approaching me, I hurriedly dodged it, rolling away from whoever my assailant was. As I did, I noticed the strange feeling below me. It was not the hard dirt that was the battleground around the Great Eastern Gate, but rather something soft. I must have fallen into some sort of quicksand. However, as I rolled, I encountered no resistance, which was completely unlike quicksand. With the momentum I carried, I fell down, landing on something hard and firm.

Pain shot up through my chest. Doubling over in pain, I found out that my body was no longer responding to me. I caught sight of the shadow approaching me once again, and my body began to panic. With my heart practically beating through my chest, I tried to stand so I could once again escape. As the shadow neared, my eyes finally began to clear, and it morphed into a person. My hands struggling to gain traction on the ground, I was gradually met with more information coming from my own eyes – shoulder length brown hair, paired with turquoise eyes which looked at me with deep concern. My surroundings came into view as well – I was inside a tent, not out on a battlefield. Gradually, the gears in my head began to turn into the right places. It was Ronie who stood before me, greatly concerned for my own well-being after my little episode.

The tension progressively left my muscles, and the adrenaline flowed out of my bloodstream. The beating of my heart slowed, beginning to return to the pace at which it was before. Still, the pain in my chest did not subside; clearly, the fact that I had fallen had aggravated something. Seeing that I had finally calmed myself down, Ronie reached out her hand to me, with a worry-stricken look still plastered on her face. It must have been a shock to her – for me to wake up, then suddenly thrash around like I was being electrocuted.

"Kirito-senpai, are you alright?"

Even if I were blind, the concern laced through her voice would have been so clear to me. She must have been waiting a long time for me to wake up from whatever had put me to sleep in the first place. Then, I suddenly realized that I had no recollection of what had sent me into this state – something so similar to what had happened when I had first woken up in the Underworld, with no knowledge of how I ended up in yet another virtual world. Fortunately, this time I had someone to ask, who could fill me in on the missing details.

I took a few breaths before beginning to talk, as I waited for the pain in my midsection to slowly fade away. The only sounds I could probably make at the moment were wheezing sounds, but Ronie seemed to understand the difficulty of my situation and remained silent while waiting for me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I really couldn't see or hear anything when I got up, and then I thought I was still fighting on the battlefield. My body just reacted out of fear. Sorry about, you know, freaking out."

Ronie had already noticed how I was cradling my rib area, as she cautiously helped me to my feet, bracing my back so that my chest cavity wouldn't do anything stupid as she helped hoist me to my feet. After that, she walked me back to a bed – ahh, that was the soft thing which I had thought was quicksand. The brain can do wonders when it has absolutely no idea what's going on. Helping me mount the bed, she lay me back down above the covers, and then stepped away.

"How are you feeling? Is there any pain?"

Going off of that statement, I must have gotten hurt on the battlefield some time ago, and it was probably something related to my chest area. Problem was, I couldn't remember what had happened to me, so I didn't actually know if the pain was from me falling off my bed, or from an injury I had previously sustained.

Trying to recall anything that happened in the past was a bit difficult. Of course I remembered the Dark Territory attacking after the Great Eastern Gate crumbled, but whatever came after was a bit fuzzy. I remembered being assigned to be the leader of a support unit, with both Ronie and Tiese having joined it. I also remembered backing up Fanatio. Then, the Dark Territory attacked, and then it fades to black for me. Perhaps I had gone in to support Fanatio and gotten injured somehow?

"Well, my chest hurts, but I'm not sure if that's from me falling off the bed. Did I get injured? I don't remember anything after the battle began…"

Ronie sucked in a sharp breath of air before slowly releasing it. She evidently wasn't ready to find out that I had also experienced some slight amnesia. No doubt she wouldn't want to be the one breaking this news to me, but at this point, I just wanted to know the full story, and I didn't care who it came from.

"After the battle began, Integrity Knight Fanatio's troops were being pushed back, so our unit went forward to support them. When we were retreating, a giant goblin came and attacked you, striking you in the chest with its club. But you managed to fight it off, and then you fell unconscious afterwards. At almost the same time, Integrity Knight Alice unleashed her art, and the Dark Territory retreated. Tiese and I found you on the ground, and Integrity Knight Alice helped us move you back to the medical tent."

So that's how it all happened… I felt somewhat ashamed that I managed to get myself seriously injured on the first day, but what mattered was that we held the lines. Along with that, Alice had managed to release the art she had been holding. Hopefully, it produced the result we were all hoping for, so I went ahead and asked Ronie about it.

"Um… I'm not sure. The time I spent with Integrity Knight Alice only consisted of us moving you to a safe area. After that, she left for the command tent, but told me to call her when you awoke. Speaking of which…"

"Yeah, maybe that would be a good idea. I'm not sure how much I can actually move around with my body right now, so I guess it'd be best for me to wait here."

Ronie smiled, before nodding and turning away. Before she reached the entrance, she paused, slightly turning her head back towards me.

"I'm really glad you woke up, Kirito-senpai."

And before I could say anything, Ronie headed out of the tent, leaving me in a slightly stunned silence. The way her voice had cracked, the way it had tapered off as she said my name – suddenly, I felt incredibly responsible for worrying all those around me by being so careless, suffering such a serious injury. But if it was for the war, then I'd do it. It didn't even have anything to do with how my real body wouldn't get damaged in this place; I had been cared for and loved by all those in this world who lived out their lives here, and I had grown so attached to this place. Even if mortality here translated to the Real World, I would not change my actions one bit. After all, if it was a battle with death directly involved, then I had experienced two years of that myself.

I rested my head back on the pillow slowly, taking care not to aggravate my ribs. As I ran my hand lightly over the area where all the pain came from, the area still felt incredibly tender. At the very least, it seemed that I would be able to move around somewhat, but it probably wouldn't be the best idea to push myself too hard. If I wanted to be able to make a difference on the battlefield, I needed to make sure that I wouldn't be a liability out there. And there wasn't too much for me to worry about. The Integrity Knights, the Human Defence Army, as well as the countless volunteers were all capable of holding their own out there. I just had to trust that they could do that until I could return.

In silence, I sat on the bed, not knowing what to do. My body, though not physically tired, was still in constant pain. I didn't want to take my chances by moving around excessively, and simply sat tight. A few minutes passed before I heard anything around me. Finally, the sound of boots scraping against the dirt reached my ears. Before I knew it, the cloth at the front of the tent flew open, revealing an Alice who was obviously out of breath. I managed a weak smile seeing her disheveled state, as she had probably rushed to the tent upon hearing that I had awoken.

"I heard you did a pretty good job up in the air. Seems like it all worked out fine."

Trying to crack a joke to let her know I was at least somewhat fine, I couldn't help but notice the tension in her face when I mentioned her feat. It was only there for an instant however, as that expression gave way for a more concerned look.

"No matter about that. How are you feeling, Kirito? Can you move properly?"

"I mean, I feel as good as someone who got smashed in the ribs. Every breath I take is somewhat painful, but other than that I think I'm alright. Seems that I'll be stuck to this bed for a while though."

As much as I tried to joke about this, I could tell that my injury was quite a serious one. It was lucky that I had managed to get off so easily, probably in part thanks to how Alice's attack had driven off the enemy before they could do any more damage to me while I was down. And I certainly had to thank whoever had helped carry me here to the medical tent, which probably consisted of at least Ronie, Tiese, and Alice.

"We administered a potent healing catalyst for you, which will help speed up the healing greatly. It will drain your energy, so I advise you to stay in bed while it works its course. Hopefully, you will be fit enough to return to the battlefield in one or two days, but please don't rush yourself. The Dark Territory has already lost their biggest advantage over us – the Dark Arts users are no more. We will be able to hold them even without you and your unit. So do not fret about us, we Integrity Knights will surely hold them off."

Everything that Alice said seemed like music to my ears. I had anticipated being sidelined for even a week to recover from this, but if what Alice said was true, then the catalyst I received would help me return much quicker than I had originally hoped. And to top it off, the Dark Arts users had been eliminated. This band of humans who lived on the other side of the End Mountains were the ones who could decimate us with ease, which is why the plan to have Alice basically point a laser beam through their troops existed in the first place. Judging by what she said, the plan must have been extremely successful, if the Dark Arts users were "no more" as she herself said. Still, there were other units we had to be extremely wary of, but the ones who were most likely to eradicate our defensive schemes had been instead shattered by the ultimate attack from the female knight in front of me.

Even then, when she talked about it, I noticed the tension returning to Alice's face. She had originally been fearful that she wouldn't be able to carry out this plan with her skill level, so she should've been elated that the plan had actually worked exactly as it was planned to be. Still now, the aura of tension surrounding her body was so clearly evident, it was starting to make me feel the same way. As much as she tried to hide it, it was impossible for her to completely bury it.

Alice looked up, seeing my face and understanding that I had felt the tension emanating from her body. In response, she lowered her face, looking away from me. She let out of a drawn-out breath – a soft one which lacked any vigour.

"Did something happen? Did something go wrong?"

Alice turned her eyes back up to me, and I was shocked to find wells of tears building up in the corners of her eyes. I sat in stunned silence, before finally noticing that my mouth was half agape, so I hurriedly slammed my mouth shut and grit my teeth.

"... Didn't know… be… this."

It was uttered so softly that I could barely hear half of it. I perked up my ears, wanting to even strain my body forward to get closer just so I could catch what Alice was saying. Of course, the pain in my midsection prevented me from moving forward any more than a few centimetres.

"They never had a chance. My art completely eradicated them. There isn't even anything left of them. I have reduced them all to nothing. Never will they be buried properly, never will their families ever gaze upon their forms again. Honour… that is what we knights are taught to have. We fight honourably, we live honourably, we die honourably. But what was it that I did? I cannot imagine anything more dishonourable than robbing thousands of their ability to fight, without even giving them a chance to fight for that right."

Alice paused, but her eyes remained glued to the floor of the tent. I was somewhat surprised at what she was tense about. Originally, I thought that something had gone awry when she had executed the plan, that she had just nearly been able to achieve her ultimate goal. I never imagined that she would be having second thoughts about the strategy which she had so excellently executed.

But ultimately, I understood where she was coming from. The simple act of using a mass-scale art to wipe out the enemy without even allowing them to fight back was, simply put, the epitome of dishonour. Alice herself was probably caught up in the rush of having to put the entire defensive effort on her back that she never thought about the implications of what she was about to do. But when the dust finally settled, the only thing that was left was ash, not even metal. She saw what she was truly capable of doing, and it disgusted her, leaving her in a questioning state, wondering if she had done the right thing.

"We say that this was the only way; the only way to win the war. Was there really no other way? Are we prophets? Did we probe into the future to determine that this was truly the only method of winning the battle? No, because we are all powerless to do that. The future is and will always remain a mystery. Instead, we all already jumped to the conclusion that this really was the only possible solution to ensure that we would not be destroyed. This, at the cost of complete and utter genocide. What is it that we are even fighting for? As a knight, this fight is no longer honourable. I even hesitate to call it a fight. It is simply… meaningless bloodshed."

Alice finally turned her eyes back up to me, standing up straighter than before, letting her piercing eyes run themselves through my soul. Eyes filled with doubt, anger, frustration; a myriad of emotions clouded her eyes, not letting me see through to her own heart.

"The ones we are against fight for the sake of themselves, that they may be able to gain the lands which they feel have been wrongfully forbidden from them. We ourselves fight so that we may protect our lands and our people, that our enemies may not steal what rightfully belongs to us. Were the gods the ones who decided which lands belonged to which people? If so, why should we Underworldians be fighting amongst ourselves, and not fighting the gods themselves? We gain nothing from this. Our people die, those of the Dark Territory die. Everyone is at a loss, no one is at a gain. No matter which side is able to ultimately impose their own desires, there is no winner in the end. A thousand years of hatred will spawn a thousand more; an unending cycle which not only refuses to end, but also escalates."

I sat in my bed, utterly shocked at the words I heard. Against the creators she had only recently learned about from myself, she was willing to go to the lengths that she may band together with those of the Dark Territory to battle against Rath, the gods who made this place. I took a few moments, pausing to take what she had said to heart. Sure, she was absolutely correct. Rath were the ones who had decided which people would populate which areas of the Underworld. They never had any ulterior motivations; to them, this was simply a very interesting science experiment. Just as no one worried about which rats would be used as control subjects, and which ones would be subject to extreme conditions, Rath cared not for the individuals in this world, but only the results that they could gather from letting this world be.

"You can fight against them all you want, but they aren't even interested in your challenge. It would be a waste of your effort, to get them to turn their eyes on this world. But maybe you have a chance. After all, there are those on the other side who are interested in you, and maybe you could use that to your advantage. Problem is, there's absolutely no way for us to contact them right now. We can only talk to them at the Central Cathedral, or at this other place somewhere in the Dark Territory called the World's End Altar. Going there would mean abandoning everyone here, and we know that both you and I would never even think about doing that. So for now, let's focus here, make sure that we don't lose, then go and fight our next fight."

I tried to refocus Alice onto the thing that mattered the most – beating the Dark Territory and making sure that the people we were protecting could live in safety and peace. As much as I also wanted to personally strangle Kikuoka and the rest of his gang, it was simply impossible for me to do that right now. This was as much a reminder to myself as it was a reminder to her. I saw the fire in Alice's eyes receding by just a bit; it would be impossible to completely diverge her attention away from Rath and those on the other side, but I at least hoped that she would be able to control her anger for the time being.

"I understand your words, Kirito. I will strive to defend this place to the best of my abilities. Let us all protect the Human Empire together."

I smiled hearing her say those words, and she returned the smile to me.

"By the way, what time is it? The tent really doesn't help with that."

"It is the night of the eighth day of the eleventh month."

The eighth day? I guess that's not too bad, we only started on the eighth so I've only been out for a few hours… No! We started on the seventh!

Unbelievably, I had already been unconscious for more than 24 hours, and during that time the Dark Territory had surely attacked again. As the moment, I couldn't hear any sounds coming from beyond my tent. So at the very least, we were in somewhat of a peaceful period. It was night, so the attacks would have likely ceased since fighting in the dark without technology to allow for night vision would be idiotic for both parties involved. So at the very least, the lines have been held even without my help.

I shook off my surprise as well as the feeling of slight disappointment considering how useless I had been in the battle up to this point, instead focusing on Alice's earlier words. She said that it would take another day or two before I could be back near full strength, so for the next while, there was absolutely nothing I could do, unless I wanted to end up back here, or even worse, logged out because I had died over on this side.

"How's my unit? What happened to them during this time when I've been sleeping on this bed?"

"Your unit did not participate on the second day of fighting. Instead, we shortened the distance between Eldrie's and Fanatio's units, so that it would be more difficult for the enemy to push through. In the end, it didn't matter as much, since the Dark Territory had a much weaker offensive. It must have been the aftereffects of my art; their leaders are probably having second thoughts about their approach to the battle, and so they didn't pull any significant moves."

It was at least somewhat reassuring knowing that they didn't have to exhaust themselves on the second day, but I still wasn't sure if they suffered any serious damage in the aftermath of the first day's battle. Since I had gotten myself knocked out, I obviously couldn't have helped protect anyone straying out of line, but hopefully they all remembered their training and reminders to stay in formation and never wander away. Since the state of my unit was something that Alice likely did not know, I decided not to pursue the topic, waiting instead to ask Ronie when she returned to my tent.

I nodded my head, acknowledging Alice's words. It certainly was logical if the second day of fighting was lighter than the first. Oftentimes, this would be a natural part of the flow of war, where the first day would be filled with excitement, fear, anxiousness, and all those other emotions which could cloud one's decision making. But by the second day, things usually have calmed down, and those on the front lines will have already experienced what warfare is like, and so everything ends up slowing down just a notch.

"That's good news. Hopefully the third day is more of the same. Considering that neither side can cut off the other's supply chain, there's no point in trying to prolong the fight, but also no point in trying to rush. Let's just take each day as it comes. The Dark Territory will make their moves when they feel that it's necessary to, and we just have to make sure that we're always prepared for whatever they could possibly throw at us."

Alice nodded, before speaking up in response to my own words.

"You speak the truth. I find it slightly worrisome at how well-organized the different parts of their army are. We had already found out that each race had trained themselves up to a nearly unrecognizable point, but seeing how well the different races work together is truly frightening. One of the few things that is known about the Dark Territory concerns the massive amount of infighting which occurs between races. Because of that, it would make sense to believe that each race would act as their own army, not being able to cooperate even in the direst of times."

Alice shifted her eyes to a board placed near the far corner of the tent, which I realized was a map of the Great Eastern Gate and its surrounding areas.

"What we have seen so far is that all the different armies begin to attack and retreat at the same time. Somehow, it seems as if their chain of command extends further than the commanders of each army. If someone has managed to unite the Ten Tribes of the Dark Territory, then maybe this individual will be our most fearsome opponent. Peoples and creatures who have long hated each other for eons, bonding together under the leadership of one. Either they have power rivalling the highest minister herself, or their schemes are thousands of layers thick."

As she mentioned this, I thought back to the fact that Rath was being attacked by some external foe. Would it be possible for one of those people to log into the Underworld? Well, theoretically it was possible, as I knew that the Rath headquarters contained more than one functioning STL. But if that were the case, then it would mean that not only had the entire lab been overrun, but that my real body was likely surrounded by whoever this enemy was on all sides, meaning that they could end my connection to the Underworld at any time.

This didn't seem very logical though, as if this were the case, I would have likely been pulled back into my world a long time ago, even before the battle began. The virtual world is just about the only place I can make a difference, being a relatively unassuming guy in the Real World. Still, the thought that someone from the outside might be interfering with this world could not leave my mind. I immediately thought back to that night when I saw the lights off to the east. The first thought that came into my mind was that someone from Rath was logging in, but could it be that it was someone from this other party, logging in and spawning somewhere in the Dark Territory, with the intent of taking control, then leading the attack on the Human Empire?

These musings definitely made at least a little bit of sense, but right now there was no way for me or anyone else to prove whether or not they were actually true. Then only way would be to do the checking ourselves – fighting through the Dark Territory's army to arrive at their headquarters. Considering how much effort we exerted in a defensive stance, this option was definitely not viable.

"Even if there is a commander behind all their actions, it doesn't change our goals one bit. We still need to hold this pass, not letting anyone from the Dark Territory through. The enemy having a commander only makes our tasks a whole lot harder, but it doesn't make it impossible. We have the strongest fighters in all the Underworld, so there's nothing to worry about. Let's do our best to protect the lives and dreams of those in all four empires of the Human Empire."

I was beginning to feel drowsy, as if I had been awake for about three days straight. It was probably the medicine working its course, so I would be better off sleeping than doing anything else. The exhaustion boiled over into a massive yawn, which caught Alice off guard as her head jolted upwards to see the scene in front of her. My face must have carried an idiotic expression, as she tried to hold in her laughter when she looked at my face.

"It must be time for you to sleep, or else the medicine won't be able to do its job. I should also rest. Another long day of fighting will be upon us tomorrow."

It was only now, as tiredness began to overcome my body, that I noticed the same phenomenon wrapping Alice's body. We both needed rest, though for very different reasons, so we said our farewells before each returning to deep slumber. Before I knew it, I had already fully surrendered to the deep embrace of sleep.


11/10/380


Somehow, I managed to sleep for over 25 hours, only waking up a few times before falling back into a slumber. As I awoke for now the fifth time since sustaining my injury, I felt different. The last traces of fatigue had been washed out of my body, leaving me awake and alert to the limits. Running a hand over my ribs, I wasn't even able to tell that I had recently injured this area of my body. The potion that was administered to me worked to perfection, leaving me completely pain free, albeit with a lot of rest.

I slowly moved myself out of my bed, firmly planting my feet on the ground. My feet feeling the coolness of the earth beneath the fabric, I brought myself to the opening of the tent after putting my shoes on. Brushing aside the fabric, my eyes were met with the sight of the sky barely turning the deepest shade of blue. It was still early enough that not many were awake; other than myself, I would only expect those working in the mess tents to be up.

Not knowing what else to do, I stepped outside, taking a walk through the streets of camp. Seeing as there was no one to talk to at the moment, I headed to headquarters, wanting to take a look at the state of the current battle. Of course, it would be nice to tell Ronie, Tiese, and Alice that I had woken up, but I decided to let them enjoy the last bits of their rest. Holding open the fabric, I noticed not only the lit candle, but also the few people gathered around the central table. The incredible weapons they had holstered by their sides immediately told me that these were the Integrity Knights.

They evidently did not expect to have a visitor at such an early time in the morning, as their curious faces turned around to face me soon after I had stepped into the tent. Seeing me out of my bed for the first time in a few days, some immediately ceased their conversations, turning their attention to me.

"Hey Kirito, seems like you've finally woken up. Sweet dreams?"

As usual, Bercouli felt no need to be serious, greeting me with some joking banter. Unfortunately for him, I had slept so soundly that I couldn't remember any of the dreams that I might have had during the twenty-plus hours I had spent in the land of fantasy.

"Can't even remember any of my dreams; that's how well the medicine worked. I feel a lot better now, and nothing hurts anymore, so I'll take those as great signs."

"How is the injury to your chest? Would it be possible for you to return to the battlefield today?"

Alice asked, concerned about my well-being, though still not wanting to force me into a position where I could be injured again. Though the Human Empire Defence Army was able to hold off the attacks from the Dark Territory for two days without my presence on the field, it would fare us all better if I could return to the front. With me missing, our side would be lacking in some serious power, as I was definitely much more capable than most of the soldiers who were here. After all, I was the ones who had trained many of them.

"I feel pretty good! There shouldn't be any issue with my body, especially not the place where I was injured. Assuming you all let me, I can definitely get back to leading my unit. And of course, I'll be much more careful so that this doesn't happen to me again. Now that would certainly look terrible for me…"

"That's a good start. Here's to hoping that you don't get injured again anytime soon, because we're going to need all the strength that we can get from everyone who can provide it."

Bercouli said this, then turned back towards the map placed on the table at the center of the tent. I inched closer so that I could see what was happening on the model battlefield. Skimming over it, I noticed the incredibly detailed map that served as the base of the whole model, as well as the many coloured pieces placed on the map. They were all scattered around, but none of them drifted far from where the gate used to be.

"How has the battle been for the past few days? No major changes, I would assume?"

"Yeah, you're right. Nothing much has changed; the lines haven't shifted much, and other than the Dark Arts users, neither side has lost significant numbers which would render their units obsolete. Now, the problem lies in some of the Dark Territory's units."

I scanned my eyes over the many red pieces on the board, all of which were significantly larger than even the largest blue piece. This was to be expected since each unit of the Dark Territory's army would vastly outnumber even the largest unit of the Human Empire. As they stood right now, there were seven of these blue pieces on the field, spread into two lines three abreast, with a singular unit spacing the two rows. I could notice nothing wrong with our enemies, as they seemed quite… normal. Nothing was out of place, and all units were accounted for. Before the battle began, our scouting showed that there were a total of eight individual forces within the Dark Territory's army, and now that Alice had destroyed the Dark Arts users, seven was the correct number to see.

Confused, I looked up at Bercouli, anxiously awaiting an explanation.

"So, Alice's attack ended up wiping out most of the Dark Arts users. The keyword here is most, not all. There are still some who remain, probably including their leader. The two most worrying parts of the Dark Territory's army were the Dark Arts users themselves, as well as the flying minions under their control – the same ones as those on the outside of the Central Cathedral. Those haven't been unleashed, but it's entirely unknown whether they have been destroyed along with the Dark Arts users, or if their leader can control them all alone. So we can't really count out the eighth piece that still might be on the field."

"For the past two days, we have been fighting as if they could still make an appearance. So far, they have not shown themselves, but it would be foolish to ignore the possibility of their existence and appearance."

Alice chimed in, essentially reiterating Bercouli's worries about the supposedly destroyed Dark Arts unit. Bercouli's preparation, which utilized the strength of his Time Piercing Sword, created a net of deadly sword slashes in the air, like a maze of razor-sharp wires. With that, he had essentially sealed off the air, and anything wishing to fly into our airspace would be, quite literally, torn to shreds. Of course, releasing this art was extremely taxing on his sword and his body, but since it would require so much time and effort to take down and then set up the net again, he had planned on leaving it active until its use was fulfilled. It had already been decided that until he was freed from this art, he would remain stationary in the second line, awaiting the opportunity where his strength would be allowed to shine.

Even now, it was evident that the lack of sleep and requirement of total concentration over the past few days had drained him. Deep lines were etched into his face, as dark eyebags began to form underneath his eyes. The piercing gaze which he once held in his eyes was gradually being replaced by a look of exhaustion, and this would be the one time in which I hoped the enemy would attack soon. As it was right now, Bercouli was locking himself away, not allowing him to truly participate in the fighting. There wasn't any reason to think that the Dark Territory knew of this fact and was taking advantage of it, considering that only the Integrity Knights and myself were made aware of this.

"So if they attack today, then tomorrow we'll get you back in the line-up then, right? I assume all you've been doing so far is just standing there waiting for those flying monsters to come out, but every night you go home disappointed knowing that you'll have to wait for them again."

Bercouli shot me an annoyed look, and I knew I hit the mark right on the spot. No swordsman wished only to prepare for a threat; it would all feel like such a waste if the preparation was done, but the execution never came. For these past few days, Bercouli had been prepared, holding his preparation, waiting to swing down his sword in a show of brutal force. But I guessed that not even he could wait for much longer, even though it would indeed be a foolish decision to undo the art.

"No choice but to be patient. But maybe with you back out there, it could shift the tides of the battle in such a way that they feel like the minions need to be used. We should make that our goal. Position ourselves in a way that invites them to send their minions forward, and then crush them in one fell swoop. Perhaps we can send out the dragons with the flanks, as we try reinforcing those areas of our line. In that way, the Dark Territory will see that the skies in the middle have cleared, and they would hopefully want to send out their flying troops to wreak havoc on our forces."

"That would not be a bad idea. We could arrange for that. Alice and I shall speak to the other Integrity Knights to relay this information to them."

Bercouli nodded at Fanatio who spoke that, who then exited the tent along with Alice. Bercouli took one more look at the map, then poked his head outside the tent, only to see the sky beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue.

"Solus is soon to be upon us in full force. Let's go get breakfast."

Silently, I nodded, following Bercouli to the mess hall for some food.


Out of habit, I grabbed the handle of my sword, my beautiful Night Sky Sword. It felt good to be back outside, with the wind blowing through my hair, causing a few dust storms to billow in no man's land. The sun had just begun to poke its head above the mountainous regions of the Dark Territory, allowing me to fully see our adversaries. With the Dark Territory remaining unmoving, we remained stationary as well, seeing no point going on the offensive.

Then suddenly, a shift in the wind had also indicated the beginning of the day's battle, with all fronts of the Dark Territory's army rushing forward, bellowing their war cries in a display of force. Without any fanfare, our front line had taken up their defensive positions, preparing themselves now for the fourth time. With Bercouli having to concentrate all his efforts on maintaining his art, he had no chance to move to the front lines. Because of that, Fanatio was forced to be the one leading the central unit on the front lines for all four days of battle so far. Some of her troops had been consistently swapped out with those from Bercouli's unit, but there still remained those who had fought for all three of the previous days, all in the thick of battle.

Today, the job of my unit was to help hers. Considering how exhausted some of the soldiers must be, and how my unit had been fresh off of two days rest, we would be a welcome sight. Even Rian and his unit, which was on the other side of Fanatio's unit, stood extremely close to the front lines, ready to jump in and secure the centre at a moment's notice.

With the battle raging on, I could sense that it was the right moment to jump in. The front lines had begun to cave in, and our presence was desperately needed. This time however, we did not act as an offensive force, looking to stick a stake into the side of the Dark Territory' army, but instead it was more important to secure up the front. It was the first time I had been in such an extended battle, not a short duel, but having to deal with a constant stream of enemies.

As I looked left and right while fighting, I saw soldiers fall – goblins being pierced by swords, pushed down by shields and then trampled by their own brethren; human helmets being smashed by clubs and maces, a jumbled red mess being all that was left inside. The more I experienced it, the more I realized how disgusting war truly was. Everyone who fell today would never have another chance to talk with their loved ones, would never take another step, would never see the sun's light again. With my own hands, I had taken the lives of numerous goblins. The frightened look in their eyes as they realized their time was up – these were the views which would haunt me forever. It brought me back to the time when I had killed those Laughing Coffin members in their hideout. The sickening feeling of killing another living being, human or not, was something which would never leave me no matter how often I did it. If there was ever a day where this feeling no longer bothered me, then it would mean that I had already lost my humanity, becoming someone who only cared to kill for the sake of taking lives.

I even had to watch some of those in my unit pass on. Those who I had eaten and laughed with, even those who had received training by my own hands. As much as it hurt to admit, there were even those who fell while still being unknown to me. As their leader, I could do nothing to protect them in the chaos of war. Not even being able to devote my attention to them at the time of their defeat as I had my own troubles to deal with, I could only catch a glimpse of their last moments out of the corner of my eyes.

For a long time, my eyes developed a severe case of tunnel vision. Other than the goblins directly in front of me, I could see nothing else. There were no orders to give, as our enemies did not bother moving strategically, only wishing to crush us with brute strength. Besides my own unit, I could not even get a glance at how Fanatio was doing. The swings of my sword had become hollow already; I had no passion and no drive as I brought my sword down over and over again, only wishing to get out of this confusion with my life still intact.

The hours raged on, and I had long forgotten why I was even here. Even though my senses were heightened by constantly being in a life-threatening situation, my mind had already dulled to the point where everything I was doing was out of instinct. The sun had blessed us all with a beautiful day, but on the ground, there was no beauty to be seen. There was only death, and it knew no boundaries, reaching out regardless of skill, race, gender, or size.

Suddenly, I felt drops of liquid hitting my head and my shoulders, even though the light of the sun still blazed strong, reflecting off armour and the tips of swords and spears. A little bit of rain wouldn't stop anyone, and it looked like no one would let the change in weather stop them from achieving their goal. But soon, I realized that the goblin I was currently fighting was bleeding profusely from every possible spot, despite the fact that I had not been able to land a single blow on him. I took a quick look around me, the shocking sight of every single person and goblin around me being covered head to toe in blood now being burned into my memory.

It wouldn't be possible for everyone here to be injured to that degree – if they had let out so much blood, it wouldn't even be possible for them to stand. In fact, it didn't even seem like this was blood coming out from their own bodies, but instead it was as if they had bathed themselves in blood. As confusion began to spread among those in my unit, as well as the goblins we were fighting against, I began to spot shadows forming on the ground, rapidly growing in size. Looking up quickly, I was greeted by hundreds of things falling from the sky.

The expression in English "raining cats and dogs" came to mind as I viewed a wondrous sight of these things falling down to the ground. The first one landed, quickly followed by many others. But I had no more time to think, as bodies continued to rain onto the ground. Those with shields hurriedly covered themselves with those metal plates, and I placed my swords above my head, hoping to slice apart anything which would fall near to me. However, there were others who did not act quickly enough, being battered by the falling bodies, and falling to the ground themselves.

Finally, the rain of bodies ceased. The shadows stopped coming, and the plopping sounds of flesh striking dirt faded. When I blinked away the blood which was threatening to stream into my eyes, finally allowing me to see what lay before me, I knew instantly – the Dark Arts users had really sent forth their flying minions, and they had been cut down by Bercouli. The flying units had been denied entry, and the old man who was responsible for it all could finally join the fighting. I smiled, knowing that despite the cruelty of it all, we were one step closer to holding the Great Eastern Gate, not letting the Dark Territory enter into the lands which we had resolved ourselves to protect.

Confusion lay thick around the battlefield. Nearly all of those fighting had no idea that Bercouli had set up such a trap, so the sight of countless lifeless bodies littering the ground sparked terror in not only the goblins, but also our own soldiers. But I knew, as did the other Integrity Knights on the field. We had done it. The two things which posed the most threat to our success had been eliminated – the Dark Arts users, as well as the flying minions they controlled.

To my right, I heard a clear shout, slicing through the silent air.

"Crush them!"

Someone clad in purple armour raced forward, cutting down the dumbfounded goblins in front of her. The soldiers behind her quickly followed, letting out a defiant cry as they crashed into the goblin force. Silently, I raised my sword to the sky, lowering it and pointing it straight at the chest of the goblin in front of me, before bellowing out a cry and racing forward. The other soldiers of my unit quickly followed, as I heard their own cries raging alongside my own, as we all raced forward to cut down the enemies in front of us.


A/N

Sometimes, the insane amount of distractions I manage to put myself through completely shocks me. Among playing old Pokemon games (still), watching playoff hockey, as well as watching boatloads of anime and reading another boatload of manga, I somehow still had the time to write this chapter.

I also realized that I never talked about the inspiration behind this whole story. Sure, you can point to SAO itself, being that I do build my story off of the events which happen in here. The particular events of Eugeo dying and Kirito becoming a vegetable also pushed me towards writing this. But at the end of the day, the true inspiration for this story is from a certain manga called Kingdom by Yasuhisa Hara. For anyone who doesn't know what it's about, the manga's loosely based on ancient Chinese history, in a period of time known as the "Warring States Period", and is essentially just war after war after war, with amazing visuals to go along with it. Seeing how battlefields are drawn, and how a war is described in a manga was really cool, and it made me realize how much I loved those individual intricacies. In a war, it's not just about the fighting, there's so many other things which feed into the whole story of the fight, and I really wanted to try my hand at that too.

But yeah, if I never read Kingdom, I don't think I would be sitting here writing this story. It's amazing how one thing can really lead to another through some weird relationships, but hey, that's just how life works. Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter!

P.S. If you're at all a bit interested in wars and stuff and want a complex interwoven story with a lot of fighting (and very badass characters), you should read Kingdom. 600+ chapters and still going strong weekly-ish~