Sword Art Online Alicization: War Of Underworld

The Final Load Test

*Saturday June 27, 2026 San Diego 9 Days Before The Attack On The Ocean Turtle*

Inside a building, the person was using the glasses he was inside the virtual world. Inside the virtual world, a player was firing at Asuna, Kirito, and Sonic.

"Leave this to me!" Asuna blocking the bullets

Kirito and Sonic both lunged at the player and cut the player in half.

"Time's up, huh? All teams, retreat. Move away from Grid 1-9."

"That would've been the last prey for today, right? You sure you want to end on a loss, Boss?"

"Battling on irregular squadron like that won't do much good, training-wise. We wouldn't want any negative effects to carry over inti the actual operation. Let's go."

The Boss of the squad logged off. In the real world, the person woke up and took off the glasses.

"Mr. Miller. The men from the NSA have arrived."

"Send them in."

Later...

"Mr. Miller, we'd like to hire you, Glowgen Defense Systems, for a top secret mission."

"And the nature of the mission is?"

"To seize the Soul Translation technology."

"What is that, exactly?"

"It was developed by a Japanese company called Rath, and it's a machine that can decipher human souls."

"Souls? Decipher them?"

"That's right. Using the Soul Translation technology, Rath has apparently succeeded in not only analyzing human souls, but in cloning them as well. Should this artificial soul, code-name ALICE, be fully developed, it could be installed inti unmanned Jaoanese weapons, which could disrupt the balance of military power in East Asia."

"The U.S. needs to take control of that technology before that can happen."

"I see. So, tell me the specifics of this mission."

"There's a mega-float for research called the Ocean Turtle, moored near the Lzu Island. We'd like your people to break into it and obtain the Soul Translation technology. That will require a raid on a Japanese ship... one of our allies, you know. We've made arrangements with the JSDF top brass. Apparently, the JSDF isn't the monolith it appears to be. Use whatever methods you want. Just remember that the U.S. isn't involved in this mission in any way."

"Fine. I'll assemble the team, and lead it myself."

Present...

"ALICE, you soul will be so sweet."

*Main Control Room Ocean Turtle 35 Minutes After The Attack*

"Critter, you bastard... just try saying that again!"

"I'll repeat it as many times as you want, Vassago. Listem up! This console is locked tighter than a pile of dried turds. I could crunch the numbers on the laptop we brought until you die of old age, and I'd still never crack it!"

"You're missing the point, you damned four eyes! You said we got locked out because we took too long to break in!"

"Hey, hey, all I did was point out a fact."

"For someone whi hung back cowring during the battle, you sure are cocky!"

"Okay, that's enough, you two. There's no point fingers at each other. We have to consider our next move now, all right?"

"Yea, but Bro, this guy needs to be put in his place."

"I'm satisfied with what this team's achieved till now. Our only casualty was Gary getting grazed. And we succeeded in taking over the control room, our primary objective."

"Yeah, but if we're locked out of the control system itself, what's the point? Our ultimate target, the Lightcube Cluster, is beyond that wall, right?"

That's why I'm saying we need to come up with a way to breach that wall."

"Still, those JSDF guys won't stay holed up forever. Once the real soliders come charging in from this turtle's escort ship-"

"I was told that the client and the JSDF have a certain deal in place. Apparently, the naval escort won't make a move for 24 hours after the operation's launched."

"So this opeartion's not just a burglary, then?"

"All right, Now let's go over the current situation. It's currently 1447 hours, Japan Standard Time. Forty minutes passed we broke in. Right now, we're inside the Ocean Turtle's Main Control Room. Although we've successfully taken over the target facility, we failed to capture the Rath tech, and we've been locked out of the system here. Our next objective it to take over the Sub Control Room. Brigg, do you think you can cut through the bulkhead door?"

"It doesn't look too promising. It's made of cutting-edge composite materials, and it would be impossible to cut through it within 24 hours using the portable saw we brought."

"Hans, what if we used C-4 to blow it open?"

"I wouldn't recommend it. The chamber housing the LightCube Cluster is just beyond that wall. If we blast open that door, there's no guarantee that the comments of that room would be unscathed. "

"The mission we've been tasked with is to find a single Lightcube out of a mountain of them, and extract it along with its interface. We already have the cube's unique ID."

"Come on, this scrawny Four Eyes has been giving up this crap about hacking into the Pentagon, and yet he can't even crack open a flimsy system lock."

"Whoa, what a shock. I just got told off by a gamer who'd only fired a gun made of polygons!"

"You bastard!"

Brigg was about to throw a punch but the Boss stopped him.

"Do you guys want to go back empty-handed, and get jeers instead of a bonus?"

"No."

"Are you incompetent enough to be outdone by amateur techs?"

"No."

"Then start thinking! Prove that those containers sitting on your necks are filled with something other than oatmeal!"

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, they all start getting to work on how to get Alice.

"The pressure bulkhead leading to the Lightcube Cluster chamber can't be breached. Meaning that our only option is to control the system from here."

"How's it looking?"

"No chance of logging in with Administrator privileges. About all we can do is peek enviously at the fairyland where the Fluctlights lige in usch bliss."

They managed to open up a window showing Goblins destroying a village.

"Goblins?"

"Hey, you've done your homework, Captain!"

"Yeah, but they seem kinda big for Goblins. Those are Hobs. They're Hobgoblins, I bet."

"Critter."

"Yeah?"

"Are these monsters part of the system?"

"Doesn't look that way. These guys have artificial souls loaded into the Lightcube Cluster above. They have Fluctlights."

"Are you serious? These Hobgoblins have souls, the same as us? Do those Lightcubes all contain goblins and orcs like these? Is our Alice one, too?"

"Of course not! The realm called the Underworld... is divided into the Human Empire, where normal humans live, and the Dark Territory that lies outside it, which is teeming with monsters. It's pretty much a given that Alice lives in the Human Empire, but since it's so gigantic, there's no way that we'll ever find her by must peeking in like this."

"Come on, that's a total no-brainier! If that's the case, all we have to do is dive into this Human Empire, and ask whoever we come across, "Hey, do you know a girl named Alice"?"

"Wow, we have a dumbass here!" Critter said

"What's that, bastard?"

"Look, there are tens of thousands of people living in the Human Empire. You really think you can canvas them all on your... own?"

"Hold on! Maybe it doesn't have to be done by one person."

"I see. The accounts set up to log into the Underworld... it's inlikely that they'd all be Level 1 ordinary citizens. Isn't that right, Critter?"

"Yes, yes boss. For the Rath operators to log in and observe, or else control it from inside, they must be set up with accounts of all ranks and professions."

"Hey! How cool is that? In other words, we should just log in as a general or president or some other big shot, and order them to smoke out Alice, right?"

"I don't know, hearing you put it like that... makes the idea sound really stupid."

"Dammit, no good, huh? They have some hard-core protection on the high-level account logins as well. Looks like we can only dive into the Human Empire with an ordinary citizen's account."

"Damn, what a letdown!"

"Critter, aren't there any high-level accounts set up outside the Human Empire?"

"Outside it? But aren't the chances of Alice being there close to nil?"

"Well, yes, I guess so. But it's not as if the borders are totally impenetrable, rights?"

"That's my bro! Thinking outside the box! In other words, you mean, go in as a general of those monsters and attack, right? That would get me more fired up, for sure!"

"A-ha, found it, found it!"

Critter was managed to find two high-level accounts.

"All right! No password! Well, well... First, here's one with the rank of Dark Knight. His Object Control level is... 70! We can work woth that!"

"Hey, not bad! That one's mine, all right?"

"Right, and here's two more... What's this? The rankings are blank, and there's no level, either. The only setting is its name. Now how do you pronounce this? Emperor... Vecta?"

"Emperor... as in ruler? On second thought, I'll take that one-"

"No.. I'm taking that one for myself."

"I won't argue. Okay, so you can take on the role of Emperor, and I'll be the Dark Knight. Hey, I'm starting to get pumped up! Hey! Four eyes! Can we log in yet?"

"What's wrong, Critter? Is thete some other problem?"

"Maybe it's just something that's bugging me, but I'm looking at the data, and this odd phrase keeps popping up. I'm not sure what it means yet."

"What kind of phrase?"

"Final load test."

*Sub Control Room Ocean Turtle 37 Minutes After The Attack*

"Um... let's see. As far as Kirito's and Sonic's condition in the real world is concerned, like I just explained things aren't looking optimistic. That said, Kirito and Sonic still remain logged into the Underworld. In other words, even though only Kirito's self-image has bee damaged, his Fluctlight itself is still active, and is receptive to various stimuli. He's lost his own soul, because they he blamed so vehemently. I know Sonic is trying his best but with a little more, If someone in the Underworld were to offer him more forgiveness, then maybe..."

"I'll go!" Asuna said

"Ms. Asuna?"

"I'll go into the Underworld. I want to there and tell both Kirito and Sonic... that they both did a good job. To say, "I know you two went through so much sadness and pain, but you did the best that you both could."

"It's true that we have an extra vacant STL. But the Underworld isn't exactly stable right now. Because we're about to enter the last stage or the scheduled final load test." Kikuoka said

"Final... load? What's going to happen?"

"The Durability of the Eastern Gate, which divides the Human Empire and the Dark Territory, will reach zero, and an army of monsters will flood the Human Empire. If the humans had sufficient defenses in place, they would've ultimately been able to drive them back. But during this last experiment, Kirito and Sonic both destroyed the ruling organization, the Axiom Church, so who knows what will happen?" Higa said

"Either way, we may have reached the point where one of us will have to dive in. Once the invasion begins. It's possible that Alice, who's somewhere in the Human Empire, could be killed in the chaos. If someone can enter with a superuser account, transport Alice, under their protection, to the World End's Altar, and from there, eject Alice's LightCube to the Sub Control Room." Kikuoka said

"Isn't that you asked Kirito and Sonic to do as well?"

"If they made it, then I'm sure they would've pulled it off. Because they were right by Alice at the time."

"You're saying that several months later in terms of internal time, it's highly likely that those three are still together?"

"I think it's safe to assume that they are. Meaning that having Asuna dive in might be our best option. As well as the ability to communicate with Kirito and Sonic, whoever goes will need combat ability to protect Alice in the Underworld, after all."

"Then we should have her use the highest account level possible."

"Well, the choices are endless, then. A knight, a general, a noble... Ther are all kinds of suoeruser accounts to choose from."

"Hey, hold on a second."

"What is it?"

"Isn't there a chance that our attackers could come up with the same idea?" Dr. Kojiro asked

"Oh... yeah. True, they're just as likely to catch onto this method, as well. But they won't have time to crack the login passwords for any superuser accounts. Thier only option would be a level 1 ordinary ciziten... that's it."

"What's wrong?"

"Never mind, it's nothing."

*Later*

Asuna was getting ready to go to the Underworld. Before she did, she messaged everyone of her friends in the group chat they were in.

"Everyone, I'm going to the Underworld, too. I'll be coming back with Kirito and Sonic, no matter what, so don't worry."

After sending the message, she lyed down on the third vacant STL. (I added a third one for obvious reasons.)

"Are you ready?"

"Yes. Anytime you're ready, please."

*Monday, July 6, 2026 4:56 PM Somewhere In Tokyo*

Inside a library, Asada Shino was having a dream whole sleeping. Inside her dream, Sinon was running threw a abandon area. She look's threw her scope to try to find the enemy but wasn't anywhere. She heard footsteps coming close to her as she too out her pistol and pointed behind her but no one was there. She took a deep breath but soon realized that the person was right im front of her. She slowly turn's around and get's kicked, sending her flying. She fires at the person but get's stabbed in the arm and get's punched in the stomach, sending her to a wall. She remove's the knife off her arm and try's shooting at the person but get's tackle and start's chocking her. The person said something to her in english and start's choking her tightly. She woke up from her sleep.

"Again... the guy from that day..."

Asada's phone rumbled as she got a message from Asuna.

"Asuna?"

"Sinon, there's something that I'd like to explain to you all. Would you mind logging into AOL right away?" Yui said

*Sylvian*

"So you see, in order to Brother to repair Daddy's Fluctlight, Mommy has decided to dive into the Underworld to help Brother out." Yui said

"Big Brother... Sonic..."

"Kirito... Sonic..."

"Oh, they'll be fine! They always come back, don't they?" Lizbeth said

No response.

"So, is the Ocean Turtle all right? Aren't they under attack by some sketchy guys?" Sinon said

"Isn't there something that we can do to help?" Klein said

"Well, about that... We might need to call on you for help later on." Yui said

*Main Control Room Ocean Turtle 2 Hours and 53 Minutes After The Attack*

Brigg and the Boss were getting ready to enter the Underworld.

"All right, let's do this!"

Soon, the two started entering the Underworld.

*October 30, 380 HE Dark Territory Obsidia Palace*

"Knight Lipia Zancale has returned."

"Good work. You can have a seat."

"Yes, my lord."

"Don't call me "your lord" when it's just you and me."

"Right, but officially, I'm still on duty."

"(Sighs) So anyway... What's this grave incident that you had to send a familiar to alert me about?"

"Right. The pontifex of the Human Empire's Axiom Church... is dead."

"The immortal being?"

"Yes. I also found it hard to believe, so I spent a full week making sure it was true."

Moment of pure silence.

"This is our chance."

"Chance for what?"

"Needless to say, for peace."

"Do you really believe that's possible, my lord?"

"Whether it's possible or not, it's something we must do, no matter what."

"But... How do you intend to convicne the other lords, my lord? And would the Order of the Integrity Knights even entertain peace negotiations?"

"Regarding the Integrity Knights, I believe there's a chance. If the pontifex has been defeated, it must be the old man Bercouli at the helm now. I can't stand the guy, but I can have a dialogue with him. It's the Council of Ten that could prove to be a problem. I know it sounds contradictory, but we... may be forced to eliminate them. Four of them, at least."

"Which four are you talking about? Would it be both Goblin chiefs, the orc chief, as well as..."

"The chancellor of the Dark Mages Guild. That woman's gotten her hands on Administrator's immortality secret, and is most likey desires to become emperor herself someday. No way would she accept any talk of peace."

"But... that would be far too risky, my lord! The leaders of the Goblins and Orcs may not be our enemies, but as for the Dark Mages, thete's no telling what tricks they might have uo their sleeves!"

"Listen, Lipia. How long has it been since you came to me?"

"Um... it was the year I turned 21, so... four years."

"It's been that long already, huh? Forgive me for putting you in such an ambigous position for so long. What do you say? Isn't it about time you, uh... You know... Officially... became my wife?"

Lipia gasped on what she just heard.

"My lord!"

"Sorry that I'm so much older than you..."

Lipia wipes the tears off her face.

"Emergency! It's an emergency! Th-The Throne Room! The chain sealing it is shaking!"

The chains broke as two people were inside.

To Be Continue...

"Next Time: "Dark Territory." Alice and Sonic as narrators