This is it...the final chapter of Human Empire. I really hope you enjoy. But I'll have to explain a few things at the bottom.

Chapter 32

Sacrifice

Time seemed to stand still as I watched Nightmare crawling out of the black hole. He landed on the ground, using his scythe as a support to hold himself up.

Memories of the top of Infinity began to flood my mind. They all terrified me. My hand went to my stomach where his scythe had pierced my flesh. This was the person responsible for my failure.

The black hole seemed to close, spitting out the weapons that were once on the wall of the hundredth floor. Instead of bright gold, they were covered in a red, glitchy texture, like they had been corrupted by Infinity. Quinella looked at them, amused. "Well, it seems you have kept your promise Nightmare."

He looked up at her, his exposed eye twinkling with joy. "And thanks to you, I have finally been freed from that void."

I finally got up, a chill running through my spine. "You were supposed to be logged out…"

"'Supposed to' wasn't what happened." He turned his attention back to me. "Besides, if what was supposed to have happened actually did, I wouldn't have this opportunity to meet you here Light."

"My my…" Quinella look between Nightmare and myself. "Three Real Worlders. Unfortunately, this seems to have removed the Fluctlight Acceleration."

"It must be because Nightmare isn't using a Soul Translator." Kirito looked worried.

Eugeo gave a small sigh. "You have so much to explain to me once we get out of here Kirito…"

"Once?" Quinella laughed. "Who said I was going to let you out of here alive?" She landed on the ground, taking one of the weapons from the ground, a longsword with a thin blade. "Their Fluctlights seemed to have been corrupted by the passage to Infinity. No matter…"

"Their Fluctlights?" Kirito asked.

"It's brave of you to say that I was going to destroy my Human Empire through inaction earlier irregular boy. I do have a plan to deal with the Dark Territory." She rolled a purple crystal between her fingers. "Maybe now it would be a good time to test out my weapon." She raised the crystal up to the heavens. "System Call, Release Recollection!"

The weapons that had been scattered across the room suddenly began to glow. The crystal began to rise up, sparkling brightly. The weapons flew towards the purple crystal. Kirito suddenly yelled out a Sacred Art, but it bounced harmlessly off the metal.

The weapons began to take shape. It had four blades that it used as legs to support itself. The crystal was in a central chamber, protected by smaller swords that flexed like muscles, creating a mechanical clink as they crashed against each other. There was a face at the top, eyes in the shape of diamonds staring from darkness. Finally, there were an arm on either side, sharp blades at the ends. It had retained its golden colour, yet the air around it had a threatening aura. Kirito looked up in horror, describing the creature perfectly. "A Sword Automaton…"

"Unrelenting offense, in its purest form." Quinella giggled. "Let's see…shall we call it Sword Golem?"

Nightmare walked over to a wall, leaning against it. "This should be interesting."

I gripped Alice's sword tight, looking down at her. She was still in extreme pain, and we were running out of time to save her.

The Sword Golem's eyes suddenly glowed. The aura around it suddenly seemed to take shape. A hulking minotaur-like creature with several weapons on its back stood behind the Golem. It looked familiar to me. The right arm of the Golem suddenly transformed into a battle-axe. The aura grabbed it, as if it were physically present in the world. It let out a terrifying roar. Even Quinella looked shocked. The Sword Golem charged forward towards Eugeo, the aura of the creature still gripping the battle-axe.

I know this creature…it's the Overlord.

I shook myself out of any immediate memories that were beginning to surface. "Stay back from it! You can't block that attack!"

Eugeo stood there however, just paralysed in fear. I ran as quickly as possible towards him, slamming into his side to push him away. This put me right in the path of the battle-axe. This time, I let my instincts take over, reaching into my memories. Soon enough, I found a moment when I faced this attack before.

I gripped the sword and drew it back, aiming the tip straight at the sharp edge of the battle-axe. If I missed this, it would likely result in a lost arm. But I trusted this memory. I let it guide my arm forward, and the tip of Alice's sword stopped the battle-axe dead in its tracks, sparks flying as my arm battled the strength of the Overlord. It looked down at me, opening its mouth. Several little lights began to build up inside the Sword Golem. It reached next to the eyes.

"Form Shield Shape!" Several sheets of ice appeared between me and the Sword Golem. A stream of blue flames began to batter the shield. I looked to my side to see Kirito with his arm outstretched, keeping the shield strong. He gave me a quick smile. "Don't give in yet!"

I nodded, turning my attention back to the Golem and Overlord. My arm was beginning to feel the weariness of the battle of strength. But still, I held on.

I'll let my memories take control. I know I've beaten you before, and I will beat you again!

"It's no good, they're cutting the power! The screw propellers are going to stop!"

The sky ripped open, and a current of energy passed through me.

I was at the Peak of Infinity. A message box was open in front of me. "What's going on?" I looked around. There was no Sword Golem, or Kirito and Eugeo, or Nightmare and Quinella. It was just me. "Maybe I shouldn't let my memories take control if this is where they take me."

I looked at the message box. There was an unopened message blinking at me. The sender was Behemoth. I…recognised the name. I pressed my finger against it, realising they were covered by a dark steel gauntlet. As soon as the message opened, a voice began to fill my head.

"Hey Light. I don't know if you'll even read this. I know you're probably in grieving right now because I was an idiot and died trying to save someone again. Though this time, it's my final death.

I know. You've been telling me this would happen. That one day, it would be one person too many. Or I'll protect the wrong person. But…I'd rather die protecting someone rather than seeing everyone around me die one by one. And I hope one day you'll be able to understand. Heck, you already do without realising it. You wanted me and Holly to live right?

Anyway, it's about time to take on the next boss. Hopefully I'll see you on the other side. Maybe this message was for nothing. I can only hope…"

Tears began to well up in my eyes. The memories began to flood back in. I felt something in my brain finally break.

"Let's go on a hunting quest. You wanted to get some Silver for that new ring, right?"

"Hey Light, would you take me to the forest some time?"

"We are connected by death. We both killed each other, and now we will be bonded forever by that connection."

The floor below me crumbled, and I began to fall, all feeling leaving my body.

"You should be more careful. We wouldn't want to lose you to the sea."

"You have a look in your eyes…you always look so sad."

"Hey, you're not getting rusty are you?"

The darkness of the void began to surround me. However, there was one bright light falling with me.

"You stole the one opportunity I had to change them. And for that, I can't forgive you."

"I will break you!"

"I hope one day you'll understand. Protect them…protect them all…"

The light began to take shape. I was staring at a ghost of my past self. The one who fell into the void. The one that had all my old memories. I guess it finally could come back to me now. That purple robe with the golden chestplate…the silver sword that had a white aura, with the Night Shadow Blade sheathed at the side… It was so nostalgic to me.

I reached toward the ghost. It mirrored my movement, and as our fingertips touched, everything went dark.

I remember everything now.

I opened my eyes. The Overlord was still pressing down on me, readying another onslaught of flames.

I gripped the sword tight, putting all my power into my arm. I let out a loud cry as I pushed back, feeling a strange sensation going over my body. The golden sword screamed as it cracked the surface of the battle-axe. The cracks grew too much and the entire blade shattered, releasing a ear piercing cry as the splinters flew across the room. The aura of the Overlord vanished and the Sword Golem took a few steps back, shaken.

I took a deep breath, looking down at myself. I was clad in my Dragonscale Armour, the armour I used back in my The Land Beyond days. It soon vanished however, returning me to that Integrity Knight outfit. I looked over at Nightmare, who looked pleased. "There he is…"

"It looks like your weapon wasn't that effective Nightmare." Quinella said, disappointment laced her voice.

"You're assuming it's done." Nightmare said simply.

Indeed, the Sword Golem was still standing. It had it's eyes fixated on Kirito, who was led on his back, eyes closed and not moving. The aura returned but the remaining arm didn't change shape. The aura changed shape into the Gatekeeper.

Instantly, I got between it and Kirito. "I'm not letting you kill anyone else…" I almost snarled. No other enemy could make me as hateful as this…the one that took Leon's final life. I took a deep breath and got into a stance. "Keep him safe." I looked back at Eugeo, who nodded.

"No Eugeo, stab the platform!" A feminine voice rang throughout the room. I looked around for the voice, but saw nothing. "I'll buy you some time!" A small black insect suddenly began to crawl along the floor. It glowed for a moment before growing massively in size, taking the form of a massive black spider. It charged towards the Sword Golem, crashing itself into it.

I saw the scythe-like arm bringing itself back and preparing to attack. "Watch your left!" I yelled at the spider, as weird as that sounded. The spider crouched down and propelled itself backwards, out of reach of the blade. Whoever this spider was, she was nimble to be able to react that quickly. I knew better than anyone that one touch from this enemy would result in an instant kill, and I wanted to avoid that entirely.

The spider jumped back in, trying to use her momentum to topple the Golem. Meanwhile, I prepared my final move. I took a deep breath as I extended my left leg forwards, right leg bent. My blade was parallel to the ground, and began to glow gold, as redundant as that was with this sword. This move, it dramatically increased the power behind the strike while making my defence plummet. It wasn't a move to use freely, but was almost a guaranteed final blow.

It was called The End.

The spider screeched as the Sword Golem raised a leg, attempting to stab down onto the spider's back. The leg sliced clean through the spider's front left leg. Despite the sudden drop in the creature's Life, the spider continued to set the Sword Golem off balance.

"Light, now!"

A burst of lightning energy came from one side of the room, finally knocking the Sword Golem over. I unleashed The End, flying forwards and bringing the golden sword down onto the central column of the automaton. The golden surface began to crack and scream, and then shattered, my blade going cleanly through the crystal that controlled the Golem.

I let out a long breath, letting all the tension of the battle leave my body. I smiled as I looked over at the source of the lightning to see a young girl, dressed in a magician's robe and flat hat, her light brown hair tied in small buns. She wore a kind smile on her face as she looked over at Eugeo, who was standing below a door, which I assumed she had come from.

I heard a small sigh coming from Quinella. "Well, I was hoping you'd appear earlier pipsqueak. But alas, you've arrived later than I expected." Whoever this 'pipsqueak' was, she obviously scared Quinella a little. Knowing her, I expected the ruler of the Human Empire to prepare for someone that illicit that emotion from her. Or maybe she did, and her plan was ruined. Quinella's smile had faded from her face, now looking rather annoyed.

The girl ignored Quinella, instead going over to the spider, which was lead on the ground, blood seeping out of its missing leg. The Gatekeeper's touch ensured anything its blade touched, it would die, regardless of the amount of health or defence…I mean Life. These two sets of memories are starting to confuse me…

"I wanted…to fight alongside him…" The spider looked over to Kirito, who was still unconscious. "But I…I saved him…didn't I…?"

I nodded. "Yeah. We wouldn't have beaten the Sword Golem without you."

"I'm…so happy…" The spider's eight eyes suddenly dimmed, and she shrank to the size of a regular spider.

Even though I didn't really know this spider, her appearance being a shock, it made a lump in my throat appear. She died protecting Kirito, like Leon had died protecting me. It made me clench my fists in anger, another life lost protecting someone else…and I could do nothing to prevent it from happening.

I could see Eugeo looking guilty, his eyes cast down at his broken sword. I knew that look. It's how Holly looked when she had to watch me and Leon put our lives on the line to get everyone else out of The Land Beyond. The look of someone who didn't realise how much they had helped.

Quinella floated slowly to the ground, grabbing one of the splinters that used to make up the Sword Golem. "I'm afraid I have to cut this meeting short."

I stood up, gripping the golden sword and pointed it at her. "There's nowhere to go now."

"Oh but there is Light." She gave a small smile. "System Call, Generate Gate to Infinity."

My eyes widened as I realised what she was doing. She was attempting to escape to Infinity. I made a move to stop her but immediately I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. The splinter had lodged itself inside, thrown by Quinella. I tore it out, but by that point, it was too late. The black hole had opened.

"Kirito…wake up…"

A girl's voice rang throughout the room. I looked back to see Kirito standing on his feet, his black sword pointed at the black hole. "Enhance Armament!" Black tendrils that seemed to absorb the light from the very air around it began to erupt from the blade.

"NO!" Quinella screamed as the tendrils began to wrap around her as she entered the black hole. The two forces seemed to battle for a while, the memory of the black sword and the all-consuming void of Infinity. At first, it seemed the entire memory would be absorbed, just being added to the nothingness of Infinity. But soon, the void seemed to give in, being completely absorbed by the blade, leaving behind the screams of Quinella. The tendrils retreated, taking the form of the blade. Where Quinella once stood, there was nothing.

I felt all the exhaustion from the battle hit me at once, and I collapsed onto my knees. A sigh of relief escaped me. That's when I heard the slow clap from the edge of the room. "You never fail to impress me Light."

I looked up at Nightmare, who was walking towards us, scythe in hand. His eye, which was the only visible part of his body underneath the armour, looked pleased. I began to prepare myself for one final battle, if my body didn't just collapse from exhaustion.

He laughed. "You really intend to fight me when you can barely stand on your own two feet? Don't insult me." He then did something I never expected. He threw away his scythe, letting it clatter against the ground. "Besides, I don't wish to fight you anymore."

"What game are you playing…?" I said between drawing in breaths.

"I'm not playing games." He muttered. "If I killed you here, it would be pointless. And…I guess there would be no one in this world that could give me a challenge. Well, Blackie over there might." He glanced over at Kirito, who was being held up by Eugeo. "I won't kill you. Not here. My FiveSense will soon be out of power completely, and it'll fry my brain just as planned. But I'm sure I can adjust it slightly to follow in Kayaba's footsteps. Then I can integrate into this world flawlessly." He walked over towards the hole in the ground, picking up a piece of tattered cloth and wrapping it around his head. "I'll see you around Light…and then maybe we'll fight to the death, one last time." He jumped down, disappearing below.

I watched him for a while, before seeing the golden shimmer of Alice's armour. I looked at her in alarm, knowing her Life would nearly be up. I ran over, opening her Stacia Window. She only had about 2000 Life points left.

The magician girl walked over and kneeled next to Alice. "Is there any way to save her?" I asked, hoping for some small glimmer of chance. To my horror, the girl shook her head. "There has to be something…"

"There is…" Kirito said, pain in his voice. Not just physical pain…but it sounded like whatever needed to be done wasn't going to come free. "When Alice Synthesis Thirty dies, we can give Alice Zuberg her body back."

"That doesn't sound like a solution." I felt rage boiling in me.

"It's not…but Alice's condition can't be solved." Kirito's voice was straining, like he himself was on the verge of tears. "There's nothing we can do…"

I looked down at Alice. To my surprise, her eye was open. She had been listening this entire time. Despite the amount of pain she was in, she was still managing a smile. "It's okay… I promised to give this body…back to Alice Zuberg… I was always going to die…sooner or later…" She gritted her teeth as another spasm of pain ran through her body.

I shook my head. "It's not fair…" I clenched my fists. She's driven me to kill another person…another soul… Why do you continue to torment me Crystal…?

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Eugeo. "I know it's not… I always knew me and Kirito would have to fight over Alice…whether we would give back Alice Zuberg or keep this Alice. I know that Kirito would try and find a way for them both to live…"

The magician girl took a deep breath. "I can make her final moments more peaceful."

I let out a shaky breath, finally accepting the inevitable. "Okay…"

The girl took off her hat and placed it under Alice's head. "Alice, repeat after me. The first line of the System Command."

Alice nodded. "System…Call…"

"Remove Core Protection."

"Remove…Core…Protection…"

A box opened up above Alice's forehead. Several lines that looked like circuits ran from it to the girl, where a window opened. The girl began pressing a few buttons, and a purple triangle began to slide out of Alice's head. It was the same crystal that Quinella used to create the Sword Golem. "What is that…?" I croaked, only just realising there were tears dropping from my eyes.

"A Piety Module. It's designed to form a blockade on an Integrity Knight's memories." Kirito answered instead of the girl. "And it prevents them from regaining their old selves." He reached up towards the bird in the mural on the ceiling, where one of the crystals inlaid into the frame began to descend.

Alice looked at it fondly. "Is that…?"

Eugeo crouched down, nodding. "It's Alice Zuberg."

Alice smiled at Eugeo. "I hope you form…many more memories together Eugeo…" She slowly began to close her eyes as her Life reached zero. "I'm coming home…Selka…"

My fingernails began to dig into my palm as it finally hit me that Alice Synthesis Thirty was gone forever, and it was my fault. If I hadn't given into the memory, she could've still been here… That memory of Crystal urging me to kill her, wanting me to take her life…I had no idea it still held so much control over me. I thought seeing her alive and working through the torment that brought me would be enough to break her control…but it wasn't enough. It would likely never be enough…

I stood up and walked away from Alice's body while everyone else began readying her for Alice Zuberg…whoever that was. I could only guess it was who Alice was before she became an Integrity Knight. "Kirito…I'm going to have to put myself in a critical state in order to restore Alice's Life. Let me rest in the Library." The girl said calmly.

"Wait, you can't do that!" Kirito said, alarmed.

"I won't die. But it's likely I won't be awake in time to stop the Final Stress Test."

The Final Stress Test? What does that mean?

"Why can't I do it? I won't die if I end up losing all my life." Kirito sounded like he was almost begging at this point.

"Both you and Light are needed for the Final Stress Test. Quinella's negligence has weakened the Human Empire. They'll need every fighter they can. And I can't shut down Underworld if you're in a critical condition." The girl said simply. "Either way, we can't stop it. And if you're fighting, there's a far smaller chance of the Human Empire losing. So please, let me do this."

Kirito looked torn. I went back over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's more preferable than letting Alice's wish die." Even I could see in Alice's final moments, she wanted to give Alice Zuberg her life back.

Kirito finally accepted it. He stood up and let the girl do what she need to. "System Call. Transfer Unit Durability. Self to Left."

The Stacia Window that showed Alice's Life appeared, and the numbers began to rise. The girl closed her eyes as the numbers rose, before collapsing to the ground. "Cardinal!" Kirito rushed around to the side, checking her Life. Thankfully, I could see she still had some left. I let out a small sigh of relief.

Alice slowly opened her eyes, her blue sapphire orbs looking around at everyone. "Eugeo…? Kirito…?" Her voice was noticeably softer than Alice Synthesis Thirty's.

"Alice!" Eugeo yelled in joy as he wrapped his arms around her. Despite my grim mood, I couldn't help but feel glad at the sight before me.

"Welcome back Alice…" Kirito said, forcing a smile.

"I don't recognise your friends though." Alice reached to grasp Cardinal's hand. "She's so warm…" She looked over at me, smiling happily. "Hello. Why are you crying?"

I raised a hand to my cheek, noticing it was wet. I wiped it away. "Sorry…"

"No need to be sorry." She gave me a cheerful smile. "What's your name?"

"Light."

She grabbed mine and Kirito's hands, bringing them together. She then grabbed Eugeo's and all four of our hands were on top of one another. "Well Light, I hope we can all become good friends. We have a lot of catching up to do." She smiled at Kirito and Eugeo.

"Yeah, that we do." Eugeo gave a sad smile towards Kirito, who was still holding Cardinal.

Through the broken windows of the hundredth floor, the sun began to poke above the End Mountains. It bathed the Human Empire in light, giving a small glimmer of hope in between the darkest hours of the day.

And there we are. The end of Human Empire. Obviously, there are some massive changes. Poor Charlotte didn't survive...and probably the biggest sacrifice of all, Alice Synthesis Thirty. I knew going into this, I was going to kill off Alice Synthesis Thirty. Even though I didn't spend a lot of time with her in the story, I hope that I wrote her death well. And it will be effecting the future as we go into War of Underworld. It'll definitely be taking a toll on Light and Kirito, that's for sure.

The Surge will probably confuse some of you. After all, Kirito woke up much sooner than he did in the Light Novels/anime. I always believed the reason he was in his coma for so long was because at the moment he entered it, he was hating himself for not being able to save Eugeo. And that was keeping him in that coma. Obviously, that wasn't the case here. If anything, he wanted to fight to protect Light, Eugeo and Alice, so all it took was a little encouragement from Alice Zuberg to wake him up, similar to Lycoris. And for Light, the surge did send him into a temporary paralysis, and because he was trusting his instincts to his memories, the surge actualised that and he finally regained his memories and has now become the true Light Darken from the No Land Beyond series.

As for our villains, minor spoiler, but Quinella is not dead. Kirito destroyed the portal to Infinity, but she managed to sneak through. Now she's stuck there, floating in space. That does give me an opportunity to bring her back later...maybe in another game. We shall see. And for Nightmare, he's going to be roaming Underworld. He didn't want to fight Light in a world that he didn't understand the rules of. Plus, a victory over Light in that condition wouldn't be a victory at all. So he's going to bide his time, soon making himself a digital ghost like Kayaba. And the FLA will return to it's normal state, just in time for Vecta and PoH to join us.

Reviews:

blackbutterfly1313: Thank you sweetheart. To answer your question, it's as you thought. Kirito logged in later, so Nightmare only saw one STL in use. If he had checked a few minutes later, he would see two. I hope you enjoyed this finale, as it's because of you that I could keep going and making this wonderful story 3

Thank you all for this amazing journey. We've only just begun though, as next time, I shall see you in War of Underworld. Thank you all so much, and until next time, Stay Cool.