Chapter 19 – Belly

11/17/380

The ever-increasing rumbling that shook even the ground seemed to have no end as Vector's airship drew ever closer. By now, Alice and Sortiliena had already taken shelter in one of the long-abandoned houses on the upper side of Alario, lying in wait for a chance to sneak aboard. Even though she was the one who had suggested this idea and was also responsible for persuading Sortiliena to come along on the mission, Alice couldn't help but feel a certain sense of unease. The only knowledge of Vector could barely be considered that; shrouded in rumours and legends, his machinations were essentially nothing more than hearsay. He was so much of a mysterious shadow that his very existence was still unproven.

With all these things considered, Alice knew that the best way to confirm or deny her supposed knowledge about Vector would be a face-to-face encounter. If they could make it onto the ship and catch even just a glimpse of him, that modest knowledge had the potential of changing the Human Army's actions. But still, she couldn't decide whether this was the right course of action. Alice herself had seen the massive wall of marble which had appeared out of nowhere. Even if she had not witnessed it suddenly rising out of the ground as Sortiliena had described, it could only be explained as a work of the gods. As much as she hated to admit it, such a feat of creating a structure on the grandest scale was impossible for even an Integrity Knight as skilled in the Sacred Arts as herself. In fact, Administrator herself would have found it difficult producing something on that scale in such a short time frame. If this wall demonstrated the omnipotence of the gods, then Alice dreaded any confrontation with Vector.

The two girls had discussed a few plans earlier before the ship had finally settled down next to the town. If they were able to sneak aboard without being noticed, then they would basically be free to gather all kinds of information. Besides, the Dark Territory likely expected all the Human Army's soldiers to have retreated to Centoria, so Alice doubted that the security in and around the ship would be particularly worrisome.

Given the level of coordination displayed at the Great Eastern Gate despite their enemy's absurdly large forces, Alice speculated the likelihood of a special item allowing headquarters, which was supposedly this ship, to communicate directly with the front lines. If this was indeed the case, the girls had the opportunity to destroy, or better yet, steal the item. Doing so would immediately throw the enemy's forces into complete disarray, and she hoped that the Integrity Knights could take advantage of the ensuing chaos. By her own predictions, now was around the time that the first Dark Territory troops would be approaching the walls of Centoria.

Any sort of advantage would be rooted in gaining information about the Dark Territory's goals. As most understood right now, the invasion was nothing more than an initiative of contempt, with any concrete objectives remaining yet unknown. However, Alice recalled hearing about a certain "Radiant Medium" and judging by the expressions of the ones sprouting those statements, she had some suspicions that it referred to herself. If she could somehow confirm that, and understand why this medium was being sought, it could help to bring a conclusion to the war. Though it pained her to admit, the overwhelming numerical advantage held by the enemy would eventually overrun the entire Human Empire, even after accounting for the individual fighting strength of each Integrity Knight. Though it seemed like a last resort, a diplomatic agreement might be their only chance at survival.

Alice hated having all these pessimistic thoughts in her head, playing out like different scenarios born of the hellish pits in her mind. She was sure that the Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty of months ago would have never had these thoughts, but it was clear she had gone through immense change in this short while. It wasn't a sort of change that she could have undertaken all on her own, but the influences of others in her life, specifically Kirito the swordsman, led her to become this way. When the time allowed it, perhaps after this war, Alice noted that it might do her some good to reflect on how she had been so easily transformed.

The increasingly powerful vibrations from the airship brought Alice back to her senses. All the plans that she and Sortiliena Serlut had thought up were built upon the assumption that the airship would stop in or near Alario, which would allow them to sneak aboard. If that never happened… Well, that would certainly throw off their plans, but they would switch their objectives to tailing and possibly ambushing any lingering Dark Territory forces who were late to arrive at the gates of Centoria. It might still be possible for them to latch themselves onto the ship, but that was hardly a stealthy way of embarking. With that kind of effort, they most likely would be spotted before even boarding the ship, which would mark the mission a complete failure on their part.

For now, Alice could do nothing but wait to confirm their expectations. Peeking her head outside the window, she continued to watch as the shadow of the ship extended its reaches, an unstoppable, all-consuming devilish hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sortiliena with her head facing outside the window, eyes trained towards the sky. It seemed she was more so enjoying the scenery rather than watching for her enemy's advances, but Alice couldn't blame her for doing so after such a close encounter with death.

Truthfully, Sortiliena had been incredibly fortunate that Alice had found her when she did, or else her Life would have continued to slowly drain away into nothingness. But it was just as much a stroke of good luck for Alice to have found a member of the Imperial Guard at her side, who were far more skilled when compared to the average foot soldier. Not only was she part of the Guard, but she was also a graduate of the prestigious Norlangarth Swordcraft Academy. And though Kirito was nowhere near an accurate representation of the average student's skill, Sortiliena was still one of the best, having been an Elite Disciple herself. Besides, it also seemed like her life was somewhat intertwined with Kirito's.

Alice couldn't help but wonder – why exactly was it that everyone that he had close connections with, other than the late Eugeo and Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli, a girl? Perhaps her perceptions were just skewed from the two Primary Trainees who stuck to him like glue, but she couldn't shake off that odd feeling.

Alice had some inexplicably strong urges to ask Sortiliena about the specifics of her connection to Kirito, but she knew that this conversation would have to wait until another more opportune time. With the enemy ship now ever approaching, she needed to clear her head of any irrelevant distractions so that she could focus on the upcoming mission. She finally allowed herself to pry her own eyes from the window, taking a quick breath before sitting down on the solid wooden floor of the house.

"Deafening" couldn't fully describe what Sortiliena was experiencing with Vector's airship now directly above her hiding place. She could shout at the top of her lungs at Integrity Knight Alice who was standing right next to her, and their communication would be solely limited to lip-reading. It sounded like an uncountable number of Wind Elements being exploded simultaneously, somehow all working together to keep the massive airship afloat. It didn't take long for the vibrations that she felt in her eardrums to become immense pain that racked her entire body.

Sortiliena was quickly forced to plug her ears before the pain became too intense for her to bear. Even then, the incredible pressure caused her to double over, as she tried squeezing her head in between her own legs. She wanted to do anything and everything possible to shield her ears from the oppressive cacophony which was threatening to burst them open. Save for burying her head in the ground, she was near the end of her wit. If the noise didn't stop anytime soon, then she might have to live the rest of her life permanently deaf.

As she neared the limit, her ears seemingly about to bleed, the thunderous roar suddenly ceased. A wave of blissful silence washed over her surroundings, swiftly followed by an earthquake-like impact which knocked her flat onto her back. Her head knocked against the hard wooden floor, a pattern of stars forming in her vision. It took a few seconds before she was able to regain her senses, with the pain in her ears now being overtaken by the throbbing in her head and neck. Shakily getting to her feet, she peered out the window to get a good look at her surroundings, which was now nothing but a massive dust cloud.

It finally dawned on her that the quake, accompanied by the comparable silence, must have been from the airship landing on the ground. Sortiliena took a breath to compose herself, before looking over at the Integrity Knight Alice, who returned her gaze. Giving each other a silent nod, Alice then handed Sortiliena a cloth rag, before tying another one around her own face. Following suit herself, Sortiliena then raised her thumb after finishing her preparations, before Alice opened the door and the two girls stepped outside.

The thick cloud of dust would make their infiltration much easier, allowing the girls to roam free on the streets without fear of being spotted by their enemies. They would need to move as far as possible before the skies cleared again, at which point they would be forced to slow down their movements. They travelled lightly – Integrity Knight Alice had already decided to strip off her armour, though she had done so with an incredible regretful expression. She had buried her armour near the center of Alario, covering up the hole carefully so that no one would be able to discover the hidden treasure that was an Integrity Knight's prestigious equipment. Even without the armour, she still looked the part; she simply radiated that noble sort of presence regardless of any accessories or uniform. In stark contrast, the majority of Sortiliena's equipment had already been badly damaged as she floated unconscious in the water before being rescued, so she simply threw it aside haphazardly.

For this sort of stealth mission, disguises would have come in handy, but neither one of the girls knew enough about the Dark Territory to properly blend in with those soldiers. Even if they could change their appearance to the point of fooling someone's eyes, their actions would certainly give away their true identities immediately. Instead, they aimed to remain hidden, both finding some well-fitting black clothing to change into, a subtle reminder of a certain swordsman's usual garb.

Sortiliena had to follow closely on Alice's heels or else they could easily become separated amidst all this dust, which would be a travesty before the mission even properly began. They were inching closer and closer to the center of the cloud, which was surely where Vector's airship had landed. However, soon the dust thinned out to the point where their vision was partially restored, meaning that their enemies would also be able to spot them from a distance. The dust was still thick, so they kept the cloth over their mouths, and quickly hid in the shadow of one of the houses. Sortiliena stood with sword at ready, covering Alice's back as the Integrity Knight peered around the corner to assess the situation.

"The ship is right ahead. I don't see any openings where we can get in, but I also don't see any Dark Territory soldiers on the ground yet. Let's wait a bit to see what they end up doing before we make our next move."

Sortiliena nodded, signaling her acknowledgment. "If I may ask, how far from the target are we?"

"The ship is right on the outskirts of the town. There are only three or four other houses that we can use as cover before we're fully out in the open. From there, it should only be a few strides before we reach the hull of the ship."

Sortiliena took in this good news; if the ship had instead touched down much further from the town, the chances of the girls getting to their destination without being spotted would be rather slim. Now, all they needed was a brief moment where their foes were distracted. Gradually, the success of the plan seemed to become more and more believable. Though she didn't exactly doubt the plan proposed by Integrity Knight Alice, it was only human nature to hesitate in the face of such exceedingly unfavourable circumstances.

An agonizing wait followed for the coming minutes as neither she nor Alice could release the tension in their bodies. Sortiliena had no idea as to when, or even if, the Dark Territory would ever open their doors and voyage out into the town. Silence and dust wafted through the air, eventually clearing up to the point where Solus was once again fully visible. Eventually, after more waiting, the ship finally broke its silence.

Metal screeching against metal made Sortiliena grit her teeth in discomfort, but movement from their enemies meant that their plan could be put into action. Soon after, she could hear footsteps ringing out against the gangplank, a rush of hollow sounds echoing through the silent streets of the abandoned town. The two continued to lie in wait, watching for any potential enemies which might round the corner. So far, she could hear nothing close to where they hid, but with the frequency of metal pounding, she was certain that a sizable number of Dark Territory soldiers were now on the ground. But Sortiliena continued to hold her breath, worried that these minute noises might prevent her from determining the proximity of their enemies.

Stranger still, or perhaps she could call it good fortune, none of the footsteps seemed to be headed their way. The shadows of the house created a perfect hiding spot, as Sortiliena could see goblins roving around the area without any chance of revealing herself. Even then, she could feel her heart begin to palpitate. Fear settled in, and soon she started to ask herself when, rather than if, they would be discovered.

Eventually, Integrity Knight Alice tugged at her sleeve. She quickly turned her head towards the knight, who motioned for her to follow. Trusting her wholeheartedly, Sortiliena followed Alice closely, her eyes still vigilantly scouting the nearby environment. The metal gangplank rested just ahead, extending from the hull of the ship. If they used it, the echoing sound would instantly reveal their whereabouts, given that there were currently no Dark Territory soldiers anywhere close to the entrance. Sortiliena had a sudden urge to point this out to Integrity Knight Alice, but all she could do was trust that Alice had an idea of how they could successfully infiltrate in secret.

As they neared the ramp, Alice decided to run alongside it, suddenly stopping when she arrived at the bottom right side. At that moment, Alice spun around, grabbing Sortiliena in a tight embrace.

"Huh? I...Integrity Knight Al – woah!"

With an extremely abbreviated chant, Alice had generated a few Wind Elements and bursted them with extreme precision. Instead of the usual rush of air which would be a sonorous indicator for all the Dark Territory forces, it created nothing more than a gentle-sounding breeze, while still maintaining the necessary force to propel two people up a height no less than six mel. Sortiliena had never seen Integrity Knight Alice use the Sacred Arts, and she couldn't help but be impressed by this display of power mixed with perfect control that was exemplary of a master. The most skilled Arts users among the Imperial Guard would still mightily struggle to replicate such a feat even under the most optimal of conditions.

It was already evident to all the soldiers of the Human Army that the legendary Integrity Knights were on another level when it came to swordplay. On top of that, they held the best quality equipment, allowing them to also utilize Perfect Weapon Control, as well as executing techniques levels above what an ordinary blade could handle. But when it came to the Sacred Arts, Sortiliena had thought that at least the masters who had studied the craft for decades could hold their own against the Integrity Knights, who never seemed to have bothered to achieve mastery in this regard. But now, it was clear these thoughts were delusional at best. The Integrity Knights were, in every way, shape, and form, clearly humanity's best.

At the top of the ramp, Alice once again generated another Wind Element to soften their landing, their footsteps light as they touched down. Without making a single sound to draw the attention of their enemies, they safely boarded the ship. Immediately, Alice let go of Sortiliena, and immediately dropped into a battle-ready stance. Sortiliena quickly followed suit, though a step slower as she admired Alice's proficiency in the Sacred Arts. Luckily, there was no need for either of them to maintain that tension, seeing as no one was guarding the entrance of the ship. The two girls allowed their bodies to relax, now realizing that the first step of their plan, infiltration, was complete.

Sortiliena was quick to notice the strange aura which oozed from the walls which surrounded her as she made her way throughout the ship. It felt like eerie gazes were plastered onto herself and Alice by unseen eyes hidden in the walls of the ship. She could feel shivers as they traced down her spine, like a slender, bony finger barely scratching the surface of her bare skin. To put it simply, she wanted to get out of here as soon as she could.

However, she could not abandon Integrity Knight Alice when they had already come so far. For one, exiting the ship right now would mean walking back into a town which was now teeming with Dark Territory presence. Even if she decided to go off into the wilderness, her unfamiliarity with this region would only cause her to end up like a lost sheep without its shepherd. And how could she call herself a member of the Imperial Guard if she couldn't at least attempt the mission to which she agreed? Integrity Knight Alice did not force this upon her; rather, Sortiliena took the initiative to accept the invitation. Even if she couldn't find anything useful to do, she resolved to at least not be a burden.

Alice crept down the halls of the ship, her eyes flitting from one corner to the next, attentively watching every angle for potential enemies. The two girls still carried their own swords, on the off chance that they needed to fight their way out of any predicament, though Sortiliena prayed that hers would remain in its sheath the entire time. As they continued to walk through the corridors, the ship was strangely quiet, as if it were devoid of any other presences besides their own. Completely void of any intrusions, even their faint footsteps seemed to produce the slightest of echoes, something which incited extreme concern for Sortiliena. The two girls were already taking every effort to ensure maximum stealth, but it felt like they were hiding in the middle of a perfectly flat plain while their pursuers were high above on dragon-back. There was simply nowhere to hide.

After walking around for a while, however, they still had not been stopped by any guards or other soldiers of the Dark Territory. Sortiliena was beginning to think this as quite a fortuitous situation, but at the same time couldn't help but think that the circumstances were aligning far too well – such good fortune now could only be followed by the worst of misfortunes in the near future. But once again, she held her mouth, suppressing the innate worries welling deep within her, and instead putting her trust in the judgement of Integrity Knight Alice.

As these thoughts continued to circulate in her head, her ears suddenly picked up on another set of footsteps that she did not recognize. It didn't belong to Alice, and it certainly wasn't her own. Its cadence was heavy and careless, clearly not someone trying to remain hidden – obviously there was no reason to hide around in one's own home. She hurriedly reached out to Alice who was directly in front of her, still carefully making her way through the corridors of the ship.

"What is the mat–"

Alice startled, quickly stopping and turning around as soon as she felt Sortiliena's hand on her shoulder. Sortiliena immediately put a finger to her own mouth, frantically motioning to the knight in front of her to refrain from making any extraneous sounds and pointing a finger at her own ear. Alice quickly caught on, brow furrowing with focus as she checked for any other sounds.

Hearing the footsteps which were gradually getting louder, Sortiliena began to panic, her eyes darting around to find the nearest escape route. She wasn't sure if Alice could pick up the sound of footsteps or not, but she knew to find a hiding place before explaining herself. Thankfully, it looked as if Alice had caught on, as she roughly grabbed Sortiliena's hand, dragging her towards the nearest room.

With the door now shut behind her, Sortiliena finally allowed herself to let out a breath that she had unknowingly been holding. It took a while before her mind calmed down enough for her to look around the room that they had entered. There were a few empty cots strung up, laid out as bunk beds all along the two sides of the wall. Low hanging structures were attached to the ceiling, evenly spaced out about every three beds or so; they didn't look like anything that Sortiliena had seen before, but it was evident that they were lighting fixtures of some kind. The room was rather plain, clearly some sort of barracks for the Dark Territory soldiers who were out ravaging Alario right now.

Alice walked further inside towards the other side of the room, with Sortiliena now noticing that the knight's hand was tightly gripping her sword which remained in its sheath. Sortiliena couldn't immediately notice anything which would have warranted the tension shown in the knight's body, so she stepped forward to where Alice currently stood. But once she stood next to the knight, she felt her own body experiencing the same sort of tightness.

Calmly sleeping on a cot, a goblin was quietly nestled beneath its covers, a peaceful expression on its face. This goblin, at least by appearances, had barely even come into adulthood, looking more like a child than anything. Her stomach flipped, the fact that even children were being forced to fight for the Dark Territory's cause had her fighting another wave of nausea. Though, Sortiliena couldn't be sure that young ones like this one were being forced to do much on the front lines, considering that it was currently napping.

Nevertheless, an enemy was still an enemy, even if it might have been completely uninvolved with all the horrors of war on the front lines. Worse yet, perhaps the Dark Territory were fielding some sort of elite corps of child soldiers; Sortiliena wasn't all too familiar with the state of war outside of what she had witnessed with her own eyes, so there wasn't much that she could say with absolute confidence. Regardless, it still felt dishonourable to kill a sleeping enemy, one who literally was unable to fight back. Even if this was exactly what their adversaries would stoop down to, her pride as a member of the Imperial Guard wouldn't allow her to take such an action, and she was sure Alice felt the same way with her status as an Integrity Knight. That trained tension must have been nothing more than an ingrained response when a battle-tested knight met an unknown enemy.

After a few moments of tense silence, Alice finally took her hand off the handle of her sword, while turning around and slowly walking away. As she did that, Sortiliena followed, leaving the sleeping goblin alone and completely unharmed. When they were out of earshot, Alice turned around to face Sortiliena.

"Do you think that was the right thing to do?"

The abrupt question surprised Sortiliena, causing her to do nothing more than open and close her mouth without uttering a single word. She already had a feeling that Integrity Knight Alice did not come to her decision easily, but she expected Alice to have made that choice firmly with no regrets. No matter what happened, Sortiliena wouldn't have argued against her choice. But the question posed was not about whether she would follow this decision, but about the correctness of the decision. Alice was clearly asking for Sortiliena's own opinion, instead of verification that her actions had been the best.

"I do. It would not be honourable to slay an enemy who was sleeping. I believe that as members of the Human Army, we should do our best to uphold these standards as followers of the Axiom Church."

Alice's eyes clouded over, as she turned away from Sortiliena's honest gaze. She took a deep breath, slowly exhaling before finally responding.

"Honour, you say. Of course, you are absolutely correct. I think that looking at it from the perspective of who we are and what we represent, the actions that you and I took would be lauded in front of the people. Having said that…"

Alice turned back to face Sortiliena, with a rather troubled look on her face. She bit her lip uncomfortably, uncertainty distorting her usually poised expression.

"Am I even deserving of my title if my only desire was to cut it down? Am I worthy of the respect that you and others give me if I cannot even live by the honourable code we commit our lives to defending? There was no sympathy in my body, only a murderous rage to cut down anyone that stood in my own way and impeded the prosperity of my homeland. After seeing what these Dark Territory soldiers have already done to the people here, how can I feel anything but that?"

Though Sortiliena had properly known Alice for less than a day, she still never expected an outburst like this to come from the lips of one of the Esteemed Integrity Knights. It seemed out of character, for lack of a better term. These Integrity Knights were beings called down from the heavens to exact judgement and punishment on those who failed to obey the laws of the Taboo Index. They were supposed to be the embodiment of respect, and like their name suggested, integrity. Yet Alice defied these expectations, displaying a side of the perfect knights that Sortiliena couldn't have imagined before.

Sortiliena thought about how to respond to this explosion of emotions from the woman in front of her, but the flurry of thoughts running through her mind left her speechless. Perhaps these knights weren't deserving of the unconditional respect that everyone gave to them. They were expected to be perfect, but her interactions with Alice had shown her a more human side to the Integrity Knights. A certain part of her even doubted the origins of these men and women who were supposedly sent down from the heavens to help govern the Human Empire. Instead of a heavenly being standing in front of her wearing golden armour, all she could see was a young girl with golden yellow hair conflicted with weighted emotions.

Even with those thoughts, Sortiliena still couldn't shake the unmistakable reverence that she held for the knights, especially Integrity Knight Alice. Whether she truly was someone sent from the heavens, or just a regular human being, Alice was still the one who saved her from certain death. And because of that, she wanted to properly respond to Alice's question, reassuring her that she was someone deserving of the titles that she was given.

"Integrity Knight Alice–"

Sortiliena turned to face the knight, waiting until their gazes locked.

"I do not believe that I can speak for every single human living in the land, but I can speak for myself. And I believe that you are more than deserving of the respect that is implied by your title. You are humanity's strongest Sacred Arts user. You are the one who completely obliterated those aerial forces of the Dark Territory. Without your presence, our defences at the Great Eastern Gate would have crumbled easily, without even a chance for the citizens of the Eastabarieth Empire to escape."

As she spoke, Alice lowered her eyes and turned her head so that only half of it was visible to Sortiliena. But still, Sortiliena could not stop the impassioned words that continued to flow despite Alice's lack of response.

"This is war. Our enemies have done unthinkable atrocities and only have evil intentions. They have no code of honour. It is only natural that we have thoughts of responding in kind. However."

The tone of her voice shifted, and Alice took note; the knight was quick to return Sortiliena's hard and unwavering gaze.

"The fact that we do not act on such desires shows the difference between ourselves and these savages. While they think of nothing but succumbing to their carnal desires, we proper beings of the Human Empire continue to live our lives with integrity, despite what we are faced with today. And the fact that you have made that decision is nothing short of admirable."

A moment of silence followed, as the knight seemed to be unsure of how to respond to this bold declaration by the soldier who stood at her side. A myriad of emotions flickered across her face, each one microscopic but noticeable nonetheless – sadness, contemplation, surprise, relief, acceptance. Eventually though, she was able to face Sortiliena with a smile on her face, her expression more than enough to convey the words from her heart.

"Let's go then, shall we?"

A conclusion seemingly having been reached, the two women left the room, without having drawn either of their swords. Of course, they were still deep in enemy territory and needed to exercise extreme caution, but the footsteps which had brought them into hiding in the first place had long since vanished. They continued down the corridors, a suspenseful emptiness meeting them at every turn. Sortiliena still found it strange that other than that singular set of footsteps, they had not encountered anyone else on this bottom level of the ship. Rather than this being an expedition of discovery, it was like they were being lured deeper within the ship. Still, they really had no choice but to continue their course; leaving now would be no different than announcing their location to the world.

The ship's corridors extended far into the distance, to the point where Sortiliena couldn't even make out its end. Rooms lined both sides, some with small inserts which allowed the light from within to permeate to the dimly lit corridor. As she surveyed her surroundings, she struggled to find any particular source of light – instead, it seemed like the ceiling tiles themselves glowed. It wasn't any type of lighting that Sortiliena had seen in all the years of her life, but she felt that this type of eerie glow could only be an indication of the Dark Arts.

Multiple stairways were interspersed between the many rooms; they seemed excessive in Sortiliena's eyes. But perhaps in the event that all troops on board needed to be quickly dispatched, they could easily make their way down to the lowest level. Even if that were the case, having only the singular entrance through which Alice and herself were able to infiltrate would serve as a massive bottleneck. The sheer number of staircases could only be explainable if there were an appropriate number of entrances through which Dark Territory soldiers could funnel out.

Finally, it seemed like the two had made it to the end of the hallway, the open space now replaced by a set of doors unlike all the others on this floor. An intricate set of double doors now stood in front of them, made of a noticeably thicker and sturdier material, with a much more pristine polish to them. All these differences didn't even account for the enormous, spoked wheel locks on the front of each door – anyone with any common sense could determine that whatever was contained in this room was of utmost value and importance. And the fact that it was the furthest from the entrance only served to support this sentiment. There was, of course, the situation where this was set up as a decoy while the most critical elements were hidden away in plain sight, but she doubted that the Dark Territory which was so enthralled with the concept of pure strength would resort to a sneaky tactic as underhanded as this.

"Onto the second floor. We've gathered all we can on this one."

"Eh? But–"

Sortiliena was shocked at Alice's decision, which seemed contrary to what their intentions were. Why would they leave this gem of a finding, only to go deeper into the ship where it would become even more difficult to escape?

Alice turned over to Sortiliena, a smirk playing at her lips while letting a quick breath out through her nose.

"Getting information is one thing, but not being able to get out with the information will make all our efforts go to waste. I have no doubt that the two of us can break into this room, whatever it contains, and learn critical knowledge. But if we break in, I doubt we could get out easily. We are, after all, in our enemy's headquarters. These grounds are truly unfavourable for battle or escape."

Though Sortiliena prided herself on her ability to remain calm and collected at all times, such a simple notion had somehow slipped her mind. But she quickly nodded her head in agreement, waiting for the knight in front of her to make the next move. She was relieved to have Integrity Knight Alice by her side in these types of situations, where most people would lose track of the little details which could mean the difference between success and failure, or more accurately, life and death.

Though the staircase leading up to the second floor was situated immediately next to the double-doored room, neither Sortiliena nor Alice took a single step in that direction. The reason was obvious – going up such a tight staircase without even checking what was ahead would be suicide. Tentatively, Alice slowly stuck her head until she could look up to the second floor. However, the strange angle and twist of the staircase's construction made it difficult for much light from the upper floors to penetrate down below.

Taking a quick breath, Alice slowly closed her eyes, dropping her head down. Before Sortiliena could make any remarks, she saw Alice's eyes spring open, her head springing upwards towards the goal of the second floor. Instantly taking off, she cleared at least four steps at a time, arriving at the top in just about a second. Soon after that, Sortiliena saw an outstretched hand motioning for her to follow, and so she carefully climbed up the stairs herself, though at a much slower pace.

After reaching the second floor, Sortiliena quickly scouted the area. It looked much the same as the first floor, though the environment clearly indicated a much lower level of wear. It seemed as if fewer soldiers were allowed on the second floor, and maybe this was a trend that would continue as they continued to climb up the floors of the ship. If that was the case, then perhaps their journey would become less perilous as they neared the top. It seemed presumptuous and unlikely, but Sortiliena wanted to remain hopeful.

Unfortunately, contrary to what Sortiliena had wished for, they began seeing more and more Dark Territory soldiers both in the halls and in the other rooms. Instead of their progress becoming smoother, they were forced to take detour after detour to avoid being discovered. But no matter how bogged down their progress became, the two girls continued to push on. Slowly but surely, they managed to make their way closer to the grand staircase at the other end of the hall.

Unlike the large number of staircases that connected the ground and second floors, there only looked to be one singular spiral staircase which led to the floors above. And unfortunately, the girls' search of the first floor brought them to the opposite end of the ship. Though the obvious solution would be to descend the stairs, the girls were keenly aware that some of the Dark Territory soldiers had boarded the ship again, whatever operation they had in Alario now complete. Voices and footsteps echoed up to the second level, effectively cutting off their expected escape route.

Before long, the familiar rumbling noise recommenced, accompanied now by a strong vibration in the floor. Without a doubt, the giant airship was reclaiming its rightful place in the sky, moving away from the ground, and likely heading towards Centoria. With each passing moment it seemed as though their chances of escape were rapidly diminishing, but the girls wordlessly agreed to press on. Despite that, Sortiliena began to feel her doubt growing, as it was clear that their lives could likely come to an end on this ship without their feet ever being able to step foot on solid ground again.

Sortiliena and Alice were currently hiding in a small storage room, which was devoid of any windows, so they couldn't use their sight to ascertain the situation outside. They had been forced to take refuge in this room when a massive rush of Dark Territory soldiers barged their way upstairs, clearly exuberant about the plunder they had obtained down on the ground. It wasn't the most ideal of hiding spots, but they could do nothing more than wait for the horde to pass.

"Are we still continuing with the original plan?" Sortiliena whispered into the darkness.

"Hmm… I wonder. At this point, escape is unlikely, now that our original planned route of escape has been blocked off by the return of the Dark Territory troops. While I would say that it's not entirely impossible to return there, it would not be the most practical choice."

Alice's tone of voice seemed to indicate that she was also having doubts about the strategy upon which the two originally decided, surely as a result of the somewhat unexpected circumstances which had come into play. Had the Dark Territory soldiers spent more time on the ground, and the ship been emptier, the two girls could have potentially gathered the information they so desired, and also escaped without incident. However, with the way things were shaping up to be, Sortiliena believed that it may be time to consider another course of action. And from Alice's tone, it was clear that she was also thinking along the same lines.

"But it may still be too early to give up."

Alice straightened her back as she said this and turned to fully face Sortiliena. Even with the meagre amount of light in the room, the sheer determination in her eyes was clear for anyone to see. It inspired a strange feeling of reassurance, but the intensity radiating outwards was enough to immediately grab all of Sortiliena's attention.

"Did we ever have a chance to view the top deck of this ship? What if there is a way out from there?"

Alice paused slightly, scoffing at the idea of abandoning their mission.

"How can we give up before we've even confirmed that our objective is no longer possible?"

At those words, an inexplicable effect of pure inspiration told Sortiliena to persevere despite feeling hopeless moments prior. The more time she spent with Alice, the clearer the divide between human and Integrity Knight became. They truly were monsters in their own world, given the physical appearance of a human being, but far surpassing in all other sense. For what felt like the hundredth time, she once again felt so grateful to have a travelling companion of such calibre.

As Alice fell silent, Sortiliena once again focused her senses beyond the door, envisioning the scene in the hallway at the current moment. The sudden influx of soldiers returning to the ship now seemed to be headed into their own individual barracks, with the corridors once again becoming mostly silent. With that, the two girls were able to continue their progress through the ship, looking for any leads to bring them valuable information. Of course, now with far fewer empty rooms, they were limited in the number of places they could search through, their progress now greatly hindered.

The third level offered much of the same; the layout of the ship didn't change much, though the girls noticed that the rooms themselves were becoming slightly larger, owing to the increased width of the ship, a fact they noted before boarding. There was a rather grand staircase leading up to the fourth floor, splitting off into two separate pathways. When confronted with the fork in the road, the girls silently chose to stay together, the gain of doubling their search area clearly not worth risking becoming separated during their mission.

As they continued to ascend, despite the unchanging views surrounding them, Sortiliena could feel her pulse quicken as tension began to slowly grip at her body. Fifth… sixth… onto the seventh and eighth level. It all looked the same to her, but all the while she knew that they were slowly making their way towards the top floor. What little she did know about water-faring boats would lead her to believe that the top deck would be open to the sky, so the ceiling above them indicated they weren't there yet.

The only problem was that neither she nor Alice could find the staircase which led up to this supposed next floor. By the time that they had reached the upper floors, the number of Dark Territory troops had once again thinned out, leaving more empty rooms to be searched. However, all through this, the two had failed to find anything of strategic value; all that was uncovered were personal items belonging to soldiers who came from various parts of the Dark Territory. The rooms that weren't private quarters didn't yield anything of note either, resulting in a completely fruitless search.

Now that they had scoured this mostly empty floor, all that lay in front of them was a large room reminiscent of the one they had first encountered at the beginning of their foray into this place. A familiar set of double doors awaited the girls at the end of the corridor, directly opposite to the singular staircase which led up to this floor. Unlike the first floor, however, they were now far removed from whatever was providing the thrust to keep this monstrosity afloat in the sky, as the rumbling pervading their ears had grown far weaker. As a result of that, they were able to hear the faint whisperings of wind on the other side of these doors.

The girls looked at each other. Without even needing to speak, it was obvious that they had come to the same conclusion. Whatever lay beyond here was not another closed-off room, potentially filled with hazards unknown, but a step to the outside they so craved to see. After spending all this time trapped within the corridors of their enemy's ship, forced to hide themselves to avoid encounters with any other living beings, they itched to return outside, and breathe in air not tainted by the stench of battle-worn soldiers.

Alice reached ahead, placing her left hand on one of the doors, while keeping her right hand stationed directly on the pommel of her sword. She slowly turned the circular lock, careful not to make any more noise than was necessary, though the door still creaked at the movement of its own weight. Fortunately, the rush of the wind was more than enough to cover it up, allowing the stealth of the mission to go temporarily uncompromised.

Ushering Sortiliena through first, Alice then closed the door, the click of the door shutting only barely audible over the sounds of the outside. The myriad of noises meant that the girls were able to make their way around the deck at a faster rate than they had been prowling through the corridors below. That being said, they still made sure to hide behind pillars and other large objects, inching their way to the center where there was an abnormal source of light. There were two figures huddled around the flames. No, huddling wasn't the right word for them, as they seemed to be sitting comfortably in chairs, as if enjoying the lapping flames on a calm summer night.

Given the amount of time that the two had spent hiding in various rooms within the ship, it didn't exactly come as a surprise that night had already fallen, but it still worried her knowing the amount of time they had spent trapped here without anything to show for. But perhaps the conversation between these two individuals, likely high-ranking ones in the Dark Territory's army, could give them some cause for celebration.

Carefully, they continued to creep closer, until Sortiliena could clearly make out that both figures were large, well-dressed, and fully armoured humans. In a land where there were so many different races which were humanoid but were distinctly dissimilar, Sortiliena had forgotten that there were actual humans who lived beyond the walls surrounding the Human Empire. If she recalled correctly, they had darker skin, golden brown instead of the pale white typically found in the Human Empire.

Despite the top level being open to the air, there still was a canopy over where the fire pit stood. Alice shifted over as Sortiliena joined her behind one of the supporting pillars, now with nothing but that solid piece of marble separating the two girls from the two other Dark Territory humans. At this short a distance, the wind could no longer overpower the voices from what sounded like grown men. But the fact that the voices were audible was evidence that some sort of Arts was in use to dull any outside sounds, especially those directly related to the floating ship.

The problem was, Sortiliena soon realized, they couldn't seem to understand the words coming from the mouths of these two men. She couldn't confirm her knowledge, given that she had never travelled anywhere near the borders of the Human Empire, so it was possible that they were speaking a language that she did not comprehend. But at the same time, there seemed to be certain words that seemed oddly familiar, though not from the Common Tongue. For whatever reason, the language that the two men used was rife with words from the Sacred Tongue.

From Alice's expression, it was obvious that she was confused as well, also unable to understand the contents of the conversation. Sortiliena could only hope that the knight's superior understanding of the Sacred Arts would translate into a better understanding of the Sacred Tongue, but so far it looked like she was equally wrought with confusion.

For several minutes, the two crouched in silence, trying to glean any knowledge from the voices of the two men speaking by the fire. But no matter what, Sortiliena continued to be baffled; the few words she understood did not come together to form any cohesive ideas. Instead, she shifted her efforts to gathering information based not on her ears, but on what else she could gather from the situation with her other senses.

Given that they were on the top level of the airship, it was likely that these two men, both clad in extravagant armour and other accessories, were high-ranking figures in the Dark Territory's army. The aura that they exuded was also incredible, overwhelming her with a nauseating fear. Though she certainly didn't want to dismiss Alice's battle prowess, Sortiliena doubted her own usefulness in a battle against these kinds of foes.

There still was the possibility that the conversation that was currently happening was nothing more than a casual conversation between the two commanders, considering how relaxed their postures were as they lounged. However, if that was the case, then eavesdropping wouldn't be of any tactical value, not that they were able to understand them anyways.

"Integrity Knight Alice, do you understand their words?" Sortiliena couldn't help but reach out to her partner in the midst of her own confusion.

"A few words here and there. Whatever language they use is mixed with words from the Sacred Tongue thrown in randomly. None of this is making any sense to me."

"Could it be… that they are simply having a casual conversation? Which has nothing to do with war?"

Though her voice was already hushed, Sortiliena asked that question to Alice rather timidly. Quite frankly, a small part of her mind tinged with anger and embarrassment as she considered the possibility of leaving this place empty-handed, despite risking both their lives by running through what was essentially the enemy's most established headquarters other than the capital city of the Dark Territory, Obsidia.

Alice stiffened at Sortiliena's comment, apparently not having given this unfavourable prospect a thought, likely for the same reasons that Sortiliena herself was hesitant to latch onto that train of thought.

"Yes… you may be correct. Regardless, we have no way of confirming even the subject of their discussion. It could just be two commanders having an evening chat while the rest of their forces prepare for the next assault. Let's… let us stay here for a while longer to confirm that they won't suddenly touch on something that would be of use to us."

Sortiliena nodded in agreement, shifting her weight back to her other foot as she moved slightly away from Alice. Knowing that she was practically useless in gathering intel, she began to scout for any possible escape routes. If possible, she definitely did not want to trek through the narrow corridors of the airship again, especially knowing that the door through which they entered the ship was likely closed and fully locked during flight.

A high railing surrounded the entire deck of the ship, though not at a level which made it insurmountable. It still would be rather inconvenient to make a stealthy escape with those in the way, and in the worst-case scenario she was sure that both her and Alice's Sacred Arts techniques would be sufficiently powerful to destroy any obstacles and make a suitable exit path. As she continued to sweep the surrounding area, she noticed that near the bow of the ship, the railing from both sides seemed to separate and peel off, revealing a bit of open space that seemed sufficiently wide enough for a single human being. She silently marked the bow as their preferred route of escape.

Now, she turned her attention to the more pressing matter: they would undoubtedly be able to get off the ship one way or another. Now the question was, how would they return to the ground? Currently, Sortiliena had no way of knowing exactly how far off the ground the airship was travelling, though she could estimate based on her observations from before the ship had arrived in Alario. The airship was piloted so that it skimmed near the surface of the ground, instead of being high up in the sky. Surely, they could survive a fall from that height without any major injuries with the help of Sacred Arts.

It wasn't long before Alice lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Apparently, enough time had passed that even she considered giving up on gathering information from this conversation that neither of them could fully understand.

"Is it time for us to leave?"

"Nothing to gain from this. As hard as it is to admit, we should cut our losses and at least escape with our lives."

Sortiliena nodded in assent before replying.

"The railings surround the entirety of the deck except for the area right around the bow. If we make our way there, we can sneak off the ship undetected."

"Good work finding that, Sortiliena. Let's make our way there."

Slowly, they crept their way around the pillars, still taking care to hide behind the objects scattered carelessly on the deck. In the entire time that they were here, not a single Dark Territory soldier had made their way up, perhaps owing to the fact that this was the generals' personal area. As they moved making only the slightest of sounds, they could still make out the conversation filled with words unknown.

That is, until suddenly, when those words shifted to an all too familiar language.

"Should we welcome our uninvited guests now?"

Still hidden behind one of the many pillars built for the purpose of supporting the extravagant canopy, Sortiliena unconsciously caught her breath. They should have been completely hidden from view, and she didn't think that they'd made any missteps in terms of concealing their presences. Likewise, beside her, Alice reached for her sword.

"I'll have to admit, you did a fine job of hiding yourselves. If all I had were my eyes and ears, I wouldn't have even noticed your infiltration. In terms of execution, I would give that a perfect score, ten marks out of ten."

The sounds of armour rustling meant that both men were up and out of their seats now. Heavy footsteps rang out from the deck, reverberations easily overpowering the sounds of the wind.

"Fortunately – for me at least, I guess it would be unfortunate for you two – it's extremely simple for me to track your whereabouts on this ship. To be precise, it is exactly the same as if there were [cameras] watching your every move."

There was one sound that sounded like garbled junk to Sortiliena, probably a word in their other language, but she could guess based on the context provided by the rest of the sentence that the thing he mentioned was some sort of tracking device. She thought back to that creepy feeling she experienced while travelling through the ship, as if there were eyes on them the entire time… surely only an ill omen like that could explain their current predicament.

"Oh, my apologies. You wouldn't know what that is, now would you? First off, you don't even understand [English], and [cameras] haven't even been invented in this world yet."

Ignoring the man's provocative words, Sortiliena gazed at the bow, at the location where the railing split apart to leave an opening. No, now that they knew their presence was already known, stealth was no longer a priority. And it seemed like Alice was on the same wavelength.

"System Call! Generate Thermal Element! Burst!"

A wall of fire rushed out of Alice's right hand, blocking their view of the fire pit and the two men standing next to it. Roughly grabbed by her left hand, Sortiliena was half-dragged to her feet as Alice forced her to move quickly directly behind towards the metal railing. As their hurried hands and feet began to clamber upwards, an unnatural gust of wind extinguished the fiery wall. Looking back in a rush of panic, she found that the shorter of the two men had drawn his sword, literally cleaving through the flame.

"Hurry!"

Alice, who had already reached the top, extended a hand to give Sortiliena a boost, which she readily took. Panic was already taking hold of Sortiliena's legs, making it so that she could no longer pinpoint the best footholds that allow her to reach the top in the most efficient manner. What felt like an eternity was perhaps not more than a few seconds, as her hand finally grabbed the top of the railing. It was only then that she had a good look of what lay over the edge.

Only open sky remained in her sight, and she could barely make out the features of the land beneath her. The distance to the ground was incredibly large, perhaps even a fatal one, but at this point, they had no choice but to take a leap of faith.

"Now, I suppose it's time to dance. Come to me, my precious Alicia."

With those final words from the taller man, both Sortiliena and Alice let go of the railing at the same time, their bodies drawn to the earth below with nothing left to support them. They fell through the air, accompanied only by the sight of the whole airship gradually filling their vision. They had achieved freedom at last, as evidenced by the sky enveloping them on all sides. But Sortiliena knew that their journey back to safety had only just begun.

A/N

When I hoped the next chapter wouldn't take 5 months, I swear this wasn't what I meant. Things just… happened?

This chapter was 60% finished in February and I wanted to post it during reading week before school projects decided to literally isekai me to school hell. And then school ended (I am forever free poggers) but then Horimiya back in January convinced me that I needed a bit of romance anime in my life so I kinda spent a long time watching a lot of stuff. And then after that I realized just how far I'd fallen behind on all the LN series that I read, so that was another MASSIVE time sucker. It didn't help that I proceeded to get carried away and start like 4 more series in the meantime.

Well that's my obligatory apology section. I actually am sorry for how long this chapter took, and honestly it was really hard for me too because I literally forgot what I wrote about last chapter. But anyways, hope you guys enjoyed it, and the next chapter will be a direct continuation of this one!

Fair warning: I started Genshin Impact a few weeks ago. Hope I don't fall into gacha hell.