"Starburst stream!" Kirito shouts as the two swords in his hands glow a bright light blue.
Both blades blur into motion as he starts swinging them at an immeasurable speed.
The training dummies that the Cardinal had put up didn't stand a chance. They were ripped to shreds in seconds.
Eventually, the sword skill comes to an end and Kirito looks around to admire his work. He spots Cardinal and Yuuki peeking at him from behind a bookshelf.
"What are you two doing over there?" Kirito asks.
"Whaddaya think, Kii?" Yuuki asks, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the bookshelf she was behind. "You were swinging your swords around like a complete maniac. And I haven't forgotten what you did to me the last time you used that particular sword skill."
"Indeed," Cardinal says. "You swung your swords like a mindless brute."
"I haven't accidentally hurt anyone with this skill, y'know," Kirito says, sheathing his swords.
"You say that as if you hadn't accidentally killed all of our clanmates once when you used that in a duel," Yuuki says.
"He...what?" Cardinal asks, her small chestnut brown eyes widening.
"Which I apologized profusely for!" Kirito exclaims.
"No worries Kii, we're way past that," Yuuki says, waving her hand in the air. "They're completely fine. Plus, I've accepted that it was an accident."
"I'm sorry, Kirito...what?" Cardinal says.
"As I've said before, they're fine and we're past that."
Cardinal just blinks at the violet-haired girl.
"So, what's the Perfect Weapon Control Art for the Elderfang, Cardinal-san?" Kirito asks.
"Right, here it is," Cardinal says, blinking again before handing Kirito a small, folded sheet of paper.
Kirito unfolds the paper as Yuuki walks over to his side to see what was written on the parchment.
"The Elderfang Sword was once a dragon that a formidable dark knight rode into battle with during the Age of Blood and Iron," Cardinal explains. "It took the combined might of Synthesis One, Two, and Thirty to take him and his mount down. With his dying breath, the knight requested that the souls of him and his mount be sealed inside of a goblin blade so that both might be preserved. The Axiom Church must've found the Elderfang when scouring the battlefield for anything useful to the Human Empire after the war."
"Interesting," Kirito says, refolding the parchment and handing it to Cardinal.
"So you will be dual-wielding with this?" Cardinal asks.
"I did plan on it," Kirito says, turning to Yuuki. "But then Yuuki came along and now, I'm thinking about giving the sword to her."
"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Yuuki says wistfully.
"To her?" Cardinal asks. "Why?"
"You wouldn't be asking that if you knew just how good she is with a sword," Kirito says. "She's even better than I am. Plus, she needs a divine weapon if she hopes to compete with the Integrity Knights."
"But I don't need a godly weapon," Yuuki says. "I can do well enough on my own."
"Yuuki, two swings of my sword on yours and your blade will lose all of its durability," Kirito says. "Just take the sword."
Yuuki looks to the bone-white sword in Kirito's hand before shaking her head. Kirito sighs in slight frustration.
"Yuuki, you do know that we're going to be going straight back into the Central Cathedral, right?" Kirito says. "I do remember telling you that our mission was to kill the Administrator and in order to do that we'll have to be properly geared up for it."
"Wait, so there are multiple people like that crazy lady with the super-thin rapier?" Yuuki asks.
Kirito shoots Yuuki an exasperated look.
"Eheh, I must've forgotten," Yuuki says sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "How many are there again?"
"Thirty-two," Kirito says, sighing. "Thirty-two Integrity Knights, though we most likely don't have to fight all of them. Still though, you can't expect to win against an Integrity Knight with just a normal sword."
"I got far enough last time," Yuuki says. "Until she-"
"Used her Perfect Weapon Control Art," Kirito says. "That's exactly why you need a divine weapon. Only a Perfect Weapon Control Art can be used to fight against another Perfect Weapon Control Art."
"It'll be fine!" Yuuki says. "Besides, you have a divine weapon, right? I think I'm fine with my own sword."
"Which is almost broken."
"You're point being?"
"If you are going to be a liability to our mission, then don't come at all," Cardinal says, a stern expression on her small face. "I will drop you on the outskirts of Centoria at a moment's notice. I'd rather that Kirito go alone than with an ally who will bring him down."
"Fine, I'll take the sword!" Yuuki exclaims.
Kirito hands the bone-white sheath and sword to Yuuki, who takes it and weighs it in her hands. She then pulls it out to admire its shiny, bone-white blade under the light of the chandelier.
"Well, I'm not getting any godly vibes just by holding it…" Yuuki says.
"Course not, it's a sword!" Kirito says. "And it'll be just a normal sword until you activate its Perfect Weapon Control Art."
"And how do I do that?"
"Here, I'll show you," Kirito says, taking out his own sword. "You just hold your sword out in front of you like this and shout-!"
He stops when he feels Cardinal smack him in the side of his head with her staff.
"You're not doing that in the Library," Cardinal says. "I still see this as my home and I'm not going to have hooligans wrecking it."
"Hooligans?" Yuuki repeats, glaring at the small librarian.
"You can teach her how to activate it, but if any of you actually do activate your Perfect Weapon Control Arts, I'm kicking you out," Cardinal says matter-of-factly. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am," Kirito responds with, chuckling slightly at the librarian's expression and scratching the back of his head.
The Cardinal just nods.
Suddenly, she turns to one of the side walls of the Library, staring at a bookshelf full of fantasy books. Kirito and Yuuki turn their gazes to where Cardinal was looking, wondering if there was something they were missing.
"What's wrong?" Kirito asks, turning back to the Cardinal.
"Something has...come up," Cardinal says, pushing her small glasses up onto her nose. "You two stay here. I will be back in just a second."
At that, the Cardinal taps the floor of the Library with her staff. A magical doorway emerges out of the ground. She quickly opens it and steps through. The doorway disappears behind her.
"Huh, Cardinal-san never leaves the Library alone," Kirito says. "I wonder what came up."
"Hm, curious indeed," Yuuki says. "Anyways, we've got more important things on hand! Tell me what's the Perfect Weapon Control Art command."
"Yuuki, Cardinal-san said no using the Perfect Weapon Control Art in the Library," Kirito says, folding his arms across his chest.
"I never said I'd use it, I just asked for what the command was," Yuuki says.
"I know you enough to know to never bet on your curiosity."
"C'mon Kiiiiiii, just gimme the command!" Yuuki pleads, shaking one of Kirito's arms. "Why are you so afraid of a child anyways?"
"The Cardinal also happens to be the second strongest entity in the Underworld," Kirito says. "Plus, the Grand Library is literally the perfect hideout. I kinda don't wanna get kicked out, especially since my face is probably being posted all over Centoria."
"How 'bout if I give you a kiss?"
Kirito's face instantly flushes a deep red.
"T-Tempting, but no," Kirito manages to say.
"Ah, poo."
Yuuki pouts and crosses her arms. Looking around to find something to do, her eyes fall upon a piece of parchment laying on the ground. She immediately picks up on the word "Elderfang" at the top of the parchment as well as some smaller writing that she couldn't read from where she was, even with her enhanced eyesight.
Neither she nor Kirito did see what Cardinal did with the piece of parchment with the Elderfang's Perfect Weapon Control Art.
Kirito, noticing Yuuki's sudden silence, follows Yuuki's eyes to the piece of parchment on the ground. It doesn't take him long to see the word "Elderfang" at the top of it and realize what the paper was. He then turns back to Yuuki who was eyeing the parchment.
"Yuuki, don't you dare…"
Both swordsmen lunged for the paper at the same time. Kirito manages to grab onto it first, but just as his fingers close in on it, Yuuki jumps on top of Kirito with all her weight. The force of being slammed into the ground knocks all the breath out of his lungs and makes him let go of the paper. Yuuki, eyeing her chance, lunges for the parchment.
"System call, generate aerial element!" Kirito quickly says, outstretching his hand at the small piece of paper.
A gust of wind shoots out of his palm, blowing the small paper out of range of Yuuki's lunge, making her fall onto the floor. She attempts to scramble up quickly, but Kirito pulls on her ankle, bringing her back down to the ground before picking himself up the ground and going for the parchment. This time, he manages to scoop it off the ground and quickly utter "System call, generate thermal element!" before Yuuki can tackle him to the ground again. The small paper is alit into flames.
The two just watch silently as the charred paper falls to the ground as unrecoverable burnt chunks.
"Ah poo," Yuuki pouts, getting off of Kirito. "You're definitely not getting any more kisses today for that."
"Sorry Yuuki," Kirito says, sighing and getting off of the ground. "I'll tell you the command right before we enter back into the Central Cathedral. But not while we're in the Library, no."
"You're too much of a goody-two shoes," Yuuki says.
At that, a shimmering doorway appears in front of Kirito and Yuuki. The door opens to reveal the Cardinal.
"Kirito, go ahead and tell her the Perfect Weapon Control Art," the Cardinal says. "Then go through this doorway. Quickly."
"What's up?" Kirito asks.
"Just come, quickly," the Cardinal says.
"Okay," Kirito says, watching Cardinal walk back through the doorway.
Kirito turns to Yuuki, who has an eager expression on her face.
"Well, you fought an Integrity Knight before so you've probably already heard it," Kirito says. "Just hold out your sword and utter 'System call! Enhance armament!'"
"That's it?" Yuuki asks.
"Yeah, that's it," Kirito says. "Alright, come on. If the Cardinal is asking for our help then it must be pretty serious."
Integrity Knight Deusolbert Synthesis Seven was, arguably, the most knight-like out of the Integrity Knights.
At least both he and the other Integrity Knights thought so.
Knight commander Synthesis One thought that he was the only man capable of controlling the unruly Synthesis Twenty Eight and Twenty Nine, a quality he held with pride. He was a stuck-up person with an infinite amount of tolerance and patience, something that made him the perfect man for maintaining the two young Integrity Knights.
Synthesis Seven was a man who believed devoutly in traits such as loyalty, piety, and camaraderie. He devoted himself to knightly duties, such as purging creatures of darkness and helping the poor and weak whenever he could with all his heart. In full armor, he was a tall and intimidating figure. He made sure that nobody would ever doubt him of being a knight upon seeing him.
So when he saw the light blue dragon flying towards the Central Cathedral from the Dragon landing on Floor 30, he was met with internal conflict. He instinctively knew that the dragon was Amayori and its two riders were its owner, Synthesis Thirty and her companion, Synthesis Thirty Two.
Synthesis Thirty was a long-time comrade of his. Just like with all the other women within the Integrity Knights' ranks, he saw her as a sister-in-arms.
As for Synthesis Thirty Two, he didn't quite feel as chummy with the blonde-haired swordsman, but he had chosen to become an Integrity Knight. Deusolbert saw it as his job to set aside his indifferences and see him as his new ally and comrade.
It was safe to say that the big, red Integrity Knight didn't feel very comfortable in the situation he was currently in.
He was given the command to execute Synthesis Thirty and Thirty Two on sight. Seeing that it was a direct commander from the Administrator, he knew that it was a command he had to fulfill. However, his targets this time were Integrity Knights. They were two of him.
His sense of loyalty was clashing with his sense of camaraderie.
Amayori was drawing near. From that distance, Deusolbert knew that both Synthesis Thirty and Thirty Two could probably see him standing at the edge of the Dragon Landing pad.
The battle within was far from resolved, but he didn't have enough time to make a choice. He had to choose one: loyalty or camaraderie.
What would Knight commander do? What decision would he choose to make?
Knight commander would choose loyalty. He was the commander for a reason, right? But he couldn't ever imagine the fatherly man ever choosing such a cruel choice...
Still though...
Deusolbert pulls out his bow. He then reaches into the quiver attached to his leg, pulling out four golden-tipped arrows, nocking them into his bow and aiming it at the dragon flying towards the Cathedral.
I'm sorry, he thinks to himself, a single tear running down his cheek behind his helmet. But the Lady Eminence's command is absolute.
With that, he lets his arrows fly.
A/N: Basically just a filler chapter. Next chapter starring more Eugeo and Alice. Thanks for reading!