After walking a considerable distance in the night, Medina and I made camp along the eastern river. After a filling meal of food not from Rulid, I decided to take first watch and allowed Medina to rest. I know (and she does too) that the chances we'd run into danger are low, much lower than our first adventure together two years ago, I'm just distracted in my head with all the recent events that's happened, and want to clear my head before the inevitable encounter with Eydis.

Right now, I'm entranced by my sword, Falchion, created 300 years ago when I made my first dive into the Underworld prior to Quinella's rise to power. Back then, my mission was to oversee the fledgling empire, but I made a few friends with the ancestors of people I know today, such as the Serlut and Orthinanos families. It was Medina's ancestor that forged the blade, its power stemming from the eight elemental stones embedded in the hilt; the design itself forged by my mind to be similar to a popular game series back home.

The eight stones represent each of the elements in their best form now crystallized. Luminous and Umbral, for example, were taken from the brightest light and the darkest shadows findable at the time. Metallic and Crystalline come from the rarest, most precious ores, Thermal, Aqueous, Aerial, and Cyrogenic come from nature. The hottest hot, coldest cold, fastest wind, and purest water. My friend called them "'the elements that forged the world'" and thus my sword is the "sword of creation" itself...until the goddess Stacia herself arrived.

By now, each of those "bests" have been either destroyed or found to not be the best as Quinella's empire expanded further into the land. The bow Deusolbert possesses comes from a phoenix, Fanatio rapier originates from a mirror. But even with that in mind, I still believe Falchion to be the strongest blade in the land. Stronger than Asuna's blade, Radiant Light. Stronger than Kirito's Night-Sky and Blue Rose combo, no matter how much Incarnation he pours into them.

But when I failed to break the Wall at the End of the World, I found that my sword has its limits. My ultimate power allows me to manipulate whatever my sword touches as I see fit; basically, I could change the data of the Underworld freely. Add, subtract, multiply, divide, delete, copy, create. To a previously uncertain limit, the code that makes up this world was in the palm of my hands. Usually I used it to "delete" data--like when I killed an ever-reincarnating Pontifex or when Kirito and I finished off Subtilizer--but for some reason, I couldn't do the same to the barriers that limit this world. I couldn't even break the invisible one in the sky.

But when the Reaper of the Woods deflected Exalted Falchion, despite our weapons making contact and I willed for the deletion ability, I learned my limits weren't just to the confines of the world. The Ancient Apostles, relics of an age past in this world, were beyond my power. Two gods, I took on alone equally, but the apostles are much stronger if Quinella didn't even destroy them. My limits are now defined--I can edit this world as much as I want, but I cannot destroy it nor create it anew. As I learned in the Dark Territory, I cannot create what isn't there, so I can't disperse sacred power across the land and make it fertile. I can't edit my ID, so the barrier blocking the sky will still recognize me as a human unit rather than an object. If the Ancient Apostles are an integral part of this world, then like the world itself, Falchion will never be able to delete them.

Of course, maybe it was just the Reaper's willpower to be defeated by the archer that made that one moment happen, but the fact is that its scythe didn't disappear upon contact. I never got the chance to test Exalted Falchion against the Taboo Knight to prove my hypothesis right or wrong.

"Exalted Falchion." The blade shifts to a sleeker design, and I continue to stare at it. This power in this blade used to be limited by my imagination...now there's a certain reality to it. Falchion, at its base, is a jack of all elements, master of none; at its height of power, it is bound to the rules of this world. Rules that RATH created and I protected twice now. All that has led me to a conclusion I won't admit to Medina.

If we face Eydis, and she goes all out, I won't be able to beat her. Her ability to phase through swords and light armor is tough to counter already. The enhancing phase of the Dark Slash Sword greatly increases that power, and the most threatening part of that is the dark element that leaks out the sword. It sucks resources from the world like a vampire does blood, and Eydis has held back on how much that comes out the sword. It's usually why she calls the move as a quick finisher, though if she wanted, she could have an entire fight in that state.

But there's one thing I don't know about her. I have no idea what her Memory Release is. I know the origin of her sword, a stone from the darkest, coldest depths of the lake where the dragons the knights ride call home. Given what I've seen of prior Memory Releases, I can only imagine what it can be...and do.

That is why I don't want Medina or Ilia to fight Eydis at all. Whatever she's held back the last two years will not be so in that battle. If her Memory Release is as threatening as I've heard it to be… I look away from Falchion and lock on to Medina's peaceful face. How many times have I seen that face on people now? How many times have I looked upon that face and said "I'll protect it with my entire being" since that first night I spent in a inn room with Koharu? Too many times as the Crimson Warrior, not enough times as Lucky Red, and too many times as the Lord of Knights.

Reaching for Medina's Mirage Sword, I hold it against Falchion and close my eyes. "Copy: Mirage Sword. Paste: Release Recollection." I feel the blades' powers combine and take form. After a few moments, open my eyes to the figure in front of me. Medina's blade has the power to form a corporeal image from one's memories. The stronger the memory, the more precise in figure--and in how she usually uses it, the more combative--the projected memory is. This one is so good it's like the person is actually present, and it makes me laugh. "Of all the people I would want to see when I'm in trouble… Of course it'd be you."

The person beside me smiles as they take a seat beside me, facing the opposing direction. "Who else has been there for you in your greatest time of need? Or should I say, who have you thought of in those times. Or does my presence disgust you? After all, you chose this."

That familiar biting back, I almost forgot how much I miss it. "I should have thought of Asuna if I wanted to hear snark..." I sigh and look out at the campfire still burning bright. "I need some advice."

"From me of all people?"

"From you of all people."

"...Shoot."

"If you had to...if you had to chose between protecting your friends by beating me at your full power, even going as far killing me...or potentially risking your own life by holding back...and the fight is unavoidable, what would you do?"

The figure laughs. "You would beat me before I could make a decision."

"That is true."

"But I don't think I could ever kill you, just as I think you wouldn't kill me. I know you're capable of it, I saw it myself, but...if it was you, Asuna, and Kirito in this situation, neither of you could kill the other. You're a tough guy, the toughest of us all, but underneath that red and black armor is a big heart that does anything to protect others, even if it kills him." A gloved finger taps the left side of my chest, emphazing the point. "I would know, I created the armor that protects it. I've placed my hand here many times, asking you to come back to me safe and sound long ago. So do whatever you have to do, but don't betray what's here. Got it, Joshua?"

I nod, slightly scared by the accuracy of her tone. "I will... Thank you, Rika."

She smiles and looks up to the stars. "Gosh, I wish I could be here."

"...Yeah, me too... Hey, Rika, I--" I have nothing more to say as her form is gone, as if it was never there. Sighing again, I take my eyes to the sky, feeling a smile creeping on my face. "I'll see you soon, Rika."

Lodend Mountains, Norlangarth

"That's a Black Porcupine… Those are from the Dark Territory. What are they doing here?"

Medina pops her head over my shoulder as we hide in bushes leading down the path to the Claocus Mine Ruins at the southeastern corner of the Lodend Mountains, an old mine that also leads to the Windcutter's Ridge. We hid as we sensed a strong bloodlust as we got close by. She looks around the lower ground and points away from the mine. "Hey, there's a person nearby, somehow." Medina gets up first and quietly we make our way to the man nearby. Keeping her voice low, she gains the man's attention and returns to a low position. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just a gatherer named Kaul. I just wanna get some mushrooms in peace."

"Mushrooms?"

"I'm after red mushrooms called Magnatake. They sell high in Wesdarath. These beasts dig up Magnatake and keep 'em stored in their bellies. I don't know what ta do. They gobbled up all the ones I'd have picked!"

I turn to the Black Porcupines. As far as I know, the End Mountains make travel between the empire and dark realm impassable by land except for four openings at the cardinal directions. Currently, only two I know are connecting the two kingdoms; the Eastern Gate, obviously, and the Northern Caves, which is how Alice 'disobeyed' the Taboo Index and became a knight herself. Kirito and Eugeo fought goblins in the caves about four years ago before they left Rulid; Alice and Medina fought a raiding party days before the war while protecting Rulid. The Southern Corridor is closed off, but I hear the Council is operating to open it up, and I have never seen the path between the worlds at the Western Ravine.

If these beast came from the Northern Caves, the villagers would have noticed them. The fact Alice's hometown has not mentioned the beasts means they arrived via some other means, or my knowledge of Dark Territory zoology is still shamefully short. "Why are they here, anyway?"

"This happened once before, when there was a forest fire at the ridge. They like to flee here when they're displaced from their territory. It's a little weird, though. There ain't been no fires, so these guys are just here bein' a pain up my butt."

"Any clues on why they might be here?"

"Some of them have the bluethorn sickness. And some of them have sword wounds on 'em."

"Now that's definitely strange." I don't find the presence of the sickness weird, Medina and I practically determined the strange phenomenon's ground zero is here and the resident mushrooms seem to be the source. Animals eating said mushrooms would contact some form of the sickness, that basic science. But the beasts have sword wounds? I turn to Medina. "You and Ilia said no one comes here, right?"

"Yes, because of the fear of the very same bluethorn sickness. Only those who have a reason to be here, hunters, lumberjacks, and the like might migrate here."

"Hmm… Kaul, do you sell these mushrooms with the bakery in Rulid? From what we investigated, the bakery's goods seem to have caused the bluethorn outbreak, that's all."

Kaul looks mortified. "Er...hmm...uh...is that right?"

"That basically confirms our suspicions," Medina says, but fails to manage her tone to not sound accusatory. That riles Kaul up.

"Ya don't got no proof I caused nothin'!"

With the ruse up, I side-eye Kaul while retaining my normal tone of voice. "We might not have any here, but the village sisters took care of a lot of people who suffered. Besides, you didn't mean to get anyone sick...I hope. It would be unfortunate if you knew about the disease, its source, and intentionally gave bread to the baker, right, Medina?"

Medina holds her right hand up and stretches the red glove on it. "Indeed. I wonder if you should bring Ilia here and see if she can detect the truth. But be quick, I might blast him with the Sacred Art I've been building up."

"I-I'm sorry! Don't! I'll talk!"

I sigh and talk to him on equal footing. "Where do you gather your mushrooms?"

"Well, if you wanna know… Help me out. Spent too much in Wesdarath, I'll be outta cash if I don't get more mushrooms. You two look tough! I'll tell you where to find them. In exchange, can ya get me ten Magnatake from these beasts?"

"Doesn't sound like a fair trade to me."

"C'mon, lad! Don't let me down now!"

"...Medina?"

Medina must feel the same why I do as she growls and fully stands up. "Let's go or my breakfast is going to be ruined." We watch as Medina walks down towards the opening of the mine with heavy feet, her attitude quite vexed for the morning. Kaul turns to me, eyebrows raised.

"Something wrong with your lady? Horrible date? Pregnant?"

I sigh and stand up. "I don't know about that first part, but if she's pregnant, it's not my doing...and she doesn't hang around a lot of guys anyway."

"Oh… Then maybe it's what you're not doing, I see. Women are a jealous species, you know."

Like I need advice on girls from a guy whose livelihood is mushrooms...says the boy whose future livelihood is artificial intelligence…and spoke to his ex-girlfriend last night…and has girl troubles in the real world amd the Underworld. "Are you sure the Magnatake are safe mushrooms?"

"I collect many mushrooms, so I'm not exactly sure which mushroom is the cause. But I've sold Magnatake for a long time now wothout a problem."

That's in line with what the baker implied, that he wouldn't have taken a unknown ingredient. I trust his word and rise up. "Okay. Stay out of sight until we return. And until the disease is considered eradicated, do not return here, got it? And don't sell weird mushrooms again either."

"Got it."

Windcutter's Ridge, Norlangarth

After holding up our end of the deal, Kaul leads us to the ridge. As expected, it is a valley brimming with trees, though not as dense as I'd expected it would be like the Forest of the Dead. The valley, as it is from outside the cave, is quite narrow, sloping up on both sides to the mountains. Being isolated from humanity, nature flourishes here unlike the Forbidden Valley.

Leaving the gatherer to his own devices, Medina and I begin our investigation of the region. It doesn't take more than five minutes before Medina calls me over, kneeling in front of a patch of blue flowers. "Well, here's the herbal remedy. Selka called them Luminacia. I'll pick as many as I can carry."

I nod and take a quick scan of our surroundings, finding it somewhat weird that there's a large patch of flowers here and not anywhere in my field of vision. "Be careful. If the remedy is here...hmm." I walk over and draw my sword, pointing it at a large, lone blue rock surrounded by the flowers, giving it a few taps.

"What's wrong?"

"Luminacia are seasonal flowers, right?"

"Selka said they only bloom in summer...wait a minute."

"Uh huh. It's still winter. So maybe the flowers aren't dependent on the climate. So why...of course."

"Let me guess, the abnormal blooming is because of Administrator."

"Bingo. She disorted this world. This may've been created to combat her. This blue stone should not exist, but it might exist to erase the out-of-season Luminacia flowers...no, the other way around. In other words, the bluethorn sickness is because of this stone."

"Really?"

"It's novice herbal medicine knowledge. If one specimen causes a disease, something that grows around it and thrives might be its antidote." Where did I learn that? Sword Art Online, one of the first floor quests was helping a girl who was sick. I learned a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally know from that death game. Quinella probably used these flowers to prevent the stone's influence. It explains why the flowers bloom year round. Sometimes I do believe she had some benevolence."

Medina joins me and takes a closer look at the stone. "Whether it was for the people or just to keep order in her 'perfect world,' I might have to agree with you. So the flowers should be fine to pick?"

"Yeah, where you picked them is fine."

"Okay… Hold on." Medina takes my sword and slowly traces the rock's edge. "You know I spent my childhood in what used to be a wasteland except for the lycoris garden. So all I knew in our part of Uetra Valley were rocks. Eventually, you'd come to notice different characteristics of rocks, such as erosion."

"Uh huh."

"This rock hasn't eroded. See how unnaturally jagged the back side is? This rock either had pieces broken off or broke off from a larger piece of earth. Since I don't see any evidence of the former, I suspect the latter. There's a river flowing this way, so it must've come from upstream. That means the origin is there and its bigger."

Someone's a ranger. Trusting Medina's intuition, I take my sword back and sheath it. "Very well. I'll go get the flowers to Selka, then bring Ilia and we'll follow the river." Medina nods and hands me the bag of flowers and I start to channel the teleportation art. "Sure you'll be find by yourself for a moment?"

Medina scoffs and turns her back to me. "How dare you insult me as if I need you around. I'm an Orthinanos." She then looks at me from over her shoulder with a confident smile. "But if I do, I know who'll come running to my rescue."

I chuckle and amp up the spell, locking my destination to Rulid. "See you in a bit, then." As I initiate the last part of the art to send me to my destination, a shiver courses down my spine as the sky cracks with a resounding roar. Next thing I see is a dark, dragon-shaped shadow pass over us. The ground behind us rocks as something lands from the sky, but it isn't the grey dragon that continues towards the mountains, but her master. She looks vastly different from normal. She has straightened, flowing hair gradually changing white to black from roots to tip. Her red irises possess a dangerous look to them, none of the jovial playfulness we're used to. Her armor, besides the plates on each side of her waist, is gone, leaving her in an unfamiliar short, black top that covers her neck and torso except her breasts, umbilicus, and shoulders. Part of her thighs and her calves are covered by black tights, and she wears black heels on her feet. But what draws my attention is the areas of black markings on her face and limb, especially her lower arm and hands which are dark as charcoal.

As the pitch-black, slim sword in her right hand is raised, I have no doubts who we're up against and what to do about it. it's too late for me to cancel the art, so I turn to Medina, about to ask her to quickly join me, but the Lycoris Knight draws her sword to fight. So be it, I'm in no position to argue now. "Medina."

"Trust me, and come back."

"Unconditionally." Just before I fade, I lock eyes with the newcomer and desperately search for any signs of my friend, but all I see is the strange murderous intent. For the next few minutes, I'll have to let the worst possible option play out and return as fast as I can, whether with or without Medina's page. "...Eydis."