"You may...have killed me...and Noxium and Stella...but you haven't won a single bit. No, Asuna...you've already lost..."

Outside the cathedral, Asuna removes her rapier from Eva's dead body. Exhausted from her fight, she knows time is of the essence, with no time to rest. She barely managed to defeat Eva alone, and the woman's last words don't digest well for Asuna. What did Eva mean by "they already lost?"

Turning her head to the cathedral's upper levels, Asuna can feel a dangerous presence at the top of the tower that had just appeared. It must be Primus, previously hidden by Eva's barrier. Bending down, she feels her legs crackle with lightning and sprints, creating a sparking trail up the outer walls of the cathedral...

The barrier Eva erected beyond the eightieth floor has fallen, and Kirito doesn't waste a moment. He races up the stairs from the garden, practically flying at the fastest controllable speed possible towards the ninety-fifth floor.

Bursting through the doors that is the entrance to the Morning Star Lookout, Kirito skids to a stop on his feet as he scans the lookout for Primus. He finds the golden knight seated at the northern end, cross-legged on the edge of the lookout. "Primus!"

"'You're late,' the rabbit tells Alice," Primus says, halting Kirito's steps with a passive tone. Does he not know Eva has fallen? The woman he loves has been killed, and Primus merely sits in place, his golden back to Kirito. "You have no tricks, and time has run its course. You live...and so does the Crimson Warrior."

"You lied to me."

"I did not lie. I told you that I would let your family and friends live if you killed him. You deceived yourself by thinking Suguha was here. I guess I did lead you on, so for that, you'll have to forgive me."

"...Eva is dead. Why are you so calm?"

Primus shrugs and holds out a red crystal in his left hand. It seems familiar to Kirito, but he cannot place it anywhere. "I know that, but she knew it could come to it. We said all we needed to say to one another before her fight. But I can't speak much for the Dark Territory. I know my sister and Noxium are dead, but without Falchion, your friend is nothing but another swordsman. He must be severely weakened. So is Asuna." He moves the crystal closer to his face and crushes the stone. "So you see, there's no need to be irate. The war is not over."

Kirito's ears twitch, and he looks to his left, where Asuna appears from the outer parts of the lookout. She must have scaled the wall as he and Alice did years ago, but differently...hopefully. She walks towards Kiirto, her sword glinting on the candle-lit floor. "What did you do?"

"Huh?"

"Eva said we lost to them. Again, Primus, what did you do?"

Primus chuckles and slowly stands up. His laughter slowly becomes more maniac as he assumes an erect posture and turns to the duo. "She's right! You may have defeated them, you murderers, but justice is still on my side! All we wanted was to assume our rightful place, but you three, Administrator, this entire damn world is unfixable."

Kirito shakes his head. "There were better ways to try to fix-"

"Try? No, Kazuto Kirigaya, there was no better way for you to try! Did you look for better ways when you slayed Administrator? No. No, you defied her rule, her law, all because you thought what you were doing was right. So I shall be no different. She destroyed the world set by my mother, and you destroyed hers. Correcting the sin means starting anew, and I shall."

"What do you mean?"

"I gave you both a chance to save the world. Humanity tarnished the Underworld and declared itself gods, then 'gods' came down to rule in their place. But neither of you proved those claims right. So if the so-called gods continue to dirty this world, it means the true gods need a representative. Humanity needs a savior, a messiah in your world's words, and I am that messiah." Primus reaches for the sword on his waist, Jaymes' Falchion, and holds it in front of him. "Falchion...Release Recollection!"

"No!" Asuna springs to action first, her rapier's speed and power nearly disarming Primus of the sleeker morphed form of Falchion. He manages to hang on and overpower Asuna by pushing her away, then Kirito comes and slashes his black and blue blades against Falchion. Primus grins and raises his free fist, punching Kirito in the face. As Kirito stumbles, five fiery arrows fly past him. Primus deflects them all, but it gives Asuna and Kirito another chance to strip the blade away from Primus. He holds off both Asuna's rapier and Kirito's right-hand blade.

"You...will not destroy the Underworld!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

"Correct, I won't destroy the Underworld. Administrator already gave the perfect instruments for such a thing. For what protected and enforced her rule shall destroy it." Kirito frowns at those words. The "instruments" he speaks of...is he talking about the Taboo Index, which kept any opposition from Administrator's rule for 200 years? By the same means, he speaks of the Law of Power-yet that was a side effect of the implementation of the Taboo Index from outside tampering from his world.

If Primus speaks of the Index, he's planning to uproot the Axiom Church-and by extension, the Unification Council-in one fell swoop. But he can't do that with a few words. He'd need an enormous amount of power and a conduit to expel and manipulate such power to get his message across to the whole world. But if he does that, he exposes the Axiom Church, and if the people start to believe him...

"The Taboo Index... You can't do it! You'd cause the people to be exposed to the Seal of the Right Eye!"

"The Index? Quinella did create such a thing, but that's only part of it. But you forget the greatest loophole in the Index, Kirigaya. The Unification Council enforces it, and so does the Law of Power." Primus snaps his finger, and a strong blast of wind launches Kirito and Asuna. He chuckles as his eyes stare victoriously at the pair. "Chapter One, Verse One. 'Thou shall not rebel against the Axiom Church.' Everyone adheres to it, bound to the law like babies to a mother. That is, unless you never acknowledge the church from birth. But that's only one part of my plan. The other... I shall show you."

Primus points the glowing blade toward the outside world and says in a low voice. "Connect All Integrity Units! Open Gate!"

The next thing Kirito hears is the sound of several explosions in the sky.

Ronie

Ronie's eyes grow wide as the night sky above North Centoria is filled with a swirling hole. It's much larger than the one from earlier in the day...and already knows the person responsible and their purpose. Primus used the same gates on the goblins, turning them into powerful minions.

"R-Ronie... Look..." Tiese whimper draws Ronie's eyes to her left, but the redhead need not say anything else. Another enormous in the sky can be seen over West Centoria from their vantage point on the thirtieth-floor balcony, and just to check, Ronie looks to the east.

Three-fourths of Centoria have holes in the sky, and she has no doubt South Centoria is the same.

"...He won?" Dark ooze drops from the holes, the contents landing across the capital city. Primus will make minions of the humans of Centoria...and as Ronie predicted, he'll make an army out of them. An army no one save a few people in the Underworld can fight... An unbeatable army to aid his conquest against Kirito, Asuna, and Jaymes.

Falling to her knees, Ronie watches helplessly as the screams of the northern city fill her ears and her eyes drift up to the top of the cathedral. Despite the fall of Eva, Asuna and Kirito were too late to stop Primus. Unconsciously she rubs the bracelet on her left wrist, one she's worn since the Otherworlder War, and hopes the person it's supposed to alert comes to their aid.

Tiese, despite her shaking body, continues to stand. "I-it'll be fine, right? The Integrity Knights can handle the minions. Lady Fanatio, her three subordinates, and Deusolbert were said to be with the northern garrison, so...no, that'll be impossible. If we as trainee knights couldn't, then... No, they should be able to, r-right?"

"I... I don't know, Tiese."

"Yes, the five of them should be able to handle whatever monsters come from..." Tiese freezes in place, stunning Ronie. She was going to say that the five Integrity Knights should be able to handle the minions that'll appear, so why...

"Impressive. Only one of them is this powerful and from a goblin, nevertheless. I can only imagine what a stronger being can produce..."

"R-Ronie...there's five Integrity to the north..."

No way. No, no, no, no, no. "Tiese...do you think...the stronger minions he's making-"

She's interrupted by a flash of light on her wrist, the last voice she expected. "R...Ronie?"

Ilia, Obsidia Castle

"I=Ilia? What are... Where's Jay-"

Ilia cuts Ronie off as her eyes focus on the prone Sheyta and Eydis, the two trying to be raised by Jaymes and Iskahn. "He's with me in the throne room of Obsidia, but... What is going on? Lady Sheyta and Eydis...one moment, they were standing fine, now they can't move, unconscious, and there's a hole in the air above us-"

"Get away from there now!" Before the words fully register with Ilia, the emperor's apprentice standing nearby runs to the males and forcibly drags them away mere moments before a pool of black ooze lands on the Integrity Knights. Ilia watches in silence as the black material writhes and expands around the two knights.

"What's happening to Sheyta?"

"Master..." Jaymes says nothing as he weakly throws his hand out, calling forth both fire and frost elements at the same time. Neither element affects the morphing matter as it takes shape around the knights, creating bipedal creatures twice the height of the captured women. While they retain many features of the minions Noxium created, they still possess the faces of Eydis and Shetya. For the moment, they stand in place, taking no damage from the heat or the cold.

"Ilia, listen! If the same thing that happening here is happening there... You can't attack them! The Seal of the Right Eye will stop you!"

"The Seal..." Of course it would. She remembers what Ronie and Tiese spoke of earlier, that the Seal of the Right Eye prohibited them from harming the goblin-made minions. Only Kirito bathing the minions in thousands of light elements saved the goblins, and the only person who can do that here has run his limit fighting Noxium. If what they say is true... Medina is still injured from her wound by Stella, so that leaves one combatant left. "Supreme Commander, can you hold them off?"

Iskahn cracks his knuckles. "It's been a while since I spared with Sheyta. This should match our duel during the war...and an added challenge of Lady Eydis. Yeah, I'll take them on, but for how long?"

"Only those who've broken their right eye seals can combat the knights. There's not many people like that, especially in the empire. You two should be enough for now." Jaymes stops his attack, breathing heavily as he looks to the windows to their right. "And they're not the only threats here. I sense something quite monstrous outside, on the level of an apostle, here and beyond Obsidia...no, beyond the gate to the east... I have a bad feeling."

Mia looks at Ilia, giving her a smirk. "Master, leave the Apostles to Ilia and me. You go to the empire, regain your strength, and stop Primus once and for all."

"...Iskahn."

"Go," the commander says. He looks back at Jaymes with a smile. "Don't worry, I survived Sheyta once...and I'll make sure your two ladies come out just fine. Kirito and Asuna are over there in danger too, you know. You protect your world... We'll handle our world."

Jaymes nods and steps back. Once he's distant and his long-distance travel art begins, he looks at Ilia's mistress, and she looks back. It's a silent exchange, spoken through their eyes, but Ilia seems to be able to translate almost every word they say to each other.

Save our friend. Protect each other's land. And, most importantly, stay alive.

She says almost every word because the vocal words spoken are Medina gasping, grabbing her sword hurriedly, and saying, "I'm going to try it. I'll summon as many wayfarers between Centoria and Obsidia, but also... I'll try to bring them back. Sinon, Leafa, and Koharu may be our only hope of beating Primus if you three can't... if you can, take to the canyon by the Eastern Gate. You may win that way."

He sighs and crosses his arms. "I don't like the lack of faith, Medina... But I trust you can do it. No, I know you will come through, as you always have... Ilia, toss me that back." Ilia throws Jaymes the bracelet. As he puts it on, he looks at the two young women, nodding to them. "I'm sorry I can't help you, but you two have proven today that you're more than worthy. So fight hard, Ilia Synthesis Thirty-Four and Mia, the Emperor's Sword."

Once he's gone, Medina turns her attention to the apprentices. "Let's hurry outside while they're not moving."

"Mia. Gather all you can. This is an order from the Emperor. Whatever monsters this Primus bastard made...fight until you're dead."

"On it. Come, Ilia."

Kirito, Central Cathedral

Kirito's eyes are glued to the dark orb that gains size and mass as it floats into the Morning Star Lookout. Primus disappeared after the events outside began playing out, leaving Kirito and Asuna with a view beyond their wildest imaginations. The "dark holes" the knight apprentices described led to the minions, the black material that came out of them, and a brand new phenomenon leading to the massive orb around them.

"Kirito." He turns to Asuna, whose face is the complete opposite of his. Asuna isn't looking at the now-writhing ball but below it. "Primus left Falchion behind." Kirito gasps, seeing the blade that belongs to Jaymes lingering there on the edge of the lookout where Primus stood, discarded after its purpose has been fulfilled.

"We'll get it back. But first..." Kirito pushes himself to his feet as the light starts to take shape, in the form of a beast several mels high and wide. Its lower half takes the form of a hooved creature, with thighs the size of a human and a tail that curves around its legs. The upper half is more human and impossibly muscular, with clawed hands and an enormous greatsword in the right hand held above the shoulder. The head is that of a bull's, with a brown mane, azure eyes, and twisted golden horns.

Kirito nor Asuna need to see an HP bar to know the beast's name. Along with Jaymes and Klein, they met it once before, on the seventy-fourth floor of Aincrad: The Gleam Eyes.

As its hooves set down on the floor, it causes a small shockwave, making Kirito and Asuna stumble slightly and tumble Falchion off the lookout's northern side. Regaining their balance, the pair place their hands on their weapons while Gleam Eyes stares them down, unmoved. "...Asuna."

"Yes?"

"This time, we take him down togeth-"

"People of the Underworld, from the Human Empire and the Dark Territory. My name is Primus, the firstborn son of this world."

Primus steps to the center of the hundredth floor, the former seat of power for Administrator. This white, empty seat of power of the heretic. Well, space of power, there's no place to sit. So much for being a goddess; she has no throne. He'll have to correct that.

"All you have lived a great lie, dating back to the origins of this world. The Axiom Church created by Administrator has greatly falsified the truth, and the Unification Council has furthered these lies. Your 'goddess' has been dead for two years, slain by the one called Swordsman Delegate Kirito and the Lord of Knight's Jaymes. They, along with Swordswoman Subdelegate Asuna, are not from this world but another. And the goddesses Stacia, Solus, Terraria, Lunaria, and the dark god Vecta are not gods but also humans from that realm. Your Integrity Knights are not descended from heaven, but people Adminstrator has kidnapped and turned into her puppets, stripping them of their memories and using them as enforcers of her will."

"These injustices by the Axiom Church and Unification Council shall not go unpunished. As the firstborn son, I will demolish everything built since the origins of the Human Empire and rebuild this world from the ashes. The Integrity Knights have been placed under my control and, with the Ancient Apostles, will complete their duty to protect the Underworld on both sides of the End Mountains. They will not stop until they reach the Wall at the End of the World and crush the world of Adminstrator, of the Star King and Queen, and of the Crimson Emperor."

Lowering his hand, Primus hovers over to the golden chair he's created. Inspecting it, he slides his fingers over the smooth surface before taking his seat. He has completed his goal to sit at the highest point of civilization and claim it for himself. He is one step away from his dream to recreate the world to what Stacia desired of it.

Looking ahead to the white emptiness around him, he silences his call to the world. He stretches his hand, silently speaking the spell words for images that project Asuna and Kirito five floors below and Jaymes, who kneels in a field of red flowers. "Kirito, Asuna, Jaymes...Black Swordsman, Lightning Flash, and Crimson Warrior, you have my respect for your continued fight to preserve this world. I acknowledge your efforts as a king should to his great enemies. Your legends in other worlds are well-received. I wish I could meet the others who you surrounded yourself with. Lunaria and the warriors of the floating fortress, the Terraria and the fairies, Solus and the archers of that dead world just to see how incredible you three must truly be. But all good things must come to an end. Day must become night. Life becomes death. As you ended the reign of Administrator, I must end yours."

For the brothers and sisters who left this world before him, for the love who fell in his name, for the mothers and the father who had their name and image sullied by humans from another world... Primus will win it all in the end.

Initium et finis. The beginning and the end, and that's who'll Primus will be. He grasps the end of a sword sheathed at his waist as he utters his command. "Ancient Apostles, Integrity Knights... Activate."