A/N:
As promised, I'm releasing Chapters 94 & 95 today because I didn't feel like leaving you all with a cliffhanger. Also, I'm on a strict, self-imposed timetable here.
These two chapters EACH are easily my longest chapters to date. It's also why I split them up as I did so that you have the opportunity to take a break between this one and the next if you're so inclined.
Enjoy!
"To arms! The Central Cathedral is besieged by rebels!"
Bercouli Synthesis One blearily opened his eyes, mildly irritated at Chudelkin's grating voice but nonetheless acknowledging the potential threat. After Fanatio returned last night, she'd informed the other Integrity Knights present of the skill and strength of the Outsiders.
If he was being honest, the Outsiders retaliating wasn't unexpected. In fact, he could sympathize with them. Their comrade had just been kidnapped – quite forcefully, he might add – so naturally they would seek to take her back. Administrator's sudden decree to abduct the girl was wholly unexpected, and frankly Bercouli didn't understand why she had been so upset by the girl's existence.
So what if the girl could forge Divine Objects? Clearly the goddesses favored her as well. He thought Administrator would have been ecstatic to find another as blessed as she.
Bercouli rose out of the bath room, quickly clothed himself, and eventually found himself in the common meeting hall, as was protocol. The Cathedral could wait a few minutes to allow for them to properly strategize and prepare to fend off the rebels. A hasty defense is a sloppy defense, after all.
"I believe this is all of us." Bercouli observed as he looked around the room, all thirteen active Integrity Knights present and accounted for. Nine if one discounted Fanatio's Whirling Blade entourage, but that was a disservice to them, even if they acted as one unit more often than not and were content in Fanatio's shadow. "What is the situation?."
"Those rebels are acting in open defiance of her Eminence, that's what!" Chudelkin snapped, and Bercouli had to force himself to remain calm. He didn't particularly care for the little white gremlin, but he was his superior. He was duty-bound to follow Chudelkin's and Administrator's orders to the letter. "They're outside the tower as we speak!"
"What exactly are they doing?" Bercouli raised an eyebrow. There was no way they could breach the front gates and enter the tower, after all.
"They shout obscenities and openly attack the tower! Such sacrilege must not go unpunished." Chudelkin hopped up on the table and began pointing at select knights. "Deusolbert, Eldrie, and Fanatio. You have fought these rebels before, so you are familiar with their strength and tactics. You will go out to meet them. Fanatio, take the Whirling Blades with you. Renly… you will also join them and assist Deusolbert from the skies."
"You don't want me on the ground?" Renly asked.
"Don't be foolish. You were only recently reawakened." Chudelkin scoffed. "Placing you in direct conflict while your body is readjusting would be idiocy. You are only to engage on the ground only if necessary. Do not make it necessary."
"Shall we use lethal force, sir?" Eldrie asked.
Chudelkin shook his head. "Her Eminence wants them alive; she has plans for them that are beyond our understanding. Take them in alive. That said… they do not necessarily have to be in one piece."
Bercouli nodded, a not-so-small part of himself glad that they would not have to kill them. That wasn't the kind of man he was; yes, he would certainly kill in defense of her Eminence but they were all strong enough to hold back. They were Integrity Knights, warriors summoned from heaven itself; needless murder was not how they should conduct themselves.
"The rest of you will remain here in the Cathedral in case any of the rebels manage to sneak past and infiltrate the tower." Chudelkin commanded before sweeping his hand outward. "You have your orders. Move!"
Bercouli looked to the others designated to be the line of defense. Staggering themselves independently through the length of the tower would be foolish. No, they would remain grouped with the others. Fighting them alone was a terrible idea.
As the Integrity Knights split off and formed their designated teams, Bercouli couldn't help but let his mind wander. Just who were these outsiders? Just a week ago, they didn't exist. They couldn't have existed previously; there was no way warriors of their caliber would remain unnoticed for so long.
He'd find out soon enough.
Asuna had to fight back a sneeze. While the armory Cardinal portaled them into wasn't the darkest place she'd ever been to – that dubious honor belonged to Floor 5's catacombs – it was certainly the dustiest. Even in these low light conditions, she could see the particulates hanging in the air, let alone the solid inch of dust on the objects nearby.
"I can't see a damn thing." Klein complained. "There a light switch in here somewhere?"
"System Call. Generate Luminous Element." Alice chanted, and an instant later the faint glow of magical light filled the room.
The armory was massive and absolutely filled with all sorts of goodies. Aisles with hundreds of suits of armor, lined up shoulder to shoulder with exceptional organization. Entire shelving racks with weapons of all shapes and sizes, all expertly crafted and seemingly mass-produced.
Liz would be having an aneurysm right now if she saw this.
Then again, maybe she did already. Thankfully, their guild log and friends lists were enough to confirm that Liz was captured, not dead. So there was the real possibility that Liz was brought here at some point during her captivity over the past couple of days.
"Administrator has enough in here for an army…" Eugeo muttered in awe. "...so why isn't she building one?"
"Because she doesn't want to risk the people rebelling against her, that's why." Kirito said, his eyes carefully looking over each and every dust-covered item. "Keeping your populace unarmed is a good way to keep them compliant."
"Anything worth taking?" Klein asked as he idly poked around the shelves.
Asuna frowned. While impressive, none of the armor or weapons were really worth taking. Their gear was already better quality, largely in part due to Liz and her craftsmanship. Her eyes roamed over the wasted stock: suits of armor, weapons, glass cases, ammunition…
Wait, glass cases?
Scattered about the room were protective glass cases, each of which housed a series of unusual items. The one in front of her presently was what looked like a shining chunk of rock whose color seemed to shift in a way that reminded her of the Aurora Borealis. It was mesmerizing, so – in a rare bout of impulsiveness that would earn her a scolding from her husband later – she removed the glass case and grabbed the item within.
[Item acquired - Lustrous Meteorite (Soulbound)]
Asuna's eyes widened. A soulbound item! What was one doing here? The glass case suddenly made sense, as did more of the reasoning behind Liz's abduction. The case was undoubtedly used to prevent the item inside from binding to a person upon first contact. Protected like this, moving it would be easy and Administrator could wait until she found a suitable wielder of the Divine Object it would become.
And now it was Asuna's. Maybe she should have waited, but a part of her was ecstatic about the prospect of a powerful item.
"Whoa, soulbound items!" Yuuki whooped, her voice echoing in the large chamber. "Divine Weapon, here I come!"
"Same here!" Klein shouted out from elsewhere in the armory.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it!" Asuna scolded. "Grabbing the items is a good idea, but did it occur to anyone that we should save these for some of the others? You know, the people that are outside fighting for their lives right now?"
She'd already made the mistake of impulsively grabbing the item, but there was no way she was going to deny their guildmates a chance at an item. Those who weren't already here, that is.
"Shoot." Yuuki cursed, which was adorable given that that was probably the closest the sunshine child ever got to an actual swear word. "My bad."
"Just grab what's left while they're still in their cases before we head out." Asuna said, stressing the need to be careful not to touch the as-of-yet un-soulbound items. "Once this is all over, then we can start figuring out who gets what."
"That's odd." Eugeo noted, who was rifling through a cabinet behind Asuna. "I can't find any potions or healing crystals."
"You'll find none here in the Underworld, I'm afraid." Kizmel informed them as she swapped out her sword for one that looked newer and better quality.. "Apothecaries are rare due to the prevalence of Sacred Arts. What you brought with you is all that exists here, so use them sparingly."
After making a thorough sweep of the Cathedral armory, the team crept up to the door, Kirito at the front of the group. Carefully, he cracked open the door and peered out into the (blindingly bright) hallway. A few tense moments passed before he opened it up the rest of the way and led them out of the armory.
They stepped into a hallway that formed a "T" intersection. While they could certainly head to the left or right and explore the rest of this floor, the staircase immediately before them was going to be the preferred route. Curious as she might be about the contents of the other rooms on this floor, Liz's safety came first.
Asuna almost swallowed out of dread as she looked up. Fortunately, there was no one around patrolling or waiting for them, but…
That was a lot of stairs.
And the worst part about it all? They were only on the 3rd floor. They needed to climb up 97 more floors. The prospect of that became so much worse when she realized that she would actually feel the muscle burn as they climbed. She shivered.
Hopefully the siege team could hold out.
Silica nervously gripped her dagger as she stared up at the approaching figures on dragonback. Here they came.
"Remember the plan!" Keita shouted, the de facto leader of the siege team. "Make sure to rotate out when you are injured and remember to communicate."
"Also don't forget those daggers." Agil reminded them. "We're trying to subdue, not kill."
Cardinal, realizing that no one wanted to be responsible for the death of another, gave each team several daggers that – when stabbed into the flesh of another – allowed her to remotely use her Sacred Arts to restrain and apprehend anyone. She would then teleport them into the Great Library for holding until Administrator's defeat. The rescue team, if the opportunity presented itself, was also to use a dagger on Administrator and apprehend her.
Based on what she knew of the enigmatic Pontifex, she wasn't sure that would be so easy.
"Are you so brazen and arrogant to think you could attack the Central Cathedral and escape?" Deusolbert announced their presence as the Integrity Knights flew within shouting distance. "I am saddened to see such proud warriors throwing their lot in with rebel scum."
"Not arrogant." Keita called back. "Just confident. Administrator's a tyrant and she needs to be stopped! We don't have to fight! Let us explain and I'm sure you'll understand!"
"You would dare call her Eminence's judgment into question? You dare try to corrupt us with honeyed words and blatant lies! Enhance Armament!" Deusolbert sounded offended. He just drew his bow and set it on fire, so that was probably an accurate assessment. "Today we shall see whose convictions run strongest. Attack!"
Deusolbert fired the first shot, a flaming shot that more resembled a phoenix dive-bombing its prey than an actual arrow. Silica's eyes widened; this was the power of Perfect Control?!
"Enhance Armament!" Sachi chanted, and her trident erupted into a thin vortex of water. She jabbed it forward towards the oncoming blast, causing the vortex to expand upward and outward into a substantial whirlpool. As the phoenix flew right into the miniature maelstrom, a massive steam cloud blasted outward, obscuring her vision.
"A Divine Weapon!" Fanatio gasped.
Silica heard the clatter of heavy armor hit the ground; parts of the steam cloud dispersed as Fanatio and her entourage touched down and drew their weapons. Eldrie likewise landed and brought out his whip.
"Here we go!" Agil roared as he and the other more melee-oriented fighters rushed into the fray.
The plan was simple in theory, but much more difficult to execute in practice. Sinon, Nezha, and Kuroi would stay back and keep Deusolbert and the dragons on the defensive. Ronye and Tiese, the most skilled of the group with the Sacred Arts, would supplement with ranged magic attacks. Between the crimson archer's arrows – and now his fired phoenix shots – and the dragons, they needed to constantly maintain suppressive fire. If the enemy's aerial units were allowed to act freely, they would bombard the battlefield with arrows and dragonfire.
Silica yelped in alarm as an arrow skimmed past her head. She ducked down to avoid another arrow before diverting her attention up, ready to dodge more shots if needed.
"Grrrah!" Nezha growled, launching his chakram skyward. The loop struck Deusolbert's hand, throwing his next shot wide.
One of the dragons – she was too busy dodging to determine which – spewed flames from its mouth, torching the ground. Silica scrambled back, keeping a hold on Pina and Fafnir. Normally, she would send them into the scuffle to heal and poison, respectively, but she had a different job today. Dodging more arrows – these, fortunately enough, were not bolts of hellfire – she finally found Sinon.
"Ready?" Silica asked as she quivered with anticipation.
Sinon returned fire, causing Deusolbert to abandon his barrage in order to veer to the side with his dragon. "Do it quick!"
"Right! Ready, you two?" Silica asked her familiars, holding her dagger skyward. "Enhance Armament!"
Twin beams of purple lightning – not unlike Dorz'l's lightning breath, actually – shot out of the blade and made contact with the draconic familiars. Both leapt off her shoulders and landed a short distance away.
What happened next was the single coolest thing she'd yet seen in SAO.
Pina let out her usual adorable little coo, but very quickly it began to morph into a beautiful melodic cry that reminded Silica of whale songs. The little feathered dragonling grew; her feathers elongated and took on a lustrous quality, catching the light in and refracting it in the most dazzling way possible. Her cutesy little snout also grew and her features became sharper, giving the now-adult feathered dragon an elegant appearance. Her body lengthened somewhat as well, giving her form a slightly more serpentine appearance.
If Pina was the picture of draconic elegance and wisdom, Fafnir now embodied draconic strength and ferocity. His facial features also grew sharper, but so did the horns along his frills. His wings fanned out like enormous bat wings, and the talons on his wings and feet curled like raptor claws. The teeth in his maw elongated into fangs, which were now actively dripping what she assumed to be either poison or venom – and yes, there's a difference, thank you very much – though based on the sizzling sound it made when hitting the ground, it could have also been acid.
Neat!
Both familiars, now matching the size of the Integrity Knight dragons, roared (or sang, in Pina's case) their challenge. The dragons above bellowed in reply, the air filling with the sounds of angry dragons vying for dominance. Silica and Sinon quickly clambered up on top of Pina and Fafnir, respectively, as the two dragons took off into the sky.
"Whoa!" Silica cried out, desperately grabbing onto a tuft of feathers to avoid falling off. "Too fast!"
In a matter of seconds, Silica and Pina were level with Deusolbert and his troop of dragons… including one other rider. Huh. She hadn't noticed them, since they weren't shooting anything from dragonback. They were kind of just… sitting there.
Menacingly.
"They have dragons too…" The greenette on one of the dragons stammered out. Poor guy looked terrified. Wait, he was an Integrity Knight? Seriously?
Her already poor opinion of the boy worsened when he pulled on the reins of his dragon and flew away. Although… he could just be looking to get more reinforcements or warn his allies inside.
"Not so fast!" Silica shouted, urging Pina on. Her dutiful dragon raced off in hot pursuit. "We gotta slow him down! Pina can you use your bubble breath on him?"
Pina sang in the affirmative before opening her maw and calling forth what was less of a Bubblebeam and more of a Hydro Pump.
Except, y'know… with suds.
The deluge of foamy water decked the greenette's dragon's wing and caused the duo to spiral. A moment of panic seized Silica as she realized that the boy might very well fall to his death.
"Quick, Pina! We gotta catch him!"
Pina went into a nosedive, and Silica again wished she had some sort of harness or saddle, because this was ridiculous!
Meanwhile, Sinon and Deusolbert were wholly focused on their own firefight, this time with their mounts fighting as well. Silica noted with no small amount of satisfaction that Fafnir was not only the superior aerial combatant (likely due to having two less legs to create drag) but was capable of spewing combustible poison gas.
How did she know that, one might ask?
Deusolbert decided to ignite his arrows again, to devastating effect.
*BOOM!*
"GAH!" Both Silica and her green-haired opponent cried out, jostled in their seats from the shockwave of the resulting explosion.
Both dragons (and their riders) entered free fall for a few terrifying seconds of weightlessness. Pina was the first to recover, spreading her feathery wings and righting herself. The explosion seemed to knock her opponent's dragon back on course, and almost immediately he flew off once more.
"Hey!" Silica pouted, lowering her torso to be parallel with Pina's back. For a brief moment, she considered herself like a horse jockey, streamlining her body to help Pina go faster. "We're not done yet!"
Whether he was fleeing or trying to bring reinforcements, he couldn't be allowed to escape.
An elevator.
This 100-floor monument to Quinella's vanity had an elevator, much to Kirito's delight.
"Boy, am I glad to see one of these." Eugeo awkwardly chuckled. Alice was at his side, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath.
Nearly everyone in their group of seven was exhausted, really. After climbing several flights of stairs – each of which was entirely too long for their liking – they'd come to a magnificent hall with ornate stained glass window and ceilings. It was beautiful.
It was also empty. Kirito half expected to see Integrity Knights waiting for them in what would have been a perfect room for battle. Instead, they were met with silence and empty air. After taking a moment to admire the scenery, they'd gone into the next room, which had an elevator. A magical elevator, granted, but an elevator nonetheless.
"Wait, there's someone on it!" Asuna pointed up.
Sure enough, there was a figure standing in the center of the lift. Everyone drew their weapons, ready to brawl with whoever decided to descend and confront them. The doors opened with a slight hiss, and Kirito locked eyes with the girl inside, a rather meek servant-looking girl with brown hair and red clips in her hair. Still, it would not do to underestimate their foes.
"Thank you for waiting. Which floor would you like to visit?"
Kirito blinked.
"Eh?"
"Which… floor?" Eugeo repeated, exchanging confused glances with the others. "Do you mean you can take us to any of the floors above?"
"Wait a second." Kirito cut him off, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was odd. "We're rebels who actively broke in here and are on our way up to save our friend and confront Administrator. Shouldn't… this… be off-limits to folks like us?"
Asuna smacked his shoulder. "Do you want to walk up several dozen more flights of stairs? If she leaves us here, you're carrying us!"
"I'm not sure what you mean." Was the rather emotionless response. "Anyone who wishes to use this platform may do so. My job is to merely operate it, nothing more."
A beat of stunned silence passed before Yuuki, who Kirito was sure didn't have a single suspicious or spiteful bone in her body, beamed and skipped forward. "Okay then! We'll take you up on your offer."
"Is this really safe?" Eugeo voiced his concerns.
Alice nudged him before pointing up at the walls. "Eugeo, there's no stairs. We don't have a choice."
The remaining six awkwardly shuffled into the elevator. It was, admittedly, a little cozy with eight people all crowded in this comparatively narrow lift. Asuna stepped closer to him, and he bumped shoulders with her in a silent act of comfort and solidarity, a gesture she seemed to appreciate given the faint smile that briefly touched her lips.
"Please take us as high as you can." Kirito instructed.
"Right away, sir." The girl bowed dutifully before stepping closer to the pylon in the middle. "System Call. Generate Aerial Element. Burst Element."
With a gentle hum, the elevator closed its doors and rose upward. For a very tense, very awkward minute, no one said a word. There were a few concerned looks thrown around, but for the most part… no one knew what to do with themselves. Kirito crouched down to look at the pylon the girl was manipulating to operate the lift. Yuuki crouched down beside him, equally as curious.
"So…" Kirito began uncertainly. "Have you been doing this long?"
"As a matter of fact, I have." The brunette answered. "For 107 years, actually."
Despite the elevator moving at a steady pace, everyone nearly fell over themselves at the admission. Leonn, surprisingly enough, was the first one to recover and respond. "107 years! This can't be the only thing you do… right?"
"More or less." The girl admitted, eyes still transfixed on her work. "I do get breaks, at lunch and at night, when I sleep. So there's that."
"What's your name?" Yuuki asked with a tilt of her head.
"My name…" The attendant trailed. The ghost of a frown was on her lips. "I seem to have forgotten it. Huh. That makes sense. Everyone just calls me "Operator" so that's all I ever answer to."
"Okay, now we've got even more reason to bring down Administrator." Asuna frowned, crossing her arms. "Once we bring down the church, you'll be released from your calling. No one should be forced into doing one job that they dislike for over 100 years. You'll be free to do what you want, when you want."
"Is that so?" The girl asked, her voice hollow and devoid of emotion. "I'm at a loss. I know nothing of the world outside of this shaft… outside of this Cathedral. I don't know what new calling I would choose."
"That's the point, though." Asuna pressed. "You could freely switch Callings; if one didn't suit you or you didn't like it, you could move on to a different one with no repercussions."
"Although…" The girl looked outward, her eyes distant and a fond smile on her face. "I think I would take this platform and go wherever I wanted. Oh. We're here."
Kirito blinked. When had they stopped?
"Thank you for your patience." The attendant intoned. "This is the 80th floor: the Cloudtop Garden."
"That girl is the first person we're checking on when we bring down Quinella, got that?" Asuna asked rhetorically. No one disagreed. "Quinella obviously used a Sacred Art to halt her aging, so she'd be stuck operating a stupid elevator for eternity. Her memory's already fading."
Kirito reached around and gave her a one-armed hug. Seeing someone trapped in a place they didn't enjoy probably hit too close to home for her.
"We've got 20 floors to go. We're almost there." Leonn spoke up, already halfway to the door. Kirito frowned; his friend was suffering from tunnel vision. He stopped in front of the gargantuan oak doors. "Then we can free everybody."
Okay, not tunnel vision. Just focused on the mission. That was fine; they could work with that.
Leonn effortlessly pushed open the doors, causing Kirito and the others to sweatdrop just a little. Those things were heavy! On the lower floors, it took two people to open them up. Way to flex a little, Leonn.
The sight they were greeted with on the other side, though… that was something else.
"Amazing." Eugeo gasped as they all stepped forward.
A vibrant green hill sat in the center of the room, complete with shrubs, lush grasses, a babbling brook, and a variety of trees along the outer edges. A single osmanthus tree stood alone atop the hill in the center. Crossing the bridge before them, he saw a simple footpath that led to the top of the hill, stopping right in front of the tree.
The girls that sat under the tree, though…
"What the hell…?" Kirito muttered in confusion.
He didn't immediately recognize the brunette in the purple armor – though they looked suspiciously like Yuuki – but he did recognize the blonde in the golden armor that sat beside her.
Alice.
"What?!" Alice – their Alice, not this Alice – gasped, taking a step back in shock. "How… who… what?!"
Other Alice raised a hand as if to silence them. "Please wait a moment. I want to let her soak in the sun. Not for long. A few more moments will do."
"I don't understand…" Asuna stammered, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two Alices. "How…wait. Yuuki, are you okay?"
Yuuki looked horrified, her eyes glued to the brunette sitting beside Alice. "It can't be. That's… that's…"
"Who?"
"That's Aiko."
Aiko. Yuuki's dead sister, now not-so-dead. Asuna told him a little bit about what she and Yuuki spoke about that one night, but said that much of what was spoken of wasn't hers to share. She did mention a sister, though. Twin sister, apparently.
Other Alice looked over, her face one of serenity… at least until her eyes landed on their Alice. Gods above, differentiating them was going to be a problem. "What dark magic is this?"
"Look, I am just as confused as you are." Their Alice held her hands up placatingly. It was a good thing their Alice was wearing KoB white and red, or telling the two apart would have been a nightmare. "How are you… me?"
Other Alice frowned. "I'm not you. I am Alice Synthesis Thirty. No, you're me. Clearly Vecta has created foul magic to mimic an Integrity Knight."
Shelving the matter of Yuuki's dead sister for a moment – he suspected they would be discussing that very soon – Kirito's mind raced as he tried to figure out how there could be two Alices. This Alice was an Integrity Knight, which implied that she was among Kizmel and the other SAO casualties when they were dropped off in the Underworld. But Alice wasn't dead. She shouldn't be here.
Wait.
"Alice died." Kirito mumbled.
Despite his low volume, Asuna caught it. "What? No, Alice is right here… and there, but our Alice isn't dead."
"No, she isn't dead." Kirito explained unhelpfully. "But she died."
Kayaba freely admitted to forgetting about the resurrection stone, after all. Clearly he hadn't factored that in when he designed how player casualties would transfer to the Underworld. Alice died, but was brought back through some timely intervention by Eugeo. Through some glitchy fluke that neither Kayaba nor Cardinal caught, Alice was effectively copied.
Gods, this was a headache and a half. Poor Eugeo looked like he was about to have a stroke.
Then there was the issue of Aiko.
"Is she…?" Asuna asked, shifting her attention while the Alices stared each other down. "Was Aiko…?"
Yuuki dumbly nodded. "She died when we reached the 4th floor. She just disconnected one day and didn't come back, so we assumed she just died in real life. To think she's here… after all this time…! Aiko!"
Aiko frowned. "I believe you have me mistaken for someone else, heathen. I am Ran Synthesis Thirty-two."
Yuuki looked like she'd been shot through the heart. She struggled to give a smile. "Ran is what you went by in game… don't you remember me…?
Aiko – no, Ran – frowned deeper. "I've never met you; consider yourself lucky. I do not associate with heretics. I purge them."
"Now, now, Ran." A gravelly voice called out. "There's no need to be so hostile to our guests. Her Eminence invited them here, after all."
Approaching from beyond the hill, closest to the two Integrity Knights, were three more individuals. A tall, rugged bluenette wearing what looked like a kimono strode forward with two small girls flanking him on either side. The girls were probably about Yui's age in terms of appearance, and their blonde and pale brown hair, respectively, bounced as they skipped in time alongside their burly escort.
"Bercouli." Kizmel tersely greeted the burly bluenette.
"Kizmel." Bercouli grinned. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"You know him?" Kirito asked, looking back and forth between the two.
Kizmel sighed. "I've been involved with the rebellion for almost two decades. We've had our fair share of encounters with one another, none of them particularly pleasant."
Bercouli laughed. "That's one way of putting it. What she means is every time we meet, we come to blows. That's what happens when you're on opposite sides."
"A shame, really." Kizmel frowned. "Bercouli is a capable swordsman and a man of honor; it's just too bad he is enslaved under a tyrant."
Bercouli frowned. "Still not budging, are you? Her Eminence may be strict, but it is for the safety of the people. Crime is virtually non-existent, Kizmel. Tell me it's not working."
"But at what cost, Bercouli?" Kizmel countered. "Safety and peace should not come at the cost of freedom and happiness. Tell me, why did Administrator feel the need to order Liz's kidnapping? What threat could she possibly represent?"
"Uncle, do not entertain these thoughts!" Alice – he inwardly groaned and vowed to refer to her as Alice S-30 from here on out to avoid confusion – spat out. She drew her sword, as did Ran. "They threaten her Eminence. We should subdue them now before they can poison our minds any further than they already have."
Bercouli nonchalantly shrugged. "Well, you heard the little lady. So, how are we doing this? I've always been one for fair duels, but – "
"Fair?" Leonn growled. Kirito could hear his friend's knuckles crack and see them whiten with barely restrained fury. "You people kidnapped Liz in the middle of the night and you want fair?"
"Ladies, let me deal with him." Bercouli's tone changed from aloof to serious in an instant. "His anger is understandable, but it looks like it's consumed him. Deal with the others."
Kirito felt a bead of sweat drip down his neck. Angry Leonn was a scary Leonn. That kind of focused rage was something he never wanted to be on the receiving end of.
Wordlessly, they and the Integrity Knights spread out, silently claiming their dueling partners. Leonn locked eyes with Bercouli, Yuuki and Asuna stood across from Ran, Eugeo and Alice faced off against Alice S-30, while Kirito found himself, Kizmel, and Klein partnered with the two little girls. It was… strange, to face off with two girls that looked about as young as Yui, but if they were Integrity Knights then they were not to be underestimated. Hopefully Klein and Kizmel were of the same mindset or this had the potential to end badly for everyone.
"Err, are we really gonna fight two little girls?" Klein asked uncertainly.
Okay, maybe Klein wasn't taking this seriously.
"They're Integrity Knights, Klein." Kirito cautioned. "They're small, yes, but probably quick."
"Oh good, so you're not stupid!" One of the girls chirped, while the other one nodded enthusiastically. "We should probably introduce ourselves before we start stabbing you, otherwise it'd be rude!"
Because stabbing people wasn't rude so long as you introduced yourself…?
"I'm Fizel Synthesis Twenty-nine and that's Linel Synthesis Twenty-eight!" The blonde smiled. "We can't kill you, but we're going to enjoy dragging your limp bodies to her Eminence ourselves!"
"Anyone else getting The Shining vibes from these two…?" Klein asked with just a trace of fear in his voice.
Kizmel adjusted her grip on her sword and shield. "I assume this is some sort of pop culture reference?"
"Yeah. It's a movie." Kirito explained as the five combatants began to circle each other. "I think it was a book first, though."
Kizmel sighed. "You'll have to tell me more about it later, I'm afraid. I suspect things are about to get violent. Kirito, I suggest you help Leonn. Bercouli is a formidable combatant, and if the three of us here fight together, we will only get in each others' way."
Now that it was pointed out to him, that made total sense. If Linel and Fizel were as agile as he suspected they were, then they would simply dance around their opponents and bait them into accidentally attacking each other. If it was a fair two-on-two, then the likelihood of friendly fire decreased significantly. He nodded and backed away, creeping closer towards Leonn and Bercouli.
"I've got this, Kirito." Leonn said, his muscles rigid. "You don't need to be here."
Kirito frowned. Leonn's anger was starting to twist into vengeance, and that was a dark road. "Maybe, but I'm not letting you face him alone. Cardinal said this guy was the first Integrity Knight. He's gotta be strong."
Leonn harrumphed – an obstinate noise he'd never heard come from the normally easygoing tank – before stalking towards Bercouli. Kirito gripped his swords and walked alongside his friend, ready to fight.
There were no words, only the ringing of steel as Leonn and Bercouli clashed. While Leonn may have had the advantage in strength, Bercouli was clearly more nimble, deflecting the blow and countering with a slash across Leonn's now-exposed backside. Leonn stumbled from the blow – after letting loose a litany of curses – but his injuries began to knit themselves together. Kirito launched himself forward in the brief window afforded and went on the offensive, forcing Bercouli to divert his attention to the dual wielder instead of towards Leonn's healing back.
Kirito raised his swords into a ((Cross Block)), intercepting an overhead slash from Bercouli. The bluenette grinned. "You're much more level-headed than your friend."
Kirito pushed back, forcing the two to separate. "He's much more calm and friendly when he isn't trying to rescue his girlfriend. He's a little pissed."
Leonn came barrelling in with a shoulder charge, smacking into Bercouli's left shoulder and causing the man to spin. The bluenette recovered quickly afterward and kicked Leonn's back, throwing him to the side. Kirito frowned; Leonn's rage was causing him to lash out and not think before attacking. And with the way Bercouli was so casually evading and countering him?
That was only going to get worse.
Bercouli's sword rippled and he slashed… at air? Seeing an opportunity – while trying to figure out why he'd left himself open like that – Kirito lunged forward with a ((Sonic Leap)). Then he saw it; that ripple remained in the air where…
…where he just struck! Some sort of Perfect Weapon Control?
Unfortunately, ((Sonic Leap)) carried him right into its path. The sword skill was immediately interrupted and he was thrown back from the blow. He actually ended up coughing up a little blood, and he could feel the large slash along his stomach. Kirito landed in a crumpled heap down the hill and he staggered to his knees.
Damn it. He was going to need to heal that.
Muttering the Sacred Art for a quick healing spell, Kirito stood on his feet and glared at Bercouli. The man looked confident, almost to the point of arrogance, but there was a look of respect there. His opponent respected his skill. He couldn't remember the last time an actual opponent of his – regular duels didn't count since there were no stakes involved – respected his combat prowess. It was perplexing, really.
Kirito ran up the hill, both blades held to the sides and at the ready. He prepared a ((Double Circular)) as he ran up. Hopefully, if Bercouli did that time-delayed nonsense again, his own sword skill would intercept it and from there, he could…
Kirito blinked. There was something falling towards Bercouli from behind, like someone had just thrown…
His eyes widened, and he quickly abandoned his attack in favor of rolling to the side. Bercouli lowered his sword slightly and cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Taking a moment to look behind, he immediately understood the threat Kirito had just a second earlier.
Then the tree slammed into Bercouli.
Alice was quick to engage her clone.
In any other context, that would have been a strange sentence, but here she was.
…Actually, it was still a strange sentence, context be damned. When she woke up this morning, she did not expect to be meeting – let alone fighting – her copy. Her copy that resulted from her brief brush with death after fighting Kayaba. Her copy that was now brainwashed by Quinella, forced into servitude.
At least she wasn't alone in this nonsense, though.
"You fiends!" Other Alice spat. "Now I know you are consorting with Vecta!"
"What?!" Eugeo gasped as he switched with Alice, locking blades with her doppleganger. "Where'd you get that from?!"
"How else do you explain this thing among your ranks?" Integrity Knight Alice pointed her chin towards her. Alice felt mildly insulted, but let it go since her doppleganger was brainwashed and didn't know any better. "Clearly you've made a deal with the Dark God himself!"
"We don't have time for this." Alice growled, flanking her double and putting her on the defensive. "Our friend is in danger and you're in our way."
"Your friend is important to the Empire." Other Alice objected. "She is needed in defense of the realm."
"Then why couldn't your Pontifex just ask?!" Alice shouted, bringing her blade down with her frustrations. "We would have helped! But no! Your Pontifex decided to take the decision out of her hands! That doesn't sound like a good ruler to me."
"Silence!" The Integrity Knight screamed.
"What's wrong?" Eugeo asked. "Having doubts about your Pontifex? Well, you should! Clearly she doesn't care about peoples' freedom! Hell, I'd say she doesn't care about her people at all! When was the last time she left this tower and addressed them?"
Integrity Knight Alice responded with another flurry of blows, which Eugeo was quick to defend against. Still, though, she could see the faintest bit of doubt on her double's face. Maybe they could sway them, even resolve this peacefully.
Other Alice's face erupted in sudden anger; what prompted it she didn't know, but she did know that her double was out for blood now. Alice jumped in to defend Eugeo, using her armored bulk to fend off the assault. Eugeo swung around, flanking the Integrity Knight and forcing her to fight on two fronts.
"Stop this! Please!" Eugeo yelled. "We don't want to kill you!"
"I don't think she agrees." Alice said. "She's searching for validation, and right now the only validation for her is if she beats us. If she beats us, then clearly our conviction wasn't enough."
"That is perhaps the only thing we agree on." The Integrity Knight spat. "We Integrity Knights are summoned to the earth as perfect protectors. I refuse to believe that the Pontifex would settle for anything less for the realm. Defeating you will prove that I belong here."
"Her realm, you mean." Eugeo rebuked.
"Enough!" Other Alice shook her head, as if to dispel her doubts. "I will prove you wrong right here and now!"
Sensing that this debate with her double wasn't going anywhere, Alice pressed forward. Much to her surprise – though she really shouldn't have been – her Integrity Knight double was just as skilled with a blade as she was. Every thrust, every swing, and every dodge was carefully predicted on both sides. She was getting very exhausted, very quickly. Honestly, the only thing keeping this fight from becoming a stalemate was the presence of Eugeo, who provided just enough of a numbers advantage to put her doppleganger on the back foot.
At least, so she thought.
"Enhance Armament!"
Then the Integrity Knight's sword erupted in a cascade of light motes, each shaped like miniature little flowers. The blade itself disappeared, but Alice wasn't able to really capitalize on it. Like a swarm of angry bees, the Divine Weapon's flower-like components buzzed around, cutting and scratching them without mercy. She thanked her lucky stars that her KoB armor was enough to weather the onslaught, but Eugeo – with his relatively unarmored build and superior speed – was running himself ragged trying to avoid the swarm. It took him out of the fight completely.
She needed to end this quickly.
She ran forward, brandishing her blade as she charged her copy. The Integrity Knight's eyes widened for a moment before she directed more of her swarm at her.
"Watch out!"
Alice ducked instinctively, heeding her boyfriend's warning. She dropped to the grassy floor just as a tree – dammit, Leonn – bounced overhead and smacked into her doppleganger's shoulder, sending her off balance.
Eugeo rushed to engage, but was ultimately pushed away. He skidded to the side, got a determined look in his eyes, and slammed his blade into the ground.
"Enhance Armament!"
She breathed a sigh of relief. With his blade planted in the ground, a line of icy crystals shot forward along the ground and latched onto Integrity Knight Alice's boots. She went to swing with her bladeless sword, sending the weaponized flowers forth in an attempt to stop the ice. It had very limited success, with many of the flowers either embedding themselves or bouncing off of the ice.
"Let me go!" Other Alice demanded as ice creeped up her boots and encased most of her body.
"Can't do that." Eugeo shook his head as he casually walked up to her face and pulled out one of Cardinal's daggers. "You're going to hate us right now, but eventually we'll explain everything in detail. Well, assuming Cardinal doesn't do it first."
Integrity Knight Alice had a frantic look in her eyes. "No! I will not succumb to the wiles of Vecta's pawns like you have!"
With a surprisingly mighty heave, her double broke free of her icy bonds and went on the offensive again. Poor Eugeo was sent stumbling back, clearly not expecting for his quarry to break free so easily.
Alice ran forward, shoved Eugeo to the side, and engaged her copy once more.
This was going to be a long day, wasn't it?
Yuuki was quick to roll out of the way of the errant tree. Leonn was pissed. She understood that… but throwing a tree?!
That boy had anger issues.
Then again, she had her own issues to deal with. Namely, her once-thought-dead-but-is-actually-alive-and-serving-a-theocratic-dictator brainwashed sister. If it weren't so emotionally devastating, she'd expect something like this in a soap opera, not her life.
She finished healing herself with a Sacred Art, having taken a nasty blow to the hip, while Asuna engaged with her sister in a back-and-forth fencing match. A series of carefully aimed blows were exchanged, with neither giving the other the opportunity to advance. It pained Yuuki to see her sister figure fighting her actual sister; all she wanted was an emotional reunion with Aiko, but things were going about as well as they normally did.
That was, to say, not well at all.
"How can you forget your sister so easily?!" Asuna scolded as she swatted away one of Aiko's thrusts.
"Clearly we can add "deranged accusations" to the list of your offenses, rebel scum." Aiko spat.
Yuuki felt the need to get involved again. This was a family dispute. "Asuna, switch!"
The fencer obliged, parrying Aiko's sword and backing off, only for Yuuki to race in with both swords swinging. Aiko was quickly put on the defensive, clearly at a disadvantage. Aiko growled before pushing Yuuki off; with the free space, she raised her sword to the sky.
"Enhance Armament!"
Did all Integrity Knights have a Divine Weapon?!
Aiko's sword then shimmered before a duplicate appeared, floating in the space next to her. Caught off guard – and slightly curious about her sister's weapon – Yuuki backpedaled as her sister swung one blade while the other floated around and lashed out from random angles. It was like fighting Kirito, but if her teacher had longer limbs that were capable of reaching around her to strike.
It was also incredibly annoying.
But cool!
Yuuki increased the pace of her strikes, looking to overwhelm Aiko and force her sister into playing defensively with her floating sword. With each strike, however, she felt her frustration start to bubble to the surface. Clearly, Administrator had a hand in brainwashing her sister, but still! To have their entire relationship so easily swept to the side? It hurt!
It hurt so much.
"You know, I liked you a whole lot better before Quinella got her grubby hands on you!" Yuuki shouted in a rare moment of vocalizing her pent-up anger.
"What in the blazes are you on about?" Aiko asked as the two continued to exchange blows, most attacks being parried in what onlookers might perceive as a dance of swords. "We've never met, you delusional heretic!"
"I mean I miss the old Aiko!" Yuuki shouted.
She slapped the floating sword away before following the momentum and bringing both of her swords horizontally onto her sister. Aiko blocked the attack by bracing with her remaining sword.
"The Aiko that used to walk with me to school every day!"
Two rapid-fire strikes aimed at the shoulder. Aiko managed to bat one away before taking a glancing hit from the other.
"The Aiko that shared ice cream with me when our parents died!"
A quick riposte after Aiko lashed out with a thrust. Yuuki's left sword licked across Aiko's bracer.
"The Aiko whose hair I braided every morning!"
A quick ((Cross Block)) to fend off the hasty overhead swing from the floating blade. She pushed back, sending the enchanted duplicate careening off to the side, where it embedded in the dirt.
"The Aiko, my sister, I had to watch DIE!"
Aiko hesitated, and that was all the moment of hesitation that she needed. Whirling with uncharacteristic rage, Yuuki slammed her twin blades into Aiko's, and the force of the impact was enough to dislodge the blade from her sister's grip. The moment Aiko's sword left her hand, the duplicate vanished, and the original clattered to the side.
Rather than press the advantage, Yuuki felt the will to fight leave her instantly, like the air escaping out of a popped balloon. She fell to her knees and burst into tears, unable to keep her typical smile on her face any longer. She felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder; with teary eyes, she looked up at her unofficially-adopted sister Asuna.
"I think it worked." Asuna smiled before pointing to the side with her chin.
Aiko was staring, wide-eyed and thoughtful, at the ground. Her sword laid nearby, forgotten. "Why does that name sound so familiar…?"
"Because that's your name." Yuuki sniffled. She met her sister's eyes. "Your name was… is, Aiko.."
Aiko shook her head, as if trying to dispel the words in denial. "No, my name is Ran! Ran Synthesis – "
"Your name is Aiko Konno, and my name is Yuuki Konno. We're twin sisters."
Aiko's head shot up as she stared at Yuuki as if for the first time. Yuuki felt her heart swell. Was this it? Was she remembering? Was she going to get her sister back?
All hopes were dashed when Aiko screamed.
Aiko slumped back, face aimed at the sky as the most peculiar – and kind of horrifying, actually – thing happened. Slowly protruding from Aiko's head was a triangular prism. Yuuki's heart raced and she scrambled to her feet, Asuna right behind her.
What was happening? Did someone attack her? There was no blood, so maybe this was a Sacred Art? Why did Aiko look so catatonic?
"Aiko?" Yuuki pleaded, idle hands desperately looking to do something to help the situation. "Aiko, what's wrong? What do I – "
"You fiends!" Alice (the other one) cried out as she fought to keep Eugeo and her doppleganger at bay. "You've corrupted her!"
"But I – !" Yuuki stammered. "What's wrong with her?!"
Alice (KoB Alice, that is) rushed forward to lock blades with the Integrity Knight. "Remember what Cardinal said! It's some sort of mind control! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!"
"No! Stop them!" Integrity Knight Alice screeched. "You are an Integrity Knight, Ran! Don't listen to – OOF!"
"I'm a little busy right now, little lady!" Bercouli shouted as he fended off Kirito's bladed flurry.
"Remember!" Yuuki pleaded. She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "We spent every moment attached at the hip! Through the good and the bad!"
The purple prism stayed motionless, as if it, too, was listening.
"You are an Integrity Knight summoned by the Pontifex herself! We have always been her chosen, descended from heaven!" Alice's double bellowed.
"Someone shut them up!" Asuna barked.
A grunt from KoB Alice as she chased after her doppleganger. "Trust me, we're trying!"
"Klein!" Kizmel cried out in concern. "Watch out, one's loose!"
Yuuki narrowly avoided the sickly green dagger, her eyes bulging as she saw the glint of the blade just miss her cheek. Asuna immediately darted in to engage one of the Integrity Knight twins, and Yuuki could see Klein lying still on the grass nearby. He seemed to be fully aware of what was going on, if his wide, panicked eyes were any indication.
"I've got this!" Asuna growled, using her rapier to defend from the paltry little dagger. "Keep going, Yuuki!"
Giving a thankful nod to Asuna, Yuuki approached her near-comatose twin sister. "Think back, please. If you can't remember me, then how about the people we met here? The Sleeping Knights are still here, y'know. Well, except you, Merida, and Clovis, but you knew that. Or… should know that."
The purple prism halted, having previously been sinking back into her forehead. This could work! She just needed to bring back more memories, spur her into remembering!
"Remember how we used to hold sleepovers?" Yuuki painfully smiled. "Yeah, we shared the same room, but it was special! Do you remember our movie nights? Gods, the number of times we watched – "
*CRRRK!*
Yuuki's eyes shot upward just in time to see two things occur simultaneously. It was very much a "blink and you miss it" moment. One, which was incredibly worrying and devastating, was that the purple prism sunk back into her forehead. The other was enough to spark hope inside.
Before it retreated back into her twin sister, the prism cracked.
"Yuuki…?" Aiko mumbled, looking up at a tearful Yuuki. "Why do I know that name…?"
Yuuki felt a smile coming on. It was working! Sure, she hadn't remembered everything, but it was a start! Now she just needed to sit down and talk with –
"DUCK!"
Instinctively, Yuuki dropped and went prone. She felt the rush of wind pass over her and saw the shadow of a tree trunk on the grass below. She peered out of the corner of her vision and saw that, fortunately, Asuna and Aiko had dodged the waywark tree as it bounced down the hill. She sprang to her feet and her heart sank a little; the threat of being crushed by freshly-harvested lumber was enough to spur Aiko back into survival mode. Her sister ran forward, sword in hand and ready to re-engage…
…only to stagger and fall forward, revealing Asuna behind her, one of Cardinal's daggers in hand.
"What is this?!" Aiko growled as she was enveloped in purple light. She struggled against invisible bonds. "Release me, Yuuki! I… I… I'm so confused."
"I know, sis." Yuuki replied sadly.
"So dramatic." Came Cardinal's voice, ringing out from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Perhaps that was exaggeration, but it was the best Yuuki could come up with at the moment. "I'll patch her up and hold her until you remove Quinella. Do try not to get yourselves killed when apprehending the others, yes?"
"We'll try, Cardinal." Asuna chuckled. The moment Aiko blinked out of existence, she rounded on Leonn, who was now trading blows with Bercouli while Kirito healed himself. "STOP THROWING TREES!"
"...Sorry." Leonn replied, his aggression mildly squashed by Asuna's own.
Three more flashes of purple light burst forth from the other fights in the area. Yuuki shielded her eyes from the intensity before looking back to see that Integrity Knight Alice had been teleported out via Cardinal's dagger. The Integrity twins had been as well, though their foes now looked sufficiently winded.
Though it was too early to rest easy, Yuuki felt… relieved? Was that the right word? In any case, she knew that her sister was no longer in mortal danger of an accidental killing in self-defense, and now she was beginning to remember things. Knowing that their mission wasn't quite done, however, her eyes wandered over to Bercouli, who had thrown Leonn to the side again and was dueling Kirito.
Just one more to go.
The concept of a laser sword was something Nautilus liked. Star Wars was largely to blame for that, he suspected.
"TAKE COVER!"
In practice, though? It sucked.
Fanatio's laser sword was less of the "cut your arm off and cauterize it in one go" type of laser sword and more of the "shoots lasers that burn holes in anything it touches" kind of laser sword. Nothing short of stone and concrete was able to stand up to Fanatio's onslaught. Hence the need for cover.
It was bullshit.
"Sachi!" Nautilus shouted over the sound of laser beams. "Can you do anything about this?"
"Maybe?" She replied, ducking to avoid a beam that would have taken off her head. "My weapon does stuff with water and I don't know how it'll interact!"
"What do you mean?"
"Water bends and refracts light!" She shouted, trying to raise her voice over the sounds of lasers and dragons. "It could help, but it could also make it worse!"
Nautilus bit his lip. Sinon and Silica were too busy dogfighting with the dragons, so there was little hope for aerial support, and everybody else was pinned down. It was a gamble, but was it worth the risk?
"I can try a Release!" Sachi suggested. "It might be big enough to help!"
"Are you sure?!" Nautilus asked just as a stray bolt singed the top of his forearm. Damn, that hurt!
"I'm going to try it!" Sachi nodded, eyes alight with determination. "Get ready! I don't think I can do any more after this!"
"Be careful!" Nautilus shouted.
Sachi stepped out from cover and slammed the blunt end of her trident into the ground, the three tines pointed towards the sky. She wrapped both hands around the weapon's haft. "RELEASE RECOLLECTION!"
Like a geyser, a massive plume of water erupted under Sachi's feet and quickly swirled into a vortex that surrounded her. Nautilus gaped; it was like a watery tornado, churning and spinning. It reminded him of the boss battle which she found the soulbound item in… wait, was it crackling with electricity too?!
Fanatio refocused their attention on the whirlpool, shooting laser after laser at the terrestrial maelstrom. Each one struck the vortex before refracting harmlessly to the side. Nautilus grinned; this was it!
"Go!" He shouted, breaking cover and sprinting right at Fanatio.
Fortunately, with how attention-grabbing Sachi's whirlpool was, Fanatio didn't notice his approach until the last second. They quickly aborted their attack and brought their blade up to defend, but Nautilus's strike had too much momentum behind it. The collision wasn't enough to cause Fanatio any damage, but it was enough to cause their blade to smack into their helmet and dislodge it.
Nautilus gave a considering look. Purple hair – quite stylized, actually – with red lipstick and feminine features. So Fanatio was a woman. Or at least they presented themselves as such. He was not about to get called out for assuming genders.
Fanatio clenched her open hand over her face as if he'd wounded her. Wait, had he? He didn't see any cuts or bleeding.
"Don't you dare look at me…" Fanatio growled. "Your eyes are laced with disdain, just like the commander's. You men think my gender affects the quality of my skill. Even sinners deny me respe – !"
Nautilus scoffed. That seemed enough for Fanatio to pause in her tirade.
"What the fuck are you on about?"
"...What?"
"What the hell does gender have to do with it?" Nautilus accused, rushing forward to engage her again. Fanatio, caught off guard by the interruption and how quickly Nautilus was to move back in to fight, stumbled back. "So what if you're a woman? Look around!"
Despite their locked blades, as both parties pushed against one another, Fanatio's eyes darted around at the others still fighting. Sachi and Liena were tag-teaming one of her entourage, while many others were also rushing forward to engage. Many of them, Nautilus knew, were female.
"If we gave a damn about gender, why the hell would we let them fight? Look at them!" Nautilus shouted in her face. Her eyes widened some. "Hell, our vice leader is a woman! And she kicks ass, too! Both she and her husband kick ass, but I've never seen either of them pity the other because of something as stupid as gender. Gender means nothing! If I looked down on you, do you think I'd be fighting as hard as I am right now?"
Fanatio stared deep into his eyes, a wordless expression of shock evident for him to see.
"So suck it up and fight me!" Nautilus barked. "What kind of Integrity Knight hides behind excuses?"
Fanatio's eyes flared with challenge… and respect. Good. Yes, Nautilus and the others were out here as a distraction, but he'd be damned if he didn't get a good fight out of this. She pushed off of him to create some distance.
"You are different." Fanatio panted, her eyes darting around at the others. "All of you. Sinners you may be, but you have my respect. A pity you're rebels… I suspect we would have been fast friends and allies otherwise."
Nautilus smirked. "Could still be. We're not going to kill you if we can help it."
Fanatio frowned. "Your comrade with the katana said much the same thing. You're quite the honorable bunch, aren't you? You are no agents of darkness, but you are still dangerous. Your words, if not your swords, would threaten the church itself."
He lowered himself into a stance, ready to spring forward at a moment's notice. "Dangerous because we're trying to change things. You've all been told what you can and can't do by the Pontifex. Well, we're going to change that."
Fanatio's eyes widened. "Wait, your friend with the katana. He isn't here - !"
Nautilus sprang forward, unwilling to let her finish that thought. If she realized it now, she could send a warning and make things more difficult for the team on the inside. He needed to end this now. Fanatio, much to her credit, did the same as she launched forward to meet him.
However, he had other plans.
The moment just before they made contact, Nautilus dropped his sword and fell forward into a roll. Fanatio clearly didn't expect this, and stumbled as she tried to correct the path of her sword. Quickly fetching the dagger strapped to his waist, he lashed out and nicked her with the blade. He finished rolling forward and stopped before turning around. There Fanatio stood, outlined in purple and looking incredibly confused.
"What sorcery is this…?"
"Relax. You'll be somewhere safe; we just can't have you interrupting us. Tell Cardinal I said hi."
For a moment, she looked displeased, but when she looked back in his eyes, there was that look of respect again. She clenched her fist and gave a firm nod before erupting in purple light. When Nautilus opened his eyes again, Fanatio was gone. He looked over at the others and noticed that their battles were winding to a close as well, each of the Integrity Knights defeated or in the process of being teleported into Cardinal's custody.
Nautilus's gaze drifted over to the tower, towards the top. They'd done their job.
Hopefully the team inside could do theirs, too.
"You use an awful lot of combos, don't ya kid?" Bercouli… taunted?
Kirito still wasn't sure what to make of the man. What was with every opponent on this floor actually having respect for him as a warrior? Laughing Coffin certainly didn't treat him this way, though he would be the first to admit that they were an unusual case to begin with. Still, the fact that the man in front of him – who wanted to kill him or turn him over to a tyrant, mind you – was more civil than some of his comrades on the front line spoke volumes.
"Have to." Kirito retorted, giving a faint smile. He twirled his swords, simultaneously readjusting his grip and hopefully intimidating his opponent. "My swords are heavy, but not as heavy as yours. My friends are counting on me, so if I can't be stronger, I get faster."
Didn't seem to work.
"Hah! I like you, kid. Really wish we'd met under different circumstances, you know?" Bercouli barked out a laugh before bringing his sword up into another stance. "You seem a decent fellow; I hate to kill you."
Oh, this was the perfect setup. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't capitalize on it.
"You seem a decent fellow." Kirito smiled. "I hate to die."
Bercouli smirked, then advanced and brought his sword down. What would have been a premature strike was, in fact, a delayed strike. Eyes widening, Kirito quickly executed a ((Cross Block)) to stop the shockwave. The ripple reached his swords, crashing into his block before breaking through and cutting into his torso.
Kirito cried out in pain as he fell back, chest bleeding heavily. Quickly, he patched himself up with Sacred Arts and moved to get up, only to be met with the tip of Bercouli's sword. He gulped, looking up at a smug-looking Integrity Knight.
"You and your friends are strong. What did you do with the others?"
Kirito slowly stood up, swords still clutched in his hands but unwilling to make any sudden moves. "They're safe. Our friend is patching them up. We don't want to kill you; we just want our friend back."
"Huh." Bercouli relaxed slightly. "Really?"
"Yeah." Kirito said. "Our only beef is with Administrator; she's a tyrant that cares more about power than anything else, and she needs to be stopped. She kidnapped Liz because she could make Divine Objects. Does that sound like a benevolent ruler to you?"
Bercouli frowned. "Even so, you have to understand that I can't just let you pass. It's my job to protect the Pontifex."
"Then it's a good thing you don't have a choice in the matter." Leonn intoned from behind him.
Bercouli's eyes widened with realization before a purple light overtook him as well. His surprised expression gave way to… was he impressed?
"Didn't think you both had it in you to be sneaky like that." Bercouli chuckled. "Well done. Guess I'll see you later, then?"
"We'll explain everything later, if Cardinal doesn't beat us to it." Kirito replied, sheathing his swords.
"You've got conviction." Bercouli complemented them. "Enough to see it through. Maybe one day we can have a proper duel… beat each other up like civilized people, you know?"
Kirito smiled. "Yeah, maybe."
Bercouli disappeared in a flash of light and Kirito finally let out a sigh of relief. The others gathered around him, all looking in various stages of injury. Nothing too bad, fortunately enough, but all still winded from the fight. He looked towards the door that would probably lead up further into the Cathedral.
Almost done. Only one obstacle remained, so far as he could tell.
Administrator.
Administrator was confused.
…and that was infuriating.
She was control. She was balance. Nothing within her kingdom, her empire, was not under her control. It just didn't happen. Everything had its place, its position, and its role to fulfill in her glorious empire. Even those pesky rebels, led by her traitorous "sister", were under her control up until recently; after all, they were in hiding, so Administrator was the one in real control here. They were a known and measured entity.
Predictable.
But these outsiders… this Expeditionary Force – and what a ridiculous name that was – were somehow immune to her influence. Unpredictable. Random.
Rogue variables, the lot of them.
For all intents and purposes, the blacksmith-swordswoman Liz should have easily bent to her whim. Blacksmiths, like other tradesmen, were creatures of creativity and greed. They sought the approval of others, the fame of achievement, and the wealth that came with it. Yet Liz was only two of those things, it seemed. From her limited interactions with the girl, she sought fame and approval, but not wealth. It was as if something else was driving her past her sense of pride.
How perplexing.
What was perhaps the most maddening was that this girl's ability to forge Divine Objects was some sort of inherent skill. It was not something Administrator could take away so easily, so Liz was (in theory) free to accrue notoriety of her own volition.
Without Administrator.
Even the prospect of love was off the table. The little hussy's heart already belonged to another, so not even temptations of the flesh could sway her. Administrator thrived on challenge, but this was ridiculous. She was even somehow immune to the Synthesis Ritual! How?!
It was as if she existed outside the system! Outside of her control!
That would not stand. If she could not sway her… she would break her.
"Chudelkin."
In the blink of an eye, her faithful servant was at her feet. "Yes, your Eminence!"
"The blacksmith is proving rather… tenacious in her defiance to me. Her will is too strong. Break her."
Chudelkin's eyes widened with glee. "Yes, of course, your Eminence! There are a few things I can try…"
She held a hand up, silencing him. "Do not damage her too much. I know her type; if you beat her too fiercely, she will buck and rebel. Take it slowly. Perhaps Eldrie's whip may prove effective."
"..."
She frowned. Chudelkin was many things; he was proud, noisy, lustful, and pleasantly subservient. But he was never quiet. "Is something wrong, Chudelkin?"
"No, your Eminence! It's just that…"
"Spit it out. I have neither the time nor the patience for this." She spat.
"Eldrie and the other Integrity Knights are fending off an assault on the Cathedral at the present moment." He gulped. Good. Let him wallow in fear for a moment longer.
"...I see…" Administrator trailed, relishing in how rigid and fearful her little albino imp was. "Well, when they are done squashing the rabble, bring him to me. In the meantime, continue to restrain the blacksmith and ensure she is ready for when Eldrie is available."
"A-at once, your Eminence!"
And with that, he scurried off. Administrator sauntered back on over to her bed and lazily draped herself over its soft covers. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, smiling at the memories above that twinkled so softly like the night sky.
She had faith in her Integrity Knights; she only chose the best of the best, after all. Once Eldrie was finished doing his duty and protecting her realm, then she would make the most of his weapon to break the blacksmith. Oh, he might feel squeamish about the whole thing, but that was nothing a little reapplication of the Synthesis Ritual wouldn't fix.
She sighed contently. Once she had Liz under her control, then her production of Divine Objects would increase dramatically; it took so much energy to create them herself using her Sacred Arts.
Then all would be right in her realm again. She could let Liz forge masterpiece after masterpiece, and the threat of the Dark Territory would be a concern no longer.
Who knows? She might not even have to create any more Sword Golems!
With the Dark Territory defeated, then she could relax and relish in her spoils. The hordes of Vecta were her only obstacle; without them…
She would rule forever.
Liz was in agony.
Being strapped to a rack, splayed out in a star, tended to do that to you. Oh, she was fortunate in that no one was doing anything to her – and that no one had done anything as of yet – but the uncomfortable position was something she had to bear for what seemed like hours now at this point. Her muscles ached and screamed for release, and she could barely keep her head upright. Not that she had much reason to, given that that little gremlin Chudelkin wasn't here for her to glare at.
With not much else to do, she reflected on the events of the past couple of days.
After being kidnapped by the Integrity Knights, she'd been summarily brought before the Pontifex in what was a very poor recruitment attempt. She'd scoffed at the time, which in hindsight was probably the least diplomatic response to the Pontifex's sales pitch. It was all so ridiculous, though.
Yes, let's abduct our potential new employee and subtly threaten and tempt them into servitude. Great employment plan, really.
Naturally, Liz told her exactly where she should stick her offer of employment. Administrator did not take kindly to that, but still spent the next day interrogating and tempting (at least in theory) Liz into joining her cause. While the cause was certainly just – safety of the realm and protection against the Dark Territories – she was getting some very concerning vibes from Administrator.
Chiefly, the woman was a control freak. Not the endearing kind that would keep their office space immaculate and carefully organized, either. Administrator was the kind of controlling where if she couldn't persuade you, she would instead force you into compliance or ensure you weren't a threat ever again.
Secondly, the woman thought far too highly of herself. Yes, she was conventionally attractive – Liz was secure enough in her heterosexuality to admit as much – but when threat of violence wasn't enough, she decided to try to seduce her.
No thank you.
Liz had absolutely nothing against those who batted for the other team – hell, she was pretty sure Argo played for both sides and the info broker was like a sister to her – but even if she did, she already had someone she loved. Someone who she was confident was ready to move heaven and earth to rescue her. The fact that Leonn wasn't already busting through walls suggested that Kirito had got to him first and persuaded him to exercise caution and patience. That was good; Leonn could be reckless sometimes when it came to the safety of others.
Which was odd, because Kirito was exactly the same way. Probably why they were so good at tempering each others' spontaneity.
*thump…*
Liz cocked her head. What was that? It almost sounded like something outside the room. She bit back a growl; Chudelkin had taken particular glee in dragging her to this medieval torture room. The fact that she hadn't already been flayed alive was not lost on her, and it was something she was thankful for.
*THUMP…*
Huh. There it was again. Maybe some sort of training exercise with the Integrity Knights? That blue-haired man with the large sword seemed to be particularly strong and capable of heavy attacks.
*BOOM.*
Now… now she was starting to get worried. Whatever it was was getting closer. In her rather vulnerable position right now, she'd be helpless against any sort of attack. To make matters worse, her weapons and armor were laying on a table nearby. So close…!
*BOOM!*
"Aaah!"
Crashing through the wall came Chudelkin, who was looking rather cut and beat up. He scampered away towards the door that ultimately led to Administrator's room. He took one fearful glance back before opening the door and fleeing the premises.
Okay. So not a training exercise. Hopefully whoever thrashed the gremlin was friendly.
"Liz!"
Her heart leaped in her chest as she recognized the voice. The owner of that voice was particularly friendly, indeed. Leonn rushed out of the hole in the wall towards her, Kirito and a handful of others right behind him.
"Guys!" She cried out in joy, shifting uncomfortably in her bonds. "You came!"
"Of course we did!" Asuna tearfully replied. "Like we'd leave you behind!"
"Still, though!" Liz grinned as Leonn undid her restraints one by one, his hands frantically unlatching each of the cuffs. "It's only been, what, two days? I guess I shouldn't be surprised it took you that long to storm the castl…"
Her voice died in her throat when she saw the last person enter the room. When she saw her.
"K-Kizmel…?" Liz croaked out. She dropped, now free of her bindings, into Leonn's waiting arms. He clutched her close and, while she eagerly hugged him back, her eyes were glued on the elf she thought dead. "...h-how?"
Kizmel smiled, walking forward and joining the hug. "It is a long story, my friend, and one I will eagerly tell you when we are free of this place."
"...How much have I missed?" Liz stammered out, glancing around at the seven who made up her rescue team.
Leonn frowned. "A lot, babe. The Underworld isn't what we thought it was. There's a lot more at stake here. We'll explain it all after we defeat the Pontifex."
"Wait, what?" Liz was thoroughly confused. Why would they…? "Let's just leave!"
Kirito shook his head. "We can't. Administrator needs to fall."
Yuuki stepped forward, Liz's armor and weapon cradled in her arms. "Here. You're going to need this."
"We're seriously doing this?" Liz asked as she donned her equipment, uncaring of her audience. She sighed. "Alright, but if it's as serious as it sounds, you're going to need something more."
"Something more?" Kirito asked, crossing his arms.
"I've been held captive for almost three days." Liz said, opening her inventory and pulling out her portable anvil and blacksmithing kit. "Which means my cooldown is up."
Leonn paled. "You don't mean…?"
Liz nodded before pointing at Kizmel with her chin. "She's alive, apparently, so you've got no excuse now. We need every advantage."
Leonn looked ready to object before Kirito and Asuna laid a hand on each of his shoulders. He sighed, resigned to his fate. "Fine. Do it."
Kizmel, unsurprisingly, looked confused. "Am I missing something?"
Liz brought out her spare supply of crafting materials, something she'd made sure to keep in reserve for exactly this moment. She ran over and began to stoke her portable forge before feeding it with the required materials. This was going to be a rush job, but not so fast as to sacrifice quality. This was perhaps the most important weapon she was going to forge, but for purely sentimental reasons. She paused for a moment before flashing Kizmel a grin.
"Just a little something from your people."
A/N:
A special thanks to Quality Over Quantity for his help with Aiko's involvement in this story! Including Aiko was actually his idea!
Still hungry for more? Well, what are you waiting for? The next chapter's up!
Go, go!