Chapter 16: Real Invaders


My stomach dropped to somewhere around my feet as I watched the messy ranks of red knights appear on our side of the gorge. Every beam of red light descending from the sky was another new enemy marching towards us. Sure, they were loud and undisciplined, but that didn't matter when there were that MANY of them. Just a rough headcount was more than I could guess at, but judging by the size and breadth of the red lights raining from above, there had to be... ten thousand, maybe more.

They were covered head to toe in dark red armor, and armed with a variety of weapons. I could pick out swords, axes, and spears in the mob - and it was a mob, no doubt about that. They were milling around in no formation. The armor hid their identity entirely, and looked a lot like the armor the dark knights around me were wearing.

But... Even the dark knights and the brawlers around had stopped and stared at the appearance of the new force. What is going on?!

"Who are they?" Argo gasped as we stared at the red armored figures.

"I don't know, but they - holy shit!"

My answer switched to a crude yelp of surprise as I watched one of the knights raise their sword and then cut a dark knight in half.

What the fuck is happening?!

«Charge!»

«Kick their asses!»

The red knights shouted bloodthirsty howls and ran forward. All of them were shouting in English with the fluency of a native speaker... so, Americans? Why were Americans Diving into the Underworld? For that matter, how were the Americans Diving into the Underworld?

"Americans?" Argo asked me, and I nodded absently as I stared at the enemies. "Thought so. Accent gave 'em away."

Tch. These soldiers definitely had to have been called by Vecta. There was no way he could have somehow managed to create more system-controlled monsters, judging by what Argo said about the central console being locked down tightly. And if they were Americans, there was no way they could have been on the World Turtle. They only had six STL machines running, and four of them were taken by our side -

My eyes widened as something clicked into place. "Oh... Oh fuck me running!"

"What?" Argo asked.

"We have to regroup with the others," I said, and kicked forward; Argo followed in a second without question. On the way, I explained my outburst. "They based this world on the Seed, even if the tech is way more advanced. Which means anyone can Dive in if they have two things, the server address and -"

"And an AmuSphere," Argo finished the thought for me. I nodded grimly as we weaved through the stunned and confused enemy forces. "Th' Ocean Turtle has a pretty powerful satellite connection."

"Yeah, I know. Signal's great. But that's probably what they used to set up some sort of... client program, and send out to the world."

"Bastards," Argo hissed. "An' I bet they didn't say anythin' 'bout how everyone here is a real human, either."

I just laughed humorlessly. Of course, they'd just conveniently forget to mention that bit.

"Hold on...!"

"You're supposed to be on our side!"

The flood of Red Knights - I mentally assigned them that title, to differentiate their force from the Dark Knights in my head - clashed against the edge of the Dark Territory's forces, and the Dark Knights screamed desperately as they tried to defend against the attack. Still, the Red Knights had the absolute number advantage; and, from what I could see, their gear was way better. The first one had cut through the black armor with a single sword slash, after all.

Our forces had backed off in the chaos, fortunately, and once I emerged from the pocket of resistance Argo and I had been cleaning up it was easy to bound across the open plains to where Bercouli and the others were dismounting.

"Damn. What's going on? Where'd they come from?!" Bercouli asked. It was the first time I'd heard him make that kind of shocked voice.

I slid to a halt next to Alice. Her grip was tight on the hilt of her Fragrant Olive Sword, and I couldn't blame her. Standing nearby, the trio of Eugeo, Asuna, and Kirito were watching the carnage with wide eyes.

Armor and weapons were shattering under the heavy blows, and blood was already staining the ground as the Red Knights slaughtered the Dark Territory's forces and filled the air with their screams.

«Dude, that's awesome!»

«So gross!»

Gods damn it... They're just slaughtering anything that's in their way. They aren't on a side, they're just killing because they can. Well... There's no way they know what's really going on, to be scrupulously fair. They probably think this is a beta test for a new VRMMO; if I were the one trying to get as many Americans to join a suspicious link, that's definitely what I'd do.

In that light, killing people would just be playing a game to them. It's hyper-realistic, yeah, but who cares what happens to bundles of data? They'll just delete the dead NPC or monster or whatever. And while I may be cynical, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't actively try to kill people if they knew the truth about the Underworld and what they were doing to the Fluctlights. I could be wrong, of course, but we could probably convince them to stop killing.

How do we stop them? And, do we want to stop them?

Wait, no, that's a stupid thought. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend in this case, not when the second enemy is thirty thousand strong. Because if they're just slaughtering their way through, once they kill the Dark Territory forces they'll immediately turn on us! Plus, they had to have been summoned for a reason.

"Laaa-"

A rainbow-colored aurora gathered over the tip of a glowing rapier as an angelic choir sang out.

I shook my head. "You weren't joking, she really does have a built-in choir..." Argo snickered.

Asuna leveled her sword at the clash between the Dark Territory forces and the Red Knights. The aurora traveled towards their lines, and I watched with wide eyes as the terrain reshaped itself. The ground shook violently and split open as sharp rocks pierced through the ground and rose high into the air. The Red Knights unfortunate enough to be standing over the upheaval were thrown into the air and crashed down behind the short mountain range. They probably died, either from being pierced by the sharp rocks or by shattering their bodies from the fall.

Good riddance.

"Makes sense," Argo said. "A-chan didn't want ta cut off our retreat."

"That's our Lightning Flash," I said with a grin. "But... I'm going to be very upset with her if she's hurting herself again."

"It's A-chan. What did you expect?"

"Haah... My little sister is such a handful. Hopefully Kirito can keep her under control."

The angelic choir ended as the mountains finished surging. When the dust cleared, a large wall of sharp rocks had cut off the Red Knights from their targets, and peace had temporarily replaced the chaos of the battlefield.

Alice nodded. "Asuna did a good job. I'm impressed. But..."

In front of us, Asuna had fallen to one knee and her rapier tip dropped to the ground. Still, she struggled to her feet with Kirito's arm around her waist, and she lifted her rapier again.

Kirito pressed at her wrist until she lowered it again. "But Kirito, I know who those red knights are. They're not from here. They're from our world," she protested.

"You're going too far, Asuna," Kirito said. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"N-No I'm -"

"Yes, ya are," Argo said bluntly as the three of us approached Kirito and Asuna. "Ya think I didn't tell Kii-boy 'bout yer power's downside?"

Alice smiled at Asuna. "Thank you for doing your best, Asuna. But you can leave the rest to us."

I reached out and patted my sister's head gently. "Take it easy, Asuna. None of us want you to hurt yourself. Rely on us a little bit, huh? And if it's because they're from our world, then there's three others here from that same world."

Alice turned to the battlefield and frowned. "They're not very talented," she said. "They're just flailing their swords around. We don't have to worry about it even if there are thousands of them."

I grinned. "Big words, Big Sis. Gonna back it up with numbers?"

"...What do you have in mind?"

"I bet I can kill more of them than you," I said with a teasing grin.

Naturally, Alice immediately glared at me. "I won't lose to you!" Heh. Kirito wasn't wrong when he'd mentioned how competitive about things she could be. She'd even scolded him for growing too fast, because it meant he was going to be taller than her.

"Now, now, you two," Bercouli said. "Relax. But they're right, little Asuna. How about sharing a little bit of the glory with us Knights?"

Asuna looked around at everyone. Kirito and I grinned at her; behind us, Sheyta and Renly watched with proud smiles from Alice's words. I didn't know them very well, but I'd seen them at work in the brief battle earlier, if I could call it that - and I knew their skills were the equal of any Integrity Knight.

"Thank you. Be careful," Asuna said as she straightened up.

"Good girl," I said. Asuna puffed her cheeks out at me in a quick pout.

"All right!" Bercouli drew his sword and held it in the air as he shouted orders. "Troops! I want a tight formation! We'll bust through their ranks!" The soldiers behind us raised their voices in a shout, and immediately started shuffling around.

Sounds like a good plan.

We formed up at the front of the line; Alice, Argo and I on one side, and Eugeo, Kirito and Asuna on the other. Alice might have clearly been interested in my brother, but she was still an Integrity Knight, so she didn't argue about getting to stand next to him or anything like that.

Asuna's rock wall hadn't been perfect. Effective, yes; she'd managed to seal off the Red Knights' movement for a little while and bought us time to regroup. But I could already see the Americans finding ways around us. Most of them were probably taking the long way around, going around the sharp spires - and some incredibly brave souls had worked their way past the jagged rocks, and I could see them passing through.

I cracked my neck and knuckles, then tightened my grip on the Starry Night Dagger. It was time to get to work.

...

"Hyah!"

My dagger flashed out and sliced through the red knight's armor like it was nothing. In front of my weapon, it was nothing - I had the training to seek out my enemy's weakest points, and the Divine Object to kill them in a single blow.

I was an assassin, and an Integrity Knight. Killing was something I'd come to grips with a long time ago. But, now that I was fighting people from the real world, that small bit of resolve that I'd gathered wasn't even necessary. I could finally go all out.

I cut the crimson soldier's throat with a spray of pixels - they didn't bleed, they just fell apart and disintegrated in blue light - and lunged forward again. Thanks to my strength as an Integrity Knight, I was able to pull off some of the acrobatics in my fighting style from ALO even wearing my heavy armor; after slicing off the hands of one knight and killing them with a stab to the heart, I jumped and twisted in midair to avoid a sweeping spear only to stab my dagger into the red knight's brain and rip it downwards.

All of the knights around me moved so slowly. Even despite my athletic movements, though, I didn't stray too far from Argo or Alice's sides. It wasn't that I was worried about them not being able to stand up to any one of the enemies.

«God damn it!» one American wailed as Alice's golden blade slashed through his body. The golden knight spun with the blow and followed through, killing another two crimson knights in the single, fluid swing of her blade. She was strong enough, and her weapon had high enough Priority that she could cut straight through their armor and even their weapons from time to time. I'd incorporated elements of her technique in my fighting style, but it really shined with her longsword.

Beside her, Argo was putting her own talents to good use. She might be an info broker, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to use the shining claws on her hip. My girlfriend was more athletic in her goddess raiment than I was, so she was spinning and lunging all over the place. It was like watching her fight back in ALO, and she was just as gorgeous as she ever was.

I wasn't worried about them, clearly. But... there were so many enemies! I fought like it was the last day I could hold a weapon. Alice slaughtered every Red Knight near her, and Argo sliced through the enemies stupid enough to go after her. A little bit away, I saw Asuna and Kirito fighting like the perfect team they always were, fluidly switching and guarding each other's back, while Eugeo's swordsmanship mirrored Kirito's solo style almost perfectly with minor differences for body type and experience. Sheyta sliced apart her enemies with flicks of her rapier, and Renly's throwing knives cut apart the Red Knights.

The Human Empire soldiers didn't let us Integrity Knights do all the work, and with everyone's hard work we were finally able to carve open a path to the south. It was a fighting retreat, but a retreat.

But, as screams filled the air, the fragile line we'd managed to support was broken.

"Aaaargh!"

"Uwaah- Nooo!"

The bulk of the Red Knights had finally managed to circle the mountains, and what had been a manageable trickle of armored figures turned into an unstoppable flood. They were cutting down the Empire's soldiers, and as crimson blood splashed and agonized screams filled the air it only seemed to make the Americans more excited to kill.

It infuriated me. They were just playing around. They could feel pain, but if they died, the crimson soldiers would just be logged out. But... The people of the Underworld were my subjects! As an Integrity Knight, it was supposed to be my job to protect them. And I couldn't do that!

The failure burned at me, and I gritted my teeth.

Another scream echoed through the air and I snarled louder. My next kill wasn't quite as kind to the red armored knight as the one before it.

«Take this!» an American shouted as he raised an axe and split one of the soldiers in two.

Fuck it, he dies.

My Starry Night Dagger glowed blue as I crouched down, my free hand on the ground. Then, I exploded forward and pierced his heart from behind with the Sonic Fang Sword Skill. I hit him so hard that I drove his face into the dirt and left a gouge in the earth beneath him.

"Rythin!" Alice called out, and I sighed. I knew better than that. The bloodlust hadn't taken over like that since the end of summer in E Class. "Are... you okay?"

I straightened up and smiled as I backed up to put my back to hers. "I'll be okay, Alice." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Great. Now I'm gonna feel like shit because I lost my temper. Red armor assholes. "Now, you'd better keep up with me!"

"Hey, Ry! Look over there!"

I darted a glance at Argo and then looked in the direction of her pointing arm. There was a trail of fire, blazing through the sky - no, not fire. A man jumping across the massive ravine that Asuna had created. "There's no way," I said in disbelief. Then I slashed apart the red knight's weapon when the faceless armored form tried to cut me with a spear, and then slashed apart the red knight once his spear fell apart in his hands.

"He's not gonna make it," Argo said. "He's - holy crap!"

Damn it I look away for five seconds! And now the blazing fighter had jumped off of a rock in midair, where did that even COME from!? It must have been thrown from the other side.

I couldn't keep watching, though. There were too many enemies for me to be distracted by some crazy stunt by a brawler from the Dark Territory!

...Even if it was super awesome that he managed to jump across the gorge. And let's not discount whoever chucked that giant hunk of stone, because that was incredibly cool too, to be fair.

"Focus, Rythin!" Alice snapped at me, and I shook my head. Okay, less thinking about what just happened and more about the army of Red Knights surrounding us.


Flying on Angelus's back was always fun. It was like when I searched the internet - or, well, the virtual representation of the internet that I had eventually developed in the three years between our E Class graduation and waking up in Underworld.

Despite how much I usually enjoyed it, though, I could only hunch over and hope I arrived soon. Rythin was awake! And Argo and I had... eheh, we'd had an interesting conversation about relationships early this morning while he was still asleep. But even after all that, I was flying away, back to the rest of the army to report to Cardinal and Mister Kikuoka.

Part of me was still quietly thrilled that Rythin trusted me to deliver the important message. The rest of me really, really wanted to stay with him! I was in love with him, after all.

"Kyuruuu."

I smiled and reached down to pat Angelus's neck. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm okay. Just fly as fast as you can."

Stay safe, Rythin. Please. I just got you back. I don't want to lose you again.

The rest of the Human Empire's army had remained back where the Eastern Gate used to be, in the small encampment. Just because they were waiting for the chance to attack the Dark Territory from behind after the army had been split, that didn't mean they were unprepared. By the time I reached the large clearing for Angelus to land, Lady Fanatio was already standing outside of her tent to meet me.

"Ritsu," she said. "Is something wrong? Has the Commander changed his plan?"

I shook my head. "Nothing like that. But I need to talk to Miss Cardinal right away! It's very important."

Lady Fanatio looked at me and nodded. "...I see. She's in the tent. If I can ask, why did you come back? And without the boya, too?"

"Rythin woke up!" I said, and Lady Fanatio smiled.

"Did he? That's wonderful news," she said. "I'm very glad to hear that."

I nodded. "Mm hm! But, I can't say more until we're in the tent."

Lady Fanatio nodded and ushered me inside. Miss Cardinal was sitting down and sipping at a steaming cup of tea, while Charlotte stood by her shoulder. The dusky-skinned woman was saying something when we entered. "...he's better, why can't I leave? The young girl, Frenica, she should be enough to care for the rest of his wounds. I want to go back to Kiri- Ritsu? Lady Fanatio?"

"Miss Cardinal," I said. "I have important news! Um... Are we alone?"

"Umu. There's no one listening," the short girl said. Behind me, I noticed that Lady Fanatio stepped out of the tent and closed the flap to give us privacy. "What is the matter?"

I took a deep breath. "...The enemies from the real world... It's worse than we thought. After Asuna and Kana arrived in this world, we discovered that there's a spy in RATH. We need to contact Mister Kikuoka and tell him right away!"

The small librarian got to her feet. "The easiest terminal to access is in Centoria. We can get there through one of my doors."

She grasped her staff and gestured with it. A large wooden door shimmered into existence, and swung open by itself. When I stepped through, there was a moment of disorientation like usual and then we were standing in the top room of the Central Cathedral.

"What about the way back?" I asked.

Miss Cardinal didn't miss a step. "Charlotte is currently acting as an anchor. I can open a door to her location once we have finished here. Now, to access the terminal..."

I shifted my weight nervously as the terminal tried to connect. All at once, the connection went through and a huge weight felt like it had been lifted off of my shoulders. I wasn't too late!

"This really isn't a good time, Kirito." Mister Kikuoka's voice was very stressed. "We're having a lot of problems here."

"Um, Mister Kikuoka," I said. "It's me, Ritsu. Kirito isn't here right now. I needed to tell you something very important! Please make sure that nobody else is listening to us."

"What are... No, you wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important. Just give me a second..." There was a brief sound of someone typing on a keyboard, followed by the abrupt disappearance of that tiny bit of background audio you can hear when broadcasting audio through a speaker. "All right. What is it?"

"Two things. First..." I couldn't help but smile and wiggle a little bit. "Rythin is awake!"

"Oh! That's great news," Mister Kikuoka said. "It's good to hear, but that wouldn't need to be private."

I nodded, even though this was an audio only call. "That's right. Unfortunately... After Asuna and Argo arrived, we had a discussion about Code 871. Do you know what that is?"

"Code...?" he repeated. "No. It sounds like an error code for something."

I winced. It was a long shot, but there went the last hope that the Seal had been something added on purpose. "In the Underworld," I said, "they call it the Seal of the Right Eye. It prevents the residents here from disobeying the rules. If they do, the Seal activates and inflicts a lot of pain on them. The only way to disable it is to... remove the right eye."

*Clack.*

There was a clacking sound, like the sound of something wooden hitting metal.

"W-What? That's not possible," Mister Kikuoka said.

"It is," I said. "The only answer we could come up with is that... one of the technicians in RATH was responsible for it. I think there's a traitor working with the enemy on your side of the bulkhead!"

"A trai..." There was a long silence after that. I was worried something had happened to the call when the line crackled again, catching snippets of conversation from Mister Kikuoka. "...implanted pain... secret." After that, someone else said something I could barely hear.

"Is that Mister Higa?"

"Yes, it is, Ritsu," Mister Kikuoka said. "He's going to be looking for the source of that code. In the meantime... Have Sinon and Leafa arrived yet?"

...Who and who? "Um... I don't know who those are."

Mister Kikuoka chuckled. "They're some more friends of Kirito and Rythin."

I bet they're girls. Why are they always girls? Wait... Sinon... Was that Shino? The one Rythin said Rinko reminded him of?

"If they haven't arrived to help, yet... How are the Human Empire forces holding out against the American forces?"

"The... American forces? I don't know what you're talking about."

Mister Kikuoka explained what was going, and my eyes widened. Thirty thousand more forces that had suddenly appeared to fight on the side of the mercenaries?! That's awful! Rythin, please be safe... "We sent Leafa and Sinon in with two more Super User accounts," he said after his explanation finished. "They should be arriving at the battlefield at any moment."

I nodded. "Thank you for letting me know. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to hurry back to -"

"What the... holy crap! Hey, Kiks! You'd better take a look at this."

This time, I heard Mister Higa's voice clearly. Mister Kikuoka must have put the input back to normal. After a second, Mister Kikuoka asked, "Ritsu? About Alice... Where is she?"

"She should be fighting with Rythin and the others," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"You bet something's wrong," Mister Higa said. "I was looking at some of her logs when I noticed there was something going on with her Fluctlight. It's been... I dunno. Put to sleep or something like that. But that shouldn't be possible. That sort of Fluctlight activity patterns are only possible if they're asleep or unconscious. But she's supposed to be in battle, right? So I checked it out, and she was moving south super fast. I don't know what's going on, but it's probably nothing good. Asuna, Kirito and most of the Human Empire forces are way behind her, following Alice's trail. There's still a bunch of the other guys at the first battle site, though."

I gasped. "Do you think she's been captured?"

"It looks that way," Mister Kikuoka said. "But there's something odd about what happened to her Fluctlight. It's almost like... it received a paralyze command from the Underworld. I think she's unable to fight back because of it. We can't do anything about it from here, but you're at a terminal. See if you can do something about it. If you can wake her up, Alice can probably fight back against whoever has her."

"Of course," I said. I looked over to Miss Cardinal and the girl nodded in response. "Miss Cardinal says she'll be able to do something."

"That's good to hear," Mister Kikuoka said in relief. "Good luck, Ritsu."

"Thank you. I have to go now, Mister Kikuoka. Please take good care of everyone's bodies!"

The terminal connection closed and I took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. I need to get back to the battle as fast as possible. If Rythin is being attacked by that many people, even with Asuna and Argo's Super User accounts, there will be too many of them. I bet Angelus will be able to turn the tides, but it took me an hour to fly here. I just have to hope I'll make it in time...!

"Miss Cardinal -" But before I could even start the request, the pontifex had already created a new door for me. I smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you!"

"I will stay here and attempt to awaken Alice," Miss Cardinal said. "Good luck, Ritsu."

When I emerged from the door, I looked around. Charlotte wasn't anywhere to be seen, which was a little strange. I thought Cardinal said she needed to use Charlotte's coordinates... I couldn't focus on that strangeness for too long, though. I needed to hurry to Rythin!

I burst out of the tent. Lady Fanatio was standing outside patiently, with Fizel and Linel standing next to her.

"Ritsu, are you finished?" Lady Fanatio asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Thank you for that, Lady Fanatio."

"Ritsu! I heard that Big Bro Rythin was awake," Fizel said.

Linel nodded. "Did you tell him we were awesome and killed a whole lot of goblins?"

"I didn't get the chance before we were attacked by the dark territory. But now that he's awake, you can tell him yourself," I said to the girls, then turned to the dark-haired knight. "Lady Fanatio," I continued. "There's an enemy attack that we didn't see coming, one that's not part of the Dark Territory but kills indiscriminately! Bercouli and everyone are fighting to stop these new invaders. Alice was captured by the enemy, and the bulk of the Human Empire forces had to chase after her. You should lead the charge against the remains of the invaders that's still at the first battle site, then hurry to join forces."

"Most of the soldiers are asleep, resting for the battle," she said. "If the situation is truly that dire, then we have no time to waste. I will gather the other Integrity Knights and we will fly out. ...Ritsu."

"Eh?"

"I know you must want to return to Rythin's side. Believe me, I understand - I want so badly to return to my commander immediately. But... I'm sorry. I must ask for your help in defeating the invaders here."

I hesitated. "I..." I didn't want to. I wanted to go back and help Rythin. But... If I helped Lady Fanatio, then we could defeat the last of the enemies and hurry back even faster. With Angelus's help, we could defeat them quickly! "...Alright, Lady Fanatio. Angelus and I will help you."

Stay safe, Rythin...


This was incredibly dangerous!

The flood of the Red Knights hadn't slowed down. It had only increased more and more, to the point that the ground underneath my feet was starting to get slippery from all the blood surrounding me. I hadn't slipped yet, but if I wasn't careful the footprints in the blood would ruin my footing.

In the thick of the fighting, distance didn't really matter; there was a circle around me of the enemy, and my allies were standing next to me. I didn't have to worry about watching my back, and that was enough to keep me alive. Somewhere beyond the sea of crimson armor, there had been a explosion of fire that sent the Americans in there flying, but it wasn't something I could directly effect.

"Gah! Assholes," Argo snarled. I spared a glance to make sure she wasn't being overwhelmed, but she was holding off the enemies attacking her with savage swipes of her claws that rent huge gashes in their armor and weapons. "Jerks! I'm jus' an info broker! I'm not s'posed ta be doin' PK stuff myself!"

"It could be worse," I said, and jumped forward. "They could be skilled, instead of just having high stats!" A spin in midair left me in the perfect position to slam my boots into one red knight's helmet. He rocketed backwards, the metal dented in so deeply that he couldn't have survived. Sure enough, his body flashed blue and disappeared in static when he hit the ground and bounced in a sprawl of limbs.

I landed -

My foot slipped to the left on a puddle of blood and I had a half-second to register the 'Oh shit!' moment before I started to topple.

"Be careful!" Alice's gauntlet snagged my arm before I had been falling for more than a second. She yanked me back up and I grinned at her as I spun around with the momentum to slice off another head. I laughed at the display of skill, but Alice wasn't so impressed. "Please try harder to not fall," she said. "You might get yourself hurt if you don't."

"Yeah! Tell him, Alice!"

"You shush, Argo," I complained.

"Nya hah hah!"

"Laaa-"

I glanced up at the sky out of reflex when I heard the angelic choir that signaled the use of the Stacia account's terrain reshaping. But I couldn't see anything special - until the ground started to shake underneath my feet. Over the top of the enemies, I could see the gorge start to move and shift.

Slowly, rock slabs grinded their way out from the sides of the walls, and formed flimsy bridges. A loud roar came from the other side of the chasm, where the fighters had to have been watching. "That was A-chan, right?" Argo asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. She must have a reason for it..." I bet she hurt herself again. Kirito, I thought you were going to stop her from doing that!

I noticed that the fighters streamed across the bridges that Asuna had created for them, but I couldn't watch it for long. The Red Knights were pressing the three of us even harder and I needed to focus on my fighting.

Argo clawed open the chest of another soldier with a glowing Sword Skill that chained three slashes together in a series of spins, and plunged the sharp tips of her weapon into the man's chest. He cried out in pain as his body disappeared, but three more crimson soldiers had already trampled over his disappearing corpse. One of them raised their sword to swing down at Argo's extended arm.

«Later babe!»

She just grinned at him cockily. "Switch."

That's when my blade cut the top part of his head off, and Argo leaped back away from the others. I carried through with the swing and ducked into a cartwheel that avoided the strikes from his friends.

"They just... won't stop...!" Alice ground out as I darted back to her and Argo. "These heartless... fiends! Rythin, with me. System call!"

Red thermal elements formed at her fingertips and she swiftly drew the ten orbs back into an arrow shape. I sighed and started chanting as well - this girl had gotten even more headstrong after regaining her memories! I blame Kirito, honestly.

Alice might have been more creative than me when it came to her use of the Sacred Arts, but my chanting speed was second to none. I hadn't known why at the time, I'd just been happy I had something that I was the best at in the Integrity Knights, but now that I have my memories and knew better... The fact that I was bilingual really did help. The red elements formed in my right hand in an instant and I launched my own thermal arrows as Alice released her own.

"Discharge!" we chorused. The fifteen thermal elements shot forward in brilliant scarlet lines, and crashed into the mass of Red Knights. The explosion was powerful and made Argo's flowing dress ripple in the wind, but when the smoke cleared the disappearing bodies revealed just how effective our attack had been.

"Hurry!" Alice shouted. "We've cleared a path. We can incinerate them from the top of the hill over there!"

She gestured at the nearby hill, past the circle of blazing fire from our attack. "H-Hey, wait-!"

"Let's go!" Alice exclaimed, and shot forward like a bullet. I choked on my words and exchanged a desperate glance with Argo.

I didn't know Alice the same way that I knew my family; we hadn't spent that much time together, even when I was an Integrity Knight, and her personality had radically shifted after Cardinal had restored her memories of childhood. But even still, to act that recklessly, Alice must have felt just as angry as I was.

"Wait, it's not sa...!" Bercouli started to shout to Alice, but he was interrupted by a soldier swinging at him.

While the commander easily slashed apart the red knight, Alice was already running away. I gritted my teeth as I watched her cut apart an American, and turned to Argo as the golden knight barely slowed down. "Let's go, Argo!"

"Comin'!"

We both started sprinting towards the blonde girl running ahead of us. I was slightly faster than Argo, so I caught up first - which meant Argo was the first one to yelp and shout, "Watch out! Above ya!"

Before her words consciously registered, I was looking up at the sky; my time in SAO had ingrained those instincts into me. That small warning was all I had as a black dragon plunged down, clawed feet outstretched. I gasped and reached out -

- And grabbed Alice, yanking her to the side right as the talons snatched at her. We rolled to the side in a rough tumble, but our armor did its job and protected us from more than a few scrapes from the tough and dry ground. That was preferable to what had been about to happen, and the black dragon pulled up from the swoop.

I got to my feet, crouched low with my dagger spinning in my fingers, and Alice got up to one knee. "Vecta!" I spat, as I glared up at the dragon's rider.

He was a blond man wearing pitch-black armor, and held his dragon's reins in his hands as he looked down at us. So, this was the man from the real world? The one that had attacked RATH and caused my coma, and worried everyone I cared about. This bastard... I'm going to make him suffer! "Emperor Vecta..." Alice said lowly.

I don't particularly like the chances we faced against an aerial enemy, so I clenched my fist when I saw Vecta preparing for another run. "System call," I said. "Alice, close your eyes!"

Then I threw the metallic orb in my hand in the air.

"Burst!"

The metallic orb shattered in midair, right in front of the dragon's face, and pelted it with shards. But that didn't matter. What mattered was the luminous element that I'd formed the metallic orb around - and when it burst, directly in the dragon's eyes, it had a much more satisfying effect than leaving scratches.

A shriek of surprise from the dragon was my reward, and when the bright light faded the blinded creature had lost control of itself. Vecta may have had the aerial advantage, but that didn't matter when I could knock the platform out from underneath him. It wouldn't last long, of course, but it got him to the ground.

"You're mine!"

The shout burst from my lips as I kicked off the ground and drew my dagger back. The jump alone wouldn't have been enough, but I chanted a quick Art and pointed down with my free hand. The air elements I summoned burst below me and shoved me upwards with enough force that I could easily reach my target.

Vecta barely reacted as I shot towards him, and I swung my blade at him in a simple slash. It wasn't a Sword Skill or anything like that. Just a normal attack that I'd trained myself in, after months and months of drills. It was so familiar to me that I didn't even have to think. My body just moved on its own.

Taaaang!

Metal crashed against metal as my Starry Night Dagger met the longsword that had been sheathed on Vecta's hip. He held it firmly, but there didn't seem to be much experience behind his parry. With the brief instant that I hung in the air, I drank in the face of my enemy. Traditionally handsome, but that didn't mean much when it came to an avatar. All I knew was that he was from the American militia that had attacked me. That, and... his eyes.

They were dark and soulless, watching everything impassively. There wasn't a shred of compassion in the way he looked at me or his dragon, suffering from the effects of my impromptu flashbang. If I'd killed his dragon instead of stunning it, I bet he wouldn't have cared at all. They were the eyes of someone empty inside, with a void that ate up anything it came into contact with. He'd search for something that would fill that void, but it was impossible. It would just eat and eat, and he'd feel a gnawing emptiness.

I recognized those eyes. I'd seen them in the mirror for too long, years ago.

Enough thinking! With a grunt I twisted my body in midair so that my blade slid off of his sword instead of continuing the parry, and slashed again. Emperor Vecta's armor might have been sturdy, but his inexperience with his sword was too obvious. I neatly slipped my blade around the sword that was covered in a purple light and stabbed my dagger into the shoulder of his armor. It bit deeply into his left arm, and blood sprayed out.

"Heh. So you do bleed red." I smirked, even as Vecta's expression didn't change.

He might have been using a god's avatar, but that didn't matter to my weapon. One of its attributes, even without awakening the Armament Control Art, had been inherited from the beast's claw that this weapon had been made out of. Wounds inflicted by this dagger cut deeper and were more resource-intensive to heal as the ferocity of the beast fought to keep its prey wounded.

Vecta finally reacted, but only enough to swing his sword in a wide arc that slammed into my body and flung me back down to the ground. I had enough reaction time that I was able to cruelly twist my weapon in the wound before he slashed at me; when I was forced away, it ripped out of his shoulder and made even more of a mess of his shoulder.

Try using that arm now, asshole.

I landed on the ground, surrounded by a cluster of Red Knights. They shouted words like, «It's a raid boss!» and, «I'm gonna kill him!», but they didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to Alice before Vecta's dragon recovered!

"Enhance Armament!" Across the ring of red soldiers, Alice's sword bloomed into its olive petals again and rushed towards Vecta in a glittering storm. As wide as it was, Vecta couldn't possibly have dodged it -

Except he did, somehow. The golden petals curved and twisted in a tornado but the Emperor slid to the right in an unnatural movement that put him safely out of the way of all the golden petals. It didn't even look like he'd taken a step so much as he'd just glided.

How did he... Who cares! I need to get to Alice! "Get... out... of my way!" I howled, and plunged into combat again. To these inexperienced idiots, I might as well have been the Reaper descended, because everyone that got within dagger's reach died.

But it still wasn't enough, and the black dragon swooped down as Vecta pulled on the reins harshly. "Moooove!" I snarled.

«Damn!» one American whined as I stabbed my dagger in his heart.

But there were so many more to step in and fill the gap that he'd left behind, and I could only snarl and feel anger burn in my chest as Vecta's dragon started to fly away, Alice dangling in its clutches and gripped by her waist.

She raised a hand and shouted something, but Vecta turned in his seat and reached out. Something like a black smoke - the same black smoke that it looked like his body had been surrounded by when avoiding her attack - came from his hand and wrapped around Alice. The girl's body went limp in his clutches.

"Bastard!" Bercouli shouted as he jumped from his horse and raced towards him. "I'm gonna kill you for this!"

Vecta just flew away silently, taking Alice with him. Bercouli was forced to a halt as the red armored forms blocked his path. I followed Vecta fly off into the distance, and growled under my breath. "Alright, fine," I snapped, and looked at the knights blocking me from my girlfriend and Bercouli. "You want to get in my way? Then die."

My weapon was fairly simple. It was a dagger. There was a right end and a wrong end to be facing - and the red knights that got in my way learned very quickly that being on the wrong end meant they were about to have a very bad day.

"Release Recollection!"

In the air above me, a weapon spun, and then zipped around the ground like it was flying on its own wind currents. That was Renly's throwing blades in their reformed state, and they sliced through all of the knights that had been blocking Bercouli.

"Commander, go after her!" Renly shouted.

Bercouli glanced over his shoulder. "Thanks, kid. Watch your back!"

The last of the soldiers blocking my way was roughly tackled aside by Argo - who proceeded to stab her claws through the pinned knight's helmet. "Thanks!" I shouted to my girlfriend, and chased after Bercouli. "Commander," I called out, and caught him by the shoulder before he left. "You need to be careful. I... Vecta's account is one of the gods. He's got insane levels of Life, and special abilities."

Bercouli just nodded. He didn't ask how I knew, or blamed me. It was kinda nice, all things considered.

"I can't say for certain, because I didn't work on this world. But I was still part of the team, and I heard things. Things like, Vecta being immune to Arts." It had slipped my mind until I'd seen Alice's Enhanced Armament splash off harmlessly. "Be careful, Commander."

"You don't have to worry about me, brat." At least I managed to get my message across. He might have been flippant, but Bercouli was the leader of the Integrity Knights for a reason; he was the strongest out of all of us. When I released his shoulder, Bercouli kicked off the ground and ran forward.

He put his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly; three roars answered him, and the dragons that had remained at camp rapidly approached. Bercouli jumped into Hoshigami's saddle, and flew into the air after Vecta.

I hissed out a quiet breath, and then turned to help Argo to her feet. "We gotta go after her -"

"It'll be fine," I said. "For now... Let's regroup with Asuna and Kirito." I glanced around and spotted one of the Human Empire's soldiers that had just managed to cut down a red soldier. "Perfect, a messenger."

...

It didn't take long for the results of my message to show themselves, as a wedge of shouting, mostly shirtless Pugilists charged past me and Argo after only a few minutes had past. They smashed into the seemingly never-ending line of red knights and crushed the ones in their way like unstoppable juggernauts.

I braced myself to kill them when they turned on me and Argo - but the Pugilists didn't spare me a second glance and ran past us to clash with the crimson soldiers behind us.

The Pugilists slowly forced the Americans back further and further, until the wedge split open down the center. They must have switched sides, because they'd opened up a perfect corridor to the south to let the Human Empire's army escape.

We weren't ones to ask questions, so Argo and I, along with Renly, started running down the path that they'd made for us. After a few minutes, I spotted Kirito, Asuna, and Eugeo running to the right and nudged Argo to move over. "What's going on?" I called out. "How come they're helping now?"

"The leader of the Pugilists, Iskahn, said that he would help us as temporary allies against the Americans," Asuna replied. "All Vecta wanted was the Princess of Light, so now that he captured Alice the Pugilists weren't bound by his orders any more."

I cracked a quick grin. "I love loopholes," I said. Though, it would be better if this loophole didn't require Alice to be in so much danger. "So they're helping us escape so we can go after Vecta? Why not come - wait, no, silly question."

Kirito nodded. "If Vecta gives them new orders, they can't disobey. So stopping them here is the best option."

"I saw that his right eye was bleeding," Eugeo said. "I think he was able to break the Seal like me and Alice. That's why he's helping us."

Argo shrugged. "Long as we can get outta here, it's not a big deal... Hey, where's th' intense one? Sheyta?"

"Sheyta stayed behind, with Iskahn," Asuna said. "To cover our retreat."

"I hope she's okay," I said. Then again, I'd seen her fight. With that rapier of hers, she could slice anything apart. She'll be fine.

As Integrity Knights and Goddesses, we were the ones to lead the army over the southern hill to the forest with the supply team. While we were running, Renly approached us. "I've let them know about Bercouli," I told him, and the young green-haired boy nodded.

"Do you think he can catch up?"

Asuna's question was sharp, but Renly didn't take offense. Instead, his young face was severe.

"Honestly... It's not likely. Both of them are flying at the same speeds. But, Emperor Vecta's dragon is carrying two passengers, so it will exhaust faster. And, the Commander can switch between his three dragons. In theory, he can gradually catch up... But if he does, Commander Bercouli will definitely save Lady Alice. That man is the strongest Knight in the world."

"That's right," Asuna said.

I wasn't a fan of leaving it all to him, but if anyone was going to save Alice, Bercouli could do it.

"So what now, sub-commander?" I asked Asuna with a grin.

She gave me a Look, but didn't argue.

"For now, let's head south with the Supply Corps. There's only flat plains ahead of us there. We might not be able to catch up to Bercouli, but we can help him later if we're nearby."

"Understood, Lady Asuna. I'll notify everyone to get ready for a quick march."

Renly bowed to Asuna briefly, and then ran deeper into the forest.

Asuna let out a quiet sigh, and briefly leaned against Kirito. "We're going to keep everyone safe," she said. "This world... They're human, just like us. We're going to protect them, Kirito."

He reached out and patted her shoulder. "Yeah, we will," he said.

...

The Supply Corps was packed up and ready to go by the time that we arrived in the camp. Renly had ordered the monk unit to heal the wounded, and the rest of the soldiers were forming up around the supply wagons and the monks.

Sortiliena and Golgorosso headed one of the units and I saw Eugeo and Kirito wave to them. Liena - as Kirito called her, and naturally I teased him about having a pet name for his mentor - was one of the Kirito Girls that had taken place in the Memory Sharing Event, and she waved back happily. Asuna clearly noticed it, but she didn't say anything.

Interesting...

"Rythin," Asuna said. "You're the most senior Integrity Knight left. You're technically the commander, now. You should be the one to give the order to move out."

What. No, no no no. I hate responsibility. Screw this. "Hm," I said. "Alright, first order as commander - Renly outranks me in terms of becoming Integrity Knights, so he's in charge. B-Because I'm not... from this world, so I shouldn't take command."

Argo gave me a knowing grin. She knew I was just using that as an excuse. Shush, catling, don't expose me!

"Understood."

Renly's expression was a little nervous, but he still raised his hand high in the air and shouted orders.

"Lady Alice has protected us all at the battle for the Eastern Gate! It's now our turn to fight for her! Let's take her back from the enemy, and return to the Human Empire together!"

Loud cries from the soldiers rang out. Renly nodded and swung his arm down.

"All units, forward!"

We took off, following Renly on his dragon. About seven hundred soldiers followed us, along with the eight supply wagons. There were enough horses left that we didn't need to double-up on mounts, fortunately, and we charged forward at the head of the group.

The only dragon left was Sheyta's dragon, and it was the only one to not follow when we left. Instead, it screeched and flew north - back towards where its owner was still fighting.

I spared a quick hope that Ritsu had managed to get the message to Kikuoka by now. It would have been so much easier to chase down Vecta if I'd had Angelus. Or... well, it probably wouldn't have mattered that much.

A few minutes later, we emerged from the forest and entered a massive crater-shaped basin. A thin road ran through the crater and headed southward. In the red sky above us, I could see four gleaming lights - one was ahead of the other three, so it had to be Vecta and then Bercouli.

It didn't take long for us to reach the edge of the crater and then jump our horses down into the basin itself. The other soldiers and the wagon followed shortly, charging downhill, and -

My eyes darted upwards as an unsettlingly familiar sound, like insect wings fluttering, filled the air. It was the same sound I'd heard when the first set of Americans had been summoned, and as expected... Red lines were raining from the sky again. Hundreds of the strings of text poured from the sky and plunged into the ground around us.

Asuna hauled on the reins of her horse and stared at the red soldiers that appeared on the ring of the basin. "No way..." she whispered.

Our troops were forced to stop in the center of the basin, in the middle of the road. The line of American VRMMO players was too thick for us to break through easily. Asuna could use her terrain manipulation again, but she'd been using it so much that I knew she would immediately hit the limit again and start hurting herself. That was unacceptable.

Break through? I didn't have the firepower by myself, and even if we did, the terrain was so unfavorable that we'd literally be charging uphill towards our enemy. Approaching is awful.

In the end, all roads, until something changed - we didn't have any good answers except let them come to us. But then we'd fall even further behind...

The loud roar overhead snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see Renly's dragon wheel over.

"Oh no. Sir Renly is going to barrel through them."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Liena running up. Tiese and Ronie followed her.

"Don't!" Asuna shouted.

Just as the dragon approached the line of enemies, though, the sky changed colors. High above us, a cross-shaped light shined and split open the red sky to reveal a deep, clear blue behind it. Everyone stopped moving and looked up at the sky, even as those of us mounted slid off of our horses.

A figure descended from that bright light, silhouetted against the shining star. No... More accurately, the blinding light was coming from the gigantic longbow in their hands.

The new figure clenched their right hand and drew back the bowstring as they pointed the bow at the sky. When they pulled back, a beam of light stretched out like a nocked arrow.

Golden and blue circles that signified the activation of a Divine Object formed in front of the bow, and then the person floating in the sky unleashed the attack. A glowing orb shot forward, and split into countless laser beams that spread out in every direction. The white-hot beams of light poured towards the ground, and smashed into the ground, wreaking havoc as they pierced the Red Knights that had just spawned in with pinpoint accuracy.

"...Goddess Solus?" Liena whispered the question.

She was... probably right and wrong at the same time. Like how Asuna and Argo had used Stacia and Lunaria, and the unknown mercenary had used Vecta, this had to be someone from the real world that had Dived in using a superuser account.

But, they were on our side once more.

As the figure gently floated down, the light that obscured their figure started to fade. Blue and gold armor, with floating spikes around the left shoulder like a single wing. A long scarf that flapped as the figure descended. And, as the light went away and revealed their face, sky-blue hair that was fairly short aside from two long pigtails that framed the person's face and bright blue eyes.

A face that I knew very, very well.

'Solus' landed lightly on the ground in front of us and smiled. The girl raised her hand gently. "I'm late. Sorry."

Asuna bit at her lip, tears beading in her eyes, and then jumped forward. "Shinonon!"

She wrapped her arms around Sinon's body, and Sinon gently returned the hug with her free arm.

What... was Sinon doing here...? She wasn't supposed to be on the World Turtle!

But, however she made it in... I'm glad. It's really good to see her again.

"Yo, Sinon," Kirito greeted as he walked up to her. "How's it going?"

"Good to see you too, Kirito," Sinon said coolly. "You're looking better than I expected." She gently patted Asuna's shoulder, and the beautiful girl let go reluctantly. "And..."

I raised a hand almost awkwardly. "Hey, Sinon," I said. "Sorry to make you worry..." Sinon took a deep breath but didn't say anything, and I winced. Ooh. She's mad. She's really mad, isn't she? I'm in soooo much trouble.

*Clap!* I jumped, and I'm pretty sure half of the people standing around jumped as well. When we turned to Argo, who'd suddenly clapped her hands together like that, she just grinned at us. "Why don't we go to the supply wagons an' catch up? That way, we don't have to stand out in th' open fer enemies ta take shots at us."

"Right," Asuna said firmly. "We should get moving before we fall further behind. Liena?"

It didn't take long for the army to get rolling again, but those of us from the real world walked to the supply wagon Tiese and Ronie had been riding in. It was the same one that I'd been traveling in, before Argo woke me up, and it was almost nostalgic to see it again. The two Primary Trainees opened the wagon door for us and we all filed into the... kinda cramped wagon, now that I think about it. Without my wheelchair taking up half of the back, we all fit - but it was still a little bit of a squeeze.

As soon as the door closed behind us, though, Kirito turned around and wrapped Sinon in a big hug. Sinon sighed and just returned it, wrapping her arm around his waist like she had with Asuna. Not like she could do much else.

"That was a heck of an entrance back there, Shinonon," Argo said with a grin. "Nice job."

"Thanks, Argo," Sinon said.

The blue-haired girl glanced at Kirito and let out a quick breath like she was trying to convince herself to do something - and leaned up on the toes of her fancy boots to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "That's for worrying me," she said as Kirito's cheek went red and Asuna sighed.

This girl loves teasing Kirito...

Then, as Kirito released the quick hug, her eyes turned on me. Her usual grin cracked, and I gave her a weak smile. "Seriously, Shino," I murmured. "It's good to see you again."

"Nick..." she whispered, voice quiet.

I just tilted my head slightly, smiling at her.

A second later, her body slammed into my chest as she embraced me tightly. Even with just one hand around my back, she was doing an admirable job of trying to crush my ribs.

"Oof," I grunted. "I missed you too. So, tell me, Sinon, do I get a punishment kiss too?"

It was supposed to be just a joke, until Sinon smirked and grabbed my shoulders to press a kiss on my cheek.

She smiled smugly as my cheeks burned, and Argo laughed hysterically at the look on my face.


The appearance of the Red Knights is going to be interesting. This is the point where the butterflies really starting whipping up a hurricane, so hold on tightly! Sadly, Ritsu was relegated to "please tell people shit is going down" duty instead of getting to hang out with Rythin more, but it's okay! She'll be back. Fizel and Linel are probably very happy that Rythin's awake; sadly, they can't go see him. Disappointing, I know. He'll make it up to them later, though!

(Don't worry - it's only a sisterly kiss. Sinon isn't actually going to be dating Rythin.)

Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.