Dark Territory, Obsidia Palace

"Knight Lipia Zancale has returned."

"Good work. You can have a seat."

"Yes, my lord."

The man in the blue and black shirt and lower purple armor of the Dark Knights is Vixur Ul Shasta, commander of the Dark Knights. He rolls his eyes as the woman in full armor, minus her helm walks over and takes a seat across from him. "Don't call me 'your lord' when it's just you and me."

"Right, but officially, I'm still on duty."

"...So anyway, what's this grave incident that you had to send a familiar to alert me about?"

"Right. It seems, in the aftermath of whatever was happening on the other side a few months back... The pontifex of the Human Empire's Axiom Church...is dead."

Shasta gasps, looking for any sign of deceit from the woman. However, he trusts her too much to believe she would lie about something so unbelievable. "That immortal being?"

"Yes. I also found it hard to believe, so I spent a full week making sure it was true. Furthermore, there seems to be someone else in her place. They call him a 'Hero-King' but he has no throne that I know of."

Shasta nods. "This is our chance."

"Chance for what?"

"Needless to say, for peace."

"Do you really believe that's possible, my lord?"

"Whether it's possible or not, it's something we must do, no matter what."

"But… How do you intend to convince the other lords, my lord? And would the Order of the Integrity Knights even entertain peace negotiations?"

"Regarding the Integrity Knights, I believe there's a chance. If the pontifex has been defeated, and this Hero-King is not running the show, it must be old man Bercouli at the helm now. I can't stand the guy, but I can have a dialogue with him. Even if I can't get to him, the Hero-King, if he truly killed that tyrant, must have the Knights' backing, so maybe I can talk to him. It's the Council of Ten that could prove to be a problem. I know it sounds contradictory, but we...may be forced to eliminate them. Four of them, at least."

Lipia widens her eyes. "Which four are you talking about? Would it be both the globin chiefs, the Orc chief, as well as…"

"The chancellor of the Dark Mages Guild. That woman's gotten her hands on Administrator's immortality secret and is most likely desiring to become empress herself someday. No way would she accept any talk of peace."

Lipia stands. "But that would be far too risky, my lord! The leaders of the Goblins and Orcs may not be our enemies, but as for the Dark Mages, there's no telling what tricks they may have up their sleeves!"

Shasta stares up at Lipia and takes a deep breath. "Listen, Lipia. How long has it been since you came to me?"

"Um... it was the year I turned 21, so...four years."

"It's been that long already, huh? Forgive me for putting you in such an ambiguous position for so long. What do you say? Isn't it about time you, uh… You know… Officially became my wife?"

"M-My lord…"

"Sorry that I'm so much older than you." Lipia wipes her tears and smiles, but before she can answer, a call of an emergency interrupts them. It's the leader of the commerce guild who enters Shasta's quarters uninvited. "The throne room! The chain sealing it is shaking!"

Many years ago

"Gabriel, unlike humans, insects don't have brains."

"Then where do they think?"

"In an insect's case, all of the nerves throughout its body act as the brain. That's why, even if they lose their head, they can still live for a while…"

"If it's still alive even after it loses its head, then where is the mantis' soul?"

Gabriel looks at the girl sitting beside him reading a book. He begins to wonder where the girl's soul is. Unlike the insects in his father's collection, humans can't live without a head. It makes sense for it to be contained within the brain. Yes, that where it must be...and he has to find out.

Underworld, Dark Territory, Obsidia Palace, November 1st

"Yo! Is that you, bro?" Gabriel, sitting down in an empty room, finds a brown-haired man in purple armor steps up to him.

"Is that you, Vassago?"

"Yeah. That's right. Looks like we were able to log in as planned." Gabriel stands up and walks to the closest window. His physical features, like Vassago's, are fairly similar to how he looks. What's new is the black and red armor around his body and the small crown circling his head. Moving his eyes to the land below, he sees flickers of civilization on lower land. Those are the artificial Fluctlights, humans filled with souls.

Time passes before the throne room is filled with men and monsters of various kinds. Giants, goblins, witches, knights, and more to be named line up in the room, with their leaders bowing in front. He figured his account must be somewhat of a king to these people, so he allows this part to play as the leaders introduce themselves.

There's a human named Rengil Gila Scobo, leader of the commerce guild. Doesn't seem important to his grand plan. The others seem to be of use: Lilpilin of the Orcs, Kubiri of the Flatland Goblins, Hagashi of the mountain variety, Sigurosig of the Giants, Furgr of the Ogres, Iskahn of the Pugilists Guild, Fu Za of the Assassins Guild (a group Vassago seems to take an immediate liking to), Dee Eye Ell of the Dark Mages, and Vixur ul Shasta of the Dark Knights. The latter is the most intriguing as he asks Gabriel a question. "Now that you've returned to your throne, what is it that you seek?"

Gabriel answers not as himself, but as Vecta, the Emperor of the Dark Territory and the Dark God. "Blood and terror. Flames and destruction. Death and screams. The western lands are full of the power of the gods who expelled me from the heavens. The great gate that protects it is about the crumble, even as we speak. I have returned to make my authority known far and wide across the land. The moment the great gate falls, the Human Empire will belong to the people of darkness! I desire only one thing! The Priestess of Light, who appeared at the same time in that land, and nothing else! I hereby grant you permission to kill and seize any other human! Soldiers of the dark empire! The time you have long awaited is nigh!"

Praises launch around the room, but Gabriel keeps his eye on Vixur. He doesn't seem too happy about 'Vecta's' plans. As long as he doesn't interfere… He can have that mindset.

"I'm surprised you had that kind of talent, Bro. You should've become an actor instead."

"I just did what was necessary. You should really learn how to deliver that kind of speech yourself since you're a higher level than those guys."

"Forget giving orders or speeches, I'd rather lead the charge into battle since we've dived into this mind-blowing VR world. This wine and this bottle seem like the real thing to me."

Gabriel agrees. "But in exchange, if you get cut, it'll hurt and bleed since a pain absorber won't work here."

"That's what makes it great."

Gabriel stands up and walks over to the console at the front of the room. Inputting a few commands, the leader of the invaders connects himself to the real world. "is that you, Captain?"

"Yeah, Critter."

"We just returned to the Main Control Room after watching you and Vassago dive."

"I see. It's already the night of the first day here. I already knew about it, but time acceleration still feels odd. For now, everything's proceeding as planned. We'll be done preparing the units in a day or two, and commence our assault on the Human Empire two days from now."

"Wonderful. Don't forget, all right? Once you've taken ALICE into custody, transport her there, and execute the command from the menu to eject her into the Main Control Room. Then ALICE's Lightcube will be ours. Oh, one more thing. I want you to drill this into that idiot Vassago's head."

"Huh?"

"Since you can't do anything that requires administrator privileges, it won't be possible to reset your account, either. In other words, if you and Vassago die over there, you can never use those superuser accounts again. So the next time you log in, it will be as grunts."

"Right, I understand. What's the JSDF doing?"

"Nothing at the moment. It doesn't seem like they realized you dove in yet."

"Good. All right, I'm signing off. Let's hope the next communication will be after we've captured ALICE."

"Roger. I'm counting on you."

"That bastard Critter," Vassago says after Gabriel logs off. "Listen, Bro, would it be okay if I swing by downtown to… No, I guess not."

"Just hold back for a while. Once the operation's over, I'll let you have a whole night."

"Roger that. So no murder and women for now, huh? In that case, I'm just going to hit the sack." Vassago waves and exits the room. Feeling a little tired himself, Gabriel makes his way to his quarters, only to find a woman there, her only clothing a long purple nightgown.

Vassago might, no, would've taken part, no questions asked, but Gabriel is not as indulgent. "What are you doing?"

"I shall be keeping you company tonight, sir."

For some reason, he vaguely recognizes her enough to put him on a slight edge. He sits down on the bed and looks at her. "On whose orders?"

"No. This is my duty."

"I see." Gabriel lies down, feigning exposure to see what the woman will do. She sits down, starts to undress, then quickly (or not quickly enough) whips out a blade from her hair. Gabriel grabs her and forces her under him, holding her down by her arm and neck. "Who ordered you to do this?"

"This is also my own choice."

"Then who's your commanding officer?"

"I don't have one."

"Why did you try to kill me? Were you offered money? Were you promised status?"

"It's for the greater good! If war breaks out now, it will set back history one hundred, no, two hundred years! We cannot revert to an era of oppression for the powerless!"

Without another word, Gabriel presses down on the woman's neck until her struggle for life ceases. Such a waste of beauty, he admits to himself, and a possible loss of strength if she's this bold to attempt regicide. But what breaks his mind from the disappointment of the wet-faced woman is the yellow light that comes from her forehead. A reminder of what happened many years ago, when he punctured Alicia in the ear and saw what she saw.

A soul...the human soul.

And like Alice, Gabriel sees life from the woman's perspective just momentarily, a declaration of love… "Magnificent. What a magnificent experience!" The Lightcube containing the Fluctlights is connected to his own via the STL. That must have been a portion of its data.

What does it matter? Ever since Alicia, he has experimented with many people, both in the real world and the virtual. but it wasn't until now he repeated that phenomenal experience. A woman like this yielded plenty, meaning ALICE...that excites Gabriel to no end. "ALICE, your soul...will be so sweet!"

But before Gabriel can get ahead of himself, Vecta must root out a traitor.

November 2nd

"Your Majesty, preparations for battle are complete," Dee Eye Ell announces. "Just give the order, and we can launch the assault anytime."

Gabriel is pleased progress has gone almost quicker than expected. Now to address the elephant in the room. "By the way, there was an intruder in my sleeping quarters last night who had a dagger hidden in their hair. I don't intend to condemn the person who sent that assassin. There's nothing wrong with using your power to gain even greater power. Should you want to take my head, feel free to attack me from behind any time. Of course, that's only if you understand that you'll pay the appropriate price for such a gamble. For example, such as this…" Gabriel makes a hand gesture and a maid brings in a covered object. Receiving the object, Gabriel removes the cloth covering to reveal his assassin's head encased in ice.

"Li...pia…" Gabriel turns his attention to Shasta, expecting his rage, apparent as the presence of the dark aura surrounding him. His rageful attack is halted by a needle attack by Fu Za.

"You were just injected with a poison so potent, it can kill even a colossal land dragon with a life of over 30,000 in an hour. With your stamina and total life, I'd say it'll b another two or three minutes.

Gabriel calmly watches as the aura vanishes, but Shasta continues to reach out for the woman. "Lipia… I won't let you stop me!" By some force, Shasta's body is surrounded by a vortex, causing harm to many of the people of the Dark Territory close by and the room itself. Still, Gabriel is unmoved from his seat, no expression on his face. Shasta, floating at the funnel's top, flies down and strikes Gabriel.

Not a trance of Vixur ul Shasta or Lipia remains.

"The troops who lost their general are to be immediately taken over by the next in command. We will begin our assault as planned, one hour from now."

"All hail His Majesty, the Emperor!"

"The Eastern Gate… Stop, Amayori." The dragon ceases movement just in front of the gate, allowing Alice to make out some words on the gate. She doesn't recall there being any last time she was here, but back then, it was the Dark Territory that had risen from the dead on this side of the gate that held their attention.

The words are written in the Sacred Tongue. "'Destroyed...at the last...stage.'" Seeing parts of the gate beginning to crumble, Alice flies Amayori up to get a glimpse of what's beyond. Though the sight is distant, the amount of light visible can only mean one thing: The Dark Territory is coming.

Alice turns Amayori around and hangs on to Kirito tightly as she speeds west to the capital. The Human Empire has run out of time.