Somewhere in Eastavarieth

"Mentor!" Alice hears Eldrie's call as she lands in the Integrity Knight camp in the eastern kingdom. Leaping off Amayori with Kirito in her arms, she turns to her student who runs to greet her. "I always believed in you... Oh." That happiness turns to a stern glare as Eldrie looks at the Pontifex's (the one they believed in) murderer. "Lady Alice…"

Alice sets Kirito down in his chair before speaking to Eldrie. "I just looked at the Eastern Gate. There's not much time before the gate's destroyed and the enemy pushes through."

"The enemy army has about 50,000 troops. We have 3,000 not including what Lady Orthinanos may be able to provide with wayfarers. More than the ACTF ever had… We have to give them what training we can."

"Where are the other Integrity Knights? From above, I could only see seven outside."

Eldrie looks to the ground. "That's almost everyone."

Alice gasps. "That's ridiculous! There should be 31 members of the order, including me!"

"Surely you're aware, Lady Alice, that Prime Minister Chudelkin had been using a retuning art on knights who showed symptoms of memory issues. Nine of those knights have yet to awaken from that art. At this time, 21 knights are awake. Four are watching over the Cathedral and the capital, and four are patrolling the end Mountains. The only one not here right now is Lady Eydis."

"That leaves fourteen."

"Our forces are already stretched too thin. And yet, Lady Alice… Do you intend to shield that young man while you fight?"

Alice sighs. "Of course I do, because I swore to protect him."

"You mustn't, Mentor! Should you encumber yourself with such deadweight in battle, not only will it diminish the power of your sword, it could expose you to danger yourself!"

"Well, don't get so worked up, Eldrie." Alice turns around to see a man in a long blue robe standing on higher ground. "Yo, little one. I'm relieved to see you look better than I expected. Have your cheeks filled in a little?"

"Uncle… It's been a long time."

As Commander Bercouli Synthesis One leaps down, Eldrie starts to address him, but a sharp glare shuts the newest knight up. In turn, Bercouli turns his eyes to Kirito. Alarmed, Alice reaches for her sword. "It's all right, little one." Bercouli takes a deep breath, and a moment later there's the sound of a sword hitting something, yet neither the weapon or what stopped it is present. Bercouli's Time-Piercing Sword did not move from his waist.

"U-Uncle?"

"Little one, did you just see that?"

"Yes. It was only for an instant, but I definitely saw the flash of a sword."

"Mhm. I launched an Incarnate Sword, or rather, a dagger at that young man. If it had hit, it would've sliced some skin off his cheek."

"If it had...hit? Which means…"

"That's right. He stopped it with his own willpower." Alice gasps and kneels. Kirito doesn't look any different from any other day. She has tried healing him with arts and ritual back in Rulid, but nothing has worked. However, some part of him is still there. "It doesn't look like the young man's mind is here. But he's not dead. The boy wasn't protecting himself, but you, little one. So he'll be back one day. That's what I think. Probably when you need him the most." Alice nods and hugs Kirito while Bercouli looks up to Eldrie. "So you see, Eldrie, we can look after one young man. After all, we don't want to offend the Hero-King now of all times."

Alice wipes her face and looks up at Bercouli. "Where is Jaymes? Medina says she hadn't seen him in a week. He's not here?"

"No. The young lady just arrived here two days ago. Eydis' absence is the result of her looking for the young man. Only the goddesses know where he has gone."

Later that evening

"All right. Wait a moment, okay?" Alice unpacks the two swords Kirito favors and hands them to the boy sitting on the bed. She watches him as he calms down and holds the blades. "Kirito… Even though your heart has been lost since that battle, you still tried to protect me from Uncle's sword technique. What do you think of me? What do I think of Kirito? No… I'm only a created being who continues to occupy Alice Zuberg's body. A puppet who exists to fight. I'm not allowed the luxury of feeling anything other than the intent to fight. But maybe it's because I've been suppressing my feelings that you can't hear my voice." Alice holds Kirito's face and leans forward slightly, thinking if she was to unleash all her willpower in this moment…

The rattle outside her tent stops her. Surprised, Alice recomposes and heads for the tent's entrance. Outside stands two girls wearing the same grey uniform. The redhead girl in front holds a metal pot while her ever-present brunette companion stands behind her. "Ronie, Tiese. Hello again."

"W-We've brought your dinner, Lady Alice," Tiese responds.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Ronie holds up a basket. "U-Um, it's bread and something to drink."

Alice chuckles. "You don't have to be nervous, you know. We're old friends, aren't we? But why are you two here? I know you aided us with the Clamps, but there's no way anyone who let you two be soldiers."

"Master Jaymes said the same thing, but we wanted to continue helping, so he got us in the Human Guardian Army Supply Corps."

"Yeah. But we've kept up our training whenever we could."

Alice nods approvingly, then turns to the tent. "Would you like to see Kirito? He's inside." Tiese and Ronie nods, so Alice steps aside and opens the tent to them. Ronie attends to Kirito almost immediately while Tiese sets the pot elsewhere and kneels on the ground. The Blue Rose Sword, nothing more than its hilt and a small, damaged portion of the beautiful blade, lies on the floor out of its sheath. Tears roll down the girl's face as she touches the blade, which emits a short but visible glow in the room.

"I just...heard… Master Eugeo's voice. He said, 'Don't cry, I'll always be here.'" As Ronie crawls over to comfort Tiese, Alice stands away, not knowing how to deal with such a manner. When she first broke the news to the girls, it was a lot of crying, but Eydis handled it back then. The last time she saw such emotion and tried being comforting was when Medina prayed over her murdered wayfarers' souls, but that was something Alice could relate to, the loss of a dear companion. Had Jaymes and Cardinal not found a way to revive Medina, she might understand this feeling.

"Did you two have feelings for Kirito and Eugeo--"

"That's not it," Ronie replies. "I'm…"

"Lady Alice, you know the Taboo Kirito and Eugeo violated, don't you?"

"Yes. They killed another student… Oh, right." Alice, through their travels, heard that Eugeo and Kirito broke the Taboo to protect their students from two nobles who wished to violate them. "You know you shouldn't blame yourselves for what happened."

Tiese nods. "I know, but if we had been a little wiser, they wouldn't have fought the Church to change the law, and no one would've died. I know, after all that's happened, it was for the best, and Master Jaymes absolved us of all fault, but… We've committed an irreparable crime! That's why...no matter what happens, we can't ever...admit we're in love with them!"

"No, he's right. You've committed no crime."

"Lady Alice… You're an esteemed Integrity Knight, Lady Alice, so you can't understand! Our bodies were played with, and our pride has been tainted by sin!"

"You two are sounding like me." The rattles shake again, announcing the arrival of Medina. She looks up from the girls to Kirito, then a greeting nod to Alice and kneels to the girls. "Trust me, she can understand you. I definitely can understand you. I'm no different than you are, after all."

"This body is nothing more than a vessel for your heart," Alice says. "The heart...the soul is the only thing that truly exists. And what determines the nature of your soul is you alone." Alice focuses on herself and using the lesson Kirito taught her, her body glows and her form changes. Her armor is replaced by a blue and white dress, complete with a white band in her hair. "You see? Your body and appearance merely follow your heart. Your heart can't be tainted by anyone. I was born in a village in the hinterlands, and I should've grown up to be like this. But when I was eleven, I was taken away as a criminal, my memories were erased by an art technique and I became an Integrity Knight. There were times when I cursed such a fate. But… Kirito, Medina, and Jaymes taught me that there was something I could do… That I should do. And that's why I'll never hesitate again. I decided to accept myself as I am and move on. I'm sure there's a wide, long, and straight path meant only for you, too."

November 3rd, morning

"So how is that black-haired boy," Bercouli asks Alice as she meets him outside his tent. "Did he react in any way, coming into contact with people from his past?"

"No, same as it was months ago."

"I see… To be honest, I can't help but feel that he'll be the one to set the course of the coming battle. Even if he had help from you and his partner, defeating the prime senator and the Pontifex was an incredible feat. I'm not sure if I'd be a match for the intensity of his willpower."

Alice gasps. "That can't be."

"Remember I once fought Jaymes, neither of us holding back. Or, in my truth, it seemed he was holding back just enough for me to execute my plan on Hersyrian. Yet even I sensed it then. When our willpower clashed yesterday, I definitely felt it. Those boys have the same amount as or even more experience in actual combat than me."

"What do you mean by actual combat?"

"Just what I said. A fight for life. The Taboo Index prohibits any battle to the death, but it wasn't instilled three hundred years ago, back when the Lord of Knights first walked this land. And when he spoke of his world, he never spoke of violence. So where did those boys gain that kind of experience?"

Alice recalls Jaymes saying they're been to other worlds, whatever that means, yet if anyone knows the answer, it is Medina. However, that conversation is put to rest as a knight clad in purple approaches the pair. "My lord. It's almost time for the war council."

Alice salutes the woman knight. "Lady Fanatio."

Fanatio removes her helmet, not a first for the second Integrity Knight, but what shocks Alice is the application of makeup on the woman's face. Not even during the ACTF days did Fanatio apply it. "It's been a long time, Alice. I'm glad you're well."

"I-It's been a while."

"Hey, Alice, I hear you brought that black-haired boy with you. Could I see him briefly before the war council?"

Alice gets a little defensive. "Why?"

"I just want to thank him."

"Thank him?"

"Yes. For fighting and defeating me. In all my years as an Integrity Knight, that boy is the only one who fought me all-out, even though he knew I was a woman."

Is that the reason Fanatio started wearing her helmet less often? "What do you mean?"

"Whenever a man fights me, there's always a slight difference in his swordplay. When I realized that, I hid my face with a helmet and mastered the art of continuous attacks to prevent opponents from getting close. But that was only because I was self-conscious about my gender. That boy saw right through me and didn't hold back as he crossed swords with me. During my battle with him, I unleashed all of my sword skills and art techniques, and when it was over, all my trivial obsessions had vanished. See? It's no wonder I want to thank that boy, right? Not to mention, I'm a little annoyed because when he saw my exposed face, he didn't find any womanliness in me. So I thought I'd try a few things...and maybe if I do this or that, he might wake up."

"Please, Fanatio, if Alice, Medina's, the former pages', and my cuteness isn't going to wake him up, your pathetic attempt isn't going to do anything either." Alice, Bercouli, and an irritated Fanatio turn to the approaching young girl in grey and black armor. She winks a red eye at Fanatio and salutes the Commander. "Back on time, as promised! Hiya, Alice."

Alice smiles and nods to the newcomer. "Hello again, Eydis."

"Good to see you here! Medina told me you were coming, but I told no one else so the surprise wouldn't be ruined. Anyway, if you want to see Kirito, you have to get Alice's permission first."

"Oh, my. I need her permission to see the boy? Whenever you asked to meet with the commander while he was on duty, I don't think I ever refused either of you due to my personal feelings."

Surely I don't need your permission to see Uncle. First of all, if you wished to be beaten up by a male knight, shouldn't you have just asked Uncle to do so?"

"Oh, but he's exempt. Since he's the most powerful swordsman in the world, of course he would go easy on me.."

"Huh? You realize the 'most powerful swordsman in the world' couldn't even beat Jaymes months ago."

"And whenever he trained with me, Uncle was always drenched with sweat from going all-out." The three girls turn to Bercouli at the same time to speak to him, but the commander is not in the same spot he was.

Instead, he moved to the large tent nearby. "Hey! It's time to start the war council."

"For the last four months, we've considered all kinds of strategies, but have concluded that it will be difficult to repulse an all-out attack at our current strength. On our side of the End Mountains, there's nothing but grassland and rocks for 10 kilors in all directions. If they force their way in this far, then we'll be surrounded and massacred by the enemy." Fanatio points to the map of the gate and the surrounding land. "Therefore, we have no choice but to fight in this narrow ravine that's 100-mel wide and 1,000 mel long. We'll set up a defensive position here, and relentlessly repel the enemy's advances, and strike them down. This will be our basic strategy throughout the operation. Does anyone have any thoughts so far?"

Eldrie stands up. "The enemy forces include orge units equipped with longbows, as well as the even more dangerous order of the dark mages. What are we going to do about their long-range attacks?"

"It will be a risky gamble, but… Having gone there not too long ago, for battle, there's something I noticed. There's no sunlight in that ravine, even during the day, and not a single blade of grass on the ground. In other words, spatial resources are sparse there. If we can consume every bit of it before the battle starts, in theory, the enemy will be unable to launch any powerful art techniques. Needless to say, the same is true for us. However, we only have 100 or so sacred arts wielders on our side. Should we find ourselves exchanging art techniques, the enemy will be sure to consume far more resources."

"I see. I believe you're right, Vice Commander." Integrity Knight Deusolbert Synthesis Seven says as he stands up. "But if the resources are exhausted, won't we be unable to restore the life of the wounded?"

"That's why I said it was a gamble. We've brought all of our high-level reagents and healing potions with us. If we restrict all art techniques to healing arts and use our medicines to assist, the reagents should last for at least three days."

Alice stands "There's one more problem, Lady Fanatio. No matter how sparse Solus and Terraria's blessings may be, there must be a vast amount of resources in that ravine that have built up over the years. Who would be able to deplete that power in the short time we have before the battle?"

"No, there is someone. Just one who is capable of that. That would be you, Alice Synthesis Thirty. Perhaps you hadn't realized, but your power surpasses that of any Integrity Knight. I'm sure you're capable of wielding it now, the true sacred power that can split the heavens and rupture the earth."

"Alfheim!" Eydis suddenly stands up, then turns to the second row. "Medina, Sortiliena, isn't that Jaymes' Incarnation?"

"I recall him saying something of the sort."

"So do I."

Eydis cheers to herself and faces Fanatio with sudden seriousness. "Lady Fanatio, we might have a card up our sleeve. Jaymes has the ability to utilize the arts without any resources in the area. I have not seen this specific action in person, but we once saw an Incarnation that could shield against almost any attack. I have faith Jaymes' ability could, even for a while, turn the tide in our favor."

"And where is he?"

Eydis excitement falls momentarily. "He'll be there… He promised."

"All right. please look after Kirito for us, will you?"

Tiese and Ronie salute to the three girls in front of them and, in Alice's mind, to the man that is not here. "Yes, you can count on us."

"Lady Alice, Lady Eydis, and Lady Medina, we promise to protect Kirito, no matter what."

Medina nods. "We appreciate it. I'm sure Jaymes will too."

Alice kneels in front of Kirito. "Kirito, this could be our last goodbye. I'll do my best, as well. I'm going to burn every last drop of the life that you gave me. So, should I fall, and call your name with the last of my strength, will you stand up and draw that sword for me? If you're awake, it won't matter if the enemy has thousands or even tens of thousands. Make a miracle happen again and protect everybody. After all, you...defeated Administrator. To me, you are the most powerful swordsman of all." Alice lets Kirito go and turns to Medina and Eydis. Waving farewell to Tiese and Ronie, they exit the tent.

"Lady Alice. Oh...and Lady Eydis and Lady Orthinanos. Let's head out now."

"Eldrie," Alice calls out, turning Eldrie back around. "You've served me well until now. I was truly blessed to have you by my side. You didn't choose a senior male knight like Sir Deusolbert. You wished to be trained by an amateur like me because you were concerned about my heart."

"Not at all! I would bever be so insolent. It was just because I was so in awe of your splendid sword skills."

Eydis scoffs. "Look at you now."

Alice takes hold of Eldrie's hand. "Thanks to your support, I was able to walk this dangerous path until today. Thank you."

As Alice lets go, Eldrie's fact becomes mixed with grief and confusion. "Lady Alice, why do you speak in the past tense? Why would you imply that your path is about to end here? I… I still haven't learned enough from you! My sword, my arts… I'm still nowhere near your level! I need you to continue training and guiding me, forever and ever…"

"Integrity Knight Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One! Here are my final orders as your mentor. Make sure you survive. Live to see the advent of peace. And then, take them back. Your true life and your loved one." Alice steps aside, followed by Medina and Eydis, the latter patting the standing, tear-filled male knight on his shoulder as she passes.

Eventually, Medina splits from the knights, so they walk together to their dragons. Once upon Amayori, Alice faces Eydis as she adjusts herself on her dragon Kirimai. "Eydis… Will Jaymes be there?"

"He promised."

"Did you find him?"

"No, I did not. But… I know in my heart he'll be there." Eydis clutches her breastplate, and Alice understands what she means. After all, she has a similar feeling that Kirito will indeed stand and fight again. "Maybe that's the thing called love, huh? Makes you believe in miracles and whatnot."

"...Maybe so."

Eydis stands with Medina and her couple hundred wayfarers, folding her arms and staring out to the breaking Eastern Gate. In the front are the soldiers led by Fanatio, Eldrie, and Deusolbert, the middle populated by troops led by Sheyta Synthesis Twelve, Renly Synthesis Twenty-Seven. Linel Twenty-Eight, Fizel Twenty-Nine, Bercouli, and Medina's wayfarers. Eydis' soldiers form the reserves behind Bercouli's in the back, and Alice hovers above them on Amayori.

On the gate appears words on fire. "Final Load Test."

"This is what Jaymes spoke of."

"Yeah… Medina, he will come."

As the gate breaks apart and bursts into light, Medina drops her head. "I know. He told me to bring something for him here, so I have faith he'll be here… Good luck, Eydis."

"Same to you." Eydis begins the walk back to her unit and grips her sword tensely. The time to fight has come, and the hero of the ACTF has not arrived yet. She looks to the sky and says a silent prayer to whichever goddesses are presently watching, be it Solus, Terraria, Stacia, or the lesser-worshipped Lunaria.

The War of Underworld has begun.