The next three chapters are my favorite in the first half of the story. The reason why for this one and the next are going to be obvious by the end of this one, and Chapter 15 is a chapter adapted from Alicization Rising Steel.

As for the second half, its 95% complete. Some lingering details are still being debated in my head, but everything as of now is written. So besides Fairy Dance, I'm working on a new story with the gang that I'll publish after WoU and FD are both done. I wish it was Unital Ring, because I have some ideas, but...yeah, no can do right now. I'm waiting on the second English volume before I jump on that ship. It's an AU, and I plan to have it up concurrently at some point with a good old Progressive/Integral Factor mashup.

Anyway, thanks so far for the support, especially if you've read everything up to this story. Enjoy the chapter.

"My name is Alice! Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty! Proxy of the three gods who protect the Human Empire, the Priestess of Light! All those who stand before me, brace for my holy authority to vanquish every last one of you!"

"Oh...Alice… Alicia." Gabriel stands up as he sees the golden armor on the dragon fly towards the south. "This time… This time I have to capture her! I have to seize the Lightcube where that girl's Fluctlight is stored, and savor it to my heart's content… All troops, prepare to move! With the pugilist guild in the lead, followed by the dark mages guild and the supply corps, head south! Capture that knight, the Priestess of Light, unscatched!"

Alice

"The Dark God Vecta sure seems obsessed with you," Bercouli says as he uses two pieces of glass to scope out the enemy. He's planning to come after you with his entire army."

"I suppose we should be happy about that," Alice remarks. "It's better than being ignored, at least."

"So about our strategy going forward. The raid unit and I will keep leading the enemy away, and reduce their force's numbers. Does that sound right?"

"Yes. We've already annihilated half of the invading forces, which leaves only the enemy's main force of the dark knights and the pugilists. We'll wear them down to a certain point, and if we can defeat the Dark God Vecta, it's highly likely that the remaining enemies will be open to a truce."

"Hmm. The problem is, who will be leading the enemy when that happens? If only that Shasta brat were alive."

"Uncle, you think the dark general is already dead?"

"Yeah. I told Eydis as much. I can't detect him in the main enemy force. I did have a feeling that maybe…" Bercouli holds that thought as Renly and Sheyta return to the pair.

"Allow me to report, my lord Knight Commander. There'll be no problem using the designated spot in the south for our ambush."

"All right. Thanks for checking. Have the units prepare to move out. Your dragon must be exhausted. Be sure to give it plenty of food and water."

Renly salutes and heads back to his dragon. As he stands there, Alice sees a smirk on Bercouli's face. "Uncle?"

"Oh, it's just that… Robbing people of their memories, and freezing their life to create Integrity Knights… I agree the Synthesis Ritual shouldn't be allowed. But it'll be a shame to not have young fellows like him joining the order anymore, you know?"

"I don't believe that having your memory altered and your life frozen is the one way to become an Integrity Knight, Uncle." She reaches to her back, taking hold of Eldrie's whip. "Even if none of us are left standing, our souls, our purpose will be inherited by those who come after us. That's what I believe."

The moment is interrupted by the sound of breaking rocks in the distance. "Something's coming."

"That has to be the pugilists. They're going to be a handful. They'll glady take injuries from a bare fist, but they absolutely refuse to be slashed with a sword."

"What? Refuse?"

"The more training those pugilists undergo, the more they're convinced 'a blade is nothing to be afraid of'. That becomes their willpower and they will literally harden their physical bodies to deflect any blade. Either way, we'll need to prepare ourselves to defend against them."

"I shall go." Bercouli and Alice jump and turn. Neither of them knew the Silent One, Sheyta Synthesis Twelve, was still standing with them.

Sheyta

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing there?"

Sheyta stands alone against the pugilist guild, as she asked of Alice and Bercouli. They went along with it without much argument. Sheyta looks off to the side before eyeing the guild leader again. "I'm here...to keep you from advancing."

He scoffs. "You couldn't even stop once brat. Or wait...are you a knight who can only cast arts?"

Sheyta "looks" for her answer again. "I'm not skilled in the formal arts."

The leader scoffs. "Whatever. Yotte, fight her."

"You got it!" An energetic girl with red and white hair stands against Sheyta, who doesn't look too impressed with her opponent...or the number of them.

"Only one?"

"That's what I'm saying, you beanpole! Shut up and draw your sword!" Sheyta quietly appeases the girl's demands, reaching and drawing her rapier, the Black Lily Sword. A blade so thin that, if held correct, could become invisible to the eye. Sheyta's nonchalant attitude incites the girl. "Don't mess with me!" Yotte charges Shetya and throws a punch, only for it to be blocked by the Black Lily. That, and split in half as Yotte's punch continues as if nothing happened.

"Hmph."

"I'm told that you always keep to yourself. Why is that? You don't care for other people? Or...are you afraid that you'll end up slashing them? Your desire to slash is written all over your face. You'd like to slash everything in sight. It's like you're cursed with a murderous impulse. Oh, not that I'm scolding you. And besides, I'm sure this is quite good news for you."

Administrator holds up a black flower. "You brought this back from your last reconnaissance mission of the Dark Territory. This flower has absorbed massive amounts of the spatial resources generated on the battlefield. I'm going to turn it into your Divine Object. A sword with the highest priority that can slash anything."

The flower becomes a thin-blade rapier, and the Pontifex hands it to Sheyta. "This sword is a manifestation of the curse carved into your soul. A curse known as 'murderous impulse,' created by the distortion of your inherited characteristic parameters. Slash, slash, slash on and on. Only at the end of that blood-smeared path will you find the key to breaking your curse. At least, you might."

Sheyta didn't find it before she was frozen, nor did she find it during the Clamp Crisis. Maybe she'll find it now by slashing up the pugilists. And that she does as she bypasses their leader and slashes on and on and on and on.

Alice

Alice's eyes widen in surprise as Sheyta, for a accurate description, carves through the pugilist guild. "What a savage style of fighting. That said, for how violent her attacks are, I'm not detecting a murderous impulse from Lady Sheyta. Not even hostility."

"Don't think about it. I've known her for over a hundred years, and I still have no idea what she's thinking. Not a clue. It's fine if we leave this to her. The enemy's main force will catch up soon. We have to get ready for their attack."

"Yes, sir."

Renly

"The units are in position."

"Okay." Renly and the soldiers wait along a trail in a forest, prepared to ambush the incoming enemy forces. According to Bercouli, the pugilists are vulnerable to the sacred arts. The forest is sparse in growth, but it will do compared to the empty lands around here. The monks can orchestrate an attack together, and the dragons could burn the confused enemy.

A sudden thought pops in Renly's head. "That reminds me, where's the Supply Corps?"

"Sir, they're standing by at a distance from the front lines, so as not to get caught in the battle."

"Got it. Thank you."

"How is everything with you two?"

"The Supply Corps is standing by for now," Tiese reports to Jaymes, "and the others are planning an ambush for the main forces, just as planned."

Jaymes sighs in relief. "Good. Everything seems to be well here. Actually quite a bit boring, guess I'll have to entertain myself with Medina. Let me know when you start moving again. I need to speak to Alice."

"Will do," Ronie says before the light on their bands go out. For now, the Supply Corps is safe and sound away from the battle. No harm should come to them if the ambush is successful.

If only they knew harm was already here...

Sheyta

"Don't get so full of yourself, dammit!" Sheyta turns and blocks Iskahn's fiery fist. He grits his teeth and looks at her arm. "To my fists...your armor is like paper!" On cue, the armor on Sheyta's left arm breaks apart, but her physical body is fine. She takes note of the development and swings her blade against Iskahn's arm, making contact with fire as if it protects him. It did, but her sword still touches him.

He ignites his left fist and swings, Sheyta side-stepping but taking some damage on her chestplate. Iskahn, on his part, licks the shallow wound Sheyta inflicted on him. "Damn you, woman, your appearance is totally misleading, huh?"

"I'm...older than you."

"Huh? Well, of course you are. You Integrity Knights are monsters that don't age for decades, right? So should I cll you grandma instead?"

"...I'll allow it. Because you're remarkably hard. I can barely find any places to slash."

"What are you talking about? Still, I guess all those rumors about the Integrity Knights being crazy powerful like demons were true. Just look what you did to my comrades." Sheyta looks around, seeing that barely, if any of the pugilists, are dead. At best, Sheyta wounded them enough to stop them from fighting. "Damn you, you're holding back, aren't you? Treating us like your training dummies… That's unforgivable. No matter what, I'm going to crush you!"

The pugilist begins to chant as their leader performs a series of moves that leads to his arms being surrounded in flames. "Here I come!" Sheyta prepares to slice him, but Iskahn plants his left foot firmly in the ground and leans down, kicking Sheyta in the shin with his other foot. "Don't think the only move a pugilist has is punching!" He kicks up with his other foot, blocked by Sheyta' sword but exposes her chest. "Take that!" The resulting explosion separates the two. While Iskahn suffers a cut to his leg, Sheyta's armor is completely destroyed, her clothing she wears underneath in tatters. But to mock her opponent, she coughs lightly.

"You're starting to look like a real fighter now. But you don't have nearly enough muscles. Eat and train more, woman."

"You, too. Just now, you became a bit softer."

"Huh? What the hell did you say? I'm not going easy on you anymore. I'm going to show you what it's like when I go all out! So you go all out, too! And would you stop looking so sleepy?"

Sheyta rubs her face, not really understanding what he means. "Well, that's the spirit...then."

"Yeah, that's the spirit." Iskahn takes a deep breath, generating blue flames on his wrists. Sheyta stands with her left side facing her opponent, activating a sword art.

Sheyta and the pugilist clash, and as they do, she wonders just why she's doing this. The pugilist attacks did startle her as his willpower was worthy of an elite knight, but she believed only his arms were hard. She wishes to behead him and end this fight, but how can she when his whole back might be too hard to make a slash?

In other words, this is fun to her.

An explosion frees the fighters, which is revealed to be one of the pugilists interfering with the fight. "Dampa! What the hell are you doing?"

"Time's up, Champion. The main force has caught up to us."

"...Woman! Don't think this means you've won!"

Sheyta sheathes her rapier and turns to the guild leader. "Calling me 'woman'... I want you to stop."

"Listen! First of all, how are you going to get out of a situation like thi--" Sheyta's dragon flies down, and the twelfth knight grabs its talon and flies off. "You little… Hey! At least tell me your name before you run off!"

"I'm not running off. I am… Sheyta Synthesis Twelve."

Ronie

Ronie steps out of the wagon she occupies with Tiese and Kirito for some air, but somehow the air she desires feels wrong. First, there's not a soldier in sight, although she knows they should be on watch. But her gut is telling her something is not right. They might be away from battle, but it is too quiet. In caution, she taps the stone on her bracelet multiple times, then draws her sword and thrusts it under her arm.

She hears a man grunt and step away as she turns around, sword at the ready. The man flips his dagger and stands back. "Hey, baby. How'd you spot me?"

"My masters taught me not to rely on my eyes, but to sense everything."

"M-Masters, did you say?"

Ronie nods and take a deep breath. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Immediately Tiese runs out the wagon, followed by nearby soldiers from the woods. Ronie circles around to stand with them.

Not too swayed by the appearance of his enemies, the man holds his hand up. "You guys… Time to work!" From the darkness of the woods, Ronie, Tiese, and the few members of the Guardian Army find them taken aback by the presence of the Dark Knights.

As Ronie stands nervously in front, she watches as the man's eyes look to her right, where a light appear in a circle on the group. Out of it comes a swirling red being that lands on its feet as the light disappears. She gasps happily. "Jaymes!"

Jaymes analyzes the situation as he reaches for Falchion. "Dark Knights and their leader, huh? Ronie, good call."

"The enemy's behind us? Dozens of them?" If they destroy the supply corps, it will immobilize the army as a whole. Not to mention Kirito and the two pages are there as well. Moving the raid unit to reinforce could give away the strategy to the enemy… But if there is a way… No, the ambush must have been compromised.

"Who would have thought they figured out our plan to head south, and placed soldiers here."

"My lord Knight Commander!"

"Renly. Give the order to retreat. Little one, rush over and help the Supply Corps. I'll hold off the enemy coming from the north."

"Yes, sir!"

"You say you'll hold them off," Alice comments in worry, "but Uncle, the enemy pugilist guild numbers close to 5,000."

"Well, I'll find a way. Now get going!"

Jaymes

"Jaymes?" The leader of the Dark Knights looks at me for a moment before he begins to laugh hysterically. "Of all places… Ha ha ha!"

I frown. "Just who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't expect you to know. Not like this, so let me remind you." The man launches forward with incredible speed as his dagger strikes at Ronie. I helplessly watch as Ronie is disarmed and knocked to the ground. Her sword is grabbed by the warrior and held at her throat. I could probably make a move, but this guy...he isn't an ordinary fighter. He's as skillful as an Integrity Knight...or dare I say, someone with enough VR experience like Kirito and I.

Tiese holds her blade up beside me, but just as I am, she's more concerned for her friend than anything. "Ronie!"

"You bastard!"

He chuckles as he turns to me. "This is it! This feeling! The pleasure from playing with someone's life, their bonds, with the tip of your sword!" He leans down and presses the blade against Ronie's neck. "Doesn't this feel familiar, boy? A poor little girl about to die and you're helpless to stop it? Yes, this is all so thrilling! No wonder I can't give up player-killing!" Wait a minute. What did he just...how does he know...and player-killing? That means he…Huh?

Next thing I see is the mysterious warrior kicked off of Ronie by a red and green streak that materializes into a hooded figure. As Ronie crawls back, the figure stands between us and the warrior, a dagger of her own glistening in the moonlight... No, her whole being glows like the moon and it continues to glow along with the sky. I look up from the fight in front of me with the girls to see a white spark descending on the world, and upon second glance, I recognize the figure from the hairstyle alone.

"Lady...Stacia…and Lunaria."

"Took you long enough… Asuna." Asuna, or Lady Stacia, waves her hand forward, splitting the ground close to my opponent's feet and onward behind him, ridding him of his forces. A similar event happens as more green-white auras fill the sky.

The warrior proceeds to laugh as he flips back and charges the dagger-holding savior, however, as she throws her hand out, his movements start to slow, like he's becoming groggy. As he drops to his knees, laughing. "Are you kidding me? Hey, are you kidding me? The three of you are here? Those faces. Those hairs. Those presences. And you're supposed to be dead…" Light circles around and creates a pit, to which he drops down into the earth.

Asuna descends on the earth nearby, rubbing her forehead and immediately spotting me. I smile and nod my thanks to her, but her attention goes from me to the one who came with her. Ronie addressed her as Lady Lunaria, possibly due to the light surrounding her like a moon. She sheathes her dagger and walks in our direction. "Are you girls alright?"

"Y-Y-Yes, thank you," Tiese answers.

She smiles and lifts her hooded face to me. "You've either grown rusty or were holding back."

"Hey, he was…" Wait a minute… That voice… Either this "Lady Lunaria" has me dreaming, or...no, there's no way in hell I'm hearing that voice after two months, but the familiarity that's me back more than two years. "No way… You can't be…"

"It's been a while for the three of us, hasn't it?" The girl removes her hood, and my jaw drops at the sight of medium-length black hair, sparkling emerald eyes, and a smile that I have never forgotten. I look back at Asuna, making sure we're seeing the same ghost...and for once, she's not afraid. I turn back around, finding the girl standing right in front of me, and throws her arms around me with tears falling down her face. And it's right then and there that I know this isn't a ghost or some NPC data haunting me. No, this is real…

Koharu, somehow, is alive.