Jaymes

Asuna's power raises the earth, splitting the newcomers from the Dark Territory and the Human Empire. She must really be in pain now to have conjured up a powerful move. Koharu holds her up as Asuna tries again, only to be stopped by Alice.

"Don't overdo it, Asuna. Leave the rest to us, Jaymes and the Integrity Knights."

"Alice," I say, pointing to the red players. "Those soldiers in red are from our world."

"Like what Medina could do?"

"Yes, but… Even though Medina can control her power now, this is different. The wayfarers, in crude terms, were puppets, meant to be controlled by Orthinanos' ability. Even now, they aren't like me or the girls. But those people in red… Those are people like me, Koharu, and Asuna in mind."

"Even so, if they're merely a bloodthirsty lot, haphazardly flailing their swords, there's nothing to fear, even if there are thousands of them."

"Exactly," Bercouli chants. "How about sharing a little bit of the glory?"

I look around to the four Integrity Knights with us, then to Asuna and Koharu. They're our problem, but this is still the Underworld's fight. "All right. Let's do this."

"All right! All troops form a phalanx! We're going for a single-point breakthrough!" As Bercouli rallies his people, I join Asuna and Koharu as we see red soldiers walk through the rock formation. Unsheathing Falchion, I point it towards the enemy.

"Try our best to stick together, but even if we get separated... We were once three of the best players in one deadly battle."

"Then let's prove why we were once the best of the best."

"Agreed. Koharu, Jaymes... Let's go!"

Asuna

With the new development, Asuna, Koharu and Jaymes aid the Human Empire in a war on two fronts. The fighting gets bloody, and for Asuna, seeing the Fluctlights cut down ruthlessly by the real-world players, it reaches her breaking point.

Underworld's Lady Stacia suddenly becomes the berserk half of the ALO's Berserk Healer.

She cuts down player after player, soaking the ground with their blood. But that eventually turns against her as she stumbles on a puddle of blood. Seeing it, a player with a huge ax approaches her. "Take this!" Asuna attempts to dodge but fails to do so as fast as she normally would, her left arm suffering the painful consequence. She kneels, finding herself surrounded by more players. Suddenly, a blue light coats their heads, causing them to wobble in place, then fiery fists and kicks pop each of those heads off.

"Asuna!" Koharu, her dagger dripping in blood, runs up to Asuna and looks to her friend's savior, a muscular male with blonde hair. He looks like a pugilist. "Um...thank you?"

"Heh… They're all weak." He suddenly ignites his fist and slams it into the ground, causing a huge explosion around the girls.

"Amazing… Huh?" The man picks up Asuna, staring at her and Koharu with his left eye. "Let's make a deal."

"Deal?"

"Yes. You're the one who made those fissures and that giant chasm, right? Listen. Put a bridge across the crack behind me. It can be narrow, as long as it's sturdy. Do that, and my 4,000 pugilists will fight with you until we annihilate every one of those red soldiers."

Koharu gasps. "The Dark Territory Army will fight with us?"

"I don't think this man would lie," says Sheyta as she approaches and stares at the man. Asuna looks at Koharu, who nods in agreement. If an Integrity Knight is willing to trust a member of the enemy, then the old saying of enemies and friends apply. For now, both sides have a common enemy.

"All right. I'll build a bridge over the chasm." Asuna raises her sword again and manipulates the world, creating horizontal pillars in a similar manner Jaymes would have had he finished the bridge he began, on a scale he wouldn't have been able to produce. As the pillars on both sides of the chasm meet, the Dark Territory Army cheers as now they're able to cross and fight the invaders.

Alice

"Not our finest moment together, huh?"

Finding some air to scoff at Jaymes' remark, Alice breathes heavily as the red knights just keep coming and coming, no matter how many they cut down. "They're…anomalies… Move. Move!" Alice swings her blade, beheading four knights and cutting down another before her fingertips glow red and arrows form. "Discharge!" The arrows explode, creating a gap in the enemy forces. Alice also spots a nice place to draw the fight. "I'll incinerate them all at once from the top of that hill! Move!"

"Alice! Move!"

She doesn't hear Jaymes in time as a black dragon scoops her up and drags her into the air. Osmanthus Sword still in her hand, she glares at the man. "Enhance Arma…" The man holds his hand out, conjuring a black veil that knocks her out cold.

Jaymes

"You bastard! What are you doing to my apprentice… Jaymes, after him!"

"Leave it to me, Bercouli! Catch up when you can!" Taking off from the ground, I push my power as hard as I can, and beyond that. I didn't even notice the dragon until it was too late, and that lateness has cost us Alice's safety in the hands of Vecta. Behind me, I hear the fluttering of dragon wings. Bercouli is right behind me...and Vecta, he's not getting away. Not from the Knight Commander, the strongest in the Human Empire, and the Hero-King who slew the Pontifex.

I promised Eydis, and I will honor that promise.

Koharu

The power of the pugilist guild, the ability for Asuna to reattach her arm...it is simply astounding to her. Yes, the latter isn't new to her, SAO, ALO, and SA:O eventually regenerate lost limbs after some time has passed, but the Underworld isn't like them at all. "Impressive."

"Being impressed isn't going to cut it," Iskahn says. "If we do make it south, what are we going to do then? Defeating that many enemies might be difficult, even for us."

Asuna frowns as she finishes healing her arm. "When you break through the enemy lines and make it south, keep advancing, and distance yourself from the enemy. I'll create another fissure and isolate the enemy. Koharu, we're going to need to count on your ability as well. Mess with the enemy's minds long enough to give that opportunity a chance."

"I'll try," she responds. She's sure it is possible, but never has she manipulated so many minds before. Sure, a few people are doable, even a rampaging monster, but an army? Asuna is asking a lot of her, but the former top player of SAO will try her best as she always has. Everyone, including Jaymes and Kirito, is counting on her.

A soldier runs up to the four warriors. "A message! A message! Integrity Knight Alice has been carried away by the enemy commander on his dragon. The dragon seems to have flown to the south."

"Did you say the emperor flew away? So he wasn't just looking on as a spectator earlier? Hey, woman, Alice is the Priestess of Light, isn't she? Why does the emperor want her so badly? What's going to happen if the emperor captures the Priestess of Light?"

Asuna doesn't mince her world. "This world will be destroyed. When the Dark God Vecta seizes Alice, the Priestess of Light, and reaches the World End's Altar, this world, both the Human Empire and the Dark Territory, will be reduced to nothingness."

"Dragons can't fly forever," Sheyta says. "The most they can fly without a break is half a day."

Iskahn bangs his fists together. "Then it looks like you'll have to put your spirit into it and give chase, right?"

"'Give chase'? But you… Aren't you with the Dark Territory Army? Why would you say that?"

"Emperor Vecta told us, the Council of Ten, in so many words, that all he was after was the Priestess of Light. The moment he flew away with the priestess, the emperor's goal was achieved. In other words, whatever we do now, even if it's helping the Human Empire Army steal back the priestess from the emperor, it's our choice. Isn't that right? I… We...can't defy the emperor directly. If the emperor gives us another order to fight all of you, we have to obey. So we, the pugilists guild, will stop the red soldiers here. I want you and the Human Empire Army to go after the emperor. And tell the emperor...that bastard… Let that bastard know that we're not his damned puppets!" Iskahn looks out to the fighting, seeing the pugilists form a divide in the red army's lines. "And you three get out of here. We can only hold out for so long."

"Thank you."

"I'll aid you as much as I can as we escape."

"I will remain here, too."

Asuna and Koharu nod to Sheyta. "Understood. Please take care of the rearguard."

Asuna and Koharu commission a horse, and Koharu uses her ability to weaken the minds of the red players as the Human Empire Army passes through, giving the pugilists some time to fight at their best.

"Are you sure about this, woman?"

Sheyta turns to the guild leader. "I already told you my name."

"Are you sure about this, Sheyta? There's no guarantee that you'll live through this."

"I'll be the one to slash you. They can't have you."

"Hmph. Whatever… All right! Come on, everyone, show me some fire! Circular formation! All-around defense! Any moron that comes near us, give them hell!"

Ocean Turtle, 6:01 AM

"Right now, I'm sending US players into the Dark Territory via a satellite connection."

Vassago's eyes widened. "What?"

Critter laughs and pulls up a map of the Underworld. "This is the movement log for you and the captain. Right now, the captain's gone past where you died and is heading further south. And he's left behind the entire Dark Territory forces in the north. He's going solo. What that means is…"

"He's either chasing Alice or has already captured her, huh?"

"Yeah, but there's one problem. Look at this." Critter zooms in just between the East Gate and Gabriel's location. "What's marked in red is the horde of US players. and the black part surrounded by that red is the Dark Territory Army. The problem is this white group here, or what's barely left of it, that is. That's the Human Empire Army. There are like 700 of them or so. If the catch up to the captain, it's going to be a pain. I have to stop them somehow."

"Stop them, sure, but how?"

Another display with thousands of red lights appears. "These are the US players waiting for the second connection. Once it hits 20,000, I'm going to flood the Human Empire Army's position with them. That's twenty-eight times the combat power. They'll be crushed instantly! And then I'll set the acceleration rate back to 1,000:1. That should give the captain plenty of time to capture Alice and reach the southernmost system console."

"I hope it'll go that smoothly. The Human Empire Army is tougher than you think. Those Integrity Knights are especially insane. They did mow down the entire first wave of the Dark Territory Army. Otherwise, I never would've been defeated in such a...shameful…" Vassago gasps as he remembers just how he died. The dark-skinned boy who appeared from the light, the green-eyed girl who fought him off, and the girl in the white dress who caused him to fall to his doom. "Crimson Warrior. Kindred Assassin. Lightning Flash. That's right! There's no mistaking it. It was definitely those three!"

"Huh? What are you saying?"

Vassago pats Critter on the head. "Hey, you stupid geek! Those Rath guys holed up in the second control room are doing the same thing as us! There are three Japanese VRMMO players mixed in with the Human Empire Army!"

"What?"

Vassago grins. "If Lightning Flash Asuna, Crimson Warrior Jaymes, and Kindred Assassin Koharu are there, that could mean that he did a dive, too. Those four were always together! Are you serious? I can't just sit here like this! Hey! I'm going back in! Send me to the white group's location at the same time as the 20,000 reinforcements."

"Even if you want to go back, there's no dark knight account anymore since you've wasted it. If you're okay with one of the reinforcement's grunt accounts, I have plenty of those."

"I have an account. A real special one."

Asuna

Asuna and Koharu continue to lead the Human Empire Army, riding hundreds of meters below and behind the five dots in the sky. One is Vecta, the furthest red dot. Behind him is Jaymes flying by himself, and behind him is Bercouli on his dragon, two others tailing. "We got to catch up."

"Jaymes will get her, Asuna."

"I know. And with Bercouli, he'll be fine. But still… At least you should be fighting with him, not here, That's your place, after all."

"Our place," Koharu corrects. "And we will once we catch up...or not." Koharu's change of mind comes from the raining red pillars, once again bringing more real-world players into the Underworld. The Human Empire ceases movement as the new enemy loads in on higher ground, effectively halting them.

"Oh no. Sir Renly is sacrificing himself to break through."

Asuna gasps as she hears Sortiliena cry out, "Don't!" Her words fall on deaf ears as Renly is too far away. And in that moment, the heavens break open as a cross-shaped light shines in the sky. Within it is a dark figure, one neither Asuna, Koharu, or even Jaymes, high in the sky and looking back, can make out.

But it doesn't matter who it could be for much longer, as the newcomer fires a projectile and incinerates the US players spawning in around the Human Empire. As the explosions rock the earth, the shooter descends close to the Human Empire's forces. "It can't shoot rapid-fire? That's fine. Single-shot weapons are more fitting for me, anyway." The person lands in front of Asuna, decked out in blue armor across her body, a huge bow held underneath her left arm, and a smile that makes Asuna feel relieved. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Asuna. And...as weird as this is sounding to me as it is to you, I'm happy to see you again officially as you, Koharu."

Asuna's eyes become wet as she steps up to the newcomer and hugs her. "Shino-non!"

I look at the impressive display of power, and once I can see to some degree who just arrived, I feel some relief. Koharu, Asuna, and now Shino... How, I don't know, but I'm happy to see my friend and rival here.

For now, I'll leave everything back there to them. For now, I must get to Alice before it is too late. Reaching for my back, I undo the wrappings on the item Medina gave me. Putting the cloth away, I gaze at the item, a shield created from a brick of the Central Cathedral that I "broke off" a few months back after figuring out my Memory Release could manipulate data beyond deletion. Being that the place is immortal, there's no better base for a shield. Strapping it on, I look forward and continue my chase of Vecta. I will save her and the Underworld with all my power, with Falchion in my right hand and Vindica on my left arm.

And if there's any hope… Kazuto will awaken.