The stage soon opened up once more.
"You really think I can't enter a virtual world? Think again." Ehto's voice echoed as he stood alongside a number of monsters against one side of a massive wall while Theo and Ethox stood on one side of the other wall as it broke apart.
Act 4: Alicization Invading
The scene opened to a small cabin near a peaceful village where the others inside Underworld had fled alongside Alice and an unresponsive Kirito as they worked as woodcutters, well some of them anyway.
"Hard to believe in here it's been months since the Pontifex was killed when it's only been a couple of hours on the outside." Peko said.
"It's as Hyperion said, time flows differently here." Ace said. "And Kirito is still unresponsive." he said looking over the Black Swordsman.
"Whatever that surge outside did, it fried his neural network. Magic can't even restore it." Ayase said.
"Is there anything we can do?" Asta asked.
"All we can really do is hope he returns one day. Though...that may not be possible." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah...while magic is good for healing physical injuries...it can't exactly repair the brain." Ayase said.
"Still...everyone else outside…" Theo said.
"Yeah, they must be worried sick. Kirito's condition in the real world definitely has worsened." Flamberge said. "There's gotta be some way to fix this."
"If there is, we probably won't find it in this world." Mark said sadly. "Damn it, I feel so useless… a friend is probably inching towards death, and there's nothing we can do!"
"Mark, calm down." Ace said. "Getting worked up about this isn't going to solve anything."
"He's right. Remember, this is Kirito we're talking about here." David said.
"...Yeah, good point." Mark said. "If there's anyone who can come back from the impossible, he's one of the candidates."
"Yes. He's been through a lot worse, after all." Cheetah said.
"He even faked death a few times. Ah, still remember those fond memories in Hyrule back when the War of Ages were at their roots." Leopardmon said.
"Please don't make a habit of that. I was really worried about you all when I thought Rayquaza really did shoot you down." Crusadermon said.
"Well, it's getting dark. We should be…" Naofumi said before looking in the distance as an orange glow came from the far off village. "A fire?"
"This smell…" Goblin Slayer said. "I smell them...goblins."
"Goblins? They don't seem all that tough normally." Agito said.
"Not the kind of goblins Big G had to deal with. Trust us." David said.
"Yeah, Goblin Slayer kinda has a big problem with them." Ethox said.
"We have to go." Goblin Slayer spoke up. "Even in the virtual world, there can be no good with goblins involved."
"Uh...sure." Theo said uneasily.
"Don't worry. He didn't mean that towards Gobta...I think." Sachiko said.
"Yeah...but still...he's not totally wrong." Theo said.
They quickly hurried to the nearby village as an army of goblins and orcs were laying waste to it.
"Hurry! Kill them all!" one of the goblins called out as they attacked the villagers.
"They've got orcs with them, too." Peko said.
"I'm not as effective battling goblins in open spaces…" Goblin Slayer said. "We may just have to set the entire village on fire with them all in it."
"Are you crazy? If we did that, innocent people will be caught up in the crossfire." David said.
"Besides, you promised Legolia no fire." Ethox said. "Or drowning, or poison."
"...you're right. I suppose we can all work together individually to take the horde down. Each group divides across the village, corner the goblins and take them down. Don't leave a single one alive." he said.
"I'll use my ice magic to put out the flames." David said.
"Okay, break!" DJ called as everyone headed off to take care of the goblins. Slayer himself cornered one group.
"Who is this?" one asked.
"Just another human. Kill him!" another said as they charged him.
Goblin Slayer drew his sword as he sliced the head off one before killing the second. "One...two…" he muttered.
"Come on!" Roy said, cutting through a few goblins.
"This place isn't your slaughterhouse." DJ said as he sliced through the necks of any goblins in reach.
"What is with these fools? I, Orgoth the foot eater, shall kill them all and feast on their bones." said a large orc with an axe.
"Those little…" Theo said as Alice stopped them.
"Let me...I can handle this. System Call. Enhance Armament." Alice said as her sword transformed into millions of petals as they flew into the air before coming down, slaughtering a number of goblins and orc, including the orc leader, Orgoth.
Goblin Slayer walked up to Alice and looked at her. "Impressive." he complimented.
"Thank you. Now listen...all of you beings of the dark territory. Return to your land...or else face death by my blade." Alice said as the remaining goblins and orcs turned and fled.
"Wow….they were terrified." Sakura said.
"Yeah, I'd be too if I just stood before that." Cobalt said.
"Yes, we managed to win. However, if the Dark Territory is sending in raids, they must be getting ready for something." Alice said. "We may have to join with the other knights for the war effort."
"I agree. I think now that they attacked us...a large scale battle is going to be unavoidable now." Theo said. "Then again, it was unavoidable from the very beginning."
"Yes." Ace said, nervously. "The War of the Underworld."
Back on the outside…
"Okay...the sub control room is now online." Higa said.
"Good...and we've got the backup power online too." Hyperion said.
"Hopefully, this will be enough to get Kirito back up and running." Miu said.
"I sure hope so. It was pretty tough keeping them at bay while you were on the job." Sectonia said.
"Who were those guys?" Ty asked.
"Mercenaries more than likely. Definitely not Asian. Possibly American or European." Mukuro said.
"But what was with those weird masks?" Stoj asked.
"There are cameras here. They likely didn't want to be identified." Akira said.
"And they took control of the main control room." Chihiro said.
"Hmm...if they wanted us dead, they could have blown up the entire Ocean Turtle and be done with it. But that's not the approach they took. Meaning they know we have a bottom up AI. They came for Alice's light cube." Hyperion said.
"Typical government types." Lei said.
"Thankfully I locked off the procedure so neither they or us can eject the cubes from the cluster." Hyperion said.
"But...can't they just thrust themselves into the Underworld like Kirito is?" Asuna asked.
"Not quite. They would need accounts. And I took the liberty of locking up the goddesses as well as many high ranking positions within the human empire. They won't be able to get to Alice." Chihiro said.
"We could have gotten help from the others were they not dealing with those monsters on the Galaxy King." Sheer said. "Got to say...they got us good."
"Yes. This wasn't just a random raid. It's too well-coordinated." Omnimon said.
"Indeed. These attackers knew exactly how to take the ship." Gimilor said. "That raises the possibility that there were spies onboard, does it not?"
"Yes...that's the only way. Someone in the JSDF possibly leaked the info. As for who they leaked it to...I have a good idea...the NSA." Hyperion said.
"The National Security Agency, but why?" Anna asked.
"The very same. They are our allies but countries try to pull secret stuff like this all the time while making sure their involvement is covered up, hence why they're using mercenaries." Hyperion said.
"Yeah, mercenaries will do anything for money, even become lap dogs for governments." Lei said.
"Yeah...but they could be doing anything if they have an expert. They can't hack us but...ah! The final load test...they could try and do that." Hyperion realized.
"Uh...final load test?" Izuku asked.
"The Underworld is divided between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory. There's a huge wall that separates the two. The Final Load Test is when the wall comes down and the two sides engage in war. It's a way to see how they react to a full scale war." Chihiro said.
"And the World's End Altar is located in the Dark Territory." Kikuoka said.
"Oh, this does not bode well." Magnamon said.
"No it does not. And I just realized something else. While I have the human empire accounts locked up...I forgot about accounts for the Dark Territory." Chihiro said.
"So they could get in using those?!" Mayumi said.
"For your sake, your friends on the ship better have some better luck than us." Hyperion said.
On the Galaxy King…
"Go and die!" Bakugo called out as he fired a blast into an incoming Lost Beast.
"Geez… Look how many of them there are." Zamazenta said.
"Ah!" Ajna cried, being sent flying before recovering.
An Unversed took the chance and jumped to finish her before being sliced apart by Rimuru.
"Man...things can not get any worse for us." Rimuru said.
"We just have to hold on, and thanks Rimu, I owe ya." Ajna said, slamming another unversed back with her axe.
"You're welcome." Rimuru said.
Things continued to escalate as the three in the Digimon Storage were working hard.
"Okay...I'm establishing a visual connection to the Underworld." Jeremie said.
"We may need to hurry up. I think Ehto's forces are getting closer." Tails said.
"It's fine. We have the door secured. Einstein, please tell us everyone is okay." Franky said.
"Looks like it but...there seems to be a problem in Underworld. Look." Jeremie said, showing a visual of a large wall as it started to break. "The final load test for the experiment must be starting soon. And with the Axiom Church destroyed, things may be shaky for our friends in the Human Empire."
"Yes… But we should have faith. After all, on the battlefield, those people are the best fighters we know." Alphamon said.
"Kasumi, David, everyone… Please be safe." Naomi said.
"We can't just rely on them. We need to send in reinforcements." Jeremie said.
"I would have to agree. But with the forces outside, we can barely afford to spare bringing in a lot more of us." Zacian said.
"And something's been bugging me. If Ehto really is leading this army, why hasn't he tried to break in here himself?" Tails said.
"Do you think maybe he's trying to find his own way in?" Shuichi asked.
"Yeah...but I don't think he's thinking of entering the ship." Jeremie said looking to the screen.
"Can...can he do that?" Franky asked.
"Darkness and magic can do a number of things, even get you into places that are normally impossible to go to." Lea said.
"That's right. It's happened a lot already." Shuichi said.
"If Ehto gets into the Underworld, then he'll have direct access to Theo and Ethox." Double D said. "Recommendations?"
"We obviously can't stop him from trying. So the next best thing is to purge the ship of his minions and then focus on helping our allies." Jeremie said. "There's a security protocol for this. We just need someone with leader or vice leader access to activate it on the bridge."
"Leave that to me. I believe I can pull it off." Shuichi said.
"There's not too much distance between here and the bridge so you better hurry." Franky said.
"I'm on it." Shuichi said with a nod.
Shuichi ran off towards the bridge.
"Once you reach the bridge, there are a number of buttons there. Hit the blue one. It'll activate the defense systems and purge anyone who isn't a member of the alliance." Jeremie said.
"Got it. Let's see… there!" Shuichi said, seeing it before the ground shook. He turned around as he saw a large lost beast with chains on its arms.
"My...slave…" it growled.
"Uh...hey, remember that Slav guy that Simon beat in Cho-Tokyo?" Shuichi asked.
"Barely, why?" Franky asked.
"Well...I see him...and he does not look well." Shuichi said as the beast tried to smash him as he jumped away.
"Slave...mine…" he roared as he swung his chains at Shuichi.
Shuichi evaded and equipped the Hover Wispon. He fired a blast of air that blew Slav back.
The beastly former slave trader growled as he assumed a creepy standing position and glared.
"Slaves… I want slaves…. I want to chain up...make them mine." he muttered.
"Huh, so he can still speak." Shuichi said.
"Once they become a lost beast, there is no return for them." Jeremie said. "Least that's what Barl has told us. He may be speaking but he has no idea what the words he says even means."
"As David would say, 'Irony, thou art a soulless monster.'" Shuichi quoted as he switched to the Cube Wispon.
"Become...mine!" he roared lunging at Shuichi.
"It ends here!" Shuichi said as he fired a cube at the former Slav. iI hit him dead on as it exploded into little cubelets.
"ROARGHHHH...my...slaves." he roared before falling to the ground and fading to nothing but bones and chains.
"Gotta hurry!" Shuichi said as he pressed the blue button. Weapons systems activated all across the ship as they fired at the demons, unversed, goblins and lost beasts, killing them all dead.
"He did it. Now the lockdown will go into effect, sealing them all out of the ship." Jeremie said.
"What about our guys in the Ocean Turtle?" Franky asked.
"They'll have to fend for themselves for now. Right now, we need to hurry and send some of our guys in. We don't have a lot of time." Jeremie said looking on the screen to an encampment.
Inside Underworld, close to the dividing wall…
"Wow...it's like watching a countdown to war." Theo said looking at the wall.
"Yep. There's no going back from this now." David said.
"I may be nervous about this, but I'm gonna give it my all to help!" Ace said, gripping Celestial Twilight.
"Whatever comes when that wall comes down, we're ready for it." Ethox said.
"Hell yeah. We're going to make sure we win this thing with all we got!" Asta called out.
"I promise you all on this that we will see this battle through." Miriam said, holding the flat end of Blue Rose to her right as she summoned bright blue rose petals in her armored left hand.
"Yeah...thanks." Theo said. "Besides...I can feel it. He's on the other side of that wall."
In the Dark Territory, a rift soon opened as Ehto and Sentibug emerged from it. Ehto turned to the large forces of the Underworld. "So many monsters here." he said before looking to an important looking man and a single dark knight beside him. "They are humans from the outside. Guess our interests align."
"Sir...should we…" Sentibug asked.
"Of course." Ehto said widening the rift as marching in was the massive army he had built up over the course of his journey. "This...is MY army!" he declared and laughed as the wall soon broke.
Part 4: Alicization Invading
END