Eydis turns to me after the ravine shakes with the echo of an angry roar. "That roar..."
"Either that's someone's stomach...or everyone needs to be on their guard!"
"Look!" At the other end of the ravine swoops in a large dragon, wings included. The beast soars over the nine of us and lands on the platform we're heading towards and greets us with a roar. As planned, Renly, Eydis, Alice, and I cautiously approach the beast.
"It's massive."
"It's unlike any beast we've seen before… That commanding presence. It must be…"
"T-The Guardian Dragon…"
"You there," it speaks as we come up to the platform, "for what reason do you dare tread on these hallowed grounds?"
"We've come to stop the lightning," I answer with an attempt at respect. "It's yours, right? Please, you have to stop."
"Stop the lightning? Why?"
"Because the lightning is causing many people to suffer greatly."
"Plant life and animals as well. At this rate, everything in Wesdarath will be reduced to ashes."
"That is precisely why I am asking. The land and all that dwell upon it are the sole property of I, Vallenthor. If I declare lightning upon this land, then it is providence...no objections."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
"Isn't it obvious. Burn… That is the fate I have decided for you all, and burn you shall."
Eydis doesn't accept that answer to her question. "But the people worship you, and you protect them in return, don't you? Isn't that why you gave humanity the Silver Orchid in the first place?"
"The Silver Orchid… I see. You used its power to gain entry to this ravine. I do reall bestowing the tiny ones with that spear. However, now I realize that decision was my single greatest mistake."
I shake my head. "I don't believe that. You gave it to them to symbolize your role as their guardian."
"Guardian, you say? You dare assign the great Vallenthor such a foolish role? I am the sovereign of this land. I was merely maintaining my property. But no longer. I will rectify my error. I will regain control of this land and its life and return it to its original state. Therefore, the lightning is a necessity. Subservience through ruin and fear. That is my decision."
"Then you leave us no choice, Vallenthor. Guardian or not, I can't let you destroy all life for the sake of controlling it."
"That reticence is the fatal flaw of your kind. Absolute control through immense power… That is the formation of order. So then, tiny ones, are you prepared? I will reduce your meager lives to cinders!" Lightning snaps around its body and the platform before being shot from the dragon's bolt-shaped horns. Wary of the electricity in the air, I take hold of the Silver Orchid and try to keep it from the others.
"You three, hurry up!"
"Come on!" Alice and Eydis engage Vallenthor, but the dragon produces a gale of wind that knocks them off their feet. In my struggle, I look at Renly, the green knight stuck in place. I can see the fear from the side of his face, but my focus is on the ever increasing might of the lightning. Eydis and Alice get up again but the dragon anages to hold them at bay.with a powerful shockwave that paralyzes them to the ground.
I then hear something land behind me, a crystalline pillar, and it is not the only one. They all charges up and, at the roar of the beast, unleash electricity towards me. However, each one is blocked by Sortiliena, Ronie, and Tiese before they rush towards the dragon. Linel and Fizel dodge the bolts and get to their superiors, recovering them from their paralysis.
"Your numbers may give you a sense of security, but it is a false one indeed." Vallenthor rises up and stomps the ground with an electric blast. The girls are cast aside like flies while I fall to the ground, still holding the spear up somehow. I grit my teeth and attempt to stand, but I can barely get up to kneel. The others...they try to continue fighting as well, but no one else can stand. I have only one choice, and that's my Perfect Weapon Control.
And that's when a white cape underneath green hair steps in front of me. "Renly?"
"When Eydis told me I was coming with you, I didn't understand why the Commander made such an order. I'd only be in your way. I was afraid to take a life, couldn't even manage Perfect Weapon Control, and was deemed a failure by the Pontifex. I thought it wouldn't make a difference whether I was here or not. But then...those girls you took on as your apprentices, Linel, Fizel, they're definitely powerless against this dragon, yet they joined this fight. Your story about the guy who struggled to save his friend...he could do anything in his condition, yet he eventually overcame that and saved her, right?"
From a point of view, yes, Eiji did eventually overcome his non-conformity and saved Yuna. "Yes, he did."
"...Then wait for an opening, and deal the final blow." Renly steps out and approaches Vallenthor. "Dragon, my name is Renly. Integrity Knght Renly Synthesis Twenty-Seven! I cannot allow you to torture this land any further!"
"Then you shall pay the consequences of your defiance!" Vallenthor charges its horns again and shoots out a charged beam of lightning, only for it to be blocked by olive petals. Alice nods to Renly as he takes the Twin-Edged Wings in hand and throws them up. "A sword has no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage… Release Recollection!" The two boomerangs fuse into a clover-shaped disk and dodges each of the lightning bolts with precise movements as it flies around the dragon towards its head and severing the horns. With that, lightning stops around the battlefield. "Jaymes, now!"
I nod and manage to stand, but not alone. Ronie and Tiese comes to my side and takes up the Silver Orchid. "We got this. On three." I nod and watch them run together towards the dragon. "One, two, three!" They launch the spear forward, striking the chest of Vallenthor.
I suddenly gain an idea and decide to give the dragon a taste of its own medicine. "Time to tip the scales. Generate Aqueous and Aerial Element. Fusion Element. Beam Shape. Thoron, discharge!" A concentrated bolt of lightning flies flom the palm of my hands and strikes the Silver Orchid, coursing electricity through the thunderer's own body.
"My turn. Enhance Armament!" Eydis thrusts her sword through the dragon's tough exterior and slices enough to deal severe internal damage. Removing her blade, she sheathes it as the dragon roars and falls on its side, ending the fight with our tough-fought victory.
"You would steal...again… The land...belongs to me… I, Vallenthor, alone...shall rule."
Tiese shakes her head as I approach the dying dragon. "No one is stealing anything from you. Because the people who live here haven't forgotten how magnificent you are. Look." She holds her hand out, the piece of charcoal the elder gave us as a symbol of the power of lightning. I did give it to Tiese to hold on to in case it became useful.
"That is…"
"They gave us this. A customary charm from a tree struck by you lightning. This is proof that the reverence and fear still lives on in the people of your land. Do you really want to make those people suffer any further?"
"Tiny ones...you have always been this way. Reverence despite calamity, fearing the bolts while praising their beauty. Truly, yours is an enigmatic kind. It is why I found you humans so fascinating. Possessing more resilience and brilliance than flora, fauna, or divine beast. Protecting that light...is my pride."
"If that's the case," I say, "why were you trying to subjugate them and make them suffer?"
"I told you. Immense power brings absolute control, and therefore, order. Temporary suffering is a small price to pay."
"Then why did you not drop lightning on towns and villages?"
"Indeed, I considered it. Attacking the humans directly for complete domination… However, every time I attempted such, something from within me refused. Nay, to be precise...something that has always been within me refused. I know not what it is, yet that is fine. I cannot establish control...defeated by the tiny ones. I have no feelings of remorse...only...this wonderous relief…"
"Jaymes!" Eydis throws me back as something from above strikes the head of Vallenthor. He roars in agony as he finally dies and bursts into a cloud of Sacred Power. And the culprit leaps down from the cliffs and lands right in the middle of the evaporating Sacred Power, chuckling all the way.
"Hersyrian!"
"Are dragons truly so frail? What a sorry end for such a spectacular debut. Disappointment aside, he served his purpose in buying us time."
I raise my eyebrow. "Buy time? Why are you here?"
"Why? Well now, isn't that a grand question?"
Eydis growls. "If you're here, Sheyta is already under Deep Freeze and bound to a Clamp. So what else is there?"
Hersyrian scoffs. "I have no obligation to answer to the likes of a traitor."
I smirk and walk forward, sword in hand. "Then I guess I'll have to get close and beat the shit out of you first."
"Did you not learn your lesson last time? Your sword cannot reach me."
"How about we try again, and let's see if I can make your head roll off your neck."
Hersyrian stretches his arms out. "Hehe. Very well. Go on. Try as you like." I accept his invitation and strike, only to be repelled by his barrier. Undeterred, I continue to try until Hersyrian swipes his staff at me to draw me back. "See? I told you. Your sword cannot hope to breach my Incarnate Shield. But this has gone on long enough. Let the shield of truth be your opponent." Black mist forms from behind Hersyrian, and out from it comes Medina and her wayfarers, swords drawn. As Medina and I glare at each other, Hersyrian gets amusement from the engagement as he retreats towards the wayfarers. "Without further ado, a reunion of old friends. The savior and the invader scum. Do you dare wield that sword against the daughter of the man who helped create it for it for you so long ago?"
"...Medina, step aside."
"No."
"This is my final time asking you to move. Don't make me do something I'll regret. I don't want to fight you, but I'm not going to hold back either."
"...As leader and savior of the people I'll stop you once and for all! The first and last friend of House Orthinanos… This ends here. Wayfarers! Don't dare interfere with our battle! Instead, stop the other traitors from advancing farther! Got it?"
As she takes her stance, I frown and look at my group. "Eydis, Alice, everyone, same orders. Do not intervene. This is our fight, and ours alone." I turn back to Medina and take my stance. "Forgive me."
"For what?"
"You're not the Orthinanos I was asking for forgiveness, just the reason for it… Don't you dare hold back, Medina, or I will strike you down."
"Hmph. That's my threat to you." Medina thrusts katana towards me, but I move quick enough to dodge them before bringing my sword to my defense. Pinning her blade low on the ground, I pivot and swing down. She rises in time to block me and retake the offensive with two half-spins. I block them both, then use the opening made to slap her in the face. She cries out and steps back, holding her burning cheek. "Bastard!"
"B-word back to you." Medina approaches me again and we clash. I maintain a defensive strategy, which I am used to despite my lack of a shield, and pick out holes in Medina's fierce offense. After a block from behind, I use my sword's momentum and come down with the Vertical sword skill, which Medina blocks but receives a wound to her left shoulder. She winces but turns the tables on me as she spins on her knee and slashes the back of my left thigh.
Gritting my teeth, we continue our fight, though I decide to switch gears and take the offense, driving her knowingly closer and closer to the edge of the platform. Medina tries to rebound with her sword skills, but while we may be evenly matched, my experience in duels vastly outweighs hers. Whether she realizes this is unknown to me as I trip her up and press my sword against her as I threaten to push her off the edge and down the ravine.
Or so I thought I had her. "Generate Thermal Element. Discharge!" Fire escapes her free hand to my face, forcing me to retreat. Parts of my face burn, but it doesn't distract me enough to stop me from dodging her sword skill and block her quick follow-up thrust. I grab her arm and elbow her in her breasts while she simultaneously punches me in the face. As we fall back, we stare at each other and take deep, tired breaths. "Ech… I will not be defeated!"
"Medina, tell me what exactly are you fighting for."
"To revive Lady Pontifex! Bring honor to my family! Those are my only reasons to live!"
"You want to know why I fight against you? I fight to protect my best friend and this world he saved once from your Pontifex. But is that all that matters to you? Sacrificing everything and everyone for those damned goals?"
"Yes it is! And if you stand in my way, I have no problem getting rid of you!" She swings at me, but I dodge and strike her back with the blunt end of my sword. "Dammit! Why can't I end you? Maybe I really am just a defect like you said."
"No, the Medina Orthinanos who I began this journey with, the Medina who came to me and ask me to help her is not a defect. That girl is my friend. The one right in front of me, who let her former self lose sight of her original purpose, is a defect."
"I've lost sight of nothing. Not since the Academy or my father's passing. Nothing! Together with my wayfarers, we'll restore honor to House Orthinanos! You lecture me on how to get what I want without sacrifice? Don't make me laugh! I have to defeat you, the Lord of Knights! I won't let you harm the flowers!"
Medina flips and strikes my blade, but I step back and stop her advance. "I, too, want to restore the honor of your family! Matthew was my friend, a sixth-ranked man when we first met. I didn't know anything than what I knew from the outside world. But your ancestor, he taught me everything I needed to fight as he did, and in turn, I taught him and all of Centoria how to fight as I do. As a gesture of our friendship, he gathered these stones, precious heirlooms of his family, took my original blade, and had the one you see before you crafted. Because of him, I owe him a very minute part of my life, but for him, those were three great years. It was with me and his accomplishments in which he became a first-ranked nobleman and took on a new name, becoming the first of House Orthinanos! I can not, I will not let you bring an end to his legacy like this! Enha--!" I thrust my blade, but I'm interrupted by the intervention of Selina who stands between me and Medina.
"Why? I told you not to interfere!"
"That person began casting a Sacred Art and it might have hit you, Lady Medina."
Medina checks and sees my blade glowlng gold, a sign of my Perfect Weapon Control. "That's no excuse! You would disobey an order? Why would you disobey ME?"
"Because I'm your friend...and friends should not fight each other."
Medina gasps and lowers her sword. "Friend…"
As I stand, I myself find myself gasping at the intervention of Selina. But not because she called Medina a friend, but she dared to stand in the face of a threat to protect her friend. And in those golden eyes that stare back at me… I see myself. I see me throwing myself in danger on the first floor of Aincrad to protect our raid leader. I see myself on the twentieth floor taking a brutal beatdown from PKers just to protect two girls I cared for. I see myself running across the forty-eighth floor and bursting in a blacksmith's shop to protect her. I see myself in a death server similar to GGO, risking my life to protect my childhood friend and others. I see myself in the forests of Ainground with a rapier user as we stand between a powerful swordsman and someone dear to us. And the current realization makes me lower my sword… For the first time, I'm not the protector… I'm the threat. In my quest to save this world and keep Kirito safe, I almost became the very thing I swore to destroy against Medina.
"Medina, Jaymes, there's still time."
Medina turns to Eydis, who steps to my side. "For what?"
"What do you really want to do? What do you hope to gain by using people like this? What do you truly wish for?"
She bows her head. "What I truly wish for...is…"
"I owe you an apology," Alice says as she approaches Medina. "Or rather, something I should have said a long time ago. When we were in Rulid Village, my argument was selfish and one-sided. I did not stop to consider the hardships you were enduring. After you rewrote their consciousness to obey, I deemed your actions purely evil."
"From your perspective, perhaps so. Even I don't fully consider it entirely just."
"Indeed. Perception is reality, and everyone follows her own sense of justice. As an Integrity Knight, I've lost things, committed crimes, and have many regrets. Not knowing the truth, I fought there were those in need of help. However, I cannot get back what was lost, or erase the sins of my past."
"You committed sins? There's no way!"
"We both have," Eydis adds on. "Me, you, Alice, even Renly over there, we're cut from the same cloth. We enjoy time with friends and lament past faults. Like Alice, I don't know what to do now, but I know one thing, and that's someone has to fight in this world for those who cannot. That's not just my charge as Eydis Synthesis Ten, bestowed with great power, but...as someone who once had a little sister to protect. Selina protected you as she truly cares for you. Haven't you made new friends?"
"Alice said before that it's not how they truly feel! It's only because of my power!"
Alice nods. "I know. I thought that in the past, but now things are different… Allow me to tell you a story. Except for Eydis, who knows of it, please keep it a secret from the other knights. And Jaymes, please listen as well… There was once a tomboy girl in Rulid Village, apprenticing in the Sacred Arts. She brought lunches and looked forward to playing with the boys on their days off. But one day, she committed a grave crime, and was brought to the Central Cathedral."
Medina gasps. "You mean...she violated the Taboo Index?"
"Yes. The Pontifex then stole her memories, and forced her to live as a knight. She is Alice Synthesis Thirty, a powerful weapon created by Lady Pontifex. In other words...me. That's why I saw myself in those wayfarers, losing their identity to your touch. As a result, I found myself vehemently opposing your actions."
"I had no idea...yet I said all those horrible things to you anyway."
"It's fine. Besides, because of you, I was able to reflect upon myself. Giving someone a false perosnality and erasing their memories is so very cruel. But if I hadn't become a knight, I never would have made new friends and bonds. Alice Zuberg, the old me, died in Eugeo's arms… All I have is this consciousness, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"You don't forgive Lady Pontifex for everything she's done, do you?"
"I do. Because the memories I've made and the bonds I forged are my own. To deny those would be to deny my existence as an Integrity Knight."
"Then you accept who you've become…"
"To a degree, I have. Which is why I cannot unequivocally condemn you. I have no clue what I have to fight for, and I hope to find that meaning. But for now, my goal is the same as when I joined Kirito and Eugeo, and that's defeating the Pontifex. You should fight for whatever it is you believe in. If that is your justice, your wish, then let us fight for our respective causes, Medina Orthinanos."
"My justice...My wish…"
I feel an elbow slug my shoulder, and knowing who it is from, I guess I have to say what's on my mind. "Medina… I have no right to ask you of this, nor to condemn you for what you've done. For my own justice, I almost made a mistake that I...would have regreted if I did it. I have lost many people that I've called aliies and friends in my life, and have fought and taken lives in order to keep those I care for alive. Only twice have I turned my weapon on someone I called friend...but only once have done it protecting no one. And I did it...and believed it to be the right thing to do to protect another's memory...but I would have tarnish the memory of the most important person in my life." I turn around and look at Medina. "Medina, I want to fight alongside you again."
"Jaymes…"
"If that's not what you want, I'll accept it. But someone we both find annoying at times will kill me if I did not try to convince you. You're a dear friend, even right now. And I'm sure all of this might be my fault somehow, but if I can fix it, allow me."
Medina sighs and closes her eyes. "You really are a fool."
I smirk. "I know someone who'd agree with you wholeheartedly. It's gonna make going home a real--" The ravine suddenly begins to quake, shocking us all. "What is going on?"
"Why is the ground quaking like this?"
"It's possible...that Lady Pontifex has finished gathering her lifeforce. We were delivering the Clamp's fruits to a designated hidden area at the cathedral. That was proof that Lady Pontifex has all of the Sacred Power she needs."
I groan. First is the failure to stop Aincrad's revival...now this. "Dammit. Not this again...why can't the dead just not come back? Oh, well, we should get to--."
"Sheyta!" Eydis turns to Medina and points in the direction Hersyrian last went. "Medina, can you let us pass?"
"I was defeated, so I suppose I must." She turns to the wayfarers and gestures them aside. "Everyone, let them through."
"Thank you, Medina," I say as I walk away, only to stop three steps later and look at her sword. "By the way, your swordplay was amazing. I hate to admit it, but if we had gone longer and if I didn't think of using my Perfect Weapon Control… Matthew is probably laughing from the grave."
"That's your takeaway?"
I smile at her frown. "Now we'll just have to see if an Orthinanos can beat me without interference."
She sighs, yet for the first time in over a week I see her smile. "You really are the most annoying hero, and that's saying a lot in relation to Kirito."
"Really? He's sleeping through this mess he created. That has to be more annoying."
