Clapping echoes within the canyon, but not one of us is performing the action ourselves. Gunther just died, so who… "Thank you for your help."

Medina's growl says it all. "Hersyrian!"

He bows in greeting to us all and faces the large ensemble of Integrity Knights. "With your assistance, the last piece will be in my hands soon."

"I just cut the last Clamp Core, you bastard, so what are you talking about? You can't gather any more Sacred Power!"

"Sacred Power? What ever might you be referring to?" Oh, I so hate this snide asshole.

"You said you were missing only one piece," Medina reminds him.

"Ahhh, do forgive me for the confusion. I did not mean to say I needed more power. The one thing I'm missing is this… System Call! Deep Freeze! Integrator Unit!" We all gasps as all the Integrity Knights are caught up in a cloud of dust, then once we see them again, they're all unconscious and attached to Clamps.

I take Falchion back in my hand. "Hersyrian!"

"I have a bit of spare time today, so how about we play for a bit?" Medina is first to bite, followed by me and Sortiliena. He blasts Medina aside with a thermal burst and deflects our joint attack with his shield. Ronie and Tiese flank Herysrian, but their blades suffer the same fate. Why can't I cut through this time? Is my will to do so not as strong as it was back then? He laughs and implodes his shield, making us fall back from the strong force. I flip in the air and glare at Herysrian, charging forward again as my blade glows blue.

"Nova Ascension!" Ten times I strike the shield, seemingly getting no closer to breaking it, then Medina twirls and burns the area with a fiery slash. As we stand together, we wait to see if there's a possibility we wore down his Incarnate Shield.

"You're but sinners playing heroes. Swinging those things around won't change anything." As the smoke clears, I see a small streak of blood on Herysrian's face. I must have broken his shield in my last attack, and Medina's chain inflicted the wound.

"Like that's going to stop us. You're not the only one who can use Incarnation here!"

"HA! Why do you hero types always fancy such disgustingly cheap platitudes? But as in the past, every play needs its false hero! And for that, I thank you."

"What the hell are you babbling on about," Medina asks angrily. "I'm done playing games with you!" Hersyrian smirks and gestures his head to the nearest Clamp, where a spiky seed can be seen in the pistil.

"It appears our time is up," Herysrian says as he telekinetically collects all the seeds. "I have completed my objective. Nonetheless, how about I leave you with a little gift, as thanks for all your help?" He turns to the Clamp containing Bercouli. "You time has come, Commander...and you too, Synthesis Ten."

As Bercouli and Eydis are freed, the pair immediately try attacking Hersyrian, only for him to step in front of Alice and hold his left hand right above her head, threatening to blow it off. It angers Bercouli, but I know it causes a rage in Eydis. "Get. Away. From. Alice."

"Then kill the boy and his friends."

I see what he's doing. "You're scum."

"You wound me. You asked for a battle, and I've given you Bercouli Synthesis One and Eydis Synthesis Ten." Bercouli slowly turns around, and as I was expecting, comes in for a quick strike. I deflect it and don't even consider trying to talk him out of it. I remember his words to me days ago very well, and I'm not going to dishonor them.

"Leave Bercouli to me."

"I'll take on Eydis." Sortiliena steps forward, brandishing her great sword as she faces the back of the second Integrity Knight. "I know you're a better swordswoman than I am, Medina, but you're hurt and tired. Ronie and Tiese stand no chance, and no how strong you are, Jaymes, I doubt you can take on both of them simultaneously. I'm also a little intrigued to see if I can stand against a veteran Integrity Knight."

"I wasn't going to try my luck. Besides, my sword's power is depleted, and even if I charge it up, it will take some time, time I don't have in battle… In other words, thanks Sortiliena." She smiles and together we walk out to confront Eydis and Bercouli. I eye the commander with a smirk as I take my stance. "Here's your chance to face me, Bercouli."

"I won't hold back, Jaymes."

"Neither will I."

"Eydis," Sortiliena calls out, "if you want to save Alice and the others, cut me down first...if you can."

Eydis sighs and holds her sword up. "I'm sorry, Liena, but you are right. I must protect Alice." With a flip from Eydis to Sortiliena, the two girls engage in combat. Not willing to let the ladies have all the attention to themselves, I take on Bercouli. Mismatched in terms of experience, the use of Perfect Weapon Control and the weight of our swords, I stick to what I'm used to, a defensive fight. The latter mismatch comes apparent as I misjudge the strength of Bercouli's swing and drop on the ground, only to be saved by Sortiliena blocking an attack from both Integrity Knights. Picking up dirt, I leap up and throw it in the knights' faces, free Sortiliena up and kick Bercouli back.

Sortiliena chases after Eydis, firing Crystalline javelins at the Integrity Knight. Eydis blocks them all then clashes with Sortiliena's greatsword, kicking it aside and kneeing Sortiliena in the gut. As the tenth Integrity Knight goes to cut her opponent down, she hesitates for a moment, giving me the chances to intervene. Combining the Aerial Element with my sword, I throw my sword. Bercouli ducks, but he's not my intended target. Falchion bounces off of the Dark Slash Sword, throwing Eydis off and allowing Sortiliena to recover. After dodging a swipe from Bercouli, I barely regain my sword in time to partially block his Nullcross attack. Grabbing my right shoulder, I drop back and attempt to heal. I see Eydis and Sortiliena are at the same standstill as the latter slides by my side. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I take a moment to glance in Hersyrian direction, who hasn't really moved from his spot, maybe a slight step to the right, but still threatens Alice, left arm still glowing and held up against her head. If only we could take him out, but my Incarnation is a bit flimsy right now against his shield. I'm still unsure if the Memory Release of Falchion can truly cut the shield like last time, but I can't exhaust my body just to attempt it. That will require me to use more of my own personal Incarnation than normal, especially now that the stones are recharging. If only there was an attack that could…

"It's called Doublecross, which cuts time like Nullcross, but instead of the future, it cuts the past. With it, I can cut the location my target was ten minutes prior to damage them now."

"That's...impressive. And I can probably see why you wouldn't want to use it unless it was a last resort."

"Indeed. It's an unblockable, unavoidable blow, which forgoes effort and technique. Of course, to use it I need to keep track of where you were exactly ten minutes ago."

"Tiese! How long has it been since has that bastard been standing there?"

She looks back at me in confusion. "Maybe seven minutes. You've been fighting for about four."

"Thanks, favorite student. Let me know when three minutes have passed." I stand up and look at Sortiliena, winking at her. "You know what, you've done well. Can say I see why Kirito respects you besides being his master."

She smiles. "Same to you. So what's your scheme?"

"I had Tiese intentionally answer that out loud. You'll see. For now, continue fighting!" I reach my hand out, using the wind to strip Linel of her knife and take it in hand. It feels like a dagger normally does in my hand, so my Priority is good enough. "I think I'm going to go all out."

"Ha. About time!" We split and engage the knights again. This time I take the fight to Bercouli, using the agility he believes I could beat him with. Sword and dagger sparks against his Time-Piercing Sword. He deflects me back and causes me to leap in the air, catching me again with a slash from the future. I barely block it and roll to dodge his leaping slash. However, I left a little gift there in the form of an explosive burst of flames from the ground. I stagger him momentarily and look to see how Sortiliena is doing with Eydis. I can't really determine it from here, but the intensity in Eydis' eyes seems relaxed… Sortiliena must have told her I have a plan.

I get up and charge Bercouli again, our blades clashing until we both leap back again. I hear Tiese call out that three minutes must have passed by for a total of ten since Hersyrian threatened Alice. Now it's all on Bercouli. Yet I don't know if he gets the idea or not as he holds his sword behind him. "Now it's time to end this." He slides forward, forcing me to block his attack with Linel's dagger, then I barely dodge a vertical slash from the future, Not prepared for his next attack, I listen intently as he speaks. "Time-Piercing Sword: Doublecross!"

"GAHHHHHHH!" Hersyrian screams as his left arm is severed and he moves away from Alice. Confused, he glares at Bercouli as the Integrity Knight turns to him.

"I took the liberty of cutting your arm ten minutes in the past. If I'm not mistaken, you said I can't cut your future, but how about your past? Everything has a past, and there's nothing you can do to erase it."

"A...past? I have...no such thing!"

"And you're not going to have much a future." Enraged, Eydis holds her sword up as it and the surrounding area is shrouded in shadows. "Enhance Armament." Eydis flies forward swinging at Hersyrian. He puts the shield up with his remaining limb, but gasps as Eydis intentionally feints by pulling her sword back before it makes contact with the shield and spinning. Hersyrian must have only planned to parry the attack, not block, as he is struck by Eydis across the chest. As he lays on the ground racked with pain, Eydis holds her sword down, and I can only imagine the face Hersyrian is looking up to in this shadow world. "Anything you'd like to say before I end you here and now?"

"You bunch of antiquated puppets are so full of yourselves! But my business here is done. Thank you for the entertainment!" Hearing a familiar roar, I reach out and retract Eydis away from Hersyrian with wind just as a dragon lands between us and him. Barely slipping away, Hersyrian chuckles as he grabs his severed left arm and climbs aboard his dark dragon. "I was hoping to rejuvenate the land with the blood of you sinners, but alas. You won't be lucky next time! I will wipe you all from the face of Terraria!"

"Hersyrian!" Eydis screams as the man flies off, but I call hold her back to calm her down. She still breathes in anger, but she stops struggling to get away as her power recesses. "Dammit! We almost had him!"

"Can't win them all," Bercouli says. "Eydis, let's go help our allies. You can start with Alice."

Eydis sighs and turns to me. She says nothing, although it looks like she wants to, then she gazes at Sortiliena. "Liena… I'm sorry, but you're a great swordswoman. You'd been a great Inte… Nevermind." She walks away and, starting with Alice, goes to help Bercouli unfreeze the Integrity Knights. Now we just have to figure out what Hersyrian took from them, how they'll help him with the Pontifex, and then… Somehow, we ascend the Central Cathedral.

I turn my head and look at the Eastern Gate, knowing my objective is just beyond it. I could take any entryway to the Dark Territory, fly there with a dragon, and bring Alice back to the real world, but...doing so now or anything before the Final Load Test feels like a betrayal to my friends, including Kirito. For some reason other than the test, I must see the war through.

But first, I must focus on the war that is coming to an end now...


I was told that Bercouli's Release Recollection (or what I think is his RR, since the future cut is the Enhance Armament, right?) was done wrong in Lycoris, so to be sure I did it justice, I just watched the fight with Vecta (haven't gotten there yet in my writing, just finished the first half of the season a few days ago) before uploading this chapter.

From what I saw, Bercouli can freely slash the past, not necessarily killing his opponent. What happened to Vecta was a definite killing blow, but Hersyrian's attack was deliberately not to kill him, just hurt him enough to free Alice. At least, that's what I tried to portray.

Seven chapters left, and after the next two with Medina, the final fight commences. See ya next time!