Hello guys! Happy NEW YEAR! Damn I still can't believe its 2020 already.

I was actually hoping to pull off a chapter on new year's eve, but some shit came up and I couldn't finish it in time.

Anyways, NeonGaner973, thank you for your review, but what do you mean by the previous chapter 'actually being in to the story like any LN'? I'm a bit confused what you meant.

About Asuna and the other girls, don't worry, they, along with the people of the Elemental Nations will appear soon. If I am right, they will appear within the next three to four chapters.

To the Guest, in the Underworld? No. But they will come back within the next few chapters.

NinjaFang1331, thank you, I hope you like this chapter and the following ones as well.

Chrisplayz, yes the Integrity Knights, along with all the people from the Elemental Nations do seem to outclass all the antagonists revealed so far. I will try to balance it out, but I'm not sure how it will go as of now.

To SaintSaberFang, I don't have a friend who makes reading fanfictions. I personally don't like reading them much, but if you do know anyone who can do it, then I'm open to the idea of having someone do one. Just get them to PM me before they write one of course.

To DaManWOFear, yes, for now Kirito's soul will be split, a bit similar to how Hakuno was in Fate Extella The Umbral Star.

About the Synthesis Ritual, since I changed Quinella's character here, I didn't want to use the original one. So instead, I opted to make it similar to a blessing, like how Artemis blesses her hunters.

As for Quinella herself, well, just to clear things up there is the real one and the avatar one. They both originally have the same appearance, however, because Chudelkin ripped her powers away from her soul, it caused Quinella to age tremendously, while the avatar retained her young appearance.

When they get Quinella's powers back, she will pretty much look the same as the Administrator form. Without the nakedness of course.

As for Eldrie, he has a family, yes. But as far as I know he isn't married or engaged or anything. I'm not planning to expand much on his character history as of now, but I will make it where he visits his parents from time to time, but not too frequently.

As for Vector and the Dark Territory, well, they will appear at the end of the current arc, but nothing more until I bring in the Elemental Nations.

So yeah, that settles it for the replies to the reviewers. I thank you all for your reviews, if you do have any suggestions, do tell me.

And for the three missing slots for the Integrity Knights. I thought long and hard about it, and I think I cannot handle that many characters being in the story as of now, so I will leave them empty, being that they died in duty.

I believe the reason Reki left most of the Integrity Knights unrevealed was also because he didn't want to have that many characters in the already crowded story. But well, we don't really know anyways haha.

So yeah, here's the next chapter, enjoy.

XXX

Back in the Sword Mastery Academy, a week had passed since Kirito and Eugeo were taken away.

News of Raios and Humbert's deaths had spread like wildfire, and while not many knew the truth, not many cared and figured the two nobles had it coming.

After all, it wasn't a secret that the two nobles were just plain assholes, especially when it came to Kirito and Eugeo, and it wasn't like their absence affected them much.

As for Ronye and Tiese, Azurica had offered to have them become the Valets of the two new seats of the Elite Swordsman-in-Training. But the two girls just didn't see the point in doing that anymore.

Now, Ronye and Tiese had just finished cleaning the dorms, as normal students were required to do so, and were heading out for a short break.

As the two girls walked along the streets, they spotted three people on the streets.

They didn't recognise the man or the shorter brunette, but they certainly recognised the former second seat of last year's Twelve Elite Swordsman-in-Training.

Ronye blinked, "You're, Sortiliena Serlut."

Tiese also blinked in surprise at seeing the woman.

The woman blinked, "You are?"

Ronye and Tiese both nodded, the former spoke, "I'm Ronye Arabel, I used to be Kirito-senpai's Valet, and she's Tiese Shtolienen."

Tiese nodded, "I used to be Eugeo-senpai's Valet."

Gorgolosso's eyes widened, "Used to..."

Liena's face fell, "So... it's true."

Ran stared worriedly at Liena, "Liena..."

The taller brunette let out a breath, "Let's talk somewhere else."

(linebreak)

A short while later, the five of them were at a park.

After a short moment of silence, Gorgolosso spoke up, "So, can you tell us what happened?"

Ronye and Tiese shared a glance, before the former nodded, "Do you remember Raios and Humbert?"

The three older swordsmen shook their heads, and Liena spoke, "I'm sorry, but no."

Ronye nodded, "It's fine. Anyway, Raios and Humbert were two students who didn't like Kirito-senpai and Eugeo-senpai at all."

Tiese nodded, "They tried to harass them many times, though Kirito-senpai and Eugeo-senpai just ignored them."

Ran raised an eyebrow, "Then why would Kirito and Eugeo kill them?"

Ronye and Tiese's faces dropped, and Ronye answered, "Because of us... Raios and Humbert wanted to get at Kirito-senpai and Eugeo-senpai, and because of our carelessness, we were forced to accept sexual punishment."

Gorgolosso nodded, understand where this was going, "So Kirito and Eugeo killed them to save you."

The two younger students nodded. Ronye looked up at the three graduates, particularly at Liena, "I'm sorry, its our fault..."

Liena looked at the girl in the eye, and she knew the look in Ronye's eyes. The girl was blaming herself for Kirito and Eugeo being sent to the cathedral.

The woman shook her head, smiling kindly, "Don't blame yourselves, I'm sure Kirito and Eugeo have both told you that too, right?"

Ronye and Tiese both nodded slowly. Liena nodded, "So, can you tell us how they were doing throughout the year?"

Ronye and Tiese both looked at the older woman, and they nodded.

(linebreak)

After a while of reminiscing about Eugeo and Kirito, Liena and Ronye were alone at a more secluded area of tthe park.

As they walked, Ronye asked, "So, Miss Serlut, what did you want to talk about?"

Liena smiled, "No need to be so formal, we're friends now, call me Liena."

Ronye blinked several times, before she smiled and nodded, "Alright, Liena."

Sortiliena smiled in response, and after a short moment, the woman asked, "You like Kirito, don't you?"

Ronye almost froze at that question, before she recovered herself and asked with a smile, "What are you talking about?"

Liena looked at Ronye in the face, and she instantly saw through the fake smile.

The woman sighed, and she stopped walking, "You don't need to hide it."

Ronye clenched her fists, "Why does it matter? Kirito-senpai isn't coming back anyway."

Liena smiled softly, "He will, Kirito isn't the type of person to let himself get killed like that. In fact, he might very well just go live in the Dark Territory."

Ronye's eyes widened, now she thought about it, that was something Kirito would probably do.

Liena continued, "That's why, I'll become an actual knight, and I'll go into the Dark Territory to look for him."

Ronye's eyes widened again. She could tell Liena wasn't lying, so that'd mean that she was being serious about it.

The girl stayed silent, no words coming out.

Sortiliena faced the younger girl, "I hope your feelings for Kirito are real, because I acknowledge you as my rival."

Ronye stared at the older woman, dumbfounded by her declaration, "W-what are you saying?"

Liena grinned, "It's your choice, but one way or another, I'm seeing Kirito again, even if I have to drag him out of the Cathedral myself."

The short haired girl clenched her fist, before she took a shaky breath, "I also want to see Kirito-senpai again."

Ronye held her head up, staring at Liena straight in the eye, her eyes burning with determination, "And I won't lose."

The older woman grinned, "May the best woman win."

The two women nodded, before they headed back to join the others.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, back at the Central Cathedral, after telling the knights how to retake Quinella's powers and deciding to confront Chudelkin after two weeks, Cardinal decided it would be for the best to develop Kirito and Eugeo's Armament Full Control Arts.

Now, Kirito and Eugeo were at the dining area, working on the full chant for their Armament Full Control Arts, with Alice assisting them.

As the two new knights worked on the chants, Kirito sighed, "This is hard..."

Eugeo chuckled, "Well, it is our first time developing a chant, especially something as sophisticated as this."

Alice frowned, "Stop complaining and continue, we're getting there. And Kirito, you're almost done, Eugeo is still only half way done."

The knight in black sighed again, writing down the next set of chants.

Eugeo just chuckled, shaking his head at his brother's laziness as he also continued to write down the chant needed for his sword.

Then, Alice spotted three female knights walking to them. The tallest one was a woman with violet hair, wearing a sleek armor that was obviously designed for speed. The woman also had an eye cover.

At her waist was a standard sword, along with two slightly longer-than-usual daggers connected to chains.

The other two were considerably shorter than the taller woman. They both had pale light brown hair, although one of them had short neck length hair, while the other had hers tied into two braids.

They both wore a modified version of the church's uniform, along with a chest plate.

The two of them also each had a dagger strapped at their waists.

Alice greeted, "Medusa, Linel, Fizel."

The purplenette smiled, "Hello Alice."

The twin knights beamed in unison at the girl in golden armor, "Alice-neesan!"

Fizel then glanced at Kirito and Eugeo, "So these are the new recruits? They don't look much."

Linel also looked at them with interest, particularly Kirito, "He defeated Eldrie in a duel too, right?"

Kirito sweatdropped as Linel and Fizel were soon engrossed in a discussion about himself and Eugeo.

Medusa smiled, "Please ignore them, they may have been knights for a few years now, but they still have yet to learn much about manners."

Eugeo chuckled, "It's fine."

The tall woman nodded, before she spoke again, "I'm Medusa Synthesis Eleven."

Eugeo opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Medusa cut him off, "I know who you are, Eugeo, and it's good to finally see you again, Lord Kazuto."

Kirito chuckled awkwardly, "Ermm, I'm sorry, but I don't really remember much about my previous life yet."

Alice then asked, "Aren't we supposed to keep things on a low profile, in case, you know?"

Medusa nodded, "I suppose so."

Then, Fizel piped in, their discussion seemingly over, "So, what'cha doin?"

Eugeo smiled at the two short girls, "We're working on our chants for pur Armament Full Control Arts."

That seemed to pique Linel's interest, "Really? Can I see?"

Eugeo blinked, before he nodded, "Sure."

He passed the paper over to Linel, who looked through the chant he had written so far.

Alice smiled, "Linel is studying the sacred arts too, right?"

The girl nodded as she passed the paper back to the blonde, "Yep, and that chant is half done, around 15 to 20 words left."

Alice smiled, "How about you help me help them work on it?"

Linel nodded with a smile, while Fizel huffed, but a small smile on her face, "Hmph, well, I suppose I could give our juniors some help."

Medusa also smiled at their response, before they sat down and helped the two newer knights develop their Full Armament Control Arts.

(linebreak)

After fully developing the chant, it had taken Kirito a whole day to fully activate his Armament Full Control Arts, and another half day for Eugeo to activate his.

Now, Kirito and Eugeo were outside a large room with Fanatio, on the 40th floor.

The second knight spoke, "This is where our dragons live. Well, of course, some of them prefer to live outside the cathedral on their own, only answering our calls when we need them, so we usually let them choose. But most of them still live here."

The two younger knights nodded, as Fanatio continued, "Anyways, some of them bred here, so there are many other dragons with no partners and dragon puppies living on this floor."

Kirito nodded, "So, we just choose whichever dragon we want?"

Eugeo sweatdropped, "I don't think it works that way."

Fanatio chuckled, "Well, you don't actually choose them. They choose you."

Kirito oh'd as Fanatio pushed open the door, revealing a large area with lush grass and huge trees with large nests.

But the most important thing about the place were the dragons within the area.

There were at least four dozen dragons, and that wasn't including the dragon puppies. Many of them had saddles on their backs, but there were also dragons who didn't.

Fanatio glanced at Kirito and Eugeo, "Go on, look around, if a dragon finds you worthy, they'll come to you. Of course, they can be a puppy, like how Alice got hers."

Kirito and Eugeo both nodded, and they walked further into the den.

As they did, most of the dragons looked at them, but most of them quickly ignored them, save a few non-saddled dragons.

As Kirito walked, he felt several gazes on him, no doubt from the dragons around him.

Then, a grey dragon the size of a horse landed in front of him, grunting as it did, and Kirito stopped walking, looking at the dragon.

The dragon regarded him for a moment, and Kirito stared back at it.

After a moment, Kirito hesitantly raised his hand in an attempt to touch the dragon, but as soon as he did, it grunted softly and flew away back to its nest.

The young man turned to look at Fanatio, who smiled, shaking her head, "Try again."

Kirito nodded, and he walked further down the den. He took note of Eugeo's smile as he was surrounded by dragon puppies, and he let a small smile appear on his face. At least his brother was having fun.

The young man continued to walk, until he came face to face with a large black dragon, slightly larger than the first one he had faced, slightly larger than the size of a rhino.

The large dragon looked similar to the other dragons. Though, it had amber eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul.

Kirito stared back at the dragon, who glowered at him.

After a while of staring at each other, the dragon nodded, growling lowly, as it lowered its head in front of Kirito.

The young man blinked, turning to Fanatio, who smiled and nodded, motioning him to go ahead.

Kirito turned back to the dragon, and slowly placed his hand on its snout, and the dragon grunted softly.

Fanatio smiled, walking to stand beside Kirito, "His name is Kurogane, he's actually one of the younger but stronger dragons."

Kirito nodded, "Of course."

The reincarnation of the god of blades grinned as he lowered his hand, "I'll be counting on you from now on, partner."

Kurogane grunted in agreement, and if a dragon could smirk, Kirito was pretty sure his new partner was doing it.

Kirito then glanced at Eugeo's direction, who was looking at a light blue dragon, the size of a horse. The dragon nodded to Eugeo, who smiled and nodded back, before the dragon growled softly, lowering his head to the blonde.

Fanatio smiled, "Well, I guess we're done."

Eugeo walked to them, followed by his dragon, "Ermm, Fanatio, do you know his name?"

Fanatio chuckled as the blue dragon whined at Eugeo's words, "Eugeo, its a she, not a he, and her name is Aogiri."

Eugeo blinked, and looked at his new partner apologetically, "I'm sorry, Aogiri."

The dragon grunted, before nudging her new master playfully.

Eugeo chuckled, rubbing the dragon's snout softly.

Fanatio smiled, "Remember to visit them once in a while though, they can pretty much take care of themselves, so it's convenient for us, but as partners, we still need to pay attention to them."

Kirito and Eugeo nodded, the former said, "Of course."

Fanatio grinned before she asked, "So, how about taking them for a ride?"

The dragons both looked at their new masters, equally amused at the excited glint that had appeared in their eyes.

Kirito and Eugeo shared a glance, and they both grinned.

(short linebreak)

A short while later, the three knights were at the landing platform, Aogiri and Kurogane both with a saddle on their backs.

Fanatio mounted her dragon, looking at Kirito and Eugeo who were doing the same, "I know the two of you have ridden on Bercouli's dragon once, but this is different, and since it's your first time, it's better to let them do the flying."

Kirito and Eugeo both nodded, the former grinning and patted Kurogane's neck, "I'll be counting on you, partner."

The dragon grunted, an excited glint in his eyes, blowing out smoke from its nostrils.

Eugeo grinned, and patted Aogiri's neck lightly, "I'll be counting on you too."

The blue dragon grunted in response, readying herself to take flight.

Fanatio smiled softly, something shared by her own dragon, as they witnessed the new knights and partnered dragons.

The second knight cleared her throat, "Alright, let's go."

Without another word, Fanatio's dragon launched into the air, spreading its wings.

Kirito and Eugeo grinned upon seeing the senior knight take flight.

Kirito grinned, "Alright Kurogane, let's go!"

The dragon grunted in excitement, and he too jumped off the platform, spreading his wings as he did.

Aogiri did the same, causing Eugeo to yelp in surprise as they took flight.

Soon, the three knights and dragons were cruising in the air, some distance below the clouds.

Kirito glanced down, seeing the entirety of the Human Empire, before looking all the way to the borders that lead to the Dark Territory.

Fanatio smiled and asked, "So, how does it feel? Your first flight."

Kirito grinned, not unlike a child with a new toy, "Awesome!"

Eugeo grinned, nodding as well, "This is very cool."

The two dragons grunted in response, and if dragons could smile, the knights were certain they were doing it.

Fanatio smiled, before it turned mischievous, "Kurogane, Aogiri, how about you two take your partners for a dive?"

The two dragons shared a glance, a certain glint in their eyes. Kirito and Eugeo blinked, the latter asking, "Wait, whaOAHHHH!"

Eugeo was cut off, as the dragons suddenly dived downwards, earning screams from both Kirito and Eugeo.

After approximately 30 seconds, the two dragons pulled up, spreading their wings and stopped their descent.

Kurogane snickered at Kirito's pale face, while Aogiri had an amused glint in her eyes, pretty much knowing what Eugeo's face was like.

Fanatio and her own dragon descended to their level, amusement evident in both of their eyes. The knight asked, "Was that fun?"

Kirito and Eugeo both glared at Fanatio weakly, still barely recovering from the sudden drop.

Fanatio let out a soft laugh, before they continued to soar in the skies for the rest of the evening.

(linebreak)

Days later, the Integrity Knights were finally ready to confront Chudelkin.

To be safe, it was decided only 10 knights would confront Chudelkin, as the Integrity Knights still needed to patrol the borders of the Human Empire.

Now, Kirito, Eugeo, Alice, Bercouli, Fanatio, Gilgamesh, Artoria, Giyuu, Tanjiro and Emiya were at the 95th floor, the Morning Star Lookout, more specifically, at the stairs that would lead them to the senate.

Bercouli frowned as the 10 of them stopped at the stairs, "Hmm, now that I think about it, we never really checked what the senate's been doing."

Eugeo blinked, "Wait, seriously?"

Gilgamesh huffed, "Yeah, well, it was never worth the time to check anyways."

The others just sweatdropped at that response. Kirito then asked, "But don't you see any of them? I mean, you live here."

Artoria shook her head, "No. We generally keep to ourselves on the lower floors, and since we operate independently, we don't really need to go up to the senate, apart from... Chudelkin giving us messages supposedly from Lady Quinella."

The former king of knights shuddered as she spoke the last part, something shared by the older knights.

Emiya huffed, "Well, we'll find out soon enough."

The other knights nodded. Tanjiro then spoke, "Let's go."

The knights all nodded, and they walked up the stairs.

Soon, they reached the 96th floor, and the knights were disgusted by what they saw.

On the floor, around them, were hundreds of capsules, all containing bodies. More importantly, the bodies all had blank faces, the same blank faces that Kirito, Eugeo and Alice saw when they broke the Index.

Giyuu furrowed his brows, "What... are these?"

A very high pitched and annoying voice answered the question, "These, are the senate, Giyuu Synthesis Seventeen."

Gilgamesh stared at the short man coldly, "Explain."

The prime senator smiled creepily, "It is rather simple. Decades ago, I managed to kill most of the existing senators, and then, all I had to do was replace them with a bunch of homunculi."

Chudelkin giggled, "Quinella herself didn't suspect a thing, and even if she did, it was all too late, since the deed was already done, and I had already taken away her powers."

The older knights glared at him, Bercouli growled, "Bastard..."

The short fat man blinked, before he gasped, "Oh, did I let that slip? Oh wait, you already know, so whatever."

Chudelkin smirked at the last part, earning glares from all the knights.

Gilgamesh growled, "You piece of trash."

Chudelkin giggled, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Kirito glared at the pale man, "It doesn't matter anymore, everything will end here."

The prime senator chuckled, "Ah, yes, the reincarnation of that blasted god of blades. That's where you're wrong, I've been preparing, you know?"

Fanatio narrowed her eyes, "Preparing?"

Chudelkin giggled gleefully, "Yes, I've been preparing THIS!"

The short clown raised both of his arms, "SYSTEM CALL: DEEP FREEZE! INTEGRATOR AREA 001!"

The knights eyes all widened as the clown finishef chanting, and Gilgamesh roared, "EMIYA, KIRITO!"

The two immediately raised their hands and spoke in unison, "Trace on!"

The third knight, along with Kirito, instantly pulled out a huge shield, the latter projecting it, albeit with some difficulty, and they both yelled, "System Call: Enhance Armament! Release Recollection! LORD... CAMELOT!"

Emiya narrowed his eyes as mana flowed through his right arm, and in the next instant, a purple barrier with seven layers, in the shape of a flower with seven petals, manifested in front of him," RHO AIAS! "

The three shields, all from the legends, surrounded the ten knights, just in time as Chudelkin's Deep Freeze reached the 96th floor, protecting them from the technique.

Chudelkin narrowed his eyes as the three legendary shields protected the knights, then he grinned gleefully.

Soon, the shields fell apart, but the art had already ended, and since the Deep Freeze was targeted at the Central Cathedral as a whole, it meant that the shield could stop it from freezing the people under its protection.

Artoria glared at the clown, "You froze the entire cathedral?!"

Chudelkin grinned, "Why yes. After all, freezing all of you gives me access to your souls, so what better way than to use that to take over all of you."

Alice frowned, glaring at the clown, "But you failed, its over."

Chudelkin giggled again, crossing his arms, "Bzzt! No, it's just the beginning."

The clown raised his arms, smirking as he did, and in an instant, thousands of yellow spheres of light gathered in front of him.

Then, with a bright glow, the collection of lights turned into a massive golem made of swords, slamming into the ground with a loud boom.

Tanjiro stared at the golem, eyes widened, "What the heck is this?"

Chudelkin giggled, "This is my personal sword golem."

Bercouli frowned, "Where did you find the resources to make this?"

The clown grinned creepily, "What do you think happened to all those idiots who broke the Taboo Index?"

Alice, Kirito and Eugeo's eyes widened, something shared by the other knights.

Artoria glared at the clown, "You mean all those people, all of their souls, you used them for this?!"

Chudelkin giggled, spinning as he gave the former king a thumbs up, "Bingo!"

Alice glared at him, "You'll pay for this."

The clown smiled creepily as he backed away, "If you get past this, you're welcome to try."

With that said, Chudelkin vanished in a flash.

The knights frowned at that, before Tanjiro spoke, "You guys go on ahead, I'll handle this."

Giyuu nodded as he corrected, "We'll handle this."

Bercouli smirked, "Heh, very well."

Emiya chuckled, "Try not to take too long."

Tanjiro chuckled, "Sure sure..."

Fanatio smiled as she turned to the others, "Let's go."

The others quickly ran for the stairs. In response, the sword golem tried to chase after them.

But then, it stopped, as Tanjiro and Giyuu stood in front it.

Tanjiro grinned as he drew his katana, a standard looking katana with black edges, "Your fight is with us."

Giyuu nodded silently, drawing his own sword. A katana with a blue edge.

The sword golem growled in response, or rather, groaned, the swords that made up its body clashing against each other, as the sword arms extended outwards.

Tanjiro and Giyuu shared a glance, before they nodded. Then they burst into action.

The sword golem instantly swung its sword arms, but the two knights easily dodged the attacks, before leaping up onto the golem's arms.

The golem tried to swing its arms again in attempt to shake the two knights off, but Tanjiro and Giyuu leaped up before it could disorient them.

As they fell downwards, Giyuu yelled, "Tanjiro!"

The younger knight instantly understood, "Yeah!"

As they came down, the two knights took in concentrated breaths, and Tanjiro and Giyuu both spoke in complete unison, "Mizu no Kokyu: Hachi no Kata: Takitsu bo."

Water enshrined the two katana, and in a flash, the two knights sliced through the sword golem's arms cleanly, as the massive sword arms fell onto the ground.

But then, the golem groaned, and in an instant, the arms reattached to the golem before Tanjiro and Giyuu could do anything.

Giyuu tch'd, "It repaired itself."

Tanjiro nodded, frowning slightly, "It's not an easy one after all... Any ideas?"

The older knight furrowed his brows, "Maybe, not sure if it'd work though."

Tanjiro nodded, "What do you have?"

Giyuu nodded, but his eyes not leaving the golem for even a second, "Remember your version of Zenitsu's Hekireki Issen?"

Tanjiro nodded, "Yeah, what of it?"

The man gripped his katana tightly, "Can you do that repeatedly?"

Tanjiro raised an eyebrow, but nodded, "Its possible, but I won't be able to do it as quickly as Zenitsu can, and I'll probably be immobile for a short while after twenty times."

Giyuu let a small smirk appear on his face, "That's enough."

Tanjiro nodded, "Alright."

The knight then took a deep breath, and he spoke, taking a battou stance, "Hi no Kami Kagura: Enbu Issen."

With a loud boom, Tanjirou vanished, appearing behind the golem, before he vanished with another loud boom, appearing at the golem's right. Then the process repeated again, with Tanjiro appearing at the opposite direction of his previous locations.

The process repeated for twenty times, before Tanjiro crashed into the ground breathing heavily, but the deed was already done, as the golem shattered into numerous pieces.

Tanjiro yelled as he panted, "Your turn! Giyuu!"

The knight nodded, holding his katana, "System Call: Enhance Armament!"

With a dull blue glow, the katana dispersed, or rather, it dissolved into mist. Then, with a flick of his wrist, several gallons of water filled the floor.

This was Giyuu's Full Armament Control Arts. His katana was initially an experiment, using water as a base, along with augmentation using sacred arts, to forge a sword. The result was the ability to fully control water as the user pleased, and it fully complemented his usage of the Water Breathing style.

Not wasting another second, Giyuu swung his sword, commanding the gallons of water to slam into the golem, fully immersing it in the water.

Then, Giyuu narrowed his eyes, as he focused on his control over water. Then, slowly, but before the golem could fully repair itself, the metal of the golem's body started to rust.

That was another property of water, as when in contact with metal, it would cause the metal to rust.

That was what Giyuu was aiming for, as he utilised his control to accelerate the rusting process tenfold.

The golem seemed to groan, as it struggled to escape the water, but to no avail.

Tanjiro recovered his breathing, as he went to stand beside his senior, "Giyuu, what are you doing?"

Giyuu glanced at Tanjiro for a moment, before he spoke, "I'm rusting the golem. It's made of metal after all."

Tanjiro oh'd, as soon enough, the metal golem started to dissolve, as rust formed on it, before dispersing into the water from the harsh currents.

Giyuu let out a small breath, as the water within the floor evaporated and reformed his katana.

The man then looked at Tanjiro, "So, now what?"

The younger knight turned to the stairs, "You think we should go up?"

Giyuu shrugged, "I'm sure they can handle it, but let's go, just in case."

The other knight nodded, and they headed for the stairs.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, right after Bercouli, Emiya, Fanatio, Artoria, Gilgamesh, Kirito, Eugeo and Alice reached the next floor, three sword golems appeared, staring down menacingly at them.

Bercouli raised an eyebrow, "Is he seriously gonna send sword golems at us on every floor until we reach the top?"

Artoria let out an exasperated sigh, "Probably..."

Emiya stared at the sword golems, not impressed at all, "So, now what? Wreck these things and go on, or a few of us stay back and have some fun?"

Gilgamesh huffed, "I'm bored anyways. I'll take care of them."

The other knights nodded, knowing full well that Gilgamesh wouldn't need to use even half of what he had to destroy the golems.

Kirito turned, "Alright, let's go."

As soon as they reached the stairs however, four more sword golems appeared slammed down onto the ground.

The knights stared at the golems, before Emiya yelled to Gilgamesh, "Oi Gilgamesh, you wanna take these too?"

The third knight glanced at them for a moment, having not moved a single step at all, before he huffed, "You take them, these three are enough for me, four more will make things too repetitive, too boring."

Emiya sighed, "Troublesome bastard..."

Artoria sighed exasperatedly, "Fine, I'll stay with Emiya and take them."

Bercouli nodded, "Alright, we'll head up then."

Fanatio nodded, "Got it."

The three younger knights also nodded, before they headed up the stairs.

As Emiya stared at the four golems, he asked, "You take two on the right, I take two on the left?"

Artoria nodded, "Okay."

The knight in red twisted his neck, "Its been a while since I had a good fight."

Artoria let a small smile appear on his face, "Well, the forces of the Dark Territory aren't that serious these days, so things have been relatively peaceful."

Emiya chuckled, "Pretty much, not to say its bad of course."

The former king of knights nodded, before she noticed the golems starting to move, "Here they come."

Emiya nodded, "Yeah."

The married blades, Kanshou and Bakuya instantly appeared in his hands, as Artoria drew her sword.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Gilgamesh stared at the three golems in front of him. The blonde barely took notice of Emiya and Artoria fighting two golems each.

The blonde stared at the golems boredly, "What, are you waiting for an invitation?"

The golems seemed to groan in annoyance, charging the king of heroes.

Gilgamesh huffed, before sending several weapons from his treasury at the golems.

The weapons clashed against the three golems, pushing them a few feet back.

Gilgamesh stared at the golems unimpressed, "Is that all?"

The golems groaned, clashing its blades against each other, before it charged Gilgamesh again.

One of the sword golems swung its sword arm at Gilgamesh, who merely stood there with his arms crossed as a spear shot out of his treasury, striking the golem and sent it flying away.

The second golem tried to attack him from the right, only to receive a hard strike to the head by a war hammer, sending it sprawling to the ground.

As for the third golem, while its brethren were attacking the knight from the front, it had tried to attack Gilgamesh from behind.

Keyword. Tried.

As soon as the golem reached the back side of Gilgamesh, it tried to stab him in the back. Unfortunately for the golem, Gilgamesh, without even moving his eyes, sent out a large broadsword from below the golem, giving it a hard uppercut.

Gilgamesh huffed as he glanced around, looking at the sword golems on the floor around him, "Hmph, if this is what that trash Chudelkin call his guards, then even Linel and Fizel won't have trouble with you."

The golems slowly got up, as Gilgamesh stood there, having not moved one step at all.

The golems charged again, swinging their sword arms at him.

Gilgamesh huffed, willing several more swords to strike the golems, sending them back again.

The king of heroes sighed, "This is worse than I expected. I'm getting tired of this."

Gilgamesh closed his eyes, contemplating if he should end it now or prolong the fight, no matter how boring it was getting.

The golems, once again, tried to stand up to him, swinging their swords at him, only to be stopped by spears and swords of all kinds.

The man opened his eyes, glaring at the golems as he spoke coldly, "To interrupt me while I'm thinking, you deserve more than a thousand deaths."

Gilgamesh stared at the downed golems coldly, before raising a single palm, as golden portals formed around the three sword golems, millions of swords, spears, axes, hammers, and just about every kind of weapon anyone could think of, protruded out of the portals.

Then, with just a flick of his wrists, millions of weapons bombarded the three sword golems.

After exactly ten seconds, Gilgamesh lowered his arm, as the infinitely firing weapons stopped, allowing the dust to clear.

As Gilgamesh expected, all that was left, was a huge crater that was already starting to repair itself, no trace of the sword golems that were just standing there moments ago.

The third knight huffed, noticing that Emiya and Artoria were also just about done with their golems, "Hmph, that was more boring than I expected."

He then turned, heading for the lower floors, before he glanced back at the stairs leading to the higher floors, and he smirked slightly, 'Hmph, well, they can handle everything themselves anyways.'

Gilgamesh then walked down the stairs, very much intent on getting a glass of wine.

XXX

AND DONE.

So yeah, that's the latest chapter. So we've covered Tanjiro and Giyuu team-tagging a single sword golem.

Then, Gilgamesh single handedly demolished three of them.

The next chapter will have Emiya and Artoria's fights against their sword golems, and we'll see Kirito and co go against Chudelkin.

So yeah, review please, and until next time.