Chapter Three

Unleashed

Ocean Turtle Sea of Japan:

A tense atmosphere enveloped the air as Rath's Ocean Turtle surrounded by a Japanese fleet arrived back in port. Since the attack; the self defense forces have patrolled the base with round the clock naval escorts determined to never allow another attack like that to happen again.

Inside the Ocean Turtle control room Ryoken and Higa were observing Centralia in all it's shinny wonder like God looks down on his creations. The time for stalling was over Higa now had to go along with the plan despite his moral objections.

Inserting command disk. Ryoken announced to Higa and the assistants as he slides the disk given to him by his French associates into the control panels disk slot. Before typing in a key code.

"Command accepted" an electronic voice chimes. Hearing the computer brings a smile to Ryoken's face ever since the Ignis war Ryoken and his associates have been on the run even though most people have forgotten about the Ignis war thanks to the SAO incident. But that still didn't change the fact the Knight's were seen as cyber terrorists. Now was the Knight's chance for redemption a fact not lost on anyone especially Ryoken.

"Program insertion successful" the voice chimes again telling the lab workers that phase one was officially a go however; unbeknownst to anyone in the room they have just inadvertently awakened a terrifying power.

Underworld Dark Territory cemetery:

The cold dark territory night a common sight in the dark territory especially the cemetery where the casualties of the war were laid to rest; no Fluctlights for miles or so you'd think as black and red clouds appear overhead complete with red lightning. A sight unseen anywhere in Underworld; eventually a bolt of this strange lightning struck a sarcophagus with the simple inscription "Dark God Vecta" then an even colder chill as the lightning stops and the sarcophagus lid flies skywards and out of the tomb rises a reanimated Vecta with only three slight changes first The color of his skin instead of pale bleach white it was now light blue his teeth were now fangs and in the center of his armor and helmet were two strange symbols unseen in this world it was shaped like an eye with a scepter behind it and a snake in the center of the eye.

"At last I live" the haunting voice calls out as this being began taking in the data around him he was in a new world with no access to his old virtual army nor a way to access the real world like in his previous incarnation; However this multi-agent is very adaptive and determined to bend this new world to his will before plotting his grand escape.

Central Cathedral Human Empire

The sun was shining low In the sky as the hour of sunset approached. Inside the cathedral Star King Kirito along with Alice were approaching the grand hall to meet with the other integrity pilots; the new order established by Kirito and Asuna to help govern and protect the inhabitants of underworld. Kirito still had no idea why Kikouka asked him to take Alice back to her home-world and protect her he also had no way of knowing about what was going on with his beloved Asuna but he couldn't think about that right now per custom The end of day report needed to be received. Soon the pair approached the hall doors inside was a magnificent room with oak paneling broken up by stone columns with a large circular table underneath a grand chandelier in the center. Around the table sat; Fanatio, Eydis, Ronye, Tiese, and Renly there were several others on this council but they were all managing or patrolling different parts of the empire. The group all stood at attention as Kirito and Alice entered the room Kirito then walked to his seat at the end of the table beside him on the left was an empty seat where Asuna usually sat. Kirito took his seat as Alice stood next to him on the right no words were spoken as he motioned for the council to be seated. Being the leader of the human empire still took some getting use to. Kirito then asked for reports at which time Fanatio stood up; "All is calm and peaceful in the human empire at the moment. We did however just receive a report from Scheta and IsKahn about an anomaly in the dark territory so we dispatched Desoulbert to meet up with them and investigate. Other than that nothing to report. This pleased Kirito as he let a small smile creep on his face this did not go unnoticed by Alice who was staring at him subtly this in turn made Alice happy she knew Kirito's heart was with Asuna but she still loved him so seeing him happy made her happy. Kirito then explained to the council that Asuna was away on business back home but he and Alice would be here for awhile if anything was needed. The group all nodded in understanding as they all got up and returned to their quarters for the evening. Kirito then turned his attention to Alice. Shall we go? He asked to which she nodded Normally Kirito and Asuna stay at the Cathedral in their quarters but since Alice left for the real world she didn't have quarters in the cathedral anymore. Alice did however have her cabin in ruild but Kirito didn't think it wise for her to go there on her own with Alice in danger so instead he invited the knight to stay in his quarters tonight this made Alice's face turn bright red when Kirito offered to share his quarters with her. But she accepted nervously. As the pair left the room and headed for the top floor where The Star King and Queen live. Kirito then opened the door inside was a large room on the right side was a door that led to the bathroom while in the center was a large bed that sat in front of a wall size window allowing for a stunning view of the empire terrain even at night. Not wanting to make this awkward sharing his quarters with Alice instead of Asuna Kirito opted to take the floor while Alice took the bed. the young woman nodded in agreement her face still warm and red from this whole situation. Kirito then went over to a small wardrobe on the left side of the room and pulled out a blanket and pillow before laying them out on the floor next to the bed Kirito then took off his swords laid down covered himself and began to drift to sleep. Alice couldn't believe how fast he could fall asleep while her mind was running at a thousand miles per hour. However eventually Alice got comfortable changed into her pj's then laid down on the large comfortable bed and drifted off to sleep herself. Both of them though were unaware that the second they both fell asleep the program Ryoken installed would alter the pair during this trip to underworld.

A few hours later:

"Kirito kun...?" The females voice echos through the star kings mind as he is feels a slight shake. Eventually Kirito's eyes shoot open and are greeted by the cute face of the priestess of light.

"Alice...?" The young man asked as he took in his surroundings unsure of what exactly was going on or how long he had been asleep for.

"Why were you sleeping on the floor and not up here with me?" The blonde questioned a looking of longing and concern forming on her face as she frowned fearing she did something wrong that upset her one true love.

"I don't know to be honest dear" the young man responded to his assumed partner. The young knight smiled and giggled at her "partners" reaction as she found it simply adorable as she scooted over in the large bed and patted the spot next to her with a demanding look on the knights face. Alice's gesture was rewarded with a smile as Kirito stood up and climbed into bed with his new partner before scooting closer to embrace her, unknowing of just what had been done to the new pair of lovers without either of their knowledge or consent and also unknown to our hero's the terror that had just been unleashed and waiting to rear it's ugly head in the dark territory.

To Be Continued