Chapter Twelve: Omega

In a land where all was painted red, there just could not be a greater contrast than the Goddess Solus' soft azure glow.

After Asuna had informed her of Alice's predicament, Sinon promptly launched to the skies and went south.

"Alice…where are you?"

Sinon frantically scanned the skylines but she could not see the dots of light Asuna had told her about. Seeing no other options, she simply sped up and continued her search.

Soon enough, she had reached a weird landscape where towers of rock shot up to the skies and that was where something finally caught her attention.

Sinon paused briefly as she neared in one of the largest mountains.

Two dragons? But Asuna said Bercouli had three. Where is that Emperor Vecta anyway?

She then saw exactly what she had feared. Emperor Vecta was no more, but the man she was sent to assist was lying cold on the ground. Bercouli was dead, surrounded now by Alice and the two dragons.

Sinon closed her eyes sharply in shame, but she landed next to Alice nonetheless.

The two dragons noticed her and grumbled softly to signal their master.

Alice turned around slowly, and with a voice so coarse and eyes so red, she asked. "Did you…come from the Real World as well?"

The goddess hesitated for a moment, shocked not just by her grief, but also her beauty. Granted, the tears she was wearing made her less dignified, but the frail appearance allowed her another shade of splendor. "Yes. My name is Sinon. I came here to save you and Bercouli from the Dark God Vecta…but…" she clenched her fists as she looked away. "…forgive me…I was too late."

"No…it's not your fault." Alice replied tiredly. "I was such a fool."

Before Sinon could inquire, the blonde knight spoke up again. "Can you tell me how the battle is going?"

"Asuna and the Human Empire Army are holding off the undead…but just barely."

"Well then." Alice replied as she rose to her feet. "I must head back north. Will you accompany me?"

"I cannot."

"Why?" Alice let out a surprised gasp. "Aren't you here for the same reason Asuna is?"

"I have to stay here and make sure Vecta does not get to you."

"What are you even talking about? Emperor Vecta is dead, isn't he?"

"Well, the thing is, he isn't." Sinon sighed without looking directly into her eyes. "There have been developments in the Real World. Our allies there found a way to prevent you from being taken to the forces outside directly, but should Vecta takes you to the World End Altar and somehow forces you to leave, you will still be captured, so you have to go back north. Not to mention the Human Empire needs you. But Vecta…no, the enemy who dwelled in Emperor Vecta is a Realworlder. That means even though he is killed here, he does not actually lose his life. He could potentially return to this world in another form."

"So the man my father sacrificed himself to kill isn't dead? He simply vanished temporarily only to come back to life as if nothing happened?" Alice demanded with a tremble. "Is that what you are saying?!"

The knight then grabbed Sinon's shoulders and asked with angry tears. "Then what was it all for? Why did he have to die?"

Mists formed in the goddess' eyes too. She wanted to say something, perhaps not to erase Alice's pain, but at least ease it, only Alice all but shouted as she slumped down to her knees.

"A duel where only one risks his life…it's nothing…It's nothing but a farce!"

Alice finally burst into hot tears, not a bit concerned with her dignity as her heart was too broken to think of anything other than her late father's unfair demise.

Sinon steeled herself and gently grabbed Alice's hands. "Then, Alice, are you saying Kirito's suffering is also false?"

Alice's eyes widened, and Sinon went on. "Kirito is a Realworlder too. Even if he loses his life here he may not actually die. But the wounds he sustained are real. The pain he felt, his damaged soul…they are all real too.

"You see, I love Kirito. I love him so much. And the same goes for Asuna, Leafa and the others waiting for him in the Real World." Sinon admitted with composure. Alice looked up to her in shock, but she continued while pulling the knight closer to herself gently. "We're all so worried about him, and we were wondering why he had gone to such lengths…Why he would push himself so far that his soul was practically destroyed.

"Alice, he had sustained all those wounds to save you. All the pain that he had endured, and no doubt would still be willing to endure was for you alone. And so did Commander Bercouli. In order to save you, he suffered all those blows and bought you time enough to escape."

Alice had nothing more to say. Looking back towards Bercouli's broken body; she nodded between sobs and Sinon stayed with her silently for as long as she needed.

Knowing their worst enemy was still alive, Alice collected herself after letting out all her suppressed emotions. Taking a deep breath, the knight promptly leaped onto her dragon and prepared for a new fight.

"Sinon, where exactly are Asuna and the rest?"

"If you ride north, you'll see a large structure like a temple. There Asuna should be with the army fighting the undead. They will need you."

"Very well…this is to save the Empire, not to mention the mission my father sacrificed himself for, and Kirito…what will you do, Sinon?"

"I think the Dark God Vecta will come back to life right here." She looked around the scarred landscape. "I'll try to stop him. Failing that, I'll do whatever I can to stall him."

Why stall him? That question flashed across Alice's mind for a split second. If Vecta could defeat a Goddess like Sinon, would it not be hopeless to fight him anyway? Who else could possibly hope to protect this world and of course Alice herself if Vecta won here? There was only one. Both of them understood, the one hope they still had had yet to arrive.

"I appreciate that. I won't let your efforts go to waste."

Sinon nodded, and just as Alice wanted to bring back Bercouli's corpse with her to bury before leaving, the knight whose deeds had made him a saint slowly turned into a holy, aureate vapor and disappeared into the skies.

No more words were needed. Alice steeled herself once more and pulled Amayori's reins. The great dragons flapped their wings and speedily charged towards a bloody battle to the north.

Thousands of miles ahead of Alice was another bloody battlefield now filled with nothing but corpses and marred steel.

Iskahn knew it when he had told Asuna to go ahead. He knew that from the numbers alone, he and his four thousand Pugilists had no concrete way to defeat those tens of thousands of undead warriors.

Still, he managed to give it all for this battle. One last undead in his proximity and he hurled his entire body weight at it. He could feel his bones, from heels to fists, breaking from that pressure, but before he slumped, his fist crashed into that monstrosity and reduced it to cinders.

Iskahn shrieked as he almost lost sense of his hands. The pain was sharp and unforgiving, even the champion of the Pugilists could not mask his suffering. He looked over to his trusted deputy – Dampa. That man had long lost both his arms; his half-naked body was blanketed in reddish lines of hurt, his once upright posture was bent and trembling.

The Pugilists had succeeded in halting the undead Tsunami. The Death Army once totaled around at least twenty thousand, now they were down to perhaps three. In exchange, the Pugilists suffered like never before. Of the original ranks, only around four hundreds were left, and those that managed to survive were more a group of broken bodies than fearsome warriors they once were. Moaning and aching, they were already expecting the next wave of those monsters to finish them off.

The champion raised his hand to the heavens and sighed.

Well, I guess dying like this won't shame me if I see the previous leader in the afterlife. This is for the fate of the world, after all.

He turned his attention to the last active spot on the field.

A slender knight to his left gave a war cry, and without delay, one of the armored monsters was split into halves.

Knight Sheyta was panting. Even an Integrity Knight could not fight forever, and for any survivor, it did feel as if an eternity had passed in the course of this battle. Sheyta was tired. Since staying behind here with the Pugilists, her supposed enemies, she had been fighting side by side with them with not a single moment of respite.

Her eyes scanned the battlefield, perhaps searching for her next target? Only if one had the insight of the gods would one realize what reflected in her eyes were not the enemies. It was a single man. It was Iskahn. It was the bruised, scarred Iskahn, who she had sworn to kill just hours ago.

"What is this pain?" She whispered as she put her hands over her armored chest. "I know I want to cut this person…"

An axe flew directly in her face. Had she responded a single second later, her life would have been vanquished. Sheyta held her Black Lily Sword as tightly as she could, attempting to parry another attack. And when she found an opening, she swung her weapon with all her strength and down went another body.

I want to savor that battle again – the one that burns everything to its core. And then I want to sever those fists, harder than diamonds. I was sure that was my only desire. Why then…? Why then, do I feel this pain?

Sheyta was going to continue her train of thought, but another accursed figure neared and she had to utilize all her skills and mind to fight it off.

"Cut…cut…cut on and on."

The cold and familiar voice rang again.

"Only at the end of that blood-smeared path will you find the key to breaking your curse. Or at least, you might."

At the time, Knight Sheyta merely knelt and excitedly accepted the Pontifex's gift. She did not at all understand what that mystique and divine woman was talking about. But now, she did.

With one powerful swing, she crushed the last remaining undead in the area. Sounds of metallic cracking oozed from that corpse, but it was not only the enemy's armor that was being undone. The Black Lily Sword she had been wielding since it was granted to her years and years ago finally exhausted all its Life. That unnatural blade which had taken countless lives shrank as it emitted a blinding light. Sheyta was as emotionless as ever when she witnessed her blade dissipated, but she stood up and said calmly. "Thank you for your long service."

A low rumbling sounded behind her. Sheyta's great dragon, standing right next to Iskahn, was bellowing in pain. Her fire breath had long been spent, and she had to resort to fighting those dreaded carcasses with her tail, her claws and in reality, her whole body. Covered from head to tail like any true warrior in wounds, she beckoned her master.

Sheyta hobbled towards the dragon before gently stroking her. "Thank you too, Yoiyobi. You must be tired. Let's rest now."

"I am sorry. Your precious sword's broken because of me."

Iskahn lowered his head.

"It's all right." Sheyta turned towards the man. "I finally know why. Why I've been cutting everything."

She cupped his face softly as she looked sincerely into his eyes. "To find what I don't want to cut. To find what I do want to protect. That's why I kept fighting. It was you."

Sheyta's face finally showed emotion when she saw his eyes growing humid. It was a gentle smile.

"Dammit. I wish I could've had a family with you." Iskahn mumbled as he slightly shivered. "What crazy children we would've had. Way stronger than the previous leader, than me…Those children would have been the strongest pugilists of all."

Another legion of the Death Army was approaching, but Sheyta paid it no mind. "No. I am raising them to be knights."

Iskahn let out an inaudible laughter before the pair turned their gazes towards the enemies once more.

Across the body-littered field, the hollering, limping mass of raised bodies was unending.

It was wise of the Human Empire Army to utilize the ruins. As long as their foes were thrown at them from that narrow opening of the path, they could hold it off for days. The elite forces of the Human Empire Army had been rather successful at grinding down those corpses. When the Battle of the Southern Ruins began, the Death Army outnumbered Asuna's forces almost twenty to one, which was nearly twenty thousand against less than one thousand. Yet, the two sides were now more or less equal in strength.

The Death Army had no strategy, not even proper tactics. All they could manage was to flail their weapons at anyone, or anything alive and charged with their brute strength. Not to mention the lack of a commander made their numbers more an unhinged mob than an actual military.

We can do this.

Asuna let herself be encouraged for a moment.

As soon as we finish this wave off, we can pursue the emperor again. With Bercouli, the army, Sinon and myself combined, we definitely can defeat that demon!

She did not know. She knew not that the Lord Commander of the Integrity Knights was already sent off to an eternal peace, but perhaps that did not matter if it had reinvigorated her.

Asuna stood straight again as if to prepare herself for the aforementioned showdown against pure evil. But before she could convey her thoughts to her co-commander – Knight Renly, something haunting caught her attention.

A shadow fluttered at the corner of her eyes and she looked up to inspect. It took her a few moments as looking up was difficult thanks to the scorching sun, but at last she found her mysterious smear. A cloaked figure was standing atop one of those rocky divine statues along the path they were fighting on.

Against sun light and that the figure having dressed entirely in black made Asuna questioned if she actually saw something, or if she had simply imagined it. But an imagination could not survive its master's undivided attention. And having given it undivided attention, Asuna was certain that piece of shadow was as real as the soldiers around her, for its torn, crooked fringe was blowing in the winds she could feel on her face. Face…Where was that man's face? The pulled down cloak hid his face, but a sense of familiarity crept up.

That cloak…no… that leather poncho…where have I seen this before? I must have!

Her entire being froze when a name surfaced.

Laughing Coffin…The leader of the Laughing Coffin back in Aincrad…PoH, didn't he always wear a black, leather poncho too? Having his face covered? He disappeared conveniently when we attacked their base didn't he? My god, am I seeing a ghost?

"Who is that?"

"Who's up there?"

Remarks as such spread around Asuna. Apparently, her speculation, if not prayer was wrong. The single most dreaded murderer in the Floating Castle had somehow descended into Underworld and was standing right in front of her. To make her nightmare even more authentic, PoH was not just standing there. He pulled out a gigantic blade out of his poncho before swinging and brandishing it in the air multiple times.

As if to taunt her, he raised his right hand and sarcastically greeted her with a wave.

If PoH was a nightmare, then what happened next was truly the sum of all nightmares. The earth quivered again as if in fear, and beside that horrid figure, legions after legions of armored corpses rose.

Please don't. Please…

Asuna was on the verge. Just as the sight of victory was near, it turned out to be nothing but a mirage. And reality could not have dawned on her more painfully than what was happening now. It began with perhaps a thousand, then two, then three then so many Asuna had lost count. Whereas before the Human Empire Army had the geographical advantage, they had now lost it since the Death Army came crawling out of the flat surface of the two temples, flanking them. Their cover became their trap. And whereas before the decaying mob had no clear strategy, somehow, PoH seemed to have taken command of them and now the undead closed in on all three fronts slowly but without discord.

Death was on the march.

Author's notes

Let me end this chapter by saying I do feel a bit guilty it's short, but to accommodate the content from the anime proper and the deviations from the original plot that we would see in upcoming chapters, this is the best I can do for now. Still, I think the relationship between Sheyta and Iskahn was very interesting. And I would never not want to see them together.

And yes, PoH finally arrived. And he is so going all-out next chapter, so stay tuned. In any case, I will try to get it up as soon as possible, so see you next time!

Playlist:
"painful days"
"another bitter feeling"
"goodbye, again and again"
"the final war"
"Death Gun"