Sword Art Online Volume 17 - Alicization Awakening

by Reki Kawahara

  Eventually, the jumping distance of a top-notch warrior could surpass 20 mel. In this flightless world, this was the extent of a human body’s physical jumping distance.

  Yet what Iskahn needed to cross now was a bottomless canyon whose width was five times this limit. The Fist Fighter stared straight ahead, his heart still as he leapt into the air, his body dragging a long trail of flames.

  Ten mel. Twenty mel. His body rose still.

  Thirty mel. Thirty-five mel. A strong wind blew from the valley below, pushing the Fist Fighter up as though he possessed invisible wings, propelling him even higher.

  Forty mel.

  Just a bit more — he only needed to rise a bit more… Then he could rely on momentum to reach the other side —

  But.

  Just before he reached the very center of the valley, the upwards wind mercilessly ceased. The Fist Fighter’s body instantly lost its upward momentum; the trajectory of his jump reached its maximum, and he began to fall in an arc.

  He was… five mel from the other edge.

  “UWOOOOOHHH!!”

  Iskahn screamed, flinging his right hand forward, attempting to grab something out of thin air. But no place existed for his hand or foot to grab onto; only endless, cold air extended on and on from below the darkness under his feet, wrapping around his body that was about to fall.

  Just then —

  “CHAMPIOOOOOOOOOON!!”

  A tremendously thick roar reached Iskahn’s ears.

  He twisted his head around.

  His own aide, Dampe, had wrapped his right hand around a boulder larger than his own head, and was preparing to throw it.

  The Fist Fighter chief instantly realized what his loyal subordinate, who often followed him around, planned to do. But — throwing that gigantic boulder more than fifty mel was definitely impossible for a human…

  Gowa.

  Dampe’s right hand suddenly swelled, his muscles bulging and veins swelling, as though his entire body’s strength had concentrated in one spot.

  “OHHHHH!!”

  The giant man bellowed, ran a few steps, and flung the boulder from his right hand with all his might.

  As the air trembled violently, the boulder shot out as though it had been launched by a catapult — then, the Fist Fighter’s right hand exploded, flesh and blood flying in all directions.

  Iskahn imprinted the image of Dampe collapsing to the ground firmly in his left eye, clenched his teeth, and focused all his concentration on the boulder flying directly at him.

  “… YAAAAAAAH!!”

  With a shout, he stomped his left foot on the boulder.

  Bagaaan!! The boulder shattered against the impact, but Iskahn’s small body was propelled upwards. The swordsmen battling on the other side of the valley were now closer to him.

  ***

  “Damn!!”

  Asuna tugged her rapier from the body of a cursing American player while breathing heavily atop her horse.

  This was different when she was fighting the Dark Territory people earlier; she no longer had to deal with the mental strain of taking a person’s life. Asuna, previously known as “The Flash”, then the “Berserk Healer”, was finally able to initiate combo Sword Skills; the number of crimson soldiers who fell by her sword rapidly grew above ten.

  But — despite that, there were just too many enemies!!

  Not just Asuna, the Human Empire Defense Army soldiers and the four Integrity Knights also fought like fierce gods, and finally carved a bloody opening to the south. Bodies had piled up into mountains in front of the soldiers advancing in tight formation.

  However, they were utterly unable to counter the waves of crimson soldiers streaming endlessly around the rocky mountains, and could only try their utmost to fight back and hold their current position.

  Most importantly, they very quickly realized that the bodies of the enemies they destroyed would evaporate within tens of seconds, leaving not a trace of blood on the ground — they realized that their opponents were not real live people, but an army of phantoms. Then…

  “Uwah… No… AAAAHHH — !!”

  A sudden explosive scream made Asuna spin her head around.

  — Then, she saw that a hole had opened in the Guardians’ defensive line, and the Americans were pouring in like black mud, throwing themselves with dirty curses at the weak Guardians. The Guardians were surrounded by enemies numbering several times more than them, and executed; flesh and blood flew into the air, and shrieks of pain slowly turned into dying screams. This extremely realistic picture of death seemed to stimulate the crimson soldiers’ bloodthirst even further, and they launched themselves towards new prey with renewed savagery.

  “Stop it…. STOP IT…!!” Asuna cried.

  She clearly understood that she was supposed to ignore the sacrifices of some of the troops, and push south as hard as she could. But she couldn’t control herself anymore and jumped off from her horse.

  “STOP IT — !!”

  Charging into the deadly crimson current alone, her scream was as bitter as blood.

  She knew the American players were only being used, but even so, she could not suppress her boiling anger any longer.

  Zzkukukuk —!!

  Her right hand flashed, and «Radiant Light» stabbed straight through the visors of the crimson helmets. Four fatally wounded people dropped their longswords and crumpled to the ground, screaming.

  Judging by their reactions, Asuna could see that although they had dived in with AmuSpheres, they were not protected by its Pain Absorber. In truth, Asuna had realized that long ago, so she had tried to make her attacks fatal stabs to the heart, instantly killing the person and logging them out of the game, yet this logic had also evaporated.

  She now relied on her sword’s Priority to stab through the enemies’ armor, dispatching them instantly, and sometimes even cleaving the enemies’ swords in two.

  To the Americans, the enemies before them were mere polygons, and their blood was also computer-generated special effects. Yet to Asuna, who dived in through the STL, they were real, live human beings, and their spurting blood was chillingly warm, exuding a nauseating coppery odor.

  Some time later, the pool of blood reached Asuna’s feet, and she accidentally slipped and fell. The hulking soldiers then instantly surrounded her as she was sprawled on the ground.

  “Take this!!”

  A battleaxe swung down, and Asuna frantically dodged right. But before she should pull back her left arm, the heavy axe had already roared past.

  Gatsu.

  With a crunching noise, her left arm was severed down the middle to her elbow, and it flopped uselessly in the air.

  “… AAHH — !!”

  Excruciating pain blinded Asuna as her breathing froze and she went numb. A moment later, she breathed heavily and managed to cradle her left arm, which was spurting blood. But through her streaming tears, she watched in despair as the four or five black shadows surrounding her had already raised their weapons.

  Suddenly —

  The head of the man with the giant axe seemed to explode in a storm of flesh and blood.

  Asuna heard heavy impacts like that of a machinegun. Every time an impact resonated, the body of a soldier attempting to slash towards her shattered and disappeared from view.

  “Hmph… Why are these guys so soft?”

  Asuna endured the agony and pushed herself up; before her was a lean, short young man with hair standing straight up like flames.

  — Someone from the Dark Territory!

  Asuna inhaled sharply and forgot her pain for a moment. From the color of his skin and the single leather strap tied around his entire body, he was unmistakably a member of the Fist Fighter tribe she had fought minutes ago.

  But why would someone under Emperor Vector’s rule attack the crimson soldiers that Emperor Vector had summoned?

  — It’s as if he had run over just to help Asuna.

  Asuna looked down and noticed that the man on
ly had one red eye left, an ugly wound was left in his right eye socket, and trails of blood were plastered on his face like tears; the blood looked fresh.

  W ith his remaining eye, the young Fist Fighter looked askance at an American approaching him, and raised his right fist high.

  That sharply defined fist was suddenly wrapped in roaring flames.

  “Wa… RAAAAAAHHH!!”

  With a scream that sounded like tearing cloth, the fist struck the ground.

  Guwa!!

  From where his fist hit the ground, a semicircular shockwave blew forward like a wall of fire, relentlessly expelling all of the crimson soldiers before them into the air.

  — What strength!

  Asuna gaped. If she fought this person now, she might lose…

  The Fist Fighter wordlessly stretched out and grabbed Asuna’s armor with his left arm, forcefully pulled her up, and gazed at her with his remaining eye.

  “… Let’s make a deal.”

  Asuna couldn’t immediately understand what this young but acrid voice wanted to convey.

  “A… deal?”

  “Yeah. You’re the one who made those rock spears and that valley, weren’t you? Listen, make a bridge across that valley, doesn’t matter how narrow it is. That way, we four thousand warriors of the Fist Fighters’ Guild can fight alongside you for now, until we finish off this crimson army.”

  Fight alongside — the Dark Territory army?

  Was such a thing possible? The people of the Dark Land, no, all the people of this world should be unable to disobey their superior’s orders, due to the existence of «Code 871».

  But the young man before her had no right eye at all. Did this mean that he had broken the seal on his own? Had he, like Alice, evolved into a Fluctlight capable of breaking the boundaries of this world?

  Alice had said last night: “To lose «Code 871», the eye must completely explode”, but his wound didn’t look like the product of an exploded right eye at all, it looked more like the entire eyeball had been torn out by force… What was she to do, then?

  Asuna’s momentary hesitation was broken by howls and sword slashes coming from her right.

  “This person, is likely to not be lying.”

  The one who cleaved off the heads of a few approaching soldiers with a jet black longsword so thin it was nearly invisible, was the gray-haired female Integrity Knight, Sheyta Synthesis Twelve.

  Catching sight of Sheyta, a boastful yet somehow embarrassed grin broke out on the young Fist Fighter’s face. “Hey,” he replied.

  The instant she saw this smile, Asuna made her decision.

  — I’ll believe him.

  This was probably the last time she would be able to use the «geographical manipulation» ability. So wouldn’t it be better spent on creation rather than destruction?

  “… I understand, leave the bridge to me.”

  Asuna moved her right hand away from the wound on her left wrist, and raised her rapier into the air with her right hand.

  Laa────────.

  The solemn sound of angelic song was heard as multicolored aurorae shot into the heavens and extended due north, crossed the entire valley, and connected to the other side.

  With a sonorous thundering, the ground underneath began to tremble.

  Everyone watched as two stone columns suddenly protruded from both sides of the canyon and slowly extended further and further, then joined together in the middle, widened, and finally became a stone bridge sufficient for crossing.

  “OOOOHHHH, AHHHHHHH!!”

  The furious bellows of the four thousand members of the Fist Fighters’ Guild were several times louder than the tremors just then. Led by a giant, one-armed man, they converged at the stone bridge.

  A headache several times more painful than the agony at her arm suddenly pummeled her; Asuna nearly lost consciousness, and had to lean on her rapier to avoid falling.

  She could no longer see Alice, who was supposed to be guiding the entire Human Empire Army and cutting a bloody path through the enemy lines.

  Asuna could only hope that she would be safe… and that the Fist Fighter army would fight together with them like their chief promised.

  — Kirito-kun, I’m going now, okay?

  Silently murmuring the name of her loved one, her pain seemed to fly far, far away.

  ***

  About a minute prior, at the southernmost edge of the battlefield —

  Integrity Knight Alice had already cut down countless crimson soldiers who charged forward one after another.

  These guys — were a bit strange.

  They were neither aware that they were swordsmen, nor trained in sword skills; they merely swarmed forward, stepping over their comrades’ bodies and screaming in a strange tongue. It almost seemed as though they were completely unaware of the value of life — their enemies’ lives, and even their partners’ lives, all seemed worthless to them. It was as if they didn’t even care about their own lives.

  If the people who lived in the Real World were like this, it seemed that Asuna was exactly right in that “the other side” was not a kingdom of gods after all.

  With the endless massacre and endlessly appearing enemies, even Alice’s reaction speed began to slow.

  She’d had enough. This wasn’t a battle at all.

  Quickly — quickly break through their ranks, and get out of here.

  “Get out of the way… GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAYYY!!”

  She screamed shrilly as the Fragrant Olive Sword slashed sideways. The heads and hands of the enemies scattered to the ground.

  “System call!”

  Then, she began rapidly chanting an incantation, formed ten Thermal Elements, molded them into a fiery lance, and shot it.

  “Discharge!”

  BOOM!!

  Although it wasn’t Deusolbert’s Conflagrant Flame Bow, a gigantic explosion pierced the entire enemy formation and tore open a hole.

  And beyond it was —

  She saw it. A hill, rising out of the black ground.

  If she could break through the encirclement and get over there, she could use the Spatial Resources scattered around the battlefield to initiate the “Sealed Mirror Light Art”, and burn all of these crimson soldiers to a crisp.

  “OUT OF MY WAAAAAY!!”

  Alice screeched and kicked off the ground.

  “… Lil’ Miss!!”

  Knight Commander Bercouli’s shout came from behind. But Alice did not hear his next words: Don’t go forward anymore.

  — Almost there. We can almost break out.

  Her feet unstopping, sword slashing at the last enemy blocking her, Alice finally broke out of the seemingly infinite circle of enemies and charged into the southern wilderness.

  She slid her beloved sword into its sheath and continued her sprint, gulping down the fresh air that smelled of blood.

  Suddenly, her surroundings darkened.

  Has the sun been blocked out? Alice thought for a moment.

  Then suddenly, she felt a heavy blow on her back, and was grabbed by a dragon’s leg suddenly passing over; by the time she noticed, she was already being lifted by its claws.

  Alice tried to activate her Armament Full Control Art, but before she could finish chanting, her field of vision began to be enveloped in darkness, and a biting chill filled her body.

  Was it a Dark Art from the rider of the dragon? — No, that wasn’t it. Her very consciousness was fading away, being sucked into an infinite darkness.

  This was the enemy’s Incarnation, completely different from Knight Commander Bercouli’s polished steel-like Incarnation, and also different from the Highest Minister Administrator’s scorching, all-consuming Incarnation; it absorbed everything and seized everything: an Incarnation of nothingness.

  That was the last thing Alice could think of before her consciousness vanished.

  ***

  To Emperor Vector / Gabriel Miller, this situation was a gamble.

  Nonethe
less, he firmly believed that as long as the several tens of thousands of American players diving into the battlefield were able to surround and attack the Human Empire Army, the «Radiant Medium» Alice would certainly break out of the encirclement alone — or with a small team — to initiate that huge light ray attack.

  That was why he had stayed on the back of his requisitioned dragon, hovering far, far away from the battlefield and waited. He felt like this had been the longest stretch of time since he had first dived into Underworld.

  But then, he finally saw it. The flash of golden light sprinting out from the ant-like swarm of soldiers.

  “Alice… Alicia.”

  Gabriel smiled a rare, genuine smile as he whispered that name. He whirled the reins in his hands, taking the dragon into a fast dive.

  His overwhelming imagination that formed an Incarnation of nothingness had already consumed the dragon’s AI, turning it into a controllable tool that slaved only for him.

  Under his command, the dragon plunged like a stone, its wings silent, opened its right claws towards the ground and tightly grasped the golden knight’s back.

  Whoosh — !

  Then, with the deafening noise of expanding wings, it flew back into the sky.

  He’d never paid any attention to the bloody battlefield he had created.

  To him, whatever happened next to the Dark Territory army, the Human Empire Army, or the people he’d summoned from the real world, had lost all value; none of it mattered anymore.

  Now, he only needed to advance straight to the system console nearest to his current location at the «World End Altar», and from there, eject Alice’s soul to the real world, and log himself out.

  Gabriel’s vision shifted down, and stopped on the golden hair of the unconscious Knight, billowing in the wind, caught in the clutches of the dragon’s talons.

  I want to feel her soon. This body, this soul, I want to taste it to my heart’s content.

  There was still a very long journey to the system console, which would take several days even by dragon. He could even use this time to properly enjoy Alice, while she still had a physical body in Underworld.