Sword Art Online Volume 17 - Alicization Awakening

by Reki Kawahara

  Despite having just declared that she would not be afraid anymore, Asuna’s feet still instantly lost their strength.

  What appeared where the lines landed were the brutal, ferocious soldiers clad in that blood-red armor — VRMMO players summoned from the real world.

  “All… All units, do not stop!! Attack!! Attack — !!”

  Integrity Knight Renri issued a clear order from the very front. The disturbed Human Empire Army regained order with a warcry: Uooo! and picked up their pace. The troops sprinted up the crater’s incline.

  But, as if they had been anticipating this maneuver, the newly-appeared soldiers seemed to all have been placed on the south side of the crater, with the ones blocking their way numbering a thousand… no, nearly two thousand.

  Shall I risk being logged out and use Stacia’s Geographical Manipulation again? If she wasn’t careful, however, it could backfire and impede the advancement of the Human Empire Army.

  In the next instant, Asuna’s puzzlement was shattered by a dragon’s roar.

  From the very front line, Knight Renri’s dragon Kazenui was spewing scorching flames, and had charged ahead without looking back.

  “No… Renri-sama is sacrificing himself to open a path…”

  As though he heard Sortiliena’s pained moan from beside Asuna, Renri slowly turned around from atop the dragon’s back.

  — Please take care of the rest.

  The boy’s lips mouthed.

  Then, the charging knight drew the two boomerang-like weapons from his waist, and held them at the ready.

  Just before he threw them forward.

  The color of the sky above the crater suddenly changed.

  A cross-shaped rift tore apart the Dark Territory’s blood-red sky, from which Asuna caught a glimpse of an infinite blue behind it, clear as azure.

  Whether it was the numerous crimson soldiers who seemed ready to charge down, the suicidally advancing Human Empire soldiers, or even Knight Renri charging at the very front, all lifted their heads together, looking into the sky like Asuna.

  The boundless heavens, seemingly reaching into the universe.

  From beyond, a bright white star descended.

  No, it was a person. Clad in armor of the same azure as the sky, and a skirt as white as the clouds, with violently flapping short hair the color of water. The source of the blinding white light was the giant longbow in their left hand. Their face was imperceptible against the reflection.

  — Who…? Who, are you?

  As though in response to Asuna’s silent demand, the one floating in the sky pointed the longbow into the heavens. Their right hand gripped the dazzling bowstring, and forcefully drew it all the way back.

  With a stunning flash, an arrow of light shining pure white appeared between the bow and the string.

  Both the Human Empire Army and the red soldiers had stopped dead, all seeming to forget how to speak in this instant, completely silent. The only sound heard was Sortiliena’s low voice:

  “……… Solus-sama…?”

  As though answering this call, the dazzling arrow of light shot vertically into the sky.

  It instantly split and spread in all directions.

  As they turned at acute angles, they transformed into white-hot lasers and poured down towards the ground.

  The words of Guardian Leader Sortiliena Serlut were only half correct.

  Above the crater, a real world person appeared, no, logged in with Super Account 02, «Solus, Goddess of the Sun».

  This account had been given the default ability «wide-ranged annihilatory attack».

  ***

  Sinon/Asada Shino looked down upon the immense destruction she had wreaked, and recalled the explanation that the technician called Higa had given her over the intercom.

  “Um, Sinon-san, although the Super Accounts are really strong, they’re not miracle workers. Since they’re prepared for times when you only have to perform large scale changes in the Underworld, we tried our best to configure them to fit a range acceptable to the inhabitants within.”

  “So… are you saying that they’re not GMs4, just very strong PCs5?”

  Sinon spoke into the microphone as she lay on the giant STL machine resembling the First Generation Fulldive experimental apparatus, located in the Roppongi branch of the mysterious startup «Rath». What came as a reply was a click— apparently the sound of someone snapping his fingers.

  “Yes. Exactly. That’s why the «Solus» account you’re going to use can’t get around the Underworld’s resource boundaries either. Any attacks with your bow must expend Spacial Resources, no matter what. Since it has an auto-recharging feature, it shouldn’t be exhausted during the day, but you can’t do rapid fire.”

  Just as Higa said, the light of the pure white longbow that Sinon gripped in her left hand had weakened after that wide-ranged attack.

  Although the bow had already begun to replenish its light at both ends, another full-power attack would require a two to three minute wait.

  — No combo attacks? Hmph, perfect.

  Compared to an automatic6, manuals suit me better anyway.

  Sinon boasted silently, confirming that the explosive flames on the ground had dissipated.

  Along the edge of the roughly one kilometer wide crater, charred bodies vanished one after another with a luminous effect. A single shot had probably obliterated more than 5,000 enemy soldiers. Luckily, they were not real Underworld people, but Americans who had logged in from the real world just like Sinon. The players who had believed in the existence of this closed beta and were torched immediately upon connection must be seething right now.

  In the crater’s center, the small scale troops vastly outnumbered by the crimson army began to advance again. Although the enemy still numbered more than 10,000, most remained motionless out of fear of the next shot — or rather, explosion, allowing the Human Empire Army to break through.

  Sinon gazed into the distance, verifying the Human Empire troops’ formation.

  She instantly noticed the chestnut-haired girl in their ranks atop a white horse, looking right up at her.

  Sinon could not help but smile as she maneuvered the other ability that had been bestowed upon the Solus account, «unlimited flight». Although she was incredulous upon hearing Higa tell her “you fly with your imagination”, when she actually took control she felt that it wasn’t much different from the free flight in ALO. She looked towards the carriage behind the girl, and flew towards it in a straight line.

  When the tips of her porcelain-painted boots touched the canvas surface, she gently raised her right hand.

  “Sorry for the wait, Asuna.”

  As she saw Sinon’s warm smile, tears beaded in the eyes of the girl in the pearly dress. She stood from her galloping horse, and jumped beneath the carriage canopy:

  “—— Sinonon… !!”

  Asuna hugged her tightly with a strained shout.

  Sinon lightly patted her best friend’s slender body, and said softly:

  “You’ve worked hard. It’s okay… Leave everything else to me.”

  As she was hugged by Asuna, who was slightly taller than her, she pointed the 20% recharged bow directly ahead, and slightly drew back the bowstring with her right hand.

  The GM equipment given to the Solus account — the longbow «Annihilate Ray» adjusted its power according to bowstring force, and adjusted its attack range according to bow angle. An arrow of light, much thinner than the one before, appeared when the bowstring was drawn 10 centimeters back. Sinon aimed the arrow at the enemy troops blocking the dragons running at the front.

  Vishu! The faint sound of a shot.

  Tilted about 20 degrees to the right, the bow shot out a ray of light that split and landed within a 10 meter radius, creating an explosion not inferior to that of a TOW missile7

  Crimson armor was thrown high into the air, and then disappeared. Taking advantage of the opening, the dragons immediately charged through. The ten or so soldie
rs who withstood the blast were slammed by the dragons’ heads, kicked by their huge talons, and instantly defeated.

  At this point, the enemy soldiers seemed to have recovered from the shock of the laser attack, and realized that their prey was fleeing. Exploding with obscene curses, they dashed down the slope of the crater like a red tsunami.

  Sinon swung her bow over her arm, placed both hands on Asuna’s shoulders, and gently separated themselves.

  “Asuna. I can see the remains of something that looks like ruins about 5 kilometers south of here. The road runs straight through it, and several huge stone statues are lined up on both sides. We won’t have to worry about being surrounded by the enemy, and we can shrink the battlefield. Let’s find a way to repel the enemy there.”

  Asuna was also a battleworn warrior, and upon hearing Sinon’s words, her eyes immediately recovered a sharp gleam. She forcefully wiped away her tears, and spoke:

  “Got it, Sinonon… Sinon. No matter how many American VRMMO players there are, they have no way of immediately gathering more. If we can repel those ten or so thousand people, the enemy will be helpless… I think.”

  “Yeah, leave it to me. … Well, that’s pretty much it…”

  After confirming that the very last of the Human Empire Army troops had escaped the enemy encirclement, Sinon looked back at her best friend.

  “… Um, is Kirito…. among the troops?”

  Asuna could not help but give her a bitter smile at this.

  “You don’t have to be so polite about that now. Kirito-kun’s in there.”

  Asuna gestured with her right index finger at the carriage beneath their feet.

  “Oh, really. Well… I’ll go say hello to him.”

  Clearing her throat, Sinon moved to the rear of the ceiling canvas on the large carriage, and glided inside with the help of her flying ability.

  She waited for Asuna to follow suit, then turned towards the depths of the carriage, stacked with wooden crates.

  The first things that entered her sight were two otherworldly girls in gray uniforms covered with armor. Their eyes grew wide at the same time, and one of them uttered softly:

  “S… Solus-sama…?”

  Sinon glanced at her own outfit, and replied with a shrug:

  “Hello, nice to meet you. Although I look a lot like Solus, I’m not. I’m Sinon.”

  She tried her best to smile at them, but the duo only blinked in confusion. But as they saw Asuna as well, they seemed to understand something.

  “Right, I’m a Real World person like Asuna. I’m also Kirito’s… friend.”

  “I… see.”

  While the red-haired girl still looked startled, the deep brown-haired girl wore a complicated expression, and murmured quietly: Why are they all women?

  You have no idea. Sinon chuckled bitterly in her heart as she took a few steps into the gap that the girls parted to create.

  She saw a boy in black, sitting on a plain wheelchair, hugging two longswords in one arm.

  Although she had already learned of Kirito’s state through Higa Takeru, upon seeing his injured state in the flesh, her heart tightened and she felt tears welling up.

  “… Ah…”

  Even though those empty eyes did not look at hers, his throat did emit a small sound. Sinon fell softly to her knees before her former enemy, comrade, and savior.

  Leaning on the chair’s back and the armrests, the swordsman’s body had become so thin and frail that she hesitated to touch him. Sinon set her longbow on the carriage’s deck, then reached out and wrapped both arms tightly around his emaciated frame.

  She had heard that Kirito’s soul — his Fluctlight, the «main body» known as the core within, or his self-image, had suffered severe damage. Higa had told her in a somber voice that there was currently no known method of recovery.

  But, Sinon closed her eyes tightly, tears streaming out as she screamed in her heart: Well, that’s easy.

  Many people have countless memories of the times with Kirito, and strong emotions towards Kirito. They only needed to be gathered together, bit by bit, and placed back into Kirito’s heart.

  — Hey, can’t you feel it?… The you that’s inside me. Sarcastic, a bit naughty, stubborn, naive… and stronger, kinder than anyone. This is you, yourself.

  Sinon forgot that Asuna was still gazing from behind her; she turned her head and planted a firm kiss on Kirito’s face.

  Just then —

  Asada Shino was still unaware that her own emotional thoughts had barely scratched the surface of the only possible way to revive Kirigaya Kazuto’s soul.

  Had she possessed ample knowledge of Underworld and Fluctlights’ structure, it would be possible for her to solve that method. But the explanation given to Sinon before she dived in only consisted of the current situation and how to use the Solus account.

  That was why Sinon did not bother to consider the reason behind Kazuto’s slight trembling and subtle rise in body temperature, which occurred when her lips touched him.

  Sinon quickly released Kirito’s body, stood up, and turned to the three watching from behind.

  “Don’t worry, Kirito will definitely make a speedy recovery. When we truly need him.”

  Asuna and the two girls nodded tearfully.

  “Well… I’ll fly to the ruins in the south to confirm the geography. I’ll leave Kirito to you guys.”

  Having said that, Sinon turned towards the carriage rear–

  Suddenly, Asuna tightly seized her shoulder.

  Seeing the urgent gleam in her eyes, Sinon swallowed involuntarily.

  “A… Asuna, what…”

  Sinon thought that Asuna was going to interrogate her about stealing a kiss with Kirito, but naturally, this was not the case —

  “H-Hey, Sinon, did you say you were going to fly?! You… can fly?!”

  At this critical question, Sinon nodded confusedly.

  “Y… Yes. They told me it was a default ability of the Solus account. I heard that it doesn’t have a time limit…”

  “Then we aren’t the ones in need of help! Alice… Go after Alice, she’s been abducted by the Emperor!!”

  The situation that Asuna explained afterwards was more urgent than Sinon had expected.

  Integrity Knight Alice, the key to everything, had been captured by Emperor Vector, who was diving with a Super Account just like them, and was currently flying towards the faraway south on a dragon. The only one currently in pursuit was a swordsman called Bercouli, the Knight Commander.

  “Going up against a Super Account, even for the Knight Commander, is too much for him. If we can’t save Alice before the Emperor reaches the «World End Altar», this entire world will be destroyed! Please, Sinon, go help Bercouli-san!”

  After everything had been finally cleared up and she had carved Knight Commander Bercouli’s appearance into her mind, Sinon flew from the carriage and shot into the sky.

  The 700-strong Human Empire Army was advancing south with a dust cloud.

  Chasing furiously after them from the north, the red army seemed to consist of 20 times more people.

  — I’ll come back as soon as I grab Alice. Do your best until then, Asuna.

  Calling to her best friend in her heart, Sinon spurred her imagination to accelerate southwards. She became a white-tailed meteor, tearing across the crimson sky.

  Looking down upon the forever sprawling dark wilderness, Sinon suddenly remembered:

  Come to think of it —

  Where’s Leafa, who should have logged in at the same time as she had?

  3

  Close behind the Human Empire Army led by Integrity Knight Renri was the second batch of inserted American players.

  Far north, on the south side of the valley created by Asuna, Iskahn and the Fist Fighters’ Guild, along with Integrity Knight Sheyta, were still locked in a desperate battle with the rest of the crimson army that still numbered more than ten thousand.

  And even further north of this
battlefield —

  In the wilderness on the other side of the Great Eastern Gate, now stained with the remains of the bloodshed, stood the silhouette of a lone demihuman.

  A body wrapped in bulging steel armor. A leathery mantle fluttering in the wind. Two thin ears drooping from both sides of a rotund head, with a flat nose protruding outwards.

  It was the Chief of the Orc Tribe, Rirupirin.

  Having ordered his surviving three thousand tribal members to standby behind, he had come to the Great Eastern Gate alone. He had not brought even a single bodyguard, because he did not want them to see him wavering over the ground.

  After fumbling in the sand for who knows how long, Rirupirin finally found what he was searching for: A plainly carved silver earring.

  What he gently picked up and placed into his palm was the eye-catching object that the Orc princess knight Renju had worn in her ear, as she followed the Emperor’s orders and became a live sacrifice.

  This was the only possession she had left behind. In the wilderness, not even a shard of armor remained, let alone the bodies of the three thousand Orcs who had died together with the princess. The Dark Sorceress’ abhorrent magic had completely devoured the Orcs’ bodies and equipment, transforming them into Dark Energy.

  And the Sorceress D.I.L., who had enacted this cruel torture, along with the Emperor who had given the order, were no longer here.

  D, the Head of the Dark Sorceress’ Guild, had died after being engulfed by the «Radiant Medium»’s terrifying and magnificent counterattack, and the Emperor had flown south to pursue the Medium, without giving Rirupirin any new orders to move out.

  The remaining three thousand Orc soldiers had no way of defeating the Human Empire soldiers and Integrity Knights protecting the Great Eastern Gate. The desire of the five races of the Dark Land, their dream of conquering the Human Empire, had collapsed.

  — If that was the result.

  Why?

  Why had Rirupirin’s childhood friend Renju, the three thousand Orcs sacrificed alive, and the two thousand Orcs battling at the Gate, died? What did their deaths bring to the Dark Land?