Sword Art Online Volume 17 - Alicization Awakening

by Reki Kawahara

  At this moment, Sinon was no longer holding an elegant longbow.

  But rather, a forthright, fierce, indescribably beautiful .50 caliber anti-material sniper rifle — «Ultima Ratio Hecate II».

  With a sharp sound, Sinon pulled back the bolt handle of her trusty partner, grinning.

  The bridge of Subtilizer’s nose wrinkled very slightly, and his lips pulled back into a curve that suggested anger.

  ***

  What could be called a battle only persisted for the short span of seven minutes. Then came three minutes of defense, and the situation turned into a one-sided slaughter.

  “Defend at all costs…! No matter what, we must at least protect the people of Underworld……!!”

  Asuna shouted with all her might, brandishing her rapier on the very front line, ignoring the unceasing pain pulsing deep in her brain.

  But she could no longer hear a unified, relieving reply.

  All around her, one by one, the Japanese players in converted, multicolored equipment were being surrounded by the players clad in blood-red armor from neighboring countries and pierced full of holes with swords and spears. Bellows of fury, screams of grief, and shrieks before death resounded without end.

  Compared to this, the Americans’ heavy lancing technique had been much simpler to deal with.

  Whether it was because that huge, newly appearing army came from those two countries, or because of their abnormally scalding rage, they were completely ignoring all else and making annihilation their only goal. They launched themselves at their targets all at once, pulled them to the ground by their feet, and crushed them from above, peeling away their freedom. When faced with this type of battle strategy, tactics were ultimately unable to overcome vast numerical disadvantage.

  The two thousand-man circular defensive formation was being eroded away before their very eyes, growing thinner and thinner by the second.

  Using her rapier, Asuna desperately slashed and ran through the endless enemy soldiers lunging at her. This was her first time pleading so despairingly in her heart since she had logged into Underworld the night before.

  Someone, save us.

  ***

  In this battle of despair, one of the squads that had been bravely, persistently fighting was the Green Swordsmen team led by female player Sakuya, who held the role of being the Sylph Lord of Alfheim Online.

  The Sylph race was inherently adept at flexibly carrying out high-speed cooperative attacks. This sort of battle strategy, honed to counter the Salamander race, which launched assaults with heavily armed players, was able to achieve some results in chaotic warfare like this. The lightly armed swordsmen maneuvered dizzyingly fast as they shielded each other, rendering the enemy unable to pick a target and preventing themselves from being pulled to the ground one by one.

  “— Great, let’s open up another hole in their defenses! Rindou Team, Suzuran Team, push the front line to the right!!”

  Sakuya personally stood at the very front, brandishing her slender katana in all directions, shouting orders.

  At this moment, they should be rendezvousing with the Salamander team, currently fighting to their right, and borrowing their assault power to break through the enemy formation in one strike. As long as they could allow the reinforcement troops to escape to the sando in the ancient ruins again and limit the battle line to that narrow entrance, maybe they could whittle down the enemy’s astronomical number like they had the Americans.

  “Advance! Prepare the «Synchro Sword Skill»!! Ready, 5, 4, 3…”

  Just as Sakuya was about to give the order.

  A clear scream of suffering came from the left side of the battleground they were defending.

  “— Don’t give up, everyone. Just a bit more time!!”

  Sakuya suddenly stopped breathing and looked to the left.

  A troop of Japanese players equipped with yellow-based equipment was seemingly about to be swallowed by a tsunami of crimson. At their very front was a petite silhouette, thrown to the ground and pinned there by her metal claws.

  “Alicia!!”

  Sakuya yelled. In that instant, she changed from a calm and collected commander back into a female university student.

  “Stoooop —— !!“

  She screamed, bolting towards the left on her own. She swiped and knocked flying the enemies blocking her way, focusing only on charging to her best friend without stopping.

  Longswords pierced through Cait Sith Lord Alicia Rue’s chest and abdomen, but when she noticed Sakuya approaching, she yelled back at her as though she were spitting blood:

  “No, go back, Sakuya-chan!! Command your troops!!”

  With those last words, those triangular ears poking out of her golden hair disappeared before Sakuya’s eyes.

  “Alicia —— !!“

  Sakuya let out a grieving scream and charged alone into the immense number of enemies about to decimate the Cait Sith team. She continuously activated Sword Skills, taking steps forward through spraying blood and pieces of flesh. She was only a bit further away from where her best friend had fallen…

  Snikt.

  With that impact, she looked down, only to see the head of a spear piercing straight through her right abdomen.

  Her first taste of excruciating pain in this world surged through her nerves, robbing her of her strength.

  Even so, she still took four more steps forward, but then her consciousness lost control of her character and she collapsed right to the ground.

  In the next moment, Sakuya was utterly consumed by the gale of hatred. Her beloved sword was wrenched from her right hand, her left arm was sliced in two, and countless bits of sharp metal ran her body through.

  ***

  Amongst the two thousand — although that number was rapidly decreasing — Japanese players currently diving here, the one with the clearest grasp of the situation was the third generation leader of the «Sleeping Knights» guild, An Si-Eun/Siune.

  Her father was a Korean living in Japan and her mother was Japanese, so Siune was able to speak both nation’s languages. Therefore, when she heard bits and pieces of the furious roars coming from half of the red soldiers, she was able to guess what kind of information had incited these people.

  Rifts and conflict had begun to occur between the netizens of Japan and Korea before Siune had been born, at the dawn of the 21st century. There were a myriad of reasons for that, but it seemed that the development of the Internet caused the rift to grow faster and faster.

  With little distinction between right and wrong, these developments corroded into the world of online games that Siune and her friends so adored. Even in 2026, within the international server of a mainstream VRMMO, it was not uncommon for fierce disputes over monster farming areas to break out between players from different countries. Recent games like ALO would all reject connections from overseas, and one even felt that the chasm between the neighboring countries was growing deeper and deeper.

  Siune, who had grown up touched by both Japanese and Korean culture, had always felt distressed about this sort of situation.

  The members of the Sleeping Knights in the VR Hospice Ward, who had invited Siune into a new world, remained very friendly to her like always even upon learning of her past, so she she had always thought… For everyone, she had to personally erect a bridge across this chasm inside the virtual world.

  But now.

  That man currently overlooking the battle from the rooftops of the palace ruins had incited VRMMO players from other countries with his dishonest rhetoric, played up their joint opposition against a common enemy, and brewed up the greatest hatred and tragedy since the inception of VRMMOs.

  — I have to… I have to do something. I’m perhaps the only one among the Japanese players who can speak Korean.

  — If I don’t push forward, they won’t understand. Right, Yuuki?

  Calling the name of the previous guild leader, who had passed away three months ago, in her heart, Siune loudly instructe
d her four partners beside her.

  “Please, everyone, just once, let’s open a hole in their defenses!!”

  Jun, a dual-wielder who was battling valiantly like a fierce god in the front, immediately shouted:

  “Got it! Tecchi, Talken, Nori, release your all-out attacks all at once! 3, 2, 1!”

  The perfectly synchronized, high-powered, single-strike Sword Skills triggered an earthshaking explosion, blowing back tens of enemies.

  In this instant of silence and stagnation, Siune ran towards a huge Korean player who looked like the leader and threw out her left hand to catch the blade of the longsword he swung down.

  Her palm split and blood spurted out.

  But virtual pain like this, compared to the suffering that Siune had experienced from bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy for her leukemia, was nothing at all. She merely grimaced a bit, kept her stare fixated on the man’s eyes, and shouted in Korean:

  “— Listen to me, you’ve all been lied to!! This server belongs to a Japanese company, we’re not hackers, we’re the rightful users!!”

  Her voice echoed widely, stretching the silence for a few more moments.

  The Korean whose sword was gripped by Siune’s bare hand leaned backwards slightly, as though he were somewhat intimidated by her drive, but very quickly retorted sharply:

  “— You’re lying! I saw it with my own eyes, you killed all of those players who were the same color as us!!”

  “They were the same as you, Americans who had been tricked into coming here by false information! The ones hindering the Japanese company’s development are you all!! Think about it more carefully… Is this rage and hatred of yours right now really coming from your own hearts?!”

  Siune’s words caused the Koreans at the scene to fall silent, dubious.

  Just then, a sharp — yet somewhat confused inquiry came from the rear of the crowd and broke the silence again.

  “Are you telling the truth?!”

  The one who shouted this in Korean, running out of the crowd, was a player who looked no different from the other soldiers. Siune subconsciously adopted a defensive stance, but the player arrived in front of her and lowered the sword in his right hand, declaring his absence of hostility, then pushed up his helmet visor.

  “I’m «Moonphase», who are you?”

  Siune was somewhat taken aback to have someone ask her name so suddenly, but the eyes of this man calling himself Moonphase shined with a sincere glow.

  Siune took her left hand away from the sword blade she was blocking, then clenched it, still dripping virtual blood, into a fist at her chest, and spoke:

  “… I am Siune.”

  “Siune-san, is it? I’ve been also thinking that this whole thing is a little weird.”

  Moonphase’s quickly uttered sentence prompted furious roars from Korean players around them. But he loudly slid his sword back into its sheath, suppressing the noise, and took a step forward.

  “— Do you have a way to prove what you are saying?!”

  “…………”

  Siune couldn’t help but hold her breath.

  This «Underworld» was a virtual reality world developed by a government-funded Japanese company to perform research and development, and the attackers were Americans trying to seize the fruit of that research, a new generation of AI — Siune had never once doubted these words that her friend Lisbeth had tearfully accounted to them inside the World Tree dome in ALO. But when she was asked for a way to prove it, she found herself lost.

  There was no physical evidence in a virtual world. There were only testimonies from certain people, but no matter what the Japanese told them, the other side wouldn’t believe it. Siune could feel enmity flaring up again among the Korean players around them in the time that she remained speechless like this. What could she do… Where would she find…

  “Siune, the Underworld people!”

  Nori suddenly shouted from the left, behind her.

  “Have him meet the people who live in Underworld, and once he sees that they’re speaking Japanese, they’ll understand that this is a Japanese server!”

  “Ah………!”

  Yes, that was a possibility. Although Siune and the others had only spoken a few words with the people of Underworld in the middle of the circular formation, after feeling that they were neither real world people nor NPCs, she had experienced an impact enough to stun her soul. Even though — no, because there was a language barrier between them and the Koreans, the Koreans would also feel the same. As long as they kept an open mind and met and talked with them, they would absolutely understand.

  Siune was about to translate what Nori had just told her in Japanese into Korean to tell Moonphase.

  But just then, a ray of vicious red light flashed behind him.

  “Ah… Look ou……”

  Siune desperately tried to warn him, but it was too late. A very short yet very thick cleaver buried itself deeply into Moonphase’s back and blew him nearly ten meters away.

  “Guaagh……”

  Replacing Moonphase, who was now writhing in pain on the ground, there stood the man in the black poncho who should have been on top of the palace roof.

  He pointed his right hand, which was gripping a dagger that resembled a Chinese-style meat cleaver, at Moonphase and shouted loudly in Korean:

  “This battlefield is no place for traitors!”

  Then he pointed the cleaver at each of the Koreans surrounding them.

  “Don’t fall victim to the tricks of those dirty Japanese!”

  The voice was low, powerful, and icy, yet it carried a faint trace of ridicule.

  The final one the cleaver pointed at was Siune, who stood stock-still, stunned.

  “If this is really a Japanese server, and you really are the rightful users, then why are you the only ones with such powerful equipment? They’re shining like GM equipment! You crafted them with cheating methods!!”

  Exactly, exactly! Sounds of assent followed the man’s declaration.

  Siune desperately refuted the man’s words.

  “… No! Our equipment is different because we converted our own high-level accounts into this world!’

  As soon as she said that, the man in the black poncho let out a high, scornful laugh.

  “Hah, what kind of idiot would convert their account into a test server?! Liar, you’re all liars!!”

  “It’s true, believe me!! We came here determined, not willing to lose our characters…”

  Whoosh. The sound of sliced wind was abruptly heard.

  As the dagger flying towards her buried itself deeply into her right shoulder, Siune was aware not of pain, but of deepest, darkest despair. She was completely unable to comprehend the words shouted by the man who had thrown his weapon.

  A small group of Chinese players shattered the temporary ceasefire and launched an assault from her right. The leader of the Koreans, seeing all of this, brought Siune crashing to the ground with one kick, cursing.

  Lying there, Siune listened to the sound of her partners’ footsteps as they rushed towards her, but was not able to get up again.

  ***

  — Why?

  Integrity Knight Renri Synthesis Twenty-Seven deeply felt the strong hatred enveloping the entire battlefield, only repeating that word in his mind.

  — Why are these people so hateful of each other as to slaughter one another, even though they are all from the Real World?

  No, perhaps he lacked the authority to say that. Even the people of Underworld were divided into the Human Empire and the Dark Realm, and had engaged in bloody warfare for hundreds of years. Just a few days ago, the blood spilled at the Great Eastern Gate was enough to rival the blood that was slowly soaking into the soil of this battlefield here. Even the Divine Instruments hanging from Renri’s waist, the «Twin Edged Wings», had claimed the lives of countless Goblins.

  But, that had been the reason.

  That was the reason he had kept wanting to believe t
hat the Real World outside of Underworld was a world without conflict or hatred, where wars would never, ever happen.

  But that was clearly his own fantasy. Although the Real World people, Asuna and her partners, spoke the same language as the people of Underworld, the voices screamed by the army of tens of thousands appearing before him were incomprehensible to Renri. If there was already so great a difference just in language, then a ceasefire and peace negotiations were utterly impossible.

  Could it be that war was the nature of man?

  Whether it was in this world, or in the Real World outside, or in a world that might exist even further outside, were humans really repeating an endless cycle of slaughter?

  — How can be allowed to happen?!

  Renri clenched his fists, holding back tears with all his might.

  Integrity Knight Sheyta alone had stayed behind in dire straits just to protect the enemy, the Fist Fighters’ Guild of the Dark Realm. She must have established mutual understanding with the people of the Dark Realm by connecting sword and fists. Even at the end of a path splattered with blood, there must be hope.

  Then, I must fight now. I cannot blindly allow myself to be protected and stand here dumbly.

  Renri took a step towards the front line, preparing to rescue the Real World reinforcements who were putting their lives on the line in defense.

  Just then, a feeble voice came from behind him.

  “Esteemed Knight, I will go too.”

  He looked around and saw the red-haired trainee swordswoman Tiese, who was attached to the supply team, standing behind him. She was tightly clutching a relatively small sword, a solemn expression on her face, her lips stiff.

  “… You can’t, you have to protect that man…”

  “I’ve left that duty to Ronye… Because Eugeo-senpai, whom I love the most, has…”

  Tiese’s autumn-colored eyes glassed over, and she continued:

  “That person lost his life to protect something important. I must carry on his mission.”