No one's POV
Night in the wasteland grew deeper, and the only light upon the earth was from the purple moon. The soldiers of the Human Guardian Army and the dark knights and pugilists of the Dark Territory's army on the other side of the bottomless abyss fell into a deep sleep.
While the forces of both sides recharged for the coming battle, the light from one tiny tent simply refused to go dark. At times, muffled laughter could be heard from under the hemp canvas—but only by a single owl that perched on the branch of a nearby tree.
Eventually, the lamp oil ran out, and four exhausted young women fell asleep, nestled around the object of their interest.
A while later, in distant Centoria, the midnight bells rang peacefully. Naturally, their sound did not penetrate to the distant Dark Territory.
At that very moment, every citizen of the Underworld experienced what could be called a tiny chrono-vibration. It was the effect of the simulation's Fluctlight Acceleration dropping to real-time speed, but hardly anyone who was awake even noticed the shift.
It was midnight on the eighth day of the eleventh month of the year 380 in the Underworld's Human Era.
It was midnight on July 7th, 2026, according to Japan Standard Time.
At this moment, the time of the two worlds was in perfect synchronization.
(Timeskip)
As she ate a simple breakfast of two hard toasted pieces of bread surrounding cheese, dried meat, and dried fruit, Philia's mind sleepily worked through some calculations.
Philia(mind):...If time is accelerated a thousand times here, that means I get to have a thousand meals in the time that people in the real world eat just one. I'm assuming that means I won't get that much fatter...
She glanced up ahead at Alice and Sortiliena, who were equally sluggish in the process of eating their sandwiches. Through the fabric of their dresses, it was clear that the other two had lithe physiques with absolutely no extra meat on them.
Did lifestyle diseases even exist in this world? Or was your physique based on fixed parameters that were assigned at birth? Or perhaps a person's appearance was like a mirror that reflected their mental state?
Next to her, Ronie was cutting a sandwich into little pieces for Zora to eat.
Ronie: Here, Senpai.
Alice claimed that she had been feeding him enough to maintain his life level, but apparently there was nothing she could do about how scrawny he looked. It was as though he wished that he could simply vanish from the world.
Ronie:...Zora-senpai's cheeks are looking less pale this morning.
Ronie suddenly said, as though she knew what Philia was thinking.
Ronie: And he's eating his food more forcefully than usual.
Alice: Perhaps spending the night with four beautiful women had a positive effect.
Alice said, eliciting conflicted smiles from the others. They had spent the night talking, sitting around Zora as he slept. It was nowhere near enough time for the four of them to exhaust their anecdotes about Zora, and they eventually gave in to the temptation of sleep.
The next thing she knew, Philia was being awakened by a horn, and Ronie had brought breakfast. As she ate, Philia silently told her lover.
Philia(mind): You never change, no matter where you are. You're kind to everyone, and you try to take everything on, and you get hurt in the process. But this time, you've bitten off more than you can chew. You can't take an entire world on your back. You need to rely on me and everyone else. We all love you...But no one more than me.
She felt quiet, strong determination fill her chest. When Zora woke up, she would smile and tell him, It's all right. Everything went fine. I and everyone else kept safe what you wanted to protect.
The other three seemed to feel Philia's will, too. Alice, Ronie, and Sortiliena looked to Philia, their eyes sharp and alert, and nodded firmly.
It was moments later that the horn sounded, tensely alerting the camp to an enemy attack.
Alice rushed back to her tent with a scrap of bread in her mouth, quickly slapped her armor on, and grabbed the Osmanthus Blade before heading back outside. She met up with Philia, who was armed and ready, too, then told Ronie and Tiese to take care of Zora before setting her sights to the north.
About where the forest gave way, she found Bercouli with his sword drawn. The commander had already gotten the report from the scout, and when he saw Alice and Philia running up, followed close behind by Renly and Sheyta, his expression went hard.
Bercouli: Seems like the real-worlder on the enemy side's got quite the bold methodology. Emperor Vecta's played a risky move.
What he said next made Alice bite her lip. The enemy had run ten thick ropes from bank to bank of the crevice to use as bridges, and they were forcing their way across the hundred-mel-wide gorge. If they fell, they would die. It was an acrobatic act that required great stamina and willpower. If Emperor Vecta was forcing his troops to do this, either he was getting desperate, or their lives were worth less than scraps of paper to him.
But even if one in three of the enemy fell into that crevice, that would still leave nearly seven thousand to deal with. The human army had only a thousand—they didn't stand a chance in a regular fight.
Their original plan, to hide in the woods and use sacred arts to attack, was pointless in the sunlight. They would just have to keep moving south and wait for another chance to lay an ambush.
It was Commander Bercouli who cut through Alice's indecision.
Bercouli: This is a war.
The ancient hero muttered, his pale-blue eyes shining fiercely.
Bercouli: Miss Philia's from elsewhere and has her own reasons—but there's no reason for us to show mercy to the dark army. We've got to make use of this opportunity while we've got it.
Alice: Oppor...tunity?
Alice parroted. Bercouli gave her a sharp look.
Bercouli: That's right...Renly.
The young Integrity Knight bolted to attention, surprised at the sudden address.
Rebly: Y-yes, sir!
Bercouli: What's the maximum range of your weapons, the Double-Winged Blades?
Renly: Normally, it's thirty mels, but under Perfect Weapon Control arts, it's seventy...maybe a hundred.
Bercouli: Good...then, the four of us are going to attack the enemy as they attempt to cross. Alice, Sheyta, and I are going to focus on protection. Renly, you're going to cut down the ropes they've laid across the gorge with your divine weapons.
Alice gasped. The enemy would be desperate to defend their means across, but even if they piled up bodies at the stakes at the end of the ropes, those thrown blades and their curving trajectories could easily fly over their heads and slice through anything. It was a merciless counterstrategy. But the fifteen-year-old boy knight was firm with resolve and smacked his fist to his chest.
Renly: Understood, Commander!
Next to him, Sheyta the Silent muttered.
Sheyta: It'll be fine. I'll protect him.
Even Philia stepped forward, though his orders hadn't included her.
Philia: I'll go, too. The more defense, the better.
Alice closed her eyes for a moment and thought.
Alice(mind): I used my large-scale art to fry ten thousand nonhumans, and my Perfect Control art to slaughter two thousand dark mages. I don't have the right to seek an honorable battle.
For now, all she could do was fight with everything she had.
Alice: Let's hurry.
She said to the four others and turned to the hill north of them. The bloodred rays of the rising sun were already casting the curve of the horizon into black profile.
Iskahn(mind): Hurry. Hurry, hurry!
Iskahn, leader of the pugilists guild, chanted an inward refrain as he clenched his fists. The pugilists and dark knights were crossing the ten crude ropes that spanned the crevice, each group using five. They clung upside down with their arms and legs around the ropes, but without any proper training, their movement was awkward and slow. If they had lifelines for everyone and time to distribute them, it would help, but the emperor did not give them that luxury.
On top of that, Iskahn's request to be first had been denied. Apparently, this was punishment for his fanciful interpretation of last night's orders and for using only a small portion of his troops. He could still hear the emperor's icy voice in his ears.
Vecta: You will follow my orders and do nothing else.
While Iskahn worked his jaws with frustration, the quickest of his subordinates was finally getting to the middle of the rope. The man's copper skin was steaming in the chill of the early morning, and even at this distance, his dripping sweat could be seen shining in the light. It was a mad idea.
Just then, a powerful gust of wind ripped through the huge crevice. Whoooosh! It buffeted the ropes, rocking them back and forth.
Iskahn: Oh...!
Iskahn murmured. A number of pugilists slipped from the ropes, unable to keep their sweaty palms firm. Their howls echoed off the walls of the gorge.
Iskahn(mind): Those were not screams.
The young leader told himself. They were howls of rage that their deaths came not in the glory of battle but in the humiliating failure of forced circus acts.
A single, momentary gust of wind had sent over ten pugilists and dark knights plunging to their inky doom. But those just behind them bravely continued their passage. And from this side, soldiers continued to file onto the ropes at intervals of about three mels apart.
The cruel wind blew again intermittently and cost lives each time. Eventually, Iskahn realized that his clenched fists were emitting a red light that looked very much like flames.
Iskahn(mind): A miserable dog's death.
Even lower than that. At least a dog had bones left to bury.
And the reason for their death was not the long-awaited invasion of the human lands—that fervent hope of the five races of darkness—but merely the capture of this Priestess of Light, because the emperor desired her. Iskahn had no idea how he would apologize to his people back home.
Iskahn(mind): Hurry. Be quick. Let everyone get across before anything else happens.
The young leader prayed. Through either divine providence or simple adjustment to the ropes, the lead climbers picked up speed and at last made it to the other side. Five seconds later, the next wave set foot on solid ground.
At this rate, it would easily take over an hour for ten thousand soldiers to cross the ten ropes. It was practically impossible that they'd complete the entire process before the enemy noticed their plan.
But at this moment, they had no choice but to pray for that very slim chance. The sun rose into the eastern sky with terrifying speed, shining red upon the black earth. In comparison, the crowd of soldiers on the far side who had successfully shimmied across was growing agonizingly slowly. Despite the many who fell along the way, the group went from fifty to a hundred, to two hundred, then at last to over three hundred.
Just then, atop the hillside looming dark on the far side of the crevice appeared five horseback riders. Even with his excellent eyesight, Iskahn could not make out the riders atop the horses.
Iskahn(mind): Just five...Scouts, then. We should still have more time before they marshal their forces.
It took only a moment for this judgment—this hope—to fall to pieces. The five riders began descending the hill, heading straight for the ravine. With their whipping cloaks, shining armor, and powerful haze-like spirit, Iskahn could no longer deny the obvious.
Iskahn(mind): Integrity Knights! Five of them!!
Iskahn: Enemy attack!! Defend!! Defend the ropes!!
Iskahn bellowed. He didn't know whether his voice even reached the far side, but he had to do it. In possible response, half of the three-hundred-strong soldiers there formed protective circles around the stakes that held the ropes in place. The rest arranged themselves in front of that, preparing to fight back their attackers.
The enemy knights practically flew down the thousand mels from the hilltop to the edge of the cliff. They jumped off their mounts as one and raced for the rope on the right end.
Running in the lead was a large, stout man in foreign-looking dress. To his right was a woman in blazing golden armor. On the left was the woman named Sheyta, whom Iskahn had fought the night before.
They surrounded a smaller knight, and what looked like another one was farther behind, but he couldn't be sure of any details beyond that. Dozens of pugilists rushed forward to envelop the five knights, beads of sweat flying from their torsos.
Pugilist: Raaaah!!
They roared, fists and feet raining down upon the knights. There were glints and flashes of metal in quick succession. An enormous geyser of blood erupted into the sky, like some gruesome waterfall rolling backward. At its base, arms, legs, and heads flew helplessly from the bodies they belonged to.
And then, from behind the three lead knights, a dark light rose up high, leaving a bright trail behind it. Amid the red light of the dawn, it arced up and over the heads of the pugilists—and toward the rightmost rope, which was still surrounded by a host of fighters...
Iskahn: Nooooooo!!
Iskahn's ears were so sharp that even beneath his own scream, he caught the faint snick of the cut. The rope split in the middle, and the release of the tension holding it up left the ends writhing loose in the air like serpents. Dozens of warriors helplessly plunged into the depths of the ravine. The image of them falling burned itself into Iskahn's eyes. Without realizing it, he said aloud.
Iskahn: This...this is war? You call this a battle?
For once, his second-in-command, Dampa, did not have a pithy retort. Not only were his tribespeople forced to mimic a clown's acrobatics, they were swallowed by the abyss without even having the opportunity to fight. They had not undergone the long and brutal training of the pugilists for this.
What would he tell the elderly parents and young children who awaited their return back home? How could he tell them that their loved ones had not stood boldly before the enemy's blades and given their lives as the glorious warriors they were, but fallen to the depths of the earth without a chance to use their mighty fists?
He was helpless to do anything but watch and listen to the spectacle of the overlapping screams of anger and mourning as warriors fell to their deaths.
Iskahn(mind): I will claim your vengeance. Just forgive me. Forgive me.
But such was the cruelty of the situation that Iskahn could not say whom he should defeat to fulfill that vengeance. The Integrity Knights were raising a desperate stand against ten times their number. He could not ask them to wait, pretty please, until all the pugilists had crossed the ropes safely and assumed their battle formations. It was a sign of the knights' courage that they struck with a tiny group of five, knowing that their window of opportunity was limited.
So who was it? Who bore the blame for the undignified deaths of those valiant warriors? Was it their chief, who could do nothing but stand stock-still like a fool, his fists balled? Or... Iskahn suddenly felt a sharp pain deep in his right eye. The breath caught in his throat. Red light pulsed repeatedly through his vision as a second rope was cut, its ends flying through the air.
(Elsewhere)
At the rear of his army's emplacement, Gabriel Miller watched, face propped against his fist, as three of the ten ropes they'd affixed over the gorge were snapped within moments of one another.
Vecta: Just as I suspected, the AI of the Human Empire units appear to be slightly superior.
It seemed that the human army's artificial intelligences were slightly superior. In fact, taking their adaptability into account, the difference seemed stark. With how quickly they'd identified and countered the Dark Territory army's moves, both last night and today, it was unlike any strategy game's CPU opponent he had ever faced.
Vecta: Don't mess up, Critter.
The result of the game was that Gabriel had already lost 70 percent of his total units, but he was not yet panicking. He just watched hundreds of his units die and waited—waited for the moment to arrive.
(Real World)
Critter, who was still manning the desk in the main control room of the Ocean Turtle, was as of that point done with the task of matching the Fluctlight Acceleration rate to one, the same as real time. The task had taken as long as it had in order to soften the shock of the shift and prevent the Rath employees logged in to the Underworld from detecting that it was happening.
In parallel, he used the satellite connection to drop a URL into a major online gaming community in America. The link led to a teaser site that Critter had whipped up in short order. It used edgy fonts and blood-splatter effects to announce:
A LIMITED-TIME BETA TEST FOR A NEW VRMMO IN PRODUCTION.
THE BIRTH OF THE WORLD'S FIRST TRUE PVP SLAUGHTER EXPERIENCE.
FULLY HUMAN AVATARS. NO SOFTWARE BOARD RATINGS. NO ETHICS CODE.
The gamers reacted to this bold pitch with equal parts skepticism and excitement. If nothing else, this indie studio had balls. As of July 2026, VRMMO regulations were evolving in America within the general expansion of anti-terrorism measures, so even indie developers who made games with the free Seed package had to submit to an industry ratings board and implement certain ethical measures, or they would suffer major problems with operating their game.
(Elsewhere)
In particular, depictions of brutal violence suffered a major crackdown. If you really wanted severed limbs to be a major part of the appeal, you had to employ the method of games like Insectsite and make the avatars nonhuman in some way. In fact, America's restrictions were even more severe than what existed in Japan, where the first VRMMO was created, a state of affairs that left the American gaming community frustrated...Until this mysterious beta test advertisement, that is.
This was Gabriel's big strategy, which he enacted at the cost of significant valuable time. He was going to give American VRMMO players the keys to the Dark Territory's dark knight accounts and allow them to dive into the Underworld to serve as his soldiers.
Neither Seijirou Kikuoka, the man in charge of Rath, nor Takeru Higa, who'd designed the Underworld, had ever considered that such a drastic move might be possible.
But the Underworld, on a lower server level, was no more than another VRMMO game that met Seed specifications. If it was presented as a virtual world using 3-D polygon models rather than its original mnemonic visuals— and the time-acceleration aspect were not active—you could use the AmuSphere to log in, touch and interact with the world's objects, and even kill other characters.
And it didn't matter whether those characters were real-world people or Underworld people.
Gabriel and Critter's secret plan completely took Rath by surprise. Even if the staff had realized it was happening, they would have had no way of shutting off the satellite connection, since the main control room had been taken over.
But when Critter uploaded the link in question to the Internet, the packet containing the URL was caught and observed by just one person. It was Rio, the top-down artificial intelligence. Rio had been monitoring the situation on the Ocean Turtle from Kotone Takemiya's phone when she detected Critter's message, accessed the teaser site, and accurately assessed and identified Gabriel's plan.
She tried to warn Rath about the situation, but the sub-control room was physically isolated, and with the phone left in Philia's ship bunk, no one was going to hear its alarm going off, even at maximum volume.
Rio: Oh, no! Mama and Papa are in danger!
Rio was left with no other option but to focus her senses on distant Japan across the Pacific. She called a number of other phones at the same time.
(Elsewhere)
In the real world, Asuna Yuuki was a junior in high school, but in the virtual world, she was a deadly berserk rapier. As soon as she heard the notification from her cell phone, she bolted upright in bed.
The clock at her bedside said it was three in the morning. Despite the unexpected wake-up at such an odd hour, her sleepiness was instantly gone: The ringtone that awoke her was the one she'd set for calls from Sora Yatagami.
Asuna(mind): Can it be? A call from Sora, who's not only unconscious but missing?
When she pressed the device to her ear, however, she heard the stressed voice of a young girl.
Rio(phone): Aunty, this is Rio!
Asuna: Wha...? R-Rio?!
She knew about Rio the AI, Zora and Philia's "daughter," of course. The sweet but faintly electronic voice continued on its own.
Rio(phone): I will explain later. Make preparations to leave the house immediately and take a taxi. I will send the destination and quickest route through your phone. The cost of your fare will be added directly to your electronic cash account.
There was a prompt ringing sound, notifying Asuna that her device had received an online deposit. That detail finally banished any thought from her mind that this was a dream or prank of some kind.
Asuna: A...taxi? To where...?
She stood up as commanded, pulling her legs out of her pajamas, alarm still blaring in her head. What Rio said next was like a bucket of ice water dumped onto her mind.
Rio(phone): Please hurry. Papa and Mama are in danger!!
(Elsewhere)
Kazuto: D-danger?! My Brother and Philia?!
Kazuto Kirigaya fastened his jeans button with one hand as he spoke—a high school computer team member in real life and a dual wielding black swordsman in the virtual world, as well as Sora's Kirigaya's brother.
Rio(phone): Don't shout too loud, Uncle, or Miss Midori will wake up.
Rio instructed calmly from the cell phone. Kazuto clammed up.
Kazuto: Y...you're right sorry.
Rio(phone): I've already talk to Asuna, Shino, and Suguha as well.
Kazuto immediately dressed. He snuck out of his room and saw Suguha done as well. The two of them snuck down the stairs and put her hand on the front door. While it was a fairly old Japanese home, it did have a modern security system active at night, the alarm of which Rio had apparently deactivated.
Since Sora had gone missing, their mother had returned home early every day. Kazuto and Suguha felt guilty about leaving without saying anything, so they said a silent message as they passed through the doorway.
Kazuto: I'm sorry, Mom. Don't worry—We'll find a way to save him.
They immediately went to the garage where Kazuto and Sora keep their motorcycle. Slowly starting the engine, they sped off to Roppongi.
(Elsewhere)
The half-eaten energy bar dropping from Takeru Higa's mouth to his knees was enough to jolt his eyes open. He blinked a few times and checked his smartwatch. It was just before four in the morning by Japan Standard Time. A visual sweep of the room gave him a glimpse of his fellow staffers packed into the sub-control room, looking exhausted.
Dr. Rinko Koujiro was sitting in one of the console chairs, her head nodding in sleep. Even Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka, though awake, did not have the usual sharp, alert look in his eyes behind his black-framed glasses as he stared at the main monitor.
The only others were four engineers as still as corpses on the mattresses lined up along the wall. There was no eliminating the possibility of an information leaker among the SDF security members, so Kikuoka had them guarding the pressure-resistant barrier a floor below the sub-control room.
It had already—or finally, depending on perspective—been fourteen hours since their unknown attackers had infiltrated the craft. It would be ten more hours until the Nagato defense ship assigned to guard the Ocean Turtle rushed in to neutralize the threat. Given the circumstances, it was a devastating length of time. Especially for the Underworld, where time was drastically accelerated to stretch it out.
Ten hours had passed since Kotone Takemiya had logged in with Super-Account 04. Since the FLA ratio was normally set to its limit of times one thousand, that meant ten thousand hours had passed inside the simulation— over an entire year of subjective time. Yet there was still no report from within the Underworld of success or failure in the mission to capture Alice.
Higa: Was the World's End Altar really that far from the human settlements...?
Higa muttered to himself, envisioning the full map of the Underworld, which was designed to look very much like Rath's logo. Just then, the receiver on the console made a series of connected, shrill beeps, nearly causing him to jump out of his seat.
Higa: K-Kiku, phone call.
He said to the man seated next to him, assuming it was regarding something on the lower floor. The Hawaiian-shirt-wearing commander bolted upright with the same kind of surprise and lunged for the receiver, losing a wooden sandal from his toes' grasp.
Kikuoka: Sub Control! Kikuoka!
He said, hoarse but still commanding. After a few moments, the speaker emitted the voice of not Lieutenant Nakanishi downstairs but a young man, audibly bewildered and overwhelmed.
Hiraki(phone): Um...you're in the STL Development Lab at Rath headquarters...right? My name is Hiraki from the Rath Roppongi office...
Kikuoka: Huh? R...Roppongi?
Kikuoka repeated, his voice squawking at this unexpected communication. Higa was just as startled.
Why would the Roppongi office be contacting them at this moment? The employees there didn't know that Rath itself was just a mock venture capital firm secretly funded by the national defense budget or that its real headquarters was not in Japan at all but floating in the sea to the south in the form of the Ocean Turtle or even that the title of their research was Project Alicization.
And of course, they didn't know that Rath was currently under attack by an unknown enemy force. The Roppongi office was just a lab for STL research and development.
Higa(mind): That's right...STL...
Suddenly, there was a brief glimpse of some kind of epiphany in Higa's mind, but before he could seize and identify it, Kikuoka distracted him by clearing his throat loudly.
Kikuoka: Ah, y-yes. This is Kikuoka, STL Development.
Hiraki(phone): Oh! Hello, sir! I met you once before. I'm Chief Hiraki of the Roppongi development team!
Higa(mind): Enough of the workplace formalities! Just get to the point!!
Higa wanted to scream. Kikuoka had the same expression on his face, but he did a very good job of assuming his business persona verbally.
Kikuoka: Ah, yes, I see, Chief Hiraki. Are you really working overtime this late?
Hiraki(phone): Actually, I was out drinking after work and missed the last train. Roppongi's a terrible place for an office, I tell you! Oh, and please keep that comment off the record, heh-heh.
Higa(mind): You're talking to the boss, you idiot! The head honcho! Just get to the damn point!!
Higa screamed. Thankfully, his psychic message seemed to sink in, as Hiraki tightened up and got down to business.
Hiraki(phone): Well, uh, the reason I'm calling is...I guess you could call it a problem... Whatever it is, it's strange. We've just had a cold call from some outside people with no appointment...
Kikuoka: Outside? A partner?
Hiraki(phone): No, someone completely unrelated to the company...In fact, it just looks like teenagers. 1 boy and 3 girls...
Kikuoka, Higa, and Rinko: Huh?!
Kikuoka, Higa, and even Dr. Koujiro, who had awoken from her light slumber, gaped.
Kikuoka: T...teenagers...?
Hiraki(phone): Yes. I tried to send them away, of course. We have a very confidential arrangement here, after all. But the things that they're saying, I just can't dismiss out of hand...
Higa was getting sick of Hiraki's reticence and stood up, placing both hands on the console. Kikuoka exhibited more patience as he gently asked.
Kikuoka: What exactly did they say?
Hiraki(phone): Well, sir, they told me to contact Seijirou Kikuoka at Rath headquarters right away and confirm the FLA ratio of the Underworld immediately...
Kikouka, Higa, and Rinko: Wh-whaaaat?!
The entire room screamed in unison. How did some random teenagers know those terms? You would never in a million years stumble across that series of words unless you knew the entire workings of Project Alicization.
Higa shared an openmouthed look with Kikuoka, then turned to the console in an automatic daze and began typing commands on the keyboard. The current acceleration rate appeared on the dark monitor: X1.00.
Higa: Wha—? We're in real time?! Since when?!
Higa gasped. Kikuoka tore his eyes away and shouted into the phone receiver.
Kikuoka: N-names! Did the kids name themselves?!
Hiraki(phone): Er, they did. But it seemed like a joke...They clearly aren't their real names. They said that if I told you they were named Kirito, Asuna, Sinon and Leafa, you would understand. But they looked perfectly Japanese to me...
Thonk. Kikuoka's other wooden sandal fell to the floor. And within the top floor of the Roppongi building, Kazuto, Asuna, Shino and Suguha found 4 STL at the ready.
Kazuto, Asuna, Shino, and Suguha:...
(Elsewhere)
When Rio confirmed through the phone that the lock on the building containing Rath's Roppongi office had opened and allowed Kazuto Kirigaya, Asuna Yuuki, Shino Asada and Suguha Kirigaya to rush inside, the artificial intelligence exhibited signs of relief. Specifically, that meant that she exhaled and dedicated the majority of her processing ability to a parallel task she was dealing with.
Rio expected that great trouble would interfere with the potential success of their mission. It was something that she and even with the help of Yui could never hope to achieve. But at the same time, she knew that failing would mean exposing her beloved Zora and Philia to great danger.
She pulled her attention away from Kazuto's cell phone and focused her large eyes on five fairies sitting before her.
They were in the living room of Kirito and Asuna's in-game home on the twenty-second floor of New Aincrad in the VRMMORPG known as ALfheim Online. Rio and Yui flitted about in the form of a tiny navigation pixie. Sitting across from them on the sofa was Silica the cait sith, with her triangular ears, little fangs, and long tail.
To her left was Lisbeth the leprechaun, her puffed-out hair a metallic pink color. To her right was Yuuki the Imp, also known as Zekken.
Leaning against the table farther away was the salamander Klein, a flashy bandana spiking his red hair upward. Standing by him with arms folded was Agil the imposing gnome.
Other than Yuuki, the rest of them were experienced VRMMO players who had survived the incredible gauntlet that was Sword Art Online, the original game of death, and they were lifelong friends of Zora and Philia. But Yuuki herself was an online that was trapped in the Medicuboid for almost 3 years. Even now, she was still getting her treatment. They had logged in to ALO in the middle of the night upon Rio and Yui's summons and had just gotten a briefing on the situation.
Klein scratched his forehead through the bandana. With the gravest tone he could muster in his normally aloof voice.
Klien: Man...he's really gotten himself wrapped up in a crazy one this time...A virtual world created by the military, with a true AI named Alice? We're way beyond the bounds of video games at this point.
Lisbeth: So this AI isn't like an NPC in a game but is pretty much...the same as us human beings?
Yui bobbed her head.
Yui: Yes, that's right. It's fundamentally different from traditional AIs like me and Rio. This is a true soul. Within Rath, they call that an artificial fluctlight instead.
Silica: And they want to take that AI and put it on fighter jets...
Silica murmured, who looked away from Yui to the little dragon pet curled up on her knees, Pina.
Rio: Rath seems to hope to use that technology for demonstrations both domestically and internationally, but the attackers in control of the Ocean Turtle right now have a much more direct application in mind, we suspect.
Yuuki: So who are these people sieging the ship?
Rio: There is a very high possibility that American military or intelligence is involved.
Lisbeth: M...military?! The United States?!
Lisbeth gasped, pulling her head back. Rio and Yui nodded.
Rio: If Alice falls into the American military's hands, she'll be placed on combat drones as an AI pilot in the not-too-distant future, I am certain. And Papa and Mama would do anything to keep that from happening. Because...because...
The little pixies stopped, alarmed. She was getting an unexpected reaction from her own emotional modeling program. Large droplets of water began to spill down her cheeks. Tears.
Rio(mind): I'm crying. But why...?
But even this question was shoved aside by the unfamiliar sensation pushing her onward. Rio clasped her little hands before her chest and continued.
Rio: Because Alice is the evidence of the existence of all the VRMMO worlds, beginning with SAO, and the many people who lived in them. She is the fruit of all the time, material, and mental resources that were expended there.
Yui: We were certain that the purpose of the Seed package in the first place was none other than the birth of Alice.
The five people listened to them in silence. Rio went on, the tears still streaming from her eyes, while Yui flew next to her comforting her.
Rio: Through all those countless linked worlds, the laughter, tears, sadness, and love of all those many people...the feedback of all those souls glimmering with life brought about the birth of a new humanity in the Underworld. Papa, Mama, Yuuki, Leafa, Klein, Lisbeth, Silica, Agil, Sinon... It was from the cradle woven of your hearts and so many, many more people in one great tapestry that Alice was born!
She stopped there, but not one of them rushed to fill the ensuing silence. Rio had no means of knowing the thoughts and emotions happening in the minds of the humans congregated around her. It was she most of all who understood that, being a top-down AI and an amalgamation of information, she had no true emotions and could not understand them in the realest sense.
Even this powerful urge to help Zora, Philia, and those people she loved was nothing more than a part of the source code that someone had compiled so she could function as a mental health counseling program. Even before this conversation began, Rio had been afraid that the things she said might not register a real difference in the hearts of the human beings across from her.
So when clear liquid sprang from Yuuki's eyes and ran down her cheeks, Rio was taken aback.
Yuuki: Yes...you're right. It's connected. It's all connected. Time, people, hearts...It's all one big river.
Silica leaped to her feet, eyes watery, and enveloped Rio in her arms.
Silica: It's all right, Rio. We're going to go rescue Zora and Philia.
Lisbeth: Yeah! We're going to see to it that they make it out of this safely...so don't cry.
Klien: You bet. Don't be so distant with us, Yuippe. You know we'd never abandon Zora like that.
Klein hoarse, voice hoarse, pulling his bandana lower, over his eyes. Agil bobbed his head deeply and pronounced.
Agil: I owe him a whole hell of a lot. This is a chance for me to make up just a little bit of that.
Rio:...Everyone...
Rio squeaked, wrapped in Silica's arms. It was all that she could utter; the mysterious tears from an unknown source kept coming and coming and refused to stop.
Rio(mind): But we don't have time. There are so many things I still need to explain. My priority should be to calmly and effectively relay information. I wonder if my emotion-mimicking circuits have broken down.
But in the thrall of a single bit of code that dominated her priority system, Rio could do nothing but sob and hiccup, repeating the same words over and over.
Rio:...Thank...you...Thank you...everyone...
(Timeskip)
Minutes later, her tears stopped at last, and Rio and Yui told the five the current situation as they understood it and her expectations for what would happen in the near future.
The situation: The attackers on board the Ocean Turtle with Philia and Zora had uploaded a fake game teaser site in an attempt to recruit players to their cause. The expectation: Players drawn to the site would soon appear in the Underworld in great numbers.
There was a deep furrow on Klein's brow. He growled.
Klien: So that's thirty thousand VRMMO players diving from America, at minimum, possibly up to a hundred thousand...and to them, the human army soldiers with Zora and Philia are nothing more than PvP targets?
Yuuki: Why don't we post on those American VRMMO sites, too, then?
Lisbeth: Yeah, that's right. We could tell them about the experiment and the ongoing attack and ask them not to take part in this fake beta test...
But Yui just shook her head.
Yui: At the root of all of this is a struggle for military secrets between Japan and America. If we let them sense even a bit of that, it will only have the opposite effect of what we want.
Silica: So saying that they're real people and you shouldn't kill them...is only going to make matters worse...
Silica murmured, looking downcast. Klein broke the heavy silence that followed.
Klien: Heh! Then we'll just do the same thing! We've got at least as many shut-in game addicts as the US does. If we whip up our own beta test page and spread it around, and the Rath folks set up as many accounts as we need, I bet we could get thirty or forty thousand, no problem!
Agil: Actually, there is one big problem.
Agil warned, crossing his massive arms.
Klien: What's that?
Agil: The time difference. It's four thirty in the morning in Japan, the least active part of the day. While in America, it's twelve thirty in the middle of the day in LA and three thirty PM in New York. They're going to have way more active players right now.
Klien: Hrrng...
Klein groaned. It was true. Yui was already concerned about that very thing.
Yui: Agil is correct. After the difference in VRMMO population itself, we're also lagging in time zone, and they have a big head start in promotion. I don't think we will be able to recruit anywhere near ten thousand people from Japan. If we use accounts of the same level as the enemy side, our chances of fighting them back are exceedingly slim.
Yuuki: But there aren't any more god accounts like the one Philia used, right? And there's no time to build up from nothing the way that Zora did, so I guess we'll just have to make do with the strongest accounts we have available...
Rio stared at her.
Rio: Actually...there are accounts. They are much more powerful in level and gear than the defaults that the enemy side will be utilizing.
Lisbeth: Huh...? Wh-where?
Rio: You already have them. They are the very accounts you're logged in with at this moment.
Rio said, revealing the true core of what was being asked of them—and received four dumbfounded looks in return. She knew that she was suggesting a tremendous price—the sacrifice of their alter egos, the personas they spent half their lives enriching—but she also knew with all of her being that these people, especially, would rise to the occasion.
Rio: You must convert! You and many other VRMMO players must take the characters you've built up through all of the many Seed worlds that exist— and convert them to the Underworld!
(Timeskip)
It was five o'clock in the morning in the city of Alne. At the center of the virtual world ALfheim Online, in the massive dome that lay beneath the roots of the world tree, a motley collection of over three thousand players had gathered.
The winged monsters that had once guarded the gate that stood at the pinnacle of the dome were long gone, and the dome itself was now used as a public event space—an appropriate venue for meetings and negotiations between leaders of the nine fairy races.
Today, just five players spoke to the unprecedented assembly of three thousand. They were Agil the gigantic gnome, Klein the salamander samurai, Silica the cait sith beast-tamer, Yuuki the Imp Zekken, and Lisbeth the leprechaun blacksmith—the companions of Zora the Night Sky Swordsman, who had still not awakened from a dive into the Underworld.
At the time that the companions began sending out messages to everyone on their friends lists, it was 4:20 AM, and of the various territorial lords of ALO, only three had been online. But with their help—delegating tasks to subordinate officers, and even practicing the forbidden art of contacting people offline—they succeeded in summoning this massive gathering in the span of only forty minutes.
Over a quarter of the players currently standing or hovering in the half- dome space were newly generated characters—but they were not VRMMO newbies. These were all veteran players of the Seed ecosystem, and they'd shown up at the behest of their friends and guildmates with ALO accounts.
So these three thousand players in the World Tree's dome were the cream of the crop of Japan's VRMMO players. And they were the last and best hope of Rio, the top-down AI, the only force that could save the Underworld's Human Guardian Army.
In the hush, Lisbeth the leprechaun's magically amplified voice addressed the crowd.
Lisbeth:...This is not a joke or a scam! A research organization based in Japan has built a special Seed-based virtual world with government funding, and very soon, thousands of American players are about to dive in without understanding what it really is—and slaughter all the residents of the Underworld!
As she spoke, Lisbeth felt pangs of guilt and shame that she was propounding a kind of gaming-based nationalist sentiment, but the desperate stakes of the situation left her with little else she could use to make her case.
Lisbeth: The people in the Underworld are no mere NPCs! They're real artificial intelligences built from the data harvested from all the VRMMO worlds we enjoy! They have the same souls, the same emotional depth, that we flesh- and-blood people do! I beg of you, help us protect them! We're asking you to convert your character data to the Underworld!
At the end of her five-minute speech, she surveyed the crowd, her eyes pleading, praying. The fairies in the dome looked confused and unsure. She knew it was the kind of story that couldn't be fully appreciated when it appeared out of the blue like this. Even Lisbeth wasn't fully clear on all the inner workings of the Underworld and its artificial fluctlight residents, as far as Yui had explained it to her.
Among the skeptical, murmuring crowd, one player raised a long, graceful arm. It was Sakuya, lady of the sylphs, her slender form clad in a green gown.
Sakuya: Lisbeth, I know you and your friends, and I do not take you for the kind of people who would do this as a prank. And as Zora has not logged in to the game in nearly ten days, I would indeed assume that something is wrong. However...
Her smooth, calm voice wavered with indecision.
Sakuya: In all honesty...I have difficulty believing this. An AI with the soul of a human being—and the American military attempting to invade and steal it...? Neither of these things sound believable in the slightest. Although I feel certain that we will be able to confirm them upon logging in to this 'Underworld'... you mentioned a number of potential issues when logging in? Would you explain this to us?
Lisbeth(mind): Well, the time has come.
Lisbeth took a deep breath and let her eyelids close. This was it. If she failed to make the proper case now, no one would come to help. She opened her eyes again and surveyed Sakuya, the other lords and ladies, and the thousands of ALO players behind them.
Lisbeth: That's right.
Lisbeth said, loud and clear.
Lisbeth: The Underworld isn't operated the way an ordinary VRMMO is. There will be a number of problems upon diving in. First, the Underworld does not have a player UI that can be manipulated. That means that there is no voluntary logging out.
The murmuring in the background grew louder. No voluntary logging out. It was a phrase that inevitably brought the infamous and deadly Sword Art Online to mind. ALO and all the other Seed- based games allowed players to log out with both menu buttons and spoken commands.
Lisbeth: The only way to log out is to 'die' within the simulation. But that brings us to the second problem. The Underworld does not have a pain-absorber function. If you suffer enough damage to reduce your HP to zero, it will come with a considerable amount of virtual pain.
At this, the players began to stir uncomfortably. Shutting out pain signals was a mandatory part of the VRMMO experience. In a virtual world without it, a slash from a sword or burn damage would feel essentially as painful as it did in real life. That kind of signal, once sent to the brain, could even cause the player's actual skin to swell temporarily.
But the potential concerns didn't end there. Lisbeth waited for the murmuring to die down a bit before she continued to the third and biggest sacrifice of all.
Lisbeth: Lastly, the Underworld is currently in a state in which even its developers are unable to operate it fully. Meaning there is no guarantee that if you convert your character data...it will be able to convert back to your original game. That means there is a good chance that your character might be lost forever.
There was a moment of stunned silence—and then the dome erupted into angry shouting. Yuuki, Lisbeth, Silica, Agil, and Klein—with Rio and Yui sitting on Yuuki and Silica's shoulder in pixie form— stood silent in the center of the open floor, letting the waves of outraged voices wash over them from all directions.
It was exactly what they'd expected to happen.
These were three thousand of the best players in the nation, and they had spent countless hours and immeasurable energy building up their characters. In ALO, an entire hour of hard, constant work fighting monsters might earn you a single point of skill efficiency. Building these characters up was akin to emptying a lake with a single bucket.
No one who had put that kind of effort in would be fine with the suggestion that their painstaking work might be lost forever.
Mortimer: S-screw this!!
One player flew forth from the crowd, jabbing a finger at Lisbeth. He was a salamander decked out in crimson plate armor with a battle-ax strapped to his back. This was Lord Mortimer, the second-ranking commander of the salamanders after General Eugene.
The salamander lifted his helmet visor to reveal eyes burning with rage. He spun around to the vast gathering behind and shouted with enough force to quiet them all.
Mortimer: You're crazy enough to wake everyone up at this hour and suggest that we should go dive into some sketchy server, and now you say we might lose our characters?! Are you putting up some kind of collateral if we get wiped out?! Or is this just some kind of trap to weaken the other fairy races?!
Klien:...!
Klein was all set to shout back, but Lisbeth held him back with a hand on his shoulder. She tried to remain as calm as she could.
Lisbeth: I'm sorry, but I cannot offer you any guarantee against damages. I know that the characters you've created and nurtured can't be replaced with money. That's why we're asking you for help...Please, lend us your strength in saving our friends who are fighting to protect the Underworld against the American players.
She didn't have to raise her voice for it to carry to every inch of the dome. The salamander was initially taken aback, but he found his voice and his fury again momentarily.
Mortimer: And I'm guessing those 'friends' of yours are more SAO survivors, who go around acting like they're special among all VRMMO players! We all know that you former SAO folks secretly look down on everyone else who didn't go through all that!!
Now it was Lisbeth's turn to be at a loss for words.
She had never consciously recognized that kind of mentality within herself until the salamander pointed it out—and now she felt that, in fact, she couldn't say with all certainty that there was nothing like that in her mind. After all, she had made her player home not in the city on the surface, but in the floating New Aincrad, and she had spent all her time interacting with her old companions, rarely ever mingling with the general population below.
The salamander sensed he'd struck a nerve with that comment and continued mercilessly.
Mortimer: Invasions, artificial intelligence, souls—why should I care?! Don't bring your real-life crap into VRMMOs and tell us what we should do about it! You got a problem? Handle it yourselves! With your little club of celebrated survivors!!
Other voices in the background echoed his sentiments, telling them to step off or mind their own business.
Lisbeth(mind): It didn't work. I completely failed to convince them.
Lisbeth thought as she fought back tears. She sent pleading glances to those ALO power brokers whom she'd had good interactions with in the past: Sakuya, lady of the sylphs; General Eugene of the salamanders; Alicia Rue, lady of the cait siths.
But they did not say anything when she met their gazes. They just stared at her, their eyes cold. It was as if they were demanding that she show them how serious she was.
Lisbeth took a deep breath and closed her eyes once again. She thought of her friends fighting in that far-off otherworld—Philia, injured Zora, and Kirito, Asuna, Leafa and Sinon, who had left for the Underworld earlier.
Lisbeth(mind): Even if I transfer over, I don't have the strength to fight the way that Philia and the others can. But I know there must be something I can do. This moment, right here and now, is my battlefield.
Her eyes shot open. She wiped away the tears.
Lisbeth: Yes...this is a real-life problem. And like you said, we SAO survivors might be guilty of blending real life and virtual life together. But I assure you, none of us think of ourselves as heroes.
She reached over to her right and grabbed the hand of Silica, who was tearfully silent. com
Lisbeth: She and I? We go to a school that only the survivors attend. Our original schools treated us like dropouts, so we didn't have any other choice. Once a month, every student at the returnee school must undergo a counseling session. They monitor our brain waves in the AmuSphere and ask us unpleasant questions like 'Do you ever feel like things aren't real? Do you ever want to harm others?' Some of the kids have to take medications against their will. To the government, we're all just potential criminals who need to be monitored.
The waves of anger subsided, leaving only a tense silence filling the dome. Even the salamander who'd been shouting at her looked stunned. No one knew exactly where she was going with this, least of all Lisbeth. All she could do was put her pent-up feelings and thoughts into words.
Lisbeth: But the truth is, the students at the returnee school aren't the only ones being treated like that. Every VRMMO player is subjected to that kind of thinking to some degree. That we're dead weight dragging down society or cowards who hide from reality and don't pay taxes or social security...Some people even debate if they should reinstate the draft and force us to do something productive for society.
The tension in the room grew thicker and hotter. One little pinprick might lead to an even greater eruption of outrage than before. Undaunted, Lisbeth pressed her hand to her chest and shouted.
Lisbetj: But I know how it is! I have faith! That what we have here is real!!
She lifted that hand to point at the dome of the World Tree—and all of Alfheim beyond it.
Lisbeth: This world, and all the many virtual worlds connected to it, aren't just some empty escapes from life! To me, it's reality, where I have a real life, real friends, real encounters and emotions! And that's true for all of you, too, isn't it?! You put all your effort into playing because it's another kind of reality for you! But if this is just a game...if this is all just a virtual fake to you, then what is real to us anyway?!
At last, the tears burst from Lisbeth's eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away. Not until she had said what she needed to say.
Lisbeth: The many virtual worlds we've all nurtured as a group have come together, firm and tall, like this World Tree, which has finally bloomed the flower that is the Underworld! And I want to protect that precious flower! Please...please give us your help!!
She thrust her hands up to the ceiling of the dome. Through vision blurred by tears, the motes of light trickling from the wings of thousands of fairies glittered and sparkled.
After that, all, Lisbeth, Yuuki, Silica, Klien, Agil, Rio and Yui in their pixie form bowed down. This was their last attempt to beg for help. The people there were all at a lost for word. From amongst the crowd one of them smile. Standing next to this person was a pixie form of a girl.
???: Looks like you needed help, huh, Night Sky Swordsman?
(Underworld)
Light glittered in an arc across the silvery dawn sky. A second later, that thick rope cracked drily and split in the middle, both ends whipping and writhing in the air like black snakes. Dozens of soldiers clinging to the rope screamed as they plummeted into the bottomless ravine. Meanwhile, the Double-Winged Blade that cut the rope did a sharp turn and fit back into the hand of its master, the Integrity Knight Renly Synthesis Twenty-Seven.
Of the ten ropes the Dark Army had stretched across the ravine, Renly had already severed five, but there wasn't a single shred of pride or accomplishment on his face. If anything, he seemed anguished to have cut the literal lifelines of those enemy soldiers who'd bravely carried out death- defying feats on cruel orders.
The same could be said of Philia, who watched at his side, clutching the reins of her horse.
By the time that Philia, Renly, Alice Synthesis Thirty, Sheyta Synthesis Twelve, and Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli Synthesis One rode up to the ravine, hundreds of enemy soldiers had already crossed it and launched desperate attacks to protect the ropes. Nearly all of them succumbed to the attacks of Bercouli, Sheyta, and Alice, but a few came around to flank Renly, forcing Philia to draw her dagger and defend him during his task.
The Underworld virtual realm used the Seed program as its foundation, which meant that she could utilize the sword skills and horse-riding techniques she'd learned back in SAO.
And because Philia was in the super-account for Lunaria, Goddess of Moon, her statistics were essentially at maximum values. Plus, her dagger Kanshou Light was even more powerful than the divine weapons the Integrity Knights possessed. Even the basic Rapid Thrust skill was enough to pierce the thick armor of the dark knights and hardy flesh of the pugilists in one go.
However, the fresh blood that spurted from the enemies' wounds, the howls of agony and hatred that erupted from them, and the life that was lost were all real.
The people who lived in the Underworld, human side or dark side, all had souls—fluctlights—that were fundamentally no different from Philia's own. They were real people, and these video-game statistics and superpowered weapons meant that she could kill them with a single blow. It was wrong; it was an unbearable agony for her.
And the knights and pugilists who leaped at her with grim determination were not even doing so of their own free will.
As artificial fluctlights, they were incapable of disobeying a direct order from a higher being. They'd been ordered to attack her, knowing that it was pointless and would lead to certain death, on the command of another real- world human who was using the equally powerful super-account for Vecta, the god of darkness. From another perspective, they, too, were victims of a real-world battle over cutting-edge technology.
Philia had to use every last ounce of willpower to cast such thoughts out of her head. The overall priority at this moment had to be protecting Alice, the Priestess of Light, from Vecta's grasp—as well as Zora in the base camp behind her.
She'd been told that the only forces left in the Dark Army under Vecta's command were the pugilists and the dark knights. If they used the opportunity of the enemy's suicidal rush across the ravine to wipe out their numbers, the enemy would have no moves left to play.
Bercouli: Let's go for the sixth one!!
Commander Bercouli shouted, bringing Philia back to her senses. Alice, Sheyta, and Renly responded immediately, with Philia just a moment or two later.
As soon as she turned her horse to move west, a bright, loud horn sounded behind her. She spun around to see, on the hilltop a portion of a mile away, the orderly rows of the men-at-arms in the Human Guardian Army's decoy force rushing toward them. They'd armed themselves and gotten into formation just fifteen minutes after the knights and charged out of the camp area.
Bercouli: Psh...They don't know when to quit.
Bercouli muttered, eyeing the guardsmen, but with about five hundred enemy troops already across the ravine, backup forces were a welcome development. If they could help keep the enemy soldiers at bay, it shouldn't be too hard to sever the other five ropes.
Philia(mind): It looks like we've won this round, Vecta.
But no sooner had the sentiment crossed her mind than she caught sight of something odd. Against a dawn sky the shade of dark blood, something rather eerie descended onto the battlefield.
There were lines that shone red, a lighter shade than the sky. Many lines, in fact. Dozens...hundreds. Perhaps thousands. The countless descending lines appeared to be made of strings of fine pixels. But if she squinted, she could make out that the individual dots were actually a number or letter. The unidentified strings of text fell silently to a range of a mile or so east of the battle, on this side of the ravine.
Before long, it wasn't just Philia stopping to watch, but the other Integrity Knights, and even the dark knights and pugilists from the Dark Territory side. When the first string met the dried, dusty earth, it writhed and massed into an amorphous clump. It was only a matter of seconds before it assumed a human form.
Philia: !!