CHAPTER TWELVE

ADMINISTRATOR, MAY 380 HE

1

Both Eugeo’s Blue Rose Sword and my black blade carved light-green trails in the darkened chamber.

The paths formed a perfect symmetry. This was to be expected, as we launched into identical skills simultaneously, including the charging skill Sonic Leap. The timing was perfectly aligned, such that the sword tips reached the peak of their curve, flashing brighter to indicate the attack power was at its maximum potential, at precisely the same moment before silver and black edges collided.

I didn’t just execute the technique. I used the tension in my feet, rotation of my body, and swing of my arms as three separate accelerative forces on the attack. Even so, Eugeo’s Sonic Leap wasn’t even a microsecond slower than mine. He had pushed his as far as it could go, just like I had. And I hadn’t even fully taught him how to do that yet.

Somehow, when I hadn’t been paying attention, Eugeo had kept patiently, stubbornly swinging away. Hundreds of times, every single day, until he could hear the voice of the sword.

“…How?” I grunted under my breath as our swords clashed at their intersection point. “How did you lose to the Synthesis Ritual? The reason you studied the blade…the reason you left Rulid for Centoria was to take back your childhood friend Alice. Right?”

“…”

Eugeo stood firm, blocking my sword. As he’d warned before we started, he had nothing more to say to me—his lips were shut tight. I felt like I saw a glimmer in his green eyes the moment he heard the name Alice, but whatever that was, it was instantly swallowed by darkness. Perhaps it was nothing more than a trick of the eyes, caused by the green glow coming from the swords.

If our stalemate continued for a few seconds longer, the Sonic Leaps would expire, ushering us into a furious close-range swordfight. At that point, I wouldn’t have the time to think. I used the brief recess to furiously spur my mind onward.

Integrity Knights were created through direct operation of their souls, in what was called the Synthesis Ritual. It involved extracting a crystal of memories from the subject’s mind and replacing it with a device that forced their loyalty, an object called a Piety Module.

The moment Eldrie had heard his mother’s name, he’d become unstable, and the Piety Module had begun to emerge from his forehead. That meant that in order to make him an Integrity Knight, Administrator had stolen his memories of his mother.

The other knights must’ve lost similarly precious memories. For Deusolbert, it was likely the memory of his wife. For Fanatio and Bercouli, I couldn’t be sure yet, but I imagined it was either families or lovers.

So who would it be for Alice? The golden knight was back against the wall, watching the fight between Eugeo and me. The most probable answer was her little sister, Selka, who was still living back in Rulid. When I had casually dropped Selka’s name while we were resting on the terrace ledge outside the tower, Alice had reacted violently. She’d cried at the mention of her sister and even sworn rebellion against the Axiom Church.

But the mention of Selka’s name didn’t cause Alice’s Piety Module to become unstable, as far as I could tell. That was either because she’d been an Integrity Knight for six years already or because the stolen memories weren’t actually of Selka.

Assuming my conjectures about these matters were accurate, then whose memory did Administrator steal from Eugeo?

Not far from where we stood locked in combat was the levitating platform, which Chudelkin had used to flee to the floor above, and which I’d summoned back down. There was a hole in the ceiling about three feet across. It had to be Administrator’s chamber through there, but it was pitch-black through the hole. If she was up there right now, I couldn’t tell.

But just an hour ago, she had “synthesized” Eugeo there—stealing his most precious memories. But of whom?

There was only one answer I could imagine. It was the girl he’d been chasing after for eight years, ever since Deusolbert took her away when she was a child. Alice Zuberg, who was now Alice Synthesis Thirty.

Then why did Eugeo have no reaction toward Alice, who was standing in the very same room with us while we dueled? Eldrie’s module nearly fell out just at the mention of his mother’s name. If his instability was a factor of how little time he’d spent as an Integrity Knight—well, Eugeo had been one for barely an hour. He should’ve had an even more violent reaction the instant he saw Alice.

But this Eugeo was completely closed off from the world. If it wasn’t memories of Alice that had been removed from him, then who—or what—did Administrator take away?

At that moment, the shine from the two clashing sword skills faded.

Without the propulsion that the system assistance gave them, the white and black blades recoiled from each other. As sparks flew, I clenched my teeth and Eugeo looked as impassive as ever. We brandished our swords for new attacks.

“Yaaah!”

“…!”

With simultaneous cries—one voiced and one mute—we launched high left-handed swings with perfect synchronization. The blades clashed and recoiled, and next was a swipe from the right side. The edges clanged and slid, leading to a downward left swing. This, too, was firmly caught.

As we settled into our second stalemate, I couldn’t help but marvel. Our swords might have identical stats, but the people who wielded them did not. I was lighter, with regular clothes, while Eugeo wore heavy plate armor. He was lugging around many times the weight I was, yet his attacks were coming with the exact same speed. Either turning into an Integrity Knight bumped up his strength, or this was the effect of that “Incarnate” thing Alice had mentioned just before the fight.

I knew that this world contained some systems that couldn’t be explained with the logic of all the other VRMMO worlds I’d experienced to this point. Invisible forces like willpower and imagination could, at times, produce effects beyond that of even high-level system commands.

Becoming an Integrity Knight had taken away Eugeo’s memories and emotions, but his willpower was cold and sharp. Before we started fighting, he had summoned the Blue Rose Sword I possessed to his hand as though through telekinesis—an ability Alice had called Incarnate Arms.

What was actually in Eugeo’s heart now? It was the determination to take Alice back from the Church that drove him to want to be an Integrity Knight in the first place. What kind of will was now filling the enormous void left in its place?

I couldn’t imagine that it was all just loyalty to the Axiom Church and its pontifex, etched into his soul. I didn’t want to believe that; there was no way the Blue Rose Sword could withstand every last ounce of my black sword’s strength with that kind of artificial willpower.

Somewhere within those icy cold eyes, something was still burning. I had to believe in that. And if there was one way to summon that forth, it had to be…

“…Eugeo,” I whispered, pushing against the sword with all my strength, “maybe you don’t remember this anymore…but you and I never actually got to fight with everything we have, before.”

“…”

Eugeo’s eyes, which had once shone a brilliant green, were now dark and dull. I stared into them, willing them to respond.

“On the journey from Rulid to Centoria, and while we were at Swordcraft Academy, I asked myself the same question many times: Who would win if we crossed blades for real? And to be honest…I felt like one day, you would surpass me.”

Eugeo returned my gaze without blinking. In fact, he didn’t return it—his eyes were like closed shutters. I was nothing but an intruder who needed to be eliminated. If I showed him even an instant of weakness, he would strike. But I still delivered the conclusion of my speech, believing that something would get through to him.

“…But now is not that time. You’ve forgotten about me, about Alice, about Tiese and Ronie, and even about Cardinal. You can’t beat me. And I’m going to prove that to you.”

As soon as the words had left my mouth, I stopped breathing and willed the strength of every muscle in my body into my sword. Fine wrinkles appeared on Eugeo’s brow as he attempted to push back.

At that instant, I pulled back.

Zshang! The blades clashed, producing a line of sparks in the gloom. The shift in momentum pushed me backward and caused Eugeo to lean forward.

If I tried to steady myself, I’d be a sitting duck for Eugeo. Instead, I pushed into the momentum and let my back fall toward the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Alice reaching across her body for the Osmanthus Blade, certain that I had just lost.

But her decision was coming three seconds too early. Victory or defeat would be determined by whether my strategy was successful or not—or how well Eugeo truly understood the Aincrad style.

Just before my back hit the floor, I kicked upward with my right foot. The toe of my boot shone, lighting Eugeo’s chin from below.

“Yaaaah!”

I spun backward, the angle tight. It was Aincrad-style martial arts, the backflip-kick skill Crescent Moon. This handy move, which you could activate while falling backward, had saved my life on numerous occasions in the old SAO. I hadn’t used it in combat or practice since coming to the Underworld, but the movement was etched into my muscles—and most importantly, I’d never shown it to Eugeo.

On the other hand, I had shown him martial arts with fists or shoulders. He’d shown proficiency with it, too. He could do the simple punching skill Flash Blow, as well as three parts of Meteor Break, the high-level combination of body blows and slashes.

If he had discovered the existence of kicking attacks in his own time, or even just suspected their existence, he was going to evade my Crescent Moon. And the downside of this attack was that it had an extremely long recovery after it had been dodged. If I missed, I would be helpless against his merciless blade.

This is it, Eugeo!

My right foot closed in on my opponent’s gorget. Even in this situation, Eugeo’s eyes were full of impassive frost. He twisted his torso without changing his expression, attempting to curve away from my foot. But the momentum that had pulled him forward when I fell backward was still a factor. My glowing toe shot toward his defenseless chin.

“…!”

Air shot from Eugeo’s mouth. The arm holding the Blue Rose Sword swiped sideways with ferocious force. But no matter how hard he swung, my leg was faster. If I just focused on connecting, I would reach…

No.

Eugeo wasn’t attempting a counterattack. He was using not the blade of the sword but its pommel and aiming it not at my body but at my leg: a backhand pommel strike. It was an utterly practical movement, one that would never exist in the Underworld, where graceful solemnity ruled all concerns of swordfighting. Even in the old SAO, only the most savvy of veteran PvP players could pull off such a tactic.

He could change the trajectory of the Crescent Moon by nudging it from the side. So where did I aim?

“!”

I gritted my teeth and did everything in my power to hold back the kick. But if I pulled too hard, the skill would fumble, leaving me helpless. I had to delay the progress for what felt to me like a quarter of a second so that Eugeo’s hand would pass first.

Now!

A hard crash erupted.

Rather than hitting Eugeo’s throat as originally planned, my Crescent Moon got him on the back of the hand that held his sword. Like the other Integrity Knights, he wore tough gauntlets, so this wouldn’t damage his hand—but it had the exact effect I was hoping for.

Eugeo’s right hand bounced upward, knocking the Blue Rose Sword from his grasp. It spun upward and embedded itself in the marble ceiling, which I spotted out of the corner of my eye. I squeezed my sword, readying myself to attack once my backflip followed through and I landed on my feet again.

The sole of my shoe—the glow of the attack fading—touched solid ground. I bent my knees, absorbing the impact, and launched myself before I could straighten up or fall again. My left foot soared forward, pushing me right at the unarmed Eugeo’s breastplate, where I would deliver the simple Slant attack at an upward diagonal from the left—

“?!”

As I rose, leaning at an extreme forward angle in the process of activating my skill, Eugeo’s left hand reached out with the fingers glowing green. Just before my sword could bite into that shining armor, I heard Eugeo announce, “Burst Element.”

Five separate wind elements burst from his fingers, enveloping me in an explosive gust of wind. As it was just a simple release, it didn’t inflict any pain, just force, but that was enough to buffet me into the air like a scrap of cloth.

“Arrgh…!” I grunted, spreading my arms in a desperate attempt to maintain balance. If I hit the wall headfirst, I’d lose over 10 percent of my life. Instead, I managed to spin myself so that my feet were pointed toward the onrushing surface.

The instant I landed, a tremendous shudder ran through me from feet to head, pressing me to the wall until eventually the numbness subsided and I could get back down to the ground. I looked up and saw that Eugeo had been similarly pushed toward the opposite wall, but the extra weight of his armor kept him on the ground. He rose to a standing position again, his face almost obnoxiously calm.

I scrambled to my feet after him and heard a soft voice from my right say, “Is that really Eugeo, your partner?”

It was Alice, who was standing at the wall and watching the fight, as I had asked her to do. I sent the briefest of glances toward the knight in golden armor and hissed back, “What do you mean? You were the one who said he was synthesized, right?”

“Yes, I did…but…I’m not sure how to say this,” she mumbled, strangely hesitant. “For being freshly synthesized, he is far too skilled in our ways of combat. Between the Incarnate Arms he used before the fight and this wind-element technique, nothing about him seems new or inexperienced.”

“…So you don’t just automatically know these things when you get turned into an Integrity Knight?” I asked, just to be sure. Despite the tense circumstances, I couldn’t help but hunch my shoulders in embarrassment when she snapped at me.

“The knighthood’s tools do not simply appear out of thin air! It takes long periods of training with weapon techniques and sacred arts to be able to use them—to say nothing of Incarnate abilities and Perfect Weapon Control!”

“Ah. R-right. But then…what was that all about just now…? I didn’t think Eugeo was capable of creating five elements on one hand yet…”

“Which is why I was asking you if that was really Eugeo!”

“…”

I pursed my lips, staring down the knight in silver armor as he strode calmly toward me.

Just above us, on the hundredth floor of Central Cathedral, was Administrator, who, along with Cardinal in the Great Library, was the ultimate wielder of sacred arts. She could already alter the memories of people, so perhaps she could also arrange an imposter who was physically identical to the real thing. Yet…

“…It’s Eugeo,” I rasped.

His eyes were dull, his cheeks were pale, and there was no hint of mirth around his mouth, but the Integrity Knight was still none other than my best friend from Rulid. I’d made plenty of mistakes in the Underworld, but I was absolutely certain of this one.

How was it that the newest Integrity Knight could wield skills that stunned even Alice, who was third in their rankings? I didn’t know. Neither did I know how the forced synthesis process took less than an hour for him, when it traditionally lasted three days and nights.

But no matter how much of a freakish occurrence this might be, there was no arguing with the reality of the situation. I had only one course of action: put everything into my sword and swing it. That was all.

I sucked in a deep breath, exhaled, and clutched the black blade. Eugeo stopped in the middle of the round room, perhaps sensing my determination, and extended his right hand. Those invisible Incarnate Arms reached out and plucked his longsword from the ceiling, returning it to their master’s hand.

The Blue Rose Sword would never obey an imposter.

Eugeo deftly spun the impossibly heavy Divine Object and snapped it, still at chest height. There was no opening to exploit.

“Shall I try him?” Alice whispered.

“Don’t be stupid,” I snapped back, brandishing my own weapon. Eugeo and Alice had grown up together as friends in the village of Rulid, though neither of them could remember it now. I couldn’t allow them to fight—and more importantly, it was my job to wake Eugeo up.

Alice had exploded with fury when I had called her stupid while we hung from the outside wall of the cathedral, but now she just took a step back and folded her arms, a sign that she would not interfere, even if it meant my defeat.

“…Thank you,” I murmured, summoning all my focus to the task at hand.

I was going to forget every unnecessary thing for the sake of the battle ahead. I’d be one with my sword, utilizing every possible trick I knew. There was no way I could beat Eugeo the Integrity Knight otherwise—and no way I could speak to my friend’s heart, which still beat somewhere beneath that thick metal armor.

The black tip of my sword rang softly. It was like the echo of that rumble of distant thunder on the day we started our journey two years ago, arriving through the mists of time.

Please, partner. I’ll give you a name once all the fighting’s done…so for now, give me strength, I pleaded with the trusty weapon in my right hand. When I was done, I took a deep breath, steadying myself.

All sounds, scenery, and even sensations faded away. The only things in the world were me, my blade, Eugeo, and the Blue Rose Sword. The moment I’d been fearing deep in my subconscious for the past two years had finally arrived.

Here I come, Eugeo!!

With a silent roar, I lunged across the floor.

Eugeo held his pose, waiting for my strike.

He was a fully adept practitioner of both the Aincrad style of swordcraft and elite sacred arts—mere trickery was meaningless against him. I sped across fifty feet of space and used all that momentum for an overhead strike from the right.

Eugeo stomped so hard he might have cracked the floor, unleashing a two-handed upward swing from his own right.

Black and white blades clashed, resulting in a bright flash of light. Our weapons bounced back, but I calculated there wasn’t enough room to try a sword skill. I moved my left hand to the pommel for a two-handed grip. Without fighting against the momentum of the heavy blade, I reached an overhand stance with the shortest arc possible.

“Yaaaah!”

I expelled all my breath and swung downward. Assuming the specs of the sword and wielder alike were identical for both combatants, it was impossible to perfectly parry a direct downward swing at full strength with either a side or a diagonal swing. The only ways to stop it were to use the same attack and expect a mutual defeat or to evade the path of the sword.

But after his strike to the right, Eugeo’s sword was still fully extended in that direction. Because his center of gravity was tilted there, too, he couldn’t instantly jump back. This time I would land my blow!

I cast aside all distractions, focusing only on making it as quick and fierce a swing as possible. The tip of the black blade caught the armored left shoulder of my target. No matter how high priority the Integrity Knight armor was, it wasn’t tough enough to deflect a blow from a divine weapon without harm.

The sword bit into the metal with a high-pitched screech and continued downward after the briefest moment of resistance. A stream of light ran from Eugeo’s left shoulder near his neck to the breastplate.

A moment later, the heavy armor buckled and broke with a sound like shattering glass. The pieces of metal spun into the air, mixed with red spray. It didn’t feel very deep, but my sword had undeniably gouged Eugeo’s body.

The moment I recognized that I’d hurt my friend, I felt a terrible cutting pain in the same spot. I couldn’t help but grimace with agony, but there was no stopping now. When my vertical swing reached the floor, I flipped my wrists and used the rebound to swipe upward this time.

A dull shock ran through my arms, and the sword rebounded sideways.

Eugeo hadn’t faltered from the pain of being sliced from shoulder to chest for even an instant. He’d used his right leg’s greave to smack my sword out of the way. Realizing that this action also put him in position for a counterattack, I felt a wave of horror run down my back and twisted desperately. The Blue Rose Sword came roaring toward me from the left.

I barely avoided a blow to the neck but couldn’t get all the way clear. He cut a line across my left shoulder. Rather than pain, I felt a searing chill there and launched myself off my right foot to throw my wounded shoulder at Eugeo for a body blow.

This time, I did feel a blinding pain, and blood spurted into the air. Through the red mist, I saw Eugeo steadying himself on his left leg to keep from falling.

A direct counter would be impossible from that position. I held my sword to the right, one-handed once again. The black surface of the sword shone pale blue—this would be the diagonal-slash attack Slant. If I hit him on the right shoulder, he’d be wounded on both sides and unable to swing the same way again.

“Raaaah!”

But right as I was about to unleash this attack, a surge of red light shot out from the far side of Eugeo’s body.

It was the light of a sword skill. But there was no Aincrad skill that would allow him to attack from a position with his right rear side exposed to me.

Both stunned and unable to stop the momentum at this point, I activated the Slant. A moment later, Eugeo’s body spun counterclockwise at ferocious speed. A bright-red slash shot toward me from the left.

I recognized it as the two-handed skill Backlash—a counterattack skill that worked against a foe standing behind you. But I had never taught it to Eugeo.

The resulting impact completely jarred these thoughts out of my mind. My Slant and Eugeo’s Backlash collided, and our swords rebounded hard. As fresh blood streamed from our shoulders, Eugeo and I found ourselves readying our swords straight overhead in perfect synchronization.

Two blades shining a deep blue for the single downward strike Vertical.

While it was classified as a vertical strike, the trajectory was not necessarily set in stone. It was common for the angle to tilt as much as ten degrees, according to the position of the dominant hand. Thus, it was possible for two people facing each other to have paths that would intersect and force each of them backward.

It started out that way this time, too. The black and Blue Rose swords met at about a third of the length from their tips, throwing off blinding sparks.

But unlike in the old SAO, there were times in the Underworld when two sword skills would meet and not deflect each other. I suspected it was when the fierce will to battle—the strength of mental image, or Incarnation—on the part of both combatants acted as a brake on the system’s natural tendency to repel the weapons.

The swords were locked together, spraying orange sparks and flashing blue light. In this third stalemate, Eugeo and I were thrust face-to-face, our arms and swords locked in total equilibrium as we each tried to follow through and finish the skill.

I stared into Eugeo’s pupils beyond the showering sparks and, through clenched teeth, hissed, “…Does that attack of yours have a name?”

With a face as still as a frozen pond, Eugeo replied, “…Baltio style, Storm Wave.”

Off the top of my head, I couldn’t remember where I’d heard that style’s name before. I frowned, and then it came to me.

Baltio style. It was the school of swordsmanship practiced by elite disciple Golgorosso Balto, the mentor under whom Eugeo had served as page at the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy until this March.

Because it was plain and unadorned in comparison to the Norkia and High-Norkia styles, the higher noble students looked down on it, as they did to the Serlut style used by Sortiliena, who was my own tutor.

But in fact, this was just a sign that it was a more practical style. And for the year that he’d been a page, Eugeo had received a thorough education in its ways, courtesy of Golgorosso. And that gave rise to another mystery.

“Eugeo…do you remember the person who taught you that move?” I asked again, putting every last ounce of strength into the intersection of our blades. A moment later, I got the answer I expected:

“I don’t remember, and I don’t care.”

He must’ve been putting just as much of his power into the stalemate as I was, but his voice and expression were utterly cold and dry.

“I only need to know about her,” he continued. “She is the reason I use my sword. My existence is dedicated to eliminating her enemies…”

“…”

So he’d forgotten not only Alice and me but Golgorosso as well. And yet he knew the names of his skills and how to execute them. Completely resetting the memories of the person being made an Integrity Knight meant that they would lose all that accumulated training and all those learned sacred arts. It was why Administrator had come up with the complicated work-around that was the Synthesis Ritual.

Rather than deleting all of the target’s memories, it blocked their access, making it impossible to recall what was still there. I didn’t know the precise logic behind it, but it seemed similar to what we would call retrograde amnesia in the real world: loss of memories of oneself and others, but language and life skills preserved.

The thing blocking the proper flow of Eugeo’s memories was the Piety Module that was placed inside his soul, his fluctlight. But whose memories were in the space where the module sat now? If I knew that, it would be the first step to getting him to come to his senses…

But no.

I would need more than just words to break that woman’s wicked spell. I’d traded sword blows with so many people since the very first day I was locked inside the world of Aincrad—Asuna, Suguha, Sinon, Yuuki. And in this world, there had been Sortiliena, first-seat disciple Volo, and knights like Eldrie, Deusolbert, and Fanatio. Even Alice, who was watching this fight from just a short distance away.

Swords in the virtual world weren’t just polygonal bits of data. Because our lives were resting on them, the feelings that we imbued the blades with could reach the soul of our opponents. I chose to believe that a sword freed from hatred could sometimes foster an understanding that surpassed mere words.

The blue light of Vertical slowly began to fade from our deadlocked swords. I wrung out every last drop of power from my body.

I had to make sure that the entirety of my being was reaching out toward my friend’s soul.

“Eugeooooo!!” I shouted the moment the sword skill ended, pulling back my sword.

I struck with all my might. My attack was blocked. Eugeo slashed. I met his strike at the base of the blade. Our feet stayed in place, where we could keep swinging with the shortest possible range. A steady stream of clashes and sparks flew, filling the room with sound and light.

“Rrraaaaahhh!!” I bellowed.

“Seyyyaaaaah!!” Eugeo added, his first roar of the fight.

Faster. Faster!

I strung together a continuous line of attacks—no skills or form or strategy, just pure instinct—and Eugeo kept up perfectly. With each trade of blows, I sensed the invisible shell around him cracking.

Eventually I realized that I had a fierce grin on my lips. I recalled that there was a time long ago that Eugeo and I had fought wildly like this, a good liberating sword brawl. It wasn’t in the training hall at the academy. Not along the journey to Centoria. No, it was in the fields and forests close to Rulid…We pretended we were practicing with our swords, using wooden blades that were practically toys…whacking one another like rambunctious little boys…

But did Eugeo and I really do that, right after we met in the woods two years ago?

Were those cracks actually…in my memory……?

Ka-chiiiing! A sharper metallic clang broke my momentary trance. The black sword and the Blue Rose Sword met at the perfect angle again, canceling out each other’s momentum, falling still where they crossed.

“…Eugeo…?” I whispered.

I saw his lips move in response.

I didn’t hear his voice, but I could tell that the knight in silver and blue had murmured my name.

His normally smooth, pale forehead was now creased and jagged. I could see teeth clenched shut through his parted lips and a weak flicker of light in his cold, dark eyes. They looked over my shoulder at Alice, who was hanging back along the wall.

His lips trembled again, forming Alice’s name with no voice behind them.

“Eugeo…Do you remember, Eugeo?!” I called out. That caused my blade to slip. It was unable to withstand the full pressure of the Blue Rose Sword and faltered backward.

I lost my balance and had to struggle to stay on my feet. I knew I was a sitting duck—but Eugeo did nothing to follow up. He just stood there, holding his sword out at an odd angle.

I retreated and came to a stop near Alice, sucked in a deep breath, and expelled all of it at once.

“Eugeooooo!!”

He flinched, and his downcast face slowly rose.

It was as pale as ever, but this time there was true expression upon it. Confusion, anxiety, regret, and affection…All these emotions that had been frozen by the ritual combined into one faint smile that seemed to shake the shell of thick ice that surrounded him, just a bit.

“…Kirito,” he said, and a moment later, “Alice…”

I heard it clearly this time. Eugeo spoke our names out loud.

It had worked. My sword…reached him…crossing the boundaries that separated his heart from mine.

“Eugeo…”

The thin smile that rested on his lips deepened. He spun the Blue Rose Sword around in his hand to hold it in a reverse grip. His arm lowered until the tip of the sword landed on the marble floor. It crackled, and the slightly misty weapon sank in about an inch.

I saw that as a sign that the battle was over, and I lowered my sword. The breath I’d been holding escaped, and I took a step forward with my right leg.

But the next moment was just the start of a series of events I failed to predict.

“Kirito!”

That was Alice, calling me over my shoulder. I hadn’t sensed her coming; her left arm circled around my torso and lifted me up straight.

Then more words escaped from Eugeo’s lips.

“…Release Recollection.”

That was the phrase. The initiation of the greatest of battle abilities in the Underworld, calling forth the memory of the weapon and unlocking the true heart of superpowered Perfect Weapon Control—the secret of Memory Release.

Bright blue-white light shot from his sword.

I couldn’t dodge or defend against it. Absolute cold spread from the blade, instantly freezing the entirety of the vast chamber. The mouth of the descending staircase in the corner of the room, the levitating disc that went up to the top floor, and both Alice and I were frozen solid up to our chests in thick, immobilizing ice. If Alice hadn’t straightened me up, the ice would have swallowed my head.

When we came across Bercouli Synthesis One in the great bath on the ninety-fifth floor of the cathedral, he had been frozen up to his neck like this. Eugeo’s Memory Release power was strong enough to freeze an entire pool of hot bathwater so fast that even the oldest of the knights wasn’t able to escape. I hadn’t forgotten or overlooked that, but there wasn’t even any water to freeze on this floor. And he hadn’t generated a huge number of ice elements to make use of—where had all this ice come from?

But even that wasn’t the shocking part.

Why did Eugeo do it? He just got his memory back; why would he need to lock me and Alice in ice?

Against the all-consuming, piercing chill, I just barely had the strength to make my mouth form the words “Eugeo…why……?”

About fifty feet away, Eugeo got back to his feet easily and favored me with a sad little smile. “I’m sorry, Kirito…and Alice. Please don’t come after me…”

And then my best friend, and Alice’s childhood companion, pulled the Blue Rose Sword from the floor and headed for the levitating disc in the center of the chamber.

The large marble platform, like the staircase and us, was covered in thick ice, but the knight simply walked over it and jabbed the end of the sword down lightly. It began to rise, ice shards cracking and sprinkling off.

As the disc ascended, I saw that smile stay on Eugeo’s face, an expression attempting to withstand a whole host of conflicting emotions, until he eventually vanished through the hole above.

“…Eu…ge…oooooo!!” I screamed, but it was drowned out by the hard, heavy sound of the disc fitting seamlessly back into the ceiling.