2

The next day, the twenty-second day of the tenth month, was the coldest of the fall.

She decided not to go on their usual walk but stayed inside by the stove with Kirito. She was planning to learn from Garitta how to split logs for firewood before winter really arrived, but that didn’t seem like it was going to be necessary.

She took an entire day to write a letter on just two sheets of parchment and, after some waffling, finally decided to sign it with her last name Zuberg in common script, then added Synthesis Thirty in sacred script below it.

Alice folded it carefully, wrapped it, and addressed it to Selka. She wrote another one to Old Man Garitta and placed the two on the table.

The letters were of parting and apology. Now that Eldrie knew about this house, she couldn’t stay here. Next, it wouldn’t be Eldrie coming to try to recruit her, but Commander Bercouli himself. And Alice didn’t have the words she ought to say to her sword master.

So she was going to run away again.

She exhaled a long, long breath, then looked up at the black-haired young man sitting across from her at the table.

“Say, Kirito, where would you like to go? I’ve heard that the highlands of the west are beautiful. Or perhaps the jungles of the south? It’s warm year-round, and you can pick all sorts of fruit there.”

Her voice was bright and conversational, but Kirito did not respond, of course. His empty eyes just stared at the surface of the table. Her heart ached at the idea of forcing this wounded young man into a life of wandering again. But that didn’t mean she could leave him here in Rulid. Selka was a nun in training, so she couldn’t force that burden on her, and Alice didn’t want to do it anyway. Taking care of Kirito was her only reason to live right now.

“…You know what? I’ll leave it up to Amayori. Shall we go to bed a bit sooner than usual? We’ll need to wake up nice and early tomorrow.”

She changed Kirito and got him into bed, then put on her own pajamas, extinguished the lights, and got under the covers.

In the darkness, she listened closely to Kirito’s breathing. When he was completely asleep, she squeezed closer to him. Her head rested against Kirito’s bony chest, and through the perfect seal of her ear, his slow heartbeat was audible.

Kirito’s heart was not here anymore. His heartbeat was just an echo from the past. It had seemed that way for all the months she had fallen asleep next to him like this. But at the same time, a part of her wondered whether there might still be something contained within that quiet beating.

If Kirito was actually conscious but unable to display it in any way, how would she explain what she was doing now? The thought brought a little smile to her lips as she sank into a light sleep.

Abruptly, a small tremor ran through their bodies.

She lifted her heavy eyelid and looked toward the window to the east, but the sky through the curtains was still black. She got the feeling she’d slept for only two or three hours at most.

Kirito’s body twitched again, so Alice whispered, “It’s still the middle of the night…Let’s go back to sleep, okay…?”

She closed her eye again and stroked his chest, hoping to put him back to sleep. But then she heard a quiet voice near her ear and finally realized something was wrong with the boy.

“A…aah…”

“Kirito…?”

Kirito didn’t have any spontaneous desires at the moment. He would not wake up if he was cold or thirsty or had some other physical need. Yet, his body was trembling, harder and harder—his legs moving as though he might try to get out of bed.

“What’s the matter…?”

For a moment, she wondered whether he was actually coming to his senses, so she got up in a hurry and generated a light element to save her the trouble of going to turn on a lamp.

But when the pale light lit up Kirito’s eyes, they were just as dark and empty as ever, to her disappointment. So what had caused this…?

This time, it was a sound outside the window that caught her attention.

“Krr, krrrr!”

It was from Amayori, who should have been sleeping at the edge of the clearing. The dragon’s cry was hard and high-pitched in warning.

Alice got out of bed and raced through the living room to open the front door. Instantly, there was a rush of cold night air. Rather than the scent of the forest, it contained something alien. The stench stung deep in her nostrils, burning, charring…

She raced barefoot through the door. After a brief survey of the night around her, she gasped.

The sky to the west was burning.

The eerie red light was undoubtedly the reflection of some great blaze. Upon closer examination, she noted a number of plumes of smoke splitting the view of the stars above.

A wildfire?! she wondered at first, then dispelled the notion. What was coming on the ashy wind was the sound of striking metal—and many screams.

Enemy attack.

The army of the Dark Territory was attacking Rulid.

“…Selka!!” she shrieked, racing back to the cabin. But the moment she reached the porch, she suddenly had doubts.

She had to save her sister and parents at all costs.

But what about the other villagers?

If she tried to save as many of them as possible, she’d have to fight the dark army directly. Did she even have the strength to do that anymore?

The source of Alice’s power as an Integrity Knight was her nearly blind loyalty to the Axiom Church and its pontifex. Now that her faith was lost along with her right eye, could she actually swing the Osmanthus Blade and cast sacred arts anymore?

Then, while frozen in place, she heard a thunk from inside the cabin.

Her left eye widened. In the center of the darkened living room, a chair was overturned, and beside it, a young man with black hair was crawling along the floor.

“…Kirito…”

Alice entered the cabin with wilting legs. There was still no willpower in Kirito’s eyes, but there was a clear purpose in his sluggish actions. His arm extended straight ahead to the three swords on the wall.

“Kirito…are you…?”

Something hot and hard blocked the passage from Alice’s chest to her throat. It took her some time to realize that the cause of her blurring vision was tears.

“…Ah…aaah…,” he croaked, not stopping his determined crawl toward the swords for an instant. Alice rubbed at her eye and raced straight for the boy, picking his skinny body up from the floor.

“It’s all right—I’ll go. I’ll save the villagers. Please, don’t worry. Just stay here,” she whispered quickly, clutching Kirito.

B-bmp. B-bmp. She could feel his heartbeat as their chests met.

Even if his mind was absent, that sound contained the unstoppable strength of burning will and purpose. Faint though that flame might be, Alice could feel its heat.

After pressing her cheek to his for a moment, Alice easily lifted him up and put him in the chair.

“Once I’ve saved everyone, I’ll come right back,” she said again, getting the armor and sword belt she kept in the wardrobe and putting them on over her pajamas. Then she rushed to the eastern wall and grabbed her sword without a second thought.

The powerful weight of the Osmanthus Blade pushed against her palms for the first time in half a year. She fastened the sheath to her belt, tossed a cloak over her shoulders, and stuck her feet into boots, then raced back outside.

“Amayori!!” she called toward the dragon’s bed on the eastern end. Instantly, a huge shadow surged forward with its head low. She leaped onto the base of the long neck and commanded, “Go!!”

Silver wings beat the air, and after a short run, the dragon soared up into the night sky.

Just gaining a bit of altitude made the state of Rulid very clear. It was mostly the northern end of the village that was burning. The invaders must have come from the Dark Territory through the northern cave.

Last night, Eldrie had claimed there was nothing wrong with the cave, which had been sealed on Bercouli’s orders. If they had removed all the rubble in a single day, they must have marshaled far more than just ten or twenty soldiers for this raid.

Since ancient times, it had been common for small groups to infiltrate the three caves in the End Mountains under cover of night so they could work mischief in the human lands. Kirito and Eugeo had said that before they’d come to Centoria, they’d fought goblins in the northern cave. But she’d never heard of such a huge and brazen attack. Perhaps the entire Dark Territory really was preparing for an overall invasion of the realm.

As Alice pondered this topic, Amayori promptly crossed the thick forest and reached the airspace over the barley fields surrounding Rulid. She didn’t have reins, but a light slap on the dragon’s neck with her palm got her orders across; she told it to hover.

Alice leaned forward and focused on the village. The northern end of the main road that ran north to south through Rulid was glowing with fire, casting the silhouettes of the attackers into relief. They were goblins, leaping lithely back and forth. A short distance from them, much larger orcs were approaching.

Just to the north of the center clearing was an impromptu defensive wall made up of furniture and lumber supplies, but the goblins were already there, and she could make out the glinting of blades clashing just beyond the obstacles.

The village’s men-at-arms were fighting back. But their numbers, gear, and experience were inferior even to the goblins’. When the rumbling orcs marched up to them, the humans would be utterly crushed.

She kept watching, avoiding the urge to leap directly into the midst of battle. There were a number of fires burning on the east and west edges of the village, too, but the central clearing and south side were unharmed for now. All the villagers aside from the guards—including Selka—must have escaped through the south gate into the forest, she presumed.

So when she looked more carefully at the central clearing, Alice gasped.

“Why…?!”

Surrounding the fountain at the center of the round empty space in front of the church was a tightly packed crowd of figures. There were so many of them that she at first didn’t recognize what she was seeing. It had to be the entire population of Rulid.

Why weren’t they evacuating the village?

If the main force of the invaders reached the defense line, the guards would be scattered in an instant. If they didn’t get moving now, they wouldn’t be able to evacuate in time.

Alice slapped the dragon’s neck again, intending to ride it directly over the clearing. “Amayori, wait here until I call for you!”

Then she leaped from her mount’s back, dozens of mels off the ground, cloak flapping wildly as she split the cold night air.

The circular mass of three-hundred-plus villagers had the adult men on the edges bearing farming tools like plows and scythes, indicating their willingness to fight. Alice landed right near two men who seemed to be giving constant orders.

The paving stones split outward from her landing point with a rumble like thunder. An incredible impact ran from her soles to her crown, indicating some loss of life value.

The two men—Nigel Barbossa, the farm owner, and Gasfut Zuberg, the elder of Rulid—fell silent in shock at the sudden arrival of a visitor from above.

Alice felt a tiny twinge of pain in her breast at the sight of her father’s face, but she used the moment of silence that resulted to shout an order to the crowd. “You cannot fight them off here! All of you, take the path south and escape the village at once!!”

Nigel was the first to recover, however. “Don’t be ridiculous! We can’t leave my mansion—the village behind!!” he bellowed, veins bulging on his forehead.

Alice shot back, “You have enough time to make a clean escape from the goblins if you move now! What’s more important to you, your riches or your life?!”

Nigel only mumbled under his breath, so it was Gasfut, the elder, who spoke up next. “It was Chief Man-at-Arms Zink who ordered that we shore up our defenses in a ring at the center of the village. In this situation, even I am at the mercy of his instructions. That is imperial law.”

Now it was Alice’s turn to be speechless.

In times of emergency, whoever had the calling of chief man-at-arms gained the right to temporarily issue orders instead of the village or town elder. It was indeed a part of Norlangarth Basic Imperial Laws.

But Zink was still very young and had just inherited the position from his father. He couldn’t possibly give wise, rational orders in the midst of such an abnormal situation. The anxiety on Gasfut’s pale face made it clear he was thinking the same thing.

But to the villagers, imperial law was absolute. In order to begin a prompt evacuation, she’d have to grab Zink from the northern defensive line where he was giving orders so he could change his tune—but there clearly wasn’t time for that now.

What to do? What could she…?

It was then that a young but strident voice piped up.

“We should do what Sister says, Father!!”

Alice gasped and looked at the interior of the circle, where a young apprentice nun was using sacred arts to heal burned villagers.

“…Selka!”

Relieved that she was alive and well, Alice started heading for her beloved sister, but Selka stood up and marched through the crowd for the trio first.

Selka spared only the barest hint of a smile for Alice as she approached Gasfut, all business. “Father, has Sister ever been wrong about anything in her life? Even I can tell that at this rate, we’re all going to be slaughtered!”

“B-but…,” Gasfut stammered, pained. His graying mustache quivered, and his eyes wandered.

Nigel Barbossa filled the silence for the elder instead. “Children should mind their tongues! We will protect the village!” he exploded, his bloodshot eyes fixed on his mansion located close to the clearing. Nigel was only thinking of his fresh harvest of barley and the sacks of coins he’d amassed over the years.

The rich farmer glanced back at Alice and Selka and screeched, “Oh…oh! I understand now! You brought those monsters down upon the village, Alice!! When you crossed the End Mountains years ago, you were despoiled by the power of darkness! You witch…This girl is a witch!”

He jabbed a fat finger at Alice. She was stunned. The murmuring of the villagers, the sound of battle at the defensive barrier, even the incoming war shouts of the monster army to the north all faded away.

Since she’d begun living outside the village, Alice had cut down a number of huge trees on Nigel’s behalf. Every single time, he positively writhed with delight and gratitude. And now he was making these accusations out of the pure desire to protect his own wealth.

The middle-aged man’s expression was as ugly and hateful as an orc’s. Alice looked away from him.

Then do as you will. And I will do the same. I’ll take Selka, Garitta, my parents, and Kirito and leave this place to find a new home, far, far away.

She clenched her teeth and closed her eye. But even then, her mind kept working.

But if Nigel Barbossa and the other villagers seem stupid to me, it is the centuries of the Axiom Church’s rule that made them this way.

The Taboo Index and the countless other laws and rules beneath it constricted the people, giving them the lukewarm bath of safety, while robbing them of something much more important.

The power to think independently. The power to resist.

Over that eternal length of time, where had that invisible power of humanity been collected?

Into just thirty-one Integrity Knights.

She sucked in a deep breath, exhaled, then opened her left eye so wide, it was practically audible. When it focused on Nigel, his face went pale with fright.

But at the same time, Alice felt a strange sense of power welling up from within. It was like a pale flame—quiet but hotter than anything. It was the power she’d thought she’d lost for good at the end of the battle atop Central Cathedral—the power that had helped Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice face off against the greatest ruler of humanity.

She took a deep breath and said, “I am annulling the order of Chief Man-at-Arms Zink. I order all the people in this clearing to evacuate to the forest south of here, with those of you who are armed in the lead.”

Her voice was calm and controlled, but Nigel was bowled over, as if struck by invisible hands. It was a credit to his spirit that he even managed the mewling argument he did. “Wh…what authority gives a runaway girl like you the right to—?”

“My authority as a knight.”

“Wh…what do you mean, knight?! There is no such calling in this village! You cannot simply call yourself a knight because you can use a sword! If the great knights of Centoria found out, they would…,” he stammered, spraying spittle.

She stared him right in the face, then moved her left arm across her body to grab the cloak on her right shoulder.

“I am…My name is Alice. I am third among the Axiom Church’s Integrity Knights in the central district of Centoria: Alice Synthesis Thirty!!” she announced, throwing off her cloak.

The moment the heavy cloth was free, the blazing fires reflected in a dazzling array off her golden armor and Osmanthus Blade.

“Wha…? An I-I-Integrity Knight…?!” Nigel shrieked in falsetto, falling to his ample bottom in shock. Gasfut was equally stunned.

Alice’s introduction could not have been false. There was no one in this entire world who could lie about being an Integrity Knight—and thus defy the very authority of the Axiom Church. If anyone could, it would only be Kirito and Alice, but even having escaped from Centoria, Alice had not abandoned the sword that marked her as a knight.

The murmuring villagers went utterly silent. Even the shouting and clashing from the battle to the north and the bellowing of the guards and goblins got quieter.

It was Selka who first broke the silence.

“Sis…ter…?” she whispered, clutching her hands before her chest. Alice smiled kindly back at her.

“I’m sorry for hiding this from you for all that time, Selka. This is the true punishment I’ve been given. And…my true duty.”

Large wet orbs collected in Selka’s eyes. “Sister…I…I believed in you. I knew you weren’t a sinner. You’re so…so beautiful…”

The next to act was Gasfut. He fell loudly to a kneeling position on the paving stone, and with his head down, he called out, “I hear and obey your order, Lady Integrity Knight!”

Then he swept to his feet and turned to face the villagers. “On your feet, everyone!” he commanded. “Run to the south gate, with those of you armed at the front! Once out of the village, head into the forest south of the cultivated clearing!”

An uneasy murmur ran through the crowd. It lasted only a moment, however. They had no possible alternative to obeying the elder’s orders, especially if he was speaking for an Integrity Knight.

The hardier farmers at the perimeter of the crowd stood and motioned for the women, children, and elderly to get to their feet, too. Before Gasfut could stand at the head of the group, Alice beckoned him over and said quietly, “Father, take care of everyone…and of Selka and Mother.”

For just an instant, Gasfut’s expression softened, and he replied simply, “Please…do take care, Lady Knight.”

Alice knew he would never call her his daughter again. That, too, was a price of the power she’d been given. It was with this thought weighing on her that Alice pressed Selka to stand next to Gasfut.

“Sister…don’t get yourself hurt,” Selka said through teary eyes. Alice favored her with a smile and turned to the north. Behind her, the villagers all began to move.

“Oh…oh…my…my poor mansion…,” wailed Nigel Barbossa, who was still sitting flat on the ground. He glanced back and forth between the retreating villagers and the fires approaching his home. Alice decided to ignore him and focus on the state of the village as a whole.

She’d succeeded at moving the villagers, but there were three hundred of them. It would take time for all those people to leave the village. Meanwhile, the defensive line was bound to break soon, and the marching footsteps of the enemy were approaching from the east and west, too.

Then there was a scream from a young man at the north end of the clearing.

“It’s no use! Pull back! Run awaaay!!”

That would be Zink, leader of the guards. The shout seemed to spur Nigel Barbossa on; he leaped to his feet and snapped at Alice, “There…you see? We ought to have stayed here and defended! We’ll be killed! We’ll all be slaughtered!!”

Alice shrugged and said quietly, “You’ll be fine with the head start you’ve got. I will hold them off here.”

“You cannot! You cannot possibly do such a thing! Even…even if you are an Integrity Knight, what can one person do against such a numerous horde?!”

The fearsome sight of goblins was visible to the east and west by now, but Nigel remained, shrieking invectives. Alice ignored him and glanced behind her. The last row of villagers was still in the clearing, but they were a good distance away from the center, where she was standing now.

Alice grabbed Nigel by the collar and hurled him southward. Then she thrust her hand into the night sky and called her mount.

“Amayori!”

Instantly, there came a tremendous bellow from above. As she waved her hand from west to east, she commanded, “Burn them all!!”

There was a storm of wings beating as Nigel and the inhuman goblins who were racing into the clearing all looked up at the same time. The massive dragon plunged toward them, its shape dark against the fire-reddened sky, and opened its jaws wide. There was a bright flicker in its throat, and—

Shwoom!!

Brilliant light shot forth. The beam of heat landed on the street to the west and passed right before Alice’s and Nigel’s eyes, sweeping over to the street east of the clearing.

After the briefest of pauses, a line of tremendous flames erupted from the ground toward the sky. Engulfed, the goblins shrieked and screamed as the force of the eruption threw them off their feet.

The dragon’s breath had dispatched over two dozen attackers all at once, simultaneously evaporating the water of the fountain in the center of town and turning it into a cloud of steam. Amayori skimmed over the vapor as Alice gave the order to wait, then glanced behind her.

Nigel Barbossa was back on the paving stones in terror, his beady eyes bulging. “Wh…wha…? A d…d…d-d-drag…?!”

The middle-aged man’s pudgy cheeks quivered pathetically. Just then, the steam gave way to reveal Rulid’s men-at-arms sprinting forward, wearing matching leather armor. The timing of the order to retreat had paid off in the end, as while the dozen or so guards had wounds here and there, none of them seemed too serious.

Admirably, the large chief named Zink was running in the very back row. When he noticed that the clearing was empty, he was stunned. “Wh-where did the villagers go?! Didn’t I tell them to shore up our defenses back here?!”

“I sent them into the southern forest,” Alice answered, and he blinked as if finally noticing her presence. Once he had looked her up and down from head to toe, he gasped, “Are you…Alice…? Why are you…?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Is this all the men-at-arms? There are no stragglers left behind?”

“N…no, there shouldn’t be…”

“Then I want you all to join them and escape. And take Mr. Barbossa there with you.”

“B-but…they’re nearly upon—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the open space rumbled with a fierce growl.

“Gee-heeee!”

“Where are they?! Where have the miserable white Iums run off to?!”

Charging through the vapor mist into the clearing was a group of goblins wearing crude armor of metal plating, wielding barbaric blades like hunks of steel, and sporting long feathers on their heads. They were apparently from a different tribe than the ones who’d been burned by Amayori’s flames along the side roads—a bit bigger and better built.

Alice sized up the demi-humans and put her hand on the hilt of her sword. The dragon couldn’t use its flame twice in a row. Alice would have to fight them off by herself until Amayori could restock its flame elements.

One of the goblins noticed Alice in her golden armor and turned its greedy yellow eyes with all their cruelty and avarice upon her. “Gee-hee!! An Ium woman! Kill her! Kill and eat her!!”

It swung its sword with freakishly long arms, sending the other creatures racing straight for her. Alice waited as they approached.

What incredible power I’ve been gifted. Almost as though my entire existence is a sin.

This Integrity Knight’s body.

“Giyaaaa!!”

A thick machete came leaping toward her, but Alice neatly and efficiently blocked it with her left hand. It left a dull impact on her bare palm, but her bones didn’t break; her skin didn’t even split. She grabbed the lead weapon in her fingers and crumpled it as if it were made of thin ice.

Before the twisted shards of metal could even fall to the ground, her other hand had the Osmanthus Blade loose, swiping sideways through the goblin’s body.

The golden breeze of the sword caught the handful of goblins behind it, too, eliminating the heavy block of water vapor in the air, too. The four hostiles looked around with their yellow eyes, uncertain of what had just happened until, without a word, their upper and lower halves separated and fell to the ground.

She took a step back to avoid the sprays of blood that erupted a moment later.

You were wrong, Administrator, she grumbled to herself. You concentrated all this power into just thirty-one knights and turned us into your puppets. In doing so, you had the collective power that should have gone to all the people of the realm in the palm of your hand instead. But such a grotesque power misleads the one who wields it and those around them. You were consumed by a power that was too great and became something no longer human…

With the pontifex now dead, there was no way to rectify that mistake.

So if she could at least use this power to the utmost, for the sake of others, then it was what she would do. She would fight not as an Integrity Knight of the church but as an individual swordswoman, of her own free mind and will. Just as those two brave warriors had done.

Alice’s closed eye flew open as she paused at the end of her swing.

At the same moment, the impromptu defensive line built at the north end of the clearing was splintered into pieces from the other side.

The main invasion force plunged through, filling the wide main street from end to end. There were at least fifty goblins and a smaller number of much larger orcs bearing tridents, their round bodies covered in thick metal armor.

At the sight of their flashing yellow eyes and the sound of their roars of hatred and greed, Zink and his guards and Nigel Barbossa all let out desperate wails.

But Alice’s mind was calm.

She wasn’t simply relying on her battle ability as an Integrity Knight. Even a knight would suffer if so many spears managed to surround and pierce them.

It was one new piece of understanding that was giving Alice her power.

I’m about to fight for a cause that I accepted and wanted. To protect my sister, my parents, and the common people that Kirito and Eugeo fought to save.

She could practically feel that lingering self-doubt and powerlessness evaporating inside her, engulfed in the blast of that pure white light. The light raced throughout her body, eventually gathering in the eye hidden behind her black bandage and giving off an incredible heat.

“……!”

A fierce pain shot from her eye socket through the back of her head, causing her to grit her teeth. But this pain was old, familiar, and almost like a long-lost friend. With her left hand, she grabbed the scrap of cloth that crossed her head and ripped it loose.

Her right eyelid, which had remained closed for nearly half a year, now lifted. In the middle of her darkened vision, red light was spreading and pulsing, until it turned into a flickering flame. The sight of the burning houses from her good eye overlapped the image until the discrepancy eventually dissolved—and the image became whole.

With both eyes, she looked down at the black cloth in her free hand.

The bandage, faded from repeated washing, was a piece of Kirito’s clothing that he had ripped loose for her. It had protected her right eye for months after the seal had blown it out of her head, and just now, its life had been exhausted. The cloth began to vanish into thin air, starting at one end. Watching the precious, delicate scene play out helped Alice understand.

She thought she’d been protecting and caring for Kirito for the past months, after he’d lost his mind and arm. But she was the one who’d truly been under protection.

“…Thank you, Kirito,” she whispered, pressing the black cloth to her lips just before it could vanish entirely. “I’m…all right now. I’m sure I’ll still be uncertain. I’ll worry and come close to falling apart…but I’m moving onward. For what you—and I—really want.”

As the scrap vanished, she looked up. With her improved vision, she could see nearly a hundred goblins and orcs roaring and charging into the open space. To the rear, she heard the sound of the guards and Nigel Barbossa running away.

There was no fear in Alice’s heart as she faced the enemy army by herself.

She sucked in a lungful of scorching air and shouted, “I am Alice, knight of the human realm! As long as I am here, you will not find the blood and slaughter that you crave! Go back through the cave and return to your lands!”

The goblins running at the lead slowed down just a bit, as though blown back by the force of her ringing statement. But then an especially large orc at the middle of the pack, apparently their commander, lifted his two-handed ax and roared back, “Graaaah! Morikka the Foot Harvester will make quick work of one little white Ium girl!!”

His roar emboldened the goblins once again. They washed forward like a black wave. Alice tensed in preparation.

“Amayori!” she shouted, and a huge shadow plunged from the sky above. It didn’t have enough accumulated fire elements to use its fire breath again just yet, but it did intimidate the enemies with its size and tremendous cry as it flew so close to the ground, it nearly clipped their heads. The creatures were even more rattled than they’d been before.

Determined not to lose her advantage, Alice brandished the Osmanthus Blade high overhead and shouted, “Enhance Armament!!”

It was the first time in half a year—and merely an initiation of an abbreviated version of Perfect Weapon Control—but the sword obeyed her anyway. With a crisp, clear, ringing sound, the golden blade split into countless tiny pieces, reflecting the light of the fire as they danced up into the air.

“Storm and churn, my flowers!”

With a buzzing rush, the golden petal blizzard pelted down on the enemy.

The first fountain of blood rose from Morikka, the orc leader. Numerous little flowers pierced his body, wiping out his life and sending him falling straight backward with a terrible crash. The other orcs around him wailed and prostrated themselves.

The Osmanthus Blade was one of the greatest divine weapons, born from the oldest tree in the world, which grew at the center of the human realm. Like its other name of everlasting eternity implied, Perfect Weapon Control could split the weapon into hundreds of flower petals, and each one had a priority level that was equal to one or more famed master blades. You couldn’t block them with simple cast-iron armor.

With their main force and leader lost in an instant, the other invaders quickly lost spirit. The speed of their charge slowed until they came to a stop about ten mels into the clearing. The goblins in the very front row couldn’t decide whether they wanted to give in to desire or fear, so Alice swung the sword in her right hand one more time. The weapon’s hundreds of petals scattered through the air, lining up into a strict grid pattern between her and the enemy army.

Alice stared down the demi-humans through the sparkling golden fence and quietly announced, “This is the wall that separates the human realm from the dark lands. Dig up the cave if you will, but as long as we knights live and breathe, you will not be allowed to defile this land! Now choose—come forward and drown in a sea of your own blood or back away and flee to your land of darkness!!”

It took less than five seconds for the goblin in the lead to turn the other way.