When this speech was over, Eugeo sighed over my shoulder, but I didn’t pay attention—because there had been several crucial bits of information contained in that annoyingly smooth introduction.
First of all, this established a clear rule to the naming of the Integrity Knights. Alice’s full name was Alice Synthesis Thirty, so it was clear that Alice and Eldrie were their personal names. The Synthesis in the middle was commonly shared. And the last name was just a number. Eugeo wouldn’t have understood, because they were English numbers, but it would suggest that Alice was the thirtieth of the knights, while Eldrie was the thirty-first.
He also said that he was “summoned just a month ago.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by summoned, exactly, but if he was indeed the newest of the knights, that meant there were only thirty-one of them in total. And given that many of them had to leave Central Cathedral to protect the various regions of the human empire, that meant there couldn’t be more than twenty in the tower itself.
But all that calculation was putting the cart before the horse if we couldn’t defeat the newest and greenest of the knights.
I turned my head and hissed to Eugeo, who stood behind me, “We’re going to fight. I’ll go first. You wait for my signal.”
“O-okay. But…Kirito, I…”
“I told you, there’s no time to hesitate anymore. If we can’t beat him, there’s no way we’ll get up to the cathedral.”
“Um, I’m not hesitating, I’m saying that his name is— Oh, never mind. It can wait. But don’t be too reckless, Kirito.”
Based on his reaction, I wasn’t sure if Eugeo had understood the full plan, but we didn’t have time to hold a strategy meeting. I got the feeling that my invisible guardian spirit above my head sighed, but we could still flee for safety after ascertaining the enemy’s strength—I hoped.
I took two steps forward through the gate, then unraveled the chain and held it in my fingers. The knight noticed this and raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
“I see. I wondered how you would fight without a sword. A chain, eh? I suppose it might end up being a proper battle after all.”
His voice and expression were still overflowing with confidence. I inched closer, swearing under my breath that I’d wipe the smugness off his features soon enough.
The chain had a handicap: I couldn’t use my special sword skills with it. But it had much longer reach than a sword. If I kept moving, striking and disengaging, it should eventually build up enough damage to give us a chance.
It took one moment for that ray of hope to be smashed to pieces. Eldrie reached not for his sword but behind his back, and he said, “Then I shall forego my sword and use this.”
When his right hand emerged, it held a second weapon he had concealed under his cape—a thin whip that shone silver.
As I watched in disbelief, Eldrie let the whip hang so that it coiled on the stones like a snake. Unlike my crude chain, the weapon was of finely woven silver cords. And upon closer look, there were fine spiraling spikes running down its length like rose thorns, glinting wickedly in the starlight. It would do more than tear the skin if it hit me.
On top of that, it was at least a dozen feet long, at least three times the length of my chain. My plan to strike and keep my distance was ruined.
I froze, feeling a cold sweat break out. Eldrie noted the change and snapped his hand. The whip leaped like a living thing, cracking on the stone ground.
“And now…in recognition and admiration of your rebellion against the Axiom Church’s Taboo Index and your escape from imprisonment, I will do you the honor of fighting my hardest from the word go.”
Before I could react, Eldrie switched the whip from right hand to left and shouted, “System Call!”
The exceedingly complex commands he gave were too fast for me to make out.
The sacred arts of the Underworld were like the magic system of ALfheim Online in that high-speed casting was possible—in other words, saying the commands as quickly as you could. But the faster you tried to chant, the greater the likelihood you would flub a word and screw up.
Of the people I knew, the second-best at high-speed chanting was Sortiliena, with the best being Miss Azurica. But Eldrie spoke even faster than her. He finished the thirty-plus-word command in barely seven or eight seconds, finishing with an unfamiliar phrase.
“…Enhance Armament!”
I understood the English word enhance, fortunately. But armament…?
He didn’t give me time to consult my mental dictionary. Eldrie lazily raised his arm, pointed it at me, then swung.
The distance between us was a good fifty feet. No matter how long his whip was, it couldn’t reach. And yet.
Eldrie’s whip left a silver trail in the air as it stretched several times its actual length, as though made of some elastic material. Even in my shock, I lifted my chain with both hands overhead on instinct. There was a tremendous blast, and pale-white sparks showered down around me.
“Urgh…!”
My instincts told me that if I took the blow standing still, it would sever my chain. I bent my knees and twisted to the right to deflect the whip to the side. It scraped nastily along the metal and flew past to strike the stone ground, where it left a deep groove before returning to the knight’s hand.
Another wave of cold sweat rushed from my pores as I looked at my chain and groaned. The blow had gouged the class-38 object made of “spiristeel,” whatever that was, to the point that one of the rings was nearly ready to split apart.
The Integrity Knight smirked at my shock and remarked, “Well, well…I was expecting to take off your ear, but you managed to evade my divine Frostscale Whip at first glance. I suppose I should apologize for assuming you were a mere student.”
I really wanted to deliver a good comeback to that cocky comment, but my mouth refused to move.
He was powerful. He was deadly. If anyone was unconsciously underestimating the other, it was me. Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One was a type of foe I’d never faced before, I belatedly realized.
The Underworld was Rath’s virtual-reality experiment, so in a strict sense, there was no mortal danger to me, Kazuto Kirigaya. If Eldrie’s whip knocked my head off and reduced my life to zero, it wouldn’t harm my actual flesh in the least.
So in a certain sense, the fear involved in battle wasn’t the same as in SAO, the game of death. Facing enormous floor bosses or psychotic red players in Aincrad, having that tightrope sense of the yawning abyss just beneath your feet—that was a sensation I’d never feel again, and I was glad for it.
Yet that game of death was populated with online gamers like me, who had no real knowledge of swordfighting. We were risking our lives based on stats and numbers, physical motion assistance systems, and reaction speeds honed over a year or two of practice at best.
But Eldrie was different. He’d spent more than a decade of his life in this world training and disciplining his skills, perfecting his craft to its limit. He was a true warrior, physically and mentally. He wasn’t an SAO player or a monster under the server’s control. He was a rune knight from a fantasy novel come to life.
Eldrie had sharper skills and sacred arts than the goblins we fought in the cave under the End Mountains. His willpower was stronger than even the first-seat elite disciples Raios Antinous and Volo Levantein. He likely had the advantage over me in every possible way. If I fought him with nothing more than a single metal chain, I was 100 percent going to lose.
If there was anything I could use to get out of this situation, it was…
You are not alone.
For a second, it felt like someone had spoken my own thought aloud. Following that instinct, I whispered to my partner, “Eugeo, the only way we can win is because there’s two of us. I’ll try to stop his whip. Then you hit him.”
I didn’t hear a response. When I quickly snuck a look over my shoulder, I saw that it wasn’t fear on Eugeo’s face but admiration. When he did eventually speak, my suspicions were conf
irmed.
“Did you see that sacred art, Kirito? That was incredible…I’ve only read about it in an old book at the library, but I recognize it. That was Perfect Weapon Control…an ultrahigh-level art that works on the very matter of your weapon and uses a divine miracle to increase the weapon’s strength. No wonder he’s an Integrity Knight!”
“This isn’t the time for gushing, man! Anyway, if that helps increase the attack span, do you think that Perfect Control would work on our chains, too?”
“No way! That’s a top-level secret art, according to the Church. And it only works on divine-level weapons.”
“Then we’ll have to forget about that one and make do with what we’ve got on hand. Anyway, I’ll find a way to stop his whip, and you finish him off. I know you’re not used to whips, but you can at least swing it downward, right?”
Eugeo finally got his face under control again, and I warned him, “You’ve gotta be ready, remember? He’s an Integrity Knight, the highest force of the Axiom Church—and we’ve got to beat him.”
“…I know. I told you, I won’t lose sight of the goal,” Eugeo answered, and used his free hand to loosen the chain wrapped around his arm, too. We looked forward again, where the knight smiled his cool smile and snapped his silver whip.
“Done with your little strategy meeting, prisoners? I hope you’ve come up with something fun.”
“…Should an Integrity Knight really be playing with fire like that?”
“It’s correct that we must mete out divine justice on those who rebel against the Church. That is the will of our exalted pontifex. But as a proud knight, it pains me to lash the weak and helpless with my whip. So I am holding out hope that you are at least strong enough to put a scratch on my armor and prove your worth as foes.”
“Scratch your armor? We’ll knock off half your life, and your cocky smile with it.” I snarled to hide the rising panic inside me. The “pontifex” Eldrie mentioned was an interesting title, but I didn’t have time to contemplate the implications. I gave my chain a wave, then thrust out my left hand at Eldrie.
“System Call! Generate Thermal Element!” I commanded, imagining a crimson ruby. Glowing red orbs grew at the end of my thumb, index, and middle fingers. They were flame elements, the basis for fire-based attack spells. I was going to continue, but Eldrie calmly held up his hand in response.
“System Call. Generate Cryogenic Element.”
Those were blue ice elements to counteract my fire, and there were five, one for each finger. He already had the advantage of numbers, but I ignored that and continued, “Flame Element, Arrow Shape!”
I opened my left hand, stretching out the lights so that they turned into three flaming arrows. They were designed for maximum speed and puncturing power. As quickly as I could, so as not to give the enemy time to react, I chanted, “Fly Straight! Discharge!”
A vortex of flame erupted, and the trio of arrows shot toward Eldrie.
In a world where sword battle was the orthodox method of combat, attack-type sacred arts existed only to battle the forces of darkness—or so the old lecturer at the academy said. He’d probably have a stroke if he knew I was using his lessons to attack an Integrity Knight.
I leaped forward after the arrows. Up ahead, Eldrie chanted a counteracting art in one breath.
“Form Element, Bird Shape. Counter Thermal Object, Discharge!”
The five blue dots turned into little birds—ideal for homing—that took flight at once. My arrows were faster, but there were more of the little ice birds. The fiery shafts slipped past two of them, but the other three pounced on the arrows, causing the flames and ice crystals to shatter and cancel each other out. The force of the collisions knocked the wineglass off the bench, and it shattered on the stones.
I bore down on Eldrie, using the flashy explosion as cover. Two steps until I was within my chain range…One step…
The knight’s right hand snapped, and the silver whip leaped off the ground like a snake. At this range, his Perfect Weapon Control range boost was meaningless. I watched it curve in from the right and tried to read its path, tilting my body to avoid it so I could cross that last step. But—
“—?!”
My breath caught in my throat. Eldrie’s whip split into two in midair, the new silver snake cutting a sharper angle to bear down on me directly.
I was already trying to avoid the original blow by inches, and I had no way to dodge this one. The whip struck me right in the chest and slammed me down onto the cobblestones.
“Gaahh!”
I’d been expecting it, but even then, the pain of those countless metal thorns on the whip made my vision briefly go dark. I clenched my teeth and looked down to see that the chest part of my black uniform had torn through both layers, with a vivid red line running across the exposed skin beneath it. Little drops of blood began to form along its length and trickle downward in parallel lines as they oozed forth.
Eldrie looked at me, splayed out on the stones, and laughed heartily.
“Ha-ha-ha! Those tricks won’t work on the Frostscale Whip. When under Perfect Control, not only can it cover up to fifty mels, it can also split into up to seven parts. If there were eight of you, then you might stand a chance attacking me all at once.”
I didn’t have the mind to get angry this time. I hadn’t experienced such searing pain since the goblin captain hit my shoulder two years ago.
I always tried to remember that my lack of resistance to pain was one of my greatest weaknesses here, but given that the stop-short rule was practiced in almost all cases at the academy, I just hadn’t had the chance to build up my hardiness. I talked a big game about stopping the whip with my body, but this result was pathetic.
“Uh-oh, did I put too much hope in you? Well, I can be merciful and at least knock you out quickly,” Eldrie boasted. He took a step forward, silver armor scraping.
Just then, Eugeo leaped out from behind the fountain, sheer desperation on his features. “Uraaah!”
With a rare bellow, he swung down his chain. It was a tremendous swing for someone with no experience using one, and it came with perfect timing—but it still wasn’t enough to break the knight’s defenses.
Eldrie’s right hand moved at blurring speed, the silver whip splitting once again. One of the tendrils deflected the chain, and the other hit Eugeo. Like me, it hit him on the chest, and he was thrown into the fountain with a huge splash before he could even react.
The shocking pain of my wound was still vivid, but I couldn’t waste the opportunity that Eugeo’s suicide attack had created. Sensing that Eldrie’s attention was mostly focused away from me, I sat up and hurled what I’d had clenched in my right hand at the knight’s face.
Unlike in Aincrad and Alfheim, in this world, most objects did not immediately vanish when they were destroyed. Pieces, fragments, even corpses received their own fresh, new life-counter.
That life—its durability—would dwindle much faster than it had before breaking, and once down to zero, it would crumble without a trace for good. But even then, it usually took a few minutes to get there.
Even for fragile little things like broken wineglasses.
The shard of glass cut through the predawn night toward Eldrie’s left eye. I’d even rubbed some of my blood on it before I threw it, so it wouldn’t reflect the light of the stars.
It didn’t take a tenth of a second from the moment it entered his view until it struck. But even then, the knight had the reaction speed to turn his face to the right and avoid a direct hit on his eye. The piece of glass scratched his left cheekbone and disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a shallow cut.
“Whoa!!”
I was in a squat before Eldrie could turn back to face me, and I raced forward. Two steps later, I was in chain range. I pulled it back over my left shoulder in preparation to strike. Momentarily startled, Eldrie recovered and brought his right hand back, returning the whip from its attack on Eugeo to use it against me.
&
nbsp; If I just crudely swung the chain forward, the weapons would clash at best, or the whip would split and hit just me again at worst. But I banished my fear and focused hard on the gleaming end of the whip—then on the spot behind Eldrie, where Eugeo had fallen into the fountain.
In every style of swordfighting we learned about at the Swordcraft Academy, it was a tremendous mistake to take your eye off an enemy during an attack. A kind of “taboo,” in fact. Swordsmen in this world would never do that. Even Integrity Knights.
“Hrng!”
And thus Eldrie grunted and, for an instant, turned his focus away from me. He sensed that Eugeo was instantly going to rise from the fountain after his fall, striving to attack again. But that was a sensation he received only because I shifted my eyes away from him. Eugeo was tough, but not enough to take a hit from a Divine Object and get up the next second.
Mirroring Eldrie’s hesitation, his silver whip wavered briefly in midair. It passed my chain, missing by just a hair. I’d chosen the awkward backhand from the left to make the chain run parallel to the whips and increase the difficulty of deflection—a trick I’d learned through hard experience with my wooden sword against Liena’s whip.
But this strategy wouldn’t work twice. It was my one, only, final chance.
“Zeyaaaaah!!”
I screamed with all my soul and swung down the spiristeel chain with all my strength.
My aim was at his head, the only part of the knight’s body not protected by that shining armor. Whether he’d taken his helmet off to drink the wine or had assumed he simply wouldn’t need it against mere students, I wasn’t going to let that chance pass. A good heavy chain smashing an unprotected head could even knock out an Integrity Knight, I bet…
But once again, Eldrie displayed an ability I never considered.
His left hand shot out like lightning and caught the end of the chain—not with the gauntlet armor on the back of his hand but with the thin leather glove of his palm.