If he’d taken it with the back of his hand, the chain would have wrapped around the point like a fulcrum and still hit his head, albeit not as powerfully. In that sense, Eldrie made the right choice—but that thin leather glove wasn’t going to absorb a blow from a class-38 chain.
“Urgh…!”
He grunted, unable to conceal his pain. I clearly heard the sound of multiple bones in his left hand breaking all at once. He wouldn’t be able to use that hand for a while, and I didn’t think him likely to toss aside that Frostscale Whip for a different weapon.
I’d leap on him and start a hand-to-hand fight. Liena had taught me some of the Serlut style’s martial arts. It was more suited to holds than blows, but against a heavily armored opponent, that was actually a good thing.
“Not done yet!” I shouted, and lunged forward, ready to use my left hand to grab his injured arm.
“I don’t think so!”
But the thirty-first and newest Integrity Knight once again betrayed my expectations. He squeezed the chain with his broken hand and pulled. The chain was rooted to the shackle around my right wrist, so it pulled me in the opposite rotation and threw off my balance. I desperately tried to hold my ground, but Eldrie bellowed and attempted to swing me away.
“Hrrng!!”
If he succeeded, I’d be out of my chain’s range and back on the wrong end of his whip. He’d ensure I didn’t get close again.
On instinct, I adjusted my left hand’s target from Eldrie’s left arm to the right hand holding his weapon. The Frostscale Whip’s many thorns did not reach down to the last four feet or so from its handle. I wrapped that part of it around my arm so that it couldn’t break free.
Unless Eldrie let go of both his whip and my chain, he couldn’t put distance between us. If he released my chain, I could wail on him all I wanted. He sensed that, too, so he gripped my weapon even harder in his crushed hand.
This stalemate of steel chain and silver whip kept us just over three feet apart. I was sure his broken hand had to be screaming in pain as it clutched the chain, but the knight showed no signs of it on his face.
“I suppose I must take back my statement about expecting too much of you. I never thought I would be pushed this hard,” he murmured, still calm and cool.
“Gee, thanks,” I said, wishing that I could have given him a snappier comeback—but I didn’t want to draw attention to our wounds. Between Eldrie’s fractured hand and my chest lacerations, the bleeding whip wound was making my life descend faster. If he realized this, he could maintain his hold on my chain and wait until I started to weaken.
But perhaps he already knew. The knight smiled, but if his next statement was meant to buy him more time, it was an odd way of doing it.
“You know, that way you fight…I feel like I’ve seen it before, strangely enough.”
“Oh yeah? It shouldn’t be that strange. Maybe you’ve fought someone else who uses the Serlut style before?”
“Hah. That’s not possible, prisoner. I told you, I was summoned into the human realm as an Integrity Knight only a month ago.”
“…When you say ‘summoned’…” I started to ask, but then I heard the sound. Or more accurately, I heard a shift in a sound that was already there.
In the middle of the fountain behind Eldrie was the stone statue of Terraria, the deity of earth. The statue held a little jug that was pouring a constant trickle of water into the fountain below—but now the sound was muffled. It was a sign. From my partner to me.
Eldrie would notice it soon, too. I had to keep up the conversation and be ready to move.
“…that makes it sound like someone snapped their fingers and called you here.”
In order to distract him, I had to do something. But releasing the Frostscale Whip from my arm wasn’t an option. That left only one possibility…
I yanked hard on the chain!
Eldrie reacted by pulling back to return the position to equilibrium. The metal yanked tight, and almost immediately, the chain snapped down the middle. The piece that had taken the whip blow moments earlier finally gave out.
“Wha—!” He gasped and lost his balance.
It was then that Eugeo leaped out of the fountain with a huge splash. He’d recovered from the blow to his chest and was waiting beneath the statue’s trickle for his chance to attack. The change in sound had come from the flow of water striking his back.
“Raaaah!!”
Eugeo swung his chain down at Eldrie’s defenseless head, spraying water droplets everywhere. But half a second before that, the knight had spoken a brief command.
“Release Recollection.”
This phrase, I didn’t understand at all. But the effect it had, given the brevity of the command itself, was so impossible, it seemed to transcend the category of sacred arts.
The silver whip wrapped around my left hand, so tight that he could neither push nor pull it away, flashed brightly. Then it began thrashing around like a living animal—and extended tremendously fast.
The Frostscale Whip, now a shining snake, soared over our heads and leaped onto the chain in Eugeo’s hand. And “snake” wasn’t just a bit of poetic license. On the tip of the whip, I saw little ruby eyes and bared fangs.
The snake bit down on the end of the chain, pulled it (and Eugeo) up into the air, and slammed it down onto the cobblestones just next to me. Eugeo landed on his back and grunted. That added up to more damage for him than me so far, but he valiantly attempted to rise again.
But a ferociously sharp tip grazed his wet bangs before he could get up.
Eldrie had recovered his balance, tossed aside the broken chain, and pulled his sword free to point it at Eugeo. It was a thin blade, but it shone with the richness of a fine make. The weight of it had to be killing the broken bones of his left hand, but there was only the faintest hint of a furrow between his eyebrows.
The silver snake, which—for all I could tell—had protected its master of its own accord, shriveled up and returned to being a plain old whip again. Whatever that Release Recollection command was, its miracle had a short time limit.
The situation was in a stalemate at last.
I had Eldrie’s whip stuck to my hand. I’d lost half my chain. Eugeo had a sword to his face, keeping him still. Eldrie seemed to have the advantage, being the one with the sword, but I doubted he could do all that much with it, given the state of his hand.
Silence settled upon the little rose garden in the predawn chill.
It was Eldrie who spoke first again. “No wonder Alice was worried about you. You attack without form or pattern…but I suppose that succeeded at catching me off guard. I can’t believe you forced me to use my Memory Release skill.”
“Memory…?” I repeated. Then I finally understood the meaning of that mysterious command. “Recollection” was a synonym for memory. So it was a sacred art that unleashed the memories…of the weapon?
Memories of the weapon. That sounded familiar from the recent past, and I was about to consult my own memories when Eugeo gasped with admiration for some reason. He said, “And you…are every bit as great as I imagined, Sir Knight.”
“Th-this isn’t the moment for compliments! And…what do you mean, ‘as you imagined’?” I couldn’t help but reply. He made it sound like he’d known this knight before.
“I thought the name sounded familiar when he said it. And now I remember. Kirito, this man is the Norlangarth Empire’s champion swordsman for this year…as well as the winner of the Quad-Empire Unification Tournament—Eldrie Woolsburg!”
“Wha…?”
I stared at the Integrity Knight standing two paces away.
The Northern Empire’s champion. That meant he won the Imperial Battle Tournament held in late March. He was the representative of the Imperial Knights, the man who defeated Sortiliena in the first round and Volo Levantein in the second. He won the Quad-Empire Unification Tournament in early April with overwhelming skill, making him this year’s greatest swordsman i
n the human empire and earning him an invitation to Central Cathedral.
I now realized that I didn’t know that mighty warrior’s name. There was no Internet in this world, no television or radio, so the only form of news media was the primitive “town square” type of weekly newspaper displayed for the public. I hadn’t been bothered to go check out the school’s bulletin board, but apparently Eugeo had faithfully read it every week.
“You’re such an honor student,” I grumbled—I couldn’t help myself. But if Eugeo was right, and this Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One was indeed this year’s champion, Eldrie Woolsburg, then something about his actions didn’t add up.
Eldrie had said that he was summoned to the human realm as an Integrity Knight one month ago. I would understand if he were designated an Integrity Knight…but he made it sound like…
“…What…did you…?”
That hoarse whisper didn’t come from me. I looked away from my partner back at the knight.
For some reason, Eldrie was pale, his faintly purplish gray eyes wide as if grappling with some monumental shock to the system. His bloodless lips trembled and formed the words, “I was…Northern…Champion…? Eldrie…Woolsburg…?”
Eugeo was taken aback by this puzzling reaction. But he recovered, closed his mouth, and said, “Th-that’s right. It said so in the newspaper last month. A handsome man with purple hair…who won every match by landing a perfectly clean hit with his graceful, flowing style…”
“No…I…I’m the Integrity Knight Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One! I…I’ve never heard the name Woolsburg!”
I interjected, briefly forgetting that we were in the middle of a fight. “B-but you weren’t born an Integrity Knight. Wasn’t that just your name before you were designated a knight…?”
“I don’t know! I…I’ve never heard it!!” he wailed, hair flying. His face was white as a ghost now, eyes rolling and twitching. “I…I received…the summons of the pontifex, the administrator…and was brought here from the heavens as an Integrity Kni—”
He stopped abruptly.
And then something even more shocking happened.
A purple line of light appeared right in the center of Eldrie’s smooth forehead.
“Grgh…uhhh…”
All the strength went out of his hand, but I was too busy staring at his head to think of wresting the whip away from him. The glowing line formed a small, inverted triangle. It wasn’t just a magical seal, it was floating further and further out of his brow. The clear triangular pillar, like some kind of crystal, jutted out an inch or two from his skin, flashing and shining.
Inside the prism, fine tendrils of light ran freely in every direction. Once it had extended to a few inches, the whip and sword tumbled out of Eldrie’s hands.
His eyes were vacant. He stumbled backward a few steps, then fell to his knees like a lifeless puppet. The crystal on his forehead flashed and pulsed, and I could hear a strange ringing sound from it.
If I’m going to act, it has to be now, I decided, but I didn’t have a clue what that action should be.
Attacking would be easy: I’d pick his sword up off the ground and strike it against his defenseless neck. That wouldn’t just incapacitate him, it would kill him.
We could also run for our lives. If we somehow jolted the knight back to his senses, I felt like he’d truly go for the jugular. Our sneak attacks wouldn’t work, and we might be the ones facing impending death.
Lastly, and perhaps riskiest of all: We could stand here and watch what happened.
Whatever I was seeing now had something to do with the root of the Integrity Knights and the Axiom Church’s secrets. Why had Alice lost her memory and turned into someone else? Why did Eldrie talk about summoning? Perhaps I would know the answers if I watched this phenomenon to the end.
And for one thing, Eugeo would not be happy if I attacked Eldrie while he was helpless like this. We weren’t guaranteed to find the exit of the rose maze if we ran, either. We had to brave danger and continue watching.
I was inching closer to the kneeling Integrity Knight when the jutting triangular prism blinked, then began to recede back into his head.
“Ugh…”
I bit my lip. I’d been hoping that the prism would fall out entirely and cause some kind of event.
“Eldrie! Eldrie Woolsburg!” I shouted. The crystal paused for an instant, then continued moving again. His old name alone wouldn’t be enough to complete whatever this process was. I needed a more definitive memory.
I turned to Eugeo, who was watching the display in disbelief, and hissed, “Eugeo, is there anything else you know about Eldrie?! Anything at all—we need to stimulate his memories!”
“Um…” He squinted briefly, then nodded. “Eldrie! You are the son of General Eschdor Woolsburg of the Imperial Knights! Your mother’s name is…El…Al…Oh! Almera!”
“…”
The blank-faced knight’s lips trembled slightly.
“Al…me…ra…” he croaked, and the prism shone brightly. But even more surprising to me were the large tears that fell from his bulging eyes. Again, he wheezed, “M…Moth…er…”
“That’s right…remember! All of it!” I commanded, stepping closer.
But I couldn’t approach farther.
A heavy thud rumbled the ground, causing me to pitch forward. I didn’t even feel the stomach-churning pain until I looked down and saw the arrow sunk deep into the top of my right foot.
“Aaagh!” I cried, unable to hold it in. I grabbed the dark-red arrow, moaning, and pulled it right out. The pain redoubled as I did, but I somehow managed to keep myself from fainting.
“Kirito! A-are you all—” Eugeo started to say, but I grabbed the end of his dangling chain and hurled him downward.
Fwupp, fwupp! Two arrows stood in the ground right where Eugeo had been. I tugged him farther away, still holding the chain, and looked up into the sky.
Against the stars, starting to fade in the first hints of dawn to the east, I saw a dragon in flight, turning slowly. If I squinted, I could make out a figure in the saddle on its back. It was clearly an Integrity Knight, but if they were able to hit us with a bow at that distance, while riding a mount, they were one hell of a sharpshooter.
The knight drew back their massive bow, and I pushed off the ground with my injured foot as hard as I could. Again, two arrows thudded into the stones right before me.
“Uh, th-this is bad,” I stammered, still holding Eugeo’s chain. I’d never taken a blow from an arrow here before. Even Sortiliena, the Walking Tactics Manual, had only ever faced throwing daggers, so I had assumed that ranged weapons were not to the liking of the Underworld’s warriors. But it seemed that anything went when it came to the Integrity Knights.
I had to envision the area around us because I couldn’t take my eyes off the dragon, but as far as I recalled, there was no cover that could hide us here. Not even the leaves of the rose plants on the fences would completely hide us. That left only…
“We’ve got to run! Dodge the next shot, then sprint!” I whispered to Eugeo, waiting tensely for the next volley.
But this new knight stopped there and had the dragon descend. Within moments, the knight’s booming voice filled the fountain clearing.
“Criminals, move away from Knight Thirty-One!”
Against my better judgment, I glanced back at Eldrie and saw that after all the work we’d done, his prism was receding back into his forehead.
“There shall be no forgiveness for the crime of tempting a bright and noble Integrity Knight into ruin! I will pin you down, limb by limb, and cast you into the cells myself!”
Just then, a ray of sunlight from the east caught the dragon. The rider wore heavy silver armor much like Eldrie’s and held a massive red longbow in his left hand; it was probably another Divine Object like the Frostscale Whip. The most pressing question was its tremendous accuracy: Was that the effect of its Perfect Control, or had I not even seen its true power yet?
> The large knight nocked four arrows to his crimson bow.
“Uh…run!”
He was too close now for us to evade after he loosed the arrows. I started sprinting with Eugeo’s chain still in my hand. My chest and right foot throbbed powerfully with each step, but I couldn’t stop now. Eugeo kept up behind me, breathing wildly.
I considered running back down to the cells, but that would only shelter us from the arrows, not solve our problem. We rushed through the southern gate of the clearing, realizing that a single dead end would be it for us.
Within a few scant steps, I heard the succession of heavy arrows landing behind us.
“Eyaaargh!” I shouted, somewhere between a scream and a roar, and ran like the wind. Depending on the angle, some of the fences along the path hid us, but when we had no choice but to expose ourselves in an intersection, for example, a hail of projectiles soon followed.
“How many arrows does he have?!” I ranted. Fortunately, Eugeo was there to tell me the answer.
“That volley just now put him over thirty. It’s incredible!”
“Come on, this isn’t some lazy MMO…Er, sorry! Forget I said that!”
I’d completely lost all sense of direction by now. But for some reason, at every fork in the path, that tugging sensation at my hairline started up, guiding me either left or right as I ran. So far I was staying ahead of the dragon, but if we got stuck in a single dead end…
Almost as if prompted by my pessimism, I turned left at yet another intersection and found that my mysterious protection had run out. About thirty feet ahead, the path simply ended.
My only option was to use the half-length of chain on my arm to break down the metal fence, but according to the check I did earlier, these fences were close in priority to the chain—they might not go down in one swing.
There wasn’t another option at this point, though. I summoned my courage, left my fate up to God, and swung back my arm.
“No, thisaway!”
A voice came out of nowhere, momentarily stopping my brain in its tracks. Thisaway was rather folksy, old-fashioned terminology, but the voice was that of a young girl.