Instead, I could hear voices from behind me,
“Keep at it, Kirito-kun!”
It was Asuna. Then Lis raised her voice saying “Yeah, just a bit more!”. The encouragement from Lyfa, Silica, and Klein also came right after that.
Sinon shouted “Show me your willpower!”, Yui said “Papa, keep at it!” with all her little voice, even Pina purred with “Kurururuu!”.
As the person who assembled this party, becoming discouraged here wasn’t an option. I already got the maximum buffs, the rest was just fighting spirit and will power. Rather than thinking the parameter wasn’t high enough, I had to believe that the lock would be released with the multiplication of the input and time, mustering my strength, no, my will power to the limit.
The surroundings in my vision started to white out, a flickering light flew in front of my eyes, if this continued any longer, the AmuSphere would automatically disconnect me due to an abnormality in the brain waves —— at that time,
Piki, with a sharp sound, and at the same time, a faint vibration transmitted to my hands.
“Ah……!”
I didn’t know whose yell that was. Suddenly a light burst out from the pedestal under my feet, as golden light filled my entire vision.
Immediately after that, a crushing sound which was more profound and exhilarating than any sound effect we had heard up until now ran through our ears. My body fully stretched out —— inside the ice lump which was scattering in all directions, my right hand held the long sword which created a vivid golden track in the air.
Flying significantly behind me were my six companions who were using their hands to extend support to each other. While withstanding the tremendous weight of the sword I was holding, I faced up above, my vision met with everyone overlooking from above. All members of the party started smiling, and released a great joyful atmosphere —— Although I had already assumed so, the next phenomenon happened sooner than expected.
Small tree roots were released from the ice pedestal.
Floating in mid air, it suddenly stretched out, no, it started growing.
The very fine capillary spread downward in succession. The upper section which had been cut off also had new tissue growing upward from the cut wound.
From above, a tremendous roaring sound could be heard. Looking up, the hole which we had ran through and the spiral staircase had been crushed by something rushing down. It was also roots. The one which supported Þrymheimr, the roots of the world tree——
The thick roots rushed into the octagonal room with a blistering pace, the small roots which extended from the plinth touched them, twisted together, and united.
The next moment——
A seismic scale used in Japan and Taiwan to measure the intensity of earthquakes, measures in units of shindo from 0 weakest to 7 strongest.
The slight vibration which was felt like a shindo 1 earthquake up until now sent out a shock wave that swallowed the entire Þrymheimr castle.
“Owa……b……breaking……!!”
Klein yelled, as everyone mutually held up together, while numerous cracks ran through the surrounding wall almost simultaneously.
The deafeningly loud echo roared continuously. The thick wall of ice, about the size of a carriage separated from each other, dropped to the «Great Void» far below.
“……! The entire Þrymheimr castle had collapsed! Papa, we need to escape!”
Yui on my head screamed in sharp voice. I looked at Asuna’s face on my right and shouted,
“Even saying so, the stairs!”
Yes, the spiral staircase which we used to reach this burial chamber had already been blown off by the rushing world tree’s roots, leaving no trace behind. Even before that, going back the original route would only lead us to the open terrace in the mid air.
“If we could grab the roots……”
Sinon murmured while looking up, she was still calm even in this situation.
“……Seems impossible.”
I shrugged my shoulders. Surely, the roots of world tree stretched from the ceiling and reached the middle of the chamber, but we were on the circular floor below, which was about ten meters below the capillary. It wasn’t a distance we could reach even with a full force jump.
“Wait, the world tree! Don’t be so cold-hearted!”
Lisbeth raised her right fist while yelling, but her opponent was a tree. She wouldn’t even get a single apology from it.
“‘Right……if it comes to this, Klein-sama will show you all the Olympic class vertical high jump!”
The katana user stood up abruptly then ran up to one end of the six meters diameter circular disc——
“Ah, idiot, don’t……”
Before I could stop him, his gorgeous jump already happened before my eyes. He could reach around 2.15 meters, it was splendid considering he had a short running start, however, his hand couldn’t reach the root before his body continued on a parabolic curve and dropped heavily onto the center of the floor.
At that moment, It was surely from the shock wave earlier. —— was what everyone tried to think —— while running cracks suddenly appeared on the surrounding walls.
The lower section of the burial chamber, in other words, the lower apex of the Þrymheimr castle had finally separated from its body.
“C……Klein-san you idiot―!”
Came from Silica who was not used to screaming except when her tail was pulled; the rounded disc carrying seven people + one + one pet broke into an endless free fall.
If this were a gag manga, in this scene everyone would just sit around and drink tea as if it were completely normal.
However, dropping in a VRMMO like this was really ultra scary. It might be my daily hobby to fly above the clouds in Alfheim, but that was because of the reliable wings. With flying forbidden, such as in dungeons, a beginner female player could taste terror just by jumping from a five meter height. Even I didn’t like it.
Therefore, the seven of us crawling on the circular ice disc couldn’t help but scream simultaneously.
Surrounding us were the lumps of ice that collapsed at the same time, clashing with each other, as they continued breaking into smaller pieces. Looking up above, the lower part of the giant castle Þrymheimr broke apart from its structure, and each time caused the roots of the world tree to tremble.
Finally, from the edge of the disc, I fearfully took a peek below.
A thousand meters, no, it should be about eight hundred meters from the Jötunheimr ground, the darkness «Great Void» had its mouth open. Of course the disc we were sitting on was rushing toward the center.
“……What is down there?”
A calm mumble came from Sinon, I somehow managed to answer,
“P-Pr-Probably as Urth-san said, M-M-Maybe it leads to Niflheimr!”
“It would be great if it’s not cold……”
“N-N-Noo, I think it’s super cold! I-I-It’s the hometown of the frost giants after all!”
Having a conversation like that finally helped loosen the constriction in my stomach, while my hands still hugged Excaliber, I asked Lyfa to my left,
“Lyfa, W-W-What happened to the S-Slaughter quest?”
Then, the Sylph with her pea green ponytail trailing vertically stopped screaming —— or perhaps it was a joyful shout, I have my doubts —— and looked at the medallion on her chest.
“Ah……W-We’ve made it Onii-chan! There is still a single light remaining! I-I’m glad……!”
Lyfa made a full smile and jumped to me with open arms, while I stroked her hair and started thinking,
If the world tree had returned to its original shape, Urth and her kin would have regained their power as well, so they would no longer be hunted by the humanoid evil-gods. In that case, if we continued falling into the Great Void, be it dying during the fall or dying due to crashing upon Niflheimr, our sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.
There was only one worry, it was «Excaliber» which we used
all our power to secure. The quest wasn’t properly completed, as I still couldn’t say I had obtained ownership of it yet. Perhaps, surviving and meeting with Urth again were the required flags for the clean completion of this quest?
Nevertheless, I spread the system window where Lyfa couldn’t see and tried to put Excaliber into the storage. But the sword was repelled from the window, and wouldn’t settle in.
——Well, I already grabbed it once. It’s fine, such a gold sparkling legendary weapon like this isn’t my taste anyway.
Refers to pretending not to care for something one does not or cannot have, from Aesop's fable 'The Fox and the Grapes'.
I tried to fool myself using the sour grapes theory.
Lyfa who was embracing my neck suddenly raised her face.
“…………I hear something.”
“Eh……?”
I reflected the air off my ears to listen carefully, but all I could hear was the groaning sound of the air. The ground was already much closer now. Falling and breaking into the Void would probably take about sixty more seconds.
“Here, again!”
Lyfa shouted again and stood skillfully on the rounded disc.
“O-Oi, it’s dangerous……”
As I started calling, at that time,
Kuoooo——……n, a cry from the distance reached my ears, I realized.
I turned around and adjusted my vision. Beyond the group of ice lumps surrounding us, from the southern sky, was a small white light. Approaching in a small arc, with its streamlined body like a fish, four pairs of wings, and a long nose——
“…………Tonkii————!”
Lyfa shouted with both hands cupped around her mouth. Once again, Kuoo―n returned. Without a doubt, that was the flying evil-god Tonkii who carried us until the entrance of Þrymheimr. Thinking about it, as Tonkii sent us there, coming to pick us up wasn’t strange. And of course we would want it to come too.
“R……Right here right here―!”
Lis shouted while Asuna also waved her hand. Silica raised her face fearfully while still hugging Pina tightly in her chest, Sinon waved her tail in relief.
Klein who was still in the landing pose from his ultra high jump also lifted his face and smiled while putting his right thumb up.
“Heheh……‘right, I believed from the start…… this guy would surely come to help……”
——Bull shit!
That was what I, and probably the other five, shouted in our minds, as he was the same person who had forgotten about Tonkii up until now. Still as admirable as usual, Tonkii gradually glided toward us. There was plenty of time to transfer all the members before the crash.
Because of the numerous scattering ice lumps around us, the closest Tonkii could hover near us still left us with a five meter gap. But with such a gap, even a heavy player would had no problem jumping over.
The first one was Lyfa, who jumped casually while humming, and landed splendidly on Tonkii’s back. Then she stretched out her hands with a “Silica-chan!” call.
Silica nodded single-mindedly, as both her hands grabbed Pina’s legs, then running awkwardly before firmly launching out. Pina, which Silica was dangling under, flapped its wings, boosting the flying distance. It was a tamer’s privilege from a flight type pet. She then stopped in Lyfa’s embrace safely.
Next was Lisbeth who jumped along with a “Toryaa!” shout, along with Asuna who made a long jump with a fluid form. Sinon was the extreme one, jumping with double forward somersaults and landing near Tonkii’s tail.
Klein turned to me with a stiff expression, I made a gesture telling him, ‘Please feel free to go first.’
“‘Right, prepare to be fascinated by my splendid……”
I slapped his back while he was saying that and measuring his timing. Struggling with the running start’s distance, his jump’s distance did not seem to be enough, but Tonkii stretched its nose to catch him in mid air.
“O-Owaaaaa!? S-S-Scaryyyyy!?”
Ignoring his yell, I looked downward once more. Beyond the rounded disc made of clear ice, the Great Void had filled entire my field of vision. Facing forward, preparing a short approach run——
At that point, I noticed one terrible fact.
I couldn’t jump.
To be more exact, in my arms was a heavy load —— the «Holy Sword Excaliber», so jumping five meters wouldn’t be possible. Just by standing, my boots already bit into the ice.
Everyone who already moved to the back of Tonkii also noticed the reason I stood still.
“Kirito!”
“Kirito-kun!”
Calling voices reached me. Still facing downward, I clenched my teeth from the intense conflict.
These two choices —— embracing Excaliber like this and dieing from the fall, or dropping it and surviving. Is it the coincidence that a player is being tested for greed and obsession at the final five meters distance? Is this also a trap by the Cardinal System……?
“Papa……”
A worried call from Yui on my head, I made a slight nod and reply,
“…………Really……you Cardinal!”
I shouted with a bitter smile.
At the next moment, the sword in my right hand was thrown aside.
Suddenly my body became so light it was as if it was a lie. The rotating faint golden light moved toward the edge of my vision.
I made a light run, jumped, and changed my body orientation in mid air. Excaliber was falling slowly, like a feather dropped from the wing of a phoenix, into the immeasurable depth of the great hole.
On Tonkii’s back, once I had made a backward landing, it spread all eight wings wide. Its speed slowed down. Tonkii, that had been falling at the same pace as the rounded disc up until now, began hovering, stopping its descent.
Asuna came to me and tapped my shoulder.
“……Later, someday, we’ll take it back.”
“I’ll perfectly coordinate our journey!”
Yui continued right after Asuna.
“……Ah, that’s right. It’ll surely be waiting somewhere in Niflheimr.”
I muttered, as I said the farewell in my mind to the strongest sword I certainly had held for a short time —— or so it seemed.
In order to prevent that, stepping in front of me, was the blue haired Cait Sith.
Her left hand brought the big long bow down from her shoulder, and her right hand paired it with a silvery thin arrow.
“——Two hundred meters, huh.”
She muttered, then quickly recited a spell. The arrow was wrapped in a white light.
In front of us, who were stunned as we watched, the archer as well as sniper Sinon casually drew the bow to its full extent.
About forty-five degrees below, on the other side was the falling Excaliber, the arrow was released. It flew through the air, leaving a strange silvery line. It was a bow user’s exclusive common spell «Retrieve Arrow». The spell was convenient for pulling something the hand couldn’t reach, however, it was used only for short distances because the thread attached distorted the trajectory of the arrow, thus lowering the homing value down to zero.
Finally understanding Sinon’s intention, I shouted in my mind “No matter the cost.”
It was not possible anyway. Two hundred meters was twice the effective range of the bow made by Lis. No, even if it was within the shooting range, she wasn’t in a condition to aim properly. Her footing was unstable, the surrounding ice was falling, and her target was also falling.
But —— but, but.
The falling golden light over there, and falling alongside it, the silvery arrow seemed to be attracting each other as it moved closer, closer…………
Taan! Their collision caused a light sound.
“Alright!”
Sinon pulled the magic thread stretching out from her right hand with all her might. The golden light decelerated, halted, then began to rise. Rotating, and gradually approaching. The small golden light star
ted becoming longer and narrower, taking the shape of a sword.
Two seconds later, the legendary weapon which I had said farewell to, had resided in Sinon’s palm.
“Uwa, heavy……”
Muttering as she held it in her hands, Cait Sith-sama then turned around.
“““Si……Si……Si……”””
The voices of six people and Yui was in perfect synchronization.
“““Sinon-san, so cool——————!”””
Sinon responded to our praise with a down and up motion using her triangular ears —— as both her hands were holding the sword, she looked at me and shrugged lightly.
“Here you are, there is no need to make that face.”
——I was apparently too careless, it was as if a big “I want that!” was written on my forehead with a black magic pen. Sinon inadvertently stared to the upper left while holding out the sword to me, with a “Here” voice.
A faint déjà vu. About two weeks ago, in the event to decide the strongest in GGO «Bullet of Bullets 3» battle royale tournament’s final round, Sinon had made the very same action. What I received by reflex back then was a one hit kill plasma grenade, Sinon and I stuck together and both died from the bomb immediately after that, leading to the conclusion of the match. People on the net had been trying to interpret that last scene, but it was eerie so there was no further investigation.
But this time, surely the sword wouldn’t explode.
“T……Thank you.”
As I said thanks, I held out my hands to receive it —— but the sword was pulled back.
“Before that, promise me one thing.”
Then the blue haired Cait Sith gave a bright smile, it was without a doubt the highest class in ALO —— although with a destructive power equal to ten plasma grenades hidden in it.
“——Every time you pull this sword out, make sure you always think of me, alright?”
Bikki―n.
During the suddenly frozen atmosphere, the golden holy sword «Excaliber» moved from Sinon’s hands to mine. But it was unbelievable, I couldn’t feel its weight at all, instead I felt an imaginary chill and sweat flowing down my back.
“O―o, it’s sure difficult for you, popular-bro.”