Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Early and Late

  From right behind me, Klein said so without reading the atmosphere, I stepped on his foot to make him silent, then said in the calmest voice I could muster,

  “……Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind, you have my thanks. Thank you, that shot just now was magnificent.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Sinon delivered the final blow with her wink, then turned around and moved in the direction of Tonkii’s tail. She then took a stem of mint from the quiver on the right of her waist and held it in her mouth, it seemed to be her way of a quick rest. It was a cool action suiting the live wire sniper, however, I didn’t miss noticing that the tip of her blue tail was wriggling. That was the sign saying she was in laughter. I’ve been had! As I groaned inside my mind, there was nothing I could do about the stabbing glances from the group of girls around me.

  But here, the one who gave me a life boat out of that situation was unexpectedly Tonkii.

  “Kuooo——n……”

  It made a long cry, while its eight wings flapped powerfully and started ascending. Looking up into the sky, it seemed the largest and final spectacular scene of this quest was about to start.

  The whole Þrymheimr castle which had pierced deeply into the center of the canopy in the underground world Jötunheimr finally started falling.

  While its lower section had already collapsed leaving no trace behind, it still kept its whole form. The castle we could see from the inverted pyramid up until now had hidden its same sized upper section. In other words, it had the same form as the burial chamber in which Excaliber was sealed in, a regular octahedral form.

  It had a length of three hundred meters on each side. So, the distance between the top and bottom apex equaled to 300×√2 or 424.26 meters. The height of the Tokyo Sky Tree’s special view lobby was 450 meters, so the castle’s height was already approaching it. I was glad the dungeon structure didn’t require us to climb up to the top before we could descend to our destination.

  While my mind went in circles around calculations and speculations which didn’t matter any more, the great ice castle continued to fall down while making a thunderous roar. The intensity of the wind pressure we had to endure increased along with the collapse. The numerous cracks, like the polar crevasse, spread up from its lowest part, and over time, the few large pieces started to detach from it.

  “…………That dungeon, gone after we had adventured in it just once……”

  Lis murmured quietly. Silica, who was next to her, hugged Pina tightly and nodded in response.

  “It’s a bit waste. There are a lot of rooms we haven’t explored yet……”

  “The map completion rate is 37.2 percent.”

  Was the supplement from Yui sitting on my head said in a regretful voice.

  “That’s luxury talk. ——But I had a lot of fun.”

  With both hands on his waist, Klein nodded deeply. And, as if he had noticed something, he turned around and said in a strange voice,

  “……Hey Lyfa. How to say this, well……about Freyja, she really exists as a real goddess-san right? Aside from that grandpa Þórr?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  Lyfa nodded then smiled.

  “O―, is that so. Well, I have a chance to meet her somewhere then.”

  “……It might be.”

  In ALO, Ásgarthr, the place where the æsir lived, didn’t exist, but Lyfa was kind enough not to say so. When I thought up to this point, I recalled what Þrym said before Þórr could stop him. It was certainly about the æsir……what did he say though……

  I tried to search my memory, but my thoughts were drowned out by the loud agony of death of Þrymheimr castle, which had finally completely collapsed.

  As I cruised on Tonkii’s back, the falling groups of large ice lumps looked like it was at a distance I could reach if i stretched my hand. They were swallowed by the big hole directly below, vanishing into the infinite darkness of the «Great Void»——

  ……No, it wasn’t like that.

  I could see a light from the bottom of the hole. Glittering blue and waving, that flickering radiance was, yes, water, the surface of water. Coming from deep beneath the Void which we thought had no bottom, along with another loud sound, a large amount of water was rising in the pit. The still falling ice sank into the surface then immediately melted, becoming part of the water.

  “Ah……above!”

  Sinon said as her mouth still held the stem of mint while pointing her right hand upward.

  My sight followed her lead by reflex, once again, an unbelievable scene happened before my eyes.

  The roots of the world tree, which had withered back toward the ceiling, had been released after the vanishing of Þrymheimr, they made a big twist while growing in thickness, as if they were a living creatures. They gathered together and rushed downward as if they were seeking something. It was like a giant had thrown down a pile of wood. In front of us who were watching wordlessly, the roots of world tree had reached and sank down into the surface of the pure water of what was once the Great Void, causing a big wave from it spread out. The mesh of roots covered the wide surface of water immediately until its tips reached the shore.

  That scene had two things in common with the illusory scene Queen Urth had shown us. The world tree that had stopped its movement had its roots, or rather its trunks extended from its gigantic figure, I felt some kind of strong wave being emitted. It was a pure delight, like a traveller who had wandered for a long time in the intense heat of a desert finally putting his mouth in the oasis he had arrived at.

  “Look……, the sprouts from the roots…”

  I focused my eyes due to Asuna’s whisper, sure enough, from all directions around the roots, small sprouts —— of course the sprouts were as big as us, but they were small when compared to the giant tree —— had shot up, and yellow-green leaves spread one after another.

  The wind blew.

  Unlike the bone freezing cold wind that had endlessly and violently swept over Jötunheimr field up until now, it was a warm spring breeze. At the same time, the intensity of the light in the entire world had increased many fold. I looked up to the sky again, the group of crystals which had been shining dimly were emitting strong white light, each one of them was like a small sun.

  The wind and sunlight stroked the ice covering the large field and the thick ice covering small rivers, causing them to melt in succession. Below them, new green leaves sprouted from the black and damp soil. The castles and fortresses in various places that the humanoid evil-gods had constructed were immediately covered in green and decayed away——

  “Kuooooo————n…………”

  Suddenly, Tonkii raised its eight wings, wide ears, and nose, then released a loud howl.

  Several seconds later, from various places on the field, Oo―n, Kuooo―n echoes like those came back in reply. Appearing from various fountains and rivers, and of course from the huge lake that the world tree roots had spread over, were beings with manjū-like bodies and long tentacles, the elephant-jellyfish type evil-gods. It wasn’t just that, the many legs alligator type, the two-headed leopard type, many types of the beast evil-gods appeared endlessly on the ground and water’s surface, and the field began to swagger.

  No, on this beautiful green field, they were no longer «Evil-gods». They were the peaceful dwellers in this breeze, greenery, and the sunlight —— aside from their size. Those who were bullying them harshly, the humanoid evil-gods couldn’t be found no matter where I looked for them.

  Tonkii had lowered its altitude a great deal before I had noticed, visible here and there on the wilderness were small dots of raid parties standing stunned. Looking at them, they might be wondering what had happened. Having taken the quest from the NPC «Archduke Þjazi», and right before they could attain the fruit of their long struggle, their giant companions had disappeared and the field had completely changed, so it was normal to be confused.

  This was just what Klein had said af
ter we heard about the quest from Urth, as we would have to explain in full details to the «MMO Tomorrow» journalist who also served as the information shop for those stunned raid party members; I’d be glad to entrust the duty to him as he wished —— While I was thinking about those irresponsible things, Lyfa suddenly sat down.

  Stroking the free flowing white hair on Tonkii’s wide back, she whispered,

  “……It’s great. Really great, Tonkii. Look, so many of your friends. Right there…… and also over there, so many…………”

  Seeing spilling drops of water on her cheeks, even a block head like myself felt something well up in my chest. Immediately Silica embraced Lyfa before starting to cry uncontrollably, Asuna and Lis also wiped their eyes. Folding his arms, Klein faced the other way to hide his face, even Sinon repeatedly blinked many times.

  Lastly, Yui took off my head and landed on Asuna shoulder before burying her face in her hair. That girl doesn’t let me see her crying face anymore, I wonder who she learned something like that from……

  Then, at that moment. I heard a voice.

  “I appreciate your excellent accomplishment.”

  I turned my startled face to the front.

  Over Tonkii’s big head, a figure wrapped in golden light was floating.

  It shouldn’t have been more than two hours, but I already felt it was a nostalgic figure, it was, no doubt, the golden haired beauty with the three meter tall body, who had gave us this quest, the «Queen of the Lake Urth».

  However, she wasn’t transparent anymore, this time she clearly had substance. So, she could come out from the fountain she was forced to hide in order to escape Þrym’s hand. The pearly scales visible on her limbs, the tip of her swaying fin shaped hair, along with the light-green long dress covered her body, all glittered dazzlingly under the sunlight.

  The turquoise pupils gently narrowed, before Urth opened her lips again.

  “By removing «The sword which cut all of steel and tree» Excaliber, the «Spirit Roots» which had been severed from Yggdrasil could return to their original mother. With the blessings from the tree filling the land once more, Jötunheimr had returned to what it once was. For all these, Ye have my thanks.”

  “No……well. For Þrym, without the help from Þórr, I don’t think we could defeat him……”

  Urth nodded her head to what I said.

  “I know the power of the Thunder God. However……be careful, Ye Fairies. Even though those æsir are the enemy of the frost giants, they would never be your ally……”

  “Erm…… Þrym himself said the same thing, what does that mean……?”

  Lyfa asked after she stood up and wiped her tears. But the Cardinal’s automatic response engine didn’t recognize that vague question, while Urth remained silent, her floating figure raised up a little.

  “——My sisters also would like to give you their appreciations.”

  Together with her words, the right side of Urth began to vibrate like a water’s surface, then a figure appeared.

  Its height was slightly shorter than the elder sister —— but even so, from our perspective, we still had to look up to her. Her hair was of the same gold color but a little shorter. Her long dress was deep blue. Her face, if Urth was «high class» then her face would be «elegance».

  Verdandi or Verthandi, meaning "happening" or "present" in old Norse.

  “My name is «Verthandi». Thank you, the fairy warriors. Being able to see the green Jötunheimr once again, Ah, this is like a dream……”

  As she whispered in a sweet voice, Verthandi softly waved her right hand. At the same time, various items and Yurudo currency roughly dropped in front of us before disappearing into our temporary storage. Its capacity was suitable for the seven people party, however, I felt it would reach its limit soon.

  And in addition, a whirlwind occurred to the left of Urth, and a third silhouette came into view.

  Contrasting Verthandi in appearance, it was a figure wearing armor and a helmet. Stretching from both sides of the helmet and boots were long wings. The golden hair was tied finely, the beautiful and brave face shook to the side.

  And on this third person, there was a surprising feature. She was the size of a human, no, a fairy, about half as tall as her eldest sister Urth. Klein made a strange gulping sound from his throat.

  “My name is «Skuld»! You have my thanks, warriors!”

  She made a short exclamation in a cold and dignified voice, and like her sister, held up her big hand. Once again, a waterfall of reward items occurred. The message area on the right most of my vision finally appeared the blinking ‘reaching full capacity’ warning.

  As the two sisters stepped back, Urth stepped forward once again. If Urth gave a similar amount of reward, there was no doubt the storage would overflow. In that case, the remaining items would turn into the arbitrary objects piled up on Tonkii’s back —— However, was it good to say it was fortunate? Urth smiled at me before began speaking,

  “——From me, I would be bestowing that sword upon you. But, never throw it into «Urth’s Spring».”

  “Y-Yes, I won’t.”

  As I nodded like a child——

  It was '来たぁぁぁぁッ！' (Kita!) lit. 'It comes!!' which is very widely used among Japanese net users when something they were expecting happened.

  The golden long sword I had held tight in both hands, the legendary weapon «Holy Sword Excaliber»‘s shape had disappeared. Of course, it was put into my personal storage. At this point I wanted to shout “I got it!!!!!” but as I was no longer a kid, please forgive me for only grasping my right hand in that moment.

  The three maidens floated up a little and said in unison.

  “Thank you, Fairies. Let us meet again.”

  At the same time, in the center of my vision, a system message in an elaborated font appeared. As the ‘Quest Cleared’ message faded, the three bodies began to leave.

  Klein suddenly jumped in front and shouted,

  “S, S-S-Skuld-san! Your contact address!”

  ————You, what about Freyja-san!?

  ————and how is an NPC supposed to have a mail address!?

  As I was standing upright, considering which one I should say to him——

  Which one should I say?

  The two sisters had already disappeared distantly, but the sister of the future Skuld-san turned around, it may have been my imagination, but I saw her make an amused expression, then waved her hand again. Something glittering flowed through the air and dropped into Klein’s hand.

  Immediately after that, the goddess of war also vanished, leaving just silence and a gentle breeze.

  Before long, Lisbeth shook her head slightly before whispering,

  “Klein. Now you have my respect from the bottom of my heart.”

  Agreed. Really, I completely agreed.

  Anyway——

  Our sudden adventure on the morning of 28th December 2025 concluded like this around noon.

  “……Well, how about the year-end party after this?”

  As I proposed; Asuna, even though looked a little tired, smiled and said,

  “I agree.”

  “I agree too!”

  From her shoulder, Yui raised her right hand up straight.

  Part 6

  I was a little worried as I decided whether to hold the unexpected year-end party in the room Asuna and I shared in Yggdrasil City, or to gather in the real world.

  If it was in ALO, Yui, who played an active role in this quest, would be able to fully participate in the party. But Asuna had to go to Kyoto to visit the head house on her father’s side for a week, starting from the 29th, so if we missed meeting today, I wouldn’t have another chance to meet her until after the year ends.

  As Yui, my daughter, said “Real!” after I asked for her opinion, the year-end party would be held from 3:00PM at the café in the Taito district of Okachimachi, the «Dicey Café». We waved farewell to Tonkii after it sent us b
ack up to the tree stairs, and once we reached the central capital Aarun, which was still crowded, like before the quest —— even though when Þrymheimr started ascending it caused some slight vibration —— there, we logged out.

  The first thing I did after opening my eyes on my bed in the real world was to call Agil to make a reservation, and although he complained “Suddenly asking like this, I won’t have time to prepare the special ingredients.”, but by the time we arrived, there would be plenty of the shop’s special menu’s ‘spare ribs’ and ‘baked beans’, he was such an ideal businessman.

  The weather forecast said there would be snow in the evening, so Suguha and I had to use the train to reach the interior of Tokyo instead of my bike. Also, this time we had luggage which were quite large, and it wouldn’t fit in my clunky 125cc’s narrow helmet compartment anyway.

  Speaking of Kawagoe city in the Saitama prefecture, to Klein who lived in Tokyo, he would make a face as if it were located at the edge of the world, but it didn’t even take an hour on the Tojo express line to reach Okachimachi. It was past 2PM when we opened the door of Dicey Café, and only Sinon, who had arrived earlier due to her house being extremely nearby, was there.

  After I greeted the shopkeeper who was busy preparing food, I opened the hard case I brought. It contained four cameras with movable lenses, and a notebook PC for controlling them.

  “……What are these?”

  Frowning, Sinon asked, while Suguha helped to install the cameras at the four corners of the shop. They were the mass market web cameras with built-in microphones, but I had remodeled them to have high capacity battery and wireless connection, these four were enough to fully cover the entire room without having to worry about the location of each camera.

  Once the cameras were recognized by the notebook PC, I confirmed their movements, then connected them to the high spec stationary machine in my house in Kawagoe. I put on the small head set, then spoke,

  “How’s it, Yui?”

  [……I can see. I can see clearly, and I hear you, Papa!]