Sword Art Online - Volume 9 - Alicization Beginning

  The heavy footsteps suddenly stopped in front of me. The air was rumbling, and I felt that the giant blade was about to be lifted up. It was too late to either dodge or counter. I gritted my teeth and waited for the moment I was to be released from this world.

  However, after a long while, the blade of the guillotine never dropped down. *Za zaa-* what replaced it was the sound of the ice surface being trampled on, and then, there was a familiar voice shouting,

  “KIRITO—!!”

  I widened my eyes in shock as I watched Eugeo leap past me to slash at Ugachi. He continued to swing his right hand wielding the curved knife wildly and forced the enemy to take two, three steps back.

  The goblin was startled at first, but he immediately regained his composure and wielded the machete skilfully with only one hand and parried away Eugeo’s attacks from left and right. For an instant, I forgot about my pain and yelled,

  “STOP IT, EUGEO! HURRY UP AND RUN!!”

  However, he continued to yell while losing himself and continued to swing the blade. As expected of someone who’d been swinging that heavy axe for a long time, every single hit’s speed was eye-popping, but unfortunately, the motions were too simple. Ugachi first looked like he was enjoying the resistance of a prey as he continued to defend enthusiastically, and then, “GUASS!” It roared and used his toes to kick Eugeo’s supporting leg. As Eugeo lost his balance and tripped, it easily raised its machete—

  “STOOOPP ITTTTT——!!!”

  Before my shout reached them, it casually swung horizontally.

  Eugeo took a hit to the abdomen and was sent flying far away, landing right beside me with a blunt sound. I instinctively turned around, and a sharp pain occurred in my left shoulder like a flash, but this time, I ignored the pain and nudged over.

  Eugeo’s wound was a lot more serious than mine. His upper body was sliced open horizontally, and the jagged wound was giving out a lot of fresh blood at a horrifying rate. Under the light of the grass that was still held in his left hand, the irregular workings of the organs inside the wound were laid bare to my eyes.

  *Cough*. With a heavy sound, Eugeo’s mouth choked out blood with bubbles mixed in. The green eyes lost their light as they stared right above emptily.

  However, Eugeo never stopped trying to stand up. His mouth breathed out air that had some red mist mixed within, trembling as he used both hands to support himself off the ground.

  “Eugeo…that’s enough…it’s…”

  I couldn’t help but say. The pain on Eugeo’s body was not something that could be compared to mine. It was definitely much more than what the normal consciousness could endure.

  At this moment—the eyes that lost their focus looked straight at me, and he blurt out the words that were drenched in blood.

  “Whe-When we were young…we promised…me, Kirito…and Alice, from the day we were born together, to the time we die together…this time, I must definitely…protect…I must…”

  At this moment Eugeo’s arms suddenly lost their strength. I hurriedly reached out my arms to grab his body. Just when Eugeo’s slender yet muscular weight was transferred onto me…

  My vision was surrounded by an interrupted white flash, and at the deep part of the screen, there were vague shadows there.

  Under the fiery red sunset, I was walking down a path between the wheat fields. The one holding my right hand was the young boy with flax-colored hair, and the one holding onto my left was a blond girl.

  That’s right…I believed that the world would never change. I believed that the three of us would continue to live together. However, we didn’t manage to protect her. We couldn’t do anything. How could I forget that despair, that helplessness? This time… This time, I’ll definitely…

  I could not feel the pain on my shoulder any more. I gently put the unconscious Eugeo onto the icy surface, reached my right hand out and held onto the hilt of the straight sword that dropped onto the floor.

  I then looked up and swung horizontally at Ugachi, who was swinging down its machete just at that moment.

  “GURAA…!”

  The enemy roared out in surprise as its body swayed slightly. I used the momentum as I stood up to ram right into its abdomen. The goblin swayed again and took two, three steps back.

  I pointed the sword in my right hand into the center of the enemy, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

  It was true that I was a complete novice when it came to the pain of the physical body. However, I have experienced an absolute pain that far surpassed that. This kind of injury was nothing comparing to the pain of losing someone important. The pain of losing was the only thing that would never disappear no matter how anyone tried to manipulate through machines.

  Ugachi let out a loud roar of intolerance, and the henchmen around him that were cackling away, *kiki*, all shut up.

  “White Ium…don’t get cocky!!”

  I gathered my consciousness onto the blade tip of the machete as Ugachi charged over ferociously. *Kiiiin*. With this sound, everything else in my sights disappeared as radials. It was an accelerating feeling that I had forgotten for a long time, where my nerves started to feel hot. No— in this world, it should be said that my soul was burning.

  As I faced the machete swinging down, I took a step forward to dodge it and slashed from the bottom left side, to cut off the right arm of the enemy near the shoulder. The machete that was swung together with the giant arm spun, *vuun vuun*, and landed in the midst of the surrounding goblins, causing lots of screams.

  Ugachi, who lost both its arms, was showing anger and more surprise in its yellow eyes as it swayed back. The black liquid that continued to seep out from its wound landed on the ice and created steam.

  “…How did this great me lose to an Ium…a mere Ium brat…”

  Without waiting for the panting voice to finish, I charged forward with all I got.

  “No. My name’s not «Ium»!”

  I subconsciously said this. At the same time, the toes on the left foot, the fingertips on the right hand, and the sword tip that reached the fingertips became as sharp as a whip. The blade shone again, and this time it was a light-green light. An invisible hand pushed me hard from behind as I used the one-handed thrust sword skill, «Sonic Leap».

  “I AM…THE SWORDSMAN KIRITO!!”

  *Pyun*. As the sound of the ripping air reached my ears, Ugachi’s giant head was already flying high into the air.

  That head seemed to fly up straight before turning and falling. I reached my left hand out to grab it, holding it on the decorative feather that was standing like a cockscomb, raised the head of the leader that was still bleeding and yelled.

  “I TOOK YOUR LEADER’S HEAD! ANYONE WHO WANTS TO FIGHT, STEP RIGHT UP! THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO FIGHT, SCRAM BACK INTO THE LAND OF DARKNESS!”

  Eugeo, try and hang on for a while. I muttered deep inside my heart as I glared at the surrounding group with my utmost killing intent with both eyes. The goblins started to panic as they saw their leader die, each of them looking at each other and letting out panicked sounds *gii gii*

  After a while, one of them, who was standing at the front row, holding a stick behind its shoulder, walked out.

  “Gehe, in that case, once I kill you, I, Abuli-sama will become the next head…”

  Right now, I didn’t have the time to patiently hear it finish its words. My left hand gripped the head as I dashed forward, using the same skill as before to slice that guy from the right rib to the left shoulder. With a blunt sound, blood splattered next, and the upper body slid down the sliced off area before landing on the ground.

  With that, the remaining goblins seemed to have finally made their decision. They all screamed out and rushed towards a corner of the dome. Several goblins pushed each other and moved through the exit we didn’t enter from, and soon disappeared without a trace. The echoes of footsteps and screams gradually faded away and vanished. The ice-built dome entered an icy cold moment of silence, as if the commotion just now
was a lie.

  I took a deep breath, endured the pain that came out from my left shoulder again, and threw away the sword in my right hand as well as the head in my left. I turned around and ran towards my friend who had collapsed.

  “EUGEO!! HANG IN THERE!!”

  I shouted, but his pale face wasn’t moving at all. I could feel some slight breathing from the slightly opened lips, but it seemed that it could stop at any time. The devastating wound on his abdomen was still bleeding. I knew that I had to stop it, but I didn’t know how.

  I used my stiff right hand to quickly draw a mark and knocked on Eugeo’s shoulder, looking at the window that appeared with a praying attitude.

  The life—Durability Point was indicated to be [244/3425]. Also, the value in the front was dropping at a horrifying rate of one point every two seconds. In other words, Eugeo’s Life would be at its end in about 480 seconds— there were approximately 8 minutes left.

  “…Hang on. I’ll immediately save you! DON’T DIE!”

  I yelled again and immediately got up, dashing towards the wheelbarrow that was left aside.

  On the cart, there was Selka, all tied up amidst the wooden barrels and containers with unknown contents and many weapons. I pulled out a knife from a nearby box and quickly cut the rope.

  I carried her petite body, laid her down on the wide floor and quickly checked her, but there was no obvious external wounds. Her breathing was a lot steadier than Eugeo’s. I grabbed the shoulders on her nun habit and shook her with the minimum amount of force.

  “SELKA…SELKA! WAKE UP!!”

  Selka’s long eyebrows immediately twitched, and the light brown eyes opened with a blink. It seemed that she couldn’t recognize me with just the light of the bristlegrass tossed beside Eugeo as her throat let out a small cry.

  “No…noo…”

  Selka waved her arms and tried to push me aside, and I held her down before shouting,

  “SELKA, IT’S ME! KIRITO! DON’T WORRY, THE GOBLINS WERE CHASED AWAY!”

  On hearing my voice, Selka immediately stopped. She reached her fingers out tentatively and gently touched my face.

  “Kirito…is it really you, Kirito…?”

  “Ahh, I came to save you. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

  “No… Not at all. I’m fine…”

  Selka’s lips curled aside, and then she immediately leaped over to hug me on the neck.

  “Kirito…I…I…!”

  The slight breathing sound could be heard beside my ear, letting out a child-like cry—but before that could happen, I carried Selka with both hands, turned around and started running.

  “Sorry, cry later! Eugeo’s severely hurt!!”

  “Eh…”

  The arched body immediately froze. I kicked aside the shattered ice on the ground and the junk those goblins left behind as I dashed towards Eugeo and put Selka down.

  “It’s too late for ordinary treatment… use your sacred arts to save him, Selka, please!”

  Selka listened to me as she held her breath and kneeled down before gingerly reaching her right hand out. She touched the deep wound on Eugeo, and suddenly moved her hand back.

  After a while, Selka shook her head that was tied into three braids hard.

  “…I can’t…this kind…this kind of wound, my sacred arts… can’t…”

  As she used her fingers to touch Eugeo, her face went pale.

  “Eugeo… you’re lying, right… because of me… Eugeo…”

  Tears trickled down Selka’s face, landing onto the pool of blood on the ice. She took her hands back and covered her face, letting out a cry. I felt that it was cruel to say this to such a girl, but I yelled.

  “CRY AFTER YOU HAVE HEALED EUGEO! NO MATTER WHETHER THERE’S A WAY, JUST TRY IT! AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THE NEXT SISTER!? YOU’RE THE SUCCESSOR TO ALICE, RIGHT!?”

  Selka’s shoulders jerked hard for a moment, but immediately slumped back weakly.

  “…I…couldn’t be like nee-sama… I couldn’t even memorize the spells nee-sama spent three days to master even after a month. Right now, what I could only heal are… very small wounds… “

  “Eugeo, he…”

  I was driven by the emotions rising up within me as I said desperately,

  “Eugeo came to save you, Selka! He risked his life not for Alice, but for you!”

  Selka’s shoulders jerked again, this time, more than before.

  During this time, Eugeo’s life was dropping towards zero. There were only 2 minutes left, maybe even one. An instant moment of silence felt so long it was unbearable.

  Suddenly, Selka lifted her face. The expressions of fear and hesitation she had from several seconds before was all gone.

  “—It’s too late for ordinary treatment. We can only try a dangerous high-ranked sacred art. Kirito, I need your help.”

  “I-I understand. I’ll do whatever you say.”

  “Give me your left hand.”

  I immediately reached my left hand out, and Selka used her right hand to hold it tightly. Then, she used the left to hold onto Eugeo’s right hand, which was lying on the icy surface, tightly.

  “If the art fails, both you and I may die. Be prepared.”

  “Just let me be the one to die then—ready whenever you are!”

  Selka stared straight at me with sturdy eyes, nodded and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath.

  “Systemシステム・call!コール！”

  The loud voice echoed through the ice dome.

  “—Transferトランスファー・human unitヒューマンユニット・durabilityデュラビリティ、rightライト・toトゥ・left!!レフト！！”

  Her voice echoed. *Kiin*- the sharp voice became louder— and then, a blue light pillar appeared, with Selka in the middle.

  It was a lot brighter than the grass, extremely glaring, as it dyed all corners of the large dome a light blue color. I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes, but this was only for a moment as my left hand that was held by Selka suddenly had a strange feeling surrounding it, which caused me to open my eyes wide.

  It felt like my entire body disappeared into the light as it flowed out from my left hand.

  Looking closely, my body was actually creating lots of small spheres of light, moving from my left hand to Selka’s right hand. I looked over at where the spheres of light were moving towards, and the light flowed through Selka’s body, increasing in brightness before being absorbed into Eugeo’s right hand.

  Transfer Durability. In other words, it was a sacred art that transferred one person’s Life over to another. If I opened my window now, I would be able to find that my value was dropping.

  It’s fine. Just take it all. I thought silently in my heart as I exerted more force into my left hand. Selka, who was acting as the conductor of the energy and the booster, looked as if she was in pain too. I realized the cruelty of this world again, and how great the price of living was.

  Pain, suffering, and sorrow. The reason why there was such a deliberate intent to emphasize on these things that weren’t required in the virtual world was obviously something closely related to the existence of Underworld. If the technicians of RATH were trying to gain some form of breakthrough by torturing the Fluctlights of the residents, it seemed that the unexpected intruder, me, was being a form of interference by helping Eugeo here.

  But as for me, just send me to the devil for that. Even if he was a soul, Eugeo was still my friend and I would never let him die like this.

  As the life transfer continued, my body was surrounded by a strong chill. I used my gradually fading sight to observe Eugeo. The wound looked a lot smaller than when the spell started, but it wasn’t completely healed at all, as the blood flowing out didn’t stop in the slightest.

  “Ki-Kirito… are-are you still alright…?”

  Selka panted in pain as she said in an interrupted manner.

  “No worries… a little more, give Eugeo a little more!”

  I imme
diately answered, but in fact, my eyes had almost lost all their sight while my right arm and leg were going numb. The left hand Selka was holding onto was the only thing throbbing warmly.

  Even if I lost my life in this world, it was completely fine. If I could get Eugeo’s life back, I could endure the pain that was a lot more than before. However, the only regret would be that I would never see this world progress until the end. If those goblins were just the start, if the invasion of the land of darkness continued to intensify, I would have to worry about Rulid village that would be the first to be exposed to it. I would lose all my memories when I log out, so I might not be able to log in again.

  No, even if I disappear—

  Eugeo, who witnessed the goblins and took the sword to fight would definitely do something. He would warn the village chief, strengthen the guards, and warn the neighboring towns and cities. He would definitely do that.

  And so, I couldn’t let Eugeo die here.

  Ahh, but— my life was about to end. For some reason, I knew this. Eugeo still hadn’t opened his eyes. Even after spending all my life, it wasn’t enough to heal his wound and drag him back from the edge of death?

  “…I…can’t…if I continue, Kirito, your Life will…!”

  Selka’s crying seemed to come from afar.

  Don’t stop, continue. Even though I wanted to say this, my mouth couldn’t move, and trying to even sustain my own thoughts became gradually more difficult.

  Is this death? The simulated death of the soul in Underworld… or, will the death of the soul kill the physical body in the real world? What caused me to think about this was the cold I couldn’t endure and the terrifying loneliness…

  Suddenly, I felt someone’s hands on my shoulders.

  They were warm. It felt like my body that was frozen in ice was gradually melting.

  I— know these hands. Hands that were delicate like the feathers of a bird, yet grabbing onto the future more forcefully than anyone.

  ……Who, are you……?

  I asked without letting out my voice, and my left ear felt a soft breathing. After that, I heard a voice that was so nostalgic that it made me want to cry.