The tip of the the spiral of light moved, and she understood.
That the source of light, the pure white strips, were eight glowing wings expanded radially, four on each side.
“…Tonkii…”
Seeming like it heard Lyfa, the unchanged elephant-like face lifted away from the wings. Its long nose held high and its fluttering ears spread wide -
Yurururuuu. The loud sound once again emanated from the evil-god who was no longer a jellyfish. With a flap of the eight wings, it soared skyward.
The once round body is now sleek and streamlined. Of the 20 tentacles that once hung down from its stomach, they were no longer clawed feelers, but more like the vines of a plant. Its HP, which had decreased to about 10% was recovered to full.
After reaching around ten meters in height, Tonkii hovered for a moment, when, without warning its color shifted until it was emitting a blue glow.
“Ah… That’s bad…”
Kirito whispered that, then he suddenly twisted round to grab Lyfa and dragged her down to the snow.
Just after that, Tonkii released a truly massive thunderbolt from each of its legs, one after another.
Without even having time to scream, the Undines were struck and blown apart with the noise. Some mages and archers were blown to pieces in a single hit, but the warriors seemed to have endured.
“Retreated to the bottom of the hill! Close battle formation for healing and support!”
The scout commander, seeing no chance of recovery, shouted. Of the less than twenty people who survived, all ran down the slope together. The warriors built shield walls while the remaining mages started chanting behind them.
However, Tonkii slowly glided through the air catching up, this time filled with a pure white light.
Kuaa… echoes as rings of light rained down, disabling any magical powers. Also, any incomplete incantations turned into smoke and dissipated.
“Goddamn it!!”
The scout leader, shouted having finally lost his composure. He raised his hand toward the sky. Arrows of smoke burst out, creating a smokescreen, hiding all of the Undines.
“Retreat, retreat!!”
While that order was shouted, the Undine forces fled in a straight line, clearly visible from where Lyfa stood. Their escape was also very quick, and they soon disappeared over the ridge in the distance.
Of course, for the Tonkii who could now fly, catching up to players trying to escape on the ground would be easy. But it just issued a cry of victory, then flapped four wings on one side to change direction.
Then it flew slowly until it hovered just over the heads of Lyfa and Kirito. From the now mostly white elephant head, three pairs eyes shifted to look down at them.
“…So, what should we do now?”
Kirito said something that she had heard before.
Tonkii simply elongated its nose, answered him. Its nose stretched and wrapped around Lyfa and Kirito, lifting them without an explanation. ‘That’s what I thought!’ While thinking that, they were dropped down on its back, landing on their behinds at the same time with a don sound.
They looked at each other and sheathed their swords. Lyfa began stroking its white fur. Maybe it was just her imagination, the fur now seemed to be longer and even more supple than before.
“…After all that, it’s good that you are alive, Tonkii.”
Lyfa said, then Yui stuck her head out of Kirito`s pocket, clapped her hands said:
“I’m really glad too! Alive means good things will happen!”
“That would be nice…”
Kirito said while looking up and down.
After this, Tonkii would probably go somewhere. Ahead, was the big hole in the center of Jötunheimr - if that was his destination, it would get more confusing. Fortunately, after a shout, he headed above, in the direction of the roots of the World Tree.
Every time it beat its wave-like wings, its hair wrapped close to its body, the great evil-god began to rise through the air. It flew upward in a spiral, until Lyfa was able to the see the entire region of Jötunheimr.
“Wow…”
Lyfa could not help but exclaim, she began to glance over the beautiful and deadly ice world.
In this area flight was not possible, so to see the view from such a high altitude was something that only Lyfa and Kirito had ever seen. Lyfa subconsciously opened her menu window to bring out an item to take a picture, but she thought again and stopped herself. Perspective views can be preserved through the screenshots, but the mood at this time could not be recorded. The sorrow and joy, melancholy and feeling of freedom were all mixed together to form a feeling of wonder.
Whether Tonkii knew how Lyfa was feeling or not, he slowed down his speed a bit and made a small turn, then once again strengthened the force of the wings.
Suddenly, from above an object entered her vision at close range, Lyfa couldn’t immediate make it out.
The transparent ice blue inverted crystal cone. It was wrapped around by black mesh tube-like things, the roots of the World Tree.
According to the close distance effect, the length of the huge icicle is roughly two hundred meters or more. As they speculated on the ground, it was internally divided into several sections, forming an ice dungeon.
Without a sound, Lyfa opened her eyes wide, carefully inspecting it. Suddenly, at the icicle’s bottom - inside the sharp point, a flash of golden light caught her attention.
No matter how much she concentrated, she couldn’t make it out. Lyfa unconsciously raised her right hand, incanting a short spell.
Water started gushing out of her hands, immediately freezing to form a flat crystal. Kirito quickly turned to face her and asked:
“What is it?”
“A type of distance viewing magic made with an ice crystal. Here, look at the tip of that huge icicle, you can see something shining…”
After hearing this, Kirito took a closer look through the lens. The shaking golden light slowly steadied, finally leaving a clear image.
“Oh WOW!”
Once she saw the true nature of the light, Lyfa gave a squeal like a little girl.
Sealed in the tip of the icicle, stood a fearful yet beautiful transparent golden blade. Judging by the phosphorescence that wrapped around the blade and its minute decoration, it was clear that it was a legendary sword. No, even before that, Lyfa already knew the name of the sword.
“That is the «Holy Sword Excalibur». I’ve seen picture of it on the official ALO website… It is the only sword that surpasses General Eugene’s «Demonic Sword Gram», the one and only strongest sword… As far as I know, no one has ever been able to discover its location.”
“S, Strongest…”
With Lyfa explaining with a voice so full of wonder. Kirito swallowed his saliva and gulped nervously.
The sealed sword was located at the bottom of a spiral staircase, which appeared to be connected to the icicle dungeon. That is to say, only someone who fought through the entire dungeon could obtain the ultimate sword.
The evil-god, Tonkii, carrying the two fairies, circled the icicle and rose in a spiral. Peeling her eyes away from the holy sword, Lyfa looked up and discovered two things.
The first thing Lyfa saw was a platform-shaped balcony protruding from the middle of the icicle. Tonkii’s flight path would pass near it. It was very possible to jump off Tonkii onto that balcony.
Second, at the top of the ice-covered Jötunheimr was a hanging root with carved stairs. The stairs kept going up and continue past the ceiling. It was definitely an escape route that would lead to the aboveground area of Alfheim.
There was no connection between the stairs leading aboveground and the balcony leading to the dungeon. If you jumped to the balcony for a chance at the holy sword, then there wouldn’t be a way to get to the stairs.
Kirito seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the balcony and the escape stairs. While doing that, they approached the
balcony. After twenty… no… if they don’t make a decision in ten seconds…
In silence, Tonkii arrived at the balcony, he flew horizontally as if to give them the chance. For VRMMO players like Kirito and Lyfa their first instinct was to jump down, and their bodies shook.
- But of course, they did not jump off.
They looked at each other, wearing slightly embarrassed smiles, then Lyfa spoke.
“…We must come here again, but with lots of comrades.”
“You are right. This dungeon is perhaps the most difficult place in all of Jötunheimr. With just by the two of us, there is no way we can breakthrough.”
“Ah, you, have way too much regret!”
While the two laughed, Tonkii went past the balcony without confusion and continued to rise. Looking down past the square entry of the dungeon, there was a shadow of a terrible evil-god. It resembled the three-faced giant that had attacked Tonkii, but it appeared to be much stronger humanoid type.
Perhaps the strongest monster in the deepest dungeon of Jötunheimr is from the same species. The evil-god seems to be a type that Tonkii’s species viewed with hostility, maybe that’s why they were responsible for transporting players here. That was also why the giant was trying to kill Tonkii before it evolved.
If they joined an evil-god hunting party and mechanically fought, they would never think of only killing the giant-type monsters, and saving the elephant jellyfish type. If just the two of them didn’t fall down here, this event, no, this friendship wouldn’t have happened.
While she was speculating, Tonkii approached the canopy. The root with the carved staircase was clearly visible, hanging down from the corner of the icicle.
With a Yururu, Tonkii spread its wings and slowed down. Hovering, it extended its nose, winding it around the tree root near the stairs like a rope, and stopped.
Seeing the wooden stairs shake, Lyfa stood up.
Naturally taking Kirito’s hand in her own, they moved to the bottom step.
With a little shake, Tonkii confirmed the loss of its burden and uncoiled his nose from the root. It turned around high above getting ready to dive.
As it turned, Lyfa grabbed the tip of the huge receding nose in one hand.
“…I’ll come again, Tonkii. Take care until then. Don`t let the other evil-gods bully you.”
When done whispering, Lyfa let go. Kirito grabbed the trunk and Yui even flew out of his breast pocket, grasping a bunch of the fur which hung off its nose with both small hands.
“We will talk a lot again, Tonkii-san.”
The pixie smiled as she spoke. The evil-god answered with a Furururu and turned, folding its wings.
It descended at a tremendous speed, shrinking in moments.
Wings shining one last time, the mysterious evil-god faded into the darkness of Jötunheimr. Surely, now it will be able to live free from torment, flying freely through the sky. And, if we ever had the chance to return to this place and call out to him, he would surely give us a ride on his back again.
Lyfa wiped the tears that had begun to trickle out of the corner of her eyes, and meeting Kirito’s eyes, started to laugh.
“Let`s go! I am pretty sure it Aarun is above!”
After listening to the vibrant words, Kirito stretched and replied:
“Well, lets finish the last leg of this journey… Lyfa, when we get to the top, lets keep what we know about the holy sword secret.”
“Oh you, saying something to ruin this important moment…”
The black clad Spriggan shrugged his shoulders, while still holding hands, started running up the spiral stairs through the root.
The trip that took less than three minutes when falling through the gigantic earthworm, was much more time consuming when journeying on foot. As they walked up a path dimly lit by glowing mushrooms, she soon gave up counting the steps, after more than ten minutes, a thin streak of bright light appeared ahead.
Kirito and Lyfa looked at each other, and with a final spurt rushed to the exit. Taking two steps at a time, they stuck their heads out of a hole in the wall of the tree.
Jumping out of the stairway, they found themselves on a moss-covered stone terrace. They did a full turn from the momentum, then sat down on the stone pavement.
After opening eyes which were closed the second they emerged, they took in the sight in front of them -
It was the night view of a beautiful, majestic city.
As if the remains of an ancient civilization, stone buildings of various sizes spread out in all directions. Yellow fires, blue magic lights, and pink mineral lights twinkled everywhere as though stardust had been sprinkled over the city. There was no unity of race among the silhouettes of the players moving around under this light, but an equal number of each of the nine fairy races.
After taking in the city at night, Lyfa lifted her face.
Upon the dark blue of the night sky, a shadow in the form of a tree split the night.
“…The World Tree…”
Lyfa whispered, she looked at Kirito beside her and continued:
“…No doubt, this is «Aarun». The center of ALfheim. This world’s largest city.”
“Yes. …We are finally here.”
Kirito nodded his head, Yui stuck her face out of his pocket, revealing a brilliant smile.
“Wow! This is the first time I am in a city with so many people!”
It was the same for Lyfa. The many people who left their home territory and enjoyed adventures freely, she had never thought of it before.
The two and one just sat on the edge of the terrace, enjoying the ambiance of the bustling city.
Soon, the heavy sound of a pipe organ sounded, breaking Lyfa out of her introspection. That was followed by a female voice floating down from the heavens. ‘This is a notice of the regular weekly maintenance, which occurs at 4 am, the server will be closed’, a system announcement. Lyfa had never stayed logged on so long before, so this was the first time she had heard it.
Truly, a lot of ‘first times’ happened since yesterday. While thinking that, Lyfa moved her legs forward, and stood up.
“We should stop here today. Let’s find an inn and logout.”
Kirito stood up, and nodding once, the Spriggan asked:
“When does the maintenance end?”
“It lasts until noon today.”
“I see…”
After looking down lightly, Kirito suddenly stared at the sky.
The branches of the world tree opened, springing in every direction.
Kirito’s black eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth seemed to move, seeing that, Lyfa remembered his reason for coming to ALfheim.
He want to meet «someone» at the top of the World Tree.
I wonder who that is. If it’s not a quest NPC, it might be a staff member on operating side, or…
Before she can think any further, Kirito had resumed his earlier expression and said:
“Let’s find an inn. I am poor now, someplace not too luxurious would be nice.”
“…Acting cool, you gave all of your money to the two lords? At least keep some living expenses!”
Lyfa laughed at his predicament, then said to Yui in his breast pocket.
“That’s what your papa said. Is there a cheap inn nearby?”
Strangely, the Navigation Pixie had crinkled her eyebrows in a frown, looking at the world tree, she soon smiled and answered.
“Yes, down there seems to be a place that is super cheap!”
“S, super cheap…”
Not caring about Lyfa’s hesitation, Kirito began to walk briskly, so she followed.
Though she should be feeling sleepy from staying up too late, she felt a bit uneasy and looked at the world tree once again.
Of course, with the foliage lost in the night sky, there was nothing to see.
Chapter 6
Asuna/Yuuki Asuna’s imprisonment had a double meaning ever since January, 2025.
The first kind of imprisonment was
being confined in a golden cage. Although this human-sized cage was luxurious and beautiful, it could not be destroyed, no matter what method was used.
The reason was because the one-centimeter thick bars were not metal, but virtual 3D objects composed of digital code. The cage had been designated as «indestructible» by the system, so even if the bars were pounded with a sledgehammer, not a single scratch would be found.
The second imprisonment was that of Asuna’s consciousness, which was trapped in a dive in the virtual world itself.
The name of this world was «ALfheim Online», referred to as ALO. It was a large scale network RPG administered by «RECTO Progress» - a type of game known as a VRMMO.
ALO itself was operating as a net game without anyone knowing the difference; tens of thousands of regular players pay a connection fee and enjoyed the game. However underneath the game, because of a man’s evil intentions, it was engaged in a massive illegal and inhuman project.
The core operating systems of ALO were actually a copy of «Sword Art Online» which shook and shocked Japan for two years from 2022 to 2024.
Development of SAO was controlled by «Argus», which had let ten thousand people, regardless of age or sex, become captives in a virtual world, with a death count of nearly 40%. In the aftermath of that terrible incident, they went bankrupt. «RECTO», a major electronics manufacturer’s FullDive Research Division was commissioned to perform maintenance on the SAO server. The man in question had an important position and used a copy of the original SAO data to successfully create ALO. After the death game was cleared, the minds of all remaining players should have been liberated but he, using «Consciousness Abduction», imprisoned the awareness of three hundred players in the ALO server.
The man’s purpose was to use these three hundred players’ brains as experimental materials, utilizing the FullDive system to study human emotion and memory manipulation.
The man also imprisoned Asuna’s consciousness inside the world of ALO. Her avatar was shut in a bird cage hanging on a branch of the «World Tree» in the center of ALfheim, at a height that no player could ever reach. The man’s motive was to ensure Asuna’s slumber, and to become her husband in the real world and therefore become the successor to the CEO of RECTO, Asuna’s father, Yuuki Shouzou. Now, two months after the resolution of the SAO incident, he was close to achieving his goals.