“Uh… Gurgh…”
Crushing noises came from his clenched teeth.
To Rirupirin, the girl having her Life slowly absorbed, overlapped with the silhouette of the princess general who had died as a sacrifice.
The light slowly vanished from the girl’s eyes. Her skin had gone from white to pale, and her hands fell powerlessly to her side. But the tentacles on D’s right hand still writhed hungrily, intending to suck out every last drop of her blood.
Die… She will die.
This rare prisoner.
No, the first human who was neither afraid of nor disdainful towards him.
Just then —
An unthinkable phenomenon, or rather, a miracle occurred. Rirupirin’s eyes widened involuntarily.
The ground.
The jet black, charcoal-like desert ground of the Dark Territory, below the suspended girl, began radiating green.
What looked like very soft grass, which was unseen except in rare places, shot up from the ground, and innumerable flowers in all sorts of colors began blooming in every direction. The fragrance of flowers carried in the wind, and even the blood-red sunlight had changed to a warm cream color.
This scene, teeming with life, spun around and was instantly absorbed into the girl’s body.
Her pale skin immediately regained its color, and her eyes shone once more.
As the sudden illusion disappeared, Rirupirin realized that the girl’s Life had already completely recovered. An inexplicable relief flooded his heart.
But it was immediately shattered.
“Unbelievable… It’s coming out… It’s seeping out again!!”
D screeched, her wounds seemingly completely healed as well.
She released her right hand from clasping the girl’s hair, and the fingers on that hand also transformed into ugly worms.
With corpulent, sticky sounds, the five newly generated tentacles pierced the girl’s skin.
“… AHH…!!”
D’s guffaws completely drowned out the girl’s thin screams.
“AHAHAHAHA!! AH — HAHAHAHAHA!! Mine! It’s MINE — !!”
***
— I have to endure this.
Suffering an excruciating pain she had never felt before either in the real world or ALO, Leafa could only repeat this to herself.
Before she dived, she heard the explanation of Super Account 03 «Terraria, Goddess of the Earth»’s powers.
Unlimited automatic recovery. Automatically absorbing energy from the wide space around her, to recover her own durability or that of any static or animated object. According to that technician named Higa, her already vast HP level, together with that power, made it virtually impossible for her to die from HP loss.
That was why Leafa had decided to risk being captured to challenge Dark God Vector, and simultaneously chose not to draw her sword against the people of Underworld.
The woman tormenting her now was an Underworld resident like Rirupirin — an Artificial Fluctlight. If she was slashed with a sword, her soul would be completely destroyed. Without knowing how she had gotten wounded and why she wanted to recover, Leafa could not battle her.
Ahh — but.
Putting aside the shame of having her clothes torn off, the pain of her Life being drained was indescribable.
Was this truly a virtual feeling separate from her real, physical body?
***
“… Stop.”
Rirupirin was unable to immediately realize that the word had come from his own mouth.
But then, very clearly this time, his mouth moved, and his throat vibrated.
“Stop!”
Her pupils shrinking to the size of pinholes, D’s eyes cast a scornful glare. Enduring the chill welling from his stomach, the Orc chief continued:
“Isn’t yer Life not fully restored a’ready? Ya dun need ta get any more from that Ium’s body!”
“… Whaaat now? Giving orders to me…?”
D spoke softly, sounding like an off-key song.
Suddenly, the ten tentacles began to wriggle more intensely, forcefully pinching the girl’s skin, rapaciously sucking blood. The Dark Sorceress’s skin had already completely regenerated to an oily shine, and her hair was even longer and richer than before.
Not only that, the superfluous Life molded into blue particles and spread into the air from her body. Yet D showed no sign of stopping the torture, remaining wrapped around the girl, who was much smaller than her, from behind.
“I’ve said it before, pig. This prisoner is mine now. No matter how much Life I absorb, how much I abuse her in front of you, pig, or even if I kill her right here and now, it’s got nothing to do with you, does it?”
Kuku, kukuku. A leaden cackle came from her throat.
“But, yes, sure. You discovered her, so I should defer to you, shouldn’t I? Then… take all of your clothing off now.”
“Wha’… Wha’re ya sayin’…”
“Ever since a long time ago, seeing your poser armor and mantle has made me want to vomit. You’re just a pig, yet you dress like a man. If you go completely nude here, crawl on all fours, and grunt a bit for me, perhaps I’ll return this girl to you.”
Gu.
Suddenly, a portion of the right half of his vision flashed red. Simultaneously, a pain, like being stabbed with an iron needle, came from his right eye.
— Just a pig.
— Like a man.
D’s words overlapped with this Leafa girl’s words.
— You’re a human, aren’t you?
— Other than that, what more do you need?
He could not let D kill this girl. No, he did not want her to die. For this… For this.
Rirupirin’s trembling hands found the button on his leather mantle. Buchi, he tore it off.
Stepping on his coiled coat, Rirupirin moved his hand towards the leather belt securing his armor together.
Suddenly, a weak voice was heard.
“… Don’t.”
His head jerked up, and his eyes met with Leafa’s, who was staring at him.
Her teary emerald eyes swivelled back and forth.
“I’m… fine. So, don’t… do it.”
Her voice could not hold until the end. D suddenly bit softly into the girl’s face.
“If you keep saying these useless things, I’ll bite off this cute face of yours. We’ve already entered the good part. Hey, what’s the matter, pig. Take it off. Or are you getting excited from human nudity?”
Kyahahahaha. Her noisy cackling had no end.
His hand, gripping his armor’s belt, began to tremble.
He didn’t care at all about the pain in his right eye. After all, compared to the anger and humiliation filling his heart, this pain was nothing.
“I’m… I’m… I’m…”
Suddenly, something gushed from both of his eyes, running down both cheeks. The droplets falling on the left were clear, but those on the right side were dyed crimson.
His right hand slowly released the belt — and moved towards the hilt of the large blade on his left waist.
“I’m, a human!!”
As he shouted, an agony he had never felt before attacked his eye, and it ruptured in its socket.
Through his halved vision, Rirupirin accurately found D’s silhouette. Her sadistic cackle ceased, and her mouth dropped open.
With all his might, Rirupirin swung his blade towards D’s unprotected legs.
But — since he had just lost an eye, his perception was thrown off.
The tip of his sword just missed D’s right calf. Rirupirin’s body lost balance and his left shoulder collapsed onto the ground.
Lifting his head, he saw D.I.L. pouting, her expression now fierce.
“This stinking pig… dares to harm me…!”
She flung the girl’s body behind her, and raised her tentacle hands. With rough sounds, they suddenly transformed into ten sharp, gleaming black blades.
“I’ll slice you into minc
emeat, and mix you into boar feed!!”
The Orc chief only waited for the moment that the blades on both sides swung down.
Thump.
Thump.
Two feeble sounds were heard at the same time. D’s movements stopped cold.
Stunned, Rirupirin saw that both of the Sorceress’s arms had fractured at their roots and fallen to the ground with dull thuds.
D’s expression was also one of shock. The tall woman slowly turned around, blood pouring from her shoulders like waterfalls.
Leafa’s radiant white features entered Rirupirin’s sight.
Compared to her slender frame that was rather lacking in muscle, her long blade that looked very difficult to control swung straight ahead. Although both her wrists were tied, this girl had, without a doubt, been the one who cut D’s arms off.
D croaked in a shriveled voice:
“A human… helping a pig, slashing another human…?”
Watching the Dark Sorceress shake her head back and forth in disbelief, Leafa replied:
“No. I’m only cutting evil to save another person.”
She briskly raised her long sword into a daijodan stance.
Hya-ka!
The girl slashed down from an incredible distance.
How — graceful.
Her movements had no unnecessary force, yet were surprisingly quick, and her technique was paramount.
Once more, Rirupirin felt tears — of emotion, this time. As he watched, D.I.L., the strongest Sorceress in the Dark Land and the strongest among the Ten Lords, was completely, and silently, severed in half.
4
Gabriel Miller watched indifferently as the black dragon beat its single wing, landed softly, uttered a soft cry, and expired.
The moment his eyes left it, everything related to the dragon’s existence was completely purged from his thoughts and memories. He surveyed his surroundings without changing his expression.
The crash site was a region with numerous cylindrical stone pillars. The pillar he had landed on the center of the area was about 100 yards8 tall and 30 yards9 wide.
Jumping down would be too impulsive. He was still very unfamiliar with the magic in this world, which synthesized and controlled elements, and he could not leave the Radiant Medium Alice currently lying unconscious at his feet.
If he had some strong ropes, anchors, and carabiners, even in the real world, Gabriel could easily rappel down a wall of this height. But there was no need for that now, since the enemy who had somehow brought him down was now rapidly approaching from the north with three dragons. He would simply deal with the enemy, take over a new dragon’s AI, and continue south.
Gabriel lifted his head and gazed straight above. The virtual sun floating in the red sky had reached a suitable height.
There was not much time left before Critter accelerated the time again. Could the American closed beta testers, numbering at least 50,000, wipe out the Human Empire Army before they were forcibly ejected due to the acceleration? With less than 1,000 left, the Human Empire Army could not possibly resist.
As for uncertainties, there were only the Integrity Knights, who were ravaging the Dark Territory army one by one.
But one of them, Alice, had already fallen into his hands, and her approaching pursuer was probably a Knight as well, so there were only one or two of them left in the northern battlefield.
As soon as Gabriel determined that the complications were almost resolved, he finally turned towards Integrity Knight Alice, who lay beside him.
Absolutely — beautiful.
So beautiful that the excitement squirming deep down is just unstoppable.
Gabriel was a bit perplexed: should he remove her armaments before she woke up, and carefully incarcerate her? That would be the logical decision, but an enemy was approaching and it was difficult to find the determination to hastily deal with this stunning girl.
He would wait for the acceleration and take his time. Even for so much as undoing a buckle on her armor, he would do it gracefully, seriously, and symbolically.
“… Sweet dreams for now, Alice… Alicia.”
Whispering gently to her, Gabriel walked to the center of the cylindrical rock to engage the enemy.
Whether it was Gabriel Miller, who was using Super Account 04 «Dark God Vector», or Critter, who had discovered it, neither of them knew one fact: Alice, the strongest knight, had fallen unconscious for several hours from just a dragon’s kick all because of Vector’s own ability.
The four Super Accounts in Underworld were all created for direct operations — miracles — on the world and its inhabitants.
Stacia, who could change the geography.
Solus, who could destroy mobile units.
Terraria, who could recover durabilities.
And Vector, who could control the residents’ Artificial Fluctlights themselves.
Specifically, he could edit the inhabitants’ memories — the vector data within the Fluctlights, and relocate them to faraway places, or create new households.
Since this act was different from the other three gods and tantamount to pillaging the inhabitants, it was difficult for him to become a subject of worship. Hence, Vector not only possessed the highest Priority equipment and Life, he was also under the powerful protection of “the inability to be an Art’s target”. “Vector’s Lost Child”, passed along in fairy tales of Underworld, was created based on previous operations on the residents.
The combination of Dark God Vector’s power and Gabriel Miller’s unique imagination, or Incarnation, achieved a multiplied effect that not even the «Rath» technicians could predict.
He could absorb others’ willpower without need for Arts.
Alice’s Fluctlight was temporarily robbed of its dynamism, and forcibly placed into a state of slumber.
Vector and Gabriel’s combined power had also engulfed Dark General Shasta’s one-hit-kill Incarnation from before.
And now, Shasta’s longtime rival — Integrity Knight Bercouli, had stepped onto the same road.
***
Bercouli saw that the enemy Emperor’s dragon had crash-landed on a tall rock that could not be immediately escaped.
He confidently shrugged off the intense fatigue caused by his ultimate technique.
“Great… Please fly a lil’ bit more, Hoshigami, Amayori, Takiguri!!”
As his voice rang out, the three dragons powerfully flapped their wings and accelerated. As long as the enemy stayed there, even a ten kilol gap would not take too long for a dragon.
In the remaining time before the battle, Bercouli began to silently contemplate. His mind clearly recalled a dream he’d had the previous morning.
— Have you ever had a premonition of death?
Highest Minister Administrator had asked him in his dream, and to Bercouli, whom she had known for hundreds of years, she remained an inscrutable existence until the very end.
After he was released from Deep Freeze and informed by Alice of the Highest Minister’s death, he felt nothing as intense as shock and merely sighed: Thanks for your long, hard work. It was Senate Elder Chudelkin’s death that stunned him more.
Because of that, he had never specifically asked Alice about Administrator’s final battle, and her scattered situation. Of course, on one hand he was too busy with the important mission of the defense of the Human Empire suddenly resting on his shoulders, and on the other, he simply did not want to know — the perseverance and desires of that silver-haired, silver-eyed demigod, and just how deep her sins ran.
Administrator had always been listless, inconsistent, and capricious to Bercouli. Although he obeyed her, he certainly did not worship her like Chudelkin had.
But —
He did not hate serving her.
“That’s right… Believe me just on that one, please.”
The oldest knight muttered, and suddenly opened his sharp eyes.
He could already clearly see Alice lying on the ground in her golden armo
r, and Emperor Vector’s silhouette standing silently in front of her like a shadow.
“Okay… Standby in the air, guys! If I fail, head back north and join the troops!”
Signalling gently to the dragons, Bercouli leapt from Hoshigami’s back.
***
Trailing Sinon, whose flight left a meteor’s path of light, the 700 people of the Human Empire Army desperately advanced south.
They had already slowly lost the earth-shaking crimson legion behind. But neither the Guardians nor the war horses could keep running indefinitely like this.
Asuna stood atop Kirito, Tiese, and Ronye’s carriage, praying as she fixated her gaze southward.
After about twenty minutes of progress, as Sinon had said, the outline of gigantic temple-like ruins emerged above the horizon.
There was no sign of humans, demihumans, or any large beings. Only decaying rock lying silently on the ground.
Spanning the straight road were two flat shrines. They were about 20 meters tall, and more than 300 meters wide. They would be more than enough as barriers to prevent the enemy from surrounding them.
Between the two shrines, the road continued south. It gave one the impression of a sando10, because while it served to connect the shrine walls, there stood some massive, uncanny statues on either side of it.
These were not Oriental-style Buddha statues, nor were they Western-style mythical sculptures. At best, they were square figures slightly similar to those in the ruins of South America. All of them were carved with round eyes and large mouths, and their stubby arms were crossed in front of their chests.
Were these designed by Rath engineers when Underworld was created? Or were they automatically generated by The Seed program?
Or were they — hewn from the rocky mountains by the Dark Territory races who once lived here…? Like, giant tomb markers dedicated to many of the dead…?
Asuna sighed briskly, banishing these ominous thoughts.
She yelled at Knight Renri, who was leading the troops from his dragon’s back:
“Let’s engage the enemy near the center of the road!”
A reply of “Understood!” came.
Minutes later, the troops charged swiftly along the road between the shrines. Mammoth rectangular statues on both sides silently looked down upon them. The horses’ hooves and soldiers’ boots crunched dryly upon the road, which changed from dirt to cobblestone.