Volume 16

  After this violent reasoning was conveyed through a steady and reliable voice, everyone accepted its view. Bercouli turned to Asuna and asked: Who is the person that your enemies are looking for?

  The outsider’s light brown eyes swiveled from Bercouli to Alice.

  “… M… me?”

  Not just Renri; Tiese, Ronye and even Sheyta revealed expressions of shock. Only Bercouli nodded as though he was expecting such an answer.

  “As I expected… the «Radiant Medium»…”

  Asuna did not understand what that meant. She blinked at the Knight Commander, then turned back to answer.

  “We don’t have much time. To prevent the Underworld from being destroyed, Alice has to come to the Real World with me. If Alice is no longer here, the enemy will stop interfering with this world…”

  “W… What kind of joke is that?!”

  Alice yelled, unable to restrain herself any further. She leapt from her chair, slapped her chestplate with her right hand, and proclaimed, with increasing intensity:

  “Asking me to flee?! To abandon this world, and abandon everyone here, and my comrades in the Defense Army… to flee to the Real World?! Impossible! I am an Integrity Knight! My greatest and only mission is to protect the Human Empire!!”

  Now Asuna leapt to her feet. Tossing her chestnut hair that was reminiscent of silver oak acorns, she retorted with a voice like a silver bell:

  “All the more reason! If the enemy… is not from the Dark Territory, but a thief from the Real World, and if they were to get hold of you and drag you out of this world, everyone here… not just them, even the earth, the sky, everything will be destroyed! We don’t even know when the enemy will attack!”

  “Hold on, about that, you’re a bit late about that, Asuna-san.”

  The Knight Commander spoke calmly:

  “The enemy you speak of are already here.”

  “Uh…”

  To Asuna, who was suddenly struck dumb, the Knight Commander took a slow sip of liquor and continued:

  “Seems like everything’s been revealed. The «Radiant Medium». «Dark God Vector», who’s chasing her. The god Vector who’s directing his troops right now must be someone from the Real World like you.”

  “Dark… God.”

  Asuna whispered, her face pale. She continued with some incomprehensible words:

  “I really didn’t think of that… the Dark Territory super account actually wasn’t locked with a password or anything…”

  “Ex… Excuse me.”

  Breaking the brief silence, young Knight Renri timidly raised his hand.

  Seeing that everyone turned to look at him, the boy asked softly, his face reddening:

  “About that, what exactly is a Radiant Medium? And, the thieves from the Real… World? Why do they want Alice-dono?”

  The one who answered his question was someone whom everyone thought would remain as «The Silent» during this meeting, the gray Knight Sheyta.

  “Because she broke the Seal of the Right Eye.”

  Alice jumped at that, momentarily forgetting her indignation. Her hand unconsciously moved to her right eye, and she asked:

  “You… You know about that, Sheyta-dono?! How?!”

  “It still hurts… whenever I think about it. At that time, to cut down… the strongest thing in the world… the invincible Axiom Church… it must have felt good.”

  “…”

  The Knights and Guard Leaders fell into a thin silence. Bercouli coughed and pretended not to hear that.

  “Ah, I believe there are others here with similar experiences. If the slightest sliver of dissatisfaction or resistance was held against the Highest Minister’s power or the Axiom Church’s authoritative body, one’s right eyeball would begin to flash with red light, coupled with a stabbing pain. Typically, whatever thoughts one had would be forgotten due to the excruciating discomfort. But if one continued these unstable thoughts, the pain would intensify without end, and their right vision would be dyed completely red — and eventually…”

  “Their entire right eye would explode.”

  Alice whispered, her memories of that detestable moment still fresh.

  “Then… Alice-dono…”

  To Renri’s horrified voice, Alice nodded slowly and continued, her voice soft.

  “I battled Senate Elder Chudelkin, and the Highest Minister Administrator. To summon that determination, I temporarily lost my right eye.”

  “Erm… May I ask…”

  A voice even smaller than Renri’s requested an opportunity to pitch in, belonging to the girl Ronye of the Supply Team, who had been listening wide-eyed until now.

  “Eugeo-senpai too, to protect me… when he swung his sword for Tiese and me, and committed the crimes, from his right eye… Blood…”

  That should be it as well. Alice nodded. Fighting countless battles as a civilian, defeating even the Knight Commander, and displaying perfect Incarnation against Administrator. That young man was definitely able to surpass the mere Seal of the Right Eye.

  That’s right, during the battle on the topmost floor of the Cathedral, Administrator seemed to say something about the Seal of the Right Eye to Alice. Was it, Code eight seven…?

  Without waiting for Alice to recall Administrator’s words, Bercouli spoke while rubbing his chin.

  “Hm… In other words, those ‘enemies’ are looking for those who broke the Seal on their own. Asuna-san, do you people of the Real World have the same Seal as well?”

  “… No.”

  After hesitating for a moment, the chestnut hair swung from side to side.

  “I don’t have any such experience. Maybe the only difference between Real World people and Underworld people is whether they can break laws or commands.”

  “That means, Lil’ Miss Alice is now an existence exactly the same as you guys? But don’t you think that’s weird? If you’re the same, why do they have such a request? Aren’t there plenty of people in the Real World?”

  “That’s…”

  Hesitating more than she had before, Asuna fell silent.

  But just as she dislodged her frozen memories, Alice’s shout interrupted Asuna’s words.

  “That’s it! Code 871!”

  Wringing her hands, she said frantically:

  “The Highest Minister called the Seal of the Right Eye as Code 871. She said it was added by «that person»! I don’t know exactly what that means, though…It’s not Sacred Tongue, so it’s the language of the Real World?!”

  “Code… 87… 1…?”

  Asuna repeated, dumbfounded. Her brows creased in surprise.

  “… Did… someone from RATH add the Seal…? But wouldn’t that… just interfere with their purpose…?”

  She sat back down, thought for a moment, then —

  She suddenly looked petrified. Her pale pink lips trembling, she squeezed out a hoarse whisper.

  But Alice did not understand what she said.

  “… Damn it!… There’s a mole in RATH…! On the other side of this wall…!”

  Asuna was deeply shaken.

  Blind obedience of a higher power. In order to remove the only flaw in the jewel of the artificial Fluctlight, Higa Takeru and the RATH technicians had put in immense effort.

  This was because the current artificial Fluctlights were unable to evaluate the morality or utility of commands they were given. If they were loaded as AI onto war machines, even if their command system was hacked and they were ordered to attack the troops they belonged to or engage in indiscriminate murder of civilians, they would not be able to evaluate their commands, instead choosing to execute them directly. They were different from the regulations within Western armies, who possessed the ability to defy orders.

  Therefore, to engineer artificial intelligence that was able to break through this limitation, RATH undertook simulated experiments in the Underworld that spanned hundreds of years.

  However, if the Seal of the Right Eye or «Code 871» was an apparatus to p
revent the experiment from exceeding, if it had been inserted by someone unknown within RATH.

  This attempt at disruption probably originated from a directive issued by the attackers on the Ocean Turtle.

  And now this mole was still able to move freely in the upper shaft on the Ocean Turtle. If he wanted to, he could even slip past the other technicians and enter STL Room 2, where Kirito and Asuna lay completely defenseless.

  Brushing away the chill than ran down her spine, Asuna continued to think:

  Her only option was to run her current «Creation Goddess Stacia»’s HP to zero — to death, in other words. But if that happened, she would not be able to log back in with this super account. With the system administration authority commands currently locked, they were unable to reset account data.

  Since the attackers were using Dark God Vector, an account of the same level, he was undefeatable with a civilian account. To protect Alice, and then log out safely, she needed this account no matter what.

  — What to do? What should I do first?

  After racking her brains for a split second, Asuna inhaled deeply, and decided.

  She would prioritize the Underworld. This world ran at a speed one thousand times that of the Real World. Before the smallest movement happened in the Real World, they should still have some time.

  In this time, she had to come up with a plan to protect Alice from the enemy-led Dark Territory army, and extract her to the Real World. If she failed at that, and Alice fell into enemy hands, those people would destroy all of the other Light Cubes without hesitation to solidify their status as the holders of the single true AI. They would destroy the Underworld, which Kirito had put his life on the line for.

  ***

  From the reports they were receiving, it seemed that Yuuki Asuna’s judgment had been completely correct.

  But neither her, nor Higa Takeru and Kikuoka Seijirou on the Ocean Turtle, had realized an important truth.

  Ever since Gabriel Miller and Vassago Casals had logged in, the FLA rate had been slowly decreasing. This operation was being performed by Critter, the technician of the attacking team, but the one who gave the order was Gabriel.

  In about twenty hours, armed JSDF personnel from the Aegis destroyer «Nagato» would storm the floating structure. In that sort of situation, it was understandably inconceivable to RATH that the attacking team would lower the Acceleration Rate and throttle their own necks.

  Of course, the reason behind their lowering of the Acceleration Rate was beyond anyone’s imagination.

  But —

  In this instant, only one person had seen through Gabriel’s motive.

  Concealed in Yuuki Asuna’s portable terminal, «she», the world’s most advanced «Top-Down» artificial intelligence, stealthily planned as she flew through the internet.

  ***

  “What’s… wrong?”

  Alice had stopped using honorifics some time ago. Hearing her words, Asuna suddenly raised her head and shook it.

  “No… It’s nothing. Sorry to interrupt.”

  “You didn’t interrupt, we’re still waiting for your reply.”

  Alice said testily.

  “So, do you have any clues about the name «Code 871»?

  “Yes. I was just about to explain.”

  Alice retorted coolly. Even Asuna herself was perplexed at this.

  Asuna could not remember ever arguing with anyone. She was on good terms with her friends — Lisbeth, Silica, Leafa, Sinon, and even with her classmates in school.

  Speaking of which, when was the last time she had contended with some like this? She thought for a moment and nearly burst out laughing. Without a doubt, that person would be Kirito.

  Ever since they had met on the first floor of Aincrad and somehow struck up an interdependent relationship to begin clearing that death game, Asuna had stared at and shouted in Kirito’s face numerous times, occasionally even getting physical.

  Maybe, there would come a time when she could get along with this girl named Alice.

  — No, that’s not very likely.

  As Asuna thought, she opened her mouth:

  “… Then, the person who set up what Lil’ Miss Alice called «Code 871», or the Seal of the Right Eye, was someone from the Real World… in cahoots with the enemy.”

  “Hmm… Well, besides destroying one’s right eye, is there another way to remove this so-called Code?”

  At Bercouli’s inquiry, the otherworldly girl shook her head apologetically.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know either… I don’t think that it’s something that can be removed from within the Underworld, I’m afraid.”

  Listening to Asuna’s clear voice, Alice felt uneasy.

  Of course, her first impression of her was terrible. Asuna suddenly getting that close to Kirito without explanation left her deeply vexed. After all, she was the one who had protected and cared for Kirito and his injuries.

  Then again, this girl named Asuna, like Kirito, was from the Real World. Judging by her words and actions, she must have had some relationship with him there. Then, since she chased him to another world, she at least had some say in the matter.

  Was this the reason to her anxiety? She had thought that she was the only one in this world most obligated and responsible for Kirito, yet now there suddenly comes someone to challenge that?

  Or was it her competitive spirit towards Asuna’s frightening swordsmanship?

  That was Alice’s first time witnessing a strike with such ludicrous speed. It was a speed that not even Vice Knight Commander Fanatio could match. It wasn’t merely a continuous strike; it felt more like multiple stabs coming at exactly the same time. If their swords had been knocked slightly off course upon hitting each other, her opponent would likely have recovered faster.

  Or was it —

  Because Asuna was so extraordinarily beautiful that just looking at her made you sigh?

  An exotic face without even the slightest tinge of austerity, as though it were the embodiment of the word “exquisite” itself. The bonfire brightly illuminated her white skin and her soft, billowing chestnut hair, which looked to be top-quality strands of silk braided together. The Guard Leaders’ eyes all revealed intoxicated gazes of admiration. If Asuna had called herself Goddess Stacia, they would have believed her without question.

  She wanted to know.

  Not about the Real World or about the enemy, but about this Asuna person. The relationship between her and Kirito.

  Catching herself floating within her own thoughts, Alice regained her senses, struggling to concentrate and catch up with the conversation. Asuna continued to the Knight Commander:

  “… The «enemy» are afraid of those who have broken the Seal in the Underworld… in other words, if their proverbial «Radiant Medium» shows up and is taken away by some external force. Because the Radiant Medium in the Real World is actually an extremely precious existence.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand.”

  Knight Commander Bercouli muttered, twirling his bottle of liquor.

  “Your «Radiant Medium», or Lil’ Miss Alice, should be an existence equal to that of a Real World person, shouldn’t she? I just asked, why are they you all so stubborn about this? Whether it’s the enemy, or Asuna-san, what exactly do you want Lil’ Miss Alice to do once you take her away?”

  “Um…”

  Asuna bit her lip.

  Her long eyelashes drooped as she showed a pained expression.

  “… I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you yet. Because, I… hope that Alice-san can come to see and judge the Real World with her own eyes. It’s not the kingdom of the Gods, nor is it a fantastical utopia. In fact, it’s far uglier and dirtier than this world. I believe the same about the motives of the people after Alice-san. That is to say, I believe she would not forgive the Real World and the people living there. But… It’s not just that. There are many people who wish to protect this world. Just… Just like Kirito-kun.”

  Alice
silently listened to the other girl’s long, difficult speech.

  Yet she found herself surprised, nodding slowly.

  “… Okay. I won’t ask any more questions for now.”

  She slowly parted her hands, and shrugged.

  “No matter what, I’m not going to do what I don’t want to do. Besides, I haven’t decided to go yet. Although I do wish to see the outside world, that’s still a matter we can discuss after we… defeat Dark God Vector and his invading army, and establish peace.”

  Alice thought that Asuna would rebuke fiercely again, but she only hesitated for a moment and spoke slowly:

  “… Yeah. Since that Dark Territory army is being controlled by a Real World person, it would be quite dangerous for Alice-san and I to leave on our own. The enemy should have thought of that as well. I’ll… fight alongside everyone. Please leave the fight with Vector to me.”

  Cheers were heard from the Guard Leaders. To them, no matter what she herself claimed, Asuna was no different from Goddess Stacia. At least, if she had that earth-shattering super attack, it wouldn’t matter if the enemy had twenty thousand or two hundred thousand troops.

  The Knight Commander seemed to be considering the same thing. He crossed his arms and asked:

  “All right, we’ll put aside the matter of the Real World for now. Back to the problem at hand… That skill you used just now, Asuna-san, can it be used infinitely?”

  “… I’m sorry, but this will disappoint you.”

  Asuna shrugged her shoulders and slowly shook her head.

  “That sort of power places great mental strain on its user. I would be able to withstand it if it were merely discomfort, but if I use it without restraint, I may be forcibly ejected to the world to preserve my mental health. If that happens, I can never come back. Unfortunately, I can only perform large-scale geographical commands once or twice more.”

  Let down by their excessive anticipation, the faces around the bonfire looked disappointed. Noticing this, Alice sprang to her feet again.